14ymedio – Page 337 – Translating Cuba

The Dollar Returns to Rule Our Lives

This week, after the independent press leaked the information that stores were enlisting for the sale of food and toiletries in foreign currency, many emphatically denied that possibility. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 18 July 2020 – The first time I entered a hard currency store was in long distant 1994. I had to show the three one-dollar bills that a friend had given me, and thus managed to enter the shopping* on the ground floor of the Seville hotel, near the Capitol in Havana. The smell of cleanliness, the air conditioning and the shelves full of products were a hard blow for this Cubanita who, until then, had only known about state-run businesses and the rationed market. Since then it has rained a lot, but it also seems that history moves in circles on this Island.

This week, after the independent press leaked that stores were being prepared sell food and toiletries in foreign currency, many emphatically denied that possibility on the premise that “something like this cannot be.” Curiously, until Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed, this Thursday afternoon, that the network of businesses managed by Cimex was going to offer food in dollars, euros or other foreign currencies, some clung to the conviction that such a segregationist measure could not be implemented in this country.

Memory is a slippery animal. This is exactly what Fidel Castro did when, in August 1993, he authorized the possession of dollars and fired the starting gun for the appearance of a vast network of state stores where you could pay only in that currency. The time came when those lacking US banknotes looked on – salivating – as others bought cookies, frozen chicken, sausages or soda in a type of store that, soon after, began to introduce the convertible peso (CUC) into its operations. continue reading

We have already experienced this, but many do not remember or do not want to remember. The dual monetary system became something so ordinary that, little-by-little over the last 20 years, we “normalized” the idea that to acquire merchandise of better quality and variety you had to have convertible pesos. The only difference now, with respect to recent years, is that the currency that once again governs the country’s destinies, and that guarantees a certain personal comfort, is the one with the faces of Lincoln and Franklin, one that had already determined our life in the 90s but that, this time, operates through magnetic cards.

This is nothing new: every time in the last half century that the Plaza of the Revolution has felt that the critical economic situation could shake its power, it has allowed certain winds of the market to flow over the Island and a social group to find accommodation in some shots of consumption. Nothing should surprise us in that strategy, which they have repeated so many times, although the double talk of proclaiming one political model and applying another that is so different, must not fail to outrage us.

Among those who until Thursday doubted that foreign exchange stores would include food, at a time of brutal shortages of food in the markets that sell in local currency, most were from my son’s generation. Cuban youths who were born after the shoppings opened, and the free circulation of the dollar allowed and the subsequent appearance of the commonly called chavito, the Cuban convertible peso (CUC).

For them, state commerce operated in two currencies: the CUC and the CUP… but they forgot – or could not remember due to age issues – that under the skin of those colored pieces of paper called convertible pesos there was always the bristling hair of a wolf named the dollar, a wolf which is now about to become the owner of the new hard currency stores. Any other version is bedtime story about Little Red Riding Hood.

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Cuba’s Caribe Stores and Their 47 Basic Products

What is the point of spending hard-to-get currencies to buy something that you can buy with national bills? (Luz Escobar / 14ymedio)

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 July 2020 — Among the presentations on Cuban State TV’s Roundtable program on Thursday, July 16, Ana María Ortega Tamayo, general director of Tiendas Caribe (Caribe Stores), appeared with the task of assuring the population that the opening of stores that will sell food and toiletries in freely convertible currency does not mean this particular merchandise is no longer sold in the 4,800 stores throughout the country that take payment in one of Cuba’s two currencies: Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) and Cuban pesos (CUP).

After clarifying payment through magnetic cards (MCL) loaded with hard currency, will focus on what she called “the deep assortment”, she maintained that the 47 basic products that until now have been marketed in these stores, which Cubans call shopping, using the English word, will remain.

While it is still unknown what will be included in the vague definition of “mid-range and high-end products” that will be offered by the new stores, it is also vague to precisely name the list of 47. In an internet search, the only the products that appeared were subject to control to prevent hoarding. If we include those that, due to customer experience, are not regulated but are sold, the list that we put at the end of this text can be formed. continue reading

It can be assumed that most of the 47 will also be traded in stores in convertible currency, and so the question that falls under its own weight is this: what is the point of spending hard-to-get currencies to buy something that you can buy with national bills?

A can of tuna, for example, will merit being bought in MCL stores for only two reasons: it is cheaper than at the shopping or to avoid the line. There is also the silly argument of vanity, of being able brag about having a magnetic card with better capabilities.

The most powerful reason for spending hard-to-get bills (and it’s not that getting the others is easy) will be the absence of many of the 47 items in the usual markets. If those who distribute the goods in both commercial modalities are the same, you can guess where the tuna cans will go when there are few left, because the ship was delayed, because the embargo prevented it, because the financing was lacking, because the the country was in debt to the supplier or for the infinite reasons why a product can become a shortage.

It is false, as President Díaz-Canel warned, that the sale in the current stores will now be suspended to bring the products to the new ones that operate in convertible currency. The question is what will happen when the dilemma arises of where it will be more profitable to sell what little is left of a merchandise.

Here we leave a list of what, without being official, can be assumed to be on the list.

Foods

1. 1. Vegetable oil
  2. Water
  3. Rice
  4. Sugar
  5. Coffee
  6. Candies
  7. Beer
  8. Chewing gum
  9. Jams and jellies
  10. Canned meat
  11. Canned fish
  12. Link sausages
  13. Noodles
  14. Cookies
  15. Crackers
  16. Grain
  17. Burgers
  18. Wheat flour
  19. Powdered milk
  20. Evaporated milk
  21. Tomato paste
  22. Other tomato preserves
  23. Pasta
  24. Turkey and mixed hash
  25. Beef hash
  26. Chicken
  27. Tomato puree
  28. Cheese
  29. National soft drinks
  30. Salt
  31. Vinegar
  32. Dry wine
  33. Yogurt

Personal care and grooming products

34. Sanitary pads

35. Toothbrushes

36. Shampoo

37. Toothpaste

38. Disposable diapers

39. Deodorant

40. Detergent

41. Floor cleaning cloths

42. Washing soap

43. Hand soap

44. Toilet paper

45. Perfumes

46. Wet wipes…. and others

Others

47. Cigarettes

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An Official ‘Check’ to Cuban Chess

Chessplayors Bruzón, Domínquez and Quesada, whom officials have called “slaves” for playing under the flags of other countries.

(Translator’s note: this article makes reference to the Elo rating system, which is used to evaluate the relative skill levels of chess players. Amateur chess players typically have Elo ratings in the 1000-2000 range, while a rating of over 2600 places you in the world elite. The world champion currently has an Elo rating of 2863.)

14ymedio, Rafael Alcides Pérez Coyula, Havana, July 15 2020 — There was a time when surpassing 2600 Elo points meant you were one of the world’s top 100 chess players. After former world champion José Capablanca (1888-1942), the next Cuban to reach those heights was Jesús Nogueiras, between the mid ’80s and early ’90s. Then, 18 years ago, he and Capablanca were joined by Leinier Domínquez and Lázaro Bruzón.

Ever since these two exploded onto the international chess scene, Cuba has had at least one representative in the top 100 players in the world, and, for the first time since the Elo rating list was introduced, in the top 10. Six Cuban players have passed the 2600 mark, appearing repeatedly in the most prestigious international tournaments. They’ve won two individual Panamerican titles, two qualifications to the World Team Chess Championship and have garnered excellent results in the Chess Olympiads, including individual medals for men and women. Lisandra Ordaz, for example, was awarded the international master title.

How then do we explain the fact that currently, no Cuban is rated above 2600 Elo, especially given that nearly 300 players worldwide have achieved that rating? It’s true that three Caribbeans hold that distinction, but none of them competes for the Cuban Federation. Grandmaster Neuris Delgado, who appears at number 161 on the FIDE rankings with 2621 Elo points, has played for Paraguay since 2013. Last year Leinier Domínquez (currently number 14 in the world rankings with 2758 Elo) made his switch to the United States official. Now, Lázaro Bruzón (2644, number 111 in the world) has done the same. continue reading

Originally from the province of Las Tunas, Bruzón has lived for the last two years in the U.S., where he’s part of the chess team at Webster University in St. Louis, today’s chess mecca. Although he originally intended to continue playing under the Cuban flag, the inept handling of his move by the Cuban Chess Federation (FCA) eventually brought relations to a breaking point. Bruzón’s switch the U.S. Federation took effect on July 1st.

The FCA’s policy towards its players has amassed other victims as well. In the last three years they have sanctioned or “separated” some of their best known players from the National Team, players like the grandmasters (GM) Yuniesky Guesada and Yusnel Bacallao, the former for accepting work as a trainer in the U.S. after asking for permission and being denied, and the latter for protesting a two-year delay in payment of his prize money from the Capablanca Memorial Tournament.

The most recent case is that of GM Roberto García, who won 2nd place in the 2019 Cuban championships. The FCA normally provides a monthly stipend to all Cuban grandmasters, but has been denying this payment to García on the basis of his “repeated insubordination” and critical social media posts. What’s more, the Federation has interfered with García’s travel permits and insists that criticism of their actions will not be tolerated. All this is detailed in a letter written by Carlos Rivero, president of the FCA and National Sports Commissioner.

The absence of Cubans in the now-not-so-selective 2600 club is just the tip of the iceberg in the deterioration of the island’s chess scene. This started to become evident after the 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia. Yuniesky had already fallen into disgrace while Bruzón’s problems were just beginning; then came the complaints about the organization and the conditions offered to the participants in the National Championships in 2019 and 2020.

Claims of delays in payment of prize money from the Capablanca Tournaments to Cuban players, while foreign players received theirs right away. Complaints by top players over the lack of high speed internet access, which is indispensable for any professional chess player these days. Calls for greater support for participation in high-level European tournaments, without which Cuban players have no opportunity to test themselves against the world elite.

The common factor in all these cases seems to be Rivero, who has been in charge of Cuban chess for nine years now. Rivero has faced criticism for failing to live up to the responsibilities of his office, and what’s worse, for not defending the real interests of Cuban chess.

Faced with these charges, the president has pointed to the large number of players who have achieved the grandmaster title during his tenure, the training programs he has implemented, and the number of young players who are currently dominating the national scene. But he ignores the generation of players whom Cuba has lost under his leadership, who have left the country or abandoned professional chess in search of better-paying work.

Meanwhile, at a more basic level, the problems just keep adding up. In schools, there is a lack of chess sets, boards, and even tournament clocks. There have been accusations of “phantom tournaments” that result in the sale of Elo points and international titles. And then there is the arbitrary retaliation against any hint of criticism.

The fact that for the first time since 2002 the leader in the national rankings sits below 2600 Elo is a reflection of the malaise that has overtaken Cuban chess. Carlos Daniel Albornoz, who is only 19 years old, has already reached 2573 Elo. Rivero is right in hoping for a brilliant future for the grandmaster from Camagüey. But while the Federation continues on its current course and U.S. universities continue strengthening their chess scholarship programs, it would be naïve to think that skill is the only realm in which Albornoz with emulate his predecessors.

Translated by: Zach Young

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Without Water There Won’t be Squash in Urban Gardens

On the official list of commercial varieties of squash that the Ministry of Agriculture maintains there are almost 20 names. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Marcelo Hernández, Havana, July 14, 2020 – Boris grows cucumbers, some varieties of garlic and aromatic herbs on the patio of his house in La Lisa, Havana. He says he’s preparing “for what’s coming, which will be hard,” so he’s filled about 20 plastic containers, which used to hold paint, with a little earth and gravel, and the incentive of necessity.

“I’m not going back to living in another Special Period,” he explains to 14ymedio. “When I was 12 they sold some little chicks that we had to raise at home, but they all died a little later because in my family there are mechanics, engineers and even a dentist, but no one knew how to grow food or raise farm animals.

Once he noticed that the present crisis was going to get worse, this graduate in geography, who works as a waiter in a paladar (privately-owned home restaurant) decided to learn the A-B-Cs of creating a garden on his patio, in a space of about four or five meters with a concrete soil, at the end of a hallway with several apartments on each side. Now he spends most of his time there. continue reading

In the last few months, as the shortage of products grew and Boris’ family spent more and more time finding certain condiments, he planted oregano. “It grows anywhere, so it’s a good way to prove that I can do it.”

“Then I added basil, garlic, several rosemary and parsley plants, which also did very well. As I felt more secure, I added cucumber and chili peppers, but I’ve had the most success with herbs for seasoning or making tea,” he says. “We can’t survive with this but at least we’ll have something to give taste and variety to the food.”

Several of his neighbors also benefit from the garden, something that has brought relief in the middle of the pandemic, with the farmers markets in the zone very short of food and the little carts almost missing from the streets because of police control. “I’ve turned into a real guajiro!” jokes the improvised farmer.

But now that he’s conquered his initial inexperience, Boris is facing other problems. “The delivery of water is what causes the most harm, because in this zone it’s been almost a week without it coming,” he laments. “I’ve had to carry water from other neighborhoods not only for the bathroom and mopping, but also for irrigation.”

Last March, the capital had 111 water supply sources damaged, 89 partially and the other 22 totally, and only one of the five water systems is in good shape, a situation that barely has changed with the passing weeks. Some neighborhoods in the capital have spent almost two weeks without receiving service.

As the shortage of products grows, many Cubans take a chance on growing aromatic herbs and vegetables on their patios. (Flickr/Alexander.Kafka)

“A garden in every house and in every neighborhood sounds very good, but when people start growing everywhere, what’s going to happen with the little water we have?” asks Boris’ neighbor, who approves of the practice of growing food but worries about the building’s cistern “drying up”. However, he admits that the garden’s garlic and chives have “saved several meals”.

“You throw a few seeds, wait a few days and there it is,” is how Felipe Agüero describes it. He’s a retired truck driver who began planting on a small parcel behind his building in Reparto Bahía in Havana. Cucumbers, aromatic herbs and several papaya plants are his greatest pride, but these days it’s the squash that is the butt of most of his neighbors’ jokes.

“I had squash before all this racket started, and it’s not one of the most interesting things to plant,” he clarifies.

Gerardo González, Vice President of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and ex-spy imprisoned for years in the U.S., called for a massive planting of squash, triggering all kinds of jokes on social media. “If every CDR produces one squash and there are 138,000 CDRs in the country, then there would be 138,00 more squash,” affirms González during a visit to Camagüey.

On the official list of commercial varieties of squash that the Ministry of Agriculture maintains they are almost 20 names, but, in practice, there are six which are the most common on tables. The differences go from the form, passing to the size, the texture of the shell and even the arrangement of the seeds inside.

“You can grow squash year-round, but you have to be very careful in the months of July and August because there’s a lot of blight when it’s hot,” warns Agüero. “What I produce here is very small, but to grow it seriously, you must have good seed and keep the irrigation stable, something very difficult to do in the city.”

He waters his small garden by a hose connected to the building’s water supply. “When there’s no water it’s lost work because all the strength in the seeds can be gone in a few days, which has happened to me many times.”

“Here what I can get are seasonal herbs for cooking, but it’s clear that my family can’t live only on this,” says Agüero. “Sometimes it’s only a distraction for me, to pass a little time outside the house and think about something other than my problems, but the fear I have now is that they’re saying if you already have a garden, you don’t need to buy in the bodega (ration store).”

It’s better not to talk to Agüero about pineapple. “Anyone who asks you to plant pineapple everywhere knows nothing about agriculture,” he points out. “It’s a very aggressive plant because its leaves poke and cut,” and it’s not advisable at all to plant pineapple on a patio, a terrace or in a garden because it’s a danger for people, animals

“When I was a boy and lived in Quivicán, my father used to plant pineapple to separate the other crops, like a kind of natural barrier to prevent the cows from getting into the more sensitive crops, and also to dissuade thieves,” he remembers.

“It’s better for me to continue with my herbs to solve my problem a little, and I’ve even been able to sell some. Basil is the favorite because people use it a lot for religious cleansings,” explains Agüero. “With the money I get for the basil, I go and buy the pineapple or squash that I can’t find in the store.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Miami Judge Dismisses the Application of Helms-Burton to Carnival

Carnival began its cruises to Cuba in 2015, after relations were re-initiated between Havana and Washington under Obama’s mandate. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2020 – A federal judge in Miami last week dismissed the lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Line brought by a Cuban American, Javier García-Bengochea, who says he is the legitimate owner of the property seized in the port of Santiago de Cuba.

García-Begochea, a neurosurgeon and resident of Jacksonville, inherited the property from a cousin who lived in Costa Rica, and the Cuban Government appropriated it in 1960.

In the judgment of the magistrate, James Lawrence King, although the plaintiff legally received his inheritance, non-U.S. citizens are not allowed to claim confiscated properties in the U.S. by taking advantage of the provisions of the Helms-Burton Law, something that Congress, said the Judge, had tried to avoid. continue reading

The plaintiff’s lawyers announced that they are considering possible options for the future, although some media, like The Wall Street Journal, consider that this could set a bad precedent for the hundreds of claimants in a similar situation, either because the court dismisses their lawsuits or because this case disincentivizes the presentation of others.

Carnival had already requested last year that the complaint be dismissed. The cruise company alleges that the heir who originated the claim wasn’t in conformance with Costa Rican law. In addition, García-Bengochea acquired the land in 2000, after the cut-off date specified by Helms-Burton, which is March 12, 1996.

John Kavulich, President of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, and contrary to the re-activation of Title III of Helms-Burton, said that the judge in Miami “has set the tone for other judges”.

When Title III took effect, an avalanche of demands was expected, since nearly 6,000 claims valuing over two billion dollars had already been certified by the U.S. Government for citizens who had lost property in Cuba.

However, barely thirty lawsuits have been filed against hotels, airlines or financial institutions, including hotel search companies. Among those affected are Amazon, Melía, Société Générale S.A. and American Airlines.

According to Kavulich, many were waiting for the first judicial pronouncements to calculate the probabilities they had for winning some compensation by virtue of the law.

García-Bengochea also had claimed in 2017 a compensation of more than six million dollars from Communications Construction Company Ltd., headquartered in Peking, for “trafficking” with the same property in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Real Time: Cuban Government is Forced to Confirm 14ymedio’s Reporting

Sarah Marsh reports for Reuters from Havana. (Screenshot / Twitter)

Read translation of 14ymedio article here.

Cuba’s Cimex Stores, Ready to Open, Will Sell Food Products in Dollars

State stores in Cuba are preparing to begin marketing goods in freely convertible currency. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 14 July 2020 — Cuba’s government-owned hard currency stores will now market food and hygiene products, as confirmed by 14ymedio sources from the state corporation Cimex. Most provincial capitals are currently preparing premises to operate in freely convertible currency including the sale of these basic necessities.

“In the city of Sancti Spíritus the state markets selling in Cuban pesos and hard currency have little on the shelves, there are only bottles of water and rum, but the two largest stores in the city are closed and preparing to open with products for sale in freely convertible currency,” says Maikel, a resident of the city.

“Through the windows, you can already see the shelves of these well stocked stores filled with toiletries, such as soaps, gels, shampoo and deodorants; there are also foods that have not reached the other stores in a while,” added the native of Espiritu. “People are concerned that now you have to have dollars to buy food.” continue reading

The so-called convertible currency stores began to open late last year in an attempt by the Cuban government to collect income from abroad, given the lack of liquidity in the national economy. In this trade network, cash is not accepted, only magnetic cards issued by state banks.

Initially these premises were tested in Havana with the marketing of high-end appliances such as split air conditioners, flat screen TVs, washing machines, parts for vehicles and electric motorcycles. These options were expanded in February of this year, when cars, PCs, laptops, computer parts and pieces, security systems, electric generators, heaters, cold storage, minibars, range hoods, and lawn mowers were included in the products for sale.

But until now, toiletries and food have not been offered in this network of hard currency stores. “Little by little, new stores will be incorporated and the assortment will be expanded to other products and supplies,” a source from the Cimex Corporation, the state group managed by the military that is in charge of this type of sales, confirmed to this newspaper.

“Anyone who has a bank account, deposits currency or receives it and has their magnetic card will be able to buy in these stores, as they have been up to now. The novelty is that they will now have a broader catalog of merchandise,” adds the Cimex employee.

In Santiago de Cuba, customers also maintain that several stores, in the most central streets of the city, are currently closed for conversion into convertible currency stores as are others that are already operating under that system. “This is how the La Plaza store is right now once it started requiring payment with bank cards,” protests a user on the social network Facebook.

One of the stores that will be set up for sale in foreign currency in the city of Sancti Spíritus. (14ymedio)

The customer published an image of the store with the shelves full of hygiene products that are barely found in the network of markets in national or Cuban convertible pesos. “It is a tremendous lack of respect that we have to risk our health standing in line for hours to buy soap in the Caribe Chain of Stores to pay in chavitos [Cuban convertible pesos] and that this is so easy if you have dollars,” laments Lydia Esther, another Internet user, indignant.

“We are going to open to the public next week with an offer of furniture, toiletries and food, the appliances will be sold in another store also in convertible currency,” confirmed by telephone an employee of the Management of the La Plaza Shopping Center. “We are now in the final preparations to train staff and implement the entire card payment system.”

“At first, there will also be limited quantities that each customer can buy of each product to avoid hoarding,” adds the worker, who confirms that frozen foods, canned foods, and a wide variety of cereals and sauces will be sold.

A practice that has spread among the customers of these stores is the informal “rental” of the card required for payment. This is an informal transaction between individuals which allows consumers who do not have a foreign currency bank account to shop in the store. They pay the owner of the hard currency bank card a percentage of the total amount of the purchase. This informal business could be extended in the coming weeks when the number of stores of this type grows significantly.

In recent months, the network of state stores has gone through moments of great shortages, long lines and rationing of the quantities that each consumer is allowed to buy.

In addition to the use of magnetic cards in US dollars in the state’s network of retail stores in the country and in the importing of merchandise through official entities, the authorities recently allowed non-residents on the Island to open accounts in convertible currency that they can use on the same conditions as those applied to residents.

For decades, the possession of foreign exchange was heavily penalized in Cuba. Until its authorization in 1993, possession of a foreign currency could carry a sentence of up to four years in prison.

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Susely Morfa Continues Her Meteoric Career in the PCC, now in Matanzas

In 2016, Morfa was elected a deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power and a member of the State Council. (Radio Rebelde)

14ymedio, Havana, 14 July 2020 — Susely Morfa has climbed a new step in her meteoric career by being appointed to lead the ideological political section of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in the province of Matanzas. After standing out during the acts of repudiation against Cuban activists at the Summit of the Americas, in 2015 in Panama, now the psychologist aims to become a high cadre of the PCC.

Until last May, Morfa, 38, was at the head of the Union of Young Communists, a position in which she was replaced by Diosvany Acosta Abrahante. The note on her departure from the UJC made it clear, according to the official language codes, that she was leaving on good terms to assume “new responsibilities in the Party”.

For an organization like the UJC, in which a part of its leaders have been ousted during their terms, and some of them have even been prosecuted, as is the case of Luis Orlando Domínguez, Morfa’s triumphant departure points to her continuing career in the PCC, where she is already a member of the Central Committee. continue reading

Although Morfa’s new position has not yet been officially announced, the website of the city of Matanzas presented her last June as being in charge of “attending to the political-ideological sphere” of the PCC in that province. The only partisan force allowed in the country is, moreover, enshrined in the Constitution as the “leading force” of the nation.

Susely Morfa González became famous for her combative performance at the Summit of the Americas in Panama in which she starred in several acts of repudiation and labeled as “lackeys, mercenaries, self-financed, underpaid by imperialism” the activists and exiles who participated in a parallel event with civil society.

In that performance, Morfa was questioned by a journalist from a Florida media outlet, who asked her about the resources with which she had paid for her passage and stay in Panama. In the response she gave to the cameras, she asserted that she had paid for her passage to Panama with her salary as a psychologist.

In Cuba, a health professional receives a monthly salary that does not exceed the equivalent of 50 dollars, while a round-trip ticket to Panama costs around 500. To that response the social networks responded with dozens of jokes, memes and criticism in which they called her “the millionaire psychologist”.

In 2016, Morfa was elected a deputy in the National Assembly of People’s Power and a member of the State Council. That same year she was appointed to the head of the UJC, after having held various positions in the youth organization, first in her native municipality of Rodas (Cienfuegos) and later as a provincial leader.

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Melia Suffers a Reverse in a Spanish Court Over Its Hotels in Cuba

The Hotel Sol Rio y Luna Mares, in Playa Esmeralda, Holguin, is on land that belonged to the Sanchez Hill family before 1959.

14ymedio, Havana, July 10, 2020 – The court of Palma (Baleares),which is in charge of the Sánchez Hill family case against the Melía group over the exploitation in Cuba of two hotels, has rejected three petitions from the company, according to Vozpópuli, which revealed on Friday the contents of the resolution approved on July 6.

Melía, which managed the hotels Paradisus Rio de Oro and Sol Rio y Luna Mares on lands expropriated in Holguín from the family after the 1959 Revolution, alleged that the demand is a covert attempt on the part of the heirs to evade the European rules and apply extraterritorial law in Spain. At the root of the adoption of the Helms-Burton Law in 1996, the European Union preventively created a cutoff statute that annulled the effect of foreign resolutions.

The court rejected this allegation upon considering that this supposed intent isn’t proved. The Sánchez Hills initiated the lawsuit in 2019 under the U.S. law, but the Spanish court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, so the family decided to invoke the crime of illicit enrichment, which can be investigated in Spain. Upon reopening the case for this presumed crime, the court believes that there is no proof of intent to use Helms-Burton. continue reading

Melía’s second petition raised a prejudicial question to the European Union Tribunal of Justice so that it would indicate how to proceed. This type of consult is done by European judges so that the cases raised are adjusted to the communitarian right when there is some doubt. The Palms court thinks it’s not necessary to appeal to Luxembourg and that the case can be resolved with the strict application of applicable Spanish law.

Finally, Melía asked that measures be adopted to maintain the confidentiality of the trial and requested the Sánchez Hill family to sign a non-disclosure agreement, since they think the documentation could be used for a future trial in the United States. The Court considers that there is no reason to adopt measures that are “restrictive and contrary to the principle of publicizing the proceedings in a democratic society”.

Melía told the Spanish newspaper that it is not surprised by the decision and is sure that the court will rule in its favor because “there are elements of facts and rights so the lawsuit will be dismissed in its entirety”.

The Spanish court can’t judge claims for goods confiscated in Cuba, but it can pass judgment on what is raised now as a personal claim of action for compensation from a company headquartered in Spain.

However, the hotel still will enter an appeal before this Saturday. If it does so and is rejected, proceedings could be initiated for the Sánchez Hill family to reclaim 10 million euros.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Granma’ Hides the Anniversary of the Sinking of the ’13 de Marzo’ Tugboat

Image of an act of tribute in Miami to the victims of the ’13 de Marzo’ Tugboat. (Twitter)

14ymedio, Havana, 13 July 2020 — The official newspaper Granma chose to commemorate the arrival in Cuba of the alleged remains of Ernesto Che Guevara, while it hid the anniversary of the sinking of the ’13 de Marzo” Tugboat, and the anniversary of the shooting of General Arnaldo Ochoa on Monday, both events that occurred on July 13, 1994 and 1989 respectively.

The official organ of the Communist Party, much given to marking historical dates and reminders, has overlooked one of the most fateful events in Cuban history. The sinking of a boat in the summer of 1994, which left 37 people dead, including at least several children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years.

In the early morning of July 13 of that year, 62 people tried to escape from Cuba to the United States aboard the 13 de Marzo tugboat. The ship was intercepted and sunk by three other ships, Polargo 2, Polargo 3, and Polargo 5, according to testimonies collected from survivors. Many of the bodies of the deceased were never retrieved. continue reading

Unlike the drum and the cymbal with which the remains of Guevara were received on the Island in 1997, the sinking of the tugboat was barely reported in the official press and those involved were never tried, despite the fact that witnesses reported that the Polargo rammed the ship and blasted jets of water onto the deck to prevent its exit from Cuban waters.

A day after the sinking, Granma published a note from the Ministry of the Interior in which it was stated that the boat had “capsized” and that only “antisocials” were traveling on it. Shortly after, when the details of what happened were revealed, the official newspaper assured that the Polargos had been involved in a “regrettable collision” during the maneuvers to prevent the theft of the boat.

No one was tried for the sinking of the tugboat and the event was erased from the calendar, public debates and academic research. Something similar to what happened with Case 1 of 1989, for which another July 13, five years earlier, General Arnaldo Ochoa, Colonel Antonio de la Guardia, Captain Jorge Martínez and Major Amado Padrón were shot.

Much of the trial against these officers, for an alleged drug trafficking crime, was broadcast on national television and for many analysts it marked a before and after in the Cuban political process.

The alleged links of the accused with the Colombian cartels, their shady deals with ivories in Africa, and the trafficking activities attributed to them during the oral hearing have for decades been the source of speculation about a possible involvement of the Cuban leadership, especially Fidel Castro, in such maneuvers.

At the Supreme Court, presided over by General Juan Escalona Reguera, then Attorney General of the Republic, capital punishment was requested for four of the accused, a sentence that was supported and ratified by the Council of State a few days later.

For many faithful party militants, the execution of Ochoa catalyzed their break with the Communist Party and their disappointment with the political model. In the international community, numerous voices also rose in rejection of what they called “institutional murder.” But, despite its importance, the official press has not referenced that court case or its implicated parties.

On the other hand, the authenticity of the remains of Ernesto Che Guevara that rest in the Santa Clara Mausoleum has been questioned on several occasions. An extensive investigative report published in the Mexican magazine Letras Libres casts doubt on the finding. “Only a DNA test carried out by totally independent experts will make it possible to verify whether the skeleton attributed to Che really belongs to him,” says the report.

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Some 40 Cuban Health Workers Have Fled From Qatar In The Last Few Years

The Cuban Hospital of Qatar, inaugurated in 2012, is considered “the jewel in the crown” of the international Cuban medical missions”. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, July 12, 2020 — In spite of the vigilance and fear of being discovered in the middle of preparations, some 40 Cuban health workers have escaped from the official mission in Qatar. In order to accomplish this, they had to pretend, lie or disguise themselves, according to an extensive report published on Friday in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

The article reports the testimony of three professionals who worked in the modern installations of the Cuban Hospital in Dukhan, 80 kilometers west of Doha. The health workers relate the story of their flight, “worthy of a Cold War spy movie”, says the text, in which the anonymity of those interviewed is preserved in order to avoid possible reprisals.

“I remember I was very afraid of being discovered. I dressed like an Arab. I put on a tunic and a scarf. I had to disguise myself every time I visited the U.S. Embassy in Qatar,” said Yadira, a young nurse who escaped from the official mission and now lives in the United States. continue reading

The Cuban Hospital in Qatar, inaugurated in 2012, is considered “the jewel in the crown of the international Cuban medical missions”, a prosperous business managed by the Company for Cuban Medical Services. Yadira worked for more than two years in the installation and remembers the control over the Cuban staff.

“I’ve always been a rebel, and it’s very difficult for me to follow orders I don’t find logical. Some people accept certain things; others, no. They wouldn’t let me get married. There were many reasons why I didn’t feel free to choose,” she explains. “I had time to prepare my flight; I trained myself mentally and avoided doing anything that could give me away.”

Alexis, another nurse who served in the hospital for more than three years, shares similar experiences. “The pressures start when you arrive. In the airport, before saying hello, they take your passport and make you know that all your movements will be controlled. They make you aware that you are simply a chess piece and that you will be moved as they choose.”

Qatari Government sources insist that the hospital center is a private organization, but the lack of transparency even involves the amount of money that Cuba receives for each professional. “They never told us how much the Corporation was paying for each one of us. Unofficially it was said that they were paying 13,200 euros monthly for each nurse. We were receiving a monthly salary of 1,000 dollars,” comments Alexis.

The location of the hospital, in a zone with very high temperatures the whole year, near the main gas and oil field of Qatar Petroleum, also favors control over the personnel. “It seemed incredible how in the middle of a desert there could have been something so amazing. It had technology that I couldn’t even imagine existed,” admits Rolando, another of the nurses who escaped from the Cuban mission.

The three health workers benefited from the parole program for medical professionals created by the U.S. in 2006, which was in force for more than a decade. “I had to go several times to present documents and tests that showed my identity. And yes, that was very stressful. I had to go disguised to the appointments. If they found out what I wanted to do, they surely would have sent me back to Cuba,” remembers Rolando.

“After some months they advised me that my request had been approved. But as I didn’t have my passport, I had to wait until I could take my vacation in Cuba. Once in Holland, with a visa in hand, I could buy a ticket for Miami,” he says.

The fear of reprisals if the authorities detected their intentions obliged the workers to sharpen their wits. “A short time after arriving at the hospital, the abandonments began. They started by going to Europe and the U.S. The pressure on us grew. We had to attend weekly meetings and listen to constant political harangues. There were people dedicated to controlling us,” says Alexis.

“At the peak of the exits, two or three professionals were deserting every 15 days. Around 40 people left, and there would have been much more if the program hadn’t been abolished in 2017,” commented the nurse, who also had to resort to dissimulation to avoid the possible presence of snitches.

After making contact with the U.S. Consulate in Qatar, Alexis acquired the traditional attire of Qatari men—a thawb, the white tunic, and a ghutra, the scarf—to go to his meetings in the embassy.

“Through a fake email account I made contact with the Embassy. It’s very complicated because the Cuban personnel in Qatar are isolated in the desert, and the Government of Cuba is interested in keeping them there. They have control over your movements, they know when you go out and the hours you do. You have no right to take private transport and can only travel in buses to specific places and at concrete times,” he relates.

“It was hard to make appointments at the Embassy when you supposedly were going somewhere in Doha to buy something and to leave from there disguised as an Arab to go to the Embassy, with the fear that they were photographing you and that someone might see you,” Alexis says.

“I made four visits to the U.S. Embassy, all incognito, with my cell phone turned off and a very high stress level. I used parasols, caps and everything that could keep someone from recognizing me. The Embassy is about 300 meters away from a highway, in a flat space where there’s nothing. You have to cross it and it’s said there are people from Cuban State Security taking photos of everyone who enters and leaves.”

The “deserters”, as the official Cuban propaganda calls them, are punished with being prohibited from entering the Island for a minimum period of eight years, the loss of their professional accreditation and family separation, but even so the escapes continue. “There was a psychological shock. Everyone was speculating, jokingly, about who would be the next to abandon the mission,” says Alexis.

“There were previous cases that didn’t turn out well, and you had to have a plan B and C. The consul escorted me on the return trip to Cuba. The layover in Holland offered me the opportunity to do what I had to do to escape. It was a hard decision, because since then, I haven’t been able to hug my family,” remembers Yadira.

The coronavirus, with infection rates going up on the Arabian Peninsula, has been converted into a buoyant economic opportunity for the battered economy of the Island. To the 300 professional health workers who recently landed in Kuwait are added almost 200 of the Henry Reeve contingent who were working in a field hospital in the Industrial Zone of Doha.

“We were isolated in a golden cage, and we couldn’t drink alcohol or eat pork, which in Qatar is a right for foreigners who can get a license to buy them. They weren’t letting us do so many things and there wasn’t much we could do,” Alexis concludes bitterly.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Violating Private Correspondence: Routine At Correos de Cuba

The envelope sent by the Anaya publishing house was opened and reached its recipient this Monday morning. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 13 July 2020 — The envelope was placed over our apartment’s mailbox. The postman never rang the bell, no one alerted us that there was a letter to collect, but there it was. My first feeling was surprise, and then relief that, finally, and after months without receiving even a telegram, some correspondence could reach the “cursed” address where I live.

However, the joy was short-lived. The envelope was opened roughly and the papers inside were visibly wrinkled. The letter had traveled from distant Madrid and the sender is the publisher Anaya, with whom I have published several books on the WordPress content manager, but not even the “innocent” letterhead of a publishing house nor the distance traveled by the shipment had deterred someone from violating my correspondence.

It is nothing new. Disrespect for privacy has become the norm of life on this island, where the institutions themselves violate the intimate space of citizens and the State postal service, Correos de Cuba, is one of the many scrutinizing eyes of State Security and the political police. It would be strange if the envelope had reached my hands intact, respected and on time. continue reading

It matters little that the Constitution establishes that “correspondence is inviolable. It can only be seized, opened and examined in the cases provided by law.” We all know and intuit that in this country, the right to privacy is held almost as an immoral and petty-bourgeois act. Those who opened the envelope that should have come to my hands sealed do not accept the intimate space and fear any individual zone that they cannot access.

These are the same people who condemned me during my adolescence to board at a pre-university where dozens of students had to bathe in showers without doors or curtains; those who confiscated school notebooks to read the verses that we scribbled on the last page and those who have fueled the hundreds of thousands of eyes throughout the country dedicated to monitoring every block through the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.

Today, an opened envelope that arrived at my door suddenly reminded me of all that.

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A New Call For Possible Dialogue In Order To Overcome The Crisis

Masked police agent controls line to buy food in Havana (File photo)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 8, 2020 — The virulence of the economic crisis that is battering Cuba, as a consequence of containment measures for the Covid-19 pandemic, is becoming more serious and profound than expected. Spaces for dialogue are opening up because of the surge in outbreaks, which create uncertainty about the future.

The data and information trickle in drop-by-drop for the authorities to confirm. And if it’s true that no data exist on the economic situation, some that are known, like the statistics on travelers, are frightening. In May, only 993 visitors arrived, which represents a decrease of 99.7% compared to the same month last year. Tourism has disappeared from the Island, and possibilities for recovery are scarce.

Certainly it won’t happen in 2020. The authorities will go back to their sales pitch to explain the failure, but they won’t have far to go. The forecast for economic development in Cuba has to be revised downward and thus assumes that the economy can collapse, given the great importance of the State in all economic activity. continue reading

There is nothing now that allows anyone to have any real confidence in the future of the economy. Our estimate of the drop in the economy’s GDP was initially situated around -6.2% when CEPAL* showed only -3.8%. The data and information that come from the Island require caution and point to a particularly important decline, probably in the neighborhood of -10%, almost three points lower than the initial estimate. This puts Cuba among the countries that could be the most affected by the crisis in Latin America, although it won’t be the only one.

The fact that we’ve revised our initial prediction downward shows the lack of confidence and credibility in the authorities to surmount the present crisis. It’s difficult for any country to try to confront such a situation on its own, so this whole experience is going to be harder and more complex than was believed.

In reality, there isn’t any analyst who thinks that a true recovery of the Cuban economy will happen in the last two quarters of the year, so 2020 will be remembered as a time when the Cuban economy came close to collapse, because of the intensity and unexpected origin of the crisis.

The updated forecast contemplates a complex international scenario for tourism, with risk factors of difficult control from the Cuban perspective, which will have a potential negative effect on recovery. This downward trend of tourism will coincide with lower remittances, a low level of foreign investment and fewer exports of minerals and tobacco.

As a consequence, hard currency will be scarce, and that will put the brakes on imports. In addition, on the internal front, the agricultural sector won’t be capable of producing sufficient food for the whole population. The authorities know this, and the building industry isn’t going to bail out the economy because the State’s budget has committed resources to current expenses, which will have limited impact in terms of growth.

In sum, these factors, together with inattention to the self-employed, abandoned to chance by the Government, depend on the political goodwill of the leaders and their ability to promote measures that really serve to bring the economy out of the hole it’s in. Perhaps if, instead of making individual decisions based on communist orthodoxy, all sectors of the economy, State and private, came to the table for a dialogue, the Regime leaders would realize the enormous importance and the social support they would have; for example, if they approved a special fund to help the economy recover.

Decisions of this type could serve to establish the basis of an economy centered on a common goal, incorporating an integral plan of reforms and support for the private entrepreneurial fabric. At the same time, resources could be generated for the social protection of the least-favored groups because of the crisis.

The authorities of the Cuban Regime still haven’t accepted that they have a long and difficult process of recovery ahead of them, a great challenge in the coming months, which will demand far-reaching measures that, alone, might not give them the results they need. The moment for dialogue and consensus has arrived.

Unilateral Communist decision-making must end. If they want to light the way to the first fruits of recovery, they have to participate in all the plans for aid proposals, and they must have the funds and tools available to transform the economy. Díaz-Canel’s government must understand that the survival of the Cuban economy depends on being able to confront the task of economic reconstruction by collaborating with all State and non-State economic agents, and by promoting a climate of political and social dialogue on new foundations, which will help Cuba return, as soon as possible, to a sense of sustainability and fiscal consolidation.

The challenge in the next few months is to support a progressive return to growth and consolidate the first fruits of the recovery. Without dialogue, it will be impossible.

*The United National Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Blackouts and Covid Outbreaks Appear in Havana

The authorities will control the perimeter affected in Lawton from 8:00 pm as well as the seven bus stops on routes 1 and 23 so no one can get off. (Amy Goodman/Flickr)

14ymedio, Havana, July 9, 2020 — The epidemiological situation is complicated in Havana, and the light at the end of the tunnel never arrives. This couldn’t be better said. On Wednesday, while part of the capital was living in a blackout that lasted for nine hours, the authorities, in their daily meeting about supervising the pandemic, were claiming that the “consumption of electricity” is stable.

It was only one of many good-news articles that they wanted to send through the official press. There’s chicken, “there’s no problem with the supply of flour,” the bank branches in the whole country are working and Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba are keeping a lid on Covid-19.

Transport is also in a favorable situation, and even the sale of tickets is beginning on Thursday in the province of Matanzas, which has entered into phase two, for travel beginning on Tuesday, according to Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the Minister of Transport. continue reading

Everything is going well, according to the Government. Less so in Havana, of course, where there hasn’t been electricity, transport doesn’t function (the First Minister said he received complaints of overcrowding, and the President requested staggering work hours to avoid crowds), and the pandemic hasn’t abated.

On Tuesday, they activated isolation measures for four blocks of Pilar-Atarés, in the municipality of Cerro, yesterday they announced the closure of a quadrant of Lawton, in Diez de Octubre, and the strengthening of monitoring measures in Arroyo Naranjo. Without forgetting that a focus point in Centro Habana is still active.

Some 7,000 people were affected by the isolation in Lawton, where they detected four cases of coronavirus in the last few days, covering the perimeter between Fonts, Aguilera and Calle 13 to the west; Calle D in the south, Porvenir to the west, and Calle 14 y Juanelo to the east. The area is divided, in turn, into two zones: one for the population that lives in one of them, which includes 10 blocks, where PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests were given; while for the remaining group, 16 blocks long, they will do rapid testing.

Among the measures that the residents have to live with, in addition to tests and monitoring, is the use inside and outside their homes of masks, which is difficult to supervise; although, according to the official press, severe actions will be taken if citizens violate the provisions.

In addition, hawking remains prohibited, as does the increased sale of chlorine, hypochlorite and disinfectants, and the homeless population will be attended to. The authorities also have said that they will distribute food and water to homes of the vulnerable population and will organize commercial activity to minimize the usual tumult associated with buying.

The authorities will control the perimeter from 8:00 pm, as well as the seven bus stops on routes 1 and 23, so that no one will get off.

Until the results of the tests are released, no one can leave the zone, insisted Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, President of the Consejo de Defensa Popular (Popular Defense Council). He urged that food be guaranteed for the residents and asked for “conscience and discipline.”

The situation in Arroyo Naranjo is different. There have barely been two cases of Covid-19 in 15 days, with known sources of contagion and contacts, who tested negative. However, its proximity to the province of Mayabeque, where there have been cases, has been the motivation for taking measures.

In this sense, the norms are more general: maintaining distance, using a mask, washing hands, disinfecting homes and other areas with a solution of water and alcohol.

Also, more medical attention has been requested, and supervision for taking temperatures and testing the population, beginning with work centers. Supplies of food and articles of hygiene are equally needed.

“You have to remember that these places are on the front line of Covid, not in the first phase of recuperation, and, thus, they must comply with all the measures,” said Torres Iríbar in reference to the affected zones in the capital, like Centro Havana, San Miguel del Padrón, Cotorro and Cerro. In Cerro, the most recent, confirmed cases now reach 20, although El Cotorro continues to be the municipality with the highest rate of incidence.

Yanet Hernández Pérez, the Vice Governor of Havana, claims that the province fulfills the five criteria noted for being in the first phase of recuperation: the rate of incidence, the reproductive index, the number of active cases, the positives whose source of infection is known in the last 15 days and number of events open to the public.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Scientific’ Meetings Don’t Put Food on Cuban Tables

Current Cuban president Miguel Díaz Canel, when he was vice-president, with then General-President Raul Castro. (Archive)

Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 11 July 2020 — A brief note in the state-owned newspaper Granma, reports on a meeting between Cuban president Díaz-Canel and scientists and experts from prestigious Cuban institutions, held to discuss issues of food and nutritional sovereignty. The article offers an analysis of the problem that has always affected the Cuban economy, exacerbated as a consequence of COVID19, and all of this, says Granma, “from an integral point of view, where all the links with regards to food and nutrition are considered.” Pure propaganda.

On this occasion, experts from the Soil Institute addressed the analysis of the needs of Cuban agriculture, from the perspective of fertilizers and pesticides. Nothing new. These are intermediate products that have to be imported because they are not produced on the Island, but which, in the absence of foreign exchange cannot be imported, thus limiting the objective of producing more. As usual. A problem caused by the poor development of an economy subsidized and led by the state for too many years, with criteria that are not the most appropriate. While these issues are addressed, valuable time to take action is lost.

But no. It does not seem that this is the objective of these type of meetings with scientists, but that there is a certain disposition in the official propaganda to follow a script already written in the “scientific” article that Díaz-Canel published some time ago. The matter goes a long way, without a doubt. continue reading

And from this “scientific” perspective that Díaz-Canel wants to use to analyze the problems that affect his government, it was said at the meeting that the traditional unproductiveness of Cuban agriculture to generate food for the entire population must be “addressed taking into account other processes that also intervene, such as the introduction of scientific results, problems in marketing and distribution, affordable consumption, nutrition, good habits and, ultimately, the role of food and nutrition in the health of our people.”

Believe it. Said and done. Not a single reference to the crucial issue that grips the Cuban countryside and prevents it from being prosperous: the legal framework of property rights, the land tenure regime, in short, allowing Cuban farmers to truly be the owners of the production factor and to freely decide what they want to do, without interference from the communist state.

This question, essential for sufficient food to be produced, was not raised at Díaz-Canel’s “scientific” working meeting, and I am very much afraid that it is beyond any consideration under official communist doctrine. In fact, at the first “scientific” meeting, similar issues such as “the design of policies and legal norms for agricultural extension and also for bioproducts” were discussed, but nobody raised the need to return the ownership of the land to those who work it and produce Strange as it may seem, there is not a single jurist in Cuba who publicly defends this need, which the longer it goes on, makes it increasingly difficult to avoid the imminent collapse.

In the same issue of Granma, there is a report of a visit to the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque by Machado Ventura (age 89 and serving as second secretary of the Cuban Communist Party). At the time of the visit, recent rains had had a negative impact on the supply of food products to the capital. The problems of Cuban agriculture come from yesteryear, and they no longer respond to the proclamations and messages of leaders such as Valdés Mesa (age 75, Politburo member), Marrero (age 57, prime minister), Machado or himself. All these messages fall on deaf ears and lose their validity because numerous problems accumulate in the countryside that have to do, essentially, with the legal framework of property rights.

The Raulista reforms — implemented under former president Raul Castro — based on the delivery of land under lease, have not served to increase production, because the farmer legitimately aspires to be the owner of his land, and not a mere tenant of the state. We must review the model, and stop talking about nonsense, such as bioproducts, local food production in pots in the cities, the cultivation of pineapple by the local CDRs (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution) and other nonsense that we have heard from leaders of the communist regime.

The issue is that in 2020 there is no pork, nor rice, fruit trees are scarce and vegetables even more so, while state security represses and denounces the road workers for doing their work serving the population, and the markets are empty because nobody moves the products from the fields to the city. That Díaz-Canel tells me that this whole and very real problem has to do with scientific research, undoubtedly of quality, that is carried out in the country. Nada.

If the Cuban leader really wants to undertake the production of food he needs to meet with the independent agrarian producers, who have already created associations to defend their interests outside the communist government. He needs to listen to what they are going to tell him, and he needs to willingly accept their advice, and if he sees fit, he needs to arrange for the adoption of some of their proposals, and things will go much better.

This, and no other, is the dialogue that is urgent in Cuba, and as soon as possible, to avoid the food crisis announced by the United Nations World Food Program.

By meeting with independent producers, he will get first-hand information about what is happening in the Cuban countryside, and not the distorted advice that comes from Machado Ventura or Valdés Mesa.

The Cuban guajiro knows what has to be done to produce more and is aware that, if the accounts don’t balance, it is the fault of the government, which subjects him to ideological obedience, aggressive taxation and local communist control, to prevent him from prospering. The food crisis is not only due to a problem of importing fertilizers and pesticides for the soil, but there is much more, and that even though scientific contributions can help, there are many other things that need to happen to solve the problem of producing enough food for everyone.

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