Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 73

A County in Northern Ireland Requests Doctors From the Cuban ‘Henry Reeve’ Brigade for a Hospital

The South West Acute Hospital, in the Northern Irish city of Enniskillen, closed the emergency surgery room in November due to a lack of staff. (HSC)

14ymedio, Madrid, 24 March 2023 — Given the lack of staff in one of its hospitals, a local government in Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) is asking Cuba for doctors. As reported on Thursday by the BBC on its news website, the authorities of Fermanagh County have sent a letter to the Embassy of the Island in London in which they ask if the Henry Reeve Brigade “could provide assistance” to the South West Acute Hospital, in Enniskillen, “so that it can meet the required staffing standards.”

The center had suspended its general surgery service in the emergency room last November due to a lack of healthcare workers.

As is the case throughout the United Kingdom with its National Health Service, the management of the hospital budget and the hiring of personnel are carried out by trusts that are distributed throughout the country. In this case, the Western Trust is responsible.

On March 15, the county’s policy and resources committee extended an invitation to this trust to accept the proposal, but the local media has not reported whether it has responded or not.

The Fermanagh Herald mentions that the problems of this trust “to recruit and retain medical personnel” in that hospital have caused a crisis, which local councilors are trying to remedy by importing Cuban health workers. continue reading

The diplomatic headquarters responded to the politicians immediately, indicating that the request for medical personnel had been transferred to the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba. A letter signed by Marta Castillo, who is in charge of cooperation matters at the Embassy, asks for as many details as possible about the staff and specialties required by the County Council, and also suggested holding a video call with the councilors about it.

Not all members of the Fermanagh Council, however, are satisfied with the hiring of Cubans. The most enthusiastic is independent counselor Eamon Keenan (from the left, judging by his social networks), who is responsible for the initiative and stated that he “never had any doubt” that Cuban doctors would take the county’s request seriously. He alleged that the Western Trust itself had expressed its willingness to hire staff “at the international level,” so this was “a great opportunity.”

“Cuba, a country that lives under strong economic sanctions from the United States, can and is willing to send medical support to us, the poor people of Fermanagh,” Keenan said.

Counselor Victor Warrington (of the Unionist Party) was more skeptical and pointed out that they need “permanent responses to our problems and not a Band-Aid.” In addition, he specified that the imported Cubans “probably would be temporary.”

For his part, Donal O’Cofaigh (of the Labor Party), said that even if Cuban doctors were there for only one or two years, their presence could help “stabilize” the situation until they found “permanent surgeons.”

The Henry Reeve Brigade, defined as an “international contingent of doctors specialized in situations of disaster and serious epidemics,” was created by Fidel Castro in 2005, as propaganda after the passage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Since then, it has intervened in different countries in cases of floods, earthquakes and outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it acted in a total of 40 countries, according to data from the Cuban Government.

Unlike other missions in Havana, it boasts of being “charitable,” and has even been proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the NGO Cuba Archive, the Henry Reeve Brigade is simply an “exportable product” of the military dictatorship, and, as it warned the award committee in Oslo in a public letter in 2020, “it is an intrinsic part of a human trafficking scheme” that violates international law.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Actor Ruben Brena Dies at the Age of 70 in Havana

Rubén Breña acting in a drama on national television. (ICRT)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 March 2023 — Cuban actor Rubén Breña passed away this Thursday in Havana at the age of 70, official media reported. The artist died after spending several days in intensive care at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital due to complications from erosive gastritis.

This Wednesday, and after several postings on social networks by friends close to the artist who denounced the lack of medicines to treat Breña, the official press published a note, something unusual in the health system of the Island, by the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital saying that the hospital had “everything necessary for his care.”

“From the first moment the patient had all the treatment required for erosive gastritis with the application of 20 mg of Omeprazole according to the protocols,” said the note, which caused outrage among Cuban Internet users for the severe shortage of drugs that the Island’s health system has suffered for more than two years.

According to the note, the actor had arrived at the hospital “in shattered health.” continue reading

“Incredible, but true: Rubén Breña is in intensive care at Ameijeiras. He needs Omeprazole and vitamin K (not orally) and there is none,” complained the actor and television director, Rolando Chiong, a few hours before the official publication.

Breña, known mainly for his diverse characters in dramatized series on Cuban television, was born in Pinar del Río in 1953. In the early 1970s he graduated from the National School of Theatre Direction of the Ministry of Culture and became part of the Zafarrancho and Trotamundos theater groups. In addition to theater and television, he worked in film and radio.

On television, his performances are remembered in dramatic works such as Tierra brava, Historias de Fuego, Cuando el agua regresa a la tierra and Salir de noche. According to the official media Cubadebate, Breña “was a self-taught painter and was fond of music and poetry.”

“Rest in peace, friend, man and great actor. Someday, someday. The good ones die, the fucked keep being fucked and living. That’s why, damnit, every day I don’t regret what I say,” actor Erdwin Fernandez wrote on Facebook, from the United States, when he learned of Breña’s death.

Among the official recognitions that Breña received in life, the Actuar Award for Life Work awarded by the Artistic Agency for the Performing Arts in 2019 stands out.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Police Will Go ‘House to House’ in Villa Clara to Find the Water Thieves

To carry out the theft, screws from the pipes were removed, and piping networks were connected that led to the fields of local farmers. (Vanguardia)

14ymedio, Havana, 24 March 2023 — The Villa Clara Police discovered 13 illegal connections and nine leaks in the Hanabanilla, a 15-mile system of pipes that supplies water to a large part of the central provinces of the Island. The farmers of the area had made multiple punctures in the pipes to divert the water to their agricultural fields.

The Hanabanilla, which takes its name from the reservoir that feeds it in the Villa Clara municipality of Manicaragua, extends from Jíbaro, in Sancti Spíritus, to Zapatero, in Villa Clara. The greatest damage occurred, according to the official newspaper, Vanguardia, between the towns of Porvenir and Biajaca, where the drainage left 10,000 people from the towns of Mataguá, La Yaya and Jorobada without a water supply.

To carry out the theft, screws from the pipes were removed and piping networks were connected that led to the fields of local farmers.

The authorities will apply sanctions to those involved and promised to carry out a “program for the suppression of leaks,” which are also common in the system. The official press also says that these water thefts also occur at the Paso Bonito-Barajagua pumping station, in Cienfuegos, but states that the Villa Clara Police “has no jurisdiction to act” there and that they have already informed the neighboring province to “take similar measures.”

According to the local newspaper Vanguardia, the authorities have been trying to contain the illegalities in the area for months. They assure that they have renewed the electrical panels that generate the pumping capacity in Hanabanilla, but that the illegal drainage decreases the pressure of the network and makes it impossible to supply the area. continue reading

The newspaper also points out the population density of the territory and says that, despite this circumstance, the police will go “house to house” to find the offenders. The newspaper says that an “official warning” would be a matter of interest to the inhabitants of Manicaragua and that, “in case of recidivism,” the fines and penalties will increase.

The loss of water in the area — in the midst of a drought that has affected, above all, the central part of the country — has been a blow to the cost of the tanker trucks that deliver water, for which large amounts of fuel are needed and often impossible to get, due to the “energy contingency.”

The illegalities, the price of getting water to mountainous and remote communities and the incompetence of Cuban hydraulic resources companies were not mentioned, however, in the speech given this Thursday at the United Nations Conference on Water by Cuban Vice President Inés María Chapman.

Chapman dedicated her speech to celebrating the Regime’s management and to complaining that due to the US blockade, the Island was not able to have better results.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Between the Ballot and the Ticket To Leave the Island, Cubans Prefer To Emigrate

On Infanta Street this Wednesday, a young man in a ration store looked at one of the many official posters which, in these last weeks, promote a united vote for the parliamentary candidates.(14ymedio)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 23 March 2023 — To vote or not to vote in the elections for Cuba’s Parliament, on March 26, is a dilemma in the face of which many Cubans have already taken sides. The economic crisis, lack of hope and little confidence in state institutions favor abstention in a country where not attending the polls is considered a political statement and can involve reprisals.

Among those who are overcoming fear and say that they will not vote are retirees whose pensions don’t go far enough, young people who have not known anything but scarcity since they were born and potential migrants who set their sights outside the Island. The dissatisfaction and mistrust that lay beneath the surface of Cuban society could materialize in an increase in abstentions this coming Sunday.

On Infanta Street this Wednesday, a young man in a ration store looked at one of the many official posters that in recent weeks promote a united vote for the parliamentary candidates. The colorful advertising stands out in the store, which has only a couple of products on display. On the counter, a small blackboard announces that allocation of cigarettes and cigars for the month of January are now being sold.

“I don’t even plan to go out that day, and I’m going to close the windows so they don’t bother me to go vote,” clarified another young woman who arrived at the bodega (ration store) to ask about the arrival of salt. “Two years ago I turned 16 and am on the electoral roll, but I’m not interested. I didn’t go to vote for the Family Code [in September 2022], and I’m not going to go this time either,” she says bluntly. continue reading

The reason borders more on indifference than on rebellion. “It’s not going to change anything if I go or not,” she tells 14ymedio. “My mother has been attending all those processes for 40 years and what does she have now? Nothing. A half-collapsed house, four old rags to wear and some children who only think about leaving this country as soon as they can.”

While she is speaking, an old woman arrives but doesn’t join the conversation. She makes a gesture of denial when she hears the young woman’s words. It is in the elderly where the official propaganda of the united vote and the attendance at the polls as a sign of support for the system penetrates with greater depth. They are the ones who are most afraid of change or have spent more years of their lives supporting the Government.

Maurín, 21, lives in the Havana neighborhood of San Pedro in the municipality of El Cotorro. In front of the door of his house extends a street that years ago lost some of its asphalt. Garbage accumulates on the nearby corner, while the line for the only kiosk that sells food in the area almost reaches his window. “How am I going to go to vote if they haven’t even fixed the basics?” the young man asks, indignant.

With an engineer father and a nurse mother, Maurín questions the role of the delegates of the National Assembly of People’s Power in his neighborhood and the ability of parliamentarians to improve the lives of citizens. “In San Pedro we have been demanding [from the delegates] for years and years in the Accountability meetings that they fix our streets, improve the quality of the bread and open new stores to buy food, but none of that has been resolved.”

Disbelief has taken over many of the residents in the area, a phenomenon that is repeated throughout the country. To try to arouse enthusiasm in recent weeks, the Cuban ruling party has launched a campaign that includes meetings with voters, an avalanche of advertising in the national media, the reduction of annoying blackouts, and agricultural fairs to sell food at prices a little cheaper than in private markets.

However, the ideological offensive does not seem to be bearing fruit among a population that is tired of so many daily difficulties. For Maritza, 64, until recently employed by a branch of the Ministry of Culture, it is striking how people in the streets no longer hide that they will not vote on Sunday.

The Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel seems to fear a growth in abstention, which for decades remained below 10% but has experienced a significant increase in recent years. In last November’s municipal elections it reached an all-time high with 30% of voters absent. For the ruling party, attendance is measured as a sign of support for the system and the Communist Party.

“In the line at the bank I heard two employees who were talking and saying that they were not going to vote on Sunday. For me it is unprecedented that in a state work center people talk so openly in frank defiance of the system,” she tells this newspaper. “Before, that was unthinkable, and it shows that between fear and defiance, many are choosing defiance.”

Cuban dissidents have also raised the tone in the calls for abstention as the electoral date approaches and, for the first time in a long time, they have agreed on the “I don’t vote” premise, which has been joined by activists of various political stripes.

In Santa Clara, Ignacio, 47 years old and self-employed, has also decided to abstain. “The deputies will not solve any problem because they are the gears of this machine but not its essence. They are mostly a group of puppets without voice or vote because everything in Cuba has always been planned in that manual of ’continuity’,” he says.

Ignacio recognizes that others will go to the polls but says their attendance is not exactly because of a belief that the National Assembly will help improve life on the Island. “One of the saddest things is the political apathy of these people and the hopelessness that leads them to vote or take any decision dictated by the Government, such as voting for everyone,” he emphasizes.

Others, such as Jorge, a 23-year-old university student and resident of Camajuaní, Villa Clara, recognizes that he will go to vote on March 26 because he feels that attendance is “practically mandatory.” He does not want to stand out publicly and prefers to avoid teacher retaliation that could result from not going.

However, he recognizes that no candidate for parliament represents him “because the politics they defend has nothing to do” with his way of thinking. “The election process will solve absolutely nothing. All leaders follow the same ideology and do not change anything once they are elected,” he concludes with skepticism.

There are also those who seem impervious to the official campaign for the March 26 elections and say they are not even aware that voting will take place. “I don’t care about that; I just want to survive every day and wait for my sister to find me a sponsor to go to the United States,” acknowledges 19-year-old Jean Marcos. “The only place I’m going to go is to the airport when I have my flight.”

Jean Marcos’ friends share his position. Given the choice between the ballot or the ticket, they all seem to opt for something that gets them out of Cuba as soon as possible.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Chancellor Says That It Is in the Interest of the United States To Have the Island on the Terrorism List

Bruno Rodríguez believes that the position serves the United States “for its criminal policy of economic suffocation.” (Screen capture)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 24 March 2023 — The Government of Cuba affirmed on Thursday that the United States never intended to remove the Island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism because it “is convenient.”

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez declared on Twitter that the North American country has no plans to “correct Cuba’s unfair classification” since “it is convenient for its criminal policy of economic suffocation.”

Rodríguez echoed the statements this Thursday by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in which he said: “We are not planning” to remove the Island from the list.

During an appearance before the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, Blinken said “if there is a review, it will be based on the law and the benchmarks it establishes, which, as I said, have a very high bar.”

The Cuban head of Foreign Affairs stated that Blinken “confirms, in fact, that the State Department’s qualifying lists are nothing more than tools of political and economic coercion, totally divorced from such sensitive issues as terrorism, religion, human rights, drug trafficking, corruption and other things.”

The inclusion of Cuba on the list in January 2021 was one of the last decisions made by the Trump administration before leaving office. continue reading

The United States then justified the measure, which entails several sanctions, alluding to the presence on the Island of members of the Colombian ELN guerrillas, who traveled to Havana to start peace negotiations with the Colombian government.

The Island was taken off the list in 2015, during the rapprochement promoted by US President Barack Obama. It was put back on by Trump, who during his term redoubled the sanctions against Cuba and paralyzed much of the “thaw” stimulated by his predecessor.

The current Biden Administration has made some gestures towards the Island, such as the elimination of the remittance limit for Cuba, but it is still far from Obama’s rapprochement.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Without Private Participation, Transport in Cuba Will Not Go Very Far

A police checking the papers of a pedicab driver in Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 22 March 2023 — They don’t want to admit it, but if they want to get somewhere with transport in Cuba, they have to turn to the private sector. There is no other choice. In fact, one of the sectors of the Cuban economy that suffers a true crisis because of communist ideological measures is transport. And this, despite the fact that it is a fundamental sector for the proper functioning of the national economy in which the public and private must cooperate.

Unfortunately, none of this was mentioned at the annual evaluation meeting of the Ministry of Transport, Mitrans, held a few days ago and chaired by the Prime Minister, Marrero. In these meetings, the directors of the department talked about actions to stop road deterioration and begin its recovery, consolidate the development of computerization and strengthen the link with universities. The same thing every year. All this, according to the official press, to “achieve a robust transport system in 2023.” And to start over. It can be as robust as they want, but it won’t go anywhere.

And, as surprising as it may seem, there was only one reference in passing to adopt measures for prices in passenger transport, and this, despite the fact that, in February, the transport component of the consumer price index registered a year-on-year increase of 15% with an intense acceleration in the first two months.

It’s all the same. The Minister of Transport emphatically announced that this year, “the indication is to achieve the integration of all sectors of the industry to improve the quality of services.” The same “indication” of every year that later is never fulfilled. Integration and collectivism, the two vectors that prevent the sector from prospering.

At the meeting, with a large participation of officials and senior leaders of the communist party, not a moment was lost in blaming the embargo/blockade, the global economic crisis and the complex international situation for the lack of results. As a novelty, the minister insisted on “the need to eliminate the self-blocking and the limitations that many impose on themselves, with the aim of moving forward and looking for alternative solutions,” but without indicating which ones. A maxim since the times of the guidelines, which continues to be repeated like a scratched disc. continue reading

In his speech, Marrero surprised the attendees by pointing out that the most economical solution for the transport of goods “must be shipping,” and, a little surprisingly, he affirmed the need to “maintain performance with the support of state cars in public transport.”

Next, he said that a proper implementation of the recent Decree 83 on the transfer of ownership of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, their marketing and import (which seems to be a failure in view of the results) must be achieved; and they must raise the coefficients of technical availability of the vehicles with closed financing schemes (in the most absolute gibberish of the regime) and, from innovation, recover spare parts and added values (the scrappers’ business).

Next, he referred to the dissatisfactions with the work of the freight forwarding companies (dedicated to the distribution of international and state parcels, that is, dependent on it), which, in the case of Mitrans, are the entities Aerovaradero S.A. and the Freight Carrier Company (Transcargo). He concluded by saying that “Roads are one of the most complex issues facing the Island and, to guarantee productive activity, a solution must be found and the issue of road safety must be analyzed.” Traffic accidents are increasing significantly.

When talking about the transport of goods, Mitrans’ Director of Cargo of pointed out that the participation of various economic actors in the management must be increased. Work plans must be organized objectively to optimize resources, as well as the use of rail and shipping for the transport of cargo over long distances. It was the only reference to the private agents who offer their services in the sector.

In the case of Operation Port-Transport-Internal Economy (OPTEI), the Brigadier General at the head pointed out that it is necessary to maintain as a style of work the most agile transport groups at the beginning for extraction in the ports and final delivery to the client.

The director of passenger transport for Mitrans, pointed out that, although 2023 will be difficult, the measures adopted will allow the gradual recovery to begin. He insisted on the need to set objectives to meet the transport plans of the main services: taxis, school, urban, intercity, workers and rural. All this, without taking into account the February price increase in these services.

The general director of the Union of Railways of Cuba stressed that part of the actions for this year are focused on achieving the recovery of discharged equipment, including the manufacture of railways and on increasing efficiency, the quality of services and strengthening preventive work to avoid rail accidents. But it cannot prevent the use of the railway from being marginal for both passengers and goods.

At this point, Marrero ended by requesting the use of “carahatas,” a word that has no definition in the dictionary but that the prime minister said are small motor cars, alternatives for transport in rural areas. He also asked to conclude the work at the Central Railway Station of the capital and analyze the use and operation of urban trains.

For his part, the director of the Port Maritime Business Group (Gemar), said that within the projections is the launching of the ferry service and the floating dam, which Marrero said was a priority for the country, although curiously, he did not say anything about the transport of goods by shipping.

Finally, the president of the Corporación de la Aviación Cubana S.A. (Cacsa), spoke of improving the quality of passenger service and aircraft and achieving the sustainability of technological systems with a great impact on air activity, among other aspects. He also reported that work is being done on repairing the runways of the airports of Cayo Coco, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, as well as the expansion of Terminal 3 of the José Martí International Airport, which must be completed this year.

The vision that the authorities of the communist regime have of the transport sector does not go beyond the design of state policies, which leave aside the marginal private initiative that tries to survive on the Island. Good proof of this are the few 190 SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] authorized by the regime for transport, which are barely 4% of the total. That scarce participation of private activity says a lot about the grip that the regime has on the sector, preventing its development.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Spain Warns Tourists About Violent Robberies and Health Problems in Cuba

The new recommendations for Spanish travelers from their foreign ministry are not very encouraging for the promotion of tourism. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 23 March 2023 — The updated recommendations of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for tourists going to Cuba, released this week, are not very encouraging for the promotion of tourism. Despite the fact that the official website indicates that “there are no specific restrictions” for trips to the Island, it dictates “special precaution regarding possible thefts from tourists, dengue disease and the hurricane season.”

The most relevant novelty is the warning that, if a Spaniard intends to go to the United States after having visited Cuba, even if it is on a separate trip, he will be obliged to apply for a U.S. visa to enter that country. Therefore, the presentation of the electronic authorization (ESTA), the simple requirement in force under normal conditions, will not be enough.

Likewise, tourists to Cuba have to apply and pay for the “tourist card” that serves as a visa, either at a Cuban consulate in Spain, or at any travel agency that offers Cuba as a destination. This visa “allows a single entry into Cuba and entitles the holder to a maximum stay of 90 days, extendable only once for the same period.”

The Island’s fame as a peaceful place for foreigners is beginning to collapse with these recommendations. Spain concedes that Cuba is “generally a safe destination, especially when compared to most of the countries in the region,” but warns that “with the recovery of tourism, robberies have been reported that can sometimes be committed through the use of violence.”

The document describes as “frequent” the “theft of bags and other personal belongings on the beaches” and mentions that “burglaries can occur at gas stations, mostly in cases of rented vehicles with ’T’ (tourist) plates and on the roads to the Keys.” continue reading

The Ministry advises against picking up hitchhikers in any case, “especially outside the cities or near the beaches.”

Another common problem on the Island mentioned in the report is that of health. “Health care in Cuba is not comparable to European standards,” the text states. “There may be a shortage of certain medicines and a lack of equipment in hospitals.” For those who need a specific medication, they suggest “taking it with you and not to trust being able to find it on the Island,” as well as “a minimum first aid kit (analgesic, disinfectant, dressings, etc.) and, in the current circumstances, medications necessary to treat diseases with high incidence in the country.”

Health recommendations continue to warn of the cost of medical care for foreigners: “In the most important cities, tourists are cared for in the best hospital centers. The invoice must be paid in cash, at high prices and, frequently, in advance.”

The document even mentions what those exclusive centers are: the Cira García Clinic and the CIMEQ Hospital, in Havana. And they warn: “The Cuban authorities prohibit foreigners from leaving the country as long as there is an outstanding debt for health care.”

It will be mandatory, they also instruct Spaniards, to present proof “of having taken out travel insurance with medical coverage that includes possible contagion by COVID-19 and the repatriation of the corpse in case of death regardless of the cause.”

Another serious warning is about “the important rebound” of dengue fever and, especially, of hemorrhagic dengue, for which they recommend using insect repellent on the skin “especially at dawn, dusk and during the night.”

Given the risk of contracting this disease, they suggest traveling with oral rehydration salts and paracetamol.

As for the measures against COVID-19, the page includes the link that leads to the health form that must be completed to enter Cuba, with a QR code downloaded, and to remember that no negative PCR is required, no vaccination certificate, no quarantine upon arrival and no masks (except in hospital centers).

Finally, they warn that the hurricane season begins on June 1 and ends on November 30 and specify that the “most problematic period” usually occurs between August and October, coinciding precisely with the summer holiday season of the Spanish people.

“The Cuban authorities will, if necessary, evacuate the affected areas, and depending on how the hurricane evolves, they will adopt measures as needed. In such circumstances, all Spanish citizens who are in Cuba are recommended to follow the recommendations of the Civil Defense, which are widely disseminated by the Cuban media (mainly radio and television) and by the hotels where they are staying, as well as the tourist agencies that have organized the trips,” they say, while referring, for more information, to the page of the National Hurricane Center of the United States.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba and the United States Cooperate on Infectious Diseases in a Meeting in Havana

This type of meeting has been taking place since 2016, as part of an agreement on health matters. (Archivo)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 24 March 2023 — Health officials from Cuba and the United States met in Havana to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against infectious diseases, including COVID-19, the Ministry of Public Health of the Island reported on Thursday.

The meeting was part of what was agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016 by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a statement.

Cuba reported that both parties agreed to “continue working on the implementation of the Memorandum.”

Specifically, they advocated “promoting technical exchanges related to research on arbovirosis (a group of diseases caused by viruses transmitted by arthropods), experiences of COVID-19 and other related topics.”

The visitors, members of the HHS and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), met with specialists from the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) of Cuba, as well as directors and scientists from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) and the state pharmaceutical group BioCubaFarma. continue reading

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña García, and the director of the Global Research Office of the IAID, Joyelle Kalei Dominique, according to the official report.

Despite the fact that Washington has on numerous occasions cooled the expectations of the Cuban side for a reissue of the thaw, the technical meetings have not stopped being held. They even continued during Donald Trump’s term.

At the beginning of March, the trip of Cuban officials to the United States unleashed a wave of protests among Republican politicians who rejected these meetings for security reasons. However, the Administration argued that the meeting was part of the International Port Security Program and that they have taken place in recent years, including, most recently, in 2019.

In November 2022, US officials traveled to Havana to hold a meeting on immigration, during which the Cuban side “highlighted areas of successful cooperation on migration, while identifying problems that have been obstacles to meeting the objectives of the Agreement.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Prime Minister Suggests ‘A Government in the Street’ To Look for Solutions to the Economic Crisis

Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero (on the right, wearing a plaid shirt and a black mask), at a ceremony in the street. (Granma)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 March 2023 — Some of the country’s top leaders met this Wednesday to confirm evidence: the indicators of the economy are bad. What’s the reason? The embargo. The forecast? The same, 3% growth. Solutions? “Organize a government in the street.” That was one of the suggestions of the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, who summarized his call to “unite all collective intelligence and achieve unity to find solutions.”

Although Marrero wants to “change things,” if the meeting was characterized by anything it was for the usual mentions, including the stubbornness of Alejandro Gil, Minister of Economy and Planning, who maintained his tourism projections last year until October, when the numbers were clearly irreversible. This year he does not plan to move the growth forecast either, which in December 2022 he calculated at 3%. The calamitous data of 2022 could help him, in this case, to get it right. Or not, just like tourism.

They will bet on the tourism sector again, both leaders said at yesterday’s meeting, although the priority will be to “advance in the macroeconomic stabilization of the country,” a point to which abundant words were dedicated that did not clarify too much.

The plan will include, he said, a “fiscal reform, the recovery of monetary equilibrium, macroeconomic planning and coordination, the development of markets and monetary-commercial relations, the increase in the inflow of foreign exchange, the de-dollarization and convertibility of the national currency and the mitigation of social impacts.” To paraphrase Marrero, these are goals, not solutions.

To this vagueness, Gil added something more concrete: the creation of a new law for companies and fiscal stimuli for those who want to import, but the “socialist enterprise” will be maintained, as always, as the main actor in the production of goods and services. From what was said in yesterday’s meeting, one can sense that the private sector, even when it’s not evident, will continue to support the state. continue reading

Among the evils that afflict the country, Gil mentioned the partial dollarization of companies in the non-state sector, inflation, centralized access to the currencies of exporters, the lack of “effective insertion” of the private ones — for which they plan to create an Institute and a General Directorate — and the poor results of the state business sector that, despite the diagnosis, they insist on privileging.

However, Marrero did not attribute those bad results to an inefficient sector or government measures, but, once again, to external agents. “We cannot fail to recognize and denounce that, among all the occurrences that have led to the situation in the country, the blockade* has had a definitive impact,” he complained. And his lament was followed by Gil’s who, in addition to the embargo, cited the pandemic as the cause of the lack of hard currency.

In the midst of the hackneyed speech, there was also no mention of responsibility for inflation. The Minister of Economy said that prices are abusive and have a direct impact on the population, but he didn’t offer a single solution.

While dozens of countries affected by inflationary rates infinitely lower than those of Cuba — where food already costs 73% more than a year ago, without taking into account the prices in the informal market — have been trying different measures to control prices for months, the top managers of the Island are limited to mentioning the problem as if it were a natural force.

One of the possible materializations of the fuzzy words of Marrero and Gil is the “experiment” — as the provincial newspaper Vanguardia refers to the measure — that will be carried out in six state companies in Villa Clara. Foreign currency will be sold at a rate of 1 dollar for 120 pesos to buy supplies and raw materials destined for the manufacture of products that will be marketed in national currency.

It will be a privilege because, although before the rate was officially 1 for 24, the possibility of obtaining foreign currency was almost nil by legal means. At the moment, the concession is for the Porcine Company of Villa Clara ($700,000); the Fisheries of Caibarién and Villa Clara, Pescavilla, ($500,000); the National Production Industry of Domestic Utensils 1st of May ($700,000), and the Textile Company Luis Turcios Lima ($200,000).

With those amounts approved, the entities will have to increase their production of meat, fish, pots or blankets, as the case may be, all of which are scarce in the country. Finally, Minerva Cycles also has an amount assigned or in process, but not yet indicated.

“This is the result of one of the ideas aimed at making 2023 a better year, meeting the needs of the people and combating the scourge of inflation through the production of goods and services, which constitutes the most feasible economic mechanism,” said the governor of the province, Alberto López Díaz.

*Translator’s note: Cuban officialdom routinely refers to the U.S. embargo as “the blockade.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Official Press Announces a Terrible Tobacco Harvest in Cuba

The main tobacco cultivation areas are located in Vueltabajo, in the province of Pinar del Río. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 March 2023 — Pinar del Río has not produced even half the tobacco that was planned. The main Cuban export will now have, without a doubt, what the official newspaper Granma describes as “the smallest [harvest] in history” in an area that produces between 60% and 70% of the national production.

While 27,675 acres were planned for planting in Vueltabajo, the total barely reached 12,730, or 46%, and there are just days left to finish this step.

As a consequence of the disaster, of the 4,556 farmers who were going to start planting only 3,456 have done so, while some 1,100 have not, and the number is not expected to increase.

Osvaldo Santana Vera, coordinator of the Tabacuba group in Vueltabajo, explained to the official newspaper Granma that the plan has been readjusted twice since the impact of Hurricane Ian last September destroyed 90% of the province’s tobacco drying sheds, more than 10,000 of the total 12,000.

“Given the impossibility of rebuilding them all again in a matter of a few months, in time to protect the leaves of the current harvest, the Tabacuba Business Group decided to prioritize the highest quality plantings to ensure export demands,” the article explains.

But even so, it has not been possible to salvage the situation, and the lack of wood has had repercussions. Of the 3,977 curing sheds that are needed, and with readjustments based on the planting, more than 1,400 still need to be built. continue reading

All this led to a reduction of the plan to 15,793 acres, but that amount was excessive, so it was reduced again to 14,275 acres, extending the plan by 50 days. The figure is still remarkably far from what is needed.

To this must be added the farmers who have refused to sow because the State still owes them money, according to 14ymedio sources in San Juan and Martínez. Tobacco producers in the province told this newspaper that there have been several meetings to try to convince the farmers to plant by stating that the payment would be made as soon as possible, but many are suspicious and have reverted to the cultivation of flowers, peanuts and fruits of shorter cycles or that need fewer resources.

Granma’s version, however, attributes the crisis of the sector to the climate and the “demolishing blow that nature dealt” to the producers, and the article ends with a call for epic resistance, although they will have to wait another year. “The men and women who produce the best tobacco in the world claim that this is just a skirmish (…) and say that another cock will crow in the next harvest.”

The passage of the hurricane and the destruction of the drying sheds meant that tons of tobacco leaves had to be sent to other provinces to try to safeguard them. About 6,000 tons were transferred to Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos, in addition to “about 11,000” that were already in the dryers and, after getting wet from the rain, had to undergo a new process or be discarded.

Just a week ago, a dryer in Jovellanos, Matanzas burned more than 11,300 bundles of freshly harvested tobacco. The firefighters were able to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading, but the loss is one more nail in the coffin of the sector.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The (Un)popular Power of Castroism

Díaz-Canel goes along under pressure, from platform to platform, taking advantage of anything, even if it’s a defeat in baseball with a score of 14 to 2. (PL)

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 23 March 2023 — Next Sunday the Cuban regime will hold “elections” where 470 candidates for Parliament will “dispute,” nothing more and nothing less than 470 seats. When you try to explain this process to any citizen of a democratic country, their brain usually short-circuits. But that’s the scheme, as absurd and brazen as it sounds. The people choose absolutely nothing; they simply ratify a decision that has already been made previously by the single party.

To carry out this esoteric trap, they resort to the “united vote.” The Government itself will be in charge of spending millions of resources on propaganda to convince you that you should vote for everyone, as if it were a combo. If in Stalin’s USSR the ballots presented a single candidate, then in the Cuba of the Castro brothers they save paper. Just put a jumble of names on a ballot and add a circle on top of it that summarizes them all. By the way, you also save ink.

Fidel himself expressed in February 1993 that the ’united vote’ was not a technical issue, but a political issue, that it was “the strategy of patriots, of revolutionaries.” In reality, it was simply his strategy to play at voting, once every five years, without risking absolutely anything.

No candidate, obviously, can be suspected of having divergences in official thinking. All have passed through several filters to reach the final list and will continue to be watched with a magnifying glass, in case they present any ideological deviation along the way. They will be allowed to have some corrupt behaviors, of course. Cuba is a country where corruption is called “fight” and everyone knows “how bad it is.” But State Security will keep in its drawers any material that can compromise them, just in case they have to “be ruined” to make an example of them, as they did with Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque.

When I lived in Cuba, I was close to several deputies, and the truth is that the vast majority are indistinguishable. They dedicate themselves to attending endless meetings; they will unanimously approve any decision that comes from above, and they will enjoy some privileges that the position affords them. continue reading

That’s why the electoral campaigns are superfluous. There is no need to have or present any project. All you need is a poorly printed biography showing your photo, the morning assemblies at school in which you participated during your childhood and the mass organizations to which you belong. Hardly anyone will stop to read this nonsense, which is usually identical. That is also why the ballot boxes are guarded by children. After all, what could go wrong?

But Cuba is no longer the place where people used to vote like automatons, to “get it over with.” On recent occasions, the number of abstentions, canceled and blank ballots has increased dramatically. Díaz-Canel goes along under pressure, from platform to platform, taking advantage of anything, even if it’s a defeat in baseball of 14 to 2. What does it matter? He and his bosses (generals with more stars than principles) know perfectly well that this March 26 could break the mold: the rejection of a rigged, grotesque and undemocratic model.

Even seeing it from the perspective of those who sympathize with the Revolution, this management has been, by far, the worst in decades! They have not fulfilled any of the projects that were drawn up (like that plan of 1.7 homes a day); inflation rises at a quadrangular rate; hunger lurks in every corner of the country; repression is more guaranteed than the bread of the quota; the blackouts are a joke; the young people leave, and the violence expands in an alarming way.

To make matters worse, the visible figures of the system could not be more gray or unpleasant. Díaz-Canel and his “wife who works at her work” (as he himself called her) have shone in the art of cantinfleo (with the pardon of Cantinflas*). I’m not sure if they try to emulate Maduro, but their clumsiness is about to set a Guinness world record.

What should we Cubans do? Regardless of everyone’s ideology, we have to be honest with ourselves. It would be enough to look around and understand that the night cannot be eternal. This Sunday we can show them and the world that this obsolete and decadent system does not have our support. We can leave them alone in their circus, without being able to boast of a power that is completely unpopular.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Illegal Entry of Cubans to the United States Fell From 44,069 in December to 753 in February

The Border Patrol during the detention of a group of irregular migrants on the southern border of the United States (Twitter/@USBPChief)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2023 — Data provided by the United States Border Patrol indicate that from October last year to March of this year, 116,878 Cubans have been arrested on the border between the United States and Mexico. However, the data for January (6,433) and February (753) indicate a drastic reduction in illegal entry since the humanitarian parole policy came into effect.

The head of the Border Patrol, Raúl Ortiz, specified that in the last five months, US officers have arrested 900,590 irregular migrants, with Cubans being the second largest group to cross the border after Mexicans (225,476).

Although US authorities have insisted that there has been a decrease in the crossing of Cubans since the Biden Administration launched the so-called humanitarian parole last January, the numbers of Island nationals who crossed illegally and surrendered to the Border Patrol are still significant, with 6,433. Forty percent of these people were expelled. continue reading

Ortiz highlighted on his social networks that this group and 753 other Cubans, who were returned to Mexico in February, lost eligibility for the CBP One program.

According to figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), 44,069 Cubans were handed over to the US authorities in December 2022.

During the hearing on March 15, which took place in Texas and was organized by the U.S. National Security Committee, Ortiz warned that some areas of the agency he directs “face a crisis situation” due to the “challenges” represented by the “migration flow.”

Republican Mark Green, president of the National Security Committee of the US House of Representatives, attributed part of this migration crisis to the Mexican cartels. “They are earning billions by bringing people to the United States, many of whom have to pay with forced criminal labor.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Some 50 Kenyan Doctors Live in ‘Deplorable Conditions’ in Cuba

Cuba and Kenya signed a health agreement in 2017, which will end this June if it is not renewed. (Ministry of Health)

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 March 2023 — Kenyan doctors who complete their training in Cuba “live in deplorable conditions,” according to the Union of Doctors, Pharmacists and Dentists of Kenya (KMPDU), which has placed approximately 50 residents in Cuba, who are currently studying a specialty.

The message was heard even louder in the Health Committee of the Kenyan Senate on Tuesday, where the secretary general of the organization, Davji Bhimji Atellah, said bluntly: “Kenyan doctors in Cuba are suffering.”

There were no more specific details about the complaint, whose objective is to put an end to the agreement that the governments of both countries have maintained since 2017, and according to which Cuban doctors occupy several vacant positions in hospitals in Kenya, and Kenyan medical students go to Cuba to train. The agreement expires this June, and the union demands that it not be renewed.

However, the claim is not something new. In 2019, when the situation on the Island was far from the critical state it is in now, the same union denounced the suicide of one of its students, Ali Juma Hamisi, which friends in Kenya attributed to the “terrible living conditions” that he complained about in his calls.

Among the most frequent complaints was the poor quantity and quality of the food. In addition, the money provided to cover the doctor’s expenses was slow to arrive or never did, and it turned out to be negligible compared to the cost of living in Cuba. Also, the tickets to travel home once a year were canceled. The lack of air conditioning in the heat and the uncomfortable rooms did the rest.

It can be assumed, although Atellah did not say it, that these bad conditions are the currently same, and even worse. The trade unionist explained in the House that the agreement turned out to be a “waste of human resources,” and he pointed out the case of those who have already returned.

“After the training in Cuba, they returned to Kenya and had to undergo two years of training here for the Medical Council to authorize them to practice as family doctors. The scope of the practice of family medicine in Kenya is different from the Cuban one; hence the need to train doctors, so that they acquire skills that allow them to practice,” he said. continue reading

The same applies to the reverse case. “Cuban doctors who came to Kenya also faced challenges. The expectations were different. A family doctor trained here can perform emergency obstetric and gynecological surgeries, as well as surgical emergencies. Cuban family doctors are not prepared to do surgeries because it is not part of their training,” he added.

To all this is added the language barrier, in both cases.

Atellah has asked for an audit to analyze the cost-benefit of the program, which, in his opinion, is not positive.

“Cuban doctors are in the Kenya School of Government at the expense of taxpayers instead of being in hospitals, while there are about 100 unemployed Kenyan family doctors who could be incorporated into primary care,” he said.

According to the trade unionist, the counties have also taken care of accommodation and provide them with a driver and security that local doctors do not have. In addition, he said, they receive three times the salary of Kenyans. He omitted, however, that this money is not paid individually to each worker, but to the Government of Cuba, which gives the doctors themselves a minimum percentage, as has been denounced on numerous occasions.

The health agreements between Kenya and Cuba led to the kidnappings on April 12, 2019, of the surgeon Landy Rodríguez Hernández and the specialist in general medicine Assel Herrera Correa by alleged members of the Somali jihadist group Al Shabab, while they were on their way to work in the hospital in Mandera, in the northeast of the country.

After four years, the triangulated negotiations between the governments of Cuba, Kenya and Somalia were unsuccessful in freeing the two doctors. On two occasions they were close to success, the first only a month later, when traditional leaders of the area traveled to negotiate and were offered the prisoners in exchange for a payment of 1.5 million dollars, according to the local press.

In October 2020, the release of the doctors was announced by different press agencies, which cited a senior official of the Somali intelligence services as a source. Hours later, he explained that the delivery of the two hostages had been frustrated at the last moment after a “filtration” paralyzed the “safe transfer.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Documentary ‘Dos Patrias’ About Human Rights in Cuba Is Presented in Miami

Frame provided by filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo where imprisoned activist Aymara Nieto Muñoz appears, during a scene from Dos patrias [Two Homelands]. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 18 March 2023 — The documentary Dos patrias [Two Homelands], a work by Costa Rican filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo that addresses the violation of human rights in Cuba based on the testimonies of three Cuban activists, was presented on Friday, 17 March, at Florida International University (FIU), in Miami.

Hidalgo, 52, said in statements to EFE that the documentary is based on the testimonies of three Cuban activists “who have in common that they were accused of crimes they did not commit.”

The filmmaker, who knows the current situation of the Island well after studying in the 1990s at the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, said that people who reside in countries with freedom “do not really know what it is to live in a dictatorship.”

“The three cases are emblematic, and I discovered them after an investigation,” she explained.

Sebastián Arcos, associate director of the FIU Institute of Cuban Research, told EFE that they have organized, together with the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, based in Washington, the presentation of the documentary in Miami. continue reading

The work of Hidalgo, director of the feature film Del amor y otros demonios [Love and Other Demons] (Costa Rica-Colombia, 2010), based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez, presents the stories of three Cuban activists born on the Island who reveal their problems after confronting the Government of Havana.

The activists are Aymara Nieto Muñoz, currently imprisoned, Xiomara Cruz Miranda and Eduardo Cardet, a doctor who is a member of the Christian Liberation Movement. “This is a very topical issue,” Arcos said, after the Institute of Cuban Research joined for the human interest of the documentary, to be presented today at the FIU’s Graham Center.

Together with Cardet, the documentary collects the testimony of activist Aymara Nieto Múñoz, who in 2018 was sentenced to four years of deprivation of liberty for the crimes of “attack” and “property damage,” to which was added a new sentence of 5 years and 4 months for the charge of “public disorder” in prison.

The third person is the Lady in White Xiomara Cruz Miranda, who lives in the United States and is waiting for the approval of her permanent residence in this country.

The program coordinator for Latin America of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Johanna Villegas, said in an interview with Radio Martí, from Miami, that the documentary “is an effort to highlight the situation of prisoners deprived of political liberty in Cuba.”

Villegas said that Dos patrias is part of the organization’s initiative to reach different audiences and publicize the human rights violations that occur in Latin American countries.

The documentary was supported by Producciones La Tiorba of Costa Rica, where Hidalgo works as a director and screenwriter.

Hidalgo’s career includes the feature film Violeta al fin [Violeta at the End] (Costa Rica-Mexico, 2017), along with television series and documentaries on social, gender and sustainable development topics filmed in Costa Rica, France, Italy and Bhutan, among others.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s ‘Most Efficient’ Sugar Mill Has Ground Only 56 Percent of the Cane Planned for the Current Harvest

The Primero de Enero [First of January] mill has experienced delays in the plan for the province of Ciego de Ávila. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2022 — The preliminary results of the 2022-2023 sugar harvest continue to deepen the failure of the planned resuscitation of the sunken sugar sector, which was once the engine of growth for the Cuban economy. The latest press reports in Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas and Ciego de Ávila indicate that none of the three provinces has met the production plan.

Irayaselis Bandera, an official of the Agroindustrial Company Azucarera Dos Ríos, located in the Santiago municipality of Palma Soriano, acknowledged to the provincial newspaper Sierra Maestra that the situation is “complex,” as 10,577 tons of raw sugar have been produced, 53.7% of the 19,321 that it must achieve for this year.

Bandera explained that the production of sugar has been interrupted by a deficit of cane seed. The lack of fuel and parts for the means of transport, as well as breakdowns in the mill equipment, add to the list of problems.

Despite the meager results, Osvaldo Arias Quezada, the mill administrator, argued that “efforts are aimed at supplying enough for the basic basket” of Cuban families. The official pointed out that 500 workers “manage solutions” for breakdowns of machines, some of which have had more than half a century of operation.

The only achievement highlighted by Arias Quezada is energy self-sufficiency and its contribution to the National Energy System in two Soviet turbogenerators with an installed capacity of four megawatts (MW) each. continue reading

In the province of Las Tunas, the Majibacoa mill also got off on the wrong foot, and preliminary results indicate that it will not be able to meet the production goal. David Puig Brito, general director of the sugar company, told Periódico 26 that as of March 18, the mill had generated 13,000 tons of raw sugar, 55.9% of the 23,227 tons that must be delivered by April 19.

Puig Brito believes that if the mill has enough cane “we will fulfill the plan even before the scheduled date,” but this means that they must produce a similar amount of sugar as that generated in the last three months, since the milling work began in January.

Majibacoa along with Antonio Guiteras are the only mills of the four active in the province assigned to the milling of sugar for this cycle, while the Colombia and Amancio Rodríguez sugar mills were relegated only to obtaining cane syrup and clarified juice.

Puig Brito acknowledged that recently they had to stop the machines, for up to a week, due to a broken mat in February. Despite “the problems,” the director added, the plant is considered to be the most efficient in Cuba with an industrial yield of 12.75 metric tons of sugar per 100 tons of ground cane. “We are taking advantage of the cane like no other in the country,” he said with a triumphant tone.

But the improvement in performance is not enough to alleviate the problems of the mill, which is working with 32 of the 47 machines. It also does not have tires or batteries for vehicles, in addition to the fact that seven of the vehicles do not work due to technical problems. However, the note of the official newspaper minimizes the crisis by assuring that the mill collective “feels optimistic” and “enthusiastic” because it knows “the vital importance of producing sugar today.”

Also far from the goal of the production plan, with a compliance of 50.9%, is the Azcuba Sugar Group, in Ciego de Ávila. Eduardo Larrosa Vázquez, director of the company, acknowledged on March 17 that there are “tensions” among the workers because they have only managed to produce 28,000 tons of the 55,000 required.

“There is no room for expansion,” added Larrosa Vázquez, who said that in the next 60 days “all available resources plus incentives for workers” will be used to reach the pledged amount of sugar.

The director defended the delays at the Ciro Redondo mill, saying they are due to the breakdowns of the boilers of a bioelectric plant due to the shortages of power of the Electrical System at the beginning of February. Only this mill, he continued, has “a debt” of almost 17,000 tons for the current harvest and, to date, it has produced more than 14,000 tons.

Cuba began the 2022-2023 sugar harvest last November with the goal of producing 455,198 tons of sugar, below the 473,720 tons obtained in the previous cycle. Most of it will be used for the family basket, tourism and the production of medicines and industrial products. It is not yet known if the country will be able to respect the agreements signed with its usual international buyers.

The results of the other 23 sugar mills for this cycle have yet to be known, but Azcuba acknowledged last February that the deficit was 95,000 tons of sugar.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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