In Cuba, Tourists Distrust Prepaid Hard Currency Cards and Prefer to Pay in Cash

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 8 November 2023 — With seven years in the United States and a butcher’s trade, Yoandy returned to Cuba this October to spend a few days with his family. In addition to their embrace, this 46-year-old from Villa Clara encountered serious problems when it came to paying for products and … Continue reading “In Cuba, Tourists Distrust Prepaid Hard Currency Cards and Prefer to Pay in Cash”

U.S. Chicken Imports Fall by 66 Percent and Cubans Already Pay a Fortune for a Single Chicken Breast

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 November 2023 — Chicken is sought after in the streets of Havana. After a few months when the increase in private businesses had improved the availability of chicken meat, one of the most coveted foods on the Island after people had to give up first beef and then pork, things have gotten … Continue reading “U.S. Chicken Imports Fall by 66 Percent and Cubans Already Pay a Fortune for a Single Chicken Breast”

Cuban Court Asks for 15 Years in Prison for Writing ‘Diaz-Canel, Motherfucker’ on Three Occasions

14ymedio, Madrid, November 3, 2023 —  The Provincial Court of Havana tried three Cubans this Thursday for crimes against State Security, which the Prosecutor’s Office asks to be punished with a total of 30 years in prison between them. Half of those years, for Jorge Luis Boada Valdés, 27 years old; to which is added the … Continue reading “Cuban Court Asks for 15 Years in Prison for Writing ‘Diaz-Canel, Motherfucker’ on Three Occasions”

Cuban ’11J’ Prisoner is Transferred to the Melana Del Sur Prison After Protesting Abuses

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 31 October 2023 — “Only today did I have faith in my son’s life,” Layda Yirkis Jacinto told 14ymedio, ref erring to her child Aníbal Yasiel Palau Jacinto, sentenced to five years in prison for participating in the popular protests of 11 July 2021 [’11J’. The political prisoner was transferred this weekend … Continue reading “Cuban ’11J’ Prisoner is Transferred to the Melana Del Sur Prison After Protesting Abuses”

Havana Club Will Produce in Cuba 2,500 Bottles of Tributo Rum at 500 Euros a Bottle

14ymedio, Havana, 24 October 2023 — With 2,500 “exclusive” bottles of Tributo rum, which will be sold at a price of 500 euros each, Havana Club International will celebrate its thirty years of creation this November at the Expocuba fairgrounds. The new edition of the drink celebrates the “rescue” of the brand, in the middle … Continue reading “Havana Club Will Produce in Cuba 2,500 Bottles of Tributo Rum at 500 Euros a Bottle”

The Bad Cuban Harvests Put an End to a Million-Dollar Investment in Las Tunas

14ymedio, Havana, 6 October 2023 — The workers of the Jobabo fruit and vegetable processing factory in Las Tunas are, frankly, disappointed. After a million-dollar investment to renew the industry, the tiny volume of crops forces production to stop frequently, directly affecting their salaries. The workers tell the official newspaper Periódico 26 that the factory … Continue reading “The Bad Cuban Harvests Put an End to a Million-Dollar Investment in Las Tunas”

‘Prices Are Expressed in Dollars’ Says the Sign in Cuban Shops

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 13 October 2023 — “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” was repeated several times a day between those walls. The former Legal Consultancy of Nuevo Vedado in Havana, which welcomed so many marriages between Cubans and foreigners, is now a business immersed in the separation of goods for the … Continue reading “‘Prices Are Expressed in Dollars’ Says the Sign in Cuban Shops”

The Price of US Chicken Rises, Imports to Cuba Fall

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 September 2023 — The price of a kilo of chicken that Cuba imports from the United States continues to rise and stood at $1.23 USD in July, 3.4% more than the previous month ($1.19) and 38% more than in May, when it barely cost $0.89. In this context, imports were reduced compared … Continue reading “The Price of US Chicken Rises, Imports to Cuba Fall”

Cuba’s Private Businesses Rebel Against Digital Banking: ‘We Only Accept Cash in Pesos, Dollars or Euros’

14ymedio, Havana, 1 September 2023 — “I sell 5,000 CUP in cash for a [digital] transfer. Best offer,” says a Cuban on social networks, where in recent weeks a new market has been created for the purchase and sale of pesos for pesos that the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) has already placed outside the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Private Businesses Rebel Against Digital Banking: ‘We Only Accept Cash in Pesos, Dollars or Euros’”

The Regime Brings Out the Heavy Artillery Against El Toque

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 29 August 2023 — It was just what was missing. Faced with the bewilderment caused by a fall in the value of the Cuban peso with respect to all currencies, which pushes the economy into an abyss, the regime takes out of the hat in the state press a theory … Continue reading “The Regime Brings Out the Heavy Artillery Against El Toque”

Advertising To Attract Consumers to Online Shopping: Another Failure in Sight

Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 16 August 2023 — The Cuban communist regime is committed to advancing banking reform — the so-called “bankification” — and now they have gotten into advertising, promoting a campaign in which state banks offer a bonus of up to 6% to customers who pay for goods and services with cards or … Continue reading “Advertising To Attract Consumers to Online Shopping: Another Failure in Sight”

With a Delay of Five Years and Foreign Machinery, the Baracoa Cocoa Factory Is Up and Running

14ymedio, Havana, 14 August 2023 — The Baracoa cocoa factory begins production five years after the announcement of a million-dollar investment of unknown amount. The official press puts the amount at “43,000,000 between national and foreign currency,” which in practice means not revealing the amount. Of that money, “it owes thousands in MLC to the … Continue reading “With a Delay of Five Years and Foreign Machinery, the Baracoa Cocoa Factory Is Up and Running”

Cuba, A Container Economy

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 12 August 2023 – Huge, refrigerated and with seals that reveal its journey through the seas of the world, this is the container that has arrived in our Havana neighborhood. The elongated mass has become, in a few days, the center of rumors, hopes and criticism. “It belongs to … Continue reading “Cuba, A Container Economy”

Suchel Promises Products in Pesos and Demands More Funding From the Cuban Government

14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2023 — The directors of the joint venture Suchel Camacho will once again put products on the Cuban market in national currency, after almost four years of selling in freely convertible currency (MLC) and through virtual stores. At least the company promised this in an interview published this Monday by Cubadebate, … Continue reading “Suchel Promises Products in Pesos and Demands More Funding From the Cuban Government”

Cuban Government Will Suspend Private Companies That Do Not Enable Electronic Payment Within Six Months

14ymedio, Havana, August 4, 2023 — State and private companies that purchase food products –both agricultural and of animal origin, including meat, poultry, dairy products and fish products – must pay for the wholesale purchase exclusively through electronic payment and immediately. The measure, which is part of the new rules for the “banking-ization” of the … Continue reading “Cuban Government Will Suspend Private Companies That Do Not Enable Electronic Payment Within Six Months”