Category: Translator: Regina Anavy

Hernández regrets the death of his compatriot. “Unfortunately,  Cuba forces us to do these things. Because of the dictatorial government we have, we prefer to risk our lives instead of fighting to get rid of [the regime].”

They took care of him as far as possible, but “his health deteriorated even more due to the lack of food”

The group of Cubans, made up of five women, one of whom was pregnant, and seven men, was assisted on the high seas, near the coast of Cancun by the Norwegian Prima cruise ship, which left Texas bound for the Caribbean. Currently, the migrants are at the Chetumal migratory station (Quintana Roo), from where on Tuesday they made a video call with one of the families and told them what happened to the deceased migrant, a native of Holguín, who would have turned 25 in May.

According to a statement from Migration, the corresponding procedures were initiated to give these Cubans “the necessary attention to regularize their immigration situation” in Mexico.

Last November Mexico suspended the deportations of Cubans, which it called “legally assisted returns.” Cuba accepted the returns of its nationals from the month of October, as long as the transfer expenses were covered by the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Each person returned to the Island costs Mexico 4,000 pesos ($237).

While the deportation flights to Havana were underway, Mexico used the services of the Viva Aerobús airline. In total, it transferred 435 Cubans in five connections.

This Wednesday, the release of three Cubans who were kidnapped in Tijuana, a city bordering the United States, was also confirmed, while waiting for a response from the migration authorities. According to the Univisión journalist, Javier Díaz, the amount of ransom demanded from each family was $5,000.

The reporter identified two of the victims: Yandy González Darías and Yandy David Mengana Abreu. Through his social networks, Díaz indicated that their belongings were taken from them, but he did not say if the families paid the ransom.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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to visit the Belarusian capital soon to “remember their years as students.”

In his press conference with Cuban journalists, Jrenin also did not reveal the reason for his stay in Havana and limited himself to emphasizing that the Island is “a strategic ally in the western hemisphere,” a phrase that has been interpreted as a geopolitical warning to the United States and other NATO countries.

About his “important partner” in the Caribbean, the minister added that Cuba and Belarus are “very similar countries” and “do not give up their objectives.” At one point in the speech, quoting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, he alleged that it was important for the armies of both nations to have good communication, since “military force has become the basis of political relations between countries. Therefore, it is important that the defense agencies build those relationships so that they meet the demands of our people, so that people feel safe,” he added.

Two months ago, the ministry headed by Jrenin announced that the Havana regime was interested in buying Polonez-M missiles from Belarus, with a range of 185 miles and a reputation for being “the most dangerous artillery system in Europe.” In a statement, it said that the acquisition of the weapons, actually manufactured by China, would be under negotiation outside a cooperation agreement with Minsk that Cuba’s military signed, during a meeting held in Havana. The Cuban authorities, in the meantime, remained silent on the subject.

The Belarus New agency (Belta) said at the time that this purchase of weapons was part of a bilateral plan that would be executed beginning this year.

Cuba has also been in the headlines after a senior Duma official alluded to the “need” to deploy nuclear weapons on the Island

In June 2023, after the Wagner Group’s rebellion against Moscow – which ended with the death of its leader, Yevgueny Prigozhin, under suspicious circumstances – López Miera made a trip to Moscow and Minsk. On that occasion, the agreement that both parties signed promised “ways” to develop and “intensify military contacts,” without going further.

Cuba has also been in the headlines this week after a senior official of the Russian State Duma – the lower house of the Parliament – alluded to the “need” to deploy nuclear weapons on the Island, in addition to Nicaragua and Venezuela, before the supposed threat that the United States and other NATO countries represent for Russia.

The comment has motivated multiple – and often nonsensical – analyses, but the truth is that Havana knows what geopolitical buttons to push when it comes to war rumors. A recent example was the transmission of the first part of a documentary about the underground arsenals of the Cuban Army. The Russian channel Zvezda showed the world, last December, missile launchers, war tanks and the day-to-day life of elite Cuban soldiers. The documentary, “unique” according to Russian propaganda boasts, never saw its second part released.

*Translator’s note: Referred to as “Bay of Pigs” by the United States

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite the fact that the maintenance work is now being carried out, the authorities predict that the service will remain disabled at least until the weekend. “The work is complicated because there is a lot of mud, but I think that this situation can be resolved by the weekend. We are doing everything possible for that, without rest,” said Herrera. She clarified that the brand new pipe is not broken; it’s the connections that seal it that fail to contain the water.

The neighbors of Molinet showed us, for example, how they went there in cars and on bicycles to load water from the leaks themselves, since there is no other possible option

Despite the insistence of the authorities that everything possible is being done to alleviate the situation, the media emphasized that the people in the province are having a hard time.

“We note, with great regret, how complex the situation has become in the vicinity of Piedra Hueca. The neighbors of Molinet showed us, for example, how they went there in cars and on bicycles to load water they would use at home — from the leaks themselves — with no other possible option,” the newspaper said.

The Piedra Hueca pumping station is not the most important in the province, says Periódico 26, but the cessation of its operation has an impact on the drinking water service, which has been reduced especially in the provincial capital, with the neighborhoods of the Airport, Sosa, Casa Piedra and Buena Vista being the most “vulnerable.”

The situation of the wells near Piedra Hueca is not ideal either. “Only one of those (five) wells has an assigned generator set,” and of the five electropumps that the station should have, only one works, despite the fact that last December Periódico 26 itself reported that they had been “mended” to keep them active.

The media itself puts its hope in the promise of the authorities to re-establish the flow for this weekend although, it regrets, “no one can guarantee us that the situation will not be repeated later, but they did tell us that they have high hopes that the solution, this time, will be lasting and even final.”

Six months after declaring that the situation was “somewhat critical,” the provincial authorities no longer find words to describe the drinking water deficit. For its part, the population, which in some cases spends weeks without receiving the service, no longer hesitates to launch criticism and complaints to officials on social networks. Meanwhile, managers are content with the fact that it is not “raining now,” something that would make the repair even more difficult than it already is.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

and diesel at 114 pesos or 0.95 dollars (instead of 25 and 20 pesos, respectively), he recites, while filling the tank of his truck. “I don’t care what it costs, because the company where I work pays for it. If I don’t have the money to pay for fuel, I’ll stay home,” he adds.

Private car drivers, however, do not show the same peace of mind. After spreading the word that the service center at 25 and G, in El Vedado, would be dispatching gasoline this morning, dozens of boteros (taxi drivers) and car owners gathered in a line that stretched for several blocks on both sides of F Street.

“I’m behind that Kia and he’s behind the red Peugeot,” a driver shouted. “No one wants a mess here; that’s why everyone who gets in line takes a photo of the license plate of the car in front of him, so those behind don’t cut in with two other people,” one of the boteros tells this newspaper.

Uneasy about the change of prices, with which they predict irregularities and preference of the Government with foreign exchange services, many of those who wait at 25 and G will try to buy as much fuel as they can this Wednesday. “I already emptied the little gasoline I had in the car to be able to fill the tank to the top. I also always bring a few gallon containers in the trunk in case I can buy more,” says one of the drivers, who complains that the line isn’t moving. “My brother-in-law, who is a few cars ahead, even went to his oncology appointment at the hospital, and when he returned the line had barely moved.”

Another of his concerns, not far from reality, he says, is that the new card payment systems do not work in a country with constant power cuts and frequent drops in the electronic collection system. This same afternoon, the two gas stations in Guanabacoa warned that payment was only possible with the cards issued by Fincimex and that the QR code did not work.

Many drivers, annoyed by the delay and noon hunger, complain about the way the government is handling the price change, knowing that the demand for fuel will skyrocket. “It’s going to go on,” one said, “and the dollar keeps rising, you don’t even know where it’s going to go.”

“That guy you see there on the motorcycle,” he continued, “has been walking around the street all morning. It seems that they sent him to make sure everything is quiet. You notice them right away by the mask, the dark glasses and the cap they wear so that you don’t recognize them,” he says. “They have fuel for those guys.”

In the few hours left before the prices change, there are more incidents than usual, both in the payment systems and the suspension of service, because no technician appears to fix the supposedly damaged gas pumps.

The rest of the signs that the habaneros have learned to decipher, such as the smoke of the patana (floating Turkish power plant) anchored in the bay or the fire of the Ñico López refinery, do not give indications that oil is circulating in the city. This morning, neither of them had the chimneys lit.

Cuban ports, however, report the entry of oil tankers such as the Alicia and the Chemical Contender in Havana; the Lourdes, the Ocean Mariner and the Sandino in Matanzas; the Esperanza in Cienfuegos; and the LPG Emilia in Santiago de Cuba, where they also expect the Aquila this Wednesday.

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Translated by Regina Anavy

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Honey receives better remuneration than other products, but the payment to producers is not exempt from prolonged delays of up to six months

Thanks to the embargo by the United States and the loss of the Soviet aid which had flooded the Cuban field with agrochemicals, national honey producers have developed biofertilizers and biopesticides, allowing them to get rid of the pests that are killing the bee colonies in much of the world.

Honey receives better remuneration than other products, but the payment to producers is not exempt from prolonged delays of up to six months, and the amount is still negligible in relation to the economic benefit that the regime obtains. While the Cuban State pays 600 in foreign currency per ton of honey to the producer, it sells it on average for more than 4,000 euros and, in some cases, for 20,000 euros per ton.

In 2021, Cuba produced more than 10,500 tons of honey. According to official figures, the Island has not known a similar figure since 1962, when it produced 10,215 tons.

That year, the Island’s authorities indicated that they were among the main honey-producing countries in the world, occupying the 15th position. Revenues from exports reached about 20 million dollars, and projections for 2030 suggest exports close to 50 million dollars annually.

It is a product that is successfully exported given the demand for Cuban honey in Europe. The most interested buyers are German, Dutch, French and Spanish.

On the other hand, official sources pointed out, in other areas of the same sector, such as wax, pollen and propolis, the initial expectations were more than met and even set records

As has happened for decades and repeatedly, to explain the decline of once successful sectors such as sugar and coffee, it was indicated that the causes of the poor results in Las Tunas had to do, on the one hand, with the intense drought in the first of the year and, on the other, with the loss of 311 hives due to the June rains in the southern municipalities.

On the other hand, in other areas of the same sector, such as wax, pollen and propolis [a resin bees produce to seal gaps in the hives], initial expectations were more than met and even set records. Likewise, the regime celebrated the advances in the production of organic honey and Melipona bees with the genetic improvement program, an obsession that accompanies the regime from the time of the prodigious White Udder cow.

Regarding the number of hives, the claim is that 2023 concluded with 300 more hives than in 2022 in Las Tunas, and this year it will reach 12,530, adding 730 more. The focus will be on enhancing the training of beekeepers, sanitary standards and planting flowers for honey production. In any case, the projections for 2024 are modest and below the 2020 production.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Granma recognizes, although obliquely, the precarious condition of the roads, caused by “the limitations on investments for their improvement”   

Granma recognizes, although obliquely, the precarious condition of the roads, caused by “the limitations on investments for their improvement.” The same thing was declared last October by the Minister of Transport on Cuban Television, when he alleged that the roads deteriorate faster than the State is able to repair them. To this is added the limited availability of raw materials and parts for the asphalt factories, which are currently working at a minimum to cope. According to official data from last July, 75% of the Island’s roads were in average or poor condition.

Interviewed by the newspaper, Roberto Rodríguez Fernández, head of the Specialized Traffic Body of the Police, also admitted that “the economic situation and the deficit of parts and pieces continue to have a negative impact on the technical status of the vehicles” and that, although the crashes caused by this factor registered a decrease, the number of deaths increased. “Accidents accounted for 10% of the total” deaths in 2023, he said.

This January, an article published in the newspaper of Las Tunas, Periódico 26, again drew attention to the indiscipline of both drivers and pedestrians. “The unfavorable state of the roads in the province is one of the causes in Las Tunas for the poor condition  of vehicles, and drivers are urged to use caution to safeguard life,” the media said, without pointing out that repairing the roads could reduce the number of crashes.

According to the media, in 2023 the province had on average “one accident per day, one death for every 15 accidents and 33 accidents every month,” which translates into 373 accidents and a mortality rate of 4.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The only discordant note in the official speech was given last March by the newspaper of Ciego de Ávila, Invasor, which questioned why, with more than 65% of the roads in the province in regular or bad condition, the authorities of the region preferred to dedicate their resources to the roads of the tourist enclaves.

“Prioritizing tourist spots was not the only reason why the rest of the provincial territory was not paved”   

“Prioritizing tourist spots was not the only reason why paving was not done in the rest of the provincial territory. The  plan of 56.1 million pesos for investment was carried out by only 53%, roughly due to the lack of fuel, specifically for the contracted forces,” said the newspaper. It also pointed out that the causeway bridges leading to Jardines del Rey and the keys of Villa Clara require constant repair and million-dollar investments due to the batterings of the sea.

In the same period, the runway of the Cayo Coco airport in Ciego de Ávila was paved with 11,000 tons of asphalt. Meanwhile, for the critical four-mile stretch of the Central Highway between this province and Camagüey, where cracks and landslides were reported, barely 4,000 tons were used, far from what is necessary to definitively repair the road.

The same thing happened, the newspaper reported, with many of the potholes and cracks in the roads that, in the absence of resources and attention, ended up being filled with gravel, debris and ash from the sugar mills.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“A lot of work is being done on this because of the impact it has on promoting a productive stimulus”

Gil announced that regulations will be announced in February to “reorder local development projects” and decentralize the price approval of natural and traditional medicine. Then he talked about what is really important. “In that month, progress will also be made in the presentation of proposals to restructure the foreign exchange market, intervene in the informal market and control the type of exchange in the country, which includes the determination of the exchange rate and the formation of prices. A lot of work is being done on this because of the impact it has on the promotion of a productive stimulus,” the minister said.

A month ago, during the joint television appearance of Gil and the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, to announce the first changes of the complicated package to stabilize the economy, the official had already referred to the great importance of the foreign exchange market, which he considers “one of the main distortions that the economy is facing.”

The ministers specified that private individuals buy foreign currency in a parallel market that allows them to import goods while the State sector is left without that currency. But they didn’t mention that State companies have access to the official exchange rate (1 dollar x 120 pesos), while those who are forced to resort to the illegal market find the dollar being paid at almost 300 pesos.

“Why is the State sometimes not able to be an offerer of goods and services as it should be? Some of those currencies move in the other circuit. If there were for both… But there isn’t. (…) That has to be corrected,” said Gil, who neither then nor now said anything that could allow us to glimpse the measures to be taken.

“Why is the State sometimes not able to be an offerer of goods and services as it should be? Some of those currencies move in the other circuit. If there were for both… But there isn’t”

In September 2023, two extensive articles published in Cubadebate and signed by an official of the Ministry of Economy, Joel Ernesto Marill Domenech, addressed the economic situation and launched a series of proposals that could help – or not – the authorities, if they allowed themselves to be advised by these experts. The specialist suggested a national currency flotation system similar to the model applied with the euro, although Monreal considered at that time that the idea was “unviable” because the country has no foreign exchange reserves or production to support its own currency.

Monreal’s proposal was, rather, a foreign exchange market of “two levels: business operations with banks and retail operations in Cadeca [currency exchanges] (using the official exchange rate)” and a mobile parity regime (which combines a fixed nominal value that is adjusted by factors such as inflation and a floating rate). In his opinion, that would allow more flexibility to control the small devaluations that occur.

The two experts clashed over a main issue. For Marill, it was essential to stabilize the economy before proceeding with the exchange rate reform, while Monreal considered this dangerous because of the delay it could entail.

The Government seems inclined not to let more time pass than already has. However, the economist also warned of something: “The first step of the sequence should be to support the transformation of the small private commercial production component of the agricultural system into a more diversified private component with the greater weight of national capital. Without an increase in the national food supply, there can be no material backing of the national currency. The rest would be like pouring water into baskets,” he said. None of that is being done.

That idea has come, without being experts in economics, to many readers of Cubadebate, who have reminded the Government that no measure will work in the current supply conditions and they even remind readers that the inflation rate – which is expected to increase as soon as fuel prices rise in two days – gets worse almost by the hour. In the words of one of them: “When someone from the Government said that the State would recover the exchange rate, which was supposedly in the hands of the online site El Toque*, the dollar was quoted at around 270 pesos. It is already quoted at around 280. In a few days, Health and Education workers have lost the increase that has not yet reached them.”

*Translator’s note: El Toque is an independent digital newspaper that provides daily  exchange rates for the Cuban peso in all markets, including that of cryptocurrency.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Solano says that three commissions participated in the investigation, which determined that from the time of his admission to the hospital, the patient had “elements incompatible with life”

The doctor describes in great detail, as his colleagues also did, what happened two years ago when the now deceased patient entered the emergency room. His name has never been revealed, but at the time of his arrival, he was accompanied by another person who could speak and answer questions. The 23-year-old patient did not actively cooperate in the interrogation, not because of disability but because he had participated in an illegal race and did not want to have problems.

At that time, when the patient barely revealed that he had fallen off a motorcycle, he had a back injury that was assessed with an apparently normal x-ray and ultrasound. However, he was sent to the multipurpose room to coordinate more specialized tests, two of them (thorax plate and tomography) were declined by radiology due to lack of film and technical defects. A puncture was chosen as an alternative, which could not be done normally either due to the lack of a bladder catheter that, finally, was delivered through coordination with the Urology service. In addition, all the specialists in that unit were busy with surgeries, so they could not perform the test.

“All these inconveniences, so to speak, are reflected in a chart for this purpose,” says Solano, who considers that the patient was adequately cared for within the limitations, and they even explained the situation to him.

Everything changed completely when “around 12:45 in the afternoon a family member brought me the ultrasound result – apparently performed at 8:50 in the morning – in the emergency room, where I was on duty. I reviewed the report and was diametrically opposed to the conclusion.” The doctor explained that he quickly went with the relative to where the patient was while explaining the changes that were seen between the tests. On arrival the patient showed normal vital signs and no problems physically, while now the ultrasound indicated the need for an urgent intervention because of an intra-abdominal injury.

It was at that moment, when he was being prepared for the operation, that the patient confessed to the anesthesiologist that he had participated in a race at 100 miles per hour

It was at that moment, when he was being prepared for the operation, that the patient confessed to the anesthesiologist that he had participated in a race at 100 miles per hour and was thrown over the motorcycle, landing on the curb. According to Solano, the tests carried out by the anesthesiologists revealed normality, with the exception of a ” bilateral decrease in the vesicular murmur in both lung fields.” The injury observed during the surgery was finally located in the kidney.

The autopsy performed subsequently revealed the cause of death as a gastric perforation with a subsequent peritonitis of approximately 20 ounces of free gastric content in the cavity, in addition to ischemia of the tail end of the pancreas. According to Solano, this condition is fatal in 98% of cases, and the patient had already arrived at the hospital with those elements, so nothing could have been done to save him.

The doctor says that the reports confused the terms “polycontusioned”, as the patient was classified, with “polytraumatized,” his real condition, judging by the results of the autopsy. “The elements that the patient provided once he arrived at the Carlos Manuel Céspedes hospital,” along with a “completely negative physical examination” that did not suggest injuries like those found later, made his outcome unpredictable.

Solano says that everything that happened, detailed in the patient’s medical history, damaged the image of the hospital “and, consequently, the image of the department and of the Provincial Directorate of Health, and it was not permissible for one of the doctors to say all this.”

The doctor again points out Dr. Ingris Porto Mateo (allegedly a relative of the deceased) as responsible for a “totally misguided and superficial investigation”

The doctor again points out Dr. Ingris Porto Mateo (allegedly a relative of the deceased) as responsible for a “totally misguided and superficial investigation,” contrary to any scientific basis, and of “encouraging and disclosing falsehoods” against the medical team in charge of the patient “in order to divert attention to what we had actually raised in the first place; that is, the shortcomings of institutional resources that interfere with adequate patient care.”

The doctor ends the video, delivered to Ernesto Morales, regretting that the many pieces of evidences he and his colleagues provided to clarify the situation have been ignored and dismissed. “But, above all, the main irregularity that this process presented is the lack of support from the Ministry of Health, which simply avoided this whole process until it reached the present dimensions. Not because of their lack of support but because they looked the other way.”

The five convicted – along with Solano, Rafael José Sánchez and Henry Rosales Pompa sentenced to two years; Yoandra Quesada Labrada, sentenced to one year and six months; and William Pérez Ramírez, sentenced to one year – will be disqualified for the same period of time that the sentence lasts, although they still have the option to appeal, something they have announced that they will do and for which they have the support of many doctors.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite this, the deficit during yesterday’s peak time was 975 MW, above the 952 MW that had been predicted

The situation was aggravated on Sunday. The Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant, in Matanzas, the most important in the west of the country, was synchronized with the National Energy System (SEN). Despite this, the deficit in yesterday’s peak time was 975 MW, above the 952 MW that had been expected.

For Monday, the UNE announced that 991 MW will be missing, even with the entrance for the peak hours of unit 4 of Energas Varadero and the distributed generation engines that were stopped for maintenance and those that have been authorized for support. According to the state company, unit 5, the Diez de Octubre power plant, in Nuevitas (Camagüey) and the 2 of Lidio Ramón Pérez, in Felton (Holguín), are out of service, while unit 6 of the Máximo Gómez thermoelectric plant, in Mariel, is under maintenance.

The joint exit from the system of the two main thermoelectric plants of the east and west of the Island (Felton and Antonio Guiteras), one due to breakdown and the other for scheduled maintenance, was key. On Friday, after several days of complaints reported in several provinces, the record of electricity deficit was announced, with 1,010 MW planned for peak time, which finally reached 1,032 MW.

On Saturday the prediction dropped to 890 MW, but once again, the reality was worse than imagined, with 959 MW of deficit.

The return of the Antonio Guiteras, which on Sunday around 1 p.m. properly synchronized with the system, suggested that the most recent episode of blackouts had passed. But the announcement that the plant was contributing about 200 MW to the SEN was not reflected in the comments of customers from all over the Island, outraged once again with the favored treatment they consider to exist towards Havana, the province least affected by the lack of electricity.

“What kind of math are the bosses of the Energy and Mines cartel applying to give such a high indicator?”   

“Sancti Spíritus is at the forefront of the blackouts while the capital enjoys a sweet croquette,” said one user. The few optimists who dared to vigorously congratulate “the Revolution” received a flood of criticism. “The same Revolution that gives you 8 hours of blackout,” one wrote. “What Revolution? Its meaning is to revolutionize something, to move forward. What progress is there in this country? Where is the restored electrical system, when today the whole day has been spent without power, with practically more blackouts than electricity?” added another, indignant.

The hope that the situation would calm down today, which began with cool temperatures in much of the Island, was frustrated when, after 10 in the morning, the state company announced its forecast, again close to 1,000 MW of deficit.

“What kind of math are the bosses of the Energy and Mines cartel applying to give such a high indicator? Why is there only Nuevitas, that breaks down every day, and Felton 2. Speak clearly and say that it’s because there is no oil, so that we can understand,” wrote a user of the many who complained to the UNE. Another joked with resignation: “We have continuity, we remain in the dark.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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For the soldier, this “unfit behavior” of the five gang members is shared with many other criminals from Santiago de Cuba

For the soldier, this “unfit behavior” of the five gang members is shared, he insisted, with many other criminals from Santiago de Cuba. “We know who they are and we are going to get them,” he promised, speaking on behalf of “all the organs” of the Ministry of the Interior that accompanied him. He added that, after the interrogation of the five detainees, they gathered more information about “the different groups that operate in these places” and “beyond, in the city of Santiago.”

The lieutenant colonel spared no promise to the population. “We can’t keep having this type of thing. We are going to act severely. They will be sanctioned, have confidence,” he said, before a woman interrupted his speech to take the floor and say that her confidence in the police was only “up to a point.” She then told the story of her son, a university professor who lacks a leg, and who on May 7, 2023 was assaulted by two hooded people. “They covered him with a sheet, tied it around his neck and pulled him” out the door of his house, she said.

“Until now, no one has ever come to my house to tell me ’this has been done, that has been done,’” complained the woman, who said she had taken the case to the Prosecutor’s Office, in the face of the inaction of the police. “I come back and repeat: I trust [the authorities], but right now I don’t even know what to say,” she finished.

That was “a negative experience,” minimized the lieutenant colonel, who muttered that he had no knowledge of the situation and promised to review the case. The woman’s response to the officer’s promise was categorical: “Right now I don’t believe anyone.”

“They have not solved the cases that have happened; how do they expect the people to trust them?”

In his comment on the video, Mayeta claims to have interviewed one of the attendees at the meeting in Abel Santamaría, a Public Health worker who asked not to be identified, and who affirmed that in that area “there is not only one gang but several.” “They have not solved the cases that have happened; how do they expect the people to trust them?” Mayeta asked.

The escalation of violence in Cuba has gotten out of the hands of the authorities, who opt in most cases for inaction and establish zones of “tolerance” for crime in the cities, where patrols do not dare to circulate.

On January 5, when the police celebrated the anniversary of its founding, the deputy head in Sancti Spíritus asked that, in order to face the “current context of the country,” the State provide the officers with “new instruments, equipment, vehicles and technologies to perfect the mechanisms of the surveillance and patrol system.” Similar requests were made in acts of tribute to the police throughout the country.

The growing insecurity on the streets of the Island is impossible to disguise and demands more and more space in the official press. Curfews are a reality in several locations, despite the fact that the police deny it. In Alquízar, in the province of Artemisa, the authorities denied that people had to stay inside after midnight. However, this newspaper gathered multiple testimonies about the prohibition and confirmed that patrols circulated through the municipality to make sure it was respected.

However, the curfew is increasingly a self-preservation measure by the neighbors themselves. Whether or not the police recommend it, no Cuban dares to walk the streets alone in the early morning hours.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

Ángel “was wheeling and dealing for a while, selling fuel ’on the left’ without standing in the annoying lines at the gas stations like other drivers,” says State Security. The post also shows photos of police officers in the home of the reseller, who had “a large amount of fuel and plastic containers for storage.” You can also see some sealed boxes guarded by police officers, but no more details of the arrest have been offered.

Ángel “was wheeling and dealing for a while, selling fuel ‘on the left’ without standing in the annoying lines at the gas stations like other drivers”

The text, in addition, was shared on Telegram by Esther, the boss of the Guanabacoa gas stations, in charge of organizing the fuel line and the subject of several 14ymedio reports. The drivers, in order to buy fuel, must be noted down on a detailed list that the local government ordered prepared during the June 2023 crisis, she said.

For Esther herself, as for the hundreds of Guanabacoa customers, Ángel’s arrest is not a surprise. On the same Telegram channel, several customers complained that the workers at the gas station ignore the endless line of drivers, and that “they have accepted money even from tourists, mocking those who stay there” night and day said one customer last week.

But the illegalities start from the same list that Esther manages. For example, in the document that collects the more than 3,600 customers of the Los Paraguas gas station, on January 11, this newspaper found that 114 are repeated up to four times and 77 do not have a license plate – a requirement that the woman always demands. In the case of the Corral Falso service center, where almost 3,000 names were registered, there are 168 that are repeated up to four times and 40 without a plate. About 1,003 customers appeared on both lists.

According to Esther herself, days later, “the government of Guanabacoa took control of the line” after there “were too many profiteers, plus no one denounced them.” The organization was reactivated shortly before the announcement of the increase in fuel prices, which will come into force next week.

The price of gasoline and diesel on the Island will be five times greater from February 1. The cost of premium, gasoline will go from 30 pesos per liter to 156 ($1.30, at the official exchange rate) while the diesel will rise from the current 27.5 pesos to 150 ($1.25). Vicente La O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the new measures will “gradually achieve a stable supply,” although he added that “it cannot be insured from the first day of implementation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

The massive exodus of the members of the team that won the silver medal in the 2022 event deals a hard blow to the future of national sports in Cuba

The massive exodus of the members of the team that won the silver medal in the 2022 event deals a severe blow to the future of national sports in Cuba, by directly undermining its reserve of young players. Just three days ago, 14ymedio published the departure from the Island of outfielder Maikol Rodríguez, also to the Dominican Republic.

Romero explains that the figures for this team represent “something unprecedented.” In just 14 months, 95% of the roster has left the country (19 out of 20 players). “Previously, almost all the national teams had players in lower categories who left, but not in such a short period of time or in such a high percentage as that of this Cuba U-15 of 2022,” adds the sports journalist.

In the text The dream and reality. Stories of the emigration of Cuban baseball (1960-2018), Romero says that every year the average age of the baseball players who leave the Island decreases. The average age was 24.4 years in 2015; three years later it was reduced to 17.9.

Romero explains that the figures for this team represent “something unprecedented”

With his departure from the Island, Yordan Rodríguez joins the list of former members of his team who left Cuba with the aspiration to enter the MLB and thus improve their economic and professional training conditions.

Until the 25th, in addition to Maikol Rodríguez, the following members of the U-15 team had left Cuba: Alejandro Cruz, Mailon Batista, Robier Hernández, Alex Santiago, Pedro Danguillecourt, Jaider Suárez, Dulieski Ferrán, Ernest Machado, Yosniel Menéndez, Roberto Peña, Segian Pérez, Alejandro Prieto, Danel Reyes, Ronald Terrero, Jonathan Valle, Yunior Villavicencio and Cristian Zamora. Only the catcher, Yaidel Ruíz, has remained in the country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.