English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 5 May 2023 — How was it possible, after the worst plane crash in our recent history, [Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashed in May 2018 at Santiago de las Vegas with loss of 112 lives], after the fatal collapse of the balconies that took the lives of three girls in a … Continue reading “Cuba: You Must Be Having a Laugh Diaz-Canel… / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, April 12, 2023 — None of the many people waiting in line outside a bank in Central Havana on Wednesday were there to deposit dollars, something they had been able to do since Tuesday thanks to a decree by the Central Bank of Cuba. On the contrary, they were suspicious … Continue reading “‘It Would Never Occur to Me to Put My Dollars in a Cuban Bank’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 11 April 2023 — There has been another sudden change of course in economic policy. As of Tuesday, Cuban banks will once again be accepting dollars in the form of cash. News of the Central Bank’s decision was published in the Official Gazette a few hours earlier. Independent experts worry that the new … Continue reading “Cuba’s Central Bank Reverses Course and Accepts Dollar Deposits in Cash Once Again”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 January 2023 — As of March 1, the U.S. Embassy in Havana will charge all its consular services in US dollars. The diplomatic headquarters has issued a statement on Tuesday in which it announces that it will “no longer accept Cuban pesos” in payment for visas, notarial services or parole. “The U.S. … Continue reading “Cubans Must Pay in Dollars for U.S. Consular Services in Havana”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 12 December 2022 — Analysts of the Cuban economy attribute to Cuban President Díaz-Canel the concept of “creative resistance” that the communist president uses every time he refers to the possibility of overcoming economic problems. In essence, Díaz-Canel understands creative resistance as “a capacity of the people not only to … Continue reading “Creative Resistance and the Cuban Economy”
14ymedio, Alejandro Mena Ortiz, Miami, 30 October 2022 — David left his dream of being a dentist to open a barbershop in Havana in 2016, one of the best years in Cuban’s recent history, with the visit of Barack Obama, tourism reaching the sky and hopes for more lively changes than ever. Six years later, … Continue reading “When the Rebellion of the Cuban Barbers Failed, David Left by the ‘Route of the Volcanos’”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 14 August 2022 — In the second year of the Ordering Task,* the Cuban communist regime has gone a step further in the line of formal banking procedures for economic transactions with the publication of Resolution 123/2022 of the Central Bank of Cuba, which updates the processes of issuance, use … Continue reading “Why Are Cubans Right to Distrust Their Banks?”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Valencia, 30 December 2021 — Well, we have come to the end of a very difficult and complicated year for all Cuban compatriots. The deadline is looming for people who still have convertible pesos, CUC, in cash, to exchange them for Cuban pesos (CUP) in compliance with the central measure of … Continue reading “The Deadline to Change CUC to Cuban Pesos Expires This Thursday”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 October 2021 — To the despair of the residents of La Lisa, Playa and Marianao, the Havana Water company said that on Thursday they will interrupt the service in those municipalities “due to maintenance and repairs.” In a statement published this Tuesday and by the official press, the state company specified that … Continue reading “New Water Cuts Announced in Havana for Thursday”
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 September 2021 — Food shortages continue to be the main problem for most Cubans, followed by covid-19 and the economic consequences caused by the ‘Ordering Task’*. This data is presented by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) in its fourth report on The State of Social Rights in Cuba, presented this Monday in Madrid, which … Continue reading “Most Cubans Live in Poverty on Less Than $ 1.28 a Day”
14ymedio, Anonymous, Algiers, 16 May 2021 — The Cuban medical mission in Algeria is, according to the assessments of the Island’s Ministry of Health, an example to the world and an international flagship. They boast on the networks to overshadow the shouted truths that come out of the little more than 850 professionals who work … Continue reading “The Lament of a Cuban Doctor in Algeria”
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, 19 March 2021 — “Two recharges with bonus in a single month, they must be very hard up for money,” thinks Lázaro Miguel, a 27-year-old young man who makes a living in Havana updating mobile operating systems and selling vouchers for cell phones. So far this year, his work has multiplied because the state … Continue reading “Insatiable, Etecsa Seeks to Take Over Remittance Business in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 March 2021 — After withdrawing the results of the survey carried out at the beginning of this week on the Ordering Task, the State website Cubadebate has published an article this Friday with some of the trends that the responses to the survey showed, but hiding the most unfavorable percentages. The manipulation of this information is drawing angry … Continue reading “Cubadebate’s Readers Rebel Against a Manipulated Survey”
14ymedio, Ricardo Fernández, Camagüey, 20 February 2021 — Despite the Cuban economy’s urgent need for foreign exchange and commercial operations, one of the basic elements of the commercial chain continues to have serious problems. ATMs to withdraw cash are a headache, especially in the province, where they fail, do not have bills or cannot meet … Continue reading “ATMS in Camaguey, Cuba: Few and With Many Problems”
