Translating Cuba

Mexico Increased Its Oil Shipments to Cuba in Anticipation of the Venezuelan Crisis

The oil romance between Havana and Mexico continues to be strong / Pemex

14ymedio, Havana, August 10, 2024 — Gasolineras Bienestar, a subsidiary of the state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), sold 21,800 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) to Cuba in the first quarter of this year. The amount represents an increase of 30% with respect to the 16,800 bpd that the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to its Cuban ally between July and December 2023. The oil romance between Havana and Mexico – in the midst of the political tension of Venezuela, the island’s main supplier – will continue to be strong.

Pemex also sent 3,600 bpd of gasoline and other petroleum derivatives to Havana, which is an increase of 9% compared to last year, reports El Universal. The total value of the shipments was 200 million dollars – 3.3 billion Mexican pesos – according to a report that Pemex sent to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which does not welcome the growing closeness between the two countries and warned that Pemex could suffer sanctions. However, it is still not known if it is a sale, a donation or a barter in exchange for services, such as the sending of 5,000 Cuban doctors to Mexico.

Havana has enjoyed shipments of Mexican crude oil since July 2023, when the rapprochement between the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Administration of López Obrador was consolidated. According to Gonzalo Monroy, director of the energy consulting company GMEC, fuel shipments are part of a “political decision” by the Mexican Government, and the proof is that they use Gasolineras Bienestar and not PMI, the subsidiary of Pemex responsible for international trade. continue reading

The United States, Monroy believes, “can severely punish the Mexican oil company,” with “serious financial consequences.” On the other hand, López Obrador’s gesture “reflects the actions of support between similar regimes” and places Mexico in a status of alliance with Havana similar to that of Caracas.

López Obrador’s gesture places Mexico in a status of alliance with Havana similar to that of Caracas

An expert from the consultancy Perceptia 21, Abril Moreno, warned that “Pemex can suffer sanctions if it is declared that the relationship with Cuba violates the Cuban Democratic Freedom and Solidarity Act”; that is, the Helms-Burton Law, since Pemex imports gasoline from the United States and seeks financing in that country.

Last June, the expert from the University of Texas, Jorge Piñón, had estimated that Mexico was not only sending oil to Cuba, but also fuel (gasoline and diesel). Pemex’s report confirms the professor’s forecast, who had also noticed that the quantities exported to the Island were increasing.

The Ocean Mariner, a small Liberian-flagged tanker that is subleased by Cuba and has a capacity to carry about 83,000 barrels, is part of the fleet that comes and goes between the Island and Mexico. While the Vilma and Delsa load crude oil in the port of Pajaritos (Veracruz), the Ocean Mariner collects fuel in the port of Tampico, which serves the Ciudad Madero refinery.

Piñón explained at the time that Cuba was “storing strategic oil reserves” in case Caracas was destabilized after last July’s elections. The situation, in fact, has arrived, and it has not been possible to know how much oil Venezuela has sent to its ally, although the British agency Reuters said – without revealing numbers – that export levels had remained normal during the month.

It is still not known if it is a sale, a donation or a barter in exchange for services, such as the sending of 5,000 Cuban doctors to Mexico

In the homes of the Island, the benefits of this movement are barely felt in an August marked by scorching heat, blackouts, shortages and dengue and Oropouche infections. In an energy limbo for months, Cubans are anticipating a weekend of power cuts.

The state-owned Unión Eléctrica warned that an affect of 783 megawatts was estimated for this Friday, and that the rest of the weekend would be similar. The company reported that unit 4 of the thermal power plant of Cienfuegos, 2 of Felton (Holguín), 5 of Renté (Santiago de Cuba) and 5 of Nuevitas (Camagüey) were out of service due to breakdowns. In addition, 49 distributed generation plants are also shut down due to various types of failures or lack of fuel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite the Controversy, Honduras Will Pay More Than One Million Dollars to Cuba for 170 Doctors

A group of 170 Honduran doctors will be awarded scholarships to study a specialty on the Island / El Libertador

14ymedio, Havana, 14 August 2024 — Honduras will send 170 general practitioners to Cuba to train in one of the 23 specialties offered by Cuban universities. The arrival of these health workers occurs through a scholarship program, similar to the one Cuba also has with other countries such as Mexico. For this first group, the Government of Xiomara Castro will disburse 30,000,000 lempiras (about $1,209,950), the newspaper La Prensa reported on Tuesday.

The Honduran doctors who will travel to Cuba were selected from 1,000 applicants. According to the same media, priority was given to recent graduates. “Young people are the ones who have the most time to serve,” said the Minister of the Secretariat of Social Development, José Cardona. What was stated by the official differs from the argument offered by the Ministry of Health (Sesal), which stated that “health workers were selected for their proximity to the areas where the new health system is being implemented.”

According to Sesal, the awarding of scholarships aims to have specialists who “are integrated into the new hospital network that is being built by the Administration of Honduras, which includes the construction of eight new hospitals.” continue reading

“Young people are the ones who have the most time to serve”

The measure takes place in the midst of the controversy over the hiring of 89 doctors in the Central American country. The Medical College of Honduras (CMH) claimed this provision from the Government of Xiomara Castro in November 2023, instead of employing the more than 11,000 Honduran doctors who are unemployed.

The CMH has expressed its dissatisfaction on several occasions. Last April, it denounced the Government for “violating the Constitution” by hiring health workers from Cuba without their having “the necessary accreditation to practice in the country.”

In addition, it noted that the Organic Law is very precise in pointing out that the CMH is the “only authorizing entity in the national territory of the Medical Brigades,” that they must provide their services free of charge and that their stay in the country must not be for more than 90 days.

Cuban specialists, the CMH said, not only do not comply with these requirements, they also violate Honduran labor regulations.

The method of operation is similar to that between Mexico and Cuba. The Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to official data up to January 2024, has 428 medical specialty students with scholarships, for which it pays Havana $27,914 (484,041 Mexican pesos) per year.

The Cuban specialists, the CMH said, not only do not comply with these requirements, they also violate Honduran labor regulations

Mexico’s support for the Island has been extended to the purchase of 16,000,000 doses of the Abdala vaccine, a drug that lacks the endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO). Last February, a flight arrived with 4,530,600 bottles of the medicine for the National Vaccination Campaign against seasonal influenza and COVID-19. Many of these vaccines have been rejected by the population, and some of the doses have expired, despite which they are still being applied.

The agreement between Mexico and Cuba also includes the hiring of 5,000 Cuban specialists. Of them, more than 1,000 doctors have arrived, who have joined the Imss-Bienestar program to be sent to hospitals throughout the country.

For the services of the Cuban doctors, Mexico pledged to pay $1,308,922 per month to Neuronic Mexicana, which depends on Neuronic S.A. Cuba. Since 2018, this company has been the representative of the products and services of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries of the Island, under the presidency of the Cuban Tania Guerra.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Cuban Truck Driver Is Accused of Being a ‘Coyote’ in Texas; He Could Spend Five Years in Prison

A Cuban truck driver faces charges for migrant trafficking in Texas (USA) / Telemundo

14ymedio, Havana, 15 August 2024 — A Cuban man, Enrique Nerey Valdivia, was found guilty on Monday for the crime of “migrant trafficking” in the state of Texas. Federal prosecutor Alamdar Hamdani dismissed the evidence presented by the defendant’s defense lawyer, considering it “not very credible.” Judge David S. Morales, who presided over the trial, set sentencing for November 6.

Nerey Valdivia, 50, faces a sentence of up to five years in federal prison, in addition to a possible fine of up to $250,000, according to a statement from the Texas Southern District Attorney’s Office. The Cuban was allowed to remain free on bail pending sentencing.

The Cuban, a resident of Odessa, Texas, was arrested at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias, after being discovered transporting five undocumented migrants in the back compartment of the truck.

During Monday’s hearing held in a court in Corpus Christi, the defense lawyer tried to convince the jury that Nerey Valdivia “had no knowledge of the people who were in the cabin of his truck.” continue reading

Nerey Valdivia “had no knowledge of the people who were in the cabin of his truck”

Upon arriving at the inspection point, agents of the U.S. Border Patrol inspected the truck when they noticed strange movements inside the cabin. Upon entering, they found five people covered with blankets in the bunk area.

This is not the first time that coyotes of Cuban nationality have been captured. Last March, two Cubans living in the United States were accused of migrant smuggling by the Border Patrol after being captured in the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, while transporting 23 undocumented migrants inside a truck. According to Jason Owens, head of the police force of the small community near Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, after being prosecuted, they could “be expelled from the United States.”

In August of last year, Nahara Candelaria Milán, 26, was brought to justice for smuggling migrants. A traffic violation in Eagle Pass (Texas) and his nervousness when documents were requested betrayed the Cuban, who was inspected by the authorities. In his van he carried seven undocumented migrants.

In the same month, the Cuban Julio César Aspiazu Gómez was prosecuted for trying to take five undocumented migrants to Texas, who were later deported to Mexico.

Cubans Rainel Lázaro Silies and Lima Gálvez González were also intercepted in April 2023 for the crime of migrant smuggling in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The couple’s arrest took place in the town of Brackettville, when five undocumented people were transported in a vehicle with a license plate from the state of Kentucky.

According to the Kinney County office, the couple came from Louisville, a “Cuban settlement active since the 1990s,” which has doubled its population in the last decade.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘I Wanted To Give Chile a Medal,’ Says Cuban Yasmani Acosta When He Was Received by President Boric

Acosta was received by President Boric at the Palacio de La Moneda / Team Chile / X

14ymedio, Mexico City, August 14, 2024 — The images of Chilean President Gabriel Boric adjusting the microphone of the Cuban Olympic medalist Yasmani Acosta, who competed in Paris with the flag of the South American country, have gone around the world. His warm reception at the Palacio de la Moneda contrasted with the gloomy one that the athletes of the Island received in Havana; they had to settle for an airport in the dark and a rally without an audience.

Boric celebrated the athlete from Mantanzas, as one of the Chilean delegation also applauded Acosta, a silver medal winner in the 130 kg category of Greco-Roman wrestling. Along with the applause from his teammates, the Cuban hugged Boric too intensely. “And that’s why they didn’t give him a key,” immediately joked the gold medalist in skeet shooting, Francisca Crovetto.

Acosta stressed in his speech that he felt “welcomed” by the Chileans, without whose support he would not have been able to compete in the Olympic Games. “I felt indebted, and I wanted to give a medal to the country,” said Acosta in the Plaza de la Constitución at the end of the ceremony. continue reading

Boric celebrated the athlete from Mantanzas as one of the Chilean delegation

Jokes aside, it was the money earned by Acosta that most impressed Cuban fans in their home country. With the medal comes $46,000, Chile’s prize for its triumph in Paris. In addition, the Government will grant him a monthly scholarship of 2,692,303 Chilean pesos – about $3,000 – until the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.

“What a joy to see how the people of Chile are thanking Yasmani (…) They can’t imagine how our chests swell with pride when we see our athletes, and everyone, our entire Olympic delegation,” Boric said.

In Paris, Acosta was shot down by his fireproof compatriot Mijaín López, famous not only for his triumphs – five consecutive Olympic golds – but for dedicating them to Fidel Castro and other authorities of the regime. Miguel Díaz-Canel’s speech never explained how Cuba will reward its most loyal five-time champion. In the absence of money, there was talk of “patriotic pride,” and he announced that López will go “from champion to teacher,” by now dedicating himself to training young fighters.

In Spain, the Olympic medalists received a total of 2,892,000 euros divided among all, and part of the sum corresponds to the Spanish nationalized Cuban triple jumpers, Jordan Díaz and Emmanuel Reyes, who will receive 94,000 and 30,000 euros respectively.

The Spanish nationalized Cuban triple jumpers Jordan Díaz and Emmanuel Reyes will receive 94,000 and 30,000 euros respectively

Spanish President Pedro Sánchez congratulated Díaz on social networks after he won the triple-jump gold medal. The Cuban exiles, along with the rest of the medalists, have been honored without hesitation by the Spanish press, which calls them “Spaniards of Cuban origin.”

On the other hand, the absence of a mention of The Prophet, as Reyes is known, in Sánchez’s congratulatory messages has not gone unnoticed, and several Spanish media speculate that there could be an ideological motive behind it. Reyes is very critical of boxer Imane Khelif, the Algerian protagonist of the great gender controversy, after her victory over the Italian Angela Carina in 46 seconds.

In Poland, the Cuban volleyball player Wilfrido León, who guided his team to win the silver medal, will be awarded with 107,000 zlotys – which is equivalent to $27,000 – in addition to a diamond, a painting that he can choose to his liking and a vacation voucher, according to the Lublin ESKA radio station.

Despite the fact that the Santiagan Pedro Pablo Pichardo said he was “unmotivated” after obtaining the silver by falling in the triple jump final against Jordan Díaz and announcing his retirement, in Portugal, his host country, the press reports that on Monday the Olympic medalists had a welcome “apotheosis” at the Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, in Porto.

In addition, more than 800,000 people watched the Cuban win his medal at the Olympic Games on public television. It was the most watched broadcast among the medalist athletes according to an audience analysis.

In Poland, the Cuban volleyball player Wilfrido León, will receive money, a diamond, a painting and a paid vacation

Andy Díaz, the other Cuban who mounted the triple jump podium, was greeted with applause at the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome for his bronze medal. Upon his arrival, people approached to greet him and ask him for a photograph, while he was escorted by a group of carabineros (gendarmes). “I promised Italy that I would get this medal, for everything they did to help me become an Italian citizen,” he told the press.

Meanwhile, the bronze medalist in boxing, Javier Ibáñez, said that he feels the affection and recognition of Bulgaria, his adoptive homeland. “Many people write to me and approach me on the street and say that they are proud of me. My family had mixed emotions,” he said at a press conference upon his arrival from Paris.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The History of the Iconic Photos of the Maleconazo, 30 Years Later: “I Was the Only One There”

Karel Poort recalls the frantic minutes when he ran out of his room, with his Nikon F301 in hand

Poort was not aware of the magnitude of what he saw until a Cuban explained it to him. / Karel Poort

Juan Carlos Espinosa/EFE, La Habana, 4 August 2024 — During his vacation in Cuba, the Dutch photographer Karel Poort began to take photos of a demonstration outside his hotel without knowing that, some time later, they would become some of the most iconic images of the Maleconazo, the first major anti-government protest since 1959, which marks its 30th anniversary this Monday.

In his first interview for these events, granted to EFE, Poort recalls the frantic minutes when he ran out of his room, with his Nikon F301 in hand, after hearing a riot on the street. It was the afternoon of August 5, 1994 in the central Galiano Street.

“I was in the shower and I heard people screaming and ringing their bicycle bells on the street. I immediately took my camera, an extra roll of film and ran down the stairs,” says this 78-year-old photographer.

“I was in the shower and I heard people screaming and ringing their bicycle bells on the street”

The tumult led him to the Deauville hotel, about 400 meters from his hotel and right in front of the Havana Malecón. There, as he recalls, people shouted at the top of their lungs: “Cuba yes, Castro no!” and “Freedom!”

Poort, who at that time worked as a photographer and freelance sound engineer on Dutch television, didn’t know it, but the outburst was the result of weeks of tension.

On July 13, the ’13 de Marzo’ tugboat* sank after its occupants hijacked it to emigrate to the United States. Thirty-seven people died, including 10 children.

What Poort remembers is that people shouted at the top of their lungs: “Cuba yes, Castro no!” and “Freedom!” / Karel Poort

The survivors blamed the coast guard for purposefully ramming the boat, while the Cuban government said it was an accident.

In 1994, the Island was in the middle of the Special Period, the economic crisis that hit the country hard after the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the fall of the socialist bloc in Europe.

The rumor of a significant departure of people to heading to the coast of the United States led the authorities to establish a maritime blockade in front of the Cuban capital.

Angry, Cubans demonstrated in numbers that had not been seen since the triumph of Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Angry, the Cubans demonstrated in numbers that had not been seen since the triumph of Fidel Castro’s revolution

When the Dutchman arrived at the hotel in front of the Malecón, a Cuban approached him and said: “Keep taking photos and show your country the disaster here.”

“While that was happening, a group of police officers dressed in civilian clothes arrived at the Deauville hotel and started shooting madly,” he recalls.

Among the 30 photos that Poort gave to EFE can be seen several of a man with dark glasses, white shirt and khaki pants, holding a pistol.

In one of them he is in front of the hotel, pointing upwards; in another he points directly towards Poort, and in others he is seen running to where the protesters were.

The rumor of a major departure of people to the North American coasts led the authorities to establish a maritime blockade / Karel Poort

Half an hour after those events, a patrol stopped behind the photographer: “Three police officers ordered me to give them the rolls and the camera. They grabbed me and, miraculously, I managed to get away and ran as fast as I could to my hotel (…) I was able to take more photos from the window of my room,” he adds.

The next day, he captured a paper with the words “Viva Cuba Libre” on the pavement of the semi-empty road.

A week later, Fidel Castro ordered that Cubans be allowed to leave by sea. That led to the so-called Rafters’ Crisis: more than 30,000 left on makeshift boats for the United States.

Accustomed to protests in the West, the Dutchman was not aware of the magnitude of what he saw until he heard the explanation of a Cuban.

“While that was happening, a group of police officers dressed in civilian clothes arrived at the Deauville hotel and started shooting madly”

When the demonstrations broke out, Poort was in the second week of his first vacation in Cuba. He visited the Island nine other times until 2002.

Years later, he shared some of his photos on social networks, having printed them in a darkroom at home. He prefers to remember what happened as the anecdote of a historic moment that, by a fluke, he was able to capture even before many international media already on the Island.

“I was the only one there. There were no cell phones at that time. That’s why those photos are so special,” he says.

When the Dutchman arrived at the hotel in front of the Malecón, a Cuban approached him and said: “Keep taking photos and show your country the disaster that is here” / Karel Poort

Translated by Regina Anavy

*Translator’s note: Often confusing to “foreign” ears, many names of things (tugboats in this example), and places (schools are common) are named after dates that commemorate historic events. The “13 de Marzo” tugboat’s name commemorates a pre-Revolutionary attack on Cuba’s Presidential Palace.

A North Korean Defector Believes That ‘Establishing Relations With Cuba Is the Best Thing Seoul Did’

He says that the approach “was a model example of how the tides of history have changed and where a normal civilization of the international community is heading”

Ri Il-gyu, former North Korean diplomat in Cuba / Capture / Infobae

14ymedio, Havana, 1 August 2024 — “Establishing relations with Cuba was the best thing that South Korea did,” said the former North Korean diplomat Ri Il-gyu, who defected from his position at the North Korean Embassy in Havana in 2023. As he revealed in an interview with Reuters, one of his functions as a diplomatic representative on the Island was precisely to boycott the negotiations with Seoul. “I did everything possible to prevent it,” he acknowledges, but says that the approach “was a model example of how the tides of history have changed and where a normal civilization of the international community is heading.”

That may be the case perhaps for South Korea, which seeks, among other objectives, to fracture the link of the North with one of its greatest historical allies. But for Havana, in serious financial trouble, the opening of a South Korean headquarters on the Island is something more than a door through which the investments of one of the world’s leading technology countries can pass.

“It was a model example of how the tides of history have changed and where a normal civilization of the international community is heading”

Seoul has also declared its interest in the goods that Havana has to offer. “Cuba has a considerable source of key mineral resources for the production of electric vehicles, such as cobalt and nickel,” the South Korean Presidential Office said last February.

Ri, however, did not approach the international press just to review his functions as a diplomat on the Island, something he had already done this July, when he gave an interview from Seoul and talked about his disagreements with the North Korean regime and his reasons for deserting: the “harassment” of his colleagues and Pyongyang’s refusal to allow his cervical injury to be treated in Mexico. After the pandemic, “when they began (in North Korea) to reopen and summon those who worked abroad at continue reading

the beginning of 2023, they asked them to bring back home anything from used toothbrushes to spoons, saying that there was nothing there,” he recalls.

Now, from Seoul, the former official asks to meet with Donald Trump if he wins the U.S. elections, to discuss North Korea’s plans, which, he says, place Washington, Moscow and Tokyo among its priorities.

Trump’s rapprochement with North Korea during his term was a battle that Pyongyang lost, explains Ri, who blames North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un for his inexperience in international relations, in addition to sending “inexperienced and clueless” military commanders for nuclear negotiations.

“This time, the Foreign Ministry would definitely gain power and take the reins, and it will not be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea hands and feet again for four years without giving anything (in return)” as happened in 2019, he explains.

Ri maintains that Pyongyang would find a greater benefit in avoiding future sanctions from the United States and eliminating the current ones

For Ri, the strengthening of ties with Russia – which included Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea last June – in matters of security and military aid – is a symptom that the United States has lost part of its negotiating capacity against the North Korean regime. “The Russians got their hands dirty by participating in illicit transactions, and thanks to this, North Korea no longer needs to depend on the United States to lift the sanctions, which essentially means that they have stripped the United States of a key negotiation tactic,” he believes.

Even so, Ri maintains that Pyongyang would find a greater benefit in avoiding future sanctions from the United States and eliminating the current ones, so one of Kim’s government’s plans is to resume nuclear negotiations if Trump is in the White House. “The diplomats of Pyongyang were drawing up a strategy for that scenario, with the aim of lifting sanctions on their weapons programs, eliminating their designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and obtaining economic aid,” the former official says.

If these agreements are reached, only Japan stands in the way of Pyongyang and its plans. Japan is another uncomfortable neighbor that in recent weeks has strengthened its military ties with the United States to curb North Korea’s intentions.

According to Ri, Kim still has an opportunity with Tokyo, which has been interested on numerous occasions in resuming talks with North Korea, but tensions remain over the alleged 17 Japanese kidnapped by Pyongyang during the 70s and 80s, of which only five have been able to return.

Kim Jong-il, the father of the current North Korean leader, denied the kidnapping of Japanese citizens, but Kim Jong-un was willing to discard that policy in order to obtain economic aid. “They are saying that the matter was resolved, but that is only to increase his negotiating power until he makes concessions at a summit,” Ri evaluates.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico Receives Another 200 Cuban Doctors To Work in 19 States

The 200 Cuban specialists were received last Friday at Felipe Angeles International Airport

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, 4 August 2024 — Last Friday, a contingent of 200 Cuban doctors crowded into the corridor of the migration area at Felipe Ángeles International Airport in the state of Mexico. The group, said Ambassador Marcos Rodríguez Costa, will be distributed in 19 states with the “noble work of saving lives.”

The diplomat did not offer more details. This group joins one that on July 20 arrived, with hardly any media coverage, at the same air terminal and was taken to a high-specialty hospital in Veracruz, where they are given courses for incorporation into the Imss-Bienestar program, which has been raised by the Government of Mexico as the free health agency implemented in 23 states of the country.

The arrival of these health contingents from the Island are part of the second group contracted by Mexico in March 2023, to have 1,200 doctors. In July of last year, the director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (Imss), confirmed that until that time there were 950 Cubans who had already been integrated into the health services. continue reading

A group of Cuban specialists was sent to the state of Baja California (Mexico) this Saturday / Facebook/Médicos Cubanos, Baja California Sur, Mexico

For these physicians, Mexico pledged to pay $1,308,922 per month to Neuronic Mexicana, which depends on Neuronic S.A. Cuba. Since 2018, this company has been the representative of the products and services of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries of the Island, under its president, Tania Guerra.

Mexico has been discreet about the distribution of the Cuban specialists and the functions they perform in the hospitals where they have been sent. However, a source confirmed to 14ymedio that the doctors began to be rotated this year through different parts of the territory. “The rotation is designated by the people in charge of the Cuban delegation with the consent of Imss-Bienestar. We don’t know the reason, but it could be that they detect too much friendliness with the inhabitants, and they don’t like that at all. They are afraid that they will run away [decide to stay in Mexico],” said the official.

Two Cuban internists, two pediatricians and a radiologist were sent to the rural hospital of the Veracruz municipality of Las Chopas last February, and a week ago they were informed that they would be sent to another clinic, which generated uncertainty among the local authorities. Mayor Marisela Hernández García reported on July 31 that together with the director of the hospital, Dr. Pedro Coronel Pérez, steps were taken to cover those spaces with “Cuban or foreign doctors so that service is not interrupted.” According to official figures, 25 doctors from the Island work in the state of Veracruz.

A doctor in Colima explains the rotation of Cuban doctors and the termination of contracts / Image capture / Entérate Ixtlahuacán

In the state of Colima, where the arrival of 86 specialists was reported, patients demonstrated on July 31 over the absence of doctors in the General Hospital of Ixtlahuacán. One patient complained about the lack of medical attention for not having a doctor. “They told me that I have to wait until August for an appointment, so where are the Cuban doctors?”

The woman was told that the hospital was not informed of the length of stay of the Island’s doctors. “It’s a federal provision,” they stressed. “These doctors have contracts, but when they leave, they don’t all come back; that was the case of a psychiatrist who did not return to the state for health reasons and two others who were relocated to other health centers.”

They informed her that in September they are terminating the contracts of pediatricians, a psychologist, surgeons and an internist. “Their last months will be spent in other states.”

The rotation of doctors takes a few days after the director of Imss, Zoé Robledo, confirms the hiring of another 3,800 Cubans. With the arrival of additional health workers – which will bring the total to 5,000 – they intend to complete the staff of specialists in those areas where there are facilities that “have an operating room, but don’t perform surgeries” or that have outpatient consultation areas, “but no doctors.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The High Prices of Onions Make Cubans Cry

The onion grown in Cuban fields has become smaller and dirtier over the decades.

Garlic and onions for sale by a cart vendor in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, 5 August 2024 — Mojo criollo may lack the precious acidic flavor of lemon or sour orange, or even lack oil – which is replaced by water in times of crisis – but it must contain onion and garlic. Without those two ingredients, the mixture does not even deserve to bear the name of the traditional marinade so often used in Cuban kitchens.

Dignified, the onion is practically a must in every dish in the recipe book of this island. There is no stew, casserole, roast meat or fricassee that does not contain this vegetable that brings tears to the eyes of even the most ruthless. Lately, however, the tears have been focused on the pockets due to the prices that the product reaches and the long periods during which it disappears from the market shelves.

Despite its essential status, the onion grown in Cuban fields has become smaller and dirtier over the decades. The shrinkage in size has, however, been inversely proportional to the price paid for a string or a bunch, whether of the white or purple variety. continue reading

The product has been shifted to the furtive or illegal trade in an attempt to avoid price controls

A year ago, a pound of onions cost about 350 pesos at the market on 19 and B in El Vedado, Havana. One of the most emblematic and expensive stores selling agricultural products in the Cuban capital has been able to offer onions practically every week, but other businesses have not had the same luck. The product has been shifted to the furtive or illegal trade in an attempt to avoid the price controls imposed by the authorities

This August, in the same market, a pound of onions costs 400 pesos, but the size and quality have dropped considerably. In July, it had risen to 450 and “they were pitiful little onions, they seemed to have been picked from the field too early and had very little flavor. Where before two were used, four had to be put in so that the food would taste like anything,” lamented a customer this Friday.

However, the dramatic nature of the rise in price is seen more clearly when comparing the costs over the last four years. The 80 pesos per pound that the vegetable cost in August 2020 had tripled in 2022 and, this summer, its price from four years ago has multiplied by five, while wages have stagnated.

“Onion, onion! White and purple!” two young men shouted on Saturday inside a 12-story building in Nuevo Vedado. They were unlicensed vendors and at the price of each string, with a little more than 50 medium-sized onions, they could not offer them in the markets or on the carts in full view of inspectors. “It’s 1,500 pesos per string,” one of them responded when a neighbor asked about the price. The woman’s grimace made it clear that she could not pay that amount.

A year ago, a pound of onions cost about 350 pesos in the market at 19 and B in El Vedado, Havana. / 14ymedio

At the nearby Youth Labor Army Market on Tulipán Street, onions have not landed on the pallets for many months. Instead, their poor cousin, chives, are barely visible, “dirty, with lots of wilted leaves and sometimes half of them are rotten when they are cleaned,” says a man selling plastic bags outside the shop.

While the white onion is mainly used raw and sliced on salads, although it is also added to yuca sauce and other foods, the red onion is preferred, due to its stronger flavor, for adding to meats, beans and other long-cooked dishes. But they can also be used interchangeably if there is no other option. Choosing between several types of the same product is not an exercise that Cubans have been able to do frequently in recent decades, unless they have foreign currency.

In the Cuban informal market and in some digital portals large, clean onions are sold in hard currency

In the informal Cuban market and on some digital portals, large, clean onions are sold in hard currency. Packaged and without soil attached, white onions cost about $6 a pound and purple ones cost more than $6.50. If you opt for the granulated ingredient, a package of about 140 grams costs around $8. To all this you have to add the cost of home delivery which, depending on the volume of the order, can exceed $5 to the most central neighborhoods of Havana.

Producers like Leopoldo, a resident of Güira de Melena, Artemisa province, blame the reduction in size and quality of the bulbs on the lack of nutrients in the soil, and to the fact that the farmers do not have good seeds to plant. “Where before a string of onions would last us almost a month, now we have one in the kitchen for just a week. Luckily I don’t have to buy them because I have my own crops.”

When they are harvesting, Leopoldo’s entire family is dedicated to collecting them from the furrows and braiding the strings and bunches that they will later sell partly to the state-owned Acopio and partly to private intermediaries. “It is a nice job because you put them together with the dried leaves and everything takes on that smell,” he says. But where there used to be plump onions, now there are small ones. “That’s how everything is here, puny,” he says.

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The Cuban Revolution Has Never Been About Emancipation, But Rather Domination

It has been possible because the citizens themselves supported the regime’s arbitrary policies

Domination in Cuba has also been possible thanks to the participation of the citizens themselves / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Karel J. Leyva, Montreal, 4 August 2024 — Domination manifests itself when an agent – whether a person, an institution or the State – has the ability to arbitrarily intervene in the decisions and actions of another, without taking into account their interests and without the latter being able to question or counteract said intervention. Power is considered arbitrary when it acts according to the capricious will or idiosyncratic judgment of those who exercise it.

Domination refers not only to active intervention but also to the mere possibility of such intervention. A commonly cited case to illustrate the subtle forms of domination is the dynamic between a master and a slave. Domination exists both when a master constantly intervenes to regulate every aspect of his slave’s life, and when he is benevolent towards the latter, allowing him to do as he pleases. The underlying idea is that, even when the master acts benevolently, the mere possibility of depriving the slave at any time of the benefits he bestows upon him, qualifies the relationship as one of domination.

Let us consider the Cuban context. In theory, an outside observer might think that citizens of Cuba have the freedom to leave and enter their own country (leaving aside the insurmountable inequalities between them; even overlooking the fact that such “freedom” depends largely on how much one is willing to sacrifice, from the most intimate and sacred properties and ties, to one’s own life in many cases). However, the stark reality is that the Cuban government maintains intact the ability to put an end to this supposed freedom. When it prevents a dissident from leaving the country, or when it capriciously forces him into exile, it is exercising domination. Even when it does not intervene, it finds itself in the same position as the benevolent master, who allows the slave to come and go, as long as the master pleases. continue reading

Domination refers not only to active intervention but also to the mere possibility of such intervention.

From the beginning, the Cuban revolutionary project was designed as a project of domination. The policies that led to the nationalization of companies and private property are an integral part of this project. The arbitrary intervention of the state in private property and its absolute control over the economy soon resulted in dispossessing citizens of their economic autonomy. Cubans were left submissive, dependent on the arbitrary decisions of the Government regarding the production, distribution and consumption of goods.

Those who have dared to challenge the power of the state have faced imprisonment, exile, or social isolation. The fact that the revolutionary regime establishes that only what the Government approves can be publicly expressed, that the citizen’s fate is determined by his degree of submission, and that any defiance is cruelly punished, is the very manifestation of domination.

From the beginning, the Cuban revolutionary project was designed as a project of domination.

Domination in Cuba has also been possible thanks to the participation of the citizens themselves. If, initially, many supported the regime’s arbitrary policies by accepting in return the promise of a radiant future, soon the support turned into action. Encouraged and supported by the Government, many denounced, attacked, intimidated and stigmatized those who dared to raise their voices against the dictatorship. It was not enough for them that a military state monopolized violence, the control over weapons, ideas, communication, food or transport; they also joined its plans and gave away the powerful weapon of social approval. And, no matter where communism takes root, it always reconfigures social norms, subordinating them to the capricious will of the tyrant.

The whole history of the “revolution” is one of domination. Is that not the case of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), based on the immoral premise of surveillance, denunciation and stigmatization? Was that not the case of the exit permits (white cards), arbitrarily approved for decades? And what about laws that criminalize freedom of expression and association under the premise of protecting the security of the State? Is there anything more arbitrary than the recent threats to revoke the Cuban citizenship of whomever they consider? Is it not the case of all the public policies, applied no matter how much damage they cause to Cuban families? Doesn’t the lack of free and fair elections deprive citizens of a voice in the processes that regulate their lives? Doesn’t the absence of judicial autonomy and the repression of civil society consolidate the Communist regime’s structure of domination?

Encouraged and supported by the Government, many people denounced, attacked, intimidated and stigmatized those who dared to raise their voices against the dictatorship.

The Russian dissident Joseph Brodsky, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, used to say that, to be effective, the devil never presents himself as such. Like a good devil, the Cuban revolution has always presented itself as a project of social justice, one of “full equality and freedom.” But the so-called Cuban revolution is not, and never has been, about emancipation.

From ancient times when the concept of a republic was forged, the foundations were laid to unequivocally determine when we are in the presence of tyranny, even when the oppressor presents himself as an ally. As much as the regime dresses up as a republic, in communist Cuba the “revolution” is nothing more than a euphemism for domination.

Translated by LAR

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Trinidad is Cuba’s Heritage ‘Trap’ To Attract Chinese Tourists

Travelers from Beijing are looking for destinations more associated with shopping or city tourism

Cuba is looking to replace European tourism, which has been declining since the pandemic / Resumen Latinoamericano

14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2024 — Cuba’s many sun and beach destinations may be a benefit for most of the tourists who come to the island, but when it comes to travelers from China, the authorities have had to come up with ways to create attractive offers. Not only do the Chinese not seek out this type of vacation, but they prefer offers linked to nature or heritage tourism and shopping. In this sense, the town of Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus, has become the perfect destination to sell to these travelers.

“Trinidad is a very special city,” museologist and historian Victor Echenagusia told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, noting that many travelers from that country come to the town for its historical appeal. “Trinidad is a heritage site in that sense and holds the category of Artisanal City of the World and Creative City,” he emphasized.

Echenagusía explained that the city is almost a must-see destination and of “the highest” value for Chinese tourists

Echenagusía explained that the city is almost a must-see destination and of “the highest” value for Chinese tourists, who are looking for more social and cultural experiences when choosing their vacation destinations. The colonial buildings, the cobblestone streets and the number of handicrafts sold in the town – especially the “typical” local textiles mentioned by the historian, despite the fact that they are made all over the island – are attractive to Chinese tourists.

The museum expert also romanticizes the city and its “well-preserved” architecture, despite the fact that Trinidad’s old buildings have been neglected for decades by the authorities, who pass off layers of paint as “repairs.”

As for tourist numbers and concrete results, Echenagusía did not mention any, although he insists that Chinese tourism in Trinidad is included in the government’s plans – until now delayed – to reach 3.5 million travelers this year. Work is being done “to recover the leisure industry in the country through the promotion of its historical and traditional attractions,” adds Xinhua.

Havana, falling to pieces, and Trinidad, in similar conditions, are perhaps the last real bastions of heritage tourism on the island, even though Echenagusía insists that Cuba still maintains its “variety and the perfect conservation of its heritage cities.” Trying to sell them as a “must-see” is nothing more than the latest of the desperate measures that the regime has taken in recent months to attract Chinese tourists.

Changes were implemented in hotels – the arrangement of rooms according to Asian standards, the variety in diet, among others – and promotion agreements were established between tour operators of both countries, with the increase in Chinese tourism to the Island included in the bilateral agenda of both Beijing and Havana.

Air China, which had not flown to Cuba for years, inaugurated a route between the capitals of both countries, with a stopover in Madrid

More recently, Air China , which had not flown to Cuba for years, launched a route between the capitals of both countries, with a stopover in Madrid. The connection, however, seems to be used more for its sections than for its final destination. In other words, many of the travelers who fly from Beijing end up staying in the Spanish capital, and a good part of the flight to Havana carries Cubans and Europeans.

Cuba also announced last May that it would exempt Chinese tourists from visa requirements, a policy that was not reciprocated by China. The day after the measure was taken, searches for holiday packages to the island increased by 40% on the platforms of the eastern giant. This, however, has not been enough for the Cuban regime, which is trying at all costs – through its allies, such as Russia or China itself – to replace the European tourism that has been in free fall since the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The ‘Friends of the Cigar’ and the Cuban Regime Make Millions of Dollars With the Cigar Business

Five distributors, chosen by Fidel Castro himself, monopolize the world market. They organize auctions with the promise of sending the money to the dilapidated Public Health system of the Island.

In the center of the photo are Jemma Freeman, manager of Hunters & Frankau, and Luis Sánchez-Harguindey, co-president of Habanos S.A.

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 4 August 2024 — Escorted by two British red coats and surrounded by millionaires from all over the world, the managers of the Hunters & Frankau house had some news: last month during the cigar auction to promote the Trinidad Cabildos, whose organization had been invited by the Havana regime, 5,150,000 euros were collected in a single night. The president of the cigar company, Jemma Freeman, promised to send the money – most would be missing – to the dilapidated “Cuban Public Health system.”

Hunters & Frankau, the exclusive distributor of the Cuban monopoly Habanos S.A. in the United Kingdom, thus closed the first face-to-face edition of World Cigar Days. Similar – but much more luxurious – at the Cigar Festival of Cuba, the event was hosted by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Between Rafael’s Renaissance canvases and a humidor signed by Fidel Castro in 2002 – which was not for sale – the aficionados bid on limited editions and numbered boxes of Trinidad, a brand that turns 55 and is “loaded with symbolism” for being the favorite of the Cuban dictator.

It is enough to explore the official website of Habanos S.A. to verify that premium cigars continue to give great benefits to the regime. The news section attests to the luxurious network of Cuban cigars internationally and its distribution partners. From Russia to Beirut, from Madrid to Geneva, from Havana to Qatar, the “friends of the cigar” network has been consolidating its power with millionaire sales for decades. A Cuban tobacco planter would need a lot of mental effort to process that a single cigar made by his hands is auctioned for thousands of dollars in the great capitals of the world.

Luis Sánchez-Harguindey, co-president of Habanos S.A. and head of the Cuban cigar empire / Cigar Aficionado

Habanos S.A. would be nothing without Spain. The ethnologist Fernando Ortiz wrote that whoever rules in Cuba rules over the cigar. That phrase is illustrated like no one else by Luis Sánchez-Harguindey, co-president of the monopoly since 2012, although on his social networks he describes himself simply as a president and an expert in “international business management.”

Premium cigars continue to give great benefits to the regime

It is Sánchez-Harguindey who calls the shots for Habanos S.A. and who presents his results annually during the Cuban Cigar Festival. His counterpart in Spain is Fernando Domínguez, president of Tabacalera S.A., which distributes Cuban cigars to every tobacconist in Spain. Sánchez-Harguindey and Domínguez’s dream was to take the American market by storm, but Cuban cigars were banished. In 2015, in the midst of the thaw in diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington, both businessmen salivated over a commercial opportunity that never came.

Heinrich Villiger, director of 5th Avenue Products Trading, exclusive distributor of Habanos S.A. in Germany, Austria and Poland / Cigar Aficionado]

Habanos S.A. soon recovered from its disappointment and strengthened its sales in Europe. The key man of that expansion was Heinrich Villiger, director of 5th Avenue Products Trading, who is in charge of the distribution of Cuban cigars in Germany, Austria and Poland.

At the age of 94, Villiger, a member of one of the most prominent families in Switzerland – his brother Kaspar was president of the country – opened factories in Nicaragua and Brazil this year. He boasts of directing his “empire” – he employs 1,700 people – based on letters that come out of his typewriter. As a young man, Villiger traveled to the United States and then to Cuba, Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico to gain experience. When the Cuban cigar business collapsed in the United States after the Missile Crisis – before which, supposedly, President J.F. Kennedy bought all the cigars available – Villiger took the opportunity and approached Castro.

One of the least known sales niches of Habanos S.A. in Europe is Andorra. One company – Maori Tabacs – takes advantage of the tax exemptions offered by that country, advertises as a paradise for “luxury hunters.” José María Cases and his son Ricardo, who preside over Maori, know it well. Cases is famous for initiating the practice of wrapping cigars in cellophane so that, in the absence of tropical humidity, they survive the European climate.

Mohamed Zeidan, president of Phoenicia Trading and partner of Habanos S.A. for distribution in the Middle East, Africa and part of Europe / Beirut Duty Free

Using that “trick,” José L. Piedra began to import cigars and developed his business. In 1975 he opened an office in Cuba and, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he began to help Castro by sending him products that the country requested, not necessarily linked to the world of cigars. He befriended Villiger and Nicholas Freeman – father of the current manager of Hunters & Frankau – who were already close to the dictator.

Millionaire and decadent, Cases has a collection of 400 humidors and imports more than 200 cigar bands from the Island. In addition, he is a cigar cop: Maori Tabacs’ monopoly prevents counterfeit cigars from entering Andorra and France, where he is also in charge of the market.

On the American continent, Max Gutmann has been selling Cuban cigars in Mexico for almost 40 years

Castro met the Lebanese Mohamed Zeidan, president of Phoenicia Trading and partner of Habanos S.A., in the Middle East, Africa and part of Europe, in 1999 during a Havana Festival. Castro “became fond of him” after the auction of a signed humidor for which he gave $230,000. Zeidan, whom he nicknamed “the Phoenician,” re-auctioned the humidor on the spot to win over the dictator even more: the money was used to pay the lawyers who represented Havana in the dispute over the custody of Elián González.

On the American continent, Max Gutmann, president of Importer and Exporter of Cigars and Tobacco, has been selling Cuban cigars in Mexico for almost 40 years. Of Austrian origin, Gutmann bought the first humidor signed by Castro and opened the first Casa del Habano in Cancún in 1990.

When a group of businessmen with no connection to Cuba opened a store of the same name in Paris, Gutmann received a call from the president of Cubatabaco – the name of the Cuban state monopoly at the time. They asked him to give the Cuban regime the “Casa del Habano” brand completely free of charge. In return, they would give him the exclusive rights to distribute cigars in Mexico.

Max Gutmann, in the center, with two of his partners at the Casa del Habano de México / Cigar Aficionado

Gutmann accepted. Castro admitted him into his circle, and he managed to be one of the 200 guests at the first cigar gala dinner – there were still no festivals – in 1995. He returned to his country with a humidor signed by the caudillo and the writer Gabriel García Márquez for which he paid $5,000. Gutmann believes that his company also captures the U.S. market, which cannot negotiate with Habanos S.A. That Americans and Canadians travel to Mexico to buy Cuban cigars, he says, was the idea of Castro, who allied with Gutmann “knowing that they would surely end up there,” he said in an interview.

Domínguez, Villiger, Freeman, Cases and Gutmann, considered the pentarchy of the Cuban cigar worldwide, were summoned by Fidel Castro during the Special Period to stir up their clientele before the first Cigar Festival.

Called to the international cigar event par excellence, the millionaires who meet in Havana once a year – and also personalities such as Jeremy Irons, Paris Hilton and Tom Jones – also travel to the “twin” events that the five houses hold around the world, and which have been joined by other potential tycoons from Russia, the United Arab Emirates and – the client of the future – China.

Each dinner is more exclusive than the last, and more and more expensive and extravagant cigars are being sold. As an afterthought that, for any Cuban, is more than ironic, the millions collected are promised to Cuban Health. Without the slightest modesty, Habanos S.A. publishes the photos of each event.

At the end of the night, the “friends of the Cuban cigar” are photographed with the humble Cuban farmers, and they give a toast – cigar in hand and dressed in a tuxedo – for the dictator who made their businesses prosper.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The European Union Allocates 500,000 Euros in Aid for Public Health in Cuba

Russian and Cuban experts are studying the Oropouche virus in Havana

Since 1994, the EU has spent more than 107.5 million euros on humanitarian projects for Cuba / 14ymedio

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 August 2024 — The European Union (EU) has allocated 500,000 euros of humanitarian aid to Cuba to finance the most urgent health needs of children, adolescents and women of reproductive age, the Department of Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission (ECHO) reported on Monday in Havana. “With these funds we intend to support the local capacity to provide health services and improve access to medications and medical equipment that help meet essential needs,” said the EU ambassador to Cuba, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa.

Humanitarian aid will benefit almost 30,000 people, including high-risk newborns, children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age, according to an ECHO statement. The Maternal and Child Program (PAMI) is going through a bad time: so far this year, the infant mortality rate stands at 7.4 per thousand, the results for the 34,648 live births and 258 deaths for the year up to July 11.

In theory, the European funds will make it possible to acquire medications, supplies and medical equipment, and improve access to essential sexual and reproductive health services. The statement also specifies that this funding will be given to the provinces of Havana, Sancti Spíritus and Holguin, and will be implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). continue reading

Since 1994, the EU has financed more than 107.5 million euros in humanitarian projects for Cuba to respond to emergencies and catastrophes, as well as to strengthen the preparation of the most vulnerable communities and their institutions for new contingencies.

Cuban Healthcare has hit rock bottom and makes use of all the international aid offered

Cuban Healthcare has hit rock bottom and makes use of all the international aid offered. Specialists from Russia working with several Cubans are conducting updated studies on tropical diseases this week, including Oropouche fever, which this summer has spread to the 15 provinces of the Island, state media reported on Monday.

The visit to Havana by experts of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare of Russia will last until August 8, in the context of bilateral cooperation in “guaranteeing the health and epidemiological well being of the population.” Its objective will be to “update the research on tropical infections” and carry out “a series of studies of similar infections” that are recorded in the Caribbean, according to Prensa Latina.

For the research, high-tech testing systems developed by Russian specialists will be used. These joint studies take place at a time when the cases of Oropouche, which is transmitted through the mosquito bite of the culicidae and culicoid species (or jején, as it is popularly known), circulate for the first time in the country.

This illness is characterized by fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains; sometimes vomiting and diarrhea are also reported. The first cases were confirmed at the end of May in two municipalities in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba. Two months later it had been detected in all 15 provinces.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Has Imported Less Chicken From the United States This Year, but Paid More For It

The Island bought 127,000 tons of chicken in the first half of 2024 for a value of 150.9 million dollars

Chicken is one of the main sources of protein for Cubans / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2024 — The export of chicken from the United States to Cuba in the first half of this year reached 127,000 tons, 8.6% less than what the Island bought in the same period of 2023 (139,000 tons). However, due to the increase in its price, spending increased by 7% in the same period: from 141 million dollars in 2023 to 150.9 million this year.

In summary, the Island is receiving much less chicken than in the first half of 2023, but the cost is greater. A kilo of poultry meat, which this month is at $1.23, fell by almost 9% compared to May, when it cost 1.34.

As for the monthly data, this June, Cuba bought 20,000 tons of chicken, which represents a decrease of 25.9% compared to June 2023, though an increase of 15% compared to last May.

However, if the data for this June are equated with those of January of this year, when the Island imported more than 30,000 tons of chicken – the highest figure this semester – the amount of meat for the sixth month of the year drops by a scandalous 30%. continue reading

This June, Cuba bought about 20,000 tons of chicken, which represents a 25.9% drop compared to June 2023 / USDA

According to the Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, these numbers are nothing more than a clear representation of “the usual oscillating trajectory of monthly exports of chicken meat from the United States to Cuba,” he explained on the social network X.

The professor also noted that chicken imported from the United States is “the most consumed source of animal protein in Cuba and compensates for the acute national agricultural crisis.”

Chicken is one of the six “essential” foods whose price the Government set last July at 680 pesos per kilo. The popular response, especially on private platforms and SMsEs, was to make the product vanish. According to 14ymedio at the time, many merchants preferred to lose the merchandise or sell it “on the left” to lose money.

Although, in addition to chicken, the Government also exempted powdered milk, vegetable oil, pasta, detergent and sausages from import taxes, spirits did not calm down. On July 6, in some markets in Sancti Spíritus and Havana, a kilo of poultry meat – in packages of thighs – exceeded 850 pesos, according to this newspaper.

Likewise, a report made a few days ago in Cienfuegos revealed that chicken, milk and oil, the most essential and expensive among regulated foods, were still missing from the stalls and SMSEs. “Some sellers still have the old prices on the signs, or products that they sold regularly have simply disappeared. It is likely that many have decided to sell on the informal market and recover the investment,” said a cienfueguero at the time.

The authorities have started a campaign against the “unscrupulous” who continue to sell at abusive prices

For their part, the authorities have started a campaign against the “unscrupulous” who continue to sell at abusive prices. However, the reports of millions of pesos in fines, the deployment of an army of inspectors and threats to remove licenses and close businesses have not managed to change the landscape.

According to Monreal, these “problematic” measures for the Island’s economy – in frank crisis – are based on the “official assumption” that it is possible to “stabilize low prices” in the domestic market by exerting pressure, without considering the low supply.

As always happens, when chicken imports decrease, the entry into the country of portions such as thighs and drumsticks, cheaper in the international market, is privileged. Other parts of the bird, like the breast or even whole chickens, are relegated because they are more expensive. There is less internal demand for them, though private restaurants like them for their versatility

The cooks must then become real surgeons, as happened this week in the El Biky restaurant branch on the outskirts of terminal 3 of Havana International Airport. For 2,600 Cuban pesos, the customer receives a dish with rice, a small portion of potatoes and a surprising chicken thigh turned, due to the crisis, into steak.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, the Order To Combat ‘MSMEs’ Has Been Given

Authorities investigate state-owned companies that pay “millions” to the private sector

The Achilles heel of the measure is that there is no way to avoid an under-the-table agreement between the heads of state companies and the owners of the ’SMSEs’ / Comercio Sancti Spíritus/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2024 — The leaders of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, aspire to become the elite squad in the government’s crusade against MSMEs. President Miguel Díaz-Canel had asked, during a session in Parliament last month, to liquidate the “excessive payments from the state sector to the non-state sector,” a statement that was endorsed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, who accused the private sector of tax evasion and announced that measures would be taken.

The Sancti Spiritus branch of the Ministry of Finance and Prices echoes the “combat order” that the president issued at the time: “We know that there are leaders who, without having gone through the collegiate management mechanisms, have made the decision to establish contracts without looking at the prices that are being proposed to solve a problem, taking money from the budget and spending it excessively.”

With the 2024 ministerial resolution 209 in hand, the leaders warn that they will put a “stop” to the excessive payments that the Government has “detected.” These are nebulous “economic relations” between both sectors, whose accounts are not clear. “Today any state company or any budgeted unit hires a service or acquires a product from a non-state management form and pays million-dollar figures, so to speak, without pain to the disbursement of its state entity,” Miskel Acosta Paredes, director of Finance and Prices in Sancti Spíritus stated in an interview with Escambray, the local newspaper.

With 2024 ministerial resolution 209 in hand, leaders warn that they will put a stop to excessive payments

Acosta predicts radical control for “the economic contracting process with non-state forms of management for the acquisition of goods and services.” The confusion over “prices and rates” is over, he claims. With the new regulations, the profits that SMSEs benefit from cannot exceed 30% of the total costs and expenses.

The Achilles heel of the measure is that there is no way to avoid –in Acosta’s opinion– an under-the-table agreement between the heads of state companies and the owners of the contracted SMSEs, so that they approve one set of numbers and “in reality another figure is set” on paper.

The plan of the Finance and Prices department is to force state leaders to clarify their documents through a “list of attendance,” a kind of agenda where all meetings and negotiations with private companies will be set out. In this way, inspectors will be able to review the process step by step.

Acosta sees his colleagues in Finance and Prices as champions of the “protection of the company and the budgeted sector.” “They have money, a plan, a financial capacity and they have to defend it, they have to negotiate, they have to haggle, just as we Cubans do in our daily lives,” he asserts.

“Money without pain” – a phrase repeated by the leader – is proof of corruption, which “generates profits for some representatives of the state sector as well.” For Acosta, this situation will have to stop if the regulation is respected. “When we have reviewed reports from the Comptroller General of the Republic, a large number of alleged criminal acts related to contracting actions between non-state actors and the state sector have been detected,” he reveals.

State corruption also takes the form of “favoritism with certain non-state actors.” In fact, he says, “enrichment of people has been detected through the contracting of products and services.” The inspectors under his command, he says, will attack the accounting books of both sectors to guarantee what he considers to be their mission: the “tranquility and transparency” of the socialist economy.

State corruption also takes the form of “favoritism with certain non-state actors.”

Marrero and Díaz-Canel – in various speeches and parliamentary announcements – promised dark times for the private sector, to which the prime minister attributed the evasion of 50 billion pesos, “a third of the fiscal deficit” of the country. Something did not add up in the numbers –that same day it had been reported that the deficit did not reach 100 billion – but the message against the MSMEs was given.

“It is not clear how the emerging non-state sector would have been able to defraud the omnipresent Cuban government to the tune of 50 billion pesos,” economist Pedro Monreal commented at the time in X. “If that were the case, we would be facing a case of colossal governmental incompetence.”

The official economist Iliana Díaz had complained that same week about the “little battle” against the private sector. After diagnosing the “exhaustion” of the Cuban economic model in front of the cameras of Cuban Television, Díaz demanded a truce in the face of the numbers revealed to Parliament: 1,831 fines to the non-state sector, 115 regulations to small business owners who wanted to travel, 127 requests for temporary withdrawal and 24 for permanent withdrawal of the license to engage in economic activity.

The solution is not to ambush MSMEs with administrative measures, Díaz summarized, but to encourage their development and to not assume that the state sector – which has “functioned poorly ” for decades – is the cornerstone of the Cuban economy.

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Venezuela: Revolution Without People

The evidence of Maduro’s defeat is there, coming from the very technological womb of the “best electoral system in the world”

Now Venezuelans are seeking the definitive victory: the recognition of popular sovereignty expressed in the elections / María Corina Machado/X

14ymedio, Gregorio Salazar, Caracas, 6 August 2024 — At 61 years of age, after more than 25 years as a member of the political cast that came to power with Hugo Chávez and 12 of those years at the head of the regime that today subjugates Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro has attempted the most reckless of his political adventures: to remain in power another six years against the will of the Venezuelan people.

Since July 29, the day after the presidential elections, doubts about the true result of the vote began to clear up. And the first and only bulletin of the National Electoral Council (CNE) remained nothing more than an implausible pretext, a strange justification for a move that ended up placing Maduro and his inner circle outside the constitutional framework.

The “official” CNE bulletin — for what it has said and for what it has omitted, and for its haste and its inconsistencies — will go down in history as evidence of one of the most crude political moves, though not its unpredictable consequences — with which a political group has tried to seize power in Venezuela. And, as they shamelessly proclaim, definitively.

Maduro’s hasty proclamation tried to convince (and demoralize) the population with the boast of a fait accompli

Maduro’s hasty proclamation – without completing the vote counts – tried to convince (and demoralize) the population with the boast of a fait accompli. But the evidence is there, coming from the highly technological womb of the “best electoral system in the world.”

Irrefutable, uncontestable, with the meticulous forcefulness of what happened, since they constitute the same input and use the same guarantee that the CNE’s automated platform provides: invulnerable digital codes and protocols.

With more than 80% of the votes collected so far, the result is overwhelmingly devastating. Edmundo González has more than 7 million votes, 67% of the total, giving him a large lead of 37% over Maduro. That figure and percentage, unprecedented in any election in our region, will be revealed according to the trend, to be much higher when the 100% of the votes are consolidated.

The polls revealed a wide lead for Edmundo González, the softening of the Chavista base, and the avalanche of migration against the government in recent days, but the result exceeds all expectations. With a figure of less than 30% of the electorate and the rejection that his rebellion against the sovereign expression of Venezuelans has aroused, Maduro begins another flight forward to enter a more totalitarian and repressive phase of the “revolution,” but this time from the lowest level of his popular support and with an unconquerable economic, political and social crisis.

At the same time, as soon as discontent spontaneously erupted in the most populated areas of Caracas and other regions of the country, Maduro began to make good on his promised threat — “a bloodbath” — which frightened Brazilian President Lula Da Silva, who now, together with the presidents of Colombia and Mexico, continues to insist on a detailed and transparent counting of the votes. The OAS, as if that were not enough, announced another international criminal action for crimes against humanity.

As if that were not enough, the Organization of American States (OAS), announced another international criminal action for crimes against humanity.

This clamor for the truth is spreading throughout Venezuela and the world and will grow with the passing of days, it will come from every representative body in the country and from the most varied actors. Fundamentally because the atrocious moves of the regime leave no room for half measures, for nuancing ambiguous positions: one is either with the truth or with fraud, with the possibility of a return to democracy or the entry into the sinister stage of a dictatorship that takes refuge in fierce repression – which has already claimed 20 lives in just two days of protests! – threats and persecution of media and journalists and in devices such as those sought at the Supreme Court [TSJ] level, the latest botched job that is obviously doomed to failure.

Maduro and the leadership are deepening the division of a country by stirring up hatred. They seek to degrade their own militants, those who have followed them in good faith, but who today can see how their leaders have crossed the threshold to total unscrupulousness. The truth wants to be twisted, stifled, unknown, by setting in motion a delirious, crudely woven narrative. The country wants peace, unity and reunion, not the prolongation of an autocratic regime.

What the (mis)governing elite does not want to understand or assimilate internally is that the political process that began with greater intensity in the months prior to the primary elections won by María Corina Machado will not stop.

The acts of vandalism and the persecution against María Corina will only continue to endow her with an epic, a national protagonism that has facilitated victories for the population such as the one achieved on July 28. Now Venezuelans seek the definitive victory: the recognition of the popular sovereignty expressed in the elections and the removal from power of Nicolás Maduro before he begins a new mandate without any legitimacy of origin.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Venezuelan media outlet Tal Cual.

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