14ymedio – Page 2 – Translating Cuba

The Perdomo Brothers, Imprisoned in Cuba for ’11J’ Protests, Receive Their First Pass in More Than Two Years

The brothers Nadir and Jorge Martín Perdomo, with their mother, Marta, in the vehicle in which they left the prison. (X/Betty Guerra)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 September 2023 — The brothers Nadir and Jorge Martín Perdomo, sentenced to six and eight years in prison after the anti-government protests of 11 July 2021 in San José de las Lajas (province of Mayabeque), received a pass this Tuesday after spending 794 days without leaving prison. Activist Betty Guerra Perdomo, cousin of the inmates, reported that they will be released for four days.

Guerra shared a message of support for the brothers on the social network X (Twitter), celebrating their brief release, along with an image of them in a vehicle with their mother, Martha Perdomo. “I don’t know how they can have those clean looks, those noble smiles and that high forehead that only the innocent can wear,” she wrote, assuring that Nadir and Jorge – arrested on July 17 – had gone out to demonstrate out of their “pure and sacred desire for freedom.”

She also alluded to the regime’s “darkness dressed as a homeland,” which she accused of “staining two authentic Cubans.” In addition, she demanded the permanent freedom of both brothers and the other political prisoners on the Island.

In April 2022, Nadir and Jorge’s lawyer, Reynel Brito, filed an appeal of the sentence before the Provincial Court of Mayabeque. After the appeal was dismissed, Brito criticized that the authorities behaved in a “severe” manner and without considering the “adequate records of prior conduct” presented by the defendants. continue reading

After the appeal was dismissed, Brito criticized that the authorities behaved in a “severe” manner

On February 8 of that same year, the brothers had been convicted of “attack, contempt and public disorder,” and sentenced to a number of years in prison that exceeded what the Prosecutor’s Office requested in both cases. For the Perdomo family, the sentence was an “aberration.”

Guerra then told 14ymedio that she considered the trial “a totally absurd, disrespectful and humiliating play… Everything that has happened with my cousins’ case from the beginning is an aberration up to this moment, I don’t want to say that it is the end because I cling to the hope that with strength and struggle we can change it.”

The sentence also highlighted that Jorge and Nadir decided to “circumvent” the health measures imposed by the Ministry of Public Health during the Covid-19 pandemic to join an “agglomeration of people” on 54th Street in San José de las Lajas.

According to the document, many others joined that march “at the call of the accused” and “holding pans, metal objects and the horns of motorcycles created enormous noises, which put the neighbors on alert” beginning the behaviors of “total disrespect,” such as chanting “with euphoria” “prosperous and vulgar” words such as “pinga [dick] police” and “Díaz-Canel singao [motherfucker]”, along with “Homeland and Life,” in addition to making “crude demands to the protective commissioners of the place” and snatching a Cuban flag for a moment from an agent who was participating in a government counter-demonstration.

After the trial, the brothers were held in different prisons: Nadir in Melena del Sur and Jorge in Quivicán

After the trial, the brothers were held in different prisons: Nadir in Melena del Sur and Jorge in Quivicán, each more than 30 kilometers from their home, which affected family visits.

“They separated my children from me telling a lie as huge as that Nadir had asked to be separated from his brother. I am going to complain to the head of the prisons to ask that they be together again because the economic situation is difficult and it is not easy to pay for cars to two different places,” the mother of the young men then denounced.

Since that moment, both Marta Perdomo and the rest of the family have carried out an incessant campaign for the release of her sons.

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‘Seeking Sugar at Any Price’ Says the Post in the Face of Rationing in Santiago De Cuba

In September, in more than 200 Santiago ration stores, four pounds of standard sugar per consumer were delivered instead of three, due to the late arrival of the information. (ACN)

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 September 2023 — Nobody knows where the sugar is in Santiago de Cuba, although if you search on social networks, it appears. The provincial government conveyed to the population on Tuesday a message from the Ministry of Internal Trade trying to call for calm about the rumors that emerged in recent days that predicted the suppression of some products in the monthly family basket — sold through the ration stores — but they achieved the opposite.

The denial reported the delivery of the product and the delay in receiving it, taking the opportunity to remind Cubans that, as is being done throughout the country, the amount of standardized sugar has passed from four to three pounds per person per month. “Well, they eliminated a pound of sugar, don’t say that nothing has been eliminated. And, from what they say, in October they are also going to give three pounds. Until when?” a santiaguero reacted. “Now, less sugar. Don’t they understand that we can’t live on air?” cried another.

Those who were lucky enough to receive four pounds by mistake this month will get one less next month

By that time they still did not know what was going to arrive on Thursday, when the official newspaper of the province, Sierra Maestra, published a brief report with the title “Necessary clarification on the sugar of the standard family basket.” Those who were lucky enough to receive four pounds by mistake this month will have one less next month, announced Juan Carlos Rosell Zarrabeitía, coordinator of the Commerce programs.

“In the current month, in more than 200 ration stores in the Santiago territory, the four pounds of standard sugar were delivered as a result of the late arrival of information to the shops and, in other cases, by mistake of the shopkeepers,” it explains. “Consumers who received the complete product are informed that in October they will receive only two pounds of sugar, taking into account that for September and October it is only possible to give three pounds per consumer,” it says. continue reading

The report, published almost 24 hours ago, has not been disseminated by the local press on their networks, and it is foreseeable that many people from Santiago will not know that they will have to save sugar this month, because in the next one they will receive half as much as usual.

However, the “excess” received this month seems to have gone straight to the black market. One pound already exceeds 180 pesos, an amount that for the area is very high, and on social networks the request for the product now resembles a plea.

“Seeking sugar at any price,” a santiaguero posted early this Friday morning on a Facebook page. The post has almost 50 comments, and there are at least a dozen sellers willing to offer it for prices ranging from 170 to 300 pesos. Others do not even make the price public. “I have a bag at 300,” “I have ten pounds at 170,” “I have 30 pounds, anyone who wants can write to me privately.”

“I buy sugar,” reads a post on another page for buying and selling all kinds of products in Santiago de Cuba. “Me too,” one replies. “I’m also looking for it,” says another. And so on, up to eight of the 18 comments.

The authorities benefit from the “cannibalism” in which Cubans live, who speak of the urgent need to be in a constant state of “every man for himself”

“People like to criticize the Government, and rightly so,” says a santiaguero on another page for exchanges in the province. “But we are not left behind. A pound of sugar is 150 or 180 pesos… What we do to ourselves is abusive,” he regrets. The comment has generated an intense debate among those who consider that the authorities benefit from the “cannibalism” in which Cubans live, who speak of the urgent need to be in a constant state of “every man for himself.”

“Appealing to conscience in extreme situations is a utopia,” one refutes. “The one who kills the cow is guilty,” says the one who started the debate in relation to the Government, “as is the one who ties the legs (…) So are [the people] for enduring. And the one who sells at retail keeps quiet because it’s his time and he takes advantage of it, even if he is aware that it hurts others,” he adds.

The shortage in the market of a product that, in the imagination of the world, is still, along with rum and tobacco, the brand of Cuba, is such that the fight is now over brown sugar, considered on the Island as of worse quality than the white one. “Here in Camarioca I don’t remember the last time that white sugar came,” says a man. “Brown sugar, I’m looking urgently, call me,” announces another.

The forecasts by province point to a another poor sugar harvest, which seems to have no end. In 2022, the target was 911,000 tons, and barely 473,720 were obtained. By 2023, the authorities had scheduled the production of 455,198 tons of sugar, almost as much as what they usually export, but last year they were not able to meet their commitments.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban President Diaz-Canel Suggests Changes in the Law To Authorize Investments by Cuban Americans on the Island

Díaz-Canel “was not prepared to discuss the regulations in detail” during the meeting. (@Miguel Díaz-Canel)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 September 2023 — Miguel Díaz-Canel met this Friday behind closed doors, in New York, with a group of U.S. businessmen, several of them Cuban Americans, to discuss the “new business opportunities” they may have in Cuba, thanks to several economic “transformations” prepared by Havana. Although the president did not offer other details about the exchange, several officials of his delegation informed the participants that the regime values allowing Cuban-Americans to own businesses on the Island.

Several of the attendees at the meeting with Díaz-Canel, at the facilities of Cuba’s diplomatic mission at the United Nations, revealed to El Nuevo Herald that Cuban officials claim to be “contemplating and working on legislation” to facilitate the investments of Cuban Americans and to let them own micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) registered in Cuba.

Present at the meeting, lawyer Ralph Patiño explained to the newspaper that before this happens, Havana must modify numerous laws and open the necessary channels so that foreigners are authorized to directly manage the MSMEs, which are increasingly successful in the business network of the Island.

However, Patiño alleges, it is a complex situation, given the tensions between the Government of Cuba and the United States. Promises of an economic opening always come to nothing, although, he added, for the leadership of the regime “it is the only way to basically maintain their country without something drastic happening.” continue reading

Given the tensions between the Government of Cuba and the United States, promises of an economic opening always come to nothing

In addition, Díaz-Canel “was not prepared to discuss the regulations in detail,” John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, told the newspaper. He was informed about the meeting, which he did not personally attend.

Kavulich considers that it was a “lost opportunity to make progress,” since the businessmen focused on the “repetition of complaints” about the obstacles imposed by both the regime and the U.S. Government, instead of “discussing in detail how to get more out of what they actually authorize.”

If they come to fruition, the new measures will be good news for Cuban-American businessmen who negotiate with the regime, several of them present at the exchange, such as Hugo Cancio, owner of the online store Katapulk and the digital newspaper OnCuba; Carlos Saladrigas, president of the Cuba Study Group; Mike Fernández, healthcare entrepreneur; Ariel Pereda, president of the Habana Group, which legally advises those who want to do business with the Island; and Patiño himself, who supported the thaw during the Barack Obama Administration.

The meeting with Díaz-Canel was also attended by members of the Western Union and Crowley companies, representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and businessman Paul Johnson, president of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition.

El Nuevo Herald also reported that about 50 owners of MSMEs on the Island are expected to travel to Miami next week, to study business opportunities. No other details are known.

Joe Biden’s government is expected to soon announce a lifting of restrictions to help Cuban MSMEs

Joe Biden’s government is expected to soon announce a lifting of restrictions to help Cuban MSMEs, according to knowledgeable sources for several American media. They also indicated that these are “specific guidelines” so that U.S. financiers can grant loans to independent companies within the Island.

The new measures will include the opening of bank accounts in U.S. institutions by residents of Cuba, something prohibited until now. In addition, the prohibitions imposed by the Donald Trump Administration on transactions with third countries to send remittances to the Island will allegedly be overturned.

The possibility has raised a heated controversy among organizations opposed to the Havana regime. Washington is not going in the “right direction” in its economic strategies with Havana, the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba said on Wednesday. “Both the credits themselves and the possible opening of bank accounts in the United States are limited and would reach only a select group of people around the layers of power,” they said in a statement.

For its part, the organization Cuba Siglo 21 said that following the game of the regime, “or, even worse, supporting them financially, will only prolong the agony of the Cuban people.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Resistance, the Cuban Way

Exile leaders and former Cuban political prisoners during a press conference in Miami, on February 15, 2023. (EFE)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 23 September 2023 — The everlasting will of the Cuban exiles to overthrow totalitarianism is as proverbial as the solidarity shown by those same exiles with their relatives on the Island, despite the intense propaganda deployed by the Castro authorities and, in particular, by the Cuban Government’s fellow travelers residing abroad, who try to show that the opposition, in order to end the dictatorship, is willing to sink the country where they were born.

The Cuban exile has shown a very unique perseverance and dedication for his country. Just as inside Cuba there has never been a lack of freedom fighters, abroad there have also been men and women ready to take the risks required to participate in the return of citizens’ rights to the Island.

The darkest decades of the opposition in Cuba, I dare to say, was in the period from 1960 to 1980, illuminated by the resistance of political prisoners and the creation of the Comité Cubano Pro-Derechos Humanos [Cuban Committee for Human Rights], inspired by Ricardo Bofill.

It was also one of the periods in which the banishment was most active, as shown by the constitution, among others, of the Cuban Patriotic Junta, by Manuel Enrique de Varona, and the Cuban American National Foundation, by Jorge Mas Canosa, as well as by the constitution of Independent and Democratic Cuba, led by Commander Huber Matos and many other former political prisoners like Ángel de Fana and Reinaldo Aquit Manrique, whom prison hardened in their already firm convictions.

Signs of that tenacity and drive are not often found in History. I affirm that the opponents abroad are vibrant and as committed to overthrowing the dictatorship as they were when this struggle began more than 60 years ago.

“I affirm that the opponents abroad are vibrant and as committed to overthrowing the dictatorship as they were when this fight began more than 60 years ago”

This gives cause for us to feel proud, because the evidence of that resistance and dedication to a more-than-just cause exists in the young and old, as shown by the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, founded in 2009. In my opinion, because of the efficient work it does, under the coordination of Orlando Gutiérrez, it has managed to motivate not only Cubans, but also numerous politicians from different countries who work hard to bring democracy to Castro’s hell.

It’s important to note that the commitment is still present in those who left Cuba to study in the so-called socialist countries, as shown by the intense activity they carry out in Europe against totalitarianism. There are groups such as Miscellaneous of Cuba, Cuban Observatory of Human Rights and Prisoners Defenders, in addition to personalities such as Zoé Valdés and Alejandro González Raga.

These former students are among the most tenacious and active enemies of the regime. There are groups in Europe that develop an intense activity in favor of democracy in Cuba, also in other regions of Latin America such as Puerto Rico, where there is a personality like Gerardo Morera, 88 years old, who does not stop promoting the fight for democracy in Cuba, while working intensively to preserve our traditions, supporting and managing the patriotic Casa Cuba de San Juan.

Of course, there are several states in the U.S. where the main foci of resistance are located, with South Florida, particularly Miami-Dade County, being the vital nucleus for most Cuban organizations. They use different strategies to fight Castroism. Some, such as Alpha 66, directed by Ernesto Rodríguez, have been doing so for more than six decades.

Those of us who are already approaching eight decades of life, or the 90s, such as Roberto Perdomo – 28 years in prison in Cuba, 23 of them in underpants for rejecting the common prisoner’s uniform – must be very proud, because young people born in the United States, such as Daniel Pedreira, have made a firm commitment to everything that has to do with democracy in Cuba. Others, such as the aforementioned Orlando Gutiérrez, who left Cuba before adolescence, are examples of dedication and sacrifice as were their elders, who were executed or served decades in Castro prisons.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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August Rumors: Banking Rules Killing Small Businesses plus Mariela Castro, a Porsche and Crooked Cops

El Biky, located at 412 Infanta Street, between San Lazaro and Concordia, is part of a high-end chain of restaurants. (14ymedio)

14ymedio/Yucabyte, Havana, September 22, 2023 — What’s driving the Cuban government to adopt new banking measures in the midst of a nationwide cash shortage? Which restaurants in Havana are being secretly managed by the children and grandchildren of senior Armed Forces’s officials? What event will get so out of control that the island’s frustrated inhabitants will take to the streets in a new wave a protests? 14ymedio and Yucabyte took a look at the rumors making the rounds on social media in August. While they do not answer these questions, they do attest to how some Cubans interpret the country’s current situation and how they visualize its future.

Most of the rumors about new monetary regulations announced in early March — what the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) is calling bancarización — center on the suspicion that the measures are not just about taming short-term inflation. There is fear that the real intention is to allow officials to keep closer tabs on small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs). There is also the assumption that the reason these businesses are being required to pay their employees electronically is to stoke worker discontent and hinder their expansion.

There have also been rumors that several MSMEs have had to close due to the havoc caused by the new banking requirements. Several commenters claim that those that have managed to survive bancarización are now being monitored more closely than ever by the government.

The informal market has been severely impacted by the currency shortage which, according to rumors, has led to the emergence of a new service provider: the cash broker.

Cubans have spent the last several weeks in vain, lining up at ATMs. Dozens of commenters on social media complain the machines have no cash. One of them reported that this has led officials of several Havana boroughs such as Mariano to simply declare them out of service. continue reading

The informal market has been severely impacted by the currency shortage which, according to rumors, has led to the emergence of a new service provider — the cash broker — who makes money by charging a commission, generally 10% to 12% of the face value of peso banknotes. A statement by BCC vice-president Alberto Quiñones describing this activity as “illegal conduct” confirmed the existence of a market in which virtual money is exchanged for banknotes.

A few days later, official media outlets made an announcement that confirmed another widespread rumor, that the nation’s gasoline stations would no longer be accepting cash payments. This quickly led to other rumors such as the one that the electric utility company, Unión Eléctrica, would start charging its customers electronically.

The level of discontent on the island over economic instability and inflation is so high that, according to some on social media, it is even impacting certain segments of the Communist Party, the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry. Some senior government officials, especially those involved in the management of government-run MSMEs, are unhappy with the new banking regulations due to the obstacles they present for their businesses.

Comments have also been made on social media about connections between the children and grandchildren of senior government leaders and the sight of of high-end cars on the streets of Havana.

Another spate of rumors has focused on the network of restaurants, bars and companies that the descendants of Cuba’s “old guard” now control. Some of those posting on social medio point out that El Biky — a restaurant rumored to be owned by the former president’s daughter, Mariela Castro — seems to have no problem importing products that it later sells.

The most persuasive evidence, they say, is the wide menu selection and the fact that the names of the restaurant’s four partners remain unknown, as 14ymedio has reported. This newspaper also noted that El Biky opened a new location a few weeks ago at the José Martí International Airport.

Comments have also been made on social media about connections between the children and grandchildren of senior government leaders and the sight of of high-end cars on the streets of Havana. Several commenters have shared photos of a Porsche with a Texas license plate parked along Havana’s seaside boulevard, the Malecón.

In contrast to all the focus on luxury, other rumors about police refusing to confront the wave of crime plaguing the island are becoming ever more common on social media. Some commenters have pointed out that police officers themselves have formed a network to stop vehicles at checkpoints in Havana and confiscate, without any legal basis for doing so, food that citizens are trying to transport from one province to another.

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Will Cuban President Diaz-Canel Pray in New York?

The event, approved by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who visited Cuba in 2020, is by invitation only and will be covered by the ’National Catholic Register’. (Revolution Studies)

14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, September 23, 2023 — President Miguel Díaz-Canel, after giving a speech before the United Nations General Assembly this week, will be at a celebration event this Saturday from five to six in the afternoon at the Church of the Transfiguration, located at 25 Mott Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York.

The theme of the event is the life of the Cuban patriot and priest Félix Varela.

The event, approved by Cardinal Timothy Dolan himself, is by invitation only and will be covered by the National Catholic Register, a major religious publication.

When the news leaked, Cuban exiles protested to the US authorities, pointing out the serious limitations on religious freedom perpetrated by the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party. This office is in charge of supervising everything that has to do with the operations of the Church, from permits for processions to the purchase of materials to repair buildings, and passports for priests who wish to travel abroad.

Other Cuban exiles addressed Cardinal Dolan asking him to pray for the Cuban people, for peace and justice on the Island

Last year Cuban Cardinal Juan García tried to visit some dissidents in Central Havana but was intercepted by the police. Las Damas de Blanco [Ladies in White] who attempted to attend Sunday mass in the Cuban capital have frequently been beaten and detained. continue reading

In the midst of the 2021 protests, President Díaz-Canel declared that dissidents would have to “walk over our corpses,” and gave the order on television for Communist Party mobs to take to the streets to beat peaceful protesters.

Some twenty priests distributed a video in which, one after another, after identifying themselves and giving the name of their parish, they repeated a message: “Cuban, do not raise your hand against your brother.”

In addition, other Cuban exiles addressed Cardinal Dolan asking him to pray for the Cuban people, for peace and justice on the Island. In the letter that was released in New York a few hours ago they also asked him to ask Díaz- Canel to stop the harassment of priests, to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter Cuban prisons and the release of all political prisoners on the Island.

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Abandoned for Decades, a Cuban Sugar Mill Will Be Converted Into a ‘Tourist Complex’

Ruins of the Carolina mill, founded in 1835 by the American William Hood Clemens. (5 de September)

14ymedio, Havana, 22 September 2023 — The Cuban authorities, who have witnessed the failure of one sugar harvest after another in recent years, have been convinced that the sugar mills in Cuba are more profitable being in ruins. This Friday, the official press announced that the Carolina mill, once the largest sugar mills in Cienfuegos and abandoned for decades, will be converted into a tourist complex.

According to the newspaper 5 de septiembre, several researchers from the University of Cienfuegos and the state company Tecnoazúcar created the Carolina project: Sugar, Tradition and Culture, an initiative that aims to turn the old factory and its neighboring communities into a “tourist and heritage destination,” in addition to “enriching the city tourism” of Cienfuegos. However, those who promote it have not said a word about a fundamental question: Where will the money come from to finance the plan?

For months, both institutions have been collaborating in the evaluation of the area and its development opportunities. Expectations are high: the construction of a heritage interpretation center, a “ranch-style-cafeteria” with a varied menu that includes gastronomic versions of the “dishes that the blacks prepared in the barracks,” walking and horseback riding trails, and the enabling of a boat route along the Damují River, “where the honey produced in that industry traveled.”

According to the academic, the population of Carolina “requires the intervention of the Government”

Norcaby Pérez, professor in the Department of History of the Cienfuegos University and part of the project team, explained to the press that the diagnostic stage is currently being completed. “We have made visits for the recognition of the values that exist on the site, and we need to return again to interview the neighbors of the community,” he said. continue reading

According to the academic, the population of Carolina “requires the intervention of the Government, especially in the barracks that still maintain the fortress, in order to improve people’s living conditions.” Until now, no government institution had been interested in giving life to the town of Cienfuegos, but with the proposals of the authorities to increase tourism, officials expect state funds to appear easily.

The situation of the Carolina “colossus,” founded in 1835 by the American William Hood Clemens to take advantage of the sugar glory of the Island during that century, was practically unknown in the province for its sugar-mill heritage until the project emerged.

Now, the authorities, who noticed the architectural and historical potential of the mill, intend to take advantage of even the remotest ruin to attract foreigners, but the residents of the area have viewed the government’s offer with suspicion.

Old colonial house belonging to the owners of the Carolina. (5 de Septembre)

“Today in Carolina, there are the remains of the period’s constructions and the machinery. Although not everything can be saved, the purpose is to rescue as many objects as possible and preserve them. We know that some things, even the belongings of the mill’s founder, are in the hands of the inhabitants of the settlement, who allege that they will only deliver them when they see a concrete transformation of the place where they live,” Pérez explained.

The conversion of abandoned sugar mills into tourist landscapes has been a common practice since the 1990s, when the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of its subsidies to Cuba led Cuba into a serious financial crisis, forcing the Island to close more than a hundred of the 176 active sugar mills. Since then, the debacle has worsened every year. During the 2023 spring harvest, barely 22 sugar mills joined the grinding.

The Patria sugar mill, located several miles from Morón (Ciego de Ávila), is another mill that was converted to attract tourists, who now enjoy “tradition and peasant gastronomy,” as well as a ride on a “train of the time.” The Valley of the Sugar Mills in Trinidad, where the large colonial mansions are still preserved, has suffered the same fate, as has the Hershey plant in Mayabeque, founded in 1916 by Milton S. Hershey, creator of the famous chocolate brand of the same name.

The American tycoon, who set out to exploit the sugar industry in Cuba with the purpose of growing his chocolate business, built one of the largest sugar planting and production complexes on the Island, going so far as to build a “city” for its workers with a social club, a cinema and a baseball stadium. The businessman also introduced in Cuba the first electric train with which he moved his sugar to the ports of Matanzas and Havana, and from there to Pennsylvania, where the famous chocolate factory was located. To this day, the vehicle is still the only electrically operated vehicle that exists on the Cuban railroads.

In addition to the sugar mills, other Cuban industries, once the most successful on the Island, have suffered a tourist metamorphosis. This is the case of the historic Angerona coffee plantation (province of Artemisa), which was the largest in Cuba, having an endowment of up to 450 slaves and 750,000 coffee plants.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Facing the Dragones Police Station Is a Nest of Thugs in the Ruins of Zulueta 505

The destruction of the Zulueta 505 building is slow but still dramatic. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Nelson García/Juan Izquierdo, Havana, September 21, 2023 — Due to the magnitude of the damage and the lack of effort of the authorities to mitigate it, many buildings in Havana agree with Carpentier.* The “city of the columns” is barely left, with structures in ruin, paint chipped by moisture and vines invading arches and pillars.

Such is the case of the old Vía Blanca hotel, located at 505 Zulueta Street, between Monte and Dragones, whose decadence the passers-by compare with that of a “haunted mansion” near which no one dares to walk anymore. In the postcards of the 1950s, however, the building was described as a residential gem with “large and ventilated rooms.”

The destruction of the Zulueta 505 building is slow but still dramatic. The Government has been promising for years a repair of which, today, there is only one sign: the gigantic scaffolding that underpins the facade and on which climbing plants and rust have been growing for a long time.

The Government has been promising for years a repair of which, today, there is only one sign: the gigantic scaffolding that underpins the facade

In 2020, the nine families who lived in the building, several of them with children, were relocated under the pretext of restoring it. “Until that moment they lived at risk of being buried by a collapse,” recalls Rogelio, a 71-year-old retiree who lives in the neighboring building.

In conversation with this newspaper, Rogelio describes the long ordeal of the neighbors since, in 1995, they received the notification that they would be transferred to better houses in zone 11 of Alamar-Habana del Este. He pointed to the Office of the Historian, whose director, Eusebio Leal, began to earn the trust of Fidel Castro and to get streams of foreign capital, indispensable after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The building during the 1950s, when it was occupied by the Vía Blanca hotel, on an old postcard. (Facebook)

“It was all a lie,” concludes the old man, who is amused that the policemen of the well-known Dragones station – located in front of the building – have to dodge the scaffolding and constantly look up, in case some “loose” stone is about to fall, by chance, near them. continue reading

Not infrequently, Rogelio recalls, the neighbors tried to go to the police unit for the help of those same agents, who ignored them. On the other hand, the station does not lack paint or maintenance. In fact, the Ministry of the Interior is building a fence around the neoclassical building, with its windows covered by powerful bars, behind which the Capitol stands out.

“Nor do they like to park their cars nearby, in case a collapse occurs,” he notes, pointing to the row of police vehicles”

“Nor do they like to park their cars nearby, in case a collapse occurs,” he notes, pointing to the row of police vehicles.

Nature and the Government’s laziness are not the only things that have wreaked havoc on Zulueta 505. Drunks, beggars and other nocturnal “guests” resort to the arcades to “do their deeds,” according to Rogelio’s euphemism. What used to be “ghostly,” he adds, is now barely sordid: garbage and debris complete the picture.

Despite its proximity to the police station, the building has also served as a kind of sanctuary for all kinds of thugs. In the darkness on Zulueta Street, those who seize a wallet or a cell phone with a knife have the ideal shelter behind the arcades and the barrier of scaffolding. “No one is going to risk going in there to look for the thief,” Rogelio says.

Police station on Dragones Street, Central Havana. (14ymedio)

Xiomara, a 45-year-old housewife, has spent most of her life contemplating the desolation of the corner of Zulueta and Dragones. For her, the only “solution” is collapse, helped by rain or a windstorm. The authorities have proven to be useless, and the only measure they have taken is to place some scrawny yellow tape on the scaffolding. Only those who approach closely can read it: “Danger of total collapse.” Xiomara doesn’t need the warning. A few days ago, when she came back from the line for buying chicken, a fragment of the wall of Zulueta 505 almost struck her.

Several decades of broken promises have cured her of fear. Now she only expects a “foreign firm” to buy the land “with ruins and everything.” “If that happens, they will not return the building to the families who lost it,” says Xiomara. “They will most likely build another hotel.”

*Translator’s note: Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban writer, called Havana “the city of columns.”

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Mexico Will Give 6,960 Appointments for Visas for Cubans Starting Next Monday

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico announces more consular appointments in Havana, thousands of Cubans are stranded in Tapachula (Mexico). (Capture/Border Portal)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 September 2023 — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico will assign 6,960 appointments for Cubans to process their visas at the Mexican consulate in Havana from this coming September 25. This process will be based on “user registration order, privileging family reunification, work and study visas,” according to a statement.

The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs clarified that people who already have a user in the Citas Cuba system “will not need to create a new account or perform additional steps.” In the month of December, appointments will be scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.

The Mexican agency specified that this online system “automatically assigns appointments to previously registered people in chronological order and until the availability is exhausted.”

Cubans waiting to be served at the Migration offices in Tapachula. (Border Portal video capture)

The platform, however, has provoked complaints from users about the slowness of the process. In April of last year, several Cubans spent hours in front of the computer without being able to obtain one of the 16,000 appointments that were delivered at the time. To this was added the annoyance of the drop in internet browsing speed. continue reading

The Mexican Foreign Ministry reiterated that “the appointments are free, personal and non-transferable,” in addition to the fact that any “suspicious” appointment will be canceled, and the user will be “blocked.” Therefore, it recommended avoiding sharing personal data with third parties who offer to schedule appointments on another person’s behalf. If the process is detected, “the appointment will be canceled without prior notice.”

Those who are not registered users in the Citas Cuba system must access the website through this link and enter their biographical data, the procedure they require and wait for an appointment to be assigned.

The announcement of appointment allocations coincides with a new saturation of migrants on the southern border of Mexico. In Tapachula, Cubans have complained that those who have a confirmed CBP One appointment are being denied a flight permit, despite the fact that the National Institute of Migration (INM) authorized it last March.

These same Cubans were waiting for an appointment in the offices of the Mexican Refugee Aid Commission and were deceived by an alleged official, who informed them that the INM will issue them a Multiple Migration Form “so that you can move around the interior of the country.” The Cubans then went to Migration headquarters and were told that it was not delivering any documents.

There are at least 20,000 Cubans stranded in Tapachula. (Border Portal video capture)

In Tapachula, about 20,000 Cubans are stranded waiting for a document that allows them free passage to reach the border with the United States.

On the other hand, the U.S. border city of Eagle Pass (Texas) declared a state of emergency after thousands of migrants crossed through the Mexican state of Coahuila on Wednesday. “The declaration of emergency gives us the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of undocumented migrants,” said Mayor Rolando Salinas.

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) scheduled a vehicle closure at 6 p.m. on Eagle Pass Bridge 1 with Mexico. The CBP also has suspended cargo processing at the port of entry of the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) in El Paso (Texas) since last Monday, which is usually open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The temporary suspension was also ordered to send the agents to help the Border Patrol of the El Paso sector to process the migrants.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Due to Mismanagement of a Factory, the Producing Provinces in East Cuba Are Left Without Coffee

Torrefactora Reynerio Almaguer Paz, in Hoguín. (Casa Dranguet)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 September 2023 — It’s been more than four months since the roaster Reynerio Almaguer Paz, from Holguín, produced coffee. According to the explanations that its directors offered to the official press, the last time the factory ground coffee, during July and early August, was thanks to the fact that the producers agreed to sell the State the share that corresponded to their “self-consumption.”

The provincial newspaper ¡Ahora! also revealed that the situation, which has continued since May, not only affects the population of Holguín, but also that of Granma and Las Tunas, and it will not be alleviated until the end of the year.

“From the month of November, the raw material starts being delivered, after the [grain] collection stage. In that month you must restart the production and the subsequent distribution of coffee. Other alternatives are being studied to contribute to the gradual solution of the current limitation, but November is the date we now have,” the director of the roasting plant, Rider Sánchez, told the media.

Last July, Reynerio Almaguer packed 30,000 half-pound coffee sachets from the Isla Grande brand

Last July, when the factory processed the raw material bought from producers, Reynerio Almaguer packaged 30,000 half-pound coffee packs from the Isla Grande brand. But, instead of taking advantage of the surplus to alleviate the delay in the standard sale, the roaster decided to sell them at the agricultural fairs that are held in the province on weekends for a “differentiated” cost of 100 pesos, when the ’basic basket’ price, through the ration stores, for the same package is 11 pesos. continue reading

The pretext for not selling it “on the ration book,” Sánchez explains, was that the coffee produced was not enough to meet demand. “Our initial idea was to market it to the ration stores, like so many other goods that arrive by that route, but the amount we could access did not supply even half of the municipality of Holguín, so it was decided to sell it at fairs,” he said.

However, the shortage of the product among the population is so drastic that the director of the industry says that, during the days they marketed the coffee, they managed to dispatch between 4,000 and 5,000 bags per week.

Another cause of the production debacle, the official admitted, is the bureaucracy that is established within the industry itself. “I can clarify that the result of the harvest does not reach us directly, since it is intended for the coffee processors Asdrúbal López, from Guantánamo, and Rolando Ayud, from Contramaestre, in Santiago de Cuba, who are our suppliers,” he explains, adding that through importation – another channel for the raw material – they have not received anything so far this year.

To avoid stopping the industry and sending the workers home, the roaster has resorted to “alternative productions”

To avoid stopping the industry and sending the workers home, the roaster has resorted to “alternative productions,” although so far the efforts are not profitable. “We promote the search for agricultural products, such as corn, peanuts and rice, to make derivatives of them. We continue to evaluate these possibilities due to the high cost of acquiring [raw material],” says Sánchez.

The industry also tried to enter the market of pre-prepared food and to promote self-consumption farms. Both routes have been “valued” without major results. However, the manager assures, an attempt is being made at all costs to maintain service to the population.

The lack of coffee is not exclusive to the eastern provinces. In several neighborhoods of Havana, at the other end of the Island, people have not received coffee since May, when it last arrived at the ration stores, according to 14ymedio. The situation contrasts with the regime’s import figures for the month of July, when the country dedicated almost two and a half million dollars to buying coffee from the United States.

On the other hand, the Italian association Filorosso, which recently financed the shipment of ambulances to Santiago de Cuba, collects for its “donations” to the Island in kind. On its website, the organization offers at least a dozen Cuban products, including various foods such as chocolate, rum and coffee, all of which are impossible to get in Cuba except at prohibitive prices.

One kilogram [2.2 pounds] of coffee beans from the Frente Oriental brand – which is produced in Santiago but not marketed on the Island – is sold on the Italian website for 15 euros, while a 8.8-ounce package of that product, ground, costs 4.50.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Loses a Possible Pan-American Medal in Wrestling After the Escape of an Athlete in France

Coach Filiberto Delgado included Hangelen Llanes in the team of 11 athletes training in France. (Video capture/Jit)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 September 2023 — Last Monday night Cuban sports suffered another defeat. The wrestler Hangelen Llanes, gold medalist in the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games, in the 150 pound category, escaped in France. The habanera, according to coach Daniel Gómez, left the team in Paris before traveling to Serbia. “Welcome to freedom,” Gómez wrote in a post on Facebook.

Llanes was included, along with Laura Herin, by coach Filiberto Delgado, in the team of 11 athletes who were based at a training camp in France. The intention was for them to continue their training for the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, which will take place between October 20 and November 5.

The coach’s goal, as he told the official radio station Radio Rebelde, was that the athletes could “have a good rest and an excellent diet, in addition to training with European wrestlers.” In the team that will travel to Santiago are Ángela Álvarez, who won gold at the University Festival in Russia, and María Fernanda Santana. Both train at the Cerro Pelado Higher School of Training of High Performance Athletes, in Boyeros.

The escape of Llanes, who last year was distinguished as one of the most outstanding athletes in the discipline, leaves Cuba without the possibility of a medal in the 150-pound category in the Pan American. continue reading

The escape of Hangelen Llanes joins the more recent escapes by wrestlers Yoannia Pérez and Liliana Duane, who in March of this year took advantage of a stopover in Mexico to leave the island’s delegation

At the moment, Filiberto Delgado has no other athlete who can fill this space. Hangelen Llanes had been reaping triumphs since 2022. In May of that year, she won the silver medal in the Pan American Wrestling Championship, which was held in Acapulco (Mexico), after falling in the final against the Venezuelan Soleymi Antonieta Caraballo.

At that event, between May 3 and 7, Ismael Borrero, Leonardo Herrera and Amanda Hernández escaped. The first one who to escape was Borrero, on the same day they arrived in Mexico. He was followed by Leonardo Herrera, the athlete who had been chosen to replace the Olympic champion Luis Orta. Amanda Hernández was the last to escape.

On that occasion, Hangelen Llanes returned to the Island. Seven months later, in December 2022, she won the gold medal in the contest held in the Parque del Este of the Dominican Republic. This was repeated in San Salvador 2023.

Llanes also attended the Pan American Wrestling Championship held in Argentina last May, where she won the bronze medal.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Indications Are the New Banking Reform Measures Are Failing but Cuban Officials Still See Them as Necessary

A Banco Metropolitano branch ATM on the corner of Belascoaín and Zanja streets in Central Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 20 September 2023 — It has been a month and a half since a series of measures referred to as bancarización took effect and opinion on the street remains unchanged. This government effort is intended to encourage businesspeople and consumers to use electronic payment options rather than cash. “I don’t understand how it works. For small purchases, it doesn’t make sense” says Luis, a retiree. He was one of several Havana residents interviewed for an article published on Wednesday by Cubadebate, a state-run news website which sampled public opinion on the issue. The responses suggest officials have a long way to go in selling the public on this new way of doing business.

“The Cuban economy does not currently have all the cash resources it needs to operate or to meet public demand,” the article concludes. “One of the the expected benefits of bancarización, therefore, is a gradual decrease in the amount of cash in circulation, which is very expensive to print, transport and handle.”

This is the goal but it has run up against reality in way that even many government supporters had warned would be an issue. Cuba’s private sector operates on a cash basis as the article acknowledges. “I currently spend around 50,000 pesos on soft drinks but my supplier doesn’t take electronic payments. It’s a big hassle for him to withdraw the money in cash and exchange it for the hard currency he needs,” explains Raul León, the manager of a Havana cafe. He himself has no problem billing customers electronically but he cannot replenish his stock of supplies without banknotes. continue reading

Business owners who rely on imports must buy foreign currency on the black market due to the few options available to acquire it legally

The article also acknowledges that business owners who rely on imports must buy foreign currency on the black market “due to the few options available to acquire it legally.” Additionally, businesses are not allowed to withdraw more than 5,000 pesos from their bank accounts at a time. It’s a bit like a dog chasing its tail. There is a nationwide cash shortage so business owners are reluctant to deposit their cash in banks because they need it to buy dollars, which then further decreases the amount of cash in circulation.

Cubadebate looked at individual cases that put a human face to the public’s resistance to the new banking measures. There is Luis, the retiree quoted at the beginning of the article, who gets up early and goes to several ATMs in search of his 1,500-peso pension and who needs someone’s help to make a withdrawal. There’s Gladys, who spent two days waiting in line to get the money she needed to pay for a refrigerator on the informal market because the ATMs did not have enough cash. And Carlos, who lost an afternoon of work due to problems withdrawing money from an ATM that kept breaking down as soon as it was fixed.

According to officials, 70% of domestic retail businesses already use electronic payment systems, but not all them. Cubadebate visited a neighborhood grocery in Playa, a suburb of Havana, where customers can only pay with cash. Meanwhile, a supermarket in Cubanacán has been offering an electronic payment option for some time now.

“Most of our customers are older adults. Many of them don’t have a cell phone or don’t feel comfortable paying for things electronically because they’ve always used cash. We’ve told them about the advantages of using a QR code, such as the 6% discount. They would save some money and we wouldn’t have to take so much cash to the bank. But, unfortunately, most of them aren’t interested,” explains the manager.

He also points out that the Ministry of Trade now requires that four or five electronic transactions be executed each day. In all their public appearances, officials have taken pains to emphasize that, though businesses had to provide and promote electronic payment options, customers were free to use them or not. “I’m not happy that they want to question me about something that is beyond my control,” he protests.

Customers will be required to pay by card at gas stations beginning in late October but 100% of those interviewed by Cubadebate said they still planned to pay with cash

Beginning in late October, customers at gas stations will be required to pay by card but that will be difficult to pull off. Cubadebate visited a station in Playa where 100% of the customers it interviewed said they still planned to pay with cash.

Cubadebate seems surprised by a problem that was widely foreseen by both the independent press and the public-at-large: the lack of connectivity that prevents transactions from being completed at point-of-sale terminals. To illustrate this, it cited the comments of one of it own readers who had purchased a phone with a card. Though the amount was deducted from his bank account, the saleswoman insisted he pay with cash because the transaction had not gone through.

Cubadebate insists that, even with all the problems — most have occured in Havana, the most technologically advanced province in the country — electronic payment systerms are needed to alleviate the nation’s cash shortage and shrink the black market. Furthermore, it argues that society is already moving in this direction and that the digital transformation of the economy will ultimately happen one way or another.

Raúl León, the cafe owner who could use more cash to run his business properly, sums up the private sector’s situation well. “It is a convenient and effective solution for those who can adapt to the technological changes that it requires,” he says but adds that it does not address one of the main issues for people like him: paying suppliers. A serious problem in a country where the state lacks the resources to do something as basic as feed its population.

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The Video of the Documentary About ‘Patria y Vida’ Is Nominated for the Latin Grammy 2023

Beatriz Luengo, from Spain, directs the documentary, in addition to being co-author of the song. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Seville, 19 September 2023 — The documentary Patria y Vida: The Power of Music, which narrates the vicissitudes of the song Patria y Vida, banned in Cuba and winner of two Latin Grammys, is nominated for these awards this year in the Best Long Video category.

“At a time when art and social justice intertwine their voices, Patria y Vida [Homeland and Life]: The Power of Music resonates strongly, receiving its well-deserved nomination in awards that for the first time will be delivered in Seville (Spain) next November, says the public relations company on Tuesday.

Directed by the Spanish singer, songwriter and actress Beatriz Luengo, the documentary stages not only the protagonists of the song, but also “submerges the viewer in a visual narrative that pays tribute to iconic figures such as Celia Cruz, with the special participation of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Camila Cabello,” the statement details.

The documentary premiered last March during the Miami Film Festival 2023 and narrates “the experiences, fears, injustices and victories” of a song that was the anthem of the peaceful protests of July 11, 2021. continue reading

The song, performed by Romero, the duo Gente de Zona (Alexander Delgado and Randy Malcom), Descemer Bueno and the rappers El Funky and Osorbo, the latter a prisoner in Cuba, won the Latin Grammys for song of the year and best urban song in 2021.

The documentary “reinforces the song’s legacy, demonstrating how a melody becomes a movement, a cry for freedom, and now, a story worthy of being told on the big screen,” the statement adds.

With more than 450 million views on TikTok and acclaimed by American media as “the sound of freedom,” this documentary is positioned as “an essential representation of how art has the power to change realities and narrate stories that must be heard.”

Meanwhile, the Colombians Camilo, Karol G and Shakira, with seven nominations each, are the artists with the most award options in the Latin Grammy 2023, concurrently with great favorites, such as the Argentine Bizarrap, with six, or the Spanish Pablo Alborán, with five.

There are also five candidacies accumulated by the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, the Argentine María Becerra, the Colombian Feid and the Mexican Natalia Lafourcade, as revealed on Tuesday by the Latin Recording Academy in a broadcast from Seville (Spain), which this year also hosts its great gala on November 16.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Former Cuban Diplomat Among the Protesters Against President Diaz-Canel’s Visit to New York

Joel Suárez Orozco, interviewed by Mario Vallejo this Tuesday in New York. (Capture/Facebook)

14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2023 — Joel Suárez Orozco worked throughout 2020 in the Cuban United Nations mission, located on the third floor of its headquarters, south of Manhattan (New York). This Tuesday, the young Cuban diplomat was at the door of the same place, but this time to protest against the regime coinciding with the visit of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to participate in the General Assembly.

“While you are in Cuba you can’t know what freedom is, and this country (USA) gave me that, it gave me the possibility to look over the wall and say: ’They have lied to me all my life,’” Suárez told journalist Mario Vallejo, who was there to cover the demonstrations called by Cuban exiles in front of UN headquarters.

The diplomat explains in a 10-minute interview how he ended up serving as third secretary in the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations after graduating from the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana. Suárez specialized in the area of environment and climate change, which led him to get a scholarship at the UN from the Alliance of Small Island Developing States.

“I was lucky that my job was on climate change and sustainable development, and I never had to talk about human rights”

Thus, the Cuban delegation included him in its mission, so that he continue reading

combined his studies with employment. “I was lucky that my work was on climate change and sustainable development, and I never had to talk about human rights,” he explains, although he acknowledges having “a guilty conscience” for having represented the regime.

Things went sideways later. Suárez, according to him, had opportunities to go to different universities in Europe to continue expanding, as hoped to do, his studies. But the Cuban government denied him the opportunity. “I told them, in the best terms: ’Look, I don’t want to continue working here.’ And then came the interrogations in Villa Marista – I was imprisoned after an illegal exit attempt – the constant siege, impediments to work, moral murders…,” he adds.

Among the things he remembers with the greatest pain is his passage through a Cuban prison, after the denunciation of a citizen of Cunaguá (Camagüey). “There I knew what a prison was in Cuba. You have to live it, you have to experience it to know the repression, abuse, lack of rights, lack of freedom and lack of dignity that political prisoners face,” Suárez explains.

According to his testimony, the cells are hermetically closed rooms with no lighting, no windows and no doors, and officials decide who can walk in circles or get some sun. “Food is unpleasant, freedoms are null, you are at the expense of an instructor taking care of you when he wants, as long as he wants… It’s desperate, they play with the desperation of the Cuban people to blackmail them,” he adds.

Although in the short interview he does not explain how he got out of prison, he does specify that his final departure from Cuba was by sea. “I spent six months hiding in forests and mangroves, because these guys did not want to allow me to study,” he says.

“There are many people who work for counterintelligence, especially controlling the movements of diplomats and getting into everyone’s private lives”

Suárez also recounted the conditions in which Cuban diplomats work, to whom they pay between 200 and 300 dollars a month, he says, and with which it is impossible to live in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world. “That is already a form of coercion, of limiting freedom of movement, of limiting people’s chances of having a life. Most of them live here, in the east building, and we have to invent creative ways to solve those economic problems,” he explains.

Asked by Vallejo about whether the building houses a mission of espionage agents, Suárez does not confirm or deny. “There are many people who work for counterintelligence, especially controlling the movements of diplomats and getting into everyone’s private lives. I don’t know that there is intelligence working there, although surely they must, because they don’t compartmentalize,” he says.

Finally, Suárez throws a dart at Cuban Americans who seek to do business in Cuba, whom he accuses of benefiting despite the suffering of the Cuban people. “There is nothing that can happen in Cuba, no business opportunity, that does not go through the regime’s approval, and whoever wants to profit has to go through the approval of these people, and, by the way, profit from the human pain and suffering of the Cuban people,” he argues.

The protest against the presence of Díaz-Canel in front of the UN headquarters has been tense, with clashes between Cuban exiles and members of the pro-Castro organization The People’s Forum. The New York Police have had to intervene by forming a cordon to separate the two groups to avoid major disputes.

La protesta contra la presencia de #DíazCanel ante la sede la #ONU ha discurrido con tensión, al producirse enfrentamientos entre los exiliados cubanos y un grupo de miembros de la organización procastrista The People´s Forum https://t.co/pQuhBMQt1k pic.twitter.com/D80RG6WMW3

— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) September 19, 2023

The protest against the presence of #DíazCanel in front of the #UN headquarters has been tense, with clashes between Cuban exiles and members of the pro-Castrist organization The People’s Forum

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Hopes for Permission From the French Government To Send Its Doctors to Brittany

Gaël Roblin, holding the Breton independence flag and protest posters of the Guingamp hospital, next to Cuban diplomats in France. (G.R/ Facebook)

14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2023 — The Cuban government is discussing the possible landing of one of its international medical missions in France, in metropolitan territory, an idea that depends on a French government permit that seems very unlikely.

Otto Vaillant, Cuba’s ambassador to the country, and his number two, Gisele Pérez Gómez, attended the annual Communist Party meeting held in the region of Brittany (northwest) this weekend. There they met with the Breton independence politician Gaël Roblin, who has been advocating for months for the deployment of Cuban doctors to help alleviate the lack of staff in the area’s hospitals.

In April of this year, the Guingamp hospital announced the suspension of childbirth care due to a lack of midwives, obstetricians and anesthesiologists. Roblin, a councilor in that Breton municipality, wrote a letter to the Cuban Embassy to ask for help in providing doctors to “save motherhood.” “Many elected politicians and citizens believe that this shortage is organized and indicates a clear desire to destroy the Public Health Service in rural areas. This situation is repeated, in particular, in Carhaix and Landerneau. Equal access to public health services is no longer guaranteed for everyone,” he said.

Could the Republic of Cuba make health personnel available to the French health authorities to allow, in case of emergency and on a temporary basis, the possibility of giving birth in Guingamp? continue reading

Roblin alluded to Cuba’s “internationalist commitment to health,” reviewing the deployment of doctors from the Island across all continents, including Europe (Andorra and Italy), since the COVID-19 crisis. “Could the Republic of Cuba make health personnel available to the French health authorities to allow, in case of emergency and temporarily, the possibility of giving birth in Guingamp? Could you tell me how to proceed?” he asked.

Although there is no news of a public pronouncement from the Cuban side since that time, everything indicates that the reaction was immediate and positive. However, for Cuban doctors to work in France, a presidential decree is necessary. French legislation prevents hiring doctors, dentists, midwives or pharmacists from States that do not belong to the European Union or to the countries with which they maintain agreements, such as Morocco or Tunisia.

In 2005, the Government made an exception for Guyana, to temporarily hire personnel from other countries, a measure that was based on the remoteness of the overseas territories from the continent. On that basis, in 2019, Martinique and Guadeloupe achieved a similar ordinance that in 2020 allowed the sending of Cuban health workers for the first time during the worst of the pandemic.

The story didn’t end well. The Martinique press echoed the lack of skills to practice in the territory — many due to lack of knowledge of more modern technologies — which made the Cubans mere collaborators. “In some services they help; in others they don’t contribute anything due to their poor level of French and their lack of knowledge of pharmacology,” said some Antillean colleagues. The operation cost 300,000 euros that, according to some dissenting voices, “could have allowed the creation of positions for young Martinican doctors or helped to finance their medical studies.”

Despite this experience, the director of the Guingamp hospital did not completely close the door to the Cuban option in an interview about the suspension of deliveries in the center, decreed until next October 31, although supplies would run out before.

“You can study. Professional training varies from country to country. There are levels of requirements in France and the European Union. We need to know if these professionals can come directly to practice in France, and as far as I know, they can’t. There are different steps to being recognized as a doctor, to have the ability to exercise the profession. There is the question of the language barrier. We can’t imagine that midwives who don’t speak French would be able to practice in France. And I’m not sure that bringing health professionals from a country that probably needs them can solve the problem on its own,” he said.

“They confirmed to me that their offer was still valid, and that they had discussed it with the Cuban authorities and with the health union of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba”

Despite this, Roblin endorsed the proposal this weekend on the occasion of his meeting with the Cuban diplomats. “They confirmed to me that their offer was still valid, and that they had discussed it with the Cuban authorities and with the health union of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC). A decree of the French Government is enough so that, as during the Covid pandemic in Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Cuban health personnel can be deployed urgently,” he said.

In addition, the politician added that a future visit by the Cuban authorities to elected politicians from different parts of Brittany is being debated “to measure the extent of medical needs and consider other forms of cooperation.”

The Cuban government has only achieved a similar contract in Europe in Calabria (Italy), where this August a brigade of health workers landed in the face of the region’s difficulties in finding professionals. The rest of the missions on the continent arrived during the pandemic, in Piedmont and Lombardy (also in Italy) and Andorra, where a spectacular desertion took place, that of the head of the brigade and a subordinate.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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