Translating Cuba – Page 217 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Lifescozul Says It Gets Scorpion Venom Without Help From the Cuban Government

The company says that it has at least two “producers” in its service on the Island. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, February 8, 2024 — Thirteen years ago, Cuban biologist Ariel Portal, expelled from the state-owned Labiofam and a fervent defender of the healing properties of blue scorpion venom, emigrated to Ecuador and founded his own company, Lifescozul. With a private investment of three million dollars in the last seven years and a team of “renegade” Cuban scientists, the company insists – against scientific consensus – that the toxins of Rhopalurus junceus can cure cancer, and it dedicates its resources to procuring it.

Concerned that he will be linked to the Cuban regime after reading this newspaper’s recent articles about Lifescozul, Portal answers several questions. The most disturbing: how does a group of researchers, who supposedly broke all ties with their country of origin, get the venom of a scorpion that is endemic to Cuba?

Through “at least” two independent producers who live on the Island, Portal replies. They are the ones who “capture and milk the scorpions,” and then “someone” from the company travels to Cuba to pick up the bottles with the substance. Once abroad, the bottles are sent to the Lifescozul laboratories in Mexico and Chile to check that the substance is not adulterated. “Each venom has its own unique footprint,” Portal clarifies.

According to the biologist, the collection process is carried out without help – or permits – from the Cuban State. In fact, independent scorpion hunters are one of the headaches of Labiofam, the State company, which also manufactures a homeopathic substance based on scorpion venom, Vidatox, whose effectiveness against cancer is denied by Portal. continue reading

Lifescozul began as a “service company,” says the scientist, but now considers itself a “pharmaceutical development” company, with allies such as Pharmometrica, a Mexican laboratory that, according to Portal, “analyzes each sample (of venom) and certifies it for our studies.”

Portal, second from right, with a group of directors of the Tecnológico de Monterrey. (Instagram/Lifescozul)

The company is now asking its private investors for another 11 million dollars to enter a phase of clinical trials of its product, Escozul. For the company, Portal assures, having private capital “especially in the last five years” has been decisive.

The current structure of Lifescozul – which also works on another kind of products, such as nutritional supplements and vitamins – includes a scientific department, led by microbiologist Alexis Díaz, the “maximum authority” in the venom of the Cuban scorpion; a clinical trials department, headed by Dr. Mariela Guevara; and other marketing, medical care and follow-up teams.

They have a factory in Colombia, a research center in Mexico, and the financing of the project is managed in the United States. The headquarters is located in Ecuador, where Portal founded the “parent company” of Lifescozul in 2009.

Behind each of the people in charge of the company – all former Labiofam scientists – there is a story. Portal himself was dismissed from his position in the state pharmaceutical company in 2006, when he confronted its former director, José Antonio Fraga Castro, Fidel Castro’s nephew. Vidatox, the product manufactured by Labiofam – and one of Escozul’s competitors in the international market – was “a whim of Fraga Castro,” says Portal.

In 2000, scorpion venom as a cure for cancer was one of the obsessions of both the uncle and the nephew, says Portal. “Many patients went to Cuba to look for it because the BBC and CNN reported on its potential.” The pioneer of the studies was Dr. Misael Bordier, a biologist from Guantánamo, who “was never able to publish anything that supported the venom’s properties.”

José Antonio Fraga Castro. (Photogram from Vimeo)

“Fraga Castro saw the potential, and since he was Fidel’s nephew, he literally took the project away from Bordier, who died in 2005.” Bordier had formed an analysis group including Portal and Alexis Díaz.

The year after Bordier’s death, his colleagues gave Fraga Castro two pieces of news. The good one: that the team had found “evidence” that “inside the poison there are components capable of inhibiting malignant cell growth.” The bad one: that it would take ten years to have a concrete result. At a minimum.

The director of Labiofam was angry, Portal recalls. “The country needs foreign currency now,” was his argument when accepting the proposal of Dr. Fabio Linares, a doctor specializing in homeopathy, who assured that a compound could be sold “as if it were the established final product of the blue scorpion poison.” This is how Vidatox was born.

However, Portal, Díaz and Bordier’s other disciples studied the formula. The conclusion of the analysis, says the biologist, was worrying. “We tested Vidatox on malignant cell lines, resulting in the fact that not only did it have no effect on cancer, but it also accelerates it, and to top it off there was no trace of venom inside the formulation, since it was extremely diluted.” The conclusion, however, has a contradictory aspect: if Vidatox does not contain a trace of the toxin, which of its components “accelerates” the disease?

When they presented the report to Fraga Castro, he was offended. “He accused us of many things. I accused him of being corrupt, and the argument got out of hand. I ended up expelled.” Portal says that, from there, everything was an odyssey for him. He worked cleaning offices at the Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry until he was given authorization to leave the country. Then he emigrated to Ecuador.

In the case of Alexis Díaz, whom Labiofam refused to free until several years later, he also left Cuba in 2018, to carry out a postdoctorate in Chile. “Díaz was not expelled but was subject to control for a few years,” Portal explains. As for Guevara, who now resides in the Dominican Republic, he is the one who advises Lifescozul in relation to clinical trials.

In 2014, Lifescozul also had a contact in Havana, José Luis Monzón, who raised scorpions, as Portal revealed to Martí Noticias at the time. Monzón died a year after that interview, and now “his daughters continue his work in Jagüey Grande (Matanzas),” says the biologist, who does not offer more details about his work on the Island. However, a 14ymedio reporter discovered that the address provided by Portal to Martí Noticias did not exist. There is also the Bellavista building on 35th Street between 52 and 54, in the municipality of Playa, and no neighbor has heard of Monzón.

A reporter from ’14ymedio’ discovered that the address provided by Portal to Martí Noticias did not exist. (14ymedio)

“Since 2018, we haven’t had any of our patients traveling to Cuba,” he insists. If anyone requests to go, Lifescozul puts him in contact with Monzón’s daughters in Matanzas. “Misael Bordier’s relatives extract the venom” in Guantánamo, but Portal does not clarify if they have links with the company there.

Portal admits that, as this newspaper pointed out, Lifescozul has indicated to patients that the Cuban Government offers treatments – very expensive – with scorpion venom. However, he says that he has not done so with the intention that they will be treated at the Cira García hospital in the La Pradera hospital for foreigners, founded by Fidel Castro in 1996. “In 13 years of existence we have never sent any patient to those centers. Explaining the costs (more than 1,200 dollars) is enough for them to give up going to Cuba.”

The prestigious cancer research center Memorial Sloan Kettering, founded in 1884 in the United States, has explained that there are no scientific arguments to prove that scorpion venom cures cancer, and the benefits attributed to Escozul or Vidatox “are mostly based on anecdotes, testimonies and experiments that may not have been executed correctly.”

Lifescozul promises to have the papers in order so that, before the end of 2024, they will be allowed to do a clinical trial

Portal does not agree. “We are about to file several patents with an impact on three types of cancer,” he alleges. “We also work on the identification of active ingredients that act on the mechanisms of pain in people with cancer and on inflammation. ” Lifescozul promises to have the papers in order so that, before the end of 2024, they will be allowed to do a clinical trial.

After two decades spent studying Rhopalurus junceus, Portal insists on its “enormous potential” and argues that he knows of more than a thousand cases where the improved product seems to have helped people. However, it is a reality that Escozul, Vidatox and their counterfeits circulate widely on the black market of several countries, and that several “healers” sell them – very expensively – with the promise of healing.

It was the case of Carlos Miguel Castro Ochoa, a “naturopathic doctor” from Mexico, who charged $1,000 for several bottles of Escozul to a patient who ended up dying. Portal emphasizes that his company had nothing to do with it and that, in fact, it collaborates with the authorities to identify illegal merchants who “sell water.”

They are also not involved, he says, with the Cuban health system, which he, Díaz and other scientists from Lifescozul left – not always on good terms. “I don’t work in Cuba and I don’t plan to. Personally, I don’t think they want me there either.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A State Company Blames Cuban Farmers for Their ‘Inferior’ Production in Camaguey

Only 0.03% of the tomato requested arrived. (Camagüey Citizen’s Portal)

14ymedio, Havana, 8 February 2024 — With a deficit of 784 tons compared to 2022, and barely 55% of productivity achieved, the performance of the Canned Food and Vegetable Company of Camagüey in 2023 was described as “inferior” by the industry managers themselves. A devastating article published this Wednesday in the official newspaper Adelante points to a clear culprit: the producers hired by the company, who did not meet the targets for last year’s deliveries.

The lack of “quality” in the hiring process, the “lack of discipline” and the scarce “training” of the staff have left the company’s productions at rock bottom. With the arrival of tomatoes, papayas, mangos, peppers, onions, cabbages, cucumbers, corn and guava, only the latter fulfilled the plan, with 102% of the delivery, according to the newspaper.

Due to non-compliance by the farmers, only 29% of the raw material was received – initially calculated at 4,453 tons – with a particular deficit of ripe tomato, “of which barely 0.03% reached the industry,” or 2,447 tons less than agreed. continue reading

Other indicators, such as the delivery of 75% of mangos and 59% of peppers, were not as abysmal as that of fruit

Other indicators, such as the delivery of 75% of mangos and 59% of peppers, were not as abysmal as that of fruit, but they did not meet the industry’s expectations. “In a simple summary, seven of the eleven items contracted contributed absolutely nothing to the two factories: El Mambí, and the other one in Camalote,” says Adelante.

The production aimed at tourism also collapsed, coming in at 280 tons below what was agreed. With those “extremely low” numbers, the company resorted to a modification of the prices of its products, although the authorities did not clarify whether it was an increase or a decrease.

Inexplicably, the media says that the sale to the population, without precise numbers and despite the obvious failures of production, had “positive results.”

With all the variables against it, this year the company proposed to reach 1,535 tons in processed products, a contribution greater than that obtained in 2023. The director, Dalia Fuentes Navarro, explained that they are already working on controlling the deficient contracting process that has been the cause of the factory’s poor performance in recent months.

Fuentes Navarro even predicts that the tomato ’campaign’ in 2024 will be better than estimated, since special care has been taken to hire producers who will honor the contract, and this will also benefit the manufacturing of sauces for pizza, seasonings, juices and ketchup.

“It is clear that in the current period they must face a reorganization of the workforce, improve payment systems, especially in bottle washing, and increase the training of their staff, especially the foremen,” adds Adelante, with less optimism than the director.

Blaming the “informality” of producers for the collapse in state industries has become a common claim in the official press

Blaming the “informality” of producers for the collapse in state industries has become a common statement in the official press, which, although recognizing the poor conditions of contracts with the State, insists that there is no justification for non-compliance.

Something similar happened this January in Sancti Spíritus, when the local newspaper, Escambray, complained that dairy farmers sell their milk for 150 pesos on the informal market before selling it to the State – usually a bad payer – for a few pesos.

Other producers have not stayed on the sidelines either. This Monday, a farmer from Sancti Spíritus, in a video shared on social networks, complained about about how unprofitable it is to negotiate with the regime. With milk at 20 pesos – the official payment – “I have to sell 4.5 gallons to make a dollar,” he said, while stating that in no country in the world is milk bought at such a “humiliating” price.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban, Haitian and Venezuelan Migrants Are Offered Jobs in Mexico

The Mexican Refugee Aid Commission assisted 18,386 Cubans in 2023. (EFE)

14ymedio, Ángel Salinas Cortés, Mexico, 8 February 2024 — Fifty companies have joined the Tent organization to help migrants and refugees find work in Mexico. Through this project, presented this Wednesday, Cubans, Haitians and Venezuelans will be able to work for such prestigious firms as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and PepsiCo.

The NGO Tent, founded in 2016 by the Turkish tycoon and Greek yogurt manufacturer in the United States Hamdi Ulukaya, is currently present in 12 countries and has a total of 350 associated companies

In Colombia, its work was implemented through the Bancamía project, which granted loans and insurance products to 200 Venezuelan entrepreneurs to help boost the growth of small businesses in that country. In Germany, it helped more than a million refugees, many of them Syrians.

The objective, according to a statement by Tent, is to “facilitate” the labor integration of refugees and migrants, in this case in Mexico, a country that “in recent years has welcomed more than 600,000 displaced persons” from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. In addition, this work fills the one and a half million vacancies that the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic has reported. continue reading

In 2023, the Government of Mexico recorded the presence of 700,000 foreigners in the country without authorization. Of these, the Mexican Refugee Assistance Commission assisted 18,386 Cubans, 44,239 Haitians and 5,517 Venezuelans.

In 2023, the Government of Mexico recorded the presence of 700,000 foreigners in the country without authorization. Of these, the Mexican Refugee Aid Commission served 18,386 Cubans, 44,239 Haitians and 5,517 Venezuelans

According to a study carried out by the Tent organization, consumers in Mexico support companies that hire refugees. “Seventy-four percent of respondents are more likely to buy from companies with these initiatives.” Tent proclaims that “this percentage is higher than any of the other eight markets where it has carried out similar research,” including Germany, Spain and the United States.

José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, president of the board of directors and general director of Femsa, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world, said that the hiring of refugees and migrants “has had a tremendous impact on the company and on the collaborators.”

None of the parties gave details about the type of jobs and salaries that migrants will be able to receive.

“Incorporating these people into the workforce represents an act of community commitment, global solidarity and social responsibility,” said Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena.

The strategy is different from the jobs granted by some companies in 2021 to irregular migrants. The state authorities of Sonora opened occasional places for cleaning, loading and unloading services in warehouses and assistants in restaurants. At that time, 13 Cubans benefited, receiving salaries of $200 per month.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Our Intellectual Stupidity

Like dozens of other artists and intellectuals, flutist José Luis Cortés (a.k.a “El Tosco”) pays homage at the tomb of Fidel Castro. (Juventud Rebelde)

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 7 February 2024 — No one is stupider than the idiot who thinks he is an intellectual, myself included. When I started becoming politically active, I arrogantly believed that, where others had failed, I would succeed. I thought that the higher the collective IQ a movement had, the better its chances of success. I figured that the more illustrious the names on the list, the more people would be willing to join. I had forgotten that most of our mambises* were illiterate.

For the last two years, the resistance and the fight for change in Cuba have been led primarily by the poorest, least enlightened people, not by some egghead. The most significant aftershocks of the mass demonstrations on 11 July 2021 have occurred in marginalized areas, far from provincial capitals. The very few scholars who have displayed a courageous, dignified attitude have had to deal with a very harsh isolation, beyond the metaverse.

On the other hand, the dictatorship knows it can rely on the support of tens of thousands of ambidextrous artists and intellectuals who, yes, do offer some criticism from time to time, following the mantra “a little positive, a little negative.” But they still sign loyalty oaths, attend marches and official events, and remain active in the National Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC) or the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS), organizations which exist expressly and openly to monitor and control their members, not to promote their work in any way. continue reading

Why do exceptional cases, like members of the Filmmakers Assembly, run around in circles, ruminating on the same statements and making the same speeches?

So what’s going on? Why have Cuba’s cultural and academic unions not known how, not been able, or not wanted to effectively articulate ways to bring about change? Why do exceptional cases, like members of the Filmmakers Assembly, run around in circles — ruminating on the same statements and making the same speeches — like cattle heading inexorably to the slaughterhouse, never leaving the corral?

By the time Fidel Castro issued his ultimatum**, “Words to the Intellectuals,” State Security had already meticulously planned how to keep us subjugated. They would employ our own egos against us, our very enlightened banalities, our jealousies and envies, our desire to be in the spotlight, our ambiguities, our contradictory herd mentality. Their tactics and strategies ranged from flattery — designating sacred cows and golden calves — to public sacrifices which would serve as a lesson. We normalize the use of masks and the misuse of allegories.

It is so sad and so naive when an artist boasts of having defended himself against his inquisitors by saying, “That is not what my work says. You are just interpreting it that way.” It is so very painful to have to hide behind an alter-ego to say what we dare not say aloud to ourselves.

It is so very painful to have to hide behind an alter-ego to say what we dare not to shout ourselves

When a state-supported intellectual asks to speak at a meeting, he first asks himself if it will be the right time and place to say what he thinks. He then starts his speech by clarifying that he (or she) is indeed a true revolutionary and that his criticisms are, of course, from within. In common parlance, this is referred to as putting on a patch before there is a hole. When the person in question finally finds the courage, he launches into a stern criticism of himself. Never against the disease, only against the symptoms.

Those with experience in this type of public venting know all too well that the the big shots really enjoy attacks like this, which are directed at low-ranking officials. It is the perfect opportunity to display power, demagoguery and populism. They will make a fool of the little guy even if his misstep is the result of an order from above or something endemic to the system.

This sacrifice — the fall from grace, the exile of one’s contemporaries — benefits the mediocre intellectual. It presents an opportunity to attain what had previously been out of reach. That is why almost all the country’s top prizes and awards ignore Cubans living overseas. Their colleagues on the island do not want the competition. They should have eliminated the National Prizes’ absurd categories long ago but the topic is never even mentioned at their conferences.

The Spanish word necedad, a term the regime’s defenders use to explain their actions, can mean stubbornness or obstinancy. But if you look it up in a dictionary, the first synonyms you find are simply stupidity, imbecility, idiocy and nonsense.

José Martí and Reinaldo Arenas would be disgusted by all these supposed intellectuals who believe themselves to be superior for knowing how to disguise their cowardice as intelligence.

Translator’s notes:
*Afro-Cuban insurgents who fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain in the 19th century.
**”Within the Revolution everything, outside the Revolution nothing.”

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‘They Threw Us Out Like Dogs’, Say the People Evicted From Factoria 70 in Havana

Those thrown out have a month to collect their things from the warehouse where the local authority put them.

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana 7 February 2024 — “Easterners, gay AIDS patients, the elderly, women with their husbands, children and people who have nowhere to live,” is how Yunier, one of those evicted from Factoría 70 between Corrales and Apodaca in Old Havana, described the situation of the people who were evicted on 31 January because the building was in danger of collapsing. “They dragged us all out of the place like dogs”.

The nearly one hundred people who were illegally occupying some 26 rooms in the building were evicted by the police and several local government officials, Yunier says. They were mistreated and given no assurances, although not all versions of what happened coincide. “They told everyone to find by themselves places to stay. They told them to go back to where they came from. The only thing they set up was a warehouse to store things while we found a place”, says the Havana native.

The evictees’ belongings can only stay there for a month, Yunier explained. The young man remembered how, about three years ago, people began to move into the the building, which had been declared uninhabitable by the authorities. “The people who were moving in began to put up windows and doors, and to organise the rooms a bit. Almost all were from Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, although there were some from Havana”. The former inhabitants of the building, he said, had previously been moved to shelters. continue reading

"Orientales, gais pacientes de sida, ancianos, mujeres con sus maridos, niños y gente que no tiene dónde vivir", así define Yunier, uno de los desalojados de Factoría 70, en La Habana Vieja, expulsados el pasado 31 de enero por el peligro de derrumbe https://t.co/LvB30ulOXP pic.twitter.com/EWtTjyEiPN

— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) February 7, 2024

He said that none of the people living in Factoría 70 received any eviction notices. The police arrived on 31 January, asked the residents for their ID cards and took them to Dragones station. “They handed out fines and let us go, and said they were going to come back another day, but they showed up the same day at five in the afternoon,” Yunier recalled. “The police wanted to finish before dawn, so that none of this would get out and people wouldn’t notice. The one who said we had to leave was a policeman from Dragones”, saids the young man. “Agents on motorbikes and other vehicles arrived,” as well as a government superintendent from Old Havana who did not identify himself. Five other officials with him also did not give their names..

The eviction was tense, said Yunier. “They threatened us. They said that if we didn’t leave they were going to do bigger things”. Homosexuals got the worst of it and were threatened by the officers: “You shut up. You are birds and we don’t want your comments. Similar things were said to the people from Santiago and Guantánamo, who were told that they “should go back to the East”.

Now the evictees are worried about what will happen to their belongings in the “goods warehouse” where the local government stored them. “So far nothing has been lost, but they might be,” he said.

The person who stands to gain most from the emptying of the building is, Yunier guessed, the president of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) on the block where Factoría 70 is located. The Havana native identifies him as Santiago, owner of a hostel and a pink convertible car, with “a lot of power and money”.

Yunier thinks that the person who stands to gain most from the departure of the building’s occupants is the president of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution

Santiago offers tourists rooms in his early 20th-century mansion, as well as providing tours of Havana and other parts of the country in his vehicle. On his social networks, a photograph taken in mid-January shows the crumbling façade of the building, still inhabited, as evidenced by the sheets spread out on its balconies, as a backdrop to his shiny convertible.

Yunier mentioned a rumour circulating among neighbours, that Santiago has enough influence over the government and the local police to speed up the eviction. His goal: to have a free hand to expand a car workshop he owns on the ground floor of the building. “He was the one who provided the materials to close the door of the building, cement, blocks and so on. Now he has started to store more cars.

The Factoría 70 building, which was formerly a stately three-storey building, with ochre walls stained by damp

Other nearby residents also point to his desire to “calm the block” as one of the main motivations for the prosperous businessman to push the authorities to act. Although it is within touristy Old Havana, the Jesús María neighbourhood where the building is located does not see many tourists due to the poor state of its infrastructure — which has barely benefited from renovations — and its crime level.

At the Factoría 70 building, formerly an imposing three-storey building, the walls remain ochre and stained by damp. Inside the ruin, families lived in overcrowded conditions and there were lots of issues between neighbours.

Recent rains have battered the now abandoned building even more, and the only thing with any colour in the area is the pink convertible. Those who left Factoría 70 are still looking for somewhere to sleep, in a city that is getting rougher every day for newcomers as well as for locals. Yunier’s diagnosis is pessimistic. “There is nowhere to live in Havana. They don’t say anything. They don’t help anyone. Nobody gives you any hope.

Translated by GH

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A Cuban Court Alleges that Otero Alcantara Is Not Ready for ‘Social Reintegration’

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been in prison since July 2021 and has served half of the five-year sentence imposed on him. (IG/ Claudia Genlui)

14ymedio, Havana, 8 February 2024 — The Provincial Court of Artemisa rejected an application for parole for the Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, as revealed on Wednesday by art curator Claudia Genlui on her social networks.

The leader of the San Isidro Movement was imprisoned in July 2021 and sentenced in June 2022 to five years in prison for the crimes of insulting the symbols of the homeland, contempt and public disorder. Despite the fact that he was not legally eligible to apply for parole, the reason, according to Genlui, is not related to those regulations.

According to the resolution, “The purposes of the penalty have not been achieved, and he is not in a position to face social reintegration in a positive way before family and society. The maximum penalty, having to remain in prison, applies for crimes under Instruction 273 of the Council of Government of the Popular Supreme Court.” continue reading

In this sanction, “the purposes of the sentence have not been achieved, and he is not in a position to face social reintegration in a positive way before family and society”

Genlui, the artist’s partner and one of his main spokespersons since he entered prison, said that Otero Alcántara’s family and friends will continue to denounce the violence of the system, which never ceases to intimidate citizens. “Those who are not in a position to face society or their own relatives are all the Castro judges, prosecutors and military who are part of the fascist and macabre game of the dictatorship,” she wrote.

The law specifies that any prisoner who has served a third of his sentence, in the case of children under 20 years of age at the time of imprisonment, or half the penalty for primary sanctions and two-thirds in the case of repeat offenders, is able to apply for parole. The latter would be the case of the artist, who since 2017 has suffered a multitude of arrests, the first that year for “illegal possession of construction materials” related to the 00 Biennial, an alternative art exhibition to the official Biennial of Havana.

It is unknown if the court states in its resolution that the artist does not meet any formal requirement, but it does point out reasons related to an alleged inability to live in society. In addition, it expressly alludes to Instruction 273, approved by the Supreme Court in 2022 and called the “policy of rigor in the face of the most harmful behaviors that affect society and the population.” It lists a long series of crimes that affect “citizen tranquility” including “altering public and constitutional order.”

Instruction 273, approved by the Supreme Court in 2022, is called the “policy of rigor in the face of the most harmful behaviors that affect society and the population”

The State considers that those who have committed crimes of this type, as is the case of Otero Alcántara, must compulsorily serve two-thirds of their sentence in order to be able to apply for parole and, in addition, conform to a “good behavior” that will be evaluated by officials. The instruction also penalizes those who use social networks to “foment crime.”

Alcántara has been in the maximum security prison of Guanajay, in Artemisa, since 11 July 2021, when he was arrested before he could join the massive anti-government protests of that day. The artist was tried along with his friend, the protest rapper Maykel Osorbo Castillo; with the former sentenced to 9 years in prison and the later sentenced to five years of deprivation of liberty.

Amnesty International named him as a prisoner of conscience in May 2021 and has not stopped asking for his release, as the visible head of hundreds currently in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Representatives of the United States and Cuba Meet in Washington to Discuss Security

Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, appears on the list of “terrorists” wanted by the Cuban regime. (Twitter/@jmayord)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 8 February 2024 — Representatives of the United States and Cuba met this Wednesday in Washington to improve the channels of police and judicial coordination between the two countries, the U.S. Department of State reported.

According to Washington, this dialogue increases the national security of the United States through “better coordination of law enforcement,” in order to protect American citizens and bring criminals to justice.

Cuba, for its part, gave the United States “information” about “people based” in that country allegedly linked to “terrorism, illegal human trafficking and other illicit activities.” continue reading

Cuba, for its part, gave the United States “information” about “people based” in that country allegedly linked to “terrorism, illegal human trafficking and other illegal activities

In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, the regime said that both parties “agreed that there are transnational crimes that threaten the security of the two countries and that require cooperation for their confrontation.”

Last December, the Island made public a national list of terrorists, which included activists, historical leaders of exile, YouTubers and influencers, mostly based in the United States.

According to the regime, the people mentioned in the list have been subjected to “criminal investigations and are sought by the authorities” for their involvement in the “promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission” of terrorist acts.

The US State Department stressed yesterday that, in all its interactions with the Cuban Government, it puts on the table “the defense of human rights” and also reaffirmed its commitment to hold “constructive conversations” with Cuba “whenever it is appropriate, to promote American interests.”

The Cuban delegation in Washington was made up of representatives of the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, the Prosecutor’s Office and the General Customs Administration of the Republic, according to the statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The American side was headed by representatives of the departments of State, National Security, Justice and the U.S. Embassy in Havana, according to the State Department.

Last November, the U.S. Government decided to keep Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for another year

Last November, the U.S. Government decided to keep Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for another year. In this regard, the Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that the “realization of this exchange” does not “contradict the most absolute rejection of the unjustified and arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the list” prepared by Washington.

The Biden administration has led a timid rapprochement with the Cuban Government, especially on immigration issues, with some meetings and visits by leaders of both countries.

However, the relationship remains far from the thaw that occurred during Barack Obama’s terms (2009-2017), and Biden has refused to review the inclusion of Cuba on the list of terrorist-sponsoring countries ordered by the former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Friends of the Cubans Who Died in Guatemala Raise Money To Repatriate Their Bodies

Marleny Hernández Alfonso and Ihanosky López Pérez died in an accident one week after leaving Cuba. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, February 7, 2024 — Friends of the Cubans Marleny Hernández Alfonso and Ihanosky López Pérez, animal rescuers, and computer engineer Arletis Velázquez Ramírez, three of the nine migrants who died in a traffic crash in Guatemala, ask for help to repatriate their bodies to the Island.

Their initiative is due to the delay of the Cuban Embassy in Guatemala, which, according to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, began the return procedure on February 4. “Officials are providing consular assistance to the families for the repatriation of the victims’ bodies,” he said on his X account.

However, Canadian animal rescuer Joanne Howard commented on Facebook that several relatives of Hernández, 46, and López, 38, “now face the expense of repatriating their bodies to Cuba and taking care of the four dogs and cats they left behind.” For this they need $10,000, which they are collecting through the GoFundMe platform. Up to this Tuesday, they have collected just over $4,000.

Howard said that Hernández worked for 16 years at the Tryp hotel, in the Cayería Norte de Ciego de Ávila, “where she was known and loved for her care of some 80 cats.” The couple who died in Guatemala, she said, undertook a rescue campaign and the transfer of these animals from the resorts to a safe place in Morón, in Ciego de Ávila.

Arletis Velázquez Ramírez se graduó en 2016 en la Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas (Facebook/Orland Cruz) — Arletis Velázquez Ramírez graduated in 2016 from the University of Information Sciences (Facebook/Orland Cruz)

Hernández, originally from Camagüey, “organized two sterilization campaigns in the resorts of Cayo Coco, which allowed the sterilization and castration of 55 cats, a lasting impact on wild cat populations.”

Arletis Velázquez, another of the Cubans who died in Guatemala, also left for the United States. Orland Cruz, a friend of the 31-year-old woman, said that in the town of Velasco (province of Holguín), where she was originally from, her mother and grandparents are devastated.

The family is trying to return Lety’s body, but the cost is more than 5,000 dollars, money they don’t have. Cruz mentioned that a campaign was started to raise the money.

The crash also killed Daicel Arzola Herrera, 37, Javier Pérez Toledo (31), Luis David Baños Lamadrid (25) and Luisa Reinosa Castillo (57), from Havana, in addition to Osmani Broche González (54), of Villa Clara, and ⁠Disney Alejandro Sandin Hernández (23), of Santiago de Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Nicaragua Receives a Record $4.66 Billion in Remittances, More Than Double What Cuba Receives

In Cuba, remittances from the USA are temporarily halted. (14ymedio)

EFE/14ymedio, Managua | 8 February 2024 — Nicaragua received a new record $4.66 billion in family remittances in 2023 – representing 29.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) – of which $3.841 billion came from the United States, the Nicaraguan Central Bank reported Wednesday in Managua.

Nicaraguans received $1.4352 billion more than they did in 2022, when they received $3.2249 billion in remittances, 23 per cent of GDP and 44.5 per cent more, the state-owned bank said in a report.

The main sources of remittances in 2023 were from the United States with 82.4 per cent ($3.8411 billion), followed by Costa Rica with 7.1 per cent ($331.9 million), and Spain with 5.9 per cent ($276.6 million), the monetary entity highlighted. Remittances from these three countries together accounted for 95.4 per cent of the total.

Remittances from the US, Costa Rica and Spain together accounted for 95.4 per cent

Remittances from the United States totalled a record $3.8411 billion in 2023, $1.3714 billion more than received in 2022, when they totalled $2.4697 million, or 55.5 per cent more, the source stressed. In addition, the $3.8411 billion received from the United States exceeded the $3.2249 million sent in 2022 from all countries, according to official data. continue reading

Those from Costa Rica totalled $331.9 million, up 20.3 per cent over 2022 ($275.9 million), and those from Spain totalled $276.6 million, for a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent ($270.1 million in 2022).

Nicaragua increased its economic growth projection to a maximum of 5% in 2023 and 4.5% in 2024, “based on the behaviour of a set of variables (exports, tax collection, credit, remittances, tourism, among others), as well as the positive evolution of the country’s main trading partners”, according to the Central Bank, which does not yet provide this indicator.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts a 4 per cent growth of Nicaragua’s economy in 2023, driven by record remittances, and 3.5 per cent growth rate in 2024.

The IMF expected family remittances to reach about 28% of Nicaragua’s GDP by the end of 2023, double their level at the end of 2021, driven by the rapid increase in Nicaraguan emigrants.

Cuba, although it has a similar percentage of exiles, only received $1.973 billion last year, the same amount as in 2010

About 20% of the total Nicaraguan population, estimated at 6.7 million, live abroad, mainly in the United States and Costa Rica, and it is estimated that half of them are undocumented.

The data on remittances to Nicaragua contrasts with those of Cuba, which although it has a similar percentage of exiles, only received $1.973 billion last year, the same amount as in 2010 and a decrease of 3.31% compared to the amount in 2022.

According to a report by the Havana Consulting Group, the collapse shows that many exiles prefer to invest money in getting their relatives off the island rather than sending them foreign currency. “It is a strong warning sign that the country is losing one of its main lines of income,” they said.

Currently, money transfers to Cuba through various agencies are at a standstill following an alleged Fincimex cybersecurity incident.

Translated by GH

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The Storm Caused Flooding in Low-Lying Areas and Waves Several Feet High in Havana

Along some sections of the Malecón, the waves crashed over the wall onto the road. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 5 February 2024 — Although the government of Havana had urged measures to be taken in the face of possible flooding in some sections of the Malecón, waves rose over the wall and flooded the road, and the traffic on Monday afternoon was cut off.

In the lower areas of El Vedado the waters began to rise around five in the afternoon, and part of the Avenida de los Presidentes in the area closest to the sea began to flood.

Few people remained on the streets, and the wind dragged garbage containers for some distance. Users on social networks, residents along the Malecón, shared images that illustrated how the waves burst over the wall and inundated several streets in El Vedado.

After increasing deterioration of weather conditions on the north coast of Havana, the local government determined “the closure of circulation on Malecón Avenue” after 5 pm. “The call to stay alert and comply with the measures established in the face of this type of hydrometeorological event is reiterated,” the Government of Havana posted on its Facebook page.

Around five in the afternoon, part of the Avenida de los Presidentes in the area closest to the sea began to flood. (14ymedio)

The Institute of Meteorology predicted for Monday winds of 16 to 25 miles per hour in Havana, which would cause penetrations by the sea. The day was preceded by storms on Sunday that caused the collapse of roofs and electric poles in the neighborhood of Lawton.

There were few people on the streets in this area of the capital. (14ymedio)

The institute said that on Monday afternoon in Pinar del Río, there were gusts of winds of more than 62 miles per hour. In the Casa Blanca station, in the capital, the wind reached 57 mph, and in provinces such as Villa Clara, Camagüey and Sancti Spíritus, the gusts ranged between 45 and 55 mph.

After the increase in the deterioration of weather conditions on the north coast of the capital, the local government determined “the closure of traffic on Malecón Avenue.” (14ymedio)

Numerous showers and thunderstorms were common throughout of the day in almost the entire country. The strong winds in the capital kept some streets deserted, with people sheltering at home waiting for the end of the storm, which was predicted to last part of the night and into the early morning of Tuesday in the western part of the country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Less Venezuelan Oil and More Power Cuts From January for Cubans

The Renesto Guevara thermoelectric power station in Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque. (PresidenciaCuba/Twitter)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 February 2024 – While Reuters reports a reduction to 32,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil for Cuba in January, the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) forecasts a reduction of 945 megawatts (MW) at peak hours for Monday, which is equivalent to a third of the estimated national demand for the day. The population, however, fears that the reality will be even worse and that this Sunday’s situation will be repeated, when a deficit of 940 MW was declared and 1,109 MW were affected.

According to the state-owned company, unit 2 of the Santa Cruz thermoelectric plant (Mayabeque), unit 6 of Diez de Octubre (Camagüey), unit 2 of Felton (Holguín) and units 5 and 6 of Renté, in Santiago de Cuba, are out of order. In addition, units 8 of Mariel (Artemisa) and 4 of Cienfuegos are under maintenance, despite the shortcomings of the National Electricity System (SEN).

According to Reuters, Venezuelan fuel exports fell by 25 per cent overall in January from the previous month, to about 624,000 barrels per day (bpd), due to “power outages” affecting the main oil export terminal. What Havana received from Caracas in the same period – 32,000 bpd of crude, gasoline and fuel oil – was slightly above December’s amount, Reuters reports, but below last year’s average (56,000 bpd). All this amid US threats to re-impose sanctions on Nicolás Maduro’s regime if it does not comply with an agreement to promote a fair presidential election. continue reading

Another internet user, more sarcastic, claimed that “training for the summer blackouts started early”

Cubans, who are used to facing the worst blackout seasons during the summer due to the increase in consumption and the overloading of the SEN at that time of year, are worried when they see that the same thing happens in the middle of winter. “When summer arrives, it will be the end of us Cubans, because now, with lower temperatures, the deficit is increasing every day,” said one user after the company’s announcement. Another, more sarcastic internet user claimed that “training for the summer blackouts started early.”

Many customers attribute the almost 1,000 MW deficit to the storm that hit the west and part of the centre of the island on Sunday, which caused part of the power and telephone lines to fall in some municipalities in the capital and even flooded streets in some provinces, such as Sancti Spíritus. However, the authorities have not reported any consequences in any of the thermoelectric plants in these regions.

The weather also does not justify what happened on January 26, when dozens of users reported blackouts across the island due to a shortfall of 1,010 MW.

According to an article published a few days ago in ’Granma’, electricity generation in Cuba consumes 61% of “the fuel available in the country”

With an obsolete infrastructure that has lacked investment and maintenance for decades and continually reports breakdowns and massive blackouts, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has claimed that it is working to reverse this situation. Its plan, however, convinces hardly anyone: by 2030, the SEN forecasts that 29% of energy will come from renewable sources, a figure it expects to be 100% by 2050, a totally unattainable goal due to the backlog in this sector, which currently covers less than 5% of energy demand.

According to an article published a few days ago in Granma, electricity generation in Cuba consumes 61% of “the fuels available in the country.” With domestic crude oil and natural gas, the UNE covers 54% of the demand, but the remaining 46% requires the import of fuel oil and diesel, which is equivalent to millions of dollars in foreign currency that the state does not have.

In addition, since 2014, when the regime took on the “strategy” of promoting clean energy generation and began to offer investment plans in its business portfolios to install photovoltaic parks, the implementation of clean generation sources has been minimal.

In parallel, fuel-fired generation has been declining in recent years with no other means to counter the shortfall. According to data published last May by the Office of Statistics and Information (Onei), between 2019 and 2023, domestic power generation fell by 24.5 per cent and the government has barely managed to contract a few Turkish patanas, (mobile power plants supplied from Turkey) which do not manage to compensate for the shortcomings of the SEN.

Translated by GH

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A ‘Mule’ Who Made 45 Trips to Cuba in Less Than a Year Is Arrested in Tampa With $100,000

During the random check-in of the luggage, $30,000 in cash was found in Ocaña’s luggage, and $70,000 more in her clothes. (Tampa Bay Times)

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 is found guilty.

Ocaña was arrested last Monday, February 5, when she landed at Tampa International Airport on an international flight from Cuba and did not declare carrying money for an amount greater than 10,000 dollars, which requires the submission of the relevant forms. However, during a routine inspection, Department of Homeland Security agents found $30,000 in cash hidden in three packages of her luggage.

When they subjected her to a body search, the agents found another $70,000 in her clothes, and, in the interrogation after the discovery, Ocaña admitted that she flew between two and three times a month between Cuba and the United States to smuggle cash. The Cuban’s travel history revealed that, since May 2023, the woman had taken 45 trips from the Island. continue reading

The statement emphasizes that the procedure is ongoing and Ocaña has been accused of violating federal laws, but “that every accused is innocent unless and until guilt is proven

The case will be taken over by a National Security Investigation Unit and the U.S. Border and Customs Patrol, while the deputy federal prosecutor, Michael J. Buchanan, will formulate the accusation. The statement emphasizes that the procedure is ongoing and Ocaña has been accused of violating federal laws, but “that every accused is innocent unless and until guilt is proven.”

The case happened the same day that this newspaper learned, through Western Union headquarters, that the sending of remittances to Cuba could remain paralyzed until April. “There are problems with the banks in Cuba, and that has caused us to stop sending money. They are still working to solve the problem,” they said.

The sending of money through several agencies from the United States has been suspended since last Wednesday, January 31, hours before the increase in fuel prices was to come into effect. According to the version of the Cuban authorities, the state company Fincimex suffered a computer attack from abroad.

Meanwhile, the price of the dollar in the illegal market grows unstoppably and is about to reach 300, where the euro has been since yesterday. The currency thus detaches itself abysmally from the official exchange rate, which is set at 1 x 120 for the population.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Government Defends Waste in Tourism Even if It Doesn’t Benefit Other Sectors

Tourists ride through Havana in an ’almendrón’ [classic American car]. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, February 7, 2024 — A few hours before the start of State TV’s Round Table program, where the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, was scheduled to attend, the Cuban economist Pedro Monreal asked a very direct question on the social platform X. “Could the Minister of Tourism report the rates of tourism in Cuba that justify it as the locomotive of growth?” In case the Minister had doubts about how to perform the calculation, the expert attached an image of the matrix.

Monreal, like most Cubans, wonders why the Government continues to consider tourism as “the locomotive of the Cuban economy” when there is not a single fact to support this. He asked for the figures to be made available that illustrate how much the development of other sectors is helped by investments in tourism and vice versa. Of course, if the Cuban tourism authorities have the figures, they won’t facilitate this or release them, although they keep repeating the mantra.

“Tourism cannot advance or survive without the national economy. There we include everyone who participates in some way, providing supplies and services so that operations and investments can take place,” said María del Pilar Macías, general director of Operations and Quality of the Ministry of Tourism, who accompanied García Granda and provided some generic figures. continue reading

According to her accounts, 69% of the sector’s purchases are made from the national industry. “We see the productive chain with a greater vision. It sells itself and satisfies other sectors’ needs.” The official said that there are 259 tourist facilities linked to 1,111 “productive forms,” which contain 379 private producers “who have even designed their growth to guarantee hotel facilities; that is, they consider tourism.”

Her assessment is positive, since, in addition, it avoids imports and their costs. “You get it faster and you don’t fall into the issue of shipping companies, which to get to Cuba must practically go around the world, which causes many delays,” she stressed. Among the novelties of those “chains” is the development of recycling industries, an issue that was previously ignored but that gains importance for international hotel companies, such as Meliá and Iberostar, which are subject to environmental commitments.

“We are starting a program to replace overused plastic. There is also productive chaining, and we have industries responding, such as Ciego Montero, in the production of soft drinks”

“We are starting a program to replace overused plastic. There is also productive chaining, and we have industries responding, such as Ciego Montero, in the production of soda.” The same happens, she added, with dispensers that will replace cans and bottles, reducing the use of plastics and waste. “Los Portales made its line for concentrated soda, and Bucanero expanded to dispense beer,” she said.

The Government seems interested, possibly, in the prospect of being part of the network of Smart Tourist Destinations – with Cayo Largo del Sur as the first declared goal – by meeting the sustainability objectives required to earn the seal. Last night on television, a rural tourism plan to transform farms for agrotourism was also presented.

The goal is, in any case, to reactivate a sunken sector, since, as García Granda himself acknowledged, “at a global level, the tourism industry is recovering, with a tourism boom in countries such as Spain, Europe and the Caribbean.” He does not feel unsuccessful, despite the poor data of the Island – which closed 2023 with 2,436,980 international visitors, 42.8% less than in 2019 and 31% below its aspirations – since, he said, “no other country develops its tourist activity in the same conditions as Cuba.”

The minister summarized the list of damages of the US embargo, including the most recent measure to suspend the ESTA (visa waiver program) of those who have traveled to Cuba since 2021, although the only one of the aforementioned affronts that seems to have repercussions based on data is the ban on cruises from the United States. The rule was approved by Donald Trump’s administration in June 2019 and maintained by Biden. It prevents, according to García Granda, the arrival of at least 1.2 million tourists. The data is exaggerated considering that in 2018, an excellent year for the sector on the Island, approximately 850,000 Americans were received in this way, although the hole in the accounts is real.

Other problems exist, the minister said, in the lack of resources that prevent adequate promotion, as well as the scarce availability of fuel for internal flights and excursion boats. Despite everything, Cuba invested money in airport improvements, as published this Wednesday in Granma. The amount spent, ranging from improving the runways to safety devices and facilities, is not specified.

The low occupancy rate indicates not only a large excess of capacity but also a monumental waste of investment

“The official statistics indicate an inconsistency between the very high relative weight of investment associated with tourism that has a low occupancy rate and that coexists with the low and decreasing weight of agricultural investment in a country with food insecurity,” Monreal reproached in his analysis. The figures, summarized in a graph that reflects the obvious disproportion between spending and the decline in tourism, are overwhelming. “The low occupancy rate indicates not only a large excess of capacity but also a monumental waste of investment. What is the rationality of having invested billions of pesos to continue creating an excessive supply of hotel rooms?” he asks.

For 2024, the Government proposes to have 3.2 million tourists and an increase in flights to the Island. The minister indicated that “it has been possible to establish air connections with 32 countries through 50 airlines, with an average of 579 weekly frequencies. In 2019, there were 764 weekly frequencies, although a large part of them corresponded to flights from the United States.” If those numbers are true, Cuba now has 24.21% fewer frequencies than in 2019, faced with the fall of tourism by 42% with the same year.

Later, however, he pointed out that the improvement in the number of travelers is due to the increase in flights “despite having only 47% of the frequencies that existed in 2019.” There doesn’t seem to be anyone who can calculate Leontief’s index* for Monreal.

*Leontief’s input-output models divided the economy into sectors where each sector’s production helped the others.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘We Will Have To Wait Until April 1 for the Resumption of Remittance Services to Cuba’

The Metropolitan Bank made a statement on Tuesday about the suspension of remittance services, but without any details. (14ymedio)

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. “There are problems with the banks in Cuba, and that has caused us to stop sending money; they are still working to solve the problems,” they said.

The Metropolitan Bank made public on Tuesday a statement that alludes to the suspension of remittance services, bur without details. “If you have been sent money (from abroad) through a remittance agency, we suggest you contact Fincimex, an agency that manages that service in Cuba,” reads the short text disseminated on their social networks.

Last Thursday, the same banking institution warned of “technical difficulties that affect branch services and those associated with technological payment channels,” without referring to transfers from abroad. continue reading

By telephone, a Fincimex employee told this newspaper that “the breakdown is still being worked on but there is nothing yet”

These cannot be done, as this newspaper verified, at least as of January 29, although some comments on the bank’s Facebook post this Tuesday allude to the impossibility of doing them earlier.

On Wednesday the 31st, a day before the main economic measures agreed by the Government last December came into force, the authorities decided to cancel them. The reason given was “a cybersecurity incident in computer systems for the selling of fuel, whose origin has been identified in a virus from abroad.”

The widespread suspicion about the hacking, which, according to official sources, has affected the marketing system of Cimex, a corporation belonging to the Gaesa military conglomerate, increased among Cubans when the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández, was dismissed last Friday.

Although at Western Union they provide a clear date to normalize remittances, the same does not happen with Fincimex. By telephone, an employee of the state financial system told this newspaper that “work is still being done on the breakdown but there is nothing yet.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Mechanic’s Workshop, the Only Sign of Life After the Eviction of Dozens of Families

On the ground floor of the building, a mechanics workshop remain’s open that seems to defy the risks. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Pedro Espinosa, Havana, 5 February 2024 — The bustle coming out of number 70 Factoría Street between Corrales and Apodaca, in Old Havana, has stopped for days. Last Wednesday, the almost hundred people who lived in the building were evicted due to the danger of collapse, a threat they had been living with for years after illegally occupying the building.

With the façade blackened by humidity alongside some areas of yellow ocher color that remind us of its former splendor, the three-story building with its stately bracing barely preserves part of the original ceilings. “This had been declared uninhabitable for a long time but the need is great,” acknowledges Carmita, a neighbor who from the opposite sidewalk fears every day “that this ruin will fall forward and cause misfortune.”

According to the woman, “all these bricks that you see down here in the doors and windows were to wall up the entrance.” In this way, the authorities of the Housing Directorate wanted to prevent the building from filling up with inhabitants again after the neighbors who lived there were evacuated when the structure became very unstable. “But they didn’t do it well, people found a way to get in.” continue reading

The majority of those who settled came from the provinces, homeless people and without an identity card with an address in Havana

Despite the balconies without railings, the orphaned door and window thresholds lacking blinds, necessity meant that in a short time the hubbub of families, the cries of children and the barking of the occasional dog once again populated the place. The majority of those who settled came from the provinces, homeless people and without an identity card with an address in Havana.

Fleeing from the misery of eastern Cuba, in the hallways of the old palace they were heard talking about mushrooms, hammering a board to prevent the rain from seeping into the babies’ cribs, playing dominoes when the daytime blackout paralyzed life, and fighting, when the neighbor on one side took advantage of a distraction and moved the dividing wall a few centimeters towards the other person’s house.

Now they are gone. According to Armando, an old retiree, who this Monday wore his pants rolled up to avoid the puddles that splashed all over the street, “they took them to various shelters in San Agustín, Altahabana and Santiago de las Vegas.” Others “were returned to their provinces of origin,” he adds, although he would not be surprised if “they are taking time for things to calm down and return.”

The smell of waste wet with the rains of recent days reinforces the feeling of abandonment and decrepitude of the property. (14ymedio)

At first, when they took over the demolished building, solidarity prevailed, but as the months passed, overcrowding and neighborhood problems raised the temperature inside the quarters. The fights and continuous scandals led Factoría 70 to earn the reputation of a confrontational place, a place to avoid and cross the sidewalk when walking down the block. Being located in the Jesús María neighborhood, fame like this multiplies.

The neighbors alternate feelings. “If it’s not for the toughest necessity, no one goes into such a place where you can’t even sleep a wink in case the roof falls on you,” says a woman who lives around the corner, on Corrales Street. “The poor people, who knows what they’ve been through, but it’s true that it got ugly here and the fights were constant.”

On the ground floor of the building, a mechanics workshop remains open that seems to defy the risks. “No, this area is not in danger of collapsing,” summarizes one of the store’s employees before entering back into an area where an impeccably restored antique vehicle in a deep pink color alternates with the wood that supports the upper floor and a immense mountain of waste and debris coming from the floors above.

The smell of waste wet with the rains of recent days reinforces the feeling of abandonment and decrepitude of the property. Outside, the old folding metal doors that once gave way to a thriving business stand with some dignity against the surrounding destruction. They no longer go up or down and they no longer safeguard bags of beans, various preserves or chocolate. They have been paralyzed by the improvised brick barrier that should have prevented people from sneaking into the building.

On the rough wall there is a name: Pedrito. Could it be one of the neighbors evicted last week? Where will he be now?

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