EFE – Page 18 – Translating Cuba

Cuba and Spain Share a Common Creative Space in a Collective Exhibition

The Cuban artist Francisco Alejandro is part of the exhibition, installed in an old factory in Havana. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 28 November 2022 — On Saturday, ten Spanish and eight Cuban creatives inaugurated an exhibition titled: “Artists in Production”, a joint project which uses only the materials already available in the exhibition space — an old factory.

The project, promoted by the independent art studios, Estudio 50 and Figueroa–Vives, in Havana, and Nave Oporto from Madrid, proposes 18 installations which will “use elements already existing in the space”, explained Cristina Vives, curator of the show, speaking to EFE.

“None of the works should arrive here at Estudio 50 (the exhibition’s site) in a finished state, instead it’s all about how the space itself can intervene in the creation of the work”, the art critic added.

In the middle of setting up the exhibition Vives recounted that “it’s been ten whole days of sharing ideas on how to complete each of the works, whilst also thinking about the world in which we live, as well as our own artistic inclinations”.

“We have to work together. However dynamic, independent and creative we are as individuals, we can achieve much more together”, said the curator of a project which is also supported by the Spanish and Norwegian embassies in Cuba. continue reading

The concept of converting old factories into spaces for exhibiting contemporary art is the line promoted by the Nave Oporto studio in the Spanish capital, which has taken the idea to Cuba to promote this collective show, in which artists such as Miguel Fructuoso, Elvira Amor and Miki Leal are participating.

Fructuoso commented that beyond the mere artistic process itself, the essential thing has been the “human connection” with Cuban colleagues participating in the exhibition, including Francisco Alejandro y Lorena Gutiérrez.

For his part, Alejandro expressed that it has been an opportunity to “exchange ideas between, and enrich current cultural contexts in” Cuba and Spain.

They each agree that it has been a “marvellous experience” for both parties.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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Canada Condemns the ‘Hard Sentences’ Against the July 11, 2021 (11J) Protesters in Cuba

Cuban-Canadian Michael Lima, human rights activist and director of Democratic Spaces. (Facebook)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Toronto, 25 November 2022 — Canada communicated to Cuba its “great concern” about the “violent repression” of the protests on the Island and condemned the sentences against the protesters of July 11, 2021, but did not indicate whether it will sanction the Cuban regime, as human rights organizations have requested.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada told EFE that it has transmitted “to the highest levels” of the Cuban regime its concern about the repression against protesters, journalists and activists, and that it condemns the “hard sentences” of the 11J protesters, up to 13 years in prison, according to the ruling leaked this month.

“Canada will continue to raise its concerns to Cuban officials about human rights violations,” the spokeswoman for the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sabrina Williams, told EFE.

Williams also confirmed that senior Canadian officials met with the NGO Democratic Spaces, which on November 14, together with the Cuba Decide organization, requested sanctions by Ottawa against Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, senior officials and other entities of the regime for human rights violations. continue reading

The spokeswoman did not indicate whether Canada will sanction the Cuban regime, but added that the Canadian government considers it important to “provide a voice for human rights defenders and better understand their concerns and also to express them to Cuban officials.”

Michael Lima, a human rights activist and director of Democratic Spaces, confirmed to EFE that he met with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 16, and said that, although Ottawa has not announced sanctions against the regime, he detected a change in mentality in the Canadian authorities.

“We are pleased that Canada understands that Cuba is a dictatorship, one of the oldest in the world, and that there needs to be justice. I liked seeing the change of mentality in Canadian government officials, who understand that human rights are systematically violated in Cuba,” he said.

Lima blamed Canada’s different attitude towards countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Iran, to which Ottawa has applied sanctions similar to those requested against Cuba, in the absence of information about what is happening in the country.

“We are asking for uniformity in (Canadian) foreign policy,” he explained.

The director of Democratic Spaces believes that the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, “admires” the Cuban regime for the friendship between Fidel Castro and his father, Pierre Trudeau, who led Canada twice, first from 1968 to 1979 and later from 1980 to 1984.

“And if the prime minister has that position, it influences the formulation of foreign policy,” he said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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More than 75 Cubans Arrive in Florida by Sea on Thanksgiving Day

“Our teams will continue patrolling by air, land and sea during the entire holiday season. Those who attempt to enter the United States illegally will be rescued and repatriated.”

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 24 November 2022 — More than 75 migrants arrived aboard rafts at various points in the Florida Keys in the last few hours, according to official sources who, on Thursday, informed Miami television channel Local 10.

On Thanksgiving Day, the most important non-religious holiday in the United States, at least four landings of migrants occurred in the chain of islands situated between the continental US and Cuba.

“Our teams will continue patrolling by air, land and sea during the holiday season. Those who attempt to enter the United States illegally by sea will be rescued and repatriated,” Walter N. Slosar, chief of the Border Patrol (CBP) for the Miami sector, wrote on Twitter.

More than 30 migrants arrived at the uninhabited Marquesa Key, the western-most islet of the Florida straits, according to sources cited by Local 10.

Another ten arrived by boat at Dry Toturgas Key, a tourist destination for scuba diving that has no permanent residents, 19 landed in Marathon and another 17 at Grassy Key, reported Slosar.

All of them were detained and remained in the custody of the Border Patrol. continue reading

The information does not mention the nationality of the migrants arriving in the Keys, but it is the part of the United States closest to Cuba and it is understood that it is likely they are Cubans.

Border Patrol agents intercepted at sea 1,132 Cubans during the month of October, a significant number taking into account that in the prior 12 months 6,182 were intercepted, according to figures from the American Coast Guard.

The number of Cubans intercepted trying to enter the United States by land is even higher.

The Border Patrol indicated last week that a total of 29,872 Cubans entered the United States in an irregular manner via land borders in October, in the middle of a migratory crisis that had generated the greatest exodus of people from the island in decades.

The majority of Cubans, 28,848 of the total, made their entry via the Mexican border.

Only Mexico, with 67,186 migrants, exceeded the number of Cubans entering the United States during this time period, according to updated data from the CBP.

Translated by Wilfredo Diaz Echevarria

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Members of US Congress Meet in Havana with the Authorities and Producers

Meeting of US members of Congress and Cuban officials this Tuesday in Havana.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 23 November 2022 A bipartisan delegation of the US Congress, composed of three members of the agricultural committee, met in Havana with the Cuban vice-president, Salvador Valdés Mesa, deputies and producers, according to official newspaper Granma this Wednesday.

Representing the US were Salud Carbajal(D), James Baird(R) and Jahana Hayes(D), members of the House of Representatives and the Agricultural Committee of the US Congress, who have been in Cuba since last Saturday, according to the newspaper.

They also visited scientific and commercial entities, added the source, without providing details of discussions in these encounters.

In the meeting with the Cuban vice-president in the offices of the Caribbean executive, participated the interim minister of External Relations, Geraldo Peñalver; the vice-chancellor Carlos Fernández deCossio and the charge d’affaires in Washington DC, Lyanis Torres. continue reading

Also present was the charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Havana, Benjamin Ziff.

The information provided does not clarify anything else surrounding the stay of the US Congress members, whose visit takes place during the intensifying formal bilateral relations of the last few months.

This year has seen sustained contacts between the two countries in the areas of immigration, commerce and disaster aid.

Although quite far from the levels of the so-called “thaw” during the last term of Barack Obama, there have been some gestures and signals in both directions in the recent past, according to concurring experts.

Translated by Wilfredo Diaz Echevarria

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Religious Dissidents Form an Alliance in Cuba for ‘Freedom of Worship’

The Alliance of Christians of Cuba was constituted last week, the OCDH reported. (Captura)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 22 November 2022 — About thirty community leaders have formed the Alliance of Christians of Cuba with the aim of “working for freedom of association and worship” and “demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners.”

According to a statement released on Monday by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), based in Madrid, the alliance was formed last weekend in the east of the Island.

The group, the note added, will also work for “the immediate invalidation of the new Family Code,” a legislative package approved in a referendum last September that provides, among other things, the right to same-sex marriage and adoption. continue reading

The code was already rejected by Catholic groups in Cuba and also by some of the opposition, either because participating in the referendum was a “validation” of the Government or because minority rights were put to a vote.

Similarly, the “alliance has among its purposes to extend pastoral work to all regions of the country,” the text highlighted.

“Our people today suffer the worst difficulties after decades of hardships, years of constant deprivation of their rights and freedoms, and shortages that have corroded society and poison all areas of human work,” the statement said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Government is Committed to Reducing ‘Obstacles that Hinder the Business Climate’

The Government has been discreet about the identity of Cuban-American businessmen, and the official press has not described the alleged opportunities offered to the group. (Twitter/Fihav)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 19 November 2022 — The Government of Cuba concluded this Friday the 38th edition of the Havana International Fair (Fihav) with the commitment to reduce “the obstacles that can hinder the business climate” on the Island.

During the closing of the event, Interim Minister of Internal Trade and Foreign Investment, Ana Teresita González, stressed that the “biggest milestone” of the fair was the presence of “new economic actors and Cubans living abroad.” Since 2021 almost 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] have been approved.

This year, Fihav focused on attracting the investment of Cubans abroad, especially from the United States, who had a special panel dedicated to them for the first time. The Government has been discreet about the identity of these Cuban-American businessmen, and the official press has not described the supposed opportunities offered to the group.

Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade, stated that Fihav was designed “specifically so that they know better what can be done” and “to give them all the information so that they can do business with Cuba.” Fihav’s official sites have avoided disseminating the content of these “special” panels and meetings, although the minister reported that American firms — including those of Cubans living in the United States — should in any case ask for permission from the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control. continue reading

The Island’s main commercial exchange ended with more than 50 agreements signed between Cuba and foreign companies, according to the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Luis Carricarte, speaking on state television.

In total, 402 Cuban companies were present, 70 of them SMEs, and delegations from 62 countries.

The Organizing Committee recognized the pavilions of South Africa, Italy, Venezuela and Mexico “for the quality of their designs and the massive participation of their companies,” according to the Cuban News Agency.

The Mexican pavilion — with 40 companies — received special attention from the Island executives, who are aligned with the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

On the Fair’s Mexico Day, last Tuesday, three Cuban ministers were present: Malmierca of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Juan Carlos García Granda of Tourism and Eloy Álvarez of Industries.

Cuba took advantage of this opportunity to present, as it usually does at this event, its portfolio of investment opportunities with 708 projects, 30 more than in 2021, in which the food production sector cornered 197 of them.

Due to the health measures from the coronavirus pandemic, the Fihav had been replaced in 2020 and 2021 by a business forum and a virtual fair.

The last face-to-face edition, in 2019, was attended by more than 4,000 participants from about 70 countries, of which Spain was the most represented with 110 companies, 30 more than in this edition, according to official data.

Two hundred eighty foreign companies from some 40 countries operate on the Island, including Spain, Canada and China.

The Cuban Government has relaxed its rules to attract more foreign capital in different areas of the economy, in the midst of a deep crisis — and the lack of currency in circulation — as a result of the pandemic, US sanctions and errors in management.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Justicia 11J Denounces the Arrests of Prisoners’ Relatives in Cuba

Relatives of prisoners arrested on Wednesday in Havana. (Facebook)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 17 November 2022 — Cuban organization Justicia 11J denounced on Wednesday the arrest of six relatives of people arrested for protesting on July 11, 2021 in the largest antigovernment protests in decades on the Island.

The arrests took place, according to this organization, “to prevent their attendance” at the United States Embassy in Cuba where a State Department delegation was visiting the Island.

Three of the family members have already been released and two more have not been able to leave their homes which are surrounded by a police perimeter, according to the NGO.

The Cuban independent media outlet, El Toque, added that the events occurred on Wednesday and that those involved were attempting to reach the embassy “for the visit” of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Emily Mendrala.

The Embassy has condemned the events in a communication on social media. “We condemn the Cuban government’s detention of family members of imprisoned #11J protesters who were scheduled to meet with American officials today in Havana. Preventing parents from talking about their jailed children is unjust and inhumane,” states the message.

“These families,” it continues, “have a right to speak to the international community and anyone else they choose regarding the condition of their loved ones. We join calls for the Cuban government to immediately release all those unjustly detained.” continue reading

Deputy Assistant Secretary Emily Mendrala is the head of a delegation that, on Tuesday, held a round of conversations in Havana on irregular migration with representatives from the Cuban government led by Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, Carlos Fernández de Cossio.

The trials of the July 11, 2021 protesters have been taking place in Cuba since the end of 2021 while family members of those convicted and NGOs have criticized them for their lack of due process guarantees, fabrication of evidence and the long sentences.

Foreign media do not have access to the trials, nor do organizations such as Amnesty International, which had put in a request, nor the ambassadors of some European countries who tried unsuccessfully to attend.

Cuba’s Supreme Court states that due process has been adhered to in all of the 11J cases.

According to the NGOs Cubalex and Justicia 11J, following last year’s protests close to 600 sentences have been handed down, some as long as 30 years in jail.

Since July of this year protests have been documented throughout the country, especially in the last several days due to frequent blackouts and the handling of the impact of Hurricane Ian on the national electric system.

The Observatory of Cuban Conflict (OCC), based in Miami, logged 589 protests in October, five more than those documemented in July 2021.

The Cuban Attorney General warned at the beginning of last month that it will investigate the recent protests and that criminal acts “will receive the corresponding criminal judicial response.”

Translated by: Silvia Suarez

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Russia and Cuba Address the ‘Unacceptable’ Unilateral Sanctions Against Their Countries

Ricardo Cabrisas, Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba and main negotiator of its foreign debt. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow, 18 November 2022 — On Thursday, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Riabkov and the Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba, Ricardo Cabrisas, addressed the “unacceptable” unilateral sanctions against their respective countries.

Both “underlined the firm position of both countries that unilateral sanctions in violation of the UN Charter and the principles and norms of international law are unacceptable,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Riabkov also expressed his “unconditional support of Cuba for lifting the illegal US embargo on the Island.”

The deputy minister and Cabrisas held a meeting on the eve of the XIX meeting of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission on Commercial, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

During the meeting, Riabkov and Cabrisas also discussed current issues for the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Moscow and Havana in the political, commercial, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

In addition, they exchanged views on key issues of the international and regional agenda.

The meeting takes place before the arrival of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Saturday night in Moscow, where at the beginning of the week he will meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Boris Titov, Russian Presidential Commissioner for the Rights of Workers, who was invited to the Havana International Fair (Fihav), said hours earlier from the Island that Cuba and his country are negotiating the possibility of carrying out transactions in rubles and cryptocurrencies with the aim of dodging international sanctions and facilitating “mutual payments.”

The politician stated that “compensation mechanisms” and other “private” options are also valued as an alternative to payment in dollars.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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U.S. Pro-Castro Groups Bring Food and Medical Supplies to Cuba

The donation includes surgical gloves and medical supplies that will be sent to Pinar del Río, the province most devastated by Hurricane Ian. (Prensa Latina)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 November 2022 — On Saturday, United States solidarity groups brought to Cuba a donation consisting of pasta, powdered milk and medical supplies, state media reported.

The shipment includes surgical gloves and medical supplies that will be sent to Pinar del Río (in the west), a province affected a month ago by Hurricane Ian, according to state television Canal Habana.

Cuban-American professor Carlos Lazo, manager of the Puentes de Amor project, and the American, Medea Benjamin, leader of the Code Pink organization, delivered the products to Cuban officials at the José Martí International Airport in Havana.

This donation is in addition to others received on the Island in previous months sponsored by American associations and foundations and by Cubans residing in the United States. continue reading

Last June, Lazo was also in charge of a shipment that contained medical supplies to perform liver transplants on eight Cuban children.

Last year, Cuba received 135 donations from 40 countries, mostly supplies and medical equipment for immunization and the fight against the pandemic, according to official data.

The Island is going through a serious crisis due to the tightening of the U.S. economic embargo and errors in national macroeconomic management.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Raul Castro Reappears in a Tribute to Cuban Military Counterintelligence

Raúl Castro awarded accolades during the political act and military ceremony. (Granma)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 November 2022 — Former Cuban president Raúl Castro, retired from political life in 2021, congratulated the members of Military Counterintelligence on Saturday in an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the group’s founding.

The Government of Cuba reported that the message of the former president was read during the military act for the creation of the organ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces on November 7, 1962.

Raúl Castro, who attended the ceremony, “expressed his certainty that the members of this prestigious body will continue to preserve, with the professionalism and honesty that characterizes them, the security of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the work of the revolution,” according to the press release.

Castro, 91, witnessed the act dressed in the olive green uniform of an army general and was recognized as one of the founders of military counterintelligence. continue reading

Castro came to power on an interim basis in 2006 due to the illness of his brother Fidel, and officially assumed the presidency in 2008.

In April 2021, he transferred the position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (the only legal party) during the VIII Congress of the Party to the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Three years earlier he left the Government of the Island in the hands of Díaz-Canel to guarantee the continuity of the socialist system of single party and centralized economy.

Since he retired from power, his public appearances have been reduced to the meetings of the PCC, the National Assembly (unicameral parliament) and other specific events.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Justicia Cuba Calls the ‘Bahia Honda Massacre’ a Crime Against Humanity

From left right and from top to bottom, Aimara Meizoso León, Elizabeth Meizoso, Indira Serrano Cala, Omar Reyes Valdés, Nathali Acosta Lemus and Yerandy García Meizoso, six of the seven victims of Bahía Honda. (Collage)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 4 November 2022 — A commission formed by lawyers, parliamentarians and politicians from several countries stated on Thursday that the death of seven occupants of a boat hit by a border guard ship in Cuba may constitute a “crime against humanity” and asked the Cuban people for evidence to denounce it.

The International Justice Cuba Commission, created in order to bring to international justice those responsible for human rights violations in Cuba, echoed the allegations of survivors and relatives of the seven dead.

In statements released by Miami media, several people said in recent days that the ship of the border guards cut off the boat, in which 23 people were traveling to the United States, and rammed it.

Diana Meizoso, who saw her two-year-old daughter die in the collision that occurred in Bahía Honda, told Radio Televisión Martí on Monday: “They rammed the boat and broke it in half.”

According to Meizoso, when the patrol ship passed their boat, “he (the border guard officer) said: “Now I’m going to break you in half,” and then rammed us and broke the boat in the middle.” continue reading

The Cuban exile in Miami described from the first moment as a “massacre” what happened in Bahía Honda on September 29 and announced for this Saturday an act of support to the victims and their families.

The Justice Cuba Commission, led by Mexican jurist René Bolio, said on Thursday in a statement in Miami that it had analyzed all the available information about “the Bahía Honda massacre,” where “several innocent civilians were killed by Cuban dictatorship officials.”

“These crimes, for their notorious cruelty, for being by the dictatorship against citizens, for having been committed by members of the system, for having used means owned by the dictatorship, and for several other elements, are considered crimes against humanity, according to the Statute of Rome,” he emphasized.

According to the commission, those responsible for these crimes “are not only the material executors, but the full chain of command,” and “universal jurisdiction means that any established court can prosecute such crimes.”

The Commission asked the Cuban people and everyone who has “evidence, proof and information” to send it to Justice@JusticeCuba.org.

They also request “all means of identification of the criminals, their identity, positions, hierarchy and current location.”

The purpose of the Justice Cuba Commission is to constitute an international court to judge the crimes against humanity committed in Cuba.

In July 2017, the then-called International Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against Humanity by Cuba held its first public hearing in Miami, in which victims and witnesses of human rights violations in Cuba participated from 1959 to the present day under the slogan of “Never forget.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Former President of Costa Rica Requests that the Cuban Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca be Freed from Prison

Óscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner, in a moment from his video appeal on behalf of Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca. (Screen capture)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 3 November 2022 – Former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner Óscar Arias demanded on Wednesday the liberation of Cuban journalist and activist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, condemned to five years in jail in July for “continuous enemy propaganda”.

“Those of us who live in freedom and democracy must raise our voices for the liberation of Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca”, the former leader said in a video message. Via this message Arias offered to be “the voice” of Valle Roca, as part of a campaign by the Casla Institute, a Czech human rights NGO.

“You cannot attain noble ends via ignoble means. Because when you torture and imprison men and women who oppose your regime, you are not going to silence the voices of those who have lost their freedom in their fight against dictatorship”, he said.

“Cuba isn’t some kind of special democracy, nor have the Cuban people chosen the path that it has taken. Cuba is plainly and simply a dictatorship. And that is painful for those of us who love freedom”, the former president said.

Arias, who stressed that “political prisoners don’t exist in democracies”, was twice president of Costa Rica: between 1986 and 1990, and later, between 2006 and 2010. continue reading

Valle Roca, along with three other dissidents, was jailed in July by the Popular Provincial Tribunal of Havana – the journalist’s wife, Eralidis Frometa, has reported on social media.

#Cuba. El Ex Presidente y Premio Nobel de la Paz Oscar Arias @oariascr se une a la Campaña de @caslainstitute #releasechains y sera la Voz del Periodista Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca, Preso Politico Cubano detenido en Jun 2021. "CUBA no es una democracia diferente, Cuba es llanamente pic.twitter.com/d62xh4VsHF

— Tamara Suju (@TAMARA_SUJU) November 2, 2022

The Tribunal considered it proven that the four accused, members of an “illicit” NGO, shared political pamphlets with “a point of view contrary to the current social and political system in Cuba” as well as pro-democratic announcements.

They were condemned also for organising a demonstration, filming it, and posting it on social media.

The case of Valle Roca, 60, was mentioned in the biannual report on Cuba of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), presented in April. A number of NGOs have condemned the verdict.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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A Report Documented More Protests in Cuba in October of This Year Than in July 2021

Protest in Bejucal on October 10, 2022. (Capture)

EFE/14ymedio, Miami/Havana, 1 November 2022 — In October, the Observatory of Cuban Conflict (OCC), based in Miami (U.S.), logged 589 public protests, diverse in nature, including 71 in the streets with cacerolazos (banging on pots and pans), marches, and barricades — almost double the 43 in September.

The total number of protests in October was even greater than those documented in July 2021 (584), during the social uprising known as 11J, informed OCC in a statement.

Of the 589 demonstrations that occurred in October, 263 were related to political and civil rights (45% of the total), while 326 began with demands for economic and social rights (55%).

According to OCC’s statement, “the Cuban government repeatedly reverted to blocking the internet in the areas where these demonstrations were reported to avoid ‘contagion’ and a national chain reaction.”

“Its only response to the growing demands of the population continues to be repression and judicial proceedings against the protesters it manages to identify, rather than lend itself to reverse the critical reality that produces these protests,” says the Observatory.

In its monthly analysis of governability in Cuba, the organization found that, in October, it reached its lowest point since 11J. continue reading

In Bejucal, a municipality in Mayabeque province, for example, Communist Party leaders had to endure shouts of “Freedom in Bejucal”, “A people united will never be divided” and “They must go,” during the nighttime protest on October 10th.

That same day in Caibarién, in Villa Clara province, a man yelled “The day of freedom could be today!” while barely filming the protesters marching with his mobile phone. Women, fathers carrying their children on their shoulders, elderly people, pedi-cab drivers and electric motorcycles traveled the streets of that municipality.

Little by little in the protests throughout the entire country the tone was raised and they not only included cacerolazos and marches, but also barricades in the streets along with expressions of rejection toward the repressive forces. In Havana, the mobilization of police operatives, undercover State Security agents, and military recruits armed with clubs to repress in areas such as Línea Street in El Vedado, caused a wave of indignation and denunciations.

Many of the protesters who took to the streets in October did so to demand a political change, but a large majority demanded something so simple as having the lights on in their homes or for the power not to be shut off every two or three hours. Despite this, about thirty arrests were made, according to several NGOs, and some of those arrested could end up serving time in prison.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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The Border Patrol Rescues Two Cuban Women Abandoned by Coyotes in the Rio Grande

A mother and her daughter, both from Cuba, were trapped in the Río Grande. (Twitter/@USBPChiefRGV)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 2 November 2022 — The United States Border Patrol rescued two Cuban women, a mother and daughter, who were trapped in the Río Grande, in the Mexican city of Reynosa, south of Texas. According to the chief officer of the Valley sector, Gloria Chávez, the women were “abandoned” by coyotes 320 feet from the Anzaldúas diversion dam.

With the support of the team of Firefighters from Mission, Texas, the “rescue in fast and shallow waters” was carried out, Chávez explained.

Mexican media specified that the Cubans were trapped “after the gates of the diversion dam were opened and released water,” so they dialed 911 requesting help.

Between October 2021 and last September, the Border Patrol rescued 22,014 migrants, 72% more than in 2021. According to data from the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in this same period, 853 deaths of irregular migrants were recorded in their attempts to cross the border between Mexico and the United States.

Regarding the exodus of Cubans, in the fiscal year that just ended in September and began in October 2021, the Border Patrol arrested 224,607 Cubans without documentation, a figure that grew by 471% compared to the same period of a year earlier. continue reading

On their journey to the United States through Mexico, Cubans face extortion, robberies, rape and a network of coyotes who, in some cases, abandon them in the desert or in the middle of the Río Bravo, as happened to this Cuban mother and her daughter.

“Smuggling organizations abandon migrants in remote and dangerous areas, which has caused an increase in the number of rescues, but also, tragically, an increase in the number of deaths,” CBP spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda told CBS News.

The officer emphasized that migrants encounter on their border crossing “extreme heat, and the desert miles they must walk after crossing the border in many areas are relentless.”

By sea, the exodus of balseros [rafters] also reaches alarming figures. This Wednesday, nine Cubans were arrested after disembarking at Biscayne National Park, a nature reserve in the bay of the same name, in Florida.

The head of the Border Patrol in the Miami sector, Walter Slosar, reported that another group with nine Cuban nationals landed on Tuesday at Cocoplum beach, in Marathon. Counting these, there are 110 Cubans who arrived in Florida in the last 48 hours, of which “52 did it in 12 hours.”

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted 1,132 Cubans last month, a significant figure if you take into account that in the previous twelve months there were 6,182.

Meanwhile, on the crossing through Mexico there is again talk of the formation of caravans seeking to reach the border with the United States. The figure already excedes 100, although many of them are broken up by the immigration authorities.

This Wednesday a new caravan, mostly with Venezuelans, departed from Chiapas, on the southern border of Mexico, for the United States, as a protest 20 days after the announcement of the new U.S. measures to control Venezuela’s migration.

The migrants, who remained in Tapachula Square, on Mexico’s border with Guatemala, demand that the United States revoke the expansion of Title 42, which immediately expels Venezuelans arriving by land to that country.

The South Americans requested free passage and that they be allowed to work because they refuse to return to Venezuela. Migrant Juan Méndez explained that they have been calm and trust that at “any time” the U.S. will reopen the border to Venezuelans.

“We are good people, and what the Mexican authorities do is persecute us as criminals. We are asking Mexico to help us, because now we have no money and have to ask,” he told EFE.

The Venezuelans were joined by migrants from Colombia and Ecuador, such as the Colombian Luis Kevin Montaño, who said that his companions in the caravan are determined to arrive in the United States.

“In my case I’m leaving because of problems. I’m not going because I want to leave my country, but we’re going to walk to get to the United States,” he said.

This is the first migrant caravan to leave in November from the southern border. “We left together, join us, let us continue, we want to work, we are not criminals, we are working people, yes we can, sí se puede,” the foreigners shouted on their journey.

Prior to their departure, the Migration authorities and the National Guard arrived at the park where they were camping to invite them to carry out their procedures, but they rejected the process. The authorities then undertook an immigration control operation in the hotels and streets of Tapachula, where they arrested more than 50 migrants who didn’t prove their right to stay legally.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ruben Martinez, the Cuban Pilot who Arrived in Florida After Escaping With a Russian Plane, Will Continue to be Detained

Rubén Martínez in front of the plane he was flying before leaving the Island last Friday the 21st. (Facebook)

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 31 October 2022 — Rubén Martínez Machado, the Cuban pilot who arrived in Florida last Friday, October 21, after leaving Cuba in a Russian-made Antonov aircraft, must remain detained for the time being, according to his lawyer, Eduardo Soto.

The 29-year-old Cuban had his first appearance today before an Immigration Court in Pompano Beach, Florida, which decided to keep him in the Broward County detention centre, at least until his next appointment next week.

In today’s hearing, according to Telemundo, the judge didn’t set bail for Martínez because the Prosecutor’s Office wasn’t ready to present its case.

“It seems to me that he has a very good case, but I’m not the one who has the last word,” Soto told EFE last week, after pointing out that both he and his defendant are confident about obtaining a positive verdict on the asylum application in court.

This Monday, Maile Díaz, a close friend of the pilot, who doesn’t have relatives in Miami, told Telemundo that if the young man “sets foot in Cuba, he’ll never see the sun again.” continue reading

“He will always be persecuted by the Government. He has now betrayed the State and stolen a very important piece of equipment,” added the woman, saying that Martínez’s mother “is desperate.”

Martínez was a pilot for the Cuban Air Services Company, which belongs to the Cuban Aviation Corporation, and he left the Island from Sancti Spíritus. He took a selfie next to the plane when he arrived at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Florida.

The customs agents interrogated the pilot as soon as he landed and placed him in the custody of the authorities, who later took him to the prison, where he remains.

His lawyer pointed out at the end of last week that Martínez feared being returned to the Island, due to the serious danger this would pose to his life, so he is applying for political asylum.

“In Mr. Martínez’s case, they will put him directly before an immigration judge, and he will have the right to seek asylum without having to establish a credible fear,” Soto told the Miami press.

The pilot is accused of illegal entry into the United States; in Cuba he is accused of air piracy.

On the Island, his relatives have sent their best wishes to the young man. “The only thing I want is that you fulfill your dream and that you can stay there. I am happy because I know that you are well and you are where you wanted to be,” said Elsa Padrón, his 85-year-old grandmother, according to Univision.

“I am very grateful to all the people and lawyers for what they have done for you,” his aunt, Diana Rosa Machado, told Noticias 23.

Much more critical was his mother, Elisa Machado Padrón, a worker at the Villa Clara Electric Company, who confirmed the illegal departure of her son by taking the plane. “I do not approve of his decision, but above all he is still my son,” she said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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