English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 12 December 2022 — In February 1970, while doing my work as a journalist (still a student) to cover the sugar harvest in the municipality of Florida, I attended an important meeting chaired by Armando Hart Dávalos, the member of the Political Bureau assigned to guarantee the goal corresponding to the … Continue reading “The Ordering Task* and the Law of Gravity”
14ymedio, Madrid, 2 August 2022 — When Marino Murillo was appointed president of Tabacuba in November 2021, many Cubans reacted with irony. “I hope he won’t ‘Re-order’ Tabacuba, or we’ll run out of cigarettes,” one reader wrote, joking in reference to the so-called ‘Ordering Task’* which is affecting broad elements of the Cuban economy. The … Continue reading “Marino Murillo Disrupts Tabacuba’s ‘Ordering Tasks’* and Leaves Cigarette Production at 47 Percent”
14ymedio, Havana, June 9, 2022 — Since the beginning of January, the official press has reported the lack of cans and containers for soft drinks in Los Portales, the main company on the island, associated with Nestlé. The factory, which renovated its machinery in 2018 after a Swiss investment, went from 278 million units that … Continue reading “Cuban Soft Drink Can Factories, Another Victim of the ‘Ordering Task’”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 January 2022 — The price of fresh cheese, or frescal, as they call it in Sancti Spíritus, has increased three or four times since November, and that of ice cream has doubled. People are very upset, according to an article in the Escambray newspaper on Tuesday, asking those responsible for the industry what has … Continue reading “Cuba’s ‘Ordering Task’ Triples the Price of Milk and Cheese in Sancti Spiritus”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2021 — Marino Murillo has caused many annoyances, both to ordinary Cubans and to his own home, the Communist Party. In charge of designing the major economic changes that came into force this year — for which the foreign press saddled him with the nickname of reform czar — and architect … Continue reading “Cuba: Marino Murillo, the Man who Sowed Chaos With the ‘Ordering Task’”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 December 2021 — There will be changes to correct the deficiencies of the failed Tarea Ordenamiento (Ordering Task), which was planned for more than ten years and whose execution even the Cuban authorities themselves consider catastrophic. In his 2021 accountability report, presented this weekend, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero admits that “the objective of this … Continue reading “Faced With the Failure of its ‘Ordering Task’, the Cuban Government Talks About ‘Rectification’”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 March 2021 — Cubans interested in the survey carried out by the State website Cubadebate, which garnered much success among readers, should consult the independent media to find out what the people of the island really think about the “Ordering Task*” (Tarea ordenamiento) and the dramatic economic situation in the country. The survey, activated this Monday … Continue reading “‘Cubadebate’ Removes the Ordering Task Survey From its Website”
Comedian Alian Aramis speaks with 14ymedio after leaving the island due to pressure and censorship. 14ymedio, Havana, 24 February 2025 — In a video from Guyana, he is seen enjoying a dish of ice cream with the voracity of a child, while criticizing Cuban bureaucracy, the failed Ordering Task, and the absurd partial dollarization of … Continue reading “‘I Want To Live in a Sane Country, Because Cuba Is Crazy Right Now’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 February 2025 — The workers of at least two hotels managed by foreign firms, the Iberostar Selection Parque Central, in Havana, and the Royalton Hicacos, in Varadero (Matanzas), have been demanding a wage stimulus for two years, which has been denied despite the companies’ profits. An article in the newspaper Trabajadores pointed … Continue reading “Despite Their Profits in Cuba, a Spanish Luxury Hotel and a Canadian Hotel Refuse To Pay Extra to Their Staff”
Ferrer’s words make a lot of sense: the opposition needs more than ever to unite, to strengthen itself, to make itself heard. 14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 February 2025 — In recent days, the statements made by José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, have caused a great stir. José … Continue reading “Dialogue and Dictatorships: Cuba and the United States”
Some entrepreneurs are experiencing “the most difficult times in business” 14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 27 January 2025 — With bruises and problems, which he prefers to describe as “challenges for 2025,” Abelardo has decided that his cafeteria will remain open against all odds. With 57 years behind him, he has no doubt that he … Continue reading “Shortages, Inflation and Bureaucracy Bring Private Cafeterias to the Brink of Bankruptcy in Cienfuegos”
Prime Minister Marrero asked that the Government have control over the foreign currency and be the one to put it “in function of the well-being of the population” 14ymedio, Madrid, 8 January 2024 — Cuba’s Prime Minister put on paper on Tuesday the government plan that in recent days has everyone talking on the street, … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Is Dollarizing the Economy To Capture ‘The Foreign Currency That Is Currently Being Moved Illegally’”
Dozens of people come to the old garage opposite the cathedral every Sunday, to be given food 14ymedio, Santa Clara, 19 September 2024 – For five months, a garage opposite the Santa Clara cathedral has filled up with people in need of food. In two rooms inside the old ’storage’ – the name [in English] … Continue reading “‘Che’ and Fidel, Two of the Poor People Who Attend the Food Kitchen of the Catholic Church in Santa Clara”
The joint venture Habanos S.A., 50% owned by Spain, earned 721 million dollars in 2023 14ymedio, Havana, 23 September 2024 — The authorities estimate 300 million dollars to be the amount received each year by the Cuban State thanks to tobacco, according to a note published this Monday in the State newspaper Granma. It reports … Continue reading “Tabacuba Is Committed to a Harvest of 25,500 Tons and Income of 300 Million Dollars”
Former Cuban ambassador to Washington, José Ramón Cabañas, describes the relationship between the two countries as “a war scenario” EFE/Juan Palop (via 14ymedio), Havana, August 26, 2024 — Cuba is used to “sailing in turbulent waters,” says José Ramón Cabañas, director of the official Center for Foreign Policy Research (CIPI) of Cuba, when asked in … Continue reading “For the United States, Cuba ‘Is Not a Strategic Issue,’ but It Bets on Its ‘Implosion’”
