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setting the trial date.”

According to the CPD, once police officers indicate to the judge that the procedure will be a “sworn statement” trial, they themselves, with the judge, conduct the oral hearing “without prosecutor, attorney or the accused being present and without [these parties] knowing the purpose of the proceeding.”

At no point in the process does the accused have access to the trial brief, including the formal charges. The brief is not prepared by a prosecutor but by a police officer. “The prosecutor can choose not to participate, in which case the trial will proceed without him,” the article explains. “If the defendant has an attorney, he may only see the file for a few minutes before the hearing.”

“From the beginning of the trial to sentencing takes no more than five days,” says the CPD article. “From one to four days to charge and investigate, then twenty-four hours to prepare a court case, make an oral argument and issue a sentence. In this case, however, it could take as long as forty-eight to ninety-six hours.”

According to authorities, the objective is to apply a “flexible and expeditious method and means to legal matters that are handled within the summary procedures of the municipal courts.” However, the CPD argues this process “flagrantly violates the guarantee of due process established in articles 94 and 95 of the Constitution” as well as international law and the right to an effective defense.

The organization also claims it violates the right of the accused to appoint a defense attorney and to provide evidence through communication with that attorney. “There is no guarantee the accused will be allowed to present this [evidence]” or that the principle of disclosure, on which all due process rests, will be followed. The CPD notes that the “sworn statement” process suggests “a hasty trial behind closed doors without communication between the parties involved,” analogous to the accusatio process of ancient Rome.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Cuban Human Rights Observatory (OCDH) expressed disappointment that Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, and Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ,” are trying to divert attention from the reasons for the massive protests in recent days in Cuba.”

“The demonstrations called for many things but the most commonly heard refrains were ’freedom and ’we are not afraid.’ To cite economic hardship as the sole reason for the protests, as Ms. Bachelet has done, is to completely misunderstand what is happening in Cuba,” writes Executive Director Alejandro Gonzalez Raga in the OCDH statement.

Gonzalez Raga also believes Borell mistakenly blames the United States: “These protests are the result of sixty-two years of repression. It is Cuba that has to change. We have to focus exclusively on those responsible for Cuba being a dictatorship today.”

Jose Daniel Ferrer Cantillo, son of the Patriotic Union of Cuba’s director, was arrested along with his father on Sunday, July 11, before they could join a demonstration that was taking place in Santiago de Cuba. In a video he describes how he was accused of incitement of public disorder, “propagation of epidemics” and disorderly conduct. The charges were reduced, he was informed, “to public disorder, nothing more.” He was issued a written warning, told not to participate in any marches and to report every Tuesday to the Versailles police station.

When he refused, they threatened to throw him in jail, like they had done to his father. He reported that they also beat everyone who came into the police station where he was being held. “Young people, old people, anyone they managed to arrest that day.” Among the prisoners was a pregnant woman who, he says, did not get the care she needed.

He also reports his father was having a heath crisis involving an ulcer when he left his house and is ill. “They are the worst conditions in the world. It’s like a concentration camp.”

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The minister explained in her discourse that in the last two years 37 measures related to income have been approved, and she expressly cited the elimination of all limit directives associated with work results; of the administrative limits that the utility had (the limit is set by the efficiency that the company is capable of generating).

Also, of the payment on account of the utility at the end of each quarter that specifically differentiates it from what has been done previously, because it is a utility that is in proportion to the individual contribution of each of the workers. Finally, she cited the recent pay for high performance, which also makes it possible to differentiate the income of workers. The truth is that none of these measures has led to significant improvements in business management, in view of the poor functioning of the economy, so we cannot expect any improvement this time.

In sum, the minister indicated that her department has been improving the payment mechanisms of the business system and stressed that this new measure regarding the elimination of the obligation to use the salary scale for the payment of salaries in state-owned companies is intended as an objective “To make the socialist state enterprise more efficient and productive, but based on an efficient management of human resources.” Will it succeed?

An analysis of some of the aspects related to the measure leads us to point out some doubts.

For example, it is true that the mechanism for setting workers’ wages is made more flexible and it is expressly announced that, to pay more, the company has to obtain better results. There is an element of productivity and competitiveness behind the proposal, but it is not sufficiently verified, since the minister herself added that if positive results ensue, it does not mean that higher wages can immediately be paid.

And for this reason, the minister insists that the required results must first be obtained. Which? When? At what point? With what dimension? There are too many issues, and all of them relevant, to be left to chance. Cuban workers demand to know more. There is nothing that causes more frustration to a worker than waiting for a wage boost resulting from his commitment and observing that the effort, once made, is not compensated.

Second, this measure establishes that the company must finance the salary with its sales income. In other words, in this case no intervention from the State budget is accepted. The entity must be able to finance its own salary fund. It seems reasonable, but as soon as the content of this proposal is specified, it is seen that it won’t get anywhere.

What happens to those state companies that “sell” all their production to the state or the budgeted sector, and which are the majority? Will they be prohibited from paying wages without obligation to the scale in such cases? Will working for the state be understood as “intervention”? Is the government considering state companies that do business with the private sector or export?

Another aspect of the measure refers to the fact that no worker may receive a salary lower than the minimum established in the country, which is currently 2,100 pesos a month. Actually, there are no statistics on the salary structure of state-owned companies, but in general, their salaries are mostly above the average because the professional categories tend to occupy the steps above the median. And, of course, well above the minimum.

It seems a contradiction to establish minimum wages for an entity that arises through work organization to achieve competitiveness and productivity. In any case, the legislator eliminates an option that could serve to allocate resources efficiently for a time, and that depending on how the business can go, better productivity could be obtained later. The minimum wage, even in state-controlled economies like Cuba, is a brake on employment, especially for young people.

And, fourthly, this measure requires gradual implementation, and, furthermore, it is intended to be preceded by a “comprehensive improvement program”, which includes the organization of work in the beneficiary entity. As it could not be otherwise, the Technological University José Antonio Echeverría (Cujae) is assigned to advise the Ministry in this process and, to the extent that it is extended to the provinces, the local universities will be able to do the same.

Not a single option has been opened for self-employed workers who can offer their business consulting services at much more competitive prices and conditions than universities or research centers to which a compartmental and stagnant way of obtaining complementary income is opened. Another missed opportunity.

From what the minister reported at the Roundtable and, pending the publication of the regulatory norm, the salary organization must be based on the principles of equity, proportionality (because the salary is paid in correspondence with the real time worked) and dynamics (the salary is set in correspondence with the results of the company).

This principle is even taken to the opposite side, when it is established that loss planning will not be admissible, that is, it will not be possible to pay a higher salary in a center with losses, and in any case, the there should be no reduction of the level of real profit obtained from the previous year, because if the intention is to increase efficiency, it is necessary to increase the utility.

Among other aspects, the company is authorized to apply other economic incentives associated with worker productivity and the achievement of specific and strategic objectives of the organization, such as, for example, adapted payment systems or payment systems for results and,in this case, the entity can consider indicators that have to do, perhaps, with the collection, the level of sales, the shortening of certain deadlines for carrying out the processes. It would be interesting to know, with official data, the impact of these payment mechanisms on the activity of Cuban state companies.

In any case, the measure establishes that it is the company that says what the design of its payment system is with a fixed part of the salary that the worker will earn for attending work every day, accompanied by a moving part of the salary. For this reason, the piece-rate payment systems and current profit distribution mechanisms are maintained, both at the end of the fiscal year of the year and the payment on account of the profits at the end of each quarter, as well as the payment for high performance.

However, the measure eliminates the administrative directives of the bodies and agencies referring to structures and templates, so that if the company increases the contribution for the performance of the state investment provided for in the plan, it will be able to increase its salary fund.

The minister pointed out that it is being evaluated to start the implementation of the measure by sectors with “outstanding results”, with high work organization and adequate accounting and that, in any case, it will be reported later by which sectors the implementation of the experience will begin. It seems prudent and could avoid implementation failures while generating learning processes based on good practices that can be followed in other companies.

The minister pointed out that as soon as the entities of the business sector that want to apply the measure certify that they have the conditions created, it can be implemented, without waiting time, with the estimate that the next year will see how the experience progresses.

It is also considered that, after the measure becomes general in 2022, companies that do not present the approved conditions will maintain the salary system that they currently have until they prove their conditions have changed. The authorities have planned a comprehensive training process at the national level for the implementation stage, with academic support.

It is important to note, based on the foregoing, that this measure of eliminating the obligation to use the salary scale for the payment of salaries in state-owned companies is not, in any way, a guarantee of improvement in the functioning of these organizations in the Cuban communist social model.

Cuban state companies urgently need other types of structural and legal measures that allow them to operate in conditions similar to those found in a market economy. And, above all, what they demand is less state intervention, more freedom of decision, accumulation and distribution of wealth, regardless of administrative obstacles and obstacles. Economic freedom and property rights are also essential for state-owned companies.

*Translator’s note: The so-called ’Ordering Task” — Tarea ordenamiento — is a collection of measures that includes eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and others. 

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protested in the streets.

“If you support the communists and repressors, you are our enemy. This is only the beginning of what awaits you, you will not escape our hands, we are there within your system and we know everything you do, every key you press, pages that you search on the Internet, all your secrets will be revealed. Freedom for the people of Cuba and our brothers and sisters,” read another message left on the website of the Embassy of Spain in Cuba.

Most of the attacks have been of the denial of service type, also known as DoS / DDoS. Hackers have generated countless requests to each of the servers where the sites are hosted, until the processing capacity is exceeded. The portal ends up collapsing and Internet users can no longer access its content.

In its Twitter account, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the attack against its digital site, but instead of solidarity, the majority of Internet users responded with mockery or questioning. “That is so they know how it feels when one is left without a voice on the internet, as you have done to us by blocking the internet for all these days,” replied a user, alluding to the cuts in the web browsing service that have been implemented since the protests of July 11.

“He who kills by the sword cannot be killed with the swipe of a hat,” joked another commentator who pointed to the state monopoly Etecsa as “the main attacker of Internet freedom in Cuba.” For this Internet user, “it was time for Anonymous to do something for Cubans, because we have suffered a lot and citizens are very unprotected.”

One of the censorship techniques most used by the Cuban government has been blocking independent news sites, but several hacks against critical portals have also been attributed to students of the University of Computer Science (UCI). It is in this center of higher studies the so-called Operation Truth* is developed, which counteracts, through different tactics, the media critical of the ruling party.

On the day 14ymedio debuted, the website was hacked and readers were instead redirected to a digital site dedicated to smearing the Cuban opposition. Numerous dissidents and independent journalists have also denounced identity theft on social media, theft of private information and other forms of cyber attacks in the last decade.

*Translator’s note: Years ago “Operation Truth” was led by Eliecer Avila who ultimately “changed sides” and joined the opposition.

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employees of the 128 entities of the Cimex corporation, one of the business arms of the Cuban military, and also the workers of the Port of Santiago de Cuba, Trabajadores said.

The task of serving as guards on the island have always been repudiated by many workers, who after a working week must return “voluntarily” to their workplace and are not paid for the time they remain in the institution. If they refuse, they may receive retaliation and administrative reprimands. In the eleventh Congress of the Cuban Workers Central (CTC), an official organization that groups together the different unions, it was established that the workers’ guard has, among other tasks, to raise “the sense of belonging among the workers.”

On the other hand, the ex-spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, national coordinator of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), together with the first secretary of the Communist Party in Havana, Luis Antonio Tórres Iríbar, championed this Sunday the “first Popular Revolutionary Surveillance Detachment,” published the official press.

The Detachment was established precisely in the La Güinera neighborhood, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, where the Government recognized the first deceased during the protests in recent days. The demonstration in that area, one of the most depressed in Havana, was broadcast in several videos through social networks, despite the fact that the Government kept the Internet connection cut off for several days.

“Alert that La Güinera has risen up, in support of the Revolution, Díaz-Canel and the Party,” Nordelo wrote on his Twitter account when he published photos of his visit to La Güinera, but neither the State Security official nor the state press clarified the objective of the Detachment.

Just a few hours after the massive protests on July 11, 14ymedio reported large mobilizations in workplaces to activate the “rapid response brigades.” Simultaneously, the recruitment of young Cubans of military age and the mobilization of reservists increased.

However, the rejection of the regime’s orders to repress has become apparent in recent days. This newspaper was able to confirm that when an employee of a state textile company refused to take part in actions against the protesters, her own colleagues organized an act of repudiation in support of her and she was immediately fired.

Various sectors of society have not only denounced the wave of violence unleashed by the political police against the protesters, they have also opposed participating in official calls in support of the regime. This happened with students from various university faculties, who, in addition to rejecting their participation in official meetings, expressed their disagreement with the repression and censorship of the independent press.

The first were those from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Havana, who called for “peaceful understanding, respect for individual freedoms and non-violence as a way” to solve problems. They were joined by students from the Audiovisual Media Art Faculty and the international group from the San Antonio de los Baños Film School, which condemned the “reprisals for publicly expressing their ideas.”

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in Cuba,” concluded Pérez-Riverol.

During the televised broadcast of the event, the cameras avoided showing the crowd from above and preferred tight angles and closer views so it was not possible to get an idea of how many people attended. “With the fulfillment of the hygienic-sanitary measures,” the Cubadebate portal emphasized, showing photos of the gathering in Havana and other similar ones in various parts of the country.

At the end of his statement, the virologist praised “the beautiful and above all responsible gesture of these kids from the Faculty where I was trained,” referring to the questioning published on the Facebook account of the Biology students — whose example was followed by other university students — with regard to the official act to which they were summoned. The protesters received a furious response from officials and militants, including the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing, Raúl Guinovart.

In their text, the students of the Faculty of Biology expressed their “absolute disagreement” in these terms: “As biologists, microbiologists and biochemists we warn the university authorities of the risk that mass events represent at this moment.”

The students added a call for “peaceful understanding, respect for individual freedoms and non-violence as a way” to solve problems. And to finish they warn that “we are all Cubans, brothers of the same land, that our call be to unity as a principle to build a Cuba with everyone and for everyone.”

The students of the Faculty of Art of the Audiovisual Communication Media (Famca), of the University of the Arts (ISA), also expressed their disagreement “with the government calls.” Referring to that of this Saturday, they affirmed that “the act of vindication […] contradicts the most elementary indications of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba and the international health authorities.”

In their statement, the Famca students condemned “the constant discrediting by the Cuban government of the independent media” and indicated that they aspire “to an inclusive country, where a diversity of political signs and creeds coexist, with no room for repression or discrimination for thinking different.”

They also gave their support to the protesters who peacefully asked for the right to reply in front of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television and the other protests “that took place simultaneously in a peaceful manner and advocating for freedom.” They demanded that “the constitutional rights of all Cubans to meet, demonstrate and express themselves freely” be respected.

“We condemn any incitement to violence or the use of police force as methods to silence our disagreements, as well as the use of violence of any kind by citizens,” they said. They also demanded that the regime not violate the criminal processes established by Cuban law and that the rights of those detained in the protests be respected.

This Saturday a Statement from the Students of the San Antonio de los Baños International Film and Television School (Eictv) was also published, in which they denounced that graduates and members of the Institution’s Academic Body “have been detained and are being investigated for their exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”

“We believe that the right to opinion and protest, to express critical and free thinking, should be guaranteed for anyone in any place and circumstance,” said the almost 60 signatories, who also apologized for delaying in making their position public.

The students rejected that any member of the school “or anywhere else  should suffer retaliation for publicly expressing their ideas.” They also expressed their concern that after the protests, the Eictv has not had a “clear and supportive position regarding the right to demonstrate, the same as it has expressed with the protests in other latitudes and contexts, such as those in Colombia.”

The document concludes by mentioning a letter signed by Eictv graduates in which they express their support for those detained in the protests. “As a community we share the same concerns and dislikes,” they emphasized, while affirming that despite the limitations of communication and access to information, they will continue to “be alert to what is happening.”

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first allowed Cubans to stay in the island’s tourist hotels. Before then, only foreigners had access to these facilities, which were serviced by Cuban personnel.

Thirteen years later, Cubans are once again relegated to waiting on foreign tourists. Most of them are Russians, who have been seen roaming around the resort town for months, many without masks. Despite pandemic restrictions, more than 4,000 Russian have been arriving in Varadero every week since June. Not a day has gone by that Dr. Francisco Duran has not given a nationally televised briefing on Covid-19 infections, some of which can be traced to Russia.

On Monday, the Canadian government lifted travel restrictions on its citizens, who are also expected to travel to Varadero in large numbers now that visitors who have been vaccinated are exempt from Cuba’s two-week quarantine requirement. Air Canada resumes service to the island on Saturday. It joins other carriers — Aeroflot, Azur Air, NordWind, Royal Flight and the German agency TUI — which already offer flights to Varadero.

Though these measures have not caught the attention of the public, which this year has been more focused on day-to-day survival than on spending the summer in an all-inclusive resort they cannot afford, the journalist Barbara Vasallo has defended them in the face of criticism from some of her followers.

“Russians take a PCR test seventy-two hours before entering the country, most have received the Sputnik V vaccine and everyone knows the economy needs this. Or are we supposed to survive on thin air?” writes the reporter in response to a comment critical of allowing Russian tourists into Cuba.

Her rationale contradicts public health officials’ arguments that vaccines do not necessarily prevent infection or transmission of the virus. “Let’s stop being blind and relying on Band-Aid solutions, always using the economy as an excuse then blaming the public for everything that is happening to us,” reads a comment with which she took issue.

Some commentators note that, if this is about being vaccinated, Cuban visitors could be asked to get the Sovereign 02 or Abdala vaccine as a condition for travel. Similarly, domestic travellers who want to stay at a hotel could be required to take a PCR test. As you might recall, however, a result can be negative if a test is done before an infection becomes active (which is why it is repeated after five days). At least this would guarantee that every visitor gets the same treatment, regardless of one’s country of origin.

“Does this mean that domestic tourism is not important to the economy?” asks another in an obvious rebuke to Vasallo, who insists that the state must protect the only economic engine it still controls. Another writer, more despairing than irritated, observes, “Cubans are not second-class citizens within their own country. Death still comes for those who face discrimination.”

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In a tweet, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed: “Heartfelt condolences to family members, friends and combatants of our #Eastern Army, whose Chief, Division General Agustín Peña, has just passed away. The news is very painful and sad.”

Although the official media have not given information on the cause of Peña’s death, a journalist from Radio Rebelde el Holguín, Aroldo García Fombellida, wrote on his Facebook profile: “It was always, until his last fight, fought today, against the deadly pandemic of Covid-19 ”.

According to the official press, his body was cremated and his ashes placed in the Pantheon of the Fallen for the Defense of Holguín.

Last May, Peña celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Eastern Army, which was founded on April 21, 1961 by orders of the then Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, and its first chief was then-FAR Minister, Raúl Castro.

The news of his death comes amid the repression and arrests deployed by the Government against citizens who took to the streets last Sunday to participate in protests that are already historic and covered almost all the country’s provinces, especially areas of the country in eastern Cuba such as the city of Santiago de Cuba, Palma Soriano and Holguín.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.