14ymedio

Cuba Accuses U.S. of Cyber Warfare as It Blocks Independent Media

“Cuba is not the country with a long, verifiable tradition of hacking, espionage and control,”claims a speaker at an official press seminar.

Etecsa technicians making repairs on a street in Central Havana. / 14ymedio/Archive

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 September 2024 — The Castro regime cut off 14ymedio’s internet access, the first time it has taken such action since this independent media outlet first began more than ten years ago. It did the same to all the country’s independent news outlets – Martí Noticias, Diario de Cuba, CiberCuba, CubaNet – which now cannot be accessed on the island without a VPN, something available only on State Security devices. However, Cubadebate, the country’s primary state-run news website, went online Saturday with its usual complaint that the United States is waging a “cyber war,” preventing Cubans from having full access to the internet.

“Today, 7.5 million Cubans (more than 70% of the population) are connected to the internet but cannot view Google Earth, use the Zoom videoconferencing system, download free Microsoft software, shop on Amazon, or acquire international domains that appear to favor tourism to the island, not to mention some of the more than 200 blocked services and applications,” Cubadebate highlights in its cover summary. “When Internet providers detect access from Cuba — whether these companies are in California, Madrid, Paris or Toronto — they act as a funnel and warn users that they are connecting through a ‘prohibited country.’”

The article coincides with a conference at a bilateral seminar between Vietnam and Cuba and “Socialist Press in Transformation” held on Thursday in Havana. It claims the U.S. has blocked Cuban access to the internet and has, at least once, publicly admitted doing so. This is a reference to a recommendation by the U.S. Department of Justice to the Federal Communications Commission in November 2022 to deny Cuba access to ARCOS-1, the fiber optic cable network that connects Caribbean countries to the continent. continue reading

Cuban officials claim that the 11 July 2021 protests were incited by “segments of the Cuban far-right in the United States, which actively participated in the creation of private groups

“The argument was ridiculous,” they claim. “It cited the alleged danger of Cuba’s relations with other foreign adversaries such as China or Russia, which could use the island as a gateway to hack the U.S. network.”

At the time, the then Deputy Attorney General for National Security, Matthew G. Olsen, defended the claim, saying, “As long as the Cuban government remains a counterintelligence threat to the United States and is allied with others who do the same, the risks to our infrastructure are simply too great.”

Without referring to this statement, the article states that ARCOS-1 passes twenty miles from Havana and has been in operation for more than two decades, connecting twenty-four landing points in fifteen countries in the region, most of which have “long-standing, fluid relations with foreign adversaries that keep Washington awake at night.”

Recounting a history of the internet, pro-government journalist Rosa Miriam Elizalde said, “It was conceived as a network in which information travels through alternative paths to guarantee the vitality of the circulation of data,” adding that it has more limitations today than when it was created. “Almost all the fiber optic cables lead to the United States. Additionally, the large fiber optic pipes that cross the oceans are the property of a handful of corporations linked to the intelligence services.”

“Cuba is not the country with a long, verifiable tradition of hacking, espionage and control,” Elizalde later claimed. She failed to mention the monopoly the regime maintains on access to information through the state-owned telecommunications company Etecsa or the periodic connectivity “blackouts” strategically imposed following certain events such as the massive protests of 11 July 2021.

The speaker did refer to this crucial date, but denounced that they were incited by “segments of the Cuban far right in the United States, who actively participated in the creation of private and public groups on Facebook, the most popular platform on the Island, to poison the national public agenda.”

Ignoring the fact that there are U.S. initiatives that have specifically sought to establish an internet connection for the island, nor the state of the issue today, Elizalde mentioned no less than three times the Department of Justice’s decision from two years ago. She concluded, “Perhaps by this path Washington will be encouraged to recognize that it has been and continues to be Cuba’s number one enemy of Cubans in terms of internet access.”

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Cuban President Díaz-Canel Analyzes the ‘Contingency’ of Garbage in the Cleanest Neighborhoods of Havana

Each municipality will be sponsored by a ministry so that garbage collection is carried out regularly

The garbage has become part of the church of San Nicolás de Bari y San Judas Tadeo / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 4 October 2024 — That Cuban PresidentMiguel Díaz-Canel walks through the neighborhoods of Havana to admire the titanic garbage dumps populating the city seems more like a rumor than a reality. This Friday, the official press reports the president’s excursion in the streets of the capital the day before, specifically to the Diez de Octubre neighborhood, where they say that the authorities have found “the formula” to contain the waste.

Freshly arrived from a tour of Las Tunas and Holguín, Díaz-Canel claims to have visited the Havana municipality to verify the “good reports about the work that is being done” thanks to the sponsorship of the ministries of Agriculture and Labor and Social Security, in addition to the watchful eye of the Central Committee of the Party. The strategy, repeated on countless occasions, is to demonstrate that only with the direct intervention from the summit are orders fulfilled at the local level. Díaz-Canel baptized the new State crusade as the “garbage issue contingency.”

So far, “they have managed to recover parks previously full of garbage, stabilize the collection of solid waste, paint trash containers and clear the ground of invasive grass,” lists the state newspaper Granma, saying that in the coming weeks there will be other visits by the president to the municipality to “know the experience” and replicate it in other areas of the capital that will be, in turn, supported by other ministries.

“Today you see parks that were once sadly converted into micro-dumps, full of children, older adults, students doing physical education. It is a different atmosphere at any time of the day in these parks. Although there is still a lot to do, we have to continue gaining in the culture of detail,” President Lisara Corona, first secretary of the Communist Party in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood, described in a poetic tone. continue reading

Finally the local government got down to work and planted trees, painted containers and “recovered institutions”

Finally, the local government got down to work and planted trees, painted containers and “recovered institutions,” said the official, who, however, is not satisfied and says that the population must get involved. “We have added the work centers and given them the tasks of clearing the ground, beautifying, painting and adorning their facades with our symbols. But we still feel dissatisfaction.” For the changes to last, she said, the neighbors themselves must get involved.

Nor did she overlook the private companies, which she accused of monopolizing the landfills arranged for the residents. “A lot of waste is generated, especially cardboard, which they sell to the Raw Materials Company. Today it all goes into the containers used by the population,” Corona said.

The leader tried to show Díaz-Canel that she works hard and that State institutions “do not have to be ugly, dirty or covered with grass. That does not depend on resources; it depends on the will to transform, to have a beautiful, pleasant place, to love the city and have a sense of belonging to the municipality where we live.” The inability to collect the 30,000 cubic meters of garbage that the city produces daily, without fuel, trucks or workers, was overlooked.

From Díaz-Canel, only one sentence, with the usual voluntarism, was reflected in the article: “We should never stand idly by; what is being done now shows that we can organize ourselves and do things well.”

“One would never see this in front of MININT or some other important Government building”

While working on other “fronts” such as foreign investment, teams of workers are mobilized in the capital to clean the city, says Granma. This Friday, however, 14ymedio visited one of the largest trash dump sites in the capital, located at the confluence of San Nicolás and Rayo streets, in Central Havana.

A mountain of garbage surrounds the church of San Nicolás de Bari y San Judas Tadeo, the latter very popular in Cuba for being considered the patron saint of difficult causes. The families of the prisoners, the rafters lost at sea and the migrants who take the “volcano” route (through Nicaragua) pray and frequently carry candles.

The garbage, which has merged with the uneven architecture of the block, seems to form plazas and gazebos around the buildings themselves. The waste not only overflows from the containers and covers the entire facade of the church – obstructing doors and windows – but also, there are old frayed shoes hanging from the electric wires.

The trash has attracted numerous dumpster divers, who pile up around the containers looking for trinkets and food. “One would never see this in front of the MININT (Ministry of the Interior) or some other important government building,” complains a neighbor. “It’s here because no one cares about the faithful who have to pray the Hail Mary while they swallow flies.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With Considerable Damage to the Hydraulic Network, the Water Supply in Cuba Remains in Crisis

The official press woke up this Friday with alerts about the problem in almost all the provincial newspapers

A group of divers installs an underwater pipeline to improve the supply in Havana / Aguas de La Habana

14ymedio, Havana, 4 October 2024 — Along with blackouts and shortages, the lack of water has completed the triad of the crisis in Cuba during the last year. The official press woke up on Friday with alerts in almost all the provincial newspapers attesting to the debacle. Aware of how little has been done and with the usual voluntarism, Deputy Minister Inés María Chapman asked the employees of the sector to “work quickly” to solve a problem that is now urgent.

Chapman traveled to Santiago de Cuba this Friday to check the state of a project that, in theory, will solve the supply problem that affects 85% of the inhabitants of the provincial capital and two neighborhoods of the municipality of San Luis – Paquito Rosales and Dos Caminos – for a total of 15,000 inhabitants. The minister did not spare scolding or utopian requests: “We have to multiply and create work groups, because, in the midst of this complex situation, the priority has to be water,” she said.

The eastern province has shut down its water treatment plant for a general maintenance that is not progressing according to plan. Local leaders said that in some neighborhoods of the city water can only be supplied every 20 days and that the situation has generated “annoyance.” The installations, in addition, suffer from multiple “leaks and other deficiencies,” such as damaged valves. continue reading

The San Luis pipeline, 10.7 kilometers long, should be finished by October 10, but there are no guarantees that the deadline will be met. The Government spent, said one of the engineers, 38 million pesos, because the area had “historic problems” with the supply.

In Cienfuegos, on the other hand, the press tells readers that the water problem is “temporary”

In Cienfuegos, on the other hand, the press tells readers that the water problem is “temporary” – the word with which Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel designated the crisis in 2019. There will continue to be “instability in the pumping schedules,” and a “bad handling of the valves” has been detected.

According to the Empresa de Acueducto in the province, “more than 24,000 Cienfuegans are affected, due to the drought, breaks in pumping equipment and exits from the grid, the latter everywhere and in plain sight.” The number of temporarily sealed leaks gives the measure of the state of the pipes: 2,495, and they are “not always suppressed with the required quality.” Some even have remarkable proportions, capable of affecting 8,000 people, according to Acueducto.

The territory also suffers from drought, so the news of the breakdown of five pumps was the straw that broke the camel’s back. For weeks, entire municipalities, such as Aguada de Pasajeros, were left without water. Managers are now asking the Government for “spare parts and fittings” in addition to more fuel.

“There are projections for a lot of investments,” officials say. There is money to rehabilitate the pipes of Damují and Paso Bonito, and install one in Rancho Luna. But everything is in the process of “getting started.” There will be no short-term solutions.

As for Havana, where the situation has been stagnant for months, the press has made regular reports on the hydraulic crisis. Recently, the capital newspaper says, a pump was repaired to send 400 liters of water per second to the Central Aqueduct System.

The newspaper published photos of the bulky installation, with divers assembling the pipe and replacing the broken segments. “The recovery and assembly of the equipment was a challenge since its dimensions and weight required high technical skill and operational rigor.

The newspaper published photos of the cumbersome installation, with divers assembling the pipe

Divers and hydraulic system specialists worked together to fix the equipment connected to the electrical energy systems and the pipelines,” explained Tribuna de La Habana.

There is a long way to go, however, for the improvements to be felt in homes, where blackouts also affect the arrival of water. Sara, a resident of Nuevo Vedado, an area that has suffered blackouts at least four hours every day, told 14ymedio. Without electricity, the water can be in the cistern of the buildings, but it will not reach the tanks without the help of the pumps.

Sara does not have false hopes about the supply. “This is like a sickly old man who has a disease and when he recovers no longer returns to the point where he was, but continues downhill to the coffin,” she laments.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Judokas Dayle Ojeda and Ayumi Leiva Fled the Country Due to Lack of Support and Humiliations

Judoka Dayle Ojeda trains at the Specialized High Performance Center in Benimaclet, Valencia / Facebook/Dayle Ojeda

14ymedio, Havana, 5 October 2024 — Cubans Dayle Ojeda and Ayumi Leiva expose the reality of judo on the Island, the sport that has been awarded 37 medals (six gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze) in the Olympic Games. Only “the top figures travel” to international events, and Ojeda told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that she received a minimum wage and needed the help of her parents to survive in this very poor scenario. She only had two paths: “leave the country or leave the sport.”

Ojeda, a competitor in the 78 kilograms category, faced the phantom of the four-time Olympic champion (Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, London 2012 and Beijing 2008), Idalys Ortiz. With Ortiz at the front, Ojeda had little chance of excelling. “There were no resources for anything; there was no way to develop a sports career, and I had no means to live.” That was the reality for the 31-year-old judoka.

The habanera was part of the team that between May 6 and July 26 supported the training of the athletes qualified for Paris 2024. However, she had a plane ticket to return to the Island on the same day of the opening ceremonies. Minutes before boarding she knew it was time to separate from the group.

“I was nervous, I looked back in case they followed me, I didn’t know what would happen,” she told El Mundo. Some friends picked her up at the airport; then she boarded a bus to Barcelona and stayed there a few days, before traveling to Valencia to meet Ayumi Leiva. continue reading

In her sporting career, Ojeda has won a national championship, two runners-up in the open Pan Americans of Varadero, in addition to participating in the Grand Slam of Paris and Dusseldorf. With these credentials she was received at the Specialized High Performance Center in Benimaclet, where Olympians Salva Cases and Tristani Mosakhlishvili Tato train.

Ayumi Leiva adds four events with medals as a Spanish judoka / Instagram/@ayumileiva

The Cuban athlete has a place offered to her by the Valencian Judo Federation; in addition, they help her with living expenses and training material, but she urgently needs to compete and win. She knows that it would be a key point in her training to be able to obtain Spanish naturalization. “I would love to be able to go to the next Olympic Games and give back to Spain all the help it is giving me.”

The humiliations and threats led Ayumi Leiva to flee in 2022 from the Cuban judo team, while making a stopover in Madrid on her way to Cali (Colombia). “In my first junior competition, they forced me to sign a paper saying that I promise to come back with a medal,” she told the Spanish sports newspaper AS. “If I didn’t sign, they would kick me out of school,” she added.

The 22-year-old judoka reported that “the whole time (in Cuba), you had to put up with the mistreatment of the coaches.” As an athlete “you couldn’t have an opinion, you couldn’t ask for anything, they humiliated you; I endured, but I couldn’t stand it.”

Leiva separated from the group of judokas and asked for political asylum from the passport control police. Due to her condition and lack of money, she spent three months in a Red Cross facility. At that time she wrote to coaches Sugoi Uriarte and Laura Gómez and agreed to meet with them at the Benimaclet High Performance Center.

In July 2023, she was granted Spanish nationality. Since then she has won four medals in the 52 kilogram category: bronze in the Grand Slam of Antalya (Turkey), the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam and the Madrid European Open, and silver in the Grand Prix of Zagreb. She has her sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, defending the flag of Spain.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Rosy-cheeked, White and Generated With AI, This Is How the Official Press Presents Elderly Cubans

Every minute, in any Cuban town, an old man who is skin and bones, of indeterminate color because of the dirt, dragging his feet without strength, comes into view / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 1 October 2024 – The official newspaper Victoria, from the Isle of Youth, has joined the commemoration, this October 1, of the International Day of the Elderly; that is, the elderly and older adults. Established by the United Nations in 1990, the date aims, in the words of the organization itself, to “respond to the opportunities and challenges of the aging population in the 21st century and to promote the development of a society for all ages.”

As far as Cuba is concerned, the elderly are, in fact, a fundamental bracket of the population. Not only because there are ever more of them and will be even more – according to official data, in 2023 they totaled almost two and a half million, almost 23% of the census – but also because of their very poor living conditions.

On the frontispiece of its digital cover, it placed the slogan “International Day of the Elderly,” accompanied by two images of older people / Capture / Victoria

Every minute, in any Cuban town, an old man, all skin and bones, of indeterminate color because of the dirt, comes along, dragging his feet without strength, or in a wheelchair: the living dead, man or woman. Some sell fourth-hand trinkets; others simply ask for alms. There are those who don’t even have the strength to raise their hands and pick up the coin. They are the living image of the country today, marked by scarcity and exodus. continue reading

However, this is not the image offered by the Victoria newspaper, which does not even dedicate a written text to the subject. Instead, on the frontispiece of its digital cover, it placed the slogan “International Day of the Elderly,” accompanied by two images of elderly people: one, of a couple, man and woman, hugging each other; another, the same couple, even older, hugging their grandchildren. In both, the figures are white and well-fed, with a non-tropical background, smiling serenely. Both are created by artificial intelligence. Not in vain: only in a virtual world is there a healthy and happy Cuban old person.

Some sell fourth-hand trinkets; others simply beg for alms / 14ymedio

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For One Year, South Africa Paid Seven Cuban Doctors Who Had Already Returned to the Island

Cuban doctors returning from South Africa are received in Havana in 2021, after serving during the Covid-19 pandemic / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, 2 October 2024 — The hiring of Cuban doctors is, once again, a source of controversy in South Africa. As was revealed in the local parliament last week, the Gauteng Department of Health – the province where Pretoria and Johannesburg are located – mistakenly continued to pay, for one year, seven Cuban health workers who had already left the country.

The specialists, who were part of a group of 28 hired in 2020 to help at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, ended their contract on May 14, 2021, but continued to receive their salary until the same date the following year. In total, the province paid more than 3.9 million rands (about 225,000 dollars); that is, 557,000 rands for each person (more than 32,000 dollars).

Of that amount, said the provincial head of Health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, 1.2 million rands were recovered, but not yet the remaining 2.7 million. To do this, the authorities say, they have contacted the Cuban government, which has not publicly commented on the issue. Nor has the Cuban government given details of where they deposited those salaries, if inside or outside the country, or to whom; if in an individual way, to each worker or to the Marketer of Medical Services, the usual intermediary between the Regime and the contracting countries. continue reading

The authorities also excused themselves by saying that the officials who extended the contracts claimed not to have been aware that the Cuban professionals were no longer in South Africa.

“Someone made a mistake. It could be a crime, in fact”

“There was an overpayment that was made as a result of the extension of the contracts of those health workers without following the required process,” Nkomo-Ralehoko said on television. In addition, “Someone made a mistake. It could be a crime, in fact, but investigations have been carried out, so we will definitely take action in this regard.”

The data was revealed last week in a written response to South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, persistently critical of the Government for the import of specialists from the Island. Jack Bloom, a member of DA who has been overseeing and denouncing the hiring of Cuban doctors for years, described in a statement as “outrageous” the fact that the missing money has not yet been recovered – “more than two years after it was squandered” – and complained that the responsible officials “have not yet been sanctioned.”

For Bloom, what happened is “one more example of the deep incompetence and possible corruption in this department.” There is no reason, says the opposition politician, “to hire Cuban doctors when so many local doctors are unemployed.”

Last April, DA managed to get the Gauteng government to reveal what it had paid annually for 11 health workers from the Island: approximately 14.3 million rands or 750,218 dollars. The authorities then detailed the spending by district: in Johannesburg, 4,788,600 rands ($251,328), for four doctors; in Sedibeng, 2,833,917 rands ($148,754) for two doctors; in Thelle Mogoerane, 1,642,858 rands ($86,224) for one doctor; and in the Tembisa Hospital 1,197,150 rands ($62,845) also for one.

At the beginning of 2024, South Africa put at 700 the number of national doctors who did not get a job in the public sector, a figure that, according to the Government, has improved compared to last year, when the number was 800.

What happened is “one more example of the deep incompetence and possible corruption in this department”

In 1996, South Africa and Cuba signed a bilateral agreement for the implementation of the Nelson Mandela/Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration Program. “The program was established to address the excessive concentration of health personnel in urban areas and in the exclusive private sector, as well as to increase the number of qualified health professionals,” said the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, during a parliamentary debate on Cuba.

The matter, however, has been the result of countless controversies over the years. One of the most recent was linked to a donation of three million dollars (50 million rands) from the Government of South Africa to Cuba that has remained blocked by the courts since October 2023, when a judge ordered it stopped until a legal scrutiny was properly carried out, since it was adopted without a quorum in the advisory committee.

It is not the only case that has generated friction between the Government and the opposition. The sending of engineers and additional doctors during the pandemic – for which at least 14 million dollars were spent – have caused different controversies, in addition to the one in 2021 concerning a party held by several South African students at the University of Villa Clara, which ended in blows by the Cuban Police, who said they had received an “out of control” report that forced them to intervene.

Another major scandal was the sale of interferon alpha 2b, whose purchase was not authorized by the pharmaceutical authority of South Africa but was acquired with the consent of the Armed Forces, under the category of a “defense weapon” by believing – they claimed – that Covid-19 could be a bacteriological attack. The amount paid for that product amounted to more than two million dollars, which would have been much more if two subsequent shipments had not been canceled.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Fourth Cuban General Joins the FAR Pantheon This Month

The recently deceased Jorge Luis Guerrero Almaguer was part of the “cleansing” of the Escambray, of the literacy campaign, and of the war in Angola.

On the left, Cuban General Jorge Luis Guerrero Almaguer // Screenshot / Canal Caribe

14ymedio, Havana, 19 September 2024 — The list of generals who died in the last month continues to add names. After he passed away on Tuesday, the major general of the reserve, Jorge Luis Guerrero Almaguer will become part of the pantheon of the Armed Forces (FAR) in the Colón cemetery in Havana. The military officer is the fourth of his rank to die this month and the third of the week.

On the Cuban Television newscast, the official press assured that the military will bid farewell, in their umpteenth visit to the Havana cemetery, to Guerrero Almaguer with full honors this Thursday. The soldier was cremated and his ashes will be deposited next to those of other “combatants” of the so-called historical generation.

According to the newscast, since joining the FAR in 1960, Guerrero Almaguer was part of key actions such as the Cleansing of the Escambray – as the hunt for “counterrevolutionary bandits” in the mountains of the center of the island is called – and the literacy campaign, and he even served as a major general in the war in Angola and participated in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. A militant of the Communist Party, a member of the Central Committee and head of artillery in the Army, his military career is described as impeccable for the Revolution. continue reading

A militant of the Communist Party, a member of the Central Committee and head of artillery in the Army, his military career is described as impeccable for the Revolution.

A day before his death, Juan Antonio Hernández, former head of the Youth Army of Labor, died at the age of 91; his ashes were also buried in the FAR pantheon. A member of the Youth Labor Army of which he would later be in charge, head of transport and armaments in the Army of Camagüey, a militant of the Communist Party, a literacy teacher, and even a student in the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: the record of his life – also unquestionable, according to the obituary – shows his loyalty to the regime.

Curiously, Hernández was part of the internationalist contingent “to repair the damage caused by the war in the People’s Republic of Angola,” while Guerrero Almaguer also participated in that campaign.

Before Hernández’s death, the death of Juan Israel Cervantes Tablada was in the news, in which he is credited with “the modernization of war material” in the country and the creation of the Union of Military Industries. A minor figure in the history books of Castroism, Cervantes Tablada was buried in niche 47 of the Pantheon of the Armed Forces.

Weeks earlier, on September 1, a notorious Cuban repressor, General Romárico Vidal Sotomayor García, died.

Weeks earlier, on September 1, a notorious Cuban repressor, General Romárico Vidal Sotomayor García, died. A member of the Central Committee, a deputy in the National Assembly and a senior official in the FAR and the Ministry of the Interior for decades, he was one of those responsible for the violence unleashed during the demonstrations of July 11, 2021 (11J), for which he was sanctioned by the United States.

Despite the fact that their military careers are described as exceptional, none of the generals merited that Miguel Díaz-Canel or Raúl Castro Ruz – who limited themselves to sending floral arrangements – attend their funerals. Only the funeral of Cervantes Tablada had some figures from the top brass such as the prime minister, Manuel Marrero – who has a military background and is a retired colonel – or Álvaro López Miera.

Translated by: Hombre de Paz

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Cuba’s Official Press Warns Leaders About Legal Consequences if They Dodge Responsibility

The Law of Social Communication, which has just entered into force, targets officials who refuse to “give answers” to the regime’s journalists

Staff, journalists and PCC ideologues must attend a training seminar on the law / Venceremos

14ymedio, Havana, 3 October 2024 — The Cuban press wakes up this Thursday celebrating the entry into force of the Law of Communication, approved by Parliament last June. For Escambray – the newspaper of the Communist Party in Sancti Spíritus, which publishes an enthusiastic article about it – there is no better news than knowing that the leaders, who until now have ignored the responsibility of offering information to the population and the media, will not be able to “avoid the consequences.”

From this Wednesday until next Friday, the heads of the ideological departments of the Party in each province, accompanied by journalists, must attend training sessions to “deepen the study of the Social Communication Law and achieve its intelligent, consistent and distortion-free application.”

They must “respond with immediacy, opportunity, transparency and veracity, particularly to facts and situations that by their nature, sensitivity and public connotation demand urgent communication with the population,” according to the law.

Escambray says that for each “infraction” there will be fines of between 3,000 and 30,000 pesos

Escambray says that for each “infraction” there will be fines of between 3,000 and 30,000 pesos, but it clarifies that “the logical thing, the reasonable thing” is for the leaders to comply with the law and avoid those extremes. It’s especially important for “managers and officials who have been on the left foot with social communication,” if they don’t want to get into trouble.” continue reading

The warning, in a more overlapping way, is repeated in many provincial newspapers and even in the State newspaper Granma, which celebrates its 59th birthday this Thursday. Granma, founded in 1965 after the suppression of media such as Hoy and Revolución – which, with various approaches and loyal to Fidel Castro, were still considered “free press” – recalls that since then its “commission” was “to disseminate the work of the Revolution.” This precept is repeated by the Law of Communication, which again insists that anyone who discredits the Regime can be sanctioned.

“The Social Communication System acts in accordance with the socialist State principles of law and social justice, democratic, independent and sovereign; the expression of the thought and example of Martí and Fidel; and the ideas of social emancipation of Marx, Engels and Lenin,” clarifies Article 5 of the document.

The new law barely affects the independent press, which is patently illegal according to the Constitution itself

The new law barely affects the independent press, which is patently illegal according to the Constitution itself, the Criminal Code and other laws that limit freedom of expression and the press, including Decree-Law 370. Therefore, “the legal obligation of managers, officials and employees of State bodies, agencies and entities to provide the information requested by journalists and managers of media organizations,” is an exclusive right of the State media.

The work of the independent press is considered an act of “communicational aggression that takes place against the country” and an instigation to “terrorism and war in any of its forms and manifestations, including cyberwar.”

The Law of Social Communication, which includes the obligation to register a medium in the national registers – something that would be denied to anyone “against the Revolution” – contemplates a regimen of sanctions for those who violate any of its precepts. For the independent press, however, the Criminal Code approved in 2022 remains, which provides for the punishment of ten years in prison for anyone who receives funds or finances “activities against the State and its constitutional order.”

In fact, not only can any independent media not, like the official media, demand answers from the leaders and institutions of the country, but their work is directly considered an act of “communicational aggression against the country” and an instigation to “terrorism and war in any of its forms and manifestations, including cyberwar.”

The Law of Social Communication does not include the possible sanctions that infringing these precepts would entail – which creates a legal vacuum that can be taken advantage of by the regime’s courts – and vaguely refers to other legal instruments (“The non-compliance with what is regulated in the previous article implies the requirement of responsibility, in accordance with the laws and other regulatory provisions”). The Criminal Code approved in 2022, for example, provides for the punishment of ten years in prison for anyone who receives funds or finances “activities against the State and its constitutional order,” something similar to some of the provisions in the Law of Social Communication.

It will be enough to contravene the law to make a comment or react to a publication that is considered to have the “objective of subverting the constitutional order”

For the population, the worst part remains. In practice, it will be enough to make a comment or react to a publication that is considered to have the “objective of subverting the constitutional order” – another ambiguity – to contravene the law.

Article 51 contains a no-less-disturbing section that calls for “implementing and informing users of the self-regulation procedures that avoid publications that violate the provisions of the Constitution, this Law and other normative provisions on this matter,” from which it follows that Cubans will also be told what they can and cannot share, applaud or complain about on their social networks.

Some citizens have already been investigated for their publications, as stipulated in Decree-Law 370. This is the case of the opponent José Manuel Barreiro Rouco, arrested in June last year for sharing memes that affect “the honor and integrity of relevant figures of the Cuban Revolution,” including President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Barreiro finally had his trial in early September in the Provincial Court of Cienfuegos. The Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of two and a half years in prison for the crimes of contempt and illegal possession and sale of dollars.

In August, Samuel Pupo Martínez – who was imprisoned for two years, eight months and 21 days following the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (’11J’) – was threatened by State Security agents to be returned to prison for his posts on social networks. The posts that sting the Regime, for which he was forced to sign a warning, are, in the words of the authorities, proof that Pupo is “prone to commit a crime of propaganda against the constitutional order.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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As of August, Cuban Authorities Have Built only 1.1 percent of the Homes the Country Needs

Officials point out that “there are several provinces and municipalities without directors” of the Housing program, which has barely completed 39% of its activities.

The only municipality in Granma province that complied with the housing plan was Pilón, which built wooden houses. / Granma

14ymedio, Madrid, 2 October 2024 — Of the 13,492 homes that the 2024 plan had planned, as of August only 5,262 had been built, 39%. The figure is even worse when compared to the number needed on the island, it represents 1.1% of the 447,375 properties that, according to the Government in June, are required to meet demand. In three months between the end of May, when the count stood at 3,579 homes, and August, only 2,047 were built.

The data, part of the report presented at the meeting between Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and the governors, is not the only negative one. According to the official press, “all provinces show setbacks” in the local production program of construction materials, another conclusion that must not have satisfied the Cuban government, which is determined to delegate the issue to the territories.

Nancy Acosta Hernández, head of the Office for Assistance to Local Administrations, pointed out an unprecedented element in these analyses. According to the official, the Housing Program at the territorial level is being affected by the lack of human resources. “There are serious weaknesses in the appointment of staff, since there are several provinces and municipalities without directors in this area,” she generalized.

“All provinces show setbacks” in the local production program of construction materials

Staff shortages have been widespread on the island since the largest exodus in recent Cuban history began at the end of 2022, but in the case of executives, this shortage can also be attributed to the decline in the number of Communist Party cadres, a fact denounced on several occasions by Party leaders. continue reading

Havana, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo are the territories where the situation is worst, a problem largely due to “the marked limitations of resources,” as the director said, calling for “urgent reversal” of this situation “which, although it will not translate into higher levels of cement and steel, which are very deficient today, will contribute to optimizing the available resources.”

Acosta Hernández was most likely referring to the progress of the program promoted by the authorities since the middle of last year for the manufacture of bricks with clay. “We live in a country rich in clay; in other regions there is natural sand, limestone. There is a diversity of natural resources that together make up different alternatives and possibilities for each of the regions to obtain their own materials for construction,” said Delilah Díaz Hernández, Director General of Materials of the Ministry of Construction, as she asked to build houses without cement as far as possible. In the same speech, the increase in the export of marble, mortar, grey cement and processed sand was announced “as the only way to obtain income.”

In the months since then, various ministers and senior officials have scolded local authorities for not following the guidelines properly, and although reports in the provincial press of successful local brick and ceramic production thanks to kilns, whether ecological or not, have not ceased, the tally has not yet been added up, spurred on by the energy crisis.

Salvador Valdés Mesa, vice president and one of the most emphatic high-ranking officials when it comes to blaming subordinates and citizens for non-compliance in all areas, insisted that autonomy has been given to municipalities, but that this entails responsibilities. “Not only are fuel and the allocation of foreign currency decentralized, this is a decentralization of decisions, which are assumed by the Government,” he said.

“It is not just fuel or the allocation of foreign currency that is being decentralized, this is a decentralization of decisions, which are assumed by the Government”

Other issues of local interest were discussed at the meeting, such as the deficient water supply service, the delivery of idle land, the slowness of the bureaucracy and “territorial planning,” in reference to illegal constructions, which will be legalized with a recent decree that, however, prohibits those built after the rule.

Manuel Marrero also insisted on the message that price controls are not a declaration of war on the private sector, in light of the complaints of some merchants. “We are not against points of sale, as long as they comply with the law, do not violate the planning, have fair prices and legal products,” he said, despite criticism from private companies about the fairness of prices. “We have responsibilities to cover, such as salaries, rent for the premises, freight of goods, electricity, legal services, taxes…”, a merchant from Villa Clara recently denounced to this newspaper.

The Prime Minister also noted that these days accountability meetings are being held, “which – he praised – constitute the very essence of Cuban democracy.” Marrero asked that these meetings be used to exchange ideas with the population. “All the cadres, at all levels, have to speak with the people.”

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The Owner of the Restaurant El Patio De Olga in Santa Clara Is Murdered

The 31-year-old offered transvestite shows in the restaurant

Luis Miguel Llanta was 31 years old / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 2 October 2024 — Luis Miguel Llanta, 31, who worked as a transvestite with the stage name Gia D’Yenifer in the restaurant he owned, El Patio de Olga, was murdered this Tuesday in Santa Clara by another man with whom he had a relationship. The news was confirmed to 14ymedio by Kiriam Gutiérrez Pérez, a friend of the victim. The actress posted the event on her Facebook page, without giving details of the event.
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“Luis Miguel was murdered by a boy with whom he had an informal relationship a while ago. His friends say that there was blackmail and that’s when Luis broke it off. The boy demanded money that Luis Miguel did not want to give him and yesterday summoned him to his house around 11 in the morning and murdered him,” Kiriam Gutiérrez said on Wednesday.

The neighbors say there was blackmail. The boy demanded money that Luis Miguel didn’t want to pay him

The aggressor’s home is next to Llanta’s sister’s, and it was she who heard screams and called their mother. The two entered the house and found Llanta’s body, “wrapped in a sheet under the kitchen table,” Gutiérrez said. The aggressor confessed the fact, and his own mother called the police. Later he left the neighborhood “looking for a suitcase.” According to the actress, “it seemed that he had intentions of dismembering the body and burying it or dispersing it.”

Gutiérrez Pérez pointed out that Llanta was a very dear person “for the entire LGBTI community, for his neighbors and for his workers,” and that he “helped everyone.” “Many times he fed people in need and didn’t charge them. He was one of those people that friends always turn to. He was always unconditional with me. In the middle of the pandemic he was attentive to everything that happened. He always supported me,” said the actress. continue reading

The death disrupted the community of Santa Clara and his friends on social networks. People close to the 31-year-old regretted the incident and demanded justice for the homicide. “Oh, my sister, Luisa, as we called you, ’The [female] Cousin.’ You have left us in the worst way possible, which is when they take away your life,” wrote the user Crîs Dîamond.

The death disturbed the community of Santa Clara and his friends on social networks. People close to the 31-year-old regretted the incident and demanded justice for the homicide

Although there are no official figures on the number of murders on the Island, independent organizations and media have documented the trend of this crime in Cuba. In August alone, at least 22 people (almost one every day) were killed in the country in 11 provinces of Cuba – including three femicides – according to Cubalex. That number of homicides equals the one recorded last March, which was, until now, the month with the most homicide victims so far in 2024.

In addition, according to Cuba Siglo 21, in a report on public safety, the monthly average of homicides on the Island during the first half of this year was 15 cases, with a total of 91 murders in that period, 22 of which occurred in March.

Also, El Toque estimated, in an investigation carried out in August, that more than one person per day has been murdered in Cuba,, at least, in the last five years.” The study took the population figure of 2023, published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (from more than 11,000,000 inhabitants, in 2019, to 10,055,968, in December 2023), and calculated the rate of intentional homicides at 4.97 percent.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Neither Green nor Red, Havana’s Traffic Lights Go Dark With the Blackouts and Breakdowns

A traffic light goes out at the foot of Tower K, on Avenue 23, El Vedado, Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 2 October 2024 — Being a pedestrian in Havana is a high-risk sport. To the gaps in the sidewalks and the balconies that threaten to fall on the heads of those who pass by must be added the deterioration of the traffic lights. To cross the most important avenues of the Cuban capital you need a quick glance, a good dose of courage and fast feet that allow you to take advantage of the opportunity between one vehicle and another. More than the traditional green, yellow or red from those boxes with bulbs and circuits, only the darkness caused by breakage and blackouts is now exhibited.

With the signals out, not only due to lack of electricy, the traffic light in front of the opulent López-Calleja Tower, known as the Tower K, that stands in the heart of El Vedado sets the standard for the environment that surrounds the tallest building on the Island. While the colossus rises above the city and is covered with glass, the neighborhood shows the crisis that affects the whole country. “It’s been broken for months, no one cares,” murmured an old man on Wednesday who moved to the nearby corner of L and 23 to try his luck and get to the other side of the street. “They’re probably waiting for the first guests to arrive at this luxury hotel to repair the traffic light,” he said, disgusted.

Pedestrian traffic lights go out on G Street in Havana. / 14ymedio

Almost two decades ago, the official press was filled with headlines about the devices, of Chinese origin, which would be installed on some important streets in Havana. Manufactured by the Lopus company, and distributed in Cuba by the Cuban-Chinese marketer GKT, those traffic lights had a digital continue reading

clock to control the light changes and that indicated to drivers and pedestrians how much time they had left to cross an intersection. Local media reported that the devices could be programmed according to traffic in the area. But the lack of maintenance and spare parts made them go out little by little.

Along 23rd Street, the sophisticated traffic lights stopped working and generated true chaos for road and pedestrian traffic. At the end of last year, at the intersection in front of the Habana Libre hotel and the Coppelia ice cream parlor, the authorities had to place a conventional device to try to control traffic. But the constant breakdowns had already made people lose the habit of waiting on the sidewalk until they see the little green man and they may throw themselves into the crossing.

“It’s lucky that with the lack of fuel there are far fewer cars circulating,” acknowledged a señora who, with a fan and sun glasses, made a diagonal to get from El Quijote Park practically to the Yara cinema. “That and the fact that there are fewer and fewer people in this country,” she added.

On her way, she passed in front of the traffic light that went out right in front of the López-Calleja Tower hotel, which, at that time of morning, shone on its four sides with the obscene reflections of the sun on its windows.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Wild Pigs, Vultures and Dumpster Divers Live From the Garbage in a Giant Landfill in Matanzas, Cuba

The “buzos,” dumpster divers, arrive at the landfill, looking for treasure and food in the depths of the garbage. /Girón]

14ymedio, Havana, 29 September 2024 — From the satellite cameras it looks like a stain on the outskirts of Matanzas. Those who walk by have the impression of visiting a museum of Cuban ruins from the last 20 years. It is the city’s landfill, “founded” – if the word can be used – in 2003 by the authorities in an old quarry four kilometers from the Central Highway. The Communist Party newspaper in the province defines it as an “old lavatory dug in the stone.”

On Saturday, the official press published photographs of the place, where – according to the Communal Services – 700 cubic meters of waste are thrown every day. Without offensive words, the report lets the images speak for themselves. Vultures resting on a bicycle handlebar, satisfied after devouring the remains of food; pigs – “hundreds of them” – refreshing themselves in a mud puddle; herons of an immaculate white circling over the mounds, in search of rodents and banana peels.

When there is fuel, the Communal Services trucks collect the garbage from Matanzas, skirt the University of Medical Sciences and arrive at the dump, visible on Google Maps. The data, Girón reflects, are useless. Only two types of people go to the citadel of garbage: those who work there and those who benefit from the landfill.

Wild pigs roam freely, eating the garbage and cooling off in the pestilent puddles. / Giron

Among the latter there are not only dumpster divers – for whom each mound is a buffet: they take everything they can carry – but also farmers who release their animals so that they can find food themselves. Not only the pigs attest to this, but also a black and white cow that, in a panoramic view of the garbage dump published by the newspaper, appears as a tiny continue reading

figure among mountains of waste.

The quarry belonged to a guajiro named Conrado Marrero, whose land was exchanged for “a few hectares” of land in a less rough area of the province. Originally it was a gap; now it has grown and – Girón calculates – the amount of garbage that is thrown for four days could fill an Olympic pool.

The landfill located on the outskirts of the city of Matanzas is more than 20 years old. / Giron

The garbage dump of the University of Medical Sciences has two “younger brothers”: one in Guanábana and the other in Ceiba Mocha, also in the vicinity of the city. But none receives as much garbage as the first, and if it has seen a relief in recent months it is because the Communal Services trucks do not have the fuel to keep up. The garbage that is missing in the landfill, however, remains in the streets of Matanzas, which threatens to become the fourth and most unhealthy landfill in the region.

The enumeration of objects by the newspaper touches on pathos: a “dirty teddy bear” next to an anachronistic CUC bill; coffins that have lost their nails and linings; underwear, condoms, toilet paper and stripped cables; “clumps of rice, blackened tomatoes, red beans covered with white fungus”; and pigs, many pigs.

The case of these animals is peculiar. The landfill caretaker reports that they escape from neighboring farms and live there, wild. Testimony of this is that their fur is short and black, their body is agile, and they are frightened when they hear the steps of those who go to the garbage dump. There are also chickens, rats and flies, in addition to frequent territorial disputes between “roosters and vultures” over a portion of land.

The Communal Services trucks skirt the University of Medical Sciences and arrive at the dump, visible on Google Maps. / Google Maps

There are also jejenes – gnats – that not only “are big enough to carry you” but also transmit dengue fever, the Oropouche virus and other arboviruses. The only human sign – in addition to the mountains of waste – is a wooden shed and a bulldozer that keeps the debris at bay. “When the wind directs the stench towards the guard house, it smells like a decomposing corpse,” says the caretaker.

To that smell is added the stench of burning. Its cause is also unusual: a spontaneous fire in the landfill began four months ago and has not yet been completely extinguished. The bulldozer operator has tried in vain to cover it with dirt and they left it like that. It is the garbage gas that continues to fuel the fire, he explains.

Vultures, dogs, rats, pigs, herons and, from time to time, even cows reside in the garbage dump, sharing the spoils. / Giron

The caretaker’s worst enemy is the dumpster divers. “They don’t like to be seen,” he points out, and he has instructions to “alarm them” by screaming. If they don’t leave, which often happens, he has to call the police. The guard has another task: to classify waste for Raw Material, but he hasn’t done it for a while.

The Girón reporters admit to having left the place devastated. The only authority in the landfill seems to be the vultures, which spread their wings on the mounds to warn strangers who is in charge in each sector. One of them – it can be seen in the photos – looks insistently at the city of Matanzas.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Raúl Castro Multiplies His Public Appearances To Show He’s Still Alive

Rumors about Raúl Castro’s death usually coincide with moments of high national tension

Castro says goodbye to General Ramón Espinosa in the Granma room of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. / Estudios Revolución]

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 1 October 2024 — Raúl Castro’s appearances on Cuban Television, after the increasingly frequent flood of rumors about his death, have become a kind of State ritual. At the beginning of the year, it was an official media – the very faithful Cubainformación – that coined the term “resurrection” to designate these sudden incursions of the nonagenarian general in front of the cameras.

Last September, five generals of the Armed Forces died, and the rumors circulated like never before. Castro, however, did not appear until the end of the month, to receive the president of Vietnam and say goodbye to one of his closest collaborators. In the Granma room of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, together with the leaders of the regime, Raúl Castro paid a late “tribute” to Ramón Espinosa Martín, who died four days earlier.

The scene has been repeated many times in recent years. The family of the deceased soldier is placed in front of a double row of leaders: in the center, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro and Ramiro Valdés; next to them, Manuel Marrero, Esteban Lazo, the Minister of the Armed Forces – Álvaro López Miera – and the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Álvarez Casas. Presiding over the hall are the ashes of the deceased, his medals and a wooden mural with the Granma yacht. continue reading

Without saying a word – the ceremony has been described over and over again by the official press – Castro approaches with a white rose, bends down with more and more difficulty, and places it on a small table in front of the remains. Then, the military and leaders of the room stand at the same time.

The general’s “short stay” guarantees the family that the deceased had Castro’s utmost confidence

The general’s “short stay” guarantees the family that the deceased had, as is the case of Espinosa Martín, Castro’s utmost confidence. They describe his presence at the funeral as a “meaningful gesture,” which the former leader of the Communist Party tops off by personally greeting each family member.

In July 2022 – when rumors of his death were circulating – Raúl had to go to the same room to give his own family his condolences. Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, his former son-in-law and the man who took the economic reins of Cuba at the head of the Gaesa military conglomerate, had just passed away. Like this weekend, Castro spent time “without saying words” and was followed closely by his grandson and bodyguard, Raúl Guillermo, son of the deceased.

Predictions about Raúl Castro’s death usually coincide with moments of high national tension, fueled by the economic crisis and blackouts. His appearance is intended to mitigate another rumor: the breakdown of the regime’s structure if the general dies and leaves the current leaders without the “shelter” of the historical generation.

This is the scenario in which Cubainformación – not without a certain religious fervor – spoke of Castro’s “resurrections.” Last January, when several rumors once again gave him up for dead in the midst of “difficult moments,” the media boasted of his appearance in Santiago de Cuba.

“It must now be like the fifteenth time this month that they say that Raúl Castro has died,” the Spanish journalist José Manzaneda said, laughing. “Today he reappeared or revived. These people (several influencers) don’t get tired of making fools of themselves. When a person reappears and gives a speech of almost half an hour, with perfect diction, despite his age – and he is now pretty old – with an absolutely coherent speech … they make fools of themselves.”

The co-host, Lázaro Oramas, also celebrated Raúl’s “resurrection”: “All these unpatriotic people, all these enemies, all these scoundrels will be eating their words,” he said. Another good omen, Manzaneda said: with the old man present, the flag of the cathedral square of Santiago de Cuba had begun to wave – a “good sign” in his opinion that the year was going to go well.

Educated by the Jesuits, the Castro brothers took advantage of religious symbolism on numerous occasions and speeches

Educated by the Jesuits, the Castro brothers took advantage of religious symbolism on numerous occasions and speeches. From the enthronement of the “martyrs” – the rebels killed by Fulgencio Batista’s army – to the white dove that Fidel made perch on his shoulder in 1959 through a trick, the idea that a kind of mysterious will accompanies the Revolution (atheist and Marxist) has been constantly recreated. On July 26, 2023, without going any further, Raúl’s appearance coincided with the dawn.

During Fidel Castro’s long convalescence, there was also talk of his sporadic “resurrections.” In 2012, in one of the moments when the rumor of his death ran from mouth to mouth – there was still no mass access to the Internet – the old man appeared in front of the cameras. He had not given signs of life for almost seven months, and several Miami media had already taken his death for granted.

Castro dressed as a gardener appeared in several photos taken by his son. He was then 86 years old and had four years left. His brother Raúl is 93 today, and many Cubans have predicted – as they did in 2016 with Fidel – that his death will cause the disappearance of a regime that always seems to have its days numbered and is now approaching its seventh decade of existence.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Cuban Baseball Player From the Matanzas Team Who Traveled to Spain Without Bats Escapes

Baseball player Yoisnel Camejo disassociated himself from Cuban baseball after the failure of the Matanzas team in Spain / Facebook/Cuba Grand Slam

14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 1 October 2024 — Yoisnel Camejo, a member of the Matanzas team, left the club’s training in Spain. The player, according to the Cuba Grand Slam Facebook page, “decided to stay on Spanish soil” after the failure and elimination of the team in the Catalan Cup.

It will be difficult for the Matanzas team to participate again in an international event. Camejo “took advantage of the opportunity and embarked on a new path through Spain although it may not be linked to baseball,” said Pelota Cubana journalist Miguel Rodríguez.

Camejo did not show up with the rest of his teammates to board the 6:00 a.m. flight from Spain that was returning the team to the Island, thereby “breaking any link with the Cuban athletic movement.” The athlete chose to “start a new process in his life,” the magazine Swing Completo added.

During the tournament, in which Matanzas recorded two defeats and one victory, Camejo participated in two games and struck out in one of them. The athlete participated in six National Series with the Cocodrilos team. In 50 games he had 82 times at bat, 31 hits, two doubles, five triples, a couple of home runs and 18 assisted runs. continue reading

The Catalan Cup confirmed that Cuban baseball “is bogged down and has lost the gift of victory,” said Por la Goma after Matanzas’ failure. The team’s result showed the lack of foresight on the part of the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) in the processing of visas for the players and the team’s lack of preparation.

The former player for Industriales is now in the US / Facebook / Francys Romero

Pelota Cubana reported this Monday that in addition to the fact that the players of Matanzas traveled without training, they also did so “without a complete team and, what is more alarming, without bats.”

The club had to “borrow” the bats. “How can such an improvisation be explained in an international competition? The answer is simple: the Cuban player, like the rest of the citizens on the Island, has been forced to survive instead of fully dedicating himself to his profession,” stressed the same specialized media.

Cuban baseball players seem more concerned about what they can take back home, the same specialized media highlighted. The reason many players did not carry bats is because “if they load down their luggage with bats, the weight they can bring back is much lower,” the publication pointed out, referring to the weight of luggage allowed by the airlines.

This Monday, the arrival in the United States of baseball player Óscar Valdés, who was absent from the national team’s lineup for the Premier 12, was also confirmed. So far it is unknown if there is interest from a major league club in the player from Industriales.

In his career in the National Series and the Elite League, Valdés has a batting average of .282 with 99 doubles, 11 triples, 32 home runs, 303 RBI runs and 304 scored.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At the Central Post Office in Cienfuegos, a Single Employee Serves the Public

“Today it will take two hours, at least,” estimates Antonio, a retiree who comes to collect his pension

The post office on San Carlos Street in Cienfuegos is buzzing with dissatisfied customers. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 30 September 2024 — A few blocks from Cienfuegos Bay, the post office office on San Carlos Street is buzzing with dissatisfied customers. They have no place to sit, and as the sun hits the avenue, tension and annoyance increase. People come to transact business or to buy stamps, but before asking who’s the last in line*, they have to calculate if they have enough time and patience.

“Today it will be two hours, at least,” estimates Antonio, a retiree who comes to collect his pension, perceiving the long line as a field of cane that he has to cut with a machete. He has plenty of time and has acquired patience – as a remedy – over the years. Now he has his “door jamb”; that is, a space on the sidewalk where he sits with great difficulty. From there, the line advances. The sun and the discomfort too.

If the post office put its employees in more than one window, the story would be different, says Antonio. On the contrary, there are a series of “trenches” – a counter, a glass sideboard, an empty armchair – that prevent passage and regulate the movement of the line. Everyone must go “through the channel” to the only available window.

The office is gloomy. Several burned-out light bulbs hang from the ceiling, which don’t improve the appearance of the premises. The paint – a greenish gray – absorbs the light and gives the place a suffocating atmosphere. The windows of the facade are covered with tinted plastic, the well-known and not very useful measure against cyclones, and someone – it is difficult to imagine why – stole the plastic cabin of one of the public telephones. continue reading

Everyone must go “through the channel” to the only available window

In a place like this, the “coleros” [people paid by others to stand in line for them] thrive with their “little deals,” but Antonio – out of embarrassment, he says – does not get involved. “I wouldn’t have the nerve to get in line with five or six people behind me.” Not without some sadness, he says that saving a place in line is paid at 500 pesos per person. It is the price he pays for avoiding discomfort, embarrassment and not infrequently the insults of those who do suffer the wait.

It’s not often that elderly retirees with pension books pay a colero. The business deal is not economical if it has to be repeated every month, and for a meager state pension it’s not worth it. “Those who do pay want to buy stamps, so it’s normal for another person to save a place in line to collect a pension and at the same time ’resolve’ the purchase of something else. So you wait and earn a little money,” explains Antonio.

But there is no money in the world that justifies the “ordeal” of being in the post office. When there is only one worker at the window – which is usually the case – you have to start lining up at 5:00 am in order to leave, hopefully, by 10:00 or 11:00 am. It’s not worth it, the retiree insists, and he returns to his “door jamb” spot.

To Vilma – self-employed and with much less patience than Antonio when it comes to lines – what bothers her is that two blocks from the Post Office “a man” has all the stamps there have been and will be for an informal sale. “Where do you get them?” she asks. She gives the answer at the same time as those around her, pointing to the post office: “From right there.”

The office is gloomy. Several burned out light bulbs hang from the ceiling, which do not improve the appearance of the premises. / 14ymedio

The corruption is remarkable, she says, because the person selling stamps also has ways of doing business with the National Office of the Tax Administration (ONAT), according to Vilma. For years, she has preferred not to settle her accounts with ONAT through the post office. Every procedure is cumbersome, and the only stamp that the office is quick to put on its papers, she says, is “that of inefficiency.”

The post office is no longer even useful for her to receive the national newspaper at home, she points out. “I canceled my contract,” she says proudly. “In addition to putting up with the newspapers only publishing what suits them, they arrived three and four days late. When I came to complain about the bad service, they justified themselves by telling me that the workers are insufficient to meet the city’s demand.” Now I get the news through social networks.

It would take too many words to describe the deficiencies in the parcel service, Vilma continues. “Someone recently sent me a package from Spain. After three months passed and it hadn’t arrived, I made a claim. They blamed the lack of fuel, transportation and, of course, the blockade.” The matter didn’t stop there. If the package was, as she supposed, in national territory, she was told she could “motivate influence.” Once money changed hands, the package immediately appeared.

Defeating the line does not guarantee anything, since the attention at the window brings properly institutional obstacles

On San Carlos Street, it doesn’t matter if you come to collect your pension, send a letter – a practice that is increasingly disappearing – or do a national transfer: the line, warns the guard, is “only one person at a time.” The defense by blood and fire of that “unit” seems to be the real concern of the staff, says Antonio.

Defeating the line does not guarantee anything, since the attention at the window brings institutional obstacles, such as the fact of not being able to send more than 2,100 pesos in a transfer. “It’s one limit after another,” Vilma complains.

The post office on San Carlos is the “central one” in Cienfuegos. If its operation leaves much to be desired, the booths are even more alarming. Closed firmly, they have only one function: to give shade to those who, overwhelmed by the incompetence and heat of Cienfuegos, seek a moment of truce.

*Translator’s note: Cubans join lines by asking “who’s last” and then, as soon as the next person joins behind them, they can move around freely without anyone ’losing their place’.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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