February 2025 – Page 7 – Translating Cuba

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Protests Against the US Restricted List of Companies Under Military Control

According to Bruno Rodríguez, Trump’s measures “will lead to greater shortages, separation and increased emigration”

For Rodríguez, the announcement is “gratuitous abuse” and a “criminal measure” / Cubadebate

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, February 1, 2025 — The Cuban Foreign Ministry described this Friday as a “provocative act” Washington’s decision to reinstate and expand the Restricted List of Cuba, which bans transactions with companies linked to the regime. The head of Cuban diplomacy, Bruno Rodríguez, said that Donald Trump’s government promotes “irresponsible scenarios of confrontation” with Havana.

Regarding the decisions announced by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Rodríguez said that they are “deceptive pretexts with which he intends to justify the unjustifiable,” alluding to the increase in sanctions against the regime.

Rubio approved this Friday the reinstatement of the “black list” that bans commercial exchanges with companies under the control of the Cuban Armed Forces, State Security or other military or counterintelligence organizations. For Rodríguez, the announcement is “gratuitous abuse” and a “criminal measure,” which “will cause greater shortages, increased emigration and separation.” continue reading

Rubio explained that he is re-issuing the list “to deny resources to the same branches of the regime that directly oppress and monitor the Cuban people

For his part, Rubio explained in his statement that he is re-issuing the list “to deny resources to the same branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and monitor the Cuban people while controlling large sectors of the country’s economy.”

He stressed that in addition to putting back the companies that were already on that list until the last week of the Biden Administration, he has added Orbit, “a remittance processing company that operates for or on behalf of the Cuban military.”

“The State Department holds the Cuban regime responsible for oppressing its people and rejects Cuba’s evil interference in the Americas and around the world,” he said. Rubio also recalled that on January 20, in the first hours of Donald Trump’s second term, the latter revoked the decision of his predecessor to remove Cuba from the US list of states promoting terrorism.

Miguel Díaz-Canel also reacted to Washington’s announcements about its policy towards the regime

Miguel Díaz-Canel also reacted to Washington’s announcements about its upcoming policy towards the regime. This Friday, he defined Trump’s decision to use the US naval base in Guantánamo to detain 30,000 undocumented immigrants as an “infamy.” He attributed to the Republicans “fascist ideas,” which are the “fruits of capitalism.”

Trump said that he would send thousands of undocumented immigrants to Guantánamo, an act – in the words of Díaz-Canel – of absolute “brutality,” since for Havana the territory of the base is “illegally occupied” by the US Army.

In his demands to the Cuban regime, Rubio once again put on the table the issue of the dozens of terrorists for whom Havana has provided refuge. Such is the case of the American of Puerto Rican origin William Morales, who put a bomb in the Fraunces Tavern in New York and was given asylum by Fidel Castro in 1988. In an act of tribute to the victims, Rubio demanded that the Cuban government return Morales – who still lives in the Cuban capital – to be held for trial in the United States.

Emphatic about Washington’s justification for including Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, Rubio recalled that “to this day,” the regime protects those responsible, in addition to other “fugitives and terrorists” sought by the United States.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The US Reinstates and Expands the Restricted List of Cuba for Certain Business Transactions

Trump Administration Adds Orbit, “a Remittance Processing Company Operating for or on Behalf of the Cuban Military” to the list

Orbit handles remittances through companies such as Western Union, VaCuba or Cubamax. / 14ymedio

EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana/ 1 February 2025 — The new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, approved this Friday the reinstatement of the Restricted List of Cuba, a “black list” that bans certain transactions with companies under the control of or acting on behalf of the Cuban military, intelligence or security services personnel.

Rubio stated that he is reinstating that list “to deny resources to the same branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and monitor the Cuban people while controlling large sectors of the country’s economy.”

Rubio stressed that, in addition to putting back the companies that were already on that list until the last week of the Biden Administration, he is adding Orbit, “a remittance processing company that operates for or on behalf of the Cuban military.”

“The State Department holds the Cuban regime responsible for oppressing its people and rejects Cuba’s evil interference in the Americas and around the world,” he said. continue reading

“The State Department holds the Cuban regime responsible for oppressing its people and rejects the evil interference of Cuba in the Americas and around the world.”

Republican congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, of Cuban origin, said on X that with the reinstatement and expansion of the list, Rubio fulfills “his promise to support the freedom of the Cuban people, denying resources to its oppressors while promoting the national security of the United States.”

Rubio’s message also expressed Washington’s support for “human rights and fundamental freedoms for the Cuban people” and demanded “the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners.”

“Our embassy in Havana is meeting with relatives of those unjustly detained, as well as dissidents, so that they know the United States supports them unconditionally. We are firm in our commitment to the Cuban people, and we hold the Cuban regime responsible for its actions,” he said.

Rubio recalled that on January 20, in the first hours of Donald Trump’s second term, the President revoked the decision of his predecessor to remove Cuba from the US list of countries promoting terrorism.

Rubio’s message also expressed Washington’s support for “human rights and fundamental freedoms for the Cuban people

“The Cuban regime has long supported acts of international terrorism. We demand that it end its support for terrorism and stop providing food, housing and medical care to murderers, bomb makers and foreign kidnappers, while Cubans go hungry and lack access to basic medicines,” Rubio said.

The Trump Administration added that it is also committed to US citizens “having the ability to take private action related to their properties that were confiscated and trafficked by the Cuban regime.”

The Office for Latin America of the State Department in turn welcomed the revocation of the last-minute, ill-advised policies of the previous administration in regard to Cuba.

In 2022, the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) licensed the non-bank financial institution Orbit S.A. to manage remittances on the Island. The company, established in Havana in February 2020, was authorized to process international transfers from abroad and to provide payment services from abroad through its infrastructure, for duly authorized goods and services, according to current legislation.

“The Cuban regime has long supported acts of international terrorism”

Orbit manages remittances from the United States through entities such as Western Union, VaCuba or Cubamax and is backed by Financiera Cimex (Fincimex), belonging to Cuba’s powerful military conglomerate Gaesa (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.). In an extensive report published last December, The Miami Herald confirmed Gaesa’s ties with the Cuban military.

Orbit’s data, the newspaper points out, appear alongside those of Fincimex on remittances in the reports prepared by the latter for its meetings with the executive president of Gaesa, Ania Lastres Moreras.

According to the Herald, Orbit has been managed by Fincimex executives since its creation. Currently, its president is Diana Rosa Rodríguez Pérez, appointed this year by the president of Gaesa; she previously served as vice president of Cimex.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Two Cuban Fishermen Survive Seven Days on the High Seas by Eating Raw Fish

Carlos Francisco Rodríguez González and Yusuan Fundora Massaguet were swept away by the current and rescued near the Bahamas

Carlos Francisco Rodríguez González, in an image published by the official press / Girón

14ymedio, Mexico, 30 January 2025 — “How did we survive? Nature is great.” Fisherman Carlos Francisco Rodríguez González, 55, tells how he was shipwrecked and set adrift with Yusuan Fundora Massaguet, only 15 years old, for seven days, until they were rescued near the Bahamas. “I, who am neither Catholic nor a Christian, prayed to all the virgins, everyone,” he said in an interview with the newspaper Girón. What he thought would be a “quick fishing trip, got complicated.”

At midnight last Thursday, January 16, Rodriguez left his home in Cerro (Havana) alone, planning to return at nine in the morning. After fishing in Havana Bay, however, he wanted to go to Chivo Beach, “but my legs were giving out on me,” he said. A young man he knew on another raft tried to help him, but the wind pushed them both out to sea.

“The current was taking us east and toward the sea, and nothing was there, not even a boat to give us a hand. The boy didn’t have experience either. We were overcome by the current and fatigue,” said the fisherman.

At nightfall, Rodríguez’s polyfoam cork boat broke up completely, so he got onto the boy’s raft, and “that’s how we both were stranded for a week, without eating or drinking water.” continue reading

“The boy at some point even told me that he wanted to just jump in the water, that he couldn’t go on any more. But I didn’t let him give up.”

With barely three years of fishing experience, he said that when he usually goes out, he carries a gallon of water or a bottle of soda. On this occasion he didn’t bother. After the first day on the high seas, Carlos Francisco threw in a hook and caught a goldfish. “We took out the bones with a knife, laid it down on the cork to dry a little and ate it raw. The boy even ate the egg sac, which disgusted me. He also drank some salt water.”

The fisherman said there were many sharks. “You saw the big ones jumping and fins in the water.” Rodríguez says that he is not afraid of sharks. “If there is no injured fish around that is bleeding, there is no need to be afraid. I was more afraid of dying from dehydration than from being bitten by a shark.”

As the days passed, despair took hold of the fishermen: “The boy at some point even told me that he wanted to jump in the water, that he couldn’t go on. But I didn’t let him give up.”

Rodríguez says he was reborn when the current took them in sight of a ship. “On unsteady legs, one of us kept rowing and the other steering towards the center of the boat,” he said. “Then we started screaming at the top of our lungs: ’Help! Help!’ Someone appeared and called the captain. And that rope they threw to us was a life-saver.”

Carlos Francisco Rodríguez González was admitted to the Faustino de Pérez provincial hospital, while the youngest fisherman was taken to the pediatric Eliseo Noel Caamaño. “After this I told everyone: ’I’m done’. But I’m not going to die of hunger either; if I have to go back (to fish), I will. And I’ll have to respect the sea.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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