English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 15 September 2021 — Insults and many, many shouts among the tumult, this was the scene on Tuesday morning in front of the El Exquisito de Fornos market, in Neptuno and Marqués González, in Centro Habana. The reason? The sale of unrationed cigarettes, a product that has been in short … Continue reading “The Most Violent Line in Cuba is the One for Cigarettes”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 1 August 2021 — Since Friday, the line has not stopped outside the bodega (ration store) at 251st and 50th streets in Punta Brava, a Havana neighborhood of La Lisa. But unlike other times, customers only need their ration book and a bag, because the food module that is distributed is … Continue reading “‘Free Rice Will Not Silence Us,’ Say the Residents of Punta Brava, Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, July 29, 2021 – What was announced last June as an exceptional measure just for the capital, became the norm for the entire country this past Thursday: the sale of cigarettes will be rationed. This was reported by Tribuna de La Habana, which said that it has gotten to this point “due to problems with … Continue reading “Cigarettes Return to the Rationed Market in All Cuban Provinces”
14ymedio, Havana 29 July 2021 — Tons of aid that partner nations are sending to the island will be distributed to Cuban families starting Friday. The process will begin in Havana, epicenter of the July 11 protests. It will continue in other provinces with large populations and where demonstrations were significant — Matanzas, Ciego de … Continue reading “To Calm Cubans, Discontent, Distribution of International Aid Donations to Begin Tomorrow”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 March 2021 – Amid the rise in prices brought about by the ‘Ordering Task’, the prices of cement and some other construction materials will not vary, according to a report on Cuban Television’s Roundtable program this Friday. However, the product has disappeared from the State stores and is only found on the … Continue reading “Cuba: One Bag of Cement Costs More Than 1,000 Pesos vs. the State Price of 165”
14ymedio, Havana, Luz Escobar, 7 January 2021 — “It’s 130 pesos,” Lucinda Torres, a resident of Havana’s La Timba neighborhood, heard the clerk say, as she finished her shopping at the rationed market for the month of January on Wednesday. “Before I came with 20 or 30 pesos and my rationbook and it was enough … Continue reading ““The Rice from the Bodega is So Bad I Don’t Even Want It for Free and It’s Six Pesos””
14ymedio, Havana, 4 January 2020 — After hundreds of criticisms in Cuba’s streets and on social networks about the high prices in the popular Coppelia ice cream parlor, which were raised at the beginning of the year, the Government of Havana announced on Monday that the new prices would be lowered, without specifying the details … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Backtrack on Price Increases for Coppelia Ice Cream”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 3 June 2020 – Very early in the morning, Yasmani gulped down his usual sip of coffee before going out into the street with his cart to sell fruits and other agricultural products in the municipality of Centro Habana. He did not imagine that this would be his last working day … Continue reading “Cart Vendors, in the Spotlight of Havana’s Police”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2020 — Connected to Cuba by an umbilical chord of family relations and remittances, Cubans in Miami are following with concern the news of a resurgent economic crisis on the island, which has begun exhibiting itself in a shortage of basic goods. Faced with a reduction in Venezuelan subsidies, the latest … Continue reading “A Worsening Economic Crisis in Cuba Raises Concerns in Miami”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 February 2020 — The authorities of the Ministry of Internal Trade have not stopped insisting in recent days that cleaning products will not disappear in February and March while recognizing their scarcity and announcing the availability of these products in April. This Monday, Francisco Silva, general director of Sales of Merchandise of … Continue reading “Cuba’s Complicated Shortages of Cleaning Products”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 February 2020 — While National TV broadcasts constant calls to strengthen our personal hygiene to prevent contagious diseases, the Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, announced on Tuesday in Villa Clara that the Government will not be able to meet the demand for cleaning products in the country until April at … Continue reading “Stores Will Have No Cleaning Products Throughout February and March, Cuba’s Internal Trade Minister Announces”
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”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, WEST PALM BEACH, United States. – The highly announced Roundtable TV show on Tuesday, 15 October 2019, where the “new economic measures” of the Cuban government were revealed, has just deflated any expectations that those who were waiting for some opening in the internal economy of Cuba might have had. This time … Continue reading “New “Economic Measures”: Another Trap to Catch the Gullible / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 September 2019 — The Roundtable TV show once again featured a new parade of ministers summoned to appease the Cuban people, who are greatly affected by the energy situation despite the arrival of a Venezuelan oil tanker on September 14. In this edition, the participants on the show were: Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Minister … Continue reading “On the Roundtable TV Program the Ministers Have Solutions for All of Cuba’s Problems”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, August 2, 2019 — The store opens at 10:00 AM but the line began forming much earlier in front of La Gloria on La Rosa Street in Havana’s Nuevo Vedado neighborhood. It is August 1 and mothers, fathers and grandmothers have been here since before dawn to make sure they get the most … Continue reading “August Arrives but Not the Uniforms”
