Political Police Interrogates Activist Yasmany Gonzalez for Graffiti Against the Cuban Regime

Yasmany González Valdés earns a living as a self-employed bricklayer. (Twitter/@CubaODC)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 21 April 2023 — Activist Yasmany González Valdés was arrested this Thursday at his house in Central Havana and transferred to the State Security headquarters in the capital, Villa Marista. His wife, Ilsa Ramos, confirmed this on Friday to 14ymedio.

Hours earlier, the Observatory for Cultural Rights (ODC) had reported in a Twitter thread that the arrest of the young man, also known as Libre Libre, took place after a “violent search”.  Ramos specified that “around 15 people” participated, taking with them “a mechanic’s overalls, a brush and a mobile phone”.

The Observatory had recalled in its networks that González Valdés was summoned at the beginning of April to the Zanja police station, where he was accused of being involved with the group that calls itself El Nuevo Directorio (END), which claimed a new action against the regime, writing “No to the PCC” this Thursday, on the facade of the emblematic building at 7 Humboldt Street.

“They tried to leave keep in custody for non-payment of fines that he had already paid”

“On that occasion, they tried to frame him and link him to the Nuevo Directorio Group“, continues the ODC, “for which they did graphological tests”. In addition, “they tried to leave him in custody for non-payment of fines that he had already paid”. continue reading

The Observatory denounces that, in recent months, González Valdés has been “summoned, detained, fined and threatened” for his publications on social networks, accused of violating Decree Law 370. “On several occasions, the threats have been made on the promise of jail if he keeps posting”.

This is not the first time that Yasmany González, who works as a self-employed bricklayer, has had problems with the Cuban political police. Last year, after being detained for four days in Villa Marista, the activist declared that he would stop posting on his social networks.

“I’m already at home with my family (…) I’m going to get out, guys, because nobody knows what happens to a family member when you’re in there”, he wrote then on his Facebook account, a few hours after his release.

Shortly before, he had been fined in the application of Decree Law 370 for his publications on the internet, in which he denounced human rights violations in Cuba and demanded the release of those sentenced for the 11 July 2021 protests.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

In Cuba, Rumors are the Counter-Narrative of the Official Version of Events

Many users disclosed not only the “traps” of the Government to attract voters or force them to go to the polls, but also the possible consequences of abstaining. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/Yucabyte, Havana, 19 April 2023 — Irregularities during the parliamentary elections, the drastic increase in crime and the precarious situation of prisons have dominated the flow of rumors about Cuba on social networks during the month of March. However, despite the fact that it is fragmentary data and not always verifiable, it forms a fabric of “underground” concerns that in the long run –as a recent report by 14ymedio and Yucabyte demonstrated– tends to become real information in Cuba.

The general tension during the elections for deputy candidates in Parliament had its correlation in the digital environment. Many users disclosed not only the “traps” of the Government to attract voters or force them to go to the polls, but also the supposed consequences of abstaining.

It was even stated that whoever attended the polling station after applying for a visa or parole at the US Embassy would automatically lose their right to access this service. The spread of this rumor was so alarming that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself claimed that it had contacted the US immigration authorities to deny the information.

Although no independent observers were allowed to verify the transparency of the voting, thousands of users left their impression on Twitter and Facebook. Many denounced what was jokingly called “Operation Tun-Tun”: the electoral authorities not only forced children to guard the ballot boxes, but sent them, house to house, to carry out reminders to guarantee broad participation. Despite this, users on the networks commented that many had avoided the polls. Others recounted that they had voted “a la cañona”, (by force) fraudulently representing several relatives, or that they had found their forged signature on the list of participants. continue reading

A clandestine group began to claim responsibility for several anti-government posters. These ‘graffiti’ contained offensive messages directed at the régime

In the heat of the elections, a clandestine group began to claim responsibility for several anti-government posters. These graffiti, reported by the independent press, contained offensive messages directed at the regime such as “Down with the dictatorship” and “No to the Communist Party”, signed by the organization identified as El Nuevo Directorio.

As for the second source of rumors, reports of robberies, assaults, rapes and adolescent gangs in the Cuban peripheries are already common on social networks. In the face of police inaction, reporting from digital profiles is one of the few alternatives in the hands of the population to make visible the wave of crime that is spreading through Cuba.

The ravages of a youth gang known as C39, which operates in Las Tunas, presumably under the command of an adult woman, has kept the country folks in check. The local Police, they say, are sitting idle and it is said that they even grant impunity to delinquents.

The agents did arrive on time, several users say, when two men tried to rape a male child in the city of Nuevitas, Camagüey. However, in this case too, the action of the local residents, who began to act on their own, was decisive in stopping the crime.

Platforms most used by users and format of the content collected. (14ymedio/Yucabyte)

Also unprotected, according to multiple reports, remain the residents of the capital’s Altahabana neighborhood, who suffer frequent assaults in their own homes. Under the guise of “messengers” who have come to deliver a package, they break into homes to rob residents, threatening them with bladed weapons.

Others are not so lucky and, after the encounter with the criminals, they end up getting murdered. This is what happened, says a user, to a rural resident from San Juan de los Yeras, in Villa Clara, who was stabbed after his horse was stolen.

Although it is rare that the official media or the Ministry of the Interior offer an official version of the facts, some institutions often expose various details. This was the case with the death of a baby abandoned by his mother, a student at the Villa Clara Sports Initiation School. It was the directors of the center who, in a brief Facebook statement and during a meeting where recorded conversations were leaked, commented on the seriousness of the event.

The most difficult rumors to verify are those that refer to the most hermetic environments monitored by the regime, such as prisons. The conditions in which the prisoners live had traditionally been one of the best kept secrets by the Government. However, the increase in the prison population in the Country, and the media attention that, since the protests of July 11, 2021, has focused on prisons, have helped to clarify how the inmates live.

The harassment and manipulation suffered by the relatives of political prisoners by jailers or State Security has also been exposed on social networks

A common prisoner, identified as Kevin, was allegedly beaten to death by his jailer, Yulieski Montero, at the Quivicán prison in Mayabeque. Those who shared the event charged that other inmates throughout the country have suffered mistreatment at the hands of the police officers who guard them, or by other prisoners, whom the guards incite to punish the “troublemakers”.

The harassment and manipulation suffered by the relatives of political prisoners by jailers or State Security agents when they go on regular visits has also been exposed on social networks. However, it is rare for the relatives of common prisoners to air events like these, for fear of reprisals and the consequences that the complaint could have for the inmates themselves.

This type of situation results in that, although a large part of the rumors collected become, in the long run, sources of verified information – or end up being denied – there is other information that cannot be verified. This “informal” flow of data runs parallel to the regime’s press and often becomes a counter-narrative of the official version of events.

However, there is also the case of rumors that remain static, without being able to be verified or denied, and that have become a constant in the collection. This is the case of the illness and death of Raúl Castro –and also of other leaders, such as Ramiro Valdés–, a rumor repeated throughout 2022 which has also been registered in the first months of 2023. Or of the reports about a “fraudulent transition” or “fraud change”, which describe a sort of conspiracy by the regime’s leadership to fake a transition to democracy from the seat of power itself, without compromising the interests of certain military clans historically linked to the Castros.
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘El Enjambre’ and the ‘Podcast’ Challenges in Cuba

From left: Camilo Condis, Maykel González Vivero, Lucía Marcha and Yadira AlBet. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 2 April 2023 — On this first Saturday of April, colleagues of El Enjambre [The Swarm] podcast celebrated the end of its sixth season and the announcement that, no later than in a couple of weeks, the seventh season will begin.

This weekly space was inaugurated in October 2019 as part of El Toque project and became independent in October, 2022. Under the constant threat of censorship, the program discusses political, economic and social issues seriously, and at times lightheartedly.

Seated in front of a group of followers in the main hall of La Marca, in Old Havana, filmmakers of this podcast recreated anecdotes, answered questions and offered statistical data on the composition of their audience, which is mostly young and based in Cuba. Resembling themselves, there were debates, live music and a nice amusing moment about what the elections in Cuba would be like in 2077.

Under the constant threat of censorship, the program discusses political, economic and social issues seriously, and at times lightheartedly

Asked about the future of El Enjambre, Camilo Condis told 14ymedio : “We know that it will be hard to continue because the difficulties that are coming are those that creators in Cuba, not working under an official institution, have to face. They are the same limitations that all of us face, but we’ll carry on.”

Maykel González Vivero, who joined the team in its fourth season, is a promoter of balance. He says that “it’s very boring when everyone is discussing something they agree on”. On the other hand, in contrast to Camilo Condis, “so pragmatic and clinging to the facts, to the numbers”, Maykel chooses to present himself as “more qualitative”.

El Enjambre is seen in official circles as too critical and, at the opposite end, as too trivial. The truth is that behind each installment there is painstaking professional work and the intention of opening a gap to expose and debate the main events of each week and the long-term problems that the country is suffering.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Christmas Pine on Galiano Street, a Sad Reflection of the Misfortunes Cubans Suffer

Its appearance is unfortunate and is not fitting with winter, the residents of Galiano street comment. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan  Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 1 April 2023 —  It took three months for the Christmas pine planted in the Fe del Valle Park, in Centro Habana, to deteriorate. The tree, which last December was filled with lights – the first public New Year’s decoration that Cubans had seen in six decades – is now withered, with dry leaves and fallen branches.

Its appearance is unfortunate and is not fitting with winter, commented the residents of Galiano street, the same ones who took photos next to the conifer during Christmas, which the Government hastened to strip of all spiritual symbolism. The pine was part, they said, of a “comprehensive initiative” of the Avenida Italia project, with which the European country wanted to thank the presence of Cuban doctors during the pandemic in various locations on its territory.

So, the pine was not a Christmas sign but a very socialist “Friendship Tree”, as the Cuban press renamed it. Once that purpose was fulfilled, the trunk is barely holding up and is in need of three props, ribbons and cords to prevent it from falling on those who walk through Galiano. continue reading

El tronco grisáceo y el escaso follaje, de un color impreciso, son sintomáticos de la mala salud del ejemplar. (14ymedio)
The greyish trunk and the sparse foliage, of an imprecise color, are symptomatic of the specimen’s poor health. (14ymedio)

The greyish trunk and the sparse foliage, of an imprecise color, are symptomatic of the poor health of the specimen, whose survival seems unlikely to those who pass by. “Is the pine tree dying?” A boy asked his mother, who was trying to avoid the area so as not to run the risk that the tree, which looked weak and sickly, might fall on them.

“A lot of sewage water and too much humidity in that substrate”, diagnosed one of the old people sitting in the park. “Pines need semi-sandy soils, not the muck from Centro Habana”.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Production of Gas Suffocates the Cuban Population of Puerto Escondido

The installation of concrete reinforced piles for a gas pipeline in the town’s only baseball field has exhausted residents’ patience with the Energas company. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger

14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2023 — Residents of Puerto Escondido, in the province of Mayabeque, Cuba, no longer know who to turn to, or how else to report what they are experiencing. Constant gas leaks, deterioration of the vegetation due to hydrocarbon contamination and, finally, the installation of concrete reinforced piles for a gas pipeline in the only baseball field in the town, have exhausted the residents’ patience with the Energas company.

“Until a few years ago, one would say the name of this town, and what came to mind were natural beauties, the sea and fun, but Cupet has taken part of that away from us,” laments Dayamí, who agrees to tell 14ymedio what they are living with in the town, although her name was changed for fear of reprisals. “The stench of oil in the air is constant,” she adds.

In Puerto Escondido there is a plant managed by the mixed Cuban-Canadian company, Energas S.A., which is managed by the official companies Cupet and Unión Eléctrica, together with the Canadian company Sherritt. It is a raw gas processing plant and a turbine, to which is added an electrical generator with a power of 20 megawatts. The energy stability of various hotel facilities in the area depends on the latter.

“They have driven through the baseball field with concrete piles supposedly for the construction of an elevated pipeline in the air.” (14ymedio)

“This used to be a paradise, but now even the grass is dying, the lemon trees are dying and the leaves of the trees get covered with spots and stay looking as if they were burned. If that happens to the plants, imagine what will be happening to our lungs?” Complains Dayamí, 32, who has two small children, one of them, asthmatic “who is constantly having crises because one can no longer breathe clean air around here.” continue reading

Gas production from oil from the Energas plant is transferred through a pipeline between Puerto Escondido and the Boca de Jaruco plant, both of which supply manufactured gas to part of the city of Havana. At the beginning of this year, a pipeline breakdown caused a leak and left part of the Cuban capital without service. For the residents of Puerto Escondido, that kind of incident seems like a “daily occurrence,” the woman denounces.

“Some of the gas treated in the Boca de Jaruco and Puerto Escondido facilities is sent to Havana to cook food for around 280,000 families. Likewise, the Energas plants produce other fundamental components for the national economy, such as LPG, naphtha and sulfur,” Edel Andrés Alfaro Pérez, economic manager of Energas, recently strutted.

But Dayamí does not see the operation of the plant with such optimistic eyes: “People feel this stench of gas everywhere when there is a leak, but we live surrounded by that smell. When we leave here and move to other municipalities, we carry that plague with us. When I visit my mother, who lives in La Lisa, I always have to take off all my clothes and shower when I get there because I smell of burning oil.”

“As if that were not enough, what they have done in recent days is an unprecedented insult,” adds another resident of the municipality, who sent a complaint to the newsroom of 14ymedio. “They [Energas] have taken the right that nobody gave them to cross the only baseball field, where the town’s adults and children play”.

Outdoor space for practicing sports is “the only thing that exists in the town because they have never built anything in the last decades, they have not even paved the only dirt road that exists in Puerto Escondido… They have crisscrossed the baseball field with concrete piles supposedly for the construction of an elevated pipeline,” she explains, and accompanies her testimony with images where the structures that rise from the ground which will support the pipeline can be seen.

“This used to be a paradise but now even the grass is dying, the lemon trees are dying and the leaves of the trees are covered with spots.” (14ymedio)

For this local resident, it is an outrage that no one consulted the residents about the new work. “No one spoke to anyone or took the realization of said pipeline to a vote. It is disrespectful,” she stresses. “They are practically the owners of everything and they do what they want without counting on anyone, without respect for anything or anyone. They took away our clean air and now they have also damaged the ball field.”

“They have to stop this work because, in this batey*, there is nothing else for the children to have fun. We need them to be able to continue playing baseball,” claims the neighbor, whose parents and grandparents were also born in Puerto Escondido. “Here there is no park, or computer center or anything. Young people and adults enjoyed this ball field.”

It was recently announced that the Cuban Government, as part of the payment of a debt of 368 million dollars to the Canadian Sherritt, approved a 20-year extension of the contract of the mixed company Energas, until March 2043, so that the extraction of gas in Puerto Escondido it is far from being something temporary, and the residents of the town are seeing how the industrial works continue to gain ground.

“Two weeks ago, they began to extract soil and lay the foundations for these piles, they have crossed our town from one side to the other and also the ball field” details the neighbor who wrote to this newspaper. “The pipe will remain in the open air, elevated on those columns. People are afraid of accidents, leaks, and they are also very upset, sad, and humiliated.”

“Here, even the Royal Poincianas, also called flamboyán trees, are dying, because wisps of gas are constantly coming out of the [oil] plant,” explains the resident. “This was a very natural town; we had several popular campsites but most of them are already closed. Who is going to be interested now in coming to a town with the stench of oil and with a gas pipe running through it?” he asks.

*Translator’s note: Batey was the name given to a special plaza, around which the Caribbean Taíno Indians built their settlements. It was usually a rectangular area surrounded by stones with carved symbols (petroglyphs). The Batey was the area in which ceremonies, ball games, etc.) took place.

Translated by Norma Whiting
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘In the Hospital, in Las Tunas Cuba, the Light Bulbs and Even the Window Panes Have Been Stolen”

Almost all the benches in Plaza Calé have lost their slats. (Newspaper 26)

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 7 March 2023 — Based on the robberies and vandalism, the inhabitants of Las Tunas are “dismantling” the city’s public spaces. The list of “reprehensible” acts, as the official press called them this Monday, is extensive: garbage dumps, destruction of buildings, theft of furniture and corruption in state establishments.

The most alarming situation is going on at the provincial hospital, which, according to its directors, treats more than 7,000 patients daily. “The light bulbs, the screws for the window panes and the panes themselves have been stolen,” denounced Carlos Pérez Santiesteban, deputy clinical-surgical director of the center.

The people who accompany the patients take advantage of their stay in the hospital, according to the doctor, to get hold of what they find, from a piece of metal to the chair braces. To make matters worse, the doctor complains, “stretchers and wheelchairs are abused, mattresses are unprotected, food is eaten on the beds and liquids are spilled.”

Pérez, who describes the ability to control the situation as “difficult,” also regrets that people steal or destroy the installation’s switches, and that they intentionally dump waste in the corridors, bathrooms and gutters of the building. In addition, they habitually scratch the walls, smearing them with grease and damaging the paint. continue reading

According to the press, the “fury” of the people from Las Tunas has an explanation: they behave “as if they were bothered” by the good condition of public spaces. It is no longer a question of neglect, but of vandalizing what cannot be transported to homes, such as park benches or the walls of a building.

“In a bakery, for example, flour and oil are stolen and sold in the same neighborhood.” Nobody has scruples when it comes to “taking advantage” of public goods

Las Tunas, the report states, “has large bills” related to “collective property,” and attributes it to a “a training problem” to young people that later in life affects their adult behavior. However, it does not mention at any time the deficiencies and shortages – common throughout the country but exacerbated in the eastern provinces – that have triggered crime rates in Cuba, although they]se do not justify other behaviors such as dirtying and vandalizing hospital facilities.

There are people who even steal marble pieces “to make a grinder for spices and meat,” an astonished citizen of Las Tunas said.  He was recently interviewed by the official press, which also publishes photographs of the “ragged sites” of the city. Almost all the benches at the Plaza Calé are missing their slats, while the metal railings of the Colón Street bridge –whose potholes are a danger to traffic– have been sawn off and stolen.

The fence of the Hermanos Ameijeiras Airport is in the same sorry state, whose wires and poles, already damaged by rust, have been cut and “recycled” in homes.

“Everyone here ‘struggles’, cautiously states one of the interviewees in the official report. “In a bakery, for example, flour and oil are stolen and sold in the same neighborhood.” No one has scruples when it comes to “taking advantage of” public goods, it doesn’t matter if they are food or construction materials –rebar, stones, bricks– that are already part of some structure. That notion, he admits, is even “accepted.”

Another problem is the city’s state of hygiene, to which the local newspaper has referred on other occasions. The amount of garbage in the streets, the puddles of urine in squares and parks, and the fact that almost all the garbage transportation of the waste depends on horse-drawn carts – for which Community Services pays little and late – increase the population’s discomfort.

The “latest fashion,” the newspaper claims, is breaking bottles and leaving the glass shards on the streets, which are already littered with excrement, paper and potholes. At the height of the problem, the text devotes several paragraphs to giving lessons in “socialist morality” and civility to the people of Las Tunas, whose attitude cannot be explained and who will end up, he insists, by leaving only “bits and pieces” of the city.

Translated by Norma Whiting
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Infanta Street in Havana, Where all the Miseries of Cuba Come Together

“There is no other option, to fill the tank you have to get cooked over slow heat,” complains a driver who, at the stroke of noon, had already been in line for two hours.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 4 March 2023 — The sun itches, although the Lenten winds blow over Havana and ruffle the hair of passers-by. Inside a vehicle, in the long line to buy fuel at the corner of Infanta and San Rafael this Friday, the temperature is similar to what is experienced in the purgatory of May, or even a high that’s reached in the hell of August. “There is no other option, in order to fill the tank you have to get cooked over low heat,” laments a driver who at the stroke of noon had already been in line for two hours .

The cars almost touch. There’s a garish red Lada that a few years ago would have targeted its owner as a vice-minister or colonel; a tricycle to transport goods; several modern Citroëns that seem older than any almendrón* from the last century and even a taxi that demands 30 dollars to shuttle travelers who have recently arrived at the José Martí airport to the city. It doesn’t matter the year of manufacture, the state of the body, or the pedigree of the driver. They are all scorching equally under the sun.

“I no longer go around in circles. I come directly to gas stations on the main avenues, which are the best supplied ones,” the driver of a Russian-made Moskvitch with nickel-plated wheels, interior air conditioning and other amenities, though manufactured, as he admits, “in times of the CAME [Council for Mutual Economic Assistance], so it was not designed for savings,” he laments. The owner perceives the fuel supply in the city as a “see saw”: “One day they tell you that there is no problem and you can fill the tank, and the next you can only add a certain number of liters.” continue reading

It’s common for people to come to blows when the line slows down or when an employee yells that they’re out of diesel or hot dogs

In addition, several lines converge at the gas station at the popular corner of Centro Habana. The place has a small store that sells frozen products, across from it there is a property belonging to the Rápido chain, an attempt by the Cuban regime to emulate the reviled, by official discourse, McDonald’s and Subway, but it ended up capsizing due to the lack of raw materials and inflation and joined the network of regulated trade. When the day begins, in this nodal point of Centro Habana it is difficult to know who is there for a package of frozen chicken, a bag of detergent or a liter of gasoline.

The avenue, named in honor of Princess María Luisa Fernanda, youngest daughter of King Ferdinand VII and sister of Isabel II of Spain, is lacking in monarchy and has a surplus of misery. It’s common for people to come to blows when the line slows down or when an employee yells that they’re out of diesel or hot dogs. That’s when, in one of the most “royal” of Havana streets, people take off their flip-flops, shout obscenities and seem to be ready for anything. Then the March winds blow and everyone goes home.

*Translator’s note: Almendrón, from the ‘almond shape’ of the vehicles, is a term that refers to mid-20th century American cars, still plying the streets of Cuba, primarily as shared taxis for Cuban customers, and as ‘nostalgic’ tours for foreigners.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

A Wave of Bedbugs Invades Santiago de Cuba’s Schools, Hospitals, and Prisons

Smiles to the World Day Care, in Santiago de Cuba. (Facebook/Provincial Directorate of Public Health)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, Santiago de Cuba, 28 February 2023 — A source close to the health centers assured 14ymedio that the plague mainly affects the Materno Norte Tamara Bunke and Infantil Sur hospitals, traditionally known as La Colonia Española, and community polyclinics 28 de Septiembre and Camilo Torres Restrepo.

The epidemic is also found at the Rafael María Mendive Basic Secondary School facilities and the one at the Altamira neighborhood. There are also reports of concentrations of the insect at the Mar Verde prison, where overcrowded conditions enable the spread of diseases among inmates.

Without clearly confirming the presence of the epidemic, Santiago de Cuba’s Provincial Health Directorate published this Sunday on social networks that there had been an “exchange” with parents and educators of the Sonrisas al Mundo Child Care Center to discuss hygiene and sanitary measures in the fight against dengue and bedbugs, as well as to “avoid accidents.”

In the informal market, however, fipronil, a broad-spectrum insecticide, sells for more than 20 pesos per milliliter

While bed bugs spread throughout the province, state pharmacies do not have medications to combat the plague. In the informal market, however, fipronil, a broad-spectrum insecticide, sells for more than 20 pesos per milliliter. This price makes combating the insect more expensive since, in order to eradicate it, surfaces need to be fumigated repeatedly with a solution of the product. continue reading

At the beginning of February, Diario de Cuba published the case of the closure of the Otto Parellada Basic Secondary School for fumigation work due to an outbreak of bedbugs. In that case, a teacher complained about the precarious conditions in the classrooms, lacking mops, chlorine, disinfectant or water in the restrooms. There is also a lack of soap or medications for students.

Bed bugs look for small cracks in homes in order to hide, especially preferring bed mattresses. Their spread is rapid and resistant to extreme weather conditions, so in a matter of days they can infest an entire home, school or even hospitals that should have strict cleaning controls to prevent illnesses among patients.

In 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 health emergency, Santiago de Cuba was on alert for outbreaks of scabies and lice, while in 2022 the province registered figures not seen in 15 years in dengue outbreaks due to the lack of resources to combat the breeding sites of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Alfredo Cintra Guerra, responsible for surveillance and vector control in Santiago de Cuba, acknowledged last year that little can be done to control the spread of dengue due to the scarcity of resources, mainly the insecticide Abate to distribute among homes, and fuel to travel to see patients or fumigate the areas with the highest rates of infection.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Cuba: Matanzas Shipwreck Survivor is Summoned to Identify the Found Remains

Yaylin Mesa Vázquez said nine people remain missing after the shipwreck in January in Matanzas. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 23 February 2023 — Almost a month after the shipwreck, around Cayo Cruz del Padre, in the province of Matanzas, three unidentified bodies remain in the Legal Medicine facilities. This was reported on her Facebook account by Yaylin Mesa Vázquez, one of the survivors of the incident that occurred on January 23, who was summoned because “the found body of a woman appeared” to be that of her sister Yamily Triana Vázquez.

Mesa wrote last Tuesday on her social networks that she was able to “confirm” that among the clothes they showed her “are my sister’s belongings.” The young woman said that the garments were found “near a floating corpse,” something that “nobody can explain, but that’s how it was.”

The 27-year-old survivor specified that “it may be a coincidence that the found remains could be her [Yamily], but it is not yet fully confirmed.” She explained that this must require a process to “be certain” that she is her blood relative. “They have to compare everything and then it will be known if she is my sister or not.”

Yaylin has doubts that “the bones found floating in the water” are those of her sister.

“They have to compare everything and then it will be known if it is my sister or not”

Yaylin Mesa spent about 24 hours adrift until a fishing boat carrying foreign tourists rescued her, dehydrated and with sun-burned skin. Her sister, who as of now is still missing, left behind an 11-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. The family, 14ymedio learned, has been the victim of the siege and repression following the demonstrations on July 11, 2021. Yarelys, another of the sisters of the survivor, was arrested by Black Berets for participating in the protests and sentenced to seven years in prison.

The figure released by the official media was 28 shipwrecked, fewer than the 31 initially claimed by the relatives of the victims who were on the boat on January 23. According to the Cuban authorities, 11 people survived and 12 are missing.

Mesa stressed: “So far, to clarify all doubts, there are 11 survivors, 8 bodies already fully identified” and another 9 are missing.

On the last day of January, the bodies of young people Nayelis Rodríguez, 19, Kevin Medina, Tito González and Yoan Karel Almaguer Tamayo were identified on social networks by their relatives.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘The Grandchildren Law is Going to Drive Us Crazy’ Complain the Employees of the Civil Registry in Cuba

The real difficulty in small, sparsely staffed municipal offices is being able to attend to the large number of requests (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerYankiel Gutiérrez Faife, Camajuaní | 14 February 2023 — The peace of a small town like Camajuaní, in Villa Clara, is only disturbed for three reasons: partying, surprise supplies in hard currency stores and the queues at the paperwork offices. The most extensive is the one that is organized every morning in front of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Aliens, in the vicinity of the Police unit, although those of the Civil Registry and other dependencies of the Ministry of Justice have nothing to envy.

Spain’s Democratic Memory Law – called the “law of grandchildren” – triggered requests for documents and caused a deficit of stamps at the national level to which Camajuaní was no stranger. But the real difficulty in small municipal offices is being able to attend to the large number of requests that are made with very few personnel and even fewer technological resources.

Located on Raúl Torres Street, the Camajuaní Civil Registry sees applicants arrive almost at dawn. “We cannot serve everyone. There are too many orders and we can only collect ten cards per day,” explains Migdalia, one of the local workers.

Stunned by the accumulated requests, Migdalia tries to calm things down in the queue and expedite the procedures. “If they don’t suspend the ‘law for grandchildren’ soon, we’re going to go crazy or we’re going to ask for a leave. I can’t sleep without taking my nerve pills,” she laments.

The line can be organized first thing in the day or “inherited” from the night before. A calculated business of coleros and “friends” keep turns to have guaranteed entry to the office when morning comes. There are even private “guardians” who ensure order and take turns watching at dawn.

Located on Raúl Torres Street, the Camajuaní Civil Registry sees applicants arrive almost at dawn. (14ymedio)

“Lists until March 18 are already in place to collect the documents in the registry,” says Miriam, a primary school teacher who has to give all kinds of excuses at work to go out and line up. “Those of the corrections, on the other hand, are already organized until April 11.” continue reading

The uproar of the applicants is such that the neighbors have filed numerous noise complaints and, in some cases, have thrown buckets of water from the doorways of their houses during the night to dissipate the noise and be able to sleep.

In theory, all the necessary documents can be requested electronically. The Ministry of Justice provided a digital form which should facilitate the process. But the reality is quite different.

“Civil Registry forms have been available on the Ministry of Justice website for a year,” explains Yanet, a shop assistant at the nearby freely convertible currency (MLC) store. “At the time, this measure managed to speed up the process and stop the queue. However, today it’s one more obstacle. Everything is slower. What I could solve in three or four days before, now I can’t even do it in a week”, she points out.

“People are already very upset. The situation is the same in all offices. Very slow, and when they finally give you the documents, they always have errors and you have to start the process all over again. It’s a never-ending story”, complains Anabel, a housewife. “The most common justification is to say that this whole situation with the ‘grandchildren’s law’ is unforeseen, since they did not plan it. But people are not to blame for that.”

“People are already very upset. The situation is the same in all offices. Very slow, and when they finally give you the documents, they always have errors

Jamikel, a young man from Santa Clara, had to request paperwork in Camajuaní for his father, who spent a week lining up, but to no avail. He intended to request a verbatim copy of certain documents. When it was finally his turn to pick up the papers, and after a twenty-mile drive and seven-hour wait, the officials told him that he had done everything wrong and that he had to reactivate the application. His son then helped him complete the online process. “We’ll have to see if he’s got better luck this time,” says Jamikel.

In Vueltas, in a period of a month or two, they print the documents and call the interested party to mark their turn in line to pick them up. (14ymedio)

The other option the elderly and those who do not have smartphones have is to go to the Youth Computer Club of the town, where a technician will help the interested party when requesting documents. Even if the effort does not produce results, the 10 pesos fee for each request is still due and payable.

Some have suggested that the Ministry of Justice offer the option of reviewing the document in PDF format before picking it up. The applicant could then verify it and, if there is an error, request the correction by e-mail. “But no. They prefer for everything to have obstacles and to complicate everything”, says Alicia, Yanet’s partner at the MLC store.

To make matters worse, the delivery of documents follows a rigid but inefficient order: Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays are for regular processing, Wednesdays for corrections, and Thursdays for those who need documents related to agriculture. Altogether, they only deal with thirty collection requests per week, while on Wednesdays ten additional files are received for corrections, and on Thursday another ten for procedures related to agriculture, which are resolved more quickly, for a total of fifty.

“Then one has to hear Díaz-Canel talking about eliminating bureaucracy, but they create more. Everything is hypocritical and disrespectful”, Alicia insists. “It seems unbelievable that the Ministry of Justice is one of the main defaulters of delivery deadlines.”

Miriam, a woman from Santa Clara who tried to evade mistreatment and bullying at the Santa Clara Civil Registry, finds herself in a similar situation and has not been able to process a document that she has been looking for since October. “The birth registration is supposed to be in Colón, Matanzas, but that civil registry is not even in the digital application system”.

The situation of the Civil Registry offices in other towns in the province is just as precarious. Vueltas, a few kilometers from Camajuaní, is part of its jurisdiction. The workers review the procedure code, previously assigned by the website of the Ministry of Justice. Then, within a month or two, they print the documents and call the interested party to get their turn in the queue to pick them up.

As for Remedios, a neighboring municipality of Camajuaní, the stagnation is similar. Both the list to carry out the procedure as well as the list of corrections will not be complete until the month of April.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

With a New Femicide, There Have Been Ten Women Murdered in Cuba So Far This Year

The murder of Mercedes Vasallo Herrera took place in the town of Carlos Rojas, municipality of Jovellanos (Matanzas). (Mapcarta)

14ymedio bigger

14ymedio, Havana, 13 February 2023 — Mercedes Vasallo Herrera, 51, is the most recent victim of femicide in Cuba, according to the unofficial count kept by the Cuban Women’s Network. Its activists, Marthadela Tamayo and Annia Zamora, have warned of the discovery of her body this Saturday, February 11, in the town of Carlos Rojas, in Jovellanos (Matanzas).

The victim, who was found under her bed by her grandson, was killed with a knife and had a strong blow to the head, according to Tamayo’s Facebook profile. The activist has added that the alleged murderer is the husband of the victim, who has been detained by the authorities. Vasallo was buried this Sunday morning in the local cemetery.

With Vasallo, the number of femicide victims recorded so far this year in Cuba has increased to ten, a number that could be higher, since there is no official count. Last Friday, when the murder of two more women became known, the official press published an extensive note in which, among many other things, pondered if there really were more victims or if now the cases are being made known, an inexplicable inaccuracy, since the Ministry of the Interior is the only body that has strict control of all violent deaths that occur in the country. continue reading

The activist has added that the alleged murderer is the husband of the victim, who has been detained by the authorities. Vasallo was buried this Sunday morning in the local cemetery

Cuban officials have kept statistics of murders, robberies and violence of all kinds hidden for decades, preventing the importance of these problems, as well as mapping the crimes and addressing the solutions.

The associations Red Feminina de Cuba and Yo Sí Te Creo [Cuban Feminine Network and I Do Believe You] have been monitoring femicides since 2019, which is allowing these cases to be brought to light, some of which reveal gross negligence by the authorities, such as that of Neisa López, a 29-year-old, allegedly killed by a former police officer convicted of killing his wife and attacking his sister-in-law. The man was on probation, since he was a cancer patient and stabbed the young woman, who was his nurse.

The previous femicide occurred on February 3 in Camalote, Camagüey, an event that generated great commotion among Cubans due to the conditions and the escalation of violence in the province. Leidy Bacallao Santana, 17, sought refuge at the police station after threats from her ex-partner, Elesvan Hidalgo, a 50-year-old man, but he chased her and ended up killing her with a machete in the police unit.

The alarm generated by the multiple known femicides in barely a month has reactivated the request of the Women’s Network in Cuba to promote a comprehensive law against sexist violence. The group ensures that it’s essential to classify the crime or consider it as part of an aggravating circumstance, but also that there are transversal measures that involve police officers, judges, communicators, health workers or educators, in raising awareness of this specific phenomenon.

In addition, they consider that a transparent record of the victims should be kept, and solutions should also be provided for relatives, particularly minor children of the murdered individuals. In the last three years, 102 women have died as victims of male violence in Cuba.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘The Cuban Dictatorship will be Responsible for Whatever Happens to Luis Manuel’

The artist has been in jail since July 11, 2021. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 7 February 2023 — Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, prisoner at the maximum-security prison in Guanajay (Artemisa), has been on a hunger strike for seven days to demand his freedom, according to what curator Claudia Genlui published on Tuesday on her Facebook wall.

“I just spoke with Luis Manuel Otero. With a broken voice, he could barely speak. Luis has been on a hunger strike for seven days and a few days ago, he added a thirst strike,” explained Genlui, who currently resides in the United States.

“State Security once again ignores” the strike status of the leader of the San Isidro Movement, adds the activist. “Aware of the delicate state of Luis’s health, who has led several strikes in prison, they do not listen to his main demand: his freedom.”

In her text, Genlui also issued a warning: “Anything that happens to Luis Manuel is the responsibility of the dictatorship,” and questions “until when will they continue to destroy the lives of so many Cubans? until when will they continue to destroy a country that does not belong to them?” continue reading

“Aware of the delicate state of Luis’s health, who has starred in several strikes in prison, they do not listen to his main demand: his freedom”

The curator expresses her concern for the health of the artist, declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. “I fear that his body will not withstand another strike, and the consequences will be worse than the paralysis he contracted from the previous strike.”

Last June, the Attorney General of the Republic released a statement from the Popular Municipal Court of Central Havana which indicated that the sentence for Otero Alcántara was five years in prison for the crimes of insulting the symbols of the country, contempt, and public disorder.

The artist has been in jail since July 11, 2021, when he was arrested before being able to join the spontaneous anti-government protests that took place that day throughout the country.

During his time in prison, the artist has staged at least four hunger strikes. The previous one took place in March of last year. After calling off the strike, Genlui reported that Otero Alcántara was going to change his “strategy” and accept prison visits, phone calls, and supplies from abroad, something he had renounced in protest of his unjust imprisonment.

This change, the curator stated, with the artist’s lawyer as a source, “does not mean that he is changing his position regarding other things: he will not leave the country because any agent of the Cuban State wants him to, but rather when he decides.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

San Lazaro, a Havana Street that Wears Rouge and Has Cracked Balconies

Like every year around this time, it is a matter of dressing up the street so that the high-ranking figures of the government who walk through it get a different impression. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, 25 January 2023 — “They are applying rouge to San Lázaro street again,” lamented a neighbor from Centro Habana this Tuesday morning. The facades of the long avenue are being painted so that, on the night of January 27, it will house the official March of the Torches, with the presence of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

In the face of what will happen on Friday, brigades of builders have erected scaffolding, hauled paint and begun to brush on a wall without cracks or on a balcony about to collapse. As every year around this time, it is a matter of dressing up the street so that the high-ranking figures of the government who walk through it on the eve of José Martí’s birth get an impression that is very different from reality.

“I came to eat at this little tavern but it is difficult to go in because they have erected scaffolding on the door, the drops of paint fall on the clothes of the passersby,” a young woman who has seen several of “these retouching processes” explained to 14ymedio that it won’t last long “because they use poor quality paint and they don’t do it very carefully either.”  The colors are also very limited, so far, a poor palette of blues and pinks. continue reading

“I came to eat at this little tavern, but it is difficult to enter because they have put a scaffolding on the door, the drops of paint fall on the clothes of the passersby”

“It is outrageous how they are plastering the corners of the balconies that have partially detached from the buildings and then they paint them, everything is a coverup of reality, where it can be seen, but, of course, not a coat of paint or a spoonful of cement inside.”

The painting of the facades is only an advance. Before Friday, the street will be filled with a strong security operation that traditionally begins up to two days before the March at El Vedado and Centro Habana, neighborhoods where the University of Havana is located, the venue for the event that will begin around 8:30 p.m.

In recent years, the country has mourned various tragedies in the days leading up to this celebration. A tornado caused great destruction in areas of the capital in 2019, leaving eight dead, 200 injured, and more than a thousand homes destroyed. In 2020, the collapse of a balcony caused the death of three girls in Old Havana, although the government did not suspend the official act despite requests from citizens.

Looking ahead to what will happen on Friday, brigades of builders have erected scaffolding, hauled paint and begun to paint. (14ymedio)

In 2021 it was suspended due to the pandemic, and last year it became a display of the regime’s political muscle after the popular protests of July 11, 2021.

The first March of the Torches was organized on January 27, 1953 as a tribute to José Martí on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Although Fulgencio Batista’s government did not grant permission to carry it out, the students marched without the police intervening.

After 1959, the pilgrimage became a governmental act in which the ruling party participated, with the presence of the greatest leaders of the Communist Party, the University Student Federation and representatives of other political organizations of the regime.

Many young university students attend due more to pressure than conviction, although it is very common for them to make an appearance for a few minutes and then end up escaping through the streets where the caravan goes through.

Translated by Norma Whiting
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

More than 60 Percent of Cubans Arbitrarily Detained in 2022 Were Women

The leader of the opposition women’s movement Damas de Blanco, Berta Soler, has been imprisoned on several occasions by the Cuban regime. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 20 January 2023 — In 2022, Cuba reached the highest rate of women arbitrarily detained in the last four years. The figure is documented by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) in its latest report, published this Thursday, in which they attest to more than 5,500 repressive actions by the regime as of the end of the year.

Last year, the repression of the Díaz-Canel government was consolidated and even went further, adds the OCDH in its report, against sectors of the population traditionally not linked to politics.  Imprisonment and exile continue to be a predominant pattern practiced by the regime against dissident voices, while police summonses, threats, and detentions in homes continue.

The organization has recorded that, throughout 2022, Cuban authorities carried out 1,354 arbitrary arrests, of which 832 correspond to women and represent 61.4%, the highest figure since 2018.

The organization has recorded that, throughout 2022, Cuban authorities carried out 1,354 arbitrary detentions, of which 832 correspond to women

There were 1,447 documented detentions of activists, opponents, or relatives of prisoners in their homes, and  harassment against the independent press continued as well, with at least 697 repressive actions against journalists who suffered threats, surveillance, subpoenas and restrictions on mobile data and telephony. continue reading

Similarly, the report denounces that at the end of 2022 there are 976 political or prisoners of conscience jailed in Cuban prisons, the majority for participating in the massive protests of July 11, 2021 and other subsequent expressions of discontent, such as in the city of Nuevitas in August 2022. The Government applies the crime of sedition to prosecute the demonstrators, with sentences that average 10 years of imprisonment.

The Observatory reports that, despite multiple calls to the international community to intervene and verify the Cuban prison system, the Government maintains restricted access for agencies to its 293 centers, which have the highest prison population per capita in Latin America, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Approximately 72% of the Cuban population lives on the threshold of extreme poverty, and eight out of 10 cannot get medicines in pharmacies

The OCDH details that social indicators have deteriorated due to the deep economic crisis Cuba is experiencing, with a general shortage of food and basic necessities. This has led to 72% of the Cuban population living on the threshold of extreme poverty, and eight out of 10 unable to get medicines in pharmacies, according to the fifth report on the State of social rights published in October of 2022.

In its statement, the Observatory reiterates its call on governments and international organizations to “redouble” their support for activists and civil society in Cuba.  It also calls for programs of cooperation with the government to be conditional on “real progress in terms of democracy, human rights and economic freedoms” in addition to the elimination of the new Penal Code.

Similarly, the organization recommends continuing with sanctions against human rights violators under the principles of the Magnitsky Act and other accountability programs in the United States, the European Union and other countries.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Cuba Investigates the Deaths of Eight Premature Babies at the Diez de Octubre Hospital in Havana

The deaths occurred starting January 11, that is, in just five days. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 January 2023 — Eight premature and low-weight babies have died so far in January at the Diez de Octubre Gynecological and Obstetric Hospital in Havana, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Monday.

Four of these newborn children died “since this past January 11th with presumptive signs of sepsis and the rest, of other causes related to the delicate state of their health,” according to the note released by the official press.

The Ministry assures that, in the hospital where the deaths were registered, “measures have been adopted to deal with this situation, and that it has the necessary resources to care for newborns,” although it has not specified what those resources consist of.

The Ministry assures that “measures have been adopted to deal with this situation, and that the necessary resources are available to care for newborns”, although it has not specified what they consist of

He also noted that a National Health Commission is currently investigating the causes of deaths and “based on the results, the pertinent measures will be taken.”

The event took place a few days after Cuba’s infant mortality data was released, which is bad again. The rate recovered only one tenth, compared to the very bad data for 2021, which was 7.6 deaths per 100,000, and stood at 7.5 in the year just ended.

The worsening of the infant mortality rate has been fast. Cuba exhibited some of the best data on the American continent until 2020, when the rate was 4.9 per 100,000, although the best figures come from 2017 and 2018, when it was only 4.0. continue reading

Compared to those years, the rate increased by 92% in 2021, when the authorities attributed the data mostly to the pandemic, both due to direct and collateral effects.

In addition, some provinces have data that is at the level of some countries such as El Salvador or Mexico. This is the case of Mayabeque, with 12.2 deaths per 100,000 births, Santiago de Cuba with 9.9, Guantánamo with 9.7, Havana with 9.5 and Camagüey, with 9.1.

The main causes of deaths have been perinatal conditions, mainly related to low birth weight, prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation, in addition to congenital malformations and sepsis.

Some doctors have warned that PAMI has lost priority over the years, partly due to the drop in funds allocated to it, but also due to the loss of many professionals

Some doctors have warned that the Maternal and Child Care Program (PAMI) has lost priority over the years, partly due to the drop in funds allocated to it, but also due to the loss of many medical professionals, who have been leaving medicine in recent years due to low wages and high work demands.

In 2021, two babies died in Guantánamo and two had to be admitted in critical condition after receiving treatment with Ampicillin in the neonatology service of the Dr. Agostinho Neto General Teaching Hospital.

In December 2021 there was also a case similar to the one now in Diez de Octubre, when two newborns died at a Havana hospital “despite receiving the maximum care,” according to the Havana Tribune. Although a report on what happened was announced, its contents did not change public opinion.

The news has generated a multitude of reactions among the readers of the official press, which call attention to the precariousness of the National Health System. Some of them point to the general malnutrition of the population, but also the lack of sterilization in hospitals and the shortage of medicines.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.