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Back in a Moment… Apologies to our readers and translators

Translating Cuba, 22 May 2025 — Once again travel, technology and internet access (lack of!) made it impossible to maintain this site from afar… but we are BACK and will catch up over the next couple of days. 22 May 2025

“My Little Girl Tells Me, ‘Mama, Come,’” Says the Cuban Mother Deported From the United States

The Department of Homeland Security’s version is far from what Heidy Sánchez and her lawyer say.

In an interview with EFE, the Heidy Sánchez recounts details of her deportation. / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 7 May 2025 — The story of Heidy Sánchez—the Cuban mother recently deported from Florida to Havana without her 17-month-old daughter—has sparked a wave of criticism and outrage in legal circles and among immigrant rights advocates. Now, in an interview with EFE, the 44-year-old Cuban woman recounts the details of her deportation.

Sánchez says she was taken handcuffed to a cell, where she told an officer, “What need do you have to handcuff me? You’re already taking my life, you’re already killing me, you’re separating me from what I love most in the world.” The girl, a U.S. citizen—like her father—was left in his care while her mother was transferred to various detention centers and finally sent back to Cuba, without being allowed to take the child with her or to say goodbye to her.

Sánchez has no criminal record and was treated as if she were a dangerous criminal.

Her lawyer, Claudia Cañizares, denounced that the procedure was riddled with irregularities: “Sánchez has no criminal record and was treated as if she were a dangerous criminal.” According to her allegations, the mother was never given the legal option of being deported along with her daughter, as stipulated in immigration protocols for family situations.

The case has also prompted a response from the Department of Homeland Security. Its spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it was Sánchez herself who requested to return to Cuba “without her daughter,” leaving her in the care “of a relative.” McLaughlin added: “We take seriously the responsibility to protect children and will continue to work with authorities to ensure that minors are safe and protected.” continue reading

But the official version is far from what Sánchez remembers. She arrived in the US in 2019, crossing through Laredo, Texas, and was admitted under supervision, with the obligation to report periodically to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) offices. Initially, she was required to do so once a year, but with the change of administration, the appointments became monthly.

“I had no choice. They didn’t tell me anything, except that the decision had already been made.”

“I was complying with everything. But in April, I decided to move up the appointment because I felt something wasn’t right.” When she arrived at the ICE office, they told her: “No matter what you do, the decision has already been made. You’re leaving.” Sánchez recounts that the ICE agent in Tampa simply told her to call her husband to pick up the girl. “I had no choice. They didn’t tell me anything, just that the decision had already been made,” she said.

Amidst the confusion and fear, she barely managed to make a brief call to the child’s father. “Did they give you the girl?” was the first question he asked when he answered, concerned about the fate of the little girl, who also suffers from epileptic seizures.

She then spent 48 hours being transferred from one detention center to another, without access to her daughter or adequate legal counsel, until she boarded the plane that returned her to Cuba. “They let me change clothes only to put on the gray uniform from the center. I’m not a criminal, but that’s how they treated me.”

During those dark days, Sánchez found a moment of solace with two other mothers—one Cuban and one Honduran—who were also facing deportation. “We hugged each other like sisters. Neither of us understood why they were separating us from our children. All we did was seek a better life for them,” she recalled, her voice breaking.

Poor connectivity and power outages complicate the phone calls

From Cuba, the woman tries to communicate daily with her family in Tampa, although poor connectivity and power outages complicate the phone calls. “Every time I manage to talk, my little girl stares at me through the screen and says, ‘Mama, come.’ That devastates me.”

Sánchez’s case has rekindled the debate over immigration policies in the United States, especially those affecting mixed families, with migrant parents and citizen children. “It’s not a matter of politics. I know they’re doing their job. But what about feelings? My daughter needs me, and I need her too. That’s what they don’t want to see or understand,” she said.

Attorney Claudia Cañizares, along with Sánchez’s family, has launched a campaign to gather signatures, attract public attention, and explore all possible legal avenues to achieve family reunification. “This case demonstrates that rhetoric about security can no longer serve as a justification for inhumane practices. It’s not an isolated case, but it is a tragedy,” the attorney concluded.

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Tuambia Announces Its Closure Due to Difficulties in Offering a “Sustainable” Service in Cuba.

The platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed until April 30.

The unloading area of a Tuambia warehouse in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — The e-commerce platform Tuambia announced this Thursday the “interruption of its operations” and the suspension of new orders through its website. This is a “difficult but necessary decision,” which the company attributes to the difficulties in continuing to operate “sustainably” in the current context of the crisis and financial difficulties in Cuba.

In a statement posted on its social media, the platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed by April 30th and that it has opened lines to address “any issues.”

However, it promised that Tuambia customers will continue to have access to their purchase history through the website, and that their customer service team—at least during the closure process—will remain active.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal. For weeks, the company had announced that it was discontinuing the digital wallet, where consumers could store funds for continue reading

future purchases. Last week, it also announced a 10% discount on all its products, including household appliances. In light of Thursday’s announcement, this offer indicates a clearance sale of merchandise in its warehouses.

However, the service dedicated to preparing ready-to-serve food was still operating this Thursday, according to 14ymedio‘s website. The delivery of pre-cooked food is linked to restaurants and eateries located in several Havana municipalities, which apparently continue to offer a menu ranging from Creole dishes to Asian recipes.

In recent years, Tuambia had emerged as an alternative to other digital portals selling food, basic products, and household appliances for delivery on the island. With a diverse catalog, the online store grew rapidly and expanded to all provinces, also delivering pre-cooked and ready-to-eat meals, construction materials, and pharmaceutical supplies.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape, and the company also became an attractive source of employment for couriers who make a living delivering goods to homes.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape.

On the company’s Facebook page, the post with a farewell had surpassed 600 comments in just a few hours. Some customers inquired about the possible return of operations in the near future, but Tuambia’s response was emphatic: “The store has closed its operations. We appreciate that you were part of this process.”

The company had been taking its final steps for months. Last October, in another public statement, they noted the impact of the energy crisis on the normal operation of their services. At that time, they had to suspend deliveries “to protect the preservation of frozen foods, and taking into account that they could not be received by recipients at this time if they do not have the conditions to maintain their refrigeration.”

“As soon as the energy situation stabilizes, we will resume deliveries,” they promised at the time. The long-awaited stability never arrived. In the following months, the country faced four complete blackouts caused by total disconnections from its electrical system.

In addition, the platform faced technical difficulties also caused by the energy imbalance.

In addition, the platform was facing technical difficulties also caused by the power outage. “We have implemented solutions to continue working, but we ask for your cooperation to avoid overloading the service at this time, as the high volume of messages slows our response capacity,” they stated.

According to its own figures, Tuambia has made more than 1,200,000 deliveries, benefiting, it claims, more than 360,000 homes on the island. The company was allegedly linked to former Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella – who was dismissed last December – through his brother Yoel, a businessman with very good connections within the elite.

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A Spanish NGO Will Install Solar Farms To Produce More Coffee in Eastern Cuba

Sodepaz has also begun exporting high-quality organic coffee produced in Guantanamo.

In addition to coffee, the organization has expanded its interests on the island in recent years. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 29 March 2025 — A Spanish NGO is threatening to overthrow Italy’s control of Cuban coffee. Sodepaz, with three decades of presence on the island, is expanding rapidly—financed by Spanish government funds—and has begun exporting high-quality organic coffee produced in Guantánamo. As if that weren’t enough, as part of an optimization project, it has opened up the possibility of installing solar farms in the eastern part of the country and, if necessary, “small hydroelectric or wind systems.”

“On March 24, 2025, we will begin distributing BIO coffee from Cuba. A Caracolillo robusta coffee from the eastern Cuban province, medium natural roast, produced in the mountains of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba by the cooperatives of the Agroforestry Group of Cuba and processed by the joint venture BioCubaCafé,” explains Sodepaz on its website.

In addition to coffee, the organization has expanded its interests on the island in recent years, and has in its stores a variety of Cuban products such as cane sugar “from the Carlos Baliño mill in Santa Clara” (4.10 euros per kilogram), Santiago de Cuba Carta Blanca rum (12 euros), Cubay añejo rum (16 euros) and now the BIO Frente Oriental coffee (5.60 euros for 250 grams).

The new project, Innova Café Guantánamo, it is being carried out in collaboration with the province’s Center for Technological Applications for Sustainable Development (Catedes) and will last 24 months, extendable for another 12, to seek “sustainable solutions to the current situation of coffee production in Cuba’s easternmost province,” the official press explained. Neither the organizations nor the media revealed the funds allocated to deploying solar panels. continue reading

The initiative seeks to “transform the coffee value chain” through the use of renewable energy sources.

The initiative seeks to “transform the coffee value chain” through the use of renewable energy sources, as well as improve the sector’s efficiency. To this end, Catedes plans to “diagnose” coffee production and determine where solar energy is best used.

The municipalities that will benefit, at least in the initial phase, will be San Antonio del Sur, Maisí, Yateras, Guantánamo, and El Salvador. However, expansion is planned to include a total of eight coffee-growing territories in the province, alleviating “the current electricity problems,” according to the press, as paraphrased by Cadetes.

Sodepaz, more concerned about production, explained that the budget had been approved in 2024 and was intended to “strengthen production and support other projects such as ProdeCafé or MásCafé.” The latter was funded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, which has offices in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Guantánamo, and Granma.

Activities will also be held to promote Guantanamo coffee, which will be marketed through “fair trade networks.” According to the NGO, Spain is a major consumer of Cuban coffee, and with its help, it will be able to improve its quality.

“Innova Café is seeking immediate benefits that will include greater stability in bean processing with the development of solar dryers and heaters, reducing environmental pollution from waste, and reusing it in a way that contributes to the circular economy,” the state press added. All the equipment, it is understood, will be provided by the organization.

Frente Oriental is not the first Cuban coffee exported by Sodepaz, which also has a presence in Nicaragua, Palestine, and Haiti.

Frente Oriental is not the first Cuban coffee exported by Sodepaz, which also has a presence in Nicaragua, Palestine, and Haiti. In 2021, the organization began selling Extra Turquino Especial, made with a dark-roasted Arabica bean, also harvested in Guantánamo. The product’s launch coincided with that year’s UN vote against the US embargo, one of Sodepaz’s sworn enemies.

“Aware that there is a lack of united initiatives to break the blockade* and at the same time have an impact on the Cuban economy, these are the reasons why this project of importing, processing, and marketing Guantánamo coffee in a fair and supportive manner was born,” explains the project’s website.

Along with the rest of the agricultural industries on the Island, Cuban coffee is experiencing one of its worst periods. According to the National Statistics and Information Office production has fallen by 51% in the last five years—which has forced the Cuban government to define its priorities. The decision comes as no surprise: so while the ration stores have stopped receiving the packages, the exports — especially those guaranteed by international organizations — have not slowed down.

*Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.

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Apologies to Readers and Translators…. We’ll be BACK Later Today

The site manager (me) has been traveling… and, inconceivably, I was staying in a place with no internet. Hence almost a week’s silence.

A short pause…

The editor is ‘away’ and ‘device-less’ until 23 December.

‘They Scream Freedom’: Documentary About 11 July 2021 — ’11J’ — Protests in Cuba

With Bated Breath, Cubans Watch the Elections in Venezuela

It is not only about elections that could change the course of Venezuelans but also about their consequences for the interior of our Island.

In Venezuela, a small electoral gap has been opened to shake off Nicolás Maduro / EFE

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 23 May 2024 — The news is fragmented and confusing, but in Cuba people are “alert” when it comes to the electoral process in Venezuela. In the midst of daily problems, power cuts that are spreading throughout the island and inflation that has sunk the purchasing power of a good part of the population, it is hard to believe that what is happening abroad could be a topic of interest here. But the July 28th meeting is not just any event and it is not in just any country.

At the beginning of this century, the alliance between Havana and Caracas had signs of eternity. The generous oil subsidy that Hugo Chávez granted to the Island allowed the Cuban regime to abandon some of the economic reforms forced by the crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union. As in any political marriage, both parties not only joined forces in the economy, international diplomacy and ideological discourse but also harmonized in their methods.

Chavismo seemed ever more similar to Castroism. The persecution of opponents, the illegalization of parties, the execution of the reputations of adversaries, and exile as the only option for those who opposed him became everyday situations in Venezuela. The hijacking of democratic institutions, the dismantling of the free press and the political tantrums in international forums completed the picture of similarities. But, unlike in Cuba, in the Bolivarian nation a small electoral gap was left open to shake off Nicolás Maduro. continue reading

Now, with just a few weeks left before the presidential elections in Venezuela, we Cubans are holding our breath. We know that any justification can emerge from the Miraflores palace to cancel the electoral process and we also know the thousand and one tricks that authoritarians can pull out of their sleeves to avoid leaving power. We move between expectation and fear. No one knows better than we do what is at stake.

Between expectation and fear we move. Nobody, like us, knows what is at stake

Not only are these elections likely to change the course of Venezuelans’ national life, but their consequences for the interior of our island are impossible to calculate. Not only is there a probable cut in the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, which has already been reduced in recent months, but there is also the message that will reach so many of my compatriots who have lost hope of shaking off a dictatorship.

If Maduro goes to the polls, he is very likely to lose resoundingly, at least that is what the polls indicate. But before that day, he could invent a military conflict that would force him to declare a state of emergency or invalidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the main opposition candidate who is overshadowing him. Anything is possible, but any such outcome would sink his regime even further into disrepute and economic sanctions.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, millions of eyes are watching the electoral ups and downs in Caracas. One day we wake up skeptical thinking: “He’ll do something, he’ll surely cancel everything before losing.” But the next day the optimistic streak takes over and we say to ourselves: “If they win, so will we.” There are more than two months left. There is time for hope and time for disappointment. Whatever happens, the shock wave will reach this Island.

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DW and is reproduced under license from the author.

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Melia Creates an Import Company to Ensure the ‘High Standard’ of Its Cuban Hotels

The Spanish firm will manage two new facilities on the Island, in Ciego de Ávila and Matanzas

Meliá will inaugurate the Meliá Costa Rey on the North Keys of Ciego de Ávila on July 1 / Meliá Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 16 May 2024 — The poor results of tourism in Cuba do not seem to deter foreign hotel companies that do business with Havana. Despite the drop in its profits on the Island in recent years, the Spanish Meliá plans to open two hotels this year, in Cayo Coco (Ciego de Ávila) and Varadero (Matanzas) – two fewer than in 2023 – in addition to an import company, and the Indian hotel chain MGM Muthu plans to inaugurate, using its own airline, several domestic routes within the country.

Both announcements were made during the 2024 International Tourism Fair. Meliá will inaugurate the Meliá Costa Rey on July 1 in the Cayería Norte of Ciego de Ávila, “located on the first line on Las Coloradas beach,” explains Cubadebate. The complex, which belongs to the state hotel group Gran Caribe, has 566 rooms and part of its structure will be adapted to house ’The Level’ section, a new brand incorporated by the Spanish company that offers adult only luxury spaces.

“The establishment will have six restaurants, bars, family rooms in the standard area and multipurpose rooms for conventions, with capacity for up to 200 people,” adds the official media. continue reading

Indian hotel chain MGM Muthu, using its own airline, plans to inaugurate several domestic routes within the country

The second inauguration, that of Sol Hicacos Varadero, will take place on November 1. The hotel, according to the press, will be intended for a public over 16 years of age and will use, after the “transformation,” the old Turquesa hotel. The complex is located near the enclave’s dolphinarium and several “ideal spots” for diving, such as the Varahicacos ecological reserve. Regarding the measures necessary to conserve this enclave, where endemic plants and animals are found, as well as migratory birds, both the press and the hotel industry leave it to the public’s imagination.

Meliá reported that it created its “own import entity,” Mesol. And it adds: “it will undoubtedly contribute to maintaining the high standards of service that characterize the accommodations we manage.” The Spaniard was careful to say it, but the truth is that, from towels to construction equipment, the resources she needs to maintain her “high standards” are not available on the Island.

The beginning of an “ambitious” reform plan from 2023 to 2026, as described by Cubadebate, could be another reason that leads Meliá to try to control the import of the products it needs. As the company explained at the fair, at least six of the facilities it manages are being renovated. “In hotels such as Sol Palmeras, Meliá Varadero and Meliá Las Antillas, the renovations will focus on the rooms; while in the Meliá Las Américas, Meliá Habana and Meliá Cayo Coco hotels, the improvements will be more ambitious, reaching common areas, restaurants, etc.,” the outlet asserts.

Meliá also announced the renewal of the brand of the Jagua hotel, in Cienfuegos. “It will operate in 2025 as INNSiDE Cienfuegos Jagua,” explained the company, which aims to bring its customers closer to the Cienfuegos cultural and gastronomic experience.

Meliá also announced the renewal of the Jagua hotel brand, in Cienfuegos

The Indian MGM Muthu Hotels is advancing in leaps and bounds and plans to involve its airline, Muthu Aviation, in its hotel management on the Island. This was confirmed to the official State newspaper Granma by the owner of the conglomerate, Nesamani Maran Muthu, who assures that “the future is in the Caribbean.” According to his plans, domestic flights would be made between four destinations: Cayo Coco, Cayo Santa María (Villa Clara), Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.

With this project “it is expected to increase the number of visitors to Cuba, especially those from Asian destinations, such as India,” the Island’s Ministry of Tourism told the media.

The authorities also granted Muthu a new hotel in the Sierra de Cristal, Holguín. This is Segundo Frente, managed until now by the Cubanacán Group, with 600 rooms.

Compared to other Caribbean markets, which have already recovered their pre-pandemic visitor numbers, such as Mexico or the Dominican Republic, Cuba continues to lag behind and is unable to reach the numbers it aims for.

On April 19, the National Office of Statistics and Information revealed the official number of tourists who arrived on the Island in the first quarter of the year: 809,238 international travelers, just 56,807 more than the previous year in the same period. This figure threatens to hinder the annual aspirations of the authorities, 3,200,000 tourists this year, since it represents only 25.2% of the objective. In 2023, as of April, 21.4% of the projected 3.5 million had been achieved and the final figure was only 2.4 million.

The interest of large hotel companies like Meliá does not seem to wane and, on the contrary, they continue to look for ways to revitalize the sector

However, the interest of large hotel companies such as Meliá does not seem to wane and, on the contrary, they continue to look for ways to revitalize the sector. This Tuesday the Council of Ministers approved the creation of Publisset, an “economic association” between the Cuban agency Publicitur SA and the Spanish agency Disset Consultores Comunicación y Marketing SL.

“Publicitur is a communication and advertising services company linked to the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Cuba, specialized in the design and production of advertising and communication materials, aimed primarily at the field of tourism,” Cubadebate clarifies.

According to the media, the new company will specialize in “the provision of services from Cuba to foreign companies located in the national territory or outside it, which currently import services and productions because they do not have companies that provide them in the country, or with high international quality standards” and one of its expected clients are “tourism companies, especially in countries in the Caribbean area.”

The visa exemption for Chinese tourists and the implementation of an electronic visa so that travelers can quickly manage their trip to the Island are other of the regime’s most recent measures to recover the sector.

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CUBA – Eliecer Avila and Ricardo Alarcon Face Off – An Oldie But Goodie… Not to be Missed

At the bottom of the video… select “English” in the subtitle bar. The ‘title’ on the screen reads: Eliecer Ávila makes a fool of Ricardo Alarcón

This event is from 2012.

The Cuban Authorities are Cruel to Luis Robles, the ‘Young Man with the Placard’

The political prisoner’s mother hoped that her son’s process would progress at a good pace until he was granted conditional release. (Facebook/Yindra Elizastigui)

14ymedio, Havana, 6 October 2023 — Luis Robles Elizastigui, known as “the young man with the placard,” has been imprisoned since December 2020 in the Combinado del Este prison, in Havana, and has not yet received the change to a minimum security regime in the La Lima camp, in Guanabacoa, as the authorities promised at the end of August.

In a publication on social networks, Robles’ mother, Yindra Elizastigui, said that in conversations with the young man he regretted the delay. “He tells me that he is happy when he sees or finds out that they have taken someone to the camp, but that he still cannot explain why they have delayed his transfer,” she says.

The woman also denounced the injustice committed against Robles as part of “psychological torture” towards her family. “I have also suffered and continue to suffer from the unjust imprisonment to which my son Luis is subjected,” said Elizastigui who, after suffering memory loss as a result of a temporary ischemia, fears that by the time her son is released she will no longer be able to recognize him.

In addition, the young man has a son, she explained, whose mother is also imprisoned, although not for political reasons. “His son needs him now more than ever (…) and it is something that should be taken into account.” continue reading

Last August, when Elizastigui told this newspaper about the change of regime for Robles, she warned that the measure had only been approved then by the authorities of the Combinado del Este and confirmation from other entities such as State Security was still required.

“I, as a mother, hope that they approve his transfer, because Luis is in there because of them, whose conscience imprisoned him. What he [Robles] did is his right, which is in the Constitution. His imprisonment is unjust,” said Elizastigui.

The political prisoner’s mother, who hoped that her son’s process would progress at a good pace until he was granted parole, also mentioned that the young man was suffering from health problems. “We must take into account his health (…), which has worsened due to the injustices that have been committed.”

“He has had good behavior, and this has been reported to me by the prison authorities themselves and by Gerardo, the Security agent assigned to him. So let’s hope that [the measure] is complied with,” the woman then insisted. She had pinned her hopes on her son’s good behavior to earn him a quick exit from the prison to La Lima.

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Cuban Volleyball Player Ellemay Santa Miranda Escapes in Canada

Ellemay Santa Miranda has university studies in Physical Culture and Sports Sciences. (Facebook/Ellemay Santi Miranda)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2023 — Cuban volleyball player Ellemay Santa Miranda left the national team in Quebec, Canada, after losing the bronze medal in the Norceca Continental tournament, which ended last Sunday.

The news was given by the specialized site CubanSp1ke. “We respect your decision and wish you good luck in this new adventure,” was the comment on their social networks. They also said that it is very “difficult” for liberos (receivers), Santa Miranda’s position, to get contracts abroad.

According to Radio Habana, the Cuban Volleyball Federation (FCV) has secured 51 contracts with 14 clubs abroad for players, 21 of them for women. Among the agreements are those of Dezirett Madam and Ailama Cesé with teams from the Italian League. Manager Osvaldo Martínez said that the important thing is that this international contact will benefit the sports growth of Cubans.

The volleyball player was the most outstanding player of the national team and during the Pan American Cup that was held in Santo Domingo was designated the best receiver

The volleyball player was the most outstanding player of the national team, and during the Pan American Cup Final Six of Norceca, which was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was designated the best receiver. continue reading

The departure of Santa Miranda comes a month after the National Volleyball Commission dismissed the coach, Nicolás Vives Coffigny, at the request of the players, according to the official press. Those changes also included the removal of the women’s team coach, Tomás Fernández Arteaga.

Santa Miranda decided to stay in Quebec after losing the bronze medal in the Norceca Continental tournament. (Facebook/Ellemay Santi Miranda)

The arrival of Leivys García as the technical director of the Cuban team did not seem to convince Ellemay Santa Miranda, who in the last match of the tournament in Quebec against Canada was absent and did not manage to contribute any points to the scoreboard for the Island’s team.

Santa Miranda participated in the Under-20 World Championship held in 2019 in Mexico, and she also joined the team for the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador.

Currently, the women’s volleyball team is ranked number 24 in the world ranking of this sport, and is in crisis. Its most recent achievements are the three gold medals won consecutively in Sydney (2000), Atlanta (1996) and Barcelona (1992).

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Man from Moscow at the Celac Summit

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, in a file photograph. (EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa/Pool)

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 23 January 2023 — In recent years, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has experienced that diplomatic solitude that often surrounds the authoritarians. Except for a recent tour of Russia, Turkey, Algeria and China, in addition to the favors that the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has given him in public, the 62-year-old engineer has seen how his condition as president not chosen through votes at the polls, and the the repression that he unleashed against the protesters of July 11, 2021 has taken a political toll on him and left him excluded him from red carpets and international events.

His arrival this Monday in Argentina, to attend the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) seeks to bring him out of that loneliness and try to insert him into the Latin American scene. But the Díaz-Canel who arrives in Buenos Aires is a failed president in all respects: with a country experiencing the largest mass exodus in its history, inflation that has plunged millions of Cubans into poverty, and facing a political crisis it only knows how to react to through threats and the imprisonment of its opponents.

Unlike other guests, the Cuban leader has nothing to offer a regional organization that has been in the doldrums for years and in which the citizens of the continent less and less place their hopes. He arrives at the meeting, moreover, after strengthening his alliance with Vladimir Putin’s Russia and accepting the creation of an Economic Transformation Center that, from Moscow, will supervise the Cuban drift towards a “private company” model, marked by vices that have turned the Russia itself into a nation of commercial mafias, complicit oligarchs and businessmen that emerged from the bowels of the old KGB.

Díaz-Canel is the Kremlin’s man at this meeting and will have to be vigilant in case any mention is made at the meeting of the war in Ukraine, a conflict that is decisive for the current continental economic situation. Will the Russian invasion be called a “special military operation” as the official Cuban press does, or will there be talk of an invasion? The man whom Raúl Castro seated in the presidential chair in Havana could influence the event’s final documents to soften criticism of Russia and to obviate, Olympically, the conflict.

It will also correspond to Díaz-Canel to close ranks with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and, presumably, with Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, others of the unpresentable autocrats summoned to the summit. But we will have to look closely at the Cuban’s meeting with the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, who has been very critical of the violation of human rights in Nicaragua and Venezuela, although much more lukewarm when it comes to the island. The handshake with Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should also be closely watched, because the Brazilian leader does not arrive in the same position that he enjoyed in his previous terms, nor does his closeness to the Cuban regime mean the same as it did a decade ago.

Ruined economically and rejected by a large part of Cubans, Miguel Díaz-Canel knows that after the summit closes and the group photo of the leaders is released, he will have to get on the plane and return to the same country, bankrupt and without hopes, that he saw him go. His calculations, more than towards Buenos Aires, are now focused on Moscow, in which a dangerous and feared bear watches over his back. In exchange, he will continue to be the “comrade of the Kremlin” in Latin America, the man who is willing to cede part of Cuban sovereignty to a distant country rather than allow a democratic opening on the island.

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Editor’s Note: This text was originally published in Deutsche Welle in Spanish.

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Cuba: An Interrogation, Subtitled

#Cuba #Photographer Javier Caso is interrogated by State Security police in Cuba over his relation w/filmmakers Miguel Coyula/Lynn Cruz-surveilled for their Doc.“Nobody”
? For the regime/an #artist is defined by membership in a state institution.#Canada #CubaEsUnaDictadura pic.twitter.com/wZ3ap6Jjw6

— Michael Lima Cuadra (@ngotranslations) December 20, 2022

See earlier article about this interrogation here.

Nadie, part 1 (the video discussed in the interrogation)

Sissi Abascal, the Young Woman Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Painting ‘Patria y Vida’ on a Sheet

Annia Zamora and her daughter Sissi Abascal. (Courtesy)

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 14 May 2022 — At the age of 16, Sissi Abascal Zamora was not, like any other teenager, walking with her friends or wearing new clothes. At that age she became part of the Ladies in White Movement and she lived between arrests and police operations. On July 11, 2021, her participation in the popular protests of that day led her to prison with a six-year sentence.

Her mother, Annia Zamora Carmenate, has no doubts: “Sissi is a political prisoner.” From that quiet girl, who differed from her brothers for being very calm, she became one of the most consistent activists in the province of Matanzas. In the little town of Carlos Rojas, the young woman – on 11J (July 11^th) she was 23 years old – starred in an intense demonstration together with dozens of neighbors.

“That day we were at home and I connected to the internet through my cell phone. There I began to see the videos of the demonstrations, first in San Antonio de los Baños and then in Havana, so I told my husband, Armando Abascal Serrano,” about it, Zamora details to 14ymedio. “Then Sissi tells me that people were gathering in the Carlos Rojas park.”

The family lives on the outskirts of the town and when they got out on the road there were already other people waiting for them. “They know that on other occasions we have also protested.” In November 2020, the Abascal family was part of the group of residents of that community, belonging to the Jovellanos municipality, who demonstrated in the streets against the long blackouts.

Since a long time earlier, saying the surname Abascal among the neighbors is like remembering that the first name of the town was Cimarrones, after the slaves who did not accept the stocks or the whip of the foreman and escaped to the surrounding mountains. But these rebels of today are not facing slavers with dogs, but policemen who brandish their tonfas and lock them up in dungeons.

“We kept going and arrived at the park. That was tremendous. Everyone joined in. Right away, two State Security officers appeared and took my husband to the station in front of the park.” The arrest emboldened the protesters. “We were joined by people that we had never seen at other demonstrations we’ve carried out.”

Sissi climbed onto a bench, “suddenly a sheet appeared. We put it on the sidewalk and wrote ‘Patria y Vida’ [Homeland and Life] on it.” She took off her shoelaces and I gave her mine too. With that we tied the fabric to a branch of a flamboyan tree on one side and on the other we tied it to a crutch. We put the sign on a bicycle and started to go around the park.”

That month of July the town of Carlos Rojas, like the whole Island, was experiencing critical days. “In the municipality of Jovellanos there was a very intense outbreak of covid-19, we had no medication, the isolation centers had very poor conditions,” Zamora recalls. The lack of freedoms was combined with the economic crisis and the epidemiological situation. That Sunday patience reached the limit. continue reading

Zamora closes her eyes and seems to be living that day again. “The people gathered in the park and shouted Food! Freedom! Down with the dictatorship! We want medicines,” also “Patria y Vida!, that slogan was the one that was repeated the most, the one that will go down in history: there were old people, children and many young people too.”

Popular protests on July 11, 2021 in the town of Carlos Rojas, in the municipality of Jovellanos. (Courtesy)

Then the patrol car arrived to transfer Armando Abascal Serrano from the town police station to Jovellanos. “People stood in front of the vehicle to prevent it moving, but the police dealt many blows and finally took him away,” she says. The rest of the afternoon, those who remained continued to repeat slogans until around 6:30 pm when a bus and a truck with shock troops arrived.

“In the bus and the truck were Yonaikis Villegas Oviedo, the mayor of Jovellanos, also the representative of the Communist Party, the director of the Inder (National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation), members of the political police dressed in civilian clothes, members of the Government, the Party and the head of the Communals,” lists the mother.

“They came with sticks and stones in their hands, later we learned that they were even carrying bottles. It was a very strong aggression. They hit me and I fell against the bicycle that held the sheet, Sissi fell on me.” Zamora adds that the Communal official attacked her in the head, eyes, arms and her belly. “I had just had surgery and I fainted, so I could no longer see my daughters.”

When she came to, she heard someone yelling at her that Lisi, her other daughter, was injured after receiving several bottle blows to the head. The mother ran to the Polyclinic and on the way her shoes came off, the shoes whose laces had helped tie the sign. There she found her daughter, who was having her head bandaged. “She also had one hand with the fingers turned backwards that the orthopedist had to treat to put them back forwards.”

Shortly after, Sissi also arrived at the Polyclinic, having been beaten. Half an hour later the three women were transferred in an ambulance to Jovellanos. “There were many injured there because the police had distributed many blows. They gave my daughter Lisi a certificate of injuries, because they had to give her stitches on the head wound, but they did not want to give Sissi and me anything.”

Moment in which Lisi Abascal, Sissi’s sister, is attacked by an official mob, then she receives sutures on her head after being hit with a bottle. (Collage)

That day they were able to return home and on Tuesday, July 13, they went to the municipal police station to file a complaint for the injuries against Lisi. “Even today, ten months later, neither the police nor the Prosecutor’s Office give details, they always evade,” laments Zamora.

The family patriarch was missing for 14 days. “We took him some clothes to the Jovellanos police station and they stole them, they never gave them to him. He was imprisoned for two months in the Combinado del Sur and then he was fined,” explains the woman. “On September 20 in the morning, an official from the Municipal Court of Jovellanos arrived and she knocked on the door of our house. She had in her hands a prosecutor’s request for a six-year sentence against Sissi.”

The trial took place on November 3. In the trial, they judged not only the young woman, but also Frank Ernesto Trujillo Hervis and Yoendris Torres Corría,ann 11J protesters. “Frank — when my daughter was being beaten — he pulled her out of the group of women. He is now sentenced to six years in prison.”

At the trial in the Municipal Court of Jovellanos, Zamora attended as a witness: “I went in, made my statement and then I could only return to hear the conclusions. It almost gave me a heart attack to hear so many lies. The prosecutor Odilia Casallas García lied blatantly. She said that since 1959 no one had been mistreated and beaten by the police in Cuba.”

Sissi’s sister couldn’t stand that, she got up from her seat and contradicted the Prosecutor. “Our family has been hit many times. I still have stitches on my head from being hit with a bottle.” Immediately the guards took her out of the room.

The mayor of the Ministry of the Interior, Silvia Martínez Montero, accused Sissi of attack and contempt, although the family insists that this officer was not present on Sunday in Carlos Rojas park. “The trial was a farce, a clown show. Not even the defense attorneys could do their job,” Zamora denounces.

The Labiotec women’s prison, where Sissi Abascal is imprisoned in the province of Matanzas, and Annia Zamora with a bag of food to take to the visit with her daughter. (Collage)

The appeal trial was held on December 27, under an intense security operation, and the sentence of six years in prison was confirmed. The young woman was confined in the Matanzas women’s prison, Labiotec. “It’s a nasty, sad place. It has two buildings and she’s in one of them in cubicle three on the third floor.”

But during the phone calls, the young woman’s great concern is not the prison conditions but her family. To calm her mother, she reiterates: “Don’t worry, remember how many dungeons, beatings and detentions I have experienced.” She also wants to know details of the other prisoners of that historic day of protests.

When Annia Zamora Carmenate asks her daughter what she wants her to bring in the food bag that she tries to prepare for each visit, the young woman asks for little or nothing. Although her mother insists, she responds in monosyllables. In those moments, she returns to being the shy and quiet girl from the town of Carlos Rojas.

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