English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
EFE (via 14ymedio), Nedim Hasic, Sarajevo, 6 June 2023 — Carolina is a 50-year-old Cuban who for a long time lived between the dilemma of remaining in poverty or trying to emigrate to Europe. Today she is stranded in the far west of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a few kilometers from the border with Croatia and the EU. … Continue reading “Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gateway to the European Union for Cuban Refugees”
14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, 3 November 2022 — The monastery of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Saint Teresa in Havana produces most of the communion wafers, or “hosts,” consumed by the island’s Catholics. On Wednesday the nuns announced in an online statement that they would not be able to manufacture or sell any more … Continue reading “‘We Don’t Even Have Bread for Communion’ Says a Priest in Cuba”
Tempting the Cuban Transition Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo FOLLOW THIS EVENT ONLINE HERE and HERE Since December 17th, when President Obama and General Raul Castro performed their simultaneous speeches, many Americans insist on congratulating me. I wonder why no Cuban has congratulated me so far, and why I still haven’t congratulated any other Cuban, whether in favor … Continue reading “Sunday: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo at Northwestern University for a Free Cuba, Damn It!”
To this day, in the universal history books in junior high or high schools in Cuba, the Soviet theme is handled with kid gloves. They recall its founding father Vladimir Illych Lenin, the epic of the Second World War with its 20 million dead (old data, it was 27 million and more than a few … Continue reading “What the Soviet Union Left Cubans / Ivan Garcia”
Graphic from: http://www.cubaenmiami.com/ I am not going to tackle an everyday plot related to the cinemagraphic or literary genre that became one of the cardinal points of the United States, but that historic company that offers financial and commercial services, Western Union. Until sometime more than three months ago, if some friend or relative abroad … Continue reading “Western Pumpkins / Rosa Maria Rodriguez”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2024 — The Cuban regime took another step this Wednesday in its attempt to capture a greater amount of foreign exchange. The Clásica card, issued by Fincimex, the financial wing of the Gaesa military conglomerate, can now receive remittances from any country through the Tocopay application, based in Bilbao, Spain. Fincimex … Continue reading “Cuban Military Tries To Regain Control of Remittances”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 March 2024 — Among the Government’s pending and urgent tasks, said Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on Monday, is “the restructuring of the foreign exchange market,” set for February. Now in March, and without measures on the horizon, it is impossible to contain. In the midst of government inaction, the escalation in the … Continue reading “The Dollar and the Euro Are on the Way to Reaching 340 Cuban Pesos in March”
14ymedio, Havana, February 10, 2024 — The dollar reached the barrier of 300 Cuban pesos this Saturday and was on par with the euro in the informal currency market, according to the independent media El Toque. The accelerated degradation of the national currency is due to the increase in uncertainty created by the swings of the paquetazo [a … Continue reading “The Dollar Reaches 300 Pesos in the Cuban Informal Market and Ties With the Euro”
14ymedio, Madrid, 7 February 2024 — A Cuban resident of Tampa, Florida, was accused on Tuesday by the United States Federal District Prosecutor’s Office of illegally transferring $100,000 from the Island to the United States. According to an official statement, Mirtza Ocaña, 38, faces a sentence of up to five years in prison if she … Continue reading “A ‘Mule’ Who Made 45 Trips to Cuba in Less Than a Year Is Arrested in Tampa With $100,000”
14ymedio, Havana/Miami, 6 February 2024 — Western Union plans to resume the remittance service to Cuba on April 1. That is the date they gave to 14ymedio in calls to two offices in the United States. The employees did not know how to answer why it will take so many months to restore the transfers. … Continue reading “‘We Will Have To Wait Until April 1 for the Resumption of Remittance Services to Cuba’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 2 February 2024 — “The prices of any of the transportation services are not modified, all will maintain their current price,” the Cuban Ministry of Transportation announced this Thursday. This decision comes a few hours after the postponement of the drastic increase in fuel rates, following an alleged cyber attack against Cimex, the … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Backs off and Cancels the Increase in Passenger Transport Fares”
14ymedio, Miami/Havana, 1 February 2024 — “At the moment, deliveries to Cuba are not available until further notice,” is the response of an employee of a Western Union office in Miami this Thursday, confirming to 14ymedio the impossibility of sending remittances in this way, after trying both in the application and in three physical branches. … Continue reading “The Fall of Fincimex Paralyzes U.S. Remittances to Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, January 16, 2024 – Between investing in the private companies promoted by the regime or launching a “great rescue and family reunification operation,” Cuban emigrants have opted for the latter. This is clear from the Cuba Siglo 21 center, based in Madrid, which in its most recent report estimates that in 2023, the … Continue reading “Remittances Collapsed in 2023 As the Cuban Exile Dedicated Its Money to Helping Migrants”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 October 2023 — After turning a blind eye for decades to street currency sellers, the authorities have decided that this activity “hinders” the bancarización* [banking reform] decreed by the Government last August. On Friday, the official press reported a police raid in Sancti Spíritus against an “illegal cadeca” (exchange house run by individuals). Those … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Blame the Failure of Banking Reform on Hard Currency Sellers”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 September 2023 — Miguel Díaz-Canel met this Friday behind closed doors, in New York, with a group of U.S. businessmen, several of them Cuban Americans, to discuss the “new business opportunities” they may have in Cuba, thanks to several economic “transformations” prepared by Havana. Although the president did not offer other details … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Suggests Changes in the Law To Authorize Investments by Cuban Americans on the Island”
