Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 97

The Rains Cause a Building Collapse and More Blackouts in Havana

Collapse of a building facade in Havana / Facebook La Tijera

14ymedio, Havana, 7 June 2024 — The collapse of a building facade was one of the most serious results of the heavy rains that hit Havana this Thursday. The property, located at Esperanza 417, between Carmen and Figuras streets, in Old Havana, was, fortunately, uninhabited for several years due to the danger of collapse in the face of its poor condition. The inhabitants of Havana suffered the consequences of yesterday’s thunderstorm in the form of blackouts, floods and paralyzed public transport.

Images shared on social networks show the floods in the Cuban capital, affected by the bad sewer system, which doesn’t allow the water to drain through the sewer grates.

Vehicles, both cars and motorcycles, were submerged. Likewise, many people were trapped in their homes for hours

Vehicles, both cars and motorcycles, were submerged. Likewise, many people were trapped in their homes for hours. A neighbor of Santos Suárez who spoke to 14ymedio anonymously said that the area was flooded and the water even “rose to the ground floor of the buildings.” continue reading

The rain also generated power outages in the capital: “The electricity disappeared for the inhabitants and the traffic lights in the most fundamental arteries in the area,” which “paralyzed urban transport destined for the center of Havana and areas of the municipality of San Miguel del Padrón,” user Engo Batalla explained on social networks.

Another user, Marisol Falcón, responded to the post and said that she had to walk “through all this accumulated water to continue on my way. It takes hours for the level to go down.”

So far, neither the government of Havana nor the official media has published data on the amount of damage

So far, neither the government of Havana nor the official media has published data on the amount of damage. This Thursday, the Meteorological Institute of Cuba warned that there would be showers, rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon and night in much of the national territory.

For this Friday, the report is similar: “It will be mostly cloudy in much of the country with the possibility of showers, rain and thunderstorms. The rainfall will extend until the night and could be heavier and last longer in the western region.” In fact, at the time of publishing this story, it was starting to rain again in the Cuban capital.

In addition, the meteorological service indicated that in areas of showers and thunderstorms “the strength of the wind and the height of the waves can be increased.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Russia Says It Has the Resources To ‘Guarantee Cuba’s Food Security’

Moscow doubled its agro-industrial exports to the Island in 2023

Ricardo Cabrisas (second from right), along with senior Russian officials and members of the Cuban delegation / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2024 — During the tour carried out by Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas in search of funding for the Development Plan of Cuba until 2030, at the International Economic Forum of St. Petersburg 2024 (SPIEF), it was reported that exports of agro-industrial products from Russia to Cuba doubled last year, compared to 2022.

According to official data, the trade between Russia and Cuba in 2022 amounted to 451 million dollars, although Moscow intended to improve that number the following year. Most of the trade was agricultural, although the Russians also invested in construction and tourism.

According to the official press, the Russian Minister of Agriculture, Oksana Lut, indicated that Moscow believes that it is possible to further expand sales to the Island. Lut assured that her country has all the necessary resources to “guarantee the food security of the Cuban State.” continue reading

For Cuba it is important to attract business on Cabrisas’ tour, and this is why it is among the largest delegations to the forum

“Russia and Cuba are historically united by close relations. Not only is political dialogue developing, but economic-commercial cooperation is also gaining momentum,” Lut added.

For Cuba it is important to attract business on Cabrisas’ tour, and this is why it is among the largest delegations to the forum. It includes Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, head of Transport; Julio Garmendía Peña, ambassador to Moscow; Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, first deputy minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment; Ileana Núñez Mordoche, director of Europe for the Foreign Ministry, and Inalvis Bonachea González, director of commercial policy in the region.

Last Monday, Cabrisas met with Grigori Karasin, head of the International Affairs Committee of the Council of the Russian Federation; Andrei Shevchenko, head of the cooperation group with the Cuban Assembly; and Senator Andrei Anatolyevich. But his agenda also has an important appointment ahead, with the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technical Relations, which he will attend with his counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, to “review the fundamental issues addressed by this bilateral mechanism.”

Other areas in which Cuba seeks to secure support involve financing, tourism, the industrial sector, the purchase of Russian wheat and the possible lease of land in usufruct on the Island. To these is added the Cuban pharmaceutical sector, with the announcement this Friday of an investment of 11.3 million dollars in the state company BioCubaFarma.

This visit takes place as part of the announcement of the sending of warships from Moscow to Havana, next week, at a time when the Island is desperately looking for a partner to help it overcome an unprecedented economic crisis. In return, offers Russia a platform to challenge Washington in its own area of influence.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With a House Full of Garbage in the Heart of the Capital, Havana Breaks Records for Unhealthiness

In Old Havana, on the corner of Aponte and Gloria, a building in ruins was the living image of the pestilence

A neighbor shouted at someone passing by: “Take a look, boy, at this plague, see how dirty everything is?” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 10 June 2024 — The stench was persistent throughout the capital this Monday. The day dawned cool and threatened rain from early on, but the air, instead of cleaning the odors, carried them and brought effluents of sewage, decomposing food and dead animals. In Old Havana, on the corner of Aponte and Gloria, a ruined building was the living picture of the pestilence. Uninhabited, roofless and with a large part of the walls collapsed, its ground floor is occupied today by heaps and heaps of garbage, wrapped in a cloud of flies and other insects.

Next to the house garbage dump, however, there is a property with residents. A neighbor shouted at someone passing by: “Take a look, boy, at this plague, see how dirty everything is?” Faced with the disgusted gesture of the young man, who was almost running to leave the place behind as soon as possible, he asked, “Give me a little help, I’m sick.”

“Oropouche, dengue and even the bubonic plague are going to take us away if this continues”

Another woman, who crossed the sidewalk in the face of the stench, murmured: “Oropouche, dengue and even the bubonic plague are going to take us away if this continues.” continue reading

The lack of fuel and the precarious Communal Services make the refuse flourish on every corner, not only in Havana, but in other places on the Island, including Matanzas, Las Tunas, Santa Clara and Manzanillo, as reported by 14ymedio.

A few days ago, the accumulation of waste in Havana Bay, to the point of preventing navigation, forced the authorities to suspend the service of the Regla ferry. This newspaper confirmed on Saturday that, although the route that connects the port of Havana with the other side of the bay was now operating, garbage was still floating in the water.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Díaz-Canel Urges Cubans To Produce Their Own Food To Curb Imports

Miguel Díaz-Canel urged the cadres to work to achieve food sovereignty because he believes there are resources. / Periódico 26]

14ymedio, Madrid, 10 June 2024 — The echo of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s scolding this Friday in Majibacoa still resonates throughout the Island: “Here there is enough land to produce for the entire municipality, to give food to all of Las Tunas. Now, you have to work.” A few hours after that diatribe, which has become common in the president’s tours of the Island, the publication of data on chicken imports from the United States once again confirmed the dependence on the outside to feed the Cuban population.

Decentralization towards municipalities is part of the government strategy of recent years to dilute the responsibilities of the leadership of the regime. And Díaz-Canel turned to it again in the municipality of Las Tunas, where he called on the cadres “to work” to get results, while the officials took notes without raising their heads. The president accused the territorial leaders of spending time in offices and meetings and not going to the base.

“We are separated from reality and are not doing what we need to. We have to reach a time when this country is self-sufficient with food. That is what will give us real sovereignty, not being dependent on imports, but you have to believe that, and each municipality must provide its own food and not be thinking about what will come in from the [ration system family] basket. The basket will be for more.” continue reading

“You have to believe that, and each municipality must provide its own food and not be thinking about what will come in from the [ration system family] basket”

The expression used by the one person ultimately responsible for the country, understood by thousands of Cubans as a call to take the chestnuts out of the fire by themselves, has not been well received. In reality, Díaz-Canel was shifting his responsibility to an intermediary, while, at the highest level, he continues to negotiate investments and imports, in addition to donations, from countries – partners or not – instead of allocating funds from the national budget for food security on the Island.

“We can’t come and tell you this; it must be you who find the solutions from the knowledge you have of your own reality. The economy must be analyzed from its indicators,” the president said on the same day that the data on chicken imports from the United States for the month of April were known.

This month, the amount of poultry meat acquired from the neighboring country fell sharply compared to the previous month. In April 15,169.6 tons of the product arrived on the Island, 42.6% less than in March, when the sum amounted to 26,413, and half as much as in January, when the total exceeded 30,000 tons.

Accordingly, the value was also reduced, although proportionally less (-38.2%), since it increased the price per kilogram. In the fourth month of the year, 18.17 million dollars were spent, with a cost of 1.20 dollars per kilo (8.1% more than last month, when that same amount was at 1.11 dollars). In March, $29.42 million was paid for chicken meat imported from the United States.

In general terms, the first quarter of this year exceeded the volume of purchases from the U.S. by 2.6%. As of April 2023, the Island had imported 86,277 tons of chicken meat compared to 88,505 this year. Since the statistics do not distinguish between what goes to the State and what goes to private enterprises, the increase in imports could be attributed to the latter.

Since the statistics do not distinguish between what goes to the State and what goes to private enterprises, the increase in imports could be attributed to the latter

The increase in expenditure was 18.6%, due to the increase in the cost of the product, much more substantial than the volume, due to the average increase in weight. Thus, in the first quarter of 2023, 85,666 million dollars were paid by Cuba for the product, compared to 101,531 million in the same period in 2024. Payments, under the laws governing the US embargo, which since 2001 have authorized the sale of food and medical products to the Cuban population, must be made in cash and in advance, conditions that the Government points out as seriously harmful, although the history of non-payments by the Cuban State is one of the reasons for these demands.

Since this exemption was adopted, food products have been sold from the United States to Cuba worth $7,359,331,112, according to data from the Cuba-US Economic and Trade Council (CubaTrade) up to May of this year.

“U.S. chicken meat exports are the most consumed source of animal protein in Cuba and compensate for the acute national agricultural crisis, for which there is no light observed at the end of the tunnel,” said economist Pedro Monreal on Saturday when detailing the latest available figures.

Meanwhile, in Majibacoa, Díaz-Canel continued to take responsibility to the smallest possible scale. “The municipalities are the first that must defend the companies of their territory; otherwise, municipal autonomy does not exist,” he insisted.

“The municipalities are the first that must defend the companies of their territory; otherwise, municipal autonomy does not exist”

Among the president’s companions were Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and the first secretary in the province, Walter Simón Noris. Neither of them understood, judging by their words, why there is no more control and “confronting illegalities” and why the membership of the party does not grow. “We can’t sleep with all the things left unsolved,” said Simón Noris.

No one questioned, at least out loud, whether the poor results of the agricultural sector have anything to do with the fact that the State’s investments in the first quarter of the year were just 559.7 million pesos (2.8% of the total), compared to the more than 6.7 billion pesos destined for tourism.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Instead of Investments, the Cuban Government Offers Words for the Development of Science

The percentage of state investments in innovation fell from 1.14% in 2011 to 0.55% in 2023

Some 525 million pesos are included for the National Science and Innovation Fund and 100 million for the National Environment Fund / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Madrid, June 10, 2024 — The latest voluntary illusion that the Cuban Government seems to cling to in recent weeks is science, technology and innovation. The minister of the sector, Eduardo Martínez Díaz, a few days ago in a meeting led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, insisted on this mantra: “The formula to get out of the situation that we have is by using science, introducing its results, applying technologies and innovating in all aspects.”

This Monday, the official press repeats the issue, in an article signed by the same Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment and his deputy minister, Armando Rodríguez Batista, where they explain the “priorities” when implementing the plan. Within an imprecise list of wishes – such as “orienting science and innovation projects more to the solution of specific problems,” “achieving greater interconnectivity between actors” and “enhancing incentives for innovation at different levels” – one objective stands out: “increase investment in research and development activity.”

In addition to including in this the “financing in convertible currencies,” the officials emphasize that at the same time it is necessary to “diversify the sources,” opening the door to private investment, although without saying it specifically. continue reading

At no time is it mentioned where and how that money could come from

Outside the text, in a graph, it is asserted that 2,184 million pesos are “planned” for “17 national programs, 10 sectoral programs and 63 territorial programs in the area of technology and innovation.” 525 million pesos are included for the National Science and Innovation Fund and 100 million for the National Environment Fund. At no time is it mentioned where and how that money could come from.

The Cuban economist Pedro Monreal has not been long in questioning the numbers, and demolishing, in a long thread on X, the plan of “improvement of the System of Science, Technology and Innovation,” which, it seems to him, “casts more shade than light.”

First of all, he asserts that with a national investment of almost 97 billion pesos in 2023 in all sectors – “a level in itself insufficient for economic recovery,” he clarifies -“the figures that are announced for ‘support for science and innovation’ are simply not relevant.” It is “one of the most insignificant sectors in Cuba,” Monreal continues, with an average of 0.81% between 2011 and 2023, “very distant from tourism investment.”

The economist concedes that the regime recognizes that the relative weight of investment in science and innovation is insufficient, but then, “the reasoning becomes confused by identifying it as a problem of statistical ‘underregistration’.” If the current weight were doubled, Monreal suggests, from 0.55% to 1.1%, “science-innovation would remain one of the five least relevant sectors in innovative investment.”

If the current weight were doubled, Monreal suggests, from 0.55% to 1.1%, “science-innovation would continue to be one of the five least relevant sectors in innovative investment

In the graph shared by the economist, in fact, it is striking that the State dedicated only 0.55% of its total investments to that sector in 2023, much less than in 2011, when it gave it 1.14%.

Similarly, the specialist strongly states that “there seems to be some official difficulty in understanding the scale of the innovative investment deficit, the part of the institutional fabric where it should be concentrated, the high risk of that type of investment and the viability of possible sources of financing,” and he criticizes: “Assuming that in Cuba innovation would be promoted without a significant jump in investment in innovation at the company level (not only in research centers) is an incorrect assumption.”

Another “serious problem” of the official explanation observed by Monreal is that “the financing of innovative investment is mainly posed as one of abstract longing” and that the “key point” of “the sources of business financing” is not clear. “The profits would be insufficient,” he says.

A true investment in innovation, he says, “is a long-term, high-risk process, and therefore very difficult to predict in terms of results and return on investment. The Cuban business system has neither effective economic calculation, nor diversity of ownership in firms with scale, nor access to decentralized financing mechanisms, nor the competitive environment necessary for them to function as a locus of innovation,” Monreal concludes about the umpteenth hope to get out of the permanent crisis.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Epidemiological Crisis of Oropouche Fever Worsens in Santiago de Cuba

The Ministry of Public Health has been cautious in offering the number of confirmed cases throughout the country

The accumulation of garbage and stagnant water is the environment conducive to mosquito infestation / Periodismo de Barrio

14ymedio, Havana, 9 June 2024 — Numerous complaints on social networks from Santiago de Cuba address the havoc caused by the Oropouche fever epidemic that the region is suffering. The reports speak of undiagnosed cases, outbreaks of mosquitoes in garbage dumps and stagnant water, and even the alleged death of a 22-year-old.

As a silent enemy, the virus is spreading not only through Santiago de Cuba, but also through Cienfuegos and more recently in Mayabeque and Havana, where cases have been reported in the municipalities of Diez de Octubre and Centro Habana, an expansion that the health authorities have not fully reported.

The presence of the fever in the Cuban capital, which was revealed by 14ymedio this Thursday, has not been confirmed by the Ministry of Public Health, which has also been cautious in offering the number of confirmed cases throughout the country, a complex record since most patients do not even go to hospital centers.

The situation seems to have reached such a level of severity that, last Thursday, the newspaper Sierra Maestra published a call to participate in “cleaning and sanitizing days” in Santiago territory. The justification for this mobilization is “the current epidemiological continue reading

situation, due to the increase in the rates of mosquito infestation,” says the appeal signed by the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.

The newspaper maintained that the work of cleaning that the organization has called for “will allow us to take care of the health of all the inhabitants”

It also stressed that the days for cleaning extend “to all urban and rural communities, and work in all sectors is needed in order to achieve success.”

Meanwhile, social networks are a hotbed of commentary. This Saturday, independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta, a resident of the United States, reported on his Facebook profile the alleged death of a young man who spent three days hospitalized in a Santiago hospital because of Oropouche fever.

The information given by the reporter has not been confirmed by the authorities, but it has still caused a stir in the community of Santiago, where the residents of the region perceive an increase in infestation of the Culex mosquito, the main vector of Oropouche fever.

Only at the end of May did the Ministry of Public Health admit the presence on the Island of the viral disease, after numerous reports on social networks that warned of its incidence. The most severe symptoms of this fever include vomiting, headaches and joint pain, and in some cases, it can lead to death.

Several independent media have documented the growing concern in Santiago de Cuba about the cases of Oropouche and dengue. One of them is Cuba Alerts, which in a post this Friday on its Facebook page relates what was said by some parents in the area, who report that their children suffer from symptoms of the virus.

“It’s hard in the hospitals: the wards are full of patients, without medicine for the control of disease,” Magalis Cala told Cuba Alerts. She is one of the mothers debating whether or not to admit their children with symptoms of Oropouche fever to the North Children’s Hospital of the city, where she went after the symptoms worsened.

Meanwhile, Martí Noticias was able to talk to Father Leandro León Nun, parish priest of the San José Obrero Church, in Santiago de Cuba, who warns that the spread of the virus increasingly worries the population. They have decided to face it with natural remedies due to the lack of medicines, according to his testimony.

“Currently, with the people I can see, who are in my parish and who have been affected by the virus in the San Juan area, for example, or in the Seville area, people are now suffering from it. Generally, it is affecting a number of people, and just when you think that they have freed themselves from the virus, it returns, and they get weaker. Now my mom is in for the third time, it’s very bad,” complains Father Nun.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s State Press Is Silent Over the Death of a Cupet Worker From Toxic Gases

García worked for the Matanzas Oil Drilling and Extraction Company / Facebook / Renier García Gómez

14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2024 — A worker of the Cárdenas Oil Drilling and Extraction Company, in Matanzas, died this Friday after inhaling toxic gases during the repair of a leak. The news was shared on the official Facebook profiles of the company, a branch of the Cuban Petroleum Union (Cupet), which regretted the death of the worker without clarifying the circumstances of the accident. “Renier García Gómez, head of the 7 Collector Center, dies, a young man given to the oil cause,” announced one of the entity’s publications.

Faced with the silence of the official provincial press and the company itself, it has been García’s acquaintances who have offered some details. “There was a gas leak, and two men were seriously injured. Unfortunately, there was no time. One of the men died, and to my surprise, it was Renier,” one of his acquaintances wrote on social networks, adding that the victim had been his high school math teacher.

Other publications mention that the repair of the leak was carried out underground, and when accessing the area both workers inhaled the gas and were admitted on June 5 to the Faustino Pérez hospital in the provincial capital. Some users shared on Thursday several requests for vitamin C for the young father, who was in “serious” condition. continue reading

The death of another Cupet worker brings to mind the events that occurred at the Matanzas Supertanker Base in 2022

The death of another Cupet worker brings to mind the events that occurred at the Matanzas Supertanker Base in 2022, when several firefighters and state employees died trying to contain a fire in the oil deposits. Accidents like these place attention on the company and its lack of security for its employees.

Two years ago, the Saratoga Hotel located in Old Havana exploded due to a gas leak, and 47 people died. Of these, 23 worked at the hotel.

Last February, three stevedores also died in the port of Santiago de Cuba from lethal gases, after opening a container that had been fumigated.

The list goes on, but the silence of the authorities is constant and there is little transparency with the data. According to the National Bureau of Statistics and Information, in 2022, the most recent figures available, 52 people died in work accidents. That same year, the number of these incidents was 1,858, which affected 1,949 employees; 63.2% of the injured were men.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Repair of Trains in Cuba With French Help Advances at a Snail’s Pace

The situation has been “affected by breakdowns and delays at the time of operation,” the authorities admit.

The Railway Workshops of San Luis have begun the repair of 16 locomotives / ACN

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 June 2024 — The improvement of the railways repeatedly promised by the Cuban Government is slow to arrive. According to Sierra Maestra, in an article published this Thursday, the “general repair of 16 large-sized locomotives in the Railway Workshops of San Luis, with the collaboration of French personnel,” has begun. Marcia Sierra Gómez, director of that unit of the Railway Equipment Repair Company, told the official state newspaper, “it will gradually improve the situation of the transport of cargo and passengers, marked by breakdowns and delays at the time of operation of the machines.”

What Sierra Maestra does not say is that the project of these repairs, which receives the support of the French Agency for Development (AFD), began in March 2022, and so far has borne little fruit.

The organization, present in Cuba since 2016, has five projects in the country – related to the promotion of rural development, the improvement of water and sanitation services, the promotion of renewable energies, and the modernization of public health and transport infrastructures – with a total investment so far of 133 million euros. continue reading

In 2023, the Union of Railways of Cuba (UFC) recognized that it had 81 Chinese locomotives, but only 25 of them could be used.

In 2023, the Union of Railways of Cuba recognized that it had 81 Chinese locomotives, but only 25 of them could be used.

The information about the repair of the 16 locomotives appears at the end of an article that reports the East Railway Company (EFO) announcement of the restoration, again, of several routes that are suspended due to lack of fuel and trains.

Thus, as Yasnay Sánchez Robert, director of State operations, told Sierra Maestra, they foresee the commissioning of the Santiago-Manzanillo locomotive, the Bayamo-Manzanillo, and the Holguín-Antilla, “as well as an evaluation to reinstate the Guantánamo-Holguín.”

The official said that they are repairing “mainly the Santiago-Manzanillo, as well as the large and medium-sized locomotives and securing the fuel for the fulfillment of the itineraries.” Similarly, he reported that the rates will continue to be subsidized.

The current train services in that part of the Island detailed by the official press and the officials are: Guantánamo and Santiago, Monday and Friday; between Holguín and Las Tunas, Monday to Saturday; “the urban Bayamo-Mabay; the Santiago-Contramaestre; as well as the motor vehicles that cover four daily routes between the City of Guaso and several localities of the easternmost territory of the country.” These services only go to show the precariousness and crisis of the rail services that have existed for decades.

Another example, between the provincial capitals of the East – among them the second most populous city, Santiago de Cuba – and the capital, is the existence of only one train “every four days.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Everyday Question in the Pharmacies of Matanzas, Cuba: “Did the Medications Arrive?”

Knowing that the pharmacies are empty, the people in Mantanzas turn to the informal market to buy medicine / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 8 June 2024 — At the crack of dawn, the elderly and the ‘coleros‘* begin to turn up at the pharmacies on Tirry Road, in the Iglesias neighborhood or in El Naranjal, in the city of Matanzas. It’s early, but the heat already suffocates those who wait for the pharmacies to open with a question on the tip of their tongues: “Did the medications arrive?”

Two blocks from the Versalles bridge, Elsa, a retired woman suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, is waiting. The disease and her 72 years do not prevent her from going to the pharmacy first thing in the morning to buy medication for her and her husband, but the pharmacist, who sticks her head out without fully opening the door, is blunt: “Don’t get excited. Yesterday nothing came in and neither did it today.”

“There is never anything in this pharmacy. Supposedly they must be stocked once a week, and the medications on the card, which my husband and I have for our chronic conditions, are prioritized. In total, a month’s medicine costs us 375 pesos. It’s not cheap, but the real problem is that what we need is always missing,” Elsa complains. She considers for a moment going to a pharmacy somewhat further away that usually has naproxen, the only thing that relieves her pain, but “by now, everything is gone,” she thinks.

Given the lack of anti-inflammatories, Elsa has also tried to buy remedies at the natural medicine pharmacy on Milanés Street. The experience, however, continue reading

has not been gratifying. “When I go, there’s nothing I’m looking for, and if there is, it doesn’t do anything for me,” she says.

The Matanceros complain that, even with a good diagnosis, if there are no medications everything is for nothing / 14ymedio

Elsa is accompanied by Cristina, a neighbor a few years younger, who tells this newspaper that getting medication in the city is a race of cunning and favors. “It’s not just that they resell the drugs in the pharmacies, but now you also have to pay the ‘coleros‘ to be ahead in line. By giving them 500 pesos, at least you have a better chance of reaching the medications. Otherwise, you have to try to get along with the pharmaceutical companies so that they can keep a package for you,” she says.

Cristina is skilled in the “business” and knows more than one trick to guarantee the medications she needs every month to treat her heart disease. The first “law,” she says, is to always have a prescription on hand, “because you never know when what you need will arrive. I have a niece who is a doctor, and she gives me prescriptions so that when the medicine appears, I have them ready,” she explains.

The woman has also managed, through her niece, to be treated by a doctor in a medical center for foreign patients inside the Faustino Pérez hospital. Since the center is located on the outskirts of the city, she has to pay for a shared taxi every month to get to the consultation. “The truth is that I have no complaints about the doctor, although from time to time I have to give him a little gift. The problem comes when I leave the consultation because, even with a good diagnosis, if there are no medications I haven’t achieved anything.”

She says that she has learned all those “tricks” because she has nowhere else to get the drugs, and her pension of 2,800 pesos is not enough for her to buy them in the informal market. “Elsa, for example, pays less than me, 2,200, but she has a grandson in Miami who helps her with medicine or money all the time. Everyone has to solve problems with what they have,” she reflects.

Interviewed by 14ymedio, the administrator of a pharmacy in the city center says that the huge amount of missing medications is just one more problem of those faced by State premises. The entity that administers, for example, “has no refrigeration equipment” and is in bad condition. “Every year the Government tells me that the center is part of a capital repair plan and every year the same thing happens: when the founding anniversary of the city approaches, they paint the facade and the interior continues falling down.”

Many pharmacies lack the necessary equipment to store medications / 14ymedio

That pharmacy is precisely the one that Antonio, a 61-year-old high school teacher who has diabetes, attends. “I don’t remember the last time I saw Metformin at the pharmacy in my neighborhood. Luckily my daughter, who lives abroad, every time I need it, sends me a blood glucose meter and some insulin pills, which are very good. If it weren’t for that, I would have my veins finished from the punctures,” he says.

However, Antonio issues a caveat. “Hospital pharmacies are even worse, and sometimes there is a patient in serious condition and they don’t have the medications they need.” The teacher has experienced this situation first-hand, since months ago he went with his grandson to the pediatric hospital for a bacterial infection, and they couldn’t find the antibiotic they needed throughout the province. “We had to buy it in Havana and when he was discharged and we wanted to give him some candy, the candy seller himself – among other things – had the Rocephin blister packs that we had looked for like crazy,” he says.

“They want the teachers to tell their students that Cuba is a medical powerhouse, when all those kids have seen their grandparents and siblings get sick without there being anything to cure them,” says the teacher, who adds that staying healthy on the Island costs an arm and a leg.

Translated by Regina Anavy

*Translator’s note: “Coleros” are people who are paid by others to stand in line (la cola) for them. The practice is widespread but not legal.

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A Building in the Middle of Paseo Del Prado in Havana Defies the Law of Gravity

The building, long and narrow, looks like one of the structures made with the Jenga game / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 June 2024 — One, two, three and four floors create a giant Jenga on Paseo del Prado, on the corner of Virtudes Street. As in the British game, time has been making pieces out of the building and now Havana is waiting for its imminent fall, in the middle of one of the busiest and most popular streets in the capital.

Next to the Andalusian Center, the house of the republican era, skeletal and with steel bars that look like bones, doesn’t cause shame to anyone, even if it is in sight of all the foreigners who walk through the city. Inside, an old man on the second floor watches the gray and rainy sky of this Saturday, so that the threadbare pieces of clothing that hang on his balcony don’t get wet.

The columns that support the building, elongated and narrow like the Island – and in the same condition of construction – seem strong, but to others, “you just have to blow on it and it will fall down,” says a passer-by sarcastically.

The republican-era house, skeletal and with steel bars that look like bones, doesn’t make anyone ashamed / 14ymedio

On the lower floors, the colors of street art have taken possession of a metal gate and moldy walls. The phrases of peace and love on the portal look like the last desperate cry of the building, which evokes Martí and some other unidentified martyr with its drawings. They ask for a ransom: “love is repaid with love.”

A star of David, the sun and the moon kissing and colorful stripes complete the fresco but are overshadowed by the rust and worm-eaten wood. For the onlooker, an image comes to mind, especially with all the building collapses: playing Jenga in Cuba is dangerous; it can fall on top of you.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Colombia Plans To Send 40 Million Eggs to Cuba Before the End of the Year

So far, 7 million eggs have been sent from the Colombian port of Cartagena

Last March, the Colombian authorities said that the first shipment of eggs was going to be “well received” on the Island / Agronegocios Colombia

14ymedio, Havana,8 June 2024 — Colombia will send 40 million eggs to Cuba before the end of the year, as reported by Prensa Latina this Friday, citing the Colombian authorities. The Latin American country had already sent a shipment to the Island in March, and it will have to send another 33 million eggs to meet the goal set by the Government of Gustavo Petro. The amount should not be difficult for Colombia, a country that in a single day is capable of producing 50 million eggs, according to the National Federation of Poultry Farmers of Colombia (FENAVI), which manages the business with Cuba.

The product has a high demand in the Cuban market, which is hampered by the multiple absences of eggs. In the midst of a notable shortage, to which is added the inability to pay the high prices of other proteins such as red meat or pork, Cubans resort to eggs as an alternative, although this product has also reached prohibitive prices. A carton of 30 eggs, as confirmed by 14ymedio in its monitoring of the Cuban markets, can cost more than 3,000 pesos.

The Cuban Government’s operation to try to alleviate the egg shortage with Colombian imports – just as Venezuela does – began a year ago, when the regime initiated negotiations with the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA). The deal closed in Havana last July, but it wasn’t until last December that the Island’s National Animal Health Center gave the green light. So far, there have been 7 million eggs imported from the Colombian port of Cartagena.

The first eggs were sent last March. At that time, ICA briefly reported that two containers had begun their trip to Cuba, without detailing an arrival date. In them, 17,280 cartons of 30 eggs up each were loaded, totaling continue reading

518,400 eggs.

Colombia is also considering exporting liquid egg to Cuba, intended for industrial processes such as pastry

For Gonzalo Moreno, president of FENAVI, Cuba has become a “natural” market for Colombia, not only because of the political ties that exist between the two countries but also because “we can compete with price and quality,” he told Prensa Latina.

During his participation in the XXI FENAVI Congress held this week in Bogotá, Moreno added that although the Colombian poultry industry is also targeting other Caribbean countries with a view to exporting eggs, “Cuba is now the market.”

He said that they are also considering exporting liquid egg to Cuba, destined for industrial processes such as pastry. “A first refrigerated test container will be sent soon,” Moreno said.

Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, Javier Camaño – who received as a diplomatic “commission” the collection of the eggs last March – told Prensa Latina that the announcement by Colombian businessmen to reach the goal of 40 million eggs sent to the Island by the end of 2024, “constitutes excellent news that demonstrates the great potential in trade relations between the two nations.”

Neither of the parties referred to how much Cuba pays for the shipment. In Colombia, an egg is priced at 581 Colombian pesos, which is equivalent to 0.14 dollars or 37 Cuban pesos. Although the value is only a third of the almost 100 pesos that an egg can cost on the Island – between 2,700 and 2,800 pesos for a carton of 30 eggs – it is likely that the cost of importating will end up increasing its price in the Cuban market.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Woman Farmer Aspires to Produce Sustainable Food in Cuba

According to experts, it is a creative response to the environmental crisis

Farmer Ivonne Moreno / Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

IPS (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 June 2024 — Farmer Ivonne Moreno sees permaculture, in addition to a philosophy of life, as a sustainable model to produce food, reduce the environmental footprint and project sustainable communities in urban and rural areas of Cuba. These and other principles have guided the planting of dozens of species of fruit trees, vegetables, tubers, aromatic and medicinal plants, in addition to shrubs and woody trees on her La Luisa farm, located in El Cotorro, one of the 15 municipalities that make up the Cuban capital.

Her food forest, as she calls it, provides fruits, seeds, flowers, roots, leaves, condiments, medicinal products and firewood, among other inputs, in addition to serving as a habitat for birds, insects and other animal species that enrich the land and enhance biodiversity.

“When I hear about an endangered fruit, I look for its seed and sow it. I don’t remove the dead leaves in order to preserve the microorganisms in the soil. I also use organic fertilizers from the manure that they throw away in a nearby dairy, along with shells and other waste,” Moreno explained to IPS during a visit to her farm.

Farmer Ivonne Moreno sees permaculture, in addition to a philosophy of life, as a sustainable model for producing food

However, “we have not been able to fully implement the food forest, because there are also animals that must run loose and whose food cannot continue reading

compete with that of people. You have to design it properly,” said the 51-year-old farmer, married and the mother of two daughters.

Moreno’s connection with La Luisa began from childhood when she spent her holidays on the 0.7-hectare farm acquired by her great-great-grandfather in 1878.

After residing in a populous area of the capital, in 2010 she decided to settle definitively in those lands where “the connection with nature is direct.”

And, without knowing it, “I began to do permaculture. I assumed it as an ideology of life, with an awareness of taking care of the environment and generating as little waste as possible.”

It is, she added, “a way of living whether you are on a plot in the countryside or in an apartment in the city.”

Permaculture is a concept that has evolved, from “permanent agriculture” in its beginnings, to a more contemporary one related to “permaculture.”

As a design tool, with principles, practices and attitudes, it conceives of sustainable human settlements

As a design tool, with principles, practices and attitudes, it conceives of sustainable human settlements in which people coexist harmoniously with other animal and plant species, and the environmental impact is mitigated.

The principle of sustainable agriculture can also be applied to the construction of ecological housing, as well as to a greater use of natural resources and clean energy sources. It has political, economic and social connotations.

According to experts, permaculture is a creative response to the environmental crisis, in a world where energy availability and resources become global problems.

Permaculture arrived in Cuba in the early 90s of the last century. The economic crisis on the Island conditioned the development of agro-productive systems on a more sustainable basis, more due to the lack of resources to acquire fuel, machinery and agrochemicals than consciously.

A development network and groups of permaculturists extend throughout Cuba, articulated around the non-governmental Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation of Nature and Man (FANJ), the main promoter of this practice in Cuba. Established in 1994, the FANJ is a civil cultural and scientific institution dedicated to the research and promotion of educational, community and research programs and projects, in particular those related to culture, society and the environment.

“I took a beginning workshop at the FANJ. Then came the design workshop. My husband Juan Carlos Martínez and I are facilitators of this knowledge, and the farm is the headquarters of the permaculture group in the municipality of Cotorro, which brings together about 10 people,” Moreno said.

She specified that, from the classes, she has a “base plane” and a “contextual plane.” The first reflects what exists and the other what is projected, to make a system as efficient as possible.

Moreno’s “dream” includes the construction of a biodigestor, as well as the installation of windmills, solar panels, fish ponds and cisterns to store rainwater

In the case of La Luisa, Moreno’s “dream” includes the construction of a biodigestor, as well as the installation of windmills, solar panels, fish ponds and cisterns to store rainwater.

“We would have liked to move faster and have all those systems up and running. But the economic situation of the country makes it very difficult to buy materials and supplies,” explained the farmer, who takes care of the farm along with her husband and the occasional support of her father.

She highlighted “the repair of several parts of the house with natural materials, without using cement, to promote air conditioning. We also separate the black water from the gray water and use filters. It seems to work well, because where the gray water flows, the grass remains green.”

More than a hundred hives of melipone bees – a species without stings – favor pollination; they provide honey, pan de abeja (bee bread) – concentrated pollen – and wax, products that, in the absence of chemicals, reinforce their nutritional, medicinal and cosmetic value.

“My dream is to have at least 200 hives, but the conditions have to be created. For now, as part of the project, we promote training on the management and care of hives, because it is feasible to have them anywhere that the bees can be guaranteed an adequate flowering,” Moreno stressed.

She commented that a problematic context such as the Covid pandemic showed the opportunities of permaculture, “because even shut in we had a variety of food instead of depending on one or two crops, which is a factor of vulnerability to phenomena such as hurricanes.”

A problematic context such as the Covid pandemic showed the opportunities of permaculture

The production of La Luisa is mainly for self-consumption, but surplus fruit and honey are also sold, and donations are made to minors with oncological conditions, as well as to the homes for girls and boys without family protection.

In addition, as part of a local development project, pending approval, Moreno wants the farm to serve as an experience to learn about permaculture in a specific space, which would also bring income to make the exploitation sustainable.

Specialists agree that stimulating permaculture in Cuba would contribute to food security, environmental sanitation, the rescue and preservation of agricultural culture, and job creation for the design of urban and rural spaces more in line with needs and native traditions.

It would stimulate the diversification of clean energy sources, enhance recycling, improve soil treatment and use water more rationally.

Experts on the subject point out that family space has been the scale of the introduction of permaculture in Cuba.

Statistics show that family and private agriculture contribute 70 percent of the food produced at the national level, usually through more efficient use of land and better soil conservation compared to conventional agricultural systems.

Family and private farming contributes 70 percent of the food produced in Cuba nationwide

However, it is a problematic issue in a country with a deficit of agricultural production that maintains high prices and forces the import of 80 percent of food for domestic consumption.

Most Cuban families devote more than 70 percent of their monthly income to food.

Although in recent years multiple actions have been developed to move towards an agriculture with a sustainability focus, the paradigm of productivity of conventional agriculture in Cuba still dominates.

Experts and small producers want to change this approach, which prioritizes obtaining large volumes of production, despite the high economic, energy and environmental costs.

In addition to degrading natural resources and increasing vulnerability to climate change, it is considered a partial and unsustainable solution that also limits the transition to food sovereignty.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Gente De Zona Launches the Single ‘Eres Tú’ To Get the Audience Dancing This Summer

The Cuban duo Gente de Zona, Randy Malcom (l) and Alexander Delgado (r), pose in an archive photo / EFE/Marlon Pacheco

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 6 June 2024 — The Cuban duo Gente de Zona releases their new single, Eres Tú, an “exciting musical anthem” that seeks to get the public dancing this summer with a mixture of reggaeton, tropical rhythms and afro-beats, their communication agency said on Thursday. The song is produced by Alejandro Arce and Angel Arce (Los Pututis), also responsible for the production of the album Demasiado [Too Much] from Gente De Zona, from which this last single has been extracted.

Gente de Zona released, last April, their new studio album Demasiado, a set of ten songs that reflect an amalgam of rhythms and genres, as well as the “danceable” style of this Cuban duo.

The album includes compositions by Alexander Delgado Hernández and Randy Malcom Martínez, the members of the duo. continue reading

“Gente de Zona continues to enjoy the success of its album Demasiado and prepares to bring all of Cuba’s flavor to Europe,” says the statement in reference to the 22-concert tour that the duo begins on June 21 in Casablanca (Morocco).

“Gente de Zona continues to enjoy the success of its album ’Demasiado’ and prepares to bring all of Cuba’s flavor to Europe

The popular salsa and reggaeton duo will visit Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain (where they will perform nine concerts), Belgium and Germany. The last concert will be held in Rimini (Italy) on August 4.

The single of the six Latin Grammy winners is accompanied by a video clip that is the last of Demasiado, the Series, a collection of six music clips made by Cuban director Pedro Vázquez that reflect “all the energy and joy of the Cuban duo.”

Winner also of 12 Latin Billboards, Gente de Zona made the international leap with the help of the 2014 single Bailando, along with Enrique Iglesias and Descemer Bueno.

Throughout its career, Gente de Zona has collaborated with artists such as Jennifer López, Kylie Minogue, Thalía, Pitbull, Carlos Vives, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gerardo Ortiz, Carlos Rivera and Deorro, among others.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Solar Parks in Cuba Are Promised Despite the Collapse of Renewable Energies in 2023

Renewables fell on the Island by 6.4% compared to the previous year and barely accounted for 3.6%

Russia “is actively working” on Cuban soil to construct facilities that use renewable resources for energy production / IPS

14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2024 — The Government insists on presenting renewable energies as the great hope to solve Cuba’s energy crisis, despite the fact that, just three days ago, the report published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) could not paint a worse picture.

Renewables fell on the Island by 6.4% compared to the previous year and barely accounted for 3.6% of energy generation, far from the official target of 24% for 2030. But this Thursday, the official press returns to the charge: the plans for the development of renewable energy do not stop. In Holguín, for example, two solar parks will be built with a generation capacity of 20 megawatts (MW). The “land movement” for the works of the first of them has already begun in the People’s Council of Cajimaya, municipality of Mayarí.

According to Ahora, quoting Fernando Hechavarría Pupo, an official of the Holguín Electric Company, the second park will be established in the Miraflores neighborhood, in the municipality of Moa, where “soil studies and excavations are being carried out.” A third is planned for the town of Potrerillo, but here, Hechavarría Pupo explained, “the panels cannot be mounted on the ground, so a casting process that will take longer is necessary.” continue reading

The authorities have promised to install a total of 42,000 solar panels by December 2024 or January 2025

The authorities have promised to install a total of 42,000 solar panels by December 2024 or January 2025, when, they say, “their installation will be completed by providing energy” to the National Electro-Energy System (SEN).

This Thursday, the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, Evgeni Grabchak, also pointed out to the Sputnik news agency that his country “is actively working” in the construction on Cuban soil of facilities that use renewable resources for energy production.

“As far as the construction of power plants and networks is concerned, it is above all with Cuba that we maintain an intense collaboration,” Grabchak said during the St. Petersburg Forum, which takes place until Saturday, June 8. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas is participating in the Forum, seeking financing for the 2030 Cuban Development Plan.

According to ONEI, in 2023 Cuba imported 73.5% more fuel than the previous year to produce electricity in rented generators and floating power plants. The energy generated by imported oil reached the equivalent of 31% of that produced in thermoelectric plants with the national fuel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Enters the UNICEF Report on Severe Child Poverty

Thirty-three percent of children under five years of age in Cuba suffer from moderate poverty / 14ymedio

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 6 June 2024 — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has included Cuba for the first time in its report on severe child poverty. The text, published on Wednesday, indicates that 9% of the island’s child population suffers from severe poverty; that is, they have a maximum of two of the eight foods considered necessary for a healthy life. In addition, it points out that 33% of minors (considered up to five years old) suffer from moderate poverty, which means that they have at their disposal between three and four of those foods.

Cuba did not appear in the institution’s 2022 report on the same issue. In 2021, as stated in one of the graphs, it was below 5%, the limit set by Unicef to consider the existence of serious child poverty.

These data join others from different organizations, demonstrating the resounding fall of the country in all tables of prosperity. Last February, it was announced that Cuba fell 30 places in the UN Human Development Index (HDI) in just 15 years, surpassing the figures of the Special Period and destroying the traditional propaganda of the regime. continue reading

In its report this Wednesday, UNICEF records that one in four children under the age of five in the world – about 181 million – suffers from severe food poverty. This increases their chances of “emaciation” by up to 50%, a form of malnutrition that endangers their lives.

One in four children under the age of five in the world – about 181 million – suffers from severe food poverty

Of the total, 65% reside in only 20 countries; about 64 million children are in South Asia and 59 million in sub-Saharan Africa. In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, where Cuba is counted, 9% of minors suffer from severe poverty (a total of 5 million) and 28% from moderate poverty (18 million).

In the East Asia-Pacific region – China, Indonesia, Burma and the Philippines – there are 59 million children suffering from food poverty.

The text analyzes the impacts and causes of food deprivation among the youngest in the world in almost 100 countries and in all income groups. It warns that millions of children under the age of five cannot access or consume a nutritious and diverse diet to maintain optimal growth and development in early childhood and in later stages.

Four out of five children in this situation are fed only with breast milk/milk and/or a staple food with starch, such as rice, corn or wheat. Fewer than 10% of these minors eat fruits and vegetables, and fewer than 5% eat nutrient-rich foods such as eggs, fish, poultry or meat.

“Children who live in a situation of severe food poverty are children who live on the edge of the abyss. At the moment, that is the reality for millions of children, and this can have an irreversible negative impact on their survival, growth and brain development,” said the Executive Director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, in statements collected by EFE.

The report also warns that, although countries are still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of growing inequalities, conflicts and the climate crisis have raised food prices and the cost of living to record levels.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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