Translating Cuba – Page 221 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Migrants Pay Up to $40,000 for Amparos – Protection Orders – To Reach the Northern Border of Mexico

The amparos (protection orders) do not exempt illegal travelers from being arrested by the immigration authorities. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Tijuana, 27 January 2024 — Authorities on the northern border of Mexico warn that at least 8,000 migrants a month pay up to 40,000 dollars to coyotes (traffickers) for a “package of amparos” (protection orders) with the promise to protect them from deportation for free transit through the country.

David Pérez Tejada, head of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Baja California, said in an interview with EFE that the number of people who arrived with these amparos rose in the last quarter of 2023, with a monthly trend of 8,000 on average; that is, about 300 people per day.

The representative of Migration in the state, bordering California, explained that these amparos are usually promoted in Tabasco, Veracruz and other cities in the center of the country.

There, the coyotes trap them with the idea of an “all-inclusive” package to reach border cities, such as Tijuana, and from there to cross irregularly to the United States. continue reading

He explained that some people, after crossing the southern border of Mexico, “already have this kind of package, as if it came from a travel agency.”

“They now fly them from their country of origin to a jungle they must pass through and promise that they will protect them when they cross the border irregularly,” he said.

These packages include a plane ticket from Tapachula or from Mexico City to Tijuana

He added that these packages include a plane ticket from Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, or from Mexico City to Tijuana.

Once they arrive at this border city, he said, they show the protection order for their free transit to an “alleged taxi or Uber driver, who takes them to a safe house or somewhere else to accommodate them for 24 hours or less. The next day they are already on their way to the United States.”

Investigations show that “each package has a different cost depending on the situation of the migrants.”

“If it is a family nucleus, if they bring minors, if they come alone, depending on this and the place of origin, the method and rate change. For example, those from Uzbekistan pay up to 40,000 dollars, the Chinese 20,000, those from Central America 7,000 dollars and the Ecuadorians 10,000,” he said.

Pérez Tejada pointed out that those who most come to Tijuana with these amparos are the Uzbeks and the Chinese.

But the representative of the INM warned that, although they have this legal instrument, that does not exempt them from an administrative procedure if the agents intercept them, in which they must comply with a maximum of 36 hours detention before their release.

Even if they have this legal instrument, that does not exempt them from an administrative procedure

For the INM delegate, this situation represents “a problem” because it complicates the work of the immigration authorities.

“They are the ones who are crossing irregularly (to the United States) and we want to know how to approach them with the help of lawyers, legal associations and research institutes so that we can see how to deal with this protection order,” he said.

The arrival of migrants under amparos had its peak in November last year, when the INM in Baja California registered 13,600 protected migrants. The number has decreased in this January.

Nicole Ramos, director of the organization Al Otro Lado (To The Other Side) in Tijuana, responded to EFE in writing that “it is questionable for the delegate (of Migration) to send the message that the only way to cross (to the United States) is through CBP-One,” the official American application for migrants.

“We all know that it is used to limit the number of asylum seekers who can cross and that CBP (the Office of Customs and Border Protection) refuses to prosecute asylum seekers when they arrive without an appointment, regardless of the person’s circumstances,” he said.

He added that “telling immigrants to use CBP-One, while actively helping the United States to violate the law, is a bit dishonest.”

“We wouldn’t see unscrupulous lawyers in Mexico or organized crime profiting from the desire of migrants to have safe transit to the border to seek asylum if Mexico didn’t act as a watchdog for the U.S. Government,” he said, accusingly.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Jose Marti, in the 21st Century

The statue located in the Central Park of Havana, was the first erected in Cuba in honor of José Martí. (Trabajadores)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 28 January 2024 — To mark an anniversary of the birth of the most notable of all Cubans, Jose Martí (January 28, 1853), many of us who honor that gentleman do everything possible to remember such a great date, based on an unwritten commitment that we have contracted.

That tradition was partly carried out by the Pen Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, chaired by the writer Luis de la Paz, celebrated with the participation of Santiago Cárdenas and Emilio Sánchez, two notable intellectuals who have a profound knowledge of Martí’s work. Both were assisted by two other great admirers of the apostle, Julio Estorino and Sara Martínez Castro, who read Martí’s poems.

Martí’s first action in his struggle for independence is not associated with war, as happened with most of our heroes. His activities began by publishing writings against Spain and by calling a fellow student who had enlisted in the Spanish Army to fight the Mambises of the Ten Years’ War a traitor. For that reason he went to prison and was later exiled to Spain.

It must be recognized that most of the notable personalities who fought for the independence of Spain, members of a glorious and abundant heritage in which Simón Bolívar and Jose de San Martin stand out, patricians of strong continue reading

national convictions, leadership and indisputable military talent, left indelible traces by establishing the foundations of several republics in the hemisphere.

Martí, we all know, was not a warrior but, by far, the most important promoter of Cuba’s independence from Spain

That glorious group is mainly made up of men of arms. However, we must include other heroes who, although they did not stand out for their talent as warriors, were great thinkers and efficient organizers, capable of cementing new republics, as was the case of José Martí, a hero whose life’s work led Cuba to independence.

Martí, we all know, was not a warrior, but, by far, the most important promoter of Cuba’s independence from Spain and the most notable organizer of the “just and necessary war,” an expression which shows that he conceived of military conflict as the only way to achieve emancipation of the homeland.

He fell in his first fight, facing the sun, as he had requested in his Versos Sencillos, contrary to the most distinguished military leaders in the hemisphere who did not die in the heat of the battle. His death in Dos Ríos, at only 42 years old, left the Cuban independence fighters orphaned by their most lucid thinker, the only man, as history has shown, capable of working in a republic “with everyone and for the good of all.”

Despite his early death, he left a vast and profound work that remains current and valid. Reading Martí in the present is to access a fresh and contemporary knowledge. All his work exudes sensitivity and neighborly love, as he wrote in another simple verse: “I cultivate a white rose in July as in January, for the sincere friend who gives me his hand freely, and for the cruel one who tears out the heart with which I live, neither thistle nor arugula do I grow, I cultivate a white rose.”

Reading Martí in the present is to access a fresh and contemporary knowledge, which is that all his work exudes sensitivity and neighborly love

Martí’s thought is deeply human. “There is no better homeland, Cubans, than the one that is won with one’s own effort. The foreign sea is made of blood. No one loves or forgives if not our country,” he wrote.

Martí’s work retains relevance and validity. It has not lost strength; it has not aged; it remains as vibrant as ever. “Whoever wants a secure homeland must fight for it. Whoever doesn’t will live under threat of whip and banishment, considered a wild beast, thrown from one country to another, smiling before charity, earning the disdain of free men and the death of his soul.”

And in these times in which the fragmentation of our rights and the respect that both minorities and majorities deserve are appreciated, what is better than this: “Man does not have any special rights because he belongs to one or another race; call him a man and all his rights are already given. The black man, by being black, is not inferior or superior to any other man: the white man who calls me a black man sins by being redundant; the black man who calls me a white man sins by being redundant. Everything that divides men, everything that specifies, separates or encloses them, is a sin against humanity.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Cuban Police Dismantle an Illegal Sale of Fuel a Few Steps From a Gas Station

Photo of the police operation released by State Security. (El Cubano Fiel/Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, January 28, 2024 — The sale of fuel has become a picturesque business in the Havana municipality of Guanabacoa but, above all, an illegal trade that, in plain view, has grown. This Saturday, a “Cupet house” was dismantled by State Security and the police. An individual, identified as Ángel, was engaged in the resale of gasoline and diesel. The arrest happened a few days after 14ymedio pointed out multiple irregularities in the management of the gas stations.

“He thought he had a gas station in his house and could continue to profit from the needs of the people, but the police pounced on him,” El Cubano Fiel (the Faithful Cuban) published on his Facebook page, managed by State Security, and this was later reposted by the Council of the Municipal Administration of Guanabacoa.

“Neighbors on San Francisco Street between Máximo Gómez and Corral Falso commented that Ángel wanted to continue selling the fuel illegally, and when he loaded the fuel as usual in a vehicle, the police arrived and stopped him.” continue reading

Ángel “was wheeling and dealing for a while, selling fuel ’on the left’ without standing in the annoying lines at the gas stations like other drivers,” says State Security. The post also shows photos of police officers in the home of the reseller, who had “a large amount of fuel and plastic containers for storage.” You can also see some sealed boxes guarded by police officers, but no more details of the arrest have been offered.

Ángel “was wheeling and dealing for a while, selling fuel ‘on the left’ without standing in the annoying lines at the gas stations like other drivers”

The text, in addition, was shared on Telegram by Esther, the boss of the Guanabacoa gas stations, in charge of organizing the fuel line and the subject of several 14ymedio reports. The drivers, in order to buy fuel, must be noted down on a detailed list that the local government ordered prepared during the June 2023 crisis, she said.

For Esther herself, as for the hundreds of Guanabacoa customers, Ángel’s arrest is not a surprise. On the same Telegram channel, several customers complained that the workers at the gas station ignore the endless line of drivers, and that “they have accepted money even from tourists, mocking those who stay there” night and day said one customer last week.

But the illegalities start from the same list that Esther manages. For example, in the document that collects the more than 3,600 customers of the Los Paraguas gas station, on January 11, this newspaper found that 114 are repeated up to four times and 77 do not have a license plate – a requirement that the woman always demands. In the case of the Corral Falso service center, where almost 3,000 names were registered, there are 168 that are repeated up to four times and 40 without a plate. About 1,003 customers appeared on both lists.

According to Esther herself, days later, “the government of Guanabacoa took control of the line” after there “were too many profiteers, plus no one denounced them.” The organization was reactivated shortly before the announcement of the increase in fuel prices, which will come into force next week.

The price of gasoline and diesel on the Island will be five times greater from February 1. The cost of premium, gasoline will go from 30 pesos per liter to 156 ($1.30, at the official exchange rate) while the diesel will rise from the current 27.5 pesos to 150 ($1.25). Vicente La O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the new measures will “gradually achieve a stable supply,” although he added that “it cannot be insured from the first day of implementation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Only One of the 20 U-15 Cuban Players Who Won Silver in the 2022 World Cup Remains in Cuba

Yordan Rodríguez traveled to the Dominican Republic with the purpose of signing with the MLB. (Facebook/Francys Romero)

14ymedio, Havana, 28 January 2024 — With the departure from Cuba on January 26 of the prospective pitcher Yordan Rodríguez, only one of the members of the under-15 baseball team that attended the World Cup of that category in 2022, held in the State of Sonora, Mexico, remains on the Island.

According to journalist Francys Romero, the athlete traveled to the Dominican Republic where he seeks to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball organization [MLB]. Rodríguez, a native of the province of Guantánamo, has an excellent physical condition: a height of 6 ’4″ and pitches that reach 89 mph.

Yordan Rodríguez, in the last U-15 Championship in Cuba, offered a no-hitter, and some time after the World Cup he led the pitchers of his category in strikeouts (58). In addition, he averaged 2.66 effectiveness. continue reading

The massive exodus of the members of the team that won the silver medal in the 2022 event deals a hard blow to the future of national sports in Cuba

The massive exodus of the members of the team that won the silver medal in the 2022 event deals a severe blow to the future of national sports in Cuba, by directly undermining its reserve of young players. Just three days ago, 14ymedio published the departure from the Island of outfielder Maikol Rodríguez, also to the Dominican Republic.

Romero explains that the figures for this team represent “something unprecedented.” In just 14 months, 95% of the roster has left the country (19 out of 20 players). “Previously, almost all the national teams had players in lower categories who left, but not in such a short period of time or in such a high percentage as that of this Cuba U-15 of 2022,” adds the sports journalist.

In the text The dream and reality. Stories of the emigration of Cuban baseball (1960-2018), Romero says that every year the average age of the baseball players who leave the Island decreases. The average age was 24.4 years in 2015; three years later it was reduced to 17.9.

Romero explains that the figures for this team represent “something unprecedented”

With his departure from the Island, Yordan Rodríguez joins the list of former members of his team who left Cuba with the aspiration to enter the MLB and thus improve their economic and professional training conditions.

Until the 25th, in addition to Maikol Rodríguez, the following members of the U-15 team had left Cuba: Alejandro Cruz, Mailon Batista, Robier Hernández, Alex Santiago, Pedro Danguillecourt, Jaider Suárez, Dulieski Ferrán, Ernest Machado, Yosniel Menéndez, Roberto Peña, Segian Pérez, Alejandro Prieto, Danel Reyes, Ronald Terrero, Jonathan Valle, Yunior Villavicencio and Cristian Zamora. Only the catcher, Yaidel Ruíz, has remained in the country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

With the Cancellation of Flights to Cuba, Argentina’s Favors to Havana Will End

The company had already ceased operations in Havana in 2016. (EFE)

14ymedio, Madrid, 25 January 2024 — A little over a year and a half after Aerolíneas Argentinas re-established its flights to Cuba, the company has announced that it is canceling them again. This Thursday, according to local media information with inside company sources, the route is not profitable, so starting next March 8 they will suspend the weekly frequency that until now connected the South American country with Havana via Cancun.

Each flight to the Cuban capital from Buenos Aires, airline sources declared to Infobae, had an average of $16,000 in losses. In 2023 alone, the company lost half a million dollars, although, according to Clarín, the figure would have been higher if it had not been subsidized by the Government.

“Those passengers who already purchased their tickets for that destination will be transferred to flights through other airlines at no additional cost”

Those passengers who already purchased their tickets for that destination will be transferred to flights through other airlines at no additional cost. If they wish to cancel their trip as a result of this modification, the full value of the ticket will be refunded”, the company reported. continue reading

The measure was taken after the appointment of a new company manager, Fabián Lombardo, who will implement the transfer of shares, from the State to private hands in Aerolíneas Argentinas decreed by the brand-new president, Javier Milei.

Although the previous government of Peronist Alberto Fernández assured that the route to Cuba is “highly requested by agencies and tour operators”, the data showed that Cuba is not a relevant tourist or commercial destination for Argentina.

The company had ceased operations in Havana in 2016. Previously, the Government of Mauricio Macri had made the decision to restructure the airline to reduce the deficit it represented for the State: nationalized in 2008, the company cost to the country was around two million dollars per day.

The savings plan significantly affected the aircrafts and, consequently, the routes operated were reduced

The savings plan significantly affected the aircrafts and, consequently, the routes operated were reduced. At that time, those responsible argued that Cuba had become a very expensive destination, something that the company itself has now confirmed again.

The libertarian Milei already made it clear that “current foreign policy fundamentals differ from the previous one”, regarding his country’s refusal to finally be part of the BRICS group of emerging countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

In his participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, he once again reiterated his position regarding economic systems such as the one that governs Cuba, saying that socialism “is, always and everywhere, an impoverishing phenomenon that failed in every country where it was tried. “It was an economic failure, it was a social failure, it was a cultural failure and it also claimed the lives of 150 million human beings.”

14ymedio, Madrid, January 25, 2025 — A little more than half a year after Aerolíneas Argentinas reestablished its flights to Cuba, the company has announced that it is canceling them again. According to local media this Thursday with sources in the company itself, the route is not profitable, so starting next March 8 they will suspend the weekly frequency that until now connected the South American country with Havana via Cancun.

Translated by Norma Whiting

____________

‘Bosses at State-Owned Businesses Are Living on Another Planet’, Cubans Complain

Manzanillo’s Municipal Department of Labor, where a job fair was held on Monday. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Matos, Manzanillo (Granma province), 23 January 2024 — “No private companies were invited? We’re wasting our time,” one young man was heard saying as he left the “job fair” held on Monday at the local headquarters of the Ministry of Labor in this provincial port city in Granma province. Given a choice between accepting a position at a state company or remaining unemployed, the local attendees had only to listen to the job descriptions to realize the potential employers had nothing to offer them.

They had gone to the event — yet another attempt to rejuvenate the public sector workforce, which has been decimated by the loss of personel to the private sector or to emigration – with the hope that the owner of some MSME (micro, small or medium sized business) or self-employed individual might hire them. The focus, however, was unmistakably on the public sector as confirmed by the fact that the event was held at the ministry’s Manzanillo offices.

Instead of talking about salaries, Daniel Rivero, a specialist at the Municipal Department of Labor, preferred instead to focus on the real “benefits” of working for the state: job security, training sessions and community improvement. Still, there was no disguising the terrible working conditions and low pay at places like Manzanillo’s Azcuba subsidiary or the Paquito Rosales tobacco factory. Not to mention the salary — the “tempting” figure of about 6,000 pesos per month — that was being offered to those willing to join a Matanzas construction brigade. Meanwhile, monthly pay for a night watchman was 2,200 pesos while that of an accountant was 3,968. Last on the list were farm workers, who were being asked to toil away for a mere 2,500 pesos a month. continue reading

“I am not working for the state just so I can be poor,” murmured one of the attendees, who was wearing pullover with an American flag emblazoned on it. “I just came for the hell of it. The openings are for night watchmen and cigar rollers, both with ridiculous salaries,” claimed another as he was leaving the building.

The public sector is experiencing an unprecedented human resources crisis and needs workers but, unfortunately, has very little to offer them

At this rate, no one is going to get a job,” predicted another participant when told that no independent entrepreneurs or MSME managers would be attending the fair. The most accurate summation of the day was provided by another young man when he learned who the majority of the participants were: “The heads of state companies live on another planet.”

There is one thing, however, that was clear from Rivero’s explanation: the public sector is experiencing an unprecedented human resources crisis and needs workers. Unfortunately, it has very little to offer them. One example can be found in Guantanamo, the neighboring province, where the government has sponsored several job fairs in order to demonstrate the purported success of this initiative.

“Multitudinous… great opportunity… a festival of culture… knowledge.. labor law.” The state media was effusive in its praise of the Guantanamo job fair, which was held on December 8. But behind the accolades hid an alarming number: 2,200 job openings.

To convince attendees to sign on, job fair organizers had to mobilize 518 potential employers, or company leaders, from across the province. They did manage to somewhat “reduce the territory’s unemployment rate,” though state media avoided revealing the number of employement contracts signed during the event. The minister of labor herself, Martha Elena Feitó, announced the job fair on her X account, applauding its results.

Only those who are desperately looking for a job come to listen to what the state has to say on labor issues

It seems job fairs like this are here to stay, at least for the next few months. Companies’ social media pages, state television and government press outlets announce a new one every week in an effort to save the public employment sector. What all of them have in common are low salaries and indifferent attendees.

14ymedio has attended several of these fairs throughout the country. Typically, potential employers wait around until, at the last moment, some straggler shows up and saves the day by accepting a job offer. Only retirees who need to return to the workforce, or young people who are desperately looking a job, come to listen to what the state has to say on labor issues.

Furthermore, all information is conveyed by word of mouth. There is no brochure or copy of a standard contract to clarify the situation in which the future worker will find himself. Blindly, with the vague promise of a salary increase, a few attendees showed up at a job fair at Havana’s Rubén Martinez Villena high school last Saturday. They left no better off than when they arrived. The current salary for a teacher, approximately 5,600 pesos a month, scared off most of the candidates.

It was the same situation last Thursday at the headquarters of the Havana Electric Company. The most attractive salaries went to linemen – a maximum of 12,000 pesos – but the positions were quickly filled. The pay for accountants, inspectors, economists, dispatchers and meter readers — workers whose stampede to the private sector has been unstoppable — did not exceed four figures.

____________

Taxes Triple on Imported Tobacco and Alcohol in Cuba

Cubans believe that national tobacco will be scarce, and it will not be possible to cover demand with the increase in the tax on imports. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 26 January 2024 — The Cuban Government announced on Thursday the increase in tariffs for the import of cigars, cigarettes, rum and other alcoholic beverages. For all these products, the general rate becomes 30%, while for countries considered a “favored nation” it will be 15%. In both cases, the percentage is tripled, since before it was 10% and 5%.

These increases were announced by the ministers of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, and of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, in a Round Table program at the end of December.

“We are increasing tariffs for these products that are similar to national production, which we must continue to stimulate and protect, favoring exports and the greater presence of our products in the national market,” Regueiro explained. continue reading

Although finished products in general were mentioned, in the Official Gazette published yesterday, tobacco and alcohol are the only ones included

Although finished products in general were mentioned, in the Official Gazette published yesterday, tobacco and alcohol are the only ones included. We will have to wait to see if the measure extends to other products and if there will be shortages because of the increased tariffs.

The Gazette also includes another resolution about tariffs on the import of raw materials, inputs and intermediate goods. They are reduced by half “for production processes, with a special focus on food and agricultural production,” the text reads.

The objective of these measures, as announced by the authorities on television, is to stimulate domestic manufacturing. “At the end of November, imports made by non-state economic actors exceeded $1 billion. It is an important figure, and those imports are generally characterized by being finished products. That does not bring added value to our economy,” said the minister, who admitted the complexity in some cases where the product can be finished or intermediate depending on how it is used.

Regueiro gave as an example the case of flour, which can be sold in a store or bought to make bread, although the case is extended to others, such as oil. On the other hand, it is not the case of tobacco and alcohol, which were the obvious candidates for the application of higher tariffs. As for imported food, everything seems to indicate that the Government has chosen to wait, since a tax increase would seriously affect the supply of basic food through the private enterprises, which do not yet have the capacity to transform raw materials into products for national consumption.

The first reactions have not been positive, as expected. Although some users have admitted in the official press that these are not basic necessities, so the case is not so serious – which predicts the effect it will have when the rule is extended – most express their fear that it will mean the lack of capacity of the Cuban industry to cover that demand.

“It matters because the national industry is very far from meeting national demand,” says a reader on Cubadebate. “But how nice it would have been if they had taxed tourists for bringing in products that can be bought in the country.”

Some pointed out that the increase in the exchange rate — dollar to pesos — which goes from 1×24 to 1×120, and causes, in reality, the tariffs to increase 2.5 times, although others refute it

“I do not doubt that with the announcement, tomorrow those who sell beer will increase the price and say that they do it because of the increase in the tariff. They can also hide the beer for a few days so that the demand grows and then take it out with a higher price, despite the fact that they have it in the country before this publication,” says another, calling the sellers “scoundrels”.

It could be expected that the reaction to the lowering of the tariff to import raw materials would be more positive, but the initial comments do not report a great reception. Some pointed out that the increase in the exchange rate, which goes from 1×24 to 1×120 — dollar to pesos — and causes the tariffs to increase 2.5 times, although others refute it.

“But the increase in the exchange rate also applies to the import of finished products, it is for everything. Although the exchange rate increases, the tariffs for intermediate products will be 50% lower than for the finished ones, which is the intention,” one reacts.

The feeling, after so many years of failures, is not one of optimism. “Of course there is no reduction. Well, yes: of words. We are an educated people, you don’t have to be an economist. Hopefully this new improvisation will give the expected results or at least come closer.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Beginning February 15 the Sale and Slaughter of Livestock in Cuba Will Be Banned

The Cuban Government will ban the sale of livestock beginning February 15 until the end of the mass count. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Madrid, 26 January 2024 — The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered the cessation of purchase and sale of livestock from February 15, with exceptions to slaughters authorized for emergency health reasons or for sale to the State. The objective is to begin, on March 1, a special control to quantify the existing livestock in the country and thus “have a characterization of the current situation of the livestock sector in Cuba.”

The news has been disseminated in the official press by the general director of Livestock, Arián Gutiérrez Velázquez. The official stressed that they will not be making “surprise visits” to detect illegalities and that livestock owners will be notified in advance of the day the Commission will pass through their farm.

According to their data, there are more than 200,000 people in the registry, natural and legal, who own cattle and buffalo, and about 167,000 who own horses. The ministry will visit producers, owners and hired workers within the sector and aspires to have an adequate account of stocks, diminished by the alarming increase in theft and slaughter. continue reading

According to their data, there are more than 200,000 people in the registry, natural and legal, who own cattle, and about 167,000 who own horses

Livestock holders must update their data in the registry before February 29, since there will be a comparison of that figure to the one found in person. “The producers must have their herds updated in the livestock registry and have them branded,” Gutiérrez Velázquez told Granma.

Thus, farmers must declare births, deaths, thefts and slaughter.

According to the last Statistical Yearbook, published in 2023 with the data of the previous year, there were 947,300 horses on the Island and 3,516,400 head of cattle, a figure that contrasts with the six million that were counted in 1958. The numbers in the next census, without a doubt, will prove to be even worse than last year’s.

In the sector’s parliamentary commission, held in December ahead of the second ordinary session of the National Assembly, a report revealed that in 2023, more than 155,000 head of livestock were lost solely by theft and slaughter, and an unknown number of deaths are added due to the lack of replacement. There are not enough cattle due to “deterioration of the food base and the delay in the incorporation of the female into reproduction.”

In 2021, 33,690 head of cattle were lost for the same reason and in 2022, 82,445, which meant 22 million fewer pounds of meat

The damage to livestock mass was evident in that report, which indicated that in 2021, 33,690 head of cattle were lost for the same reason and in 2022, 82,445, which meant 22 million fewer pounds of meat. The document clarified the “accelerated” deterioration, with a mass that “decreases for years, and all indicators have alarming results.”

Ramón Aguilar Betancourt, president of the Agri-Food Commission, stressed that the animals do not have enough food and water, and frequent irregularities are repeated — not declaring births or registering changes in sex and category, among others.

At this time, the so-called “special control action” is being organized, according to Gutiérrez Velázquez, and working commissions have been created at the municipal and popular council levels. The first farmers visited will be those who raise cattle, while those who have horses will be the second. Finally, the Ministry indicates, “the change of ownership will be made to update the possession of larger livestock.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Guardians of Official Dogma Kill a Havantur Ad for Flights from Cuba to Miami

Ad for a charter flight to Miami that was pulled after fierce criticism from hardline ideologues. (Captura)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 January 2024 — Havanatur has been getting into ideological trouble lately. Their recent ads promoting flights from Cuba to Miami for the equivalent of 229 dollars inexplicably disappeared hours after they were posted. Unlike the previous controversy in December in which the state-run travel agency used an image of Santa Claus, this time the guardians of the anti-imperialist dogma reacted with lightning speed.

The agency was inviting travelers to discover “the beautiful beaches and warm climate of the sunny city” via charter flights from Holguín.

“Are you looking for cheap flights to Miami? Special deals for our valued customers,” read another ad which was also pulled. In addition to trips to Miami, Havanatur also offers flights to Houston and Tampa. continue reading

An ad promoting trips to Miami with Havanatur for the equivalent of 229 dollars. (Captura)

Last December, the agency was immersed in another controversy over ads promoting trips within Cuba. Havanatur published illustrations of a chubby Santa smoking a cigar on the steps of the Cuban Capitol and lounging on one of the island’s beaches.

Though the images were generated by artificial intelligence, the regime’s ideological watchdogs unleashed a wave of fierce criticism in government publications, accusing the agency of succumbing to “seduction by colonialization.” As a result, the problematic posts were deleted.

Another ad, this one promoting daily flights from Holguín to Miami, which was also pulled. (Captura)

In July 2022, 14ymedio reported that Havanatur’s prices for its domestic tourism packages were so high that Cubans were not buying them.

To avoid criticism on social media, the state-run agency does not list prices on any of its ads promoting travel within the country, so it is impossible to know how much a trip to any of the hotels in the resort town of Guardalavaca, or to Mayarí’s popular Guayabo Falls in Holguín province, might cost. A decision by the regime’s ideology department now means we won’t know how much Havanatur charges to take one its lucky customers on vacation to enemy territory.

____________

The Thieves in a Havana Ration Store Had No Luck: The Rice Had Not Arrived

The bodega (ration store) is located at the corner of Pocito and 10th Street.

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 26 January 2024 — The neighbors woke up on Friday in the Lawton section of Havana to the news that the bodega (ration store) at Pocito and 10th Streets had been robbed at dawn. The thieves had not properly done their research, however. Nidia, a local resident, told 14ymedio that the shipment of rice scheduled for January “had not yet arrived. Besides they weren’t able to take all the loot. They left part of it behind on the porch.”

Although typically there is little traffic in the area, this morning it was full of police cars, a “canine” unit, and uniformed officers “who went door-to-door asking for identification documents in all the neighboring houses,” according to this woman. “I wanted to take a picture of the storefront to post on Facebook, but the police wouldn’t let anyone get close.”

Another neighborhood resident said “The dog got as far as an apartment building, but there he lost the scent. I don’t know if they were fools, they sensed someone might surprise them, or the transportation they planned to use failed, because they left part of the loot behind in the porch of the bodega,” he added. continue reading

Rather than express worry or annoyance at the police opration and the visits by officers, the neighbors were scornful of the robbery. “One has to be clueless to attempt a robbery at that store, which is emptier than my refrigerator at home,” joked someone who said he had to buy “all the rice for January on the free marketplace at 170 pesos per pound” because the monthly quota of this product had not arrived at the bodega on Pocito Street.

“The dog got as far as an apartment building, but there he lost the scent”

He added “We were lucky, if one can call it that. It would have been much worse if the thieves had come after the rice had been delivered. That would have really hurt.”

The basic items in the ration basket for January have been inconsistently distributed in the capital city of Havana. While some areas have received a few pounds of rice from time to time, at the corner store of Pocito and 10th Streets, this high-demand item had not yet arrived.

So there are very few items of food left in this store, especially those intended for prescribed diets or children under seven. A customer joked “The mice in this store would be better off if they moved to the hardware store, where they could at least eat nuts and bolts.”

The severe shortages in Cuba have led to a wave of robberies in food stores. This past June, thieves entered the store at H Street between 13th and 15th in El Vedado, Havana. They took all the rice they could find and a portion of the sugar destined for the basic rations for the month.

During the first eight months last year, ten bodegas in the Sancti Spiritus province were robbed. The thieves entered the stores violently, breaking down doors, windows and roofs, according to statements made to the press by Ariel Fernandez, who is in charge of commerce for the province.

Translated by MCN

Note from site manager: Thank you “MCN”… this is a lovely, and very accurate, translation and we hope you will continue to translate!

____________

European Food Aid Is Free but It Is Being Sold on the Informal Market in Cuba

On the ‘tetrapacks’ not only did it read that it was a product from Spain of the Apis brand, but that it was merchandise that had arrived in Cuba through the European Food Aid program. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 17 January 2024 — The merchandise, some 500-gram boxes of tomato sauce, “Are of good quality, each one for 300 pesos and I have five. If you buy them all I will give you a discount,” explains the informal seller, dressed in a cap and backpack, who knocked on 72-year-old Niurka’s door in the Central Havana neighborhood of San Leopoldo. A regular in the area, the merchant has built a clientele through the years, based on trust. “Neither snitches nor people who want to do business on credit” is his motto.

But today, security was more necessary than other times. It indicated on the tetrapaks not only that it was a product from Spain of the Apis brand, but that it was merchandise that had arrived in Cuba through the European Aid Fund for the Most Disadvantaged People (Fead). On the packaging, in capital letters, it warned: “Free food, sale prohibited.” Niurka extended three 100-peso bills, took the box and pretended that she had not read the sign or seen the blue flag with its little stars in a circle.

Where did the merchant get the tomato sauce? Did he steal it from a state warehouse or did the families who benefited from the aid give it to him to get some cash? Questions flooded into Niurka’s head as soon as she closed the door. But it could be said that, whatever the case, she was also “a vulnerable person,” with a meager pension and two grandchildren to care for. She immediately opened the box, poured the contents into the pan where she already had some sausage slices and prepared, at full speed, some spaghetti for the children who would soon arrive home from school. continue reading

The module that has recently arrived in Cuba from Spain includes rice, cooked chickpeas, canned tuna and meat, pasta, fried tomato or cookies.

Fead provides food or basic material assistance to people who need it most in nations with high rates of poverty and economic insecurity. Support consists of food, clothing, footwear and other essential products for personal use, such as soap and shampoo. But each European nation decides the type of aid it wants to provide, and how to obtain it and distribute it.

The module that has recently arrived in Cuba, coming from Spain, includes rice, cooked chickpeas, preserved tuna and meat, pasta, fried tomato, cookies, vegetable salad, soluble cocoa and oil, a composition similar to the one that has reached other Latin American countries. The intention is that it land on the table of those families who have been plunged into misery by inflation, low pensions, physical disabilities of some of their members, and old age.

However, the mechanism does not escape tricks and the rerouting of resources. There is also no way to control whether beneficiaries use these free foods to put on their own plates, or end up selling them on the black market. With the 300 Cuban pesos from selling a box of tomato sauce, someone can probably pick up some food or vegetables that will give them more value on their table.

Due to those inextricable paths that life takes, today Niurka ate thanks to European aid, although her name is not registered in any humanitarian program.

Translated by Norma Whiting

____________

;

With the Felton and Guiteras Power Plants Out of Combat, a New Season of Blackouts Arrives in Cuba

The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, in Matanzas, is the most important in the west of the Island. (ACN)

14ymedio, Madrid, 26 January 2024 — In just two hours, a storm of indignant comments has fallen on the Facebook page of the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), which announces for this Friday a deficit of 1,010 megawatts (MW) during peak hours. The figure is one of the highest that can be remembered, after November 12, 2023, when it predicted an “affectation” of 1,000 MW. The enormous deficit in electricity is more than double that of yesterday (482 MW), when some provinces reported power outages and internet failures to this newspaper.

As warned by the UNE, the situation is due to breakdowns in unit 6 of the Maximo Gómez power plant in Mariel; a unit of the Antonio Guiteras in Matanzas; the 5 of Diez de Octubre in Nuevitas; unit 6 of Antonio Maceo in Renté and unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez in Felton. continue reading

It is only two days since the UNE announced the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant for 72 hours due to maintenance

Although the report places the breakdown in the Antonio Guiteras, the main power plant in the West, it is only two days since the UNE announced the shutdown of the thermoelectric plant for 72 hours for maintenance. Today’s UNE announcement indicates that Mariel’s unit 8 is also undergoing maintenance.

Incomprehensibly, the UNE made the decision to continue with the maintenance of the Guiteras at the same time that the Felton thermoelectric plant, which is the most important in the east of the Island, had just broken down. The failure at the Felton occurred on Sunday, a day after there was no deficit, and only a week after its most recent synchronization with the National Energy System (SEN), on January 15.

In August 2022, at the time of the biggest crisis of the electricity system in the last two years, Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel visited the plant. The Felton is a mirror in which the state of energy in Cuba is reflected. That day, the president uttered a phrase that haunts the plant. “Felton 1 decides today on the course of the recovery strategy, and its start is vital for the fulfillment of the objectives set, in the first order, to minimize or eliminate the blackouts by next December.”

If the situation depends on the state of Felton, the infinity of breakdowns it has suffered since then highlights the panorama, aggravated by the (apparently planned) shutdown of the Guiteras, the most important power plant in the west of the Island.

The UNE has pointed out that, for peak time, “the entry of 6 engines in the Patana de Melones with 90 MW is estimated

The UNE has pointed out that, for peak hours, “the entry of 6 engines in the Patana de Melones with 90 MW and the entry of unit 6 of the CTE Mariel with 100 MW is estimated,” which will bring little relief. Indignation is already spreading among customers, who in just a month will see the bill for “big consumers” rise.

“Those 1,000 MW are consumed by Havana and paid for by the other provinces,” a user writes, with capital letters that denote his indignation. Most, however, were ironic, knowing that it would be of little use to bother. “That’s great, I’m very happy. New season of the blackout poster. We will see how this season ends and a new one appears. Long live the Ministry and its mysteries,” another mocks.

Minister Vicente de la O Levy, who replaced Liván Arronte after the catastrophe of 2022, is now in the crosshairs, and a few days ago his ministry reported that in 2023 there were 70% fewer blackouts than the previous year. But not everyone supports him. “The minister is going too far with his fantastic strategy. The other guy was better,” says another commentator.

Translated by Regina Anavy
____________

Two Fishermen Missing Five Days Ago in Southern Cuba Are Found Alive

The cienfuegueros went fishing last Sunday from Punta de Tamarindo, near Rancho Luna beach. (Facebook/Edmundo Dantés Junior)

14ymedio, Havana, January 26, 2024 — Cienfuegos fisherman Jacinto Octavio Rivero Li and a teenager who accompanied him, Alexander Turiño Nualla, were found alive this Thursday in a key on the southern coast of Cuba, after missing at sea for five days. The authorities have not offered details, but several publications on social networks claim that, after going fishing early last Sunday, their boat was dragged out to sea by a storm.

The versions of the rescue of Rivero, known as “El Chino” Li, and 14-year-old Turiño, differ in the place where they were found. While some locate the key to the west of the Isla de la Juventud, others claim that they were found in Cayo Sigua, an islet in Matanzas near the Cienfuegos coast. A third version – impossible because of the distance and for being in the north of Cuba – says that both had ended up in the Bahamas. continue reading

The images of the rescue of Rivero and Turiño show two uniformed men of Search and Rescue of the Ministry of the Interior

The images of the rescue of Rivero and Turiño show two uniformed men of Search and Rescue of the Ministry of the Interior, who allegedly answered the call of a fishing boat that located the cienfuegueros on the islet where they were found.

The physical change of the teenager is notable. In the rescue photos he appears much thinner and emaciated compared to the images disseminated during the search.

According to the publications, on January 20, the teenager, a resident of the Cienfuegos neighborhood of Tulipán, went fishing with Rivero on an aluminum boat from Punta de Tamarindo, near the beach of Rancho Luna. Several users indicated on Facebook that both had been seen for the last time at 4:00 in the morning on Sunday the 21st, when the light of the boat could be seen from the coast.

From that moment on, nothing else was known, and both relatives and people close to Rivero and Turiño began to report their disappearance on social networks. Some even point out that they both decided to go fishing despite the fact that they had been warned about the bad weather.

The family, according to the same sources, also notified the Cienfuegos police of their absence, and ground searches were even carried out.

An insistent comment in the publications that narrate the rescue has been the surprise that both were found alive

An insistent comment in the publications that narrate the rescue has been the surprise that both were found alive, something that has not happened in many of the disappearances that have been reported in recent weeks.

This is the case of Yorjelguis Bolaños Fernández, a 41-year-old Cuban living in the United States who disappeared on January 7 in Madruga (Mayabeque) and was found dead 10 days later. According to unconfirmed information, his body was found buried near the Institute of Animal Science (ICA), in San José de las Lajas, and the cause of death was stabbing.

On December 28, the independent press also reported the violent murder of Eugenio García, a 25-year-old who had been missing for days. García had left his house carrying 1,300,000 pesos with him to buy foreign currency on the informal market. Two days later, the young man was found dead “under a bridge,” apparently killed by a “beating” to steal his money.

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

‘Fidel Castro Had to Know’ Says Former Colombian Drug Dealer Carlos Lehder

“I imagine that Fidel Castro was aware of everything, but I don’t know, because I didn’t see them talking together.” (Collage)

14ymedio, Madrid, January 25, 2024 — Former Colombian drug trafficker Carlos Lehder, who has just published his memoirs under the title Life and Death of the Medellín Cartel, continues to reveal details about the relationship of the criminal organization with Cuba. In a telephone interview with journalist Vicky Dávila on Semana magazine’s television program, the former criminal reiterates that “obviously Fidel Castro had to know about the cocaine trafficking; he was the conductor of the orchestra.”

When asked about the veracity of this assertion, he says: “I imagine that Fidel Castro was aware of everything, but I don’t know, because I didn’t see them talking together. I know that Raúl Castro was the commander of that operation, the leader, and I emphasize that they, although they did not know how to traffic cocaine, immediately tried to control the entire business.”

Beyond the book, where he tells about his meeting with the youngest of the Castros, then Minister of Defense, Lehder revealed that being imprisoned in the United States, where he was extradited in 1987, and cooperating with authorities, he learned that the U.S. government tried to file federal charges against Raúl Castro for “cocaine trafficking.” continue reading

They never brought federal charges against Raúl Castro although they had mountains of evidence, and a number of boatmen had been caught with cocaine coming from Cuba

The U.S. security and surveillance forces, says the former drug trafficker, “had fully monitored the shipments and boats that arrived with cocaine directly from the port of Mariel and other Cuban ports to the coasts of Florida.” He also says that “they were accumulating evidence” at the time when President George Bush, the father, lost the election to Bill Clinton. “There was, of course, a change of prosecutors and whatever, but they never brought federal charges against Raúl Castro although they had mountains of evidence, and a number of boatmen had been caught with cocaine coming from Cuba who were cooperating with the U.S. government.”

Lehder reports that he made two trips to Cuba and didn’t want to do any more. “I already saw the maneuvers they were doing, very dangerous maneuvers for me,” he says, without giving more details, and he criticized the Cuban regime: “They had their boots on the necks of the Cuban people.” Considering the Cuban government a “dictatorship,” he says, “that’s too kind a word; it’s barbaric,” an “affront to every human being and an insult to Latin America and God.”

Without specifically mentioning the famous drug trafficking case that led to the execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa, Tony de la Guardia, Jorge Martínez Valdés and Amado Padrón Trujillo in 1989, Lehder tells journalist Vicky Dávila about the “debacle” of the deal with the Colombians: “The Cubans ended up killing each other for the cocaine business.”

Faced with the suspicion raised by his testimony, which accuses numerous leaders of having accepted bribes from the cartel, Lehder argued: “The honesty of my word gave me my freedom. Pablo Escobar trusted my word for many years; the American government, with which I have no pending accounts, trusted my word and gave me my freedom. The Prime Minister of the Bahamas trusted my word, and we negotiated with him and I paid him monthly. It was unfortunate, but that was the code of conduct among international drug traffickers, who have to bribe the authorities to get protection.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

____________

Dozens of Cubans Remove Snow from Moscow Streets for 9,000 Pesos a Month

Two Cubans, who clear snow off Moscow streets, on a lunch break. (MSK1)

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 January 2024 — Russian media has discovered that dozens of Cubans are clearing large amounts of snow from Moscow streets. Last weekend the online news site MSK1 interviewed a group of young people from the island who do this work in the Arbat and Khamovniki districts.

“My name is Robert. I’m from Cuba,” said the head of the makeshift brigade. “Generally, my team has 150 to 200 people. We work in the Arbat but we can work wherever they might need us. We came here on our own, voluntarily, not as part of a government program.”

MSK1 met in a fast-food restaurant with some of Robert’s team members, who said emphatically that they were very satisified with their Russian jobs. “There is no one from Cuba controlling us. My boss is Uzbek. My salary comes straight to me. I don’t have to hand it over to anyone,” one of them says smiling. continue reading

According to these immigrants, their pay is almost double what they would receive in Cuba. They can also buy most things at very affordable prices

Their salary, they claim, is 34,000 rubles a month, more than 9,000 Cuban pesos. According to these immigrants, their pay is almost double what they would earn in Cuba. They can also buy most things at very affordable prices. In Cuba, they report, they would need at least 3,000 pesos to buy a canned cola — alternatively, a domestically produced version goes for 220 pesos — but in Russia it is much cheaper and they can drink as much soda or eat as many hamburgers as they like.

Judging from accounts on social media, Cuban recruits have been removing snow from Russian streets for years. What the MSK1 reporter chooses to focus on, however, is the Cubans’ dark complexions, which — he takes pains to point out — constrast with the whiteness of the snow. This has made them the center of attention of local residents. He also refers to their birthplace, more than once, as “freedom island.”

“Robert prefers not to discuss the realities of life in a country with a planned socialist economy but he has no problem praising the new Russian-Cuban relations and sees Russia as a great friend to his country,” the article states. “It’s cold in Russia but I really like it here. It’s all good! Russia is a great friend of Cuba!” says the young man, dressed in the scarf of a sports club to protect himself from the Russian capital’s freezing temperatures , which this January have been even lower than usual.

Local residents are surprised at the sight of the Cubans, the article states, initially confusing them with immigrants from Central Asia, though they later realize that their complexions are even darker.

It is difficult, however, to know just how this type of employment works. “No foreigners of any kind work for the Office of Housing in the Arbat district except citizens of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). All of them have the necessary permits and registrations. We are strict about this. Not just anyone gets accepted,” says a state employee who denies any connection to the Cubans, even expressing surprise at their identifiable clothing. “I don’t know where they got those jackets. I swear they’re not ours,” he insists.

However, the district’s press office confirmed that the immigrants – Cuban students as it turns out – are working as backup personnel on a paid, voluntary basis. “Currently, we are fully staffed, with almost 17,000 people. But during heavy snowfalls, we need additional resources to clear the district’s streets. Very often, those who volunteer to participate are students, some of them Cubans, who are provided with the necessary equipment and special clothing,” it states.

The devaluation of the ruble is affecting the entire country, which previously attracted many immigrants but now is attracting Cubans almost exclusively

MSK1, on the other hand, reports that Russia needs an additional 4.8 million workers based on a study by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Economics. The problem is especially critical in jobs that do not require special qualifications, as is the case here, in which employees do not even need to speak the language.

The devaluation of the ruble is affecting the entire country, which previously attracted many immigrants but now is attracting Cubans almost exclusively. “They save every penny to send home to their families,” says analyst Valery Mironov, who was interviewed by MSK1. “The ruble exchange rate is very important to [the other immigrants]. When it was fifty rubles to the dollar, that was a good salary. But now that it has fallen to almost half that for almost the same salary, they’re not coming,” he adds.

“It is simply does not make economic sense for them to come here. They prefer to go to neighboring Kazakhstan or Europe instead. For Cubans, however, it is all much simpler. They earn a good salary here. I also think that there is some kind of special government program,” Mironov surmises.

____________