14ymedio

Havanatur Sells Tourist Packages to Cubans at Impossible Prices and Without Transportation

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 July 2022 — In the past, on a day like this Friday, after Havanatur announced the tourist packages for the start of the high season on the Island in October, the line in front of the Cubatur offices would have been as considerable as in previous years. It wasn’t the case today. The prices published by the state operator, whose cheapest rates do not fall below 4,000 pesos per night, are prohibitive for nationals.

Thus, the three people who were waiting at their doors, under the Habana Libre hotel, in Havana’s Vedado, did not have to wait long to be attended to. At the counter they were not offered cheaper solutions for vacationing and, in addition, they were given another bucket of cold water: the packages did not include transportation.

“It is not known if there will be transportation by then or not,” explained an employee, without giving more details, simply nodding when one of the women who was being helped alluded to the lack of fuel. “No wonder there was no one today, who is going to stand in line with these prices and without transportation?” the lady lamented as she left the place empty-handed. continue reading

According to the Havanatur website, the Habana Libre Hotel is the one that offers the cheapest night for two people: from 3,780 pesos. It is followed by the Iberostar Grand Hotel Trinidad, in that city of Sancti Spíritus, from 5,472 pesos, and Iberostar Parque Central, in Havana, with one night from 7,000 pesos.

If those urban rates are coercive, those of hotels on the beaches are impossible for the average Cuban, whose salary is less than 4,000 pesos a month. In Varadero, a room at the Hotel Meliá Internacional, all inclusive, is available from 20,000 pesos; in Paradisus Princesa del Mar, from 15,500; at Meliá Varadero, from just over 12,000 pesos, and at the Hotel Sol, from 11,000.

As for Cayo Coco, the Meliá Las Dunas offers a night from 11,112 pesos and the Hotel Tryp starts at almost 8,000 pesos.

You practically have to carry the money in a bag to be able to afford an all-inclusive weekend in one of those spa accommodations. Now, when it is only 14 years since Cubans residing on the island were allowed to rent a room in national hotels, vacationing in one of these places is once again prohibitive, and this time the red line is marked by money.

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Children Travel to Cuba’s National School Games on a Train With No Seats and Delayed for Hours

One of the images broadcast on transport networks of children participating in the National School Games. (Twitter/@dlesmesfajardo)

14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2022 — After two years without being held due to the covid-19 pandemic, the National School Games have restarted this Wednesday with an official event in the city of Santa Clara, but the Games began with setbacks. The children participating in this 58th edition had to travel from other provinces sitting on the floor of the train due to poor management by the organizers.

With 22 disciplines that are disputed in 14 Cuban provinces, the Games were inaugurated by the president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), Osvaldo Vento, an act that the official press covered without mentioning the discomfort of parents and children due to transportation problems that made several athletes desist from participating.

“They allocated only one train for all the athletes. It is the same one that goes from Havana to Guantánamo, picking up children and leaving others because some disciplines are played in one place and others in another. For example, judo competitions are in Guantánamo,” details Lesmes Fajardo, uncle of one of the children who participates in the Games in the discipline of chess.

“The Inder coordinated a train that was going to leave from La Coubre with the athletes from Pinar del Río and Havana, which would go through the entire island picking up the participants and distributing others according to the place where their specialty is contested. My nephew had to go from Matanzas to Santa Clara, luckily he didn’t have such a long stretch,” explains Fajardo, who currently resides in Guayaquil, Ecuador. continue reading

“The train had to have left at 8:30 at night and it was one in the morning and it still hadn’t left. It arrived in Matanzas after four in the morning. The children from Matanzas were at the station from 7:00 pm and they didn’t give them any information. They called those from Havana and they didn’t know when it was going to leave either,” he explains to 14ymedio.

“Since it left Havana it already was traveling with the children sitting on the floor,” he adds. “My sister’s first reaction was to tell my nephew that they were no longer going to the event because ’he was going to arrive dead’ after traveling sitting on the floor, but he insisted because it is the National Games. He did it because of his commitment to the sport.” That “was total chaos” emphasizes the emigrant.

“My sister was like if they stabbed her, she would not bleed because of poor organization,” he says. Fajardo kept in touch with his family during the long wait. “Those in the image are not children trying to cross into the United States in containers. They are Cuban children, high-performance athletes traveling to the National School Games on a train arranged by the Government that will run from Havana to Guantanamo. No seats,” he wrote annoyed on Twitter.

“The abuse, the irresponsibility and the apathy we all know are rampant in Cuba, but they don’t miss the opportunity to surprise us. Then the dictatorship regrets when its athletes stay behind at the first international tournament they go to,” said the emigrant. Fajardo’s sister also called the treatment of the children “degrading.”

In Santa Clara the chess, boxing and table tennis athletes stayed but others had to continue their journey still on the floor of the train. “My son has to go to Guantánamo because he is a judoka, they did not let us accompany him because they said that the parents could not go, but I thought that my child would be well taken care of,” laments the mother of another athlete, who prefers to remain anonymous.

“My son still hasn’t been able to get a seat and he will arrive at Guantánamo very tired, but nobody takes that into account for the competition,” questions the woman who lives in the city of Matanzas. “Everything has been very improvised but many parents do not dare to file a complaint so that their children do not look for problems. Surely the Inder officials travel in comfortable cars.”

As of this moment, the train had not yet completed its journey. “It’s in Ciego de Ávila,” says Lesmes Fajardo.

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After His Escape Attempt was Frustrated, the Cuban Boxer Andy Cruz Requests to Step Down

Cuban boxer Andy Cruz will now have to wait for the lengthy processes of discharge and the unlocking of his passport (Gramma).

14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2022 — Cuban boxer Andy Cruz, who spent several days in detention after an attempted escape from the island, requested his withdrawal from the sport. The journalist Francys Romero pointed out that the Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020 appeared last Tuesday at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana to carry out the procedure.

As explained by the Romero on his social networks, Cruz must “wait for the lengthy processes of discharge and passport unlocking to which athletes who represent a national interest and who do not want to continue competing under the Cuban system are subjected.”

The boxer saw his escape frustrated by the denunciation of Rolando Céspedes, El Prosecutor, a man who has been in the business of athletes who leave for more than 10 years and who has contacts with immigration officials in Cuba. This person “demanded a large sum” that was not delivered, so he denounced the whereabouts of Andy Cruz and baseball player César Yanquiel Hernández, who intended to leave the island.

The athletes were surprised and taken to Moa, where they remained for 10 days. So far the boxer has not offered any comment. continue reading

“In addition to the abandonments and mass exoduses, withdrawal requests have spread to all sports in recent times,” tweeted Romero, who is based in the US.

After being excluded from the Under-23 team that participated in the World Championship that took place in Aguascalientes, outfielder Roidel Martínez requested his withdrawal. This case recalled the one experienced by Luis Enrique González and Darlin Jíménez, who were “erased” at the last minute from the list of the Under-23 team that traveled to Mexico in 2021 for the World Championship held in the state of Sonora.

Last April, the silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games and world champion in Beijing 2015, Yarisley Silva, also requested her withdrawal, but this was from the Cuban National Athletics Team. Her decision came after she was left out of the 18th edition of the World Indoor Athletics Championships, which took place in Belgrade (Serbia), due to problems bringing her own poles.

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Belgian Buses Pulled Out of Service in Havana, to be Air-Conditioned, After Complaints of Unbearable Heat

A line for the P12 bus route this Tuesday, in Havana, and the Arrival of one of the Belgian Buses

14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2022 — The provincial transport company of Havana affirmed that the Belgian buses will improve their air conditioning system. Barely half an hour had passed since 14ymedio published a chronicle recounting the trip made by one of our reporters and in which he confirmed that the oppressive heat in the vehicles was not an unsubstantiated rumor circulating on social networks, when the authorities issued the statement warning of upcoming changes.

The message states that “despite not knowing basic elements of the operation of these teams, on July 4 the operation of 5 articulated buses began on route P12 and 5 rigid buses on route P16.” However, it maintains that the problem of air conditioning “had already been identified previously”.

To solve the problem, “work is being done on the coupling of windows of the buses. It is intended to change 3 windows in the rigid cars and 5 in the articulated ones; in addition to the current ventilation system,” details the note, reproduced by the official press.

It is not clear what “the current ventilation system” is, as some users suspect that the air conditioning has been switched off to save fuel.

The company points out that the poor transportation situation is what motivated the rapid start-up of the vehicles while at the same time adapting to the island’s climate. “The air conditioning that they have does not withstand the high temperatures of the country,” specifies the information, a statement that has generated discomfort among users who know the buses in many cities in the world in which high temperatures are reached without the air conditioning stopping to function. continue reading

“Here in New York the buses stop at every stop and that’s not why they lose the air conditioning, please invent something else,” says a user on Facebook. The company had disdained the previous opinions arguing, moreover, that the opening and closing of doors reduces the effectiveness of the air conditioning, a fact that is not entirely accurate. “That the air does not cool down because of the heat in Cuba? As if in Belgium the temperatures did not reach almost 40 degrees (104F)… And there the buses do not stop, they make direct trips? Like the Yutones?” reacted another.

The company took the opportunity to explain that, when the air conditioning problems have been resolved, more equipment will be incorporated, “up to 16 in operation; 9 on line P12 and 7 on line P16”.

The buses were manufactured in 2007 and, although “they have been in operation for 14 years,” they are well preserved and have “a high technological level,” they have presented technical faults, which “we are working on solving,” the company explains.

The 29 buses arrived in the Cuban capital on June 24 and were received by Luis Carlos Góngora, vice president of the Provincial Administration Council of Havana, and the Belgian ambassador, Jean-Jaques Bastien, who were photographed next to the flag of the European country.

The operation began this Monday and the complaints multiplied rapidly through social networks. Passengers complained that, through the ceiling grille, the air that came out was soft and hot, as if the system was in ventilation mode and not cooling.

“These buses are not for here,” some travelers repeated this Tuesday, probably oblivious to the fact that, in most countries that have air-conditioned vehicles, it fulfills the function for which it has been designed. Although on the street temperatures exceed 40 degrees (104 F).

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High School Vandalized to Extract Materials Collapses in Santiago de Cuba

Rubble of what was the Antonio Maceo Grajales Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences, in Santiago de Cuba. (Facebook/Iran Suarez)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 July 2022 — A man was rescued from the rubble of what was the Antonio Maceo Grajales Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (IPVCE), in Santiago de Cuba, this Wednesday night, after the collapse of a disused and ruined structure, which had been vandalized for years to extract construction materials.

The news was spread on social networks, which reported the rescue of Girardo Ortega Atencio, who had been among the rubble since four in the afternoon. Journalist Iran Suarez shared on Facebook that the man was given fluids before the rescue.

Before Ortega Atencio was removed from the ruins, another person was rescued from the scene and taken to the Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital. The identity and state of health of both are unknown.

“Two citizens were illegally removing steel strips from the structure on the fourth level,” Suárez wrote in his report on social networks.

According to engineer Isabel Rodríguez, the collapsed structure was “still young” and “of the Girón type,” a building model used in Cuba during the 1970s, especially for schools in the countryside, pre-university, junior high schools and other official buildings. continue reading

The specialist adds that in 2006 a study on seismic vulnerability was carried out and it was determined that this place represented an imminent risk, due to the occurrence of tremors in Santiago de Cuba. “The structure was less than 40 years old at the time,” says Rodríguez.

The collapse was lamented by some residents of the city, who affirmed that for years theft of construction materials, extracted from the old structure, began to occur in the place and that it should have collapsed a long time ago to avoid tragedies. “The neighbors of Quintero and Santamaría have been denouncing this situation for years, the truth is that it is a miracle that more thieves have not died,” wrote Angela María Callis Vicente.

Others commented on the rapid deterioration of the place. “Until a few years ago we used to do the entrance exams for Higher Education there. Seeing it in that state now has impacted me,” said Nuria Napoles also on Facebook.

The Fire Department, the Red Cross, the Integrated System of Medical Emergencies (SIUM), the Cubiza company, authorities of the Communist Party, the Ministry of the Interior and Civil Defense attended the scene.

Seventeen hours after the event, the state press has not noted it in its reports, but it has reported the visit of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, to the province of Santiago where the collapse occurred. According to the State newspaper Granma, the visit “began with a tribute to the founders of the nation, Martí, Céspedes, Mariana and Fidel, and ended at the Antonio Maceo thermoelectric plant.”

The pre-university scholarships, especially the vocational centers, prepared students who would pursue university studies in science and technology specialties, and were one of the jewels in the crown of the Cuban educational system during the years of the Soviet subsidy.

However, over the years, the refusal of families to send their children to these centers, material deterioration and food shortages caused the initiative to capsize. In 2009, Raúl Castro closed the scholarships and schools in the countryside, which accelerated the ruin of vocational pre-university schools.

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‘The Only Thing Taken to Cuba Were Che’s Hands,’ Says the Man Who Captured Him

Cuban-American Félix Rodríguez, the CIA agent who led the operation in Bolivia to capture Guevara. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Jorge I. Pérez, Miami, 7 July 2022 –Cuban-American Félix Rodríguez, the CIA agent who led the operation in Bolivia to capture Ernesto Che Guevara that culminated in his execution in 1967, told Efe on Wednesday that “the only thing that could be buried in Cuba” are the hands of the guerrilla.

“The body was never where they say they found it,” he stresses in a telephone conversation. According to Rodríguez emphatically, the Argentine guerrilla “was not buried at the side of the runway with seven other bodies as Fidel (Castro) said; Che was buried at the head of the runway with two more corpses, there were only three.”

A few days before the 25th anniversary of the discovery of Che’s body at the Vallegrande airport (Bolivia), the 81-year-old former CIA agent, retired in Miami, denies the official version of what happened on 28 June 1997.

According to the official Cuban version, the body of the revolutionary leader was found that day in a mass grave at the Vallegrande airport and, after being identified in a hospital in Bolivia, his remains were sent to Cuba, where a mausoleum was erected in his honor in Santa Clara.

According to the media outlet Cubavisión Internacional, the remains of the Argentine guerrilla were found on an abandoned runway in Vallegrande. There, says the media, a group of Cuban experts found the grave where seven guerrilla men were buried, including their leader Ernesto Che Guevara.

“Obviously, if he (Fidel Castro) buried his hands, then there is a part of Che in the Santa Clara monument, because the hands were taken there by the (then) Minister of the Interior (Antonio) Arguedas,” along with a copy of the guerrilla’s diary in Bolivia, says Rodríguez.

According to the former CIA agent, “at dawn a Bolivian doctor went with my partner, (Gustavo) Villoldo, and then they cut off his hands, put them in formalin and put them in a volqueta (dump truck), as they call the pickups, they took Che to the end of the runway where there was a bulldozer that was widening the runway for larger planes to land. continue reading

“And there they buried him, at the end of the runway next to two corpses and Fidel says they found him to one side with seven more. That was not Che Guevara,” he says.

On how it became known that Che was in Bolivia, Rodríguez, whose mission was to save his life, although he now says that his execution was “the best thing that could happen,” recalls that it had to do with the French philosopher and writer Régis Debray.

“It was confirmed when they took (Argentine intellectual Ciro) Busto and Régis Debray prisoner; they went to visit Che and when they were taken prisoner they confirmed that the person was Che Guevara. If it wasn’t for them, it wouldn’t have been known that Che was in Bolivia,” he says.

On October 9, 1967, Rodríguez landed in Bolivia to capture Che and later saw him “tied hand and foot.”

“My mission was to save his life at the request of the US government. It was very important to keep him alive, killing him was a decision of the Bolivian president, General René Barrientos,” he said. It was the Bolivian sergeant Mario Terán who executed Guevara in La Higuera that same day.

According to Rodríguez, the burial of the body “was not a military secret, they simply did not tell anyone.”

“They took a driver that day and buried him at the end of the runway, and gave out the news that he had been cremated and that the ashes had been thrown from a helicopter into the air, which was not true,” he says.

And he adds: “That was the official news that was given to the Bolivian people: that (Che) was cremated and his ashes scattered over the Bolivian jungle, but the truth is that he was buried at the head of the runway, you can put it to bed,” he asserted.

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Cuba Breaks Record of Dengue Fever Outbreaks and the Government Describes the Scenario as ‘Complex’

Until a few years ago, the areas near the Council of State, in Havana, were continuously fumigated against Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue fever. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 July 2022 — Heat, rain and lack of fumigation are the perfect combination for the Aedes aegypti mosquito to do its thing. That scenario, positive for the main vector that transmits dengue fever in Cuba, seems to be happening this summer on the island where the crisis and the climate have come together dangerously.

In one of the highest floors of a Soviet-era building, on Calle Boyeros y Conill, Maria Karla’s family has no respite. “Not many mosquitoes come here but this summer we are full of welts everywhere,” she tells this newspaper as she shows the bites on her thighs, feet and arms.

The area, near the Council of State and with a lot of vegetation, was continuously fumigated until a few years ago by devices located in trucks or by Public Health employees carrying a motorcycle-backpack. “That bothered us a lot because they came every week, they invaded our privacy and my two children’s allergies shot up, but this is worse,” adds the 32-year-old mother.

On the ground floor of María Karla’s house, the puddles of water spread due to the afternoon downpours that are frequent in the Cuban summer. “Before, they used a product, Abate, to kill mosquito larvae in those places where the water accumulated, but they already told me at the family doctor’s office that there isn’t any.” continue reading

On Tuesday, dengue sneaked into the daily meeting of the Temporary Work Group in the capital, reports Tribuna de La Habana. Dr. Yadira Olivera Nodarse, director of the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology, commented that in June “the level of reactivity of the virus” rose and that “in the current month this epidemiological scenario could be maintained due to weather conditions favorable [to the mosquito].”

“Given the increase in the incidence of the virus, it was decided that all patients with fever should be considered as suspected of having the disease and they will be permanently monitored,” the local newspaper announced, adding that “474 soldiers of the Youth Labor Army will work in the 27 Health areas with the greatest epidemiological complexity,” a workforce made up of recruits from the Military Service.

“I prefer that my grandson is fighting against the mosquitoes than they send him to beat me up in the streets, as happened to the recruits on July 11,” ventures a grandmother who this Thursday was reading the article in the Havana newspaper while waiting in a bus stop. “Ultimately, when it comes to vector control, they always find a moment to escape and go through the house.”

Despite the fact that it is not to the liking of many to open their homes, let strangers pass and allow a fumigation that often leaves strong odors on the sheets, clothes and walls, as well as fuel stains on the floor, dangerous for being slippery, many miss fumigation because in the absence of the deafening noise of motorcycle backpacks, the buzz of mosquitoes gains ground.

The authorities reported, according to the official press this Thursday, that for the second year Cuba broke the 15 year record for Aedes aegypti reproduction points in and described the epidemiological scenario on the island as “complex.”

The number of documented outbreaks so far in 2022 increased by 21.7% compared to the same period last year, which had already registered the largest number of breeding points for transmitting mosquitoes in the last three decades.

The provinces of Havana, Camagüey, Las Tunas and Holguín have declared transmission of the disease, the State newspaper Granma reported in statements by Madelaine Rivera, national director of Surveillance and Anti-Vector Control of the Ministry of Public Health.

Rivera also pointed out that Havana (16.5%), Holguín (13.5%), Santiago de Cuba (13%) and Camagüey (11.8%) have the highest rates of outbreaks, while 17 municipalities accumulate almost the 61% of the total mosquito breeding sites.

In addition, Rivera pointed out that eight out of 10 outbreaks are detected in water tanks to store water inside homes.

Despite the figures, the Ministry of Health called for calm and assured that “there are still no indicators that demonstrate the presence of a dengue epidemic in the country.”

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Independent Cuban Feminists Confirm Four Sexist Murders in the Last Week

Arletty Reyes Batista was on her way to college when she was allegedly murdered by a neighbor. (Facebook)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 4 July 2022 — The feminist platforms YoSíTeCreo (YSTCC — I Do Believe You) in Cuba and the Observatory of the Alas Tensas magazine reported on a sexist murder in the eastern province of Holguín, bringing the total to four femicides documented in the last week, although they occurred on different dates.

The latest victim of sexist violence is “Arletty Reyes Batista, 24 years old, who lived in a rural area of the Urbano Noris municipality (Holguín). The incident occurred on June 25 when the young woman left her house to go to the university,” relates the note from Alas Tensas published on Facebook.

Reyes was studying engineering in agro-industrial processes at the central university of the municipality where she lived, she has a 4-year-old daughter, and it is presumed that the person who attacked her was a neighbor, adds the feminist platform.

This new complaint is added to those made by the activists who during this week communicated the case of Daniela Hernández Terrero, which happened at the hands of her ex-partner and father of her two children — who committed suicide after committing the murder — on June 25 in the neighborhood of Centro Habana.

They also documented the femicide of Tania González, on June 27, at the hands of her husband and in the presence of her daughter and grandchildren, in her home in the Diezmero neighborhood, in the Havana municipality of San Miguel del Padrón. continue reading

Another similar event, the case of the young Claudia Montes, who was missing for two weeks and was finally found dead in the Martí municipality of Matanzas, was confirmed by the activists as a “sexual femicide.”

In their most recent publication they point out that “to date and only in the year 2022” their observatory “has registered 18 femicides.”

Likewise, they recall that in the face of the increase in these events of sexist violence in recent days, the independent platforms and observatories Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba, Red Femenina de Cuba, Alianza Cubana por la Inclusión and Alas Tensas, jointly launched an “urgent call” to the Cuban government to declare a “state of emergency” due to sexist violence.

“Cuba cannot continue without carrying out the standard mechanisms to confront femicide violence: we must declare states of emergency, create shelters, have specific protocols for the disappearance of people and have a specialized system,” the feminists pointed out.

They maintain that “cases of femicide continue to be reported and there is no state response” and ask “how many more must die unnecessarily?” They also criticize the fact that the new Cuban Penal Code does not define the different types of femicides.

The Penal Code approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba on May 15 contemplates gender-based violence, but does not classify the crime of femicide.

“When we talk about femicide violence, we make a call to face a problem that mainly affects women, but also children and even men, as evidenced in this case,” expressed Alas Tensas and YSTCC.

Both platforms that collaborate in the support and accompaniment of people in situations of sexist violence, ensure that their reports of these cases are verified by their respective observatories.

A report by Alas Tensas reported that at least 36 women died violently last year in Cuba, allegedly when they were assaulted by their romantic partners, and another 32 had a similar fate in 2020.

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Fans Instead of Air Conditioning in Buses Donated to Cuba by Belgium

Belgian buses do not have windows that open to let the air flow through. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 5 July 2022 — “These buses are not for here, these buses are not for here.” The people of Havana fanned themselves desperately and crowded inside the new vehicles, buses donated by Belgium that arrived in the Cuban capital on June 24 and began operating this Monday.

With a temperature of 89 degrees that became over 100 due to the island’s high humidity, travelers were perplexed by the lack of windows on the buses.

“I stood under the vent to see if I felt any relief, the only way you can feel a breeze is there,” said one of the passengers on route P12 this morning. The transport, as usual, was collapsed and, although rumors circulated from early in the morning of how hot it was inside the new buses, many were forced to get on one of them.

“I already knew this was going to be like this,” said a woman trembling as she fanned herself; despite everything, she got into the vehicle because her trip was “only” two stops.

On the roof of the buses you can see a wide grille through which, apparently, the air should circulate, but the passengers assure that only the sound of what they identified as a turbine was heard there and all that came out of it was a small puff of air. continue reading

Luis Carlos Góngora, vice president of the Provincial Administration Council of Havana, and the Belgian ambassador, Jean-Jaques Bastien, welcomed the 29 vehicles two weeks ago and were photographed next to the flag of the European country.

“We received, at the port of Havana, the solidarity shipment from Brussels Capital of 29 buses that were donated to Havana by that Belgian city. A gesture of solidarity that brings us closer,” the Cuban official wrote on Twitter.

At that time, the authorities of the capital affirmed that the intention was to adapt the buses to the climatic conditions of the country, but everything that the travelers described today was something similar to a weak fan. “Perhaps they removed the air conditioning so as not to consume fuel,” said one, half jokingly, half seriously.

Between complaints and sweats, the passengers still had more in store. A car dragged an electric motorcycle carrying and man and a girl who was badly injured, with a visibly damaged foot. The young woman was transferred in a vehicle that passed through the place to the Calixto García hospital, leaving the passengers with a bad taste in their mouths.

Getting the buses in service, in any case, has taken less time than that of the Japanese buses that arrived on the island in January and took three weeks to join the capital’s bus fleet after many postponements and complaints from a population that no longer knows how to get around in their own city.

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Argentine Airlines Returns to Cuba Despite Low Passenger Traffic Between Both Countries

The announcement of the departure of the flight to Cuba, this Monday, at the Ezeiza airport, in Argentina. (Cubandebate)

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 July 2022 — Aerolineas Argentinas reopened its connection between Buenos Aires and Havana this Monday, as announced last April.

As had also been announced, the service began with three weekly flights between both capitals, one more than it had offered before the company ceased operations in Cuba, in 2016.

Before, the government of Mauricio Macri had made the decision to restructure the airline to reduce the deficit it represented for the State: nationalized in 2008, the company cost the country around two million dollars a day.

The savings plan had a significant effect on the planes and, consequently, the routes operated were reduced. At that time, those responsible argued that Cuba had become a very expensive destination, which Havana lamented.

This Monday, the president of Aerolineas Argentinas, Pablo Ceriani, said in statements reported by the official press, that the route is “highly requested by agencies and tour operators, both from Argentina and from different places in the region,” and that the resumption of the connection “will contribute to deepen the cultural, economic and tourist exchange between the two countries.” continue reading

Similarly, the Minister of Tourism of Cuba in Argentina, Janet Ayala, declared that “this route is highly demanded in the market because the main limitation to growth in the number of travelers to the Island is air connectivity.”

However, according to official data, Cuba is not a significant tourist or commercial destination for Argentina. In fact, when he announced the resumption of flights to Havana three months ago, Ceriani did not provide data that would allow evaluating the profitability of that route.

Critical voices then attributed the decision to the political closeness between the Cuban regime and the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who owes a personal debt to Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel for having given shelter to her daughter, Florencia, when she was being investigated in her country for money laundering.

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The Odyssey of Buying a Ticket to Get from One Province to Another

The Taguayabón bus stop, near Camajuaní, Villa Clara. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Yankiel Gutierrez Faife, Camajuaní, 2 July 2022 — I live in Taguayabón, near Camajuaní, in Villa Clara province. For months I have been waiting for July to come so I can spend a few days with my mother in Havana, visit relatives and see the city.

I was up by 8:30 Monday morning. Having waited a month for tickets to finally go on sale, I logged onto the the Viajando travel app. It seems a lot of people had the same idea because no sooner had I accessed the site than the connectivity problems and system failures began.

I selected my tickets and was ready to pay but the app could not connect me to Transfermovil, its payment platform. “This operation could not be completed due to a connection problem with the server. Please try again later,” read the message on the screen.

I tried multiple times to complete the process in the allotted ten-minute window but all attempts failed. Each session eventually timed out and I had to start over. For an hour and a half I kept repeating the process, without success, so it occurred to me to just go in person to the agency’s offices in Santa Clara instead.

The offices are eighteen kilometers away and, with the dreadful public transport situation, this meant waiting one to three hours for a Transmetro bus, a truck or a Giron bus. If you manage to get any of them, the price is 20 pesos to the Arnaldo Milian Castro hospital, where you then have to pay 30 to 50 pesos for a horse-drawn carriage to take you to the bus terminal. continue reading

Frustrated by the time I had wasted and not thrilled with the alternative, I thought about contacting my friend David, who lives in Santa Clara, and asking if he could do me a favor and buy me a ticket. I did and he agreed.

David hopped on his electric scooter and headed for the ticket office located in the Inter-Province Bus Terminal. By the time he arrived, there were already twenty-three people waiting in line. Several of them had experienced the same problem that I had. They were unable to buy their tickets and were extremely frustrated

Some complained about app errors, others about the small number of available seats. Currently, there are only two buses a day from Santa Clara to Havana — one at 1:00 PM and the other at 11:50 PM — which are not enough to meet demand. After internal borders were reopened and inter-provincial travel resumed, officials claimed they would add more buses to the route. However, the fuel shortage has made it impossible for them to keep their promise.

After waiting almost an hour in the hot sun, my friend was finally able to buy two tickets for July 26, at 80 pesos apiece. Minutes later, all the tickets had sold out and many people had to leave without having achieved their objective.

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Cuba’s Foreign Ministry Rejects EU’s Criticisms of the Convictions of Alcantara and ‘Osorbo’

A white vehicle carrying a Swedish diplomat tried to pass the police cordon, but the officers did not allow it. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 July 2022 — The Cuban Foreign Ministry reacted this Monday, more than a week late, to the European Union’s condemnation of the sentence against the members of the San Isidro Movement, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo ’Osorbo’.

The spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, posted on Sunday June 26 on Twitter, two days after the sentence was known, a statement from the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell in which he urged the Cuban authorities to release “all political prisoners and those detained solely for exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.”

“The latest statements on Cuba by European Union institutions, including those by spokesman Peter Stano, are contrary to the principles established in the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC) of equality, non-interference and respect for the sovereignty of parties,” said Emilio Lozada García, general director of Bilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on his Twitter account.

“The EU should abandon its double standards and deal with the serious human rights violations involving its member states,” said the diplomat, without specifying his accusations.

Although the EU did not make a statement specifically to refer to the sentences of nine and five years in prison against the two Cuban artists, Stano pointed out that, in relation to this case and those of other protesters in July 2021, Brussels wanted to reiterate its concern, and is “calling on the authorities to respect all civil and political rights, as Josep Borrell expressed in March.”

Next, the diplomat linked to the text in which the Cuban government was also called to pay “attention to the concerns of its people and participate in a meaningful and inclusive dialogue on their legitimate complaints.” continue reading

The official Cuban press has echoed Lozada’s statements, insisting that the sentence against Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez, in addition to Félix Roque Delgado, Juslid Justiz Lazo and Reina Sierra Duvergel, included in the same case, is consistent with the law and all the guarantees.

“During the trial sessions the defendants were heard, and in their presence the testimonial, documentary and expert evidence proposed by the prosecutor and the lawyers who represented them were heard. As a result, Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years in prison, as the author of the crimes of outrage against the symbols of the country, contempt and public disorder.The Court imposed nine years in prison on Castillo Pérez, for the crimes of contempt, attack, public disorder and defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes and martyrs,” says the note released by the press.

The humanitarian organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the former of which declared both artists prisoners of conscience, spoke about the trial of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo a few days before it was to take place, demanding that the authorities allow the presence of journalists, human rights observers and personnel from foreign embassies in Cuba in this and other trials for the July 11th protests of last year (11J), which, they reiterated, should be annulled.

Diplomats from different European countries tried to access the Court of Marianao, in Havana, where the activists were tried on May 30 and 31, but they were prevented from entering.

A white vehicle carrying a Swedish diplomat tried to pass the police barrier and the agents did not allow it. International press outlets, such as the AFP agency, and representatives from Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands also were stopped at the door.

“We simply want to go in to observe the trial and so far we have not received permission,” said a German diplomat who added that they were following the case “very carefully.” “We want human rights to be respected in all places and countries.”

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After Five Months in Tapachula, Mexico for a Safe-Conduct, a Cuban from Cienfuegos Despairs

According to Comar figures, in June 1,093 Cubans applied for asylum. (EFE)

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 5 July 2022 — José Luis has been in the city of Tapachula, Mexico, in the border state of Chiapas with Guatemala, for almost five months. On February 11, he went his appointment at the delegation of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar) to request refugee status. “They gave me an appointment for April 16 and it’s already July and they haven’t given me anything,” this Cuban from Cienfuegos told 14ymedio.

The term to announce the result of the request should be 55 business days. “There are 45 business days to make a decision, plus 10 days to inform you of the result.” But in the case of José Luis, it was extended another 45 days, due to the increase in requests.

A source from the commission admits that they have been overwhelmed by the number of migrants. “In 16 days, from June 2 to 18, 3,350 people requested appointments to be seen by Comar. More than three quarters are single adults, most of them men.” At the end of that month, 1,093 Cubans seeking asylum were counted.

According to Comar’s figures, 58,642 people applied for refuge in Mexico during the first half of 2022, which means an increase of almost 15% compared to the same period in 2021. Of these, 10,791 are from the Island.

The official warned that they do not have an exact figure for the total number of migrants. “There are groups on the move, others that stay, others that decide to start the refugee process in Tapachula, for example, but, because of the time it takes, they abandon it and start it somewhere else. Most use this procedure to avoid being detained and deported and take the opportunity to advance towards the border with the United States.”

The monthly report indicates that Hondurans have submitted 13,750 refugee applications, Haitians (8,230), Venezuelans (7,196), Nicaraguans (4,616), Salvadorans (3,373), Guatemalans (2,176), Brazilians (1,411), Colombians (1,168 ) and Senegalese (985).

During his time in Tapachula, José Luis has come to feel desperate due to the lack of money and the harassment of the Immigration agents who carry out tours of the ‘kennels’ (vans). A hostel owner offered to let him help with the cleaning in exchange for “food and a place to spend the night.” continue reading

José Luis entered Mexico on February 11 through Ciudad Hidalgo (Chiapas), in a group that has been advancing according to its chances. On the Island, he left behind his wife and a three-year-old girl. “I would have wanted to bring them with me, but the money was lacking. A cousin who is in Texas financed me with $5,000 to leave. I’m not lying to you, for a Cuban that’s a lot.”

In all of 2021, Mexico received a record of more than 130,000 asylum applications, according to Comar.

The region is experiencing a migratory flow to the United States, where the Customs and Border Protection Office detected more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2021, which ended on September 30.

Mexico deported more than 114,000 foreigners in 2021, according to data from the Migration Policy Unit, figures not seen in almost 15 years.

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Lopez-Calleja, the Key Piece that Fell from the Cuban Political Board

The opacity that surrounded the life of López-Calleja allows us to suppose that he was a person who knew an enormous number of important secrets. (Vanguard)

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 1 July 2022 — The unexpected death of General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja has given way to a list of questions and a mountain of speculation. [See also.]

Among the questions that have arisen since Friday, we should mention those that refer to his possible successor and whether whoever replaces him will have the same degree of concentration of power that the now deceased maintained due to his “family condition.” Something as important as access to certain bank accounts or as seemingly simple as the password for his phone or his personal computer may be causing insomnia in many people right now.

As expected, speculation has begun to question the cause of his death. Some have gone so far as to recall that the death certificate of the (also) General Arnaldo Ochoa, executed by being shot in July 1989, listed “acute anemia” as the cause of death; and that a heart attack was the official explanation for the death in prison of the (also) General José Abrahantes in January 1991.

The opacity that surrounded the life of López-Calleja allows us to suppose that he was a person who knew an enormous number of important secrets. Among them, the identity of those who have signed their names to register as owners of Cuban companies abroad to circumvent the economic restrictions imposed by the United States. Economic restrictions that the regime calls the “blockade,” and names that the opposition calls “figureheads.”

If he was the only contact, the only one who knew, and he didn’t have time to tell others he trusted, then there is a risk of a stampede by those who guard the values that belong to the Cuban people. Upon learning that their boss has died, it cannot be ruled out that alleged businessmen in Monaco or Zurich might auction off their companies and run away with the money. continue reading

Death is never so unexpected, because in the end we are all going to die; however, this move to the unknown beyond did not appear in the calculations of those who, confusing life with chess, attributed to this general an irreplaceable role in the next foreseeable moves in the future of this Island. Understand a “fraud exchange” or “the Burmese variant.”

Without López-Calleja on the Cuban political board there is no castling possible and the checkmate of the dictatorship remains in the hands of the pawns.

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Cuba, Ill-Equipped to Deal with Food Crisis Caused by War in Ukraine

It is not unusual to hear complaints about high prices and the low quality of fruits and vegetables in Havana’s produce markets. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, June 7, 2022 — Cuba’s economy is very ill-equipped to deal with a crisis like the one caused by the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s invasion nearly four months ago. This is one of the takeaways from a report published on Monday by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Entitled “Repercussions in Latin American and the Caribbean of the war in Ukraine: how should the region face this new crisis?”, it deals with the island’s dependency on food imports.

In a Twitter post Cuban economist Pedro Monreal points out that, at 29.7%, the country had the region’s third highest level of food imports in 2019, three times higher than the regional average, behind the Bahamas and Haiti and ahead of Venezuela. “[This] indicates a high vulnerability to rising prices and supply shortages, conditions which are occurring today,” he writes.

Monreal points out another negative indicator in the ECLAC report: renewable energy. “In 2020, Cuba was one of the countries in the region that lagged behind in the use of electricity generated from renewable resources,” he writes. He includes a graph showing that only Grenada and Guyana lag further behind.

The ECLAC report states that the effects of the war in Ukraine on Latin America, especially in terms of increased food and energy prices, have to be analyzed in the context of almost twenty years of “external shocks.” It adds that, despite differences in symptoms and intensity from one country to another, investment and production conditions in the region “have persistently deteriorated in an atmosphere of generally increasing uncertainty.” continue reading

The organization cites the 2008 financial crisis, the 2017 Chinese crisis and the 2020 global Covid-19 pandemic as external shocks which, it says, “have resulted in changes that have fed each off other, weakened globalization as an engine of growth and allowed geopolitics to prevail over efficiency.”

In any case, this means that in 2022 continent-wide poverty will increase 33.7% while extreme poverty will climb 14.9%. These represent increases of 1.6% and 1.1% respectively from 2021. In other words, 7.8 million Latin Americans will join the 86.4 million whose food security is already at risk.

Cubans, however, do not need reports to tell them about higher food prices and energy shortages. They have been suffering from them on a daily basis for a long time, long before the conflict in Europe began.

Tuesday saw the return of long lines at Havana’s gas stations and it was not unusual to hear complaints about high prices and the low quality of fruits and vegetables at the capital’s produce markets

“The onions are almost rotten and they’re selling them for 130 pesos a pound,” complained one city resident at the market between 17th and K streets in the Vedado district. “Where do they get the nerve? I don’t know if it’s a problem with the rains or what but it wasn’t like this last week.”

A young man holds out a large, over-ripe piece of fruit. “For some reason they charged me 140 pesos for this mango that was hidden behind the pallet. The price was much higher than what was shown on the chalkboard.”

But the hardest thing to find these days, whether it be in the capital or cities such as Santiago de Cuba or Sancti Spiritus, is meat. According to Monreal, Cuban imports of chicken from the United States fell approximately 30% in April.

Cubans commonly refer to their principal sources of protein as the three Ps: pollo, perro caliente and picadillo (chicken, hot dogs and ground meat). These have become increasingly hard to find. According to a new sales schedule adopted in Havana, a family will only be allowed to buy one of these products once a month.

To deal with the shortage, home cooks are devising any number of recipes using fillers and other ingredients to stretch what little meat is available. But such creativity presents its own problems. Flour, which traditionally has been used to make croquettes, hamburgers and meatloafs, is also in short supply. And cooking oil used to fry them is now a luxury item for many Cuban households.

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