Julio César Contreras – Page 5

Propaganda and Ruin, the Two Faces of a Building in Cuba

The flags on the high-rise buildings of Peñas Altas, in Matanzas, barely hide the deterioration, which puts neighbors and passersby at risk.

“Every time I go in or out I do it as quickly as possible, because it’s not the first time bits have fallen off the balconies or the outside columns” /14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 6 May 2025 — Looked at from one side it looks majestic, but the 13 storey building in Peñas Altas, in the city of Matanzas, only has one good side. The huge Cuban flag, 44 metres high, painted on one side of its façade, barely hides the ruin of the rest of the building, a deterioration putting at risk the lives of the people living there and anybody passing by.

Four years ago, the face of the city was changed with the completion of an enormous mural, signed by the artist Jesús Alberto Mederos Martínez. For the occasion, the local press was full of headlines praising the world’s largest Cuban ensign, but the rest of the concrete block was completely ignorant of the paintbrushes and scaffolding that were mobilised for the occasion.

Now, the inhabitants of the building, which was put up in the years of Soviet subsidies and which looks like all the communist architecture in Eastern Europe, is falling to bits. This week a lump of concrete balcony collapsed right next to a little boy who was, at that moment, entering the building with his father. “It fell next to my smallest boy, touching his shoulder, it tore his pullover but he escaped with hardly a scratch”, the alarmed man declared in the social media.

A poster “Fatherland or death, we will win” leaves it quite clear where is the priority of the propaganda about investment to improve the lives of the residents.

While the balcony parapets, cracked and with rusted metal, endange the lives of anyone passing by, a poster “Fatherland or death, we will win” leaves it quite clear where is the priority of the propaganda about investment to improve the lives of the residents. Below the wording on the ensign, in bright red, the walls of the building also known as “Polineiso Building” after the restaurant on the top floor, are cracked, dirty and bulging in places.

“Every time I go in or out I do it as quickly as possible, because it’s not the first time bits have fallen off the balconies or the outside columns” one of continue reading

the top floor residents, who has lived there since it was built, told 14ymedio this Monday . In those days, the Peñas Altas complex of modern buildings was seen as a foretaste of the future and the consecration of the Cuban model and its most finished product: the new man.

Sylvia cannot help comparing the present situation with her memories as a youngster, when dozens of families, all carefully seletced by the system, moved into a pristine building, with wide corridors, a welcoming entrance hall, and spectacular view of the bay and the city of Matanzas. At that time, the elevators were a source of wonder for many people who had never been in one, but over the years they had become a headache due to technical problems and long power cuts.

Sylvia prefers to go up the stairs to her apartment every day to avoid being trapped by a power cut, or having to put up with the jolts in the apparatus, which has been damaged by the passage of time and by people using it to move their furniture and heavy boxes. The woman does not conceal her dismay at the contrast between the building’s symbolism with its enormous national flag on its side, and the reality of living inside it.

The mural with its single star and white and blue stripes form part of the artistic “My flags” quarter, dedicated to Fidel Castro and opened at the end of 2021, when the city of Matanzas celebrated the 328th anniversary of its foundation.

“We are not so badly off because at least we have the Cuban flag” saiys another resident ironically, indicating one of the buildings in the complex decorated with the flag of the July 26 Movement and the ranks of the Commander in Chief. Look at from a distance both buildings make up an image that the official press photographers look for and the official extol.

From up close on the other hand real life doesn’t have such intense colours. “These corridors at night are so dark that I only go down from my flat in an emergancy” Sylvia explains. In the gloom you have to look out for the bumps and holes on the steps. “A little while ago my neighbour fell over when he caught his foot where there was no concrete above the scaffolding. If we put up lights they steal them and if we bring up the need for some repairs they says they have no money, says the woman.

“As soon as you come near you can smell the urine, because there are people who use the ground floor area as a public toliet” /14ymedio

Water leaks between floors also plague the residents. “The pipes are rotten. You can see where the columns and structure are weak. You only have to look at the cracks to see it could collapse,” says another resident, who knows every detail of a building he has lived in for more than thirty years. “It won’t be today or tomorrow, but if they don’t do something , there could be a disaster,” he says with the knowledge that comes from his job as a builder.

Apart from the residents in the building, lots of clients come to the Consumer Register Office (Oficoda) every day which is located on the ground floor. Also at ground level is the rationed goods warehouse and other state establishments that have permanent queues. Over the heads of the people waiting to go through a procedure or buy their ration of subsidised food lumps of concrete are dangling ready to fall on their heads, rusty steel reinforcement rods and old air conditioner casings rotting in the sun.

The restaurant El Polinesio on the top floor does not escape this mess. With its slogan “high level gastronomy” the state diner is closed most of the time due to lack of supplies and the infrastructure problems. Re-opened in 2023 after being closed for two years and after an investment of 18 million pesos, the business suffers most from having to go without electricity.

Humidity inside the “Polynesia building”, in Matanzas. / 14ymedio

It sounds simple enough to say it — just nip up to the 13th floor to reach the restaurant – but having to do it is enough to scare off just about anyone.” says the workman. And the state of the building doesn’t help much. “As soon as you come close you can smell the urine, because there are people who use the ground floor as a public toilet. It’s obvious that this place doesn’t invite anybody to come and eat – or to live – I am still here because I haven’t been able to move. Locals speak of the microbrigade buildings like they’re cursed.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the high-rise blocks that began to be put up in Cuba’s main cities were seen as a foretaste of the modernity that the whole country would enter at an accelerated pace, but with the passage of time, the deterioration and evidence of the limitations of these projects made with cheap materials, hasty construction and lack of maintenance, earned them a bad reputation.

All it takes is for a classified ad to state that the flat for sale or exchange is located in a microbrigade building for potential buyers to flee in panic. On the other hand, stressing that it is a “capitalist” property, built before January 1959, guarantees greater success in the transaction. The difference in price and the speed at which these properties move is also very different. Those built for the ‘New Man’ are worth less and people don’t want them.

And, what’s more, if the buyer learns that the flat for sale is located in the “flag building”, he or she is likely to put an unenthusiastic look on his /her face, as evident as the red triangle flag painted on the side of the building is in the Matanzas landscape.

Translated by GH

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In Matanzas, Not Enough Buses and Too Many Billboards For the First of May Celebrations

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

A billboard for the First of May next to the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 1 May 2025 – The colours on the billboard leap out at you in the middle of the terrace around the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. The grassed area has already been worn away by the constant flow of people and by the drought. It the middle of all this parched earth with all its attendant long faces brought on by the transport crisis, the huge billboard inviting you to the First of May procession seems to have landed from a parallel universe.

“Together we’ll do it, for Cuba”, the poster’s text assures us, and it shows us a linesman from the Electric Company and a pioneer character holding a Cuban flag and wearing a kufiya – the traditional Arabic headscarf which Yasser Arafat converted into a political symbol for the Palestinians. And all the while, the country suffers long power cuts and an economic crisis without precedent.

Just a few metres from the hoarding, the actual reality of the situation becomes clear. This Wednesday the bus stop was particularly crowded with desperate travellers, waiting. Some of them had managed to find some shade to sit in, but others, because of lack of space or lack of patience were more dispersed and were forced to wait out on the pavement under the sun, their gaze fixed out there on the road, arm ready to be raised if and when they caught sight of any private transport, annoyance painted on their faces.

The travellers remember when tourism was buoyant and the state-operated buses still had space and stopped to pick them up.

Yunior, 43, wears a cap to shield himself from the unrelenting heat of the sun. He arrives at the bus stop after his day’s work in a nearby state department office every afternoon after five o’clock. With his back to the giant Labour Day billboard, the employee pins all his hopes on any driver from an official organisation who might take pity on someone like him who needs transport back to somewhere near his home.

The Viaduct bus stop is always crowded with people headed out towards the outskirts of the city, to Cárdenas or Varadero. “The bus inspector is here between two and three in the afternoon, and he gets on the first bus that passes. Although his presence doesn’t even guarantee either that the buses continue reading

will actually stop”, Yunior explains. A commotion causes him to turn towards a state registered vehicle which has just picked up two women. Although a crowd of people rushes towards the car, there is only room for those two.

The guy from Matanzas does a quick calculation. “The lorries that head towards Cárdenas charge 200 or 250 pesos, but after 4pm there are hardly any of them. When I manage to board one of them it costs me 50 to get to Peñas Altas and then I have to continue on foot”. In the little more than twenty working days that he has each month Yunior spends a third of his salary on getting to and from work.

The number of people waiting for transport keeps increasing and spreads across the tarmac from the traffic lights behind the Sauto Theatre and up to the Viaduct bus stop. There are even some who stand as far down as the bridge, keeping apart from the crowd in order to keep their options open if a car should suddenly appear with an empty seat. However Yunio stays next to the billboard. “There’ll be a bit of shade from the billboard here shortly and even if I haven’t found a lift yet, at least I won’t end up being baked by the sun”. Even propaganda can have its unexpected uses.

The more unlucky ones had to wait in the sun for a bus to arrive.

Although the Cuban authorities have emphasised that this year’s First of May celebrations will have a lower consumption of fuel, at the Viaduct bus stop people do their own sums and calculate the impact of the event. The local press describes the events of next Thursday morning thus: “On the main thoroughfares, workers, students and representatives of all social sectors will show their support for the Revolution and will reaffirm their commitment to the development of the province”.

“No matter how little fuel they use it’s obvious that the leaders aren’t going to travel from their houses to the procession on foot”, one woman is heard to say: she is one of the lucky ones who this Wednesday managed to find some shade and a bit of wall to sit on beneath the bus shelter. A state employee, like the majority waiting for public transport, she says that in recent months the number of people waiting at Viaduct has increased.

It’s not only the shortage of fuel but also the fall in tourism that has lengthened the amount of time spent waiting here. “Before, when the Transtur buses to and from from Varadero had empty seats they would stop here and take people on board”, she remembers. But the frequency of those buses has plummeted. Just like for many of the others waiting here for a bus, for her the next two days of festivity will merely be a pause in the unwanted drama of trying to get from A to B.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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At the Pediatric Hospital in Matanzas, Cuba, Families Must Bring Everything From Syringes to Medications

The lack of cleaning staff is another problem that is severely affecting the health center.

There are barely enough seats, so many remain standing. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 28 April 2025 — The medical care received at the Matanzas Children’s Hospital is directly proportional to the amount of resources the family brings. A heavy bag of supplies, gifts, and snacks, the patient is more likely to complete treatment, successfully overcome an emergency, and fully recover. A meager or empty bag predicts a worse outcome, as those who visit the health center every day know.

The scene in the ground-floor lounge of the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Provincial Pediatric Teaching Hospital on Friday morning was similar to any other day. Parents held their young children while waiting to be seen. There were barely enough seats, so many remained standing, waiting for a healthcare professional to appear from a hallway or at the door of an office.

Hanging from the shoulders of many of the waiting adults was a bag or a heavy backpack. Inside, there were all kinds of medical supplies, as well as food. Gauze, syringes, suture thread, sterile cotton, and alcohol for cleaning a wound shared space with ham and cheese sandwiches or canned soft drinks. “It’s no longer enough to bring food to the doctors; now you also have to carry the medications,” warned Yudith, a mother who was lucky enough to get a chair to sit next to her baby.

With a daughter who suffers from a chronic, hereditary illness, the woman has already stocked up on a first-aid kit with the medications and supplies needed for her little one’s treatment. “I’ve had to quickly become an expert and get the whole family involved in getting what my daughter needs,” she explains to 14ymedio. “I’m coming with everything so I don’t delay the treatment and so they don’t offer me excuses and 1 have to come back another day.”

As in the film The Oil of Life, where a child develops a disease so rare that his father must research the condition and find the relief himself, Cuban families have also had to train in all kinds of health issues in the face of the crisis hitting Public Health on the Island. Some have learned to give injections, immobilize an arm after a fracture due to the lack of a cast in continue reading

hospitals, and some have become true experts in the medications their little one needs.

“The specialists themselves say that all they can do is give a diagnosis,” Yudith explains. After learning the name of her daughter’s condition, the mother launched a frantic search for information and resources. Her family, the black market, and personal connections in the healthcare sector paid off. Within a few months, she had the treatment kit and even a second opinion on her daughter’s case, sent to her by a cousin who works as a doctor in Miami.

Dust in the waiting room of the children’s hospital covers the walls, windows, and floor; the bathrooms stink and barely flush. / 14ymedio

But there are things that cannot be replaced with resources or personal relationships. Dust in the waiting room of the pediatric hospital covers the walls, windows, and floor; the bathrooms stink and barely flush. The lack of cleaning staff is one of the problems that most affects the Cuban healthcare system, given that low wages and harsh working conditions discourage potential employees. To alleviate the situation, the government sends common-law prisoners to maintain hospital hygiene, but the supplies they have hinder their performance.

Near Yudith this Friday, a young couple was also waiting to enter a doctor’s office. They weren’t carrying any bags or backpacks, which was a bad sign. “My child has had a high fever for several hours. The pediatrician recommended giving him acetaminophen to lower his temperature, but the bad news is that the medication is out of stock,” the mother said. After hours of waiting and seeing that the pediatrician wouldn’t come up with the drug, the father decided to go to a nearby neighborhood to buy it on the black market.

For others, immersing themselves in the informal buying and selling industry isn’t enough to get what they need. “My daughter needs thyroid surgery, but, believe it or not, there aren’t even disposable gloves in this hospital’s operating room,” Tamara explained. “When the doctor told me that, apart from the anesthesia, I had to take care of everything else, I couldn’t believe it.” Due to a lack of resources, the surgery has been postponed several times, and the family fears that the delay will cause irreversible damage to the child.

More and more Cuban parents are turning to social media, desperate for relief for their children’s health problems. Fundraisers, donations of medicines, and applications for humanitarian visas to seek care in another country are becoming more frequent. From blindly trusting the Public Health system, many have gone on to fear for their children’s lives due to the debacle of materials and specialized personnel suffered by hospitals.

“It’s not just the medications or supplies; a doctor tells you your child has a particular disease, and it’s very difficult to get a second opinion because that’s the doctor you’re assigned to because of the bureaucracy. Going to another hospital, moving to another province for a consultation, that’s something only patients with a lot of money or leverage can do,” Tamara complains. Her dream is to be able to get her daughter out of the country and “have surgery abroad, in a clean, well-resourced place.”

“I joined several Telegram groups where they sell medicine, and I quickly found someone who had some of what I needed.”

For the time being, the family sees no possibility of leaving the island, so the mother has been searching for what she needs for the operation. “I joined several Telegram groups where they sell medicine, and I quickly found someone who has some of what I need.” After purchasing sterile water for the injections, syringes, scalpels, and adhesive tape, she now needs to acquire a blood donation, which is essential for authorization of the procedure and which currently costs up to 5,000 pesos on the informal market in Matanzas.

Once she has everything, Tamara will return to the pediatric ward, but this time with a full bag, a sign that she has secured not only the resources for the surgery but also the corresponding gifts and snacks for the medical staff. But she may still encounter another obstacle: the operating room may be closed due to a technical problem or the presence of a dangerous bacteria that they haven’t been able to eradicate. To overcome this difficulty, she’ll have to arm herself with another, heavier bag, full of patience.

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Matanzas Residents With Family Abroad Dream of a Dollar Store

A few days ago, paying by card was once again a fantasy in Plaza Milanés and Ayllón de Matanzas / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 7 April 2025 — The debate has changed focus. Just a year and a half ago, the discussion was why the government had raised an “eyesore in MLC” [Freely Convertible Currency] – as a well-known journalist of the official press called it- out of harmony with the historical environment and heritage of the center of Matanzas. Now, the question among residents with family abroad is when will it start charging in dollars to save them from ruin.

The business, belonging to the military corporation Cimex, was inaugurated in May 2023, and only four months later the official press listed it as part of the “vanguard in the implementation of electronic commerce within the currency trading network of the province.” The decline, however, arrived suddenly. “The last time I came, all operations were paralyzed because there was no electricity and not much to buy,” Melissa tells 14ymedio.

The young woman approached the establishment a few days ago willing to spend the recharge made by her mother from abroad on her card in freely convertible currency (MLC), but to get there she had to spend 500 pesos in transport. From the outside she could see a line of about a dozen people, which led her to believe that the offer of products was substantial.

“I thought they had something special to sell, but there’s a line because the connection for electronic payment was lost, and there’s no way to pay at the checkout counter. They say that the problem started about 20 minutes ago and is still not solved.” The butcher shop had nothing to sell, and the refrigerators looked thawed and empty. continue reading

The customers, after a short walk through the business, ended up in the Cubita Cafeteria, with offers in national currency. But there, too, a decline was evident. If until recently the menu board showed coffee, sandwiches and ice cream, this time it had on sale, for 35 pesos, only an espresso with a strong taste of roasted peas.

Melissa was lucky enough to have the right amount of money on her, because there was no connection at the coffee shop and it was impossible to pay with any debit card.

“It seemed that this was what was coming, that these markets were going to be in more places with more variety,” recalls Moisés, a retired neighbor of the Plaza. He saw the arrival of the MLC store as an opportunity to buy products “nearby and with better quality” and now has hope only in the dollarization of the business.

“I got credit right away on a card in MLC that my kids top up for me every month, but right now it doesn’t help much,” he says. “Although I live right here and am in a WhatsApp group where people are notified when something is available, the truth is that the offers have been declining, and meat is the product most affected.”

The position on dollarization, more than an economic issue, is political. While those who live on their wages or pensions in national currency, and a good number of those who still support the regime reject the emergence of the dollar into national life, the population that benefits from the remittances of their emigrant relatives is betting on the comfort of being able to pay with the same greenbacks they receive from Miami.

“It is true that if they do this it will be for just a few, but at least they will be making use of a part of these premises that is currently practically unused.” The desolation that is currently visible inside the complex contrasts with the assertions of the Cuban authorities that sales in MLC will be maintained.

“There are many ways to end something: you can stand in front of a microphone and announce that the stores in MLC will continue or you can kill them little by little,” reflects the retiree. In his opinion, the Plaza Milanés y Ayllón Shopping Center is doing the latter. ” There are deteriorated stores that are disgusting to see that could again provide service in dollars.”

Standing on one side or the other of that thin red line is quite an ideological statement. The most strict militants of the Communist Party see the markets in dollars as a necessary evil to collect foreign exchange, but that has a cost by increasing social differences and dependence on the United States. Others perceive the process of expanding the US currency as an opportunity to improve their lives that will also, says Moisés, “carry over to everyone, even if they do not receive remittances directly.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: On Cienfuegos’s Malecon the Graffiti Demonstrates Defiance as well as Nostalgia

The graffiti, attributed to a group of tourists, have shocked some and generated excitement in others.

The graffiti has sparked a debate over the most spectacular sea view in the city. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 27 March 2025 – A malecón isn’t just a sea wall. It needs people coming and going, and some pleasurable activity or other going on. In Cienfuegos, the longest wall in the city has been losing, bit by bit, that which drew both tourists and residents to spend some time there in front of the waves. Through a lack of street lighting, holes in the pavements and the strict prohibition of fishing in the area, little remains today of its former atmosphere of hustle and bustle.

The recent appearance of three pieces of graffiti on the wall has once again brought this recreational zone – which begins at the Paseo del Prado and finishes at Punta Gorda – into the centre of local debate. The graffiti, assumed to have been made by a group of tourists, has scandalised some people, whilst causing some excitement in others – but whichever the case it has sparked a debate about the most spectacular sea view in the city.

With the title ’Graffiti as Art, or Vandalism Disguised as Art’, one statement linked to official sources criticised the “poor quality” of the work of tourists who then “move on, leaving us with their ugly handiwork”. The webpage ’Fernanda’s Things’ branded as “visual aggression” and “vandalism” the graffiti designs which have appeared at various points in Cienfuegos, most notably on the malecón and in the historical city centre.

The graffiti assault has unleashed a wave of opinions, both for and against, but it has also opened up a familiar old wound for Cienfuegos residents. “What they ought to be doing is looking after the deteriorating sections of continue reading

the wall and the potholes everywhere”, complained Darío on Monday – a 48-year-old street seller of sweets and candies who walks the length of the seafront several times daily.

The three graffitis on the malecón seem to be the least of the Ciénfuegos residents’ problems. / 14ymedio

“Also, they need to get some better quality light bulbs in the street lighting because there are some with very low brightness and at nighttime it leaves the place in darkness”, says the seller, and he tells 14ymedio about the times in his youth when he often used to wake up on the sea wall. “It’s dangerous if you do that now because it’s so dark after sunset and people just don’t want to come here”.

For Darío, one of the greatest losses on the malecón has been the fishermen who have been prohibited from carrying out their activities on this part of the coast. “Ever since they implemented the new Fishing Law they prohibited them from coming here with their rods, hooks and bait”, he explains. He says that without those figures, who used to be dotted all the way along the sea wall, the promenade has lost some of its essential character.

The prohibition of fishing on the malecón is just part of a general deterioration of the Cienfuegos bay area – one of the most important industrial areas on the island, where the port activities converge with those of the refinery and other industrial plants to give out toxic waste. “The industrial and the sewage discharges all get poured into these waters, so they’re pretty dirty”, he adds.

The three graffitis on the malecón seem to be the least of the Ciénfuegos residents’ problems. They are centred within just two blocks – between the Provincial Hygiene Centre building and the Radio Sea City building. “There are no refuse bins around there and all the plants that were established there are dried out because the Community Services Company can’t be bothered to look after them”, says another local who’s a regular visitor to the malecón.

The malecón “has become a dangerous place to be at night because drug and alcohol users arrive here and the police don’t do anything”. / 14ymedio

“It’s become a dangerous place to be at night because drug and alcohol users arrive here and the police don’t do anything”, he says. This local resident blames the situation on the lack of alternative recreational activities for the youth of Cienfuegos. The nearby Plaza Cultural (Culture Square) hosts barely a couple of events in its monthly calendar and the prices in the cafeterias and bars remain beyond the reach of most; and the lengthy power cuts conspire against any attempts at an artistic programme for them.

“My parents told me that guys with guitars used to turn up here and there was a great atmosphere”, says Mailén – a 21-year-old who often comes to the malecón to watch a group of skateboarders. “It’s all that there is left for entertainment because this city is practically dead for young people”. The young woman interprets the graffiti as an act of rebellion against the situation in the area.

With its furrowed brow, one of the painted faces on the wall is described by Mailén: “This one seems to be hungry, or he’s angry because there’s no electricity”, she speculates. “That one with the cap and the red face reminds me of a policeman who’s watching someone who’s not committing any offence but everyone turns a blind eye to what’s really happening here”, she continues to interpret the shapes and the colours.

In the malecón of Mailén’s dreams there are “graffitis, sellers with lots to offer, fishermen and lots of young people enjoying themselves”. This last detail is fairly improbable as Cienfuegos has one of Cuba’s most aged populations. The percentage of people over 60 is 24.9% – above the national average of 24.4%.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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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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