English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana/Miami, 6 February 2024 — Western Union plans to resume the remittance service to Cuba on April 1. That is the date they gave to 14ymedio in calls to two offices in the United States. The employees did not know how to answer why it will take so many months to restore the transfers. … Continue reading “‘We Will Have To Wait Until April 1 for the Resumption of Remittance Services to Cuba’”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 29 December 2023 — A good part of the State TV Round Table program was dedicated by Alejandro Gil, the Minister of Economy, to the SMEs [small- and medium-sized enterprises], of which he said that there is no stopping of the process or reprisals. Another lie. Because although it is true … Continue reading “The Minister of Economy Who Never Told the Truth (II)”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 28 September 2023 — The topic of the upcoming hardships starting on October 1st no longer qualifies as a rumor, much less as a “counterrevolutionary lie”, now we know, from the word of those who make decisions, that it is true that there will be new problems with transportation, food distribution … Continue reading “Cuba, the Other October Crisis”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 September 2023 — While his Ministers of Economy and Energy arranged their faces to confirm the tough savings measures in the face of the umpteenth fuel crisis in Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel was going to a party, although his face was more like it was a funeral. The photographs published in the official … Continue reading “The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Celebrate 63 years With a Deficit of ‘Cadres’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 5 April 2023 — The private sector created almost twice as many jobs in Cuba in 2022 as did the State. The number of new employees amounted to 226,704, of which 79,912 were government employees, compared to 146,792 in “other forms of management,” according to data offered in the annual review analyzed on … Continue reading “In Cuba, the Private Sector Creates Twice as Many Jobs as the State”
14ymedio, Madrid, 10 February 2023 — Cuba’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, announced this Thursday the imminent start-up of seven foreign investment businesses with an impact on the food sector, some of them starting in March. In a meeting with directors of the Ministry of the Food Industry, he insisted on the need to turn … Continue reading “Cuba’s Tinima Brewery, in Camaguey, Will be Reopened with Foreign Capital”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 12 December 2022 — In February 1970, while doing my work as a journalist (still a student) to cover the sugar harvest in the municipality of Florida, I attended an important meeting chaired by Armando Hart Dávalos, the member of the Political Bureau assigned to guarantee the goal corresponding to the … Continue reading “The Ordering Task* and the Law of Gravity”
14ymedio, Havana, 10 December 2022 — The leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) took advantage of the closure, this Saturday, of the 5th Plenary of the Central Committee, to justify their actions, which have led the country to a generalized crisis with daily blackouts. “It was a hard and difficult year,” admitted the … Continue reading “In the Absence of Raul Castro, the PCC Plenary Avoids its Responsibility in the Cuban Disaster”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 October 2022 — Beginning this Tuesday, Cuba will grant tourist visas for 90 days, instead of the 30 days in effect before. The announcement was made this Sunday on Twitter by the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, and now is on official pages. In his tweet, García Granda also said … Continue reading “Cuba Extends Tourism Visas for 90 Days in an Attempt to Improve Results in this Sector”
14ymedio, Madrid, 28 October 2022 — The Cuban Government has surrendered to the evidence and now reduces the tourism forecast to no more and no less than 790,000 more travelers this year. At the beginning of the year, the authorities had projected the arrival of 2.5 million foreign visitors, and, until a few days ago, … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Acknowledges its Failure to Revive Tourism”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez and Juan Izquierdo, Havana, September 5, 2022 — The night begins to cool off over Santa Clara and, after having a bite to eat, the coleros [people standing in line for others, for pay] cross Vidal Park on their way to the currency exchange (Cadeca). The custom is new but the … Continue reading “Cubans Wait All Night at the Currency Exchange to Buy Dollars, Which Now Cost 150 pesos in the Informal Market”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 August 2022 — In the midst of the deepest economic crisis in two decades, the Cuban government announced the purchase of dollars in cash at 120 pesos starting on Thursday. “We are going to start with the purchase of foreign currency, of all currencies including the dollar, in cash, at a higher … Continue reading “Against the Ropes, the Cuban Government Announces the Purchase of Dollars in Cash at 120 pesos”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 July 2022 — The new provisions of the General Customs of Cuba on imports from individuals on a non-commercial basis have been announced this Thursday. The Official Gazette specifies that Cubans will be able to import up to five cell phones — versus the two that were allowed — two electric generators, … Continue reading “Cubans Will be Able to Import Five Cell Phones, Three Computers and Two Motorcyles”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo Economist, 29 June 2022 — They hurried. Said and done. The words of Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil Fernandez still resonated announcing to the National Assembly the 75 measures to “revitalize the economy” and the resolutions of the Ministry of Finance and Prices (MFP) and the General Customs of the … Continue reading “Someone is in a Hurry With the Rules for Non-commercial Imports by Natural Persons”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 31 July 2022 — Cuba’s State newspaper Granma wants to leave behind this month of July, of accumulation of anomalies for the regime, with some news that aims to mean a return to normality. Not so much to justify that 10.9% GDP growth that Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Fernandez said … Continue reading “Cuba, Summer 2022: Clay for Children or a Vaccine Against COVID-19?”
