Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 64

I Left Home on an Adventurous Night

Cuba is still the same at the end of this year, and according to Dr. House, it will continue like this, because people never change

“Chicharrón y frijoles negros” Chicharrón and Black Beans], oil on canvas by Roberto Fabelo, painted in 2016 // Fabelo Studios

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, December 29, 2024 — If you are given the choice between staying at home and watching “Dr. House” – especially that episode in which Wilson asks him not to confuse medicine with metaphysics and he answers that it doesn’t matter, because the truth is the truth – or visiting a place related to Cuba, even if it is the most innocent, always choose the first. And not only because House’s philosophy is always better than nationalism and nostalgia, but because everything that has to do with that country is tired, historical or transcendental. Even more so if it is the end of the year, when every act is a summary, a compendium of what has been lived and an announcement of the future.

But it happens that one chooses both things, and with the promise of returning to television at midnight – tea or cigar in hand – he immerses himself in the cold of Salamanco, zero degrees while I write for the reader’s information, and overcomes the mileage that separates him from the Domus Artium, the monstrous enclosure that houses the collection of Cuban art by Luciano Méndez.

Méndez, an old banker born in Salamanca, is one of the quietest and most famous collectors of Cuban works. Money, more will, more contacts. Residence – I think – in Havana. More than 600 pieces preserved, judging by the explanation of the attentive receptionist of the Domus Artium, in vaults safer than Winston Churchill’s bunker. Of these, the work of several contemporary painters is on display until February. Take advantage, boy, whispers a little devil or a cemí [Taino spirit] on my shoulder. continue reading

Deliciously touristy, very warm, the guide gives her best so that the Europeans can savor the tropical flavor

Well, here I am, eight at night, about to start a tour. I am accompanied by my wife and, together but not scrambled, a tall German woman who looks like Tilda Swinton, a couple of university students – I would say they appear to be stoned if it were not a cliché – two French housewives and the guide, Cuban by the way. It promises to be an immersive experience, so I stay away from the motley group as much as possible.

Deliciously touristy, very warm – did I mention that we are now at minus one degree? – the guide gives it her best so that the Europeans can savor the tropical flavor. The excess of maritime metaphors – the exhibition is called “Log of an Unfinished Journey” – leaves Swinton and company cold, and they soon disperse and contemplate the paintings, turning their necks with the elasticity of those possessed.

So much solemnity overwhelms me, and I begin to see the exhibition from the end to the beginning. If the crossing is unfinished, if the logbook is incomplete, if the sailor has an elegant name for the raft, I will have no problems. Serious mistake. Because of my recklessness, Fabelo assaults me at the start. Fabelo is to painting what Padura is to literature. They no longer surprise us but we like to have them on hand, on the wall, in the shower or on the bookshelf, the better to insult them.

For his ornamental vocation and how good he looks on a coaster or a curtain, Fabelo is a great favorite of collectors

For his ornamental vocation and how good he looks on a coaster or a curtain, Fabelo is a great favorite of collectors. The guide explains to the survivors that the master is not only a prodigy at painting tits – we are facing a great breast observer – but also works with everyday objects of the country, and that the blackened coffee maker, that Celtic cauldron, that toothless fork truly belong to the families of that aboriginal civilization. I am amazed, because Fabelo’s junk enjoys better health than the utensils of any Cuban house.

I come across Alejandro Gómez Cangas’ megalithic lines. Lines that are scary, lines that confirm what we already knew: even after death we Cubans form a line. Faceless faces, broken flip-flops, the eternal string bags. It makes you want to ask who’s the last [in line], but we get to Sosabravo’s paintings. I am bewitched looking at the transparent indigo of “La Soprano Calva” [The Bald Soprano]- death, according to Cabrera Infante – and I pass by Sandra Ramos, Daniela Águila, the photos of Roberto Chile, that Landaluze of Castroism, and Manuel Mendive.

I have always wondered why a country that has Belkis Ayón needs Manuel Mendive and if the Devil would not allow us the metaphysical trick of exchanging him for her. In the Cuban afterlife, Belkis is the queen, and Mendive, if anything, an altar boy. But, according to taste, there are orishas and the Sikanese.

In Cuba artists have to express themselves in allegories, she says, because there may be censorship

Before Elizabeth Cerviño’s El Deshielo [The Thaw] the guide stops. Absorbed in front of the canvas, without sparing opinions, she explains the ideological caliber of the painting and its historical dimension. In Cuba, artists have to express themselves in allegories, she says, because there may be censorship. Tilda Swinton, until now half-dead, wakes up. “Das darf doch nicht wahr sein!” [That can’t be true!] she exclaims. “And critical artists, can they return to their country?” “Of course not!” answers the guide. “As long as you don’t attack the Government head-on, you can return, of course.”

Mein Gott, I think, and I vanish. Ciao, Chano, and thank you for the paintings. With citizens like that who needs counterintelligence? Dr. House says that everyone is lying and I hope he’s right. He also says that the truth is the truth, and that the idea of nation is one of the most stupid and dangerous that the human being has devised.

It’s now the end of the year and every act smells like a summary, a compendium of what has been experienced and an announcement of the future. Cuba is still the same, and according to House’s diagnosis, it will continue to be so, because people never change. Or the change is slow and sometimes life is not long enough to see it. Hope is a narcotic that my generation, unlike the previous ones, never smoked. I go back home and thaw out. My little thaw. Is there more homeland than this sofa?

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Faces 2024: Bernardo Espinosa, the Face of Every Day’s Bad News

In a year marked by blackouts, this journalist tells how much darkness awaits Cubans, although many of them can’t even tune in to Canal Caribe

Bernardo Espinosa is based at the headquarters of the Unión Eléctrica de Cuba / Canal Caribe

14ymedio, Havana, December 29, 2024 — One of the most popular faces on Cuban television is that of Bernardo Espinosa Moya, and not precisely because of the joy he usually brings. This journalist, based at the headquarters of the Unión Eléctrica de Cuba, has almost had to form a duet with Lázaro Guerra, engineer and general director of electricity of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

In a year marked more than ever by blackouts and total disconnections, Espinosa is the voice that every morning tells how much darkness awaits Cubans, although many of them cannot even tune in to Canal Caribe, because a programmed or untimely power cut prevents them from turning on the television or seeing a fragment of the Buenos Días Magazine on social networks.

Espinosa graduated in journalism in 1990 from the University of Oriente and has specialized ever since in hydraulic resources, transport and the mining and energy sectors. His official biography indicates that he has carried out missions in several Latin American countries (Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia) and African countries (Zimbabwe and Mozambique). He was given awards by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua, by Félix Elmusa of the Union of Journalists and by the Ministry of Public Health for his coverage of the so-called “medical missions.”

Another recognition that draws attention in his career is the one made by the Ministry of the Armed Forces for his coverage of the “funeral honors of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz”

Another recognition that draws attention in his career is the one made by the Ministry of the Armed Forces for his coverage of the “funeral honors of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.” Among his special reports, in continue reading

addition, are those of the 7th Congress of the Communist Party, the 6th plenary of the Central Committee of the PCC, sessions of the National Assembly and “weather events and National Energy Contingency.”

Little or none of this matters to most Cubans, who only see in Espinosa’s face the bad news of each day. Although they sometimes wake up with happy news, such as that the payment was finally made that allows a ship to unload liquefied gas or oil that temporarily relieves their worries, or that some thermoelectric plant or the other was back online, the expert usually talks about a growing deficit in electricity generation.

The blackouts are nothing new in Cuba, which has experienced two years of pain in this regard. Thermal power plants are dying from old age, and “maintenance” consists of a bandaid on an open wound. The supply of crude oil is increasingly inaccessible due to the lack of foreign exchange, despite the efforts of Venezuela, Mexico and Russia. These problems, in addition to the lack of governmemt investment when it was still possible to avoid this disaster, suffocate the national electricity system (SEN) so much that this end of the year has been agonizing, with three total disconnections and the constant threat of another one at any time.

In summer, the Ministry of Energy and Mines presented a plan for the construction of solar parks with the collaboration of China that, if it had been implemented ten years ago, would have been timely. Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy announced in September – coinciding with the decommissioning of the 60-year old Tallapiedra thermoelectric plant – that in early 2025 there would be almost 500 megawatts of installed solar power that would improve the situation. The minister then believed that after the winter, when demand falls due to the relief of temperatures, the new year would give a break to the sector. The worst was yet to come, with the complete collapses of the National Electric System in October, November and December. Experts predict that, at best, the Chinese solar parks will not begin generating electricity until 2027.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Cuba Releases Salvadoran Raúl Cruz León, After He Completed a 30-Year Sentence for Terrorism on the Island

Arrested in Cuba on September 4, 1997, the foreigner was accused of placing six explosive devices

Archive photo of Raúl Ernesto Cruz León / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 31 December 2024 — Salvadoran Raúl Ernesto Cruz León was released this Monday in Cuba, where he served a 30-year prison sentence for carrying out terrorist attacks against tourist facilities on the island, official media reported. “Today, after serving his sentence, Cruz León has been released, demonstrating that Cuba respects its laws and guarantees justice, even for those who have committed serious crimes,” said a statement published in Cubadebate.

The article notes that Cruz León, “was arrested, tried and sentenced to death in Cuba. However, in an act of coherence and humanity, the Cuban legal system commuted his sentence to 30 years in prison.” In addition, the statement points out that his release, after serving his sentence, “is an example of the fairness of the Cuban legal system, which applies the laws impartially and consistently.”

However, it adds: “We cannot forget that the intellectual authors of these terrorist acts, who planned and financed the attacks, have lived and died in the United States without facing justice.”

It also states that Cuba “has faced terrorism with firmness and respect for legality, investigating and sanctioning those responsible for criminal actions that have caused pain and loss to its citizens and visitors.” The note reiterates that the United States “has allowed the intellectual authors and financiers of these terrorist attacks to live free and unpunished in Miami.” In that sense, it points to Luis Posada Carriles, who died “without being tried for his crimes,” and to “other promoters of terrorism against the Island who continue to enjoy impunity on US territory.” continue reading

Posada Carriles acknowledged in statements to The New York Times that he had organized the attacks with financing from the FNCA

Cruz León was arrested in Cuba on September 4, 1997 and accused of placing six explosive devices between July and September of that year in the hotels Nacional, Capri, Copacabana, Tritón, Chateau-Miramar and the well-known restaurant La Bodeguita del Medio, all in Havana.

One of those bombs caused the death of Italian businessman Fabio di Celmo, 32, and injured seven other people.

In the trial held in 1999, Cruz León was found guilty of the crime of “continuous terrorism” and sentenced to death after proving that he was sent to the island for those purposes by the anti-Castro organization Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana (FNCA), based in Miami, and by the Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles, who died in 2018 in that city of Florida.

Posada Carriles, a former CIA collaborator, acknowledged in statements to The New York Times that he had organized the attacks with financing from the FNCA.

In 2010, the People’s Supreme Court of the Island decided to replace the original sanction imposed on Cruz León with that of 30 years of deprivation of liberty, at the conclusion of his appeal of the death penalty.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban Commentator Sergio Ortega, Famous for Inventing Soccer Goals, Settles With His Family in the United States

Sergio Ortega is the son of Manolo Ortega, who was a “personal friend” and official presenter of Fidel Castro at political events.

Sergio Ortega had some privileges on the Island, such as his vacations in the Varadero Hotels. / Adults Only Hotel Los Cactus

14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2024 — Sports commentator Sergio Ortega of Tele Rebelde has left Cuba. The reporter and his family arrived this Sunday at Miami International Airport. According to journalist Henry Morales, they plan to settle “in South Florida,” where 1.1 million Cubans reside.

The abandonment of Ortega, son of Manolo Ortega, who was a “personal friend” and official presenter of Fidel Castro in political events, caused surprise. As the page La Tijera on Facebook recalls, the communicator “had certain privileges on the Island, such as his vacations in the hotels of Varadero,” whose images he himself spread on social networks, and “other facilities that the rest of his colleagues in the guild could not enjoy.”

Ortega, 67, has not commented on his departure, which could be via humanitarian parole – which has allowed the entry of more than 110,000 compatriots since January 2023 – or through a family reunification visa. In any case, his departure is part of the unstoppable migratory wave, driven by economic and social deterioration, blackouts, and lack of healthcare in Cuba.

A hydraulic engineer by profession, Ortega broke into the Cuban media in 1994. The Coco station – where his father worked – in Havana, gave him his first opportunity in sports announcing. Throughout a career of 30 years, he ventured into the narration of basketball, volleyball and soccer matches, continue reading

among other disciplines. Alongside Renier González, he covered World Cups and Olympic Games.

More than this trajectory, however, he is known by fans for his blunders and his narratives about Cuban athletes who competed under another flag. In the World Cup Brazil 2014, for example, he said, “What a cannon shot!” about a kick by Englishman Raheem Sterling that hit one side of the goal post defended by the Italian Salvatore Sirigu. Seconds later he recognized his mistake: “Ay, if it had gone in, my God!”

An Internet user considered that Sergio Ortega was “the worst thing about the World Cup” in Brazil 2014. “We have bad commentators; they are also partial, which doesn’t go over very well,” said a reader in a Cubadebate article. Cuban sports announcers deserve “expulsion from Cuban TV,” he stressed.

His false goals were common. He celebrated an alleged score by Real Madrid striker Eden Hazard against RB Leipzig. “Real Madrid’s superb collective goal,” he narrated. “Goal at (minute) 80: they were tied and now secures first place in the Champions League group (European club tournament).” The ball never entered the goal.

Ortega was also very loud after he fell asleep during a broadcast, then woke up and invented a soccer play.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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2024, The Year of Darkness in Cuba

This year that ends, Castroism has lost a good part of the little popular support it had left and will limp into January. Unfortunately, so will Cubans.

Cuba has suffered very prolonged power cuts in 2024 / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2024 — 2024 has been the most difficult year that Cubans have lived in this century. Everything that could go wrong became worse in these last twelve months. The economic crisis, inflation, the deterioration of basic services, insecurity and the migratory exodus have marked the passage of days on the Island. This has been a time of darkness, not only because of the constant blackouts and the three total collapses of the national energy system, but also because not a single ray of hope has shone.

While in the streets there was talk of collapse, the official discourse defined the situation as a “complex” scenario. As the number and volume of voices calling for economic openness grew, regulations were raining down from the Government to put rigid limits on the private sector and stop the development of private companies. While on social networks, in the long lines in front of ATMs and at family tables consensus was reached on the urgency of a political change, official propaganda insisted on continuity.

As the months went by, the faces of Cubans became longer, their cheekbones more prominent and the circles under their eyes darker

As the months went by, the faces of the Cubans became longer, their cheekbones more prominent and the circles under their eyes darker, but before the news cameras the Communist Party leaders became plumper and pinker, their necks thicker and their waists more difficult to contain by belts and buttons. The divorce between Cuban reality and the group in power became impossible to hide. That pronounced fracture was evidenced not only through body weight, but, especially, through words.

At the plummet of the rationed market, countless statements from ministers and officials came out claiming that no one would be left helpless. While the streets were filled with beggars and children asking for money or food, propaganda directed its spotlights towards poverty in liberal democracies. When the doors and windows were opened to the Kremlin’s continue reading

interference on the Island, the tone on the supposed sovereignty of the country was raised. Instead of listening to the crying of mothers watching their children leave through Central America, the official press preferred to place the microphone on the voice of others displaced by distant conflicts. Faced with the increase in crime, the regime’s spokesmen pointed out incidents on American and European streets.

Two diametrically different countries lived in Cuba this year. On the one hand, the empty pharmacies and hospitals with hardly any medical staff; on the other, the one that exports health workers anywhere in the world and boasts of its novel drugs. The number of femicides exceeded 50 murders throughout 2024, but the Federation of Cuban Women boasted of the low incidence of sexist violence on the Island.

If there was something that was planned to improve, this year it was ruined even more

Despite the hundreds of political prisoners who are still locked up in prisons, Havana pretended to show respect for human rights before international organizations, judged other countries that did not pay it ideological homage and gave a lecture on the benefits of its prison system. In November alone, seven prisoners died behind bars for situations that point to the responsibility or complicity of their jailers.

The economic projection was not accomplished by even one decimal point. If there was something that was planned to improve, this year it was ruined even more. Food production continued to collapse, and farmers responded with fewer deliveries despite the pressures of the state monopoly Acopio. The fields became unsafe spaces where animal slaughterers and thieves didn’t let the rural population sleep. The industry almost disappeared, and the numbers of tourists fell below those of the previous year, for the first time since the pandemic.

If the previous Christmas we thought we had hit rock bottom, this shows that our assessment was naive. This December it seems that there is absolutely nothing to celebrate, but there are reasons to harbor a modest optimism: the Cuban dictatorship will enter 2025 very weakened. To the financial and productive crisis must be added the galloping decrease in support within the sectors that, until recently, blindly defended it. This year that ends, Castroism has lost a good part of the little popular support it had left and will limp into January. Unfortunately, so will Cubans.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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November Rumors in Cuba: Militarization, Protests, Diversion of International Aid

It is alleged that doses of the synthetic drug known as ‘químico’ are being sold on the online platform Revolico

Several Cuban soldiers in an operation on the Malecón of Havana, in November 2021. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 29 December 2024 — A theme prevailed over the vortex of rumors in Cuba in November and defined the tone of the comments: total blackouts. Everything, from the alleged militarization of cities to information about protests – confirmed in some cases – had darkness as a backdrop. The intermittencies of the internet connection contributed to the representation of the crisis being even more exorbitant and alarming.

An old myth – that the authorities energetically favor Havana and despise the eastern region – circulated again as an argument for an alleged cruelty against Santiago de Cuba and the surrounding provinces. According to several rumors, electricity returned to the capital faster, to avoid the risk of protests, while in the east the police acted with a heavy hand and more blackouts against the populations that demonstrated.

It was also said that the center, and not only the east, suffered the repression of the Government to “save” Havana. In Santa Clara, for example, it was pointed out that there were only two circuits with power after the total blackouts: the one corresponding to the neighborhood of El Condado – where the neighbors, many of them illegally installed in the marginal areas, usually protest violently – and in which the house of the first secretary of the Communist Party in the province is located. continue reading

According to several rumors, the electricity returned to the capital faster, to avoid the risk of protests, while in the east the Police acted with a heavy hand

There were gestures of protest throughout the country, according to rumors. Users reported a graffiti on Cristo de Camagüey Street, between Santa Catalina and Bembeta. The poster said: “Down with communism. The people are tired.” Another sign of discontent was the alleged theft of rails from the Colón-Matanzas railway line, on which several trains have been derailed for months.

Along with the total Island-wide blackout, the passage of two cyclones and the occurrence of several earthquakes fueled the discomfort of Cubans. In the midst of the crisis, it was reported that the telephone lines provided by the National Institute of Meteorology to inform the population collapsed. Others claimed that the blackout and the ravages of both hurricanes caused the disconnection.

Cuba has not lacked international aid in recent weeks, but, according to rumors, the Government uses it to benefit a select few, especially hierarchs and owners of MSMEs related to the regime. The same happens, it is claimed, with hospital resources, which are distributed to the medical institutions of the Army and not to Public Health. As for the food, donated by several United Nations agencies for soup kitchens, it ends up on the tables of the leaders.

The same happens with hospital resources, which are distributed to the medical institutions of the Army and not to Public Health

The life of prisoners in Cuban prisons continues to be the subject of rumors that, due to the isolation suffered by many prisoners, usually cannot be confirmed. Prisoner Nelson Caballero Díaz was brutally beaten by guards in the cells of Villa María Luisa – the State Security barracks in Camagüey – according to several complaints. After the beating, he was incommunicado and for several weeks his family has not heard anything about him. De Caballero is said to have two small children and his doctors have issued him several certificates accrediting that he has been beaten.

Another inmate, also in Camagüey, commented that his hands were amputated and that the Ministry of the Interior turned a deaf ear to his constant requests for medical assistance. Finally, there was talk of the death of a prisoner in Ariza prison, in Cienfuegos, after being beaten by seven policemen.

The information about violent events of which the Police rarely offer an official version also follow. In Camagüey, according to several users, a man who was looking after a house was killed to steal the valuables of the property. The case of an 18-year-old who assaulted a Basic High School student, took her phone at knife point and fled was reported. He was arrested by the people before the delay of the police.

Minors are involved in some of these events. Two boys are accused of breaking into an apartment in Santiago de Cuba. After being discovered and fleeing, the neighbors themselves managed to catch up with them. According to a neighbor, “the boys were closing the door of the apartment since the oldest warned them that people were not going to be in the house today. Quickly the neighbors heard the noise and went out.” The police put both children in custody.

Some rumors point to an alleged legalization of narcotics in Cuba by Miguel Díaz-Canel, given the ineffectiveness of the police to control traffic

Rumors have multiplied about el químico* [the chemical], the fashionable drug in Cuba, as well as videos of people under its influence. Some rumors point to an alleged legalization of narcotics in Cuba by Miguel Díaz-Canel, given the ineffectiveness of the police to control trafficking. Some doses of el químico, it is said, have come to be sold on the online sales platform Revolico.

Many Cubans have no doubt that the system is giving multiple signs of crisis and future restructuring, for the sake of their survival. According to a rumor, the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, is in prison for having revealed the magnitude of the network of illegal businesses he protected. De Marrero, who appeared in several photos with an arm in plaster and a sling, was said to have been beaten by some soldier – probably Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, El Cangrejo [the Crab], grandson and bodyguard of Raúl Castro – for mistakes in his management.

Reality has denied that Marrero has fallen from grace. This month, in front of Parliament, it was his turn – under the attentive gaze of Raúl Castro – to make an act of contrition over the country’s multisectoral debacle.

*Translator’s note: ‘El químico‘ is a synthetic drug based on cannabis laced with other substances and is said to be highly dangerous and addictive.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Sin-Eaters Return

There are people who have never stopped blaming the United States for the failures and mistakes of Cuban totalitarianism

Perhaps, the most conspicuous of those sin-eaters* is President Barack Obama / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 29 December 2024 — It is not new that US politicians and officials believe that they are responsible for all the evils suffered by others, as can be seen in a recent letter that former diplomats and National Security officials addressed to President Joe Biden and his vice president Kamala Harris, in relation to Cuba.

The United States has its own “sin-eaters“: people who, through ritual meals, free individuals who have recently died or are close to death from their sins. Perhaps the most conspicuous of these is President Barack Obama, who re-established relations with Cuba without demanding changes on the Island.

In my opinion, the letter should have been addressed to the dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel, since they recognize that it is the Government of Cuba itself that has created “insufficient and incoherent political reforms that have largely caused this crisis.” However, the sin-eater aspect of the letter appears when they claim that “the current policy of the United States has exacerbated the difficulties of Cubans.”

There are people who have never stopped blaming the United States for the failures and mistakes of Cuban totalitarianism, stating that the embargo and US policies forced Fidel Castro to be hostile to this country. They ignore that the Cuban system has concluded 66 years with political prisoners and a people immersed in misery for the failed policies of the regime, and not for real or alleged foreign aggressions. continue reading

I remember reading the opinions of compatriots who blamed the US for having led Castro to ally with the Soviet Union

Even more, I remember reading the opinions of compatriots who blamed the US for having led Fidel Castro to ally with the Soviet Union. They ignore that on June 5, 1958, he wrote to Celia Sánchez: “When I saw the rockets they threw at Mario’s house, I have sworn to myself that the Americans will pay dearly for what they are doing. When this war is over, a much longer and bigger war will begin for me: the war I’m going to wage against them. I realize that this is going to be my true destiny. Fidel.”

The petition also requests that Cuba be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, ignoring that the Cuban government, for more than six and a half decades, has systematically supported the violent groups that have tried to destroy democracies in their own countries.

Finally, they very discreetly ask that the White House be the savior of tyranny by increasing humanitarian aid and simplifying the rules for Cuban citizens to access the US financial system.

They are well informed about the critical situation of Cubans, but apparently they prefer to ignore who is responsible for the situation they describe by saying: “The country’s energy network is failing, child malnutrition is increasing, basic services are deteriorating, and most Cubans have lost hope, precipitating the largest exodus of migrants from Cuba in its history.”

Many of those who signed this document are former officials of the government of Barack Obama

Many of those who signed this document are former officials of the government of Barack Obama, such as former ambassador to Cuba Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who denies that the Obama-era thaw has been a failure, without presenting evidence of its success. Vice President Harris said in 2020 that the embargo policy only helps supporters of confrontation, ignoring that the ones who have promoted confrontation are the rulers of Cuba, from the Castro brothers to the hand-picked dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel.

I ask those who signed, do not play into the game of the enemies of democracy. A license that allows United States citizens to invest in Cuban companies will not change the situation of Cubans for the better. Spaniards and Canadians have made large investments in Cuba without the Island prospering. Finally, the Cuban state under Castro’s totalitarianism was failing long before some of you voted for Barack Obama or Joe Biden.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Chickens on the Balcony and Pigs in the Bathtub: Cubans Go Back to Raising Their Own Food

On Monte Street, the smell of improvised chicken coops spreads through the nearby houses and gives the neighborhood a certain rural touch

Chickens on a balcony on Monte Street, in Havana, this Friday / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 28 December 2024 — Cubans have stopped wondering if this crisis is worse than that of the 1990s. The blackouts, food shortages and lack of fuel for public transport during the Special Period — in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of its subsidies to Cuba — have now been surpassed in duration, severity and limitations. The breeding of animals at home like chickens and pigs for eggs and meat has also returned.

On Monte Street, one of the most populated and poor arteries in Havana, no one is surprised anymore if they see a couple of chickens on a balcony, guarded by a cat ready to meow an alert against any attempted robbery. Separated from the abyss by the rusty irons of a fence, the birds look down at the traffic, peck some grains of rice and are unconscious of the casserole that awaits them. The smell of the improvised chicken coop spreads through the nearby houses and gives the neighborhood a certain rural touch.

“We’re back in that time when they sold chicks so you could raise them for food,” remembered a seller of matchboxes, instant glue and other paraphernalia. From her strategic position in a doorway on the central street, the woman knows everyone’s business in the area. “In that house they were raising a pig in the bathroom,” she explains and points to a tiny room, with just a small window to the street, on the first floor. “You could hear it and smell it.” continue reading

“Even if I’m starving, I won’t do that for anything in the world,” said a potential customer

“Even if I’m starving, I won’t do that for anything in the world,” said a potential customer who looked at some shoelaces for sale, asked the price of some plumbing pieces and checked the flavors of the instant soda packages. “My family and I raised a pig 30 years ago and in the end got attached to the animal and couldn’t kill it,” he explains. “It escaped from the bathroom where we had it locked up and went to sleep in our bed. Finally we had to sell the pig to a cousin because we didn’t have the heart to sacrifice it.”

With their white plumage, blackened by the soot that rises from the street, the two chickens on the balcony continue to peck stubbornly at the floor and in the cracks of the unpainted facade. “In addition, fattening an animal requires food, and if it’s hard now to get food for humans what is left for them? At least in the 90s you could find something to feed them,” said the man, who in the end leaves without buying anything. Comparisons with current times have ended up turning the 1990s Special Period into a longed-for time for Cubans. Better to avoid parallels.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Beginning in 2025, Cubans Who Want To Travel to China Will Not Have To Pay for a Visa

The high cost of tickets between both nations, around $1,500 per person, discourages travel

Ambassador Hua Xin reported on the measure in a congratulatory message to the regime on the 66th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s triumph in 1959 / Chinese Embassy in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, December 28, 2024 — The Chinese Embassy in Havana announced this Friday that Cubans who wish to travel to the Asian country will be exempt from paying the fees of the visa procedure from January 1. Payment will be maintained, however, if any procedure at the diplomatic headquarters is urgently requested.

The measure is taken in the midst of a climate of rapprochement and growing economic interest of China, whose citizens, since last May, do not need a visa to enter the Island. It is, according to the embassy, a “New Year’s gift” to Cubans.

The change, however, will probably have very little influence on the number of Cuban travelers to China. Nationals of the Island need to have a transit visa for most airports in Europe and other parts of the world that act as a bridge between Cuba and China. The high cost of tickets between the two nations, which are close to $1,500 per person, also discourages travel.

The change, however, will probably have very little influence on the number of Cuban travelers to China

Ambassador Hua Xin reported on the measure in a congratulatory message to the regime on the 66th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s triumph in 1959. “This year, China and Cuba have witnessed frequent exchanges and fruitful cooperation,” said the diplomat, who highlighted Cuba’s union with the BRICS group of countries as the starting signal to provide more economic aid from Beijing.

He referred to “several important projects,” including the steady shipment of solar panels, guarantors of the “bright future” that Hua Xin predicts for an Island that has concluded another year of energy crisis. “Chinese assistance materials have arrived in batches; photovoltaic parks have been continue reading

built with Chinese help; direct flights between the two countries have resumed; and more and more Chinese tourists are seen on the streets of Havana,” he added.

In his message, which he read in English in a video on his X account, Hua Xin, for his part, gave details about his life in Havana. “I have made many Cuban friends and visited many places. I have been deeply impressed by the hospitality, kindness, diligence and patriotism of the Cuban people.”

Hua Xin, ambassador since last June, has been one of the architects of the growing rapprochement between Beijing and Havana

Hua Xin, ambassador since last June, has been one of the architects of the growing rapprochement between Beijing and Havana. In addition to managing China’s aid to Cuba, he has been interested in participating in the media life of the Island. Earlier this month, he wrote an opinion piece in Cubadebate that contained his diplomatic approach to the country.

For Hua Xin, Cuba must find its place among China’s international allies to contribute to the world’s economic transformation designed by Xi Jinping. “China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, and they are working together to build a China-Cuba community of shared future,” he wrote. The cooperation is based, he said, on “biotechnology, renewable energy, communications and other fields.”

“China is willing to work with Cuba,” is a phrase that he constantly repeats in his speeches, meetings with the authorities and public messages.

At that time, the minister announced the visa exemption for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports

China will be the guest country, next year, of the 42nd edition of the International Tourism Fair of Cuba (FITCuba), the main event of this sector on the Island. The Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, explained then that the invitation was part of the promotion of relations and tourism between the two countries.

At that time, the minister announced the visa exemption for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports

The greatest evidence of the rapprochement in recent months has been the sending of solr panels from the Chinese company Hangzhou Duojia Technology. Its president, Qiaoming Huang, told Reuters earlier this month that solar panels are “the definitive solution” for the Cuban energy debacle. His argument was indisputable: “In this country there is plenty of sun.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Journalist Henry Constantin Released After Seven Days Arbitrarily Imprisoned

The director of ‘La Hora de Cuba’ has been locked up in the detention center known as El Vivac

It was Constantin himself who reported his release in a phone call from outside El Vivac, in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana.

14ymedio, Madrid, 26 December 2024 — Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and national vice president of the Press Freedom and Information Commission of the Inter-American Press Society (IAPA), was released this Thursday, just a week after being arbitrarily detained by State Security in Havana. Since then, the independent journalist had been imprisoned in the prison known as El Vivac.

According to the media he directs on social networks, it was Constantin himself who informed of his release in a phone call from outside the detention center of the Ministry of the Interior, located in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. This same December 26, according to a previous publication of La Hora de Cuba, the journalist had been scheduled to have an oral hearing in the Provincial Court of Havana, corresponding to an appeal of habeas corpus filed in his favor by his relatives. Instead of being transferred to trial, however, he was released.

The day before, December 25, the authorities had denied him the transfer to Camagüey, where he lives. Neither Constantin nor La Hora de Cuba has provided more details of what happened this week in El Vivac, from where he has been able to make phone calls. continue reading

Instead of being transferred to trial, however, he was released

In one of them, on Monday, he declared that he dedicated “his Christmas to all the political prisoners of Cuba, without exception,” especially to Félix Navarro, his daughter, Sayli Navarro, and Sissi Abascal. In addition, he thanked the messages of solidarity that have asked for his release on social networks.

That same day, a collaborator of La Hora de Cuba had approached the detention center to find out about Constantin and bring him toiletries, but the authorities refused to provide the visitor with any kind of information and to receive the objects. They said that Constantin would have “the visit” this Thursday, the day he was finally released.

The journalist from Camagüey was arrested last Thursday, on the eve of the “march of the fighting people” organized by Miguel Díaz-Canel in response to Cuba’s maintenance on the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. That same day he was interrogated by six State Security agents who told him that he would be transferred to Camagüey “according to the availability of fuel from the Ministry of the Interior.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Prisoners Defenders Denounces to the UN a Wave of ‘Indiscriminate Arrests’ in Cuba

Amnesty International said that the regime uses four tactics “to suppress dissent”

Image of the arrests of 11 July 2021 /14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2024 — The organizations Prisoners Defenders (PD) and Consorcio Justicia denounced to the United Nations a “scandalous repressive escalation this quarter against peaceful demonstrators” throughout Cuba. In a report published this Friday, they point out that between October and November, there have been at least 216 people arrested in the country in an “indiscriminate and arbitrary” manner.

The document presented to the international organization indicates that the freedoms of association, assembly and demonstration on the Island are prohibited by a legal framework that runs through the Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Law of Associations to “multiple legislative rules” that “criminally make it impossible to exercise the least of these rights.”

Presented before the Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the complaint highlights how the Constitution itself, far from guaranteeing freedoms, “acts as a blank law* (a legal concept that subjects one rule to another leaving arbitrariness open), where it subjects these alleged rights to lower norms that proscribe them, and where there is no court of constitutional protection for legal norms that, flagrantly, contradict fundamental rights.” continue reading

There is also a “remarkable absence of freedoms for political association, in a Cuba where, by law, only the Communist Party can exist”

Likewise, it explains that the Law of Associations makes it impossible to “register an association without State approval,” so the Government “is the only entity that has the power to create organizations in the country.” In that way it can control the population while simulating an environment of guaranteed rights for civil society.

There is also a “remarkable absence of freedoms for political association, in a Cuba where, by law, only the Communist Party can exist,” the text adds.

This regulation, the report emphasizes, has made it possible to suppress any attempt at mobilization that, in turn, has skyrocketed in recent months due to prolonged blackouts and shortages of all kinds.

Between October and November, PD registered 48 new political prisoners, 34 (71%) of whom belong to the civilian population, with no known affiliation or political activism. In the complaint, the organization says that the criminal proceedings against these people are “fabricated.” In most cases, they are accused of public disorder: 18 in Villa Clara, five in Santiago de Cuba, three each in Ciego de Ávila, Granma and Camagüey, and one each in Pinar del Río and Sancti Spíritus.

PD also points out that there are currently 1,153 political prisoners in the country, and since the nationwide protests on 11 July 2021, more than 1,790 innocent people have suffered political or conscientious imprisonment on the Island.

It also indicates that among the political prisoners there are 650 with serious medical pathologies and 70 who suffer from serious mental health disorders, without access to adequate medical and psychiatric care.

In a statement, the organization said that police authorities use “short arrests” as a “control and intimidation tool”

Amnesty International (AI) said that the regime uses four tactics “to repress dissent.” In a statement, the organization said that law enforcement authorities use “short arrests” as a “control and intimidation tool.”

For the NGO, having a person under arrest for a few hours or days “sends a message of terror to those who dissent.” That practice has become more visible in recent weeks, with the arrests of dissidents such as Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, and the independent journalist Henry Constantín, who was released this Thursday after seven days of arbitrary imprisonment.

Likewise, AI pointed out that internet cuts are used “to silence protests.” In many cases, they are selectively applied to activists, who “see their internet service interrupted several times during the year.”

Another tactic is the criminalization of opponents who express themselves freely. AI remarked that “they are criminally prosecuted if they do not give up in their fight for respect for human rights.”

Finally, it highlighted that people who raise their voices against the Government are fired from their jobs, a tactic designed to “punish dissent and force conformity.”

*Translator’s note: printed legal form with blanks to be filled in depending on the circumstances.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Brazil and Uruguay Attract More Cuban Migrants Every Day

Cubans were the nationality that most asked for refuge in Brazil in 2024
In Uruguay, the number of Cuban children enrolled in public schools has increased sevenfold since 2018

Cuban migrants in Suriname, in December 2020, waiting for Guyana to open its border to continue their journey to the United States / Facebook/Lien Liyan

14ymedio, Madrid, 27 December 2024 — Cuban migrants no longer look only to the north. The route to the United States has lost popularity this year, while Brazil and Uruguay have become the new magnets. In November, there was not a single national of the Island among the beneficiaries of the parole granted by Washington, and there is a decrease in detainees for illegally entering from Mexico, according to the most recent data from US Customs and Border Protection.

The executive order signed by the outgoing president, Joe Biden, to restrict access to asylum for those who enter the country illegally, which came into force in June, as well as the promise of the president-elect, Donald Trump, to eliminate parole and carry out mass deportations, tend to discourage Cubans who intend to emigrate. The exodus, however, does not stop, as confirmed by the official statistics themselves.

Where do the Cubans who don’t go north go? According to the migration figures offered recently by some countries, most of them go south. Brazil, in particular, received this year the largest number of Cubans in its history: almost 19,700 between January and November, according to a report published last Friday by Folha de Sao Paulo. Of them, the vast majority (19,100) asked for refuge, and another 678 entered by “other ways.”

The numbers, which do not yet include December, far exceed those of past years. In 2023, there were 13,100 Cubans, and in 2022, 7,600. In November, the number of asylum requests in Brazil by Cubans (2,700) surpassed for the first time Venezuelans (2,200), who until now were the nationality that requested it the most. continue reading

More than 50% of these migrants, the local newspaper continues, arrive in Brazil through the states of Amapá and Roraima, after setting foot on Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana

Folha also reports that the entries far exceed those of the time of the Mais Médicos program, between 2013 and 2018, in which there were 8,471 Cuban health workers.

More than 50% of these migrants, the local newspaper continues, arrive in Brazil through the states of Amapá and Roraima, after setting foot on Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana, either by plane – to the Surinamese capital, Paramaribo, and then to the Guyanese, Georgetown -, or by crossing from Suriname all of French Guyana, by land and boat, until they reach the Brazilian municipality of Oiapoque.

For some Cubans, says Folha, “Brazil is seen as welcoming and a good place to find work, especially in the informal sector.” With the request for refuge, in fact, they are given a document that allows them to work and have access to the Brazilian public health system.

But, the newspaper also points out, “not all Cubans have their final destination in the country.” A minority continue on a route through seven countries and dangers such as the Darién jungle, between Colombia and Panama, or organized crime in Mexico, to the United States. This year, 735 Cubans passed through the Darien, a considerable figure despite not even coming close to the 17,000 Cuban migrants in 2021.

Many more continue on to Uruguay or Chile, “which are more stable and secure societies and where Spanish is spoken.”

In Uruguay, for example, the number of Cuban children enrolled in public schools has increased sevenfold since 2018. With 1,541, they are the most numerous nationality after Venezuelans (1,776), according to the most recent report of the National Administration of Public Education (Anep), out of a total of 6,492 students who were born abroad.

Anep points out that Uruguay “has a regulatory framework that protects the right to migration and the protection of the rights of the migrant population; in particular, access and integration into the educational system.”

According to the 2023 Uruguayan census, Venezuelans, Argentines and Cubans, in this order, are the foreigners who have settled the most in that South American country in recent years.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Brazilian Pork, US Turkey and Turkish Rice for Christmas Eve for Cubans with Resources

Sale of meat in the market of 17 and K, in El Vedado, Havana, on December 24, 2024 / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 24 December 2024 — Turkey breasts from Minnesota, pork loins and legs that say “Made in USA” on the label, chickens raised in Brazil and pieces of impeccable beef fed with grass from the Iowa plains. A few hours before the Christmas Eve festivities, the platforms of Havana’s markets are mostly stocked with imported products, in a country where agriculture and livestock have reached rock bottom.

In the market on Tulipán Street in Nuevo Vedado, previously managed by the Youth Labor Army (EJT), of which only the name remains, the sellers announce this Tuesday pieces of pork at 1,000 pesos a pound, “clean, with little fat and without skin,” clarifies a smiling young man behind the counter. To convince the undecided customers, faced with the high prices, he emphasizes that the pieces “are yumas, no cubiches [foreign, not Cuban].” A few feet away, the packages of the Turkey Valley Farms brand display breasts “ready to put in the casserole or in the oven,” according to another employee. Each of the pieces is around 6,000 pesos.

A few feet away, the packages of the Turkey Valley Farms brand display breasts “ready to throw in the casserole or put in the oven,” according to another employee / 14ymedio

Cut into cubes, for those who have fewer resources, in the market on 17th and K streets, once also in the hands of the EJT, minced chicken was also being sold. Despite not having the colorful packaging of the turkey or the appetizing presence of pork legs, the label that accompanies the product says it comes from the United States. Tired of the adulterations and the bad taste of animals raised with remains collected from the garbage or with fishmeal, those Cuban diners who can afford the dinner of this December 24 opt for animals born and slaughtered outside the Island.

To complete the panorama of the foreign, a bag of rice with the label of a Turkish company rests next to others of corn flour from Spain and some packages of sweets that make clear their Mexican or Panamanian origin. The dried spice packets from Goya and Iberia have also displaced the fresh cilantro continue reading

of other years, the wild oregano that was added to the black beans, and, instead of the Creole sour orange to smear on the pork, a mojo of the Badia brand monopolized the looks and longings of those who passed by.

Cut into cubes, for those who have fewer resources, in the market on 17th and K streets, minced chicken was also being sold / 14ymedio

Of course, next to the butcher’s area, the platforms with yucca and lettuce exhibited only national goods. As soon as you saw them, you could tell they were coming from the yard. Some stunted cassava, full of dirt, attracted numerous elderly people who, with their bags hanging from their shoulders, formed a line at full speed. The leaves of the vegetables were beginning to get musty but, most likely, the vast majority will be sold before the sun sets.

Despite the inflation and the hard year that is coming to an end, many try to guarantee tonight’s family meal. As if of a spell to leave hardships behind, people are trying to rescue a certain festive atmosphere and the greeting that is most repeated in the streets says: “Merry Christmas.”

As the hours pass, the sorcery that some habaneros use to prepare their tables for tonight is more like an exorcism to expel the demons from the national debacle. It will also be accomplished with the foreign food that came from outside the country.

Despite the inflation and the hard year that is coming to an end, many try to guarantee tonight’s family meal / 14ymedio

Translated by Regina Anavy

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César Leal, the Painter Who Captured the Desire of Cubans for Freedom, Has Died

Cuba says goodbye to a man who, with the tools of the painter and the journalist, made courage the main fuel of his work

Born in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, in 1948, César Leal graduated from the National School of Plastic Arts, Havana, in 1968 / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2024 — This Monday the Cuban painter César Leal Jiménez died in the town of Regla, Havana, according to the artist Jorge Mata on his Facebook account. The 76-year-old creator had announced this Sunday that he was suffering from a urinary tract infection that forced him to stay in bed.

“We talked on some occasions and shared opinions about the networks and the importance of following at the foot of the cannon, with our pedagogical and artistic works,” Mata commented in an emotional publication. “Leal has been a constant and very private artist. Unfortunately, his work is little disseminated and recognized, although in the guild he is respected.”

Born in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, in 1948, César Leal graduated from the National School of Plastic Arts, Havana, in 1968. Later he also studied Journalism and worked as a teacher in three educational centers dedicated to artistic teaching on the Island, including the Academy of San Alejandro.

“We talked on some occasions and shared opinions about the networks and the importance of following at the foot of the cannon, with our pedagogical and artistic works”

The Provincial Center for Plastic Arts and Design of Havana joined the mourning for the death of the creator and cataloged Leal as “a pillar in the art world.” The official entity recognized “his exceptional talent” and “his work, marked by a deep sensitivity and a unique vision.”

Throughout his fruitful career he won countless awards, such as the Young Latin American Painting Award, in 1966, in Mexico; two years later he won one of the awards of the Salón de Mayo, in Paris, France and, in 1980, continue reading

obtained the maximum recognition of the Salón Quinquenal Carlos Enríquez. His work “Sequence in One” is part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts and is currently on display there.

With a work that distinguishes him among the artists of his generation, Leal was a deep scholar of the history of art and its multiple manifestations. In his paintings, human forms are combined with countless contexts and situations to express the overwhelming lack of freedom and the sharp scissors of the censors.

With a very critical look at the current Cuban situation, Leal recently turned his social networks into an open window to his study, where he painted tirelessly, and to his work in the community of Regla to teach the first steps of the plastic arts to children and young people. He also observed the deterioration of life in his community and the country.

Through his artistic work and his Facebook posts, he denounced the controls on creators that have intensified in recent years in Cuba. He also spoke about the inflation, the crisis of basic services and the constant blackouts. He expressed his regrets over the economy and the suffocation of civic freedoms that have led so many young people and artists to emigrate from the Island.

With a work that distinguishes him among the artists of his generation, Leal was a deep scholar of the history of art and its multiple manifestations

His sympathy for the independent press was a constant. In 2004, he collaborated with the birth of the digital magazine “Consenso” and shared with his editorial team many of his pieces to be used in the design of the digital site. His paintings, with bureaucrats curtailing thought, mouths sewn shut to show disrespect for the right to free expression and figures that managed to sneak between the bars marked the visual imprint of that magazine.

With the death of César Leal, Regla loses one of her most important artists; Havana loses an adopted son who portrayed the hardness of his daily life but also the potential of his people; and Cuba says goodbye to a man who, with the tools of the painter and the journalist, made courage the main fuel of his work and freedom the model best expressed through his brushes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Minister of Tourism Presents Parliament Less Ambitious Data for the Sector

García Granda predicts only 2.6 million international travelers to Cuba by 2025, after five years of failed forecasts

According to the minister, for the first time insecurity is perceived in tourism to Cuba / EFE]

14ymedio, Madrid, 17 December 2024 — As has already happened with the sugar industry, the Government presented on Monday a projection of declining tourism. The strategy – premeditated or not – consists of underestimating the annual forecasts, even if in the end the results are even worse than the official forecasts. For 2025, the authorities of the sector are forecasting 2.6 million tourists, 18% more than than the 2.2 million they announced, Minister Juan Carlos García Granda said before the National Assembly.

Let’s review the sequence. Excluding 2020, when the pandemic forced the closure of airspace in much of the world, Cuba projected a recovery of tourism for 2021, when 2.2 million international visitors should have arrived. The figure was modest if you take into account that in 2019 – the last year before Covid – 2.4 million people visited the Island, but evaluating the pandemic was expected to be complex, and it was estimated that Cuba would receive only half as many as two years ago. Only 573,944 tourists arrived, 61% less than official forecasts.

The desire to travel and the savings achieved in the pandemic strongly reactivated the sector, and García Granda was encouraged enough to say that by 2022, 2.5 million international travelers would arrive on the Island. Manuel Marrero, who before being prime minister was the strongman of Tourism in Cuba, warned in May that Cuba would have to wait one more year for the improvement, but no one listened to him until, almost at the end of 2022, the ambitious forecast was reduced to 1.7 million, and the total reached 1,614,087 foreign visitors. continue reading

The desire to travel and the savings achieved in the pandemic strongly reactivated the sector, and García Granda was encouraged enough to say that by 2022, 2.5 million tourists would arrive

For 2023, an optimistic forecast was made again: the goal was 3.5 million tourists. But the monthly data made it clear that it was not going to be reached, and the final figure remained at 2.4 million. Despite the fact that the data were very far from the projections, at least they improved, but 2024 has been a disaster.

The latest available data, for the month of October, indicated that 1,844,917 tourists had arrived. The forecast at the beginning of the year was to achieve 3.2 million for the 12 months, lowered to 2.7 million this September. Yesterday, García Granda – in an unexpected twist – spoke of a forecast that had never been cited in public. “It was proposed to reach 4.3 million visitors taking into account the frequency of international flights entering the country. This was only fulfilled by 62%,” he said, according to Cubadebate, although the accounts indicate that it would be 51 percent.

The official press finally admits that 2024 represented “a decrease compared to the previous year and for the first time since the pandemic,” something that the independent press and economists have warned about since at least April, when the data began to worsen with respect to the same month of the previous year.

García Granda said on Monday that it is necessary to “perfect a closed financing scheme and ensure compliance with standards throughout the country’s tourism system. This is essential for the recovery of the sector. We must present a decent tourist product, which stimulates demand,” he said, ignoring that the problems of tourism are not of the sector itself, but of the country.

In a scenario of shortages affecting even the best hotels, the authorities have made it easier not only for Meliá to have an import company to obtain what it cannot get on the Island, but also Vima, the Galician food company, would have privileges. “It was approved for Vima and Meliá to have import companies and carry out wholesale trade, so they can supply the tourist facilities directly,” the minister said on Monday.

As if he wanted to hide from the criticism of the exaggerated investment in hotels made by the regime, García Granda stressed that this year “no new investments have occurred, only works that are already in progress”

As if he wanted to hide from the criticism of the regime’s exaggerated investment in hotels, García Granda stressed that this year “no new investments have occurred, only works that are already in progress.” Be that as it may, the official data speak of an economic imbalance towards the tourism sector. Between January and September, 64,973.3 million pesos (2,707 million dollars, at the official exchange rate for the State) were invested in the sector, 4.6 times more than the sum for Agriculture, Education and Health. In view of the results, it is indisputable that resources are being directed unproductively.

The minister also mentioned the impact of the high cost of aviation fuel on tourism. Two weeks ago, the Island was about to plunge into chaos after having to suspend and modify air routes due to lack of fuel. The alert could have been canceled just a day later by managing to finance a load and guarantee the A-1 Jet until at least January, but the scenario does not engender confidence in the airlines. A week ago, the German airline Condor announced that it has been suspending summer routes since May, the first time since 1990.

García Granda also mentioned that emigration and the lack of jobs tourism generates does not help to raise the sector, as well as the blackouts and meteorological disasters. But he also cited a novel factor: growing insecurity is having an effect. “Since the beginning of 2024, there has been a downward trend in Cuba’s security perception index,” he admitted. Warnings by some of the main Canadian and European providers of tourism increased as problems grew in Cuba, with notices to clients about shortages of food and fuel, diseases and blackouts.

“When there are resources, rice and grain are prioritized, but currently there is no funding”

In the same session of Parliament, Minister of Internal Trade Betsy Díaz Velázquez together with Tamara Valido Benítez, explained the problems with the “basic family basket.” Generalities and empty words abounded, such as “the population longs to hear possible solutions,” “high prices are daily concerns,” “attention to the population’s approach is an indicator of efficiency,” and so on.

The only concrete information that slipped in was the absolute lack of funding to guarantee a basic basket that has already been killed punctually every year, without being buried. “Every day we evaluate how to incorporate food, what is imported and donated, and also how to distribute it. When there are resources, rice and grain are prioritized, but currently there is no financing,” the minister said. “We must get all forms of management incorporated,” although many that are already private are starting to close because of the ban on importing and because they refuse to sell to the State.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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