Author: 14ymedio

Carlos and Daria Jimenez Begin the Process of Seeking Asylum in Trinidad and Tobago After Leaving Cuba

Carlos and Daria in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Ricardo Quintana/Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 19 April 2023 — The Cuban Carlos Jiménez and Daria, his wife of Russian nationality, have an appointment for May 18 at the office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to apply for asylum. Both left Cuba on Tuesday in the midst of pressure and threats from the immigration authorities.

Now we have to figure out how to survive,” Jiménez tells 14ymedio. “In any case, we have to move forward and not give up.” However, he warns that “they still won’t leave us alone. Last night I received a message from a friend asking me not to do anything else and to shut up. It seems that they put pressure on him.”

Jiménez tells this newspaper that “until the 25th of this month we have a place to live. Then we’ll see what to do. I’m sure something will be resolved. If we managed to get out of Cuba having pissed off a lot of people, anything is possible.”

The young man says that when leaving the Island, through terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport, they were made to wait a long time at immigration control but finally managed to board the flight without major setbacks.

Their departure from Cuba put an end to a nightmare that began last January, when Jiménez escaped being recruited as a soldier for the war in Ukraine. Until then, they both lived in Kushelevskaya Doroga, St. Petersburg. continue reading

The couple then decided to fly to Cuba, where the young man maintains his official residence in his parents’ house. He knew that coexistence would be difficult because of ideological differences, but he had no other choice. As the days went by, the family political contradictions became unsustainable.

“On the morning of March 8, a uniformed man entered our room accompanied by my father. This time they didn’t knock on the door. He was an Immigration officer. He said that my wife had been in the country longer than allowed for foreigners, but that was false because it had only been 55 days and the rule is 90 days. He acted strange and aggressive,” Carlos told this newspaper at the time.

The uniformed man could not specify the objectives of his visit and changed his version saying that there were complaints of noise, but without clarifying where the complaint came from. He finally left a notice for an appointment for another day at the Immigration offices on the municipality of Habana del Este, where they explained that the problem was that Daria was not financially solvent, which was also false, according to her husband.

The first thing Daria did was to contact the Russian Consulate in Havana for help. “I called the Consulate and explained my situation; then a man gave me another number to talk to the consul on duty. When seconds later I dialed that number, the same voice came on the line, and, without stifling his laughter, he let me know that they didn’t help traitors there,” she told this newspaper.

The pressures on the couple were rising in tone and both decided to leave the Island for another country where they could apply for asylum. With few resources and visa limitations, the option that they finally chose was that of Trinidad and Tobago, where they hope to find the protection they failed to receive in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Regime Returns a Cuban-Born Tourist to Canada for Her Criticism on Facebook

Glenda Corella has lived in Toronto since 2012 and didn’t have problems until this March, after “liking” a criticism of the Cuban Government on social networks. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 21 April 2023 — Glenda Corella Céspedes arrived in Canada in 2012, when the Cuban government agreed to her request to leave the country after eight years of waiting. Her life in Toronto went smoothly until March 7. She decided to return to the Island to attend her brother’s wedding and was met with the refusal of the immigration authorities, who prevented her from getting off the plane that landed at the Frank País de Holguín airport around 9 pm. The reason? Her empathy with the 11 July 2021 (11J) protesters, which led her to register her criticism of the regime on social networks.

The story is told by the protagonist herself to the Canadian public media CBC News. Corella Céspedes, who was traveling with a friend, Mary Guaragna, was carrying in her suitcase medicines for her mother — a lung cancer patient — and a friend, in addition to the clothes for her brother’s wedding and the happiness of seeing him again. Her Cuban passport was in order; she is obliged, despite being a Canadian citizen, to use it to enter the Island.

“Five Cuban immigration officers got on the plane and said that everyone could get off except Glenda Corella Céspedes,” she tells the network. “At that moment,” Guaragna adds, “we looked at each other with a lot of concern. I was as white as a ghost, and Glenda more than me. The Canadians who left the plane looked at us as if we were terrorists. We felt horrible,” she recalls.

One of the officers, according to the story of the two women, left with Corella Céspedes’ passport and, after about 20 minutes, another soldier, apparently of higher rank, got on board and gave the Cuban-Canadian a document which said “Denied” without further explanation. continue reading

Guaragna explains that she spoke with the agent to try to understand the situation and attributes to her Canadian mentality her naivety in believing that an understanding could be reached. “What seems to be the problem?” She asked the officer, who answered only: “She knows what she did, she knows what she did.” “At that moment I looked at Glenda, who gave me a signal not to say anything else.”

Corella Céspedes attributes her problems to a simple “like” on Facebook. At the beginning of the year, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero visited the Gibara hospital, in Holguín, where she had worked as a nurse years ago. A doctor from the center — apparently well connected with the Communist Party — posted on her networks a video of the musical performance with which they received the president and several Facebook users criticized the gesture, saying that they should have criticized the leader for the health situation on the Island, instead of entertaining him.

Corella Céspedes marked one of those comments with a “like” and that’s where it all began. Her  parents began to receive warnings from members of the local PCC, who recommended that they ask their daughter to stop posting and commenting.

After her entry into Cuba was denied, she herself began to receive  messages from a person identified as José Manuel Santos who told her: “Follow my advice. You have your parents here and you have nephews, nieces and cousins. Don’t put anything else on your (Facebook) wall,” he sent her on WhatsApp on March 29.

“Your ban is for two years, but if you keep sharing things on your wall, they will change it for your whole life. You have your mom here.”

CBC News tried without success to contact the Cuban embassy in Canada, which has been closed since February, and the Ministry of the Interior of the Island did not answer their calls either. The media spoke with U.S. resident Cuban lawyer Laritza Diversent, who spoke to them about how the regime uses immigration “regulations” as a control mechanism for critics.

“Cubans who have deserted while they were on missions abroad and rafters have been the subject of this measure in the past,” she said, adding that since the 11J demonstrations — which generated a great wave of solidarity activism on social networks — it applies to those who use cyberspace to disagree.

“Just for shouting for freedom, for shouting we want to eat, completely defenseless people who did not have a stick or a stone to defend themselves were attacked by the police and by a minority that serves the Government to oppress the people,” Diversent said. The lawyer explained to the Canadian channel that Resolution 105 of the Ministry of Communications of Cuba considers any criticism of an official as a cyberattack.

“They have unlimited discretion, there is no judicial supervision,” she added. “If you are denied entry, there is no way to make a claim in court, and in no way can the family in Cuba initiate proceedings to go against that decision.” Diversent has not returned to the Island for five years precisely for the same reason and says that State Security has not stopped pressuring her mother, visiting her on several occasions, to convince her daughter to change her position.

“The exile who begins to criticize is aware that if he does, he will not be able to return, and that is the cost. How then will you be able to bring medicines to your family? It’s a real dilemma, especially since it’s as if they had your family hostage,” she says. And all in the midst of a huge crisis in which the Island wants tourists — with Canadians as the main market — and émigrés to refill the state coffers with foreign currency.

The Government’s attitude, despite everything, is not always successful, and, in the case of Glenda Corella Céspedes, she has multiplied her activism. Now she proclaims her intention not to try to go to Cuba again as long as there is no democracy. “I’m sorry for my mother. I’m sorry for my father, for my sister, for my brother, for my cousin, friends, everyone. But it’s not possible for me to return.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

A New 100-Peso Bill Enters Circulation in Cuba in the Midst of the ATM Crisis

The bank says that it is increasing electronic payments  with “all” the agents who offer services or sell goods. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 April 2023 — The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) announced on Wednesday the release of a new 100-peso bill, which comes just as the depreciation of the currency against the dollar and the collapse of the ATM network on the Island worsens. The institution pointed out that this denomination is printed with the date of 2023 and retains the main characteristics of the previous issues.

However, the new bill, which will circulate simultaneously with the previous versions, has no tactile feature and is not in the Braille system for the blind, without the authorities offering an explanation. The banknote maintains the logo of the BCC and the signature of the president of the Central Bank, while the inscription  and the year of printing appear in magenta.

The announcement of this new banknote comes at a particularly hard time for Cubans, who have to stand in long lines to withdraw money from the few ATMs that still have cash. “Imagine the level of stress that this causes,” said a resident of Central Havana who had to go to three ATMs to find one that worked.

The man explained to 14ymedio that he sent money to his sister in Párraga, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, to help her pay for an operation for her son. However, when he went to the ATM he couldn’t get cash because it was out of service.

“I gave it to her by transfer because I can’t go there; she lives quite far away,” he said, remembering that driving is not an alternative either because of the shortage of fuel on the Island. continue reading

ATMs in Cuba can’t cope. No fewer than 150 of the 521 that Banco Metropolitano (Banmet) has in Havana are out of service, which means that 30% of them are damaged. This was confirmed by Banmet to the official press last Sunday.

To a query by journalist Francisco Rodríguez Cruz, the bank’s management responded that the technicians are repairing the dispensing modules and the keyboards, which are the parts with the most breakdowns, and they are expecting the new parts to arrive next week.

In the article, Banmet said that “the equipment dispenses more than 160 million pesos every day” and that it needs a change “because of technological obsolescence.” However, it doesn’t  have “an immediate response.” What has been enabled, it insisted, are “domestic alternatives” to mitigate the crisis.

The bank explains that it has increased electronic payments with “all” the agents who offer services or sell goods. Similarly, customers have the option of using the Caja Extra unit to get cash in the 1,904 enabled ration stores, and at least one branch per municipality has extended hours on weekends.

What the banking authorities do not say is that in many ration stores they claim that they have no connection with Transfermóvil to dispense cash, or that they don’t have any cash because everyone that day has paid electronically. The amounts that can be taken out are also low.

From April 8 to 14, cash withdrawals exceeded 200 million per day, but many ATMs, Banmet acknowledged, are only authorized to carry out electronic operations and to check balances.

The bank’s response generated discontent from social media users, who claim that it is “usual” to hear “regrets” from officials about things that do not work well in Cuba, but few solutions are offered such as the availability of POS payment terminals in businesses.

On Calle Infanta, one of the busiest streets in Central Havana, there are three ATMs, but two of them are broken, and the one that works has problems with the screen that makes it difficult to see the information, a Cuban complained.

In addition to the Cuban capital, the ATM crisis extends to the interior of the country. In Sancti Spíritus this week, the banking authorities said that there is no shortage of cash in the machines. “The ATMs have never stopped paying due to lack of money,” María Efigenia Caballero, director of the Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA), told Escambray.

The director said that the 11 ATMs in the province operate normally, although many of them are old and overused. A resident of the northern outskirts of the city of Sancti Spíritus told 14ymedio that it’s “simply a lie,” because in reality there are only nine ATMs, and most are located in the center. “For example, I have to travel about four miles to get to an ATM, and it doesn’t always work,” he complained.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Villanueva, Cuba: a Waiting Room Turned Into a Camp Due to the Crisis

Those who arrive as a family take turns going out to buy food, fan the children or inquire at the ticket office about the possibilities of boarding the next bus. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 22 April 2023 — More than a place with passengers, the Villanueva station, in Havana, looks like a refugee camp: people sitting on the floor, towels that in the early morning cover the bodies that lie in the corners, and the crying of babies who do not understand why they have been there for so many days. The fuel crisis has turned the country’s main transportation waiting room into a makeshift shelter.

After ten in the morning this Saturday, people milled around in front of the ticket office. The bus bound for the city of Sancti Spíritus was about to arrive, and it was hoped that it would have enough empty seats to take some passengers, who could barely breathe in the heavy and humid air. “Only ten passengers will be able to leave,” an employee announced.

“I’ve been here for three days,” says a woman who is waiting for a ticket to get to Holguín, a complicated journey due to the distance and the high demand for travel to the east of the country. “Here the most complicated thing, in addition to waiting, is the situation of the bathroom and getting something to eat. Even drinking a drop of water gets complicated: I can’t leave my place because I might miss my turn.”

Those who arrive as a family take turns going out to buy food, fan the children or inquire at the ticket office about the possibilities of boarding the next bus. On the outskirts, private trucks try to capitalize on the despair. At the door of one truck, in use for 70 years, the driver announces that he charges $83 per person to go to Sancti Spíritus, although the trip is no more than 224 miles.

Although Christmas is not approaching and Easter has passed, Villanueva experiences moments of the holiday hustle and bustle, when the desire to celebrate with family mobilizes thousands of Cubans to be transported to one side and the other of the Island. “If this is the case now, as Mother’s Day approaches, we will have to come with a fan,” predicts another traveler. In three weeks, on Sunday, May 14, every inch of ground at the waiting room could be occupied.

Translated by Regina Anavy

14ymedio bigger

Immobility Marks Diaz-Canel’s New Mandate as President of Cuba

Raúl Castro (2nd from left, front row) very close to president Miguel Díaz-Canel (3rd from right, front row) and other senior officials such as the president of Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the prime minister, Manuel Marrero, this Wednesday. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 21 April 2023 — The first rays of sunlight this Wednesday bathed Havana’s Carlos III Avenue. Where before there was a constant coming and going of vehicles, the fuel crisis has left a road deserted by cars. The conversations in the long lines focused on lamenting inflation, talking about a relative who managed to emigrate in recent days, or complaining about the power cuts. No one spoke about the parliamentarians who took office on April 19, nor was there speculation about who would be appointed president of the Republic of Cuba.

Hours later, the official media confirmed that Miguel Díaz-Canel was repeating in a second term in the highest post in the nation, while the structure of responsibilities in the National Assembly hardly changed and the cabinet of ministers did not suffer major changes either. Immobility was the pattern that defined an electoral process that hardly generated enthusiasm among citizens, more interested in finding food or managing to travel from one point to another than in following on national television the boring spectacle of a Parliament without any political diversity.

The appointment, for a second term, of the electronic engineer Díaz-Canel sends a message of continuity about the current Cuban model. A message to be read not only by the international community but, especially, by those on the Island who have been asking for a change of direction and a democratic opening for some time. The ruler, who appeared before the national television cameras during the popular protests on July 11, 2021, saying that “the order to combat” had been given, now has five more years to impose the will of his side. continue reading

His re-election will be read by many Cubans as confirmation that there will be no economic improvement in the short term and that packing up to emigrate is the wisest decision.

His re-election will be read by many Cubans as confirmation that there will be no economic improvement in the short term and that packing up to emigrate is the wisest decision. Others will conclude that there are more months of tense diplomatic rhetoric to come and that Cuba will continue to be aligned with the axis of authoritarian regimes such as those of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Russia.

Díaz-Canel also represents the tepidness in the necessary economic transformations and the excessive investments in the construction of hotels, while resources for Public Health and Education continue to be cut. His name is also inextricably linked to the more than a thousand political prisoners and the forced exile of hundreds of activists.

Why would someone with so little popularity and a history of so many unfortunate decisions have another five years at the helm of the nation? The designating hand of Raúl Castro has once again put him in that position, selecting him from among the other youngest children to watch his back, to avoid the collapse of the system and to prevent the nonagenarian general and his relatives from ending up in court or having to pack their suitcases to take refuge in the shadow of some foreign comrade.

Díaz-Canel has complied with the order that Castro gave him. He has not managed to offer a more dignified life to Cubans, but he has saved the neck of an entire clan. That is why he has been hand-picked as president again: to delay as long as possible the arrival of freedom in Cuba.

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Deutsche Welle in Spanish.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Cuba and Vietnam Sign Four Cooperation Agreements in Economic Sectors

The president of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Vuong Dinh Hue, attended the inauguration of new investment projects in his country related to a factory of detergents for local consumption in the Mariel Special Development Zone, in Cuba. (AsambleaCuba/Twitter)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), 21 April 2023 — Cuba and Vietnam signed four economic cooperation agreements this Thursday during a business forum in Havana with the presence of the president of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Vuong Dinh Hue.

The agreements cover the sectors of civil aviation, electric power, oil, as well as construction, marketing and production of construction materials.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba, Ricardo Cabrisas, highlighted during the ceremony that in the complex context that the Island’s economy has developed in recent years, “Vietnam’s participation in various sectors has been and is important.”

Cabrisas, appointed two days ago as Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and co-president of the Cuba-Vietnam Intergovernmental Commission, pointed out the experience of cooperation and the numerous joint projects and plans underway that cover the main spheres of the Island’s economic and social life.

“Today Vietnam has become our second trading partner and the main capital investor in the Asian region,” he stressed. continue reading

He announced that new business interests have been identified, to be specified in the “very short term,” which impact areas with priority such as agri-food, renewable energies, tourism and construction, among others.

The Cuban deputy prime minister highlighted the “active” presence of Vietnamese businesspeople in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), a business center and merchant port created by the Cuban government to attract foreign capital.

On this day, the head of the Vietnamese National Assembly attended the inauguration of new investment projects from his country related to a detergent factory for local consumption and export, and a solar energy park in the strategic economic enclave located 28 miles west of Havana.

Representatives of Vietnamese companies from the sectors of energy, agricultural machinery, steel machinery, electronics, recycling, electromotive, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical equipment, fruit and aviation marketing, among others, participated in the bilateral business forum.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in that context that there are “potentialities” to continue increasing cooperation with Vietnam on issues such as the control of inflation, new economic actors, rice production, polyculture, the planting of corn and the presence of companies from Vietnam in Cuba for wholesale and retail trade.

Since the beginning of his official visit to Cuba on April 19, the leader of the Vietnamese Parliament has met with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, former President Raúl Castro, his counterpart Esteban Lazo and other representatives of the Cuban Government.

Cuba and Vietnam maintain close political and economic ties that have been strengthened in recent times. In addition to the support and common positions in international organizations, companies from the Asian nation have increased their presence in the Island’s economy.

The commercial exchange is around 340 million dollars in recent years, according to official data.

Vietnam exports rice, coal, chemicals, textiles and electronic elements to Cuba, and imports mainly pharmaceutical products from the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Another Poster Against the Communist Party of Cuba Appears in the Heart of Havana

A few hours later, over the fresh painting, the University Student Federation hung a banner and a gigantic Cuban flag. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2023 — Just three days after a poster against the regime in El Vedado was attributed to the clandestine group known as El Nuevo Directorio (END), on Thursday someone wrote “No to the PCC” [Communist Party of Cuba] on the facade of the building located on Humboldt 7 Street, where several of the young assailants of the Presidential Palace were killed in 1957.

The sign was painted with large black letters on the ground floor of the property, in a state building under repair that has boards over the windows, near the plaque that commemorates the 1957 event.

On its Twitter account, the movement explained that the sign was a tribute to the members of the Student Directory, one of the organizations opposing Fulgencio Batista under the direction of José Antonio Echeverría, and that they wanted to remember the “massacre” that was carried out in that same place by the Batista police “with an action against the Castro dictatorship.”

In its publication, END said that on April 20, 1957, the young people Juan Pedro Carbó Serviá, Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez, José Machado Rodríguez and Joe Westbrook Rosales “were intercepted” on Humboldt 7, where they had hidden after the assault on the Palace, and there they were “riddled with bullets, without weapons to defend themselves.”

Nuevo cartel de El Nuevo Directorio en el Edificio Humboldt 7. (Youtube)
‘No to the PCC’ reads a new sign from El Nuevo Directorio on the Humboldt 7 Building. (Youtube)

“Blood bathed the staircase of the building, where there was no compassion even at the request of the neighbors. The corpses were dragged into the street in a show of arrogance by Captain Estevan Ventura Novo, a famous torturer and murderer,” they said. continue reading

That event, the group explains, is a reminder of “how many young people have given their lives for the freedom of all” in Cuba, and they consider it a “fundamental” precedent for the struggles against “any dictatorship or tyranny that tries to impose itself on our people.”

Another photograph, shared on Thursday morning on the same Twitter account, showed that the sign had not yet been covered up by the political police.

Although it is a few miles from central places such as the Habana Libre and La Rampa, Humboldt Street is hardly ever used and is dark and not very busy at night.

Last Monday, El Nuevo Directorio painted a sign against the Communist Party at the entrance of the stadium of the University of Havana, on Ronda Street in El Vedado. As usual, they signed with the acronym END, which identifies the clandestine organization.

The message is the same as the one that appeared in the early morning of last March 23 a short distance away, in Aguirre Park. It was presumed to be by the dissident organization in a video disseminated on its social networks. In both cases, the sign was covered up by the police.

El Nuevo Directorio (@NuevoDirectorio) April 20, 2023

“Honor, honor: to the Martyrs of the Massacre of Humboldt 7, the ancestors of the Student Directory, our tribute as we can best honor them, with an action against the Castro Dictatorship.” #ABAJOLADICTADURACASTROCANEL—

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Fuel Shortage Leaves Havana’s La Rampa Deserted — No Cars, No People

Calle 23 in El Vedado, Havana, was seen to be deserted on Saturday afternoon. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 16 April 2023 – ’Up La Rampa and down La Rampa!’ was the slogan used by all the people who flocked to Calle 23 in El Vedado, Havana at the weekends in order to get to or from the Malecón sea wall, or a cinema or the queue for the Coppelia ice cream parlour. All that activity has now gone, leaving behind  a deserted avenue, which, this Saturday at 5.30pm was seen to be empty of cars and pedestrians.

The fuel crisis has significantly transformed the view of what once was the left-hand atrium of Havana’s heart. There are closed cafeterias, restaurants only operating at half throttle and pavements/sidewalks lacking the usual activity of the capital’s residents, provincial visitors who used to come and check out the liveliest area of the city, or tourists keen to check out its bars and cabarets.

“We’re selling very little because there’s hardly anyone on the street”, Yusier laments — a waiter in a nearby private cafeteria which has had to resort to serving only on the terrace in order to keep both salons open. “People aren’t coming here from other areas now because afterwards they don’t have any way of getting back home, with the state that the bus service is in”.

In order to mitigate the fall in demand, the private business has set up a service which delivers pizzas, other foods and cold drinks to customers’ homes. “But it’s not the same as going out for a stroll and then having a meal, it’s a different experience. It’s people that give life to places and right now El Vedado is dead”, concludes Yusier.

The various taxi collectives that use Calle 23 as part of their routes are similarly reduced in service. On Saturday afternoon, three women were waiting on the main corner of El Vedado and Calle G, arms waving to try and flag down an almendron* cab. “I’ve been here an hour and there’s nothing. If I don’t get a cab soon I’m just going to walk it”, one of them told 14ymedio. continue reading

The centre of Calle G is an area of gardens and park benches which up until a few years ago was full of children and adolescents at the weekends. “We’ve moved on from complaining about them to missing them”, admits Maria del Carmen, resident of a three storey building on Avenida de los Presidentes, near to Calle 23. “Before, they wouldn’t let us sleep, and now what keeps us awake is the fact that they aren’t there! Where are they all?”

Maria del Carmen remembers the busy days when the pedestrian walkway down the middle of Calle G was packed from Friday onwards with all of Havana’s different urban tribes. There were rockeros, frikis, emos, góticos, aprendices de vampiros, raperos, mikis, repas** and whatever other groups there might happen to be in the most important city in the country. There were frequent complaints from residents and the police raided the area constantly and imposed fines.

Today, only the memory remains of that carnival of extravagant costumes, guitars, make-up and laughter. Niorvis, 32, worked as a caretaker for a nearby state restaurant which has been under repair for more than five years. “I spent my adolescence between Calle G and La Rampa, so that when I pass by there now it looks like a funeral parlour. All the passion is gone”.

If the fuel of passion is important for filling city squares, bringing people with a common interest together and keeping a group of friends singing until the early hours, it is no less certain that it is hydrocarbons which allow people from all parts of the city to meet up in one place. “The meeting up in Calle G has been snuffed out by police harassment, the number of people leaving the country, and transport problems”, Niorvis surmised.

Whilst he is evoking the past, a solitary bus passes in front of the man’s gaze, somewhat overladen and tilting with an excess of passengers. Dozens of people who are waiting at the Quixote Park bus stop get ready to try and board the vehicle. The bus can barely take on half a dozen before awkwardly heading out into the broad avenue, where only the clattering noise of the dilapidated vehicle can be heard.

When the bus has departed, temperatures rise at the bus stop. “I’m not leaving my house ever again”, says a woman carrying her child in her arms. “You can’t even relax when you do go out because every journey becomes a pain, like this one”, adds someone else. “But, guys, this is all gonna get fixed soon and there’s gonna be so much fuel you’ll even be able to gargle with it”, jokes another.

It’s getting late and the buildings begin to take on a reddish hue. In the whole of avenida 23 the only things that are moving with any dynamism are the forklift trucks and the labourers working on the construction which will be the tallest building in Cuba: the López-Calleja tower, so-named by people in allusion to the magnate of the military consortium Gaesa, who died last year.

A few shop signs begin to light up and La Rampa by night becomes a zone of shadows and silence.

Translator’s notes:

*’Almendron’ is the word used to refer to the classic American cars, generally in use as taxis, and in particular as shared, fixed-route taxis. The word comes from “almond” in reference to the shape of these ’ancient’ vehicles.

**This link (if your browser is able to convert it to English) describes in detail the various ’tribes’ and the sources and meanings of their names.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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The European Union Announces That the Bilateral Agreement With Cuba Will Continue To Apply Provisionally

Bruno Rodríguez after the signing of the agreement with the EU, with the then European foreign ministers. (EFE/Olivier Hoslet/Archive)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Brussels, 20 April 2023 — The Political Dialogue and Cooperation agreement between the European Union and Cuba will continue to apply provisionally until it has been ratified by all EU countries. Lithuania is the only country that has rejected the treaty, community sources reported on Thursday.

“The current situation is that the Parliament of Lithuania has not ratified this agreement. It is the only member state of the 27 countries that has not formally done so. What this implies is that the agreement is being applied provisionally,” said the sources, asked about the situation of the first bilateral agreement between the EU and Cuba.

The EU confirmed that the agreement, signed in December 2016 and  in force since November 1, 2017, will remain in force provisionally “unless Lithuania ratifies the agreement.”

This treaty meant the end of the so-called “common position” of the EU towards Cuba, the restrictive unilateral policy that the Union maintained towards Havana since 1996, and that linked all advances in the bilateral relationship to progress in democratization and human rights on the Island. continue reading

Asked if it believes that Cuba has fulfilled its obligations in terms of fundamental freedoms within the framework of the agreement, the EU stated that “one of the advantages” of that pact is that, “for the first time, we have the possibility of having a human rights agreement with Cuba.”

“We are using that tool to put on the table our concerns about human rights in Cuba, which are very well known,” the entity explained. In any case, it was stressed that “there is no simple yes or no in terms of whether Cuba has complied with human rights”

“What we have with the agreement is, for the first time, the possibility of engaging directly with Cuba and expressing our assessment of the situation in the country.”

This agreement provides a legal framework for the EU and Cuba to develop a conversation around political dialogue, cooperation, sectoral dialogue and trade cooperation.

Human rights is one of the areas on which the EU placed special emphasis when finalizing the agreement, and the two parties have launched a dialogue focused on human rights, for which they hold meetings periodically.

Specifically, the pact promotes cooperation in favor of sustainable development, democracy and human rights, as well as the possibility of finding shared solutions to global challenges through joint actions in multilateral forums.

The areas of common interest that can be addressed in the agreement include renewable energies, rural development, the environment, human rights, good management, security or job creation, among others.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Baseball player Yosimar Cousin, ‘Blockaded’ by the Cuban Baseball Federation, is Hired in the United States

The native of Camagüey, Yosimar Cousín, will earn one million dollars per season with the Chicago White Sox. (Facebook/Rey Rivero)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2023 — The Cuban Yosimar Cousín, who in 2021 thought about “not continuing to play baseball” because the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) cut off a contract with the Mexican team Charros, signed this Wednesday with the Chicago White Sox. The agreement is “2,000,000 dollars for two years and he will have a guaranteed place on the club’s roster,” journalist Francys Romero confirmed on his social networks.

Romero, a Cuban baseball specialist, mentioned that the athlete, a native of Camagüey, could improve his salary based on his performance. If he stays in the starting lineup, in 2025 he would receive $1,200,000 per season, but if his level of play goes down, “he will get a contract for $625,000 in the U.S. Minor Leagues.”

The 25-year-old will begin his journey in the advanced Class-A and Double-A levels of the Windy City (Chicago) team. The intention is to see his progress, considering that he is a pitcher with six seasons in Cuban baseball and plenty of experience.

The reporter stressed that Cousín has received favorable comments from those who evaluate his performance, has sufficient potential to appear as a game starter and throws a fastball between 92 and 95 miles per hour. His best pitches, according to several experts, are the slider and the curve ball.

Cousín was deleted from the list of options for the ninth Mexican Charros in 2021, according to what sports director, Ray Padilla, told 14ymedio, because the FCB had him “punished” and he could not “go out or be loaned to any team,” although it was the same Federation that offered him as an option. continue reading

The player demanded an explanation, to which the managers responded by saying that he was “blocked” from leaving. “They have me signed,” he said on his social networks. This was the last straw. Days before, Yosimar Cousín along with Yunior Tur were excluded from the so-called “patriot team” that manager Eriel Sánchez made up for the Under-23 World Cup held in the state of Sonora (Mexico), which resulted in the worst ’bleeding’ in Cuban baseball with 12 players fleeing the team (and Cuba).

Cousín and Tour left the Island in 2022 and went to the Dominican Republic. While Yunior was hired in December by the Oakland Athletics, Yosimar trained for over a year seeking professional signing at the Yuan Pino Academy.

On the other hand, last Tuesday the nightmare ended for baseball player Yariel Rodríguez, who after his participation with Cuba in the World Classic, abandoned his contract with the Japanese team of the Chunichi Dragons and broke relations with the FCB. The Japanese team “dismissed” the native of Camagüey, so he is free to be hired by a foreign team.

Rodríguez had just received the shield that represents the Camagüey territory and a recognition from the Communist Party for finishing fourth with Team Asere, when he announced his intention to seek an opportunity in a Major League team.

In an attempt at sanction, the Cuban Baseball Federation appealed a clause of his contract and claimed the athlete owed 10 million dollars for “damages.” The official sports organization demanded the relevant “rights and responsibilities.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Cuba’s Largest Reservoir Fulfilled Only 40 Percent of Its Fishing Plan in the First Quarter of 2023

“Fishermen say that there are not enough fish in development,” the official press reports. (Escambray)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2023 — The empty nets at the Zaza dam, the largest reservoir in Cuba, have become a constant for fishermen, who warn that there are not enough fish for this year. The situation is reflected in the battered results of the Sancti Spíritus Fishing Company, which closed with a production of just 40% of the plan for the first quarter of 2023.

At the end of March, 291 tons of fish were processed of the 726 planned for the first three months of the year, according to an article in the provincial newspaper Escambray, which also warns that low production will not only affect the company’s workers, but also the “assortment” of this high-protein food on the table of Cuban families.

“The fishermen insist that there are not enough fish in development,” but the most serious thing, the provincial newspaper adds, is the accelerated reduction of the area of operations. The “tanned-skinned men” have to go to more distant places, exposing themselves to more dangerous conditions and strong winds to find the fish, which are still insufficient to meet the production quota.

Between 2018 and 2022, the Directorate of Aquaculture in Sancti Spíritus deposited a little more than 100 million ciprínid fry, a species of fresh water fish, 95% of them from the province itself. But there is another problem: there is no food to accelerate their  growth.

Miriam Solano Valle, director of Aquaculture in the province, reminded the newspaper that it has also not been possible to clear the vegetation in the reservoir, which hinders both fish breeding and extraction. However, she said that “work has already begun” on the elimination of weeds thanks to a fuel supply, and, for the moment, they have managed to recover 33 acres. continue reading

Solano assumes that the fish are hidden in the undergrowth because extreme weather events have not occurred and the dam’s floodgates have not been opened.

Like almost all productive links on the Island, the fishing sector is facing a deep crisis of low production, in part because it does not have boats to work in international waters and it does not have flowing rivers that allow adequate extraction in fresh waters.

This year they are facing another problem: drought. This is the case of the Gramal reservoir, in the municipality of Manatí in Las Tunas Province, which is almost at the end of its useful life with just 18% of water available, the provincial press confirmed at the beginning of April.

An article in Periódico 26 says that fishermen have not stopped their activities and extract a “significant amount” of tilapia, a species that is not currently produced but, thanks to its natural reproduction, competes with other varieties of demand in the market like sea bream or carp. For some, however, this type of fish is not attractive because of its earthy and moldy flavor.

Ángel Hidalgo Torres, head of the local fishing brigade, told the newspaper that in the municipality of Jesús Menéndez alone they extracted 96 tons of tilapia in March. This is not the case with the Colombia micro-dam, where the volume of water is at 10% of its capacity, while El Canario barely subsists with 6%. To make matters worse, Lavado 5 is almost dry, he said.

“In the coming days we will try to remove as many fish as possible, so that their survival is not affected by the oxygen deficit and poor water quality,” said the fisherman, who believes that there will be enough to offer 100 tons to families in Las Tunas.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The United States Deports Another 30 Cuban Rafters Who Were Detained at the Beginning of This Week

The US Coast Guard reiterated that Cuban rafters who try to reach Florida illegally will be returned to the Island. (Twitter/@USCGSoutheast)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, April 20, 2023 – The United States Coast Guard deported 30 rafters to the Island this Thursday aboard the ship William Trump. The Coast Guard said on its social networks that they were intercepted offshore near the Bahamas earlier this week.

The US authorities reiterated that those who try to arrive by sea irregularly to southern Florida should desist from their attempts because they will be deported. Since October 1 of last year, the Coast Guard has thwarted the landing of more than 6,200 Cuban rafters and has returned 2,387 people to the Island in more than three months.

In the first week of April, the maritime agency repatriated 396 migrants of different nationalities intercepted on the high seas between March 31 and April 7.

At the beginning of 2023, the United States implemented a policy to welcome 30,000 monthly migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In parallel, the US has immediately expelled to Mexico the undocumented from those countries who try to cross the southern border in an irregular manner. The Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for its part, agreed to admit 30,000 migrants a month who are returned from U.S. territory. continue reading

This Thursday, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior reported that there have already been 3,238 Cubans returned by several countries this year. This figure doesn’t include the 30 people deported from Florida.

In the last two days, the Governments of the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas deported six and 44 Cubans, respectively, the report said.

In addition, it was pointed out that two of the returned Cubans were on probation for criminal penalties at the time of illegally leaving the Island. They were “placed at the disposal of the corresponding courts for the revocation of said benefit.”

Another of the migrants, the Ministry of the Interior explained, “was arrested for allegedly participating in “a criminal act that is being investigated by the police.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Hail, Floods and Strong Winds Caused by an ‘Atypical’ Storm in Havana

Hail in the courtyard of a house in Central Havana, this Thursday. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 10 April 2023 — A strong and atypical storm rained down hailstones on Havana in the early morning of this Thursday and caused flooding not only in several municipalities of the capital but also in the west of the Island.

For Lydia, who lives in Central Havana, the least of it was the large hailstones that woke her up and almost broke her windows. The water tanks on the roof of the building were directly above her bedroom, and they overflowed, taking away some precarious pipes that her neighbor had installed. All the water fell into her apartment, which was already in precarious condition.

“It was horrible. I opened the bathroom door to go in, and a waterfall landed on my head,” she tells this newspaper, while moving her electronic equipment to dry ground on the dining room table. She spent the night on a blanket on the floor.

It’s already noon, and the plumber the neighbor promised to send over is not at home because he’s working and still hasn’t arrived. “What am I going to do?” The woman is tearing her hair out. “I can’t go up there, I don’t know how to fix this mess.”

The worst, she fears, is that in the next storm, the walls, in which thick cracks are observed, may give way and the roof collapse. “This has no solution, it’s destroyed, it would have to be knocked down and rebuilt, but no matter how much we complain, the State does nothing.” continue reading

According to meteorologist Alejandro Adonis, an “isolated” storm cloud moved over Havana from the Straits of Florida “in an unusual trajectory from northwest to southeast” and “produced intense electrical activity, large hailstones and strong winds,” shortly before 5:30 in the morning.

The official press confirmed this assessment and said that the storm “produced the fall of abundant hail” of up to two inches in diameter in several municipalities, including Regla, Plaza de la Revolución, Centro Habana, San Miguel del Padrón and Old Havana.

In addition, there was strong lightning, and wind gusts of between 34 and 37 miles per hour were recorded at the Casablanca weather station. The early morning gusts caught many unprepared, as they didn’t wake up until the damage to windows and doors was evident. Some zinc tiles and water tank caps turned into veritable  missiles in the dark.

In Sancti Spíritus, the Escambray newspaper published the case of the community of San Pedro, about 19 miles from Trinidad, where the storm caused the collapse of a dozen homes and an elementary school.

The authorities did not report injuries, but, the provincial newspaper says “talking with the neighbors we learned about the anguish experienced the day before in the face of strong winds and lightning.”

In addition, the newspaper warned that the amount of damage “may increase as reports from other nearby settlements come in.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

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

Most of the buildings built under the concept of microbrigades were built in the years when the large Soviet subsidy allowed the Cuban state to pay for these projects. (Granma)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, 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 the problems of the sector: overcrowding, building collapses, precarious buildings and illegal trafficking of materials.

“I can’t be everywhere,” complained Valdés, whose speeches and interventions do not usually appear in the official press, after calling on inspectors and managers to carry out greater vigilance of the situation.

The deputy prime minister took advantage of the meeting, of which only a summary was published in the official media this week, to blame those who sell construction materials at outrageous prices and also those who build “majestic houses.”

“It can’t be that a few build houses” and others neglect control of the market and then “nothing happens,” he said. Freeing the government from all responsibility, he pointed out that the State “creates” the housing plan, but that local management has not been up to the task. “If we don’t check and we allow the embezzlers to divert what little we have, the problem will continue,” he added.

The deputy prime minister said that they cannot be permissive with those who violate urban regulations either. The so-called llega y pon [“arrive and put down” makeshift housing] slums abound in the cities, towns and communities of Santiago de Cuba, triggering “new problems” that are “avoidable if the established way is done,” he added. continue reading

Santiago de Cuba is only a part of the extensive photography that shows the extremely precarious conditions of housing in Cuba: In the province there are 4,766 properties with dirt floors; 7,312 have been affected by climatic events; and the existence of 1,013 tenements has been confirmed.

Sierra Maestra describes the problem as the “’way of the cross’ of construction” and cites concrete examples of families who “take risks” to improve their housing conditions. Such is the case of Orlando, who since 2016 has been waiting for a state subsidy to get materials, or Mayté, who complains about her “mistreatment” by the authorities. The case of Sandy and Juan is also mentioned, two Cubans who have been trying for a decade to get a sack of cement in the informal market, which now costs 2,000 pesos [$83].

These “complaints” had bothered Valdés, who recalled that, in 1953, Fidel Castro promised to resolve the “housing tragedy.” Seventy years after those words, the official insists that housing conditions have been improved with the construction and delivery, since then, of 3,824,861 homes throughout the Island.

In addition, he insisted that it is time to resurrect the state microbrigade movement created by Castro in 1971, based on the idea of homeless workers building their own homes. The Government allocated land and supplied the materials, but eventually there were non-compliances and, as of 1990, the plan was scrapped.

Most of the buildings built under the concept of microbrigades were built in the years when the large Soviet subsidy allowed the Cuban state to pay for these projects. Many of the multi-family buildings of that period, with architectural models from Eastern Europe, have been harshly criticized for their ugly aesthetics and the little integration with the climate on the Island.

While the decisions remain on the table, thousands of Cuban families will take refuge this winter in makeshift houses or dark and poorly ventilated quarters. One of the problems that adds to the list is the shortage of cement, which stifles not only the housing sector but the entire economy, because it does not allow progress in the construction of key projects for the country’s industries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The United States Illuminates Its Embassy in Cuba With the Colors of Ukraine To ‘Welcome Lavrov’

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavorov arrives in Havana the same night that President Díaz-Canel renews his mandate and the US embassy illuminates its facade with the colors of Ukraine. (Cubadebate/US)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 20 April 2023 — The same night that Miguel Díaz-Canel again assumed the Cuban presidency, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov landed in Havana and will be the first foreign leader to be received by Díaz-Canel in this legislature. This coincidence, perhaps forced, reflects the current situation of the Island’s international relations, with Russia as a priority partner.

It was also the same night chosen by the US embassy in Havana to reiterate its support for Ukraine with blue and yellow lights at the top of its facade, and this was not accidental. “Tonight, the US Embassy in Havana lights up again with the colors of Ukraine to demonstrate our unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. Russia continues its brutal and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. We will continue to use the diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to ensure that Russia’s malignant influence and brutal aggression are recognized everywhere,” the diplomatic headquarters said on its social networks.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted in Spanish: “In 1961, the people of Cuba heroically defended their sovereignty and independence, achieving a historic triumph by defeating American imperialism on the sands of Playa Girón*. We congratulate our Cuban friends on this significant date.”

The visit, according to the official press, will focus on promoting political, economic, educational and cultural cooperation. “The relations between Russia and Cuba are excellent. They have a high priority for both governments and are based on traditional bonds of friendship between peoples,” the newspaper Granma said, adding that the dialogue between the two nations “at the highest level has been valuable, friendly and aimed at promoting bilateral relations in all fields of interest and mutual benefit.”

Since Donald Trump, in 2017, put an end to the thaw with the United States and economic opportunities diminished for the Cuban regime, relations with Moscow have been closer. It was especially seen between 2018 and 2020, when in addition to travel — Russian tourism doubled — Moscow multiplied its investments on the Island, although many of them were canceled due to an attitude that Russia did not like. continue reading

In 2020 a railway collaboration was suspended due to “economic difficulties and quarantine restrictions on the Island,” according to Sergei Pávlov, director of the Russian state railway company, but the statements of other senior officials indicated that the mentality of the Cuban leaders was the great impediment for investments to come to fruition. Oleg Kucheriáviy, executive secretary of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Trade Commission, told his country’s television that only 10 of 60 joint projects were being carried out and that the silence and procrastination of the island’s authorities had a lot to do with it.

The invasion of Ukraine has changed everything and has boosted relations. On this occasion, the interest of the Cuban side to have a powerful supplier of both energy and investments corresponds to the Russian interest of gaining influence in Latin America. With the premise of bringing together any potential enemy of the West and, in particular, the US, Moscow has once again turned on the flow of money.

The meetings of Boris Titov, president of the Cuba-Russia Business Council and a confidant of Vladimir Putin, with the Island’s authorities in recent months says it all.

Among the best-known results of those meetings are the creation of a joint venture of food, chemicals and other household items with the state-owned Cimex, the project of a hotel only for Russian customers, and the huge fuel increases from the Eurasian country to the Island, also the result of Díaz-Canel’s tour in December and his meeting with President Putin himself in Moscow.

Titov acknowledged in an interview with Sputnik last March that his team advises the Cuban authorities on an economic reform that involves giving more support to the private sector, and although he considered that there are problems in the regime’s mentality about profound changes (greater business flexibility and tax reductions, among others), many experts warn of the danger of following the steps that the USSR once took to become an oligarchy. In view of the SMEs that are multiplying on the Island, Moscow’s advice is being reflected, although it is suspected that many of those small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are friends of the regime and benefit from privileges.

Lavrov arrives in Havana after a meeting in Brazil with Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva, who has opted for a “Chinese” policy and proposed a peace plan to end the conflict in Ukraine. His position has been highly criticized by NATO, for standing aside in the face of the invasion of Russian imperialism and, despite this, it was the most critical of Moscow that Lavrov had to face. After leaving Brasilia, he finally arrived in the territory of unconditional friends. Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, much more economically dependent than Brazil, have seamlessly supported Russia since the war began and not only by omission but by action, which is reflected in the United Nations votes on official pro-Russian propaganda.

In Nicaragua, Lavrov was satisfied with the support of Daniel Ortega, who has recently advocated for its incorporation as an observer country in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and in the Central American Integration System (Sica).

“We addressed many areas of mutual interest, such as economic issues and also cooperation within the framework of the intergovernmental commission,” Lavrov added. Those issues range from healthcare to cars, fertilizers, food production and transport, but undoubtedly what really mattered to the Russian side was diplomacy.

“All this helps to create in Latin America a powerful center and a pillar in the new world that is being formed,” Lavrov said. According to him, the countries of the West, mainly the United States, “try to proliferate their hegemony and their influence in conflicts, such as in Ukraine or in the Asian-Pacific region.”

“We, with our Nicaraguan supporters, are going to fight against these trends and prevent these acts,” he said.

Russia’s petition to join Sica is in process, as is that of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia, but a great division is expected, since countries such as Costa Rica and Guatemala oppose it.

*Translator’s note: Playa Girón is referred to as “The Bay of Pigs” by the United States.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.