English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
UNE announced the “total disconnection” of the Electrical System The Antonio Guiteras power plant had scheduled maintenance, but it did not last until the scheduled date With the country in darkness and the economy paralyzed, Marrero says that Cuba “is not yet in a bottomless abyss” 14ymedio, Havana, 18 October 2024 — The Cuban Ministry … Continue reading “Cuba Will Remain Without Electricity at Least Until Saturday”
14ymedio, Havana, October 18, 2024 — The origin of the current economic crisis in Cuba has its roots in 2016, and the country received a mortar blow in 2019, the prelude to the pandemic. This year it has bottomed out. The Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture has written a report that … Continue reading “A US Report Illustrates the Magnitude of the Economic and Social Crisis in Cuba”
The private sector is growing to the detriment of state-owned companies, which have ceased to be the economic engine 14ymedio, Madrid, July 24, 2024 — Despite the obstinacy of the authorities in qualifying the socialist enterprise as the “main mover of the Cuban economy,” the data are stubborn: the only sector in which employment is … Continue reading “Health and Education Workers Are Among the Lowest Paid in Cuba”
Expert William Pitt, owner of confiscated mines on the Island, points out that companies are reducing their investments 14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2024 — In a video showing a fleet of trucks, backhoes and machinery, the director of Mining in Cuba, Joaquín Ruiz Quintana, said on Wednesday that Cuba plans to export 50,000 tons of … Continue reading “The Fall in the Price of Nickel Contradicts the Optimism of the Cuban Government”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 July 2023 — On Tuesday, Cuba’s Parliament held a session to take the pulse of the national economy for the current year and evaluate 2022 results. The outlook, judging by the data offered by the Vice Prime Minister for Economy and Planning, Leticia Morales, is discouraging: 45.48% annual inflation, only 1.8% growth … Continue reading “The President of Cuba’s National Assembly Lashes Out: ‘We’re Tired of Programs and Measures. Where is the Reality?’”
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 15 July 2023 — The option of resolving Cuba’s external debt with the transfer of domestic resources to foreign companies, defended this Wednesday by the pro-government professor Juan Triana Cordoví, has been refuted by economist Pedro Monreal. Triana considers this option a way to refinance and “revitalize” socialism on the Island; for … Continue reading “Giving Hotels and National Resources to Foreigners Will Not Pay Cuba’s Huge Debt”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 May 2023 — Night arrived this Sunday without many Havanans having a gas supply twelve hours after the breakdown announced by the Cuba-Petróleo Union (Cupet). The company issued a statement of a few lines reporting a failure at 12:10 in the switch of the compressor system of the Puerto Escondido plant, in … Continue reading “A Breakdown in the Puerto Escondido Plant Leaves Havana Without a Gas Supply”
14ymedio, Madrid, 12 May 2023 — In 2022, wages in Cuba rose an average of 9.4% compared to the previous year, while the cost of living increased by 39% according to the official data and around 140% if we look at the informal market. The result is a brutal deterioration of the purchasing power of … Continue reading “Official Data Confirm the Brutal Deterioration of the Standard of Living of Cubans”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 May 2023 — The exploitation of the gas deposits of Puerto Escondido, in Santa Cruz del Norte (Mayabeque), goes full-fledged. Energas, the joint venture managed by the Canadian company Sherritt and the Cuban state company Cupet, in addition to Unión Eléctrica, reported on Tuesday that some 200,000 cubic meters of gas are … Continue reading “Despite the Complaints of Pollution, Energas Increases its Production in Puerto Escondido”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2023 — Residents of Puerto Escondido, in the province of Mayabeque, Cuba, no longer know who to turn to, or how else to report what they are experiencing. Constant gas leaks, deterioration of the vegetation due to hydrocarbon contamination and, finally, the installation of concrete reinforced piles for a gas pipeline … Continue reading “The Production of Gas Suffocates the Cuban Population of Puerto Escondido”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2023 — The nickel that the Canadian company Sherritt International extracted from mines in Moa and Punta Gorda, in Cuba’s Holguín province, has a clear pathway to large electric car factories in the United States. In response to pressure from environmentalists, the Biden administration adopted a series of measures in January … Continue reading “Restrictions on Mineral Extraction Force U.S. to Import Cuban Nickel through Other Countries”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 April 2019 — The United States government announced restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba on Wednesday, as detailed by national security adviser John Bolton in a speech at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami. Bolton noted that remittances to Cuba will be limited to “1,000 dollars per person per quarter” and that … Continue reading “US Imposes New Restrictions on Travel and Remittances to Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 April 2018 — A traffic crash took the lives of two people on Sunday afternoon and left four others injured, including two children, on the road from Ranchuelo to Cienfuegos in Villa Clara province. The incident involved a Moskovich car trying to overtake another vehicle, according to a note in the official press. The … Continue reading “Crash in Villa Clara Leaves Two Dead and Four Injured”
14ymedio, Havana, Ignacio Varona, 30 September 2014 – Few expected a magnanimous gesture from the Cuban courts toward the Canadian businessman Vahe Cy Tokmakjian. After he was arrested in September 2011, this 74-year-old man was turned into a test case for those thinking of investing in the Island. “If Tokmakjian is judged too harshly, few … Continue reading “The Tokmakjian case and the snares of the law / 14ymedio”
HAVANA, Cuba – The first 700 meters of dock of the Mariel mega-port are inaugurated by the presidents of Cuba, Raul Castro, and Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, in parallel to the II Summit of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). Rousseff ’s government — Cuba’s the second largest trading partner after Venezuela — has … Continue reading “Mariel: Another Mockery of Cuban Workers / Leonardo Calvo Cardenas”