Matches No Longer Rationed In Cuba

Instead of wood, the matches that have been sold through Cuba’s rationing system are made with waxed paper and are small and very thin. (Facebook / My Matchboxes)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 7 August 2020 — The Cuban government announced this Friday that the matches will be sold outside the rationed market starting this August. However, the released sale will be restricted to an amount determined by each client, according to the official press.

Citizens have verified a growing shortage, in recent months, of this product which is managed on the island by the National Phosphorus Company (Enfos). Some 80% of the raw materials with which they are produced depend on imports. With thee imports reduced due to the covid-19 pandemic, the industry had to lower its production forecast from 42 million boxes in 2020 to 22.8 million.

The target of comedians, a headache in kitchens given their poor quality, and the cause of more than one burnt shirt, Cuban matches, like rationed bread, are one of the worst valued and most vilified products in the national industry. To the point that in many homes the gas stove is kept on for days, due to lack of matches or their poor effectiveness. continue reading

“They lose their heads,” lament many customers forced to use the national product. Others complain that the matchstick bends when attempting to light it, the sandpaper is so wet that it fails to spark, the boxes fall apart, or a flame cannot be generated.

Instead of wood, the typical matches that have been sold in the island’s rationed market made up of a body of waxed paper, small and very thin. This increases the chances that it will bend and fail during striking.

One of the most popular comedians of the 80s, Héctor Zumbado, described the tense relationship between Cubans and matches this way, in a text with the title Amor a primer añejo (Love at first vintage): “I put my hand on my head, then in my pocket, I nervously took out a match, put it in my mouth and scratched the cigarette against the sandpaper. It didn’t light,” he declared as any current customer could.

In addition to being of poor quality, the sale of matches has always been closely controlled. Cubans attribute this control to its possible use in protest actions. The truth is that even in the boom years of the Soviet subsidy, the sale and distribution of matches was closely monitored and the quantities that an individual could acquire were always scarce.

In recent years, with the increase in the number of ’mules’ traveling abroad to bring merchandise to sell on the black market, the supply of imported matches has proliferated in informal networks, but many airlines have restrictions on transporting boxes of this merchandise in personal luggage, so even their arrival on the island is complicated.

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The Castro Regime Declares War on the ‘Coleros’

An “ordinary” line in Cuba in pre-pandemic days. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerElías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 4, 2020 — The Regime designed by Fidel Castro has been based historically on informing, pitting Cubans against each other. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) were created to accomplish this mission. Denouncing deviant, non-revolutionary behavior was the slogan, so that then the authorities could take punitive measures. Snitching in itself became something inherent to the survival of the revolutionary Regime, a face of its identity that quickly obliged Cubans to react in order to survive.

With the passage of time, this system of informing acquired still more importance every time the country entered into crisis, as happened in different moments along its existence. Then someone “antisocial” was identified as the enemy and had to be harassed and have his life made impossible. Cubans know very well what I’m talking about, because that slogan of informing, repressing and expelling compatriots from Cuba has been happening for 61 years and has formed part of the DNA of three generations of Cubans. For the Communists, there’s only one model of society: theirs. The alternative isn’t admissible, and if it appears, it’s simply persecuted and eliminated. Cuba has been drained dry of its population because of the Regime’s ideological uniformity and policy of informing.

Now, in these most difficult moments with the economy moving towards collapse and the food crisis, the Castro Regime has identified a new enemy to destroy and has put all of the official press and propaganda at its service: the “hoarders”, resellers and coleros, (people who are paid to stand in line for someone else). This could become much worse if groups of “rapid response” are created, which has already been announced in Holguín. However, the Regime is surprised to see that the image of these citizens as “antisocial” and criminal collides with the extraordinary social acceptance of the services they provide. continue reading

Granma points out that attacks on hoarders, resellers and coleros are increasing on social networks, in Internet journals and television programs, and refers to multiple examples. But of course what they don’t say is that a good part of the complaints come from supporters and defenders of the Regime who have been instructed to post these messages. So far the waters are calm, but a storm may be coming.

Communist propaganda has put its point of view in a position that probably doesn’t coincide with most of the population. The criteria of the official Regime propaganda is based on a supposed nonconformity of the citizen affected by these behaviors associated with the “monopoly” of the lines that obliges them later to resort to acquiring products on the black market, at super-inflated prices. Certainly, this isn’t the order of things, as many Cubans explain.

On the contrary, the need to resort to those who “crash” the lines is motivated by the fact that, after several unsuccessful attempts, people are tired of wasting time and not getting what they want, because what exists in the shops is insufficient. Even more, people with physical difficulties can’t stand in line for hours.

Then along comes someone who offers his turn in line, generally among the first, so the consumer is sure of having access to the desired product. The early turn doesn’t fall from the sky, like manna. You have to fight for it, keep watch on the door of the establishment, spend one night or several out in the elements, sleeping the best you can and away from your family. The colero business, in the informal economy, is one of the most important that has existed in Cuba in its 61 years of lines and hardship.

What’s wrong with that? The line is nothing more than a consequence of the Regime’s poor economic management, and that’s where the responsibility lies, not with the people who dedicate time, strength, lack of sleep and the ability to manage a job that has a great social benefit, which, logically, should yield a private benefit, and which will last as long as shortages and poverty exist.

The Regime’s propaganda on this subject is so far off base that it even presumes that these behaviors are related to “the media war that has faced Cuba for more that six decades”. Incredible.

Coleros and resellers arise because there are lines. The hoarders, as Granma calls them, are people who fear that products will disappear from the store and simply won’t be there when you want them. The lines are caused by deficient economic management. Citizens who attack the coleros and resellers, if they even exist, should direct their anger at the Communist leaders, who, for sure, don’t have to spend long hours in the lines of misfortune. If someone doesn’t have access to “essential purchases” as a consequence of the monopoly and control of the lines, he should know that the only one responsible for that situation is the Communist leader at the head of the country, and he’s the one they should ask to explain.

The great irresponsibility of the official press is to use this scenario to pit Cubans one against the other, promote snitching and accusations, and ultimately, return to more of the same, always. This isn’t good for a country, nor should it continue in these times of special gravity. In addition, if the Regime continues forward with its plans to eliminate coleros, hoarders and resellers, as the Cimex stores have announced, the economic situation for many Cubans will get worse, and the need to “resolve” [ed. note: the all-purpose Cuban word for figuring out how to get by] will again become a difficult problem.

Lastly, Granma has to be told that of course Cubans have the right to complain about shortages in the shops, without the need to ridicule anything. The Regime’s errors in economic management are very visible here. In the stores that accept only dollars and a few other foreign currencies there is no problem with buying what you want; in the State stores there is greater injustice. In Cuba, as much as the State declares that no one will be abandoned, the coleros, hoarders and resellers help resolve the need for food and cleaning products. More than a negative social attitude, they offer a service to society. They don’t abandon anyone.

Thus, there is no historic duty for revolutionaries to close the way to those Cubans who want to offer solutions to their compatriots. Those who close the way are precisely those who cause the lines, and they need to understand this in order to break the chains that bind the Cuban people to a policy and ideology that is contrary to human reason.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

"Cuba Manages Venezuela Like a Colony," Denounces Mara Tekach

Mara Tekach left her post as US Chargé d’Affaires in Cuba on July 31. (Twitter / @ Mara_Exchanges)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 7 August 2020 — Mara Tekach, the former US Chargé d’Affaires in Cuba, reported this Friday that, before leaving her post, she sent the Cuban government a complaint about the situation of Human Rights on the Island.

“I explained that their system of pressure was not acceptable,” Tekach explained in a call with the press organized by the State Department and followed by various media.

“The regime sells a romantic image of Cuba,” Infobae quotes her saying. “But while its leaders enjoy expensive yachts and watches, the people line up for hours to try to get food and medicine. Any country in the world can send supplies to the island, but they never reach the people…Do not be fooled by the Cuban regime,” she asked.

The Chargé d’Affaires between 2018 and 2020 had previously denounced pressure from Havana regarding her work and her defense of political prisoners in Cuba, and the island’s authorities had accused her of promoting and directing dissidents.

In the same call, Tekach defined the relationship between Havana and Caracas as “parasitic.”

“Cuba runs Venezuela like a colony,” she declared. “It is sucking resources from Venezuela. Oil, food, medicine. And these benefit the regime, never the Cuban people.”

Tekach, Infobae reports, gave a first-hand description of the practices of the Castro regime on the island, detailed the scope of the relationship with the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and highlighted the need for Cuba not to obtain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for which it has applied.

“Cuba is a regime that, instead of having membership in the Council, would deserve to be censured. Human rights violations on the island are absolute. They do not allow a single independent thought,” she emphasized.

Tekach also referred to the medical brigades that the government sends abroad, which she said “do not represent humanitarian assistance, but a business.”

“Up to 90 percent of the salaries of the doctors who participate in the brigades goes to the Armed Forces. They take their passports and threaten their families. It is a situation of trafficking,” which has not only been denounced by the United States, but also by organizations like Human Rights Watch.

In the last days in his post, Tekach explained, she also helped organize repatriation flights to evacuate Americans and permanent residents who had stayed in Cuba and could not return to their country due to the pandemic.

According to data from the State Department, between January 27 and June 10, 1,551 citizens were repatriated from Cuba on nine flights.

Back in the United States, Tekach will continue to work on Washington’s policy towards Havana as coordinator of Cuban Affairs for the State Department’s Office for Latin America.

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Cuba Needs a True Opening to the Private Sector, Not a Simulation

Dessert maker was one of the 123 activities allowed in the restrictive list whose elimination was announced this Thursday. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 7 August 2020 – Knife grinder, water carrier, blacksmith… No, this is not the list of occupations in a medieval village, but some of the 123 occupations that individuals have been allowed to perform privately in Cuba in recent years. Now, with the country plunged into a deep economic crisis, the authorities announce that they will end this absurd and limited list of permissible private work, which should never have existed in the first place.

As several economists have pointed out, the measure is heading in the right direction: towards greater flexibility, giving more space to private initiative and eliminating obstacles to entrepreneurship. The problem is that in order for the changes to be effective, it requires something more than following the track of sound popular demands; there also needs to be the necessary speed and depth to unleash a true transformation in society.

In this case, the stopwatch does not help. The demand to eliminate the detailed listing of self-employment licenses has been going on for more than two decades. The delay in implementing this demand has cost the country billions of pesos, the bankruptcy of promising private businesses, the penalization of countless entrepreneurs and the exodus abroad of an incalculable amount of talent. The announcement is certainly very late. continue reading

Now, when the Island is going through the most ominous economic moment of this century, the Plaza of the Revolution has pulled an ace out of its sleeve, one which, a decade ago, would have been exciting but that today hardly arouses enthusiasm. What could have been a political move to attract sympathy and support, reads now as a desperate maneuver, as the final act of an illusionist who has failed in all his previous tricks.

On the other hand, the depth of the measure is unknown, which fuels suspicion. Will individuals be allowed to go into the private practice of professions? Engineers, lawyers and dentists are asking themselves. Will the State release its monopoly over sectors such as telecommunications, public health and education? Computer scientists, doctors and teachers want to know. Will a journalist be able to practice privately, or will the press not be included in the crack that is opening? Independent reporters are wondering.

At the moment it is only known that the old list, which functioned as a straitjacket, will be abolished and “activities with a much broader profile may be carried out and the scope is defined by the work project presented by the interested party,” according to the official press. “For this, the limitations will be that it be legal work with resources and raw materials of legal origin,” adds the note drawn up from the words of the Minister of Labor and Social Security, María Elena Feito Cabrera.

If “lawful nature” means what is currently allowed, you should forget about seeing the “private trader” import products from abroad and sell or distribute them from private premises. Nor is it worth raising expectations about the possibility that doctors, lawyers or microbiologists can have their own office, firm or laboratory where they can practice their professions, since that is prohibited. There is not even the dream of a small private company installing cable television in homes, something also prohibited on the Island.

Although the elimination of the list of 123 self-employed licenses points towards the long-awaited and necessary opening, the old terrors of Cuban officialdom can make the speed of implementation and the depth of this reform leave more heartaches than satisfaction. To complete a race, it is not enough to point your feet towards the goal: the seconds and the quality of the stride are vital to advancing and winning.

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Cornered by the Crisis, the Cuban Government Eliminates the List Limiting Self-Employment Activities

According to the Minister of Labor, the closed list of activities prevents Cubans from developing their native creativity. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger

14ymedio, Havana, 7 August 2020 – Cuba’s rigid control on permissible self-employment activities has been eased with the elimination of the list of 123 activities permitted to the private sector, a measure announced Thursday by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó, who affirmed that the current situation prevents Cubans from developing their native creativity. Economists, who have been demanding the end of this list for years, have expressed satisfaction, but also caution.

“Finally! The list of activities allowed for self-employment in Cuba will be eliminated!!! We had to insist on it ad nauseam so that they would adopt it!!!! Better late than never! But it would be worthwhile to continue digging deeper!” exclaimed Mauricio De Miranda Parrondo who, in any case, considers that the Government has not taken the step due to the demands of the economists “but because the gravity of circumstances imposes it. That is why it is necessary to show a true political will for change,” he added.

Marta Elena Feitó, who was speaking on the Roundtable program on National Television, did not provide a date for the implementation of this measure but said that the Government will allow private companies to launch “businesses along a much broader profile.” Currently, the bulk of self-employment activities focus on hospitality, transportation, and rental housing. Now one can present the projects they want, although the specifics of the standard remain to be seen, as does how far its discretion can go. continue reading

However, the minister did make it clear that “the limitations will be that they are legal activities with resources and raw materials of legal origin,” so it is hoped that the Government will allow the importation of raw materials by individuals to carry out activities until now reserved for the State. On the other hand, there is no sign that the authorities are willing to open their hands in the sectors considered strategic, including education, health, the press or telecommunications.

Thursday’s Roundtable was dedicated to explaining the new actions in the areas of Energy and Mines and Labor and Social Security. Thus, the most relevant news, the opening of the private sector, was diluted and the official media have not given the expected prominence to such a significant change, perhaps, precisely, because it implies a resignation – of a still unspecified scope – of the more orthodox lines of communism.

Cuban economist Pedro Monreal praised the news, but also pointed out the scope for improvement. “The Roundtable did not address concrete measures to solve three crucial problems: the huge number of people of working age who do not work or study, the low productivity of agriculture, and the establishment of SMEs (small and medium size enterprises) that provide quality employment,” he lamented.

The expert believes that small and medium-sized companies are essential to in order to raise the productivity ceiling in the short term. “The data is clear: the function of creating net employment in the Cuban economy is increasingly held by the non-state sector, mainly the private sector. The primitive institutional framework of TCP (trabajo cuenta propia, i.e. self-employment), with the absence of a private business format, is a huge obstacle,” he says.

The minister’s statement included another important piece of information: the government’s intention to link state wages to productivity.

“Life has shown that setting performance indicators associated with the fulfillment of plans does not work. You have to pay the workers for the concrete results of the wealth they generate. The indicator has to be set by efficiency.”

The Government, according to Feitó, intends that the salary “constitutes the main source of satisfaction for the worker and their family” and announced that it will seek to associate payment with performance, eliminate restrictions on compensation and streamline procedures.

Currently the average salary in the state sector barely reaches $45 a month.

The private sector, which brings together more than half a million self-employed workers who generate approximately a third of the jobs in the country, has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, as tourism disappeared and the number of customers for tourist related Businesses drastically decreased.

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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.

Cuban Government Goes After Resellers Through Social Media

Merchandise seized in an operation against an informal merchant who used Facebook to promote his business. (Screen Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 6 August 2020 — Digital platforms are the new troubled river in which police operations against resellers and hoarders fish . A television report released this Wednesday details the offensive, in the city of Pinar del Río, against an informal merchant who used Facebook to promote her merchandise.

“Several houses located in the provincial capital served as warehouses for a citizen to receive items,” such as instant glue, makeup sets, toothbrushes and chewing gum, according to images shown on the primetime news program that night. The woman “was dedicated to the sale of products brought from abroad,” detailed Alexis Hernández González, first officer of the Technical Investigations Department (DTI).

The alleged illegal seller used sites or forums on the Internet “to promote the sale of these products,” added Hernández. The case “continues under investigation by the competent authorities,” the report stated. continue reading

Lieutenant Colonel Rodelay Ramos García, head of the Provincial Criminal Investigation Unit, explained: “A collection of imported goods were seized, including clothing, beauty articles, footwear, and others, which are now being made available to the courts. “

“Right now, the woman seized for the crimes of illicit economic activity and bribery is being processed,” said Ramos, who also pointed out that the accused is being held “under the precautionary measure of provisional prison.”

In the middle of a week where the authorities have launched a strong campaign against coleros (people who stand in line for others) and resellers, social networks and instant messaging services are the targets of investigations to penalize the large black market that operates on the island.

On December 31, 2013, the sale of imported clothing, footwear and other products was prohibited in Cuba. Until then, a growing private business of merchandise sales spread throughout the Island, mainly from countries such as Mexico, Panama and Ecuador. The activity had proliferated under the protection of self-employment licenses to operate as a “dressmaker” or “tailor.” The ban on this trade plunged thousands of sellers into the black market.

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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.

Cuban Army, Police and Block Watch Committees Lead More than 3,000 Groups to Persecute ‘Coleros’ and ‘Hoarders’

In the first few days of August, the Government has launched a media campaign against the “coleros” — people who stand in line for others. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2020 — The front opened by Cuban authorities against the “scoundrels,” advanced in recent days by a media campaign, is already on the ground. According to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, 3,054 groups have been created with 22,281 people to pursue coleros (people who stand in line for others), hoarders and illegal foreign exchange dealers. The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) will be in charge of a task that began to be prepared at the end of July and is already in action.

The plan, as Marrero indicated this Tuesday on the Roundtable TV program, has 5,195 actions planned in the different territories. Havana is the priority with 522 “working groups,” detailed the deputy governor, Yanet Hernández Pérez. The authorities intend to focus their efforts on stores and shopping centers but also target pharmacies, sales of construction materials and transactions through social networks.

“We are acting against the people who stand in line for profit, promoting illegal economic activity,” said Miguel Díaz-Canel in a statement focused on convincing people that action will not be taken against the elderly or “humble” people, but against “the scoundrels, those who take advantage of others; against the parasitic act that is involved in these type of behaviors, by people who mostly do not work, do not contribute anything socially to the population or the country; who take advantage of our economic problems to enrich themselves at the expense of others.” continue reading

One of the most widespread profiles of a colero is the retiree who has few resources but a lot of free time, which they use to save a few spots in line that they then sell to augment their miserable pensions. The prime minister, on the other hand, chose to highlight the role in this ‘business’ of “unscrupulous people who had been carrying out an illicit economic activity” in clear reference to the so-called ‘mules’ — who bring back merchandise from trips abroad. Marrero explained that the colero is just the last link in a chain that is started by hoarders and resellers and supported by those who charge for their place in the line “some at a value of 100 CUC (roughly $150 US at current exchange rates*), depending on the store and the product someone wants to buy.”

The duo of senior government leaders stressed who was responsible for the lines in Cuba, once again attributing it to the US embargo, which has no connection to the problem. In his previously recorded speech, Díaz-Canel accused those who, in his opinion, “seek to divide the Cuban people” of justifying the coleros by linking them to shortages, “which they do not associate with the blockade but with alleged incapacities of the Government and the Cuban State.”

According to the president, it is “elitist and vain” to maintain that the coleros must exist because there is a group of people with greater purchasing power who can afford to pay others to stand in line for them. “It is not hatred or abuse, we want the person to understand their mistake and keep them away from these behaviors,” he concluded.

His prime minister elaborated on the same messages and repeatedly insisted that Cuban Communist Party (PCC) secretary general, Raúl Castro, was at the forefront of the decisions, and ordered the FAR to join the operation, while stressing the importance of the CDR, the Federation of Cuban Women and the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba, and their involvement in these actions.

Marrero also took stock of the first activities of these groups. More than 1,300 people have been detected and what the authorities called “prophylactic actions” (fines) will be applied to them in the first instance, while in cases of recidivism they will face criminal measures for crimes of illegal economic activity.

To date, some 280 people have been prosecuted for recidivism, said the prime minister, who maintained that the population will be informed of who was involved in all cases, be they individuals, companies or officials. These links to corruption within its own ranks were referred to, according to Marrero, by Castro himself, who said: “Corruption at the present stage is one of the main enemies of the Revolution; much more damaging than the billion dollar subversive program and interventionism of the Government of the United States and its allies inside and outside the country.”

The prime minister explained that one of the key locations they focus on is the rental of premises to store the products that are later resold. “We have nothing against a natural person renting a house, room or garage, it is legally established. What we are against is when the person rents and ignores what the space they rented is being used for.”

In addition, the illegal sale of foreign currency has become a new priority and the police force is greatly involved in this task, as confirmed by Colonel Eddy Sierra Arias, the second highest person in the PNR. With the dollarization of the economy that the Government has carried out in recent weeks, the prices of freely convertible currencies have skyrocketed in the illegal market, especially in the case of the dollar, which as of last week sells at approximately 1.50 CUC, a roughly 50% increase over recent exchange rates.

Also on the Roundtable program, where all these measures were addressed, was Carlos Rafael Miranda Martínez, coordinator of the CDRs, who emphasized the work carried out over decades. “First against the counterrevolutionary elements in those first years of the triumphant Revolution. Then, depending on the historical moment in which the country has lived, the CDRs have been confronting criminal activities, corruption, crime, and illegalities,” he argued with pride.  In the organization there are 852 detachments with more than 23,400 young people.

Another fixed idea of all the participants in yesterday’s program was the involvement of the population in supporting their leaders and, specifically, of these measures.

The messages came from the Prime Minister: “We would not have been able to reach the levels of control shown by the country without the decisive support of the people”; and from Colonel Sierra: “This is a battle that we wage and will continue to wage with the accompaniment of our people.”

But Díaz-Canel failed to note that the only people his government recognizes are the people who support him: “We are going to act with fairness and firmness, because the streets in Cuba are for the revolutionaries and for the working people.”

*Translator’s note: Pensions in Cuba commonly range around $10 a month; at this rate a retiree would only have to stand one line a year to more than double his or her annual income.

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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.

UNEAC Expels the Writer Pedro A. Junco for his Letter to Cuban President Diaz-Canel

Pedro Armando Junco in his house in Camagüey. (Sol García Basulto/14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, August 5, 2020 — The Camagüeyan writer, Pedro Armando Junco, has been expelled from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) for “acting in stark contradiction to the principles, statutes and rules” of the organization, according to what the author himself posted on his Facebook page.

“As all my followers can imagine, this has been in response to my daring to write a public letter, through Facebook, to President Díaz-Canel,” says the writer, who admits he was hardly surprised by the violation of the constitutional article that guarantees freedom of thought and expression.

Junco published his missive to the President on July 19, in which he rejected government measures like the opening of shops for food and cleaning products in hard currency, and, especially, qualifying anyone who questions this and other decisions as an “enemy”. continue reading

“When they tried to get me to apologize at the end of July, like Herberto Padilla almost 70 years ago*, I expected this,” he adds. Junco was held for almost a month and pressured to retract his criticisms of Castroism and recognize his alleged “counterrevolutionary” attitude.

Junco, who claims his letter was respectful and well-presented, thinks the Government was upset by the “positive reception” that thousands of people gave his words, sharing the post or marking “Like” on the social network. “This letter captures the feeling of most of the Cuban people: NO to the segregation of our money in the face of foreign currencies, and economic freedom for all those who produce food,” he continues.

The writer says that there are many who supported the text in the shadows, but didn’t say so openly for fear of reprisals. “And I understand them. They’re afraid! They don’t want to put their feet in hot water and risk their salaries, which barely allow them to eat, or the social perks that some enjoy. They are ignorant of that aphorism of Alejandro Jodorowsky: ’Your fear ends when your mind realizes that it’s the one creating this fear’,” he adds.

Pedro Armando Junco, 72, has had a long trajectory in Cuban letters since publishing his first work in 1984. He’s won awards on numerous occasions in Cuba, even winning the David National Prize, which he received from the association that now expels him, for his book, La furia de los vientos (The Fury of the Winds), one of the most important in recent literature and the name of his blog.

On May 16, 2015, his son, the rock musician Pedro “Mandy” Junco, was murdered in Camagüey, and the writer led a campaign for increasing the penalty for homicide on the Island. Junco has collaborated several times with 14ymedio, among them telling the story of the sad death of the young man, who was 28 years old.

*Translator’s note: Herberto Padilla was a Cuban poet imprisoned in 1971 after publication of Fuera de Juego (Out of the Game), where his ideas were considered “counterrevolutionary”. He was released 37 days later, after a self-criticism session in a UNEAC meeting, and he urged other writers to follow the principles of the Revolution. He was not allowed to leave Cuba until 1980.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

Spanish Ambassador in Cuba Admonishes Official Who Wrote Several Derogatory Tweets

Spanish Embassy in Havana (exteriores.gob.es)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2020 — The Spanish ambassador in Cuba, Juan Fernández Trigo, planned to verbally admonish, this Wednesday, the person in charge of several tweets published on the Twitter account of the consulate in Havana, as explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos. On Tuesday, several users and independent media denounced the Twitter responses to some citizens who inquired about administrative procedures.

“Those tweets were deleted when they were detected. Today the ambassador is going to admonish the author and is going to issue an apology through Twitter for the content of the messages,” Ministry sources told the newspaper.

This Wednesday morning, the consulate’s account sent the following tweet: “The @ConsEspLaHabana wishes to apologize for any inconvenience in communication that may have occurred in exchanges via this channel. Today more than ever, our priority is service and quality assistance to citizens.” continue reading

Screenshot of a pinned tweet on the Embassy’s feed.

The controversy was demonstrated in one exchange: “Good afternoon. When the service is reactivated, would it be possible to request an appointment for a tourist visa and another for family reunification in the name of the same person? Or would both be canceled by doing it this way? Thank you. Greetings,” a user politely asked this Tuesday.

The interested party’s attitude was not reciprocated, but rather he received: “You cannot have everything in this life,” in response to his request.

To another user who asked about an appointment scheduled on August 14 for family reunification, the consulate account wrote: “Your appointment is canceled and you should wait for our announcement about restoration of services.”

“And if the appointments are resumed before the 14th, could I bring a relative to the appointment?” the woman responded.

“It is can-cel-ed,” the consulate rudely replied.

“Good afternoon! And is it possible to make an appointment by email to apply for a study visa? Thank you,” asks another young man. “Well, of course NO. Please read,” the consulate account warrants. The person responsible for the account did not hesitate to criticize the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations (Minrex): “If Minrex does not work to fulfill the requirements, why do they demand that we work so much?”

According to the Basic Statute of the Public Employee in Spain, the official may have incurred a fault that could be considered very serious if the discredit to the public image of the Administration is taken into account.

Depending on the scope of the offense, the worker faces measures ranging from a warning to forced transfer or disciplinary dismissal, which implies disqualification from public service, although this sanction is reserved for the most extreme cases. In addition, recidivism and intentionality work as aggravating circumstances, something that does seem to correspond to the case of the embassy’s head of networks.

In Spain, the Ciudadanos (Citizens) party issued a question to the Bureau of Congress with regards to what it described as an “incredible, rude and crass way” of addressing citizens by the diplomatic headquarters in Cuba: “Does the Government of Spain believe that a consulate can respond to the citizens with these formulas?” ask the deputies who sign the document. “What steps is the Government of Spain taking to find out why these responses were given and to repair the personal and reputation damages they may have caused?” they continue.

And they conclude their demand: “Does the Government consider that communication via social networks is part of foreign institutional communication and public diplomacy and affects the image of our country abroad? Who does it depend on and what mechanisms does it have to supervise it?”

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Salaries in Cuba: Source of Injustice and Social Inequality

“Does anyone actually believe this?”(ONEI)

14ymedio biggerElías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 30, 2020 — The recent publication of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), “Average Salary in Figures. Cuba 2019” has confirmed what is more or less already known.

In the first place, average nominal monthly salaries in Cuba have grown since 2015, when they were a little more than 687 Cuban pesos (roughly $28 US), up to 879 pesos in 2019. The growth accelerated that year by 192 pesos, 28%, showing a necessary evolution, if salaries are to mean anything.

Secondly, the same as before, this average salary in 2019 is the equivalent, according to the present exchange rate, to a little more than 37 dollars, and given the prices in the convertible-money stores, it’s obviously not enough. The buying power of salaries for daily basic necessities outside the subsidized “basket”, despite having increased, continues to be insufficient.

The combination of these two tendencies explains why salaries are one of the main concerns for Cubans, a result obtained in all the known opinion polls about the social reality of the Island. continue reading

Salaries are a double-edged sword in an economy.

On one hand, excessive growth has a negative effect on external competition, driving up production costs, limiting profits and generating inflationary pressure. Equally, higher salaries (with inflation under control) create high levels of buying power in the population, which leads to a succession that, in the words of Díaz-Canel, is fundamental for stimulating consumption and production. In this case, inflationary tension also appears.

Growing salaries are the main threat to inflation. For this reason, economists insist on the need for salaries to correlate with labor productivity. If the two variables keep pace, unit costs remain stable, competition is not eroded, businesses produce more to meet increasing demand, and this results in greater buying power. Managing this virtuous circle isn’t easy and depends on policies of growth and well-being, plus the R and D (research and development) of technological innovation.

How much have prices increased in Cuba since 2015? And what has productivity done?

The question of prices is complicated, because the Consumer Price Index refers only to the national market. In such conditions, you have to refer to the GDP deflator, which offers official data only up to 2018. Taking into account these limitations, a growth in prices of 20% (possibly more) can be estimated between 2015 and 2019, which leaves a real salary increase of 8% in these years, around 1.6% annually. Barely perceptible.

The indicator for labor productivity is obtained from dividing GDP in constant prices by the occupation level. In accord with our estimates, which include up to 2019, productivity increased in the same period by 12%, as a result of the decrease in occupation level. This indicates that the growth in unit costs has been 16% between 2015 and 2019, the equivalent of 3.2% per year. There have been inflationary tensions on the cost side.

In sum, salary increases since 2015 have had limited impact on real buying power, but, through the weak growth experienced by productivity, have generated inflationary pressure on costs, above all on the budgeted sector [that is operations included in the State budget that do not return revenue to the State, including: public health, education, culture and sport, public administration, community services, housing and defense]. The policy of central planning has ended up being, in terms of salaries, another resounding failure.

In addition, other results arise from the analysis of the official ONEI data.

For example, salary inequality among Cubans is increasing.

By territory, the distance between the lowest salary earned in 2015 on the Isle of Youth, barely 617 pesos, and the highest in Ciego de Ávila, with 752 pesos (equivalent to 135 pesos, or 22%) in 2019, hasn’t been corrected. Just the opposite. Ciego de Ávila loses first position at the expense of Artemisa in 2019, with an average salary of 989 pesos, while the lowest corresponds to Santiago de Cuba, with 757 pesos, a difference of 232 pesos (double what it was in 2015), the relative equivalent of 31%.

In addition, in Artemisa, the increase in salaries in those years approached 50%, (specifically, 48%), while on the Isle of Youth, salaries increased by only 24.3%, below the average. The provinces that experienced higher salary growth are those that had the highest levels, and at the same time, those in which the lowest salaries were paid have been those that registered less growth. Santiago de Cuba, for example, barely saw growth of 20% for salaries in this period, clearly lagging behind. So what kind of central planning is this?

It’s easily observed that salary inequalities in Cuba are a function of where you live. And then Díaz-Canel goes and announces that development in his strategy should be launched from the municipalities, a clear bet for keeping and increasing these unjust inequalities. The economy of central planning, without ownership rights or a market, cannot ensure salary justice among the territories of the Island. On the contrary: it increases the differences.

Salary inequalities for Cubans are greater still when distribution by economic activity is analyzed. In this case, the difference in 2019 between construction, which paid 1,597 pesos, the highest salary, and hotels and restaurants, with 529 pesos, the lowest, reached 1,068 pesos. A Cuban who works in construction receives a salary three times greater than someone who works in tourism.

As for trends, there are activities that gain and others that lose in regard to salaries. For example, the sugar industry, which paid 1,238 pesos in 2017, barely paid 1,062 in 2019, a decrease of 14% in this period. Even hotels and restaurants, which had the lowest average salary in 2019, had a downward trend in salaries after 2017, from 546 pesos to 529, or -3.1%. For education and health professionals, the results are contradictory. While the first receive salaries lower than the average 783 pesos, the second receive 965 pesos. The increase in salary for educators since 2017 has been 47% and for health workers, 16%.

One last inequity. The official statistics for salaries support the observation that the high intensity of non-State activities, private or self-employed, like hotels and restaurants, transport and trade, shows lower salary levels (and fewer salary increases) than in the budgeted sector that depends on the Government. Does anyone actually believe this?

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Roof of the Church of the Daughters of Charity in Havana Collapses

This Monday, the gap in the roof of the church of La Inmaculada left by the collapse on Sunday was clearly visible. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 3 August 2020 — The ceiling of the presbytery of the chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Havana, the mother house of the congregation of the Daughters of Charity, collapsed this Sunday afternoon. The church was empty, so there were no victims to regret.

On Monday, several workers could still be seen inside the chapel cleaning up, removing the wooden benches and removing the rubble.

Located on Calle San Lázaro, in Centro Habana, next to the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the neo-Gothic construction dates from 1874 and part of it, known because the congregation offers anonymous alcoholic services and other activities, is under repair. continue reading

There were no victims to regret because at the time of the collapse there was no one in the chapel of La Inmaculada. (Courtesy)

In 2015, regarding the perks received by the Bridgettines order from the Government, a nun from the Daughters of Charity told this newspaper that they had been waiting for a long time for a permit to repair their convent. “While we have spent years waiting for authorization for a capital repair of our convent, the Bridgettines manage to open a new one and even build a hostel for tourists,” the nun complained on that occasion, preferring to remain anonymous.

In the images released by instant messaging, one can see the extent of the damage suffered by a facility that is heavily visited by parishioners in the area, one of the densest neighborhoods in the Cuban capital. There is a large chapel in the building and from one side there is access to the convent of the Daughters of Charity.

Part of the La Inmaculada convent is under repair. (14ymedio)

The church provides help and support to the community in the surrounding area and has been an important humanitarian pillar for the collection of donations after the passage of several hurricanes or flooding by the sea that have affected that low area of the Havana coastline.

“Everyone who knows our chapel knows how many people enter each day to leave their prayers there, especially the patients of the Ameijeiras hospital,” wrote the Daughters of Charity on social networks. “We ask that you accompany us with your prayers and that we can fix this place.”

The collapses, increasingly recurring in Havana, do not always end without victims. On July 24, a 68-year-old woman died when the building where she lived in the Havana municipality of Cerro collapsed. It was second death in less than a week as a result of a collapse. A few days earlier, a worker from the Communal Services who collected the garbage in San Miguel and Belascoaín, died when part of the building wall fell down on him.

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Cuba’s Enemy is Not 90 Miles Offshore, But in the Lines

Castroism needs coleros (people who stand in line for others) and hoarders – among other reasons – in order for people to be able to get products that the state’s inefficiency cannot supply. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 3 August 2020 — “Speculators and product hoarders will be punished with 180 days in prison,” reads the text of legislation that could have been passed this week, were it not for its effective date of that far off 1962. Since then, and for almost six decades, resellers have been presented by the Cuban official discourse as the cause of shortages, which, in reality, is an unwanted but inevitable effect.

Back then, Law 1035 approved by the Council of Ministers determined that a person could not buy more than 11.5 kilograms (about 25 pounds) of agricultural products. Nor was it legal to transport an amount above that limit through the country’s streets and highways, except in an authorized state vehicle. The offense not only carried a six-month prison sentence, but also the confiscation of the car.

My parents had not even met, my birth was barely an infinitesimal part of a future possibility, and on this Island the authorities were already pointing to coleros  (people who stand in line to hold a place for others) and to informal merchants as at fault for the fact that many basic products could not reach homes with fewer resources. I heard the accusation again in the 80s when I was a child, in a Cuba that despite the Soviet subsidy was still marked by the periodic absences of certain merchandise. continue reading

In the 1990s, instead of intoning a mea culpa for gambling on that losing horse that was the socialist camp, official slogans once again pointed to the US embargo and to backyard hoarders as the reasons for the deep famine that was upon us. The responsibility should always be placed elsewhere, far from the Plaza of the Revolution, far from Fidel Castro’s voluntarism*, and far from the intrinsic inefficiency of the economic model imposed from above.

Thus, we come to this new crisis in which the informational script that is disseminated in the official media has hardly changed to explain the disaster in which we live. Now, the “primetime newscast” is full of police operations against merchants who deal in car parts, onions or powdered milk. The authorities call for the creation of armband wearing brigades to monitor the lines to prevent the same individual from standing in line multiple times, selling his turn or holding a place for his friends.

All this gesticulation is nothing more than pure folderol and a very calculated campaign of distraction. Nobody, other than the Cuban State itself, has all the tools at hand to end such practices, and not, as they have led us to believe, through criminalization or repression. It is only where there are shortages that hoarders can thrive and enrich themselves, the black market for a product comes to fruition where it is missing or prohibited.

Speculators and product hoarders will be punished with 180 days in prison,” reads the 1962 law.

It is in the hands of the regime to cut off the sources from which coleros and resellers thrive, but not with more restrictive legislation, but rather with flexibilities, a decrease in the role of the State in the economy and trade, openings to allow private parties to import, and a series of measures that do not attack the annoying effects of the crisis but rather help an entire country to get out of this long desert of deficit and “not enough.”

Although it bares his teeth and shows them on the screens as the new adversary to defeat, the truth is that Castroism needs coleros and hoarders – among other reasons – in order for people to be able to get products that the state’s inefficiency cannot supply. There are, in defined accounts, distribution tools that regulate the market, not under the rules of egalitarianism and social justice, but based on the demand and purchasing power of the customer.

Those who can pay for the services of a colero or a reseller live better than those who, with fewer resources or with only their wages, have to spend long hours in a line. It is basically similar to the segregation or economic apartheid which is deepened by the new stores selling food only in foreign currency. The difference is that, in the first case, the offer that is prohibitive for many is in the hands of a private party, and in the second it is the Government itself that implements and authorizes it.

This new raid that we are experiencing against clandestine merchants is no more than another pantomime, a theatrical performance that has been repeated dozens of times in the last half century. The only thing that changes is the age or forgetfulness of the frightened public, who watches this crude spectacle from their armchairs.

*Translator’s note: The principle of relying on voluntary action (used especially with reference to the involvement of voluntary organizations in social welfare). [Source: Quizlet]

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Seller of Auto Parts Arrested in the Middle of Cuba’s ‘Battle Against Illegalities’

The police confiscated hundreds of auto parts in addition to cash and three houses belonging to a citizen who was selling accessories and auto repair services. (Capture/You Tube)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, August 2, 2020 — In the bull’s eye of the police and the official campaigns are now hoarders and coleros (someone paid to stand in line for someone else), whom the Government blames for the shortages. The case of a resident in the Havana municipality of Cotorro, accused of “illicit economic activity” and “”contraband,” is added to other arrests of this type denounced in the national media.

The police confiscated hundreds of auto parts, in addition to cash and three houses belonging to a citizen who was selling accessories and auto repair services, according to a report transmitted on July 29 by the Caribe Channel, in which it defined the businessman’s arrest as part of “the battle against illegalities and corruption.”

In the report can be seen images of police officers entering a home with several rooms in which there are hundreds of spare parts for vehicles. The video also includes a tour through another two houses linked to the accused. One of them was rented out as a glassworks to another citizen. continue reading

In this domicile, the police seized 158 plates of glass and 17 window frames, “on which they were working to determine their origin,” the report specified. In the cash registers of the three homes, they found 15,870 euros, 1,100 dollars, 68,718 convertible pesos and 57,010 Cuban pesos.

First Lieutenant Susana Cañizares Corps said that the “negative economic effect” on the country is more than 306,000 Cuban convertible pesos. This affirmation is accompanied by the statement of Gustavo Reyes Sierra, business director of the State company, Auto Parts, who says he has no idea how the accused “can have this volume of auto parts.”

Sierra reminds us that when these types of products are imported as personal effects, “in no case can they be used commercially. This is such a considerable quantity it had to be acquired inside the country,” he adds, saying he opened his door to businesses or individuals with the legal capacity to import commercially and they might be involved.

“There’s a huge volume, and they’re from the same lot,” Sierra says about the hundreds of tires found in the place. A statement that points to a possible network of corruption in the State import infrastructure, a route that is regulated by the authorities but frequently used for bringing in merchandise to the black market.

This Wednesday’s report is nothing new. From the beginning of the pandemic they have escalated persecution and punishment of those who practice “illicit economic activities,” “speculation” and “hoarding,” crimes that are especially sensitive for a country that suffers from chronic shortages, now aggravated by Covid-19.

Several trials of these presumed offenders have been televised as “exemplary measures,” and the police have allowed State media to accompany the agents on the raids to capture the criminals, who are identified and interviewed on camera.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba and the Wonders of the GDR

The destitution of the presentation of the Limtel is not industrial modesty, but disrespect for the buyer, not to mention the quality of the soap. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 31 July 2020 — In the mid-1970s a close relative had the opportunity to travel to the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As our first family member to leave and return to the Island, he offered a kind of press conference surrounded by uncles, cousins and nephews.

His eyes sparkled when he told us about the wonders he saw there. Markets where there was food, families who obtained an apartment after less than a year of waiting, the possibility of acquiring a vehicle for professionals, daycare centers within the reach of all mothers. “That will be our future!” He said as excited as he was convinced.

Twenty years later, when the wall was already history, I had the opportunity to make my first trip outside of Cuba and by chance went to Germany. Among the unforgettable experiences of that first “going abroad,” I remember that in Berlin some friends invited me to see an exhibition. As nobody explained to me before entering what the exhibition was about, I toured those corridors without understanding what was the purpose of an exhibition dedicated to basic products. continue reading

My friend Christoph explained to me, when we were already at the exit door, that the exhibit was a sample of the ‘stellar’ merchandise that was distributed in the extinct GDR, and ‘the appeal’ of the sampled products consisted in making fun of the rustic finishes, of the battered containers, the faded labels and the lousy presentation, in addition to questioning the alleged usefulness of those products of Real Socialism. “With your permission,” I said to those who had invited me, after learning the reason for the exhibit, “I have to repeat the tour.”

A quarter of a century later, I fantasize about a similar exhibition where exhibition curators of the future make fun of us, showing especially how rationing affected us and how little you can buy with the salary that the State assigns to the working class.

I have chosen, almost at random, two candidates for that exhibition: the dish detergent and the laundry soap that was just sold to us through the rationed market system.

In an advertisement published in the Juventud Rebelde newspaper in August 2018, the Limtel brand liquid detergent was promoted. The label, the bottle, the color of the liquid and the closure of the lid were all objects of praise, all of which had been the subject of consumer complaints about the ease with which the product could be adulterated.

But we are in 2020 and the Limtel bottle arrives with the label off, a not insignificant decrease in its contents and an easy-to-open cap. The justification for such impairment is not a search for simplicity, nor can one even appeal to the naturist and rustic concept promoted by other markets outside the Island, since evidently these are formulas that do not respond to or fit into any framework of respect for the environment or protectors of human health. The destitution of its presentation is not industrial modesty, but disrespect for the buyer.

I am not giving details of the bar of washing soap out of respect for the intelligence of the readers. Just look at it, with its sharp edges, because — fortunately — the smell cannot be captured by the snapshot. Unfortunately, there are many people in this country who sacrifice their skin and nails literally washing with such a rock, most of them women, who lose hours of improvement, personal and professional happiness, for trying to clean a sheet with this stone.

Other products will appear in this hypothetical future exhibition to serve as an example of the humiliation to which we consumers have been subjected under this inefficient system. The list will be long: women’s sanitary pads that look like sandpaper between their thighs; the ground beef or poultry, which, just looking at it moves one more to repulsion than salivation; plastic baby toys with sharp edges that can cut their thin lips. All this with a marketing and an aesthetic that motivates one more to tears or depression than to the impulse to buy.

But our wall is still standing, although we can already store images and stories for this bizarre exhibition. Viewers will not need additional explanations. They will understand everything from having heard or lived it.

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Cuban Coffee is Available Only in Foreign Currency Stores

Cuba imports 8,000 tons of coffee annually from Vietnam, and the rest brings it from other countries, to satisfy a demand that is estimated at about 24,000 tons. (Flickr)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 August 2020 — While concerned coffee consumers confirm that the product has disappeared in stores that accept Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), Serrano and Cubita packages abound in the newly opened foreign exchange markets. Owning dollars now makes the difference between having a little morning eye opener or resorting to an herbal tea.

It is almost unthinkable to imagine the daily routine of most Cubans without a good coffee. Every morning the Island seems to start waking up to the sound of a brewing coffee pot, and there are those who say they cannot even go outside if they do not have a cup filled with this popular drink beforehand.

But in recent months, acquiring the product has become difficult because it is scarce in state markets and its price has risen considerably in informal networks. “I’ve had a week when the only thing I have to drink when I get up is an infusion of oregano or sugar water,” Nora, a housewife from Cerro Havana tells 14ymedio. continue reading

“I was stretching the little bit of powder that they gave me and made the coffee watered down now I don’t have even that. Now when I get the smell of a neighbor who is brewing some coffee, I get like a caged lioness,” laments the woman. “Yesterday I went to the foreign exchange market on Boulevard de San Rafael and there is Cubita coffee but I have no dollars or family abroad to send them to me.”

A source from the Ministry of Internal Trade consulted by this newspaper says that the problems of distribution are caused by several reasons. “The packaging has not reached us in time because the entire supply of raw material from abroad has been greatly affected by the pandemic,” says an employee who preferred anonymity.

The TuEnvío platform is one of the few legal paths that remain to be able to get hold of coffee, but it can only be purchased in combo packages with other items. (14ymedio)

Although coffee is one of the products that is still distributed through the network of warehouses with rationed and subsidized food, the package contains only about 7 ounces, each consumer can only buy one a month, it costs 4 national pesos (roughly 20¢ US), and it is 50% other grains, most commonly peas.

“We are also having difficulties with the supply of beans because part of our mixes are made with national products to which is added coffee beans or other types of beans that are imported, but now we have no money to buy them,” added the Ministry worker.

The country imports about 8,000 tons of coffee annually from Vietnam and the rest brings it from other countries in the area in order to satisfy a demand that is estimated at about 24,000 tons a year. Of this, the island has commonly produced barely a third.

The last coffee harvests have barely exceeded 6,000 tons, in a nation that during the 1960s managed to reach up to 62,000 tons of the bean. Despite attempts and official calls to raise these numbers, over the years the sector has experienced stagnation in some aspects and frank deterioration in others.

Before the Covid-19 crisis it was not difficult to find imported coffee on the black market. With a wide assortment, informal networks offered packages of the brands La Llave, Bustelo and Pilón, with a little more than 280 grams (roughly 10 ounces) and that cost around 8 CUC, the salary for a whole week of a Cuban professional.

With the closure of the borders and the travel ban for residents in the country, the supply of the product brought from abroad is practically exhausted and the few examples that are for sale exceed 12 CUC. Previously, coffee was “diverted” from the official warehouses and available in the “informal” market, but even that supply is no longer available.

Near 26th Street, a few yards from the Havana Zoo, a neighborhood of wooden and metal houses has survived for decades from the sale of coffee stolen from the nearby roasting facility. In small houses they separate, pack the merchandise and distribute it to informal vendors who have a wide network of contacts with coffee shops, paladares (private restaurants), and private customers.

“We are dry,” a vendor tells several families in a block of nearby buildings; for years he has brought them “quality coffee cheaper than in the shopping but with better flavor than that in the rationed market.” The small merchant says that “the roasting machine is not grinding because there is no coffee and there is still no date for the situation to recover.”

A few yards from the roasting machine, one of the markets where food is sold in foreign currency opened its doors last month. Dozens of packages of Cubita and Serrano coffee are seen on its shelves, priced at more than $4. Outside the store, an informal vendor proposes to ’rent’ his magnetic card to customers who want to enter but have no currency. “Buy everything you want and for every dollar spent you pay me 1.25 CUC.”

A package of coffee bought through that intermediary reaches 6 convertible pesos. “A fortune but I am going to pay because in my house there may be a lack of food and even soap, but without coffee we cannot function,” lamented a customer who, finally this Saturday, decided to accept the reseller’s offer.

Meanwhile, in the peso markets, as soon as the rumor is heard that they are going to sell coffee in a few minutes, a long line of people eager to get the product is created. Most of the time the supply that reaches these shops is limited and many of those who wait leave empty-handed.

The on-line TuEnvío platform is one of the few legal paths that remain to be able to get hold of the product, but it can only be bought in combo packages, accompanied by other merchandise with less demand, and the total price can exceed 24 CUC, an impossible sum for many families who live entirely on their salaries.

“To buy a package of coffee, I also had to buy two tomato sauces and a bottle of oil that I didn’t need, but well, at least tomorrow when I get up I will be able to put on the coffee maker,” says Viviana, a customer of this on-line commerce site which, since its opening, has suffered much criticism.

“I have to divide the package I bought between my mother, a neighbor who gave me a little last week and an aunt.” For Viviana, “Life makes sense again because without coffee I was like a zombie.”

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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.