Search results for: microbrigade

Ramiro Valdes Proposes Resurrecting the Microbrigades To Solve the Housing Problem in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2023 — The ninety-year-old Ramiro Valdés got angry during a meeting with leaders of Santiago de Cuba last week over the terrible state of housing in the province. The soldier, ratified this Wednesday as Deputy Prime Minister of the Island, “punched the table,” according to the local official newspaper, after unraveling … Continue reading “Ramiro Valdes Proposes Resurrecting the Microbrigades To Solve the Housing Problem in Cuba”

Salvador Valdes Mesa Reproaches Cuban Producers for Selling ‘To Whoever Pays the Most’

14ymedio, Madrid, April 17, 2024 — Salvador Valdés Mesa, annoyed, reproached Cuban producers on Tuesday for “getting used” to taking their products “to the highest bidder, the one who pays them the most.” The surprising argument encouraged a few days of bureaucratic meetings around the “Government’s projections to boost the economy” from which, despite having … Continue reading “Salvador Valdes Mesa Reproaches Cuban Producers for Selling ‘To Whoever Pays the Most’”

‘Fama y Aplausos’, the 20 Story Havana Building That Has Become a Hell

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 14 December 2023 — A quick touch with the index finger and middle finger on the shoulder is the key to knowing that the building known as Fama y Aplausos (Fame and Applause), on the corner of Infanta and Manglar in Havana, is the home of important official spokespeople who handed … Continue reading “‘Fama y Aplausos’, the 20 Story Havana Building That Has Become a Hell”

My Personal Granada: Fidelito and El Gordo

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 25 October 2023 — All the data is on the internet: how many Cuban soldiers died in Granada, how many surrendered, the weapons of the 82nd US division, the fight between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher over the invasion, the importance of the airport… but not everything has been told. At … Continue reading “My Personal Granada: Fidelito and El Gordo”

Repression Breaks Out in Cuba in the Face of the Increasing Protests on the Fifth Day of the Post-Hurricane Blackout

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 October 2022 — With the mobilization of police officers, State Security agents dressed in civilian clothes and military service recruits armed with sticks, the authorities responded on Saturday night to the popular protests on the fifth day without electricity in several municipalities of Havana. The cacerolazos [banging on pots … Continue reading “Repression Breaks Out in Cuba in the Face of the Increasing Protests on the Fifth Day of the Post-Hurricane Blackout”

There Will Be No Foreign Investment for the Private Sector in Cuba

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 23 July 2022 — In recent days, we have witnessed a torrent of measures by the Cuban regime to get the economy of the island out of the vicious circle in which it has been locked by the communist economic model that the authorities are stubbornly determined to apply. And … Continue reading “There Will Be No Foreign Investment for the Private Sector in Cuba”

Searching for the ‘Conceptualization’ With a Member of the Cuban Communist Party

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, 6 May 2021 — A former colleague of the microbrigade that built the building where I have lived for 36 years, visited me on Wednesday afternoon to help him search on the internet for the update of the Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development … Continue reading “Searching for the ‘Conceptualization’ With a Member of the Cuban Communist Party”

From ’Protoplin’ to Sugarcane Juice

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, 28 May 2020 — It was in the 1980s, durng one those trips to the provinces which I took as a journalist for the magazine Cuba International, accompanied by the Luis Manuel Fernández, better known as Pirole.  In the midst of the boredom of those hotels with no diversions, … Continue reading “From ’Protoplin’ to Sugarcane Juice”

The Odyssey, 32 Years Later

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 11 May 2020 — Rarely does one have the luck to have an experience like this. This May 9th marked the 35th anniversary of our occupying this Yugoslav model IMS-14 building. The figures may be boring, but in this case they are eloquent. We were 144 new owners. Of these, 132 had participated … Continue reading “The Odyssey, 32 Years Later”

The Generation of the Heirs

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 19 July 2019 — No study on the behavior and scope of a generation can be circumscribed schematically to the data that is identified with the date of birth. Although age is one of the factors to be taken into account, it will always be possible to find, in a human … Continue reading “The Generation of the Heirs”

Housing as a Problem

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 30 April 2019 — Two weeks ago Cuba’s Council of Ministers issued an agreement that makes the transfer of property more flexible for those who occupied “houses, rooms, habitations, accessory units and premises without legal status or without observing the formalities in their construction.” It is assumed that this measure, long-awaited, … Continue reading “Housing as a Problem”

Building Collapses and Shelters in Cuba

14ymedio, Mario Blanco. Montreal, 5 April 2018 — Within a month of assuming my position as mayor of the Plaza of the Revolution municipality in the City of Havana, in 1986, there was a partial collapse in one of the old buildings of the famous neighborhood of El Vedado. Several people were injured, although luckily no one … Continue reading “Building Collapses and Shelters in Cuba”

Cyclones, Housing and Revolution / Dimas Castellano

Dimas Castellanos, 13 October 2017 — According to information from the National Defense Council, Hurricane Irma, a category-five storm, hit Cuba between September 7 and 9, causing 14,657 houses to collapse, and another 16,646 to partially collapse, thus totaling 31,303 —not to mention the tens of thousands that suffered other kinds of damage. Between 2002 and … Continue reading “Cyclones, Housing and Revolution / Dimas Castellano”

The Teachings of ‘Don Castro’

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 14 August 2017 — With so much secrecy, so much myth and legend, it is not even known for sure if this August 13 was the actual date of the 91st anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth. His life was so surrounded by exaggerations and lies that even the moment he was born and … Continue reading “The Teachings of ‘Don Castro’”

Goodbye to Illusion and Spontaneity in Cuba / Iván García

Ivan Garcia, 9 January 2017 — The sun’s rays were not yet peeking over the horizon, when Danier, 10, a fifth grade student at an elementary school in southeast Havana, with a small backpack and two plastic bottles of frozen water, went with his parents to the Plaza of the Revolution to participate in the … Continue reading “Goodbye to Illusion and Spontaneity in Cuba / Iván García”