English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The official press says machete workers will receive 700 pesos per ton and their income could reach 22,000 pesos a month 14ymedio, Havana, January 25, 2026 – Day Zero has arrived. The machines will not cut the cane at the Enidio Díaz Machado mill in Campechuela (Granma province), and if the goal of producing more … Continue reading “Lack of Fuel Forces a Return to Manual Sugarcane Cutting in Campechuela, Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 13 January 2024 — The 2023-2024 sugar harvest has just begun in Cuba, but the regime cannot hide that, once again, it will end in a debacle. None of the Ciego de Ávila sugar mills, for example, have begun to grind. In an article published this Friday, the newspaper Invasor says that the … Continue reading “The Delay in Grinding the Sugar Heralds Another Calamitous Harvest in Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 November 2023 — Everything seems to indicate that we will have to dust off the headlines warning of the worst sugar harvest in the history of Cuba. The official State newspaper Granma warned this Sunday that the campaign will take place in a “very tense scenario” and closes the door to optimism, regretting … Continue reading “Cuba’s Official Press Annoyed by the Forecasts of Another Disastrous Sugar Harvest”
14ymedio, Madrid, 22 September 2023 — Nobody knows where the sugar is in Santiago de Cuba, although if you search on social networks, it appears. The provincial government conveyed to the population on Tuesday a message from the Ministry of Internal Trade trying to call for calm about the rumors that emerged in recent days … Continue reading “‘Seeking Sugar at Any Price’ Says the Post in the Face of Rationing in Santiago De Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2022 — The preliminary results of the 2022-2023 sugar harvest continue to deepen the failure of the planned resuscitation of the sunken sugar sector, which was once the engine of growth for the Cuban economy. The latest press reports in Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas and Ciego de Ávila indicate that … Continue reading “Cuba’s ‘Most Efficient’ Sugar Mill Has Ground Only 56 Percent of the Cane Planned for the Current Harvest”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 26 February 2023 — Rice and sugar seem to have launched a competition in Cuba to see which increases the most in price on the informal market. While rice already exceeds 200 pesos ($8.30) a pound in several areas of the Island, sugar, once the national emblem, is on its … Continue reading “A Pound of Sugar Approaches 200 pesos ($8.30) on the Informal Cuban Market”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, 24 February 2023 — La Dulce Habana, where one would normally see a crowd of people on any given day, has no sugar. On Friday the bakery, located on the corner of 25th and L streets in the Habana Libre Hotel in the heart of the Cuban capital, was eerily … Continue reading “The Habana Libre’s Famous Bakery Is Out of Sugar and Its Signature Cake”
14ymedio, Havana, February 20, 2023 — The amount of sugar that Cuba’s State-owned sugar producer, Azcuba, should have produced by this time is unknown, but the deficit is already 95,000 tons, a huge amount if one takes into account that 400,000 tons is the total needed just to meet the domestic demand for sugar. The … Continue reading “In Addition to the ‘Blockade’, Cuba Blames Migration and Crime for Low Sugar Production”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 September 2022 — The Cuban authorities have set themselves the goal for the next harvest at even fewer tons than were achieved in the previous one, which was the worst in the history of the Island. It’s true they have called it small, but it’s difficult to understand why they call it … Continue reading “Due to Lack of Resources, Only 23 Sugar Mills Will Process Cane in Cuba in the Next Harvest”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — The state group Azcuba announced this Wednesday that “it will not be able to fulfill its international commitments” after one of the worst harvests in the country’s history, which will mainly affect China. The director of communications, Dionis Pérez, insisted in a press conference that, however, “the delivery of sugar … Continue reading “Cuba Acknowledges It Will Not be Able to Fulfill its Sugar Export Agreements”
Havana owes hundreds of millions of dollars to Huawei and Yutong 14ymedio, Madrid, 14 October 2024 — Cuba owes large Chinese companies, such as Huawei and Yutong, “hundreds of millions of dollars each,” says a foreign businessman who trades with the Island. The prestigious British economic newspaper Financial Times (FT) published this Monday a devastating … Continue reading “China Points Out ‘The Unwillingness of Cuban Leaders To Adopt Market-Oriented Reforms’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 10 October 2022 — Four months after 14ymedio reported the closure of the ’Uruguay’ sugar mill, located in Jatibonico (Sancti Spíritus), the news was confirmed by the provincial newspaper Escambray on Monday. According to the note published today, “technological obsolescence and lack of investment have become, together with the shortage of cane, dangerous threats to the continuity of … Continue reading “‘The Best Thing is For the Russians to Come’ to Save the Colossus of Jatibonico”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 August 2020 — While concerned coffee consumers confirm that the product has disappeared in stores that accept Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), Serrano and Cubita packages abound in the newly opened foreign exchange markets. Owning dollars now makes the difference between having a little morning eye opener or resorting to an herbal tea. … Continue reading “Cuban Coffee is Available Only in Foreign Currency Stores”