In the Town of Cacocum, Holguin, a Crowd Took to the Streets Last Night To Protest the Blackouts

Moment when the residents of Cacocum, Holguín, took to the streets this Saturday to protest the blackouts / Facebook/Capture

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2024 — “We want electricity, we want electricity!” In Holguín, they can no longer cope with the blackouts, and on Saturday night, a crowd went out to demonstrate by banging on pots and pans in the municipality of Cacocum. “People threw themselves into the street, and it was not four or five, but dozens,” a source tells this newspaper.

In the province, the power went off yesterday at six in the morning and, after seven at night, the residents’ complaints were  widespread. “I’ve just been without power for 14 hours and 15 minutes. It’s abusive, with not enough time to make coffee in the morning, or lunch, or cook food, or have cold water, because when they put it on there’s not even time to make ice, you have to buy food on the street.” This is how Maidelys describes the litany of problems faced by the residents.

In the neighborhood of Loma de la Cruz, for example, the water has not arrived for days, says Manuel, due to the lack of power required to pump it. “When you have to buy purified water on the street, it’s a disaster,” he says. “People are buying that water, which is usually only for drinking, for everything, even for cleaning.” continue reading

“I’m in the dark again, and all the children in the families around me are crying. It hurts me to think that they and I, born in the 90s, will share similar childhoods; and that their parents, like mine, will have to grab fans to ward off the heat and the nocturnal terrors of their children.” This fragment is not from an opponent, but from an article published this Saturday in Girón, the Communist Party newspaper in Matanzas. Not even the official press can continue to gloss over the energy disaster that Cuba is going through.

Note to readers: a ‘nighttime’ video can see here. We were not able to insert it into this post.

Nor can the the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, hide it. His statements to national television this Saturday fully show the “complex energy situation.” The minister assures that this Monday the Guiteras thermoelectric will go into operation in Matanzas, with a power of 280 megawatts, higher than what it had when it shut down for one more repair. However, he also warns that “the situation will remain tense.”

The “fundamental problem” pointed out by De la O Levy is “the issue of fuel.” According to his words, which do not specify whether the donations from Venezuela and Mexico have stopped, they are undertaking “an intense work and a great sacrifice” at a financial level, “because we have to buy fuel in the international market.”

The minister concedes: “We have debts, and we are renegotiating and working with each country. Some have accepted; they understand our situation with electricity.” As an example, he mentioned the “boat that will arrive on the 23rd, with about 43,000 tons of fuel.”

On Friday, the mammoth Tower K, on 23rd Street in El Vedado, adorned its facade with a play of lights / 14ymedio

The minister may well be referring to the tanker Eco Fleet, which arrived from Tunisia almost three weeks ago, on February 25, and has not yet unloaded. That cargo, in any case, as the minister explained, will only give fuel for “ten or twelve days.” Then, “another ship will arrive on the 29th, with crude oil that we can refine,” but the energy generation that this product will allow once refined will not happen until April 6, the senior official said. Will things get better from then on? It doesn’t seem so: “That week [April 6] we are going to have a better situation, but then there will be a bump. We are buying fuel with the few financial resources we have.”

In the meantime, an “exact hour-by-hour planning” will continue on the part of the Government. They are, says the minister, doing the impossible to reserve fuel for the hours of the night, “so that people can rest, because we are aware of what is happening.” There are regions, he acknowledges, “that have entire mornings of blackout and practically the whole day.”

Not only does this occur in Holguín but also in other provinces, such as Mayabeque, where the electricity company reported blackouts of more than 10 hours in a row, with power going on for only two to three hours. In Camagüey, independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada reported that the deficit on Saturday was 105 MW, “which represents 99 percent of the province having no electricity from 5:00 in the morning.”

I had to throw away a lot of food, chicken thighs, fish and even cheese that spoiled,” says Dunia, desperate

The same thing happened in Sancti Spíritus. “I had to throw away a lot of of food, chicken thighs, fish and even cheese that spoiled,” says Dunia, desperate. “We are worn out, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” The electricity company  had warned that due to the deficit, there would be more blackouts than planned: “It is necessary to extend the affected time period, as well as to advance some circuits before the scheduled time.”

In San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, cradle of the massive Island wide demonstrations of July 11, 2021, rumors of protests proliferate after a Saturday of continuous blackout. “They put it on and then turn it off again at about eight at night,” says María Fe. “My brother got in the shower and they cut off the power. I told him to get out, to shave with salt, because you can’t bathe in cold water. If we get sick, things will get complicated.”

Once the sun went down yesterday, mosquitoes crowded onto the screens of mobile phones, the only light in many neighborhoods of Havana, which, as the minister acknowledged, also suffers “significant affects.” In Central Havana, for example, there was an “extra” blackout that was not in the planned calendar: “Things must be very bad for them to dare do it here; our block was not planned for today,” Miguel observes.

This man, age 40, feels tired. “I calculate that last night’s blackout was a little more than three hours. When the electricity returned, the murmur of joy and relief that ran through the entire neighborhood was really impressive.” From Miguel’s balcony, you can see an object that never loses power. On Friday, the mammoth Tower K, on 23rd Street in El Vedado, adorned its facade with a play of lights. “K-23, it said,” says Miguel. “But the 2 was missing a piece. Even that building suffers from blackouts, albeit a small one.”

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.

Ukraine Warns of the High Number of Cubans Fighting With Russian Troops

Darío Jarrosay at the press conference held in Kiev, where several prisoners of war were interviewed

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Kiev, 16 March 2024 — The Ukrainian body that deals with prisoners of war warned this Friday of the high number of Cubans fighting with Russian troops in the war in Ukraine, and reproached the authorities of Havana for their tolerance of Russian recruitment operations on the Island.

“We see photographs and videos of the Russian side where many mercenaries from Cuba are seen,” said Petro Yatsenko, the head of the Ukrainian Committee for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. At a press conference held in Kiev, he warned of the growing number of mercenaries recruited by Russia from the so-called Global South countries.

Asked by EFE about the position of the Cuban Government in the face of Russia’s actions to attract Cuban citizens into the ranks of its Army, Yatsenko stated that Ukraine has no evidence of Havana’s official participation in this type of effort. “We cannot say that it is a (Cuban) state program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it,” said the Ukrainian official, who also said that “Russian agitators” work without restrictions in Cuba. continue reading

“We cannot affirm that it is a state (Cuban) program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it”

Yatsenko made these statements at a press conference in which eight prisoners of war from Nepal, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Cuba also participated, imprisoned by Ukrainian troops while fighting with Russian forces.

Darío Jarrosay, a Cuban prisoner of war, is a 35-year-old teacher and musician from Guantánamo. He said he had been attracted to Russia by a false offer on Facebook to work in construction, and he was then dragged to fight with the Russian Army on the front. “I joined the Russian Army because, in Cuba, I received a banner (announcement) on Facebook saying that people were needed for construction.”

Jarrosay explained that he traveled to the Russian Federation from Cuba after filling out a form to work in construction. “It wasn’t to enter the war; I never agreed to enter the war,” he said at the event held in the Ukrainian capital. “When I arrived in Russia, I found myself in the war,” he said. This Cuban geography teacher and musician is now waiting for a solution to his case as a prisoner of war in Ukraine.

Petro Yatsenko, from the Ukrainian authority that deals with prisoners of war, said at the same press conference that Ukraine is open to negotiating the return of these fighters to their countries of origin. Jarrosay said he was on the flight to Russia with five other Cubans who were also looking for work in Russia. He found other Cubans In the Russian Army, and he received 250,000 rubles (about 2,500 euros) a month for fighting on the Russian side, a salary much higher than the one he received in Cuba.

Asked about the message he sends to his compatriots, Jarrosay recommended that Cubans “not go.” “Everything is a hoax,” he said. “Overnight when you go to your job you find yourself in the war.”

Along with Jarrosay, five Nepali prisoners of war, one from Sierra Leone and one from Somalia, participated in the press conference. All of them were captured by Ukraine while fighting as mercenaries with the Russian side and claimed to have been deceived when they were recruited. Some of them said that they ended up in the Russian Army after traveling from Cuba to look for civilian jobs. Others claimed to have been sent to the front after having agreed to carry out military tasks behind the front lines.

The other prisoners of war reported having been victims of deception to be recruited by the Russian Army.

By making these testimonies public, Ukraine is hoping to prevent other citizens of low-income countries from accepting jobs in Russia or positions in the Russian Army that end up leading them to kill Ukrainians, or to being captured or dying at the front, according to Yatsenko.

According to the Ukrainian official, Russia recruits more and more mercenaries from countries in Africa, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Latin America, to make up for casualties in their ranks. Ukraine has been open to negotiating the return of these captured fighters to their countries.

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.

“No Martyrs or Leaders,” the New Directions for the Diminished Cuban Bodegas

This newspaper was able to confirm that the images of the country’s former leaders were no longer in at least a dozen places where they were previously exhibited.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, 16 March 2024  — “They told us to remove the photos,” explains the employee of a bodega (ration store) in Nuevo Vedado, Havana, before the question of a customer surprised by the disappearance of the images of Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl and Ernesto Guevara who, until recently, alternated on the wall with the blackboard that announces the ever-shorter list of available products. “They called from the Ministry of Internal Trade and advised us that we could not have any martyrs or leaders,” he says.

The practice of placing images of leaders of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), guerrillas and people who fell in combat during the revolutionary battles, was very common in the ration stores. “You went with your libreta (ration book) to buy something, and instead of beans you found a poster with a smiling Camilo Cienfuegos or propaganda from a PCC Congress,” says Liuber, a resident of San Lázaro Street in Central Havana. He was surprised a week ago when he arrived at his bodega and found “nothing; those faces were no longer on the shelves.” continue reading

“You went with your ration book to buy something and instead of beans you found a poster with a smiling Camilo Cienfuegos”

This newspaper was able to confirm that the images were no longer in at least a dozen places where they were previously exhibited before the eyes of those who entered. A butcher’s shop on Basarrate Street in El Vedado, which until recently showed a portrait of Ernesto Guevara, with a beret and a thin beard, no longer had the photograph, previously located on the table behind the counter.

“It seems they don’t want people to continue taking photos of the bodegas and butcher shops without food but full of propaganda and posting them on social networks,” says another bodeguero in Old Havana who also received the “direction from above” to remove the images “that had been there for more years than the tomato sauce that didn’t arrive for the libreta.

The butcher shop on Basarrate Street replaced the painting of Che with an abstract / 14ymedio

However, the employee clarifies that the new regulations have not reached them in writing. “They told us at a meeting that the counterrevolution was using the photos they took inside the bodegas to create popular discomfort and associate the leaders of the process with the shortages.” The woman regrets the decision because “those images attracted tourists, who came in, started talking to us and some even left us a little gift.”

Now, the little rice that arrives every month for the standard quota does not pose for the cameras next to the face of a leader sheathed in his olive green uniform, and the sugar that is delayed in the supply no longer shares space with a poster of a guerrilla with a rifle on his shoulder. The political altars can no longer be next to the meager ration of food that is sold in the Cuban bodegas and butcher shops.

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 Reaffirms Its ‘Unique Friendship’ With North Korea

Miguel Díaz-Canel and Ma Chol Su, the ambassador of North Korea

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — The Cuban government decorated the ambassador of North Korea, Ma Chol Su, who finalized his diplomatic work in Havana, while reaffirming Cuba’s “unique friendship” with the Asian country, state media reported on Saturday.

The official newspaper Granma reported a meeting between the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel and the North Korean diplomat. In it, the Cuban president affirmed that the decoration was a “reaffirmation of friendship, solidarity and the brotherhood that exists between our Parties, our peoples and our Governments.”

North Korea maintains a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War

“Our relations have matured with the passage of time; they have  endured and been consolidated. This process has been achieved because our relations have elements that distinguish them as truly unique among peoples,” he added. continue reading

The North Korean ambassador assured that he would transmit “to the leader Kim Jong-Un the messages of friendship and the fraternal feelings expressed” by Díaz-Canel.

North Korea has a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War, in 1960. Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (1926-2016) visited North Korea in 1986, where he met with the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, grandfather and father, respectively, of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The reaffirmation of political ties with North Korea takes place almost a month after the announcement of the formalization of relations between South Korea and Cuba, broken since 1959.

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.

German Tourism Giant TUI Suspends Its Flights From Amsterdam to Varadero

TUI maintains that it is not profitable to travel to Varadero

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2024 — The German operator Touristik Union International (TUI) announced that it is canceling the only service that connects Cuba with the Netherlands due to a shortage of customers. “There is not enough demand for this destination,” a TUI spokeswoman told the Luchvaart Nieuws website. Thus, from mid-May, there will be no more flights between the airports of Schiphol, in Amsterdam, and Varadero, in Matanzas.

Up to now, that flight has been operating on a weekly basis and makes a stopover in Varadero on its route to Cancun, Mexico, but the limited number of passengers who disembark and embark at Juan Gualberto Gómez airport is not profitable for the German company.

That flight operates on a weekly basis and makes a stopover in Varadero on its route to Cancun

“Travelers who have already booked a trip (after mid-May) will be personally informed by TUI or the travel agency with which they booked,” the spokesperson explained. The airline will also cancel the flights for the next winter season and does not plan to resume the route to the Cuban destination in the future. continue reading

The company will maintain, however, its flights to Cancun from Amsterdam, once a week without a stopover, and another with a stopover in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In 2019, KLM Airlines, which was flying between Schiphol and Havana, suspended its operations due to the crisis caused by COVID-19. With the interruption of TUI’s services, Cuba has no direct connection with the Netherlands.

Luchvaart Nieuws adds that since the US abolished the visa exemption for those who have traveled to Cuba, interest in the Island as a tourist destination has decreased in that market. As provided by the measure that came into force in July 2023, if a traveler has visited the Island from 2021 and wants to enter the United States, they must apply for the B1/B2 visitor visa, which is more expensive and takes time.

The company will maintain its flights to Cancun from Amsterdam, once a week without a stopover, and another with a stopover in Montego Bay

The best alternatives for residents of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg who want to travel to Cuba will be the routes that operate between the airports of Frankfurt and Paris to Havana and Varadero

In December 2023, TUI announced that, beginning in May of this year, it will suspend the route that connects the city of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, and Varadero.

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.

Spain Will Support the Construction of a Solar Park in Cuba Through an EU Initiative

The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewables  by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — Spain will support the construction of a solar park in Cuba within the framework of the Global Gateway strategy of the European Union (EU), the EU embassy on the Island reported in a statement on Friday.

The European bloc “has committed to supporting the energy transition in Cuba through renewable energies,” said the statement, which is made public in the midst of the energy crisis that the country is suffering, with prolonged daily blackouts.

A delegation visited the Island this week to hold talks. Spain announced its contribution, and the EU, Spain and France showed their willingness to work “to mobilize new investments in the sector,” according to the statement, which did not provide details about the project that has Spanish support. continue reading

This project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households and generate savings of 84 million euros

The EU delegation visited a solar plant in the west of the Island, financed entirely with European funds. According to the EU embassy in Cuba, this project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households, generate savings of 84 million euros (about 91 million dollars at today’s exchange rate), replace 168,000 tons of fuel and avoid the emission of 721,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Global Gateway’s goal is to “promote smart, clean and safe links in the digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems around the world,” in accordance with the EU.

Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs

Cuba, plunged into a serious economic crisis for more than three years, is also going through a difficult energy crisis. Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs. This situation is due to the poor state of the national electricity system, which has seven obsolete thermoelectric plants with a chronic investment deficit, and a shortage of fuel due to lack of foreign exchange for importation.

This Wednesday, a plan was announced to install 92 solar parks on the Island to generate 2,000 megawatts. The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewable energies by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

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 Strong Smell of Gas Alarms the Residents of Central Havana and the Authorities Do Not Respond

This Friday, those who passed by Galiano and Zanja couldn’t comment on anything else

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 15 March 2024 — A penetrating odor of gas has been alarming the neighbors of Galiano and Zanja, in Central Havana, for more than 24 hours. Early this Friday, those who passed by couldn’t comment on anything else. The situation, the residents say, is unsustainable.

In a phone call, the Gas Company confirmed to 14ymedio that several residents had already reported what appears to be a leak. “My car is now in the area,” the employee said, referring to a state service vehicle. “It looks like it’s on the street.”

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street   

To the question of what he advised the neighbors to do while determining if there was a way out and where to go, he answered: “Listen, I can’t give you an answer because I don’t know what’s going on.” continue reading

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of fear. People still remember the terrible images of the Saratoga Hotel, which flew through the air on May 6, 2022, due to improper handling of liquefied gas from a tanker truck, which claimed the lives of 47 people.

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 Promises Russian Businessmen That They Will Be Able To Manage Hotels on the Island

Last year, Russian tourism grew 3.4 times compared to 2022

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, March 15, 2024 — With the arrival in Russia of Juan Carlos García Granda, Cuban Minister of Tourism, this week, the Island took a step further in its attachment to the Kremlin. Investment opportunities, inauguration of Russian-managed hotels and all kinds of facilities for tourists are Havana’s new promises to Moscow in exchange for obtaining, “in the short term,” the arrival of half a million travelers.

“The task we have put forward is to attract capital from Russian investors for Cuban tourism (…). We are working with the Russian hotel industry to have them manage hotel chains in Cuba. We want Russian businessmen to build their hotels in Cuba,” García Granda said at a conference in Moscow on Thursday.

We want Russian businessmen to build their hotels in Cuba,” García Granda said on Thursday

Cuba expects to receive more than 200,000 Russian tourists this year, a modest goal if you take into account that in 2023 more than 184,800 Russians visited Cuba, which resulted in a 3.4 percent increase in tourism from that country compared to the previous year. This was also recognized by the minister, who explained that “it is not a very large figure in absolute terms, but it will be a rather motivating result for us. I hope that in the short term, while I’m still minister, we will reach half a million.” continue reading

“The hotel business in Cuba has been developing for 30 years with the help of foreign investment. And, if we depend on Russian tourism, then it would be logical for this business to be managed by people who know Russian tourists well,” argued the minister. He added that this will involve the creation of “hotel complexes, various facilities with parking for yachts and other expansions.”

According to the minister, Cuba has adapted part of the sector so that Russian travelers feel comfortable when they visit the Island. “For example, Canadian tourists buy only one excursion while they are on vacation in Cuba. The Russians buy an average of three excursions. But over the years, customer preferences change, and we are planning to develop active and adventure tourism,” he explained. In addition, he added, “they can combine a vacation on the beach with an excursion and become familiar with Cuban culture, dance, rum production and tobacco plantations.”

The implementation of payments with MIR cards, since November 2023, was another of the “achievements” highlighted by the minister in the plan to “make things easier for the Russian client.”

“In these first months of operation, more than 2.7 million dollars have been transferred through MIR cards. There are 20,000 POS (point of sale) terminals in the main stores and tourist points throughout the country. This is something that is going to grow and all the conditions are created for it to do so,” he guaranteed. García Granda also insisted on the attractiveness of the Island for Russian tourists and clarified that “he hasn’t given up on the goal of the Russians occupying one of the first three places among foreign visitors to the country.”

Both countries propose to increase the number of flights and have their sights set on St. Petersburg

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister recalled, relations between Moscow and Havana allowed Russian travelers to continue arriving on the Island. Now, both countries intend to increase the number of flights and have their sights set on St. Petersburg, the second most populous and important city in Russia.

Last November, the Cuban ambassador to Moscow, Julio Garmendia, reported that both countries had agreed to establish an air route every ten days between St. Petersburg and Cayo Coco airport, in Ciego de Ávila, by the end of the year. However, the authorities have not revealed whether the agreement was finalized.

A similar plan was suggested this February by the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Commission, which expressed the intention to inaugurate charter flights from the Russian city to the Island. “We have to support the development of the tourism industry of each one. I think we have all the conditions to move from words to deeds,” said Óscar Enríquez, representative of the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba in Russia.

The disproportionate investment in the tourism sector, compared to others such as food or health, has not yielded the results that the regime expected. According to the annual report of selected tourism indicators, in 2023 three out of four hotel rooms on the Island were left empty.

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 Cuban Government Closes 45 Businesses for Not Implementing Electronic Payment and Targets Another 893

In Cienfuegos, three state ration stores were closed, as was a point of sale (POS) of the financial company Cimex, several sites of the Ministry of Agriculture and one Construction business. /14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2024 — This Thursday, the Communist Party newspaper published a list of 45 businesses (60% of them from the private sector) whose closure was decreed by the Government for not including the electronic method among its means of payment. The measure, announced in large headlines by the official press, sends a clear message to those who violate the “right” to electronic commerce, the golden rule – Granma says – of the bancarización [banking reform] process* decreed in August 2023.

The 3,341 “control actions” that the inspectors launched in February, says Granma, in the tone of the police, revealed that 893 entities – in particular self-employed workers and points of sale administered by the Ministry of Agriculture – “do not comply” with the provisions of Resolution 93/2023 of the Internal Trade portfolio, the road map of bancarización.

After the raid, 89 fines were applied and 75 commercial authorizations were withdrawn, the newspaper reported. Mirurgia Ramírez, director of marketing of the ministry, reported that the inspectors are directing their “priority” attention to businesses that presented deficiencies in previous inspections, in particular those that took place before bancarización was approved. continue reading

This February, the official explained, the ministry found that not all the provinces had been inspected with the same rigor. In Havana, Artemisa and Matanzas, “more control actions” have been carried out, while Cienfuegos and Holguín were left behind. It is striking that, despite this, no business in the capital was closed.

This February, the official explained, the ministry found that not all provinces had been inspected with the same rigor

The conclusion is that “the measures adopted are insufficient,” and there are “delays in the contracting and activation of Transfermóvil QR Codes,” which makes electronic payment impossible. After commenting on the situation, Granma published the list of “closed” businesses. In Matanzas, three gastronomy units were suspended. In Cienfuegos, three state ration stores, a point of sale of the financial company Cimex, several points of sale of the Ministry of Agriculture and one of Construction were shut down.

In Ciego de Ávila, the private sector was the most affected, a constant that was repeated in the eastern provinces: four self-employed workers, two private companies – an organoponic and a cooperative – and a beauty institute closed their doors. The inspectors of Holguín and Granma also shut down several state points of sale.

Santiago de Cuba was left without two cafes and a restaurant, and Guantánamo saw the closure of the La Tijera store, managed by the Gaesa military conglomerate. Isla de la Juventud will stop the work of five self-employed workers and a private business, in addition to a multi-service workshop in Nueva Gerona.

“Are you complying with the provision?” Granma asks, with the intention of being rhetorical, and the numbers respond. However, the newspaper does not dedicate a single line to describing the scourges of any electronic process in Cuba: the terrible internet connection, which becomes non-existent in remote parts of the Island, the constant blackouts that affect connectivity and the lack of payment terminals or other devices.

Voluntarism** and legal warnings set the tone of the Communist Party’s newspaper, for which, if bancarización faces multiple obstacles and deficiencies, the answers must be sought in the negligence of the businesses and not in the structural crisis of the country. To denounce offenders, Granma reminds readers, the lines are open.

Translator’s notes:
*Bancarización is a term used in Cuba and other Latin American countries. All economic transactions must be made by debit card, including cash withdrawals and the payment of salaries. The term does not have a counterpart in English so the Spanish term is used throughout this translation.
** This means that it is up to the individual business to fix the problem itself. 

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.

Alejandro Gil’s Sister Confirms That the Former Cuban Minister and His Wife Are in Detention

Alejandro Gil and his wife Gina María González

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — “My brother has been detained along with his wife. They have no cell phones; there is no way to communicate with them.” The former television presenter María Victoria Gil thus summarized the situation of her sister-in-law, Gina María González, and her brother Alejandro Gil Fernández, former Minister of Economy of Cuba, dismissed at the end of February and investigated for alleged errors committed in the exercise of his office.

Victoria Gil, who recently traveled to Havana, sent an audio to the YouTube channel El mundo de Darwin (Darwin’s World, emitted from Canada), after returning to Tenerife, Spain. Vicky, as she is known on the Island, said that she always travels to Cuba in March, every two years, so as not to lose her property, and that she bought the ticket well in advance to make it cheaper. This would explain the coincidence that she arrived in the country shortly after the official announcement of her brother’s fall from grace.

“My niece (Laura María Gil González) is at home but under house arrest, also without a cell phone. I contacted my nephew, my brother’s son,” and the young man also did not have information about the whereabouts of his father Alejandro Gil and his mother Gina María González: “I don’t know anything about them; I don’t know anything about my aunt. I’m very worried, but what can I do?” continue reading

“My niece is at home but under house arrest, also without a mobile phone. I communicated with my nephew, my brother’s son”

Despite sending the audio to Darwin’s World, Vicky said on Thursday on her Facebook profile that she had not given “any statement to digital media,” nor did her son, Daniel Alejandro Trujillo Gil.

“Someone has stolen my identity on TikTok and given statements to the prominent journalist Mario Pentón (Martí Noticias) from my account, posing as my son,” she clarified after indicating that she received “a screenshot of the message” that, allegedly, her son sent to Pentón.

She acknowledges that the message contained “no lies or insults, not at all; it is information in the public domain, but I reiterate that it was not provided by my son. I don’t know the intention of the person who did it, but  it doesn’t contain any falsehood,” she insisted.

These statements come to light after Pentón published last Tuesday in Martí Noticias that Gina María González was also detained, and he cited as a source the nephew of the former minister, Daniel Alejandro Trujillo Gil.

“I don’t know the intention of the person who did it, because, in addition, it does not contain any falsehood”

On the other hand, the former presenterin Cuban Television denied have been pressured by State Security during her stay on the Island. Also on Facebook, this Tuesday she published a post in which she thanked the Government for not having “bothered” her while she was in Havana, and she was grateful to the broadcasters of Cuban television for their attitude towards her “at such a difficult time.”

Vicky Gil was filmed several times on the Island, and in one of them she is singing. “I don’t know how I managed to sing; I ignored the way some notes came out of my throat because of so much emotion,” she said on Facebook. “My conscience is clear. I love my homeland and adore my people. I am incapable of profiting from the sacrifice of my fellow human beings. I love them immeasurably and will always be on the side of truth, honesty and justice.”

She did not offer details of the criminal proceeding against her brother that was announced in a brief official note last week. The statement, signed by Miguel Díaz-Canel, said that after a “rigorous investigation” and “taking into account the level of verification of the facts,” the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party and the Council of State “approved that the competent bodies of the Ministry of the Interior initiate the corresponding actions for the total clarification of these behaviors.”

The former presenter of Cuban Television denied having been subjected to pressure from the Cuban State Security during her stay on the Island

Alejandro Gil graduated as an engineer in Maritime Transport from the Technological University of Havana, a profession that is little related to the position of Minister of Economy that he held for almost four years. Until his dismissal, he was one of the key men of the regime and had survived several crises, including the debacle after the so-called Ordering Task.*

A regular guest of State TV’s Round Table program, he was a great advocate for the economic adjustment measures that the Cubans baptized as the “paquetazo” [package] which included an increase in the price of fuel and electricity, implemented at the beginning of this month, and new currency exchange rates, still to be applied. His sister Vicky then defined him as the person “most hated” by the people, along with Díaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.

Gil’s wife, Gina González García, was manager of the Chamber of Commerce of Cuba and, previously, had worked as commercial manager of BisMusic, an official record company. Their daughter, Laura María Gil González, was employed in the Imports Department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and currently worked in the Caudal Group, which depends on the State and manages insurance and financial services.

*Translator’s note: The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that included eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso (CUP) as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

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 Pharmacy in Holguín Is Stoned in Protest Against 15-Hour Blackouts

TRD Latin America in the Alex Urquiola distribution in Holguín / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Holguín, Miguel García, 14 March 2024 — Popular discontent with the long blackouts is at the origin of several protests in the city of Holguín, where this Tuesday a pharmacy located at the intersection of Martí and Fomento streets was stoned. The event was confirmed to this newspaper by local sources, who also pointed out that last Thursday morning, the old Latin America foreign currency store in the La Colorá neighborhood had its windows broken.

This type of event, in addition to the cacerolazos — demonstrations where people beat on pots and pans — and an increase in police surveillance, are increasingly frequent in areas that experience the worst of the energy crisis, as reported by 14ymedio previously. Holguín is one of the provinces where long blackouts occur, which can last up to 15 hours in a single day.

A resident of the Alcides Pino popular council told this newspaper that since the power outages began, “incidents expressing discontent occur almost daily. They haven’t spilled into the streets, but there’s no shortage of cacerolazos when there’s no power. The discontent is widespread.”

As for the stores with broken windows, he says that the authorities have not stood idly by. “They are sending police and red berets (special security) at night to guard the foreign currency stores to prevent people from breaking windows. It’s not the first time that’s happened in Holguín,” he adds. continue reading

“There are also many patrols making rounds in the city and on Carralero Street”

“There are also many patrols making rounds in the city, on Carralero Street and in the Dagoberto Sanfield neighborhood, where one of the senior police commanders lives. In addition here are other military personnel, and there is always a patrol keeping watch as soon as night falls,” says the holguinero.

A woman in Holguín interviewed by 14ymedio asserts that, in addition, the long blackouts prevent the normal operation of any work center and are an obstacle to procedures of any kind. “My husband has been standing in line at the offices of the Ministry of the Interior for four days to change the official route for our pedicab, and he has not been able to, because when it’s his turn, the current goes off and service is interrupted,” she says.

“Life becomes difficult in many ways when the current goes off. There are parents who are not sending their children to school because, between the coming and going, the power goes out two or three times in the early hours of the morning, and neither they nor their children can sleep (without an electric fan). Not to mention the food. I know people who have chosen to cook with wood in the face of blackouts of more than 15 hours,” she says.

The other aggravating thing is that, “despite having so many hours of blackout, the cost of electricity continues to rise. It’s inconceivable!” she emphasizes. Last year, the official newspaper Ahora! published the results of a survey based on the complaints of many people in Holguin about the increase in their bills during July and August, despite power outages of 12 hours or more.

Latin America foreign currency store in the Alex Urquiola neighborhood in Holguín / 14ymedio

The response of the Electric Company at that time was that after the restoration of the current, when equipment is connected – mainly refrigeration – the consumption increases.

The holguinera also says that in some state centers there are on-call workers, as well as heads of the National Police Sector and State Security agents, “ready to take to the streets and repress.” The “order,” she explains, is to put down any demonstrations that expresses dissatisfaction with the regime.

On March 9, the cacerolazos began in Holguín after several days of power outages. The Manuel Angulo dental clinic in Pueblo Nuevo in the main municipality was stoned, and hours later it was under guard by State Security.

At the same time, another demonstration in the municipality of Florida, in Camagüey, managed to get the authorities to restore service, but not before assuring that everything remained “calm” in the neighborhood.

* Errata: Initially, the information reached 14ymedio’s Editorial Office and the testimonies on the ground spoke of stoning of the exterior windows of the Martí y Fomento Pharmacy, but on another visit to the place and thanks to the warning from our readers, we confirmed that, in that case, it had been an accident in which a car hit the windows.

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.

Economist Pedro Monreal Points Out a ‘Statistical Blackout’ in Official Cuban Data

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero admitted that this sector is one of the most associated with corruption by citizens. / Estudios Revolución / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — The balance sheet for Internal Trade in Cuba for 2023, published by the Government this Wednesday, provided only one statistic for the sector: 70% of the construction materials delivery plan was met. The rest of the meeting consisted of an accumulation of “enigmatic formulations, abundant exhortations, a drought of data and scarcity of details about specific programs,” said Cuban economist Pedro Monreal.

The administrative inefficiency of the Ministry of Internal Trade barely motivated a discussion among officials, who mentioned in passing the main problems of the sector: “the proliferation of illegal sellers; the diversion from retail sales as a secondary activity in production companies; the scarce and unstable supply of products and services in gastronomy; the fluctuation and deficient preparation of managers and employees; as well as the ineffectiveness of the measures implemented to prevent and confront crime, illegalities and acts of corruption.”

According to the website of the Cuban Presidency, which summarized the meeting, “the main results achieved in 2023, as well as problems that persist in the sector and proposals to solve them” were exposed in an “audiovisual” that was not made public. “It would be advisable to disclose it because there is a striking ’statistical blackout’ with respect to Internal Trade, due to the absence of the 2022 data,” Monreal commented, while showing the empty printout for that year from the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei). continue reading

In February, the minister acknowledged that there were serious difficulties with the purchase and distribution of milk powder due to the high cost of the product

Despite the fact that the Government keeps the real figures under lock and key, the latest public speeches – almost all on the distribution of the rationing system’s basic family basket – by the head of the ministry, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, hint at a more chaotic panorama than the regime is willing to admit.

In February, the minister recognized that there were serious difficulties with the purchase and distribution of powdered milk due to the high cost of the product in the international market and the low availability of fuel to deliver it to the warehouses. The distribution at that time depended mainly on donations from the World Food Program (WFP), and weeks later, the Cuban Government requested help from the WFP for the first time due to the pressing need for the product, intended mainly for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Similar situations have occurred with other rationed foods, such as bread, rice and coffee, which have forced Internal Trade and the Ministry of the Food Industry to offer explanations on Cuban Television.

As for corruption, another mandatory issue in the balance sheet after the announcement that the former Minister of Economy is being investigated for “serious errors made in the performance of his functions” – although the “paquetazo” [package] proposed during his management of the portfolio continues to be implemented – the Government did not offer numbers for global losses, recovery plans or offenders.

However, the recent disclosure by the official press of cases related to embezzlement and illegal sales of products by leaders of state companies – such as the diversion of yogurt in the Río Zaza dairy production company in Sancti Spíritus and the theft of 133 tons of chicken from a state warehouse – give the measure of the current state of the situation.

“This sector is one of those that the population most associates with corruption, and we need to work to eliminate those facts,” admitted the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero.

Díaz-Canel asked, paradoxically, to “break the myth that everything State is inefficient”

Only one element, commercial circulation, “month after month is overfulled,” Marrero said, although the cause is “the increase in prices and not greater offers of products and satisfaction of the demands of the people,” he acknowledged. The comment was criticized by Monreal, who pointed out that “the Government refers to the distortion derived from its own statistics as if it were not its responsibility. There would be no illusion of ’over-compliance’ of commercial circulation if the official statistics included values adjusted to inflation and updated physical data.”

Once again, the strategy of justifying the Government’s mistakes by alleging “economic asphyxiation and media indoctrination” of the United States to “harm the Revolution” was entrusted to President Miguel Díaz-Canel who, in the face of the report of the failures of Internal Trade, asked, paradoxically, to “break the myth that everything State is inefficient.”

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.

Of Those Arrested for the 11 July 2021 Protests, 676 Cubans Remain Detained

In the witch hunt that followed that day, the Government arrested 1,580 demonstrators. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Juan Izquierdo, March 13, 2024 — With two recent heart attacks on his medical record and a sentence of 15 years in prison, political prisoner Wilfredo Castillo received a license last week to leave the Agüica prison, in Matanzas, for a year. Haggard and thin, his most recent photograph – in a hospital room – is eloquent about the health of a 55-year-old man who, along with hundreds of Cubans throughout the Island, suffered the consequences of going out to protest on July 11, 2021 (11J).

In the witch hunt that followed that day, the Government arrested 1,580 demonstrators, of whom 676 remain detained. The temporary release of Castillo is the most recent news about that initial group, to which – after several relevant protests in past years – several hundred names have been added. Between 11 July 2021 and February of this year, according to several organizations, more than 1,900 demonstrators have been arrested, 1,067 of whom are still imprisoned, including the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the opponent José Daniel Ferrer.

Only 18 of those who were sentenced for taking to the streets on 11J are free and continue to live in Cuba, according to the NGO Justicia 11J. Another 80 went into exile – especially to the United States, Spain and the rest of Europe – and have resumed their activism outside the country. continue reading

The 11J demonstrations were not only a watershed moment for the opposition, but they also modified the landscape of human rights organizations inside and outside the Island

There are 663 demonstrators who have been released from prison but are serving some kind of sentence. Penalties include house arrest, restriction of mobility, correctional work, fines and bail. In addition to Castillo, only two other licenses to leave prison have been granted due to an inmate’s serious state of health: for Juan Carlos Izquierdo, in Mayabeque, and Mario Josué Prieto Ricardo, in Holguín.

The inventory of Justicia 11J does not have data on 141 of the detainees after the protests, but it does keep records for those who, in addition to participating and being imprisoned on that date, participated in organizing the Civic March of November 15, 2021, and the protests of 2022 – including those in Nuevitas, Camagüey, in August of that year and in 2023.

The 11J demonstrations were not only a watershed moment for the opposition, but they also modified the landscape of human rights organizations inside and outside the Island. After the clamor of the protest, several observatories and institutions emerged with the goal of counting the detainees and making visible, along with the independent press, the repression and the precarious conditions to which they are subjected in prison.

“The hardest thing in prison? In prison everything is hard, there is nothing right, there is nothing beautiful, only depression, hunger,” Osain Denis Trujillo told Martí Noticias on Wednesday. He was released this Monday in Cárdenas, Matanzas, after serving a sentence of two years and eight months. Trujillo was beaten and arrested in his own home on July 12, in front of his wife and daughter, by an armed commando. “They put me in the van and hit me,” he said. “I was unjustly imprisoned. They didn’t give me a regime change, they didn’t give me a minimum, they didn’t give me parole.”

“The hardest thing in prison? In prison everything is hard, there is nothing right, there is nothing beautiful, only depression, hunger”

For Trujillo, the situation that led to the outburst has not changed; it may even be worse. And the consequences of the economic crisis are also felt in prison: “All we have to eat now in prison is rice, pumpkin water and what we call ’electric pasta’. The cup – a portion of rice – is getting smaller and smaller. At breakfast, we get hot pumpkin water or some herbal tea,” he added.

Several of those who protested on 11J or the next day are independent journalists, such as Carlos Michel Morales, who was released this Wednesday in Caibarién, Villa Clara, after two years and ten months in prison. An image of the reporter, as thin and mistreated as Castillo, circulated on social networks. The former prisoner, his relatives say, has health problems from malnutrition, beatings by the guards and the hunger strikes he carried out while behind bars.

Last January, Yusmely Moreno González was also released from prison, sentenced to three years for protesting in the town of Surgidero de Batabanó, in the province of Mayabeque.

Prisoners Defenders (PD) – which includes in its inventory, like other organizations, those who have protested in recent years before and after 11J – claimed in its most recent report the existence of 1,067 political prisoners in Cuban prisons at the end of February 2024. The figure represents an increase in incarcerations, with 9 arrests in February alone and 22 so far this year.

The issue, PD alleges, has been gaining an important ground in the international debates about Cuba. A resolution of the European Parliament of February 29, 2024, the organization emphasizes, denounced in clear terms the drastic increase in political prisoners and the tendency of the regime to imprison more and more opponents. In addition, parliamentarians are aware not only of the number of prisoners currently serving sentences, but also the more than 11,000 cases of “pre-criminal ” convictions, PD alleges, for people who did not commit any crime.

Last January, Yusmely Moreno González was also released from prison, sentenced to three years for protesting in the Surgidero town of Batabanó, in the province of Mayabeque

The report points out that the World Prison Brief, written by the Institute for Investigations on Crime and Justice, placed Cuba in second place worldwide in its incarceration rate last January, taking into account the number of prisoners on the Island.

Of the 1,067 inmates counted by PD, 30 are minors, a fact that the Cuban Government recognized at the United Nations, claiming that they were in “occupational training schools” but hiding that these facilities are true penitentiary centers.

The regime’s disrespect for prisoners – 115 – and for transsexual women – two, imprisoned in men’s prisons – has also been noted in numerous testimonies, including that of the María Cristina and Angélica Garrido sisters, imprisoned in Mayabeque and sentenced to 7 and 3 years, respectively.

Although the numbers speak for themselves, the real tragedy of 11J is the suffering of the prisoners’ families. This Wednesday, Wilber Aguilar, the father of prisoner Walnier Aguilar, sent a message to his son on his 24th birthday. During his last visit to the prison, he said, the family wished him “blessings,” not “happiness,” because they have “nothing to celebrate” while the young man remains in prison. However, those who visited other inmates delayed their visit to show solidarity with the Aguilars. “I’m trying to turn all this pain into strength,” he concluded.

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.

Faced With the Upsurge in Violence in Haiti, Cuban ‘Mules’ Are Looking for Alternative Markets

The mules buy many things, from footwear and clothing to cell phones and appliances.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 2024 —  The Cuban mules’ fear of being trapped in the crossfire of the Haitian gangs – as happened days ago with more than 250 visitors who were shopping in that country and of whom it is not known if they have managed to return to Cuba – has forced these merchants to look for new markets for buying merchandise. The Venezuelan island of Margarita, as well as Guyana and Nicaragua are some of the destinations that regular travelers to Haiti have in their sights.

“We will not sell tickets to Haiti until next month because of the current situation, which does not allow travel,” one of the improvised “agencies” that manage these trips from Port-au-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, tells 14ymedio through social networks. The price, they add, “is $500, including everything: round-trip tickets plus two days of accommodation in a house. During those two days they can go out and buy.”

Businesses that survive by selling everything from clothes and footwear to appliances and cell phones, however, cannot afford to be without merchandise for long, and, despite what ticket resellers say, it’s the airlines that decide when to resume flights. This is the case of Sunrise Airways, with two weekly frequencies (Monday and Thursday) between Port-au-Prince and Havana, and one (Friday) to Camagüey. One of its planes to Camagüey got caught in the crossfire during a gang shooting on March 1, and Sunrise has clarified that it will not resume flights “until further notice.” continue reading

“The last time I was there, I arrived in the middle of a stampede. They even killed a person in front of me. Since then I travel to Guyana, where with just over 1,000 dollars and what I spend on merchandise, I can do business”

The travel agencies, which seek to replenish their clientele after the loss of the Haitian destination, now propose other spots with the same comforts for Cubans. This Monday, an ad on Facebook suggested solving the “problem” with a trip to Venezuela. “I’m thinking about you and how I can help you travel to Margarita Island, in Venezuela, in the next few days when the price will not be too expensive.” And it added: “It is a tourist package with the visa, ticket and lodging included, with departures from Holguín and Havana.”

However, despite the promises, the difference between the 500 dollars that mules pay to travel to Haiti and the 1,050 and 1,200 dollars that resellers and agencies charge to reach the Venezuelan island is more than substantial.

Before the debacle of Haiti, Margarita Island was already popular among Cuban merchants. In 2022, according to data from the Venezuelan Government, about 5,000 Cubans, mostly “small businessmen,” arrived on the island as tourists, spending an average of 5,000 dollars per person.

Guyana, another popular destination among Cubans, has also been considered by the mules, who “for a long time” have been noticing a rise in violence in Haiti. Maritza, a habanera who traveled frequently to Port-au-Prince six months ago, tells this newspaper that due to the violence, which has even forced many countries to withdraw their staff, she has begun to travel to Guyana.

“The last time I was in Haiti, I arrived in the middle of a stampede,” she remembers. They even killed a person in front of me. Since then I travel to Guyana, where with just over 1,000 dollars and what I spend on merchandise, I can do business. It’s more expensive, but right now Haiti is a jungle and I don’t want to risk it.”

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not returned to the issue of the Cuban mules stranded in Haiti

“I also was very hungry and did a lot of work in the houses where I was staying, and I don’t want to do that now,” she says. “When I can’t travel, I go to the La Cuevita fair, in San Miguel del Padrón, and there I buy and then resell,” she adds.

As for the situation of the Cubans stranded in Haiti since March 1, videos were posted on social networks asking for help from the authorities of both countries to return them to the Island. They said that, having bought the merchandise days before, they barely had enough money and provisions to stay for a few more days in the hostels in Port-au-Prince.

Among them there are groups from Havana, Camagüey and Santiago, who have shared their situation and describe it as distressing due to the lack of explanations from the airline and the climate of insecurity that has led the Haitian authorities to declare a state of emergency.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry, which reported on the same day as the videos that it was taking “measures to ensure the safe return of Cubans residing and in transit in that country,” has not mentioned the issue again.

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.

Putin Approves New Credit Facilities for the Cuban Debt

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in an archive image / X/@DiazCanelB

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow/Madrid, 11 March 2024 — Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on Monday an amendment to the credit agreements between Russia and Cuba that gives the Island better conditions for the payment and restructuring of its debt. The corresponding document was published this Monday on the legal information portal of the Russian Government.

The protocols approved by the Russian president refer to the  credit agreements for Cuba granted between 2009 and 2019 for the purchase of hydrocarbons.

The debt contracted by Cuba within the framework of the agreements, whose restructuring was approved today, amounts to 277.2 million dollars, according to the Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, Alexei Sazanov.

The facilities granted to Havana include the possibility of paying the debt in rubles, postponing the payment plan from 2023-2027 to the period 2028-2040, and modifying the calculation of the rates for the delay in payments. continue reading

Russia believes that aid to Cuba aimed at guaranteeing its crude oil supply will strengthen Moscow’s political positions in Latin America

Russia believes that aid to Cuba aimed at guaranteeing its supply of crude oil will strengthen Moscow’s political positions in Latin America.

At the moment the Island is going through a deep energy crisis, with simultaneous blackouts in up to 44% of the national territory, which have provoked protests in some provinces.

As numerous specialists have denounced, the Cuban electricity system is in a catastrophic situation, and to solve it it would require an investment of 10 billion dollars and between six and ten years of time.

The lack of foreign currency has also limited Cuba’s ability to import fuel, which affects national energy production.

On March 1, the new fuel prices were established, up 400%, included in the so-called paquetazo [package], which were originally going to enter into force a month earlier, just when its main architect, Alejandro Gil Fernández, was dismissed from his position as Minister of Economy. He is allegedly being investigated by the Government for “serious errors made in the exercise of his functions.”

On the same day as Gil’s dismissal, it was also the last day in Havana for the Russian economic advisor Boris Titov, on his most recent visit to the Island, days after his compatriots Sergey Lavrov and Nikolai Patrushev. Although the official press gave Titov’s arrival the usual pomp, it did not offer news of his stay.

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.