Social Networks Respond To Randy Alonso: I-Am-Not-Ex-Cuban / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 19 August 2016 — A recent comment by official journalist Randy Alonso has generated a number of protests on social networks. The well-known Cuban TV host questioned the nationality of the Cuban athlete Orlando Ortega, who won silver medal competing for Spain at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. On … Continue reading “Social Networks Respond To Randy Alonso: I-Am-Not-Ex-Cuban / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”

Randy, The Situation Is Worse Than In The 90s / Dimas Castellano

Dimas Castellanos, 3 August 2016 — The newspaper Granma recently published an article by Randy Alonso that commenced by dismissing “media vultures” who “revel in painting a dark picture, according to which Cuba will return to the direst days of the Special Period.” It is telling that Randy Alonso and the daily Granma would devote time and space to responding to these … Continue reading “Randy, The Situation Is Worse Than In The 90s / Dimas Castellano”

Steps Towards the Disaster of Cuba’s ‘Bancarizacion’ [Banking Reform]

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, November 25, 2023 — Bancarización* (banking reform) in Cuba is becoming a one-act comedy for those who are bored with the low quality of the script and the cast that participates. Almost half a year after the approval of Resolution 111 of the Central Bank of Cuba, the conclusion that … Continue reading “Steps Towards the Disaster of Cuba’s ‘Bancarizacion’ [Banking Reform]”

President Diaz-Canel Proposes ‘Making a Revolution’ with Cuban Journalism, Without Giving More Details

14ymedio, Havana, November 4, 2023 — On Friday, the second day of the Cuban Journalists Union (Upec) congress, the leitmotiv was the word ’crisis’. Crisis of the “socialist press model,” economic crisis of the media and, of course, the deep depression of salaries, the delegates enumerated. The solution to get out of the financial quagmire: … Continue reading “President Diaz-Canel Proposes ‘Making a Revolution’ with Cuban Journalism, Without Giving More Details”

The Ghost of the Independent Press Annoys the Congress of Cuba’s Official Media

14ymedio, Havana, 3 November 2023 —  Under the watchful eye of Rogelio Polanco, ideological guardian of the Communist Party, Cuban journalists tried this Thursday to bell the cat without being too critical. The situation of the official press, however, is serious. The worst salaries in its history, “loss of credibility,” “bureaucratic language,” mediocre training of its … Continue reading “The Ghost of the Independent Press Annoys the Congress of Cuba’s Official Media”

Praising What I Do Not Have

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, October 8, 2023 — The engineer Silvia Gomez Fariñas has done more to hasten the collapse of Cuban communism than any dissident. Her work does not appear in the pages of some independent newspaper but in the most reddish and conscientious newspaper on the island. Therefore, it stands to reason that … Continue reading “Praising What I Do Not Have”

Cimex Pays Its Workers Less Than the Cost of a Carton of Eggs in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 9 September 2023 — Those who go to the branch of the Cimex mercantile corporation in Habana del Este, in search of the jobs they advertised with great fanfare on their social networks, will be disappointed. Only one of the monthly salaries of the available jobs – all manual trades that require “aptitude, … Continue reading “Cimex Pays Its Workers Less Than the Cost of a Carton of Eggs in Cuba”

Cuba’s Banking Reform Put on Hold and Another Experiment Bites the Dust

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 10, 2023 — Not surprisingly, recently announced government banking regulations have aroused a myriad of fears among the business community and Cuban society at large. And the regime, which has been sensitive to any sign of social unrest since the mass protest of July 11, 2021 has not come … Continue reading “Cuba’s Banking Reform Put on Hold and Another Experiment Bites the Dust”

The Cuban Regime Sees a Conspiracy in the Closing of Facebook Accounts

14ymedio, Havana, 25 February 2023 — The official propaganda launched its counterattack this Friday against the US company Meta, which manages platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, for having eliminated hundreds of ghost profiles on social networks related to the Cuban regime. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla also offered the government’s vision, which attributes an “ideological … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Sees a Conspiracy in the Closing of Facebook Accounts”

No Customs, Thank You

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 18 February 2023 — My Cuban friends come from the Island to Europe and are amazed that when we travel to different countries when we arrive at the airports there are no “customs” or police controls. The magic of Schengen Area for Europeans (Spanish Cubans too), the disappearance of customs … Continue reading “No Customs, Thank You”

Cuban Government Fires the President of the Central Bank Without Explanations

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 16 February 2023 — On Wednesday, the Cuban government dismissed the president of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), Martha Wilson González, after four years in office. Her position will be occupied by Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, until now president of the state Exchange Houses (Cadeca). Without giving explanations about this movement, which takes … Continue reading “Cuban Government Fires the President of the Central Bank Without Explanations”

The Official Sale of Dollars in Cuba Begins and Each One Will Cost 123 Pesos

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 22 August 2022 — The Cuban government announced on Monday that it will start selling dollars to the population on August 23 at a rate of 123.60 Cuban pesos (CUP) per dollar. The 37 premises authorized to carry out this operation will report daily the number of people who can buy that day, … Continue reading “The Official Sale of Dollars in Cuba Begins and Each One Will Cost 123 Pesos”

Havana Historian Eusebio Leal, Two Years After His Death His ‘Oblivion’ is Decreed

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 2 August 2022 — The legacy of Eusebio Leal, after two years of his death, fits in a couple of showcases and some tearful speech. An exhibition at the Elvira Cape Provincial Library, in Santiago de Cuba, was the greatest tribute to which the historian of Havana could aspire, far from the city to which … Continue reading “Havana Historian Eusebio Leal, Two Years After His Death His ‘Oblivion’ is Decreed”

Ten Dollars and Five Banks Later: a Cuban’s Dilemma in Selling His Foreign Currency

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 4 August 2022 — I took to the streets of Havana with ten dollars in my pocket. A sweaty, fought-for bill, a miniature fortune in the country of bank surprises. I wasn’t forgetting the words of the Minister of Economy, serene as an executioner between the president of the Central … Continue reading “Ten Dollars and Five Banks Later: a Cuban’s Dilemma in Selling His Foreign Currency”

No. The Cuban Agricultural Sector is Not Doing Well

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 25 May 2022 — The worst thing that can be done to a person is to deceive him or take him for a fool, or both at the same time. This is what can be concluded from the Round Table program in which the Castroite Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Pérez, … Continue reading “No. The Cuban Agricultural Sector is Not Doing Well”