Cuba Acknowledges It Will Not be Able to Fulfill its Sugar Export Agreements

A cane worker in the a sugarcane crop in Madruga, Mayabeque. (EFE / Ernesto Mastrascusa)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — The state group Azcuba announced this Wednesday that “it will not be able to fulfill its international commitments” after one of the worst harvests in the country’s history, which will mainly affect China.

The director of communications, Dionis Pérez, insisted in a press conference that, however, “the delivery of sugar to all Cubans is guaranteed,” as the official press reported in May. At that time it was reported that only 53% of the initial forecast was produced, although yesterday, before the international press, he did not add more data.

According to the plan presented in December before the National Assembly, the forecast was that the harvest would reach 911,000 tons, of which 500,000 were destined for internal consumption and the remaining 411,000 tons had to be exported.

With the available data, 473,720 tons would have been produced: completely insufficient to even cover the national demand.

China is one of the main export markets for Cuban sugar, with an agreement through which the Asian country buys 400,000 tons a year from the island, according to official data.

Pérez admitted at the press conference that “the sector is in crisis” and mentioned the lack of fuel and fertilizers, the poor condition of the sugar mills where the raw materials and machinery are processed, as well as the delay in the start of the harvest and the rains. continue reading

“No sugarcane mill started up in November,” said the Azcuba official in a meeting with journalists at the headquarters of the business group to present an international congress on sugar and derivatives scheduled for June 20-24 in Havana.

The official added that they registered 20 critical boilers, of the 89 that ground cane in the last contest and “only 60% of the transport could be used due to lack of resources.”

He also pointed out the financial factor, among “the most influential, due to the economic blockade of the United States.” Of the 35 sugar mills that participated in the harvest, which ended on May 20, only three fulfilled their production plan.

The sugar industry, a sector classified as “strategic” for the island’s economy, has been going through a crisis for several years with production reduced to just over a million tons.

In the 2020-2021 period, when 38 mills in the country ground the cane, only 66% of the planned production of 1.2 million tons of sugar was reached.

Cuba had 156 operating factories in 1959, which in that year produced 5.6 million tons of sugar and later rose to 8 million in the best harvests, between 1970 and 1989.

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Appeals of July 11th Sentences in La Guinera Leave High Prison Sentences Despite Reductions of up to 10 Years

Trial against the demonstrators of 11J in La Güinera, held between January 17 and 18. (Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 15 June 2022 — The Supreme People’s Court (TSP) of Cuba has applied very significant reductions to the sentences of a group of convicts who appealed after being sentenced for the (11J (July 11th) demonstrations in the Havana neighborhood of La Güinera. The resolution, according to Diario de Cuba, provides for reductions of between 7 and 10 years in prison, but given the severity of the sanctions, those affected will continue to have to spend many years in prison.

None of those who appealed were acquitted or released.

Wilmer Moreno, sentenced to 26 years in prison, must serve 18 after the reduction; Roberto Pérez Ortega goes from 25 to 17; and Walnier Aguilar, from 23 to 12. Luis Frómeta Compte, a German national who was visiting Cuba on 11J, also maintains a high sentence. Although he obtained a reduction of 10 years, he will have to spend 15 in prison — compared to the initial 25 — and despite the fact that the ruling indicates that he did not commit violent acts, but “incited the protesters.” continue reading

Other reductions are those of Katia Beirut, Freddy Beirut, Odet Hernández and Reinier Reynosa, convicted of recording the marches and “calling others to demonstrate.” Their sentences, between 20 and 18 years, were reduced to 10 or 9 years.

The Court, according to the newspaper, indicates that the harshness of the sentences lies in the fact that “although they did not directly carry out the violent acts that are described, their tacit will is unequivocally confirmed by joining the events and inciting the rest of the inhabitants of that locality to join and exercise force against the local authorities, as happened, in addition to making films and uploading them to the networks with the same purposes.”

In addition, and with regard to the crime of sedition that was applied to several convicted for the protests in this humble neighborhood of Havana, they add: “The acts committed by the accused constitute a direct disapproval of the goals of the socialist State, since both in the Constitution of the Republic in its Article 45, as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations Organization, limits are established to the exercise of the rights of the people, provided that they do not affect the rights of others, nor collective security, general welfare, respect for public order, the Constitution and the laws.”

The sentences imposed on the protesters in La Güinera were made public in March, along with those of those who protested at the Toyo corner. In total, 129 people were included in six files and only one was exonerated. The rest received sentences totaling 1,916 years in prison.

The only fatality reported by the authorities, Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, was shot in the back by a police officer in this humble neighborhood of Havana.

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Cuba and Venezuela Advocate Accelerating Procedures for the use of Russian Bank Cards

The authorities expect the Russian MIR payment system to start operating in Cuba before the end of the year. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow, 16 June 2022 — This Thursday in St. Petersburg, leaders of the central banks of Cuba and Venezuela advocated the acceleration of procedures for the use of Russian MIR bank cards in their countries, after the American Visa and MasterCard suspended their operations in Russia and thus prevented Russians from paying with their cards abroad.

“We are working now for the acceptance of MIR cards in our country,” said Alberto Quiñones, general director of Systems, Technologies and Development of the Central Bank of Cuba during the Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.

Quiñones, who attended the debate “New forms of international cooperation; What will the payment be like,” trusted that in the coming weeks the necessary steps will be taken so that the MIR payment system begins to function in Cuba before the end of the year. continue reading

MIR cards are currently accepted in Turkey, Vietnam and six former Soviet republics.

Calixto José Ortega Sánchez, president of the Central Bank of Venezuela, also spoke in favor of the acceptance of the Russian payment system in that Latin American country, along with the systems of other countries, such as Turkey.

“We can no longer delay it any longer,” said Ortega, who added that otherwise the Western “monopoly” will win, which could be used as a “weapon” when the time comes.

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Protest Breaks Out at the University of Camaguey After More Than 10 Hours Without Electricity

Officials tried to appease residents who protested Tuesday night. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2022 — After more than 10 hours without power, the residents of the central campus of the Ignacio Agramonte University, in Camagüey, exploded this Tuesday night in a protest that circulated through social networks and led to the intervention of the center’s management, even to the point of restoring the service.

According to different sources, last night’s blackout was part of the power cuts programmed due to the country’s precarious energy situation, and it was compounded by faults in the circuit that increased the usual time that the power was out. But in addition, the cuts are affecting the water supply and the residents cannot even bathe. Around 7 pm yesterday, the students couldn’t take it anymore and rushed to the door of the building, shouting for the electricity to be restored.

The First Vice Chancellor, Julio Madera Quintana, and other university authorities went to the scene to talk with the students and by around 11 p.m. the protest had calmed down after the electricity service was restored.

continue reading

After the videos circulating on social networks with the demands of the residents, who sang loudly “turn on the current, pinga*” and “water and current,” professors and officials of the University Student Federation (FEU) and the Young Communist League ( UJC) made an effort to show images of the venue with light, adding that everything was calm after maintaining a constructive dialogue with the students. In some cases, the “counterrevolution” was even accused of using the protest to “manipulate” and “distort” what happened.

Several students affirmed that the protest had no political overtones and that they were simply tired of not having the most basic supplies available, but the networks continued to be abuzz with comments about it and the discomfort is far from appeasing.

“It really is disrespectful that we scholarship students have to go to other places outside the residence to be able to bathe or simply wash our mouths because we don’t have water to be able to do everyday things. We waste time and time lost is money, time where we won’t be able to study,” protested a resident.

“We are asking to live with more dignity. I am a witness of the 15 hours without power and the days without water, today not even to drink,” claimed another.

The residents of Camagüey, aware of how they are experiencing the last few weeks without electricity, supported the protest with a multitude of messages. “This is how an entire country is: unmotivated, tired and fatigued by widespread misery. I’ve had a blackout for 11 hours today!” Said an Internet user.

“If they don’t make a scandal, they leave them like this. We’re already going for 14 hours,” said another.

A few hours earlier, President Miguel Díaz-Canel had made reference to the “difficult economic situation” affecting the country at a party meeting in which he spoke about inflation, shortages and energy problems.

“The blackouts are going to continue in the coming days,” insisted the president, who last month had said that by the end of May the situation would have improved. “The precision with which we report the programming of these blackouts and the speed with which we are able to warn of any unforeseen situation that occurs is important, so that people have the ability to maneuver and reorder their lives,” he said.

“In the midst of such an adverse situation, it would be irresponsible to say that the results are going to come suddenly, but what we are sure of is that the results, even if they are slow, are going to come because a lot of work is being done,” the president promised. which, however, did nothing more than call for voluntarism without proposing practical solutions.

The president once again blamed US sanctions for all the problems affecting the country. “We can assure our people that what this whole situation is most caused by today is the intensification of the [American] blockade [in reality, the embargo], which remains permanent, remains untouchable. These damages are not caused by negligence, or carelessness, or because there is an intention to annoy or not attend to every problem,” he said.

But the reactions to the news of the protests in Camagüey reveal that the official discourse no longer resonates with the population as intended.

“They do not realize that their mechanisms are obsolete, that the system has not just started because it is not putting a heart into it, it is putting a brain in it, which has been missing for a long time. And it will be expanding throughout the Island. The most illiterate can see that. You cannot live in miserable conditions in which those up there enjoy perks and throw parties at full speed. Understand that the youth is in charge and wants to advance. Not with the guidance of the dinosaurs who think of the cold war and left their heart and the brain in the 20th century. And with the heat as it is, plus the scarcity or total absence of products… That is the perfect formula that you, and nobody else, have created. The fuse was the ’Ordering Task’**, which the Americans didn’t bring,” commented a reader of the university media, Alma Mater.

Translator’s notes:
*’Pinga’ is literally an obscenity meaning ’penis’ — in this context substitute your own preferred English obscenity for exclamations such as this.
**Tarea ordenamiento = the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ is a collection of measures that include 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 a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy. 

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“Autonomy at the Expense of an Empty Pot: No,” Claims Cuban Amelia Calzadilla

Amelia Calzadilla in her second video, published this Sunday, hours before her summons to the local government headquarters. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2022 — When a Cuban explodes in the networks, upset about things that happen in his country, he can find himself with a problem similar to Amelia Calzadilla’s, the 31-year-old from Havana, who last week made a live video complaining about the high prices of electricity and the daily hardships she faces to feed her children. Her diatribe went viral, and she has an appointment at the local Cerro Government headquarters this Monday. But that’s not the worst of it. At the moment, the regime has targeted her over the weekend, insinuating, as usual, that she is being financed by someone, in a clear allusion of a source abroad.

After being singled out by Iroel Sánchez in Cubadebate and by the official troll Guerrero Cubano, who amused himself by analyzing elements of Calzadilla’s home which, in his opinion, is a symptom of having money, the young woman has exploded again in an almost 30-minute message published this Sunday, in which she insists that it was never her intention to talk about politics, nor has she asked for a change in the system, nor a coup d’état. “I was not talking about my political ideology. Have I ever stated what my political position is? No. My political position is to be a mother,” she maintains.

In this sense, she insists that she would be very sad if Cuba lost its autonomy. “But not autonomy at the expense of an empty pot” she adds.

Calzadilla summarizes the last days since her video became popular. Members of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Ministry of Internal Trade were at her house to talk about the high prices of electricity and the shortage of gas, without which you cannot cook. Apparently, all of them listened to her carefully and conveyed their support, but after that, the accusations against her started.

The young woman asserts that anyone can verify, and even demands that it be made public, that she barely has $1.70 in her freely convertible currency card, about 180 Cuban pesos, and that she has received two recharges on her phone, nothing more. She has also asked all the people who have reached out to her on Facebook to offer their help by posting their messages stating that she has rejected any proposal. continue reading

Visibly upset, Calzadilla claims responsibility for the things that she owns, not only because of the scrutiny she has been subjected to, but because she considers it an infamy that Cubans are trying to be influenced into believing that a simple lamp or a ring sold by a self-employed person are luxuries. “In the rest of the world this is worth nothing. The people of Cuba do not fully understand that a ceiling lamp is worth much, that these are not luxuries, that these are necessities I do not have to justify.” The young woman has even been accused of visiting El Tropicana night club.

“Is that a luxury? It’s a cabaret founded before the Revolution for Cubans of all periods and all epochs, always. It’s not for foreigners, it’s not for millionaires. There are no millionaires in Cuba, right? Don’t they say that? Why can’t I go?” She protests bitterly.

Calzadilla attacks the Party officials who have not been willing to stop this wave of disrepute that is chasing her and that is costing her parents, both elderly and with pathologies, as well as their children, who have to go to school this Monday with the stigma about their mother. In addition, since she began to circulate her video, the internet has been cut off and she has to connect through third parties, and this Monday the problems could increase after her “interview.” “Maybe it’s to talk about gas or maybe to arrest me, even though I haven’t committed a crime. Where is my crime? I ask you to expose them. I’m telling you that you can check my account statements, go check,” she states.

“Maybe it’s to talk about gas or maybe to arrest me, although I haven’t committed a crime. Where is my crime? I ask that you expose them”

Calzadilla again charges against a government that has been and continues to be incapable of solving citizens problems, despite the fact that she emphasizes that her children are among the most fortunate to receive money from their family who lives abroad, but also emphasizes that sometimes it is impossible, even if she has a few pesos, to buy products that are simply not available in Cuba or, when they are found, it is in hard-currency stores.

The young woman also tells that when she has had problems and has gone to complain to the indicated agencies, the workers, who are also ordinary Cubans, tell her they regret they cannot do anything for her. “In the chicken line, in the bakery line, in the bus line or in the medical consulting clinic… You hear people complaining, but those people do not have the courage to later complain the way I did.  I did not fabricate or orchestrate anything; however, they want to fabricate a story against me,” she insists.

Calzadilla attacks those who have defamed her within the ruling party, and declares that they are not very brave, since they have not even phoned her or looked her in the face to tell her what they were going to say about her before doing so. In addition, she insists that when she’s done with everything she will withdraw from social networks, but first, she thanks those who have supported her because she acknowledges that she has never felt alone.

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US Will Resume the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program This Summer

The United States Embassy in Havana. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Havana, 10 June 2022 — The United States reported that it will resume the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP) for Cubans, and the equivalent program for Haitians (HFRP), this summer.

In a statement issued this Thursday, the same day that the Washington Embassy in Havana announced the imminent expansion of procedures at that diplomatic headquarters, the Department of National Security explains that the decision is part of the search for “safe and orderly alternatives to irregular migration and its many dangers and indignities.”

The CFRP, says the institution, established in 2007 “provides a safe and orderly path” to US territory for “Cuban beneficiaries of approved immigrants based on the family.” The document allows a person to travel to the United States and present themself there before an immigration authority to apply for asylum.

“Both the Cuban and Haitian people are facing a humanitarian crisis and our policy is focused on empowering people to help them create a future free of repression and economic suffering,” the federal agency said in its statement, made public on the same day as the closing day of the IX Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, where President Joe Biden declared that illegal immigration “is not acceptable.” continue reading

Days earlier, Brian Nichols, US undersecretary for Latin America, had asserted that his country was exploring “agreements to curb migratory flows on the continent.”

The Island is suffering a drain on human capital through an unprecedented exodus, especially since the agreement between the presidents Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, signed at the end of November, to allow “free visas” for Cubans traveling to Nicaragua. The Central American country immediately became the springboard to reach the United States by land.

From last October to April, 114,000 Cubans have arrived in the United States, according to figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office, and it is estimated that after one year’s time, the numbers will far exceed the 125,000 of the Mariel exodus in 1980.

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Central Havana Building on the Verge of Collapse Has Its Facade Removed

It has been obvious for some time that the building has barely been able to hold itself up. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, June 14, 2022 — Stoicism seems to be a trait the residents of Central Havana have been forced to adopt. Accustomed to living among ruins, they barely notice when a building is facing imminent collapse, as has been the case for one on San Lazaro Street between Gervasio and Escobar. The building began to be vacated on Tuesday in advance of its partial demolition.

It has been obvious for some time that the structure is held together by little more than sewing pins. After the street was closed that morning without notice, the brave souls still living in the building began slowly leaving their homes, carrying their meager belongs away in bags, believing they had to look for somewhere new.

They had been surprised by the sudden, unexplained announcement that the building was to be demolished and quickly began packing their things. They were even more surprised to learn that, in reality, only the facade was to be demolished and that, once the work was complete, they would be able to move into the rear part of the structure. The six apartments that make up the building are wide and deep but their inhabitants will have to isolate themselves if they want to avoid seeing the sad ruins of what was once the visible face of their dwellings.

“It’s a shame. These windows are very valuable. Someone should pay the bulldozer to set them aside,” observes one of the many onlookers as the last person to leave the building shuts the door before the wrecking crew begins its work. continue reading

From the balcony of the building next door, a woman calmly leans out to watch the goings-on. Though the neighboring buildings are in no better shape than the one about to be demolished, few people seem alarmed by the constant threat of a roof collapse or the prospect that their building could be the next to come down. The falling rubble of the partially collapsed building is enough to make floors tremble, threatening weaker structures nearby.

A few yards away in a line for sausages, people can be heard chatting. Life goes on.

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The UN Asks Cuba to ‘Punish Those Responsible for Child Abuse’ on July 11 (11J)’

The Committee urges accountability against those who used force in the detention of minors on June 11. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, June 10, 2022 — The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urges the Cuban State to review the penalties imposed on minors “declared guilty of exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly in the context of the July 2021 protests.” This is one of the conclusions of the periodic report carried out by this body, based in Geneva, which was issued this Thursday.

In the 14-page document, the UN expresses its concern about several issues since the 11J demonstrations, which are mentioned again in the section on rights violations and torture. Although the committee considers that, in general terms, Cuba doesn’t have problems of this type, “it is very concerned about the complaints received about abuse and ill-treatment during the arrests of children and adolescents that occurred as a result of the protests of 2021.” For this reason, the report urges not only to investigate them, but also to “identify, prosecute and punish those responsible (…) and offer reparation” to the victims.

Freedom of association and peaceful assembly are also of concern to the UN, which considers that the rights of minor political activists and their children are severely restricted. In addition, focusing again on 11j, it highlights that some, “just 13 years old, were violently detained, stolen from their homes during the night without their families being informed of their whereabouts, held incommunicado and transferred to different facilities for lengthy interrogations after participating in the protests. Some of them, it emphasizes, continue to be deprived of their liberty, and the committee is concerned about the “criminal prosecution” of these children under the age of 18, several of whom are sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison for exercising their rights peacefully.

For all these reasons, the Government is urged to put an end to arbitrary restrictions and the criminalization of the right of assembly, in addition to taking measures to prevent the excessive use of force and allow minors to freely associate. continue reading

The Committee considers it positive that the age of criminal responsibility is 16 years and not less, as is the case in some countries, but this doesn’t prevent it from recommending an end to the preventive detention of minors, reducing their sentences and establishing a better system of access to justice, which must comply with the norm. They also call for the acceleration of the juvenile penal system, so that appeals, “in particular those for surveillance and detention” linked to 11J are rapidly reviewed and completed.

Beyond the repression of protests, which are new in this period’s report, the document focuses on some other issues. One of them is linked to forced separations from the family due to “international missions.”

The text calls for the amendment of article 135 of the Criminal Code, in order to eliminate obstacles to family reunification, which provides for penalties of between three and eight years in prison for “the public official or employee in charge of carrying out a mission in another country who abandons it or, having completed it and required at any time to return, refuses.”

In addition, and it’s symptomatic, the UN is concerned about the “negative effects” on children whose mothers have been deprived of liberty and urges the Government to look for alternatives for internment of pregnant women and mothers of children.

On another matter, the Committee’s concern about the nutrition problems of Cuban minors is noted. In the midst of a terrible shortage of food products of all kinds, ranging from animal proteins to dairy fats, fruits and meats, and beginning to affect even beans, traditionally used to assuage hunger, the UN warns that despite positive state policies concerning children’s health, the high and growing rate of iron deficiency, as well as childhood obesity, attributed to poor nutrition and excess sugar, is beginning to be very worrying.

In the same section, maternal and child health (PAMI) programs are praised, but strengthening the prevention of prenatal deaths and “promptly addressing the shortage of medical supplies and personnel to care for children” is recommended.

In the last two years, Cuba has worsened in these indicators, which have been partially influenced by the pandemic, but also by the abandonment of programs due to lack of funding and the flight of doctors, which affects the country. Thus, and although the island maintains good rates in relation to the continent, some provinces have higher infant mortality data than other globally worse countries, such as Mexico or El Salvador. Ciego de Ávila, in particular, is the worst, with a rate of 13.8 babies deceased per thousand births in 2021, almost double the island’s average, with 7.6 per thousand.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Medical Supplies Donated by US Associations Close to the Regime Arrive in Cuba

Puentes de Amor and Code Pink sent material to Cuba for liver transplants. (Twitter)

14ymedio biggerEFE/14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2022 — US groups connected to the Cuban government sent a donation of medical supplies, which arrived this Sunday, for liver transplants for eight children, according to the state press.

The products that make up the donation were purchased with $25,000 raised, according to Cuban-American Carlos Lazo, manager of the Puentes de Amor [Bridges of Love] project, who traveled with the leader of Code Pink, the American Medea Benjamin, as well as with other activists from those organizations.

Lazo said that the laws that regulate the economic embargo that the US has applied to Cuba for six decades prohibit the acquisition of these products through the market between the two countries, according to the Cuban agency Prensa Latina.

“The pressure we are putting on the United States Congress and the White House is aimed at trying to end the blockade imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years,” said activist Medea Benjamin.

She also pointed out that as long as this objective is not achieved “the most important effort will be aimed at continuing to help in the donation of syringes, food, medicines, and continue fighting to end the blockade.” continue reading

The acquisition of medical supplies is one of the exemptions from the embargo, under the same conditions as food. “The United States routinely authorizes the export of humanitarian goods, agricultural products, medicines and medical equipment to support the Cuban people. In 2019, the United States exported millions of dollars of medical products” to the Island, according to then Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, Michael Kozak, speaking in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic.

The condition is that Cuba must pay in advance for the purchase and in cash, a practice that is unusual in international trade, as Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez has pointed out on several occasions, but through which tons of products are regularly purchased.

This donation is added to others received on the island in previous months sponsored by US associations and foundations and from Cubans living in the United States.

Since last year Cuba has received donations of medical supplies and basic food from Russia, China, Mexico, Japan, Nicaragua, Vietnam, among other countries, from both governments and private groups.

Last year the country received 135 donations from 40 countries, mostly medical supplies and equipment for immunization and the fight against the pandemic, according to official data.

Cuba has been going through a serious crisis for months due to the combination of the covid-19 pandemic, the tightening of the US economic, financial and commercial embargo and problems in national macroeconomic management.

Last week, the authorities prevented the entry of the American journalist Anthony DePalma to the Island. The writer also had two suitcases loaded with medicines for his friends from Guanabacoa, Havana, which inspired him to write his book The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times.
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The Cuban ‘Man With the Flag’ Gets a House in Tampa Thanks to Solidarity

Daniel Llorente outside the house that an American offered him for a while. (Courtesy)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 June 2022 — Daniel Llorente’s life has changed in the last 48 hours. At least a little, and enough. An American who read the story about him in the Tampa Bay Times has offered him a roof where he can stay for a while, at least while he sells the house he has offered to the “man with the flag,” with whom he spoke this Wednesday 14ymedio.

“Right now I’m having difficulty paying rent. In the US, gasoline has risen incredibly and with it rent, products, everything,” explains Llorente, by telephone, from Tampa. The Cuban managed to work a series of informal jobs when he had been in the United States for a month and, as soon as he had some savings, he agreed with a friend, also from the Island, to buy half a car. “In this country you really need a car to get around. I thought that having one would give me the opportunity to have a job, while rent would not, so with this friend of mine we thought we would buy it together.”

The vehicle cost $12,000 that they could pay off in two years, but his friend backed out due to family reasons. “They asked him to send money to Cuba and he no longer wanted to take responsibility.” Now, Llorente spends all his money to pay off that loan.

With his car he went to the Good Samaritan Inn, the guest house where he hoped to be able to sleep with other tenants for $130 a week, as he told the Florida newspaper. The place is run by a Cuban-American, explains Llorente to 14ymedio, so, although it was full when he arrived, the man was sensitive to his situation and offered him to let him sleep as long as he needed in an armchair in the lobby that is used occasionally in those cases.

“I was there three nights, but on the fourth, one of the workers tells me I have to go.” Explanations were useless and the employee, according to Llorente, refused to talk to his boss. In addition, he suddenly received the rejection of other lodgers who until that day had not been bothered by his presence in the common space. “That’s why I sleep in the car now,” he says, still in the present. The Wednesday night was the first in his “new house.” continue reading

Daniel Llorente left Cuba in May 2019, two years after he stormed the Plaza de la Revolución during the May Day parade carrying an American flag and shouting “freedom.” His career earned him an arrest that kept him in prison for a month and a year in the Psychiatric Hospital of Havana, known as Mazorra. However, he confesses to 14ymedio that he does not regret that “performance” at all — as he describes the action — and whose objective was, he says, that the United States Government “pay attention to God’s message.”

After those events, State Security harassed him until they managed to get him to leave the island. “They told me that I had two options: I would leave Cuba or they would send me to prison. I told them that they should make the decision, and a week later they went to look for me at my house so that I would accompany them, because they were going to send me out of the country, and that’s what happened.”

Llorente left with his son from Guyana on May 2, 2020 and on his journey, he says, he had incidents in three countries. The first arose in Venezuela, where they were stranded for ten days, although it was, unexpectedly, the easiest to resolve. On one occasion, the Police stopped them and took 100 dollars from them, and then they had another run-in, this time with State Security. “I have to admit that they did not treat us badly, neither me nor my son and another Cuban with whom we were traveling, they treated us with great respect, even more so knowing that it was the Venezuelan State Security, which we know is linked to the from Cuba.” According to his version, the officer told him that Maduro himself had asked that they be treated well.

The Darién jungle, between Colombia and Panama, was the worst part of the road. “We stayed two days. The boat that transports the migrants normally follows a route that does not include the crossing of the strait through which they passed us. But that day they risked it. Then we were attacked by the Colombian coast guard, who fired a shot and everything and broke the engine. They didn’t hit anyone, but it was crazy,” he adds.

The last inconvenience came in Mexico, where the Police detained them twice and asked them for money under threat of deportation. Llorente says that he explained to them who he was, that he had been expelled from Cuba and that they could not do that. Finally, everything turned out to be a big scare and he was able to fulfill his goal of reaching the United States, where he has been waiting for the resolution of his asylum request for a year.

Llorente, a man of very strong religious beliefs, believes that faith is what will bring down the regime. “In the future I see a free Cuba, but Cubans need to have faith. It is important to understand that there is a saying that says that those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it, and we Cubans have to learn it.”

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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.

Who Rules in Cuba Today?

The president of the Supreme Court of Cuba, Rubén Remigio Ferro, together with that of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel. (Granma)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 15 June 2022 — It has been the reading of El tirano, el oficial y el cuerpo de lobos [The tyrant, the official and the wolf pack] by colleague Carlos Manuel Álvarez, which has motivated me to write this text, which neither argues nor attempts to add anything to his article, but I feel obliged to recognize the source of inspiration.

Neither history, nor mythology, nor even the imagination are really useful to answer the question of who is in charge in Cuba today. And I say today, because in the time between 1959 and 2006 it was clear that the one who ruled in Cuba was a single person who answered to the name of Fidel Castro.

The position of premier, that of president of the Councils of State and of Ministers, that of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and any other were only important, in the period of time indicated, because they were held by Fidel Castro; or to put it another way, those positions did not make him important, but it was he who gave relevance to the position.

But today is another thing. continue reading

When the results of the Tarea Ordenamiento [Ordering Task*] or the 63 medidas [63 measures] to solve the problem of agriculture are serenely evaluated; when reading the resolutions of the Ministry of Internal Trade to achieve “a better distribution of basic products to the population,” or when listening to official information on the generation of electricity, any person who does not suffer from a pathology that clouds their understanding will have to come to the conclusion that the country is run by a team of incompetents.

However, it moves, or what is the same thing, the incapable remain in their posts. And this is possible due to the conjunction of two powers: the police and the judicial. Of course, in Cuba there is no “division of powers,” so that when the repressive forces catch an individual who is “non-conformist’ with the Government (with the incompetent) and present him before the courts accused of sedition or collaboration with the enemy, it is as if the accused of a horrendous crime were placed in the hands of the victim’s relatives.

This is not how Justice works, because the one who judges has to be a third party, alien to the one who accuses and the accused.

And what does this have to do with the question of who is in charge in Cuba today?

Well, it has to do with it, in the sense that the dissatisfied cannot express themselves, not even express themselves against the incapable ones who govern, because once they fall under the gaze of the repressors, the citizen automatically passes to the category of guilty in front of the courts.

It is evidence of a triangle apparently formed by the incapable who govern, the repressors who persecute the nonconformists and the courts that condemn those who oppose it. But geometry does not have all the answers. Something is missing here.

Could it be true that above all the visible framework of the incapable who govern expressed in a single party, a ministerial group and a docile parliament, the interests of a family clan predominate?

If so, the obedience of the repressive apparatuses to persecute the nonconformists and that of the courts to convict them, following the guidelines of those who govern, would be due to an intermediary that is dark as it is invisible.

That powerful and mysterious instance, oblivious to the sufferings of the people, who surely despises those who entertain themselves by dictating laws and who half trusts the guardians dedicated to repressing, does not seem to be interested in anything other than accumulating wealth to enjoy the obscene attributes of power. They neither govern nor repress, because those tasks seem unworthy of their high status.

So then: Who rules today in Cuba?

The foreman (the incompetent rulers) commands, at the service of the master (the family clan) and for that he uses the repressors (State Security) and the judicial apparatus.

The people should command along the paths that the Constitution offers them by defining them as sovereign, but when those paths have been assaulted by usurpers then the people find other ways to command.

*Translator’s notes: Tarea ordenamiento = the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ is a collection of measures that include 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 a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy. 

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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.

Avocados Cost Almost a Dollar, Another ‘Green’ Unattainable for Cubans

The price of avocados is making a fruit previously present on most Cuban tables unattainable. (Martina Badini)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 15 June 2022 — It is green and unattainable for most Cubans, but this is not about the dollar. Like every summer, the avocado returns to the island’s markets, but this summer its price has doubled compared to the previous year. Where before one fruit cost between 40 and 50 pesos, now it costs between 80 and 100, an increase that keeps it from appearing on the tables of many households.

The rains of May mark the beginning of the avocado season on the Island. “Those downpours are what give it the touch. Although before that you can find some plants that have already ripened, it’s better to eat them when they are more flavorful,” a customer pointed out this Monday while examining the offerings from a cart vendor in Centro Habana.

“But it seems that this time the rains have been golden, because the avocado is very expensive,” said a buyer, sarcastically, finally deciding to buy one still a little hard, “not for today, it still needs to ripen but the ripe ones cost 90 pesos and I prefer to pay ten less even if I have to wait to eat it until tomorrow or the day after.” Behind him, a woman who was asking about the price winced at the number and turned away with her empty bag.

Although in Europe and other countries with a colder climate, the avocado is seen almost as a luxury, the abundance of trees in Cuba, the advantages of the climate and the cultivation tradition have made it a product as common on tables as apples or oranges are in other geographies.

“The avocado makes a meal, but now it’s unaffordable,” pointed out another customer at the agricultural market on 19th and B, a place run mainly by private vendors and whose traditionally high prices have earned it the nickname of “the boutique.” “It is true that this place is expensive, but here you find things that are no longer in other places,” defended a young man who was selling from a platform in the face of the complaints of those who passed by. continue reading

“Everyone in the family knows that you can come here to buy fruits and vegetables that don’t appear in any other market, except in the Playa area where people with more money live and even broccoli is sold.” According to the merchant, “the avocado began to arrive weeks ago, but the rains have greatly complicated the shipment to Havana.”

“People complain that it is expensive, but everything is and at this time of year there is very little lettuce, tomatoes are practically gone and what is left is a good slice of avocado with the meal,” he details. “I can’t do anything else because it’s already expensive for me here, everything has gone up a lot in price and moving merchandise from the field is costing a lot due to lack of fuel.”

In the nearby municipality of Güira de Melena, the family of Reinier García confirms this increase in price by telephone. “On our farm we have a dozen avocado plants, four of which we have sold a few years ago,” he explains. The sale of these trees is not registered and is a risky business for both parties.

The purchaser of the tree buys, for a fixed price which can be monthly or annually, the production that the plant will give. In good seasons, when the rains arrive on time and the hurricanes do not damage the tree much, you can “get a good slice,” explains García. “But there are bad years and then we all lose, the one who bought gets killed because he doesn’t earn much and we get killed because people don’t have the patience to wait for better times and withdraw from the agreement.”

“The avocado seems strong but it is a product that requires care. From the time it is planted until you begin to harvest fruit, a lot of years go by and everything can be ruined by a plague, lightning or a cyclone,” the farmer enumerates. Then comes the transfer, because even if it is done with the green avocado, “if you don’t move it correctly, everything will collapse.”

García counts on a brother-in-law to move the merchandise to Havana and distribute it among various merchants in the area of ​​El Vedado and La Víbora. “I’ve been days without getting fuel and when I find it it’s a ‘just a sip’,” says the driver of an old Plymouth speaking to this newspaper. Only the ‘inventions’ and ‘additions’ he’s made to the vehicle allow him to continue rolling on the roads.

“I offer the small avocado at 50 or 60 to the seller, the larger ones can reach 70 or 80 depending on the quality. The Catalina is the one that people like the most, because it has a lot of flavor and is larger. With this one you don’t need anything else, not even lemon, vinegar or oil on top, because it already comes from the bush fully seasoned,” he says.

But accompanying the main course with one of these Catalina adds a figure that lower-income families cannot afford. “Each egg cost me 20 pesos, I found a pound of rice at 50 after walking all over. So a meal for five people cost me 150, plus 100 that I paid for the avocado,” says Dinorah, a resident of the Havana municipality Diez de Octubre.

In Dinorah’s family there are two retirees with minimal pensions and the rest are her grandchildren, minors. “I spent more on one meal than I earn for a day’s pension, and I can’t do that so I’m not going to continue buying avocados, it’s a luxury I can’t afford,” she concludes. “We will have to wait to see if the price drops in July or August.”

The situation is not exclusive to the Cuban capital, where prices are usually higher. This Tuesday, in the La Plaza de Sancti Spíritus market, an avocado cost 100 Cuban pesos, almost the same as in a central corner of Centro Habana near Plaza de Carlos III, where the products tend to be more expensive. Even traditionally agricultural areas are not spared from inflation where ,until recently, avocado was a common ingredient on tables during the summer.

“Right now I’m going to pick the avocados from my trees and I’m going to try to pay with them, because they’re already worth almost the same as a dollar,” jokes Reinier García. “And I’m not complaining, at least my family doesn’t lack avocados and with that we can make a meal, but what it costs us the most to buy is everything else: oil, soap and toothpaste.”

Garcia does not rule out barter. “People from Havana are already coming here as far as Güira de Melena to exchange clothes for food or toiletries, for avocados and root vegetables,” he explains. “We have to be watching over the bushes through the night, because this is like having the bank safe open and in sight.”

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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.

Cuba: One Dead and Nine Injured in Accident in Cienfuegos

One of the passengers of the Azcuba truck died in the accident, while the remaining nine were sent to the hospital, where they remain under observation. (Facebook)

14ymedio biggerEFE/14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2022 — One person died and nine others were injured when the passenger truck in which they were traveling fell down a steep slope in the vicinity of Loma de la Ventana, in the central province of Cienfuegos, the provincial newspaper 5 de septiembre reported this Saturday.

The accident occurred shortly after noon in the vicinity of Loma de la Ventana, one of the access points to the Cienfuegos mountain range through the municipality of Cumanayagua.

According to First Lieutenant Jorge Luis Pérez Rodríguez, duty officer of the Criminal Justice System in Cienfuegos, a truck belonging to the state group Azcuba, which was heading to San Blas, was involved in the event.

“Makeshift buses”are common in Cuba; here a cart pulled by a tractor is used as a bus in Pinar del Rio. (MJ Porter)

Emilio Ramón Mayor Llerena, 56 years old and driver of the vehicle, lost control of the truck, which plunged down a slope in an area where this type of dangerous terrain abounds.

The incident caused the death of one of the passengers, Alfredo Díaz Cabrera, from Aguada de Pasajeros and a resident of the La Federal neighborhood. continue reading

The Emergency Department of the General University Hospital Dr. Gustavo Aldereguia Lima, in Cienfuegos, said that nine injured were treated, including a minor who, after being evaluated in this center and found to be out of danger, was transferred to the Paquito González Cueto Pediatric Hospital.

The rest of the wounded were also classified in this way and placed under observation.

From January to May of this year, a daily average of 27 accidents have been reported in Cuba in which an average of two people die and 30 are injured. For every 14 accidents, one death results, according to evaluations by the National Traffic Directorate.

In the first months of this year there were 4,062 claims, a marked growth compared to 2020 and 2021, when mobility was very limited by the pandemic, according to the latest statistics from the Vehicle Registration department of that state agency.

Among the main causes of accidents on Cuban roads, the authorities point out that 89% of the accidents occur due to not attending to the control of the vehicle, violating the right of way, speeding, technical malfunctions and ingestion of alcoholic beverages.

Likewise, the crash of vehicles in motion is the type of accident with the highest incidence, while the deterioration of the road registered an increase, after a report of 333 accidents.

The poor state of the roads and the aging vehicle fleet in the country, where cars with more than 50 years old continue to travel, are among the factors that most influence conditions, with little reference from the authorities.

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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.

Man Trapped When the Staircase in His Building Collapses in Old Havana

The collapse occurred in a three-story multi-family building located on Luz street between Curazao and Egido in Old Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 13 June 2022 — A staircase collapsed on Monday afternoon, leaving a resident trapped in a three-story multi-family building located on Luz street between Curazao and Egido in Old Havana. Firefighters arrived at the scene to help the elderly man who could not escape from the interior of the building, in addition to a strong police operation that cordoned off the area.

Moments before the collapse, the man, who lived in the apartment on the third floor, had gone up the stairs, according to several residents of the Havana municipality speaking to 14ymedio, and they also confirmed that no one was injured.

From a car with a crane, the firefighters accessed the balcony of the apartment to help the man, who shares the building with another family that lives one floor below. Then, both the man and the other inhabitants of the building were evacuated.

At the beginning of June, due to the intense rains that affected the west of the country, more than 60 building collapses were reported in Havana, one of which caused the death of two people.

After the collapse was recorded, a strong police operation was deployed in the area. (14ymedio)

During the afternoons in Havana this month it continues to rain and a few hours after a downpour on Wednesday of last week, a construction collapsed, specifically, the top floor of a three-story building in San Lázaro at the corner of Genios in Centro Habana. continue reading

“Luckily he was awake, because if was later, he’d be gone.” The residents of the place, gathered in front of the ruined building, commented last Thursday on the event in which no one died.

But the precarious housing conditions in this area of ​​the capital have hundreds of inhabitants worried. Two women, who live in a building, also very deteriorated, near San Lázaro and Genios, affirmed that they are terrified, that they cannot sleep, that they also have no alternative housing and that, meanwhile, the Government is crossing its arms.

From a car with a crane, firefighters accessed the balcony of the apartment to evacuate the man. (14ymedio)

Both Old Havana and Central Habana report constant building collapses. In the vicinity of the Malecón, the buildings have especially suffered from the effects of saltpeter, which, together with the lack of maintenance, have turned the housing stock in the area into one of the most damaged in the Cuban capital. In addition, the successive programs launched by the Government have not resolved the increasingly frequent events.

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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.

Jose Basulto, Leader of Brothers to the Rescue, Sues ‘The Wasp Network’ Film for Defamation

Leonardo Sbaraglia plays José Basulto in the production. (Fotograma)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 June 2022 — In the second lawsuit for La Red Avispa, “The Wasp Network,” José Basulto, leader of the Brothers to the Rescue, has sued the Netflix movie that portrays the story of the five Cuban spies, considered heroes by the Havana regime, who were released at the end of 2014 after an exchange with the Barack Obama Administration. Basulto states that the film defames him, spreading a false image of him as a “U.S. puppet,” while idealizing the activities of Cuban agents.

According to the complaint, which was filed on Monday and to which The Hollywood Reporter magazine had access, “this representation of Mr. Basulto, Brothers to the Rescue, and the Cuban exile community was deliberately calculated to create two clear and unmistakable villains for the film.” The lawsuit is addressed to the French director and screenwriter, Oliver Assayas, and to Netflix, the owner of the distribution rights.

The lawsuit indicates that in the film says explicitly that José Basulto was “trained by the United States as a terrorist” and calls Brothers to the Rescue a “militant organization.” The Cuban activist expresses his particular disagreement with a scene in which the association’s planes are shot down for violating Cuban airspace, when, according to his version, they were shot down in international airspace.

The complaint is in addition to the one filed in 2020 by Ana Margarita Martínez, former wife of former Cuban spy Juan Pablo Roque, who allegedly hid his duties and ties to the Wasp Network from her before secretly returning to Cuba. The Cuban wife, whose character is played in the film by Havana actress, Ana de Armas, said that she was portrayed as promiscuous and self-indulgent, which doesn’t correspond to her reality as a mother in Miami. continue reading

Two years have passed, and now this new complaint is added, which states that “the film is an obvious attempt to rewrite and whitewash history in favor of the Cuban communist regime and is inaccurate in terms of the facts. (…) It portrays the five as brave heroes who simply defended their homeland when, in reality, they were part of an espionage network that allowed the Cuban government to commit extrajudicial executions.”

“The Wasp Network” is an adaptation of The Last Soldiers of the  Cold War, a book by Fernando Morais, starring the Spanish actress, Penélope Cruz,  the Venezuelan actor, Edgar Ramírez, the Mexican actor, Gael García Bernal, and the Brazilian actor, Wagner Moura. Basulto was played by Argentine actor Leonardo Sbaraglia. Basulto, a Cuban exile, says that the film implies that his organization, Brothers to the Rescue, whose purpose was to provide humanitarian aid to Cuban rafters, had terrorist overtones, in order to justify the espionage of the Cubans, who were convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit murder and espionage, in addition to being unregistered agents of a foreign government.

In the complaint, Basulto maintains that the Cuban Government interfered in the filming, recalling that on the island it’s not allowed to film scripts “harmful to the image of the country and the people of Cuba.”

“These requirements are particularly important when it comes to a defamation lawsuit, since the Communist Party of Cuba exercises prior censorship. It requires that the ’script, storyboard or synopsis of the project’ be presented and expressly establishes that any project that shows something negative about Cuba will be denied permission,” the complaint says. “Filming true and accurate history was never an option.”

It is unknown why Basulto has taken more than two years to file this lawsuit, although he says that it has had a great emotional impact on him and asks that the dissemination of the film be banned, or that certain scenes be edited or deleted. According to his version, Netflix wrote to him after receiving the notification of the lawsuit stating that “modern docudrama audiences understand that they are watching dramatizations, not strict recreations of the facts.”

The film was in the eye of the hurricane after its premiere in 2020 and opened an intense debate between Cubans who considered, like Basulto, that the film gave a good image of the Cuban regime and should be censored and those who defended it, saying that although there were inaccurate events, you shouldn’t try to intervene in an artistic creation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.