Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 68

In Cuba, the Private Sector Creates Twice as Many Jobs as the State

Last year, the private sector created twice as many jobs as the public sector. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 April 2023 — The private sector created almost twice as many jobs in Cuba in 2022 as did the State. The number of new employees amounted to 226,704, of which 79,912 were government employees, compared to 146,792 in “other forms of management,” according to data offered in the annual review analyzed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, who asked for “a different look” taking into account “the challenges imposed by demographic dynamics.”

According to the report presented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, more than 4,653,000 workers are employed, although the figure will have to be confirmed pending an employment study announced this Monday that is intended to show “the magnitudes and structures of the economically active population.”

The document clarified that the percentage of employed women amounts to 39%, 34,000 more workers than in 2021. The largest number of female jobs were created in the sector of direct activities in the production and provision of services in the state and non-state sectors, “with a favorable impact of the jobs generated by the private sector.”

The data, however, reveal — as argued by Ariel Fonseca Quesada, National Director of Employment — a gender gap, since 34% of women do not have paid work, especially mothers who take care of children or the elderly, he added, without breaking down the data.

There are now 172,069 people who do not have any type of job, and Marrero indicated that many positions are vacant because of a lack of qualified personnel. He proposed to solve this problem through multi-employment.

The prime minister criticized some other issues that occur in the workplace, including unpaid employment of young people with the argument that they are being trained, and the low penetration of teleworking beyond the pandemic, and informal employment, against which, he insisted, it is necessary to fight. continue reading

“It is not a matter of going after them now, but of identifying them in order to protect the worker and demand that the employer assume his responsibilities,” he said.

At the opposite extreme is Alejandro Gil Fernández, Minister of Economy and Planning, who criticized “underemployment” as an evil that fundamentally plagues the sector that depends on the State budget and gives work to people who receive a salary without a specific task to do. Gil regretted that salaries do not serve to meet the needs of workers. Supposedly, as Minister, he could provide solutions.

At the meeting, other issues related to social assistance were addressed, such as the situation of women with children who cannot enter the labor market because they have no one to take care of their children. According to the prime minister, the expansion of child care through “little houses” has not been very successful, since their coverage is negligible.

In addition, the creation of “social work” as a university career was announced “on the basis of Cuban theory, which in no way resembles that of other countries, because it is part of our country’s model, in which social justice prevails,” an explanation that clarified little about the content and how it differs from the profession in other nations.

In this meeting, Cuban leaders addressed a problem of the first magnitude for the future of the country, which faces low birth rates, greater longevity and a massive emigration of people of working age, responsible for the maintenance of the State and pensions. But Cubans have the feeling that beyond words, what is systematically missing are changes.

“It continues the political discourse, the exhortations, but nothing is said about the fall in the purchasing power of the Cuban peso. Pensioners and many workers cannot cover the cost of the ’basic family basket’ [sold through the network of ration stores] with their income, and there is poverty. So what do we pensioners do who work for our Cuba, defend it, cut the cane and participate in agricultural and military mobilizations? Nothing has been done about these problems that we suffer; they are ignored, and there are no measures to solve them. We support the macroeconomic adjustment that has been mentioned, but its scope has not been made public,” a reader wrote in Cubadebate.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Don’t Forget To Bring Me Salt,’ the Plea of Cuban Mothers to Those Who Travel Abroad

How is it that a country surrounded by seawater lacks salt? This is the great question that Cubans ask themselves. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 5 April 2023 — The shortage of salt has been a serious issue on the streets of Cuba for a long time, but it was not until this Wednesday that the official press mentioned it. In a long article, Cubadebate echoed the complaints of its own readers and admitted that “for several months there has been instability in the marketing of salt in the country.”

The problem is not a lack of salt: more than 9,000 tons have been stored. The difficulty is with distribution, according to statements by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, speaking in February. “Problems with transportation have affected the delivery to consumers,” he said.

In what seems a justification for the big question — how is it that a country surrounded by seawater lacks salt? — the text devotes great space to arguing that most of the salt flats on the Island are in the eastern area. This, says the director of the Salt Company (Ensal), Jorge Luis Bell Álvarez, “is not due to whims or lack of investments, but to the fact that very specific weather conditions are required for their location”; that is, where “there is little rain and a lot of wind.” Two salt regions are located in Guantánamo, and the rest are in Las Tunas, Camagüey, Villa Clara and Matanzas.

“Guantánamo is the province that produces the most salt because it has a semi-arid climate, very dry and with little rain all year round,” says the official, while in Matanzas “salt can only be produced in the driest and windiest months, which are April, May, July and September. In the other months it rains a lot, and the water dissolves the salt that has formed.” continue reading

The salt flats of Matanzas present another problem, according to the president of the Geominero-Salinero Business Group, Fabio José Reimundo: “Every time a hurricane passes through, the entire installation is taken away, because there are dikes that separate the ponds and allow the salt to crystallize. When a strong swell happens, the water gets in and mixes with the salt. There are many hurricanes that pass through here, but not in Guantánamo.”

Despite everything, the director of Ensal assures that the state “has managed to maintain the production and (limited) distribution of salt throughout the national territory, despite the resource difficulties it faces.”

The same official explains a complex distribution process through the regulated ’family basket’ according to the number of household members. In the first month of the quarter, for example in March, 4,100 tons of salt are distributed, “and all households receive one bag of salt per household. But in April, 2,800 tons are distributed only to households that have more than four family members. “In the third and last month of the quarter, between 900 and 1,000 tons are distributed to the larger households and to those who still have a bag to fill.”

One can conclude that the figures in the Cubadebate article are not the same as on the street. Thus, the proposed price per kilogram of salt [2.2 pounds] in the warehouses, which the director of the company puts at 25 pesos [$1.04] can go up to 136 pesos [$5.67], as this newspaper was able to verify a few days ago in Luyanó, where it was sold only as a repackaged product.

“Already it must be gone, because any little bit doesn’t last long. As soon as they put it out, the resellers grab it. They repackage it and, as you know, sell it at an exorbitant price,” says a neighbor, who managed to buy a pound.

There is also inconsistency between paper and reality in the costs of salt “on the left” [on the black market]. Cubadebate says that a package costs 150 pesos [$6.25], but this same Wednesday in several markets in Havana, a package of a pound and a half was at 250 pesos [$10.42]. “They sell it to you as a kilogram [2.2 pounds], but you can see that it’s less, and not always of a good quality. Sometimes it’s half wet, sometimes it’s very fat, and sometimes good, yes, but that depends,” complains a resident of Havana’s El Vedado district.

In San Antonio de los Baños, Ana María was able to buy just a small repackaged bag. “I don’t understand why salt is so scarce, a country surrounded by the sea!” says the woman, married and with a young daughter. “Salt wouldn’t have to be imported; it doesn’t have to come from any other country.”

Those who have a traveling relative have added salt to the list of orders to bring from abroad. “My mother sent me a message so I wouldn’t forget to bring her salt,” a habanero visiting Spain tells this newspaper. “But the last time I brought it was from Bogotá, and I almost missed the flight, because they made me open the suitcase to know what that ’dust’ was in my luggage. It was quite painful to explain to the Colombians that it was salt to take to an Island.”

In the face of all these vicissitudes, the response of the authorities via the official press is, as usual, proactive. “We are looking for alternatives to improve the transport of salt and change the modal matrix,” says Dolcey Castellanos, director of operations of Ensal. For example, “using additives that keep the salt from clumping” or “making an investment” in the salt flats of Santa Clara to “increase production capacity from four to ten tons per hour.” At the moment, nothing has been finalized.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Closed Gas Stations and Empty Streets in Cuba Due to the Delay in the Delivery of Venezuelan Oil

Gas station at G and 25, in El Vedado, Havana, on Monday. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 3 April 2023 — Havana faces restrictions due to fuel shortages for the umpteenth time. According to the website OnCuba from the State newspaper Granma — which this Monday again experienced “technical failures” and could only be partly accessed — the provincial government will establish new measures to face “a situation created by the lack of supply of fuel for private carriers and individuals with financial means in this sector.”

Thus, the official press says, “the fuel figures allocated to vital activities will be readjusted”; that is, a limit will be imposed on buying, and the sale of fuel will be offered in four service stations “located to the east, west, center and south of the city.”

The authorities do not offer the names of these gas stations but report that they will be open “in the early hours of the morning to provide services to the population.”

There will also be limits on the amount allowed according to the type of vehicle, although at the moment they have not specified the quota assigned to each one. continue reading

The lack of fuel is evident in Havana because there is insufficient transportation and garbage collection. This Monday the streets looked emptier than ever, and even on avenues as central as 23rd, minutes went by without a car being seen.

Several gas stations, like the ones at G and 25th and L and 17th, where there are usually long lines of vehicles, were without service because there was neither gas nor diesel for sale. “They are both gone,” complained a driver to 14ymedio. “I’m paying for fuel at 50 and 60 pesos [$2-2.50] a liter [roughly a quarter of a gallon] on the street because I’m not there to wait in line.” The price in the official establishments is around 30 pesos [$1.25] per liter.

Other provinces have been suffering cuts for weeks. In Villa Clara, for example, fuel was rationed at the beginning of March, at a maximum of 30 liters [7.5 gallons] per car, 20 liters [5 gallons] for cargo and passenger bikes and 10 liters [2.5 gallons] for motorcycles.

In the middle of the month, just after a visit by Raúl Castro to Caracas, Reuters reported that Venezuela was preparing to send more than one and a half million barrels of oil to Cuba in a supertanker with the Panamanian flag. The cargo was composed, according to the report, of 400,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil and 1.13 million barrels of diesel.

The ship was supposed to arrive on the Island at the end of March, but there is no trace of that cargo on the streets.

Meanwhile, one group of workers especially outraged about the shortage of fuel are the taxi drivers. Sources in this newspaper say that they are fighting to be enabled by special services so that they don’t have to stand in the same lines as the rest, including the private ones. “So far we are having to gather together several taxi drivers to take turns standing in line, but we can’t continue that way,” says one of them.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Devastating Article in Cuba’s Official Press About the Mistakes in the Management of Tourism

The article laments that the recovery of tourism is so slow. (14ymedio/Archivo)

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 April 2023 — The provincial press once again proves to be the only one capable of separating itself from the official discourse of the Communist Party and sounding a wake-up call to the Government from within the system. The newspaper of Ciego de Ávila, Invasor, dared to do so this Monday with an opinion piece entitled “Cuban tourism: balances and imbalances,” in which it admits that the sector is not growing at the right pace, the goal for 2023 is “complicated” and, even more, the strategy is wrong.

The text highlights the failure of the recovery of Tourism, which in the first two months of the year was very far from the 2019 data, a fact that for the first time was mentioned aloud by Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, last Tuesday in a meeting in which the “weaknesses and strengths” of the sector were analyzed.

Marrero, who was Minister of Tourism for 15 years, said that 1,014,087 foreigners visited the Island in 2022, 37.8% of the number in 2019. It was no secret, since the official data reflected it, and the independent press had been warning for months that the appropriate date for comparing tourism figures was not the previous year, but the last year before the impact of COVID-19. However, the state media had never put it in black and white.

Taking advantage of the circumstance, as well as the analysis of the current prime minister, Invasor took the data from the 2022 Tourism report to accurately emphasize that travelers spend most of their money on food and not on hotels. Yet, the Government insists on building them.

Cuba earned, always according to the official data, 19.2 billion pesos ($800 million with the rate of $24 to 1 peso) in income in the entities of international tourism, but “the highest income was not from accommodation but from gastronomic services, with about 44% of the total collection,” writes the author, Saily Sosa. continue reading

“This means that this is where we should put the money: in increasing the quantity and quality of gastronomic offers inside and outside the tourist hubs, generating value chains back and forth. Because to guarantee the cuisine destined for tourism we must import food and raw materials, and the business is far from great,” Sosa says bluntly.

The article recalls an extremely alarming fact: only 15% of hotel beds were occupied last year. In other words, out of every 10 hotel rooms on the Island, more than 8 were empty in 2022, an even more discouraging figure when compared to competing destinations, such as the Dominican Republic (70% occupied in Punta Cana), or the Mediterranean (75% occupied in the Balearic Islands).

For Sosa, the figure is a “poor indicator” that should lead to reflection, especially if one takes into account that “Tourism has benefited in the last decade with million-dollar investments, fundamentally in the expansion of hotel rooms.”

Invasor mentions “the lack of food, beverages and supplies; poor service; insufficient leisure and entertainment activities in the tourist resorts; lack of maintenance in the facilities and unstable internet service; in addition to the difficulty of finding fuel for planes, rental cars and tour buses.” One surprising data point that Marrero revealed was the decreasing number of workers in the Tourism sector. They were among the most benefited by the juicy trips they received, but the collapse of tourism also diminished the attractiveness of these jobs.

“Several economists have warned of the urgency of changing the pattern of investments in Cuba, drifting towards the production of meat, vegetables, fruits, grains and food amounts that improve the productive bases from the technological point of view, so that it can be spoken of in terms of competitive returns and supply markets, not just in terms of of tourism, by the way,” the article spits out.

While pointing out the “disadvantage” of the “blockade,” which does not allow the arrival of American tourists, the article immediately qualifies this with a devastating criticism of political leaders who have not made the necessary decisions to produce what is needed for tourism on the Island. By importing everything instead of producing in the country, “the income is equal to the costs; therefore, profits tend to zero.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘It’s Not for Solidarity That Cuba Sells Its Expensive Teacher Program to Honduras’

Cuban teachers upon their arrival in Tegucigalpa, last December. (Government of Honduras)

14ymedio, Madrid, 29 March 2023 — The 123 Cuban teachers who will train teachers in Honduras will cost that country approximately 406 dollars a month, according to the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo on Wednesday in an article in which several analysts describe the investment on the part of one of the poorest countries on the continent as a mistake.

The newspaper claims to have acceded to the agreement, signed between Havana and Tegucigalpa on October 21, 2022, and points out that the amount allocated to each professional is 10,000 lempiras per month and a total of 14.7 million per year (just over half a million dollars). The total amount, for the three years initially agreed, is, as had already been announced, 40 million lempiras (1.6 million dollars).

“I understand the issue of solidarity, but in reality this is not cooperation because they are services that the Cuban regime sells very expensively, the same as with the doctors,” Julio Raudales, rector of the José Cecilio del Valle University (UJCV) told El Heraldo.

The newspaper has consulted with several experts who, among the flaws in the agreement, point out that the money could have been allocated to a national project to hire Honduran teachers and unemployed people. Specialists believe that it is an “initiative that arises from an erroneous and imposed ideology” and that it will “weaken” Honduras’s own educational system. continue reading

The implementation of the “Yo sí puedo” [“Yes I can”] program aims to help 700,000 people to become literate during the term of Xiomara Castro, who supports the Government of Havana. Although the program is very complete and works, specialists affirm that it has nothing new to offer and has not been proposed in Honduras.

“The document is well done, but it is not superior to a program that has been carried out by Hondurans. In comparison, the Nacho [a school book used in the country] is better elaborated than this methodology,” says Dennis Cáceres, director of Education of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ).

The specialist mentions several projects that were implemented in Honduras for adult literacy in previous years and insists that there are no big differences. “In the end, literacy is based on learning words in a context, with the objective that people know how to read, add and subtract. Something that our programs already have,” he alleges.

The planned classes have a duration of two and a half hours and are spread over three days a week, and the exercises consist of the study of syllabic letters and combinations, but some experts warn that “if the roles are not agreed correctly” there could be indoctrination sneaking into the counseling.

Another of the specialists consulted, Johnny Varela, believes that it seeks to attract attention politically by launching a new proposal instead of seriously addressing a “true educational refoundation.”

The program has been the center of controversy since its announcement, when at the beginning of January the imminent arrival of ten technicians from the Island was announced to begin implementing the program, which has already been exported to about 43 countries. Then a promotional video of the Secretariat of Strategic Planning, one of the signatories of the agreement, which was advancing a new education system for Honduras, generated discomfort. “It will be universal, inclusive, participatory, secular and scientific. Just as it should be and not as the one that is being applied.”

The video continued to praise the Cuban education system, “which is one of the best in the world and will turn the exclusionary system into one that is inclusive, and we will begin to raise the cultural level of the population by delving into values such as solidarity and cooperation.”

In the images, an attractive young white woman explains in just under two minutes, smiling and with exaggerated gestures, the importance of the agreement. “The system prioritizes four aspects in education: literacy, universal access to education, the importance of teachers and education focused on social change,” she explains, referring to education in Cuba.

The opposition, led by the National Party of Honduras (PNH), also rejected the initiative, described as “Cuban interference,” and spoke of “dubious agreements.” “There are many questions from Latin American countries about Cuba’s political and ideological presence on the continent, which uses health and education as a pretext for its purposes,” a spokesman said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Six Months, the US Coast Guard Thwarted 6,202 Cuban Rafters

The US Coast Guard thwarted the landing attempt of a group of Cubans who made the crossing on the raft ’The Faith of God’. (Twitter/@USCGSoutheast)

14ymedio, Havana, 3 April 2023 — In the last six months the United States Coast Guard has thwarted the attempt of 6,202 Cuban rafters to reach Florida. According to official data, this figure exceeds the total of the entire previous year, which was 6,182. Lieutenant John Beal of District Seven reiterated that “anyone who tries to enter the United States illegally by sea will be rescued and repatriated.”

Beal stressed that “those rafters who disembark will be arrested and prosecuted for expulsion.” This is the procedure faced by the 14 Cubans who managed to make landfall on Friday in the Florida Keys. The migrants arrived in two rafts, and one of the groups had a dog with him.

Although the landing of Cubans in Florida has decreased since last January, the Chief Officer of the Border Patrol, Walter Slosar, documented with images the arrival of 89 nationals of the Island in March. The largest group, 48 Cubans, was registered after their two rafts arrived at the Dry Tortugas National Park on March 4.

This national park in the Florida Keys had to close in January due to the arrival of at least 300 migrants in two days. These landings occurred just as Washington implemented the humanitarian parole program to receive 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua on a monthly basis, in an attempt to stop the massive illegal arrival of people from those countries. continue reading

During the month of January, the US authorities granted the rafters who managed to land “an expedited deportation order,” the verdict issued by a judge for the expulsion of a person but which can be reversed with legal advice. Currently, they are being prosecuted and returned to their country of origin, noting that “they will not be eligible for the humanitarian parole program.”

This Sunday, the Coast Guard delivered 64 rafters to Cuba, and counting them there have been 2,998 irregular migrants returned to the Island this year. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the group was made up of 54 men and 10 women.

The migrants, mostly from Matanzas and Mayabeque, were handed over to the Cuban authorities in the port of Orozco in Artemisa province. Two of these people “were transferred to the investigative bodies, because before being involved in the illegal exits they were investigated as possible perpetrators of serious criminal acts,” the Ministry of the Interior said.

On the other hand, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador agreed to receive 30,000 migrants a month who are expelled by the United States, and this has generated an increase in arrests and confinement of foreigners in centers of the National Institute of Migration (INM), where abuses, extortion and human rights violations predominate.

In a temporary-stay area created by the Government, located on the Ciudad Juárez border, 38 migrants died as a result of a fire, out of the 700 who were held there. On Monday, the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection reported that the death toll had risen to 40.

“At the moment, 40 people have died and 27 are injured, of which 23 remain hospitalized,” the INM said in a statement. Among the victims are six Hondurans, seven Salvadorans, 18 Guatemalans, one Colombian and seven Venezuelans. The identity of the last deceased person is still unknown.

According to Mexican civil organizations, 2022 was the most tragic year for migrants in Mexico, since about 900 died in an attempt to cross into the United States without documents.

The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.76 million undocumented people detained at the U.S. border with Mexico since last October.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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What Can Happen With the Russian Economic Plans in Cuba?

Miguel Díaz-Canel was received by Vladimir Putin on his visit to Russia. (@DiazCanelB)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 4 April 2023 — The Russians are not going to be the salvation of the Cuban economy. Not by a long shot. No one should expect magical solutions in all this. Because they don’t care whether Cubans live better, nor have they received that order from Cuban President Díaz-Canel. Let no one have any illusions. Little is known about the Russian plans for the Cuban economy, but a conclusion can be reached. They will not straighten out the state shipwreck that is the inefficient and inoperative Cuban economy. The Russians propose to make changes but without touching anything. Let’s see how they do it.

However, the script of what has to be done to get the Cuban economy out of the Marxist hole is known and written, and in general, there is a lot of consensus around it. Therefore, it is advisable to distrust the Russian plan proposed by Putin’s adviser, Boris Titov, as president of the council of the Center for Russian-Cuban Economic Transformation that was born with the approval of Díaz-Canel during his trip to that country. This council acts on the instructions of Putin in the first place, and Díaz-Canel, secondly. From these two partners, from the good and the bad, you can expect anything, except rationality and economic wisdom. Any Spanish, Argentinian or American consultant could have done better.

The idea, in the first place, is to end the strict control that the regime exercises over the currency exchange. Correct. The creation of a foreign exchange market in Cuba for the peso, transparent and efficient, like the one that exists in other countries of the world with their respective currencies, is a proposal that the communist regime neither likes nor is interested in. Díaz-Canel had it at his fingertips in the Ordering Task,* and it barely lasted two months. He doesn’t like it because a fixed exchange rate can’t be sustained with the level of reserves of the economy. And it doesn’t interest him, basically, because for Cuban communists the foreign exchange market is nothing more than a means of collecting foreign currency for the state coffers that is not going to leave just because. continue reading

All the exchange decisions that are taken in Cuba, including the fixed exchange rate of the ordering task, go through arbitrating mechanisms for the spin of currencies that enter the country for the benefit of the state. The discrepancies between the official and the informal exchange rate prevent any possible solution to the problem of the loss of value of a currency, the fundamentals of which are in serious crisis. The regime does not like the alternative of a foreign exchange market and, therefore, will block this proposal of the Russians, even if they recognize the consequences of the disastrous exchange rate policy.

Secondly, the Russian plan proposes to Havana to empower and promote small and medium-sized enterprises, which in Cuba are known as SMEs, and which have already been criticized from different positions. Are the Russians thinking that Castro’s SMEs serve their reforms? I doubt it. They have proposed an in-depth reform of fiscal policy to bring out activities from the underground economy. As a theoretical approach it could work, but first you have to throw something away. In the Cuban economy, taxes are only a small part of what prevents the SMEs from prospering.

The main problem lies in the absolute interference that the communist regime maintains in the SMEs, which in Cuba must be authorized by the Ministry of Economy and Planning and violates the right to free enterprise that exists in market economies. The Ministry offers monthly data from authorized SMEs, but nowhere is there information on those that go out of business, and it is known that this type of project usually presents a high mortality in its early years. Without this data, it is impossible to determine the scope of the reform of SMEs and their economic and social impact. Presumably, the Russians have asked for the data. Meanwhile, the Cuban state maintains its absolute control over all strategic areas of the economy and corners the SMEs by limiting their possibilities for growth.

The SME sector and other private actors cannot lead any economic change because it only represents 7% of GDP, 11% of budget income and offers employment to a quarter of the country’s workers (1,600,000 according to data from the Ministry of Labor, compared to more than 3 million, double, employed by the state and its companies). The figures do not allow comparison: the private sector in other countries represents more than 80% of employment and in terms of GDP management it far exceeds 70%. The distance from Cuba with these international parameters indicates the intensity and complexity of the reforms to be undertaken.

Thirdly, the Russian plan aims to eliminate other obstacles faced by companies in Cuba, such as the difficulty in accessing credit, high taxes, problems with the rate of return due to the prices of some goods, which are established in a directive way by the regime, or the price of other goods, limited by low wages in the public sector.

In short, return the axis of the functioning of the economy to the private market. Correcting the aforementioned factors is not easy, especially since, in this case, it would not be fair to apply corrective measures only to private companies, when the state companies, which are the “center of the economic system” for the regime, will not receive the same treatment.

Fourthly, the Russian plan believes that making the tax regime more flexible can help the private sector get out of the underground economy and the vicious circle in which it finds itself, and produce results in the increase of the production of food and commodities. The proposal is to move slowly, but surely, in terms of reforms, to avoid what happened in Russia, where structural transformations caused notable social injustices.

The question is how to reconcile reforms in the functioning of the economy with the maintenance of social quotas served by a budget that, necessarily, has to be reduced in size to free up resources for the private sector. It is not a matter of shock therapies or anything like that, but if the state is intended to reduce its weight in activity by placing itself at levels similar to other countries, and central planning is to be replaced by the laws of supply and demand in the setting of prices, the population cannot be deceived: sacrifices will have to be accepted.

And those sacrifices will be the greater the more the structural decisions are delayed and the more they try to sustain the state budget with the current superfluous spending commitments that currently exist. There is no possible alternative, and it should be explained to the people that the adjustments are necessary to build a prosperous economy, capable of generating employment and wealth for all, far from the Stalinist collapse of six decades.

Fifth, the definitive farewell to collectivism must be accompanied by transparent privatization processes with international observers, to ensure the legality of the actions. But as far as we know, the Russian plan doesn’t say much about this. The redistribution of economic power that is associated with these processes should not lead to the creation of mafia groups or companies of the regime, which in reality already exist, but to the birth of efficient, flexible and competitive private companies that help in the reconstruction of the nation. If the Russians are not able to offer this solution, it’s better that they don’t do anything.

In reality, the experience of Cuban SMEs in the last year has little to do with the free enterprise of which the Russians speak. Of course, it is much better that there are SMEs than that there are none. But the regime has absolutely controlled the process of creation and approval, and despite everything, it has not been able to consolidate productive structures in the field of food, where unattended needs are still very prominent. There has been a commitment to the manufacturing industry and services, which have been consolidated in the first sectoral position.

There have also been complaints that some SMEs have been oriented to develop businesses that are in the hands of family and friends of senior officials, as well as foreign entrepreneurs related to the regime. But the truth is that, so far, you can’t talk about an economic class with defined objectives and purposes. The state maintains absolute control of the process, and the SME as an alternative to communist power is weak.

Within the framework of the projects that the Russians want to implement in Cuba, there has also been talk of a joint commercial company, based on foreign investment to distribute food, chemicals and other items with the participation of the Cimex group, although no contract has yet been signed, and it is already known how these things end. Another investment project, also to be developed, is a hotel for the exclusive use of Russians, justified by the return of tourism from this country to the Island. The authorities have denied this information.

Okay, then. Russia’s relations with other countries, including Cuba, are usually structured on a framework of obscurity and little transparency that, at times like the present, with the war in Ukraine and the international embargo, multiplies significantly. Geopolitics also has a very important influence. Russians are not Cubans, nor are Cubans Russians. It will be difficult to know exactly what the Russian plans consist of, but there is no doubt that they may be compromised by what happens in Russia in the immediate future. Most likely, they will amount to nothing.

*The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Politics, Art and Sport

The Cuban baseball team said it felt under pressure in the Miami game, and, after its defeat, the regime blamed the audience and the opposition. (Jit)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 1 April 1, 2023 — They are three independent activities, but when the arts and sports, like any discipline, are developed under a dictatorial, even worse, totalitarian management, such as the Cuban State, the management, individual or collective, is subject to the will of the government.

There will be those who do not understand the protests, which, in other words, are not against the athletes, but against the regime they represent, although as citizens, they also have rights and duties within their community.

I confess that I remember with bitterness those days of death sentences that were carried out in 24 hours, and that many prominent athletes and artists, receiving awards abroad, in their first statements to the press dedicated their awards to Fidel Castro or simply said that he was their inspiration.

The distinctions that athletes receive under the regime are a product of their own efforts, but the Government capitalizes on them for propaganda purposes, and this contributes to disinformation and to the athlete’s dependence on the State. Something similar happens with any scientific advance that occurs in Cuba. They make believe, they disseminate the results, as a genuine progress of the system, not of the nation; even less, of the individuals who with their talent and dedication achieve success. continue reading

The totalitarian regime takes credit for any award or recognition to a Cuban who represents the Island. But some do not feel a triumph as something national or as a success that belongs to everyone.

I have participated in protests against the dictatorship at sporting events. I confess that it’s not easy. I have felt like the character of the book The Two Halves of the Viscount, by Italo Calvino, which describes an aristocrat physically divided in half by a cannonball, which results in the contradictory behavior of his two halves.

The situation presented by Calvino in his short novel is complex, similar to that suffered by those of us who face totalitarian regimes that are capable of appropriating the values of a nation. It is true that there are those who do not have problems with their halves; they are whole, and they act as a battering ram without suffering the consequences.

In the early 1980s, a sports competition was celebrated in a stadium in Valencia, Venezuela, attended by Cuban boxers.

It was an intense day. Together with Kemel Jamis, a former political prisoner, and two other compatriots, we appeared on the grounds with a couple of large signs that said, “Welcome Cuban sports brothers” and another, “We condemn Castro-Communist tyranny.” Fortunately, for our safety from the Cuban and Venezuelan henchmen, the National Guard intervened and took us into custody and out of the stadium.

Protesting is a right, especially when people are not assaulted and public and private property are not damaged.

Totalitarianism introduces the citizen to a perennial debate. Consciousness, feelings, interests, politics and ideology face off against each other in a constant discussion, which acutely complicates reaching conciliation. The regime that prevails in Cuba is so absorbing and inclusive that, no matter how hard the individual tries, he cannot escape the influence of the system, unless he absolutely breaks with his roots and what he derives from them.

This perception to some extent is also based on the fact that totalitarianism, beyond the will and doing of each citizen, instilled for decades the certainty that the homeland and Fidel Castro were a single entity, an absolutism that led to the belief that any contrary individual decision would have a negative impact on the values and commitments of the nation.

All this generates an irreconcilable confrontation between the two supposed halves, not only in sports but in similar aspects. It affects everything, even the help you can give to a family member, because the reality is that totalitarianism is like a gigantic funnel that swallows everything.

But what to do? Totalitarianism is a dirty trap that corrodes us. On the Island everything is kidnapped, even our loved ones, and can there be a homeland without a family?

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Government Extends the Import of Generators From Cuba Until December 2023

Despite the high prices, these devices are not a luxury on the Island because of the constant blackouts. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 31 March 2023 — The Cuban authorities have extended until December 31, 2023 the permit for the non-commercial import of generators of more than 900 watts. In the run-up to the hottest months of the year, the measure — approved in August 2022 and reactivated last December — tries to guard against a summer of new blackouts and the usual breakdown of the National Electricity System (SEN) in the face of high demand for electricity.

The extension was announced this Thursday in an extraordinary edition of the Official Gazette, through a resolution of the Ministry of Finance and Prices. The sections of the document recall that this government agency is authorized to reauthorize the measure as many times as it deems necessary, and considers that the acquisition of the generators has brought notable “benefits for the residential sector,” in the face of the “contingencies” that have affected the SEN.

Initially approved after the energy debacle that the Island suffered during the summer of 2022, the measure expired in December of that year. However, the authorities extended the deadline for three months, until March, and this Thursday it was decided to extend it for another nine months.

Since last August, Cubans have taken advantage of this law to import generators of more than 900 watts, although the increase in the number of these devices has not meant a total solution to the energy problem. The lack of fuel, indispensable for the operation of the generators, and the strict control and registration that the Government maintains for the owners, have hindered their role in Cuban houses. continue reading

The rule, which promised a “special treatment” for equipment importers, was the continuation of a set of measures approved in July 2022, in order to make the non-profit import of several items more flexible. The inventory ranged from cell phones and computers to appliances, sporting goods and spare parts for cars.

At that time, the import of generators of up to 900 watts was also authorized for a price of 200 dollars, from 900 to 1,500 watts for 500 dollars, and more than 1,500 watts for 950 dollars. However, the authorities understood that the document underestimated the price of the devices and, therefore, attributed an erroneous number that affected the possibility of import. In the US market — where most of them are usually bought — the cost of a generator of more than 900 watts not only exceeded 200 dollars but could reach 500 dollars for each unit.

“When assessing the effects on the residential sector that still persist, as a result of the energy deficit caused by the breakdowns in the national electroenergy system, it is necessary to authorize, on a temporary basis, the import of generators with a power of more than 900 watts,” they agreed.

There was no shortage of complaints and comments about the opportunism of the measure. On the other hand, the noise of the machinery during the nights of blackout also caused discomfort in the neighbors of the “lucky” owners.

The dissatisfaction increased after the announcement that the generators had to be registered in the local service stations as a condition to be able to buy 2.6 gallons of gasoline to jump-start the equipment.

The owners of the generators faced new difficulties due to the need to “register” them, a requirement that also raised suspicions. The Government, said several users on social networks, also intended to carry out a strict “census” of the equipment and its owners, noting their identity card and the serial number of the machine.

As if that were not enough, the lines of customers in front of the service stations and the usual shortage of fuel were other obstacles to achieving the efficiency of the generators during a situation that the authorities had to qualify as “the worst in the history” of the SEN.

Miguel Díaz-Canel’s promise that the blackouts would stop by the end of the year was fulfilled for only a few weeks. At the beginning of this year, Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, anticipated that the blackouts would return, although initially he assured that they would be for only a couple of hours. A few weeks later he extended the period to 3 or 4 hours that, in practice, have been exceeded in some areas. Not to mention that half of the Island has already experienced four serious energy collapses in just three months.

The extension approved this Thursday will also reactivate the market for generators in the United States, where Cubans living in Florida will try, once again, to get their relatives on the Island a generator for the long nights of blackout that, according to the Government itself, are far from being an outdated reality.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Russia Will Continue To Strengthen Its Strategic Cooperation With Cuba After the Elections

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel with a Russian delegation in Havana. (Presidency)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow, 30 March 2023 — Russia will continue to strengthen its strategic cooperation with Cuba after the recent legislative elections on the Island, which demonstrated the “maturity of Cuban society,” the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, María Zakharova, said on Thursday.

“We confirm our principled approach of continuing to strengthen the strategic interaction between Russia and Cuba,” said the representative of Russian diplomacy, highlighting the elections to the Assembly of People’s Power held on the Island last Sunday.

Zakharova celebrated “the successful completion of the electoral process in Cuba,” in which the 470 proposed deputies were elected.

“We value this as a new testimony of the support of the Cuban population for the Government’s efforts to solve the current tasks facing the country,” she said.

The Foreign Affairs spokeswoman added that “this process showed the maturity of Cuban society, its consolidation based on the line promoted by Havana in defense of the country’s national interests and sovereignty.”

Although Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described the elections as a “clean home run” despite “the fierce campaign and the calls for abstention” of dissident sectors, the turnout was 75.92%, a historically low figure for what is customary in the country.

An abstention of 24.08% is low compared to other Latin American countries and some liberal democracies.

However, this is the largest abstention recorded in the parliamentary elections in Cuba since the triumph of the revolution in 1959.

Between 1976, the date of the first elections of the socialist stage, and 2013, it remained below 10%, and only in 2018 did it rise to 14%.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Baseball Player Roel Santos Stranded in Miami Will Be Able To Join the Olmecas of Tabasco

Cuban baseball player Roel Santos is in Miami and will travel to Havana to recover his documents that were stolen from him. (Instagram)

14ymedio, Mexico, 30 March 2023 — The theft of his passport, with a U.S. and Mexico visa, in addition to his work permit, prevented Cuban baseball player Roel Santos from joining the preseason with the Olmecas of Tabasco.

However, a source within the Mexican team confirmed to 14ymedio that the player “already received permission in the United States to travel to Havana,” where he will be able to retrieve his documents and travel to Mexico before April 20, in time for the start of the Mexican Baseball League.

On Thursday morning, Santos was in Miami, where he was the victim of a robbery for which no details have been given, but a source on his team says that “he is expected to be here in the coming days” and that his participation “is in the plans” of Mexican managers. On the Facebook profile Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero, a video was uploaded in which the Cuban athlete invites fans to attend the Tabasco team’s headquarters to learn about the new attractions.

Through the publication by Olmecas New Times, it was reported that Santos would take between a month and a half to two months to recover his documentation, during which time “he could not leave the United States.” However, after a few calls from the baseball player, the situation changed, and Havana is already working on the recovery of his documents. continue reading

The specialized media Pelota Cubana confirmed that the baseball player, a native of Granma province, had not been able to leave Miami after his participation with Team Asere, which finished fourth place in the World Classic after a controversial match in which the Cuban team faced the United States. This Thursday, the athlete shared a video on his Instagram account in which he is seen on a yacht, as well as some images of his stay in Florida.

Santos started playing for the Olmecas de Tabasco in 2019. At that time he had experience in the Independent Canadian-American League, in the Professional League of Japan and in the Colombian Professional Baseball League.

Play-Off Magazine revealed in 2020 that Roel Santos had a salary of $7,000 per month. In the same publication, the then-president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Higinio Vélez, assured that the entire amount of the money was received by the athlete, and the Federation received the equivalent of 20% of the club’s contract.

The numbers for Santos in the summer with the Olmecs were phenomenal. After 68 games he had a batting average of .411. In 253 turns at bat, he hit 8 home runs, had 104 hits and assisted 30 runs.

During the winter he played with the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Arco League in Mexico and reached the semifinals. In the regular tournament he was a star in 58 games, with a batting average of .303, and he excelled in the left and center fields.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In the First Public Auction in Cuba, a Repossessed Hyundai Is Sold to a Company

A white Hyundai Accent similar to the one being auctioned in Havana. (Auto Motor)

14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2023 — The Provincial Court of Havana has disclosed the first call for public auction that will be held in Cuba, a measure introduced in the Code of Process approved at the end of 2021, which allows enforcing a judgment when the guilty party lacks funds to make a payment.

In this case, the auctioned goods is a 2006 Hyundai Accent vehicle that starts with a minimum price of 64,051.03 Cuban pesos (about $2,700 at the official exchange rate of 24 pesos to $1, or 24 to $366 on the informal currency market). This is the appraisal value, and as usual, it is much lower than the market price, since used cars sell for at least $20,000.

The vehicle, white and with a 5301811 gasoline engine, was owned by the company Pleatex Company INC, based in the British Virgin Islands with a branch in Havana, dedicated to the marketing of industrial products and articles. The car was seized to satisfy a debt with the allegedly Spanish Blue Capital Partners S.L., which was represented by a Cuban lawyer and of which there are currently no concrete signs of existence, except in Romania and Israel, where a company with the same name is registered.

Any natural or legal person can participate in the auction, as long as they are not a court official or a lawyer for any of the parties involved in the case. To do this, they must be of legal age and resident in Cuba; meet the specific requirements to acquire goods of this type; accept the existing title, the charges and encumbrances; declare that they know the conditions of the process; and guarantee the deposit in Cuban pesos of the bond ordered by the court — equivalent to 30% of the appraised value or, in this case, 19,215 pesos. continue reading

Potential interested parties must submit their applications to the Commercial Chamber of the Provincial Court of Havana within 20 days from March 29, when the edict has been published. In addition, they will be able to inspect the vehicle and its state of conservation, the document indicates, adding that any payment must be made by bank transfer and never in cash.

The auction will put an end to a conflict that goes back a long way, since the lawsuit was filed five years ago. It has amazed countless citizens who have created a parallel debate in the networks of the official press about the relevance of an auction in a communist system that some consider typical of other systems. Other readers defend the appropriateness of public auctions as a way of enforcing judgments, something not intrinsic to capitalism, and most are astonished at the publicity that this procedure has been given.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Serbian Authorities Confirm to ‘14ymedio’ That They Will Require a Visa From Cubans as of April 14

It is the first time since 1966, after the signing of an agreement between Belgrade and Havana, that Serbia demands this document from Cubans. (Facebook/Cubans in Serbia)

14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2023 — The consul and political advisor of the Embassy of Serbia in Havana, Jelena Zivojinovic, confirmed this Thursday to 14ymedio that as of April 14, Cubans will need a tourist or work visa to travel to the country. The measure, aimed at containing illegal emigration, may be revoked “in the future” if the citizens of the Island “demonstrate” that they can travel to the Balkan nation and return to Cuba, the diplomat said.

“We had to demand the visa,” says Zivojinovic, after explaining that the immigration situation has become unsustainable. For several years, Serbia has become the springboard for many Cubans to illegally access the European Union. “Cubans emigrate a lot,” he says, and they have reached the “category of red illegal migration”; hence, the country decided to put a stop to the free visa procedure.

Despite the restrictions, Zivojinovic recalled, “with a letter of invitation from someone in Serbia the visa will still be granted, in addition to the fact that there are many Cubans who travel for work.” The Secretary of the Embassy added that they will soon make available to interested parties, on their website, the forms and requirements to apply for the visa.

It is the first time since 1966, after the signing of an agreement between Belgrade and Havana, that Serbia demands this document from Cubans, although it is not known if Cuba will take a “reciprocity measure” and demand, in turn, a visa from the Serbs. At the end of 2022, when the Government of Belgrade withdrew the free visa to several countries such as India, Guinea Bissau, Burundi and Tunisia, it began to be suspected that the Island might enter the list of nations for which the demands would increase, as a result of pressure from the European Union. continue reading

In December 2022, after an incident in which a group of Cubans were prevented from traveling from Frankfurt (Germany) to Belgrade, the diplomatic headquarters assured this newspaper that there was no change in the immigration rule between the two countries and held the airline responsible.

This year, the situation of several groups of Cuban passengers has been reported who have not been allowed to enter Serbia, and who have remained for days in overcrowded conditions at Belgrade International Airport. Since March 24, twenty-three Cubans have been detained in shelters at the air terminal, according to YouTuber MH Europa.

The Cubans, who “intended to enter the country as tourists,” had their passports and were asked for 300 euros to process “a visa.” “The reality is that Serbia no longer wants more Cubans,” he said.

Last week, this newspaper reported that the immigration authorities of Serbia allowed the entry of 19 Cubans who were detained at that same airport. Eight others were deported, and the fate of at least eight others was unknown.

The establishment of the visa coincides, however, with several steps of economic rapprochement between the two countries. On Tuesday, the Island’s ambassador to Serbia, Leyde Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández — who took office just a few days ago, on March 16 — paid a visit to Jiri Marex and Bosko Rupic, executive and trade directors, respectively, of the Air Serbia company. According to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodríguez visited the airline’s headquarters to evaluate “the possibilities of establishing a direct flight between Belgrade and Havana.”

In addition, they agreed to stay in communication about “possible direct flights by tour operators in Serbia to the Cuban tourist market.” Other notes from the Cuban Foreign Ministry attest to the excellent state of trade relations between the two nations.

Asked about this contact of the island’s diplomats with Air Serbia, precisely when the access of Cubans to that country is restricted, Zivojinovic argued that “one thing has nothing to do with the other.” The project to establish a Havana-Belgrade connection “has been in the works for a long time,” he said. “Now it’s being finalized,” especially to stimulate Serbian tourism to Cuba.

In addition to tourism, Rodríguez has begun negotiations with entrepreneurs from Serbia in the industrial, agri-food and transport spheres and plans, together with the director of the Dynamic Elchem company, Milos Stefanovic, to achieve an investment to assemble “all the equipment for chocolate production.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Western Union’s Outrageous Poster: ‘Cuba Is Open for Business!’

Western Union office in Miami with the controversial poster. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Miami, 31 March 2023 — The sign in front of the Western Union office located at 6590 Pembroke Road, in Miami, has raised the indignation of its Cuban customers. “Cuba is open for business!” says the poster in English; it is illustrated with a flag of the Island and also reminds people that remittances are limited to $2,000 for debit cards and Cuban bank accounts. The service is available, it continues, for Banco Popular, the Metropolitan and Credit and Commerce (Bandec).

“What do you mean that Cuba is open to business? That’s a lie,” an émigré from Havana scolded the employee on Thursday, who was given a number of reasons: “There is a dictatorship; it is a totalitarian, oppressive, repressive, murderous regime.”

The worker, embarrassed, kindly agreed with him, but argued: “I think it refers to the fact that unlike the time when Western Union was closed for Cuba, now you can send money.” For the client, that was a very different thing from what the poster suggested, which he called “a lack of respect for the exile community.”

Earlier this month, Western Union announced that it was open for sending remittances to Cuba from any of its offices in the United States, after a two-month pilot program in Florida. The payment channels used are those of the official Cuban agency Orbit, through which Cubans receive their money in dollars. continue reading

Western Union suspended remittances to Cuba — the country’s second source of income, behind the sale of medical services and ahead of tourism — in November 2020, after the government of then-President Donald Trump sanctioned Fincimex and AIS, two remittance processing entities, for their links with Gaesa, the conglomerate of companies led by the Cuban military.

A month earlier, the United States Government had formally banned remittances to Cuba sent through companies controlled by the Armed Forces. According to the available data, 51.3% of the companies that then offered financial services in Cuba had contracts with Fincimex.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Havana and Beijing Sign an Agreement To Promote Chinese Tourism in Cuba

Signing of the agreement in Havana between Havanatur and Tumei to promote Cuban tourism in China. (Havanatur)

14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2023 — The rapprochement between Cuba and China takes a new step with the signing of an agreement, this Wednesday, between Havanatur and the Chinese tour operator Tumei International Travel, which will promote the Island as a “reliable and safe destination” for travelers of the Asian giant.

According to the official press, Rodrigo Wen, the deputy general manager of Tumei, said during the signing of the agreement in Havana that Cuba is “a priority destination” and is among the “preferences” of the customers of his company, which is based in Hong Kong.

This week, a delegation from the agency toured Havana, Varadero, Cienfuegos and Trinidad as possible destinations for the arrival of Chinese tourists. The first deputy minister of Tourism in Cuba, María del Carmen Orellana, said that the city of Baracoa, in Guantánamo, is more in line with the needs of the Chinese market with the renovations of hotels after the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, she assured that the Cuban side has prepared and studied the characteristics and demands of Chinese travelers to welcome them “with the best service.”

More than sun and beach, tourists from the Asian giant usually travel in groups and are interested in the cultural heritage of the countries they visit, such as museums and galleries. In addition, they allocate a good part of their budget to shopping and prefer places with Internet connections and electronic payment systems. continue reading

For Orellana, the “conditions are created for Chinese citizens to feel that Cuba is their second homeland during their stay,” while Tumei’s spokesman pointed out that his company had understood the “concept of a single Cuba.” The signing of the agreement was also attended by Alberto Blanco, director of Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chou Quan, economic adviser of the Chinese Embassy in Havana, who “agreed” on the “excellent state” of relations between the two countries, according to statements repeated in the official press.

After almost three years of border closures, China put an end to its “zero covid” policy in January, by allowing travelers to enter its country without a mandatory quarantine. According to an interview given in February to the Prensa Latina agency, the deputy manager of Tumei said that Cuba is among the 20 countries approved by the Chinese government for the resumption of group tourism. “So there is no time to lose and we must act now. We hope to be able to see some results within this year,” he said.

The tentacles of the Chinese Government on the Island extend from small industries, such as footwear, to key areas of economic activity such as the generation of renewable energy and the modernization of the official media. China was among the countries that Miguel Díaz-Canel visited during a tour in November last year in search of funding and new cooperation, in which his counterpart Xi Jinping pledged to deliver 100 million dollars as part of an “emergency donation.”

Deputy Minister Orellana also said that tourism “is beginning to take its first steps to recover” after the crash generated by the pandemic.

However, official data confirm that tourism is still far from recovering its pre-pandemic levels. Between January and February 2023, 489,000 tourists arrived on the Island, barely half (51%) compared to the same period in 2019.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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