Category: Translator: Regina Anavy

Undoubtedly, it was a long Round Table program, in which Gil was accompanied by Regueiro Ale, another who is worth more for what he doesn’t say than what he does, and both undertook the unfortunate task of informing the people about the foundations of the regime’s decisions to correct the main distortions of the Cuban economy and relaunch it in 2024.

It involves two consecutive actions. First, to correct the distortions. Second, to give a boost to the economy; “reboosting” is another lie.

It is interesting to start from the distortions that Gil sees in the economy. And here, once again, the situation of the war economy is mentioned, caused by, and I quote verbatim, “the pressures of the intensified blockade, which hinders all the efforts we have to make for the economic performance of the country.”

A bad start, which loses perspective by spending energy on distortions. The intensified embargo/blockade does not prevent Cuba from developing its economic model, relating economically to 192 countries in the world, obtaining investments, tourists and most importantly, remittances, 90% from the country that “embargoes” the Cuban economy. This is a poor analysis of distortions if it is intended to find the way out of the tunnel from the available economic resources.

The second wrong idea is the mantra, repeated ad nauseam, that “we have to overcome, we have to find the alternatives by designing measures in accordance with our economic and social model, inclusive in our socialism, and that allow us, with objectivity, with realism, to get ahead.” This model failed all over the world, ask Vietnam or China, and which has been in Cuba for 65 years, a magnificent age for its retirement. If the government chooses the communist model to face the complexities, boost the economy and correct the distortions that are present in the country, in a year or two the situation may be even worse. Ministers Gil and Regueiro know it, but they are silent.

Nor does the argument work that the world economy is malfunctioning and this impacts Cuba. A simple look at the Caribbean resorts in the Dominican Republic or Costa Rica dismantles this argument. The hotels are 100% full  in this winter high season. In Cuba, they aren’t. Something is not right when the Germans, French and Swiss choose other destinations.

And of course, since there are no answers to the main questions, it’s interesting to talk about the second one, which has no solution: the regulated family basket.** Here the minister said that the population is against maintaining subsidies to all people equally since not everyone has the same purchasing power. This is a lie. What the population wants is to get rid of the regulated basket and be able to choose freely. As do many companies, too, because they could sell the products without dependence on subsidies, through the rules of supply and demand. The minister, on the other hand, says that he will review the basket, maintaining products at subsidized prices even if this is not an equitable distribution. The country’s imports for the basic basket cost more than 1.6 billion dollars as a result of increased prices in the international market.

The basket could be suppressed at any time and allow citizens to be free to choose. This is how Cuba worked before 1962, the date of the entry into force of the ration book that has been an instrument of social and economic control of communist design, which has increased poverty and misery in Cuba to levels not observable in other countries. Advances towards economic freedom are essential to relaunch the economy. Gil knows it, just as he knows that the Communist Party, committed to centralizing the decisions of choice of goods for Cubans, is the origin of the regulated basket. Any alternative to subsidized prices is seen as something negative.

And again he lies, when he says that “this doesn’t mean that the basket will disappear.” It won’t take long; it’s already happening.

Fuel is the second distortion, but Gil didn’t say why there is no oil in Cuba. Basically, two reasons. First, from the second half of 2019, Venezuela systematically reduced its oil shipments to the Island for internal reasons. Less subsidized oil forced the regime to resort to the international oil markets, but there it did not obtain financing because it wasn’t current on its debts. In Fidel Castro’s time that was possible, but in the time of Díaz-Canel either you pay or they don’t give you anything.

And by combining these two factors and attracting far fewer tourists to the Island, the ability to buy oil decreased significantly. And now Gil lies when he says that the population is worried about maintaining subsidized fuel prices, probably the lowest in the world compared to the prices of other countries. If the subsidized basket causes harms economically and socially, oil subsidies distort the energy decisions of all agents.

This is not an issue to review but to straighten out, as soon as possible. Without fuel, the economy and the country cannot function, and the dependence on oil makes Cuba a country with almost zero renewable energies. Blaming the absence of an internal mechanism of convertibility of currencies into national currency for fuel is not only a lie: it’s nonsense.

Third distortion: electricity. The same problem as fuel. Subsidized prices that prevent companies from obtaining profitability so that the quality of the service leaves much to be desired, and the lack of investment causes the network’s failures. Savings are not possible because, as a result of high prices, consumption levels are among the lowest in the world. It’s another area to be resolved with reforms in supply and demand. As in other goods and services, Gil now discovers that those who consume the most also affect those who consume the least, because when a blackout occurs, everyone suffers. It doesn’t discriminate between the largest and the smallest consumer. The solution of setting different rates depending on the level of consumption could be even worse.

He did not say it as such, but Gil incorporated the private enterprises into the list of distortions that have to be corrected by reciting some alleged opinions of the population that contribute little to the technical debate. Specifically, that those who want to buy a certain product have to go to the private companies. Why don’t Cubans find what they want in the State stores? Why is there rationing, scarcity, poverty? If the private businesses fill the need, although at a higher price, perhaps it is because this is the rule of the free market. By making the private companies fulfill a complementary function rather than a main function, the only thing achieved is that more merchandise is unavailable and people get hungry.

Then it was the turn of the distortion of the transport tariffs, which don’t earn enough to cover the costs of the State. If this is the scenario, the offer of services will fall and fewer goods and people will be transported as happened this year. Again, economic freedom is the solution, but the minister does not recognize it.

Gil pointed out that in the last four years “a group of measures has been adopted such as the incorporation of the non-State sector of the economy, the elimination of restrictions on the salaries in State companies and the removal of restrictions on distributing  profits,” but he acknowledged his poor success. He even questioned the legal rules for non-State economic actors that, in his opinion, were carried out without having a previous experience of their operation in the economy, taking as a reference the self-employed workers, which has nothing to do with the private companies. Another miscalculation, and on they go.

A special moment of the program was when Gil explained that, in the face of versions that the measures have a neoliberal character, “all decisions start from a broad process of consultation and analysis within government institutions, with the participation of academics, the Party militants and the analyses made from popular opinion.” Well, what a pity, because Vietnam, for example, thanks to well-designed neoliberal measures, overcame famines in five years and became a world’s leading exporter of rice. And what about China?

Cuban communists are the only politicians at the international level who continue to obsessively question neoliberalism, a doctrine that has given much better results than those applied by the communist model. If instead of criticizing without thinking, they reflected on what neoliberalism represents in 2023, another cock would crow.

Gil’s agenda affects the aspects that have been a failure, such as increasing the role of the State as a regulatory entity in the economy and intervening in the foreign exchange market by slowing down privatization. This gives the State a role that it cannot play because of its dependence on subsidies. Why does he lie over and over again? The market is the main mechanism for the allocation of resources in any economy, and that is neoliberal doctrine. I hope this is the way forward.

Gil’s next lie was to point out that these measures protect the social conquests of the revolution. It’s just the opposite. It is not possible to sustain a public expenditure of the dimension of the one that exists in Cuba if more wealth, employment and production are not generated. The chosen path has confirmed this for decades; a State-centralized distribution of resources goes against the trends of the world economy.

Neoliberalism, where it triumphs, does not lead the State to neglect taxes, but to liberate the markets, deregulate and act effectively. Inclusive measures to protect the people and the vulnerable need a solid economic base. Without growth, it is not possible to distribute.

So Gil is convinced that the measures will be able to correct distortions in time, and although the transformations have risks, they have to be assumed to be favorable for the revival of the economy, which is the other side of the coin.

If the intent is to lower the deficit, estimated at 18% and considered high, it must be corrected with taxes, prices and measures aimed in that direction.

It’s an important issue. Raising taxes goes against growth. If the main purpose is to accelerate the country’s economic recovery, increasing taxes is contrary to that objective. As for prices, inflation has moderated but remains high in food, recreation and transport. The minister is silent and does not tell the whole truth by assuming measures that will not give results and are poorly directed.

Part 2 is here.

Translator’s notes: 

*The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that include 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.  

**The monthly allotment of rationed goods.   

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Rodríguez’s criticisms have been joined by those of fellow diplomat Orestes Hernández Hernández, who called to use, instead of the figure of the old man with a white beard dressed in red, characters from Cuban literature such as the puppet Pelusín del Monte, created by the writer Dora Alonso in 1956. For her part, the official journalist Ana Teresa Badia classified the tourism agency’s campaign as a “violation of all communication logic.”

A few hours after the first questions were published, the advertising disappeared from the Havanatur page; however, several users copied and disseminated the images in which Santa Claus swings in an armchair, smokes a cigar surrounded by tropical fruit, sunbathes on the shore of a beach and, in almost all the illustrations, is accompanied by an old American car.

Several commentators joined the angry reaction and classified Santa Claus as an “imperial construction” and “part of the war of symbols of the United States against Cuba.” However, the figure of the sympathetic old man has its origin in the second century A.D. when Nicholas of Bari was born into the bosom of a wealthy family in the Turkish city of Patara. When his parents died, he decided to distribute his wealth among the most needy and sought refuge from his pain in religion.

San Nicolás has a relationship with Havana that most Cubans ignore: he is the Greek Orthodox patron saint of the city

San Nicolás, in addition, has a relationship with Havana that most Cubans ignore: the Greek Orthodox community of the city adopted him as patron, because he is considered the protector of sailors and port cities. In fact, the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Old Havana is consecrated to him.

It is not the first time that this type of reaction has arisen to the use of foreign symbols or traditions. At the end of last October, the Maxim Rock Cultural Center, in Havana, organized a Halloween party in which an officer costume of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (better known by the acronym SS) worn by a contestant was awarded. The audacity cost the premises a temporary closure and sanctions to its managers, as later reported on social networks by the Cuban Institute of Music.

The entity then stated that the decision had been taken “given the seriousness of the fact and the evidence of the inability of the cultural institution to foresee it.” The note went beyond the specifics and took advantage of the controversy to put the festivity under the magnifying glass again. “The event (…) in addition to constituting a violation of the directives for cultural programming, puts the issue of the dangers of cultural colonization back on the table.”

Both the Cuban Institute of Music and the official spokespersons who criticized the event conveniently ignored that Halloween or Samhain, celebrated on the eve of All Saints’ Day, is a pagan festival of Celtic tradition that marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the new year. Irish emigrants imported it to the United States, where it was incorporated into popular culture with its own iconography. From there it has been re-exported all over the world, especially through the film industry.

That origin and the thousands of Cubans who disguise themselves every year to enjoy this holiday are systematically ignored by the Cuban authorities, who insist on identifying it exclusively with “the empire” and point to it as something foreign to the national culture, although the links of the Island with Celtic Galicia have been close for centuries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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plays well. After the defeat, everything was “strongly denounced,” not only the “destabilizing elements,” but also the “difficult game” against a team with “technical superiority” like that of the United States. It was not difficult, the authorities lamented, to lose against such a “clearly winning” adversary.

Another blow to the mental tranquility of the Island’s authorities was having to broadcast the match on Cuban Television without being able to disguise the multiple posters against the regime held by the public. At the end of the game – although the moment did not reach the Cuban screens – the writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez and the artist El Sexto went down on the field carrying Cuban flags, which cost them a night in the police station. Things that happen in Miami, a city “that does not meet the minimum conditions to host an international event,” Havana said in defense.

The balance of the experiment leaves no room for optimism. Team Asere lost the match – after a series of successes in the contest that guaranteed their face to face with the United States, it must be said. But it opened the way for the commissioners of several Cuban sports, such as chess, to show themselves as “understanding” leaders: if other emigrated athletes wanted to play with the flag of their country of birth there would be no inconveniences, as long as they did so under the draconian conditions imposed by the regime.

But it wasn’t all regret and defeat. The trip to Miami bore fruit, even if it wasn’t harvested by the regime. The baseball players living on the Island arrived at José Martí International Airport loaded down with televisions, automobile tires and many suitcases, provisions to survive on an Island where only the privileged aseres* want to return.

*Translator’s note: A common word to greet a friend, asere is Cuban slang for “dude” or “buddy.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Yarelys Barrios sold the silver medal he won in Beijing 2008 for $11,600, on eBay

At the beginning of December, the boxer tried to sell his gold medal won in Athens 2004. Former British boxer Amir Khan, who admires Kindelán, donated $5,000 to the Cuban to build a house for his mother on the Island. According to Khan, the Cuban, in a moment of “despair,” told him to keep the medal he won in 2012, after defeating the British in Athens.

Kindelán is not the only athlete who has had to give up his medals to overcome poverty in Cuba. The discus thrower Yarelys Barrios sold the silver medal he won in Beijing 2008 for $11,600, on e-Bay. The case was announced after the International Olympic Committee reported that the athlete tested positive for the use of the doping substance acetazolamide, a diuretic and prohibited masking agent, and he was unable return the prize.

The cases of the boxers Roniel Iglesias, Carlos Banteux and Sixto Soria, the Greco-Roman wrestling athlete Juan Luis Marén, the shooter Leuris Pupo, the long-jumper Iván Pedroso and the baseball player Miguel Caldés are different: their medals appeared as part of the auction lots of RR Auction with few explanations about their provenance.

In January, as part of the Olympic Memorabilia lot, the gold medal that boxer Roniel Iglesias won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was sold. For the prize, which has the legend “Boxing, male welterweight (63-69 kg)” inscribed on the edge, RR Auction obtained $83,188; it is not known if the Cuban received any of this money.

In January, as part of the Olympic Memorabilia lot, the gold medal that boxer Roniel Iglesias won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was sold

In that same auction, Carlos Banteux’ silver medal, won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 69-kilogram division, sold for $25,000.

In 2021, an American auction house sold for $71,335 the gold medals that Iván Pedroso won in hurdles in Sydney 2000, and those of the shooter Leuris Pupo, for $73,205.

On that same day, the silver medals of Cuban wrestlers were sold, that of Yasmany Lugo, which he won in Rio 2016 for $25,000 and that of Juan Luis Marén, which he won in Sydney 2000 for $10,000.

*Translator’s note: Lucha can be translated as “fight” or “struggle,” as in the daily struggle to get by.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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in the alley, there, we’re going to look,” was heard in several voices. “Perhaps near the ice cream factory,” says another about where they should search.

For her part, the young man’s sister also released a video thanking the neighbors of Mayarí: “Thanks to the Mayari people, many people have gone into the street. More than a hundred people are helping us look for him.”

The young woman, who recorded the video “outside the police station” then pressed the officers to get dogs and do their job to find him. “I don’t see the police doing anything, I don’t see a breakthrough, I don’t see an answer,” she said with pain.

“It can’t be that the people are doing the job of the police,” the woman stressed. “They have come to support us, looking in the rivers and everywhere”

“It can’t be that the people are doing the job of the police,” the woman stressed. “They have come to support us, looking in the rivers and everywhere. I’m calling the Minint [Ministry of the Interior], the firefighters. What are they waiting for? For him to show up dead? We are wasting time.”

Pentón also reported that the police had arrested a suspect and published a series of messages, sent through Facebook Messenger, which the person in custody exchanged with García on the day of his disappearance to coordinate the informal transaction. The young man wanted to buy $4,000 to, among other things, celebrate his nephew’s birthday.

The suspect urged García to meet him at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, in an area known as Arroyo Hondo, a community belonging to the popular council of Chavaleta in the municipality of Mayarí.

Cases of missing persons are becoming more frequent in Cuba. Social networks have become a loudspeaker for families to report the absence of elderly people who, senile, walk away from their homes; women who, after going out, do not return home and people who left on their motorcycle or with large amounts of money and never return.

In 2022, the case of the murder of Santiago Morgado in Sancti Spíritus shook national public opinion. The teacher was killed with a stick and a stone to steal his vehicle. The attackers also used two pieces of agricultural machinery to submerge the teacher’s body in a well that was 10 feet deep. Subsequently, they sold the motorcycle for 200,000 pesos.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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During the interview, the head of Transport highlighted the importance of the arrival of these vehicles, which will mostly be destined for emergency hospital services

During the interview, the head of Transport highlighted the importance of the arrival of these vehicles, which will mostly be destined for emergency hospital services, “at a time when the (Health) service is really depressed.” Rodríguez Dávila also pointed out that the vehicles are the first installment of a program that promises more lots.

For his part, Abel González Palmero, director of basic transport services at the Ministry of Public Health, acknowledged that the ambulances received “do not cover the needs of the provinces,” but softened the comment explaining that this is “a step forward” for the country.

The company in charge of managing the imports, as well as maintaining second-hand vehicles before the new ones are put into service, is MCV Comercial, a joint entity between the Ministry of Transport and Mercedes-Benz.

The manager of the company in Cuba, Ayman Makran, explained to the official channel that MCV will be in charge of checking the vehicles before incorporating them into the national fleet. “If any tire is worn, you have to change it; if any battery is old, you have to change it. We also need to incorporate more ambulances into the fleet, since it is aged,” the businessman said.

Established in 1995, MCV Comercial has been one of the arms of the regime to acquire vehicles abroad. In addition to the Mercedes-Benz brand, which is part of the joint venture, the company also imports the German cars Fuso; the Chinese Foton; Randon, Moura and Stemac from Brazil; Himoinsa and Lucas Diesel from Spain; and ZF and Voith, from Mercedes-Benz.

In addition, MCV has introduced equipment of the German brand MTU in Cuba, used in electricity generation and in industrial, maritime, rail, mining, construction and agriculture systems.

The company also has numerous Mercedes-Benz dealers on the Island, being the only one authorized to sell this brand, and some thirty workshops to repair the vehicles.

In its virtual store there are supplies available for the repair of the body, paints and tools

In its virtual store there are supplies available for the repair of the body, paints and tools. However, the products can hardly be purchased by Cubans, since they are charged in US dollars and at stratospheric prices.

It is not the first time this year that the Government has acquired ambulances. Last September, the official press announced a donation of four of these vehicles from Italy. However, the number of vehicles never seems to be enough to meet the demand of the health institutions, as the authorities of the sector themselves have admitted.

This December, vehicles were imported from Miami through the company Maravana Cargo, founded by the Cuban-American Alejandro Martínez with a license from the U.S. Treasury Department for the shipment of packages, appliances and other goods, without suffering sanctions.

The price for importing cars to the Island is determined by the regime itself, and so far it ranges between $20,000 and $56,000, depending on the model, year of manufacture and other variables. Much of this value remains in the hands of the Government, while Maravana retains an average of $8,000 per exported vehicle, which covers transport costs, insurance and the procedures.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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According to the rescue coordinator, the young man’s body was identified thanks to the papers he brought with him

According to the rescue coordinator, the young man’s body was identified thanks to the papers he brought with him. “The authorities are in charge of contacting the family, but I don’t know if contact has been made.”

Díaz Albert left behind a wife, a one-year-old daughter, his parents and his grandmother in Cuba. Pentón, who works for América TeVé, mentioned that the options for the family are the possibility of a humanitarian visa “so that some of them can come to the funeral and say goodbye.” However, “this procedure is carried out through local congressmen; for example, his parents or his wife could come.”

The other option, Pentón said, is to “cremate the body and send the ashes to Cuba,” a situation that the family is considering.

The rescue coordinator, Francisco Ponce, said that after recovering the body of the Cuban migrant, the authorities found another person dead on the banks of the Rio Grande at the junction of Tamaulipas Avenue and the Republic of Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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After being scared in the hospital, where they finally told me that it was not leptospirosis that I had, I decided to ’harvest’ the rats  

The truth, she explains, is that “these diseases, such as leptospirosis, dengue or cholera arise from the poor hygiene of Cuban cities, where garbage piles up in any corner and rots there for days.” This, she adds, happens not only in Havana, but in any part of the country where “the same unhealthy situation exists.”

“After being scared in the hospital, where they finally told me that I didn’t have leptospirosis, I decided to ’harvest’ the rats that got into my house on the street or in the neighboring courtyards,” says the woman. “The first day I bought the traps, seven little rats were trapped. They had my yard full of tunnels to go from one house to another.”

“It’s just that with the level of dirt in this country, it’s no wonder. Rats must be partying. Our building is surrounded by four huge garbage dumps that are about to shake hands and close the circle,” she continues. “There are side streets where Communal Services sometimes take weeks to collect the garbage, and in the meantime, the plagues of cockroaches and rodents begin to infest the houses. The sellers of traps and poisons are going to get rich,” she says.

Yamilé has another concern, which is that for months she has not seen anyone selling poison or traps. “Before there were some old men who sold syringes with liquids to kill rats or balls of poison. Now you have to buy everything from [the classifieds website] Revolico. For example, a set of three strips of rubberized cardboard to treat rodents costs more than 2,000 pesos. Almost no one can afford this, because they need the money to eat,” she explains.

According to the habanera, by simply having adequate hygiene the Cuban neighborhoods could get rid of the plague of rats, but this is not possible either, since the mountains of garbage are added to the lack of cleaning products. “Even domestic animals end up sick,” she says.

“Most end up dying, because if there is no medicine for people, imagine for animals”  

“A couple of months ago, my neighbor’s dog contracted leptospirosis, and in the veterinary clinic itself a worker told her that cases of this disease have increased a lot lately among pets. Most end up dying because, if there is no medicine for people, imagine for animals,” Yamilé says. The vaccine against leptospirosis in dogs is barely found in the country’s veterinary offices, and its price in the informal market is high, so many pet owners rule out immunizing them.

Far from the cities, in the fields and food warehouses, the plague of rats is also a pressing problem. This was recognized by the authorities of Guantánamo, who revealed that many of the cases of leptospirosis in the province were contracted while carrying out “agricultural work on moist land highly infested with rodents” that already carry the disease and transmit it through urine or other secretions.

“The lack of rat poison, the breeding of animals in urban communities without hygienic conditions and the non-use of means of protection for those permanently exposed” are other causes of the high rate of infection, Venceremos said.

Unfortunately, “the deficit of antileptospirotic vaccines” and the “low perception of the population in the face of risk conditions and the appearance of symptoms” make it impossible for the Health and Epidemiology system to treat in time or prevent the increase in cases, the health authorities acknowledged.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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him to develop his game and be seen by the headhunters who are responsible for recruiting young players for the Major Leagues from their own schools.

One figure gives the measure of the disaster facing the country: of the young people who represented Cuba in the U-15 World Cup, held in Mexico in 2022, only three players remain on the Island: Yordan Rodríguez, Yaidel Ruíz and Maikol Rodríguez.

Romero lists those who have left: Alejandro Cruz, Alex Santiago, Pedro Danguillecourt, Jaider Suárez, Dulieski Ferrán, Ernest Machado, Yosniel Menéndez, Roberto Peña, Segian Pérez, Alejandro Prieto, Danel Reyes, Ronald Terrero, Jonathan Valle, Yunior Villavicencio, Cristian Zamora and Mailon Batista.

“Those numbers show the state of despair of young players and their families,” the communicator stressed. “The Cuban State has not been able to provide a future for its citizens. Therefore, the response to this prolonged failure of the system has been the exodus,” he added.

The attempts of the Cuban Baseball Federation to retain young athletes have failed. In September, it organized the first international tryout with talent scouts at the Latin American Stadium in Havana. Representatives of Japan, South Korea, Dominican Republic and Ecuador observed 80 players, but there was little interest in them.

Although it has not acknowledge it, the Federation wants the talent scouts of professional leagues in Latin America – mainly from Mexico – and Asia to recruit their baseball players. In return, they take a percentage of the agreement if it is finalized.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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situation is prolonged. “Unpaid research fellows” are also affected by the rule, a situation in which many Cubans find themselves. There are also a multitude of Chinese researchers hired during their postgraduate studies affected by this standard.

Governor Ron DeSantis has approved several rules that affect higher education during 2023. Among them, this rule has the objective of “combating those who try to infiltrate the American university system from countries of concern,” although there may be “exemptions” that must be examined on a case-by-case basis to move forward with hiring.

Gil, who fears that the measures will decapitalize the university, specifies in his email that the university is not the “final approval body” of the candidates, something that falls to the Board of Governors of the state, whose members are appointed by DeSantis as are other FIU positions in turn. “The process for each candidate will take several months, and we cannot guarantee any employment or position for individuals from countries of interest,” he adds.

“The directors of postgraduate programs and deans will receive instructions on what to communicate in relation to this process to newly admitted graduate students and/or others potentially interested in obtaining a postgraduate assistant. Human Resources and Academic Affairs will communicate to the deans and staff of Human Resources the impact for those employees who were currently in an incorporation process,” he says.

The media of the Sunshine State have not provided further clarification since they had access to FIU, which has been more restrained than the University of Florida (UF), in Gainesville, about the consequences of this measure.

More than 300 professors from the University of Florida have protested against a rule that, in their opinion, prevents them from recruiting the best students for the sole reason of their nationality, according to Science magazine.

Teachers made public a letter stating that this law “could negatively influence the long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF”

Teachers made a public letter stating that this law “could negatively influence the long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF.”

“Restricting or even preventing the hiring of postgraduate, postdoctoral assistants and visiting professors from these countries would have a devastating impact on our graduate programs and research activities; in addition, it could negatively influence the long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF,” they explain.

Although the United States Department of State was already investigating foreigners before granting them study or investigation visas, Florida’s state rule requires an allegedly more conscientious process.

The law was approved this summer along with another regulation that restricts the purchase of housing by foreigners from the same countries in areas close to critical infrastructures, such as airports, ports or power plants.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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