Translating Cuba – Page 106 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

China Will Manage a Hotel in Cuba, Among Measures To Try To Revive the Tourism Sector

In addition, the $30 tourist health fee will be waived and payments in euros and Canadian currency will be authorized.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero inaugurates FITCuba / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — With a list of proposals that promise “different times” for the Cuban tourism sector, on Wednesday Prime Minister Manuel Marrero opened the International Tourism Fair (FitCuba). Transactions in Canadian dollars and euros, cancellation of health fees at airports and rental of tourist facilities are some of the measures announced by the Prime Minister, who assured that the recovery of the sector has become a “question of honor.”

China, the invited country, has been the privileged partner during this edition of the Fair, which welcomes 850 international participants and 2,000 national ones. Both governments signed letters of intent to lease the Copacabana hotel, owned by the Cubanacan group and located in Miramar, Havana, to Beijing. “As a sign of reciprocity, Cuba decided to eliminate the visa requirement for holders of ordinary passports from the People’s Republic of China in 2024, and dedicated the Fair to China as the guest of honor,” added Marrero.

The Prime Minister also promised – with his “bold” and “different” strategy but closely controlled by the State to stimulate foreign investment – “facilities for trading in foreign currencies,” the opening of new air routes, such as flights to Germany from November onwards, and the elimination, as of Thursday, of the health charge applied to travelers in airports, ports and marinas.

The minister also announced more special economic zones with benefits for investors

This payment, of 30 US dollars or its equivalent, was implemented in all international terminals following the coronavirus pandemic, and, with its cancellation, authorities hope to create an incentive for tourists to continue arriving on the Island.

The minister also announced the creation of more special economic zones with benefits for investors, such as Mariel, although this has not yielded the expected results. It was initially expected to raise some $2.5 billion annually, but barely reached a total of $3.5 billion during its first 10 years of continue reading

life.

He also said that the Government’s plan is to involve both the State and private sectors in tourism development, as well as “improving payment systems and incentives” for workers in this sector. These are all measures with which the Regime, accustomed to restricting the freedom of management especially of Cuban entrepreneurs, has been cautious.

In fact, Marrero offered “greater autonomy for exporting companies and businesses with foreign capital” but did not mention greater freedoms for private individuals, who even depend on the State to import their goods.

With more prominence in speeches on the sector than the Minister of Tourism himself, Juan Carlos García Granda, Marrero – the former head of the portfolio – said that “at different times, different solutions are imposed. Cuba is more than sun and beach; we offer ecotourism, rural tourism, cultural, heritage, sports, health, scientific, cruises and more,” he added.

“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward”

“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward,” he explained, and he connected the strategies to attract tourists with the investments needed to improve the national electricity system.

Although his speech was full of references to a reform in the management of the sector, the plans for Tourism are still part of the usual strategy, which has not worked so far: “correct distortions and revive the economy.” According to economist Pedro Monreal, Tourism made a “loose update of the official report on a failed bet, and there is an absence of a credible proposal of the tourism-development relationship in the post ’Ordering Task’ era.”

With a “display of tradition and protocol” in the fortress of La Cabaña, as described by Cubadebate itself, the Minister of Tourism also proposed to several member countries of ALBA* the creation of a multi-destination tourist plan that includes tours not only on the Island but also in other countries in the region.

The need for change is becoming inexcusable now that Tourism is unlikely to reach the target of 2.6 million visitors in 2025, despite the fact that the failures of the last two years have forced it to lower the goal. Until the end of March, which is the end of the high season, Cuba received only 571,772 travelers – 30% less than in 2024 for the same period – and, in the coming summer months, when the traffic of travelers decreases, the numbers promise to be worse.

In that quarter, none of the top ten countries managed to increase the number of travelers compared with the same quarter of 2024. And China, which the authorities strive to present as a growing market, is not even among the first.

In recent years hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared

The State is not alone in suffering the debacle. In recent years, hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared or moved to other businesses due to the decline in tourism. For the renters of private homes that resist, more bad news comes to cloud the panorama. Airbnb, the hosting platform used by many of them, has decided to suspend payments to Cuba unless landlords have overseas accounts.

“In accordance with recent US federal regulations, we have notified hosts in Cuba that they must add a new payment method to their account in order to continue hosting on Airbnb. We are working with hosts and providing clear instructions on how to update their accounts and regain access. In addition, we would like to point out that we have already processed the payments corresponding to future confirmed reservations using the current payment method,” the company told El Toque.

* ALBA is an organization created for the political and economic cooperation of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Delay in the Migration Law Keeps Thousands of Cubans in Limbo

Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved this regulation, still unpublished

Several passengers in line to check in for an Air Century flight at Terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport, Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Stuck in limbo: this is how Dayuri, 47, feels. She arrived in Miami from Havana at the end of 2023 after crossing the U.S. southern border. In December, the two-year period expires, which the Cuban authorities allow her for being off the Island without losing her residence and ownership of a house in Cerro municipality. Cuba’s new Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws, which eliminate this requirement, have not even been published in the Official Gazette.

Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved the regulations regulating core issues such as permanent residence on the Island, the right to retain property even when living outside the country and the mechanisms through which foreigners can settle and invest in the national territory. For Dayuri the delay may mean the loss of the family home she inherited from her parents, who died during the covid-19 pandemic.

“When I left, there was already talk of new legislation coming and that they were going to remove the obligation to return after 24 months,” she told 14ymedio. In mid-2024, when she had already been in the U.S. for more than half a year, Dayuri was relieved to see all Cuban parliamentarians voting unanimously for the new regulations. “I thought that before Christmas they were going to publish it in the Gazette and that my house was going to be secure.”

“We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here”

But so far the new legislation has not appeared in the Official Gazette of the Republic, after which 180 days still have to pass before it comes into force. The delay affects an undetermined number of migrants who are about to complete their two years outside Cuba but have not yet obtained legal continue reading

residence in the U.S., without which they must not leave U.S. territory; otherwise, they will not be able to return.

“I search and search in the news, and nobody talks about this. Everyone comments on the deportations, the Cuban Adjustment Law, the I220-A visas, but no one says anything about our situation. We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here,” Dayari says. She is right. If the subject of the Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws made headlines in the official Cuban press prior to its approval, it seems to have disappeared from the information agenda months ago.

The most awaited is the Migration Law, because of what it means for properties on the Island. Its entry into force invalidates numerous procedures related to both the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Aliens and the Housing Institute, in addition to requiring updates for notaries and Cuban consulates.

So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home

So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home. To avoid the seizure of the property by the State, the owners give a power of attorney to a relative, friend or acquaintance to sell, transfer or donate the house. With the mass exodus that the Island is experiencing, the current legislation has triggered this type of paperwork and bureaucratic red tape.

The solution for Orlando, a citizen of Cienfuegos who arrived in Houston last August and has not yet been granted U.S. residency, was to give power of attorney for his brother to sell or transfer his property if the Migration Law continues to be delayed and he fails to keep the house in Abreus municipality in his name. The procedure costs between $150 and $300 in consulates in the United States, where a large Cuban community resides. In recent years, with the migration stampede, the need to carry out this paperwork has multiplied.

A number of private companies outside the Island have emerged as intermediaries to expedite and secure procedures. Through one of them, Orlando organized his process. “I trust my brother, but there are people who have had to give power of attorney to a neighbor or a friend because their stay away is about to reach two years, and it’s either that or lose the house.” The biggest nightmare of the migrant is “to be deported from the U.S. and arrive at my town to see that my house, which cost me so many sacrifices, is now in someone else’s name.”

Orlando finds it hard to believe that in a country that has experienced the largest migratory exodus in its history in recent years, “it is not a priority to finish fixing this two-year issue so that people can keep their homes even if they spend years and years outside the country.” He regrets that the complaints on social networks are directed more towards the U.S. than to Cuba. “We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law.”

“We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law”

Once the regulations are in place, not only can those who are away spend as much time as they want without returning to Cuba and not lose their home, but a Cuban who does not reside on the Island will be able to acquire property. “It is an earthquake that will happen at the level of the legislation for houses, and they are still projecting and calculating the consequences,” explains to 14ymedio a worker from the Housing Institute who asks for anonymity.

According to the employee, “a change in the Housing Law has been on the table for years to make it more flexible not only with regard to the property of those who reside outside but also to allow those inside to own more than one dwelling under the same name,” she explains. ” With the new Migration Law, it must be remembered that there will no longer be a concept of ’emigrated’ but rather one of effective residence and another that is not, depending on whether or not you spend most of the time in a year in Cuba or not.”

But it’s not only houses that are at stake. Once the regulations enter into force, Cubans residing off the Island will be able to apply for “investor” status. This possibility is currently closed to them and will open the door to hundreds of thousands of potential investors.

One of them is Enrique, name changed, who has lived since the 1980s in Berlin, Germany. As a student in East Germany, after the wall came down, he decided to settle in the country, where he married and later retired. “I have saved money and would like to open a business of rental houses in Havana, specifically in the neighborhood of Santos Suarez, where I was born.”

Enrique, however, is considered under current legislation to be a Cuban resident abroad with no right to property or a business on the Island. “Since the new law was passed, I have often called the consulate to find out when it will be implemented, and they just give me a hard time,” he complains. ” This surprises me, because there is legislation that has been announced on the same day that it is published in the Gazette, which comes into force 24 hours later.”

“There appears to be no political will for this Migration Act to enter into force as soon as possible”

“They made a lot of noise announcing it, publishing the discussions in Parliament, but now it seems that there is no political will for this Migration Law to come into force as soon as possible and solve the situation of so many Cubans. My friends have recommended that I look for several front men, within my own family, who have properties in Santos Suarez, and I can manage them from here, but that’s not the way I want to do business.”

For Dayari, time is running out. Unlike Orlando or Enrique, she has no one to whom to transfer the ownership of her home. In her mind, two countdowns resonate at the same time without giving her a break. One marks the time remaining to obtain residence in the United States after almost two years of upheavals. The second ends in December, when under Cuban law she becomes an emigrant without the right to have a home on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Bread Will Get Here When the Flour Shows Up’

Next to this sign, state-owned stores display another: “We greet May 1st with efficiency and commitment.”

That old adage that reads “Save bread for May” becomes a riddle / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 18 April 2025 — In large letters, the bakery window proclaims: “Long live May 1st.” In small letters, another sign clarifies: “The bread will be delivered when the flour comes in.” That old saying, “Save bread for May,” becomes a riddle. Since the beginning of this week, Havana residents have been coming and going with their empty bags, while the helpless vendors tell stories about shipments and boats that should have arrived. Meanwhile, at the private market, bags of 6 and 8 bread rolls skyrocket up to 300 and 500 pesos.

“I don’t know what to do to feed my son anymore, especially during this vacation week,” comments Teresa, a 35-year-old mother. “I’ve been without gas for over a month, and when the power goes out at noon, I have nothing to cook with. Bread is an emergency food, a solution, and I don’t even have that anymore.”

Teresa makes a sacrifice. She buys a bag of 6 rolls for 370 pesos at the private cafeteria right next to the state-run bakery in her neighborhood, that way, she at least ensures her son’s breakfast. “I’ll figure out what to do for the rest of the day,” she tells herself thoughtfully. This Wednesday, the Municipal Administration Council of Plaza de la Revolución reported on its Facebook page that, over the past 48 hours, its bakeries had been experiencing problems producing basic bread due to a lack of flour.

Cubans already know that when there’s no bread, it’s because there’s no flour, or no oil, or because the ship hasn’t arrived / 14ymedio

“That news report is published every other week. Cubans already know that when there’s no bread, it’s because there’s no flour, or no oil, or because the ship hasn’t arrived, and so on, like with rice and everything else”, says Antonio, who adds that clarifications or justifications are unnecessary. “We all know about their ineptitude. They’re good for nothing.”

On the other hand, bread offered for sale in private businesses hasn’t been in short supply, but its price has increased considerably in recent weeks. In continue reading

Guanabacoa, it’s normal to hear a whistle or a child’s voice selling food on the streets at any time, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

There’s no flour, but the sign speaks of “efficiency and commitment” / 14ymedio

“Until two weeks ago, I used to buy a bag of 9 or 10 rolls for 200 pesos,” says Leticia, a resident of the Habana Nueva neighborhood in the municipality of Guanabacoa. “There are three of us in my house, and each of us eats two, and sometimes even three rolls for a snack or breakfast, because they’re small, almost for a birthday, and don’t even think about saving them for two days from now, because they go bad quickly,” continues Leticia, who at least has the opportunity to spend that money every so often. “Well, those same bread rolls went up to 250 pesos last week, and this Monday they were at 300 pesos. The worst part is that now the flour is showing up, but these prices aren’t going back down.”

There have been several complaints on social media in recent days about the bread situation, suggesting that this is a national issue. In the capital, residents of La Lisa, Luyanó, Alamar, and Vedado have reported that neighborhood bakeries are out of flour, but individuals have all sorts of supplies. “It’s horrible to live like this,” says Yuly Saez in a Facebook post. “We’ve been without bread at the bakery for three days… no one is offering a solution or an adequate response, since our children’s main food source is bread. Now individuals are taking advantage and selling a bag of it for 500 pesos.

Meanwhile, no authority has provided an explanation for the product’s absence or the estimated time it will return to the bakeries. In September of last year, Anayra Cabrera Martínez, Director of Industrial Policy for the Ministry of Food Industry, reported that the weight of bread in the standard family basket would be reduced by 20 grams, from 80 to 60 grams, in order to avoid affecting production and ensure it reaches the entire population, due to the unavailability of flour in the country. She also explained that this was not a permanent change and that delays could occur due to the logistical effort required to transport the flour.

Months later, the bread situation does not appear to have an immediate solution.

Guanabacoa resident: “The worst part is that flour is now beginning to appear, but these prices won’t come down again.” / 14ymedio

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World Press Freedom Is at Its Worst Because of the Economy of the Media

“You don’t kill the truth by killing journalists.” The gap between the Western European press and the rest of the world is widening / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Paris, 2 May 2025 — Press freedom worldwide is at its worst since Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) began compiling its index in 2002, due to the poor economic situation of the media, threatening their survival and the integrity of their work.

In its annual report on press freedom published this Friday, RSF warns that “for the first time in the history of the ranking, the situation of press freedom is becoming ’difficult’ worldwide.”

The communications media “are caught between guaranteeing their independence and their financial survival,” it adds.

“Half of the countries evaluated have poor conditions for journalism, and only one country out of four has a good situation,” explains Elena G. Viscasillas, spokesperson for RSF, at its headquarters in Paris.

The organization stresses that this situation has further damaged a media that is “already being harmed” by an advertising market controlled by Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, which in 2024 captured advertising revenue on their “largely unregulated” social platforms of $247.3 billion, 14% more than in 2023.

“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality”

“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality and can fall prey to oligarchs or political leaders who continue reading

instrumentalize them,” says Anne Bocandé, RSF editorial director.

RSF points to the U.S. as the “leader of the economic depression” in the media and ranks it in 57th place on the index (dropping two places compared with 2024 and 12 since 2023), mainly because some areas have become “news deserts” due to the closure of media.

In addition, it points out that the second term of Donald Trump “has aggravated this situation” at a global level, with the cessation of funding for media such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, which has deprived “overnight” more than 400 million people worldwide from having access to reliable information.

The USAID funding freeze has also affected hundreds of media outlets, some of which are now closing, as in Ukraine where 90% of the media depends on foreign donations.

RSF reports that in 46 countries media ownership is highly concentrated in private or State hands.

The report stresses that this media hyperconcentration is “a cause for concern in well-positioned countries” such as Finland (ranked 5), Canada (21) and Australia (29). In France (which dropped four places in one year to 25), eight large companies own about twenty-five media that account for 81% of national newspaper coverage and 95% of national weekly newspapers.

The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in the five indicators that make up the ranking

The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in all five indicators that make up the ranking: media environment, independence, pluralism, legal framework and journalist safety. It is followed by Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Ireland. The top 15 countries are European, with New Zealand in 16th place.

Spain ranks 23rd, improving by seven positions compared to last year.

The last place is again Eritrea (180), and just above it are North Korea, China (drops six places), Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

In 42 countries, which account for 56.7% of the world’s population, the situation regarding press freedom is “very serious,” warns RSF.

By region, the changes in the list show how the gap between Western Europe and other regions, including Eastern Europe, is widening.

Russia drops 9 places and ranks 171, making it into the bottom ten. “The media are controlled by the State or by oligarchs close to the Kremlin,” states RSF.

In the Americas, 22 out of 26 countries have seen a deterioration in the media’s economic health indicator.

The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press.” Cuba occupies position 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142

Argentina continues its drop in the ranking to position 87 (by 47 positions in two years). The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press,” says RSF.

Cuba ranks 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142. Mexico is ranked 124, while Colombia is ranked 119. The best-placed Latin American country is Costa Rica (36), which still drops ten positions. Brazil ranks 63, recovering 47 positions in two years after the departure of Jair Bolsonaro from power.

The map in the report, which as usual colors countries according to their press freedom situation, shows how the dark color has spread considerably since last year in a large area starting in East Africa and spreading through Russia and virtually all of the Middle East and Asia.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘My Work in Counterintelligence Helped Me Survive Prison’

Released after 27 years in prison and solitary confinement, Ernesto Borges gives his testimony to 14ymedio.

“I spent a lot of time in isolation, unable to vent to anyone about the long periods of interrogation.” / Courtesy / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Mario Félix Lleonart, 2 May 2025 — Since his release from Combinado del Este prison after 27 years in prison, Ernesto Borges hasn’t stopped. Returning home, reuniting with his family, seeing Havana after almost three decades of not walking its streets, and undertaking numerous bureaucratic procedures, such as applying for an identity card, have tested the former political prisoner’s emotional and physical capacities.

Amidst this maelstrom, Borges spoke with 14ymedio about the long years he spent locked up and the importance of solidarity in cases like his.

14ymedio: Your father has been a constant activist for your release. How has that support been?

Borges: I’ve experienced the support he’s given me with great gratitude. When I look at him at 85 years old and the wear and tear of age, my heart aches, but I also feel a great pride in having him. He’s not just my father; he’s also my friend. I’ve found him worn down by the suffering and helplessness of having a son in prison, but he’s alive, and that’s the most important thing right now.

The interrogator told me that parents who had a child in prison were like sick people.

Once, during an interrogation, the investigator told me that parents who had a child in prison were like sick people, or that they behaved as if they were in constant mourning for the death of a loved one. He was right. I’ve seen it in my father, my brother, and my mother, who has since passed away. continue reading

14ymedio: Huber Matos wrote Cómo llegó la noche (How the Night Came) after 20 years in Prison. Have you read that testimony?

Borges: I read that book in Guanajay prison a few years ago. They managed to get it into prison in two parts, and I really liked it for its frankness, its sincerity, and its humility. But above all, what I remember most is Huber Matos’s description of the Sierra Maestra, where I’ve never been. He describes with such love that time when he was up in the mountains, fighting against [Fulgencio] Batista, and it’s truly moving.

14ymedio: Have you met many political prisoners in jail?

Borges: I met several people from the case of the 75 [of the ‘Black Spring’] who were arrested in 2003, among them Omar Pernet Hernández, Jorge Luis González Tanquero, Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés and Efrén Fernández Fernández, among others who were taken to the Guanajay prison where I was at the time. I also met others at Combinado del Este, like Rafael Ibarra Roque, also Carlitos El Americano, whose name I don’t remember. Anyway, I had contact with several of them, very good people in general.

I also met some protesters convicted for participating in the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021.

It was my turn to comfort them and encourage them. Some, although they had come for political crimes, lacked much political or ideological training; they had reacted purely instinctively to what was happening in the country. Some of them hadn’t even read a book, so I encouraged them and shared my vision. I also met some protesters convicted for participating in the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, like Dayron Martín Rodríguez , from La Guinera, with whom I became friends because we attended religious services together. He was sentenced to 25 years for the crime of sedition, a person who has suffered greatly. I also had contact with Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, who was exchanged with the United States in December 2014, a person who had also suffered greatly.

14ymedio: How do you survive, physically, but above all, mentally, more than a quarter of a century in prison?

Borges: I must say frankly that I had several advantages in facing such a challenge. First, I was imprisoned very young, barely 32 years old. I was also well-prepared; my work in counterintelligence served me well. The same materials I studied to train the agents I would later turn into double agents helped me prepare and survive isolation and prison. During that time, I also read a lot, studied a lot, and I was determined to learn English. I also opened myself to faith.

My love for Cuba also saved me.

Faith has been a decisive experience for me. If prison has taught me anything, it is that. I spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, unable to vent with anyone about the long interrogations, the threats I received that they would impose the death penalty, or the whole 30-year sentence. My love for Cuba also saved me. I feel an immense love for this country, and life also gave me a wonderful, humble family. My relatives are the unsung heroes of this story. They had to deprive themselves of many things to bring me things in prison. They had to run when I needed medication. They didn’t hesitate to get me the books and study materials I needed to develop myself.

14ymedio: How did you experience the solidarity of activists and exiles?

Borges: The other heroes in this story are the brothers and sisters of the opposition inside and outside Cuba, those who delivered the messages that comforted me so much, even in the most profound loneliness. I’ve overcome so much because, in reality, I was never alone; many people helped me carry the cross. Brothers and sisters from the Catholic, Evangelical, and Protestant churches who have been true disciples of Christ, preaching by personal example. I feel very fortunate for all of that.

My eternal gratitude to those who did not leave me alone.

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Martha Beatriz Roque Returns to Cuba Despite the Regime’s “Terrible Hatred” for Her

“They bet on me staying in the United States.”

The opposition leader expressed her willingness to return to the country, fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 2 May 2025 — Martha Beatriz Roque returned to Cuba this Thursday from the United States, where she had been undergoing medical treatment since February, after an unsuccessful stay in several hospitals on the island. A human rights activist and one of the most outspoken critics of the regime, her delicate state of health has not prevented her from returning to her country, which is immersed in a new wave of repression against long-standing dissidents.

Waking up early in Havana, Roque explained to 14ymedio that she had “quite a few difficulties” entering the country, though she didn’t go into details. Somewhat weak and fatigued from the trip, she affirmed that she hasn’t lost one iota of her will to be, think, and speak in Cuba.

“I was born in Cuba, and in Cuba I have to live,” she states emphatically. “Many people are shocked.” State Security detained her at the airport. “They explained to me that they wouldn’t allow me to do anything, as always: a warning.” She claims she has a medical treatment program from the US that she must comply with on the island, despite all kinds of restrictions.

She completely denies the rumor that she returned to the country “to complete some paperwork.” “I’m going to return to the US whenever I deem it appropriate,” she clarifies. She has part of her family in that country. On the island, she will continue to work tirelessly, she emphasizes. “All the strategies the dictatorship has used to persuade me not to return to the opposition have had no influence on me.” continue reading

Now, one of her problems is getting her house in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton ready, it having been completely closed up during her trip. For now, she prefers to recover from the trip and enjoy some tranquility before giving interviews or making statements about what’s happening in the country.

This week, two prominent regime opponents—José Daniel Ferrer in Santiago de Cuba and Félix Navarro in Matanzas—were arrested again just months after being released from prison, thanks to negotiations between the Vatican and Havana. In a police operation, supported by televised statements from the Supreme Court, political police agents ransacked Ferrer’s home during his arrest and handcuffed Navarro as he went to see his daughter, Sayli, also a political prisoner.

In an interview with the Recate Jurídico Foundation shortly before her return to Cuba, Roque addressed this situation and expressed his willingness to return to the country, fully aware of the gravity of the situation. “The island is in a very difficult situation, not only politically but also economically and socially. I would like to spend some time there so I can personally experience what is happening,” he said. For Roque, this is a State Security operation against dissidents “who are capable of reaching out to the people, of expressing themselves.”

She also explained that her recovery has been slow. “I feel fine and plan to return to Cuba. I’ve already bought my ticket.”

She also explained that her recovery has been slow. “I feel fine and plan to return to Cuba. I have already booked a ticket,” she told the Foundation bluntly. “I don’t think I’ll be welcome on the island. They were banking on me staying in the United States, but they know very well that I’m not going to stay there.”

She opened the possibility of visiting the United States for medical reasons, but only for “a month or two,” before returning immediately. “I have my home in Cuba,” she concluded. “I have spent many years trying to free the country from communism.” With some bitterness, she predicted that Cuba will not experience any change for the time being due to many “interests,” both internal and external, that tend to maintain the status quo .

On the verge of turning 80, Roque experienced a moment of extreme sadness in February, when several organizations expressed their willingness to support her in the hospital. Finally, taking advantage of a slight improvement, she traveled to Florida to recover her health.

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and recipient of countless awards, Roque was the only woman among the group of 75 Cubans arrested during the so-called Black Spring of 2003 and sentenced to long prison terms.

In 2024, the ” woman most hated by the regime” was one of 14ymedio’s faces of the year. At the time, the newspaper celebrated the presentation of the Woman of Courage award, which the US government grants to those who “have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in defending peace, justice, and human rights.” Roque, however, was unable to attend the Washington ceremony because she was on medical leave at the time.

At that time, she repeated to 14ymedio a phrase that reflects her work promoting democracy over the past 35 years and its impact on the regime: “The hatred they have for me is terrible.”

Cuba Seeks Foreign Investment To Enter the Lucrative Plasma Business

Historically, the Cuban government forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks

Workers at Laboratorios Aica, a subsidiary of BioCubaFarma. / Laboratorios Aica/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Aica Laboratories, one of the jewels in the BioCubaFarma group’s crown, announced that it is open to foreign investment to boost the manufacturing of blood-derived medicines. The project, which is seeking a “risk investor” to finance it, includes the construction of a plasmapheresis center. If successful, Cuba will enter the lucrative business of extracting and marketing plasma and its derivatives.

Although they are related procedures, extracting plasma from the human body is not the same as extracting blood. Plasma—the viscous substance left in the blood after removing red and white blood cells, composed of 92% water and the rest proteins, fat, oxygen, and other substances—is used to manufacture medications, following the artificial separation process known as plasmapheresis.

John Wilber Arrazcaeta, director of Aica, assured the official press that they have obtained government permission to open up to foreign financing because the country lacks the necessary funds to sustain an industry of this magnitude and complexity.

He briefly discussed the differences between blood and plasma donations and stated that his company aims to return the red blood cell concentrate to the donor after plasmapheresis. This is relevant information, given that while the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell continue reading

regeneration takes about eight weeks.

While the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell regeneration takes about eight weeks.

According to Arrazcaeta, the process involves “high costs,” especially when it comes to obtaining plasmapheresis kits—which typically contain needles, syringes, reservoirs, and other items—which cost between 30 and 50 euros in Spain.

The potential opening of a plasmapheresis center in Cuba raises multiple questions. Arrazcaeta states that “the investment will be recovered through the sale of the plasma obtained,” a statement that assumes the existence of donors on the island. However, he does not explain how much AICA will pay donors—a common practice in the plasma business—or whether it will pay them at all for the “marketable plasma standards” it aspires to.

A company with vast experience in the field, such as the Spanish company Grifols, makes it clear that compensation for donating plasma is essential, given the enormous profit a company makes from this substance, in addition to its significant importance in the production of blood products. In the case of Grifols, each donor is given a credit card, into which funds are deposited based on the amount of plasma donated and the frequency of donations.

The official newspaper Granma did not raise any of these issues with Aica Laboratories, although it concludes its article with a sort of declaration of principles: the Cuban biotechnology industry operates in “full alliance” with the Ministry of Public Health, a “coordinated” effort that in practice translates into subordination.

BioCubaFarma is not immune to the multisectoral crisis affecting Cuba, which is having a brutal impact on the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The business group must deliver to the Public Health Department “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products” which it lacks the resources to produce.

The business group must deliver to Public Health “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products.”

At two recent international events—the Health for All Trade Fair and the 5th Cuba Health 2025 Convention—its executives have reminded participants that the company is seeking partners interested in investing in the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry. The obstacle, they claim, is Washington, whose sanctions scare away suppliers.

Venture capitalists who decide to invest in BioCubaFarma must be prepared to offer “significant capital investments,” commensurate, according to health officials, with the “highly innovative products” Cuba plans to launch, including blood products.

The topic of blood donation has traditionally been one of the most controversial when it comes to health care in Cuba. A report by Archivo Cuba from a few years ago, which stated that the regime had forced political prisoners to donate blood and then sell it, highlighted the historical and political repercussions of the issue.

The Archivo Cuba investigation, led by María Werlau, argues that since at least 1961, the Cuban government has forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks. According to a quote from Castro cited in the report, Fidel Castro said that year: “The blood of these traitors is extracted before execution to save the lives of many.”

This quote, however, does not appear in any of Castro’s speeches—as Archivo Cuba admits—and is only cited in the book Diario de una traición: 1959 (Diary of a Betrayal: 1959 ) by Leovigildo Ruiz. The organization also proposes interpreting another phrase literally, this one compared with the leader’s speeches: “We are willing to give the people of Vietnam not just our sugar, but our blood, which is worth much more than sugar!”

Following further investigations, Archivo Cuba concludes that 31 prisoners – 28 Cubans and 3 Americans – were forced to donate blood between 1960 and 1964, before their executions.

In any case, the situation posed by BioCubaFarma’s announcement this week is radically different. And the problems it brings are not historical, but current: empty blood banks, patients who must obtain blood abroad for surgical procedures, and a healthcare system in total crisis.

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Eduardo López-Collazi, Scientist and Writer Who Left Cuba ‘To Be Free’

The Elena Fortún Library was packed with a broad ranging audience./ 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 26 april 2025 – “I left Cuba to be free”, Eduardo López-Collazo said on Saturday in Madrid at the launch of his first novel, ’Narcisos’. After thirty years in Spain his life has become an example of personal and professional realization, combining rigorous investigation with creativity, a passion for the arts and literature, scientific dissemination and activism to promote diversity and inclusion.

On account of this, the psychologist and neuroscientist Ana Asencio wondered: “How can so many lives fit into one single body?” López-Collazo himself rebels against the insistence, in certain sections of society, for always classifying or pigeonholing people with one single label. It’s a long time since he decided to come out of all the closets: he stopped signing his cultural critiques with a pseudonym, and in his LinkedIn profile he stopped hiding the fact that he wrote about dance in El Cultural. He’s not worried that they call him a twenty-first century Renaissance man.

The amazing thing is that this Cuban, born on 3 July 1969, in Jovellanos, Matanzas, manages to do it all “like crazy”. He graduated as a nuclear physicist from the University of Havana, a city in which, in his own words, he was “hungry and homeless”. In Spain he got his doctorate in pharmacology at the Complutense University of Madrid and ended up running, over the course of a decade, the biggest centre for scientific investigation in the Spanish capital. The impact of his work has been recognised by Forbes, El Mundo and El Español, all of which have described him as one of the most influential people in the country.

Narcisos presents us with the lives of eight men through the eyes of Carmen, a psychologist who will go on to have a journey of self discovery over the course of the narrative. The author describes the novel as a search for understanding “who we are when nobody is looking at us, not even ourselves”. The work is dedicated to his lifetime companion Holden, with whom he discussed the evolution of many of his characters. continue reading

[The filmmaker and writer Carlos Lechuga, charged with presenting the book, described its cinematic potential

The filmmaker and writer Carlos Lechuga, charged with presenting the book, described its cinematic potential. The reader will be able to confirm this immediately, thanks to the fluidity of the dialogue and the richness of the images transmitted through its pages.

Although this is the first novel he has had published – by Mayda Bustamante and Ediciones Huso – it is in fact the third one he has written. The previous two are very personal and it might take a little more time for them to see the light of day. Nevertheless, anyone who has followed his work, including his most scientific texts, will recognise the ease of his writing. It’s not for nothing that El País included one of his titles in their list of “books with an unsettling theme that are a pleasure to read”.

When questioned about whether there exists a battle between the rigour of science and the chaos of creativity, López-Collazo replied that he always looks for freedom. Naturally, he’s a firm believer in discipline: he admits that on occasion he sometimes found himself counting the number of words that he’d ascribed to each of his characters in order to achieve perfect equilibrium. “But without freedom”, he confessed, “growth is lateral, never upwards”.

It’s no surprise that the Elena Fortún public library was packed with a broad ranging audience, many of them standing, to be witness to this presentation. Among those present were the singer-songwriter Liuba María Hevia, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Carlos Umaña, the former Vice Mayoress of Madrid Begoña Villacís and the dancer María Pagés, worthy winner of the Asturias Prize for Princess of the Arts. And many others, who, when it was all over, rushed to buy the book – in which some of the characters are real… and others are too.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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The Private Sector, Key to the Egg’s Return to the ‘Basic Basket’ in Cuba

In Ciego de Ávila, production went from 120 million annually in 2016 to just 16 million currently.

The alliance between a state company and private producers is giving results in Ciego de Ávila / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 2 May 2025 — In the last decade, the debacle of egg production in Ciego de Avila, according to official press reports, has been “brutal.” From reaching a maximum of 120 million units in 2016, the province barely reaches 16 million currently, five million less than it needs to meet local demand. The disastrous figures were exposed by the authorities last Wednesday to Miguel Díaz-Canel, who predicted that “the time will come when we can offer them again for the [family ration] basket.”

The hope of the president seems to be placed in a new mode of business of a poultry company in the province that resorted to private sales after being shut down eight months for lack of feed. The deal, explains the newspaper Invasor, is that the private part rears the hens and guarantees production, of which it delivers 36% to the state company. Feed is obtained from Tabacuba, which pays for the feed in meat, eggs or freely convertible currency (MLC).

The media does not explain why Tabacuba did not deliver feed to the poultry company in exchange for payment, without the need for mediation by the private producer, but the answer seems to be in the chronic lack of resources and money of state institutions. With private individuals, Tabacuba has a better chance of getting payments on time and not having to deal with debts. continue reading

“We will be able to overcome all the decline that we have suffered in the production of eggs, which is an important protein for the population”

“We will be able to overcome all the decline that we have suffered in the production of eggs, which is an important protein for the population, through these links with the non-state sector,” said Díaz-Canel.

Aware of the unattainable price of eggs on the Island, and that they are easier to find in a MSME or a small dollar market than in a ration store, the representative gave even more importance to the success of the company: “There came a time when we did not have eggs. Now, they are sold both in foreign currency and in national currency, but in the end, the price goes down, and as this system continues to advance, production and sales will continue to grow”.

Apparently, by “linking” to the poultry company nothing bad happens. Profits exceed 3 million pesos, and it has managed to give its 24 workers benefits that have increased their wages to between 14,000 and 23,000 pesos. However, a carton of 30 eggs in the neighboring province of Sancti Spíritus is around 2,100 pesos, according to the market data from 14ymedio, between 9% and 15% of these wages.

At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed a catastrophic decline in the population of laying hens from 8 million to 3 million in four years. Egg production, reduced by the lack of feed, had fallen from 5 million units per day to a mere 1,200,000.

Cuba has started to rely more and more on imports in order to deal with the demand for eggs

Cuba has begun to rely more and more on imports in order to deal with the demand for eggs. Although it is known that both Colombia and the Dominican Republic have exported eggs to the island, imports from “sister countries” such as Mexico also appear in the foreign currency markets and in the informal market.

There is also the question of whether all poultry companies in Ciego de Ávila are doing as well as the one visited by Díaz-Canel, who criticized producers for “drooling” while waiting for state aid.

The head of state, who seems to have noticed that problems are “solved” by his presence – at least for the duration of the government visit – encouraged the authorities to monitor agricultural production more closely and to visit the municipalities to see that good work is being done. And he promised, “See you in a month”.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico Proposes Employing Migrants, Including Cubans, on Public Works Like the Maya Train

The state government of Chiapas has launched two programs to provide temporary employment to 890 people from other countries.

Deivy Gurrola, Cuban, wants to settle in Tapachula, Chiapas / EFE

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, 22 April 2025 — The municipal president of Tapachula, in the Mexican border state of Chiapas, Aarón Yamil Melgar Bravo, has proposed that migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti who are stranded in the municipality be employed in different public works and factories. Among them, mentioned to EFE, was the Maya Train, the Interoceanic Corridor.

According to the official, the state has almost 400 hectares available for industrial projects that promote trade between the Pacific and the Atlantic, and between North and Central America. The migrants, Melgar Bravo told the Spanish agency, could be inserted into the crews for “the completion of the train tracks connecting the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Puerto Chiapas.”

The municipal president has specified that the migrants “will be able to remove the containers from the boats and take them to the trains. Obviously, the other branch of the railway tracks is going to go to Suchiate (the border with Guatemala).”

However, the recruitment process has not yet started, and no date is set in the near future, as the Cuban Yumili Acosta told 14ymedio. Last February she joined the three-month temporary program that the government of Chiapas promoted for 500 migrants, most of them with asylum procedures continue reading

before the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).

Cuban Anaeliet Salgado is part of one of the temporary employment programs in Tapachula / EFE

“In May the program ends, and we were told that we would have to wait. Everything depends on their budget. If the money doesn’t arrive, the program will end,” says Acosta, 27, who has received 1,250 pesos ($61.59) per week for five-hour days from Monday to Friday.

Cuban Yaniel Ponce de León, who is also part of the group that sweeps streets, collects garbage and paints public spaces, says that “the municipal president of Tapachula says the money is not certain. I was told (by officials) that it is more for Guatemalans.”

Between February and March, the state of Chiapas promoted two temporary employment programs for migrants, opening 890 places during this period. The most recent is for fumigators to stop the spread of diseases such as dengue, malaria, zika and chikungunya.

Each of the 390 migrants is paid a salary of just over 2,300 pesos every two weeks, less than the average wage of 3,350 that a worker receives. In addition, they do not have medical services or other benefits stipulated in the Federal Labour Law such as the payment of utilities, a savings fund and food vouchers.

Despite the unfavorable working conditions, for the Cuban Deivy Gurrola, the possibility of having a job is an incentive: “I could rent a room and support myself here in Mexico, because yes, we want to live cheaply, and we will work in able to afford that,” she told EFE. She also wants the Mexican authorities to encourage a regular stay for those who wish to work on these projects, “so they can find work quickly in established factories and companies.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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New Party Leader in Las Tunas, Cuba: ‘The People Can’t Eat Explanations’

Osbel Lorenzo pointed out that only a third of the “production plans” in the province were implemented.

Osbel Lorenzo Rodríguez, secretary general of the PCC, scolded the executives of state-owned companies. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Madrid, 30 April 2025 — The arrival of the Party’s first secretary in Las Tunas will be hard to forget. Osbel Lorenzo Rodríguez, who assumed the position just a month ago, didn’t mince his words in his first analysis of the province’s economy. “People can’t eat explanations,” he retorted, “in response to the justifications of representatives of state-owned companies in this region for clearly failing to meet their production plans,” reported Periódico 26 this Wednesday.

The description of the province’s economic ruins is, however, less surprising than the leader’s forcefulness, who, while not missing the opportunity to blame the negative context on “external factors,” demanded that the executives find solutions. “No one is empowered to fail to comply for subjective reasons,” he retorted.

Among the biggest dramas unfolding was the agonizing sugar harvest. On a day when the Sancti Spíritus press was celebrating on its front pages because the Melanio Hernández sugar mill in Tuinucú had met its planned schedule, Lorenzo Rodríguez—also from Sancti Spíritus—lamented that sugar production in Las Tunas “will reach historic lows.” The company could see its targets saved thanks to the sugar cane syrup, but the concern is paramount, since the province had been entrusted with the largest production plan — 45,000 tons — which could “force the country to import the sweet grain and thus satisfy minimal domestic demand.”

All of them are doing poorly “without this being attributable to the commercial and financial siege.”

Lorenzo Rodríguez referred to the “slow economic recovery” and listed sectors such as certain crops, sheep and rabbit meat, and charcoal. All of these are doing poorly “without this being attributed to the commercial and financial siege,” the leader noted.

There was a lot for the new party leader to criticize, but the failure to execute 4% of the quarterly budget for social assistance took the cake. “We’re talking about money that must be spent efficiently, but without continue reading

unnecessary delays, because it benefits the most vulnerable segment of the population,” argued Lorenzo Rodríguez, who called the incident “incomprehensible.”

Data from the results analysis for this period, between January and March, indicate that only a third of the planned production was realized. “Simply put, this means that we can only touch with our hands one out of every three products or inputs that public entities forecast to have at the beginning of April,” the scolding continued.

In addition, an aggravating factor is that sales and retail trade remain stable, “an unequivocal sign that too many state-owned companies are still boosting their balance sheets with high prices; something that lines the pockets of their workers, but is terrible news for the economy of Las Tunas as a whole, because it perpetuates the vicious cycle of inflation and depressed supply,” he charged.

“They pale in comparison to the failure to deliver the agreed quantities of merchandise to be created, which are literally what people need.”

On the positive side, the official noted, are the balanced budget and the reduction in cash flow, but “they pale in comparison to the failure to meet the agreed quantities of goods to be produced, which are literally what people need.”

Although there are no figures, it has tentatively emerged that the private sector is the only one that meets the targets. “According to official figures, individual entrepreneurs, private companies, and cooperatives as a whole exceed the estimates made before the beginning of the year,” states the official press release, which nevertheless indicates that administrative measures and other sanctions have been taken against the non-state sector for violations of the regulations.

Lorenzo rose to his current position due to his “perseverance and determination to promote and recover decisive economic and social programs,” according to PCC officials at the end of March, when Walter Simón Noris, who had held the position for barely a year, was removed from office. The new 51-year-old secretary general faced the challenge of leading a province that the previous governor, Jaime Chiang —removed in December 2023—had declared “ungovernable.”

The latter was succeeded by Yelenys Tornet Menéndez, who joined forces with Lorenzo at the economic meeting to emphasize that physical production “is the key indicator and what makes the difference.” The governor requested that these issues be discussed immediately “in order to find solutions,” as serious problems remain, the most significant being non-payments, coupled with illegalities related to land use and livestock.

Las Tunas has recently stood out for serious problems that go beyond the economic and include uncontrolled dumping of trash, use of the drug known as ‘químico‘ [chemical], and violence. “The opinion of the people,” said Lorenzo, “is a barometer for measuring the efficiency of the management of the leaders and their connection with the people, especially in areas farthest from urban centers. And this popular judgment is showing that the connection between decision-makers and their constituents is not occurring as it should.”

The problem is inherited by the new cadres, as Simón Noris had already warned that the situation was such that in just one week, 300 crimes had been detected, most of them “felonies against state entities” in which members of the bureaucracy had participated. The provincial leader was also undeterred and called for firm action against corruption. “Police are not enough,” he said in early March 2024. He only lasted another twenty days in office.

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The Artist Otero Alcántara, Winner of the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissidence, Remains Imprisoned in Cuba

The leader of the San Isidro Movement shares the recognition with two creators from Syria and Russia, who were imprisoned in their respective countries.

Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, in a 2017 image, after being released from arbitrary detention. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 2 May 2025 — Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is one of three recipients of the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissidence, which was announced Thursday. The artist, founder of the San Isidro Movement and a Cuban political prisoner, has been recognized for his leadership of this collective, which “emerged in 2018 to challenge censorship and demand greater freedoms in Cuba.”

The Human Rights Foundation and Oslo Freedom Forum, the organizations that award the prize, note in their statement that Otero Alcántara “gained international attention for his performance art and peaceful protests, including hunger strikes and symbolic acts of resistance.” They also note that his arrest occurred during the “historic protests in Cuba in 2021,” after which he was sentenced to five years in prison in a closed-door trial.

The organization also emphasizes that his imprisonment is considered arbitrary according to the opinion of the United Nations Working Group on this matter, and that the Cuban regime has been urged to release him immediately. Although not expressly stated, this is the same opinion held by independent organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have named him a prisoner of conscience. Despite this, Otero Alcántara has one year remaining on his sentence, which he is serving in the maximum security prison in Guanajay.

A post published on the artist’s official social media profile thanked the Human Rights Foundation for the recognition, noting that “it not only honors his courage and commitment to freedom of expression, but also highlights the fight for human rights in Cuba.”

The Cuban artist shares the honor this year with Syrian Azza Abo Rebieh and Russian Sasha Skochilenko. The former, who currently resides in Beirut, has portrayed in drawings and prints her time in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, where she has been held for protesting against the Damascus regime since 2012. The latter, an artist, musician, and poet, was arrested in 2022 for distributing leaflets against the war in Ukraine in a supermarket and sentenced to seven years in prison for enemy propaganda. In 2024, she was released in an exchange and lives in Cologne, Germany.

Otero Alcántara is the third Cuban to be honored with the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissidence, which was previously awarded to Danilo Maldonado, El Sexto, in 2015, and Berta Soler, on behalf of the Ladies in White, in 2013. The list also includes two Venezuelans, two Iranians, and two Syrians, among others.

The Human Rights Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes human rights worldwide, founded this award with the endorsement of Dagmar Havlová, widow of the late poet, playwright, and statesman Václav Havel, to honor those fighting against dictatorships. Among its most well-known winners are Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the Russian group Pussy Riot, North Korean democracy activist Park Sang Hak, Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi, and Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X Molina.

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Havana Carlos III Shopping Center Joins in on Cuba’s Dollar Fever

“Good morning, this store is now open only in foreign currency, cash or card,” warns an employee.

The Sport store previously operated in freely convertible currency (MLC) until its closure. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 30 April 2025 — The long-awaited dollarization has arrived at Plaza Carlos III with the opening this week of the first store operating exclusively in dollars within the well-known Centro Habana shopping complex. Upon arriving at the entrance to the Sport store, an employee greets customers with a clear warning: “Good morning, this store is now accepting only foreign currency, cash or card.”

Sport previously operated in freely convertible currency (MLC) until its sudden closure. Several employees confirmed to 14ymedio in March a change in its reopening: “It’s not a rumor, they’re going to change it to dollars very soon.” Although they didn’t know if the measure would affect the entire Carlos III complex or just certain locations, they explained that all cashiers were receiving training to operate the Clásica, a national dollar top-up card.

A couple of regular Sport customers told 14ymedio about their impressions: “When I was at MLC, I bought some shoes that were supposedly from well-known brands,” says Mario, “but when you read the fine print, they turned out to be Chinese copies. They lasted three or four months and then fell apart.”

With the reopening, she says little has changed: “The sweaters are faded; you can tell they’re made in Cuba, and they have no visible branding. The store just opened, and those stained and dirty sweaters cost $12.”

Sandra, his girlfriend, adds: “The sneakers are Italian brands, although unknown in Cuba, and cost $113. There are others, worse, that look like cheap imitations of those sold by some MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized businesses]. The flip-flops are plastic.”

Dollarization is an active part of the current economic policy on the Island.
In October 2020, then-Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández asserted that the MLC stores were a temporary measure and that the country’s strategy was not to dollarize. Now, in 2025, the minister’s exact whereabouts are unknown, but what is no longer in doubt is that dollarization is an active part of the island’s current economic policy.

Parliament, without the slightest hesitation in its own rhetoric, announced a “partial” dollarization in December 2024. To close out the year, it reopened the brand-new supermarket on 3rd and 70th Streets, where payments in Mexican pesos, much less Cuban pesos, are no longer accepted. As 2025 approaches, dozens of state-owned businesses across the country have joined the dollar fever, which shows no signs of being temporary.

The Clásica car—whose name evokes tradition—has been presented by Cimex on social media as “a financial product denominated in USD, designed to facilitate your transactions in the country.” It requires no minimum balance or predetermined amounts, offers a 5% discount for its use, and charges one dollar for each balance recharge transaction.

More stores in Carlos III are expected to adopt this approach, although customers aren’t confident that it will improve product quality. Mario and Sandra agree when talking about Sport: “It seems like a store without an owner. A ‘revolutionary’ attempt by the Carlos III chain to embrace dollarization. No one was there. But yes, right from the entrance they warn you that it’s in dollars.”

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The Cuban Revolution Celebrates Its Agony This May 1st With a Lackluster Display

Tens of thousands of disaffected citizens were herded into a parade in front of Raúl Castro and President Díaz-Canel.

Decrepit, Raúl Castro and José Ramón Machado Ventura escort Miguel Díaz-Canel, wearing his tight-fitting national flag sweater. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo/Juan Diego Rodríguez/José Lassa, Havana, 1 May 2025 — In a city drowned in garbage, like Havana, you can march on all sorts of things this May Day. Papers, shells, cans, and even Cuban flags scatter beneath your feet. They are the best symbol of a parade where apathy is as common as the slogans, and whose zero coordinate is the giant “abrasion” in Revolution Square.

On the platform, at the feet of JoséMartí, in a Masonic pose—as designed by Batista’s architects—the regime’s top brass also wave small flags. Decrepit, Raúl Castro and José Ramón Machado Ventura escort Miguel Díaz-Canel, in his overly-tight national flag sweater. Manuel Marrero in garish red, generals in a dry olive green, sweaty guayaberas: the colors of Castroism.

A crowd that the official press estimates at “almost a million” also passes by, poses for a photo, and continues walking under the Havana sun. The nearly 30 degrees of steamy heat that plagues the capital today hasn’t stopped a small group of elderly military personnel, displaying a sort of vest covered in medals, from enthusiastically waving their portraits of Fidel.

A “worker” parades alongside a solemn poster of Fidel, but his shorts feature rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine. / 14ymedio

If May Day is good for anything, it’s for creating picturesque symbolic convergences: a “worker” parades alongside a solemn poster of Fidel, but his shorts feature rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine—a great friend of the Revolution—making an obscene gesture. A clean-shaven man in running shoes rests next to a ragged beggar. Upside down and already forgotten next to the curb, a banner: “Together we create Cuba.”

14ymedio never misses the parade, but not to demand rights—the independent press doesn’t have them in a dictatorship—but to report in great detail on the carnival of reaffirmation of a regime that calls its workers together out of obligation, and that turns May Day into an event of pure pathos. continue reading

Early in the morning, Havana even resembles a city with electricity. “There was no blackout last night!” is repeated insistently by the crowd, like another slogan. The avenues leading to the “abrasion” were momentarily spared from the power outage so that drones from the Armed Forces, Cubadebate, and Granma could take photos of the umpteenth “historic occasion.”

Members of the police and the FAR [Army] spill onto the sidewalk, exhausted even before the march begins. / 14ymedio

The Cuban Television cameras—directed by the voiceover of Froilán Arencibia, the regime’s master of ceremonies—relentlessly focus on the section of the stands where the “friendly” diplomats are sheltering from the sun. Standing out among them are Hua Xin, the Chinese ambassador, and a large group of North Korean soldiers, for whom the atmosphere could not be more familiar.

On the street, the parade is seen in its true form: buses miraculously “appearing” to transport the participants, legs tired from a walk of several kilometers, half-asleep “proletarians” taking a nap on the curb, and garbage that is only a harbinger of the tons of waste that will remain in the streets after the event.

The trucks packed with “unionists” start rolling off, with a picture or banner plastered on their noses. The buses start rolling off with stickers designed and printed by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, which recently boasted on television that May Day was its time of plenty. The protocol cars, with tinted windows, start rolling off with the “high-class” leaders inside.

The trucks and buses carrying their “haul” heading to the parade. / 14ymedio

Since Wednesday, the Red Cross and other institutions have deployed medical tents and command posts. “We need to provide a lot of stretchers,” says a staff member. “With the number of people who will be arriving without breakfast, fainting spells will be common.”

This year is special, Cubadebate warns, because 25 years ago, an ailing Fidel Castro pronounced the “concept of Revolution,” an apostolic creed that officials repeat and canonically fail to fulfill: “change what must be changed” in the country of immobility; “full equality and freedom” with hundreds of political prisoners in the cells; “defend values” when those who express a dissenting opinion are imprisoned; “never lie” when corruption, violence, drug addiction, and despair are the order of the day.

Foreigners wait excitedly in the Plaza. They are the Revolution’s groupies, invited by the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, headed by former spy Fernando González Llort. Americans, Latin Americans, Africans, Europeans… all shout slogans in support of a regime they don’t understand, yet support.

From early morning, after a night without a blackout, the main avenue was filled with thousands of people heading to the Plaza. / Cubadebate

Cubans are also marching—in large numbers, of course—but they know what awaits them when they return home: blackouts and hardships, which won’t be erased no matter how many signs and flags they wave, regardless of whether they’re Cuban, Palestinian, or from any “brother country.” Many wouldn’t know how to find Palestine or Vietnam on a map, but the order to support causes aligned with the regime has been given.<

There’s no shortage of Armed Forces cadets and Interior Ministry agents, cordoned off along the street in case any proletarian gets out of control and shouts the wrong slogan. They, too, are human and spill onto the sidewalk, exhausted even before the march begins. Others gamble, flirt with a female captain, or grab a cigarette from someone lucky enough to have a pack in their jacket.

When the event ends, another parade begins: that of the street sweepers. / 14ymedio

The march ends, and the soldiers look irritably at the contingent of foreigners. Even they don’t understand the outpouring. “Comrade,” a soldier says to a groupie leader, not sure if he understands, “thank you for your solidarity, but you need to leave.”

Now comes the next parade: that of the street sweepers, who throw their brooms at the holy cards of Díaz-Canel and Fidel that have been left on the ground. They gather the banners, gather the slogans, and mix them with the dust of the Plaza. They are little bundles of the Revolution that belong in the trash.

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Tuambia Announces Its Closure Due to Difficulties in Offering a “Sustainable” Service in Cuba.

The platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed until April 30.

The unloading area of a Tuambia warehouse in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — The e-commerce platform Tuambia announced this Thursday the “interruption of its operations” and the suspension of new orders through its website. This is a “difficult but necessary decision,” which the company attributes to the difficulties in continuing to operate “sustainably” in the current context of the crisis and financial difficulties in Cuba.

In a statement posted on its social media, the platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed by April 30th and that it has opened lines to address “any issues.”

However, it promised that Tuambia customers will continue to have access to their purchase history through the website, and that their customer service team—at least during the closure process—will remain active.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal. For weeks, the company had announced that it was discontinuing the digital wallet, where consumers could store funds for continue reading

future purchases. Last week, it also announced a 10% discount on all its products, including household appliances. In light of Thursday’s announcement, this offer indicates a clearance sale of merchandise in its warehouses.

However, the service dedicated to preparing ready-to-serve food was still operating this Thursday, according to 14ymedio‘s website. The delivery of pre-cooked food is linked to restaurants and eateries located in several Havana municipalities, which apparently continue to offer a menu ranging from Creole dishes to Asian recipes.

In recent years, Tuambia had emerged as an alternative to other digital portals selling food, basic products, and household appliances for delivery on the island. With a diverse catalog, the online store grew rapidly and expanded to all provinces, also delivering pre-cooked and ready-to-eat meals, construction materials, and pharmaceutical supplies.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape, and the company also became an attractive source of employment for couriers who make a living delivering goods to homes.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape.

On the company’s Facebook page, the post with a farewell had surpassed 600 comments in just a few hours. Some customers inquired about the possible return of operations in the near future, but Tuambia’s response was emphatic: “The store has closed its operations. We appreciate that you were part of this process.”

The company had been taking its final steps for months. Last October, in another public statement, they noted the impact of the energy crisis on the normal operation of their services. At that time, they had to suspend deliveries “to protect the preservation of frozen foods, and taking into account that they could not be received by recipients at this time if they do not have the conditions to maintain their refrigeration.”

“As soon as the energy situation stabilizes, we will resume deliveries,” they promised at the time. The long-awaited stability never arrived. In the following months, the country faced four complete blackouts caused by total disconnections from its electrical system.

In addition, the platform faced technical difficulties also caused by the energy imbalance.

In addition, the platform was facing technical difficulties also caused by the power outage. “We have implemented solutions to continue working, but we ask for your cooperation to avoid overloading the service at this time, as the high volume of messages slows our response capacity,” they stated.

According to its own figures, Tuambia has made more than 1,200,000 deliveries, benefiting, it claims, more than 360,000 homes on the island. The company was allegedly linked to former Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella – who was dismissed last December – through his brother Yoel, a businessman with very good connections within the elite.

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