Translating Cuba

No News of Political Prisoners Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Sissi Abascal or Sayli Navarro

The PEN Club of Cuban Writers in Exile calls for the “immediate release” of the poet María Cristina Garrido, imprisoned in El Guatao

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo ’Osorbo’ in a file image / Facebook / MSI

14ymedio, Madrid, 6 February 2025 — The Pen Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, a subsidiary of the international organization that works for freedom of expression and protects persecuted authors, has demanded that the Cuban regime “immediately release” poet María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, “and all human rights writers and activists who still remain in prison.” Garrido is serving a seven-year sentence in the women’s prison of El Guatao (Havana) for protesting on 11 July 2021 (11J).

In a statement made public this Thursday, the Miami-based NGO celebrates the release “after the agreement between the Biden Administration and the Castro dictatorship” of “several political prisoners,” who “should should never have been sentenced to prison.” However, they say, “many Cubans still remain in prison, including writers like Garrido, whose only crime was to speak out against the Cuban dictatorship.”

María Cristina Garrido was arrested in San José de las Lajas (Mayabeque) on July 12, 2021, the day after the historic protests, along with her sister, Angélica Garrido, who was released last July, having served her sentence of three years in prison. PEN points out that the poet “has faced very difficult detention conditions, which include isolation, abuse and lack of water and food.”

Accused of public disorder, contempt and resistance in March 2022, Garrido, like her sister, participated in prison protests in September 2022, refusing to wear the uniform of common prisoners and starting a hunger strike. continue reading

“With discretion and contempt for the authorities, she managed to get hold of some scarce paper, a pencil and a twisted pen cartridge”

PEN also says that her most recent book, Voz cautiva (Captive Voice), was written in prison. “María Cristina Garrido could not begin writing until the 349th day of her imprisonment. With discretion and contempt for the authorities, she managed to get hold of some scarce paper, a pencil and a twisted pen cartridge.”

The poet was one of the prisoners that the organizations hoped would appear on the list of the 553 released by the Government, announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 14, not as a pact with Biden – which took Cuba off the list of countries sponsoring terrorism that same day – but with the Vatican. Along with her, the Ladies in White Sissi Abascal and Sayli Navarro, and the artists, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo, are among the other prisoners of conscience expected to be released.

Far from granting them release, on the contrary, Abascal and Navarro continue to follow a “severe regimen” for being “negative prisoners” and are denied the benefits to which they are entitled.

The Cuban regime, which with the first releases hastened to clarify that they were “neither an amnesty nor a pardon” but “benefits” that did not exempt them from returning to prison if they did not comply with the “obligations,” stopped these releases the same day that Donald Trump took office as president of the United States and, a few hours later, revoked the order of his predecessor and returned Cuba to the blacklist.

Until then, organizations such as Prisoners Defenders (PD) reported that only 200 political prisoners were released from prison, of which 31 had already served their sentences. Among them were historical opponents such as José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, as well as activists Pedro Albert Sánchez, Luis Robles and the Lady in White, Tania Echeverría.

Precisely, Ferrer denounced again the pressure he is receiving from the regime by stating that they took a summons to his house to appear this Friday before a court, which he refused to receive. “If that’s why I have to go back to prison, I’ll gladly go back and stay in prison until the tyranny falls,” he said in a video shared on his social networks.

For Prisoners Defenders, the releases were no more than “a macabre game of the regime.” The total number of released prisoners that the regime had given, 553, was “very emblematic,” said Javier Larrondo, president of PD. It was the same number that PD had for the imprisoned 11J demonstrators. “What they have done, subliminally, is to let us deceive ourselves into thinking that they aee all 11J prisoners,” he told this newspaper on January 23.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Venezuelan Oil Shipments in January: Historic Minimum for Cuba and Maximum for US Chevron

PDVSA exported only 10,000 barrels per day in the first month of the year, 65% less than in December 2024

China continues to import the highest volume of oil from Venezuela / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 February 2025 — Oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba fell in January, 2025, to an all-time low of just 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), 65% less than last December, when 29,000 arrived.

Throughout January, the Cuban authorities have warned on several occasions about the lack of fuel and its consequences on energy production. The Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE) has attributed the blackouts to this shortage, which largely affects distributed generation plants.

Last Sunday, just at the end of the month, some provinces, like Cienfuegos, experienced an almost entire day without power, due to the unforeseen departure of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant from the grid. This was made worse by the “lack of fuel,” according to the official newspaper Granma, which that day reported a national deficit of 1,800 megawatts (MW).

It predicted that, with the synchronization of the Matanzas plant and the replenishment of crude oil, electricity generation could be improved, but none of that happened. The week continued in the same way, with average electricity shortages higher than 1,000 MW and up to 1,500 MW in recent days. continue reading

This Tuesday, the estimate was 1,714 MW of deficit, and the detailed report reveals that it is again mainly due to the lack of fuel, with 376 MW affecting 56 distributed generation plants, and four engines of the Turkish patana of Regla out of service. Meanwhile, for what UNE calls “technical limitations,” the lack of availability was “only” 151 MW, including breakdowns in the Guiteras – out of play once again – unit 3 of Santa Cruz del Norte, unit 5 of Nuevitas and 2 of Felton. In addition, due to maintenance, units 2 of Santa Cruz del Norte, 3 and 4 of Cienfuegos, 1 of Felton and 5 of Renté, in Santiago de Cuba, are not in operation.

The detailed report reveals that it is again mainly due to the lack of fuel, with 376 MW affecting 56 distributed generation plants and four engines of the Turkish patana of Regla

Venezuela’s oil exports to Cuba in 2024 have been well below shipments in previous years, with a 42% drop compared to 2023. According to Reuters’ annual balance sheet, Venezuela sent an average of 32,000 bpd compared to 56,000 bpd the previous year, which highlights a breach of the agreements signed in 2000 between Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. At that time, both leaders agreed on an average of 53,000 bpd, in exchange for Cuban personnel in Venezuela – mainly medical and military – which almost doubled during the best years but has subsequently been progressively falling, forcing Cuba to resort to other allies.

The Island, frequently helped by Iran and Russia, has found its best friend in Mexico, a fitting substitute, among other things, because of proximity. Last year, during the first nine months, Mexico sent 31,300 bpd to Cuba, according to the most recently known data. Pending the annual figures – which Pemex must give to the United States Securities Commission, where it is listed – oil shipments to Cuba from Mexico grew by around 86%, although derivatives decreased by 12%.

Mexico, however, presents other problems, since it is obliged to comply with US laws- unlike Venezuela – and cannot give away oil in the same way. It is still unknown how transactions are being carried out to alleviate the situation on the Island. Cuba’s thermoelectric plants cannot use the national crude oil, which is harmful to the boilers, and the plants have not been adequately maintained for decades. Meanwhile, the population and businesses in Cuba have increasing generation needs.

The reduction in shipments from Venezuela to Cuba coincided, however, with an excellent January for the exports of the Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA, which rose by 15%, to 867,000 bpd. The boost is due in particular to the increase in production by US Chevron, which benefits from a provisional exception in the sanctions decreed by Washington. In addition, there were large sales to China from Venezuela, according to data based on the movements of ships and monitored by Reuters.

Reuters recalls that, although the Biden Administration reinstated sanctions on Venezuelan oil in April 2024, it did renew the licenses granted to Chevron and its partners to sell to the US, Europe and India. Despite his hyperactivity in government announcements and actions, Donald Trump has not announced any change in those conditions, Reuters emphasizes.

In January, Chevron increased Venezuelan oil exports to 294,000 bpd, the highest in its history and more than the 280,000 bpd sold in October 2024. All Chevron shipments went to the United States to be processed in its own refineries and sold to its customers, Reuters reports.

In January, Chevron increased Venezuelan oil exports to 294,000 bpd, the highest in its history and more than the 280,000 bpd sold in October 2024

Exports doubled to Europe, going from 30,500 bpd to 63,000 between December and January, while about 60,100 bpd arrived in India, approximately the same amount as always. Far ahead of all destinations is China, which is the largest market for Venezuela, with 442,000 bpd in January, 21% more than the 364,000 bpd in December.

This is the argument that Chevron is using to pressure Donald Trump in its favor. Its executive director, Mike Wirth, said this week in an interview with the Financial Times that it is necessary to maintain the special license, because, otherwise, China and Russia would gain influence in the Western Hemisphere.

“In Venezuela, in particular, what has been seen is that when Western countries leave, companies from China or Russia increase their presence as a result,” he said. According to his studies, he added, the impact on the Venezuelan economy would force more migration.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had argued days before that it was necessary to review the licenses that end up “sending billions of dollars to the coffers of the Venezuelan regime” while it “did not fulfill any of the promises it made.”

“Look, we’re running a business. We don’t get involved in foreign policy,” Wirth replied.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Police Surround the House of Cuban Opposition Leader José Daniel Ferrer, Who Did Not Respond to a Court Citation

The leader of Unpacu calls for the formation of a Parliament of “free Cubans,” inside and outside the Island

The moment when Ferrer refuses to accept a summons to appear before a court in Santiago de Cuba this Friday. / José Daniel García Ferrer/Facebook/Capture

14ymedio, Havana, 7 February 2025 — A large police operation has surrounded the home of José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), after he failed to attend a court summons on Friday. The opposition leader confirmed to 14ymedio that he had not attended and does not plan to do so.

Released from prison at the beginning of January after negotiations between the Vatican and the Cuban regime, Ferrer was due to appear before the municipal court in Santiago de Cuba at 9:00 a.m. this Friday. According to the opposition leader, there is “a lot of surveillance” in the vicinity of his house and several people who were moving through the area have been fined for various reasons.

For the moment, he is awaiting the authorities’ reaction to his refusal to attend. “Attending would mean accepting that I am under house arrest. I do not accept that status: I would only accept being free,” he told this newspaper.

For the opposition leader, the refusal is “a matter of principle.” It is not about being seen as “the most rebellious” or “the most radical of the opposition members,” but rather about recognizing an important fact: the refusal to accept his conditional release. “I was arbitrarily imprisoned and I suffered all kinds of horrors and excesses against my person in prison. I only accept total freedom, without conditions. I did not want to be released from prison unless it was with my total release.”

Ferrer says that he was “expelled from prison.” He preferred to stay there rather than go out on the street under conditions. “If I went to a judge now, I would be committing moral suicide. If I said that for these reasons I would not attend, it is obvious that I have to keep my word. It is a question of dignity, of honor.” He is not trying to be above the law – even though he considers it “arbitrary” – he clarifies: “It is a position, a declaration of principles. That is why I am not attending.”

Around noon, Ferrer shared a speech on his Facebook profile in which he stressed the urgency of a “unified leadership and a Parliament of free continue reading

Cubans.” “I may only have hours left outside of prison,” he warned, “I may even have a short time left to live. I may soon be locked up again in the most extreme isolation, hence my haste in sharing this message.”

“Attending would mean accepting that I am under house arrest. I do not accept that status: I would only accept being free.”

Ferrer also called for “democracy, respect for human rights and well-being,” which are essential for the “democratization of Cuba.” “It is time for Cubans who love freedom to create a structure that represents the majority who want the transition in Martí’s homeland,” he said, stressing that social networks were a “magnificent tool” for organization.

In order to form a Parliament of “free Cubans,” the opposition leader called for a kind of “primary elections” to achieve democratic representation of Cubans both in the country and internationally, “before supportive and friendly peoples.”

“It is time to get down to such necessary work,” he said. “It is time to control certain egos and to banish whatever may exist or remain in some of us in terms of political blindness and limitations.”

This has happened with every initiative for freedom that Cubans have promoted throughout history, he recalled. This was the case with the Varela Project, “an initiative that united many and set a precedent.” He also mentioned the Partido del Pueblo, which “held historic elections via the Internet,” and Cuba Decide, which “has mobilized Cubans and friends all over the world.”

He also mentioned the Council for Democratic Transition, which “works fraternally” and reconciles “different ideologies” – “liberals, conservatives, social democrats, Christian democrats” – who fight for the country’s freedom. These are organizations that “understand how democracy works,” he said.

He warned of the sabotage that the regime will certainly carry out on this initiative. But, he added, “nothing and no one will be able to prevent us from electing our leaders and our Parliament.” He highlighted the role of Cuban exiles, who “play a vital role.” He called on them to be “protagonists in the process of salvation and reconstruction of our nation.”

Finally, he thanked those who support those who suffer, within the country and “on the front lines, harassment of all kinds” by the regime.

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“At the Meliá San Carlos Hotel in Cienfuegos, a Week Can Go By Without a Single Tourist Showing Up”

In January, during the high season, the establishment had an occupancy rate of less than 15%.

“Here, the biggest tips are always given by the guests, but right now there are very few.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 4 February 2025 — In the midst of the darkness that fell on Cienfuegos this Sunday, where the blackout lasted more than 20 hours, a bright building stood out at dusk. “I have only managed to collect 250 pesos all day from some Cubans who came into the bar to have a few beers,” says Gabriel, an employee of the Meliá San Carlos hotel. “There are people who come to take refuge here, to have a drink and to be able to at least see their hands,” he explains. Quite a triumph if one takes into account that the fall in tourism has emptied its facilities more than ever.

“There is very little service to external clients. The biggest tips here are always given by the guests, but right now there are very few of them,” the employee adds. During the month of January, the high tourist season in Cuba, the hotel has had an occupancy rate of less than 15%, according to an employee of the administrative area who prefers to remain anonymous. With rooms ranging from 115 to 160 dollars per night, if booked on the company’s official website, the establishment spends its days with a “small number of clients who also come for one or two nights, if that.”

The hotel, originally called just “San Carlos” opened in 1925, was owned by businessman Antonio Mata until, after the triumph of the Revolution, it passed into the hands of the State until its closure in the 1990s. After several years of renovation, the establishment reopened in 2018 with the name of its management company, “Meliá”, inserted. “It’s nice and comfortable, but in the city of Cienfuegos there is not much to do, so few tourists come here, and the ones who do, is because they are making a short stop between the West and the East”, says the employee.

The establishment spends its days with a “small number of clients who also come for one or two nights if that.” / 14ymedio

“These days, there is not much difference between working here or in a tourist center in the Islazul chain”, he added, referring to one of the worst-rated state-owned companies dedicated to tourism.

The hotel “is struggling with the number of guests,” he continues. “We have kept almost all the staff, but people are not very enthusiastic about coming to work because what really motivates us here is tips, not wages, and without guests there are no tips in foreign currency.” continue reading

At the door of the San Carlos, a security guard looks out into the darkness that stretches beyond the lights on the façade. It is nighttime, he has already completed his shift and has taken off his work uniform to await his replacement, but the employee who is to guard the entrance to the accommodation for the next few hours is late.

The lack of tourists does not help to maintain work discipline, something that is reflected in the details. Several ashtrays with numerous cigarette butts show that no one has been to clean them for hours, or perhaps days, and two employees sitting on a sofa check their mobile phones while waiting for their shift to end.

Two employees sitting on a sofa check their phones while waiting for their shift to end. / 14ymedio

“We’re like in the Coronavirus era, but without face masks,” says another bar worker. “I’ve counted up to a week without seeing even a single tourist. The staff reduction could come at any time,” explains the man, who is about 50 years old and has worked in the tourism sector for two decades. “I got a second job in a private restaurant and, if this keeps getting worse, I’m going full-time for that business.”

“It’s also difficult to answer questions from customers who want to go out and experience the city’s nightlife. You have to explain to them that there’s a general blackout, and that it’s better not to go out.” Among the latest guests she has served at the bar, she has often heard the phrase that they don’t plan to return to Cuba. “‘The country looks destroyed, I’m going to wait a while to return,’ said a German woman who told me she had come several times since the 1990s.”

According to Meliá’s third-quarter data, its hotels in Cuba had an average occupancy of 39%, well below its facilities in Asia, which is in second to last position, with 52%. The San Carlos is also one of the properties that led the Spanish hotel chain to litigation after the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. In 2019, Antonio Mata’s heirs sued the company for profiting from the property, as well as several hotel and tourism search platforms, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity.com, Trivago and Booking.com. The Florida judge who handled the case, however, removed Meliá and all intermediaries from the case.

Despite the lack of work, employees do have a motivation to go to The San Carlos: “electricity, water and food.” / 14ymedio

Despite the lack of work, employees do have one motivation to come to San Carlos: “electricity, water and food.” Every day they charge their phones at the hotel, knowing that when they return home there will most likely be no electricity. However, the difficulties that extend from the front door outwards also creep into the accommodation managed by Meliá. “Right now, we have the internet connection down because it seems there are problems with the server,” one of the receptionists tells a guest.

And not all that glitters is gold. Part of the hotel has its lights off in the interior areas. “We have an energy saving plan that we must strictly follow. All the rooms that are not in use are turned off or out of service, including the elevators,” explains the employee. “The management has asked us to remain calm and trust that we will get out of this situation”, stresses the woman, as if repeating a mantra that dissuades her and the other workers from being pessimistic.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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Cuban Human Rights Activist José Daniel Ferrer is Compared to Historic Figures Who ‘Left a Legacy’ Through Dialog

“Cuba needs to reconcile to avoid committing suicide,” says the Council for Democratic Transition

Vaclav Havel meets with former Cuban political prisoners in Florida.

14ymedio, Madrid, 5 February 2025 — The words of José Daniel Ferrer, speaking in favor of an eventual dialogue if the regime so desired, continue to be the talk of the island and abroad. The most recent endorsement of Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), has come from the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC).

In a statement published on Wednesday, the organization supports Ferrer’s position, and stresses that a peaceful transition must take into account even its detractors. “It is the way to guarantee that change is not a zero-sum game, in which the winners reproduce the ways, styles and language that then excluded them from living, participating and developing their talents and abilities, as well as their options, with complete freedom.”

In the document, shared exclusively with 14ymedio, the Council divides those who have expressed their opinion on Ferrer’s statements into two categories: rational critics and those who have carried out a “stoning.” In the Council’s opinion, one can disagree with the former, but the rational critics satisfy the “fundamental conditions for democratic discussion,” while it wants to respond to the latter by analyzing the implications of their position on what it considers the “eight premises of democracy.”

The first premise refers to the great historical figures who “left a legacy” because they were able to act from “forgiveness, reconciliation and inclusion.” Those cited include Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel. In this view, Ferrer “is related to those who make history, distant from those who shout at history.”

In this view, Ferrer “is related to those who make history, distant from those who shout at history.”

A second premise is that all Cubans must go through this path of forgiveness and reconciliation “before reaching, not always successfully, the democratic shore.” The CTDC believes that without this, one can only reach – individually and collectively – suicide. “Cuba needs to reconcile itself in order not to commit suicide,” it argues.

The organization also reproaches, in its third premise, that those who have personally suffered “the ordeal of repression and imprisonment” are not considered role models. “It is striking that the guardians of the moral code of resistance are those who have distanced themselves the most from it,” it says, in clear reference to those who speak from exile.

“Real, not symbolic, resistance is the starting point of politics,” the statement stresses regarding its fourth premise, which asks those who have an opinion to pay attention to the fact that, in order to change reality, it is necessary to be imaginative and flexible in political action, as they have sometimes been while resisting through their body and mind.

Furthermore, it goes on to refer to the fifth premise, “politics is the art of the possible.” This is the most extensive part of the CTDC statement and where the three options for a peaceful opposition are set out: “negotiation, the institutional path, and leading peaceful demonstrations that put pressure on those in power.” According to this reasoning, violence only leads to chaos that plays in favor of the elites “who take advantage of the collapses, while the people, the real ones, not those on the networks, are dying for it.”

The CTDC admits – and gives the examples of Nicaragua and Venezuela – that “dialogue does not necessarily lead to a final democratic solution,” but points out that being at a negotiating table already means giving visibility and voice to the opposition. “We have turned impotence in the face of the regime into a political position without realizing that dictatorships avoid dialogue because they do not like arguments. With dictatorships there is no dialogue, certainly, because they are not interested.”

“Without pluralism there is, in fact, no politics,” the statement states, calling for communism to be contrasted not with anti-communism, but with democracy.

The sixth and seventh premises are summed up, ultimately, in the importance of pluralism, which is essential for a democracy. “This commits to tolerance towards alternatives that we do not like, and respect for differences. That is why the term betrayal loses all meaning when it comes to democratic politics,” the statement insists. “Without pluralism there is, in fact, no politics,” it states, and calls for communism to be contrasted not with anti-communism, but with democracy.

Finally, the document calls for “de-monopolizing the homeland” and maintains that “disqualifying those who freely choose an option that democratically fits within” it “is in contradiction with what is preached.”

It also mentions the names of some opponents, not only Ferrer*, but also those who represent political positions very far from his and who are called, like “thousands of citizens” to a “historical crossroads.” “With a regime that has governed for more than six decades through repression, censorship and lack of freedoms, facing this challenge is difficult,” it acknowledges, but asks not to fall into the reproduction of “gestures, language and attitudes” similar to those of the current regime, since, it believes, “they continue to guarantee the power of yesterday’s victors.”

*Translator’s note: Listed names include José Daniel Ferrer, Félix Navarro, Luis Manuel Otero, Saylí Navarro, Sissi Abascal, María Cristina, Lisandra Góngora.

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Closed for Two Months, Havana’s Iconic Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor Is Resurrected With New Prices of Between 30 and 40 Pesos per Scoop

The reopening hype was quickly quelled by the employees’ clarification that, due to the low availability of ice cream, only two specialties are now served per person.

The new prices have come, however, with a more careful service. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 6 February 2025 — Coppelia is open! was the most common comment this Wednesday on the central corner of 23rd and L in Havana’s El Vedado neighborhood. The popular ice cream shop resumed service after more than two months in which supply problems and a remodeling forced it to close. The reopening has come, of course, with restrictions on the quantity served per customer and with a price increase.

A long line of customers, both curious and hopeful, waited this morning to enter the courts on the ground floor, either La Torre superior or the more select Las 4 Joyas where the menu boards announced the traditional combinations of the place: ensalada [a ‘salad’ in name only], three graces, super twins, white cow, pinto and prieta, jimaguas, harlequin and Sunday. The variety of flavors, although far from the dozens that the “cathedral of ice cream” displayed in its beginnings, was much greater than before the shutdown of the Coppelia factory, last December, due to lack of ammonia for the refrigeration system.

The reopening has come, however, with restrictions on the quantity served per customer and with a rise in prices. / 14ymedio

However, the hype about the reopening was quickly shut down by the employees’ clarification that, due to the low availability of ice cream, they are now only serving two specialties per person. The warning had already been made in the official press by Yeny González Ortiz, head of services at the Recreatur Company. continue reading

Another cold shower was the new prices, which, although still subsidized, have risen significantly compared to previous years. A scoop of ice cream, depending on the specialty and what it comes with, costs between 30 and 40 pesos, far from the 7 or 9 pesos it cost less than three years ago.

The popular salad, with five scoops and a couple of sweets, now costs 155 pesos, and if you want to add a donut or a tart, then you must add 50 or 75 pesos, respectively. / 14ymedio

The popular ’salad’, with five scoops and a couple of sweets, now costs 155 pesos, and if you want to add a donut or a tart, you have to add 50 or 75 pesos, respectively. The new prices have come, however, with more careful service. “At least they are serving cold water and everything looks a little cleaner,” acknowledged a young woman who opted for a ’Three Graces’ of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Another cold shower was the new prices, which, although still subsidized, have risen significantly compared to previous years. / 14ymedio

“The ice cream is solid and I haven’t found any ice chunks yet,” added an elderly man, surprised by a quality that, he suspected, “might not last long.” The experience of having fewer services and fewer menu items after opening a restaurant surfaced on Wednesday in the form of anecdotes and predictions.

In the outdoor areas, covered with awnings, and also in Las 4 Joyas, the payment method is exclusively through the electronic gateways EnZona and Transfermóvil, while in the rest of the indoor premises, payment can also be made in cash.

Through the window, right next to their table, the couple an see the Torre K, the luxury hotel that is about to open and where ice cream will not be paid for in Cuban pesos nor will it be rationed. / 14ymedio

In the parking lot area there are two points of sale offering ice cream cones for those customers who are in a hurry and do not want to wait in long lines. Meanwhile, on the upper floor, La Torre, two young people were trying a combination of pineapple and chocolate swirl ice cream on Wednesday. Through the window, right next to their table, you can see the Torre K, the luxury hotel that is about to open and where ice cream will not be paid for in Cuban pesos nor will it be rationed.

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Overwhelmed by Garbage, the Inhabitants of Manzanillo Fear the Arrival of a New Epidemic

“What started in a corner with a small nylon bag, today is a mountain of branches, rubble and dead animals,” they say.

A dumpster was on fire for several days, next to a playground and a medical office / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Carlos. A. Rodríguez, Manzanillo, Granma Province, 6 Febraury 2025 — “I woke up with chest discomfort and shortness of breath. It was after 2 in the morning, and I could tell that something was burning. In the morning, when I took my child to daycare, I saw a metal container burning all kinds of waste five blocks from my house.”

This is how Gisela explains why she has to follow a new route to take her son to school in order to avoid the garbage dump that is growing in front of a playground and a doctor’s office. “What started in a corner with a little nylon bag is today a mountain of branches, debris and dead animals.”

“The Comunales [Communal Services] take so long to collect the garbage that the container overflows. They tell you that the truck broke down, that there is no fuel. It’s always something,” she laments. “In spring, the neighbors set fire, supposedly to scare away mosquitoes, but it is no longer justified. Many of us think that the officials are really the ones who set the fires, so that there is less to collect. They burn sanitary pads, plastics or who knows what. Now we are in the dry season with a lot of wind, so it’s better not to think about what you breathe or what gets in your eyes.”

A dumpster and a garbage heap block the street / 14ymedio

The city, once synonymous with culture and splendor, today is a distant memory. Manzanillo has gone from being the Pearl of the Guacanayabo to a huge open dump.

“There is no one living here anymore,” says Eduardo, a neighbor of La Kaba, an agricultural market. “They throw out garbage from the houses the same as the decomposed merchandise from the shelves. They continue reading

thought they were going to solve it with a metal container but it made things worse.” He refers to the huge orange dumpsters scattered around the city center that have proliferated in the face of the inability of Communal Services, subordinated to the municipal government, to do its job, and which, in addition to ruining the ornamentation, legitimize the garbage piles.

“It will take a century to clean it up, and in the meantime you have to stomach all that filth. There are coffee shops in the surroundings, and they are now disgusting because of the flies and the plague,” says Eduardo, who remembers better times.

“There was a time when you didn’t see so much filth on the streets. They managed to hire carretoneros, horse-cart drivers, who were quite efficient. They stopped working because they were paid very little, and the raw honey for the horse feed went up in price. It even affected the closure of the sugar mills,” he said. The same thing happened in Las Tunas, where the carretoneros hired by Communal Services complained about the low wages and the terrible conditions.

The dumpster was eventually located half a block from Céspedes Park / 14ymedio

“With the coming of the dumpsters, the ‘divers’ resurfaced. It’s terrible that someone survives like this. They dive in looking for scrap metal, firewood or anything they can sell. It’s depressing, and I’ve seen old people eat rotten fruit thrown away by street vendors. We have reached that extreme.”

Despite the pride they have always shown for their city, the residents of Manzanillo admit that it has entered an unstoppable spiral of decadence.

They fear that at any moment a new epidemic like COVID will arrive, this time caused by the contamination and the lack of sanitation. And what saddens them the most is to see children and the elderly who, pushed by necessity, rummage through the trash for a piece of metal or an empty can of beer that can be exchanged for food.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Boarded Up and Roofless, Bola De Nieve’s House Suffers From Neglect in Guanabacoa, Cuba

The house has become a greyish shell that the municipal museum, which is in charge of the building, watches over with suspicion.

The house is located on the corner of Máximo Gómez and Versalles streets / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 2 February 2025 — The state of the house where Bola de Nieve, author of the most melancholic lyrics in Cuban music, was born provides enough to write a heartbreaking bolero. Located on the corner of Máximo Gómez and Versalles streets, in Guanabacoa, Havana, the house has become a grayish shell that the municipal museum, in charge of the property, watches over with suspicion.

What is left standing are walls that mark the perimeter of the house and several columns that support the structure of the porch, topped with floral ornaments that simulate the frames remaining in the windows. The roof has long since collapsed. From the remains of the building, one can guess the dimensions of a republican manor house that once occupied the entire street corner and now remains “ boarded up” to prevent unwanted tenants from sneaking in.

Like the bolero by the Cuban artist Es tan difícil (It’s so difficult), it has become an impossible mission for the Guanabacoa museum to take care of the house and rescue it “There was a project to restore it, but it never came to fruition. In the end, they boarded it up because people were constantly coming in to sleep or live there, and that was the solution: to seal it,” a museum worker told 14ymedio. continue reading

In 2011, on the 100th anniversary of Bola’s birth, the municipal museum put up a plaque commemorating the musician’s birthday, but soon after removed it.

As explained, the house belonged to Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernandez’s family – who gave himself the ironic artistic name of Bola de Nieve (Snowball) – but the musician moved his relatives to another house in the same municipality, located on the corner of Nazareno and Maceo streets. “His brother’s descendants did not keep the house, so they exchanged it. It was for a time a”cuartería”(similar to a tenement house) where several families lived,” the employee explains.

The republican-style building retains its walls and has long since lost its roof.

While people were living in the house, the museum could not restore it, but nor it did not allow the tenants to make major changes, since the building is considered a heritage site. When it was finally vacant, another place having been given to those who lived there, the museum could “get its hands on it” without obstacles. Then, there were no more resources or intentions to repair the house.

“There has been talk of restoration projects and some have even been submitted, but nothing is being done. There are many heritage sites in Guanabacoa with restoration projects submitted, but the problem is that there is no money,” the worker says. When the Guanabacoa museum itself “needs repairing,” the future of the manor house is clear: “it is going to be lost.”

Translated by LAR

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Dialogue and Dictatorships: Cuba and the United States

Ferrer’s words make a lot of sense: the opposition needs more than ever to unite, to strengthen itself, to make itself heard.

José Daniel Ferrer, in one of his latest videos posted on social media. / Screen Capture / Youtube / Unpacu

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 February 2025 — In recent days, the statements made by José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, have caused a great stir. José Daniel has earned his leadership by demonstrating uncommon courage, sacrificing several years of his life locked in Cuban dungeons, silenced, far from his family and receiving on his own body a violence that not many of us have been willing to suffer. Therefore, when someone like him expresses his opinions, of course one can disagree, but always with respect. Any patriot with a minimum of ethics would avoid falling into disqualifications, insults or questioning of his commitment to freedom and democracy.

His statements have been widely reported and debated. He mentioned some phrases that are considered cursed by a part of the opposition. For years, many activists and social media personalities have been euphorically repeating the slogan “there is no dialogue with dictatorships.” This dogma has been repeated so much that some even claim that it is one of the ten biblical commandments written in stone. Including those who insist that anyone who violates this sacred rule is part of an alleged “fraudulent change” organized behind the scenes by the regime itself in its secret offices.

The truth is that Castroism has not given any sign of going in that direction, quite the opposite. Its clinging to power is more intense than that song by Juan Gabriel. Its foolishness is more irrational and anti-dialectical than the overused theme of Silvio Rodríguez. They have not even been able to mutate towards the Chinese, or the Vietnamese, or the Russian model.

The experts who tried to help them in those adventures surely ended up receiving treatments for anxiety and frustration. How is a regime that did not even succeed in the Ordering Task, going to successfully plan the supposed fraudulent change that is so theorized about? I do not underestimate them. They have more than enough capacity to repress, but they do not possess even a tiny grain of talent for change, not even in a fraudulent way. They are “continuity.”

The dictatorship has never been willing to sit down with the opposition, except in its interrogation rooms.

But let’s talk about the demonized dialogue. First of all, the dictatorship has never been willing to sit down with the opposition, except in its interrogation rooms. Its traditional position has been to not recognize us. They were not even able to move forward in that attempt at dialogue after November 27, 2020.

They broke it off as soon as they had the first chance. Now, it is one thing to make a pact with a regime to ensure its prolongation, bending to its interests, and quite another thing to recognize the importance of countless historical dialogues and negotiations that put an end to various dictatorships. It is enough to study the Spanish Transition, the 1988 plebiscite in Chile or the end of apartheid in South Africa. None of these processes was a bed of roses, but they saved their citizens a lot of blood and avoided the indefinite delay of those regimes.

And for those for whom these examples do not serve, we also have Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall or the disintegration of the Soviet bloc, all accompanied by negotiations between different political sectors. In Poland, the Solidarity movement led talks with the communist government, which allowed a gradual transition to democracy. In short, dialogues have indeed brought down dictatorships, especially when they were accompanied by social pressure, international support and intelligent, consolidated and strong leadership.

It is obvious that if one does not have a suitcase there is absolutely nothing to negotiate, because it would be a waste of time. An opposition that is unable to engage in dialogue even with itself, that does not have the power to call for mobilization and organization of citizens for a protest or a strike, that is incapable of establishing firm alliances and consensus between the different groups in exile and within the island, or that is ignored by international powers and organizations, has nothing to negotiate. In that case there is no other option than to scream into the void, without any plan, waiting patiently for the pressure cooker to explode by itself. But those who hold out hope for violent chaos as a deus ex machina seem to forget who the person sitting in the Oval Office is.

The current president of the United States is a born negotiator. And he does dialogue with dictatorships, even the worst ones.

The current president of the United States is a born negotiator. And he does talk with dictatorships, even the worst ones. In his previous term, we saw him shake hands with the most pusillanimous dictator on the planet, Kim Jong-un. And we all watched with amazement the recent laughter of the Chavistas in the photo between Maduro and Trump’s envoy. You don’t have to pay for an online course in political analysis to know that the strategy of the tycoon-president is very simple: generate a lot of noise and apply maximum pressure to force his opponent to sit at the negotiating table.

I don’t think the Trump administration would look kindly on a violent collapse 90 miles from its borders, with the ensuing immigration chaos. Someone like him would prefer his surroundings to remain as quiet as possible, without creating risks near his walls. And his discourse has been clear from the beginning: he prefers tough guys who are capable of maintaining order in their respective houses, even if they are not very democratic.

That is why Ferrer’s words make a lot of sense. The opposition needs more than ever to unite, to strengthen itself, to make itself heard and to consider all the paths that imply less suffering for a people who have already suffered enough. State Security’s plan since they decided to release him is very obvious: to discredit his figure, to undermine his leadership, to divide even more. They have done it before and it has worked out well. They count on our ignorance and our egos. If José Daniel has had anything, it is time to think carefully, away from the noise of social networks and the fierce competition to see who claims to be more radical or to shout the loudest. For him, my deep respect, although we surely do not agree on everything, as it should be.

And for those who insult him, just one thought: the worst thing would not be that, when Trump sits down to negotiate, we are not even remotely prepared, with a good bag of options. The worst thing would be… that we are not even invited.

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An Opposition Group Urges the EU To ‘Temporarily Suspend’ Its Agreement With Cuba

The Council for Democratic Transition argued that the Havana regime sells “an image and narrative of modernization, without assuming real commitments to political openness or the improvement of human rights.”

The High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Josep Borrell, during a visit to Havana in May 2023 / @JosepBorrellF/Twitter

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 4 February 2025 — On Tuesday, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), one of the main opposition groups in Cuba, urged the European Union (EU) to “temporarily suspend” its Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC) with Cuba.

The group argued in a statement that the Cuban Government “has instrumentalized this agreement to obtain economic benefits and sell an image and narrative of modernization, without assuming real commitments to political openness or to the improvement of human rights.”

Therefore, the CTDC – which already made a similar request last September – urged the EU to “re-evaluate and temporarily suspend the ADPC until there is “concrete progress in the field of human rights and democracy” on the Island (…) and compliance with “democratic and economic” standards. continue reading

“Only with a clear and coordinated response from western democracies will it be possible to achieve respect for human rights and a peaceful change to democracy in Cuba”

It also asked the organization to “guarantee the participation of Cuban civil society in the negotiations and dialogues on the possible revision of the agreement” and to support the CTDC’s proposal for a law of amnesty and decriminalization of dissent in the country.

“Only with a clear and coordinated response from western democracies will it be possible to achieve respect for human rights and a peaceful change to democracy in Cuba,” the group argued in its statement.

The organization indicated that one of the main reasons for its request is the deterioration of human rights in Cuba, and it denounced the “systematic persecution and repression” of opponents, the “flagrant violation” of constitutional rights, the escalation of arbitrary detentions and a lack of collaboration with international organizations.

Secondly, it alleged the “failure” of Cuba’s economic model, with the “monopoly” exercised by Gaesa, “a military conglomerate that controls the country’s resources, represses the private sector” and does not pay its foreign debt.

Finally, it highlighted Cuba’s “opaque strategic alliances” with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, China and Iran, and its “logistic and military” support to countries such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, “factors in regional destabilization.

It highlighted Cuba’s “opaque strategic alliances” with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, China and Iran, and its “logistical and military” support to countries such as Nicaragua and Venezuela

The agreement that currently governs bilateral relations between Cuba and the EU was signed in 2016 and includes a clause of respect for human rights, whose violation allows it to be suspended.

The ADPC, not exempt from controversy within the EU (it has not been ratified by Lithuania and is criticized by conservative political parties), replaced the so-called “common position” of the EU towards Cuba, which the bloc had maintained since 1996, and which linked any progress in the bilateral relationship to progress in democratization and human rights on the Island.

The agreement promotes cooperation in favor of sustainable development, democracy and human rights, as well as the possibility of finding shared solutions to global challenges through joint actions in multilateral forums.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban President Díaz-Canel and His Foreign Minister Were Outraged That Marco Rubio Would Call Them “Enemies of Humanity”

According to the US Secretary of State, Managua, Caracas and Havana have generated a massive wave of migrants to the US “because they are countries where their system does not work”

Díaz-Canel speaking at the ALBA* extraordinary summit on February 3, 2025, in Havana / @DiazCanelB / X

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 4 February 2025 — The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, came out swinging on Tuesday against the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and said that “humanity is in danger” from the “neo-fascism” of the United States, in response to recent statements by the politician of Cuban descent.

“The shamelessness once again taking over the cynical politicians of the United States. It is proven that the migratory exodus in Cuba is proportional to the tightening of the blockade, which deprives our people of essential goods. Humanity is in danger because of your neo-fascism,” the president wrote on social networks.

Díaz-Canel said that “the Empire, with its expansionist appetite” is the true “enemy of humanity.”

Díaz-Canel referred to Rubio’s statements on Tuesday during a press conference in San José, Costa Rica, in which he accused Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela of being “enemies of humanity” and of having “created a migration crisis.” continue reading

Rubio assured that he had “no intention” of traveling to Cuba as Secretary of State, “except to discuss when those who govern that country will leave”

According to Rubio, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have generated a massive wave of migration to the US, “because they are countries where their system [of government] does not work.”

These are not the only statements made by Rubio about Cuba recently.

Previously, in an interview with the American television channel Fox News, Rubio assured that he had “no intention” of traveling to Cuba as Secretary of State, “except to discuss when those who govern that country will leave.”

In this regard, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, stressed on Tuesday that Rubio “was not invited” to the Island.

“The US Secretary of State wants to visit Havana, but first change our Government. His desire will remain unfulfilled. He will not be able to visit Cuba, a country of which he knows absolutely nothing. He was not invited,” the Foreign Minister wrote on his social networks.

*Translator’s note: ALBA is the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America , created by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez in 2004.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The US Head of Mission in Cuba Visited the Opponent Martha Beatriz Roque in the Hospital

Martha Beatriz Roque, en una imagen de 2016. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 February 2025 — The Head of Mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer, visited Cuban opponent Martha Beatriz Roque on Monday at the Manuel Fajardo hospital in Havana, where she has been hospitalized since last Saturday. According to CubaNet, Hammer transmitted to the activist a message from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who wished her a speedy recovery and hoped to be able to see her soon.

After the diplomat’s visit, it was revealed that Roque had been “transferred” to the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, which the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, who announced the transfer, described as “temporary.”

“The director of the Fajardo hospital, Dr. Mirtha, told us at 2.30 pm that they decided to transfer Martha Beatriz Roque to the Nephrology Department of the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital. The transfer will be carried out by the Integrated Medical Emergencies System, and in the company of two trusted friends, said Berta Soler, the current leader of the Ladies in White.

Roque, spokesman for the Cuban Center for Human Rights, arrived at the Manuel Fajardo intensive care unit in critical condition, with very low blood pressure, dehydration and hyperglycemia, coming from the Miguel Enríquez hospital, known as La Benéfica. As Soler and her husband, Ángel Moya, reported last Wednesday, Roque had been taken to La Benéfica due to the worsening state of her health. Roque has diabetes and is also suffering from a kidney infection. continue reading

Since then, the activists have continued to report on her medical condition, specifying that Roque had “trusted friends” by her side.

The activists have continued to report on her medical condition, specifying that Roque had “trusted friends” by her side

These days, the opponent has been improving, and this Monday she went from a “critically unstable” condition to “serious but stable.” According to a publication by Soler this Tuesday, Roque is “conscious but disoriented in time and space.”

Roque was the only woman who was part of the Group of 75 Cubans who suffered imprisonment during the so-called Black Spring of 2003. Founder of the Cuban Institute of Independent Economists, in 1997 she started the Internal Dissent Working Group. The document La patria es de todos – (The Country Belongs to Everyone) – signed with Félix Bonne Carcassés, René Gómez Manzano and Vladimiro Roca – pointed out the management errors of the Communist Party during the Special Period in the 1990s, and it dates from those years.

Roque was one of the Faces of 2024 chosen by 14ymedio, which also celebrated the delivery of the Woman of Courage award, which the US Government gives to those who “have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength and leadership in defending peace, justice and human rights.” Roque, however, could not go to Washington to receive the award because she is “regulated,” that is, banned from leaving the national territory.

At that time, she told 14ymedio something that gives the measure of her work in favor of democracy in the last 35 years, and its impact on the regime: “The hatred they have for me is terrible.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Several Cubans Are Among Dozens of Undocumented Immigrants Detained in Florida

Four of the 32 arrested had committed a minor crime

Irregular migrants arrested in Florida at the end of January /ICE

14ymedio/EFE, Miami, 4 February 2024 — A total of 32 undocumented immigrants were arrested in Florida in several operations by the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) and other federal agencies, on January 27 and 28. Among those arrested in the raids, carried out in Palm Beach County, there is an unspecified number of nationals of Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Nicaragua.

In a statement from the immigration authorities, detailed data are given about four detainees who committed a crime, including a 24-year-old Cuban convicted of fraud, failure to appear, theft and violation of probation.

In addition, there are cases of a 30-year-old Venezuelan with crimes of resistance to authority, drug possession and theft; a 44-year-old Haitian convicted of assault, drug possession and prostitution; and a 25-year-old Guatemalan convicted of illegal re-entry, possession of cocaine and driving under the influence of alcohol.

The four are awaiting deportation, while the remaining 28 are waiting continue reading

for a hearing before an immigration judge, who will decide if they will also be returned to their countries of origin.

The four are awaiting deportation, while the remaining 28 are waiting for a hearing before an immigration judge, who will decide if they will also be returned

In addition, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said on Monday that, in a joint operation with federal agents carried out in Tallahassee, it arrested “alleged members of the Tren de Aragua” – a transnational gang of Venezuelan origin – for alleged conspiracy to smuggle weapons, criminal gang affiliations and illegal entry into the United States.

Different security forces are participating in the migration operations, as the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, had already warned. This Monday, on social networks, ICE boasted about the cooperation achieved for these arrests by the FHP, the Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Drug Control Administration (DEA).

On January 31, the Argentine newspaper La Nación published an article in which relatives of several migrants detained in Delray Beach (Palm Beach) on the 27th denounced “deception” by ICE agents. “They took them by surprise and for no reason,” said a relative of one of the detainees. Some of those arrests occurred, according to testimonies, when those affected went to a routine appointment at the immigration supervision office.

The cousin of one of the detainees told Telemundo that her relative was summoned at 8 in the morning for a routine visit and had not returned. “He has a license, he has a social security card, he was given the appropriate documentation. All he had to do was register with immigration weekly, through a phone call, and continue complying. Today was a normal check-in,” she told the media.

“He has a license, he has a social security card, he was given the appropriate documentation. All he had to do was register with immigration weekly.”

The interviewee said that, hours later, after losing contact with him, she went to the office to look for him and found out that he was detained. “Without any reason. My cousin is not a criminal, he has never been in jail, he is not doing anything wrong,” she said.

The mother of a Venezuelan who was allegedly arrested in similar circumstances said she feared deportation, because they no longer have family in the country. “They told him to come at 2 pm because they needed to fix something on his phone for the application and supervise it. And yes, that was a lie.” The 30-year-old arrested man had been in the United States since he was six.

The report relates the cases of several other people who were apparently summoned for the usual check-ins and ended up detained.

Garrett Ripa, interim deputy director of the Office of Detention and Deportation in Miami, defended himself from the criticism and said that the work currently carried out by the agents is the same as always, “with the difference that they work together with more federal agencies.” In addition, he categorically stated that “they only arrest people with a final deportation order.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Without Light and Without Hope, the People of Manzanillo, Cuba, Are Back in the Stone Age

Darkness reigns on Calle Martí. In the background, three blocks away and impossible to appreciate is Céspedes Park / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Carlos A. Rodríguez, Manzanillo (Granma Province), 4 February 2025 — “It seems like we’ve gotten used to the blackouts. Now people get up to cook at four in the morning to take advantage of the current, or they buy coal that is scarce and goes up in price due to demand,” Eneida says as she selects some battered bananas in the market.

“Before six they had already turned off the power, so I had to start a fire to make coffee and cook peas. But life at home is not just about cooking. You have to wash and iron clothes and even watch a telenovela. Everything can’t be work, I’ve already done enough,” says the retiree.

Businesses that can afford it are illuminated with generators sent or acquired abroad / 14ymedio

Yordanki faces the same difficulties in his daily life, although he must also worry about his family. “Everything has become a problem,” he says. “In the house and on the street we walk like zombies, thinking about what to cook, and with what. This is an abuse. Even if my boys start their homework early, they don’t have daylight for long, even less so for the period of exams. They study with rechargeable lightbulbs and even with cell phones, but in the morning they go to school already tired. And so day after day passes, with no prospects for improvement.”

The blackouts have long ceased to be an event and now are one of the most important daily problems for the Cuban people. The consequences are catastrophic for industry and the economy, whose growth is unfeasible without energy; also for families, the most fragile link in continue reading

society.

“It’s no longer about whether it’s the Felton or the Guiteras [power plant]. Just yesterday we were without electricity from eight in the morning until dawn today. It’s too much,” Mariela protests. The Matanzas thermoelectric plant, the largest-capacity unit on the Island, left the National Electric System on Sunday morning in an “unforeseen” way. It was synchronized again on Monday night, but before 8 pm, it had suffered another breakdown. “You don’t recover from the shock. My daughter lives in the United States, and my fear is that when there is a blackout, landlines, cell phones and the internet don’t work, so you can’t even communicate with your relatives. What’s
more, the television signals go down and even Radio Granma, so there’s nowhere to find out about anything.”

At 8:30 at night, darkness hangs over the streets, and neighbors prefer to stay in their homes for fear of being victims of violence or crime / 14ymedio

“Manzanillo is unrecognizable,” says the night watchman of a company. “The city is completely dark. You only see a few public light bulbs at the beginning of the boardwalk and a few others on some streets. That, and in a couple of private businesses. People don’t go out anymore. They hardly even sit on their front steps for fear of being assaulted or having stones thrown at them. You see me here because they still have music in El Castillito, but I’m going to pick myself up just in case. And you should do the same,” he suggests frankly.

Except for a few who can relieve their nights with generators provided by relatives abroad, the people live like they’re back in the Stone Age. In the shadows, February promises to be a long month, too long, although 2025 is not a leap year.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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When Cuba Was On The Goldrush Trail

The very rare ‘Californian Album’, a jewel of colonial lithography, was published in the Havana workshops of Louis Marquier

The illustration, ’A good carriage ride’, shows gold prospectors on board the emblematic Cuban buggy. / Zoila Lapique

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 1 February 2025 – On the 24th of January 1848 General John Sutter – christened Johann August in his native Switzerland and don Juan Sutter in his adoptive Mexico – found some gold nuggets in the river running through his land. He tried to keep the find a secret. Two months later a newspaper published a headline, which we would imagine to be in huge black letters, like those which John Wayne used to read in the Westerns: “Gold Mine Found!”

The news was, in actual fact, presented in just one paragraph, and in a modest font. Three or four rather frenzied sentences which promised seams of gold “in almost every part of the country” and “great chances for scientific capitalists”. And so began gold fever in California, a magnet for all types of treasure hunters and bandits. Very soon the very President of the United States had to admit that on the other side of the continent – there are more than 4,000 km between New York and San Francisco – there were people who were about to get very rich indeed.

For gold seekers, who arrived in California with a pick, a spade, buckets and divining rods, it was the journey of their lives. John, or Johann, or Juan Sutter was eventually ruined by the flood of migrants who arrived on his land (and on the rest of the American east coast) over the following decades, without asking permission. (One of these migrants was, for certain, a German hairdresser named Frederick Trump, who ran away to the United States in 1885 to escape military service. Cured of fever in remote Alaska, he dedicated himself to hotels and real estate… and a president for a grandson… Finally wealthy, he returned to his native village in Bavaria. And was deported). continue reading

For gold seekers, who arrived in California with a pick, a spade, buckets and divining rods, it was the journey of their lives.

One usually arrived in California by boat, via Panama and the Pacific. Other adventurers arrived in Mexico, reaching Sutter’s property overland. In 1850, in Cuba’s golden age, Havana was an obligatory stopover.

The treasure seekers arrived on the island en masse, just as many on their way home as on their way out. It’s undeniable that some of them, more seduced by the mulata women, the tabacco and the climate (coming, as they did, from colder countries, just like Herr Trump) forgot all about their original mission. They crowded into the port and the city squares, the taverns and the walkways, each one having the appearance of a long-bearded beggar, and it’s not hard to imagine their stuttering attempts to beg for a drink, some food or a smoke.

Witness to that invasion were two artists – Ferrán and Baturone (who for me resemble Hernández and Fernández, from Tintin), ubiquitous, with their sketchbooks in hand – who dedicated themselves to record, in a published book, these “types” and their customs, in twelve printed plates. It’s the extremely rare publication, the ’California Album’, an absolute jewel of Cuban lithography, born in the Havana workshops of the French printer Louis Marquier.

The ’California Album’ was sold in instalments, some of them exquisitely coloured and others in black and white. Ferrán and Baturone were not only skilled at creating their drawings, but they were also ingenious at titling them. The titles were translated into English, perhaps to make them marketable to the gold prospectors as a souvenir of their stay in Havana.

The ’California Album’ was sold in instalments, some of them exquisitely coloured and others in black and white

‘A Fortune Made’ – of which there is no version in colour – is the title of one picture which shows a typical prospector, posing formally, standing upright like a biblical patriarch, with a sombrero, a three-quarter length jacket and a beard reaching down to his chest. In another, the same character, along with two colleagues who are clearly hungover, now swigs from a bottle of moonshine, all three now posing in more ’comfortable’ positions. They drink, more and more, as though they didn’t have to leave soon for a new destination – a destination which would be in a place of temperance.

Wearing a neckscarf, and with his shirt open, the traveller goes into the street looking for conquest. He looks like a vagabond, but he has money. He’s in good spirits – like a ’patron of the arts’ -and he doesn’t hesitate to sit himself down in Havana’s Alameda de Paula to peel an orange with a knife, surrounded by habanera women who entertain him with tambourines and a barrel organ. He meets up with other prospectors, all of them just as drunk as he is, and they hire a seven-seater buggy and pay for a good ride.

Gold prospectors are – as the rascally Ferrán and Baturone observe – in favour of letting things just drift along: they are calm, pleasure-seeking, always drunk and never changing. If José Antonio Saco had not already written, in 1830, a report on vagrancy in Cuba, then one would have said that it was these guys who were the first to establish such a thing.

But not everything is rosy for those who have found a little gold. It’s with some discomfort that we observe a pair of friends almost levitating through the effects of cheap and rough alcohol. Two others, perhaps through having lost a bet, or having lost their last gold nuggets, wildly gesticulate their predicament. And there, next to a cannon, his gaze lost somewhere out in the bay, a melancholic prospector with a broken shoe attempts to soothe the corns on his feet.

It would seem that habaneros were not oblivious to these Californian gold nuggets, and it’s likely that these were the root cause of numerous disagreements

It would seem that habaneros were not oblivious to these Californian gold nuggets, and it’s likely that these were the root cause of numerous disagreements. In the engraving, ’Realization’, three prospectors are quarrelling with a jeweller, or a valuer. To settle the dispute, the islander lifts up a pair of weighing scales.

My favourite image from the ’California Album’ continues – naturally – to be: ’What Great Tabacco!’ You can smell it and you can taste it. One miner’s delight with his cigar caddy, and another’s delight in a whole box of them – with its official seal – seems to sum up their fantastical lives: smoke, dreams, frenzy … and ash.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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