Julio César Contreras – Translating Cuba

Under the Gaze of ‘Che’ Guevara the Dollar Comes to Stores in Cienfuegos, Cuba

The store, located on 37th Avenue, reopened with the new payment method last week.

Facade of the La Valenciana store, now selling in dollars. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 18 March 2025 — Unafraid of ideological contradictions, the stern visage of Che Guevara, “a knight without blemish or fear”—a verse from a poem dedicated to the guerrilla—crowns the building that houses the first dollar store in the city of Cienfuegos. The store, located on 37th Avenue, reopened last week with the new cash payment option, a transformation evident as soon as you look in its windows and see its shelves packed with products.

La Valenciana is now a place where los fulas [dollars] have swept away the previously freely convertible currency (MLC) with which commerce operated. Retaining the name of Agua y Jabón [Water and Soap] the Italian chain with more than fifty stores across the island, the establishment now displays a different image that goes beyond the increased variety and quantity of merchandise for sale.

“I was surprised to see so many lights on inside,” said Isabel, a nearby resident, speaking to 14ymedio this Tuesday. She was also surprised by the doorman’s friendliness. “He welcomed me with a smile and told me that payment could now be made in dollars.” A quick glance around the room, albeit with limited air conditioning, revealed shelves full of laundry detergent, dish soap, hair conditioner, shampoo, brooms, and all sorts of household cleaning products.

“He welcomed me with a smile and told me that payment could now be made in dollars.” / 14ymedio

Sponges, air fresheners, mosquito spray, and toilet paper are also part of the offerings at this store, which is jointly managed by the state-owned Tiendas Caribe. “When this sold in MLC [moneda libremente convertible/freely convertible money], it was almost empty,” noted a young continue reading

woman who was also surprised by the change inside the store. “There’s quite a variety of detergents, and they also have toilet bowl descaler, which I haven’t found here in Cienfuegos for a long time,” she summarized.

However, the young woman preferred to remain cautious and not let her enthusiasm run wild: “Now the question is whether they’ll be able to maintain the supply because, as we know, a new broom sweeps clean,” she concluded at the counter where an employee was checking out another customer. The man, who had bought a pack of toilet paper and a cleaning bucket, paid with a $20 bill. The change was returned: partly in US bills, and instead of coins, in candy, a widespread practice in other dollar-denominated markets that have opened across the country.

The difference with other stores in the city that continue to operate in hard currency or pesos extends beyond the variety of products. “I didn’t see any employees playing on their phones or leaning on the counters,” Isabel explained to this newspaper after leaving La Valenciana, where she ultimately settled on just a handle for her old broom and a box of hair dye, all for a little over $10.

At the entrance, a sign warns that, in addition to dollars in cash, Visa, Mastercard, the Russian Mir, and the Cuban AIS, Viajeros, and Clásica cards are accepted. These cards are issued by national banks and operate only in foreign currency. However, power outages can make electronic payments difficult in a city that has experienced consecutive blackouts of more than 20 hours a day so far this year in the weeks hardest hit by the energy shortage.

Keeping the Agua y Jabón name, the store now displays a different image that goes beyond the increase in variety and quantity of merchandise. / 14ymedio

“I prefer to come with the dollars my daughter sends me,” summed up an elderly man who approached with “the exact amount” to buy some laundry soap. “I’m not in the mood to leave the change as a tip, nor am I interested in candy, because I wear prosthetics and don’t have grandchildren living here with me,” he concluded. The bill was exactly four dollars, which the customer paid in one-dollar bills.

Others prefer to receive the candy instead of the corresponding cents, or simply leave the difference as a tip for the employees. “At least this gives us a little money from time to time, because when we were in MLC, our pockets suffered the consequences. Listen, we didn’t get anything!” commented one employee who, a few months ago, was on the verge of being laid off, precisely because of the crisis that had gripped La Valenciana.

“I’m optimistic because when it comes to the dollar, everything improves,” he says. “It’s good for us until the power cuts off, because then customers have to pay only in cash and our opportunities to earn a little extra money increase,” he explains to this newspaper. “The most generous are the Cuban-Americans who come to visit and leave 40 cents here, a little there.”

While in other stores, the power outage is the golden excuse for halting sales, closing the doors, and canceling entry to the public, this isn’t the case at La Valenciana. Even during lunchtime, employees take turns to avoid interrupting service, and when the power goes out, instead of processing bills at the cash register, they write them down on a piece of paper.

As in those verses dedicated to Che Guevara, the face that welcomes customers on the rooftop of the dollar store, when the power goes out at La Valenciana, everyone continues working “en lo oscuro, señora, en lo oscuro” [in the dark, madam, in the dark].

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What Isn’t Broadcast on Cuba’s Radio Ciudad Del Mar

The sound engineer, apparently removed from all official propaganda, also receives requests not to broadcast certain “controversial opinions.”

In recent years, with the intensification of the crisis, controls on the station’s employees have also increased / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, March 17, 2025 — A few weeks ago Adriano resigned from Radio Ciudad del Mar, the local station in Cienfuegos where he had worked as a sound engineer since his college graduation. The decision cost him, especially because of the uncertainty of not knowing if he was going to find another job that he would enjoy as much. But he tells this newspaper that he does not regret putting a stop to what was happening inside the medium: “No one has the right to think for me or put words in my mouth.”

Working on the radio was not a dream he had as a child, but as a teenager, when he became interested in the work of Radio Ciudad del Mar, located in a two-story house in front of the Cienfuegos boardwalk. He was not so attracted to talking on the programs as to doing them himself, taking care of the music and sounds, and after graduating from Physical Culture he managed to sneak into the station.

However, with the work of a sound engineer, apparently far from all official propaganda, also came requests not to give certain “controversial opinions.” “The time came when it was impossible to broadcast one’s real thoughts or give opinions different from what is established on social networks and in the studio itself,” he says. continue reading

“The time came when it was impossible to broadcast one’s real thoughts or give opinions different from what is established on social networks and in the studio itself”

For Adriano the threshold of the door of Radio Ciudad del Mar marked the border between two different realities. Inside, the team and especially the announcers, “are continuously forced to broadcast news that is very distant from reality.” Outside, in the street, “we face criticism from listeners who call us liars or say we gloss over things that are serious. We find ourselves locked between what we’re supposed to say and what we experience daily as part of society.”

“It is very difficult to work in a place where anything that we do must have the approval of those from above. Creativity is subordinated to an institutional methodology, which in turn is subordinate to the orders from Havana,” explains the young Cienfuegan, who admits that, although surveillance is general, some people are more controlled than others. In the case of broadcasters, “the censorship is constant and comes from advisors, assistants and program directors. Whatever is minimally problematic is crushed by editorial policy, which is actually a straitjacket,” he says.

In recent years, with the intensification of the crisis, controls on the station’s employees have also increased. At the same time, Adriano adds, there are the practical problems: How do you broadcast without power? How do you record a program in a closed studio without air conditioning? How do you work without microphones, with old computers and sound equipment from decades ago?

“No one imagines how suffocating it is to work besieged by blackouts. The station’s generator does not support the equipment and air conditioners at the same time,” says the sound engineer, who reveals the tricks they used in the station to evade the suffocating heat. “While a program was running, we were bathed in sweat. Sometimes we played two or three songs in a row to have a few minutes to go out and catch the cool air that comes from the bay,” he confides.

“Sometimes we played two or three songs in a row to have a few minutes to go out and catch the cool air that comes from the bay” / 14ymedio

When a complaint was made to the superiors for not being able to connect the air conditioners or because the equipment was now too old and needed a replacement, “the response of the National Radio Directorate was always the same: there are no resources and the country faces a complex situation.”

This situation is also to the detriment of the audience, which is already diminished by the emergence of alternative means of information, more truthful, faster and which consume less of the public’s time. “If serious surveys were conducted at the station to evaluate audience levels, it would show that most people even prefer social networks to the radio to get information. In theory, the programming is designed for different audiences, but in practice it is very far from pleasing popular tastes,” he says.

As he explains, the station broadcasts live programs until ten at night. “From that time on, everything that is heard is recorded and, it must be said, it is not consistent with the demands of the early morning. Thus, an important segment of the population is lost, which deserves spaces capable of attracting the attention of radio subscribers,” he argues.

For a while, when Adriano saw several colleagues leave the radio to work in other state or private-sector centers, the question of whether he should leave worried him. The “thing,” he says, was having to choose between doing what he likes with a salary that does not reach 4,000 pesos – it depends on the number of programs that are made – along with constant surveillance, or giving priority to his discomfort with the censorship and a better pay.

But a month ago, when he learned that his wife was pregnant again, the indecision cleared up. However, Adriano assures that he did not leave the station just to ensure the family economy but that the pregnancy was only a catalyst. Between proposals to cut down to the least “subversive tone” and the frustration of not being able to do his job with quality, his departure from Radio Ciudad del Mar was “inevitable.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Only the Impoverished Teachers Dare To Eat the Children’s Lunch at the Guerrillero Heroica School

In Cienfuegos, Cuba, parents are concerned about the poor quality of food in schools

At noon, in front of the main door, families gather to pick up the children who are going to have lunch at home / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 9 March 2025 — A discolored broth and a lumpy minced meat are all that is on the metal tray that the students carry to the table. In the cafeteria of the Guerrillero Heroico primary school, in the city of Cienfuegos, lunches provoke aversion among students and concern among parents. The poor quality of the food and the scanty portions are added to the poor practices in its transport and conservation.

Around noon, relatives gather in front of the main door of the school to pick up children from preschool to sixth grade. Most will eat lunch at home and only a few will stay to eat the menu for which they pay seven pesos a month, a subsidized price designed especially for working mothers with two or more children.

However, the semi-boarding feature has ceased to be the guaranteed food ration that eased the domestic life of families with school-aged children, and has become a new burden. “I always have to get him something to add to his lunch, whether it’s a hot dog, a banana, a piece of sausage or a boiled egg,” Yudeisy, mother of a first-grader at the Ignacio Agramonte elementary school, tells 14ymedio.

“Adding something for lunch takes a long time, but now it is less and less worth doing because you practically have to send everything,” the woman says. Her main concern focuses on poor hygiene and the way in which the lunch is transported from the Food Processing Center, located in the Pueblo Griffo neighborhood, to the school cafeteria. “Sometimes it has a chopped-up texture and smells bad.” continue reading

When the food arrives at the school they must wait until the lunch break begins

“My son began to complain that the food was terrible, and then I found out that it is transported one or two hours before from where they prepare it, in horse carts and under the sun.” When it arrives at the school, they must wait until lunchtime begins. High temperatures accelerate its deterioration.

Although it is very difficult for Yudeisy to pick up her son from school and take him home to eat something, she says that even though it’s difficult, she prefers to do it rather than risk the child’s health. “Anyway, he no longer wants to eat what they serve him on the tray because he says it doesn’t taste good, that it’s cold and that many times he doesn’t even know what it is.”

Long blackouts further complicate the situation, as the pumping of water to both the manufacturing center and the school is frequently interrupted. “In addition to drinking water, he has to bring some water to wash his hands before lunch.” Yudeisy’s son’s backpack looks more like “a suitcase for a move” than something a schoolboy would carry. He must take a spoon, a glass, a water bottle and some food to add to the lunch.

Although fresh fruits, greens and vegetables have had a very low presence on Cuban school trays for decades, in recent years nutritional deficiencies have worsened. The authorities of the sector cannot guarantee a protein, rice disappears frequently, and the legumes are replaced by watery broths of dubious nutritional value.

The solution most used by parents in these cases is to take the student home and do without school lunch, but not all families can do it. “When I was a child, parents felt confident that their child was fed, not with a lot but with real food: fish, rice, peas, bread and even some dessert,” recalls a 47-year-old man with a daughter in José Gregorio Martínez primary school.

“When I was in elementary school, back in the 80s, we complained that we were often given ’the three musketeers’ – rice, peas and an egg.” Currently, the father recognizes that a menu with that composition would be “a dream, something that cannot be guaranteed every day, even in many families that have two or three salaries coming in.” From that time of the Soviet subsidy, he also remembers the dining rooms that “smelled of mackerel, and that people left without even eating the custard” for dessert.

The authorities of the sector cannot guarantee the protein, and the rice disappears frequently / 14ymedio

“Now it is convenient for the teachers that we parents come to pick up the children at noon, because there are fewer and fewer classes in the afternoon,” the man explains to this newspaper. “They know that a student who goes home is a student who does not return, and so they don’t have to work in the afternoon. They can use the time to solve personal problems, stand in line or simply wait until leaving time.”

“Since the classroom has no teaching assistant, the teacher finishes her classes before 11:30 am, gives two or three homework assignments and dismisses the kids. She doesn’t even have lunch at school, because she is diabetic and has to comply with a strict diet that looks nothing like the one they serve in the dining room,” he explains.

“Last year I peeked into the dining room because my son had forgotten his water bottle. He had no rice on his tray, not even a meal, only a broth of a murky color with a noodle floating in the middle. That same day I decided that the child was not going to continue having lunch at school,” he adds. “Although it is a sacrifice for us to prepare something at home, at least we still can. There are families that can’t even do that.”

However, with the poverty that has spread to the whole society and also reaches the educational staff, the food that the children reject is not thrown away. “My son’s teacher was happy when I told her that he wasn’t going to have lunch at school for a while,” says Yudeisy. “She carries a plastic container every day that she fills with some of the food that the children refuse. For her, having that tasteless soup, a few pieces of pumpkin and the odd little bit of rice to take home is one of the motivations to get up every day and go to the classroom.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Due to the Risk of Collapse, the Cienfuegos Train Station Closes After Investing 5.3 Million Pesos

The cancellation of itineraries and the closure of the terminal have left travelers and employees without options / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 6 March 2025 — “No entry, danger of collapse,” warned the sign that on February 28 closed the Cienfuegos train terminal indefinitely. For the passengers who arrived at the station and found the doors and windows closed, the notice glued to the wall was an unfortunate surprise. However, Marta, who has worked there for years, believes that the closure is not really news.

The woman clearly remembers when the terminal was closed in 2019, due to serious roof problems. The City Conservator’s Office hired the private design group Redema for the repairs. Three years and 5.3 million pesos later, according to the official press, the terminal reopened its doors, but the result was disappointing.

“When it reopened and the workers returned, I realized that it didn’t have the quality that was so advertised”

“I remember that time very well, because while the repairs lasted I had to look for other work. When they reopened and the workers returned, I realized that it did not have the quality that was so advertised. The roof and plumbing problems continued, to the point that it was now impossible to maintain cleanliness. There was also a lack of implements to ensure the hygiene of the premises,” the worker explains to 14ymedio.

Many people there agree with Marta, some of them cited by the local newspaper, 5 de Septiembre. “Not even two weeks had passed since the work was completed, and leaks were already appearing in the center of the facility when the first downpours arrived,” a resident of the municipality of Palmira told the newspaper.

The repairs initiated in 2019 included replacing the roof tiles, restoring the woodwork, the floors, the platforms, the ticket office and the bathrooms. The benches in the waiting room were also replaced by metal seats. However, “the roof was already falling apart, and from the outside you could see broken tiles, as if absolutely nothing had changed,” says Marta. continue reading

The benches in the waiting room were also replaced by metal seats / 14ymedio

Marta explains that the all-wood construction is now rotten, and the building – founded in 1913 – threatens to collapse at any point. “It is obvious that they didn’t do the work that was needed.”

The 5 de Septiembre report ventures one step further and even asks the authorities to take action on the matter. “The population has no doubt that ’the badly done’ will only get worse, as long as time continues to pass without a committed entity under the tutelage of the UEB Ferrocarriles Cienfuegos getting involved in the matter. There needs to be a decent, definitive epilogue to a heritage building that deserves it, and which currently continues to experience a fatal scheme of hit-and-run repairs.”

Meanwhile, the trains continue to arrive at the closed station, but they are as unstable as the future of the building. “The train bound for Santo Domingo, which originally went six times a week, has been canceling trips due to breakdowns and lack of fuel,” explains the terminal worker.

Another hard blow was suffered by the dozens of people who were traveling in hired vehicles, which were taking travelers on their way to the municipality of Aguada. Many of the travelers had this cheaper way to go from one place to another in Cienfuegos. “The possibility of recovering the train route to Sancti Spíritus had already been lost, and the instability of the vehicle services going to Santa Clara presaged this collapse,” the woman laments.

The cancellation of itineraries, as well as the closure of the terminal, have left travelers without options

The cancellation of itineraries, as well as the closure of the terminal, have left travelers and employees who depended to a lesser or greater extent on the operation of the facility without options. “Obviously, I can’t stay with my arms crossed in my house indefinitely, without earning a centavo, until another new capital repair can be made. The leaders always ask that we develop initiatives to guarantee the maintenance of the premises, but very little can be done when the repair itself is a disaster,” says Marta.

“So right now I am unemployed,” says the woman, who has taken advantage of the moment to give another direction to her life. “The salary of 2,500 pesos was not enough at all, and there is always a risk that with the closure they will fire some of the workers,” she analyzes. The closure, for her, has closed more than one door: “I don’t think I will work for the State again.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ulises and Arminda, Retirees and Professional ‘Coleros’ at the ATMs in Cienfuegos, Cuba

The elderly save others long waits under the sun or rain and charge them 1,000 pesos for their service

Early mornings on the boulevard can be dangerous, especially when you can’t even see your hands due to the blackout / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 2 March 2025 –14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 2 March 2025 — They are just shadows in the middle of the dim light in front of the branch of the Banco Popular de Ahorro on the boulevard of the city of Cienfuegos. Every night they are there to stand in line so that, the next morning, they can withdraw cash from the ATMs. Sometimes the long hours of waiting end in frustration because of a power cut, lack of money, a technical breakdown or some other mishap.

“Anyone may think that we are fleeing the blackouts and enjoying a little cool air, but the reality is that we are standing in line for our customers,” says Ulises, an old man whose face is already part of the urban landscape on that stretch of the street. “This is a great sacrifice, and most of us are retired. I come every three days, and the people interested in my service contact me very early.”

Although Ulises has been retired for several years, he has had to look for a job as a custodian for a nearby State building to earn extra income. His potential customers look for him there during the day, and once he withdraws the cash from the ATM they give the elderly man 1,000 pesos for his service. A real roulette marked by chance if you take into account the continuous blackouts and technical problems that affect the city’s banking network.

Faced with such a difficult task, a group of coleros — people who stand in line for others — has been created that guarantees, at least, that those who can pay for their services do not have to spend a morning outdoors. “People complain that we take the first places in line, but what we do is a job, an continue reading

occupation that helps other people who can’t spend all night like this,” adds the pensioner.

“We almost all know each other, and if someone has a problem and has to go home for a while, we’ll take care of their place in line”

The man lists what kind of people require his work. “There are families with small children who cannot leave them alone, people who take care of the bedridden who can’t leave, others who are in charge of an elderly person and have to collect the pension but cannot spend a lot of time in line at the ATM. Anyway, they need cash but they don’t want to be here all this time.”

The coleros watch each other’s backs. Early mornings on the boulevard can be dangerous, especially when you can’t even see your hands due to the blackout, something that happens more and more frequently in a city that suffers up to more than 20 hours without electricity every day. “We almost all know each other. If someone has a problem and has to go home for a while, we will take care of their place in line.” Solidarity is vital for a job that is prohibited and does not enjoy a good reputation among the users of the branch.

“The first places in line are always in the hands of the coleros; you definitely can’t go to that bank,” says a young engineer who has given up taking out cash from the branch, the closest to her home. “I try to do everything I can through electronic transfers but not all businesses accept them, and you always end up needing cash.”

She says that customers have repeatedly complained to the bank’s management about the difficulties in accessing the ATMs. The complaints are not only directed against the coleros, but also against those who try to use a single place in line to extract money from several cards. “You are fifth in line, and you think you’re going to get there, but the person in front of you does five transactions and it’s all over.”

Based on the complaints, the branch managers have imposed a rule that each customer can only withdraw money from one card. The device also has a limit on the number of bills for each operation that restricts the quantities. “You can only withdraw 5,000 pesos in each operation, but the cash they put in the AT is so little that sometimes they recharge it at nine in the morning, and by eleven it’s empty.”

The young woman has chosen to mobilize her family to be in at least three lines at the same time

The young woman has chosen to mobilize her family to be in at least three lines at the same time. “My husband is in the branch on Argüelles Street, my mother in the San Carlos bank, and I am in this one on the boulevard, but sometimes we don’t even manage to get money.” In her opinion, the coleros who have been in front of the office since dawn are only the result of a bigger problem: “The lack of money and the fact that everything costs a lot, hundreds and thousands, and they don’t want to accept the smallest bills.”

One of the most experienced coleras on the boulevard is Arminda, 68 years old and with a pension of 1,500 pesos per month. “I have spent early mornings without sleeping; I have been bitten by mosquitoes, and I have even experienced some scares, just so a bank employee can come out and say that they aren’t putting money in the ATM that day, or the power goes off just when it is time to open to the public.”

Her main goal is to stay in business, despite the risks and frustrations, in order to buy, in the informal market, the medicines and food needed by her daughter, a young woman with mobility problems who can barely get out of bed. “If the power goes off just as the ATM starts, then I have to stay there under the sun so as not to lose my place in line, until the blackout is over.”

Insects, the early morning cold and the noon heat are not the only things that make Arminda uncomfortable. “Bank employees come out, stop the line and put in three or four cards to get money for their friends or people who pay them for it,” she complains. The old woman says that every day there is a different fight; people get very aggressive because, of course, money is a delicate matter.”

Last week Arminda was somewhat lucky because she stood in three lines during the early morning. She managed to withdraw cash for her customers in about two days. But she knows that in the fragile business of guaranteeing a position in the front of the line, nothing is assured. Her occupation is as unstable and elusive as those bills with the face of Céspedes (100 pesos) or Frank País (200 pesos).

Translated by Regina Anavy

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If You Don’t Live Near a Private Bakery, You Won’t Get Breakfast or a Snack in Matanzas, Cuba

State-owned companies have not received flour in the last three weeks to make bread for the rationed market

Iván Castro Rodríguez, director of the Food Company, confirmed to local media the lack of flour in the Matanzas territory. / Castro Rodríguez/TV Yumurí

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 27 February 2025 — The Provincial Food Company in Matanzas has only confirmed what had been the main topic on the streets of the city for more than three weeks. When the state entity announced on Tuesday that there was no flour to make the rationed bread for the market, the supply of the food had fallen dramatically and its price had skyrocketed.

“This official information was expected because the bread situation is critical in this province. No one is safe, there are problems in the municipalities and problems here in the city,” a resident of the Versalles neighborhood told 14ymedio. He went to the area around the Parque de la Libertad on Wednesday in search of bread.

The day before, Iván Castro Rodríguez, director of the Food Company, confirmed to local media the lack of flour in Matanzas territory. The official added that, despite the fact that “different efforts” had been made to resolve the situation, up to that moment they had not been successful.

“This official information was expected because the bread situation is critical in this province. No one is safe, there are problems in the municipalities and problems here in the city.”

Initially, the news excluded the collapse, but in reality the city has been suffering from such problems for almost a month and in the last week the state bakeries have not been able to guarantee the daily ration. “They sell it one day yes and one day no, sometimes two or three days go by when there is none,” explains Ramona, a retired resident of the Peñas Altas continue reading

neighborhood.

“Those of us who are having the worst time with all this are those of us who live furthest from the MSMEs,” says the woman. “Most of the street vendors who come here resell the bread that the workers at the state bakeries give them to sell on the street.” If there is no flour in the official establishments, the network of merchants who walk or cycle through the streets collapses.

“We are committed to restarting full production as soon as the flour arrives,” said Castro Rodriguez, but the Matanzas residents are preparing for a long absence of the product. “This is going to take a long time and that is why they have made this announcement now, to silence people because there is a lot of popular discontent,” Ramona said.

“A bag of soft bread, if you can find it, now costs between 300 and 350 pesos in private shops, and medium-sized loaves of bread are already going for 150 pesos,” complains the pensioner. “The further away you live from the few MSMEs that still produce bread, the more expensive it is.” The lack of the product affects not only breakfast at home and school snacks, but also affects other daily meals.

“It’s not just that it’s more expensive, it’s that we can’t guarantee having it, so we have to make do with what we have.”

“With rice being so expensive, in my house what we often eat at night is bread with something,” explains a mother who came to pick up her son outside a primary school at midday on Wednesday. “Bread is a support because it goes with everything, you can put anything in it.”

In the city center, tourists are not immune to the bread shortage. A restaurant near the boulevard has replaced the bread that accompanied one of its most popular starters with plantain chips. “It’s not just that it’s more expensive, it’s that we can’t guarantee to have it, so we have to make do with what we have,” explained an employee to a customer who was surprised when he saw some slices of fried plantain next to the cheese and ham chips. Other menu items, such as the Cuban sandwich and the hamburger, were also not “coming out” due to the lack of bread.

On a nearby corner, a vendor selling bread and cookies barely lasted a few minutes between hawking his wares and emptying the box he was carrying on his bicycle. When there is no bread, alarm bells go off and in Matanzas people sense that if the star of the snacks, breakfasts and starters is absent, it is because “things are bad, really bad,” according to Ramona.

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Cuba’ Healthcare: ‘As Medical Students, We Have to Clean Bathrooms and Change Lightbulbs’

A shortage of staff in Cienfuegos’s hospitals requires future doctors to do it all.

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare lost 44,200 workers between 2022 and 2023, according to the latest yearbook. /14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, January 30, 2025 — When Lisbeth arrived at Paquito González Cueto pediatric hospital, toughened by her tenure at various polyclinics in Cienfuegos, she thought nothing in the Cuban health system could surprise her. A third-year medical student, she hoped, that one of the most prestigious institutions in the region would offer her a less harsh outlook, than that of other centers where she had completed her internship.

However, as a result of the drop in population, the lack of personnel is felt more acutely in the state sector with salaries that pale by comparison to those in private industry, and even more so in the health field, where the human factor requires an extra effort that isn’t rewarded at the end of the month. Public Health and Social Welfare has lost 44,200 workers between 2022 and 2023, according to the latest yearbook, published this year.

Of these, at least 32,000 are doctors, but the shortages are intersecting and student interns not only solve the shortage of doctors, but also resolve tasks for which they are overqualified.

Of those, at least 32,000 are doctors, but the shortages are intersecting and in practice the students not only make up for the lack of physicians but must also carry out tasks for which they are overqualified. continue reading

“During my shifts, I have escorted patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers. I’ve had to administer injections and even had to sweep the floor.

“During my shifts, I have escorted patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers. I’ve had to administer injections and even had to sweep the floor when no one else is taking responsibility for cleaning,” informs Lisbeth, who also cautions about a long-standing issue. Not only must the patients bring their own food if they expect to receive adequate nourishment, but so must the doctors, as she herself has during the months of her internship.

Unlike doctors or other health care providers, medical students cannot ask for leave or a transfer to another hospital if they don’t like where they are. Doing so could cost them their diploma or result in a serious reprimand. The obligation to remain wherever they’re sent also subjects them to excessive workloads and arbitrary orders from those in charge.

“Sometimes, after I’ve finished my shift, I can’t leave to go home and sleep, have a coffee or take a shower,” another young student interning at the University General Hospital Dr. Gustavo Aldereguía Lima told us. “As students we’re at the bottom of the pecking order; we’re asked to do everything from carrying buckets of water from the cistern to picking up food for the doctors.”

Lisbeth accuses her professional colleagues of trading patients for “bags of food and necessities.” / 14ymedio

Instead of encountering professional challenges that would help him grow, the young student has had to clean bathrooms, climb on chairs to fix a suspended ceiling so it doesn’t fall on a patient’s bed, or bring light bulbs from home so he can use the bathroom at daybreak. “Sometimes I think I’m going to graduate as a repair technician instead of as a doctor.”

For her part, Lisbeth accuses her professional colleagues of trading patients for “bags of food and necessities.” “It’s as if they are indifferent to the suffering of others,” she states. “If they have a case, they will prioritize those who are ‘recommended,’ those that have ‘clout’ or bring gifts,” she complains.

“When we are treating a patient, I’ve also noticed that some of our professors merely indicate a clinical procedure without explaining to us the cause of the illness and the reasons for their decision. We are practically doing the job of the nurses, basically learning through the literature, which is at times outdated,” she explains. “Some of my classmates ask me to be less combative, saying we just have to pass our exams, but I’m not satisfied with that.”

Lisbeth has a few more weeks left to finish her rotation at Paquito González Cueto, with its crumbling physical structure that serves as a metaphor for what is happening within its walls. Her greatest fear is that a truly ill patient will come in, a child whose treatment will not abide tricks or improvisations. “How can I provide the family of that child with assurances that the child will receive the highest standard of care?” she asks herself.

With a vocation for medicine since her childhood, the young student sums up the tragedy of studying medicine with this observation: Her profession is a noble one, but she was destined to pursue it in the wrong country.

Translated by Cristina Saavedra

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Dining by Candlelight: Not for Valentine’s Day, but for the Blackouts

After several days of blackouts lasting more than 20 hours a day, the residents of Cienfuegos face this February 14 with little enthusiasm

In David and his partner’s home, it is very likely that tonight they will have a frugal dinner in the darkness of a blackout. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 14 February 2025 — There is no indication that this Friday will be a festive day for the people of Cienfuegos. After several days of blackouts lasting more than 20 hours a day, residents of the city face Valentine’s Day with little enthusiasm and limited consumer offerings. The candles lit tonight will not be to create a romantic atmosphere but to alleviate the darkness of the power cuts.

“My wife and I have a tradition of celebrating it because we met on February 14 at a party that some friends organized,” Alejandro, 45, told this newspaper. “Normally we would go out to eat at a restaurant, buy roses and then walk around the city for a while, but this year we’re going to stay at home, not spend money because everything is so expensive, and go to bed early.”

The economic crisis has dampened the passion surrounding the date. Since the beginning of the month, merchants have also remained cautious with the sale of all kinds of gifts and accessories. While a few years ago tables, shops and private kiosks were filled with stuffed animals, artificial or natural flowers, chocolates, heart-shaped accessories and all kinds of red or pink trinkets, in 2025 the options are reduced. continue reading

“This year, the initial investment was very expensive and we have no guarantees of recovering it.”

At the traditional craft fair that has been overflowing on San Fernando Boulevard since early February, merchants have now opted for caution. “At this time, my husband and I always put a special product on sale, but this year the initial investment was very high and we have no guarantee of recovering it,” explains Gina, a goldsmith from Cienfuegos who runs a sales point in the city centre.

Instead of her own themed products made of steel, copper and beads, she has preferred to stock a majority of her shop with timeless products, which “are just as good for Valentine’s Day as for a birthday,” she admits. “Many people come in, ask for prices and then leave without buying anything. This misery has taken away people’s desire to love each other.”

Her business experience tells her that those peaks in purchases around special dates are now history. “A seller who depends on celebrations is at risk of not even being able to recover the cost of the investment made,” says Gina. Inflation pushes families to cut spending on gifts and festivities to concentrate almost exclusively on survival.

The nightlife scene is not a great incentive to dig deep into your pocket either. “You can find a restaurant with seating and have a nice time, but then how do you get home? In the dark? That’s dangerous,” admits David, 28, who went out in the middle of his workday on Wednesday to buy a present for his wife.

After going around the shops near Villuendas Park, the young man realized that his goal would be complicated. “A simple postcard costs 300 or 400 pesos. No matter how much you love it, your pocket can’t handle such excesses.” After a long trip, David ended up spending more than 300 pesos on two loaves of bread that he managed to buy from an informal vendor. “Bread is missing, so given the choice, I opted to be able to have breakfast tomorrow.”

In David and his partner’s home, it is very likely that tonight there will be a frugal dinner in the darkness of a blackout and the main entertainment will be “watching some videos on the Internet if we have battery and connection left at that time.”

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After More Than 26 Consecutive Hours Without Electricity in Cienfuegos, Cubans Fear a New National Blackout

The deficit forecast by UNE for this Wednesday marks a record of 1,870 megawatts

Cienfuegos is paralyzed by the blackout and the Electric Company in the province has not given the slightest hope. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Madrid, 12 February 2025 — The Electric Union forecasts a record deficit of 1,870 megawatts (MW) for this Wednesday. The last time the authorities announced a similar figure – in October of last year – the country was quickly plunged into a total blackout. The temperature is around 31° and the tension is at its highest in a country where some areas have already been without power for more than 25 hours. And they are still counting.

In Cienfuegos, one of the cities hardest hit by the power cut – by midday on Wednesday they had been without electricity for 26 hours – many have given up going to work and are sitting in their doorways, waiting for a “bright light” that will not come in time to prepare lunch.

Most private businesses have not opened their doors either. The city is paralyzed by the blackout and the Telegram channel of the Electric Company in the province has not given the slightest hope: “At this time, due to the situation that the country is going through, the hours of impact have increased to 25 and 3 hours with service.” Between these two disproportionate numbers oscillates the life of many Cienfuegos residents, whose routine has been radically disrupted by the debacle. continue reading

“You have a lot of things to get done, because nowadays everything is digital and without electricity you can’t work”

“You have nothing to do all day,” Jorge, a student at the University of Cienfuegos, told 14ymedio. The energy situation is making the start of the semester difficult for him. “You have a lot of things to get done, because nowadays everything is digital and without electricity you can’t work.”

Frustrated, he tried to find “refuge” on Tuesday in one of the hotels in the historic city center, which did have electricity generated by a power plant. “To be able to stay there, you had to consume. Prices were sky-high: 200 pesos for a coffee, 300 for a lemonade, 500 for a sangria. Even to finish a job you have to pay in this country,” he laments.

In the municipality of Villa Clara, the capital of the neighboring province, the power cuts are a nightmare. “It went out at 4:00 am and came back at 7:00,” says Diana, a housewife who lives near Parque Vidal. “Then it went out again and we are still in a blackout. Yesterday, miraculously, there was power all day in my circuit, but the one in front of it was cut off. Today they announced more than 1,800 MW. Could it be that a total blackout is coming again?”

Neither the Government nor the Minister of Energy and Mines have given any warning signs. At 7:30 am on Wednesday, Félix Estrada, director of the National Cargo Office, appeared on Cuban Television to report that the UNE faces a “very complex” situation and that the deficit of 1,870 is “quite large.”

The recovery of the Felton Power Plant will take “seven days of cooling to detect the fault.”

The “unexpected” shutdown –the adjective in use, despite the evident instability of the power plants – of unit 1 of the Felton thermoelectric plant in Holguín on Tuesday upset the national electrical system (SEN) for the umpteenth time. The sequence of the total blackout in October is repeated: on that occasion, the fall of another power plant, the Antonio Guiteras in Matanzas, was what dragged down the entire system.

The recovery of the Felton will take “seven days of cooling to detect the fault,” said the director. In total, according to the daily report of the Electric Union, it is estimated that the repair will take 20 days to complete. Estrada explained that there are also several units out of service at the Santa Cruz (Mayabeque) and Renté (Santiago de Cuba) plants.

Wednesday’s figure has no equal in the last two years. It is a record in the face of which the government’s silence is disconcerting. Havana has placed its hopes – at least officially – on the solar panels that China intends to install wholesale throughout the island.

At the bottom of official publications, both in the press and on UNE’s social media profiles, the disgust is no longer hidden. “Everything is inhumane. There is no note to what is happening. Children, elderly people without food, without being able to sleep a wink, waiting for the power to take a sip of food and nothing, degrading,” lamented user Maidelis Bencomo.

“The only thing these numbers and the situation tell me,” added user Daniel González, “is that we are on the verge of another general blackout, 1,800 MW of deficit, that says it all and with the situation with the generation we will spend at least a week without electricity. Shame and abuse to the people.

Finally, user Dayron Lavin made fun of it: “We are two steps away from reaching 2,000 [MW of deficit]. I am running to see the president of the CDR and the rest of the ’factors’ of the neighborhood to prepare the activity… Congratulations, UNE. Strength, Cuba.”

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“At the Meliá San Carlos Hotel in Cienfuegos, a Week Can Go By Without a Single Tourist Showing Up”

In January, during the high season, the establishment had an occupancy rate of less than 15%.

“Here, the biggest tips are always given by the guests, but right now there are very few.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 4 February 2025 — In the midst of the darkness that fell on Cienfuegos this Sunday, where the blackout lasted more than 20 hours, a bright building stood out at dusk. “I have only managed to collect 250 pesos all day from some Cubans who came into the bar to have a few beers,” says Gabriel, an employee of the Meliá San Carlos hotel. “There are people who come to take refuge here, to have a drink and to be able to at least see their hands,” he explains. Quite a triumph if one takes into account that the fall in tourism has emptied its facilities more than ever.

“There is very little service to external clients. The biggest tips here are always given by the guests, but right now there are very few of them,” the employee adds. During the month of January, the high tourist season in Cuba, the hotel has had an occupancy rate of less than 15%, according to an employee of the administrative area who prefers to remain anonymous. With rooms ranging from 115 to 160 dollars per night, if booked on the company’s official website, the establishment spends its days with a “small number of clients who also come for one or two nights, if that.”

The hotel, originally called just “San Carlos” opened in 1925, was owned by businessman Antonio Mata until, after the triumph of the Revolution, it passed into the hands of the State until its closure in the 1990s. After several years of renovation, the establishment reopened in 2018 with the name of its management company, “Meliá”, inserted. “It’s nice and comfortable, but in the city of Cienfuegos there is not much to do, so few tourists come here, and the ones who do, is because they are making a short stop between the West and the East”, says the employee.

The establishment spends its days with a “small number of clients who also come for one or two nights if that.” / 14ymedio

“These days, there is not much difference between working here or in a tourist center in the Islazul chain”, he added, referring to one of the worst-rated state-owned companies dedicated to tourism.

The hotel “is struggling with the number of guests,” he continues. “We have kept almost all the staff, but people are not very enthusiastic about coming to work because what really motivates us here is tips, not wages, and without guests there are no tips in foreign currency.” continue reading

At the door of the San Carlos, a security guard looks out into the darkness that stretches beyond the lights on the façade. It is nighttime, he has already completed his shift and has taken off his work uniform to await his replacement, but the employee who is to guard the entrance to the accommodation for the next few hours is late.

The lack of tourists does not help to maintain work discipline, something that is reflected in the details. Several ashtrays with numerous cigarette butts show that no one has been to clean them for hours, or perhaps days, and two employees sitting on a sofa check their mobile phones while waiting for their shift to end.

Two employees sitting on a sofa check their phones while waiting for their shift to end. / 14ymedio

“We’re like in the Coronavirus era, but without face masks,” says another bar worker. “I’ve counted up to a week without seeing even a single tourist. The staff reduction could come at any time,” explains the man, who is about 50 years old and has worked in the tourism sector for two decades. “I got a second job in a private restaurant and, if this keeps getting worse, I’m going full-time for that business.”

“It’s also difficult to answer questions from customers who want to go out and experience the city’s nightlife. You have to explain to them that there’s a general blackout, and that it’s better not to go out.” Among the latest guests she has served at the bar, she has often heard the phrase that they don’t plan to return to Cuba. “‘The country looks destroyed, I’m going to wait a while to return,’ said a German woman who told me she had come several times since the 1990s.”

According to Meliá’s third-quarter data, its hotels in Cuba had an average occupancy of 39%, well below its facilities in Asia, which is in second to last position, with 52%. The San Carlos is also one of the properties that led the Spanish hotel chain to litigation after the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. In 2019, Antonio Mata’s heirs sued the company for profiting from the property, as well as several hotel and tourism search platforms, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity.com, Trivago and Booking.com. The Florida judge who handled the case, however, removed Meliá and all intermediaries from the case.

Despite the lack of work, employees do have a motivation to go to The San Carlos: “electricity, water and food.” / 14ymedio

Despite the lack of work, employees do have one motivation to come to San Carlos: “electricity, water and food.” Every day they charge their phones at the hotel, knowing that when they return home there will most likely be no electricity. However, the difficulties that extend from the front door outwards also creep into the accommodation managed by Meliá. “Right now, we have the internet connection down because it seems there are problems with the server,” one of the receptionists tells a guest.

And not all that glitters is gold. Part of the hotel has its lights off in the interior areas. “We have an energy saving plan that we must strictly follow. All the rooms that are not in use are turned off or out of service, including the elevators,” explains the employee. “The management has asked us to remain calm and trust that we will get out of this situation”, stresses the woman, as if repeating a mantra that dissuades her and the other workers from being pessimistic.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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Shortages, Inflation and Bureaucracy Bring Private Cafeterias to the Brink of Bankruptcy in Cienfuegos

Some entrepreneurs are experiencing “the most difficult times in business”

“I try by all means to keep prices accessible to most people, but if the suppliers’ charges increase, I have no choice but to charge a little more myself” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 27 January 2025 — With bruises and problems, which he prefers to describe as “challenges for 2025,” Abelardo has decided that his cafeteria will remain open against all odds. With 57 years behind him, he has no doubt that he is living “the most difficult times of the business,” which he opened in 2019 on Santa Cruz Street, in Cienfuegos.

Like other self-employed people in Cuba, the rise in prices and the product shortage are two realities that are threatening the neck of his business. The instability in his price list has been inevitable and the customers, he tells 14ymedio, are not the only ones who suffer from the disarray of the national economy. “I started with two employees who were in charge of preparing food and serving customers, while I guaranteed the supply of the cafeteria,” he explains. “I paid them 500 pesos a day, and it worked for me, even with the taxes to the Onat (National Tax Administration Office) and hiring a manager who kept the business’s accounts.”

The turning point – as for thousands of business owners on the Island – was the Coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of the Ordering Task in January 2021. He had to fire one of his employees. continue reading

“I paid them 500 pesos a day, and it worked for me, even with the taxes to the Onat”

The cafeteria began its decline, fueled by the economic measures that the Government has implemented in recent years. According to the merchant himself, multiple factors have influenced the decline of his establishment, among which inflation, lack of merchandise and the low purchasing power of the population stand out.

“I try by all means to keep prices accessible for most people, but if the suppliers charges increase, I have no choice but to charge a little more myself. A cup of coffee that I used to sell for 20 pesos, I have had to increase it by an additional 30 pesos. If I don’t do it like this, I go straight to bankruptcy,” says Abelardo.

The situation is even more complicated for those owners who have to pay rent for the premises. It is increasingly common to find a small shop or a cell phone workshop, where until some time ago there was a bar that offered light products. Those who once opted to sell food are now evaluating the possibility of an exodus.

“My cafeteria’s location is privileged,” admits Rafael, who, like Abelardo, has decided to keep it open because it is across from the national bus terminal.

The flow of customers to his premises is “acceptable” during the day. Consumption is based mainly on products that do not exceed 150 pesos. “When you calculate the cost and the payments that must be made, the profit is so little that in some cases I have had to withdraw some offerings because they cause losses.”

Like Abelardo, Rafael also had to fire an employee: she even earned more money than he did.

“Many people are losing their jobs, because we business owners are being hindered from all sides. From government inspectors who fine us for anything, to the huge shortages that prevent us from moving forward. My wife and I are trying to continue in this area of gastronomy, but the fight is tough”, explains Rafael.

In addition to the economic problems, there is the sluggishness with which the Ministry of Labor manages licenses to practice self-employment, and this hinders hiring.

“It is inconceivable that the documentation to employ a person takes up to six months,” laments Eladio, who also runs a cafeteria. “I needed a saleswoman. Taking a risk, I put her to work while they processed her license. After five months, the papers were still not there, and she did not want to continue. I had to start the process again with someone else.”

In Cienfuegos, more and more establishments are closing their doors in the early afternoon. There is no money to pay the employees for the full day and, besides, it does not make sense if there are no customers. “I open when I can and how I can,” is Eladio’s mantra, “I don’t have partners in the MSMEs or godfathers in the Government.”

Translated by Norma Whiting

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In the Absence of Buses and Fuel, Horse-Drawn Carriages Provide Transportation in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Much cheaper than tricycles and scooters, cart drivers do not enjoy the sympathy of the authorities

When the law leans on them, carriage drivers find a way to survive. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 19 January 2025 – “State-run busses are no competition for us, because they are virtually non-existent,” gibes a driver waiting to load his horse-drawn carriage precisely where La Calzada de Dolores in Cienfuegos begins. Although the area designated by the government for pick-up, far from the downtown, has become a dumpsite of animal urine and feces, people are not dissuaded from climbing on board the rickety carriages to go anywhere in the city.

“We would welcome a better location. People in El Prado, for example, who’re going to Tulipán need to walk at least ten blocks to get here through El Parque Villuendas,” explains Jorge, who’s been driving his carriage for eighteen years.

These drivers report that, far from providing the opportunities they seek, the local authorities have been “on the verge of wiping out the carriages entirely.” Jorge is grateful that each time those measures have been about to take effect, the fuel crisis and the scarcity of buses have tipped the balance in favor of the carriage drivers. Nonetheless, the government’s stance remains hostile.

“The only thing left for Party leaders to do is blame us for causing an epidemic. Together with Community Services and the Ministry of Labor, they have changed our routes, raised our taxes, controlled our prices—all with the goal of making us gradually disappear,” he stated.

When the law leans on them, says the man, the horse-carriage drivers find a way to survive. What’s most common, he affirms as he turns the queue over to a colleague who had just arrived at La Calzada, is renting the vehicle. “Whenever we can, we have to rent out the carriage; it’s the only way we can afford to pay the tax authorities, maintain the carriage, and take care of the horse,” he affirms. But since so many are doing the same thing, it’s not easy to get more than three or four rentals per week. continue reading

Jorge also bemoans the fact that the horse-carriage routes are not as flexible as those of the three-wheelers and motorcycles.

Jorge also bemoans the fact that the horse-carriage routes are not as flexible as those of the three-wheelers and motorcycles, which also offer trips downtown. But the driver knows that compared to motorized vehicles, his trade has an advantage: the prices. “Not everyone can rent a scooter to La Juanita or Junco Sur, because they can easily be charged 1,000 pesos for the trip,” he estimates.

Osmani, the young driver to whom Jorge gave the last one, almost completely agrees with the man who has become a kind of mentor in the trade to him. “Lots of people complain that our routes are limited, but we know we aren’t the ones to blame.”

It’s been seven months since the young man began the process of finally putting his carriage in circulation. “Instead of making things easier, they put up bureaucratic roadblocks that would discourage anyone. And after overcoming the initial hurdles, then the daily struggle begins with the inspectors who are ready to issue fines even for the animal’s excrement,” he complained.

At the pick-up spot, time is money. That’s why the drivers try to fill the carriages quickly, and when they can’t, the clients become impatient. “When they say they’re going to the stop at the Provincial Hospital or the bus terminal, they really stop two or three blocks before. It’s not the drivers’ fault they can’t go all the way there, but we are paying for a trip that is never completed,” bemoans Idania from the seat of one of the carriages waiting to be filled. “When I get off, I still have to take another means of transportation to get to my house in the Reina neighborhood.”

At the pick-up spot, time is money. That’s why the drivers try to fill the carriages quickly. 14ymedio

With 20 pesos for the trip in hand, Idania attempts a brief analysis of the problem with transportation in the city. Her conclusions aren’t good: There are no buses; alternative forms of transportation are expensive; and the cheapest, like the horse-drawn carriages, don’t cover all the routes they could.

The woman also dislikes the idea that hundreds of Cienfuegos’s residents rely on animal-drawn transport daily. “Obviously, I am in favor of protecting animals, but in our country, you can’t dispense with this form of transportation.” With the carriage now full and ready to leave, Idania winds up the conversation with a truism with which the rest of the passengers concur: “If it weren’t for the horses, we’d have to cover the entire city on foot.”

Translated by Cristina Saavedra

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Emigration Procedures in the Civil Registry of Cienfuegos, Cuba, Take Forever and Provoke Anxiety

“Three months ago I requested the registrations I need to process my Spanish citizenship. Since then, I have come six times”

Cienfuegos Civil Registry Office, in the historic center of the city / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 12 January 2024 / The sun has barely risen and the line already extends to the outskirts of the Cienfuegos Civil Registry, in the historic center of the city. Some stand in front of the large entrance gate; others look for accommodation on the sidewalk or under the overhang of a nearby facade. Among the eyes that remain fixed on the number 2309 of Santa Cruz Street are those of Natalia, who must request the birth registrations of her parents. “I am completing my file to apply for Spanish nationality,” she explains.

She is another face of the Cubans who escape, not only on the rafts that are launched into the sea, crossing the Darién jungle or opting for the route to the south, but also in every Civil Registry office. Most of those who apply for a birth, marriage or death certificate in Cienfuegos have the same goal: to get out and leave behind the crisis, the long blackouts and the hopelessness.

Each person waiting in line has a story in which boredom and illusion are mixed. There is the retiree who has has come four times to correct an error in his mother’s death certificate. “If I don’t make the transfer and have her house in my name, I can’t sell it.” The reason for his rush is similar to Natalia’s: “I want to meet my son who is in Miami and take part of the money from the sale.”

“You get here and think it’s going to be easy but then go from frustration to disgust,” laments Natalia

The office receives an avalanche of applications. According to the Provincial Directorate of Justice in Cienfuegos, in January 2023 almost 20,100 certifications were issued, about 11,600 more than in the same period last year. The entry into force, in 2022, of the Democratic Memory Law in Spain has led thousands of Cubans to dust off their origins to obtain a European continue reading

passport. During 2024, the trend was maintained, also egged on by the Humanitarian Parole Program implemented in 2023 by the United States.

“You get here and think it’s going to be easy but then go from frustration to disgust,” laments Natalia. An employee has opened the main door of the Civil Registry and begins to shout directions to those waiting in line. In a few minutes, the line is restructured according to each type of procedure, and some go to the central courtyard to line up. Others occupy positions in the access corridor in front of the office of a bored-looking receptionist.

“Three months ago I requested the registration I need to process Spanish citizenship. Since then, I have come six times, and the unthinkable has happened to me. My dad supposedly did not appear registered until the end of the working day due to lack of electricity,” Natalia tells this newspaper. Each new visit is “a bitter drink” and a test of her nerves.

“The employees of this place now know me and even treat me kindly, but I don’t end up with the documents.” Like the office furniture, Natalia feels that she has become one more object between those walls without solving her problem. “All I need is a couple of pieces of paper; that’s what separates me right now from my new life.”

Although announcements of digitization of archives and records are frequent in the official press, in the place on Santa Cruz Street nothing seems to have changed in two centuries with respect to the way in which certifications are written and issued. “An employee made a mistake when transcribing my divorce certificate. He changed one letter in my last name and now I have to start the whole process again,” says a young man who arrived at dawn to “be one of the first to enter.”

“Right now we are just a little busy; two of the five employees we had last year have left. We are also emigrating, all day we have to be in contact with people who leave. It’s like working at an airport; all the time you are thinking about a trip,” says an employee who prefers anonymity. “Everything falls on us, the requests that are made here and also those that are made on the internet, through digital platforms.”

“One of the biggest problems we have is that with this ’law of grandchildren’ many people are requesting documents that are a century or more old and that are not digitized,” she adds. “You have to immerse yourself in a lot of very old books, full of dust, fragile and sometimes with a level of deterioration that it is difficult to read a name or surname clearly.” The woman has had several health problems related to her work.

“Allergies, skin problems are very common, and a few years ago I got a staphylococcus infection that I caught here and was on sick leave for three months,” she explains. Salaries don’t help either. Normally, employees don’t earn more than 10,000 pesos a month, a little more than 30 dollars at the informal exchange rate. “That’s why what happens happens: many people survive by taking orders from special customers,” she adds.

“Right now we are just a little busy; two of the five employees we had last year have left”

The “special clients” that the employee talks about are people who, unlike Natalia, have enough resources to skip the line outside the Civil Registry. They are those who slip a certain amount of money into the right hands to speed up the time to obtain a birth certificate, an old record of their grandparents’ marriage or proof that a brother died in that city almost half a century ago.

In the intricate networks of the Cuban black market, notary services, bureaucratic procedures and access to the oldest archives also have their price. “I manage powers of attorney, bachelorhood, criminal records, death registrations, marriage and birth certificates, titles and notes, in addition to legalizations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” reads an advertisement on a digital classifieds site.

“The prices vary according to the trouble you have and the complexity of the procedure,” clarifies the solicitous seller after a query from this newspaper. “For 20,000 pesos we get the certification of his two grandparents and he has them in his hands in less than a month, with all the data verified and without errors, nothing to be corrected because all the work is done impeccably, without typos, each surname with its correct spelling and the accents where they go.” For a higher price, you can reconstruct and even falsify from scratch a family tree that adapts to any requirement abroad. “If Galician, Galician; if you prefer Basque, then Basque,” he adds with ease when entering into confidence.

The digital path through the page of the Ministry of Justice is “wasted time,” according to Luis Ángel, another Cienfuegan who believed the official propaganda. “I went online, I made the request with all the data they asked me for, and six months later I had to come in person because they did not have the certificate ready or an answer for the delay.” In this case, as in so many with the Cuban bureaucracy, the 47-year-old man advises going personally to the records: “Seeing is believing,” he concludes.

A painting on the wall of the Santa Cruz Street registry shows an image of Raúl Castro. Under his gaze, people waiting to complete a procedure also weave relationships. “I want to go to Seville, I’m going to leave you my email in case we can meet there,” says a woman to a young woman with a small child who reaches out to take the small piece of paper with the data.

“Don’t stay in Madrid, rents are very expensive,” recommends a man to another who only needs to correct an error in his grandmother’s name to complete the file that will turn him into a Cuban Spaniard. The conversation is interrupted by the scream of the receptionist. “There are only two computers working, and we will attend to a few cases, remember that after noon we will have a blackout, so do not give the last place in line to anyone.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Cuba’s Cienfuegos Bus Terminal You Don’t Travel If You Don’t Pay Extra ‘On the Left’

“We have been waiting for eight days for a bus that would at least take us to Las Tunas, so that we could continue on our way as best we could.”

The waiting rooms these days are full of people who come to sign up or check their numbers. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 29 December 2025 – On December 28, Maritza is not surprised that the waiting list to travel from Cienfuegos to Guantanamo has advanced only four numbers in a week. “I warned my husband at the end of October to come and reserve the tickets, because everyone knows that after the second half of December it is almost impossible to travel to any province in the country.” Reinaldo, on the other hand, finding excuses so that his wife would not reprimand him, did not help much. In the end, both ended up sitting, luggage in hand, at the entrance to the national bus terminal waiting for a miracle to happen.

The couple had never had such a hard time leaving Cienfuegos. “When I came on November 20, there were no more seats for any city in the East. However, the same employee who gave me that information had saved three spots for a woman who was behind me in the line,” explains the husband, who then noticed the reason for the incessant calls and notes from the official.

“I don’t know how much money was being sought for each ticket, but I’m convinced that for those of us who weren’t in direct contact with him, the reservations were sold out before we asked the question,” he reflects.

The waiting room on the second floor of the terminal is currently full of people who come to sign up, check their numbers or stay for many hours until a bus arrives with an empty seat, which, at this time of year, almost continue reading

never happens.

At the entrance, travelers pile up, waiting, loaded with suitcases, for a bus with capacity to arrive. / 14ymedio

“We have been waiting for eight days for a bus that would at least take us to Las Tunas, so that we could continue on our way as best we could. Luckily, we live close by, but there are people who have spent several nights here and won’t leave until they get a ticket,” explains Maritza.

The woman, who in the long days of ’bus-hunting’ has become familiar with the atmosphere of the terminal, says that the workers who have access to the passenger lists rule the lounges. “If someone decides to protest, the employee at the ticket office says that they are waiting for extra buses to be put on, but he says that to calm things down,” she says.

The couple has also learned in recent days how to play their cards well, to look for tricks to buy tickets and to get the employees to recognize them. “The shift manager always guarantees at least three seats for those who can pay 2,000 pesos more than the original ticket price,” says Maritza, who blames the “tricks” for the fact that the waiting list does not advance.

“My wife and I would have to pay 4,000 pesos, plus the tickets, if we wanted to leave quickly. I wish we had that money, but for now we can only be patient and pray that the New Year doesn’t catch us here,” says Reinaldo.

The hygiene and services at the terminal “are not such that people would spend days here,” relying on the facilities. “The women’s bathroom is closed, there is no area to store luggage, some benches are broken and the cafeteria has no services. Added to this is the indifference of the workers. Their job is to solve the problem only for those who can pay,” adds Maritza, who admits that she feels as if she were stranded on the road and “not in a terminal.”

The noise from the street that sneaks into the premises brings the voices of private boatmen who offer trips to the capital. / 14ymedio

The noise from the street that filters into the station brings the voices of private drivers offering trips to the capital. “Two days ago, a trip to Havana was charging 6,000 pesos, but today there are taxi drivers talking about 10,000 pesos per person. They also raised the prices to 5,000 and 7,000 pesos for trips to Matanzas and Varadero,” says Maritza, attentive to the bustle of drivers and the prices in case she ever needs to go west.

“This is the time of year when everyone who has a car takes advantage of the opportunity to earn a little more, although it is also true that fuel is impossible and repairs cost an arm and a leg. Many of the drivers are as shocked as we are, but they prefer to wait rather than lower the price,” says Reinaldo.

A quick movement of people towards the waiting list ticket office immediately attracts the attention of all the travelers. Reinaldo’s wife remains seated watching over the luggage, while the Reinaldo walks with a firm step towards the interior of the terminal. After a few minutes, the group of people gathered together dissolves and the information arrives first-hand. “A bus came in that is going to Holguín. At first they said there were four seats, but, in the end, there is only one,” he says, and adds resignedly: “That’s not ours either.”

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‘The Government Must Understand That Only We Can Provide Food to the People’

Faced with the new restrictive measures, many Cienfuegos merchants have closed their businesses

The caution of private entrepreneurs is noticeable even on their product boards / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 31 December 2024 — The before and after that marks the arrival of a new year raises a universal question: what will 2025 bring? Cienfuegos, immersed in a deep crisis like so many places in Cuba, is no exception. Doubts are greater among entrepreneurs, a sector that in recent months has changed from initial euphoria to fear of the new official measures that regulate wholesale trade.

On Dolores road, in stores with wide portals on both sides, the caution of private business owners is noticeable even on their product boards. Where before there was a long list of sweets, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and all kinds of imported food, now you can barely find anything.

Norberto avoids making predictions for the new year. “They have shaken up the board,” he explains to 14ymedio about the new regulations that force micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to sell wholesale with the mediation of the State and the explicit prohibition of doing so for self-employed workers. His small private store was fed, precisely, by a private business that imported large volumes from Mexico.

“In our establishment, the stable sale of oil, chicken, picadillo and other products highly demanded by our customers was guaranteed,” Norberto points out. This end of the year, however, in fridges and on shelves, the frozen chicken drumsticks have disappeared, along with the wide variety of beans that until recently were offered and the decreased options for pasta and tomato sauce. continue reading

Entrepreneurs avoid making predictions for 2025 and are careful with the products they exhibit / 14ymedio

Norberto’s store is a distillate of the effort of several generations of his family. The large family estate, on the outskirts of the city, was for decades the productive epicenter of his grandparents and parents. But a few years ago, when the purchase and sale of houses and land was finally allowed, his relatives decided to finish planting the farm with crops, fruit trees and add a pigsty. The resulting money went to a house on the Dolores road and a small grocery store.

Now, the Cienfuegos man has many questions about the future of his business: “Will state-owned companies be able to maintain a permanent assortment of the merchandise we need? Will there be new measures with more restrictions and prohibitions? Will they include more products on the list of capped prices that they now impose on us?” His doubts are not exaggerated, because since he opened the doors of his store less than two years ago “there has been only bad news.”

However, Norberto is not going to give up for the moment. “Our MSME will renew the license, but we are also preparing in case we finally have to close,” he admits. “The problem is that you can’t have it both ways: either I stay open or I close. There comes a time when you have to choose.”

Gonzalo is one of many entrepreneurs who, this Christmas, instead of garlands and red hats, has dressed in the costume of uncertainty. In a space on San Carlos Street, near Martí Park, the owner of another shop repeats similar questions. “I bought directly from a private person in Punta Gorda, but they are already liquidating the products they have left because they don’t want to do business with the Government. Who am I going to buy from in January?” he asks.

Many merchants maintain the illusion that “something will happen” that forces the authorities to implement greater economic openness

At the moment, he is not considering liquidating his business. Hope is the last thing that is lost when there is so much money at stake. Many merchants maintain the illusion that “something will happen” that will force the Cuban authorities to implement greater economic openness and eliminate the restrictive measures recently adopted. “We can see that it will be very difficult next year, and it is possible that this will make the Government understand that only we can provide food to the people.”

For Gonzalo, there is an inversely proportional relationship between what happens in the stores of the rationed market and the role that private shops are playing. “To the same extent that the supply of rationing is smaller and more unstable, MSMEs have been growing in offers and variety, and we also have places that make you want to enter – beautiful, well-decorated with good attention to the customer. Buying right now at a state ration store is depressing.”

The entrepreneur, however, recognizes that many Cubans cannot pay the high prices of the MSMEs: a liter of vegetable oil, 800 pesos this last week of December in Cienfuegos; a pound of chicken around 310, and a 500-gram package of spaghetti for 300 pesos. For retirees and state employees who do not receive remittances from abroad or have any informal sources of money, the private shops are prohibitive.

“We do not set prices on a whim. Our business has many expenses to cover, and the lack of fuel has made the transfer of goods, the payment of employees and the investment to turn the main room and the door of the house into a pleasant little shop are expenses that prevent us from selling cheaper.” Christmas offers and year-end sales are not the order of the day because the bills keep coming.

Christmas offers and year-end sales are not the order of the day because the bills keep coming. /

Other merchants got ahead of events. Liuba, 48 years old, sensed what was coming. Resident in the Junco Sur neighborhood, the businesswoman liquidated her small business earlier this year, a tiny store where customers could find everything from sweet cookies, malts and beer to packages of minced turkey, a food very helpful for those who cannot pay for other animal proteins. “I knew all this was coming because I have a relative who works in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and he warned me of what was being cooked up.”

Liuba didn’t lose too much money. “I finished selling the merchandise I had in stock and told the owner of the house, who was renting me the space, that I was no longer going to continue and handed over my license.” Now, Liuba offers some products through WhatsApp groups. “We have food combos that are paid for from abroad by Zelle. My husband, my eldest son and I deliver them to your home.” The new modality, absolutely informal, has given her a break: “I got rid of the inspectors, the prices and the maintenance of the premises.” Now, I put together the packages by buying goods from agricultural producers and other MSMEs. “I sell less, but I’m calmer.”

On the wide road of Dolores, the offer boards have very few products at the end of the year, but the new official restrictions have not affected the combos that Liuba has prepared for Christmas. “If next year they remove all these absurd laws, I will reopen my little grocery store,” she says, but for the moment she prefers to stay “under the radar” and sell outside the law.

Translated by Regina Anavy

See here for one report on average incomes in Cuba for 2024.

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