Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 113

Juan Carlos Herrera, Former Prisoner of the Black Spring, Dies in the United States

Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta lived in Syracuse, New York, United States. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 18 February 2024 — The former prisoner of the Black Spring and Cuban activist, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, died this Saturday of a massive heart attack at the age of 57, in the city of Syracuse, in the state of New York, United States. During his exile, the independent journalist maintained an intense activism against the Island’s regime.

Herrera Acosta, who in April 2003 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his opposition to the Cuban regime, spent seven years and seven months in prison. During his stay in the Cubasí prison in Holguín and in the Combinado of Guantánamo, the dissident, who was also a reporter for the Eastern Free Press Agency, was subjected to severe punishment.

In August 2008, Herrera Acosta sewed his mouth shut in the Cubasí penitentiary center and remained in that condition for 12 days in protest against the violations of his human rights. Twenty opponents protested in Holguín in support of the prisoner; among them was Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who would die two years later after a long hunger strike. continue reading

In August 2008, Herrera Acosta sewed his mouth shut his mouth in the Cubasí penitentiary center and remained in that condition for 12 days in protest of the violations of his human rights

That same year, Herrera Acosta was transferred from the Cubasí prison to the Combinado of Guantánamo. “They brought me closer to my province, but they took me away from my family. What I have suffered is not enough for them,” he said when he learned of his imminent imprisonment in the prison known as “a den of terror.”

While in prison, the independent journalist suffered a family tragedy. On March 12, 2008, a bus traveling from Havana to Guantánamo was in an accident, and his only daughter, Lianet Herrera Disco, 14, lost her life, along with her mother, Elizabeth Disco Tito, 31, and her sister Elianet González Disco, 2 years old.

It would not be until August 19, 2010 that Herrara Acosta was able to leave prison and go into exile in Madrid after a negotiation among the Cuban regime, the Catholic Church and the Spanish Government. On that occasion, dozens of Black Spring prisoners and their families left the Island, in the middle of an operation that some classified as a “forced banishment.”

“I consider myself still a prisoner, because there are still many of my friends in Cuban prisons,” Herrera Acosta told the Committee for the Protection of Journalists on that occasion.

A year after his exile he settled in the United States and continued his activism for the freedom of Cuba. In May 2022, Herrera Acosta confronted Dangel, a defender of the Cuban regime who called himself “100% Fidel” on social networks and also lived in Syracuse. Acosta told Cubanet that the sympathizer of the Cuban regime had “denounced the political prisoners and the Ladies in White*.”

This Saturday, after the activist’s death was known, several former prisoners of the Black Spring expressed their sorrow on social media and sent their condolences to the family. Among them was the Cuban dissident Pablo Pacheco Ávila, who defined him as a brother of the 75 opponents who were convicted in 2003.

This Saturday, after the death of the activist was known, several former prisoners of the Black Spring expressed their sorrow on social media and sent their condolences to the family

“It is with deep sorrow that I learned about the death of my friend and brother Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, a brave man who dedicated his life to the struggle for freedom and human rights in Cuba,” the former political prisoner, Normando Hernández, told Martí Noticias.

“His departure leaves an indelible void in our hearts,” he added. Hernández is the director of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press. Several colleagues recalled that Herrera Acosta maintained his denunciations of the Cuban dictatorship and the allied authoritarian regimes of Havana until the end of his days.

Just this Friday, a few hours before he passed away, he had accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of the death in prison of the opponent Alexei Navalny. “The world is witnessing the emergence of a new Stalin and a new Hitler,” Herrera Acosta warned in a video published on YouTube.

*Translator’s note: The Ladies in White — which demonstrates regularly for human rights — was started by the wives of the Black Spring prisoners, and continues its activities to this day.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Begins His Ninth Visit to Cuba in 20 Years

Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in April 2023, in Havana. (Presidency of Cuba)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 19 February 2024 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a brief visit on Monday to Cuba, one of Russia’s main allies in Latin America, with whom it has strengthened bilateral political and economic cooperation in recent months.

This will be Lavrov’s ninth visit to the Island since his appointment to the position in 2004, as highlighted by the chanceller’s office of Havana when announcing the trip of the Russian leader, who will later travel to Venezuela and Brazil.

The announced program – about twenty-four hours long – revolves around interviews with President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.

Although the brief announcement of Lavrov’s second trip to Cuba in less than a year does not refer to the issues to be addressed in those conversations, they are expected to review the bilateral relationship, as well as current international issues such as the conflict in Ukraine. continue reading

The statement does not refer to the issues to be addressed, but it is expected that the bilateral relationship will be reviewed, as well as current international issues such as the conflict in Ukraine

They may also discuss preparations for a visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Island in response to the invitation sent by Díaz-Canel at the end of 2022.

In his previous stay in Havana, in April 2023, Lavrov said he valued the “progress” in commercial exchange after President Díaz-Canel’s visit to Moscow a few months earlier.

Cuba’s worst economic crisis in decades, with shortages of food, medicine and fuel, is a vital subject for discussion, especially after the commitments endorsed last May to increase Russian financial and business presence on the Island.

At that time a bilateral business economic forum took place in Havana with the presence of more than 150 representatives of the private sectors of Russia and Cuba.

The head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas, confirmed that Russian capital would be present in strategic sectors such as transport, logistics, agriculture, sugar, tourism, construction and industry.

To encourage that presence, Havana would provide Russian businesses with “preferential treatment,” tax-free imports, the presence of Russian banks and currency exchange.

In recent months, in addition to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the president of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, the presidential adviser Maxim Oreshkin and the deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko have visited the Cuban capital.

Lavrov thanked Cuba in 2023 for its “full understanding” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is backed by Havana.

Last summer, several media outlets from outside the Island reported the presence of Cuban mercenaries fighting alongside Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine, including testimonies from several of them and their relatives.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry then stated that “Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine,” and rejected “mercenarism” and the participation of its citizens in “any conflict”

The Foreign Affairs Ministry then stated that “Cuba is not part of the military conflict in Ukraine,” and rejected “mercenarism” and the participation of its citizens in “any conflict.”

He also announced last September the dismantling of a network that allegedly recruited Cubans to fight in Ukraine, an operation in which 17 people were said to be arrested.

Cuba and Russia have promoted their bilateral relationship in recent years to try to restore the close cooperation they maintained until the disappearance of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russia is one of Cuba’s top ten trading partners, and both governments define their association as “strategic.”

In November 2022, Díaz-Canel and Putin discussed development prospects for the Russian-Cuban strategic partnership in the political, economic, commercial, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as management of the debt that Cuba has with Russia. Several agreements were signed, including one concerning the supply of oil.

Díaz-Canel has declared his country’s “will” to take political dialogue and bilateral economic and commercial relations with Russia to “a higher level.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Two Cuban Wrestlers Are the First To Escape This Year in a Competition in Mexico

Susana Martínez and Santiago Hernández left the Cuban team in Acapulco (Guerrero). (Facebook)

14ymedio, Mexico, 19 February 2024 — In just three days, two members of the Cuban wrestling team, Susana Martínez and Santiago Hernández, abandoned the team training in Acapulco, Mexico. These are the first two escapes of Cuban athletes so far this year, which numbered 77 in 2023.

Martínez and Hernández escaped just before the start of the Pan American Senior 2024 Championship, scheduled from February 21 to 25, and the Pan American Olympic Qualifier to Paris 2024, from March 1 to 3.

Martínez, according to coach Daniel Gómez on the Facebook page La Lucha (Wrestling), traveled to Mexico to support the training of Cuban athletes Yusneylis Guzmán (in the 100 lb category), Laura Herin (117 lb), Ángela Álvarez (126 lb), María Santana (137 lb) and Brenda Sterling (150 lb). continue reading

Gómez did not give details about Martínez, 23, beyond the fact that she fled on February 16. Her best result was in 2021, when she won a fifth place in the Pan American Cadet and Junior tournament, according to Cubalite.

So far there has been no pronouncement in the official Cuban press about the escape of the athletes

Roly Dámaso, who closely follows both tournaments, confirmed on Monday the escape of Santiago Hernández. “He didn’t even wait for the luggage to arrive and just went on the run,” he said. The athlete was part of the Cuban team that will participate in the 119 lb category in the 2024 Pan American Senior Championship.

“This abandonment of the wrestling delegation to the Pan American Championship is a hard blow to the aspirations to qualify in the 126 lb division for the Olympic Games,” said Daniel Gómez. “Cuba must participate in this division in the Pan American Championship to be entitled to participate in the Pan American Qualifier for the Olympic Games.”

So far there has been no pronouncement in the official Cuban press about the escape of the athletes, the first this year to abandon a national delegation.

In September of last year, the Island lost Hangelen Llanes, gold medalist at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games, in the 150 lb category. This competitor left the team training in Paris before traveling to Serbia.

Before Llanes, Yoannia Pérez and Liliana Duane, members of the wrestling team, fled during an international event. Last March, it was Roly Dámaso who spread the news of the desertion of both athletes during a stopover in Mexico. “In a few years, Cuba will be a country without young people. They are tired of all the socialism and the promises that never came true,” Dámaso added.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Urgency of Releasing Political Prisoners in Cuba and What We Can Do About It

The decision of Cuba’s Assembly of People’s Power should have been an intelligent response to move forward in the cause that we all want, which is the freedom of the political prisoners. (Capture)

14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 19 February 2024 –The decision of Cuba’s Assembly of People’s Power to ignore a petition for political amnesty was taken by the Communist Party of Cuba and must motivate the opposition within the country and free Cubans abroad to redouble their efforts, until the regime frees those in prison. In addition, those freed must be allowed to decide whether to stay on the Island or go into exile. We must address the press, civic associations, our representatives, the unions, etc.

The decision of the Assembly of the People’s Power should have had an intelligent response to advance our cause, which is the freedom of the political prisoners and, ultimately, of all Cuban citizens.

On the Island there are those who can contact embassies, addressing democratic governments. Others can urge the Church to offer masses for the freedom of the captives and to address cardinals and bishops around the world, asking them to add their voices to the campaign. And not just the Catholic Church. Also the evangelical Christian churches, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, Lutherans, the episcopals, the communities of the African faith and even the Masonic lodges could mobilize believers in Cuba and their co-religionists around the world. continue reading

Abroad, human rights organizations in exile with relations with international entities should go to them once again

Abroad, human rights organizations in exile with relations with international entities should go to them once again. It is time for civil society on the Island, the Cubans of the diaspora, and their many friends to insist together with democracies around the world so that they condition their diplomatic, economic, cultural and all kinds of relations with Havana on the release of the prisoners in Cuba.

In Washington, senators and congressmen could ask the White House to suspend all cooperation with Havana until it allows the entry of the International Red Cross and Amnesty International into the prisons.

We must address with brief and respectful messages the members of the European Parliament, foreign ministries and those who, as in Sweden and Lithuania, ask that Europe suspend, due to internal repression on the Island, the bilateral agreement with Havana that represents an infusion of millions of euros into tyranny.

For example, Tobias Billström, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs said last August that he had access to “very worrying” reports of torture in Cuban prisons.

There is much more to do, and not only in the United States, because there are communities of Cuban patriots in many countries around the world. We all have something to contribute.

Castroite State Security tries to suppress these efforts by telling us that there is nothing we can do, that the regime will never release anyone, and some repeat the chorus of a very harmful disinformation campaign: they insist that nothing can be achieved until the exile is coordinated in its entirety. Until that happens, they proclaim that all efforts are destined to fail. They lie, as they always have and always will.

The Cuban regime wants to undermine efforts, convincing us of how useless it is to oppose its lifelong despotism, of how fanciful it is for Cubans to dream about freedom. State Security, in addition, promotes discord between pro-democratic organizations, spreads rumors without presenting evidence and on top of that tries to discredit the most effective opposition against them. Thus the tyranny tries to neutralize us.

Those who insist that Cuba is not free because very few pay attention to them, and that we must first get the unity of all the exiles to then develop “the strategy for victory,” achieve the opposite. The way to join efforts is not by defending those who do something, but by joining them, working with them, sharing the dangers, pains and anxiety.

Anyone who accuses Cubans of being “sheep,” of not having the necessary courage to be free, should now join the organizations that tirelessly direct all their arrows against tyranny

Anyone who accuses Cubans of being “sheep,” of not having the necessary courage to be free, should now join the organizations that tirelessly direct all their arrows against tyranny, denounce their crimes and help their victims.

Let them stop preaching hopelessness and lies to discredit those who are acting. Let them stop sowing division and slandering the patriots. If an accusation is made, it is essential to provide evidence.

They should stop insisting that anyone who develops an initiative different from their own is always wrong and acts in bad faith.

Cuba will be free, and every Cuban with decorum has a place in the movement to create a new Cuba. We can all approach the brother who suffers, the mother of a political prisoner, the dissident whom State Security has humiliated.

That is called solidarity, and it is fundamental to the cause of a free homeland on the Island. Because Cuba is more than a geographical term or a political dialectic. Cuba is each Cuban. Cuba is the millions of souls who deserve to be free and who never, throughout the bitter decades of dictatorship, have tired of denouncing the crimes of Castroism and claiming our imperative need for democracy and freedom.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

A Former Cuban Ambassador to Prague and Ukraine Dies Under Strange Circumstances in Havana

Félix León Carballo spent 40 years in the Foreign Service and was currently retired. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 19 February 2024 — Retired diplomat Felix León Carballo, ambassador to Belarus, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, among other charges, spent 40 years as an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and died this Saturday in Havana under suspicious circumstances.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed it this Sunday through a statement in which there is no mention of the cause of death, which was allegedly a homicide, according to a close friend, the Cuban ambassador in Djibouti, who was the source of the news.

“Felix León died on me… or rather ‘they killed him on me’. ‘Pacolo’ as we also know him (I refuse to talk about you in the past). So many years together! And some bastards got in the way of our plans. This is our last photo,” Caballero Torres wrote on Facebook, raising the alarm. continue reading

Félix León died on me… or rather ‘they killed him on me’. ‘Pacolo’ as we also know him (I refuse to talk about you in the past). So many years together! And some bastards got in the way of our plans

The post was deleted hours later, according to Café Fuerte, which was still able to capture some of the comments of those who reacted to the news. “I’m so sorry. They took brother Paco. Nor will justice calm our immense pain. There can be no impunity for that crime,” said Maura Quintero Dipotet, wife of the ambassador in Djibouti.

“Marcelo, how painful is Felix’s death. I can’t believe it yet,” wrote another acquaintance on the Facebook page of the Djibouti ambassador. “That’s life… sometimes it’s lost in the most fucked up and undeserved way,” he replied.

Several independent media cited Caballero Torres’ message as a source to report the violent death, but hours later the post had disappeared. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement limited to reporting the death and offering condolences to relatives and colleagues.

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that León Carballo joined the Foreign Service in 1975 and worked in the Directorate of Europe and the Center for Information and Multimedia Services. “Let’s always remember his contribution to foreign policy and his eternal permanence in the Minrex family (sic.).”

The Ministry replicated the text on its social networks, where some acquaintances remembered the deceased, without anyone else mentioning the possible circumstances of the death. “I will always remember your sincere gratitude, your patience and determination to make us reflect. Your years of experience made you wise and a bearer of morality. Your revolutionary conviction was always an example and impetus for the whole group. RIP friend Felix,” the Embassy of Granada wrote on Facebook.

“Cuban diplomacy is in mourning. We have lost a valuable partner. Tremendous blow for all of us who knew him. Heartfelt condolences to his family and closest friends,” added diplomat Enrique Almeida.

“Cuban diplomacy is in mourning. We have lost a valuable partner. Tremendous blow for all of us who knew him. Heartfelt condolences to his family and closest friends”

“I deeply regret the death of our dear colleague and friend Félix León. Excellent diplomat, professional and human being, he will serve as an example to all those who embrace the Foreign Service of our Homeland,” the chain of messages continues.

On X, where it is not possible to delete the comments to your own publication, the situation has been different. The condolences for the death have been joined by critics of the Government who have demanded solidarity with other deceased allegedly due to negligence of the regime, and by those who demand that the events surrounding the death be revealed.

“Tell the truth. He was assaulted and killed in his home because the crime wave can’t be stopped,” demands a user.

At the end of November 2023, Bohemia magazine published an article entitled “Social violence in Cuba: Between Reality and the Idea.” From an unofficial digital survey, it found that 92.4% of participants said that violence has increased a lot on the Island. Forty-two percent said they had been aware of 10 or more violent crimes in the last six months, and almost half claimed that a family member or close friend had been a victim of violent crime.

In addition, a third of those affected did not report the crime, but among those who did, 73% did not get a resolution.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Failure of Electronic Transactions in Cuba: Only 5 Percent of State Ration Stores Make Them

Readers were also asked about their preferred payment method, with Transfermóvil in the lead. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 19 February 2024 — “In our country, every new resolution is condemned to being violated before it is implemented, usually due to the ineffectiveness of those responsible for enforcing it.” This is one of the more than 100 comments made by readers who responded to the Cubadebate survey about the implementation of the regulations that oblige letting customers pay through any electronic means.

February 1 of this year was the day when all businesses had to have electronic payment available, under penalty of the suspension of their license, but in reality none of this has happened, and the authorities, the users insist, do nothing to solve it.

“I made a complaint more than a month ago about the non-compliance with the rule in the Coppelia [ice cream parlor], on the Presidency’s site,” a reader protests. “What protection do consumers really have when not even the Government is serious about citizens’ complaints? More than a month! And no one has bothered to give me an answer.” continue reading

The comments give life to what the note relates, written after verifying, with the votes of the survey, that private companies rarely comply with the provisions, although the situation in the State companies is not much better

The comments give life to what the comment relates, written after verifying, with the votes of the survey, that private companies rarely comply with the provisions, although the situation in the State companies is not much better. According to the results of the online survey – in which 2,839 people participated – in both sectors there are difficulties in paying electronically (67%), although 23% believe that there is more in the private companies, and 10% that it is worse in the State shops.

Some 80% of voters said that the regulations, approved last August as part of the banking process that sought to reduce the amount of cash movements due to the shortage of national currency banknotes and, at the same time, reduce the flow of informal operations, are not complied with. Of the 1,825 people who answered whether digital payment can be used correctly in the places where it exists, 63% said no.

Readers were also asked about their preferred payment method, with Transfermóvil in the lead (62%), followed by EnZona (19%) and the QR code (12%). The POS (card payment terminal) is the least used, with only 7%. As for the services where it works best – and, therefore, is used more – are paying bills for electricity (35%) and telephone service (33%) which are, by far, the ones that win. These are followed by gas stations (10%) and other services (7%), but the situation worsens with businesses, where more emphasis was placed.

The purchase of food in the State ration stores is paid for electronically on 5% of occasions, while in restaurants the figure drops to 4% and in bakeries it is null (0%).

Cubadebate’s article also cites those who participated in the debate opened by the media. The majority of those elected indicate the private companies as responsible for the situation, although officials against whom they throw accusations of corruption are not exempt from responsibility.

“They don’t give the option of paying by transfer and, when I inquire, they tell me that they are solving the problem with the inspectors,” says a quoted commentator. Among the most common barriers that private individuals have when accepting a transfer payment is the requirement of a minimum purchase value, but also the inefficiency of the administrations when it comes to providing the mechanisms.

“At the time of paying, the clerk said that they did not have a QR code, although they had requested it more than a month ago and it was not yet available”

“A reader identified as Arael refers to the service of an establishment located at 26 and 15, in Vedado, where he went days ago. At the time of payment, the clerk told him that they did not have a QR code, although they had requested it more than a month ago and it was not yet available. “To my great surprise, they told me to pay in cash, but they did not accept bills under 100 pesos,” he said.

The lack of visibility of the QR code is also one of the obstacles, either because it gives an error or because the employees try to hide it so that the customer gives up paying online. These obstacles are joined by the connectivity problems suffered by the entire Island, including Havana, which is the most advanced in this aspect. This situation causes confusion so buyers try to avoid it by paying in cash, since it is not uncommon for the connection to be interrupted in the middle of the operation, leaving in doubt whether or not the transfer has been completed and leading to non-payments or, on the contrary, duplicate payments.

There is also a significant group of Cubans, especially among the elderly, who do not have a smart phone or are reluctant to use one because of the complexities that this new technology holds for them. Having a QR reader, managing applications such as EnZona and Transfermóvil is a territory full of unknowns. In addition, the cost of the devices that support these tools is unreachable for the pocket of a pensioner who does not receive remittances from family abroad.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

At the Havana Book Fair, There Are Few Books, and You Can Look but Not Touch or Buy

The Russian books at the fair were not for sale. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 February 2024 — The Havana International Book Fair invited two countries this year: an official one, Brazil, and an “unofficial” one, Russia, whose booth, although small, is located at the same entrance of La Cabaña. This Sunday, however, neither of the two managed to satisfy the readers, who ended the day annoyed not only because of the bad weather, but because the few books they found – in Portuguese and Russian – were “only for display.”

Among the visitors, who were taking refuge from the downpour in the entrance, the irritation was evident: “They should have announced that this was going to be suspended today. Now we are here and can see that the tents are closed.” When the rain abated and the wet mass of people finally began to move towards the Russian pavilion – among others – the disappointment was even worse. “I thought I was going to find many more books. But what they sell is mostly stationery and office supplies,” complained a visitor.

Books from the Spanish publisher Everest, with stories adapted from Disney movies such as Pocahontas and The Ice Age, or from the DC Comics franchise – on several occasions described as “imperialist” and “subversive” on Cuban Television – accompanied the exhibition of Russian titles, guarded by three men who, when asked by some customers, debated whether they should sell the texts. “We should sell the books if no one is going to notice,” the manager told two women who accompanied him, although he did not clarify whose “permission” he needed. continue reading

Books from the Spanish publisher Everest, with stories adapted from Disney or from the DC Comics franchise – qualified as “imperialist” by Cuban Television – accompanied the exhibition of Russian titles

Further on, school notebooks, coloring books, children’s notebooks, crayons, felt-tip pens and pencils occupied several tables, where the majority of visitors crowded around. The reading material, with low-cost books and “gazette” paper, barely showed some classic foreign titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank, The Plague, by Albert Camus and 1984, by George Orwell, ignored by the clientele for their high prices. “The cheapest I’ve seen,” a reader said, “was one about Sherlock Holmes at 1,000 pesos.”

In the case of 1984, whose author was censored on the Island for several decades for his novels, which criticize totalitarian forms of government, there are only a few copies of a Cuban edition, published by the Colombian publisher, Globals Ediciones.

Further on, in the immense pavilion dedicated to Brazil, a presentation of a book in Portuguese barely attracted the attention of those who, more interested in taking refuge from the rain than in listening to the author, occupied the chairs. The exhibition of titles, here also, was one of “you can look but don’t touch,” according to two women.

The reading section, with low-cost books and “gazette” paper, barely showed some classic foreign titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank, The Plague and 1984. (14ymedio)

The main tent, which sold books from Cuban publishers with numerous titles dedicated to Fidel Castro and the defense of the regime, was closed. The same thing happened at the information checkpoints, whose custodians were frightened by the rain and left, or in the places where several presentations and events were scheduled for this Sunday.

“I came to fine inexpensive books (at state prices), but I have not been able to get anything I was looking for,” complained a young man who, angered by the rain and without books, was preparing to undertake the journey home.

The tents for Cuban books and publishers were closed. (14ymedio)

At a fair whose programming announced numerous events, presentations and a wide range of titles, this Sunday’s icing on the cake was a black backpack with the event logo, hung from the roof of one of the booths, which was selling for 7,000 pesos.

From a cafeteria, an employee was talking on the phone to one of his colleagues: “Don’t even hurry, this place is a disaster today. We haven’t sold anything, and anyone who happens to come by is running to avoid the rain. Don’t kill yourself to get here.” The food service on offer consisted only of a variety of corn dishes: boiled or fried ears and tamales.

Discouraged, visitors left the old fortress of La Cabaña as soon as they noticed the pitiful offers. “This year it seems that there is less transport, or maybe fewer people are coming,” reflected a woman with two children, carrying a bag of wet books. “It would have been better not to come.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Cuba: The New Minority

Meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Miguel Díaz-Canel in 2022. (Studies Revolution)

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 February 2024 — If it were possible to conduct a national survey without the participants being afraid to answer truthfully and with the guarantee that the results will not be manipulated, I dare to say that when asked, “Are you satisfied with the management of those who govern?”, we would see that the vast majority would mark the “no” box. If the question were more precise and investigated the popular will to carry out a profound change in the system, the same majority would mark the “yes” box.

I refuse to believe that all the people I talk to, those with who agree with me, in a bus, a taxi, a line or the privacy of their homes are lying when they show their disagreement with the rulers or when they project a new way of living in Cuba. In any case, if they were to lie, it would be to say that everything is fine and that socialism is the solution, but they would do it out of fear.

I have known many who believed in the project that was intended to build communism in Cuba and who today no longer believe in it, but I don’t know anyone who, having really been against it, have been convinced that the proposals of the only party allowed are the desired future for the country. There are many imposters among those who applaud, but the only ones who pretend are the State Security agents infiltrated into the opposition. continue reading

In any case, if they were to lie, it would be to say that everything is fine and that socialism is the solution, but they would do it out of fear

Communist Party militancy represents less than 9% of the Cuban population, but its presence in Parliament, in the Council of State and in the Council of Ministers exceeds 98%. These abysmal differences between a minority that rules and a majority that must obey are cemented in Cuba on apparent political differences, far from the entrenched divergences between Sunnis and Shiites that fractured Iraq or the ethnic conflicts between Tutsi and Hutu that ended with a genocide in Rwanda. Camagüey will never be separatist like Chechnya; the devotees of the Ocha Rule (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)* will not promote a massacre of Catholics; the war between blacks and whites that occurred in 1912** will not be repeated.

When those who occupy the seats in the spheres of power are a minority, they can only maintain their prevalence through force, expressed in the intimidating presence of repressive institutions, the political control of the judicial spheres and a network of collaborators dedicated to betraying and participating in acts of repudiation.

This structure can be corroded from below or from above.

Loyalty to historical nonagenarians is still the best currency to stay afloat

Here below you can see that, although many people continue to pay their fee as members of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), they only do it to keep appearances before a presumed “verification” to ascend at work, but no one is on night guard anymore, and the private businesses that pay better salaries than the State do not do verifications. The aspiration to emigrate, which entails the requirement to demonstrate a credible fear, far exceeds the ambition to be head of something in a State entity. The presidency of the CDR does not determine who is going to install a landline phone and, in short, with cell phones the communication issue is resolved.

“Up there” is where you can best see the masquerade dance. Loyalty to historical nonagenarians is still the best currency to stay afloat. But that minority that mostly occupies the positions in the chamber of power is composed of human beings who, no matter how cynical and opportunistic they are, realize that their commitment to those who rule is in contradiction to their responsibility to those they supposedly represent.

They are in the minority, and the majority realize it.

Translator’s notes:
*Resolution 46/182 and other resolutions affirm that UN humanitarian assistance must be provided in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence from political motivations.
**The “Little Race War” in 1912 was a series of protests and uprisings in Cuba, in which the Cuban armed forces put down a rebellion by black Cubans in the eastern part of the country

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

‘Revolutionary’ Opportunists, the Main Obstacle to Achieving Freedom in Cuba

A Rapid Response Brigade performs an act of repudiation against the Ladies in White. (Cubasindical)

14ymedio, Karel J. Leyva, Montreal (Canada), 18 February 2024 — In the context of a totalitarian regime, an opportunist is that individual or group that seeks to benefit personally, socially, economically or politically by aligning themselves with the established system of power. They are characterized by prioritizing personal interests over ethical principles, showing remarkable flexibility in their loyalties, which they adapt according to what best serves their own advantages. The opportunists are distinguished by their indifference to the suffering of others and their total apathy to the negative implications of their support for the regime for society as a whole.

Throughout history, totalitarian regimes have repeatedly used opportunists. Citizens who denounce colleagues and neighbors, hoping to win the political favor of the regime; companies that collaborate enthusiastically with dictatorships taking advantage of the forced labor of concentration camps or prisons; members of the economic elites who do everything necessary to preserve their status; and a long etcetera. As these systems begin to show signs of weakness, opportunists show an amazing speed in changing sides, demonstrating the volatile nature of their ideologies.

This behavior not only reinforces the existing power structure but also perpetuates the division within Cuban society

The Cuban totalitarian regime is no exception. Here opportunism is manifested in an exemplary way in the attitude of government officials, members of the Armed Forces, businessmen, academics, artists and intellectuals, who receive privileges and recognition in exchange for their support or at least their silence, in the face of human rights violations, the repression of dissent and even forced exile. This behavior not only reinforces the existing power structure but also perpetuates the division within Cuban society, by contributing to the stability and legitimization of the regime through active or passive complicity. continue reading

Opportunists play a central role in the perpetuation of the misery of the Cuban people not only thanks to their macabre complicity but also to the extent that they contribute to projecting the illusion of “revolutionary” consensus. They call the dictatorship “revolutionary”; regression “progress”; helplessness “social justice; totalitarianism “democracy”; indoctrination “education”; exploitation “solidarity”; and the despotic whim of a tyrant “popular will”.

Such a mirage hinders the possibility of an organized opposition and weakens international pressure, presenting the world with a facade of stability and acceptance. The opportunists present themselves as the legitimate face of civil society while promoting a culture of conformism that directly undermines the consolidation of dissident voices. Their tolerance and support for the repressive practices of the Cuban communist regime against those who dare to disagree legitimizes the use of force and coercion as tools of social control while revealing a deep ethical and moral crisis within Cuban society.

The opportunists present themselves as the legitimate face of civil society while promoting a culture of conformism that directly undermines the consolidation of dissident voices

In this way, opportunism erodes social trust, weakens bonds of solidarity and undermines the ability to organize collective efforts for change. The opportunist encourages distrust and skepticism. In the process, he not only degrades his own (a)moral values but also facilitates the acceptance of corrupt practices and the abuse of power, with degrading consequences for the culture and societal values.

To prove the weight that opportunism has in the maintenance of totalitarianism, it is enough to imagine what would happen if, betraying their own vile nature, the opportunists decided to withdraw support for the regime. Such a change of loyalties would trigger a cascade of effects with vast implications for the legitimacy, stability and political future of Cuba.

The loss of legitimacy would be the first and most immediate repercussion, marking the regime as weakened before national and international opinion. This questioning of its viability could accelerate doubts about government authority, eroding its power base. Simultaneously, the emptiness left by the opportunists could energize and give new life to the opposition forces, giving them an unprecedented opportunity to galvanize popular discontent and articulate the pro-democratic struggle with a stronger and more unified voice.

Such a change of loyalty would trigger a cascade of effects with vast implications for the legitimacy, stability and political future of Cuba

At the socioeconomic level, the withdrawal of support could precipitate an unprecedented crisis, exacerbating the already unbearable difficulties that exist. The interruption in the management of resources and services, caused by the departure of key actors, would further highlight the deficiencies of the economic model controlled by the State. This situation of instability could generate unsustainable pressure on the regime to implement any emergency reform.

The political landscape of Cuba could immediately undergo a significant reconfiguration, with the emergence of new alliances and leaderships that reflect a diversity of perspectives and aspirations. The withdrawal of opportunists’ support for the Cuban regime would have the potential to initiate a profound transformation on the Island, marking the way for possible democratic advances and social improvements.

But let’s not kid ourselves. The possibility of opportunists in Cuba withdrawing their support for the regime is quite limited. This statement is based on the very essence of opportunism and how it is intertwined with the peculiarities of the Cuban totalitarian system. The decision of opportunists to maintain their support for the Government is deeply rooted in a calculation of risks and benefits, where the balance tilts in favor of the regime as long as the personal and group benefits perceived outweigh the risks associated with a withdrawal of support. To do so at a time when they perceive that the Government, however weak it is, can still control destinies is antithetical to the nature of opportunists.

Opportunists need to glimpse an alternative scenario in which their interests are equally or better safeguarded than under the current regime. Without a movement of opposition with the strength and promise to offer such guarantees, the probability of a significant change in support is minimal. In a word, the anticipation of possible negative consequences – from the loss of privileges to more severe repressive actions – ensures the loyalty of opportunists to the regime. This fear, combined with moral connivance and inertia in the face of a known system, reinforces its reluctance to change.

The decision of opportunists to maintain their support for the Government is deeply rooted in a calculation of risks and benefits

In addition, as long as the regime continues to enjoy a certain degree of support or tolerance at the international level and external pressures do not increase significantly, opportunists will not find reasons to rethink their position. This reality suggests that, when these opportunistic elements finally choose to leave the dark side, their contribution to the democratic cause will be not only superfluous but also undesirable.

Their support would be due to the fact that they will only contemplate a desertion when the structures of the regime begin to falter irretrievably. That is, they would join the fight against the dictatorship when they no longer need it. The undesirability of this change of loyalty lies in the fact that it results not from an authentic awareness or a sudden moral awakening but from a calculated maneuver to perpetuate their personal interests and survival, even if it implies continuing to shamefully reject the ethical principles that must support Cuba’s freedom.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

South Korea Hopes To Obtain Economic Benefits From Its Diplomatic Relations With Cuba

Seoul and Havana formalized on Wednesday in New York the restoration of their diplomatic relations, broken since 1959. (Cubaminrex)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Seoul, 18 February 2024 — The restoration of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba after 65 years can have a positive impact on the national economy, the South Korean Presidential Office said on Sunday, highlighting the richness of the island’s natural resources.

“Cuba has considerable mineral resources that are key for the production of electric vehicles (EV), such as cobalt and nickel,” the government institution stated, detailing the expected impact of the diplomatic rapprochement on different sectors of the economy.

South Korean companies can take advantage of Cuba’s vast reserves of natural resources when the United States lifts the economic and commercial embargo imposed on the country, which has the fifth largest reserve of nickel and the fourth largest reserve of cobalt in the world, according to details of the text published by the Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is the birthplace of three of the five largest manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries in the world. continue reading

The South Korean presidential office stated that it will help national companies interested in entering the Cuban market

The South Korean presidential office stated that it will help national companies interested in entering the Cuban market in sectors such as basic necessities, appliances and machinery, scarce in the Caribbean nation due to the aforementioned sanctions.

Seoul also pointed to potential business and cooperation opportunities in the energy sector, since Havana, which suffers from a chronic shortage of electricity, is looking for ways to expand its power plants and the use of renewable energies.

Medicine and biotechnology are other areas where the South Korean Government sees potential economic and research cooperation.

“Cuba has been an untapped market,” says South Korea, where “direct trade is still very limited due to United States sanctions, but we will take advantage of this opportunity with the establishment of formal diplomatic relations to lay the foundations for a gradual expansion of economic cooperation.”

Seoul also pointed to potential business and cooperation opportunities in the energy sector, since Havana suffers from a chronic shortage of electricity

On Wednesday in New York Seoul and Havana formalized the restoration of their diplomatic relations, broken since 1959, with the exchange of diplomatic notes of their representatives at the United Nations (UN).

In 2016, both nations took an important step in the normalization of their relations, with the signing between their chambers of commerce of a memorandum of understanding to share information related to business, carry out exchanges between their delegations and organize joint forums.

South Korea plans to establish a consulate in Cuba to help South Korean visitors to the Island, which were estimated at about 14,000 a year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Total Silence From North Korea in the Face of the Resumption of Relations Between Cuba and Seoul

Neither the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which had just received the credentials of a new Cuban ambassador in Pyongyang, nor the Government have yet broken the silence about its rival’s approach to the Island. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, February 16, 2024 — The presidential office of South Korea described on Thursday the restoration of its diplomatic relations with Cuba as “a significant political and psychological coup” that will “inevitably” affect communist North Korea, according to the AP agency. Under lock and key this Friday, with several posters of “esteemed comrade” Kim Jong-un on its fence, the North Korean Embassy in Havana seems to agree.

This same Friday, on the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong-il, President Miguel Díaz-Canel sent, via X, an “affectionate greeting to the Party, Government and noble people of the DPRK.” And he added: “We reaffirm our historic relationship of friendship, solidarity and brotherhood.”

Meanwhile, neither the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which had just received the credentials of a new Cuban ambassador in Pyongyang, nor its Government have yet broken the silence about the rapprochement of its rival to one of its few allies since the time of the Cold War. The Associated Press agency (AP) says that a “high-level official of the South Korean presidency” explained to the press that the rapprochement will affect the traditional “brotherly ties” of Pyongyang with the Island. continue reading

The opening of diplomatic ties (with Cuba) is the culmination of our efforts to expand our diplomacy to nations that have been part of the socialist bloc

The official – who spoke on condition of anonymity – reported that President Yoon Suk Yeol “has worked actively to establish relations with Cuba, but Cuba had reservations at first due to its ties with North Korea.” The United States, he explained, was informed by Seoul “in advance” of the approach.

“The opening of diplomatic ties (with Cuba) is the culmination of our efforts to expand our diplomacy to nations that have been part of the socialist bloc, including countries that have been friendly with North Korea. It clearly shows where the mainstream is in the flow of history, and also who participates in that mainstream,” the official added.

On Wednesday, Seoul restored its diplomatic relations with Havana, broken since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. A brief statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry announced the “exchange of diplomatic notes” of both nations before the United Nations, in New York.

“The establishment of official relations between the two countries was carried out in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, International Law and in accordance with the spirit and standards established in the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Posters of “esteemed comrade” Kim Jong-un at the fence of the North Korean Embassy in Havana. (14ymedio)

The world press has described the event as a “historic step” between the two countries. BBC reported that Havana and Seoul had only enjoyed ten years of diplomatic relations, since 1949. The “communist bastion” that the Island became since Castro’s arrival made the country an ideal ally for North Korea.

BBC interviewed a South Korean diplomat who, under condition of anonymity, revealed that Havana was pressured by the North Korean Government, which tried to slow down the rapprochement, as well as by “high Cuban leaders of the old guard,” who do not welcome the reconnection.

“Cuba has a very great symbolic importance for North Korea because it is its base of operations in America, and that is why it has always pressured the Cuban government to stay away from Seoul,” he added. “It is a geographically strategic country, attached to the United States, and positioning ourselves there is important in the long term.”

“It seems that there was some kind of commitment dating from the time of Fidel Castro and Kim Il-sung not to take that step,” a former Cuban official told the BBC, who did not identify himself.

It seems that there was some kind of commitment that dated back to the time of Fidel Castro and Kim Il-sung not to take that step

The North Korean Embassy in Havana, according to the British media, is the nerve center of North Korean diplomacy and espionage in the region, in addition to being the largest in the Americas. However, trade and economic relations between the two countries are “practically non-existent,” unlike what happens between Seoul and Havana.

In 2022, for example, according to data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, the country exported goods to Cuba for a value of 14 million dollars and imported goods for seven million. In addition, the “daily life of the Island,” explains BBC, is full of Korean equipment such as Samsung and LG phones, and Hyundai and Kia brand cars.

There was a South Korean stand at the Havana International Fair and Kotra, the state trade body, has served as an embassy on the Island, especially for economic exchanges. Also, among young Cubans, there are thousands of fans of Korean culture, who listen to their music and watch their soap operas. According to the BBC, the Korean fan club in the country exceeds 10,000 members.

Sangmi Han, a journalist with the Korean Service of the BBC, also offered his diagnosis: “The fact that Cuba, North Korea’s sister country, has established diplomatic relations with South Korea in extreme secret without Pyongyang knowing will be a huge wound, difficult for North Koreans to accept.”

On the Island, there is confusion about the change in the Chancellery’s roadmap. In the announcement, published in Cubadebate, dozens of readers gave their opinion on the approach. The stupor is summed up in a question: “North or South?”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Ukraine Places Between 400 and 3,000 the Number of Cuban Mercenaries in the Service of Russia

Raibel Palacio Herrera was the victim of an attack by a Ukrainian drone. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, February 17, 2024 — The mother of Raibel Palacio Herrera, a 21-year-old Cuban recruited by Russia who died last week in Jerson, in southern Ukraine, said that her son was used as “cannon fodder” by the Russian Army. Interviewed by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Danelia Herrera, a resident of Havana, said that Russia will “kill everyone” who, like her son, traveled to Moscow in search of better living conditions and ended up enlisting in the invading troops.

Palacio was hit by a Ukrainian drone while trying to make a tourniquet to contain the bleeding of a leg wound, the WSJ says. Herrera’s mother, who lives in precarious conditions in a “wooden room” on the outskirts of the capital, vividly remembers his recruitment.

The young man and three other neighbors – his friends – boarded a flight to Russia in November looking for a way to “leave the poverty of the Island.” The selfies that the four Cubans took attest to the “enthusiasm” they felt for the trip. He was offered $2,200 in monthly salary, says the woman, an amount that the young man could never have dreamed of earning on the Island.

His death is the first death of a Cuban in the war against Ukraine that has been documented so far

“After five months, they were going to give him a passport and citizenship for me,” said Melisa Flores, his partner from Palacio. His death, confirmed last Tuesday by the Univision network, is the first death of a Cuban in the war against Ukraine that has been documented so far. continue reading

Cited by the WSJ, diplomat Ruslan Spirin, Ukraine’s representative in Latin America and the Caribbean, estimates that there are 400 Cuban soldiers in the service of Russia. “We take that matter very seriously,” Spirin said. Other sources, the newspaper points out, calculate higher numbers. One who does so is the Ukrainian deputy Maryan Zablotskyi, who places the number between 1,500 and 3,000.

In addition, there are mercenaries from the Central African Republic, Serbia, Nepal and Syria and volunteers – although their number is plummeting – and from other countries, including the United States. The WSJ explains that the Cuban contingent is one of the most numerous and that the economic debacle of the Island makes it easier for more and more young people to want to try their luck on the combat front. If they survive, they have their hopes set on Moscow’s reward.

Univision explained that Palacio was contacted by a Russian woman, who paid for the trip and offered him 200,000 rubles, the equivalent of $2,200. They promised him this money in exchange for construction work, but, according to the family, they had actually deceived him and sent him to the front line.

In addition, there are mercenaries from the Central African Republic, Serbia, Nepal and Syria, and volunteers from other countries

“Those people are scamming us. We thought one thing, and it turned out to be another,” Palacio Rivera said in an audio to his wife. “We were told that we were going to war, but that we were not going to fight. It was just to dig trenches.”

The couple has two girls, one of them newborn, whom their father will never know. The family resides in precarious conditions in the municipality of Songo la Maya, in Santiago de Cuba.

“I want to know where they have my son, when I can have him, because they told me that they were going to send me the body, that they were going to contact the Cuban Embassy in Russia and the Russian Embassy here. We haven’t heard anything,” said the young man’s mother.

Danelia Herrera showed Univision the message received by another young man named Gilberto Herrera Shuman last Saturday: “With immense pain I must inform you that today they brought us the news that Raibel was hit by a drone resulting in his death. My deepest condolences and that of all the colleagues who are here.” On his social networks, Herrera Shuman says that he is a Cuban from Havana and lives in the city of Vysókoye, in southern Russia.

On January 9, YouTuber Alain Paparazzi said that Yansiel Morejón, a former boxer from Santa Clara, had died at the age of 26, also at the front. The young man’s relatives did not respond to this newspaper, but another relative explained via social networks that the “official” version is that he died “of a heart attack,” although “he really died in the war.”

Palacio’s trip, in November, came two months after the Cuban regime detained 17 people for belonging to a “human trafficking network,” thus trying to detach itself from the recruitment of nationals to fight on the Russian side in the war in Ukraine.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

At Dusk, Criminals Take Over Havana’s Botanical Garden

To go to the Japanese Garden you have to board a vehicle that won’t leave until it’s full. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 17 February 2024 — The Havana Botanical Garden has been hurt by its distant location. In a city where going from one neighborhood to another is already a headache due to the lack of fuel and the poor state of transport, getting from the center to the periphery of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality is an impossible mission if you don’t have your own car, a good amount of money for the trip, or you are able to book a tour with the bus included.

Once the threshold is crossed by paying 30 pesos to the guard, there are other problems: insecurity and crime. The primary victims are the workers, especially those who are involved in the food service. “The vegetarian restaurant El Bambú exists, but it is no longer making that type of food; it has a Creole menu,” says a bored employee sitting under a tree. “It’s not open at the moment because it was robbed.”

The lootings have taken over the Garden at night. “We leave every afternoon just as the thieves are arriving,” says a guard. He complains that the security workers don’t have what they need to prevent the thefts.

“We have weapons but few bullets, and they arrive with machetes, in groups,” he describes. “The other day in El Bambú, which was the last place they assaulted, one of those gangs took a boss, who is very strong, by the way. They beat him, tied him up and put him under a table with several chairs piled on top of him.” continue reading

“There were seven with knives and machetes,” he says. The reason for the robberies is “to steal food from the restaurants.” In another restaurant, La Majagua, “they entered days ago and found no food. There was no meat, no rice, no preserves, so they stole the bathroom door.” El Yarey and El Ranchón have also been robbed in the early hours of the morning.

Entrance to one of the pavilions. (14ymedio)

“They emptied the creamery and took everything,” he says. Every attempt by workers to protect the goods has ended in physical aggression or threats. “If you don’t make things easy, we’ll kill you,” was the clear warning that the security guard of El Yarey received when, from the roof of the premises where he watched the area, he spotted the approaching criminals. “They broke the door, and there was no one to stop them.”

“They told him not to dare to use the phone because he wasn’t going to get out of there alive.” However, the worker recognizes that the outlaws don’t only arrive from outside. “Here there are bosses who do not want the guards to be in the places that have the most merchandise, so they can steal and blame the night gangs. Everyone steals, those from here and those who are not from here.”

In 1989, Fidel Castro inaugurated the icing on the Botanical cake: the Japanese Garden. It was part of an ambitious green belt with recreational options, areas to hold fairs and children’s playgrounds. “There will be six institutions, including Expocuba; four of them will be the Botanical Garden, Lenin Park, the Zoo and the Metropolitan, with many trees,” the ruler said, full of enthusiasm, before an audience that applauded with frenzy.

“I want to end by promising that this Botanical Garden will be more and more beautiful,” Castro wrongly predicted in that speech.

Crowded by tourists in another time, this Saturday only two foreigners wandered through the garden. (14ymedio)

Now, to go to the Japanese Garden, you have to board a vehicle towed by a tractor with a capacity of 15 people. “If there are not 15, I won’t leave,” the driver warns four customers and says he will return at two in the afternoon “to see if there are people,” unless, he clarifies, “you want to pay for the full transport.”

In El Ranchón, one of the several Creole restaurants in the garden, only beer and appetizers of sausage and ham were available this Saturday. “The kitchen is closed,” says an employee who approaches the tables with jugs of beer at the cost of 610 pesos. If someone wants to eat, they have to wait for them to prepare the food in a neighboring establishment.

This Friday, Cubadebate described it as “the largest botanical garden in the world” and spared no praise for its facilities. “This is how Fidel dreamed of it,” concludes the report, which presents the 1,180 acres of vegetation – with 3,000 species of plants – as a kind of earthly paradise.

But drought, little irrigation and lack of attention have also made a dent in the important collection of plants from several continents. Dry shrubs, areas where only weeds grow and the exposures of greenhouses with numerous notable casualties attest to the urgent need to replace certain species and take care of those that remain more carefully.

Poster alluding to a moment of “rest” for Fidel Castro in the garden he “dreamed about.” (14ymedio)

The garden is attached to the University of Havana, and Cubadebate defines it as the quintessence of botanical studies in the region, alleging that more than 300,000 people visit it every year. Its workforce: 350 workers. The budget allocated to it by the State: 118 million pesos in 2023. “How is all that financed?” asks the regime’s media: thanks to the “generosity” of the Ministry of Higher Education, which manages the money destined for the Botanical Garden.

The digital newspaper admits that “the low technical availability of public transport and fuel,” in addition to the remoteness of the park, has caused a significant drop in visitors, 80% of what it received last year. For the Government, Cubadebate assures, improving this figure and using the garden to attract tourism is a matter of political and sentimental importance for Raúl Castro. For the nonagenarian general, the Botanical Garden is a “jewel of the nation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Two Cuban Doctors Held Captive in Somalia Have Died, According to Their Kidnappers

In April 2019, the news of the kidnapping of Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez was reported. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, February 17, 2024 — The Cuban Foreign Ministry warned this Saturday that the reports on the death of Cuban doctors Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez, kidnapped in Kenya since 2019, “have not been confirmed.” The jihadist group Al Shabab, which held both health workers, released a statement on X which claims that both died during a bombing attributed to the United States that occurred on Thursday, February 15 in Somalia.

“The Cuban authorities remain in permanent communication with their Kenyan and Somali counterparts, and our people will be immediately informed,” said the Foreign Ministry, which stressed that all the information circulating is, so far, “unofficial.”

Al Shabab also published two photographs of Herrera Correa’s alleged corpse, with his naked torso and traces of blood on his body, after the attack by American drones “at 12:10 am” on the Somali town of Jilib. Among the casualties of the alleged bombing were the two “Cuban prisoners” captured in Mandera, Kenya.

Al Shabab also accuses the United States of targeting its prisoners and describes that, in previous years, it has attacked at least two enclaves of the jihadist group with this objective. continue reading

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@CubaMINREX) posted this notice today on X (formerly Twitter): In recent hours, unofficial sources have reported the death in a bombing last Thursday, February 15, of the Cuban doctors, Dr. Assel Herrera Correa and Dr. Landy Rodríguez Hernández, kidnapped in the community of Mandera, Kenya, on April 12, 2019.

Rodríguez and Herrera Correa were kidnapped on April 12, 2019 in the Kenyan city of Mandera, bordering Somalia and the target of jihadist attacks in the past. That day, the two doctors were traveling, as was their custom, in a convoy to the Mandera hospital, protected by armed escorts, when they were intercepted after a shooting in which one of the police officers guarding them was killed.

Until 2022, the Government of Kenya always stated that steps were being made to rescue the doctors, efforts that, to date, have been unsuccessful. Since the arrival of William Ruto to the Kenyan Presidency in September of that year, the Executive has not publicly pronounced on the case. Official silence has also prevailed in neighboring Somalia, where the two doctors supposedly remain captive.

“Nobody knows the current whereabouts of the two Cuban doctors. We also do not have up-to-date information about the current state of their well-being,” a source from the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) told EFE in April 2023, on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

“It is believed that they are still held somewhere in an Al Shabab bastion since their kidnapping,” the source said. “We don’t have any more details at the moment,” he insisted, “and nothing new has emerged in the last two years.”

Herrera and Rodríguez were part of a contingent of 100 Cuban professionals who arrived in Kenya in 2018

In May 2019, traditional leaders from Kenya and Somalia who traveled to the Somali region of Jubaland, controlled by Al Shabab, to negotiate in favor of the doctors, claimed to have seen the doctors providing medical assistance to the local population. According to the mediators, the kidnappers went so far as to demand 1.5 million dollars as a condition for their release, the Kenyan press reported at the time.

Herrera Correa and Rodríguez were part of a contingent of 100 Cuban professionals who arrived in Kenya in 2018, as part of a bilateral agreement to improve access to specialized health services in the African country.

Al Shabab, affiliated with the Al Qaeda terrorist network since 2012, carries out frequent attacks to overthrow the Somali Government – supported by the international community – and establish an ultra-conservative Islamic State. The jihadist group controls rural areas of central and southern Somalia and also attacks neighboring countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia.

Somalia has been living in a state of war and chaos since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown, which left the country without effective government and at the mercy of Islamist militias and warlords.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

In 2006, the Cuban CIA Agent Who Captured Che Suspected Manuel Rocha’s Betrayal

Several experts claim that Rocha had been under suspicion for three decades. (EFE)

14ymedio, Madrid, February 16, 2024 — It’s been 17 years since the United States could have arrested former American diplomat Víctor Manuel Rocha, who was ultimately arrested in December 2023 for allegedly spying on Cuba. A Cuban soldier who defected from the Island sounded the alarm to Félix Rodríguez, a former CIA agent, saying that the official was a mole of Fidel Castro infiltrated at the highest level. But no one believed him.

“We all thought it was defamation,” Rodríguez, an agent who participated in the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1961, and in the capture in Bolivia of Ernesto Che Guevara that ended with his death, told Associated Press (AP). That lieutenant colonel, who was his informant and whose identity he has refused to reveal, went to his home in Miami in 2006 and told him clearly: “Rocha is spying for Cuba.”

Rocha’s credibility was such, Rodríguez claims, that although he transmitted the message to the CIA, everyone was skeptical about the information and believed that it was an attempt to discredit a fervent anti-communist.

“I really admired this son of a bitch. I want to look him in the eye and ask him why he did it. He had access to everything,” Rodríguez said

“I really admired this son of a bitch. I want to look him in the eye and ask him why he did it. He had access to everything,” Rodríguez told AP, which on Thursday published an extensive article for which it interviewed two continue reading

dozen people linked to the case, including agents, former CIA agents, friends and partners of Rocha, to try to understand how the case of the greatest infiltration in the U.S. Government known so far could happen. The former diplomat, who this Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the 15 charges against him, will be tried on March 25.

But the great unknown, which according to AP may take years to uncover, is what the Cuban regime was able to have access to thanks to Rocha. The former officials interviewed agreed that the CIA had known since at least 1987, that Castro had a high-level infiltrator – “super mole” – in the U.S. Government and that the former diplomat, of Colombian origin, was probably on a list delivered to the FBI of alleged spies in high foreign policy positions.

Peter Romero, former Undersecretary of State for Latin America and Rocha’s colleague, does not hesitate to admit that the error was “monumental.” “We are all doing a huge examination of conscience, and no one can think of anything. He did an incredible job of covering his tracks.”

AP reconstructs Rocha’s biography, which he told to those who met him. His first years in the country, at the age of 10, were hard, they say, but his intelligence gave him access to a scholarship for minorities with which he could study in an elite school. “Taft was the best thing that happened to me in my life,” he said in an alumni magazine of that boarding school in Connecticut in 2004.

That life had a dark side. Rocha was discriminated against because of his origin – poor and immigrant – by the other students. Some say that in those episodes – which he himself defined as devastating and during which he even thought of committing suicide – is the germ that led him to sympathize with the Cuban Revolution.

As was already known, the former diplomat studied at Yale, Harvard and Georgetown. In those years some of his contacts with Cuba begin, the first in 1973 during a trip to Chile where he met agents of the General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) deployed in that country in the time of Salvador Allende, according to recordings of the FBI’s covert operation. He married a Colombian woman, who is being investigated for possible links with Cuba and whom AP was unable to locate.

Rocha then worked at the United States Interests Section in Havana, where he was when the MiGs of the Cuban Air Forces shot down, in February 1996, the civilian planes of Brothers to the Rescue

In 1981 he entered the U.S. Foreign Service and was sent to Honduras where his task was to advise the contras fighting against the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua, supported by Cuba. His first relevant stop was in 1994, when he arrived at the White House as director of Inter-American Affairs in the National Security Council with responsibility for Cuba. From that position he wrote a memorandum urging Bill Clinton to dismantle the main sanctions against the Island, an idea that could not prosper since in 1996, the Republicans took control of Congress, and the policy towards Cuba hardened.

Rocha then worked at the United States Interests Section in Havana, where he was when the MiGs of the Cuban Air Force shot down, in February 1996, the civilian planes of Brothers to the Rescue.

The AP article reviews what is known as Rocha’s greatest favor to Cuba, when he was ambassador to Bolivia. He said during a conference that voting for a drug trafficker – alluding to the candidate and coca leader Evo Morales – would make the United States cut off foreign aid. Liliana Ayalde, also a diplomat, tells the agency that she felt very uncomfortable. “I told him that it was not appropriate for the ambassador to make those statements when the elections were just around the corner.”

“Now that I see it in retrospect, it was all part of a plan,” Ayalde considers. After those statements, which were considered an act of interference, Morales was catapulted into the presidential race. Although he didn’t win on that occasion, years later he did, calling Rocha his “best campaign manager.”

Cuban agent Florentino Aspillaga, who defected when he headed the DGI office in Bratislava (present-day Slovakia), was the first to speak to the CIA, in the mid-1980s, about the spies infiltrated into the United States. According to his statements, four dozen Cubans recruited by the CIA were double agents carefully selected by the DGI to penetrate the United States Government.

Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst, said that Aspillaga mentioned “two highly productive spies within the State Department” and that “Fidel Castro himself played a key role as the leader of Cuba’s spies.”

He claimed to have seen documents marked as secrets “so valuable that they were sent directly to Castro’s residence without going through the Minister of the Interior

Another deserter of the Cuban DGI consulted by AP, Enrique García, said he also had known about the Island’s espionage network since the 90s, and he claimed to have seen documents marked as secrets “so valuable that they were sent directly to Castro’s residence without going through the Minister of the Interior. “I have no doubt that [Rocha] was part of that network,” he says.

He has also talked about the case of Peter Lapp, an FBI agent who supervised, among others, the case of Ana Belén Montes, although he did not know if Rocha was at some point under suspicion, as Jim Popkin, author of a book about Montes, argues. He was forceful when evaluating the risk that Cuba poses to national security and said that it is usually underestimated, unlike Russia or China.

“It is a country that we ignore at our own risk. Cubans are not only really good at human intelligence, but they are also experts in brokering information to some of our greatest adversaries,” says Lapp.

Rocha, who in 2002 retired from public service and switched to private enterprise, dedicated himself to trying to influence the embargo by buying goods confiscated by the Revolution. He boasted about his contacts: “I have access to almost all the countries in the region or I know how to get it,” he told the Miami Herald in 2006.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________