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As for the operation of deliveries, “perishable shipments require cold rooms that Aerovaradero will provide to Cubamax through its facilities once the flights arrive in Cuba, and they will then be distributed by the vehicles of the private company Paloma,” explains Gotera. Shipments will only be made by air from Florida and will take between three and four days to reach the recipients, she adds.

Carlos Trujillo, the president of the Cuban-American company that operates mainly in South Florida, says that this alliance is frequently requested by his customers, which was achieved after negotiating the terms at this year’s International Tourism Fair.

Cubadebate also reviews the signing of another agreement between the Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeroportuarios S.A and a Brazilian company in the same sector to “improve the conditions of the international airports of the archipelago and optimize their operations,” in addition to stimulating tourism between the two countries.

Cubamax was a source of controversy in 2021, when Alex Otaola accused its owners of having family ties to Miguel Díaz-Canel

As for Cubamax, the company was controversial in 2021, when the presenter of the Miami program Hola Ota-Ola, Alex Otaola, accused its owners of having family ties to Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The appearance of swastikas and writings on the walls of their premises calling them “Communists” forced the company to issue an official statement in which it denied any link with the regime and its president, in addition to dissociating itself from more serious accusations, such as having sent anti-riot material that the regime later used to suppress the protests of July 11 of that year.

“We want to clarify that there is no family link between the owners of Cubamax Travel and the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, nor does Cubamax receive direct or indirect orders from the Government of Cuba, as the YouTuber alleged in his program,” the statement said. Their contract with the state-owned Aerovaradero, however, leaves doubts about the true relationship between Cubamax and the Island’s regime.

Cubamax stands out for its cheaper prices and the wide range of products that customers can buy in its digital store

Among the numerous parcel shipping agencies to the Island, Cubamax stands out for its cheaper prices and the wide range of products that customers can buy in its digital store. With the facilities that the General Customs of the Republic has implemented since 2021 for the entry of food, medicines and toiletries, the Cuban-American company has expanded its options for the transfer of food, basic supplies and sanitary material.

The agency’s offices in Miami usually have lines of emigrants waiting to dispatch boxes to all Cuban provinces. Among the most demanded services is the sending of packages by sea of 22, 44, 70 and 100 pounds, which the sender packs themself, and which have a total cost of 44, 88, 139 and 179 dollars, respectively, which includes the customs tariff. Along with its advantageous rates, the company also offers the possibility of tracking the shipment, something that other companies do not offer.

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.

“The welding work continues to mark the critical route in the construction of tank 88”   

The newspaper also emphasizes that the staff works to recover in the shortest possible time “the vitality of the strategic enclave, and to convert the terminal and the entire industrial area into a sufficiently robust economic sector, less vulnerable and with a more modern image.” It also added that instead of the original four tanks, only two will be built, which will allow a greater safe distance between the two, and they will have dams “prepared to comfortably retain all the fuel in the event of a spill.”

In January 2023, a report by the official newspaper Granma stressed that within four years the Base would recover its original capacity of 200,000 cubic meters, but mentioned the reconstruction of the four tanks, although with a smaller diameter, contrary to this week’s information.

However, it did clarify the “improvements” that the tanks would have, including the extension of the distance between one tank and another to 110 meters, almost four times more than previously, without mentioning that the proximity between the tanks was recognized by several experts as a possible aggravating factor of the accident.

Also on that occasion Granma pointed out that the tanks would have an underground electrical system, a concrete-lined earth dam, more powerful foam cannons and “a new position for firefighters in case of emergency, established at a greater distance from the tanks.”

In April 2023, at a Government meeting, Miguel Díaz-Canel asked for details about the progress of the “work, supported by a million-dollar investment that includes technological and urban construction.” He did not mention the origin of the money for the rehabilitation of the Base, whether it comes from the State or Venezuelan coffers. After the fire, Venezuela promised to help in the restoration of the deposits that had been built 10 years earlier with money from Caracas.

According to a statement by Nicolás Maduro after the fire, the Island could count on the “scientific, technical, engineering and workers’ support” of Venezuela   

According to a statement by Nicolás Maduro after the fire, the Island could count on the “scientific, technical, engineering and workers’ support” of Venezuela, and he ordered the Minister of Oil to contact the Cuban authorities. Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Pdvsa, also participated in the extinguishing of the fire.

Rigel Rodríguez Cubells, director of Matanzas Fuel Marketing, explained to Díaz-Canel that, after completing the recovery work in the piping, firefighting and water supply systems, as well as in the maintenance workshops – not yet finished at that time – it could be “operated with greater safety in the facilities.”

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, also reported that weekly checks were carried out in the enclave to ensure the “investment.” The Matanzas authorities then promised the imminent delivery of 18 houses to the families of the 26 homes damaged during the fire.

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.

“This is not to create a political problem, but with the aim of raising our voices and seeing, Mr. President (Miguel Díaz-Canel), if we, Cuban citizens who want to return to our homeland alive, are also among your priorities,” she adds.

On March 20, the Cuban Embassy in Haiti assured that it had a plan to evacuate the Cubans – mostly mules who travel to buy merchandise with a tourist visa – who were trapped in the middle of the crossfire between the armed gangs and the police, which has kept the country in chaos since February 29, even causing the closure of the Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince.

“This is not to create a political problem, but with the aim of raising our voices and seeing, Mr. President, if we, Cuban citizens who want to return to our homeland alive, are also among your priorities”  

“The representative of Cubana de Aviación, a member of the Cuban state mission in Haiti, has established telephone and face-to-face contact with the 32 rental houses where most of the Cuban passengers of the flights canceled by the Sunrise Airways company are accommodated,” the diplomatic headquarters reported at the time.

Likewise, the statement assured that the Embassy was in contact with Barbara Joseph, a commercial specialist for Sunrise Airways, with which those affected traveled. “The flights will be made to two destinations: Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba. Passengers from other provinces will be transported by Transtur busses to their places of origin,” the note said.

Those were, however, the last clarifications received by the Cubans trapped in Port-au-Prince.

The situation for Cubans in Haiti took a critical turn in February, when a Sunrise Airways plane bound for Cuba was hit in a shooting. That day, for security reasons, air traffic was closed, preventing the return of the Cubans who were in the country. In addition to them, there are another 2,000 Cubans in Haiti “under different conditions,” including health workers on an official mission and diplomatic personnel, said Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez.

This same Thursday, the Government of Mexico announced the end of evacuation operations by sea of 34 of its nationals. The same thing happened this week with Peru and the Dominican Republic, and in previous days with many other countries that have even closed their diplomatic headquarters in Haiti. Only Cubans are still trapped on the island, waiting for a response from their government.

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.

Yesterday’s program revealed that at least until June, the products are being negotiated for all Cubans on the Island

Díaz-Canel, an optimist, said that some provinces have good indicators in food production, and he cited the bean in Cienfuegos as an example. He added that “we will be moving to a fairer distribution system, where we focus on the fundamentals of the basket subsidized to people who are most disadvantaged (…) guaranteeing not a subsidy to products but a subsidy to people.”

This mantra has been repeated since 2012, when Raúl Castro pronounced it as an objective of the State and, despite the fact that last December Prime Minister Manuel Marrero resumed it when — without pronouncing the end of the universal ration book — it was announced on yesterday’s program that at least until June, the products for all Cubans on the Island are being negotiated.

The president-presenter briefly summarized the situation of the basket, about which, he admitted, the population has a “very negative” opinion. The problems are four, he said: the “fractionation” (more colloquially, the constant lack of products), the quality (bad), the composition (increasingly leaner) and how to ensure it. In addition, he opened with a commitment that April and May will be better than the last months of 2023 and early 2024, although the population no longer remembers the time before the basket began to be almost a specter.

The ministers – Betsy Díaz Velázquez of Internal Commerce, also participated in the talk – offered some data, such as the $230 million per month that it costs to supply the country’s 12,000 ration stores. Above all, it was a tedious and detailed inventory of missing or present products. There was talk of salt, eggs, flour, coffee, peas, milk, and of one province after another, including delays and forecasts.

But the most interesting part was the arguments to explain Cuba’s inability to buy: the energy and financial crises and Washington’s sanctions. “This morning, when we were analyzing the situation of the basic basket, we had 11 ships with food in Cuban ports that, for financial reasons, we had not been able to start unloading, and we began unloading in the last hours from the decisions that were made,” Pérez-Oliva explained.

Last year there were “five banks that, without prior notice, refused to process transactions related to food purchases destined for the basic basket” 

The official wanted to give a “specific example” and explained that last year there were “five banks that, without prior notice, refused to process transactions related to purchases of food destined for the basic basket,” which generated delays of between 40 and 105 days for the shipment to take place, conditioning the arrival at port and, therefore, its distribution. He did not say, despite his declared intention to specify, which banks refused or what amounts were paralyzed, nor from which countries the imported products came.

The deputy minister regretted that Washington denies that there is a “blockade” because of the mere fact that there are American companies that sell food to Cuba. “The conditions in which we agree to buy food in the United States are, first of all, disadvantageous and highly insecure,” he explained.

Pérez-Oliva argued that suppliers and shipowners must request exemption from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) in Washington, which, in his opinion, is discretionary, so Havana always has to have a plan B. Although it is cheaper to buy from the United States, the transaction does not always happen, which adds costs to the delay. In addition, the ships have to return empty, which makes freight more expensive.

“For relocating products that, if purchased in the United States, would mean a lower cost, the country has had to pay an additional 19 million dollars in 2023. If we take that in terms of product, it means four months of distribution of chicken from the basic basket to the population,” he explained, while making it very clear that it is the direct will of the White House, since there are many entrepreneurs interested in selling under the usual conditions of the international market.

In his explanations, the official concealed that many shipping companies schedule stopovers in several countries to distribute their merchandise, which eliminates the obligation to return empty to the United States. In addition, he ignored the case of the Tunisian oil tanker Eco Fleet that has been turning in circles in front of the port of Havana for more than a month, perhaps waiting for payment to unload the 260,000 barrels of diesel it carries.

“What will be the reaction in our population to the explanation we have been giving? We will be attentive to the concerns, to the doubts that may still remain.”

The dependence on gifts was also confirmed when the participants thanked “friendly countries of the Caribbean, China, Vietnam and Russia,” for having responded with a “strengthening of solidarity” to the “media movement” made against Cuba. They referred to the information, revealed by the EFE agency initially, of the urgent request for milk to the World Food Program (WFP), which according to the regime is “part of all that intoxication and demonstrates the perversity, the evil that there is with such sensitive things. It’s about setting the population against the Government.” The aforementioned countries have faced this “attack” to collaborate with “deliveries of products, either with favorable financial conditions or through donations,” he said.

The Chinese rice was cited as an example. The first delivery of the six planned arrived this Thursday, and the amount will be increased next month, for a total of nine pounds. That mention also gave rise to the guarantee of the arrival of flour that, if it is possible to pay a pending freight, will disembark this Monday. It will soon be joined by three ships loaded with wheat, which “allows the production” of bread to be revitalized.

Díaz-Canel also pointed out the importance of changing the energy matrix and announced that during the inauguration of the International Transport Fair he saw an electric vehicle of national development – the result of the joint work of the Ministry of Industries and the military. This “type of van” will contribute to the distribution of the basic family basket within the provinces. It will not solve, he said, interprovincial transport, but it will solve the shorter transfers, which would reduce fuel consumption.

“How will the population react to the explanation we have been giving? We will be attentive to the concerns, to the doubts that may still remain,” the president said. And they have not taken long to reach him, through the official press, some thanking the efforts and explanations, others suggesting more control over the high prices of the private companies and many testifying that the products do not end up appearing. “Very good speech, but they always tell us that the products are assured for a certain time, and they aren’t. Perhaps they are assured in an economic plan, but it seems that almost none of those products is physically in the country.”

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.

The urgency of the aid, however, was disguised by Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca and the Chinese ambassador to the Island

The urgency of the aid, however, was disguised by Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca and the Chinese ambassador to the Island, Ma Hui, who, far from alluding to the critical economic situation of the country, said that it was a “sincere display” of Beijing’s appreciation for Havana, which has become a “plan of assistance to the Cuban people.”

The Chinese delegation, however, made it clear that it intends to protect its interests in Cuba, something to which the regime will have to respond if it intends to continue receiving the aid. The Chinese explained that “they will carry out a working visit in order to build key areas and sectors for cooperation between the two countries.”

Luo Zhaohui, president of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, who signed the certificate of delivery of “additional merchandise” with the Food Marketing Company of Cuba, stressed that “both nations are working side by side in the global socialist cause.”

The supply of food for Cubans seems to depend more and more on the generosity of other countries, and the donations that continue to arrive offer a brief relief to the depressed state budget, which the Government itself has pointed out as insufficient to acquire, in the informal market, what is necessary for national consumption. However, compared to the 600,000 tons needed annually according to the regime, China’s delivery is barely a symbolic gesture.

An article published this Wednesday in the newspaper Victoria, accounts for the shortage of products destined for the basic family basket in Guantánamo. In the case of rice, that corresponding to the month of March has not yet been delivered to 324 bodegas (ration stores) in the territory. The same goes for sugar, absent from 416 other establishments.

Other bodegas in the province have not yet received the February cooking oil   

Other bodegas in the province have not yet received the February cooking oil. The available milk is only enough for the first 10 days of April, and the eggs will only be delivered to pregnant women, the newspaper summarizes.

The fields, with squalid productions and fewer and fewer farmers willing to collect the few pesos offered by the State, are also not a long-term solution. Far from encouraging production, the Government has missed opportunities to improve agricultural performance and, instead, puts pressure on the farmers, who lack the necessary inputs to meet the demands.

This is the case of the rice plantations of La Sierpe, in Sancti Spíritus, where four years ago the Vietnamese technicians who had been promoting the planting of rice for two decades finally got tired of the non-compliance and returned to their country. Since then, rice production has plummeted by 62%, and the State pressures the farmers to return to producing as before, in addition to forcing them to deliver all the rice they harvest — except for a small amount for their ownconsumption — to Acopio, the State company that procures and distributes food.

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.

The episode described by Shimabukuro has motivated a controversy about Cerrón’s ties with Boluarte – whom he criticized on X to defend Castillo – who has just renewed her cabinet in the middle of the crisis after being accused of illicit enrichment. The so-called Rolex case – over two luxury watches that she allegedly acquired – has once again plunged the Peruvian Executive into uncertainty. Boluarte’s house was raided by the Peruvian Police as part of the Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation.

Shimabukuro also referred to the Rolex case and declared that Boluarte “has been wedded to corruption.” “I have seen her with a plastic watch worth 20 soles, a dirty crochet backpack, a red bracelet, a ring and some fantasy earrings. How much is the total value not only of the Rolex watches but also of all the gold accessories she wears today? Dina has changed.”

Former Peruvian congressman Mauricio Mulder went a step further and alleged, citing his own sources, that Cerrón is “protected by Cuba” and probably also by Mexico, from where he received money.

Zamora, known as El Gallo, has an extensive history of intelligence services and collaboration with several former leaders allied to the Cuban regime   

The commander of the Peruvian National Police, Víctor Zanabria, also did not know how to answer questions about the whereabouts of Cerrón. He cut short an interview on Monday when he was asked why the former governor of Junín has been a fugitive from justice for several months. The soldier was “uncomfortable and annoyed,” said the newspaper La República, and suspended communication with the interviewer. Regarding the case, he limited himself to saying that “a date cannot be set” for Cerrón’s capture. Then he hung up.

When rumors about Cerrón’s escape began to circulate last January, the newspaper Expreso published data on his proximity to Havana since 1991, when he traveled to the Island with a scholarship to study medicine. A politician since 2005 and governor in 2011, Cerrón’s career was “packed with accusations of corruption” for which he had to leave his position in 2019. In October 2023, he received a new conviction, but the Police against Organized Crime failed to capture him, and since then his protection has been attributed to “Cuban agents and members of congress from Peru Libre and Acción Popular.”

In 2021, with the arrival in Peru of the Cuban diplomat and former State Security agent Carlos Rafael Zamora to serve as ambassador of the Island in Lima, rumors about Cerrón’s contacts with Havana intensified. Zamora, known as El Gallo, has an extensive history of intelligence services and collaboration with several former leaders related to the Cuban regime, such as Evo Morales, whom he protected during his attempt at re-election as president of Bolivia in 2019.

Last January, the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Javier González, warned that if it was found that Cerrón was under the protection of Havana, Peru could break relations with Cuba.

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.

However, the Russian “aid” still does not exceed that of Mexico, which in the first two months of the year sent 1,970,000 barrels of its best crudes, the Isthmus and the Olmeca, to compensate for the collapse of Venezuelan shipments.

Caracas’ oil exports reached their highest level since 2020 this March, increased by 32% compared to the previous month, due to the high international demand in the face of the threat of the United States to reactivate the sanctions against Pdvsa. According to Reuters, about 52 ships left Venezuelan ports in March with an average of 884,935 bpd of crude oil and refined products, in addition to 463,000 tons of petroleum derivatives.

The main destinations were, once again, Asia (550,000 bpd), the United States (178,000 bpd) and Europe (77,300 bpd). Pdvsa also assures that it is prepared for “any scenario,” including the return of sanctions.

According to Reuters, the high demand for oil has caused great delays and a “knot” of ships in the country’s ports, which has resulted in several oil tankers having left Venezuelan waters without being able to stock up on crude oil.

For different reasons, also in Cuba, ships are encountering numerous difficulties in unloading the fuel that Havana needs to limit the blackouts. This is the case of the Eco Fleet tanker, which has been off the Havana coast for more than a month with about 260,000 barrels of diesel loaded in Tunis.

The Government has not pronounced on the impasse with the ship, whose arrival had been announced by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, a situation that Piñón describes, at the very least, as “strange,” given the announcement “with great fanfare” of the arrival of the ship by the minister.

It was not until the end of March, with the arrival of the first of the two Russian ships, that the energy situation on the Island began to experience relief. The long blackouts that characterized the first weeks of the year caused popular protests in Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Matanzas.

For this Tuesday, the UNE part predicts a deficit of 295 megawatts in peak hours  

The Government, for its part, insists that the Electric Union (UNE) is recovering from a “pothole” with the installation of several photovoltaic parks throughout the country, the maintenance of the main thermoelectric power plants and the arrival of oil to refine. For this Tuesday, the UNE predicts a deficit of 295 megawatts (MW) in peak hours, an impact greater than 274 MW on Monday, but much lower than in previous weeks when the deficit reached 45% of daily demand.

As for the Havana refinery, this newspaper has found that it has been shut down for months. Likewise, 14ymedio verified that yesterday morning, the tanker Alicia, with the Cuban flag, was anchored in front of the Ñico López, and the Ocean Mariner, with a Liberian flag, was leaving the bay in an unknown direction.

According to maritime tracking applications, the NS Concord, Sandino and Prímula oil tankers are also in Matanzas, and they expect the Nordic and the Nicos I.V. in Cienfuegos, and the Fortunato in Moa.

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.

Now, after the accident – which stoked the concerns of railway workers as well as passengers – Enrique and his colleagues demand urgent maintenance of the structure and a solution to the mountains of garbage that, day by day, accumulate in front of the station. “The Communal Services do not have the means of transport, nor do they have enough workers to clean the solid waste found on the railroad tracks, which makes the train pass through actual landfills, with the consequent danger that this entails.”

On the other hand, “there are resources to militarize the station,” Enrique says. After some strange derailments that occurred in 2019 in several parts of the Island, for which several people were sanctioned, the authorities established a base of the Youth Labor Army (EJT) near the Manzanillo station.

The presence of the military near the tracks bothers workers such as Enrique, who despairs in the face of the unstoppable degradation of the railway infrastructure, in contrast to the neatness of the monument dedicated to the Communist militant Jesús Menéndez Larrondo, a sugar union leader, killed in 1948 at the Manzanillo station.

 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.