Rumors on Social Networks in Cuba Tend to be True

Many times rumors posted online end up being confirmed by independent media or by the authorities themselves. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 13, 2023 — Since the end of 2020, attacks on freedom of expression have increased, and access to information in the country’s online space has been reduced. The Government blocks social networks and independent media, interrupts mobile data connections and resorts to fake profiles on social networks for its disinformation campaigns, which consist of altering public debate and introducing other topics through the massive and aggressive sending of tweets and retweets.

Online propaganda in the country is increasingly becoming an information control tool to silence independent voices and spread disinformation and erroneous information. The control of technologies and social networks provides the Government of the Island with a powerful tool to shape public debates and disseminate information online, while monitoring, censoring and restricting digital public spaces.

14ymedio and Yucabyte collaborate with the aim of collecting and analyzing the information and rumors shared online by the population and the Government of Cuba, to better understand the online space and how it is affected by the different actors. The collection of information and rumors online is not exhaustive; it reflects only a part of the Cuban online space. During this time of collection, 14ymedio and Yucabyte have noticed that many times rumors shared in the online space end up being confirmed by the independent media or by the authorities themselves, but that in the beginning they are just that: rumors.

14ymedio and Yucabyte want to make these analyses available to Cubans and independent organizations so that they can improve the ability to identify, evaluate and counteract disinformation and erroneous information in the online space.

The analyses will be available on the websites of these two media and may change format and length depending on the comments received from readers.

I. Top list of rumors for the month of January 2023

A. Debt in London

B. Hacking of official accounts

C. Poverty – food shortage

D. Violence – crime/theft – femicides

E. Health – hospital conditions and access to medicines.

II. General analysis of the most relevant trends and rumors collected during January 2023

The main rumors collected during the month of January 2023 can be organized into three groups. First, those that register cases of violence on the Island, including robberies, increased crime and femicides; second, those that collect examples of food shortages, scarcity and poverty; and, finally, those that denounce the unsanitary conditions in Cuban medical facilities.

A. Violence, robberies and femicides

The alarm over the escalation of violence in Cuba has been a constant in the reports of rumors since at least November 2022. Although many users argued that crime was a feature of the year-end “environment,” at the end of January it was found that the complaints did not decrease but showed a tendency to be even more serious than those recorded in the second half of last year.

One characteristic of these reports is that they always contain a reference to continue reading

the inaction of the police, the clumsiness or apathy in their investigations and the lack of action before reporting the crime. Another factor, pointed out with the same frequency, is that the crimes are only reported in the official press belatedly and with a note from the Ministry of the Interior, after both the complaints of users and the independent press report them.

Among the most serious rumors of violence in January are the theft of luggage from the Transtur interprovincial buses; the armed robbery of pension money from retirees; the murder perpetrated by a motorcycle police officer of his ex-wife; and the theft and resale of regulated products. In addition, users point out that many of the criminals act with the complicity of local police units, which offer them immunity under certain conditions.

Users point out that many of the criminals act with the complicity of local police units. (14ymedio)

B. Shortages and poverty 

In addition to the criminal situation, there are reports about the poverty on the Island. Shortages and rising prices are the starting points for many of the complaints on social networks. In addition, photos of Cubans have been circulating, particularly of the elderly, rummaging through garbage containers in search of food. Images were shared about the sale of products in poor condition and their transfer in terrible hygienic conditions.

The issue of food was talked about on social networks, in addition to the sale of food in online stores that, according to users, are businesses protected by the Regime and the United States Government itself, through one of the most controversial figures, the businessman Hugo Cancio. On the other hand, the terrible diet in schools — small portions of white rice and tomatoes, in many cases — has also been documented.

C. Unhealthiness

Health and hospital conditions, as well as access to medicines, are now common in rumors. In addition, in the first week of the year, several rumors circulated on the networks about the lack of medical personnel in polyclinics and hospitals, presumably due to the unprecedented exodus that the country suffered in 2022. From the shortage of supplies to the terrible state of building construction, criticism also reaches the community services. Notifications about the lack of transportation in funeral homes, the desecration of cemeteries and the delay in funeral services were repeated throughout the month.

In addition to these three groups of rumors, the trial for the non-payment of debts of the Cuban Government in London, the hacking of several official pages and accounts related to the Regime, and the exodus of professionals were also constant topics in January.

III. Most used platforms and format of content

Number of rumors reflected by platform and number of rumors seen.

(14ymedio/Yucabyte)

Format and source of the information

The social networks on which these rumors circulate influence not only the format of the information but also the number of users who receive them. Although Facebook is still the most used platform by Cubans (most of the rumors collected appear in buying and selling groups), it is on Twitter that the most elaborate rumors circulate, usually in threads or screenshots, accompanied by an explanation. Also on Twitter there are numerous profiles that Cubans follow, which recycle the same information that their own followers send them. These accounts expand the scope of the rumors and generate a certain amount of feedback.

It is less common for rumors to be collected on networks such as Instagram or TikTok, which are generally for videos and photographs. The least used source of information is still personal messaging, through applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

To date, the largest fire is that of Pinares de Mayarí, in the eastern province of Holguín. (Granma)

I. Top list of rumors for the month of February 2023

A. Fires

B. Repression: response to demonstrations, regulations, release of political prisoners

C. Crime: robberies and femicides – concealment of cases

D. Poor conditions: Education and Health –  lack of supplies, unsanitary conditions – abandonment of the elderly.

II. General analysis of the most relevant trends and rumors collected during February 2023

The main rumors collected during the month of February 2023 can be organized into three topics. First, those who report fires, including explosions; second, those who report cases of repression, responses to demonstrations, prohibitions on leaving the country (regulations) and the release of political prisoners. Third, there are the rumors that collect cases of crime, including robberies and femicides.

A. Fires

This month, multiple reports of fires across the Island circulated on the networks. To date, the largest is that of Pinares de Mayarí, in the eastern province of Holguín. Apparently, this forest fire originated as a result of the severe drought that affects the country and the speed of the winds. Much of this mountainous area has been on fire for more than 15 days. Some media report that about 3,600 hectares [8,896 acres] of forest have been lost. Several users have shared the comment of a pilot from the area, who said that “it will burn until there is nothing left to burn,” since there are no resources to put it out.

Likewise, rumors were collected about several small fires in green areas of Havana, specifically in the vicinity of road 100, the highway to Pinar del Río and the area of Tulipán, in Nuevo Vedado. So far these have been controlled without major damage. Some users reported the presence of soot in the city, apparently as a result of these fires.

In addition, two other allegedly intentional fires were registered. The first, in a bodega (ration store) in Marianao, in Havana, where it is said that a manager caused the fire to hide the theft of products from the “basic family basket” which is sold through these stores. And the second, in a cane field in Banes, Holguín. A user who calls himself Clandestino Mayor affirms that this fire was “an action taken against the dictatorship.”

To this situation are added other rumors about an explosion, at the beginning of the month, in the historic military park Morro Cabaña, in the capital. Allegedly, one of the cannons used for the historic nightly 9:00 pm cannon shot caused the explosion, generating a small fire that was controlled at the time. Similarly, in the last week of February an explosion was reported in Old Havana, as a result of the handling of a gas canister in a workshop for refrigeration technicians. In the incident, one person died and another, who was seriously injured, died shortly after.

B. Repression: response to demonstrations, regulations, liberation of political prisoners

With the growing exodus that the Island is experiencing, there is a rumor that regulations will begin for workers in “strategic sectors” whom the Government cannot afford to lose. Almost all publications in this regard indicate an increase in travel restrictions for doctors and other health personnel.

During the month, the rumor about the release of Cuban political prisoners was also recurrent, with the mediation of the Catholic Church and several embassies. So far, there have been no clear signs of this possible release (which was already ruled out by Oscar Silvera, Cuban Minister of Justice). Another rumor says that the amnesty could be extended to ordinary inmates, as long as they “have not committed serious crimes or murders,” according to several users.

In this context, and as a result of the deprivation of nationality that the government of Nicaragua applied to its political prisoners and journalists, rumors were raised about the possibility that those imprisoned after the 11 July 2021 protests [11J] will have their citizenship taken away before being banished.

To this situation are added several complaints about the suicide of an 11J protester, 18, allegedly hanged in his cell at the Placetas police station. In addition, it is said that another young protester threatened to take his life after the authorities denied him the medicines he needs for treatment of his mental illness.

Many users also denounced the arrest of protesters in Guanabacoa at the beginning of the month. It was declared on social networks that the demonstration was peaceful, which did not prevent the participants from being arbitrarily detained. Similarly, several users pointed out the apathy of the Cuban people in the face of the claims and demonstrations of the mothers of the political prisoners, activists and relatives.

In mid-February, an alarming wave of rumors circulated about summons for interrogations, some official and others without official notification. The target of these citations were young 11J activists from San Antonio de los Baños, who were released.

The government blocks social media and independent media, disrupts mobile data connections and uses fake social media profiles. (14ymedio

C. Crime: robberies and femicides – concealment of cases

Rumors about assaults and robberies have been the most frequent this month, which respond to an escalation of violence on the Island. In this sense, the number of reports on the actions of gangs in different provinces such as Havana, Mayabeque and Las Tunas is remarkable. Most of them, according to users, are made up of groups of teenagers and children who carry out assaults, in some cases with knives. As a result, injuries and at least one death have been reported.

Among the most serious rumors of violence this month are the attempts to rape and assault minors, perpetrated by men and during daytime hours, in the municipalities of Santa Clara (Villa Clara) and Nuevitas (Camagüey). In addition, it is said that a group of thieves in the Havana municipality of Guanabacoa carried firearms, and that its members were captured by the police. Other rumors were also collected about the thefts from transport and tourism buses in the east of the Island, and about several children who were stabbed, according to a user, “by a madman who was passing” through the place.

The growing number of femicides was also a source of alert on social networks this month. The report of the murder of a 17-year-old teenager at the hands of her 50-year-old partner inside a police station in Camalote (Camagüey) went viral. Likewise, other cases of femicide were reported in Matanzas and Granma, where a woman was killed on a public road by her ex-partner with a firearm.

III. Most used platforms and format of content

Number of rumors collected by platform in February

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Tourism in Cuba in 2022: Its Darkest Hours

Cuba is failing to recover the tourism lost in the pandemic, compared to Western Europe and the world as a whole. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 14 March 2023 — The analysis of the tourism sector in 2022 can be gleaned from the data of the publication “Tourism. Selected Indicators” of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), which has just been released.

In it, data are presented for income, overnight stays and occupancy rates, among other indicators of the businesses served by MINTUR [Ministry of Tourism], Gaviota and Palco, which involve accommodation, retail trade, gastronomy, transport, recreation and other income generators.

When an analysis is carried out with respect to the previous year, significant growth in tourism activity is contemplated, but since 2021 was a very bad year for tourism due to the outbreaks of COVID-19 that continued to affect international tourism.

Therefore, and with the aim of carrying out an adequate analysis of the trends in the sector in 2022, it is advisable to use 2019 as a reference, since it was the last “normal” year before the pandemic. International tourism data are shown in the following table. continue reading

Translator’s note: Decimal points translate to commas in American English notation. Pernoctaciones = overnights. Ingresos = Income. Tasa de ocupación = Occupancy rate.

The number of international tourists stood at 62.1% less than the 2019 data, but the indicator of overnight stays that combines the number of tourists and days decreased even more, by 69%.

This is a lower percentage than that experienced by the occupancy rate, which fell from 48.2% in 2019 to 15.6% in 2022, a collapse of 67.6%. It offers an idea of the direct impact that this will have on the profitability levels of hotel management.

Tourism income (applied to the official exchange rate of the regime) did not exceed 800 million dollars, 69.8% less than in 2019, and income per tourist stood at 495 dollars, 20.2% less than in that year. These numbers could be even lower if the alternative exchange rate (between the dollar and the peso) of 1×120 or the one that governs the informal market is applied.

If the comparison of data was made with respect to 2021, as they do in the ONEI report, the panorama changes, because 2021 was a very negative year, in which only 356,470 tourists arrived in Cuba, and revenues did not exceed 365 million dollars.

While tourism in Cuba fell behind, other competing countries in the Caribbean recovered to the levels they experienced before 2020. In such conditions, the 2022 recovery in Cuba is insufficient, and there are reasons to think that the distances that have to be traveled to return to a normal scenario are still very important. What is worse, it does not seem that in this year, 2023, the gap will be closed.

To cite an example that shows the difficulties the sector has in recovering, it is important to take into account that Canada, the main tourist market for the Island, barely contributed 532,487 tourists in 2022, a figure that is nowhere near the one for 2019, when 1,120,077 Canadians arrived on the Island. Canadian tourism is 52.2% below the 2019 figure.

Certainly, those responsible for tourism in Cuba must be very concerned with figures like these. That only 9% of Canadians who came in 2019 did so in 2022 is, to say the least, alarming. There is a lot to do. But it’s the same in other geographical markets that offer similar signs of collapse, with problems that will have to be overcome.

For example, the second market in origin, the Cuban community abroad, fell from 623,972 tourists in 2019 to 333,191 in 2022. The Russians, with their transportation difficulties, from 177,977 in 2019  to 54,383 in 2022. And so, on. The declines are significant, and no market shows symptoms of recovery. In 2023, the levels before 2020 will not be reached, and this will have very negative repercussions on the entire economic activity of the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

To Vote or Abstain on March 26? For Once Cubans Are on the Same Page

Those who go to the polls on March 26 will do so for three different motives: conviction, inertia or fear. (Xinhua)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, March 13, 2023 — It can be said that, for the first time in more than sixty years, Cubans opposed to the regime have (almost) unanimously agreed that abstention is an appropriate response to the Communist Party’s call for a “united vote” on March 26 in favor of the list of candidates that will make up the tenth Parliamentary Legislature.

I say “almost” because, on an individual level, there are citizens who would like to show up just so they can cancel, or not fill out, their ballots. Some even want to make the defiant gesture of not going into the voting booth, where the right to secretly mark one’s preference with an X is exercised. “I’m going to tell the people at the table that I don’t believe in this process and drop a blank ballot into the box in front of them,” a friend promises.

Those who do go to the polls will do so for three different motives: conviction, inertia or fear. Of the five or four (or perhaps only three) million who go to their polling stations, most will do so out of fear, or because of that defense mechanism masked as inertia. “I don’t want to get into trouble,” say the fearful. “Why make a fuss if they’re going to do whatever they want anyway?” ask those who vote out of inertia.

Who are the true believers? (I say this in all seriousness.) They are the ones who feel the candidates who appear on the ballot actually represent them. True, they do not know what these people think because candidates are prohibited by law from coming up with proposals or campaigning on platforms that might make an electorate swoon. But for reasons I cannot fathom, they deduce from head shots and biographical data that these men and women will raise their hands in Parliament to vote in favor of what matters to their constituents. continue reading

There are others, less naive but more disciplined, who are also convinced. They are the ones who, if the party tells them they must vote for the entire ticket, they will do so, without their blind obedience weighing on their consciences.

Among the dissenters’ motivations for abstaining, one has to consider the lack of alternatives.

On previous occasions, especially for elections on a municipal level, some were incentivized to get out and vote for a candidate who was, or seemed to be, at odds with the government. That can be ruled out in this case because the list of candidates submitted by the Commission of Candidacies for the National Assembly is airtight. Not a single suspect among them.

In the last two elections, the referendum on the constitution and on the Family Code, there were also different options.

In the case of the former, there was the idea that voting a resounding NO would signal one’s refusal to accept the dominance of the Communist Party and the irrevocability of the system. Others, however, believed that voting — even if it was in the negative — gave legitimacy to a bogus referendum. No consensus was reached and the division between the NO supporters and the abstainers weakened their message.

In the referendum on the Family Code, official propaganda had people believe the only option was to vote for it. And since it addressed the specific interests of the LGBTI community, as well as those who sought a legal pathway for surrogate pregnancies, neither a NO vote nor an abstention could be read as a clear expression of disagreement with the government.

This time is different.

Neither supporters of strong-man rule, nor those with generational prejudices, nor even those with a propensity for notoriety and who always have something different to say; neither Trumpists nor Obama-ists;  neither radicals nor moderates have come forward to argue for voting NO, for abstaining, for staying home, or for whatever else you want to call it.

When Fulgencio Batista organized sham elections in 1958, Cuba had 2,310,262 citizens with the right to vote. Only 46% of them went to the polls. None of those elected to public office managed to take up their positions because there was, what appeared to be at the time, a popular revolution.

The triumphant regime never forgave the roughly million-and-a-half citizens who went to the polls that year out of conviction, fear or inertia. They were not allowed to join the sole political party or hold important public office. In the tell-all forms that had to be filled out for almost anything, there was always the question about whether or not one had participated in the 1958 elections.

I hope that, in a future democratic Cuba, this is never allowed to happen again.

COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

China Comes to the Rescue of Cuban Military Shoe Company

The Orthopedic Laboratory in Camaguey produced only 164 of the more than 2,000 pairs of shoes it was supposed to deliver in 2022.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 10 March 2023 — The Cuban footwear industry stands to benefit from an injection of Chinese capital. The Asian giant has been investing increasingly more in the island’s industry and in the Combell footwear company. The business, located in Santiago de Cuba, will be one of the first to reap the benefits of this investment according to the company’s director, Zoe Cabello.

After Miguel Díaz-Canel’s visit to Beijing in November, Cuba entered into what Xi Jinping called a “community with a shared destiny.” Both presidents signed agreements in which the Chinese agreed to provide funding into areas as dissimilar as biotechnology, economics, cybersecurity and espionage. Additionally, Xi provided Díaz-Canel with an emergency donation of 100 million dollars, which the Cuban government received in January.

Since then, the already important Chinese presence in key sectors of the Cuban economy — everything from locomotive repair to information sharing at the highest level — has only increased.

Chinese investment, along with recently signed Cuban military contracts for “new services,  is the company’s the last hope for staying afloat. continue reading

Combell operates three plants — one each in Palma Soriano, Contramaestre and Santiago de Cuba — at which it has agreed to repair Colossus-brand boots* used by the Cuban military. It has also committed to manufacturing 5,000 pairs of women’s shoes, essential components of military uniforms, notes Cabello.

However, they are in need of threads, jigs, fabrics and needles, which they also hope China will provide. This would allow them to overcome what Cabello describes as “the greatest difficulty in light industry today”: the lack of resources. Similarly, they hope a leather producer and shoe-sole maker in Villa Clara, as well as a private businesswoman who manufactures saddle sheets in Camagüey, can provide the factory with raw materials.

In addition to profits from retail sales, the goal, says Cabello, is to earn 50 million pesos from the repair and manufacture of footwear.

The shortage of materials also upended the 2022 production schedule of the Provincial Technical Orthopedics Laboratory in Camagüey, which met only 6.7% of its target. Officials laid the blame for the company’s financial difficulties squarely on the U.S. embargo.

Its shoe manufacturing business has been the most affected, explained Jorge Guerra Ruiz, the operation’s director. It was able to deliver only 164 of the 2,425 pairs of shoes it had planned to produce. It also halted production of corsets and prostheses due to a shortage of raw materials such as resin and powdered gypsum.

Guerra Ruiz said the company made prostheses from reused parts of older models and came up with other innovations thanks to the inventiveness of the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers, and the Youth Technical Brigades.

The official press pointed to Francisco de Jesus Rodriguez, who suffers from coxarthrosis of the hip due to the shortening of one leg. He needs special footwear but has been unable to obtain it because the lab lacked the necessary materials to customize his shoes.

The money sent by China in early November, which coincided with Diaz-Canel’s “beggar’s tour” to Beijing, guaranteed school uniforms would be delivered this academic year. Facing a cash shortfall, the president of the Light Industry Business Group, Mirla Díaz Fonseca, pointed out that, without Chinese investment, it would have been impossible to distribute 1,274,000 garments to students. However, 2,153,310 uniforms are still needed throughout the island.

At the beginning of the year, Cuba promised China quarterly accounting statements to systematically monitor implementation of the agreements Díaz-Canel signed in November.

*Translator’s note: A line of footwear produced by Bata Industrials, a manufacturer of safety footwear based in the Netherlands.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Prohibitions on Free Movement Inside and Outside Cuba are Denounced to the Human Rights Commission

The activist Anamely Ramos was not allowed to return to Cuba in February of last year, after a three-month visit to the US. (Captura)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Los Angeles, March 10, 2023 — Several Cuban activists denounced this Thursday before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the violations of the right to movement of people on the Island, as well as the ban on the return of many citizens.

The complaints of these “forced expatriations” were made on the fourth day of public hearings of the 186th session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which takes place this year in Los Angeles (California, U.S.)

The testimonies presented agreed that the right to movement of people has been one of the most violated in recent years by the authorities of the Island and has been used to repress people who participated in mass protests such as those of July 11, 2021.

The activists highlighted that, despite the fact that this right is enshrined in the 2019 Cuban Constitution, several decrees on national security have been used to limit the free movement of people, including the prohibition of departure or entry into the country of Cubans who represent “a danger,” despite the fact that there is no legal accusation against these individuals.

“It’s a tool of control to prevent the work of defending human rights in the field,” said Cuban lawyer Laritza Diversent, director and legal advisor of Cubalex, about the decrees, which also deny the issuance of passports. continue reading

The proof of the extent of these violations was the physical absence, during the hearing, of Juan Antonio Madrazo, coordinator of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration of Cuba, who was not allowed to leave the country to participate in the meeting.

“There is a permanent threat that the situation may worsen if we do not comply with the police provisions that would result in criminal proceedings,” Madrazo warned through a video. He also said that these travel bans are affecting the mental and physical health of activists.

The participants denounced practices of the Cuban government to force the banishment and exile of opponents and human rights defenders, as is the case of activist Anamely Ramos, who was not allowed to return to Cuba in February last year, after a three-month visit to the United States.

In her testimony before the IACHR, Ramos said that she is in the United States “contrary to her will,” and there is no reason beyond her activism not to be allowed to return to her country.

In this sense, Soledad García, a member of the NGO Justicia 11J, referred to the expulsion of 222 Nicaraguan politicians who were removed from their country by the regime of Daniel Ortega a month ago, and stressed that although this practice has been used by the Cuban Government for decades, in the “last years it has become visible.”

Ramos, who also presented the cases of writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez and professor Omara Ruiz Urquiola — who has tried to return to Cuba four times — also drew attention to the U.S. airlines that have executed these return bans.

“The protocol that exists between the airlines and Cuba is not public, so we cannot rule out that flights to Cuba go through a political filter commissioned by the Cuban State; this must be reviewed,” Ramos urged.

The commissioners of the IACHR, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) based in Washington, highlighted the importance of the testimonies given at the hearing because it helps them to continue with the work they are doing in defense of human rights in Cuba.

They regretted the absence of the representatives of the Cuban State at the hearing. However, they assured that they will continue to demand answers on the complaints and to process the precautionary measures.

Commissioner Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana called for the creation of an international protocol to help people forcibly expelled from their countries.

This Friday, the IACHR concludes a round of 17 public hearings, covering human rights that affect migrants, the LGBTI community, women, indigenous peoples, human rights defenders and journalists in the OAS member countries and the Americas as a whole.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

The Man Arrested for the Murder of a Nurse in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, Has a History of Rape and Robbery

Liván Reinaldo Mora Pérez was arrested for the femicide of Vanelis Macola. (Collage)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 5 March 2023 — The authorities of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, confirmed this Saturday the arrest in the municipality of Taguasco of Liván Reinaldo Mora Pérez ’El lento’, who is accused of stabbing Vanelis Macola to death on February 28 in the town of Tuinicu.

According to information offered by the Head of the Criminal Investigation Body of the Ministry of the Interior to the official newspaper Escambray, Mora Pérez has “multiple criminal priors for the crimes of threat, injury, theft, rape and robbery with force, among others.”

It is confirmed that Mora Pérez had a relationship with the victim, who worked as a nurse in the Nieves Morejón provincial prison and left an orphaned son.

The increase in femicides on the Island with a total already for 2023 of 16, “is alarming, worrying and hopeless,” said the independent feminist platform Alas Tensas. This is even more alarming because of “the immobility of the Cuban authorities.”

According to the records of the Alas Tensas Obervatory, so far a total of 32 cases were verified in 2020, followed by 36 femicides in 2021 and another 36 in 2022.

“Faced with the State’s denial of the problem, we continue to bet on the citizen response for the prevention of gender violence, specifically femicides,” said the Yo Sí Te Creo [Yes I Believe You] platform in Cuba. “This is a problem of the whole society and so we must face it.”

The demand of independent organizations and media raised the voice. Alas Tensas and its Gender Observatory have demanded that the Cuban government “declare a State of Emergency due to the growing escalation of sexist intimidation,” but so far these efforts have been unsuccessful.

Last February, the Gender Observatory denounced the lack of interest in the issue and showed that initiatives such as the Women’s Advancement Program and the Strategy have remained only as promises. “The promised Gender Violence Observatory has not yet arrived, and the [gender violence reporting phone] Line 103 has not been active for a year,” it said in a statement. “They are killing us because we lack effective protocols and prevention mechanisms in Cuba.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

The US Opposes the ‘Forced Exile of Cuban Political Prisoners’ and Seeks ‘Ways to Welcome Them’

U.S. Undersecretary Brian Nichols, on the far left, during his speech on March 7 at Florida International University, in Miami. (Twitter/@WHAAsstSecty)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Miami, 10 March 2023 — “Although we firmly oppose forced exile, the United States will not turn its back on political prisoners, and if they want to come to the United States, we will explore the avenues available under US law to welcome them.” The Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, Brian Nichols, expressed himself forcefully at Florida International University, in Miami, where on Tuesday he met with members of the Cuban-American community to present the policy towards the Island by the Joe Biden Administration.

In his speech, published on the website of the US Embassy in Havana this Wednesday, the official assured that “publicly — and privately in conversations with Cuban officials — the United States Government continues to call for the release of political prisoners, and we always emphasize that the Cuban people must be able to choose where to live and the Government must allow its citizens to return to Cuba.”

Nichols emphasized that “the economic situation is even worse than that of the so-called Special Period of the 90s, and the human rights situation is more bleak than it has been in decades.”

The “feeling of desperation and the longing for greater freedoms,” Nichols noted, led to the July 2021 demonstrations, which were answered by the regime “with the characteristic repression, sentencing hundreds of protesters to prison with sentences of up to 25 years.” continue reading

The repression in the almost two years since those “historic protests,” the undersecretary insists, has doubled, and “more than 700 demonstrators are among the more than 1,000 political prisoners who remain behind bars today.”

With their families and with the “dissident community” of the Island, says the official, the U.S. Embassy maintains “constant communication.” “They are a group of incredibly brave people, who face extremely difficult conditions,” praises Nichols, who outlined the two “key aspects” of the current Administration in Washington.

The first is to “promote accountability for human rights abuses,” and the second, “to explore significant ways to support the Cuban people while limiting the benefits for the Cuban regime.”

Among the first objective are the “selective sanctions against officials and security forces involved in abuses related to the July 11 [2021] protests and visa restrictions on officials involved in attempts to silence the voices of the Cuban people.”

Within the second, for example, support for “family reunification through legal migration,” alluding to the humanitarian parole launched at the beginning of this year and that, also aimed at Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, allows up to 30,000 of those migrants to enter legally if they have a “sponsor” who supports them financially and covers their health expenses for two years. “To date, about 10,000 Cubans have successfully used the program to enter the United States,” he explains. “Cubans have benefited from all conditions, including members of the human rights community.”

Since the implementation of this permit, he explains, “the number of Cuban migrants attempting a dangerous irregular migration has plummeted.”

Nichols also referred to other measures by the Biden government, such as flights between the United States and cities outside Havana, which operate for the first time since 2019, and the elimination of the limit on remittances, whose “direct flows” resumed in November 2022, after being suspended for two years.

In addition, he stressed that they are “exploring the expansion of access to cloud-hosted services and other development tools for the Cuban people.” These tools, he explains, “will help activists and civil society connect with each other and facilitate the flow of information on and off the Island. They will also help the Cuban people to access more services, including those that circumvent censorship.”

The undersecretary had words for the current inflation and the chronic shortage of food, medicines and electricity that Cuba suffers. “The Cuban government rushes to blame others for its economic ills without recognizing the decades of mismanagement that led to the current crisis,” he said, alluding to the US embargo, which Havana waves like a flag to justify all its failures. “We continue to ask the Cuban Government to implement economic policies that improve the situation in the country, such as greater freedom for private sector agents and the much-needed agricultural reforms.”

While these measures are being applied, Nichols said, “we will continue to ask the Cuban regime to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cubans and unconditionally release all political prisoners.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuba’s Victory over Panama in the World Classic Revives Hopes

Taiwan’s comeback against Italy was combined with Cuba’s triumph against Panama, and Cuba remains with possibilities in the World Classic. (Jit)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 March 2023 — The Cuban team “woke up” in the World Baseball Classic this Friday after beating Panama 13-4 in Taiwan and connecting with 21 hits. The performance of the national team, which could guarantee its classification in the next round of matches, was celebrated by the official press, which in recent days harshly criticized its defeats.

The offensive of the so-called Team Asere in this Classic match — held in the United States, China and Japan from March 8 to 22 — almost equals the record of 22 hits in Australia, in 2009. Cubadebate and Jit proclaimed the results of the game and noted the favorable changes in the lineup, designed by manager Armando Mandy Alonso, who replaced the players Yoenis Céspedes and Lorenzo Quintana with Roel Santos and Ariel Martínez.

Jit described the game as a “home run party” where eight of the members gave their best. Of them, seven “got at least two hits,” the magazine said, which highlighted the role of Yoan Moncada, a Major League baseball player (MLB, who hit 5-3 and boosted the advance of four other players to home). Moncada had been one of the most remarked on — along with Luis Robert Jr. — by the official media, which pointed out his poor performance in the matches against the Netherlands and Italy.

Despite the praise, the analysis of the game itself was more measured. The game was separated into two parts, according to journalist Renier González Jr., a contributor to Play-Off Magazine. Before the sixth inning, he said, the team reached the performance of the “last times,” with an “improved” selection that can compete.

Francys Romero highlighted the score of 4-4 achieved by outfielder Yadir Drake. The result placed him as the leader of Team Asere’s offensive. “He becomes the second Cuban player with 4 hits in a World Classic since Yoandy Garlobo (2006),” noted González, who said he was waiting for “other favorable results.” continue reading

At the end of the game at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, manager Alonso appeared before the media accompanied by MLB players Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr., to address the lack of results at the international level.

According to the coach, this “drought” is due to “the newest athletes at a level,” where “they are not very focused on what we want.” For Alonso, “there are baseball players who are young and perhaps do not have the mastery” of Major League players. That, he said, was the goal of the tour prior to the World Classic, in “that the boys saw throws that sometimes we don’t see in the National Series.”

The last time Cuba won a global title was in 2016, when it won the Under-15 World Cup. For this reason, the inclusion of players from international teams — especially from the MLB — has aroused the interest of thousands of followers.

Johnson put forward that they must win the confrontation with the Taiwan team and then wait for the results to see if they qualify for the next round. “The starter must be Elián Leyva. The lineup is going to be the same because, as they say, you don’t touch a winning line-up.”

The one victory that Cuba obtained this Thursday over Panama doesn’t seem enough to get excited about the classification, since this came after the comeback of Taiwan 11-7 against Italy. The Netherlands continues to lead group A of the World Classic (2-0), then Panama, Taiwan and Italy (1-1), with Cuba closing the list (1-2).

Now Cuba must win over Taiwan, but it depends above all on whether Italy continues to lose, whether the Netherlands continues to win and whether Cuba’s classification is defined against Taiwan or Panama. “All this, of course, is if Team Asere wins in its last challenge of the World Classic,” published Swing Completo.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuban Singer Leoni Torres Releases ‘Corazon Roto’, Salsa With an ‘Urban Touch’

Cuban singer Leoni Torres will release his next mini album at the end of April. (MS Agency)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 8 March 2023 — Cuban singer and songwriter Leoni Torres released on his digital platforms the video clip Corazón roto [Broken Heart], one of the songs that will be part of his next mini album, which will be premiered at the end of April.

The singer collaborated with Raúl del Sol, Ángel Pututi, Beatriz César, Alba María Espigares Herrero and Francisco Belisel Valdivia. The video, directed by Adrián Sánchez Ávila, has received more than 175,000 views on YouTube in its first seven days of release.

Torres pointed out that the album is “completely salsa” but with “an urban touch,” and it includes collaborations with music producer Arbise González, known by his stage name as “Motiff.” “This is a new stage in my musical life,” said the 44-year-old performer, who has recently maintained a critical attitude against the Cuban government due to the crisis on the Island.

The singer has six solo albums, in addition to collaborations with renowned artists outside the Island such as Pablo Milanés, Rosario Flores, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Beatriz Luengo, Pancho Céspedes, Willy Chirino, Carlos Varela, Kelvis Ochoa and Cimafunk.

In 2017, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (Ascap) gave him the award for Best Composition of Tropical Music for his song Traidora [Traitor], performed by Marc Anthony and Gente de Zona. continue reading

His song Alma cubana [Cuban Soul] was among the nominees for the Latin Grammys of 2021, in the category of Best Traditional Tropical Album. In 2022, he was also nominated for Canten [Sing], a tribute to Polo Montañez.

Since his debut on Billboard Tropical Songs, with his song Me quedo contigo [I’m Staying with You], the Cuban singer has performed several annual concerts at the James L. Knight Center in Miami and is one of the most popular singers currently on the Island.

In May 2021, Torres was the target of an intense social media campaign by State Security for his collaboration in the song Para mi viejo [For My Father] with singer Willy Chirino, although both musicians stated that the project “had nothing to do with politics or ideologies.”

A few weeks later, the singer also showed his support for the July 11 protests and wrote on social networks at that time: “Cubans fill the streets. It’s time to listen to your people!”

At the end of that year, Torres arrived in Miami with actress Yuliet Cruz and their two children, to “establish themselves for a long time.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Nancy Pena Denounced her Ex-Partner and He Killed Her Four Days Later

Nancy Peña, 49, was murdered by her ex-partner last Sunday at her home. (Facebook/Nancy Peña)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 9 March 9, 2023 — Nancy Peña’s is the first femicide recorded in Cuba in March. The 49-year-old woman was murdered by her ex-partner last Sunday at her home in the Alcides Pino People’s Council, in Holguín, according to CubaNet.

She herself, the independent newspaper documents, had published on social networks her fear that something would happen to her. “I feel threatened by a man,” Peña wrote on March 1, saying she wrote it “in case something happens to me,” since she had reported it to the police and the individual had not been arrested. “What a country I live in, that doesn’t care about the life of a Cuban citizen,” she lamented.

A friend of the victim told CubaNet that the killer, who used a knife and had previously assaulted Peña, waited for her son to leave the house to attack her, and that he also stabbed a neighbor who was talking to her. “Nancy was killed simply because she didn’t want to continue with him, as if he owned her, and the neighbor because he was unlucky enough to be there,” the source told the media.

So far in 2023, there have been 17 women killed at the hands of their partner, ex-partner or sexual aggressors, according to the reports on independent platforms and media, in the absence of official data.

On March 5, authorities reported the arrest of Liván Reinaldo Mora Pérez, accused of stabbing Vanelis Macola to death, on February 28, in the town of Tuinicú, in Sancti Spíritus. According to the official newspaper Escambray, the detainee had “multiple criminal offenses for the crimes of threat, injury, theft, rape, robbery with force, among others.”

At the beginning of this month, the organization Yo Sí Te Creo [Yes, I Believe You] in Cuba had identified Isabel Rodríguez Díaz as the victim of a femicide that took place  on February 11 in Camagüey. continue reading

On March 8, when International Women’s Day was commemorated around the world, the group of activists who planned to hold a peaceful demonstration had to protest in silence.

The National Assembly did not accept the letter sent to them by the women, and some of them were later harassed by State Security and detained. Two initiatives did take place: wearing a black ribbon on the wrist as a sign of mourning and a “virtual March” to continue asking the Government to protect women.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

The United States Offers 20 Scholarships to Promote Business Projects Led by Women in Cuba

According to Jiménez, the launch of the first AWE course on the Island caused a controversy, as several independent media accused the first promotion of seeking ways to leave the country. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 March 2023 — On Thursday, the US State Department launched the call for a free online entrepreneurship course promoted by the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE). It is the second time that this program has been launched in Cuba, with the support of the US Embassy in Havana, and its objective is to advise on “the development of business projects that are led by women.”

Twenty women from all over the Island, chosen by the Heroikka Association — a Spanish company dedicated to women’s “empowerment” — will enjoy the educational resources offered by AWE, the advice of mentors and communication with other women entrepreneurs through the “existing exchange programs.”

According to the call, AWE is part of the Initiative for Women’s Development and Global Prosperity, conceived by Washington so that 50 million women “around the world by 2025” can reach their “economic potential,” “stability, security and prosperity.” The application forms are open from March 7 to 28.

One of the beneficiaries of the first launch of the program, the entrepreneur and journalist from Villa Clara, Yinet Jiménez, posted a video at the end of 2022 about the characteristics of the AWE course and pointed out that the program would be carried out by the Thunderbird Business School in the United States, under a program called DreamBuilder.

Among the participants in the first course of AWE are project managers such as Humidores Duyos, which offers boxes for storing tobacco to embassies and companies, the El Bazar de Tito store, La Casa del Jabón, the Casa Dagda hostel, the Decoluz handmade lamp store and the audiovisual company Wajiros Films.

According to Jiménez, the launch of the first AWE course on the Island caused a controversy, since several independent media accused the participants in the first program of looking for ways to leave the country through the resources of the State Department, when the call specified that it was an online course. continue reading

In addition, AWE’s support was looked at with suspicion by the Cuban Government, which has limited the options of the private sector and closed numerous initiatives. Jiménez herself, who runs a YouTube channel and had a small advertising advisory agency, ended up going into exile in Montevideo, Uruguay, at the end of 2022.

Other U.S.-based institutions have offered opportunities to both Cubans living on the Island and exiles. This is the case of the Cuban American Alliance for Leadership and Education scholarship, also called Pinos Nuevos, which offers $10,000 to students born on the Island or descendants of Cubans for university studies.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

New Technology Professionals in Cuba at the Service of the State and Socialism

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 9 March 2023 — The tentacles of the Cuban communist regime extend to all areas of the economy and society. There is no space in Cuba that is not penetrated and controlled by the model devised by the so-called revolution. SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], for example, must be authorized by a political decision of the Ministry of Economy before advancing legally and administratively. Now, during the closing of the second general assembly of the Union of Computer Scientists of Cuba, Mayra Arevich, the Minister of Communications did the same with the group of computer professionals in the Union of Computer Scientists of Cuba, an entity of 7,000 members, among the youngest Cubans on the Island.

The ministry invaded the association’s jurisdiction, such as increasing membership or continuing alliances to support the management of territorial governments. This “accompaniment” of the ministry aims to control the organization of computer scientists, and it enters such specific areas as the training of members and citizens, in order to achieve “greater impacts on digital transformation.”

The minister even dared to point out what kinds of projects the organization should promote, and cited, for example, the 2022 Cuban Digital Agenda encouraging the training of local development agents, a kind of reissued “literacy campaign” that confirms that Fidel Castro’s grandchildren continue to deploy the same crazy initiatives as their grandfather. Then, they complain about the ’blockade’ [US Embargo] to justify the overall unproductivity of the system, but this is a good example: stay in your lane.

And all this interventionist apparatus of the ministry on the organization of computer scientists makes sense for the regime, to the extent that it contributes to promoting the digital government project. It is affirmed that, with this, it is possible to give greater opportunities to the citizenry in the development of a digital society. And here comes something amazing, because those opportunities must be based on the “construction of socialism and the fight against inequalities,” such as the digital divide. continue reading

The Castro regime mixes concepts in this way that are unrelated to each other: digitization, knowledge and socialism. Three legs for a table that will necessarily wobble, from the first moment.

It occurs to me that fighting the digital divide from Cuban socialism has a downside; that is, instead of developing the most advanced and innovative skills that exist in the field of new technologies, it is intended to extend literacy in basic skills, as was done in 1960; that is, to teach the four rules [Input, Processing, Storage and Output] and then, with the propaganda of the state press, tell everyone that In Cuba there are no digital breaches. And the bad thing about all this is that they believe it.

In reality, the Union of Computer Scientists has little to do to get out from under the clutches of the regime. And like the vast majority of organizations that barely survive in the Castro regime — I’m thinking of the ANAP [National Association of Small Farmers] — it will continue to play the same game of “support and commitment to continue supporting the revolutionary government in the process of digital transformation of society within socialism,” as recognized by Febles Estrada, president of the Union, before President Díaz-Canel, at the closing of the assembly of the organization at the Palacio de Convenciones.

That’s what the regime wants. Organizations aligned with their objectives to meet political goals that later end up being forgotten or openly violated. Everything else, which is really necessary, such as the professional and cultural growth of the members of the organization, takes a back seat. Obeying, from unity, is essential so that conflicts do not occur. It is not surprising that the assembly of computer scientists talked about voting together on March 26. I’m afraid that from now on we’re going to talk about this even at dinner.

At the same event, Díaz-Canel highlighted the importance of supporting the concept of the development of a digital society and knowledge. It must be evaluated positively, if we take into account that two or three years ago the concepts of computerization and digitization were confused, confirming a notable delay of the regime leadership on the subject of new technologies. It seems that they have been brought up to date, but the distance that Cuba maintains with respect to the technological challenges of the fourth industrial revolution is still remarkable.

And what would be the alternative for a really beneficial Union of Computer Scientists for Cuban society?

Let’s get to it with a few brief brushstrokes. Of course, computer professionals and new technologies are a source of creation for entrepreneurial projects that can generate business opportunities, not only in the present, but in the future.

The professional field of digitization services is advancing in all sectors in all countries and could pose opportunities for openness to foreign investment. The creation of startups of this type of services on the Island could serve to accumulate enough critical mass to generate more business projects, not only in the field of video games, but also in cybersecurity, the digitization of physical spaces, or telemedicine and the care of the elderly, among other things.

It would be a matter of betting on an international projection of the sector that would allow foreign capital to access concrete opportunities within the Island without state interference, at the same time that Cuban professionals are provided with exchanges with the outside world to advance in the creation of joint business projects.

In terms of training and qualification, we must also bet on the most advanced technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, intensifying exchanges with world-leading training centers. In short, the development of the sector should be coupled with a progressive consolidation of digital services in the economy, of course actively fighting against the digital divide and raising the level of the Cuban population and society, facilitated by initiatives for the structural transformation of the economy.

Have we seen anyone who in any of these initiatives needs a ministry or a government behind it for something? Not at all. This sector, that of new technologies, started in many countries in the garages of homes in the suburbs and with little capital. Talent is key, and in Cuba it exists. Unfortunately, the communist regime is not in favor of that kind of work. Its objectives do not go beyond mere alliances with Cuban civil society organizations, or with institutions such as the World Institute for Software Quality and Linux (free operating system), in addition to helping territorial development and little else. It’s an agenda for professionals of new technologies in Cuba controlled by the State and at the service of socialism.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuban Writer Xavier Carbonell Presents His Novel ‘Time’s Castaway’ in Madrid

The writer Xavier Carbonell and editor Luis Rafael Hernández in the Juan Rulfo bookshop in Madrid this Tuesday. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yaiza Santos, Madrid, 8 March 2023 – Xavier Carbonell (born in Camajuaní, Villa Clara, Cuba in 1995) is spurred on by the desire to distance himself from the most common themes of other living Cuban writers (the pain of being exiled from a place, the misery of being in another place) and aims, above all, for excellence in the use of language. And it’s precisely this which his second novel, Time’s Castaway (published in Spain by Verbum), has in common with his first, The End of the Game (del Viento; winner of the City of Salamanca prize) — although they are very different novels (one a detective novel, the other an adventure).

The author introduced the new book on Tuesday, at a presentation in Madrid in the Juan Rulfo bookshop. “The castaway never knows where he’s going but he’s very keen to survive or live as best he can. He doesn’t live with anxiety. The castaway’s attitude is the opposite of an exile’s because the castaway continually adapts to circumstances”.

Carbonell didn’t refer only to this novel, but he does define it as “a journey from the present into the island’s past”. In it, the protagonist, effectively a castaway, travels the Island geographically, but also historically”, towards the East, ironically emulating the journey of Fidel Castro’s ashes, which in its time was the inverse of the “Caravan of Liberty” of 1959.

He also talked about life. The image of a castaway is agreeable to him and it’s not by chance that his column in 14ymedio is called Castaways.

The novels that he writes, and the process of writing them, are, he confessed at the event, “little refuges” from circumstances: “a way of expressing oneself in code about the present”.

Actually, he first conceived of Time’s Castaway three years ago in India, where he’d travelled to spend six months studying, thanks to his work with the association Signis de comunicadores católicosBut at the end of the programme the sudden arrival of the pandemic left him stranded there. “What could I write about Cuba that didn’t just repeat either the usual creative option of exile nor the insular obsession with misery?”, he asked himself. The result was this novel, which, he assures us, was written in one great surge — inside a week. continue reading

The book’s editor Luis Rafael Hernández, there on the platform with the author, praised the “linguistic achievement” of the novel, which, in his words, “without being avant-garde, pays much homage to the avant-garde”, and he mentioned Alejo Carpentier and José Lezama Lima, in that regard.

When they received the novel at Verbum, he explained, “it felt to us like we needed to go for an author who was ambitious and who was doing something different and well crafted”.

The writer and literary critic Roberto González Echevarría undoubtedly agrees with him. From Yale University he has written a lavish prologue whose initial statements offer a strong foretaste for the reader: “The short novel that the reader has in their hands is the result of a flight of imagination of such high originality as has rarely been seen in Cuban literature, either recently, or indeed ever. This may sound overblown but I want to prepare the reader for a surprise as enjoyable as it is unexpected, a true aesthetic pleasure. Nothing of what has been published recently by Cuban or Latin American writers predisposes us for the dazzling originality of Time’s Castaway, the work of a young writer whom we are only just beginning to get to know”.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuba Will Host the Third Cycle of Peace Talks Between Colombia and the ELN

The members of the second cycle of negotiations of the Peace Dialogues Table between the Government of Colombia and the ELN pose for an official photograph in Mexico. (EFE/Jose Mendez)

14ymedio biggerEFE/14ymedio, Mexico, 8 March 2023 — Cuba will be the host country of the third phase of the Peace Talks Table between the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN), both parties reported this Wednesday, just a few days after the end of the current cycle that has been held in Mexico City since mid-February.

“The peace delegations of the Colombian government and the ELN deeply thank the Cuban government and its people for the unconditional willingness and fundamental support that, for more than four decades, they have given to peace building efforts in Colombia,” said a joint communiqué, which does not specify a date for the start of talks in Cuba.

They announced that “the third cycle will begin after a pause after the closing of the sessions that are currently taking place in Mexico City and that have produced substantial advances in the agenda of the conversations.”

During the talks in the Mexican capital, the key point has been to work to reach an agreement for a ceasefire by both parties, but mechanisms for the participation of society in the construction of peace have also been discussed. continue reading

It is expected that this Friday the delegations of the Government of Colombia and the ELN guerrilla forces will release a joint communiqué at the end of the cycle in Mexico City where they will present the achievements.

In an interview with EFE last Friday, the ELN’s chief negotiator, Pablo Beltrán, stressed that “confidence levels” had risen between both parties, but he was cautious about agreeing to a bilateral ceasefire.

“We aspire that in this cycle in Mexico we can at least mend the essence of the ceasefire. Not just an agreement, but the idea that each party puts on the table what the essential elements are and to come to a first package of consensus about that,” Beltrán said.

The Colombian government’s negotiations with the ELN began in 2017 in Quito, during the government of Juan Manuel Santos, and in 2018 they were transferred to Havana.

After the ELN’s attack against the cadet school in Bogotá in 2019, which left 22 dead and 68 injured , the Colombian government asked Cuba to hand over the negotiators, but the island invoked diplomatic protocols to not comply with that request.

Negotiations resumed in Caracas in 2022 under the auspices of Cuba, Norway and Venezuela as guarantor countries.

Mexico, together with Venezuela, Chile, Norway and Brazil are guarantors of the peace talks, while Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Spain act as accompanying countries.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

In Cuba, Rising Prices and a Falling Peso Lead to Growing Popularity of Bill Counting Machines

A money counter, still in its original packaging, with its shiny “teeth” and new buttons, costs more than one that has been recycled, or surreptitiously removed from a bank. (Facebook/Máquinas contadoras de dinero)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, March 10, 2023 — Pablo, a Mexican businessman with an invitation to the Cuban Habano Cigar Festival, got more than he bargained for during his first trip to the island. Ready to enjoy a luxurious, weeklong vacation, Creole cuisine and the world’s best cigars, he boarded the plane with more than 2,000 dollars stashed in his wallet. Upon arriving in Havana, he headed to the airport’s currency exchange office, handed over all his cash, and got back wads and wads of Cuban pesos. His pockets are still feeling the pain.

“I needed a bag to carry it all,” he tells 14ymedio, still exhausted from his Cuban adventure. Pablo flew to the island with three friends and checked into a hostel at which he had, fortunately, already made a reservation.

Famished, they set out in search of a privately owned restaurant in Old Havana. What they found was a disconnect between the “mountain of cash” they had been given at the airport and the restaurant’s shockingly high prices. “When I took out a wad of bills to pay the tab,” he recalls, “the waiter raised his eyebrows and came back with a counting machine.”

To the Mexican tourists’ surprise, money counting machines have become increasingly common in Cuba. “There are lots of them for sale,” the hostel’s owner told them upon their return. continue reading

Rising prices combined with a falling peso and a shortage of large denomination bills have contributed to the rising popularity of these machines, which are listed for sale on the island’s online classified ad sites.

“Bill counting machine for 260 dollars, with ultraviolet counterfeit detector,” reads one futurist-sounding ad. “Brand-new machine, still in the box. Be the first to use it,” reads another, which is accompanied by a video.

Its spinning wheels emit a clear, efficient sound as the faces of Calixto Garcia or Carlos Manuel de Cespedes zip through the the mechanical counter and a digital screen displays the total. “It never fails,” claims one ad.

Other, more sophisticated sellers do not focus on the price but look for the most flattering angles from which to photograph the device. A counter in its original box, with shiny “teeth” and new buttons, costs more than one that has been recycled, or surreptitiously removed from a bank. Every transaction in Cuba requires a large amount of cash, another consequence of the infrequent use of credit cards and other forms of virtual payments. “I bought eight of the big machines and didn’t pay more than $200 apiece,” admits one wealthy private business owner.

Inflation has dashed the dreams of tourists like Pablo, who thought he could have a luxurious vacation for a reasonable price but had to settle for the low-cost version. He and his friends did manage to buy a few cigars at the Habano Festival but, by the time they got there, he was already disgusted and in a bad mood.

“I thought it had a very elitist air,” he says, remembering how officials, dressed in suits or guayaberas, strutted through the convention center with thick cigars in their mouths, accompanied by their bodyguards.

“Worst of all was the closing night event. President Díaz-Canel and other government officials were there, all dressed up,” he says. The climax came when it was it was time to auction the humidors, the cedar boxes used for storing the cigars. One had been signed by the president, for which one buyer paid a whopping 4.2 million dollars. “Or so they said,” adds a dubious Pablo, who found something strange about the transaction, wondering whether the Chinese or Russian millionaire who bought the piece even existed. “It had to be another ruse,” he figured, chastened by his experience at the airport.

He returned to Mexico disheartened, unable to get the sound of the counting machines he heard in every restaurant out of his head. “My friends and I decided we’d try to trade the cigars we bought for non-Cuban ones,” he says. “It won’t be easy but the whole experience left us disgusted. Like the song says, I won’t be going back.”

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