English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 17 January 2023 — Not even the threat of going to prison for up to 10 years for the illegal slaughter of cattle stopped this crime in Villa Clara, which closed 2022 with unprecedented figures of 12,237 head of cattle stolen or slaughtered. These events grew 200% compared to the previous year and are … Continue reading “Cuba’s Villa Clara Ranchers Organize Guards to Stop Cattle Theft”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 January 2023 — The theft and slaughter of cattle in the province of Las Tunas reached historical figures at the end of 2022, with an increase of 71% in cases compared to 2021. These facts, added to the loss of productivity due to lack of water and food for the animals, affected … Continue reading “Cuba: Theft and Slaughter of Cattle Grows More Than 70 Percent in One Year in Las Tunas”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2023 — The increasingly acute shortages in Cuba coincide with a wave of robberies in food outlets. In recent days alone, the authorities confirmed the confiscation of 133 pounds of beef that was sold illegally in the province of Villa Clara, while in Havana some thieves took all the rice stored … Continue reading “Thefts of Meat, Rice and Other Foods Are Multiplying in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, March 9, 2023 — The Rio Zaza Dairy Products Company in Sancti Spiritus province has temporarily suspended deliveries of milk for medical diets, with an exception granted for children and pregnant women, due to low production resulting from an ongoing drought. Alberto Cañizares Rodriguez, director of the state-owned company, told the regional newspaper Escambray … Continue reading “Cuba: Sancti Spiritus to Distribute Flavor-Enhanced Soy Milk Due to Cattle Shortage”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 January 2023 — The Artemisa Police arrested four people on Friday involved in a case of theft and slaughter of cows at the El Chorro farm, located between the municipalities of San Cristóbal and Candelaria. At the time of the arrest, made at 4:00 am, the agents seized a firearm, ammunition for a second … Continue reading “Four Armed Cattle Thieves Arrested in Artemisa, Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 October 2022 — The theft of cattle in Sancti Spíritus has multiplied 25 times this year compared to last year. The figures are official, made public during a meeting of the vice president of Cuba, Salvador Valdés Mesa, with the agricultural producers of that province. According to an article published in the … Continue reading “Cow Theft Goes From 48 to 1,200 Heads in a year in Sancti Spiritus, Despite High Penalties”
The “National Defense Council” is, in exceptional situations, the highest institution of power. Whenever it meets, it is charged with internal order, security, foreign policy, military forces, plus all the economic, legal and social activity of the country. So it is logical to understand why the luggage of the Cuban leaders are filled with reserves … Continue reading “Cuba: National Security and Defense of Cattle / Juan Juan Almeida”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 May 2023 – – Fidel Castro’s “dream” of mass consumption of moringa, a tree from India with medicinal properties overrated by the Cuban leader, has still not died. The latest invention is the inauguration this Saturday of the first moringa powder processing plant in La Sierpe, Sancti Spíritus. Located in the Agroindustrial … Continue reading “Moringa, Fidel Castro’s Last Obsession, Is Being Processed in Sancti Spiritus”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 July 2022 – – The day started off complicated in the editorial office of 14ymedio in Havana. Several members of the team awoke to no internet connection and started to look for alternative ways to reach their readers. They concluded, with resignation, that the reason for this was that Etecsa [the Cuban State … Continue reading “In Spite of the Disastrous Situation in the Country, President Diaz-Canel Only Sees Successes in Cuba”
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 3 May 2023 — The livestock scenario in Cuba, marked by brutal robberies and police inaction, could not be more chaotic. Resolution 88 of the Ministry of Agriculture, which approved in 2022 a “procedure for the slaughter and consumption of beef for self-consumption” for authorized entities and producers, is now seen … Continue reading “Authorizing the Controlled Slaughter of Livestock Was a ‘Mistake’ Cuban Officials Say”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 April 2023 — The numerous cases of theft and slaughter of livestock that producers in Cuba have been reporting for months and that the official press of the provinces reviews in the balance sheets of the sector finally have national figures that demonstrate the seriousness of the problem. In the last year … Continue reading “The Livestock Stolen in 2022 in Cuba Is Equivalent to 22 Million Pounds of Meat”
14ymedio, Yankiel Gutiérrez Faife, Camajuaní, 21 February 2023 — The hands of Emilio, a 66-year-old farmer, say everything about his trade: rough, firm, and smeared with soot. For decades he has gotten up at dawn, along with his brother Daniel, and they go to work in the fields of Vueltas, a town a few kilometers from Camajuaní, in … Continue reading “With the Blackouts, Charcoal Making Starts Up Again in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 February 2023– The drought in the province of Las Tunas, which last year caused the deaths of 4,400 head of cattle, will not let up in 2023, with the reservoirs now at a third of their capacity. The latest bulletin from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) reports that the 23 … Continue reading “With Reservoirs at a Low, Las Tunas is One of the Cuban Provinces Most Affected by the Drought”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 December 2022 — Without knowing exactly why, satisfaction reigned in the parliamentary agro-food commission for the announced Law on the Promotion and Development of Livestock, which in recent days has been the focus of several reports in the local press. The preliminary draft, without any real innovations, can influence the pressing problem of … Continue reading “The Proposed Law on Livestock is Typical for a Meat-Producing Country, Not for Cuba”
Translator’s note: The references here to the empty offices and the inability to work relate to a police raid that occurred in September of last year, during which much of the organization’s equipment was confiscated. Cubalex, 20 February 2017 – It is an ordinary November day. Cubalex members are visiting the headquarters, the emptiness of the … Continue reading “Broken Dreams / Cubalex”
