Almost 500,000 Migrants Have Crossed the Darien Jungle So Far This Year, Twice As Many as in All of 2022

Migrants cross the Turquesa River, in the Darién Jungle (Panama), in an archive photograph. (EFE/Bienvenido Velasco)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Bogota, December 1, 2023 — Almost 500,000 migrants have crossed the Darién Jungle region on the border between Colombia and Panama, one of the most used and dangerous routes in the journey of these people on their trip to the United States, Médicos Sin Fronteras (MSF) revealed this Thursday.

According to this organization, the number of migrants who have crossed the 60 miles of “wild nature on horseback” of the Darién Gap is about to exceed 500,000 so far in 2023, a figure much higher than that of 248,000 in all of 2022 and 133,000 in 2021.

“The number of migrants who have crossed the jungle is equivalent to more than 11% of Panama’s population. This is an unprecedented crisis to which not enough global or regional attention has been paid,” said the general coordinator of MSF for Colombia and Panama, Luis Eguiluz.

He added that “safe routes have not been guaranteed to migrants, nor sufficient resources for the organizations that serve them.” continue reading

According to MSF, in addition to the natural difficulties of crossing the jungle, migrants are also exposed to attacks, robberies, kidnappings and sexual violence; this organization has treated 397 survivors of sexual violence – 107 in October alone – including children.

We are crossing the jungle looking for a better future, not to die. A snake doesn’t end your life; it’s the men who rape and kill you 

“How do you survive five rapes?” asks a Venezuelan woman crying, who told MSF that she left her country for economic reasons.

“We are crossing the jungle looking for a better future, not to die. A snake doesn’t end your life; it’s the men who rape and kill you,” she added.

Ninety-five percent of the victims of sexual violence treated by MSF were women, and those who tried to defend them were attacked and even killed.

“What we have evidenced and heard from them is that those who transit through the Americas are exposed to a situation of extreme vulnerability: hunger, absence of shelter and water sources, excessive charges, disinformation and scams, xenophobia and physical, psychological and sexual violence,” Eguiluz said.

The torture of the migrants, according to Eguiluz, starts long before the migrants reach the Darién jungle, “even if it is there where it becomes evident.”

“From Peru I took a bus to Huaquillas (a city in Ecuador on the border with Peru). There some men took 10 migrants and stole all their money, and the women were undressed. They took the phones too and said that if we talked, they would kill us. They were carrying knives and guns,” says David Fuentes, a Colombian-Venezuelan migrant.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Since Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, Cuba Pays Three Times More for a Ton of Grain

In the case of Sancti Spíritus, 28.4 tons of flour are needed daily to produce the standard bread, but only 24 tons are being received. (Escambray)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2023 — The directors of the Sancti Spíritus Food Industry Company complained on Wednesday that what they call “the war between Russia and Ukraine” has triggered the price of wheat imported by Cuba. Each ton of flour costs the country 13 million pesos, they explained, three times more than what it used to pay before the invasion decreed by Vladimir Putin. In the province, the solution to save raw material has been drastic: reduce the size of the bread rolls.

Before the war, COVID-19 had already made the price of bread more expensive, causing a season of shortages on the tables from which the citizens have not been able to recover. A ton of wheat, which the country buys and processes in its mills because it’s cheaper than importing flour, is enough to satisfy 12 days of national production. In the case of Sancti Spíritus, 28.4 tons of flour are needed daily to produce standard bread, but only 24 are being received.

What the leaders themselves call a “small ball” (a roll) of rationed bread has had to be made smaller. The approximately 3.5 ounces that each bread roll weighed has now become 2 ounces. The good news, if there is one, is that the price has also dropped: it costs 25 centavos less, explained the director of the Food Industry in the province, Víctor Díaz Acosta. continue reading

Díaz Acosta also regretted that, since he subsidizes almost 50% of the production cost of standard bread – about 1.40 pesos – his company registers a loss of between three and four million pesos each month, partly compensated by the profits of the “released [unrationed] sale.” The leader admitted, during an interview with the newspaper Escambray, that he is no stranger to the second problem of bread, in addition to the shortage of wheat: its quality.

The debacle of bread production is so alarming in Cuba, that the official press itself has analyzed on several occasions the possible ways to solve it, without ever finding a satisfactory method

This is influenced by the baker, the technical state of the equipment, the quality of the raw material and the blackouts that interrupt the cooking process, which is basically done with electricity, he explained.

However, the provincial section of the Food Industry in Sancti Spíritus has no losses, Díaz Acosta said. It is saved by its alliance with the “new economic actors” (the private sector), which allows it to make other products: a baguette that is sold in state establishments at 75 pesos and dough for pizzas and breadsticks.

In that way, the leader explained, Sancti Spíritus saves the country 39 million pesos. It is the only entity of its kind in the country that can boast of a contribution of that caliber, despite the U.S. blockade and the thousand and one shortages that threaten the “socialist state company,” Díaz Acosta said.

The official also recognizes that, while state production hangs by a thread, the private sector continues to offer bread to their customers, against all odds; of course, at prohibitive prices for most people in the province. This situation does not bother Díaz Acosta, who pragmatically affirms that “it is better to have the availability than not.”

The debacle of bread production is so alarming in Cuba that the official press itself has analyzed on several occasions the possible ways to solve it, without ever finding a satisfactory method. Each new article becomes obsolete in a few weeks, because inflation does not take long to raise the price bar a little more. So much so that many Cubans can no longer afford goods like eggs or meat, which threaten to become luxury items.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Sancti Spíritus have become accustomed to the “original” solutions of the food industry company, which at the end of last year – in the midst of the umpteenth wheat crisis – had consented to bakeries using up to 20% of rice-husk residue to make bread. The end-of-the-year bread will not be as hard and sour as then, but nor will it serve to kill hunger.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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 Refinery and Police Fines, the Main Sources of Income in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Cienfuegos Refinery. (5 de septiembre)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, December 7, 2023 — The government of Cienfuegos has the province’s refinery to thank for more than 8.6 billion pesos in sales during the first half of 2023, 43.8% of all the money generated that year (about 20 billion). The data, one of the many that give the measure of the economic imbalance of Cienfuegos, appeared in the extensive accountability report that the provincial authorities published this Wednesday.

On the other hand, there was not a word about the 706,293 cubic feet per month of stone that the province uprooted from its El Cuero and Arriete quarries to send by boat for the 907 miles of ballast for the Maya Train, which will connect the main tourist cities of the Yucatan peninsula, in Mexico. It was a secret state agreement between the two leaders, Díaz-Canel and López Obrador, and the funds were sent directly to Havana.

The document covers all of 2022 and the first half of 2023. Dozens of meetings, hundreds of agreements and resolutions, and multiple debates demonstrate, according to the authorities, the seriousness of their work, even under two great challenges: blackouts and the “increase in political-ideological subversion.”

The refinery, subjected to repairs that ended last November, also led sales in 2022, when it was responsible for an even higher figure: of the 41,207 million pesos contributed by Cienfuegos to the State coffers, 24,284 million – 58% – came from the refinery. continue reading

Dozens of meetings, hundreds of agreements and resolutions, and multiple debates demonstrate, according to the authorities, the seriousness of their work

Despite the prominence of the factory, in whose port oil tankers with crude oil from Venezuela and Mexico dock, the provincial government refrains from offering other details on the subject in its report. “Without the refinery” – an expression that the text repeats to illustrate how bad the province would be if it did not have its services – the panorama is regrettable: from January to June, 27 state companies failed to meet the targets of their plans and delivered minimum profits.

The rest of the items are in the same situation: the province’s companies employ only 34,560 people, who recieve an average salary of 4,600 pesos per month. Between a rock and a hard place, the workers let the leaders know – and this is stated in the report – their problems: the deficit of inputs and raw materials, the breakage or lack of maintenance of the equipment, the poor quality of the tobacco in the province and the restrictions on the sale of the sugar that is manufactured (the government did not approve the sale of 5% of what was produced at a subsidized price, as the companies had requested).

As for the blackouts, the leaders said, the salvation was again the refinery: “The crude oil was productive,” they celebrated. Hence, the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant is “the most stable and efficient in the country.”

The strategy to get out of the debt hole?: “Charge” all the companies that owe them money

However, Cienfuegos owed the State 712,853 million pesos last June. The strategy to get out of the debt hole?: “Charge” all the companies that owe them money and think about what “potentialities” of the province can be exploited to oxygenate their income. In that plan, the police are a powerful ally: their “effectiveness” in the collection of fines – of 97.7%, they calculate – has recovered more than 1 billion pesos.

But the debacle of the province cannot be expressed only in numbers. The provincial government admits that it has received a barrage of requests, suggestions and complaints, although it does not have the means to resolve the situation. It is eloquent, for example, in the case of doctor’s offices. About 18 consultations must offer their services with “extended hours,” and patients do not stop complaining about the lack of “permanence of the doctor and the nurse.”

In the first half of this year, 11 children under age one died, which raised the infant mortality rate in the province to 8.3 per 1,000 live births. At the other end, it was detected that 9,641 elderly people in the province live alone. The so-called Grandparents’ Houses of several municipalities are already overflowing, and there is a lack of wheelchairs and hospital beds to guarantee a tolerable old age.

The situation of medicines is alarming: 196 are lacking, especially in hospitals where they are most used and in rural areas, where the distribution truck rarely arrives. The solution: to resort to “natural and traditional medicine,” whose plan targets, they say, are fulfilled by 105% in the cities and 143% in the countryside.

The authorities close the report with a detailed epigraph on “social illegalities and indisciplines,” in addition to supporting the police in “confronting crime and corruption.” The big problems, they say, are the “theft of livestock” and the illegal marketing of meat and other foods. In the crosshairs are Palmira and Rodas, two municipalities where criminals are active. But there is no need to worry, they emphasize, because soon there will be not only a “strengthening of investigations” but also an increase in the severity of convictions.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Russian Mir Cards Give an ‘Error’ Message at the Store Where the Central Bank of Cuba Did the Tests

As indicated by the entrance sign, one can also pay with Visa, Mastercard or in hard currency (MLC). (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2023 — “Error.” That word, appearing this Wednesday on the payment terminal screens at the Casa del Café Mamá Inés in Old Havana, destroys the illusions of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) about the effectiveness of the Russian Mir cards. Despite its commitment to the officials of the Russian National Card Payment System who visited this store belonging to the Caracol state group yesterday, electronic payment, according to its own employees, “is not working.”

“The cards are implemented,” clarifies an employee of Mamá Inés to 14ymedio. “The problem is that, when you pass them, they give an error.” Excited about the premiere of the Mir cards, the BCC authorities published photographs of the Russian envoys, whose “purchase actions” were “satisfactory” and culminated their visit by placing, on the door of the premises, the sticker that indicates that one can now pay with Russian cards.

“Mamá Inés does not accept cash rubles, only Russian tourist cards. Not as many people come as they would like, but they do come,” explains the worker. However, the employee acknowledges, unless the Cuban trying to us the Mir system has a bank account opened in Russia, the card doesn’t work.

As indicated by the entrance sign, a customer can also pay with Visa, Mastercard or in freely convertible currency (MLC). The only thing that has been banished in Mamá Inés – managed by a franchise of the Island’s military – is the Cuban peso. continue reading

Mama Inés does not accept rubles in cash, only Russian tourist cards. Not as many people come as they would like, but they do come 

What none of the employees of the Casa del Café has been able to determine is whether the failure that affects the Mir is general. The precariousness of the Internet connection, the blackouts and the slowness of electronic processes on the Island make every digital payment a nightmare. However, no foreign card has the political caliber of the Mir, in whose effective operation Havana plays one of the essential points of its alliance with Moscow: the digitization of the market, an indispensable step to better control it.

Decorated with photos of Ernesto Che Guevara, with shelves full of bottles of Cuban rum and some cartoonish images of a matriarch with a tray of cups and a coffee pot held above her head, the place includes all the stereotypes that have been used in Cuba for decades to widen the eyes of tourists. But, in addition to the clichés, this Wednesday’s customers were looking for realities.

El Galeón, a tobacco and coffee shop next to Mamá Inés, attests to this. A security agent, outside the establishment, prevents the passage of customers. As in the Casa del Café, there one can also pay with Russian cards, and a Cuban Television team is filming a report about the place.

There is no reason for Mir to be the exception to the disastrous panorama of electronic payment on the Island. It is common that, when using a Visa card issued by a European or American bank, customers are faced with the same error sign in the payment terminals. The Island’s bad connections prevents the purchase information from reaching the bank via the Internet, and it is common for devices to block the transaction for security reasons.

The Mir signal, which must travel over 6,200 miles from the tropics to Russia, is less likely to arrive than the signal of other cards, until Cuba has a less precarious telecommunications technology.

Whatever the reason, something is clear: Cuba is not ready for payment with Mir cards, and its infrastructure is not up to the aspirations of the authorities. The ideological vicinity of Havana and Moscow does not accelerate the speed of the transactions, which, at the moment of truth, are as slow as those activated with the “enemy” cards.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

____________

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.

Patients Go Through an Ordeal To Be Treated in the Calamitous Cuban Hospitals

A doctor working without light, in a polyclinic in Centro Habana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Olea Gallardo, Havana, November 30, 2023 — The bursting into tears last Monday of Dr. Yoandra Quesada de Bayamo (Granma), who is being tried along with five other colleagues for the death of a 23-year-old patient, is nothing but the vivid image of what remains of healthcare in Cuba, the eternal jewel in the crown for revolutionary propaganda.

What the surgeon said to the journalist Ernesto Morales – “all your colleagues leave, you are working alone and without materials, exposed to being killed one day by a desperate relative” – is verified daily by any Cuban who steps into a healthcare center. The situation of primary services is especially dramatic.

“There are no syringes, there are no reagents for the tests, there are no nozzles to give aerosol, there are no esfigmos [sphygmomanometers] to take blood pressure.” Aleida, who unravels this litany, is still young, but she is beginning to have problems with hypertension, a condition that leads to the number one cause of death on the Island. continue reading

“One day when I arrived at the hospital with high blood pressure, they wanted to give me oxygen, but there were no mouthpieces, so the doctor gave me the hose and said: ’don’t put it in your mouth, put it close, so that you feel the oxygen.’” Aleida couldn’t do it, because of the stench that the instrument gave off and out of shame. “I took it and told him: look, this doesn’t smell good. But in addition, I felt ridiculous, with that oxygen escaping everywhere.”

That day, she was lucky, because she usually has to walk miles and make a pilgrimage through several centers before finding one where a device to measure blood pressure is available. “The first time I went to the polyclinic near my house, where there were no esfigmos anywhere, the doctor told me: I can’t take your pressure, little girl, but come and sit here, the only thing I can give you is a long talk.’”

There are no syringes, there are no reagents for the analyses, there are no nozzles to give aerosol, there are no sphygmomanometers to take blood pressure

Who does have sphygmomanometers? “Foreign residents often have them and are always given a more pleasant treatment than Cubans by the way,” says Aleida. Faced with the exodus of specialists, outside the Island or to other jobs that provide them with better salaries, the Government tries to solve the lack of labor with exchange students, who cover the emergency rooms.

Luis, who is only 40, is frightened. He has been urinating blood for a few weeks and still doesn’t have the results of the tests he was finally encouraged to do. He was unsuccessful the first time he went to the hospital because “they didn’t have reagents,” but they did the second time. “But then I had to bring the syringe myself because they didn’t have them either.” Now he waits anxiously for an appointment with a specialist: in eight months.

Mild diseases and once-luxurious centers are not spared from the debacle. The 19 de Abril polyclinic, in Nuevo Vedado, for example, the favorite place to take foreign visitors on an official trip to the Island, has serious infrastructure problems.

“There are cracks at a 45-degree angle on several important walls, even cracks that can be seen on both sides of a window,” observes Juan, who for many years dedicated himself to construction and recently had to go to that health center for rehabilitation due to a dislocation. “The building was built during the Revolution, so it is no more than 65 years old.”

The wave of indignation over the trial of the six doctors of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes hospital accused of negligence not only made the Ministry of Public Health react, which had to clarify that the process is carried out “with adherence to the guarantees established in the laws,” but continues to have echoes.

In the face of the exodus of specialists, the Government tries to solve the lack of manpower with exchange students, who cover the emergency rooms

Thus, in the midst of the controversy, the Communist Party of Cuba in Granma province decided this Wednesday to dismiss its first secretary, Yanaisi Capó Nápoles, and to put in Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló instead. The official press did not detail the reasons and highlighted Ortiz Barceló, who comes from being a member of the Executive Bureau to “attend to ideological political activity” in the Provincial Committee of the PCC in Santiago de Cuba.

This Wednesday, four doctors residing abroad signed a harsh letter addressed to José Ángel Portal Miranda, Minister of Health, in which they sympathize with the doctors “unjustly accused.” The letter, signed by Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre, Arnoldo de la Cruz Bañoble, Sergio Barbolla Verdecia and Jorge David Yaugel, describes what happened in Bayamo as a “national shame.”

“The accusers should point out those really responsible for that death. These doctors are also victims of the conflict between their professional commitment and the impossibility of succeeding in the conditions in which they are forced to treat their patients,” the doctors said in the text. “The ones responsible for diverting the resources provided by the medical brigades” are the ones who should appear before the courts.

The regime has received “billions of dollars” in the last decade, money that “has not been invested in the Cuban health system as was argued at the time to justify the arbitrary deduction of between 70% and 90% of the salaries* of the brigade members during all these years.” With this, they continue, “there would have been more to keep the health system in optimal conditions and pay decent wages to professionals in the sector.”

These doctors are also victims of the conflict between their professional commitment and the impossibility of succeeding in the conditions in which they are forced to treat their patients

Among their demands is that from now on they pay health workers “the full salary when we go out to provide services to other countries and not just give us a minimum stipend from it,” as well as an “immediate” salary increase for all those who work in the health system.

They also commented on the case of Amelia Calzadilla, who from Spain, where she managed to escape a little more than two weeks ago, asks doctors to refuse to work in such terrible conditions.

She is not the only one who thinks like that on the Island. “The situation requires a general strike, but if you say this in public they’ll put me in prison.” The woman, who doesn’t want to be more precise, predicts: “One day everything will stop working; the doctors will not go to the hospital to work; the teachers will not go to school; the ration-store shopkeepers will not take care of the ration stores; and then the system will collapse. Because if there’s nothing anywhere, what’s the point of all this?”

*Translator’s note: Cuban medical personnel serving on ’brigades’ or ’missions’ in foreign countries are paid a very small percentage of what those countries pay Cuba for their services.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Azcuba Invokes a Confusing ‘Business Model’ To Avoid Another Disastrous Sugar Harvest

The 14 de Julio sugar mill, in Cienfuegos, is one of the few that currently meets the forecasts. (ACN)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 1 December 2023 — After the “small but more efficient” harvest of 2023, a new edition will begin next week, which will be “superior to the previous one.” This is how Julio García Pérez, director of Azcuba, defined the production scheduled for 2024 this Thursday on the Cuban State Television program Mesa Redonda [Round Table], in the face of the skepticism of a population already accustomed to the collapse of the results year after year.

This year the sugarcane will be ground in 25 sugar mills. Twenty-three of them begin in December, and the other two will be added later, since “the boiler pipes have not yet arrived in Cuba. They are financed, but the funds are held in a bank, subject to agency inspections, due to the restrictions of the blockade,” said García Pérez, who did not dare to offer an official forecast of the number of tons projected for this year.

Although “the blockade” was among the reasons cited as “external” by the manager, there was a list of internal culprits this time. Excessive burning of cane, sugar quality problems, poor business management – “under the same conditions, some companies and cooperatives maintain acceptable production levels and others decrease” – and the lack of control over crime were the causes accepted as their own by the state monopoly. continue reading

García Pérez assumed, as it could not be otherwise, the failure of last year, with a shortcoming of 30,000 tons of the forecasts

García Pérez assumed, as it could not be otherwise, the failure of last year, with a shortcoming of 30,000 tons of the forecasts, so that it was also not possible to cover exports, “affecting very serious commitments,” he stressed, nor to provide energy to the National Electricity System. In addition, the departure of workers to the private sector or from the country reduced the workforce by 10%.

The manager also referred to two serious problems that affect production: illegalities, which will be tackled with more video surveillance, and the land, of which only 60% of the 579 square miles destined for cane is sown, the rest lying fallow due to soil preparation problems.

How it is planned to remedy such a painful situation remained a mystery, despite dedicating more than an hour to the interview. “Among the main strategies to advance in the sector, the approval of a new business model stands out, which allows 84% of the foreign currency to buy inputs for cane, such as herbicides and fertilizers,” said the director, but viewers were left without knowing how such a feat will be achieved.

From the “new business model,” to which they have already referred on previous occasions without further details, it is known that the approval to produce wine and rum is part of it, especially for the sugar mills that aren’t able to produce sugar, but it is not known if exporting that production would guarantee hard currency. Yes, the rum would, but not in the desired amount.

Among the options to improve the harvest, “foreign investment will be essential,” the manager added, since the business portfolio contemplates 16 opportunities. “We have approved foreign investment negotiation directives. In that sense, we are linked to the BRIC countries that are traditional sugar producers and contribute to the sector with modern technology – mainly India, Brazil and China,” said García Pérez.

His optimism, in this sense, is not convincing. The portfolio, presented at the International Fair of Havana, contains about 700 proposals each year, of which only about 30 are approved (mostly in the food and tourism sectors) and which, when they prosper, do so very slowly, which at best could take years.

As novelties, Azcuba pointed out that 14 mills will grind sugarcane that is planted at some distance, due to the need to replant closer to the mill

s novelties, Azcuba pointed out that 14 sugar mills will grind sugarcane that is planted at some distance, due to the need to replant closer to the mill. The mere mention already advances an excuse for the foreseeable bad data of the 2024 harvest: the shortage of fuel will have prevented that transporting of the cane to more than half the mills.

Another issue that left viewers wondering was the mention of the State’s debt to the farmers. “A business model was designed,” said García Pérez, dating back to 2022, “that at first had a debt to the farmers of 2 billion pesos.” The manager said that “products were introduced into the value chain, and a special tax emerged that does not affect the retail price of the products.” And so he settled an issue as worrying as how much the account currently amounts to and how those novelties will change it, which was not clarified.

For the new sugar harvest, seven tons of rice are needed, which must be delivered by national companies, García Pérez said, also leaving doubt as to whether it referred to food for employees. “That’s the way not to represent a burden for the country,” he said. Where he did clarify that efforts are made to retain workers is in the construction of homes, which “allows a different well-being for the sugar company.” Retaining young people is essential, he insisted and spoke of how many new graduates are entering the sector or have been promoted within it.

“We know that an economic recovery of the country happens through the contribution of the sugar sector,” he concluded. A gloomy omen, because if – as does not escape anyone – sugar largely marks the prosperity of the Island, the results of recent years speak for themselves.

In 2022-2023, barely 350,000 tons of sugar were reached, according to the data provided by Homero Acosta Álvarez, secretary of the National Assembly and the Council of State, and derived from a sector report. This amount is far from both the amount destined for national consumption, placed at 500,000 tons, and from the export commitments of 411,000 tons.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

After Warnings From the United States, Aruba Airlines Cancels Its Flights Between Cuba and Nicaragua

Although Aruba Airlines has not issued any official statement, travel agencies no longer market their route between Havana and Managua. (@ArubaAirlines)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 1 December 2023 — Following the warning from the United States about the sanctions it will impose on airlines that encourage the migration of Cubans through Nicaragua, Aruba Airlines suspended its connection between Havana and Managua. The company, from the Venezuelan capital, was one of the only two – along with Conviasa – that maintained flights between the two countries after other airlines, such as Air Century and Sky High canceled their routes.

Although Aruba Airlines has not issued any official statement, a journalist from the Telemundo news channel said on Wednesday that travel agencies that marketed flights on the company’s planes stopped offering the tickets corresponding to the Cuba-Nicaragua connection. As they explained, only those who had already bought their tickets before the cancellation of the route will be able to travel.

Except for companies that make flights between Managua and Havana with a stopover in a third country, such as the Mexican Viva Aerobus or Aeroméxico, Conviasa is the only one that has ignored the U.S. warning and continues to maintain flight frequencies between the two countries. continue reading

On November 21, the United States Government announced that it would impose a visa restriction policy

On November 21, the United States Government announced that, in order to control the entry of Cubans through its border with Mexico, it would impose a visa restriction policy on owners and senior officials of airlines that operate charter flights between Cuba and Nicaragua, the first step in a long trajectory that has become a lucrative business for both the regimes of the region and for human traffickers.

According to the Department of State, these airlines have been selling tickets at “extortionate” prices (up to $4,000 per person for a trip from Havana to Managua) to migrants who lack legal conditions to enter or stay in U.S. territory – the goal of their trip – and who, many times, end up facing deportation processes.

Three days after the announcement, several airlines connecting Cuba with Nicaragua began to suspend their charter flights. This is the case of Air Century and Sky High, which canceled all the operations that were scheduled for the coming months.

A month earlier, the Government of Haiti had reported the ban on flights between Port-au-Prince and Managua, a common route among Haitians who, like Cubans, intend to reach the United States. It is not known, however, if there were secret negotiations between Washington and the Haitian authorities to stop the flow of migrants.

On the other hand, the Cuban ambassador to Russia, Julio Garmendia, reported on Thursday that there is an agreement between the two countries to establish a route between St. Petersburg and Cayo Coco (Ciego de Ávila), as well as between Havana and Moscow, at the end of the year.

“At the end of December it is planned to resume Aeroflot’s direct trips, carried out by the Rossiya airline, between the capitals of both countries, as well as one every ten days from St. Petersburg to Cayo Coco,” he said.

The diplomat’s announcement responds to the agreement between Havana and Moscow to boost Russian tourism on the Island

The diplomat’s announcement responds to the agreement between Havana and Moscow to boost Russian tourism on the Island, which so far has not yielded all the fruits that both governments expected.

For its part, the Spanish company Iberojet will stop flying to Havana in 2024. As confirmed by an employee of the company to 14ymedio, they will have no connection with the Island from next January 15, and they do not know when they will resume operations. However, they will open two routes to Santa Clara, the same source explained, from Madrid and from Lisbon, but “beginning next summer.”

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Putin’s Adviser for Cuba Calls for More Digitization So That Private Companies Pay Taxes

Titov reported that he was still “waiting for a response” from the “Government of the Republic of Cuba” to his proposals. (Cinemaplex.ru)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 29 November 2023 — Businessman Boris Titov, president of the Russia-Cuba Business Council and interpreter of the Kremlin’s will for business with Havana, recommended on Tuesday to the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) to accelerate the “digitalization of relations” between private companies and the State. The adviser argued that, “according to various estimates,” between 50% and 70% of the Island’s private businesses operate “in the shadows,” cheating the authorities; hence, the creation of a “more manageable” tax service is indispensable.

As usual, Titov started from the Russian experience after the fall of the Soviet Union to illustrate the need for new rules in the Cuban economic game. “The path we propose is the gradual introduction of market relations. Allow private companies to freely set prices in national currency,” he summarized. According to the businessman, the result will be a temporary – and probably disproportionate – increase in prices, but, in the long run, the black market will be mortally wounded thanks to “legal” competition.

Titov invited the directors of the BCC and the Island’s tax institutions, who met with him for a “round table” to fully enter a phase of “market reform,” whose cornerstone is the development of private companies. In that project – one of the fundamental steps of its usual list of recommendations to Havana – the Island will have to count on the advice of Russia. continue reading

Titov invited the directors of the BCC and the Island’s tax institutions to fully enter a phase of “market reform”

It is the Russian “digital superservice,” which only an ally with the necessary technological development can provide, and the key to reform, said Titov. Moscow’s “expansion of activities” will prevent the process from excessively benefiting private companies and will operate in response to one of the Government’s top concerns: “maintaining state control over strategic areas,” he admitted.

If private initiative is developed and multiplied, in the long run the BCC will be able to increase its profits “through the expansion of the tax base (taxes).” But, at the moment, taxes cannot be raised until private companies have the financial strength to pay them.

The “superservice” offered by Russia consists of three elements: electronic records, electronic reports and online cash registers. Through the registration – “where everything should begin” – the Government will make a map of the “real structure of the economy” and draw up plans to better manage it. There can be no private companies outside the system, because the registry will give access to other indispensable services, without which it will be impossible to operate properly.

For this, Titov insisted, technology is needed. Hence, Havana and Moscow are considering “creating a new special bank to serve the private companies (possibly together with a Russian partner).” Business owners’ problems in accessing loans, as well as taxes and other obstacles to their development, will be solved if there is a bank that serves them as a priority, he argued.

However, he warned, Cuba will continue to need “a different macroeconomic regulation,” which includes reforms in “exchange rate issues and established salary levels,” about which he did not want to go into details.

Cuba will continue to need “different macroeconomic regulation,” which includes reforms in “exchange rate issues and established salary levels

No agreement came out of the meeting. Titov reported that he was still “waiting for a response” from the “Government of the Republic of Cuba,” and that later more details of the “digital superservice” that Moscow plans to implement on the Island would be revealed.

Since last January, the rapprochement between Moscow and Havana has had ups and downs. Although at the beginning of the year the process seemed to go at full speed – Titov himself, in addition to senior Russian officials, appeared in the official press more often – the Island has taken with calm everything that sounds like profound reform. Diplomatic and military approaches have been of more interest to the Cuban authorities, although the information that several Cuban mercenaries were fighting on the Russian side during the invasion of Ukraine again slowed the conversation between both parties.

However, last Saturday the official press announced that the “technological deployment” for the use of Russian MIR cards throughout the Island was ready. The tourist facilities of Havana, Varadero and the Cayería Norte of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey – though not those of Villa Clara – already have this possibility, reported the Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos García Granda.

“The Russian payment system will favor the transactions of tourists and businessmen from Russia on the Island. Likewise, it can become an alternative to circumvent the implications of blockades and sanctions and will consolidate its commercial ties in sectors such as energy,” celebrated the article in Cubadebate, which was soon filled with comments from readers with the same concern: “The Russians have never been faithful to Cuba. Not even to themselves.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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 State Looks to the Private Sector To Repair Hospitals

The Doctor Antonio Luaces Iraola Pediatric Hospital respiratory disease ward will be renovated. (Ecured)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, November 28, 2023 — Two private enterprises from Ciego de Ávila will be in charge of repairing the ward for patients with respiratory diseases at the Doctor Antonio Luaces Iraola Pediatric Hospital. The official press, which spread the news on Tuesday, did not explain if the choice of private over State companies is due to the lack of the regime’s resources to restore its own hospitals.

According to the report from the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the restoration work has been taken over by two private companies in the provincial capital, Carnes D’Tres and El Jan, “as part of their contributions to economic and social development.”

The first, dedicated to food, is in charge of financing the works, and the second, whose social purpose is construction, of executing them. continue reading

The first company, dedicated to food, is in charge of financing the works, and the second, whose social purpose is construction, of executing them

The Respiratory Ward, as it is called in Cuba, is located on the top floor of the hospital, and the rain that seeped through the roof affected the infrastructure and caused the deterioration of medical equipment needed for the care of patients who must remain hospitalized for long periods of time.

Infants who suffer from risky diseases such as cystic fibrosis are isolated in the three cubicles of this ward, which has 26 beds, explained Gleibys Liset Fernández García, a pediatric intern, to ACN.

The ruinous state of the room is deduced from the words of Carlos Castaño Oliva, director of El Jan, and Daniel González Fráser, one of the partners of Carnes D’Tres, when they explained that the waterproofing of the roof required a large outlay and pointed out the complexity of changing the false ceiling and the veneers, the replacement of hydraulic networks and bathrooms with the necessary structural fixtures, and even the arrangement of the clinic’s furniture.

Castaño Oliva said that “the actions are aimed at resolving maintenance issues,” although the report doesn’t  mention how much the private entities have had to pay for the renovation. They will also provide air conditioning equipment, refrigerators and televisions.

Castaño Oliva said that “the actions are aimed at resolving maintenance issues,” although the report doesn’t mention how much the private entities have had to pay

Since June 2022, the official newspaper Invasor has published articles about repairs and maintenance work in the Ciego de Ávila hospitals, classifying some of it as an investment because of the magnitude of the work, all under a strategy of “sponsorship” that offloads the responsibility of the Government onto different companies, initially State-run and now belonging to the Island’s emerging private sector.

The article cites as “godparents” the companies of Communal Services, the Electrical Union, Hydraulic Use, Construction Materials and Supply and Health Services, the Provincial Directorate of Culture, the Ministry of Construction and the private companies RTV Comercial and Media Luna.

Also, the articles mention the profound deterioration in which the pediatric hospital, which just turned 72 years old, was found. It needed renovation of the Burn rooms, Gastroenterology, Pediatric Surgery, Gynecology, Cardiology, the Information Center, Radiology, the area of Legal Medicine, the Guard Corps and the colonoscopy, endoscopy and laparoscopy rooms, among others.

The situation of the Ciego de Ávila hospital is not an isolated case. Many healthcare centers on the Island share the same ruinous structural conditions to which are now added the enormous shortage of supplies and the exodus of professionals from the sector.

Last September, the official press also reported the repairs of an educational center in the municipality of Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus, provided by three private companies. In this case it was La Trinidad, dedicated to transport; Caído del Cielo, which focused on bakeries and desserts; and Construcciones Liz, which does construction and repair of buildings. “Despite their focus on the production of goods and the provision of services, they decided to contribute part of their resources to local social development,” Escambray said, without specifying whether they were private or state companies.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Two Cuban Athletes Under the Age of 20 Flee in Mexico and Nicaragua

The baseball player Miguel Neira escaped before this Wednesday’s match against Panama, in Managua. (X/@francysromeroFR)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, November 29, 2023 — The escape in Mexico of María Carla Pérez, a Cuban player of Basque pelota, and that of pitcher Miguel Neira in Nicaragua both occurred this Wednesday. They are the most recent of the stampede that hinders Cuban sports. With these desertions, there are now 69 athletes on the Island who have abandoned their official delegations, according to journalist Francys Romero.

Pérez, a member of the U-19 national team, took advantage of her stay in Mexico, where the Basque pelota, U-22 World Cup was held, to escape. The young woman, a resident of the province of Villa Clara, was one of the stars of her specialty last year, during the National Youth Championship held in Guantánamo.

The regime has not yet pronounced on these departures. “Unfortunately, the Island’s authorities seem to care little about the desertions of high-performance athletes,” said Swing Completo magazine. “No matter when, how or where, abandonments continue to be day-to-day news in Cuba. And so it will continue…,” the sports publication said ironically.

The escape of the Villa Clara athlete in Mexico came several days after the bronze medalist in the Central American Games in weightlifting, Elizabeth Reyes Entenza, escaped in Guadalajara (Jalisco), shortly before her continue reading

presentation at the Paradero Sports Center, where she was to participate in the 192-pound category in the Youth World Championship.

Athlete Maria Carla Pérez left the Cuban delegation in Mexico. (X/@francysromeroFR)

Hours after Pérez’ escape in Mexico, journalist Francys Romero reported that Miguel Neira, one of the players of the Cuban team that participates in the U-23 Pre-World Cup tournament, had also escaped. The young left-handed pitcher of Los Gallos de Sancti Spíritus, had played a prominent role in last Sunday’s match in the pre-World Cup, in which his team beat the Curaçao national team 5-1.

Neira, 19, was on the list of the Cuban team that this Wednesday faces Panama in the U-23 pre-World Cup tournament, held in the Panamanian capital. According to the reporter, “he left the hotel where they were training at noon.”

“I classified Neira as the number 3 prospect on my list of the 25 best under-18 talents of 2022,” Romero recalled, affirming the talent of the player from Sancti Spíritus.

These escapes add to the list of 14 athletes who stayed in Chile after the Pan American and Parapan American Games. While their request for refuge is resolved, 11 of these athletes already have a temporary visa, which has allowed them to train and look for employment in the South American country.

Translated by Regina Anavy 
____________

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.

Mexico Investigates the Links of Coyotes of the Cuban Mafia With 12 Rafters Arrested in Cancun

A group of Cuban balseros (rafters) was arrested while abandoning a boat in Cancun (Quintana Roo). (Saber Politico)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, November 28, 2023 — The authorities of Cancun, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, are investigating whether the 12 Cuban rafters arrested this Monday, four women and eight men, are related to the network of coyotes that has operated under the command of the Cuban Mafia since 2009 in the region. “The raft was located when it was approaching Chac Mool beach, and from the moment they disembarked they ran to Kukulcán Boulevard,” officer Jacinto Pech May tells 14ymedio.

The agent says that the migrants were guided by at least three people who managed to escape. “At least six people fled, including three who indicated the route they should follow, but most of them were intercepted on the boulevard.”

Despite the fact that several of the members of the Cuban Mafia are continuing with judicial proceedings in the United States, Pech May does not rule out that “groups of coyotes who have ties to this criminal network are operating on their own and transferring Cubans clandestinely.” However, the detainees would only say that they entered the country illegally. continue reading

According to the investigations, the Cuban Mafia, through Maikel Antonio Hechavarría Reyes and Mónica Susana Castillo, was in charge of nabbing Cubans, and in Mexico, they were subjected to threats and extortion.

According to the investigations, the Cuban Mafia, through Maikel Antonio Hechavarría Reyes and Mónica Susana Castillo, was in charge of nabbing Cubans, and in Mexico, they were subjected to threats and extortion

In September of last year, a fisherman pointed to Cancun as one of the routes used by coyotes and rafters to escape the Island. “We are cantankerous, and if we help, we are not going to confess it,” Javier Robles told this newspaper in reference to fishermen who transport migrants clandestinely.

Before the pandemic, illegal exits took place from Pinar del Río, which is 220 miles from Cancun and 211 miles from Isla Mujeres, two of the points marked by authorities for the rescue and arrest of Cubans on the high seas. The coyotes charge about $7,000 for the transfer.

Pech May accepts that last year several arrivals were recorded, but in 2023, the “rescues” of migrants by land have been registered when “they are intercepted by the National Guard and Migration agents on their crossing by bus.”

Regarding the rafters, the officer mentioned that after verifying that the migrants were in good condition, they were handed over to the National Institute of Migration (INM). “Their situation will depend on the authorities; for our part, there is no crime.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Cuban State Company Acopio Owes Millions of Pesos to Farmers in the Province of Las Tunas

Las Tunas farmers have demanded that state companies pay them on time. (Periódico 26)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, November 28, 2023 — The state companies of Las Tunas are being suffocated by debts, the provincial authorities lamented on Tuesday. Among the defaults to its suppliers, the unpaid credits in the bank and the lack of budget, the worst situation is presented by Acopio, with millions in defaults, followed closely by the provincial Directorate of Education and several cooperatives.

The crisis, the official State newspaper Granma explains, has put Acopio between a rock and a hard place, largely responsible for the lack of food in the province, since it is up to them to manage both state and private food production. The warning of the suppliers, the newspaper admits, has been clear: if they do not pay their debts, they will soon run out of products.

At the moment, the situation is not very hopeful. “Today we have 67 million pesos committed for credits that we have not been able to amortize,” acknowledged Javier Velázquez, commercial director of the company. “With the new measures adopted by the country, we market only 5% of what is produced, destined, for example, for social consumption and medical diets. Due to the credits, the bank withdraws 80% of our daily income, and what we have marketed this year is negligible,” explained the manager. continue reading

In addition, the company is in the middle of negotiations with the Banco de Crédito y Comercio (Bandec), with which they maintain several active debts and many overdue, to receive more financing. “We hope that now, with a certain intention of strengthening the state part, we can also obtain more production. We have been negotiating with the bank the possibility of new financing, to be able to recover as a company,” but, says Velázquez, the prices imposed by the State also take their toll.

According to Maikel Cera, general director of Acopio in Las Tunas, the differentiated prices for the population, imposed by the municipal governments, diminish the profit margin of the company

According to Maikel Cera, general director of Acopio in Las Tunas, the differentiated prices for the population, imposed by the municipal governments, reduce the profit margin of the company, which remains at a few cents. Also, he says, they compete with “intermediaries” who sell the same products at higher prices but pay “cash on the spot,” something that the company cannot do due to lack of liquidity.

As for the Bandec branch that manages the company’s credits, with whose directors Granma also spoke, the panorama they offer about Acopio is no different. So far this year, says Leancy Richard Collazo, director of the bank, three financings were approved for the company. “They have about 66 million in credits in force, of which 23 million are due.”

“We have restructured 18 million to help them have enough solvency to request new financing and liquidity to acquire products,” he says.

Several credit and service cooperatives (CCS) in Las Tunas also revealed their concern about the debts they continue to contract with producers without a guarantee of payment. This is the case of the CCS Sabino Pupo, from the municipality of Manatí, whose associated producers have filed complaints about the delay in payments.

The transfer arrives on time, but then the cash is delayed, and we have hired workers who do not have cards”

“The transfer arrives on time, but then the cash is delayed, and we have hired workers who do not have cards,” claimed Diosmani Ramírez, one of the milk producers associated with the CCS, who explained that the payments are delivered half in cash and the other by transfer. “In addition, there are many payments that are still in cash, so there are ATMs in the municipality. We have to go to the bank, and although they help us, they can’t always give us the figure we ask for,” he added.

The same thing happens in the CSS Conrado Benítez, of the municipality of Colombia, whose directors admitted that “it is almost never possible to pay (the suppliers) within the month” stipulated in the contracts. The debtor, in this case, is precisely Acopio, who has not delivered the corresponding amount to the banana and corn farmers of the CCS.

Arelis Calvo, in charge of economics in that cooperative, admits that the annoyance among the members is widespread. “Some come to me and tell me that it is better to sell on the outside, because they have the money fast in their hands, and they also need to eat and feed their families. “Our CCS complies with what it agrees; we have been vanguards for three years. So, why aren’t we being paid?”

Mailín Utria, general director of the Cárnica Las Tunas Company, also gave a part of the situation of the entity in his charge. “We have managed to maintain some stability in terms of payments. We were managing to make them between 20 and 25 days, but sometimes that period was extended to 30 days,” he said. However, the attempt to be punctual without having the budget brought consequences.

“We have seen the need to apply for bank loans to be able to honor those payments, because the financial situation of the company is tense, due to a high number of accounts receivable because of customer defaults,” said Utria, who acknowledged that in 2023 they assumed credits worth 130 million pesos, and now they have requested 80 million more.

We have found ourselves in the need to apply for bank loans to be able to honor those payments, because the company’s financial situation is tense, due to a high number of accounts receivable 

Education, although budgeted by the State, also has a rope around its neck. “In our case, we have debts amounting to 30 million pesos from accounts payable, including those of the cooperative and farming sector. Those high balances do not respond to negligence or lack of control, but to the tight situation we have with the budget,” explained Yaimara Martínez, head of the accounting and finance department of the entity.

“Our sector needs more than one hundred million pesos today to close the year. At the beginning of this year we stopped receiving more of the 180 million in relation to our preliminary project and, on top of that, up to now they have withdrawn 23 million. In addition, we pay the debts from 2022 with the 2023 budget. The Finance directors have not been able to support our needs,” she complained.

According to the official, Education only receives money permanently to pay the workers’ salaries. The rest depends on the contributions of other companies and “economic actors” to the State budget, but this system is also in crisis, since the tax agencies are having problems with their own finances.

“We are dealing with the Finance and Prices directors to see if at least part of the budget that we used to pay the previous year’s debts is replenished,” Martínez said.

For now, the only solution that Education has found to relieve the debt pressure is to extend the terms of the contracts – which require payment in 30 days – to 60 and 90, “so that they do not become aged debts so quickly, since there is no liquidity to pay.” More than a solution, however, the measure only serves to lengthen the wait of those who demand to be paid for their work.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

‘Now They’re Closing the Ration Stores in Cuba, Yes, Totally’

Miniscule and dirty, a portion of beans “for two people,” was sold for 20 pesos, said the shopkeeper. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 27 November 2023 — A handful of black beans, a little salt and four pounds of rice: the list of what they were distributing this Monday in a bodega (ration store) in Centro Habana, to give an account of the calamitous state of the rationed market in Cuba.

Miniscule and dirty, the beans were sold for 20 pesos a handful, which does not reach a pound “for two people,” said the bodeguero (shopkeeper). Katia, a resident of the area, made a face. “With a teenage son, I don’t have enough to even start with this.” And the little bit of salt, the woman of about 40 continued, she hadn’t been able to get it for two months.

As for rice, the four pounds they gave on this occasion were divided into two: two pounds of one donated, free, and another two parboiled, paid. “One bad and the other worse,” lamented Katia, who recalls that before they gave seven full pounds in state establishments at the beginning of the month, “and now they distribute it divided into three.” continue reading

“With a teenage son, I don’t have enough to even start with this”

“The oil hasn’t come, the eggs haven’t come. Now the bodegas are closed!” she cried. “It’s a total slap in the face. There is nothing, and you have to buy it in the private stores at their prices. Look at the bodeguero there, a whole month doing nothing.”

The spectacle in state establishments is like watching a movie of the living dead, the example of a society with vital minimums. In the bakery, customers showed their ration books, paid and went away shuffling, with such apathy that some forgot to take the bread. “Look at that,” said a man in line. “They have their heads somewhere else, and they know that the bread is inedible.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.

Cubans Threaten To Protest if the Authorities Don’t Restore Water Service

Workers from Aguas de La Habana repairing a leak in the municipality of Cotorro. (Facebook/Aguas de La Habana)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 27 November 2023 — The state company Aguas de La Habana reported this weekend that several municipalities in the capital will not have drinking water for 12 hours, starting at 6:00 am next Tuesday due to “maintenance work.” The announcement did not take long to provoke a barrage of negative comments from those who have gone, they say, up to a week without the service.

“In several areas of the municipality of Cotorro, especially in the center, water arrives with very little force,” Tomás, a retiree who lives in that area, explains to 14ymedio. “The problem has existed for several days, and it is not even one of the municipalities that will be affected” during this Tuesday’s repairs, he says.

Also, he says, in the Paraíso neighborhood of the same municipality there are “supply problems. In other [neighborhoods] there is not as much instability with water, as in San Pedro, where I live, but it is an exceptional case. All of Havana has a serious problem with the water supply,” he adds.

People are very upset, because they call to find out what’s going on and are told that everything will be resolved soon

“People are very upset, because they call to find out what’s going on and are told that everything will be resolved soon, or they just don’t answer the phone,” he says.

Tomás’ words are the same as those that have been repeated by customers for months, in the publications of Aguas de La Habana. “It is disrespectful to publish that from Tuesday the 28th there will be no water in Central Havana, when it has been six days since the Popular Council of the Sites (…) had water. This happens because the water is not pumped and reaches the continue reading

homes by gravity and in our case it doesn’t, because [we are on] the center of the slope with a little more height,” complained a Reina Street resident in the comments of the official media Tribuna de La Habana, which reproduced the announcement.

The netizen also complained that they no longer know who to turn to, because the telephone help lines for the population don’t ’pick up’. “Now, as if that were not enough, the news is that from Tuesday there will be no water, as if these past days everything worked well. We are desperate and helpless,” she said, adding that the provincial authorities promised to send them a water truck, which would solve the problem. “The truck never arrived; it was just words,” she said.

The avalanche of comments that appear in the publication of Aguas de La Habana suggests the cartography of the city’s problems: water scarcity in Bahia, impacts on the Guiteras distribution, leaks in San Miguel del Padrón, and the list continues.

“Do you think someone deserves to go a week without water? They don’t even send a water truck so we can at least cook and bathe, as any human being deserves,” protested another user.

“Today it’s been 15 days since we had water on my block, in the Wajay neighborhood, and complaints have been made. The delegate and the president of the council do not respond or carry out any action; even the bosses of Aguas de la Habana are aware and don’t deign to do anything if there is no signed document. I hope there is no need to have a march with pots and pans [a cacerolazo*], which is what will get their attention with immediate effect and without a signed document,” said another user.

On most occasions, the areas mentioned by customers are not among those where Aguas de La Habana has anticipated interruptions to occur

On most occasions, the areas mentioned by customers are not among those where Aguas de La Habana has anticipated interruptions to occur. The official list includes, for this Tuesday alone, impacts in part of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución and Boyeros, absence of service in El Cerro, Centro Habana and Habana Vieja, and minor interruptions in Diez de Octubre,  Luyanó and El Sevillano.

These areas are supplied by the Cuenca Sur reservoir, where  maintenance work will be carried out on the water conductors and the electrical system, the entity reported.

In contrast, other customers report that in their neighborhoods there are water leaks that have been draining for months without being repaired. “If you go from Boyeros to Ayestarán through the area of Bohemia magazine, you will have to roll up your pants because there is a lake of clean water,” says a nearby resident.

Some flooded, others in drought. The habaneros still can’t live in peace with the network of pipes that, instead of headaches, should bring them comfort.

*Translator’s note: A cacerolazo [from the word ’cacerola’ — casserole in English], is a form of protest where people bang on pots and pans.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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 Housing Construction Plan Is Not Fulfilled in Cuba Due to Lack of Cement and ‘Working Methods’

The plan needs 83 million concrete blocks per year, but in 2023 barely 43 million were fabricated. (Guerrillero)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 28 November 2023 — For some reason, the plan to build with clay has not penetrated the Island. In the middle of the year, the authorities of the sector spent a long time explaining to the population the benefits of this material, in which the Island is rich, when it comes to building a home: “an economic, environmentally friendly and viable way,” they strongly recommended, while talking about the export of marble and cement to capture foreign exchange.

Five months later, the result is disappointing, and Deputy Prime Minister Ramiro Valdés Menéndez couldn’t hide his anger at the Minister of Construction, René Mesa Villafaña, when he noted that he was supposed to erect “floor, wall and ceiling elements” with these materials. “They were being raised. Where are they?” the commander scolded. “There are directions to build the ovens. There are plans delivered to the territories. Do they do it? They don’t do it. Why don’t they do it? Where is the discipline? Where is the control? There are directions and, simply, in the territory they are not executed.”

By the end of October, the plan had been fulfilled by just over half (54%), having built 13,300 dwellings in the country

The reprimand came in the middle of a meeting of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero with the local and state authorities to analyze the poor progress of the housing program that, once again, will fail miserably. By the end of October, the forecast had been fulfilled by just over half (54%), with 13,300 dwellings having been built in the country. The official press, in line with the conclusions of the meeting, admits that the main responsibility was the lack of steel and cement, but did not hesitate to distribute blame by attributing some to “the methods and ways of working.” continue reading

Dilaila Díaz Fernández, general director of materials of the Ministry of Construction, explained that to meet the needs of the Housing program, 83 million concrete blocks are needed per year, but in 2022 barely 39 million were reached, less than half, although it was “the best production” in the 12 years that the local production plan had been in operation.

In a country accustomed to worse results, it is no small matter that this year production has increased, producing four million more pieces, but this only covers 52% of what is needed. The result is the shortage of housing and the unfortunate conditions that exist.

The official asked for production to be accelerated and, returning to the local, insisted that it is necessary to “design and build with red clay.” This was followed by the scolding of the leadership of the Communist Party, which alternated with the usual calls for voluntarism.*

“We have to start a different system and promote this as an essential, social, revolutionary movement, to be able to give an answer to the population,” said Marrero, who urged companies, organizations and households to get involved in the world of ceramics.

“We need the population to see that in this very complex, sensitive issue, that affects so many people block by block, there is an additional effort, a different way in which this program has been focused, which is more participatory than ever, that companies are helping, that there is popular participation, that there is a different approach,” he continued, stating that “things cannot be delayed.”

The official, however, emphasized the need for new rules that improve relations between state and private entities and take advantage of Idle capacities

The Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, Johana Odriozola Guitar, spoke of proposed changes, but the two that she mentioned are not a novelty. On one hand, she spoke of decentralization, a task that was already addressed when the State decided to delegate most of the complex issues to the territories. On the other was the “approval of new economic actors.” The production of construction materials is one of the most frequent activities of the private sector, although well below gastronomy and food production, according to official data from the first quarter of the year.

The official, however, emphasized the need for new rules that improve relations between state and private entities: “taking advantage of idle capacities”; increase the supply and income of state workers; increase production by coordinating with private companies; repair paralyzed production lines; and identify new business opportunities and “price agreements.”

As a novelty, this did advance the creation of a National Institute of Non-State Economic Actors, which will be subordinate to the Council of Ministers, with all that this implies.

The meeting also discussed the future budget and the need to protect the most vulnerable, but the results do not allow us to maintain optimism. “We have to face 2024 in a different way. We are going to have the same challenges, the intensified blockade, the same currency limitations, fuel problems. Therefore, we do not have the right to make a plan that is more of the same,” Marrero warned.

The prime minister spoke of a new year of “much justice,” but before which “more planning” will have to be done, due to the difficulties. “We have to play the role that corresponds to us, transform the Government’s control for food production, taking into account that 80% is in non-state productive people and forms, as well as strengthening the local development strategy, based on the real potential of the municipalities to meet the demands of the population,” he said. Again, he didn’t explain how.

We have to face 2024 in a different way. We are going to have the same challenges, the intensified blockade, the same currency limitations, fuel problems

After the echo of Ramiro Valdés’ anger, the prime minister ended the meeting with best wishes and words, talking about the benefits of decentralization, how to better exploit the “potentialities both spiritually and materially, and put together a great movement in tribute to the triumph of the Revolution and the people who work so hard and have had to face so much.”

According to the latest balance sheet of the Ministry of Construction, Cuba needs to build about 20% more houses to end its chronic housing deficit, which exceeds 800,000 homes. Since 2021, barely around 50,000 have been built. In addition, in mid-July the housing program built with state subsidies had only 13% execution, the eradication of dirt floors 9%; and of the 9,000 tenements in the country, barely 154 had been eliminated.

*Translator’s note: Voluntarism means individual initiative, something contrary to Marxist-Leninist ideology.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

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.