Emigrants Have Sent 52 Billion Dollars in Remittances to Cuba in the Last 30 Years

From left to right, generals Ramón Espinosa Martín, Joaquín Quintas Solá, Roberto Legrá and Ania Guillermina Lastres, president of Gaesa. (Screen capture).

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, September 19, 2023 —  Over the last three decades, Cuban emigrants have sent their relatives on the Island, a total of 52.252 billion dollars in remittances and another 50 Billion in consumer goods. The data is included in the most recent report by the organization Cuba Siglo 21, signed by academic Emilio Morales, who points to the military directors of the state monopoly Gaesa as responsible for “undermining” the Cuban economy, while highlighting the “potential investor” of the exiles in a future democratic reconstruction of the country.

Morales prepared a historical study of the sending of remittances to Cuba since its authorization by Fidel Castro in 1993, after the Soviet debacle, and concluded that this constant injection of money has served as a “financial basis” for the dollarized infrastructure that the Island maintains today.

A network of corporations and senior officials diverts the flow of capital from its starting point – the shipments of emigrants – to its destination. Morales supports his conclusions with official data that his academic group, Havana Consulting Group, based in Miami, has extracted from documents of the judicial disputes between the American company Exxon Mobil and the Cuban state company Cimex, as well as other sources such as the Departments of State and Treasury of the United States.

The regime’s need for dollars, Morales believes, softened the official discourse on the exiles, who went from being “worms” to forming the “Cuban community abroad”

Furthermore, the academic explains, remittances have not only had an economic impact but also a cultural and diplomatic one. The regime’s need for dollars, Morales believes, softened the official discourse about the exiles, who went from being “worms” to forming the “Cuban community abroad.” On the other hand, it has been one of the main topics of the bilateral conversation between Havana and Washington.

However, the flow of remittances to Cuba has not been regular, and to explain it, Morales divides it into three stages. The first, from 1991 to 2006, was defined by Fidel Castro’s management during the crisis known as the Special Period — after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of its support for Cuba — and the urgent need for foreign currency. The second, from 2007 to 2018, corresponds to the economic reforms promoted by Raúl Castro and the thaw with the United States. The third, from 2019 to 2023, has marched to the rhythm of the so-called ’Ordering Task’* and other “unpopular measures,” such as the implementation of stores that only accept payment in freely convertible currency. continue reading

In Morales’ opinion, both the regime and Gaesa, who had thought of remittances as a “temporary” solution to counteract the loss of the Soviet Union subsidies, ended up becoming increasingly dependent on emigrants’ money and multiple channels have been created so that this capital never reaches the pockets of Cubans, but rather flows to companies managed by the military of the conglomerate.

“At the time, authorizing the sending of family remittances to Cuba implied a very big risk for the Cuban dictatorship from a political point of view,” diagnoses the academic. “However, allowing remittances, as well as foreign investment and international tourism, were calculated risks that the Government decided to take in support of the survival of the regime.”

During the presidency of Raúl Castro, when 31.311 billion dollars were received, half of it informally

With the authorization of remittances, small businesses – which the Revolution had annihilated early, in the 1960s — under what was called the “Revolutionary Offensive” – they saw the opportunity to establish an incipient private sector that has been the first affected by economic instability and that, in addition, has remained in the sights of the Government, which keeps its growth and investment possibilities at bay.

As of 2006, Morales details, 11.751 billion dollars entered Cuba – of which, more than 10 million came through informal channels, he specifies – which made Castro realize the enormous potential of remittances. But the growth of this first stage cannot be compared with that of the next, during the presidency of Raúl Castro, when 31.311 billion dollars were received, half of it through informal channels.

However, the regime viewed the rise of self-employment with concern – there were more than 600,000 entrepreneurs operating with a license on the Island, and an equal number without, explains Morales – and attacked the sector. For its part, Havana tried to curtail the opening achieved with the ’thaw’ — during the Obama presidency —  in time for the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House, the academic believes.

It is during this stage that Gaesa consolidates its power, under the direction of Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, Raúl’s former son-in-law who died in 2022, and a clan of military figures who manage companies such as Cimex and American International Services (AIS) – both registered outside of Cuba, in Panama – in addition to remittance shipping companies such as Va Cuba, Cubamax and Caribe Express.

If before the emigrants tried to help their relatives on the Island, now their main objective is to get them out of the country

Among the Cuban military behind these operations are currently, Morales lists: Ana Guillermina Lastres, current president of Gaesa; the Minister of the Armed Forces Álvaro López Miera; the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz; and Colonel Héctor Oroza, director of Cimex and AIS. They are all sanctioned by the US.

However, starting in 2019, the number of remittances experienced a radical drop of 45%. Only 9.18 billion dollars arrived in the country, which Morales interprets as a change of intention among the diaspora. If before the emigrants tried to help their relatives on the Island, now their main objective is to get them out of the country. This process has bled the Cuban population and its ability to achieve economic improvement.

The only hope, the report emphasizes, is a transition to democracy that allows the Cubans who left to contribute, in an initial period of 24 to 36 months – it estimates – and with a “potential” investment of 20 billion dollars, to the financial recovery of the country.

“It is the Cubans themselves residing on the Island – in alliance with their relatives abroad – who can truly be the co-owners of a new business fabric that, being truly free, would be the immediate and surest driving force to recover the well-being of the population, as well as promoting reconstruction and national development,” concludes Morales.

*Translator’s note: The “Ordering Task” [Tarea Ordenamiento] is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy. 

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China Donates a 5 MW Photovoltaic Park to Cuba for More Than 114 Million Dollars

The 5 MW that the new photovoltaic park would provide will not alleviate even 1% of the energy demand

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 20 September 2023 — The Chinese Government donated more than 114 million dollars (almost 107 million euros) to Cuba for the construction of a photovoltaic park with a generation capacity of 5 megawatts (MW) in Holguín, the official press reported on Wednesday.

According to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the project is in the “initial phase.” Currently, “the conditions of the terrain” and “the necessary assurances in the execution of the construction works and assembly” are being evaluated.

The park, adds the local radio station Radio Mayarí, will be located in the capital municipality of Holguín, a province frequently affected by power cuts due to generation problems and fuel shortages. continue reading

The regional project to change the energy matrix is committed to renewable energies and includes the gradual installation of photovoltaic parks

The regional project to change the energy matrix is committed to renewable energies and includes the gradual installation of photovoltaic parks in other adjacent municipalities.

The Cuban government hopes to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, which currently account for 95% of national energy production, and especially the import of crude oil, due to the high costs it entails.

However, the 5 MW that this new photovoltaic park would provide will not alleviate even 1% of demand at the time of highest daily consumption in Cuba, according to data from the state Electric Union (UNE).

The national energy transition plan estimates that by 2030, 37% of its energy will come from renewable sources, although currently these barely represent 5%, and investments in this area are minimal.

Last August, the Cuban authorities announced another donation from the Asian country, which included 9,259 solar panels for the state company BioCubaFarma. The purpose of the project is to install the panels at the National Center for Scientific Research, in Havana, and achieve a generation capacity of 5 MW.

Months earlier, in December 2022, the official press also announced the installation of a third solar park in Sancti Spíritus with a donation of equipment from China that will barely have a maximum generation capacity of 2.2 megawatts, 1.4% of the province’s daily demand.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime Is Not Alone, But It Is in Very Bad Company

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel received Iran’s Vice President Ruhollad Dehghani on the occasion of the G-77 summit plus China in Havana. (Estudios Revolución)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 20 September 2023 — These days the propaganda of the single party in Cuba has used to the point of exhaustion a desperate slogan: Cuba is not alone. In fact, we have seen some characters parade through Havana who never leave their caves, except to come to ours, where they find refuge, pats on the shoulder and exchange tricks on how to perpetuate themselves in power. However, it alarms other democratic leaders that, like Aesop’s frog, they mount scorpions on their backs.

The 47 agreements from the G77 plus China summit repeat the mantra of science, technology and innovation, as if they prayed to the gods of the North for a little attention. It is obvious that progress depends on the development of this knowledge and these tools, but it’s unfortunate that totalitarian systems use the privilege of attendance not to produce more or find solutions to our problems, but to monitor, control and punish.

The countries of the South, after this summit, have not “raised their voices” as some catatonically insist; they have simply threatened to change their masters

The countries of the South, after this summit, have not “raised their voices” as some catatonically insist; they have simply threatened to change their masters. In the next edition, the same dilemmas will be heard again, similar agreements will be signed and we will remain in debt up to our necks. The complete absence of self-criticism does not allow us to understand the weight of our own guilt in the advance of hunger, misery, violence and the lack of hope suffered by the peoples of the South. With these songs, we will be even poorer, more whiny and less democratic.

The summit has actually served to legitimize authoritarian models, to bring a considerable block of nations closer to the axis of China, to mitigate the condemnations against Russia and to promote the puppet of Castroism as a “world leader.” continue reading

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived in New York wearing that suit, or believing that he was wearing it, although he was naked. His dyslexic speech has been a pastiche of everything that Cuba has been ruminating for decades. All that is condemned at a global level is reproduced internally. They condemn the sanctions but mercilessly sanction any Cuban citizen who disagrees; they speak of “blockade” but block and put absurd obstacles on the Island to any development initiative outside state control; they condemn a hegemonic world but defend the hegemony of the single party; they want an orchestra of multipolar nations but keep Cuba as a monolith, creating a solo of maracas.

Beyond exhibiting to the world an appearance of a leading country, Castroism urgently needs to show the Cubans some light at the end of the tunnel. That desperation to hold great events or flaunt the occasional victory reminds me of the Pan American Games in Havana in 1991. Fidel Castro then praised the Pan-American Villa and swore that he had never seen anything more beautiful. He even said, with his usual fondness for hyperbole, that it should be called “Olympic Villa.” But the Berlin Wall fell and we would suffer the worst crisis in our history. And all Cubans know what the ruins of that mirage look like today.

Now the regime is determined to be re-elected for one of the 47 seats of the UN Human Rights Council

At the recent G77 summit, Havana did not have a Tocopán,* and they knew that a mediocrity like Díaz-Canel was not enough to impress visitors or look like a leader. They needed a sacred cow, a relic, another Tocopán, so they used the nonagenarian Raúl Castro as the mascot of the event.

Now the regime is determined to be re-elected to one of the 47 seats on the UN Human Rights Council. It sounds frighteningly absurd that the country with the most political prisoners in the region, a flagrant violator of all those rights, is running to occupy a chair. But it wouldn’t be surprising if Cuba succeeded either. Latin America has three positions, and only Cuba, Peru, Brazil and the Dominican Republic compete for them. As the winds are blowing, it is likely that nations will vote for the dictatorship, even if that completely discredits the Council.

Thus, the abusive communist regime goes through life becoming the defender of the victims. On the Island, repression and censorship continue; misery, inflation and crime advance, and hopelessness and the migratory tsunami progress. But the world is so crazy that it prefers to turn a blind eye and suck up to the hypocrite. If those who are truly committed to peace and democracy do not act effectively soon, the authoritarian gang will grow to become Ali Baba and the 77 thieves.

*Translator’s Note: Topocán, K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’, was the founder and first ruler of a Mayan dynasty.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Decline of Lawton, the Cuban Capital’s Industrial and Prosperous Neighborhood

Beyond the railroad bordering the distillery, Lawton’s rum industry suffered the same fate. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Nelson García, Havana, 16 September 2023 — Ruins attest to Lawton’s former splendor: abandoned factories, buildings reduced to rubble and the famous “Scandinavian castles”, on the verge of collapsing. For the neighbors, the deterioration of the neighborhood, located in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, until becoming one of the most dangerous places in Havana, has a start date: 1959.

Omar, who has lived in Lawton since the Special Period, points out an inhospitable area on the corner of F and 12 Street. “The fish processing plant used to be there,” he tells 14ymedio. “Packages of lobsters, shrimp and many other seafood came out of that place”.

If the grass grows now and the garbage accumulates, the main complaint is because of poor planning by the Government. “In 1980, the processing plant ceased to exist and was converted into workshops of the Metal and Electrical Construction Company (COMELEC),” he says. The plan came to nothing after the fall of the Soviet Union, and after being closed for a while, it was decreed that everything be demolished.

“They said they were going to build houses for the workers”, recalls Omar, who used to work at COMELEC. “Thirty years have gone by: Where are they?”

The most obvious sign of decay is found in what remains of the neighborhood’s three famous “European” chalets. (14ymedio)

Not far from the processing plant stands the tower of the old Havana distillery, built during the sugar boom of 1945. “The factory produced various types of alcohol until, once nationalized, the mechanism that channeled the hot water kept breaking down, causing the liquid to overflow from the boilers and begin to accumulate around the factory”, he explains. “First came the unpleasant smells and then the mosquitoes. It didn’t take long for this to fill with ditches and swamps until, eventually, they closed the distillery”. continue reading

Beyond the railroad bordering the distillery, Lawton’s rum industry suffered the same fate. “Everything is extinct here,” Omar summarizes.

The paint factory that the American company Sherwin Williams installed in Lawton – right next to the distillery – was confiscated by Fidel Castro’s Government in 1960 and first reassigned to the Electric Company, and then to the Geysel Power Plant.

Rigo, age 56 and a former worker at the also dismantled Lawton slaughterhouse, highlights the contrast between Geysel’s “painted and cared-for” building and the premises that once served as a paint warehouse. “The neglect is such that several trees have grown”, he says. A skeleton of beams and columns, as well as a series of rusty tanks, rises in what was once the Siporex prefabricated block industry.

“The only thing that works in Lawton, and barely, is the Siré Cookie Factory,” he says, alluding to one of the first industries in the neighborhood, built by Cuban Mariano Siré in 1927, and also expropriated by Castro.

A series of rusty tanks rises in what was once the Siporex prefabricated block industry. (14ymedio)

One of the most emblematic cases of Lawton’s decay is that of the Antonio Maceo slaughterhouse, which became, after its abandonment in 2000, a mecca for illegal dog fighting and drug dealing. Several families have settled in the other rooms and offices, and even after two decades, they have not managed to overcome their two main problems: crime and constant threats of eviction.

Ramón, 69, remembers perfectly the decline of Lawton’s three bus depots: “There is only one left and it is practically a cemetery”, he concludes. The neighborhood also lost its fertilizer plant, and two other oxygen and acetylene plants, closed since the 1960s due to the Castro “phenomenon,” he says.

But the most obvious sign of decay is found in what remains of the three famous “European” chalets in the neighborhood, built at the beginning of the 20th century, although details of their construction or their former owners are not known. One of them served as a restaurant, supplied by meat from the slaughterhouse; another was a school, which was soon closed. During the Special Period, the Government located several families there, who modified the structure of two of the “little castles”, while the third is in a state of collapse.

“They used to be the symbol of Lawton,” says Ramón. “Now they are like the rest of the neighborhood: withered and forgotten.”

Skeleton of beams and columns from the old Siporex factory. (14ymedio)

Translated by Norma Whiting
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The U.S. Project to Help Small Businesses Within Cuba is Controversial

The Bohemia Café, adjacent to Estancia Bohemia, private businesses in Old Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2023 — The Biden government plans to announce this week the lifting of restrictions to help Cuban micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), according to knowledgeable sources in several American media. Both the Palm Beach Post on Saturday and the Bloomberg agency on Monday indicated that these are “specific guidelines” for U.S. financiers to grant loans to independent companies within the Island.

According to América TeVé, the new measures will include the management of bank accounts in U.S. institutions for residents of Cuba, something prohibited until now. “For example, a small business owner in Cuba can travel to the United States, create a bank account in a U.S. bank and then return to Cuba and manage it from there to make payments, deposits and transfers,” an anonymous source told journalist Mario J. Penton.

The same source says that the prohibitions imposed by the Trump Administration on transactions with third countries to send remittances to the Island will also be overturned.

The State Department refused to confirm to these media the concreteness of the announcement of the measures, but it did say, “We believe the private sector is Cuba’s best hope to generate economic development and employment to improve the living standards of the Cuban people and reduce the current high levels of migration.”

“We believe that the private sector is Cuba’s best hope to generate economic development and employment to improve living standards”

By helping “independent entrepreneurship and civil society,” the organization also said, “we support the Cuban people in their efforts to improve the economic condition of their country, generate employment and escape poverty.” continue reading

It is not expected, however, Bloomberg warns, “that more radical changes will be imminent,” given that “American Democrats are wary of doing anything that could alienate Cuban-American voters in Florida, a determining state ahead of the 2024 elections.”

The long report published on the subject by the Palm Beach Post includes a “recent lunch” in Miami-Dade full of “ambitious and successful expatriates from other countries,” including two “owners of private companies on the rise within the communist country.” One of the residents in Cuba, who requested anonymity, is engaged in international trade, and the other has a chain of cafeterias.

The owners of Cuban MSMEs complained about the “important obstacles” that prevent their growth, such as the terrible state of the Island’s infrastructure, “from a short circuit in the electricity grid to bumpy roads,” and a “practically non-existent banking system.” The latter, according to the Florida newspaper, is what has led them to seek funding in the United States.

Ricardo Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group in Washington D.C., who attended the event and spoke with the aforementioned media, also believes that the “package of political adjustments” is imminent. These “will detail how Cuban businessmen can open bank accounts in the United States and then have access to those bank accounts from within Cuba,” Herrero told Bloomberg.

“Following the game of their maneuvers or, even worse, supporting them financially, will only prolong the agony of the Cuban people”

However, there are many suspicions aroused by the new measures, as revealed by the Palm Beach Post, which explains the “paradox” that MSMEs are seen as “Trojan horses” on both sides of the Florida Strait: “Ideological communists perceive them as a threat to the Cuban Revolution, now in its 64th year. The anti-communist exiles in South Florida suspect that they are a facade for the successors of the Castro brothers.”

“How does Raúl Castro get his cut?” asked Rubén Roque, an exile from the 1960s, and the epitome of the mistrust that any independent firm within Cuba that is not “openly dissident” lacks credibility, or is even linked to the regime and the apparatus of the Communist Party.

Adolfo García, a lawyer who has worked on trade agreements with Cuba, told the Palm Beach Post that “recent history” does not bode well for the MSMEs. In this regard, he recalled the time of the thaw of then-President Barack Obama in which he believed: “The fact is that the opening not only did not work, did not have the success that both Obama and people like me thought, but it also tremendously strengthened the hand of the supporters of the hardline. Clearly it is a system that values the political control, policies and total influence of the Communist Party and does not want a rival source of power, which is what makes a prosperous economy: a prosperous capitalist private sector.”

For its part, the organization Cuba Siglo 21 has expressed criticism of these possible measures on Tuesday, recalling that “the highly propagandized MSMEs barely add up to 8,000 businesses and do not work in a context of free enterprise and a market economy,” and they will only be truly free if the “economic regulations that prevail today on the Island” are lifted.

“The State’s insistence on authorizing the existence of any business is to be able to discriminate against citizens for their political or religious beliefs or for the simple fact of having another country of residence and excluding all of them (millions of Cubans) from investing in the Cuban economy,” warns the NGO co-directed by Juan Antonio Blanco and Emilio Morales. “Following the game of their maneuvers or, even worse, supporting them financially, will only prolong the agony of the Cuban people.”

“There will be no private sector in Cuba, no private companies, no private entrepreneurs until the State – among other things – legally recognizes the right of these companies to decide in which sectors to invest, to select their partners among Cubans or foreigners within the territory and abroad, export and import directly, set the prices of their products and services and sell them directly or through an agency of their choice,” they say.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Seven Dead, Including Two Children, Following Explosion of Two ‘Motorinas’ in the Cuban Capital

The motorcycles were situated at the entrance to the living room of the house and prevented the family from leaving. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, June 28, 2023 — A family of seven, two of them children, died early this Wednesday morning following the explosion of two electric motorcycles in Central Havana. The fire occurred in a house of mixed construction, with a combined structure of wood and masonry, located at 159 Perseverancia Street, between Ánimas Street and Virtudes Street.

The official press has not yet revealed the names of the victims, but 14ymedio spoke with a neighbor, who recounted what happened and the family’s composition.

In the house, the matriarch, Magaly, about 50 years old, and her two children shared space. The man, about 20, also lived there with his girlfriend; and the daughter, approximately 30, was the mother of the two deceased children, ages 3 and 5. Finally, there was the young woman’s partner, presumably the owner of at least one of the burned motorbikes, located at the entrance to the living room of the house. The origin of the fire is still unknown, but according to witnesses it could have been due to the batteries exploding while being charged.

The fire occurred at number 159 Perseverancia Street, between Ánimas and Virtudes, shortly after 2:30 am. (14ymedio)

The fire departments of several municipalities in the capital – Old Havana, El Cerro, Plaza de la Revolución and Regla – came “immediately” to put out the fire, according to Cubadebate. “The police arrived in about 10 minutes and the firefighters did not take more than 20, that is, they did not arrive too late, but no one would have arrived in time, it was as if two bombs exploded,” explains the witness, who lives in the house. adjacent and whose wall was still hot around 10 in the morning, when 7 hours had passed since the accident. continue reading

The fire was “voracious,” as this neighbor described it. “So huge and so furious that there was no way to get those people out of there, because in their interior patio they had no communication with anyone, with anyone else’s interior hallway. They were simply cut off,” he lamented. Some neighbors desperately tried to force the door, but all in vain, as it was initially too hot and eventually burned completely.

In the absence of official information, the version circulating in the neighborhood is that the family died, most likely, from smoke inhalation, although the bodies were charred when emergency teams managed to enter.

On the positive side, a woman and her daughter, both adults, who lived right above, managed to escape the flames. In that area of ​​Central Havana there are many homes of this type, in which a side staircase gives access to the upper floor. The two women managed to leave by crossing the balcony of the Paquito González primary school, which did not open its doors this Wednesday.

“The block was black with smoke, enormous smoke, you couldn’t get close because you couldn’t breathe,” the neighbor reviews. The sadness is evident in the young man, who knew the deceased boy, a few years younger than himself, from playing together in the neighborhood, all his life.

Photographs published by the official press show that, in addition to the construction, numerous objects in the house were damaged, including several bicycles parked next to the motorbikes.

The leaders of the Communist Party and the provincial government, alarmed by the seriousness of the incident, came to witness the scene. Ramón Pardo Guerra, the head of the National Civil Defense General Staff, also appeared.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed, in a brief tweet accompanied by photographs of the incident: “We regret the human losses in the fire. Our condolences to family and friends.”

Este diario pudo constatar la fuerte vigilancia policial en el lugar de los hechos esta mañana. (14ymedio)
This newspaper was able to verify the strong police surveillance at the scene of the events this morning. (14ymedio)

The neighborhood where the house is located, known by the traditional name of San Leopoldo, is one of the most populated in the Cuban capital, with most of the houses built at the beginning of the last century, numerous tenements and a high degree of architectural deterioration, due to the lack of maintenance and the exposure to saltpeter, because of its proximity to the sea.

Electric motorcycle battery explosions are one of the most frequent causes of fires on the Island, although this is the most serious incident of that type. Last March, two men – one 45 years old and the other 48 – died in another explosion, also in Central Havana. Two more people – who tried to help those trapped in the building – were injured in the incident, while a third was discharged from the hospital immediately.

“Fires have been breaking out on mopeds or electric motorcycles since 2017. In 2019 there were 221 fires and as of October 2020 a total of 485 were reported,” state television reporter more than two years ago.

The situation has not improved over time. In September 2022, two people were seriously injured in a house fire in Luyanó, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre.

In June 2022, the explosion of another motorbike when it was being charged caused a fire in the municipality of Cerro that destroyed another 12 vehicles of that type and two cars.

Translated by Eric Peliza and others

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Inter-American Press Association Demands the Immediate Release of Cuban Journalist Henry Constantin

The director of the digital magazine La Hora de Cuba, Henry Constantín, in an archive photograph. (EFE/Ricardo Maldonado Rozo)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Miami,18 September 2023 — The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) demanded on Monday the immediate release of Cuban journalist Henry Constantín, victim of arbitrary detention by the Island’s authorities since last Friday.

The director of the independent magazine La Hora de Cuba, from Camagüey, was arrested that day by State Security agents in Havana, during the inauguration of the G-77 Summit plus China, according to a statement from the IAPA.

It is the second time this month that the journalist has been arrested. Constantín is also regional vice president of the Commission on Freedom of Press and Information of the IAPA, a hemispheric organization based in Miami (USA).

On this occasion, Constantín was arrested “for being illegally in Havana,” and told that he will be returned to Camagüey “within fifteen days, if transport appears,” as the detainee himself said through a phone call, the IAPA reported.

The journalist had already been arrested on September 4 in Camaguey along with his colleague José Luis Tan, a collaborator of Diario de Cuba, while they were trying to cover the trial against the activist Ienelis Delgado Cué. continue reading

The repression against journalists and independent media continues to be carried out by both the Communist Party and the Ministry of the Interior

For her part, journalist Neife Rigau, a collaborator of La Hora de Cuba, said that “the regime monitors me, persecutes me and cuts my Internet connection constantly,” according to the IAPA, adding that she received a summons from State Security for an “interview” on September 17.

“We strongly condemn Henry’s arrest and demand his immediate release,” the president of the IAPA and global director of Licensing and Printing Innovation of The New York Times, Michael Greenspon, and the head of the Press and Information Freedom Commission and journalistic director of the Argentinian newspaper La Voz del Interior, Carlos Jornet, jointly said in the statement.

Both complained that “the regime continues to arrest, harass and monitor independent journalists.”

In the report on Cuba presented at the semi-annual meeting of the IAPA last April, the organization pointed out that in that country, “repression against journalists and independent media continues to be carried out both by the Communist Party and the Ministry of the Interior.”

“The number of attacks was reduced, not because of a change of official strategy but because dozens of reporters left the country. The gag against the freedoms of the press and expression is rooted in the Criminal Code, the Law of Associations, Law 88, the Constitution, as well as in specific decrees,” the report added.

The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 publications from the Western Hemisphere.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Beggars Resist Getting on the Bus That Picks Them Up on the Streets of the Cuban Capital

The agent snatched a bag from the beggar, who immediately ran after him, berating the police officer with loud insults. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez,  Havana, 19 September 2023 — The dilapidated Transmetro bus parked on Carlos III Avenue in Havana, this Monday, seemed to be destined for what the sign on its windshield said: “Transportation of workers.” However, it was striking that a woman dressed in civilian clothes and with a folder in her hand was helping a dirty old man with a cane to climb up. The vehicle was not transporting workers but beggars. ##A dozen of them, all unclean, some handicapped, most of them black, were piled up in the back seats, as if they were prisoners.

Before reaching another stop, near San Rafael Boulevard, a man warned a needy person in a wheelchair and carrying an image of San Lázaro: “Hey, move, move, move! The bus is coming that is picking up [people].” The man was able to avoid the raid, unlike three other beggars, who were brought in by the police officer who was also traveling in the vehicle. “Come on, let’s go,” the officer repeated with reluctance.

Upon seeing the bus, half rusted and aged, a woman who witnessed the scene said: “At least they have improved transportation, I remember once when a community services truck picked them up.”

Later, in the Galiano area, the vehicle stopped again at a place where several beggars usually sell things. After boarding them, the police officer went to the Fe del Valle park, where he addressed another homeless man who continue reading

refused to accompany him. Then, the agent snatched a bag that the man was carrying, who immediately ran after him, berating the police officer with loud insults. It was of little use to him, since the homeless man ended up, like the rest, in a seat of the vehicle, which continued to lose itself towards Monte Street.

A dozen of them, all unclean, some handicapped, most of them black, were piled up in the back seats, as if they were prisoners. (14ymedio)
A dozen of them, all unclean, some handicapped, most of them black, were piled up in the back seats, as if they were prisoners. (14ymedio)

The authorities usually pick up the needy who flood the capital from time to time to take them to the Social Protection Center located in El Cotorro, known as Las Guásimas, where, in the words of the regime, “people with wandering behavior” are cared for. There, they bathe them, shave them, cut their hair and give them some second-hand clothes. “They are only here for a few days,” a resident near the center tells this newspaper. After a few days, they are returned “clean” to the streets, populated with more misery every day.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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 G-77 Summit in Cuba Has Ended, and the Blackouts Return With a New Breakdown in La Guiteras

The plant, which received a capital repair three months ago, fails to offer stable service. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, September 18, 2023 – A few hours had passed since the closing of the G-77 plus China Summit, held in Havana, when the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located in Matanzas, left the National Electricity System (SEN), which this Sunday had a deficit of 274 megawatts (MW); today, Monday,  it foresees the lack of 525 MW. “The Intelligent thermocouple only worked during the summit. When it was ended, we had an unforeseen event,” one of the dozens of customers who protested against this Monday’s report from the Electric Union commented with irony.

The breakdown of the Guiteras, around nine o’clock this Sunday night, was initially announced by several official journalists on their social networks. “The Antonio Guiteras CTE left the National Electric System unexpectedly. Electricity service begins to be affected due to a generation capacity deficit,” Lázaro Manuel Alonso wrote on his Facebook profile.

“The summit ended and the blackouts began, a perfect combination. What a coincidence,” commented a user with sarcasm on the page of the Electric Union, which did not offer the cause of the breakage in the Matanzas plant. “Díaz-Canel took the light to New York,” added another, alluding to the Cuban president’s trip to the United States just a few hours ago.

Another reader ironically asked for applause for the power plant that “heroically resisted during the summit”

Another reader ironically asked for applause for the power plant that “heroically resisted during the summit. You couldn’t ask it for more,” he remarked. continue reading

Weeks before the leaders arrived in Havana, Cubans already mocked the “make-up” with which the Government concealed the city’s building collapses. The collection of garbage and repair of the main arteries, which were not even done after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, brought indignation more than relief.

A habanero interviewed by 14ymedio explains that nothing amazes him anymore. “Now we have to go out to see the ’new normal’ after the summit. We will return for sure to having blackouts and seeing piles of garbage everywhere.”

This Monday, the Electric Union also announced the departure of the SEN from unit 2 of the Felton (Holguín) and the 6 of the Boca de Jaruco (Mayabeque). “With this forecast,” they warned, four engines of the Patana de Melones (Havana) with 70 MW will be put into operation, which are not enough to supply even half of the forecast deficit on the Island.

On September 11, the company warned that the Guiteras thermoelectric plant, which had received a capital repair three months earlier, had stopped generating energy due to a “boiler failure.” Put into operation just a day before, the plant only managed to work a few hours. That day, at least 14% of the population suffered power outages.

The mishaps in the Guiteras, especially in the last month, have provoked an angry reaction from Internet users who have filled the Electric Union’s Facebook page with mockery and insults. Many of them demand “more respect” from the authorities or, at least, the work of “qualified people” in the repair of the plants.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Eight Cuban ‘Swans’ of the Classical Ballet Stayed in Spain and 22 Returned Home

Between the Teatro Apolo in Barcelona and the EDP Gran Vía in Madrid, the Ballet Clásico de Cuba offered a total of 43 performances between July and August, from Thursday to Sunday. (Adelante)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 18 September 2023 — Eight dancers of the Ballet Clásico de Cuba (formerly Ballet de Camagüey) stayed in Spain in August, after performing Swan Lake in Barcelona and Madrid. The director of the group herself, Regina Balaguer, reported this to an official newspaper, just a month after complaining to the Spanish press that the only thing that is talked about when they go on tour is the dancers who escape.

“We are not going to tie them up either, each one owns their life, but the most important thing is that they finished the engagement, except for two,” Balaguer told the Camagüey newspaper Adelante, without giving the names of the artists. “If it can’t be 24 swans, it will be 12, it will be 8, as in other companies,” she said. “It will not be the first time that we add second-year and third-year students,” she proposed as an “alternative,” and threw a dart at the deserters: “Most of us have a sense of belonging.”

In the interview with the provincial newspaper, the official acknowledged that the “exodus” is a “complex problem,” recalling that, although at this time it is “much more intense,” it has happened to the Camagüey Ballet throughout its history. continue reading

When she was a dancer, with Fernando as the director, on one occasion 13 solo dancers left,  and the company continued. In 1994 in Monterrey, 12 returned, and the company ran out of men

In this regard, she made the count: When she was a dancer, with Fernando [Alonso, Alicia Alonso’s first husband] as the director, on one occasion 13 solo dancers left, first soloists, and the company continued. In 1994 in Monterrey, 12 returned, and the company ran out of men. “We went to Mexico in 2004 and six stayed, but in 2018 we were in Switzerland and Spain and no one stayed. Unfortunately, eight dancers have now stayed behind.”

Balaguer had alluded to the “success” of no dancer staying in 2018, at the beginning of last August, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, in which she tried to avoid political and economic issues in the face of the journalist’s questions.

Between the Teatro Apolo in Barcelona and the EDP Gran Vía in Madrid, the company offered a total of 43 performances between last July and August, from Thursday to Sunday. This weekend’s report in Adelante reveals the harsh conditions on the tour of Spain. “Ninety-seven percent of the dancers were on stage for the first time. There were injuries due to exhaustion but everything was solved,” Balaguer explained. Stage manager Rafael Saladrigas said: “For me it has been the hardest tour. We were 30 dancers and 6 technicians,” when a performance like this requires 40 people on stage.

Very little space in the report is dedicated to the desertions of artists, which are, as with athletes and other professionals, recurring, but not recorded. In 2019, when Vigensay Valdés took over the National Ballet of Cuba – the first important company on the Island – there were 40 dancers who had applied for asylum in the United States and other countries, according to the statistics of the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami.

Just a year ago, in another field of dance, a highly commented mass desertion took place when, at the end of July, eight members of the company Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba left the delegation and stayed in Spain, after finishing their tour of Europe.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Iconic 1960s Havana Restaurant, Now in Private Hands, Is Reborn

La Carreta Restaurant, located at the corner of 12th and K streets in Havana’s Vedado district.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, 17 September 2023 — The cartwheel in front of La Carreta is back where it used to be. The restaurant had been closed for years until last June, when it reopened as a privately owned restaurant. The cartwheel itself sat under a tree at the corner of 21st and K streets — half buried in the ground, in the heart of Havana’s Vedado district — until it was removed in November 2022. Now it is back, intact and recently restored, atop a new polished sidewalk.

To be honest, neither the cartwheel nor the establishment is anything like the ruin the place became when it was in state hands. Closed nearly seven years ago after a long, slow decline, the building was bricked up in March 2022. It made for grim sight at the time.

The wheel that served as its emblem was removed from the site six months later. At the time, the rumor that it had been stolen spread like wildfire on social media. Shortly thereafter, in November, the interior was demolished so that renovation work could begin.

People living near the restaurant, located a few yards from the iconic Coppelia ice cream emporium, watched construction work move forward at full throttle, especially in June. When asked about the fate of the well-known restaurant, the construction crew was straightforward: “It will have the same name but it will be privately owned.”

Neither the cartwheel nor the new establishment itself are anything like the ruin the place became when it was in state hands. (Photo: April 2022, 14ymedio.)

Before the work was completed in mid-June, food was being sold from a counter on the side. The quality of the service and the products – natural fruit juices with no added sugar, for example – was a rarity for the island’s depressed services sector.

Once opened, it more than met expectations. “Just walking inside is wonderful. The climate, the aroma, the service,” observes Ariel, who has been a regular customer since La Carreta’s renovations were complete. “It didn’t look like Cuba,” jokes his girlfriend Martha. “And it has been very successful. At first, it was empty, but it’s getting harder and harder to get a table. It’s always full!” continue reading

The question any first-time visitor asks is, “Who is behind this new operation?” An easy question to answer since the owner is on the premises every day, welcoming customers with a smile. He is Obel Martinez, who also runs the Mojito Mojito bar in Plaza Vieja, Havana’s historic center.

According to those who frequent La Carreta, civility is very important to Martinez. “He is a very proper man,” says Ariel. “Once I heard him tell the employees that you have to treat the customer well, that if someone comes in badly dressed, for example, you can’t tell him that he is badly dressed. You have to do it in some other way. Let him come in and see the place. I mean, that should be normal but in this country it’s not.”

The restaurant is decorated in a rustic style, with waiters dressed like Texans, politely welcoming guests. Diners are also often entertained by a professional musical trio who sing traditional Cuban and Mexican songs.

It’s true that the prices are not within everyone’s reach,” admits Martha, “but the portions are large.” As an example, she mentions the starter: “picando con guajiros” — it includes croquettes, stuffed tostones, fried taro, chicharrones, cassava bread and chunks of tamale — for 1,200 pesos. “With that and some fruit juice, you’re full,” confirms Ariel. “And the desserts are wonderful.” These range from ice cream, for 250 pesos, to more refined pastries such as the lemon and cream sandwich, for 600.

The couple describe how Obel Martinez once told them that his intention was not to do “gourmet cuisine” with small portions because “we Cubans want to eat well.”

Places like this, like Mojito Mojito, always raise suspicions. How was Obel Martinez able to set up shop in these desirable enclaves and become a successful businessman? Neither Ariel nor Martha nor any La Carreta customers questioned by 14ymedio had the slightest complaint. “We can’t say anything bad. I wish all privately owned restaurants were like this and didn’t act like they were doing you a favor.”

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Anti Diaz-Canel Protest Grafitti Appears on a Wall in Santiago de Cuba

The sign appeared this morning along a street in Palma Soriano, a downtown area of Santiago de Cuba. (Cubanos por El Mundo)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Santiago de Cuba, 14 September 2023 — On Thursday, a sign with the phrase “Canel, you asshole, hand over the country” was scribbled on an exterior wall in Palma Soriano, an area in downtown Santiago de Cuba. Sources living in the area confirmed the graffiti can be found near a very busy intersection where Lora Street crosses Libertad Avenue.

“It was before the markets were open, in a well-travelled area near where cars drive by. It’s full of police and State Security agents,” says a local resident who prefers to remain anonymous.

Though several reports on social media as well as sources from the Santiago neighborhood confirmed  there had been a power outage in the area lasting several hours, the previously mentioned source speculated there could be other reasons for the graffiti: “It’s not just because of the blackouts. It’s for several reasons. It’s because of all the problems we’ve been having here.

According to Cubanos por el Mundo [Cubans for the World], the graffiti appeared on the house of Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for participating in the 11 June 2021 demonstrations. The publication claims that three other people from the same block are also serving time for the same protests. continue reading

Palma Soriano was the second area to erupt in protests on 11 July 2021 after the massive demonstration in San Antonio de los Baños went viral. The young man who livestreamed it, Yoan de la Cruz, was released last May after almost 10 months in prison. First sentenced to six years in prison, his sentence was reduced to five years of house arrest.

The people seen on the streets of Palma Soriano on June 11 were mostly young. Commander Ramiro Valdés, who was visiting the area on that day, was heckled by the crowd according to videos released by critics of the government.

Fifteen area residents were arrested in a police roundup after the protests. They were charged with public disorder, contempt and battery, and received sentences of up to 12 years in prison.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Are Cubans Ready to Break the Chains?

Members of the Solidarity Resistance Group during a meeting on December 3, 2022 in Warsaw. (Government of Poland)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 17 September 2023 — When millions of workers peacefully took to the streets in Poland in 1981, the general secretary of the Communist Party resigned, and his successor agreed with the Solidarity movement in rather typical terms of a surrender. The communist regime had collapsed.

But at that time it was not convenient for Solidarity to take power because the Russian troops were on the border willing to repeat the bloody scenario of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. For the same reason, a Polish general staged the coup d’état and took his leaders to jail, and both of them had to wait a few years until Gorbachev declared the end of interventionist policy.

Why was Solidarity able to mobilize so many people? Mainly due to two factors:

The great influence of Catholicism on the population, together with the support of a Polish Pope.

And the influence of the struggles of a dissent that had already been preparing for years the conditions for a mass trade union movement: in particular, the struggle of the Workers’ Defense Committee (COS-COR) founded by a fighter later known as “the godfather of the Polish opposition,” Jacek Kurón. continue reading

When millions of workers peacefully took to the streets in Poland in 1981, the general secretary of the Communist Party resigned, and his successor agreed with the Solidarity movement in rather typical terms of a surrender

Sometimes providence pulls its strings in a strange way. That general, Wojciech Jaruzelski, in his childhood, was forced to flee from the communists with his whole family to Lithuania, when the Soviet Union seized part of Poland, for fear of being deported to Siberia where his father had died in a hard-labor camp. And that dissident leader had been a prominent militant of the Polish communist youth).

The conditions of Cuba, today, are not the same as those of Poland in 1981.

It was 132 years ago that José Martí, with the clairvoyance that characterized him, wrote these words: “When a problem arises in Cojímar, the solution is not going to be sought in Danzig.” Danzig is the current city of Gdansk, where almost a hundred years later the Solidarity union emerged, which implied that our problems had to be solved based on our own conditions.

We Cubans do not have that strong Catholic influence nor a Pope to support us, nor do we have a broad trade union movement. However, Cuba today has other advantages:

No country in the European socialist camp had a dissidence with as long an experience of struggle as the one in Cuba. It’s a broad movement, not trade unionist but of human rights, which contributed to the formation of a civic consciousness. Of all the social explosions in Latin America in those years, the only one carried out peacefully outside Cuba had a lot to do with an opposition that, from its beginning, declared itself peaceful, the only opposition movement that the regime has not been able to exterminate.

The Cuban people today have a resource that the Poles could not use because at that time it did not exist: the great advances in telecommunications technology, which allowed the existence of social networks, blogs, mobile phones and digital periodicals.

And not least: the absence of Russian troops at the borders that prevented or postponed the liberation of countries such as Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Cuban leadership has only Cuban troops, whose families are part of those suffering the same calamities, so the leadership does not trust one hundred percent of those officers, especially the youngest.

To all the above should be added the objective conditions; that is, the structural and permanent economic crisis of a failed, dysfunctional economic system, which forces the leadership to periodically seek — in order to sustain itself with subsidies — powerful external allies. The hard periods described with euphemistic names such as “Special” or “conjunctural” — i.e. ’temporary’ — occur when that powerful ally is missing. Poland did not reach the calamitous extremes of present-day Cuba, because at that time it had the benefits of COMECON* and the Soviet Union.

Did all these conditions already exist when the outbreak of July 11 occurred in 2021?

Precisely, thanks to the fact that almost all those conditions had matured, that explosion of thousands of people took place in the streets. Why have we added the word “almost” in the previous sentence? Because the thousands of 11 July 2021 (“11J”), cannot be compared with the millions of Poland on the streets. That tells us that this awakening of the consciousness of freedom, despite the fact that it had already developed in a large part of the people, had not been widespread enough to reach the final victory. However, that fact, by itself, despite having been thwarted by a brutal repression, awakened many people who until then thought it was impossible to break those chains.

Difficult periods qualified with euphemistic names such as “special” or “conjunctural” [temporary] occur when that powerful ally is missing. Poland did not reach the calamitous extremes of present-day Cuba, because at that time it had the benefits of COMECON and the Soviet Union

The same thing happened in all the great feats of our history: the first battle of the glorious 30 years of independence struggles in our country had been a resounding failure from the military point of view. In Carlos Manuel de Céspedes’ attempt to take the fort of Yara, only twelve men survived. But that simple fact, known in our history as El Grito de Yara [Yara’s Scream], impacted the population in such a way that many people began to join that small group, and soon after they achieved their first great triumph, the capture of the city of Bayamo.

Something similar happened with the assault on the Moncada barracks that began the fight against the Batista dictatorship with a large number of deaths and imprisonment.

Should we regret that liberation didn’t come on11 July 2021? Everything happens for a reason. It was indispensable that this awareness be generalized, if not in the entire population, at least in the vast majority, for a secure and definitive victory for all time.

What does this mean? We Cubans have been repeating from colonial times the same cycle as the myth of Sisyphus: the dictatorship leads us to insurrection and insurrection to another dictatorship, which leads us, in turn, to another insurrection, and this happens to us, precisely, because of the lack of a true civic conscience. First, we must not give anyone all the power, due to fanaticism and cult of personality, and second,  we must be aware that we are born with the right to freedom and, therefore, can practice that right regardless of the obstacles we encounter, even if it is within the walls and bars of a prison.

That gestation has been developing in Cuba for more than 40 years and is now about to mature. When this happens, no one will be able to stop the people on the way to their destination, because when the light of freedom is lit, it never goes out

Both the human rights activists and the political prisoners  practiced that freedom without fear of saying what we thought, so we were freer than the jailers who guarded us. True freedom does not need to be decreed by any government, nor is it a goal to be achieved, but a path. When the vast majority of the population decides to act freely, not even the most powerful army in the world will be able to stop it. A government only governs when the governed obey. If they don’t obey, those who govern stop governing.

But this requires the awareness of that vast majority. This is what Martí was referring to in his famous criticism of Karl Marx: “But he walked in a hurry and somewhat in the shadows without seeing that they are not born viable, neither from the bosom of the people in history, nor from the bosom of a woman in the home, the children who have not had a natural and laborious gestation.”

That gestation has been developing in Cuba for more than 40 years and is now about to mature. When this happens, no one will be able to stop the people on the way to their destination, because when the light of freedom is lit, it never goes out.

*Translator’s note: COMECON (1949-1991) was an organization led by the Soviet Union comprised of the Eastern Bloc countries and other socialist states.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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 Hundred Cuban Migrants Ask for Legal Status in Miami To Be Able To Stay in the United States

About a hundred people gathered in front of Miami’s Versailles restaurant to ask for changes in the application of immigration rules. (Cubans in Miami/ Capture)

14ymedio bigger EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 18 September 2023 — A hundred Cuban migrants demonstrated this Sunday in Miami (Florida) to ask for legal status to stay and work in the United States after a court ruling that limits the ways to obtain permanent residence.

The protesters gathered in the central Versailles restaurant to ask the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to consider the I-220A country entry form as a valid way to obtain permanent residence (known as the “green card”).

This form, also known as the “order of freedom under parole,” is given to certain people who were detained by immigration officials when they entered the country irregularly and were then released.

We are asking with humility, not demanding, asking the United States Government to legalize us, to allow us to work

“We are asking with humility, not demanding, asking the United States Government to legalize us, to allow us to work,” said one member of the protest, in which they showed posters requesting “freedom for political prisoners in Cuba.” continue reading

On September 12, the Superior Board of Immigration Appeals of the United States Department of Justice ruled against the I-220A being considered as a humanitarian permit to stay in the country.

It is a decision based on an appeal by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on a specific case, that of Olty Cabrera Fernández, processed with an I-220A upon entering the country.

The decision of the appeals court agreed with the U.S. Government, which considers that the only option to benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act, established in 1966, is a humanitarian permit, which is currently obtained with a legal sponsor within the United States.

The court ruling could affect tens of thousands of Cubans who arrived in the United States through the different border points since 2021, who were given the I-220A document after being released by the immigration authorities.

Immigration lawyer Willy Allen said that he does not believe that people who have the I-220A are in any danger of being detained or deported immediately

However, in statements to local media, immigration lawyer Willy Allen said that he does not believe that people who have the I-220A are in any danger of being detained or deported immediately.

Allen considered that this is a particular case that can be appealed.

For her part, Cuban-American congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, of the Republican Party, asked the Secretary of National Security to recognize the I-220A as a humanitarian permit.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

“There Are Dozens of ‘Regulated’ Doctors in Guantanamo Who Want to Leave Cuba”

The ‘regulation’ of specialists seems to be applied arbitrarily today. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, September 18, 2023 — Aníbal has been planning his departure from Cuba for months. A relative abroad will help him with the ticket to Managua, and from there he will make his way to the United States. But this 29-year-old doctor from Guantánamo has encountered an obstacle that has paralyzed his departure: he is “regulated” by the Ministry of Public Health; what the regime means by the term “regulated” is that the person cannot leave the Island.

“I found out when I went to get my passport; the office employee told me: ‘Pipo, you are regulated by the MINSAP (Ministry of Public Health); you can’t even have a passport’. That was six months ago, and no one warned me before,” complains Aníbal, (name changed to avoid reprisals). “In Guantánamo there are dozens of us doctors in the same situation, and no one gives us an answer; we only get responses that are evasive.”

Aníbal graduated more than six years ago from the Faculty of Medicine of the city of Guantánamo but now practices Integral General Medicine (MGI) for the second year, a field chosen precisely because he knew that the specialists were being ‘regulated’. “Since I had known for a while that I wanted to emigrate, I preferred to work as an MGI,” he tells 14ymedio.

Hannibal practices Integral General Medicine for the second year, precisely because he knew that the specialists were being ‘regulated’ – forbidden to leave to leave the island

“I made a complaint to the Department of Human Resources of the Ministry of Health here in Guantánamo, but everything remains the same. Two months ago I checked again, and I can’t even get my passport,” says the young doctor. “Margarita, the head of the department, is the one  who attends to the ‘regulated’. She is supposed to send emails to the ministry in Havana to unlock our cases, but we’ve waited for months and nothing changes.” continue reading

Aníbal’s story contradicts a statement made by MINSAP last August, when it denied the information circulating on social networks about alleged new regulations for the entry and exit from the country of workers in the healthcare sector. Georgina Álvarez, director of communications for MINSAP, warned against believing any rumor like this that was not confirmed through official channels.

But that denial did not calm minds and uncovered a wave of testimonies that indicated just the opposite. “I have not been practicing as a doctor for more than a year, and after that time I asked for ‘permanent deregulation’ for family reunification and was denied,” wrote a commentator who identified herself as Beatriz in the footnote published in the official media.

This newspaper tried, unsuccessfully, to get an answer about regulated doctors through the Facebook page of the Ministry of Public Health in Guantánamo and other provinces. The situation seems to be unequal depending on the territory and “the contacts that the doctor has,” says Hannibal.

The situation seems to be unequal depending on the territory and “the contacts that the doctor has,” says Hannibal

The Guantánamo Human Resources office attends every Thursday to the doctors who are in a situation similar to that of Hannibal. “Every time I go, the lines are immense. Many of them are there for the same reason, so I calculate that there are dozens, if not more than a hundred of us, who are regulated in this province,” he adds. “I was there at six in the morning, and at that time there were already people.”

“It is arbitrary because most of us who are regulated appear on paper as specialists or residents, even if we aren’t,” Aníbal said. “Those in that situation are more limited to travel, but now the ban has been extended to others who do not even meet those requirements.”

The doctor also recognizes that many of his colleagues choose to stop working in the sector for fear of not being able to leave the Island. “Those who stand in line complain because they are prevented from leaving the country or taking a leave from Public Health, which is almost the same, because many ask for leave to be able to emigrate later.”

In his opinion, the version of the head of the Department is false, and the intent is to prevent doctors from continuing to leave. “Not by improving the salary or working conditions, but by force, by obligation.” Aníbal also questions why his colleagues have not joined together to protest to the Health authorities. “Here the way that some of us have found is to denounce the situation in the independent media, but nothing more.”

In his opinion, the version of the head of the Department is false, and the intent is to prevent doctors from continuing to leave. “Not by improving the salary or working conditions, but by force, by obligation

“From my career year there are few in practice, and those of us who are working as doctors are regulated. The others are selling pizza, food,” he explains. “I should have taken a vacation myself, but I don’t think I’m going to because I can’t take it anymore. They are pushing me to ask for leave. At the moment, working in Public Health and wanting to travel is not compatible.”

In his case, the decision was made years ago: “Honestly, I want to travel in order to emigrate. I plan to go through Nicaragua, from there to Mexico, and from that country, my family in the United States will help me obtain the humanitarian parole to get to Miami.”

Anibal does not lose hope, seeing that some of his colleagues have managed to resolve their situation. This is the case of a nephrologist with more than 20 years of experience, who stopped practicing in 2020. “She knew that to get out of here she couldn’t continue in Public Health,” says her daughter Dayana. “She was regulated for a long time, but a few weeks ago they allowed her to get a passport, so it seems that she will be able to emigrate.”

Dayana is a fourth-year medical student, but she has just left the Guantánamo faculty. “I should have started my fifth year now but decided not to do it, because everyone in my family is waiting for the parole to arrive, and I feared that the ban on leaving the country would be extended to students.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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