A Strong Smell of Gas Alarms the Residents of Central Havana and the Authorities Do Not Respond

This Friday, those who passed by Galiano and Zanja couldn’t comment on anything else

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 15 March 2024 — A penetrating odor of gas has been alarming the neighbors of Galiano and Zanja, in Central Havana, for more than 24 hours. Early this Friday, those who passed by couldn’t comment on anything else. The situation, the residents say, is unsustainable.

In a phone call, the Gas Company confirmed to 14ymedio that several residents had already reported what appears to be a leak. “My car is now in the area,” the employee said, referring to a state service vehicle. “It looks like it’s on the street.”

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street   

To the question of what he advised the neighbors to do while determining if there was a way out and where to go, he answered: “Listen, I can’t give you an answer because I don’t know what’s going on.” continue reading

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of fear. People still remember the terrible images of the Saratoga Hotel, which flew through the air on May 6, 2022, due to improper handling of liquefied gas from a tanker truck, which claimed the lives of 47 people.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuban Women Live at the Margins of a Regime Led by Men

It is women who mostly stand in Cuba’s endless lines to get food / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez and Olea Gallardo, Havana, 8 March 2024 — The eleventh congress of theFederation of Cuban Women (FMC) was formally closed this Friday by the six men who govern the destiny of the country. The female quota in the presidium made up of Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Esteban Lazo, Manuel Marrero, Roberto Morales de Ojeda and José Ramón Machado Ventura is covered by one woman: Teté Puebla, member of Las Marianas in the Sierra Maestra and first (and only) Brigadier general woman on the Island.

“The Feminist Path is Not Exclusive to Women,” the State newspaper Granma headlines its note on the occasion of March 8, in case things were not clear.

At the same time, the ruling FMC assures that “the development of scientific research is urgently needed to study the implementation of public policies with a gender perspective to move towards full equality.” And we must “overcome the meeting schedule.” And “update communication codes.”

Far from so many words, the streets show that the face of Cuba, increasingly empty, increasingly poor, is that of a woman / 14ymedio

Far from so many words, the streets show that the face of Cuba, increasingly empty, increasingly poor, is that of a woman. It is women who continue reading

mostly stand in endless lines to get food. The oldest ones have to bring their own stool to endure the hours and the heat.

If you have to put a color on those faces, it is fundamentally dark. The color of those who cannot emigrate due to lack of resources / 14ymedio

If you have to put a color on those faces, it is fundamentally dark. The color of those who cannot emigrate due to lack of resources.

The oldest ones have to bring their own stool to endure the hours and the heat / 14ymedio

State workers, informal saleswomen or retirees – the luckiest ones, with emigrated families – all have poverty and boredom in common. Neither the FMC nor the men who protect it have solved their problems one bit in 65 years.

State workers, informal saleswomen or retirees – the luckiest ones, with emigrated families – all have poverty and boredom in common / 14ymedio

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Lobster and Bread Are ‘Affected,’ the Formula To Tell Tourists in Cuba ‘We Don’t Have Any’

Although it is targeted at tourists, La Imprenta suffers from the same shortcomings as other state-managed establishments / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, February 22, 2024, Juan Diego Rodríguez  — Old newspaper presses, paper cutters, cast iron poles and typographical motifs on the walls in the La Imprenta (The Printing Press) restaurant located at Mercaderes 208 in Old Havana, show the stamp of the late Eusebio Leal. The Historian of the City did not spare  any expense to turn a demolished 19th century workshop into a place that, at the height of his career, strived to emulate the Floridita and the Bodeguita del Medio.

The waitresses still have the same delicacy with foreign clients that Leal demanded, and they now use a resounding euphemism: lobster and bread are not lacking but are “affected”. Although aimed at tourism, La Imprenta suffers from the same shortcomings as other state-managed premises, and diners soon realize it.

The smartest take a quick look at the menu by the door, and, before it’s too late, make a decision. “Are you going?” one of the employees asks an Italian tourist who disappeared up Mercaderes. 

In a hurry to leave, those who eat lunch almost never pay attention to the machines at La Imprenta / 14ymedio

Those who stayed for lunch this Wednesday can order a glass of juice stuffed with ice, a tuna tower with vegetables and some dishes that the habaneros have started calling “gourmet,” not because of their quality but because of their small size. The chairs of La Imprenta have different type faces on the back and the names – such as Bodoni or Garamond – of their inventors. continue reading

The tablecloths have patches,” noted a Cuban diner, avoiding resting his elbows on the stains of the fabric. A group of Canadians occupied a table near the window and asked for some starters. The waitress brought flakes of discolored ham and cheese, but they were denied the bread. “It’s ‘affected’,” she said.

Other dishes began to parade around the table. Potato puree with sweet potato flavor, yellow rice with a kind of ham and very little salt, a minimum portion of ropa vieja*, fish. “Any wine?” the Canadians ask. With pedagogy and some English, the waitress explains: “In Cuba there are no wines; the ones we have are Spanish.”

Artifacts from the early 20th century, from the Oswego and Brehmen brands, the restored presses pay tribute to a trade that already belongs to another era / 14ymedio

At the end of the meal, they wait for the dessert, fried ice cream. “The ice cream is delayed,” the employee warns once again, “and the fryer does not want to fry. It’s done working.” Canadians, of course, look at each other without understanding. “The bill, mi amor?” says the waitress, concluding the banquet.

The total is more than 5,000 pesos and brings a new dilemma. As soon as one of the diners draws a colorful Canadian bill from his wallet, the waitress grimaces and calls her boss. “Only euros or green [U.S. dollars]; we can’t accept Canadian dollars,” he explains. Resigned, the customers pay in Cuban pesos.

In a hurry to leave, those who eat lunch almost never notice La Imprenta’s machines. Artifacts from the beginning of the twentieth century, the restored presses of the Oswego and Brehmen brands pay tribute to a craft that now belongs to another era, and whose mythology Leal hoped to translate into foreign currency.

In 2010, the Historian’s Office mobilized a team of architects, joiners, blacksmiths and artists to remodel the old printing establishment, La Habanera, active from the 19th century until the triumph of Fidel Castro in 1959. The painter Juan Carlos Botello and his assistant Yailín Pérez Zamora were in charge of creating an immense mural on the main wall of the restaurant, and two lieutenants from Leal’s investment department – Loreta Alemañy and Yaumara Fernández – gave the go-ahead to the project.

Professional cooks and baristas were also hired to create a “thematic and emblematic” cocktail, in the style of the mojito or the daiquiri, that would characterize La Imprenta and make it internationally famous. To this day, the restaurant with the “affected” products has not found its brand or a particular flavor, and the Historian who created it no longer roams the streets of Havana.

*Translator’s note: Ropa vieja means “old clothes” but the dish is shredded beef.

Translated by Regina Ananvy
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

At the Havana Book Fair, There Are Few Books, and You Can Look but Not Touch or Buy

The Russian books at the fair were not for sale. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 February 2024 — The Havana International Book Fair invited two countries this year: an official one, Brazil, and an “unofficial” one, Russia, whose booth, although small, is located at the same entrance of La Cabaña. This Sunday, however, neither of the two managed to satisfy the readers, who ended the day annoyed not only because of the bad weather, but because the few books they found – in Portuguese and Russian – were “only for display.”

Among the visitors, who were taking refuge from the downpour in the entrance, the irritation was evident: “They should have announced that this was going to be suspended today. Now we are here and can see that the tents are closed.” When the rain abated and the wet mass of people finally began to move towards the Russian pavilion – among others – the disappointment was even worse. “I thought I was going to find many more books. But what they sell is mostly stationery and office supplies,” complained a visitor.

Books from the Spanish publisher Everest, with stories adapted from Disney movies such as Pocahontas and The Ice Age, or from the DC Comics franchise – on several occasions described as “imperialist” and “subversive” on Cuban Television – accompanied the exhibition of Russian titles, guarded by three men who, when asked by some customers, debated whether they should sell the texts. “We should sell the books if no one is going to notice,” the manager told two women who accompanied him, although he did not clarify whose “permission” he needed. continue reading

Books from the Spanish publisher Everest, with stories adapted from Disney or from the DC Comics franchise – qualified as “imperialist” by Cuban Television – accompanied the exhibition of Russian titles

Further on, school notebooks, coloring books, children’s notebooks, crayons, felt-tip pens and pencils occupied several tables, where the majority of visitors crowded around. The reading material, with low-cost books and “gazette” paper, barely showed some classic foreign titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank, The Plague, by Albert Camus and 1984, by George Orwell, ignored by the clientele for their high prices. “The cheapest I’ve seen,” a reader said, “was one about Sherlock Holmes at 1,000 pesos.”

In the case of 1984, whose author was censored on the Island for several decades for his novels, which criticize totalitarian forms of government, there are only a few copies of a Cuban edition, published by the Colombian publisher, Globals Ediciones.

Further on, in the immense pavilion dedicated to Brazil, a presentation of a book in Portuguese barely attracted the attention of those who, more interested in taking refuge from the rain than in listening to the author, occupied the chairs. The exhibition of titles, here also, was one of “you can look but don’t touch,” according to two women.

The reading section, with low-cost books and “gazette” paper, barely showed some classic foreign titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank, The Plague and 1984. (14ymedio)

The main tent, which sold books from Cuban publishers with numerous titles dedicated to Fidel Castro and the defense of the regime, was closed. The same thing happened at the information checkpoints, whose custodians were frightened by the rain and left, or in the places where several presentations and events were scheduled for this Sunday.

“I came to fine inexpensive books (at state prices), but I have not been able to get anything I was looking for,” complained a young man who, angered by the rain and without books, was preparing to undertake the journey home.

The tents for Cuban books and publishers were closed. (14ymedio)

At a fair whose programming announced numerous events, presentations and a wide range of titles, this Sunday’s icing on the cake was a black backpack with the event logo, hung from the roof of one of the booths, which was selling for 7,000 pesos.

From a cafeteria, an employee was talking on the phone to one of his colleagues: “Don’t even hurry, this place is a disaster today. We haven’t sold anything, and anyone who happens to come by is running to avoid the rain. Don’t kill yourself to get here.” The food service on offer consisted only of a variety of corn dishes: boiled or fried ears and tamales.

Discouraged, visitors left the old fortress of La Cabaña as soon as they noticed the pitiful offers. “This year it seems that there is less transport, or maybe fewer people are coming,” reflected a woman with two children, carrying a bag of wet books. “It would have been better not to come.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

At Dusk, Criminals Take Over Havana’s Botanical Garden

To go to the Japanese Garden you have to board a vehicle that won’t leave until it’s full. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 17 February 2024 — The Havana Botanical Garden has been hurt by its distant location. In a city where going from one neighborhood to another is already a headache due to the lack of fuel and the poor state of transport, getting from the center to the periphery of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality is an impossible mission if you don’t have your own car, a good amount of money for the trip, or you are able to book  a tour with the bus included.

Once the threshold is crossed by paying 30 pesos to the guard, there are other problems:  insecurity and crime. The primary victims are the workers, especially those who are involved in the food service. “The vegetarian restaurant El Bambú exists, but it is no longer making that type of food; it has a Creole menu,” says a bored employee sitting under a tree. “It’s not open at the moment because it was robbed.”

The lootings have taken over the Garden at night. “We leave every afternoon just as the thieves are arriving,” says a guard. He complains that the security workers don’t have what they need to prevent the thefts.

“We have weapons but few bullets, and they arrive with machetes, in groups,” he describes. “The other day in El Bambú, which was the last place they assaulted, one of those gangs took a boss, who is very strong, by the way. They beat him, tied him up and put him under a table with several chairs piled on top of him.” continue reading

“There were seven with knives and machetes,” he says. The reason for the robberies is “to steal food from the restaurants.” In another restaurant, La Majagua, “they entered days ago and found no food. There was no meat, no rice, no preserves, so they stole the bathroom door.” El Yarey and El Ranchón have also been robbed in the early hours of the morning.

Entrance to one of the pavilions. (14ymedio)

“They emptied the creamery and took everything,” he says. Every attempt by workers to protect the goods has ended in physical aggression or threats. “If you don’t make things easy, we’ll kill you,” was the clear warning that the security guard of El Yarey received when, from the roof of the premises where he watched the area, he spotted the approaching criminals. “They broke the door, and there was no one to stop them.”

“They told him not to dare to use the phone because he wasn’t going to get out of there alive.” However, the worker recognizes that the outlaws don’t only arrive from outside. “Here there are bosses who do not want the guards to be in the places that have the most merchandise, so they can steal and blame the night gangs. Everyone steals, those from here and those who are not from here.”

In 1989, Fidel Castro inaugurated the icing on the Botanical cake: the Japanese Garden. It was part of an ambitious green belt with recreational options, areas to hold fairs and children’s playgrounds. “There will be six institutions, including Expocuba; four of them will be the Botanical Garden, Lenin Park, the Zoo and the Metropolitan, with many trees,” the ruler said, full of enthusiasm, before an audience that applauded with frenzy.

“I want to end by promising that this Botanical Garden will be more and more beautiful,” Castro wrongly predicted in that speech.

Crowded by tourists in another time, this Saturday only two foreigners wandered through the garden. (14ymedio)

Now, to go to the Japanese Garden, you have to board a vehicle towed by a tractor with a capacity of 15 people. “If there are not 15, I won’t leave,” the driver warns four customers and says he will return at two in the afternoon “to see if there are people,” unless, he clarifies, “you want to pay for the full transport.”

In El Ranchón, one of the several Creole restaurants in the garden, only beer and appetizers of sausage and ham were available this Saturday. “The kitchen is closed,” says an employee who approaches the tables with jugs of beer at the cost of 610 pesos. If someone wants to eat, they have to wait for them to prepare the food in a neighboring establishment.

This Friday, Cubadebate described it as “the largest botanical garden in the world” and spared no praise for its facilities. “This is how Fidel dreamed of it,” concludes the report, which presents the 1,180 acres of vegetation – with 3,000 species of plants – as a kind of earthly paradise.

But drought, little irrigation and lack of attention have also made a dent in the important collection of plants from several continents. Dry shrubs, areas where only weeds grow and the exposures of greenhouses with numerous notable casualties attest to the urgent need to replace certain species and take care of those that remain more carefully.

Poster alluding to a moment of “rest”  for Fidel Castro in the garden he “dreamed about.” (14ymedio)

The garden is attached to the University of Havana, and Cubadebate defines it as the quintessence of botanical studies in the region, alleging that more than 300,000 people visit it every year. Its workforce: 350 workers. The budget allocated to it by the State: 118 million pesos in 2023. “How is all that financed?” asks the regime’s media: thanks to the “generosity” of the Ministry of Higher Education, which manages the money destined for the Botanical Garden.

The digital newspaper admits that “the low technical availability of public transport and fuel,” in addition to the remoteness of the park, has caused a significant drop in visitors, 80% of what it received last year. For the Government, Cubadebate assures, improving this figure and using the garden to attract tourism is a matter of political and sentimental importance for Raúl Castro. For the nonagenarian general, the Botanical Garden is a “jewel of the nation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Crumbling like the Rest of Cuba, Havana’s Chinatown Reluctantly Ushers in the Year of the Dragon

These days there is little of anything Chinese in what used to be one of the world’s most important Asian enclaves. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 10 February 2024 — The Confucius statue in Havana’s Chinatown did not start off the Year of the Dragon on the right foot. Sitting this Saturday morning on benches in a park dedicated to the wise man were a beggar, a woman trying to get past the glitches in the phone company’s wifi network in order to connect to the “great beyond,” and a drunken man who – perhaps out of a certain sense of respect – peed on a random wall rather than than at the philosopher’s pedestal.

Once a place of legend and mystery, little of anything Chinese remains in what used to be one of the world’s most important Asian enclaves. In a neighborhood that used to be known as one of the best places to eat in Havana, everything now appears to be on the verge of collapse, marked for years — like the entire city —  by faded walls and urban decay.

The restaurants are now empty. Their employees reluctantly try to lure in potential customers with little success. The general rule is an empty establishment with a buzzing fly and little to offer.

Confucius Park, which sits in the heart of the neighborhood, attracts some “undesirable” guests. (14ymedio)

Havana’s Chinatown was the focus of some attention on the part of the city’s Office of the Historian,* which never managed to return it to its former glory. There are vestiges of often haphazard projects and restorations such as a peeling yin-yang emblem painted on a wall and traditional red lanterns hanging from some eaves.

Amid the ever-present reggaeton and foul smells, the voice of one salesman stands out: “We have to reinvent ourselves!” The Chinatown vendors agree. Instead of spring rolls and lacquered duck, there are dried vegetables, birdseed, and a place that doesn’t have what its neon sign advertises: “Delicious chicken!”

With Havana’s Chinatown showing few signs of life, much less of festivity, those hoping to find Year of the Dragon celebrations in Cuba will have to look elsewhere. At an event hosted this week by Cuban diplomats in China, the island’s big tobacco company, Habanos S.A., debuted its very expensive Montecristo Brillantes cigars. Packaged in a luxurious red case designed to appeal to Chinese millionaires, the cigar of the moment will not be smoked in Havana’s humble Chinatown.

With Havana’s Chinatown showing few signs of life, much less of festivity, those hoping to find Year of the Dragon celebrations in Cuba will have to look elsewhere.  (14ymedio)

*Translator’s note: A government agency headed by the late Eusebio Leal, whose most prominent project was the restoration of Central Havana, the city’s historic city center.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Massive Line for a Miserable ‘Combo’ Priced at 311 Cuban Pesos, Just Over 1 Dollar

The immense line was not surprising, spread between the two sidewalks of the entire block in Carlos III. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 9 February 2024 — Customers who have to shop in Plaza de Carlos III, in the only store in the shopping center that sells in Cuban pesos, are in luck. The monthly module or combo, which they provide through the ration book in state stores, restricted by bodegas (ration stores) for almost two years, arrived this “generous” Friday: two packages of sausages, two of minced meat, one liquid detergent, two small powder detergents and a bottle of oil, all for 311 pesos.

Thus, it was not surprising that there was an immense line, spread between the two sidewalks down thw side street of the Plaza – as people sought to protect themselves from the sun – some standing and others, the lucky among the lucky, sitting.

“Wow, how good the combo is,” an old woman exclaimed when she saw the little board. But another was disappointed: “That’s how hungry we are, girl, because no one can eat that minced meat.” continue reading

In the midst of the endless shortages, those 400 gram tubes from the Richmeat brand – a Mexican brand that has a factory in the Mariel free zone – are the hope for the most disadvantaged

In the midst of the endless shortages, those 400 gram tubes from the Richmeat brand – a Mexican brand that has a factory in the Mariel free zone – are the hope for the most disadvantaged, especially the elderly. A food, however, whose amount of fat and preservatives can make them sick. “I try to eat them, both mincemeat and sausages, but they hurt my gallbladder. When I can’t find anything else, I cook it by boiling it a lot, but there is never a time I try it that it doesn’t swell my gallbladder,” explains one neighbor of Centro Habana, who acquired the module to share it with her daughter and grandchildren.

Others in line were ecstatic. “There is so much need that it seems like it’s on purpose. They keep us hungry and hungrier and then they take out a little bit of something so that people say ’Wow, how good they are,’” observed a young, critical man.

Flanking the crowd in Carlos III were young guards in uniform, ensuring that the discussions did not go off course. (14ymedio)

Despite everything, the situation is more favorable than that of other customers, for example those who shop at the Amistad market, in San Lázaro and Infanta, where the combo arrived reduced: only minced meat, washing powder and oil. “Before, it came with chicken, sausage, minced meat, detergent and oil,” explains another woman, who is in charge of that store in Central Havana, referring to those products that Havana residents jokingly call “the five heroes,” “but little by little it has been getting worse.”

And she lists: “First the sausage disappeared, then the chicken disappeared. The minced meat, the detergent and the oil remained. Now, from time to time sausage comes, but not with the combo, and out of date, and they have to offer a ’recovery’, as they call it, the opportunity to pick it up another day, which can be up to a month later.”

The situation is worse at the Melones Street market in Luyanó, where items come separately, forcing residents to line up almost every week. “And they have to force their way into the line, because maybe they won’t have anything to eat otherwise. Nothing is coming into the bodegas,” says a neighbor from the neighborhood.

“Wow, how good the combo is,” an old woman exclaimed when she saw the little board. But another was disappointed: “That’s how hungry we are, girl.” (14ymedio)

Flanking the crowd in Carlos III, this Friday, young guards in uniform were observed, ensuring that the discussions do not get out of hand. “There are always people who complain that if the employee who collects the ration books said that she took one but there were two, to pass to a friend, the other shouts that that is a lie, that this user is a troublemaker,” says one man of about 50, resigned. “That’s what it is: hunger, lines, misery and need.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

‘They Threw Us Out Like Dogs’, Say the People Evicted From Factoria 70 in Havana

Those thrown out have a month to collect their things from the warehouse where the local authority put them.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana 7 February 2024 — “Easterners, gay AIDS patients, the elderly, women with their husbands, children and people who have nowhere to live,” is how Yunier, one of those evicted from Factoría 70 between Corrales and Apodaca in Old Havana, described the situation of the people who were evicted on 31 January because the building was in danger of collapsing. “They dragged us all out of the place like dogs”.

The nearly one hundred people who were illegally occupying some 26 rooms in the building were evicted by the police and several local government officials, Yunier says. They were mistreated and given no assurances, although not all versions of what happened coincide. “They told everyone to find by themselves places to stay. They told them to go back to where they came from. The only thing they set up was a warehouse to store things while we found a place”, says the Havana native.

The evictees’ belongings can only stay there for a month, Yunier explained. The young man remembered how, about three years ago, people began to move into the the building, which had been declared uninhabitable by the authorities. “The people who were moving in began to put up windows and doors, and to organise the rooms a bit. Almost all were from Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, although there were some from Havana”. The former inhabitants of the building, he said, had previously been moved to shelters. continue reading

He said that none of the people living in Factoría 70 received any eviction notices. The police arrived on 31 January, asked the residents for their ID cards and took them to Dragones station. “They handed out fines and let us go, and said they were going to come back another day, but they showed up the same day at five in the afternoon,” Yunier recalled. “The police wanted to finish before dawn, so that none of this would get out and people wouldn’t notice. The one who said we had to leave was a policeman from Dragones”, saids the young man. “Agents on motorbikes and other vehicles arrived,” as well as a government superintendent from Old Havana who did not identify himself. Five other officials with him also did not give their names..

The eviction was tense, said Yunier. “They threatened us. They said that if we didn’t leave they were going to do bigger things”. Homosexuals got the worst of it and were threatened by the officers: “You shut up. You are birds and we don’t want your comments. Similar things were said to the people from Santiago and Guantánamo, who were told that they “should go back to the East”.

Now the evictees are worried about what will happen to their belongings in the “goods warehouse” where the local government stored them. “So far nothing has been lost,  but they might be,” he said.

The person who stands to gain most from the emptying of the building is, Yunier guessed, the president of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) on the block where Factoría 70 is located. The Havana native identifies him as Santiago, owner of a hostel and a pink convertible car, with “a lot of power and money”.

Yunier thinks that the person who stands to gain most from the departure of the building’s occupants is the president of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution

Santiago offers tourists rooms in his early 20th-century mansion, as well as providing tours of Havana and other parts of the country in his vehicle. On his social networks, a photograph taken in mid-January shows the crumbling façade of the building, still inhabited, as evidenced by the sheets spread out on its balconies, as a backdrop to his shiny convertible.

Yunier mentioned a rumour circulating among neighbours, that Santiago has enough influence over the government and the local police to speed up the eviction. His goal: to have a free hand to expand a car workshop he owns on the ground floor of the building. “He was the one who provided the materials to close the door of the building, cement, blocks and so on. Now he has started to store more cars.

The Factoría 70 building, which was formerly a stately three-storey building, with ochre walls stained by damp

Other nearby residents also point to his desire to “calm the block” as one of the main motivations for the prosperous businessman to push the authorities to act. Although it is  within touristy Old Havana, the Jesús María neighbourhood where the building is located does not see many tourists due to the poor state of its infrastructure — which has barely benefited from renovations — and its crime level.

At the Factoría 70 building, formerly an imposing three-storey building, the walls remain ochre and stained by damp. Inside the ruin, families lived in overcrowded conditions and there were lots of issues between neighbours.

Recent rains have battered the now abandoned building even more, and the only thing with any colour in the area is the pink convertible. Those who left Factoría 70 are still looking for somewhere to sleep, in a city that is getting rougher every day for newcomers as well as for locals. Yunier’s diagnosis is pessimistic. “There is nowhere to live in Havana. They don’t say anything. They don’t help anyone. Nobody gives you any hope.

Translated by GH

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

While Cuba Runs Out of Fuel, Four Tanker Trucks Arrive at Esther’s Gas Station Over Three Days

Paraguas has received four fuel trucks since February 1, a real prize. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 3 February 2024 — Few gas stations in Havana escape the fuel crisis that prevails in the country, stirred up by the postponement of the new rates for its purchase. Among the exceptions are Los Paraguas and Corral Falso, the two gas stations managed on Telegram by Esther Lilian Pérez Trujillo, the organizer of the line, “by decree” of the government of Guanabacoa.

Judging by Esther’s reports to the group members of both gas stations, Los Paraguas has received four tanker trucks of gasoline since February 1, a lot compared to other gas stations in the capital, like the San Rafael in Central Havana, which didn’t have any to sell this Saturday.

“One thousand five hundred eighty five gallons of premium gas and 1,849 of regular” arrived at noon. This newspaper was among the first summoned to Los Paraguas, at 1:00 in the afternoon. Few cars waited in line, close to the scheduled time, but the tension was still in the air.

“Is it coming today or not?” asked a customer. “We are on the list and have to buy but the tanker truck hasn’t arrived yet,” he explained to an employee at the gas station. The Cupet trucks, like ships loaded with water and food that are sighted by hungry castaways, were photographed along their way, and people passed on the information of their whereabouts on Facebook. continue reading

List in hand, Esther’s lieutenant sat on a plastic chair next to the starting point of the line. (14ymedio)

“One already went by, I think it was going to La Rotonda,” said the troubled driver of a Lada who was waiting in line at the Los Paraguas gas station when he saw a truck with the Cupet logo heading along the Via Blanca in the direction of the other service center. The drivers lined up on a street next to the pumps where the road was once covered with asphalt but now has only potholes, piles of stones and dust. The entrance to Los Paraguas itself is full of puddles of accumulated water, and the vehicles must bypass the holes to access the refueling area.

On a motorcycle, punctual and with camouflage pants, one of Esther’s lieutenants appeared at 1:00 in the afternoon. List in hand, she sat in a plastic chair next to the starting point of the line and finally began the sale.

The desperation to obtain fuel has been gaining strength in recent days, not only because of the political ups and downs and the fear of the implementation of a price increase, but also because of the possible deterioration of the weather that has been announced for the next few hours, which has the people of Havana running in search of supplies to cope at home until the storm passes.

The black market, where one can buy a bottle of cooking oil the same as a washing machine, hurried its transactions this Saturday but was hanging by a thread on the supply in the gas stations. “The kitchen is here, listening to the conversation, but we can’t take it away until the courier manages to fill the tank of the truck,” an informal seller with a wide assortment of appliances explained to a customer.

The drivers lined up in a street next to the pumps where asphalt once covered the road. (14ymedio)

This Saturday, in addition, the Electric Union predicted a deficit of 800 megawatts for the night, which will translate – as has been happening for several days – into long blackouts. A litany of breakdowns keeps the National Electric System in check, according to the official media, including the breakdown of unit 6 of the thermal power plant of Mariel, unit 3 of Santa Cruz and unit 2 of Felton. In addition, there is maintenance being done on three other units in Mariel, Santa Cruz and Cienfuegos.

The new rates for the purchase of fuel, which were already listed this Wednesday at the gas pumps, were removed after the announcement that “a virus from abroad” had destroyed the computer system of Cimex.

“The Cimex de Gaesa corporation was dropped from the entire management system, and they had no backup. They are doing  a general inventory to be able to have some control,” said Cuban influencer Manuel Milanés at the time. This newspaper toured several gas stations to take the pulse of the incident, and the question was: “What’s wrong with these people?”

The response came this Friday, when the official press reported that they had rolled the heads of three ministers, including the one of Economy, Alejandro Gil. This unforeseen “movement of cadres” was survived, however, by two leaders who have a lot to do with the energy debacle: Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, and Eduardo Dávila, the Minister of Transport.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

European Food Aid Is Free but It Is Being Sold on the Informal Market in Cuba

On the ‘tetrapacks’ not only did it read that it was a product from Spain of the Apis brand, but that it was merchandise that had arrived in Cuba through the European Food Aid program. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 17 January 2024 — The merchandise, some 500-gram boxes of tomato sauce, “Are of good quality, each one for 300 pesos and I have five. If you buy them all I will give you a discount,” explains the informal seller, dressed in a cap and backpack, who knocked on 72-year-old Niurka’s door in the Central Havana neighborhood of San Leopoldo. A regular in the area, the merchant has built a clientele through the years, based on trust. “Neither snitches nor people who want to do business on credit” is his motto.

But today, security was more necessary than other times. It indicated on the tetrapaks not only that it was a product from Spain of the Apis brand, but that it was merchandise that had arrived in Cuba through the European Aid Fund for the Most Disadvantaged People (Fead). On the packaging, in capital letters, it warned: “Free food, sale prohibited.” Niurka extended three 100-peso bills, took the box and pretended that she had not read the sign or seen the blue flag with its little stars in a circle.

Where did the merchant get the tomato sauce? Did he steal it from a state warehouse or did the families who benefited from the aid give it to him to get some cash? Questions flooded into Niurka’s head as soon as she closed the door. But it could be said that, whatever the case, she was also “a vulnerable person,” with a meager pension and two grandchildren to care for. She immediately opened the box, poured the contents into the pan where she already had some sausage slices and prepared, at full speed, some spaghetti for the children who would soon arrive home from school. continue reading

The module that has recently arrived in Cuba from Spain includes rice, cooked chickpeas, canned tuna and meat, pasta, fried tomato or cookies.

Fead provides food or basic material assistance to people who need it most in nations with high rates of poverty and economic insecurity. Support consists of food, clothing, footwear and other essential products for personal use, such as soap and shampoo. But each European nation decides the type of aid it wants to provide, and how to obtain it and distribute it.

The module that has recently arrived in Cuba, coming from Spain, includes rice, cooked chickpeas, preserved tuna and meat, pasta, fried tomato, cookies, vegetable salad, soluble cocoa and oil, a composition similar to the one that has reached other Latin American countries. The intention is that it land on the table of those families who have been plunged into misery by inflation, low pensions, physical disabilities of some of their members, and old age.

However, the mechanism does not escape tricks and the rerouting of resources. There is also no way to control whether beneficiaries use these free foods to put on their own plates, or end up selling them on the black market. With the 300 Cuban pesos from selling a box of tomato sauce, someone can probably pick up some food or vegetables that will give them more value on their table.

Due to those inextricable paths that life takes, today Niurka ate thanks to European aid, although her name is not registered in any humanitarian program.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

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For the Scavengers, the Building Collapses in Havana Are Good News

With rebar in hand and dodging surveillance cameras, a scavenger decides to enter the danger zone. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, January 24, 2024 — The scavengers of Havana are happy. A mass of debris, bricks, iron and garbage has extended, since Monday, in the area of the facade of the old Vía Blanca hotel at 505 Zulueta Street. It took three months since this newspaper’s last visit to the property – then converted into a nest of thugs and drunks – for the collapse to be total.

Now, iron bars surround the collapse zone and prevent passage through the streets that surround it. The residents of the neighborhood, standing on the sidewalk of the neighboring police station on Dragones Street, launch their hypotheses: “They put the fence there in place of yellow tape because people would just lift it, duck under and keep walking.” Others, such as scavengers and criminals, continue to “explore” the ruins, trying to dodge the station’s surveillance cameras.

The decline of 505 Zulueta has accelerated in recent weeks. “The building began crumbling, and a part was closed, but finally the facade fell on the structure and destroyed it,” says one of the masons who works in the buildings on the street. Now you can’t walk there, and the neighbors complain that the ruins prevent them from going through the passage.

The decline of 505 Zulueta accelerated in recent weeks. (14ymedio)

For the scavengers, however, the building collapses are good news. Dedicated to dismantling buildings in poor condition to reuse what is possible – rebar, sticks, bricks, nails and even dust for concrete – the craft has proliferated in a city that is falling apart. A door knocker from the 50s or continue reading

the Soviet era can end up in a tenement building or in a slum on the periphery of Havana.

Any corner of the city can attest to their feats. In front of a mutilated wall on Hospital Street, a neighbor describes the scavengers: “They take anything that serves them in a particular construction. They sell anything. The walls disappear as the bricks are taken away.”

He is not wrong. On Hospital Street the plaster on the wall has been scraped away and you can see the bricks – whole and in pieces. Towards the corner, the iron structure is naked and wobbles over a gigantic garbage dump. “It won’t take long to fall,” the neighbor says.

The portals of the building located on the corner of Monte and Egido were once spacious and stately. (14ymedio)

The scavengers can be recognized by a piece of rebar or wood in their hands. Not infrequently they are, in addition, beggars or dumpster divers – digging in the garbage cans to look for food. The portals of the building located on the corner of Monte and Egido were once spacious and stately. The property functioned as an office of the state-owned Medicuba company and was abandoned a few years ago. Now, its entrance is carpeted by a formidable garbage dump.

Rummaging through the garbage, a “predator of ruins” – they are also caled “pirañas” and “termites” – explains to 14ymedio the tricks of his trade. Because of the pile of garbage and a “steel fence” that the State placed there, he cannot go inside as he would like. The mammoth building, he continues, has many useful materials, but taking them out will cost work. Rebar in hand and dodging two security cameras, the scavenger decides to enter and goes through a door whose threshold is, despite the debacle, a work of art.

In the heart of Havana, the notable buildings – almost all built during the Republic – are a species in danger of extinction. The inaction of the State and the incursions of the scavengers are destroying them until, eventually, they collapse.

A formidable pile of garbage carpets the portals of the building located at Monte and Egido. (14ymedio)

The damage is irreversible in most cases. It was denounced on Tuesday by the documentary filmmaker Jorge Dalton, when he learned of the collapse of 505 Zulueta. “The painful and unhappy landscape of that area is just a small sample of the 65 years of a model more defeated than an old and patched spring mattress, useless and rusty, where everything is laziness, hopelessness, destruction and desolation,” alleged the creator, who lived for many years in Havana and now lives in El Salvador.

In 1995, Havana Historian Eusebio Leal promised the neighbors of 505 Zulueta a transfer to better houses in Alamar and Habana del Este. It took 25 years for the nine families who lived there – including children – to be relocated in 2020, in the face of the imminent collapse.

When this newspaper visited the area, in September last year, the neighbors considered it as a kind of sanctuary for criminals. Not even the police from the Dragones station dared to cross the scaffolding barrier to look for the thieves who used the ruins as a hiding place.

However, the Way of the Cross of 505 Zulueta – and of multiple buildings in Havana – has many stations left, “loose stones” that collapse on the people and garbage that now has to be collected with the help of several trucks. But in the no man’s land that Havana has become, the scavenger is king.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Despite the Poor Quality of the Rice, Cubans Are Distressed by Its Uneven Distribution in the Ration Stores

Authorities have said that the rice will be delivered to the ration stores in a staggered manner. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 22 January 2024 — At this point in January, when it is not long before the end of the month, the two pounds of rice per person that remain to be delivered to the ration stores have not yet arrived. “Only a few peas, cooking oil and kitchen detergent.”

“People are desperately asking about the rice, and the storekeeper says that it should arrive today or tomorrow,” Sandra tells 14ymedio. “They gave us a pound when the year began and then four, but I wouldn’t be surprised if what was missing doesn’t arrive.”

The coffee has not appeared either, nor the new ration book, delayed due to lack of paper, which the authorities have promised before March 30. “The chicken that arrived a few days ago is the one they owed from last year,” says a friend of Sandra’s, who reiterates: “No rice; you know, it’s at the North Pole.” continue reading

“Neither rice nor oil has arrived yet; even the cat is waiting,” a customer says sarcastically, nine days before the end of the month.

In the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, the scene is similar: “At the beginning of the month they gave us a pound of rice and two pounds of sugar per person, and two days ago they sold us the rest of those products but nothing else,” a resident tells this newspaper.

The customers of the ration store located at Hospital and Jesús Peregrino, in Central Havana, are luckier, since their rice allocation is complete, but that is not the case in other nearby establishments, such as the one on Reina Street. “Neither rice nor oil has arrived yet; even the cat is waiting,” a customer says sarcastically, nine days before the end of the month.

In Nuevo Vedado, the rice arrived at some ration stores last Friday along with “some chicken,” while for others it didn’t arrive until late Saturday night.

In short, they are distributing the products of the basic family basket to the neighborhoods and municipalities of the capital in an irregular manner. “They do it in a staggered way, as they say, and “staggered” means, for example, that the rice didn’t arrive until Friday,” explains a resident of the Luyanó neighborhood.

In the provinces it’s not much different. In San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, of the seven pounds of rice that correspond to the basic basket, so far five have been given. In Holguín, they gave six pounds, and the other one is missing.

On the Ministry of Internal Commerce’s website, where the delivery of chicken destined for the “normal family basket and social consumption” of Santiago de Cuba is reported, users take the opportunity to complain about the shortage of the moment: “It’s January 20, almost the end of the month, without even a pound in the ration store, and we have to pay 170 pesos a pound [in a private store] with such low wages. Please think of this town and leave off with the speeches. I am not an opponent or anything like that, but really this situation is unbearable,” explains a reader.

While consumers complain about the quantity, the quality of the rice is terrible

While consumers complain about the quantity, the quality of the rice is terrible. “Here the only rice that can be eaten is sold in the private stores, but that costs between 160 and 220 pesos a pound, and not everyone can afford it,” says Sandra, who fears having no choice but to spend the money.

Last Thursday, the Ministry itself warned of the “problems in the fulfillment of the distribution cycles” of the rationed food, especially rice. The official explanation: “financial restrictions and operational problems, which have caused delays in the arrival of imports, production and transportation,” without giving further details.

The guaranteed “deliveries” of oil and peas correspond to January and February, “because inventories are available.” As for sugar, which is also being distributed “in a fractional way,” it will be completed “in correspondence with the advances of the crop, and the four pounds per capita will be insured.”

Other products that are delayed are salt and coffee, according to the official report. The same goes for milk, which is also distributed “fractionally, in correspondence with the arrivals and fulfillment of the collections of fresh milk.” The ministry reports that this month Cuba will distribute a donation from the UN World Food Program, “with free delivery in some territories.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuban Worker: ‘For That Salary I Prefer to Clean Windshields at a Traffic Light’

In addition to several administrative positions, teacher vacancies are offered at the job fair. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Madrid, January 20, 2024 — Desperate to recruit candidates for their many vacant positions, on Saturday morning managers and teachers from several schools in Havana were anxiously awaiting potential workers to fill positions in the educational sector. The “job fair,” however, barely attracted any interested parties, as confirmed by 14ymedio in a tour of these educational centers.

The catalog for the vent included event included a wide range of positions ranging from maintenance workers, through administrators to teachers. But the salaries, which at their peak barely exceeded 5,000 pesos*, failed to attract potential candidates and the outlook at the fair was bleak.

“One or two people have come but we are going to remain open until 11 in the morning in case someone arrives at the last minute,” acknowledged an employee outside the Felipe Poey Aloy Unified School on Zapata Street. “A girl and a retired man are the only ones who have come. She said that she was inquiring about a friend from the province who was coming to live in Havana.” continue reading

This Saturday at the entrance of the Felipe Poey Aloy Unified School, on Zapata Street in Havana. (14ymedio)

The information offered by directors and teachers was completely oral. “There is no paper to take with you with the information, no brochure that later allows you to calmly read all the offers. You have to ask about what interests you and they tell you the positions and salaries, so no one can remember anything,” lamented a young man, a Computer Science graduate, who approached to inquire about a position as a teacher in his subject.

At the entrance to the Rubén Martínez Villena high school, next to the Habana Libre hotel, a receptionist waited impatiently for the arrival of someone interested in knowing the list of available places. “We have everything and, furthermore, there is soon going to be a salary reform in Education and salaries are going to rise quite a bit,” she snapped at a young woman who approached to inquire.

Once inside the educational center, with numerous current workers participating in the fair but very few people interested in the positions, the woman turned to the Director. “We have several positions, from qualification courses and also places in day care centers, in primary schools, basic secondary schools and, if the person has a degree, we quickly place them.”

“The current salary for a teacher is 5,600* pesos more or less, but a salary reform is coming. They are finalizing the resolution, although we do not have details yet, we only know that seniority will be counted for the raises,” said an employee of the school. “All the years you have worked in Education must be uninterrupted or they will not be counted towards the raise.”

“We have several positions, from qualification courses and also places in day care centers, in primary schools, basic secondary schools and, if the person has a degree, we quickly place them”

In the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, where the Rubén Martínez Villena secondary school is located, there are “three technological positions, one related to mechanics and automotive, another in computer science and a third in commerce and gastronomy that need teachers as soon as possible because there are many empty places” explained the center worker. “We write it down and the person starts working next week, we can’t wait.”

The long-awaited reform that the sector has been waiting for, after the recent salary increase for Public Health workers, should be a hook to attract new employees. However, the rampant inflation suffered by Cubans means that what until a few years ago seemed like high salaries have now become pennies in the face of the skyrocketing prices of basic products.

Liuba, 29, one of the few interested people who made it to the secondary school located on Línea and 4 streets in El Vedado, told 14ymedio ,”A carton of eggs, a bottle of oil and two pounds of beans,” that is what she would work for with a whole month in front of a classroom. “I came because my parents told me about the Fair, but I prefer to clean windshields at a traffic light.”

In another nearby school, a group of smiling employees took a photo for social networks. “We have to publish how the fair is going, we have to keep our Facebook account alive,” one preached. For the snapshot, they captured a young woman passing by, oblivious to the salaries in Education and the extensive drama of classrooms without teachers.

*Translator’s note: At current prices, a carton of 30 eggs sells for roughly 3,000 pesos.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Strange White Circles in the Sky above Havana Were Not Extraterrestrial

The phenomenon left a group of Luyanó residents stunned and groping for answers. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, 19 January 2024 — Some unusual formations in the sky early Friday morning led to a mixture of surprise, excitement and fear among Havana residents. At first glance, they looked like an airplane’s contrails but what made them suspicious was their shape. The string-like cloud, high in the troposphere, looped around three times before trailing off in a straight line towards the horizon.

“What a strange pattern. And it’s so big.” The phenomenon left a group of Luyanó residents stunned and groping for answers. “E.T. is here!” one of them said jokingly. “Aliens or Americans. It can’t be anything else,” answered another. “Girl, what do you mean aliens or Americans? It’s some Russian or Chinese plane that they’re testing here,” a third replied. A fourth feared the apocalypse was at hand while a fifth responded, “Take me now.”

The trail was clearly visible from all points in Havana, including from 14ymedio’s editorial office in Nuevo Vedado. Residents here looked for a more rational explanation. “It must be a natural phenomenon caused by humidity or some temperature differential in the upper atmosphere,” said a young man from Tulipán Street. “I think it’s an optical illusion,” said the friend accompanying him. continue reading

A pilot provided a straight answer: “It’s from a plane circling around because it can’t land, no question.” José Martí International Airport was closed at that time of day due to meteorological conditions. An employee, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that it was caused by a Wingo passenger jet en route from Bogotá that ultimately had to be diverted to

New Batches of Uniformed ‘Smurfs’ Arrive in Havana From the East

This Thursday, the sidewalks of the Havana Capitol were guarded by agents whose faces the residents had not seen before. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 18 January 2024 — Many agents of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) are called Palestinians because they are usually transferred from Cuba’s Eastern provinces – Granma, Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas, Santiago de Cuba – to other places, especially Havana, in the cunning strategy that the dictatorship always carried out to fuel hatred between the repressors and the repressed.

There is nothing better for this than to take advantage of the xenophobia that is assumed – whether true or not – among the residents of the capital and inhabitants of the center of the Island in relation to eastern Cubans, and vice versa. They are also called smurfs, because of the color of their uniforms, although it is certainly darker than that of the Belgian cartoons that give them their name.

Not only do their physiques and origins generate derision. The lack of knowledge of the city they patrol causes them to fall into countless tragicomic situations. Like those eastern police officers who, according to popular legends, asked for reinforcements for “Callello” street after reading the sign for “110th Street” [Calle110] on a corner marker. continue reading

Today, short of officers, and with its young members having been born smaller due to chronic malnutrition, not even the PNR is free from the traces of exodus and misery in Cuba

Unaware of the capital’s geography, crammed into shelters and with a poor diet of claria and rice, the dream of many of them is to “meet a Havana woman,” get married and so be able to qualify for the necessary residency permit to be able to stay and live in the big city. Others quickly learn to ask for bribes and turn a blind eye if they are slipped a bill. Many do not even continue wearing the uniform a few years after their arrival.

This Thursday, the sidewalks of the Havana Capitol were guarded by uniformed men whose faces the neighbors had not seen before. “Looks like a new batch of smurfs arrived,” a woman commented sarcastically after passing them. “But they bring these Palestinians, weaker and weaker, answered an old man sitting on a bench in Fraternity Park.

Today, short of officers, and with its young members having been born smaller due to chronic malnutrition, not even the PNR is free from the traces of exodus and misery in Cuba.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.