14ymedio – Page 2 – Translating Cuba

Converted Into a Company, the Propaganda Section of the Communist Party Sells ‘Stamps’ and Flags

The new status means more money and resources, in addition to brand-new printing machines

To make wholesale banners, the company has modern printers from the Japanese multinational Roland / La Demajagua

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 13 April 2024 — The purpose is to “market the image of Cuba,” and the means are furnished by the Communist Party. Protected and paid for by the highest authority of the country, the Propaganda and Events business unit, with its main factory in Granma province, doesn’t disguise its objective: to supply the entire Cuban East with banners, flags, slogans and portraits of leaders.

Although it is still attached to the Central Committee, the eastern section of the former Propaganda Department has just been converted into a company. The new status means more money and resources, suggests La Demajagua, the provincial digital newspaper, which showcased the business in an elaborate report. Before the cameras, the brand-new company took out the artillery: modern printers from the Japanese multinational Roland, electric saws to create “awards and diplomas” for the leaders, giant posters, shirts, fence panels and dozens of “symbols.”

In the video published by the newspaper there was also a collection of “stamps” with the faces of Fidel and Raúl Castro

In the video published by the newspaper next to the report, there was also a collection of “stamps” – similar to those sold in Cuban churches – with the faces of Fidel and Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Che Guevara, Vilma Espín and Camilo Cienfuegos.

The workers aren’t complaining. “We get a good salary. There are months that I earn 6,000, 7,000 pesos, depending on the content of the work. I like the craft,” says the company’s carpenter, who says “the equipment is modern, which makes the job easier. Now we are waiting for an assembler, because the workmanship must be very good quality,” he adds. continue reading

The designers play with one motif in their designs: the Cuban flag. They make sure that the symbol “waves” at events, on shirts and “along the roads.” They use the image with abandon, and despite the Government’s tension over the “improper use” of the banner, which has cost years in prison to activists Aniette González and the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, they make sure that the work is “proper.”

The company states that it provides services not only to the local governments of the eastern area but also to natural persons “who contract with us.” However, it does not clarify what type of customers – national or international – buy, for personal use, the revolutionary fanfare produced by the entity.

The workers aren’t complaining. “We get a good salary. There are months that I earn 6,000, 7,000 pesos, depending on the content of the work”

A moment of pure effervescence, they say, is when an event is approaching. “The work is constant,” of course, because in a country like Cuba there are more than enough historical dates, such as the imminent May 1. The Workers’ Parade is a prosperous time for Propaganda and Events, which must hire more employees “because companies demand many items in order to ensure the colors of their workers.”

In cash or by card, the company is open to any method of payment. They feel, their managers say, “a high responsibility” and consider themselves “makers of history.” They themselves have a place in the parade; they pronounce harangues using microphones that they have installed and fly banners that are printed in their workshop. Propaganda and Events marches with such a favorable wind that the authorities, not knowing what more they can do to honor the entity, will even dedicate the parade itself to it.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Hiring of Cuban Doctors Violates the Constitution of Honduras

Furthermore, it is a violation of national regulations that only allow free foreign medical brigades

The arrival of Cuban doctors in Honduras has alarmed local health workers / La Prensa

14ymedio, Havana, April 13, 2024 — The Medical College of Honduras (CMH), which has spoken out on several occasions against the hiring of Cuban medical brigades, published a statement on Thursday accusing the Government of Xiomara Castro of violating the Constitution. According to the guild, the authority of the CMH itself in the hiring of foreign health workers who, in addition, do not have the necessary accreditation to practice in the country, has been overlooked.

The statement, shared on social networks, recalls that the Constitution establishes that “professional membership is mandatory,” and that it is the Professional Colleges that are authorized to regulate the exercise of the profession, something that the Government, says the guild, violates with the hiring of the Cuban doctors.

To this is added, the statement continues, the violation of the Organic Law of the Medical College of Honduras, which establishes that the CMH is the “only authorizing entity for medical brigades in the national territory,” and that they must be free. In addition, all professionals must have their degrees accredited, and, finally, they must not provide services for more than 90 days. continue reading

“The Cuban doctors who arrived in our country have not complied with the requirements of the Law”

“The Cuban doctors who arrived in our country have not complied with the requirements of the Law, so the Medical College of Honduras does not endorse the activity and professional practice of these colleagues in the national territory,” says the statement. It also denounces the fact that the Cuban health workers receive a stipend in exchange for their services, which disqualifies them from working in the country’s hospitals.

This alone, they add, is a violation of Honduran labor regulations, and they ask the Ministers of Health, Carla Paredes, and of Labor, Sarahí Cerna, to “intervene in the solution of this problem that violates the legal powers of the Medical College of Honduras to the detriment of the entire Honduran medical guild.”

Last February, the Ministry of Health of Honduras announced the arrival of 89 Cuban doctors that same month, after the signing of an agreement with Cuba. The doctors “will be distributed throughout the hospital network, according to the needs,” the institution stated.

Paredes, asked by the Honduran guild for explanations, then clarified that although she was in charge of signing the agreement, the Secretariat of Strategic Planning was the person in charge of the hiring. At no time have the Honduran authorities said how much will be paid to the Government of Cuba for each specialist, but the minister pointed out that it would be less than what Honduran doctors think.

“We don’t know if these Cubans are really doctors; we don’t know who endorses their profession”

The Central American authorities also stressed that “the Cuban humanitarian brigade does not affect Honduran doctors, because they are specialists in deficient branches in the country: surgeons, orthopedists, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, oncologists, internists, psychiatrists, epidemiologists, family doctors and geriatricians” – a clarification with which an attempt was made to counter – unsuccessfully – the criticisms of indigenous professionals and unions, including the CMH, which denounced at that time the dismissal of 30 workers for ideological reasons.

Months ago, in November, the CMH launched an alarm about the arrival of Cuban health workers without their being informed as a professional organization, and it left doubt about whether they were really doctors. “We don’t know if these Cubans are really doctors; we don’t know who endorses their profession,” said Helga Codina, president of the collective.

On that date, and in contrast to what the Minister of Health recently said, Codina explained that for each Cuban, the corresponding amount would be paid to two or three national professionals, although she did not elaborate on whether this was only for salaries or included accommodation and other expenses.

Other aspects, such as the training of the medical contingent, were also questioned by the CMH. “Many are giving consultations, and we have sometimes detected problems of mismanagement. This is the risk we run by bringing in foreigners without going through the country’s proper channels,” Codina criticized at the time.

A similar situation is happening in Mexico, where the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has begun to dismiss national health workers claiming that “there is no money” to pay their salaries, when between July 2022 and May 2023, $9,667,115 was delivered to the Island in payment for a contingent of 718 Cuban doctors.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite the Threat of Fines, Most Cubans Delay or Avoid Paying Their Taxes

Though the deadline is April 30, the number of people who have filed their tax returns is still very low / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 9 April 2024 — With just twenty-one days to go before the Personal Income Tax Return deadline, not even half of taxpayers in Sancti Spiritus province have filed their returns. Though 17,700 people are required to file, according to an article published on Tuesday in the provincial newspaper Escambray, only about 8,000 have done so, a situation that is becoming increasingly common across the country.

Those required to pay personal income taxes include self-employed workers, artists, social media entrepreneurs and employees of foreign-owned banks. Some workers in the agricultural sector are also required to pay income tax but the compliance rate is about same as in other fields. Of the 12,600 required file a tax return, only 45% have done so. Those failing to pay their taxes include emigrés who did not register at the National Tax Administration Office (ONAT), a very common situation among those who move overseas.

The article confirms fears that have been widespread since the early filing period ended on February 28. Anyone filing a return by that date would have seen their tax burden reduced by 5%. At that time, state media complained that only 58,936 of the total 462,445 taxpayers had filed returns, a mere 12.7% of the total. The situation was even worse in the case of agricultural workers: Of the 163,558 required to file tax returns, only 10,324 (a paltry 6.3%) did so. continue reading

State media complained that only 58,936 of the total 462,445 taxpayers had filed returns, a mere 12.7% of the total

These numbers are based on returns from seven provinces: Havana, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. In other words, half the island. As ONAT head Mary Blanca Ortega Barredo pointed out, non-compliance occurs in all sectors of the country’s workforce but the cultural sector’s numbers stand out.

According to Escambray, the deadline for state-owned companies, as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), to pay their taxes was March 31. This year, they are also required to file a tax return. The tax exemption for newly created companies ended in January and has not been extended.

The article points out that corporations have shown the highest level of compliance. Though it does not provide figures, it states that most of these 792 companies, along with the owners of all the MSMEs, filed tax returns. Together, they account for 83% of all taxes the country collects.

There were more than 400 tax audits conducted in Sancti Spíritus in 2023, which resulted in thirty-million pesos in fines. Since then, there have been ninety such investigations, which revealed a shortfall in tax payments of approximately 8.5 million pesos that should have gone to the state.

Although the article contains informative data on current tax collection efforts, its main focus is on raising awareness among taxpayers about the importance of paying their taxes and what might happen to them if they do not. For example, if tax authorities reach an agreement with someone accused of tax evasion, there is no further legal action. This is not what happens if the issue goes to court, where there are currently ten such cases underway.

In addition to fines, tax evaders face the prospect of not being allowed to leave the country, a penalty that currently imapacts some two-hundred people who refused to comply with Cuban tax law

In addition to fines, tax evaders face the prospect of not being allowed to leave the country, a penalty proscribed by Cuba tax law that currently impacts some two-hundred people who refused to fulfill their tax obligations.

This year, it is expected that 338,999 million pesos will be collected in taxes – including fees and contributions – “all of which guarantee the support and development of social programs as important as public health, education, social assistance, sport and culture,” the article explains.

Some taxpayers have been critical of ONAT for delays in issuing refunds to which they are entitled. It is not uncommon for people to wait until December or beyond for their refunds to arrive.

Cuba’s low rate of tax compliance is nothing new. Experts point to the expansion of the informal market, a tradition of tax avoidance and widespread distrust of financial institutions as the principal causes. This is exacerbated by the lack of transparency in how public money is spent. Government budgets lack the detail necessary to determine how much is allocated to each specific spending category.

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The Official Cuban Press Criticizes the Lack of Public Data on Migration

The Cienfuegos newspaper 5 de Septiembre mentions the figures published in the independent press, without giving credit

Humanitarian parole was approved for 69,000 Cubans in its first year of operation / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2024 –The immigration stampede faced by Cuba is no secret to anyone, not even to the official press, which this Friday published an unusual article on the subject. The Cienfuegos newspaper 5 de Septiembre lashes out at the authorities for the “scarce public data” about the exodus and even alludes to figures published by the independent press, although it progressively lowers the tone by attributing all the evils to the blockade*.

According to the newspaper, the data to which it has had access “indicate that today more than 11% of the Cuban population is outside the Island. Counting the migratory wave unleashed from 2021 to date, the press reports indicate that in a period of 18 months, about 400,000 Cubans were intercepted at the U.S. border.”

The real figure, about 425,000, has been disseminated by the independent press, which the official newspaper avoids mentioning and which has a precedent: the number of femicides recorded by observatories and independent media in 2023, which was cited by Periódico 26 as coming from “unofficial sources.” continue reading

The data “indicate that today more than 11% of the Cuban population is outside the Island.”

To the illegal entries through the southern border of the United States are added, in addition to those who migrated to other countries such as Spain or Mexico and the more than 69,000 Cubans approved for humanitarian parole in the United States in only the first year of that program’s operation, figures that the official newspaper does not mention either, since it prefers to focus on the “emotional damage” of migration.

“Apart from the worrying scenario that derives from such figures for the fate of the nation, we are actually talking about something more than numbers. Every digit is our parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, partners, friends,” it says.

As for the causes of the migratory wave, the newspaper points out what the ruling Center for Demographic Studies defines with an understatement: “a crisis of expectations: the perception of an uncertain future.” The causes of that uncertainty are “the search for better wages and living conditions, desire for personal fulfillment” and – “to a much lesser extent, political issues.”

However, the article omits other fundamental causes pointed out by specialists and by the emigrants themselves, such as the lack of freedoms of all kinds, which makes life unsustainable on the Island.

In line with the official version on migration, which explains that migrants come and go, 5 de Septiembre insists that “many still anchor their dreams of prosperity and growth on Cuban soil.” But, it emphasizes “the effects of the suffocating U.S. economic blockade and the incentive for irregular departures through the Cuban Adjustment Act, along with the severe internal difficulties – largely derived from the blockade – for the migratory behavior that Cuba is currently experiencing.”

“Faced with the widespread idea that the only way to breathe is to leave, the challenge of generating opportunities prevails”

The question “How does the heart of a country beat with so many children scattered around the world?” which the newspaper itself poses, is answered only half-heartedly: “Faced with the widespread idea that the only way to breathe is to leave, the challenge of generating opportunities prevails (…), without having stones thrown or abuses.”

Despite the unusual text, officialdom strives to silence the exodus, which is increasing. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office recorded the arrival of 22,946 Cubans in January. The figure is almost double the 11,909 that arrived by air, land and sea in January 2023. In the first four months of the fiscal year alone, which began in October, 86,139 Cubans have entered the United States.

In 2022, the National Institute of Statistics of Spain revealed that 198,639 people born in Cuba then lived in Spain, a figure that exceeds by more than 30,000 the number in 2020. The figures from 2023 are not yet available.

Other reports reveal that, before investing their money in the Island, emigrants prefer to dedicate their assets to trying to get their relatives out of the country. In 2023, it is estimated that the diaspora spent between 1.8 and 2.2 billion dollars in the procedures and the costs of transporting and maintaining those who emigrated to the United States. On the other hand, Cubans abroad sent remittances of only just under 1.973 billion, the same amount as in 2010 and a decrease of 47% compared to the 3.716 billion of 2019.

Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ’blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the US embargo. Originally imposed in 1962, the embargo, although modified from time to time, is still in force.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Fall in the Price of Nickel Contradicts the Optimism of the Cuban Government

Expert William Pitt, owner of confiscated mines on the Island, points out that companies are reducing their investments

The Commander Ernesto (Che) Guevara Nickel and Cobalt Production Company in Moa, Holguín / ACN

14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2024 — In a video showing a fleet of trucks, backhoes and machinery, the director of Mining in Cuba, Joaquín Ruiz Quintana, said on Wednesday that Cuba plans to export 50,000 tons of nickel this year. The amount, the manager announced without disguising his enthusiasm, will reach 100,000 tons by 2030, if business with the Canadian mining company Sherritt continues to boom.

And everything seems to indicate that it will, says Telesur, which sent a reporter to verify the results of Sherritt’s “million-dollar investments” in three mining enclaves of the Island: Moa, in Holguín; San Felipe, in Camagüey; and the Sierra de Cajálbana, in Pinar del Río. “Unfortunately, mining must be done in a sustainable way,” said Ruiz Quintana, who suggested that “care for the environment” – and, of course, the “financial persecution” of the United States – are the only limititations on mining in Cuba.

Businessman William Pitt, who has often denounced in this newspaper the Cuban government’s plunder of the Pitt-Wasmer family’s mines – several of them in Moa – is not so convinced of Ruiz Quintana’s forecasts. Pitt, who considers the data offered by the manager a mirage, is blunt: neither Sherritt nor other mining companies, such as the Australian Antilles Gold, “are going to take the chestnuts out of the fire for the Ministry of Energy and Mines.” continue reading

A metric ton of nickel is quoted at $17,439, much less than the $23,894 of a year ago for the same amount

According to Pitt – who not only knows the mines that Fidel Castro confiscated from his family in 1960 but also has taken legal measures against Sherritt – the “growing” investments that the regime attributes to the foreign mining companies operating on the Island are plummeting. The explanation is in the world market, “where the prices of the minerals that Cuba produces have plummeted.”

The case of nickel and cobalt illustrates the situation. A metric ton of nickel is quoted at $17,439, much less than the $23,894 of a year ago for that amount. “At the current price it would be necessary to increase nickel production by 36% to achieve the same monetary income as a year ago,” Pitt explains to 14ymedio. The need to sell more at a lower price perhaps explains Cuba’s urgency to double, by 2030, the amount of nickel it plans to export this year.

In 2023, the country exported 40,000 tons, so the expected increase for 2024 is only 25%, “clearly below the level required to achieve a global production that represents a monetary increase to the country.”

Another issue – ignored by Ruiz Quintana in his interview with Telesur – is the million-dollar debt that Cuba has with Sherritt, a company whose current financial situation is not flattering either and which cannot afford to admit the Island’s delays. “These are difficult times for the company,” analyzes Pitt, who emphasizes – citing Sherritt’s most recent balance sheet – the accumulation of $173,701,615 in debts that mature in less than a year, plus $338,681,810 in debts that it will have to pay later.

To pay the debts, Sherritt has in its accounts about $87,214,200, plus the debts that it must collect from countries like Cuba, which totals $95,923,740. It is not a “healthy” situation, concludes the businessman, and analysts have already calculated that Sherritt’s growth rate will fall by 3.3%. The forecast has frightened investors.

“Nickel and cobalt have lost much of the euphoria caused by their use in electric vehicle batteries

“Nickel and cobalt have lost much of the euphoria caused by their use in electric vehicle batteries. These batteries now use other minerals,” Pitt explains. Both metals are now used more in the manufacture of stainless steel – their classic application – or in devices and machinery.

The second point of tension between Sherritt and Cuba is energy. The company supplies three important Cuban power plants: Varadero (Matanzas), Boca de Jaruco and Puerto Escondido (Mayabeque). Havana’s non-payments to Sherritt for its management in these facilities were the reason why Cuba had to accept the so-called “exchange of cobalt”: the overexploitation of the mineral in exchange for the more than the $263 million that the regime owed.

It hasn’t been sufficient. Now Sherritt has its sights set on the deposits of Yagrumaje, Camarioca and the Delta, in Punta Gorda (Holguín), which “the Government of Cuba has granted it illegally,” warns Pitt, since they belong to the Pitt-Wasmer family, and Sherritt knows it full well.

Cuba also has problems with the mining of gold, copper and silver, of which it delivered important deposits to the Australian Antilles Gold company. These are the mines of La Demajagua, in Isla de la Juventud; Nueva Sabana and El Pilar, in Camagüey; and La Cristina and Buey Cabón, in the eastern area. The business has been fading, says Pitt, due to the “economic abandonment.”

Despite announcing with fanfare that it had closed the deal with Havana, Antilles did not even manage to raise a million dollars for the study of the Cuban deposits. Like Sherritt, the Australian company also needs money that its creditors have not paid: Dominican Republic, for example, owes them $45 million, but before disbursement they will have to wait for the result of a long judicial process against Santo Domingo, also for non-payments.

The most serious thing about the management of international mining companies in Cuba is the lack of transparency with which not only the Government but also the companies themselves conduct their businesses. For the overexploitation of Cuban deposits, a price is paid that can be expressed in dollars, but none of the parties pronounces on the environmental consequences. The damage does not cause Ruiz Quintana or the Cuban Government to lose sleep. According to Telesur, they have made the verb “overfulfill” a motto.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Very Few Spanish Companies Are Willing To Invest in Cuba

The Island doesn’t have any of the advantages offered by Mexico, Colombia or Chile

Although Cuba has a high percentage of investment from Spain, it is not attractive enough for Spanish entrepreneurs / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, April 11, 2024 — Although Spain is one of the main sources of foreign investment in Cuba, things change if the situation is turned around. Only 2% of Spanish companies with a presence in Latin America invested in Cuba in 2023, and the main reason is the Island’s “deficient infrastructure.”

The data appear in a report on the Spanish Investment Panorama in Ibero-America 2024, presented this Wednesday at Casa de América (Madrid) and prepared by IE University, Auxadi and Iberia. It shows that the Island is at the tail end of countries in Europe that receive investments from large Spanish companies and private entrepreneurs. The list is headed by Mexico, with 82%, followed by Colombia (75%), Chile (63%), Peru (55%) and Brazil (53%).

The outlook for this year is not encouraging, since Cuba and Venezuela are once again “among those that will experience a more complicated economic situation” in the opinion of the Spanish businessmen, who have added Ecuador to that group, due to the outbreak of violence in the country in the last two years. The Island is, in this case, ahead of Venezuela, with a 2.4 out of 5 in confidence in improvement. continue reading

The outlook for this year is not at all flattering, since Cuba and Venezuela are again “among those that will experience a more complicated economic situation”

Argentina improves its perspective with a 2.77 rating because of the “expectations of change that the new administration has generated, although the coming adjustment will make the next quarters very difficult.” But Mexico (3.6) and Chile (3.4) are still in the lead.

To prepare the report, entrepreneurs have been asked what are the main threats or risks that their companies face in Latin America. The majority (84%) have pointed out political instability, an area in which Colombia, Peru and Argentina stand out. This is followed by the exchange rate, where the same three countries also rate poorly, and citizen insecurity, especially in Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil. They are also concerned about legal uncertainty, especially in Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina, and the economic slowdown in Brazil, Venezuela and Costa Rica.

Finally, 18% pointed out deficient infrastructure, where Cuba appears, accompanied by Peru and Colombia.

The Island doesn’t have any of the advantages that entrepreneurs have found in the other countries. The list highlights an attractive domestic market (67%), especially in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and a qualified workforce (Colombia, Argentina and Chile). In addition, there is access to raw materials (Bolivia, Peru and Argentina), free trade agreements with third countries (Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay), competitiveness in the region (Mexico, Colombia and Chile) and an advantageous geographical location, which Cuba could fit perfectly. However, businessmen have preferred three of its neighbors: Panama, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

For advantageous geographical location, businessmen prefer three of Cuba’s neighbors: Panama, Mexico and the Dominican Republic

The Island reappears in the report when complexity of the tax framework is compared to the Spanish one. Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela have, for entrepreneurs, greater complexity, while Cuba is ranked 13 out of 19, after respondents rated the difficulty of its system at 2.6 out of 5, with Honduras (2.2) and Uruguay (2.4) being the most accessible.

The main conclusion of the document, in general terms, is that 76% of the companies plan to increase their investments in Ibero-America, 22% will maintain them and only 2% will reduce them compared to last year.

The report indicates that, after the pandemic, a terrible economic situation was feared, aggravated by the war in Ukraine, which in Spain, as part of the European Union, threatened a fuel emergency that didn’t happen. The economy, in general, has slowed down on the continent, but – thanks to the European Central Bank’s monetary policies – the feared economic crisis has not materialized.

Although there was no positive outlook in Latin America either, US monetary policy – due to its influence in the region – has contributed to stabilizing the business environment, and economic activity is expected to grow above what was predicted by the International Monetary Fund.

More than 80% of companies believe that, in the next three years, their Ibero-American investments will increase, compared to the forecasts for the EU, US and Canada (stable at 60%) and Asia, (above 50%). The perception of Chinese influence is also striking, which, although its presence on the continent has considerably increased, is not perceived as a “threat” by the Spanish. Seventy percent believe that China is not a significant competitor, compared to the remaining 30%, which is divided equally (15% and 15%) between those who see it as one more competitor and those who consider it “quite important” competition.

Seventy percent believe that China is not a significant competitor, compared to the remaining 30%, which is divided between those who see it as one more competitor and those who consider it “quite important” competition

As for the location of the main headquarters, Mexico City is, for the ninth consecutive year, the favorite. The second place, which was traditionally Miami, has become Bogotá, followed by Santiago de Chile, which stands out for its safety, its business climate and the quality of family life.

The main investments of Spanish companies in Cuba are traditionally concentrated in tourism, although food also occupies an important place. The EU reports indicate that Spain is, by far, the largest investor on the Island, although France and Germany also have a certain presence. However, it is impossible to determine accurately who the largest investors are due to the opacity of Havana’s data.

The most recent report of ICEX (Spanish public entity that promotes international investment) inJanuary 2024 states that “the Cuban Administration does not detail the identity of foreign investors to protect them from US actions, and therefore the available data are only indicative.” The agency cannot compile a table of the flow of foreign investments by countries and sectors because “Cuba does not provide this information.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Jordan Diaz Waits for Permission to Compete for Spain in Paris 2024

In June 2022, Jordan Díaz becomes Spanish champion in Nerja with a jump of 17.87 meters (58.6 feet) / Instagram/@jordan_diaz_tj

14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2024 — “Here, I am valued as an athlete; in Cuba I had no opportunities.” This is what the triple jumper Jordan Díaz Fortún (“Air Jordan”) said about his departure from the Island in 2021, in an interview published this Friday by El Español. The athlete hopes, next June, to have the permission of the governing body of athletics, World Athletics, to compete for Spain at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

Díaz regretted that sports on the Island is managed “around politics,” and they do not understand that he left in order to improve. “If I see that I’m not doing well in one place, I try to improve my future. I can’t be in prison, as they say. No, not that,” he stressed to El Español.

In 2022, the athlete told El País that the “Cuban sports system is so complicated that they almost force valuable athletes to leave in a stampede.” In his case, he saw that the results he obtained were not recognized. “There comes a time when an athlete needs a stimulus, which was something that a person like me, with the level I have, did not receive.” continue reading

“There comes a time when an athlete needs a stimulus, which was something that a person like me, with the level I have, did not receive”

The athlete’s statements coincided that year with Cuba’s worst performance in the World Athletics Championships. “For the first time in the 18 versions of these tournaments, the Largest of the Antilles leaves without medals,” said Cubadebate.

With his departure, which took place in the Spanish city of Castellón three years ago, Díaz not only separated from his family, which he has not been able to see since, but also resigned from his participation in Tokyo 2020, where, due to his personal record of 17.49 meters (57.4 feet) achieved in the National Youth Athletics Championship, he was predicted to have a good performance.

In any case, according to the report, his stay in Spain has not been easy. An injury took him out of the competition last year, but he has returned with his sights set on Paris 2024. At his first Olympics he arrives as the holder of a record, a jump of 17.87 meters (58.6 feet), and chances of winning a medal.

The Cuban says that the gold medal will be for the triplist who exceeds 18 meters [59.1 feet). “I think about reaching everything including the world record (18.29 (60 feet) by Jonathan Edwards in 1995),” he told the sports newspaper As. “2024 is going to be the best year in history in the triple. In fact, I think that in Paris 2024 there will be at least three above 18 meters.”

Behind Díaz in Spain are the bronze medalist in Tokyo 2020, Ana Peleteiro, her manager Alberto Suárez and Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler, “Iván the Terrible or the “Mountain Jumper.” “Pedroso has changed everything for me: mentality, career, way of jumping, technique. Absolutely everything,” he told the same sports newspaper at the beginning of April.

For Jordan Díaz Fortún’s performances, two years ago he was recognized with the King Juan Carlos Award for outstanding athlete of 2022 / Instagram/@jordan_diaz_tj

Pedroso, Olympic champion and nine-times world title holder, has lived in Guadalajara (Spain) for more than a decade, where he has created what is already known as the Pedroso team. Jordan Díaz is part of this group, which includes the Olympic gold medalist in triple jump Yulimar Rojas, the Spanish Ana Peleteiro, the Portuguese and Olympic champion in Beijing 2008 Nelson Évora, the Brazilian Nubia Soares and the Cuban Alexis Copello, naturalized by Azerbaijan.

His improvement in the sport is notorious. Economically, Díaz confessed to the newspaper Mundo Deportivo last January that “living from athletics is fucked up,” clarifying that this sport “is not like soccer where it’s easy to live quite well for the rest of your life.” The athlete, who has Red Bull as a sponsor, said that in his discipline you have to “be on top” to get “many contracts and sponsors.” So “you have to make the most of the moments in the elite and know how to save above all.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Bodegas Double the Price of Cigarettes and Triple the Price of Cigars

Depending on the brand and strength, packs will cost 60 pesos, while cigars will go up to 10 pesos each

The ministers recognized that the products are barely available in the bodegas (ration stores) / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, April 11, 2024 — The prices of cigarettes and tobacco will triple starting this Friday for retail sales, as announced this Thursday by the Ministers of Domestic Trade and Finance and Prices. The measure, published in the Official Gazette, foresees an increase of up to 60 pesos for packs of 20 cigarettes – depending on the type – and 10 pesos for one cigar from the bodega (ration store), with a poor quality leaf.

Those known as “bodega” or “one peso” tobaccos – although they currently cost up to five pesos – are generally manufactured in the same province that consumes them, with brands not marketed by the Habanos SA monopoly. They are of mediocre quality, and will now cost 10 pesos.

Vladimir Regueiro Ale, head of Finance and Price, and Betsy Díaz Velázquez, of Domestic Trade, argued that the measure is taken because “the current prices cannot cover all the costs and expenses related to the production, industrial processing and marketing of both products.” continue reading

“The current prices cannot cover all the costs and expenses related to production, industrial processing and marketing

In addition, they argued that the state budget dedicated to subsidizing the manufacture of cigarettes and tobacco for the Cuban consumer could be dedicated to other destinations, since they are not “for basic consumption” nor are they a priority in the basic family basket “in the difficult conditions in which the Cuban economy operates.”

Both ministers acknowledged that the products are barely available in the bodegas and announced that they will be sold “progressively” on the Island. “Tomorrow we will have a presence level of around 30% of the network, but not in the more than 12,000 bodegas. Distribution is a gradual process in correspondence with production,” they explained.

Tobacco will be sold with a limit: “four packs per capita,” said Díaz Velázquez, who recalled that this limit was already applied before the price increase. The monthly demand for cigarettes and tobacco in the country is, according to Internal Trade, about 34 million packs – four per consumer – and 12 million cigars.

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Prisoners Defenders Raises the Number of Political Prisoners in Cuba to 1,092 After the March Protests

The organization indicated that in March alone it added 31 people to its list, of them 24 linked to the demonstrations

Image of the protests of March 17 in Santiago de Cuba / Facebook / Rompiendo Cadenas

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 11 April 2024 — The NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD) reported this Thursday that at the end of last month it registered 1,092 people imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba, twenty more than in its February report, almost all linked to the March protests.

The organization, based in Madrid, indicated that last month it added 31 individuals to its list that it classifies as political prisoners and that another six were removed from the registry after being released.

According to PD, 24 of the 31 political prisoners were linked to “the peaceful March demonstrations” that began on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba when hundreds of people peacefully took to the streets to protest.

Initially they protested the blackouts and lack of food shouting “power and food,” but “freedom” and “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life) were also heard, a motto of the anti-government demonstrations of 11 July 2021, the largest in decades. Shortly after, similar events occurred in other towns, among which El Cobre, Bayamo and Santa Marta stood out.

The next day, unofficial media and social networks showed other demonstrations, mainly in Bayamo and El Cobre, where dozens of people gathered in front of a police station where several detainees in the protests had been taken. continue reading

The report published on the NGO’s website explained that 30 minors remain on its list of political prisoners

The report published on the NGO’s website explained that 30 minors remain on its list of political prisoners, of which 28 are serving sentences and two are being criminally prosecuted. The minimum criminal age in Cuba is 16 years.

PD denounced that “16 of the minors have already been convicted of sedition,” with an average sentence of five years of deprivation of liberty, the majority under a regime of “home confinement or forced labor without internment.”

The statement added that 225 people – mostly convicted of participating in the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 – have been charged with sedition, and at least 222 have already been sentenced, to an average of ten years in prison.

According to PD, there are also 119 prisoners (including several transgender ones) who “still have political and conscientious convictions and orders.”

“All trans women of conscience in prison have been and are imprisoned among men, which also happens with common trans prisoners, suffering situations, among men, indescribable for their sexual condition,” PD denounced.

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A Cuban Olympic Canoe Champion and a Weightlifter Seek Tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics With IOC Refugees

Fernando Dayán Jorge Enríquez left the Cuban national team during a camp in Mexico in March 2022 /Instagram/Fernando Dayán

14ymedio, Madrid, April 11, 2024 — Cuban athletes Fernando Dayán Jorge Enríquez, a gold medalist in canoeing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and Ramiro Mora, a champion in weightlifting (2022 and 2023) in the United Kingdom, will be able to compete for a place in Paris 2024 as part of the refugee team. Both, fleeing the Island, have just received a scholarship from the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF), according to the Olympics portal.

The selected team will be announced by IOC President Thomas Bach on May 2. To select who will be on the team, “the sporting performance of each athlete and a balanced representation in terms of sport, gender and regions” will be taken into account, the same media stated.

Along with Jorge Enríquez, who lives in the United States, and Mora, who lives in the United Kingdom, scholarships were also awarded to the Iranians Matin Balsini (United Kingdom) and Aryan Saed Panah (Spain) and to the Sudanese Musa Suliman (Switzerland). The IOC recognizes them as having “overcome challenges” before arriving in the country that gave them refuge. “They are dedicated athletes whose lives were changed through sport.”

On March 6, Jorge Enríquez left the Cuban delegation that traveled to Mexico for a camp. His escape occurred seven months after having won the gold medal alongside Serguey Torres in the C2 1,000 meter event. From that moment on he became a pariah in the eyes of the Cuban sports authorities continue reading

who accused him of turning his back on a commitment to new results for his sport and his people.

Ramiro Mora left the Island in 2019 and arrived in Blackpool (United Kingdom), where he had to work in a circus to support himself

In January of that same year, the authorities had awarded him with a high-end vehicle after “an agreement by the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers” in which it was decided to assign a car to “sports personalities with a recognized career.”

However, this athlete decided to disassociate himself from Cuban sport and after a 10-day journey through Mexico, his arrival in the United States was confirmed. Fernando Dayán now resides in Florida and has the support of his coach Alain. In the United States he has achievements in the national speed boating championship, held in Sarasota, Florida.

For Ramiro Mora, the Olympic Foundation for Refugees stands out, his tenacity and determination to remain in a sport where in the beginning he did not have the appropriate weight for the practice of weightlifting. He stayed in this sport despite losing his parents at age 14. His drive led him to be part of the national team.

Mora left the Island in 2019 and arrived in Blackpool (United Kingdom). The need to earn income to support himself led him to work in a circus. From there he moved on to Bristol, where he set and achieved the British record in the 89 and 96 kilogram categories, winning the national championship in 2022 and 2023.
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Havana and the Tourist Areas Are the Epicenter of Drug Use in Cuba

This is the case of schools that have become “areas of high incidence of drug use,” says a Public Health official

The authorities regret that Cuba does not have sufficient resources to prevent drug use. / Granma

14ymedio, Havana, 11 April 2024 — Drug trafficking in Cuba is increasing and tourist enclaves and areas where foreigners pass through – in addition to Havana, due to its population density – are the places where most consumption occurs. The problem, “which is becoming a lifestyle” especially in adolescents and young people, was recognized this Wednesday by the official press.

In an interview with the official newspaper Granma, Dr. Alejandro García, director of the Mental Health Center of Central Havana, set off the Public Health alarms: “Increasingly people start consuming earlier. The first experiences are between the ages of 13 and 14, from the ages of 17 and 20 they can become addicted, and at the age of 25 there is an increase in users,” he revealed.

According to official data, the average age for drug use in Cuba, which was 18 in 2022, had dropped to 15 last year.

Regarding the epicenters of drug trafficking, “Havana has always been the city with the most consumption, as have important tourist centers, such as some areas of Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos… with a lot of foreigners arriving,” added the director, although he did not explain if it is because tourists are the ones who transport the substances to the Island or if the economic activity that is generated around them promotes these scenarios.

“In addition, there is a high rate of young women who consume drugs and are pregnant. Also (an increase) in polydrug use, because, historically, what was consumed the most in some municipalities of Havana was crack, but in recent times new chemicals have been incorporated that we are sometimes continue reading

unaware of, and thus it is more complicated to confront and deal with,” the director detailed, referring to the new drug that circulates on the Island known as químico (chemical), which has become popular for its long-lasting effect and its low cost, about 200 pesos

For García, the increase in drug use on the Island has clear causes: “The economic situation is having a great impact, for various reasons. First, there has been a decrease in the care groups, there are municipalities that do not have a psychiatrist or anyone who directly cares for the phenomenon of addictions. Furthermore, it is not implemented consistently, and the groups are sometimes weakened or lack personnel,” he adds.

The poor state control over drug circulation also influences consumption “because when trafficking is well controlled, the availability of substances decreases, and consequently the cases,” he warns.

However, the doctor, consistent with the official discourse, expressed a reservation. “I believe that drug use must be confronted harshly, and that, here, it has always been done. People are used to leaving everything in the hands of the State, and it cannot be achieved that way. We have to be active as a society,” he clarifies

This is the case of schools which, García says, have become “areas with a high incidence of drug use.” As he explains, when young people begin to abuse these substances they “begin to have changes in behavior, abandonment of their habits, loss of interest in studying,” something that teachers and directors are trained to detect, he says.

The same happens in pharmacies where, the doctor insists, strict control is maintained over the prescription of psychotropic drugs and narcotics. He also insists that the country has care rooms with treatments that “go far beyond detoxification.”

In three maritime operations, another 37.5 kilograms of cocaine were seized, ten people, Cubans and Mexicans, were arrested

Reluctant to provide numbers, the Government has not made public the data on the increase in drug consumption compared to other years, but this February the General Customs of the Republic reported that, to that date, it had detected 17 smuggling attempts – with 99 kilograms of drugs seized. A significant increase if one takes into account that 55 attempts were detected in all of 2023, which had already been the highest number since 2019.

In three maritime operations, another 37.5 kilograms of cocaine were seized and ten people, Cubans and Mexicans, were arrested. The main countries of origin of these substances are the United States, Suriname, Mexico and Ecuador

An attempt was also made to introduce prohibited medications. “In a recent assessment we were looking at 73,000 tablets they have tried to bring into the country,” the authorities said then.

Likewise, in November of last year the Supreme Court announced that to date almost 700 people had been sentenced for drug trafficking, 92% of them with prison sentences. The Penal Code, however, allows up to the death penalty for this type of crime.

The authorities also revealed then that the most consumed substance on the Island is marijuana, accompanied since 2011 by a worrying increase in the abuse of synthetic cannabinoids. This is the case of the químico, to which this newspaper dedicated a report due to its extensive consumption in the capital, especially in the park known as El Curita, where the Police carried out anti-drug operations this February.

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Venezuela Sells Its Oil on the International Market Instead of Giving It to Cuba

This Monday, the tanker Ocean Mariner left Havana Bay / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 2 April 2024 — The data on the delivery of Venezuelan oil to Cuba in March confirm that Havana cannot count on Caracas at the moment to alleviate its energy problems. In February, only 34,000 barrels per day (bpd) arrived on the Island that month, 39% below the monthly average of 56,000 bpd in 2023, according to information provided by Reuters.

That Venezuela would continue to send relatively little oil to the Island during 2024 had already been anticipated by Texas University specialist Jorge Piñón. Before Reuters, with sources in the Venezuelan state-owned Pdvsa, revealed the figure, the researcher had explained to this newspaper that his estimates “were not good.”

“There are rumors that Joe Biden will not reactivate the sanctions on Venezuela on April 18 and will wait until June. If so, this will allow Pdvsa to sell more oil to countries that pay in cash and keep its shipments to Cuba below average,” argues the expert. continue reading

Three days ago, the Island received a ship with 90,000 tons (684,000 barrels) of Russian oil

“For the moment,” he added, “it seems that the Mexican life jacket is replaced by the Russian one.” Three days ago, the Island received a ship with 90,000 tons (684,000 barrels) of Russian oil to alleviate the energy crisis, the second sent by the Kremlin. On March 17, another shipment of 650,000 barrels of one of the best crude oils in the world, valued at 50 million dollars, arrived in Cuba.

However, the Russian “aid” still does not exceed that of Mexico, which in the first two months of the year sent 1,970,000 barrels of its best crudes, the Isthmus and the Olmeca, to compensate for the collapse of Venezuelan shipments.

Caracas’ oil exports reached their highest level since 2020 this March, increased by 32% compared to the previous month, due to the high international demand in the face of the threat of the United States to reactivate the sanctions against Pdvsa. According to Reuters, about 52 ships left Venezuelan ports in March with an average of 884,935 bpd of crude oil and refined products, in addition to 463,000 tons of petroleum derivatives.

The main destinations were, once again, Asia (550,000 bpd), the United States (178,000 bpd) and Europe (77,300 bpd). Pdvsa also assures that it is prepared for “any scenario,” including the return of sanctions.

According to Reuters, the high demand for oil has caused great delays and a “knot” of ships in the country’s ports, which has resulted in several oil tankers having left Venezuelan waters without being able to stock up on crude oil.

For different reasons, also in Cuba, ships are encountering numerous difficulties in unloading the fuel that Havana needs to limit the blackouts. This is the case of the Eco Fleet tanker, which has been off the Havana coast for more than a month with about 260,000 barrels of diesel loaded in Tunis.

The Government has not pronounced on the impasse with the ship, whose arrival had been announced by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, a situation that Piñón describes, at the very least, as “strange,” given the announcement “with great fanfare” of the arrival of the ship by the minister.

It was not until the end of March, with the arrival of the first of the two Russian ships, that the energy situation on the Island began to experience relief. The long blackouts that characterized the first weeks of the year caused popular protests in Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Matanzas.

For this Tuesday, the UNE part predicts a deficit of 295 megawatts in peak hours

The Government, for its part, insists that the Electric Union (UNE) is recovering from a “pothole” with the installation of several photovoltaic parks throughout the country, the maintenance of the main thermoelectric power plants and the arrival of oil to refine. For this Tuesday, the UNE predicts a deficit of 295 megawatts (MW) in peak hours, an impact greater than 274 MW on Monday, but much lower than in previous weeks when the deficit reached 45% of daily demand.

As for the Havana refinery, this newspaper has found that it has been shut down for months. Likewise, 14ymedio verified that yesterday morning, the tanker Alicia, with the Cuban flag, was anchored in front of the Ñico López, and the Ocean Mariner, with a Liberian flag, was leaving the bay in an unknown direction.

According to maritime tracking applications, the NS Concord, Sandino and Prímula oil tankers are also in Matanzas, and they expect the Nordic and the Nicos I.V. in Cienfuegos, and the Fortunato in Moa.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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An Expert Asks for Help From the Private Sector To Serve the Aging Population of Cuba

The population over 60 years of age exceeds 23% in Sancti Spíritus / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 10 April 2024 — Demographic problems can be alleviated through collaboration with private companies, according to the interview that the newspaper Escambray published this Wednesday with Antonio Aja Díaz, director of the Center for Demographic Studies of the University of Havana. The expert states that it is necessary to pay attention to the dynamics of a very aging population, and, for this, resources are needed that the State does not have.

“Non-State forms are within the socialist economy of this country, and they are taxed as an element of our economy; why, then, not think about the repair or construction of a grandparents’ house, a maternal home, a children’s daycare center with the resources provided by the non-State economy?” he asks rhetorically, adding that it is also a matter of “sensitivity” and “intelligence.”

“There is a lot of deficit attached to objective material problems of the economy, and greater actions are needed to try to solve these difficulties. If we work to fix a television, a fan; if we get the water running, provide gas, solar heaters, we are solving a group of problems. This can be done with a State budget but also with a budget that is not from the State economy,” he insists. continue reading

“Non-State forms are within the socialist economy of this country, and they are taxed as a social element of our economy

The specialist, with a doctorate in Science, is concerned about the demographic situation of the Island in general and Sancti Spíritus in particular. The province is third highest in Cuba for its aging population, with 23.3% of its inhabitants over 60 years old, compared to 24.6% in Villa Clara, which is first. Aja Díaz explains why it is important to know in detail the demographic situation, and he highlights the importance, when developing a social economic strategy in the territory, of detecting needs and organizing resources.

Despite this, the population census, which should have been carried out in 2022 – the previous one is from 2012 and is carried out every ten years – has been postponed to the beginning of 2025, due to the lack of resources. After different dates provided, Diego Enrique González Galbán, director of the Center for Population and Development Studies, said that the study was approved for the first quarter of that year. “That’s the official date,” he said.

When the census is finally carried out – whether or not at the scheduled time – it will be possible to see the devastating effect of migration, which in the last two years alone has taken some 400,000 Cubans to the United States, added to which are the thousands who went to Spain, Mexico and other countries as well.

Aja Díaz is conspicuous during the interview with Escambray, which moves away from the scientist’s position to align with the Regime’s discourse, according to which emigration in Cuba “is circular” and people “come and go.” The reality is that the Island’s population has stagnated in the last 30 years, and the forecast is that it will decrease by up to 18% in the next three decades.

“The policy is to encourage many more to return, to work in two societies, in two spheres, without this being a problem, which at another time it was, but today the situation is different. Cuba does not have many alternatives other than looking for that circularity,” insists the expert. He also emphasizes that labor mobility to the private sector is depreciating the State professions that were previously considered more prestigious.

“Today, due to the economic situation of Cuba and the alternatives of the non-State economy, we are seeing a great mobility of professionals from the public spheres to the private; it’s a phenomenon that is happening in the Health sector and in others,” he adds.

“We are seeing a great mobility of professionals from the public spheres to the private; it’s a phenomenon that is happening in the Health sector and in others

Aja Díaz specifies that the prevalence of adolescent pregnancies is a priority problem in Sancti Spíritus, which coexists with a low birth rate on average. “Girls at very young ages of life get pregnant and have children, and the saddest thing is that the families allow it and in some cases promote it.” The expert – who does not take into account that these cases occur more in vulnerable and unstructured families – points out that many organizations could get involved to alleviate this problem, including the Federation of Cuban Women, social workers, doctors and teachers, he says, without mentioning that the shortage of contraceptive methods contributes to the problem.

“You have to look for all possible births, but not at the expense of adolescent fertility (…). We can’t expect that girls stop at such an early age; if it’s on that basis, it’s preferable to keep decreasing,” he says forcefully. According to data from the National Office of Information and Statistics, in 2022 there was an average of 1.14 children per woman from 15 to 54 years old, and 0.79 children per man, but far from analyzing factors of an economic nature, the expert continues to compare Cuba to developed countries.

“Contrary to what one might think, in societies with more economic and social development, fewer births occur. This does not happen in more backward, marginal societies. To the extent that the economy improves, society improves; reproductive behavior decreases because it is socialized, women are dignified, and family planning is much better,” he says, although he admits that it’s not something positive for the Island, especially since emigration also reduces the population.

Cuba’s demographic data are worrying in their economic and social focus. More and more people depend on pensions that are impossible to pay with the decreasing number of workers on the Island. Earlier this year, a government decree came into force that reduces the amount of the highest pensions “in order to mitigate the expenses of the social security budget.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘The Pastry Chef Quit So I Closed the Business’

Deciding not to rely on a hired employee puts limitations on private businesses / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, April 10, 2024 — Regular customers of a privately owned bakery on San Lázaro Street in Central Habana were surprised this week to see the owner of the business both kneading dough and working the counter. “The cook left the country so this is now a one-woman show,” explains the entrepreneur, one of many who have been hit by the exodus affecting Cuba’s private-sector economy.

“This is the third cook I’ve lost since I opened,” says the woman, who owns a shop specializing in breads, desserts and cookies. “He was making money here but, of course, it doesn’t compare… He had signed up for the US humanitarian parole program* last year and they just told him that it had been granted. From the time he found out until the time he left was less than a week. I didn’t have time to look for someone else.”

The employee’s departure has had a very negative impact on the bakery’s profits. “I can no longer take orders for weddings or parties because I can’t keep up. Also, I have had to limit the types of bread that I sell. I’ve lost thousands of pesos in a few days compared to the sales I had in previous months.” continue reading

To avoid unwelcome surprises after training an employee in the ins-and-outs of their operations, many small and medium-sized business owners prefer to rely on their own family members. “Here we have my wife, my two daughters and me,” says Luis Mario, owner of a shop specializing in birthday buffets in Havana’s Cerro district. “I feel more secure because nothing happens from one day to the next without me finding out about it.”

Last year, we hired a courier. If he made ten deliveries a day, it was a lot. One day, I come into work only to find out that he had left [for Nicaragua] on the ’volcano route’”

Last year, we hired a courier. If he made ten deliveries a day, it was a lot. One day, I come into work only to find out that he had left [for Nicaragua] on the ‘volcano route‘,” he says. “I had to make the rest of the home deliveries that week, and I then decided that I wasn’t going to hire anyone else who could leave me in the lurch overnight.”

He notes, however, that his two daughters are awaiting approval of their “humanitarian parole” application from the United States, but that he will find out “well before they get on the plane.” If the two young women do manage to emigrate with their respective husbands and children, he and his wife will join them later. “When that time comes, I will liquidate everything and close up shop. But initially, when my daughters are no longer here, I will have to limit the number of orders I can accept.”

The strongest impacts of this massive flight occur when the émigré fulfills a specialized role: technicians in assembly or repair of equipment, chefs, nurses, pastry chefs, designers and other positions that require training and experience. “The pastry chef and the accountant left me, so right now my business is closed,” laments Yusimí, owner of a cafeteria in Nuevo Vedado, municipality of the Plaza de la Revolución.

“The pastry chef was very good and young, the truth is that it seemed like a miracle that he was still in Cuba and now the miracle is over.” The employee who was in charge of accounting and invoices was a friend of the owner of the establishment since they were teenagers. “I can’t even be annoyed with either of them because I completely understand that they want to prosper out there and achieve their dreams, but I recognize that this has sunk me. I don’t know if I will be able to reopen.”

“Do you plan to leave the country soon?” they asked María Eugenia, 57, when she went to a home in El Vedado for an advertisement to care for a bedridden elderly woman

Among the questions that have been repeated most frequently in job interviews for months is, inevitably, the one that inquires about emigration: “Do you plan to leave the country soon?” María Eugenia, 57, was asked when she went to a home in El Vedado for an advertisement to care for a bedridden elderly woman. “I don’t like to lie, so I told them that my son had started the family reunification process for me to go to the United States,” she explains.

“And then the interview was over,” she concludes. “They were kind, but they told me that they couldn’t hire me because the lady was going to get used to me, she was going to get attached to me and, in the end, I was going to stay a short time.” But María Eugenia believes that this requirement is excessive: “Who right now in Cuba, at the age of being able to work, does not have some plan to leave here?” and she herself answers: “It could be a crazy plan, but you have one.”

“The best team is the one that is made up of only one,” says Fernando, a technician in installation and repair of air conditioning and refrigerators. “I worked for a couple of years with my son but now he is living in Las Vegas, I haven’t wanted to hire any other assistant because this is almost like a marriage, you have to adjust to the other person, synchronize yourself. If they leave you later, you’re lost.” Deciding not to have an employee brings limitations.

Fernando concludes: “There are jobs that I cannot accept or I have to ask the client who hires me for help, but I prefer to go through that and not spend a day taking the tools on my motorcycle, a previous commitment to install air conditioning and an assistant who doesn’t arrive because he’s at the airport waiting to get on a plane.”

Translated by Anonymous and Regina Anavy
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The Ship Carrying Vehicles Purchased by Individuals Comes and Goes Between the United States and Cuba

The Linda D, under the Panamanian flag, brings cars imported from the United States / Vesselfinder

14ymedio, Madrid, 10 April 2024 — The Balsa 88 and the Federal Nagara, two freighters that have spent weeks circling the Island, finally arrived in Havana on Tuesday. Both were part of the group of ships that could not enter the port due to non-payments, according to the first Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, who last Thursday blamed the financial consequences of the US embargo for the delay.

Under the Panamanian flag, according to the ship-monitoring websites, the Balsa 88 carries a load of diammonium phosphate, a type of highly concentrated fertilizer suitable for all types of crops, from Norfolk (Virginia, USA). The ship left that port on March 14 and arrived in Cuba on March 18. From that day until it docked on Sunday, April 7, it made countless turns around the Island, as can be seen in the zigzag line of its route in the last few weeks.

The Balsa 88 had been zigzagging around Cuba until payment was made for it to enter the port. / FalconEye

This is one of three ships coming from the United States that have recently arrived on the Island. It is joined by the Deneb, which, under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, was en route from Wilmington (North Carolina) to Mariel in mid-March, and the Linda D, a very special case. continue reading

This ship, also under a Panamanian flag, constantly enters and leaves Miami for Mariel and is, according to experts, the cargo ship with a landing ramp that brings cars imported from the United States. As of April 1, the Linda D had already made 21 trips on this route, and yesterday, Tuesday, April 9, it again left loaded for Cuba, where its arrival is expected on Thursday the 11th.

According to the most recent data from the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, provided on Monday, April 8, the United States exported $4,983,708 in new vehicles to Cuba in February, in addition to $109,500 in used vehicles and $2,881 in special purpose vehicles. The figure is increasing sharply, since in January the volume of sales in new cars was $3,071,000 and less than $10 million in all of 2023, the year in which this type of export began to be authorized under license from the Department of the Treasury.

Unlike the ships that bring food, fertilizer and fuel to Cuba, the Linda D does not depend on the Cuban Government’s finances, but on those of the individuals who import the vehicles and pay their bills, and that’s why it comes and goes without setback. The Federal Nagara arrived in Havana Bay this Tuesday, under the flag of the Marshall Islands, loaded with 40,000 tons of grain from Argentina. The ship arrived on February 19 and has spent almost twenty days turning in circles in front of the Island, presumably also due to the lack of money to make the payment. Its twin, the Federal Churchill, under the same flag, coming from the port of La Plata, carries another 44,000 tons of grain.

The Balsa 88 comes from Norfolk and has been in front of Havana since March 18, finally entering the port on April 7 / 14ymedio

Since February 25, the Eco Fleet, loaded with 260,000 barrels of diesel purchased from Tunisia, has been turning around the coast of Havana since February 25, without being able to enter, and it’s not the only one that has been in that situation. On March 22, the count went up to nine ships, if the previous ones are joined by the bulk carriers Eco Tide and Hydra Down, in addition to some others that are on hold. The incessant movement of smaller tankers to supply the Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric plant of Felton is also observed in the bay of Nipe (Holguín). On Tuesday, 165,000 tons of fuel were sent on board the Petion, loaded in Venezuela, the Delsa, the Lourdes and the Mariann VV, all of them from Matanzas.

Last Thursday, the authorities addressed the situation of the ration system’s basic family basket in Miguel Díaz-Canel’s new program. On that occasion, they argued that the embargo measures forced them to keep the ships standing in front of the port while waiting to gather the necessary money to make payments that would be much lower under the usual conditions of international trade. “For relocating products that, purchased in the United States, would mean a lower cost, the country has had to pay an additional 19 million dollars in 2023,” said Pérez-Oliva.

American businessmen can sell to Cuba with a license from the Treasury Department as long they are paid in advance and in cash, due to the regime’s debt history, its financial situation and the impossibility of accessing international credits – for the same reasons.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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