English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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, 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, Madrid, 7 March 2023 — The Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (Gaesa), the all-powerful conglomerate belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been deliberately drowning the private sector in Cuba since 2016, and the SME law (micro, small and medium enterprises), promulgated in 2021, is only a “false opening” to attract foreign investment and … Continue reading “Gaesa Used the ‘Small Business’ Law to End the Competition of Cuban Entrepreneurs”
14ymedio, Madrid, 18 May 2022 — Ending the limits on remittances sent from the U.S. to Cuba — one of the measures announced by Washington on Monday, in addition to resuming flights — seems to be one that could have the greatest impact on the Island. It is for the benefit of Cuban families, which … Continue reading “Competing with the ‘Mules’: The Cuban Government’s Complicated Goal for Remittances”
14ymedio, Luis Zúñiga, Miami, 5 February 2022 — On June 5, 1960, Fidel Castro ordered the nationalization of the Texaco company’s oil refinery in Cuba. The following month, on July 5, he ordered the seizure of the two remaining US refineries, Shell and Esso. Castro let the owners know that there would be no monetary … Continue reading “The True History of the United States Trade Embargo on Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 June 2021 — Cuba’s state-run currency exchange company, Cadeca, has announced “a new service”: prepaid cards in dollars to be used exclusively within Cuba to pay for goods and services in the country’s hard-currency retail network. The new operation, which is not yet available, is an effort to take over cash remittance transfers … Continue reading “Cadeca to Issue Pre-Paid Cards in Another Step Towards Dollarization in Cuba”
14ymedio, Carla Gloria Colomé Santiago, New York, 28 March 2021 — The CUC has died and died young, like Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin, just 27 years old. The CUC, the Cuban convertible peso or chavito, as it has also been called, would become the substitute actor of the dollar that, at times, … Continue reading “The History of the CUC, or How the Dollar’s Bastard Brother Shaped the Lives of Cubans for 27 Years”
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, 26 January 2021 — The Provincial People’s Court of Havana announced on Tuesday the sentence of the three accused of belonging to the Clandestinos group after the trial that took place on December 21. The defendants received sentences of between one and 15 years in prison. Pánter Rodríguez Baró (43 years old), Yoel Prieto … Continue reading “Cuban Court Sentences Three Members of Clandestinos From 1 to 15 Years in Prison”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 31 December 2020 — What happened in Cuba throughout this year can be related in a fragmentary way through a chronology, but the most important did not begin in January 2020, but on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, when the President of the Republic, to calm the citizenry, advised that on the … Continue reading “In 2020 the Cuban Regime Suffered its First Defeats”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 2 November 2020 — In recent days an opinion column was published in this medium about an alleged interference by the Cuban military in the US elections, which will be held this Tuesday. Judging by the statements of its author, Emilio Morales, a Cuban-American economist and director of the Miami-based Havana Consulting … Continue reading “Fable about “Military Interference” and Realities Around Remittances”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 October 2020 — The United States government will prohibit remittances to Cuba that are sent through companies controlled by the military, according to a draft document published in the Federal Register. The measure will take effect on November 27. Most of the money sent to the island goes through official mechanisms, and 51.3% … Continue reading “US Prohibits Sending Remittances to Cuba Through Companies Linked to the Military”
14ymedio, Laura Rodríguez Fuentes, Santa Clara, 5 October 2020 — The seller of dollars suggests moving from his place on the sidewalk so that the park surveillance cameras do not record him red-handed. He walks to a nearby passageway of a family building and from his wallet he extracts a considerable bundle of bills: Cuban … Continue reading “King Dollar Rules Cuba More Every Day”
14ymedio, Havana, July 31, 2020 – The delivery to Cuba of remittances in dollars sent from the United States, which had begun through the agencies Cubamax and VaCuba, is now paralyzed. On Thursday, el Nuevo Herald reported that the French bank Crédit Mutuel, for fear of possible sanctions by Washington, stopped service to Fincimex, the … Continue reading “Remittances in Dollars to Cuba Through Cubamax and VaCuba Are Halted”
