Translating Cuba

presentation at the Paradero Sports Center, where she was to participate in the 192-pound category in the Youth World Championship.

Hours after Pérez’ escape in Mexico, journalist Francys Romero reported that Miguel Neira, one of the players of the Cuban team that participates in the U-23 Pre-World Cup tournament, had also escaped. The young left-handed pitcher of Los Gallos de Sancti Spíritus, had played a prominent role in last Sunday’s match in the pre-World Cup, in which his team beat the Curaçao national team 5-1.

Neira, 19, was on the list of the Cuban team that this Wednesday faces Panama in the U-23 pre-World Cup tournament, held in the Panamanian capital. According to the reporter, “he left the hotel where they were training at noon.”

“I classified Neira as the number 3 prospect on my list of the 25 best under-18 talents of 2022,” Romero recalled, affirming the talent of the player from Sancti Spíritus.

These escapes add to the list of 14 athletes who stayed in Chile after the Pan American and Parapan American Games. While their request for refuge is resolved, 11 of these athletes already have a temporary visa, which has allowed them to train and look for employment in the South American country.

Translated by Regina Anavy 
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In addition, the company is in the middle of negotiations with the Banco de Crédito y Comercio (Bandec), with which they maintain several active debts and many overdue, to receive more financing. “We hope that now, with a certain intention of strengthening the state part, we can also obtain more production. We have been negotiating with the bank the possibility of new financing, to be able to recover as a company,” but, says Velázquez, the prices imposed by the State also take their toll.

According to Maikel Cera, general director of Acopio in Las Tunas, the differentiated prices for the population, imposed by the municipal governments, diminish the profit margin of the company

According to Maikel Cera, general director of Acopio in Las Tunas, the differentiated prices for the population, imposed by the municipal governments, reduce the profit margin of the company, which remains at a few cents. Also, he says, they compete with “intermediaries” who sell the same products at higher prices but pay “cash on the spot,” something that the company cannot do due to lack of liquidity.

As for the Bandec branch that manages the company’s credits, with whose directors Granma also spoke, the panorama they offer about Acopio is no different. So far this year, says Leancy Richard Collazo, director of the bank, three financings were approved for the company. “They have about 66 million in credits in force, of which 23 million are due.”

“We have restructured 18 million to help them have enough solvency to request new financing and liquidity to acquire products,” he says.

Several credit and service cooperatives (CCS) in Las Tunas also revealed their concern about the debts they continue to contract with producers without a guarantee of payment. This is the case of the CCS Sabino Pupo, from the municipality of Manatí, whose associated producers have filed complaints about the delay in payments.

“The transfer arrives on time, but then the cash is delayed, and we have hired workers who do not have cards”

“The transfer arrives on time, but then the cash is delayed, and we have hired workers who do not have cards,” claimed Diosmani Ramírez, one of the milk producers associated with the CCS, who explained that the payments are delivered half in cash and the other by transfer. “In addition, there are many payments that are still in cash, so there are ATMs in the municipality. We have to go to the bank, and although they help us, they can’t always give us the figure we ask for,” he added.

The same thing happens in the CSS Conrado Benítez, of the municipality of Colombia, whose directors admitted that “it is almost never possible to pay (the suppliers) within the month” stipulated in the contracts. The debtor, in this case, is precisely Acopio, who has not delivered the corresponding amount to the banana and corn farmers of the CCS.

Arelis Calvo, in charge of economics in that cooperative, admits that the annoyance among the members is widespread. “Some come to me and tell me that it is better to sell on the outside, because they have the money fast in their hands, and they also need to eat and feed their families. “Our CCS complies with what it agrees; we have been vanguards for three years. So, why aren’t we being paid?”

Mailín Utria, general director of the Cárnica Las Tunas Company, also gave a part of the situation of the entity in his charge. “We have managed to maintain some stability in terms of payments. We were managing to make them between 20 and 25 days, but sometimes that period was extended to 30 days,” he said. However, the attempt to be punctual without having the budget brought consequences.

“We have seen the need to apply for bank loans to be able to honor those payments, because the financial situation of the company is tense, due to a high number of accounts receivable because of customer defaults,” said Utria, who acknowledged that in 2023 they assumed credits worth 130 million pesos, and now they have requested 80 million more.

We have found ourselves in the need to apply for bank loans to be able to honor those payments, because the company’s financial situation is tense, due to a high number of accounts receivable 

Education, although budgeted by the State, also has a rope around its neck. “In our case, we have debts amounting to 30 million pesos from accounts payable, including those of the cooperative and farming sector. Those high balances do not respond to negligence or lack of control, but to the tight situation we have with the budget,” explained Yaimara Martínez, head of the accounting and finance department of the entity.

“Our sector needs more than one hundred million pesos today to close the year. At the beginning of this year we stopped receiving more of the 180 million in relation to our preliminary project and, on top of that, up to now they have withdrawn 23 million. In addition, we pay the debts from 2022 with the 2023 budget. The Finance directors have not been able to support our needs,” she complained.

According to the official, Education only receives money permanently to pay the workers’ salaries. The rest depends on the contributions of other companies and “economic actors” to the State budget, but this system is also in crisis, since the tax agencies are having problems with their own finances.

“We are dealing with the Finance and Prices directors to see if at least part of the budget that we used to pay the previous year’s debts is replenished,” Martínez said.

For now, the only solution that Education has found to relieve the debt pressure is to extend the terms of the contracts – which require payment in 30 days – to 60 and 90, “so that they do not become aged debts so quickly, since there is no liquidity to pay.” More than a solution, however, the measure only serves to lengthen the wait of those who demand to be paid for their work.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

homes by gravity and in our case it doesn’t, because [we are on] the center of the slope with a little more height,” complained a Reina Street resident in the comments of the official media Tribuna de La Habana, which reproduced the announcement.

The netizen also complained that they no longer know who to turn to, because the telephone help lines for the population don’t ’pick up’. “Now, as if that were not enough, the news is that from Tuesday there will be no water, as if these past days everything worked well. We are desperate and helpless,” she said, adding that the provincial authorities promised to send them a water truck, which would solve the problem. “The truck never arrived; it was just words,” she said.

The avalanche of comments that appear in the publication of Aguas de La Habana suggests the cartography of the city’s problems: water scarcity in Bahia, impacts on the Guiteras distribution, leaks in San Miguel del Padrón, and the list continues.

“Do you think someone deserves to go a week without water? They don’t even send a water truck so we can at least cook and bathe, as any human being deserves,” protested another user.

“Today it’s been 15 days since we had water on my block, in the Wajay neighborhood, and complaints have been made. The delegate and the president of the council do not respond or carry out any action; even the bosses of Aguas de la Habana are aware and don’t deign to do anything if there is no signed document. I hope there is no need to have a march with pots and pans [a cacerolazo*], which is what will get their attention with immediate effect and without a signed document,” said another user.

On most occasions, the areas mentioned by customers are not among those where Aguas de La Habana has anticipated interruptions to occur

On most occasions, the areas mentioned by customers are not among those where Aguas de La Habana has anticipated interruptions to occur. The official list includes, for this Tuesday alone, impacts in part of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución and Boyeros, absence of service in El Cerro, Centro Habana and Habana Vieja, and minor interruptions in Diez de Octubre,  Luyanó and El Sevillano.

These areas are supplied by the Cuenca Sur reservoir, where  maintenance work will be carried out on the water conductors and the electrical system, the entity reported.

In contrast, other customers report that in their neighborhoods there are water leaks that have been draining for months without being repaired. “If you go from Boyeros to Ayestarán through the area of Bohemia magazine, you will have to roll up your pants because there is a lake of clean water,” says a nearby resident.

Some flooded, others in drought. The habaneros still can’t live in peace with the network of pipes that, instead of headaches, should bring them comfort.

*Translator’s note: A cacerolazo [from the word ’cacerola’ — casserole in English], is a form of protest where people bang on pots and pans.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

Dilaila Díaz Fernández, general director of materials of the Ministry of Construction, explained that to meet the needs of the Housing program, 83 million concrete blocks are needed per year, but in 2022 barely 39 million were reached, less than half, although it was “the best production” in the 12 years that the local production plan had been in operation.

In a country accustomed to worse results, it is no small matter that this year production has increased, producing four million more pieces, but this only covers 52% of what is needed. The result is the shortage of housing and the unfortunate conditions that exist.

The official asked for production to be accelerated and, returning to the local, insisted that it is necessary to “design and build with red clay.” This was followed by the scolding of the leadership of the Communist Party, which alternated with the usual calls for voluntarism.*

“We have to start a different system and promote this as an essential, social, revolutionary movement, to be able to give an answer to the population,” said Marrero, who urged companies, organizations and households to get involved in the world of ceramics.

“We need the population to see that in this very complex, sensitive issue, that affects so many people block by block, there is an additional effort, a different way in which this program has been focused, which is more participatory than ever, that companies are helping, that there is popular participation, that there is a different approach,” he continued, stating that “things cannot be delayed.”

The official, however, emphasized the need for new rules that improve relations between state and private entities and take advantage of Idle capacities

The Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, Johana Odriozola Guitar, spoke of proposed changes, but the two that she mentioned are not a novelty. On one hand, she spoke of decentralization, a task that was already addressed when the State decided to delegate most of the complex issues to the territories. On the other was the “approval of new economic actors.” The production of construction materials is one of the most frequent activities of the private sector, although well below gastronomy and food production, according to official data from the first quarter of the year.

The official, however, emphasized the need for new rules that improve relations between state and private entities: “taking advantage of idle capacities”; increase the supply and income of state workers; increase production by coordinating with private companies; repair paralyzed production lines; and identify new business opportunities and “price agreements.”

As a novelty, this did advance the creation of a National Institute of Non-State Economic Actors, which will be subordinate to the Council of Ministers, with all that this implies.

The meeting also discussed the future budget and the need to protect the most vulnerable, but the results do not allow us to maintain optimism. “We have to face 2024 in a different way. We are going to have the same challenges, the intensified blockade, the same currency limitations, fuel problems. Therefore, we do not have the right to make a plan that is more of the same,” Marrero warned.

The prime minister spoke of a new year of “much justice,” but before which “more planning” will have to be done, due to the difficulties. “We have to play the role that corresponds to us, transform the Government’s control for food production, taking into account that 80% is in non-state productive people and forms, as well as strengthening the local development strategy, based on the real potential of the municipalities to meet the demands of the population,” he said. Again, he didn’t explain how.

We have to face 2024 in a different way. We are going to have the same challenges, the intensified blockade, the same currency limitations, fuel problems

After the echo of Ramiro Valdés’ anger, the prime minister ended the meeting with best wishes and words, talking about the benefits of decentralization, how to better exploit the “potentialities both spiritually and materially, and put together a great movement in tribute to the triumph of the Revolution and the people who work so hard and have had to face so much.”

According to the latest balance sheet of the Ministry of Construction, Cuba needs to build about 20% more houses to end its chronic housing deficit, which exceeds 800,000 homes. Since 2021, barely around 50,000 have been built. In addition, in mid-July the housing program built with state subsidies had only 13% execution, the eradication of dirt floors 9%; and of the 9,000 tenements in the country, barely 154 had been eliminated.

*Translator’s note: Voluntarism means individual initiative, something contrary to Marxist-Leninist ideology.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

“All the actors of the economy already have full access to banking services,” which, he said in a surprising way, “makes us different from other nations.”

It goes without saying that none of the participants said anything like that. They dedicated themselves to citing the strong investments in technological equipment and point-of-sale terminals, which are then not taken advantage of, highlighting that “with the available resources, the colleagues of Etecsa, Enzona and the banking system have linked to each other, and we have the possibility of continuing to make progress in the bancarización of transactions.” But again, why do Cubans use cash and flee from the banks? It’s the same as tourism: why are they building hotel rooms if they are left empty?

The president of the Bank then said one of the things that attracted the most attention, that one reason it’s necessary to develop bancarización is in the high cost of cash. Yes, you have heard correctly: the president of the Bank said that “using banknotes means importing paper, inks, maintaining the equipment; then you have to transport them, distribute them, count them; and with about 10 uses in the economy they deteriorate, and then you have to destroy the banknotes and produce them again. It is a permanent cost in all banking operations, and it requires a large workforce, equipment and energy consumption.”

Unbelievable but true. Cuba has problems producing banknotes for its monetary system. Have you ever heard of a single country in the world that claims to have this problem? Of course not. It doesn’t exist. Only in Cuba. Now relax, because the farce had just begun. 

Unbelievable but true. Cuba has problems producing banknotes for its monetary system. Have you ever heard of a single country in the world that claims to have this problem? Of course not. It doesn’t exist. Only in Cuba. Now relax, because the farce had just begun. <– leave here and also make a ’quote’

The president of the Bank then said that “among the factors that lead to the increase in the price of transactions is the growth and emergence of new economic actors; there are more and more entities to attend to and more monetary circulation. At the same time, more economic actors involve a greater number of people who go to the bank to deposit and withdraw cash, which also makes banking operations more expensive.” In the absence of blaming the embargo/blockade, they now blame the new economic actors.

Another blunder, because in reality the cause of the increase in monetary circulation is not a small and barely marginal private sector that fights against state power to open spaces, but a deficit of the uncontrolled state sector that has to be financed with sovereign bonds that eliminate the liquidity of the banks and put them at the service of a state that only squanders the money in expenses. Of course no one said this, but it’s the reality.

That is, according to this argument, people leave jobs in state banks because the work is boring, with no expectation of improvement and poorly paid. In other words, it’s the opposite of what happens with banks in the rest of the world.

But the president of the Bank continued and said that “to the above is added a distortion in the salaries of people who work in the state sector in relation to workers in the non-state sector. The bank is not one of the entities that pays the most in salaries and profits, so we have had a significant decapitalization in our workforce, and the employees are affected.” That is, according to this argument, people leave jobs in state banks because the work is boring, with no expectation of improvement and poorly paid. In other words, it’s the opposite of what happens with banks in the rest of the world.

And not content with the ridiculous comments he had already made at this point in the program, the president of the Bank took another leap into the void to say that “two contradictory aspects then come together: we increase wages, and every day more employees leave. Despite the empowerment we have given employees by raising their salaries, establishing indicators of payment by results, we have only 84% of our staff left.” How unfortunate. And of course, where there is more concentration of economic activity and population is where that 84% suffers the most. Nothing to see or say, not a practical solution.

Just the eternally repeated message that “we will continue to face that problem from the Central Bank and, above all, from the Metropolitan Bank. We will continue to identify what to do so that people will go less to a bank to get cash. One of the lines of action in that sense is bancarización, which has been happening gradually for some years.” Unbelievable.

Next he wanted to explain why it was necessary to accelerate bancarización from last August. He said that “since before 2020, transactions and the use of electronic means of payment had been growing. In the pandemic period, home operations also increased, and electronic commerce was enhanced. In 2022 there was still a growth in bancarización transactions, but now in 2023, after the pandemic, there has been a relaxation in all those mechanisms, and we went back, from 78% in the payment matrix of these operations, to 75%.”

Where is the centrally planned economy that is unable to foresee behavior as simple as this?

And he concluded by pointing out that “from August to date, after the approval of Resolution 111, those operations have been growing at a monthly rate of 0.6%; and we expect to close the year with a growth of almost 30% in operations through electronic payment channels.” Where is the centrally planned economy that is unable to foresee behavior as simple as this?

However, the president acknowledged at this point that “the tendency to withhold cash in the hands of the population is maintained, above all, by a group of non-state economic actors.” And in this regard he added that “the cash that is kept out of the bank continues to grow, and this is a harmful phenomenon for the economy, because it causes an increase in prices.” In other words, on the one hand, electronic operations increase, but on the other, cash transactions are maintained. Where exactly are we? How is it possible for all this to happen in an economy that barely grows by 1.8% and is practically stagnant?

“They need to create certain scenarios in the economy so that the new actors can fully develop, without the need to retain cash; a phenomenon related to the reduction of offers and the increase in actors itself.” Have you understood anything? Not me.

Well, in reality, they don’t know, because the president of the Bank said at the time that “they need to create certain scenarios in the economy so that the new actors can fully develop, without the need to retain cash; a phenomenon related to the reduction of offers and the increase in actors itself.” Have you understood anything? Not me. What scenarios must be created in the economy for the development of cashless actors? Let him explain it.

And of course, having arrived at this point and with a threatening tone, he said that “cash withholding is not always due to lawful needs. For example, it is done to access foreign currency, since the State cannot offer a foreign exchange market, because the country’s economy has a deficit in that sense.” The question is why the state does not undertake the reform of the foreign exchange market and maintains the absurd status quo.

In addition, he accused the use of cash as a factor that does not allow the banking system to increase the loan fund necessary to leverage and finance the economy of the private and state sectors. That is, the president of the Bank seeks more liquidity for the state deficit, and he asked for clarity in the transactions. Maybe he should start with his own.

He then asked people to deposit money into their accounts and assured them that “bank secrecy is one of the inalienable principles of the system,” when Cubans of several generations know that this is not the case. As if the population had money left over to deposit in banks and also had some interest in electronic payments in shops. More than one spectator had to turn off the program at this point.

Afterwards, Julio Pérez, general director of the Bank’s Payment Systems, said that one of the commitments is to reconcile the work done in recent months with all economic entities, so that they can see their main ally in the bank. And Alberto Quiñones, vice president of the Bank, said that the premise of bancarización contains a gradual creation of conditions, and accelerated progress happens when those conditions are created.

In relation to Point of Sale (POS) Terminals, he said that they are working, and he encouraged their use mainly in TRD and Cimex stores. In this sense, he pointed out the work of Fincimex and REDSA in sustaining the network of POS and ATMs in the country. A lot of emphasis on the means, but never on the results: that’s the model.

Finally, there was talk of the Caja Extra service, the creation of bank cards linked to salary payrolls and bank accounts to collect taxes from private actors, whom he accused of withholding cash for an alleged practice of price differentiation depending on the payment channel, which he described as an illegality that the population cannot accept.

And in this regard, he insisted that economic actors must have the QR Code of the business available, “and not the staff, who therefore do not receive the bonus percentage for the use of payment gateways.” And for the same reason, he pointed out that “the population cannot be required to pay in foreign currency, except for the stores in MLC***.” In fact, it was confirmed that on January 2, “the business that does not have the conditions created for the population to pay through electronic gateways will not be able to provide services.” Not a good idea.

Translator’s notes

*Bancarización  is a term used in Cuba and other Latin American countries. All economic transactions are made by debit card, including cash withdrawals and the payment of salaries. The term does not have a counterpart in English so the Spanish term is used throughout this translation.   

** The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso (CUP) as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

***”Stores in MLC” only accept payment in hard currency, and are also the primary ‘physical’ stores in the country that sell anything beyond the most basic items, outside the informal/black market.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.