Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 58

In the Midst of the Energy Crisis, One of the Most Productive Charcoal Villages in Cuba Disappears

“The neighbors began to leave one by one. They took the doors, the windows, whatever they could, and they grabbed Manatí, to try to survive.”

Despite the urgency caused by the debacle of the electrical system, charcoal production in Las Tunas is going through a bad time / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 13 February 2025 — At 800 pesos a sack in Sancti Spíritus; at 1,000 in Cienfuegos; at 1,400 in Holguín: the price of charcoal – black gold for Cubans in a year that already broke the record of electricity deficit – rises to the rhythm of a country without options for cooking or lighting. In that context, the dismantling of Las Carboneras, a town that lived by manufacturing and selling this product, complicates the energy landscape in Las Tunas.

Despite the urgency caused by the debacle of the electrical system, charcoal production in Las Tunas is going through a bad time. The municipal company Agroforestal had only two producers on staff, and they recently resigned. Now they work, according to the director, with intermittent operators, who “come, set up an oven and leave.”

No carbonero can earn much. The State pays 15 pesos per kilogram of charcoal; until recently there were only four producers, and they had to provide the bag, which costs 500 pesos. The price on the informal market is triple that figure, and, in addition, now the buyer has to provide the empty continue reading

bag.

The children of the place were “predestined” to be carboneros and drunks, to withstand the misery, and the “mythical onslaught of mosquitoes” was an everyday occurrence

Las Carboneras did not have more than 10 houses, Periódico 26 reports, but it was the leader in charcoal production in the province. The town was an extremely poor place, on the way to the municipality of Puerto Manatí. The children of the place were “predestined” to be charcoal producers and drunks, to withstand the misery and the “mythical onslaught of mosquitoes,” an everyday occurrence.

“The residents began to leave one by one. They took the doors, the windows, what they could, and headed for Manati, to try to survive,” explains Enrique Pérez, a carbonero since he was nine years old.

The silhouette of the town’s large ovens was unmistakable. Each oven produced 100 full sacks, operated by barefoot workers without protection against fire, according to Pérez. Even at dawn an operator watched the pyres. People from Las Tunas went there to buy charcoal without intermediaries. Despite the harshness of the trade, “they defended a private business,” and that contributed to their effort.

Without attributing the debacle to the State, Pérez recalls how the people were losing everything. First, the school closed, forcing the children to walk several kilometers, along a path full of marabou, to go to the nearest classroom. They came back at night. Then the ration store, with a few secure provisions for the oldest farmers, disappeared.

“There was no other choice. People had to leave,” Pérez continued. “To make charcoal you have to be at work when the sun rises, and there is no way to go around looking for food, at least not every day. We stopped receiving the chicken, the minced meat…”

Pérez continues to maintain some ovens in Las Carboneras, encouraged by the increase in the price of charcoal

After 30 years of living from his work in Las Carboneras, and besieged by the thieves and bandits of the area, Pérez also left. “I endured everything I could, but they stole my animals; one night three men came and even threatened us. My wife got nervous, and every time the dog barked, she began to cry.”

Now they live in an improvised shack in Puerto Manatí, but they say they are “calm.” Pérez continues to maintain ovens in Las Carboneras, encouraged by the rise in the price of charcoal. However, he is clear with the Communist Party newspaper in Las Tunas: “Money is not enough for me! This doesn’t pay anything. Making charcoal is very hard.”

“As expected, the charcoal producers ask for clothes, shoes, files (to sharpen the machetes). They are specialized workers,” explains the director of the Agroforestry of Las Tunas. “Recently we have given them files, machetes, mochas (a flat kind of machete), in small quantities.” But production hasn’t taken off.

Immersed in abandonment and surrounded by marabou, the local authorities have been clear about Las Carboneras: “There is no longer any way to recover the community.”*

*Translator’s note: Charcoal, also called “coal,” is vegetal, made from trees. The industry is now industrialized and is one of Cuba’s largest export products.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Dollar Is Frozen in Cuba Despite Trump’s Limitations on Remittances

The OMFi report confirms Western Union’s loss of importance as a money transfer channel

Cubans have become accustomed to receiving money through more advantageous channels than Western Union / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 14 February 2025 — Although it has not been even one month since Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, many things have changed inside and outside its borders, including the return of some policies towards Cuba activated in his first term and softened by the Biden Administration. What remains unchanged – and nothing indicates short-term variations – is the informal exchange rate of the peso for the dollar on the Island.

According to the most recent report of the Cuban Currency and Finance Observatory (OMFi), of El Toque, signed by the Cuban economist Pavel Vidal, Washington’s policies could be felt throughout this year, but for the moment, any change is more in internal hands.

“The forecasts are subject to the appearance of new exchange rate policy announcements by the Cuban Government. More precise information about what the economic authorities intend with the ’resizing’ of the foreign exchange market and the floating rate, and the readings that the market makes on these signals, will probably become the main determinants of the short-term fluctuations of exchange rates in the coming months,” he continue reading

summarizes.

With the available data, the forecast is that the month will end with very little variation in the exchange rate, which has been anchored at one dollar for 340 pesos since January 13 without a single movement. The minimum and maximum range for the US currency is 336-350, a paralysis for convulsive times in which several factors have influence, especially remittances.

With the available data, the forecast is that the month will end with very little variation in the exchange rate, which has been anchored at one dollar for 340 pesos since January 13 without a single movement

“A curious element is that dollar and euro rates have remained stable at the beginning of February despite the prospects that the US administration will strengthen the sanctions,” says the report, which puts on the table the non-impact of the suspension of Western Union (WU) money shipments last week, after the incorporation of Orbit S.A. into the List of Restricted Entities of Cuba. That company was created to take over the management of remittances in place of Fincimex, sanctioned in 2020 for its connection with the Cuban military.

However, Vidal admits that the situation was expected, since the reactivation of the service in January 2023 was not noticed either. “All this confirms the loss of importance of the remittance channel through WU as a result of the presence of a diversity of more competitive operators when making transactions with an exchange rate close to the informal rate,” he says.

“Both Orbit and WU were symbolic agents in the remittance business for quite some time,” says a Cuban economist on social networks who claims to have worked in the business. “Neither of the two could compete with the dozens of agencies that send remittances to Cuba in dollars in cash or in national currency with TRMI (representative rate of the informal market) as a reference. Their importance in the market is marginal.”

The expert, who qualifies the volumes of incoming remittances through the official way as “a laugh,” says that “there is a whole market of young people on Vespa-type motorcycles throughout Havana, who give you dollars in cash, something with which WU and Orbit cannot compete.” In addition, he maintains that he knows some of them, and they confirm that the market “is doing well” without anomalies.

The OMFi report says that one point against the remittances sent by WU is that they can only be deposited in accounts in MLC, which discourages that channel. In addition, it adds that “many emigrants choose to buy goods for their families instead of sending money.” The reflections are consistent with the data of the document prepared by Cuba Siglo 21 in December, which reported that Gaesa lost more than 95% of the market for remittances from the US to the Island.

This newspaper had also noticed, from street reports, the change in the uses and customs of senders and receivers of money from abroad electronically, especially through Zelle.

The OMFi report reviews the disastrous national economic panorama, starting with the fall in tourism that “not only puts pressure on state finances, but deals a blow to numerous families and businesses that offer services to visitors and that, in general, are distributed throughout the Island. This includes the spillovers that connect with the informal foreign exchange market.”

This newspaper had also noticed, from street reports, the change in the uses and customs of senders and receivers of money from abroad electronically, especially through Zelle

The sugar harvest is not expected to be good, nor can the improvement in the production of nickel and cobalt contribute positively, due to the drop in prices on the international market.

In this scenario, the pressure on wholesale and retail trade do not help, nor does the excessive leverage in foreign investment, criticized by Vidal. “Foreign companies expect to obtain profits that are repatriated, while private businesses are more intertwined with the Island’s economy.”

The report also analyzes dollarization and its possible impact, which could be positive according to the OMFi for some branches and companies, but at the expense of market segmentation and the marginalization of those who do not have foreign currency.

The expectation, in short, is less dependent on the United States than on any move that the Cuban regime decides to make at any moment to establish – as announced – a floating exchange rate

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Energy Debacle Melts the Little Ice Cream That Coppelia Offers to Cubans

The blackout reveals the absolute harshness with which Cubans perceive their situation

At 2:00 pm the doors of Coppelia open for a public eager to taste a sip of ice cream / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 13 February 2025 — The ups and downs of electricity give no respite to the refrigerators where Coppelia’s ice cream is stored. From blackout to blackout, between shortages and closures, a scoop of chocolate can become a warm milkshake in a few minutes. Without power and in the tropics, where it will no longer cool down until the end of the year, Havana’s ice cream “cathedral” is not even a chapel.

Even so, there is a line in front of the emblematic blue facade. “They are going to open,” says an enthusiast to whom the 1,810 megawatts (MW) of deficit announced today by the Electric Union has not taken away hope. Indeed, at 2:00 pm the doors of Coppelia open to an audience eager to taste a sip – with 31°C (87.8 F) there is no other consistency – of ice cream.

The joy will not last long. The most informed in the line, who handle the cumbersome calendar of cuts with ease, know that Coppelia will lose power at 3:00 in the afternoon. The time when “they killed Lola,” according to the pessimistic saying,* will be when the possibility of cooling down the product that gave fame to one of the most visited places in El Vedado will be lost.

The most informed in the line, who handle the calendar of cuts with ease, know that Coppelia will lose power at 3:00 in the afternoon

Aside from the energy situation, Coppelia suffers its own way of the cross. Last week, a few days after its laborious reopening, it plunged back into the mediocrity from which, supposedly, the repair was going to save it. Now, along with the price increase and the diminished supply, habaneros will also have to suffer multiple disappointments in the face of a dessert that comes in any form and temperature except in the appropriate one. continue reading

After a fatal January for the national electrical system (SEN), and after a year of alumbrones,** this month the lack of electricity hit rock bottom again. Without too much alarm on the part of the authorities, who have normalized the cycles of increasingly abusive blackouts, a deficit of 1,870 MW was estimated.

The figure, higher than the one the country experienced last October when the SEN collapsed, presaged a new total blackout that is still a threat this Thursday. In practice, cities like Cienfuegos, Cárdenas and Matanzas have their own blackouts of more than 24 hours now, similar to yesterday.

Aside from the energy situation, Coppelia suffers its own way of the cross of closures and reopenings / 14ymedio

“I’m on strike and won’t go to work today,” a pre-university teacher who has been unable to plan her classes and perform various household chores told this newspaper. “I haven’t even dressed. If they don’t turn on the light, I’m not leaving my house.”

No matter the latitude, when the blackout arrives it brings out the total rawness with which Cubans perceive their situation. In a barbershop in Nuevo Vedado, in Havana, the current went out leaving several craniums half-cut. “When are they going to get on the plane!?” was the question that everyone shouted in unison.

They mean the leaders, whose erratic management always affects – and every day – “those below.” Unperturbed, forced to create strategies against electrical uncertainty, the barbers took out rechargeable lamps and electric shavers with the batteries charged. “Prepared and alert,” joked one of the workers, parodying the motto of the Civil Defense in the face of cyclones.

The blackouts totally interrupt or paralyze daily life in Cuba. In addition to economic consequences, energy instability has an important human impact: frustration, depression and proliferating nervous breakdowns leave the brains of Cubans as melted as the ice cream served this Thursday by the Coppelia in Havana.

Translator’s notes

* According to Cuban legend, Lola was a prostitute who was stabbed to death by a lover at 3:00 in the afternoon. It became a popular expression for that time of day.
** As opposed to the apagones (blackouts), Cubans coined the word ‘alumbrones’ for the brief periods when the lights are on.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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General Guillermo García’s Baseball-Playing Grandson Denounces the Complications of Sending Dollars to Cuba

“They give you MLC and they keep the real money, the hard money,” said the first baseman, who ‘defected’ in Canada

Guillermo Garcia received a $50,000 bonus when he joined the Canadian team Capitales de Quebec of the Frontier League / Capitales de Quebec

14ymedio, Havana, 13 February 2025 — Payments in dollars received by Cuban players in Japan cannot be transferred to an account in Cuba without being transformed into MLC (freely convertible currency). This was the “discovery” denounced this Wednesday by the Cuban first-baseman Guillermo García, who played in a team from the Japan until he was hired in Canada last year, and deserted shortly after.

“When I managed to send something it arrived in MLC,” he told the specialized media Pelota Cubana, about a problem that affects thousands of Cubans who send remittances to their families on the Island. “They give you credit and keep the real (money), the hard currency.”

The grandson of General Guillermo García, one of the historic figures of the Regime, a player from Granma province, who is now in the Dominican Republic, traveled to Japan in 2022 through the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) to join the Dragones de Chunichi club, in exchange for 100,000 dollars. There he played two seasons for the Japanese team and received a proportional part of the agreed amount every month.

“When I managed to send something it arrived in MLC,” he told Pelota Cubana, about a problem that affects thousands of Cubans who send remittances to the Island

He made several money transfers to Cuba, always in the same way, until several Cuban baseball players – including the famous Alfredo Despaigne – recommended “not to send any dollars to Cuba.” The ideal, García said, is to “carry the money in cash” or send it with a mule, a more complicated process but much less expensive than transactions to a Cuban account in MLC.

García also highlighted the difficulties that Cubans have in opening an account with a Japanese bank. As in other countries of the world, the fear of being sanctioned by Washington for making transactions linked to Cuba remains an obstacle. continue reading

Also, with the help of Inder in June 2024, García transferred to the Canadian team Capitales de Quebec of the Frontier League, an independent league that is developed between Canada and the United States. “When I signed there was a bonus of $50,000 that they added to my contract (of $100,000),” he said.

Inder keeps 20% of the contract of its athletes. Last December, the state entity negotiated the participation of baseball player Raidel Martínez for four seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in exchange for $32,500,000. From that money, Inder retained $6,500,000, more than $1,600,000 per season.

Carlos Monier, Liván Moinelo, Frank Abel Álvarez, Cristian Rodríguez, Darío Sarduy and Ariel Martínez are in the Japanese Baseball League. Two other players are in Mexico, six in Italy and four more in Canada.

According to coach Julio Estrada, the Cuban Baseball Federation can directly negotiate agreements with the teams that hire their athletes. However, in the case of “large contracts,” the Island has the support of “a Japanese lawyer,” he told Pelota Cubana. Unlike agents looking for better salaries, “the Federation limits itself to listening to the offer the player will receive” and passes the document on to the player to sign. “Inder doesn’t even know about the negotiation; it is only informed about what the player is going to deposit into his account so that it can collect the commission.”

The “low salaries” led the athletes of Ciego de Ávila, Osvaldo Vázquez, Rubén Valdés, Alexander Jiménez, Gustavo Brito and Liosvany Pérez to request their dismissal

Salary has been a hot topic among the Island’s players. Last month, the Artemis athlete Yuniesky García called on his teammates to join him to “expose that the salary is not in accordance with so much work and sacrifice” that they face every day.

Recently, the “low salaries” led the athletes of Ciego de Ávila, Osvaldo Vázquez, Rubén Valdés, Alexander Jiménez, Gustavo Brito and Liosvany Pérez to ask for their exclusion from the payroll. With the salary of “3,500 pesos I can’t support my family,” Vázquez told Pelota Cubana USA. As a trainer, the athlete would earn only 5,000 pesos, less than 15 dollars per month at the informal exchange rate.

In the same vein, baseball player Dennis Laza said: “Really the conditions of the Elite League these two years and the salary we earn do not seem elite.” He argued that this was a reason not to leave his work with the under-12 category of San José.

“I know that there are many people in other provinces who are upset with the position I took at the time, but if they were in the place of many of us and earned what we earn, without anyone to stand up for them against the injustices that happen, they would understand a little more,” he stressed. “If when your work is always the best you can do for your country and they belittle what you do with love, then you would understand why we who are affected are proceeding in this way.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The NGO Prisoners Defenders Records 1,150 Political Prisoners in Cuba in January

The organization maintains the 201 prisoners released in January on its list, arguing that their sentences have not expired and they remain in practice on parole.

The Combinado del Este Prison in Havana / Marcel Valdés

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 13 February 2025 — The NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD) this Thursday recorded 1,150 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of January, 11 fewer than was reported in its previous monthly report.

The organization, based in Madrid, includes on its list the 201 prisoners released from prison, arguing that their sentences have not been extinguished and that they are actually on parole.

These prisoners were released in January with the Cuban Government’s decision to release 553 prisoners sentenced for “various crimes,” after the Biden administration removed Havana from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The PD report adds five new names to the list and specifies that 16 were released after full compliance with the sanction or measure imposed. continue reading

The NGO also highlighted the treatment suffered by the 123 women included on its list, including two trans women who are imprisoned among men

The organization, one of the main registries of political prisoners in Cuba, indicated that there are 721 prisoners “with serious medical pathologies due to the lack of food, mistreatment, the repressive environment and the lack of adequate medical care.”

It added that it verified “70 political prisoners with serious mental health disorders without adequate medical or psychiatric treatment.”

It also explained that 33 minors are still on the list, of which 29 are serving their sentences and four are being criminally prosecuted “with precautionary measures without any judicial protection.” The minimum criminal age in Cuba is 16 years.

Prisoners Defenders said that there are 222 people accused of sedition, when in most cases they participated in peaceful protests, and it added that 219 “have already been sentenced to an average of ten years of deprivation of liberty each” (including 15 minors).

The NGO also highlighted the treatment suffered by the 123 women on its list, including two trans women who are imprisoned among men.

“Cuba has had a total of 1,801 political prisoners” since July 2021, when the largest anti-government protests in decades were recorded on the Island, according to the NGO.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Cuba, Only 2.9 Million Cattle Have Been Saved From Mismanagement and Cattle Thieves

The figure is disastrous for a country that ten years ago had nearly four million people, and that before 1959 boasted almost one cow per person.

Counting cows, bulls and calves, Ernesto has a total of 67 cattle on his farm / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 12 February 2025 — After ten months of inspections and raids against cattle thieves in Cuba’s fields, the Ministry of Agriculture offered this Wednesday a global result: there are 2,914,009 cows left on the Island. The figure is disastrous for a country that ten years ago had about four million, and that before 1959 – with a population of six million inhabitants – boasted of having almost one cow per person.

This January, the official State newspaper Granma reports, the “extensive monitoring exercise” that has kept the inspectors of each province busy since March 2024 was completed. Yudith Almeida Núñez, head of the Ministry’s Livestock Registry Department, revealed that the illegalities detected throughout the country totaled 181,854, with 1,128 cases remaining in Pinar del Río, Mayabeque and Las Tunas. Most have to do with owners who left the country, died or are imprisoned, while their cattle continue to be illegally cared for by other people.

Almeida also said that 43,143 undeclared births had been registered, plus many other cases – she did not give a precise number – of “illegal sales, unregistered animals, missing animals, undocumented deaths* and theft.” continue reading

Most have to do with owners who left the country, died or are imprisoned, while their cattle continue to be illegally cared for by other people

The inspectors visited 191,802 owners – 188,338 natural persons and 3,464 legal entities – although there is a minimum percentage left to complete in Las Tunas. Most cattle are in cooperatives, although there are some companies that raise “herds of high genetic value” – pure breeds brought from abroad and born in Cuba – with only a few specimens.

After providing the numbers, Granma points out the obvious as a surprise: “For several years, this category has shown a tendency to decrease in mass.” However, it attributes the fall of the sector to changes in breeding technologies, whose standards Cuba cannot meet due to lack of inputs, and, of course, to theft and slaughter.

Las Tunas, the province in which the inspections have not yet ended, complained just a few weeks ago that crimes, despite the State raids, had increased by 10% compared to 2023. The local newspaper did not quantify the damage but stated that theft, in addition to slaughter and robbery with violence – in a context in which the ranchers have little or no protection against the raiders – were common facts in Las Tunas.

Despite the results of the livestock census, Almeida did not say if the Ministry will take more severe measures than those it has executed so far, which have not served to deter the butchers. The reports in the official press, which ended with the “moral” of a fine or even several years in prison, have not achieved the desired effect either.

The persecution of the guilty – documented every week by the official press – has become a matter of State in recent years

The latest data provided by the Ministry on livestock crimes on the Island were from 2022. In that inventory, at the head of illegal slaughter was Villa Clara with 12,243 animals in 2022, and Holguín, with 9,825, followed by Matanzas, with 8,150.

In 1985 there were just over five million cattle in Cuba. The brief period from 2006 to 2014 is the only time the livestock mass recovered slightly, going from 3.7 million to 4.1 million. From that moment on, the fall has been constant.

In 1959, there were 5.1 million cattle for the 6.5 million inhabitants of the Island. From that date, the cattle mass began a remarkable rise that reached its peak in 1967, when it reached 7.1 million, under the Soviet subsidy. Although the population had already increased to 8.4 million Cubans, the ratio changed little: from 0.78 cows per person to 0.84. But from then on, after fleeting recoveries, the fall was sustained.

This Tuesday’s data – 2.9 million cows per 10 million inhabitants – give a ratio of 0.29 cows per person and confirm what Cubans have been living for years: beef is a thing of the past.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Chaotic Hiring of Cuban Doctors by the Controversial University ‘For The Poor’ in Mexico

The University of Wellbeing asks Havana for more specialists, despite the academic failure of a previous experience

Students of the Benito Juárez García University for Wellbeing, Mexico / Prensa Libre

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas / Yaiza Santos, Mexico / Madrid, 11 February 2025 — The governor of the State of Mexico, Delfina Gómez, has requested doctors from Cuba to teach classes at the Texcoco headquarters of the Benito Juárez García University for Wellbeing, the controversial educational project established by the previous Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for low-income students. The curriculum in medicine cannot begin in January due to a lack of teachers, a knowledgeable source who asks for anonymity reveals to 14ymedio.

Gómez made the request publicly last Saturday, taking advantage of a meeting with the Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez Costa, which aimed to “strengthen cooperation in education and health.”

It is not the first time that Mexico has requested health workers from Cuba for the purpose of teaching, says the source. In August 2023, 100 professors from several Cuban educational centers were hired for that same university. Specialists in oncology, nephrology, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, otorhinolaryngology, angiology and vascular surgery arrived in the country and were distributed in 55 headquarters of the University for Wellbeing.

Of these, however, only 23 had medical specialties: 20 in Integral Medicine and Community Health, and three in Nursing and Obstetrics. continue reading

The project was led by Cuban doctors without having a space to teach classes

Alonso, a teacher at the University of Wellbeing in Mexico City, confirmed to this newspaper that a first group of Cubans had been part of the institution’s staff since 2023. “I don’t know exactly how many there were, but they were located in the state of Veracruz and informed us that they were specialists in the career of medicine.”

This newspaper confirmed that in the community of Coatzintla (Veracruz), the Cubans Romaira Irene Ramírez Santisteban and Mario López Bueno were part of the faculty of the university headquarters in that city.

The degree of medicine at Texcoco was included as part of the curriculum of the University of Wellbeing last year. The project was led by Cuban doctors without having a space to teach, so teachers and students were temporarily located in the Civil Engineering facilities.

The medical students were given a two-week preparatory course, but given the lack of space, the Cuban doctors demanded classrooms somewhere else.

Even more unusual, it was the National Water Commission (Conagua) of the State of Mexico – an entity that has nothing to do with Education – that provided medical students with a space in its facilities, in addition to providing them with transportation. However, “in July 2024 they were warned that they could no longer support them with transportation, so they had to move elsewhere,” says the anonymous source.

“The students were then offered online classes with interns who had received their degrees. Of course they refused, and the project was suspended until further notice.”

The students had to return to the Civil Engineering campus in Texcoco, where they took classes in an auditorium. In that same month, the Cuban doctors ended their contract, and no more staff were hired to take charge of the curriculum.

“No one took responsibility for this. So much irresponsibility is not possible. Students were invited to take online classes with career interns. Of course they refused, and the project was suspended until further notice,” the source says.

In the State of Mexico, specifically in the Lago de Texcoco Ecological Park, there is a plan for the construction of another headquarters of the University of Wellbeing, but without a start date.

The chaos and opacity of the University of Wellbeing does not only concern the hired Cubans but also the general tone of the project. Created by López Obrador by presidential decree on July 30, 2019, with the aim of “proving alternatives in free and quality higher education services to young people,” this university “for the poor” has received numerous criticisms.

One of them is the amount of money spent by the State for these centers compared to the brutal cuts in funds for other public institutions of accredited prestige, such as the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) and the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM).

According to research published in the Mexican press, it is not very well known how the billions of pesos allocated to the University of Wellbeing have been spent

According to research published in the Mexican press, it is not very well known how the billions of pesos allocated to the operation of the University of Wellbeing have been spent, or how many of the 203 promised centers were actually built.

According to the general director of the University herself, Raquel Sosa Elízaga, until 2022 the Mexican Government had allocated 4 billion pesos (almost 195 million dollars) for the installation, equipment and operation of those institutions, which in 2023 had a budget of 1,476 million pesos and a year later, 71 million more: 1,547 million pesos.

The project planned to train a total of 300,000 students, all scholarship holders, in six years, 96,000 of them in the first generation. However, at the end of 2024, only 57,000 students had enrolled. In five years, 6,372 students finished their studies, but only 1,918 of them received a degree.

In addition to some exaggerated figures for students and an invented number of teachers (more than 700), there are half-built facilities and vacant lots in addresses where several of those centers are supposed to be located. In the few locations that operate, says a recent report, “disappointment prevails for students and teachers due to the multiple deficiencies with which they have to operate.”

José Narro, former rector of UNAM, described the University of Wellbeing in November last year, directly, as “an educational fraud.” The academic also regretted that the current Government under President Claudia Sheinbaum “continues the strategy of monetary transfers as a social development policy that has only shown its effectiveness as a political instrument but doesn’t solve the problem of poverty.” The president, for her part, defended the model, saying “it was a different educational program.”*

*Translator’s note: The University of Wellbeing is not an accredited institution.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Water Treatment Plant Is Inaugurated on Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud With the Help of Japan and a Basque NGO

The plant took four years to build and is part of a water improvement project funded with 121,426 euros

The Japanese ambassador to Cuba, Nakamura Kasuhito, at the new Coocodilo water treatment plant on Isla de la Juventud / ACN

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 February 2025 — A new donation from Japan arrives to alleviate basic needs in Cuba. It is, on this occasion, a desalination plant for the municipality of Cocodrilo, on Isla de la Juventud. The facility was inaugurated last Thursday with the presence of the Japanese ambassador to the Island, Nakamura Kasuhito, who made an official visit to Cuba for several days. According to the official press, it marks the beginning of a project to improve drinking water, financed by the Basque NGO Mundubat, with 121,426 euros.

Ihosvany Juliá, a delegate from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) on Isla de la Juventud, explained to the official press that “adjustments are still being made for the optimal exploitation of the equipment in order to offer a sustainable and quality service to the beneficiaries.” However, State television has echoed these days the grateful testimonies of several of the 300 inhabitants of this coastal community, located 90 kilometers from the capital of the special municipality, Nueva Girona.

Yarilis Leyva Swaby believes that “it has been a good achievement for the people,” because the water they had was “quite salty and bad.” In the same vein, Madelyn Reinol Ramírez said: “It is a great advance, since we have spent many years drinking salty water.” Laura Figueredo Soto, for her part, was “super happy” and said: “I have a little boy, and he loves the water. I, who have been used to well water all my life, feel it’s a little strange, but he is in love with his fresh water, and if he is happy, I am happy.” continue reading

Described by the authorities as a plant that is “unique in its kind in the country,” it processes 3,100 liters of water in one hour

Described by the authorities as a plant that is “unique of its kind in the country,” it processes 3,100 liters of water in one hour, which means pumping 31 cubic meters of water a day. However, Raúl Arcaya, director of the comprehensive Hydraulic Resources company, specified that the process “must be constantly monitored to meet the needs of the population and avoid overexploitation of the plant.”

Likewise, the official, who clarified that Japan donated the plant and that “the civil and electrical part was assumed by the local authorities,” acknowledged that “there were many unforeseen events and challenges during the installation process,” which lasted no less than four years. The authorities foresee monthly monitoring of the plant, beginning in February.

At the opening event, Ambassador Nakamura recalled that last year, Japan and Cuba celebrated the 95th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, and said: “I intend to continue promoting this tradition of friendship, and the inauguration of this project is the first step in this direction.”

In fact, this is not the first time that Japan has helped Cuba. In April 2024, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated more than 20 million dollars to collaborate with Cuba in the assembly of solar photovoltaic parks, also on Isla de la Juventud, following the controversial Cuban energy transition plan. The project also included batteries with a capacity to store 10 MW.

“There were many unforeseen events and challenges during the installation process,” which lasted no less than four years

“The experience can be very useful for the megaproject of 2,000 megawatts that would be generated with solar panels, the first phase of an ambitious [Cuban] government project to move the fossil energy matrix to a renewable one,” said the then-Japanese ambassador, Hirata Kenji.

Last November, JICA sent a shipment worth $160,000, which included water purifiers, blankets, tents and mats for 100 victims in Artemis after the passage of Hurricane Rafael.

That event was Nakamura’s debut as a diplomat on the Island after presenting his credentials, on November 20, to Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. The ambassador recalled then that it was not the first time that Japan has sent donations to Cuba: “Similar actions of the Japanese people and Government in disaster situations in Cuba” were carried out after the passage of hurricanes Sandy (2012), Matthew (2016), Irma (2017) and Ian (2022), he said.

Since 2018, Japan has also maintained eight large-scale, non-refundable financial assistance programs on the Island. One of these projects assisted the residents of Pinar del Río after Ian’s scourge. The donation included “23 water purifiers, the same number of single tanks to store the liquid, and 50 spools of cables and adapters,” said the Japanese authorities. .

Tokyo’s gifts also include 84 Japanese buses, in 2022, to the Havana transport company, and 24 garbage trucks delivered in 2019.

Japan also grants Havana microcredits of up to $130,000 with an assistance program – which doesn’t need to be reimbursed either – for “Human Security,” designed for immediate attention to small towns after specific disasters.

As for food, until 2023, Japan had spent 63,400 dollars to supply machinery to several mini-industries of fruit and vegetable preserves in Matanzas. The plan then was to collaborate with the failed Food Sovereignty Act.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With His Crusade Against the Private Sector in Holguín, Queipo Is Making Merits To Succeed Cuban President Díaz-Canel

“Everyone knows that the Castros were born in this province and whoever controls Holguín controls Cuba”

With the incorporation of Joel Queipo Ruíz in the position, many in Holguín held their breath / Radio Angulo

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 8 February 2025 — If there is a name that these days is pronounced in Holguín with a grimace and biting your lip, it is that of Joel Queipo Ruíz, first secretary of the Communist Party (PCC) in the province. Since the official took office last April, he has unleashed a witch hunt against entrepreneurs and farmers that has resulted in fines, confiscations of products and numerous closed shops.

The Chinese Fair, one of the most important points of sale in the Holguin capital, is among the main objectives of the Queipo crusade. “This, since the end of last year, has become a constant battle, and now they want to evict us,” José Alberto, owner of one of the stalls at the popular market, tells 14ymedio. Although the merchant has his papers in order, he has already begun to liquidate his products in order to leave.

The authorities have warned the merchants that the municipal ceremony of the next event on July 26 will be held on site, and that there should be no vestiges of the market. In the streets, it is rumored that “Queipo wants to make Raúl Castro happy in his birthplace.” The General spends more and more time in the nearby Cayo Saetía, where he has a retreat from which he frequently leaves for official events and meetings. continue reading

“When Queipo made his debut in office, more inspectors arrived, and the raids multiplied”

“They’ve been harassing us for months. When Queipo made his debut in office, more inspectors arrived, and the raids on the fair’s kiosks multiplied. People started closing their awnings thinking it was temporary, that it would pass, but we’ve been feeling this tension for almost a year,” he explains. “First they said they were going after the illegal stalls, some tables and pallets that didn’t have a license, near the road, but they have also made life impossible for those of us who have papers.”

José Alberto points out that the offensive reached a limit this February. “We have just been warned that we have to sell all the merchandise because they are going to close the Chinese Fair to prepare this entire area for the event of the 26th. Those who do not comply with that guideline before February 16 will receive a fine of 30,000 pesos,” he says. The announcement has raised a controversy that even reaches the official media.

“You have to find a solution to the problem, not remove it,” emphasizes a journalist from the program “In the Foreground” of the Telecentro Telecristal that alludes to the popular metaphor of “throwing away the sofa” in the face of any problem,* eliminating its visible expression but not its causes. Evidently upset with the order to remove the merchants from the fair, the reporter recognizes that “there are illegal sellers but also legal ones who are authorized.”

Two Senior Cienfuegos Officials Expelled From the Communist Party of Cuba for ‘Mistakes’ Made

López Zuñet had presented “attitude problems towards tasks that were assigned to him” / José López Zuñet/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2025 — The Communist Party of Cuba announced on Saturday the expulsion of two of its senior officials in the province of Cienfuegos, José López Zuñet, member of the Executive Bureau, and Mayré Fornaris Soriano, first secretary. These are the first dismissals in 2025, after a fertile 2024 in layoffs, which reached the highest level of the political apparatus, such as the Minister of Economy Alejando Gil and Deputy Prime Minister José Luis Perdomo.

The brief statement, published by the local radio station Radio Ciudad del Mar, alleges that López Zuñet had presented “attitude problems towards tasks that were assigned to him,” while Fornaris Soriano made “mistakes” in the “fulfillment of his functions, which affected the control of different processes of the political organization.”

Both cadres, without further explanation, were not only “separated” from their posts, but also from the ranks of the Communist Party. Other state media did not provide more details about the specific reasons that led the Party to take such drastic measures.

Instead of Fornaris Soriano, Maykel Betancourt Dueñas was elected “to direct the work of the Party in that territory”

Instead of Fornaris Soriano, Maykel Betancourt Dueñas was elected “to direct the work of the Party in that territory,” the text concludes.

Exactly one year ago, in February 2024, Cienfuegos learned of the dismissal of another first secretary of the PCC. Marydé Fernández López was “released” from office, and Armando Carranza Valladares, a veterinarian who worked in the Provincial Bureau, took over her position. continue reading

At the meeting to report her dismissal, the secretary of the Central Committee of the PCC, Roberto Morales Ojeda, underlined “her personal qualities and the results in her performance in the forefront of the organization.” He did not explain the reasons for the dismissal, and the official press limited itself to saying that the official would be “promoted to new responsibilities.”

Two months later, Miguel Díaz-Canel approved the dismissal of the governor of Cienfuegos, Alexandre Corona, who requested his resignation “recognizing mistakes made in the exercise of his responsibility.” According to a brief statement made public by the official press, which did not detail what errors were involved, he was replaced by Yolexis Rodríguez Armada, provincial deputy governor.

Two months later, Miguel Díaz-Canel approved the dismissal of the governor of Cienfuegos, Alexandre Corona

The former first secretary of the PCC in Cienfuegos, – he held the post for a decade, from 1993 to 2003 – Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, also arrived at Miami International Airport in Florida last August. After accumulating merits on the Island, where his political career and ties to the regime led him to hold a substantial list of positions and receive distinctions, the official decided to spend his retirement in the United States, where part of his family resides.

The case of Alejandro Gil, former Minister of Economy and Planning, at the beginning of 2024, triggered a wave of dismissals in several provinces that the Party explained as an ordinary movement of cadres. The first secretaries of Holguín, Pinar del Río, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Ciego de Ávila, among others, left office.

Then, at the end of October, came the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister José Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, with no further explanation than that the decision had been made “at the proposal of the President of the Republic and with prior approval of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The ‘Quimiqueros’ Take Over Las Tunas, Another Cuban City Affected by Drug Use

Two people have died and one child began abusing narcotics at age eight, according to health records.

Public Health does not have the resources to deal with the increased consumption among teenagers / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 6 February 2025 — Las Tunas has become another drug epicenter on the Island, and the increase in recorded cases, which peaked from the second half of 2024, is due to the El químico (the chemical), which has left two dead. Of the more than 500 consultations made last year by Toxicology in the province, 80% were for drug abuse. The most frequent ages were between 13 and 17 years old, although the case of a child who started consumption at only eight years old is known.

The chemical, a synthetic cannabinoid mixed with all kinds of medicines, mainly reaches the hands of teenagers, said Jorge Rueda Gómez, a psychologist at the Territorial Addictions service, in an interview with Periódico 26 published on Wednesday. The authorities have done everything possible to stop the increase in consumers. However, “the trend persists” and “leans towards the consumption of el químico, marijuana and some controlled drugs such as tramadol and carbamazepine.”

Health facilities have already begun to receive serious cases of substance abuse, such as the first user of methamphetamines – who bought them thinking they were el químico – or the first pregnant addict who, at just 16 years old, tried to commit suicide after not getting an abortion in the hospital. Her “husband” – the official press does not comment on the fact that she is married at such a young age – is also a “poly-drug consumer.”

Not even the doctors themselves know what to do in the face of the teenager’s situation. “In the face of this first case of a pregnant consumer, the Maternal and Child Care Program maximizes care, but many questions pop up, like what will the baby’s neurodevelopment be, and its motor and cognitive abilities? It is a challenge for Neonatology, and we have to be prepared to help her and, in addition, to receive her child, who may even continue reading

suffer from withdrawal syndrome. This is now the reality of the province,” says Alejandro Mestre Barroso, the province’s main specialist in Toxicology.

Not even the doctors themselves know what to do in the face of the teenager’s situation

The doctor warns of the ability of narcotics to alter the genetics of fetuses. The drugs can “enter the gene, modify it and transmit it genetically. That is, the phenomenon is not only in consumption; it is also transmitted to the offspring,” even creating patterns of schizophrenia.

Two deaths associated with the use of narcotics have also been recorded, one from a direct cause – the increase in heart rate and blood pressure caused a stroke; and another indirect – the buyer argued with the trafficker, who ended up assaulting him. None of the eight municipalities in the province escapes the increase in drug use, although it is mostly concentrated in the capital city.

The arrival of el químico has caused a state of “alarm” among the health authorities. “Given the worrying rise in consumption among teenagers, the Addictions service of the Mártires de Las Tunas pediatric hospital does not have the material conditions to deal with patients who now use drugs routinely,” admits Norkis Sánchez Alonso, head of Medical Assistance of the General Directorate of Health.

El químico, which “has maliciously settled on the streets of Las Tunas,” even forced the authorities to organize a first Provincial Workshop on Addictions in January. In other provinces the arrests of traffickers have also been published on official social media as a form of warning.

The “quimiqueros,” as the users of this drug are called, end up living in a hospital during treatment and have already become frequent patients in the health centers of Las Tunas. The province even enabled an ad hoc room with 17 beds shared by alcoholics and drug addicts.

“It is very difficult to put addictions aside, hence the importance of not starting this habit”

“It is very difficult to put addictions aside, hence the importance of not starting this dangerous habit. From the fourth hour of suspending consumption, important and harmful withdrawal symptoms appear: anxiety, despair, insomnia and aggressiveness. Then come the feeling of skin alterations, hallucinations, nightmares and functioning at a psychotic level, bordering on insanity,” explains the specialist.

After the stay in this center, for about three weeks, the patients face a “difficult social recovery,” and many relapse. The doctor does not deny that the return to consumption, especially after a few days of treatment, is frequent: “Effective rehabilitation is what we lack the most. There are action protocols for the relapses, but we have to make them known and applied from the Health services, or we will not be able to win this battle.”

In particular, the local media Periódico 26 tells the story of a teenager who arrived at the center “suffering strange symptoms, screaming for help.” He had started consuming el químico “practically as a child, in the neighborhood.” In his worst week, he spent more than 40,000 pesos on the drug and consumed more than “10 lines” per day.

“He told his mother that he felt he was going crazy, and she gave him the money [to buy] for fear that he would go out on the street and do something terrible. His addiction caused tachycardia,” says the newspaper, and in the end it was his mother who “almost dragged” him into the clinic to get help.

The therapy and the days of abstinence, however, did not last long, and the official press does not wonder if the case, quite common, is due to the limited rehabilitation system. “The return home was a hotbed of temptations. The new prices – el químico at 300 pesos and a marijuana cigarette at 500 – swept away the money in hand, and when there was no longer anywhere to get it, he went out unrestrained at 10:30 in the morning and snatched a phone from a lady in plain sight. He was sentenced to 19 years in the provincial prison.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban State Extends Its Business Network in Dollars With Mercalhabana and Alma Caribe

The authorities expect there to be 50 new Alma Caribe stores, which will supply businesses and the population

The 23rd and C store has suppliers from “the same portfolio” as the one at 3rd and 70th / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Rosa Pascual / José Lassa, Madrid / Havana, 6 February 2025 — Three women sat down this Wednesday on the State’s Round Table program to give more details on television about a thorny issue for Cubans: the so-called “partial” dollarization. The regime has inexcusably decided to attach that adjective to the noun to convince the population that one day the peso will have value. However, last night it was again verified that, in the short term, only those who have foreign currency on their cards can expect an improvement.

Aracelys Cardoso Hernández, Deputy Minister of Internal Trade, began with a clear statement: “There is a deficient supply in national currency with the contraction of production and the foreign currency deficit, which does not allow businesses to be restocked,” she said, without identifying – much less assuming – responsibility .

The official explained that the measures approved in 2022 to trade in foreign currency “in order to have future offers in national currency that benefit the population” have led to the launch of several businesses of this type, both in the wholesale and retail markets, in line with what was announced a week ago on the Round Table program.

“Fifteen wholesale and retail marketing plans have been approved, of which eight are linked to the business system”

“Fifteen wholesale and retail marketing businesses have been approved, of which eight are linked to the business system served by the Internal Commerce system. One is made through an international economic partnership contract. The first three are dedicated to wholesale marketing, and five are mixed companies that have approved the wholesale and retail continue reading

marketing of consumer goods and various products for the population,” she said.

In the 60 minutes that Randy Alonso’s program lasts, the origin of foreign investors was not mentioned – “the eight projects come from seven countries,” was all that was known, as she left out the names of the companies. She did want to convey the idea that they will find “a qualified workforce” in Cuba, something that will depend on the salaries that these new businesses can offer, at a time when the workforce is a source of concern in all sectors, particularly in the State sector.

The businesses are aimed at both the population and the wholesale supply of State and private stores – “all the actors of the economy” in bureaucratic language – and their main offers, at least initially, will be food, household utensils and cleaning and personal hygiene products .

The inspiration is in the supermarket at 3rd and 70th, on the ground floor of the luxury hotel Gran Muthu Habana, which has had an excellent economic result according to the authorities. Cardoso Hernández said that an attempt is being made to promote the idea that the prices are “competitive.”

Present at Mesa Redonda, Sonia Rivero Batista will be the Cuban manager of the joint venture Alma Caribe S.A., one of the two large companies presented yesterday that will be dedicated to retail and wholesale trade – both State and private – of many different national and imported products. Its expansion is expected to be vertiginous, according to its representative.

One of the stores announced is at 23rd and C, in El Vedado, Havana, which is ready to receive customers, although it is not yet open. A reporter from 14ymedio went to the store and verified that it remains empty. Some curious people who approached the windows of the establishment made similar observations: the refrigerator was disconnected, and there were no products inside. “It will be both a wholesaler and a retailer,” said a worker who left the store and locked the door.

Rivero indicated that the suppliers of this store are from “the same portfolio” as the one at 3rd and 70th, and that their experience in product rotation and stock needs is the basis for operating in this way. Market studies have also been done, she said, through interviews, to find out how much customers are willing to pay, with sales in freely convertible currency as a basis.

The reporter also visited other places, such as the one at 25th and 12th, where they are remodeling a Panamericana store and training employees in collecting payments by currency cards and cash dollars. “There is still no date set [for the opening]; we don’t know when,” said a worker. Another store that will use the same business model is under repair at Linea and 12th.

From here on, the growth is expected to be brutal. It will start with rented stores – there are now two being repaired – and will move to modular construction, two of them planned for the short term. They will each have 1,000 square meters, and there will be 15 of them in Havana. Ultimately there will be 50 throughout the Island, 48 of them new. In parallel, there will also be online sales.

Rivero Batista stressed that the ultimate goal is to “contribute to the development of national industry. For us, it represents a strength to have the availability of these products in the country, because it allows us to have them at our fingertips in a shorter period of time with cheaper costs. That makes it possible for us to link with these national suppliers.”

Construction work on a Panamericana store in Havana where dollars will be accepted / 14ymedio

The other great protagonist of the night was Mercalhabana S.A., a State-owned commercial company that represents 22 wholesale companies and “has as its main objective participation as a national shareholder in foreign investments, as well as managing imports and exports authorized to supply the wholesale channel of the country.”

Yaimara Pérez Barrera, its vice president, indicated that this will be the “gateway” to the business system, acting as a manager and promoter of projects for the wholesale food sector. She did not reveal the amount that has had to be disbursed for a modernization that, she said, was radical, since the existing structure had “a notable deterioration and technological obsolescence.” Infrastructure has been recovered, and new technology has been incorporated, in particular for refrigeration, where the national company has supplied refrigerators and freezers, essential “for the business scheme in foreign investments.”

The director pointed out, without specifying anything, that there is already an existing business “in the form of a joint venture for wholesale and retail trade,” and two other similar ones are being studied. As a novelty, Pérez Barrera said, Mercalhabana has included “alternative forms of marketing, such as the sale of products on consignment and in customs warehouses.” The latter, she added, has been underway since 2024, and has allowed a “partial replenishment of the wholesale system, alleviating to some extent the shortage of basic necessities.”

All this will only be within the reach of companies and the population that can pay in foreign currency, what could be called a “partial” sphere

All this will only be within the reach of companies and the population that can pay in foreign currency, what could be called a “partial” sphere, but Deputy Minister Cardoso Hernández did not want the broadcast to end without insisting that all this is for a better future.

“Internal trade in national currency is and will continue being the majority in our country. The population must have confidence, because despite the situation that the Cuban market shows today, it is a priority of the State and our ministry that the offers in national currency continue to be the majority,” she said, before citing the battered social programs that must cover the needs of those who will be forced to look for non-existent products in the ration stores.

Thus, she concluded: “The partial dollarization of the economy is a temporary projection in the short term, but necessary for the capture of foreign exchange. The Cuban State will define the priorities of that currency in correspondence with what the population demands, its economy, industry and progress.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Suspension of USAID Causes Alarm in the Free Press and Excitement in the Cuban State Press

‘CubaNet’ launches a campaign to raise funds to continue its work and “protect journalists who are under harassment” on the Island

USAID facilities in Washington DC, last Monday / EFE / Shawn Thew

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 February 2025 — President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend cooperation through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has caused an earthquake in almost all countries, where thousands of non-governmental organizations depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on those funds.

In the case of Cuba, the concern is very serious. Last year alone, according to the report made by business magnate Elon Musk at Trump’s request, revealed to Congress by Senator John Kennedy, the expenditure to “rebuild the Cuban media ecosystem” was one and a half million dollars. It is an infinitesimal part of USAID’s total budget of 60 billion dollars annually, but it represents a substantial part of the expenditures of several independent media, which try to compensate for the Cuban regime’s propaganda with unofficial news.

In addition, dozens of Cuban organizations working for human rights, free enterprise and freedom of expression benefited from these funds. The US Embassy on the Island also organizes several programs and scholarships to train Cubans in human rights, diplomacy and languages, which could be affected.

Last year alone, USAID’s expenditure to “rebuild the Cuban media ecosystem” was one and a half million dollars

CubaNet, dean of the independent press, has launched a campaign to raise funds with an alarming message. The money raised – from donations as little as three dollars – will help “so that the press media that has truthfully informed you for more than 25 years can continue its extraordinary work and protect journalists who are under harassment from the regime.”

Luis Cino, a collaborator of CubaNet, attacked the decision to suspend the aid. “Trump is about to achieve what the repressors of State Security have not been able to achieve: ending independent journalism in Cuba,” he said continue reading

on his networks. Explicitly asking not to comment on anything publicly until they have more information about the measure, several NGOs linked to Cuban affairs, including those based in Miami, communicated to their employees the cessation of their payments and collaborations, Café Fuerte said on January 28.

Hope for the independent organizations and media lies in the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The former Cuban-American senator for Florida, aware of all those headlines and activists inside and outside the Island, was appointed interim director of USAID last Monday.

Hope for the independent organizations and media lies in the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio

Although Rubio, who made the announcement during his official trip to El Salvador, assured that “the USAID functions will continue,” he did not take a position on the future of the agency, saying that it suffers from the “endemic problem” of refusing to align its projects with the interests of US foreign policy.

“Every dollar we spend, every program we finance must be aligned with the national interest of the United States, and USAID has a history of ignoring that and deciding that, somehow, they are a global charity separate from the national interest,” he said to the press.

That same Monday, USAID workers in Washington were ordered to stay at home, and the agency’s offices in the American capital were sealed shut.

Meanwhile, the Cuban regime’s press makes fuel from the fallen tree, after decades of denouncing that both USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) serve only to “submit the internal agendas of other countries to the interests of the White House.”

This same Thursday, Cubainformación.tv, a Castro channel financed with Spanish public funds through Basque entities, returned to the charge, defining the cooperation agency – created in 1961, in the middle of the Cold War, by President John F. Kennedy – as “a front for the intelligence services” of the United States.

In a brief statement published last Tuesday, the BBC acknowledged that its charitable organization has been affected

The cut not only affects small organizations and independent media that fight against the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, but also colossal ones such as the British BBC, whose NGO in charge of supporting press freedom in the world – BBC Media Action – has notified its beneficiaries that the US Government was financing part of its budget.

In a brief statement published last Tuesday, the BBC recognized that its charity has been affected by the “temporary pause in funding by the United States Government, which amounted to 8% of our income in 2023-24.” The BBC assures that it is “doing everything possible to minimize the impact on our partners and the people we serve.”

Likewise, it explains that BBC Media Action “supports local media around the world to provide reliable information to the most needy people,” recalling that 75% of countries around the globe do not have a free press.

They also explain that the NGO is “completely separate” from BBC News, the company’s information division, and that it depends “totally” on “donors and sympathizers” to carry out its work.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Western Union Suspends Money Transfers to Cuba Due to “Limitations” Imposed by Trump

The inclusion of the Orbit regime’s financial institution on the US blacklist prevents transactions with the Island

The interruption of remittances was predictable once Trump took office / EFE

14ymedio, Havana/Miami, 7 February 2025 — The foreseeable brake of the Trump Administration on Western Union (WU) operations in Cuba is now active. The American company suspended the sending of remittances to the Island on Wednesday, February 5, alleging growing “limitations by the US Government” that have made it impossible to maintain the service.

“They have not told us if it will be final, but at the moment we cannot carry out transactions with Cuba,” a WU worker in Miami told 14ymedio. This newspaper contacted three other offices in Florida, which have confirmed the information. At the moment, the company has not issued any official statement.

The company’s website, from which remittances to the Island could be sent – and which arrive in pesos – indicated “problems” when trying to perform an operation and was told to “try again later.” Another employee of the company explained to this newspaper that it was the recipient country that caused the problem: “They have already removed the service,” she said, “and aren’t even coming into the office. Since February 5, remittances have been suspended.” continue reading

A third person offered a supposedly technical explanation and claimed that the problem was affecting the whole company: the page is “blocked. We can’t access it with our password.” Finally, another worker, who serves customers in English and was less informed about the situation in Cuba, said she was unaware of the problem: “There is nothing wrong with our system.”

A third person offered a supposedly technical explanation and claimed that the problem was affecting the whole company

The interruption of the transfer of money through WU was predictable once Trump took office. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinstated and expanded on February 1 the Restricted List of Cuba, which forbids transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces and Cuban counterintelligence.

In his statement, Rubio said that the “black list” was re-implemented “to deny resources to the same branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and monitor the Cuban people while controlling large sectors of the country’s economy.” He also added Orbit, the remittance processing company whose links to the Cuban Armed Forces have been documented by the press.

In 2022, the Central Bank of Cuba gave Orbit the authority to manage remittances sent through Western Union and other platforms.

Orbit, under the jurisdiction of Cimex Financial, which is controlled by the military conglomerate Gaesa, also manages the money that enters the country through other platforms such as VaCuba and Cubamax.

In May of last year, and after resuming remittances – suspended for two years – WU sealed an alliance with Katapulk, the virtual shopping site of Cuban-American tycoon Hugo Cancio. A supporter of rapprochement with the regime and one of its financial allies in Florida, Cancio announced “an additional channel to send money, using the Western Union platform.”

According to the president of WU for North America and Latin America, Rodrigo García Estebarena, the company’s service provides a “crucial connection between those who live in the United States and their families in Cuba.”

For many Cubans in exile, remittances have done nothing but give oxygen to the regime by supplying it with the foreign currencies it so desires

For many voices of the Cuban exile, such as that of Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, remittances have done no more than oxygenate the Cuban regime with the foreign currencies that it needs to stay afloat in the midst of one of the most severe crises that the country has experienced.

Last December, Cuba Siglo 21 reported that Gaesa has lost more than 95% of the market for remittances from the United States to the Island. According to the organization’s calculations for the income received through April 2024, the military conglomerate will receive 81.6 million dollars in remittances this year, just 4.13% of the total volume collected in 2023, 1.972 billion dollars. This is due, it alleges, to a “silent citizen financial rebellion against its banking monopoly,” which in practice implies that much of the money sent from abroad to the Island is channeled “through a network of more than 150 informal banks.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Rejected by the United States, a Cuban Doctor and an Activist Seek To Stay in Mexico

The Mexican government has turned the state of Tabasco into a third border for migrants, a lawyer says

Activist Jorge Cervantes García is in Villahermosa, Tabasco / Jorge Cervantes

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, February 7, 2025 — Cuban activist Jorge Cervantes García, one of the 2,539 migrants returned to Mexican territory in the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s government, tells 14ymedio that “Mexico and the United States have militarized their borders in an attempt to stop everything.” The opponent was forced by State Security to leave the Island in December, and now he is stranded with thousands of migrants in a country where he has nothing and his future is uncertain.

The member of the Cuba Primero movement and former militant of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said that on December 23, he crossed the Rio Grande along with 15 other migrants and surrendered to the US authorities. The only thing the Border Patrol told them was that “the procedures were paralyzed.” They took photographs and fingerprints, recorded their data on a computer and, the next day, returned them to Mexico.

Cervantes García mentions that the Mexican government is sending deported migrants, including him, as far as possible from the border with the United States. Since last August, the Administration turned the state of Tabasco, in the extreme south of the country, into “the third border for foreigners,” says lawyer Arturo Manríquez. “The figures, updated to August, indicate that during the mandate of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 36,000,000 dollars were disbursed for the transfer of people in an irregular situation on flights and buses,” he adds.

Venezuelan María Alejandra and her son Jhon Alexander were deported last week by the United States and returned to Mexico / Jorge Cervantes

The Cuban activist, who is in the Tabasco capital of Villahermosa, confirms that with these transfers, the city “has been crowded with people from all over the world without any guarantees or protection.”

In recent days, several flights have arrived with Cubans, desperate over their situation and the uncertainty about being returned to the Island. continue reading

“Migration doesn’t tell us anything; they simply put us out on the street and close the gate” of the hostel, claims Cervantes García.

The opponent, banished by the regime for “asking for freedom,” is looking for work to be able to send money to his family. His situation is similar to that of many other migrants from the continent with whom he shares the city and the anxiety.

María Alejandra and her son Jhon Alexander are Venezuelans, who were deported by the United States. Since last week she has been in Villahermosa without money or a place to stay. She survives on the street by what people give her and is afraid of being kidnapped.

On her journey, the Venezuelan suffered two confinements against her will. “The mafia kidnapped me in Juchitán (Oaxaca) and separated me from my son. I spent almost five days without hearing from him,” she says. Her kidnappers kept her tied up; she was released after her mother paid $1,200. In Reynosa (Tamaulipas) she was again a victim of organized crime. “I felt helpless and afraid that they would do something to me.”

However, María Alejandra does not want to return to the Venezuela that she abandoned in search of a better future, and she trusts that Mexico will grant her asylum.

Cuban doctor Niury had her CBP One appointment canceled after the arrival of Donald Trump to the US presidency / Facebook

For her part, Niury, a Cuban doctor, says that she wanted to go to the United States and reunite with her family, but with the arrival of Trump, the doors to that country were closed, and her CBP One appointment was canceled.

The medical graduate points out that she left Cuba because she was tired of “so many lies and the dictatorship.” Her goal was to “search for freedom,” and she does not plan to return. Trying to find an alternative, she went to the offices of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid in Tijuana to request refuge and hopes to stay in Mexico. “If I manage to work in my profession and everything goes well, I’ll stay here.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, at the beginning of February, offered the United States 10,000 Army soldiers and the National Guard to combat the passage of migrants and drugs, mainly fentanyl. In return, Trump suspended the 25% tariff on Mexican products for a month.

The Mexican president also confirmed the “voluntary” deportation by air of Hondurans. “Yesterday (Thursday) a flight left, and they are also being returned by land transport. If they want us to, we can accompany them so that they can return to their countries of origin,” she added.

That day, at the international port of San Ysidro, on the Mexican side, elements of the National Guard and the Criminal Investigation Agency checked every vehicle crossing the checkpoint. In addition, camps are being set up at strategic points along the border, in coordination with the municipal police and the state police, to detect the transfer of migrants, weapons and drugs in vehicles. The strategy also includes routes along the border.

This process, said the director of the Binational Center for Human Rights, Víctor Clark Alfaro, puts the integrity of migrants at risk. “National Guard agents are not trained in the field of migrants’ human rights and even less so in trying to stop them. That will complicate the situation and can create tensions between both groups.”

Clark Alfaro applauded the concern of the Sheinbaum Administration about the fentanyl problem. “Fentanyl is produced in Mexico and crosses to the United States. There is collusion with drug trafficking, which cannot be denied either.” However, the success of this operation will not be seen until the real shortage of this drug is reflected in the United States.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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