“We are looking at the legal format to kick them out and make them pay,” said the Argentine president
“The foreign policy is set by the president,” Milei said on the Ciudad Magazine channel / EFE
EFE (via 14ymedio), Buenos Aires, 4 November 2024 — Argentine President Javier Milei said on Monday that he seeks to expel “all” those within the Foreign Ministry involved in the decision to vote in favor of Cuba at the UN, because they are “traitors to the homeland.”
“The foreign policy is set by the president,” Milei said on the Ciudad Magazine channel, where he was interviewed by his girlfriend, Amalia Yuyito González, so “for all the people involved in that decision I am here to kick them all out. They are traitors to the homeland. We are looking at the legal format to kick them out and make them pay.”
On Wednesday of last week at the UN General Assembly, Argentina joined 186 other countries to form an overwhelming majority that approved a resolution without binding effect against the US sanctions against Cuba, which have been in place for 62 years, causing a hard blow to the Island’s economy.
Argentina’s vote at the UN triggered the replacement of the chancellor, Diana Mondino, by the former US ambassador, Gerardo Werthein
Argentina’s vote did not signal any change with respect to how the South American country had expressed itself in previous assemblies regarding the same resolution.
But Milei, who took office on December 10, 2023, defined his government’s foreign policy as aligned with the United States and Israel, the only two countries that rejected the UN resolution. continue reading
Argentina’s vote in the UN, contrary to Milei’s desire, triggered the replacement of the then-Chancellor, Diana Mondino, by the former US ambassador, Gerardo Werthein, who will assume the post on Monday as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Not only did that vote cost Mondino her position, but we are also going to find all those responsible and kick them out,” Milei said on Monday.
Milei said he is going to start an audit among career diplomats to “identify promoters of agendas that are enemies of freedom”
“I understand that they are in love with the international bureaucracy” and “live a parasitic life,” Milei said about the Foreign Ministry staff, and he blamed the “woke” agenda and the UN 2030 agenda, which wants to “move forward against individual freedoms.”
“You can’t vote for just anything because of your personal opinion. If you want to vote that way, you have to win the election,” Milei said.
By confirming Mondino’s departure, a statement from the President’s Office affirmed that Argentina “categorically opposes the Cuban dictatorship and will remain firm in the promotion of a foreign policy that condemns all regimes that perpetuate the violation of human rights and individual freedoms.”
And he reported that an audit was going to begin among career diplomats to “identify promoters of agendas that are enemies of freedom.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Like Oswaldo Payá, Edwin Santos was murdered by the dictatorship
Santos was a leader of the opposition party Voluntad Popular. / EFE
14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 27 October 2024 — Edwin Santos, the Venezuelan patriot and one of María Corina Machado’s main advisors, has died. Nicolás Maduro’s hitmen abandoned his inert body on the side of a road, after vilely torturing him. Venezuelan State Security agents are still eagerly looking for María Corina’s whereabouts.
The crime will not diminish the efforts of the Venezuelan people who yearn for freedom, nor those of the growing international movement against the despotism of Nicolás Maduro.
Edwin Santos is now part of the history of his country and is another martyr for freedom and the fight against the dictatorships of different ideologies. Many names appear in that long and sad list: the Cuban Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas; the Dominican sisters Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, victims of the violence of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo; the Russian Alexei Navalny, murdered in prison by orders of Vladimir Putin; the senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., leader of the Philippine opposition murdered on his arrival in Manila by order of Ferdinand Marcos; the Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko; the hundreds of Chileans murdered by Augusto Pinochet; the thousands of Haitians murdered by the Tontons Macoutes of François Papa Doc Duvalier; the Nicaraguans who wanted to live in a Free Nicaragua despite Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista followers; Argentines and Uruguayan opponents of their respective military dictatorships. No one can have the slightest doubt about the courage and determination of the Venezuelan people.
The necessary measures to address this crime and bring a little hope to the hearts of millions of men and women around the world are now in the hands of Western democracies and international organizations.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban Television reports missing roofs, containers dragged by the gale and factories flooded by the rains in the ZEDM
The gale damaged the container terminal / Capture / Canal Caribe
14ymedio, Havana, November 8, 2024 — The most important economic enclave on the Island, the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), was also devastated after Hurricane Rafael passed through the province of Artemisa, where it is located. In an unusual report about a place that it prefers to keep out of the media, the regime superficially offered some data on the magnitude of the damage: missing roofs, containers dragged by the gale and factories flooded by the rains, as shown on Cuban Television.
The devastation is described by reporters as “considerable.” “The greatest damage is to roofs, walls and facades of facilities such as the Guajaibón photovoltaic solar park and the Suchel TBV detergent factory, both of the Vietnamese Thai group.”
The Thai Binh Global Trading Corporation began operations in Cuba 26 years ago and was one of the first to export clothing, footwear, consumer goods, food and construction materials to Latin America. In 2018 it partnered with the Cuban Industrias Nexus S.A, which is part of the Light Industry Business Group, and just a couple of years ago they installed the mixed detergent factory in Mariel.
Thai Binh is one of the few partners of the Island that decided to settle in the ZEDM and produce and market its products from Cuban territory. After Rafael’s passage, however, things do not look good for the company. According to a worker of Vietnamese origin, the winds first “took away a part of the raw material warehouse and a piece of the finished products warehouse, in addition to the roof.” continue reading
Several facilities and warehouses were left without roofs due to the winds / Capture/Canal Caribe
Also interviewed by the news, Tu Tranh, president of the Thai Binh Group, described other damage to the factory. “The diaper factory in front of the detergent factory was also damaged. We are putting all our effort into recovering these two facilities within 14 days.”
The cigarette factory Brascuba S.A, a joint venture between the Brazilian Souza Cruz and TabaCuba, also suffered significant damage to roofs and warehouses. “It had one of the most severe effects; the damage is located in the boiler’s machinery, roof and chimney,” explains the media. The images give an account of the disaster: not only the engine rooms remain wet and uncovered, but the metal sheets that make up the roof were also torn off, falling both on the ground and on top of other factories and warehouses.
Robinson Tamayo González, co-president of the Cuban side, explained that “the cigarette production workshop where all the production machines are located were mainly uncovered. Almost 40% of the roof came off with the strong winds. Of course, all the machines got wet.” The manager added that the finished product, “400 million cigarettes,” are in good condition and “can be delivered for consumption to the population.” His words were accompanied by images of a worker shoveling what appears to be wet shredded tobacco and throwing it from a ladder onto the ground outside the factory.
Tamayo was optimistic, although he recognized that Brascuba has “hard” days ahead for “damage assessment and work on the recovery of mechanical and electronic machine parts.” But, he added: “We’re going to pick ourselves up.”
The news program warned that there are also effects on the infrastructure of the Electric Union, including “high voltage networks that feed the area.” Although he stressed that Esicuba, an international insurance company – responsible for “insuring the business sector and its economic assets,” according to its website – and “in charge of compensating the facilities” of the ZEDM, is already in the process of quantifying the damage.
For the moment, according to José Leonardo Sosa, deputy director of the container terminal, the facilities will be reorganized to “maintain the operational vitality of the terminal in a first stage.” The “resuscitation” of the container yard will also begin “as soon as possible” to deliver goods and containers.
In the released images of Mariel you can see what Cubans have not seen in the streets after Rafael’s passage: not only installations being repaired as quickly as possible, but also a multitude of workers, machinery and -clearly seen in the video – a tanker with the scarce fuel.
The report, just over three minutes, leaves no time for the viewer to become familiar with Mariel or with the dozens of foreign companies that carry out operations in the terminal. About Richmeat, for example, a Mexican meat company installed in the ZEDM, the regime maintains the usual secrecy.
The commitment to attract investments to the Island in general has not gone well in recent weeks
The commitment to attract investments to the Island in general has not gone well in recent weeks. Not only was the main port destroyed, but the Havana International Fair (Fihav), with which the regime tries to honor itself annually with new economic partners, also had to be suspended after Hurricane Rafael’s passage, which caused structural damage to the Expocuba fairgrounds where the event takes place.
As Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, explained to the participants – more than 700 from 63 countries – “never before had a decision of this magnitude had to be made” despite the fact that the event is held in the hurricane season. He also added that the Organizing Committee will move the date of completion to another season of the year, although this time it was possible to save the exhibitors’ material, and “so far no damage to those articles has been found.”
Founded in January 1989, the fairgrounds have more than 600,000 square meters of extension and dozens of pavilions, among which is the central area, of gigantic proportions. But the materials with which it was built were designed for temporary installations.
The space, barely visited during the rest of the year, used to be filled during the summer months with people eager for a recreational offer that would allow them to escape the bustling city. Now, with the extinction of public transport, the disappearance of fuel and the scarce recreational offerings, only a few still approach Expocuba.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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In total, the Kremlin loaned 62 million dollars to the Island
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko arrived in Havana this Friday / Russian Embassy in Cuba
14ymedio, Havana, November 8, 2024 — Russia will grant Cuba a loan of 60 million dollars to acquire 80,000 tons of fuel, and another 2 million in “needed” repair equipment after the passage of Hurricane Rafael, announced Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, who had barely landed on the Island to meet with the Russia-Cuba Intergovernmental Commission. Initially, the “emergency aid” had been interpreted as a donation, but the Russian authorities and the Cuban state media specified that it was a loan.
“On the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, Russia is willing to provide sister Cuba with emergency aid due to the current situation of the Island’s energy sector. This includes 80,000 tons of diesel worth 60 million dollars, in addition to ’kits’ to repair the affected energy equipment,” reported the Russian Embassy in Cuba, later deleting the statement. The official added that the loan will be managed “through the Ministry of Emergency Situations.”
The announcement, made in front of the Russia-Cuba Intergovernmental Commission, was soon replicated by Cuban state media, which described the aid as an act of “solidarity.”
Chernyshenko did not clarify when the diesel will arrive or if there will be several deliveries. Together with the fuel donations promised by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Russia’s commitment offers a temporary continue reading
relief for the pressing oil needs of the Island, which receives less and less crude oil from its main ally, Venezuela.
The Russian oil tanker PVT Clara, under the flag of Panama and with a capacity of 20,831 tons, is navigating between Russia and Cuba
According to maritime tracking applications, under the flag of Panama, the PVT Clara oil tanker is navigating between Russia and Cuba. With a capacity of 20,831 tons, the ship brings a quarter of what Moscow has promised to send.
Other countries have also offered to help Cuba after the onslaught of two hurricanes and three breakdowns of the National Electric System (SEN) in just 20 days. According to Foreign Trade Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga on Thursday, the Civil Defense and the United Nations System in Cuba have developed a plan to raise resources to restore both state facilities and homes, and to help the victims.
“The resources provided by the United Nations allowed us to immediately respond and provide the victims with food and other necessary supplies,” said Pérez-Oliva Fraga. He added that other countries have already begun to help in the SEN’s recovery by sending “medicine and construction materials. Among them are Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Russia and China.”
The group, close to the regime, did not miss the opportunity to exalt the work of the Civil Defense
The State Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, from Spain, also issued a statement pointing out the situation on the Island and calling for fundraising within Spain to send humanitarian aid.
The group, close to the regime, did not miss the opportunity to exalt the work of the Civil Defense and denounce the “brutal, permanent and criminal economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States Government.”
After Hurricane Oscar’s passage through Guantánamo, leaving eight dead and two missing, the United Nations System in Cuba announced that it would dedicate 33,235,167 dollars to assist half a million victims. The emergency recovery plan, for which there are already six million dollars, focuses on the sectors of water and hygiene, shelter and housing, education, logistics, health and food security. According to the agency, the immediate aid will be given for six months, but other restoration projects could continue for up to 18 months.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The Russian Deputy Prime Minister met in Havana with the architects of Cuba’s rapprochement with Russia
Chernyshenko and his delegation plan to attend a religious rite in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Havana / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Havana, 9 November 2024 — “It’s the first time I see you in uniform,” was the greeting that – according to the official press – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernyshenko gave Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. In olive green, with freshly polished boots and crossed legs, the president replied: “We are at war against a hurricane.” “And we came to help,” the Moscow envoy replied.
In the dialogue, of which Cubadebate transcribed some fragments, Díaz-Canel thanked Chernyshenko for having stayed in Cuba despite the hurricane. “We are reviewing important bilateral agreements that strengthen our strategic relations,” the president told the press. These are eight agreements whose content was not revealed by either party.
The senior Russian official also announced the granting of a credit to Cuba of 60 million dollars for the purchase of 80,000 tons of fuel. In addition, he explained that an aid donation worth two million dollars has been allocated for the delivery of parts and repair components for the energy system through the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Ricardo Cabrisas participated in the meeting, a key man in the relations between Havana and Moscow and a person whom the official press defines as a “great friend of Russia”
They also examined issues of bilateral interest in the areas of economics and finance, energy, transport, agriculture, sugar production, science, technology, innovation and tourism. Chernyshenko participated in the continue reading
meeting of the intergovernmental commission for economic, commercial and scientific-technical collaboration, which he headed together with Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas, a key man in relations between Havana and Moscow and whom the official press defines as a “great friend of Russia.”
For his part, Chernyshenko stressed the “strong work” carried out by the intergovernmental commission at the level of different ministries, agencies and also the businessmen to develop bilateral relations.
Chernyshenko arrived in Havana from Venezuela accompanied by a delegation that included the First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Vasili Osmakov, the director of the Department of Public Debt and State Financial Assets of the Ministry of Finance, Denis Mamonov, and executives of the Ministries of Economic Development and Foreign Affairs.
On the Cuban side, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla participated, along with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez Oliva-Fraga; the Cuban ambassador to Russia, Julio Garmendía Peña, and the first deputy minister of Foreign Trade, Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez.
His visit coincides with the serious effects caused by the recent impact of Hurricane Rafael
His visit coincides with the serious effects caused by the recent impact of Hurricane Rafael, category 3, which last Wednesday affected the western region of Cuba – including Havana – where it left considerable damage, including the total disconnection of the National Electric System (SEN).
The Cuban SEN is in a very precarious situation, which causes prolonged daily blackouts due to the lack of fuel and the frequent breakdowns in its obsolete thermoelectric plants, with more than 40 years of operation and a chronic deficit of investments. On October 17, a breakdown caused another total blackout in Cuba that lasted three days.
Chernyshenko and his delegation plan to attend a religious rite in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Havana, Our Lady of Kazan, where they will give gifts to students of the Russian educational center in the capital.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Sentenced to four years in prison, Meivis Mulen Díaz was “subjected to cruel treatment”
Meivis Mulen Díaz was accused of “public disorder” / Justicia 11J
14ymedio, Havana, 6 November 2024 — Activist Meivis Mulen Díaz, 54, was released this Monday from the Cetem forced labor camp, called Bidot, in the municipality of Jimaguayú, in Camagüey. The political prisoner was sentenced in 2022 to four years for “public disorder” for participating in the massive Island-wide popular protests of 11 July 2021 (11J).
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), which announced the release, did not provide details on Mulen Díaz’s legal situation. According to the organization, during his stay in Bidot, the opposition leader “was systematically subjected to cruel treatment, starvation and even a lack of medicine for his illnesses.”
According to the prisoner register also kept by the NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD), the activist suffers from hypertension and malnutrition.
Imprisoned since February 2022, Mulen Díaz, who had no criminal record, had been arrested for the first time on 11 July, when, like thousands of Cubans on the Island, he went out to demand freedom, in his case in Camagüey.
State Security did not stop harassing him, even trying to force him to change his original statement
As he himself recounted in a video published by the OCDH, he was released three days later under house arrest pending trial. However, State Security continued to harass him, even trying to force him to change his original statement.
“My life, after the 11th, has been an ordeal,” he said in that recording, in which he said: “My home has been besieged by henchmen and front men of the regime, who have not stopped watching me constantly.” continue reading
Before him, last Thursday, Pedro Albert Sánchez, also an 11J prisoner, was released after spending 11 days on hunger strike. The 68-year-old professor left prison 1580, in San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana, without the prison authorities clarifying his legal situation.
On Tuesday, the activist was to learn more details about the status of his five-year prison sentence, but when he went to the Guanabacoa Prosecutor’s Office, his appointment was postponed until next week, due to the imminent passage of the hurricane.
At least 1,584 people were arrested in the context of the 11J protests. Of them, more than 600 remain in prison
According to the NGO Justicia 11J, at least 1,584 people were arrested in the context of these protests. Of these, more than 600 remain in prison, the organization said during the 190th regular session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), last July. Prisoners Defenders, for its part, documented before the UN in 2023 the cases of 520 11 July prisoners, which led the international organization to issue, last April, six injunctions to the Cuban regime for violating due process.
In addition, at least 26 prisoners died in Cuban state custody during the first half of this year, Cubalex reported on September 11, which is equivalent to four deaths each month. The NGO attributed the deaths to the “cruel and inhuman treatment” suffered by Cuban prisoners. The authorities, it explained, use punishment cells in an arbitrary and discretionary manner, and exceed the time stipulated in their own regulations for this practice.
In a previous report, the same organization had reported that there were 56 deaths of people who were under the care of the authorities, between January 2022 and January of this year. Of these, 34 were prisoners, nine were in police stations and there were 11 recruits for the Military Service.
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The aging process took between two and three centuries in Europe, while on the Island it took just 124 years.
Elderly people in a nursing home in the city of Cienfuegos. / EFE
14ymedio, Madrid, 7 November 2024 — The aging of the Cuban population is accelerating at a dizzying pace, with 24.4% of the Island’s residents over 60 years of age (2,452,489), one point more than the previous year and almost five points more than in 2016 (19.8%), when it was already considered high. In 20 years, the increase was 9.7 percentage points.
The report, prepared by the Center for Population and Development Studies and published this Wednesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), updates the situation at the end of 2023 and offers some devastating data that show the speed of the process.
In 1899, only 4.6% of the people were over 60, giving an increase of 20 points in 124 years. The number would not be important if one takes into account that in the 20th century, advances in medicine and female emancipation led to a general aging of the population in the world, particularly in developed countries. However, as the report indicates, Cuba “took just over 120 years [to increase the elderly population by 20 points]. This same process in European countries took between two and three centuries.”
In addition to being the country with the most ageing in Latin America, experts have had to develop their own alternative scale
In its region, Cuba is also an anomaly. In addition to being the country with the most aging in Latin America, experts have had to develop their own scale, an alternative to that of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), to measure the groups of older people in Cuba. continue reading
The statistics the organization applies to all of Latin America use three intervals that indicate the degree of aging: Group I refers to less than 10% of the population over 60 with respect to the total; Group II is between 10% and 15%; and in Group III the figure exceeds 15%.
“In this sense, and given the trajectory of the aging process in the country, it has been necessary to adapt the previous classification to the Cuban context, establishing a new typology, considering that all territories show increasing values,” says the report, which includes four groups for Cuba: in Group I the elderly represent less than 15% of the population; in Group II it is between 15 and 19.9%; in Group III between 20.0 and 24.9%; and it Group IV it exceeds 25%.
The report contains detailed data on the degree of population aging by province and municipality, sex and area of residence (urban or rural), for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The numerous tables show that a few municipalities fall below 20%, and these are: Alquizar in Artemisa (18.2%); Ciénaga de Zapata in Matanzas (19.6%); La Sierpe in Sancti Spíritus (19.2%); Bolivia and Baraguá in Ciego de Ávila (19.2 and 19.9%); Antillas in Holguín (19.1%); Río Cauto in Granma (19.4%); Tercer Frente and Guamá in Santiago de Cuba (19.4% and 19.2%).
Everything indicates that the higher rate of young population in Guantánamo is not linked to its greater development, but to its lower purchasing power
Guantánamo province is a special case, being the youngest overall (21.3%), and with a good number of municipalities with relatively low numbers. The lowest recorded is Yateras, with an aged population of 16%, followed by Caimanera (17%) and El Salvador (17.7%). All the others are between 19% and 20%, except for Baracoa and the main city. Unfortunately, everything indicates that the higher rate of young population in this province is not linked to its greater development, but to its lower purchasing power, which makes it difficult for individuals to emigrate.
At the other extreme, the province with the most aged is Villa Clara, with 27.8% of the population over 60 years old, followed by Havana (26.5%) and Sancti Spíritus (25.4%). All the municipalities in Villa Clara, without exception, are classified within group IV, but the highest percentage of the entire island, by a large margin, is in Plaza de la Revolución, with 35.1% of people over 60 years old.
Several municipalities in the capital city stand out for their high numbers, with Playa and Diez de Octubre, close to 30%, sharing the podium with the previous one. However, there are also many others, such as San Miguel del Padrón and Arroyo Naranjo, that remain in group III, making Havana not the province with the most aging population on the Island. In this case, there is a struggle between two circumstances: it is the area with the most job opportunities – and which, therefore, receives the largest internal population – but also with the most options of obtaining the money or contacts to leave the country.
In Cuba, the aging of the population is also due to a very notable “decline in the proportion of children under 14 years of age,” the report highlights, explaining how “all of this is present in the variation of the image of a pyramid with a wide base and narrow top, moving towards a rectangular shape.”
Experts also predict that the trend towards aging will continue to accelerate next year, which, the report highlights, means that “there are many challenges that the country must face in order to meet the needs of an increasingly large elderly population.”
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With the exception of the minister herself, no official has been dismissed so far.
Argentine President Javier Milei (l), with the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gerardo Werthein, at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, on Monday. / EFE/Presidency of Argentina
14ymedio, Madrid, 8 November 2024 — Talk of Argentina’s Foreign Ministry continues to be on everyone’s lips after the unexpected vote in the UN by Javier Milei’s government in favor of the resolution against the US embargo on Cuba, which led to the sudden dismissal of Minister Diana Mondino. According to the Argentine press, it was not the, now former, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship who made the decision to maintain the vote in favor of Havana, but her deputy foreign minister, Eduardo Bustamante, and he will remain in office.
According to the iProfesional media, the Directorate of International Organizations issued a memorandum advising a vote against the embargo. Paola Di Chiaro, an official of the Foreign Ministry, asked to take into account that there is an agreement with Cuba in the Decolonization Committee, by virtue of which Havana votes, in exchange, in favor of the return of the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) to Argentina. Mondino, according to this account, hesitated about what the final decision should be and ended up delegating it to Bustamante who, after consulting with other high officials – including Milei’s advisor, Santiago Caputo – ended up telling Mondino: “You have all the support to vote against the embargo.”
The decision, a few hours later, cost the chancellor’s head, but Bustamante saved his own and will continue as second in command to the new chancellor, Gerardo Wherthein. Mondino’s successor, whom Milei charged with identifying the “traitorous” diplomats and the “enemies of the agendas of freedom,” has ordered the opening of an administrative investigation – without specifying which body or person should carry it out, an anomaly in the country – and, although he asked for the resignation of all the officials of the Foreign Ministry, he has only accepted the resignation of three people linked to the economic area and not the one who was involved in the vote on October 30, including those who transmitted the message to Mondino. continue reading
“What we want to understand is how a vote in favor of Cuba is taken in a country that has a foreign policy contrary to that”
Milei’s order already has its first judicial consequences. The social-democratic deputy Fernando Carbajal, from the sector of the Radical Civic Union that does not support the current Government, filed a complaint for “ideological persecution” and “illegal intelligence actions” against the Executive. “We are criminally denouncing President Milei and Chancellor Werthein for the Stalinist-libertarian purge in the Foreign Ministry. Ideological persecution violates the Constitution, the Intelligence Law and the Penal Code. We will not remain silent in the face of authoritarianism and McCarthyism,” he explained on X.
The deputy maintains that there is no problem with Mondino’s departure, which is “legal” and “legitimate” because she is part of the Cabinet and has lost the confidence of the president who appointed her, but rather with the fact that it is being used to carry out an “ideological purge.”
The discontent is not limited to the opposition. Former President Mauricio Macri has told the Argentine press that he agrees with Milei’s position regarding the vote as well as requesting the resignation of political officials, but he believes that this cannot lead to a general case against public employees. “The Foreign Ministry is a very disciplined place; the housecleaning that must be done, and which Mondino had already begun, is with the people appointed by Alberto Fernández and Sergio Massa, but it has nothing to do with career people, but with politicians. They must be cleaned up, their privileges reduced, they must pay income tax, but it is not a witch hunt or making them vote against their will,” he said.
Werthein, for his part, says that the investigation will not be ideological. “What we want to understand is how a vote in favor of Cuba is formed in a country that has a foreign policy contrary to that, and that is not implicit. We need to understand why this confusion is generated,” he explained.
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What collapsed that day in Germany was the need to express political opinions quietly and to sing, without conviction, the praises of communism.
Every November the assessments and reminders arrive, and the images of Berliners hitting the wall are republished. / CC
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation y, 9 November 2024 — Every November the assessments and reminders arrive, and the images of Berliners pounding on the wall that divided their city and split the world into two opposing parts are republished. Every anniversary, the minutes before the hammers and chisels sounded are reviewed, testimonies are heard and the media interviews the protagonists of those days. The physical and symbolic end of a structure is celebrated, but also the moment when the masks fall.
How many of those people we see in the photos pounding the concrete 35 years ago went to work in the days leading up to 9 November 1989, and nodded in agreement with the ideological demands of their superiors? How many obediently went to a meeting of their party core, reported a neighbor to the feared Stasi, or participated in some political event where they sang victory songs and shouted slogans predicting the eternal superiority of communism? How many pretended to obey the system until the last moment, fearful of punishment or eager to obtain some prebend?
The covers of magazines and newspapers will remain full of smiling workers.
Understanding the mechanisms that make simulation a form of social survival in authoritarian models is vital to deciphering the duration of these systems and predicting the date of their downfall. As long as pretending to adhere to the regime is safer and more beneficial than opposing it, the dictatorship can show hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals who appear to live in the best of all possible models. The covers of magazines and newspapers will remain full of smiling workers, soldiers willing to give their last drop of blood for “the beloved leader” and foreign delegations who come to the country to applaud the achievements. That is, until one day. continue reading
An old joke about the Soviet Union depicted the communist system as a train at a standstill, with no railway line in front of it, but with passengers jolting, jumping and looking in amazement at the supposed scenery passing before their eyes, when in fact the carriages had not moved an inch. Under the Communist Party of the USSR (CPSU), pretending was more important than being. Putting on a mask meant staying alive or walking the streets instead of living in a dark cell. Playing the role of conformity also helped one achieve a few privileges.
That is why that November in Germany not only did the wall collapse, but also the need to express political opinions in a low voice, to conceal criticism of leaders and to sing, without conviction, the praises of communism. What they struck was not just a barrier that separated Berliners from their own compatriots on the other side, it was much more. That is why today, in front of microphones and cameras, they can applaud or complain about how things turned out after those days of euphoria. They are free to point out the achievements and disappointments, the benefits and the setbacks in these more than three decades. They earned the right to do so, without wearing any masks, with the blows of hammer and chisel.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DW and is reproduced under license from the author.
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The far right and far left are taking advantage of the persistent socio-economic gap and the differences in mentality between the two parts of the country
Berliners tearing down the Berlin Wall, in November 1989. / EFE/Archive
Rodrigo Zuleta/EFE (via 14ymedio), Berlin, 9 November 2024 — The 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is taking place at a time of dissent between West and East Germany, reflected in the electoral successes of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the far-left Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which are taking advantage of the persistent socio-economic gap and differences in mentality between the two parts of the country.
The two parties are questioning part of the consensus that has guided German politics for decades. Despite the differences that mark their respective policies, there is one thing that brings them together: their rejection of arms shipments to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, and their ability to take advantage of popular discontent in the east.
And the 35th anniversary comes with the added political uncertainty generated by the break-up yesterday — on Wednesday — of the governing coalition formed by social democrats, greens and liberals.
The fall of the Wall in 1989 was the greatest triumph of the citizens’ movement in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) — the East — and at the same time it was the moment when it began to lose importance and when the West German government, headed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, took into its own hands the process that would lead to reunification. continue reading
“The two events had different actors. The fall of the Wall was driven by the citizens’ movement in the GDR from the summer and autumn of 1989.”
“The two events had different actors. The fall of the Wall was driven by the citizens’ movement in the GDR from the summer and autumn of 1989,” historian Arne Bauerkämper, emeritus professor at the Free University of Berlin, told EFE. Although the fall of the Wall was key in the process that led to reunification, the actors who had promoted it subsequently lost strength.
A key moment was the elections of 18 March 1990, the only free elections in the history of the GDR, in which the coalition representing the citizens’ movement barely won 3%. “Many see this result as unfair to those who took great risks in 1989 and had unleashed a dynamic that led to the fall of the Wall,” Bauerkämper said. The elections were marked by a fundamental question: what the path to reunification should look like.
Some, such as representatives of the citizens’ movement, were in favor of the GDR undertaking a series of reforms and then entering into negotiations for a reunification on relatively equal terms with the Federal Republic of Germany.
On the other side were the supporters of a rapid reunification who ended up winning the elections with the Alliance for Germany, led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), chaired by Lothar de Maizière, who would be the last Prime Minister of the GDR. Among other things, his program included the immediate introduction of the Western framework into the East.
“The price of not having attempted something common and on equal terms, that is, a true reunification, is being paid now”
In a recent article entitled From Revolution to Reunification via the Fall of the Wall, historian Sascha-Ilko Kowalczuk recalls that the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher congratulated Kohl on Maizière’s victory, which “hit the nail on the head.”
After Maizière’s victory, the road to reunification was dizzying, but the process — which between May and November 1989 had taken place on the streets — had moved into the offices.
The end result was the dissolution of the GDR, whose territories ended up assuming the legal order and economic system of the West, with almost no room for negotiation.
“The price of not having attempted something common and on equal terms, that is, a real reunification, is being paid now and at the risk of democracy,” writes essayist Dirk Oschmann in his book “The East: An Invention of West Germany.”
The euphoria of 9 November 1989, when the Wall fell, gave way months later to the first disappointments when, following the introduction of the West German mark in June 1990, companies in eastern Germany lost competitiveness, leading to an increase in unemployment.
“In September 2022, it was found that confidence in democracy in eastern Germany had fallen to 39%, while in the west it was 59%”
Although the material situation has improved steadily since 1990, the differences between the two parts of Germany and the fact that East Germans have little presence in positions of responsibility have led to a kind of protest culture.
At some AfD demonstrations, one can even hear the slogan “Wir sind das Volk” (We are the people), which was the motto of the peaceful revolution in the GDR.
“In September 2022, it was found that trust in democracy in eastern Germany had fallen to 39%, while in the west it was 59% – a horrendous difference of 20 percentage points, which is almost equal to the horrendous wage gap of 22.5%,” writes Oschmann.
It is this discontent that the AfD and BSW are taking advantage of in eastern Germany to attract votes with populist messages from the right and the left, which allow them to win regional elections in the first case and to play a key role in the formation of governments in federal states such as Thuringia and Brandenburg in the second.
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The UN and the European Union will send 94 tons of supplies for those affected by Hurricane Oscar
Cubans’ incomes do not allow them to navigate this context of food insecurity and energy crisis. / EFE
14ymedio, Havana, 9 November 2024 — The two total blackouts that Cuba has suffered in the last three weeks are an economic, political and social disaster that deepens the multidimensional crisis that the country is suffering, experts consulted by EFE agree. As of Saturday, Cuba is still recovering from the total blackout caused three days ago by the passage of Hurricane Rafael through the western provinces of the island. Just 19 days earlier, a breakdown in a key thermoelectric plant also caused the National Electric System (SEN) to collapse and left the entire country in the dark for more than three days.
The consequences of these multi-day power cuts are impossible to list: from the paralysis of almost all industries to the loss of refrigerated food in stores and homes; from lines at service stations to the suspension of water supplies; along with the paralysis of schools and the effects on hospitals, transportation and the precious tourism sector. At the macroeconomic level, the impact is evident. “I would expect a very significant fall in the gross domestic product (GDP) this year,” says Cuban economist Pavel Vidal, who predicts “the third recession since the pandemic” for Cuba.
In his opinion, the country has fallen into a “poverty trap” and has run out of “capabilities and possibilities for recovery.” “Even if things are done well, there is no longer the capacity to get out of this crisis,” he argues. continue reading
There is no growth, no development and no satisfaction of human needs in the 21st century without electricity
Tamarys Bahamonde, an economist and doctor in Public Policy, believes that “in a country with such precarious conditions – social and economic – as Cuba, the impact of the paralysis of the productive sector and the provision of services is devastating. There is no growth, no development and no satisfaction of human needs in the 21st century without electricity,” she concludes. In addition to highlighting the impact on the productivity and efficiency of companies due to the direct and indirect costs of blackouts, Bahamonde emphasizes the situation in which prolonged power cuts leave people. “The income of the majority of Cubans does not allow them to navigate this context of food insecurity and energy crisis simultaneously with success,” she says.
Rita García, director of the Christian Centre for Reflection and Dialogue, emphasizes this point. She refers to the “terrible physical and mental exhaustion” of “every elderly person, every child, every mother” in this situation. “People can’t stand it any more: it’s terrible. More hours (of blackout) than during the Special Period [after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of its subsidies to Cuba]. We’re working 20 hours a day and we’re desperate,” she says of the city of Cárdenas, in Matanzas. García also describes the “tension” that it means for her institution to maintain the care of 120 very vulnerable elderly people, for whom they provide daily home delivery of food.
For her part, Cuban sociologist Cecilia Bobes believes that in this situation there may be “isolated protests,” although not an “outburst similar to that of 11 July” of 2021, the largest anti-government demonstrations in decades. The “extreme precariousness” fuels “indignation,” “anger” and a “feeling of injustice,” explains Bobes, but it also provokes sadness and hopelessness, which is demobilizing, as is the need to ensure survival and the deployment of “resources” by the authorities to avoid protests.
For social anthropologist Katrin Hansing, a professor at the City University of New York and an expert on Cuba, the prolonged power outages are generating “a lot of uncertainty,” a “very negative energy” that causes “anguish,” “anxiety,” and “stress.” “We have woken up to the new reality that at any moment the power can go out for a long time, and knowing that produces not only enormous uncertainty, but also permanent discomfort,” she explains. Hansing argues that these total blackouts have put the spotlight symbolically, but also more generally, on “a system that is very fragile,” something that encourages doubts about “the future of this country.”
Several countries and institutions have offered their help, but donations are far from being able to cover the economic needs.
In this context, several countries and institutions have offered their help to the island, but the donations are far from being able to cover the country’s economic needs. The United Nations system in Cuba reported this Saturday that it will send, together with the European Union (EU), more than 94 tons of essential supplies valued at 600,000 dollars, as part of the aid to those affected by Hurricane Oscar. The contribution will arrive in the province of Santiago de Cuba between this Sunday and next Wednesday and consists of medicines, medical supplies, water storage tanks, hygiene kits, chlorine tablets, tarps, mosquito nets, solar lamps and tools, among others.
The shipment is part of a coordinated action plan between the Cuban authorities and the United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programs, to benefit almost half a million people in the province of Guantánamo. The aid will reach the east of the country via four flights financed by the EU. Logistical support has been provided by the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot Network managed by the World Food Program, according to the statement.
With this action plan in response to Hurricane Oscar, announced at the end of October by the office of the United Nations coordinator in Cuba, the UN seeks to mobilize up to 33 million dollars.
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Without the traffic light, passers-by lose the ability to cross 23rd Street at that point
The traffic light at 23rd Street in Havana the day after the passage of Hurricane Rafael / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 7 November 2024 — First the traffic light that regulated the passage of pedestrians in front of Coppelia, the city’s iconic ice cream parlor, stopped working, and now Hurricane Rafael has given the final machete chop to the crossing that connects the most famous ice cream shop in Cuba with Tower K, by knocking down the traffic light intended for vehicles that pass through 23rd. Without the light, passers-by lose the possibility of crossing the central avenue at that point, and Havana loses its umpteenth crosswalk.
Among the first photos of the recovery work in Havana published this Thursday are some that show young recruits of the Military Service collecting debris, fallen fences and tree branches in the vicinity of the building known as Torre López-Calleja (from the name of the late leader of the military conglomerate Gaesa, responsible for its construction). The tallest building on the Island stands out with its immaculate glass facade in the midst of the chaos left by the hurricane. The damage included the fall of the perimeter fence that surrounds the building, where construction work is still being carried out.
Hurricane Rafael has deepened the damage that laziness, lack of investments and the crisis have caused in what was once the cultural and economic heart of Havana
In the surroundings of the luxurious complex, which will house a hotel, shops and offices, Rafael has deepened the damage that laziness, lack of investments and the crisis have caused in what was once the cultural and economic heart of Havana. The broken sidewalks, the shortages at Coppelia, the closure of numerous restaurants and the decrease in the number of people who travel the area daily, due to the mass exodus and transport problems, now make up the landscape that extends along an avenue that runs from the sea to the Almendares River. continue reading
The broken traffic light in front of Coppelia will hardly be noticed in the midst of so much deterioration. Not much will be missed either: the shortage of fuel has significantly decreased the number of cars that travel 23rd, and the “island of flight” that Cuba has become has also depressed the number of pedestrians interested in crossing from one side of the street to the other.
But the places that memory treasures are lost. The kisses given before walking across that pedestrian passage; the braking saved in the memory of that day when an almendrón* was about to go through the red light; the trova** music coming from a guitar, while the green signaled the pedestrians; the taste of a scoop of chocolate ice cream on a fragile wafer, licked while planning to step on the crosswalk’s stripes.*** The setting that evokes these memories is missing more and more pieces.
Translator’s notes:
* A 1950s American car used as a shared taxi with a fixed route.
** Trova is a popular Cuban style of music, created by itinerant musicians in the 19th century who traveled around Oriente province singing original songs accompanied by guitar.
*** A crosswalk is called a “cebra” (zebra).
Translated by Regina Anavy
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There are no meteorologists or scientists working there, but a group of amateurs have taken charge of the place
Young people in the area consider that working on the radar station is “an opportunity” /Radar Pico San Juan/Facebook
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 7 November 2024 — Lost in the undergrowth of the Cienfuegos Escambray, the MRL-5 Soviet radar station looks more like a relic of the Cold War – it was inaugurated in 1989 – than a functional meteorological installation. To get to it you have to go seven kilometers away from the road and climb 223 concrete steps. Whoever manages to conquer the route will be 1,140 meters above sea level and exposed to winds of extreme violence on hurricane days.
Among the few willing to go up to the radar of Pico San Juan – although in reality the station is on the mountain known as La Cuca – there are no meteorologists or scientists, but a group of amateurs who have taken charge of the place after the stampede of the professionals. “Salaries that do not reach 4,000 pesos, isolation and transportation difficulties drove away the specialists and experienced teams,” explains Televisión Cubana, which interviewed the workers during an expedition to the Sierra de Guamuhaya.
The radar station employs two groups of three or four operators. There are ten in total. They go up in a truck as far as the road allows and from there climb a ladder with a 45-degree slope that leads to the radar. In the distance, among the vegetation, the huge sphere of cement that the device contains is visible. The “mountaineers” – as the official press calls them – remain there for a week. continue reading
The terrain is 1,000 kilometers in diameter and has 785,000 square kilometers of area
The terrain is so intricate that the workers in charge of opening the road that leads to the place gave up in the 80s until a farmer in the area showed them a path. The anecdote is famous in the Escambray. “Look for a bulldozer and let it fall behind my mule,” said the man, a kind of healer in the area – and militiaman in the service of Fidel Castro – known as the Gallego Otero.
Young people in the area consider that working on the station is “an opportunity,” because as children they regarded the installation with reverence. Cuban Television does not reveal how much the State pays them, but it implies that either they do not receive any salary or the payment is minimal. The most “experienced” worker, Lázaro Moreno, has been a “principal specialist” of radar for just over eight months.
Moreno says that it only takes “a few notions of electricity and mechanics” and some meteorology to work in the facilities. The rest of the “boys,” he says, are “young and from my own neighborhood.” The transport crisis has forced the recruitment of operators only from nearby homes, in case “they have to come suddenly.”
A married couple, Ada and Erwing, are also part of the group as “observers.” Erwing hopes to “be able to prepare better” in the future. It’s been “barely three months,” he confesses. Moreno, just as enthusiastic, plans to “retreat” there. “We have many programs on the computer and are preparing,” he adds.
In Pico San Juan, temperatures sometimes approach zero, and conditions are precarious /Radar Pico San Juan/Facebook
“They have overcome their fear of being inexperienced,” says the reporter who interviewed the group. The radar does not have a high technological level either; it has been operating for 35 years with the same equipment sent by the Soviet Union. With a few instructions, they can handle it.
“The radar works automatically. It makes an observation every ten minutes and sends it to the National Radar Center of Camagüey,” explains Moreno. From its coordinates – 21º 59’ north latitude and 80º 08’ west latitude – the radar collects information on a circumference that goes from the beaches of Baconao, in Santiago, to the Cape of San Antonio, and from Hollywood (Florida), to a point in the Caribbean Sea not far from the island of Grand Cayman.
The sweep is 1,000 kilometers in diameter and over 785,000 square kilometers of area. The height of the radar allows eliminating the effect of the curvature of the Earth and expands the range of observation.
The station was built by orders of Castro, who claimed that several hurricanes had wreaked havoc on the Island because there was no station in the Escambray. Working on it, at the beginning, was the dream of many ambitious meteorologists. However, the place soon fell into oblivion, and the Government abandoned it to its fate. A house next to the station, an electrical plant and the radar building itself attest to the fact that Pico San Juan has seen better times.
The plant is essential to maintain operations during a hurricane, but activating it – say its operators – is a nightmare. The wind can “tear off the clothes” of a worker while he is pouring the fuel. Other times, in order not to risk their lives during the wind, several have to hold on to each other if they want to light the plant.
In Pico San Juan, temperatures are sometimes close to zero, and conditions are precarious. There is only one sign of the Government’s concern for one of the key points of Cuban meteorology: a diploma with a photo of Díaz-Canel, signed by local officials, which celebrates the operation of the radar station after 35 years.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The Cuban baseball team arriving in Mexico, including the three escaped baseball players / Francys Romero
14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 7 November 2024 — Cuba arrived this Wednesday at the Mexican stadium Coloso del Pacífico, in Tepic (Nayarit), without three of its players. Two hours before the baseball team boarded the bus that transported them, Branlis Rodríguez, Over Cremet and Alexis Varona “were absent from the group,” reported journalist Francys Romero.
A few weeks ago, a committee of the US Major Leagues said that the Mexican stadium met all the requirements to hold international professional competitions, reported Swing Completo.
Accompanied by the ghost of the escapees, Cuba suffered a 9-1 defeat against Mexico in the exhibition game this Wednesday. The 18 players were escorted by three coaches and three other team members, who did not try to prevent the escapes. At the head of the delegation was Ángel Ortega, manager of Granma in the last National Series, accompanied by coaches Guillermo Carmona from Industriales, Abeicy Pantoja from Las Tunas, and Jorge Hierrezuelo, Jesús Bosmenier and Carlos Marín.
The Cuban Baseball Federation decided to form an alternative team, because the national team is in Taiwan for the Premier 12 tournament, which will be held between November 13 and 18 in Japan, Taiwan and Mexico. continue reading
Start of the game between Mexico and Cuba at the Coloso del Pacífico stadium / Facebook / Por la Goma
The athletes arrived in Mexico last Tuesday and had to have their luggage ready a day later before leaving the hotel, to return to the Island as soon as the match against the Aztecs ended.
The receiver Alexis Varona was part of the team that Ortega summoned. In that same position were called William Saavedra, Yunier Mendoza, Osvaldo Abreu, Yunier Rondón and Jeison Martínez.
Last May, on Facebook, Por la Goma highlighted Varona as one of the “best second bases” of the National Series. “He has defended more than one position, even in the outfield. He is a very useful baseball player in any team.”
The outfielder Luis Cremet “had a luxurious year” in the last National Series, according to the All In 1 Deportes portal. “He is a natural slugger, one of the few that the province of Guantánamo has,” it said. The player from Guantanamo was accompanied in the team that arrived in Tepic by Frederich Cepeda, Dennis Laza, Yaser Julio González and Ariel Hechavarría.
Branlis Rodríguez was among the five pitchers called up by Ortega. The others were Dani Betancourt, Randy Cueto, Armando Dueñas and Alberto Pablo Civil. The left-hander was an important piece of the Pinar del Río team that lost the National Series against Las Tunas.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The index that experienced the greatest price increase was that of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with 48.6%.
The social perception on the island is that inflation is much higher than the official figures. / 14ymedio
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 1 November 2024 — The annual inflation rate in Cuba’s official market was 29.05% in September, the lowest value in years and the first time it has fallen below the 30% threshold, the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) reported on Friday. The increase in prices has marked a slight downward trend so far this year, according to official data, but continues at rates that harm the economy as a whole, and especially families, workers and retirees.
In fact, Cubans spend 90% of their income on the basic basket of goods that Onei uses to compile its price index. The social perception on the island is that inflation is much higher than the official figures, where it is difficult to include in a representative way the movements of the country’s extensive black market, which is more varied and dynamic.
In comparison, 2021 closed with an annual inflation rate above 77% and since then it had mainly fluctuated between 30% and 40%. The change in the consumer price index (CPI) compared to August was 0.76% (compared to 0.42% in the same month of the previous year) and so far this year it stands at 20.05% (compared to 19.28% in the same period of 2023). continue reading
Broken down, the largest year-on-year increase in prices occurred in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (48.61%), followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages (33.67%), restaurants and hotels (32.65%) and transport (30.98%).
As is usually the case in these reports, all categories experienced year-on-year increases of over 10% except for recreation and culture (9.60%), communications (0.73%) and health (0.70%).
Cuba has been mired in a serious economic crisis for four years, which is reflected in shortages of basic products (food, medicine and fuel), rampant inflation, increasing dollarization and frequent power outages.
The combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and failed national economic and monetary policies have aggravated structural problems in the economy.
The situation has caused despair and widespread social discontent, which has resulted in protests and a wave of migration unprecedented in scale and duration.
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EFE (via 14ymedio), Buenos Aires, 4 November 2024 — Argentine President Javier Milei said on Monday that he seeks to expel “all” those within the Foreign Ministry involved in the decision to vote in favor of Cuba at the UN, because they are “traitors to the homeland.”
