Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 31

Havana’s Agricultural Belt is Running Out of Food

During the meeting, Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa limited himself to giving orders. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio, Madrid, 3 November 3, 2023 — The authorities of Alquízar, in Artemisa, admitted what their inhabitants had been complaining about for months: the food sovereignty plan is a failure, and they so informed the vice president, Salvador Valdés Mesa, who attended a meeting where the production problems were enumerated.

Nor could newspaper El Artemiseño could not overlook the debacle of the local economy, and this Friday the headline asked the question that the officials did not want to ask themselves aloud during their meeting: How much is left for municipal and food sovereignty?

During the “sustained exchange,” Valdés Mesa limited himself to giving orders that will hardly be fulfilled in the province: more rice, corn and sunflowers must be planted to produce oil, raise livestock, replace imports, stimulate the farmers and lower prices.

Meanwhile, in the shops of the province a pound of black beans is already close to 550 pesos, even above the price in Havana. In state markets, beans have been missing for more than a year. continue reading

The officials, however, were not intimidated by the data and assure that everything is fine. Marisleydis Domínguez, vice president of the Agricultural Program, proudly announced that food outlets had increased from 16 to 40 in the territory but did not mention what she plans to offer in those premises, when food is barely produced in the fields.

Meanwhile, in the shops of the province a pound of black beans is already close to 550 pesos, even above the price in Havana

The same happened with the mini-industries, where “prices were agreed” — without clarifying whether the population will be able to pay them — but in this case the press itself put an end to the official’s words by saying that “such actions are not yet reflected on the table of the more than 30,000 alquizareños.”

Even so, and with the numbers against him, the governor of the municipality promised that, “for 2024, Alquízar will self-supply with food and vegetables.” How it will do it, in just two months, was not a matter of debate either.

Part of the “agricultural belt” that surrounds Havana, Alquízar has traditionally been a land of cultivation of vegetables and fruits and pig breeding. With its red soil and its flat fertile surface, several of the schools in the countryside that sought to unite teaching and agricultural production were located in the belt for decades. Today, most of those centers are abandoned or converted into improvised homes.

The deep structural crisis of the Island, which has worsened in recent years, has especially hit families who aspire, at least in the current conditions, to be able to pay for the standard products that arrive at the bodega [ration store], since the prices of food in the state and private markets exceed the purchasing capacity of the average salary.

With the beginning of November, residents of several provinces have complained that only sugar and a few pounds of rice have arrived for the libreta [ration book], and the authorities themselves have acknowledged that they cannot guarantee when the rest of the products will arrive.

In the particular case of Alquízar, the situation in which citizens live is even more worrying if one takes into account the wave of violence that plagues the municipality, which has forced neighbors to confine themselves to their homes during the night, for fear of being robbed or assaulted on the street.

The Police recently denied that Alquízar remained in a state of siege and curfew, although several residents insist that curfew is a “recommendation,” while the agents patrol the streets of the town.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Libres X Derecho’ Arrives in Miami, a Documentary for Young People About Cuba’s ’11J’ Mass Protests

Hundreds of Cubans in San Antonio de los Baños went out to protest against the government on 11 July 2021. (Collage)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, November 3, 2023 — The documentary Libres X Derecho [Free by Right], which includes “a brief account” of what has happened since the popular outbreak in Cuba on 11 July 2021 (’11J’), told from the perspective of 14 relatives of the detainees, is presented this Saturday in Miami before its tour through international festivals, according to its screenwriter, journalist and writer María Matienzo speaking to EFE.

Created by the organization Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana (MDJC) [Cuban Youth Roundtable], which emerged in 2014 “with young people and for young people” to “transform today’s reality on the Island,” the documentary narrates in 27 minutes “how the events happened, how they were imprisoned, what they experienced in the prisons, who they were before 11J and, finally, the convictions,” explains Matienzo.

Libres X Derecho is the work of a team led by MDJC psychologist and coordinator Kirenia Yalit Núñez, who, according to the program, will be present at the screening in Miami.

Under the title #Exprésate: Libres por Derecho [Express Yourself: Free by Right], the event will take place at the Ruka Winewood, in the artistic neighborhood of Wynwood, and, in addition to the documentary, will exhibit 19 collages of urban artists who live in Cuba and have been inspired by the film. continue reading

Matienzo describes the script work as “hard.”

“It was hard to see the testimonies of these parents, because both Kirenia and I were founders of Justicia 11J, an organization that has been dedicated since 11J to locating relatives of the detainees, following up with them and providing them with help.”

Having to relive what we lived that year and seeing that those people continue to suffer has been a doubly heartbreaking process, reliving the months when I thought they were going to kick in my door

“Having to relive what we lived that year and seeing that those those people continue to suffer has been a doubly heartbreaking process, reliving the months in which I thought they were going to kick in my door, as they did to many people in those days and to many who gave their testimony,” adds the screenwriter.

The documentary contains images of the 11J demonstrations taken with mobile phones and interviews with relatives of detainees, including those in San Antonio de los Baños, where the protest began.

“Behind so much suffering and pain, joy has to come, it’s our right,” one of the interviewees says in the promotion trailer.

“All this is accompanied by the process of creating graffiti that are scattered throughout the cities of Havana and Villa Clara that try to translate the testimonies,” says the screenwriter.

The documentary was premiered in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 30 in the framework of the sessions of the Universal Periodic Review

The documentary was premiered in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 30 in the framework of the sessions of the Universal Periodic Review, to which Cuba will be submitted on November 15 by the UN.

In addition to the MDJC, the Miami event has been organized by Civil Rights Defenders and Freedom House.

According to the latest count of Prisoners Defenders, at the end of September there were 1,052 political prisoners in Cuba, mostly people convicted as a result of their participation in the protests of 11 July 2021, the largest in the country in decades.

Since that date, Justice 11J has registered 1,862 people detained for political reasons, of which 911 have been tried and, for the most part, convicted.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cancellation of Iberojet Flights to Cuba Is Another Sign of the Tourism Debacle

Iberojet had already canceled its Madrid-Santiago de Cuba route in September. (CC)

14ymedio, Madrid, 3 November 2023 — The Spanish company Iberojet will stop flying to Havana in 2024. As confirmed to 14ymedio by an employee of the company, the airline will have no connection with the Island from next January 15 and does not know when it will resume operations. But it will open two routes to Santa Clara, the same source explained, from Madrid and Lisbon, but “beginning next summer.”

Although the company has not issued any official statement, several travel agencies reported the news on their social networks, saying that January 10 is the last scheduled flight from Barajas airport to Havana’s José Martí airport.

“Attention travelers! Iberojet cancels its operation to Cuba and the last flight will be on January 10. If you have a flight booked with us, we recommend you call to verify your ticket and find the best solution for your trip,” it warned on its Viajes On Time Facebook wall.

The airline already canceled its Madrid-Santiago de Cuba route last September, just a year after inaugurating it, but this measure will take place in the middle of the high season and evidences the debacle of foreign tourism on the Island. continue reading

According to the latest official figures published, only 147,380 international travelers visited Cuba in September. It was the worst data so far this year – even worse than in June, when the figure reached 154,590 – and the worst month of September recorded other than during the pandemic.

Until now, Iberojet has had a weekly flight from Madrid to Havana, on Wednesdays, at a very attractive price, less than 600 euros

Until now, Iberojet has had a weekly flight from Madrid to Havana, on Wednesdays, at a very attractive price, less than 600 euros per person. In addition, it allows passengers to carry two 50-pound suitcases and a 22-pound carry-on free of charge.

Also , the Spanish airline Iberia, which reduced its weekly flights between Madrid and the Island from four to three last September, will continue with that frequency both in the Caribbean high season — from November to May — and next summer.

Last week, the American company Southwest reported that, from June 2024, it will move most of its international destinations from the Fort Lauderdale airport to Orlando, Florida, and the Island will not be among them.

However, the company responded by email to this newspaper saying that it will continue to provide services to Cuba with a daily flight from Tampa International Airport. To get to Tampa, the company offers direct flights twice a day from Fort Lauderdale.

Two other U.S. airlines, Delta and United, announced that they were waiting for authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a temporary exemption from their routes to Cuba. As has JetBlue, both have reduced their flights to the Island since October 29.

In the case of Delta, the company has requested a suspension, until March 30, 2024, of the seven routes it has between Atlanta – where it has its headquarters – and Havana, in addition to a reduction by half of its flights between Miami and Havana, from 14 to seven. The airline alleged that the route is “depressed,” although it hoped that demand could be recovered to resume service.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban’s End of the Year Family Dinners Will Be Made With a Reduced Basic Basket

For November, only three pounds per person of brown sugar have been secured. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2023 — The deficit of milk and the delay in its delivery to the bodegas [ration stores] continue to upset the residents of Ciego de Ávila. The authorities, for their part, acknowledged to the official press that there is little they can do to alleviate the situation, since the Dairy Products Company calculated last July a ’deficit’ of one million gallons of milk, and of the 2,000 provincial gallons that are distributed daily, about 800 come from Sancti Spíritus.

Yulema Yero Pérez de Corcho, director of the entity, explained to the newspaper Invasor that currently the greatest difficulty in the province is in the non-compliance with milk deliveries to the bodegas throughout the year, which has caused the deficit to increase significantly.

If the livestock sector served by independent producers is added, by September the figure already reached 1.2 million gallons.

The milk deficit has led leaders to demand “cattle counts” and hire as many producers as possible. The order, however, was not given until this summer, when the deficit reached several million gallons. With these figures, non-compliances with the bodegas are now foreseen, which can only guarantee the quota for children between one and seven years old, and those destined for Public Health and Education. continue reading

The most affected municipalities, according to Yero, are Baraguá, Venezuela and Bolivia, because due to “technical difficulties,” it is not possible to pasteurize milk, and it must be sent to other locations. Due to the delay in transportation, the industrial processing of dairy does not begin until midday, which translates into endless delays for the product to finally reach the bodegas.

The milk collection would be achieved one day in advance, which would easily allow the development of industrial treatment, and distribution routes would begin to be completed starting at midnight

“In conditions close to the ideal, the [milk] collection would be achieved one day in advance, which would easily allow the development of industrial treatment, and distribution routes would begin to be completed starting at midnight,” explains Invasor.

Regarding the delivery of bread, the problem, the newspaper warns, “is even greater,” since the industry depends on flour imports. The daily quota is delivered on a day-to-day basis, but there are no long-term guarantees that it will continue to be sold as soon as the current shipment runs out. In the worst case, the newspaper acknowledges, the situation of October would be repeated, when the smallest rolls were sold and there were days when it was not even marketed.

About the other products of the basic basket for November, the leaders don’t know when they will be able to count on them either. Only three pounds per person of brown sugar have been secured, and the seven pounds of rice plus one ’missing’ from the previous month’s ration will be delivered in the first half of the month, which will be free because it’s a donation. “There are still no guarantees for the rest of the products,” they say.

“There is also a need to distribute about 19 tons of peas, in the municipalities of Bolivia, Baraguá and Primero de Enero, to a total of 121 bodegas, which will be done in the coming days,” said Dianeidys Cañizares, director of the Commerce Business Group.

On those same dates, the authorities also foresee that the picadillo [ground meat] for children, medical diets and chicken for infants from zero to 13 years old (one pound) and for pregnant women (2.2 pounds) will also be delivered.

The fourth round of donation modules is currently being distributed for more than 13,000 pregnant women, underweight children and vulnerable families, consisting of two cans of sardines, 2.2 pounds of pasta and sugar, and 4.4 pounds of rice and grains. Powdered milk for infants up to six months and jams are also being delivered.

With the aggravated food crisis and the increasing dependence on imported products, the complaints and desperation of citizens to find food at affordable prices have increased exponentially. The irregular assortment of the bodegas to deliver standardized products on time – of the few that the Cuban with an average salary can afford – only increases food insecurity.

The beginning of November, with the shortage of rice, the staple food of any Cuban cuisine, and other essential products, augurs a difficult winter for Cubans, who like to make end of year family dinners, which are increasingly difficult to arrange.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ricardo Cabrisas Travels to Moscow in Search of More Russian Investments for Cuba

The Cuban Deputy Prime Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas (L), and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Chernishenko (R), during their meeting in Moscow. (Sputnik)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2023 — The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas, architect of the rapprochement between the Kremlin and Havana, traveled this Wednesday to Moscow to discuss new agreements to oxygenate the anemic Cuban economy. The plans discussed with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko, include the promise of a stream of investments that, as usual, will flow in only one direction: from Russia to the Island.

According to the Russian agency Sputnik, the meeting included the Kremlin’s business adviser, Boris Titov – who traveled to Havana last October – and officials of the Central Bank of Cuba. Several strategies were discussed to reaffirm bilateral alliances and obtain more investments.

“The priority course for the development of bilateral economic relations should be the creation of favorable conditions for Russian investments in the Cuban economy,” Chernishenko insisted, without clearly revealing what “conditions” he expects the Island to meet in order to be worthy of Kremlin funds. continue reading

Until now, the agreements, some already underway, says Sputnik, cover investments in the energy sector

Until now, the agreements, some already underway, says Sputnik, include investments in the energy sector, with the construction of photovoltaic parks on the Island, the development of fertilizers, and other “infrastructure projects” that they did not specify.

Mention was also made of the implementation of “a full-cycle agro-industrial company for the cultivation and processing of sugar cane.” They do not clarify, however, if it is the Uruguay sugar mill, located in Jatibonico (Sancti Spíritus), which has been under Russian management for at least a year.

In terms of energy, Moscow had also promised to contribute to the creation of new “capacities” in Cuban thermoelectric plants, so it is likely that the agreements involving the sector will continue along that line.

Tourism, another of the lines that Havana insists on improving despite the fact that Russians show little interest in traveling to the Island, has also been the subject of debate by the commission, which assumed as an achievement the visit of about 60,000 tourists from Russia in the first six months of 2023.

The Russian Ministry of Transport announced that it intends to increase the weekly frequencies of flights between the two countries to 10

In order to encourage the flow of travelers, the Russian Ministry of Transport announced that it intends to increase the weekly frequencies of flights between the two countries to 10 by the end of this year.

Although it is not clear what benefits Moscow obtains from Havana in exchange for the investments of the Government and some Russian businessmen, the truth is that both parties strive to demonstrate the good health of their relations and their ideological alignment in the international sphere.

Behind Venezuela and Mexico, Russia continues to be one of the largest suppliers of oil to the island. It has also made numerous donations through international organizations, such as the delivery of 650 tons of oil last September and the “aid” of four million dollars for an international fire center, a few days after the collapse of a multi-family building in Old Havana.

However, Sputnik did not say a single word about the presence of hundreds of Cubans working as mercenaries for the Russian Army in the invasion of Ukraine, allegedly in exchange for obtaining citizenship and several thousand rubles, nor the diplomatic and economic implications between the two States of this controversial issue. If Moscow and Havana have agreed on anything, after hackers leaked images of Cuban soldiers on the battle front, it is to remain silent.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Annual Condemnation of the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba Demonstrates the Ineffectiveness of the UN

Archive photo of vote at the UN General Assembly. (EFE/Justin Lane)

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 2 November 2023 — One more year, and the UN General Assembly has again approved a resolution against the U.S. embargo on Cuba; the Cuban regime calls it a “new victory.”

This time, there were 187 votes in favor and two against: those of the U.S. and Israel. In addition, there was one abstention, that of Ukraine. Last year there were three abstentions and the same negative votes.

The sterile ritual takes place at a time, precisely, when the UN is demonstrating its inability to contribute to peace in the Middle East after the war unleashed by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, who spoke just before the vote in the Assembly, said that the blockade “violates the right to life, health, education and well-being of all Cubans,” and constitutes “an act of war in peacetime.” continue reading

The Assembly holds a specific session every year to request an end to the embargo, imposed in 1962, which prevents Cuba from making transactions in U.S. dollars, marketing with products that pass through the U.S. and have a minimum percentage of 10% of parts produced in the country, as well using the U.S. financial system.

The countries that vote in the Assembly in support of Cuba insist that the embargo is a “unilateral” measure, since it has not been decided by the Security Council, involves interference in other States and ends up punishing, above all, the population of Cuba, before the Government.

Everyone pretends to have forgotten that the embargo was decreed by Washington in response to the confiscations of companies and assets of American citizens by the Revolution

Everyone pretends to have forgotten that the embargo was decreed by Washington in response to the confiscations of companies and assets of American citizens by the Castro Revolution, a matter that is still pending.

The magnitude of the support that the Island receives in these annual votes is manifested in the fact that eight groups from different countries – Latin American, African, Islamic, Group of 77 plus China, among others – have presented this year particular motions to reject the embargo, and some intervene individually.

However, it also highlights the irrelevance of the General Assembly, which has been approving a practically similar resolution for 31 years without its making any dent in American politics.

Rodríguez regretted that Biden’s Administration has not changed one iota the policy of the embargo, which was hardened by his predecessor Donald Trump by including Cuba in its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The Foreign Minister did not say that some of the sanctions established by the current U.S. administration against Cuba have their origin in the repression unleashed by the regime after the massive peaceful protests of 11 July 2021.

For his part, President Miguel Díaz-Canel described the vote in the General Assembly as a “triumph of dignity… a new victory for the Cuban people and their Revolution. The recognition and support of the international community for the heroism and resistance of Cuba. The triumph of the dignity and courage of our people,” Díaz-Canel celebrated on the social network X (Twitter).

Similarly, after the vote, Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. representative, who reiterated to the UN that the embargo aims to “promote democracy and promote human rights and freedoms” on the Island.

“How ridiculous the speech of the imperial representative. Full of lies, slander and hypocrisy. He should be ashamed of the immense majority condemnation of his genocidal, unjust and criminal policy. Our slingshot is David’s,” wrote the Cuban president, using the biblical metaphor of the fight against Goliath, which José Martí and Fidel Castro often repeated.

The text, presented by Cuba since 1992, always receives an overwhelming majority with hardly any votes against, beyond the U.S. and some of its allies.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Month Begins and the Lack of Rice Leaves the Ration Stores Empty in Cuba

The *bodega* [ration store] on Arango Street, in the Havana neighborhood of Luyanó, November 1, 2023. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, November 1, 2023 — November has begun, and in front of the bodega [ration store] on Arango Street, in the neighborhood of Luyanó in Havana, you don’t see the usual crowding at the beginning of the month. There are no shouts, no pushes, no line of improvised stools for the customers, who wait for hours until it is their turn to buy. So far, only the rationed three pounds of sugar per person have arrived, but none of the most anticipated product: the rice.

With long faces and looking bored, the bodega employees don’t seem to enjoy this quiet panorama. Clueless neighbors approach, but most already know that the protagonist of Cuban meals has not yet arrived. “I was told by my mother who lives in Key West [Central Havana],” Lisandro, a father of two children, tells 14ymedio. “We are not the only ones affected.”

This newspaper found that in large areas of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución, Diez de Octubre, Cerro and Centro Habana, the bodegas have also not been supplied with the quota of rice that consumers receive monthly. The absence of rice is not something minor, because it forces families to buy food on the free market, in informal networks or in the newly opened premises managed by the MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized businesses]. In all of them, one pound of the worst-quality rice exceeds 170 pesos, and it rises to 250 in its best version. continue reading

The basic basket in Cuba has been reduced over the years. Of more than 20 subsidized items that were once distributed through the bodegas, there are only a few left, which can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But rice had been the most constant in its arrival, due to the fact that its deficit dramatically decreased access to food in the Island’s homes. This November, the tall thin gentleman will be late to appear on the dishes of those who can only eat from the subsidized basic basket.

Behind closed doors, on Arango de Luyanó Street itself, some casseroles still have the luxury of containing some grains. Others wait for the shout of “the rice has arrived!” Trying to get there early, people throw themselves down the stairs and the bodega is again filled with people, stools and shopping bags.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Government Extends the Obligation To Operate With Bank Accounts to Farmers and Artists

The rule also affects those who have livestock but no land. (Escambray)

14ymedio, Madrid, 2 November 2023 — Food producers will be obliged to have and declare a tax bank account in Cuba through which they must carry out all operations related to their activity, a measure that also affects artists and intellectuals, communicators, usufructuaries [leasers] of state lands, owners of agricultural land and holders of livestock without land.

Any repair, maintenance, purchase of equipment, facilities and services received from other private businesses or cooperatives, in addition to tax payments to State entities for the purchase of goods or provision of services, must be channeled through the account, which can be in national currency or freely convertible currency.

The new measure was published this Thursday in the Official Gazette and provides for a period of 180 days from November 2 to open and communicate the account to the authorities; otherwise, non-compliances will be sanctioned according to current tax legislation.

The text notes that, to date, some self-employed and “other forms of non-state management” were already obliged to operate with bank checking accounts. The rule was adopted at the end of 2018, and affected people dedicated to food services in bars, cafes and restaurants, those who rented homes or rooms, accommodation repair and, in Havana, collective transport. continue reading

The rest of the workers were exempt, but the efforts of the authorities with banking reform has forced this expansion. “In order to favor the ordering of financial movements between the different actors of the economy and strengthen fiscal control, it is necessary to extend the obligation to open and operate a tax bank account to all taxpayers who are natural persons,” explains the resolution from the Ministry of Finance and Prices.

This Thursday’s Gazette includes another rule, in this case from the Ministry of Internal Commerce, which is in line with what the regime calls “supporting the banking reform process.” The resolution imposes as a requirement for the registration of a business in the Central Commercial Registry that it have “payment facilities for the national gateways or point of sale terminals for the marketing of goods and provision of services to the consumer.”

Registration in this registry is essential to be able to trade on the Island and, from now on, includes this new requirement; the only exemptions are those who are in “zones of silence certified by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba.” One of the criticisms of the requirement to effectively implement electronic commerce is not only the total absence of connectivity of large areas of the Island, but the slowness of the service, its intermittency and the constant interruptions that prevent the completion of operations on many occasions in a satisfactory way, leading to conflicts.

In addition, as planned, the resolution affects those who appeared in the Registry before the regulations. They are required to make electronic payment channels available to customers if they have not already done so. The deadline is 60 days from the publication of the rule, which would reduce the time initially indicated. When the package of measures was announced at the beginning of August, it warned that the adaptation should be completed in six months, leaving the beginning of February as the deadline. However, with the new regulations, the last day would be January 2.

“After this period, the activity they carry out will be suspended,” the text says.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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‘There’s No Diesel Anywhere’ Cuban Taxi Drivers Complain

Several habaneros try to get into an ’almendrón’ (shared taxi) next to the Yara cinema. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, November 2, 2023 — The fight for a seat in an almendrón* (shared taxi) has become more evident in recent days. The drivers go right by the eternal lines at the gas stations because all they have is gasoline. “There’s no place for us to buy, there’s no diesel* anywhere,” a taxi driver tells 14ymedio.

The fuel situation, far from what President Miguel Díaz-Canel claimed last Monday and as this newspaper verified, has not been resolved. After the fat times in September, with the shipment from Venezuela of 86,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, fuel oil, diesel and gasoline, October has brought lean times. According to Reuters data, Caracas sent its political ally barely 32,000 bpd in October, although it’s true that the cargo of two oil tankers (one with 300,000 barrels of crude oil and the other with 320,000 barrels of fuel oil), which arrived in Cuba at the beginning of October, was counted in the September data.

Export data are bad globally for the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), which sent just 700,000 bpd of crude oil and its derivatives, compared to 812,000 bpd last month. As far as derivatives and other petrochemicals are concerned, the decline is also strong. From the 324,000 metric tons in September, it dropped to 228,500 in October. continue reading

Export data are bad globally for the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), which sent just 700,000 bpd of crude oil and its derivatives, compared to 812,000 bpd in October

In this case, the fall is mainly due to the lack of dilutent and power outages. Just three days ago, in addition, the refining capacity of the Paraguaná plant collapsed. The plant had processed 955,000 bpd, but after a fire and the lack of raw material, it achieved only 94,000 barrels this Monday, 10% of the usual.

Of the four units in this refinery, one of them suffered a fire on Saturday in which there was no personal injury, but it drastically reduced production. It usually produces 30,000 bpd, according to Reuters sources, who maintained that work was already being done “in unsafe conditions and with diesel leaks before the fire.” In addition, low crude oil inventories forced one of the units of another neighboring refinery, Amuay, to stop.

The situation has led to a bad month for the accounts of PDVSA, which returned to sending most of the oil produced to China. The amount has not been specified, but it did exceed what was sent to the United States, which received 178,290 bpd, much more than the previous months. Thanks to the license obtained by Chevron from the Department of State, Venezuela sent 147,000 bpd in August and 145,000 bpd in September. Now, the amount has increased at a time when political tension rises again between the two countries.

Last month, Washington broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gold sectors, authorizing the country to export crude oil, fuel and gas freely for six months. The suspension of sanctions was subject to the Barbados agreements, signed between Venezuela’s chavismo and its opposition with the United States, the European Union and Canada as guarantors, to try to promote clean presidential elections.

“The Treasury Department is prepared to modify or revoke authorizations at any time, in case Maduro’s representatives do not comply with their commitments,” said the Department in charge of the measure.

Now, when Venezuela is trying to boycott the election of Maria Corina Machado as an opposition candidate claiming that she was disqualified, the United States affirms that it will take measures “if Maduro and his representatives do not meet the commitments within the framework of the electoral road map.” Meanwhile, for his part, Diosdado Cabello, number two of the Venezuelan regime, maintains that it is Washington who does not fulfill its part, despite the fact that there was no pact between the two countries.

In the midst of this turbulence, and with Venezuela buying fuel outside its borders, Cuba continues to receive free of charge, with ups and downs, the amounts agreed between Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro 23 years ago, estimated at an average of at least 55,000 bpd.

In addition, Havana continues to receive significant amounts from its renewed suppliers, Russia and, above all, Mexico, which has already become its second supplier, although Pemex is currently studying how to trade with the Island so as not to incur sanctions after sending 3,510,000 barrels of fuel, with a value of 258.8 million dollars since March 2023, calling it a “donation.”

*Translator’s note: Almendron borrows the Spanish word for ‘almond’ to refer to old American cars, and is derived from their ‘almond-shape,’ and has also come to mean taxi, as the cars commonly provide that service. Originally built to run on gasoline, over the years the almendrones have been converted to diesel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Who Controls the Cuban Economy?

Several people wait their turn outside a bakery in Havana. (EFE / Yander Zamora)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 31 October 2023 — It seems like a lie, but now we are entering a new phase. For communist leaders, it is already recognized that even though the blockade continues to be the main threat to the economy, “there are many potentialities in different places that are not yet exploited.” That’s what President Díaz-Canel said at the meeting of the council of ministers led by Prime MinisterMarrero and echoed by the entire communist state press.

So Díaz-Canel now says that “the main call at this time has to be to produce more with our own effort, with our own talent and with our own abilities and potentialities. There is no other way out, because there are no magical measures that can change, from one moment to the next in the short term, the current situation that the country is experiencing.”

What a big lie. Of course there are recipes, and not magical but practical ones, based on the economic rationality alien to communist postulates. The Vietnamese are a good example of this. Something is occurring to the leader of Fidel Castro’s regime. At any moment, he will figure it out, if he hasn’t already. continue reading

According to Díaz-Canel, “in different places there are resources that are not yet taken advantage of, essential to promote popular participation in all processes; therefore, this also starts from having a dialogue, a permanent conversation with our population.” Anything except recognizing that market and private property rights are what’s needed.

And Cubans anxiously wonder, where will those resources come from? And the answer is clear: “From the savings, energy efficiency and adjustment in economic and social activity that were adopted to face the specific situation we had with the fuel deficit.” In other words, by tightening the regime’s belt that permanently suffocates any glimpse of economic activity. Instead of giving flexibility, opening spaces and releasing supply and demand, the communist solution is not to remove the leash but to tighten it even more.

And for this, the most dissimilar and controversial scenarios are proposed, like bakeries finding alternatives to ovens (wood and charcoal), or using transport more efficiently (animal power), both intended to conserve energy. These images envision a terrible return to the worst of the Special Period and the subsequent suffering of the people.

Díaz-Canel justifies those measures, because “they showed a result, because we managed to pass that stage, I would say with fewer effects than those that could exist for the severity that was presented to us in the last weeks of September.” You have to see how little he contemplates the reality that surrounds him. He has no idea.

Energy efficiency and savings become the axis of the communist leader’s speech, who at the same time announced his intention to “rectify everything that has not gone well, listening a lot to what the people propose and constantly attending to the population’s opinions,” and also to “the proposals being made by economists, experts, academics on the possible solutions to face the current situation.” Let’s see if it’s true.

Díaz-Canel believes that “we must demand that institutions fulfill their state functions in all areas, as well as give priority to working in an organized way and breaking the criterion that things are resolved from above, because by solving the problems of the municipality and the community, the problems of the province and the country are solved.”

And this, of course, leads him to the main role in the economy that he hopes to confer on the municipalities, pointing out that “they must work according to the implementation of national policies, provincial policies and municipal policies that are approved and agreed, but with the support, at the level that corresponds to them, of national institutions, provincial institutions and the institutions themselves and the actors that participate at the municipal level.” Someone must have considered that this is not an easy thing to accomplish with all these parts.

The leader also raised the need to “stimulate the production of goods and the supply of services, to produce food, because “that is the first thing that must happen according to the population, with better prices.” Here he returned to dissimilar proposals, such as “you have to produce food with agroecology techniques, knowing that efficiency is not going to be the same, but you have to produce.” That is, knowing that the efficiency will be zero, he insists on hitting the insurmountable wall.

Díaz-Canel said that the main source of food for the population “cannot be what the country imports centrally to distribute with a certain equity or social justice, which sometimes falls into egalitarianism.” Does this mean that non-central import will be used? When? Under what conditions? So that no one can expect anything new, attention is paid again to what happens at the local level, from the local balance sheets to everything else that matters to the country, a commitment to an inefficient technical scale that prevents taking advantage of increasing yields and productivity.

Díaz-Canel, referring to the entrepreneurial sector, believes that “it must be able to take advantage of all the potential that companies have, which is not always taken into account,” but he says this without the slightest knowledge of the forces that govern an economy. Specifically, he says that with the skilled labor they have, when the fuel deficit or other causes prevent them from carrying out their main purpose, they must “look for how other productions and services can be carried out to the population that we are not doing today.” By magic, the communist leader wants companies to do the impossible.

He also talked about promoting the creation of MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises] in the state sector. There were a few, and we can see what happened. The more MSMEs believe that they are linked to political power, the greater the shadow of doubt about their belonging and/or relationship with the leadership: a bad business that can jeopardize the entire process of the MSMEs.

Díaz-Canel summarizes all this by saying, “We need businessmen to bet everything on the country, to think like a country, and of course that also carries a demand from the management structures of all organizations.” Nary a word about the institutions and the communist model that govern the economic destinies of the country. Everything is good.

He not only referred to reducing the inequalities in our society but also to the need to stop the exodus of the labor force, especially of the qualified workers. Let there be no confusion: the exodus for Díaz-Canel is the one that occurs from the state sector to the non-state sector.

He insisted on giving priority to health and education and improving the functioning of the social programs that exist in the country. And in an instant of clarity, he spoke of “correcting the measures that have been implemented as part of the Ordering Task* and have shown that they must be modified.”

The rest was last-minute vagueness repeating the same thing about the potentialities one doesn’t want to lose by “working in a different way.” At least he forgot about the blockade. Who knows why.

And of course, Minister Gil is still in office. And for this reason, he took care of presenting the situation of the Cuban economy in September to his colleagues in the council of ministers, glimpsing a gradual improvement in tourism. This was his own data, because the reality is very different, with the hospitality industry at barely 17% occupancy and many private businesses closed due to lack of demand. Playing with the data, when the ONEI [National Office of Statistics and Information] website is under permanent updating, is not very sensible. In the end, a liar can be caught very easily.

According to the minister’s figures, as of September, 1.8 million visitors had arrived in the country, just 75.5% of what was expected, and almost 55% of the figure for the same period in 2019. That is, the level of demand is almost half for that accounting year, when all destinations in the Caribbean have already recovered their pre-pandemic figures.

The even more serious Cuban case has to take into account that since those dates, they haven’t stopped building hotels and rooms, so with less demand and more supply, the occupancy levels, which have to do with profitability in the hotel business, remain at rock bottom. It is not useful that the minister has stated that exports of tourist services grew by some 46% if that increase is really due to prices and not to real activity.

And of course, since there is not much to hold onto, the rest of the minister’s presentation before his colleagues was devastating. Specifically, he said what everyone knows, that the national production of agricultural food has experienced a decrease in deliveries in practically all products, specifically rice, beef, fresh milk and eggs, without specifying figures and alluding only to problems that according to Gil are related to the deficit of inputs and fuel, low productivity, performance and organization.

And after saying all this, what should a responsible minister do? What should be done in a democratic and free country? Of course, never applaud or show solidarity with terrible management, but question and ask for explanations. Does anyone believe that this happened in the Council of Ministers or in the Cuban press? Not even in your dreams.

Without recognizing his own responsibility, the minister continued to ask for “greater self-management in the municipalities to support the population’s demand for food,” a suicidal strategy that this blog has warned about on numerous occasions, which also must be linked to the Economy Plan,” undoubtedly the main failure of the Cuban communist economy.

And since there was not much more to say about the situation of the economy, the council of ministers approved a new portfolio of foreign investment opportunities in the country, the umpteenth, which now aims to channel 729 projects, of which 139 were presented by local governments. This covers a lot, puts on the pressure, and for reasons exposed in this blog and in other posts, the portfolio of opportunities does not ensure foreign investment. Experience confirms it.

As much as the regime wants foreign investors to put their money into projects “to supply the domestic market with basic necessities and supplies,” the truth is that foreign capital is not on the same wavelength. The mismatch of criteria means that investment levels do not meet the needs of sectors such as food production, industry, mining, transport and logistics, among others. There is no point in opening the economy to foreign capital if the communist regime, first, does not put it at the service of Cubans.

*Translator’s note: 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.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Prisoners Defenders Sees ‘Political Motivations’ in the Trial of Cuban Alina Barbara Lopez

Cuban professor Alina Bárbara López Hernández has received the support of more than a dozen organizations. (Facebook)

EFE/14ymedio, Madrid, 31 October 2023 — The organization Prisoners Defenders denounced on Tuesday that the trial against Cuban intellectual Alina Bárbara López, accused of an alleged crime of disobedience, has “political motivations,” and said that “the final objective” of the trial is to “repress the exercise of rights and freedoms.”

The trial will begin on November 16, a day after Cuba undergoes the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council.

In a statement, the NGO – based in Madrid – considered López a “victim of conscience” and described the written accusation of the Cuban Prosecutor’s Office, to which it had access, as “false.”

The intellectual, who defines herself as a socialist, was arrested last June after refusing to attend a police appointment because, she said, she did not have a legal obligation

The intellectual, who defines herself as a socialist, was arrested last June after refusing to attend a police appointment because, she said, she did not have the legal obligation as there was no open judicial process against her.

Last year, López had already managed to suspend a similar appointment after filing a formal complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office. continue reading

“(López) remained in custody for more than 12 hours without criminal justification. She was accused of alleged disobedience for not attending the previous day’s summons and resisting detention, a false accusation that many people witnessed, and was placed under a precautionary measure of home detention under threats by order of the Prosecutor’s Office without any judicial protection,” denounced Prisoners Defenders.

Subsequently, the crime of resistance was dismissed. However, it involves precautionary measures such as house arrest and a ban on movements, according to the NGO.

In the order of the Prosecutor’s Office she is pointed out for being “linked to the enemy press project La Joven Cuba, where she served as a writer and coordinator. Her association was marked from its beginning by a hypercritical language from the harmful perspective towards government management, denigrating and discrediting the achievements of the Revolution.”

Lopez maintained that her country “is at the final moment of a model of political, social and economic conception” and said that she did not believe it was “capable of reform under these conditions

In an interview with EFE in April, López maintained that her country “is at the final moment of a model of political, social and economic conception” and said that she did not believe it was “capable of reform under these conditions.”

Prisoners Defenders censored the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, for meeting with López during his visit to the Island at the end of May without making their meeting public.

The denunciation joins that of more than a dozen organizations that have already sued the Cuban authorities to annul the judicial process against the teacher.

The left-wing dissident organization CubaxCuba also called for the closure of the process and an end to the harassment of the activist. “Unfortunately, the intellectual is not the only one on the Island who suffers the violation of her rights. Also for political reasons, hundreds of citizens serve long sentences; others suffer discrimination, harassment and other forms of intimidation and punishment, while dozens have had to go into exile fleeing various forms of state violence,” the organization said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico Insists on Vaccinating the Population With the Cuban Abdala Vaccine and Buys Almost 3 Million More Doses

Between Friday and Saturday, about 3 million Cuban vaccines against Covid arrived in Mexico. (X/@SSalud_mx)

14ymedio, Mexico, 29 October 2023 — The Government of Mexico insists on buying Abdala vaccines from Cuba despite the fact that, of the 9 million doses it acquired in September last year, it had only applied 114,008 as of June 30, and despite the the population’s growing rejection of the Cuban formula and of local authorities for sending expired vaccines to the states. Between Friday and Saturday, two flights with 2,851,000 doses arrived at Military Air Base No. 1, in Santa Lucía, in the State of Mexico.

According to a brief statement from the Ministry of Health, these vaccines will be used as part of the national winter campaign, which began on October 16 and will end on March 31, 2024. In the vaccination scheme against Covid, the Russian drug Sputnik, which has not yet arrived in Mexico, will also be used.

The use of the Cuban vaccine has been questioned by specialists because it is not endorsed by the World Health Organization and was formulated against the original variant that emerged four years ago. “The virus over this time has been changing structurally,” warned the 2020 National Health Award and infectious disease specialist Francisco Moreno Sánchez, in statements to journalist Carmen Aristegui.

The specialist also reiterated that both Abdala and Sputnik “are not useful; their effectiveness is highly questioned”

“The vaccines that are currently applied are against the variant that is circulating now,” the specialist added and regretted that the Government of Mexico promotes the use of a formula that perhaps “is useless and continue reading

generates false security for the population.” He also reiterated that both Abdala and Sputnik “are not useful; their effectiveness is highly questioned.”

Health Personnel in Mexico apply a vaccine against influenza to a person in Mexico City. (X/@CDMX_IAPP)

The shipment was delivered to the Biological and Reactive Laboratories of Mexico (Birmex), which will be responsible for the distribution of the vaccine to all states.

After the newspapers AM and El Universal denounced the use of expired Cuban formulas in the state of Morelos and the cities of Fresnillo and Jerez (Zacatecas), the authorities of Guanajuato refused to apply Abdala to the population.

In the state of Quintana Roo, the College of Physicians joined the rejection against the Cuban vaccine. The president of the organization, Irma Archundia Rivero, said that according to a research program on epidemiological risks of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, there has been a wide circulation of the Covid-19 virus at the community level, so the authorities must check whether the biologicals they will be applying are the correct ones to stop these new strains.

However, the State Health Services promote the application of the Cuban vaccine, of which 50,000 doses arrived on October 19 at that institution, with priority for risk groups, children, the elderly and people with comorbidities.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana Will Control the Sale of Diapers by Municipalities To Curb Resellers

The purchase of diapers and wet wipes will be noted in the libreta [ration book] according to the municipality where they are available. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 31 October 2023 — Beginning this Wednesday, the sale of diapers and wet wipes in the Caribbean and Cimex Stores will be done in a controlled manner in the municipalities of Havana. The authorities seek to limit the maneuvering of the resellers, who have exponentially increased the price of the product on the black market by multiplying its cost by five.

To purchase these products it will be necessary to present the pregnancy card from week 26, or the child’s card up to 2 years, 11 months and 29 days, as announced on Monday by Julio A. Martínez Roque, objectives coordinator of the Government of Havana.

The measure implies the provincial decentralization of both products, so from now on it will be the Municipal Boards of Directors who decide, depending on availability, how often the two packs of diapers and one of wet wipes set by the regulations can be sold.

The acquisition will be noted in the libreta of the municipality where it is purchased or resides, ’as appropriate,’ explains the document, disseminated on the social networks

The acquisition will be noted in the libreta of the municipality where it is purchased or resides, “as appropriate,” explains the document, disseminated on the social networks of the local administration. The circular also empowers the Municipal Councils “to evaluate and decide the sale” to those who suffer from “chronic and acute diseases, which require such products.” continue reading

“Are they going to supply all the butts in Havana with wet wipes? Because in the peripheral municipalities it is impossible,” says a user in response to the post by the government of Plaza de la Revolución that denounces the bad practices of the workers of the stores themselves. “They are the ones who call the resellers, and it is easier for them to run out of the goods quickly, so as not to have to work. If that is the decision, I imagine it’s for all the stores, at least one per neighborhood in all of Havana, which I doubt.”

A few days ago, the official press denounced how in Havana, simultaneously, there was an enormous lack of diapers in the stores that take payment in national money, and the diapers were being sold on the black market at a price five times their cost. “Today I could say that there are people who have more packages of wet wipes in their homes than there are in the warehouses,” the note said.

The text was written from the personal experience of a Cuban journalist of Cuba Sí, Cynthia Hernández Mayol, mother of a baby, who tells how less than a month ago she had to “sacrifice a whole day to stand in line” in a store in El Vedado where the women who were waiting “began to sneak in front of each other and the store manager decided not to sell any more that day.”

The journalist said that the person in charge of the store herself scolded the women for coming “several times in the same week” and that, right there, she saw a young woman resell six packages of size 1.

By that day, the order that enters into force tomorrow, which is dated October 23 and has aroused a flood of comments among the habaneros who complain about the shortages that exist in most municipalities with the exception of the most central ones, had already been signed. “In Habana del Este, more specifically in Alamar and even in Conseja de Altura, those products have had to last a very long time due to their absence,” complains one user.

Also, the residents in those areas feel harmed, because people come from all over the city to buy, leaving the local residents with nothing. “Plaza is the only municipality where there are stores that sell to everyone, and those affected are the people who live there. Starting with Galerías Paseo and La Infancia, mainly,” protests another commentator.

I hope that this measure does away once and for all with the resellers. And we need them to stock a lot in all the stores in each municipality, because otherwise it all backfires

“I hope that this measure does away, once and for all, with the resellers. And we need them to stock a lot in all the stores in each municipality, because otherwise it all backfires,” says another.

The shortage of disposable diapers has become chronic in Cuba in recent times. In 2019, the State began producing them in the Mariel Special Development Zone through a contract with a Vietnamese company. The plant planned to produce 120 million diapers per year, but in mid-2022 there was a growing shortage, which forced the sale to be restricted. The director of Cimex held Thai Binh Global Investment Corporation responsible for the situation.

Yusleydi Lezcano Palmero said at the time that imports had been reduced to “improve Mariel’s supplier,” but the demand was excessive and there were problems acquiring the raw material. “Sometimes we have had potholes, because due to an internal logistical issue of the Vietnamese company, the wet wipes arrive minutes or hours later or do not arrive on the agreed day,” he said. Almost 95%, he admitted at the time, were destined for Havana, which is the province where their sale is now going to be controlled.

Meanwhile, on digital sites that sell products for emigrants to buy for their families on the Island, a person can buy, without limits, both disposable diapers and wet wipes. On these portals, customers who pay with foreign currency cards have the possibility to choose between different brands, packages of different quantities and products designed for babies with allergies or other more conventional ones.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mijain Lopez Beats Up a Cuban Who Asked for ‘Freedom’ for Cuba in the Pan American Games

The young man said he was going to file a complaint against Mijaín López. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, 25 October 2023 — The instability caused by the escapes of players continues to affect Cuban baseball, which on Tuesday suffered a defeat against Brazil (2-4), leaving it out of the medals at the Pan American Games Santiago de Chile 2023. However, the worst grade, shameful for the delegation, was given to the four-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, Mijaín López, in the stands of the Bicentenario Cerrillos stadium where the game took place. The five-time world gold medalist couldn’t bear that a compatriot would fly a flag with the slogan “Freedom for Cuba.”

At the end of the game, López, also a deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power, pounced on the young man. He rebuked him, and in that back and forth of words, he threw a blow. The athlete was accompanied by other members of the Island delegation, who also pushed the Cuban emigrant identified as Damián.

“I only had the flag in my hands,” the young man said in a video that was shared by Omar De La Paz-Molina on his Facebook account. “I didn’t yell anything at them or disrespect them,” he stressed. Their anger was because I was demonstrating for “freedom.” continue reading

⚠️⚠️#Ahora. Altercado en los panamericanos… varios cubanos asistieron al estadio para gritar “libertad” y al finalizar el medallista olímpico y diputado del régimen Mijaín López agrede a uno de los cubanos que se encontraba con una bandera en las gradas.
Info. Marcel Valdés pic.twitter.com/99L6hNTwcu

— Mag Jorge Castro🇨🇺 (@mjorgec1994) October 25, 2023

#Ahora! [Breaking news!] Altercation in the Pan-Americans… several Cubans were in the stadium to shout “freedom,” and at the end, the Olympic medalist and deputy of the regime, Mijaín López, assaulted one of them. The police had to intervene to remove Damián from an angry group of Cubans. Despite this, he said he was going to file a complaint against the four-time Olympic champion. “I’m going to prove injuries. I walk alone and you know that they are rats.” Info. Marcel Valdés — Mag Jorge Castro (@Mjorgec1994) October 25, 2023.

Mijaín López decided not to compete in the Pan American Games, recognizing that his preparation was not as successful as he would have liked, and “I had to lose a lot of weight.” The 41-year-old athlete said he will focus on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in which he still aspires to win a fifth medal in the 287-lbs. category.

His presence in the stadium is due to the fact that López, like Javier Sotomayor, is part of a group of Cuban athletes invited to the Pan American Games. In July, in addition, the four-time Olympic champion in wrestling was chosen as one of the 11 new members of Team Panam Sport.

Panam Sports selected him because, in addition to being “recognized” for his determination, skill and performances, he also represents “the Olympic values both inside and outside the sports venues.”

“Being an ambassador of Team Panam Sports is something very big and important to me. Any athlete from the Americas would be proud to belong to this Team, so I am very happy that they have given me that opportunity as an athlete from Cuba,” López said at the time.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Rowing Team Wins Gold in Chile, Despite Multiple ‘Desertions’

The rowing team anticipated competition at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023. (Jit)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 October 2023 — With a delegation diminished by desertions and with few renowned athletes, the Cuban authorities did not dare to predict more than 18 gold medals for these Pan American Games in Chile. Much less was it imagined that, a few days after the start of the sporting event, the athletes would earn three gold medals in rowing, weightlifting and rapid-fire with an air gun, categories in which they had little hope. “We didn’t have this crown in the plans,” acknowledged the president and national rowing commissioner, Ángel Luis Fernández.

The director told the official media Jit that they had little chance in the face of “the strength of Uruguayans, Americans and Chileans.” However, the members of the eight-man, long-oar sculling boat — Roberto Paz, Luis León, Henry Heredia, Francisco Romero, Andrey Barnet, Leduar Suárez, Carlos Ajete, Reidy Cardona and Juan C. González — went through the 1,640 feet in 1:22.72 minutes; through the 3,281 in 2:47.68, through the 4,921 in 4:15.34 and through the finish line in 5:37.89 in the Laguna Grande San Pedro de la Paz.

The same team in Lima 2019 won 10 medals: two gold, three silver and five bronze. However, the escapes of several of its members – Maykol Julio Álvarez (in April), Yoelvis Javier Hernández and Osvaldo Pérez – made the authorities doubt their good performance in this edition of the games. continue reading

Álvarez and Hernández deserted after winning the silver medal in the four-pair category (4X) and rejecting the ticket to Chile that their achievement had granted them. In November 2022, rowers Jorge Patterson and Yudisleidys Rodríguez fled after one of their training sessions on the Virgilio Uribe Olympic track, in Mexico City.

Before the escapes of Patterson and Rodríguez, came Ernier Tamayo, Alexei Carballosa and Nayala Torres on November 17, 2022, while preparing in Mexico City for the Central American and Caribbean Championship that began six days later in El Salvador.

This Sunday, Leuris Pupo also won gold in rapid-fire. The veteran lost the bronze medal in the last Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, because the regulations state that one country cannot win the first three places in case a challenge is presented, and the bronze medal will go to fourth place – although it was returned by the Mexican athlete Fidencio González. The silver and bronze medals went to the Venezuelan Douglas and the American Leverett, with scores of 26 and 23, respectively.

On Saturday, Arley Calderón (weightlifting), whom coaches gave few chances to even get a bronze, won gold in the 135-lbs. category at the Chimkowe gym. The silver and bronze medals were won by the Mexican Víctor Guemez and the Peruvian Luis David Bardales.

Other Cuban medalists of this edition of the Pan American Games are Arlenis Sierra, with the silver obtained in the time trial of road cycling, Olfides Sáez in weightlifting (196 lbs.) and Kelvin Calderón in taekwondo (176 lbs.).

Translated by Regina Anavy

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