Category: EP

More Than 600 Residents of Cuba With Spanish Nationality Ask for Financial Aid From Castilla y Leon

Cubans in line in front of the Spanish Consulate in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEP (via 14ymedio), Valladolid, Spain, 21 December 2023 — More than 600 Cubans who are nationalized Spanish residents on the Island have received the help of the Junta de Castilla y León, in Spain, for being in a situation of special need, and 226,000 euros have been allocated to them, almost 90% more than in 2022.

The Official Bulletin of Castilla y León has published the Order of the Ministry of the Presidency by which the call for these individual grants is resolved, whose beneficiaries are people registered in a municipality of Castilla y León in the Register of Spanish Residents Abroad (PERE), and who allege a lack of sufficient resources to cover their basic subsistence needs.

The amount of aid depends on the level of income of the different family units and the members that make up these units. All the aid requested has been granted, provided that the conditions set out in the official announcement were met. continue reading

The amount of aid depends on the level of income of the different family units and the members that make up these units

All  of the aid has been allocated to Castilian and Leonese citizens or their descendants residing in Cuba. In fact, of the 816 applications received, 812 corresponded to citizens on the Island.

The amount of aid has been 360 euros per application. To assess the data, it must be taken into account that the minimum pension in Cuba stands at 1,528 pesos per month; that is, less than 60 euros, and the minimum wage at 2,100 (80 euros).

The amount of 360 euros is, therefore, the equivalent of the remuneration received by a resident in Cuba who receives the minimum pension for half a year, and the salary of a worker who receives the minimum wage for more than four months.

Of the 627 beneficiaries, 400 are women and 227 are men; 15 are under 35 years old; 164 are between 35 and 65 years old, and 448 are over 65 years old.

The most abundant profile of a person who has received this help responds, therefore, to a woman of Castilian and Leonese origin residing in Cuba, over 65 years of age and with serious survival problems.

As of January 1, 2023, according to data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics, 9,719 Castilians and Leonese registered in the PERE reside in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Biden Applies ‘Trump’s Policy of Maximum Pressure,’ Reports Cuban Foreign Minister

The Cuban authorities expected much more from the Biden government than they are getting. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEP/14ymedio, Madrid, June 21, 2022 — Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, has reproached the U.S. President, Joe Biden, for not having a policy of his own towards Cuba and for maintaining the “maximum pressure” of his predecessor, Donald Trump.

“President Biden doesn’t have a policy of his own towards Cuba.  It shared elements of the previous Democratic government’s policy. If you read the Democratic electoral platform, it contains another policy towards Cuba,” Rodríguez said in a video posted on social networks.

Rodríguez also recalled the electoral promises “in his own voice” of now-President Biden. “He promised U.S. voters and also Cubans living in Florida, but unfortunately the policy applied by President Biden is President Trump’s maximum pressure policy,” he said.

“It’s a policy that not only causes harm and suffering to the Cuban people, that prevents the development of our economy, that encourages irregular emigration to the United States, but it’s also a policy that damages the national interest of the United States,” he said.

During the election campaign, both Biden and Kamala Harris, the current Vice President, announced that they would reverse some of the measures taken by their predecessor in office with respect to Cuba, including limits on remittances, flights and consular services. Those announcements encouraged Havana, which thought that a second thaw would take place, similar to what happened in Barack Obama’s term, in which Biden was Vice President.

However, the White House has strictly complied with its commitment and, in mid-May, it announced the reestablishment of commercial flights to Cuba, which until now arrived only in Havana, the resumption of the family reunification program and the suspension of the $1,000 per quarter limit on remittances. continue reading

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has argued that these actions are “in support of the Cuban people and in the interests of U.S. foreign policy.”

However, the Administration has maintained the bulk of its policy towards the island, spurred by the repression after the 11J protests, according to senior U.S. officials. The clearest demonstration of that position was the refusal to invite Cuba to the recent Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles.

Last Thursday, Washington announced that it has taken measures to impose visa restrictions on five unidentified Cuban officials due to their links to the trials and the imprisonment of 11J protesters.

These sanctions, according to the statement, are linked to “unfair trials” and the sentences and imprisonment of protesters. According to the U.S. Government, the Cuban authorities “deny citizens their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.