English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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, 1 December 2019 — Coffee, one of Cuba’s most emblematic products, is again absent from the Island’s markets due to production problems caused by “the late arrival of the packaging,” as reported by the official press in response to complaints from the consumers. For weeks, customers have reported the shortage of the product … Continue reading “Coffee Disappears From Cuba’s Markets”
In this Cuban autumn of 2010, with memorable rains in the center and east of the Island, we breathe the air of pessimism. A new crisis. Another one. Fed up with material and spiritual shortages. We are one of the countries of the world best prepared to suffer. A benefit of the Castro brothers’ revolution. … Continue reading “Coffee Without Milk / Iván García”
The sale of medicines and the purchase of foreign currency, all informal, happens in full view of the police and despite the operatives 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 14 April 2024 – The market known as La Cuevita, in San Miguel del Padrón, on the outskirts of Havana, is not larger than the one that … Continue reading “La Cuevita, Where Capitalism Works in Cuba”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 21 April 2024 — “We are state-run and our prices are low,” says an employee in an impeccable white shirt on Friday. He is standing outside the building that houses the collection of Havana’s Museum of Fine Arts. The young waiter is trying to lure customers into the building where … Continue reading “Havana’s Cafe Baco, a Glamorous Interior and a Culinary Insult”
The Russian oil improves the allocation of diesel by province, but “only satisfies about 50% of demand” 14ymedio, Madrid, 8 April 2024 — The arrival of the NS Concord on March 29 in Matanzas with 90,000 tons of Russian oil – 697,000 barrels – has given Cuba a break, but it is never enough. “The … Continue reading “Russian Oil Gives Oxygen to the Cuban Regime for ‘Speeding Up’ Food Distribution”
EFE/14ymedio, 5 April 2024, Havana — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, blamed the “recrudescence” of the United States’ economic embargo, this Thursday, for the “difficult situation” in the delivery of subsidized products through the ration card. The president dedicated the second episode of the program Desde la Presidencia – broadcast on YouTube – to the “difficulties” in acquiring, … Continue reading “Cuba Blames the US for the Instability in the Delivery of Subsidized Food”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2024 — After several days of extended power outages and weeks-long shortages of basic rations, thousands of Santiago residents took to the streets on Sunday, shouting “electricity and food… freedom… homeland and life” and “We are hungry.” The crowd was concentrated on Carretera del Morro, close to several popular and humble … Continue reading “Residents of Santiago de Cuba Take to the Streets, Demanding Electricity and Food”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — The balance sheet for Internal Trade in Cuba for 2023, published by the Government this Wednesday, provided only one statistic for the sector: 70% of the construction materials delivery plan was met. The rest of the meeting consisted of an accumulation of “enigmatic formulations, abundant exhortations, a drought of … Continue reading “Economist Pedro Monreal Points Out a ‘Statistical Blackout’ in Official Cuban Data”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 22 January 2024 — At this point in January, when it is not long before the end of the month, the two pounds of rice per person that remain to be delivered to the ration stores have not yet arrived. “Only a few peas, cooking oil and kitchen detergent.” “People … Continue reading “Despite the Poor Quality of the Rice, Cubans Are Distressed by Its Uneven Distribution in the Ration Stores”
14ymedio, Madrid, 16 January 2024 — Just as the government was triumphantly boasting of the arrival of a ship laden with chicken destined for distribution to consumers through Cuba’s ration system, figures on poultry imports from the United States in November were being released. After two months of steep declines, sales in this sector doubled, … Continue reading “Cuban Government Announces Delivery of Chicken Destined for Ration Stores”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2023 — Two bottles of oil, Gouda cheese, 10 pounds of white sugar and a pork leg top the list of food Yoel bought for his family in Cuba this New Year’s Eve from Miami. The Cuban émigré laments, “it’s the same story every December, since 2015”. Without their sacrifice, however, … Continue reading “From Christmas Dinner to Epiphany Gifts, the Festivities in Cuba Are Paid-for by Emigrants”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 12 December 2023 — “Retail Company No. 037.” The austere, colorless sign above an old public telephone and the pale, peeling two-colored wall are clear indications that this is one of Havana’s state-run stores. Specifically, the one alongside a market on 19th and B streets in Vedado. Inside, however, the … Continue reading “A Well-Stocked, Privately Owned Small Business and an Almost Empty State-Run Store under the Same Havana Roof”
14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 5 December 2023 — La Fortuna has nothing left of the old enthusiasm that prompted it to be baptized with such a name. The rationed market bodega, located on Carretera Central, Reparto Alex Urquiola, in the city of Holguín, woke up practically empty this Tuesday. The surrounding residents were impatient because the … Continue reading “La Fortuna, an Empty Bodega That Had Its Glory Days, Like So Many Others in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 November 2023 — A senior Cuban government official appeared this Thursday on State TV’s Roundtable program to try to reassure the population. Despite the widespread shortages in the country, the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Trade, Yosvani Pupo, said that the ’basic family basket’ for the last weeks of … Continue reading “On Cuban Television, a Government Minister Does a Balancing Act To Guarantee the ‘Basic Family Basket’ in December”
