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“What happens is that many times the empire itself in its media campaign tries to link to the activity against the Revolution, leading people to commit vandalism,” he adds. However, most of the popular demonstrations of 11J were peaceful in nature, and the participants used slogans and verbal complaints as the main form of expression.

Among the those listening to the president’s comments, in addition to the members of the caravan, were the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez and the head of the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party, Caridad Diego, among other official officials, and Gail Walker, daughter of Lucius Walker, founder of the organization.

Díaz-Canel also took advantage of the occasion to defend the “equality” that the revolutionary process has offered to Cuban women and Afro-descendants, although he clarified that “imperialism tries to use these issues to fracture unity.” “They constantly encourage and create the slander that discrimination persists in Cuba.”

However, he acknowledged that young people have not been able to “enjoy the social conquests” that in his opinion were achieved in the first decades of the process. “We have the challenge of ensuring that generational separation is never an ideological break. We can only achieve it by sharing values ​​and becoming part of the criticism we make within the Revolution.”

Díaz-Canel also did not miss an opportunity to send a message to the Joe Biden administration. “Imperialism, even the tiniest bit, is treacherous and despises the peoples,” he said, quoting a phrase from Ernesto Guevara. “It turns to slander and lies and when it is defeated it tries to make itself the victim,” he said. “Nobody believes what they call democracy.”

“North American bipartisanship is a lie,” he added and explained that “a Republican president imposes 243 measures to intensify the blockade against Cuba and a Democratic president leaves the same measures,” alluding to the sanctions promoted by Donald Trump which Biden has not eliminated, and has even added new ones.

It was recently announced that the White Hous’s intention to partially modify US policy towards the Island had been halted as a result of the repression of July 11, as revealed in an interview with NBC News by Juan González, United States National Security Council Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere  .

“After July 11, we pressed the pause button,” said the senior official, who considers the date of the anti-government protests as a before and after. “Even the Cuban Americans who were in favor of the compromise said, ’We have to wait, pay attention to this moment and see how to move forward from here’.”

To date, independent organizations have documented 1,283 detainees as a result of the demonstrations on that day. Of that total, at least 540 are still in prison and there are a verified 42 convictions in summary trials.

In its report, the independent legal platform Cubalex showed special concern about “the use of the figure of sedition to impose exemplary sanctions on at least 122 people” and noted that before July 11, Cuban Prisoners Defenders registered 152 political prisoners.

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On 15November(15 N), an angry and violent mob prevented the young woman from leaving her house , and she limited herself to following the two instructions agreed upon by Archipíelago: to applause at three in the afternoon and to hang out white sheets. Days later, and as she had announced, she left with a flower in her hand and broadcast the walk by video, which ended by placing the flower at the foot of the statue of Antonio Maceo in Santa Clara.

After the regime disrupted the Civic March for Change through threats, acts of repudiation and militarization of the cities, Archipíelago called for the peaceful protests to continue until November 27. However, since the arrival in Spain, on November 17, of the most visible figure on the platform, Yunior García Aguilera, the group has been dismembered.

This Sunday, Twitter user Magdiel Jorge Castro, who has lived in Bolivia for two years, also announced his departure. “Today I leave Archipíelago, grateful for these intense months with such brave people,” he wrote on his Twitter account, where he has more than 26,000 followers. “The road to democracy is long and rugged but the end deserves every possible sacrifice. There are more than 600 political prisoners and a dictatorship to overthrow. It is time to unite.”

Castro, born in the province of Holguín in 1994, has been the promoter of several virtual campaigns to denounce the repression against Cuban activists and journalists. The young man has a degree in Microbiology and in recent weeks he has denounced several attacks by the Cuban official press against him for his activism on social networks.

He and González join other “desertions” from the Archipíelago in just a few days. On Friday, lawyer Fernando Almeyda resigned as one of the platform’s coordinators. By way of explanation, he said that “the political nuance of the platform and its coordinators, although I am sure that they benefit the Cuban cause, is moving away from my ideas, my way of thinking and my political position.”

In addition, the jurist was critical of Yunior García Aguilera’s “agenda,” “which does not respond to the objectives and purposes of the Archipíelago and over which the members have no real control.”

Before González and Almeyda, the group had already suffered notable losses. One of them was that of Daniela Rojo, who last Wednesday announced her resignation as coordinator of the platform. The young woman from Guanabacoa, mother of two young children, who was kidnapped by the political police on November 12 and spent five days in a house of the Ministry of the Interior under the custody of several agents, presented her decision as based on “personal and family problems.”

And another exit, earlier, was that of Professor Leonardo Fernández Otaño, also a moderator of the platform, who confessed, like Almeyda, not to share “a group of political actions carried out by Yunior García Aguilera since his departure from Cuba.”

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The 73-year-old activist was sentenced to four years in prison in 2018 for the alleged crimes of public disorder and contempt, charges frequently used by authorities to imprison opponents.

Shortly after entering prison, he suffered a thrombosis that paralyzed one side of his face and had to be treated for two strokes, derived from his hypertension problems.

In addition, in mid-2020 the activist suffered partial loss of vision, apparently caused by a beating by prison guards.

“I hold Diaz Canel and the DSE responsible for what may happen to such a patriot, worthy and brave brother. I ask the world to raise our voices for Silverio Portal Contreras and for all political prisoners,” Labrada Pollán asked yesterday.

Portal has been one of the political prisoners who has received the most international support in recent times. At least 150 opponents signed a letter in his favor calling for his release, and the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International, as well as some governments such as the United States, demanded his immediate release. Now he will have to spend almost four months in Prison 1580 to finish his sentence.

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The event came to light thanks to a video shared in a massive way to denounce the exaggerated violence with which the National Revolutionary Police put down the party in the Santa Clara shelter where it took place.

“Walk, come on, upstairs!” the police said to the young people. “Record video, record video!” an English voice was heard saying.

After the controversy generated by the images that showed the excessive force of the Cuban police, the South African Ministry of Health assured that it would investigate what happened after confirming that those beaten were citizens of their country. However, they apparently trust the Cuban side to find out what happened.

On Tuesday, South African parliamentarians asked Dhlomo what his government had done to ensure the safety of South African students abroad, but his answer made no reference to it.

Dhlomo had made controversial statements last month, when he asked that the “sensationalist” video of the beaten fellows not continued to be shared. The official warned that its dissemination had “the potential to harm the families of the students and the diplomatic relations between the governments of South Africa and Cuba.”

Relations between the two countries have been very fruitful since the time of Nelson Mandela, although they have continued with their successors in office, all members of the hitherto unbeatable African National Congress party, which in the last elections began to take their toll on cases of known corruption these years, something that was noticed in the loss of votes despite maintaining the victory.

This same week, Cuba and South Africa renewed their cooperation agreement in the management of water resources and the supply of water, by virtue of which Cuban engineers advise those of South Africa to improve the maintenance and management of water supply and sanitation infrastructures. especially in rural areas and other disadvantaged communities.

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Long delay, crowds at the entrance, the line advanced very slowly, a scenario that caused complaints as the hours passed and many lost hope of being able to buy anything. “This fair is only for the news, they sell little things to advertise, but this line is not moving and there are few products, we probably can’t buy anything,” commented a woman in line when she saw that the police were taking too long to organize it.

Within that restricted access area, several incidents occurred between the uniformed men and some people who tried to go out to the rope that delimited the place to look for money. “Return the money,” the policeman ordered a woman. “She’s my sister, she brought me money because I can’t buy everything I want,” she explained. “Give it back now,” replied the policeman in a threatening tone. The woman finally returned the money and, after a heated discussion, several uniformed officers detained her to a patrol car.

This newspaper was able to verify that there was no strict observance of compliance with pandemic-prevention measures there, some people lowered their masks to speak or smoke and the distance between the those in the middle of the crowd was not fulfilled.

In Carlos III there have been other fairs of this type in the past, although never with such an influx of the public, nor in the middle of a surveillance operation as large as the one deployed  in the area this Saturday.

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In other small squares of Centro Habana visited by this newspaper, the situation was repeated: in San Rafael a pound of eggplant reached 40 pesos on Thursday, and the plantain, 7 pesos per unit. “Those days of drinking eggplant water for cholesterol are over,” says an old woman. “Two of the smallest eggplants can cost up to 60 pesos. What else can a retiree buy here other than sweet potato and pumpkin (at 10 pesos per pound)?”

The cost of all this, Cubans on the street agree, went through the roof with the Ordering Task*. Before these measures, in force for almost a year, you could find pork steak at 35 pesos per pound. “At most 50,” says a neighbor from Centro Habana. “I’ve never eaten a pork steak from January to now, and I don’t buy tomatoes either. If that’s me, and I’m not poor, how is it for the ordinary Cuban?”

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

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“Pork takes on the flavor of the food you give the animal,” says El Pana, a pig producer from Alquízar, in Artemisa, whom 14ymedio has tracked since he started in the sector until he ended up, last year, dismantling his corrals, tired of not getting feed and affected by the entry restrictions to Havana due to the pandemic.

“When I was able to get fishmeal and the animal spent its fattening time eating that, then you threw a steak in the pan and it seemed that it was frying claria,” he says. “People have lost their reference and don’t even remember what pork tastes like, but I’ve been in this business for many years and I know when a pig ate garbage and when they gave it something else.”

“In the fat and meat of the animal a lot of what it has eaten accumulates, as soon as you cut a leg or a shoulder blade, you can notice it by the tone of the upper. Imagine when you put it to cook, all that smell comes out and fills the house. I cannot sell what I myself would not eat, and here feeding a pig correctly is impossible.”

In El Pana’s opinion, this is one of the motivations for opting for the imported product. “You realize that they are younger pigs, because they managed to reach the weight for slaughter in the time it should be and not like it happens here that, as it does not have feed, tie passes and the animal is still skinny. You can’t kill that way.”

“Not to mention chicken, it’s been a long time since almost everything has come from abroad,” acknowledges the producer. “Here in the area surrounding Alquízar we had several poultry farms, there is nothing left of that. Even the roofs and fences have been stolen little by little.”

Something similar happens in livestock. The stores that only accept payment in freely convertible currency (MLC) and the digital sites that offer their merchandise for the emigrants to feed their families on the Island are full of cuts of beef coming mostly from Spain and Uruguay. An inquiry in one of those portals about the possibility of buying national meat yielded a brief answer: “We do not offer Cuban beef. It does not meet the quality requirements.”

In the same message, the customer was offered the possibility of buying a package of “chopped veal meat, ideal for skewers” or a tray of “ground beef fillet,” imported from Spain. Another “cheaper” option is “a kilogram of totally Iberian beef skirt.” Crossing the Atlantic seems to add more symbolic value to the merchandise.

While in many countries there is an increase in movements favorable to local commerce, which favors local products, in Cuba consumers are opting for imported food. Local consumption is barely concentrated in some produce, seasonal fruits and vegetables, but with the rise in prices in recent months, sometimes a canned or frozen product is cheaper.

“A pound of beans is above 90 pesos when you can find it,” says Victor Manuel, a retiree who frequently visits the agricultural market on San Rafael Street in Havana. “To give it flavor, I have to buy just a little chorizo ​​or bacon, as well as add onion, garlic and other seasonings. When I take out an account, a fabada — bean stew — for my wife and for me comes out at more than 180 or 200 pesos.”

“My son, who lives in Miami, buys me cans of Asturian bean stew through stores and on the internet, which cost less than four dollars each. My wife and I eat with two without going back and forth to the agri-market and without so much mess with the pressure cooker. Cheaper and it has nothing to envy compared to what I could do in my kitchen with what little there is.”

“Before, at Christmas, almost everything that was eaten was from here, though perhaps the nougat or cider came from elsewhere, but now the table looks like the United Nations,” jokes Víctor Manuel. “What does not come from Mexico, comes from New Zealand. Crazy.”

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“many of the things that have been decided by the majority are not followed, due to minority dissent, or it doesn’t represent the consensus by the veto of one or two people “.

On the first, he added: “I can also quote you the configuration of an agenda of Yunior that does not respond to the objectives and purposes of the Archipelago and over which the members have no real control.”

After the surprise arrival in Spain of Yunior García Aguilera and his wife, Dayana Prieto, on November 17, the platform has experienced not only harassment and repression by State Security, but also notable desertions within the group .

One of them was that of Daniela Rojo, who last Wednesday announced her resignation as coordinator of the platform. The young woman from Guanabacoa, mother of two young children, who was kidnapped by the political police on November 12 and spent five days in a house of the Ministry of the Interior under the custody of several agents, argued her decision on “personal and family problems.”

Before her, professor Leonardo Fernández Otaño, also a moderator of the platform , had publicly announced his departure from Archipielago , and confessed, like Almeyda, to not sharing “a group of political actions carried out by Yunior García Aguilera since his departure from Cuba.”

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So much so that the authorities had to come out to give explanations. The official version given at the time was that the replacement was made for “pedestrian safety” and thus removed “some dirt from the earth and grass on the street.”

The architect consulted by this newspaper also details that the Department of Rehabilitation and Heritage Conservation of the OHCH, directed by Norma Pérez-Trujillo, is the same group that is carrying out the restoration of the Santa Clara convent and that it will be in charge, soon, of the restoration in the Palace of the Revolution.

For “interior design and paneling,” he refers, they hired the services of private sector workers.

He says that all the landscaping of the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, as well as the proposal of trees and vegetation, was carried out by the specialists of the Botanical Garden. “The flower beds are very beautiful, in the style of the original El Vedado,” he says. “The trees that they put up respect the heights and other necessary characteristics, such as not giving off resins or that their leaves, fruits and seeds can damage the pavement. It is a pleasure to walk through there, if it were not for the aura that the building has as such,” he says sarcastically.

The Center was inaugurated last Thursday with a play by a children’s group and with the presence of Cuban government staff, along with Nicolás Maduro and Raúl Castro.

Although he specifically refused to answer a question about the cost of the opulent work posed by the international press, the head of Preservation of the Documentary Heritage of the Palace of the Revolution, Alberto Albariño, only said that a good part of the investment was covered with “donations received from other countries,” without detailing which, and that for that reason it did not involve a great expense for the State.

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The complaints made by him previously, he says, have caused him to be sent to the punishment cell about five times. “The last two times I was there it was precisely for making complaints against the violation of human rights here inside the prison and the last time they had me without food for more than three days and they did not allow my sack to pass with my food.”

Similarly, he complains that inside the prison “there are many snitches” and because of them he has had “problems” with the police. You must take care of everything you speak and with whom you speak because there are common prisoners who, in exchange for some benefit, collude with the jailers and “tell them everything one talks or does and with whom.”

Before this call to Ángel Moya, Robles’ communication with the outside world was through his brother, Landy Fernández Elizastigui, but for a few months, he has been reluctant to speak to the independent press, because every time he does, they punish his brother.

However, Fernández tells this newspaper that this Wednesday he was able to visit Robles and that he did so accompanied by his son, who is just two years old. “He was very happy to see us and hug his child,” he says.

Last October, the Provincial Court of Havana for the fourth time denied Robles a change in the precautionary measure that keeps him in prison without trial. The oral hearing was originally set for July 16, but was suspended as a result of the July 11 protests and a new date has not yet been announced.

That same month, the United Nations issued an opinion in which it considers the case of Robles — as well as that of Solís, released in July and today in asylum in Serbia — as arbitrary detention and asks the Cuban government not only for his immediate release but also for compensation. “and other types of reparation, in accordance with international law” to the activists.

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“There is no really technical and easy solution, nor is there the technology to have internet connectivity, so we should focus on circumventing censorship,” he said after ensuring that the US Administration has invested a large amount of time studying the possibilities.

During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pledged to reverse some measures adopted by Donald Trump with respect to Cuba, including the lifting of limits on travel and remittances.

Although the Plaza de la Revolución expected a restart of the thaw, the commitment did not go beyond that, but not only has it not materialized, but some new sanctions have been added against specific individuals, such as the suspension of visas for nine Cuban officials after the repression of November 15.

González was asked about the realization of the election commitments, but the official was vague in his answers and again resorted to the phrase that the US Government has repeated most often in relation to the Island. “We are analyzing all the politics,” the official insisted, adding that, according to Washington, “it is a regime that is afraid of granting greater rights and even of starting a debate.”

Regarding remittances, the official said that they are studying “innovative options” to guarantee that the money sent to the island by Cubans’ relatives does not fall into the hands of the military.

“How can we use remittances to support citizens without [the regime] benefiting from this? Much of the focus is on sanctioning people,” he said.

In addition, he advanced that they hope to resume normalized consular activity at the Embassy in Havana, but without giving deadlines. Cubans must apply for their visas in Guyana since the staff in Havana was reduced in 2017 due to the appearance of numerous diplomats affected by the “Havana syndrome.”

González also stated without giving more details that Washington and Havana have had “private” conversations about shipments of vaccines, oxygen and healthcare materials related to the pandemic, thus denying the accusations of the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez.

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