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Havana Collected 9 Million Pesos in Fines in One Week for Anti-Covid Measures

14ymedio, Havana, 8 September 2020 — In just one week, the fines for breaching the new restrictions against the Covid-19 pandemic in Havana exceeded 9 million pesos.

The government of the capital registered 4,589 sanctions until September 7. In the first four days, the authorities imposed 1,824 fines of 2,000 pesos and 48 of 3,000, figures that doubled in the following days. The infractions for the incorrect use of the mask, the cause that registers the most sanctions, reached 1,757.

The local government added another infraction this Monday, with a fine of 2,000 pesos, to anyone who does not keep more than one meter away with other people in the lines. continue reading

The authorities justified their decision by the unstoppable increase in positive cases of the coronavirus and its dispersion, according to Orestes Llanes, coordinator of Inspection, Control and Hygiene of the government in the capital, who added that sanitary regulations continue to be violated.

14ymedio has been able to verify on several occasions that the lines continue to be frequent and long in Havana, even with the restrictions that came into effect on September 1. People go out to the streets to find what to eat in the face of food shortages, a situation that has been exacerbated by the controls established on the access roads to Havana, which do not allow supplying the privately run businesses and the informal market.

Havana lives under a curfew at night, and limitations on the mobility of people and vehicles during the day, among other measures, which were also brought into law by decree, at least until September 15. The authorities have already warned that they may extend longer if the health crisis is not contained.

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The Bureaucracy Hinders the National Production of Masks

On Cuban streets, most of the masks worn by passersby are of domestic manufacture. (Rebeca Monzó)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2020 — Three months after the announcement that Gardis, a Matanzas business group, could manufacture hygienic and surgical masks through 3D printing, the state bureaucracy continues to prevent the project from getting started.

“Although everyone has tried to help, starting with the Ministry of Economy and Planning, we have already been here for three months and today it is necessary to achieve sovereignty in this element. We do not ask for a single USD, only support for this investment,” denounced Abreu Falcón, director of Gardis, in his Facebook profile, who wondered what was missing to have the necessary investment for a project that can save the Island millions.

According to the manager, each imported mask costs the State 46 US cents, while the locally manufactured one would cost 6 cents. The savings to the state coffers, which need to avoid waste, would be significant and 140 products could be produced per minute. Falcón assured that everything is ready to work in two shifts shich, in a short time, could satisfy domestic demand with a view to exporting in the future. continue reading

However, “it is necessary for the importer to close the contract and for the Central Bank to authorize the opening of an account for specific purposes, as requested by the Governor, since the bidder is a foreigner residing in the country… We will pay you in CUC, so Cuba will not have expenses in Freely Convertible Currency,” specified the director of Gardis to questions from a user.

The idea of producing 3D masks came from the Cuban researcher Marcelino Rivas Santana and the realization was the work of scientists from the Center for the Study of Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing (Cefas), of the University of Matanzas, according to the official press released last April.

Each mask consists of a 3D printed plastic support, an acetate sheet and an elastic for support, explained Rivas Santana at the time.

On Cuban streets, most of the masks worn by passersby are of domestic manufacture. Made with pieces of cloth, some are decorated or simply a handkerchief tied behind the head, they serve to comply with the measures requiring the wearing of a facemask that are still in force in Havana. Very few have medical masks or masks that meet the standards to avoid contagion.

As a gift to their clients, several restaurants and private businesses that offer food at home give away masks decorated with their logos and made with fabric. Seamstresses who until recently made their living making bags, kitchen potholders and other cloth accessories have now seen a commercial opportunity in developing multi-occasion masks.

Mercedes is one of them. Together with her upholsterer son, until recently she was mainly dedicated to making mattresses, sofas and furniture covers in general, but now she has developed her own line of masks, some that include embroidered figures, sequins and even phrases added with thread.

The blogger and artisan Rebeca Monzó has also been showing several of the masks she has made on her social networks. “There is already one for Christmas … just in case,” she wrote on her Facebook account next to the image of six facemasks made on her sewing machine.

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Beans Arrived and the Line Appeared

The line this Wednesday at the doors of the Flogar store, where they put beans on sale in convertible pesos. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 3 September 2020 — Who would have thought a year ago that the sale of beans would lead to lines and crowds. An essential ingredient on Cuban tables and traditionally sold in agricultural markets by national producers at low prices, beans were commonly found on the stands of all the stores.

With less and less national product, most of the beans come from Mexico, whose black beans are especially appreciated by Cuban housewives, who believe that they soften well and star in the Cuban dish frijoles dormidos. But beans have been disappearing from the stores that sell in Cuban pesos, making their way the the ‘shoppings’, stores that sell in convertible currency, where beans range from 1.50 CUC to 2.50 CUC (Cuban convertible pesos).

But even at those prices, beans are in short supply. Thus, this Wednesday, at the popular Flogar store, on Galiano Street, in Centro Habana, they put out beans and after a few minutes, anxiety and the rush resulted in a line around the corner.

In these days of scarcity due to the pandemic, Raúl Castro’s phrase takes on a different meaning: “Beans are more important than cannons.”

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Two Bags of Food for a Six Hour Wait

The line at the agricultural market on Tulipán Street was slow and unbearable this Saturday. There was only cucumber, squash, julienned sweet potatoes and some eggplants on the shelves. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 6 September 2020 — At five in the morning this Saturday, Beatriz Delgado went out to the streets in search of food for her family. It is already two in the afternoon and she is still standing on line to buy groceries and some vegetables. Her daily routine has become more difficult with the new restrictions to slow the rebound of covid-19.

Since last Tuesday, residents of Havana have been trying to adjust to the curfew. From seven at night to five in the morning the city is deserted. Only police, firefighters, ambulances and some cars with special permits can be seen. It is a radical change when compared to the very intense early mornings before this ban.

“I used to go out with a friend of mine after watching the soap opera and we would stand from that time in a couple of lines, sometimes without really knowing why. It didn’t matter, because anything is needed: shampoo, chicken, ground meat, tooth paste,” explains Delgado, who is 63-years-old. continue reading

Bakery on Calle Infanta, Centro Habana. (14ymedio)

“The lines would form starting in the afternoon, and getting up early in order to get a good number was useless; even so, we never got a number smaller than 60,, explains this Havana resident, for whom the curfew means fewer possibilities of being able fill her bag.

Classes in Ciego de Avila and Pinar del Rio Didn’t Even Last a Week

Classes resumed on 1 September in all Cuban provinces except Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2020 — Not a week had passed since the start of school activities when the authorities decided to temporarily suspend teaching activities in schools in Ciego de Ávila and Pinar del Río due to outbreaks of Covid-19.

In the main municipality of the province of Ciego de Ávila, 75 of the 90 schools — of all kinds — have been affected, according to Bárbara Rodríguez Millán, provincial director of Education.

Four centers of the Orlando González Popular Council, from Majagua, which is in quarantine, also suspended teaching activities on 3 September.

The Provincial Defense Council of Ciego de Ávila decided this Saturday to take a step back and return to phase 1 of the recovery stage in the main municipality and to phase 2 in the other nine towns, due to an increase in positive cases in less than 15 days and that has brought a figure of 30 new infected. continue reading

On 1 September, classes had resumed in all the provinces except Havana, which faces the worst epidemiological situation on the island, after a six-month hiatus.

“The teaching collectives, deans and principal professors of the academic year will inform, through the established channels, both students and workers, how to maintain the educational teaching process in a blended or remote manner,” the official press reported this Saturday.

Teachers and workers over 60 years of age or with diseases that weaken their immune systems will “go to teleworking and/or distance work.” In addition, in the areas of economics and accounting, the general secretariat, human resources and essential staff of the faculties will continue to work “in person” at the University.

A similar situation is being experienced on the province of Pinar del Río which, after the confirmation last Friday of two new positive cases for COVID-19 in its main municipality, the Provincial Defense Council ordered the isolation of the contacts of these patients and the halting of the teaching activities in two schools.

The authorities explained that there are two “autochthonous cases” of which the source of infection is unknown.

“Taking into account that one of them has two children who study at the Tomás Orlando Díaz high school and at the Karl Marx mixed center, it was decided to isolate the teachers who have had contact with these children, to test them for Covid, although they may be asymptomatic,” informed Julio César Rodríguez Pimentel, president of the Defense Council of the province.

Pinar del Río accumulated 112 positive cases since last March with the data of last Thursday. At the moment, 17 confirmed cases are reported and with follow-up, five cases under study and 74 contacts, in addition 45 health workers who are in quarantine.

The Ministry of Health reported this Monday in its daily report of 43 new cases nationwide, for a cumulative total of 4,352 infections, since March, of which 102 died.

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Cuban Doctors in Mexico Worked Undocumented

The Cuban doctors’ stay in Mexico was surrounde dby controversy from the time they arrived last April. (Twitter/@m_ebrard)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2020 — The almost 700 Cuban doctors who arrived in Mexico in April to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic — with 585 of them in the capital and the rest in Veracruz — were working without immigration permits, the Latinus portal published this Sunday.

According to official reports obtained by this news site after, requests to the transparency portal of the Mexican Government — requests that the agencies are obliged to respond to by law — there is no evidence of a “regular and documented” stay of the Cuban doctors in Mexico, such as “temporary residence cards, temporary or permanent student cards,” nor a document that proves the legal stay of health workers in the database of the National Institute of Migration (INM).

“No data was found on Cuban nationals having obtained any of the aforementioned documents in May of this year, and who, when filling in the forms, indicated that they belonged to the health and care services sector,” the INM Directorate reported. continue reading

On the other hand, they did not enter as “visitors”, since the Directorate of Airports and Maritime Ports and the Directorate of Migration Control and Verification did not register that they filled out the “multiple migratory form,” as every tourist does when arriving in the country.

The lack of transparency about the hiring of Cuban healthworkers in Mexico has been a constant. The Secretary of Health of Mexico City, Oliva Pérez Arellano, acknowledged in June that the Government of Mexico paid Cuba 135 million pesos — 6.2 million dollars — and appealed to an agreement signed between both countries. However, that agreement was never made public.

It is known that the Cubans worked in state hospitals, both in Mexico City and in Veracruz, and that the payment was made through the National Institute of Health for Well-being (Insabi), recently created by the Administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

A Cuban health worker stationed in Mexico who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal told 14ymedio that the doctors received a stipend of $660 upon arrival in the country and the payment for the three-month mission was $1,350. He also said that although several fell ill with Covid-19 and some were in critical condition, none died.

The Cuban mission has been surrounded by controversy since the first doctors arrived in April. In June, several medical schools criticized the decision to hire Cubans, calling it a “grievance” towards national specialists. There were no shortages of desertions either: at least 15 professionals, according to Diario de Cuba reporting at the time.

The largest contingent of health workers returned to the island . However, about 200 will remain in Veracruz until October, according to the anonymous source to this newspaper.

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Ramiro Valdes Searches for Those Who Consume a Lot of Energy

The authorities urge the population to reduce energy consumption, which in the last month has been higher than expected. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 4 September 2020 — The energy consumption forecasts were exceeded this August by just 1.1%, but it has been enough for the Cuban authorities to ask the population to reduce consumption. On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Ramiro Valdés Menéndez asked the municipal energy councils to identify the high consumers in residences and state services.

The National Energy Council estimated consumption in August at 16,890 megawatt hours, 1.1% higher than what the Island can afford. Furthermore, on the first day of September, consumption was almost 5% more than the available energy.

Liván Arronte Cruz, Minister of Energy and Mines, specified that electricity consumption is higher at night and in the early morning, especially in the residential areas of the western provinces. However, the head of the area only ended up exonerating the residents of the eastern part of Cuba, noting that in Camagüey and the center of the island energy consumption also shot up. continue reading

In August Arronte Cruz, appearing on the Roundtable program on Cuban Television program, said that the blackouts were not caused by fuel shortages and that the oil and gas production plan was being fulfilled by 103%, which would guarantee 51% of the fuel used to generate electricity. The remaining amount is attributed to what was provided by Venezuela.

The measure is worryingly reminiscent of the situation experienced on the island just a year ago, when the fuel deficit put food distribution in jeopardy and electricity consumption was restricted in the countryside and in some industries, which the authorities described as a “temporary energy” situation.

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Measure to Separate Men and Women in Lines is Repealed Santiago de Cuba

The implementation of the measure aimed to “increase control and discipline in the lines” seeks to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19. (Archive / 14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 6 September 2020 — After a few days its implementation, the measure that designated different days in Santiago de Cuba for men and women to line up at establishments that sell food and basic necessities was repealed by decision of the local government, after the complaints of many citizens.

The new measure had unleashed a wave of criticism on social networks, especially from the island’s LGTB community. In the heat of the debate, the article that announced the measure on the local newspaper’s website was deleted.

The National Center for Sex Education, headed by Mariela Castro, daughter of the former Cuban leader Raul Castro, also publicly expressed her concern and assured that she had discussed the issue with the government of that province and offered some “elements of analysis.” continue reading

According to the announcement, published this Friday in the print edition of the local newspaper Sierra Maestra, the measure will be suspended as of Monday, September 7.

“Regulations may undergo changes according to the results, behavior and opinions of the population,” added the authorities of the Provincial Defense Council in the official note.

“We appreciate the active participation of the people through telephone calls to the authorities and other means of communication, which help to make decisions for the better functioning of daily life in these difficult times,” they added.

The Provincial Defense Council in Santiago de Cuba cancels the measure that established specific days for “men, women, and other people with limitations,” to acquire basic necessities.

Members of the 11M platform, which takes its name from the independent LGBTI march of March 11, 2019, had also made public their concern over the announcement because in their opinion “it could lacerate a part of the population.”

“We consider that segregation by gender (man-woman) to carry out purchases and other procedures is a violent measure for non-binary gender identities; at the same time it can increase discrimination due to transphobia towards transgender people,” they detailed.

The repealed measure read: “Establish three days of the week in which in the units that commercialize basic necessities only women would buy (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and three days in which only men would have access (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), reserving the seventh day (Sunday) for the care of the most vulnerable segments such as pregnant women, people with special conditions such as the blind, deaf, limited physical mobility, among others, upon presentation of the document that identifies it or before the evidence of their condition. “

Its implementation was aimed at “increasing control and discipline in lines,” seeking to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19

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Gravediggers or Accomplices of the Cuban Regime?

Those who see private entrepreneurs as the gravediggers of the system are thinking longterm. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, September 2, 2020 — According to the Communist Manifesto, capitalism was destined to be buried by the proletariat. The principle behind this claim was that workers could live without capitalists but capitalists could not live without workers.

The last vestiges of private property in Cuba were abolished by decree fifty-two years ago. Now, in the early 21st century, the government that dismantled even shoe shine stands has announced that it will allow the formation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The logical conclusion is that the socialist system cannot live without entrepreneurs, who in 1968 were described as speculators and the last bastions of capitalism.

It boils down to the issue of ownership of property, especially property that is the means of production — operated by salaried workers — which provides its owner with added value, known as capital gains. Communists not only saw this exploitation of the work of others as a crime, from a moral standpoint, but also believed it amounted to a contradiction of economic science. For the capitalist mode of production to be rendered inoperative, socialism had to be imposed. continue reading

But there was a problem with this reasoning. Defenders of the theory argue that it was applied incorrectly, forgetting another Marxist axiom: results are the evaluative criteria for truth.

The return to economic reality as represented by the owners of the means of production, whether they be self-employed workers or entrepreneurs, could be a topic of debate between two opposing sides. One side could accuse them of being accomplices of the regime (of the system, of the dictatorship, of Castro-ism, of the government, or whatever one might call it) while the other could praise them as the most dynamic engine for change.

Those who accuse them of complicity say entrepreneurs submit to paying unfair taxes in order to enrich themselves. The argument is that these businesspeople, by meekly accepting the plundering of a pack of inspectors and making peace with the corrupt network of state-owned companies, allow the government to use them as evidence that changes are being made in the right direction. Their political docility, evidenced by their silence in the face of repression and the uncritical applause at marches through the the Plaza of the Revolution on May Day, help keep their businesses alive.

Those who see private entrepreneurs as the gravediggers of the system are thinking longterm. They believe that the acceptance of their contradictory existence will gradually lead to the acceptance of a market economy over the centrally planned one. They assume that, to the extent that there are more people opting for “private work” over employment at socialist state-owned companies, legislation will be necessary to empower entrepreneurs, give them legal status and grant them the rights they demand to achieve a sustainable economy. The assumption is that, over time, they will acquire more rights, including — and why not? — political rights.

At this point almost no one can make the claim that the proletariat is the most revolutionary class. In most developed countries, the working class is supportive of nationalist groups who oppose immigration and are often against environmental efforts aimed at reducing industrial pollution. Could it be that the proletariat has become an accomplice of capitalism rather than its undertaker?

It is well known that the labor union to which Cuban workers belong does not protect them from abuses by the state. And businesspeople do not even have an organization that represents them. Even after the announcement that SMEs will be legalized, police raids were carried out against farmers who plant onions or make cheese as if they were already operating small and medium sized businesses.

Perhaps, we have to start thinking about everything differently and abandon schemes that have not been shown to produce results.

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Will Nicolas Maduro Commit Suicide?

Nicolás Maduro cannot even trust the Bank of England. (EFE)

14ymedio, Carlos A. Montaner, Miami, 5 September 202 — I am told that Nicolás Maduro is deeply depressed. His country’s situation is extremely serious and there is no relief for the crisis. It will get progressively worse. He knows it. He has even thought of committing suicide. “The Cubans” are very concerned with that possibility.

He would not be the first Latin American ruler to do something like that in the 20th century. In 1954, Brazilian Getulio Vargas shot himself in the heart. During Augusto Pinochet’s coup on September 11, 1973, Salvador Allende used the submachine gun that Fidel Castro had given him to kill himself. On July 4, 1982, Antonio Guzmán Fernández, the Dominican president, locked himself in a bathroom and shot himself in the temple.

All three of them committed suicide because they thought they had no “tomorrow.” That’s the key to the decision. They believed, and they were somewhat right, that the ordeal would have no end. Jorge Rodríguez, a psychiatrist, is the most concerned of Maduro’s accomplices. He has asked to preside over the National Assembly as the last effort to steer the process. continue reading

If Maduro kills himself (or is killed) Rodríguez would move to Miraflores to rule over the remains of Venezuela. After all, he has been cheating since the 2004 revocatory referendum. Venezuelans perfectly remember how at 8 pm the quick count at the electoral polls, carried out by a very prestigious firm, revealed that 60% had voted to revoke Chávez, who was only supported by 40%.

But at 4 am, while the country slept, the results had magically been reversed and Jorge Rodríguez, on behalf of the CNE, proudly announced it. It was the first time that electronic machines had been used to commit fraud. Poor Jimmy Carter believed it and endorsed the monstrosity from the Carter Center in Atlanta.

The sanctions of the United States and of half the planet, including those of the very circumspect and discreet Switzerland, were closing the circle relentlessly. The last episode was the most serious. Four ships registered as Greek –Bella, Bering, Luna and Pandi– but with more than a million barrels of oil from Iran sent to Venezuela, were detained on the high seas and taken to Houston, Texas. There they were awaited by several companies that wanted the ships’ cargo to compensate for the debts not paid by PDVSA, as revealed by the expert Russ Dallen.

There is no money whatsoever in the Venezuelan coffers. There is no credit or ability to pay what is owed. Maduro can’t even trust the Bank of England. More than a billion dollars in gold bars, while this metal’s price rises, have been provisionally confiscated because the ruler recognized by the United Kingdom is Juan Guaidó, according to His Majesty’s Supreme Court.

That means that the US strategy is paying off. It was started by Obama, who was genuinely concerned about the ties between Venezuela and Iran, when the price of a barrel of oil was around a hundred dollars, and it has been followed by Donald Trump, now that the barrel is about a quarter of that value. This shows Maduro that it is useless to dream with a possible Trump defeat in the November 3 elections. The policy is bipartisan. If Biden wins, it wouldn’t make a big difference.

The US has figured out how to defeat almost all of its enemies without firing a single shot. True, it must put all its financial weight on the effort. It is not worth saying “but Cuba has not been defeated by the embargo.” If the United States had insisted on it with the same strength as against Venezuela, surely the results would have been different.

Elliot Abrams, a US diplomat in charge of centralizing government measures against Maduro’s Venezuela, is encouraging the opposition to join. The goal is to assemble a common front in the event that Maduro has decided to immolate himself in free elections because it is impossible to rule the country due to lack of resources. Maduro only had 30 million dollars a few days ago and gasoline to cover the most urgent needs. The purpose of that union is to tell Maduro that they would agree to participate in the elections, as long as they are organized by Luis Almagro and the OAS.

As we are talking about a gruesome regime (to understand the intensity of the disaster, you must read Castrochavismo Internacional: 20 years of ambition and destruction, compiled by academic María Teresa Romero) it should be considered to what extent it is necessary to agree with the narco-dictatorship to turn the page. Nobody has the moral or legal authority to decree an amnesty, but following the Spanish example after Franco’s death, it is possible to negotiate a temporary amnesia of eight or ten years and then … whatever God wants.

English text from El Blog de Montaner

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‘Don’t pour in any more sugar, it won’t fit!’

Israel García, alias ’El Nene’, former worker at the old Dos Rosas sugar mill. (Roma Díaz)

14ymedio, Roma Díaz, Varadero, 5 September 2020 — From the age of 15 he worked as a stevedore at the Dos Rosas sugar mill, “carrying sacks on his back,” says Israel García. El Nene, as they affectionately call him, keeps his memories fresh at 87, as if he had lived them a few days ago.

Today, the settlement around the old sugar mill, together with other houses built later, is part of the Humberto Álvarez Popular Council, where Israel García lives, a few kilometers from the tourist center of Varadero.

After working as a stevedore, Israel carried out other less strenuous jobs, as a consequence of the advances implemented in the mill. For example, he took care so that the sugar didn’t overflow the boilers: “I remember there were three quadrants. When they were full, they yelled at the workers: Don’t poor in any more sugar, it won’t fit!” continue reading

To help crystallize the sugar, they added alcohol to it. This made the crystals grow larger and stronger.

The factory and the cane fields belonged to a prestigious North American firm, and it was, by the value of its properties, the most important investment of Yankee capital in Cárdenas.

Israel García’s home in the Humberto Álvarez Popular Council, which includes the old sugar mill settlement. (Roma Diaz)

With the arrival of the Revolution, the mill was renamed Humberto Álvarez Abreu, in honor of a leading worker and it operated until 2002. On that date, it was “deactivated” as a result of the Strategic Program for the Restructuring of the Sugar Agroindustry, which, as with so many plans with extensive names on the island, would end up not fulfilling its objectives.

There is a certain indignation in El Nene’s tone of voice when he evokes the reasons for the closure of the plant, because, according to him, it was the only one that did not run on oil, and the sugar was finer than almost all the mills in the country. During those years the price of sugar fell worldwide and several sugar mills closed, including Dos Rosas.

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Numbers of People Being Fined 2,000 Pesos for Not Wearing a Mask Soar in Havana

Fine imposed on September 1 in Havana (Facebook / Eliexer Márquez)

14ymedio, Havana, 4 September 2020 — On the first two days of September along, with the implementation of the new measures in Havana to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities imposed 1,100 fines for not wearing a mask, being outside without authorization, or ingesting alcoholic beverages on the public rights-of-way.

The official press highlighted that on the 1st, 1,108 fines were imposed for not wearing or incorrectly wearing a facemask; 11 on drivers of state vehicles who traveled without authorization; 17 to people who consumed alcohol in public places; and 19, for “staying” in unauthorized spaces.

The following day, the infractions for the incorrect use of the mask reached 325, and another 11 vehicles were immobilized for circulating without authorization. continue reading

he amounts of these fines, as stated in Decree 14/2020, range between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos, in a country where the basic salary is 400 pesos per month.

However, despite the toughening of the rules and the increase in fines, the streets are still full during the day, as this newspaper has observed, and the people of Havana continue to come out to join the incessant lines outside of stores, banks, etc.

“It had been announced that they were going to control the number of people in the streets and that the elderly could not go out,” a neighbor of the Carlos III shopping mall told 14ymedio. “I assure you that I have seen many old people on the street, starting with the usual beggars.”

The same woman tells that the red berets (special forces) begin to appear in the afternoons, before the curfew, which was set at 7 pm. “During the day there are many youngsters from the Minint [Ministry of the Interior], perhaps students, skinny and malnourished, and I don’t know who could limit them,” she ironically.

In a report published on September 2, the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights denounced that the Government is taking advantage of the health crisis derived from Covid-19 “to increase the control mechanisms over the population, through disproportionate fines and persecution of certain economic activities.”

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Cuba Releases Journalist Roberto Quinones After a Year in Prison

Roberto Quiñones’ condition after leaving prison. (Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina)

14ymedio, Havana, 4 September 2020 — Independent journalist Roberto Quiñones was released this Friday after serving his sentence in full, his wife confirmed to 14ymedio.

In statements to Cubanet, Quiñones said that he lost almost 30 pounds during the confinement. “It has been a very difficult year but I do not regret anything I have done,” he said. He also explained that he received several threats from a State Security official who identified himself as Major Sergio, among them that his children could “never again” enter Cuba. “He gave me a video which he said is going to be broadcast on National Television where they try to discredit me as an independent journalist and as a citizen.”

In that video, he is seen to be very morally whole despite his physical condition. “Today I leave the prison much stronger,” he said. continue reading

This week, as well, the NGOs Article 19, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Amnesty International had launched a campaign to demand the freedom of Quiñones, 63, and this Thursday, the PEN International association published a video in which it joined the petition. This Thursday the Association of Venezuelan Journalists Abroad also participated in this demand.

The reporter, a contributor to Cubanet, was tried and on August 7, 2019, he was sentenced to one year in prison for “resistance” and “disobedience” after reporting the details of the trialof Ramón Rigal and Ayda Expósito — a couple of evangelical pastors who decided to educate their children at home — which was held in April in the Municipal Court of Guantánamo.

According to the journalist, the National Police detained him and beat him, which is why he filed a formal complaint against the police.

An appeals court confirmed his conviction in August 2019, without granting him a new oral hearing and a few days later, on September 11 , he was arrested in Cienfuegos and has remained in prison since then.

During the time he has been serving his sentence, he has suffered gastrointestinal and respiratory problems along with other health complications related to previous pathologies, according to his family, a situation that is complicated by the lurking Covid-19 pandemic.

The journalist has written about his prison conditions, which include overcrowding, the poor quality of water and food, and the lack of adequate medical care, which has led to sanctions from the Disciplinary Council of the Guantanamo municipal prison, which has been forbidden to continue these behaviors.

Since his imprisonment, the United States has demanded the “immediate” release of the journalist.

“We urge the Cuban regime to immediately release Mr. Quiñones and stop the abuse and mistreatment against him,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement last year.

Likewise, the Inter-American Press Association criticized the Government of Cuba and ordered it to suspend the punishment and “not to continue trampling on human rights.”

In prison, Quiñones was awarded the Patmos Prize for Religious Freedom given by the Patmos Institute, which wanted to recognize the Catholic layman because “at a very critical stage for Cuban civil society in general (…) he decided to be an exception and live against the current”.

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba recognized Quiñones last August with the General Calixto García Medals and Orders for Freedom, together with Silverio Portal, Lisandra Orraca, the Venezuelan María Corina Machado and the Lithuanian Emanuelis Zingeris.

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Cuban Government Shields Measures Taken in Havana with a Legal Decree

Image of Havana this Monday, on the first day of the new restrictive measures taken to contain the outbreaks of covid-19. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 September 2020 — The restrictive measures taken since Monday by the government of the province of Havana to contain the coronavirus pandemic already have legal shielding. The Official Gazette, in an extraordinary edition this Monday, includes Decree 14, “of infractions against communal hygiene and sanitary measures for the stage of confrontation with covid-19 in the province of Havana.”

The new legal norms detail, among other points, that the person who “hinders in any way the fulfillment of the sanitary measures dictated” will be imposed fines of 2,000 pesos. In addition, they indicate that the person who occupies positions as “head of a work or study center” and does not comply with the measures will have to pay 3,000 pesos.

Similarly, anyone who “does not use or uses incorrectly the facemask on public roads, buses, cars and inside work and service centers” is exposed to fines of 2,000 pesos, as well as anyone who plays or remains on the public road. Anyone who does not guarantee entry to the places with chlorinated water or alcohol solution, or keeps open places or gastronomic facilities or services outside the established hours, may receive a fine of 3,000 pesos.

Drinking alcoholic beverages in public places, holding parties “of any kind” and staying in public areas outside the advertised hours will be punished with a fine of 2,000 pesos.

For the owners of vehicles that circulate without an authorizing stamp or without the stamp of exceptionality in the restricted hours from 7 pm to 5 am, the fines provided are 3,000 pesos, in addition to the withdrawal of the driving license and travel permit.

Fines or other measures depending on the case will be imposed on the guardians of minors or judicially incapacitated who incur in any of the established contraventions.

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No One Knows Where to Get a Temporary ID Card to Shop in Havana

Temporary residency card for those who, for one reason or another, do not have a current ID card with an address in the municipality where they now live. (Havana Tribune)

14ymedio, Havana, 1 August 2020 — A few hours after regulations intended to curb a new surge of coronavirus cases in Havana took effect, residents without legal permanent address in the capital did not know where to go to get a temporary residency card that would enable them to buy basic necessities in local shops.

The move, which was announced Friday night, was taken by the government as part of a series of commercial regulations intended to control crowds and long lines at retail establishments. Many of those affected regretted the new limitation, which obliges thousands of people to present an identity card before gaining access to stores not in their official place of residence.

The initial announcement, which has the most restrictive measures, generated harsh criticism on social media. “Do you live in your partner’s house? Did you move, inherit or buy a house without updating your identity card? Are you renting or ’borrowing’ a house? Are you taking care of a friend’s house? Were you visiting but could not return to your home province? Then, as of Tuesday, you will not be able to shop,” protested private businessman Camilo Condis on Twitter.

On Sunday, government officials introduced a temporary residency card, which will include the first and last names of the bearer, a card number and the town where he or she lives. It can be used to buy groceries as well as personal hygiene and cleaning products at the retail chains chains stores Caribe, Cimex, TRD, Caracol, Mercados Artesanales Industriales and Mercados Ideales.

But as of today residents still do not know where to obtain the document. The absence of a published list that would make the task easier means applicants must search for the information on their own, as 14ymedio was able to confirm in a call to a local government agency. The official who answered the phone explained that, for the time being, applicants should contact the People’s Council in the area where they live, either by phone or in person, and they will be informed exactly where to file for and, subsequently, pick up their card.

The Cuban capital is the region of the country with the highest rate of migration from other provinces. Immigrants make up 24.8% of the city’s population. Many of them are not legal residents and and do not have an identity card with a Havana address.

Article 8 of Legal Degree #217 stipulates that anyone in Havana without a temporary or transitory residence permit can be deported back to his or her official home province after a seventy-two hour stay in the capital. Deportation hearings, however, have been put on hold due to the pandemic, with many travellers trapped in the city due to the suspension of interprovincial transport.

Another curiosity of Sunday’s announcement is that foreigners living in Havana will enjoy the freedom to shop in any municipality they choose.

From Tuesday until September 15, Havana residents will have to shop in the place of residence indicated on their identity card. The rule does not apply to farmers and fish markets, or to hard currency stores. Though the purpose of the new measures is to reduce travel, products sold in these establishments may still be purchased regardless of where a person lives.

Stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. A computer app will be used to control waiting lines and to prevent crowds. According to local press reports, in places were stores and retail establishments located on the streets that that defines the boundaries between two municipalities, residents of the neighboring towns may shop at either.

The measures are a response to the increase in telecommuting, the suspension of certain basic services and restrictions on transportation. However, essential workers from Artemsia and Mayabeque who work in the capital are allowed to travel back and forth as are Havana residents who work in those two provinces.

The local government has stated that travelers from Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Mayabeque provinces passing through the capital will be fined if they abandon or veer from the established route.

Havana continues to have the island’s highest rates of infection. Of the fifty-nine new cases of Covid-19 that were diagnosed on Sunday, forty were in the capital.

Reinaldo Garcia Zapata, governor of Havana province, announced on Thursday’s Roundtable television program that there would be a curfew in the capital in an effort to contain the pandemic. Among other restrictions, it would prohibit the movement of people and vehicles from 7:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. and would restrict private transport all day.

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