Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 4

Capped Prices in the Private Shops in Holguín, Anarchy in Havana

Many stores do not have any of the six items for sale with established prices.

Pelican, a private business in Holguín, this Tuesday / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Miguel García/Juan Diego Rodríguez, Holguín/Havana, 9 July 2024 — Curiosity and need come together in the private shops of Holguin, which this Tuesday have had a greater influx of customers than on other days. At the entrance to the premises, a board showed the new prices, which have been capped for basic products since July 8.

In one of the many points of sale visited by 14ymedio, the employees had just learned about the new regulation and changed, in view of the buyers, the numbers written next to each item . Although the oil and pasta were below the new amounts, the powdered milk went above the 1,675 pesos per kilo established by the Official Gazette.

In the kiosk managed by the MSME Bodegón Holguín, the line filling the sidewalk in front of the premises did not respond, however, to any of the six products that have been exempted from taxes on imports and which have capped prices. The crowd, in fact, was waiting to acquire the newly discounted instant soft drink packages, which are mainly intended for the school snack.

The capped price “is not going down because if that’s what’s legally allowed why sell it cheaper?”

This Monday, vegetable oil at 990 pesos per liter was now in line with the new regulation. But the price, instead of satisfying consumers, raised criticism among those who believe that once set at that limit, “it will not go down because if that is what is legally allowed, why sell it cheaper?” asked an elderly woman who arrived at the Bodegón. continue reading

With a pension of 1,420 pesos per month, she can’t benefit from the new prices. “There is a lot of disorganization with this measure. At the Chinese Fair there were several kiosks that have not even heard about it and still have cooking oil at more than 1,000 pesos per liter,” the woman complained. “I found chopped chicken at 370 and 380 pesos per pound in several places; it seems that they have not realized that it’s at 340.

In Havana, the panorama has not been very different. Some central businesses have opted for caution, while several places in El Vedado and the neighborhood of Cayo Hueso did not even have for sale what popular humor has already baptized as “the magnificent six.” Others displayed the new prices on their boards.

The EJT market shelves of 17 and K, in El Vedado, returned to their usual appearance / 14ymedio

On Reina Street, in the municipality of Centro Habana, on Monday the line was extended in front of a private business that announced a pound of chicken at 310 pesos. What was saved in money was lost in time, because the line could take up to two hours between getting a number and accessing the counter. The main cause of the delay, according to an employee, was that “we have to wait for them to bring more supplies.” They were exhausted due to the multiplied demand.

In Havana, the shelves of the Youth Labor Army [EJT] market at 17 and K, which last week appeared surprisingly empty in the face of the confusion due to the entry into force of the capped prices, returned to their usual appearance. However, they didn’t sell chicken. “The chicken is still kidnapped,” an old woman said with a sneer.

The prices in the informal market, through home delivery applications on social media groups that market everything from spaghetti to beef, were the same as a few days ago, unrelated to the new official guidelines.

“The big chicken thighs: I’m not lying. If you want quality, this is your option at 380 pesos per pound and we charge home delivery separately,” said an ad in a WhatsApp thread dedicated to food and cleaning products. In the photo that accompanied the ad you could see a package with the colors of the American flag and three letters: USA.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Close to 40,000 Cubans Applied for Spanish Nationality at the Havana Consulate

As of April, the majority – some 40% – of the 301,121 applications were from Argentina. The Council of Ministers extended the deadline for the procedure by one year.

Cubans line up in front of the Spanish Consulate in Havana. (14ymedio)

EP/14ymedio, Madrid, 9 July 2024 — Consulates in Argentina and Cuba account for 50% of the 300,000 applications for Spanish nationality submitted between October 2022 and March 2024 under the Democratic Memory Law, which allows descendants of exiled Spaniards to enjoy this benefit, according to data revealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. As explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, since the law entered into force on October 22, 2022 and until March 31, 2024, the Consular Civil Registry Offices had received 301,121 applications for the option of Spanish nationality by origin. In the first year of the measure, according to the data collected at the time by Europa Press, more than 102,000 Spanish nationalities had been granted.

More than 95% of these applications were received at the consulates in Ibero-American countries, as well as at the Consulate General of Spain in Miami. In the specific case of Argentina, the five consulates general in the country accumulated 40% of the applications, and if those received by the Consulate General in Havana are added, the figure rises to 53%. This puts the petitions on the Island at 13% of the total; that is, 39,145 up to that date.

The Council of Ministers authorized this Tuesday, as already announced in February by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, the extension by one year of the period to exercise the right to qualify for Spanish nationality contained in the eighth additional provision of the Law of Democratic Memory, which gave two years. continue reading

In all consular offices “there are a number of applicants who can’t be summoned and attended to before the end of the planned two-year period”

The Department of Foreign Affairs, headed by José Manuel Albares, has explained that in all consular offices “there are a number of applicants who can’t be summoned and attended to before the end of the two-year period provided for” by law.

For that reason, the Government has decided to extend the deadline by one year “in such a way that all appointment requests already submitted and pending requests can be met, as well as all applications that are submitted and cannot be met in the first two years of application initially provided for in the law,” said Albares.

Specifically, the aforementioned additional provision of the Law of Democratic Memory guarantees that Spanish nationality can be applied for by those born outside Spain to a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, who would have originally been Spanish, and who, as a result of having suffered exile for political, ideological or reasons of belief or sexual orientation and identity, would have lost or renounced Spanish nationality.

It also includes sons and daughters born abroad of Spanish women who lost their nationality by marrying foreigners before the entry into force of the 1978 Constitution as well as the sons and daughters of legal age of those Spaniards who were recognized for their nationality of origin by virtue of the Historical Memory Law of 2007.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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An NGO Requests Acquittal for Those Convicted by Cuban Judge Melody González, Who is Now Requesting Asylum in The United States

Amnesty International (AI) designates Professor Pedro Albert Sánchez of Prisoners Defenders (PD) as a prisoner of conscience and urges the German Government to intercede for its citizen detained in Cuba

Former Cuban judge Melody González Pedraza / OCDH

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 8 July 2024 —On Monday, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) requested the acquittal of those convicted by Judge Melody González Pedraza, who is currently in a political asylum process in the United States. In a statement made public the same day OCDH — an NGO headquartered in Spain — reported on an interview with González Pedraza by Diario de Cuba, in which the judge herself claimed to have received instructions from the president of the Provincial Court of Villa Clara and the president of the Security Chamber to convict Andy Gabriel González Fuentes, Eddy Daniel Rodríguez Pérez, Luis Ernesto Medina Pedraza and Adain Barreiro Pérez.

All of them were sentenced by the Popular Municipal Court of Encrucijada, Villa Clara, which González Pedraza presided over, for the crime of attack. The first three were sentenced to four years in prison and the fourth to three years.

The Observatory believes that the judge’s statements give “new grounds for acquittal and revocation of the sentence”

“They gave me precise indications; I said that the defense lawyers had presented important evidence, especially from witnesses. But the order I received was that the evidence of the Prosecutor’s Office was sufficient and had more value. We had to maintain pre-trial detention and sanction them,” said the former official in her interview with the Madrid-based Cuban newspaper.

The Observatory believes that the Judge González Pedraza’s statements give “new reasons for acquittal and revocation of the sentence,” since “it is evident that it was not legal and just to pronounce a criminal sentence.”

The NGO’s report, with six recommendations, is addressed to the appellant appointed lawyers of the ruling of the Municipal Court of Crossroads, issued last January, and to the members of the Governing Council of the Provincial Court in Villa Clara, among other institutions. continue reading

“There was a violation of guarantees and fundamental rights to the detriment of those convicted, as well as the absence of a crime and serious judicial misconduct without the least minimum of evidence. We believe that there are sufficient elements for imminent release measures to be adopted in favor of the appellants, as a definitive and just measure,” says the OCDH.

Amnesty International urged the Government of the Island to release Pedro Albert Sánchez “immediately and unconditionally”

In addition, Amnesty International (AI) — an NGO based in London — designated Cuban professor and activist Pedro Albert Sánchez as a prisoner of conscience on Monday. It urged the Cuban Government to release him “immediately and unconditionally,” along with all the “unjustly imprisoned people” in the country.

The NGO stated that in December a judge revoked the sanction of “limitation of freedom” – the fulfillment of the sentence out of prison – that weighed against the activist for having participated in the massive anti-government protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’).

The 68-year-old professor, who also suffers from cancer, had been sentenced to five years on charges of “contempt” and “public disorder.” Last November he was arrested when he tried to go to the headquarters of the European Union in Havana to deliver a letter to the High Special Representative of the European Union for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, who was in Cuba on a working visit.

The Government’s “repressive tactics” have also increased with practices such as “criminalization, arbitrary arrests and harassment”

“Since this imprisonment, Pedro Albert has been confined for more than 50 days in punishment cells and has been denied adequate medical care, including access to medicines,” AI reproached.

In addition to Sánchez, the AI recognizes as prisoners of conscience in Cuba the opponent José Daniel Ferrer, the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo, and the Yoruban officiants Loreto Hernández García and Donaida Pérez Paseiro.

AI also stressed that on the Island, which is on the eve of the third anniversary of 11J, the protests “have not only continued, but have increased.”

However, AI continued, the Government’s “repressive tactics” have also increased with practices such as “criminalization, arbitrary arrests and harassment of activists, journalists and human rights defenders, along with general and selective internet cuts.”

AI added that in the last three years, organizations such as Justicia 11J, Prisoners Defenders (PD) and the OCDH have documented “that between 963 and 1,113 people are detained for political reasons” and that at least “671 remain in prison for their participation in the protests of 11 July 2021.”

AI asked the Cuban Executive to repeal the articles of the Criminal Code, which went into effect in December 2022, which “criminalize dissent and violate the right to freedom of expression.”

“It is unacceptable that the Cuban authorities continue to use repressive tactics to silence those who dare to raise their voices in defense of their human rights. This constant repression to try to stifle any form of dissidence must be stopped once and for all,” said Ana Piquer, AI Director for the Americas, cited in the document made public on Monday.

“It is very important that the German Government first becomes aware of what is happening”

Also this Monday, and from Berlin, Prisoners Defenders urged the Government of Germany to become aware of the situation of Luis Frómeta Compte, with dual Cuban and German nationality, sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of sedition, for filming the demonstrations of 11J with his cell phone.

“It is very important that the German Government first becomes aware of what is happening” and “that it takes responsibility for its duty with respect to German citizens,” the president of the Spanish NGO, Javier Larrondo, told EFE.

The German Government can argue that as Frómeta has dual nationality and has committed crimes in Cuba, Germany cannot do much, he said after a press conference in Berlin focused on the recent unprecedented condemnation of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) for the arbitrary arrests of 11J.

“But when the United Nations certifies with an opinion and condemns Cuba to release him, to compensate him and to remedy all the problems it has caused to Mr. Frómeta, the German Government already has a debt to Mr. Frómeta” that it has to fulfill as with every German citizen.

He stressed that Frómeta, 61, who has been living in Germany since 1985 and who was arrested on 17 July 2021, is not convicted in that country in a legal way, “but illegally, as if he were kidnapped by a mafia or a mafia clan.”

“Luis Frómeta has been kidnapped; Luis Frómeta is being tortured and killed by criminals, according to the United Nations,” he said when referring to the WGAD ruling.

“Luis Frómeta has been kidnapped; Luis Frómeta is being tortured and killed by criminals, according to the United Nations

In addition, while the Spanish Government is a priority for Cuban politics, Germany is very relevant at the political level and has an important capacity for influence, just as do Italy and France.

“There are four countries that have a lot to say about Latin American politics and in particular Cuba’s policy,” he said in a clear appeal to the respective governments.

PD emphasizes that, in its ruling, the UN strongly condemns the arrests of 11J in Cuba and demands compensation and the release of the 17 accused of “sedition” in a single sentencing, something unprecedented for Cuba.

Among the seven most common patterns in the 520 criminal cases studied between 2022 and 2023, the NGO cites deprivation of liberty without judicial protection; lack of independent lawyers; dependence on government prosecutors and judges; experts and witnesses of the State as the only sources of accusation; criminalization of the exercise of fundamental rights; insufficient crimes; military courts used against civilians; and summary proceedings.

Larrondo believes that this opinion can be of great help “because the dictators are aware of the political cost of these opinions against them and that political cost restricts the freedom of repression that they would like to exercise.”

In addition, he added, in case of fruitful negotiations for the release of political prisoners, these people who according to the opinion must be released and compensated would be on the list.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Capped Prices for Chicken and Five Other Products Take Effect This Monday in Cuba

The Cuban Government will update prices when necessary and may include other goods

Prices in the private market Flores, at Escobar and Reina, Central Havana, this Monday / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana/Madrid, 8 July 8, 2024 — The Cuban Government has acted to exempt from tariffs the import of six basic products whose prices will be high: chicken, powdered milk, cooking oil, sausages, pasta and detergent powder. The resolution was published in the Official Gazette on Monday, July 8 — though dated Tuesday the 9th. It will go into effect “from its publication” so beginning this Monday the products should be sold at no more than the maximum price marked.

According to the table that accompanies the Resolution, the cap on the price of chicken is 680 pesos per kilo; a liter of oil (except for olive oil) should cost 990 pesos; a kilo of milk powder 1,675 pesos; pasta, 835 pesos; sausages 1,075 pesos; and detergent 630 pesos.

“In the formation of the retail prices of these products, economic actors recognize up to thirty percent (30%) of profit margin on costs and expenses, provided that they do not exceed the defined prices,” the text says. It also specified that, if at the time of the regulations go into effect, an establishment has prices lower than the maximum allowed by the State, it “does not imply or justify an increase in the prices of these products,” although there is no prohibition either. continue reading

The measure’s purpose, the document states, is to “contain the price levels of certain products of high impact on the population, through the exemption from the payment of the Customs Tax for their imports and the central establishment of maximum retail prices.” It took center stage at the end of June, when the Government wanted to cap the prices of those six products in private stores.

If at the time of entry into force an establishment has prices lower than the maximum allowed, “it does not imply or justify an increase in the prices.”

The announcement spread like wildfire on independent and local administration networks, and July 1 was given as the date of entry into force. Although nothing had been announced about the tariff exemption, it was one of the demands made by the entrepreneurs in their meeting with the authorities. The confusion meant that most of the products with allegedly capped prices disappeared, at least between Monday and Tuesday of last week, according to 14ymedio.

On Tuesday night, the state press confirmed that the measure had not yet entered into force, but that it would do so sooner rather than later. The Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices, Lourdes Rodríguez, said on Canal Caribe that the decision was made, but they still had to “continue the exchanges with the economic actors, about the realities they face in their import, transport and marketing processes, as well as attend to the opinions of the population.”

Although no specific date was offered, people felt that the rule was imminent. In addition, on Wednesday, an audio of one of the meetings between the official and the private sector was leaked, in which the businesspeople showed their concern about the high cost of acquiring the goods and fuel for transport. The state press pointed out that when the measures became official, they would be published in the Official Gazette to inform the population, which happened on Monday.

Despite the fact that the initial impression given was that prices would be determined in each territory by the local administration, the caps are completely centralized, although the Resolution warns that they will be reviewable.

“The Ministry of Finance and Prices, in coordination with the Ministries of Foreign Trade and Investment and Internal Trade, is responsible for periodically observing the behavior of the import prices of the goods referred to in this Resolution, to determine the corresponding updates in their maximum retail prices and to include other goods,” the text says, highlighting the possible price volatility, with the corresponding uncertainty this may bring.

Imports of chicken from the United States amounted to 23.99 tons, 17.8% more than in April

In Havana, chicken had returned to the stores after two days of being “hidden” because of doubts about the price cap. According to this newspaper, the approximate price per kilo was around 630 pesos, below what it may be from now on.

The information comes on the same day that the data on chicken imports from the United States for the month of May became known, whose volume amounted to 23.99 tons (17.8% more than in April). The increase in the cost of a pound to $1.34, compared to $1.20 the previous month, caused the value to grow by 32%. The figures reflect, according to Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, “the usual oscillating trajectory of monthly exports of chicken meat from the United States to Cuba.”

The expert has observed that between January and June 2024, the purchase volume decreased by 2.6% (106,368.5 tons) compared to the same period of 2023 (111,583), although the cost increased by 15.9%; that is, fewer tons at a higher price in the first five months of 2024. “The instability in U.S. chicken exports to Cuba in a context of an upward trend in the unit value (dollars/ton) could be aggravated due to an eventual decision of fixed caps on profits and prices in Cuba,” the professor warned minutes before the Resolution was made public.

Among the businesspeople, who are afraid of this measure, last week there was a great fear of not being able to come to an agreement with their suppliers. On the street the concern is that the products will go to the black market, where they will be even more expensive. Pending the reaction of the private sector – and while the extension of the measure to state foreign exchange stores is still not announced, despite the discourse of unitary policy “for all economic actors” – the price of the dollar on the black market continues to fall and stands today at 340 pesos. In the words of an entrepreneur – before the exemptions were known – “if you sell dollars, no one here will care anymore.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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If You Want the Rice From the Cuban Ration Book, You Have To Go Unload the Ship

In the absence of stevedores, the authorities summon the population and the Army

The port of Vita currently has only one-third of the staff needed to unload cargo / Ahora!

14ymedio, Havana, July 8, 2024 — The Cuban authorities have put the population to work unloading rice from the ships due to the lack of stevedores in the ports. This is recognized in articles in the official press published this Monday, one in Granma and one in Ahora!.

In the port of Nuevitas (Camagüey), where 5,000 tons of rice arrived to be distributed in Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey and Las Tunas, they took workers from various sectors, “young people from the territory” and even soldiers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR). Although the ship is on time, the unloading must be completed no later than Tuesday.

As he admitted in an interview with the newspaper Granma, Mario Martínez Mora, director of the Puerto de Nuevitas Base Business Unit, “our own force” is “very limited. We currently have one-third of the staff of stevedores. That’s why the support we receive is essential, especially in the unloading and cleaning of the cargo holds.”

The fundamental activity of the territory, at the moment, is the transport of rice

Meanwhile, at the Vita pier, in Holguín, the authorities are using “all means” to unload, as soon as possible, the 2,360 tons of rice that arrived on Friday. A few stevedores and workers from other sectors participate in the chore, brought from the eastern provinces and even from the center of the continue reading

country, to distribute the rice in the province. “The fundamental activity of the territory, at the moment, is the transport of rice,” explained the director of the port, Manuel González Cecilio, to the newspaper Ahora!.

To ensure that the rice is distributed as quickly as possible in Holguín, vehicles and carriers were also mobilized for the work, despite the fact that fuel in the area is scarce. “Vita is 50 kilometers from Holguín; therefore, we must quickly mobilize everyone and have a lot of fuel for the operation, despite its shortage,” said Rosell González Pérez, Transport coordinator of the provincial government.

The Vita authorities anticipate that another ship will arrive on,Tuesday from Santiago de Cuba, with 2,440 more tons of food, presumably rice, in addition to 360 tons of peas. With this second shipment in just a few days, the authorities of Holguín intend to completely cover the rationing system’s family basket of June and a part of that of July.

“The unloading will not stop, regardless of whether it is Saturday or Sunday; for those of us who have this responsibility, the days are all the same. We will not rest until the families of Holguin have rice on their plates,” González Pérez said.

Havana has requested the assistance of its allies, such as China, to solve the rice shortage

The lack of stevedores on the Cuban docks can be explained by the fact that, in the face of low wages, many workers have left the country or simply moved to the private sector, in search of better living conditions.

Havana has requested the assistance of its allies, such as China, to solve the shortage of rice, which is part of the basic Cuban diet. In April, Beijing pledged to send more than 20,000 tons of rice to Cuba throughout the year, mainly by sea. This type of donation, although usual, has not been enough to resolve the demand, although China carried out some shipments by air after receiving an urgent request from Havana.

Another ally that has responded to requests for help from the Government to supply the population with the precious grain is Vietnam, which this year will send 1,640 tons of rice, at a date yet to be specified. The Communist Party of Cuba went ahead and thanked Vietnam in April, after the donation was announced as part of 50 new agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation in numerous sectors.

In a search carried out by 14ymedio on satellite tracking platforms, such as Vessel Finder and Marine Traffic, it was not possible to determine the origin of the cargo ships that arrived full of rice this weekend in Nuevitas and Vita. For reasons of national security, the Cuban authorities do not publish in their press the details about ship movements, both for oil and for food products, whose massive import tries to alleviate the deficiencies of national production.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Carlos Espinosa, An Essential Look at Cuba

I want to think that death surprised him while he was reading, with his eyes shining when he found some clue, some lost piece in the puzzle of our culture

Cuban intellectual Carlos Espinosa passed away this Saturday in Madrid at the age of 74 / Facebook

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 8 July 2024 — In one of the presentations of the play Jacuzzi [written by the author of this article] in Madrid, someone from the group came running to the dressing room with the news that Carlos Espinosa Domínguez was in the audience. If there had been a nerveometer to measure the ensuing panic, it would have broken instantly. But not because of the fear that fierce critics provoked; we already knew that Carlos was very elegant when it came to giving a professional opinion, even if it was negative. What triggered our anxiety was the privilege of acting before one of the most authoritative voices of Cuban theater, whose name was synonymous with rigor, wisdom and excellence.

At the end of the show, the actors approached me: “Did you see him? Did he tell you anything about the play?” Nothing, I answered them. And we all felt low, and neither the audience’s applause nor the congratulations could raise our spirits. Nobody confessed it that night, but each of us went home with the terrible feeling that he didn’t like the play.

However, the next day, I received a call. On the other side of the phone, a soft and slow voice said good morning to me. It was Carlos. He had gotten my number through a mutual friend and wanted us to know that he had been deeply excited about Jacuzzi. He apologized for leaving the theater in such a hurry, but he had to return to Aranjuez, almost 50 kilometers from Madrid. After that he didn’t write just one, he wrote two articles for Cubaencuentro about the show. The second carried a title where it positioned itself without hesitation: The dream of a free and inclusive Cuba*. continue reading

Since that day we haven’t stopped talking. He wanted to know everything. He wondered with a child’s curiosity about details that I hadn’t even noticed myself

Since that day we haven’t stopped talking. He wanted to know everything. He wondered with a child’s curiosity about details that I hadn’t even noticed myself. I went to see his apartment in Aranjuez, a retreat where he avoided any distraction that would take him away from what was important: to investigate, rummage through the bowels of Cuban culture until he found what they call soul. I was surprised how up-to-date he was, especially about what was happening in Cuba. We conspired. We confessed terrible experiences suffered on that Island, but we did it more with hope than remorse. He himself proposed to me the publication of a volume of five of my works for the Verbum Publishing House. And that was his penultimate job.

This Saturday, when I left the flamenco show where I earn my bread, Maestro Carlos Celdrán called me to give me the news of his death. Another friend of his, the journalist Carlos Cabrera, also called to share his pain. I couldn’t believe it. I called him immediately and his cell phone was busy. It seemed like one of those hoaxes, Chomsky-style, but on the networks there were publications from serious colleagues who also talked about his death. The rest of the times I insisted on calling, a long ringing with no answer confirmed the worst.

I learned later, from an article by Carlos Cabrera, that a neighbor of his warned the firefighters, surprised because Espinosa did not respond to his calls. He lived alone, with that loneliness of the alchemist whose research has become a sacrament. I know that his last work, Así Siempre los Tiranos [Thus Always Tyrants], had become an obsession that required him to stretch every minute. And anyone who knows the size of his work, knows that Carlos was like those men of other centuries who make you wonder how the hell they could write so much. That’s why I don’t want to think about the sadness of his solitude but about the freedom that the word also implies.

I want to think that death surprised him while reading, with his eyes shining when he found some clue, some lost piece in the puzzle of our culture or our history, if they are different things. I want to remember him with his shy smile, despite the daring of his writing. I want to stay with his absence of anger, which did not imply any absence of character. Carlos Espinosa was, like few others, a man with judgment, but his opinions about the political situation in Cuba went beyond the immediate. They were much more comprehensive and profound.

I am not at all surprised by the silence of some institutions in Cuba to which he contributed a lot, nor the silence of some of his colleagues. There remains his work, tremendously immense.

I didn’t want to refer to Espinosa’s biography in this article. Other voices, more authoritative than mine, have already written excellent obituaries. Also on the networks, several artists and intellectuals have expressed deep sorrow at his loss. I am not at all surprised by the silence of some institutions in Cuba to which he contributed a lot, nor the silence of some of his colleagues. There remains his work, tremendously immense, which speaks more than anything else.

My main reason for this article is to be able to say goodbye, as if he could read it. In his last message he scolded me big time for taking so long to answer his calls. I didn’t have time to talk to him about my telephone phobia. I couldn’t thank him enough for his effort to bring out a book that we couldn’t present together. I didn’t get to tell him in the most sincere way how much I owed him, how much we owed him. Carlos knew how to look at Cuba as you look at the things you love. And his look – time will be in charge of confirming it – has been an essential look.

Translator’s note: The review closes with this: On his Facebook account, Carlos Celdrán, National Theatre Award winner, wrote: “Since I saw it, some time ago, in Havana, I assumed that Jacuzzi , by Yunior García, was a tremendous, sincere, unusual, highly accomplished work. Last night, and this time in Madrid, Jacuzzi has shaken me again. Not only me, but the entire audience that filled the room and gave a standing ovation, moved at the end of this performance that, I can assure you, has been a high point, very high, in Yunior’s theatre. The show crossed time, distances, the accumulated pain of these last years to arrive purified, whole and leave us with what only the theatre with its stripping down can achieve.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Journalist Expelled From Ecuador Asks Justice for the Return of Her Visa

Her lawyer demands that the Noboa Government deliver the secret reports mentioned by the Executive

Santiago, while recording a broadcast of her program Ingobernables [Ungovernables ]/ EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Quito (Ecuador), 6 May 2024 — Cuban journalist Alondra Santiago asked the Justice Department of Ecuador this Friday to annul the decision of the Government of President Daniel Noboa to expel her from the country by canceling her visa, an act apparently related to the communicator’s criticism of his government’s Administration. Through her lawyer Carlos Soria, the aggrieved claimed the application of a protection action where the Government is judicially obliged to return her visa and deliver the secret reports that the Executive has mentioned as a reason for her expulsion.

The lawyer maintained that, with the decision of the Executive, the defendant has seen her rights to freedom, free communication, dissemination of information, non-discrimination, protection of family ties, legal security, due process and defense violated.

Soria accused the Noboa administration of allegedly skipping the administrative procedure by making the decision to cancel Santiago’s visa without first notifying her about the beginning of the process to give her the opportunity of a defense. continue reading

Soria accused the Noboa administration of allegedly bypassing the administrative procedure by making the decision to cancel the visa

The magistrate in charge of evaluating the requested protection action suspended the hearing until she had the documents presented by the Government, whose lawyers confirmed that their procedure against Santiago is legal and maintained due process.

The Government of Noboa notified Santiago on June 24 that it was withdrawing her permanent residence visa on the grounds of alleged acts against national security, based on a “secret report” prepared by the intelligence center. Through her Ingobernables [Ungovernables] talk show, which is broadcast on social networks and has a wide audience, Santiago had been critical of Noboa, and in the last elections she had expressed his support for Luisa González, the candidate of Correísmo.

Weeks ago she was harshly criticized for using the Ecuadorian national anthem to make a parody about President Noboa’s management. Specifically, the Government stated the same Tuesday that the national anthem was announced on a national network (message to the nation) through the media, with the previous phrase “out of respect for the country”.

“I would like to return to my country, which is Ecuador, because there I have my whole life”

For Santiago, this episode is proof that Noboa’s “authoritarianism” “has no limits,” as she told EFE this Friday in her first interview with an international media outlet since her departure from Ecuador. “What Daniel Noboa did to me is not only cut off my freedom of the press but my right to defend myself (…) I don’t know what I’m accused of, I haven’t seen the document; my lawyer hasn’t seen it either,” she complained.

Santiago added, however, that even if Justice rules in her favor, she is not sure if she will return to Ecuador because she feels that her life could be at risk. In fact, she asked EFE for security reasons not to reveal her location. “I would like to return to my country, which is Ecuador, because I have my whole life there. But what’s going on? If a Government is capable of committing this totally crazy and violent act … If I can return tomorrow, what else can the president do? What can he tell me to do? I have no guarantees that my life will be safe there,” she said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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According to Gutiérrez Boronat, the Cubans Killed in Ukraine Were From the Elite Russian Troops

The activist claims that several of them have died at the front and cites Commander Kirill Veres as a source.

Kirill Veres, commander of the 54th brigade of the Ukrainian Army, during the interview with Ukrainsta Pravda. / Ukraine Pravda

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 July 2024 — Several Cubans who were part of the Russian Army died on the Soledar-Siversk front, in Donetsk (eastern Ukraine), according to the secretary general of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, who cites as a source Commander Kirill Veres, head of the 54th brigade of the Ukrainian Army, who allegedly gave him the documentation for two of them. They were Leonel Fundichel y Duquesne, from Luyanó (Diez de Octubre, Havana), and Denis Frank Pacheco Rubio, from Raúl Sancho, Santa Clara (Villa Clara).

Gutiérrez Boronat, who was allegedly in Ukraine in 2023 – on a trip that was described by the Cuban regime on the Russian side – says that the information reached him through military leaders in Kiev.

“Several Cuban mercenaries were killed by Ukrainian troops defending their national territory in the face of the Russian imperialist invasion. The announcement was made by Commander Kirill Veres, one of the most popular and decorated Ukrainian commanders,” says Gutiérrez Boronat in a video. According to his version, the fight took place on June 20, in an ambush against the brigade led by Veres, and between 4 and 16 Cubans died. continue reading

“Multiple Cuban mercenaries were killed by Ukrainian troops defending their national territory in the face of the Russian imperialist invasion”

“These Cubans were part of Russian commando units or special forces known as ’storm groups’. The Russian regiment that attacked the 54th had 16 storm groups, with two Cubans in each,” says the activist, who adds that the soldiers are members of the regime’s elite troops.” If not, they could not participate, not having the necessary preparation, in these Russian elite units that were deployed in the occupied territory of Ukraine.”

Gutiérrez Boronat has disseminated images of the documents of the two Cubans mentioned and maintains that the bodies of both were found with their identification.

“Ukrainian intelligence has announced that they estimate that up to 40% of the Cuban troops deployed in Ukraine in the service of Russia are actually elite troops, who belong to the services of the Ministry of the Interior and who are, in this war in Ukraine or in Belarus, perfecting their capacity for war and helping the Russian offensive in key places against the patriots of Ukraine,” he insists.

The information has been released by several Miami media, which cite a long interview of Veres conducted by the newspaper Ukrainsta Pravda, including a video with the full version of the conversation. In the interview, however, Cuba is not mentioned nor is the documentation that Gutiérrez Boronat showed provided, from which it follows that it was sent privately.

In the interview, Veres talks about the importance of always being at the forefront of war and of renewing tactics. He affirms that the enemy (Russia) is very motivated and that he does not know how it trains, but that is its greatest strength. Meanwhile, he considers that the greatest value of his brigade is the technology and organization of the troops. Veres also talks about the mercenaries of the late Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner group, and that he captured one of them brought from Syria.

The commander maintains that Wagner’s members were earning 5,300 euros a month in Syria, 7,500 euros in Africa and up to 16,000 in Ukraine

The commander maintains that Wagner’s members were earning 5,300 euros a month in Syria, 7,500 euros in Africa and up to 16,000 in Ukraine.

Veres also affirms that his men do not usually flee, that there are numerous women in his brigade, who are, in his opinion, better fighters than men – they are 100% more responsible, he says – and also mobilized prisoners, whom he is not afraid of, he says “because they were not murderers.” He also confesses to being tired, after 10 years of war – he has been fighting since 2014 in the Dombás – but satisfied.

According to Telemundo 51, which echoed Gutiérrez Boronat’s announcement, Pacheco’s wife – one of the two Cuban soldiers killed and identified in the report – says that he had no military training and that he went to Russia voluntarily “to guarantee a better economic future for his family.” His daughter, who appears in the latest photos on the military’s social networks, is not yet a year old.

“I don’t know what I’ll tell her in the future when she asks me about her dad. It’s something I suffer every day. Although he did not make the right decision, we need to know what happened to him, how he died and under what circumstances,” said his wife from Santa Clara.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Another Attempt To Remove the Statues of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Mexico City Fails

A deputy has called for the removal of the monument to “the murderers” located in a central park

The sculptures were placed in 2017 to commemorate the meeting of the two celebrities 69 years ago / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Adyr Corral, Mexico City, 6 July 2024 — In Tabacalera park in Mexico City, very few people have heard about the call that Deputy América Rangel made this Thursday on social networks to remove the sculptures of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara. Rangel, who belongs to the conservative National Action Party, sought to emulate the no less picturesque controversy generated by the call that neighbors of a beach in Progreso, Yucatan, have made to remove a sculpture of the Greek god Poseidon, because its presence on the boardwalk of the city has infuriated the Mayan god Chaac.

“Now that in Yucatan they are organizing to remove the statue of Poseidon, here in Mexico City we must do the same to remove the statues of the murderers Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Who is in?” the capital deputy published on her X account.

But Rangel’s harangue, which was fueled by some of her followers, did not have the desired effect outside the social media bubble, and no one arrived with chains and a truck to remove the life-size bronze sculptures, which some of those who celebrated the idea had suggested in the comments.

There have been no strange movements in the park, which is hidden behind the National Museum of San Carlos, where time passes at a less dizzying pace than in the rest of Mexico City. Located in what was once the garden of the Palacio del Conde de Buenavista, it is now located in one of the red zones of the metropolis where trans prostitutes negotiate the price of their services and drugs are for sale, especially cocaine and poor quality meth. continue reading

“There are many people in a vulnerable situation, also a lot of drug sales”

“There are usually many people in a vulnerable situation, also a lot of drug sales, people who come here to get high. The atmosphere has deteriorated for a long time,” said a museum security guard, whose main task is to guard an entrance that leads directly to the park and the two bronze-cast figures sitting on a bench, as if they were any couple.

“For me it’s an aberration to have these statues here,” says a neighbor who walks his dog. “We have countless national heroes, why are we going to have these individuals, if Castro was a dictator?” asks Roberto Domínguez Ortiz, an 84-year-old man who has lived across from the park for more than 40 years.

Dozens of homeless people spend the night in the park after spending their day asking motorists for money in exchange for cleaning their windshields at traffic lights or collecting cardboard and plastic bottles, in exchange for which some coins can be earned in recycling centers.

Juan is one of them. After listening attentively to his eighty-year-old neighbor, he approaches and questions why they put Castro and Guevara in that place. “Shouldn’t they be somewhere else? In Cuba, for example?” He says that the bench where Fidel and Che are smoking a cigar and a pipe, respectively, once broke, because a tree fell on it.”

Castro and Guevara are looking towards an immense fountain – now without water – that has become a bathtub and laundry room for the park’s tenants. Juan, who is not more than 30 years old and sports a scruffy beard along with some tattoos on his right arm, says sarcastically that Fidel and Che often serve as a clothesline to dry the clothes newly washed in the fountain.

Fidel and Che have become the clotheslines for homeless people / Crónicas al hilo / X

Castro and Guevara were placed in this park because it is located a few blocks from the building where they met while they lived in Mexico. On the facade of the building where the meeting took place, a plaque reads: “This place of the Cuauhtémoc (neighborhood of the city) was where, in July 1955, the first meeting between Fidel Castro Ruz and Ernesto Guevara de la Serna took place. In honor of the role that both personalities have had in the revolutionary struggle of Latin America.”

The building is a three-story building located at 49 José de Emparán Street. It remains inhabited but in deplorable condition, without glass in the windows, which have cardboard and wood so as not to let in the cold and prevent the curious from looking in. If you look at the facade, it is easy to detect several visible cracks in the red paint, probably the result of the constant earthquakes that shake the Mexican capital.

The apartment building where both met in 1955 / 14ymedio

Senator Ricardo Monreal, a staunch supporter of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador — who installed the sculptures in 2017 — said when he was mayor of Cuauhtémoc, “Many may not agree with Fidel or Che but this community is tolerant.” In September 2021, the sculpture was vandalized by demonstrators, who threw white paint at it, damaging the copper patina. The protest was directed against the Government of López Obrador, days after he received Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. At that time it was also suggested that the figures be removed, but the initiative failed.

The white paint was removed and the patina restored, but recently someone wrote a message with a black pen in the notebook that Castro is holding: “Whoever finds the thief and returns what was stolen will be rewarded.”

Not only was white paint thrown at them but propaganda was also placed against López Obrador on the statues / Manuel Amador/X

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Police Harass Journalist José Luis Tan Estrada a Few Days Before the Anniversary of July 11

The reporter was threatened with charges of disobedience and contempt if he publishes content about the protests on social networks

The reporter is prohibited from attending public places under the threat of going to prison for disobedience and contempt. / José Raúl Gallego/X

14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2024 — State Security released journalist José Luis Tan Estrada this Friday after a brief interrogation where they warned him that on July 11, when three years of the 11J protests are commemorated, he must refrain from making any publication on his social networks. The reporter is also prohibited from attending public places under the threat of being imprisoned for disobedience and contempt.

The CubaNet collaborator reported on his Facebook page that on Friday afternoon, while connecting to the internet in the Agramonte park in the city of Camagüey, he was approached by a political police officer who arbitrarily arrested him. Tan Estrada was transferred in a patrol car to the Third Unit of Monte Carlos of the National Revolutionary Police, where he was intimidated.

In his publication he said that a repressor, whom he identified as Laura, stopped him while he was connecting to the internet. After approaching him in the park, she took his cell phone and immobilized his hand, warning him that if he shouted he would go to jail. After remaining in that position for a few minutes, a patrol car approached and he was arrested. Once they reached the Police unit, an interrogation began, joined by another agent, identified as Marcelo. continue reading

“They gave me a letter of warning, which I did not sign, and, in addition, they said that if I did not comply with it, I would be prosecuted for disobedience and contempt”

“They gave me a letter of warning, which I did not sign and, in addition, they said that if I did not comply with it, I would be prosecuted for disobedience and contempt. I told them, and I say it here again, that I will continue doing independent journalism and will not turn my face to injustices,” he said a few hours after being released.

“The main objective was to threaten me and warn me that on July 11, I cannot be in public places, or in parks, post anything or take any action to incite people, because I, according to the repressors, am a negative leader in the province, and it was better for me to stay at home,” he said. He also thanked journalist José Raúl Gallego, a resident of Mexico, because they were having a conversation at the moment they took his cell phone away, so it was possible to give news of his arrest to his family and friends.

The journalist has been harassed by the political police in recent years. In April, he was arrested in Havana and later released, after spending five days at the headquarters of State Security, Villa Marista. During that time the agents urged him to leave the country, and, according to his account of the facts, he was the victim of psychological torture: “They can do anything in there. One, who I think was a captain, told me, ’you’re going to rot here, worm’,” Tan Estrada revealed after being released.

This Friday, after Tan Estrada left the police unit, the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) condemned his arrest, which it described as “a new attempt at silence and repression among voices critical of the Cuban regime.” The organization also demanded respect for the diversity and freedom of expression because, it said in a statement on its networks, “thinking and giving a different opinion are not crimes.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cubans Without Visas To Travel on Wingo Airlines Protest at the Colombian Embassy in Havana

Beginning July 8, residents of the Island will need a visitor visa to travel on the airline to Bogotá

Protests in the Havana airport (left) and at the Colombian Embassy (right) / Collage / Roberto Fdez Cruz / Mario Pentón

14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2024 — The controversy between the Colombian airline Wingo and its Cuban users has escalated in recent days after the company announced that from July 8 it will only transport travelers with a visitor visa, that is, whose final destination is Bogotá. Many of its customers on the Island have begun to protest the measure, which prohibits travel to those who were only thinking of transiting in the Colombian capital, and this Friday the demands reached the Colombian Embassy in Havana.

According to the statement published by Wingo on its official website, the request for Cuban travelers to present a visitor visa and their return ticket to the Island – purchased from the company itself – is going into effect based on another announcement made by the Colombian Foreign Ministry on July 4. According to the official document, “in order for a passenger to be considered in transit at Colombian airports, the same air transport contract must include both the journeys of arrival in the national territory and those of departure to the third country.”

In summary, the Government of Colombia requires the transit to be included in the same flight contract; that is, that it be done with the same company.

For its part, Wingo only operates a “point-to-point” flight between Havana and Bogotá, so it cannot check the transit status or be responsible for its travelers when they move to another airline. “It is important to reaffirm that Wingo’s network of routes only offers direct flights, in this case Havana – Bogotá, and does not offer connecting flights, either within its continue reading

own network, or with other airlines. That said, the airline is not able to verify the validity of connections with other airlines beyond Bogotá,” it explains.

“After communicating this decision, the airline will only transport passengers of Cuban nationality who have a visa to enter Colombia, without exception. This measure will be in effect from July 8, 2024,” adds the company, which offers customers who do not meet the requirements two options: request a free change of the flight date (the ticket will remain good until March 2025) or request a refund – although the airline does not clarify if they will refund the total cost of the ticket.

In either case, the tickets must have been purchased before July 8 of this year.

Cubans, for their part, have not taken the announcement well, and last Monday several customers protested in front of Wingo’s office at José Martí International Airport. Through videos and publications shared on networks, many of the customers said that they had been forced to leave the airport by the Island’s authorities without obtaining explanations from Wingo. Hours later, the company published its statement clarifying that “it is not asking for a transit visa” as many confused users claimed, but that it was adhering to the regulations issued by the Foreign Ministry of that country.

This Friday, the protest was held in front of the Colombian diplomatic headquarters in Havana, where citizens demanded an explanation from officials and that they allow travel for those who had already purchased a ticket. According to other publications on social networks, the ambassador told the group that two weeks ago he filed lawsuits against Wingo and that the airline is analyzing the matter.

Travelers, however, have not been satisfied, and many have expressed the sacrifices they made to pay for the ticket

Travelers, however, have not been satisfied, and many have expressed the sacrifices they made to pay for the ticket, including the sale of houses and belongings, since their objective was to emigrate. The meeting with the diplomat also did not leave them convinced and, as many have declared on social networks: “Everything smells like lies,” and Wingo is not giving concrete answers to demands for reimbursement and to allow travel.

Cubans are running out of ways to reach Colombia, one of the favorite stopovers on the way to Nicaragua, where they embark on the route to the United States. These obstacles are the result of the pressure exerted by Washington on airlines for their complicity, active or passive, with the transport networks for illegal migrants. Several airlines have preferred to suspend their flights in the face of the threat of sanctions from the United States.

At the beginning of June, the Colombian airline Avianca reported that, “due to operational issues,” it will postpone until further notice the restart of flights on the route between Bogotá and Havana, which it had promised since May, without giving further details.

Avianca will reimburse all customers who had already purchased tickets to travel between those destinations since the announcement of the resumption of operations, the company said at the time. The airline’s planes have not traveled to Cuba for four years and, at the moment, it is not clear when they will be able to again.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Deadly Thursday on Cuban Roads With Seven Deaths in Two Accidents

The crashes also left at least three people injured.

The crash in Camagüey involved two cars, one of them stopped on the side of the road / La Tijera / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 5 July 2024 — On Thursday, seven people died on Cuban roads in two traffic crashes. One of them occurred at the exit of Santa Lucía Beach in the province of Camagüey and the other in the town of Las Mangas, in Granma province, according to reports from relatives of the victims and witnesses of both accidents. The crash in Camagüey involved two cars, one of them stopped at the side of the road. According to several witnesses published in the Facebook group “Accidents Buses & Trucks” for more experience and fewer victims, one of the cars stopped for two young people to get out, but they exited through the wrong door and were hit by another vehicle that was coming down the road.

The collision with the two people caused the moving car to overturn and catch on fire at a point near the Los Olivos bridge, in the community of El Carmen, an area known as Las 80. The occupants of the front seats managed to get out but two women traveling in the back died as a result of the flames.

According to witnesses of the accident, at least two other people were injured and were transferred to the municipality of Nuevitas for medical attention

The two young people who died when they were hit by the car have been identified as Cliver Álvarez Tamayo, 17 years old and Dailenis Silva, 19, residents of the municipality of Manatí de Las Tunas, according to the digital newspaper CubaNet. The women who died in the fire were Milagros Hernández and Yamila Marín, as published by the portal Cubanos por el Mundo and the news site CiberCuba. continue reading

According to witnesses of the accident, at least two other people were injured and were transferred to the municipality of Nuevitas to receive medical attention

The other crash this Thursday was a collision between a Yutong bus on the route between Bayamo and Havana and a horse cart in the town of Las Mangas, in Granma province. In the crash, three people died and a girl was seriously injured. All the deceased and the youngest injured were traveling in the cart.

According to relatives of the victims, two of the deceased were brothers and owners of the horse cart. While they were traveling on the road, they picked up a mother with two children; the youngest of the minors was the third person to die in the crash. The passengers and the bus driver were not hurt.

According to relatives of the victims, two of the deceased were brothers and owners of the horse cart

Recently, in the official TV program Round Table, the head of the Specialized Transit Body of the Ministry of the Interior, Roberto Rodríguez, admitted that the massive movements of travelers to beaches and vacation destinations in summer keep the Transit authorities on the Island on alert; they fear that the current economic crisis may influence the accidents. The official also acknowledged that the entity has not been able to “stop the deterioration of the roads and signage.”

The official was pleased that the first half of this year has better indicators than the same period of 2023. According to him, 543 fewer accidents occurred – a decrease of 13% – the number of deaths fell by 23% and the number of injured by 5%. Likewise, the number of victims between 21 and 35 years old – 35% of deaths in accidents are in this age range – also declined, although Rodríguez did not offer specific figures in this case.

Rodríguez did not delve into the reason for the decrease in crashes, but it’s possible that the reduced circulation of vehicles due to the lack of fuel is an important factor.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Panama Closes Three Border Crossings Cubans Use To Reach the United States

More than 195,000 migrants, including almost 500 Cubans, have used this route in pursuit of the American dream

An official of the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office on the Astí trail fenced with barbed wire / Colombia Ombudsman’s Office

14ymedio, Havana, 5 July 2024 — Panama closed three unauthorized border crossings on Wednesday, which more than 195,000 migrants – including 500 Cubans – have used to make the crossing to the United States this year.

With the support of 300 units of the National Border Service (Senafront), points were blocked on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. In addition, barbed wire was placed on the short cuts that lead to the area of Hito de Chucurti, bordering Colombia. Several migrants have shared images on social networks of the barbed wire fence that prevents them from continuing on their way. According to Senafront, the objective of the measure is to channel irregular migration towards the Cañas Blancas crossing, which leads to the community of Bajo Chiquito.

The agency denied that the migrants had destroyed the wire fence. “It’s a video from 2019,” they explained, alluding to a recording that is circulating on social networks, “when, as a result of external situations, the crossing was closed at the border landmark of La Miel in the Caribbean.

Luego de que el Gobierno de Panamá anunciara el cierre de pasos fronterizos en el #Darién, exhortamos al Gobierno nacional a solicitar tener presentes los postulados del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos.

En video, Defensor del Pueblo, Julio Luis Balanta Mina. pic.twitter.com/dsqxVkKVe6

— Defensoría del Pueblo (@DefensoriaCol) July 5, 2024

At his July 1st inauguration, President José Raúl Mulino warned that Panama “will not be an open path for thousands of people who enter illegally backed by an entire organization related to drug and human trafficking.” The president specified that entry into the country will not be allowed “without a passport or valid document.” continue reading

The border closure came days after Panama’s Foreign Minister, Javier Martínez Acha, signed a memorandum of understanding and immigration cooperation with Alejandro Mayorkas, US Secretary of Homeland Security. The agreement includes the transfer of 6,000,000 dollars to develop the Mulino Government’s plan to repatriate migrants who do not have a legal basis to be in Panama.

The new director of the National Migration Service of Panama, Roger Mojica, explained that repatriation or expulsion from the country will depend on the immigration record, taking into account those who do not have the financial support to stay in Panama or have pending cases, according to Prensa Latina.

This year, Panama has deported 406 people, four of them from the Island. In addition, Migration has arrested, without specifying the reasons, four other Cubans.

The Colombian Ombudsman, Julio Luis Balanta Mina, warned this Friday of the humanitarian consequences of closing passage through the Darién jungle. He urged taking into account the health risk of migrants who cross.

“We urge the national government to request that the Panamanian authorities observe and be aware of how important the postulates of international human rights law are,” said Balanta, who insisted on the need to offer international protection to migrants.

Two months ago, the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office published an analytical study in which it simulated the closure of the Darién Gap and its humanitarian impact, putting the right to health on high alert, since it registered 502 health complaints between January 2020 and April 2024, the EFE agency noted.

This document was published before Mulino took power, when he communicated his intention to “close” the passage of migrants through the Darién jungle, which is complicated, since it is a great natural barrier of more than 500,000 hectares shared by Colombia and Panama. It is also the only point of the American continent not crossed by the Pan-American road or any other road.

Emigdio Pertuz Buendía, community leader in Capurganá, in the Colombian department of Chocó, and legal representative of the Major Council of Black Communities of the Acandí River basin and northern coastal area, Cocomanorte, said in an interview on NTN24, that “it was never imagined that a president would make the decision to place barbed wire to prevent the transit of migrants. This migration is supposed to be irregular but not illegal.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Several Cuban Political Prisoners Are in ‘Serious Danger’

The international community is called upon to raise its voice against the regime’s abuses

Activists Carlos Michael Morales, José Daniel Ferrer García and Fray Pascual Claro Valladares/ Collage

14ymedio, Havana, July 4, 2024 — After 14 days on a hunger strike, the life of independent journalist Carlos Michael Morales, admitted to the medical unit of the Guamajal prison, in Santa Clara, is in “serious danger,” the organization Cuba Decide denounced on Tuesday.

The activist, who has already been in prison for two years and 10 months for demonstrating in Caibarién, Villa Clara, during the massive protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’), and who was released in March of this year, was arrested again on May 4 and has been imprisoned for two months without a trial date. In that period he has gone on two hunger strikes, and the latest one has been the most severe.

After several incidents of police harassment, Morales was arrested during a summons in the Criminal Investigation Unit of Caibarién. He immediately began his first hunger strike, which he suspended on May 22, pending the response to a habeas corpus presented by his lawyer. continue reading

Morales was arrested during a summons in the Criminal Investigation Unit of Caibarién. He immediately began his first hunger strike

In a letter that Morales sent after that first strike, he said that, after a strong pain in his chest, he was denied medical assistance and, instead, was beaten by the unit’s commander. The event caused his transfer to the hospital in critical condition.

Almost a month later, after he was denied habeas corpus, the independent journalist resumed his hunger strike on June 19.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the Complaint Center of Cuba Decide reported that it submitted a request for an urgent appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and also urged the international community to denounce human rights violations against Morales and other activists on the Island.

In addition, this Wednesday the IACHR issued precautionary measures in favor of political prisoner Fray Pascual Claro Valladares, sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of sedition, after participating in the demonstrations in the city of Nuevitas, Camagüey, in August 2022, and after using social networks to denounce police violence.

The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), which requested the measures from the commission, was notified that the IACHR warned – through a resolution – that Claro Valladares “is in a serious and urgent situation, since his rights to life, personal integrity and health face a risk of irreparable damage.”

Political prisoner Fray Pascual Claro Valladares was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of sedition

In its report, the inter-American petition said that the 22-year-old has been subjected to severe conditions of isolation, intimidation and physical aggression, including a beating in February 2023. In addition, it accused prison officials of threatening him by taking away his medical care, family visits, phonef calls and shipments of medicine and food, if he and his mother continue to report his case.

Last April, Claro Valladares tried to commit suicide after hearing his sentence. After a brief medical evaluation, he was returned to the penitentiary. So far, the IACHR said that the young man had not received psychiatric care, despite the fact that it was not the first time he tried to hurt himself.

In its resolution, the IACHR called on the Government of Cuba to protect the rights to life, personal integrity and health of Claro Valladares; that his conditions of detention be in line with the applicable international standards; that they guarantee he will not receive threats, intimidation, harassment or violence, and that he will receive medical diagnoses and treatment.

Finally, another political prisoner who lives in degrading conditions is José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU). Arrested within the framework of the 11J protests, “he has been without the right to phone calls or family and marital visits for almost a year and four months. All this time (he has been) confined in a punishment cell, isolated not only from his family but also from the entire penal community under inhuman, cruel and degrading conditions,” said his wife, Nelva Ortega Tamayo, in an audio sent to the media, organizations and activists.

José Daniel Ferrer is in prison for the third time for political reasons. He was part of the group of prisoners of the Black Spring

In the recording, he explained that he presented himself last Monday at the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, for the regulated visit of Ferrer García, and that they were only allowed to deliver food, toiletries and some medicines. Last May, Ortega Tamayo pointed out that in more than two years Ferrer García has only been entitled to 12 family visits and nine marital visits.

José Daniel Ferrer is in prison for the third time for political reasons. He was part of the group of Black Spring prisoners, with a death sentence commuted to 25 years in prison and released after eight years thanks to the efforts of the Vatican and the mediation of Spain, but he refused to go into exile like many of the other released.

In 2019, he was arrested on October 1 and sentenced to prison in February 2020, after a closed-door trial for an alleged crime of injuring another man, a charge that his relatives and collaborators deny. After six months in prison, and in the midst of strong international pressure, his sentence was changed for a sanction of four and a half years of house arrest.

However, more than a year later, Ferrer was arrested and imprisoned during ’11J’ when he barely left his house to join the mobilizations. In August of that year, a judge revoked his house arrest and ordered his re-entry to prison to serve four years and 14 days remaining from the 2020 sentence.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Belarus Presents a ‘Sample of Weapons’ to a Cuban Army Delegation

The Minister of the Armed Forces of Cuba, Álvaro López Miera, and the Minister of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Víctor Jrenin, held their semi-annual meeting

The Cuban general inspected the communication and surveillance equipment of the Belarusian Army and was shown with the drones / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

14ymedio, Havana, 4 July 2024 — A Taurus military gyrocopter -a hybrid between a helicopter and an airplane – and Chinese Vans of the Dajiang special troops carrying machine guns, drones and communication equipment were part of a “weapons show” with which the Ministry of Defense of Belarus received the Minister of the Armed Forces of Cuba, Álvaro López Miera.

With frequent trips to Minsk, López Miera is no stranger in Belarusian military circles. About their visits, the official press of the Island is scrupulously silent, and local agencies – such as Belta – prefer to give few details. The photos that the Belarusian Defense publishes on Telegram say more, in which the Cuban general is seen enthusiastic about his host’s military equipment.

The Minister of Defense, Víctor Jrenin – a regular visitor to Cuba, where he was last January – received the Cuban delegation, made up of several senior officials of the Army, with which he held “negotiations.” During the meeting, both parties evaluated compliance with their agreements – the content of which is not known – during the past six months and ratified their commitment to “military collaboration.” continue reading

The Cuban military visited the barracks of the Special Operations Forces Brigade of Belarus / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

The Cuban military visited the barracks of the Special Operations Forces Brigade of Belarus, where an exhibition of the equipment used by the “small units” was held, as well as the training they undergo – which they exemplified with several exercises and detonations – and an explanation of the “special equipment” of the brigade, including its drones and vehicles. Belarusian Army officers showed López Miera the Taurus gyrocopter of the Polish company Trendak. Used by the armed forces of several European countries, the Trendak – a small aircraft – has capacity for three soldiers and can move at 170 kilometers per hour.

In addition, the Cuban general inspected the communication and surveillance equipment of the Belarusian Army, and he is seen in the photos interacting with drones. Belarus uses, in its arsenal, the Russian-made Irkut, Orlan and Supercam drones, and the Formula, VR-12, Moskit and Busel, Belarusian.

Belarusian Army officers showed López Miera the Taurus gyrocopter of the Polish company Trendak / Trendak Aviation

As for the MZKT-7930 trucks from Polonez, it is an old “Chinese tale” between Minsk and Havana. The Cuban regime has been claiming for months that it is interested in buying Polonez-M missiles, with a range of 300 kilometers, transported by the vehicles that López Miera saw.

Actually manufactured by China – Minsk only manufactures the trucks – Cuba’s interest in missiles was revealed by the Belarusian Defense in November 2023. The agreement for the alleged purchase was signed by the Chief of Staff of the Cuban Army, Roberto Legrá, but neither then nor now has the Island revealed why it wants that class of weaponry.

This Wednesday, López Miera congratulated his counterpart on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazis, an anniversary in whose commemorative parade he participated this Wednesday. In addition, the delegation was taken to the commemorative complex of the Fortress of the Heroes of Brest.

The speeches, medals and tributes are the only things in which both countries have been transparent. The last semi-annual contact between the military chiefs of Minsk and Havana occurred last January in the latter capital, when Jrenin received a decoration from López Miera.

The official press was discreet about the trip and only reported the signing of a “military cooperation document” of secret content, similar to the one that six months earlier had been signed in Minsk, just after the uprising of the Wagner mercenary group against Moscow. In his press conference with Cuban journalists, Jrenin also did not reveal the reason for his stay in Havana and limited himself to stressing that the Island is “a strategic ally in the Western Hemisphere,” a phrase that has been interpreted as a geopolitical warning to the United States and the other NATO countries.

About his “important partner” in the Caribbean, the minister added that Cuba and Belarus are “very similar countries” and “do not give up their objectives.” At one point in the speech, quoting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, he alleged that it was important for the armies of both nations to have good communication, since “military force has become the basis of political relations between our countries.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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