Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 121

More Than 4,000 People are on the Waiting List to Buy Dollars at a Currency Exchange in Havana

If a walk by the ATMs of Havana demonstrates the shortage of pesos in the country, a stroll by the Cadecas [currency exchanges] illustrates another lack: that of dollars.

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 20 October 2022 — This Wednesday, in the Cadeca on Belascoaín, in Central Havana, only 10 people were served. Taking into account that, according to the official provisions in force since last August 22, each individual can get a maximum of 100 dollars a day, the branch sold only 1,000 dollars.

The Cadeca, located in the municipality with the maximum population density, cannot meet the demand: to date, the police officers in charge of “keeping order” in the line have a waiting list of 4,000 people. “In the next century maybe I can buy,” a young man said sadly this Thursday, as he walked away.

At the El Vedado Cadeca, located at 23rd street between J and L, the panorama is slightly more encouraging. Every day about 30 buyers manage to be served, which means a maximum sale of 3,000 dollars. However, more than two weeks ago there were 700 people on the list to enter, and this Wednesday, the number was 275.

“From what I see there are new faces, who don’t know how this works. I always start with the most important part: discipline.” The policeman in charge of the Cadeca on 23rd says, with his words denoting that day by day he usually attends to the same people, and takes pride in the good progress of that branch.

“Here there has to be order, citizen tranquillity, respect for the person. From here [the line] to there [the door] there will never be a lack of respect,” he continues. “From there to here it has to be the same. I say this because other citizens of other municipalities, such as Arroyo Naranjo or Diez de Octubre, come here imposing. Nothing is imposed here. I don’t impose on what we’re doing. Everything is working fine.”

The officer warns that “scams cannot happen here” and that citizens who come to “propose” one must be denounced. “I’m going for fourteen scams here to clarify,” he says, while assuring that those suspects “have disappeared,” and clarifies, referring to the Havana prisons: “in the best sense of the word, of course: Valle Grande, Combinado del Este….” Thus, he says that six people have been arrested. continue reading

The idea of aiming at 700, he says, occurred to him two Saturdays ago, when such a tumult was organized that the authorities had to close the street. “There have been 275 people. We have about 425 left. When am I going to write them up, that’s what interests you the most?” he asks in a pedagogical tone, to answer, diffusely: when the list stays at “100, 150, or 200 and up to 300.”

“Three hundred! That’s a fantasy,” replies a woman, laughing, who has been approaching the Cadeca for several days in a row, and the policeman reprimands her: “Discipline, compañera, discipline.”

The reason, the officer explains, is because he has to “juggle the availability of what the Cadeca compañeros have and what the compañeros of the Ministry, the Management, tell me to do.” Indeed, as indicated by the rules approved in August, each branch will only be able to sell the few currencies it bought from customers the day before.

Normally, they let between 30 and 40 people pass, but one day, suddenly, 60 people managed to enter, which caused many to lose their place in line. “The one who missed his turn lost,” says the officer, who also warns that no one can take more than one turn, even if he comes with someone else’s card.

“The problem is that if you don’t know how many turns there will be, you have to come every day,” laments an old man in line, once the policeman has retired. “This is a debacle,” interjects a middle-aged man, who nevertheless concedes: “And this is the best Cadeca; the rest are dying. In Monaco [on Diez de Octobre] there is no list. You can go to sleep from one day to the next and you won’t qualify.”

I’ve been here for two weeks and haven’t been able to sign up, and I see how the list stays the same,” complains another woman, who immediately takes things with resignation and says sarcastically, “That’s the way it is. Imagine: we are happy here.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite the Change of Minister, More Power Plants are Shutting Down in Cuba

The breakdown will translate into more blackouts not only for Cienfuegos, but also for other provinces that depend on the generating capacity of the plant. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 October 2022 — On the same day that the official press dedicated a triumphalist article to the “stability” of the thermoelectric plant (CTE) Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, in Cienfuegos, unit 4 of this plant was disconnected from the National Electrical System (SEN).

With the usual euphemisms, a brief note from the Cuban News Agency reported on Monday that, due to “boiler failures,” the unit is subjected to a “natural cooling” process that will last three or four days, even if “forced-air fans” are used.

Beyond the technical explanations, as usual, the breakdown will result in more blackouts not only for Cienfuegos, but also for other provinces that depend on the generating capacity of the plant. “We have had to provide part of the energy that other thermoelectric plants have not been able to generate due to technical problems,” the general director of the Céspedes, Yeranis Zurita García, complained to the official newspaper Granma.

In the same report, the Granma boasted that in the daily deliveries, generation of the Cienfueguos thermoelectric plant is “recognized in the country for its levels of stability.”

Zurita indicated that, “despite the problems,” they exceeded their gross generation plan at the end of September with 132.4%, a surplus that had to be sent to other territories of the country.

Less optimistic, engineer Dariel Jiménez, of the Céspedes Brigade of Protections and Electrical Schemes, admitted that “practically every day there are breakdowns or other difficulties.” continue reading

“The breakage of the main transformer of the machine outlet had to be resolved “in a matter of 15 minutes,” he said regretfully, a not-ideal solution at which the technicians arrived “with what we had at hand.”

Urgency and short-term solutions are the daily bread of Cuban thermoelectric plants, said Jiménez, whose team is required to fix everything “in the shortest possible time” on a technology “with many years of exploitation.”

The head of maintenance of Céspedes, Yunior Estrada Zambrano, said that “we have characterized ourselves as always doing everything we can, sometimes against the short time that the system gives us.” However, he recognizes that the generation is “very depressed.”

Determined to highlight “the sacrifice and effort” of the Céspedes, Granma didn’t flinch in recognizing that unit 4 had left the National Electricity System (SEN). As the Unión Eléctrica logbook points out, it is added to the list of blocks out of service next to units 6 and 7 of the CTE Mariel (Mayabeque), the 4 and 5 of Nuevitas (Camagüey), the 2 of the Felton (Holguín), the 3, 4 and 5 of Renté (Santiago de Cuba and the only one of Otto Parellada (Havana). About the CTE Antonio Guiteras, which left the SEN this Friday, the official reporter Lázaro Manuel Alonso announced on his networks that it had already been “synchronized” again and that Televisión Cubana would offer more details about its operation.

The UNE report adds that the maximum impact during the night, this Monday, was 1,568 megawatts (MW) at 7:20 p.m., while this Tuesday a maximum demand of 3,200 is expected for a deficit of 1,125 MW.

The National Electricity System hasn’t shown signs of improvement in recent months and has been especially affected by the explosion of the Matanzas Supertanker Base and the passage of Hurricane Ian through the west of the country.

On Monday, the seriousness of the energy situation cost the Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte Cruz, and the director of the UNE, Jorge Amado Cepero Hernández, their positions. The new managers of the SEN, Minister Vicente de la O Levy and director Alfredo López, will have to attend to a system whose collapse has caused numerous protests against the long blackouts.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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By Noon There is No Cash Left in Havana’s ATMs

“You have to leave early to get in line at the ATMs and wait for them to be supplied when the banks open,” says a 62-year-old Havanan. (*14ymedio*)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 19 October 19, 2022 — “It’s not worth going to the ATMs in the small banks; you can only find money in the most central,” observes Pedro Luis, a 62-year-old Havanan who travelled to several municipalities of Havana this Tuesday trying to withdraw cash from his bank account. “In the end I could only do it on on Obispo Street, because it’s in a tourist area.”

The shortage of cash jeopardizes any daily operation in Havana. From paying in a cafeteria to paying for service at a beauty salon, people are hindered by the lack of money. “You have to leave early to stand in line at the ATMs and wait for them to be supplied when the banks open, but already by noon most are empty.”

In the bank on Conill Street, very close to Ayestarán Avenue, an employee blames the problem on the fact that “the prices of everything have gone up, and now people need more money to pay.” In the small branch, located in an area where “not many people pass,” cash barely lasts a few hours in the morning. “People from Diez de Octubre, Rancho Boyeros and even Lisa come here to try to use the ATMs.”

But this Tuesday, frustration was painted on the face of those who approached this bank because “before ten in the morning we had already exhausted the cash at the ATM, although certain small amounts could still be extracted,” says the branch worker. “The problem is that the name on the debit card must match that of the identity card, and there are many people who get cash from the ATMs with someone else’s card.” continue reading

“The bills that run out faster are the 50 and 100 pesos; sometimes the cash can be subtracted from a 500-peso bill, but the ATMs reject the operation if it includes different denominations,” he explains to this newspaper. “Also customers are now looking for more cash at once so they won’t have to stand in line several times a week, and this has made demand skyrocket.”

“Soon we’ll have to go out with a wheelbarrow to carry the money that is needed in a single day because so many pieces of paper won’t fit in our wallets,” says a young woman in line at the ATM in the basement of the Ministry of Transport in Plaza de la Revolución municipality. “Cash evaporates like water, and the 10 and 20 bills are almost useless because nothing is that cheap.”

To overcome the difficulties, some private businesses offer the customer the possibility of paying by Transfermovil, the application that allows both the payment of a electricity bill and making transfers to another client. “Many people prefer to do it this way because it saves them from having to stand in line at the bank,” says Rodniel, an employee in a restaurant on San Lázaro Street. “Our clientele is mostly young, and at their age the use of Transfermovil is very widespread.”

In some hotels, the rule has been extended so that you can only pay with magnetic cards, which can be in Cuban pesos, freely convertible currency or belong to a foreign bank. “We don’t work with cash,” clarifies an employee of the cafeteria of the recently opened Grand Aston hotel on the Havana coast. Some customers, when they pay their bill, add a tip in CUP for the waiters.

“I walked all over Línea Street, from the tunnel near Playa, and I didn’t find a single ATM with money. In the end I ended up at the bank on 23 and J, which, as it is so central, had cash but, of course, I had to stand in line for more than an hour,” regretted another customer on Tuesday night. He had to delay his dinner in a restaurant because “they only accept payment in cash.” By the time he finally managed to make the withdrawal, it was already after ten, and the romantic moment with his girlfriend had faded.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Thanks to Independent Reporters, Cuba Now Has Its Own Voice’

Escobar receives her award from Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid. (Alberto Di Lolli/El *Mundo*)

14ymedio, Madrid, Havana, 19 October 2022 — Cuban journalist Luz Escobar, member of the editorial staff of 14ymedio and winner of the Press Freedom Award of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, declared on Wednesday night that, thanks to independent reporters, Cuba has “its own voice.”

The award ceremony of the XX International Journalism Awards, chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, was held at the Museo Nacional del Prado. During the celebration, exiled Russian reporter Alexey Kovalev, director of investigative reporting at the Meduza newspaper, also received the Best Labor Journalism Award.

Escobar alluded in her speech to the difficulties Cubans have in leaving the Island, subject to the control of the regime and as “hostages of a power that treats us like small children who are forbidden to travel.”

She also pointed out that, in Cuba, the word “journalist” is equivalent to that of “enemy,” and she described the ruling media as “propaganda spaces for the only party allowed. In the faculties of journalism, we are taught to revere the Government without questioning, and the list of prohibited subjects is too long for one article,” she said.

On the dangers of the profession, Escobar denounced the “strangulation of the press” by the Government, whose objective has been to “impose a single narrative about what was happening inside and outside the Island.” “Assassinating journalism,” she said, has been the task of those who have been plotting a “triumphalist story about the national situation” for six decades, while attributing to Europe and the rest of Western democracies a “catastrophist” panorama. continue reading

Luz Escobar and Alexey Kovalev, winners of the XX International Journalism Awards. (Alberto Di Lolli/El Mundo)

As examples of the regime’s media manipulation, Escobar said that the phrase “special military operation” that the official media gave to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, following direct instructions from the Kremlin, justified the conflict and denigrated opposition reporters like Kovalev.

Independent journalism was born as an alternative to that story, she said. According to Escobar, its origins are in the regime’s prisons, “when a political prisoner sent the first piece of paper, precariously written, to report a beating,” issued “a complaint through a restricted phone call” or “painted a symbol on a wall.”

Founders such as the poet and journalist Raúl Rivero, one of those convicted during the so-called Black Spring of 2003, or her own father, Reinaldo Escobar, censored by the regime in 1988, have served as inspiration when it comes to assuming the “high personal, family and social cost” of her work.

Escobar denounced the arbitrary arrests, threats and police cordons she has suffered in her own house, in addition to campaigns to “destroy my reputation.” “After July 11, 2021,” she said, “Cuban authorities have become much more susceptible to information,” and are paying greater attention to social networks and independent media content.

In addition to a thorough repression against those who expressed their desire for change and freedom on that date, the regime has forced dozens of reporters to renounce their profession in what the journalist described as “a twist of censorship.”

However, “we have shattered the regime’s old monopoly of recounting reality,” said Escobar, who also alluded to her work in the 14ymedio newsroom, which continues publishing “despite the repression, threats and blocking of its website on Cuban servers.”

The newspaper has helped to “elevate press standards on the Island” and demonstrates that “journalism can inform with immediacy and quality.”

The winners along with the organizers of the ceremony, President Ayuso and the Minister of Defense of Spain, Margarita Robles. (Alberto Di Lolli/El Mundo)

For his part, Alexey Kovalev, forced into exile after legislation from the Russian Parliament that criminalized independent journalism, stated that Putin’s war against Ukraine “is based on a lie,” so his job is to defend the truth. The reporter, whose family remains in Moscow, thanked El Mundo for its recognition of the importance of the free press.

In praise of the winners, Isabel Díaz Ayuso pointed to Escobar and Kovalev as “examples of journalism as a fourth power and commitment to freedom.” “Democracy is not something that is conquered forever but must be defended, and this isn’t possible without freedom of the press,” she added.

She claimed that in international spaces it’s necessary to “call things by their name,” which implies “saying that Cuba is a dictatorship and its government, tyrannical.” As for Escobar, she said that in addition to being a journalist, she is a mother, something that the regime has used against her. She also commented that those responsible for El Mundo had to make numerous arrangements so that the reporter could attend the ceremony with her daughters.

The award reception dinner, organized by Joaquín Manso and Marco Pompignoli, directors of El Mundo and the Unidad Editorial group, respectively, was attended by Escobar’s family and colleagues, in addition to Cuban activists and intellectuals Dagoberto Valdés, Yoandy Izquierdo, Yunior García Aguilera, the Venezuelan politician Leopoldo López, and the Spaniards Adolfo Suárez, Jr., Inés Arrimadas and Edmundo Bal.

The guests also attended the temporary exhibition “Another Renaissance,” in the Prado Museum, which has collected the work of Spanish artists in Naples at the beginning of the Cinquecento, the 16th century period of Italian art that reverted to classical forms.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite its Enormous Benefits, Etecsa Runs Out of Resources

Etecsa is one of the few Cuban entities that generates large earnings, and, nevertheless, it is in crisis. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 17 October 2022 — With its blue logo, air-conditioned offices and no competition in the national market, the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa) is experiencing a paradoxical situation: it is one of the few national entities that generates a large income, and, even so, it is in a difficult financial situation.

“We’re tying pieces of cables together in order to solve the breaks,” complains José Ángel, a worker of the state monopoly, a company that is experiencing “the worst crisis since its creation,” an employee of the Plaza de la Revolución municipality tells 14ymedio. “The bosses still have privileges, but we are without the resources to serve customers.”

José Ángel lists everything they lack. “There are no landlines to replace the old ones; we lack the boxes to install inside homes; the supply of cables is also having many problems, and even mobility is affected by the shortage of fuel.” The rosary of hardships stimulates the desertion of employees who once saw in Etecsa a “comfortable and privileged” place to work.

“This has changed a lot in recent years. They used to sell us products at a preferential price, but that happens less and less,” says a worker at the customer service office located in the Trade Market. “Here we are a little better because this place is very central and works like a display window, but in the other municipalities they can practically not even turn on the air conditioning.”

Every 15 days, Etecsa launches a cell-phone recharge promotion with extra bonuses to be paid from abroad. In 2019, computer science graduate Luilver Garcés Briñas estimated that on each of those occasions the state monopoly could be earning more than 7 million dollars from abroad. continue reading

But most of that hard currency isn’t invested in the telecommunications infrastructure. “About 90% of what Etecsa collects leaves the company in a large item marked “undefined,” clarifies another employee linked to the accounting area, who prefers to remain anonymous. “With what remains, it’s very difficult to maintain a quality service because we can’t make large investments.”

The lack of liquidity is also beginning to take its toll on Etecsa with its foreign investors. “In 2022, for the first time in 15 years, we haven’t been able to fulfill our financial commitment to Nokia,” the Finnish company that has worked on the Island to implement part of the data service for cell phones. “Investors are pressing us like crazy, but there’s no money,” says the accountant.

“A point has been reached where a large investment has to be made to improve connectivity, because the submarine cable with Venezuela is not enough now,” adds the source, who assures that alternatives are being sought with the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. At the same time, he says: “Although negotiations are in the works with Mexico for the possible laying of another cable, such a project will need investments, and the company is not able to make them right now.”

“The problem is that cell-phone usage has grown very fast, and we went from almost zero to approaching the 8 million cell phones we have right now. Customers are increasingly making use of data, downloading and uploading videos, making video calls and watching movies on the Internet, and all that is overtaxing the infrastructure we have, which is not expanding and improving at the speed needed,” he explains.

Bad news will continue to accumulate for the monopoly. Etecsa has not updated the exchange rate between hard currencies and the Cuban peso, as state exchange offices have done since last August. The delay in assuming the new exchange rates brings many distortions, including for immigrants, who find it better to send euros or dollars in cash to their family in Cuba to pay for a recharge, instead of paying for the service from abroad.

“A recharge from the United States costs between 20 and 23 dollars, and my relatives in Cuba receive 500 pesos of fixed amount, plus the bonuses that Etecsa promotes,” explains Indira, an immigrant from the Island who has been in Miami for a few months. “That same amount of money in Cuba is equivalent to about 4,200 or 4,500 pesos, enough to put eight packages of 500 pesos and still leave money for a smaller package.”

“Every day that passes without Etecsa correcting this great difference, more people here realize it and prefer to send the money for the recharge directly to the relatives,” says the young woman.

In the customer service center, the phone rings and the operator says: “Good morning, Marilú is taking care of you, how can I help you?” On the other side of the line, a subscriber complains with an annoying tone that his landline has not been working for three months and that he has reported this five times. “I’m going to put it on the list, but right now we don’t have supplies for repairs,” the employee says.

Calls with similar claims will continue for the whole day. In his daily report, José Ángel receives calls to attend to breakdowns in his municipality. “I’m going to see what happens, but if you need cables or boxes I can’t do anything. I’m only going to fulfil the formality that we review the problem,” he says while driving a van with a half-deleted Etecsa logo.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Painter Juan Moreira, Illustrator of Don Quixote, Dies

The painter Juan Moreira illustrated the edition of Don Quijote that was produced in 1972 in Cuba, replacing the Frenchman Gustavo Doré’s illustrations. (Prensa Latina)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 October 2022 — The plastic artist Juan Moreira, known for being the first Cuban painter to illustrate Don Quijote de la Mancha in a Cuban edition, died this Monday in Havana at the age of 83, the Ministry of Culture confirmed to official media.

Born in Havana in 1938, he assisted the Chilean painter, José Venturelli, in designing the murals of the Hotel Habana Libre and the buildings where the official agency Prensa Latina was founded. He also created portraits of friends, ornamental designs and paintings with erotic content. He was a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the International Association of Plastic Artists.

His works have been exhibited in museums in Havana and in galleries in Poland, Austria, Jamaica, Germany, the United States and Canada. There are also pieces by the Cuban artist in the personal collections of King Emeritus Juan Carlos of Spain, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and in the United Nations building in Geneva.

The press, which praised the artist who remained “firm to the Nation,” recalled that he was a drawing teacher at the San Alejandro Professional School of Plastic Arts, where he directed more than twenty personal exhibitions and collective shows.

Moreira received the first Drawing Award from the Provincial Salon of Teachers and Instructors of Plastic Arts in Havana in 1973. A decade later, in 1984, he received an honorable mention in the Biennale de Pintura Kosice, in Czechoslovakia. In 2001, he was awarded third prize in the painting competition of the Nicomedes García Gómez Foundation, held in Segovia, Spain.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Opposition Expresses Solidarity With Ukraine and Rejects Havana’s Support for Moscow

The D Frente collective addressed a letter of solidarity to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 18 October 2022 — A coalition of opposition groups from Cuba has expressed “solidarity” with Ukraine in an open letter to its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, rejecting their country’s support for Russia.

The D Frente collective, which brings together Cuban dissident groups “opposed to the totalitarian system prevailing in Cuba,” says in the letter that “a considerable part of Cuban civil society has seen with deep pain and concern” the “justification” and “support” of Havana for the Russian invasion.

They emphasize that Moscow’s February decision to attack Ukraine is “in frank violation of the principles of international law, the self-determination and sovereignty of its people, the peaceful and negotiated solution of disputes, and a breach of peace and good neighborliness.”

The signatories assure Zelensky that “the Cuban people are not their government.” Havana has not condemned the invasion, has not applied sanctions against Russia and has abstained in the votes on the issue at the United Nations. The official media on the Island replicate Moscow’s terminology and narrative about the war.

The letter refers to Ukraine’s Soviet past in which “citizens and aspirations were ignored. There are many of us who don’t feel represented by our leadership and who also reject the position of our government regarding this unnecessary and cruel conflict,” it states. continue reading

In the letter, D Frente applauds the “courage, deep love and attachment to their culture, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the Ukrainians and conveys to Zelensky “our most sincere respect and feelings of solidarity towards your people and your government.”

“We are convinced that a plural, democratic and totalitarian-free Cuba, in which the rule of law and the will of the Cuban people prevail, would categorically reject the acts of aggression against your country and make every effort to achieve a peace in which the legitimate aspirations of the Ukrainian people are respected,” they say.

Bilateral relations between the Governments of Cuba and Russia are politically and symbolically close, but not economically or commercially so.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The United States Will Donate $2 Million to Those Affected by Hurricane Ian in Cuba

A shipment of humanitarian aid from the United States that arrived in Santa Clara, Cuba, in 2021. (Archive/Customs of Cuba/Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 October 2022 — On Tuesday, the United States Department of State announced that it will provide humanitarian aid of 2 million dollars to those “in need in Cuba” who were affected by the passage of Hurricane Ian in September.

A statement signed by the institution’s spokesperson, Ned Price, reported that the United States will send the aid through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to “international partners who work directly with Cubans whose communities were devastated by the hurricane.”

“We are currently reviewing requests from organizations such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to provide this assistance,” the statement details.

The U.S. authorities said that they will continue to “monitor and evaluate the humanitarian needs” of Cubans in coordination with organizations and the international community. “We will continue to look for ways to provide significant support to the people of Cuba, in accordance with U.S. laws and regulations.”

At the beginning of October, it became known that Cuba had sent an urgent request for help to Joe Biden’s Administration, after the crisis caused by Ian, according to an article published in The Wall Street Journal. continue reading

At that time, after an exchange of mail between the two governments, Havana had not asked for a specific amount of money, so Washington was still evaluating the extent of the damage, although a formal request had not been received from the Island.

Within a few hours of the article being published in the U.S. newspaper, the Cuban government confirmed that it maintained contact with the United States regarding the material damage suffered by Hurricane Ian.

“The Governments of Cuba and the United States have exchanged information about the amount of damage and the regrettable losses caused by Hurricane Ian in both countries,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said on the social network Twitter.

Hurricane Ian crossed the western end of Cuba from south to north on September 27, with heavy rains and winds of up to 125 miles per hour, leaving five dead and heavy material damage.

For reasons not fully clarified, the passage of the hurricane generated a complete blackout on the Island, damage to 200,000 homes and a serious impact on crops and infrastructure.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Blackouts Cost the Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines his Position

Liván Arronte, recently dismissed as Minister of Energy and Mines, in an appearance on the Mesa Redonda [*Roundtable*] TV program. (Screen capture)

14ymedio, Havana, 17 October 2022 — The Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte Cruz, and the director of the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), Jorge Armando Cepero Hernández, were dismissed from their respective positions this Monday. Without mentioning the names of those dismissed, in a brief note, Cubadebate reported that Vicente de la O Levy will be the new minister, and Alfredo López Valdés, the new director of the UNE.

“Both were general directors of the Electric Union at other times. Likewise, Alfredo López Valdés previously held the position of Minister of Energy and Mines, and of Industries,” the text states.

These dismissals make Cubans fear that the promised solution to energy shortages will not occur in December.

The deposed Arronte, who had been in office since 2019, had become in recent months a media figure, in the middle of the unprecedented energy crisis that the country suffers, being the main figure of authority who went out to give explanations about the daily scheduled blackouts that the population suffers, for example in programs such as Mesa Redonda.

It should be noted that this ministry is under the orders of Deputy Prime Minister Ramiro Valdés. continue reading

The UNE had predicted, again, a huge energy deficit, which on Monday would cause a “simultaneous blackout” of 41% of the service. According to his daily statement, the electricity generation capacity at peak time will be 1,941 megawatts (MW) for a maximum demand of 3,200 MW, and the deficit would be 1,259 MW, 65% of the maximum generation capacity. However, the “allocation” — which will be disconnected — the state estimates, will be more: 1,329 MW.

There are 11 nonfunctional thermoelectric units. Last Friday, less than 24 hours after it was connected, Antonio Guiteras left the system again, in Matanzas.

With the blackouts come numerous protests. Project Inventory has registered 176 since July 14. The Prosecutor’s Office has already threatened to charge the protesters with “vandalism,” as they did after the mass protests of July 11, 2021.

On October 7, the organization Justice 11J published an update on the detainees, based on the statements of their relatives and other information. According to the NGO, they will be prosecuted for the crimes of public disorder, contempt and resistance, although it cannot accurately provide the number of people imprisoned, which is around 30 according to several organizations.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Family of 20 Cubans Arrives in the United States Aboard a Speedboat from Cojimar

The group of Cubans left immigration headquarters and are already with their relatives, a Havana professor confirmed. (Facebook/V Sorjes Martín)

14ymedio, Havana, 17 October 2022 — A group of 20 Cubans who left the Island through the port of Cojímar (Havana) arrived in the United States, according to a post shared this Monday on Facebook by Professor V. Sorjes Martín. “Dream fulfilled,” said this habanero, who has studied engineering and law.

“We all left immigration today for our family homes,” said Sorjes Martín, who had “maintained a low profile” with some friends due to the imminent escape that was being planned.

Sorjes Martín, who among many other sacrifices had to sell his house to make the trip, said in a video that the crossing took 10 and a half hours, and there were times when the crew was “stressed. We had to go around three or four boats and finally a coastguard boat that fell behind and couldn’t catch us.”

The current situation in Cuba “with a tremendous amount of political problems,” commented Sorjes Martín, motivated this group to “flee.” The professor, who shared several images in which four children and a dog are observed, said: “Here everyone is family.”

On the speedboat, the habanero reported that the U.S. authorities will determine his fate. continue reading

So far in October, 205 Cubans have managed to make landfall in Florida, most on rustic rafts, although two of them arrived on October 12 on windsurfing boards. The latter “will be subjected to a deportation procedure,” warned the head of the Border Patrol of the Miami sector, Walter Slosar.

Just as the arrival of Cuban balseros [rafters] doesn’t stop, neither do the deportations, and the American Coast Guard repatriated 80 Cubans between Saturday and Sunday. The migrants were returned to the Island aboard the ships William Flores and Paul Clark.

The repatriated balseros are part of six interceptions made in the vicinity of Key West, the Tavernier Creek sports fishing port, Marathon and Sugar Loaf.

The Coast Guard non-commissioned officer, Nicole Groll, urged Cubans to choose a safe and legal path to get to the U.S. “so that families don’t wonder where their loved ones are when they choose to migrate illegally.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Argument of the Embargo and the Ridiculousness of the Cuban Communist Regime

A Cuban farmer makes extra money turning the invasive marabou weed into charcoal for export. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, October 16, 2022 — When a government ignores economic problems, it does so for two reasons. Either because of incompetence, or because there are substantive reasons that prevent the adoption of appropriate measures to meet social demands. Or it can happen as in communist Cuba, where the two converge. For example, incompetence and ideological pressure are the factors that condition the terrible results of Cuban agriculture, with declines in GDP in the second half of the year that are above the average of the economy as a whole.

In other words, neither the “63 measures” planned for agriculture, nor the “94 of sugar” have served to change the trend of the two fundamental sectors of the Cuban economy. And, as always, in these cases, the state press directs its accusations to the U.S. blockade, holding it responsible for alleged millions of losses in agriculture, which are added, of course, to those of the other sectors.

Strangely enough, Cubans have experienced this sequence of events since the earliest times of Fidel Castro. Blaming the blockade has always been present, and now, when people can’t take it anymore, Cuban communists shamelessly unleash the embargo/blockade doberman again. The point is that this excuse is no longer believed by anyone in Cuba or in the rest of the world.

In an amazing way, the anti-blockade argument changes over time. Interestingly, the regime now says that “the blockade is the main obstacle to the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda.” A false complaint, which aims to reach the United Nations forums where these issues are addressed, like the Summit on Sustainable Development Goals, held in the context of the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly two years ago, where such a statement still has force.

Foreign Minister Rodríguez, increasingly irrelevant in international forums, seeing that friends are fewer and fewer, pulls this new story of the embargo/blockade and the 2030 agenda out of a hat. If this aptitude for defining insubstantial paradigms were applied to food production, maybe things would go another way.

Cuban communists, seeing themselves isolated at the international level, have returned to the charge against the impact of the economic, commercial and financial blockade, insisting that it slows the country’s economy and considerably affects development in all sectors. They have now set their sights on agricultural production. And to that end, they have unloaded again a numerical figure that says the losses due to the blockade amounted to 270 million, 852 million, and 548 million dollars between August 2021 and February 2022, according to estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture. Almost nothing. continue reading

Where does that absurd figure come from? Specifically, it was the director of International Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture, Orlando Díaz Rodríguez, who was in charge of making it known that the estimate, “summarizes the income not received by exports of goods and services, losses due to geographical relocation of trade, as well as from effects on production and services, monetary and financial ones and technological limitations.” Of course, optimistically, no one can beat them.

Income not received from exports is child’s play. The first thing would be to see if those exports have a demand or interest in the U.S., and they don’t seem to. The concept of “geographical relocation of trade” follows the same trend as always but is false. All countries look for the necessary goods and services wherever they are, and then transport them. As for the “allocations,” this is already known. The internal blockade of the regime is much more negative and has been so for 63 years.

The tireless Cuban communists accuse the 243 coercive measures adopted by the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021), still in force with the Biden administration, and say that “they put the brakes on the business system, which includes cooperatives and individual producers, making it impossible to position their products in the North American market.” False. There is nothing in the dispute that prevents independent producers from placing their sales in the U.S. market. The problem is the same as always: is there demand for those products? Cuban communists talk about tobacco, fresh fruit, honey and charcoal as the products affected by the embargo, but could more of them even be produced? We doubt it.

According to the communist leaders, Americans have been deprived of these Cuban products and cannot purchase them because of the blockade. In particular, in the health sector, he alluded to Vidatox-30 CH, a homeopathic drug developed by Labiofam used as a complementary therapy for the treatment of cancer, which, due to the “criminal policy,” cannot be commercialized in the northern nation. As if the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. didn’t have similar drugs, validated by the World Health Organization.

Not satisfied with everything said, there was also talk of the interest of entrepreneurs, producers and other “representatives of the agricultural sector in denouncing the blockade, as well as the measures that intensify it, and they’ve expressed their interest in cooperation, investment and commercialization with the Island.”

Do you know when they’re going to collect if they sell on credit to Cuba? The U.S. chicken producers and farmers already market their products under the current conditions [i.e. payment in cash at time of sale]. What reason is there to sell if they can’t collect until later? In addition, agriculture in Cuba needs to import animal feed, inputs, technologies and raw materials for the sake of food production for the people. What are they going to pay for it with?

It’s the same old song. The embargo is guilty of everything. They fall into the most absolute ridiculousness. More opportunities will come for accusing the embargo/blockade of all the ills of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Exchange Market Analysis and State Intervention (II)

Cuban 20 peso note signed by Che Guevara.

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 17 October 2022 — When Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning Gil decided, unilaterally, two months ago, to create an exchange rate of 1×120 for the dollar relative to the peso in an attempt to counteract the trend in the informal market, it was soon observed that the limits imposed on the availability of currencies, the geographical scope and access to purchase, limited to natural persons, would cause more problems than solutions, since this process eliminated the basic principle of convertibility of the foreign exchange market.

The minister’s decision, far from redirecting the situation, alerted the informal market, which began an unprecedented escalation of the dollar to around 200 pesos. After all the failures, the authorities now intend to redirect the situation and position the foreign exchange market between the national currency and the foreign currencies, preventing the Cuban economy from being dollarized. It won’t be easy. A very valuable amount of time has been lost, and now the cost of the adjustment will be higher.

The minister is determined to control all the currencies that enter the economy to channel them into the state coffers, and as they are fewer and fewer, decisions are increasingly risky. We remember that the stores that only accept payment in MLC (freely convertible currency) were adopted as a temporary and necessary solution to maintain socialism, and they are still there after more than two years. Everything that is proposed for a while ends up becoming permanent. And that’s how it goes.

On the other hand, there is concern among Cubans about what may happen with the peso exchange rate in the coming months. Those who have stocks in this currency don’t know whether to change now, at 190-200 per dollar, or to wait and see. The uncertainty is great, because the functioning of the informal market deviates from the conventional schemes that explain the trends in the value of currencies, and there is no anchor for the analysis. In any case, it doesn’t seem that the leaders are going to change the conditions of the environment that have led to this situation, so things will continue in the same way. continue reading

So, in the face of the current exchange rate crisis of the peso, which the authorities are unable to reverse, there are messages in the official press regarding the fact that the Cuban peso should be the center of the financial system, including an inclusive price system for all economic actors and a market that works with a certain level of wholesale and retail offers. So, why don’t they succeed?

The foreign exchange market is considered one of the essential elements in the recovery of the convertibility of the national currency, but it’s much more than a nominal exchange of currencies. In fact, the official thesis points out that its absence was a great obstacle to the full use of productive capacities, limiting the country’s economic growth. The foreign exchange market is a reflection of other balances or imbalances that affect the relative value of the currencies. It’s not an isolated entity.

The directors of the Central Bank of Cuba rightly consider that the foreign exchange market involves the possibility of connecting the national currency with foreign currencies, through a well-founded exchange rate and that, in addition, this should be reflected in practice, in the relations that are established between economic agents, both state and private. The inconvertibility that occurred after the approval of the rate of 1×24 meant the emergence of alternative mechanisms to access foreign currencies, such as the dollarization of the economy in informal markets. The leaders want to set limits on this, since it opposes the objective of increasing the purchasing capacity of the national currency.

From this perspective, the official position assumes that the non-convertibility of the currency generates imbalances, because economic actors cannot meet their currency needs with the national currency at the current official exchange rate. When this process is carried out in a disorderly manner, it puts the economy in a complex situation, and an example of this is the current scenario of the dollarization and development of the informal market, which the authorities want to stop.

On this point, the official vision emphasizes the need to correct the sources of imbalance that gravitate on the foreign exchange market, mainly those associated with large national currency issues to support the fiscal deficit. So, they suggest that through an orderly and coherent intervention, using the economic policy instruments that the state has as a regulatory body, a foreign exchange market can be implemented that responds to the purposes of convertibility.

The directors conclude that macroeconomic stability is essential to be able to grow, and that growth is what allows the expansion of productive capacity, which enables the economic development of the country, and in that development lies the possibility of building socialism. To achieve this objective, a set of structural transformations that lead to the full convertibility of the national currency must be implemented on the fly. The question is the same as always: what structural transformations?

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Exchange Market Crisis and State Intervention (Part I)

A line outside a currency exchange (Cadeca) in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 17 October 2022 — The official voice of the party has finally spoken. Like Don Rafael del Junco in that radio serial of the great Félix B. Caignet that paralyzed the country for a long time, the official state newspaper Granma talked about the foreign exchange market in order to blame the informal market and inflation for everything bad. And it has done so with arguments that are more political than technical, with evidence that is more propaganda than scientific. Let’s take a look. What it has always done is nothing more and nothing less than what we could expect.

According to Granma’s official analysis, “in the nation’s current conditions, it’s essential to capture a greater number of currencies, formalizing their entry into the financial system, stabilizing the exchange rate and making it the only one, for both natural and legal persons.” [A ’natural person’ is an individual human being, while a ’legal person’ can be an entity.]

Wrong. A greater influx of foreign exchange doesn’t guarantee control of the financial system, nor will exchange rate stability be achieved. So what does Granma want? Let no one be mistaken: to fill the state coffers and then allocate these funds to the regime’s objectives, which, as we know, have little to do with ordinary Cubans.

This idea was what led Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning Gil two months ago, to improvise a new exchange rate for the purchase of foreign exchange by the State (1 USD per 120 CUP), as he said at that time, to establish an exchange market in the country aimed at “increasing foreign exchange income and gradually advancing in the recovery of the economy.” This is the first thing, of course. The second thing has already been seen. Quarterly GDP growth fell from 10.7% in the first quarter to 1.7% in the second, a full-fledged collapse of the economy, dragged down by the terrible results in agriculture, sugar and manufacturing. continue reading

The communists cannot understand, under such conditions, how in a very short time the official exchange rate collapsed compared to the informal market, which at one point reached 200 Cuban pesos/US dollar. There were many reasons for the failure, but it was clear that the simple sale of foreign exchange, limited in amount and only for natural persons, was not going to go very far, as in fact happened.

It is useless for Granma to launch all kinds of attacks against the informal market, which they describe as a “crooked and illegal” business. Although Granma doesn’t recognize it, the informal market has been the winner of this whole process, and unless the State represses or eliminates it, it will continue to be so. Basically because this market, unlike the state of Minister Gil, provides its services to the population without limits, regulations or ties. Granma says, belittling the agents of the informal market, that “it is the only exchange service that is now profitable and open at midnight outside the CADECA [the state exchange service], attending to the line and then selling places in line at 1,000 or 2,000 CUP, or even at dollars.”

With a Price Increase of 20.53 Percent in a Year, Pork is the Most Expensive Food in Cuba

Pork has become more than 20% more expensive in the last year. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 14 October 2022 — Inflation in Cuba reached its ceiling in April this year, but prices don’t stop rising compared to 2021. The monthly increase in consumer prices, 2.33%, continued in August but is more moderate than in July (3.35%) and June (2.83%), and much lower than in April and May, when it was 3.54% and 3.55% respectively.

However, far from taking a break, the year-on-year variation rises and already stands at 34.31%, compared to 32.32% last month. According to official data, prices have already risen by 20.01% so far this year.

Once again, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is pushed by the rise in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increase by 2.74%. Although apparently the situation improves compared to last month, when they grew by 4.67%, the accumulated variation in the year is 30.89%, and compared to last year, Cubans are paying 54.19% more than in 2021 for these products, which are of primary importance.

In detail, lamb is the product that increased the most this month, with an increase of 5.04%. It’s followed, curiously, by garlic, with 3.81%, together with rice (which increases its price again by 2.74%), the only plant product that is more expensive in a prominent way. Pork, although the price increases again but discreetly (2.70% this month), accumulates a huge annual increase, with 20.53%, well above all the selected food indicators. continue reading

Restaurants and hotels are the sector that registers the highest increase this August, with 3.67%, and in annual and year-on-year terms, it’s the second area with the highest increase, with 27.72% in 2022, and 36.88% compared to last year.

Also in general terms, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are on the podium of products that push the rise of the CPI. This month they rose less, 1.85% (compared to 6% in July), but together since January they reached 21.60%, and the year-on-year variation is almost 40%.

One of the services that increased its prices the most this August, which is also essential for citizens, is transport. Prices increased by 2.43%, and although the year-on-year increase is not as high as those mentioned above, it costs Cubans 16.64% more to use transport than a year ago.

The transports that recorded the highest increases, possibly stimulated by the holiday period and fuel shortage, were interprovincial, especially taxis, with a monthly variation of 19.26% and other types (vans, trucks, etc.), with 13.18%.

The spectacular rise in culture and recreation is striking. Cubans who wish to attend a performance, concert or museum must pay up to 67.96% more than in 2021, despite the fact that in August the increase was only 0.95%.

In an intermediate sector of increases are furniture and household items, housing services, various goods, and services and education. All of them register increases of between 1.25% and 1.54%, with year-on-year increases of between 9.76% and 11.68%.

In the line are communications (0.03% monthly and 0.09% both accumulated and year-on-year) and health, which grows by 0.18% and accumulates 0.95% compared to the previous one. Finally, clothing and footwear increased this month by only 0.43%, although so far in 2022 the growth is 2.39% compared to the previous year’s 4.15%.

All in all, there is no section that doesn’t record increases, and Cubans continue to see how their salaries are increasingly serving them less. According to Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, “now 100 pesos are needed to buy food that cost 65 pesos in August 2021 (according to official data).”

In the black market, where most Cubans are supplied, the situation is much worse. American economist Steve Hanke, who creates balance sheets taking into account the parallel economy, pointed out on October 5 that the increase in the CPI at the end of September was approximately 208% year-on-year, with Cuba being the second country with the highest price increase in the world, after Venezuela and far ahead of Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office Threatens ‘Criminal Charges’ for Current Protests

The threat becomes more emphatic by addressing parents who “used” their minor children, for having neglected “their duties of protection.” (EFE/Yander Zamora)

14ymedio, Havana, 15 October 2022 — On Friday, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Cuba issued a harsh warning against those who participated in the recent protests over the long blackouts after the passage of Hurricane Ian. In his statement, he said he was investigating the facts that “disturbed public order and citizen tranquillity.”

As already happened with July 11, 2021 (11J), the Prosecutor’s Office attributes to the demonstrators the “setting fire to facilities, the execution of acts of vandalism, the closure of public roads in order to prevent the movement of vehicles and people, attacks and offenses against officials and law enforcement agencies, and incitement to violence.”

The threat becomes more emphatic by addressing parents who “used” their minor children, whom the institution accuses of having neglected “their duties of protection, assistance, education and care towards them.”

The Prosecutor’s Office affirms that “they will receive the appropriate legal-criminal response.”

The statement doesn’t provide information on how many Cubans have been accused or imprisoned during the protests. On October 7, the organization Justice 11J published an update on detainees, based on the statements of their relatives and other information. continue reading

According to the NGO, they will be prosecuted for the crimes of public disorder, contempt and resistance, although it can’t accurately provide the number of people imprisoned, which is around thirty according to several organizations.

Justicia 11J offered to send families any audiovisual material or document that could be useful in the trials and claimed “the cooperation of civil society, the independent press and the accredited foreign press to visualize this injustice.”

This Wednesday, a neighbor of Bejucal, in the province of Mayabeque, told 14ymedio that during the protests that took place in that municipality on Monday night there was no police repression. However, the next day the parents were summoned to the schools for a meeting with the municipal prosecutors.

There they were warned that “the law covered them,” and they would serve two to seven years in prison if they allowed their minor children to participate in the protests. In addition, those who were over 16 years old would be sentenced to house arrest.

The new Criminal Code stipulates, in article 407, that it’s a crime “to induce a person under the age of eighteen to leave his home, miss school, reject the educational work inherent in the national education system or breach his duties related to respect and love for the Homeland.”

The sanction provides for “deprivation of freedom of six months or one year, or a fine of one hundred to three hundred assessments, or both,” and no longer than two to seven years in prison, as the Bejucal prosecutors threaten.

The passage of Hurricane Ian exacerbated the energy crisis in the island and sparked a new wave of protests against blackouts and shortages.

Some neighborhoods in Havana were out of power for up to six consecutive days after the hurricane. The blackouts lasted twelve hours in some parts of the country. The independent media Proyecto Inventorio has recorded about a hundred in the last fifteen days from testimonies and videos disseminated on social networks.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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