Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 65

Cuban State Security Detains Journalist Henry Constantin for Four Days

A collaborator of ’La Hora de Cuba’ is prevented from delivering toiletries to the detainee

Henry Constantin thanked the messages of solidarity that have called for his release on social networks / Facebook/Henry Constantin

14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2024 — Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and regional vice president for Cuba of the Inter-American Press Society (IPA), has been in detention for 96 hours in El Vivac de La Habana. This Monday he was able, however, to communicate with the media he directs and declared that “he dedicates his Christmas to all the political prisoners of Cuba, without exception,” especially to Félix Navarro, his daughter Sayli Navarro and Sissi Abascal. He thanked the messages of solidarity that have asked for his release on social networks.

According to La Hora de Cuba, a collaborator – whose name they do not offer – approached the detention center of the Ministry of the Interior, located in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, but the authorities refused to provide him with any type of information and would not let him deliver the toiletries that he was carrying for the journalist.

“The officer on duty – who could not be identified by his military rank – told me that on Sundays nothing is received, that on Sundays they do not receive any package for any detainee,” this source told La Hora de Cuba. “They insist that nothing can be known about any detainee.” They only receive packages on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a strict schedule, from 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 4 pm.

“The visit corresponds to that detainee this Thursday, but in his case headquarters has to assess whether he is allowed or not”

In the same way, they warned him about Constantín: “The visit corresponds to that detainee this Thursday, but in his case the headquarters has to assess whether he is allowed or not.” continue reading

The journalist from Camagüey was arrested last Thursday, on the eve of the “march of the fighting people” organized by President Miguel Díaz-Canel in response to Cuba’s maintenance on the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. That same day, the independent media adds, 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.”

La Hora de Cuba indicates that on Monday an appeal of habeas corpus was filed before the Provincial Court of Havana, “which will be settled tomorrow due to lack of staff today,” and that it must be legally answered within three days.

Other dissidents harassed on December 19 were journalist Juan Manuel Moreno, director of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP), Amanecer Habanero, and activist Yamilka Lafita, alias Lara Crofs. State Security forbade both of them from leaving their homes under threat of arrest.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Despair of the Line Manager for More Than 6,000 Gas Station Customers in Havana

Pedro Garce Fights Against ’Imperialism’ and the Bureaucracy of Those ’From Above’

Line for the El Tángana gas station in El Vedado, Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2024 — Every time he starts writing in his Telegram group, Pedro Garce, organizer of the lines for fuel in El Tángana and two other gas stations in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, makes customers tremble. For days, the administrator – committed to “order and discipline” – has only brought bad news, almost always linked to the breakdown of a pump or the suspension of sale.

Garce doesn’t like to “collide” so often with the bureaucracy and makes it clear in the chat. On Saturday night, for example, he sent a message announcing the suspension of the El Tángana service. The appearance of problems in the pumps that dispatch the fuel and a “cultural activity” on the Esplanade of La Piragua, forced him to make the decision.

The interruption of the sale implies that Garce must reorganize the gas line and the schedule for each customer to buy. They can spend weeks on the list to acquire a few liters of fuel. In this specific case, he must deal with the 75 drivers who were on the previous day’s list for regular gasoline and who had to be reorganized this Sunday.

“Be punctual and disciplined, remember that if you miss your turn you lose it”

The energy situation and the frequent shortage of fuel do not make his life easy, and many times, when gasoline appears, he must summon customers in a hurry; hence, his mantra: “Be punctual and disciplined, remember that if you miss your turn you lose it,” whether it’s at dawn or early morning. The arrival of always meager amounts of fuel forces drivers to remain “prepared and alert,” as if they were expecting a hurricane.

Last Thursday, one day before the “march of the fighting people” called by the regime, the El Tángana service center had one of its most chaotic days. Garce not only had to announce the suspension of the service until 3:00 pm due to a sudden blackout, but, two hours after resuming it, he also had to stop the sale again “due to the measures taken for the development of the march [of the fighting people],” scheduled for the next day.

The administrator hoped that the delays would not be too long, but at 8:30 p.m. he made a hopeless announcement in the group: “Activities continue on the Anti-Imperialist Platform, and, once completed, the dismantling continue reading

process begins, maintaining the restrictions on access to the gas station. It has been collectively decided to resume the service from tomorrow.”

The manager regrets that “situations occur” in which customers do not empathize with his work. “My commitment is only to the people, to the masses. Got it?” he wrote this week in the chat. A little later, he shared a message from the Gente de Barrio channel – dedicated to sharing official content – that criticized the operation of the lines in the gas stations. The text questioned, from the point of view of “those below,” as Garce is considered, something that the organizer of the line himself has described as “irrational”: the arrival of fuel at a gas station that does not have pumps in good enough condition to dispatch it, as happened on Thursday.

“The tanker truck that entered El Tángana is, irrationally, for gasoline, and the pumps there are broken”

“The tanker truck that entered El Tángana is, irrationally, for gasoline, and the pumps there are broken. There is another type of gasoline that arrived 15 days ago, and the pumps were not available either. I’m calling the government and the Cimex authorities but they don’t answer. Don’t worry, we will look for a solution,” he then encouraged the more than 6,000 customers that make up the group.

Just a few days before the administrator apologized profusely for the mess in the line – “this is crazy,” he criticized. “I hope you understand me,” “I’m making an important effort,” “this is not my fundamental function,” Garce explained after making a mistake in which he had summoned more than 1,000 drivers instead of the 625 he had to call. “I recognize it with total frankness. You know that that [amount of] gasoline doesn’t go very far.”

For Garce, as for Esther Trujillo, the organizer of the Guanabacoa gas lines, his work is a constant crusade against “imperialism,” which limits resources, and against those “from above” who do not know how to manage them. In his code, the first law is to provide order and the second is to serve the customers “as they deserve.” It’s a matter of luck whether he can handle the “many tasks” and “the time pressure” in order to fulfill his commitment.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

One Hundred Thousand Crazy People and a Neighborhood, a Conversation With Comedian Ulises Toirac

“The Communication Law and other demons that complement it practically prohibit the exercise of humor in Cuba”

Ulises Toirac and Jorge Fernández Era in Havana / Facebook/Ulises Toirac

14ymedio, Jorge Fernández Era, Havana, 14 December 2024 – Not everyone can have a hundred thousand followers on Facebook. Ulises Toirac reached this number a few days ago, not only for the prestige of an artistic career of more than four decades, but also for the seriousness with which he assumes humor and faces a heterogeneous audience that applauds as much as it denigrates.

Part of those experiences are reflected in his most recent publication, the book Locos de barrio [Neighborhood Crazies], available on Amazon and other platforms. The central subject of our meeting in Santos Suárez, our neighborhood, was that.

Jorge Fernández Era: Do you consider yourself a humorist who makes you think or a thinking being who makes you laugh?

Ulises Toirac: A little of both. Humor, even if it’s a job, is fun. The best proposals are born by vibrating your spiritual need with your communicational need. I consider myself a guy who is always looking for a way to complicate things by over analyzing, and in that way I surprise myself and try to surprise others. When I succeed, I feel self-realized.

Censorship is instituted by levels: from whether you make fun of a street sweeper to whether you do it of a director of Communal Services or the President of the Republic

Jorge Fernández Era: The line between what is allowed and what is prohibited has been crossed in recent years. For good or for bad?

Ulises Toirac: In Cuba there has always been a manifest censorship. I remember it in our beginnings in the Aquelarre festivals or in the shows that were usually held in the theaters. Unfortunately, that was small stuff compared to what we have now. The Communication Law and other demons that complement it practically prohibit the exercise of humor. Censorship is instituted by levels: from whether you make fun of a sweeper to whether you do it of a director of Communal Services or the President of the Republic. The sanction goes up to the extent that your jokes are directed towards those positions and the inability to develop them.

Before, the danger was not so visceral. At this moment anything can take you to trial if so decided. In addition, the general public does not show intellectual interest in humor. When there is censorship, we look for mechanisms with which to communicate with people. At other times, those who attended the theater identified with intelligent humor. Today, either you do junk humor or you dedicate yourself to something else.

One of the illustrations by Ulises Toirac included in ’Locos de barrio’/ Ulises Toirac/Courtesy

Jorge Fernández Era: When did you realize that you could also write jokes and memories?

Ulises Toirac: It’s a process. I write since I have use of intellectual reason. From a very young age I always liked to do it, not literature itself, but television scripts, librettos for theater… I used near or distant memories to capture them. For a while I have had a purely literary interest, but due to time, interests or work load I didn’t try to gather a series of stories in a book. From the isolation of Covid, and even before, I began to write what we could call stories.

In art, if you don’t find a personal, unique way to express yourself, you can starve to death. I realized that by transferring my personal way of speaking to paper, I achieved that. I was publishing little by little on social networks and before in a newsletter that developed a lot of subscribers. In the last three years it was already a more methodical process. But it wasn’t overnight.

Jorge Fernández Era: With Locos de barrio, does one door close or another one open?

Ulises Toirac: Both. Locos de barrio is the end of literary innocence, that stage in which one is in love with a woman and proposes marriage. With the last stories I wrote I already had the firm purpose of creating the book.

‘Locos de barrio’ is the end of literary innocence, that stage in which one is in love with a woman and proposes marriage / Ulises Toirac

Literature is the greatest incentive of the imagination. You have no limits or brakes; you can scrutinize the universe and do what you want: you close one paragraph, open another, and you move, in no time, from China to the South American cone. It will continue to be the best way to get informed, to acquire culture, to grow.

Nothing is absolute; life is dialectical, and things are intertwined on top of each other. It is clear to me that I want to continue writing and publishing. Another book is going around in my head; it will be called Epistolary without a gun. It is my desire, through letters, to talk about the topics that interest me. The letters will be addressed to a historical character, to my first preschool girlfriend, to my teenage bicycle, to my terror of heights, to the President of the Republic… Or – if the Law applies to me for the latter – to you, so that you can finish this interview.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Cuba-Us Thaw Remains the “Right” Approach, Says Obama’s Former Diplomat

“Isolation hasn’t worked for the last 60 years,” says Jeffrey DeLaurentis

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, former head of the US embassy in Havana / EFE

Juan Carlos Espinosa/EFE, Havana, 17 December 2024 — Diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy in Havana during the thaw in bilateral relations of the Obama era, maintains in an interview with EFE that the policy of rapprochement instead of the isolation of Cuba was a success and is still valid 10 years later.

“Despite the fact that this policy was reversed after two years, it was a success and resonates even today, despite the efforts of the (first) Trump administration to bring it down,” says DeLaurentis, who believes it is “totally false” that it failed.

Few know as well as this former US diplomat the meaning, on the ground, of the process of rapprochement between the United States and Cuba. It was announced on December 17, 2014, by Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, after months of secret negotiations involving the mediation of the Vatican and Canada.

In an exclusive interview with EFE conducted via Google Meet, the Chargé d’affaires of the US embassy during the thaw (2014-2017) highlights the legacy left by Obama’s policy (2009-2017) in the relations between the two countries after decades of Cold War.

In his opinion, not even the first term of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), with the tightening of sanctions and the inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, has managed to erase that mark. continue reading

In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island

“The thaw,” he says, needed “more time” to be “sustainable.” In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island and “improving the life of the Cuban people,” in contrast to the hard-line policy of the Republicans.

“During my first mission in Cuba (in the nineties), I arrived thinking that the US approach was the right one. But, frankly, I left recognizing that isolation was not the right approach, and, honestly, it had not worked and has not worked in the last 60 years,” he says.

The retired ambassador, who previously worked in the US Interests Section (a category lower than that of an embassy) in Havana in the nineties and 2000s, highlights the rise of the private sector in Cuba after decades of prohibition and demonization.

“You could see how people’s mentality was changing. Young people were enthusiastic and focusing their energy on the Island’s future instead of leaving everything behind and emigrating,” he tells EFE.

After four years of serious economic crisis – with a shortage of basic goods and services, galloping inflation and daily power cuts – Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States, according to official figures.

Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States

The former diplomat – proposed by Barack Obama as ambassador, the first on the Island since 1960 – recalls the resistance encountered by the Democratic administration to achieve a total political turn towards Cuba.

“Given the long and tortuous history between the two countries, this process was never going to be linear. There were always ups and downs. My feeling was always that the Cuban authorities knew how to deal with the tough posture, but that they were a little more uncomfortable with the approach we were defending,” he recalls.

After Obama’s visit to the Island in 2016, the culminating moment of the thaw, former Cuban President Fidel Castro said, in an article published by state media, that the country did not need “the empire” to give it anything and strongly criticized Obama’s speech during his stay.

On the other hand, DeLaurentis points out that the Obama administration assumed that there would be resistance from hard-line sectors in Cuba and that “there were also people, I suppose mostly from South Florida, who were very much against” the rapprochement.

DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba awakens a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand

In view of the next Trump government, which will take office in January and has proposed as Secretary of State the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, defender of increasing sanctions against Havana, DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba arouses a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand.

“I think Obama’s approach was very popular at the national level, and, certainly, there are many people who think that this is the best way to proceed. But it is also true that those who defend a harder line, for many of them, that is possibly their main priority. Meanwhile, for those who support the approach, it is important, but they have many other priorities,” he adds.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Stabilak Preservative Is No Longer Added to the Milk, but It Still Does Not Reach Cuban Tables

The dairy industry of Sancti Spíritus collects between 5,000 and 6,000 liters daily, barely 10% of the official plan

The authorities blame the ranchers for the low production / Escambray

14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 17, 2024 — The dairy industry of Sancti Spíritus collects between 5,000 and 6,000 liters of milk daily, about 10% of the 50,000 predicted by the province’s official plan. The figures are even worse on weekends when, according to the official press, the number of liters can drop to 1,000. At this rate, the authorities do not even consider closing the year with good results, but despite recognizing the problems of the industry, they continue pointing out the producers who are dedicated to “diversion and illegal sale” as those responsible for the debacle.

The “trend is suspicious,” because derivatives (cheese, yogurt, ice cream) are publicly sold everywhere and even the milk itself,” explains Escambray, the local newspaper.

Since last March, the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers increased the payment for the product, which is now contracted at 38 pesos per liter (before it was 20) and up to 70 pesos “in times of drought, like this, which puts the State, in this case the industry, as the only destination.” However, the measure falls flat against the reality of the street, where that same liter can be sold for between 120 and 150 pesos. continue reading

Of the 7,000 producers committed to the State to deliver the milk, “only about 1,500 defaulters are counted,” the newspaper said.

The problem, according to the media, “starts from a contract either badly done or poorly followed by the actors involved since a plan was agreed last year that the livestock subdelegation itself thinks was high.” Of the 7,000 producers committed to the State to deliver the milk, “only about 1,500 defaulters are counted,” said the newspaper, which added: “If you know mathematics, take stock of how much milk your cows could be giving.”

However, there are many ranchers in the province who have refused to continue selling their production to the State due to its non-compliance, including the lack of cash in the banks, which prevents them from receiving payment for the product. Without paper money, the farmers refuse to fulfill their commitments to State companies.

14ymedio reported last October that there are producers who had not received payments from the State for four months. “I’ve been selling milk on my own for a couple of weeks. Anyway I didn’t do business to sell it to the State, because the payment is bad. That same liter of milk that I deliver after fulfilling my commitment, that they only pay me at 38 pesos, I can sell on the street at 120,” a producer told 14ymedio at the time.

Regarding the non-payments, Alberto Cañizares, director of the Río Zaza Dairy Products Company, minimized the situation and told Escambray that “it is true that there are problems with cash due to banking, but that does not justify the indiscipline of not delivering the milk, because the distribution is daily.”

“Irregularities in the distribution and quality of the product persist in Sancti Spíritus, despite the measures put in place to reverse the situation,” the media said. One of them was the announcement of the arrival of Stabilak – a natural preservative of national production used to maintain the quality of raw milk from cows, goats and buffaloes. However, it has not been a solution, especially for many inhabitants of the province, who do not see the milk on their tables. “From the 10,000 and 11,000 liters that were produced daily in November, the same number of consumers were left without the product; today minimal figures are reported. Even so, not all consumers – about 20,000 in the cities of Sancti Spíritus and Trinidad who receive that milk – have it guaranteed for their breakfast,” the text said.

Stabilak, “well applied, guarantees the quality of the milk between eight and 24 hours,”although more conditions are necessary for that effect

Stabilak, “well applied, guarantees the quality of the milk between eight and 24 hours,” although more conditions are necessary for that effect. “There are plenty of examples: from the dirty industrial cars that are supposedly cleaned when going out to collect – as the commercial subdirectorate of the municipality of Sancti Spíritus has verified – containers that are not well-scrubbed, mixtures of different qualities, milk that arrives in the morning but doesn’t reach the stores until the afternoon, even the poor conditions of the roads that affect the transport.”

The list for the disastrous collection of milk in the province is long, because, added to the above, there is also “an unsolvable controversy between agriculture and industry about the best time to collect the milk.” According to the article, “it has been collected at 9 in the morning, against the traditional practice, and in this one blames the other, without a government arbitrator who can dictate the most favorable time.”

In many cases, this prevents the milk from being pasteurized and also affects its arrival time in the stores, because “many customers do not know it’s there,” until the afternoon. In addition, Escambray said, all this “has been more confusing with the prolonged blackouts.”

Despite the logistical obstacles, the industry is focused on preventing the milk from escaping the hands of the State. This is the case in Villa Clara, where the Government has installed, in the municipality of Camajuaní, cooling chambers for the milk. The containers, in principle beneficial for production and storage, prevent the ranchers, who allege poor conditions for storage, from continuing to sell their milk on the informal market.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Deputies Confirm the Painful Situation of the Cuban Health System

Emigration and the stampede to other sectors have made the lack of health personnel the most alarming problem

Significantly deteriorated, the clinics and other health facilities also present a deplorable picture / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 2024 — The deputies who make up the Health and Sports Committee of the Cuban Parliament received a dose of reality during the last few months in a province-by-province tour. The situation – triggered by the passage of two hurricanes, several earthquakes and the energy debacle – is summarized in a litany of “problems” ranging from the lack of specialists to the “illegal occupation” of clinics.

Cristina Luna Morales, president of the commission, explained on Monday that the deputies had traveled to 39 municipalities in 15 provinces, inspected 98 institutions and talked directly with more than 2,000 Cubans. Emigration and the stampede to other sectors have made the lack of health personnel the most alarming problem in these communities.

“The managerial staff in primary care are not covered, and the heads of basic groups are incomplete. Instead, comprehensive general medical specialists are certified to assume this function, which makes it difficult to assist patients,” said Luna Morales. The situation is especially critical in Camagüey, Sancti Spíritus and Havana. In addition, people do not know who can help them after a reorganization of the clinic staff, given the number of empty positions that exist. continue reading

Cuban Health has applied the same formula as other sectors: send students to fill incomplete positions

Cuban Health has applied the same formula as other sectors: send medical students from their third year of study to fill unstaffed positions. The deputy claimed that the measure, although urgent, is “well-designed” and contributes to the training of students.

Significantly damaged, clinics and other health facilities also present a deplorable picture. Located in rural areas, which the transport crisis has made almost inaccessible, many of the clinics have multiple “deficiencies in the constructive state,” and, although they were included in the “maintenance plans” of the Ministry of Construction, the problem will persist. In addition, the “clinical and non-clinical furniture” are in poor condition.

For his part, the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, alluded to the “challenges” faced by his portfolio in the face of the outbreaks of dengue and Oropouche fevers, two diseases that have hit the Cuban population in recent months. He also criticized the municipal and provincial governments for not including the improvement of clinics in their annual budgets.

“There are problems of organization and discipline, which have to do with the territory; we have been affected by the migratory flow and the departure of professionals in the sector, especially in hospitals. There are also problems in the living conditions for doctors, which must be discussed,” he enumerated.

He asked for more attention to the elderly, who make up 35% of the Island’s population according to official figures. He summarized the state of Cuban health in numbers but did not provide any details about the real situation of health care: “Primary health care has 451 polyclinics and 11,458 medical offices, of which 1,122 are located in the community; 168 in educational centers, 67 in universities, 91 in workplaces and other institutions,” he said.

In the Comments section of the Cubadebate report, several readers drew attention to other problems in the sector

In the Comments section of the Cubadebate report, several readers drew attention to other problems in the sector, to which the deputies did not allude. “What they must analyze is the total lack of medicines. Even if the doctor is in the office, you have to look on the street for what he tells you to take, and at astronomical prices, including dentistry material. That didn’t happen in the Special Period as we are seeing it now. I do not see that analysis beyond mentioning it, not even projections.”

“Our health system, hospitals and doctors have become accustomed to all resources being sought outside the institution. That is, for any intervention they ask patients to look for everything, even [surgical] gloves. Have they done that analysis?” asked another. “Please, I hope that in the upper spheres they are aware of this; if not the communication between the ministry and the institutions is very bad.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Japan Hires Baseball Player Raidel Martínez for 32 million dollars; 20 Percent Will Go To the Cuban Baseball Federation

Cuban baseball player Raidel Martínez, who ended his relationship with the Chunichi Dragons, is hired by Yomiuri Giants for a record amount in Japan / Facebook/Francys Romero

14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 2024 — Raidel Martínez has become the crown jewel for the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB). From his recently obtained contract for $32,500,000 with the Yomiuri Giants for four seasons in the Japanese Professional Baseball League, the state coffers will collect $6,500,000, more than $1,600,000 per season.

According to the Pelota Cubana journalist, Yordano Carmona, the FCB keeps 20% of the payment for its players’ contracts, but “the big question is ’What is done with that money?’” he asks in the YouTube program Deportes sin Barreras [Sports Without Borders]. Martínez, one of the best closers in the Japanese league, is not the only case. Another 20 Cuban athletes sponsored by the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) have been hired by different countries under similar terms.

In addition to Raidel Martínez, who has just ended his contract with Chunichi Dragons, Carlos Monier, Liván Moinelo, Frank Abel Álvarez, Cristian Rodríguez, Darío Sarduy and Ariel Martínez have secured agreements this year. Two other players are in Mexico, six in Italy and four more in Canada.

According to coach Julio Estrada, the FCB 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.” Unlike agents looking for better salaries, “the federation limits itself to listening to the offer and what it will receive” and passes the document to the player to sign. “The Inder doesn’t even know about the negotiation; it is only informed what will be deposited in the account so that it can collect the commission.”

In minor contracts, he clarifies, “the Japanese team passes money to the FCB based on what the players earn monthly.” Estrada had already denounced, in conversation with Pelota Cubana USA, that the money goes into the pockets of the Federation.

Raidel Martínez’s multi-million dollar contract with Yomiuri Giants exceeds the $26,000,000 of Roberto Osuna and Liván Moinelo / Chunichi Dragons

Raidel Martínez’s contract is “a historic agreement,” journalist Francys Romero highlighted on his social networks. It exceeds the 26,000,000 dollars of Roberto Osuna and Liván Moinelo. Although, the specialist said, “Martínez would have obtained offers of between 50 and 70 million dollars if he had decided to enter the Major League market” of the United States.

The athlete signed a contract for a record amount with the oldest team on the circuit and the leader of the regular season in the Central League. “This is a very good opportunity for me because my dream is to be in a Japanese Series and be able to win it,” Martínez told Pelota Cubana USA.

The former Chunichi Dragons’ star closer has accumulated 166 saved games in seven seasons and his average of clean runs is 1.71, in addition to 353 strikeouts recorded in 310.2 innings pitched.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Cuban Regime Insists That It Will Be ‘Able To Survive’ a New Trump Presidency

In four years, his administration will have ended “and Cuba, socialist Cuba, will be here,” says Fernández de Cossío

The Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío / Minrex

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 17 December 2024 — The Government of Cuba denied this Tuesday that it is uncomfortable with the political rapprochement with the United States – which will be 10 years old this December 17 – and acknowledged that it is “concerned” about the economic effect that a second Trump term may have.

“Of course we are concerned about the effect that this can have on our economy and, in particular, the effect that greater US hostility can have on the population’s standard of living, which has proven to be powerful and has a very effective destructive capacity to cause damage,” said Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío.

These statements were made within the framework of the dialogue forum on relations between Havana and Washington, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the so-called thaw.

Fernández de Cossío also stated that the most catastrophic scenarios for Cuba that are being outlined following Trump’s election are those desired by the Cuban population in Florida, but he considered that “it can’t be of interest to the North American nation as a whole” that an increase in instability and violence on the Island materializes. continue reading

“It can’t be of interest to the North American nation as a whole” that an increase in instability and violence on the Island materializes

Despite those omens, he was convinced that the regime will resist a new Trump presidency. “We know we’re going to be able to survive. In four years, the Trump government will have ended, and Cuba, socialist Cuba, will be here,” Fernández de Cossío said.

Moments before, in the dialogue forum, the deputy minister acknowledged that these next four years may not be easy for the country, which has been plunged into a serious economic and energy crisis for years.

Regarding the outgoing US president, he regretted that Biden has maintained the bulk of the sanctions imposed by his predecessor and that he did not remove Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

“The United States knows that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism. But it also knows perfectly well the damage it is capable of causing by keeping Cuba on the list, and that is the purpose it has pursued,” he said.

In addition, the deputy minister denied that the regime felt uncomfortable with the approach advocated by the administration of former US President Barack Obama (2009-2017), which led to the thaw, as pointed out in an interview with EFE by the then-US ambassador to Havana, Jeffrey DeLaurentis.

“Cuba fulfilled all the commitments it made, since our goal was to advance. The U.S. government violated almost all of them. So it is very difficult to say that Cuba was uncomfortable with the thaw,” he argued.

“Cuba fulfilled all the commitments it made, since our goal was to advance”

The vice-chancellor added that “the euphoria” that existed in the country, “the support that there was from our people and the willingness we had to move forward, even with the permanence of the economic blockade* – let’s remember that it wasn’t lifted – is more than a reliable demonstration that Cuba had the disposition and the will to move forward.”

Previously, when speaking at the dialogue forum, he maintained that “the brief rapprochement was positive for Cuba and the United States, and it aroused the respect, congratulations and admiration of many of the world governments.”

However, he pointed out that Washington failed to comply with “practically all” the commitments it reached with Cuba (while Havana kept “every one”) and stressed that, since the arrival of Castroism on the Island, “what has prevailed” on the part of the United States “has been aggression.”

“In this difficult relationship there is an aggressor country and an attacked country,” said the deputy minister, who also spoke of a “difficult coexistence” and said that Cuba will continue to be “consistent” in its position of seeking cooperation and understanding with Washington.

Translated by Regina Anavy

*Editor’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.

____________

The Assault of Revolutionary Collectivism on the Cuban National Identity

Generations emerged conditioned to accept an immutable political order

Cuban flag propped up on D’Strampes Street, in the Havana neighborhood of La Víbora / 14ymedio/Archive

14ymedio, Karel J. Leyva, Montreal, 14 December 2024 — Being part of a nation goes beyond inhabiting a territory or sharing a common history. As Benedict Anderson maintains, the nation is an “imagined community,” a collective project that is born from the ability of people to identify with a wider group and commit to a shared future. This concept is not inherent; it is actively built through institutions, culture and, fundamentally, citizen participation.

The nation is not defined by a specific territory. The Kurdish nation, for example, persists without a recognized independent state, while the Kurds are scattered across several countries. The same can be said of the Inuit, whether from Canada, Alaska or Greenland, and of the Sami, present in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. No one, unless they aspire to tell the truth, could say that there is no Inuit, Sami or Kurdish nation. These peoples share more than a common language or culture. They are nations not by their territory or by their genealogy, but by their collective identity. It is this identity that allows individuals to think in terms of “us” no matter where they are, and without renouncing either their rational autonomy or their collective project.

Thinking collectively as a nation is antithetical to submitting to a collectivism imposed vertically by the State. In the same way that a nation exists when the same political, social and cultural status is shared, it is fractured when the national identity ceases to be the binding link of the various plural identities that coexist in society and becomes a space of exclusion. continue reading

Thinking collectively as a nation is antithetical to submitting to a collectivism imposed vertically by the State

This explains why, while the caudillos and sycophants of the Cuban communist regime defended the Marxist-Leninist ideal of a collective identity for the Cuban people, in reality what they did was destroy the very essence of the Cuban nation, diminishing the ability of Cubans to think collectively, freely, without fear of offending the despotic narcissism of a tyrant. The cornerstone of the revolutionary project was never a national ideal, because national ideals do not divide citizens between loyal and disloyal, friends and traitors, heroes and villains. The national ideal, by nature, is plural, because it does not depend on a unitary doctrine, much less on an imported ideology with the purpose of colonizing minds and dominating wills.

The communist narrative exalted the collective as the only means to overcome the inequalities of capitalism, but this ideal implied the total subordination of individual interests to a single, exclusive and authoritarian party. Behind the rhetoric of the community was hidden a project of centralization of power that stripped Cubans of their political agency. The nationalization of private property and the means of production did not seek so much to redistribute resources as to strengthen a structure that eliminated any form of opposition or pluralism.

Stripped of freedoms, rights and autonomy, the Cubans were subjected to a single political party that stood as the only guarantor of national objectives. This implied a redefinition of the collective: no longer as a space for deliberation and participation, but as a mechanism of subordination, dependence and emotional control, validated by the State. Citizen dispossession, social control and the suppression of any autonomous organization fostered a culture of mutual distrust, weakening the social fabric and replacing cooperation with obedience.

Spiritual leaders became public enemies. Art and creativity were co-opted as censorship instruments. Children were subjected to an indoctrination that could only nullify the capacity for critical thinking, homogenize their perspectives and prepare them to think not as a nation but as subjects of a political apparatus. Instead of individuals capable of imagining and building alternatives to the regime, generations emerged conditioned to accept an immutable political order.

The consequences of all this created a politically disjointed population structurally dependent on the State, and an ideal of national collectivity transmuted into an ideological machinery of conformity. This explains, in large part, what Cuba is today: a fragmented society, where individuals are forced to focus on daily survival, rather than on collective national transformation. Meanwhile, the political elites plunder the country with total impunity, while indefinitely postponing the progress of the Cuban nation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Havana’s Industriales Baseball Team, From Success to Exodus

Of the 37 players who made up the dazzling Cuban team of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, 25 have left the country

The Industriales of Havana have won the National Baseball Series 12 times / Cubadebate

14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 13 December 2024 — The Industriales of Havana of the 1995-1996 campaign is one of the teams most remembered by their own and strangers.

14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, December 13, 2024 — The Industriales of Havana of the 1995-1996 campaign is one of the teams most remembered by their own and strangers. With a team of great new players, it broke the hegemony of the Azucareros of Villa Clara, who were looking for their fourth consecutive National Baseball Series. Today, however, it is no more than the epitome of the situation of national sport on the Island, bled by migration.

One of the players of the “Blues,” Jesús Ametller, recounted on Facebook the current whereabouts of his former teammates. Of the 37 members, 25 left the country in search of better opportunities, despite the fact that they had years of good baseball health on the Island. In 1996, for example, Team Cuba repeated the Olympic gold – undefeated – at the Atlanta Games. In fact, Cuba won three gold and two silver medals in 16 years, from 1992 to 2008.

Eight of the 13 members of the pitching staff currently reside abroad: Orlando Hernández, Ernesto Noris, Luis Alberto González, Agustín Marquetti Jr., Ángel Díaz, Pablo Miguel Abreu, Leonardo Tamayo and Juan Carlos Llanes; while Jorge Fumero alternates stays between Italy and Cuba. Only Lázaro Valle, René Espín, Juan Rafael Despaigne and Osnel Blas continue reading

Bocourt live on the Island.

Out of the nine starters of the Industriales team that won the National Baseball Series 28 years ago, only Germán Mesa remains in Cuba

As for the catchers, they all emigrated: Ricardo Miranda, Francisco Santiesteban, Bárbaro Cañizares and Michel Hernández.

Regarding the players who ran the bases, six out of eight also looked for better opportunities abroad: Roberto Colina, Juan Padilla, Luis Pestana, Lázaro Vargas, Vladimir Hernández and Ametller himself, who published the list, while Germán Mesa and Alexander Malleta stayed in the country.

Javier Méndez, Carlos Tabares and William Ortega, all of them outfielders, also emigrated; the only one who stayed in the country was Juan Francisco Cuéllar.

Finally, as for the management, Pedro Medina – considered by many one of the best catchers of all time in Cuban baseball, chosen among the 100 best athletes of the twentieth century in the country – resides on the Island, along with Eulalio Linares, Enrique Rojas and Fidel Ramírez. His colleagues Ángel Leocadio Díaz and Reinaldo Batista decided to leave.

On the list are two members who have passed away: one of the coaches, Juan Gómez, and the outfielder Orbe Luis Rodríguez.

Swing Completo says that out of the nine starters on the Industriales team that won the National Baseball Series 28 years ago, only Germán Mesa remains in Cuba.

About 1,100 athletes have fled in the last decade. Most of them, 635, have been baseball players, according to a count by the official weekly Trabajadores, in January 2022. Since then, the numbers have continued to grow. The exile also includes coaches from various disciplines, many of whom have already delivered results with other nations, as happened in Paris 2024, where 50 trainers in 30 countries harvested 28 medals with their athletes, triple those achieved by the Cuban delegation (barely nine).

Translated by Regina Anavy
____________

The Purges in Castro Totalitarianism

Periodically, despotic regimes resort to purging their officials because they are no longer trusted by the supreme leader

The most important dismissal has been that of Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, considered a potential candidate of the Castro regime to be president in 2028. / Radio Sancti Spíritus

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 15 December 2024 — It is constantly mentioned that the leader of the regime in Cuba, at least on paper, the inept Miguel Diaz-Canel, is immersed in a purge of officials who do not offer guarantees of continuity to totalitarianism. Many have been fired, and by all indications the list will grow.

Periodically, despotic regimes resort to purging their officers, not because they commit some crime – they are all criminals – but because they are no longer trusted by the supreme leader, the most important endorsement to be part of those governments.

In Cuba, the first purges took place in the remnants of the insurrectionary process. In July 1959, Fidel Castro committed a coup d’état against the nominal president Manuel Urrutia Lleó. Next came the dismissal and imprisonment of Commander Huber Matos and his men, followed by the cleansing of less notable personalities, up to the process of the microfaction.*

Months after Fidel Castro declared, in 1961, that the revolution was communist – he had emphatically denied it in the first years of the triumph- the first great purge took place within the framework of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, ORIs, with the dismissal, in 1962, of Aníbal Escalante, leader of the Popular Socialist Party. This situation was repeated in 1966-68, as my admired colleague and friend Luis Cino wrote, in the largest legal action against the communists in the history of Cuba, and this did not occur under the mandates of Gerardo Machado or Fulgencio Batista, but under the omnipresent authority of Fidel Castro. continue reading

The constant struggles within Castroism, genuine wolf fights, led to the dismissal in 1968 of Ramiro Valdés, the once almighty and bloodthirsty Minister of the Interior

The microfraction was very useful to the maximum leader because it sent the Kremlin a resounding message of who was the master of the game. Moscow broke with its historical subjects of the Popular Socialist Party and allied itself with this upstart who guaranteed it a new and more effective servitude.

The microfraction was a great scandal in which Raúl Castro served as the main accuser. The accused, almost forty of them, were sentenced to different prison sentences, among them a man who became aware, like few others, of the damage that the new regime would cause to Cubans. Ricardo Bofill Pagés,** years later and in prison, would sow the foundations to promote new forms of fighting against totalitarianism.

The constant struggles within Castroism, genuine wolf fights, led to the dismissal in 1968 of Ramiro Valdés, the once almighty and bloodthirsty Minister of the Interior, for rivalry with Raúl, the brother of the pharaoh. However, “Ramirito” was irreplaceable in his role as executioner, which is why he never stopped being in the front row of power.

It is appropriate to recognize that the bloodiest purge of Castroism, without alluding to the numerous and inexplicable deaths of generals and doctors that occurred in recent years, was the one that occurred in 1989, when General Arnaldo Ochoa and three senior officers of the armed forces, Antonio de la Guardia, Jorge Martínez and Amado Padrón Trujillo, were sentenced to death and shot. Others involved were given prison sentences.

The political purges are closely related to the insecurity and fear suffered by the leadership of the government

A known sequel to this was the death of Jose Abrahantes, a famous Castro hitman who served 20 years in prison before they killed him by inducing a heart attack .

The political purges are closely related to the insecurity and fear suffered by the leadership of the government. Thus, the inept Miguel Diaz-Canel, in recent months, has dismissed several important players in the Government and the party.

A key figure in the regime was the former Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, who was fired in February and subsequently accused of corruption. However, the most important dismissal hierarchically, has been that of Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, a young man with vast government experience who was considered a potential candidate for president in 2028, if the regime survives until that date. The cork on which it has been floating all these years seems to be taking in water.

Translator’s notes

* In 1968, a group of almost 40 officials in the Cuban Communist party and other organizations known as the “microfaction” was completely purged from the government. They endorsed Soviet-style material incentives over “moral enthusiasm” to encourage workers. Accused of conspiring against the state, they were sentenced to prison.

** Bofill and a group of friends founded the Cuban Committee for Human Rights in 1976. He passed away in Miami in 2019.

Translated by Regina Anavy
____________

The Colors of Cuban Christmas: Red Like a Tomato, Green Like the Dollar

A pound of the popular food sells for 400 pesos while last January it cost 100

A tomato seller in the Youth Labor Army market on Tulipán Street in the neighborhood of Nuevo Vedado, Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 15 December 2024 — In salad it is delicious; converted into sauce, a delicacy; and thrown towards a stage a real insult. The tomato has the ability to mutate in every circumstance. The many dishes that are made with this fruit are so numerous that there are even recipes for tomato syrups and tomato jams. Its versatility is accompanied, of course, by a brake: the current prices.

This Sunday morning a table in the Youth Labor Army market on Tulipán Street in Nuevo Vedado, Havana, attracted the curious. A pile of tomatoes displayed a price that initially unleashed curiosity. “I approached because I saw that they were at 200 pesos a pound. On the street they reach 300, and a few days ago I bought them at 400,” says Odalis, a frequent customer of the place, previously managed almost entirely by the Armed Forces but with more and more private stalls.

In most markets in the Cuban capital, the tomato disappears during the hottest months and returns when temperatures begin to drop. However, there are shops like the one at 19 and B in El Vedado, mockingly called La Boutique for its high prices, which has the product on sale all year round. In agricultural areas, such as Sancti Spíritus, the Plaza Boulevard also maintains a stable supply.

“The price has also skyrocketed because of the recent measures applied to the MSMEs, and tomato sauce will soon go missing “

Although the tomato maintained its presence from January to December, with the exception of last July, on the shelves in Sancti Spíritus the price has risen or decreased depending on the quality of the fruit and demand. Now, a pound of tomatoes costs 400 pesos, while last January it cost 100. The price continue reading

increase seems to be influenced by the proximity of the end of the year, with festivities that give the tomato a prominent place in a salad to accompany the pork, rice, beans and cassava.

“The price has also skyrocketed because of the recent measures applied to the MSMEs [Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises], and tomato sauce will soon go missing,” adds a resident of Reparto Kilo 12. “People have to make their own sauce because the private markets are closed. Many businesses are in liquidation. They are not going to continue, because they fear [being fined by] the inspectors.”

Although the tomato maintained its presence from January to December, with the exception of last July, on the shelves of Sancti Spíritus, its price has risen or decreased depending on the quality of the fruit and demand / 14ymedio

Meanwhile in Havana, Odalis thought she had come across a great offer in the EJT market, but it was just a mirage. “As soon as I stood in front of the table I realized why the price was only 200 pesos a pound,” she says with frustration. “They smell rotten and are being sold at a discount. Look at the skin: there are bruises, dents and cuts. “Maybe they could still be used to make sauce, but this is not the best variety for that.”

When she talks about a variety of tomatoes, the woman enters a territory unknown to many young Cubans. “People from before do know these things. Cherry tomatoes are perfect for sauce, because they have much more pulp, fewer seeds and also very thin skin,” she explains. “Between December and January, my mother made all the tomato sauce we consumed in our house.”

The preparation of those sauces was a moment of family reunion. “They put us children to work washing the tomatoes, and my father prepared the wood stove on the patio, because at that time we lived in Santiago de las Vegas and had a good space outside with fruit trees.” The mother and grandmother took turns in front of the huge pot, stirring with a wooden pallet “that looked more like an oar than a spoon.”

“They smell rotten. These tomatoes have gone bad and are not good to sell to people”

Then came the method for preparing tomato sauce: “scrub the bottles, boil them and keep the lids ready.” The tomatoes were pounded and strained to separate the seeds and pieces of skin; “a little seasoning and salt were added, and then the sauce was simmered in a pot on the stove until it thickened.” Finally, it was put into the sterilized jars with airtight lids and stored in a dark place “unexposed to the sun. ” All that was left was to “enjoy that sauce in a good stew or with some spaghetti.”

But the fall in agricultural production and the arrival of a wide variety of imported sauces buried that tradition. On digital sites that sell food for emigrants to buy for their relatives on the Island, a 12-oz. can of tomato paste costs $2.50. For those who have foreign currency there are many options. Lighter or thicker sauces, seasoned or low in salt, with pieces of tomato or finely filtered. There is even tomato juice, much appreciated for mixing with certain alcoholic beverages.

On those sites there are containers of cherry tomatoes with or without skin, sofritos [fried onion, garlic and tomato to be used in a sauce] that include peppers and carrots, in addition to some locally produced sauces that are undervalued due to the frequent adulteration suffered by such mixtures- cheaper, but with an unpredictable flavor. For those who prefer the fresh product to use in salads, robust, fleshy tomatoes with shiny skin are offered. All fruits have a bright red tone and are paid for with the green bills of the “enemy’s currency.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Bubble That Was Once the Havana Film Festival Has Burst

With few screening rooms and precarious means, the once prestigious cultural festival is in complete decline

Cine Chaplin, during the day of the Havana festival devoted to Palestinian films / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 14 December 2024 — A journalist takes notes on the terrace of the Hotel Nacional in Havana while interviewing an Argentine film director. At another table, an actress poses for photographers, and, in the beautiful garden, a feature film producer asks a young cameraman to take several shots of the Malecón. The unreal bubble breaks as soon as you leave the imposing building that brings together the main guests of the Havana Film Festival.

“I have come for more than 20 years almost every December, with the exception of the break due to the pandemic,” a Latin American reporter who prefers to remain anonymous tells 14ymedio. “This year I have been very affected by the low quality of the Festival and the number of beggars that are seen around cinemas and hotels. I have not even been able to sit down and enjoy a coffee because immediately someone arrives asking for money or food.”

With a credential hanging around her neck, which opens the doors of all cinemas and parallel events, the freelance journalist has been attentive to every detail. “The first problem I came across is that the press release, which used to have all the information very well organized, is a disaster this year. They don’t even put the time accurately because they don’t know when the electricity will go off and they’ll have to suspend the projection.”

“The Festival has shrunk; now it’s only on 23rd Street”

“The Festival has shrunk; now it’s only on 23rd Street. The screenings used to be in other neighborhoods or in the Glauber Rocha room [municipality of La Lisa], for example, but that no longer exists,” she points out. The event has taken refuge in a few spaces where “a lot of the Cuban audience can’t come because of the fuel problem.”

For independent journalist Luis Cino, a collaborator of Cubanet, the reduction of screening rooms is a serious problem for the Havana cultural scene. “What kind of film festival is this in a city where out of 138 cinemas there are only four left (Yara, Charlie Chaplin, 23 and 12 and Acapulco), all in El Vedado, which is almost impossible to get to due to the lack of buses?” continue reading

To the few venues included in the program must be added the impairment caused by blackouts. “We arrived at the 23 and 12 cinema to see the movie Matar a hombre, by Orlando Mora Cabrera, and everything was in the dark. There was no poster or anything explaining if they were going to show it another day, a total lack of respect for the public,” says Anthony, 23, a student at the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences.

Cinema of 23 and 12, in El Vedado, Havana, in total blackout / 14ymedio

Together with his friends, the young man also spent an afternoon in front of the Chaplin cinema and was surprised by the red, green, white and black colors of the Palestinian flags hanging on the facade. Outside, an employee with a sad face urged passers-by to enter. “There were four cats in the main room. We went in to sit down because we were tired, and the others who were there were people who use the cinema to sleep because they don’t have a house.”

“The only moment of festival enthusiasm was the premiere of the series One Hundred Years of Solitude in the Yara,” says Anthony. “There were a lot of young people and it was nice, but the rest of the venues have been pretty dead. Almost all the theaters I entered were practically empty.” From a generation that consumes audiovisual material mainly on mobile devices, Anthony believes that “with this lack of charm, they will not attract people to the festival.”

This year not only were the places for the screenings limited but the event brought together only 110 films in competition, 89 fewer than last year, from 42 countries. Cuban productions of numerous filmmakers who have emigrated in recent years were missing from the festival. Their works either have been censored or they have decided not to present themselves as an act of protest over the lack of freedoms on the Island.

“I find it shameful that today someone sits down to quietly listen to the false speeches of violent men, liars, proven abusers and verified human rights violators,” said producer Claudia Calviño on her social networks. She and her husband, the independent journalist Abraham Jiménez Enoa, have been exiled. “Those who sit there (in the same place from where combat orders are given), to listen without question, without recognizing the suffering of the suppressed, are, in fact, endorsing impunity and oblivion.”

“It gives the impression that no one believes this and that they have put on the Festival so they can say that they did not suspend it”

Her attitude coincides with that maintained by Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, resident in Miami and director of the documentary Veritas (2021), who explains without mincing words his absence on the Billboard of the Festival. “Until Cuba freely exhibits the films of Orlando Jiménez Leal, Néstor Almendros, Jorge Ulla, León Ichaso, Iván Acosta, Miguel Coyula and a long list of directors among which I include myself, I am not interested. Solidarity for me is a matter of principle.”

To cover up the obvious reduction in venues and films suffered by the event, the official organizers placed platforms and sales kiosks along the main avenue of El Vedado and a stage at the intersection of 23rd and 12th streets for musicians and audiovisual materials. Public bathrooms outside the Chaplin Cinema increased the feeling that they were attending a carnival or a street fair.

Playwright and poet Norge Espinosa complained harshly about these additions in a text published in Café Fuerte: “I wonder what Alfredo Guevara would say about his poster plastered everywhere, with closed streets for musical presentations, gastronomy and a street-carnival atmosphere, in search of an image of what is supposedly popular. The festival never needed such things, nor the portable public toilets placed in front of the ICAIC [Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry].

For filmmaker Armando Capó, director of the film Agosto (2019), the diagnosis is very pessimistic. “The film festival has no soul. It has lost it despite the effort of its work team. This has been achieved by speeches that rewrite history. The annulment of Cuban filmmakers. The idiotic carnivalization of the spectacle.” In his opinion, the event “looked like a representation for foreign filmmakers, a staging for the authorities, needing to hear what they want to hear. A parallel reality where the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers does not exist.”

“It gives the impression that no one believes this and that they have only put on the Festival to say that they did not suspend it,” Anthony considers. For the Latin American journalist, the immersion in the event has left a deep and sad impression. “The filmmakers are fed up and very upset. I talked to some who told me that they were not even going to go to the closing because they already knew what it was going to be: official speeches ensuring that everything went very well, when the truth is that the Festival is broken, completely broken.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Opponent Maikel Herrera Bones Dies, Months After Being Hospitalized for Oropouche Fever

11J prisoner Andy García Lorenzo has been on a hunger strike for 12 days, and his family fears for his life
Independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea denounces from prison: “I am kept locked up to silence a critic.”

Activist Maikel Herrera Bones, in a file image. / Facebook

14ymedio, Madrid, 9 December 2024 — The opponent Maikel Herrera Bones, 48, died at the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine, in Havana on Saturday night, after being hospitalized for more than four months. The news was released by relatives of the activist on social networks and confirmed by some independent media.

According to Martí Noticias, the health of Herrera Bones, who had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since 2012, deteriorated due to the “instability in the supply of the medicines he needed and the lack of an adequate diet.” He got hopelessly ill after contracting Oropouche Fever and had to be admitted to the hospital, where he passed away.

“Maikel, who did so much for the freedom of his homeland without asking for anything in return, will not have the beautiful floral arrangements, masses or the grave he deserves,” Roberto Márquez said on Facebook.

Last October the patient was already in serious condition, very deteriorated neurologically

Yoel Parsons Bones, Herrera’s cousin and also an activist, told the same newspaper that the family was trying to get him a humanitarian visa to be treated in the United States. It was last October, and the patient was already in serious condition, very deteriorated neurologically.

To continue his activism “independently,” Herrera Bones left the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu) and the Cuba Decide platform, in which he had been active, in 2021. This was clarified by Ana Belkis Ferrer García, sister of José Daniel Ferrer, leader of Unpacu, through Facebook.

“In 2020 he suffered seven months of provisional imprisonment in the prison for HIV patients in Güines, Mayabeque, for publicly protesting the lack of electrical service in his community,” Ana Belkis Ferrer said, adding: “If we had been able to get him medical attention in exile, we would have taken him out, but unfortunately we were not able to achieve it with Maikel, continue reading

nor with Cristian Pérez Carmenate and Pablo Moya Dela; nor have we yet achieved it with Raul González, among others.”

Cuba Decide also published its condolences: “We deeply regret the death of Maikel Herrera Bones after years of harassment and repression at the hands of the regime for his struggle for the freedom of Cubans. For years Maikel dealt with health problems and constant medical complications. This brave young Cuban gave his youth to the cause of human rights and for several years promoted Cuba Decide.”

“If something happens to Andy, you will be responsible”

Andy García Lorenzo, sentenced to four years in prison for participating in the demonstrations of 11 July 2021, has been on a hunger strike for 12 days, and his family reports that his life is in danger. According to Pedro López, father-in-law of the activist’s sister, Roxana García, the prison authorities took “letters and documents that he considered important,” away from him. When they weren’t returned, he went on a hunger strike. His family learned of this nine days after he stopped eating.

The last time his mother, Dairy Lorenzo, was able to see him in Guamajal prison in Santa Clara, where he is serving his sentence, “he was very depressed and short of breath, and it was difficult for him to stand,” López said.

This Sunday, Roxana García made another appeal on social networks, explaining that although her mother managed to talk to the medical staff and was told that they had “the necessary materials,” “they have not performed medical tests, which leaves us uncertain about his true state of health.” And she warned: “We demand that the regime act immediately. This is not a matter of pride, it is a matter of life or death. If something happens to Andy, you will be responsible.”

Another political prisoner in Santa Clara, José Gabriel Barrenechea, sent a letter from prison in which he stated: “I am kept locked up to silence a critic, in his analysis and publications, of the Government’s management and the real possibilities of the Cuban socio-political system to get the country out of the crisis in which it is immersed.”

Undersecretary Eric Jacobstein spoke, in addition to independent businessmen and religious leaders, with relatives of political prisoners

The independent journalist was transferred to La Pendiente prison on November 18, ten days after being arrested for his participation in the popular protests that took place, a day earlier, in the municipality of Encrucijada, Villa Clara, after two days of blackouts. In his letter, he says that the demonstration was “spontaneous, massive and peaceful” and “had no other intention than to demand the replacement of the electricity after 45 hours without it and a week in which we had power for no more than 10 or 12 hours in total, in short intervals of two or three hours.”

According to the Denunciation Center of the Foundation for Pan American Democracy (FDP), the penitentiary center where Barrenechea is currently located is “known for its conditions of extreme overcrowding and for housing prisoners of all kinds,” and his stay in it “represents a serious risk to his life.”

Also, a letter signed by more than 200 journalists, activists, intellectuals and academics was released in which they demanded the immediate release of Barrenechea. The letter emphasized that the reporter, a collaborator of 14ymedio among other media, had been arrested “for political reasons,” in “frank violation of his rights.”

The text was signed by journalists Boris González Arenas, Camila Acosta Rodríguez and Yoe Suárez; playwright Luis Enrique Valdés Duarte, the coordinator of the Patmos Institute, Mario Félix Lleonart, analyst Juan Antonio Blanco, political scientist Armando Chaguaceda and academic Alina Bárbara López, among others. “We demand the immediate release of the writer and activist and, by extension, of all political prisoners in Cuba,” they demanded in the letter.

That request was reiterated by US officials visiting Havana last week on the occasion of the biannual talks on migration. According to U.S. Undersecretary of State Brian A. Nichols, U. S. Deputy Undersecretary Eric Jacobstein, independent businessmen and religious leaders conversed with relatives of political prisoners. “They stressed the important work they do to improve conditions in Cuba and called for the immediate release of people unjustly detained,” Nichols tweeted.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

The Línea Street Tunnel in Havana is Pitch Black

The time when the Orquesta América sang “they want to cross the tunnel” to celebrate that engineering work is long ago

The Linea Tunnel in Havana connects El Vedado with the Miramar neighborhood / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 12 December 2024 — In Havana there are several types of darkness. There is the one that is sought voluntarily, for a romantic moment, and the other, the most common, is the one imposed by the crisis. The fuel shortage extends blackouts throughout the city, and the deterioration of public lighting makes places like the tunnel on Línea Street turn pitch black. The road that connects El Vedado with the Miramar neighborhood is now a gloomy place that drivers avoid.

“I haven’t been here for a long time and my hair has stood on end,” commented on Wednesday the driver of a car linked to the La Nave application that moved a customer from the vicinity of Central Park to the vicinity of the Karl Marx theater. “With your eyes accustomed to sunlight you move on to this that has a few lamps that do not illuminate anything. It is very dangerous because even if you have good headlights in the car there is almost no visibility,” explains the taxi driver.

The road that connects El Vedado with the Miramar neighborhood is now a gloomy place that drivers avoid

“I felt like someone entering a cave; this is very dangerous and it seems that no one cares,” said a passenger, who could not help but cling to the seat while he and the driver traveled the little more than 200 meters of the underground road. The next time they have to go west of the Cuban capital, it is unlikely that they will choose to immerse themselves in a passageway that could be a scene in a film about a trip to hell.

At night the situation is even worse, because although the pale interior lights are a little more noticeable, they are so immersed in the shadows that it is even difficult to distinguish the lanes. If, on top of this, there is a power cut in the area, then the risks multiply and you have to rely on the headlights, keep your hands firmly on the wheel and appeal to luck so as not to collide with anything or come across some other surprise on the way. continue reading

Lately only bad news emerges from the central tunnel. Last February, several Internet users complained about the water that fell on windshields, blocking the vision of drivers. Those complaints came just a few months after the road was closed to carry out repair work that included painting the side walls at both entrances with an intense blue color that can’t be seen in the dark.

Havana, the city that in the 50s was at the forefront of urban and architectural innovations in Latin America, was left with only three tunnels to channel traffic. Two of them pass under the Almendares, now turned into a pestilent and reduced river, while the third and more impressive is immersed in the waters of the bay. The one that connects Línea Street with Miramar is the oldest, and the amazement it caused after its inauguration was even reflected in a catchy song.

Lately only bad news emerges from the central tunnel. Last February, several Internet users reported the presence of leaks on social networks

It was the well-known musician Enrique Jorrín who composed the theme that later became popular with the Orquesta América. Then, that engineering work was attractive because of its modernity and the romantic atmosphere felt when crossing it. On the stage and phonographs you could hear: “All the people in Havana who like to drive / when they go out / they want to cross the tunnel … And now the little ones say / when they see the car: let’s go to the tunnel, my darling, / let’s go to the tunnel, my love.”

However, fear has never been a good ally of flirting, so now everyone is in a hurry and holds their breath when they cross through the tunnel. No one sees, among so much darkness, an opportunity to fall in love or curl up. Rather, muscles twitch, eyebrows furrow and a chill runs up the neck until they reach the other side. Only then a sigh of relief runs through the inside of the vehicle. The dangerous tunnel has been left behind.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________