14ymedio – Page 198 – Translating Cuba

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Belts and Big Shirts to Cover the Cuban Leaders’ Obesity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Norma Whiting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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About 32,000 People in Havana Have Problems Accessing Water

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Three Injured When a Kamaz Truck Falls into the Sea in Manzanillo, Cuba

The truck “had difficulties in the air system,” which caused the driver to lose control and plunge into the sea, Radio Bayamo said. (Facebook/Eliexer Pelaez Pacheco)

14ymedio, Daniel Wilt, Holguin, 9 June 2022 — Three people were injured in an accident in Manzanillo, Granma province, when a state truck, of the Russian brand Kamaz, fell into the sea at daybreak this Thursday. The vehicle came from the municipality of Niquero, in the same province.

As reported by the provincial radio station Radio Bayamo, the truck “had difficulties in the air system, which caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and when descending a slope, it hit a final section of the Manzanillo malecón and plunged into the sea.” In photos shared on Facebook, the seawall of the malecón can be seen destroyed at the height at which the vehicle collided.

In photos shared on social networks, the wall of the Manzanillo boardwalk can be seen destroyed at the height at which the vehicle collided. (Facebook/Radio Granma Manzanillo)

The three injured were taken to the Celia Sánchez Manduley Provincial Hospital and are not at risk. Leandro Pérez Ramírez, 50 years old and a resident of Niquero, and Yuri Moreno, 34 years old and from Manzanillo, have complex multiple injuries and are reported to be stable, Dr. Ulises Guisado Mestre explained to Radio Bayamo.

The third patient, whose name is not mentioned by official sources, is in better condition, explained the same doctor.

A worse accident occurred this Thursday afternoon two kilometers from the Havana checkpoint, where a man died and another was injured.

As reported by users on social networks, the deceased was identified as Óscar Moya, from the town of La Luz. Eander Fernández Monzón, survived with minor injuries; he lives in Venegas, in the municipality of Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus.

This Thursday, Cubadebate published official data on highway accidents, according to which “for every 14 accidents in Cuba there is one death.” The note indicates that, on average, two people die a day due to road accidents and about 30 are injured, in approximately 27 accidents. continue reading

Just between January and May of this year there have been 4,062 traffic accidents, almost half of the total number for 2021.

The data was revealed at a press conference by Colonel Mario Ríos Labrada, head of the Vehicle Registration Department of the National Traffic Directorate. The military man stated that the total number of claims have marked an increase, to date, compared to the last two years.

By provinces, the official press also indicated that Holguín and Camagüey stand out with the highest number of victims and average deaths per accident, without specifying the numbers.

Regarding the causes, Ríos said that 89% of the accidents are caused by the human factor, not having control of the vehicle, not respecting the right of way and driving at excessive speed. Then there are the mechanical problems and driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages. With regards to the latter, the authorities say that this behavior was found in 242 drivers, and is on the rise.

According to the official press, there is also an increase in the deterioration of the streets of Cuba where at least 333 potholes or breakages have been reported, which have already caused deaths in accidents. Such is the case of Yunior Tabares Magdariaga, 21, who died when he and his motorcycle fell into a hole in Calvario street, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, in March.

Another concern is the risk of being run over in the street, because of every six people run over in accidents, one dies. According to official figures, the number of people killed on Cuban roads – a large part of them pedestrians and cyclists – increased by 24% in the last year, reaching 589.

The days that account for the most victims are Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, while the most dangerous hours in terms of traffic accidents are between 6:00 in the afternoon and 8:00 at night. Accidents have been the fifth leading cause of death in Cuba for several years, according to official data.

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Boxer Andy Cruz Leaves Cuba and his Mercedes-Benz to Move to the Dominican Republic

Cuban Andy Cruz won a gold medal at the last Tokyo Olympics. (EFE)

14ymedio, Madrid, 20 June 2022 — The Olympic champion and great Cuban boxing star Andy Cruz is joining the list of athletes who are leaving the island. According to Willie Suárez, a Cuban journalist residing in the US, the boxer is in the Dominican Republic, where he has been found after the authorities realized that he did not appear at the Playa Girón National Boxing Championship.

“We can already confirm it. Andy Cruz is on his way to professional boxing. Andy was expected at the tournament yesterday and did not appear. They automatically went looking for him everywhere and did not find him. Andy is already out of Cuba and very soon, will be live with Willie Suarez,” the specialist announced on his Boxeo Cubano Facebook page, from which he reviews current sports on the island.

The official magazine Jit had announced hours before the start of the tournament in Playa Girón: “The two-time Olympic champions Roniel Iglesias, Arlen López and Julio César La Cruz lead the registered stars, a list from which Andy Cruz is absent.” According to commissioner Alberto Puig de la Barca, “he was absent from the last days of training and the travel to the competition venue.”

Since then, according to Willie Suárez, he was sought everywhere. Cruz was considered one of the great stars of national boxing, however, he was excluded from the Domadores de Cuba team, which participated this May in the Palenque de la Feria de San Marcos, in Aguascalientes (Mexico).

The training of this group meant the return to professionalism in this sport after decades of amateurism, promoted by Fidel Castro, who described professional boxing as “inhumane and lacking in principles.” continue reading

Rolando Acebal, his main trainer, attributed the exclusion of the man from Matanzas to “a decline in his performance and attitude in the gym.” According to the expert, it was “a somewhat strategic decision… Now it’s not very healthy for it to go to that high,” he added. That exclusion could have been the trigger.

“Andy left Cuba, just as all of us who were born in it left it, and one day we sadly said goodbye to him. He did not betray anyone or abandon anything. Being young, Andy finally dreams of living in freedom and with the opportunity to fight for a better future where there are options without them being imposed,” added Suárez in a Facebook post in which he adds that there are people responsible for exits like this.

“Cuba is the cradle of talent where on every corner a boxer is born with the possibility of being an Olympic and world champion. In Cuba they are forged but they cannot be forced to think in one way or live in the old fashioned way based on ideologies that not even their parents share,” he considers.

In his opinion, absurd situations occur such as not allowing boxers to have tattoos, and other more serious ones, such as coaches not defending their fighters from political charges, school employees stealing food from athletes, and journalists pressure athletes to say things based on their own convenience.

An example of the latter, according to the reporter, are the latest statements by Cruz himself who, after being excluded from professional competition, said that he would continue to focus on doing his job and denied “those false comments that are being made on social networks” in reference to those already speculating about his departure. In Suárez’s opinion, the boxer was being pressured to stay.

“The Federation did everything possible including compromising him, putting pressure on him by producing a video in front of ‘Jit journalists’ where Andy is seen expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to box in Cuba and debunking rumors on social media (which were always true). The Cuban sports administration did not count on the cunning of Andy who (apparently) was already prepared to take the step he took,” adds Suárez.

The boxer is one of the athletes who were awarded by the Government of Cuba after obtaining Olympic medals in Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 due to the pandemic). The champions were presented with high-end Mercedes-Benz cars in January and most of them were very grateful to the authorities and the late Fidel Castro. With the departure of the boxer, there are now two winners who have left their vehicles on the island, after the departure of canoeist Jorge Enríquez, who arrived in the US in March.

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Cuban Baseball Player Roidel Martinez Requests to Leave the Sport After Being Excluded From the Under-23 Team

The baseball player Roidel Martínez was removed from the Under-23 team that participates in the World Championship that takes place in Aguascalientes (Mexico). (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 14 June 2022 — The loss of outfielder Roidel Martínez was a foregone conclusion after he was excluded from the Under-23 team participating in the World Championship that takes place in Aguascalientes (Mexico). The player, according to journalist Francys Romero, “made his request this Monday in the province of Pinar del Río.”

As published by the communicator in Baseball FR!, the athlete went in the morning to the headquarters of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) and the Provincial Commission “with his discharge letter drawn up.” And although there were managers who tried to dissuade him, his departure, he let them know, “was already decided.”

Through his social networks, the man from Pinar del Río shared a video on June 7 in which he exposed his annoyance to the journalist Osbel Benítez Polo for being removed from the Under-23 national team with no more argument than “we have seen, we have spoken and you cannot be on the team,” the coaches told him.

In the same video he explains that, at the end of the training, the coaches called him to inform him. The athlete told them that he accepted the determination, but that they should detail the reasons why he was not included. “It’s that you can’t be, you can’t be, we decided that you can’t be.”

The place of Martínez, who had had two training sessions, was taken by the Granma player, Francisco Venecia. “Nobody told me that I couldn’t be here because I did something wrong or because such a thing is said,” explained the player. “If you ask me now, I’ll tell you that I want to ask to leave and not play more ball any more,” he said.

In the 61 National Series, the left-handed batter has an offensive line with 76 hits, 11 doubles, a triple and four home runs. According to Francys Romero, “none of the outfielders of the team that competes in Aguascalientes had a better performance than the one from Pinar del Río.” continue reading

Martínez’s exclusion recalled that experienced by Luis Enrique González and Darlin Jíménez, who were “erased” at the last minute from the list of the U-23 team that traveled to Mexico in 2021 for the World Championship held in the state of Sonora. In this event, the escape of 12 athletes was recorded, half of the team led by Eriel Sánchez.

“Days later, both González and Jímenez requested their discharges, which they received in a fairly rapid time, between 1 and 3 weeks,” Romero recalled.

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US Coast Guard Repatriates Another 95 Cubans, for a Total of 2,319 to Date in this Fiscal Year

A group of Cuban rafters intercepted by the US Coast Guard before reaching the Florida Keys. (Twitter/@USCGSoutheast)

14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2022 — The United States Coast Guard repatriated 95 Cubans to the island on Saturday aboard the ship Pablo Valent. According to a statement the rafters were arrested between last Tuesday and Wednesday after several interceptions in Playa Marathon, Cayos Marquesas and Cayo Víbora.

Since October 1, 2021, the date that marks the beginning of the current fiscal year, 2,319 Cubans have been intercepted in their attempt to reach the United States. “The possibility of being arrested while illegally migrating through the Caribbean is high,” warned Lt. Simon Juul-Hindsgaul.

On Tuesday, agents assigned to Key West were warned of a “rustic boat” near Marathon Beach. The Coast Guard did not release details on the number of rafters detained.

In recent months, the exodus of Cubans seeking to enter the United States using sea routes or following different routes through various Central American countries such as Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras, has increased alarmingly.

On Wednesday morning, an “overloaded raft” was located 22 miles south of Cayo Víbora, and members of the Cayo Hueso Coast Guard proceeded to intercept and detain it. continue reading

That same Wednesday there were two other interceptions of groups of rafters near Cayos Marquesas. The first occurred at five in the afternoon 30 miles from Key West and a second occurred at night, when a raft 20 miles away was located. Lieutenant Juul-Hindsgaul asked the rafters “not to go to sea and to choose a legal way to emigrate to another country.”

Petty Officer José Hernández warned last May that, in the face of the exodus of migrants, “air and surface patrols in the Straits of Florida, the Windward and Mona Passages” were increased.

This reinforcement in surveillance allowed the Coast Guard to stop three groups of rafters last Monday. The 21 Cubans were expelled last Thursday and taken to the island aboard the Pablo Valent ship. Days before, the repatriation of another 81 Cubans was registered.

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In the Absence of Present Solutions, Today’s Cuban Regime is a Caricature of Republican Era Cuba

Cuba’s introduction of electricity before 1959 reached one of the best figures in Latin America in those years. (DC)

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 29 June 2022 — As popular indignation grows due to the continuous power outages that affect a large part of Cuba, the authorities deploy all kinds of justifications to place the responsibility for the blackouts as far as possible from their own management. There is no shortage of repeated phrases blaming the US embargo, the damage caused by the fall of communism in Europe and, of course, the allusions to Cuba’s former Republican period as a dark and miserable time.

Camagüey’s local newspaper, Adelante, has tried to placate its readers this week by reminding them that before 1959 “Cuba only generated 397 megawatts, 397,000 kilowatts, distributed in isolated systems, not interconnected, typical of an underdeveloped country. Only 56% of the population was connected to electrical service. Data that must be put in the context that electrification was a process that had only been implemented worldwide for a few decades.

The article in the Camagüeyan newspaper not only hides that detail, but also avoids saying that Cuba’s electrification was one of the best in Latin America in those years. The article seeks to create in the audience a sense of relief in the face of current problems if they are compared with the situation that their grandparents experienced. A rhetorical trick that is less and less effective in a society tired of attempts to instill fear through the past. In the absence of solutions in the present and progress in the future, the Cuban regime can only be a caricature of the country that existed before Fidel Castro came to power.

With this clumsy strategy they managed for decades to silence democratic demands, assuring that an opening process on the Island would bring back the excesses of the previous dictatorship. When the demands have turned to the inefficiency of the economic model to produce the most basic foods, the official spokesmen come out to recall the corn flour, without any accompaniment, that typified the national dishes during the Machadato.* There are public officials who have even dared to say that a dissident or independent journalist would work as a prostitute if she lived in Cuba in the first half of the 20th century.

All this verbal juggling, which once could generate fear and social paralysis, now reaps ridicule and ends up adding fuel to the fire of social annoyance. People have stopped hanging their heads and shutting up when one of those old stats is thrown at them. Only a system without a tomorrow can believe that it is going to break an entire population by taking the ghosts of yesterday out for a walk.

*Translator’s note: The term ‘Machadato’ refers to Gerardo Machado’s increasingly repressive years as Cuban president (1925-33) overlapping with the worldwide ‘Great Depression’ which began in 1929.

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