English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 1 May 2019 — The relationship between Cuba’s communist regime and the world of work has been difficult. Therefore, there is not much to celebrate this May Day, nor has there been on previous ones. This relationship has always referred to, by the Cuban government, as “adverse times, characterized by the resurgence of … Continue reading “May Day in Cuba With Little to Celebrate”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Madrid, 27 March2019 — The The Castro regime’s former minister of the economy, José Luis Rodríguez has reported, in an article published in Cubadebate, on the forecasts for the authorities’ economic plan for 2019. He begins by acknowledging that “this year the world economy will face a more complex situation even than that … Continue reading “Cuba’s Economic Forecasts for 2019 are Pie in the Sky”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Miami, January 6, 2019 — The communist newspaper Granma devotes an article in today’s edition to the economy, and specifically, does it with an untruthful title: “Wealth will come from work.” I have nothing against the journalist who wrote this pamphlet because certainly it will have been dictated to her. But … Continue reading “Wealth Doesn’t Only Come From Work, There’s More”
The Cuban Economy, Elias Amor Bravo, 27 August 2018 – Someone asks a naive question in Granma today: “Can a policy be more harmful than a hurricane?” The answer is yes, of course a policy can cause irreparable damage to a society by its application. The most obvious example is the policy practiced by the Cuban communist … Continue reading “Much More Damaging Than a Hurricane: Expropriations Without Compensation”
14ymedio, Havana, August 29, 2018 — Cuban experts consulted by 14ymedio agree that the predictions of Cepal (the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) confirm the stagnation of the national economy. Some even doubt that the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reaches the 1.5% announced last week by this body … Continue reading “The Cuban Economy is Not Taking Off, According to Cepal”
14ymedio, Mario J. Pentón, Miami | 25 July 2018 – Cuba’s 1.1% economic growth the first semester of 2018, announced by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, will not reach the kitchens of the Cuban people, nor will it be felt in the already reduced purchasing power of their wallets, according to various economists consulted by 14ymedio. The island, crippled by … Continue reading “Cuban Economy’s 1.1% Growth is Not Felt on Cubans’ Dinner Tables”
Elías Amor Bravo, 3 January 2018 — Cuba’s restrictions on internet access are an example of the types of controls the regime imposes on the population. On 28 December, however, it was announced that in 2018 the island’s inhabitants were expected to have access from their cell phones, something that thus far has not been the … Continue reading “Mobile Internet and the Right of Cubans to Social Networks”
14ymedio, Madrid, 22 January 2018 — Germán M. González, author of The Current Situation Of The Farmer In Cuba, Usufruct And The Social Security Of The Small Farmer, is the winner of the First Economic Rights Contest in Cuba convened by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights. In the article, González details the failed agrarian policy carried out on … Continue reading “Article on the Situation of Farms in Cuba Wins First Economic Rights Contest”
Cubaeconomía.com, Elias Amor Bravo, 5 January 2018 – The Castro regime, in its urgent need to find external financing for the economy, has developed a strategy of approaching the European Union that has come to an end, at least for the moment, with the recent visit of Federica Mogherini to Havana. The agreement is a vague … Continue reading “Mogherini’s Real Interest in Havana”
14ymedio, Madrid, 2 June 2023 — The Cuban communist press aligns itself with the hated capitalist media by including, this Friday, its first commercial advertising paid for by a private company. Cubadebate has an ad for the micro-business Cubamodela, which defines itself as a “Cuban Amazon” and sells products at prices inaccessible to the vast … Continue reading “Commercial Advertising Enters the Official Press With an Advertisement for a ‘Cuban Amazon’”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 March 2023 — The plan to move food production to the local level is going badly for the moment. The province of Artemisa evaluated the results of these first months on Monday in a meeting led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, which was also attended by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and other … Continue reading “Two Cuban Economists Criticize the Obstinacy in Favoring Inefficient State Agriculture”
14ymedio, Madrid, 14 April 2023 — Barely two days had passed after learning that the authorities had invested 12 times less in the agricultural sector than in business and real estate services, when the country’s top authorities urged farmers to look for “alternative solutions” due to the lack of “money to import all the resources … Continue reading “Cuban Prime Minister Marrero Attributes the Terrible Results of Cuban Agriculture to the ‘Non-State Sector’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 11 April 2023 — There has been another sudden change of course in economic policy. As of Tuesday, Cuban banks will once again be accepting dollars in the form of cash. News of the Central Bank’s decision was published in the Official Gazette a few hours earlier. Independent experts worry that the new … Continue reading “Cuba’s Central Bank Reverses Course and Accepts Dollar Deposits in Cash Once Again”
14ymedio, Madrid, March 20, 2023 — Doubts are growing after the announcement by Cuba’s state-run media that the first five wholesale businesses to be financed with foreign capital will begin operations in the country in April or May. Little else is known about a plan that officials hope will lower inflation but which economists view more … Continue reading “Cuban Economists Doubt New Foreign Businesses Will Help Lower Inflation”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 December 2022 — The price paid by Cuba in October for chicken imported from the US reached the historic high of 1.29 dollars per kilo, 48% more than at the beginning of this year, when it was at 0.87. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture collected by Cuban economist … Continue reading “Cuba Runs Out of Money to Buy Enough Chicken in the United States”
