English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 24 February 2023 — There was some expectation on Cuban State TV’s Roundtable program for what the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez, would say about the situation of the sector and the prospects for 2023. Not surprisingly, this January the price of transport had skyrocketed at a year-on-year rate of … Continue reading “The Problem with Cuban Transport is the State”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 4 March 2023 — Don’t let the party stop! We’ll see later how everything is paid for. It seems like a lie. Those who have cemented a political and ideological system against free enterprise, the market, profitability and obtaining profits, do not skimp on expenses as soon as they have … Continue reading “The Enemies of Capitalism Enjoy Themselves at the Cigar Festival”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 February 2023 — Every day, more workers in the state electricity sector leave their jobs in Cuba. In the first six months of 2022, 21 a day left their jobs; in the following three months, while the country was experiencing the prolonged blackouts of the summer, the number was 26 a day. … Continue reading “Some 10,000 Workers in the Electricity Sector Left Their Jobs in Cuba in 2022”
14ymedio, Havana, February 25, 2023 — The energy collapse that has caused four major blackouts on two-thirds of the Island in just nine days “is unprecedented,” Daniel Pérez García, director of the Electric Company of Ciego de Ávila, acknowledged on Thursday. For the official press, which defines blackouts as “deplorable facts,” the crisis began on … Continue reading “The Energy Collapse of Recent Days is ‘Unprecedented’ in Cuba, Recognizes an Electric Company Employee”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2023 — A massive blackout left much of Cuba without electricity on Wednesday afternoon. It is the second consecutive day for countless residents of the eastern part of the Island and the fourth out of the last ten days. Around 8 at night, the fault had been solved but the energy … Continue reading “The Fault Has Been Fixed, but the Energy Deficit Prevents Power Returning to Part of Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 February 2023 — The fragility of the Cuban electrical system was evidenced once again. Now “an electrical failure in the use of the plant” has left the Antonio Guiteras de Matanzas Thermoelectric Power Plant out of service since shortly after noon this Thursday. According to a brief statement from the Unión Eléctrica that caused annoyance among users, … Continue reading “Cuba’s Largest Power Plant is Out of Service Due to an Electrical Failure”
14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 16 February 2023 — On Wednesday, the Cuban government dismissed the president of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), Martha Wilson González, after four years in office. Her position will be occupied by Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, until now president of the state Exchange Houses (Cadeca). Without giving explanations about this movement, which takes … Continue reading “Cuban Government Fires the President of the Central Bank Without Explanations”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 February 2022 — Half the Island is without power this Monday, as reported by the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) itself on its networks and confirmed to 14ymedio by sources in several affected provinces. In a brief note on its Facebook account, which did not allow comments, the UNE says that “there was a … Continue reading “Half of Cuba is Without Power Due to a Breakdown That Affects the Island from Ciego de Avila to Guantanamo”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 February 2023 — With the credit of 111 million dollars, offered by Russia to Cuba in 2017, the integral repair of Antillana de Acero has been achieved. Now, the experts say that it remains to be seen how, in a country that lives to the rhythm of blackouts, the enormous amount of … Continue reading “The 111 Million Dollar Russian Loan to Cuba Revives Antillana de Acero, a Huge Energy Consumer”
14ymedio, Madrid, 1 February 2023 — Cuban authorities plan to have the new underwater internet connection cable running in three months, as announced in an article published by the official press which tries to respond to the multiple complaints of low connectivity in recent weeks through the state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa, the Island’s only gateway … Continue reading “Cuba Plans to Activate the New Cable between Cuba and Martinique in April to Improve Connectivity”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 February 2023 — Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) has responded in writing to the request of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) to include an assembly bill on this year’s legislative agenda that addressed the right to assemble and demonstrate. The response, however, is not encouraging and is … Continue reading “Signatures of 10,000 Cubans Sought for the Legal Right to “Assemble and Demonstrate””
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 26 January 2023 — Odalys remembers that day very well. “People began to come out from everywhere, headed for the park,” she evokes a year and a half after the July 11, 2021 popular protest in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, ignited the spark for the historic demonstrations that shook Cuba. … Continue reading “San Antonio de los Banos, Where the Spark of Cuba’s July 2021 Protests Was Lit, Continues to be Punished”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 January 2023 — On January 5, Yanisey González managed to reach the United States. The American dream that he seemed to have achieved was cut short when the Border Patrol put him in a van along with migrants from Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guatemala to return them to the border with Mexico and deliver them … Continue reading “More than 200 Cubans Returned by the United States to Mexico are Taken to a Shelter in Hermosillo”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 January 2023 — Bread bakers in Sancti Spiritus must plan for blackouts and, though wood-fired ovens would solve their problems, they do not see this as a realistic option and are more inclined towards solar panels. This was made clear by an article in the state-run newspaper Escambray about the poor quality of … Continue reading “Cuban Bakers’ Challenge: Making Bread from Low-Quality Yeast and Flour”
Note from Translating Cuba: Somehow this article from December of last year got ‘missed’ and so we are posting it now. 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aquí, Havana, 12 December 2022 — I could add more names to the title, mentioning, for example, Félix Navarro or Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, but Jose (here without an accent) … Continue reading “I Have a Friend Unjustly Imprisoned, His Name is Jose Daniel Ferrer”
