Apartheid at Cuba’s Capitol

A group of tourists taking photos in front of the Capitol in Havana.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, October 17,  2021 — On Saturday Havana residents were astonished to see a group of tourists posing for photos in front of the Capitolio, the Cuban capitol building.

“Because they’re foreigners, they have the right to walk along the sidewalk in front of the capitol and take photos while they intimidate me and make sure I’m only carrying a cell phone in my hand,” says one young man walking in front of the building which houses the National Assembly.

On July 11 a large crowd of demonstrators crying “freedom” almost reached the steps of the iconic building, where they were reprimanded and arrested by police. Since then, the streets surrounding the building have been heavily guarded. For more than three months no Cuban citizen has been allowed to even walk on any of the sidewalks encircling it.

With less than a month to go before a November 15 march organized by a group called Archipelago, officials have stepped up security in this area of Havana, where a 14ymedio reporter counted twenty police and soldiers blocking access to anyone who might try to approach the imposing building, especially if they are young.

“It’s obvious they’re afraid of us. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t let tourists go near it either. They won’t even let us to rollerblade on the Paseo del Prado like we’ve done for years,” observes one boy. “The police treat us like we’re criminals.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Prepaid Cards, Another Desperate Attempt to Prevent Gasoline Theft in Cuba

Though officials have stepped up inspections, Cupet gas stations are still accepting cash payments “on the side.” (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, October 14, 2021 — In spite of strenuous efforts by the government, Cubans remain reluctant to stop using cash to buy gasoline. A policy requiring customers to pay by card at Cupet service stations, which are operated by state-owned conglomerate Cimex, was expected to take effect by December 2020. The policy is far from being implemented, however, and continues to arouse misgivings among the public.

Those misgivings were acknowledged this week by Villa Clara’s official press, which reported that forty-one of the fifty-five gas stations in the province only accept payment by magnetic or disposable prepaid cards. “At the moment the process has slowed down because we are not accustomed to this new form of payment,” admitted Eduardo Acosta, Cimex’s regional sales manager, on a local CMHW radio broadcast, adding that not all filling stations have been able to install scanners for the cards’ QR code.

He noted that, as with any new measure, there is widespread resistance but that this was now government policy and part of the “reordenamiento“(reordering).*

In a later exchange, reporter Abel Falcon expressed skepticism of Acosta’s explanation: “It’s a tactic to prevent what’s been going on, which is the illegal diversion of gasoline.” He added, “The administrative bureaucracy often moves too slowly and creates bottlenecks. Then Cubans wonder why they have to pay for other people’s mistakes.”

“If you could get the card anywhere in Havana, it wouldn’t be a problem,” says a taxi driver who works in the capital. “The problem is continue reading

that it’s not for sale at every Cupet station. You get there, wait hours in line and then you have to turn around and try to find it somewhere else. And they don’t tell you whether they accept cash or not.”

Acosta addressed this issue during the radio interview, claiming the company was in talks with the state telecommunications company Etesca to sell cards through their retail branches.

When Cimex announced the new payment system in March 2020, it gave vague reasons for “modernizing the network” without providing further information. It made the announcement the day before Cuba closed its borders to tourism in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The pandemic caused the company to postpone the rollout from August to December, at which time it also introduced disposable or “scratch” cards, which reveal a unique number when scratched. They work like a prepaid phone card and can be purchased in 25, 75, 125, 250, 500 or 1,250-peso denominations.

“There’s another problem,” adds the taxi driver. “You have use the entire amount on the card. For example, if you have a card for 500 liters, you can’t buy 250 and use the rest later. Or if you have a twenty-liter card but your car only needs fifteen, what are you supposed to do with the rest? You have to carry an empty plastic jug just in case. And no car in Cuba will tell you exactly how many liters you have left, especially an old one.”

“The cards are taking up a lot of our time because you have to go through the system and sometimes the system is down,” adds another taxi driver, who joined the conversation. He cites power outages, which are happening with increasing frequency on the island, as one of the causes. “You buy a card and then you can’t pump the gas. It’s a very modern system but we don’t have the technology to handle it. If we’re having problems now, imagine what it’ll be like with the new one.”

“This is not about making life better for the customer or facilitating anything,” says the first driver. “The only reason they have for doing this is to prevent people from stealing gasoline. They’ve tried to do it a thousand times before but have no idea what they’re doing.”

The crusade against corruption at Cupet stations was famously launched back in 2005 by Fidel Castro himself, who sent thousands of “social workers” to gas stations in an effort to prevent fuel theft. “It ended up being a total failure,” says Lizy, an employee at a gas station in the capital, “because social workers started getting in on the action.”

These groups, a Cuban version of Mao’s Red Guards, are the same ones who used to distribute home appliances to neighborhoods from which the government recruited the shock troops it deployed to suppress dissent. They too ended up being part of the network of corruption, diverting resources to the black market. Less than a decade later, few of those workers are still employed at gas stations. Embezzlement even made some of them millionaires.

Lizy confirms that working at a Cupet station “has a lot of benefits.” She claims that, in a few months, employees can go “from a scooter to a car to a house.”

Authorities have stepped up inspections and Lizy acknowledges things have become quite difficult but, she claims, “Business will go on and it won’t matter that there’s no cash.”

The “business” to which she refers begins once fuel is delivered to the station. “For example, the delivery man tells [the station employee], ‘There are 150 liters of oil and 100 liters of gasoline here for you. You have to pay me X amount.’ [The employee] pays him his share and it then it gets sold under the table. From there the money is distributed. That’s how it’s always worked,” she explains

Though payment by card is being required, customers “know the ropes” and some ask to pay in cash. “Nothing has changed. The money is still going to Cupet workers,” she says.

*Translator’s note: The comment refers to the Tarea ordenamiento, the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ which is a collection of measures that includes eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and  many others throughout the economy. 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

“I Use My Visibility to Make the World Understand That in Cuba There is A Dictatorship”

Saily González:, owner of Amarillo B&B, in Santa Clara, and creator of the Telegram channel for entrepreneurs Amarillo y Medio. (Facebook / Saily.de.Amarillo.BandB)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 16 October 2021 — Just a few days ago Saily González announced the closure of her private business. After more than five years of service the Amarillo B&B, a hostel in Santa Clara, stopped offering its tasty breakfasts. The reason is neither the pandemic nor the difficulties in obtaining raw materials, but the lack of freedom.

This was not a final goodbye; González placed a condition on the reopening–that in Cuba “the rights of all Cubans to think and to speak  be respected.” On this occasion, she talks to 14ymedio about the causes for such a drastic decision, her activism, and the call to march on November 15th.

14ymedio. Since the easing of restrictions on self-employment in the 1990s, many have pointed to the private sector as conservative, static, and at times “complicit” with the ruling party. Do you also see it that way? Why do you think most business owners are so wary of national politics?

González. I cannot speak about the entire period since the 90s, but, rather, since I started in this world, in approximately 2014, when I became aware that I really was an entrepreneur. Most business owners are very cautious when it’s time to speak; they take great care, because they know that they operate on the margins of legality. It has always been this way and will continue to be despite the new law allowing micro, small and medium enterprises. Because legally obtaining necessary supplies and materials to carry out any type of entrepreneurial initiative is a headache. It is very easy for them to question you either because you are carrying out an activity that is illegal, or because the materials or supplies that you are using for your production are illegal. And so far there is no functional wholesale market that allows you to justify what you need for production.

14ymedio. Engaging in activism in Havana is one thing – there are embassies, foreign reporters and a growing number of independent organizations – but being a critic of the system in a provincial capital or in a small town is something else, much harder. What has been your experience?

González. I engage in political activism in Villa Clara because that is where I live; I would have done it similarly whether I lived in Mayarí Arriba or in Havana. It is not about doing it because you live in a specific place, it is about doing it for the rights of all Cubans, no matter where they live. Doing it here is difficult, but I have been a serious continue reading

entrepreneur for years, and in that sense I can count on a lot of support from the community.

What happened after July 11, when they began to tell that string of lies on national television, is what led me to engage in hypercritical activism

14ymedio. Saying goodbye to an entrepreneurial project that still has a long way to go is like “pulling the rug out from under” in the middle of this crisis. What was your internal process when making the decision to close Amarillo B&B?

González. My economic situation is not among the worst in Cuba at the moment. If something really hurt me, it was having to say goodbye to the workers, people I have been with for five to six years. One of them is a single mother of three children, and her only job is as a cleaning assistant in the Municipal Assembly of the People’s Power, where she makes just 1,900 pesos. That shocked me. However, I received their support, and I made a commitment to them to find other ways in which they could make money, for example by recommending them to other businesses that remain open in Santa Clara.

On the other hand, I consider the way I act and my vision at the moment to be fairly coherent. I try to use my visibility to make the world understand that there is a dictatorship in Cuba and that without rights we cannot live or carry out any activity of any kind.

14ymedio: What was your path to arrive at this civic attitude? Do you remember a day, a moment or any circumstance that made you cross the red line and engage in visible activism?

González. At the beginning of this year, they decided to limit economic activity in Santa Clara. At that moment I began to strongly question the municipal and provincial government. These questions earned me the occasional appointment with the State Security, in which they questioned my position; not so much because of the things I said, but the way I was saying them, when I’d call them “asses with claws,” or when I rebuked them saying that a particular cadre within the Party is not prepared to lead.

But fundamentally, what led me to speak so directly and to engage in hypercritical activism, basically with the aim of telling the truth which they do not allow, was what happened after July 11, when they began to tell that string of lies on national television and I heard one neighbor tell another that those who had taken to the streets were vandals and criminals. That seemed very unfair to me and I felt that I had to tell the truth. Once you enter into this there is no going back, you can do it and say I am not going to talk anymore, but I feel that it is my right because I feel free and it is necessary for us in Cuba to finally understand and perceive ourselves as citizens with rights and act accordingly. Within that recognition of our rights lies the end of the dictatorship and our ability to achieve democracy.

On the other hand, I feel supported following recent events, which occurred at the international level in the political sphere, such as President Lacalle’s words at CELAC and the European Union’s declaration regarding human rights in Cuba

14ymedio: Since you took on that position, what have been the personal and family costs?

González: I am lucky to have friends and family who in a certain way share my thinking or at least respect it and do not question it. I have only had one confrontation with a relative, but coincidentally it is one of these people who say that families do not subtract or divide, but rather add and multiply, and we left it there. My friends, either completely share my thinking and what I say, or they respect it and keep it on the sidelines, but without refusing to interact with me or anything like that.

The fundamental cost is the guilt: the guilt that my mother cannot have a normal life as  she did before July 11th, the guilt of seeing her worried or sad because my brother is also in danger. He just graduated medical school; he is an excellent person and very dedicated to his profession, but he is also in danger of being questioned because of the things his sister says. He of course defends me, although he is among those who think that no one can topple this.

14ymedio: 15N [November 15] is already causing nervousness in the regime, but it [the regime] also seems to be preparing “all in” for a confrontation. Aren’t you afraid of a massacre, an unpredictable social conflict or a new Black Spring?

González: Perhaps due to my low perception of risk, which is innate in me, the fear dissipates more and more. Also because I feel protected by all the visibility we are getting at the international level, by all the press coverage we are getting, for example, this is one of five interviews I have today, all of them mainly about 15N. We are receiving a lot of support from independent Cuban media and foreign media. On the other hand, I feel supported following recent events, which occurred at the international level in the political sphere, such as President Lacalle’s words at CELAC and the European Union’s declaration regarding human rights in Cuba on September 16th, and more things that keep coming up.

Work is being carried out from within Cuba, but also from outside. In other words, I perceive a willingness of the Cuban diaspora, of the Cuban exile community to support us with their own political activism, perhaps some more than others, but they support this 15N initiative, and that greatly protects us and will prevent a possible massacre, because the world is waiting.

14ymedio: What are you afraid of when you think of 15N? What excites you most about that date?

González: My greatest fear is that they will not allow me to leave the house that day, and in that sense I think it is dangerous, because even as we appeal to people to march as a recognition of their rights, there is this kind of caudillo mentality which is chronic in Cuban society. What excites me most, on the other hand, is that  whatever happens in Cuba on 15N will be a victory for civil society, for citizens, because either the march demanding their rights will go well, or it will be a good demonstration that there is a dictatorship here that does not permit minorities to have right, which is the reason to demonstrate on 15N, we have rights.

Only with rights and freedom can we make Cuba a prosperous nation, because these necessarily lead to democracy and this is what will allow Cuba to never again be ruled by inept people.

14ymedio: Leave? Stay? Any advice for a restless entrepreneur eager to prosper and also have civil liberties?

González: The only valid advice for any Cuban seeking prosperity, whether an entrepreneur or even a state worker, is to fight for their rights, to raise their voices, less fear and more solidarity. Fear condemns our people, solidarity is saving us, it is helping us to achieve rights for all. Only with rights and freedom can we make Cuba a prosperous nation, because these necessarily lead to democracy and this is what will allow Cuba to never again be ruled by inept people, as it has been for the last 62 years.

14ymedio: You use the word “yellow” not only to name your business: you also have a Telegram channel called Amarillo y Medio [Yellow and a Half], why?

González. The story is not that interesting; it’s basically because we had yellow items in the house and we liked that word and so we decided to use it. I speak of “us” because it is a business that I share with my boyfriend, Antoine Hernández. In August 2019 we decided to register amarillo [yellow] with the Industrial Property Office (IPO) and we have been in that process ever since.

The Telegram channel is fundamentally for entrepreneurs, and I named it Amarillo y Medio [Yellow and a Half] because it’s a communication channel for Cuban entrepreneurs. I believe that until then, with the exception of two or three initiatives, which I do not trust much as they are too close to the dictatorship, entrepreneurs did not have their own space. Then, after July 11th, I decided to include space for debate, because most of the entrepreneurs who participate in the channel are interested in issues related to citizenship. “Saily de Amarillo,” because I’m Saily from the Amarillo businesses, and also, it just sounds good.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Chicken for Sale in Taguasco Causes Commotion

Chicken was for sale at the Caribe chain’s Nueva Imagen store. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Mercedes Garcia, Sancti Spiritus, October 14, 2021 — For many residents of Taguasco in Sancti Spiritus province, their town is peaceful to the point of being silent. So it can be big news if a spectacular car accident occurs on the section of the central highway that passes through the area. Or if a lot of travelers stop at one of the restaurants on the edge of the highway to get eat something to eat.

However, a bigger uproar echoed through corners of this small town on Tuesday: there was chicken for sale. With ration books in hand, two households could get a box of it at the Caribe chain’s Nueva Imagen store and then divide it in half.

Chicken, which rarely appears at unrationed state-run stores, has seldom been seen for months, particularly in a town like Taguasco. Unlike in provincial capitals, where consumer products come on market with greater frequency, supply here is sporadic.

It has been virtually impossible for consumers  to buy whole boxes of chicken in recent years. Due to the country’s economic crisis, only small packets of a few kilograms can be found at the network of state-run stores. And only hard currency stores are still selling continue reading

whole chickens, chicken breasts and quarters.

The chaotic waiting line lasted until supplies ran out. As always, there was no shortage of people trying to crash it. (14ymedio)

Hence the commotion in Taguasco, not only because the long-awaited animal protein suddenly appeared but also because customers were allowed to buy it in greater volume.

The chaotic waiting line lasted until supplies ran out. There was no shortage of people trying to crash it. Someone in line left, disrupting the order and leaving things even more disorganized, with arguments erupting among those still waiting.

For more than a year, the provincial government has required consumers to present a ration card before being allowed to buy unrationed essentials. The measure was adopted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and, according to authorities, would allow for “greater control and equitable distribution.”

Since then there have been frequent complaints, as there were on Tuesday in Taguasco when some boxes of chicken ended up on the black market. The local press reported that someone who had bought the chicken was selling it outside a shopping mall without having taken any home.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Despite the Protocols the Cuban Government is Unable to Prevent the Diversion of Medicines

State agents try to control the pharmacy from the line, but the theft of medications continues. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 15 October 2021 — Cuban authorities are unable to stop the diversion of medications. Despite having a strict chain of control in place from the factory to the line at the pharmacy, the illegal sale of stolen drugs is not only evident in the courts, but also in conversations on any Cuban street.

The government website Cubadebate published an extensive and documented report today entitled Theft and illegal sale of medicines: The pains of the soul, in which it seeks answers to the failures that allow the scarce nationally produced medicines to be stolen for resale, mostly at exorbitant prices. The text investigates the specific situation of the province of Villa Clara, although it can be extended to the rest of the country. At the time the article was written, the province’s pharmacies stocked only 51% of the medicines in the basic table and were missing 132 products. In the case of controlled drugs, 85 in total, one-in-four, were missing.

The report is based on the idea that the country lacks drugs, a phenomenon fundamentally attributed, they emphasize, to the US embargo. Drugs, sometimes, must be imported from India or China, which slows down the transfer, they say, despite the fact that the majority of the international pharmaceutical industry acquires its products from these countries, the United States included.

But although it blames the empire, Cubadebate wonders why those that can be manufactured are stolen and someone is allowed to profit from that lack. On paper, it seems impossible that diversions continue reading

can occur. One just has to see how the process of moving the products from the marketing and distribution company works. There, the protocol indicates that each night there is an inventory. “All the lots are signed by the person who dispatched them and if there is a missing one, it is very easy to detect who handled the packages,” reveals one of the workers.

In addition, the drugs are also counted and weighed. Thus it was discovered, for example, the diversion of one hundred blister-packs of azithromycin that apparently arrived without problems but turned out to be empty. The newspaper has also spoken with an inspector who insists that his function is “to guarantee that the quantities assigned to each entity come out of the warehouses.”

Could the problem be a diversion along the highway? If the theory is strictly followed, this does not seem possible. The provincial director of the Medicines Marketing and Distribution Company (Emcomed) says that of some 20,000 monthly operations only 20 or 30 are questioned, and he also maintains that the drivers do not know their destination until the very moment they must start the route. Subsequently, customers have three days to report incidents and a report is sent with which to analyze and debug responsibilities.

“Here we have a digitized, but not automated, system that guarantees the control of the drugs to the final destination, because it offers traceability by batches and products. At the end of the day, the submajor inventory must coincide with the physical count. However We are aware that no process is infallible,” he says.

From here, the report points to pharmacies. Customers suspect that something is ‘leaking’ there too. They speculate on information boards with less than the real amount or shipments, below what is noted on the sales voucher.

According to an investigation carried out in Matanzas this summer, there are “deficiencies” in filling in the information of the prescriptions, the quantities sold are omitted or too many drugs are dispensed for a treatment. The director of the provincial company of Pharmacies and Optics of Villa Clara admits this situation, but argues that it is not common in 174 pharmaceutical establishments in the province. “Not even in good times have we managed to eradicate one hundred percent,” he accepts. And for him, the reason is clear: the lack of drugs is “the main incentive for most crimes.”

In mid-September, the Villa Clara Prosecutor’s Office accumulated 33 criminal proceedings related to the theft and diversion of medicines and other medical supplies, all of which are punishable by up to one year of deprivation of liberty or fines of up to 300 ‘shares’* or both. Also, two of these investigations are related to the sale of medicinal oxygen. One of those interviewed for the report, in fact, even paid 20,000 pesos for a cylinder for her father, sick with covid-19.

The authorities urge citizens who have news of these situations to complain because, although they claim to monitor the queues of pharmacies, they cannot easily demonstrate that an illegal operation is taking place. “Until the criminal act is proven, we adopt a prophylactic work with these people to prevent them from continuing with behaviors that may lead to a breach of the law. The objective is that whoever reaches the line is the one who needs the medicine and will receive it in the amount indicated,” it says.

The report details cases of thefts in the middle of the red zone, such as the case that led the agents to a vendor who offered more than 25 types of drugs that a nurse stole from an isolation center. Another example is that of an investigation in which 124,000 pesos were found linked to these illegal sales.

Professionals attribute these cases to the violation of the control mechanisms, the lack of demand and the absence or misrepresentation of data in store cards, pharmacies, medical prescriptions and medical records. But, once again, the lack of stocks, which leads patients to move to the black market. “I have seen doctors who have no choice but to suggest the black market. And that hurts a lot, both them and me!” one of the buyers tells Cubadebate, recognizing that social networks have become a good place to make these acquisitions, sometimes abusing necessity, but other times as a pure exchange.

“I sell medicines simply because people need them,” says another of the interviewees, a salesman. “Sometimes I have and I propose the medicines that come my way, although almost always in Internet groups I find advertisements looking for something. I write to those people and if it suits them we agree on the price, or if I deliver or not. Other times they contact me because they see what I have. Here they don’t ask many questions.”

In the extensive report, which covers multiple factors, there is only one question missing that Cubadebate does not investigate. If all the measures are so strict and “on paper the protocol looks almost invulnerable,” aren’t there too many people looking the other way to a situation that is vox populi? And, more importantly, why?

*Translator’s note: Cuba’s Criminal Code sets fines as a number of ‘shares’ (or ‘quotas’). Thus, the value of one share can be changed in one place in the code, modifying all the fines in the code.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Regime Change in Cuba with Support from a Foreign Power

Fidel Castro with Anastas Mikoyan during a visit to Cuba in 1966. (TASS)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, November 13, 2021 — Those who want to extract the country from the anomaly in which it has found itself for more than six decades are accused of trying to bring about regime change with the support of a foreign power.

Throughout Cuban history there have been numerous changes of government but only three have resulted in regime change. All had the participation or support of foreign powers.

The first and most obvious was the violent eradication of the indigenous community, the archipelago’s original inhabitants, by Spanish conquistadors, who established colonial rule.

The second was the rise of the Republic, which resulted from long years of war for independence culminating in intervention by the United States, which imposed the provisions of the Platt Amendment.

The third regime change formally took place on April 16, 1961 when, in front of a group of his armed followers, Fidel Castro announced the revolution was a socialist one. In his speech he declared, “We will defend this socialist revolution with rifles.” Rifles that — along with mortars, canons and tanks — flowed into the country from the Soviet Union, a foreign power whose history and culture we did not share.

Though Castro made his “proclamation” on that date, the turnaround had begun taking shape a year earlier. On February 4, 1960, Soviet Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan travelled to Cuba under the guise of opening an exhibition. During his visit, the first commercial agreement between Cuba and the USSR was signed. It involved the purchase of sugar, the sale of petroleum and machinery, and a loan of 100 million dollars. continue reading

Young Cubans still believed in Fidel but a visit by Soviet Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan raised their suspicions. (Courtesy of Alberto Muller)

The presence of Mikoyan, the man associated with the bloody suppression of the 1956 Hungarian revolt, disturbed many anti-communists. After the Soviet leader laid a wreath adorned with a hammer and sickle at the base of a statue of Jose Marti in Central Park, dozens of students from the University of Havana protested by trying to replace the wreath with one displaying the Cuban flag. The peaceful demonstration, the first organized display of opposition since 1959, was violently suppressed by police. About twenty people were detained.

Suspicions that Mikoyan’s presence in Havana was a portent of a communist future alarmed many. But skeptics thought that impossible. Just fifty-two days earlier, when he was testifying at the trial of Commander Huber Matos, Fidel Castro said that the greatest crime the defendant had committed was “to slander the revolution by calling it communist.”

Although the revolution’s confiscatory ambitions had already been demonstrated, particularly after the agrarian reform law which broke up large land holdings, the process accelerated after the Soviet official’s visit, notably with the decision to confiscate the property of those who had decided to go into exile.

Diplomatic relations with Moscow were restored in May 1960. Two months later American-owned Texaco and Esso oil refineries were confiscated as were those owned by Royal Dutch Shell. In August, American telephone and electricity companies along with thirty-six sugar refineries were nationalized. Finally, on October 13, all Cuban and foreign banks (though not Canadian banks) suffered the same fate, as did 382 other large companies that operated textile mills, railways, cinemas, department stores and breweries.

By the end of 1960, Cuba had established diplomatic relations with three other countries: China, North Korea and Vietnam.

In September 1960 Nikita Khruschev visited Fidel Castro at his hotel in New York several days after Castro had attended the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. Ten days earlier, the Soviet cargo ship Ilya Mietriov, under the command of Adolf Matiukin, had offloaded military supplies that would later be used by militiamen loyal to Castro at the Bay of Pigs.

A policeman fires shots into the air to break up a group of demonstrators offended by a wreath with a hammer and sickle laid at the base of a statue of Jose Marti. (Courtesy of Alberto Muller)

The cargo included the heavy T-34 tank, in which Fidel Castro arrived at the combat zone. Also included was an Su-100 tank from which, legend has it, the Cuban commander-in-chief attacked the Houston, a ship loaded with supplies intended for the men of Brigade 2506.

The invasion force was made up of Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. government who claimed their goal was to restore the 1940 Cuban constitution and prevent a communist takeover of Cuba. Official propanda labeled their efforts as nothing more than an attempt to “recover their properties.”

The process of expropriation that culminated in 1960 mortally wounded Cuban capitalism, which had thrived on the island for fifty-seven years, and represented a political and economic transition to socialism, with the unbridled support of the Soviet Union.

Fidel Castro’s formal proclamation on April 16, 1961 did not follow the protocol such a transformative action required. It was not preceded by debates among parliamentarians (nothing resembling a parliament even existed), it was not discussed among party leaders (a political organization had not yet been created), there was no discussion in the press (all publications were in government hands) and it was not submitted to a referendum. It was done as an irrevocable decision announced in front of his armed followers (something which bears repeating).

Documents have not been declassified that might show the regime change was “cooked up” in Moscow. But the time span between Mikoyan’s visit in February 1960 and Castro’’s to the Soviet Union in July of that year, when an arms deal was finalized, suggests the Cuban side had to provide guarantees that the military equipment would be in good hands.

It is hard to ignore the enormous weight Soviet support had on regime change in Cuba in the 1960s.

Accusations now being made by those in power that anyone who advocates for democracy on the island is supported by “Yankee imperialists” are a reminder that this caricature of socialism was imposed on Cuba with economic and military support from a foreign power — and an imperial power at that — thousands of miles away, with an ideology that does not reflect our traditions.

The decision to seek closer ties to that power affected relations with the United States and Latin American countries, and threatened world peace. It also forced hundreds of thousands of Cubans to flee the country and left the majority of the country mired in poverty.

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The Law of Supply and Demand Draws Cubans to Garage Sales

Garage sales have exploded since their formal authorization three months ago. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, October 12, 2021 — Clothes, shoes and small appliances, but also electrical outlets, a screw, hair clips, earrings, silicone, an ornamental plant, an old hookah and even a pre-1959 phone book. You can find anything at garage sales, which the government legalized on July 20 and are now proliferating across the island.

“In Cuba you can sell everything because no one has anything,” says a buyer from Central Havana who has become a regular customer at these types of businesses.

Retail merchandise for sale in Cuba’s national currency is in short supply. Increasingly, items such as shoes and clothing cannot be purchased with pesos and not everyone has the dollars needed to shop at the burgeoning hard currency stores. Customers can find products at online classified ad sites such as Revolico but prices there can be astronomical. As a result, garage sales, where prices are lower, have become an economical and pleasant shopping alternative for many Cubans, especially those most disadvantaged.

“Here in Central Havana, people are putting any little spare space to use. It could be a hallway next to a staircase, a tiny corner in a tenement or even empty building. A whole retail network has already sprung up,” say Iris, a vendor who, along with her cousins, has set up shop in a family member’s garage.

In a quick stroll through the neighborhood, 14ymedio found seven such operations.

Though garage sales have operated for years in Cuba — their popularity grew in 2013 after the government outlawed sales of imported goods in private stores, which were supplied by mules importing items from Mexico, Panama and Russia — they took off after being legalized as part of a package of emergency measures intended to calm public discontent after the July 11 demonstrations.

Though local authorities did not initially require sale organizers to obtain commercial licenses or register continue reading

as a self-employed workers, they were required to file permit applications with the Municipal Administrative Council and pay a fifty-peso fee. The fee requirement was subsequently waived on August 12 when the government updated the regulations.

There were, of course, other strict requirements. Items for sale had to be for domestic or personal use only — whether used, pre-owned or new — and transactions had to be carried out in garages, on front porches or in other residential areas in ways that did not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The resale of products purchased through the rationed market or in hard currency stores, such as toiletries and food, was prohibited.

Shortages are so acute, however, that there are some laws that not even sixty-two years of total state control can undo, such as the law of supply and demand.

“Everyone comes here,” says Iris of her fellow vendors. “They even sell toiletries the rationed stores sell: low-quality brands like Daily and Lis.” Inspectors do not bother them, she says, because Cubans’ need for basic products is so urgent.

One example is tobacco, a product so difficult to obtain that fights often break out when it goes on sale at state-owned stores. At one garage sale, customers could buy H. Uppmann filtered cigarettes for 160 pesos and unfiltered for 140. (The price is almost double at state stores.) The vendor has the items out on a counter, in full view. “If an inspector comes along, I tell him I’m a smoker and that they’re mine,”  explains the vendor, who asks to remain anonymous.

Augusto, another garage sale vendor from Nuevo Vedado, employs different strategies to avoid being fined. “You have to be very careful about what you display because obviously [the inspectors] are not idiots. They could come and accuse you of selling things illegally” he says. For example, if he has several watches for sale, he will only display one.

Augusto is happy transactions like these are now legal. He and his family, who used to own several tourism-related businesses, have been laid low by the pandemic. They have adapted by selling their personal belongings, in some cases at very good prices. This weekend he is doing particularly very well. “I was dying of boredom being cooped up at home,” he confesses.

The capital is not the only city where this type of business is expanding. Lucretia from Santa Clara says, “My house has a front patio and it’s near Vidal Park so several friends and I organized a garage sale.” For the first one they had very few things: some kitchen towels that her grandmother made, some cables and parts of old laptops they had gathered together, old shoes and clothes they no longer wore. They were better prepared the second time around, collecting everything their relatives had to offer. “We even sold a small children’s bike,” she says. “That time we raised more than 2,000 pesos.”

Another advantage to this type of transaction is the flexible payment options it offers customers. For example, there are vendors who will set an item aside if the customer does not have enough money to pay for it at the moment.

Other conventional businesses also take advantage of garage sales. In Old Havna the owners of a bakery located on an undesirable corner have divided the premises in two. In one half they sell bread, meringues and ground peanuts. In the other other there are clothes, shoes, keys, scissors, locks and a whole arsenal of things.

“That’s how far we’ve fallen” says the Central Havana customer. “These are things humans invented a long time ago but, in the commercial Middle Ages we’re living in now, it’s like a major event.”

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Cuba, The Rope Tightens as November 15 Approaches

Military vehicles on the streets of Havana this week. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 14 October 2021 — They are dressed in civilian clothes and pretend to wait for the bus or to converse on a street corner, but everyone knows that they are segurosos, the popular word applied to agents of the dreaded political police. Their presence has increased in Cuba’s streets since the popular protests of July 11 and is expected to grow even more, as November 15 approaches, the date chosen by the activists platform Archipiélago to carry out a peaceful march.

Using current legislation to their advantage, several young people submitted requests to local authorities — in at least six provinces — to demonstrate on November 20. Those who wrote the text appealed to the guarantees provided by the Constitution to respect the rights of assembly, demonstration and association. In addition, they asked the authorities to order that the country’s security forces provide the protesters with “due protection.” That letter was like stirring up the hornet’s nest.

Immediately, the official spokespeople began to call the organizers of the march “mercenaries of the empire,” some of them have been threatened by State Security, their mobile phone services cut off, and their homes put under surveillance. All the bullets of the assassination of reputation and the pressure on their closest relatives have fallen on these young people to advise them not to continue with such efforts.

A few days after the missive was delivered, the ruling party pulled out of its sleeve the announcement that a national military exercise continue reading

was going to be held on the proposed date of the demonstrations, in clear response to the activists’ request. But they were not intimidated and brought the call to march forward to November 15, and submitted the documents to the local leaders again. This Tuesday, the government’s response has been categorical: it considers the initiative to be “illegal” and calls it a “provocation for regime change.”

In this way, officialdom acts with no surprises, but it is also committed to a dangerous position. The Plaza of the Revolution has chosen not to allow even a millimeter of public dissent, it wants to extend for more time these 62 years without legal marches of citizen disagreement, without workers who can take to the streets demanding better wages, or political opponents who show in a plaza their criticism of the Executive. Castroism has decided to continue showing itself unbreakable.

However, a Japanese proverb says that “the bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.” Not giving in, not choosing to permit the march and locking oneself into intransigence can be one of the gravest mistakes leaders make in the system’s death throes. After the demonstration of popular exhaustion that Cubans staged in the summer, choosing the heavy hand and repression is like shooting oneself in the foot. They could be accelerating their downfall and, in the worst case, leading the country into civil war. In a nutshell, they don’t know what they’re doing.

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This text was originally published on the Deutsche Welle website for Latin America.
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‘Imperialist Agencies, AFP and EFE Incite a Social Uprising’ in Cuba

The Cuban government intends to prevent 15N (November 15th) from becoming the new 11J (July 11th). (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Cuba, October 14, 2021–Three European media outlets have been added to the list of imperialist press headed by CNN. British media chain BBC, the Spanish agency EFE, and the French France Presse “do not tire of inciting from within their pages a social uprising that would justify the much desired military intervention from the White House,” signaled the official newspaper Granma this Thursday.

The state-run press, which now intends to deactivate 15N (15 November) by broadcasting the message that it does not have support from within the Island, accused these international media outlets, which also include the Miami-based daily, el Nuevo Herald, of “legitimizing the provocative actions of internal mercenary ‘pacifists’, blind with hate and vengeance”. In addition, Granma classifies these agencies and television chains as mainstream, despite the fact that in Cuba communications channels are controlled by the State and the dominant press is theirs.

In the same, rather long article titled, The counterrevolutionaries will not have a platform in Cuba, the daily uses various testimonies of farm workers who oppose the marches and praise the Revolution and Fidel Castro.

“We will not allow them a new July 11th,” begins the text. The phrase is attributed to a farmer from Playa, in Havana, although it sums up the authorities’ decision to impede the civil marches organized by the Archipiélago collective for the 15th of November, moved forward as the initial date–November 20th–coincided with National Defense Day.

Several messages shared on social media maintain that the Government intends to mobilize Cuban citizens against the marches through two means: continue reading

virtual and physical. Archipiélago published several screen grabs that presumably show messages from university group chats attempting to organize an online strategy to support other efforts.

On Whatsapp, users carefully study the speech of artist Yunior García, one of the organizers of the marches, and also an organizer of Archipiélago itself, to “deconstruct his speech.” The objective, according to one message, “is not to prevent the march but to prevent more people from joining”.

Another screen grab circulating among organizers contains messages from a young high school student who confirms that in his school they have been obligated–though he adds that he and one other student refused–to join “rapid response groups” which will carry sticks to defend themselves. In the exchange, the student maintains that they were told that on the 15th, they should also wear an armband.

Though the source of both messages is unknown, at Archipiélago they do not doubt their veracity and though they fear the regime’s response, they will maintain their position to the end. “On November 15th our personal decision will be to march civilly and peacefully for our rights. Facing authoritarianism we will respond with civility and more civility”, they said on Wednesday.

The idea is to demotivate those who are questioning whether they will join the march, at least, that is what is all over today’s Granma article. With other testimonies they intend to add the support of laborers and farmers, united for the Revolution.

“The primary mission of farmers, to wave our flag and our accomplishments very high, is to continue producing food. That should be how we resolve our problems today,” signaled one of the producers of the Havana-based cooperative. Its president joins the discussion. “With the victory of ’59 our sector gained rights, prestige and morale. Now it is our duty to comply with the Revolution, producing, offering nourishment to the people.”

The sector is held as an example by Granma that true patriots are those who work to feed cubans, thus they highlight that this cooperative has surpassed its production target this year, achieving 123% of the planned production.

“The majority of us are in favor of revolutionary work. I am convinced that our young people have the same opinion. Twenty or thirty young people who work with me share my ideals because we’re all trained under the wings of our socialist society, with its defects, but essential,” says the cooperative’s large-scale milk producer, although this product is scarce and in Havana, for example, they’ve had to restrict access to milk and dairy products.

The Communist Party’s daily paper also approached the National Center for the Production of Laboratory Animals, where it apparently encountered many others opposed to the demonstrations on 15N from laborers to whom “the much-demanded march seems shameful, nothing more than another strategy with no benefit for the people.”

“They tried to defeat us in Girón (Bay of Pigs) and they continue trying to this day, with the economic blockade and all their measures, but they have not been able to handle us. They’d choose to ignore our years of history, as a result, they don’t learn that Cuba will never surrender,” says the chief of the company’s Technology Surveillance Department.

Granma has also found a young woman, 24, who, in contrast to many of her generation who have chosen to leave the Island, chose to praise the State model imposed for more than six decades. “As militants, as workers who have seen the revolutionary actions and vocation which the Cuban people have maintained for more than 6o years, we will always follow the ideals of Fidel.”

According to the text, all these voices “are not a manipulated minority”, but just in case, the government won’t divulge which side the majority supports.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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A Cuban is Among Four ‘At Risk’ Journalists Welcomed to Madrid for Three Months

Cuban Waldo Fernández, one of the participants in the IV Temporary Reception Program for Latin American Journalists of Reporters Without Borders. (Screen Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 8 October 2021 — Cuban Waldo Fernández is one of the four journalists who will participate in the IV edition of the Temporary Reception Program for Latin American Journalists, along with the Colombian Óscar Parra, the Mexican Teresa Montaño and a Nicaraguan who does not want to publicize her name for safety reasons.

The program was created by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Spain section, for professionals at risk to move from their hostile environments and settle in Madrid for three months, where they will receive psychological support and training. For this, they have the collaboration of the City Council of the Spanish capital, headed by Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, of the Popular Party.

During their stay in Spain, the four reporters will not only attend courses, but will also share, in the media and universities, their experiences in their countries, where they are harassed or threatened, either by the State or by criminal groups.

Waldo Fernández is the editor of the independent newspaper Diario de Cuba, and for this reason he has suffered threats from State Security. continue reading

María Teresa Montaño, meanwhile, was fired from her job after publishing corruption schemes in the state of Mexico (bordering Mexico City), such as the secret award of pensions to former governors.

As for Óscar Javier Parra, he directs the journalistic portal Rutas del Conflicto, which has received important awards, such as the Data Journalism Award, in 2017. He has open judicial processes and receives threats from the Army due to his coverage of the massacres committed in Colombia.

The four journalists were selected from among fifty candidates, because of “their high professional profile and the severity of the threats to their security,” according to RSF.

This program, which will run from this October to the end of December, is “the most eloquent incarnation of what freedom of the press means and an example of the all too often difficult conditions in which many of our colleagues in Latin America must carry out their search for the truth,” said the president of the Spanish section of RSF, Alfonso Armada, during his presentation.

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Cuba’s Minister of Education Says Vaccines Will Not be Mandatory to Attend Classes

More than 70,000 children and adolescents have been infected with the coronavirus in Cuba. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 13 October 2021 — Cuba has resumed the 2020-2021 school year with the progressive reincorporation of students in classrooms depending on the mass vaccination process against covid-19 and with the priority of hygienic-sanitary measures, said the Minister of Education, Ena Elsa Velázquez on Wednesday. The official also said at a press conference that it will not be mandatory to get vaccinated to attend classes.

On November 15, more than 1.6 million students will attend school to close the 2020-2021 school year, and will then start the next year in March 2022, after modifying some aspects of the curriculum.

The minister pointed out that compliance “with all the rigor” of sanitary measures in educational centers is maintained to avoid covid events, such as the mandatory use of a mask, social distancing, frequent hand washing and the use of disinfectants.

The completion of the three-dose schedule with the Cuban vaccines Soberana 02, Abdala and Soberana Plus has been the previous step for the staggered resumption of the 2020-2021 school year in person since October 4, explained Velázquez.

He also indicated that the family decides whether the child is vaccinated or not and clarified that even without being immunized they have continue reading

the opportunity to attend classes, but in the event of a positive case of COVID-19 they will remain in isolation.

On October 4, more than 84,500 students in the last year of high school, pedagogical teaching and professional technique, rejoined educational institutions after spending several months receiving teleclasses.

The 2020-2021 academic year was restarted gradually and in person in all the country’s provinces, except in Pinar del Río, Sancti Spíritus, Las Tunas and the Camagüey municipality of Santa Cruz del Sur, due to the complex epidemiological situation in those zones.

A year earlier, classes had been resumed in person in almost all the provinces but they were suspended a few months later due to the rise in positive cases of covid-19 in the country, so teleclasses were returned to.

The Ministry of Education then developed a teaching program through television that has generated complaints, disagreements from relatives and even sanctions from the authorities. In Santiago de Cuba, a fine of up to 2,500 pesos had to be faced by the parents of students who did not transcribe the content of the teleclasses.

The Education authorities have communicated that they have the aspiration to return to a regular school period from September to July, complete and in person, for the 2023-2024 academic year.

More than 70,000 children and adolescents have been infected with the coronavirus in Cuba since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the island’s health authorities.

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One Hundred Relatives of the 11 July Detainees in Cuba Request the Mediation of the Catholic Church

Repression of the political Police against demonstrators of the protests of July 11, 2021 in Havana. (Marcos Evora)

14ymedio biggerEFE/14ymedio, Havana, 12 October 2021 — A group of relatives of people detained and accused by the Cuban authorities after participating in the anti-government protests on July 11 on the island have asked the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC) to intercede for their release.

“We are addressing the ecclesiastical authorities to ask for their immediate and formal intervention in order to achieve the liberation of all Cubans who exercised the fundamental right to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration,” says the text of the letter, released by the opposition forum Estado de Sats on their website.

The letter, which has so far collected a hundred signatures, urges the hierarchy of the Cuban Catholic Church to accompany them “in this urgent need to do justice, to do good, to defend that good is done as stated in the Social Doctrine of the Church.”

Three months after the peaceful protests of 11J in Cuba, “mothers, wives, daughters and relatives of those detained and persecuted, we express our deep complaints and concerns about the situation and state of our loved ones,” the signatories state. continue reading

In their petition, they allege that their relatives are imprisoned “for exercising the elementary right to peaceful demonstration” caused by “a long and acute general crisis facing our country” and which threw thousands of Cubans into the streets “to demand respect for their rights and freedom.”

Estado de Sats accompanied the publication of the letter with an invitation “to all the relatives of those arrested and accused of participating in the July 11 demonstrations to join their signatures and support for this necessary and legitimate request to the Church.”

It is worth recalling the role of the Catholic Church in the Black Spring of 2003, when 75 Cuban activists were sentenced to between 15 and 27 years under the Law for the Protection of National Independence and the Cuban Economy (known as the Gag Law).

Years later, the Church achieved the release of the prisoners who agreed to leave Cuba and an extra-criminal license for the 12 who refused to do so, as was the case of Marta Beatriz Roque and José Daniel Ferrer.

The unprecedented protests that broke out on June 11 resulted in a dead protester and a wave of arrests of hundreds of participants and the main leaders of activism on the island, such as José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement.

Various organizations have documented more than a thousand detainees and as reported by the authorities, 62 people have been tried, mostly for the crime of public disorder — 53 of the defendants charged — although there are also accusations of “contempt,” “resistance” or “instigation to commit a crime.” In San Antonio de los Baños, where the peaceful protests began, the Prosecutor’s Office asks  between 6 and 12 years in prison for the 17 people who are being tried.

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Promoters of the 20 November Marches in Cuba Denounce ‘The Threat of Tanks’

Military exercises in an artillery unit of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. (EFE)

Site manager’s note: This article was published in 14ymedio before the date for the opposition marches was changed to 15 November.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 8 October 2021 — With the alibi of the celebration of National Defense Day, the Cuban Government will militarize the country on November 20, coinciding with the marches called by the opposition in different provinces. The Archipiélago collective, the main promoter of the protests, will make its reaction public starting at 3:00 in the afternoon this Friday.

“Given the civility of our march called in due time and form for November 20, they respond with the threat of tanks. In case anyone still had doubts about the authoritarian and violent character of those who control power in Cuba …: Total militarization of the country from November 18 to 20. We will continue firm on the path of civility and peace. Arms, no. Rights!” wrote Yunior García, leader of the group and the demonstrations.

The Ministry of the Armed Forces reported on Thursday night, through a statement, the convocation of two days of military exercises, from November 18 to 20, which culminate that last day with the National Defense Day.

“Considering the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the country, the Moncada Exercise will be held on November 18 and 19,” the information indicates. continue reading

According to the official website Ecured, “the exercises conventionally known as Moncada play a very important role. These constitute the highest and most complex form of preparation of the chiefs and the command and management bodies, between one Bastion Strategic Exercise and another.”

Each year, military exercises are held at that time of year, although the dates chosen now must be interpreted, according to the opposition, as a clear response to the demonstrations. In addition, Moncada Exercises are of a higher level than traditional maneuvers and are usually announced much longer in advance.

The Moncada military exercises have been carried out sporadically with the objective of “increasing the level of preparation and cohesion of the leadership and command bodies at all levels, the troops, the economy and the population.”

The first time they were held was in 1980 — the most prominent were in 2007 and 2008 — and they are generally convened as a call to the United States “not to underestimate” the Cuban people.

The organizers of the protest have presented requests to the provincial governments in various territories of the country, with lists of signatures of people who supposedly support these actions, although there have already been reactions in the population due to the presence of apocryphal signatures.

The marches of November 20 were called two months in advance, taking into account that the 15th of the same month has been marked as the date the pandemic is expected to be controlled and there is a plan to reopen the country to tourism and educational activities will be resumed.

The organizers chose to follow the legal channels to request authorization, complying with the health measures, indicating the routes through which the marches will take place and pointing out that no national or international law prevents them from demonstrating peacefully. The group calls for freedom for political prisoners and the resolution of differences between Cubans through democratic and peaceful means.

However, so far the conveners have not only not received a formal response, but their intention to send the documentation has been hampered in some cases. The applicants have reported being threatened, harassed and defamed.

In addition, informally, State Security advised the government opponent Manuel Cuesta Morúa, during an interrogation, that the marches would be prohibited.

At the moment, this call for the Moncada Exercise seems tailored to intimidate the organizers who warned of their intention to march even if they did not obtain a response to their requests.

The marches are called to take place in Havana, Holguín, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Cienfuegos, Las Tunas and Pinar del Río.

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Government Calls Planned 15 November (15N) Marches a ‘Provocation for a Regime Change’ in Cuba

Protesters on a street in Havana on July 11, 2021. (Marcos Evora)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 12 October 2021 — On Tuesday, the Cuban government described as “illegal” and a “provocation” the Civic March for Change called by the Archipiélago platform, scheduled for November 15. That is the “official response” that the Municipal Assemblies of Old Havana, Consolación del Sur, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Nuevitas, Las Tunas, Holguín and Guantánamo announced this Tuesday to the promoters of the demonstration.

“Article 56 of the Constitution, which is mentioned [in the organizers’ letter regarding the planned march] as legal support, establishes among the requirements for the exercise of the right to demonstrate the legality and ’respect for public order and compliance with the regulations established in the law’,” say the officials of all those cities in a text contained in eight individual letters, which assert: “As for the legality, legitimacy is not recognized in the reasons given for the march.”

They then resort to the usual argument of the foreign “enemy”: “The promoters and their public projections, as well as the links of some with subversive organizations or agencies financed by the US government, have the manifest intention of promoting a change in the political system in Cuba.”

The proof of this, according to officialdom, is that “as soon as it was announced, the march received public support from US legislators, political operators and the media that encourage actions against the Cuban people, try to destabilize the country and urge military intervention.”

The promoters of the demonstration, however, have been very emphatic about the peaceful nature of the call to march, asking potential participants continue reading

to distance themselves from provocation and eventual violent actions. Avoiding confrontation was precisely one of the reasons that pushed the Archipiélago group to advance the march to November 15, after the Government declared November 20, the original date for the activists’ action, “National Day of the Defense.”
Both the first call and the change of day were announced at the headquarters of the National Assembly. Keeping it the same day, Yunior García, one of the most visible faces of the proposal, had said, implied a “great responsibility on his shoulders.” It would be throwing, he asserted, “young people in the middle of an army, something extremely risky.”

The regime mentions none of this in its cloned municipal letters, which conclude by saying “the announced march, whose organizational scheme is conceived simultaneously for other territories of the country, constitutes a provocation as part of the ’regime change’ strategy, rehearsed in other countries,” without specifying which strategies or countries it specifically refers to.

In the document, the authorities cite Article 45 of the Constitution (“the exercise of people’s rights is only limited by the rights of others, collective security, general welfare, respect for public order, Constitution and the laws”) to subjugate it to Article 4:” The socialist system that this Constitution endorses is irrevocable,” therefore,” any action taken against it is illegal.”

Since the approval of the new Constitution, Article 4 has been singled out by various human rights groups and independent organizations, which consider it, together with Article 5 — which enshrines the superiority of the Communist Party in the management of the country — as a lock to avoid political reforms on the island.

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Cuba: On 15 November ‘We Will March Civilly and Peacefully for Our Rights,’ Responds Archipielago

People peacefully demonstrating on July 11th, 2021 in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, October 12, 2021–“On November 15th our personal decision will be to march civilly and peacefully for our rights,” responded Archipiélago to the Cuban Government’s decision to reject the Civil March for Change scheduled for that day, considering it “illegal” and a “provocation for regime change” on the island.

“The regime’s response demonstrates, once again, that rights do not exist within the Cuban State, that they are unwilling to respect even their own Constitution and violate the human rights of the Cuban people,” adds the collective in a message published this Tuesday on its social media platforms.

Members of Archipiélago also insisted that the authorities’ decision “has ridiculed their own president of the Supreme Tribunal, who said that Cuba would respect the right to demonstrate,” for which they classified the government response as a “crime” and branded it “full of falsehoods, defamation, and lies”.

Through the municipal assemblies of the cities that were notified in writing of the march by members of Archipiélago, officials announced this Tuesday their response to the demonstrations.

In the document, the regime confirmed that it does not recognize the “legitimacy of the reasons given” for the peaceful protests. Furthermore, they repeated the standard argument of the foreign “enemy” by stating that the organizers of the march maintain “ties” with subversive organizations or agencies that are continue reading

financed by the United States Government, and “have the stated intention to promote a change to the political system in Cuba”.

Upon learning of the Government’s position, Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (OCDH) condemned the prohibition of the marches and “reclaimed the right of Cubans to demonstrate”.

“The official argument itself makes clear the antidemocratic nature of the current system in Cuba and that the ink is still wet on the Republic’s new Constitution, created without endorsing fundamental rights and the few it confers are denied arbitrarily by executive powers,” stated the organization in a communication disseminated this Tuesday.

OCDH called on the European Union, “to condemn this clear violation of human rights in Cuba, which are incompatible with the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between Cuba and the European Union.”

In the document, OCDH also demands that the Government of the Island accept, “the challenge of listening to its citizens.”

“It did not do so on July 11th, when the president called for combat and confrontation among Cubans, and it is not doing so now as it prohibits the civil march scheduled for November 15th.”

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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