Category: Translator: Dylan Roberts

The Bodies of Ten Women Who Died in an Accident in Mexico Arrive in Cuba

Shakira Martínez, from Holguín, died in a traffic accident along with nine other Cubans, while trying to reach the U.S. border.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 15 October 2023 — This Sunday, relatives of Shakira Martínez received the body of the 21-year-old who died along with nine other Cuban women in a traffic accident on October 1 when the truck they were traveling in to reach the U.S. border was driven at excessive speed and overturned in Pijijiapan, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. A source confirmed to 14ymedio that after 9 o’clock in the morning, the body of the Holguinera was already at the funeral home at the entrance of the province.

With the video of a plane taking off from an air terminal, the Cuban Embassy in Mexico announced on Saturday that “according to the family’s wishes” the “bodies of Cuban citizens who died in the accident in Chiapas” were returned. As has been usual in such matters, no details on the number of victims or their names were provided.

The main diplomatic office limited its statement to saying that consular officials and Mexican authorities were traveling on the flight.

A nurse at the Pijijiapan hospital confirmed to this newspaper that in addition to Shakira Martínez, the victims included 23-year-old Dayanes Morales Piedra, Naelis Carrillo Rodríguez, Aylen Moreira Guimarais, María Fernanda Lara (12), Zulema de la Caridad Amarral Valverde (16) and Alicia de la Caridad Rodríguez Montero (22). continue reading

The accident recorded 15 injured, whose names were revealed by the user Ernesto Sánchez. Among the injured Cubans are Danelis Talavera Sánchez, 32; Maylen Melisa Aliaga Tamayo, 24; Ariany Nolasco Moreyda de la Caridad, 7; Yaritza Alen Cuitic, 44; Eliani Dueña Carrillo, 6; Melisa Guiarte Serrano, 18; Eylisa Mauro Chávez Prieto, 20; Sonia Tamayo Rosales, 53; Dykenia Rodríguez, 46; Diana Iris Lozano Moleón, 26; Armando Cárdenas Céspedes, 60; Alejandro Adrián Velasco, 12; Yorlayne Valverde Pastol, 17; Roos Liz Cortina Mandearabe, 18; and Félix Arreaga Suárez, 46.

The desperation of Cubans and the difficulties in obtaining a letter of safe-conduct that allows them to travel freely through Mexico has led Cubans to pay truck drivers to take them out of the state of Chiapas so they can continue their journey to the U.S.

The desperation of Cubans and the difficulties in obtaining a letter of safe-conduct that allows them to travel freely through Mexico has led Cubans to pay truck drivers to take them out of the state of Chiapas so they can continue their journey to the U.S.

The Chiapas District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation for the crime of negligent homicide in “traffic events” against the person or persons responsible for this accident. So far, the driver, who fled after the accident, has been identified as the guilty party.

Among the Cubans who are stranded in Tapachula, there is fear of being detained and deported due to the delay in immigration procedures. A source from Migration confirmed to 14ymedio that the 138 Cubans deported on Saturday “were at the Siglo XXI Migratory Station”, which is located in Tapachula.

The Cubans were taken to the airport in five vans from the National Migration Institute and “a luxury bus”. The operation was overseen by Carlos Eduardo Espinoza Morales, who has been exposed by migrant defenders for “abuse of authority.”

Translated by: Dylan Roberts (Spanish 321, University of Miami)

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Cuba, the Other October Crisis

Cuba’s vulnerable and the millions of workers who depend on a state wage are already living on the edge (14ymedio).

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 28 September 2023 — The topic of the upcoming hardships starting on October 1st no longer qualifies as a rumor, much less as a “counterrevolutionary lie”, now we know, from the word of those who make decisions, that it is true that there will be new problems with transportation, food distribution and electricity generation. New problems that will add to the already existing ones.

During an hour and a half on Wednesday’s Mesa Redonda [Roundtable] program, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández, along with the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, explained why there will be new difficulties, but failed to mention possible solutions other than “the will to move forward”.

According to Vicente de la O Levy, 99% of the causes that affect us come from the “blockade” and only 1% can be related to the bad work of the government. For Alejandro Gil Fernandez, the solutions will be within socialism. continue reading

“If the possibility of changing the system is not addressed, 99% of the causes that prevent the country from functioning normally will prevail”

The present and the future of the country are projected on these two apparently immovable columns. The official propaganda maintains that “the blockade” exists because socialism is being built here in Cuba and the United States does not like that. Therefore, if the possibility of changing the system is not addressed, 99% of the causes that prevent the country from functioning normally will prevail.

It is hard to imagine that everything will get worse after October and it is even harder to detail the consequences that a worsening of the country’s economic situation will bring to the people. For that fantasy called “the ordinary Cuban”.

The parents who rack their brains every day to guarantee a little snack for the children who go to school, those who take care of the elderly or disabled people, those who left their remote municipalities to find something better in the capital, but who do not even have a ration book and every month have to pay the rent; the bricklayer who works on his own and almost always lives far from where he is offered a temporary job; the single mothers, the retired person without family support…. These and the millions of workers who depend on a state salary are already living on the edge and the ministers tell them that they need to be understanding.

To dispel foreboding, Gil assured that this will not be the collapse, and that we will not reach “zero”. He also assured that not one millimeter will be ceded in the commitment to build socialism, but he did not dare to mention any metaphorical unit of measure to indicate how far or how close we are to catastrophe.

Translated by: Dylan Roberts, Isabella Posoli, and Skyler Brotherton-Julien, as part of Spanish 321 (University of Miami)

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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.