English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, December 21 2019 — The appointment of the Cuban Prime Minister this Saturday was a surprise. Neither female nor mestizo, the man appointed to the new post is a 56-year-old colonel with a beard that recalls the times of the guerrillas who came down from the Sierra Maestra. Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Minister … Continue reading “Diaz-Canel Appoints Colonel Manuel Marrero as Prime Minister”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 22 December 2019 — Along with the appointment of Manuel Marrero Cruz as prime minister, the deputy prime ministers were also appointed this Saturday and the holders of six government portfolios were renewed. In total, 19 ministers were ratified in their posts, including the most important, such as the Interior and … Continue reading “Cuba’s New Ministers: Obey Blindly or Dare to Innovate”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 25 June 2019 — Popular concerns about the worsening economic situation in the country have led the Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, to appear on national television on Monday to dispel doubts. “We are not going to have a second Special Period,” said the official, who lamented that “today importing … Continue reading “"Importing is Cheaper Than Producing," Laments Cuba’s Minister of Economy and Planning”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, June 13, 2019 — It seems the Castro regime has appointed an economics minister, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, who is actually funny. I don’t know if it was done with good intentions or in an effort to further confuse the situation, but during during a conference at the Eighth Congress of the National … Continue reading “Economic Minister Gil on Accommodating Cuba’s Import Mentality”
Alexandre Corona joins the long list of senior Cuban officials who leave their duties in 2024, since the dismissal of Alejandro Gil Fernández as Minister of Economy 14ymedio, Madrid, 24 April 2024 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel approved on Wednesday the dismissal of the governor of Cienfuegos, Alexandre Corona, who requested his resignation “upon recognizing … Continue reading “The Governor of Cienfuegos Resigns ‘Upon Recognizing Mistakes Made in the Exercise of His Responsibility’”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 April 2024 — The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) moved the pieces on its board again on Monday, when it dismissed, just two days after the dismissal of Susely Morfa in Matanzas, its first secretary in Mantua, Pinar del Río. Liusmara Rodríguez Soriano “was released from her responsibility,” said the official press, … Continue reading “A Senior Official of the PCC in Pinar Del Rio Has Been Dismissed, Criticized for ‘Dubious Management’”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 March 2024 — On March 3rd, while one of the owners of the Media Luna ’mipyme’*, Fernando Javier Albán, was supposedly arrested for corruption or about to be, Cuba’s Vice Minister for Food Industry, Orlando Borrero, visited the agroindustrial company in Ciego de Ávila and went out of his way to praise … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Used to Praise the Business Whose Owner is Now in Detention”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Moscow/Madrid, 11 March 2024 — Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on Monday an amendment to the credit agreements between Russia and Cuba that gives the Island better conditions for the payment and restructuring of its debt. The corresponding document was published this Monday on the legal information portal of the Russian Government. … Continue reading “Putin Approves New Credit Facilities for the Cuban Debt”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 February 2024 After being postponed due to an alleged cyber attack on the state financial company Cimex, two days before the dismissal of the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández, the new fuel prices, public transport and electricity rates will go into effect on March 1. Havana residents were trying to refuel … Continue reading “Gas Stations Closed and Others With Long Lines Before the New Prices of March 1”
14ymedio, Madrid, 9 February 2024 — Western Union, which has not been able to make transfers to Cuba for more than ten days, has clarified that “although the services are temporarily suspended, we are working to resume operations as soon as possible.” In a message sent by email to 14ymedio this Friday, the company states … Continue reading “Western Union Helps Its Counterpart in Cuba To Resume Remittances ‘As Soon as Possible’”
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, Havana, 6 February 2024 — The regime’s concern about the current crisis has led the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba to once again publish the Economy section, which will appear in Granma on a weekly basis. Its first article, signed by Joel Ernesto Marill Domenech, author of several texts with proposals … Continue reading “While the Euro Reaches 300 Cuban Pesos, the Government Keeps Going in the Same Direction”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, February 2, 2023 — The economic measures that were widely dubbed “el paquetazo“* — the package — were unpopular but necessary. Even from a coldly economic perspective, however, they seemed to be too little too late. The recent dismissal of the economics minister, Alejandro Gil, indicates that the decision to postpone increases … Continue reading “The Older Generation Demonstrates Its Ineptitude in Dealing with the Devastating Crisis Cuba is Experiencing”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 3 February 2024 — Few gas stations in Havana escape the fuel crisis that prevails in the country, stirred up by the postponement of the new rates for its purchase. Among the exceptions are Los Paraguas and Corral Falso, the two gas stations managed on Telegram by Esther Lilian Pérez … Continue reading “While Cuba Runs Out of Fuel, Four Tanker Trucks Arrive at Esther’s Gas Station Over Three Days”
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”
