A Peculiar Almanac

Reading has become like a secret sect: its members recognise one another in trains and cafés. (Facebook/La Nave Antiquarian Bookshop)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 31 December 2023 – In a freezing bookshop in Burgos; with an antiques dealer in Salamanca; talking to a bookseller in Seville; awaiting the post from a miserly bookseller from La Rioja; rooting through a hundred stalls at the Madrid fair; unpacking packages that arrive from Cuba: to narrate my year is to narrate my books. In each case I know how much they cost, where I bought them, and what they brought to me that was new to my life and to my library.

A sporting spirit brings a reader to make lists – not only of the books they’ve read but also the ones they’ve acquired, the ones they’ve lost and the ones most wanted. My list – which contains all of the above – is divided into months, and it resembles a list of diary entries of where I found each book, as well as any notes or reflections that seemed worth jotting down at the time. It’s not a bad habit to have if you’re going to want some content for future use in novels or in columns.

In my diary – a lovely little Moleskine – I also describe meals, or the weather, people I’ve met and places visited. Observations from a bewildered point of view, because, for someone who has left their native country, although they might have a bed and a roof over their head, beyond that, everything appears exotic. The reader’s diary is not short of heroes and villains, unexpected luxuries and moments of extreme hardship. (In interviews, Borges said that he had known extreme poverty. “When, Borges?”, Soler Serrano asked him in 1980. “The poverty of not getting to the end of the month”, the blind man replied.) continue reading

People who read, they get up every day with an impulse that asks them “to save Shakespeare, the Mona Lisa, Havana cigars, penicillin, the iPhone and the Kalashnikov”

People who read, they get up every day with the sense of responsibility described by María Stepánova: it’s an impulse that asks them “to save Shakespeare, the Mona Lisa, Havana cigars, penicillin, the iPhone and the Kalashnikov”. Stepánova wanted the same thing as Walter Benjamin, W.G. Sebald and George Steiner – all stateless people whom I have read with some attention this year.

I discovered Sebald via his book Austerlitz, (published by Anagrama) in Burgos, just after hitting my head on a ceiling beam: I was on the second floor [third floor, to Americans] of a bookshop, and I’d just had to climb a narrow staircase in order to reach it. When I recovered, I saw the spine of the book. Pain and illnesses also form part of memory’s arsenal. A simple example is a strip of esomeprazol, a pill with literary prestige – Arturo Belano and Roberto Bolaño took them – which marks the rhythm of my own week.

But if anything has defined my ups and downs this year it has been the hunt for the catalogue of a publisher which doesn’t exist: The Kingdom of Redonda. There are 40 coloured volumes, published by Javier Marías, with a sharpened arrow on the cover, by little known but always exceptional authors. These are cult books, other-worldly objects, which are disappearing from the bookshops. The quest for them and for reading them has shaped even my travel.

I travelled through Castilla y León by train whilst reading Los Recuerdos de este fusilero (Memories of this Fusilier), the tale of a British soldier who made this same journey on foot during the Napoleonic Wars. I travelled to Seville in search of The Religion of a Physician – the classic essay by Sir Thomas Browne – but I couldn’t find it. I eventually ended up haggling in a raised voice over the price of a copy, with a bookshop owner in Logroño. I discovered, in The Fall of Constantinople (which inspired more than a few passages from The Lord of the Rings), that the Ottomans were planning to do what Cortés actually did, shortly after, on the other side of the ocean – he dragged his ships overland, because the sea was closed by a “thick chain”, similar to the one that blocked the way of English ships during the Siege of Havana in 1762. As I’ve already said, other-worldly books, for readers from another world.

Like an inquisitive dog, a reader will always try to see what book a potential ’partner in crime’ has under his arm

Reading has become like a secret sect: its members recognise one another in trains and cafés, they show kinship for one another through the simple fact of each having the same book in their hands. Like an inquisitive dog, a reader will always try to see what book a potential ’partner in crime’ has under his arm. And if he recognises it, at the risk of appearing indiscreet, he can’t avoid breaking the ice (or at least enjoy the coincidence in silence if he’s too timid).

Winter, of endearing and indifferent books like Lolita; Spring, of Simic, Paz and Abilio Estévez; tropical August, with Divine Bodies by Cabrera Infante and The Colour of Summer by Arenas; Autumn, of classics – Jenofonte, Seneca, Homer and of obsession with Steiner, the “lay rabbi” whose books offer so much calm and optimism. Tonight, that which awaits me is The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T E Lawrence, the unforgettable Lawrence of Arabia; and for desserts an English edition of King Solomon’s Mines.

I’ll spend the close of the year reading, or talking about books. Or, at least surrounded by them, which – in these times of people being wrapped up in radicalism or poverty, political correctness or intellectual destitution – continue to be the best of company. And, obviously, with a cigar and a glass of something to hand. No need to overdo it.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

If You Want to Travel, Bring 3,000 Cuban Pesos to Bribe the Staff at the Villanueva Bus Terminal

With no money or particular skills, the majority of passengers just have to wait their turn. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Pedro Espinosa, 29 December 2023 – Every day he comes into the Villanueva bus station in Havana knowing that, if it weren’t for his particular role, very few passengers would be departing from the city. A number of members of staff now don’t want to work with him. “You’re too noticeable” they tell him. But business goes on and is getting better and better. At this year’s end, for 3,000 pesos the “journey fixer” of Villanueva is able to get you a passage to any city on the island.

Desperate to get out of this terminal – a complete microcosm of the misery of the Cuban capital – whoever has the money also knows the tricks and passwords for finding him. The man arrives at Villanueva – a hive of people waiting, sleeping, talking – and looks for the staff member who will supply him with seats for resale that day.

They greet each other as if they don’t know one another and shortly after they enter the toilets. Here is where the first phase of the transaction takes place. The “journey fixer” then locates his client, takes a piece of paper from his pocket with a number on it – the number of his place in the waiting list – and asks him to be patient. After a moderate wait the terminal’s employee will call the client, reeling off his identity card number. This is the signal that the transaction is completed. He has paid 3,000 pesos instead of the 75 that it would normally cost him to get to Santa Clara, but it relieves him of the massive tedium of a long stay in the pigsty that is Villanueva. continue reading

 La mugre del suelo, donde hasta los perros callejeros de la terminal se sienten incómodos, es la opción reservada para la mayoría. (14ymedio)
The majority of passengers have to put up with the filthy ground, which even the street dogs find uncomfortable. (14ymedio)

The “journey fixer” is the king of Villanueva. Everybody knows him – that’s his Achilles’ heel, but it’s also part of his modus operandi: he goes through the waiting area calling all his regulars “cousins” or “nephews”.

Outside of this “family”, and with no money or particular skills, the majority of passengers simply have to wait their turn. And that can take days. Before turning up at Villanueva the best thing to do is get yourself equipped with water, pillows and duvets. The experience is exhausting, especially for children and the elderly, who have to take it in turns to watch over and protect their luggage. Whole families often turn up at the terminal, intending to meet up – especially in holiday periods like this new year – with the extended family they left behind in the provinces where they were brought up.

The tenuous line that separates the state from the private sector passes through the cafeterias, which the government handed over to the mipymes [small/medium sized private businesses]. However, the number of customers they have is small, because a ham sandwich will cost you 150 pesos and a cookie and soft drink the same price. If you do have the money the better course of action is not to waste it on all this indigestible food at the terminal, but to use it to try and haggle a price with the “journey fixer”. Also, except in cases of emergency, the best thing is to avoid at all costs the toilets at Villanueva. The poor experience you’ll have there isn’t even free: the doorman will demand three pesos for using the facilities.

 El delicado ecosistema de Villanueva depende de la Policía y, en última instancia, del régimen, que por ahora deja hacer. (14ymedio)
The delicate ecosystem of Villanueva is dependent upon the police – and ultimately the regime – which for now leave him alone. (14ymedio)

In the microcosmic world of Villanueva, he who has managed to grab a seat is the winner. The majority of passengers have to put up with the filthy ground, which even the street dogs find uncomfortable. Recent arrivals spend hours standing around waiting on foot; the “veterans”, who have perfected the art of hunting down a seat, will sleep there: some of them even for as long as fifteen days.

In the meantime, even the “journey fixer” knows his time here is temporary. However many followers he brings together or clients he locates, the delicate ecosystem of Villanueva is dependent upon the police – and ultimately the regime – which for now leave him alone. Tomorrow? Nobody knows.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Habanera was Born in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century, Long Before Spain ‘Lost’ Cuba

Detail from the cover of the book: ’The First Habaneras in Catalonia’. ((Rafael Dalmau Editor)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Barcelona, 9 December 2023 – Research, conducted by the musicologists Anna Costal, Joaquim Rabaseda and Josep Gay, has established the boom and the popularisation of habanera music as happening almost half a century before the Cuban War of Independence.

The research, collected together in the book, The first Habaneras in Catalonia (Rafael Dalmau, Editor), shows that “The habaneras passed through Madrid before arriving in Catalonia, and, coinciding with elation for the 1859 War of Africa, they became a gesture of national pride for the maintenance of Imperial Spain’s public image – the idea of a powerful kingdom, bellicose and colonial”.

The authors add that the habaneras also became a national symbol in Catalonia.

When, in 1881, the opera Carmen was performed in Barcelona for the first time, the main protagonist in the story grabbed the audience’s attention through her performing to the rhythm of the habanera.

Célestine Galli-Marié, the same mezzosporano who had premiered the opera six years earlier in Paris, enchanted the audience, and her powerful continue reading

stage presence was made even greater by “a rhythm which Catalans had known, had sung, and had danced to for decades”, the musicologists write.

When, in 1881, the opera Carmen was performed in Barcelona for the first time, the main protagonist in the story grabbed the audience’s attention through her performing to the rhythm of the habanera

Although, in the collective imagination, the habanera had been connected with the loss of Cuba, they nevertheless became enormously popular in the middle of the nineteenth century: “Fishermen would indeed sing them, but also factory workers, characters in light operas, professional singers, street musicians, the children of the ruling classes”.

Before Cuban independence, the war had already been a topic of habaneras, along with: Catalan soldiers, the unsettling sensuality of foreign women, and everything connected with the idea of romantic love.

The research collected together in the book shows that “The habaneras passed through Madrid before arriving in Catalonia”. (Rafael Dalmau Editor)

The habanera, known in Catalonia by the name of “Americana”, was the invitation to a slow dance, and its particular rhythm intensified the intimacy of the couples who danced to it – in theatres, dance halls, marquees, streets, and in town squares – and because of this, it was “associated with the idea of sinfulness, with social transgression and rebelliousness”.

The book presents the habanera as “an urban and contemporary phenomenon”, demarcated in the Catalan culture of the romantic era, and an active participant in the new mechanisms for creating, editing and distribution, in the world of nineteenth century show business.

The work describes the profiles of some of the composers of Catalan habaneras of the era: “musicians who had never been to Cuba and who were, generally, members of opera theatre orchestras and dance orchestras”.

The book presents the habanera as “an urban and contemporary phenomenon”, demarcated in the Catalan culture of the romantic era

It also puts into relief the role of women in the interpretation and diffusion of the early habaneras.

The authors make connections between the first habaneras sung in Catalan and Barcelona’s lyrical theatre, which was connected to the federal republicanism of the six-year democracy (1868-1874) and the acceptance of the abolition of slavery.

The current edition is the result of research promoted by the Ernest Morató Foundation, whose objective is the investigation, conservation, diffusion and promotion of the habanera genre.

Doctors of Musicology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and teachers at the Catalonia High School for Music, Anna Costal, Joaquim Rabaseda y Joan Gay have been working together on various aspects of Catalan music heritage for fifteen years, combining their study and revelations in a global reach.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Razors and Balsams

Picture of a barbershop in the 1920’s in Camajuaní, Villa Clara. (Author’s archive)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 17 December 2023 – It is much easier for a boy to be friends with his grandfather than with his father. The older one understands you, he has time on his hands once again, he plays – dominoes, chess, cards – and he rereads the books he bought when he was a young man. An old man is just a boy, with ailments. A father shapes his son’s character through opposition, making war with him; a grandfather does it through being close to him, and by giving advice. The father is master of his time, he calculates it, knows how to use it well and how to dominate it. For the boy and his grandfather time does not exist. One is entering into life, the other is exiting. That’s why they play together.

My maternal grandfather was a barber and a musician; my paternal one was a pharmacist. These humble professions are often present in the books that I have written, they are ’of the people’. I would have liked also to have had for a grandfather a scissor-sharpener, an aviator or a ship’s captain, or a mortuary photographer – there were plenty of those on the island – or an antiquarian. Nevertheless, life was generous enough in offering me three worlds: those of barbers, chemists and municipal bands.

In 1944, when my great grandfather got married, he had already been working as a barber for years. I know the reason why, in the newspaper which announced the wedding – I still have the cutting – the newspaper’s delivery man wrote the word “barbershop” next to his name in impeccable calligraphy and took the trouble of highlighting the announcement in blue ink. (The best news of the day, I have to say, because the rest of the paper is dedicated to describing developments in the Second World War, and to asking the youth of the town to report to the recruitment committee and march on Europe).

 In 1944, when my great grandfather got married, he had already been working as a barber for years

As soon as his son could manage a comb and a pair of scissors, he too took up the trade. I look at him now, formal, concentrated, white shirt and beige trousers. The photo, I estimate, is from the mid-sixties and it wasn’t long before he himself was called up for military service. Seated, and covered in a sheet, there is a man having a razor haircut. The locks are falling into his lap. A Guajiran man behind him leaves his own chair to check on the younger man’s handiwork. No one speaks, perhaps because of the presence of the camera. There’s a certain tenderness in the way in which the photo is taken. Translucent and ochre, the image feels more like a memory than a print. I’ve always thought that the person behind the camera lens must be my grandfather, proud of his new recruit.

In my village there was a detailed inventory of barbers, pharmacists and everything else. “At first the barbers practised like dentists”, remembers a writer in 1943. In the “1800’s”, he adds, one black man called Juan Rojo had arrived with his razor blades and shaving cream, and later on a Spaniard called Bruno Claraco, and it wasn’t long before the appearance of “Delfín Miranda, who had no qualification, and Delfín Barrena, who did have one”.

I don’t know when my great grandfather arrived but I do remember his last barber shop, the one he left to his son. There was a Koken swivel-chair – which later, after the death of the old man, made me sad, seeing it in the hands of another barber. It was in a bright and white room with a big mirror fixed to a structure that was fitted with little drawers. I’ll never forget the buzz of his electric clippers as it ploughed its way through grey hair and curls, and fleeces and manes and emerging bald patches and mops. Head shaving has always had something of a cleansing ritual about it: one attends the barbershop like one goes to confession or visits the doctor. One pays dearly for being unfaithful: the barber will always be able to detect someone else’s handiwork and knows how to punish an infidelity by leaving a “cockroach”, or one sideburn longer than the other.

Where the barbershop was all party-like, all cigarette smoke and conversation, then the pharmacy was all severity, and mystery 

A barbershop is full of stories. Whilst my grandfather was describing how to shave the head of a priest – you put a circular cap over the crown, mark the tonsure with the razor and shave round the bald patch – it wasn’t considered wrong to interrupt him in order to look out of the window if a woman who looked a bit like Sofia Loren or Kim Novak (and knew how to move like them) happened to be walking by. They were different times, less toilsome ones.

Where the barbershop was all party-like, all cigarette smoke and conversation, then the pharmacy was all severity, and mystery. In another photograph – there’s no limit to my archives – my paternal grandfather manipulates his test tubes and his pestle and mortar. At that time, pharmacies were a paradise of coded names, powders and resins that one always took to be poisons. The shelves were full of porcelain jars, with names marked in indigo blue ink: agrimonia, phecula patata, folium eucaliptus, angelica, dens leonis. Chemists, and my grandfather was no exception, kept recipes for numerous unguents in a book with black covers. A book which was inaccessible to me, like any grandfather’s things, right up until he died.

Both worlds – no need to mention the band: music needs no explanation – have so much connection to writing, which only now, far away from the ghosts of that village, do I actually realise. Barber or pharmacist, both have to cut, clear, mix, find the right measure, make poisons or conjure up balsams. In any event, the occupations of each of those old men are not forgotten.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Flooded and Full of Rubbish, Havana Prepares Itself For More Storms this Weekend

This week’s winds took down one of the emblematic trees in Brotherhood Park. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 15 December 2023 – After the dearth of any official information or warnings prior to last weekend’s heavy rains, the Cuban authorities have been under pressure to put out warnings that this coming Saturday and Sunday there will be storms in the west of the country, and especially in Havana. In the capital, flooded after several days of rain, and with rubbish bins overflowing, residents were trying to prepare themselves, on Friday, for several coming days of being confined indoors.

In Central Havana one can see evidence of the continuous rainfall of the last few days. People queued outside bakeries, food ration stores and state-run shops that sell the so-called “free modules” which offered only detergent, vegetable oil, cigarettes and chicken picadillo. People have to get the rest of their provisions on the informal market or from private shops, at extremely higher prices.

In Plaza de Carlos III, the biggest shopping centre in the neighbourhood, the queue stretched right around the corner and one could see the desperation on the faces of many of those who were waiting. “They say things are going to get ugly”, one elderly woman feared as she waited to buy her family’s module, which is also called a “combo”. The institute of meteorology has forecast heavy coastal rain, with possibly very intense rainfall, for the weekend.

People have been becoming more worried as the morning has progressed: many fear that the city is defenceless in the face of any inclement climate effect. “All that rubbish which has accumulated over there, there’s no time to collect it, and not even bringing in the army could get rid of it in time before the weather gets worse”, says Javier, a resident who lives on the continue reading

corner of Royo and San Martín in central Havana, where a mountain of waste has been collecting over several weeks.

Rubbish on Royo and San Martín, Central Havana, on Friday. (14ymedio)

On San Francisco and San Rafael the picture is the same – the rubbish mounts up and spreads out from the corner to almost half way across the block. Much of it also blocks the drainage grates which ought to be carrying the rainwater away – another cause for concern for the locals. Although their principal fear continues to be the possibility of building collapses.

“We’re going to my mother’s house because this roof is in a very bad state”, Yamilé, a resident of Gervasio/Laguna (San Leopoldo) tells 14ymedio. “Here, there’s always the danger of seawater ingress”, notes a woman who lives just 100 metres from the Malecón sea wall. “But this time we’re leaving not because of that but because we fear the heavy rain”.

“Water up there and water down here, a terrible combination”, adds Yamilé, who lives in a building dating from the 1920’s. “As we live on the first floor*, the seawater affects us mainly by contaminating the water tank, but if it’s also raining for days on end then it’s certain that the roof is going to be leaking as well”.

The streets, awash from all the rainfall, and having faulty drains as well, wouldn’t appear to be able to take any more water if the rain continues. “I’ve had to keep trying to dodge the puddles but it’s difficult because they’re everywhere”, says a worker from a state business premises on Calle Infanta.

This week’s winds took down one of the emblematic trees in Brotherhood Park, a key passenger transport hub, given the number of bus stops and private taxi ranks nearby. “It’s been like that for more than 24 hours and they haven’t come to clear it up”, complained a local resident who not only feared even further and greater damage but she also believed that “this tree could still be saved”.

After midday, the situation became worse and the winds grew stronger across the city, which coincided with the meteorological forecast of an imminent arrival on the island of an extra-tropical cyclone.

*Translator’s note: The ’first floor’, in Cuba as in much of the world, means the floor above the ’ground floor’.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

12 Years Without Documents, Diosmary from Cuba Sleeps in Mallorca Airport

In the airport, where she’s well known to the staff, the Cuban lives on “juice and biscuits” provided for her by the Red Cross. (Última Hora)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2023 – Pictures of Diosmary, a 49 year-old Cuban who lives in the airport at Palma, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, accompanied headlines in the local papers this week. In her story of how she arrived there, what her migrant status is, and what she can do next, nothing is very clear apart from the pictures themselves – which show her with just one single suitcase, a coat and a few carrier bags.

“The Cuban Girl” – as she’s called by the newspapers, hoping to garner sympathy for her plight – says that she travelled to Spain in 2012 and that her travel documentation has been in a legal limbo ever since then. She boarded an aircraft as the partner of a Cuban who had Spanish citizenship, but who, she says, later abandoned her.

According to Diosmary – who doesn’t give her surname at any time, although she does say she was born in Pinar del Río – she had got married at the Spanish Consulate in Havana, with the intention of settling in the European country with her husband. However, on arrival on the peninsular the plan fell through and she says she went through innumerable difficulties, many of them to do with her immigration status.

At the time of telling her story at the immigration office, the woman offers a version somewhat riddled with ambiguities continue reading

Despite the photographs published by the Balearic press (Diario de Mallorca and Última Hora) clearly showing Diosmary’s situation, at the time of telling her story at the immigration office, the woman offers a version somewhat riddled with ambiguities.

To begin with, she says, the Spanish Consul in Havana asked her, before granting her a visa, for a letter of invitation from someone resident in Spain – this was obligatory even before the migration reforms which came into force in January 2013, but it was the Cuban government which demanded it. Without it, she says, they warned her that she could not return to Cuba, unless it was just as a tourist, having later obtained Spanish residency or nationality. This is what has kept her in Mallorca for 12 years, she explains, though showing an obvious misunderstanding of Cuban law, a misunderstanding which the Spanish press itself also displays.

The sparse details given by Diosmary, of all the legal procedures, contradict 2012 Cuban migration rules, which clarify that Cubans who leave the country for 12 months (24 months in the reformed rules of 2013) lose their right to residency, but never lose their actual nationality, through which – according to the law and unless the State expressly prohibits it – they may return to the island at any time with a Cuban passport.

The woman also claims that the Spanish immigration authority is the cause of her situation, because, as the wife of a Spaniard, she was convinced that she would obtain nationality within a few years.

According to Spanish law, after registering a marriage, the foreign partner of a Spanish national would need to apply for the ’relative of a European national’ card, which would grant temporary residence. After one year they would then be legally resident in the country providing that the marriage remained valid, and after three years they would be eligible for citizenship, according to Book One of the Spanish Civil Code.

Sadly, says Diosmary, her husband “abandoned her” before these deadlines were met, due to “bureaucratic obstacles” to obtaining her papers. The woman doesn’t clarify either whether her ex husband is still living in Spain or whether he returned to Cuba, or even whether they are still married – which would be a key factor in her documentation application, because she travelled as the wife of a Spaniard.

If anything, the woman from Pinar del Río’s story centres more on “the troubles that she has had to endure” during all these years living on the streets

If anything, the woman from Pinar del Río’s story centres more on “the troubles that she has had to endure” during all these years living on the streets, in hostels, in the houses of people who took pity on her, and, as a last resort, in the Son Sant Joan airport, to which she returned for a second time several weeks ago, to seek refuge.

Even here she’s not safe, she says. “Sometimes, men approach me offering money or a place to stay, in exchange for sexual favours, but I can’t sell myself for that”, the Cuban told the Diario de Mallorca.

Right now she just wants “to find a job” so she can get a resident’s permit, but even this desire contradicts Spanish regulations, which currently require six months employment during a period of two years in order to process a residency for work, even if it’s illegal work. Diosmary, although she says she has had some domestic work, as a housekeeper, nanny and similar positions, she hasn’t actually tried to obtain residency via this route either.

In the airport, where she’s well known to the staff, the Cuban lives on “juice and biscuits” provided for her by the Red Cross. That organisation, she says, has mediated for her to get “a passport”, although, yet again, Diosmary doesn’t say whether it would be  for returning to Cuba or for continuing with her intention of settling in Spain. “I’ll start again, but in a different way” is the answer she gives to people who ask her what she’ll do when she has the blue passport in her hand. As with the rest of her story, her destination also seems uncertain.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Demanded Back by Mallorca, Antonio Maceo’s Chair is the Star of a Cuban Exhibition

The exhibition revolves around the chair but there are other objects, either used by the major general or otherwise connected to him. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Nelson García, Havana, 9 December 2023 – If the mayor of Palma de Mallorca wants to get Antonio Maceo’s chair back he’ll certainly know where to find it. The Captain Generals’ Palace in Old Havana has opened an exhibition of objects connected to this commander of the independence movement, which includes the trunk of a palm tree made into a chair. This piece of furniture, expropriated by one Valeriano Weyler after Maceo’s death, actually belongs to the local council of the Balearic island, which loaned it to Cuba in 2018 and is now demanding it back.

The expiry date of the loan – 16 November, which was extended on more than one occasion at the request of the late official Havana Historian Eusabio Leal – was the subject of a meeting between the mayor of Mallorca, Jaime Martínez, and Alejandro Castro Medina, the Cuban consul in Barcelona. The request to return the chair to Palma fell on deaf ears and Havana confirmed this with the Antonio Maceo exhibition – along with other campaigns and arguments – organised by the Historian’s Office and open to the public from 7 December for the anniversary of the leader’s death.

The back of the chair has carvings  of a star, the leader’s initials and the date the chair was made. (14ymedio)

The exhibition revolves around the chair but there are other objects, either used by the major general or otherwise connected to him, such as the well known oil painting, The Death of Maceo, by Armando Menocal, which depicts – but not without many historical inaccuracies – his fall at Punta Brava on 7 December 1896.

Another well known painting, by Aurelio Melero, of a besuited Maceo, also forms part of the exhibition, as well as a good luck charm relic – a piece of a shirt – “authenticated” by the ex president of Cuba, Salvador Cisneros Betancourt.

Behind glass screens one can also view the leader’s riding saddle, his German ’Fernando Esser’ machete – replicas of which the regime entrusts to dignitaries of the island – a Winchester rifle from 1873, a Smith & Wesson 44 calibre revolver, a watch, a wallet, a sword, shoes and other personal effects.

In September, when the Mallorcan Martínez met with the Cuban Castro Medina, this newspaper established that the chair wouldn’t be exhibited to the public, as the second floor of the Captain Generals’ Palace was under repair. The restructuring of the building has not been completed, but a small room on the ground floor has been air conditioned to house the object. continue reading

A Winchester rifle and a sword, both owned by Maceo. (14ymedio)

Maceo’s chair arrived in Cuba as part of Spanish president Pedro Sánchez’s luggage when he visited Havana in 2018. Eusabio Leal said at the time that the chair was of significant importance to Cuba. The Weyler family had donated it to the Palma de Mallorca council in 1931, and it remained on exhibition until negotiations for its loan to the island bore fruit.

The Spanish press gave assurance, before the polemic about the return of the object, that Havana was exhibiting it in “a special room”, as it was a “treasure of incalculable value for strengthening the revolutionary message which still prevails in the post-Castro era”.

The Historian’s Office itself gave assurances that it would quickly build a room for what Leal described, just a few days before he died, as “an important part of the soul of our country”. And in doing so, it sent – through the very mounting of the exhibition – a clear message to Madrid: the chair is staying in Cuba.

The Captain Generals’ Palace, where the exhibition is held. (14ymedio)

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Mother of ‘The Boy With the Placard’ is Given Guarantees from Cuban Prisons Director and Suspends Her Hunger Strike

“I can’t say that I am well, but I will get better”, said Yindra Elizastigui. (Captura/Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 29 November 2023 – Yindra Elizastigui, mother of Luis Robles, “The Boy With the Placard” has decided to abandon the hunger strike she started in demand for the release of her son — a prisoner since December 2020 in the Combinado del Este maximum security prison in Havana — and for the release of all political prisoners. She took the decision on Monday, she explained on social media, after a meeting with the “director general” of prisons. “He told me that the procedings against Luis were well advanced and that soon he’d be able to give the final verdict, which I hope will be positive”, Elizastigui said.

At the same time she admitted: “I can’t say that I am well, but I will get better. I thought I was ok but I was fooling myself. I will try and look after myself so that I can be there for my son when he needs me”.

Elizastigui had decided to go on hunger strike last Friday, after a meeting between EU special advisor for human rights Eamon Gilmore and herself, along with three other families of political prisoners: the parents and brothers  of Jorge y Nadir Martín Perdomo and the wife of Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca.

Elizastigui explained that although Gilmore seemed “concerned for what might be done” … she said she still felt “disgusted” at the authorities

“From today I have decided to begin a hunger strike”, Robles’ mother had announced on Facebook Live last Saturday. “I’m doing this to achieve liberty for my son, for all political prisoners in Cuba who find themselves unjustly incarcerated, who have suffered ill-treatment of every kind”.

On a live Twitter/X feed for Cubanet on Monday, Elizastigui explained that although Gilmore seemed “concerned for what might be done” and made assurances that in all the governmental level meetings that he’d had, “he always brought up as a priority the release of political prisoners”, she said she still felt “disgusted” by the authorities usual denying platitudes about there being “no political prisoners in Cuba”.

She said as much on her live post on Saturday: that there are many people who support political prisoners and their families, but that in their dealings with international organisations the Cuban regime always just denies all these imprisonments and repressions through “their lies” – “lies in which they insist that our sons are not imprisoned for political reasons, that they get all the medical treatment they need, that our sons and families have never been ill-treated by any official or authority… when in fact everyone knows it’s lies, it’s all of it just pure lies”.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Havana Corner Shop ‘Lavin Mattresses’ Shows Its Endless Rubbish

On Wednesday a mountain of rubbish blocked the entrance to the building and forced the Communal Services to remove it, after weeks of accumulation. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 30 November, 2023 –  Soft and comfortable and long-lasting, that’s how they marketed the mattresses sold by the Lavín company more than half a century ago at the central Havana corner location of calles Neptuno and Lealdad. Only a memory remains of that private concern, nationalised and converted into the Office for Consumer Registration (Oficoda). On Wednesday a mountain of rubbish blocked the entrance to the building and forced the Communal Services to remove it, after weeks of accumulation. (14ymedio)

A neighbour watched from her balcony as a truck and a bulldozer tried to remove the waste that covered the pavement and made traffic flow difficult on a street that is used by many independent taxis to connect Old Havana with El Vedado and the western districts of the Cuban capital. “Oh, they finally turned up then?” bellowed the woman from her vantage point, and a number of other nearby residents gave support with similar shouts of indignation, which fell on deaf ears as far as the workers of the state monopoly were concerned.

With a flaky shop front and ancient windows covered in cardboard and wooden boards the place is no longer recognisable even by those who used to visit it in its former splendour. With the slogan “A Lavín mattress  lasts and lasts”, the shop was one of the company’s branches, whose main shop was in Calle Monte y Rastro and their factory was at 52 Pedroso in the El Cerro district. Owned by Ramón Lavín Allende and his brothers, the family business also sold hats and had shops that sold home accessories. continue reading

Few people in the area remember the era when the corner was an important commercial hub with the mattress shop on one side and a market run by the famous company Minimax on the opposite side

But few people in the area remember the era when the corner was an important commercial hub with the mattress shop on one side and a market run by the famous company Minimax on the opposite side. “There’s not many of us left now”, an elderly man told 14ymedio; on Wednesday he’d watched the rubbish removal by Communal Services, from a window in his home. “My parents bought their matrimonial bed at Lavín and they weren’t rich people, they paid in instalments”, he said.

An old receipt, bearing the name ’Consuelo Rodríguez’ bears witness to the type of credit sales made popular by the mattress company. A neighbour, from number 1011 in the nearby Calle Belascoaín, probably a customer or an employee of the hotel La Maravilla, as the document states, acquired an air mattress and a blanket from Lavín in 1945 for a total of 12 pesos. This piece of paper, which is for sale for 6 euros online on an auction site, is a relic from times gone by.

Consuelo Rodríguez probably passed away years ago; hire purchase hasn’t existed in Cuba for decades, La Maravilla became a kind of citadel and all that remains of the Lavín company are buildings which remain dilapidated or taken over by homeless families and the building of the emblematic business on Neptuno y Lealdad is now busy with the administration of the rationing system which has been imposed on the people in Cuba for more than 60 years. The mountain of rubbish which surrounded it, and which the Comunal Services was trying to clear up on Wednesday, was all that was left – the burial of a time past, for which there remain no witnesses.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘The Stadium has the Lights Full On but the People Can’t Even Cook’, they Complain in Sancti Spiritus

The José Antonio Huelga Stadium in Sancti Spíritus. (Escambray)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 22 November 2023 – Far from bringing joy to the fans of Gallos de Sancti Spíritus in the baseball Elite League, their score of victories has only created disagreement. If some of the fans do applaud the games of the national sport and say they’re a respite in the middle of the current crisis, others observe with concern that they are always played at night and under floodlights. The choice, for those who are critical of the use of artificial lighting at the José Antonio Huelga stadium, is simple: “It’s better to have power at home than have baseball”.

This Sunday, the official paper Escambray published an article which echoed this debate. Both sides, argued the paper, have good arguments, whether it’s that daytime matches can reduce the players’ performance due to fatigue from the hot sunshine, or, by playing at night they use power which could be put to better use in the homes of local people.

“We’re all having to put up with hours and hours of power cuts whilst the stadium continues to be switched on”, José Daniel tells 14ymedio

“We’re all having to put up with hours and hours of power cuts whilst the stadium continues to be switched on”, José Daniel tells 14ymedio. Daniel, a Spíritus resident, admits the topic has been a source of some disagreement between him and his friends. “I myself don’t like sport, but even if I did and even if I went to the games it would seem to me a nonsense that people can’t cook their food because there’s no electricity whilst in the stadium the lights are all on full”, he argues.

According to data given to Escambray by the executive of Unión Eléctrica and the National Institute of Sport & Physical and Recreational Education (Inder), the total consumption of the lighting, the display screen and the internal services of the José Antonio Huelga stadium over five hours is 2 Megawatts. “That’s the equivalent of the power usage of eight homes over one whole month”, say the officials. continue reading

The provincial newspaper recognises that the data could be seen as the straw that broke the camel’s back but, they insist, the 28,000 spectators who have attended the eight League matches – plus the rest who watched on Television Cubana – balance the scales.

In the street however, there’s a different perspective. “I’ve not heard any positive commentary about the nighttime games. Even those who enjoy them think they should be played during the day”, says José Daniel.

“It’s true that people go to the games when there’s a power cut – they get changed and go to the stadium, but most of them don’t go in. Many of them stay outside because there’s light there and fresh air and you can sit down”, he explains. The rest of the city, he assures us, is switched off, “except for the hospital’s supply, which never loses power”.

The problem is that Sancti Spíritus is in the dark. At night you can only see the stadium and the odd house, because they’ve disconnected the streetlights too

“It’s not just a question of priorities and choosing between the games or the light”, he says. “The problem is that Sancti Spíritus is in the dark. At night you can only see the stadium and the odd house, because they’ve disconnected the streetlights too”.

“I don’t understand how the games can matter so much, or how it can matter so much to attract people when those people don’t want to go out at night for fear of being attacked in a dark street. Would it really be so bad for the players if the games were held in the daytime? Anyway, I’d prefer to have some light”, he asserts.

Escambray, whilst considering the same arguments as José, doesn’t come up with such quite straightforward answers. “The essential structural problems that the games suffer from won’t be solved by a simple change from nighttime to daytime matches”, the paper emphasizes. One solution would be to suspend them until such time as the country enjoys “better times”, but, Escambray admits, “no one knows when that will be”.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

A Fibre Optic Cable Breakage Worsens Cuba’s Internet Connection

The poor quality of international communications from Cuba is a permanent source of complaints for users of the Cuban Telecoms Company Etecsa. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 14 November 2023 – Along with all their other routine problems, Cubans suffered major difficulties in connecting to the internet on Tuesday, owing to a “break in an underground fibre optic cable”, according to a brief announcement by the Cuban Telecoms Company, Etecsa.

The breakdown “has had an effect on internet services in different ways”, the state monopoly stated, recognising that “as a result users could see difficulties in accessing the service and a slowness of operation”.

Without giving any details of the location of the affected cable nor of the cause of the failure, Etecsa sought to assure the public that their specialists were working to restore service “in the shortest possible time”.

Since the early hours of the morning, Cubans began reporting the telecoms breakdown on social media across the country. “You can hardly get on the internet and your phone is constantly losing data signal”, a young resident of the Cayo Hueso district of Havana told this paper.

Nevertheless, he thought that it was just down to Etecsa’s routine problems: “As always, the connection is terrible. I didn’t think it was any continue reading

specific breakdown but just that they have congestion on the data antennae, which is what’s been happening anyway to us in this area recently”.

Many of the operations of electronic payments systems and of websites or mobile phone apps were paralized 

The poor quality of international communications from Cuba is a permanent source of complaints from users, which, according to official figures, number more than 7 million in the mobile phone service.

Many of the operations of electronic payment systems and of the websites that sell products on social media, digital portals, or mobile phone apps, were paralized on Tuesday because of the fault, 14ymedio was able to confirm.

In El Vedado, the family of Siro, a Habanero of 38, couldn’t order a cake for their mother’s birthday on the popular app Mandao because “there was no way of getting a data signal”. Eventually they bought one from a private cafeteria but couldn’t hide their frustration: “The point was to be at home and get the cake delivered, but with no internet, forget it”.

In October last year this paper revealed the paradoxical situation in which Etecsa found itself: being one of the few national concerns that generates huge income, but nevertheless is in financial difficulties.

“We are joining bits of cable together to try and solve the breakages”, said José Ángel, a worker for the company, which, he said was going through “its worst crisis since its creation”. This employee, who was working in the Revolution Square district, complained that “the managers carry on getting privileges but we at technician level have no resources to help us look after the customers”.

Every fifteen days, Etecsa launches a promotion of extra bonuses payed from abroad but most of this foreign currency is not invested in telecoms infrastructure. “Around 90% of what Etecsa raises leaves the company in a big consignment called “undefined”, explained another employee based in the accounts section. “With what’s left it’s very difficult to maintain a quality service because you can hardly make any large investments”.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Little Remains of the Bright Screens that Celebrated Havana’s 500th Anniversary

Its base rusted away, it fell over, perhaps from a gust of wind or a knock from some passer-by. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 November 2023 – It’s not as if the brightly lit screens located in various parts of Havana for its 500th anniversary in 2019 were of much use to anyone. Apart from the few messages that did have any use – those about traffic, cultural events, or Covid – most of them were just slogans, like “Cuba, the Best”, or idyllic photos of the capital that didn’t reflect any sort of reality.

Installed by the Ministry of Culture, they were announced with the same pomp and ceremony as all the other activities that commemorated the capital’s five hundred years, notable events which its historian Eusebio Leal promoted with special determination before his death. Soon, just as with other initiatives for the fifth centenary – like the tourist bicycles – the screens were neglected and, one by one, stopped working. continue reading

Soon, just as with other initiatives for the fifth centenary – like the tourist bicycles – the screens were neglected and, one by one, stopped working 

One of the few that did continue to work is in Carlos III and Infanta Avenue, but you can barely make out what it’s showing because it has lost contrast and the strong sunlight on the glass doesn’t help either, in making out the details in the picture. The back of its casing is all covered in graffiti. Another screen, on Belascoaín and Carlos III, in Karl Marx park, wasn’t so lucky. Its base all rusted away, it fell over this week, perhaps from a gust of wind or a knock from some passer-by.

Reduced to wreckage on the ground this Wednesday, it presented a vivid image of all that now remains of those celebrations which claimed to modernise Havana.

The back of the screen on Carlos III and Infanta is all covered in graffiti. (14ymedio)

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

An Electricity Pole Miraculously Still Standing Threatens Drivers and Pedestrians in Holguin

The post has been left in disrepair for six years, despite the danger it poses. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 31 October 2023 – Six years ago, a wagon crashed into an electricity pole on the road the leads to Valle de Mayabe in Holguín. The base of the structure was fractured and the rest of it remained, and remains, in a precarious condition, held up only by luck, and by the cables above it. Countless reports to Unión Eléctrica (UNE) have prompted hardly any visits by technicians and the concrete and steel giant remains broken. There is a constant mortal danger posed to the vehicles and pedestrians which pass below.

The pole – which is only metres away from a bus stop where workers and even local schoolchildren congregate – is a target for residents’ complaints. “This has been the topic of discussion in many many meetings”, Niubis, a local resident told this newspaper. “On one occasion we did have a visit from an Electricity Company rep but all he said was that it didn’t pose any danger because the cables – which are High Voltage! – were stopping it from crashing down!”

The residents didn’t believe the official view. “How can they say it’s all ok? These poles aren’t designed to be supported from above, they need to have a continue reading

solid base”, says the woman. “Many people use this pathway to get to their appointments”, she says, in reference to patients of the nearby Holguín Clinical Surgery Hospital, and adds that there are also people on their way to the affiliated Arístides Estevez Infirmary.

“To watch them, they’re not really aware of the danger. But when someone gets close to it they realise that no part of it is actually fixed into the ground: it has no foundations”, explains Nuibis, and she blames this danger on the apathy of the authorities. “If it were leaning more, or broken higher up maybe our complaint would go further, but as everything around here is always just a question of cosmetics, of optics, the only thing that matters to them is that it looks ok should Díaz-Canel pass by”.

From a distance, the danger doesn’t seem as great as when it’s seen close up. (14ymedio)

“No sooner than another vehicle happens to to give it a nudge, or another cyclone arrives, it’ll come straight down to the ground”, says a local seller of juice and soft drinks. “They haven’t replaced it because they don’t want to. Hundreds of people pass through here every day and they’re risking their lives everytime they get near this pole”. The man believes they’ve deliberately conspired to blame their negligence on the current fuel shortage, which, so often, officials use as a justification for not carrying out necessary repairs.

UNE also alludes to problems in getting hold of new electricity poles, given that production of these items was halted for more than two years in parts of the country. A lack of specialist labour also contributed to the deterioration in maintenance carried out by the state electricity monopoly. The exodus of trained linesmen has grown in recent months – they earn less than 10,000 pesos a month, including the additional ’danger’ payments.

It’s got to a point where locals and regular passers by are just praying that there won’t be a cyclone to bring down the battered pole – or failing that, that some ’illustrious’ visitor is due to pass by, thus obliging them to replace it. For the time being though, it remains a simple question of survival by keeping a careful eye on it and avoiding it as much as possible when travelling on the road to Valle de Mayabe.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

In Maisi, Eastern Cuba, Women Block the Road After a Week Without Water

Those affected collected tanks and oil drums to block the traffic, which brought in the authorities. (Yadiuska Domínguez)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 23 October 2023 – A group of people, the majority of them women, blocked a road last Saturday in Maisí, Guantanamo, after suffering a week with no water supply. During their protest they collected tanks and oil drums to block the traffic, which brought in the authorities.

The protest was shared in social media on Sunday, with a number of videos in which they recorded three key moments of the demonstration. In the first one they are seen barricading the road with oil drums and demanding forcefully that they water, sugar and food supplies be delivered. “I can’t go on like this, I have five kids!” cried one of the women in desperation, before collapsing in front of the camera.

At another point we can see the dispute, now with evident unease, between the women and two police officers who are hardly moving, and and another man — presumably from the Communist Party or a police officer in plain clothes — who moves the barrels and demands that everyone calm down.

It ends with the demonstrators losing patience, several of them lambasting the attitude of the authorities. “This is civil abuse!” the woman who is filming it all on her phone shouts repeatedly. continue reading

In the last video the women are walking away carrying their oil drums and shouting protests against the system itself. “Díaz-Canel’s police mistreat the people!” One of them shouts. “Patria y Vida!” she adds as they retreat.

This kind of peaceful protest has become more evident in Cuba in the face of lack of basic supplies. There was a similar situation during the summer in Central Havana when a group of about twelve people shut off a road by sitting on the ground and protesting about having gone more than three days without electricity.

In September, residents of the capital also cut off a street after suffering for 35 days without running water.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘Bring Your Own Power’ – The Cuban Art Factory Rebels Against Government Power Cuts

People queue up at the entrance of the cultural centre The Cuban Art Factory (FAC) at its reopening in 2022. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 16 October 2023 – The Cuban Art Factory (FAC) has rebelled against the decisions of the two Ministries of Energy & Mining and of Culture. In the face of energy shortages the government imposed an energy plan, which in practice implied that they would have to close, but the centre refused and asked their loyal followers to ’bring their own energy’ to support them.

“Our cultural and social commitment motivates us to re-invent the working structure of the institution to avoid the closure of FAC for the time being. For this reason we are announcing that The Cuban Art Factory will keep its doors open whilst looking for creative solutions that won’t affect the National Grid” (SEN), the centre explained via social media on Saturday.

Signed by its founder and the rest of the team – the musician X Alfonso and the FacinBand – the message explained that they reopened on 5 October (after a month’s programmed closure) with an energy allocation reduced by 80%. Because of this, the consequence would be that they could only open for two days a month instead of the previous 16 (Thursday to Sunday).

“We are aware of the energy situation in Cuba and consequently we have accepted the energy-saving plan established for the state sector, limiting energy use as much as we can in our offices and other FAC spaces, in order to contribute to the reasonable use of the country’s energy resources”, they explain. continue reading

FAC rejects SEN’s energy allocation and says it will keep its doors open with the help of audiences, artistes and any followers from all parts of the country who wish to contribute

In its post the institution defends its position, being as it is the foremost cultural centre on the island – having more than 300 concerts, 70 exhibitions, 60 dance performances, 40 theatre shows, 40 fashion shows, as well as a long list of social actions to its name. “And this is at an affordable ticket price of only 250 CUP, when general access to art in Cuba is increasingly expensive and real experiences of genuine art are becoming pretty scarce”.

FAC rejects SEN’s energy allocation and says it will keep its doors open with the help of audiences, artistes and any followers from all parts of the country who wish to contribute. “Considering the impact of the arts and culture on a society that needs hope and beauty in order to carry on resisting, we feel we have to find creative solutions, without having to create additional burdens”, says the text.

On Saturday, according to the announcement, FAC opened up, having power only from its own generators, plus some lanterns and the light from more than 300 phones of its workers, “who, if FAC were to close, would become unemployed”, the text emphasises, in words which are almost taboo for Cuban officialdom.

“The way we’re going there’ll be no need to shut them up because they won’t have any electricity to operate their motormouths”

“Bring your own light and join us in this adventure for keeping FAC’s heart beating!” they ask.

The resulting torrent of commentary over the whole weekend has been intense. FAC, situated in Calle 26, El Vedado, has become a central point of reference for Havana culture; it is also very much frequented by tourists. In 2019 Time magazine included it in a list of the 100 best venues in the world.

The venue first opened in 2014, in the ruins of a former oil-manufacturing company. Today it occupies two floors, with exhibition areas for photography, design and architecture; a cinema and a theatre; dance studios; bars; a cafe and a restaurant offering international cuisine.

After the long hiccup of the pandemic it reopened its doors in April 2022 using the Cuban Peso as official currency. And in spite of inflation it managed to maintain its previous entry price at 250 CUP.

Many commentators have made enthusiastic proposals for organising the purchase of solar panels for the building, although it would need a huge amount of them, much more than the installation of “torches”, as one contributor suggests. Just maintaining an adequate temperature can be very difficult with a deficit of energy, and on the whole such a project would seem unviable.

Other commentators think the whole thing is just the last straw and they satirise the situation: “If they’re wanting to shut the FAC, tell them to all just shut up”, says one, while another replies: “The way we’re going there’ll be no need to shut them up because they won’t have any electricity to operate their motormouths”.

In a city whose nightlife is increasingly limited by energy problems, an exodus of artistes and a deterioration of entertainment venues, FAC has become one of the last options available for the younger people. Its diverse programme, its numerous spaces and its very location all attract a heterogeneous public hungry for culture.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.