Category: Translator: Regina Anavy

One of the most relevant items is that of remittances, which have fallen to 1,084 million dollars

Citing a report reviewed by CNN in 2021, the author indicates that “26% of Cuban households received remittances, about 2% of the GDP. Some 83.7% came from the United States, and more than 60% arrived informally.” Another study that is included in the article is one from Inter-American Dialogue, which estimated money transfers to the Island in 2023 at 2.458 billion dollars, but the former minister clarifies that “there is no clear evidence that remittances grew to that level last year.”

Another “negative element” recognized by Rodríguez is the “non-compliance with payments of the external debt service,” which forced the regime in 2020 to a new renegotiation with the Paris Club – apart from the one agreed in 2015 – “achieving a postponement of the payments for that year only.” Recently, the economist indicates, “an additional deadline was established for the payment of the debt, although no more details are known.”

It also “transcended,” says the former minister — using that word — that “it was possible to postpone payments until 2040 in the case of Russia, and work is being done on the restructuring of the debt with China.” The investments of both countries, which were paralyzed “by non-payments,” says Rodríguez, were “unlocked,” and Beijing even donated 100 million dollars, thanks to the international tour carried out by President Miguel Díaz-Canel in November 2022 through Algeria, Russia, Turkey and China.

As a result of those trips, “the cancellation of interest on Cuba’s debt with Algeria and the indefinite postponement of the restart of disbursements was also achieved,” says the economist.

Beijing even donated 100 million dollars, thanks to the international tour made by Díaz-Canel in November 2022

Although Rodríguez diligently mentions the “will of Cuba to pay the external debt when economic conditions for the country improve,” he says that it is “indispensable to resume the alternative of a more flexible renegotiation of the debt.” This was estimated at the end of 2023, “according to creditors,” at about 29.4 billion dollars, “which is estimated to be equivalent to more than 40% of GDP.”

All this data leads the former minister to justify the “urgent measures,” which, however, he says, quoting Díaz-Canel diligently, “should lead us not to insist on a route that has proven to be impractical for being unsustainable.”

José Luis Rodríguez does not mention these new measures, but they are supposed to specified in the package of laws published last week in the Official Gazette, which, far from promoting flexibility in the economy, reinforce the control, prohibitions and fines for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The official daily press is responsible for details of these provisions, a total of 19, which repeal all the previous ones referring to private companies from 2012 to 2023, and occupy 167 pages of the August 19th Gazette. This same Monday, for example, the news regarding tax changes is revealed, including the brackets that affect the self-employed, regulated by Resolution 271 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices, and which will come into force 30 days after being published on September 18.

In addition, it mentions the obligation for private businesses to have a “fiscal bank account” in a Cuban bank and declared to the ONAT

One of them is the application of a proportional scale, in which the excess of between 15,000 and 20,000 pesos will have a 7.5% tax imposed; between 20,000 and 25,000, a 10% tax; between 25,000 and 30,000, 15%; and more than 30,000, a 20% tax.

The law also empowers the municipal councils in an unprecedented way, says the official State newspaper Granma, to decide whether to reduce up to 35% the tax obligations for self-employed workers (TCP) who “carry out their activities in rural areas of difficult access or mountainous, due to the conditions in which the taxpayer carries out the activity or the need to provide a public service at low prices.” Of course, “with exceptional character.”

In addition, it emphasizes the obligation for private businesses to have a “fiscal bank account” in a Cuban bank and declared to the National Tax Administration Office (ONAT). From that account they must execute the payment of taxes and also all expenses related to “capital repairs, constructive maintenance, purchase of means and equipment, and services received from the forms of non-state management that are carried out through banking instruments.”

In the case of TCPs dedicated to fishing, four specific taxes are established, through Resolution 273: one of 5% “on personal income,” when what they receive from the marketing of the catches exceeds 3,260 pesos; another of 10% “on sales and on services,” according to “the decisions adopted in this regard by local governments,” excluding income from “deliveries to fishing companies and other authorized entities”; another of 5% “for the use of labor force” on wages to workers, and a last “special contribution to Social Security.”

The recent legal battery also contains numerous instruments to avoid “irregularities” and impose fines, something that is also emphasized by the official press on a daily basis. In a note published on Sunday, Granma boasts that the regime closed a total of 171 establishments and withdrew 197 “work projects” only in the week of August 17 to 23, for “violations detected.”

On those days there was a total of “58 confiscations and 773 forced sales”for reasons such as “marketing products without showing prices, not showing the legality of raw materials used in the provision of services, not displaying the QR codes of the gateways and for employment of personnel who work without the corresponding contract.”

The article highlights the price controls established in Resolution 225 – also mentioned in the Gazette – for six “high demand products”: chicken, oil, powdered detergent, pasta, sausages and powdered milk.

Without mentioning the dates, the authorities say that so far a total of 157,331 control actions have been carried out, in which “debits” were determined for an exorbitant total that is close to three billion pesos.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Regime “pays the doctors between 10% and 25% of what the host country pays Cuba for their service and denies them their fundamental rights,” the document emphasizes. Against this background, it requested analyzing the issue within the framework of the Trade Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), an instrument that will be reviewed next year.

Five days after resolution 1358 was made public, the Government of Mexico announced the hiring of another 2,700 Cuban doctors to serve rural areas of the country. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has shown his support for Miguel Díaz-Canel by hiring 5,000 health workers. In addition, he has sent oil to Cuba, financed research and offered paid scholarships to medical students.

In February 2023, a specialist said Cuban health workers in Mexico receive only “a stipend for their needs;” that is, their “salary is in Cuba.” Of the amount paid by the López Obrador Administration, the Government of the Island keeps most of the salary. Organizations such as Prisoners Defenders have questioned the Government of Mexico for the hiring of Cuban professionals in “conditions of slavery.”

In December 2022, Prisoners Defenders launched a harsh criticism of the Governments of Mexico, Italy and Qatar for hiring Cuban professionals in “conditions of slavery.” The temporary migration program of health workers with “friendly countries” is no more than the main input of foreign exchange for the island’s regime.

The US Congress specified that “Cuba continues to be a source of regional instability” and referred to an independent investigation by the United Nations in 2002, which “found that the Island’s personnel were advising and instructing Venezuelan intelligence agencies that committed crimes against humanity.” This support “encourages the narco-terrorist dictator Nicolás Maduro to continue resisting free and fair elections,” and promotes illegal migration to the United States.

Congress referred to the June 2023 publication in which The Wall Street Journal denounced the Island for backing China’s plan to establish an electronic surveillance facility, which “would allow Chinese intelligence services to collect electronic communications throughout the southeastern United States, where many military bases are located, and to monitor American ship movements.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

It is supposed to be forbidden for a scammer and a driver – state or private – to negotiate, but that law only works “inside the terminal area.” If the scammer is informed of the itineraries or receives privileged information from the drivers outside Villanueva, Pantoja can do nothing.

The scammers never set a rate; they work on an already established price, which they raise as much as they want depending on demand. “The amount exceeds 1,000, 1,500 or more pesos,” reports the official. “And if the passenger is careless, it is possible that they will take all his money.” They charge in cash and never accept transfers. “They don’t want to leave traces,” he concludes.

Pantoja points out some picturesque details of his antagonists, such as their quality of being “psychologists” – just seeing a passenger they know how much money they can get from him – or their clothing, “somewhat bizarre,” because they are often marginal people or alcoholics. Others, he describes, “wear better clothes and are the most deceptive. They try to be sociable, helpful, they adapt to circumstances; they are very understanding and considerate in order to attract the person interested in traveling: they are excessively friendly,” he says.

The scammers of Villanueva no longer act in isolation. As good “wolves,” they have organized a pack and “created a network.” The objective is not only economic but also a matter of survival: “They are informed about all operations, when there are buses in the terminal and our daily routine, because they study it and know it well. In addition, they compare notes when someone seems suspicious.”

Sometimes, however, they are clueless. When the journalist from Bohemia who interviewed Pantoja arrived at the terminal, he was perceived as a businessman. “The competition [to get to him] was so strong that they didn’t even notice the sign that identified the vehicle,” he says sarcastically.

Pantoja doesn’t know exactly how many there are, but he says that “they are a large group” with whom he has a little war. The situation with transport is already “tense,” he regrets, and the scammers know that people will blame the Government in the first place. That’s why they often use the names of the terminal officials – “they know us,” he says – or they refer clients to Pantoja himself if they have complaints.

The scammers aren’t even afraid of the police now, the official exclaims. “Operations have been carried out, but they always return. I think it’s time for something to happen, because I’ve dealt with the repeat offenders, with the new ones, and I’ve practically had to get down to their level and ask: how long will this continue?”

There are “ferocious wolves” in all the terminals of Cuba, and often their relationship with the managers is much less harsh than the one described by Pantoja

There are “ferocious wolves” in all the terminals of Cuba, and often their relationship with managers is much less harsh than the one described by Pantoja. Their business – without which travelers would not be able to move from one province to another – passes through the director’s office and is ignored by the police. In Villanueva, where the situation cannot be hidden, the real enemy of the scammers are their colleagues, who dispute the client with “strong competition.”

One of Pantoja’s interviewers says that they tried to charge him 4,500 pesos for a fake ticket to Sancti Spíritus, even when the terminal was buzzing with overwhelmed travelers. The speed of the process surprised him. “I had just thrown myself into the terrain of the criminal underworld,” was his conclusion when he saw the scammer moving through Villanueva at full speed. “I asked him where my bus would be; and he only answered: ’Look for your friends, I’ll take care of the rest.’”

When the reporter began to pretend that he could not find his supposed colleagues, the scammer – about 30 years old – got angry. There were 20 minutes of tension in which the false traveler thought that there would be more serious consequences, since his journalistic team did not even know his intentions.

At the end of its report, Bohemia reserves the worst insults for the scammers: “leeches,” “renowned parasites of society,” “people who shout and try to convince” – according to the dictionary – or “a plague.” However, the magazine does not wonder why these characters emerged and under what conditions they operate. The hustlers are the children of their circumstances in a country where the transport system is in perpetual crisis and travelers enter a jungle, not a terminal.

*Editor’s Note: ENJOY! (It’s got English subtitles)

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

The presence of the virus in the streets of Havana was revealed by 14ymedio, at the beginning of June, despite the silence of the authorities about the number of cases and the discomfort of the population. At the end of that same month, this newspaper reported the presence of Oropouche in 13 of the 15 provinces of the Island, which at that time contrasted with the Public Health data that officially counted only nine.

In Cuba, the Government describes the epidemiological situation as ‘complex’ and warns of the simultaneous circulation of this pathogen with others such as influenza and dengue fever

The sporadic torrential rains of the summer and the fuel crisis in Cuba, which makes fumigation impossible, have served as a breeding ground for the spread of the disease. To that are added the growing mountains of garbage on the streets – also due to lack of fuel and the vehicles to collect it – and the shortage of water.

In July 2024, the Pan American Health Organization issued an epidemiological alert over the increase in Oropouche virus in five Latin American countries: Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Colombia and Brazil.

Brazil has recorded an unprecedented outbreak, with 7,767 cases of the disease this year, including the deaths of two women, aged 21 and 24, from the virus, with neither having comorbidities, according to health authorities.

Since 2023, the health authorities began to test for Oropouche by identifying numerous cases of people with symptoms similar to those of dengue, Zika and chikunguña, but who tested negative for these viruses. Most of the cases recorded in Brazil have been in the Amazon region and in Bahia.

In Colombia Oropouche is endemic in the Caribbean area, the Darién and the Amazon. Due to the constant surveillance for dengue, the country has been able to identify 87 positive samples so far in 2024, hidden in 1,279 samples of dengue febrile disease, according to data from the National Institute of Health (INS). The general director of the INS, Giovanny Rubiano García, said at the beginning of August that the measures for the prevention and control of the infection “remain active.”

Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay are increasing their controls against Oropouche

In Argentina, where no cases of the virus have been detected, epidemiological surveillance measures were reinforced in August, and the Health Department published a list of preventive indications.

These include the installation of “barrier methods” in homes, personal protection measures and a series of “good socio-environmental practices” such as the drainage of stagnant water.

So far In Mexico, no cases have been recorded, but on June 4, the Undersecretariat of Prevention and Health Promotion issued a preventive travel notice for Oropouche to people visiting Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Peru.

The document specified that the level of risk was medium, so it asked travelers who were thinking of visiting any of those countries to find out about the situation and have all the vaccines, in addition to protecting themselves against mosquito bites, wearing insect repellent and appropriate clothing. It also asked travelers to seek medical attention in case of having any symptoms up to 12 days after returning home.

At the moment, the Ministry of Public Health of Uruguay has not given detailed information regarding the virus. However, in recent days, the local newspaper El Observador reported that the ministry sent a statement to different health providers to investigate travel history in case of finding a suspicious case.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

“If you have a small business and they arrive (the inspectors) and tell you ‘give me the license,’ you show it and that’s that. But when it is something of this dimension, usually when the ’compañeros’ come they check it. Maybe Monday it’s not open, but maybe they will open on Tuesday or Wednesday. The owner said ’closed until we’re done’ because he can’t be in one place and then another. They have to understand.”

“The owner is a Cuban woman,” the man insisted, “although everyone is saying that it’s el Chino. He is also a Cuban citizen, although he was born in China.” The building, he said, houses the China Import warehouse. There are six other businesses that lease the old industrial building. “His private address is somewhere else.” Several of those present did not believe his explanation.

Between diatribes and gestures, several of those present cried out for the opening of the premises. Others criticized the functioning, in their opinion unstable, of the private sector and the MSMEs. Some insulted the “magazine,” an incorrect designation for the independent media that reported on the business this week. “Closing a store because of what a magazine said… The magazine will continue to say whatever it wants!” a customer shouted.

This Friday, when 14ymedio called the contact who was still available on a sheet of paper at the entrance of the perimeter fence – no longer under the word “Chino” but with the name “Melissa” – a person with an Asian accent reiterated that the store was closed and that they were waiting for “directions.”

From the front of the gigantic warehouse, until a few years ago part of the old Sabatés soap factory, they had removed the sign with the name of the business, leaving visible the unpainted letters of “Suchel Debon,” the state-owned company in whose hands it passed after the Revolution.

Some ventured that the closure might have something to do with the prices: “What happened is that they probably told “El Chino”: you can’t sell at this price, you have to sell at what we tell you.” In any case, the closure happened without prior notice. “I think they didn’t expect anything, because yesterday we came and they told us to come back tomorrow, and then the sign was there. Today they knocked it down,” said a young woman in the group that crowded around in the morning.

Some customers have ventured that the closure of the business may have had to do with the low prices it offered

China Import, which was offered as a store for wholesalers, housed endless rows of shelves with all kinds of goods – clothing, footwear, electronics and household items, perfumes – at prices between three and five times lower than in the informal market. As an employee explained to this newspaper on Wednesday, she accepted national currency, “at the change of the day” – as the signs under the products said, referring to the informal rate, currently at 320 pesos per dollar, both in cash and in bank transfer, but in no way in banknotes of less than 200 pesos.

The condition to acquire the merchandise, of course, was not easy for anyone: spend more than 50 dollars – equivalent to 16,000 pesos according to the current exchange rate – and carry the items yourself in huge packages.

The “Chinese Costco,” as a client sarcastically called it this week, has suffered the same fate as the so-called “Cuban Costco,” the Diplomarket. This supermarket, which sold in foreign currency, closed at the end of last June, and its owner, the Cuban-American Frank Cuspinera Medina, was arrested with his wife. His whereabouts are still unknown.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

According to Click-Cuba, the former first lieutenant had been sanctioned for 10 months with a movement limitation, which only allowed her only to go from home to work. The cause: maintaining a romantic relationship with a Cuban-American.

On August 15, Pérez boarded a raft with two people identified as Yariel Duarte Rodríguez and Yohandra Miranda. At three in the afternoon the following day they were intercepted and transferred to a ship of the Coast Guard Service.

According to the La Tijera profile, Pérez was able to communicate with her family after her forced return. Her relatives “were told that they could bring her toiletries because her process was going to take a long time,” the publication said.

In fact, a note from the Ministry of the Interior published after the return of the rafters alluded to a person who “was on parole” for criminal sanctions at the time of leaving the Island and points out that “it will be made available to the corresponding courts for the revocation of that benefit.” However, the note does not expressly identify Pérez.

In the group returned this Friday there are 31 men, eight women and two minors. They were handed over by the U.S. Coast Guard to the Cuban authorities in the port of Orozco, in Bahía Honda, province of Artemisa.

With the arrest of these 41 rafters, there are now 980 irregular migrants who have been returned to the Island from different countries in the region so far this year, official media reported.

The Governments of Cuba and the United States have a bilateral agreement that all migrants who arrive by sea in the United States will be returned to Cuba. Deportation flights resumed in April 2023, mainly for people considered “inadmissible” after being held at the border with Mexico.

With the arrest of these 41 rafters, there are now 980 irregular migrants who have been returned to the Island this year

According to a recent report by the Customs and Border Protection Office, in June, 17,563 Cubans arrived in the United States. According to the data, with that figure, 180,925 Cubans have entered the United States in the last nine months. If that pace is maintained, at the end of the fiscal year (September 2024), around 245,000 Cubans will have entered U.S. territory.

Since the beginning of the year, Cubans were also returned on commercial flights from the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. In the last three years, Cuba has recorded an unprecedented migratory exodus both for the volume of migrants and for its temporary extension, due to the serious economic crisis on the Island, with frequent and prolonged power outages, shortages of food, medicines and fuel, inflation and a partial dollarization of the economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Ramsay did not specify the immigration status of the detained Cubans, but he did reveal that they are originally from Havana and Camagüey. Also, according to local television Channel 12 News, bail for each person involved was set “at $100,000.”

Dianelys Pérez Escourido, 44 years old, has a discreet profile in Miami, where the Camagüeyans Omar Liván Ripoll Pérez (28) and Humberto Tamayo (48) were also arrested. The investigators located the Havanan Victor Victor Febles Gualpa (38) in West Palm Beach, and Joel Gil Egued (48) was found in Cabo Coral.

The sheriff said that the local prosecutor’s office decided to take the case after officials from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office decided not to file charges. “The Sheriff’s Office and the State Prosecutor’s Office do not tolerate criminal behavior and will always work to hold those who violate the law accountable,” he stressed.

Cases of people from the Island involved in crimes of migrant smuggling are not new. On Monday, Cuban Enrique Nerey Valdivia was found guilty of smuggling migrants in the state of Texas. Judge David S. Morales, who presided over the trial, set sentencing for November 6.

Two other Cubans, Diojany Carrillo Rodríguez and Dariel Ibáñez Hernández, were also arrested in July and face charges of human trafficking. According to Texas State Security spokesman Chris Olivarez, the Maverick County Police caught them on Highway 277 while they were transporting two Mexican migrants and handed them over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Carrillo Rodríguez, who was driving a Chevy Malibu vehicle, acknowledged that he picked up the undocumented Mexican at an Eagle Pass point and that he had a GPS location for an address in the city of Houston. As for Ibáñez Hernández, a source confirmed to 14ymedio that his situation is yet to be defined, although he was informed that once the sentence is known, he will be deported to the Island.

Meanwhile, Cubans Rainel Lázaro Silies and Lima Gálvez González were arrested in April 2023 for the crime of migrant smuggling in U.S. County Kinney (Texas). The couple’s arrest took place in the town of Brackettville, when five undocumented people were transported in a vehicle with a license plate from the state of Kentucky.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

addition, unit 5 of the ’Máximo Gómez’ CTE, in Mariel, units 1 and 3 in that of Santa Cruz del Norte (Mayabeque) and unit 4 of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos) are out of service due to breakdowns.

The Island had not reached such a high deficit for weeks, and it appears that the blackouts of more than 12 hours have returned

The residents of Avellaneda Street, in the city of Camagüey, are among the few who have electricity in Cuba. The reason is that they live near the headquarters of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa), and the state monopoly does not have the fuel necessary to restart its own generators, so they never cut off the power. “They can’t take electricity away from the company because they don’t have a way to run their own plants,” explains Sury, 48, who lives a few meters from the premises.

“We were surprised when we saw that suddenly we no longer had blackouts although the whole city spends more than ten hours a day without power,” she tells this newspaper. “When we began to investigate, it turns out that the reason is that Etecsa has run out of oil and that office is prioritized. If the power is removed, most of Nauta’s mobile communications and services in Camagüey are dropped,” he explains. “We are a small group of people who are happy that there is no oil, a tremendous irony of life.”

For the rest of the Island, however, the situation borders on the unsustainable. In Thursday’s UNE report, a user identified as Orlando Perez Atencio shared some details of how the last hours of blackouts have been experienced in the Cuban East; to be more specific, in the city of Campechuela where he resides and where yesterday the lack of service was from 9:08 p.m. to 5:52 a.m.

For the rest of the Island, however, the situation borders on the unsustainable

He described it as “a sad spectacle” with children going hoarse from inconsolable crying caused by the heat and the mosquitoes. “The parents are powerless in the face of such a scene, and the grandparents are hopelessly moaning,” he said.

In the months of February, March and May, the lack of power – more than 40% — sent people to the street to protest in numerous places such as Sancti Spíritus, Baracoa and Cienfuegos. The regime’s response on those occasions was, as usual, repression. Units of red berets (Army Prevention Troops) made arrests and deterred the demonstrators.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

“We have identified all the fields in which we could cooperate, among them biotechnology, which is key, and important steps have already been taken,” he said

“We have identified all the fields in which we could cooperate, among them biotechnology, which is key, and important steps have already been taken,” he said. He alluded to the Soberana 02 vaccine for Covid, which Iran and Cuba jointly manufactured, and which the Persian country sold under the name of PastuCovac, which so far has not received the endorsement of the World Health Organization. “Western countries were not going to help us,” Marrero alleged, so they made a “technology transfer” to the Pasteur Institute of Iran, which was willing to finance the manufacture of the product.

“In the field of energy we have important negotiations that we need to continue consolidating,” he said, alleging Cuba’s “need for fuel” that Iran could alleviate.

“We need to move to another stage,” Marrero pressed. Batista asked if that advance was expected to happen at least in the medium term. The prime minister again diverted the question and said that he hoped that his presence at the inauguration of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, would mark “a before and after” in trade relations.

Marrero celebrated the “change in the direction of the Government,” which, he said, brings favorable signs for Cuba in economic terms. He soon realized that his comment implied that his relations with Ebrahim Raisí, the previous president – who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 – were not the best. “All our people felt his unfortunate death,” he said. “But well, they had new elections and there is a new direction.”

From Tehran, Marrero leaves with a promise from the Ayatollah regime: at the end of the year, an Iranian commission will visit Havana by order of Pezeshkian “to now update all the agreements and set dates for their implementation.” Just words, at least for the moment.

Marrero spoke of other points in common with Iran, in particular its position against Israel in favor of the Palestinians. “With the State of Israel, everyone knows that we don’t have any kind of diplomatic relationship,” he said. He “totally” endorsed Tehran’s position in the war and its military support for Hamas. “Israel is not sanctioned, but Iran, Venezuela and Cuba… I was missing Russia,” Batista agreed.

The prime minister stuck to common subject matter to extend his conversation, which only at the end dealt with the internal situation of Cuba

The prime minister stuck to common subject matter – the blockade, the isolation by the axis of “allies,” independence,” the “doctors in more than 50 countries when no one helped us in the pandemic” – to extend his conversation, which only at the end dealt with the internal situation of Cuba.

“What is the Government of Cuba doing to help alleviate what is happening from the economic point of view?” Batista asked, and it seemed that the tone of the interview was going to be raised. It was, of course, a false alarm. Marrero took advantage of the opportunity and appealed to other topics, such as that the country does everything it can with its own resources and that Cuba “lives from one day to the next with its current situation.”

“Even friendly banks tell us that they can’t give us credit because we can be sanctioned,” he lamented. “Times have changed; there are things and measures that we applied at the time that no longer make sense today, and they have to be corrected. We identified eight strategic objectives,” he said, although he alluded only to containing inflation, “intervening in the illegal foreign exchange market” and a “ferocious fight against illegalities.”

Asked about the new elections in the United States, he practically announced Donald Trump as the winner. “We already know it, and we have prepared a program for Trump’s second term,” he said. “But we are open to foreign investment, even to Cubans living abroad who want to invest in their country.”

“We are not afraid of change,” he insisted, and to prove it he gave an example that borders on science fiction: “Even if Artificial Intelligence is used for evil, we are preparing for that too.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

“This year we will only be able to deliver two uniforms in preschool, one in each initial grade and one in fifth grade”

In fact, the official press has been filled in the weeks prior to the school year with official “apologies” because the textile factories have not lived up to the demand for uniforms. Escambray reported on Tuesday, in a sarcastic tone, that the industry has a number of uniforms that are “unstitched,” in the neighboring province of Sancti Spíritus. One of the explanations for the lack of uniforms bordered on the hilarious: garments are missing because they are manufactured according to a “historic” record – if a child needs a preschool uniform in 2023, the following year he will have to buy a first grade one – and this year the calculation was not made correctly.

“There are no recipes” to make the school year successful, summarized Trujillo, who suggested a kind of personal formula: “in everything we implement, we must go from diagnosis to transformation and innovate incessantly,” because there will be multiple “limitations.”

But Cuban teaching does not depend only on uniforms: computers, indispensable for children to do their work according to the requirements of the Ministry, are missing in at least 65 schools in Avila, most of them rural primary schools. The data, provided by a local official, was answered with another slogan from Trujillo: “It is important to overcome the difficulties.”

The minister admitted a situation that has dozens of families complaining: the student meals, which are nothing more than rice and bread”

Another disturbing issue is the food for scholarship students, which is going through a critical moment. The minister admitted the situation that dozens of families have denounced: the kids “find at the time of the meal a tray with rice and bread, nothing else.”

Given these problems, Trujillo said, few want to dedicate themselves to careers linked to teaching. Only 67% of the planned students entered the Teaching program, and the managers are preparing for the classrooms to be decimated in the first months of the course. The center for higher studies is characterized, she said, by its “low retention” of students during the first year.

“Among the most affected specialties are Early Childhood, Special, Primary, Mathematics and Chemistry. Ciego de Ávila, Florencia and Ciro Redondo are the municipalities where fewer high school students opt for teaching,” she said.

In the midst of the shortcomings, Trujillo celebrated that they at least have textbooks. An “important” shipment of 29 titles – she did not say how many copies of each – are about to arrive in Cuba; she did not reveal which country had printed them. It was the only “good news” of the meeting, commented Invasor.

“There can’t be a single Avileño teacher who hasn’t received a knock on the door trying to convince him to return”

During the opening of the discussion, several leaders indicated to Trujillo their ideas and complaints about the beginning of the course. Alfredo Menéndez, governor of the province, said that the schools had to go out to “motivate” those who had abandoned teaching. “There can’t be a single Avila teacher who hasn’t received a knock on the door trying to convince them to return,” he said, without referring to the “unexecuted budget” that the minister attributed to her office.

On September 2, another school year begins, marked by shortages, the lack of materials and with few teachers, and the situation is expected to be even worse the following year. According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information, in the first half of 2024, the Island devoted 21% less of its budget to education, while it invested 112% more in the construction of hotels and restaurants. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Ministry of Education has had no qualms about declaring on X that everything is “assured” for a return to the classrooms.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Machado urged these workers to “help each other,” despite the fact that “the regime wants to sow distrust” among them

“We understand the anguish you feel today when you cannot openly express and share with us your conviction that this regime that has brought much corruption and must come to an end. We understand your fears, because this regime is ruthless,” she added.

The coalition that backs González Urrutia, the Democratic United Platform (PUD), states that its candidate won the presidential elections by a wide margin. They also published 83% of the electoral results to reinforce this claim, which has been supported by several countries and national and international organizations.

However, the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro the winner, without publishing the disaggregated results, something that was expected in the election schedule, and which has been demanded by a large part of the international community.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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