Cuba Keeps Betting On the Past and Fidel Castro / Iván García

Old Havana. Selling photos to tourists of Fidel Castro and the writer Ernest Hemingway. Taken from Al Día

Iván García, 29 November 2018 — A group of Swiss tourists walk through the gray marble corridor of the old Havana Yacht Club, in the Flores district, west of the capitol building, while the guide shows them old black and white photos hanging on the wall of what once was a meeting place for the most illustrious of the Cuban bourgeoisie.

In perfect German, the guide tells them the anecdote that the club was so elitist that ’even the dictator Fulgencio Batista was not allowed to enter’. After having lunch in a restaurant next to the beach, the Swiss continue with an itinerary designed exclusively to emphasize the recovery of the Cuban republic.

Nostalgia and the past is for sale in any hotel, bar or restaurant in Havana’s tourist circuit. Sloppy’s Joe bar, next to the Hotel Sevilla, has a collection of photos of a city that was once cosmopolitan, and it has even invented a drink that evokes the American actor Errol Flynn, a regular patron of the place. continue reading

Foreign visitors are struck by the architectural diversity of Havana, which despite the state’s neglect, the soot and the ruins of its facades, still shows its former opulence.

Let’s call him Joel, the  architect of Eusebio Leal’s project aimed at rescuing areas of Old Havana, who recognizes that “the intention is to highlight old customs among tourists and foreign visitors and underscore the splendor of a memorable city that had an incredible nightlife.” And he adds:

“It starts with the music, continues with the tradition of making cigars by hand, the viewing and riding in cars from the 1950s, and highlights the lifestyle and architecture of the time. I suppose that is because Havana, after the Revolution, has little to contribute from the architectural point of view. Many works built after 1959 are marked by clumsiness and horrible designs. They should be demolished.”

A year before the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana, the government of handpicked president Miguel Díaz-Canel has implemented a broad plan to remodel some areas of the city. “Especially those that the yumas [Cuban slang for Americans] tour,” says René, who lives in a rooming house in the marginal neighborhood of Colón, across the street from where the majestic Iberostar Grand Packard luxury hotel at Prado and Cárcel has just opened.

The other Havana, that of Mantilla, Atarés and La Cuevita, three neighborhoods of the many that in the capital cry out for a thorough repair, have their houses fixed with a coat of emulsified paint while their principal streets have to settle for a thin layer of asphalt.

Diana, a housewife, prays every night that the roof does not fall on her. Twenty years ago her large ramshackle house was declared uninhabitable by housing officials. “But where am I going to go, mi’jo. The State shelters are dens of inequity. The neighbors have written letters to all levels of the government. But they do not solve anything. It is evident that the Cuba shown on television only functions in the news broadcasts”.

Alcides, custodian of a highschool, sarcastically describes Díaz-Canel’s management and tourism. “There are good Diaz, bad Diaz and Diaz-Canel. This is something that no one can fix. For thirty years they have bet on tourism and the annoying story that it will be the engine that will bring development to the country. But nobody in the city sees a penny of the tourist money. Raúl Castro and ’Canelo’ are only interested in investing in works that provide money to military companies. Now they come up with the story of solving the housing problem in ten years. A lie. If they have not solved it in sixty years, they will not solve it in a decade. Pretending holds up everything.”

For Norge, a Political Science graduate, the “current economic and political structures do not work. The government is incapable of managing public services with a minimum of efficiency. What people ask for is change. But the regime is committed to papering reality with false promises. Not counting on a politician of stature, the strategy is to bet on the symbolism of Fidel Castro. Since they do not have new ideas, they choose to rehash his speeches.”

Two years after the death of the autocrat, the main culprit of the disaster that is now Cuba, the regime tries to sell smoke and mirrors. There is no Plan B. What’s left is to market nostalgia and the past on the back of Fidel Castro’s corpse, a communist and staunch enemy of capitalism. Paradoxes of destiny.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Panama, the New Eldorado for Cubans / Iván García

Store in Panama, a country where it is estimated that in 2017 Cubans spent around $100 million dollars in purchases. Taken from On Cuba News

Iván García, 12 November 2018 — Life always offers you an opportunity. When the father of Hector, a 31-year-old industrial engineer, died that afternoon in May 2015 in Miami, his family in Cuba began suffering material shortages.

“The old man would wire 300 or 400 dollars every month and he would send us clothes and appliances through mules*. The wages of my mother, my wife and mine together amounted to $80. With the money that my father sent, we were able to repair the house and feed ourselves better. When he died, we asked ourselves what do we do now? We could sit idly by or plan some business to get ahead. We opted for the latter”, Hector recalls.

The first thing he did was invest $1,700 that his father had sent to buy a motorbike and then determine how he could import smartphones, flat-screen TVs and name brand clothing from Panama or Mexico. continue reading

“Not having a US visa, I opted for the Mexican and the Panamanian ones. With the first purchases I made, including the cost of airfare, lodging, food and customs taxes in Cuba and Panama, I earned $350. I resigned my job and I dedicated myself to ‘muling’,” says Hector.

The migratory regulation approved in the winter of 2013 by the regime of Raul Castro opened a range of initiatives for a broad segment of Cubans. According to official statistics, more than half a million people travel abroad each year. Between 70 and 80 thousand of those travelers dedicate themselves to regularly importing goods into Cuba. It is a buoyant business. All they need is a legal framework. The current status is an authentic legal limbo.

Ana, who travels to Cancun and the Colon Duty Free Zone in Panama 10 times a year, explains the particulars. “The State allows us to travel and import only personal items once a year. All the people who dedicate ourselves to muling transgress the regulatory norms in Cuba. We have triumphed thanks to the inability of the government to supply goods at affordable prices. Look, most of the time we buy in retail markets abroad, sometimes in places as distant as Moscow, we pay the customs duties and even so we sell everything at lower prices than the State, with more variety and quality.”

A recent study by the consulting firm The Havana Consulting Group concludes “that Cuban entrepreneurs took out of their country around $2.39 billion in 2017, more than nine times the foreign capital invested in the Mariel Special Development Zone that year and a figure similar to what the communist government says it needs to revitalize the island’s economy.”

The study details how these funds are distributed: $426 million for airfare, $472 million for lodging, transportation and food, $1.08 billion for purchases and between $52 and $58 million for the agencies that pack and then take care of the logistics to send the goods to Cuba.

That amount of money would place it as the fourth largest national industry behind the export of medical services, family remittances and tourism. Economically it benefits those who are engaged in the movement of goods and also a growing percentage of avid local buyers.

Nicolás, an economist, believes that “due to the lack of wholesale markets, extremely high sales prices and poor quality of the products offered in state stores, I calculate that three to four million Cubans buy items from the mules directly or through e-commerce portals like Revolico. To this must be added the mules that sell wholesale to intermediaries who then market the merchandise at a higher price and, in a new development: sell on installments plans, a mechanism that does not exist in state stores.”

A notable segment of private entrepreneurs order their merchandise from the mules. “I bought the tableware, cutlery, lights and bar equipment from an acquaintance who regularly travels to Panama. The State does not have any institution that offers these services to the self-employed,” says Osmany, owner of a bar south of the capital.

Every year, individuals who import pacotillas (miscellaneous items highly valued in Cuba due to their scarcity) are more creative. Carla, a university student, says that there are people “who sell clothes, toiletries and hair products purchased directly from Amazon.” Perhaps that is the case with Liana, a mule with five years of experience that “thanks to the boom in these sales, I took advantage of the fact that I have a multiple entry visa to the United States; I opened a bank account and I can use a credit card that allows me to buy goods from Amazon and other digital sites and afterwards sell them in Cuba.”

Leonel, also dedicated to the mule business, thinks that “it is a good measure the government of Panama took in granting that travel card valid for thirty days. My concern is that the government considers us illegal. And it tries to stop us with high tariffs and prohibitions that prevent importing large quantities of merchandise. But beginning with that measure, and knowing that thousands of Cubans import products from Panama, they can decree criminal sanctions or high fines for those of us who are dedicated to muling.”

According to diplomatic sources located in Havana, Mexico soon plans to expedite visa procedures. In 2017, El Financiero wrote about the boom of Cuban tourists in Mexico: “The number of registered travelers with the nationality of that Caribbean country totaled 100,251 in 2016. Armando Bojórquez, president of the Confederation of Tourist Organizations of Latin America, explained that they are seeing many Cubans engaged in tourism to shop, in Mexico there are good products and international brands that can be bought in Mexican pesos and that helps.”

Odalys, who has specialized in importing athletic clothing and footwear from Cancun, is of the opinion that “these measures can help curb the growing wave of corruption that exists to obtain a visa at the consulates of Mexico and Panama. Just to get an appointment you have to pay $300 or $400 dollars to an intermediary.”

The inability of the olive green autocracy to raise those billions of dollars that escape abroad is notorious. In Cubadebate, an official website, a commentator with the pseudonym of Liborio Bobo de Abela complained:

“How many millions does the Cuban economy lose because of the blindness of the decision makers? Could not CIMEX, TRD, etc., with more reasonable prices capture the foreign currencies that flow to the Panamanian economy? Can it be that it is cheaper to buy from those who mule from Panama due to the nonsensical 240% tax in the foreign currency stores and an obsolete and absurd pricing policy. Is our economy in a position to disregard this enormous potential? Today it is practically more profitable to buy anything in any place (Haiti included), paying for the passage, the visa, lodging, food and the customs tax than buying in the stores here. Has anyone among so many illustrious brains thought about these issues”, the commentator argued.

Everything seems to indicate that no “illustrious brain” has thought about these issues.

*Translator’s note: Cuban slang for those that travel overseas to buy goods scarce and/or expensive in Cuba to then resell upon returning to the Island.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

An Indecent Proposal / Fernando Damaso

Fernando Damaso, 26 November 2018 — Now that the 500th Anniversary of the founding of the Villa of San Cristóbal de La Habana will be celebrated next year, with the aim of helping the city recover its identity, it would be healthy to restore some of its avenues, streets, roads, theaters, cinemas, health and education centers, parks, shops, businesses, museums and other public places, to their original and traditional names, which were changed in times of ideological disease and political opportunism.

Thus the original Carlos III and Dolores avenues; the Jesús del Monte road; the Blanquita theater; the Warner, Radiocentro, Rodi and Olympic cinemas; the Normal School park; the La Covadonga, La Benéfica and La Dependiente hospitals; La Balear, the Baldor, Trelles and Marist schools — La Salle, Belen and Escolapios; the Edison Institute; La Estrella, La Ambrosía, Tropical, Polar and Hatuey factories and dozens of other places and commercial centers would reclaim their historical names. continue reading

The changing of the original and traditional names under which they were known, in addition to an attack on the identity of the city, shows a lack of respect for the residents of Havana.

The new names, logically, should have been used for new constructions or installations of different types, but never to supplant the original designations, deeply held by the citizens.

The Queen’s Road (Reina), although officially called Simón Bolívar, was, is and will always be Reina. The same will happen with Monte, although it is officially called Máximo Gómez, and with many other roads, avenues, streets, establishments, and so on. The force of custom, converted into tradition and identity, is much stronger than any bureaucratic decision. Our authorities should know that. The only one who has respected the identity of the city has been Dr. Eusebio Leal, Historian of Havana.

By the way, Havana was founded, built and developed during the 440 years corresponding to the colonial period and that of the Republic: in the last 60 years of tropical socialism it was destroyed and became the ruin that it is today. That is more clear than filtered water!

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Retaliation Against Prisoner Who Reported Terrible Conditions of Forced Labor / Luis Felipe Rojas

Kilo 7 Prison, in Camagüey. See link below to interview in Spanish.

Luis Felipe Rojas, 4 October 2018  — The common prisoner Vidal Valentín Antúnez Díaz denounced that he was transferred from a correctional center in Sancti Spíritus to the Kilo 7 prison in Camagüey after advocating for better living and working conditions in the manufacture of charcoal.

The prisoner explained in a telephone call that shortly after denouncing the terrible conditions in which he lives and works, the reprimand by authorities was immediate.

“Lack of water, mattresses chopped in half, terrible nutrition and the worst conditions for a person who, according to authorities, collaborates for the economy of this country,” Vidal said.

“Here you can’t say whatever you want to,” the guards warned.

Click here for interview in Spanish.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Prisoners or Paramilitaries? Testimonies From Cuban Prisons / Luis Felipe Rojas

See link to interview below.

Luis Felipe Rojas, 1 October 2018 — The recruitment of violent inmates inside Cuban prisons is a method used to reduce the need for officials to maintain internal order, the ex-political prisoner Virgilio Mantilla Arango denounced from Camagüey.

Mantilla Arango said that, “to get rid of their responsibility,” the prison officials “have given a type of authority” to the inmates he calls “paramilitaries,” since “they are more guards than the guards themselves,” he affirmed.

In an interview with Radio Martí, Mantilla Arango, leader of the opposition group Unidad Camagüeyana (Camagüeyan Unity), explained that he lived his narrative in the flesh in the prison known as Kilo 9.

“They (the violent prisoners), loyally, as if they were soldiers, are those that direct us to line up, those who put us firmly in place, those who take the prisoners to the dining room (…) and they are going to pay them 200 pesos, inside the prison, for this work,” said Mantilla Arango.

Click on this link (interview in Spanish).

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Doctors Continue Returning From Brazil While Revelations About the ‘More Doctors’ Program Are On-Going

Doctors continue arriving from Brazil after the Cuba’s break with that country’s Mais Medicos (More Doctors) program. (Granma/Juvenal Balán)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana | November 26, 2018 — Vice-President Salvador Valdés Mesa and the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal, welcomed the second group of Cuban doctors to return to the Island following the Government’s decision not to continue with the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) program. The contingent, made up of 203 doctors from Brazil, arrived Sunday morning at the José Martí International Airport in Havana.

The deputy minister of the department, Luis Fernando Navarro, directed a few words to the doctors, whom he distinguished for their solidarity and commitment to travel to the most remote places in Brazil where the population has less access to health care.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, details of the creation of the Mais Médicos program with Cuban participation have become known. The leaks of telegrams that reconstruct the negotiations carried out between the governments of Havana and Brasila have revealed details until now unknown such as the length of the talks, which began at least a year before the program was announced, or Cuba’s request for payment of $8,000 monthly per doctor. continue reading

In March 2012 a Cuban mission visited Brazil and made proposals ranging from “sending doctors and nurses” to consulting “for the construction of hospitals” and for the development of health systems”, at advantageous prices, according to Alexandre Ghisleni, in charge of business on the Island

On April 4, representatives from the Federal Council of Medicine, the Brazilian Medical Association and the National Federation of Physicians went to Planalto Palace (the official seat of the president of Brazil) to protest against these agreements, then still in the shadows, but then Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff did not confirm them, although she did not deny them, either.

In June 2012, the Ministry of Health organized a visit to Havana to address the creation of the medical program for providing health professionals in remote areas of the country. For the embassy, the project was “initiated in a reserved way, in view of the concern about repercussions from the Brazilian medical community due to the entrance of the doctors.”

The delegation was led by Secretary Mozart Sales of the Ministry of Health, and included Alberto Kleiman, then international adviser of the portfolio and now the current director of international relations and associations for the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).

“The Brazilian side proposed payment $4,000 ($3,000 for the Cuban government and $1,000 for the doctor),” states one of the telegrams. “The Cuban side, for its part, said that it had assumed $8,000 per doctor and made a counter offer of $6,000 ($5,000 for the government and $1,000 for the doctor).

The Cuban authorities demanded that the evaluation of the doctors take place in Cuba and that Brazil limit itself to “familiarizing the doctors, above all, in the language and the procedural and administrative practices of the legislation”.

The papers document the Brazilian suggestion that the payment to the Cuban government be made through what they called a “compensation system” to settle the debts of Havana with the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), which financed the large works of construction in the port of Mariel, among other projects.

Given Cuba’s refusal and Brazil’s fear of having to request the approval of Congress, it was decided at the last minute to triangulate the business by making payment to the PAHO, which would contract with Cuba, which would in turn hire the doctors.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Cuban Chess Masters Criticize the Precarious Situation of the Sport on the Island

The sports authorities attribute the poor results of Cuban chess to the departures from this sport on the island like that of Lázaro Bruzón’s . (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Miami, 20 November 2018 — The wave of disagreements between the best Cuban chess players and sports authorities never ceases. After the declarations of Lázaro Bruzón last September against the authorities of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) for their exclusion from the national preselection process for refusing to return to Cuba, now the protests against this institution come from the pen of Yuniesky Quesada and Alejandro Yanes. Both chess players have published in social networks the complaints and wishes of their guild on the island.

This past November 13, Quesada, an International Grand Master (GM), published a comment  on his Facebook wall criticizing the chess authorities on the island, which received great support among the chess players. The sportsman recounted that in the years he represented Cuba, he did not feel valued by Inder or by the National Chess Commission. “In addition to injustices perpetrated against me throughout my career, even while being ranked as the third best player in the country since 2008, I have felt unmotivated in the last few years,” confessed Quesada. continue reading

At the beginning of this month another chess player, Alejandro Yanes, a Master of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), wrote on his Facebook wall a list of nine points that summarized, in his opinion, the complaints of Cuban chess players and their possible solutions. According to Yanes, he developed the document after “long hours of talking with players both in Cuba as well as those residing abroad” while also relying on his personal experience.

The sportsman, 34, invited his colleagues to contribute to the text with the aim of achieving “awareness of the grave condition” of chess on the island. After the publication of the note, the recent scandals and the declarations of Bruzón, for Yanes now “the ball” is in the court of the sports authorities and “they can no longer state that they are unaware of the current situation”.

Yanes calls for the authorities that represent the players “to demand access to the Internet from the central agencies of the State” because he believes that in the current context “there can’t be a chess player that can reach elite status” without this tool.

In addition, he requests “making public and transparent” the regulations and classification clauses for tournaments that affect chess players so that they aren’t changed annually “depending on the person who they wish to benefit or harm”. In a similar vein, he demanded transparency in the “budget dedicated to chess by the central body of the State”, claiming that they have the right to know “how it is invested.”

Among the nine written points, Yanes asks the Cuban Chess Federation that every athlete who is a member of this entity has the right “to play for their country in Cuban and foreign events” and that the organization has the obligation to reclaim their titles before the FIDE, even if they are overseas. He also demands the authorities not give priority in any tournament held on the island “to a chess player or foreign official to the detriment of the national athletes”.

“It would be good to supervise the Capablanca Tournaments where many foreigners receive lodgings from the state budget, while many Cuban International Masters get neither accommodation nor lodging,” he denounced, in accordance with his own experiences. He also pointed out irregularities when delivering the prizes of the event. “While foreign chess players are paid in cash at the end of the contest, Cubans are paid years later,” he commented.

Meanwhile, the Cuban Federation and the National Chess Commission look the other way. According to a document published by Alejandro Yanes on Monday, the authorities blame the bad results in the last Chess Olympiad on the “loss” of those “key athletes” who guarantee the highest level of play in this type of competition. The solution proposed by these authorities is to give “priority to ideological political work” and to the “formation of values”.

The latest results of Cuban chess in international events have been described by experts as the worst in decades. In the Olympiad, which took place last month in Batumi (Georgia), the men’s team finished in 61st place, their worst showing ever, while the women’s team finished in 27th place.

The precarious situation of chess on the island is causing the flight of Cuban chess players. Both Bruzón and Quesada today form part of the roster of the Webster University chess team, in the United States, and were already selected to play during the 2018-2019 season.

“Now I feel that I can continue improving my chess. Here at the university we have a very strong team and there is a lot of professionalism in the training which helps to increase the level of chess. I also have aspirations to make it a career”, Quesada said on the social network.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The Thursday of Sanchez’s Arrival

Caption: Rogelio Sierra (right), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, and Juan Fernández Trigo (left), Spanish Ambassador to Cuba, receive the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and his wife María Begoña Gómez. (EFE / Yander Zamora)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 23 November 2018 –  Thursday, when the plane of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, landed in Cuba, began like any other day. National newspapers reproduced extensive tributes to the late leader Fidel Castro, at sunrise pharmacies  had long lines and in agricultural markets pork meat reached 55 Cuban pesos per pound, or two days’ salary for a state worker.

A brief note in the official newspaper Granma announced that Sanchez would arrive on an official visit to the island and in the centers of Spanish communities that dot the national geography, the descendants of Basques, Galicians and Asturians made the trip the main topic of the conversation. If in some places the subject was talked about intensely, among the broad social sectors that do not watch television or read the official press, the trip has barely registered.

On Monte Street, a Havana artery teeming with informal vendors and old shops converted to warehouses or stores selling in Cuban convertible pesos, Sanchez’s visit was only brought up this Thursday in connection with a desired modification of the so-called Law of the Grandchildren that permits application for Spanish citizenship to those who were left out in the prior iteration. continue reading

Lourdes, a self-employed worker who manages a small counter with scouring pads, plastic strainers and other kitchen utensils sees the arrival of Sánchez as “an opportunity to reopen to the descendants of Spaniards the process of applying for citizenship”. The seller assures that she does not want to emigrate “but to use the passport to travel to buy products in Panama and Mexico”.

The cubañoles (Cubans of Spanish descent) are the largest group of travelers who act as “mules”, Cubans who dedicate themselves to importing goods that are scarce in the networks of state enterprises. “A Spanish passport changes life for anyone,” says Lourdes.

While the news of the arrival of the president was among the headlines featured in the evening news, in the first news summary on Friday, the presence of Sanchez had to wait for news about the constitutional reform, the return of Cuban doctors from Brazil and the weather report. In the dissembled official “grammar” of communication, everything seems designed to minimize the importance of the visit.

It did not go unnoticed by attentive viewers that at the foot of the steps of the plane, Sanchez’s counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of the Council of State, was not waiting. Instead of the ruler, the Spaniard was received upon his arrival in Havana by the Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rogelio Sierra, who accompanied him to place a wreath at the image of José Martí in the Plaza de la Revolución.

Sanchez has said his presence lays the groundwork for a possible visit to the island by the King and Queen of Spain in the setting of the 500th anniversary of the founding of  Havana that will be commemorated in November 2019. An announcement that has not escaped the sharp tongue of popular humor.

“They better hurry because at the rate of deterioration in this city they may find only ruins,” exaggerated a participant of the sports group* La Esquina Caliente (Hot Corner) in Central Park, a place through which Sanchez will walk to the Palace of the Captain Generals where this Friday he will hand over the chair of General Antonio Maceo .

A gesture of historical connotations that has been included in an agenda in which the Spanish Executive has preferred not to meet with the Cuban opposition, arguing that no European political leader has done it and that it was not about making gestures, but being effective. Sanchez and Diaz-Canel signed a memorandum by which the two countries commit to annual political contacts in which they will discuss, among other items, human rights.

In place of the dissidents, Sanchez prefers meeting with the descendants of Spaniards in the gardens of the ambassador’s residence in Havana. The guests include the layperson and editor of Cuba Possible, a moderate who is seen by the most radical opposition groups as a lightweight and by the spokesmen of the ruling party as an “enemy”. In the context of the meeting this Friday, he will be the most political figure who has been invited.

Others not invited have taken advantage of the new technologies to send Sanchez their views on the situation that exists on the island. As is the case of former political prisoner Librado Linares, who has sent an extensive missive to the Spanish president in which he takes the opportunity to denounce that part of the text of the Constitutional reform that includes articles that encourage “discrimination for political and philosophical reasons”, in addition to giving “a patent to the ’revolutionaries’ to commit outrages against the dissidents: acts of repudiation, assault against their homes, beatings, and other offenses.”

Translator’s note: The group is an informal, but unfailing, gathering of Havanans who vociferously talk about sports.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

A Woman Is In Charge of the University of Havana for the First Time In 290 Years

Miriam Nicado García is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba and, since April of this year, also of the Council of State. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio / EFE, Havana, 21 November 2018 – The University of Havana (UH) appointed Miriam Nicado García as the new rector of that institution, the first time that a woman holds the position in the center of higher education of the capital since its founding almost three centuries ago. The decision was announced Monday in an extraordinary session of the University Council of the UH, but was not divulged to the press until Wednesday.

Until now Nicado was the rector of the University of Information Sciences, created by the late leader Fidel Castro as a center of advanced technology to stimulate the national development of software.

The rector is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba and, since April of this year, also of the Council of State, in addition to being one of the deputies of the IX legislature in the National Assembly of People’s Power for the municipality of La Lisa, in Havana. continue reading

Full Professor, top level graduate and licensed in Applied Mathematics, Nicado is also a Doctor of Science in that specialty. Previously, she was dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computing at the Central University of Las Villas and vice-rector of that university.

As a professor she has taught in her field of study at universities in several countries in the region such as Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. She has received the National and Provincial Vanguard award, a distinction granted by the Central de Trabajadores (Workers Center) of Cuba.

In the meeting where she was appointed it was also made known that Dr. Gustavo Cobreiro Suárez, rector who was in charge at the time of the announcement, “will assume other functions” from now on, the official press said without specifying more details.

Founded in 1728 by Dominican friars as the Royal and Pontifical University of San Geronimo de La Habana, UH now has 19 schools and 12 research centers.

It is the main center of higher learning on the island and was recently included in the list of the 20 best universities in Latin America, according to the London-based consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

In September of this year Dr. Orquídea Urquiola Sánchez became the first woman to ever hold the position of rector in the country at the University of Cienfuegos.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Police Dogs

This graffiti has appeared in recent days on several buildings in Cuba’s capital. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 19 November 2018 — Several building facades of Central Havana display a very unique graffiti that has appeared in recent days. The image shows a uniformed National Revolutionary Police (PNR) officer accompanied by a dog with whom he shares the same face, snout, teeth and fierce gesture. Man and animal have the appearance of being alert, the ears attentive and an aggressive look, as if about to launch themselves on their prey. The graffiti alludes, without subtleties, to the police violence and aggression that characterizes this body of public order in Cuba.

For several years it has been common to see police accompanied by German shepherd dogs in the central zones of the Cuban capital. The area surrounding the Capitol, the areas near the Central Park, the busiest parts of Monte Street and even the most entertaining corners of La Rampa are a frequent stop for these officers accompanied by their dogs. Next to the whistle, the night stick and the walkie-talkie, the dog is already a distinctive sign of their presence. continue reading

That era during which television broadcast an announcement in which a small child claimed “police, police you are my friend”, has also been forgotten. Now, the members of the PNR are viewed with much distrust and fear by the population. The excesses committed during the arbitrary arrests, the fines and the detentions without cause have sufficiently stained their reputation, disseminated by the new technologies, have left testimony of the injustices or the excessive blows of these uniformed ones.

Part of that fear and suspicion has been captured by the graffiti artist in which the fierce irrationality of the animal is shared by a human being who should maintain order, not provoke violence or fear.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Dozens of Cubans Who Protested at UN Headquarters Detained in Trinidad and Tobago

According to Bárbara Enríquez, a member of the protest, some 80 Cubans have been arrested, including her. (Courtesy)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Miami, November 16, 2018 — A group of Cubans who had protested for days at the UN offices in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, were arrested by the authorities of that country on Friday, the police of the Caribbean island confirmed to 14ymedio. The migrants were unhappy with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after the agency withdrew monthly financial aid in October.

The migrants were arrested after a meeting yesterday afternoon, during which a UNHCR representative warned them that, if they did not abandon the protest so that their asylum requests could be processed, “they would be detained,” Yaquelin Vera  Morfa, one of the migrants arrested, told this newspaper today. continue reading

A worker who collaborates with UNHCR, and who prefers to remain anonymous, explained that the arrests took place at around six in the morning. “They are detained at a police precinct called Belmont,” she explained. According to Barbara Enríquez, one of the women arrested who was able to get in touch by telephone with this newspaper from the police station, some 70 Cubans are with her.

A part of the group of Cubans, who this Tuesday had used plastic bags to tie themselves to the fence of the UN compound in the capital in order to request a meeting with UNHCR officials to discuss their asylum requests, were interviewed this Thursday by the organization.

In that meeting, which took place in a courtyard near the Venezuelan embassy, the UNHCR representative “did not want to discuss any issues” with the 15 representatives of the more than a hundred Cubans who are protesting their situation, according to Vera Morfa, and he also told them that the agency’s office was going to be closed for the next two months.

The police have assured that all the Cubans are well and, although they have not provided more details, Bárbara Enríquez has commented that until now the treatment “has been good.” 14ymedio has tried to repeatedly contact, without success, the responsible parties from UNHCR to learn their version of what happened.

The migrants began the protest two weeks ago after UNHCR decided in October to withdraw the economic aid that they received monthly and that allowed many to pay rent for a place to live, said Vera Morfa.

Last Tuesday, the day the migrants tied themselves up at the UNHCR headquarters, the government of Trinidad and Tobago described the situation of the Cubans in that country as “very complex.” The Caribbean nation does not have legislation with respect to refugee matters and asylum claims, although it is a signatory to the Convention on the Status of Refugees. This prevents these Cuban migrants from working legally, having a bank account or obtaining a driver’s license, among other difficulties.

“Everything has been very hard here, from the first moment I arrived in this country and I realized that there was no legislation for refugees it was a blow, now I have refugee status from UNHCR but knowing that there is no legislation here they took back the aid and left me with nothing. It’s been a month already that we haven’t gotten it. Because of not having that money, many of us were unable to pay the rent and that’s why we’re here,” lamented Vera.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Housing In Cuba / Somos+, German Gonzalez

Somos+, Germán M. González, 11 November 2018

Absolute power equals absolute responsibility: the socio-economic situation of the country is disastrous, party & government admits it: Who will answer for that?

In the final days of this October, several references to the subject of housing appeared in the official Cuban media. Published first is that Pinar del Rio lacks more than ten thousand homes in order to fully recover from “prior hurricanes,” we are talking at a minimum of at least 10 years, and later, in the public version of a meeting of the council of ministers the “president” announced the proposal of building homes at a rate of 50 thousand per year. Let’s look at some background.

The universal right to decent and adequate housing is reflected in international and multilateral documents and agreements, as well as in the legislation of many countries, including national constitutions. Recognized in this manner, the human right to adequate housing — and its environment – is of fundamental importance for the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights. Let’s look at the current situation in Cuba according to official sources.

The official newspaper Granma (January 25, 2018) reports that 47% of homes are inadequate, only exceeded in Latin America by Brazil (64%) and far higher than Argentina (22%) and Chile (23%). In addition, in the latter two countries, due to their climate, considering a home adequate implies many more requirements than in our sub-tropical archipelago. continue reading

The pace of construction has declined in the last twelve years, from more than 111,000 units in 2006 to fewer than 22,000 in 2017 (denying the claimed efficiency of the raulista term of office) according to the Cuban Statistical Yearbook (AEC), the smallest amount since statistics became available. Graphic view:

In its June 1st edition, Granma offers chilling data:

Housing pending solution: Grand Total/Total Collapses — Hurricanes prior to Sandy (2012): 42,000/25,000; Hurricane Sandy (2012): 36,000/14,000; Hurricane Matthew (2016): 8,000/7,000; Hurricane Irma (2017): 115,000/15,000.

In total, there are 201,000 homes affected; of those 61,000 were total collapses; 42,000 and 25,000, respectively, occurred before 2012.

In summary, if the pace expected by Díaz-Canel is reached, it would take four years to replace the homes affected by hurricanes and then ten years to repair the “not adequate” ones, plus an indeterminate period for impacts from new hurricanes and the currently adequate homes that, due to the passage of time and the poor quality of construction of the last 60 years, will inevitably deteriorate.

Add to this that the projected Diaz-Canelian pace is 2-1/2 times greater than what was achieved in the last five years as an annual average, plus the aforementioned unpredictable destructions and deteriorations, and the hopes of decent housing for most Cubans is more than remote.

A problem without a solution? For sure, under the current mandate of the “five” and their dogmas that are only effective for maintaining power.

The liberalization of the economy, the creation of a real estate market with modern credit system included, and above all the restitution to millions of Cuban diaspora members of their civil, political and economic rights with the consequent financial injection would surely give better results — in this and any other socioeconomic spheres — than the diffuse Díaz-Canelian dreams, which are nothing more than a badly copied version of the thousands of similar promises made by the Castro brothers… and look where we are after sixty years of listening to them.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Nobody Knows How To Eradicate Pollution From Cuba’s Agabama and Sipiabo Rivers

The official press criticizes the obsolete infrastructure, which contributes to the poor state of the waters. (Escambray)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2018 — Three months after the local press in Sancti Spíritus denounced the contamination of several tributaries of the Agabama and Sipiabo rivers, surrounding the municipality of Fomento, swimming has been banned in those waters by the authorities,  due to the lack of action and the exchange of accusations between different institutions that have not yet resolved the situation.

“What have the main entities done to take action to counteract the pollution of the aquifers? What factors have contributed to the phenomenon that instead of  improving it is getting worse?”, questions an article in the Escambray newspaper, which notes that about five years ago bacteriological analysis of the water began.

Last July, the Provincial Center of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology reported that they had carried out analyses of 10 water samples in the swimming areas of Balnerario, Ramblazo and Campismo Popular La Hormiga, whose waters are fed by the Agabama and Sipiabo rivers. In all of them  “the presence of total coliform bacteria and fecal coliform over the permissible parameters” were found, the official media reports. continue reading

Among the causes of the pollution reported by the Ministry of Public Health in October are the discharge of domestic wastewater and the excrement of pigs raised by individuals in their homes. Although experts from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma) maintain the hypothesis that the Agabama River is contaminated from Santa Clara.

The local press argues that, according to the provisions of Law No. 124 of Terrestrial Waters that governs the management of this resource and guarantees its protection and quality, the power to ensure the quality of water is the responsibility of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), Citma, the Ministry of Public Health, and the local bodies of the People’s Power. These organizations do not know how to come to agreement in order to to solve the water problem in Fomento.

“I was unaware of the magnitude of the closure of the swimming areas due to the contamination of surface waters,” the Provincial sub-delegate for Hydraulic Resources,Yusliadys Lorenzo Coca, told Escambray.

The Hydraulic Utilization Company does not seem to know anything about the situation, either. The technical director of the entity, Francisco Hernández Lorenzo, said that he also did not know about the imbalance, alleging that they are responsible for the sources of the supply. When the local journalists reminded him that the company is the owner of the water, the manager placed blame on a higher institution. “Public Health should have communicated to do a joint study, because this has an impact on the population,” he replied.

Citma, for its part, placed the responsibility on other institutions. “Who is responsible for taking action?, those who use the water and manage it: Hydraulic Resources, Agriculture, Azcuba, local bodies of the People’s Power,” said Néstor Álvarez Cruz, director of the Environmental Unit in Sancti Spíritus.

“While in the law there are many that bear responsibility, in practice few take action on the matter, and the solution may take as many years as the pollution lasts,” the Escambray article points out in conclusion, while denouncing the lack of knowledge on the part of the competent authorities, the lack of organization and the obsolescence of the infrastructure.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The US Coast Guard Repatriates 37 Cuban Rafters

The passengers on the boat consisted of 29 men and 8 women. (US Coast Guard)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 12 November 2018 — The 37 Cuban migrants traveling in a boat heading north towards the United States were intercepted on Sunday by the Coast Guard Service of that country and repatriated to Cuba. The passengers of the boat, which was located by an air patrol, were 29 men and 8 women, according to a statement from the rescue service.

The Coast Guard patrol boat William Trump intercepted the rafters after they were located and the crew proceeded to embark them onto the ship, where they received food, water and medical attention. One of the migrants was treated for headaches.

“Many times these intercepted vessels are overloaded and unsafe, and the risk is simply not worth the possible reward,” said Lt. James Hodges, of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, who said he was proud of those who participated in the mission.

The US armed forces’ rescue service notes in the statement that, since the 1st of October, 82 Cuban migrants have tried to enter the United States illegally by sea. During the 2018 fiscal year, which ends on September 30 for the administration of that country, 296 migrants tried to illegally migrate to the United States.

“These statistics represent the total number of interceptions in the Straits of Florida, the Caribbean and Atlantic waters,” the institution explained.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The Lack of Water Hits Several Hospitals In Central Cuba

Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Cardiocenter in the city of Santa Clara. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Justo Mora / Mario J. Pentón, Cienfuegos / Miami | November 09, 2018 – The deterioration of the hydraulic infrastructure in the center of the country is hitting hard at several hospitals in the region, which cannot function normally as they suffer from daily rationing of the water supply to complete cutoffs in the supply lasting more than three days, a situation that workers and users of these centers point out.

“We have a problem with the water supply. The authorities are trying to solve it with tanker trucks, but no surgical operations have been carried out in the past three days,” a worker of the Ernesto Che Guevara Cardiocenter told 14ymedio on condition of anonymity.

This hospital complex, located in Santa Clara and the only one of its kind in the center of Cuba specializing in heart disease, has been paralyzed for more than 72 hours due to the lack of potable water. continue reading

The Cardiocenter serves patients from Villa Clara and Cienfuegos up to the province of Camagüey. The same employee explained that the problem not only affects the Cardiocenter but also all the hospital facilities in that city.

The country’s water networks are very deteriorated, authorities have said, so that other hospitals in the region also suffer similar problems. This is the case of the Cienfuegos Gustavo Aldereguía Lima Provincial Hospital and of the Camilo Cienfuegos Hospital, in Sancti Spíritus, which have had to ration water to avoid interruptions in the service.

A worker at the hospital in Cienfuegos complained that, at night, there is no water in the emergency surgical rooms and that the surgeons have to wash their hands with bags of saline. Last August, the inhabitants of this city had to face the lack of water not only in hospitals, but also in their own homes.

The facilities at these medical centers have several decades of use and have never, for all practical purposes, been repaired. This is coupled with a serious water leakage problem that is common throughout the country.

The former president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Inés María Chapman Waugh, noted that every year more than 3.4 billion liters of water are lost through leaks in the country. The loss from pumping this water that ends up in puddles and small streams in the streets is valued at around five million euros, according to the official press.

“My sister is waiting for a heart valve replacement, how is it possible that they cannot operate because there is no water?” laments Luis, who waits outside the Cardiocenter.

The official press points out that in the Camilo Cienfuegos Hospital in Sancti Spíritus the 400,000 liters that are stored in the cistern are not enough to satisfy the needs since it is wasted. A recent report by the newspaper Escambray indicates that “cascades” are heard during the day, in reference to the leaks that spill all the water accumulated in the storage tanks into rooms and offices.

The director of the hospital, Eduardo Pedrosa Prado, also explained the water restrictions they endure. When the company Acueducto stops pumping water to the medical center, the decision is made to cutoff the internal pumping at 10:00 at night. The hospital runs out of water until 5:00 in the morning because otherwise the water stored in the cistern would not be sufficient for the next day.

The same routine used by the Gustavo Aldereguía Hospital in Cienfuegos is carried out in Sancti Spíritus. The nurses wash the hands of the surgeons with glassfuls of water that they extract from the gallons that they save during the day.

“We have become accustomed to this situation, but it is unhealthy and it endangers the lives of patients. We spend our lives in front of the world saying that we are a medical power and we send aid to other countries, but the truth is that nobody knows the sacrifice of those of us who work in public health,” a surgeon tells this newspaper.

The state of the bathrooms in the rooms of the provincial hospital of Cienfuegos is “lamentable”, says Ernestina Guzmán, a companion of a patient with kidney problems.

“The toilets do not have tanks. To flush you have to load a bucket of water and throw it into the toilet, and often there is not even water, so the bad smell stays around all day in the room,” she details.

Guzmán laments that the cleaning of the facilities “does not meet the needs of the hospital.” She maintains that even inmates are sent “to clean the rooms because nobody wants to work for the salaries paid by Public Health. They clean up badly and  do not even use the appropriate disinfectants for a hospital,” he complains.

“I already know that healthcare is free, but even though it is, or precisely because it is everyone’s right, hospital centers should have quality,” she adds.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.