Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 31

The U.S. Calls Fidel Castro a ‘Ruthless Bully’ in a Message Released by its Embassy in Cuba

On X, the Undersecretary of State criticized the “ideological fanaticism” of those who defend the Cuban regime.

Christopher Landau spoke about the crisis of basic services on the island. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, August 14,2025 — It is hard to believe that, after decades of repression, lack of freedoms and a rampant economic crisis, there are those who still see in Cuba a “socialist paradise.” However, on August 13, 99 years after the birth of Fidel Castro, congratulations to the island came not only from allied regimes but also from related sectors around the world. That “ideological fanaticism” was precisely what U.S. Undersecretary Christopher Landau criticized this Wednesday on X. Beyond the “myths,” he wrote, “any fair and honest person who approaches these issues should recognize that Cuba has been kidnapped by a gang of thugs.”

In the antipodes of the displays of tributes and celebrations that Havana has orchestrated for Castro’s birthday, Landau did not just point to the cult of personality around the dictator, but he also set out to dismantle revolutionary mythology. The brief text, in which he calls Castro a “ruthless thug,” was circulated by the U.S. Embassy on the island, which will surely bring an official response from Havana, currently engaged in criticizing the White House’s sanctions on officials from several countries involved in hiring medical missions.

“Anyone on the face of the earth younger than 67 years old, including me, has not known a single day in which Cuba has not been under the dictatorial regime of the communist party. Nevertheless, myths persist that the continue reading

communist leaders of Cuba are ’the good ones’ and that the Cuban people are happy,” Landau began his message before giving way to an enumeration of four major myths held about the Cuban system.

The first myth revolves around the idea that in Cuba there is a high quality of life, especially when it comes to health and education.

The first myth revolves around the idea that in Cuba there is a high quality of life, especially when it comes to health and education. Citing data that reflect the mass migration of recent years, the critical state of the electricity system and the average wage on the island, Landau argues that the standard of living is not only “terrible,” but that it “continues to worsen” while Cubans are “fleeing en masse” from the country.

“Cuba, once the world’s largest sugar exporter, now imports more sugar than it produces, and the recent harvest was the worst since the nineteenth century. The access to basic food and medical supplies (aspirin, bandages) for the average Cuban is, at best, precarious,” he stressed, while contrasting the data with the large amounts of money that the country receives for each medical contingent it dispatches in the world. “The Cuban regime and its apologists love to talk about Cuban doctors deployed in other countries, but these doctors are not doing it for charity, (…) and it is the regime itself that keeps the payments.”

The Cuban rulers are also not “progressive leaders,” continues Landau, who says that “rarely have myth and reality been so far apart.” According to him, both Castro and his followers consolidated their “absolute and perpetual” power through violent methods and, for decades, “have given refuge to fugitives from U.S. justice.”

The former U.S. ambassador also reserved a few words for Ernesto Che Guevara, who openly boasted before the United Nations that “firing squads were a tool of the government to eradicate ’worms’.” The situation that Landau recalls occurred during an assembly of the organization in 1964, at which the Argentine said, on behalf of Cuba: “We have shot, are killing and will continue to execute as long as necessary.”

Landau also did not overlook the repression unleashed by the regime following the massive Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’). At that time, he recalled, more than 1,000 people were arrested for fabricated crimes such as “sedition,” and many of them are still in prison.

The third great myth of revolutionary rhetoric, explains Landau, is that “the leaders of the Cuban dictatorship care about the welfare of the people, not their own.”

The third great myth of revolutionary rhetoric, explains Landau, is that “the leaders of the Cuban dictatorship care about the welfare of the people, not their own.” Nothing could be further from the truth, he argues. “The Castro family and other members of the regime’s elite (especially military and intelligence leaders) live in luxury, with access to food, housing, cars and tourist destinations, and have accumulated billions of dollars in foreign bank accounts while the people are desperately looking for food and electricity.”

To prove it, he adds, just look at the profiles on social networks of the grandson of Fidel Castro, Sandro, who has declared himself an influencer and boasts about the “luxurious lifestyle of his family, with designer clothes and a life of leisure.”

To top it off, he points out, if any of these myths turn out to be false, Havana immediately blames the U.S. embargo for its problems. “But there is no such ’blockade’: Cuba is free to trade with other countries and, in fact, receives economic lifelines from abroad, such as oil from Venezuela and Mexico, and tourists from Canada, Europe and elsewhere. U.S.law explicitly allows the export of food and medicine to Cuba, and the humanitarian situation there would be much worse without these exports,” he says.

If the island was ever “blockaded” by the U.S., he adds, it was during the 1962 Missile Crisis, a situation of great tension between Washington and Moscow that lasted only a short time. “After more than sixty years, it is pathetic that the regime continues to blame the U.S. for the Cuban economic collapse instead of assuming responsibility for its own grotesque economic mismanagement and political repression.”

“The Cuban people deserve a bright future, and the regime cannot even offer them a decent present. I hope to set foot one day on a free and prosperous Cuba, and I am confident that I will,” said Landau, aware that ideological fanatics will continue to believe the myths of Castroism. However, he added, the faithful of the Revolution “are free to also believe in unicorns.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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US Imposes Visa Restrictions on Officials From Cuba, Africa and Grenada for Coercive Medical Missions

The measure seeks to punish those who benefit from the “rental” of health professionals, a multi-million dollar business for the Havana regime.

“We urge governments to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime’s slaveholders,” said the statement. /PL

14ymedio, Havana, 13 August 2025 — The US government announced on Wednesday new visa restrictions against officials as well as their families, from Cuba and several African countries and Grenada for their involvement in what the State Department describes as a program of “export of forced labor” directed by the Cuban regime.

In a statement issued by the Office of the Spokesman, Washington said that the sanctions target government officials who facilitate or benefit from Cuban medical missions abroad, although the names of those sanctioned are not yet known. According to the note, these missions involve “coercion” of health professionals, who are sent to work in other countries under opaque contracts and with severe restrictions on their freedom.

This scheme not only enriches the regime, but also “deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care.”

“The Cuban regime rents out doctors and other health workers at high prices, taking most of the income and leaving the professionals with a minimal fraction of the payment,” the statement said. For the U.S., this scheme not only enriches Havana but also “deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care.”

For decades, the international medical brigades have been one of the main sources of foreign exchange for the Cuban government. According to official figures, the sending of health personnel to more than 50 countries has generated billions of dollars annually, outstripping tourism revenues. Multiple complaints documented by international organizations and personal accounts from doctors have described the system as a form of modern slavery. continue reading

Washington has repeatedly criticized this model as “exploitative” and contrary to international labor law standards.

The practices in question include the retention of passports to prevent escapes, the imposition of clauses penalizing the abandonment of the mission with up to eight years’ prohibition to return to Cuba and constant surveillance by supervisors. In addition, the professionals receive only between 10% and 25% of the salary paid by the host countries, while the rest goes to Cuban government enterprises, most of which are linked to the military.

Washington has repeatedly criticized this model as “exploitative” and contrary to international labor law standards. With the sanctions announced this August 13, the government of Donald Trump seeks to “promote the accountability” of those involved in the administration and recruitment of these brigades.

The restrictions also affect officials from several African countries and Grenada.

The communiqué does not specify the names or exact number of the officials who were sanctioned, but it does confirm that the measure includes both those directly responsible and their immediate family members. The action comes under the provisions of the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Act, which allows individuals involved in significant corruption or serious human rights violations to be denied visas.

The restrictions also affect officials from several African countries and from Grenada who, according to Washington, have been actively collaborating with Havana in recruiting and managing medical missions under coercive terms.

The United States reiterated that it will continue “working with governments and international actors to end forced labor.”

“We urge governments to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime’s slaveholders,” the statement said. The United States reiterated that it will continue “to work with governments and international actors to end forced labor.”

For his part, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla wrote an angry response on X: “Secretary of State threatens visa restrictions against governments that have legitimate medical cooperation programs with Cuba. Demonstrates coercion and aggression by force as a new foreign policy doctrine of that Government. Cuba will continue to provide services.”

“The United States aspires to support the Cuban people in their search for freedom and dignity.”

The measure announced this Wednesday is part of a broader White House policy to support Cuban civil society and sanction structures that, according to Washington, sustain internal repression and external exploitation. “The United States aspires to support the Cuban people in their search for freedom and dignity,” said the statement.

With these sanctions, Washington intensifies its offensive against a model that it considers incompatible with the principles of free work and fair remuneration. It remains to be seen whether other countries will heed the U.S. call or whether, as in the past, they will choose to maintain agreements that, for Havana, represent not only a juicy income but also a tool of political and diplomatic influence.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Independent Observatories Confirm Two Feminicides in August

Three men brutally attacked Mailenis Blanco Amor after waiting for her to be alone in her home.

Blanco Amor was killed on August 4 by three strangers who posed as police / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — Mailenis Blanco Amor, 47 years old, was killed on August 4 at her home in Puerta de Golpe, Consolación del Sur, in Pinar del Río, by three strangers who disguised themselves as police officers to break in to steal. The news, which spread, as is usual in these cases, through social networks, was confirmed this Tuesday by the independent observatories Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba.

The three men brutally attacked the woman, the platforms said, counting this crime as a femicide. “Although some murders of women during robberies are not classified as femicides, in this case the gender bias is evident, because the aggressors waited for Blanco to be alone and exercised excessive violence on her,” they explained in their publication.

“Although some murders of women during robberies are not classified as femicides, in this case gender bias is evident.”

According to the Facebook page Reporte Cuba Ya, two of the alleged aggressors were arrested. These are Reinier Raúl Pelegrín Izaguirre, with a record for “robbery, corruption of minors and violation of domicile,” and Ernesto José, alias El Maja, who “would have used a police uniform stolen from his brother to commit the act.” The third suspect, Miguel Ángel Reve Tamayo, a former inmate with a history of prison disorder, remains at large.

On August 5, 56-year-old Milagros Batista Estévez was murdered by her former partner in her home in the Alex Urquiola neighborhood in Holguín. According to feminist organizations, the victim had previously filed several complaints against the aggressor with the police, but these did not result in effective protection measures. Batista leaves behind two adult children and continue reading

several grandchildren, as well as a community affected by the violence of the event and the inaction of the authorities.

The Government does not publish disaggregated statistics on this type of violence nor has it criminalized femicide in the Penal Code.

The verification of these cases was based on reports in independent media, citizen complaints and reports by activists, contrasted with community sources. This methodology seeks to compensate for the lack of official data on femicides on the island, where the Government does not publish disaggregated statistics on this type of violence and has not classified femicide as an autonomous criminal offense in the Penal Code.

Feminist organizations have repeatedly warned that formal complaints do not guarantee the safety of women, as there are no clear risk assessment protocols or shelter systems to escape an aggressor.

According to the ’14ymedio’ register, so far this year 22 women have been killed.

The independent observatories Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo counted 54 cases during 2024. The Government, for its part, acknowledged that 76 women who were murdered by their partners, ex-partners or other persons in judicial proceedings held last year were tried in the courts, although they did not use the term femicide or detail the exact dates of the crimes.

According to the register kept by 14ymedio, so far this year there have been 22 women murdered. In 2024, this newspaper counted 52 murders from machista violence from independent records. According to figures from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, in 2024 a total of 76 gender-related murders were tried in Cuba, in which victims were over 15 years of age. The agency does not specify when the crimes were committed, but they most likely occurred between 2023 and 2024.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Holguín’s Residents Catch a Thief and Uncover a Chain of Robberies

A young man was caught trying to steal an electric motorbike and held by the community until the arrival of the police.

Some wanted to beat him, but an older man stood in his way, asking for restraint / Screen capture

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 7 August 2025 — In Holguín, a city increasingly hit by violence, a group of residents decided that this Thursday they had had enough. The scene occurred in broad daylight, around 10:00 am, in the Vista Alegre neighborhood, when a young man was caught trying to steal an electric motorbike and detained by the community until the arrival of the police.

The victim, a 56-year-old man who works transporting passengers on a motorbike, picked up the young man, who signaled him from a corner and asked him to bring him near the area of Alcides Pino. The journey proceeded normally until, when arriving at Calle Colón, the passenger asked him to stop in an alley with an unconvincing excuse. The driver, already alerted by the young man’s behavior, decided to remove the key from the vehicle as a precaution.

The young man, seeing himself surrounded, changed tactics: he began to shout that he was the victim.

The assailant came back and pretended to get back on the bike but then jumped on the man and punched him in the mouth. The driver reacted, trying to defend himself and holding on to the handlebars. The noise attracted several residents who, upon witnessing the scene, were quick to intervene. The young man, seeing himself surrounded, changed his tactics: he began to shout that he was the victim. But it was too late. No one believed him. continue reading

The real victim was bleeding from the mouth, and his appearance made it clear that he was the driver of the motorbike. In a matter of minutes, the street was filled with curious people and mobile phones. Some were filming while others were indignantly recalling recent robberies. There was talk of a chain of assaults, all with the same modus operandi: a young man who approached bikers in broad daylight and then attacked them to flee with the vehicle.

“Tie him up, so he can’t get away,” can be heard on one of the videos.

One of those present brought a rope. “Tie him up, so he can’t get away,” can be heard in one of the videos. The young man, already cornered against a wall, was insulted and threatened. Some wanted to beat him, but an older man stood in the way, asking for restraint. “Wait for the patrol,” said one lady as she watched the scene from the sidewalk.

Later, when the police finally arrived, the young man was taken to the Third Unit behind the Lenin Hospital, but what looked like an isolated incident turned into a more complex case as other people began to arrive. Four more victims showed up at the station and identified him without hesitation.

One of them, assaulted on July 25, was “an elderly man, about 60 years old, very skinny,” a neighbor told this newspaper. Upon seeing the young man arrested, the victim knew immediately that it was the same one who had attacked him and beat him until he broke his jaw. The pattern was repeated: the thief acted alone, without visible weapons, and took advantage of surprise to hit his victims, almost always older men, and to flee with their motorbikes.

The victim knew immediately that it was the same one who had attacked him, beating him until he broke his jaw.

In recent months, like other cities on the island, Holguín has been the scene of a worrying increase in urban violence. Robberies with violence, holdups on public roads, assaults on businesses and street fights have been reported frequently. Residents in neighborhoods such as Vista Alegre, Alcides Pino and Pueblo Nuevo often tell similar stories. Although there are no official figures published, fear is growing at the rate that informal reports and home videos circulate on social networks.

The lack of resources and or an effective police presence plus growing poverty have been identified as some of the causes of this deterioration. There is also a widespread perception of impunity. Many offenders are not prosecuted or re-offend shortly after release. This distrust of the institutions leads to scenes like what happened this Thursday: citizens who decide to intervene on their own in the absence of security in the streets.

The community acted quickly, but also within limits. There was no lynching, but a warning. Holguín is on the edge, and its inhabitants are willing to do what the law does not seem to guarantee them.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In the Midst of Escapes, the Cuban Government Highlights the Gold Medal for Rowing Won at the Pan American Junior Games

Cuba is in ninth place in the medal table with two gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals.

Leduar Suárez, Roberto Carlos Paz, Henry Heredia and Adel Gutiérrez won the gold medal in rowing. / Jit

The quartet, in addition to Paz, was composed of Leduar Suárez, Henry Heredia and Adel Gutiérrez, who had a spectacular finish with a time of 6:01.64 minutes, ahead of Brazil (6:01.75) and Chile (6:02.93). In addition, with this first win, the team secured its participation in the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima.

“We came with a higher purpose this time and are never satisfied, but we are happy for the result; the boys made an extraordinary effort,” said the president of the Cuban federation, Ángel Luis García, at the end of the competition.

On the fourth day of competition, Cuba is in ninth place with two gold medals, two silver and three bronze, well below Brazil, with 38 gold, 18 silver places and 23 bronze. This is well behind Brazil, which has 38 gold medals, 18 second-place finishes, and 23 third-place podium finishes.

The goal of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) at the event, which culminates on August 23, is that Cuba obtain as many seats as possible for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, out of the 231 competitors from 28 sports disciplines who will participate in the event.

This Tuesday the journalist Francys Romero confirmed the arrival in the Dominican Republic of baseball player Geovelys Poll.

While the media broadcast images of the delegation with Cuban flags and officials praise Fidel Castro as “the greatest promoter of the Cuban sports movement and architect of each of its achievements,” the resignations continue.

This Tuesday, journalist Francys Romero confirmed the arrival in the Dominican Republic (DR) of baseball player Geovelys Poll. “He joined the Cuban team in the U-18 Premundial. There are now 11 players from the Island left of the 20 who attended,” he said on his social networks.

Poll joined Marcos Fuentes, who also came to the DR last Friday looking for a chance in one of the major league teams, one day before Alejandro Cairo did the same thing.

To the resignations must be added a list of escapes. At the beginning of August, Hayla González disengaged from Cuban sports in Pamplona, Spain. Her escape represented an important loss for the national athletics, which had her as one of the figures who would intervene in the next Pan American Junior Games in Asunción 2025. She “was profiled as the protagonist of the 4 x 100 meter relay and even targeted for the title on the women’s team.”

Last June the heptathlete Marys Adela Patterson left her hotel in Austria and did not attend the opening of the Hypomeeting Gotzis. A gold medallist at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023, Patterson’s escape was classified by the Cuban Athletics Federation (FCA) and the national commission as “a serious indiscipline.”

Last April, judokas Héctor San Román and Naomis Elizarde escaped and sought asylum in Chile after their delegation won silver during a championship.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Heavy Flooding and Power Cuts in Havana After a Downpour of Several Hours

Tropical Storm Erin threatens to become the first hurricane of the season but poses no risk to Cuba.

Videos of flooded streets throughout Havana on social networks have reported the situation associated with tropical storm Erin.

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — A torrential downpour of rain fell on Havana this Monday leaving flooding in some places, such as Luyanó, which was completely dark after the impact of a lightning strike around 6 pm in the afternoon. The residents of that municipality saw water quickly running through doors and windows, even in the houses in good condition. The electricity did not return until after 8 pm, and the fresh water, which should have been pumped this Monday, did not arrive.

“A longshoreman from a nearby company was telling another that where he lives everything was flooded, and that the pots and statues of the saints next door floated out onto the street,” a Luyanó neighbor told this newspaper. In his house, the water even destroyed the painting of the facade.

The Havana authorities analyzed the situation in a meeting on Monday and called on the population to take precautionary measures before the flood. “I have seen young people on the streets avoiding the manholes and the waves caused by some vehicles. Right now in Via Blanca and the intersection of Vento and Lacret, not only are they hooking onto cars but also openly vandalizing and harassing them,” said the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party, Liván Izquierdo Alonso.

The Havana authorities analyzed the situation in a meeting on Monday and called on the population to take precautionary measures before the flood.

“In the area of Port Avenue and the intersection of Fábrica Street, an extremely dangerous area, a vehicle was trapped. Despite the presence of a Fire Brigade unit, some drivers insist on driving through the danger zone, including the boteros* and buses with passengers. I wonder: What do these drivers have in their heads and why are they unable to see the danger?” he said.

The people, however, complain that the lack of cleanliness and the poor sewer drainage in the streets of Havana turn again and again into a deadly continue reading

trap when it rains, without enough maintenance being done to guarantee safety.

Videos of flooded streets throughout the capital have reported, on social media, the situation associated with tropical storm Erin, which is forming in the Atlantic and threatening to become the first hurricane of the season. The Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) is monitoring the situation, although it considers that there is no potential risk to the Island.

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On Monday afternoon Erin was located about 455 kilometers west of Cape Verde and moving west at a speed of 31 kilometers per hour. From 3 am, Insmet mentions rain and storms during the day on Tuesday, without considering that they will be severe. However, it warns that “in areas with rain and associated electrical storms, wind strength and wave height can be locally increased.”

*Translator’s note: ‘Boteros’ refers to the drivers of what are commonly 1950s American cars used as shared taxis on fixed routes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Lady in White Aymara Nieto Leaves Prison in Exchange for Exile to the Dominican Republic

Nieto leaves behind an older daughter who could not say goodbye to her, since the authorities denied her last scheduled visit on Friday, August 8.

Aymara Nieto Muñoz, member of the Ladies in White / Aymara Nieto/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — The political prisoner Aymará Nieto Muñoz has been forced to leave Cuba and since Monday she has been with part of her family -two small girls and her husband- in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. In Cuba, she leaves an older daughter who could not say goodbye to her, since the authorities denied her the last visit planned for Friday, August 8.

According to sources close to the situation, who have collaborated for her establishment in the Dominican Republic, she was taken directly from the prison to the airport, and the phones of her relatives were tapped, without allowing calls or messages. “This has no other name than exile,” warned activist Maria Regla Castro, who says Nieto Muñoz was taken in by a family at her destination.

“I was imprisoned until the last moment I was at the airport. They were the ones who took me. There they never let me go home, knowing that I had the papers they did not want to give me a pass,” confirmed Nieto herself in an interview with Rosa María Payá, promoter of Cuba Decide and member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Right there, the Lady in White explained that her departure took place “under conditions of threat from the State Security Department: she was either a prisoner or leaving the country.”

“I was imprisoned until the last moment I was at the airport. They were the ones who sent me away.”

Aymara Nieto Muñoz, member of the Ladies in White and wife of former political prisoner Ismael Boris Reñí, was serving her second consecutive sentence at the Bella Delicia Forced Labor Prison in Havana, where she had been since this May. Her first conviction came in 2018, when she was continue reading

sentenced to four years for offenses of assault and property damage, but while serving a sentence at the El Guatao women’s prison, she was prosecuted for allegedly leading a prison riot.

At that time she received a sentence of five years and four months, and from this April she could apply for a change of measure to a regime of lesser severity. However, the Provincial Court had not yet taken a decision in this regard. Prisoner Defenders had repeatedly complained that the regime made her freedom conditional on exile. “Aymara Nieto has spent a total of eight years in prison for reasons related to her human rights activism,” the organization reported.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five-Month-Old Baby Dies in Havana’s Flooding Due to Rain

The child, identified as Neimar Francisco Valdés Pérez, drowned after the water burst into his home.

Furniture destroyed by floods this Monday in Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, August 12, 2025 — A five-month-old baby lost his life on Monday in the El Cerro neighborhood of Havana during heavy rains that hit the capital. The little one, identified as Neymar, drowned after the water burst with force in his house when a wall came down.

The news was confirmed to 14ymedio via telephone from La Nacional funeral home, where the body of the baby was being held. According to one of the employees, the funeral procession left at 8:20 on Tuesday.

In an interview with Florida-based Cuban journalist Mario J. Pentón, Karen Rodriguez, the baby’s aunt, said in tears that everything happened “in fractions of a second and gave us no time for anything.” The wall that divided the house from the family’s workshop came down with the rain, and the water entered in a torrent.

“He was given first aid and arrived at the hospital breathing, but died.”

At the time of the incident, she recounted, “we were all in the house with the boys.” She had enough time to get her baby out, but her sister-in-law did not. Neymar was dragged behind a door, where rescuers found him. ” He was given first aid and was still breathing when they arrived at the hospital, but died,” the woman said.

Her account matches that of several people on social networks. “Fly high little one. We got you out alive, but you did not manage to survive. You don’t know how we firefighters who got you out feel,” wrote young rescuer Enmanuel Díaz Rodríguez. His message was commented on by dozens of users, many of whom sent condolences to the family and expressed outrage at the conditions that led to the fatal outcome.

On the Patria y Vida Facebook page, where reference was also made to the unfortunate event, a comment from Zulema Fuentes, neighbor of the victims, also offered an account of what happened. The little boy’s mother, she recounted, was picking up the house because everything was getting wet, while holding the baby in her arms. The wall collapsed suddenly, letting in a large amount of water whose force snatched the child from her hands. Neymar had turned five months old that same day. The current dragged away not only him but also the mother, who took a few moments to get up and realize that the child was no longer there. continue reading

Fuentes added that the moment was one of absolute despair: neighbors, friends and family began to look for him while screaming, until a neighbor found him trapped behind the door. He was immediately given first aid, and according to the story, the child opened his eyes. He was rushed to hospital, where he received medical care, but eventually died. This new account provides a more vivid picture of the chaos and helplessness experienced in the critical minutes after the collapse, and it highlights how quickly the tragedy unfolded.

The authorities have so far not provided any information on what happened.

Wall knocked down by rain near the Villanueva station./ 14ymedio

At dawn this Tuesday, the scene in some neighborhoods showed the virulence of the storm, with furniture destroyed and washed into the streets and walls demolished.

In any case, the fact again highlights the precarious conditions of many buildings in the capital, particularly in neighborhoods like El Cerro, where accumulated deterioration and lack of maintenance make each rainy season a period of extreme risk. On numerous occasions, neighbors have reported leaks, cracked walls and weakened structures without timely repairs.

Havana is a city where heavy rains often cause flash floods, especially in low-lying areas with poor drainage. The aging rain system, largely clogged by massive amounts of solid waste, is unable to evacuate water at the required speed, causing accumulations that can reach dangerous levels in a matter of minutes. In areas like El Cerro, this problem is aggravated by the proximity of some houses to streets that turn into real rivers during storms.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Recycled Containers and Corruption in Vivienda, Two Sides of the Housing Crisis in Cuba

In Las Tunas, authorities want to give a second life to solar panel containers by converting them into homes.

Reference image of containers converted into homes in Cuba. / Archive/Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, August 8, 2025 — In Las Tunas, where the housing crisis has been installed for years as an uncomfortable guest, the authorities have decided to resort to a “novel” solution: converting recycled containers into homes. The metal boxes are nothing less than those that transport solar panels to the Island, and the authorities-who assure that they are inspired by similar projects around the world-have decided to give them a second life.

Héctor Rodríguez Espinosa, provincial director of housing, announced with optimism that the first containers will be installed in the municipalities of Manatí, Puerto Padre and Majibacoa. Among their advantages are resistance, durability and low environmental impact.

“At present the province has 46 containers: Eighteen of them are assigned to the Electric Company for the construction of nine houses for its workers, and 28 are to be delivered through the popular councils by delegates, community groups and the government in each territory,” said the manager.

As for the frequent “concerns” about the metal material of the containers, which could turn them into ovens, he said that there is nothing to be alarmed about. Each improvised house will be covered inside with “anti-thermal elements,”which will also provide “aesthetics, comfort and a better continue reading

finish.”

They will have a plot of 150 square meters, so that “the family, if necessary and possible, can later expand by building other rooms.”

Each unit will have between 32 and 70 square meters-divided between bathroom, kitchen, dining room and bedrooms, according to the number of residents-and “ventilation” is assured with doors and windows, he highlighted. They will also have a plot of 150 square meters, so that “the family, if necessary and possible, can later expand by building other rooms.”

Meanwhile, the residents will have to adapt to living in the boxes of the refurbished metal containers. Some officials of the Housing Directorate itself were busy emptying other boxes, which came from the state budget.

In Matanzas, the People’s Provincial Court on Thursday tried two former employees of the sector-a director and an investor-for forging documents and embezzling funds. The trial, described as “exemplary” like so many others, ended with a sentence of five years in prison for the first and four for the accomplice, with the option to do correctional work without internment.

According to Girón, the former director had bypassed all procedures and signed a contract with a self-employed worker to rehabilitate a multi-family building known as the Transport Building, in the neighborhood of 13 de Marzo. The agreement was signed, clarifies the media, “behind the back of the unit’s Procurement Committee and without prior bidding.” The document did not contain “the work object; the person responsible for the supply; the representatives of the supplier and the customer; the terms of guarantee; the schedule of execution; and the list of persons authorized by the supplier and the customer to sign the certificates of conformity, acceptance and materials.”

There was no construction work on the building, which had “severe structural damage,” but there was a bill of more than half a million pesos.

There was no construction work on the building, which according to Girón presented “severe structural damage,” but there was a bill of more than half a million pesos for work that was never carried out. “No constructive action was taken to restore the original and functional values of this building as planned, and the property now remains in the same state of deterioration, although [the directors] arranged payment as if the construction had been carried out satisfactorily,” the newspaper said.

The investor, for his part, never verified that the construction had been completed with the desired quality nor requested the work file. He still certified the whole process.

Both were also prohibited from exercising any office related to “administration, care or availability of material and financial resources,” and their family members -it is not clear whether voluntarily- refunded the 531,486 pesos,19 centavos, so that Vivienda did not see its assets affected.

The trial, which was held in public, is yet another warning from the Government, among many that it has issued recently, to officials and low-ranking managers on the Island. However, the fact that such an obvious crime -since the building was never repaired- was ignored until the last moment casts doubt on the management and control of state enterprises over their resources. Justice was delivered, but, as is often the case, it was delayed.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Order To Avoid a Further Flight of Personnel, the Cuban Government Will Redistribute Salaries for Vacant Posts

This measure will be temporary and will apply only in the budgeted sector, in particular Education and Health

In recent years, the workforce in State-owned enterprises has been drastically reduced.

14ymedio, Havana, 11 August 2025 — The Cuban government will redistribute wages already budgeted for unoccupied state positions among employees who are currently working. This is stated in an agreement signed by the Council of Ministers and published on Monday in a special Official Gazette.

The legal prose does not hide the fact that the measure is intended to be an “incentive for the stability of the labor force” in the face of the “sustained increase in the labor fluctuation of the budgeted sector,” which means the loss of human resources in the State sector.

“It is considered to be additional pay and salary for all legal purposes, without its application constituting a payment system.”

The decision does not imply an increase in wages, as one of the articles clarifies: “It is considered to be additional pay and salary for all legal purposes, without its application constituting a payment system.”

It will apply to all occupational categories in the budgeted sector, including units with “special treatment” (such as military personnel or doctors on missions). However, there are exceptions to this extra payment: “The bodies and agencies of the Central State Administration and national entities that have approved differentiated salary treatments of wage increases, as well as the care units and educational institutions whose health professionals and teaching staff receive the benefit of maximum effort and overload of educational work.” continue reading

According to the resolution, it will be the heads of the various entities who assess whether “the non-implementation of the salary fund is objective” and ensure the redistribution with the salary expenditure plan allocated for the fiscal year. The distribution shall be made by means of an internal regulation drawn up by the Board of Directors of each unit, which shall include the frequency of payment.

The regulation should also contain the “source of funding”; that is, the amount of “non-implemented” money to be distributed.

“It may be granted only once or for a period of time to be determined, according to the characteristics of the work or the result that is stimulated, without this being permanent or massive,” insists the text. The regulation should also contain the “source of funding”; that is, the amount of “unimplemented” money to be distributed and the procedure for granting it, which will also depend on different factors. The “high performance criteria, differences with greater recognition of highly qualified human resources, holding positions of higher responsibility, the competency management approach and the individual distribution mechanism” will mark the differences.

Similarly, states the Gazette, the amount paid to each worker “is to be approved by the Board of Management of the budgeted unit, in agreement with the trade union organization, and reported to the General Assembly of Affiliates and Workers.”

The Government sets a deadline of 30 days for each agency to carry out an “analysis.”

From the publication of the measure, this Monday, the Government sets a deadline of 30 days for each agency to carry out an “analysis” that allows knowing “which entities are able to redistribute the salary fund” and approve the “general guidelines” to allow the payment to be redistributed.

The implementation of the resolution will also be subject to review over a period of one year and every three months, requiring an outcome report to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Prices.

In recent years, the workforce in the budgeted sector and State enterprises has been drastically reduced, mainly due to the migratory exodus and low wages, which are barely enough in a context of widespread crisis.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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July Books: Variations on the Orishas, the Lottery and the Cuban Incubator

Katherine Perzant’s book about the Cuban countryside has just won the Franz Kafka prize for essay and testimony

‘Cubensis’ is another reflection on a lost country that we now begin to understand. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 9 August 2025 — Katherine Perzant has rediscovered for readers the physical and spiritual desert of the Cuban countryside. A skeletal train that crosses a plain; oxen grazing casually by the road; miles of yellow grass and barren land. Anyone who says that Cuba is a tropical paradise would only have to travel through those villages of Oriente and Las Villas. “This is the Cuban nothingness,” writes Perzant.

Her book of vignettes and observations on the countryside of her childhood in Holguín during the Special Period has just won the Franz Kafka prize for essay and testimony. With a prose put at the service of reflection and charged with fatality, like that of Faulkner and Coetzee, La nada cubana (The Cuban Nothingness) evokes villages and hamlets and the distance between them. If you search the grass, you will find snakes, guinea pigs, mice and all kinds of vermin.

You will also find guajiros--farmers–in addition to country life and the women; they only know how to talk about one thing: La Charada.* If there is anything beautiful in the Cuban countryside it is La Charada,” writes Perzant in one of the best excerpts from the book. “People play the numbers and their meaning, looking for luck, although those who have played and know say that whoever plays by necessity loses by obligation. It doesn’t matter. If you grew up in the countryside, you know that a coyuyo (click beetle) turns upside down, and the number of its somersaults is the number of children you will have.” continue reading

The sacred combinational analysis leads a guajiro to place everything on five if he sees a nun and on 65 if he is pecked by a hen.

Chance is the only thing that dares to challenge nothingness: the sacred combinational analysis that leads a guajiro to play everything on the number five if he sees a nun and on 65 if he is pecked by a hen. “Number one is a horse; two, a butterfly; three, a little boy; and four, a cat,” enumerates Perzant. There has not been such a tremendous evocation of the countryside for a long time, which is the same as saying the Island, as if Havana did not exist.

Another reflection on a country that was lost and that we now begin to understand is Cubensis (Empty House), by journalist and film critic Alejandro Ríos. This collection of articles attempts to reconstruct Cuba from afar, in an exercise that the filmmaker Carlos Lechuga has described as a “rescue and salvation maneuver” for an identity that exile has not extinguished.

Mi último viaje en Lada (My Last Trip to Lada), published by the same publisher, is the first part of a collection of crime novels, la Trilogía de la Quinta Avenida (The Fifth Avenue Trilogy). Its author, Efraín Rodríguez Santana, explores the corridors of the Interior Ministry as he investigates an art theft in the 1990s. The crime novel, like other narrations of its kind, such as Leonardo Padura’s Paisaje de otoño (Autumn Landscape), is expected to be a pretext for social criticism.

Another crime novel, Lo que oculta la noche (What the Night Hides), by May R. Ayamonte, continues a tendency of popular Spanish novelists to use the Cuba of the 80’s and 90’s as an escape scenario. In 1987, a woman travels from Spain to Playa Larga with her lover and begins her initiation into santeria. Years later, a detective investigates to what extent this flight had to do with a crime that occurred in Granada, in which everyone sees the Devil’s hand, although these are innocent orishas.

Reina María Rodríguez is perhaps the most notable living female voice of Cuban poetry. With her book of poems Mazorcas (Corncobs), published by Rialta, the winner of the National Prize for Literature once again displays her intimate universe, composed of a series of images–the conversation of a poet with his daughter, a room with flowers, the corn fields in Wajda’s cinema–of a life that could not be lived.

In Salamanca, the Cuban poet Odalys Interián won the King David Award for Biblical Poetry for her poetry collection, Y la muerte se muere (And Death is Dying

In Salamanca, the Cuban poet Odalys Interián won the King David Award for Biblical Poetry for her poetry collection, Y la muerte se muere (And Death is Dying). The competition, organized by prestigious writers based in the city, like the Peruvian Alfredo Pérez Alencart, awards books in which spirituality and language are intertwined. Interián lives in exile in Miami and directs the publishing house Dos Islas.

Within Cuban literature, if there is a thunderous and unclassifiable author, it is Yoss. Nobody knows who José Miguel Sánchez Gómez is–a name that could be that of a baker or a mechanic–but everyone knows Yoss. Biochocolítica del caos (Biochocolytic of Chaos), published by Verbum and signed by Pedro Pablo Porbén, tries to get closer to the writer’s machinery without getting burned.

What is biochocolate mousse? What does it taste like? What is postmodernism? Who is Yoss? No one knows if Porbén will be lucky enough to answer those questions, but readers would do well to be afraid of the answers.

*Charada: Also called La Bolito, the clandestine game of numbers and symbols dates from the 1800s when Chinese workers arrived in Cuba. Although technically illegal, it is engrained in Cuban culture.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Hard-Currency Incentive Is Promised to the Charcoal Producers of Pinar Del Río, Cuba

This measure aims to increase exports to 250 tons, which barely reached 36 tons in 2024.

Charcoal producers in Pinar del Río / Granma

14ymedio, Havana, August 11, 2025 — The Pinar del Río Agroforestry Company only exported 36 tons of charcoal out of the 400 tons it produced last year, but it promises very different results for 2025. According to its director, Leduhan Menéndez Cardentey, it will produce less than in 2024, about 300 tons, but 250 of them will be for export.

That is, if last year only 9% of the production was destined for sales abroad, this would represent more than 83%. How will they make up that difference? Menéndez Cardentey’s explanations to the provincial press seem more voluntarism [the principle of relying on voluntary action] than reality and refer to the approval of a “financing scheme” in dollars.

Of the sales of charcoal, the official assures, most, 54%, will go “directly to the producer” (30% to the State budget and the rest to be “negotiated with the producing company and exporters”). “This can multiply the volumes of production from which the producer would have a profit in hard currency,” says Menéndez Cardentey. It is not clear, however, how and to what extent they will be able to achieve this.

At the end of last year, charcoal producers in Sancti Spíritus were complaining that they received 20 per cent of the revenue compared to 80 per cent for the State, and about the continue reading

difficulties of dealing with the government. “The company takes up to seven months to pay. They do not pay until the charcoal is sold outside the country,” a producer told this newspaper.

“Production has never been stopped, but the volumes that were previously made are not being produced.”

On the other hand, the explanation for the drop in exports in 2024 is found, for the director of the Agroforestry Company, in the US embargo of the Island. “Production has never been stopped, but the volumes that were previously made are not being produced,” he explains to Guerrillero. “In 2024, we had a complex situation with the shipping companies because of the blockade.”

The Government made another statement to the National Assembly last July, exposing the country’s economic collapse and the fall in production in almost all areas. At that time, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, acknowledged that although the export figures for tobacco, lobster and other fishery products had recovered, “these increases were not sufficient to compensate for the decline in nickel and other mining products, honey, charcoal, farmed shrimp and sea shrimp, and biopharmaceuticals.”

The reasons, listed by the minister himself, included not just the “blockade” but also the lack of inputs, energy and fuel, in addition to “logistical problems and the decrease of some prices on the international market.”

In the same place, Alonso Vázquez stated that of the entire plan for exports of goods in the first months of the year had been fulfilled by only 62%, compared to 78% in the same period of the previous year. This makes it more difficult to comply with the prediction of the Pinar del Río Agroforestry Company.

Marabou vegetal charcoal was black gold for the Cuban state. The Government, until now, has been awarded 50 per cent of $340 per ton for export. An article published in Granma last year reported that for each ton of charcoal the Matanzas Agroforestal paid around 200 MLC (freely convertible currency), equivalent then to 172 dollars. This same product is sold in the US for about 400 dollars and, in the case of premium, almost 490 in Spain, where a newly created company–Entre Brasas–imports it from the port of Santiago de Cuba to Vigo, in Galicia.

The difference between the price paid to the Cuban producer and the cost to the foreign consumer is $228 per ton or, in the case of premium, $318. This includes the Cuban State’s share, transportation and the profit of the final vendor. Granma’s data showed that the Cuban State kept 168 dollars per ton, since it gave 172 to the producer, which has traditionally received better treatment than those in other agricultural sectors.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Guantánamo Official Press Lashes Out Against the ‘Virus’ of Dollarization

Venceremos laments the loss in value of the MLC (Freely Convertible Currency) and its replacement by the “empire’s” currency.

In the street, a cash dollar is worth much more than a digital dollar in MLC (Freely Convertible Currency). / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 10 August 2025 — The official newspaper Venceremos, organ of the Communist Party in Guantánamo, has described the phenomenon of dollarization with an unusually critical tone. The text emphasizes the gradual disappearance of shops in freely convertible currency (MLC), as well as the prominence of bank cards, especially the Classic, which allows paying in dollars without standing in line or coming up agasint problems. Some interpret this change as the prelude to a major transformation.

What the official newspaper calls a “virus” has spread to the rest of the country from Havana. The emblematic 3rd and 70th market in the capital began to accept green banknotes, and almost immediately the MLC stores began to show more shortages than usual, while relatively well-stocked outlets operating only in physical dollars and with new cards emerged.

The informal exchange market, always sensitive to signals, reacted quickly. The gap between virtual “convertible currency” and physical currency widened, becoming a chasm. On the street, a cash dollar is worth much more than a digital dollar in MLC.

The ‘Venceremos’ report comes a little late for a problem that the independent media have already examined in minute detail many times.

The Venceremos report comes a little late for a problem that the independent media have already examined in minute detail many times. First, there are discounts on non-perishable products; then, a temporary “closed for maintenance” sign and some cosmetic touches; finally, the reopening as a dollar store. Inside, the sellers confirm what the official channels have not said: the merchandise is liquidated, and when the inventory runs out, the store reopens trading exclusively in US banknotes.

For those who still have savings in MLC or receive payments in that virtual currency, the situation is discouraging. The supply is limited to items of low demand that many buy hastily in order not to lose everything. The feeling of helplessness is growing, and with it continue reading

the perception that the MLC is doomed to disappear.

On the street, the issue is one of the most discussed topics. It is commented on in lines, public transport and social networks. At the official level, however, silence prevails. The Venceremos article criticizes, without naming, those responsible for the communication policy, pointing out that people do not receive clear and timely explanations about processes that directly affect them.

The only recent official reaction came from the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), which denied a rumor about the imminent disappearance of this virtual currency. Speculation had circulated after a maintenance of the country’s main payment platform. In a short statement, the entity stated that operations in MLC continued and that interruptions were part of routine technical work, and it called for reporting through official channels.

The denial did not dispel the concern. As Venceremos points out, it is difficult to blame the population for believing in rumors when there is a lack of accurate and timely information. In addition, the episode highlighted a missed opportunity to face reality. In three decades, the Cuban regime has created and eliminated the CUC, allowed and banned the physical dollar, introduced and restricted virtual currencies, and is now converting the currency of the “empire” into the only valid national currency on the Island, while condemning the MLC to irrelevance, all in the midst of a sustained devaluation of the Cuban peso and an unstoppable rise in the dollar, which this Sunday is approaching 400 pesos.

A monetary “solution” is introduced, presented as stable; its use is limited, devalued and eventually replaced by another.

The historical account made by the Guantanamo media itself, unusual in a Party organ, presents a repetitive cycle. A monetary “solution” is introduced, presented as stable; its use is limited, devalued and finally replaced by another. The MLC, which was born as a digital equivalent of the dollar and with the promise of stability, is now being replaced by direct transactions in physical currency.

In Guantánamo, as on the rest of the Island, each new store closure is interpreted as another step towards total dollarization. Consumers prepare, exchange MLC for dollars in the informal market at very unfavorable rates and prioritize spending their virtual balances before they lose value. The general expectation is that, sooner rather than later, the MLC will be history.

The Venceremos article does not pronounce against this possible transition, but its tone and structure say everything. The use of expressions such as “extreme unction” and “life support” to refer to virtual currency breaks with the usual triumphalist rhetoric and suggests that, in the provincial official press, some journalists are tired of making up fictitious advances like everyone else, which also explode in their faces. .

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Bought $1.3 Million Worth of Motorbikes From the US in June

It is likely that a large part of this merchandise will be imported by the private sector.

In addition to motorbikes, used vehicles also represent a significant portion of the purchase.

14ymedio, Havana, August 9, 2025 — The Cuban government’s dependence on U.S. imports continues to trend upward, as evidenced by data from last June, provided by the U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council (US-Cuba Trade). In June, US food and agricultural purchases by Cuba reached $38.4 million, an increase of 10% compared to the 34.9 recorded in June last year, and also above the $37 million of June 2023.

This monthly growth is only part of a larger picture: between January and June 2025, imports of US products to Cuba amounted to $243.3 million, representing a 15.5% year-on-year jump compared to the same period in 2024, when they accounted for $210.6 million.

Nor is the increase limited to the agricultural sector, as the Island has increased its purchases of a range of commodities, including marble, travertine and alabaster for $23,521, enzymes ($13,498) and wire processing machines (&12,000). Even products such as bicycles ($22,160), overalls ($19,500) and solar cells ($43,500) were imported to the Island last June. continue reading

Used vehicles still dominate much of the purchase, with a total value of $12 million in the first six months of 2025 alone.

However, used vehicles still dominate much of the purchase, with a total value of $12 million in the first six months of 2025 alone. Motorbikes also stand out with $1.3 million, showing the role that transport -probably mostly in private hands- plays in the demand for US goods.

Other products stand out, either because of their scarcity on the Island or because they are unusual, such as milk ($1.8 million), pork ($3.2 million), frozen ready-made foods ($876,215), communion wafers ($776,301) and coffee ($699,273). And, of course, chicken remains at the top of the list, with 55.5% of the total purchase value, about $21.3 million.

In June 2025, imports from the U.S. of health care goods were zero. However, humanitarian donations, which could include health inputs but do not specify outputs, amounted to $14.4 million.

In June 2025, imports from the US of health care goods were zero.

The figures do not lie: the Cuban economy remains tied to the need to import products -and not only from the US- to meet both the domestic demands of the state and the private sector, in the face of an almost absolute debacle of its industry and agriculture.

This was recently recognized by the Government during the sessions of Parliament, when it revealed that in the first half of 2025, purchases abroad, from the private sector alone, exceeded $1,000 billion, 34% more than at the same date in 2024. The main products imported during this period, added the Parliament’s Economic Commission, include raw materials and intermediate products (37%), food (22%), beverages (16%), and “machines, appliances and their parts” (13%).

Contrary to the agility and purchasing capacity of the private sector, in the first half of this year the state fulfilled its plan for imports of goods and services by only 67%. “Priority was given to food, fuels, medicines and medical supplies,” said the Minister of Economy and Planning, although he acknowledged that, compared to 2024, “there is evidence of a decrease in the volume of food, which continues to be the largest item.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Blackout Facilitates the Theft of Millions of Pesos From a Small Company in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba

Four people involved are captured, including a former employee of the company.

There are no reports from the owners or administrators of the small town, which Escambray erroneously calls”Lancervi.” / Facebook / Landservi SURL

14ymedio, Sancti Spíritus, August 9, 2025 — In the early hours of July 11, a daring criminal operation was carried out amid a blackout in Sancti Spíritus. Landservi SURL, a wholesaler in the agri-food sector located in the Chambelon area, was the victim of a million-peso robbery. Four people, two of whom were identified as the main perpetrators, were arrested and confessed to their involvement, according to an official report issued by the Ministry of the Interior.

The assailants took advantage of the lack of surveillance and electrical power to access the premises. They climbed up, created a hole in the zinc tarp roof and entered the premises. One of those involved had previously worked at the company and knew every nook and cranny of the place and where the money was kept.

The two main perpetrators were arrested, confessed to their guilt and named two others involved.

The investigation did not require a large technical deployment by the police. Progress was made, as is usually the case in Cuba, thanks to information from the population, including a couple of anonymous complaints. Following the initial proceedings, the two main perpetrators were arrested, confessed their guilt and named two others involved. One of them would have transported the loot in a cart to his home; the other acted as an intermediary for the purchase of the means of transport that facilitated the theft. Both would have received considerable compensation. continue reading

The finding of material goods acquired with the stolen money, such as two modern motorcycles valued at more than one million pesos each, two electric motors, five high-end mobile phones, clothing, a cart, and the recovery of 2,500,000 pesos in cash show the magnitude of the theft.

Frequent blackouts have become ideal scenarios for the increase in criminal acts.

At the scene of the crime, expert work was able to identify fragments of fingerprints that matched samples from the detainees. Those involved are currently in pre-trial detention, while their possible link to other robberies in the town is being investigated.

Behind the official account, this theft highlights persistent structural problems. The frequent blackouts have become ideal scenarios for the increase in criminal acts. Weak surveillance in a strategic area shows deep cracks in institutional and business security.

The participation of a former company employee opens up an ethical and control gap in human resource management. The awarding of compensation to those involved, who received large sums for participating in the transfer and brokering of the theft, suggests a more complex level of criminal organization than a simple robbery. A script is developed with the assistance of various actors who seek to quickly gain economic benefits without taking the direct risks of the act.

The newspaper Escambray erroneously calls the company “Lancervi.”

The official narrative works with an economy of words. A criminal act is presented; the modus operandi is explained; the arrest and recovery of the loot are confirmed; and adherence to the law is affirmed. But faces, claims and voices are missing from this synthesis..

There is no testimony from the owners or from the managers of the small town, which Escambray erroneously calls “Lancervi.” There are no data on the impact of crime on commercial operations, nor analysis of the economic environment that drives these crimes. The Landservi robbery is not only a story of intruders sneaking out at night but also a reflection on an increase in the complexity of crimes in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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