In Puerto Rico, Cubans Call for a Commission Against Impunity / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Cuban National Conference in Puerto Rico (14ymedio)
Cuban National Conference in Puerto Rico (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, San Juan, 15 August 2016 — The emergence of a new opposition partnership called the Conference of the Cuban National Congress is the most notable result of the event that has gathered in Puerto Rico 65 organizations from the island and in exile.

After lengthy and complex discussions in which there was laughter and tears, reasoned arguments and passionate declarations, lights and shadows… in short, Cubans. An agreement has been reached to forge an integrated structure with a Coordination Committee composed of 22 elected representatives. continue reading

Work has been assigned on different fronts distributed among 11 working committees, including ones assigned IT and communications, the press, popular consultation, Human Rights and one to address political prisoners and their families. Like any other organization, some working committees will deal with international relations, finance and legal affairs. Leading each committee is one representative from the island and one from exile. These coordinators will appoint a minimum of three and a maximum of five members to their respective committees, and will provide a report on their work every three months.

The principal declaration from the event that expresses the consensus on the new Cuba proposed at the Second Cuban National Conference, ratified the Democracy Agreement of 1988 as containing the elements needed to reconstruct the new Republic of Cuba, which had been ratified in the previous conference held in August of 2015.

The Declaration supports “the establishment of a commission against impunity” and, in response to the demands of several organizations, it proposes to “retroactively audit the management of existing companies in Cuba with the intention of respecting the conventions of the International Labor Organization.” Similarly, with clear perspective on the future, it proposes the need to implement “measures that guarantee transparency and integrity and fight corruption in public management and the electoral process of the new Republic of Cuba.”

Telecommunications was a topic at the meeting. In the accords, the US government was asked to seek an accord with the Cuban government to connect an internet cable between the two countries and to ask the American company Google to establish an appropriate policy to provide uncensored internet via wifi. In addition, it denounced the violation of the internet giant’s code of conduct for its indifference to the Cuban people in this regard.

Telecommunications were present at the meeting. In the agreements, the US government to seek an agreement with Cuba to connect an Internet cable between the two countries and the US company Google to establish a correct policy to provide uncensored internet via wifi was claimed was requested. In addition, the violation of the code of conduct Internet giant was denounced for its indifference to the Cuban people in this regard.

As is usual in this type of meeting opposition activists and civil society residents on the island manage to get together with Cuban exiles there were immeasurable parallel results that over the long term will open new contacts and support the emergence of diverse indicatives.

The results of the agreements reached will not have an immediate effect, but progress has been made, despite the inevitable differences among personalities, given those who only understand unity when it goes their way, along with all the pessimism and the overcoming of exhaustion and induced suspicions.

The composition of the Coordinating Council of the Congress of the Cuban National Conference is (in alphabetical order by last name).

Composition of the Coordinating Board of the Cuban National Congress (In alphabetical order by last name).

Chosen by the Island

Eliecer Ávila: Somos+
Henry Constantín: Proyecto La Hora de Cuba
Guillermo Fariñas: Foro Anti Totalitario Unido (Fantu)
Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez): Frente de Resistencia Orlando Zapata
René Gómez Manzano: Corriente Agramontista de Abogados Independientes
Juan Carlos González Leyva: Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos
Iván Hernández Carrillo: Confederación de Trabajadores Independientes de Cuba
Mario Félix Lleonart: Instituto Patmos
Damaris Moya Portieles: Coalición Central Opositora
Félix Navarro: Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel
Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina: Alianza Democrática Oriental

Chosen by the Exile

Ana Carbonell:Instituto de la Rosa Blanca
Pedro Fuentes: Consejo Presidio Político Cubano
René Hernández: Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Cuba
Faisel Iglesias: Fundación Nuevo Pensamiento Cubano
Augusto Monge: Free Cuba Foundation
Rosa María Payá: Fundación para la Democracia Panamericana
Pedro M. Peñaranda: Círculo Democrático Municipalista
Mario Rivadulla: Unión de trabajadores cubanos de la comunicación social y la cultura.
Ramón Saúl Sánchez: Movimiento Democracia
Julio M. Schiling: Patria de Martí
Guillermo Toledo: Cubanos Unidos de Puerto Rico

Cuban Second National Conference Debates Principles of a “New Cuba” / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

”United We Will Be Free” is the slogan of the conference, which involved nearly a hundred activists from the island and from exile (14ymedio)
”United We Will Be Free” is the slogan of the conference, which involved nearly a hundred activists from the island and from exile (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12 August 2016 — The Cuban 2nd National Conference is meeting this Friday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, under the slogan “United we will be free,” with the presence of nearly a hundred activists from the island and from exile.

The event seeks to “provide a space for reflection and dialogue among the greatest possible number of opposition organizations” to discuss, among other things, the principles of a “New Cuba.” Throughout the meeting, which will run until noon on Monday, there will be a discussion of the creation a structure of unity of action in diversity inside and outside Cuba. continue reading

The organizers of the conclave have predicted, at the end of the discussions, there will be proposals of candidates for the elective positions of the resulting structure, and a vote. The members elected by the new organization will inform the plenary regarding the work to be carried out both within Cuba and from the exile.

The meeting has as its antecedent the one held last year, where a nine-member Coordinating Committee was created, with five members from the internal opposition and four from the exile. Their principal mission has been to communicate the contents of the Declaration of San Juan and coordinate the current meeting.

On the eve of the conference and during the first day of work, attendees focused on ironing out differences and finding common ground in order to achieve the democratization of Cuba. Creating a coalition or common front among the opposition is the larger challenge ahead of the participants.

The Cuban 2nd National Conference is taking place at a time of intense debate among Cuban activists on the island, a situation reflected in the departure of at least two of the most representative opposition groups on the island – the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and the United Anti-totalitario Forum (FANTU) – from the Democratic Action Unity Roundtable (MUAD).

A statement released this week by Boris Gonzalez, MUAD spokesperson, sent a greeting to all the participants in the Second Conference, and wished them “the greatest successes to achieve the democratization of Cuba.” The document recognizes “all efforts in this direction.” This opposition coalition is widely represented in the San Juan meeting.

Ivan Hernandez And Felix Navarro Prevented From Leaving Cuba “A Second Time” / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Ivan Hernandez Carrillo. (Twitter / @ivanlibre)
Ivan Hernandez Carrillo. (Twitter / @ivanlibre)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 11 August 2016 – Cuba’s immigration authorities prevented activists Ivan Hernandez and Felix Navarro from traveling outside Cuba this Thursday. The former prisoners of the 2003 Black Spring were invited to participate in the 2nd Cuban National Conference that be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 12 to 14 August, but were unable to board their flight at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, where they ran into Reinaldo Escobar, 14ymedio’s editor

The answer that each of the dissidents received on presenting their documents to the Immigration and Nationality official was: “You cannot leave a second time.” continue reading

Both Hernandez and Navarro had received, in March of this year, special permission to go abroad “one-time” after being placed on parole, a condition the authorities continue to maintain since release from prison in 2011. All those released from the Black Spring “Group of 75” who continue to reside in Cuba benefited from a similar authorization.

The opponent Librado Linares, also a former prisoner of the Black Spring and general secretary of the Cuban Reflection Movement (MCR), did manage to board his flight on Thursday to participate in the meeting of Puerto Rico, since it was the first time he made use permit leave the Island.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) recently sent a letter to Raul Castro expressing “deep concern” about the “violent treatment” received by the trade unionist Ivan Hernandez on his return to Cuba after his first trip abroad.  He traveled on the same flight as the opponent Vladimir Roca and attorney Wilfredo Vallin, of the Law Association of Cuba.

Hernandez was arrested on July 31 and reported that he received a “savage beating” when he refused to be subjected to a search at the time of arrival. During his trip abroad he met with organizations and activists from Europe and the United States.

Both Hernandez and Navarro cataloged the “injustices” and said they will continue trying to assert their right to travel freely.

The Cuban National Conference is a continuation of one held last year, which involved 23 organizations in Cuba and 32 from exile. It has been convened by the Coordinating Liaison Committee composed of Ana Carbonell, Rosa María Payá, Sylvia Iriondo, Guillermo Farinas, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leyva, Rene Gomez Manzano, Mario Félix Lleonart and
 Saylí Navarro

Among the participants in the conference traveling from Cuba are also Eliecer Avila, leader of Somos+ (We Are More) and Boris Gonzalez, a member of the Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD). The great absence the meeting will be Guillermo Fariñas, who remains on hunger strike in Santa Clara.

In the early hours of Thursday, Lady in White Leticia Ramos Herrería was arrested while traveling from Matanzas to Havana to take the flight that would also have taken her to the conference in Puerto Rico, according to the leader of the Ladies in White movement, Berta Soler, speaking to this newspaper. The activist was returned to her home where she is under police surveillance.

Event organizers want to use this 2nd Conference to create a “structure of unity of action in diversity,” whose purpose is to “operate inside and outside Cuba, coordinating the efforts of both shores.” In addition, they discussed “the general principles of the new Cuba” desired, an issue that was left pending at the previous meeting.

“The Cuban Nation Is Wounded, But It Will Laugh Again” / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Camagüey Pastor Bernardo de Quesada. (14ymedio)
Camagüey Pastor Bernardo de Quesada. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 8 August 2016 – Everyone in the Versalles neighborhood in the city of Camagüey knows Bernardo de Quesada Salomon. Loquacious, restless and the founder of the Apostolic Movement, he has experienced intense months this year, especially January 8th, when the police entered his home and demolished the structure in the backyard that served as a center of worship.

Quesada opened his doors to this newspaper to talk about how he became an adored pastor to his neighbors and malefactor to State Security. On the slab behind his house, where until recently the temple stood, he now meets every Sunday with his congregation under the intense August sun. None of them have stopped coming in the last months, despite the campaign against the leader of the church which continues to rage every day. continue reading

The Christian movement he is a part of separated from the Cuban Council of Churches in 2003, but Quesada had devoted himself to religion since much earlier, in 1984, a year after he began studying Biology, for which he received his degree just as the Berlin Wall was falling in Europe.

Now, while showing the place where he sang and improvised sermons, he recalls that when he was working as a high school teacher “every time I taught some of the subjects such as evolution, embryology, anatomy, physiology and genetics, I ended up seeing the hand of God.” His faith began to clash with the education authorities.

“In 1991 I felt there was little left for me in the education system. I was working then in Vladimir Ilich Lenin University in Las Tunas, where I taugh microbiology and botany to students in agricultural engineering,” he says. Quesada was named to various positions at the national level in his Church, a situation that strained the atmosphere in his job.

Cuba was currently in the midst of the Special Period and the island was suffering economic hardship and despair. Thousands of former atheists began to embrace religion and Protestant movements grew everywhere.

In September 1991, he was called in by the university leadership, who evaluated him with “a kind of judgment looking at all factors, the party, the union, youth” he recalls. They accused him of speaking about God to students and teachers, although he remained in his post until April 1992 when he was expelled. Among the complainants was an employee there who now “works in Radio Marti in Miami,” he said derisively. “Beware of extremism and extremists” he says in a passage in his book, In The Eye Of The Hurricane.

When he cut his ties with his state position, Bernardo began to consider himself “a free man” and began “preaching in different churches in Cuba.” He came to be an “itinerant evangelist” which brought him to very poor places like Macareño, in Santa Cruz del Sur. In those places he found thousands of followers who attributed to him even physical healings.

Quesada believes that the shepherds of the people with the greatest problems should not even go to Havana, much less, emigrate to another country. “People avoid talking to me about an illegal exit,” he explains, talking about the issue of the thousands of rafters who each year cross the sea from the Cuban coast to try to reach the United States. “I tell them it is going to divide the family, like the medical missions abroad have done,” he says.

He reiterates, stressing each syllable, that it is “against Cubans to leave Cuba. We must change our nation ourselves and fleeing only numbs the problem more,” he says.

His critics within the system have validated the animosity of the authorities. “In Cuba there is no Law of Associations. No one can register an organization to give it legal status,” he denounces in his writings. With regards to the dissidents on the island, he believes that “expressing their rights, going out into the street to demand justice” should not be classified as “a counterrevolutionary action like they want to make people think.”

He has been accused of being a CIA agent, a provocateur, and even a madman, but Bernardo seems to know how to deal with the insult. “When they throw the stones of defamation, don’t toss them away: use them to keep building your platform for further growth,” he preaches.

The road ahead is very difficult, he thinks, but he is confident that a “genuine church” will be an “important factor in the future.”

“The Cuban nation is wounded, it bears a great social wound, but it will laugh again,” he predicts with conviction, smiling in the same courtyard where eight months ago the police thought they had dismantled his place of worship.

See also:

Video reveals demolition of an evangelical church in Camagüey

Evangelical pastor arrested during demolition of temple

Amel Carlos Oliva: A Handful Of Guts Against A System / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Amel Carlos Oliva receiving hydrating serum at the September 28 Polyclinic. (Twitter)
Amel Carlos Oliva receiving hydrating serum at the September 28 Polyclinic. (Twitter)

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 4 August 2016 — On August 13, the 90th birthday of Fidel Castro, there will not be only official festivities. If the young activist Carlos Oliva Amel holds to his decision not to eat, that day will mark one month of his hunger strike. The government opponent is fighting an uphill battle: his body deteriorates and the government appears deaf to his demands. This member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is fading slowly without his demands being answered.

Amel Carlos Oliva told 14ymedio during on phone call on Wednesday, the 22nd day of his fast, that he felt a lot of pain “in the knee, and acidity.” Two days ago he received a rehydration drink at the September 28 Polyclinic in Santiago de Cuba that eased the “heartburn” but now he is again suffering from “nausea and dizziness.” The dissident complained that in recent days he has been totally surrounded by a “strong repressive operation.” continue reading

A few yards from Oliva, at the UNPACU headquarters in Santiago de Cuba, opposition members Oria Josefa Casanova Moreno and Zulma López Saldaña have gone without food from the 16th and 18th of July respectively. This morning they were visited by two doctors who arrived from the nearest polyclinic and insisted that the two women should be “rehydrated” as soon as possible.

“We are waiting for ambulances to come to take them,” explains Yriade Hernandez Aguilera, a board member of the opposition organization. This activist who responds to calls in minutes, attends to the strikers and monitors the operation that that is expanding around them.

Oliva had his belongings confiscated on 24 May. Two laptops, a cellphone, a hard disk and a Nanostation (to receive and repeat WiFi signals) and some money were taken from him in that arbitrary dispossession that turned his world upside down. In July they returned and along with a laptop they took a Samsung Galaxy S6 cellphone, 6,421 dollars, 12 convertible pesos, a kitchen knife and two screwdrivers.

On July 12 Oliva received a call from the police telling him he should wait for State Security to contact him for the return of his belongings, but the call never came. The dissident decided that night to stop eating and publically announced his hunger strike the following day, 13 July.

State Security officials tried to pacify him on a visit to the police station, saying that they would return one of the laptops, but the dissident stood his ground: “I’ll take all or nothing.”

Oliva, in a bare whisper through the phone line, tells this newspaper that “a high official” from State Security “alias The Pole,” assured him that there was “no need” to carry out a hunger strike. “With one call we would have returned your things,” was the key message the official sent through Oliva’s father.

Wednesday Oliva was still committed to achieving, through his empty guts, a correction from the repressive apparatus and the return of his property. But the outcome is uncertain and his strength is beginning to fail him.

Fidel Castro’s Proclamation, A List Of Unmet Instructions / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Carlos Valenciaga, chief of staff to Fidel Castro, as he read the proclamation on the night of 31 July 2006. (TV screenshot)
Carlos Valenciaga, chief of staff to Fidel Castro, as he read the proclamation on the night of 31 July 2006. (TV screenshot)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Reinaldo Escobar, 30 July 2016 — Ten years after the Proclamation in which Fidel Castro announced his departure from power, that document continues to reveal distinctive features of a personality marked by the desire to control everything. More than an ideological legacy, the text is a simple list of instructions and it is unlikely that the official media—so addicted to the upcoming major anniversary of Fidel Castro’s 90th birthday—will offer an assessment of whether these instructions have been followed.

On 31 July 2006, the primetime news broadcast brought an enormous surprise. Around nine at night Carlos Valenciaga, a member of the Council of State, appeared in front of the cameras to read the Proclamation of the Commander in Chief to the People of Cuba, where he announced that due to health problems he felt obliged “to rest for several weeks, away from my responsibilities and tasks.” continue reading

After giving his version of the complications that plagued him and the causes that had caused them, Fidel Castro offered six basic points in this document and additionally left instructions about holding the Non-aligned Summit and about the postponement of the celebrations for his 90th birthday.

The first three points of the proclamation are dedicated to the transfer of powers to his brother Raul Castro as head of the Party, the government and the armed forces. The order for these transfers were completely unnecessary because it was already in his position to undertake these functions given that he was then in second position in both the hierarchical order of the Party and the government. It is striking that in each case he reiterated the “temporary delegation” of the transfer of responsibilities.

In the three remaining points he delegated (also on a temporary basis) his functions “as principal promoter of the National and International Public Health Program” to then Minister of Public health Jose Ramon Balaguer; the “principal promoters of the National and International Education Program” to Politburo members José Ramón Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo Hernández; and as “main promoter of the National Energy Revolution in Cuba and collaborator with other countries in this area” Carlos Lage Davila, who was then secretary to the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.

In a separate paragraph he clarified that the funds for these three programs should continue to be managed and prioritized “as I have personally been doing” by Carlos Lage, Francisco Soberon, then minister-president of the Central Bank of Cuba, and Felipe Perez Roque, at that time minister of Foreign Relations.

Almost immediately after having read that proclamation there was an enormous military mobilization in the entire country, called Operation Caguairán. Shortly afterwards the former omnipresence of the Maximum Leader was reduced to some sporadic Reflections of the Commander in Chief published in all the newspapers and read on all the news shows. Twenty months later the National Assembly formally elected Raul Castro as the president of the Councils of State and of Ministers and later the 2011 Sixth Congress of the Communist Party elected him as First Secretary.

From his sickbed Fidel Castro affirmed on that 31st July that he did not harbor “the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will struggle until the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that are necessary to safeguard our historic process.” In the text itself he asked the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly of Peoples Power “to strongly support this proclamation” although in previous lines he had had already dictated that the party “supported by the mass organizations and all the people, has the mission of assuming the task set forward in this Proclamation.”

A decade passed, the temporary absence of the “main driver” became permanent and four of the seven men named no longer occupied their positions. The reader of the proclamation was ousted. The programs mentioned have become part of the normal functions of the ministries in charge of these tasks and the “corresponding funds” (although no one has proclaimed it officially) are no accounted for in the nation’s budget.

While the 80th birthday wasn’t able to be held with his presence, nor the 2 December 2006 50th anniversary of the landing of the Granma, the yacht that brought the Castros and other revolutionaries from Mexico, as foreseen in his proclamation, now in 2016 all cultural events, sporting events, productive activities, have been dedicated to his 90th birthday.

The ultimate significance of that proclamation lies not in the message it contains, among other things because its author seemed to be persuaded that this was not his political testament but a “bear with me, I’ll be back in a while.”

The final results of this proclamation has been like a blinding spotlight that goes out, a permanent noise that we have become accustomed to and suddenly stops ringing, a will that ceases to give orders, the termination of an omnipresence. The absence occasioned has more connotations of relief than of a capsizing. There is nostalgia. The anxiety about the final outcome has been diluted in a fastidious tedium, like that of sitting in front of those films that stretch unnecessarily.

The Erratic Corrections of Machado Ventura / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

The only “next” is the looming return of the economic difficulties. (14ymedio)
The only “next” is the looming return of the economic difficulties. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 26 July 2016 – Sporting a hat to protect himself from the rays of the sun, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura explained in his speech for the 26th of July that the changes introduced in the Cuban model “are aimed at consolidating our socialism, to make more prospero (prosperous) and sustainable.” The keynote speaker at an event this morning in Sancti Spiritus realized immediately that he had omitted the enclitic pronoun “it” next to the verb “to make” and corrected it but introduced a new error: “To make it more proximo (next) and sustainable.”

To the cheerful confusion of those who didn’t notice the initial grammatical slip, the vice president conveyed the impression that he hadn’t meant to say prosperous, but proximo (next). The correction thus became a political problem, because if there is something Cubans know it is that the promised socialism “without haste, but without pause” could be anything or have innumerable oddities, but in no way is it “next.” continue reading

Perhaps, later on, Machado Ventura will argue that the gaffe obeyed the desires that “all revolutionaries have to reach the goal for which they have fought.” However, the subtle equivocation, which doesn’t appear in the official version of the speech published in the state newspaper Granma, may have set listeners to thinking about the controversial issue of deadlines to deliver on certain promises.

At least three generations of Cubans have witnessed, for years, the commemorations around that fateful 26th of July 1953, a tragic date that has been cataloged – brazenly – as “the happiest day in history” in a chorus of the worst tune ever.

For decades, the interminable speeches that Fidel Castro delivered on the ceremonies of those events that immolated young people were expected as the moment when he would announce “the good news.” On the podium, index finger pointing skyward, he would prophesy a luminous future for the country and convince his audience of the inevitable and imminent materialization of utopia.

However, those times have passed and today the model of socialism that is debated among “hundreds of thousands of militants of the Party and of the Union of Young Communists, and representatives from all sectors of society,” with reference to the documents of the Seventh Communist Party Congress, shows no practical signs that it will bring prosperity, nor that it will be sustainable over the long term.

Instead, what is coming “next” is only the return of the economic difficulties now classified as temporary that characterized the most difficult years of the Special Period. These material limitations, in fact, never disappeared completely from daily life, but could get worse given the collapse of Venezuela and the economic dysfunction of the national model.

Machado Ventura referred this Tuesday to these conquests which had to be “temporarily” given up in the most acute phase of the Special Period, but indicated with optimism that “today they are practically all being recovered,” while “some belonged to that historic moment and it would not be rational to reestablish them.” He also spoke about other conquests, which he did not enumerate, that “are in a quantitative and qualitative phase superior to those years.”

The most important element of the vice president’s speech lay in its omissions, more than in its affirmations. The man who is seen as a recalcitrant orthodox avoided deciphering the enigma that now torments millions of Cubans and that has been converted into history in his wishy-washy speech. Did the Special Period end, or are we just going through a less acute phase? Is the current crisis a new stage in the chronic fall of the system, or is it the evidence of the “next” – that is the imminent – end of Castroism?

Mariano Murillo, the Marked Card Up Raul Castro’s Sleeve/ 14ymedio Reinaldo Escobar

Mariano Murillo, former Minister of Economy and Planning
Mariano Murillo, former Minister of Economy and Planning

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 15 July 2016 — The ouster of Marino Murillo as head of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) raises the question of whether it was a fall into disgrace or an act of protection. An official statement said that Murillo would dedicate himself to the implementation of the Communist Party Guidelines and recognized his work as minister. The praise contrasts with the terrible results of the Cuban economy in the first half of this year and raises the question of whether Murillo’s removal, in reality, hides a promotion.

It is obvious that Cuba’s current situation is producing an important shuffling in the higher echelons of the government. The replacement of the first secretary of the Union of Young Communists, the untimely replacement of the Minister of Culture, and the departure of the head of Higher Education, have put the entire cabinet on notice at a time when even the official media speak of “the critical situation the country is experiencing.” continue reading

However, the “fall” of Murillo could also be interpreted as a strategy to distance him from blame for the disaster. What is more important: the management of the Ministry of Economy and Planning or the implementation of the Party guidelines? In the latter case, removing his ministerial portfolio would be a protective mantle placed over the former minister by Raul Castro himself. As if he wants to make people see that “if the economy is bad, it’s not Murillo’s fault.”

Why should he save Murillo? The answer to that question is in the future, at the end of 2017, when it will be made clear whose names will appear on the candidate list for the positions of president of the Councils of State and of Ministers, that Raul Castro will step down from in February of 2018, having come to the end of two consecutive terms.

If, finally, the current first vice president, Miguel Diaz Canel, replaces the General-President, the second echelon of these responsibilities would immediately become vacant. In a few more years, given the inevitable physical disappearance of the “historic generation,” a depleted quarry of cadres – lacking experience in power and also lacking prestige among the people – will have to take over in what will necessarily be a transition.

Since the high-level house cleaning that took place after Raul Castro took possession of the position of president, when Carlos Lage Davila, Felipe Perez Roque and Carlos Valenciaga, among other promising “younger sons,” were removed from their posts, the question of who will replace the current leaders has become more difficult to answer.

Sending Murillo out by the back door today, would be losing an unrecoverable card that has taken many years to develop. Compared with Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, the former Economy minister, he appears to be a reformer, a pragmatic politician who has spoken clearly about the need to produce wealth, and we have never heard him mention socialist emulation or moral encouragements as methods to boost production of material goods.

Murillo is a marked card which Raul Castro has kept up his sleeve all these years and he will not be discarded for the triviality of failing to deliver 50% growth in gross domestic product for this year. The so-called czar of reforms is the face that can give foreign investors confidence. Gone are the days when candidates for the throne had to make a show of their oratory, their imagination in creating new slogans or their histrionic capacity to show up for volunteer work.

Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, vice president of the Council of Ministers, has been named as a substitute for Marino Murillo in the MEP. His claim to fame is having convinced half of the world’s creditors to renegotiate the country’s foreign debt. Together they make a good match to try to save the shipwreck of a nation adrift.

If Murillo and Cabrisas are to steer the ship in one direction or another, they will have to conquer a faithless people and convince the Taliban that they are not betraying the legacy, or make them see that there is no choice but to start all over from the beginning.

“They are afraid of us” / 14ymedio Reinaldo Escobar

Armando Avila and his wife, Yurisleisy Pérez Calzada. (Facebook)
Armando Avila and his wife, Yurisleisy Pérez Calzada. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 13 July 2016 — Before leaving Cuba, Armando Avila was an auto mechanic specializing in brake systems in Ciego de Avila. In December 2015, he took a flight to Ecuador with the intention of reaching the border between Mexico and the United States to invoke the Cuban Adjustment Act. On July 9 he was returned to Havana by force, in a group of 29 Cubans deported by Rafael Correa’s government.

Avila, 45, spoke with 14ymedio by telephone on Monday and said he did not feel like a deportee or a returnee, “but someone kidnapped.” The migrant, who wanted to keep his current whereabouts unknown, recalled that “the laws of Ecuador consider that no one is illegal and they can only deport those who have committed a crime.” continue reading

One day after the deportation of Avila, a new group of 46 Cubans, also repatriated from Ecuador, arrived on the island. Island authorities claimed in a note that the deportations were carried out “in strict compliance with the provisions of the legislation of both countries and existing international standards for this type of situation.”

However, Avila maintains that he had presented his case “before a legal hearing and less than one day before learning of the outcome” he was arrested. “At 2:40 in the morning they took all our belongings, I was handcuffed and put into a military plane that took us from Quito to the province of Esmeralda and from there to Cuba,” he explains.

A few hours after arriving in Havana he learned that he was acquitted at the hearing, which means that there were no “grounds for deportation,” he insists. Thus, he considers himself to have been a victim of revenge or a “policy violation,” motivated by his having exposed, in Ecuador, “the reality we experience in Cuba.”

Avila returned to Havana, despite the official press note saying that “all” of the people were taken to their “home provinces.” However, his wife, Yurisleisy Pérez Calzada, was not deported and remains in Ecuador.

Avila says he fears for his life. “Upon arrival at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, waiting for us was a squad of riot police, several police officers and a large number of senior officers of the Interior Ministry.”

He said that the group was treated as if its members were “terrorists.” “They divided us by provinces and we were told to wait, that later we would be contacted to determine our situation,” he says.

On Monday, the defense lawyers for the Cuban migrants in Ecuador denounced the violation of a habeas corpus petition that had been submitted to avoid repatriation. The lawyers have questioned the constitutionality of the measure, because since 2008 Ecuador’s Constitution has recognized “free human mobility.”

A complaint about possible violations of the law join the accusations against the Ecuadorian police for acting violently against Cubans being held in the Hotel Carrion detention center and the Flagrancia Unit.

Avila intends, this Monday, to begin procedures at the United States Embassy to “ask for political asylum,” feeling that he has “no other option” and fearful of reprisals. “I’m afraid, because I realize that they are afraid of us.”

Zona+ Hopes to be Cuba’s First Wholesale Store / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Zona+ from the outside.
The new Zona+ store from the outside.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 9 July 2016 – A week after its opening the store Zona+ still hasn’t received permission to offer its products at wholesale prices, Located on Calle 7th A, between 66th and 68th in Havana’s Playa district, it has a strong competitor about 300 yards away in the market on 70th Street, one of the most well-stocked in the capital.

The commercial slogan of the new store says that clients can find what they need there “and more.” Although it has not been officially announced in any national media, it’s already known that its most promising attraction is that it will operate under the concept of a wholesale market, one of the most common demands of private entrepreneurs, especially those who have restaurants, cafes, or rent rooms with meals included. continue reading

“We are just waiting for directions, otherwise everything is ready,” one of the clerks who identified herself as Sonia told 14ymedio. However, no employee was able to respond with certainty whether there will be some kind of identification required to shop there, proving a customer is self-employed, or if there will be a certain quantity of merchandise that is is sold at “warehouse prices.”

If it is compared to other stores that sell in hard currency, clearly its offerings are more varied, especially in the areas of food, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. The merchandise is also available in larger sizes and wrapped in containers appropriate for carrying larger volumes than would be needed by a customer buying for family consumption.

Such is the case for the 20 liters of soybean oil at a price of 38.40 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC). However, the new establishment is still a long way from parity with similar outlets of any chain in the international market in other countries. A man of middle age, with the aspect of a “man of the world,” on leaving the store expressed his hope that the store would continue as it is, clean, well ordered and with pleasant air conditioning. “The problem is we have no ‘fixer’ to ensure this and we can confirm that a new broom sweeps clean. Come and check at the end of the year,” he said, with a certain air of skepticism.

The store manager, Javier Muñoz, explained on another occasion that there is an intention to open two more of these markets in Havana, which, according to his version, can be supplied smoothly because the “necessary reserves” exist. Some optimists see in this step the unmistakable sign that soon the creation of small and medium enterprises will be allowed, which could not exist if they had to purchase their inputs in the retail market.

Some of the products sold here, like boxes of frozen chicken pieces or the sacks of powdered milk, belong to the group of goods whose prices have recently been lowered on a widespread basis. These offerings, however, do not appear in the all markets and here they do have them, but that does not mean they are selling at wholesale prices, which has generated confusion about whether Zona+ will be allowed to do that.

The custom of announcing as fact what is intended has resulted in many people thinking this is already a wholesale store, but even if all the workers are optimistic and predict that the authorization will be here soon, the truth is that it still is not working under that definition.

The Zona+ store does not yet have permission to sell their products at wholesale prices. (14ymedio)
The Zona+ store does not yet have permission to sell their products at wholesale prices. (14ymedio)

Questions Like Stones / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Juan Manuel Cao during the interview. (Ivan Canas)
Juan Manuel Cao during the interview. (Ivan Canas)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Miami, 4 July 2016 — For more than two years, the Mirror program, broadcast by America TeVé, has counted on the drive of Cuban journalist Juan Manuel Cao. The channel abounds in information, opinions, debates and especially interviews where, with great frequency, the issue of Cuba emerges.

Cao, born in 1961, is a Cuban educated under the current system: he was a young “pioneer” in primary school, he attended one of the “schools in the countryside,” he was awarded a scholarship, he lived on the ration card, stood in endless lines and knows what it is to travel hanging out the door of a packed bus. To complete his Cuban experience he spent two years in prison accused of enemy propaganda, and finally emigrated. His book “The Impertinent” (2015) is filled with amazing stories of his professional life.

On 21 July 20016, while covering the 30th Mercosur Summit being held in Cordoba, Argentine, he had a close encounter with Fidel Castro and took the opportunity to demand the release of a noted Cuban scientist, Dr. Hilda Molina, whom the government was not allowing to leave the island.

Escobar. A few days after your encounter with Fidel Castro he issued his “Proclamation from the commander to the people of Cuba” where he renounced all his posts for health reasons. Some see the disgust that you caused him as the direct cause of that situation. Ten years later, how do you assess that episode?

Cao. The Cuban people, to which we belong, go back and forth between seriousness and mockery. This statement is an exaggeration. On 30 July 2006, shortly after Fidel Castro made his announcement, I was on 8th Street and I found myself among graffiti that said “Cao gave him a KO” and others that were similar, between seriousness and a joke. Over the years people have continued to repeat this legend and it still amazes me.

Escobar. But the fact is that when he announced his illness he mentioned “the enormous effort made to visit the Argentina city of Cordoba” among the reasons that his health “has resisted all medical analysis, it was subjected to extreme stress, and it was broken.”

Cao. Yes, I remember that’s what he said, but I think he was referring to an incident with President Kirchner and his wife Cristina who was then the first lady. I remember that Fidel Castro had no intention of participating in that Mercosur Summer, but he went because Hugo Chavez invited him. Today we know that in midair he received a message signed by the Argentine president where (on the initiative of Cristina) he was asked to let Dr. Hilda Molina travel to Argentina to see her family.

They say he was so upset that he gave the order for the plane to turn around and go back to Havana. He didn’t do it because Chavez himself persuaded him that he should participate in the event.

Escobar. But the disagreement was limited to that message, was not it?

Cao. Not exactly. At the first official dinner hosted in honor of the presidents, Fidel Castro did not attend, and not only that, but he asked Chavez, Lula and Evo Morales not to go. As a result of this sabotage they had to fill those spaces with figures from the second line of the governments so the absences wouldn’t be noticed so much. Cristina was furious and threatened to go to Havana to meet with the Ladies in White. The situation was very tense.

Escobar. Can you relate the details of that encounter?

Cao. As is known, Cuban journalists are not allowed to get close to senior government leaders. Not even officials. An interview like the one Castro granted to Barbara Walters in 1977 has not been given to any Cuban journalist, not even to the official press. So when an opportunity arises all you can do is ask questions from the barricade, like throwing stones at the top of your lungs.

That day they were scheduled to take the traditional “family photo” with all the leaders and suddenly it was a big mess which led to not only photographers entering the room but several reporters. Shortly before I’d asked Carlos Lage the question and tried to ask Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, but without results.

Escobar. Why were you so interested in Dr. Hilda Molina? Perhaps there were more “journalistic” questions?

Cao. The right question, from the information point of view, would have been what was Cuba doing in Mercosur and surely there were others more interesting. On my return almost no one mentioned the matter in Miami.

Escobar. Do you remember how you formulated that question and why it was considered an attack?

Cao. Long ago, among journalists in exile there was debate over how to address Fidel Castro. One looks like a fool screaming like the rest “Fidel, Fidel” or like a subordinate soldier saying “comandante.” I chose to omit any nickname and said directly, “Dr. Hilda Molina, why not release her, why not let her see her grandchildren?” At that time I did not know the history of the Kirchners having asked, it was just the question that came to mind in the midst of a battle with other journalists for mine to be listened to.

Escobar. How would you describe Fidel Castro’s reaction?

Cao. Initially he just asked my name and I said, “My name is Juan Manuel Cao, I am Cuban.” And then, as I saw he was listening to me, I repeated the question about Dr. Molina, to which he replied: “Who pays you for coming to ask questions like that?” I just managed to tell him that that was my job, that nobody paid me for asking that question. Almost immediately they took me out of the place.

Later I learned that he justified his absence at another meeting arguing that my friends could be preparing an attack. Also something very nice happened. Another journalist, I think he was an Argentine, asked if he had already prepared his transition to leave power and Castro gets confused and thinks that journalist is me and explodes into a real crisis of anger that motivates his assistants to take him out, almost dragging him away from the press. Everything is recorded and is on YouTube.

Escobar. Who were you working for at that time?

Cao. Starting in 1992 I worked at Telemundo and then I began at America Tevé. I did not want to go to the summit, actually I was tired of hearing the same lies, the same justifications. Miguel Cosio, who was the news director, was the one who insisted I go to Mercosur.

Escobar. If you had the opportunity to meet with Raul Castro now what would you ask?

Cao. Why, if you are so confident of popular support have you not held competitive elections? One could also ask him why he hasn’t simply declared as a hereditary monarchy already…

Escobar. After almost 28 years of absence, would you like to go back to Cuba?

Cao. It wouldn’t make sense to let me in if my books aren’t allowed in, my opinions, my TV reports. I want to enter as a whole being, I’m not interested in being in Cuba physically if I can’t be there spiritually.

Escobar. You don’t feel nostalgic?

Cao. I have no nostalgia. I just heard a new song from the group Orishas. It gives the impression that the Malecon, the sea, the color of the sky, palms are more important than the right to speak, the right to meet with others to discuss. Maybe it looks very cool on my part, but it seems to me a cheap, silly, frivolous nostalgia. I have seen in other latitudes skies bluer than Cuba’s and even so I don’t stop being Cuban. Almost 30 years after having left the island today I know the history and reality of Cuba better than what I would have known if I wasn’t far away. Outside, here, I have learned information that makes me feel more Cuban.

Escobar. What if the necessary changes happen in Cuba, then would you go back?

Cao. Then I would have to ask Cuban society if they are interested in someone like me reinserting himself into it.

The Hour of Truth / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

A man holds up an edition of the official daily Granma, from 2015. Headline: “Fidel sends a message to Cuban university students.” (EFE)
A man holds up an edition of the official daily Granma, from 2015. Headline: “Fidel sends a message to Cuban university students.” (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Miami, 2 July 2016 — In October of 1988, students of the School of Journalism at the University of Havana, formulated 28 awkward questions posed to Fidel Castro at a meeting held in the theater of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Havana. One question touched on the thorny issue of a personality cult in the media. The then all-powerful Carlos Aldana, head of the Department of Revolutionary Orientation, assured his boss that an incident of this nature would never be repeated.

Nearly three decades later the militants of the Young Communist League (UJC) of the Vanguardia newspaper in Santa Clara province, bursting with bravery (or innocence) sent a letter to the Union of Cuban Journalists in which they denounced the limitations on freedom of expression experienced by information professionals, limitations that come, according to them, from “the extra-journalistic forces that investigate us in our workplaces and in the CDRs (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution); that follow our every step and call us to account for the publication of comments or controversial works.” continue reading

In addition to complaining about the censorship of the media where they are paid by the state, they exposed the declining wages of the sector and asked why it is looked on so badly if they collaborate with alternative media, which is not controlled by the political apparatus of the Communist Party.

All these militants of the UJC received, in their time, excellent grades to be able to choose the career they studied and all of them passed through an ideological filter at the time they were hired. Is it perhaps that they have been infiltrated by the counterrevolution which is trying to form a fifth column? Of course not.

What is at issue is that the “gag-love” that endures and that hardens the affection and militant discipline, focused on democratic centralism, has as its limit the individual conscience, which serves mainly to determine what is right and what is wrong and to act accordingly.

The thermometer does not decide the temperature of a body, because it is an instrument that only serves to measure it. Equally, the mechanisms of control fail to faithfully determine the level of unconditional loyalty of the troops they target, because loyalty can be focused more on ideas than on individuals and can be conditioned more by a sense of duty than by fear.

It is likely that some of these young people reproached their parents one day for their complicit silence before the mistakes made, and perhaps in their days as students they mocked the triumphalist headlines of the official press, and perhaps, in small confabs or to themselves, they promised that they would not reproduce the mold of the mask, and that when they themselves were in the newspaper newsrooms, or in the TV studios or in the booths at the radio stations, they would use what they’d learned to tell the truth, at least their truth.

It is not necessary to believe that they will join the opposition, or even that they are willing to break all ties. But what they have done is more than enough to show the cracks, the fragility of a discourse that boasts of a monolithic invincibility.

The Private Press In Cuba / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

Newsagent in Cuba. (Luz Escobar)
Newsagent in Cuba. (Luz Escobar)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Miami, 30 June 2016 — In a recent discussion among colleagues of the national press, the issue of ownership of the mass media came up. With the firmness that characterizes those convinced that something is wrong, comments were made that in Cuba the media is social property and the idea was expressed that it could never be private property.

Perhaps the essence of the concept of property is explained by the capacity of the owner to make decisions about the object they possess. There is no value in titles and legal registrations that certify that a house, a business or a bicycle belongs to an individual if they can’t sell it, modify it or use it as they see fit, respecting the law of course. continue reading

The mass media in Cuba, in particular those that define themselves as “official,” cannot be classified as social property, because there is no channel that allows a citizen to make an individual decision about their workings, nor can even delegates chosen for this responsibility do so.

Since the 1960s there has been, in the structures of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), an entity dedicated to such things. At first it took the feminine gender in Spanish, under the name Commission of Revolutionary Orientation, affectionately called “La COR.” Subsequently, its grammatical gender was changed to masculine and it was transformed to the Department of Revolutionary Orientation and began to be called “El DOR.”

Among the powers of this entity—whose current name is the “Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the PCC” and which lacks any endearing nickname—is to name the directors of newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television channels. The entity also decides the editorial profile of every medium, what issues should be addressed in each space, and draws up a list of prohibitions where there is everything from people’s names to musical pieces. It also decides the distribution of financial and material resources to the different media.

To “address” the newspaper sector from the cradle, the Ideological Department participates in determining who passes the tests to attend the universities that train communications professionals, and remains close to the programs of study for this career, which is one of two that are subject to this kind of filtering. The other is the Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI), where future diplomats study.

The media in Cuba have no commercial advertising and therefore are subsidized by the state coffers. It is unclear in what general sector the expenditures for these purposes are accounted for, nor what specific amounts are included.

As the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the PCC is in itself a selective part of an organization that is already defined as selective and, considering that it makes all decisions on information policy, it would not be incorrect to say that in Cuba this means that the mass media are the private property of the Communist Party, as L’Humanité is in France and L’Unità is in Italy.

For the mass media to be social property, its editorial line would have to be closer to that of civil society than that of the state. Its directors would have to be chosen and replaceable, and there would have to be space within them for the full range of opinions that motivate the distinct social sectors. There would have to be debates, and then, opinions contrary to the governments’.

What exists today is very far from fitting into this definition, not only because the media are private, but because they are an exclusive monopoly of the only political party permitted by law.

No Diploma Certifies Us As Parents / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

The statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Old Havana, on Father’s Day Sunday without a single flower. (14ymedio)
The statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Old Havana, on Father’s Day Sunday without a single flower. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 19 June 2016 – Those of us who have had the joy of being parents spend our lives asking ourselves whether we have done well, if in the strict judgment our children will make about our work will we earn a good score, a mediocre grade or, instead, a resounding disapproval.

The Venezuelan singer Franco de Vita says it is “not enough” to feed our offspring, surround them with comforts and conveniences, or guarantee that they receive an education, we must also respond to their questions. But our answers, which we have to improvise in a second, will be the most momentous memories our children have of us. continue reading

“Ah! From my father I learned” reads a very popular H. Upmann cigar commercial from the Republican era. Today we are proud to have children who don’t smoke, either because they saw us with a cigarette in our mouth, or because they witnessed our efforts to give up the vice, while they hid our cigarettes from us or dunked our packs in a bucket of water.

However, there are days when being a father is more difficult. Like on one of those afternoons when they come home full of ingenuity and recite a poem dedicated to Ernesto Guevara in which they assert that, “Two droplets of water fell on my feet and the mountains were crying because they killed Che.” The first reaction of any responsible father is to shout “No!” That they should not be like that Argentine with his stereotypical ideas and trigger-happiness, but every word spoken only sinks them into the abyss of ideological problems and social stigma.

Others will be more forgotten, Like Carlos Manuel Cespedes whom we call “the father of the nation” because when the Spanish proposed that he lay down his arms in exchange for the life of his son, whom they had taken prisoner, he made the dramatic decision to continue the struggle and his son was executed. This Sunday, Father’s Day, none of those who usurp the name of the “fatherland” have brought flowers to his statue in the Plaza de Armas in Old Havana.

Being a father in Cuba is very difficult. Because among all the dramatic dilemmas involved in paternity is placing them in a fragile boat to leave the country, or deciding that it is better to try to save the country for them and to involve them in the task. But while something like this is being decided, it happens that they are growing up and becoming parents, to begin to experience first hand how this hazardous and gratifying is the road that is having children.

No university offers a degree to improve parenting, no diploma certifies that we are good at achieving it.

Alejandro Barrios, A Son Of Candelaria Who Died In Pulse / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

María Magdalena Puente, Alejandro’s grandmother, shows a picture of her grandson. (14ymedio)
María Magdalena Puente, Alejandro’s grandmother, shows a picture of her grandson. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Candelaria, Cuba, 17 June 2016 — At two in the morning last Sunday the villagers of Candelaria in the province of Artemisa slept peacefully. At the same time, in the city of Orlando in Florida a fierce firefight broke out in the gay nightclub Pulse, amid an evening of Latin music.

Alejandro Barrios Martínez, born in Candelaria 21 years ago, had settled in the city of Orlando where his father Saul Barrios had called for him. There, in 2014, he found a job, a partner, and also came to believe that there he would spend the rest of his life. That night he was at Pulse to celebrate a new job, but stumbled onto death.

On Monday regulars of the wireless network in Cuba learned the news of the shooting on the Facebook pages of some friends. TV channels that are prohibited through satellite dishes began to give details of the terrible event. That same night the whole town of Candelaria learned they had lost a son in the tragedy. continue reading

Jorge Guillen, a resident of the village, said that Saul, Alejandro’s father, was living in the Bayate neighborhood in Candelaria until a little more than seven years ago when he settled in the United States. As for the son, “people remember him as a peaceful teenager. Some say that if he had not gone this tragedy would not have happened to him, but if he had stayed here he would have died of sadness.”

Yusleni Alonso, Alejandro Barrios’ teacher. (14ymedio)
Yusleni Alonso, Alejandro Barrios’ teacher. (14ymedio)

Yusleni Alonso has another memory of Alejandro. “I gave him lessons when he was in José Martí elementary school, here in Candelaria. Every day he was holding the hand of his grandmother Cusa. He was a boy who looked fragile, but everyone liked him. When I heard the news at first I did not realize who it was, only on seeing his face in the photos online did all the memories hit me.”

Alonso looked at that face on the screen and “saw the child who was my student. When Orquidea, his mother, who worked here in the Military Committee moved to Pinar del Rio, he was left in the care of his maternal grandmother. Then when it was time for him to go to high school his mother fetched him and we didn’t seem him any more.”

Yusleni continues, “The news arrived here because, being in the place where the events occurred, a message was sent to his partner in Orlando and this boy was the one who advised the family. No one understood anything, there was a lot of confusion. Suddenly here in Candelaria the whole world was hanging on the news of friends’ Facebook pages. It created a very rare phenomenon, everyone on the village wanted to know the details and the newspapers didn’t say anything.”

Yusleni’s neighbor, who lends his phone to people in the neighborhood who receive important calls, said that “Orquidea had been in the military but retired when her son left. The papers on the Cuban side came through instantly, a passport with permission from the Armed Forces to travel, the documents to reclaim the body and bring his remains. Everything. The American embassy also acted quickly, but we knew that his mom had been denied a visa before and now they gave her one in for five years… those are the things that happen. She is already in Miami.”

Everyone calls María Magdalena Puente, Cusa. The door to her house in Candelaria remains open all day.

She says she has received more visits this week than in her whole life. She shows a recent photo of her grandson. Alejandro is wearing the white uniform of a butcher, which was the first job he had. He has a cap and is smiling, with a shadow of a beard covering his chin. “This was the photo we put here in the living room on Saturday when we held the wake. His classmates came, his teachers, many people he didn’t even know.”

Candelaria Elementary School where Alejandro Barrios studied. (14ymedio)
Candelaria Elementary School where Alejandro Barrios studied. (14ymedio)

Magdalena retired a year and three months ago. She always worked as a teaching assistant at the same school where her grandson studied. Now she makes small crafts thanks to her skills with her hands. When Alexander could, he sent her some materials for her work. “But they were silly things,” she clarifies, “because he hadn’t even been in the United States two years. He had to leave that first job in the butchers because the temperature in the refrigerators was affecting his throat.”

She said he hadn’t passed his military service because he had health problems, “He was sleepwalking and had some epilepsy-like attacks.”

Magdalena does not yet seem convinced that she will never see Alejandro again. “On Friday we talked with him, he was happy because he got a new job in a china shop. He told us that that weekend he was going to celebrate at the disco. I told him not to go, you never know what could happen in those places. And he laughed. He said something that I can’t remember, but it meant he was going to go anyway.”