Maduro Continues to Be a Danger for Everyone

Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela

14ymedio biggerCarlos Alberto Montaner, 2 April 2017 — Maduro changed course. The country’s Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, facilitated it on a silver platter. Surely it was prearranged. First, Nicolás Maduro eliminated any vestige of democracy in Venezuela. His hitmen in the Supreme Court of Justice took care of it by assuming all the duties of the National Assembly. It was to be their last maneuver. The dictatorship would continue, but now without pretending, and with an even tougher iron hand. The way was made clear to accuse the deputies of treason against the fatherland, or of anything else that came to mind.

They didn’t get away with it. National and international resistance became too strong. The congressman and the students took to the streets in protest. The latest step had been too impudent. Luis Almagro quickly set up the trenches at the OAS, while the PPK in Peru was practically breaking off relations, while Maduro’s allies –Leonel Fernández, Rodríguez Zapatero and Martín Torrijos– began to advise him that they could no longer join in this latest totalitarian twitch. continue reading

The operation to destroy the National Assembly began in earnest after the electoral defeat in December 2015. It was to be the Venezuelan version of the Nicaraguan piñata. It was then, during the few weeks that remained before the new Parliament was due to take charge, when, foot to the pedal, they undertook to reform the high echelon of the judicial branch, trampling on the Constitution and getting ready to govern by brute force as necessary.

And what does Raúl Castro think about all this? The bottom line is that the headquarters of 21st Century Socialism is in Havana. Nicolás Maduro is but a puppet (and a bad one at that) trained in the Marxist-Leninist workshops at the Cuban Communist Party’s School for Cadres, first suggested to Hugo Chávez by Fidel Castro.

To the Cuban intelligence services Maduro seemed to be a malleable and docile simpleton who speaks to the birds, and is much less corrupt and more tractable than say Adán Chávez, brother of the late Lieutenant Colonel. He was not perfect, but, from the available Venezuelans to choose from, he was the most useful to “the Cubans,” precisely on account of his weaknesses.

And what is going to happen now? Not much, unless the United States abandons its ridiculous attitude that “Venezuela is not a danger, but rather an inconvenience,” policy started during the Administration of George W. Bush and adopted by Barack Obama.

The government of Venezuela, although chaotic and disorganized, is a danger to the security of the United States due to its connections with Islamic terrorists and because of its military links to Iran and Hezbollah. It doesn’t have nuclear warheads but it possesses other means of severely harming its archenemy.

It is a danger because of its association with drug traffickers and for assigning some of its generals to be involved in this murderous trade. It is a danger because of its militant “anti-Yankeeism” always on the lookout for new conquests, and because it is one of the most corrupt nations on the face of the planet.

How does it help the Treasury Department in Washington to prosecute corruption by the heads of FIFA, the international soccer association, or a dozen bankers for laundering capital from the drug trade, as the DEA has denounced, if Venezuela is a narco-state working with impunity in all these activities while additionally openly helping the Colombian narco-guerrillas too?

Lastly, the government of Venezuela is endangering its own population, deliberately starved, while the country approaches a terrible humanitarian catastrophe with a lethal combination of terrible government and corruption. Hadn’t we come to the conclusion that we “have the duty to protect” the victims of these political horrors?

The United States is the only nation in the Americas with the strategic vision, resources, material wherewithal and sense of responsibility necessary to defend itself from its enemies and to formulate a “roadmap” as it is called today, intended to change a regime which greatly harms it and poisons all of Latin America too.

Perhaps it is not wise for the United States to eliminate its purchases of oil from Venezuela –the only cash source of income for the country– but it would be feasible to deposit the revenue from these transactions into an escrow account until the National Assembly certifies that Maduro’s behavior comports with constitutional norms. It would be an irresponsibility to feed an illegitimate government which usurps functions not within its purview.

It is not true that the Cold War completely ended. The USSR disappeared and with it the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe disappeared too, but the United States continues to have persistent enemies dedicated to fighting this country by any and all means. If Washington wishes to continue to be the head of the free world it cannot evade the Venezuelan issue. It has to step forward to lead the Continent. Nobody else can, or knows how, to undertake this task.

Note: English version from Montaner’s website

Anxiety Grows Over Cuba’s Gas Shortages

In Havana, drivers brought jars, bottles and all kinds of containers to store fuel. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 1 April 2017 — Rumors of a general rise in prices have sharpened shortages at gas stations this Saturday, with long lines of vehicles waiting their turn at service stations across the country.

The fuel sold at preferential prices for thousands of state employees has gone up 0.10 CUC in recent hours, but the Cuba-Petroleum Union (CUPET) maintains for the moment the prices for other customers: 1 CUC For diesel and regular gasoline, and 1.20 for premium, which has been missing for several days. continue reading

The most alarming rumors say that as of April 1 private users, except those who have rented a car from a state agency, will only be able to buy regular gas

With no official announcements, everything moves at the level of rumors and conjectures. The most alarming rumors say that as of April 1 private users, except those who have rented a car from a state agency, will only be able to buy regular gas, and in no case can they buy special high octane fuel.

“They told us there were regulations but we did not get any written information or anything,” a gas station worker at 24th and 23rd in Vedado told 14ymedio.

“There is no premium gasoline, not even for rental cars,” he says. The rental cars are mainly used by foreign tourists and Cuban emigrants who return to visit the country. “They must present the rental agreement in order to buy the product,” says the employee, but “right now they will have to buy regular gasoline because that is the only thing there is.”

In Havana, drivers come with jars and bottles and all kinds of containers to store fuel. “Hard times are coming,” said Ricardo, a private taxi driver who can’t get over his surprise. “When it finally seemed that this country was going to be on track, then look what happens,” he tells this newspaper while pointing out in the official press the news coming from Venezuela.

The driver spent six hours on Saturday in front of the Cupet service station at the corner of 25th and G in Havana waiting to refuel. His greatest fear is that there will be return to “those years of the Special Period when all of Cuba was paralyzed by lack of fuel.”

The alliance with Venezuela, promoted since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999, finally relieved the energy shortage on the island. Caracas has been generous with the delivery of black gold to the island and in the best moments delivered up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for medical services, sports coaches and a great deal of support from Cuba’s state security forces advising and operating in Venezuela.

But the times have changed and analysts agree that the oil quota has decreased by between 40% and 60%. This reduction negatively influenced Cuba’s economy last year, with the GDP declining by 0.9%. The recession awakens the worst ghosts of the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

The national production of crude has also failed to take off. According to data from Cupet, the country extracts some 4 million tons of heavy oil, which is mainly used for electricity production

The national production of crude has also failed to take off. According to data from Cupet – the state-owned fuel company – the country extracts some 4 million tons of heavy oil, which is mainly used for electricity production. Cupet estimates that crude oil reserves of about 20 billion barrels exist in the Cuban Gulf of Mexico, although the US Geological Survey suggests a lower figures.

The government expects that, by the year 2030, 24% of the country’s energy will come from renewable sources, but first it needs new infrastructure and the investment of foreign companies in the sector.

This Saturday, long lines of vehicles are waiting their turn in the service stations all over the country. (14ymedio)

Hours before midnight on Friday the anguish grew among the drivers. The service stations cut off sales to adjust the machines and to program the new prices for the so-called “magnetic card affiliates,” a group of state workers who receive the fuel at preferential prices among whom are doctors and military.

The informal fuel market is supplied with the thousands of liters that are diverted each day from those with “magnetic cards” and are resold to other drivers. Authorities are trying to stop this flow and since March 31, it is forbidden for “affiliates” to carry a container for gasoline.

But the least of the problems is the rise of the privileged tariffs or the deficit of premium gas, more expensive and therefore exclusive to a few. What keeps the population on edge is that many gas stations are totally empty, with no product for sale. “This is more and more like the past,” Ricardo said minutes before getting his turn at that pump.

 

After Decades of Abandonment, Work Begins on José Martí Sports Park

The Jose Marti sports center had part of its perimeter fence collapse, its pools were empty or with standing water and on the point of collapse. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 24 March 2017 — The José Martí Sports Park, on the Havana Malecon, is benefitting from major repairs, albeit with several years of delay. The iconic installation, which for decades has fascinated photographers with its peculiar mixture of ruins and beauty, is filled these days with construction workers.

The sports area was converted into a dormitory for homeless people, a zone of sexual tolerance and an area of ​​danger in the face of the threat of collapse. Its decadent esplanade, subjected to salt air and apathy that shredded the exterior wall, continued to be visited by runners who wanted to lose a few pounds, kids ‘in training’ and people walking their dogs. continue reading

Opened in the 1940s, the park was remodeled in 1960 by the Cuban architect Octavio Buigas and at that time had a gym, swimming pool, stadium, parking, children’s play area, a basketball and volleyball court which had tiered seating for more than 1,000 spectators.

The stadium, from where one could enjoy sports competitions and the spectacle of the sea at the same time, had stands for 3,150 spectators, and provided a light shelter in the form of a vault that became a landmark identified with the Cuban capital city.

On the occasion of the 1991 Pan-American Games, partial repairs were made to be able to hold the handball matches there, but at the end of the competitions, no attention was paid to the place. There was a project to “stop the deterioration” that never got beyond minor masonry work.

The damage became so deep and widespread that in 2000 the authorities decided to close the facility, because it was considered a danger to life

The damage became so deep and widespread that in 2000 the authorities decided to close the facility. A technical report from the Directorate of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Public Health, in collaboration with the Directorate of Construction and Real Estate Repair, decreed that the installation constituted a danger to life.

The most serious problems included the accumulation of water in the roof of the stands, the collapse of the diving platforms and the vandalism of the windows. Those who slipped through any hole to perform exercises were dealt with by the custodians. Without success.

At the end of last year, two racquetball courts, the karate practice ground and the handball, volleyball and outdoor basketball courts were repaired, but no progress was made in the more complex areas.

This time the repairs aim to go further and demolish the emblematic roofs of the stadium, a task assigned to Specialized Construction Services (SECONS) under the direction of Constructora Caribe. The athletic locker rooms, bathrooms and cafeteria located underneath will be completely renovated.

Those responsible for the work have told the official media that one of the first actions will be the rebuild the perimeter fence. Instead of the reinforced concrete there will be reinforced polymers that are resistant to corrosion and that offer less resistance to the inevitable waves from the sea.

Only when the area is protected will the track and field area begin to be remodeled. The swimming and diving pools will have to wait until next year.

European Diplomats Visit The Center For Coexistence Studies In Pinar Del Río

Members of the Center for Studies Coexistence with European diplomats during the visit this Thursday. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 31 March 2017 — A delegation from the European Union in Cuba visited the Coexistence Study Center (CEC) in the city of Pinar del Río on Thursday. The group was headed by EU political attaché in Havana, Carlos Perez Padilla, and also included representatives from the embassies of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Sweden, according to a text published on the CEC’s Facebook account.

Diplomats spoke with the Center’s team about the “vision, mission and lines of work” of the independent center. They also received details on the “Itinerary of Thoughts and Proposals for the Future of Cuba” and the program of “ethical and civic education for citizenship,” which the center promotes. continue reading

The current situation of the digital magazine Convivencia (Coexistence) and the microprojects that for years have been carried out by the team were also part of the conversation that took place “in a climate of cordiality and frank communication,” CEC said in Facebook.

The meeting took place in the midst of an intense escalation of pressure against the CEC, whose members have been victims in the last months of numerous interrogations by the State Security and officials from the department of Immigration and Aliens.

Economist Karina Gálvez, one of the founders of the think tank, is being prosecuted for alleged “tax evasion” and her house was sealed by the prosecutors handling her case.

Last November, the police prevented the holding of a meeting on Culture And Education In The Future Of Cuba: Vision And Proposal in Pinar del Rio.

The Center organizes training courses for citizens and civil society and operates independently of the State, the Church and any political grouping. The magazine of the same name emerged in 2008 and is published bimonthly.

New Airline Will Link Havana And Barcelona

The Spanish airline Plus Ultra will operate regular flights between Havana and Barcelona from July 1st. (Networks)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, 27 March 2017 – The Spanish airline Plus Ultra will operate regular flights between Havana and Barcelona from July 1, according to reports in Spanish media.

The flights will operate once a week and will be the first to directly link both cities. As a launch promotion, round-trip tickets will cost 449 euros.

Sources at the company said that this is an important connection, giving the ongoing changes in relations between the European Union and Cuba. continue reading

In 2016, more than 70,000 passengers traveled between the two cities, via connections through other cities. More than 7,000 Cubans live in Catalonia, according to official statistics.

Plus Ultra will be the sixth airline to operate between Cuba and Spain, joining to Wamos, Iberia, Air Europa, Evelop and Cubana.

During 2015, exports from Catalonia to Cuba grew by 50%, reaching 294 million euros.

According to the National Office of Statistics and Information, Spain is the eighth largest source of tourists to Cuba and the fifth largest European source.

In November 2016 a business group from Catalonia visited the island to strengthen the commercial relationship between both countries. Some 40 companies joined the commercial mission led by the Catalan government’s Agency for Enterprise Competitiveness and the Port of Barcelona.

Warning to the Repressors: “We Are Watching You”

Juan Antonio Blanco, director of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba sent a strong message to the repressors: “We are watching you.” (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 31 March 2017 — The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FDHC) launched its new program Artists For Rights in Miami on Friday and sent a strong message to the Cuban government’s “repressors”: You are being watched and your actions will not go unnoticed.

The artistic project seeks to sensitize artists and the Cuban people in general about the difficult situation of human rights in the island. More than 30 artists have contributed to the project’s first activity, among them artists who are in Cuba, in exile and in other countries such as Venezuela, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.

“In the gallery there will be pictures of all kinds, not necessarily political. What we consider to be political is the artist’s decision to contribute his art to the promotion of human rights in Cuba,” said Juan Antonio Blanco, president of the Foundation. continue reading

The first action of this new project is an exhibition of fine art open to the public at Calle 8 in Miami, the hub of the Cuban diaspora in the city.

Among the artists who will exhibit their works at the Cuban Art Club Gallery are Ramón Unzueta, Danilo Maldonado known as El Sexto, Claudia Di Paolo, Rolando Paciel, Yovani Bauta, Roxana Brizuela and Ramon Willians. The exhibition will be open from April 1st to 15th, and admission will be free

Blanco also talked about the Foundation’s project to identify and document the repressors that the Cuban government uses to muzzle the opposition.

“We have numerous documented cases of repressors, with photos and archives proving their participation in activities against civil society and human rights activists on the island,” he said.

The work of Cuban artists is on display in Miami

“Publicity isn’t important to us, rather we want to have a psychological impact on military and paramilitary repressors. We want our message to reach those who carry out the acts of repudiation in exchange for a sandwich or for a T-shirt, so that they think about it three times,” he added.

According to the FDHC, in Cuba there are more than 70,000 prisoners, which is why it ranks as the sixth country in the world in prisoners per capita.

“There are thousands of prisoners who are in prison under the charge of ‘dangerousness’ [without having committed a crime] so they do not have to call them political prisoners,” he added.

According to Blanco, the Foundation is undertaking “quiet diplomacy” to ensure that these people who have been identified as repressors are not able to obtain visas for the United States or European countries.

The detailing of the record or repressors has not been without conflict.

“In Miami we have received denunciations against repressors, but we always ask the denouncer to sign a notarized affidavit that the repressor is accused of having carried out that work in Cuba,” he explained.

According to Blanco, his organization has had to face maneuvers by the Cuban government to delegitimize the work they are doing, by ‘leaking’ the names of people who are not repressors.

“The Havana regime wants to keep it quiet, it is not a priority, but that is precisely what we do not want. We seek to focus on violations of human rights in Cuba and we want Cuba to be a priority,” he insisted.

It’s Never Too Late If The Movie Is Good

Authorities decided not to screen the film after its director, Jonathan Jakubowicz, suggested withdrawing it from the festival as a protest. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 30 March 2017 – After more than three months of being excluded from the Havana Film Festival, the movie Hands of Stone will be shown at La Rampa cinema in the Cuban capital. The film, based on the life of the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, was not shown at the festival as a punishment because its director, Jonathan Jakubowicz, expressed his solidarity with Cuban director Carlos Lechuga, whose movie Santa y Andrés was censored on the island.

For several weeks the story of the Panamanian boxer has begun to circulate widely through the popular “Weekly Packet” in a high definition copy dubbed in Spanish. Now it comes to the big screen, although its release has been accompanied by very little coverage in the official press. continue reading

Last November Jakubowicz spoke on the phone with Lechuga to share the idea of ​​removing his film from the festival’s playlist. After that call, the organizers of the event stopped responding to messages from the Venezuelan director to organize the arrival of a copy of the tape to the Island.

The discreet official projection of ‘Hands of Stone’ is a small victory for its director and for the national filmgoers

“Like the day after the death of Fidel Castro was announced, I thought that was it, so I didn’t write any more. I guess preferred to avoid the uncomfortable situation of me being in Havana, at a time of so much tension,” the director explained to 14ymedio. The organizers of the film festival said that the director “never sent the exhibition copy.”

“I felt that going to the Festival to show my film would be a hypocrisy, like when I saw international filmmakers [in Venezuela] photographing with Chavez while I was being persecuted,” he said in an interview with 14ymedio. “I was afraid to become that evil figure of the artist who supports the repressor.”

The discreet official projection of Hands of Stone is a small victory for its director and for the national filmgoers that have been waiting months to see it in the big screen. Jakubowicz predicted that “Cubans will feel the history of Durán as their own.”

Sagua La Grande, The Village Where A Glass Of Water Is A Miracle

Residents in Sagua la Grande filling containers with water.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 March 2017 — Through the streets of Sagua la Grande, in the province of Villa Clara, people walk around with bottles, buckets and every kind of receptacle. This month’s break in the turbine that supplies the city’s water has forced its inhabitants to carry water from different towns.

“It’s been more than a week without water,” Jaime Guillermo Castillo, a resident, told 14ymedio. “We fill the buckets at some public taps very far from the center, everyone goes to the closest one however they can. We go in horse-drawn carts, on bicycles, or whatever appears.” continue reading

The municipality is supplied by a public aqueduct system that has three basic sources: Caguaguas about 7 miles away, Chincilla about 6 miles, and Viana, nearly 10 miles. But with the acute drought affecting the whole country, the first of these sources has had to come up with most of the supply.

Transporting water by bike. (14ymedio)

The breaking of the Caguaguas turbine aggravated the situation. The equipment was taken to Santa Clara for repairs but the residents complain about the lack of information and the excessive delay. The problem has reached the point that several residents have called the local People’s Power delegate to resolve the problem as soon as possible or to make a public protest.

“First they said it was only for a couple of days, but we have been dealing with this for more than a week and the situation is getting worse,” laments farmer Jorge Pablo, who fears “big crop losses” because it’s been at least eight days without being able to put “a single drop of water in the furrows.”

According to the Population and Housing Census of 2012, the municipality Sagua la Grande has about 52,334 inhabitants, 90% in urban areas. Problems with water supply have been frequent in recent years due to poor infrastructure.

Several areas of the city have also had problems with water pressure for decades, mainly in the San Juan neighborhood, the southern part of Victoria Center and Loma Bonita. Water is almost entirely unavailable in the latter. A situation that has forced many villagers to drill wells for their homes, which has brought a deterioration of the water table.

Through the streets of Sagua la Grande, in the Province of Villa Clara, people wander about, loaded down with jars, buckets and all kinds of containers (14ymedio)

A study a decade ago calculated that water losses in the city were estimated at 30% and were mainly caused by leaks and uncontrolled consumption. Of the total water that is pumped from the sources of supply, about 410 liters per second, only about 290 reach the city.

Instead of improving, the situation has continued to worsen in the last ten years and the people’s council areas with the greatest difficulties are Coco Solo and Centro Victoria.

The driver from Caguaguas has also suffered the problems of maintenance and conservation, as well as the shortage of equipment and qualified personnel to maintain a stable service, according to local press reports.

Authorities attribute part of these problems to “unscrupulous citizens” who drill holes in the water distribution pipes to illicitly irrigate small orchards. The presence in the area of ​​numerous producers of meat with clandestine farms has contributed to the increase of the phenomenon.

A study a decade ago estimated that water losses in the city were estimated at 30% and were mainly caused by leaks and uncontrolled consumption. (14ymedio)

However, the residents point out that the promised investments have not been made to avoid the continuous breaks. “Nobody cares about this town,” laments Herminia, was was born there and who is now trying to sell her four-room property with an immense patio.

The Villaclareña puts her hopes on the sale of her house to leave what she considers has become “a place with no future.” She feels that Sagua la Grande has undergone a process of deterioration and “the frequent breakingof the turbine is another step in this fall.” Not even the 2011 declaration making the historic city center as a National Monument managed to stop the process.

“A town without water is a ghost town,” says Herminia. “Parents do not want to send children to school in dirty uniforms and older people are the ones who are worse off because they cannot carry water from afar.” She paid a water-bearer about 50 Cuban pesos (about $2 US), a quarter of her pension, to fill a tank that she only uses for cooking: “A bath is a luxury that I can not give myself,” she says resignedly.

Plaza Carlos III Shopping Center Reopens

The official media gave no explanation for the sudden closure of the mall. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 29 March 2017 — This Tuesday, the Carlos III Plaza Shopping Center, closed since last Friday, reopened its doors to the public.

From the early hours dozens of people waited outside the mall with the hope that, after being closed four days, the shelves would be better stocked.

The only difference from other days was that the employees had a more polite attitude than usual and the singular fact that there were bags at all the cash registers in the market, and also the coins needed to make change, which isn’t always the case. continue reading

“They even said ‘thank you’ after we made purchases,” commented a gentleman who said he had come from Puentes Grandes in search of a box of chicken.

In the children’s play area, the kids rode their horses and carts while the parents ate pizza or drank beers.

Not a single word was said about the reasons for the closure of the market, either in the written press or in the television news.

Outside the market there was not a single informal dealer in household appliances, furniture, or electrical equipment. Instead there were many police officers imposing fines for poor parking or simply keeping watch.

The Mysterious Closing of Plaza Carlos III Causes Distress

Plaza Carlos III Shopping Center, Havana

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 March 2017 – It is almost noon on Sunday and a young couple, with their two young children in their arms, stops, frustrated, in front of the closed gate of the Plaza Carlos III Shopping Center. For a moment they are confused, they consult their watches and immediately start asking questions of several people who arrived earlier and who, like them, have stopped in front of the gate. Some wait patiently outside from very early, “in case they open later”, but in vain.

This scene has been repeated every day since Friday, March 24th, when the commercial center, the largest and most popular of its kind in Cuba, closed down. Dozens of regular customers from several of the provinces have traveled to the capital just to stumble across a small and laconic sign on the gate, warning about the obvious, but offering no useful additional information:

DEAR CUSTOMER
THE PLAZA CARLOS III SHOPPING CENTER
WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE THIS MIGHT HAVE CAUSED.
GENERAL MANAGEMENT continue reading

Of course, without any official information, the surprise closing of Plaza Carlos III has raised a lot of speculation, especially in neighborhoods surrounding the area, in the heart of downtown Havana, for it is one of the pioneer shopping centers to deal in foreign currency transactions in Cuba, since the so-called decriminalization of the dollar took place, back in the 90’s. From the time it opened as a foreign exchange market, Carlos III has undergone several renovations in different stages, but never before have sales to the public been completely discontinued.

Would-be customers mill around outside the shopping center (14ymedio)

Rumors are circulating that connect this unusual closing with the recent fires that have taken place in other establishments that operate in foreign currency in the municipality

Rumors are circulating that relate this unusual closure to the recent fires that have occurred in other establishments that operate in foreign currency in the municipality. “The management denounced to the fire department headquarters the bad state of the fire-fighting media, because it does not want the same thing to happen to them [as in the last ones], so they are renovating the whole system,” say some residents of the neighborhood who, according to what they say, received that information from some of the shopping center’s employees and officials. There are those who say that “the firemen came and found that there were flaws in the fire protection system.”

These days, however, no metal or metal bars covering the two entrances of the Plaza have been seen to deploy personnel or vehicles specializing in fire-fighting technology, nor have any workers been seen to be reinstalling or maintaining the electrical networks or other similar tasks.

The most visible interior hassle has been the employees of the place, occupied in general cleaning of the floors and windows, who have been reluctant to give explanations to those who are not satisfied with the simple poster and inquire about the date of reopening. “Until further notice,” they repeat, as automatons, those who deign to respond.

Other neighbors speak of a “general audit” that “becomes very complicated” due to the large number of shopping mall departments and the size and complexity of their stores. This conjecture is reinforced, on the one hand, by the experience of decades of cyclical (and futile) raids against mismanagement, administrative corruption, misappropriation, embezzlement, smuggling, black marketing and all other illegalities to be found in a socioeconomic system characterized by growing demand, insufficient supply and the poor management of the state monopoly on the economy. The regularity of which does not escape any establishment where a high amount of state resources moves.

The only information that is offered to those who come to the shopping center entrances is a brief sign. (14ymedio)

On the other hand, the surprise and undisclosed closing -with all the losses it entails in a shopping center that bills thousands in both national currencies- is a sign of the intervention of the highest ranking government auditors to detect irregularities in situ, without giving transgressors time to hide traces of their misdeeds.

If the alleged audit is true, it would be a demonstration of the ineffectiveness of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and their failure to prevent unlawful activity in the neighborhood. For several months, the constant and strong police presence around the outer areas of the commercial center has looked like the appalling image of a besieged square, while the “inside” criminals, those who are part of the staff, lived by their own code.

For now, all indications are that it does not appear to have fallen into that sort of epidemic closing that has been coming down hard recently in the capital on several establishments that trade in foreign currency

Last Sunday several trucks continued unloading merchandise in the stores at Plaza Carlos III, which augurs that, on an imprecise but possibly brief date, the center will reopen to the public. For now, all indications are that it does not appear to have fallen into that sort of epidemic closing that has been coming down hard recently in the capital on several establishments that trade in foreign currency, such as the cases of heavyweight hardware departments on 5th and 42nd and at La Puntilla, in the municipality of Playa; The Yumurí and Sylvain, at Zanja and Belascoaín markets in Centro Habana; The TRD Panamericana at Ninth Street, in the Casino Deportivo development, Cerro municipality, and numerous sale kiosks dispersed through different points in the city, just to mention some cases.

While the waiting stretches out and the questions without answers accumulate, the more optimistic habaneros have begun to rub their hands to the intangible expectation that the next reopening of the popular Plaza Carlos III will arrive with renewed offerings, and that, at least in the first sales days, the usually depressed shelves and stands of the different departments will offer more quantity and more variety of products.

Hope is the last thing you lose.

Translated by Norma Whiting

*Site manager’s note: The previous “translation” of this post, which was a complete mess, was a mistake in transmission / my apologies to Miriam and Norma!

Cuban Phone Company Lowers Fees to Surf Government Controlled Internet Sites

A woman connects to the internet in the Wi-Fi zone of La Rampa, in Havana. (Photo EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2017 – On Thursday the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA) reduced its fees for internet access to Cuba-based sites from 0.25 to 0.10 CUC per hour (roughly 10 cents US). The price reduction, the second in less than four months, seeks to capture users to navigate in local sites with very little popularity.

The new fee has been implemented “in order to facilitate the search of websites of cultural, informative and investigative interest with national content,” according to an ETECSA statement. Along with the lowering the cost of national websurfing, the company has also lowered the minimum cost of a recharge to 0.10 CUC. continue reading

“Multiple websites and portals exist in our national network that will allow you to carry out school tasks and get to know the cultural billboards throughout the country,” the statement said.

The Government has a monopoly over the hosting of sites on national servers and all domains ending in .cu are under its control. However, surveys conducted among Cuban Internet users reflect their preferences for connecting to social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, as well as international news sites, services, chats and dating sites.

For customers who want to receive more information, ETECSA’s Business Information service is available by dialing 118.

Ladies in White Report the Repression They Suffer to Attorney General

The leader of the movement, Berta Soler, denounced that activist Lismerys Quintana Ávila sent to prison on Monday in what she defines as “a rigged trial.” (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 2017 — The Ladies of White Yamile Garro Alfonso, Lázara Barbara Sendilla and Maria Cristina Labrada delivered on Monday, as representatives of the whole movement, a summary report to the Attorney General’s Office on the repression they have suffered over the last fifteen months.

The leader of the women’s group, Berta Soler, explained to 14ymedio that the report is the same as the one presented on 23 March by Leticia Ramos to the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, David Kayes, on “Arbitrary detention and harassment against the family of Ladies in White,” but that it had been “updated to yesterday.” continue reading

Soler detailed that the new version of the report explains how “the Cuban regime” threatens them “all the time” with fines to keep them from leaving the country and with imprisonment.

The leader of the movement denounced that activist Lismerys Quintana Ávila was sent to prison on Monday in what she defined as “a rigged trial.”

“They are really inventing some crimes to be able to fine us and to kill the Ladies in White,” explains Soler

“We delivered it to the Attorney General’s Office, the European Union Delegation, the mailbox of the Apostolic Nunciature and the Embassy of the United States,” said Soler. She also said that they will also “hand it over to the Archbishop of Havana.” According to the Lady in White, the movement wants the Catholic Church to understand what is happening to them.

“They are really inventing some crimes to be able to fine us and to kill the Ladies in White,” explains Soler, who considers the actions of the authorities arbitrary and also denounces “what they are doing to the families, to the children and spouses,” of the activists.

He added that they plan to deliver a copy of the text, about twelve pages, to the Military Prosecutor’s Office and the State Council, as well as to send it to the embassies of Spain and the Czech Republic by e-mail.

She also denounced that the Ladies in White headquarters in the Lawton neighborhood of Havana is surrounded by “an operation” that “has been around the clock since Thursday, March 23.”

Santiago de Cuba Hit Hard by Drought

Communities in central and eastern Cuba report losses from the drought. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, 29 March 2017 — Cuba is experiencing one of the worst droughts of the last half century and its reservoirs are at 39% capacity, a situation that affects the water supply for people, industry and agriculture. Santiago de Cuba is going through the most serious situation, according to José Antonio Hernández, director of the Department of Rational Use of the Institute of Hydraulic Resources, who spoke Wednesday on state TV.

In that eastern province some 635,000 people are supplied with water on 17 and 20 day cycles. Meanwhile, more than 81% of the agricultural area of ​​the island is affected in some way by the lack of regular irrigation. The picture is aggravated by the annual loss of 3.4 billion cubic meters of water through leaks and breaks in the supply system. continue reading

Currently, the reservoirs in at least 11 provinces are below 50% of their normal levels and “in three they do not even reach 25%,” Hernández said. In the case of Ciego de Ávila stored water stored barely fills 15% of the reservoir capacity in the territory. The supply is currently governed by a rigorous schedule, prepared by the local Aqueduct and Sewerage Management.

Reservoirs in at least 11 provinces are below 50% of their normal levels and “in three they do not even reach 25%

The Zaza dam, with the country’s largest storage capacity, is also in a difficult position. Located in Sancti Spíritus province, the dam is filled to only 14% of its capacity, the equivalent of 146 million cubic meters. The neighboring Siguaney Dam has less than one million cubic meters of usable water.

This central province has seen 69 of its supply sources dry up, 16 of them totally. This situation affects 105,821 inhabitants in more than 40 communities and urban neighborhoods of the cities of Sancti Spíritus, Trinidad and Jatibonico, according to figures offered by the local press.

“Since the first signs of the drought in the country began in mid-2014, working groups have been set up to deal with this problem,” explains Hernández, whose mission is to monitor and assess the situation in each area from the municipalities.

At the end of last year the country’s reservoirs were 1.510 million cubic meters below the historical average, a situation that has been aggravated in the first quarter of 2017 and has forced the country to expand the practice of supplying water through tanker trucks – popularly known as pipas – that deliver water neighborhood by neighborhood and block by block, to residents who collect it in every available container.

Water problems have also affected internal migration. “The fact of being able to open the spigot and have water is a luxury I can’t give myself in Palmarito de Cauto,” Raydel Rojas, a man from Santiago who recently emigrated to the capital, tells 14ymedio.

Water problems also influence internal migration

“The problem in the province and in small towns is that it becomes more difficult to pay for the water truck,” says Rojas. “You have to live day by day buying water little by little.”

In the West, the situation is not without problems either. The authorities have looked at the private swimming pools, considering them wasteful in times of drought. The entrepreneurs who rent to tourists in the area of ​​Viñales have experienced the “anti-pool” offensive with special intensity.

At the beginning of last year the Council of the Municipal Administration decreed the closing of all the pools and canceled the licenses to rent to tourists for those who resisted obeying. Over the months the situation has worsened.

“Now they carefully supervise water consumption and call to account those who have a greater consumption,” complains an entrepreneur who rents two rooms in his home in this village that attracts a lot of tourists. The innkeeper, who chose to remain anonymous, said local inspectors “have their eye on the pumps if we increase the pressure of the showers because they say it costs too much.”

The Ascent Of The Spy

The Cuban former spy Fernando González Llort in a file image. (CC)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 29 March 2017 — It was only a matter of time before the spy Fernando González Llort took over the presidency of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). Since his return to Cuba after serving a 15-year prison sentence in the United States, many predicted his rise to that position.

In June 2014, González was appointed vice president of ICAP and on Tuesday it was announced that he was replacing Kenia Serrano Puig, who had served in the presidency of the institution for eight years. continue reading

The official note on the replacement was sparse in its goodbye to Serrano and did not include the usual formula of “she will take on other responsibilities”

The official note on the replacement was sparse in its goodbye to Serrano and did not include the usual formula of “she will take on other responsibilities.” The text didn’t even describe her “excellent performance at the head” of the institution. In the grammar of power, this reservation does not bode well for the woman.

Since their return to the island, all the members of the so-called Wasp Network have held positions in official bodies, mostly as vice-presidents. González Llort is the first to manage an organization.

In 1987, shortly after graduating with a Gold Diploma in International Political Relations, González Llort was part of a tank brigade in Angola. In the rest of his biography, he emphasizes his participation in the Wasp Network that concluded with his arrest and imprisonment in the United States.

For decades the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) has been a front for Cuban Intelligence

For decades, ICAP has been a front for Cuban Intelligence. Since their founding, institutions of this type have existed in the rest of the socialist countries. Instead of presenting themselves with the ideological tint of the Marxist court, they wrap themselves in the clothing of friendship between peoples.

The position of ICAP president can lead its occupant to higher spheres, as was the case of Sergio Corrieri, who was part of the Central Committee of the Party and was a member of the State Council. On the other hand, Kenia Serrano, who had previously been a member of the National Bureau of the Young Communists Union (UJC), was only able to ascend to a seat in Parliament.

“All You Can Catch in the Almendares River is a Good Infection”

According to data from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, domestic and industrial waste has seriously damaged the biodiversity of Almendares. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, Havana, 28 March 2017 — The stench fills the air and permeates the clothes of El Fanguito residents near the Almendares River. Those who live there carry that stink everywhere, it gets into your nose and into your pores. The main river flowing through Havana barely shows any signs of recovery despite several environmental projects that are trying to rescue it from pollution and sluggishness.

Gonzalo once lived from fishing in the vicinity of this river, which the natives called Casiguaguas and which gave its current name to one of the country’s most famous baseball teams. The Almendares has been a part of the old man’s life from the time he gets up in the morning until he lies down at night. All his memories begin and end in its waters.

A resident of El Fanguito neighborhood for more than 70 years, Gonzalo recalls the crystalline channel that he knew as a child. In those waters he fished with his friends, dived in to escape the heat, looked for small treasures of stone or metal in its depths. But these are old stories and only exist in the memories of the oldest residents. continue reading

A study published in 2005 by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) warned that the main channel of the river was in a “critical hygienic and health situation.” The report drafted by specialists at the Higher Institutes of Technologies and Applied Sciences documented, at that time, 70 sources that dumped hazardous waste into its waters with “high levels of organic and inorganic contaminants, among them toxic substances such as heavy metals.”

The river bank has been systematically stripped from trees and in the last decades some 17 dams and reservoirs have been created in its tributaries

The river bank has been systematically stripped of trees and in the last decades some 17 dams and reservoirs have been created in its tributaries. Another CITMA study determined that 80% of the contamination came from organic domestic waste and that some 200 liters of sewage flows into the river every second.

“The only thing that can be fished here is a good infection,” Gonzalo mocks as he points to those still, dark waters that approach his modest home. On the shore floats a mass composed mostly of plastic bottles and bags, while the surface is lit up in many areas due to hydrocarbon spillage.

Domestic and industrial waste has seriously damaged the Almendares’s biodiversity, according to CITMA. Lorenzo Rodriguez Betancourt, a CITMA specialist, told the official press that the cleaning of the basin was “an immediate mission, but very complex at the same time, because it requires a major investment of capital and the creation of awareness in the residents living close to the area.”

Among the measures taken by the government is the closure of the two beer breweries, the Tropical and the Polar, which dumped part of their waste into the water, and also replacing the technology of the Mario Fortuny Gas plant and the Coppelia Ice Cream plant. Several nearby facilities that produced construction materials were dismantled.

Authorities point to urban settlements as one of the main sources of pollution, but residents of El Fanguito defend themselves. “This neighborhood does not have a sewer,” says Rosa, a retired teacher who settled in the area two decades ago. “We paid the bills for water and electricity but outside that we have been forgotten by everyone,” she says.

Authorities urge the elimination of sewage going into the river, but residents complain that there is no good sewer system. (14ymedio)

Every day, the woman takes care of her bodily needs in a can that she empties at night in a nearby mound. The place is full of debris and a truck rarely comes to pick it up. Legends abound about crocodiles and enormous catfish known as claria that swallow everything in their path. At night, families prefer to stay indoors and one of the first lessons they teach their children is “don’t swim in the river.”

Rosa was filled with hopes a decade ago when a project led by then Vice President Carlos Lage was heralded as the solution for the slum. The project included the construction of new houses, the asphalting of streets and even several playgrounds for children in the area. But the idea never moved past the planning stage and Lage was soon ousted.

Instead of improvements, the neighborhood has continued to grow, chaotic and impoverished. More than two hundred houses dot the banks of the river, cramped and flimsy. The police avoid going into the area and on rainy days everything takes on the color of mud.

Some initiatives focus momentary attention on the problem, such as the recently concluded Casiguaguas River Festival, which, under the motto “For Cleaner Water,” brought together various social actors and institutions interested in environmental action. But after the headlines in the press and the TV reports, the sewage took over once again.

For Armando Hernández López, representative of the National Sports and Recreation Institute (INDER), who gave a lecture at the second River Festival, many communities on the bank have “poor housing, overcrowding, precarious sanitation, low educational levels, school dropouts and alcoholism, where in spite of the talks carried out by different sectors, the sanitary and hygienic conditions become more acute.”

Clara María Kindelán, a specialist at the Provincial Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, believes that the main actions should be taken in communities and work centers

Clara María Kindelán, a specialist at the Provincial Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, believes that the main actions should be taken in communities and work centers. The state of the river does not yet allow “sanitation activities where participants have contact with water. Decontaminating the Almendares River will be our main challenge in the coming years,” she says.

A representative of CITMA in the capital said that the pollutants have been reduced, but that there are still more than 50. The official adds to the list sources of waste that have been closed, including “two paper mills and a rubber company.” Although the latter, she clarified, has begun to be readied to reopen, “by a political decision.”

For the president of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution at 19th and Rio Streets in El Fanguito, the urgency is to move from words to deeds. “All they do is talk to us about eliminating the sewage that goes into to the river, but nobody is in charge of building or helping to build a good sewer.” The resident says that there have been “angry outbursts” in the community because the children “play around these waters.”

Meanwhile, the elderly Gonzalo no longer registers the stench that permeates his house and his skin. He looks at the river of his childhood as a convalescent relative that needs urgent therapy. He has lost the illusion of ever swimming in its waters again someday.