On the broken benches of El Prado lie old people, beggars and drunks who have no other place to spend the night.
When they see a patrol, the beggars hide so they don’t get kicked out of the park. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 22 December 2024 — Night falls with low temperatures in El Prado de Cienfuegos this December. Only a few people walk through the streets, dark due to power outages or the lack of public lighting. State bars and restaurants close before 11:00 but Cristina, a retired teacher, could not alleviate her hunger even if the establishments were open.
Cristina says she has been abandoned to her fate by the Social Security system, without even being able to enter an old-age home. “My nephew, despite having raised him, threw me out of my own house and the social workers ignored my problem; that is the reality. My only bed is the floor of the doorway where I find a place to rest and my only clothes are the ones I am wearing,” she laments.
“I belong to El Prado just as the statue of El Benny belongs,” says Gustavo.
Cristina’s tragic situation is not an isolated case. On the broken benches of El Prado lie old people, beggars and drunks who have no other place to spend the night. Some carry sacks or bags where they keep their few belongings. Others go empty-handed, tired of wandering and begging so that, if luck and charity help them, they can eat once a day.
“On the Paseo de El Prado is my little shop and my house at the same time. I go through all the garbage bins collecting cans and bottles to sell as raw material. That’s how I survive. I go to sleep wherever I feel sleepy first, whether it’s in the library porches or outside the Baptist church. I belong to continue reading
El Prado just like the statue of El Benny belongs,” says Gustavo, another of the park’s occasional residents.
According to what he told 14ymedio, he dedicated his best years to the sugar industry, until a work accident prevented him from continuing. “I don’t have a home and sometimes I go months without being able to shower, but I am an industrial engineer, graduated in 1971, and I lived through the dismantling of the sugar mills in the 90s. After so much sacrifice, the debacle also came for me,” confesses the Cienfuegos native, leaning on his crutch.
Many beggars are dedicated to collecting garbage to sell as raw material. / 14ymedio
“My accident happened in the middle of the harvest and after that I didn’t hear anything more from the union or the management of the 14 de Julio sugar mill in the municipality of Rodas, where I worked. They always accused me of being ’conflictive’ for clearly saying what I thought and, at the first opportunity they had, they took me to the medical commission to get rid of me. Then I lost my house in a fire. Eight years later, I’m still waiting for the government to address my case,” Gustavo complains.
Cristina and Gustavo are not alone. Protected by the quiet of the night and without a better option, other beggars rest their heads every night on the marble steps or the hard wood of the benches. When a patrol car approaches, they press themselves to the stones and do not move until dawn. Despite everything, they do not want the police to take them away.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The Catholic hierarchy has lost the moral authority it had before the Revolution and in the years that followed.
Bishops Juan Gabriel Diaz, Juan Garcia, Dionisio Garcia, Marcos Piran and Arturo Gonzalez, current president of the Conference. / Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 21 December 2024 — The Christmas message published this Thursday by the Cuban Episcopal Conference gives an indication of how much the tone has been lowered when it comes to questioning the government. An undisputed moral authority in times past, a bastion of freedom of expression in a country that has progressively become submerged in censorship, the Catholic Church now only dares to allude – with extreme timidity – to Cuba’s “difficult realities.”
Allegory and long circumlocutions, as well as never directly addressing the authorities, mark every message from the Cuban bishops since the protests of 11 July 2021. This Thursday, the text barely dared to regret the “too many” difficulties and warn that the Church can only provide one “service”: prayer, in addition to promoting “charitable and solidarity initiatives.”
Not confronting the government – which could complicate or suspend the entry of aid and money for the Church, take away the clergy’s import licenses for certain supplies, as well as their allocation of materials and fuel, and hinder the development of public celebrations – seems to be the code of conduct of the Catholic hierarchy on the Island. The cautious tone that defines each communication and the docility of some high-ranking ecclesiastical officials, such as the secretary of the Conference, Ariel Suárez, when meeting with officials of the Communist Party, demonstrate this.
The difference is notable if one compares a message like the one on Thursday with, for example, the Christmas message from the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Enrique Pérez Serantes, on December 24, 1958. This prelate, born in Spain in 1883, was the one who protected Fidel Castro after the attack on the Moncada barracks and ensured that his life and rights were respected.
Pérez Serantes, guided by another priest, during the National Catholic Congress of 1959, which Castro attended. / Ernesto Fernández/On Cuba
“In this province of Oriente we have been enduring the horrors of a civil war for a long time, without our brothers in a large part of the national territory apparently being properly informed, despite the fact that Oriente is home to a third of Cuba’s population,” Pérez Serantes’ message stated. “Let no one continue to have fun carefree, while millions of Cubans writhe and moan in anguish of intense pain and misery.”
The bishop, who openly criticized Fulgencio Batista, later became one of the fiercest opponents of the revolutionary regime. He was accompanied in the Episcopal Conference by other prelates who were no less “inconvenient” for the new authorities, such as Evelio Díaz, Eduardo Boza Masvidal – arrested and exiled in 1961 – and Adolfo Rodríguez.
In the face of the first steps of the Castro regime, Pérez Serantes and his companions quickly understood the direction the country would take and tried to warn about the loss of democratic values and the dismantling of the free society. continue reading
There were clashes and controversies on all the major issues of the time: agrarian reform, the nationalization of education, the confiscation of property and assets, and the communist turn of the Revolution, which caused the bishops to multiply their diatribes against Castro. The circulars and pastoral letters of the time, with titles as suggestive as “Rome or Moscow,” “Neither traitors nor pariahs” and “Problems of the moment,” were compiled during the Special Period in The Voice of the Church in Cuba, 100 Episcopal Documents, published in Mexico and distributed in Cuban parishes.
A phrase from Pérez Serantes encapsulates the atmosphere in the churches in the 1960s: “With communism, nothing, absolutely nothing.”
A phrase from Pérez Serantes encapsulates the atmosphere in the churches in the 1960s: “With communism, nothing, absolutely nothing.” Even then, the Episcopal Conference – which identified itself with “the Revolution that cost so much” – asked the Government for dialogue and not the imposition of an ideology.
The government did not sit idly by. In November 1960, in the letter Let us Live in Peace, the bishops lamented the “lack of civility” of some revolutionary groups, who burst into churches to shout slogans if a priest read a circular against communism.
By 1961, and despite protests directed at government institutions and Castro himself, the bishops were considered – in the words of Pérez Serantes – as “shepherds of those conspiring against the people” and protectors of “agents of counterrevolution and pillage.” This open letter is the last episcopal document included in The Voice of the Church in Cuba until 1969.
Harassed by State Security and with no media outlets to publish his letters, Pérez Serantes had died the previous year.
In the 1970s, a new generation of bishops began to arrive – most of whom were mentors to those who now hold the office – which changed the tone of the already all-powerful personal government of Castro. The rules of the game had changed definitively and the new prelates had understood, as priests, how far the political police were prepared to go.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega presiding over the funeral of Oswaldo Payá along with other high dignitaries of the Church in Havana. / EFE
The Christmas message in 1969 – very similar in tone to the one published this Thursday – is a sign of mistrust towards free speech. It called for “better understanding between different generations and between different ways of thinking.” That was all.
Having become accustomed to silence when it came to dealing with political issues, the bishops only referred to the country in 1973, with a condemnation – No to Terrorism – of the attack against the so-called Barbados Plane Flight 455. At that time, Pope Paul VI also sent his condolences to the families of the victims.
In 1978, they supported The Dialogue with the Cuban Community Abroad, a government initiative to attract those who had fled the Revolution and were willing to return to the Island. At that time, the bishops took the opportunity to ask Castro to release political prisoners and improve the situation of those released from prison, who had been marginalized from society even after serving their sentences.
A private note from the archbishop of Santiago – at that time, Pedro Meurice, no less combative than his predecessor and teacher – recommended in 1980 that priests and nuns support families who decided to emigrate through the port of Mariel.
The entire Special Period was spent in the search for a “climate” that was not free of tensions or difficulties.
Since 1990, and in particular since the middle of that decade – with the appointment of the Havana archbishop Jaime Ortega as cardinal – the tone of relations has consolidated its diplomatic nature. The entire Special Period has been spent in the search for a “climate” not free of tensions or difficulties.
In 1989, Castro told Prensa Latina that he was willing to receive Pope John Paul II, who was proud – always in “humble” terms – to have made his pontificate a war to the death against communism in his native Poland and the Soviet Union.
The test of fire for the Episcopal Conference in recent decades was the execution of Arnaldo Ochoa and three other soldiers. At that time, Ortega was the one who was calling the shots and could speak in his personal capacity. His condemnation of the death penalty was total and uncomfortable.
Requested in the late 1980s, Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba had to wait a decade. / Archbishopric of Santiago de Cuba.
They would return to the charge in 1992, regarding the irruption of the Rapid Response Brigades in liturgical celebrations in which opponents participated. El amor todo lo espera [Love hopes all things], the great pastoral letter of the time, in 1993, was also the last criticism of the general structure of the country. Accused of calling for a “bloodbath,” the letter earned them “a strong dose of aggressiveness” in the State newspaper Granma, they lamented.
In this “climate,” the long-awaited visit of the Pope had to wait almost ten years, until 1998.
“What should we do then? Raise our voices? Will they be heard?” asked the Cuban bishops in the 1980s. Their response: not to remain silent. Relatively immune – due to its international character – to a large-scale attack by the regime, the Episcopal Conference acted with aplomb and knew it had a voice. Now, to remain silent is to survive.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
A collaborator of ’La Hora de Cuba’ is prevented from delivering toiletries to the detainee
Henry Constantin thanked the messages of solidarity that have called for his release on social networks / Facebook/Henry Constantin
14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2024 — Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and regional vice president for Cuba of the Inter-American Press Society (IPA), has been in detention for 96 hours in El Vivac de La Habana. This Monday he was able, however, to communicate with the media he directs and declared that “he dedicates his Christmas to all the political prisoners of Cuba, without exception,” especially to Félix Navarro, his daughter Sayli Navarro and Sissi Abascal. He thanked the messages of solidarity that have asked for his release on social networks.
According to La Hora de Cuba, a collaborator – whose name they do not offer – approached the detention center of the Ministry of the Interior, located in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, but the authorities refused to provide him with any type of information and would not let him deliver the toiletries that he was carrying for the journalist.
“The officer on duty – who could not be identified by his military rank – told me that on Sundays nothing is received, that on Sundays they do not receive any package for any detainee,” this source told La Hora de Cuba. “They insist that nothing can be known about any detainee.” They only receive packages on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a strict schedule, from 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 4 pm.
“The visit corresponds to that detainee this Thursday, but in his case headquarters has to assess whether he is allowed or not”
In the same way, they warned him about Constantín: “The visit corresponds to that detainee this Thursday, but in his case the headquarters has to assess whether he is allowed or not.” continue reading
The journalist from Camagüey was arrested last Thursday, on the eve of the “march of the fighting people” organized by President Miguel Díaz-Canel in response to Cuba’s maintenance on the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. That same day, the independent media adds, he was interrogated by six State Security agents who told him that he would be transferred to Camagüey “according to the availability of fuel from the Ministry of the Interior.”
La Hora de Cuba indicates that on Monday an appeal of habeas corpus was filed before the Provincial Court of Havana, “which will be settled tomorrow due to lack of staff today,” and that it must be legally answered within three days.
Other dissidents harassed on December 19 were journalist Juan Manuel Moreno, director of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP), Amanecer Habanero, and activist Yamilka Lafita, alias Lara Crofs. State Security forbade both of them from leaving their homes under threat of arrest.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The migrants from the island, including two women, have been detained in a facility of the National Migration Institute
Municipal police officer Dagoberto Canul confirmed to this newspaper the abandonment of a raft in Punta Cancun / Facebook/Amanecer QR – News
14ymedio, Mexico City, 25 December 2024 — At least 15 Cuban rafters landed on Christmas Eve at Playa Caracol, near the Continental Hotel, in Cancun, Mexico. According to the Reporte24Qr website, Navy personnel “secured the migrants, including two women” and handed them over to the National Migration Institute (INM) in Playa del Carmen.
At the Immigration office, 14ymedio was denied details about the migrants from the island. “The staff on duty is not authorized to offer information,” a woman responded by phone when questioned about the status of the rafters. “Leave your number and we will call you back,” she stressed.
The rafters will remain under the protection of the authorities and their situation will be defined in the first days of 2025, the period in which the Migration officials will return to their activities.
The rafters will remain under the protection of the authorities and their situation will be defined in the first days of 2025
Municipal police officer Dagoberto Canul confirmed to this newspaper that a raft had been abandoned in Punta Cancún. According to testimonies from tourists, “more than 15 people had arrived on the boat, but it would be risky continue reading
to give a number.” Inside the boat they found cans of food and some clothes. The officer has no report of the names of the migrants because the operation was carried out by the Navy, which “at this time of year conducts patrols on the beach.”
Canul acknowledges the increase in clandestine journeys from the Island. In the most recent case, “I have no doubt that it is linked to a network of coyotes, who abandon them upon disembarking.” With this group, says the municipal police officer, “between January and December so far there are a total of 117 irregular migrants who were placed at the disposal of Immigration.”
The official, who has closely followed several of the clandestine arrivals, regrets that no one has been arrested in connection with the operation. “The Cubans are very secretive, I don’t know if it’s out of fear or because it’s part of the agreements they reach with human traffickers.”
A clandestine trip, according to Canul, costs Cubans between $5,000 and $7,000 per person
A clandestine trip, according to Canul, costs Cubans between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars per person. The editorial staff of this newspaper has received information about the routes exploited by coyotes. The main arrival points are the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve due to “its poor surveillance,” Isla Mujeres and Cancun. “Dozens of rafters have been allowed to come from Isla de la Juventud and land in Cancun,” said the official.
Javier Robles, a fisherman who owns a catamaran that he rents to tourists in Cancún (Quintana Roo), told 14ymedio that the clandestine arrivals have left several boats stranded on the coast, to the point that “Isla Mujeres is becoming a cemetery of abandoned rafts used by Cubans to reach Mexico.”
In mid-November, a rustic raft named Esperanza was found by a local resident while he was running with his dog on the beach. It contained Cuban money, clothes, cans of food and some fuel canisters. A fishing boat with license plate PR5348F5a was found last June on the rocks at Playa de Mascotas, located in the La Gloria neighborhood.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
’Girón’, the official newspaper of Matanzas, criticizes the fact that menstrual pads are sold in hard currency when there are none in pesos in pharmacies
With manufacturing in the basement, the Cuban pharmacy network is unable to meet demand. / EFE
14ymedio, 20 December 2024 — A video published this Friday by Girón, the Matanzas newspaper, aims to give a panoramic view of the cost of menstruating in Cuba, according to its title. The news for Matanzas women, and Cuban women in general, is not good: between 10% and 30% of their salary is spent each month on purchasing menstrual hygiene products, and that is if they can find them.
Girón is clear on this point and admits that, despite the fact that “so-called intimate hygiene products are as necessary as soap, deodorant and toothpaste, the problem in this matter lies in the fact that Cuban state production of sanitary pads has been dramatically reduced due to the impossibility of accessing imported inputs that allow them to be manufactured.”
The inability of the health industry to meet this need is an almost historic problem on the island. What is new, however, is that the official press offers concrete data – at least at the provincial level, as is the case here – to describe the situation. According to the media, a woman uses between five and seven sanitary pads a day during each period, up to 500 in one year and about 17,000 throughout her life.
With production running low, the Cuban pharmacy network is unable to meet the demand, which, given that Matanzas is home to some 82,000 menstruating women, amounts to 41 million pads per year. The current continue reading
level of production is not even close to that figure. Last August, the province received just 15,000 packages of 10 units (150,000 pads).
The market for ’intimate goods’ does not reach much further, except for those who can afford to pay for them in dollars.
Added to this are the high prices of the packets on the informal market – in the absence of their sale in pharmacies – which range from 300 pesos for a packet of 10 units of poor quality Cuban manufacture (Mariposa), up to 800 for a packet of 24 units of better manufacture, although also national (Angélica). If the product is imported, the value rises to two hundred pesos above national pads, taking into account the quantity.
The market for íntimas does not go much further, except for those who can afford to pay for them in dollars, something that, even for the Communist Party newspaper in Matanzas, escapes socialist logic. “The straw that broke the camel’s back is that, while the national pharmacy system cannot provide sanitary pads to the population, in the stores in freely convertible currency (MLC) the package of imported menstrual products is sold at a price equivalent to five dollars, 600 pesos at the official exchange rate and more than 1,500 at the informal exchange rate. This situation causes women in Matanzas to have to buy such an indispensable hygiene item by any means, at any price.”
The situation, Girón admits , forces women to seek cheaper solutions to the problem, ranging from making their own pads – from used fabrics – to buying other items, such as menstrual cups. The latter are somewhat popular on the island, especially among young girls, but those that end up on the black market are usually the least friendly options for women and of poorer quality.
Although it is a “recommended” article, the media regrets that the right to menstrual hygiene is not fulfilled in Cuba
Although it is a “recommended” article, the media regrets that the right to menstrual hygiene is not fulfilled in Cuba, which includes “that women can freely choose how to do it [face their cycle] and for this they must be guaranteed access to all products. Not to mention that when a group of people cannot access a product or service to satisfy a basic need, which is also a right, we are faced with a clear example of inequality,” it concludes
Hopes for a short-term solution to the situation are slim if we look at the path taken by the main sanitary pad manufacturers, such as Mathisa – located in Sancti Spíritus and responsible for supplying from Matanzas to Camagüey. In 2016, the factory closed with a debt of three million units due to logistics problems and, by 2021, the company’s debt, which was never paid off, was four million.
Since then, logistical obstacles have been compounded by a lack of fuel and the State’s growing inability to obtain raw materials, meaning that Mathisa’s production has been intermittent. The company was only able to restart production last April – after stopping it in February – when it received imported padding for its sanitary pads, and since then, despite the official silence, it is likely that another production stagnation has occurred.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
Pedro Garce Fights Against ’Imperialism’ and the Bureaucracy of Those ’From Above’
Line for the El Tángana gas station in El Vedado, Havana / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2024 — Every time he starts writing in his Telegram group, Pedro Garce, organizer of the lines for fuel in El Tángana and two other gas stations in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, makes customers tremble. For days, the administrator – committed to “order and discipline” – has only brought bad news, almost always linked to the breakdown of a pump or the suspension of sale.
Garce doesn’t like to “collide” so often with the bureaucracy and makes it clear in the chat. On Saturday night, for example, he sent a message announcing the suspension of the El Tángana service. The appearance of problems in the pumps that dispatch the fuel and a “cultural activity” on the Esplanade of La Piragua, forced him to make the decision.
The interruption of the sale implies that Garce must reorganize the gas line and the schedule for each customer to buy. They can spend weeks on the list to acquire a few liters of fuel. In this specific case, he must deal with the 75 drivers who were on the previous day’s list for regular gasoline and who had to be reorganized this Sunday.
“Be punctual and disciplined, remember that if you miss your turn you lose it”
The energy situation and the frequent shortage of fuel do not make his life easy, and many times, when gasoline appears, he must summon customers in a hurry; hence, his mantra: “Be punctual and disciplined, remember that if you miss your turn you lose it,” whether it’s at dawn or early morning. The arrival of always meager amounts of fuel forces drivers to remain “prepared and alert,” as if they were expecting a hurricane.
Last Thursday, one day before the “march of the fighting people” called by the regime, the El Tángana service center had one of its most chaotic days. Garce not only had to announce the suspension of the service until 3:00 pm due to a sudden blackout, but, two hours after resuming it, he also had to stop the sale again “due to the measures taken for the development of the march [of the fighting people],” scheduled for the next day.
The administrator hoped that the delays would not be too long, but at 8:30 p.m. he made a hopeless announcement in the group: “Activities continue on the Anti-Imperialist Platform, and, once completed, the dismantling continue reading
process begins, maintaining the restrictions on access to the gas station. It has been collectively decided to resume the service from tomorrow.”
The manager regrets that “situations occur” in which customers do not empathize with his work. “My commitment is only to the people, to the masses. Got it?” he wrote this week in the chat. A little later, he shared a message from the Gente de Barrio channel – dedicated to sharing official content – that criticized the operation of the lines in the gas stations. The text questioned, from the point of view of “those below,” as Garce is considered, something that the organizer of the line himself has described as “irrational”: the arrival of fuel at a gas station that does not have pumps in good enough condition to dispatch it, as happened on Thursday.
“The tanker truck that entered El Tángana is, irrationally, for gasoline, and the pumps there are broken”
“The tanker truck that entered El Tángana is, irrationally, for gasoline, and the pumps there are broken. There is another type of gasoline that arrived 15 days ago, and the pumps were not available either. I’m calling the government and the Cimex authorities but they don’t answer. Don’t worry, we will look for a solution,” he then encouraged the more than 6,000 customers that make up the group.
Just a few days before the administrator apologized profusely for the mess in the line – “this is crazy,” he criticized. “I hope you understand me,” “I’m making an important effort,” “this is not my fundamental function,” Garce explained after making a mistake in which he had summoned more than 1,000 drivers instead of the 625 he had to call. “I recognize it with total frankness. You know that that [amount of] gasoline doesn’t go very far.”
For Garce, as for Esther Trujillo, the organizer of the Guanabacoa gas lines, his work is a constant crusade against “imperialism,” which limits resources, and against those “from above” who do not know how to manage them. In his code, the first law is to provide order and the second is to serve the customers “as they deserve.” It’s a matter of luck whether he can handle the “many tasks” and “the time pressure” in order to fulfill his commitment.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
Fifo. To me, you are the oldest of the old. And in a dictatorship, the leader’s expiration date is the closest thing there is to hope.
The voice of the dictator stays with the child forever. / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 1 December 2024 — Between sips of coffee, with the faith of a true believer, of a fanatic who has earned his place in paradise, a teacher of mine once told me, “You are incapable of having any feelings for the revolution because you’ve only ever known an old Fidel.” Not old, I thought, without interrupting my interlocutor’s mystical outburst. More like decrepit. A mummy, a zombie, the bogeyman, Nosferatu. The Prince of Darkness reduced to a hunchbacked spine. The translucent beard, the ratty hair, the dark circles of the faithful departed
“What does Fidel have, what does Fidel have?” asks the almost pornographic little ditty. A firm chest, an invincible strength, a frightful steeliness, an enormous sword thrust inside and affixed there forever (oh, for God’s sake, Manuel Navarro Luna!), immense tenderness, a fountainhead of tuberoses, a river of triggers running down his belt. He could teach Homer’s heroes a thing or two. And Don Quixote too! But he hates those rotten dollars (though nothing could be further from the truth). You already know what Fidel has.
But not for me, Fifo. To me, you are the oldest of the old. And in a dictatorship, the leader’s expiration date is the closest thing there is to hope. His sacred presence became ever more sacred until death separated him from the masses, which happened on my way to Varadero — a wonderfully surprising gift of a day — on November 25, 2016. “But there was one thing I couldn’t quite shake,” I told my gentle teacher: “the voice of Fidel.”
“Can a human voice cast a long, depressing shadow,” asked George Steiner in reference to Hitler
“Can a human voice cast a long, depressing shadow?” George Steiner asked himself in reference to Hitler. The philosopher’s childhood in Paris took place amid the soundtrack of the Führer’s speeches on the radio. The commanding diction and accompanying gestures — there are voices that are a whole body — defined the soundscape of his generation. Hitler wanted to sweep away an entire vocal culture — Freud, Mahler, Schoenberg, Wittgenstein — and no one can imagine a silent Hitler.
The voice of the dictator stays with the child forever, dear parents and pedagogues. While a young Steiner was listening in terror to Hitler, a young Umberto Ecco heard Mussolini declare war against France and Britain. For him, the Fascist diatribes were as much a part of his childhood as Flash continue reading
Gordon and Dick Tracy comic strips, the adventures of Sandokan and Professor Lidenbrock, music theory and drawing classes.
Our historic moment was a desperate attempt to abandon history, encapsulated in the voice of the dictator
In school, when hordes of students were forced to swear loyalty to “il duce,” those who came from anti-Fascist families always found ways to make fun of the oath. One of Ecco’s classmates would jokingly shout “Arturo!” instead of “Lo giuro!” (“I swear!”). How many times did we ourselves purposely mangle slogans during military preparation marches? One, two, three, four, eating shit and ruining shoes. First of May, horses’ day. April 1st, it’s the worst. No, the fun never ends, Carlos Puebla.
Revolution is a sense of the historical moment. Our historical moment was a desperate attempt to abandon history, encapsulated in the voice of the dictator. Díaz-Canel not only has no balls, he has no voice. His stutter, his inability to speak other languages, his fear of crowds, all disqualify him as a true leader. Neither did Raúl, who speaks with the nasal voice of a Cuban drunkard, a boozer, the family e’er-do-well. Raúl Modesto reminds us of Francisco Franco in some ways: the mustache, the low volume, the annoying, almost telephone-like ring. They all compensated for this by being relentlessly aggressive. Blood will calm any neurosis.
A sonorous museum of cruelty might include the the staccato voice of Hugo Chavez (“Ah, Mr. Danger, you messed with me, little bird.”); the cretinous voice of Nicolás Maduro (“Sometimes I realize that it is me when I look in the mirror.”); the fawning voice of Evo Morales (“Fidel has not fallen ill, he is just being repaired.”); the guttural voice of Adolf Hitler (“People have never been liberated with humanity and democracy”); the ranting voice of Kim (“Nuclear power is a symbol of sovereignty.”); the monotonous voice of Stalin (“I became a socialist in the seminary”); the tense voice of Putin (“Ukraine is an artificial state that Stalin willed into being.”); the pathetic voice of Ceausescu (“This morning we decided to increase the minimum wage.”).
And, of course, the voice of Fifo. (“I have never been nor am I now a communist… I am not a communist… I am a Marxist-Lenist and I will be a Marxist-Leninist till the day I die… I always admired Christ because he was the first communist… I apologize for having fallen.”)
Anyone who thinks that there are no believers left, that no one cries when a dictator dies, that no one sighs at his absence, is very wrong. Fidel has his mourners, perhaps thousands of them. On November 25, while I was celebrating these eight wonderful years of silence, a couple of “Granma” journalists reached the climax with a disturbing article about the leader.
“Fidel, whose umbilical chord was cut from two wombs — that of Lina, his biological mother — and Cuba, forged with his nation an alliance founded on love. He loved it like a father loves his children… Fidel literally opened his heart to danger and, in the midst of the rain, the mud and the roads destroyed by the combined power of the wind and the water, he was with his people in those distressing moments… The Commander’s love for his people is reborn in our president, [Miguel] Díaz-Canel.”
Honestly, who writes this stuff? And what psychiatrist are they seeing?
__________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
“The Communication Law and other demons that complement it practically prohibit the exercise of humor in Cuba”
Ulises Toirac and Jorge Fernández Era in Havana / Facebook/Ulises Toirac
14ymedio, Jorge Fernández Era, Havana, 14 December 2024 – Not everyone can have a hundred thousand followers on Facebook. Ulises Toirac reached this number a few days ago, not only for the prestige of an artistic career of more than four decades, but also for the seriousness with which he assumes humor and faces a heterogeneous audience that applauds as much as it denigrates.
Part of those experiences are reflected in his most recent publication, the book Locos de barrio [Neighborhood Crazies], available on Amazon and other platforms. The central subject of our meeting in Santos Suárez, our neighborhood, was that.
Jorge Fernández Era: Do you consider yourself a humorist who makes you think or a thinking being who makes you laugh?
Ulises Toirac: A little of both. Humor, even if it’s a job, is fun. The best proposals are born by vibrating your spiritual need with your communicational need. I consider myself a guy who is always looking for a way to complicate things by over analyzing, and in that way I surprise myself and try to surprise others. When I succeed, I feel self-realized.
Censorship is instituted by levels: from whether you make fun of a street sweeper to whether you do it of a director of Communal Services or the President of the Republic
Jorge Fernández Era: The line between what is allowed and what is prohibited has been crossed in recent years. For good or for bad?
Ulises Toirac: In Cuba there has always been a manifest censorship. I remember it in our beginnings in the Aquelarre festivals or in the shows that were usually held in the theaters. Unfortunately, that was small stuff compared to what we have now. The Communication Law and other demons that complement it practically prohibit the exercise of humor. Censorship is instituted by levels: from whether you make fun of a sweeper to whether you do it of a director of Communal Services or the President of the Republic. The sanction goes up to the extent that your jokes are directed towards those positions and the inability to develop them.
Before, the danger was not so visceral. At this moment anything can take you to trial if so decided. In addition, the general public does not show intellectual interest in humor. When there is censorship, we look for mechanisms with which to communicate with people. At other times, those who attended the theater identified with intelligent humor. Today, either you do junk humor or you dedicate yourself to something else.
One of the illustrations by Ulises Toirac included in ’Locos de barrio’/ Ulises Toirac/Courtesy
Jorge Fernández Era: When did you realize that you could also write jokes and memories?
Ulises Toirac: It’s a process. I write since I have use of intellectual reason. From a very young age I always liked to do it, not literature itself, but television scripts, librettos for theater… I used near or distant memories to capture them. For a while I have had a purely literary interest, but due to time, interests or work load I didn’t try to gather a series of stories in a book. From the isolation of Covid, and even before, I began to write what we could call stories.
In art, if you don’t find a personal, unique way to express yourself, you can starve to death. I realized that by transferring my personal way of speaking to paper, I achieved that. I was publishing little by little on social networks and before in a newsletter that developed a lot of subscribers. In the last three years it was already a more methodical process. But it wasn’t overnight.
Jorge Fernández Era: With Locos de barrio, does one door close or another one open?
Ulises Toirac: Both. Locos de barrio is the end of literary innocence, that stage in which one is in love with a woman and proposes marriage. With the last stories I wrote I already had the firm purpose of creating the book.
‘Locos de barrio’ is the end of literary innocence, that stage in which one is in love with a woman and proposes marriage / Ulises Toirac
Literature is the greatest incentive of the imagination. You have no limits or brakes; you can scrutinize the universe and do what you want: you close one paragraph, open another, and you move, in no time, from China to the South American cone. It will continue to be the best way to get informed, to acquire culture, to grow.
Nothing is absolute; life is dialectical, and things are intertwined on top of each other. It is clear to me that I want to continue writing and publishing. Another book is going around in my head; it will be called Epistolary without a gun. It is my desire, through letters, to talk about the topics that interest me. The letters will be addressed to a historical character, to my first preschool girlfriend, to my teenage bicycle, to my terror of heights, to the President of the Republic… Or – if the Law applies to me for the latter – to you, so that you can finish this interview.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
“Isolation hasn’t worked for the last 60 years,” says Jeffrey DeLaurentis
Jeffrey DeLaurentis, former head of the US embassy in Havana / EFE
Juan Carlos Espinosa/EFE, Havana, 17 December 2024 — Diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy in Havana during the thaw in bilateral relations of the Obama era, maintains in an interview with EFE that the policy of rapprochement instead of the isolation of Cuba was a success and is still valid 10 years later.
“Despite the fact that this policy was reversed after two years, it was a success and resonates even today, despite the efforts of the (first) Trump administration to bring it down,” says DeLaurentis, who believes it is “totally false” that it failed.
Few know as well as this former US diplomat the meaning, on the ground, of the process of rapprochement between the United States and Cuba. It was announced on December 17, 2014, by Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, after months of secret negotiations involving the mediation of the Vatican and Canada.
In an exclusive interview with EFE conducted via Google Meet, the Chargé d’affaires of the US embassy during the thaw (2014-2017) highlights the legacy left by Obama’s policy (2009-2017) in the relations between the two countries after decades of Cold War.
In his opinion, not even the first term of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), with the tightening of sanctions and the inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, has managed to erase that mark. continue reading
In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island
“The thaw,” he says, needed “more time” to be “sustainable.” In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island and “improving the life of the Cuban people,” in contrast to the hard-line policy of the Republicans.
“During my first mission in Cuba (in the nineties), I arrived thinking that the US approach was the right one. But, frankly, I left recognizing that isolation was not the right approach, and, honestly, it had not worked and has not worked in the last 60 years,” he says.
The retired ambassador, who previously worked in the US Interests Section (a category lower than that of an embassy) in Havana in the nineties and 2000s, highlights the rise of the private sector in Cuba after decades of prohibition and demonization.
“You could see how people’s mentality was changing. Young people were enthusiastic and focusing their energy on the Island’s future instead of leaving everything behind and emigrating,” he tells EFE.
After four years of serious economic crisis – with a shortage of basic goods and services, galloping inflation and daily power cuts – Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States, according to official figures.
Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States
The former diplomat – proposed by Barack Obama as ambassador, the first on the Island since 1960 – recalls the resistance encountered by the Democratic administration to achieve a total political turn towards Cuba.
“Given the long and tortuous history between the two countries, this process was never going to be linear. There were always ups and downs. My feeling was always that the Cuban authorities knew how to deal with the tough posture, but that they were a little more uncomfortable with the approach we were defending,” he recalls.
After Obama’s visit to the Island in 2016, the culminating moment of the thaw, former Cuban President Fidel Castro said, in an article published by state media, that the country did not need “the empire” to give it anything and strongly criticized Obama’s speech during his stay.
On the other hand, DeLaurentis points out that the Obama administration assumed that there would be resistance from hard-line sectors in Cuba and that “there were also people, I suppose mostly from South Florida, who were very much against” the rapprochement.
DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba awakens a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand
In view of the next Trump government, which will take office in January and has proposed as Secretary of State the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, defender of increasing sanctions against Havana, DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba arouses a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand.
“I think Obama’s approach was very popular at the national level, and, certainly, there are many people who think that this is the best way to proceed. But it is also true that those who defend a harder line, for many of them, that is possibly their main priority. Meanwhile, for those who support the approach, it is important, but they have many other priorities,” he adds.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The dairy industry of Sancti Spíritus collects between 5,000 and 6,000 liters daily, barely 10% of the official plan
The authorities blame the ranchers for the low production / Escambray
14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 17, 2024 — The dairy industry of Sancti Spíritus collects between 5,000 and 6,000 liters of milk daily, about 10% of the 50,000 predicted by the province’s official plan. The figures are even worse on weekends when, according to the official press, the number of liters can drop to 1,000. At this rate, the authorities do not even consider closing the year with good results, but despite recognizing the problems of the industry, they continue pointing out the producers who are dedicated to “diversion and illegal sale” as those responsible for the debacle.
The “trend is suspicious,” because derivatives (cheese, yogurt, ice cream) are publicly sold everywhere and even the milk itself,” explains Escambray, the local newspaper.
Since last March, the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers increased the payment for the product, which is now contracted at 38 pesos per liter (before it was 20) and up to 70 pesos “in times of drought, like this, which puts the State, in this case the industry, as the only destination.” However, the measure falls flat against the reality of the street, where that same liter can be sold for between 120 and 150 pesos. continue reading
Of the 7,000 producers committed to the State to deliver the milk, “only about 1,500 defaulters are counted,” the newspaper said.
The problem, according to the media, “starts from a contract either badly done or poorly followed by the actors involved since a plan was agreed last year that the livestock subdelegation itself thinks was high.” Of the 7,000 producers committed to the State to deliver the milk, “only about 1,500 defaulters are counted,” said the newspaper, which added: “If you know mathematics, take stock of how much milk your cows could be giving.”
However, there are many ranchers in the province who have refused to continue selling their production to the State due to its non-compliance, including the lack of cash in the banks, which prevents them from receiving payment for the product. Without paper money, the farmers refuse to fulfill their commitments to State companies.
14ymedio reported last October that there are producers who had not received payments from the State for four months. “I’ve been selling milk on my own for a couple of weeks. Anyway I didn’t do business to sell it to the State, because the payment is bad. That same liter of milk that I deliver after fulfilling my commitment, that they only pay me at 38 pesos, I can sell on the street at 120,” a producer told 14ymedio at the time.
Regarding the non-payments, Alberto Cañizares, director of the Río Zaza Dairy Products Company, minimized the situation and told Escambray that “it is true that there are problems with cash due to banking, but that does not justify the indiscipline of not delivering the milk, because the distribution is daily.”
“Irregularities in the distribution and quality of the product persist in Sancti Spíritus, despite the measures put in place to reverse the situation,” the media said. One of them was the announcement of the arrival of Stabilak – a natural preservative of national production used to maintain the quality of raw milk from cows, goats and buffaloes. However, it has not been a solution, especially for many inhabitants of the province, who do not see the milk on their tables. “From the 10,000 and 11,000 liters that were produced daily in November, the same number of consumers were left without the product; today minimal figures are reported. Even so, not all consumers – about 20,000 in the cities of Sancti Spíritus and Trinidad who receive that milk – have it guaranteed for their breakfast,” the text said.
Stabilak, “well applied, guarantees the quality of the milk between eight and 24 hours,”although more conditions are necessary for that effect
Stabilak, “well applied, guarantees the quality of the milk between eight and 24 hours,” although more conditions are necessary for that effect. “There are plenty of examples: from the dirty industrial cars that are supposedly cleaned when going out to collect – as the commercial subdirectorate of the municipality of Sancti Spíritus has verified – containers that are not well-scrubbed, mixtures of different qualities, milk that arrives in the morning but doesn’t reach the stores until the afternoon, even the poor conditions of the roads that affect the transport.”
The list for the disastrous collection of milk in the province is long, because, added to the above, there is also “an unsolvable controversy between agriculture and industry about the best time to collect the milk.” According to the article, “it has been collected at 9 in the morning, against the traditional practice, and in this one blames the other, without a government arbitrator who can dictate the most favorable time.”
In many cases, this prevents the milk from being pasteurized and also affects its arrival time in the stores, because “many customers do not know it’s there,” until the afternoon. In addition, Escambray said, all this “has been more confusing with the prolonged blackouts.”
Despite the logistical obstacles, the industry is focused on preventing the milk from escaping the hands of the State. This is the case in Villa Clara, where the Government has installed, in the municipality of Camajuaní, cooling chambers for the milk. The containers, in principle beneficial for production and storage, prevent the ranchers, who allege poor conditions for storage, from continuing to sell their milk on the informal market.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
Emigration and the stampede to other sectors have made the lack of health personnel the most alarming problem
Significantly deteriorated, the clinics and other health facilities also present a deplorable picture / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 2024 — The deputies who make up the Health and Sports Committee of the Cuban Parliament received a dose of reality during the last few months in a province-by-province tour. The situation – triggered by the passage of two hurricanes, several earthquakes and the energy debacle – is summarized in a litany of “problems” ranging from the lack of specialists to the “illegal occupation” of clinics.
Cristina Luna Morales, president of the commission, explained on Monday that the deputies had traveled to 39 municipalities in 15 provinces, inspected 98 institutions and talked directly with more than 2,000 Cubans. Emigration and the stampede to other sectors have made the lack of health personnel the most alarming problem in these communities.
“The managerial staff in primary care are not covered, and the heads of basic groups are incomplete. Instead, comprehensive general medical specialists are certified to assume this function, which makes it difficult to assist patients,” said Luna Morales. The situation is especially critical in Camagüey, Sancti Spíritus and Havana. In addition, people do not know who can help them after a reorganization of the clinic staff, given the number of empty positions that exist. continue reading
Cuban Health has applied the same formula as other sectors: send students to fill incomplete positions
Cuban Health has applied the same formula as other sectors: send medical students from their third year of study to fill unstaffed positions. The deputy claimed that the measure, although urgent, is “well-designed” and contributes to the training of students.
Significantly damaged, clinics and other health facilities also present a deplorable picture. Located in rural areas, which the transport crisis has made almost inaccessible, many of the clinics have multiple “deficiencies in the constructive state,” and, although they were included in the “maintenance plans” of the Ministry of Construction, the problem will persist. In addition, the “clinical and non-clinical furniture” are in poor condition.
For his part, the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, alluded to the “challenges” faced by his portfolio in the face of the outbreaks of dengue and Oropouche fevers, two diseases that have hit the Cuban population in recent months. He also criticized the municipal and provincial governments for not including the improvement of clinics in their annual budgets.
“There are problems of organization and discipline, which have to do with the territory; we have been affected by the migratory flow and the departure of professionals in the sector, especially in hospitals. There are also problems in the living conditions for doctors, which must be discussed,” he enumerated.
He asked for more attention to the elderly, who make up 35% of the Island’s population according to official figures. He summarized the state of Cuban health in numbers but did not provide any details about the real situation of health care: “Primary health care has 451 polyclinics and 11,458 medical offices, of which 1,122 are located in the community; 168 in educational centers, 67 in universities, 91 in workplaces and other institutions,” he said.
In the Comments section of the Cubadebate report, several readers drew attention to other problems in the sector
In the Comments section of the Cubadebate report, several readers drew attention to other problems in the sector, to which the deputies did not allude. “What they must analyze is the total lack of medicines. Even if the doctor is in the office, you have to look on the street for what he tells you to take, and at astronomical prices, including dentistry material. That didn’t happen in the Special Period as we are seeing it now. I do not see that analysis beyond mentioning it, not even projections.”
“Our health system, hospitals and doctors have become accustomed to all resources being sought outside the institution. That is, for any intervention they ask patients to look for everything, even [surgical] gloves. Have they done that analysis?” asked another. “Please, I hope that in the upper spheres they are aware of this; if not the communication between the ministry and the institutions is very bad.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The country rejected “the plans of far-right dissident groups” to “convulse” the Cuban government
The Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the US for the power outages on the island. / EFE
EFE (via 14ymedio), La Paz, 20 October 2024 — The Bolivian government expressed its solidarity with Cuba on Saturday in the face of the blackouts recorded in recent hours on the island and denounced alleged plans by “far-right” dissidents who want to take advantage of the situation to “destabilize” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. The Bolivian Foreign Ministry expressed its position in a press release issued in light of the “energy situation facing” Cuba.
“Bolivia rejects the plans of far-right dissident groups which, from abroad, seek to take advantage of this situation to destabilize the government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and convulse the country,” it said. The Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called on “the governments and peoples of the world” to insist on compliance with “the more than twenty resolutions” approved by the United Nations that “call for the cessation of the US economic and commercial blockade* of Cuba, which is the cause of the anguish and suffering of the Cuban people,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Venezuelan government, another ally of Havana, also called on the international community on Friday to mobilize in support of Cuba and held the United States and its policy of economic sanctions responsible for the massive blackouts. Venezuela “expresses its absolute solidarity and unconditional support for the sister republic of Cuba, while it faces the current energy contingency, the product of the cruel intensification of the economic war and financial and energy persecution by the U.S. government,” said Nicolás Maduro’s government in a statement. continue reading
In its opinion, the “illegal blockade against the Cuban people” seeks “the application of collective punishment”
In its opinion, the “illegal blockade against the Cuban people” seeks “the application of collective punishment, which represents a crime against humanity.” “Venezuela supports all the heroic efforts made by the Cuban people as well as its president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, to mitigate the impact of the criminal unilateral coercive measures,” the document reiterates.
The whole of Cuba was left completely without electricity this Saturday after the failure of the process to restore the National Electric System (SEN) that began the day before following the total blackout caused by a breakdown in a thermoelectric plant.
The SEN collapsed on Friday morning due to a breakdown at the Guiteras thermoelectric plant, one of the country’s main generators, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), and an event of “zero national energy coverage” occurred, a complete blackout throughout the country.
The SEN is in a very precarious state due to the fuel shortage – the result of the lack of foreign currency to import it – and the frequent breakdowns in obsolete thermoelectric plants, with four decades of operation and a chronic lack of investment.
Blackouts have been common for several years, but since the end of August the situation has worsened to levels similar to those of the worst times, such as the beginning of this year and July and August of 2021 and 2022.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), which includes Bolivia and Venezuela, also blamed the United States for the blackouts in Cuba and considered them to be a “consequence of the economic war” and Washington’s “financial persecution” against the island.
*Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
Cuban chess, according to the official press, is played under the effects of ministerial tyranny, scarcity, mental poverty and false mass appeal.
Fidel Castro wrote crookedly on straight lines, but massive chess, a Moscow strategy, was not such a bad idea. / Radio Trinidad
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 20 October 2024 — Salamanca/ Fidel Castro wanted to popularize cattle raising, and the cow ended up becoming an animal as remote and sacred as the bison of Altamira. He wanted to popularize communist militancy, and today – let’s continue with the cattle metaphor – the stampede of leaders is so ferocious that it would annihilate Mufasa again. It is not surprising, therefore, that the popularization of chess had disastrous results. The problem is never Fidel, the faithful will say, but the popularization. But the masses are nothing without their chief popularizer, and as in homes where there is a naughty child, in Cuba he is always the material, formal, efficient and final cause.
To make things easier, let’s say that, like Mephistopheles, Fidel wrote crookedly on straight lines – poor Jesuit schoolboy, more fond of basketball than of the pencil – and that mass chess, a Moscow strategy, was not such a bad idea. It is impossible for all Cubans to be good chess players, but it was not bad that, from childhood, we knew how to defend ourselves on the board. Why? I don’t know, perhaps to demonstrate the intellectual superiority of the infans sovieticus, larva of the bright future.
Here, however, there is very little future and almost no megawatts to enlighten us.
Here, however, is very little future and almost no megawatts to enlighten us. The official press has just published figures on the situation of school chess that must have irritated – if he saw them – Leontxo García, the legendary columnist of El País. The sports media that covered his visit to Cuba in 2022 said that the venerable professor had been “fascinated” by the talent of the players and had asked that the Island be transformed into a “leading country” in terms of educational chess. But we already know that with visitors you have to be polite, offer them coffee and take them to the Hotel Nacional. Leontxo left happy, or so says the State newspaper Granma. continue reading
A member of Randy Alonso’s dream team – those boys from Cubadebate who seduce Ana de Armas and write a pamphlet against the blockade – had the naivety to do his job well and survey 658,771 students and 6,993 teachers. Only 41% of the children and 51% of their teachers know how to play chess. They play “to kill boredom,” say the brave pioneers interviewed. They play very little because there are no pieces or boards. They play badly, under the effects of the “lack of implements” – the Chinese have not sent “pieces” since the pandemic – of the ministerial trick, of scarcity, of mental poverty, of unleavened masses.
In the Third Improvement, chess will not be a subject, as Fidel and Che and other photogenic assassins dreamed.
Things are not going to improve, little Capablancas. In the umpteenth indoctrination plan of the Ministry of Education – what in Mordor they call the Third Improvement – chess will no longer be a subject, as Fidel and Che and other photogenic assassins, who loved to pose in front of the chessboard, dreamed of. It will be, says the national methodologist of Physical Education, a mere “complementary activity.” And every pioneer knows what that means: dancing and enjoying the extracurricular symphony.
The methodologist has ideas whose brilliance should not be wasted by the Electric Union. Possessed of a calm desperation, she calls on teachers “with knowledge” of the game to “facilitate this practice.” She intends to “assess with the National Chess Commissioner to see if he has some support that we could put on computers or on the same phones so that children can play.” There is so much Cubanness, so much revolution in that “let’s see if he has” that it should be the title of our next national anthem.
Like any boy educated under the Battle of Ideas, I learned to play chess as a child. I was taught – by my grandparents, not by my teachers – to be proud of Capablanca, The Machine, and I grew up with the conviction that he was the best chess player in the world. Americans could say the same about Bobby Fischer and the Russians about Spassky or Karpov. But Fischer was a madman and Karpov is Putin’s man – although he criticized him about Ukraine – as he was before the Central Committee. Capablanca was a gentleman. You only have to look at his photos, his classic serenity in front of the board. Always attentive to the pieces, always with a Buddhist smile, to the dismay of his adversaries.
Metaphors need food and electricity, decency and life, and without that there is no head, and therefore no chess.
There has never been another, and the one who came closest – Leinier Domínguez – does not even appear in the newspapers of his country. The country that has no boards or pieces, and where people used to play in the middle of a blackout, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk, illuminated by a small flashlight. Those night games were a metaphor for something, but metaphors also need food and electricity, decency and life, and without that there is no head, and therefore no chess.
You’ll find it hard to believe, Leontxo, that there was so much deterioration in Capablanca’s country, where Fischer and Korchnoi and Tal and Petrosian played. However, those of us who left have some consolation. It’s the same consolation that Nabokov felt when he escaped from Sebastopol on a Greek ship, with the Soviet firefight in the background. There, in front of him and with his back to the horror, were his father and a broken chess board. The bishop had lost his head, the rook was a poker chip. The game was unforgettable. He who flees always tries to do so with a nervous smile, with memory, with a little hope. Let’s see if he has any.
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The Ministry of Tourism deleted a publication in which it invited travelers to “discover” Havana through the novelist’s books
Padura has not had Cuban publishers since before the coronavirus pandemic / EFE
14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 2024 – Famous for his restraint when it comes to criticizing the Cuban regime, the novelist Leonardo Padura described as a “disrespectful act” a publication by the Ministry of Tourism that alluded to his most recent book, Ir a La Habana [Going to Havana] (published by Tusquets in Spain), as a kind of guide for foreign tourists. The post, published last week, was deleted this Monday from the Ministry’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Going to Havana, of which there is no Cuban edition – Padura has not had Cuban publishers since before the coronavirus pandemic – has become a bestseller in Spain. The publication by the Cuban Ministry of Tourism, a sector that has not raised its head for years and that by 2025 predicts the arrival of only 2.6 million visitors, has raised suspicions and criticisms.
Padura, whom the Cuban exile has criticized for not radically confronting the regime, is also not well regarded by the regime, which has systematically excluded him from the cultural sphere of the Island. Padura, interviewed by the media Café Fuerte, said that he has always been an “invisible” man in the literary panorama of his country.
“It seems to me a disrespectful act, because I do not have and have never had a relationship with that ministry”
“They never contacted me to do this advertising campaign, and it is rare that a state agency does it at a time when I am more invisible than ever inside Cuba,” he said. “It seems to me a disrespectful act, because I do not have and have never had a relationship with that ministry. Besides, I’m not and don’t pretend to be a tourism writer.” He also criticized that the text continue reading
was accompanied by an image of him that did not have his permission either.
Padura described his latest book, which already has a second edition, as “a work of love and sadness for the suffering of a city that languishes before our eyes, but which, despite all the regrets, garbage and abandonment, is still a magical and endearing place, a place with soul.”
The Ministry invited people to “discover Havana through the pen of Leonardo Padura. His work immerses you in the rhythms and colors of the city, turning each neighborhood into an essential character in his stories.” To the tone, more than rare in an official publication about the author, a recommendation was added that gave a clear idea about the recipient of the post.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse yourself in the literary universe of this outstanding author, recommended by the Spanish Federation of Journalists and Tourism Writers during its congress in Cuba last November,” it said.
The publication of the Ministry, in fact, seems to be extracted – textually in some paragraphs – from an October promotion of this Spanish institution, signed by the journalist Andrés Alonso. The group met in Varadero last month and developed, according to the official press, “strategies to promote Cuba as a destination.”
Reluctant to leave his hometown, Mantilla, on the outskirts of Habana, Padura spends half the year outside the country
At the market level, it has been a good year for Padura. After publishing the novel Personas decentes [Decent People] in 2022, the Havanan has reorganized some of his oldest texts into two compilations, Agua por todas [Water for All] (2019) and Ir a La Habana [Going to Havana]. In addition, Tusquets reissued El hombre que amaba a los perros [The Man Who Loved Dogs], the novel about the murder of the revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, which gave him worldwide fame and which celebrates 15 years since its publication.
Reluctant to leave his hometown, Mantilla, on the outskirts of Havana, Padura spends half the year outside the country promoting his books. In recent months, in addition, he has slightly raised the tone of his criticisms of the state of the country, although he has never alluded in negative terms to any of the leaders or to the Government in general.
In a recent interview with the EFE agency, Padura described the situation on the Island again: “The option left for people is to leave. And it is not the person who wants to leave, but the one who can, because an exit through Nicaragua and the coyotes costs about 10,000 dollars. And more than a million people have left, so you can imagine the levels of hopelessness and despair that many people have.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 22 December 2024 — Night falls with low temperatures in El Prado de Cienfuegos this December. Only a few people walk through the streets, dark due to power outages or the lack of public lighting. State bars and restaurants close before 11:00 but Cristina, a retired teacher, could not alleviate her hunger even if the establishments were open.
