English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 15 March 2021 — Not a year has passed since their opening and the stores that sell food and cleaning products in foreign currency are already going through a crisis. Little supply and very long lines mark the days in the most criticized shops in the country, the only ones, however, that still … Continue reading “Even the Stores Selling in Dollars are in Crisis in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 March 2021 — After withdrawing the results of the survey carried out at the beginning of this week on the Ordering Task, the State website Cubadebate has published an article this Friday with some of the trends that the responses to the survey showed, but hiding the most unfavorable percentages. The manipulation of this information is drawing angry … Continue reading “Cubadebate’s Readers Rebel Against a Manipulated Survey”
14ymedio, Ricardo Fernández, Camagüey, 20 February 2021 — Despite the Cuban economy’s urgent need for foreign exchange and commercial operations, one of the basic elements of the commercial chain continues to have serious problems. ATMs to withdraw cash are a headache, especially in the province, where they fail, do not have bills or cannot meet … Continue reading “ATMS in Camaguey, Cuba: Few and With Many Problems”
Vice President Marino Murillo celebrated on the Roundtable TV program on State TV that Cubans have already disposed of half of the 600 or 700 million CUC that are expected to be put out of circulation between January 1 and June 30 of this year. “We designed that the CUC was going to be alive … Continue reading “Two Ways to Get Rid of CUCs in Cuba: Line Up at the Bank or Give Tips”
14ymedio, Madrid, 12 February 2021 — Cuba was cut off from the world for two hours by an internet blackout. Telephone communications were also affected in the capital and in all areas of the country. The 14ymedio correspondent in Spain lost contact with the Havana Newsroom shortly after 12 noon but was able to establish communication with a … Continue reading “After a Two-Hour ‘Blackout’ in Cuba, Internet and Mobile Data Return”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, January 26, 2021 — The emergence of retail stores that only accept freely convertible currency — known in Cuba as MLC stores — and a system governing exports by private entrepreneurs are two recent developments that have attracted attention from analysts and observers of the Cuban economy due to their significant … Continue reading “The Hunt for Hard Currency Never Ends”
14ymedio, Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, Santiago De Cuba , 15 January 2021 — All state and private businesses that surround La Plaza de Santiago de Cuba dawned this Friday completely closed. The shopping center, one of the three that sell food products in freely convertible currency (MLC) in the eastern city, has had its doors closed since the … Continue reading “Santiago de Cuba Stops the Sale of Food in Pesos and Dollars From Friday to Sunday”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2021– El Paisa made his living until a few months ago by bringing milk, cheese, butter and yogurt from a town in Güira, Artemisa, to Havana. His clients were about twenty families scattered around the tall buildings that surround the train station on Tulipán Street, in Nuevo Vedado. The business that … Continue reading “It Smells Like Cheese, But It’s Not Cheese”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 6 January 2021 — After a week of lining up for oil, chicken, detergent and shampoo, Idania Herrera has very little desire to stand in another line. But Three Kings Day is more important than any fatigue and the little ones await their gift. “I am tormented, I can’t find anything for … Continue reading ““This Year the Three Kings Cannot Satisfy the Requests of the Children” in Cuba”
14ymedio, Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, Santiago de Cuba, 4 January 2021 — The Santa Bárbara Popular Council, one of the most commercial and busiest areas of the city of Santiago de Cuba, has been in quarantine since this Sunday due to the increase in the numbers of people infected by Covid-19. Some 4,123 inhabitants were … Continue reading “Despair Grows in Santiago de Cuba with the Closure of Commercial Areas”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 31 December 2020 — What happened in Cuba throughout this year can be related in a fragmentary way through a chronology, but the most important did not begin in January 2020, but on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, when the President of the Republic, to calm the citizenry, advised that on the … Continue reading “In 2020 the Cuban Regime Suffered its First Defeats”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 December 2020 — As he leaves the store, he passes the magnetic card to his sister who is still waiting in line. Not only do they share the form of payment in La Arcada, a foreign exchange business on Havana Boulevard, but they also share the profits from the informal resale of … Continue reading “From the Hard Currency Store to the Cuban Black Market, the New Informal Supply Route”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguea, Havana, 14 December 2020 — When the Plaza de Carlos III shopping mall in downtown Havana opened on Monday, there was a special entrance for customers with foreign currency. They were allowed to enter a home appliance store through the front door. Those who wanted to buy products with Cuban pesos were … Continue reading “Red Carpet for Dollars, Service Entrance for Pesos”
14ymedio, Bertha K. Guillén, Candalaria, December 10, 2020 — After months-long closures due to the pandemic, private businesses in Artemisa province have a new problem: the imposition of price controls on many of the foods they offer in their cafes. Provincial authorities have ordered price caps on items such as pizzas, sandwiches and peanut nougat. “In … Continue reading “Price Controls Put an End to Sandwiches, Pizzas and Soft Drinks in Artemisa”
14ymedio, Havana, December 10, 2020 — One of the most frequently asked questions in Cuba in recent years has finally been answered: currency unification will begin January 1, 2021, putting an end to the Cuban convertible peso* (CUC). The date was announced by President Miguel Díaz-Canel during a special broadcast on national television. It will be … Continue reading “January 1st is the Date Set for Currency Unification in Cuba”
