EFE – Page 15 – Translating Cuba

The United States has Repatriated 5,576 Cuban Rafters in More Than Three Months

The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 16 Cubans on Tuesday. The photo shows one of the patrol boats on the high seas. (Twitter/USCGSoutheast)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 8 February 2023 — The first week of January, Landry González and 16 other Cubans landed in Florida. The American dream that he thought he had achieved still seems far away. According to Voice of America (VOA), they did not give him a chance for a credible-fear interview; they gave him a release order that establishes conditions such as attending hearings in the immigration court.

“I was unlucky to be given the I-220A,” lamented this 38-year-old Cuban. “Three friends who arrived a year ago received parole, and my brother, who arrived in 2016, received all the benefits,” he told VOA.

Since the beginning of the year, the rafters who manage to land are being given an expedited deportation order, the verdict issued by a judge for the expulsion of a person but which can be reversed with legal advice. This order has an expiration period of 60 days. Hence, many Cubans do not know if they will really be deported or if they will be able to opt for another solution, because this period of time has not yet expired for them.

On form I-220A, Immigration lawyer Rosaly Chaviano explained that people “can apply for asylum and try to prove a case of credible fear, but their asylum will be pending, and they will have to renew their work permit every two years until they eventually have an interview date, if they are approved.”

The United States has reiterated since the end of last year that any rafter who is arrested on his journey will be returned to his country of origin. In mid-January, the Secretary of National Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, insisted: “Cubans and Haitians who go to sea and disembark in the United States will not be eligible for the parole process and will be subjected to deportation procedures.” continue reading

We flew along with the Coast Guard on one of their life saving missions as they searched for migrants in distress in the Florida Straits@USCGSoutheast @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/upHKoU4lgR — Cristian Benavides (@cbenavidesTV) February 8, 2023

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 16 Cubans aboard the Issac Mayo ship. According to official figures, since October 1, 2022, the US authorities have thwarted the crossing of 5,576 rafters.

The agency stressed that the “ships that patrol the Florida Straits, the Windward Steps and Mona, prevented more than 100 rafters” from disembarking in the United States between January 27 and February 3. This Wednesday the Coast Guard shared a video of the overflights that are carried out to locate migrants on the high seas.

Some of these attempts by Cubans to reach the United States have ended in the Bahamas, the Royal Defense Force reported last Thursday.

We flew along with the Coast Guard on one of their life saving missions as they searched for migrants in distress in the Florida Straits@USCGSoutheast @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/upHKoU4lgR

— Cristian Benavides (@cbenavidesTV) February 8, 2023

According to official data, 59 Cubans have been detained in the Bahamas so far. On Tuesday, the Telemundo journalist, Jany Gonzalez, shared on her social networks that 31 of these people who left the Island on December 31 on a raft have already been presented to the Court and are waiting to be deported.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported on Tuesday that the number of arrests of migrants trying to cross the southern border of the United States irregularly reached its lowest point in two years in January.

The authorities attribute this decrease to the extension, at the beginning of January, of Title 42, a controversial health regulation, to allow the “hot” expulsions of Haitian, Cuban and Nicaraguan migrants.

As of January 31, the arrests of people of these three nationalities, along with Venezuelans, who have been subject to Title 42 since October, decreased to an average of 95 per day, a drop of 95% compared to the 1,231 daily arrests that were reported at the beginning of the month, a DHS official said.

“In January we saw the lowest number of arrests by the Border Patrol since February 2021,” the official said.

The use of Title 42 by Joe Biden’s government has been widely criticized by human rights organizations and even by some members of the Democratic Party.

“On the ground, at the border, it’s very clear that many people of those four nationalities wait on the Mexican side and desperately try to get an appointment for requesting asylum with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which cannot meet the demand,” Yael Schacher, director for the International Rescue Committee, told EFE.

Many people, in her opinion, are in danger or struggling and are willing to risk crossing the border instead of surrendering, as they would have done before being subject to Title 42.

At the end of January, a group of 80 Democratic congressmen, led by Senator Robert Menéndez, asked to reverse the decision to expel people from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti who cross the border with Mexico. “Title 42 is a mockery of national and international law.”

The Biden government has defended itself from criticism, insisting that it must continue to implement that program by order of the Supreme Court, which in December accepted a request from about twenty states governed by Republicans and determined that Title 42 should remain active.

In addition to the expansion of the regulations, which restrict access to asylum at the border, the Government plans to impose a five-year ban on entry into the United States on people who cross the border irregularly.

The regulations, inherited from the mandate of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), have allowed more than 2.5 million arrests since it came into force in 2020, according to data from the International Rescue Committee.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Cuba Cardinal Stella Asks for ‘Freedom’ for the July 11th (11J) Prisoners

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, February 8, 2023 — On Wednesday in Havana, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Pope Francis’s envoy, requested the release of Cubans who participated in the antigovernment protests on July 11, 2021.

Stella made these statements toward the end of his visit to Cuba, where he recalled the trip Pope John Paul II made to the country 25 years ago, at the time considered an historic gesture.

“The pope very much desires for there to be a positive response” from the Cuban government to the Church’s requests for the release of the convicted protesters, stated the cardinal in statements to the credentialed media on the Island.

In this regard, he believes that whether it is legally defined as amnesty or clemency is secondary because “words can also be secondary.”

“But it is important that young people who at one time expressed their thoughts in the manner we know can return to their homes,” he highlighted.

The cardinal assured that during his visit to Cuba he was able to express to Cuban authorities this “desire” of the Church and he expressed a wish that from this “useful and positive moment” that is his trip “new things will emerge for the Cuban people.”

Shortly before this, during a speech at the University of Havana in front of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Pope Francis’s envoy underscored that “freedom cannot be subordinated to any calculation of interests, circumstances, waiting for better times.” continue reading

He added that Cuba “should be free of all interference,” but he also encourages “its children to be free men and women.” Freedom, he added, must allow for material and spiritual growth.

Stella called for “promoting reconciliation and brotherhood” from “diversity” and not “a similarity of ideas”, and called for a “culture of encounter” that encourages the creation of “bridges” over which “to travel in common.”

In his declarations to the media, the cardinal called on the role of dialogue, from “kindness and respect,” is his conversations with high ranking Cuban officials as well as in relations between Havana and the United States. “Solutions can be found by speaking,” he stated.

The Vatican wishes that “those who have power could talk, and could mutually listen,” stated Stella, because “from there could emerge things that benefit the Cuban people.”

“Hopefully it will happen and happen soon (this dialogue) and it can become an important step for many advances which the Cuban people really need. There are things that should be done and done soon,” he added.

He also referenced the strong migration currently occurring in Cuba, which has lost about 3% of its population in 2022 alone, mainly due to the severe economic crisis, but also due to political repression.

The pontife’s envoy asked for Cubans to be able to make “their hopes and desires” a reality in their country and for young people to achieve their “dreams.”

Pope Francis was one of the international architects of the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba between 2014 and 2017, with former Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, a phase known as the thaw.

However, the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House ended that process and, in fact, reversed it with the application of new sanctions — added to those already in place — and the inclusion of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

In the last few months there has been a discrete and pragmatic rapprochement between the two countries in different areas of common interest, such as migration and national security and some of the latest sanctions have been lifted by Washington.

Stella arrived in Cuba on January 23rd on a trip framed by the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s pastoral trip to Cuba, the first pope to visit the Island. Later two of his successors, Benedict XVI and Francis, visited Cuba.

After the first few days in Havana, during which he had the opportunity to meet some high ranking Cuban government officials, Stella began a trip to visit every Catholic diocese in the country and interview those in charge.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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With the Approval of 4,700 Cubans and 26,000 Venezuelans, Mayorkas Points Out the Success of the ‘Parole’ Program for Migrants

The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, at the Cultural Center of Little Haiti in Miami, this Monday. (EFE/Cristobal Herrera)

EFE/14ymedio, Miami/Madrid, 30 January 2023 — The Secretary of National Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, said on Monday that the humanitarian program for Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians and Nicaraguans applied since the beginning of January has brought down the irregular arrival of those migrants to the country by 90%.

At an event held at Little Haiti Cultural Center in Miami, Mayorkas defended that one must reach the United States “legally and without taking risks,” alluding without specifying the many Cubans and Haitians who go to sea in rudimentary boats headed for the US shores.

“Those who decide to come to the United States illegally should know that we will use all the instruments of the law to expel them,” stressed the secretary, who stressed that the program “is being very successful.”

Born in Havana in 1959, Mayorkas said that the issue of Cuban migration touches him personally, since he and his parents had to leave Cuba in 1960, and stressed that the Biden government wants “a solution” to the problem of immigration,” and spoke about it with his Latin American peers at the last Summit of the Americas.

“Those who come with this program will be able to work, so no resources from the administrations will be used,” said the official.

Mayorkas began his schedule this Monday with a meeting with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. The mayor, after emphasizing that Miami-Dade “is a community of immigrants,” said that during the meeting she held with Mayorkas they discussed the need for more federal resources for immigrants. continue reading

After the meeting in Little Haiti with the Haitian community, he plans to meet –in an event closed to the press– at the Miami hermitage dedicated to the patron saint of Cuba, the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, with representatives of the Cuban community in Miami, which welcomes most of the migrants from the four countries covered by the program.

Mayorkas also met with congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Debbie Wasserman and Carlos Giménez.

The secretary’s visit to this city aims to explain the immigration policy of the government of US President Joe Biden, and the recently approved humanitarian permit known as ‘parole’ for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, which expanded the one that already existed since October for Venezuelans.

This program, challenged in the courts by twenty Republican states, allows up to 30,000 of these migrants to enter the country every month since January 6, who must meet certain requirements such as having a “sponsor” who supports them financially and covers their living expenses. health. The permit is for two years and allows them to work.

Those who enter irregularly await deportation, according to this humanitarian program, which takes into account the difficult political and economic situation of the four countries.

As of last Friday, according to CNN with a source in a National Security official, more than 4,700 Cubans had been authorized to travel through the new parole program, along with 2,000 Haitians and 800 Nicaraguans. As for Venezuelans, for whom the program was established in October, 26,000 are approved.

Since January 6, when the program came into force, more than 1,700 people have arrived in the United States under this process from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Trial on Cuba’s Sovereign Debt in London, in Five Questions

Demonstration of opponents of the Cuban regime, in front of the Rolls Building, headquarters of the commercial division of the High Court of London. (EFE/Judith Mora)

EFE (via 14ymedio), London, February 3, 2023 — The trial in London of the claim for non-payment of the CRF I investment fund to the National Bank of Cuba (BNC) and the Republic of Cuba for 72 million euros (78 million dollars) of public debt went to trial on Thursday.

1. What will be decided in this trial?

The trial before the commercial division of the London High Court of Justice seeks to establish whether CRF is a legitimate creditor of Cuba — if it has the right to claim the payment of sovereign debt from Havana — and whether this court has jurisdiction over the issue. After the end of the public part, it will be weeks, even months, before the court issues a judgment. The court does not have to publish it, and its dissemination may depend on the parties. In addition, the ruling will not be final, so it could be appealed, prolonging the process. As for the substance of the issue, experts agree in pointing out the significance of the ruling for Cuba, which is going through a very delicate financial situation after more than two years of serious economic crisis.

2. Who are the plaintiffs and the defendants?

The lawsuit was filed by the CRF I irrigation capital fund, founded in 2009 and based in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven. According to different sources, it is Cuba’s largest sovereign debt holder and holds bonds of 1.2 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars).

The BNC is a Cuban state bank with commercial powers, but until 1997 it also served as a central bank. In that year, the Cuban Government created the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) and limited the functions of the BNC to commercial ones. However, it continued to take responsibility for the registration, control and service of the debt it had placed. This means that the BNC would be the entity that would respond in the first place to the debt. That’s why CRF I also sued the Republic of Cuba. In the event that it wins, it can also claim from the Cuban State the satisfaction of the debt with its funds and assets.

3. Where does this debt come from?

The debt originated as a result of two loans that Cuba closed in 1984 with two European banks, the French Crédit Lyonnais and the Italian L’Instituto Bancario Italiano, with the BNC as guarantor. Three years later, then Cuban president Fidel Castro declared his country’s debt — and in general that of all the ex-colonies — “unpayable,” and the Island ceased to comply with its creditors.

The situation changed with the arrival of his brother Raúl Castro to the presidency in 2006, as he tried to reopen the door of international financial markets as part of the economic reforms he launched.

Cuba renegotiated its debt with the Paris Club (where the main creditor nations are located) in 2015 and again in 2021. As did Russia, which forgave Cuba much of the credits granted during the Soviet era and improved conditions again in 2022.

But Havana did not negotiate with the London Club (where private creditors are grouped). CFR I says that it contacted Cuba on several occasions to reach an agreement, but that in seven years it did not get a response. In February 2020, CFR I filed the complaint that led to this trial.

4. What have been the arguments of the plaintiff and the defendant?

Cuba has reiterated that CFR I is not a legitimate creditor. Its argument has three fundamental points:

– That the fund took over this debt illegally, bribing an employee of the BNC. About this, the former worker himself, convicted of bribery, has testified electronically from a prison on the Island.

– That the procedures for the acquisition of this debt were not complied with: the two relevant signatures were not obtained, nor was government authorization received.

– That CFR I is a “vulture fund” that only seeks litigation and does not act as a “responsible” creditor.

CFR I, which denies being a “vulture fund,” assures that it did not bribe any employee and has questioned the veracity of the testimony of official in prison, claiming that he could have been pressured by the Cuban government. CFR I also states that it acquired the debt correctly and is, therefore, a legitimate creditor.

5. What could be the consequences of the trial?

The court has to decide whether CFR I is a legitimate creditor and, more importantly, whether the court has jurisdiction over this issue.

On the first point, it could decide either way, and that would mainly affect CFR I and whether or not it could claim the debt.

But the fundamental thing, as Cuban-American lawyer Luis Carlos Battista explained to EFE, is whether the court “decides that there is jurisdiction,” because new lawsuits from other creditors could arrive. There are billions of dollars at stake.

They would claim the debt from Havana and even try to satisfy it with state assets abroad, where Cuba has a network of companies, including banks. Many of them belong to Gaesa, the business conglomerate of Cuba’s Ministry of Defense, which controls telecommunications, remittances, imports and tourism on the Island, among other sectors of the economy.

For this, another trial would be necessary, in which the creditors — on whom the burden of proof would fall — would have to ask the court to lift the corporate veil of Gaesa and its subsidiaries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime’s Defense Begins its Final Arguments Against the CRF Investment Fund

The trial between CRF and Cuba ends this Thursday with the reply to the allegations. (Judicial Office, UK)

EFE/14ymedio, London, 1 February 2023 — The National Bank of Cuba (BNC) and the Republic of Cuba have begun their final arguments this Wednesday in the trial in London against the CRF investment fund to settle the ownership of the 72 million euro sovereign debt that it claims.

Attorney Alison Macdonald has refuted one by one the legal arguments raised since January 23 by CRF, which this afternoon will do the same with the Cuban position, before both have the right to reply on Thursday.

Macdonald reiterated that the transfer to the fund of the contractual rights to that debt which, until then, was managed by the ICBC Standard Bank, was “defective.” It was authorized on November 25, 2019 by former BNC director of operations Raúl Olivera Lozano, who has testified that he himself failed to comply with the procedures.

The lawyer asked Judge Sara Cockerill of the commercial division of the London High Court to “reject” CRF’s allegation that Olivera’s 13-year sentence in May 2021 was “a farce” for allegedly accepting a bribe of Jeetkumar Gordhandas, a consultant to the investment group registered in 2009 in the Cayman Islands.

“There is no evidence, much less admissible evidence in this trial, that supports the allegation that the Cuban sentence and the investigation processes and the trial that led to it proceeded on the basis of false or invented evidence,” Macdonald said. continue reading

The lawyer added that “there is no evidence” to “challenge the honesty” of the Cuban authorities who, after receiving another request from CRF in November 2020, expressly denied the reassignment of the debt, considering that it was a “vulture fund” focused on claiming its payment through the court.

Her colleague Anton Dudnikov then questioned “the experience” and rigor of the testimony offered to CRF by the Spanish-based Cuban lawyer Hossana Rodríguez Calvo, who did not hide “her feelings against the Cuban regime,” and pointed out that his own legal expert, Juan Mendoza, was more reliable.

The Cuban Minister of Justice, Oscar Silvera, arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday to witness the last sessions of the trial. “I’m in London. I will participate in the final days of the hearing at the High Court of England. We defend the truth: Banco Nacional and Cuba confirm that CRF has not been and is not its creditor,” he wrote on Twitter.

The parties are expected to conclude their arguments on Thursday, when the magistrate will indicate the approximate date on which she could pronounce her ruling, which may take weeks.

Once it is known, the parties can appeal, so the process could be extended in time.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Deaths From Traffic Crashes Rose 18 Percent in 2022

In all of 2021, 8,354 claims occurred, which represented an increase of 8.32% (632) compared to 2020. (Amed Hermano/Facebook)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 1 February 2023 — A total of 700 people lost their lives in Cuba in traffic crashes in 2022, which represents an 18% increase compared to those who died from this cause in 2021 (589), the state press reported on Tuesday.

According to the head of the specialized Transit body of the General Police Directorate, Colonel Roberto Rodríguez, quoted by the Granma newspaper, the island registered 9,848 traffic crashes last year, an increase of 17% compared to 2021, a year of lower mobility due to measures to mitigate the spread of covid-19.

Pedestrians run over accounted for 22% of the deaths, according to the newspaper, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). In total, the injured totaled 7,547, an annual increase of 28%, added the official, who mentioned as causes, as usual, social “indiscipline” and the “additional irruption of nearly 300,000 motorcycles and mopeds on the same road axis.”

“More than half of the crashes (53.2%) were due to collisions with moving vehicles, even though only 7.6% (753) had unfavorable road conditions, with potholes or cracks,” the newspaper stated.

Just two days ago, the official newspaper of Matanzas, Girón, published a contribution by a journalism student who denounced the influence of the poor condition of the roads on the high accident rate on the Island. continue reading

“It is impossible to separate these facts from the marked deterioration of the roads, primary and secondary, as well as the deficient presence of signs on the different sections of the roads. For their part, public lighting and traffic lights on the busiest arteries, sometimes, do not work properly,” read the note.

The criticism did not stop there and, based on data from the National Information and Statistics Office (Onei), the fall in investments in transport, which decreased from 11.7% in 2021 to 10.2% in 2022.

The article also mentioned the Cuban automobile fleet. “Although there are no statistics in this regard, at first glance it presents a high degree of antiquity. A good part of the cars date from the 1950s, the so-called almendrones*, or from the 1990s of the 20th century, brought from the former Soviet Union,” it added.

Idael Valdés Martínez, author of the article, also blurted out: “No one doubts the financial limitations of the country and, especially in the transport sector, but one might wonder if a truly appropriate job is being carried out in the technical inspections of vehicles, since in many cases people approach them and, at first glance, realize that they do not meet the conditions to drive on the road and thus put at risk the safety of pedestrians and drivers.”

According to the data provided yesterday, Havana, Holguín, Villa Clara and Santiago de Cuba registered the highest numbers of reports and increase in accidents by province.

The mortality rate was 6.2 per 100,000 inhabitants; while Sunday was the deadliest day, with one death for every 10 crashes. The age of the victims ranged from 26 to 35 years.

*Translator’s note: Almendron borrows the Spanish word for ‘almond’ to refer to old American cars, derived from their ‘almond-shape.’

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Cuba Condemns 15 Protesters of 11J (11 July 2021) to Sentences of Up To 13 Years

During one of the days of the trial, two of the attorneys criticized the proceedings against the protesters. (Capture)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 25 January 2023 — A court in Havana handed down sentences which ranged from four years of “limited liberty” to 13 years in prison to 15 protesters from July 11, 2021 (11J), the largest protests in decades.

According to the decision, dated January 23, which EFE accessed this Wednesday, the People’s Provincial Tribunal in Havana convicted them of “sedition,” but issued sentences that, for the most part, were shorter than those sought by the prosecution.

The sentencing, which still is not final and could still be revised, followed a trial that took place last November and that garnered a lot of media attention on the island.

Among those on trial was Jonathan Torres, a young man who at the time of the events was 17 years old (the only minor in this trial). The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Cuba is 16. He is one of the 55 people between 16 and 17 years of age who have faced criminal prosecution for the events of 11J, as confirmed by Cuba’s Attorney General.

In Torres’s case, the tribunal sentenced him to four years of “limited liberty” (though the Prosecutor sought five.) This means that he will not go to prison, but rather, will have his movements controlled by a judge. continue reading

Similarly, three people were sentenced to correctional labor without internment and another three with internment. In the statements made to EFE, Orlando Ramírez, Torres’s step father, described the proceedings as a “show” and, although he believed the determination to be a “victory,” he added that “really [the trial against his stepson[ is an error because he did not do anything.”

In sum, sentences totaling 75 years in prison were handed down to the protesters.

The tribunal accepted as proven facts that those convicted were moving about the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo with “the purpose of generating destabilization of the social and political order established in the Republic of Cuba.”

In addition, they were accused of throwing rocks and yelling slogans against Miguel Díaz-Canel. However, according to the document, at least three of those accused denied having been present during the events.

The mothers of two of the accused were called to make statements, but they refused.

The trial took place with witnesses for the prosecution — mostly police officers — who were censored by the defense for their hesitations and changes in their testimonies, as EFE learned at the time from a source that was in the courtroom.

Similarly, during the trial, charges of “assault, public disorder, contempt and instigating a crime” were replaced by the crime of “sedition.”

This change provoked discontent among at least two of the attorneys — according to the same source — because this type of crime implies “an intention to destabilize the order of the State,” according to the Criminal Code.

According to their arguments, this cannot be proven because those 15 people participated in a protest that occurred far from the seat of power of the Cuban government.

During one of the days of the trial, two of the attorneys criticized the proceedings against the 11J protesters, as EFE learned at the time.

One of them said, “It is time the country begins to heal its wounds, it is time for the country to sit and have a dialogue, it is time for the country to create public spaces so that all people who do not think the same way can protest safely and legally without being charged with a crime.”

The Cuban Minister of Justice, Óscar Silvera, had a meeting last week with ambassadors from the European Union where they proposed a pardon for the protesters, as EFE learned.

As of now, 700 sentences have been handed down, according to the registry maintained by Justicia 11J and Cubalex. Of those cases, some sentences are as long as 30 years in jail for the crime of sedition.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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Cuba and EU Hold Talks on Those Condemned for 11 July 2021 Protests

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 21 January 2023 — Cuba’s Minister of Justice, Óscar Silvera, met with ambassadors from the European Union (EU) to discuss the sentences of those who protested, across Cuba, in the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (11J), according to what EFE has learned.

The meeting, held this Wednesday within the framework of the Cuba-EU Political Dialogue, had an open and frank atmosphere, according to both parties, who assessed the meeting positively. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the meeting in a statement as a “sincere, open, respectful and profitable conversation.”

Diplomatic sources explained to EFE that the European side even raised the pardon of the protesters of the 11J protests, the largest demosntrations in decades on the Island. Some 700 sentences have been handed down so far, according to activists who keep track of these cases, some of them up to 30 years in prison for the crime of sedition.

Silvera, who qualified that there is no legal possibility of an amnesty in Cuba, noted the request for pardon from the European side, although without committing himself to anything. The repercussions of the new Cuban Penal Code, which entered into force last December and toughens the penalties for protesters, dissidents and activists, were also discussed at the meeting. continue reading

The meeting did not address bills currently being processed and that are generating some social controversy, such as the Social Communication Law, which prohibits independent media, or the Public Health Law, which would legalize euthanasia.

The European representation already met with members of Cuba’s Supreme People’s Court at the end of last year and plans to meet with representatives of the island’s Attorney General’s Office.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the meeting took place to “give continuity to the bilateral political dialogue” within the Political Dialogue, the “governing instrument” of relations between Cuba and the European bloc in force since 2017.

The political dialogue, according to the Ministry, “made it possible to intensify cooperation and generated opportunities for exchange on issues of mutual interest, such as human rights, unilateral coercive measures and sustainable development.”

Around twenty representatives from Cuba participated in the meeting –among them Silvera and several deputy ministers and general directors from his department – and from the EU, with the community ambassador to the island, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, at the head of the delegation.

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President of the Central Bank of Cuba Insists that the Lender CRF Did Not ‘Legally’ Acquire Cuba’s Debt

On the placards, demonstrators in favor of the trial in London classified the Castro brothers as terrorists. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), London, 25 January 2023 — During the trial in London on Wednesday, the president of the Central Bank of Cuba (BNC), Joscelín Río Álvarez, said that the CRF investment fund “did not legally acquire the Cuban debt,” according to the country’s legislation and does not appear on the institution’s registers.

As a lender, CRF, which was established in 2009 in the Cayman Islands, has brought a claim before the British court against BNC, with Cuba as the guarantor for payment of obligations totaling 72 million euros derived from loan contracts with European signed in the 1980s.

In a process that will take several days, Judge Sara Cockerill, of the Commercial High Court of London, will first determine whether the investment group is or is not a legitimate creditor to Cuba, which considers it a “vulture fund”, created only to accumulate unpaid Cuban debt and force payment through the courts.

According to procedural documents, CRF holds Cuban sovereign debt valued at 1.2 billion euros (which means they posses the contractual rights to collect it), which would make it the world’s largest debt holder.

Río Álvarez, who took charge in May 2020, maintained that CRF is not registered as a lender at BNC (only its application) and reiterated that the determination authorizing its status on November 25, 2019 by Raúl Olivera Lozano, a government official who has been convicted for accepting a bribe from agents of the fund and violating procedures, is invalid. continue reading

CRF alleges, for its part, that the determination of the contractual rights to the 72 million euro debt, which had previously been held by ICBC Standard Bank (the British affiliate of the Chinese ICBC bank), was legal. And stated that the accusations against Olivera and other colleagues sentenced to prison “are pretexts fabricated” by the Cuban state “to elude its obligations.”

Yesterday Olivera declared, also by videoconference from Havana, that CRF’s consultant, Jeetkumar Gordhandas offered him money to transfer the titles, which he did illegally, with only one signature (instead of two) and without consulting the Cuban government.

On Wednesday, Río Álvarez underscored that “no BNC employee is authorized to act on behalf of the Government of Cuba.” CRF states that it is not a vulture fund and highlights that for years it attempted to negotiate with Cuba to restructure its debt, without a response.

In parallel to the London trial, dozens demonstrated on Tuesday in Miami (USA) in support of the lawsuit brought forth by CRF. People gathered near the Versailles restaurant, on the emblematic 8th Street, the usual site for Cubans in exile to protest against the Government of Havana, shouting and insulting the Castro brothers, calling for a convinction before the Criminal Court in The Hague.

On the placards, demonstrators in favor of the trial in London classified the Castro brothers as terrorists and called for freedom for political prisoners being held in prisons on the Island by the Government of Havana .

The CRF I fund, the London Club’s largest holder of Cuban debt, initially sought 100 million euros for loans to the insular government by European banks Crédit Lyonnais and L’Istituto Bancario Italiano.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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Cuba Siglo 21 Calls to ‘Checkmate the Regime’ Instead of ‘Rescuing the Dying’

Blanco believes that “in the short term” there will be a change in Cuba and that the military will play a fundamental role. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 18 January 2023 — The “governance system” in Cuba, an indebted Country, without credit or resources and with growing protests and an unending exodus, “could break at any moment” and it is not the time to “strengthen” the cause of the crisis, warns an analysis conducted by a new “ideas laboratory” in Miami and Madrid.

During a press conference on Tuesday, historian Juan Antonio Blanco and economist Emilio Morales, two of the members of Cuba Siglo 21, an organization founded last December, said, “In Cuba even the ideology has collapsed.”

Their objective, with this and other published reports is for those who have to deal with or negotiate with Cuba to know “the nature” of the system and “where the true power lies,” they said.

In their opinion, there has never before been an opportunity like the current one to “checkmate the Cuban regime” and stop playing games that end in a “draw,” as, according to them, has been happening internationally since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959.

Although he says that “the future is never predetermined,” Blanco believes that “in the short term” there will be a change in Cuba and that the military will play a fundamental role, unless what historians refer to as a “black swan” appears on the scene, a circumstantial event which could suddenly change everything.

If the military are the ones that lead the change, it remains to be seen whether they will impose an opening that is only economic, in the style of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, or also political to move toward democracy. “What is not viable is to rescue the dying,” he asserts. continue reading

Although Morales and Blanco maintain that the solution must come from Cubans, they exhort the US to consider what sense does it make at the moment to relieve the pressure on the Government of the Island for failing to meet the needs of the population.

A record number, over 300,000 Cubans entered the US through the Mexican border in 2022 and now the Government led by Joe Biden has established a quota of 360,000 visas for them and for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians.

“The crisis will not be resolved by strengthening those who have created the instability in Cuba,” says Blanco, the former President of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights, based in Miami.

The preliminary analysis published today Cuba Siglo 21’s web site is based on the idea that Cuba is no longer a socialist state that tends to the needs of its citizens, but rather a “mafia state” in which an “opaque oligarchy” which surrounds the “Castro clan” controls the country’s resources, according to the report.

The true power in Cuba — states the report — is not the “bureaucratic, institutionalized” government, but rather the oligarchy represented by the Gaesa consortium, which, according to the data analyzed, has $8.2 million in capital and controls 70% of the economy and 95% of the finances.

Gaesa, which belongs to the Armed Forces, has its businesses registered outside the Island, in Panama, Luxembourg, and other countries and not as Cuban businesses, states the Cuba Siglo 21 report.

According to Morales, Gaesa is probably the company with most hotel rooms in all of Latin America, more than 37,000 distributed among 117 hotels, despite the declining number of visitors to the Island.

“Mafia state is not an epithet, it is a reality,” said Blanco, who during the press conference linked Gaesa with international organized crime and with illicit activities such as money laundering.

Morales stated that Gaesa also obtains resources from remittances worth millions, which Cubans abroad send to their family members, as well as the medical missions abroad.

According to Morales, who is a well-regarded consultant on the Cuban economy, Cuba is in “bankruptcy,” although the Paris Club forgave $42 million in debt in 2015.

The debt acknowledged by the government is $20 billion but that does not include the $15 billion and $18 billion it owes Venezuela and the $6 billion to Argentina, to mention a few, as he said.

To recover the sugar industry, which once was the largest producer in the world and now must import to satisfy the domestic market, they will need $10 billion and the same amount to transform the energy grid.

If the trial against the Cuban state in British courts for non-payment ends up in a conviction for Cuba, Morales predicts it will result in a long list of similar lawsuits and embargoes on Cuban goods in other countries.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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At Least 36 Migrants Died Trying to Cross the Darien Jungle in 2022

File photography of migrants in the Darien Gap (Colombia). (EFE/Mauricio Duenas Castañeda)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Geneva, 17 January 2023 — At least 36 migrants died in 2022 when they tried to cross the Darien jungle, on the border between Panama and Colombia, one of the most dangerous routes in the world, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

The figure, derived from data from the Missing Migrants Project (which provides daily updates on people who perish on migration routes around the globe) is possibly “only a small fraction of the true number of lives lost” in that area, warns the IOM in a statement.

“Many migrants die in the Darién Gap without their remains being recovered or [anyone] notified,” stresses the organization, which calls for the establishment of “safe, orderly and regular alternative routes to prevent migrants from being in a situation of vulnerability.”

IOM also calls for investigation into human smuggling networks, as well as increased investment and support in migrant host communities.

The United Nations agency gives this figure a week after the Panamanian government reported that in 2022 the number of migrants who crossed the Darién almost doubled compared to 2021, rising to almost 250,000 (including 150,000 Venezuelans, 29,000 Ecuadorians, 22,000 Haitians and almost 6,000 Cubans).

This increase, the IOM affirms, “coincides with the deterioration of economic and social conditions in the countries of origin and throughout Latin America,” a situation that according to the organization must be responded to “with a coordinated regional response and international cooperation to face the urgent humanitarian needs.”

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From 23 January Cuba will Require all Tourists to Complete a Digital Registration

Check-in desks at José Martí International Airport in Havana (14ymedio)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 12 January 2023 — Cuba will require all travellers to fill out an online form from the end of January (which will include personal and health related information) up to 48 hours before travelling, authorities on the Island announced on Thursday.

The measure was published on Thursday in the Gaceta Oficial and it will come into force from one minute past midnight on 23 January. The announcement had been made in a press conference by Rita María García, director of Aerial Transport and International Relations at the Cuban Institute for Civil Aviation.

The registration will be made on the “D’Viajeros” platform, which has been working in a test phase and which has so far been used by 1.7 million travellers.

The previous option of filing in a paper form on arrival at the airport will no longer be available. continue reading

“The filling out of forms in advance will minimise physical contact and shorten a traveller’s time in the epidemiological surveillance queue/line, which will help to avoid bottlenecks”, said Carmelo Trujillo, head of Sanitary Control at the Ministry of Public Health.

Once the form has been completed, including information about possible contacts with Covid-19 infection, the platform will generate a QR code which will be required to be shown at check-in of the airport of departure, as well as in Cuba on arrival.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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The Key to a Temporary Permit for Migrants from Cuba

Agents of the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) at an entrance port will inspect and consider each case on a discretionary basis. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, January 7, 2023 — On Friday, the United States began to accept applications for migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti, who will be able to benefit from a humanitarian program, which has already helped Venezuelans and Ukrainians, allowing them to enter the country with a two-year stay permit.

The United States will accept 30,000 migrants a month from these three countries who meet the following requirements. All applicants must have a sponsor in the United States who commits to providing financial support during their two-year stay.

Sponsors can be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, immigrants with Temporary Protection Status (TPS) or asylees, who demonstrate that they can receive, maintain and support the beneficiary during their stay in the country under the program.

The sponsor must ensure that the beneficiary has safe and adequate housing. He or she will also have to help the beneficiary complete the necessary documentation, such as employment authorization, a Social Security card and the services for which he may be eligible.

In addition, the sponsor must ensure that the beneficiary has medical care for the two years and help him get a job and access education, such as learning English. Minors accepted under this program must go to school. continue reading

A sponsor can support more than one beneficiary; for example, different members of a family group, but must submit a separate application for each beneficiary, even if they are minor children of the main beneficiary.

Several sponsors can join to support an applicant, although they must explain to the Government why they want to share responsibility. The ability of these supporters to support a beneficiary will be evaluated collectively, the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) advises.

The Government has recommended that applicants go to organizations such as Welcome.us and Community Sponsorship Hub to obtain guidance on the process. All applicants must have a valid passport. They must also pass rigorous biometric and biographical examinations for national security and public safety.

The request can be made from the country of origin or from Mexico. It is not necessary for the applicant to be at the border.

The U.S. Government enabled the ’CBP One’ mobile application so that after the USCIS confirms a beneficiary’s information and eligibility, they can access the service to complete the procedure.

Through CBP One, the applicant will receive authorization to travel, which will be valid for 90 days. The USCIS said this Friday that the approval of travel authorization does not guarantee entry into the United States.

Agents of the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) at an entrance port will inspect and consider each case on a discretionary basis.

Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans, who enter the United States, Mexico or Panama without authorization from January 5, 2023, will not be eligible for this process, including unaccompanied minors from the four countries.

The USCIS issued that warning and alerted applicants not to submit contrary information because they can become victims of coyote scams that make false promises. The United States will deport those who do not comply with the process, using Title 42, which allows them to be expelled quickly at the border for health reasons.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Will Suffer Blackouts in 7 Percent of its Territory

The Cuban authorities attribute the energy crisis in the country to breaks and failures in thermoelectric plants, fuel shortages and scheduled maintenance. (EFE)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, January 6, 2022 — The company Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE) predicted for this Friday that the blackouts will simultaneously affect up to 6.9% of the territory during the busiest time. This is the second consecutive day this week with an estimate of blackouts due to deficit in electricity generation after almost three weeks without cuts, according to the company’s data.

The Island ended last year — and began this one — without “scheduled” cuts in the electricity supply, unlike most of 2022, when blackouts exceeded ten hours a day.

But the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, recently told national television that they foresee interruptions between January and April. The minister clarified that they will be “shorter” and will respond to maintenance in thermoelectric power plants for the summer months, when demand increases.

It is the end of the cycle opened by Miguel Díaz-Canel in May 2021, when he promised the cessation of blackouts on a date that he postponed again and again until December.

The days without blackouts on the Island coincided with the drop in temperatures and energy consumption (households stopped using air conditioners and fans). O Levy himself admitted it on National Television. continue reading

With the cold fronts, the demand for energy to power the equipment decreased. On Tuesday, O Levy explained the maintenance program, which will be more intense in February because “it is one of the coldest and most opportune months,” but then added: “Although the results aren’t because of the weather, they’re because of the work of the electricians.”

The Cuban authorities attribute the energy crisis in the country to the breaks and failures of the — obsolete and lacking investment — thermoelectric plants, fuel shortages and scheduled maintenance.

Most of Cuba’s eight land power plants have operated for more than 40 years, when the average age for these plants is 30 years. Power cuts have affected economic activity and the lives of Cubans during 2022, which generated social discontent and protests.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Florida Activates the National Guard to Confront the Wave of Cuban Balseros

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 7 January 2023 — The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed an executive order on Friday that allows him to mobilize National Guard troops and allocate new state resources to face the migratory wave of Cubans and Haitians that affects the southern part of the state, as well as “to help relieve the pressure on local resources.”

The executive order will allow the state to “deploy aerial assets, including planes and helicopters of the Florida National Guard,” says a statement from the governor’s office.

The measure aims to “strengthen the marine patrol of the Florida Wildlife Conservation and Fisheries Commission (FWC) to support interceptions” at sea and “ensure the safety of migrants trying to reach Florida.”

DeSantis, a Republican, argues in his executive order that, in the first two months of the current fiscal year alone (beginning October 1), the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested more than 460,000 people trying to enter the country through the southwestern border.

The governor’s order was given one day after the United States announced a new immigration plan for undocumented immigrants arriving in the country by land.

President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Mexico has agreed to admit 30,000 immigrants a month from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti after they are expelled from U.S. territory for irregularly crossing the border. continue reading

“My message is this: If you are trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, do not show up at the border. Stay where you are and make the request legally,” Biden said.

However, the announcement does not detail the situation of Cubans and Haitians who arrive by sea in precarious boats and who, according to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, have overwhelmed the state’s resources.

In a letter, Rubio requested support from the federal government on Thursday in the face of the massive arrival of immigrants in south Florida, especially along the coasts of the keys of this state, which in the last three days has surpassed 1,000 people.

About a hundred Cuban migrants arrived at the Florida keys in just 24 hours in makeshift boats, thereby increasing the number of undocumented immigrants on this territory, the CBP reported on Friday.

There are 606 more who have been intercepted at sea by the immigration authorities, according to figures released by the Southeast National Security Task Force (HSTF-SE).

Also, the arrival of 364 immigrants last weekend at Dry Tortugas National Park forced its temporary closure in the middle of the holiday season in order to facilitate the work of rescuing the people stranded on the islets.

The immigrants, mostly Cubans and Haitians, arrived on multiple and precarious boats on several islands in the Florida Keys archipelago, in Monroe County, the extreme south of the United States.

Walter N. Slosar, head of the Miami Sector of CBP, said in a recent statement that since October 1, 2022, the sector has experienced an increase of 400% in people arriving by sea, who are arrested upon disembarking.

So far in fiscal year 2023, since last October 1, the Coast Guard has intercepted 3,839 Cubans at sea, a significant escalation of arrests compared to the 838 intercepted in fiscal year 2021, and 6,182 in 2022.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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