14ymedio – Page 226 – Translating Cuba

Cuba’s Potato Harvest Will Fall to Record Lows This Year

Lines of Cubans to buy potatoes in Trillo Park. (14ymedio)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 18 March 2022 — The long lines to buy potatoes will continue to be the scene in Cuban neighborhoods, after the Ministry of Agriculture recognized this Thursday that the national production of the tuber will not cover the internal demand in 2022 and, in the best of cases, it will be at last year’s levels.

Potato consumption in Cuba in 2019 was 151,668 tons, of which 35,272 were imported from the Netherlands and Canada; 2019 is the last year for which international statistics are available since there are no national data.

This bad news comes while deliveries are being made, this week, allowing 4 pounds per person at 5 pesos a pound in various neighborhoods of Havana.

As explained by specialist Enel Espinosa to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the estimated harvest for this year is 116,396 tons, which falls “far short from national demand.”

Of the area dedicated to this crop, 56% was planted “outside the ideal calendar,” mainly due to lack of inputs,” which will make it difficult to meet the objectives. continue reading

According to data from the National Statistics and Information Office (Onei), this objective is similar to the harvest obtained in 2020 (115,385 tons), the last year for which there is a record, and which was the worst year since 2017. If the official projection is achieved, it would be the fourth worst result of the potato harvest since 2000.

Espinosa also acknowledges that the tuber harvest will be far from the maximum recorded by Cuban agriculture at the end of the last century and in the first decade of the current one, when it exceeded 300,000 tons, more than double the current forecast.

In 1996, Cuba was even a net exporter of potatoes, reaching a production record of 348,000 tons. In 2010 the sale was released from the rationing system, but in 2015 the harvest collapsed (123,000 tons) and the Government had to import to cover the demand, which led to rationing potatoes as of 2017.

The information is becoming known at an adverse moment for the Cuban countryside, after negative data on its main crops, such as sugar, tobacco and coffee, which became known in recent months.

The country, which imports between 60% and 70% of the food it needs, is also going through a serious economic crisis, due to the pandemic, US economic sanctions and errors in national macroeconomic management.

The crisis is marked by the scarcity of basic goods, the partial dollarization of the economy and a sharp rise in prices.

Since the pandemic began, the situation has worsened even more and the lines to buy potatoes are several hours long, generating riots and disputes among people to get the pounds of potatoes that the Cuban State allows them to acquire, according to rationing, and only once since the year began.

The lines that must form to buy the tuber cover entire blocks and this year, the Cuban State has only announced the sale of the product one time.

In February, the Government doubled the price of potatoes due to the rise in the price of agricultural products and the increase in labor costs per employee. One pound of the tuber went from three to five pesos, and six in the case of refrigerated potatoes.

A resolution published on those dates in the Official Gazette established the new price for the collection and retail sale of potatoes harvested with national seed at 9,196.2 centavos per ton, equivalent to 423 pesos per quintal (100 pounds). The potato harvested with imported seed stands at 7,152.46 pesos per ton, or 329 pesos per quintal (100 pounds).

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Cuban Journalist and Activist Esteban Rodriguez Arrives in the United States

Esteban Rodríguez is already in the US (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana 17 March 2022 — Esteban Rodríguez, the Cuban independent journalist who left the island at the beginning of the year along with his colleague Héctor Luis Valdés Cocho, has arrived in the United States.

The reporter and activist posted an image on his Facebook profile accompanied by the text: “Family, in the land of Liberty. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. A thousand blessings.”

On the same page he indicates that he resides in Wayne, Michigan.

Esteban Rodríguez was imprisoned in Cuba for eight months. The journalist was one of the demonstrators on Obispo Street, in Havana, who on April 30, 2021 tried to approach the house of artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and were arrested for this.

At the beginning of January, the Government released him on the condition of his exile and, together with his colleague Valdés Cocho, he began a trip to Nicaragua that was frustrated when, according to their report, they were prevented from entering that country and were stranded at the El Salvador airport. continue reading

After a mobilization of activists and diplomats, both managed to get El Salvador to admit them into the country until their immigration situation was resolved. However, the two journalists abandoned the refugee process and chose to leave the country, thereafter acquiring an illegal immigration status.

Subsequently, they continued their journey north and on January 18, they were detained in Mexico City and taken to the Las Agujas immigration station.

Rodríguez remained several days in that center of the Mexican capital “by court order, derived from an amparo process that he filed, but when he desisted and requested refuge before the Mexican Commission of Support to Refugees (COMAR), a humanitarian visa was issued to him to continue the corresponding procedure in this entity.”

Valdés Cocho obtained “an exit document in Mexico City” so that he could complete, in the state of Chiapas, the refugee process that he requested.

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The Cuban State Only Completed 42 Percent of the Homes Planned for 2021

The construction sector is experiencing serious difficulties in Cuba. (Collage)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2022 — The Cuban Ministry of Construction (Micons) only completed 42% of the houses it planned to build in 2021 and 41% of the planned repairs.

According to the ministry’s annual report, presented this Saturday by official media, last year 18,645 homes were completed from the state plans, of the nearly 44,400 planned, and 14,245 were repaired, when the plan pointed to some 34,745.

The Prime Minister of Cuba, Manuel Marrero Cruz, who participated in the presentation of the report, spoke of the “dissatisfaction” of many families due to these breaches, including single mothers with three or more children, according to the Cuban News Agency (ACN).

Marrero also insisted on giving the “top priority” to the housing program and urged the Micons not to offer justifications and to get involved so that the programs are fulfilled.

The Micons plan for this year provides for the construction of 37,991 homes and the rehabilitation of 14,697. The State is the main constructor in Cuba. continue reading

The construction sector is experiencing serious difficulties in Cuba, with the lack of inputs such as steel and cement being one of the main obstacles.

Last January, it was reported that the housing built by private individuals exceeded what was agreed in the 2021 plan in Sancti Spíritus, while the State fulfilled just over half of what was agreed.

The provincial director of Housing, Néstor Borroto, told the local newspaper Escambray that the new work was saved thanks to the push of his own efforts and, although he does not give figures on how much expectations are exceeded, the amount is estimated to be high.

For February 2021, the plan for the year, added 1,441 new properties to the precarious Sancti Spiritus housing fund. Of these, 993 were be by private initiative, including 452 basic housing units (CBH) – about 25 square meters (270 square feet). The remaining 448 would be carried out through state channels.

Borroto now counts 55%, some 246, of the state homes as delivered and 56% of the state CBHs carried out (253 units). “Not so the own effort, which exceeded the agreed figure,” he indicated without saying by how much.

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Few Customers at Havana’s Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor After Prices Go Up

A line of people on Saturday waiting outside Coppelia, the iconic ice cream parlor at L Street and 23rd Avenue in Havana.

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, March 19, 2022 — Employees at Havana’s popular Coppelia ice cream parlor reported seeing fewer customers just days before a price increase is scheduled to effect on Tuesday. Although it is common to see dozens of people waiting outside early in the morning to avoid the customary long lines, on Saturday there were fewer than fifteen people at each of the building’s entrances just before 10 AM, when the business opens.

City officials announced on Thursday that a scoop of Coppelia ice cream would soon cost 9 pesos while the lower-quality Varadero version would go for 7. The excuse the Internal Trade Business Group gave this time was that an increase in the price of raw milk has impacted the cost of industrial milk production, raising the retail price of dairy products such as ice cream.”

A mother who had taken her two children to Coppelia on Saturday breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived because she had been expecting to pay more. “If you want to get two ’ice cream salads’ [multiple scoops] here, it helps to know someone on the inside,” she observed ironically, referring to the ice cream parlor’s reputation for corruption.

The local government claims that “the quality of ice cream Coppelia offers” combined with “the quality of service” promises to provide customers with “a unique and excellent product.”

“All Coppelia’s employees want to do is steal. Selling ’under the table’ (on the black market). That’s all that interests them,” claims one Havana resident who is a frequent customer. “Waiting on customers is just a collateral obligation, a necessary evil. You realize that whenever you ask them a question or demand service and they give you a very rude response. That’s just one of many examples.” continue reading

When currency unification took effect in January of 2021, the price of a scoop of ice cream at Coppelia shot up from 1.5 pesos to 7 pesos. Its traditional ice cream ensalada [salad], which includes five scoops, rose to 35 pesos, the four-scoop Super Twins to 28 and the Tres Gracias to 21.

After hundreds of complaints in person and on social media, officials lowered the price to 5 pesos though it remained at 7 pesos for a 90-gram scoop at the site’s Four Jewels salon, where table service is provided.

An “ordinary” line at Havana’s Coppelia ice cream parlor in pre-pandemic, pre-price increase days. (14ymedio)

Given the symbolic importance of Coppelia, which once offered more than a dozen flavors and was immortalized in films such as Strawberry and Chocolate, the price increases brought on by currency unification led to an avalanche of complaints, memes on social media and outraged reactions from customers.

The enormous ice cream parlor, centrally located at the corner of L Street and 23rd Avenue, is a Havana icon where long lines are ever-present. It is especially popular with students and people with low incomes, who cannot afford to pay 20 to 25 pesos for a scoop at a privately owned ice cream shop.

The open-air seating areas, the courtyard and the glamorous upper floor have for decades been the sites of weekend outings for families with children. It has also been a popular gathering place for students at the University of Havana, located just a few yards away.

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David Beckham, Qatar and the Cuban Doctors

Island officials and local authorities in a hospital in Qatar where Cuban health workers work. (Cuban Ministry of Public Health)

14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 20 March 2022 –David Beckham is a great English soccer player. He is 46 years old. He started playing professionally at a very young age for Manchester. He retired at 38. He was in the Real Madrid team and there he learned to speak some Spanish. It was then when I knew his name. He is half businessman and half Jewish, although he was not raised Jewish. (His maternal grandfather was Jewish). He has just signed a juicy contract for public relations with Qatar for 277 million dollars. The deal includes promoting the 2022 World Championship, but it will be for a decade. The championship will be played in Doha, the capital of Qatar, at the end of this year.

When UK-based human rights activist Peter Tatchell (he was actually born and raised in Australia, where he was a Labor Party candidate for MP), found out, he lamented that Beckham, just for money, lent his name and well gained prestige to mortify LGBTQ people, linking himself to a government that has in its criminal code penalties of up to five years in prison against two adults of the same sex who consent to have sexual relations.

However, Beckham has a much more serious problem with the State Department. Especially, when we have seen the enormous importance that today is given locally, nationally and internationally to sanctions for repeated violations of the law. In this case, it is a serious crime that the United States and other civilized nations take very seriously – “Human trafficking,” as it is shown in Conchita Sarnoff’s book Trafficking, focused on the Jeffrey Epstein case.

This includes child prostitution, importation of illegal immigrants, and the hiring of people under a semi-slavery regime. With the aggravating circumstance that the first two crimes are promoted and committed by lone criminals (for example, human traffickers known as coyotes), or mafias that fight ruthlessly and fiercely to establish a territory, while the third crime is carried out by necktie-wearing executives in governments interested in doing themselves ideological favors, or by simple and brutal corruption, or by a sum of the two elements, defying the agreements signed within the International Labor Organization.

They call it “The Cuban Hospital of Qatar” and there is not the slightest exaggeration in that name. The 475 doctors, nurses and technicians who operate the institution are Cuban. Why are they all Cuban? Perhaps to watch them better? Or so that there is no “foreign” witness to their violation of the laws? The first breach of the rules is that everyone has had to hand over their passports to the “comrade in charge of Security.” That is totally prohibited. There he is known as “Manolo el de la Seguridad” (Manolo from Security.) It is a false name. It could be “Felipe, Carlos or Agustín.”

I read parts of an extensive article from The Guardian, a UK newspaper known for its leftist position. The headline says, “Cuba’s secret agreement with Qatar that allows Cuba to keep 90% of the salaries that Cubans receive.” That is “trafficking” in my dictionary. That is to sustain a regime continue reading

incapable of sustaining itself, a regime that survives exporting and exploiting its professionals.

The same newspaper affirms that it is a great deal for Cuba, which receives between 6 and 8 billion dollars annually from this business, much more than it receives from tourism. Cuba does not have to import sugar (yes: sugar) from the neighboring Dominican Republic. It does not need supplies or to treat foreigners like royalty. It is perfect for supporting dictatorships. To the extent that North Korea also has a place reserved for medical tourism in Qatar. And it is known that Belarus tyrant Alexander Lukaschenko also wants to participate in the health “business.”

In Cuba, during the times of slavery, “decent” people took the youngest and most beautiful black women (some of them minors) to brothels to exploit them. They put a price on them and the income that the girls produced was divided 50/50 between the brothel and the owners of the black girls.

Some “owners,” such as the mythical Julián Zulueta (“I have become rich buying whites in Spain and selling blacks in Cuba,” he said), owner of 2,000 slaves, a believer in labor incentives, reserved 5% or 10% so that the prostitutes could buy their freedom from them.

This leaves the evaluation of the operation “The Cuban hospital in Qatar” exactly in the same position as before 1886 (the year in which slavery was finally abolished). Some doctors, paramedics and technicians think that 10% is much more than what they earned in Cuba, just like many 19^th Century prostitutes believed that it was better to be in the brothel than in the houses and in the sugar fields, exposed to the beatings, and with no hope of ever being free. It is a variation of the “Stockholm syndrome.”

The place where the transaction takes place has changed, but not its essence. The Cuban government knows that what it is doing is very wrong. It must change its ways. It cannot continue to exploit Cuban professionals with the blind complicity of countries like Qatar. I hope that David Beckham explains to them promptly what is happening at the Cuban Hospital, and that they begin to pay these professionals directly and not through the Cuban government.

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Anamely Ramos Stands with Photos of ‘Osorbo’ and Otero in Front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington

Art curator Anamely Ramos continues her protests in front of the Cuban embassy in Washington. (Facebook / Anamely Ramos)

14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 2022 — “Enough of allowing a dictatorship to set the rules,” said art curator Anamely Ramos, who announced last Friday that she was camping out in front of the Cuban embassy in Washington. “It is my right to return to Cuba. My home is there.”

Ramos, who was prevented by the Cuban regime from returning to Havana, has been posting images of political prisoners Maykel Osorbo Castillo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara since last Thursday in front of the Cuban diplomatic headquarters. That day, she shared photos and posted messages on her Facebook account: “Carry your shame!”

In addition, she announced her departure from the San Isidro Movement a few days ago and recited the beginning of the poem Dos Patrias by José Martí by pointing out: I have two motherlands: “Cuba and the night. Or are the two one?”

On Friday she reinforced her protest on her social networks, just hours after posting a message informing that the rapper’s lawyer “received notification that the trial process would begin.” The imprisoned man has been waiting for his trial since he was arrested last May 18^th, accused of “attack,” “public disorder” and “evasion of prisoners or detainees” for some events that occurred on April 4^th. continue reading

“Enough already of allowing a dictatorship to set the rules,” said art curator Anamely Ramos

The art curator announced that the police prevented her from “placing the photos of the prisoners on the fence” of the Cuban embassy and she then decided to “wallpaper” a campaign tent where she spends the night. “The lives of those inside Cuba depend on how much we can push. We can do it less dangerously”.

In her message, she stated that “the intention of the dictatorship is to isolate them alone inside. We cannot leave them.”

In a previous message, Ramos recalled that “the UN has already ruled that Maykel must be released,” but the regime decided to put him on trial. “It does so even as Maykel’s health worsens and we remain without an accurate diagnosis.”

About the conditions in which they keep the rapper, Ramos reiterated that “the cruelty of the dictatorship has no limits. She stressed: “Cuba will put on trial a person who is sick, who is innocent and that the UN itself demanded that he be released.”

Translated by Norma Whiting

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Cameras in Every Corner and Sky-high Prices in a New Hotel Owned by the Cuban Military

Hotel Grand Aston La Habana, located on the Malecón, between 1st and D. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 18 March 2022 — The employees of the luxurious Grand Aston La Habana hotel, inaugurated this Thursday on the Malecón, between 1st and D, received the few clients this Friday between bows. “Come in, ma’am,” said one of the employees offering antibacterial gel, while two others joined their hands and bent their body over Japanese style.

All of them introduced themselves with their names before addressing those who entered, an unusual deference in a country where familiarity with strangers has long been generalized.

Not surprisingly, the establishment is presented on its website as “a refuge where you can relax and recharge, while experiencing its glamour.” Thanks to the site, it is possible to know that the cheapest room costs 179 dollars per night, those with sea views, 244 dollars, and the most luxurious, located on the upper floors and with “VIP” service with “improved continental breakfast,” go as high as 282 dollars.

Similarly, the site claims to have “an infinity pool” whose view merges with the sea, a spa that offers “Asian healing techniques” and a restaurant on the 25th floor from which to watch the sunset. None of this, however, can be seen by anyone who is not a customer of the hotel, unlike what happens in any other establishment of this type in the world. continue reading

“Oh, no, ma’am, at the moment external customers cannot access the pool,” insisted the receptionist, after a call to her superiors, speaking to a customer who insisted on enjoying breakfast with a view. “Later on I think so, keep calling,” she asked, while she summoned her to breakfast on the terrace, which opened at 11:00 in the morning.

“At first they tell you yes you can eat, but when you talk to them and they realize that you are not a foreigner, the answers change,” said Alberto, a Havanan who, together with a friend, tried the coffee on the hotel terrace this Friday. “It’s a mistreatment that they don’t let you in the pool,” he lamented.

This young man finds it striking that, despite the gigantic size of the establishment, neatly decorated in a style reminiscent of the original buildings of El Vedado, where it is located, there is no shopping center. “I don’t know if they want to separate external customers, as they call them, who are the ones who generally go to shop at those stores,” he sneered. “It seems that they want to distance themselves from us fifth-class citizens.”

But if something caught his attention, it was the number of cameras scattered around every corner. “It’s very uncomfortable,” he confesses. “You feel watched, harassed. It looks more like a military unit than a hotel.”

**Only four hotel clients could be seen this Friday, all foreigners, and of them, two women who, just one day after it was inaugurated, were already leaving with their suitcases. (14ymedio)**

On the terrace, the prices did justice to the name of the restaurant: Oro (Gold). Although a cappuccino, for example, costs “only” 143 pesos, the simplest cocktail, with rum, goes for 350 pesos, an “iced submarine” it is 520 pesos and other drinks made with wine reach 620 pesos. Payment must be exclusively by card.

If you ask for food, the cost is unaffordable. “Croquettes at 500 pesos plus 10 percent,” another source who tried the place told 14ymedio. “They’re called ’sweet’ on the menu and they should be called ’killers.’” And he concludes: “They don’t even have a natural juice on the menu, just ten or twelve things through the roof.”

Only four hotel clients could be seen this Friday, all foreigners, and of them, two women who, just one day after it was inaugurated, were already leaving with their suitcases.

As happened with the Axel Hotel Telegraph, and despite the hype with which it was announced in the official press, the Grand Aston was not ready to open its doors on March 15 — the day that the employees told to this newspaper that it would open — but rather two days later. On Tuesday, several workers were still putting the finishing touches on the place, which did not allow entry.

The opening of this hotel in the capital, with 600 rooms and unattainable prices for national pockets, shows that the Cuban Military-run Business Administration Group SA (Gaesa) does not give up its efforts to increase hotel capacity this year, up to almost 85,000 more rooms, 5.7% more than the previous year, despite the fact that the figures indicate that tourism in Cuba is going through a debacle.

The military conglomerate has partnered this time with the Indonesian company Archipiélago International, which has four other accommodations on the island: Aston Panorama in Havana, Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas in Cayos de Villa Clara, Aston Costa Verde in Holguín and a large resort in Varadero.

Two of them, by the way, the one in Varadero and the one in Villa Clara, were sanctioned by the US in 2019 for violating the provisions of the embargo on Cuba.

With the Grand Aston Havana, the Asian company promises “uniquely designed architecture” and “a modern lifestyle.” “The modern life of another city, other than this one,” laments Alberto. “Another city, in another part of the world.”

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Dutch Diplomat Bastiaan Engelhard Awarded for his Support for Freedom in Cuba

Bastiaan Engelhard (right) with the journalist Luz Escobar and the artist Julio Llopiz-Casal. (Courtesy)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 March 2022 — Dutchman Bastiaan Engelhard has been awarded the Prize for Diplomacy Committed to Human Rights in Cuba, which is awarded every year by the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (Cadal).

The news was made public this Friday by the organization, which with this award aims to recognize the work of accredited diplomats on the island whose work has been characterized by their support for those who fight for democracy in Cuba and their defense of the human rights.

Engelhard, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Havana, was widely chosen among the diplomats nominated by a group of activists called by Cadal to serve as the jury.

Independent artist Iris Ruiz, from the San Isidro Movement, noted that the Dutchman “provided support to independent activists and journalists even in the most complex scenarios,” including “house arrests,” circumstances “in which he was present.”

“He also mediated and echoed the demands for cultural rights and the free expression of artists and intellectuals before the Cuban Government, and showed his personal concern in each case of arbitrariness in relation to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the San Isidro Movement,” Ruiz detailed. continue reading

Dagoberto Valdés, from the Center for Coexistence Studies in Pinar del Río, stressed that Engelhard “accompanied and helped numerous activists” and that “he established direct and effective communication with independent journalists, opponents, and civil society groups.”

“His open, systematic and intelligent commitment to human rights activists, cultural actors and the pro-democracy community has made a difference in recent years,” declared Manuel Cuesta Morúa, spokesman for the Progressive Arch.

Reinaldo Escobar, editorial chief of 14ymedio, explained that the Dutch diplomat was chosen because in the midst of the persecution of civil society activists and independent journalists, “he made an appearance at their homes to support them and find out how to help.”

Similarly, Camila Acosta, a reporter for CubaNet, emphasized that Engelhard “was one of the diplomats in Cuba who was most supportive of independent activists and journalists” and said that “periodically he communicated with several of us, invited us to the residence or embassy to activities or closed meetings.”

The honoree, for his part, thanked the jury for the award. “Each one of them works hard for freedom in Cuba,” he said. “Not only for freedom of expression, of the press and artistic freedom, but also for having the freedom to create an initiative independent of the State, form a new foundation or be able to protest on public roads. To enter and leave their own country freely. These are not privileges, they are universal rights, embodied in laws and treaties, but unfortunately not respected.”

And, he denounced: “We still see with sadness how the arbitrary arrests continue, people leaving their homeland, the regulated [forbidden to travel], acquaintances imprisoned or under house arrest.”

Engelhard, who studied economics before being assigned to Cuba in 2017, worked at Dutch diplomatic missions in Mozambique, Brazil and Central America. In addition, he worked as a political adviser in the Delegation of the European Union in Guatemala.

This is the second diplomat from the Netherlands to receive this award, after Caecilia Wijgers, who received it in 2009-2010 together with a colleague from Sweden, Ingemar Cederberg, and another from Germany, Volker Pellet.

In its seven editions, between 2003 and 2021, 15 diplomats have been awarded for their work committed to human rights in Cuba, “one of them anonymously,” says the organization.

Cadal has also awarded Chilean writer Jorge Edwards, author of Persona non grata, for his pioneering work in supporting dissident intellectuals in the early years of the Cuban Revolution when he was Chile’s chargé d’affaires in Havana.

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Rosalia, a Forgotten Hamlet in the Center of Cuba

One of the homes in the forgotten Rosalía hamlet, in Camajuaní. (Yankiel Gutierrez Faife)

14ymedio, Yankiel Gutiérrez Faife, Camajuaní (Villa Clara), 19 March 2022 — Rosalía is a rural area in Camajuaní, poor and in decline, like so many small towns in Cuba. This place, full of history, was prosperous thanks to the sugar industry, but today is almost abandoned by its population, despite its good land and cool climate.

In its best times, the place in the province of Villa Clara had a center for the collection of its production and a railway, with its switch, which today is just ruins; there was an infirmary for small aid, which disappeared and even the primary school has been threatened with disappearance. The place is so small that it only has one road with the occasional bog, which makes it difficult for its citizens to circulate.

Transportation is by family carts and bicycles, but not everyone has one. Years ago there was a public bus with several daily frequencies, but over time it decreased and it only came “when it could.” After the pandemic, it was eliminated and has left residents without any means of transportation.

Every morning some children, young people and adults are seen at the door of the bodega, next to the embankment, hoping that someone driving by will kindly do them the favor of taking them to Taguayabón, the neighboring town, where their schools are and where there is the highway that connects Camajuaní and Remedios. continue reading

Elisa is one of those few young women with a bicycle and every day, at 5:00 am, she pedals the four kilometers to reach the highway, where she will board a transport to get to her work as a seamstress.

Like her, there are other women who work in the outskirts and take their children to school by bicycle.

Those who decide to stay in Rosalía continue to farm and keep their cattle. (Yankiel Gutierrez Faife)

The oblivion in which Rosalía has been left makes many of its inhabitants think of migrating, even four kilometers away, to Taguayabón, where life becomes easier.

Others, despite the shortcomings, are committed to continuing to keep their farms full of crops, cattle, horses, birds or beehives. This is the case of Lele, as his neighbors affectionately call him, a man who has been a beekeeper for 10 years and, between September and November, loads his oxcart with the tools to collect honey.

Lele delivers his product to the State, which will export it to the European market and Rosalía’s honey will end up being sold in a German market at a price that the beekeeper cannot even imagine and of which he receives a minimal part.

Juan, another resident of Rosalía, survives thanks to the small farm inherited from his grandparents and his crops of cassava, peanuts and, sometimes, beans, which help him feed his family and face the widespread shortages on the Island.

In the countryside, products such as oil, which reaches 600 or even 700 pesos when it is found, are even more scarce than in the cities.

Despite all the difficulties, Lele, Elisa and Juan have made the decision to continue with their lives in Rosalía and have resisted the temptation to move to Taguayabón, as many of their neighbors have done in search of services that no longer exist in their little hamlet.

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Cuba’s Official Year-on-Year Inflation Stood at 23 Percent in February

A Cuban woman paid 5 pesos a pound for potatoes in February, since the price increased. (14ymedio)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 19 March 2022 — Year-on-year inflation rose 23.03% in Cuba in February, according to a statement from the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei).

As official media reported this Friday, the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) compared to January was 0.90%, according to official data, which does not include the fluctuations experienced by the island’s extended informal market.

Thus, the inter-annual CPI in February, although high, is significantly lower than in January, which the National Office of Statistics and Information placed at 54.82%.

Accumulated inflation so far this year stands at 1.05%, when at the same point in 2021 it was at 45.65%. continue reading

By categories, recreation and culture rose 61.90% in inter-annual terms in February, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages (41.87%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (23.67%) and restaurants and hotels (14.72 %).

Only the prices in the health category registered reductions, falling by 10.36%, according to the same office.

Cuba is going through a serious economic crisis due to the combination of the pandemic, US sanctions and errors in national macroeconomic policy.

The situation is characterized by scarcity, the partial dollarization of the economy and a sharp increase in prices.

According to official figures, inflation in regulated commerce was around 70% in 2021 as a whole. Some estimates put the figure in the informal market at around 500%.

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Mother of Young Man Sentenced to Prison for July 11th is Hospitalized After a Suicide Attempt

A change of precautionary measure was approved for Castro on March 10 after she was detained for almost 15 days by State Security. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 19 March 2022 — Yudinela Castro Pérez, mother of the 18-year-old political prisoner Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro and a protester on July 11, has been admitted to the Julio Trigo hospital in Havana, after she made an attempt on her life. According to family sources confirmed to 14ymedio , Castro is out of danger.

“She is already recovering. She is under treatment in the Julio Trigo psychiatric ward,” says María Teresa Pérez, Castro’s mother. The woman, a leukemia patient, has also suffered several crises due to this condition in recent months.

A change of precautionary measure was approved for Castro on March 10 after she was held for almost 15 days by State Security in the Cuban capital. She is currently under investigation for an alleged crime of contempt.

She had been arrested on February 24 in the morning hours, activist Arián Cruz, Tata Poet, reported then, explaining that she was transferred to Villa Marista, a center known as the State Security headquarters in Havana. Cruz later reported that, after six days of investigation, the mother had been presented with “contempt charges.” continue reading

Since her son was taken to jail, Castro has denounced each of the injustices that have been committed against the young man and has not stopped demanding his freedom. In an interview with 14ymedio, she reported threats from State Security if she continued “demanding and protesting” in favor of the young man.

She has also denounced “the lies” of the regime told in the trial that was held against her son Rowland, accused of sedition and with an initial prosecutor’s request of 23 years, later reduced to 12.

On several occasions, Castro has been arbitrarily detained by State Security officials for interrogation, but she has always warned that “no matter what it costs” nothing will stop her in her fight for her son’s freedom.

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Havana’s Ecotaxis Will Hire 25 Drivers for the New Routes in Boyeros

In the center of Havana currently 23 Ecotaxis operate. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2022 — The Ecotaxis network is looking for 25 new drivers in Havana. According to the State newspaper Granma, the drivers will operate the new routes that will connect Fontanar, the Abel Santamaría neighborhood and Wajay, in the municipality of Boyeros.

The current drivers, who go from the National Bus terminal to the train station, say they need assistants who can replace the drivers when they are not there.

The lack of personnel means that in Havana there are “eight vehicles not operating,” one of the drivers tells this newspaper.

The Taxis-Cuba company, in charge of electric tricycles, highlights that those who apply must, among other requirements, be between 18 and 50 years of age, have no criminal record and have a motorcycle and car license, in addition to three years driving experience in at least one of the two categories.

The current employees report that the experience they are asking for is about five years, and that to apply for the job “you have to go to Ayestarán.”

As this newspaper reported five months after the Ecotaxi service was inaugurated in October 2020, the taxi fare costs four pesos and each tricycle can carry six passengers. Thus, in a trip, a driver can earn 24 pesos, which adds up to 432 after completing the 18 trips of the day. continue reading

However, the license holders must deliver 125 pesos to the company and subtract 10% from the difference, which goes to the National Tax Administration Office. The assistants, in addition, must give 300 pesos to the company and this reduces their income (132 pesos).

The leased transport company ensures that each driver travels 100 kilometers on average, during eight working hours, but that “income depends on the capacity and commitment to work.”

“In 2021 alone, more than 92,200 trips were made and just over 724,160 passengers were transported, without emissions of polluting gases into the environment,” the company proclaims.

In the center of Havana, 23 vehicles of this type currently operate, and most of their drivers previously belonged to the Cocotaxis tourist line.

The Ecotaxi project, financed mainly by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to “promote the empowerment of women” — is why all the drivers are women — has been criticized for not being as “green” as announced in the posted advertisements.

The solar panels that are supposed to be used for recharging are still not working, and the batteries are recharged connected to the national electricity system, which is supplied by 95% fossil fuels.

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Panama Exempts From Transit Visas Cubans Who Return to the Island

Hundreds of Cubans stood outside the embassy soon as they learned of the new requirement demanded by Panama to transit through its territory. (14ymedio)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana 17 March 2022 — The Government of Panama has established a new norm for Cuban citizens that exempts them from the obligation to carry a visa to travel through the territory of that Central American country upon their return to the Island.

Under the signature of the Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo, and the Minister of Public Security, Juan Manuel Pino, the new text published on Wednesday in the Official Gazette, modifies the previous provision, which since March 8 required a transit visa for all Cuban passengers and crew.

This Executive Decree also includes in the exception of the requirement to obtain visas to citizens who have Valid Residence or Multiple Visa, previously used in the State that granted it, valid for no less than six months at the time of transit, by other countries.

In this group are the current residents or those with multiple visas issued by the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Singapore and the member countries of the European Union. continue reading

The measure will not serve to satisfy the population that, since last week, has been experiencing the imposition of transit visas for Cubans who pass through Panama, since most of them are looking to leave Cuba.

Hundreds of people who had purchased a ticket to emigrate to Nicaragua, which maintains the visa exemption for Cubans, were surprised by the new requirement. One of the few ways to get to Managua is through Copa Airlines, which stops in Panama, especially since Costa Rica, in February, also began to require the transit document.

For at least four days, many Cubans crowded as close as the Police allowed them to get to the diplomatic headquarters of Panama, where they demanded solutions and answers.

The director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Ernesto Soberón, insisted that he would mediate to relax the demands that initially came into force immediately, although new dates had been established later to try to calm travelers.

Cubans who planned to travel between March 16 and 31 must reschedule their flights with the Copa airline, which offers connections at times for two or more months, and process their visas, which cost $50.

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In Havana Appointments for Mexican Visas Appear to be ‘Sold Out’ in Less Than a Day

Attention to the public in the last two years at the consular headquarters has been repeatedly interrupted due to the spike in coronavirus. (Archive)

14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2022 — Hundreds of Cubans denounced this Monday that they could not access the website set up by the Mexican embassy on the island to request a consular appointment for the month of April. The diplomatic headquarters announced at the beginning of the month that from Monday, at 4 pm, the new procedures could be scheduled. By 6:00 am on Tuesday, the appointments appear exhausted

Yesterday, the new web address announced by the embassy, citacuba.sre.gob.mx, had difficulties loading and was displaying messages such as “connection failed,” “error 20.”. Other problems were being able to enter user data but then not being able to continue.

“It’s always the same. And this has been denounced even in collective letters to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and nothing happens,” the Cuban journalist based in Mexico, José Raúl Gallego, complained on his Twitter account, showing screenshots with failed attempts to access the site.

“Corruption continues with total impunity,” added Gallego, in a clear allusion to the usual complaints about the illegal sale in Havana of consular appointments, which can cost up to 1,500 dollars. continue reading

In the last two years, services to the public at the consular headquarters have been repeatedly interrupted due to the spike in coronavirus in both Cuba and Mexico. In January 2021, the Mexican government decided to suspend “until further notice” all consular and immigration services. It was not until the end of last December that Mexico notified that it would enable appointments for the first days of 2022 and only for legalization of documents and visa applications.

Several Cubans residing on the island, who are undergoing family reunification processes, have also denounced that the opening of appointments has coincided this Monday with “one of the worst days of internet connection.”

“The connection has deteriorated in recent weeks, it’s slow, there are constant crashes when browsing the web on mobile phones, but today it’s gone to extremes,” one of those affected tells 14ymedio. Users on the island “find it doubly difficult to make an appointment,” on the one hand, they insists, “the site is collapsed,” but on the other, “Cubans’ Internet access is very limited.”

Despite these drawbacks, poor service from the Consulate was already a constant before the pandemic. Getting an interview at the embassy was always difficult due to problems in the electronic system, delays with applications, or the resale of appointments on the informal market.

Cubans initially had to go to the site of the National Migration Institute to schedule a date, but the Embassy created the Appointments-Cuba page in the Mexitel system at the beginning of 2020 to speed up the procedures.

However, several independent media have reported that the number of appointments remains limited and intermediaries continue to charge excessive amounts of money to those who want to arrange one.

For the month of April, only 1,217 appointments for visas and legalization of seals and signatures were enabled, according to the embassy. “Appointments for the month of May will be opened at a later date,” it informed.

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In 2021 Cuba Detected the Highest Number of Dengue Mosquitos in 15 Years

The ’Aedes aegypti’ mosquito, responsible for the transmission of dengue and zika viruses. (James Gathany)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana 17 March 2022 — In 2021, Cuba detected the highest number of breeding sites for the mosquitoes that transmit the dengue virus in the last 15 years, as confirmed this Wednesday by the Island’s Ministry of Public Health.

In a statement, the Ministry indicated that 71.1% of the mosquito breeding sites were detected in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín and Villa Clara.

In addition, the highest incidence was found during the months of June, September and October of last year.

The Ministry’s press release clarifies that, as of September, dengue cases were reduced by 29.3% compared to 2020, although without citing the figures.

In addition, it reported that the presence of the mosquito that transmits the viral disease has been increasing since 2007. continue reading

On the other hand, the health authorities point out that there are no records of other arboviruses — transmitted by insects, such as the mosquito — such as chikungunya and zika since 2019 and 2017, respectively.

They also alerted to the fact that that in seven out of ten cases, larvae of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are detected in water storage tanks.

According to the Ministry, during 2021 in the American continent, 1,173,674 cases of dengue, 131,630 of chikungunya and 18,804 of zika were detected.

In January, a pilot trial of a nuclear technique by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) culminated in Cuba with almost 1.3 million mosquitoes, and managed to reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti species by up to 90%.
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