Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Assembly of Filmmakers Challenges Censorship in Cuba

One of the debates of the Assembly of Filmmakers of Cuba. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2023 — After perpetrating numerous acts of censorship against the works of several filmmakers at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Culture topped it all off last June. The broadcast on Cuban Television of an unauthorized version of the documentary La Habana de Fito (Fito’s Havana), directed by Juan Pin Vilar, unleashed a swell of protests in the guild, which ended with the formation of the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC).

The signing, by more than 600 filmmakers, of a letter condemning the actions of the authorities caused the regime to agree to meet “peacefully” with the filmmakers.

However, if on the side of the creators there were renowned figures such as the director Fernándo Pérez, the ministry could not be left behind. Alpidio Alonso and Fernando Rojas, minister and deputy minister of Culture, respectively, in addition to the first deputy minister Inés María Chapman and the head of the ideological department of the Communist Party, Rogelio Polanco, escorted Ramón Samada, then president of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), to the meeting with the filmmakers.

From the duel between bureaucrats and artists, unfortunately, not many solutions to the claims of the guild were born. On the contrary, the meeting only recalled the tension in the atmosphere and the intensity with which Samada demanded that the conversation not be recorded. Miguel Coyula, one of the directors present, turned a deaf ear and recorded, in audio and video, several of the official’s warnings: “No one was forbidden anything continue reading

here. Let’s not challenge ourselves.”

Ignoring the suspicion and official warnings, the filmmakers continued to meet, asking for the rehabilitation of the censored works and the emigrated filmmakers, consolidating their internal organization and demanding transparency.

When the Ministry of Culture finally dismissed Samada because he couldn’t “enlist” the filmmakers, they also protested. “Cuban cinema does not belong to a ministry or an institution. [The institutions] have to put themselves at the service of the artists and not the other way around,” they claimed.

Gradually, the public interventions of the ACC were diminishing while its ranks decreased. Several of the filmmakers who ended up forming the board of directors of the Assembly now live outside the Island. What seemed to be an advance of the world of culture against power was left in timid reproaches that, once again, stumbled against the wall of silence of the authorities.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Mythical Cuban Orchestra Los Van Van Presents the Album ‘Modo Van Van,’ Its First in 3 Years

The Los Van Van orchestra during a performance in Mexico City in May 2023. (14ymedio)

EFE (via 14ymedio), 23 December 2023 — This Friday in Havana the mythical and multi-award-winning Cuban orchestra Los Van Van presented its most recent album, Modo Van Van, its first album in three years, dedicated to its recently deceased bassist Juan Carlos Formell. This is the fourth album released by the orchestra – which in 2023 celebrated 54 years since its foundation. Los Van Van’s previous album was released in 2020 with the title Mi songo, a journey through the five decades of the orchestra.

Speaking at a press conference, Samuel Formell, director of the group and son of Juan Formell, the group’s founder, said that the work, with nine songs written and recorded by Juan Carlos Formell before his death in May, “was made for dancing, to enjoy, and is a gift for the world.” “(In all our songs) he will always be present,” said the current director, percussionist, arranger and composer of the group.

This is the fourth album released by the orchestra since the death of Juan Formell in 2014

The band, founded by composer and guitarist Juan Formell (1942-2014), is, despite the passage of time, the preference of several generations of Cuban dancers, who follow the musical proposals of a group nicknamed El tren de la música cubana. This year, Los Van Van did a tour of cities in Spain, Germany, the United States and Japan. continue reading

The band also confirmed its participation in the 40th edition of the National Salsa Day of Puerto Rico, to be celebrated on March 17.

Los Van Van has an extensive recording history that brings together more than 40 albums, many of them nominated and awarded, such as the Latin Grammy for the best salsa music album received in 2000 for its title Llegó Van Van.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five Dead in an Accident With a Cupet Vehicle in the Cuban Province of Matanzas

According to the official press, the van lost control trying to dodge, unsuccessfully, a third passenger transport vehicle. (TV Yumurí)

14ymedio, Havana, December 23, 2023 — At least five people died and another 20 were injured after the collision between a bus and a van of the state-owned Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET) on a road in the municipality of Limonar, in Matanzas province According to the official press, the van lost control trying to dodge, unsuccessfully, a third passenger transport vehicle.

The accident occurred on a curve between Limonar and another town, Caoba, and was witnessed by several residents in the area. The Girón newspaper reported, in its most recent article on the situation, that 13 of the 20 injured are under treatment at the Faustino Pérez de Matanzas hospital. Two of them, according to health personnel, present “danger to life”; another four suffer from “injuries that require immediate attention” – fractures and bruises – and another 7 have minor injuries.

The accident included a 10-year-old, injured and reported in serious condition. According to the directors of the Provincial Pediatric Hospital of Matanzas, the child is “on a ventilator, and a CT scan was performed to continue reading

continue treatment.”

Three of the five deceased died at the scene of the event, Lieutenant Colonel Eddys Estevez Rodríguez informed the official press

Three of the five deceased died at the scene of the event, Lieutenant Colonel Eddys Estevez Rodríguez, head of Matanzas Traffic, told the official press. The other three patients died in the hospital.

Cuba recorded a total of 6,965 traffic accidents between January and October of this year, an increase of 12.8% compared to those that occurred in the same period of 2022 (6,175), according to official data.

Among the main causes of the accidents are speeding, distractions and lack of respect for traffic rules, according to the head of the specialized traffic body of the General Directorate of the Police, Colonel Roberto Rodríguez.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Six Cuban Medalists Are Among the 77 Athletes Recorded as Leaving Cuba This Year

The grass hockey players Yunia Milanés, Jennifer Martínez, Yakira Guillén, Lismary González, Helec Carta and Geidy Morales stayed in Chile after the Pan-American Games. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2023 — Six medalists were part of the group of 77 athletes in international events who decided to break with Cuban sports in 2023. On the list, published by Cubalite, is Yoenlis Hernández Feliciano, double world champion in boxing in the 165-pound category. There is also the judoka Arnaes Odelín, winner in the 125-pound category at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador.

In addition Hangelen Llaanes, another gold medalist in the Salvadoran event, left the team’s training in Paris in September before traveling to Serbia. The escape of the habanera, who last year was distinguished as one of the most outstanding athletes in the discipline, left Cuba without the possibility of a medal in the 150-pound category in the Pan-Americans.

Ellemay Santa Miranda, with university studies in Physical Culture and Sports Sciences, stayed in Canada. (Facebook/Ellemay Santi Miranda)

Another of the blows that the regime received was the escape, in June, of the discus thrower Denia Caballero. The athlete broke relations with the Island after winning the silver medal at the Meeting Diputación de Castellón (Spain), with a throw of 207 feet. Journalist Francys Romero indicated that, since the beginning of this year, the Cuban Athletics Federation has “hindered” the athlete’s negotiations with Portugal.

In June, the bronze medalist at the Central American and Caribbean Games (Barranquilla 2018) and at the Pan American Games (Lima 2019), Arisleidy Márquez, escaped along with Yudisaday Rodríguez, Melisa Arias and Geidy Maceo. The athletes, handball representatives, left the training in France. continue reading

In addition, Yoao Illas Puentes, Pan-American bronze medalist in the 1,300-feet hurdles, took advantage of his stay in Chile last November to desert. The native of Bahía Honda, in the province of Pinar del Río, in April of this same year won the gold medal in the V ALBA Games (Venezuela) in the 4×1,300-feet test in mixed relay alongside Roxana Gómez, Lisneidy Veitía and Yoandys Lescay.

Hangelen Llanes was included by coach Filiberto Delgado in the team of 11 athletes who carried out their training in France in September. (Video/Jit capture)

In Chile, grass hockey players Yunia Milanés, Jennifer Martínez, Yakira Guillén, Lismary González, Helec Carta and Geidy Morales also fled. These athletes, according to journalist Francys Romero, “left the training … after completing the game for fifth place against Uruguay (3-0)” in the Pan-Americans. They were joined by handball representative Lidier Vergara.

In the same event, the blind swimmer Yunerki Ortega left the Pan-Americana Villa where the athletes were staying. “Passers-by helped him take a taxi to a service center near the National Stadium,” said T13 news in Chile.

The regime accepted in October that the desertions of athletes and coaches have affected Cuban sports, as recognized by the general director of High Performance of the National Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), José Antonio Miranda, speaking on State TV’s Round Table program.

The blind swimmer Yunerki Ortega left the Pan-American Village in Chile last November. (Jit)

Between 2022 and September of this year, 191 athletes broke their relationship with the sports authorities of the Island, the official said. As usual, according to the Cuban authorities, the main cause of the desertions is the American “blockade,” to which Miranda added the “complex economic scenario” that the country is going through.

The figures on the escapes of Cuban athletes are devastating. In January, the official weekly Trabajadores counted the abandonment of 862 athletes in a decade, of whom 635 were baseball players. By adding the recent data offered by INDER, there are now 1,053 athletes who have left the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Las Tunas, an ‘Ungovernable’ Cuban Province Due to Corruption, Inflation and the Economic Debacle

Jaime Chiang, governor of the province, reported to Parliament this Friday. (Periódico 26)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2023 — The governor of Las Tunas reported to Parliament this Friday that 2023 has been one of the most disastrous years for the province in economic, health and social matters. With a contrite face and a thick report in his hand, Jaime Chiang translated into numbers the alarming infant mortality rate, state corruption, inflation and crime.

But not everything has been the fault of his administration, the politician warned, but also of the “situation of ungovernability and disobedience in the population” caused by the “enemies of the Revolution,” also responsible for the blockade and the “energy contingency,” he insisted. Hence, Las Tunas will lack 1,481 million pesos to fulfill its total net sales plan in the first half of the year, which remained at 5,289 million.

There are 34 entities responsible, the report specifies, due to “lack of demand, rigor and responsibility on the part of some cadres.” Among the recurring problems are the “deficient management of collections, “the “chain of non-payments” and the “insufficient economic and financial administration.”

Las Tunas, in short, spent 185 million pesos more than the state budget allowed, about 3,511 million

Food insufficiency, whose production was neglected by the provincial government, was especially serious for raw sugar, rum for export, corn and beef. Chiang complained that all these products had to be guaranteed by the continue reading

province under “order of the State,” and they couldn’t be. The production of another 99 “articles” also failed, almost all linked to the food industry and many to construction.

Las Tunas, in short, spent 185 million pesos more than the state budget allowed, about 3,511 million. Once again, Chiang was able to point out the specific culprits of the spending: the municipalities of Las Tunas, Puerto Padre, Manatí, Jesús Menéndez and Amancio. Forty-eight “disciplinary measures” were also applied, including three dismissals and multiple fines and warnings.

But it is in Public Health where the outlook is most worrying. The province’s infant mortality rate in 2023 was 7.83 per 1,000 live births, which represents an increase over the previous year, when a rate of 6.96 per 1,000 children was recorded. The cause of death in 73% of the cases was low birth weight.

As for health and education, Chiang was more vague and said that he hoped that next year 85 percent of teaching activities would have a “good” level, although for that a lot of “improvement” is needed.

Transport, another of the sectors in crisis, met only 37% of its plan. Of the more than 13 million “passengers to be transported” in the province during 2022, only 4.92 million were moved. The situation did not change in the first half of 2023, even with the modest target of 6 million: they only transported 2,495 million, not only because of the shortage of fuel but also “because of the lack of batteries and tires.” The domino effect was felt in the distribution of the basic family basket, especially in those areas of the province where people have to go by rail or boat.

But Las Tunas has won the title this year for being “the driest province in the country.” About 16 communities, which total 9,640 inhabitants according to the official report, are still without water, and when they receive it, it’s only thanks to the Communal Services watertrucks. Chiang did not say if the provincial government will take measures, next year, to resolve the situation once and for all.

About 16 communities, which total 9,640 inhabitants according to the official report, are still without water, and when they receive it, it’s only thanks to the Communal Services water trucks

More than 20,300 homes in the province are in poor condition, 10 percent of the province’s constructions, the report continues. In the 41 vulnerable neighborhoods registered, 829 families live in a situation that the State considers precarious. Here, once again, the provincial government apologizes but accuses the pandemic and the “insufficient supply of materials” available. “The main causes of non-compliance with the plan were the lack of cement, steel, finishing elements, sand and other dry materials, flooring and wood,” he added.

The one success in Las Tunas – as in the whole island – is in the “confrontation of crime,” which has proven to be a gold mine for the state coffers. About 8,488 “control actions” to collect overdue fines and detect financial irregularities contributed to raising 15,531 million pesos. But at this point Chiang could not claim victory either: “Despite the increase in all the indices of confrontation and imposition of fines, the directives have not been effective.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Barely 50 Percent of Public Transport Operates in Santiago de Cuba

Articulated buses cover the most popular routes in the city. (Sierra Maestra)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2023 — Only half of the public transport vehicles operate in Santiago de Cuba, mainly because of lack of fuel, according to the official newspaper Sierra Maestra, as reported by Yariannis Carrión, a specialist of the Provincial Transport Company.

The situation, however, is not recent. Last June, the same newspaper reported that only half of the vehicles were providing service due to a lack of spare parts, resources and fuel. The authorities, for their part, only succeed in putting pressure on state companies to use their own buses for their workers to transport passengers.

The article also explains that in December only five buses of the main routes are in operation – half of those available in the province – and of the Diana buses, of Chinese manufacture and assembled in Cuba, barely 18 out of a total of 36 are operational.

The local government also asked the inspectors – previously known as “yellows” and now called “blues” – to contribute to flagging down cars to pick up riders

The local government also asked the inspectors – previously known as “yellows” and now called “blues” – to contribute to flagging down the cars of state companies to collaborate in the transport of people. However, the authorities have pointed out that the drivers, on many occasions, ignore the signal to stop or lie about their final destination. continue reading

“All companies, whether Transport or not, have rented vehicles, and it’s expected that by 2024 this figure will increase and the fuel situation will improve,” Carrión added, although he did not offer any explanation about how much the costs of this type of transport have risen.

Traditionally in Santiago de Cuba, motorcycles have been a palliative to the critical situation of urban transport. However, the cost of spare parts and gasoline on the black market have raised the price of tickets to 100 pesos in short sections. For slightly longer distances, such as the 3.7 miles that separate Ferreiro Park from the town of El Caney, the price is around 300 pesos, always up to the driver.

On the other hand, the well-known pisicorres (old cars adapted to transport passengers), have prices established at 20 pesos, but the drivers try to circumvent the limit, increasing the rate to 50 pesos if there are no inspectors in sight.

This September, the local newspaper Escambray acknowledged that both rural and interurban routes were paralyzed in Sancti Spíritus

In other provinces the situation is similar. This September, the local newspaper Escambray acknowledged that both rural and interurban routes were paralyzed in Sancti Spíritus, and that there were hardly any buses in the provincial capital.

There have also been readjustments in Holguín. Speaking to the official newspaper Ahora!, Wilmer García Ramírez, director of the Transport Company in the province, said that the 21 routes that exist in the city remain operational, “but with fewer cars,” which reduces the frequency during the day.

Last February, the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, announced on State TV’s Round Table program that the Island was facing one of the worst moments of public transport in recent years.

Rodríguez Dávila explained that the Government does not have foreign currency to repair the means of transport: “It takes between 40 and 45 million dollars to maintain passenger transport services, not counting the money needed for new investments, and those figures cannot be guaranteed.”

In addition, the official admitted that to the difficulties in obtaining gasoline and oil is added the ruinous state of the roads throughout the country, which contributes to the rapid deterioration of the vehicles.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cases of Theft and Slaughter of Livestock in Cuba Have Increased by 360 Percent in Two Years

The theft and slaughter of livestock has caused the number of animals to decrease in an accelerated way. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 December 2023 — It was expected that, among the results analyzed by Parliament, those of the agricultural sector would be the most regrettable. But expectations were, once again, exceeded, in particular when the collapse of livestock was known due to theft and slaughter, almost twice as much as last year and 360% higher than in 2021.

In 2022, the consequences of this practice already left very worrying figures. Throughout the Island, there were 82,445 cases of theft and slaughter, which meant 22 million fewer pounds of meat. Compared to the 33,690 head of cattle lost in 2021, the figure was already 2.5 times higher (145% more). But in a rapid acceleration, in 2023 the loss amounted to more than 155,000 animals, to which are added an indeterminate number of those who die and those not born due to “deterioration of the food base and the delay in the incorporation of the female into reproduction.”

The State, which owns almost 80% of the land, barely provides 22% of rice, 16% of food and 8% of fruits. Private individuals contribute, with less than 40% of the land, more than 70% of food, corn and beans, 40% of rice (more than the State and cooperatives) and 80% of the fruits

The report presented yesterday by Ramón Aguilar Betancourt, president of the Agri-Food Commission, did not skimp on harsh words and described the deterioration as “accelerated,” with a number of animals that “has been decreasing for years, and all the indicators present alarming results.” The official stressed that the animals spend too much time without enough food and water, and frequent irregularities are repeated: undeclared births and continue reading

unregistered reports of sex and category, among others.

To top it all off, the other animal protein is also in sharp decline. Pig production is limited and with “very high prices,” while poultry is scarce, including eggs that don’t hatch and chicks that don’t grow. When the chicks do survive they must be killed, because of “the lack of food for them,” the report says.

With such data, it is not surprising that the state livestock group has one of the worst results, along with the Agricultural, Agroforestry, Gelma and Acopio. They lead the losses of the agri-food system, which has negative results of more than 2,385 million pesos.

In agriculture, as expected, there was no room for hope either. The president of the commission was very clear: “The necessary transformations that could have an effect on the food for our people and on the economic development of the country have not been achieved.” Of course, he exempted the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government from any responsibility by pointing out that the bad results happened “despite” his recommendations and actions. However, he did not hesitate to ask the highest officials to take on a task that is too much for the department.

The official stressed that the animals spend too much time without enough food and water, and frequent irregularities are repeated: undeclared births and unregistered reports of sex and category, among others

“An important part of the problems affecting the Cuban agricultural sector exceed the scope of the capacities and powers of the Ministry of Agriculture, requiring more comprehensive attention from the Government of the Republic,” says the report, which suggests that more time should be devoted to a sustainable development strategy rather than to such concrete measures as the search for raw materials.

The outlook is discouraging, with only two of the 14 products considered essential meeting with the projections. Corn and vegetables escape, and paradoxically, the bean improves compared to last year, despite the fact that the figures and prices show its scarcity.

The document presented to the deputies makes it clear that “it is necessary to look for financial alternatives that allow access to basic inputs for grain production technologies, where investments have been made that are currently underutilized, with deterioration due to lack of exploitation.” And, as Aguilar Betancourt acknowledged, some of the worst practical problems of the Cuban countryside date back to the 90s, he said, referring to the obsolescence of the machinery and the lack of inputs, although not to the absence of policies aimed at carrying out a new direction.

An important part of the problems affecting the Cuban agricultural sector exceed the scope of the capacities and powers of the Ministry of Agriculture

It was stated, for example, that “in recent years investments in the agricultural sector do not exceed 5%” and it is surprising that this is not pointed out as one of the causes of the gigantic crisis of the sector and a serious incongruity with the message that the priority is food security, compared to investments of more than 30% in the hotel sector.

The comments that were made regarding coffee, described as a “cultivation of great relevance for the country” for being exported and, at the same time, replacing imports for domestic consumption – which is mixed 50% with peas, in that case – make it clear that the perspective is never to assume mistakes. “Despite the investments made to recover the areas and improve the technological processes in the industry, it is not possible to achieve the projected results. During the years 2012-2022, more than 15,000 acres were planted, but technological indisciplines, the effects of climate change and the limitations of inputs have affected agricultural yields, which on average reach 0.54 tons per acre,” they point out.

Exports, despite everything, were not so bad. Forecasts were met by 75% in 2022, and in the first half of the year they reached 92%, which is not catastrophic for the percentages that the authorities usually manage. Other disastrous data correspond to the workforce. In 39 cooperatives there is no president, and in 92 an economic representative is missing. The report confirms that the costs associated with the workforce are high and, in addition, the workforce is decreasing, not to mention those who do not carry out their activities “within the framework of legality.”

Other disastrous data correspond to the workforce. In 39 cooperatives there is no president, and in 92 an economic representative is missing

The document also speaks of an oversizing of state and business structures, as well as a growing number of cooperatives with problems. However, it does not mention, as Cuban economist Pedro Monreal points out, the private sector, “the component,” he explains, “of a significant part of Cuba’s food security.”

In the professor’s opinion, “agricultural policy must put aside the cooperative direction and focus on what it should: the national private sector.” The data show that private individuals contribute, with a percentage of land use of less than 40%, more than 70% of food, corn and beans, 40% of rice (more than the State and cooperatives) and 80% of the fruits. Meanwhile, the State, which owns almost 80% of the land, barely provides 22% of rice, 16% of food and 8% of fruits.

“All that narrative of ‘liberating productive forces’ should start by officially supporting a modern private agriculture that replaces the scheme of small commercial production of ’natural people’ with a diverse institutional model,” says the economist.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Why Should I Kill Myself Studying?’ Is the New Motto of Young Cubans

High school students in Havana look for their grades on a bulletin board. (Juventud Rebelde)

14ymedio, Havana, December 19, 2023 — Of the 2,175 students from Camagüey who promised to take the university entrance exams, 907 attended; of them, only 508 passed the Spanish, Mathematics and History syllabus. The situation of the province, which was described in detail this Monday by the official press, is just a sample of the educational debacle of the Island, where the slogan of the students has become – according to Adelante – “Why should I kill myself studying?”

The article is accompanied by several graphs that illustrate the gravity of the panorama. In the province, the worst result corresponds to the main municipality, with only 37% passed, and the best to Sierra de Cristal, where 100% passed. Not even the Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences – in the past an “elite” school – was up to the task: it passed a little more than 72%.

Another graph shows the drop in those passing since 2017, when more than 80% were able to pass the exams, to the current 59% held by the province in the 2022-2023 academic year.

The relaxation of the mechanisms of entry into higher education, the possibility of entering the university even after failing the exam and the immigration stampede that the country is going through – in which the first to leave are the young people – has given a mortal blow to a system that already had multiple deficiencies. continue reading

The entrance exams have lost their function as a “filter,” reports the newspaper, to become a mere “computer” of the promotion ladder

Adelante licks the wounds of the Ministry of Education and attributes the demotivation of the students to the lag of school years after the coronavirus pandemic. The readjustment claimed numerous victims, not only in primary and secondary education, but also in the university itself, which has not yet managed to return to the pace that was maintained before 2019.

Resolution 119 of 2021 tried to mitigate the swell of disapproved by reducing the consequences of failing the exam: since then, even if the student strikes out, he can access a career, although “those who pass have priority.” The entrance exams lost their function as a “filter,” laments the newspaper, to become a mere “computer” of the promotion ladder. The law, he adds, “encourages making things easy and lack of effort.”

The emigration of school-aged young people is mentioned in the text only in passing, since Adelante prefers to emphasize the “insufficient vocational training work” and the discouragement towards studies that prevails, also, in families.

Among the arguments about the need to toughen the mechanisms of entry into the university, according to the newspaper, is the fact that the careers that keep their aptitude tests as a filter – such as Journalism and International Relations – have the best records of each generation.

“The revolutionary principle of free and equitable access for all to universities continues to stand, and we defend it, but it cannot be used as a pretext to graduate more professionals”

“The revolutionary principle of free and equitable access for all to universities continues to stand, and we defend it, but it cannot be used as a pretext to graduate more professionals,” the article says. The alarms about the educational situation had already risen, in the national press, at the end of November, when Cubadebate published a report about admission days to the university, which were ones “of anxiety, despair and effort.”

The article commented with concern about “the true figures” of the exams: of 21,942 applicants at the national level; only 11,063 passed, a drop of 8.9% compared to the previous year. Most of the failures were in Mathematics (52%), while in Spanish (92%) and History (76%), the numbers were acceptable.

The students, it continues, had complained that the Mathematics exam was “too hard,” while the training during that course had not been the best. The officials interviewed by Cubadebate were shielded by the fact that “for more than ten years” similar questionnaires have been used, although the grades were not so disastrous.

Like Adelante, Cubadebate also avoided talking about the high number of students who emigrate before finishing high school. The abandonment, not infrequently, is calculated and kills two birds with one stone: to avoid the tension of the tests and escape, just in time, from the list of recruits for compulsory military service.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Eight Blocks in Line, the Price To Get End-of-Year Gasoline in Cuba

The line of cars extends for three blocks from San Rafael at Infanta and turns on Zanja to stretch for five more blocks. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2023 — The faces of the drivers who were waiting this Thursday morning in the line in front of the San Rafael and Infanta gas station left no room for doubt: the feeling of helplessness was widespread. “Eight blocks long!” complained the drivers who were waiting in the hope of buying a few gallons of gasoline in a line without end.

In the second block of the line, the driver of a Lada belonging to the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde empties the remains of fuel left in the tank with a hose and deposits it in an old jam or tomato puree can. “That’s to be able to fill the tank in the service center and buy as much as possible,” explains the owner of the almendrón (shared taxi), pointing out the “maneuver” of his neighbor in the line.

“We all do the same thing because there is no fuel anywhere, and these opportunities must be taken advantage of,” he explains. Others simply bring their vehicles to guarantee the purchase of fuel and resell it later if they can’t use it.

Two cars behind, a young driver tries to calm his partner through the phone. “Take it easy, the line is very long and this is going to take a while,” he counsels. continue reading

The more they advance in the line, which starts at San Rafael and Infanta, follows three blocks and turns at Zanja to stretch for five more blocks, the more sullen the drivers seem. This end of the year, they say, getting fuel has become particularly difficult.

“I’ve never seen such a thing. Having a car I have faced very long lines, sometimes in the early hours and for several hours, but this is the longest I’ve been in,” says another driver who sees several dozen vehicles ahead of him. “I’m here because I have no choice. I need gas, but at this point I don’t know how long it will take to get to the service center or if I will get fuel,” he says. Behind him, several more feet of the line wait on the corner of Zanja and Soledad.

The driver of a Lada from the official newspaper ’Juventud rebelde’ uses a hose to empty the remains of fuel that remain in the tank. (14ymedio)

The scarcity of such an essential resource leaves many in a state of uncertainty. In the capital, where there are more vehicles than anywhere else in the country, the streets have seen traffic decrease in a worrying way in recent months. “There are times of the day when not even a bicycle passes along 23rd Street, which is the vital center of Havana,” says the driver.

One piece of news in particular worries drivers, who take refuge from the unexpected drizzle: the Government is going to raise the price of fuel. This was announced a few days ago in Parliament by the Island authorities, who, in the face of the economic crisis, plan to raise the price of many other products in an attempt to recover the country’s finances.

At the moment, what was discussed in the parliamentary sessions does not reveal the new price, although the leaders clarified that the fuel that is purchased by foreigners will be charged in foreign currency.

To top it off, the drivers add that every habanero knows how to read the signs of the approaching crisis: “The refinery has been shut down for days.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexicans Flee From the Cuban Abdala Vaccine and Line Up for the Pfizer

The Pfizer vaccine sold out on its first day of sale in Mexico. (Facebook/The Economist)

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 21 December 2023 — “Prevention is better than death,” Raúl Noé Dorantes tells 14ymedio. This Wednesday he was one of the 4,500 people who was able to buy Pfizer’s Corminaty vaccine in the Farmacia San Pablo before it was exhausted . “At my age (78), a certified drug is preferable than than being tested, with Abdala or Sputnik, which are the ones that the Government is giving,” for free in hospitals and public health centers.

Cinthia Martínez, 67, went at 9 in the morning to one of the branches of the same pharmacy, located on Universidad Avenue but was told that she had to go to another one, over 10 miles away. “No matter the time or distance, it’s worth getting vaccinated,” she says.

Martínez says that the dose against seasonal influenza was applied in the Health Sector clinic, but she did not accept “the Abdala vaccine because it is not approved” by the World Health Organization. “When they gave me the Russian (Sputnik), I got sick, and I don’t want to go through the same thing.”

Farmacia San Pablo was the only one of the four pharmacies authorized by the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks that offered the dose of Pfizer against the Omicron XBB 1.5 variant, along with the Spikevax (Monovalent XBB 1.5) from Moderna, which has not yet arrived in Mexico. This Thursday, the franchise indicated that it has 16,000 doses. The pharmacy is now asking those interested in being vaccinated to call the customer service number to find the pharmacy closest to their home. continue reading

Esteban Ordorica arrived at 8:30 in the morning at the Tecamachalco branch. “They had me see the doctor, to whom I explained the doses I had and after filling out an authorization form they gave me the vaccine. It didn’t take even ten minutes to get vaccinated. It’s worth the expense of 848 pesos, and they even gave me a card with the drug’s data.”

Four pharmacies were authorized to sell vaccines against COVID-19 from Pfizer and Moderna. (Facebook/The Economist)

The director of operations of Farmacias del Ahorro, Gabriel Zavala, confirmed to 14ymedio that to the extent that the distributor delivers the vaccine to them, people will be able to buy it in one of 400 branches of the 1,800 that they have in the country. On his website he shared a list of 371 locations where one can buy the COVID-19 vaccine for less than 1,000 Mexican pesos.

Faced with the euphoria about the doses of Pfizer, the Government of Mexico City noted that between December 21, 2022 and December 4, 2023, it has applied 562,991 doses of Abdala and that they already have the Sputnik. The Cuban vaccine, he said in a statement dated December 5, is in more than 200 Health Centers to “immunize vulnerable groups: those over 60 years of age, pregnant women, girls and boys from 5 to 17 years of age and over 18 years of age with comorbidities.”

On his social networks he shared images of the venues where several people are observed, but he omitted to point out that the seasonal influenza vaccine is also being given.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proclaimed last Tuesday that he had fulfilled the responsibility of guaranteeing vaccines against COVID-19 and influenza. “The important thing is that there is a vaccine for the people, for everyone, for the rich and for the poor, and it costs them nothing because in accordance with article 4 of the Constitution, the right to health must be guaranteed. Health is not a privilege; it is a right of the people.”

The Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, Ruy López Ridaura, said that 3.8 million doses applied against the coronavirus have been counted since the start of the campaign last October, which represents 18% of the target contemplated. However, he specified that the campaign against influenza has an advance of 53% of the population, 35 million people, and 19 million vaccines have been administered so far.

Módulo de vacunación para aplicar dosis Abdala y contra la influenza en Aguascalientes. (Facebook/¿Que Pasa Aguascalientes?) — Vaccination site to apply Abdala doses against Covid and a vaccine against influenza in Aguascalientes. (Facebook/¿Que Pasa Aguascalientes?)

The doctor, a deputy of the National Action Party, Éctor Jaime Ramírez, insisted to this newspaper that the vaccines offered by the Government “do not work for the current variants” of the coronavirus. He regretted that López Obrador fails to comply with the obligation to “assure that older adults, people with diabetes, with cancer, have a vaccine that works.”

Jaime Ramírez said that the current Administration has 13 billion pesos earmarked for the Vaccination Program. If “that money is not used, it will go to the Maya Train, the Dos Bocas refinery, the Felipe Ángeles International Airport.” He recalled that last year “it had 14.4 billion pesos for the health sector and only used 20%.” This year, a budget of 13 billion pesos was approved for 2024.

“It is striking that they continue to pay in the dark the Government of Cuba and the Government of Russia to buy vaccines that are useless,” says the legislator opposed to López Obrador. “The same will happen with the Mexican vaccine Patria, a project in which almost 1 billion pesos have been invested and is still just a promise. The money was badly invested, because the vaccine is made based on the initial strain; it will be of no use in the face of the new variants.”

Despite the fact that López Obrador indicated in his fifth government report that only 114,008 Abdala vaccines had been applied out of the 9,000,000 that he bought from the Island, in October he acquired another 3,000,000 doses. The Government of Mexico insisted on continuing to favor its partner Cuba, regardless of the fact that thousands of doses have expired and still continue to be used.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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More Than 600 Residents of Cuba With Spanish Nationality Ask for Financial Aid From Castilla y Leon

Cubans in line in front of the Spanish Consulate in Havana. (14ymedio)

EP (via 14ymedio), Valladolid, Spain, 21 December 2023 — More than 600 Cubans who are nationalized Spanish residents on the Island have received the help of the Junta de Castilla y León, in Spain, for being in a situation of special need, and 226,000 euros have been allocated to them, almost 90% more than in 2022.

The Official Bulletin of Castilla y León has published the Order of the Ministry of the Presidency by which the call for these individual grants is resolved, whose beneficiaries are people registered in a municipality of Castilla y León in the Register of Spanish Residents Abroad (PERE), and who allege a lack of sufficient resources to cover their basic subsistence needs.

The amount of aid depends on the level of income of the different family units and the members that make up these units. All the aid requested has been granted, provided that the conditions set out in the official announcement were met. continue reading

The amount of aid depends on the level of income of the different family units and the members that make up these units

All of the aid has been allocated to Castilian and Leonese citizens or their descendants residing in Cuba. In fact, of the 816 applications received, 812 corresponded to citizens on the Island.

The amount of aid has been 360 euros per application. To assess the data, it must be taken into account that the minimum pension in Cuba stands at 1,528 pesos per month; that is, less than 60 euros, and the minimum wage at 2,100 (80 euros).

The amount of 360 euros is, therefore, the equivalent of the remuneration received by a resident in Cuba who receives the minimum pension for half a year, and the salary of a worker who receives the minimum wage for more than four months.

Of the 627 beneficiaries, 400 are women and 227 are men; 15 are under 35 years old; 164 are between 35 and 65 years old, and 448 are over 65 years old.

The most abundant profile of a person who has received this help responds, therefore, to a woman of Castilian and Leonese origin residing in Cuba, over 65 years of age and with serious survival problems.

As of January 1, 2023, according to data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics, 9,719 Castilians and Leonese registered in the PERE reside in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Sancti Spíritus, the Cuban Capital of the Giant African Snail

In the municipality of Taguasco, the main focus is on the crops of the Agroforestry Company. (Vicente Brito/Escambray)

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Havana, 21 December 2023 — Although the issue has ceased to appear in the official press, the presence of the giant African snail continues to spread through Cuba, and the economic crisis makes it almost impossible to combat it, due to the lack of resources and fuel. In Sancti Spíritus, the plague wreaks havoc on agriculture and homes, according to sources from the Plant Health Research Institute (INISAV).

“Many people have forgotten about this animal, but we receive reports every day,” an INSAV employee in the province, who prefers anonymity, explains to 14ymedio. In Sancti Spíritus, the municipalities most affected by this species, considered one of the hundred most invasive in the world, are Cabaiguán, Taguasco and the provincial capital.

“We received a complaint that they saw the snails in one place, but we can’t do anything because we don’t have the resources. We’re not even going to check the level of infestation because we don’t have the necessary fuel to move within the province,” the worker emphasizes.

“Right now we are focusing on the School of Medicine, in the former Faculty of Nursing, which has a vacant lot between the houses and the buildings. That area is infested with snails,” he explains. “Specimens have even been found in the lime ovens on the outskirts of the city. They are everywhere, and nothing stops them.” continue reading

“We received the complaint that they saw the snails in one place, but we can’t do anything because we don’t have the resources; we’re not even going to check the level of infestation”

The expert sees a relationship between the flooding of the stream that borders the city of Sancti Spíritus and the spread of the plague. “If the water rises, the snails spread everywhere, so what seems like good news for agriculture, that there is water to plant, becomes a headache with this animal in here.”

In the municipality of Taguasco, the main focus is on the crops of the Agroforestry Company. “There they have eaten everything. It makes you want to cry because we are having a bad time with crop productivity, and on top of that this plague arrives to devour them.”

In Cabaiguán, on the other hand, it is the neighbors who suffer the ravages of the giant African snail in their own courtyards. “You can’t leave anything outside because you get up and some of them have already been eaten,” laments Cipriano, 81 years old and a resident of the town. “We had everything very beautiful, with flowers and everything, but since that bug arrived we don’t even have hibiscus.”

“We used to throw salt on them, but we no longer can afford the expense,” the farmer admits. “Now, if you come across one, you try to crush it or chop it with a machete, but for each one you see there are many more. We can’t be awake all morning waiting for them to come out.”

“They haven’t reported anything for a long time as if they had disappeared, but we continue to suffer from them,” Cipriano complains. “We don’t see anything on television; we don’t hear anything on the radio, but you just have to leave the house to see them everywhere. Right now they are big enough to carry us.”

“They haven’t reported anything for a long time as if they had disappeared, but we continue to suffer from them”

In 2019, when the presence of the snail was already confirmed in 12 provinces, the Plant Health Research Institute issued guidelines for the population to contribute to the control and elimination of the giant African snail, but the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, the lack of fuel and inflation shifted the focus of interest to other issues of daily life.

Among the measures that INSAV suggested then was the destruction of the snail and its subsequent burial in a hermetically sealed bag. Another option was to burn it safely or immerse it in a 3% solution of salt or lime (three tablespoons 4.2 cups of water) for 24 hours and then bury it. In no case should the snails be thrown alive into rivers, plots, streets or garbage dumps.

The giant African snail can transmit diseases to crops in addition to consuming at least 250 types of plants, many of them planted for economic purposes. It also causes irreparable damage to the ecosystems it colonizes. It has a great ability to adapt to the climate and to all types of terrain. In Cuba it does not have natural predators that can put a stop to its insatiable appetite.

The first information about the arrival of this mollusc on the Island was released by this newspaper in July 2014 after a tour of the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. The text warned that “this species will test the capacity of the national public health system in Cuba to control this type of situation.” That forecast seems to have fallen short.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Those on the ‘List of Terrorists’ Can Face the Death Penalty, Threatens Hacemos Cuba

Humberto López invited Pilar Varona, Deputy Minister of Justice; Marcos Caraballo, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, and Francisco Estrada, director of State Security. (Screen capture)

14ymedio, Havana, December 20, 2023 — “Terrorists and their accomplices seek to colonize our minds,” was one of the many exalted statements of the spokesman for the Humberto López regime during this Tuesday’s broadcast of the program Hacemos Cuba. How do we hunt and execute those “declared enemies of the Revolution“? What legal mechanisms can guarantee the extradition from the United States of “criminals” such as Alexander Otaola and Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat? Can the “list of terrorists” published on December 7 continue to grow?

To answer these questions, López invited three ideal interlocutors to the set: Pilar Varona, Deputy Minister of Justice; Marcos Caraballo, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, and Francisco Estrada, the lieutenant colonel who heads the State Security Investigation Body.

The presenter asked the Deputy Minister of Justice to emphasize the importance of the list, published in the Gaceta Oficial. Varona answered that the text’s appearing in that publication “gives it a legal weight,” he said, which helps to accentuate the rigor. continue reading

The presenter asked the Deputy Minister of Justice to emphasize the importance of the list’s appearing in the ’Gaceta Oficial’

Estrada Portales dusted off the State Security videos about the 1999 explosions in several hotels. There is no problem that more than 20 years have passed since those events, Deputy Prosecutor Caraballo clarified: on Guillermo Novo, Pedro Crispín and José Hernández – three of the names at the top of the list – the weight of the law can fall “at any time.”

Despite validating every name on the list, López decided that many were ancient history and preferred to move forward to 2020, with the cases of Iván Leyva and Jorge Fernández, residents outside the Island accused of carrying out “sabotage of the national energy system.” “Let’s record these names,” stressed the regime’s spokesman; “we have evidence.”

López has no problem quoting himself in previous broadcasts of Hacemos Cuba, showing the televised interrogations he conducted on some “terrorists.” According to the presenter, the confessions of people who were financed by Leyva and Fernández are enough to condemn them. The images “are still shocking,” he said.

State Security has in its power material to charge numerous people, said the lieutenant colonel, both detained and outside the country.

The presenter recited with emphasis the names of Otaola, Eliécer Ávila, Gutiérrez Boronat, Jorge Ramón Batista Calero and Alain Sánchez, among others, about whom he asked the deputy prosecutor if they incurred the crime of terrorism or if they simply exercised their freedom of expression. “That right is not absolute; it has limits,” Caraballo insisted. “There is no doubt: new technologies can become a scenario for committing terrorist and violent acts.”

As for the influencer Batista Calero, known as Ultrack, López took him as an example of clear terrorist behavior, for his call to “kill the Castro leadership.” The crime, Estrada theorized, is not just in committing the act, but in “the instigation” and “participation” in groups on social networks, “replicating the incitement.” It is a straight path to “receiving financing,” sooner or later.

Are they going to be investigated even though all they have done is communicate?” López asked. The deputy prosecutor’s response was yes

“Are they going to be investigated even though all they have done is communicate?” López asked. The deputy prosecutor’s response was yes. The Constitution provides for a “wide range” of participation in crimes, “even if a concrete result does not occur.”

The phrase of the day was “international criminal assistance,” the series of mechanisms by which Cuba intends to appeal to “guarantee an effective confrontation” against “terrorists.” Several countries “have cooperated with Cuba” to send people of interest that Havana has asked for – the deputy prosecutor did not say who. Interpol “circulated with red notification” to 12 members of the list, said the representative of State Security. Those people are now in Cuba, in the middle of their legal process.

However, even if the international authorities do not listen to Cuba’s demands, the members of the list can always be “judged in absentia.” The deputy prosecutor recalled that among the punishments are life imprisonment and the death sentence. The slogan is to “persecute, repress and punish” those whom the Government considers terrorists, stressed the Deputy Minister of Justice in the last minutes of the program.

He betrayed the star spokesman of the regime, however, with a careless allusion to the “desire and imagination” of State Security when it comes to calling terrorists those who “come up again and again” in the investigations. The lieutenant colonel ignored the slip: “Those names will go on the list,” he warned.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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