14ymedio

Cuba Receives Permission from the United States to Bring MLB Players to the Classic

The Cuban baseball team has 50 players to choose from for the Fifth World Classic. (Jit)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 26 December 2022 — Cuba has received a permit from the United States that will allow it to include baseball players who play in the Major Leagues (MLB) in the national team that will participate in the Fifth World Classic.

“We have received a communication from the organizers of the Classic in which they announce that the license requested by them was granted so that the Cuban team can register Cuban athletes, whether from the MLB or not, who reside in the United States,” the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) reported in a note published this Sunday by state media.

The Fifth Baseball Classic will be held from March 8 to 21, 2023, in the cities of Taichung (Taiwan), Tokyo (Japan), and Phoenix and Miami (United States).

Andy Ibáñez (Detroit Tigers) and Yoan López (New York Mets) are some of the players who confirmed their presence on the Cuban payroll for the tournament.

The note signed by the president of the FCB, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, recognizes “these gestures as positive steps” and points out that “it was the only fair solution to the issue.” continue reading

“It is arbitrary and discriminatory that a permit from the United States Government is needed so that the organizers of a sporting event can guarantee the participation of a country like Cuba,” says the federation.

Remember that Cuba “is not only the founder of these competitions but also earned its inclusion by qualifying like the rest of the 19 teams that will participate in the Fifth Classic.”

“It is equally unfair that Cuban athletes, because those we are going to convene are Cubans trained in our country and who, despite all the pressures, want to represent their people, also depend on an authorization from the US Government to fulfill their dreams of playing with the country that gave birth to them,” Pérez Pardo said.

He also appreciates the work of the MLB and the World Baseball and Softball Confederation in their role as organizers of the Classic.

Regarding the communication from the organizers of the competition, he says that they will soon report on the details of the license granted to Cuba and, in that sense, the FCB said that it will then announce the pre-selection of the Cuban team.

In 2018, the Cuban authorities signed a historic agreement with the MLB that allowed Island players to sign professional contracts to play in the US Major Leagues without losing their residence on the Island or their link with the Federation.

That agreement was annulled in April 2019 by the administration of the then-US President, Donald Trump, claiming that the Baseball Federation belongs to the Cuban government and violates US trade law.

At the beginning of last November, Pérez Pardo warned that “pressure and harassment” were being exercised against players in foreign leagues so as not to play with Cuba in the Fifth Classic.

Baseball, declared a Cultural Heritage of Cuba, is not experiencing its best moment on the Island and suffers an unprecedented exodus of players.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The United States Infiltrates ‘Foreign Groups’ to Divide Believers in Cuba, Says the Official Press

Alemán says it’s an “accomplishment” that the Communist Party has admitted believers to its ranks since 1991, a membership that was prohibited before the Special Period. (Twitter/Cuba Presidency)

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 22 December 2022 — The inclusion of Cuba on the blacklist of countries that violate religious freedom according to the United States has motivated a campaign, by the official press, to prove otherwise. This, despite the fact that several priests, nuns, pastors, Santeria believers and practitioners of different beliefs have been systematically harassed by the Government.

Enrique Alemán Gutiérrez, director of the Cabildo Quisicuaba cultural project in Centro Habana, is one of the regular interlocutors of the regime to discuss the issue. Hence, interviewed by the State newspaper Granma on Wednesday, he once again defended that the State “recognizes, respects and guarantees” all religions, although at no time did he admit the political role, as critical voices, that several religious leaders have assumed.

The director of Quisicuaba — a project that also has a social and religious focus — alleges that the Government has registered “innumerable institutions” in the Register of Associations and attributes that “recognition” to the Cuban Revolution.

Alemán says it’s an “accomplishment” that the Communist Party has admitted believers to its ranks since 1991, a membership that was strictly prohibited before the Special Period. In addition, he also mentions a deputy to the People’s Assembly, and that in 1992 the State was defined as secular instead of atheist. The visit of religious leaders such as Patriarch Kirill, the permission to spiritually care for inmates and the granting of religious visas are, in his opinion, signs of the Government’s support for religion. continue reading

Therefore, says Alemán, the inclusion of Cuba among the countries disrespectful of religious freedom is a strategy of “imperial politics,” to “divide the people and Balkanize faith.” We must look with distrust, he alleges, at the “religious groups induced from the outside” — sects, Protestant denominations, brotherhoods — that “are neither so religious nor so newly formed.”

For Alemán, these groups are foreign to the “very wide religious range” of Cuba, whose components have already resolved their “common points” and their coexistence within what the founder of Quisicuaba understands as “religious syncretism.” The real problem, he points out, is the blockade, which prevents money and donations from Quisicuaba’s allies and other organizations related to the regime from going to the Island.

During the summer of this year, a report by the Prisoners Defenders organization, based in Madrid, showed how the Cuban government had founded a network of its own religious associations, while infiltrating numerous agents into churches and brotherhoods.

“In the case of Christian Churches, it has created the Council of Churches; in the Yoruba religion, the Yoruba Cultural Association; and in the Islamic religion, it has created the Islamic League of Cuba. The three organizations are controlled by State Security,” the document said. Quisicuaba, a spiritualist sect with social projection, is part of the “strong core” of these organizations, and has received visits from the country’s senior leadership.

At the beginning of December, the U.S. State Department included Cuba and Nicaragua — where the Catholic Church and civil society have been persecuted by Daniel Ortega — on the list of countries of “special concern”, along with China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Burma, Eritrea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan; as well as organizations such as the terrorist groups Al Shabab, Boko Haram, the Islamic State, the Taliban, the Houthis of Yemen and the Russian paramilitaries of the Wagner Group.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Nobody Wants the Cuban ‘Azulitas’, the Little Blue Masks

14ymedio, Madrid, December 22, 2022 — The azulitas [little blue masks] are piled up in the Gardis warehouses. The plant, located in Matanzas, Cuba, already has accumulated 300,000 units, and, although there is enough raw material to make half a million more, its fate seems doomed to the point that “there are those who question the purpose of keeping this factory active,” the State newspaper Granma says.

The company Unimoda, belonging to the Gardis group, began to produce national masks after a huge and catastrophic chain of hardships. The process was so delayed that, when the azulitas arrived at the stores, the pandemic was already on its way out and now its only option seems to be its incorporation into the Health system, a position currently occupied by the state Medical Supply Company (Emsume), which imports them, mainly from China.

Omar Tápanes Hernández, general director of the business group, explains to the official press that, if the country considers its contribution necessary, masks will continue to be manufactured, although it appears from his statements that for this it will need to ensure raw materials in a stable way.

Fulfilling this condition “would make it possible to meet the needs of the health system for a long time and even export about three million masks to countries in the area every month,” the text reads. “We have the equipment and the young and already qualified workforce,” says the official.

Tápanes Hernández maintains that “the resources generated” have managed to cover the investment, but the managers have never shown signs of a significant sale of masks, and the quantities accumulated in the warehouses or the excess of raw material — all a novelty on the Island — seem to support the failure of the masks. continue reading

During the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, and in the midst of a global fight to get hold of the coveted masks, Cuba announced with great fanfare that “for the first time” it would manufacture its own “disposable, hygienic and surgical” masks. The process, they said then, would allow the country significant savings in imports. “Cuba imports them at an average of 46 cents; it would cost only six cents to make them at home,” said the then-director of Gardis, Diosdado Abreu Falcón.

Thus, Lway Aboradan, a Syrian resident in Cuba since 1994, won the contract tender. His proposal came as soon as the pandemic broke out in the West, in March 2020 and, although his intention was to partner with the Government, the bureaucracy led him to make the decision to be only a supplier of machinery and raw materials. In addition, although his disbursement was in foreign currency, he had to initially agree to collect — little by little and depending on the sales — in Cuban Convertible pesos (CUC) and, after the Ordering Task*, which abolished the CUC, in Cuban pesos.

In October 2021, he complained of not having seen a centavo yet and unraveled a whole series of annoyances, among which were the mishandling of the machinery and the problems training employees by videoconference, which infinitely delayed the start-up process. At that point, shortly after beginning production, they already had 250,000 surgical masks gathering dust, because not a single one had left the premises.

Months later, in April — the mandatory use of masks was eliminated on the Island on May 31, with the exception of health services — Unimoda exposed the extraordinary situation of low demand, motivated mainly because its main recipient, the Public Health system, already had its needs covered by Emsume, which by that time already had a normal availability.

Emsume is the marketer of medical materials, integrated into the Medisol state group and, according to its own data, imports 95% of its products, most of them from China. The national cost, finally, was not the main expected advantage since, according to Unimoda, the ones that Emsume delivered were also cheaper.

Thus, the sale was restricted almost exclusively for tourism, to other organizations and online sales. The company alleged that the marketing had to be in freely convertible currency (MLC) to support the import of raw materials, and its price ranged between 10 and 12 cents. Although it did not specify whether the cost was for sale or manufacture, it was already almost the double announced by Abreu Falcón. “In total, we have about twenty customers, including distribution to the population in national currency,” said Maribel Rodríguez Argüelles, director of Unimoda.

Granma wondered why masks of lower quality than those of Unimoda were still seen on the street, although a reader blurted out with clairvoyance: “The demand of the population was met by private sellers. Action was delayed, as well as the newspaper article, after so many months.”

This Thursday’s article in the official press, dedicated to noting that there are still cases of COVID-19 and there is no need to lower our guard, states, however, that the company contributed “to the confrontation with the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus in the province.” The explanation makes something clear: that the brand new masks made in Cuba have barely left Matanzas.

*Translator’s note: Tarea ordenamiento = the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), thus leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Creative Resistance and the Cuban Economy

Cabbage planted in an old can on a balcony a few meters from the Ministry of Agriculture offers more hope than the ephemeral plans of Acopio. (Yoani Sanchez)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 12 December 2022 — Analysts of the Cuban economy attribute to Cuban President Díaz-Canel the concept of “creative resistance” that the communist president uses every time he refers to the possibility of overcoming economic problems. In essence, Díaz-Canel understands creative resistance as “a capacity of the people not only to resist, but to innovate, create and go forward with development solutions.” That capacity will have been observed somewhere, probably in Hialeah, Madrid or London, but unfortunately in Cuba, it is non-existent. The problem with creative resistance is that whenever it appears in the Cuban economy it is violently crushed by the regime, and vice versa. Another mess.

In the communist and assembly conclaves that are usually held at this time of the year, economic information that cannot be known by the official bodies responsible for its dissemination is usually leaked by the minister of economy. This year, for example, it has been known in the economic affairs committee of the National Assembly, that the communists believe they can gradually resolve the situation of the country by betting on macroeconomic stabilization, with aspects such as monetary balance, the currency exchange market, prices and the tax system.

And here comes the surprise. Let no one expect a manual on the use of instruments and economic policy objectives. According to Díaz-Canel, the economy can only be stabilized if the concept of creative resistance is channelled and enhanced in all activities, which is splitting hairs, because now he will say that macroeconomic stabilization has to do with the capacity of the people, not only to resist, but to innovate, create and move forward. Not even the example of COVID-19 serves, since Cuba at the end of 2022 is one of the few countries in the world that has not yet recovered the levels of activity prior to the pandemic. So much for creative resistance; Cubans are poorer today than three years ago. continue reading

So forgetting what happened this year, the economic affairs committee said that the projections of the Ministry of Economy and Planning for 2023 are better, which does not coincide with the latest Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) forecast that lowers growth in 2022, and foresees growth from 2% to 1.8% in 2023. Someone is not right.

Díaz-Canel later stated that the two main problems he identifies in the economy, inflation and a low supply of national currency, can be overcome with creative resistance. But at the same time he announced “a path that brings sacrifices,” which implies for the Cuban people more uncertainty and economic unrest than there is currently. A disgrace.

And at this point an analysis was carried out that, it’s hard to believe, defied the regime. According to Díaz-Canel, there are some companies that raised prices “against the purchasing power of the population, after moving from an environment of 1×1 to 1×24, while others have increased expenses without raising prices, due to a political commitment.” How curious. Companies that raise prices do so against the population. Those who do not, assume a “commitment” to the people and of course, that, according to Díaz-Canel, “causes losses in their labour force, which has no incentive for profits.” Is that creative resistance or are we talking about something else?

Does the Cuban communist leader really believe that the Marxist-Leninist economy that he directs puts forward this type of behavior? Are companies that raise prices bad? Are those who don’t do it good? How far does the political commitment to those companies go? And how far does creative endurance go?

Along with this simple business scenario of good and bad, which Cuban communism likes to create, it is pointed out that there is “an excess of liquidity, but concentrated in few hands. For example, there are state-owned companies that, just because of the 1×24 exchange, generated high levels of profit.” Magic or simply manipulation of information? Where is the monetary policy that fulfills its functions? What would Mrs. Wilson do?*

The truth is that the exchange rate of the ordering task** for monetary unification was what caused more than half of the socialist state companies to go into bankruptcy and experience losses, a situation that many have not managed to reverse. Yes. Those who were “good” and did not raise prices ended up entering a crisis. Creative resistance didn’t work here either.

Díaz-Canel also said that even when there are expensive things (minimizing a problem that affects most goods and services) “a group of people can buy them because certain sectors accumulate money asymmetrically.” And he asked: “How do you solve this?” The communist leader’s recipe is clear: “producing more so that there is more supply, but currency is needed for the purchase of inputs.” And then, why are those inputs not produced nationally by Cuban companies? They do not need to be state companies; they can be private or associated with an international investor. Doesn’t Díaz-Canel realize that the solution to the problem is to change what he just defended? Why isn’t creative resistance used here?

He recognized in his analysis that “the people most affected are in the budgeted sector and among retirees and pensioners,” and this is true, because inflation hits the most vulnerable sectors the hardest, for which government spending cannot be stretched further. There is no margin.

Unfortunately, the estimated figures for the closure of the 2022 plan and the one planned for 2023, as well as the progress of the provisions approved to address the crisis, remained for the next plenary session of the Assembly, so we will have to be attentive to them. They won’t be good.

In the agri-food commission there was also an opportunity to assess the concept of creative resistance. The result of the verification of the Acopio System of Companies*** was evaluated. The report explained that “among the main causes of losses, the non-compliance with the hiring that supports the economy plan, inefficiencies in marketing, high financial expenses with interest, the inefficient management of collections and payments, and the delay in the application of the labour availability process stand out. The eternal situation of lack of control and disorganization contrasts with the iron ideological intervention of the economy. Creative resistance still doesn’t work.

The balance of the agricultural sector is regrettable. Cuba has to prepare for a bad, a very bad, year. The report highlighted the breach of contracts by suppliers, with losses of more than 38,000 tons of agricultural products, representing about 32 million pesos. No one cited the real reasons for these breaches, forced by the demotivation caused by trade debt, prices and lack of inputs, among other things. To this is added the chain of defaults, which at certification amounted to 604 million pesos in accounts receivable and payable.

At this point, the Minister of Agriculture, the main person responsible for this chaos, blamed Acopio “for not having taken enough advantage of Decree-Law 35, which aims to create flexibility in the marketing of products,” as if Acopio had nothing to do with the regime. Not content with transferring his management responsibilities to others, the minister “proposed that not only the Acopio System of Companies but also all the institutions are related to the process.”

He also warned that the Law of Promotion and Development of the Livestock Project, which will be fully debated in the coming days, “will not recover the sector on its own but with what the agencies and workers involved in this sector are able to implement.” In all these cases, you will see if creative resistance is of any use.

With regard to the sugar industry, “the importance in this sector of the collectives working organically with bosses who have extensive knowledge would directly benefit the socialist state enterprise.”

The next sugar campaign, defined as a “short harvest” by the president of Azcuba, “will guarantee domestic consumption with fewer sugar mills, with the purpose of gradually rescuing sugar production.” In reality, the state of the sugar sector after the restructuring decided by Fidel Castro at the beginning of the century is so regrettable that its resurrection is very complicated.

The improvement in the economy that the leaders foresee will happen because “the plan focuses on a new business model, in which there is financial planning, not only in sugar production, but also in the circular economy in a prioritized way, as well as in the model of science and innovation.”

Is this the path for Cuban sugar? The regime is simplifying a sector of great possibilities as an engine of the economy, betting on an “objective, flexible and although small harvest, with good practices, concentrating resources on fewer sugar mills to achieve greater efficiency.” From here the path to Insignificance is short. Creative resistance, in sugar? What for?

Then the service commission analyzed the passenger transport activity, which has presented results very far from those needed in the last three years.

Recognizing that the sector functioned in 2022 below the 2019 levels, the minister of transport pointed out that among the priorities for 2023, “there are measures that act on the objective problems with greater control and rigor; working with the Ministry of Economy and Planning to continue recovering the availability of freely convertible currency and to begin gradually recovering transport in the country.”

He also asked, together with the Ministry of Finance and Prices, to “advance in the ordering of prices, a task that must be completed before the beginning of 2023, and another action is to work better with human resources and cadres.” All of them are very important and outstanding measures to improve transport, of course, with the necessary creative resistance.

The serious situation of passenger transport and especially merchandise led Marrero to intervene at this point to emphasize that this sector “does not escape the situation of transit in the country, with the characteristic of being cross-sectional to all processes,” and referred to “the difficulties in the acquisition of materials such as fuel, tires and batteries for foreign exchange, and the need to look for alternatives. Creative resistance won’t reach this far.

In the same committee, the Minister of Internal Trade listed what he defined as “main trends that have an impact on the current behavior of the phenomena of corruption and illegalities.”

Among these trends he cited, “the theft of volumes of high-demand resources in wholesale and retail supply chains,” “the lack of demand in the protection and control of material, human and financial resources, by administrative structures,” and the “breaking of marketing standards, in a scenario of diversification of state and non-state economic actors, which generate negative criteria for the population.” Of course, creative resistance worked here as a means of facing the legal and control framework that regulates communist trade. For this it was worth Díaz Canel’s coined concept.

But the communists don’t give up, and at this point, the governor of Havana reported the work that is being carried out in the capital “to face the processes of corruption and illegalities, among them, in gastronomy and commerce, in addition to the collections and payments outside the terms established in the contract,” without wanting to recognize that this alleged corruption and the illegalities have their origin In the regulatory complexity of the model and the limited space that is granted to private activity.

Marrero said that “the confrontation with crime and illegality is a complaint of the population,” which is not entirely true, seeing the protests that occur when a merchant is penalized or a business closed and the merchandise confiscated. He added that “the fact that these demonstrations exist is intolerable,” while “the measures taken go against the harm done, no matter who the actor is who is charged. It’s a task that requires the participation of all to achieve sustainable control over time and, as a result, that the available resources reach their final destination.” And with that, you can end up eliminating that creative resistance.

Translator’s Notes:

*Mrs. Wilson was married to a British spy. Her life is featured in a BBC series.

**The “Ordering Task” is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

***Acopio is the Cuban state collection and distribution agency. It is a highly centralized entity intended to collect and distribute all agricultural production.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The United States Accidentally Reveals the Identity of 46 Cuban Asylum Seekers

The exodus from the Island to the United States through the Central American route “of the volcanoes” has already exceeded the figure of 220,000 Cubans. (Reinaldo Escobar/14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2022 — An indiscretion from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) has compromised the situation of 46 Cuban asylum seekers in the United States. At the end of November, the institution accidentally published a list of 6,252 immigrants in ICE custody that included sensitive information about their identity, dates of birth and immigration status.

The severity of the incident increases considering that the Cubans listed were part of a group of 103 people about to be deported to the Island. The Cuban government, consequently, will receive these citizens knowing that they requested international protection in the United States.

In an apology note published on November 30, ICE reported that a document was “wrongly” published on its website, during “routine updates.” The text, which was available for five hours, was removed as soon as notification of the incident was received. “Although it was not intentional,” the report states, “this disclosure is a violation of policies, and the agency is investigating the incident and taking all the necessary corrective actions.”

According to several emigration officials as told to the US newspaper Los Angeles Times, the disclosure is, in practice, a delivery of data by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the Government of Havana about the 46 asylum seekers, who sought federal protection against persecution and torture in their country.

They added that ICE is trying to prevent the regime’s possible reprisals against these citizens and has decided to delay the deportation of the 103 Cubans and has even considered releasing them from federal custody. In addition, those affected will be given the opportunity to renew their asylum applications and contact their lawyers.

Deportation to the Island would be a “nightmare scenario” for the Cubans, said Robyn Barnard, associate director for the Defense of Refugees at the Human Rights First organization. According to Barnard, those affected also risk their families on the Island being harassed by State Security. continue reading

The usual practice is to keep any information about asylum seekers strictly secret. “And we are not talking about just any foreign government,” Barnard said, “but about a government that, according to irrefutable evidence, systematically arrests and tortures its opponents.”

Anwen Hughes, director of legal strategy at Human Rights First, acknowledged that “nervous” asylum seekers seek the services of the NGO, as they fear that their relatives will be arrested when their petition is known. That is why the US Government should ensure confidentiality in the processing of its information, he told the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, Cubans are not alone in the consequences of this indiscretion, as they are part of the more than 6,000 migrants who appeared on the list and who had also claimed to suffer “persecution and torture” in their countries of origin.

This is a scandal that concerns, in the first place, the U.S. National Security institutions, since the information disclosed by ICE had to be treated as secret by those responsible for the incident.

A few weeks before the list of asylum seekers leaked, Reuters revealed that the Cuban government again accepted the deportation by air of migrants detained at the border with Mexico, although it assured that it would only apply to “occasional groups.”

The Biden administration saw the measure as a “new but limited tool to stop the number of Cubans crossing the border,” three anonymous US officials told Reuters.

At that time it was learned that the ICE held a dozen citizens of the Island who were denied asylum. In less than a month, the number rose to 103. The exodus from Cuba to the United States on the Central American route has already exceeded the figure of 220,000 Cubans.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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For Cuban Newswoman Yailen Insua, Crossing the Darien Jungle was Less Dangerous than the Mexican Mafia

Yailén Insúa arrived in the United States on the day of her 43rd birthday. (Courtesy)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2022 — Yailén Insúa Alarcón, former director of the Cuban Television Information System and the morning program Buenos Días, arrived in the United States on December 19 after a complicated journey through the Darién jungle, and after being scammed and detained in Mexico. “I arrived in the land of liberty on December 19 at 2:00 in the morning, on my birthday. I was blessed, as I say, it was the best gift I could have,” the journalist tells 14ymedio from Jacksonville, Florida.

Insúa arrived in Colombia accompanied by her husband, Boris Luis Llamo Salgado, on February 5, 2022. The journalist planned to stop at El Dorado airport, in Bogotá, to get to Nicaragua and continue, like so many Cubans, her trip to the United States. But the situation became more complicated when Managua refused to let her enter the country, leaving her stranded in Colombia. Insúa’s fear was being returned to Cuba where the authorities would retaliate against her. “My biggest fear was setting foot in the José Martí airport in Havana because I knew they would be waiting for me,” she told this newspaper.

In mid-February, a Colombian judge granted Insúa and her husband, a member of the Yoruba Cultural Association, a safe conduct pass for 48 hours, thanks to which they both were able to leave the airport and seek asylum in the country. But in October, after several months of waiting, the authorities rejected her request. Although the case was in the hands of the Supreme Court, the former official attributes the judicial decision to Gustavo Petro’s electoral triumph.

“Coincidentally, you know that Cuba is the guarantor of the peace talks between the National Liberation Army in Colombia and the Government. And, well, it seems that they also decided to take sides with the Cuban government and not approve my asylum application,” says the journalist, who just turned 43.

“So I told my husband: ’We have to get out of here, we are in danger, we have just been denied asylum after so long,’” she continues. At that time, both decided to follow the route they had planned from Nicaragua, only starting from much further back and going through the dangerous passage of the Darién jungle. According to data from the Ministry of Public Security of Panama, about 5,530 Cubans crossed that way between January and November. continue reading

“The journey through Central America was quite easy, despite everything, after I passed the Darien. What was the problem? Arriving in Mexico. It took us twenty-some days to get to the United States, because when we arrived in Puebla I was detained for 10 days; that is, kidnapped in a house because a coyote scammed us and they didn’t let us leave,” reveals Insúa, who is forceful about what she experienced in that country: “Mexico is a mafia,” she says.

The journalist and her husband paid again and finally crossed the Rio Grande just four days ago. “When we crossed there was no Border Patrol. We walked two kilometers to a road and there I made a call to 911, which must be registered with my name, saying that we were a group of Cuban migrants, Hondurans, two Peruvians… We ask that, please, send the Border Patrol to pick us up. At that moment the sheriff came; they sent us to the Patrol and so I got here, to this country,” she says.

Insúa Alarcón was harshly attacked, after her arrival in Colombia, by Cuban influencer Alexander Otaola. He was going to warn the media not to allow the journalist to enter and described her as an “infiltrator.”

“I called them and said: ’Don’t give them asylum, don’t give them anything, because there are people who arrive, get asylum, start work at Radio Caracolm, and from Radio Caracol they begin to undermine Colombian democracy,’” he said on his program Hola! Ota–Ola.

Insúa Alarcón, however, says she suspects that Cuban intelligence has set its sights on her. “Since the media is saying that I arrived in the United States, coincidentally, I have received 43 friend requests from people I don’t know. So State Security is starting to work,” she concludes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Waiting in Line in Havana Behind 600 Others to Buy Pork

People in line to buy pork in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, December 21, 2022 — Yuleidi was thinking about going to a concert on Friday at Casa de la Obra Pia in Old Havana but it was cancelled for lack of an audience. When she pressed for more information, the explanation she got is one that has become common for many of the capital’s cultural events. Nobody is going to anything; everyone is waiting in line to buy pork.

This year, buying pork that the government has made available for the holiday season is harder that ever.

There are complaints that, in some cases, the pork being sold looks bad and smells worse. As though that were not bad enough, a whole cut costs thousands of pesos, the lines to buy it are slow and the holidays are only a few days away.

Silvia, Xiomara and Maria Eugenia — neighbors from the Revolution Plaza district — told 14ymedio that they had banded together to split a whole cut of pork, which is priced at 7,500 pesos. They are still waiting.

When contacted a few days ago, they thought it would soon be their turn. There were only eighty people ahead of them. The meat went on sale on Wednesday.

As of today however, there were inexplicably 600 people ahead of them. “We don’t really know if we’ll get to the sales counter before Friday,” says Maria Eugenia.

Pork lines are also becoming scenes of violence. More than a few social media posts describe physical altercations among people who have grown impatient and irritable from the long wait. continue reading

In other neighborhoods, such as Arroyo Naranjo, residents have set up makeshift camps outside butcher shops in hopes of getting a cut of meat. It is widely known that there is not enough for every household in the city to get its rationed share. Photos shared on social media show some people wrapped in blankets or drinking rum to keep warm in the cool early morning hours of December.

Silvia and her friends are seriously considering buying someone else’s place in line to speed up the wait time, which lasts a week. For 1,000 pesos they could reach the front by Thursday morning but they have to decide soon because prices for a good spot are expected to rise as Christmas Eve approaches.

Maria Eugenia has her doubts about making such an investment. Her son, who lives in Miami, has promised her a pork roast from Brazil, which can be purchased from any number of digital markets which markets to the island. “I don’t want him spending the money, which he needs for other things, but I cannot deal with this line anymore,” she says.

Meals at home are one option for those with relatives overseas. “A case of beer, a leg and sides for 250 dollars, with delivery [by December 24],” reads an advertisement published by a privately owned Havana business. When asked about the meat’s origin, the response by one employee is succinct: “Imported pork, nothing like the rationed stuff.”

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Cuban Farmers Prefer to Pay the Fine Than to Deliver their Milk to the State

Non-payment by the state sector contributes to discouraging the producer. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 December 2022 — The Ciego de Ávila farmers stand firm and prefer to pay the State the 10-peso fine per gallon of undelivered milk before selling it to them. This is confessed by Leonardo Pérez Rodríguez, sub-delegate of Livestock in the provincial delegation of Agriculture, who recognizes serious problems in contracting with producers. A few days before the beginning of 2023, only 33% of the milk has been contracted, and “over 2 billion gallons are still missing.”

The year 2022 has not ended well in the province, according to the authorities, who put the milk deficit at 8.5 million. “We are going to deliver more than 1.5 million compared to 2021; however, this doesn’t comply with what was agreed in 2022, which was higher,” he says.

Osvaldo Morales Batista, director of the Dairy in Ciego de Ávila, explains that in the northern area, which usually delivers the greatest amount of milk, “the cars are practically empty.”

According to his calculations, the vehicles arrive with approximately 4,755 gallons – although in recent weeks they have been transporting only 2,906 — barely enough to cover medical diets, which demand 3,963. “What would be left for the delivery to children under seven years old?” rhetorically asks the text of Invasor, which discusses the situation.

The article notes that already in May one could see the situation coming, when the commercial director of the Dairy, Yulema Yero Pérez de Corcho, explained that with the only 8,982 gallons per day they obtained it was not possible to fulfill all the orders. At that time, Sancti Spíritus was sending between 2,642 and 5,283 gallons because of not being able to process the milk because of “problems in his industry.” Since then, the situation has worsened. continue reading

Morales Batista adds that Ciego de Ávila is receiving milk from other parts of the country, which he did not specify, and that he could try to cover the demand with imported powdered milk, but the situation “is not sustainable.” Between 2015 and 2019, the Island spent more than 600 million dollars on milk powder, a product that is imported mainly from New Zealand (whole milk) and Belgium (skimmed).

Although the authorities point to the drought as one of the reasons the amount of milk delivered decreased, even they do not hide that the root lies in the displeasure of farmers with the State. Misleidy Abad Modey, the first secretary of the Party in Majagua, asks for “sincere exchanges” after the Dairy let three months of debts accumulate with the farmers.

In the contracting, they point out, they have seen how there are “farmers who have gotten up and left, others who have not attended the call in their productive base, even those who have proposed in advance, with total naturalness, to pay the industry the 10 pesos for each undelivered gallon to be able to dispose of production.”

The newspaper affirms that the director of the Dairy reported these events “astounded” him, although he admits that it is a great stimulus to be able to sell each gallon on the informal market at 100 pesos, obtaining a profit ten times higher.

The worst thing, in any case, is the recognition that there is no proposal to improve the situation. Nexy Véliz Naranjo, a member of the Provincial Bureau of the Communist Party, affirms that it is mandatory to comply with the plan, since the State delivered the land in exchange for production, but at the same time assumes that, “even rescinding the possession of the land, it is not guaranteed that, wherever those cows go, each one contributes their 2.5 daily liters of milk.”

The problem that Invasor addresses today occurs at the national level, as 14ymedio noted in a report published on December 11. In the article, a producer of Camajuaní, Bruno, reported that the majority of farmers he knows deliver 80% of the production to the plan and sell the rest in the informal market to make profits and pay the fine. “That doesn’t fail,” he said, “but we’ll have to see how long it lasts.”

In the text, several farmers in the area commented on the problems they face in complying with contracts that require more than can be given with the current resources and the money that the State offers, not counting non-payments. For this reason, many are leaving the sector or investing what they have in others that are less controlled, which will reduce the supply of milk. Cutting off the nose to spite the face.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Jose Daniel Ferrer’s Son Arrives in Miami After ‘Pressures’ from Cuban State Security

José Daniel Ferrer with his son in an archival photo. (Cubanet)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 22 December 2022 — Daniel Ferrer Cantillo, son of Cuban political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the opposition organization Unión Patriótica de Cuba, arrived in Miami after suffering “various pressures” to try to convince his father to leave the Island, as he told América Tevé.

“They wanted me to get my father out of prison; they were going to use me to try to get him out of the country, and I did not accept any condition that they put on me,” Ferrer said on América Tevé radio.

In the interview, released exclusively on Wednesday, the young man confirmed that he “recently” visited his father and that he continues on a hunger strike after beatings suffered in prison.

“He was super weak, physically he is very thin. He told me that he had been hit countless times in the ribs and kidneys that left them destroyed (…); since that day he began a hunger strike,” he told journalist Mario J. Penton.

The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) recently denounced that the opponent José Daniel Ferrer, in prison after trying to join the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021, was assaulted in front of his family, for which he began a hunger strike.

According to a statement from the CTDC, Ferrer “was beaten in the presence of his children and his wife during a family visit” in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, on December 9. continue reading

“My father has made many advances, he is the person who has made the most progress, but he has still not been able to achieve what he wants, which is freedom,” said the son of the opponent, who added that from exile he will “try to study for a university career and continue to support the opposition in Cuba.”

“In Cuba, people have lately chosen more to leave the country than to continue fighting,” said the young man, who, according to América Tevé, by taking the path of exile is reuniting with his mother and two of his sisters.

Ferrer was arrested on October 1, 2019 and sentenced to prison in February 2020 after a closed-door trial for an alleged crime of injury to another man, a charge that his relatives and collaborators deny.

After six months in prison, and in the midst of strong international pressure, in April 2020 his sentence was commuted to a sentence of four and a half years of house arrest.

More than a year later, the dissident was imprisoned again for joining the 11 July 2021 (11J) protests.

In August last year, Cuban justice revoked the benefit of house arrest of the well-known dissident and sentenced him to remain in prison for the remaining years of his sentence for an alleged assault.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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One of Those Involved in the Murder of a Professor in Cuba has been Released on Bail

Professor Santiago Morgado, who disappeared last July. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2022 — One of the five people involved in the murder of Professor Santiago Morgado, whose body was found in a well in Sancti Spíritus last July, was released on bail. The other four involved in the crime remain in pretrial detention, according to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, as told to the official newspaper Escambray.

María Esmeralda Pérez, head of the Department of Criminal Proceedings of the Sancti Spíritus Prosecutor’s Office, informed the newspaper that the criminal proceedings “are in progress” and that a DNA analysis is being carried out at the Central Criminalistics Laboratory, in Havana, to confirm that the body found in a Sancti Spíritus well, in a state of putrefaction, unequivocally corresponds to Morgado.

As for the former inmate, the authorities also prohibited him from leaving the national territory, while his colleagues remain under investigation. “The process is complex with the number of people involved and the large number of investigative proceedings, both in the province of Sancti Spíritus and in Camagüey,” Pérez said.

It was in this last province that the murderers of Morgado tried to sell the Suzuki motorcycle stolen from the teacher, after several desperate reductions, for 200,000 pesos. Pérez relieved the Prosecutor’s Office of responsibility for the delays, and alleged that, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, “the criminal investigator practices the investigative and other proceedings of the preparatory phase in the shortest possible period, which should not exceed 90 days, but it can justifiably be extended by the prosecutor.” continue reading

The Morgado case was initiated on July 2, so the deadline for the Prosecutor’s Office to delay the process of those involved — 180 days — is close. However, Pérez specifies that even after that time, the Attorney General of the Republic can grant a new extension.

The official press, in a previous report, had revealed that two of those involved had been the material authors of the professor’s violent death and that one of them knew him well. The first of the alleged murderers led Morgado to El Capitolio, a town in the People’s Council of Banao, where, hidden among the undergrowth, he waited for his companion.

The attackers used a stick and a stone, in addition to two pieces of agricultural machinery, to immerse the teacher’s body in a well up to nine feet deep.

As for the rest of those involved, one of them drove Morgado’s motorcycle to Camagüey, where the fourth individual tried to sell it for an initial price of 800,000 pesos, which he soon had to give up on. Finally, the fifth detainee was the intermediary of the sale. The Prosecutor’s Office did not specify which of them was released, although it’s possible to intuit that it is one of the three men.

Of the five subjects, aged between 28 and 45, three are residents of Banao, one in the same town, another in El Pinto and the third in El Capitolio. The other two lived in Vertientes, which shows that the crimes occurred in places they knew well.

Morgado’s acquaintances were the ones who put the most emphasis on the search for the body, since the police, as usual in these cases, were slow to join the investigation of the event.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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An Old Man Who Made a Living as a Coachman in Villa Clara is Murdered

Images of Osvaldo, the coachman killed in Villa Clara, shared on social networks. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2022 — Osvaldo, an old man who made a living transporting people in a wagon, was allegedly killed on Sunday for his horse in the municipality of Encrucijada, Villa Clara. His death generated a wave of indignation among his relatives, who remembered the Colonel, as he was known, as a humble man willing to help the neighbors.

The crime, of which the authorities have not offered an official version, was reported on social networks. His family and friends reported his disappearance after not returning from a trip he had scheduled for Sunday morning. On the night of that same day, several Facebook users reported the discovery of his body in a cane field, beheaded and with one hand cut off, while the wagon and the horse were stolen.

“Who did this barbarity of killing a poor old man has to pay for it. I ask everyone who saw something, please let me know,” a user identified as Reinaldo Rodríguez Velásquez wrote on Facebook. Several commentators said that the Colonel’s family alerted the Police about his disappearance, but the officers did not take the case seriously because 72 hours had not yet passed.

Osvaldo, whose surnames aren’t yet known, was described as “a humble man, good neighbor and friend of all,” by the user Ana Laura Bacallo, who claimed to know the victim from a young age. “All the memories I have of him are how he helped neighbors, and he never had problems with anyone,” she added. continue reading

The violent theft of animals in Cuban fields has been increasing over the last two years. A report published in this newspaper last July set out the methods of thieves to steal livestock, small and large, on private farms.

The criminals study the place and the owners of the animals well, and make use of different pain killers to tranquilize oxen, cows and pigs, which they then transport in wagons or dismember in the same place. The situation is increasingly common in Villa Clara and other provinces of central Cuba, where, in addition to animals being used in agricultural work, they serve as a means of transport in cities.

In the absence of an efficient urban transport system, cities such as Santa Clara, Remedios and Encrucijada depend on wagons or cars towed by horses. While it is true that they alleviate the lack of buses and electric motorcycles, they engender a significant amount of dirt, accidents and animal abuse.

Often, horses used for transportation must carry several times their weight under the whip of the coachmen. The situation becomes even more regrettable during the summer months, when animals tend to faint from fatigue and dehydration. Carers usually keep their animals in improvised stables in their own homes or on the outskirts of cities. It is common that violent robberies also occur there, with the aim of taking the horse, which they transport to another municipality or province so as not to be recognized, or kill it for food.

Cuba is facing a growing wave of violence, unleashed in part by the deep economic crisis on the Island. Last July, Santiago Morgado, a professor in Sancti Spíritus, was killed with the aim of stealing a motorcycle that the murderers later tried to sell for the price of 200,000 pesos. The official newspaper Escambray revealed that five individuals had been involved in Morgado’s death. The 62-year-old man was found several days after his death in a well where his perpetrators had thrown him.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Parliament Shows Little Enthusiasm for Expropriation Law

When called upon by Esteban Lazo to cast their votes, legislators kept their hands under the table while others ignored the National Assembly’s president, focusing instead on their cell phones. (Twitter, Cuban National Assembly)

14ymedio, Havana, December 15, 2022 — The indifference of some National Assembly delegates made it impossible to know if they approved, were abstaining or simply were not interested in the proposed expropriation law. When called upon by Esteban Lazo to to cast their votes for the legislation, some members kept their hands under the table while others ignored the body’s president, focusing instead on their cell phones.

Without bothering to look up and count the votes, Lazo simply ignored the errant delegates and declared the bill to be “approved unanimously.” The chamber applauded the result with the same disinterest.

The Law on Expropriation for Reasons of Public Need or Social Benefit is part of a legislative program sponsored by the regime. The measure, a series of legal initiatives conveniently ratified by parliamentary delegates, is intended to further codify the country’s 2019 constitution.

Though the government had been unusually low-key about the proposed law, avoiding undue publicity, this has not prevented suspicions being raised or questions being asked about the future implications of the legislation given the mass exodus the country is currently experiencing.

Meisi Bolaños Weiss, the Minister of Finance and Prices, says the new law is an attempt to establish legal guarantees and forms of compensation, and to address other issues related to the process of expropriation by the state. She noted that the committee which drafted the legislation – made up of various judicial and economic bodies as well as faculty from the University of Havana School of Law – had worked hard on the text, aware of the sensitivity of the issue. continue reading

The law, she says, expands on Article 58 of the current constitution, which mentions “the right to enjoy the benefits of one’s property” but warns that it can be expropriated for “reasons of public need or social benefit, and with due compensation.” The newly approved law fills a gap in the legal system by giving courts sole jurisdiction over the expropriation process.

The minister points out that expropriation can only be authorized by a “competent court of justice” and that property owners are guaranteed “effective judicial protection.” Should a citizen want to challenge a decision, he or she may demand documentation showing that his or her property is indeed in the public interest.

Regarding compensation for the expropriated property, Bolaños noted that the amount of compensation will depend on the actual monetary value in each case. The legislation also addresses protections for foreign investment. Regardless of whether the property owner is Cuban or a foreign national, the amount of the compensation may not be affected by taxes or any other encumbrances.

As for forced expropriation, Bolaños believes the process must still be “strengthened and updated within the new constitutional framework.” There is still no law that provides guarantees of any kind if a case like this were to come up. “Such a law has yet to be enacted in Cuban legal system,” she said, describing existing regulations under the current Administrative Process Law as “partial and insufficient.”

Jose Luis Toledo Santander, the delegate who presented the Assembly’s report on the proposed law, acknowledged that the legislation had generated “many conflicting opinions.” He added that the document makes reference to the history of expropriations in Cuba, though it does not mention the procedural irregularities in the 1960s when Fidel Castro requisitioned multiple properties without providing due compensation.

“Expropriation is an instrument, not an end in itself. It always involves the transfer of property, be it physical (as when land is expropriated to build a road or a highway) or judicial (when a company is nationalized because it is deemed to be in the public interest),” Toledo theorized.

As for a property’s appraisal value — the essential element used to determine the amount of compensation — Toledo offers no details other than those provided by Bolaños: It all depends on what the court decides. He added, however, that citizens have the right to reverse the expropriation if, three years after the court’s ruling, the state has not carried out the “expressed purposes” for the action.

In their discussions, delegates pointed out the law’s most controversial points, such as those that define the start period of the expropriation. Ana Teresa Igarza brought up examples that have occurred in the Mariel Special Development Zone, in which negotiations were carried out with the owners of expropriated land. After the owners reportedly agreed to the expropriation, the state took over the land once the owners had been abandoned it. “The key is to seek agreement between the parties so that those affected have guarantees,” she said.

Homero Acosta, secretary of the Assembly, was less conciliatory, referring to the law as a “guarantee” by the government. After all, he noted, “the state can currently expropriate even without this law.” Acosta was upset by what he described as “misrepresentation” to which he felt the legislation had been subjected. “People say that the communists want to end private property but that’s not the case,” he said, adding that Cubans should feel proud to have such a benevolent law.

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Spain Refuses to Sell Riot Gear to Cuba

Cuba bought riot gear from Spain in the first half of 2021, when the massive July 11, 2021 protests were about to break out throughout the island. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, December 23, 2022 — The Government of Spain denied the Cuban Ministry of the Interior the sale of 2,500 tear gas cartridges and 40 light, sound and smoke riot control devices, for a combined value of 350,000 euros. The refusal is recorded in the Report on Exports of Defense Material, Other Material and Dual-Use Products and Technologies for the first half of 2022.

According to the document, published by the Interministerial Regulatory Board for Foreign Trade in Defense Material and Dual Use (JIMDDU) – an organization chaired by the Secretary of State for Commerce, dedicated to regulating arms export operations – the reason for the refusal is the “lack of respect for human rights” that characterizes the Havana regime.

Under the protection of criterion 2 of the Common Position of the European Union – the rule of conduct on exports – the JIMDDU argued before the Spanish Congress that it is necessary to consider the degree of “respect for human rights in the country of final destination” when weapons are sent, in addition to the little “respect for International Humanitarian Law” that is observed on the Island.

This newspaper contacted the press office of the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, which regretted not yet being able to offer the full text of the report – to which some Spanish media have had access – and guaranteed that it would be available “in the coming days” on its web page.

The repeated violation of human rights was also the reason why the JIMDDU blocked the license to export 50,000 tear gas cartridges – for a price of 2.1 million euros – to the Central African Republic. continue reading

Pakistan is also on the list, from which a “diversion risk” is alleged in the 670 sports pistols it requested, valued at 175.1 million. Nor will 5.5 million hunting cartridges be sold to Burkina Faso, for 1.6 million, nor the 13.3 million bird shots required by Guinea Bissau, which would have cost that country 2.7 million.

On the other hand, the JIMDDU did allow the shipment of riot control material to Peru, a country whose political crisis has just taken serious turns, for a value of 6.3 million euros.

The JIMDDU is required to issue a report on the granting of this type of licenses every year and the enforcing of the European legislation, which requires that the material not be destined for internal repression in countries where human rights are not respected, among other regulations. In 2021, permission to export to Cuba was granted and there was no refusal, but on this occasion the island was demanding chemical substances for laboratory analysis or ammunition used in hunting.

Another report from the Secretary of State for Commerce dated 2021 reported that Cuba had purchased riot gear in the first half of that year, when the massive protests on July 11 were about to break out throughout the island.

Although the authorization from the Spanish government took effect before July 11, it was not explained in the report if the shipment arrived in Havana in time to suppress the protest or if Spain blocked the shipment so that the regime would not attack peaceful protesters.

Also in 2014, a report from the former Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness reported the export of 3,170,228 million euros in gas masks and anti-riot suits.

Translated by Wilfredo Diaz Echevarria

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Days Before Christmas, 175 Cubans Who Landed in Florida Are Taken Into Custody

Since October 1, 2022, the Coast Guard has intercepted 3,724 Cuban rafters. (Twitter/@USCGSoutheast)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, December 23, 2022 — The Border Patrol took into custody this Thursday 175 Cubans who disembarked in the last 24 hours in the Florida Keys and Hollywood Beach. The chief officer of the Miami sector, Walter Slosar, affirmed that all the rafters were fine and will continue to be processed while under investigation.

Island nationals who manage to disembark in Florida are detained and taken to immigration stations where they are given the opportunity to demonstrate “credible fear.” If they convince the judge, they can post a bond and apply for asylum. In the best of cases, they are released and given a document that legalizes their entry into the country.

Last Monday, Mr. Slosar shared on his social networks images of four rafts in which 98 Cubans disembarked in the Florida Keys and Key Biscayne, who were helped by the Coast Guard and then placed under investigation.

The exodus of rafters is alarming, this Friday the interception of an “overloaded” rustic raft with 20 Cubans south of Key Largo was divulged. The authorities reiterated that they “continue to advise against these unsafe” and dangerous trips. These individuals will be repatriated in the coming days.

A day earlier, the US Coast Guard repatriated 67 people to Cuba on the ship Charles David Jr. The captain insisted on the uncertainty of the sea, and that this month, in addition, “the winter weather is unpredictable in the Florida Straits.”

Since October 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews have prevented 3,724 individuals from reaching for the American dream. continue reading

The Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also alerted on its social networks about “extremely cold temperatures, below the freezing point” along the border of Mexico and the United States during the next week. It advised migrants not to try to cross the Rio Grande to avoid tragedies.

The warning comes as much of the United States prepares for a major “freak” winter storm, “once in a generation,” as the National Weather Service (NWS) has described it.

ALERTA: Se esperan temperaturas extremadamente frías, bajo cero, a lo largo de la frontera de México y EU durante la próxima semana. No arriesgue su vida ni la de su familia cruzando el Río Bravo o el desierto. Quédese en casa o en un refugio seguro y evite una tragedia. pic.twitter.com/IkJudqQacO

— CBP (@CBP) December 23, 2022

ALERT: Extremely cold temperatures, below freezing, are expected along the US-Mexico border during the next week. Do not risk your life or that of your family crossing the Rio Grande or the desert. Stay home or in a safe shelter and avoid a tragedy. pic.twitter.com/IkJudqQacO

— CBP (@CBP) December 23, 2022

The weather phenomenon will range from the northern Great Basin – a hydrographic area that includes Nevada, part of Utah and California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming – to the northern Midwest, the Great Lakes and the central and northern Appalachians.

President Joe Biden warned Americans on Thursday to take the storm “extremely seriously” and to follow the recommendations of the authorities.

“This is really a very severe weather alert. And it goes from Oklahoma to Wyoming, and from Wyoming to Maine. And there are real consequences, so I encourage everyone to please follow local advisories,” he told reporters at the Oval Office of the White House.

Translated by Wilfredo Diaz Echevarria

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Cuban Authorities Get Fruit for Tourism and Export, But it is Not Available for Island Residents

The Government allocates a good part of fruit production for the consumption of tourists and export. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2022 — The Cuban Government allocates fruits considered “select” for export and for tourists who arrive on the Island, while in the markets where Cuban families buy, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to get the products grown in the fields of the Island.

The official press has dedicated extensive articles this week to explain how Cuba is preparing to deal with the high season of tourism, which this year has left results below the projections, and it also discusses the authorization of production lines for export, mainly to Europe.

In total, the authorities recognize that Cienfuegos province has 74 local development projects, but only 14 (19%) have potential for exports and tourism. Thus, María del Carmen Serra Lliraldi, director of the Chamber of Commerce in the region, explained that the main limitation is compliance with the production plan for sugar, chewing tobacco, charcoal, hot pepper, shrimp, catfish and aluminum scrap.

The company Frutas Selectas is, in any case, in charge of “balancing” the assortments for “all tourist markets” on the Island, Clemente Hernández Rojas, director of the state-owned company, told the newspaper Escambray, adding that the company meets 70% of the demand. “We are the most specialized, with refrigerator infrastructure and a mini-industry with better technologies that currently produces seven lines, while we have a connection for specific assortments such as lemons with a producer of Meneses,” he said. continue reading

Hernández Rojas said that the company, whose inventories depend on local production, has met the demands for tourism corresponding to three months, with agreements between producers to provide 320 tons of onion bulbs, of which 220 are provided by Frutas Selectas. The rest, he added without specifying a figure, will be marketed by the Empresa Agropecuaria Banao.

The official pointed out that, to respond to the “state order,” Frutas Selectas has expanded its freezing capacity by up to 40 tons in the Yayabo factory, and has also installed a room to store agricultural products.

This same company announced a year ago with great fanfare the export of lemons to Spain by a farmer, after the Government endorsed the trade of the private sector. On that occasion, this newspaper verified that the product did not, in fact, appear in the Spanish markets.

This Monday it was reported that the Empresa de Acopio in Cienfuegos dispatched 62 containers in 2022 to Spain and Turkey, valued at 9 million pesos, as highlighted at a meeting of the provincial Chamber of Commerce.

Cítricos Arimao has also exported more than 1,000 tons of aseptic mango pulp to European markets, said Isec Tellería Abreu, deputy director of the company, who announced that they are preparing new production lines for exports. One corresponds to dehydrated pineapple leaves to be marketed to Russia for the rest of this month.

One of the farms in the area assured Perlavisión this September that it had a demand of 200 kilos for this product for the Russian market. “They make shoes (vegan leather), car seat linings, belts … Damn, everything is made with the pineapple leaf and the banana,” said the producer.

In addition, turmeric, avocado, mango, red mamey and frozen cassava will be incorporated for export by 2023.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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