More than 520,000 Migrants Crossed the Darien Jungle in 2023. 120,000 Were Minors

Migrants cross the Turquesa River, in the Darién (Panama), in an archive photograph. (EFE/Bienvenido Velasco)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Panama, 2 January 2024 — Panamanian authorities said on Monday that 2023 closed with 520,085 migrants having crossed the Darién jungle, of which 120,000 were minors, a record figure compared to the 248,283 migrants in 2022, who followed this dangerous route to North America in pursuit of better horizons.

Venezuelans, 328,667; Ecuadorians, 57,222; Haitians, 46,558; and Chinese, 25,344, “were the most recurring nationalities this year to cross” the jungle border with Colombia and arrive in Panama, the Panamanian Ministry of Public Security (MINSEG) reported on its social networks.

Similarly, the report provides figures that report a “significant decrease” in the entry of migrants through the dense Darién jungle in the months of October, November and December 2023, with 49,256, 37,231, and 24,626, respectively.

The report provides figures that show a “significant decrease” in the entry of migrants through the dense Darién jungle in the months of October, November and December

The new registration of transit of migrants by Darién to North America at the end of 2023 leaves behind that of previous years: in 2020 8,594 immigrants crossed the Dariíen jungle; in 2021, 133,726; and 2022, 248,283, according to MINSEG. continue reading

Thus, this year the record of more than 500,000 migrants in transit through the Darién, the jungle that connects the isthmus and South America, has been broken, a figure that doubles last year’s record and includes a marked increase in minors.

This 2023 “has been a year in which a record has been broken. More than 100,000 children and adolescents have passed through, 50% of whom are under 5 years old,” the gender-based expert of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Johana Tejada López, told EFE in mid-December.

Most of the families that migrate are from Venezuela, Haiti, Ecuador and Colombia, Tejada López explained in the Lajas Blanca shelter which, as in Bajo Chiquito, is the scene of numerous families with children and adolescents.

The UNICEF expert also warned of an increase in the arrival of minors separated from their parents during the crossing and of adolescents who were traveling “alone.”

The migrants arrive first in Bajo Chiquito after crossing the jungle, where the authorities record their data and they spend the night. The next day they take canoes (paid for by them) that take them on the Tuquesa River to one of the two existing hostels in Darién.

There are several organizations that offer humanitarian and medical aid as well as the Panamanian authorities, which provide food assistance in an operation in which they have invested about 70 million dollars in recent years

 There, known by migrants as ’the UN,’ there are several organizations that offer humanitarian and medical aid as well as the Panamanian authorities, which provide food assistance in a single operation on the continent in which the Government has invested about 70 million dollars in recent years, according to official data.

From the Darién, the migrants must board a bus – at their own expense  – to neighboring Costa Rica.

The restrictions announced by several of the transited countries, such as the deportations of irregular migrants with a criminal record by Panama, or by the United States, which has put in place more obstacles to accessing asylum, do not stop the migratory flow.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Cubans to Pay More for Gasoline in 2024 While Tourists Will Pay in Dollars

Customers waiting in line to buy gas at a service station at San Rafael and Infanta streets in Havana in September. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 2 January 2024 — One of Cuba’s biggest economic reform measures in decades will take effect in 2024, raising prices for energy, water, natural gas and petroleum and ending the universal food subsidy.

While stressing that its plan will not affect the poorest segments of the population, the government has highlighted the urgent need to address the economic crisis afflicting the country, which has seen a shortage of basic goods, a drop in gross domestic product (GDP) of between 1% and 2 % in 2023, and a fiscal deficit close to 19%.

The plan has sparked criticism from independent economists and opposition figures, however, who have pointed out that it will only exacerbate the island’s already obvious economic inequalities. Rather than an economic adjustment plan, they claim the reforms are little more than cosmetic changes with little substance.

One example is electricity, the cost of which will rise 25% this year for the top 6% of income earners

After making a surprise end-of year announcement of the so-called Macro-economic Stabilization Plan to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero claimed that, given the “war-time economy” the country is facing, the state could no longer afford to waste money on certain subsidies. continue reading

One example is electricity, the cost of which will rise 25% this year for the top 6% of income earners.

Another change is that tourists will now have to pay for gasoline in hard currency while everyone else will see fuel prices rise. The government does not anticipate that this increase will apply to transport workers such taxi drivers, however.

Meanwhile, water bills will triple for those whose service is not metered while the price of liquified gas will increase 25%.

One of the most notable features of the government’s measure is an end to the subsidy which allows all Cuban consumers to purchase products at heavily discounted prices using a ration card, which has been around for over sixty years.

The other measures have a similar purpose. Given the severe liquidity crisis, the  government says it will attempt to prioritize subsidies for people it considers to be economically vulnerable.

It pointed out that this does not mean the end of the ration book, only that prices for rationed goods will be based on an individual’s income.

Alejandro Gil tacitly acknowledged the island’s social differences, saying that “not everyone is in the same state of economic solvency”

In an interview on state television, economics minister Alejandro Gill was asked if it was feasible to maintain the same level of subsidy on products for the entire population when “not everyone is in the same state of economic solvency,” a tacit acknowledgement of the island’s social differences.

The ration system costs Cuba around 1.6 billion dollars a year at a time when the government lacks all the foreign reserves it needs to access the international market, which it relies on to supply 80% of the food the country consumes.

Cuba will adopt a new currency exchange rate, which for businesses transactions has been set at twenty-four Cuban pesos (CUP) to the dollar since 2021, when monetary reforms did away with the convertible peso (CUC), whose value was at parity to the dollar.

Independent economists have criticized that policy, pointing out that the elimination of the country’s dual-currency system almost three years ago has encouraged the growth of currency exchange on the black market where, as of Monday, the rate was 265 CUP to the dollar.

The government itself has admitted that this reform measure did not meet its objectives.

“Among the measures being proposed is one to restore state control of foreign exchange earnings. Part of what is happening today is that there is less supply in the state sector and more supply in the private sector because the private sector is, in some way acquiring hard currency through the informal market, the illegal market, and those currencies are not finding their way into the national financial system,” Gil explained.

Since the plan was announced, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel has taken pains to point out that it is not a “neo-liberal package” or a “crash program”

Since the plan was announced, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel has taken pains to point out that it is neither a “neo-liberal* package” nor a “crash program.”

This government’s claim, which has been a constant refrain in recent days, is a response to accusations from some in the opposition that these measures are similar to those adopted in recent decades by other, mostly right-wing, governments in the region.

Officials argue that this is merely an attempt to correct a handfull of economic “distortions” and that the objective is for the state to retake the reins and make corrections.

One Cuban economist who has criticized the plan is Pedro Monreal, who claims, “An economic package does not necessarily have to be neo-liberal to have affects similar to those of a traditional neo-liberal package.”

Translator’s note: A term used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers and reducing — especially through privatization and austerity — state influence in the economy. (Source: Wikipedia)

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Raul Castro Denies the Existence of ‘Generational Contradictions Within the Cuban Revolution’

Raúl Castro, 92, wanted to support his successor this Monday, the 65th anniversary of the Revolution. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 2 January 2024 — Former President Raúl Castro reappeared this Monday to lead the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Revolution in Santiago de Cuba, in one of his most important public speeches in months. He called for unity within the Communist Party (PCC) and confidence in the new generation of leaders who have succeeded the historical leaders.

The former leader, 92-years-old, closed the annual ceremony commemorating the triumph of the guerrillas who came to power on the Island led by the late Fidel Castro (1926-2016), who was also presented, through technology, at the event. “No thieves, no traitors, no interventionists. This time it is the Revolution,” the deceased Commander was heard saying through a hologram.

His younger brother and successor in office made a speech in which he reiterated the need to close ranks within the ruling party as the “main strategic weapon” of the Revolution and the PCC. “It has allowed this small island to succeed in facing challenges. Let’s treat unity as something to be cherished,” he advised.

Fidel Castro fue omnipresente a través de las pantallas este lunes en el acto de Santiago de Cuba. (Cubadebate)
Fidel Castro was omniprsent through screens this Monday, in an event in Santiago de Cuba (Cubadebate)

Against that unity, “all the subversive plans of the enemy will fail once again,” he added.

“Today I can affirm with satisfaction that the Cuban Revolution, after 65 years of existence, far from weakening has strengthened, as I said a decade ago, on a day like today and in this very place, [and has done so] without continue reading

commitment to anyone at all, except to the people,” the former president claimed.

“I know that I express the feeling of the historical generation by ratifying confidence in those who today occupy leadership responsibility in our party and Government,” he said, in clear allusion to the current administration, led by his successor and current president of the country, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is also the first president on the Island who was not part of the armed struggle in 1959.

Castro also emphasized that “there are no generational contradictions within the Revolution, because there is no envy or desire for power among its children,” a quote he attributed to Fidel Castro.

He also asked leaders who “because of insufficient capacity, lack of preparation or simply because they are too tired to be at the height that the moment demands,” to step aside.

Díaz-Canel spoke before Castro and was full of praise for the Revolution: “It was a libertarian act of continental projection, which not only freed the country from a servile, repressive and corrupt dictatorship, but very soon untied the knots of economic dependence on Yankee transnationals and liquidated the cruelest expressions of human exploitation that had been naturalized in the bosom of Cuban society, such as child labor, prostitution and the semi-slavery of Haitian emigrants.”

The current president highlighted what, in his opinion, have been the great pillars of Cuba after 1959: agrarian reform, education and public health. “These were works of profound and sustained social escalation that in a few years transformed a poor and backward country into a world benchmark in education, health, sports and culture,” he said.

Díaz-Canel junto a Raúl Castro en el parque Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, de Santiago de Cuba. (EFE)
Díaz-Canel with Raúl Castro in Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Park, in Santiago de Cuba. (EFE)

With that in mind, he emphasized “the makers” of the Revolution who “have brought it undefeated” and, therefore, “deserve the greatest recognition,” the main one being that the following generations will be “loyal to the history,” he added.

“This is the Revolution that after having lost 3,000 doctors due to a politically induced exodus in the 60s of the last century built one of the most formidable and prestigious health systems of our time and today has half a million workers at all levels who guarantee universal coverage and free assistance for all Cubans. At the same time, during these six decades, 600,000 Cuban health professionals have collaborated in 165 countries,” he said, with no mention of the health workers who are currently in exile due to low wages and poor working conditions in Cuba.

Cuba enters 2024 plunged into a serious economic crisis, after a fall in 2023 GDP of 1% to 2% and a fiscal deficit of 19%, in addition to a shortage of basic products such as food, medicines and fuel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Cuba Extends the Tariff Exemption for Food, Medicines and Other Products

The import of duty-free food and medicines was approved in July 2021. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, December 31, 2023 — The Cuban authorities announced this Saturday a new extension – until March 31 – to the tariff exemption for food, toiletries, medicines and even generators that travelers can bring to the Island for non-commercial purposes.

As a novelty of the measure taken in 2021 and prolonged several times, “the non-commercial import above the value established by the route of air, sea, mail and courier shipments of generators with a power greater than 900 watt-hour,” is allowed, according to the Ministry of Finance and Prices.

For the extension of the measure, “the persistence of the conditions that gave rise, in 2021, to its implementation” has been considered, according to the source.

Therefore, the tariff benefit will be maintained, which authorizes exceptionally, the non-commercial import, without limits in its value and exempt from the payment of customs duties, food, toiletries and medicines, through passengers as accompanied luggage. continue reading

The tariff benefit will be maintained, which exceptionally authorizes, the non-commercial import, without limits in its value and exempt from the payment of customs, food, toiletries and medicines

The import of food and medicines without tariff limits was a measure put into effect after the anti-government protests of 11 July 2021, which had as its main causes the scarcity and shortage of those basic products.

The law in force in Cuba on the import of luggage consists of a complex system of points and weight limits that establishes tariffs on excess items brought by travelers.

In the case of medicines, up to 22 pounds are allowed to be introduced into the country.

The economic crisis in Cuba was aggravated by the pandemic, the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the failures in internal macroeconomic management.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

More Than 5,200 Cubans Were Deported to the Island in 2023 From Different Countries

The first flight of this year with deported Cubans arrived in Havana on April 24, with 123 people. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, December 31, 2023 — A few hours before the end of 2023, the Ministry of the Interior reported that, in the last 12 months, 5,253 Cubans have been deported by air and sea from different countries in the region. Last Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard returned nine rafters to Cuba on the ship Charles David Jr.

Among these deportations are those carried out by the United States. The most recent transfer flight to José Martí International Airport was last Thursday, with 31 Cubans who were arrested at the border.

According to Prensa Latina, in this group, made up of two women and 29 men, there were three people who had left the country illegally by sea. The rest, it reported, did so legally but “then took irregular routes to the U.S. border.”

Under the bilateral agreement between Cuba and the United States to return to the Island those who arrive by sea, eight transfers occurred to repatriate 426 Cubans since last April, when air expulsions resumed. continue reading

This year, Cuba has also received repatriated migrants from the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Mexico

The first flight with this type of deportees arrived in Havana on April 24, with 123 people. On the last day of November, 37 Cubans were deported. Yoan Enríquez, who had a probation form I-220B, was one of the passengers who had to leave his wife and a three-month-old baby in Florida.

During the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022, more than 6,800 Cubans have been intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard on trips to Florida, according to official data.

This year, Cuba has also received migrants repatriated from the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

According to what was revealed to this newspaper, Cuba accepted the returns of its nationals from the month of October from Mexico, as long as the transfer expenses were covered by the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “A cost of 4,000 pesos (237 dollars) is handled for each migrant,” said lawyer José Luis Pérez.

Since Mexico resumed flights to Havana, it used the services of the airline Viva Aerobús. In total, it has transferred 435 Cubans in five connections. “Migration has a budget item for deportations. It’s not a new expense,” the official said.

Mexico also has a bilateral agreement with Venezuela for the deportation of migrants. This Sunday, a group of 122 migrants was returned to Venezuelan territory on the second repatriation flight, for a total of 329 people if you add the 207 who arrived in the early hours of this Saturday.

Since Mexico resumed flights to Havana, it used the services of the Viva Aerobús airline. In total, it has transferred 435 Cubans in five connections

The flight was carried out through the Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland) plan, a government program launched in 2018 to facilitate the return of migrants who were victims of xenophobia, according to the Venezuelan Government.

On X (formerly Twitter), the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace pointed out that the migrants were received by a “comprehensive care command” in charge of verifying their data and providing medical assistance.

The Mexican government reported this Saturday the renewal of the repatriation flights of Venezuelans who are arrested on their way to the U.S. border.

It also indicated that they are working on the implementation of social programs in Venezuela, which will benefit, among others, repatriated people by linking them to productive projects and paid internships in workplaces.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

A Group of 13 Cubans Denounces Migration Agents and Thwarts an Attempted Extortion in Mexico

A Migration agent at the time of returning their passports to 13 Cubans. (Capture Facebook/Epicentre Chiapas RyTv Official)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, December 25, 2023 — “Do you want to continue? You must pay 1,500 Mexican pesos (88 dollars),” said a Migration agent who withheld the passports of 13 Cubans on Monday at the checkpoint located in the municipality of Viva México (Chiapas). According to Zuselmi García López, they were traveling to join the caravan that left Tapachula on the same day with more than 10,000 migrants.

García López told local media that the agents first said that they were going to give them transport to Tuxtla Gutiérrez and that there they would “do the legal papers to continue.” This is the method that the officers use to dissolve the caravans. They put the migrants on trucks and return them to Tapachula; others take them to the Siglo XXI immigration station where they are detained for days.

At Cubans’ insistence to recover their passports, another officer told them that Admiral Roberto González would give them their passports when the caravan arrived. García López insisted that they wanted to continue with the group led by Luis García Villagrán, director of the Center for Human Dignity. That’s when they were told that they had to pay if they wanted to get their passports back.

Before the caravan arrived at the checkpoint in Viva Mexico, the Cubans denounced the attempt at extortion before some media that were at the continue reading

scene. In front of the camera, García López accused Admiral González while recording the officers of the National Guard.

With the arrival of the caravan, García Villagrán used a loudspeaker to address Admiral Roberto González. “We asked for the passports to be returned to this group of Cubans. Why don’t you want to give them to them?” said the activist. Minutes later, the documents were returned to Zuselmi García López.

Another of the Cubans, who didn’t give his name, also denounced the Migration agents in Tapachula. (Facebook/Epicentro Chiapas RyTv Oficial)

According to Luis Rey García Villagrán, this caravan is the largest exodus of this year and could exceed 15,000 people who will walk for days to reach Mexico City as its first point. “We are leading this group, which has become a human traffic jam, and we tell the Mexican state that it leaves us no choice but to walk on the road until Migration and the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, tell us yes or no.”

García Villagrán stressed that “today we, the poorest of the poor, are walking, those who are at the peak of need, those who do not have money to pay for visas or coyotes.”

The Venezuelan Jesús Silva, who is traveling with his wife, told EFE that in Ciudad Hidalgo the Migration agents took him to the Siglo XXI Migration station, where an officer told them to leave Mexico.

“Really the only option is to walk. I rely on the caravan, because that’s where we feel the safest, with Latino brothers who have left their countries with a new dream, with hope of a better life,” Silva shared.

The Honduran José Wilmer Fernández Caballero, who showed his “positive resolution” paper from COMAR, the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees, has tried to leave Chiapas, but the immigration authorities tell them that his paper is worth nothing and doesn’t work.

“It didn’t help to spend so much time in Tapachula; it was lost time. They always take me back. We have the positive resolution paper with us, but they always take me out of the van and tell me that it’s not worth anything,” he said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Cuba Receives 45 Rafters Returned by the United States, Bringing the Total to 5,210 From Several Countries

At the end of 2022, Cuba and the United States agreed to resume deportation flights for ’inadmissible’ people detained on the border with Mexico. (Prensa Latina)

14ymedio biggerEFE/14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2023 –The U.S. Coast Guard Service (USCG) returned 45 Cuban rafters this Friday along with 5,210 irregular migrants deported to the Island from several countries in the region so far this year, according to official media.

This group includes 39 men and six women who left illegally from the province of Matanzas, according to the Ministry of the Interior on the social network X (formerly Twitter). The report indicates that the rafters were intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard and that this is the 129th repatriation operation of migrants from different nations in 2023.

The Cuban authorities assure that they stand “firm” in their commitment to a “regular, safe and orderly” migration, while warning of the danger and life-threatening conditions posed by illegal departures from the country by sea. Cuba and the U.S. have a bilateral agreement that all migrants arriving by sea will be returned to the Island.

Flights were added at the end of 2022, after Cuba and the U.S. agreed to resume deportation flights for “inadmissible” people detained at the border with Mexico. continue reading

During the last fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022, more than 6,800 Cubans have been intercepted by the USCG on trips to the coast of Florida, according to official data.

During the last fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022, more than 6,800 Cubans have been intercepted by the USCG on trips to the coast of Florida

This year, Cuba also received migrants deported from the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented migratory wave both for the volume of migrants and for its temporary extension due to the serious economic crisis it suffers with a great shortage of basic products (food, medicines and fuel), galloping inflation, frequent power outages and a partial dollarization of the economy.

It is estimated that in 2022, around 4% of the Cuban population left the country, and this year’s figures could be similar according to those accumulated to date

Also, U.S. immigration authorities arrested more than 242,000 migrants and asylum seekers at the southern border in November, according to figures published this Friday by the Customs and Border Control Office (CBP).

The data for the month of November represent a slight increase, less than 1%, compared to October, but they maintain the trend of the high arrival of migrants on the border with Mexico that has been evident in recent months.

In fact, November was the third month with the most arrests of migrants at the border in the last 14 months, according to CBP data.

Most of the people arrested, more than 191,000, tried to cross into U.S. territory irregularly, according to the data.

The interim commissioner of CBP, Troy Miler, said in a statement that his agency faces a “significant challenge” and asked the U.S. Congress to approve more resources to “improve border security and national security.”

“The levels of migration are still historically high,” the statement stressed. In November, CBP recorded more than 64,811 arrests of people of Mexican nationality, followed by Venezuelans with 34,063 arrests and Guatemalans with 26,299.

According to the statistics for the end of November 2023, published by CBP, 20,076 Cubans arrived in the United States through border points

Since the middle of the year, when a migration restriction that had been imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted, the Democratic Administration has enacted a series of rules to try to limit the arrival of migrants at the border and restrict access to asylum.

According to the statistics for the end of November 2023, published by CBP, 20,076 Cubans arrived in the U.S. through border points, 72% at the Mexican border. This represents a record number of Cuban irregular migrants in a month, 44,079.

The report points out that during last November, 14,502 Cubans entered irregularly through the southern border of the United States. The number of Cubans who have reached American soil during fiscal years 2022 and 2023 is 650,000, to which are added more than 50,000 since Joe Biden assumed the presidency.

In addition, more than 60,000 Cubans have traveled to the U.S. through the humanitarian parole program, while the number of those who arrived through the CBP One appointments, where Haitian, Mexican and Venezuelan applicants lead, is not revealed.

Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented migratory wave both for the volume of migrants and for its temporary extension due to the serious economic crisis it suffers with a great shortage of basic products (food, medicines and fuel), galloping inflation, frequent power outages and a partial dollarization of the economy. It is estimated that in 2022, around 4% of the Cuban population left the country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Raising Prices and Ending the Universal Ration ‘Booklet’, Measures to Stop Cuba’s Economic Disaster

Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, on the first day of the second ordinary session of the National Assembly, this Wednesday. (Granma)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 20 December 2023 — The unsustainable economic situation of the Island has led the Government to establish a shock plan starting at the beginning of 2024. Among the main measures announced by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on the first day of the second ordinary session of the National Assembly, are the increases in prices of products and services and the end of the universal subsidy for the basic food basket sold through the rationing system.

Regarding the rationed market, Marrero argued that the objective is to move to “subsidizing people and not products” to achieve “a more fair and efficient scheme,” tacitly recognizing the increase in social and economic inequalities.

“It is not fair that those who have a lot receive the same as those who have very little. Today we subsidize the same to an elderly pensioner as to the owner of large private businesses who has a lot of money,” he argued.

Thus, he continued, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security must identify people by their degree of “vulnerability,” so as to “not leave anyone helpless.” The latter group will be able to continue acquiring highly subsidized basic products with the ration card. continue reading

Marrero stressed that this classification will be carried out in “the coming weeks and months,” without further details.

Prominent among these increases are the 25% increase in the electricity rate for the 6% of the residential sector that consumes the most, and the move to require tourists to pay for fuel in foreign currency

The head of the Cuban Government also assured that, given the situation, the State cannot continue with the “waste” in certain subsidies, such as water, electricity, liquefied gas, transportation and fuel.

Prominent among these increases are the 25% increase in the electricity rate for the 6% of the residential sector that consumes the most, and the move to require tourists to pay for fuel in foreign currency.  The cost of water supply will triple for those who do not have timed service and the price of a liquefied gas cylinder will increase by 25%.

Marrero also announced that “new rates will be applied” to passenger transportation services, but without detailing what those rates will be.

Another still unspecified forecast announced by the prime minister is the end of the exemption from customs taxes for the import of food and medicine, which, for the moment, he clarified, will be extended.

Marrero also announced that next year the Government will change the official exchange rate of the peso with respect to the dollar, for which a working group has been created with the Central Bank of Cuba.

Since 2021, the official exchange rate remains at 24 pesos per dollar for legal entities and 120 CUP for individuals. In the informal market, meanwhile, the dollar has skyrocketed to 273 pesos.

The prime minister also left the door open to a “review” of the number of people currently on the state payroll

Another product that will see its cost increase is tobacco, which, according to the prime minister, “in many cases is bought for resale.”

The prime minister also left the door open to a “review” of the number of people currently on the state payroll, in reference to possible cuts to reduce the wage bill.

In this regard, he pointed out that the authorities must “review the state structures and templates” to guarantee “efficient management” and announced that “there is a group that is studying a law on the organization of the central administration of the State.”

This Monday, the Minister of Economy and First Vice Minister, Alejandro Gil, had already warned of the debacle of the situation, specifying that Cuba’s gross domestic product (GDP) will contract between 1% and 2% in 2023, versus the forecasted growth of 3% previously expected for the end of the year.

Inflation, for its part, is close to 30%, and its first victim is the “purchasing capacity” of Cubans’ salaries. Finally, the deficit will rise to around 15% of GDP, after the Executive recognized a deviation of 44% with respect to what was budgeted.

Although in his speech before the Economic Affairs Commission Gil listed a whole string of administrative calamities, he clarified that the disaster cannot be attributed to the Cuban Government’s management of the crisis, but rather to the well-known “tightening of the blockade” imposed by the United States.

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

Cuban President Diaz-Canel Receives the Support of the Leader of the World Council of Churches

Meeting between Jerry Pillay and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel this Monday in Havana. (@PresidenciaCuba)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 19 December 2023 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel held a meeting on Monday with the secretary general of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Jerry Pillay, who is visiting Havana, he said, to “strengthen the ties” with the Christian community of the Island.

During the conversation, the religious leader reaffirmed “the support of the WCC for Cuba’s fight against the (United States) blockade,” says the Cuban Presidency on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Pillay also “rejected the inclusion of the Island in the list (prepared by the United States) of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism,” he said.

The highest representative of the CMI gave a sermon in the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Havana

This Sunday, on the first day of his visit, the highest representative of the CMI gave a sermon in the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Havana, the temple where the ruling Council of Churches of Cuba was founded.

In that meeting, the Reverend highlighted the “historic ties” that unite the organization with the religious community of the Island and considered that faith in the Catholic and Protestant churches is growing in the country, according to a report by state television. continue reading

Before closing his visit this Tuesday, Pillay scheduled meetings with the board of the Cuban Council of Churches, the Reformed Presbyterian Church and representatives of ecumenical movements and religious leaders. He will also give a lecture at the San Gerónimo University College in Havana.

The international religious organization – founded 75 years ago – has 352 member churches and almost 600 million Christians in 120 countries around the world.

On the Island it has relations with the Council of Churches, which groups together almost 30 of the Christian denominations related to a greater or lesser extent to the Government, including the Pentecostals, Lutherans and Presbyterians, as well as the Salvation Army and the Quakers.

The interest of the Cuban Government in earning the support of the religious institutions of the Island has led it to meet on several occasions with religious leaders to demonstrate the support of the religious communities for the State. This is what happened last June, when Díaz-Canel traveled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. In the conversation, which was expected to handle sensitive issues such as the release of political prisoners on the Island, there were only words of support for the regime from the seat of Catholicism.

Last September, the Biblical Society of the Council of Churches was constituted, with a representation of Catholics and the Greek Orthodox

Last September the Biblical Society of the Council of Churches was constituted, with a representation of Catholics and the Greek Orthodox, who were not part of the group, composed mainly of Protestant churches. During the event, in which Caridad Diego – in charge of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party – was present, the representatives of the institutions sent bibles dedicated to Raúl Castro, Díaz-Canel and Esteban Lazo.

However, not all Cuban churches have expressed their support for the Cuban Government. This is the case of the Assemblies of God, a group of evangelical churches, which on Monday published a statement denouncing the misrepresentation of information about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, by the official Cuban media.

Saying “that the barbarism of that day (October 7, when Hamas launched the first attack on Israel) was perpetrated by Israel itself  exceeds the limits of rationality and the most elementary sense of justice,” they stated.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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

Faith, Health and a Better Country Are What Cubans Ask For From San Lazaro

The colors purple and brown distinguish the clothing of those who venerate the saint. (EFE)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 17 December 2023 — Faith, health and a better country are the requests of many of the Cuban devotees of San Lázaro who are arriving this Sunday, after a pilgrimage that in some cases started the day before in the rain, at the sanctuary of El Rincón on the outskirts of Havana.

The road that leads to the temple, a place of worship for the Cuban patron saint of miracles, is less traveled than in previous years due to inclement weather and adverse forecasts. The difficulties in the daily lives of Cubans after three years of serious economic crisis lead them to continue the pilgrimage to the saint on his day.

The rain does not prevent people like Regla Mercedes from going “to fulfill” their promise. “I asked him for health and to take into account the Cuban people for the things we are going through,” this 52-year-old librarian told EFE while she carries a medium-sized version of San Lázaro.

The rain does not prevent people like Regla Mercedes from going “to fulfill” their promise. “I asked him for health and to take into account the Cuban people for the things we are going through”

On her way to the sanctuary, this lady regrets that “such a beautiful and human country is like this; it makes me want to cry,” in reference to the economic crisis that hits the most humble Cubans every day, who, like her, cling to their faith to “endure.” continue reading

There is a small influx of pilgrims who on foot, knees and even crawling down the street reach the temple that stands on the grounds of an old leper house.

However, the faithful who decide to take the path and fulfill their promises fill the streets dressed in purple, the color that represents this saint and also the “orisha” Babalú Aye, the Afro-Cuban deity with which San Lázaro is identified.

This is how Dariel Alejandro Ortega is dressed, wearing brown and purple clothes, carrying a basket with a very small San Lázaro, and smoking what is left of a cigar.

“I come to ask for health, but also an improvement because everything is a mess,” he explains to EFE, while asking to be “collaborated” with some money.

“I have a lot of faith in him. He is a miraculous saint and that’s what Cuba needs now: a miracle,” says the 40-year-old man.

“I have a lot of faith in him. He is a miraculous saint and that’s what Cuba needs now: a miracle”

At his side is Osmany Fuentes with his wife while he carries his little girl in his arms. He also says that he will continue to attend these pilgrimages every year to “thank the saint for keeping my family together, despite the problems.”

As is traditional, there are also those who travel several miles dragging huge stones tied to their feet, and others who walk kneeling regardless of the dirt in the road.

The pilgrimage concludes inside the sanctuary where those who finish the trip barefoot light white and purple candles and thank the miraculous saint with cigars and flowers. On Sunday, first thing in the morning, there is a Christian celebration to receive all the pilgrims.

They say that some have lost consciousness due to so much sacrifice and that they can no longer reach the altar.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Ortega Is Inspired by the Cuban Model To Prevent the Entry of ‘Undesirables’ Into Nicaragua

Daniel Ortega shows the list of the 222 opponents released from prison and “deported” to Washington. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, San José, 19 December 2023 — The NGO Collective of Human Rights Nicaragua Nunca Más [Never Again] warned on Monday about “a new method of repression” implemented by the government of Daniel Ortega against critics and opponents, which consists of prohibiting them from entering the country when they leave on a trip and seek to return.

“This Collective wants to warn of a new method of repression, a de facto statelessness, derived from the unfounded refusal not to allow Nicaraguans to enter their homeland because they are people considered traitors to the government, or for the simple fact of being relatives of people released from prison, journalists, mothers of murdered people and human rights defenders,” the organization said in a statement.

The last public case was that of Ana Salinas, sister of the exiled Nicaraguan journalist and writer Carlos Salinas Maldonado, author of a book about the vice president of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, who was unable to return to her country last Friday due to the refusal of the Sandinista government, according to the platform Alertas Libertad de Prensa Nicaragua, which documents cases of violations of freedom of expression and the press. continue reading

The Nicaraguan authorities for Migration and Aliens do not usually give explanations about that measure

The Nicaraguan authorities for Migration and Aliens, who are responsible for notifying airlines and land transport about the prohibition to Nicaraguan travelers, do not usually give explanations about that measure.

“To this pattern must be added those whose passport is snatched by officials and repressive forces of the regime, leaving them undocumented and without any protection,” continued the statement from the Collective, composed mostly of Nicaraguan activists exiled and based in San José.

“De facto statelessness is a new form of repression that generates serious human rights violations, forces people into exile and annuls the legal personality of those who suffer from it,” the NGO explained.

According to the statement, “even with these repeated violations, people in exile have bet on resilience as a form of resistance to the dictatorship, and new organizations, media and ventures in exile have been founded for subsistence.”

However, it noted that the banished Nicaraguans “continue to suffer obstacles to access formal sources of employment, health, education and other elements necessary to have a dignified life.”

The Collective asked the international community to “continue to take steps to demand the cessation of repression and exile”

For this reason, the Collective asked the international community to “continue to demand the cessation of repression, exile and forced displacement that destroys families and lives and subjects Nicaragua to a constant situation of serious human rights violations.”

Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018, accentuated after the November 2021 elections, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth in a row and second with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main opponents in prison or in exile.

The method described by the NGO has also been used in Cuba to banish activists and intellectuals who openly oppose the Havana regime and have some public support. With the disappearance of opponents from the national stage, the Cuban Government intends for their activism to be diluted in exile.

The most known cases of expulsions from the country with the prohibition to return are those of the artist Tania Bruguera, who negotiated her departure in exchange for the release of a group of political prisoners; Anamely Ramos, who is prohibited from returning to the island; Hamlet Lavastida, who was taken to the airport and banished after spending three months in prison, and journalist Karla Pérez, who was denied entry into the country in 2021.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

The Mexican Film ‘Tótem’ Triumphs at the Havana International Film Festival

With the award ceremony, the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema concludes in Havana. (Prensa Latina)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 17 December 2023 — The Mexican film Tótem, by Lila Avilés, was the big winner at the awards gala of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana after obtaining three awards this Friday.

The Mexican film won the Grand Coral for Best Screenplay, Best Fiction Feature Film and Best Artistic Direction on the awards night of the 44th edition of the festival. The Argentine Los delincuentes, [The Delinquents], by Rodrigo Moreno, also won three awards: Best Direction, Best Photography and Best Editing.

The award ceremony, held at the Charles Chaplin cinema, was the culmination of the festival, which, since December 8, has screened hundreds of films in the Cuban capital and officially ends on Sunday.

Among the recognitions was the victory of El mundo de Nelsito [Nelsito’s World] in the category of best poster, by the Cuban Vladimir Pérez. Also, in the second edition of the Arrecife award, for the work that best captures the reality of the LGBTIQ+ community, the award went to the Franco-Colombian Transfariana, by Joris Lachaise. continue reading

With the slogan “Lights, Camera, Action!” the event had 199 films selected for competition from a total of 19 countries – the most represented were those of Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile – in categories such as fiction shorts, debuts, documentaries and animated works.

There were also tributes made to the Cuban filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, co-director of Fresa y chocolate [Strawberry and Chocolate], the only film on the Island nominated for an Oscar, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of its premiere in 2023; the Spanish-Mexican director Luis Buñuel; the French actor and director Max Linder and the Cuban cartoonist Juan Padrón.

With the slogan “Lights, Camera, Action!” the event featured 199 films selected for competition from a total of 19 countries

Within the framework of the festival, the Center of the Cuban Film Poster was inaugurated, a place that exhibits part of the collection inscribed in May in the list of Memory of the World of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This edition of the festival was under the shadow of the clash between the film sector and the Cuban Government.

The discomfort in the guild became evident after the censorship of the documentary La Habana de Fito [Fito’s Havana], a work directed by Juan Pin Vilar – which recalls the anecdotes in the Cuban capital of the Argentine artist Fito Páez – at the beginning of the year, and the broadcast in June of a non-definitive version of that film on state television, without the authorization of its director.

These two events marked the appearance this summer of the independent Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC), which denounced the censorship of two of its films at the festival.

During the festival, at least two filmmakers complained about the situation of the guild and the attitude of the cultural authorities.

After the screening of Landrián – a documentary about the work of Nicolás Guillén Landrián, one of the pioneers of Cuban cinema, who ended up in exile – its director, Ernesto Daranas, said that censorship is exercised in Cuba “still today.”

Similarly, the director Orlando Mora Cabrera, in the presentation of his short, Brujo amor [Sorcerous Love], said the Havana festival “should be a more plural, more inclusive and more fair space. When it is censored, not only is the artist excluded but the voice of the people is also silenced.”

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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

The Maya Train, Mexican President Lopez Obrador’s Flagship Work, Used Only 7,000 Tons of Cuban Stone

The Tren Maya (MayaTrain) inaugurated this Saturday in Mexico was delayed because the tracks had to be changed manually. (X/@GobiernoMX)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, December 17, 2023 — With a delay of almost four hours on one of two routes, the first section of the Tren Maya was inaugurated this Saturday, which connects Campeche (state of the same name) and Cancun (Quintana Roo). In the first 293 miles of railway infrastructure, 7,000 tons were used of the 200,000 Cuban porphyria stones that the Government of Mexico would buy from Cuba. The Cuban business failed due to the lack of ports with infrastructure for unloading the Rajón stone and the high cost of transferring it from the Island.

The Mexican government intended to unload the stone in Puerto Morelos. However, the anchor of the ship Melody, in which 20,000 tons of stone from Cienfuegos were transported, damaged a coral bank of the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve, an area established for marine biodiversity, which forced part of the unloading to be aborted.

Last June, the director of Apiqroo, Vagner Elbiorn Vega, explained that three operations were carried out because the depth in this port is 14.8 feet, which caused logistical difficulties and additional operational costs. The Melody was still on the high seas with 13,000 tons of Cuban stone, and the ship Gazibey with 17,000. The fate of this stone is still unknown Faced with the complaints of environmental groups about the damage caused in the region and several legal protections to stop the work, the Administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador shielded the information. continue reading

The first section of the Tren Maya goes from Campeche to Cancun. (X/@GobiernoMX)

Group Indi, one of the most important builders in Mexico, partnered with Santo Domingo Inversiones, which “served as an intermediary” with Cuba in everything related to the acquisition of the Rajón stone that would be processed in Mexico to obtain ballast.

In May, Santo Domingo Inversiones offered General Gustavo Vallejo, head of the Felipe Ángeles Engineering Group, responsible for Parts 5 North, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train, stone material from Cienfuegos. The company’s proposal consisted of the sale of 1.2 million cubic meters of Cuban ballast at a price of $143 per cubic meter, which could change by having Grupo Indi as a partner.

The transfer of the Rajón stone was done by the maritime and commercial services company Mide, which complained that having a ship anchored cost it losses of 100,000 dollars a day. Because of the lack of a landing area, the business with Cuba fell apart and left a debt of almost 8,000,000 dollars.

After Cuba ceased to be the option for the supply of stone, the Veracruz-based company Osoialfa became the main ballast supplier for the Tren Maya, with more than 500,000 tons of stone transported to the main landing points.

The train, which will travel through the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, had setbacks this Saturday because the of track switching systems are not automated.

The first commercial trip of the also-called “Rolling Jaguar” occurred a day after the inaugural tour of the first of three stages of construction with the presence of President López Obrador.

VIDEO | The inaugural trip of the Tren Maya from Campeche to Cancun ended. It lasted 9 hours 28 minutes because four trips were scheduled on a single track.  The track switching systems are not automated, which caused a delay in the 3-hour itinerary.

However, the route still does not make stops at several of the planned intermediate stations, something that will be solved in the coming months, according to the authorities.

Everything went according to what was planned on the first train scheduled to leave Cancun at 7 am local time. However, for the second convoy, which was expected to leave at 11 am, the passengers had to wait up to four hours to be able to board the Xiimbal train.

A worker of the Tren Maya, as EFE verified, clarified that it was a “technical failure” of the Alstom company, in charge of the construction of the railways, while assuring that the public company that attends to tourist transport “is not responsible for this breakdown,” and he apologized.

He insisted that this type of experience does not represent the Tren Maya brand and added that “no one is perfect.”

According to López Obrador, the project will bring prosperity to one of the most historically forgotten areas of the country: the Mexican southeast.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

The Center of the Cuban Film Poster is Inaugurated, After its Registration as Documentary Heritage

The Cuban film poster led the formal and conceptual experimentation. (EFE)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, December 13, 2023 — The cultural authorities of Cuba inaugurated on Tuesday the Center of the Cuban Film Poster, a place that exhibits part of the collection registered in May in the Memory of the World list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The event was attended by the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Grau, and the representative of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Anne Lemaistre.

The Center opened its doors as part of the 44th edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana, which ends on December 17. The inauguration was also part of a day of celebration for UNESCO’s recognition.

Among Tuesday’s activities was the delivery of the diploma that attests to the inscription of the collection of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) in the Memory of the World list, as well as a panel with experts and figures of the Island’s culture. continue reading

Today is the culmination of a long process that began in the first years of the Revolution, when it was decided that a Cuban poster was going to be made here, wherever the film originated   

“Today is the culmination of a long process that began in the early years of the Revolution, when it was decided that a Cuban poster was going to be made here by Cuban designers, wherever the film originated,” said Sara Vega, a graphics specialist at the Cinemateca de Cuba and in charge of the almost 3,000 pieces that make up the collection.

Among the designers of these posters, artists such as Eduardo Muñoz Bachs, Antonio Fernández Reboiro, Rafael Morante, Alfredo Rostgaard, Julio Eloy Mesa and Antonio Pérez (Ñiko) stand out.

In Cuba, this type of piece, which revolutionized the visual arts in the country and the region, had a boom in the 60s, the golden age of the Island’s cinema.

The film poster then led the formal and conceptual experimentation, incorporating aesthetic trends that dominated the international visual arts panorama such as pop art, op art and kinetic art.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

The United States Contributes $25,000 to Restore Hemingway’s House in Cuba

Interior of the Finca La Vigía where the American writer Ernest Hemingway lived for 20 years. (CC)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, December 11, 2023 — The United States approved a $25,000 fund to restore the former home of the American writer Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, the Finca Vigía Foundation reported on Monday, the entity that works with the authorities in Havana to preserve the current house-museum.

The money will also be allocated to the creation of a restoration center as well as to the maintenance and rescue of “thousands of documents, manuscripts, letters and photos along with a bookstore with 9,000 copies,” the agency adds in a statement.

For the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy on the Island, Benjamin Ziff, the fund approved by the U.S. Government highlights the historical and cultural value that the house represents for both Washington and Havana.

“Supporting Finca Vigía represents our commitment to preserving the incalculable history and shared cultural heritage that links the United States to Cuba,” Ziff said. continue reading

Supporting Finca Vigía represents our commitment to preserve the incalculable history and shared cultural heritage that links the United States with Cuba

For his part, Frank Phillips, co-president of the Finca Vigía Foundation, stressed that this fund is the first “financial support of the U.S. Government” and that, therefore, it is “incredibly significant.”

“Our hope is that the embassy’s support will inspire others to contribute,” Phillips added.

The Finca Vigía mansion, located about nine miles from Havana, was the residence of the American writer for more than 20 years and became the Ernest Hemingway Museum after his death on July 2, 1961, when he committed suicide with a shotgun in Idaho (USA).

Ernest Hemingway spent long periods between 1939 and until shortly before his death at Finca Vigía, where he even wrote part of some of his most famous novels, including The Old Man and the Sea, which was cited in his award of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

The museum preserves a collection of more than 20,000 personal objects and documents that belonged to the novelist, including books, hunting trophies, records, weapons, stationery, photos, a typewriter, where he used to write standing, and the yacht El Pilar, with which he went fishing and sailing in the Caribbean Sea.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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