14ymedio

The Euro Becomes the Most Sought-After Currency in Cuba and Reaches 123 Pesos

The price of the euro in Cuba contrasts with the international price of the European currency, which has fallen in recent months against the dollar. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Natalia, López, Moya, Havana, 4July 2022 — The price of foreign currencies in Cuba is unstoppably taking flight again after the decline they experienced at the end of May. Among them, the euro once again outperforms the dollar by far. A euro is worth around 123 pesos in the informal market this Monday, compared to the 110 that the dollar costs, according to daily monitoring by the independent magazine El Toque.

The figure contrasts with the international price of the European currency, which has fallen in recent months against the dollar (this Monday it is at 1.04 per dollar).

“I prefer to buy euros because I have plans to leave the country, but not immediately,” Nelson, a young man from the Havana municipality of Cerro, tells this newspaper, summarizing the needs of many other Cubans. Nelson explains that in case he needs the currency to be able to shop in freely convertible currency (MLC) stores, he can deposit those euros on his magnetic card, which he cannot do with dollars. And he adds: “In case you need to buy a ticket or manage a visa for Panama, I can also use it.”

During the month of June, after a resolution by the Central Bank of Cuba that prohibited embassies from converting their peso accounts into foreign currency, several consulates, such as those of Spain or Panama, announced that from now on, the procedures at their headquarters would be charged in euros.

The value of the MLC is also experiencing an increase, something that has relieved many families who obtain remittances from abroad and who over the past month saw their purchasing power reduced between the low price of the currency and inflation on the Island, which continues upward. continue reading

“As soon as I saw that it was starting to rise, I asked my family to please stop selling the MLCs that I sent so cheaply and to wait,” says Liuba, a Cuban living in Miami. “Two weeks ago my mother sold them for 108 and today she was able to sell them for 115.”

Last May, currencies suffered a collapse in the informal market, just after the Cuban Economy Minister, Alejandro Gil Fernández, declared that a “special” exchange rate would be established for some producers, state and private, of consumer goods. high demand.

Without specifying at what price, he simply pointed out that it would be between the artificial official rate of 24 pesos and that of the black market, which in those days reached 125 pesos for MLC.

Traditionally more familiar with the dollar, informal vendors have quickly caught up with the European currency to spot counterfeits and reject bills that may have trouble being deposited at the bank. “I do not accept those that have written signs, some broken part or are very old,” replies one of those money changers in a WhatsApp group used by customers and merchants.

Many private businesses have also joined the euro wave and offer their cards in three or even four currencies. “In this restaurant you can pay in Cuban pesos, MLC, dollars and euros,” a waiter from a paladar (private restaurant) on San Lázaro street in Central Havana boasted this Saturday. “You can even pay in pesos and MLC by transfer. We are pricing the euro at 117 pesos,” he stressed. Two tourists who drank a couple of beers each and ate some starters settled their bill, 17.70 euros with a 20 euro bill. The change, “in Cuban pesos,” the employee clarified.

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The Next Demonstration in Cuba: ‘I Don’t Think it Will be Peaceful or Civic,’ Says Alexander Pupo

Cuban doctors Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre and Alexander Pupo Casas hope to arrive in the US this month. (Facebook/Dr. Alexander Raúl)

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 4 July 2022 — A few days before the first anniversary of the July 11 (11J) protests, doctor Alexander Pupo Casas, who suffered from harassment and lost his job due to his outspoken stance against the Cuban regime, tells 14ymedio: “As I see it, there won’t be another one because that 11J, 12J and 13J* the people came out civilly and peacefully and received repression, beatings and jail for it.”

The doctor, originally from Holguín, does not believe that he next demonstration will be “neither peaceful nor civic… There will be deaths and injuries on both sides, it will be a shame.”

Pupo, who shares with his colleague Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre the journey to reach the United States, uploaded to his Facebook wall a video recorded inside the trunk of a vehicle where he is crowded together with Haitian, Bangladeshi, African, Venezuelan migrants, Chinese and Russians.

“Look where we had to travel. Gentlemen, this is incredible, but nothing, here we are, in the trunk of a bus,” he is heard saying while panning the camera to show more people. “And there were those who said that we were financed, that we were well paid by the CIA.” continue reading

The doctor tells 14ymedio that they have had “a few days of calamities but right now we are safe.” Pupo reserved his location for a security issue “since the State Security Directorate (DSE) has tried to find our location, God knows with what intention.”

Pupo and Figueredo have had to experience, like thousands of Cubans who leave the Island, the most difficult emigration: without visas, without the support of diplomats, practically without money. “Our entire journey has been like illegals. We have been detained by the police, they have taken money from us and left us dumped in the middle of nowhere. We have had bad times.”

“They crossed the Darién jungle, they faced the Panamanian guard, we were sent to a UN ‘concentration camp’ in Panama, we have been denied medical assistance when we have needed it. In short, we had to face the dark side of emigration alone.”

In May, Figueredo said that on this journey “a part of him died in the Darién jungle seeing lost children, drowned and dead people and without being able to do anything, just watch and continue.”

The doctor points out that in the group in which they were traveling “unfortunately we had seven or eight deaths.” To enter that area that extends along the border between Panama and Colombia, not only “you have to be physically and mentally prepared, but luck also plays a crucial role in getting out of there. No one gets out unscathed.”

According to official figures from the National Migration Service (SNM) of Panama, until last March: a total of 13,425 irregular migrants crossed the Darién, including 4,257 from Venezuela, 1,589 from Haiti, 1,164 from Senegal and 1,065 from Cuba.

Pupo and Figueredo hope to reach the United States in a month and announced that they will notify the press when they are “at the border.”

*Translator’s note: The protests began on July 11^th and continued over the following days.

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The Body of Professor Santiago Morgado, Who Disappeared in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, Was Found in a Well

This weekend, authorities found Morgado’s motorcycle helmet on the road through El Pinto, before reaching Banao. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 4 July 2022 — Professor Santiago Morgado, who had been missing in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, since last Friday, was found dead on Monday. According to the activist Néstor Estévez, with a source in the victim’s own family, the body was inside a well in the Planta Cantú area, in the heart of the Sancti Spiritus mountain range.

The family is convinced that he was killed to steal the motorcycle he was riding, but the police investigation is just beginning. Morgado had left Sancti Spíritus on Friday, heading for Banao, around noon. The last time they saw him was at the Guasimal junction.

This weekend, the authorities found Morgado’s motorcycle helmet on the road through El Pinto, before reaching Banao, and this Monday, his glasses and a shoe were found near the well where, hours later, the body was recovered by firefighters.

Estévez said that this is the second incident reported in the municipality in a few weeks. “The last case was in the area of the 415 behind Pesca. We are not talking about thieves. We are talking about murderers who steal.” continue reading

The motorcycles currently cost, depending on the brand, about 9,000 dollars on average and given the lack of parts in the country, those that are stolen are sold on the black market for parts. This means of transportation has become essential for the day-to-day life of many Cubans due to the poor public service.

At the end of last December, four individuals were arrested for the murder of the Holguin motorcyclist Armando Argelio Pérez Zaldívar. The 49-year-old man had been seen for the last time a week before and his body was found after several complaints from relatives on social networks.

The perpetrators of the crime “alleged as a motive, that their objective was to appropriate the means of transport and sell it in order to pay off a debt of 50,000 pesos,” according to what the Ministry of the Interior reported at the time.

Another of the most reported cases in the independent press was that of motorcyclist Daniel Martínez Pupo, who in early 2020 was found dead in a neighborhood also in Holguín. The remains of the 24-year-old were found in three bags buried in the Alcides Pino garbage dump and the mastermind of the crime, as it later became known, allegedly owed the victim money.

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Cuban Military’s Tribute to Lopez-Calleja Sounds Like a Warning Before Another July 11th (11J)

Raúl Castro, former father-in-law of López-Calleja, lays a rose in his honor. (Revolution Studios)

14ymedio, Havana, 3 July 2022 — A tribute to Division General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who died on July 1, was held this Saturday in the Granma room of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (FAR). The military ceremony was carried out “without uttering words” and stripped of “unnecessary protocols, just as Luis Alberto was in life”, affirms a note from the Granma newspaper.

Members of the Political Bureau of the Party and the Government participated in the tribute, “comrades” of Rodríguez López-Calleja in the FAR Business Administration Group (known by its acronym, Gaesa, but which the government media have begun to designate as simply GAE) and “historic leaders” who no longer frequent the public scene, such as José Ramón Machado Ventura or the former father-in-law of the deceased himself, Raúl Castro.

Also part of the ceremony were Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel; the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz and the former First Vice President of Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera.

Hidden behind the first line of participants were Déborah Castro Espín, daughter of Raúl Castro, and designated by the official newspaper Granma note as the “widow” of Rodríguez López-Calleja, although they had been divorced for a long time; Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, El Cangrejo [The Crab], and Vilma Rodríguez Castro, strangely described as “older children” of the deceased, although there is no evidence that Rodríguez López-Calleja had more children, at least within his marriage to Déborah Castro.

All those present deposited roses in front of the urn with the remains of the deceased, “with visible signs of pain.” Some fragments of the ceremony were broadcast on the national television news.

Several aspects of the posthumous tribute are striking. In the first place, the military nature of the ceremony, in which most of the participants wear FAR uniforms. Among the latter, was the bodyguard and security chief of his grandfather, Raúl Castro. The Crab, as he is also known, wears the two stars of lieutenant colonel on the collar of his shirt (the dark green color corresponding to the Ministry of the Interior), the rank to which he was promoted in 2021. continue reading

The second assistant with the most striking uniform (located on the far right of the second line) is the current first vice president of Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera.

The military nature of the ceremony is striking, in which the majority wear FAR uniforms. (Revolution Studios)

On the epaulettes of Lastres Morera you can see the additional star to the three that correspond to colonel, which means that she holds the rank of first colonel, recently created in the Armed Forces, preceding the rank of brigadier general.

It is surprising that Lastres Morera appears in a military uniform when her public biography avoids any mention of her membership in the FAR. The official encyclopedia Ecured describes her career as that of a simple economist who, in 1984, worked as a specialist in the Directorate of Economic Collaboration and Material Fund of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and later deputy head of the Special Section for Economy and Finance of the same ministry. In 2012 she was elected deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power for Marianao. She does not mention the date on which she joined Gaesa, and she is often singled out as a “favorite” to succeed Rodríguez López-Calleja in managing the conglomerate.

The military “reaffirmation” of characters who have appeared as civilians until now seems to suggest that, with the death of López-Calleja, the Armed Forces are launching a message to revalidate their political and economic influence. The presence of Raúl Castro and other generals (and even the portrait of the deceased, dressed as a division general of the FAR) are some more elements in favor of this interpretation.

Both the official note on the death of the former son-in-law and the information on his funeral underline the paternal-filial character between him and Raúl Castro. The obituary points out “his consecration, responsibility and proven loyalty to the Party, to the Commander in Chief and to the Army General, whom in addition to his boss he considered a father.”

On the other hand, the tribute affirms that Castro “deposited a white rose before the mortal remains of his son, who with such dedication put his life at the service of the Homeland and the Revolution.”

No official media has yet reported on the identity of the successor to occupy the presidency of Gaesa, described by the official press as “a model business system that serves as an example to the country, for having demonstrated its efficiency.”

The unexpected death of López-Calleja comes at an extremely delicate juncture for the power structure in Cuba, on the eve of the first anniversary of the massive July 11 protests.

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Guillermo Farinas Reports that the Minor Who Died at the Hands of the Police in Santa Clara, Cuba, was Arrested in Last Year’s July 11th Protests

The young Zinadine Zidan Batista “died handcuffed with his mouth against the ground, from bleeding, after receiving three bullet wounds,” said opposition leader Guillermo Fariñas. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, 3 July 2022 — Cuban opponent Guillermo Fariñas revealed this Saturday the results of a personal investigation he carried out into the events of police violence in the El Condado district of Santa Clara.

According to Fariñas, who lives in that city, the full name of the 17-year-old teenager shot by a police officer is Zinadine Zidan Batista Álvarez. He says that the young man, who was the father of a little girl, participated in the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J), in Santa Clara, and was detained for 23 days, after which he had to pay a fine of 3,000 pesos.

Regarding the events of El Condado, Fariñas affirms that a “brawl” initially took place while people were standing in line in the vicinity of the La Latina store, located on Tomás Estrada Palma street, at the corner of Rodolfo Valderas. The disturbance prompted police intervention.

Relatives of Batista Álvarez, known as Los Pitirres, clashed with police officers, who used their firearms to neutralize the participants in the fight. Batista Álvarez then received “bullet wounds to the shoulder and arm,” Fariñas said.

“However, the murdered young man died handcuffed with his mouth against the ground, due to bleeding after receiving three bullet impacts from a firearm,” continues the opponent. “The fatal shot was unnecessary, because the deceased was already wounded and unable to put the life of the police officer who killed him at risk.” The policeman, according to witnesses, had the badge number 15388. continue reading

Fariñas, who carried out this investigation together with Mabel Hernández White, Dayamí Villavicencio Hernández and Yaima Villavicencio Hernández (these last two women are former Ladies in White), concludes the note by referring to Batista Álvarez “from the ground continued, with integrity, challenging the police officers and they kicked him, as well as hit him with a regulation tonfa.”

More than 24 hours after the events in El Condado, the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) finally offered its version. The note says that the agents “responded to the call of the population before a disturbance of public order, in which the lives of two women who were inside a house were in danger.”

“The two citizens,” says the official note, “were besieged by eight individuals with terrible behavior, who attacked the house with stones, carrying knives and hurling insults and threats at them.” The attack occurred “for personal reasons.”

Upon the arrival of the police officers, “the subjects attacked the law enforcement officers with stones.” One of the participants in the fight would have attacked an officer “with a chalk knife in one hand and a machete in the other, injuring him in the forehead.”

Although the statement does not identify this last aggressor, a comparison of the version of Guillermo Fariñas and the information circulating on social networks makes it clear that it is Zidan Batista Álvarez.

The statement continues, asserting that the agents “used the regulatory weapon, in defense of their physical integrity,” which led to the death of the “main aggressor, characterized by violent behavior, with multiple criminal records.” The note does not provide any details about the alleged criminal past of the young man.

The statement adds that “a citizen unrelated to the altercation, who received immediate medical assistance, was also injured,” but it does not proceed to identify who he is or under what circumstances he was injured. A “rigorous investigation for the total clarification of the fact” is still ongoing, the note concludes.

Before the authorities published their version, the official journalist Pedro Jorge Velázquez reported on Facebook that he had communicated with “the authorities of Villa Clara” and that he had received a kind of “draft” of the story that was going to be circulated hours later.

However, Velázquez points out several details that were excluded from the official version. For example, he “confirms” that the cause of the events was “a conflict between families due to an extralegal dispute over a home,” of an “extremely violent” nature. “If the action of the [Police] had been improper, as some social media sites allege, the people themselves would have confronted it,” he says.

The authorities say nothing about those “involved who were arrested” or about the “other observant sources” whom, according to Velázquez, the police interviewed. Without identifying him, the journalist affirms that Batista Álvarez “died in the hospital,” information that the authorities do not provide either in their statement and that is contradicted by Guillermo Fariñas in his note.

The local media in Villa Clara have not offered any information about Zidan Batista Álvarez and the events of police violence in El Condado. They have limited themselves to reproducing the official statement.

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Cuban Troubadour Silvio Rodriguez Prefers a ‘Socialist Government With a Capitalist Economy’ Like… China

Silvio Rodríguez during his most recent concert in the Zócalo of Mexico City, in June. (EFE)

14ymedio, Madrid, 1 July 2022 — Singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, who continues his particular process of rectifying the Cuban system, admitted this Thursday on his blog Otra Cita that “the various real experiences of socialism show that, as conceived, it is impracticable” and proposes to reformulate the model with “socialist governments running capitalist economies.”

The artist wrote a brief entry in which he considers that well-being is more important than justice and, therefore, “a society that cannot guarantee basic satisfactions is a society in crisis,” he says, clearly alluding to the Island. In his judgment, the United States, which is always present in his speech, designed the “blockade” precisely with this in mind.

However, Rodríguez does not limit himself to blaming the traditional enemy and accepts that it is the socialist system itself that has proven incapable of satisfying needs, although he argues that the reason is human nature or the mere fact that capitalism has been imposed in many more countries of the world.

A friend of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Mexican president, the troubadour cites him by name to recall that, during his visit to Havana last May, ‘AMLO’ made a diagnosis that he considers correct. “For me it is obvious that Cuba needs to revolutionize the revolution, as Andrés Manuel suggested.”

Rodríguez abounds in the dangerous consequences of not accepting reflections like his own and insisting on what does not work. “It is unfair, as well as senseless, to turn chimeras into principles. Not seeing it is hopeless. Imposing it is atrocious. In addition to how to distribute the little we have, will there be time to analyze substantive issues, or will centrist deviations be seen as inadmissible?”

The troubadour, however, does not take as references the many Western social democratic governments, but rather single-party systems such as China or Vietnam. The first of which, in particular, is considered one of the most unequal in the world due to its ability to exploit resources and people to generate spectacular economic growth, a growth that does not result in improving the situation of the population. continue reading

In a recent analysis of the Chinese capitalist system, Xiang Bing, dean of China’s Cheung Kong Business School, recalled the absence of universal health or pension systems in that country. “No country has used the planned economy to achieve real success in improving citizens’ living standards,” he said.

Silvio Rodríguez, troubadour and ambassador of the regime for decades, began a critical process, especially in the last ten years, which has intensified since Miguel Díaz-Canel became president, a man for whom he seems to feel a particular animosity.

The fact became clear when, after the six-year prison sentence of the musician Abel Lescay for the July 11th (11J) protests of last year, he demanded that there be transparency in his trial and that the sentence be modified on appeal. “I have no faith that verticality will be rectified. As I have said other times, it is still a very small group of people, practically a sect, that makes decisions,” he said. Ultimately, on appeal Lescey received a sentence of five years of limited freedom, to be served at home.

Although he was particularly supportive in the Lescay case, Rodríguez had also asked for the 11J sentences to be reviewed, which he considered disproportionate. “They didn’t kill anyone,” he claimed from his blog.

Another recent event in which the troubadour has placed himself in front of the Government has been the dismissal of Armando Franco Senén as director of the Alma Mater magazine, warning of what he considered an alarming drift of the highest spheres of power. “What seems worrying to me is that, instead of opening up, the leadership continues to show signs of closure. It even seems very serious to me, at this point.”

But although his criticisms are more insistent lately and against the current leaders, Rodríguez has made other observations about past measures recently taken by the socialist system. In February of this year, in an interview with an Argentine agency, he considered that the Revolutionary Offensive of 1968 had done a lot of damage to the Cuban people. “We cannot spend our lives believing that everything we cannot do is because there is a very powerful neighbor that blocks us and prevents us from doing things. If in 60 years we have not been able to develop a creativity that overcomes the blockade, we are wrong,” he accused.

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Neighbours in El Condado, Santa Clara, Cuba, Accuse the Police of Killing a Young Man of 17

The event happened in the El Condado neighbourhood, in Santa Clara. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 July 2022 — Various videos have been circulating in social media since Saturday, showing a teenager shot by the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) in the El Condado neighbourhood in Santa Clara. The young man, 17 years old, was identified by several users as Zidan Batista Álvarez.

In the videos, a number of El Condado residents surround a group of police and various patrolmen, in the vicinity of Estrada Palma Street, the main road through the neighbourhood. The recording shows four officials near an individual (presumably Batista Álvarez) handcuffed, with his mouth open, on the street.

One of the police officers has a gun in his hand and kicks him, while the young man writhes about with a bleeding wound in his thigh, or in the abdomen, (the poor image quality makes it difficult to see exactly)

Another video shows how one of the passers-by goes to lift up the injured man, while an official prevents him, hitting him with a baton. “A shot … a shot … I couldn’t record the shots, man … covered in blood,” said the person who recorded the scene with his phone. “Assassin … a policeman shot three warning shots in the air and then shot the kid,” said one of the women at the scene.

Although there is no official confirmation of the death of Zidan Batista Álvarez, several online individuals related to him have recounted what happened in social media.

“Fly high, Zidan, may God accept you in this holy glory” is what Yeris González, a worker at the Básica Fructuoso Rodríguez secondary school in Santa Clara, wrote in Facebook. “They robbed you of your life while you were so young (…) my condolences to your family and friends,” he added. According to Batista Álvarez’ Facebook profile, he and his partner, Susleidy Guerra, were parents of a small girl. continue reading

According to one version of the event, the police came to the location because of a disturbance between illegal occupants of a property and the owners, in which another unidentified person also died, as a result of a machete wound. Batista Álvarez had been shot at one point during this altercation, after which the police fired several warning shots in the air.

According to the official Seguidores del Legionario Cubano (Cuban Legion Followers) Facebook group: “The antiCuban media are already starting to misrepresent what happened in the disturbance in El Condado, Santa Clara. As is clear in the recording and in other videos, it is impossible to see the circumstances giving rise to the police shots.”

“You can clearly hear in one of the videos, that they fired three encouraging shots (sic, as opposed to discouraging), and the subject got on top of the police with a machete. Three shots rang out and one of them was injured in the left leg, with non-serious injuries. The deceased was a 17 year old youth who received various knife wounds during the heat of the struggle. The police only came to prevent further deaths, they acted responsibly,” said the publication.

Although this statement does not constitute an official version of what took place, and no newspaper or local media has provided any report, the account by the Seguidores del Legionario Cubano gives us a clue as to the way in which the authorities will explain it.

There is very little clarity over the event and no believable source has commented on the death of Zidan Batista Álvarez or other individuals, or justified the PNR officials’ presence there and the reason why they fired.

El Condado, home of the feared Unit Five of the Santa Clara PNR (National Revolutionary Police), is a location characterised both by the level of delinquency and the large number of police and State Security.

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Stores Leased to the Self-employed Are Without Electricity in Havana

Customers have to use the flashlights of their cell phones to be able to check the prices of merchandise. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 July 2022 — Private workers who rent state premises in the stores of Central Havana are experiencing martyrdom in these days of intense blackouts due to the imposition of working without electricity. “This is a lack of respect for the amount of money we generate,” one of the self-employed complained this Saturday morning, while fanning himself to relieve the heat.

Customers have to use the flashlights on their cell phones to be able to check the merchandise and see the prices. “It’s a lot of work to be able to pay. I had to use the flashlight on my cell phone to give the price to the owner of the business where I bought some shoes,” explains Xiomara.

“It’s like a cave in here, these poor people are working without a fan and so are we, the poor customers. Every time I enter one of these stores I go out dripping sweat,” adds the woman, who had to enter several places to be able to determine which shoes to buy.

“It’s to save electricity,” they say, “It’s the order from above,” “There’s no power because they turn off the switch,” are some of the answers that sellers repeat the most in the face of the anger or restlessness of customers. The affected shops are mainly located on Neptune, Galiano and Monte streets.

“I just entered a store and it’s a sauna,” said a young man who tried to buy some accessories for his cell phone but gave up in the face of the darkness and heat inside the rented space. continue reading

In contrast, the self-employed who work on private premises don’t suffer from this measure. “Everyone has their tables lit, with fans connected. Everything is well lit; the mess is in the state stores,” says a salesman who knows the area.

But it’s not just about heat and darkness. Health problems proliferate where people crowd into poorly ventilated spaces. In recent days, reports of respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses have also increased, and people fear staying for long in the overcrowded and unheated spaces.

Two customers try to look at some shoes in a store on Neptuno and Galiano. (14ymedio)

“They should give you hazardous duty pay,” a customer told sellers at a centrally located, privately managed store on the corner of Neptune and Galiano on Friday. “I was only there for a minute and I left with shortness of breath. I don’t know how they can spend hours inside, to be honest.”

Last April, the Government approved the lease of state premises that were in disuse to the self-employed and cooperatives. Among the measure’s objectives is to “increase participation in the economy, promote development, diversification of production, productive chains and economic and social well-being,” according to the resolution of the Ministry of Internal Trade. Then it became clear that it’s the state that manages these establishments.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Consequences for the Cuban Economy of the Death of Lopez-Calleja

López-Callejas was reported to maintain a low profile despite his powerful positions. (Screen capture)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 2 July 2022 — The bankruptcy of the Cuban economy and the administration of the enormous wealth of the Castro family are two factors in a first assessment of what Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja’s death means from the economic perspective, and his legacy can be evaluated in terms of these two objective data. The economic crisis is caused by the limitations to growth in the private sector, the SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and the CNAs [Agricultural Cooperatives]. In addition, the State’s absolute control of economic activity (the internal blockade) is one of the worst legacies of the hidden, unlimited power exercised by López-Calleja from the monopoly of GAESA, the Business Administration Group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which contributes 80% of the economy’s GDP.

In fact, López-Calleja was, from the shadows of his political position, one of the main opponents of the development of private actors in sectors such as hospitality, gastronomy, transport, small craft trade to tourists, etc., as soon as he saw that they became a counterpower that could curb the spectacular balances of the Regime’s mixed businesses with foreign companies. His man in government, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, was in charge of making things more and more difficult for emerging private actors.

There is no doubt that López-Calleja was efficient in managing the Castro family’s wealth and income. He maintained the most absolute lack of transparency, moving amounts that are estimated to be spectacular and increasing the results from year to year, which is what is expected of managers.

In fact, thanks to this, he was promoted to the highest levels of the army and even represented the republic in the Assembly, which was interpreted as a direct political statement to Cuban President Díaz-Canel in the face of his possible replacement. The position of “counsel to the president” was a direct and clear message. continue reading

Therefore, the two unknowns of who will be the substitute for these very relevant functions raise, at least for the time being, a scenario of crisis and uncertainty about the political model of the Regime. It’s even possible that Raúl Castro, who is responsible for this decision and who, at an advanced age, may be thinking that life disappears around him at great speed, will ignore these issues. The position that until now was concentrated in a single person could even be divided, and this would also be a challenge for the Regime, accustomed to dealing with a single element for the two tasks.

Apparently, at the time these lines are written, it seems that one of the unknowns has already been resolved, with the alleged appointment of Raúl’s son as the head of GAESA, which implies that the family has blatantly showed Cubans, even more than with López-Calleja, who rules the economy and the country. A false move? Or could it be that there is no one else in the Regime to occupy these decisive positions of great economic and political influence?

As the State newspaper Granma says in the eulogy that has been dedicated to the deceased, “he was a man of high commitment and loyalty to the Cuban revolution” with “great ability to make decisions and take on challenges.” Finding someone with these characteristics is a priority because if they don’t get it right, the bases that support the Regime can falter.

López-Calleja had all the economic power, and if he didn’t want more, it was for his own reasons. In recent years, from the Economic Political Commission in 2006, and later from 2011 in the Government Commission for Attention to the Mariel Special Development Zone, he made a good part of the decisions that have been a brake and an obstacle to the development of the private sector, which in this blog is called the “internal embargo” of the Cuban economy, much more harmful and detrimental than the external one.

Granma concludes his eulogy by saying that “his contributions to the defense of the Homeland and the development of the national economy, together with his attitude in the fulfillment of each of the missions assigned throughout his exemplary life, made him worthy of various decorations and recognitions granted by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba.” This confirms that closeness to the core of power that acted as an element of pressure and fear in the face of his potential rivals. No one dared to oppose him.

But the official communist newspaper is wrong. It’s not true that López-Calleja’s legacy highlights that “model of business system that serves as an example to the country, for having demonstrated its efficiency.” In reality, the management of political monopolies says very little about who is in charge. It’s an easy task, which, on the other hand, usually has the impact of who has been at the forefront for so long. His substitute, whether Raúl’s son or someone else, will find it difficult. The sale of GAESA to the private sector will always be a possibility if things don’t go as expected, but then, will the sale of the means of production pass to the Cuban people as the constitution says? I doubt it.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Belts and Big Shirts to Cover the Cuban Leaders’ Obesity

The references, monikers and criticisms for so many extra pounds are constantly heard in the streets of Cuba. (Municipal Administration Council of Old Havana)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 25 June 2022 — Last Thursday, at a fat contest in celebration of Father’s Day in Nicaragua, a man with a circumference of 57 inches around his belly was the winner. The peculiar award has caught the attention of Cubans, who in recent years have seen their relatives lose weight due to the crisis while the senior leaders’ bellies grow every day, as shown by the images published in the official press.

60-year-old Ricardo Páiz is the proud Nicaraguan who swept the belly competition in the “Papá Panzón”(Potbelly Dad) competition, but if the contest were held in Cuba, it is very likely that the first places would fall on one or another cadre of the Communist Party, the administrator of a state entity or the Provincial Governors, many of them with weight problems.

Although the kilogram excesses are generally associated with poor nutrition, having a high position in Cuba carries the “privilege” of being able to binge eat, while the majority of the population deals with the difficulties of finding something to put on the table. The trend towards athletic and sporting politics seems not to have reached Cuba, where its ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel himself, has experienced a notable weight gain since he became president.

While clavicles protrude in some, bellies grow in others (Standing, left, President Diaz-Canel). (@RGZapata500/Twitter)

The bulk, which they often try to cover up with girdles that squeeze the bellies but are noticeable in front of the cameras, wide shirts, baggy jackets and filtering the angle of the official photos, generates discomfort among Cubans, who see in their leaders’ obesity a clear indicator of the abundance at their tables. References, monikers and criticism about so many extra pounds are constantly heard on the streets of Cuba.

“Fat necks,” “the first belly of the Republic,” “the paunchy,” “the potbellies” and many other nicknames have been added to the glossary of the popular ridicule against ministers and partisan cadres. This, despite the fact that there is a high prevalence of overweight people in Cuba at 59%, while obesity has already reached 25%, according to FAO data. But the current crisis could be taking away some of those “life preservers” around the abdomen.

Between 1990 and 1995, the most difficult years of the Special Period, the Cuban population lost an average of over 12 pounds of weight, according to a study published in 2014 by the British Medical Journal. The data of the current crisis are still unknown but most of those interviewed by this newspaper say that both they and their relatives “are now thinner and eat less” than five years ago.

But while clavicles protrude in some, bellies grow in others. Manuel Marrero, the Cuban Prime Minister, shows one of the most obvious pictures of obesity and his attempts to hide his belly in public are no longer of any use. “He was lucky they removed the mandatory mandate, because he was going to need a bed sheet to cover his face” says María, a 65-year-old from Havana who has lost over 15 and a pounds in three years.

Camagüey’s governor, Yoseily Góngora López, is another of the most extreme cases of overweight among Cuban officials. In August 2022, the activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Luis Acosta Cortellón, was arrested and accused of threatening Góngora on social networks for publishing a meme in which he alluded to Góngora’s obesity.

Manuel Marrero (in dark blue shirt), the Cuban Prime Minister, is the most evident picture of obesity, and his trying to hide his belly in public no longer works. (Twitter/ @MMarreroCruz)

“Just by awarding someone an important position causes that person’s weight to go up immediately”, complains Antonio, a retiree from La Lisa, who clarifies that “it’s not a question of fatsophobia or believing that all people with a few extra pounds are corrupt, but the amount of overweight that is seen in party leaders when out in public is immoral.”

Translated by Norma Whiting

Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja Dies, the Powerful Former Son-in-Law of Raul Castro

Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, in Remedios, Villa Claro, when he was elected as deputy. (Vanguard)

14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2022 — Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, executive president of the Armed Forces Business Administration Group (Gaesa), died in Havana this Friday of “cardiorespiratory arrest,” according to the official press.

A former division general, born in 1960, he was considered the true “strong man” of Cuba, the power behind the throne. He was previously married to one of the daughters of Raúl Castro and Vilma Espín, Déborah, and was the father of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, El Cangrejo [The Crab], his grandfather’s bodyguard.

Last October, López-Calleja joined the list of deputies, and joined Parliament in a ceremony in Remedios (Villa Clara). The soldier was elected with 98.5% of the votes cast by the delegates and replacing the late Antonio Pérez Santos.

Until then, the general had been a man with a discreet profile and, although he was a member of the Central Committee of the Party and executive president of Gaesa, he had remained in the shadows. Under his leadership and the military boot, the Gaesa almighty conglomerate became the head of the Cuban economy, controlling foreign exchange stores, hotels, real estate investments, construction companies, port services, remittance and currency exchange agencies, services customs and electronic commerce, all with little transparent handling.

An example of this is the building that is being built at 23rd and K, in the heart of Havana’s Vedado, projected as the tallest in the capital, planned as a luxury hotel, at a time when the country is going through the worst crisis economy since the Special Period. The military’s management has also been criticized in the case of the Saratoga hotel, destroyed by a gas explosion on May 6, whose management was seized in 2016 from the Office of the Historian of Havana to hand it over to Gaesa.

In September 2020, the US placed López-Calleja on the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list, a list that includes individuals and organizations with which US citizens and permanent residents are prohibited from doing business and which It also implies freezing the accounts they have in that country.

Some analysts wanted to see his emergence on the political board as a master move by Raúl Castro, a theory according to which Díaz-Canel is a burned-out politician who enjoys no popular acceptance and must be replaced soon. Death has frustrated any chess move for López-Calleja.

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Venezuelan Oppositionist Julio Borges Estimates Venezuela’s Aid to Cuba at 60 Billion Dollars

Venezuelan opponent Julio Borges. (EFE/Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda/File)

14ymedio, Madrid, 30 May 2022 — Venezuela has given Cuba 60 billion dollars in the last 20 years, according to an opinion piece published in Infobae by Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges. The deputy and founder of the Primero Justicia party and former president of the National Assembly of Venezuela between 2017 and 2018 maintains that the amount is reached by adding economic aid, oil, power plants, medical supplies, infrastructure and food.

If the figures provided by Borges are true, they represent half of what the USSR delivered in its day and with which the Cuban State was subsidized for 30 years. It is estimated that Soviet support amounted to some 6 billion dollars a year to Cuba between 1960 and 1990, although almost all experts consider that the amount must be much higher. That support served to promote industries and economic and social programs, quite the opposite of now, when the situation is getting worse every day.

The politician cites as an example the 70,000 barrels of crude oil arriving daily at the port of Havana from Venezuela, an increase that coincides with the reduction in exports from the Caribbean country to other nations. China continues to be, however, the first recipient in terms of quantity of oil and derivatives of the Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA.

Borges laments, however, that the island is not charged for a barrel, like other countries, oil that currently sells for about 100 dollars a barrel. “That is to say, we send that sea of oil, without charging anything or receiving any consideration, in a context where our oil company is practically dismantled, where the world is juggling to find oil and is willing to pay for it at high prices and where our people are going through a humanitarian catastrophe.”.

The politician describes the situation as an “occupation” and regrets that the political bureau of the Revolution is the one that gives the orders for a relationship “of interdependence, domination and political kidnapping.” In addition, he describes Nicolás Maduro as a puppet of the Cuban regime.

Borges believes that the survival of the Cuban model is in the hands of Venezuela, since the lack of fuel could end up pushing the island’s citizens against their rulers, as happened on July 11th of last year, the ’11J’ protests, finally bringing down the system. The Venezuelan believes that oil is a leverage with which to stop the reforms and internal changes that thousands of Cubans want. continue reading

Iran, a country also sanctioned by the US and which also participates in the triangular system of oil shipments to the island, is a security risk for the continent that must be avoided, according to Borges, who recalls its links with terrorist organizations and its opposition to freedoms and democracy.

“Until we break the relationship of interdependence between Maduro and Cuba, until we neutralize this harmful binomial for Venezuelans and Cubans, but also for every Latin American country, we will not be able to restore democratic order and political stability throughout the hemisphere,” concludes the politician.

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Only One of the Children Injured in the Saratoga Hotel Remains Hospitalized in Cuba

This is what the Saratoga hotel looks like almost a month after the explosion that left 46 dead. (14ymedio)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 4 June 2022 — The Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported this Friday that only one child of those injured in the explosion at the Saratoga Hotel on May 6 remains hospitalized and with a care report.

The daily report of the Ministry of Health on the state of convalescents after the explosion specifies that there are six admitted to health centers, 99 injured, 47 medical discharges and 46 deceased.

The accident was attributed to a liquefied gas leak that occurred when a truck was recharging a tank at the tourist facility located in the historic center of the Cuban capital.

In addition to the destruction of much of the building, the impact of the blast wave damaged another 17 adjoining buildings. continue reading

The explosion occurred, May 6, around 10:50 in the morning, and caused a commotion throughout Havana. That day, the hotel was conducting interviews for the reopening scheduled for May 10, hence the presence of employees from the Human Resources area and several of the job candidates.

Six days after the tragedy and after pressure on social networks, the Cuban government decreed an official mourning from 6:00 a.m. on May 13 until 12:00 p.m. on May 14.

The Saratoga was built in 1880 and from 1911 it functioned as a hotel. Its last restoration took place in 2005, when the building was extensively renovated.

The luxury accommodation, with a five-star category, is located on the iconic Paseo del Prado avenue, in the historic center of the Cuban capital, the area most visited by tourists who come to the Island.

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Due to Lack of Energy in Cuba, Sancti Spiritus Paralyzes Part of its Industries During Peak Hours

“The unforeseen exit of some generating plants and the fuel deficit in recent days have caused the current electricity situation,” said the Electric Company in Sancti Spíritus. (UNE)

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 2 June 2022 — The promises made by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel last week in the Council of Ministers have not been fulfilled and energy continues to be a serious problem, to the point that in Sancti Spíritus there is a total or partial paralysis of industries and services considered not essential in “peak hours. The sections cover six hours a day, since it must shut down between 11 am and 1 pm and from 6 pm to 10 pm.

Camilo Pérez Pérez, an official of the Provincial Government, indicated that, in work centers, “working hours must be adjusted to shift them from the hours of greatest consumption and take advantage of distance work and teleworking as an alternative.”

In addition, he requested that the continuous production centers apply the restriction plans provided for these purposes, such as the shutdown of air conditioning systems and ovens, as well as refrigerators, refrigeration equipment and chambers “as long as they do not affect the state of the products,” an observation that could be of doubtful feasibility unless there are empty units.

The official also made reference to the irrigation machines, which should not be used during peak hours, and that the pumping of water to the population must be reorganized to avoid the night hours, which are the most demanded.

All the above measures are aimed at industry and shopping centers, where in addition to monitoring the consumption reading so as not to go beyond what was planned, lighting should be reduced as much as possible. Sancti Spiritus residents must also grope through the streets, since it has been requested to disconnect public lighting and leave only those essential for the safety of vehicles and pedestrians. continue reading

“The State’s policy is to reduce the impact on the service to the population as much as possible,” said Pérez, who, however, asked the general population to contribute to the complicated moment by saving energy in homes as well.

“It is about disconnecting or turning off equipment that is not in use and having the support of the People’s Councils to implement these and other actions aimed at the rational and efficient use of energy,” he insisted. In addition, he requested that there be a communication policy from the State media that promotes the optimal consumption of resources.

“Although they announce it now, we have been suffering from measures of this type for several days now,” a woman from Sancti Spiritus tells 14ymedio, and reports that, despite the fact that it is true that in some state offices they do not take care of saving energy – closing the doors, for example, when the air conditioning is on – these places are also not designed for natural ventilation (in many there are no windows that open). The woman, familiar with state employment, says that “self-blackouts” are not uncommon: “They themselves disconnect all electrical appliances one day a week.”

State workers were informed at least four days ago, in addition, of the suspension of labor transport.

The state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa announced last Saturday that, as of that date, its commercial network was modifying its hours of service to the public, from 9 am to 4 pm from Monday to Saturday, and specified that, during the hours without power, they could carry out the procedures for bill collection, card sales, attention to procedures, doubts and complaints.

“We know that blackouts are annoying, but the intention is that we at least have the possibility of preparing ourselves for when this service is affected. The unexpected outage of some generating plants and the fuel shortage in recent days have caused the current situation with regards to the electricity, and although work is being done uninterruptedly on solving breakdowns, there is no generation reserve that can be said to end these annoying blackouts immediately, so we must keep ourselves informed through the different planning channels of the blocks of affectations existing in the province,” Yoanny Acosta Solenzar, director of the Electric Company in Sancti Spíritus, said on social networks.

A few days ago, the official defended himself against criticism from the population, who complain that the schedules are not kept, and argued that the lack of generation in recent days has exceeded 20 MW and, when this happens, they must “turn off circuits that belong to the other block, that is, shuffle some of those planned a little later for the one that is in blackout.”.

Last week, the Mesa Redonda (Roundtable) program explained the serious energy situation that, for the umpteenth time, is affecting the country. Officials commented on television that of the 20 blocks of thermoelectric plants in the country, eight are outside the system and the remaining 12 generate 1,023 MW, barely 39% of the total power of these plants (2,608 MW).

“Every two days we have almost three blocks out of service,” said Edier Guzmán Pacheco, director of Generation of the National Electric Union. In addition, and despite the fact that shipments of Venezuelan oil and its derivatives, which are free for the Government, have increased, the shortage is evident. The problem continues, already in June, and it shows no sign of improving in the face of the rising temperatures of another summer that is approaching too hot.

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About 32,000 People in Havana Have Problems Accessing Water

Thousands of people from Havana currently have problems with the water supply due to two breakdowns. (14ymedio)

EFE (via 14ymedio) Havana, 31 May 2022 — Almost 32,000 people in Havana have problems with the water supply due to breakdowns in two pieces of equipment in the system, local media reported on Monday.

The effects, which are focused on at least four municipalities in the capital province, have led the Havana authorities to ask the residents for a “rational use.”

Manuel Paneque Gómez, delegate of Hydraulic Resources in the capital, pointed out that the affected areas are in the capital’s municipalities of Diez de Octubre, Regla, San Miguel del Padrón and Guanabacoa.

In an intervention on state television on May 10, Antonio Rodríguez, president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), warned that the drought the island is going through has affected supply.

“Our reservoirs today accumulate 44% of their capacity and we have 731 million cubic meters less than the average for this stage,” he said in statements released by the official site Cubadebate.cu.

Since last March, Cuba has undertaken a series of measures to improve supply, including the execution of 206 hydraulic works.

However, Rodríguez acknowledged that around 300,000 people in the country are affected by a break. continue reading

“We are working with the national industry and with non-state forms, producing parts and accessories to be able to solve the leaks and undertake the works and investments,” he said.

Until last April, 360 pumping stations had presented difficulties due to low water availability, especially in the eastern provinces of Holguín, Las Tunas, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Camagüey, according to data from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources of Cuba.

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