A Private Business in Cuba Buys Sugar from its Customers to Make its Chocolates

“We buy sugar” says the sign in the chocolate shop. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 23 December 2021 — A sign with the phrase: “We buy sugar,” caught the attention of all the customers who came to the Bombonera Kakao chocolate shop located on the well-heeled 12th street between 23rd and 25th, in Vedado this Thursday. The quality of the products this private business has meant that not a few Havanans go to the establishment ready to buy their merchandise, especially around Christmas and on Valentine’s Day.

Located in the midst of state businesses that take payment in foreign currency, Kakao exhibits a varied range of products derived from chocolate, despite the fact that it has its main raw material, another of the most used ingredients in its elaborations, sugar, is scarce to the point that it has forced the owners to put the sign on the door.

The island’s shortage of supplies not only hits Cubans with fewer resources, but also causes havoc in the self-employed sector, where many have found it necessary to resort to unusual supply methods — most of them illegal — in order to manage the raw materials necessary for their business.

It is a curious thing for many of those searching for the crystals, to find the unusual request to purchase. In the absence of a stable supply that the State must guarantee to the self-employed in the wholesale stores, the same clients who access their business end up being the potential suppliers.

Iván, a young man who came to the establishment in search of the exquisite chocolates and chocolate figurines offered there, was impressed when the clerk explained: “We don’t have any sugar left and we haven’t been able to get it. Luckily we have continue reading

chocolate, although if you realize it we have been forced to raise prices a little because every day everything is more expensive.”

After choosing some of the smaller chocolates, Iván promised to return to buy one of the Christmas offerings. “They are a little out of reach of my pocket, but at home we will treat ourselves at the end of the year with one of those chocolates,” he said to the seller while pointing to a figure of Santa Claus and another of a Christmas tree, with a price of 1,300 and 1,000 pesos, respectively.

The shortage that the island is experiencing also causes havoc in the self-employed sector. (14ymedio)

“We will be open throughout the end of the year, including the 31st, it all depends on whether we get the blissful sugar,” was the merchant’s reply.

Anabel is another of Kakao’s regulars. “Whenever I can I go and treat myself, and on February 14 I am a fixture there,” she tells 14ymedio. A friend who was browsing the stores that only take payment in dollars in search of soda to accompany the Christmas dinner, saw the sign in the chocolate shop and called her to tell her.

“If you want chocolates, run here because these people have run out of sugar and they will close at any moment,” the friend told her, to which Anabel replied: “I put my boots on, I’m going to bring them 10 pounds of white sugar that I had saved for emergencies and I’m going to exchange them for an expensive chocolate.”

National sugar production is going from bad to worse. According to official figures, last year the country was only able to provide 416,000 tons of the product for national consumption, since it has committed to China the annual sale of 400,000 tons. The Island consumes annually between 600,000 and 700,000 tons.

Last July, the state sugar group Azcuba announced that the 2020-2021 harvest was “one of the worst in the history of Cuba”, meeting only 66% of the planned target of 1.2 million tons.

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Operation Cosmetics: Products Missing From Cuban Markets for Months Reappear

Agricultural markets in Havana suddenly offered special supplies hours before Christmas Eve. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 25 December 2021 — After a year marked by shortages, in the last days of December the Cuban government has launched an effort to try to erase the image of the empty market stalls. Agricultural markets in Havana experienced a special supply hours before Christmas Eve. Vegetables, legumes, meats and even fruits that had not been seen together for a long time came up for sale.

“The pallets are full and the prices are less exaggerated than in previous days,” said a man at the entrance of one of these premises, who also noted the presence of inspectors from the municipal government. “Sure they come to look on their own account, these days they always sharpen their teeth,” the man whispered.

The strategy, however, was not enough to fill all of Havana’s markets nor to satisfy customers who continue to regret that prices remained very high despite the slight reduction. Others, spoke sarcastically about the evident objective of “making up the scarcity” in the face of “the Christmas photo” and expressed their fears about a twist in the deficit in the coming weeks.

“What I want to know is where all this merchandise was put, surely in January they will be empty again,” commented a lady while reviewing the list displayed in a market in the Cerro municipality. Pineapples, cabbages and tomatoes fail to appease popular unrest in the midst of one of the hardest economic crises of the last half century on the Island.

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The ‘Guillotine’ of Monte Avenue Threatens to Behead Passersby

The elderly, students, and shop customers are among the potential victims of a collapsing wall. (Collage)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 21 December 2021 — Elderly people who go to buy bread in a nearby store, customers of an adjoining shop, students coming or going from school on the popular and central Monte Avenue at the top of Águila Street, all are among the potential victims of the ‘guillotine’.

Neighbors have given this name to the side wall of a building because of its resemblance to the French artifact invented more than 200 years ago to behead inmates sentenced to death. “At any time, the guillotine could take its toll on one of the old men who stand in line to buy bread,” Ramón, a resident of the area, explains to 14ymedio, pointing out that the store puts out bread twice a day and many older people wait in front of the door for hours to buy.

This situation means that at times the line is so long that many people are standing just below the structure that is in danger of collapse.

The hustle and bustle generated by traffic, the honking of vehicles and the din of passersby who walk past the stalls of the self-employed, from portal to portal, make the imminent danger that lurks silently over the heads of many go unnoticed. The neighbors, aware of the risk, demand a solution from the authorities before a misfortune occurs.

This Monday, around four in the afternoon, a line formed outside the Monte Nuevo bakery. Julio, a 67-year-old retiree, said he was unaware of the guillotine. “I have been coming here for months to buy bread, and I had not noticed. Now I won’t walk under that place anymore,” he says without further ado. continue reading

“The miserable pension that I collect, the pandemic and the crisis that this government has caused have wreaked havoc on my mind. Survival in these times is very difficult for ordinary Cubans, while they [the rulers] live like kings.”

The neighbors, aware of the risk, demand a solution from the authorities before a misfortune occurs. (14ymedio)

Julio remembers that a few days ago, about 200 meters from the bakery, a man lost his life due to the collapse of a building that had been under a demolition order for 15 years. “Do you know when they are going to come running to repair or demolish that? When it collapses it will cause another death. Another Cuban squashed like a cockroach,” he says while pointing his index finger at a small group of high school students, who are passing underneath the structure in poor condition. “I hope I’m not one of these guys,” he adds.

“Apathy” is the first word that comes to the mind of the person in charge of putting chlorine on the hands of those who frequent the Panamericana Monte and Águila store when asked why the ‘guillotine’ is not fixed or demolished. “Luckily, everything indicates that the building is in good condition. The only bad thing is that side wall,” he told 14ymedio.

The worker says that a long time ago the adjoining building was dismantled, leaving the side out in the open. Corrosion has affected the wall for years, causing it to fall apart and to begin to show structural damage on the corner.

The huge crack that originates at the base of the first floor and reaches the roof of the third floor of the building at Máximo Gómez (Monte) and Águila provides less and less support for the structure.

“At other times large pieces of concrete have fallen, but, fortunately, no one has been injured,” continues the store clerk. “Then someone from the Government appears and orders that tape be installed to prevent people from walking underneath,” he explains, although, as the days go by, “the tape disappears again and people trust it and pass by.”

About six meters from the wall there is a bathroom that receives hundreds of people every day, but the self-employed person who manages it understands perfectly that his chair should be located “as far as possible from that wall, in case it collapses.”

Next to him, another retiree who survives by selling plastic bags sums up the situation: “What we are experiencing is a disgrace, because that problem with the wall can be solved in a moment if they close the passage under the portal, or in a couple of days if they come and demolish it.” According to him, there are many who avoid the danger zone, however, “there are more who pass by, fleeing from the sun.”

“We know that it is possible, because in the collapse of the other day, in less than 24 hours they had cleaned and propped everything up,” he adds. “Of course, all this was done quickly because there was a death and that does not suit the leaders, because it is bad publicity for the tourists. They do not fix the ‘guillotine’ because, simply, nobody cares.”

For now.

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Buses, Cuba’s Cellphone Thieves Favorite Places

As the bus continued on its route, “not even a pin could squeeze in,” one of the witnesses tells this newspaper. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 14 December 2021 — It is not enough to wait for hours at the bus stop, make the trip packed in like a can of sardines, but the passengers on Havana’s buses must also take maximum care of their purses, pockets and especially their mobile phones, which have become one of the most stolen objects in public transport.

Some notice when they get off, when they try to make a call and their phone is only a memory. Others realize it while still inside the bus but they can do little to identify the possible thief of a device that has cost them several months of work or that they have obtained through their relatives abroad.

“I had just bought it when I got on P2,” said a 42-year-old from Havana who was the victim of one of these thefts, speaking to 14ymedio. “That day I felt lucky because I even managed to reach a seat, then a woman with a child came up and I gave her the seat. Shortly after I felt that I was missing the mobile phone that was in my pants pocket.”

The man was immediately suspicious of the woman, who had clung to him when sitting down. “A passenger offered to call my number to hear if it rang somewhere, but only got the message that it was ’off or out of coverage area.’

“I asked the driver, almost crying, not to let anyone get off and to wait for the police, but he replied that that was not his job, his job was to carry the passengers and that was what he was going to do.” A few minutes later, the victim pointed his steps towards the Dragones police station to make the complaint. “I still have no cell phone,” he says several weeks after the robbery. continue reading

In these cases, the complaint must be made not only to the police, but the theft of the device must also be reported to the Telecommunications Company (Etecsa). The state monopoly then blacklists the mobile’s IMEI number, a unique identification that is easy to monitor once the device is back in use with a SIM card issued by that entity.

However, there are many who never make the police report or the report to Etecsa. They fear that the cell phone that was stolen from them is being investigated because they initially bought it on the black market. Or, in other cases, they do not want to be involved in a police investigation that will bring subpoenas and their name entered in a database of open investigation processes that can bring future complications.

Three weeks ago, Alberto, a doctor who works in a polyclinic in the capital, prepared to ride on Route 43 to return home after leaving a shift at work. His Xiaomi mobile phone had cost him 200 CUC ($200) last year, and he carried it in one of the pockets of his uniform. “I don’t remember feeling anything, it must have been during the pushing inside the bus that my cell phone was stolen,” he confesses. When he got off the bus, he looked for the device and could not find it.

“I went to the police and, thanks to the management of a friend in a unit, I was able to make the complaint, but to this day my phone does not appear,” he says angrily when he remembers that he had some contacts of his patients in his address book and the numbers of all students for whom he is the thesis tutor.

Carmen, who works at a technology company for the Economy on Ayestarán road and must take the P16 to get to her workplace, was the victim of the theft of her phone on one of those trips. “I need it a lot because my mother has Alzheimer’s, and whoever takes care of her calls me whenever a problem arises,” she says. “My son had to spend all his savings to be able to buy another one,” adds the woman, who claims to have heard of other similar robberies on the same route.

Last week, another young woman had the same fate as Carmen. She got on an A50 bus, a route that connects the National Bus Terminal, in Plaza, with Guanabacoa. On the way, the bus “was filling up, until noteven a pin could squeeze in,” one of the witnesses told this newspaper.

Among the passengers were several students who had boarded the transport to return home. At one point during the trip, one of the students was heard saying: “Reiner, hurry up, call me on the phone, they stole it from me.” His friend called and the mobile phone rang at the back of the bus and the girl tried to get there, but “without being able to specifically identify where the sound was coming from.”

“Call me again, he’s still here,” the student yelled. However, on the second attempt they had already turned off the phone, adds the witness. At that moment the bus stopped at a stop and many people got out.

“I’m going to the police right now, that phone is an Alcatel of the kind that Etecsa sells in MLC (freely convertible currency),” the girl. “My mom bought it for me with a tremendous sacrifice.”

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Cuban Health Workers Upset by the Distribution of a Cash ‘Stimulus’

“What is the fault of those of us who get sick with covid or anything else?” the health workers complain. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 6 December 2021 — The delivery, on December 15 ,of a “stimulus” in national currency to workers in the health sector is generating controversy among doctors, nurses, dentists, technologists, graduates and other workers of the Ministry of Public Health.

The measure, which the Government presents as a recognition of the labor of its workers during the pandemic, “does not cover those who for various reasons were not present or who voluntarily did not undertake all the tasks.” Thus, all those who at some point, during the pandemic, requested a license, medical leave or worked remotely, will be unable to collect the bonus.

The letter, signed by the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Luis Fernando Navarro Martínez, establishes the rules to be taken into account to make the payment of the stimulus in cash effective “to the professionals, technicians and other health workers who have worked in confronting the pandemic.”

However, the decision to recognize the work of health personnel is overshadowed by the requirements to take into account, when evaluating who is eligible and who is not to receive this unprecedented benefit in the recent history of this country, because “it is for those who really deserve it.”

“Those who ‘of their own free will’, they say, as if I had not assumed the tasks because I did not feel like it, but who was going to take care of my young son then?” a worker at a Polyclinic in the capital tells 14ymedio before issuing a warning: “I did work for a long time during the pandemic, until my mother could no longer take care of my son, continue reading

and since on the 15th they did not pay me the stimulus, I asked to resign and leave,” she says, upset.

Although it is true that for a good part of the sector it will be beneficial, especially in these times of excessive inflation that further devalues ​​the already symbolic state wages, there are discrepancies between those who do meet the requirements and those who find it unfair that other colleagues are not paid equally.

Such is the case of a doctor at the Manuel Fajardo hospital. “Yes, we are going to receive it this month and we will collect depending on the basic salary of each person. The normal salary of about 5,300 is paid on the 10th and then they will pay the same amount as the basic on the 15th, 5,060 pesos in my case, I’m a doctor. ”

This doctor does not believe that it is fair that some receive help and others do not, since he “is aware and saddened that a nurse who was allowed by the 60% law to be able to take care of her child, and a doctor with maternity leave, will receive extra.” At the same time she recognizes that they have a more difficult situation due to having small children and that, therefore, their personal expenses are higher.

The workers at the Joaquín Albarrán polyclinic, in Centro Habana, “are beside themselves from the insult,” according to a person who has ties to some of them. “They tell me that when the union met to explain what the matter was about, there was tremendous uproar, because it was enough to have one unjustified absence for them to not pay someone the incentive,” he says.

“What is the fault of those of us who get sick from covid or anything else?” Asks another worker in the sector. The man explains that he was absent from his position as a nurse in another polyclinic because he was “very ill and with hemoglobin at 6, that is, on the floor,” and adds that, as soon as he recovered, he returned to work. Now, he protests, the situation is that “with those days recorded, I’s invalidated from collecting the famous incentive.” In addition, he blames the union for being willing to comply with all the orders “from above” and not defending his rights as a worker.

Another doctor, excited and grateful for the action by the ministry, commented to her colleagues in a medical office: “I think they are doing it so that if the new omicron strain should cause a lot of damage and we have a setback in this regard, nobody is going to miss work, not even if they have small children, not even if they get sick or anything. ”

Some health centers in the capital have rejected the certificate models presented to the ministry, since “when calculating the parameters, we only took into account the absences, certificates and licenses of this last year,” when the plan was that the last two years of work would be taken into account.

This situation hurts several workers who “classified as eligible” to receive the salary stimulus, but who will no longer be chosen when the new document includes the labor criteria for this year and the previous one. “We are very sorry and we feel sorry for our workers, but it is what it is,” laments a worker from the Human Resources Department of one of these centers who agreed to speak with 14ymedio on condition of anonymity.

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Official Fairs Return to Cuban Parks to Confront Human Rights Day

Students in Trillo Park this December 9 in the afternoon. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 9 December 2021 — The protests of July and the call for the Civic March on 15N (15 November) have made the Cuban regime nervous. It is enough for a group of activists to propose a demonstration for officialdom to redouble the police presence, stage a fair in the place and mobilize dozens of members of the State Security. If, in addition, the event is planned for Human Rights Day, the unease of the Government multiplies.

A day in advance, from this Thursday several Havana parks have been taken over by students who do not understand very well what they are commemorating. In the squares you can see improvised tents with food stalls and revolutionary music at full volume. The calculated event will last until December 10 to cover any possible act of civic vindication.

“The teacher told us that today and tomorrow we had to counteract the possible marches in the parks,” says Joan, a student who is in the eighth grade at a basic high school in Centro Habana. “They gave us an early dismissal so we could attend the activities.”

Although at first the teacher explained to Joan and his classmates that they were going to carry out “exploration and camping activities, as they do on camping trips”, what Joan and his classmates found in La Normal park, in Manglar Street, was “a tent and music recorded at full volume.” continue reading

In the squares there are improvised tents with food stands and revolutionary music at full volume. (14ymedio)

“They were also setting up an improvised stage where someone will surely play later,” explained the 14-year-old, who also noted the insistence from the directors of his school that the students remain in the park. “We started to play soccer and those of us who had a mobile phone connected to the Wi-Fi network, until I got tired and snuck home.”

The same scene is repeated in other parks in the capital, where a strong presence of young people dressed in the school uniforms of various levels can be observed. “There is a circus in Trillo Park today,” an elderly resident of Centro Habana told 14ymedio. “They tell me that in Central Park and the one in front of the Design Institute, there have also been tents since yesterday with sales of bread and other products that have been missing, plus the characteristic show with revolutionary background music,” he said.

In 1998, a similar mobilization of high school students and members of the Union of Young Communists congregating in Butari Park, in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton, ended with them attacking several activists who had chosen the place for a peaceful demonstration during the day for Human Rights.

The incident included blows against the cameras of the foreign press, one of which was significantly damaged. One of the correspondents’ microphones was stolen by the mob and several dissidents were detained in the days before and during December 10 itself. After that the opposition figure Óscar Elías Biscet launched a call to march in that square

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Cubans Without Masks Are Fined, Tourists Are Not

Tourists walking without masks through Old Havana this Monday, December 11, 2021. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 8 December 2021 — “To the Cubans for having the wrong face mask on, the full weight of the law, but foreign tourists who walk and walk through the streets without a mask are invisible,” complains Pedro, a resident of Old Havana who sees the double standards as evidence that the Cuban Government always acts at its convenience.

The resident, who lives a few yards from the Plaza de Armas, witnessed the arbitrariness of the authorities this Monday, when a group of foreigners walked without masks towards the popular site of the Capitol building and at the same time, two yards from the scene, four inspectors fined a young man at the door of his house.

“They fined a young man who was at the door of his house with his mask on his chin because he had just finished smoking 2,000 pesos,” says Pedro. “The boy even showed the inspectors the smoking cigarette at his feet that he had just thrown away and it was not enough proof: he ended up fined.”

Since the reopening of the country to tourism, on November 15, the number of foreign visitors who stroll through Cuban streets has increased. But tourists do not seem continue reading

to be aware of local regulations to avoid getting sick from covid-19 and nor do the authorities remind them.

In the squares, the taxis from the airport, the waiting rooms of the air terminals and the lines in front of a restaurant, most of the tourists are seen without a mask, nor do they respect the distance of a four-and-a-half feet between people, advisable to minimize the spread of the virus.

“Now there are three ways to know who is a foreigner: by the currency with which they pay; because they are always looking up instead of watching for the holes in the sidewalks; and because they walk bare-faced on the streets,” joked a barber this Tuesday on Reina de La Habana Avenue.

“They will have hard currency and they will be vaccinated, but I do not serve anyone who enters here without a facemask,” he declared.

In establishments that provide private services, the inspectors live fining anyone who wears the mask improperly. This Tuesday, Jhony went to get a haircut at a barber shop in Centro Habana and was able to see how two young people who were waiting in line were fined for wearing the mask on their chin.

“One of the fined boys complained to the inspectors that tourists walk the streets without a mask,” says Jhony. “The reaction of one of the inspectors was drastic: ‘Oh no, what I was going to give you was a fine of 200 pesos to go easy on you, but now you’re leaving with 2,000’.”

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

An Irreverent Tour of the Temple Dedicated to the God of the Cuban Revolution

Main facade of the luxurious Fidel Castro Ruz Center, in Havana. (Fidel Castro Ruz Center)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 1 December 2021 — The police have found a homeless person huddled at the corner of Paseo Avenue and 11th Street in Havana’s Vedado. “Please give me something to buy a pizza, I’m hungry,” insists the woman, speaking to the visitors of the brand new Fidel Castro Ruz Center, living testimony of the failure of the story told in the museum behind the high wall where opulence reigns and and the annoying things are left out.

“They have put in a few million here,” a young woman whispered to her companion this week, when a 14ymedio reporter walked the corridors of this temple-like place dedicated to the god of the Cuban Revolution.

The cost of the monumental work is unknown, since the head of Preservation of the Documentary Heritage of the Palace of the Revolution, Alberto Albariño, refused to answer that question in a guided visit of the international press. The official preferred to say that a good part of the investment was covered with “donations that were received from other countries,” which he did not specify either, and that for that reason it has not represented a great expense for the State.

Exuberance reigns from the very entrance, with a garden that houses more than 11,000 plants brought from all over the country, but also from outside. Among them are those that form a forest like Birán, Castro’s cradle; trees of the Sierra Maestra, where his insurrection against Batista began; and a sample of his latest eccentricities, moringa, a protein plant to which he obsessively devoted himself in his later years. In addition, there are Venezuelan trees — perhaps part of a donation from Caracas — and rocks brought from the mouths of the La Plata and Carpintero rivers shape a waterfall that falls into a small pond full of tropical fish.

In the middle of this orchard, the jeep that Castro used in the Sierra Maestra appears. “It was driven here, the difficult thing was to put it inside,” says the essential guide that accompanies visitors through the Center. “This next room is designed for the little ones. So they play didactic games while they admire Fidel’s jeep,” the guide adds, pointing to the adjoining space. continue reading

“In reality it is a museum with a name of something else, you come to know Fidel from the time he was a child until his physical loss,” the guide to the Fidel Castro Ruz Center says as soon as the tour begins. (14ymedio)

The Center, was inaugurated last Thursday in the presence of the Cuban government staff, in addition to Nicolás Maduro and Raúl Castro, and began receiving scheduled visits a day later and, although it is open to the general public and admission is free, many of the visiting groups that coincided with 14ymedio’s visit were made up of officials and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

“Actually it is a museum with a name of something else, you come to know Fidel from the time he was a child until his physical loss,” says the guide as soon as they begin and after the visitors have completed the usual protocol for entering a museum, including security screening of belongings and a metal detector. In addition, one must provide an identification document from which the personal data is recorded in a book.

Televisions, interactive, touch and smart screens are distributed in each of the nine rooms that the mansion houses. (Cubadebate)

The mansion, which dates back to the last decade of the 19th century and belonged to a captain from the 1895 war, is under guard by guards in polished shoes, dark suits, and ear rings. They shadow the visitors, aided by dozens of state-of-the-art cameras.

A door from the time precedes another, apparently armored, glass sliding door that protects the air conditioning of the enclosure. The first room on the left, where the honors of the former president are displayed, is decorated replicating the original from more than a century ago. According to the guide, both the furniture and chandeliers as well as the paintings on the walls and other architectural details were restored in detail by managers of the Office of the City Historian.

Suddenly, in the nineteenth-century setting, the 21st century appears and the corridors of the house reveal phrases by Fidel Castro and José Martí in front of the visitor and an interactive painting shows a mosaic that, depending on the point of view, allows one to see the face of Martí or of Fidel. Although a worker at the Center said on television that the museum was built with Castro’s wishes in mind, this transmutation of his face into that of the Apostle contrasts with his declared intention that his image should not be worshiped.

Weapons, backpacks or binoculars used by the Maximum Leader in the Sierra Maestra dot the display, for which the creators have found, in an unusual event, a defect of Castro to expose: boots made by the same shoemaker who made the ones used by the former president in the mountains. “They are number 45 even though the commander wore 43. This is because Fidel had a problem with his right foot that forced him to wear a larger last,” explains the guide.

“At the moment and due to health protocols established by the pandemic, only the Center’s staff can interact with the touch panels,” he adds during part of the tour, “but our goal is for young people and children to make this technology their own and at the same time to take an interest in the life and work of our Commander,” he emphasizes.

The Fidel Castro Ruz Center is receiving scheduled visits and is open to the general public and admission is free. (14ymedio)

Televisions, interactive, touch and smart screens are distributed in each of the nine rooms that the mansion houses. A modern elevator with a panoramic view, but adapted to the architecture of the place, connects the two floors of the Center, and motion sensors that control the playing of multimedia content as the visitor passes complete the media display. But not all the island’s problems can be kept away: an electric shock that occurred a few days ago affected some of the screens and not all of them function normally.

The selection of the items on display has been careful and has avoided showing the setbacks and even the bad company. Going quickly through the fiascos such as those of the Revolutionary Offensive, the failure of the Ten Million Ton Harvest or the social outbreak of August 1994, the Center only shows the victorious side of Castro.

Notable in the exhibition is the absence of many of the people who once shared front pages with the leader is but who were ultimately cast aside. The passages with Carlos Lage, Roberto Robaina and Felipe Pérez Roque have been deleted or conveniently minimized.

The Center is defined as a public institution, destined to disseminate, study and investigate the thought and work of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, but it ends up becoming, no matter how much its creators and employees reject it, a temple dedicated to the worship of Castro.

The names of the rooms give an account of this: the Guerrilla room, to talk about the military Fidel; the Sala La Palabra [Room of the Word], to listen to the eternal speeches of the speaker Fidel; the Solidarity room, to tell about his profitable international campaigns; the Command room, which portrays places from which he directed operations; and even the amphitheater, soberly named “Fidel talks, I need you.”As a culmination, the Fidel is Fidel room, who made his brother cry last Thursday during the inauguration in his own words, in which video clips of people who speak (well) about him or, in the words of the Center, are played, testimonies “of how much he penetrated the soul of the people.”

Notable in the exhibition is the absence of many of the people who once shared front pages with the leader but who were eventually cast aside. (14ymedio)

During the tour made by 14ymedio, one of the visitors asked the guide if there was a cafeteria or space in which to buy something to drink or eat, as is usual in other museums. “For that we anticipated that there would be cafes around the Center. Most are private, have the capacity to serve many people at the same time and offer a good service,” explained the employee.

“Even if it’s water and coffee, they should sell it here, because the journey is long,” insisted another member of the group. “We plan to offer that service later, but nothing more, we do not want this full of people lining up to buy chocolates or bread with ham. Whoever comes needs to do it because they really want to know the life and work of our leader,” replied the guide.

The management of the Center seemed, in that gesture, to have decided to expel the merchants from the temple. But it won’t be like that at all. A 3D printer in the house will make miniature replicas of the Plaza de la Revolución and busts of heroes from the Independence struggles that can be purchased by visitors in the future store in which, however, and complying with the will of the former president, busts of the man who gives the temple its name cannot be bought.

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In Cuba, The Condoms Also Come From Miami

On World AIDS Day, the day that the fight against HIV-AIDS is celebrated, complaints about the lack of condoms are mounting. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 1 December 2020 — Numerous citizen initiatives have arisen with the disinterested and laudable support of Cuban emigrants, mainly based in Miami, who, in addition to bringing medicines and medical supplies to the island, have included the sending of condoms that are distributed free of charge by activists, however the effort is not enough to reach everyone.

On the day the fight against HIV-AIDS is celebrated, complaints about the lack of condoms for sale in state establishments are increasing. “You go to a pharmacy and there aren’t any, you look for them on the classifieds site and a single condom can cost up to 40 pesos, a real madness,” a young man from Havana told 14ymedio.

Several citizen initiatives have emerged with the support of Cuban emigrants. (14ymedio)

“It is more expensive to buy three condoms in the informal market, than to pay rent,” says a young woman to her friend outside a pharmacy located on Avenida Carlos III. “My boyfriend can’t find them and they’re so expensive he can’t afford them, so we’re not using them and that’s what God wants,” she said anguished.

“We are in a country where the main weapon to stop the disease, which is the use of condoms, does not exist right now,” was one of the comments that could be read today on the social network Facebook, where Cubans criticized the poor performance of the State to comply with delivery plans to businesses.
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Charcoal for the Christmas Chicken, Offer Cuban Markets Lacking Pork

Before, on the sign that hangs in the agricultural market on Sitio Street, in the Havana neighborhood of El Cerro, it said “Charcoal for your piglet”, but now tthere is no pork. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 23 November 2021 — “Pork leg imported from the United States, ideal for Christmas dinners,” reads the ad on one of the many digital sites that promotes products for Cuban migrants to buy for their relatives on the island. This year the popularly called “national mammal” will come from abroad in the face of the collapse of local production.

Just as Cubans said goodbye to nougats, grapes and cider to see in the new year, this time it is the turn of the traditional pig on December 31 to say goodbye. The fall in supply and the rise in the price of meat means that many families will choose to make a meal with chicken or minced meat on those dates.

El Pana, a private producer from Alquízar, assures that “this could be seen coming.” With a large clientele – which included private restaurants and rental houses – the entrepreneur has been offering “not a single rib” for more than a year, he explains to 14ymedio. Although the closure of Havana’s borders due to the pandemic hit his business hard, the reason for the decline points the other way.

“The guajiros stopped breeding and the females that had to be put on for the mount a few months ago did not put on,” laments the merchant. “This is a chain and when it is interrupted it becomes a problem to start breeding again,” he details. “For two years, when the lack of feed made it more and more difficult to keep the animals, there were producers who left the business and who no longer want to return.” continue reading

“I myself took apart the corral, and the irons that I was using to hold the fences, I used them in something else. The people who live near me did the same, and now they would almost have to start from scratch, so I don’t think the lack of pig is going to be fixed soon, this is going to take a long time to get back to how it was before.”

The chain El Pana is talking about also includes sausage producers, food outlets that based their menu on pork steak or fried dough, as well as all those that offered spices, citrus fruits and charcoal for seasoning and cooking ” the pig of 31,” as it is also popularly called.

Before, a sign in the agricultural market on the street, located near Collado, in the Havana neighborhood of El Cerro, said “good charcoal is sold for your piglet”, but it had to be changed and now it promotes the product for cooking “pollón” because, it jokes , “the piglet is lost and fleshy.” Among the customers who stopped in front of the ad, there was no shortage of ironies about the possibility that even the chicken (pollo) will disappear in the coming weeks.

“Soon it will be for the mincemeat, because the chicken is also being lost,” lamented a young man who claims to have seen more assortment in the market compared to other weeks, although it was fundamentally a greater supply of roots, vegetables and fruits, as the precious pork keeps coming in drippings and there are days when it doesn’t even show up.

“I bought a pound of pork steak for 200 pesos; if they had told me a few years ago, I would have believed it was a lie,” another Central Havana neighbor told this newspaper. “December has not started and the pig is already very expensive and missing. Before, this happened to people who left it for the end, those who were late in buying and wanted to have their leg in the last week.”

However, the woman believes, “now it is not even worth being cautious because since the beginning of the year the pig has been very expensive.” Her family will opt “for another meat, preferably chicken or mutton, if it appears.”

While in other countries it is customary to eat a turkey or roast a lamb, the star of Cuban Christmas is the pig. Along with black beans, rice and yuca with mojo, the pork dominates the tables. With its preparations, it also generates several family rituals, such as cutting the shoulder, frying the chicharones and preparing the mojo (marinade) for the meat.

“Chicharrones can also be made with the skin of the chicken,” says a clever family man who is already preparing for the change. “I’m not going to wear myself out looking for a piece of pork, now all my energy is going to go to see if instead of chicken drumsticks I can at least buy my family some breasts.”

But the breast is one of the pieces least likely to appear in the markets in Cuban pesos. “In foreign currency stores, people sleep in line all night to buy a box of breasts and those who have family outside buy it online,” he laments. “But I’m going to look for it even under the stones.”

“The trick is to cook it in the oven and put a piece of charcoal next to it,” he recommends, resigned. “Nothing to envy the roast suckling pig.”

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

Fabricated Charges and False Witnesses Against July 11th Protesters in Artemisa, Cuba

Photo of People’s Provincial Tribunal in Artemisa. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, November 28, 2021–“Prepared testimony” and contradictions predominated the three days of trials against 13 young protesters in the Criminal Court of the People’s Provincial Tribunal in Artemisa, according to family members. “There is an extraordinary contradiction among the prosecution’s witnesses,” Roberto Rodríguez, who attended the trial, assured 14ymedio.

The young people, who did not have prior criminal records, have endured finger pointing and comments for participating in the massive marches on July 11th in the province where the first popular protests began. During the trial, the fabricated accusations were evident as were the false witnesses with which the prosecutors sought long sentences. The sentencing is expected within 15 days.

In Yeremin Salsine Janés’s case, he could be sentenced to 14 years in prison. During his detention and his transfer to the maximum-security prison in the municipality of Guanajay, the 31-year-old man received beatings, which resulted in head injuries, according to sources close to the family.

“It has been tense, inhumane and cruel to see, on the first day, one of the young men hav a panic attack because he didn’t have his medication, seeing his brother with high blood pressure transferred to the hospital in a patrol car. And then he spent a long, torturous night waiting until dawn to continue the trial,” relayed Rodríguez, speaking about the arbitrary nature of the processes within the People’s Provincial Tribunal. continue reading

For Eduardo Gutiérrez Alonso, who remains in provisional custody at the Técnico y Guanajay and faces charges for the crimes of public disorder, contempt and assault, the prosecutor seeks 12 years in prison. The trial against him has been plagued with irregularities, denounced a family member. The witnesses confirmed that Eddy was wearing shorts and a red T-shirt. “That is not so,” refuted a source close to the accused. “In the videos and the evidence presented, he is dressed in black and wearing slacks.”

The streets of Artemisa’s Provincial Tribunal have been militarized, stated family members of the young men. (14ymedio)

The tension of the first day of the trial was followed by intimidation the following day when family members of those detained were received with “militarized streets,” which caused the first shock. The second occurred within the courtroom, when pepper spray carried by one of the policemen exploded.

“The sad thing is that in our affected state, to evacuate the prisoners they wanted to handcuff them, then they removed them from the courtroom, washed their faces and helped them,” and one man with asthma required oxygen. That day one of the accused with epilepsy “suffered a crises and had a seizure.” We learned this person had already experienced a similar situation in prison.

Last Wednesday, after the presentation of evidence, the defense felt confident that, “the prosecutor did not have a case.” The defense pointed out the lies told by the prosecutor and witnesses, in which “the manipulation was plain to see.”

Family members demanded “freedom and justice” for Javier González Fernández, Alexandre Díaz Rodríguez, Yurien Rodríguez Ramos, Eduard Bryan Luperon Vega, Eddy Gutiérrez Alonso, Victor Alejandro Painceira, Yeremi Salsine, José Alberto Pio Torres, Leandro David Morales, Luis Giraldo Martínez, Iván Hernández Troya, Yoslen Domínguez, and Yoselin Hernández. They also demanded that authorities cease “the citations and persecution.”

To date, several independent organizations have documented 1,283 detentions resulting from the protests on July 11th and 42 convictions in summary trials. Of this total, at least 540 remain in prison.

In one report, the Cubalex legal information center, expressed special concern for “the use of sedition to impose exemplary sanctions on at least 122 people” and reported that prior to July 11th, Cuban Prisoners Defenders had registered 152 political prisoners.

 Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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

Rust Has Taken Over Havana’s Playgrounds

Some children are forced to make up their own games under the structures that used to support the swings. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 21 November 2021 — “This looks like the tetanus park with so much rust on the structures,” complains a mother who has arrived with her son to take advantage of the reopening, after a long closure, of the playground on 104th between 39th and 41st, in the municipality capital of Marianao. “The merry-go-round is practically a foot chopping blade, a complete disaster,” she says before leaving with her little one. “Let’s go, this is no time to end up in the hospital.”

Far from having taken advantage of the closure that they have experienced for more than a year due to the pandemic to renovate the facilities, the parks have reopened in conditions of worrying abandonment and deterioration, which has resulted in the discomfort of parents and even some children when noticing the bad condition of the swings, slides, and other games.

“Papi, why is everything broken and dirty?” a little girl asks innocently at the 1004th Street park, to which her father replied: “The economic crisis my love, the country does not have the resources to fix anything right now.” How can he tell a little girl that the government prefers to invest in luxury hotels for tourists? To make her displeasure pass, the father decided to take the little girl to eat an ice cream in the cafeteria on the corner. continue reading

Some children are forced to settle for inventing games under the structures that once supported swings and boats, the smallest under adult supervision, but the largest were at their mercy. “Boys be careful!” shouted a woman who was watching her son from a bench to others who running across the place while they played. “You have to see things in this country, even the fence has been stolen,” she exclaimed annoyed, while pointing out the more than 10 meters of mesh that the park is missing.

How can he tell a little girl that the government prefers to invest in luxury hotels for tourists rather than parks? (14ymedio)

The enthusiasm with which the state newspaper Granma announced on November 14 the reopening of the parks, coinciding with the anniversary of Havana — a date moved up by the Government to discourage the Civic March — led some parents to take their children to enjoy some leisure time in them. “Joy takes the parks of Cuba,” the official newspaper headlined, but in La Pera, a man who had approached with his family commented: “Those who have to take over the parks are the masons and metallurgists, because more than joy what this level of abandonment offers is sadness.”

“Oh God, be careful Pabli,” exclaimed a girl of about nine years old in this same park located in the Plaza municipality, when she saw how her friend had leaned against a wall of blocks that constitutes the perimeter fence that, just at that moment that the stones broke away. For months, some people have been stealing several of those stacked blocks as a last resort in the face of a lack of building materials for sale.

The incident gave the little ones a scare, although some of the restless children who usually play in that place, often come home with cuts and scrapes produced by some broken metal or a loose screw. “Hopefully they will come to fix the park before a misfortune occurs with a child,” said an older woman who, with the help of her cane, was heading towards a line on one of the corners to shop in the Rapidito at Requena and Lugareño.

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Tips to Tourists to See the Harsh Reality in the Cuban Paradise

Tourists passing down 23rd Street in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 20 November 2021 — I like the complicity of my terrace, especially at that time when I don’t know if it’s day or night, and the city wakes up smelling of the sea and freshly brewed coffee. In front of me the Capitol is projected with its golden dome and its monumental architecture, which not only dwarfs man, but also hides a city that suffers from neglect, heartbreak and the incompetence of a government more interested in appearances than in realities.

Upon arrival, dear tourists, you will find buildings gnawed by 60 years of indolence. With their cracks and exposed steel descending to their foundations, weakening their structures and causing them to collapse in some cases without warning. Collapses that condemn humble and working families to live in shelters, which look more like ghettos than temporary homes.

You can search, investigate, find those families who live in deplorable conditions in marginal neighborhoods that you can’t even imagine exist in the “Cuban paradise” that was described to you by the travel agency. If you do, you will discover people whose hope dies in the archives of oblivion or in the worn-out cliché of the lack of resources produced by a ’blockade’ (the US embargo) that only seems to exist for the most humble sector of society. continue reading

You should know beforehand that the ultra-worn excuse of lack of resources was disproved when in 1991 they squandered millions to satisfy the pride of a self-centered, hypocritical and lying dictator. And it is an easily disproved lie if we calculate the number of luxury hotels that are now being built in a few months. From those same terraces, they will be able to appreciate with their own eyes the harsh reality that the media under the control of the dictatorship try to hide from the world.

You, as I watch from my beloved terrace, will witness how the cancer of abandonment and indolence devours a city left to its own devices and where the few resources that exist are sold in the currency of the American enemy.

Your cameras will show the world the great scam of this failed and outdated system, designed to limit man’s progress in order to subdue and make him dependent. So I invite you all, camera in hand, to seek and show the world the fallacy.

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

Repression Stifles the 15N March in Cuba and Spreads Popular Unrest

The streets of Havana continue with a strong police operation. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 15 November 2021 — Since dawn on Monday, State Security agents dressed in civilian clothes were deployed in squares and parks and took the rooftops near the Capitol building in Havana, as part of the operation to prevent the Civic March called for three in the afternoon of this November 15, a march that ultimately could not be carried out because of the repression.

“This is hot,” shared Yuniel, a young man who gave testimony to 14ymedio in the vicinity of Central Park. This 28-year-old from Havana was one of the few who dared to leave his home, in a day in which many parents prevented their young children and teenagers from setting foot outside their homes for fear of being arrested.

Plainclothes officers who pretended to be standing in line outside a store, streets with few passers-by, and vigilante groups on street corners marked this Monday, a day when repression managed to drown out the call to march, but also left a deep malaise among citizens, fed up with the increase in controls experienced on the island after the protests of July 11.

When the clock struck three in the afternoon, the time agreed for the Civic March, the almost deserted streets in some areas of Central Havana, Old Havana, Cerro and Plaza de la Revolución were the panorama on display. Many restless political police officers on the street corners, the occasional passerby in their daily work, and some people dressed in white.

“Here in Prado there are police, military and many segurosos – State Security agents — the atmosphere is very tense. I also see the international press, red berets and repudiators. When I was walking here I saw a small group dressed in white going up to Central Park, but very small,” described a young woman from the downtown promenade, who insisted on pointing out the presence of many “disguised policemen, especially dressed in blue and red.”

A couple of young people were detained near the Paseo del Prado while shouting “Patria y Libertad” under the terrified gazes of continue reading

some neighbors who were watching them from balconies or windows. The two men, yet to be identified, were quickly intercepted and arrested by police, according to a video posted on social media.

Galiano, one of the main streets of Centro Habana and the street that the protesters walked on July 11, remains closed to vehicles from its beginning on the avenue of the Malecón to Calle Reina. The road, a commercial artery with many covered walkways and close to Paseo del Prado, was considered as an alternative route for those who planned to march on 15N.

The day was atypical, without bustle and lines. “In one of the Carlos III’s stores they were selling bread and ham in national currency,” Yuniel said. One of the shop assistants showed her fear and mentioned that she was “crazy to go home” but had to be there until 9 pm. “They forced us to work,” she said.

The bank branch on Calle Aranguren, which normally closes at 3:30 pm, moved up the end of the day. “Today and tomorrow it closes at two in the afternoon,” said a civil guard to an astonished customer. Many private businesses did not open their doors and others warned their customers that they were suspending home delivery until next Wednesday.

Dozens of independent activists, artists and journalists have been detained in the last hours or remain under siege since Sunday to prevent them from leaving their homes. One of the few people who has been able to evade the police siege was the independent reporter Iliana Hernández, who left to march at 3 pm.

“My mission was to show them [the Government] that it was not impossible to escape as I have done on other occasions,” Hernández said in a video shared by CiberCuba. She also said that at some point in the next few hours they will arrest her but the important thing was that at three in the afternoon she was on the street “dressed in gray because today is a gray day for Cuba.” “It is sad that we have to live this way but for that we are fighting not to live like this anymore.”

Despite the surveillance, some went out dressed in white to tour the city, the color that the organizers of the call had promoted. Others showed their sympathy with the March in other ways: A 60-year-old state worker proudly showed the screen of her mobile with an image of her cousin “making an L with her hand the symbol of freedom” and let this newspaper know his how to sync with him for 15N.

“I do not see an end to this, if every time someone disagrees they go, they stage an act of repudiation,” said the woman, alluding to a change. “We are going to run out of young people, that is the greatest thing, but hopefully [the change] will come soon.”

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, described this Monday as a “failed operation” referring to the call for a peaceful march on 15N, declared illegal by the Government.

“There is a lot to tell about all the good that has happened and there are also some things to reveal about this failed operation that tried to articulate and that has been a complete failure,” he said referring to the protests in a live broadcast from the website of Foreign Ministry’s Facebook page.

Rodríguez dedicated a large part of his speech to highlighting the reopening of the Island and spoke of the #CubaVive label used by officialdom in the last hours to show that the Island is experiencing “normal tranquility.” The hashtag also appears on several posters that have been used by the Rapid Response Brigades and repressors in acts of repudiation of opponents and members of the Archipiélago platform.

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With Mop Cloths in Short Supply, No Cuban Towel is Safe

Old towels, ripped-up sheets and T-shirts are now being used to clean the floors of Cuban homes. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, November 13, 2021 — Old towels, ripped-up sheets and T-shirts are now being used to clean the floors of Cuban homes. In the absence of mop cloths, which have been missing from store shelves for months, families set aside articles of clothing to use at the bottom end of the traditional mop stick, a stalwart symbol of Cuban house cleaning.

“It seems we’re going backwards in time,” a lady is heard to say on Thursday outside a store selling powdered bleach. The woman, old enough to remember the challenges of the Special Period, recollects how in the 1990s her house had no towels: “They were none for sale and the few we already had we used for cleaning.

“For months it’s been hard to get basic products like food and detergent. But you can’t find mop cloths anywhere. I haven’t even seen them in the hard currency stores,” explains a resident of Havana’s Cerro neighborhood.

Official priced at 15 pesos ($0.62), production relies on imported raw materials, which have been in short supply since late 2019. Officials warned of shortages and in provinces like Villa Clara they explored the possibility of limiting sales to the rationed market. The shortage has caused the price on the informal market to skyrocket, to as much as 150 pesos.

A meme on social media captures the gravity of the situation with a touch of humor characteristic of this medium. “The order has been given to arrest the sweatshirts,” reads the text, echoing the words of President Miguel Diaz-Canel during the July 11 protests. In this case, however, the victims are the towels, shirts and T-shirts destined to be used for cleaning floors.

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