Cubana de Aviacion Resumes Flights to Martinique and Guadeloupe

The airline Cubana de Aviación halted its flights in May 2018, due to an aircraft availability problem. (Captura)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, January 16, 2019 — Starting next Monday, January 21, Martinique and Guadalupe will be reconnected with Cuba via airplane travel. The company Cubana de Aviación has just announced the resumption of flights between the three islands.

The rotations will be made once a week, every Monday with a Boeing 737-300 that has a capacity of 148 seats.

Departure from Martinique is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. from Fort-de-France with arrival in Havana at 6:05 p.m., while the return flight will leave Havana at 8:00 a.m. and arrive at Fort-de-France at noon. continue reading

In the case of Guadalupe, the departure will be at 3:25 pm from Pointe-à-Pitre with arrival in Havana at 6:05 pm. The return flight from Havana will take off at 8:00 am and will land at 2:25 pm in Guadalupe.

An official of Cubana de Aviación informed this newspaper that those interested should purchase the tickets at the office of the airline on the corner of 23rd street and the Malecón. As he explained, the current price for the round trip ticket for both Martinique and Guadeloupe is 585 CUC (Cuban convertible pesos, roughly $585 USD). He also confirmed that the plane that Cubana will use to cover these destinations is one of two Boeing-737s that “were rented from another company,” whose name he said he did not know.

The airline Cubana de Aviación halted its flights in May 2018, due to an aircraft availability problem. Now, thanks to the fact that the company has contracted for  two Boeing aircrafts, it can resume flights to the Antilles.

The national airline crisis worsened after the May 18 accident involving a Boeing 737-200, leased from the Mexican company Global Air, which crashed shortly after taking off on a flight between Havana and the city of Holguín. 112 of the 113 people on board died.

In the middle of last year, Cubana de Aviación suspended most of its domestic and international flights for several months. At that time, the state airline said that the decision to cancel those flights was the result of “problems that have been accumulating,” among which it indicated was lack of spare parts and “not being able to make repairs to some aircraft.”

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_______________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Cuba’s Agricultural Markets Can’t Keep Up After the End of the Year

Empty pallets or ones with only a single product have become a frequent scene in Cuban agricultural markets. (Klaussi)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 14 January 2019 — The lack of goods in Cuban agricultural markets after the year-end celebrations is almost a Christmas tradition, but this time, the recovery is slow in coming. The Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo (EJT / Youth Labor Army) market on 17th Street in El Vedado is one of more than 170 places that sell agricultural products in the capital that has for the past two weeks lacked adequate stock.

“A combination of several factors are affecting us a lot in obtaining provisions,” Gerardo Gómez explained to 14ymedio; Gómez is a private truck driver who supplies merchandise to the market on San Rafael Street, one of the most important in Havana after the closure of Cuatros Caminos. continue reading

“There is always, at the end of the year, a reduction in the offerings, because there is little work done in the fields and the truck drivers also do not like to transport during the holidays,” adds Gómez. “But this year we have the additional issue of problems with transportation because police controls have increased at the access roads to the city.”

In recent months the authorities have stepped up inspections of cargo vehicles entering the capital to reduce the arrival of products in the informal markets. The controls also seek to reduce the consumption of fuel stolen from state companies that often ends up in the hands of private carriers.

Last December, a series of measures came into play that regulate the consumption of gasoline and diesel for private transportation owners destined for the transfer of passengers. “That is affecting us a lot because there was a lot of merchandise that also came in via the almendrones (a name that refers to the ’almond’ shape of the cars from the 1950’s used in this service) or the trucks that transport people (many trucks in Cuba are used for passenger service),” said the driver and mentioned smaller products such as onions and garlic.

Gómez adds that this situation is worsened because “there is a serious problem with animal feed and that is why very little meat is coming to this market”. On the premises at San Rafael Street the price of a pound of boneless pork reached a historical record at the beginning of January, when it rose to 60 cuban pesos, the equivalent of three days’ salary of a professional.

In a small paladar (private restaurant) near the market, the owners juggle to provide salads. “We were able to find fresh lettuce and cabbage but we had to buy canned pepper and beans from the stores,” says Carmina, who works at the Sabor Criollo restaurant.

The canned vegetables that Carmina acquired came from Spain. “They are expensive but what else are we going to do if we do not find the product in the agricultural markets,” laments the woman. Cuba spends more than 2 billion dollars every year importing food and more than 80% of the food consumed on the Island comes from abroad.

“Even the carrots we had to buy in cans because the supply in the markets is very unstable, sometimes they have it and sometimes they don’t. Now we have to go very early to the markets to obtain something because there is little merchandise and it runs out quickly,” she laments.

On December 25, Cuban first vice-president, Salvador Valdés Mesa, visited the Villoldo complex, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, where the state agricultural market La Palma is located. His presence was reported in the official press — which also tweeted the news with a link to the article and photo of Valdés Mesa — and this generated an avalanche of criticism from readers because the photo showed him standing in front of displays full of products.

Now, the market shown in the images as overflowing with products, is also suffering  from the reduction in supply. “What we have right now is plantains, green tomatoes and some very small eggplants”, one of the workers of the place tells this newspaper by telephone. “We do not have pork for sale but perhaps by the weekend we will get a supply,” he concludes.

Employees and customers are hoping the situation improves. “We are giving it time to see if sales pick up,” says Luisa, 72, who goes the Tulipán Street EJT market. “It is true that at every year-end many products are unavailable but we are almost to the middle of January and the supply has not improved”.

The retiree says she is hopeful about the application of the new tax on idle land that took effect earlier this year in the provinces of Artemisa, Mayabeque and Matanzas. “There are many people who have land and are not using it to plant food,” laments Luisa. “This can push them to produce.”

However, Carmina believes that the problem is more complex than unproductive lands. “The entire supply chain is damaged, because of the lack of feed for the animals or fertilizers for the crops, the transportation does not work efficiently and the prices are very high,” she summarizes.

At the paladar where she works, they are seriously considering “removing some dishes from the menu because they can’t guarantee their availability with this lack of supply”.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

________________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

El Triunfo Bridge in Sagua La Grande is About to be Defeated by Apathy

The state of the El Triunfo (Triumph) bridge has deteriorated with the passing of decades and the lack of maintenance. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Julia Mézenov, Sagua la Grande | 9 January 2019 – With its rusty structure and missing stretches of rails, the El Triunfo (Triumph) bridge in Sagua la Grande has become a source of concern for the population. The local authorities have not fulfilled their promises to maintain the symbol of this city in the province of Villa Clara.

This work of enginnering, which has lost its former splendor, connects Centro Victoria with Barrio San Juan. Thousands of people pass through it every day, including students from the elementary and middle schools and the only high school in Sagua la Grande.

The importance of this bridge in the daily life of the Sagüeros is such that the majority have expressed a desire in the new year for the repair of El Triunfo that combines safety and functionality with its lost beauty. continue reading

However, it does not seem to be a priority for the local powers that be. The neighbors consulted by 14ymedio lament that for more than five years the authorities have promised capital improvement, but nothing has happened.

To alleviate the flow of people, bicycles and motorcycles (which to cross El Triunfo must be pushed by hand) the so-called “floating bridge” was enabled. In mid-2018 after the heavy floods caused by the subtropical storm Alberto, the old bridge was reopened due to the need to channel the influx of passers-by, since most of the businesses, welfare and work centers are located on one of the banks of the Sagua la Grande river. However, the bridge — one of the few with the Pratt beam technology (one of the most modern of its time) that remains on the Island with its original infrastructure — was reopened without having any improvements made.

“When a disaster happens, then they will begin to take measures,” explains Olguita González, a neighbor of Sagua la Grande who has been crossing El Triunfo every day for more than 40 years. “One day it will not hold up anymore, because, although the passage of trucks is prohibited, that does not guarantee anything, it is very old.”

Located in an area declared a national monument in 2011, El Triunfo was the scene of exciment when the victorious troops of General José Luis Robau passed through it after the end of the War of 1895 against Spain. At that time the bridge, which was then made of wood, was renamed, and, years later, in 1905, the structure was changed to the current one, made of iron.

“If Robau came back now, he would fall into the river,” says Gonzalez ironically, worried about the number of children and elderly people passing through.

With the rising waters of the Sagua la Grande River, thousands of people from the Popular Council of San Juan-Finalet are left practically incommunicado. The deteriorated bridge is the only link when there is a slight flood in the area, since the Carrillo bridge floods and the Clara Barton bridge disappeared, submerged by the waters in 1996.

The last announcement about a possible repair was made in February 2018 in the local press. Elvis Perez Casola, then head of the Investment Department of the Resources of Communal Services Unit, assured that the technical and material means to undertake the work were secured, but nothing else has been said and the neighbors are still in doubt about when the longed for repairs will occur.

That frustrating promise was already déjà vu to another that an official made two years ago when he said: “The subordination of local investments are 100% fulfilled in anticipation of the payment to the builders of the El Triunfo bridge. The rehabilitation work has not started to date due to difficulties of the construction company.”

Since then it has rained, the waters of the river have risen several times, rust and deterioration have continued their advance and the defeat of El Triunfo becomes even more humiliating.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

______________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The Authorities Blame the Driver for the Viazul Bus Crash

Luis Ladrón de Guevara, director of transport of passengers for the Ministry of Transport in Cuba, gave a press conference in Havana. (EFE / Ernesto Mastrascusa)

14ymedio biggerEFE / 14ymedio, Havana, 11 January 2018 – The Government of Cuba signaled this Friday that the 55-year old driver was directly responsible for a tragic bus crash; he was accused of having lost control of the vehicle for not taking appropriate safety measures resulting in a toll of seven dead and dozens injured.

“Direct responsibility of the driver in this unfortunate event has been determined,” the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) wrote in a press release in state media, in which it offered news on the investigation of the crash that occurred Thursday afternoon in the province of Guantánamo, the fourth on Cuban roads that involved a passenger bus in less than a month. continue reading

The bus driver, who has 25 years of experience in the sector, allegedly failed to comply with the section of the Road and Traffic Code that requires slowing down or stopping if required by traffic, the state of the road or visibility, and driving with extreme caution in adverse conditions, according to the Minint.

The Viazul state company bus with 40 passengers on board overturned at approximately 4:00 p.m. after the driver lost control on a curve at kilometer 22 of the Guantanamo-Baracoa highway, where the pavement was wet and slippery, authorities of the Ministry of Transport (Mitrans) explained during a press conference.

The driver could face “criminal and administrative sanctions” if it is determined that he committed a crime, said the transport director of Mitrans, Luis Ladrón de Guevara.

In any case, he noted that it is still premature to draw conclusions and indicated that a commission has been created composed of officials from state/local agencies and Víazul to investigate the event in more detail.

Three Cubans, two Argentinian women, a German woman and a French man lost their lives in the accident, which also left 33 injured.

Of the injured, five are in serious condition: a Spanish woman, a French woman and three Cubans, while a three-year-old Spanish child suffered multiple injuries but remains stable.

The list of injured also includes another Spanish man, nine more Cubans, three Argentinian men, two Mexican men and twelve citizens from the United Kingdom, Canada, the US, the Netherlands, France and Germany.

The incident Thursday was the second massive crash reported in the eastern region of Cuba so far this week, after a crash between a bus and a passenger train left twelve injured on January 8.

In addition, on December 27, two people were killed and 33 injured in a traffic crash involving a truck with a trailer loaded with sugarcane and a passenger bus from the state company Astro. On December 12 another incident, again involving a passenger bus, left three dead and 29 injured in the vicinity of Mayarí, in the province of Holguín.

Traffic crashes are the fifth leading cause of mortality in Cuba, where last year one was recorded every 47 minutes, for an average of one death every 12 hours.

In 2018 the number of catastrophic crashes soared alarmingly in the country, which has recorded more than 4,400 deaths since 2012, according to official data.

The most recent report shows that between January and October of 2018 there were more than 8,000 traffic crashes on the island.

Most are attributed to a lack of attention by the driver, ignoring the right of way or speeding, but contributing factors are the poor conditions of the roads and the aging fleet of motor vehicles in the Caribbean country, with cars more than 50 years old on the road.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_____________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

A Fire at La Benefica Hospital Forces Evacuation of a Majority of Patients

Trained firefighters and hospital workers helped control the flames. (ACN)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 January 2019 — The Miguel Enríquez Clinical Surgical Teaching Hospital of Havana suffered a fire on Thursday night that forced the immediate evacuation of some patients. This Friday morning personnel were still working on the resumption of services and the cleaning of the damaged areas.

As reported by the official press, the incident began in the “ventilation shaft of the acute care area” of the hospital institution, located in the municipality of 10 de Octubre and more popularly known as La Benéfica. The incident affected the electricity and about 100 beds located between the second and seventh floors.

The trained forces of firefighters and hospital workers helped to control the flames so that they did not spread to other areas of the building to where most of the patients were evacuated. Those hospitalized with more serious conditions were transferred to nearby facilities, hospital director Jorge Daniel Poyo explained to the press.

No other details are known currently about what occurred but the cause of the fire is already under investigation as well as an assessment of the damage it caused.

Last year two other health facilities were also affected by fires, the Hospital Oncológico and the Pediatric Marfán, both located in Havana.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

___________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Massive Accident in Guantanamo Leaves Six Dead

A massive accident took place in the vicinity of kilometer 25 of the Guantanamo-Baracoa highway, in which six people died. (ACN)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 10 January 2019 –  A massive accident occurred this Thursday afternoon near the hill of La Herradura in the vicinity of kilometer 25 of the Guantánamo-Baracoa highway, leaving six people dead and about thirty injured.

The accident occurred when a Chinese-make Yutong bus from the Vía Azul company, which traveled the route from Baracoa to Havana, overturned after the bus lost control when the driver executed a maneuver to overtake another vehicle, some of the witnesses explained to the official press. continue reading

Dr. Yoandris Reyes, deputy surgical director of the Agostino Neto hospital in the city of Guantanamo, said that the facility received 33 injured and said that most came with orthopedic trauma, blows or friction burns. He added that there are five patients with code red, at high risk for their lives and that three of them received surgical care and two remain in the Intensive Care Unit.

A multidisciplinary team was activated in the health facility after the accident and specialists of the Ministry of the Interior were investigating other details of the event at the incident site.

It is the fourth accident on Cuban roads that involves a passenger bus in less than a month.

On December 27, two people were killed and 33 injured in a traffic crash involving a truck with a trailer loaded with sugarcane and a passenger bus from the state company Astro. On December 12 another crash, also with a passenger bus, left three dead and 29 injured in the vicinity of Mayarí, in the province of Holguín.

Also this week a passenger bus of the state company Transtur collided with a train at a railway-level crossing on the Bayamo-Las Tunas highway, a crash that left 12 injured.

In 2017, 11,187 traffic crashes were recorded in the country, leaving 750 dead and 7,999 injured, according to reports from the National Road Safety Commission. Since 2012, according to the same source, more than 4,400 deaths have been reported on Cuban roads. Three days ago, Minister of Transport Adel Yzquierdo was removed from his post a position he held since 2015.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

______________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

I Am Voting No, But I Will Also Watch Over My Vote

The bill to reform the Cuban Constitution has been debated for months and will be voted on in a referendum in 2019. (EFE / Ernesto Mastrascusa)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Pedro Pablo Aguilera, Cali (Colombia), 3 January 2019 – After reading the article by Reinaldo Escobar, Is Fraud Possible February 24 Referendum? in 14ymedio, I feel it is more like a call to warn about a smokescreen of abstainers as a pretext to demobilize the negative vote that others advocate. I clarify: Reinaldo Escobar is convinced people should vote ’No’. That is to say, the Cuban opposition is divided again and it will be necessary to see who plays.

The truth is that voting ’No’ does not only not ratify the Constitution, it is a public rejection of the system, and all that means. It will be a petition for real change in the first chance that the system has mistakenly given voters the opportunity of a direct vote. The government has been overconfident and, as happened in Britain with the Brexit, in the US with Trump and in Colombia with the referendum of ratification of the Peace Accords, there may be an unexpected result. continue reading

The result of this latent division before the referendum will favor, without a doubt only the Government, which is already saying that voting ’No’ is an attitude of the enemy as if that option were not among those that they established themselves on the referendum ballot.

I am convinced, as are many others, to vote ’No’. It is the only clear path, it is the only thing that will make the rejection evident and it is even less risky in the face of the strong mechanisms of pressure and control of the Cuban electoral system. It is unlike an ambiguous abstention in which a person who may be sick, or traveling or clueless will join the “abstainer-on-purpose.” In addition, abstentions will not count towards the result, since those that will decide the outcome are the so-called valid votes.

The negative vote, voting ’No’, is easy, silent, and simple. Mark ’No’ on your ballot consistent with your thinking for the thousand and one reasons there are to do so.

Now, there is only one option for combatting fraud: Watching over the votes. And it is done with civility, with tranquility and respect, adhering to the current Cuban electoral rules.

It is necessary to know the rule, Law 72, where the rights and duties at the moment of the counting ballots are codified and by paying special attention to the Third Section, regarding the scrutiny in the polling stations.

This, in short, recognizes the right of citizens who wish to be present in the process of vote counting according to Article 112. In this process one must be very clear about the rules, rights and duties so as to not incur grounds for exclusion, such as those provided in article 171 regarding the alteration or destruction of printed materials or voting rolls.

It would be ideal to have one or two individuals, who in practice would be citizen observers, in each voting center or, at least in the largest of each municipality, who would oversee the electoral process by documenting via audio or video each table of poll workers.

Such a process, so common in the world, in the Cuban case gives an opening that we can use, but will require national or regional organization with national counting centers for monitoring, all within the limits established by Cuban law, since there will be many pretexts to avoid or block such access.

The fear is so great that there will be no lack of initiatives from the powerful to avoid the due compliance with the law, but that will be a violation of the rules of the alleged “socialist state of law.”

As such I think it is possible to protect the vote, but more important is the pedagogy of going to vote without anulling it, leaving it blank or abstaining. Vote and vote ’No’.

Thus, the results will be clearer and the false unanimity will at least be questioned, since we know that Cuba lacks an organized, committed and ethically responsible civil society.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_____________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The Mysterious Work at Paseo Avenue

A large house in Vedado is remodeled at a speed that generates suspicion among the neighbors. (14y medio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 10 January 2019 – In the midst of the critical housing situation in the country, where there is a deficit of close to one million homes, a pharaonic work of remodeling has been undertaken in Havana in a little over a month in a building in El Vedado that for years belonged to the Ministry of the Interior and whose destiny is unknown.

The block between Paseo Avenue and A Street and bounded by 11th and 13th streets has been fenced in. In the garden of the house trees have been cut and gigantic scaffolding erected. An army of bricklayers, plumbers and electricians undertake the total remodeling of the building while the crews of the electric company bury underground the installations for the lights that will surround the facility. continue reading

The streets and sidewalks have been converted into huge excavations where the telephone company and the gas and water suppliers seem to have agreed to have everything ready in record time. Near the construction site, the parked equipment features all types of machinery, those that right now are lacking in the construction of residential buildings and in the repair of the streets.

In several spots on the perimeter fence there are warnings that restrict passage and prohibit the taking of photographs.

When the workers are asked what will be the result of so much effort, they shrug their shoulders and put on the “I can’t say it” face. Is it true that a five-star hotel is being built here? The man looks over his shoulder before murmuring: “No, I heard that they are going to put a museum dedicated to honoring the memory of Fidel Castro” and with a voice almost inaudible, he adds: “With the need for one…”

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

________________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Passenger Bus Cashes Into a Train and Leaves 11 Injured, Some in Serious Condition

The bus from Varadero collided with the passenger train that covers the route between Bayamo and the community of Guamo. (Lizet Márquez Gómez)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 8 January 2019 – This Tuesday morning a passenger bus of the state company Transtur collided with a train at a railway-level crossing on the Bayamo-Las Tunas highway, an accident that left 11 injured, according to the official press.

Bus number 4724 with license plate B 173235 was travelling from Varadero when it hit the passenger train that covers the route between Bayamo and the community of Guamo, in the municipality of Río Cauto, according to the note.

It is the third accident involving a passenger bus in less than a month. The injured, whose ages range from 17 to 80 years, are from the provinces of Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila and Granma. continue reading

The wounded were taken to the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes provincial hospital in Bayamo, where they are currently receiving medical attention.

According to the witnesses of the incident, the accident occurred when the bus driver did not obey the stop signal at the level crossing and collided with the train that passed through the intersection.

However, a commentator from the Cubadebate site questioned that version and wrote “How many more dead will we have to await in order to put up the needed barriers with bells and lights and warning signs?” The resident in the province of Granma said that “Bayamo has the feature of having to traverse more than 17 level crossings, none with barriers.”

“At night, the darkness on our roads is incredible, there are no lights, there are no signs, there are no phosphorescent lines on the road surface. These things would help a lot to manage and prevent somewhat these unfortunate events,” added another Internet user who identified himself as Julio.

This past December 27, two people were killed and 33 injured in a traffic accident involving a truck with a trailer loaded with sugar cane and a passenger bus from the state company Astro. On December 12 another incident, again with a passenger bus, left three dead and 29 injured in the vicinity of Mayarí, in the province of Holguín.

The authorities traditionally attribute these types of accidents to the carelessness of the drivers, paying little attention to the road, excessive speeding or consumption of alcoholic beverages, but they rarely recognize the bad state of the roads, the scant signage and the technical problems of vehicle parking.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of massive accidents has soared alarmingly in the country.

The problem of the numerous traffic accidents on the island was addressed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel during a meeting with the Council of Ministers last July. The president urged all to worry about the “significant number of deaths and injuries” caused by these events.

On that occasion, the Minister of Transport, Adel Yzquierdo, cited as main causes of accidents “social indiscipline”, inadequate signaling, road deterioration and the circulation of vehicles without updated technical maintenance.

In 2017, 11,187 traffic accidents were recorded in the country, leaving 750 dead and 7,999 injured, according to reports from the National Road Safety Commission. Since 2012, according to the same source, more than 4,400 deaths have been reported on Cuban roads.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_______________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

14ymedio Faces of 2018: Cristina Escobar Dominguez, From Stardom to Silence

The journalist and television presenter Cristina Escobar. (Youtube)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 29 December 2018 – She began the year as the primetime presenter of Cuban television, where she was one of the voices of the Plaza of the Revolution, especially with respect  to the relations with Washington and anti-Trump speech. Suddenly, at the end of this year, Cristina Escobar Domínguez disappeared from the small screen.

The explanation arrived in unexpected fashion when the embassy of the United Kingdom in Havana announced on its Facebook page that the presenter had obtained a Chevening scholarship financed by the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was confirmed shortly after by Sergio Alejandro Gómez when he appeared presenting Escobar’s program Solo la verdad (Only the Truth), which analyzes films with political themes. continue reading

So it was not, as some speculated, because she made politically inappropriate comments on her social networks after an incident on the beach of Varadero, where she was not allowed to spend the night in front of the Arenas Blancas Barceló hotel. “As far as I knew, the beaches are public in Cuba … well, no! They are only for those who pay, (…) if we  allow them to continue to violate our rights,” she said at the time.

The incident was not reported in the official media and a few weeks later Escobar was in Lima (Peru) with the Cuban delegation to the VIII Summit of the Americas and covered it via Facebook Live.

Upon her return to Havana, she inaugurated the digital transmissions site Dominio Cuba, which in her own words, intended to “provide press coverage about Cuba that confronts the misinformation and manipulations around the reality of the Island.”

In June, she was selected to be a member of the National Committee of the Union of Journalists of Cuba, during the quinquennium 2018-2023, right in the middle of the preparations for the creation of the new information policy of the Island.

During the summer, Escobar conducted the program Only the Truth in which she presented films and criticized the politics and social problems of the United States. This, without abandoning her presence in the morning magazine Buenos Días, nor in the Roundtable and on the nightly broadcast of the National Television News, where she comented on international news.

For that reason, her sudden disappearance is surprising. The explanation that it is due to a postgraduate course in the United Kingdom is not convincing since the requirements of the Chevening Scholarships are geared to young people with little work experience, “at least two years,” and Escobar has more than double the experience and a meteoric career.

So, what really happened?

See also: 14ymedio Faces of 2018

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_________________

he 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Bread Is ‘Stolen’ At The End Of The Year

Hundreds of cuban Internet users have published photos showing the poor quality of rationed bread and the long lines to buy it. (Pedry Roxana Rojo)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 27 December 2018 – Few products have been talked about as much on the social networks this last week of the year in Cuba than that of bread. The long lines outside the state bakeries and the poor quality of this rationed food have filled the walls of Facebook, Twitter timelines and Instagram accounts. The lack of flour that has led to the drop in supply is one of the most discussed issues of the moment.

Since December 6 when web browsing service on mobile phones became available,  there has been an infinite number of photos and videos in which consumers complain about the typical bread. “This is not a stone it is bread,” says a resident of Placetas, Villa Clara, on her Facebook wall. “This is a line of several hours to buy something as simple as a bread,” writes another from the city of Santa Clara.

Greenish-tone breads, reduced in size and unappetizing in appearance, are photographed and shared in chat rooms and messaging services. Also innumerable signs outside the state establishments indicating that there is no bread or that sweets are not being sold “until further notice.” A true “bakery obsession” has taken over the social networks.

Who was to say that a theme of gossip and discussion such as the quality and shortage of this product would become an end-of-year spectacle?

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_____________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

The Lack of Personnel and Maintenance Sink Government Childcare Centers

Social sectors with higher incomes seek specialized care and better infrastructure for their children. (Charles Pieters)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 16 December 2018 — Incomplete staffing and an excessively high ratio of children to teachers along with the lack of maintenance has led to remarkable deterioration in the childcare centers throughout the country, 57 years after their founding, according to the official press.

An article published this week in the newspaper Granma details the difficult time that state daycare centers are going through. Currently, these centers provide care for 18.5% of the population that is less than seven years old, about 134,000 children.

Despite the low birth rate in recent years, at least 48,000 families across the country are still waiting for their children to obtain a place at one of these centers, according to information from Mary Carmen Rojas Torres, an official of the Directorate of Education of Early Childhood in the Ministry of Education. continue reading

The closure of 36 childcare centers throughout the national territory and the deficit of specialized personnel cause many families to opt for private care, a phenomenon that has gained strength in the last two decades, especially among the sectors of society with higher incomes that seek specialized care and better infrastructure.

A resolution has been in place since last year requiring that a child enrolled in state day care be the son/daughter of an active worker,  be at least 11 months old and able to walk. Employees from military and police institutions, public health and education centers have priority, while private sector workers were set aside on the list.

The low salaries that educators receive from the state locations, less than 40 CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso, roughly $40 US) per month, means that many of the graduates in this specialty end up opening their own childcare businesses or employed in private daycare centers.

“There are 183 closed locations due to lack of personnel, which translates into a deficit of 181 educators and 2,379 teacher’s assistants,” acknowledged Yoania Falcón Suárez, an official of the Ministry of Education. To alleviate the deficit, a higher children to educator ratio was authorized and in addition staffers now get a salary increase depending on the number of children, but these measures have not solved the problem.

Carmen María is one of the more than 7,000 mothers in the city of Havana who, for months, has requested a spot in a state child care center for her one-and-a-half year-old twins. The woman works as a waitress in a private restaurant and laments that the employees of the state sector have priority for obtaining a spot.

“I’m going to wait a couple of months to see if I’m lucky and I can enroll the children in a state childcare center, because it’s cheaper, but, if not,  I’ll have to end up hiring a private caretaker in order to keep my job.” At the moment Carmen Marías children are under the care of their grandmother during her working hours.

The woman also thinks that “there has been a deterioration in the pedagogical quality of the workers in these places because before they were closer to being true teachers but now they are more like assistants who are there to take care of the children, but they do not teach them many things.”

An official of the Ministry of Education explained to 14ymedio the reasons for prioritizing the state sector. “The cuentapropistas (self-employed) have higher incomes and that is not a secret to anyone,” explains the worker of this ministry, on condition of anonymity. “In the midst of the difficulties we have with the number of locations and specialized personnel, we are trying to help — first of all — the mothers with the lowest salaries,” she says.

“We also have a policy that all those women who work in strategic state sectors can have their childcare guaranteed even if they do have to wait a long time to obtain a place,” the official added. “Childcare centers are subsidized and should benefit those who need this support, because other families can pay for a private caregiver.”

The child care educators are trained in mid-level courses in pedagogical schools for young people who have graduated from the 12th grade. At the moment there are more than 3,700 students training in these centers who are destined to occupy positions in state child care centers and preschool classrooms. But many of them will end up deserting the profession.

Rosario García has been managing a private daycare center in Candelaria for seven years. The self-employed manager explains that she has no problems hiring staff, because many educators from day care centers in the area have expressed their desire to work in her small business. For García, the greatest difficulties are on another side.

The woman considers that if private caregivers could rent larger spaces in the state’s own day care centers, have access to educational resources at preferential prices and be respected and considered by the government to be educators, that would help meet the high demand for child care.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

_________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Nine Games To Go

With a view to what awaits, the Lumberjacks are the team that is in the best shape. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Ernesto Santana, Havana, 13 December 2018 — Endless games. Too many mistakes. Colossal number of runs. Countless walks, intentional or not. Frequent indiscipline of hitters, pitchers and managers. Very passive umpires and authorities. So many incredibly bad plays. Lousy pitching and offense so disproportionate that anybody can hit over .300.

This is the scenario of the 58th National Baseball Series in its second stage, but the public, for whatever reasons, is attending more than in other seasons. And despite everything, interest does not wane. The standings had blown up, then been put back together and now seem to split again at the ends.

Today, the Leñadores (Lumberjacks) (32-19) are the leaders to this point and Holguín (20-31) sinks to the bottom. Las Tunas, one point from passing, seems assured of qualifying, perhaps even for first place of the stage, while Villa Clara and Sancti Spíritus must maintain their battle for second and third, while the cats of Ciego and La Havana will fight for the fourth ticket. continue reading

Although until a few weeks ago a Leñadores vs. Tigres (Tigers) final was foreseen, at this point no one is sure who will be the second contender, but nobody doubts who will be first, because Las Tunas has been the strongest squad in the tournament and has become the main favorite for the title, which would be the first in their history.

Not that they needed to, but with winning fury, the Tuneros (Las Tunas) just swept Holguín coming from behind three times despite the combativeness of the Cachorros (Cubs). However, there were three games with an alarming amount of errors and runs.

In second place, tied with 27 victories and 24 losses, reside the Azucareros (Sugar Makers) and Gallos (Roosters). Yes Eduardo Paret’s group has had a good tournament, but they have surprised sometimes with their lack of forcefulness and they leave doubts about how much they will shine in the playoffs. His rising star, César Prieto, perhaps tired, is going through an incredible slump of fifteen days.

With Sancti Spíritus, however, nobody feels cheated. On the contrary. Although they just lost the subseries against their neighbors from Villa Clara, they are not expected to miss the playoffs and, to the pride of José Raúl Delgado, they continue to play well whether ahead or behind.

In fourth place, Ciego de Ávila (24-27) has surprised a lot in this phase, because, although they have quality names, in the offense as well as in the defense and pitching, they are playing below expectations and have kept themselves in the playoff race so far due to the bad streaks of Lions and Cubs.

Can the Blues be in the semifinals? It’s a great question. Rey Vicente Anglada, at first, warned that he was not a magician but managed to take his boys to the second phase, but it will not be easy for Industriales (23-28), with so many injured and in bad form, so poor in pitching and in defense, so inconsistent on offense.

Now no one expects Holguin (20-31) to accomplish the feat. They did in the first stage, but the new format relegated them to last and they started the second phase with very little force. Lately they have fought like Rottweilers and  have beaten anyone, but, while they were the ones that played the best during the last 10 clashes, Las Tunas beat them. Whatever happens, no fan will forget the unexpected bravery of Holguin in the 58th Series.

Undoubtedly, with a view to what is coming, the Leñadores are the team that looks to be in best shape, and as the fans say, “without Danel there is no championship”, referring to the legendary player, the “Panther of Manatí”, opportunistic like nobody else although already past forty, without bad slumps like the present one of the also veteran Frederich Cepeda.

This Thursday begins the first of the last three subseries. In the Latin American Stadium, the Lions await the Roosters; in the Mella, the Lumberjacks the Leopards; and, in the Calixto García, the Bloodhounds the Tigers.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

___________________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

"December Is a Complicated Month and If You Go Out to Report You Will End Up In a Police Station"

State Security encircles the Ladies in White from Thursday through Sunday each week, but this time they extended it more than usual. (Martinoticias.com/Archivo)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 4 December 2018 — December has started badly for a good part of the island’s civil society. Police operations, arbitrary arrests, a siege of activist homes and multiple threats against members of civil society have been constant in the first four days of this month that had already started with a warning. One of the reporters of this newspaper was warned that if he approached to cover “the provocations of the opposition” he would be arrested. “You know December is a complicated month and if you go out to report you’ll end up in a police station,” the agent said during the interrogation to which one of the members of the 14ymedio team was subjected.

The warning was made on the first Monday of the month with the arrest of several artists who are carrying out a campaign against Decree 349 and who had convened, by using on-line networks, a “peaceful sit-in” in front of the Ministry of Culture to demand a dialogue with the institution and the repeal of the new legislation. Other actors of the independent civil society have organized events around the process of constitutional reform and are also preparing activities directed at showing the repression on the occasion of the celebration of Human Rights Day on December 10th. continue reading

Among those who have denounced the harassment, ratcheted up these days, is Ángel Moya, former political prisoner of the group of 75, from the so-called “Black Spring” in 2013, who told this newspaper that as of Monday afternoon the operation deployed by State Security since last Thursday still remained in place.

State Security organizes a police siege every week, from Thursday through Sunday, around the headquarters of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) women’s movement to prevent the human rights activists from “arriving at Sunday Mass and participating in the campaign ’Todos Marchamos’ (We All March) for the freedom of political prisoners.” This week, the operation was  extended beyond the norm, according to Moya’s testimony, who added that there were police patrols and State Security officers on Porvenir Avenue.

Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, a member of the Committee for Racial Integration (CIR), was also arrested on Monday while leaving his home by one of the officers who had surrounded his home since Sunday afternoon. Madrazo Luna was taken in a patrol to the Zapata and C police station and, shortly thereafter, driven to another station in the Playa municipality, where an officer who identified himself as Alejandro, second in command of the 21st, told him they were not going to allow the activities that his organization had planned throughout the week.

“In the morning I went down to open the door for a friend and to go out to buy bread, and the officer tells me that nobody can leave or come in. I told him that the only thing he could do was detain me, because I was not going to be imprisoned in my own house,” he recounted.

The activist pointed out that, in addition, he was warned that they would maintain “the same rigor against provocative activities that threaten public safety” financed with “money from the enemy.”

Moreover, the daughter of the historian and political scientist Enix Berrio Sardá, Ingrid, denounced this Monday to 14ymedio her father’s disappearance and asserted having no information of his whereabouts for several hours.

This Tuesday, the intellectual recounted that he was detained and held in solitary confinement in Picota and Villa Marista jails. “They detained me on the street at two in the afternoon, they kept me isolated and made me wait from midnight until five o’clock in the morning in a very cold room. Then the interrogation began, first linking me to the campaign against decree 349, under terrible conditions, it was torture; and then to the private transportation strike. At six in the morning the interrogation ended and at nine o’clock they released me. They are tense because of the level of conviction of the people involved in these matters,” he affirmed.

Berrio Sardá was one of the guests invited to the presentation of Por Cuba at Madrazo Luna’s house, where a presentation on the current process of the constitutional reform was to be held.

In Camagüey province, Henry Constantin also endured arrest for more than three hours on Monday. The journalist and editor of the magazine La Hora de Cuba (Cuba’s Hour) was arrested in the street and taken to a police station for no specific reason. “They gave me a warning notice, they said due to spreading false news, and they warned me that I would not be able to do anything else because they would not allow it,” Constantin told the newspaper as he left the police unit.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

____________________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

An Unwanted ’Fellow Traveler’ / Fernando Damaso

Signs in Havana advertising services provided by the self-employed.

Fernando Dámaso, 13 November 2018  — Although it has been shown that self-employment work, even with absurd limitations, excessive taxes and overt or overlapping state persecution, resolves problems that the State, with its obsolete companies and deficient socialist services, has been unable to solve in sixty years of exercising absolute power, it is still considered “an unwanted ‘fellow traveller’.”

It is obvious, moreover, that it has been precisely this private sector that has given work to the 600,000 people displaced by the state sector, and that today is the main generator of jobs. It also constitutes the sector most active in generating productive forces. In short, discourse goes on one side and reality on the other. continue reading

For months the delivery of new self-employment licenses has been “frozen”, under the pretext of studying improvements, to avoid illegalities by those who practice it. This preoccupation with illegalities should have been a focus of the State for many years based on the multiple illegal activities that are committed in their centers of production and services.

But, as is logical, you can not be a judge and jury at the same time. Now they come up with new Decree-Laws, Decrees and Resolutions published in the Official Gazette of July 10, 2018, which impose new restrictions, raise taxes and complicate with more bureaucratic measures the exercise of self-employed work.

The problem seems to be something else: the bureaucrats of the state apparatus (Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ministry of Finance and Prices, Ministry of Internal Trade, Housing Institute, National Institute of Physical Planning, National Tax Administration Office and others) see self-employment as a dangerous competitor, which can’t be defeated or overcome in good faith, and they press on — so as not to lose their privileges — to bring it down with obstacles and abitrariness.

Some time ago the newspaper Juventud Rebelde published an article about the problems with the so-called preventive and orthopedic footwear, which is produced in the country only by two state companies — the so-called National Center of Technical Orthopedics Cuba-RDA (as obsolete as its own name) and Combell Company — both of which are rejected by their customers for their poor quality and worse design, which ensures that their warehouses are full of idle products, which have no customers in the market.

Faced with this situation, many citizens in need of this type of footwear choose to go to self-employed artisan shoemakers, who manufacture them with better quality and design, although at prices much higher than those of the state, but they have to produce them illegally because their licenses do not cover the manufacture of this type of footwear.

Simply one more of the many absurd rules in ridiculous licenses that limit the function of the trades. That is repeated with the carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons and others, who can only legally perform a small portion of their trades, those that the incumbent bureaucrat came up with.

Bad examples abound:

The much publicized State Wholesale Market (Mercobal), until now the only one in the entire country, located on Avenida 26 and Calle 35, Nuevo Vedado, Plaza Municipality, functions only for non-agricultural cooperatives located in facilities leased to the State, under contract with the state suppliers that assign their orders.

In the also publicized Digital Commerce, which only functions at the Market of 5th and 42th, Playa municipality, you select the product and pay for it digitally and, to pick it up, using your own means, you must wait 72 hours. In other words, the payment is digital but the delivery is analog.

Who are the winners with so many absurdities?

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria