Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 65

‘La Joven Cuba’ Calls for ‘Transparency’ About the Cuban Recruits in Russia

Cubans are traveling to the Russian city of Riazan, according to several of them, including former Revolutionary Armed Forces sub-lieutenant Lázaro González. (RyazanGazette)

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 September 2023 — The opacity of the Cuban government on the subject of the recruitment of young people from the Island to fight with the Russian Army in Ukraine has aroused suspicion in its own ranks. The magazine close to the ruling party, La Joven Cuba [Cuban Youth], dedicated an editorial to the situation on Wednesday, demanding “information transparency” with the citizenry.

The text refers to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which, without giving a single detail, there was talk of a government operation against a “trafficking network of people” for which “criminal proceedings” have been initiated. La Joven Cuba asks that the modus operandi be explained about “its contractors in Russia, its facilitators in the national territory, what positions they occupy and the final destination of the Cubans who are currently in a war zone.”

The text considers that clarifying those doubts is relevant not only for national security and the lives of some of its citizens, but also to “generate awareness about the dangers that similar actions may involve in the future.” It refers to the trip to Kiev of Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat – whom they refer to as an “extreme-right Cuban-American opponent, supporter of a military invasion of the Island” – who claimed to have gone to Ukraine out of solidarity, while the regime accuses him of going to promote the exclusion of the Island (along with Russia) from international forums, including the United Nations.

Despite the obvious geopolitical alliance of the Cuban government with Vladimir Putin, Havana has never broken diplomatic relations with Ukraine

“This action is far from contributing to a peaceful solution of the conflict and could have serious political consequences, because despite the obvious geopolitical alliance of the Cuban government with Vladimir Putin, Havana has never broken diplomatic relations with Ukraine,” continues the editorial. It concludes, using a carrot and a stick, by saying that they demand clarity as much as they want Cuba to stay out of the war. continue reading

In the text there is a paragraph dedicated – like the title – to focusing attention on the use of the word “mercenaries” applied to those who fight on the Russian side, “a term so far reserved exclusively for the activities of sectors opposed to the Cuban government,” in the face of the “euphemism of ’private military company’ [used] by the state media on the Island.” However, La Joven Cuba limits itself to highlighting it, without making conjectures.

From the other side of the ideological trench, the demand for transparency is common ground. The Cuban Electoral Defense Commission (COCUDE) issued a statement on Wednesday urging the Government to immediately intercede with the authorities of Russia and Belarus to repatriate those who were deceived into fighting, “following the ’internationalist’ tradition that is instilled in Cubans from elementary school and throughout their lives.”

The organization calls for the cessation of all military collaboration with Russia and points out, in addition, that it is absolutely impossible that in a controlled state such as Cuba “the security services of the regime have just discovered a plot that obviously takes months, at the least, organizing itself in both Cuban and Russian territory.”

In this, the Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko agrees, and on Tuesday he rejected the statement of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, which he accused of lying. “The Cuban communist regime pretends that it has nothing to do with this “trafficking of people.” In reality, this totalitarian regime is on the side of the aggressor,” he shouted, asking the European Union to stop financing the Island because of its “pro-Russian” status.

But there are many doubts about this case. Last Tuesday, the journalist from América TeVé, Juan Manuel Cao, interviewed an alleged Cuban soldier who denied some of the complaints made by recruits Alex Vegas Díaz and Andorf Velázquez.

Identified as Lázaro González, second lieutenant of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), he said he spoke from Russia, where he is at the head of a company of about 90 Cubans, all of them with military knowledge, according to his testimony, for having completed their military service and being trained daily in the Eurasian country, with shooting classes included.

González said that the task of his troop is to support the Russian army as it occupies areas of Ukraine, that they all earn $2,000 and undergo medical examinations upon arrival in the country. The contracts, which the young recruits said they had seen only in Russian, are also in Spanish, the soldier said.

Everyone here has their passport and the immigration letter,” he said, adding that he could not reveal who had recruited him because it was “confidential” information

“Everyone here has their passport and the immigration letter,” he said, adding that he could not reveal who had recruited him because it was “confidential” information.

The press talks about Elena and Dayana, a Russian and a Cuban who allegedly carry out the operation. However, some media maintain the theory that it is a simulation using Artificial Intelligence, especially after an audio was leaked in which the answers were not only succinct but hardly understandable. “Can I quote your answer on this subject? We would like to know your version of the story,” asks the journalist, to which the voice replies: “There is reality and that is different.”

While doubts persist, among the relatives of the recruits who have reported being victims of the situation, the concern does not cease. Cary Díaz, mother of Alex Rolando Vegas Díaz, sent a video this Wednesday to journalist Mario Vallejo, in which she asks for help from anyone who can intercede, including the Catholic Church.

“He is 19 years old. He supposedly left with a work contract, and it turns out not to be true. A few unpleasant things happened but that’s not why they left, which was to work and earn a little money for their families in Cuba. Everything has changed, and their lives are in danger because they are being sent to the front line of combat,” she said with obvious anguish.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Russia Will Help Cuba Build ‘New Generating Capacities’ in Its Power Plants

Unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón thermoelectric plant, known as Felton, is one of those that are out of operation this Thursday. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana/Moscow, 7 September 2023 — Russia and Cuba addressed, on Thursday, the construction of new generating capacities for power plants on the Island, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Energy in a statement echoed by the Spanish agency EFE. “Electric energy plays a decisive role in the economy of the Republic of Cuba and must become the basis for the development of all industries,” said the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, Yevgeny Grabchaka, during a meeting with the Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy.

According to the report, both officials also discussed bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including issues related to crude oil extraction.

At the end of last month, De la O Levy met in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Riabkov, to discuss energy cooperation between the parties.

According to the statement released by the Russian Government, “during the meeting, which took place in the atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding inherent in the Russian-Cuban dialogue, the strengthening of bilateral cooperation was addressed, particularly in the field of energy, in a spirit of strategic cooperation.” continue reading

Both officials also discussed bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including issues related to crude oil extraction

Russian aid in the field of energy is essential in the midst of the current crisis, which does not subside, taking into account, in addition, the frequent breakdowns suffered by Cuban power plants. This same Thursday, according to the Electric Union of Cuba, unit 2 of the Felton (in Holguín), unit 6 of Energas Boca de Jaruco (in Mayabeque), unit 1 of Santa Cruz (in Matanzas) and unit 6 of the Renté (in Santiago de Cuba) are out of service.

Nor do the refineries have an encouraging outlook. This Tuesday, the Ñico López stopped working again, in the Havana municipality of Regla, put into operation on August 25 after being stopped for a year and responsible for the smell of gas spread throughout the capital last week.

According to 14ymedio, Professor Jorge Piñón, a specialist in the oil sector at the University of Texas (USA), Ñico López’s problem “is not a lack of crude oil to process” but rather “it seems to be technical.”

The plant is “the most sophisticated of the three Cuban refineries,” says the expert, for being “the only one with a catalytic cracking unit, a leading unit in gasoline production. Like the thermoelectric ones,” it shows signs of aging “after its 67 years of operation with a low level of capital maintenance.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Ciego de Avila Will Produce 1.2 Million Gallons Less Milk Than Planned This Year

The authorities say that it is difficult to control the nearly 7,000 ranchers in the province. (ACN)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 September 2023 — The authorities of Ciego de Ávila pointed out on Monday that the annual milk production in the province had a deficit of 1 million gallons, according to calculations made in July. Although the plan is to produce 5.8 million before the end of the year, the leaders predict that by then there will be a shortfall of 1.2 million – almost a million less than there was in 2022 – and they have begun to look for culprits: the producers who falsify their records and the inspectors who consent to the situation.

According to the local newspaper Invasor, officials suspect that there is cheating not only in the declaration of the producers – about 7,000 throughout the province – but also in the livestock control processes. “The counts carried out recently reveal considerable shortages of cattle, so a logical concern of the authorities of the territory revolves around who should count the cattle and how it should be done,” the newspaper says.

During this new campaign, the region will implement a “control plan” that includes other associations, such as the veterinarians, since the Livestock Control Center “lacks the necessary infrastructure that this task demands.” The authorities seek to create working groups that act with “speed and quality” and hire producers with “rigor” “to look at the rancher’s livestock, with the control and requirements of the political authorities.” continue reading

After executing more rigorous controls, “it is very likely that the new measures will report more milk in the future than is being collected now

The governor of Ciego de Ávila, Alfre Menéndez, expressed an even more explicit suspicion about the situation, saying that, after carrying out more rigorous controls, “it is very likely that the new measures will report more milk in the future than is being collected now.”

The outlook for the winter agricultural campaign doesn’t seem hopeful either. Officials asked that the same thing not happen this year as in the previous one, when the shipment of yuca seeds to the province was spoiled.

However, some municipalities already have a serious deficit. This is the case of Morón, which has not managed to complete any of the fruit, meat, vegetable or grain productions of the plan for the first planting of the year.

According to the authorities, Ciego de Ávila promised to plant, throughout the year, 12,355 acres of yuca, but four months after the end of the year and six months after the completion of the winter planting, fulfilling that plan demands a “growth of more than 4,942 acres in the immediate future.”

The missing lands will be “recovered” from the land that was delivered to 99 state agencies and small businesses

The missing lands will be “recovered” from the lands that were delivered to 99 state agencies and micro, small and medium-sized businesses, 44 of them in recent months, which, in the opinion of the authorities, are being underutilized. We are going to “evaluate the use they make of them, but the prevailing perception is that the results are far from the potentialities,” they warned, although they did not offer details about the process.

Without a clear plan, many of these lands were delivered without calculating the real possibilities of profits that companies could make for the province. Nor were the “limitations” or the “scarce and slow financial remuneration of some entrepreneurs” taken into account, the leaders now say.

But, more than the production, the concerns of Avileño officials fall on the fact that producers and entrepreneurs appropriate what belongs, they say, to the State. “How are we going to get them to contribute and not be enriched under the facade and the consent of the Board of Directors (of the province)?” was the question that closed the meeting, during which no one referred, however, to the multiple complaints of ranchers about the lack of inputs to achieve a stable production.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Russian Ministry of Education Funds Free Online Language Courses for Cubans

The courses are aimed at residents of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Central and Southern Asia, Cuba, Latin America and Africa. (Maximum Education/Captura)

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 September 2023 — Ads to learn Russian are proliferating on the Island as relations between the two countries become closer. The most recent comes from the company Maximum Education, which offers free online courses for Cubans from September to December.

According to the report to 14ymedio via email, the project, called “Maximum. Govorim po-russki” (“Maximum. We speak Russian”), is funded by the Russian Ministry of Education. Its objective is to “teach Russian to foreign citizens residing abroad” (sic).

However, in an attached promotional document, the company indicates that the courses are aimed at residents of the CIS countries (the Commonwealth of Independent States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan), Central and South Asia, Cuba, Latin America and Africa. It is also open, they clarify, to “immigrants residing in Russia interested in learning the language.”

Classes are taught online with a teacher and at different levels, from beginner to advanced, and even for those who want to take the Unified State Exam to access Russian universities

Classes are taught online with a teacher and at different levels, from beginner to advanced, and even for those who want to take the Unified State Exam to access Russian universities. Registration can be made through the Maximum website, which has a section in Spanish, until September 10. continue reading

The interactive platform they use is based, they explain, on the methodology of Maksimum Obrazovaniye, which has developed “courses of various formats and directions for more than 10 years” and which, since last year, “has also been implementing international educational projects.”

The truth is that the firm has a large entry in Russian on Wikipedia, where it is presented as a company that “operates in the market of educational technologies” and has become the third most important of its kind in the country. Its owners, the text says, are Russia Partners, CapMan, Skolkovo Ventures and Proobraz, and they employ 1,500 teachers.

According to the collaborative encyclopedia page, Maximum Education was founded in Moscow in 2013 by Mikhail Myagkov, who had worked for the American consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, and the international education company Kaplan. The name under which it is registered does not appear on Wikipedia: Umax LLC (Limited Liability Company).

According to the collaborative encyclopedia page, Maximum Education was founded in Moscow in 2013 by Mikhail Myagkov, who had worked for the American consulting firm Boston Consulting Group

This firm, according to a Russian commercial information page in English, receives funds from the Russian State University for the Humanities, the St. Petersburg State University, the Moscow State Pedagogical University, the Russian Technological University and the Moscow Institute of Energy Engineering.

The announcement of Maximum Education, in any case, joins the one made by Vladimir Shkunov, member of the Council of Experts of the Putin Government, last July, of a series of Russian classes for Cubans through the Educational Channel since November.

The Island’s authorities have not mentioned them and seem to be cautious about about their relationship with Russia. An example was the late pronouncement of the regime, this Monday, on the alleged dismantling of a human trafficking network that recruited Cubans residing in Russia and on the Island to join as mercenaries in the war against Ukraine.

Despite this, the harmony between the two countries – one in need of cash, the other in need of international allies after the invasion of Ukraine – is a fact at this point, as indicated by Putin’s praise of the “special relationship with the Isle of Liberty” in front of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, to whom he promised more help for Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Venezuelan Oil Exports Are Plummeting, but Cuba’s Supply is Guaranteed

The Cuban tanker Pastorita appeared anchored in the port of Havana without it being possible to determine, using maritime tracking applications, from which foreign terminal it had sailed. (Vesselfinder)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 September 2023 — Venezuela sent 65,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, fuel oil, gasoline and diesel to Cuba during the month of August, an amount higher than the previous month, when the Island received 53,000 bpd. The supply, stable compared to that of the rest of the year, coincides with a resounding drop in Venezuelan fuel exports of 38% compared to July, a figure that breaks with the growth trend that Caracas had maintained for three and a half years.

Of the 554,000 bpd that the country sold to its partners in August – 333,000 less than in July, when it exported 877,000 bpd – most of it went to China, although the exact amount is not known, the British agency Reuters reported. For its part, the United States bought through the Chevron company, the only one authorized by the Treasury Department since 2022 to do business with Venezuela, less than 147,000 bpd.

The terrible state of the country’s oil infrastructure and the lack of capital of the state-owned PDVSA have limited, according to Reuters, the possibilities of exporting Venezuelan crude oil. In addition, breakdowns have been recorded in important fuel improvement units, several of them financed by Caracas partners such as Beijing or Moscow.

The official press discreetly announced this Friday that the Alameda-2 oil well, located in Matanzas, was in a position to be exploited

The movement of tankers from Venezuela through Cuban ports has not stopped in recent months. In addition, the official press discreetly announced this Friday that the Alameda-2 oil well, located in Matanzas, was in a position to be exploited by the Australian company Melbana Energy. continue reading

Osvaldo López, head of Exploration of the Cuba-Oil Union (CUPET), then told Cubadebate – which claimed to have the intention of resolving the “doubts and expectations” of Cubans on the subject – that Melbana had the right over the well in a “shared” way, thanks to a contract signed with the Cuban Government in 2015.

Since that year, Melbana has examined 19 possible wells, without publishing clear results so far. In 2020, in addition, the Angolan company Sonangol, which pays for 70% of Melbana’s oil activities on the Island, was added to the equation, López reported. The following year, one of the analyzed wells was dredged, but it was useless for any activity that was not “exploration,” the company alleged.

After investigating other sites, which ended up being “dry,” Melbana said that it has managed to get about 1,100 bpd from Alameda-2 during the month of July. Crude has also been taken out, “lighter and with lower sulfur content” than usual on the Island, it added. However, the extraction is still just an “experimental exploitation” project, and López does not hide CUPET’s lack of enthusiasm for the “new discovery,” which he values just as “positive.”

Since 2015, Melbana has examined 19 possible wells, without publishing clear results so far

On the other hand, Havana continues to pay more interest to ships that, from Caracas and Mexico, bring fuel to the Island. This Tuesday, the Cuban tanker Pastorita appeared anchored in the port of Havana without it being possible to determine, using maritime tracking applications, from which foreign terminal it had sailed.

The oil tanker Alicia – with a Cuban flag – arrived in Matanzas on August 25 from the Venezuelan port of Amuay, while the Aquila, with a Panamanian flag, arrived this Sunday at the same terminal from Mariel.

The Finnstraum, with a Norwegian flag, is expected to arrive in Moa on September 15 from Finland, where another freighter is already anchored, the Praire Tulip, which sails with the Portuguese flag from Curaçao.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Delta and United Follow in the Footsteps of JetBlue and Reduce Their Flights to Cuba Due to Lack of Passengers

United Airlines requested on June 8, 2023 the suspension of its services between Newark and Havana. (Wikimedia)

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 September 2023 — The US airlines Delta Air Lines and United Airlines will reduce their flights to Cuba from October 29. Both companies are awaiting authorization from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for a temporary exemption from their routes.

In the case of Delta, the company has requested a suspension until March 30, 2024, for the seven routes it has between Atlanta, where it has its headquarters, and Havana, in addition to a reduction by half – seven of the 14 – of its flights between Miami and the Cuban capital. The airline alleges that the route is underused, although it hopes that the demand can be recovered to resume travel.

The company, which already achieved a suspension for the same reasons in the summer, expects the situation to be repeated and that the USDOT will grant it the license until demand is revived.

Cuba would cease to be served by direct flights from Newark

For its part, United Airlines, based in Chicago, requested on June 8, 2023 the suspension of its services between Newark (New Jersey) and Havana due to “economic circumstances,” so Cuba would cease to be served by direct flights from this airport, a neighbor of New York, also from October 29, 2023. continue reading

The airline said that it “does not want prolonged downtime for these frequencies,” so it plans to focus on the route it has between Houston and Havana, as its only route beginning in November.

The news, published by AviacionOnline.com, comes a few days after the suspension of JetBlue’s connections with the Island from September 17, attributed to “changes in the regulatory landscape and restrictions on the ability of our customers to enter Cuba,” according to a statement from the company.

“We hope to resume our service to Havana and continue looking for opportunities within Cuba in case travel is more accessible in the future,” said the company, which in 2016 was the first airline to operate regular flights to the Island after 50 years of suspension.

As of July, the last month for which there are official data, Cuba received 1,489,286 international visitors, still far from the forecasts and highlighting the difficulties of reaching 3.5 million by the end of the year. Of the passengers, 99,012 were Americans and 210,019 were Cubans living abroad, most of whom reside in the United States.

Of the passengers, 99,012 were Americans and 210,019 were Cubans residing abroad, most of whom reside in the United States

The increase in these groups compared to the previous year is significant, since the former rose by 188% and the latter by 114%. However, the increase has not met expectations. A year ago, Delta and United had not restarted the flights since the 2020 suspension due to the pandemic, and only American Airlines and JetBlue flew to Cuba.

The two companies returned strongly to the Island from the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, but the supply has turned out to be excessive for the demand, and the request of both coinciding with the high season is revealing about the lack of confidence in Cuba as a destination.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Late and Without Giving Details, the Cuban Foreign Ministry Denies It Is Sending Mercenaries to Russia

Young Cubans in Ukraine hired by Russia, according to the ’influencer’ Alain Pararazzi Cubano. (YouTube)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 September 2023 — Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday the dismantling of a human trafficking network based in Russia that recruited Cubans residing in that country and on the Island to join as mercenaries in the war in Ukraine, which the report calls a “war operation.” The information comes after weeks of speculation about an alleged recruitment sponsored by the regime to send young Cubans to fight for Russia.

“Attempts of this nature have been neutralized and criminal proceedings have been initiated against people involved in these activities,” the report indicates without giving further details.

The report emphasizes that “Cuba is not part of the military conflict in Ukraine” and acts “strongly against those who, from the national territory, participate in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment or mercenarism so that Cuban citizens make use of weapons against any country.”

In addition, it says that Cuba has always been actively against mercenarism and that its position is firm and clear, as demonstrated by the “initiatives that are approved” at the United Nations. continue reading

In the document, reproduced in the official press, the Government dissociates itself from all the information that has increased recently about an alleged collaboration with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. “Cuba’s enemies promote distorted information that seeks to tarnish the image of the country and present it as an accomplice of these actions, which we categorically reject,” it emphasizes.

Last week, two young Cubans, Alex Vegas Díaz from Santa Clara, and Andorf Velázquez García from Havana, appeared in a video published by the Cuban influencer Alain Paparazzi in which they explained in detail how they ended up in Russia without their passports, not being able to return to the Island.

The boys claimed that they had been victims of a scam and that they signed two contracts in Russian without the possibility of translating them into Spanish thinking they would leave Cuba to earn a living and help their families. The promise was a job in the reconstruction of homes and other infrastructure devastated by the war in exchange for salary, rights and citizenship, and even the ability to take their relatives to the country later.

After signing the document, they showed up at the Varadero airport and, when they arrived in Russia, they found that their task was to join a military training center to fight at the front. Both claimed to have escaped by being ill, while other Cubans are fighting on the Russian side.

The recruitment, according to family members, took place through social networks, where a Cuban woman, acting as an intermediary, assured them that they would never be in the line of fire.

The interview was dissected last Thursday on the Guerrero Cubano program broadcast on YouTube, an account at the service of the regime dedicated to “dismantling hoaxes and slander” by the “haters” of Cuba. In the video, the interview accused different Miami media influencers of lying to spread false ideas, highlighting that the young people themselves admitted to being economic emigrants who left the Island in order to help their families, and they were deceived by people outside the Government.

Since last May, when Vladimir Putin signed a decree by which he would expressly grant Russian citizenship to individuals — and their relatives — who signed a contract for the provision of military service for a year, rumors about a possible collaboration of Havana with Moscow grew. Many then feared that the regime would end up sending its military or young people who perform compulsory military service to fight against Ukraine, something that did not seem to materialize. But doubts about shadow recruitment have not stopped circulating on social networks.

The Cuban government supports Russia in the invasion of Ukraine and has deployed a wide propaganda campaign in its media aimed at installing the idea that there is a Nazi regime in Kiev supported by NATO with the aim of encircling Russia, which Putin is fighting in self-defense. In most of the resolutions against the war at the United Nations, Cuba has abstained or even voted against some actions, such as when member states were asked if Volodimir Zelensky could attend by videoconference at the General Assembly.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Prosperity in the Cuban Countryside or Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 4 September 2023 — The Stalinist doctrine that has governed the Cuban economic and political system for 64 years spares no effort in trying to prove the impossible. They have pulled out of a hat a story that intends to show that with a correct direction and collective effort, it is possible to weed out unproductivity in an agrarian cooperative that was practically abandoned, dead. The example is intended to be extended to the Cuban agricultural sector in that forward flight to produce food in which the regime finds itself.

It is unfortunate that Cuban communists continue to believe in this kind of thing, when experience says otherwise. Collectivism is the direct road to poverty, misery and hunger. This doctrine comes from the rules of scientific communism, and it has led Cuba to the current disaster, which seems to have no solution. Inventing stories, in these conditions, is reckless. This is not the path that Cuban agriculture needs to take to be efficient and produce more and better.

What happened in the Antonio Maceo Agricultural Production Cooperative (CPA) in Granma Province is a unique story, but how many similar experiences currently exist in the Cuban economy? In any case, the elements that have facilitated the supposed success of this project are usually difficult to find in others. Collectivist formulas with the design applied by the Cuban regime have never worked when it comes to producing more and better.

The story is still surprising. As stated in the article, “on the verge of being dissolved about two years ago due to its low production, non-payments to workers and financial losses, the Antonio Maceo CPA, of the municipality of Guisa in Granma, currently shows a very different panorama in which productivity is harvested.” And the rest of the booklet is a cult of communist propaganda intended to present the case as a success. However, there are some dark spots.

With the epic that characterizes Castro’s prose, everything seems to have happened thanks to the commitment of a young peasant, Rudisney Roselló Arévalo, who came to lead the aforementioned cooperative a few years ago. The first thing he observed was a panorama described as pitiful: “empty lands, others half cultivated, disgruntled workers … financial debts and defaults,” a magnificent description of the Cuban agrarian panorama today. continue reading

Rudisney, seeing that “there was a desire to change direction,” says that there was nothing magical in the radical transformation shown today by those lands dedicated to various crops and fruit trees. He had no choice but to turn to the communist organization for support. Nothing in Cuba is done without it.

The cooperative was dominated by losses that amounted to more than two million pesos and was about to be dissolved, with debts to companies and payments owed to workers. Of the original workforce of 37 workers, only 16 cooperative members remained. The available land, 90 acres, was depressed, and only 10 were in production, less than 10%. In those conditions, producing was a chimera.

And it is here that the state press dashes for home and puts in Rudisney Roselló Arévalo’s mouth words that cannot be true, such as when he emphasizes that “collective work has been the key that has allowed them to achieve, in just over two years, the visible productive transformations that the Antonio Maceo CPA shows today.” It’s good that they force him to say certain kinds of things, but in the end if they end up believing them, that’s their problem.

Without owning the land, which would have been enough to move production, Rudisney had to entertain himself with what the communists let him do, such as “drawing up strategies to pay the debts that existed with the cooperative members” or holding cooperative meetings for everything, such as, “carrying out the actions of land preparation and planting of the papaya and guava voluntarily. The money that the CPA would save would be used to honor the debts with the workers.”

Think about the workload up to this point, especially the planting, and there is nothing at all. It’s all administrative bureaucracy. But behold, the CPA managed to get out of the productive rut into which it had fallen, and, as if by magic, “the land will respond with better harvests, and the income would allow it to start paying salaries monthly and distributing profits every three months, a reality that encouraged other workers to reintegrate into the cooperative.”

Honestly, doesn’t it remind you of the chickens and the eggs?

Not content with narrating the facts so far, the article cited the case of Yusdel Reyes Pérez, a worker reinstated to the CPA, after having left in 2018 because he failed to receive his salary. Yusdel said that “a year ago I found out that the coop was taking another path, and I recently returned to try my luck. The truth is that the change has been great.”

And he clarifies: Where before there used to be weeds, now there is cassava, sweet potato, corn, melon, cucumber, guava, garlic, onion, sesame … and all this with improvements for the workers who have returned to occupy the 37 places that in some cases have paid 20,000 pesos or more when a harvest is completed, double what a provincial inspector earns, which is almost nothing.

They have managed to function as a family, and they have attracted others to devote themselves to agricultural tasks, which has led to the recovery of the CPA. Of course, “several organizations have also intervened, with the support to carry out voluntary work in the preparation and planting of the land.” You can already imagine which organizations and under which principles (the popular council and various organizations and entities) helped. So it’s the same as always.

What they don’t talk about in the state press is the issue of land. Efforts to return it to production have been important, and the threat of pests is there due to the lack of inputs. But the most important thing is that the CPA land is the same amount; they do not allow it to grow in dimension, much less reach some formula for private ownership. The land still belongs to the state, the owner of all the land in Cuba, which cedes it on a whim, especially when the weeds become impossible to control.

This story would have a better ending if the CPA land really belonged to the cooperative members. Not only would they produce more, but they would also obtain higher yields. State ownership of land slows down the expansion of the Cuban agricultural sector and limits its chances of feeding all Cubans. As an example, of the 89 cultivable acres that the CPA has, only 10 are between sowing and being ready to sow. The eternal drama of always: the land is not taken advantage of 100%.

The case of Rudisney and the Antonio Maceo CPA, if it is true, is an exception in the Cuban countryside. In order for our protagonist not to throw in the towel, the communist regime has to understand the influence of motivation on production. No one doubts that the Antonio Maceo CPA, from the municipality of Guisa, can have a favorable moment for future campaigns. But this can only be done by moving away from boring collectivist practices, which do not lead anywhere.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Argentina Will Make a New Attempt To Collect the 2.8 Billion Dollars Owed by Cuba

Fernández will arrive in Cuba with a new proposal to collect the debt under his arm. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 September 2023 — The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, will travel to Cuba for the G-77 plus China Summit, which will be held on September 15 and 16, with a proposal for the Cuban authorities to solve the historic debt that the Island has with the South American country. According to La Política Online, Buenos Aires will ask for tax benefits for Argentine companies that decide to set up on the Island in exchange for the amount that Havana owes.

“We want to solve this, then we will see if we sell strawberries or bananas,” one of the technicians working on the proposal told the newspaper. For its part, the Cuban Embassy in Buenos Aires refused to give details to the media. “In Cuba, the tax pressure is low because they are in a rather disorderly process of economic transformation,” said a diplomat close to the situation.

The amount of the debt with Argentina stands, according to this media, at about 3 billion dollars, far from the 15 billion indicated by Infobae in January of this year. La Política Online estimates the exact amount at 2.816 billion dollars, attributed to a loan that originated in 1974 under the direction of Peronist Minister José Bel Gelbard.

At that time, the head of the economy agreed with Fidel Castro on a loan of 1.278 billion dollars for the acquisition of 1,000 tractors, agricultural machinery, 5,515 Fiat heavy trucks and 6,000 Fiat 125 cars, in addition to thousands of Renault 12, Ford Falcon, Citroën Ami 8, Peugeot 404 and 9,000 Argentine Dodge 1500 vehicles. continue reading

In January, Infobae placed the sum at 15 billion dollars that included the 1974 loans plus interest and penalty for non-payment

The debt was totally paralyzed during the military dictatorship that governed Argentina between 1976 and 1983, which maintained excellent relations with the Cuban regime. Raúl Alfonsin was the first Argentine president to visit Cuba and also, according to the local press, the only one who managed to extract a small return of those amounts from Havana.

During Alfonsín’s term, the Island paid about 200 million dollars (102 million in 1988 and 98.6 million in 1989), but the situation was again paralyzed coinciding with the fall of the Soviet Union and during Cuba’s so-called Special Period, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of its support for Cuba. In 1995, President Carlos Menem attempted a renegotiation of the payment through several missions for an amount that then amounted to about 1.278 billion dollars, including interest.

Foreign Minister Guido di Tella then tried the same thing that Fernández proposes to do in the coming weeks, so that the regime would facilitate investments in public works and tourism. But not even the conversation at the highest level, between the president and Fidel Castro, unblocked the situation.

Under the mandate of Argentine president Néstor Kirchner, also — and later of his wife, Cristina Fernández — an attempt was made to collect the historic debt, in this case through a proposal by Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa that would consist of a forgiveness of 75% and the payment of the remaining 25% in medical missions, Cuban pharmaceuticals and a cash deposit of the interest. But despite the number of agreements signed between both nations during that time and the solid friendship of the governments, nothing was achieved.

In 2018, then Argentine president Mauricio Macri made the umpteenth collection attempt by sending his Chief of Staff, Marcos Peña, and his Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Fulvio Pompeo, to negotiate. A year later he tried again with the Secretary of International Economic Negotiations, who met, unsuccessfully, with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca.

QUOTE: Last week, Malmierca met with senior officials of the Paris Club to renegotiate the debt he has with several member countries of that group, which currently amounts to 4.827 million dollars

In 2017, according to La Política Online, the debt amounted to 1.278 billion dollars in consolidated capital and 1.273 billion dollars in accrued interest, a total of 2.552 billion that “arose from a debt conciliation and consolidation agreement as of March 31, 1995 between the BICE (Bank of Investment and Foreign Trade) and the National Bank of Cuba ratified by the act of August 24, 1995.” Up to the current amount, more interest on arrears would have accumulated, predictably.

In January, Infobae placed the sum at $15 billion, which included the 1974 loans plus interest and penalty for non-payment.

Argentina’s debt is, according to La Política Online, the largest that Cuba has with another country that is in an inactive state.

Last week, Malmierca met with senior officials of the Paris Club to renegotiate the debt he has with several member countries of that group, which currently amounts to $4.827 billion. According to official information, a new payment schedule emerged from those meetings, after failing to meet since 2020 the deadlines agreed on in 2015, when Cuba was granted a reduction of about $8.5 billion.

In 2021, the regime also agreed with Russia to defer a debt related to state export credits that Moscow granted between 2006 and 2019, in an amount of 2.3 billion dollars. At the time of signing the pact, the non-payment deficit was 57 million, in addition to another 11 million for default interest, which must be returned between 2022 and 2027.

Havana also has among its largest creditors Mexico, Japan and the CRF I Limited fund, as part of the London Club. The foreign debt declared as of 2020 – which has grown by an unknown amount – is almost 20 billion dollars.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: If Gas Stations Eliminate Payment in Cash, What Will Happen Next?

Gas stations all over Cuba often have long lines of vehicles are waiting their turn. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 3 September 2023 — With the Cuban economy suffering the acute effects of stagflation (economic stagnation and inflation), from which the authorities are unable to extract themselves, the demand to give continuity to the banking reform being referred to as bancarización* and the elimination of cash in payments for different goods and services continues with renewed force. Cubans continue to encounter initiatives of the regime that, far from facilitating things, make them more and more difficult. All this was discussed in a recent edition of State TV’s Roundtable program, in which the issue of electronic payments in the Cimex and Tiendas Caribe shops and at gas stations was raised. The first two have always been worried about being first in line for the digitization process required by the regime, so they are taking steps to reinforce that position. Gas stations seem to be forced, likewise, to demand cards from their customers for payment and to stop accepting cash. And they said it was going to be a gradual process.

However, these Roundtable programs end up becoming a space in which initiatives that are related to what happens in reality are announced by the attendees, so that, once again, the attendees defended bancarización in their respective areas of action, without revealing the background data that are really related to it.

Because if the CIMEX Corporation and Tiendas Caribe are intended to be meant as key players in the development of digital commerce experiences that drive the bancarización process, they should indicate what percentage of the Cuban population has access to their products and services. For this it is necessary to mention the informal exchange market, which, as Minister Gil acknowledged in the Assembly a few months ago, barely reaches 30% of the retail sector.

The rest of Cubans, existing in the area of poverty and loss of purchasing power because they only have Cuban pesos, have it much worse. So everything said in this edition of the Roundtable has to do with a limited part of the Cuban population, a scenario of deep and serious economic and social inequalities that the regime accepts, and even promotes, because it needs to dispose of those currencies that circulate in the population, at any price. continue reading

And since in these Roundtables we are never amazed by what is said, it turns out that one of the attendees, Yamil Hernández, manager of Fincimex**, explained that his entity has been charged by a monopoly regime with managing the only financial card processing center that exists in the country, presenting this as “an idea of Fidel Castro concretized in the 90s that allowed us to conform to international standards of being able to process international cards and create the bases of national issuers and domestic cards in the country.” Yes, unbelievably, Fidel Castro personally decided who made the plastic money in Cuba. Just Imagine.

After this “tribute” to the dictator, Hernández pointed out that in recent years there has been a “quantitative and qualitative leap in the processing of international and national cards, demonstrated by the technological transitions we have been able to undertake, the volume of transactions managed and the number of POS operations in the nation.” And he pointed out that the deployment of the IP network in the country did not take place until a date as recent as 2018.

In this regard, he indicated that 18,530 point-of-sale terminals are currently operating in the country, with an annual growth of 39%, clearly unbalanced and asymmetrical, since notable territorial inequalities are observed, with the provinces with the lowest increase being Guantánamo, Mayabeque and the Special Municipality of the Isla de la Juventud (Island of Youth). He also acknowledged that as the number of transactions grew, “difficulties still persist in the use of POS, since there are about 3,000 terminals that have not been used in the last quarter. In sum, 23% of the network, almost a quarter of establishments, have no operations.

The director pointed out that they have the objective of achieving the disaggregation of the network, since currently 70% of the network is focused on the organizations with the best connectivity conditions belonging to the tourism sector, CIMEX, TRD and the Bank. Other actors such as ETECSA, Mincin, airlines and non-state actors also have a number of POS in their establishments, but in the rest of the Cuban economy, the segment of poverty and the Cuban peso, these percentages are not given. And it doesn’t look like that’s the way it’s going to go.

Because, in addition to this development, the existence of recurring complaints in the population is recognized, of which the most relevant is the connectivity and the absence of an infrastructure that guarantees the connectivity of Fincimex and the response of the issuer. And here were cited several cases that really affect the process of bancarización of operations, such as local disconnections or problems with the platform that require a continuous level of investments, which the regime does not guarantee, given the concentration of investments in hotels.

Another no less important complaint from the population has to do with the requirement to capture the client’s personal data when an operation is carried out. People still do not trust service providers despite the fact that banks or businesses are obliged to validate identities. The fear of control is a real brake on operations.

Likewise, the director reported that 77% of Cimex establishments accept the QR code for payment, which is operated by the largest POS network in the country, and he announced the intention to “create new added values, re-analyze the commissions applied to customers, personalize the service, incorporate Android technology and wireless POS, as well as sustain the quality of the network.”

Regarding the QR code, he said that two types have been developed, one issued by the equipment itself and 127 units where the QR code is issued by the cashier, which allows two payment variants, by national and international cards and by QR codes. He announced the intention to expand the number of wireless POS terminals with all modalities such as those recently incorporated into the restaurants of the historic center.

Next, Marta Mulet, commercial specialist of Tiendas Caribe, intervened, and pointed out that since March 2022 they added different payment channels, which allowed sales to triple after starting in a single store and gradually extending the process to the rest, such as on the beaches of eastern Havana or at “electronic fairs that are organized with different organizations and actors in the provinces.”

Regarding the operation of electronic payment in the country’s services, Yamil Hernández said that there is a culture in that sense, that it was making its way from transactions with business cards and that seven million transactions with cards of this type have already been processed. In any case, given the small size of the fleet of cars and private vehicles in Cuba, the impact of these transactions is limited, and, once again, it brings notable economic and social inequalities.

Among the means of payment that were studied to carry out the operations were disposable cards, a product designed for eventual consumers (tourists, for example), who can purchase them in more than a thousand Cimex establishments, with telecommunications agents in Cimex and in Cadecas. He reported that more than 19 million disposable cards have already been sold to date and that the process has been modified, according to the needs of consumers. For example, the possibility of linking up to five cards at one time and the development of a mobile application that allows customers to check the balance of their cards, to see if they are active, etc.

Electronic pins are also available to customers, a modality developed in conjunction with Transfermóvil, and through this application, customers can buy a fuel coupon. When they go to the gas station, Transfermóvil shows a QR code, which the clerk scans and charges through that route. And here it was said that the “most innovative option is the rechargeable chip card, designed for customers who do not necessarily bank, since it is a modality that does not require connection, and as long as there are credits on the chip, the operation is authorized.

The card is free of charge, distributed in the Fincimex offices located in the provincial capitals. In the case of Havana, it is also available in 23 Cimex establishments. To create a credit on the balance, Yamil Hernández reported that there are 433 points where it can be done, by bank card transfer or in cash.

The Roundtable attendees concluded that the gas stations are an “avant-garde institution in the use of digital payment in Cuba” and that this transformation implies a challenge in terms of attention to the consumer and the need to instruct him. Lázaro Ayala, director of Servicentros of Cimex, said that “a work schedule was designed to implement the transition to digital payment gradually, so that the cash sale of fuel in all gas stations is eliminated.”

Some 99% of the gas stations have an IP connection, except for two in Matanzas where the rechargeable chip card can be used. For three years they have given seminars to workers, so that they can give their customers clear explanations about the various means of payment they can use.

And at this point it was announced what was feared by some spectators who survived the Roundtable at that late hour, which is that those customers who don’t have an online payment method but have the physical money will be able to purchase the rechargeable chip cards in an area adjacent to the service providers. No one escapes the hierarchical order of the regime. And cash is seriously running out in the gas stations.

So the message was very clear: “Beginning September 1 and until October 31 we will gradually eliminate the sale of fuel in cash in the gas stations. This process will be accompanied by our Cimex directors and officials, to resolve any eventuality.” The statement is not exempt from sarcasm: “in case of complaints or suggestions, the administrators of the services can be contacted, and, if the problem is not resolved, there is a unique number established for customers to address their concerns (80000724), the Cimex profiles on social networks or the email atencionalcliente@cimex.com.cu.” No more paying for gasoline in cash.

Translator’s notes:

*”Bancarización” is a term used in Cuba and other Latin American countries that refers to government efforts to reduce the role of cash through a greater reliance on banks’ digital payment options. The term does not seem to have a counterpart in English so the Spanish term is used throughout this translation.

**Financiera Cimex S.A. (FINCIMEX) is a financial investment and remittance company owned by GAESA and incorporated in Panama. Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) is a Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise with interests in the tourism, financial investment, import/export, and remittance sectors of Cuba’s economy. GAESA’s portfolio includes businesses incorporated in Panama to bypass CACR-related restrictions.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Free Visa Offered by Nicaragua to Cuba and Belarus Opens the Door to ‘Undesirables’

The latest countries to which Ortega has granted a free visa, with marked political interest, have been Cuba, Belarus and Kazakhstan. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 31 August 2023 — Nicaragua and Belarus agreed to establish the free visa reciprocity, a gesture that consolidates the alliance that both regimes have been strengthening for months. The agreement, signed this July and announced on August 22 by the Nicaraguan press, has aroused criticism from citizens and opponents of the Government of Daniel Ortega, who fear the entry into the country of “undesirable” visitors.

An expert in international relations, quoted anonymously by the newspaper La Prensa, described the resolution as “illegal” and pointed out that mismanagement of trafficking between countries with “political instability” could not only “cover up illegal migration to third countries – an experience that Nicaragua had with the stampede of migrants from Cuba – but also “the transit of drug traffickers and terrorists.”

The newspaper recalled that the last countries to which Ortega granted a free visa have been Cuba and Kazakhstan, societies that live “under authoritarian regimes like Nicaragua,” and that are far from generating beneficial tourism for the Central American nation.

“The free visa aims to facilitate the transit of citizens of a country for tourist, business or family purposes.” However, the sources consulted by La Prensa say that the reasons for the Ortega regime point to the political and economic benefits it can obtain from its allies. continue reading

The alliance between Nicaragua and Belarus has been justified before the press with numerous cooperation projects

“From a perspective of rapprochement with the Caribbean,” it would make sense for Nicaragua to soften immigration controls for Cuban travelers, Nicaraguan political scientist Félix Maradiaga explains to the media. However, taking into account the inability of Cubans to “save money and travel abroad,” as well as their low wages, it’s obvious that the rapprochement is thanks to “the ideological affinity with the Cuban regime,” he says.

In the case of Belarus, “a satellite state” that responds to the interests of Russia, the free visa is “even less justifiable,” said Maradiaga, who fears that Nicaragua will become involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The alliance between Nicaragua and the European country has been justified to the press by the numerous cooperation projects in which Belarus pledged to provide machinery for the agricultural sector and credit for the purchase of urban transport and construction equipment.

Ortega’s opponents, for their part, allege that it is a strategy to ensure the support of the Nicaraguan government for Russia in its campaign, a method that has also been used in Cuba, which receives perks from Vladimir Putin’s regime in exchange for offering him international support.

At the summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union, held in Brussels in mid-July, Nicaragua refused to sign a declaration against the war in Ukraine, as did Cuba. Both countries, with the support of Venezuela, prevented the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, from attending the event.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Supreme Court of Mexico Demands Data on the Expired Doses of Cuba’s Abdala Covid Vaccine

At least 335,244 doses of the Cuban Abdala vaccine, which was bought by Mexico, expired in August. (@SSaludCdMx)

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 1 September 2023 — The Supreme Court of Mexico has ordered the Federal Ministry of Health on Thursday to reveal the number of vaccines against COVID-19, including the Cuban Abdala, which expired before their application, as well as the manufacturer and batch of origin. In a statement, the Court stressed that this information “does not put national security at risk” nor the fight against the pandemic, as argued by the Government, which did not want to reveal the data.

14ymedio learned that at least 335,244 doses manufactured on the Island expired in August and that they had been distributed in the states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Puebla and Oaxaca. Of these, 70,000 were authorized in Coahuila to be applied as a booster against the virus for another 18 months.

The Government of Mexico also defined as “classified,” for five years, all the information related to the hiring of Cuban specialists, as well as the agreements and payments made for the shipment of 9,000,000 doses of the Abdala vaccine. The Judicial Counsel blocked the information, claiming that offering details about the process of confidentiality agreements could be taken advantage of by criminal groups.

An intensive care nurse, Vannesa Ordoñez, who denounced the use of expired Cuban doses in Coahuila, told 14ymedio that in the state of Zacatecas, 400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, expired since November 2022, were injected into children who went to the Francisco Esparza health center. continue reading

COFEPRIS authorized the use for another 18 months of the 70,000 doses of the Cuban Abdala vaccine that expired in August. (Facebook/Coahuila Ministry of Health)

“There is concern in health personnel because this was made known just after COFEPRIS (the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks) authorized the use of expired Cuban doses in Coahuila. In Zacatecas there was an anonymous complaint, which we were able to verify,” she explains. Ordoñez warned that “children are a vulnerable sector, and every medicine given to them must be made transparent. The parents are the ones who give consent, and they must be informed.”

Last January, expired doses of Pfizer were also used under the argument that they could be administered up to 12 months after the expiration date, October 31, 2022, as indicated on the bottle. On that occasion, the authorities of the state of Guerrero assured that “there was no problem” and that the drugs “served and could be administered until February” of 2023.

In September of last year, it was shown that the Government of Mexico had disposed of 5,041,050 doses of anti-covid vaccines, of which 3,409,440 were from the British AstraZeneca vaccine and 1,631,610 from the Russian Sputnik, which were in a warehouse of the Birmex company and in the National Institute of Virology.

Mexico has acquired anti-covid vaccines of different brands from several countries, such as Pfizer, Cansino, Covax, Sputnik-V, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna and Abdala. According to official figures, out of 129 million Mexicans, some 90% of the country’s population has been immunized.

Despite the fact that the Abdala vaccine has been rejected by the population because it does not have the endorsement of the World Health Organization, COFEPRIS, in charge of the control of medicines, authorized the use of the Sovereign 02 and Sovereign PI doses, manufactured on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Bill Richardson, the Man Who Freed Cuban Prisoners but Couldn’t Help Alan Gross, Has Died

Bill Richardson at a press conference in Havana, in 2011, when he failed in his attempt to obtain the release of Alan Gross. (EFE)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 3 September 2023 — Former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, of Hispanic origin, was U.S. ambassador to the UN and Secretary of Energy under the presidency of Bill Clinton. He passed away at the age of 75 at his home, the Richardson Center for Global Commitment reported on Saturday.

“He lived his entire life in the service of others, including his time in the Government and his subsequent career helping to release people taken hostage or unjustly detained abroad,” Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center, said in a statement.

Richardson died while sleeping in his summer home in Massachusetts, as reported by CNN and other American media. The Democrat, after completing his political career, devoted himself to working to free Americans detained abroad.

Throughout his career, Richardson interceded for the release of hostages and prisoners in places such as Cuba, North Korea, Iraq, Russia and Sudan. In the 1990s, he had a rapprochement with Havana on several occasions.

In 1996, as a Democratic congressman, Richardson obtained the release of the political prisoners, Carmen Arias Iglesias, Luis Grave Peralta Morell and Eduardo Ramón Prida, after holding a two-hour meeting in Havana with Fidel Castro. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, the American politician sought the release of 12 people. continue reading

Richardson returned to the Island as governor of New Mexico in 2009 to promote commercial and cultural exchange. The Democrat, close to Barack Obama, took advantage of the fact that in 2001, commercial operations of American companies in Cuba had resumed after Washington excluded food and medicines from the financial and commercial embargo that had been applied to the Island since 1962.

As part of that trip, which Richardson himself paid for, he met with Deputy Chancellor Dagoberto Rodríguez and the then-president of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

In 2010, he returned to the Island to promote commercial and cultural exchanges and, in addition, to act as an intermediary in the release of contractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in Cuba. The following year, in September, a new attempt at liberation was thwarted. “My feeling is that there are some elements in your government [the one in Cuba] that do not want to improve relations with the United States,” Richardson said at the time.

“Cuba’s action seemed to be an extraordinary snub towards the prominent Spanish-speaking Democrat and former UN ambassador who has had cordial relations with the government of the Island. There was no information from the Cuban government about why Richardson could not see Gross, who had usually received visits from diplomats and members of the US Congress,” The Washington Post published.

In this same newspaper, Richardson published an article in 2013 in which he highlighted the Havana fiasco. “I learned this lesson in the worst way,” he wrote, “in 2011, when the Cuban authorities initially refused to release and hand over to me USAID worker Alan Gross, and I said that I would not leave Cuba without him.”

“My public complaint made Cubans less willing to negotiate; they were clearly upset that I had tried to embarrass them. Gross is s till in a Cuban prison today,” he added then.

In 2010 he returned to the Island to promote commercial and cultural exchanges and, in addition, to act as an intermediary in the release of contractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in Cuba

Gross was finally released on December 17, 2014, simultaneously with the five Cuban agents of the so-called Wasp Network, imprisoned in the United States.

Bill Richardson’s name appeared on several occasions among the candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. Just a few days ago it was known that this year he was nominated again, this time by four Democratic senators, Bob Menéndez, Joe Manchin, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján.

“Needless to say, I am honored by this nomination for a prestigious award, knowing that it is a remote possibility,” Richardson told The Hill newspaper on August 25. His nomination was backed by 14 letters from former hostages and their families, praising his role in their release.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, lamented the death of the former governor of New Mexico on Friday. “He was a patriot and truly genuine, and he will not be forgotten,” the President said in a statement in which he reviewed the many milestones in Richardson’s life.

“Bill Richardson carried many heavyweight titles during his life,” Biden said in his message. “Few have served our nation in so many ways or with so much insistence, creativity and good cheer,” he added.

Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also mourned Richardson’s death with a message in which they referred to the politician as “a masterful and persistent negotiator. He helped make our world a safer place and managed to free many people unjustly detained abroad,” the Clintons stated.

Bill Richardson was born in Pasadena, California, although he grew up in the Coyoacán neighborhood of the Mexican capital since his father, a banking executive of Anglo-American and Mexican descent, was stationed there. His mother was Mexican of Spanish origin.

As a child he was sent to study in the United States and later graduated in Political Science at Tufts University in 1970. From a very young age he began his political career as a Republican congressman. He also worked in the State Department with Henry Kissinger during the Richard Nixon Administration (1969-1974).

In 1982 he was elected congressman of the House of Representatives for New Mexico. He spent 14 years in Congress, where he met Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and began to get involved, circumstantially, in the negotiations to release hostages.

It was in 1994 when Clinton asked him to participate in the release of two American pilots whose helicopter was shot down in North Korean airspace, since Richardson was casually visiting the country.

In 1997, Clinton appointed him United States ambassador to the UN (1997-1998), and a year later, he was elected Secretary of Energy until the end of the Democratic president’s second term. He was the Hispanic politician who reached the highest position in those years.

Among the last tasks he performed, Richardson acted as a mediator in several prisoner exchanges between the United States and Russia, including basketball player Brittney Griner and American student Trevor Reed

At that time he also participated in several foreign policy missions, including a negotiation in Baghdad with Saddam Hussein to ensure the release of two American aerospace workers who had been captured by the Iraqis.

After the end of the Clinton Administration, in 2002, Richardson became the only Hispanic governor of the United States at that time and the fifth in the history of New Mexico, the state with the highest percentage of the country’s Latino population.

He was governor for two terms, and in 2008 he sought the Democratic candidacy for the Presidency but abandoned his campaign after the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.

Married to his childhood friend Barbara Flavin, with whom he had a daughter, he is also the author of three books, including How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator, and his participation as a commentator on different television channels such as CNN or Fox News was frequent.

In addition to the Richardson Center for Global Commitment, Richardson created the New Mexico Wildlife Preservation Foundation with actor Robert Redford, to protect wild horses.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Accused of Smuggling Migrants From Mexico, a 26-Year-Old Cuban Woman Faces Trial in the United States

Seven migrants were found in a van driven by a Cuban woman, Nahara Candelaria Milan. (Facebook/Maverick County Sheriffs Department)

14ymedio, Havana, 31 August 2023 — The 26-year-old Cuban Nahara Candelaria Milan faces trial in the United States for the crime of human trafficking and, if guilty, must pay $10,000 and serve 10 years in prison. The young woman was arrested on Monday for a traffic violation while on her way to Eagle Pass (Texas), and during the search of her vehicle, the police discovered that she was transporting seven illegal migrants picked up in the vicinity of the Rio Grande.

According to Lieutenant Efrain Valdez from the detective corps of Maverick County (US), Milan admitted to being Cuban while he was examining the vehicle, a 2019 Honda. At the moment, the authorities have not revealed the nationality of the people she was transporting.

The agents of the US Border Patrol took care of the seven irregular migrants and, after taking their data, took them to a detention center in Eagle Pass before returning them to Mexico.

Eagle Pass is one of the coyotes’ favorite areas for transporting migrants in small and often precarious vehicles, such as vans. This Wednesday, one of these transports overturned while trying to escape from the Police. The trafficker, whose identity was not revealed, is seriously injured in a hospital in San Antonio (Texas), and the nine undocumented people he was transporting were handed over to the Border Patrol.

Nahara Candelaria Milan, a Cuban woman, faces charges for trafficking migrants in the United States. (Facebook/Maverick County Sheriff Department)

Last June, Sheriff Brad Coe warned of the participation of Cubans in migrant smuggling networks. According to the Kinney County officer, near Brackettville (Texas), some drug trafficking organizations are putting pressure on people whom they helped enter the United States, in order to turn them into coyotes at their service. continue reading

Coe stressed that Cubans participate as part of “some payment they have pending or for extortion.” The US authorities opened an investigation folder last April, when Rainel Lázaro Silies and Lima Gálvez González were arrested in Kinney. They were prosecuted for transporting five undocumented people in their van.

Two months later, in the same region, Julio César Aspiazu Gómez was arrested and prosecuted for carrying five migrants in his car. This Cuban-American was released after paying a fine of $5,000.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Representative to the UN Praises China’s Occupation of Tibet

Ambassadors in Geneva from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Belarus, Pakistan and Cuba. On the far right, the Cuban diplomat Juan Antonio Quintanilla. (X/Juan Antonio Quintanilla)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 September 2023 — Cuba’s support will be fundamental to the imminent inspection that the United Nations will carry out in China, which is accused of violating human rights and indoctrinating children in Tibet, under Chinese occupation since 1951. To tip the balance in its favor, Beijing invited a group of ambassadors from allied nations such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Belarus and Pakistan to the region, in addition to the representative of Havana in Geneva, Juan Antonio Quintanilla.

Although the diplomats have been discreet about the visit, Quintanilla has published a thorough summary of the trip on social networks and has spared no praise for the “achievements” for which Tibet should thank Beijing.

On August 10, the UN Human Rights Council demanded a response from China on the arrest of nine Tibetan leaders who denounced the mining of “sacred mountains” and the hunting of protected species, for which they were sentenced to up to 11 years in prison. According to the UN claim, the Chinese government’s silence on the sentences could be attributed to a deliberate attempt to “make the world forget” about the detention of activists, while they face “isolation, year after year.”

The countries that accepted the invitation are close allies of China and it is to be hoped that they will support the Asian country in the face of any accusation in the international rostrum

The Council then informed Beijing that, at the beginning of 2024, it will carry out an inspection of the case and the situation of Tibet, considered by China as an “autonomous region.” For its part, the United States also accused the Asian country of subjecting Tibetan children to “forced assimilation” in state schools, with the purpose of eliminating Tibetan traditions and imposing the Chinese culture. continue reading

Beijing’s response was to send a letter to the UN headquarters in Geneva, to which the British agency Reuters had access, in which they invited diplomats who wished to go on a trip to Tibet. The objective: for the UN to understand “China’s policy and practices regarding human rights” through meetings and tours of educational, cultural and religious institutions.

The countries that accepted the invitation are close allies of China, which hopes that they will support the Asian country in the face of any accusation in the international rostrum. Of the members of the delegation, only Quintanilla has offered information about the trip, which began on August 29.

“I thank the Chinese Government for the invitation and the hospitality. Excellent opportunity to appreciate the economic and social development of this region,” the diplomat said in his first message, whose laudatory tone for Beijing marked the rest of his reports.

One of our last activities in Tibet, #China, was to visit the Sera Monastery, in the city of Lhasa. We learned about the preparation of the monks and the facilities that exist to profess the Tibetan religion.

This is another series of photos of Tibetan monks.

Una de nuestras últimas actividades en Tibet, #China, fue visitar el Monasterio Sera, en la ciudad de Lhasa

Conocimos sobre la preparación de los monjes y las facilidades que existen para profesar la religión tibetana

Este es otro sirio emblemático de los creyentes tibetanos pic.twitter.com/u6ht4k5C0l

— Juan Antonio Quintanilla Román (@JAQuintanillaR) August 30, 2023

Following the agenda planned by the Chinese authorities, Quintanilla and his colleagues claimed to have confirmed “the economic development achieved” in Tibet, “thanks to the support of the Chinese central government.” The ambassador insisted that the situation of education and religious freedom was unbeatable, and that the spiritual values of Tibet – one of the most sacred regions for believers of Buddhism – were “very well preserved and promoted” by the authorities, who respected their transmission “to the new generations.”

As for education, Quintanilla said, after visiting an elementary school in Nyingchi Prefecture, that Beijing maintained a “high commitment” to the training of children in Tibet. He was also in Lhasa, the main city in the region, and guaranteed that both artists and university students were well taken care of.

On Wednesday, the delegation went to the Potala palace, in Lhasa, which was the residence of the Dalai Lama – the highest spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism – until 1959, when Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, had to go into exile in India after the brutal repression of the Chinese Army against attempts to maintain the independence of Tibet.

The ambassador concluded his trip by commenting that “education is a priority for the Government, while preserving Tibetan culture”

Quintanilla also said that in Potala Buddhists can “profess their religion daily,” a comment he repeated during his meeting with the monks of the Jokhang temple.

The ambassador concluded his trip by commenting that “education is a priority for the Government, while preserving Tibetan culture.” Finally, this Thursday, he met with Ma Zhaoxu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, who addressed the issue of human rights in Tibet during an exchange that Quintanilla found “beneficial.”

The Havana regime is one of Beijing’s staunchest supporters. Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel met in August with his Chinese counterpart in South Africa during the summit of the BRICS group of countries and assured that the relationship of the communist parties of both countries was better than ever.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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