English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Applications will be received between July 1 and 31, and the selection process will take approximately three months. 14ymedio, Madrid, June 30, 2025 — From this Tuesday and throughout the month of July, both private and state-owned MSMEs*, non-agricultural cooperatives (CNA) and local development projects (PDL) from the east will be eligible for up to … Continue reading “The UN Manages Aid of up to $40,000 for MSMEs in Eastern Cuba”
The Government publishes a new decree that increases the restrictions initiated last August 14ymedio, Havana, 5 December 2024 — The Cuban government took another step on Thursday in the restrictions on business freedom initiated with the mega package of measures issued last August . A resolution published in the Official Gazette establishes what is called … Continue reading “With the Decision To Ban Wholesale Trade by Private Companies, Cuba’s ‘Honeymoon With MSMEs Is Over’”
A pound of sugar sells for up to 500 pesos in private stores 14ymedio, Havana, 11 October 2024 — Sugar is once again scarce in Cuba. Its distribution in the rationed market has delays of months and has not reached all the provinces. A small amount can be obtained in private stores for up to … Continue reading “The Sugar Crisis in Cuba: Hard To Find, Expensive and Puts ‘MSMEs’ out of Business”
Authorities investigate state-owned companies that pay “millions” to the private sector 14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2024 — The leaders of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, aspire to become the elite squad in the government’s crusade against MSMEs. President Miguel Díaz-Canel had asked, during a session in Parliament last month, to liquidate the “excessive payments from the state … Continue reading “In Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, the Order To Combat ‘MSMEs’ Has Been Given”
Diplomarket is suspected of being closed, like others, for tax evasion 14ymedio, Madrid, 10 July 2024 — The Cuban State does not know how much money it fails to receive due to tax evasion, although only until June it had already identified more than 162 million pesos, which, without a doubt, falls short. This Wednesday, the … Continue reading “Cuban Tax Authorities Close 15 ‘MSMEs’ and Punish 323 Self-employed Workers for ‘Irregularities””
The Municipal Assembly proposes forcing companies to lower their prices for their “essential” imported products 14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, May 22, 2024 –Bleeding MSMEs [Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises], the only entities on the Island that remain afloat in the unstable Cuban economy, seems to be the new plan of the city of Holguín to … Continue reading “Holguín, Cuba, Increases Tax Pressure on ‘MSMEs’ and Threatens Other Measures”
EFE/14ymedio, Havana, January 23, 2024 — The owners of the MSMEs (micro, small and medium sized enterprises, mipymes in Spanish) are trying to disassociate themselves from their links to the Cuban Government, which the exile community, the opposition and the Cuban population attribute to them. In a press conference on Monday at the headquarters of a food … Continue reading “To Do Business in the United States, Some Cuban ‘MSMEs’ Disassociate Themselves From the Government”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Washington, January 18, 2024 — The United States does not plan for now to allow Cuban Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises [MSMEs] access to the US banking system, a senior State Department official said on Thursday. Eric Jacobstein, deputy undersecretary of Latin American affairs, was questioned in a congressional committee about the … Continue reading “The United States Does Not Plan for Now To Allow Cuban ‘MSMEs’ Access to Its Banking System”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 December 2023 — They started popping up, little by little at the beginning of the year, without all the attendant publicity the official media usually gives to these sorts of places. Establishments that were once state-owned, that closed after languishing for years, have reopened overnight as mipymes (a Spanish acronym for micro, … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2013: MSMEs, the Last Economic Hope for Cuba’s Dying Regime”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 October 2023 — “We can’t even open the balcony door because the house is full of flies,” laments Clara, a resident of 30th Street at the corner of 37th, in the municipality of Playa, in Havana. A few meters from her home, a huge garbage dump has been growing for weeks without the … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Ask for the Support of ‘MSMEs’ to Collect the Garbage in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 June 2023 — A labyrinth of obstacles, verifications and absences makes it difficult to buy on the Nihao 53 digital platform, with which the Chinese conglomerate Leke Holding Group hopes to consolidate its presence in Cuba. With the intention of supplying the wholesale market on the Island, the site offers food, furniture, … Continue reading “A Chinese Wholesale Website Offers To Supply Cuban ‘MSMEs’”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 May 2023 — Family man and owner of a cafeteria in Camajuaní (Villa Clara), Alexis González exploded this Tuesday in a direct Facebook broadcast that reached thousands of people. Faced with the shortage, bureaucratic obstacles and harassment by inspectors, he asked the authorities for an answer: “Someone explain to me how long … Continue reading “A Self-Employed Worker Denounces the Government’s Preferential Treatment of ‘MSMEs’ in Cuba”
Private businesses in Cuba — MSMEs* — will be able to buy foreign currency once a month, according to a calculation made by the Central Bank based on each company’s income in previous months. 14ymedio, Havana, January 10, 2026 — The announcement by the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) about opening a banking channel that … Continue reading “Dollar Sales to Cuba’s Private Sector Are Authorized, but with Strict Limits”
“We ourselves have doubts. The banks are collecting foreign currency only; they haven’t given us the order yet to sell” 14ymedio, Havana, Darío Hernández, December 23, 2025 — Nearly a week after the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) announced the implementation of a floating rate for the foreign exchange market, in addition to other official … Continue reading “Cuban Bank Employees Are Still Awaiting ‘Guidance’ on Buying and Selling Dollars”
In the provinces, the official floating rate has been ignored and only the informal market is operating, with a rate of 440. 14ymedio, Havana/Holguín, Darío Hernández and Miguel García, December 20, 2025 — “Do you want to change two bucks?” asks a customer in a MSME in Alamar. “Nah,” replies the person behind the counter. … Continue reading “‘Right Now Nobody Is Exchanging Dollars; Cubans Are Waiting To See What’s Going To Happen’”