Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 32

To Stop the Livestock Debacle in Ciego De Avila, There Will Be More Controls on Producers

The authorities say that some farmers falsify the vaccine death certificates to keep the cattle. (*Cubadebate*)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 November 2023 — The authorities of Ciego de Ávila, overwhelmed by the low compliance of the entire agricultural sector which must report to the authorities, and have begun an active persecution against the farmers in charge of delivering milk and meat, two of the most demanded and disappeared products in the state market. At the end of September, the delivery of beef had barely been met 16.5% of the goals, and the province was short some 263,459 gallons of milk.

During the last session of the Provincial Council, the authorities scrutinized each of the agricultural and livestock sectors of the territory to verify what was already evident: the debacle in production has plunged the food industry into an increasingly serious crisis since 2018, the last year in which the numbers showed growth, and which is now the point of comparison for companies that are required to “multiply by two” their results.

Of the 43 branches of food production in the province, more than half (24) have not met their goals, the leaders admitted. The worst indicators are those of meat production, with 48,142 tons, 18,751 less than in 2022. continue reading

Meanwhile, rice production, with 264 tons, is 1,557 less than in the previous period, which translates into an 85% drop in production in just one year.

Of the 43 branches of food production in the province, more than half (24) have not met their goals, the leaders admitted

As for the most pressing issues – meat and milk – officials insist that part of the problem lies in the lack of control over producers and livestock, a “red mark” in the provincial indicators. The leaders stressed that it is important to pay attention to the falsification of vaccine death certificates and the disorder in the transfer of livestock, opportunities often taken advantage of by cattle rustlers and some farmers to subtract animals without suffering the consequences.

“In the livestock sector, 2024 will mean the return to practices that have weakened over the years; among them, the recovery of breeding and fattening pastures in state companies, with a view to guaranteeing greater deliveries of meat,” Leonardo Pérez, subdelegate of Livestock, promised. More attention will be paid to the municipalities with the greatest livestock potential: Chambas, Ciego de Ávila, Baraguá, Venezuela and Majagua.

As for the dairy industry, the numbers are not encouraging. So far this year, the province has produced 2.24 million gallons, a worrying figure compared to that of 2022, when 3.09 million were delivered.

To increase production, the authorities assured that by next February, when the next session of the Council is held, contracts with independent producers will have grown and artificial insemination will have been resumed in the province. An attempt will also be made to “support” the producers, they added, without specifying the type of assistance they will offer, to increase the current yield of .56 gallons of milk per cow per day.

For its part, the Dairy Products Company has no choice but to “diversify” its production

For its part, the Dairy Products Company has no choice but to “diversify” its production – with the little milk it has – in order to maintain profits without raising prices, said the officials of the entity without delving into the proposals for new products.

Another of the issues discussed in the Council, without the press giving it too much importance, was the budget designated to serve vulnerable families, and the fact that two months after the end of the year, barely 65% of it has been implemented.

The misuse of land and the lack of workers in all sectors of the food industry, including the managers’ commissions, were other “weaknesses” discussed, which, according to the leaders, must be resolved urgently.

Like the rest of the provinces of the Island, Ciego de Ávila is going through a crisis that has especially affected the agricultural sector. This Monday, the official press reported that a dozen companies in the territory will close the year with losses. Of these, eight belong to this industry.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With Sad Faces, the Rice Growers of Villa Clara Give Up Their Share of the Basic Basket

The Villa Clara rice growers vote, unanimously, to give up their quota. (Vanguardia)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 November 2023 — The image of the rice growers of Villa Clara voting unanimously to give up the quota that corresponds to each of their families for the basic basket is not exactly that of happiness, but no one will be able to take away from them the praise they have earned from the regime, who thanked them for their “productive response.” The decision will allow 30 tons to go to a care center in the province, says the newspaper Vanguardia, thus guaranteeing that institution’s consumption for one year.

The generous donors belong to the Félix González Viego Political-Productive Movement, founded in May by 69 producers, 52 of whom were from Encrucijada and 13 of whom were from Sagua la Grande and Corralillo. This Sunday, the group held a meeting in the town of El Santo, reviewed the harvest and voted in favor of the donation, at a time when rice is scarce throughout the Island.

In Villa Clara there are 294,000 nuclear families registered, for each of which is planned, in addition to the regulated quota, an extra amount of five pounds at 90 pesos each. continue reading

The producers of the Félix González Viego Political-Productive Movement own almost 2,718 acres that have already produced 190 tons of rice

The producers of the Félix González Viego Political-Productive Movement own almost 2,718 acres that have already produced 190 tons of rice for sale through the libreta (ration book), according to the authorities of the Communist Party and the Government, present at the meeting. In addition, 425 tons have been harvested, and 1,159 more are expected by the end of the year, “a fact that contributes to the substitution for food imports and demonstrates the productive drive of the farmers,” the text states.

Generosity, however, does not cross borders, and other provinces will have to do what they can, since Alberto López Díaz, governor of Villa Clara, demanded that they “avoid rice flight” either “as a perk from machinery services or from unscrupulous hands that promote the speculative transfer of productions.”

Orlando Linares Morell, head of the Rice Technical Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, praised the optimal results being achieved in Villa Clara, despite the lack of funding. The situation could improve, however, if the land previously dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane can be converted specifically for rice.

The official also asked that rice producers maintain the link with the government’s Azcuba centers dedicated to the production of biofertilizers and biopicides, and that they save water, which is essential for this crop. The greatest novelty came from the news that the transfer of state agricultural machinery to the growers is being studied, all this in order to separate themselves from the investments, according to the statements of Linares, who maintained that the growers “according to their income can import equipment from entities in the branch.”

For several years, families have been complaining that the amounts delivered to the bodegas (ration stores) are not enough to cover the month’s meals

At the meeting there were more calls to develop chemicals in the universities to allow improved yield, to increase planting areas and to achieve the self-sufficiency that the authorities announced for the province in 2020 and that is very far from being a reality.

The shortage of rice in Villa Clara, however, is nothing new. For several years, families have been complaining that the amount of rice delivered to the bodegas (ration stores) is not enough to cover the month’s meals, especially when it comes to the staple of any dish on the Island. According to the market prices documented by 14ymedio, the price for one pound of rice in the Mercado de Buen Viaje, in the center of Santa Clara, has reached 150 pesos.

The amount that the population is authorized buy there, however, is not available, so the largest informal sale is made through social media pages – at higher prices – such as Revolico, or by going to small illegal shops usually hidden in the slums of the city, such as El Condado, where the “fleeing” sacks that the authorities are in such great pursuit of end up.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Seven Cuban Athletes Who Escaped in Chile Will Be Able To Stay for up to 180 Days and Request Asylum

Six hockey players left the team in Chile. (Jit)

14ymedio, Havana, November 6, 2023 — The seven Cuban athletes who escaped in the Pan American Games have not yet gone to the Chilean authorities with any kind of request, but they are in the country legally. As the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, told La Tercera, both the hockey players Yunia Milanés, Jennifer Martínez, Yakira Guillén, Lismary González, Helec Carta and Geidy Morales and the hurdler Yoao Illas – who won a bronze medal – “have visas that allows them to be in Chile for 90 days.” Monsalve specified that the visas “can even be renewed for 90 more days” if the athletes require it, so deportation would be ruled out.

So far, none of the seven Cubans who left the delegation of the Island has approached the Chilean authorities, the Minister of Government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, told the same media.

“None of these athletes has submitted any kind of request,” explained the official, who stressed that “if there is any request, it must be channeled through the relevant institutions, in this case, the National Migration Service”

Vallejo accepted that although there is concern in the case of escaped Cuban athletes, “it is not up to us to go over the procedures that are stipulated for this type of case.” continue reading

Meanwhile, the deputy of National Renewal, Diego Schalper, asked the Government of Gabriel Boric to grant them political asylum, which would show “a clear signal in defense of human rights and democracy,” in addition to the fact that Law 20,430 on refugees in Chile can be applied without any objection.

Yoao Illas won a bronze medal in the 400 meters with hurdles with a personal record of 49.74 seconds in the Pan American Games. (Jit)

The president of the Communist Party, Lautaro Carmona, blamed the US embargo for the abandonment of athletes on the Island. “Who creates those conditions, if not the economic blockade that is criminal with respect to health, education and has an effect on sports, in art, on dance?” he asked Bio Bio Chile.

Cuba won 30 gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze medals for a total of 68, which keeps them in fifth place, surpassed by Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the United States. However, it had a lower mark than that achieved four years ago, when it achieved 100 metals in the Pan American Games of Lima (2019) and 97 in Toronto (2015), where it already had its worst results in more than two decades, after reaching 265 in Havana (1991) and 238 in Mar del Plata (1995).

The departures of the hockey players and the hurdler only confirm the nightmare that weighs on Cuban sport. This decline is linked to the deep crisis in which the Island is immersed, which complicates the preparation of athletes. Journalist Francys Romero counted 61 athletes who have abandoned contracts or delegations during 2023.

Cuban baseball failed again. It reached the group stage for the second time in a row. The Island’s only victory was against Colombia, with a score of 4-3. It was followed by three consecutive games with defeats by Venezuela, Brazil and the Dominican Republic, causing an unexpected debacle.

The sport considered a cultural heritage has not won gold in the Pan American Games since Rio de Janeiro in 2007.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘A Sad Sunday for the Revolutionary Proletariat in Cuba’ With Blackouts of up to 12 Hours

Apagones en Cuba. (EFE) — Blackouts in Cuba (EFE)

14ymedio, Madrid, 6 November 2023 — The population has not yet felt the return of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located In Matanzas, which had a three-day break for scheduled maintenance after its last breakdown a month and a half ago and was synchronized again with the National Electricity System (SEN) this Sunday, after a new agonizing day of blackouts in most provinces, with a deficit of 900 MW.

The Electric Union (UNE) had announced for Saturday the lack of almost 400 MW in the peak hour that, finally, increased by more than 500 MW. For Sunday, 544 MW of deficit had been foreseen, so the official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso considered the reinstatement of the plant “in the midst of such a complex and annoying situation” as “good news.”

Alonso’s explanations for a Saturday in which the population reported a lack of electricity of up to 12 hours were “the problems with the fuel” that Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel had overcome a few days ago, “the departure of several units for maintenance and the incomplete continue reading

incorporation of the CTE Antonio Guiteras.” The Matanzas plant, the largest in the country and one of the oldest (1988), stopped on September 17, after suffering two breaks in the boiler in a week, just at the end of the G-77 plus China summit that was held in Havana. Since then it had been subjected to the umpteenth batch of repairs of the year.

On Saturday, an attempt was made to connect without success, since after 11 pm, said Radio Rebelde journalist José Miguel Solís, “a failure in the boiler,” again motivated its departure

On Saturday, an attempt was made to connect without success, since, after 11 pm, said Radio Rebelde journalist José Miguel Solís, “a failure in the boiler,” again motivated its departure. “They tell us that the pressure switch failed,” Solís reported, attributing the infernal Saturday to the seven plants that are outside the system “between breakdowns and maintenance, plus the distributed generation with little availability of fuel” (diesel and fuel oil).

Solís, who lives in Matanzas, celebrated on Sunday night when the Guiteras finally reached the 274 MW of generation that could alleviate the situation if it continues, but his triumphant tone was not shared by all his followers. “I would think very hard about your news. I’m sorry to see that on a Sunday the power cut off every three hours, after a dark week,” complained one user.

Some, on the other hand, celebrated the reinstatement of the plant, at least for a day, but not without making clear the exceptionality of the situation. “Bravo, it shows. My power didn’t go out tonight, a miracle,” one said ironically, with laughing emoticons. Another remarked, “This has been a very long Sunday. I woke up without power for four hours. At 1:00 in the afternoon they removed it until 7:30. Terrible. Other times Guiteras breaks and there is not as much impact. Are we out of oil again?” asked another.

Havana was one of the few provinces that was spared from the eternal blackouts this weekend, once again. In some provinces, such as Sancti Spíritus, the situation was unsustainable, with nine-hour cuts reported in Cabaiguán, while from Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, there was talk of five hours without power.

In the eastern area, the situation was worse. The 14ymedio correspondent in Holguín reported this Saturday about two cuts that totaled 12 hours. “Last night they shut off the power from 12 to 6 in the morning, and they shut it off again at 12 noon until 6 in the afternoon, that is, 12 hours today without power. To that, add that when the current goes, the [Internet] connection also drops,” he explained.

UNE’s social networks had no respite throughout the weekend, in the midst of a widespread loss of patience in the population. “Eight hours with light in 24 hours, good record,” one reproached. “The problem is that they remove it in the same place. Here last night it was from 10 pm to 3 am. You can imagine that I couldn’t sleep. Today I’m getting ready to wash and boom! It wasn’t even 9 am and they put it back on at 3:12 pm. What a life that’s not a life!” lamented a commentator from Cienfuegos.

Last week, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, technical director of the UNE, celebrated the respite experienced by the Cubans in October, but warned of the possibility of a more complicated November by “maintenance actions in important generating units,” at that time the Guiteras and then the Felton, in Holguín, which will be shut down for ten days.

“If they know that there is no fuel, the Guiteras is out and there are several thermoelectric plants under maintenance, how are they going to shut down more plants for maintenance with the situation as it is? Couldn’t they foresee this?

Guerra Hernández said that the Government obtained resources for maintenance and was very satisfied, since Energás and several units – in Mariel, Santa Cruz and Nuevitas – were properly going through the process. “We have managed to maintain thermal generation above 1,200 MW. We had difficulties with the supply of fuel at the beginning of October, but that situation improved in the second half. As for the distributed generation, it has had a positive performance considering the resources we have.”

The director added that the goal is to arrive at better conditions in December, but the first results of this weekend have made citizens see the flaws of the plan. “If they know that there is no fuel, the Guiteras is out and there are several thermoelectric plants under maintenance, how are they going to shut down more plants for maintenance with the situation as it is? Couldn’t they foresee this, and do those maintenance “deadlines” happen step by step? If they didn’t manage them before, why do they think they can do it now? The people are already at their wits’ end. Don’t you care about them? Or is this just another way to hide that the problem with fuel is even worse than before?” asked a user, fed up with the UNE.

In fewer words, another summed up the state of things on the Island. “What a sad Sunday for the revolutionary proletariat.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Nicaragua Facilitates the Passage of Thousands of Migrants From All Over the World as a Weapon Against the United States

Flights to Nicaragua have recently been saturated with Africans seeking to emigrate to the United States.

14ymedio, Madrid, 6 November 2023 — There is no record of the passage of migrants through Nicaragua who continue to the United States, as published on Monday by the newspaper La Prensa, to which a source from the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens (DGME) affirms that passports are not being stamped at the airport so that, “when they arrive in the United States, they cannot see that they passed through Nicaragua.”

In exchange, they are charged a fee of between 150 and 200 dollars that, on an ordinary day, according to the same source, totals about 63,000 dollars. “The amount of money that is entering the regime in cash is astronomical, continue reading

and it is not for the Treasury of the Republic because it’s not given or received,” he says.

The Nicaraguan opposition media today provides more data on the management of the migratory movement, which Daniel Ortega’s regime has turned into a lucrative economic and political business, since it manages to make the United States uncomfortable by facilitating access to its borders for Latin American citizens and, also, Africans and Eastern European citizens. Washington is concerned, according to the report, about the possible arrival of people linked to terrorism from some of these countries.

They are charged between 150 and 200 dollars that, on an ordinary day, according to the same source, totals about 63,000 dollars

At the same time, it is not clear where the amount that is paid per migrant goes, which, according to La Prensa source, the Customs officials themselves charge at their discretion. “The corruption is unrestrained,” he says. According to his calculations, on commercial flights there are about 600 seats available per day, of which 70% (420 people) are migrants. “Plus charter flights, which we know have been up to 28 some days,” he says.

Migrants arrive mainly through Aruba, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, although there are other more unusual origins that are becoming frequent, such as Bulgaria, from where there were five flights last week suspected of bringing citizens of the former Asian republics of the USSR.

“Seventy or 80 percent of the people on each Avianca commercial flight with the San Salvador-Managua route are occupied by people from Africa,” adds the La Prensa source. Since last October 23, the Government of Nayib Bukele charges a fee of 1,000 dollars to migrants of 57 nationalities – African and Indian – who pass through the airport of the capital.

As a result of that excess demand, Avianca has even had to restrict routes from some parts of Latin America and Africa to Managua, as the company itself revealed on its social networks.

“Flights have filled quickly, leaving passengers from the Nicaraguan diaspora and tourists who make connections from Central America, Spain and South America without seat availability, especially those who use El Salvador airport as a connection point,” said Aviación de Nicaragua. The suspension is temporary and has been carried out in agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The tourism sector says that the measure seeks to “protect regulars who travel in the high season at the end of the year; migration does not leave foreign exchange in Nicaragua, like tourism and the nostalgia market do -above all, the intangible element of the family reunion.” Once these dates have passed, Avianca foresees the implementation of a rate similar to the Salvadoran one, which would affect, in the same way, specific countries. “That tax can be generated by profiling each passenger from those countries upon arrival, just as Panama has been doing for a month,” a businessman told the local press, asking for patience and calm.

The direct route to Miami is not among those affected, but the connections in San Salvador or Guatemala City are blocked. Avianca still maintains flights from San José (Costa Rica) and Panamá.

Haiti is also among the countries that have suspended charter flights to Nicaragua due to the huge migratory flow, and it is said in Port-au-Prince that it was at the request of the United States to stop the flow of migrants to its territory. “There are great concerns about security, comfort, logistics. There is a lot of disorder at the moment. The aviation sector and disorder don’t get along well. It can cause numerous accidents. We have to reorganize,” said Laurent Joseph Dumas, director of Civil Aviation, in an interview with the local press in Port-au-Prince.

Between August and October 2023 alone, 31,475 passengers arrived in Managua from Haiti on board 268 flights, said Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances and Development program of the Inter-American Dialogue based in Washington, a few days ago. In his opinion, Ortega “is selling Managua airport as a bridge to Haitians en route to the United States.”

Other analysts maintain the same thesis on the use of migration as a weapon against Washington. “Do anything that affects the United States. It is definitely aimed at creating pressure or politicizing it against the United States because it is an extremely controversial and delicate issue for Americans,” argued Juan Sebastián Chamorro.

Eliseo Núñez, political analyst, recalls that the technique has also been used by Belarus on its border with Poland

Eliseo Núñez, political analyst, recalls that the technique has also been used by Belarus on its border with Poland. “While the United States was not messing with him, Ortega provided services to stop migration, drug trafficking and anything having to do with terrorism,” he says. The expert recalls the crisis of 2015, when almost 2,000 Cubans crossing the border were detained on the border with Costa Rica, causing one of the most serious crises of the last decade. The agglomeration reached approximately 8,000 people and required the coordinated response of several Central American countries to circumvent Nicaragua.

Things changed when, in 2017, after protests that began a repression was unleashed against protesters and the opposition, which led the United States to take measures against the regime, Ortega decided to resort to the migratory weapon.

La Prensa quotes a former diplomat who says, under anonymity, that Ortega takes advantage of the migrants’ needs to take money from them. “One hundred fifty dollars per migrant is a lot of money, and that is also charged to those who come from the south, from Costa Rica, and those who enter by land. It’s not just those at the airport,” he says.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Regime Is Determined To Fail With Foreign Investment

Container terminal at Mariel Special Development Zone. (Zedmariel.com)

14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, November 5, 2023 — One of the main failures of Raúl’s reforms of the Cuban economy has been foreign investment. Unreservedly. Those plans that came with the infamous Law 118 that meant a controlled opening of the Cuban economy to international capital have been very far from the objectives initially set. Of the 3 billion dollars per year that the international capital regime intended to achieve to balance the commercial accounts with the foreign, what has really happened is that in almost a decade (which will end next year), less than those 3 billion has been achieved in cumulative terms. The landscape of the internationalization of the Cuban economy remains the same as it was before Law 118 in 2014.

However, the regime continues to try to attract foreign investment, and to that end, it organizes international fairs, such as the XXXIX International Fair of Havana that is happening now, to see if any business project will work, as if it were a raffle or a lottery in which they do not even buy the number.

In addition to the fanfare and the artistic touches, whose funds must be continue reading

difficult to mobilize given the budgetary tightness of the regime, the top leaders are committed and spare no expense for the event.

What is there to say, or not, about the event attended by Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Mariel Special Development Zone? What is there to celebrate about this project, originally Brazilian and apparently abandoned to its fate?

It is a broken toy that no one wants, from which great business and opportunities were expected but which is still there without knowing why

The presence of the “retired” Raúl Castro at the event conveys a top-level political message, and in the presence of Díaz-Canel, along with a plethora
of party and government leaders, confirms what is already known. It is a broken toy that no one wants, from which great business and opportunities were expected but which is still there without knowing why.

So, to commemorate the ten years of validity of the Mariel project, the leaders organized a “political-cultural act” with no explanation about its relationship to foreign investment, which generally doesn’t pay attention to this type of thing, and if not, ask the Russians who continue to pressure the regime to give a push to that institutional economic framework that prevents the viability of businesses on the Island.

The Mariel ended up being a product of internal consumption of the regime, with a “a recognition for the work deployed by the entire collective of workers of the Mariel”: in total, 13 groups and 15 workers, representing the 1,161 founders who as of today continue to work in the Zone. Even Ulises Guilarte had his protagonist in the act, with the delivery to the Office of the Special Zone the 80th Anniversary Seal of the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba (CTC).

And then some economic data, as if they counted. Since the inauguration of the container terminal, which continues to be the main activity of Mariel, it was reported that 64 businesses have been achieved as of today, something like six per year. It’s not bad, if you think of the inefficient machinery that takes care of the viability of those projects and the complex conditions to pass the innumerable tests that the regime establishes.

It should be noted that there are only 64 projects in a decade with a very limited impact, practically zero

It should be noted that there are only 64 projects in a decade with a very limited impact, practically zero, on the strategic sectors of the national economy and its development. In other words, a counter-invoice analysis of the Mariel would allow us to conclude that in the absence of this pharaonic project in the area, the number of foreign investment projects that would arrive in Cuba would be more or less the same, or even more. The efficiency of spending leaves much to be desired, confirming that absolute failure of foreign investment policy in the Cuban communist system.

Highlight here, for example, that other communist countries, such as Vietnam, perfectly understood what had to be done to attract foreign capital to the country, which has been one of the factors of modernization after the Doi Moi reforms. And Vietnam, far from getting into trouble with “Mariels” and other communist nonsense, accepted the rules of the World Trade Organization and became part of the concert of nations of globalization. The Cuban communist regime is incapable of this type of strategic decision and continues to play cat and mouse with foreign businessmen.

Therefore, next week when the International Fair is inaugurated and with it the VI Foreign Investment Forum, the same thing will happen again as in previous editions, which is nothing other than those interested in investing in Cuba will return to their countries seeing that the company is unfeasible or has unaffordable costs. And someone will wonder about that direct rejection of the communist bureaucracy by foreign investors. The Russians have already said it on several occasions, but it’s good to remember why.

No businessperson, owner of their own money, who responds to a board of directors, likes that their project in Cuba has to be aligned or submitted or adapted to two instruments that are not understood, but that oblige and condition their activity, which are called the “national plan for economic and social development until 2030,” and the “portfolio of foreign investment opportunities.” With these two instruments, the Cuban communist economy extends its tentacles towards the international investor. It is true that some accept it, and that’s how it goes; fortunately, most of them listen to the advice of international consultancies that warn of the risk of submitting themselves to the communist system.

At the fair they say that they will carry out theoretical activities, of little practical depth, such as the “panel on Cuban exports to be promoted with and from foreign investment,” in which “they will discuss exploration for potential investors; advice and workshops on access to the Japanese market, and support for the productive pole of Guantánamo.” It remains to be seen how many Japanese investors will stay in Cuba and, above all, how many private actors will participate in this type of agreement. At the moment, the foreign investment space in Cuba is open only to the state sector.

Another panel will refer to “industrial capacities with development potential with foreign participation” to promote business opportunities with foreign capital based on the installed industrial capacities, with reference to the portfolio of opportunities of the sectors of Industry, Food and Domestic trade.

What do you think will come out of all this political business bartering? The answer is nothing. Well, yes. The only thing that will remain is a hole in the public accounts of the regime because this type of pageantry has to be paid for by someone. And the bad thing is that Cuba is not ready for this. Cuba will continue to suffer by not receiving the necessary foreign capital that could help modernize the country and meet the needs of the population, but the regime’s strategy and its policy of parties and celebrations has not worked, nor will it. An average of six projects a year in the Mariel doesn’t justify any of this. They need to change and make a 180º turn.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘A Complete Skeleton for a Religious Ritual Costs Between 10,000 and 12,000 Cuban Pesos’

“Monument to the Common Man”: human remains in the Cementario de Colón in Havana. (Radio Television Martí/Archive)

14ymedio, Nelson García/Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 5 November 2023 — The Cuban police only respect one religion: Palo Monte. The hermetic world of its rituals, its sorcerers and cauldrons, its fragmentary language – the kikongo – with which they pronounce incantions and curses, have made it since colonial times the most feared of the Island, according to its own followers. There is only one aspect of the Palo Mayombe, as it is also known, that agents do not let pass: the desecration of tombs to obtain ritual bones.

“The human bone is the center of the foundation,” Ta José, a 42-year-old habanero who has been practicing this cult from Central Africa for several decades, explains to 14ymedio. The foundation – also called garment or nganga, cauldron – is the most sacred object of the paleros. It consists of a container where pieces of wood, earth and endless objects are deposited that the palero [practitioner] should not reveal. It also contains human remains.

The importance of the foundation doubles if the bone belonged to someone prominent or a former member of the religion. Hence, to achieve it, a palero does not skimp on resources or think twice before entering a cemetery. As complicated as it is, “a way has always been sought to achieve it,” admits Ta José.

The most common way is to go to the cemetery and steal it. The other way is to find another palero that already has one

“The most common way is to go to the cemetery and steal it. The other way is to find another palero that already has one, because he went into the cemetery himself or bought it from the custodian,” he says. The business of buying and selling bones has caused the systematic dismissal of the cemetery’s custodians on the Island. The most well-known case of this year, last January, was that of the continuous desecration of the Matanzas cemetery, which provoked the intervention of the provincial Communist Party. continue reading

“Among us or with the help of friends we look for the key points,” describes the palero. “When someone needs, for example, a head (skull), he asks his contacts, even if they are from a different branch of palo monte, or he goes to the cemetery to ask the custodian. It’s always resolved. Of course, it’s quite expensive.”

“It depends on the type of work that is going to be done and what part of the body is going to be worked on,” he explains. “The smallest and cheapest piece you can get costs 1,000 pesos or its equivalent in dollars. A complete skeleton can cost between 10,000 and 12,000 pesos. The price may vary depending on the circumstances of the death, the illness that the deceased suffered. It also depends on the race: Chinese bones have more power for us and are sold at higher prices.”

The foundation – also called a garment or ‘nganga’, cauldron – is the most sacred object of the paleros. (14ymedio)

According to Ta José, there are people who are dedicated to going to the tombs and removing as many bones as they can. Then they find how to sell them on the black market, although no store of religious items – legal, such as self-employment – will announce it unless the person who asks can be trusted. “The police have always persecuted the desecrators,” he insists, but in general they “don’t mess” with the paleros.

Sometimes, of course, when they see someone wandering the streets “with a sack” late at night — as usually happens after a ceremony — the officers arrest the person and find that he is carrying a knife. The knives, he explains, are part of the foundation. When the person explains it to the police, they usually let him continue on his way.

There are families who provide the bones of their deceased, because they were practitioners and that motivates them to make the donation

“Bones are essential in palo monte,” emphasizes Ta José. For a palero, in the bones are “the foundations of power” and its material expression. If there is a spiritual foundation, which is “attended” with rum and tobacco smoke, the material cannot exist without the remains of some person. “There are families who provide the bones of their deceased, because they were practitioners and that motivates them to make the donation,” but it is not usual, he says.

All the “works” of the palero depend on the foundation, which Ta José synthesizes with an enumeration: “Consecrate, save, kill, solve problems and help the world.” According to the habanero, each cauldron is effective and achieves what its owner wants, sooner or later. “Some are stronger than others. It depends on the ceremony and the person’s knowledge,” he says, although he prefers not to say more: an important part of his religion is to keep secrets, which practitioners handle only after several initiations and tests. “I can’t say everything,” he admits.

Despite the difficulties and the mystery that has always surrounded palo monte, its impact on Cuban society has not stopped since religion arrived from Africa, he says. “There was always a certain discord between palo monte and santería, because each one wanted to be the strongest cult.” On the Island, studies say that santería is more widespread. However, Ta José insists, palo mayombe retains the reputation of being “the most effective, fastest and strongest.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: The Confusion of Interests

Raúl Castro(L), Daniel Ortega(C) and Nicolás Maduro (R). (Twitter)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, November 5, 2023 — Freedom is by far the greatest good of the human being; hence the commitment to defend it as appropriate, a reason that forces us to be alert and not believe in redeemers who promise the salvation of our prerogatives, if we follow them like rats do the flute player.

Behavior, which I fear, is being put into practice by many people in different parts of the world, when they arrange for individuals who are not subject to any control to decide about their lives, despite the fact that no one has the right to forget that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

What happens in countries like Cuba, with Castro-Díaz-Canel, in short, is 65 years of totalitarianism. The autocrats, Ortega-Murillo, in Nicaragua, 27 years of government in two periods. Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro, 24 years of despotism between the two. Bolivia, with the phoney Evo Morales, 13 years in office with the aspiration of returning to government to perpetuate himself, which should be inadmissible to any honorable person who has self-respect.

These rulers achieved power thanks to the fact that to a large extent their peoples allowed it, either because they were confused by promises, well-spoken truths or the charm that can emanate from these subjects. continue reading

Frivolity is burying us, along with our lack of interest in accessing conflicting and balanced information, even if we have access to it

The will of the citizen majority folded to suggestive siren songs that promised, cunningly, to make the most paradoxical dreams come true, ceding, to achieve them, their citizens’ rights, in addition to practicing a criminal intolerance and plunging them into an aberrant indolence.

This reflection is the result of an experience, at a friend’s house, that left me dismayed, because I found intelligent people, with a great reputation for commitment to freedom and democracy, passionately defending Vladimir Putin, ignoring the persecution he executes against the opposition and the close relations he maintains with the Castro tyranny.

These friends and acquaintances, in my opinion very confused, justified the aggression against Ukraine. No one alluded to the presence of Cuban mercenaries there, nor to the fact that Putin, like the aforementioned autocrats, has been ruling Russia for 23 years, and that when he was not president he played at being prime minister.

All this demonstration was in a framework of severe criticism of President Joe Biden for his help to Ukraine. Needless to say, I do not sympathize with the president and his government, but I do believe that the support given to Ukraine is vital, just like the one offered to Israel and the one that can be given to Taiwan. They are countries that are in the first line of fire against predators who are a threat to everyone.

Of course, I couldn’t stay calm and entered the arena, with a friend who had already had that experience. They argued that the former KGB colonel was defending our values by attacking Ukraine. They repeated that fascism was a serious threat, as if the despots of any ideology were not, and that Putin was against the social currents that seek to replace the family, which may be true, but that does not justify a war of aggression like the one that the head of the Russian government sponsors, nor his alliance with Castroism.

It goes without saying that I do not sympathize with the president and his government, but I do believe that the support given to Ukraine is vital

It is difficult to neutralize this confusion that arises, in my opinion, in the laxity of many of us against those contrary to our rights and in allowing those same individuals to exercise them. Frivolty is burying us, along with our lack of interest in accessing conflicting and balanced information, even if we have access to it.

Those of us who have suffered regimes of force or imprisonment know that the power held by the army, regardless of the place they occupy in the chain of command, is destructive. Their ability to cause suffering is difficult to imagine, turning our desire to survive into an everyday odyssey.

I fervently believe in democracy with all its imperfections. Knowing that the authorities can be revoked, being able to get rid of the great man or the donkey that we wrongly chose. Being able to tell the subject who commands rifles and cannons that he is not in charge, that he was left without a job and it is time to leave, is a right that we are obliged to defend until the last breath.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico Deports 105 Irregular Migrants to Cuba

Around 100 Cubans are in the caravan that left Tapachula. (Facebook/Irineo Mujica)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 November 2023 — A group of 105 Cubans arrived this Saturday in Havana on a flight from Mexico as part of an agreement between the two nations to return irregular migrants to their country of origin, the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) reported. The Cubans (70 men and 35 women) “legally left Cuba and later became involved in irregular routes to try to reach Mexico’s border with the United States,” it added.

The Cuban authorities said that this is the ninth operation from that country in 2023, with 677 people in total.

It is estimated that in 2022, around 4% of the Cuban population left the country, and this year’s figures could be similar according to those accumulated to date

“In general, with this flight there have been 119 returns made this year, with 4,884 people returned from different nations in the region,” the Minint reported. continue reading

The migratory wave, unprecedented in the volume of migrants, is due to the serious economic crisis that the Island suffers, with a great shortage of basic products (food, medicines and fuel), galloping inflation, frequent blackouts and a partial dollarization of the economy.

It is estimated that in 2022, around 4% of the Cuban population left the country and this year’s figures could be similar according to those accumulated to date.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana’s Agricultural Belt is Running Out of Food

During the meeting, Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa limited himself to giving orders. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio, Madrid, 3 November 3, 2023 — The authorities of Alquízar, in Artemisa, admitted what their inhabitants had been complaining about for months: the food sovereignty plan is a failure, and they so informed the vice president, Salvador Valdés Mesa, who attended a meeting where the production problems were enumerated.

Nor could newspaper El Artemiseño could not overlook the debacle of the local economy, and this Friday the headline asked the question that the officials did not want to ask themselves aloud during their meeting: How much is left for municipal and food sovereignty?

During the “sustained exchange,” Valdés Mesa limited himself to giving orders that will hardly be fulfilled in the province: more rice, corn and sunflowers must be planted to produce oil, raise livestock, replace imports, stimulate the farmers and lower prices.

Meanwhile, in the shops of the province a pound of black beans is already close to 550 pesos, even above the price in Havana. In state markets, beans have been missing for more than a year. continue reading

The officials, however, were not intimidated by the data and assure that everything is fine. Marisleydis Domínguez, vice president of the Agricultural Program, proudly announced that food outlets had increased from 16 to 40 in the territory but did not mention what she plans to offer in those premises, when food is barely produced in the fields.

Meanwhile, in the shops of the province a pound of black beans is already close to 550 pesos, even above the price in Havana

The same happened with the mini-industries, where “prices were agreed” — without clarifying whether the population will be able to pay them — but in this case the press itself put an end to the official’s words by saying that “such actions are not yet reflected on the table of the more than 30,000 alquizareños.”

Even so, and with the numbers against him, the governor of the municipality promised that, “for 2024, Alquízar will self-supply with food and vegetables.” How it will do it, in just two months, was not a matter of debate either.

Part of the “agricultural belt” that surrounds Havana, Alquízar has traditionally been a land of cultivation of vegetables and fruits and pig breeding. With its red soil and its flat fertile surface, several of the schools in the countryside that sought to unite teaching and agricultural production were located in the belt for decades. Today, most of those centers are abandoned or converted into improvised homes.

The deep structural crisis of the Island, which has worsened in recent years, has especially hit families who aspire, at least in the current conditions, to be able to pay for the standard products that arrive at the bodega [ration store], since the prices of food in the state and private markets exceed the purchasing capacity of the average salary.

With the beginning of November, residents of several provinces have complained that only sugar and a few pounds of rice have arrived for the libreta [ration book], and the authorities themselves have acknowledged that they cannot guarantee when the rest of the products will arrive.

In the particular case of Alquízar, the situation in which citizens live is even more worrying if one takes into account the wave of violence that plagues the municipality, which has forced neighbors to confine themselves to their homes during the night, for fear of being robbed or assaulted on the street.

The Police recently denied that Alquízar remained in a state of siege and curfew, although several residents insist that curfew is a “recommendation,” while the agents patrol the streets of the town.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Libres X Derecho’ Arrives in Miami, a Documentary for Young People About Cuba’s ’11J’ Mass Protests

Hundreds of Cubans in San Antonio de los Baños went out to protest against the government on 11 July 2021. (Collage)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, November 3, 2023 — The documentary Libres X Derecho [Free by Right], which includes “a brief account” of what has happened since the popular outbreak in Cuba on 11 July 2021 (’11J’), told from the perspective of 14 relatives of the detainees, is presented this Saturday in Miami before its tour through international festivals, according to its screenwriter, journalist and writer María Matienzo speaking to EFE.

Created by the organization Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana (MDJC) [Cuban Youth Roundtable], which emerged in 2014 “with young people and for young people” to “transform today’s reality on the Island,” the documentary narrates in 27 minutes “how the events happened, how they were imprisoned, what they experienced in the prisons, who they were before 11J and, finally, the convictions,” explains Matienzo.

Libres X Derecho is the work of a team led by MDJC psychologist and coordinator Kirenia Yalit Núñez, who, according to the program, will be present at the screening in Miami.

Under the title #Exprésate: Libres por Derecho [Express Yourself: Free by Right], the event will take place at the Ruka Winewood, in the artistic neighborhood of Wynwood, and, in addition to the documentary, will exhibit 19 collages of urban artists who live in Cuba and have been inspired by the film. continue reading

Matienzo describes the script work as “hard.”

“It was hard to see the testimonies of these parents, because both Kirenia and I were founders of Justicia 11J, an organization that has been dedicated since 11J to locating relatives of the detainees, following up with them and providing them with help.”

Having to relive what we lived that year and seeing that those people continue to suffer has been a doubly heartbreaking process, reliving the months when I thought they were going to kick in my door

“Having to relive what we lived that year and seeing that those those people continue to suffer has been a doubly heartbreaking process, reliving the months in which I thought they were going to kick in my door, as they did to many people in those days and to many who gave their testimony,” adds the screenwriter.

The documentary contains images of the 11J demonstrations taken with mobile phones and interviews with relatives of detainees, including those in San Antonio de los Baños, where the protest began.

“Behind so much suffering and pain, joy has to come, it’s our right,” one of the interviewees says in the promotion trailer.

“All this is accompanied by the process of creating graffiti that are scattered throughout the cities of Havana and Villa Clara that try to translate the testimonies,” says the screenwriter.

The documentary was premiered in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 30 in the framework of the sessions of the Universal Periodic Review

The documentary was premiered in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 30 in the framework of the sessions of the Universal Periodic Review, to which Cuba will be submitted on November 15 by the UN.

In addition to the MDJC, the Miami event has been organized by Civil Rights Defenders and Freedom House.

According to the latest count of Prisoners Defenders, at the end of September there were 1,052 political prisoners in Cuba, mostly people convicted as a result of their participation in the protests of 11 July 2021, the largest in the country in decades.

Since that date, Justice 11J has registered 1,862 people detained for political reasons, of which 911 have been tried and, for the most part, convicted.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cancellation of Iberojet Flights to Cuba Is Another Sign of the Tourism Debacle

Iberojet had already canceled its Madrid-Santiago de Cuba route in September. (CC)

14ymedio, Madrid, 3 November 2023 — The Spanish company Iberojet will stop flying to Havana in 2024. As confirmed to 14ymedio by an employee of the company, the airline will have no connection with the Island from next January 15 and does not know when it will resume operations. But it will open two routes to Santa Clara, the same source explained, from Madrid and Lisbon, but “beginning next summer.”

Although the company has not issued any official statement, several travel agencies reported the news on their social networks, saying that January 10 is the last scheduled flight from Barajas airport to Havana’s José Martí airport.

“Attention travelers! Iberojet cancels its operation to Cuba and the last flight will be on January 10. If you have a flight booked with us, we recommend you call to verify your ticket and find the best solution for your trip,” it warned on its Viajes On Time Facebook wall.

The airline already canceled its Madrid-Santiago de Cuba route last September, just a year after inaugurating it, but this measure will take place in the middle of the high season and evidences the debacle of foreign tourism on the Island. continue reading

According to the latest official figures published, only 147,380 international travelers visited Cuba in September. It was the worst data so far this year – even worse than in June, when the figure reached 154,590 – and the worst month of September recorded other than during the pandemic.

Until now, Iberojet has had a weekly flight from Madrid to Havana, on Wednesdays, at a very attractive price, less than 600 euros

Until now, Iberojet has had a weekly flight from Madrid to Havana, on Wednesdays, at a very attractive price, less than 600 euros per person. In addition, it allows passengers to carry two 50-pound suitcases and a 22-pound carry-on free of charge.

Also , the Spanish airline Iberia, which reduced its weekly flights between Madrid and the Island from four to three last September, will continue with that frequency both in the Caribbean high season — from November to May — and next summer.

Last week, the American company Southwest reported that, from June 2024, it will move most of its international destinations from the Fort Lauderdale airport to Orlando, Florida, and the Island will not be among them.

However, the company responded by email to this newspaper saying that it will continue to provide services to Cuba with a daily flight from Tampa International Airport. To get to Tampa, the company offers direct flights twice a day from Fort Lauderdale.

Two other U.S. airlines, Delta and United, announced that they were waiting for authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a temporary exemption from their routes to Cuba. As has JetBlue, both have reduced their flights to the Island since October 29.

In the case of Delta, the company has requested a suspension, until March 30, 2024, of the seven routes it has between Atlanta – where it has its headquarters – and Havana, in addition to a reduction by half of its flights between Miami and Havana, from 14 to seven. The airline alleged that the route is “depressed,” although it hoped that demand could be recovered to resume service.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban’s End of the Year Family Dinners Will Be Made With a Reduced Basic Basket

For November, only three pounds per person of brown sugar have been secured. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2023 — The deficit of milk and the delay in its delivery to the bodegas [ration stores] continue to upset the residents of Ciego de Ávila. The authorities, for their part, acknowledged to the official press that there is little they can do to alleviate the situation, since the Dairy Products Company calculated last July a ’deficit’ of one million gallons of milk, and of the 2,000 provincial gallons that are distributed daily, about 800 come from Sancti Spíritus.

Yulema Yero Pérez de Corcho, director of the entity, explained to the newspaper Invasor that currently the greatest difficulty in the province is in the non-compliance with milk deliveries to the bodegas throughout the year, which has caused the deficit to increase significantly.

If the livestock sector served by independent producers is added, by September the figure already reached 1.2 million gallons.

The milk deficit has led leaders to demand “cattle counts” and hire as many producers as possible. The order, however, was not given until this summer, when the deficit reached several million gallons. With these figures, non-compliances with the bodegas are now foreseen, which can only guarantee the quota for children between one and seven years old, and those destined for Public Health and Education. continue reading

The most affected municipalities, according to Yero, are Baraguá, Venezuela and Bolivia, because due to “technical difficulties,” it is not possible to pasteurize milk, and it must be sent to other locations. Due to the delay in transportation, the industrial processing of dairy does not begin until midday, which translates into endless delays for the product to finally reach the bodegas.

The milk collection would be achieved one day in advance, which would easily allow the development of industrial treatment, and distribution routes would begin to be completed starting at midnight

“In conditions close to the ideal, the [milk] collection would be achieved one day in advance, which would easily allow the development of industrial treatment, and distribution routes would begin to be completed starting at midnight,” explains Invasor.

Regarding the delivery of bread, the problem, the newspaper warns, “is even greater,” since the industry depends on flour imports. The daily quota is delivered on a day-to-day basis, but there are no long-term guarantees that it will continue to be sold as soon as the current shipment runs out. In the worst case, the newspaper acknowledges, the situation of October would be repeated, when the smallest rolls were sold and there were days when it was not even marketed.

About the other products of the basic basket for November, the leaders don’t know when they will be able to count on them either. Only three pounds per person of brown sugar have been secured, and the seven pounds of rice plus one ’missing’ from the previous month’s ration will be delivered in the first half of the month, which will be free because it’s a donation. “There are still no guarantees for the rest of the products,” they say.

“There is also a need to distribute about 19 tons of peas, in the municipalities of Bolivia, Baraguá and Primero de Enero, to a total of 121 bodegas, which will be done in the coming days,” said Dianeidys Cañizares, director of the Commerce Business Group.

On those same dates, the authorities also foresee that the picadillo [ground meat] for children, medical diets and chicken for infants from zero to 13 years old (one pound) and for pregnant women (2.2 pounds) will also be delivered.

The fourth round of donation modules is currently being distributed for more than 13,000 pregnant women, underweight children and vulnerable families, consisting of two cans of sardines, 2.2 pounds of pasta and sugar, and 4.4 pounds of rice and grains. Powdered milk for infants up to six months and jams are also being delivered.

With the aggravated food crisis and the increasing dependence on imported products, the complaints and desperation of citizens to find food at affordable prices have increased exponentially. The irregular assortment of the bodegas to deliver standardized products on time – of the few that the Cuban with an average salary can afford – only increases food insecurity.

The beginning of November, with the shortage of rice, the staple food of any Cuban cuisine, and other essential products, augurs a difficult winter for Cubans, who like to make end of year family dinners, which are increasingly difficult to arrange.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ricardo Cabrisas Travels to Moscow in Search of More Russian Investments for Cuba

The Cuban Deputy Prime Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas (L), and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Chernishenko (R), during their meeting in Moscow. (Sputnik)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2023 — The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas, architect of the rapprochement between the Kremlin and Havana, traveled this Wednesday to Moscow to discuss new agreements to oxygenate the anemic Cuban economy. The plans discussed with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko, include the promise of a stream of investments that, as usual, will flow in only one direction: from Russia to the Island.

According to the Russian agency Sputnik, the meeting included the Kremlin’s business adviser, Boris Titov – who traveled to Havana last October – and officials of the Central Bank of Cuba. Several strategies were discussed to reaffirm bilateral alliances and obtain more investments.

“The priority course for the development of bilateral economic relations should be the creation of favorable conditions for Russian investments in the Cuban economy,” Chernishenko insisted, without clearly revealing what “conditions” he expects the Island to meet in order to be worthy of Kremlin funds. continue reading

Until now, the agreements, some already underway, says Sputnik, cover investments in the energy sector

Until now, the agreements, some already underway, says Sputnik, include investments in the energy sector, with the construction of photovoltaic parks on the Island, the development of fertilizers, and other “infrastructure projects” that they did not specify.

Mention was also made of the implementation of “a full-cycle agro-industrial company for the cultivation and processing of sugar cane.” They do not clarify, however, if it is the Uruguay sugar mill, located in Jatibonico (Sancti Spíritus), which has been under Russian management for at least a year.

In terms of energy, Moscow had also promised to contribute to the creation of new “capacities” in Cuban thermoelectric plants, so it is likely that the agreements involving the sector will continue along that line.

Tourism, another of the lines that Havana insists on improving despite the fact that Russians show little interest in traveling to the Island, has also been the subject of debate by the commission, which assumed as an achievement the visit of about 60,000 tourists from Russia in the first six months of 2023.

The Russian Ministry of Transport announced that it intends to increase the weekly frequencies of flights between the two countries to 10

In order to encourage the flow of travelers, the Russian Ministry of Transport announced that it intends to increase the weekly frequencies of flights between the two countries to 10 by the end of this year.

Although it is not clear what benefits Moscow obtains from Havana in exchange for the investments of the Government and some Russian businessmen, the truth is that both parties strive to demonstrate the good health of their relations and their ideological alignment in the international sphere.

Behind Venezuela and Mexico, Russia continues to be one of the largest suppliers of oil to the island. It has also made numerous donations through international organizations, such as the delivery of 650 tons of oil last September and the “aid” of four million dollars for an international fire center, a few days after the collapse of a multi-family building in Old Havana.

However, Sputnik did not say a single word about the presence of hundreds of Cubans working as mercenaries for the Russian Army in the invasion of Ukraine, allegedly in exchange for obtaining citizenship and several thousand rubles, nor the diplomatic and economic implications between the two States of this controversial issue. If Moscow and Havana have agreed on anything, after hackers leaked images of Cuban soldiers on the battle front, it is to remain silent.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Annual Condemnation of the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba Demonstrates the Ineffectiveness of the UN

Archive photo of vote at the UN General Assembly. (EFE/Justin Lane)

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 2 November 2023 — One more year, and the UN General Assembly has again approved a resolution against the U.S. embargo on Cuba; the Cuban regime calls it a “new victory.”

This time, there were 187 votes in favor and two against: those of the U.S. and Israel. In addition, there was one abstention, that of Ukraine. Last year there were three abstentions and the same negative votes.

The sterile ritual takes place at a time, precisely, when the UN is demonstrating its inability to contribute to peace in the Middle East after the war unleashed by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, who spoke just before the vote in the Assembly, said that the blockade “violates the right to life, health, education and well-being of all Cubans,” and constitutes “an act of war in peacetime.” continue reading

The Assembly holds a specific session every year to request an end to the embargo, imposed in 1962, which prevents Cuba from making transactions in U.S. dollars, marketing with products that pass through the U.S. and have a minimum percentage of 10% of parts produced in the country, as well using the U.S. financial system.

The countries that vote in the Assembly in support of Cuba insist that the embargo is a “unilateral” measure, since it has not been decided by the Security Council, involves interference in other States and ends up punishing, above all, the population of Cuba, before the Government.

Everyone pretends to have forgotten that the embargo was decreed by Washington in response to the confiscations of companies and assets of American citizens by the Revolution

Everyone pretends to have forgotten that the embargo was decreed by Washington in response to the confiscations of companies and assets of American citizens by the Castro Revolution, a matter that is still pending.

The magnitude of the support that the Island receives in these annual votes is manifested in the fact that eight groups from different countries – Latin American, African, Islamic, Group of 77 plus China, among others – have presented this year particular motions to reject the embargo, and some intervene individually.

However, it also highlights the irrelevance of the General Assembly, which has been approving a practically similar resolution for 31 years without its making any dent in American politics.

Rodríguez regretted that Biden’s Administration has not changed one iota the policy of the embargo, which was hardened by his predecessor Donald Trump by including Cuba in its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The Foreign Minister did not say that some of the sanctions established by the current U.S. administration against Cuba have their origin in the repression unleashed by the regime after the massive peaceful protests of 11 July 2021.

For his part, President Miguel Díaz-Canel described the vote in the General Assembly as a “triumph of dignity… a new victory for the Cuban people and their Revolution. The recognition and support of the international community for the heroism and resistance of Cuba. The triumph of the dignity and courage of our people,” Díaz-Canel celebrated on the social network X (Twitter).

Similarly, after the vote, Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. representative, who reiterated to the UN that the embargo aims to “promote democracy and promote human rights and freedoms” on the Island.

“How ridiculous the speech of the imperial representative. Full of lies, slander and hypocrisy. He should be ashamed of the immense majority condemnation of his genocidal, unjust and criminal policy. Our slingshot is David’s,” wrote the Cuban president, using the biblical metaphor of the fight against Goliath, which José Martí and Fidel Castro often repeated.

The text, presented by Cuba since 1992, always receives an overwhelming majority with hardly any votes against, beyond the U.S. and some of its allies.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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