EFE – Translating Cuba

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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Cuba Tests a Technique to Reduce the Population of Dengue Transmitting Mosquitos

The technique known as the “sterile insect” is focused on reducing the birth rate of the ’Aedes Aegypti’ mosquito

On this occasion, a drone was used to release the previously sterilized male specimens by air in Havana / AENTA

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 10 April 2024 — Cuba tested for the second time the technique known as the “sterile insect” aimed at reducing the birth rate of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the transmitting agent of diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya. According to official media reported this Tuesday, on this occasion a drone was used in Havana to release by air the male specimens previously sterilized with ionizing radiation so that they copulate with wild females, and thus reduce the population of Aedes aegypti.

The experiment was conducted by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine in order to contrast the effects of releasing mosquitoes by air instead of by land, in terms of survival, dispersion and competitiveness, as explained by the coordinator of the Network of Communicators Nuclear Companies of Cuba (Recnuc), Marta Contreras, cited by the Granma newspaper.

Contreras also stated that male mosquitoes “do not bite, nor spread diseases and, even irradiated, they maintain the condition of being sexually competitive.”

The first trial of this technique was applied in Cuba in November 2019, in the Havana community of El Cano, belonging to the municipality of La Lisa.

In that area, weekly releases of the vector were carried out for eight months – all by land – and a high effectiveness was achieved with this procedure, almost completely eliminating the mosquito population in the demarcation.

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The Electric Union Admits that Cuba Could Need 10 Billion Dollars for Its Power Plants

Lázaro Guerra, during his interview with EFE /EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Ernesto Mastrascusa, Havana, 4 April 2024 — The technical director of the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), Lázaro Guerra, recognizes that the country would need about 10 billion dollars to repair its thermoelectric plants. The figure, estimated by independent specialists residing in the United States, such as Jorge Piñón and Emilio Morales, “is not crazy,” the official said, without giving further details, in an interview with the Spanish agency EFE published on Thursday.

To reach summer with a “positive” level of generation, Guerra explained, the UNE has planned “quite thorough” maintenance on two of its seven obsolete plants.

Otherwise, nothing new was offered by the official, but the pessimistic outlook is clear, since the country does not have the resources to renew the thermoelectric plants, and there are no foreign investors interested in this sector: “The crisis is not over.”

Reiterating what Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, said on March 16, just a day before the recent mass protests on the Island, the director of the UNE said that the main reason for the power cuts is the lack of oil. “The serious problem that has marked the effects of the service has fundamentally been the fuel,” he told EFE. continue reading

“Performing capital maintenance on the thermoelectric plants takes money, and evidently the country has not been able to provide it”

He also said that the crisis is due to “a continuing combination” of lack of foreign exchange and logistical problems. “Cuba has an obvious financial problem” due to its “economic situation.”

About the arrival of fuel, such as the 684,000 barrels of crude oil (90,000 tons) that arrived in Matanzas on the NS Concord from Russia last week and the 460,000 barrels that are about to arrive from the same country on board the Nordic, Guerra stated that “fuel assurance is outside the competency of the UNE” and is up to the oil company Cupet, and he added that he “does not know the plan for the arrival of oil tankers in the coming months.”

According to the information provided by Jorge Piñón to this newspaper, based on the monitoring of ships, the NS Concord has already finished unloading and left the bay of Matanzas. To transport the barrels to Havana, tanker trucks will be needed. It will take five to ten days to reach the Regla refinery, process the crude oil and distribute it, as well as supplying the two patanas (Turkish floating power plants) in Havana and other power plants,” says Piñón.

As 14ymedio verified on Thursday, the Regla refinery is shut down for the time being.

In his interview with EFE, Lázaro Guerra insisted that the Government’s strategy to achieve “energy independence” includes “national crude oil, the accompanying gas and renewables,” with a prominent role for solar energy. However, he added: “Performing capital maintenance on thermoelectric plants takes money, and evidently the country has not been able to provide it.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Washington Believes Cuba To Be in Key Moment and Has Reasons for Hope

Brian A. Nichols at an event at la Casa América of Madrid this Tuesday / Brian A. Nichols

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid/Miami, April 3, 2024 — The U.S. Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, said on Tuesday that he believes Cuba is at “a key moment” and that there are reasons for hope because “people are protesting bravely in the streets.” During an official visit to Spain, Nichols stated, “Cubans are expressing themselves in favor of profound changes in the country despite the fact that the government continues to respond with repression.”

He described what he believes is a “key moment” for the island nation. “[Cuba] needs light, food and jobs, and the solution is democracy,” he stated. “People are demonstrating by protesting in the streets and making brave statements despite the fact that there are more than a thousand political prisoners in Cuban jails.”

“People are demonstrating by protesting in the streets and making brave statements despite the fact that there are more than a thousand political prisoners in Cuban jails”

Similarly, he highlighted the important contributions small businesses and entrepreneurs are making to the Cuban economy, “providing people with what the government cannot give them.”

“We have reasons for hope and we will continue to support these businesses, which provide Cubans with jobs, supplies and food,” the American diplomat said.

Meanwhile, a group of Cuban exiles in Miami called upon the international community to cut off financing to the Cuban regime, one of the main pillars of support that has allowed it to survive for sixty-five years. In a forum entitled “What Can We Do for the People of Cuba?” more than a dozen exiled government opponents agreed on the urgency for the international community, especially the twenty-seven countries of the European Union and Canada, to end subsidies to the Cuban government. continue reading

“It is essential that we join together to end the subsidies from these democracies,” said Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC). He stressed the need for all exile groups to form a common front in order to take advantage of recent protests on the island. “An organic, decentralized, autonomous movement is taking shape, an expression of Cuba’s desire for freedom,” he noted.

“We want a capitalist Cuba, one in which Cuban individuals are owners of their own means of production and distribution. One based on fundamental civil liberties,” he said at the Miami forum.

He alluded to the Accord for Democracy, which sets out ten key points for the transition to democracy and which was signed by opponents of the Cuban government both on the island and overseas. Along these lines, Javier Larrondo, head of Madrid-based Prisoners Defenders, also advocated for consensus among Cuban opposition groups, urging them to come up with a “joint alternative program.”

At the international level, he believes is that it is necessary to “dismantle the regime’s narrative,” a strategy that he says requires “making formal complaints, not just statements to the media.” In other words, bringing legal proceedings in a court of law. “The regime is on the brink,” says Larrondo, who laments that all the island’s residents can do about the current situation is complain or die. “And both are happening right now,” he says, which is why he would not be surprised to see an increase in “state terrorism.”

Larrondo believes it is necessary to “dismantle the regime’s narrative,” a strategy that he says requires making formal complaints, not just statements to the media. In other words, bringing legal proceedings in a court of law

“Cuba currently has 1,092 political prisoners. It’s impoverished, which has caused 600,000 people to leave the island in recent years,” says Larrondo. Cuban human rights activist José Luis García Pérez (aka Antúnez) has called for making the release of political prisoners a principal objective in the fight for change on the island. He has also asked the exile community to take “the Cuban option” and engage in the battle from Cuba itself.

“We have to de-Americanize the struggle and not allow the White House, no matter which party holds the presidency, to lead us into partisan entanglements,” Antúnez said. He also warned it would be “delusional” to believe that the U.S. or the U.N. would free Cuba by military force.

“It is a painful truth that Cuba is not a strategic priority for the United States but a truth nonetheless. And not recognizing that is as risky as it is naive,” he said, adding, “We matter very little to almost nothing,”

As for the role of the Americans, Marcell Felipe, head of the Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, indicated that the United States is the only country that can ensure that Cubans have an unfiltered internet. He also defended cutting off funds to the Island and giving financial support to the people instead.

Felipe emphasized the importance of offering Cubans a vision for the future in the form of a plan for reconstruction. In his mind, this would involve restoring the 1940 constitution and allocating funds to revive private industry on the Island.

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Cuba Blames the US for the Instability in the Delivery of Subsidized Food

The second episode of the program ’From the Presidency’ was broadcast this April 3, 2024 / Presidency Cuba/YouTube/Screen Capture

EFE/14ymedio, 5 April 2024, Havana — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, blamed the “recrudescence” of the United States’ economic embargo, this Thursday, for the “difficult situation” in the delivery of subsidized products through the ration card.

The president dedicated the second episode of the program Desde la Presidencia – broadcast on YouTube – to the “difficulties” in acquiring, from abroad, the products that are distributed in the so-called supply booklet, through the rationing system in force for more than 60 years on the Island.

According to Díaz-Canel, his Government spends about 230 million dollars monthly to guarantee products – rice, coffee, sugar, grains, among others – and distribute them in more than 12,000 bodegas (ration stores).

“It is a titanic task that the country is undertaking,” commented Díaz-Canel, accompanied by the head of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz, and the first vice minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga.

Díaz-Canel acknowledged that people’s opinion about the ration booklet is “very critical and very negative,” especially due to the delays in deliveries and the decrease in quantities. continue reading

In recent weeks, the Cuban authorities have faced problems in producing subsidized bread in the basic basket due to a lack of imported flour

In the last 20 years, the rations that have decreased the most are coffee and sugar, both produced nationally, according to a study recently carried out by EFE.

In this regard, Díaz-Canel stated that “the last two years have been very complex for distribution” due to “the lack of financing to pay for freight with the loads and the lack of fuel to distribute the products once they are in the Cuban port.”

In this regard, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade commented that “the inclusion of Cuba in the list of States sponsoring terrorism – prepared by the US Department of State – has been a strong blow to the finances” of the country.

Recently, Cuba formally requested powdered milk from the UN World Food Program for the first time in order to continue subsidizing this product for children under seven years of age, as revealed by EFE.

The authorities have recognized that if there is a lack of milk, the problem is not only a shortage of money to bring it from abroad. The Government has been unable to guarantee national milk in a normal way, through supporting livestock farming to produce liquid milk.

In recent weeks, the regime has also faced problems in producing subsidized bread in the basic basket due to a lack of imported flour.

The food shortage was one of the triggers for the massive anti-government protests on 11 July 2021 (’11J’), the largest in decades, and the most recent on March 17 of this year in several cities in the country.

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A Former CIA Agent Questions the Rejection of a Foreign Hand in Havana Syndrome

Marc Polymeropoulos was a CIA agent for 26 years. (Screen Capture)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 15 March 2024 — Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired former senior CIA officer who claims to be a victim of the so-called Havana syndrome, described the U.S. intelligence report as a “blow to the gut.” The report ruled out any “foreign adversary”, and he said in an interview that in his opinion, it was Cuba and Russia.

Polymeropoulos spoke exclusively with América TeVé about the syndrome that affected more than 200 people and which was one of the reasons that the normalization with Cuba initiated by Barack Obama when he was president of the United States did not go ahead.

The interview, divided into two parts, of which the second and last will be broadcast this Tuesday by América TeVé, is a reaction to the report entitled “Evaluation of Abnormal Health Incidents” prepared by seven U.S. intelligence agencies and published on March 1 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Avril D. Haines.

The interview is a reaction to the report entitled “Evaluation of Abnormal Health Incidents” prepared by seven U.S. intelligence agencies

The former senior officer, who retired from the CIA in 2019 after 26 years, allegedly due to the aftermath of Havana syndrome, which, he said, affected him while in a hotel in Russia in 2017, considered himself betrayed by that report. continue reading

“The idea that we somehow think that there is no State involved is inexplicable. I would understand if they said ‘we don’t know, we just don’t know,'” said Polymeropoulos, who was introduced as an expert in counterterrorism.

The first cases of the syndrome were known in Havana in 2016, and there were later cases of diplomatic personnel, family members and intelligence agents in several countries who were affected.

“How could we move from the report of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicines (December 2020) that concluded that our injuries had been caused by a direct energy weapon to this report?” he asked.

Polymeropoulos, who acknowledged that América TeVé had no evidence to support his opinion, believes that everything could have started as an operation by Cuba and Russia to collect intelligence information through signals.

Realizing that the use of targeted energy pulsations could affect the health of American officers on the ground, the process evolved into a weapon.

Polymeropoulos said that neither the Cuban nor the Russian intelligence service wanted to have American intelligence officers in Havana and found that they could “get us off the battlefield in a way that was difficult to detect.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Receives More Than 90,000 Tons of Oil From Russia

The tanker NS Concord arrived in the port of Matanzas with more than 90,000 tons of Russian oil / / @EnergiaMinasCub/X

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 31 March 2024 — Cuba received a ship from Russia with more than 90,000 tons of oil to alleviate the Island’s energy crisis, the Ministry of Energy and Mines reported on Saturday. The NS Concord, under the flag of Gabon, arrived at the Matanzas base in the west of the country. This is the second shipment of crude oil from Moscow to Havana after the one made on March 17, when 650,000 barrels of crude oil arrived – valued at almost 50 million dollars.

Cuba is going through an energy crisis reflected in interruptions in the electricity service that have lasted more than 10 hours a day.

These shipments occur after several high-level official visits between the two countries. The most recent was that of the Minister of Foreign Trade, Ricardo Cabrisas, to the Eurasian country.

During Cabrisas’ stay in Moscow, Russia granted a new loan to Havana – for an undisclosed amount – to “guarantee the stable supply of oil, petroleum products, wheat and fertilizers,” according to the state agency Prensa Latina. continue reading

Due to the shortage of fuel, the Corral Falso gas station in Guanabacoa opens at 12 pm / 14ymedio

The Cuban government has recently reported that one of the problems in electricity generation is explained by the drop in crude oil imports from allied countries. Although the Island’s government has not indicated them by name, maritime traffic tracking data point to Venezuela and Russia.

Jorge Piñón, an energy expert at the University of Texas, points out that “Cuba is benefiting, like all the other buyers of the Russian Urals crude, from buying a very good quality crude at a discount. Russia was previously selling the Europe Brent crude oil at a premium.”

Piñón explains that Russia has high crude oil inventories due to the sanctions imposed by the West for its invasion of Ukraine. He emphasizes that this has led the Kremlin to “sell he Brent crude at a discount of 8 to 12 dollars per barrel,” having India and China among the main customers.

The Russian Urals crude, Piñón says, is “sold at a discount and at a subsidized price in international markets.” However, “the problem is liquidity due to the few buyers who take the risk of going against the sanctions. The Urals is sold today at $77.43, a discount of $9.54 from the Brent.”

The expert from the University of Texas says that on April 5, another tanker, the Nordic, will arrive in Matanzas, with 475,000 barrels of Russian oil.

According to data offered by Piñón, like the tanker NS Concord, the Nordic set sail from the Russian port of Ust-Luga and made stops in Senegal and Cape Verde. “We are sure that it is one of many Russian oil tankers that are on hold, making technical stops at several ports, to find a final buyer/destination.”

Tourists of the Russian company Rosnetf upon their arrival on the Island / Granma

This Saturday, Havanatur and the International Group of Tour Operators and Travel Agents reported the arrival on the Island of the first flight of this season of workers from the Russian oil company Rosnetf. According to Havanatur, the Nordwind airline transported 389 passengers to “develop ’stay’ programs.” This is the first of three groups of the oil company for the spring, and “another four flights will be completed for the fall.”

For a decade, Havanatur has been offering Rosnetf workers stays to rest and have a medical check-up. The official newspaper Granma emphasizes that the agreement with the Russian company began on the Island in 2014 and “selected the Varadero spa, the main Cuban sun and beach tourist destination, where they enjoy outdoor physical activities, excursions and medical check-ups.”

The Russian workers were received at the Juan Gualberto Gómez de Matanzas international terminal, by the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Tourism, María del Carmen Orellana, the general director of Havanatur, Yoelkis Salazar, and other managers.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Choreographer Lizt Alfonso: I Have Dedicated Myself To Dance ‘With Soul, Heart and Life’

Lizt Alfonso directs a rehearsal in Havana / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 25 March 2024 — With a tour of Europe included, the director of the Cuban dance company Lizt Alfonso faces 2024 full of energy and projects, despite the difficult situation in which her country is immersed, or precisely because of it. In an interview with EFE, the dancer and choreographer explains how “exciting” she finds it to return to Barcelona and Madrid, talks about dance as her “life mission” and explains why she sees it necessary to continue making art in the midst of the crisis.

“(Now) is when it makes the most sense. Man does not live on bread alone. Bread is fundamental, but so is the spirit. The spirit must be fed and, if you do not feed it, it has no way of resisting the vicissitudes of life in general and this (the current crisis in Cuba) is one and it is very big,” she reasons.

She recalls that she founded the company in the middle of the Special Period (the crisis that followed the collapse of the Europe’s Soviet bloc), when “there was absolutely nothing” in Cuba, neither food nor electricity. Looking back over the past few decades, she says her country has become accustomed to “permanent resilience.” “I don’t think we’ve ever had really good times,” she notes.

Faced with difficulties, Alfonso is clear: “Total dedication 24 hours a day. With a lot of passion, with a lot of love. Because if not, you can’t achieve it. It is impossible. (Dance) is my life mission, I have dedicated myself to that with soul, heart and life.” continue reading

As a highlight for this year, this spring the Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba company is brining to Spain the work Cuba vibra, a selection “for all spectators” of the “milestones” of its 32 years of experience, embedded in a plot that covers the history of the island from the 50s to the present.

There will be between 25 and 27 people on stage at all times, counting the musicians playing live.

The piece combines “cha cha cha, mambo, conga, afro and contemporary dance,” as always with “the backbone of the dance,” in a “unique” fusion style resulting from “the influences of Cuba.”

“We are 30 people including musicians, dancers and, of course, the technical team,” says Alfonso, who points out that there will be between 25 and 27 people on stage at all times, counting the musicians who play live.

The tour kicks off on May 6 at the Teatro Apolo in Barcelona – where the company made its international debut – and, after three weeks of performances, it will move to the EDP Gran Vía in Madrid for another three weeks starting on May 28.

Then, from November to January 2025, the second part of the tour is scheduled to take place, which will take the company to other cities in Spain, and also to Germany, Italy and Portugal.

In parallel, the company has performances planned in Martinique, Panama, Peru and Colombia, as well as its usual two seasons at the Teatro Martí in Havana.

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Cuba Agrees on a ‘Road Map’ With Turkey, a Key Energy Partner of the Island

The Turkish power platforms (’patanas’) have been a palliative in the face of the acute crisis caused by the lack of generation capacity in the Cuban electricity system

EFE/14 ymedio, Havana, 12 March 2024 — The Cuban Deputy Prime Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas, and the Turkish Minister of Commerce, Ömer Bolat, agreed on Tuesday in Turkey on a “road map” for bilateral economic-trade cooperation between 2024-2026, which includes the energy area, a key aspect for Havana.

The visit of Cabrisas, the Foreign Ministry reported in a statement, seeks to review the state of economic, commercial, financial and cooperation relations, examine the existing potentials for their development and give continuity to the political dialogue “at the highest level” between the two Governments.

Bolat stated on social networks that the agreement includes a “41-point action plan” that covers areas such as trade, investments, legal infrastructure, industry, technical cooperation, finance, transport, energy, agriculture, health and medicine, culture, tourism and education.

“We clearly see the growing interest of our entrepreneurs in the Cuban market, after our trade volume increased by approximately 60% last year, reaching 81 million dollars,” the Turkish minister added. continue reading

He also pointed out that the agreed agenda “exhaustively describes the steps that must be taken within two years to further strengthen trade and economic relations” between the two countries.

“We clearly see the growing interest of our entrepreneurs in the Cuban market, after our trade volume increased by approximately 60% last year, reaching 81 million dollars”

In the area of energy, bilateral cooperation has been strengthened in recent years, and one of its reference points is the income received by the Turkish companies Karpowership and Karadeniz Holding from the Cuban Government for seven floating power plants.

Turkish power platforms (’patanas’) have been a palliative in the face of the acute crisis caused by the lack of generation capacity in the Cuban electricity system, which has seven obsolete Soviet plants active, many of them with problems, and also suffers from fuel shortages.

The visit of Cabrisas, considered an experienced negotiator, coincides with a moment when Cuba suffers a new wave of blackouts, mainly due to the fuel deficit and breakdowns, as explained by the island’s authorities.

Since the end of January, the energy deficit has been between 20% and 45% of the maximum demand, which means blackouts of up to 18 hours in some regions of the Island. The Electric Union reported that for the maximum demand time of this Tuesday, an impact of 1,105 megawatts is estimated.

Meanwhile, blackouts continue to spread in the Cuban capital. On social networks, the Electric Company of Havana has published the impact by blocks, but, unlike the other provinces, the power outages only last four hours and include the hours from 10 am to 2 pm and from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Nine NGOs Criticize Havana’s Rejection of UN Recommendations

The recommendations were made during the United Nations Universal Periodic Review

EFE (via 14ymedio) Washington D.C., 26 March 2024 — Nine NGOs criticized Cuba for rejecting 28 of the recommendations in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which, among other issues, have to do with political prisoners and the repression of dissent.

The nine groups that sent reports for the UPR – including Cubalex, Article 19, Justice 11J and Pen International – released a statement on the same day that the final report of the Working Group of the UPR mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council was approved.

This UN document indicates that Cuba accepted 292 of the 361 recommendations made – mostly from other states – while it took note of 41 and rejected 28.

“Rejecting 28 recommendations related to the rights to freedom of expression and association shows the lack of commitment of the Cuban authorities to their international human rights obligations,” the NGOs stated. continue reading

It was recommended that Cuba allow “the access of independent observers to trials and prisons

Among the rejected recommendations are the “liberation of people deprived of liberty for political reasons, the cessation of repression and the harassment against dissident voices.”

Likewise, Cuba was asked to allow “the access of independent observers to trials and prisons, and the development of ’free and fair’ elections,” according to the NGOs.

In their opinion, the rejection of these points acquires “special relevance” after the peaceful demonstrations on March 17 and 18 in several parts of the Island, where hundreds of people protested the prolonged blackouts and the shortage of food.

According to their records, “at least 14 people remain arbitrarily detained” after these events. The Cuban authorities have not offered data in this regard.

The NGO Prisoners Defenders, for its part, puts at 32 the number of people who remain in prison and could be added to its list of political prisoners in Cuba, which in its latest report numbered 1,066 people.

“We demand that the Cuban State recognize and guarantee the fundamental rights of people residing in the country, regardless of their political position, religious belief, profession, race, sexual orientation and gender identity,” the statement concludes.

The signatory groups are Cubalex, Article 19, Justicia 11J, Pen International, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), Cuban Prisons Documentation Center, Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Cuban Youth Dialogue Table and Museum V.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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‘Paro Nacional’ (National Strike) Is El Funky’s New Song for the Resistance in Cuba, Is Launched in Miami

“Everyone go on strike! Down with the dictatorship,” says a citizen of the Island in the video clip of El Funky’s new song / Screen capture

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 20 March 2024 — This Wednesday in Miami, the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC) presented the new song by Eliexer Márquez “El Funky”, Paro Nacional (National Strike), as part of a series of initiatives in support of the resistance in Cuba.

Composed of 54 groups inside and outside the Island, the coalition reported a march this Sunday in Miami, which will start from the Bahía de Cochinos Monument and will conclude at the House of the Cuban Political Prisoner, under the slogans “Support the people of Cuba,” “End the Castro dictatorship” and “Support the National Strike.”

At an event held at the House of the Cuban Political Prisoner, the ARC presented the video of the song.

El Funky is one of the creators of the song Patria y Vida, the anthem of the 11 July 2021 protests in Cuba and winner of the Latin Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Urban Song in 2021.

“We ask the international community, the European Union (EU) and Canada to stop financing the Castro regime,” Orlando Gutiérrez, coordinator of the ARC, told EFE

“We ask the international community, the European Union (EU) and Canada to stop financing the Castro regime,” Orlando Gutiérrez, coordinator of the ARC, told EFE.

Gutiérrez expressed the unconditional support of the ARC for the “Cuban people in the streets for a real change” in Cuba, a change that can only take place, he said, “with the exit from power and the illegalization of the Communist Party and the departure from the Island of the Castro family.”

In the video calling for a national strike in Cuba, several citizens express their indignation from the Island.

“Not a minute more on your knees, Cuba will be free, National Strike,” several voices over the video clip repeat, before the artist sings: “There is no government that resists or that endures that pressure, what Cuba needs is a strike.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ukraine Warns of the High Number of Cubans Fighting With Russian Troops

Darío Jarrosay at the press conference held in Kiev, where several prisoners of war were interviewed

EFE (via 14ymedio), Kiev, 16 March 2024 — The Ukrainian body that deals with prisoners of war warned this Friday of the high number of Cubans fighting with Russian troops in the war in Ukraine, and reproached the authorities of Havana for their tolerance of Russian recruitment operations on the Island.

“We see photographs and videos of the Russian side where many mercenaries from Cuba are seen,” said Petro Yatsenko, the head of the Ukrainian Committee for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. At a press conference held in Kiev, he warned of the growing number of mercenaries recruited by Russia from the so-called Global South countries.

Asked by EFE about the position of the Cuban Government in the face of Russia’s actions to attract Cuban citizens into the ranks of its Army, Yatsenko stated that Ukraine has no evidence of Havana’s official participation in this type of effort. “We cannot say that it is a (Cuban) state program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it,” said the Ukrainian official, who also said that “Russian agitators” work without restrictions in Cuba. continue reading

“We cannot affirm that it is a state (Cuban) program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it”

Yatsenko made these statements at a press conference in which eight prisoners of war from Nepal, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Cuba also participated, imprisoned by Ukrainian troops while fighting with Russian forces.

Darío Jarrosay, a Cuban prisoner of war, is a 35-year-old teacher and musician from Guantánamo. He said he had been attracted to Russia by a false offer on Facebook to work in construction, and he was then dragged to fight with the Russian Army on the front. “I joined the Russian Army because, in Cuba, I received a banner (announcement) on Facebook saying that people were needed for construction.”

Jarrosay explained that he traveled to the Russian Federation from Cuba after filling out a form to work in construction. “It wasn’t to enter the war; I never agreed to enter the war,” he said at the event held in the Ukrainian capital. “When I arrived in Russia, I found myself in the war,” he said. This Cuban geography teacher and musician is now waiting for a solution to his case as a prisoner of war in Ukraine.

Petro Yatsenko, from the Ukrainian authority that deals with prisoners of war, said at the same press conference that Ukraine is open to negotiating the return of these fighters to their countries of origin. Jarrosay said he was on the flight to Russia with five other Cubans who were also looking for work in Russia. He found other Cubans In the Russian Army, and he received 250,000 rubles (about 2,500 euros) a month for fighting on the Russian side, a salary much higher than the one he received in Cuba.

Asked about the message he sends to his compatriots, Jarrosay recommended that Cubans “not go.” “Everything is a hoax,” he said. “Overnight when you go to your job you find yourself in the war.”

Along with Jarrosay, five Nepali prisoners of war, one from Sierra Leone and one from Somalia, participated in the press conference. All of them were captured by Ukraine while fighting as mercenaries with the Russian side and claimed to have been deceived when they were recruited. Some of them said that they ended up in the Russian Army after traveling from Cuba to look for civilian jobs. Others claimed to have been sent to the front after having agreed to carry out military tasks behind the front lines.

The other prisoners of war reported having been victims of deception to be recruited by the Russian Army.

By making these testimonies public, Ukraine is hoping to prevent other citizens of low-income countries from accepting jobs in Russia or positions in the Russian Army that end up leading them to kill Ukrainians, or to being captured or dying at the front, according to Yatsenko.

According to the Ukrainian official, Russia recruits more and more mercenaries from countries in Africa, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Latin America, to make up for casualties in their ranks. Ukraine has been open to negotiating the return of these captured fighters to their countries.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuba Reaffirms Its ‘Unique Friendship’ With North Korea

Miguel Díaz-Canel and Ma Chol Su, the ambassador of North Korea

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — The Cuban government decorated the ambassador of North Korea, Ma Chol Su, who finalized his diplomatic work in Havana, while reaffirming Cuba’s “unique friendship” with the Asian country, state media reported on Saturday.

The official newspaper Granma reported a meeting between the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel and the North Korean diplomat. In it, the Cuban president affirmed that the decoration was a “reaffirmation of friendship, solidarity and the brotherhood that exists between our Parties, our peoples and our Governments.”

North Korea maintains a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War

“Our relations have matured with the passage of time; they have endured and been consolidated. This process has been achieved because our relations have elements that distinguish them as truly unique among peoples,” he added. continue reading

The North Korean ambassador assured that he would transmit “to the leader Kim Jong-Un the messages of friendship and the fraternal feelings expressed” by Díaz-Canel.

North Korea has a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War, in 1960. Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (1926-2016) visited North Korea in 1986, where he met with the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, grandfather and father, respectively, of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The reaffirmation of political ties with North Korea takes place almost a month after the announcement of the formalization of relations between South Korea and Cuba, broken since 1959.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Spain Will Support the Construction of a Solar Park in Cuba Through an EU Initiative

The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewables by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — Spain will support the construction of a solar park in Cuba within the framework of the Global Gateway strategy of the European Union (EU), the EU embassy on the Island reported in a statement on Friday.

The European bloc “has committed to supporting the energy transition in Cuba through renewable energies,” said the statement, which is made public in the midst of the energy crisis that the country is suffering, with prolonged daily blackouts.

A delegation visited the Island this week to hold talks. Spain announced its contribution, and the EU, Spain and France showed their willingness to work “to mobilize new investments in the sector,” according to the statement, which did not provide details about the project that has Spanish support. continue reading

This project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households and generate savings of 84 million euros

The EU delegation visited a solar plant in the west of the Island, financed entirely with European funds. According to the EU embassy in Cuba, this project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households, generate savings of 84 million euros (about 91 million dollars at today’s exchange rate), replace 168,000 tons of fuel and avoid the emission of 721,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Global Gateway’s goal is to “promote smart, clean and safe links in the digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems around the world,” in accordance with the EU.

Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs

Cuba, plunged into a serious economic crisis for more than three years, is also going through a difficult energy crisis. Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs. This situation is due to the poor state of the national electricity system, which has seven obsolete thermoelectric plants with a chronic investment deficit, and a shortage of fuel due to lack of foreign exchange for importation.

This Wednesday, a plan was announced to install 92 solar parks on the Island to generate 2,000 megawatts. The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewable energies by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Putin Approves New Credit Facilities for the Cuban Debt

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in an archive image / X/@DiazCanelB

EFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow/Madrid, 11 March 2024 — Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on Monday an amendment to the credit agreements between Russia and Cuba that gives the Island better conditions for the payment and restructuring of its debt. The corresponding document was published this Monday on the legal information portal of the Russian Government.

The protocols approved by the Russian president refer to the credit agreements for Cuba granted between 2009 and 2019 for the purchase of hydrocarbons.

The debt contracted by Cuba within the framework of the agreements, whose restructuring was approved today, amounts to 277.2 million dollars, according to the Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, Alexei Sazanov.

The facilities granted to Havana include the possibility of paying the debt in rubles, postponing the payment plan from 2023-2027 to the period 2028-2040, and modifying the calculation of the rates for the delay in payments. continue reading

Russia believes that aid to Cuba aimed at guaranteeing its crude oil supply will strengthen Moscow’s political positions in Latin America

Russia believes that aid to Cuba aimed at guaranteeing its supply of crude oil will strengthen Moscow’s political positions in Latin America.

At the moment the Island is going through a deep energy crisis, with simultaneous blackouts in up to 44% of the national territory, which have provoked protests in some provinces.

As numerous specialists have denounced, the Cuban electricity system is in a catastrophic situation, and to solve it it would require an investment of 10 billion dollars and between six and ten years of time.

The lack of foreign currency has also limited Cuba’s ability to import fuel, which affects national energy production.

On March 1, the new fuel prices were established, up 400%, included in the so-called paquetazo [package], which were originally going to enter into force a month earlier, just when its main architect, Alejandro Gil Fernández, was dismissed from his position as Minister of Economy. He is allegedly being investigated by the Government for “serious errors made in the exercise of his functions.”

On the same day as Gil’s dismissal, it was also the last day in Havana for the Russian economic advisor Boris Titov, on his most recent visit to the Island, days after his compatriots Sergey Lavrov and Nikolai Patrushev. Although the official press gave Titov’s arrival the usual pomp, it did not offer news of his stay.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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