Translating Cuba

With Bated Breath, Cubans Watch the Elections in Venezuela

It is not only about elections that could change the course of Venezuelans but also about their consequences for the interior of our Island.

In Venezuela, a small electoral gap has been opened to shake off Nicolás Maduro / EFE

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 23 May 2024 — The news is fragmented and confusing, but in Cuba people are “alert” when it comes to the electoral process in Venezuela. In the midst of daily problems, power cuts that are spreading throughout the island and inflation that has sunk the purchasing power of a good part of the population, it is hard to believe that what is happening abroad could be a topic of interest here. But the July 28th meeting is not just any event and it is not in just any country.

At the beginning of this century, the alliance between Havana and Caracas had signs of eternity. The generous oil subsidy that Hugo Chávez granted to the Island allowed the Cuban regime to abandon some of the economic reforms forced by the crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union. As in any political marriage, both parties not only joined forces in the economy, international diplomacy and ideological discourse but also harmonized in their methods.

Chavismo seemed ever more similar to Castroism. The persecution of opponents, the illegalization of parties, the execution of the reputations of adversaries, and exile as the only option for those who opposed him became everyday situations in Venezuela. The hijacking of democratic institutions, the dismantling of the free press and the political tantrums in international forums completed the picture of similarities. But, unlike in Cuba, in the Bolivarian nation a small electoral gap was left open to shake off Nicolás Maduro. continue reading

Now, with just a few weeks left before the presidential elections in Venezuela, we Cubans are holding our breath. We know that any justification can emerge from the Miraflores palace to cancel the electoral process and we also know the thousand and one tricks that authoritarians can pull out of their sleeves to avoid leaving power. We move between expectation and fear. No one knows better than we do what is at stake.

Between expectation and fear we move. Nobody, like us, knows what is at stake

Not only are these elections likely to change the course of Venezuelans’ national life, but their consequences for the interior of our island are impossible to calculate. Not only is there a probable cut in the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, which has already been reduced in recent months, but there is also the message that will reach so many of my compatriots who have lost hope of shaking off a dictatorship.

If Maduro goes to the polls, he is very likely to lose resoundingly, at least that is what the polls indicate. But before that day, he could invent a military conflict that would force him to declare a state of emergency or invalidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the main opposition candidate who is overshadowing him. Anything is possible, but any such outcome would sink his regime even further into disrepute and economic sanctions.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, millions of eyes are watching the electoral ups and downs in Caracas. One day we wake up skeptical thinking: “He’ll do something, he’ll surely cancel everything before losing.” But the next day the optimistic streak takes over and we say to ourselves: “If they win, so will we.” There are more than two months left. There is time for hope and time for disappointment. Whatever happens, the shock wave will reach this Island.

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DW and is reproduced under license from the author.

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An Aristocratic House on Havana’s Calzada del Cerro Collapses and Leaves the Neighborhood Without Light

Despite the deterioration, something of its grandeur can still be appreciated.

The property, number 1360 Calzada del Cerro, suffered the collapse of part of its facade and the roof / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 26 June 2024 — The historic House of Doña Luz Godínez de Diago, marked thus on the maps, a 19th-century building in Havana, no longer exists as such. This Wednesday the property, number 1360 Calzada del Cerro, suffered the collapse of part of its facade and the roof. “It has been a relief, because that building had been in danger of collapse for years, and all of us who live nearby feared that it would end in tragedy,” a neighbor of the two-storey house tells 14ymedio. Demolition work has forced the cut-off of electrical service in the area.

“Yesterday we noticed that a bit of sand was falling, and shortly thereafter we heard the roar,” explains the woman standing in front of the house that once belonged to one of the families of the Havana aristocracy who sought refuge in the Cerro neighborhood, two centuries ago, to leave behind the intramural city, its noises and its miasmas. The house has gone through several uses in recent decades, from private to state.

“Yesterday we noticed that a bit of sand was falling, and shortly thereafter we heard the roar”

“No one lives at the front next to the facade, but behind there are several families,” the woman explains to this newspaper. This Wednesday, a demolition team, with a lift for two workers with sledgehammers to continue reading

demolish the walls, was in front of the building located between Patria and Saravia streets. “They’re going to have to hurry because it looks like a tremendous downpour is coming,” said another nearby resident.

The huge debris from the collapse occupies part of the road that leads to the famous corner of Tejas, a commercial node also fallen out of favor, then continues to Monte Street and the Capitolio of Havana. The fragments of walls and columns have an impressive size. “Incredible that they haven’t crushed a car,” added a curious person who watched the operations behind the yellow tape that closes the road.

Despite the deterioration and the hole in the facade that reveals part of the property’s interior, something of its grandeur can still be appreciated. A large portal with stylized columns supports an upper floor of pointed arches, and a balcony extends the width of the entire house. Long ago it lost the ornate railing that allowed access to the terrace where you could enjoy the cool. Lower down, another arch with Mudejar inspiration still retains part of its beauty.

The house right next to number 1360, smaller and of neoclassical style, has its portal shored up with wooden beams and has suffered some damage after the collapse of part of the nearby house. On the street, a bush is mixed into the debris, dragged from a crack in which, for years, it had grown near the roof of the old mansion of the Godínez de Diago family.

In the neighborhood they have had to cut off the electrical service to carry out the demolition work due to the line’s proximity to the building facade. The blackout has especially bothered residents in an area of Havana that has been suffering from problems with the water supply for days. They were hoping they could fill their tanks and containers this afternoon, if service is restored. Without electricity, the motors that extract water from the cisterns can’t even be turned on.

The Calzada de Cerro, one of the most important roads in the Cuban capital, connects part of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución and Cerro with Central Havana and Old Havana. It is a traditional route for urban buses and collective taxis, especially those who make the journey between the Parc de la Fraternidad and the areas of La Lisa and Marianao. Its closure, this Wednesday, has forced traffic to be channeled through parallel streets, narrower and with very deteriorated asphalt.

The Calzada de Cerro is one of the avenues that has suffered the most over time, due to state neglect and lack of investment in recent decades. Without the attractions of the historic center of Havana or the more modern feel of El Vedado, the street has numerous tenements where overcrowding and improvised partitions have contributed to further deterioration of the infrastructure.

“No one lives at the front next to the facade, but behind there are several families”

What was once a street with spacious portals, an infinity of vibrant shops and a great social life where people liked to stroll has languished. It is now a route that many people in Havana avoid in the face of the danger of a balcony collapse, sewer water that accumulates on the corners and mountains of garbage piled up on side streets. A sense of insecurity has taken over the surroundings, especially at night time.

The intense rains of the last few days have caused dozens of building collapses in Havana, a death and several injuries. Last Friday an official source, who preferred anonymity, informed this newspaper that in the Cuban capital, heavy rainfall had caused 19 partial collapses, but in the following days the number continued to grow.

On Sunday night, one of the most emblematic buildings in the capital, the Edificio Manzanares, suffered an interior collapse. Around 9:20 pm, a patio collapsed, dragging in its path the entire lower area of bathrooms and kitchens, at number 912 of San Francisco Street, one of the entrances of the apartment complex.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Fire Breaks out on the Upper Floors of Havana’s Girón Building

A plume of smoke rose from the building, located on the corner of Malecón and F in Havana, for more than half an hour.

14ymedio, Havana, 22 June 2024 — With help from a downpour, firefighters were trying to subdue a fire on the upper floors of the Girón building in Havana’s Vedado district on Saturday afternoon. Photos and videos posted by area residents on social media showed a plume of smoke rising from the building, located on the corner of Malecón and F Street.

A nearby resident reported that flames seemed to be coming from the elevator machine rooms on the top floor. It is unknown at this time if there were any injuries or fatalities. Residents of the property began pouring out onto the street after they heard the fire alarm go off, smelled smoke and heard the sirens of fire trucks.

“Hotspots persist but the fire seems to be largely under control. The firefighters are evacuating the residents,” reported Canal Caribe at 1:00 PM on its Facebook page. It also posted images showing flames still coming from some areas at the top of the building.

Composed of two blocks connected by long passageways, the building has become a headache for its residents / Carlos Espinosa Betancourt / Facebook

The seventeen-story Girón building was designed by Cuban architect Antonio Quintana and built using poured-in-place reinforced concrete. The passing years, lack of maintenance and proximity to the sea have turned what was once a jewel of modern design into a peeling ruin, with fragments continue reading

of its façade missing and much of its internal structure damaged.

Composed of two blocks connected by long passageways, the building has become a headache for its residents, who find it difficult to rent or sell units in a building with a reputation for being a modern-day ruin. “It’s become a vertical slum. Maybe something fell off and started a fire,” speculated a seventh-floor resident, who was one of the first to evacuate.

“My son called me. He lives nearby and was frightened when he saw the smoke. I grabbed my cat and headed down the stairs,” she says. “Much of Havana is without water today. They told us the electrical system has been affected and they’re still evacuating people who haven’t been able to leave.”

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Cuban Health Authorities Say Oropouche Fever Now Affects Nine Provinces

The garbage and stagnant water favor the proliferation of the culex mosquito, which transmits the disease

Emergency Waiting Room of the Calixto García Hospital in Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, June 25, 2024 — In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry of Public Health reported cases of Oropouche Fever in 23 municipalities in nine provinces: Matanzas, Mayabeque, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Holguín, Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. The text does not mention Havana, despite the fact that various reports collected by this newspaper prove the presence of the disease in the capital.

The infections were identified, says the statement citing Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of Epidemiology, after taking samples in the national reference laboratory of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), in Havana.

The clinical picture presents the infection as “mild,” according to the authorities, with an incubation period of between five and seven days, which is characterized by fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains; vomiting and diarrhea are also reported.

“Associated with the virus in a group of patients observed, on the sixth day a picture similar to the initial one appears, which leaves no aftermath and is not associated with the appearance of serious forms or deaths,” the ministry states. On June 8, Yosmany Mayeta, an independent journalist living in the United States, reported on Facebook the death of a young man who spent three days in a Santiago hospital with symptoms of Oropouche, although without specifying if he had previous conditions or the verified cause of death. continue reading

The clinical picture presents the infection as “mild,” according to the authorities, with an incubation period of between five and seven days

With the spread of the virus, the Government calls on the population to cooperate and asks them to go “immediately to the health system with the appearance of symptoms,” as well as to “support and carry out their own sanitation initiatives in homes, work centers and their surroundings.”

Conditions for stopping the Oropouche outbreak on the Island are not ideal. With the streets full of garbage, which has not been collected in days, plus the stagnant waters left by the rains and the deficient sewer system, the insect that transmits the disease, the culex mosquito, has the ideal environment for its reproduction.

“Without sweeping the streets and blocks, we will all fall victim to this phenomenon,” says Arnoldo Fernández, from Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, who suffers from the virus. The writer believed he could prevent it by wearing “pants, long-sleeved shirts,” but finally succumbed. “Intense headache, fever of over 100 degrees, burning in the eyes and loss of appetite,” were his symptoms.

From Matanzas, activist Annia Zamora warns of an increase in the number of cases in the province. “There are many sick people who don’t have medication. I live in a small town where there is no ambulance; the sick increase and the authorities do nothing. Between the virus and the hunger, I don’t know what will happen,” she says.

The insect that transmits the disease, the culex mosquito, has the ideal environment for its reproduction

Without giving case figures, the ministry reported that it has activated health systems on the Island, in a context of “defiant complexities,” due to the fact that, in recent weeks, an increase in the incidence rate of suspected cases of dengue has also been reported, in particular in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud and in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Holguín and Cienfuegos.

“In contrast to Oropouche Fever, the clinical picture of dengue can evolve into serious forms and can cause death, so people need to go to the doctor in a timely manner,” the official statement warns.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite an Abundant Harvest, the Price of Mango Has Skyrocketed to 80 Pesos a Pound

The fruit now costs four times more than it did in June 2021

Mangoes for sale in a produce market at 17th and K streets in Havana’s Vedado district / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 16 June 2024 — “This year is going to be tough,” warned Mauricio when he saw his mango bush covered in flowers a few months ago. Despite living in Havana for more than half a century, this 79-year-old Cienfuegos native still relies on the wisdom of the peasants with whom he grew up. “If it’s full of flowers, it means it will be a time of hunger and want,” he said at the time. And he was not wrong.

The end of May’s rain signals the start of mango season, when consumers can begin enjoying one of the most iconic fruits of the Cuban countryside. Although one can always find trees that bear fruit year-round, or have growth cycles that last months, summer is more commonly the time to savor all the varieties available on the island.

“Those lucky enough to have a mango bush in their garden are safe. They don’t have to pay for it and can even sell whatever they might have left over”

Bizcochuelo, manga, filipino, mamey (named for its reddish pulp), Super-Haden and hilacha are among the many varieties that appear nowadays at market stalls and on pushcarts of street vendors making the rounds through Havana neighborhoods. At the produce market on 19th and B streets in Vedado, which has a much wider and costlier selection than similar operations in the capital, mango season has come early this year. The mangoes here are shiny, with their reddish, green and orange tones on full display. continue reading

At 80 pesos a pound, the price of a single mango can easily be in the three digits. A bag of them can cost more than 1,000 pesos. Though this year’s harvest seems to be off to a good start, the abundant supply has not resulted in lower prices. Mangoes now cost four times more than they did in June 2021.

At 80 pesos a pound, the price of a single mango can easily be in the three digits. A bag of them can cost more than 1,000 pesos. Though this year’s production seems off to a good start, the abundant supply has resulted in lower prices. Mangoes now cost four times more than they did in June 2021. / 14ymedio

That was the year when currency unification took effect and the convertible peso was abolished. At that time, a pound of mango from the produce market at 19th and B streets cost 20 pesos. It was already going up by the start of the 2022 season before settling at 30 pesos a pound. However, 2023 was when it jumped to 50 pesos as measured by a weekly survey of produce markets conducted by 14ymedio.

“Those lucky enough to have a mango bush in their garden are safe. They don’t have to pay for it and can even sell whatever they might have left over,” says Mauricio, who lives in Havana’s Cotorro neighborhood. “But it’s also a headache because you have to keep an eye out to make sure no one steals them. By the time the bush stops producing, almost no one in this house can close their eyes.”

“The amount of mango we get in July and August is enormous. I don’t know what we would do without that bush”

Mauricio sells some of his crop to several private dealers and a nearby cafe that uses them to make milkshakes. “I pocket a few pesos, which isn’t bad. My wife also makes mango jam and mango slices in syrup, which are a big help in the summer when the grandkids are on vacation and constantly asking for food.”

“The amount of mango we get in July and August is enormous. I don’t know what we would do without that bush, he says.” September, however, is another story. “By then, we are sick of mangoes because we’ve eaten so many. Sometimes I trade them for rice or something else that we need.”

This year, Mauricio’s family is bracing itself for a season with lots of mango but very little else to eat. The flowers that he saw blooming so profusely a few months earlier on the tree in his patio were a warning: “We’re all going to be the color of mango because that’s all we’ll be eating morning, noon and night.”

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U.S. Airport Authorities Invited Another Cuban Delegation for a New Visit

According to a document obtained by Martí Noticias, the Foreign Ministry requested four visas for a business trip and the signing of a “Letter of Agreement” on air traffic control

Luggage security checks at Miami International Airport / MIA

14ymedio, Madrid, 25 June 2024 – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) invited Cuban officials to visit the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center in Florida, “as part of the Operation Miami/Havana and Houston/Havana Agreement.” The information was revealed on Monday by Martí Noticias, which had access to a document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba requesting a visa from the U.S. Embassy in Havana for the four people who traveled. The exact date of the visit is unknown, since, although the FAA itself confirmed that the meeting took place and was in May, it would be necessary to “contact the Cuban authorities to obtain information about their itineraries,” says Martí Noticias. The Cuban Foreign Ministry eluded answering the questions of the media, based in Miami.

In the visa application document, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that the reason for the trip is to hold a working meeting and sign a “Letter of Agreement” on air traffic control between the Federal Aviation Commission and the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics. In addition, Eddie Pérez, manager of the Miami flight control center, is indicated as a reference contact, and it is specified that the costs of the visit will be borne by the Cuban side.

It is also specified that the departure was scheduled for May 12 “with entry through one of the authorized ports (IAD and JFK).” The first is Dulles International Airport, in Washington DC, while the second is John F. Kennedy, in New York City. continue reading

It is also specified that the departure was scheduled for May 12 “with entry through one of the authorized ports (IAD and JFK)”

According to Martí Noticias, the officials who were sent to the United States are Orlando Nevot González (former director of Air Navigation of the Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba), Michel Mederos Reigoza (former supervisor of the Traffic Control Center of Cuba), Jorge Fermín Centella (worker of the Cuban Company of Airports and Services) and Jorge Luis Martínez Rizo (of the Institute of Civil Aeronautics).

A delegation of 15 U.S. officials, including managers from the airports of Miami and Houston, received the Cubans. According to media sources, the purpose was to “address the continuous, safe and efficient movement of aircraft” between the terminals of both countries.

The visit took place almost parallel to the one that at the end of May raised a strong controversy in Florida, also from Cuban officials, for a “exchange of knowledge” with their colleagues from the Transportation Security Administration of Miami International Airport.

That meeting was denounced to Diario de Las Américas by a source who complained about “letting the agents of the Cuban dictatorship into those facilities, letting the Castro spies enter the heart of the airport.” Some workers shared with this informant their doubts about the possible access of Cuban officials to “sensitive information, a practice reserved for representatives of allied countries.”

On that occasion, the Cuban side had “direct access to the new three-dimensional X-ray technology, among whose objectives is the identification of explosives to prevent terrorist groups from introducing them into the cabin of an airplane and other sensitive places. “It is inconceivable, absurd, unjustifiable and very dangerous,” said the source, who insisted that “opening the door of our security to Cuban officials means also having opened the door to Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia and other regimes that are enemies of American democracy.”

After the visit, Republican politicians Marco Rubio and Carlos A. Giménez, who chairs the Subcommittee on National Security for Transport and Maritime of the House of Representatives, presented the Secure Airports From Enemies (SAFE) Act before the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States, respectively.

Giménez described it as “incredible” that agents of a regime that is on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism were invited to visit the U.S. facilities

Giménez described it as “incredible” that agents of a regime that is on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism were invited to visit the U.S. facilities.

“We must make sure that this Administration does not allow foreign agents to know about our security measures aimed at keeping Americans safe,” Rubio said.

Washington and Havana maintain a cooperation program on security issues that provides for actions such as visiting institutions, exchanging information and working together, for example, to prevent terrorist attacks and drug trafficking operations. Over the years, there have been several meetings of this type.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Network of Corruption That Destroyed a Company in Guantánamo, Cuba, Is Dismantled

Part of the merchandise shown on Canal Caribe to condemn the corruption in Guantánamo. / Canal Caribe

14ymedio, Madrid, June 25, 2024 – Corruption has completely devastated the municipal company of Gastronomy of Guantánamo, after the diversion of products worth seven million pesos ended with its “total decapitalization,” according to information released on Monday by Canal Caribe.

The case affects a large “number of people who have been charged,” as well as companies and state entities that took part in it, said Major Juan Martínez Martínez, the examining magistrate for the case. The accused are exposed to sentences of up to 20 years in prison for crimes of embezzlement.

The soldier explains that the network was organized by “a person who had knowledge of how the company worked” and negotiated with several suppliers to “extract goods that never reached their final destination.”

The accused are exposed to sentences of up to 20 years in prison for crimes of embezzlement

The accused are exposed to sentences of up to 20 years in prison for crimes of embezzlement. Among the diverted products are, mostly, alcoholic beverages, such as rum and beer, and also others of primary necessity, such as chicken and sausages, in smaller quantities. continue reading

According to the magistrate, the appropriation of resources occurred by managers and accounting and commercial employees, through the falsification of the controls and documentation, which the accused validated in the company’s reconciliation process, dedicated to comparing the invoices with the orders and the merchandise delivered.

“The records were simply falsified. The product was diverted and the client company, that is, the municipal gastronomy of Guantánamo, paid the supplier and did not receive any benefit,” he explains. The decapitalization of the company has ended its existence, with the “consequent effect on all its workers,” he added.

Canal Caribe says that the best way to prevent situations like these is an “effective and rapid denunciation of facts,” and the report also appeals to the “moral damage” caused by this type of crime.

After decades of concealment of facts related to corruption, the official Cuban press has begun to report expeditiously on crimes of this type, as examples of what can happen. Cases are only made known when the networks are dismantled and those responsible are being investigated or subjected to a judicial process.

In May, something similar occurred in Sancti Spíritus, when the official press revealed that Alexis Fuentes de La Cruz, director of the Sancti Spíritus Municipal Commerce Company between May 2022 and July 2023, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption. In his case, in addition to ignoring the warnings of a specialized committee not to buy soft drinks with a near expiration date, he proceeded to eliminate the documentation that implicated him in the crime. The newspaper added that there were 13 more cases like this in the province.

The report appeals, in addition, to the “moral damage” caused by this type of crime

The report appeals, in addition, to the “moral damage” caused by this type of crime. In February of this year, Miguel Díaz-Canel asked to combat corruption at a working meeting of the Attorney General’s Office and told officials that they should have “zero tolerance” for these cases that “lacerate” and “erode the moral basis of society.”

“Corruption can be so devastating that it can lead a country to poverty, to moral poverty and to material poverty. Corruption can destroy a country,” said the president, who added that it causes distrust in the population in addition to “delaying social development, growth and economic development.”

To date, the most significant fall from grace for an alleged case of corruption is that of the former deputy prime minister and former head of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, removed from office in March 2024, without the least reason for the cause being known.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Graduate in Journalism in Cuba? No, Thanks

The imposition of military service for young women who want to study the degree reduces the number of students

Journalism students from the University of Havana, on a recent visit to the official newspaper ‘Granma’ / Granma

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 25 June 2024 — It was once a career competed for by students with the best grades, but in recent years its enrollment has been plummeting. Entering University to study Journalism no longer unleashes the passions of yesteryear and the number of potential graduates has decreased significantly. In the most recent 2nd National Plenary Session of the Union of Journalists of Cuba, the despair of the directors of the official press due to the lack of relief was the star of part of the meeting.

The decrease in the number of students, which had begun to be noticed some time ago, has become more pronounced after Active Military Service (SMA) was established as a mandatory requirement for girls who choose to study this specialty from academic year 2024-2025. For the dean of the Faculty of Communication at the University of Havana, Ariel Terrero, the implementation of this condition is “a failure” and he questions whether the SMA serves to “educate and ideologically train these young women.”

The decision to force the students to spend a year as recruits was evidently intended as another form of political filtering and indoctrination. Military training would help mold them to follow orders, to not question the authority of their superiors, and to put the submission and docility of a soldier before any possible criticism or personal rebellion. Life in a barracks would prepare them for the journalistic newsrooms controlled by the Communist Party by training them in the maxim that all insubordination is also an act of betrayal. continue reading

These Cuban women who dreamed of writing reports or covering an event for a television news program decided to put their vocation aside rather than wear an olive green uniform

However, instead of running smiling and confident towards the rifles, these Cuban women who dreamed of writing reports or covering an event for a television news program decided to put their vocation aside rather than wear an olive green uniform. The result of this imposition has not been what the authorities expected. Instead of future reporters shooting at targets and crawling on the ground camouflaged to surprise the enemy, what has happened is the exodus of applicants to enter a career in Journalism.

The crisis in this specialty has been brewing for decades. Some of those who graduate from their classrooms each year end up not practicing the profession, emigrating or switching to independent journalism. This is the case of Lili and Manuel — whose names have been changed to avoid reprisals — who are part of a recent batch that left the Faculty of Communication at the University of Havana. She took advantage of a health problem to not even begin her Social Service; he worked for just a few months at a radio station and asked for leave.

The reasons for not working in a profession for which they have sacrificed so much range from low salaries, to the desire to emigrate, to the conviction that in an official media they will not be able to practice the type of journalism they want to do. Less than half a year on Cuban radio was enough for Manuel to understand that “you have to ask permission for everything.” A couple of reports he prepared with testimonies collected on the streets were never broadcast. “The editors dragged their feet but it was evident that they did not like the complaints of those interviewed about the situation in the country; they said that those people who spoke did not offer hope or propose constructive solutions.”

Now, the young man publishes under a pseudonym for an independent media outlet while he waits for humanitarian parole through his father, who lives in the United States. “I don’t want to complicate myself by working in an official media, lest I have problems leaving later.” Lili, now recovered from her illness, writes weekly horoscope texts for a digital site outside of Cuba that pays her by the piece and in dollars.

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Cuban State Company Acopio Owes Five Million Pesos to the Farmers of Cienfuegos

Along with cattle theft, the situation is putting the food supply in the province in jeopardy

The debts prevent them from reinvesting in sowing for the next harvest / Mireya Ojeda Cabrera/ Radio Rebelde

14ymedio, Havana, 24 June 2024 — The guajiros of Cienfuegos are desperate; the state company Acopio has owed them a total of five million pesos for months and, without money, they cannot reinvest in planting for the next harvest. This problem, together with others, such as livestock theft, puts the food supply in the province even more at risk, if possible.

All of this was recognized by the authorities during the recent visit to Cienfuegos of Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, and other senior government officials. During the session, where the farmers complained about the lack of payments by Acopio, they came to the conclusion that they were facing “pending challenges.”

In the past 14ymedio has highlighted the crisis that producers in other provinces are going through

Non-payments to suppliers, a series of unamortized loans in the bank and the lack of budget to guarantee operations by the state company dedicated to the marketing of agricultural products are nothing new. There is periodic continue reading

news of the million peso debts that Acopio has with the farmers. In the past 14ymedio has highlighted the crisis that producers in other provinces are going through, such as those in Las Tunas.

Other problems that have emerged from the meeting in Cienfuegos, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, are the delays in the construction of houses for the most needy, the management of raw materials for the manufacture of corn starch, the lack of vehicles to distribute milk and other dairy products, as well as the exodus suffered by the workforce of the port.

During his speech at the meeting, Marrero Cruz accepted that there is a problem of corruption between government officials and the private sector through MSMEs. In that sense, he pointed out that, in the port, 21 million pesos have been paid in construction contracts where the costs were inflated.

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The US Includes Doctors Exported by Cuba in its Report on Human Trafficking

Nicaragua and Venezuela join the Island in the worst position in the document, which analyzes the situation in the Western Hemisphere

Cuban doctors stationed in Mexico, as part of the Henry Reeve Brigade. (Minrex)

14ymedio, Washington, June 25, 2024 — The US Government finds that Cuba does not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking and does not make significant efforts to do so due to the export of doctors to other countries. The Island is, like last year, among the countries with the highest incidence of this problem, along with Venezuela and Nicaragua.

This is clear from the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) published this Monday by the US State Department, which divides countries according to their degrees in terms of human trafficking and identifies those mentioned at the most serious level.

Washington calls on Cuba to ensure that “government-sponsored labor export programs meet international labor standards, specifically that participants receive fair wages, which are paid in full to bank accounts that the workers themselves can control.”

Washington calls on Cuba to ensure that “government-sponsored labor export programs meet international labor standards

In Nicaragua, the report states, the Government of Daniel Ortega “continued to minimize the seriousness of the problem” and did not continue reading

identify any trafficking victims for the second consecutive year, nor prosecute or convict any traffickers.

Similarly, Venezuela is asked to investigate and prosecute traffickers and their accomplices involved in child sex trafficking, the recruitment or use of children by illegal armed groups, the trafficking of men and LGBTQI+ people.

The report highlights that there are broad commonalities in trafficking trends faced by countries in the Western Hemisphere (North, Central and South America and the Caribbean). In this case, they are often related to irregular immigration.

“Unprecedented irregular migration in the region affects all countries in the Western Hemisphere. Migrants and asylum seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor, including by organized criminal groups large and small,” it notes.

In general terms, the report states, in many countries “there is political will to address human trafficking” in relation to sex trafficking, but there are “weak efforts aimed at combating forced labor.”

In many countries “there is political will to address human trafficking” in relation to sex trafficking, but there are “weak efforts aimed at combating forced labour”

Thus, labor inspection is underfunded and understaffed and typically has limited or no authority to inspect informal sector workplaces where many victims are exploited, especially along shifting migration routes.

This year, the report focuses on human traffickers’ use of increasingly “sophisticated” technology and online methods to recruit, control, market and exploit vulnerable people while evading detection.

Traffickers, for example, use the Internet to advertise and sell children online for sex, advertise fake jobs on social media platforms that are actually human trafficking schemes, transfer cryptocurrency to other traffickers, and perpetuate online scam operations.

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The Use of US Bank Accounts from Cuba Can Mitigate the Shortages, Says D Frente

The opposition platform announced that U-turn transfers would result in an increase in remittances

D Frente states that MSMEs currently supply essential products /EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 3 June 2024 — The opposition platform D Frente [D Front] is in favor of the new measures taken by the United States towards Cuban entrepreneurs. In a statement made public this Friday, the organization affirms that the fact that private individuals can open and operate American bank accounts online is an opportunity to mitigate the economic crisis on the Island.

The new regulation, the statement says, could “contribute to mitigating inflation problems, facilitate the ability to import basic products that are so urgent for our population today, and perhaps untie some ’knots’ that limit production.”

According to D Frente, transactions from Cuban soil through US digital banking would offer “a horizon of empowerment for the island’s incipient MSMEs,” which it considers to be the “main supplier of essential products for Cubans” in the face of “the incapacity of the State as a distributor.” continue reading

Cubans traveling to the United States could already open bank accounts in that country before the new measures announced this week, but once they returned to Cuba they could not use them due to the embargo that weighs on the Island

The statement from the opposition platform, which recently reformed its organizational chart, emphasizes that with the facilities granted to Cuban entrepreneurs from the US banks, better access to computer services could be achieved. These services, they continue, “are the central column of the functioning of contemporary economies.”

“Fluid access to the North American market, and allowing a greater flow of foreign currency to Cuba, through U-turn transfers, would translate into an increase in remittances and therefore liquidity in the country,” they also say.

In any case, D Frente warned that “there will be no definitive solution without the State returning sovereignty to the people, so that individual and social freedom can become the soul of the Republic that we deserve.”

D Frente demanded that the Cuban Government complete and implement the Business Law, announced in 2022, and remove “all the obstacles” it imposes on private business, foreign investment and the establishment of an effective economic model.

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Heavy Rains Cause Two Buildings to Collapse in Matanzas Province, Cuba

The roof, part of the walls and the balconies of the old ’El Confite’ building have given way under the weight of the downpour / Facebook of Radio Llanura de Colón

14ymedio, Havana, June 22, 2024 — Two building collapses, in less than 24 hours, have shaken the province of Matanzas. One of these losses, which occurred in a central corner of the Colón municipality, took place around three in the afternoon this Saturday in the midst of the intense rains that hit western Cuba. The other collapse occurred this Friday night in the town of Alacranes, in the middle of a blackout. In neither of the cases has there been any loss of human life.

In a video filmed by the former political prisoner of the Black Spring, Iván Hernández Carrillo, images are seen of the upper part of a building in the main park of Colón that has collapsed. The roof, part of the walls and the balconies have given way under the weight of the downpour and the debris has been scattered all over the street in front of the building.

“That building was in danger of collapsing for a long time,” explains Hernández Carrillo. “The local authorities saw the situation in that place every day. Now they come and act worried but until yesterday they did not take care to prevent this from happening. Fortunately, there has been no loss of human life.”

Neighbors of the place tell 14ymedio that the building housed El Confite, an emblematic business of the municipality that experienced its moments of splendor in the 40s and 50s of the last century. The Colón Mayor’s Office was located on its upper floor. Confiscated from its owners after Fidel continue reading

Castro came to power in January 1959, its large halls came to be managed by the State and, over time, suffered the deterioration of the infrastructure and the lack of renovations.

Right now the area of the collapse is surrounded by nearby residents who heard the roar caused by the fall of part of the building. Protection personnel, firefighters and some party leaders of the municipality have begun to arrive at the scene.

The other collapse took place this Friday night in the town of Alacranes, also in Matanzas, and was added to the list of structural collapses that have been recorded in recent days in Cuba, due to heavy rains. The collapses have so far left one person dead, numerous injured and extensive material damage.

The house affected by the partial collapse is located on General Betancourt Street in Alacranes and part of its structure collapsed during a power outage, due to the weight of the water and its precarious structural conditions.

In this case, no deaths or injuries were reported, only material damage, thanks, in large part, to the fact that the owner was not at home at the time of the collapse, as reported on Facebook by the Radio Unión reporter, Hanoi Moreno Enriquez.

After the collapse, a brigade from the electricity company arrived in the area to restore the electricity supply. The first secretary of the Communist Party in the municipality of Unión de Reyes, Arlen González, also went to the place still in darkness and with the neighbors gathered around the affected house.

After the collapse, a brigade worked in the dark to restore the power supply / Facebook of Hanoi Moreno Enríquez

The collapse of this house is not surprising. In the province of Matanzas, as in the rest of the country, there are many houses in fair or poor construction conditions, as reported this Saturday in 14ymedio. Construction with poor quality materials, lack of repairs and little investment in the real estate sector have seriously damaged the Cuban housing stock.

The additional weight that downpours leave on the structure of homes accelerates their collapse. A situation that has worsened in recent weeks when intense rainfall has been frequent. In the western provinces, the last few days have been especially rainy due to the bands of precipitation associated with Tropical Storm Alberto.

In the last few hours, building collapses have been reported in other parts of the Island, among which a property in the shape of a small castle located in the municipality of Playa in Havana stands out. This, after the intense rains of the last few hours, collapsed at the top as shown by different images that have gone viral on social networks. With which there are already at least 19 partial collapses in the Cuban capital according to sources consulted by this newspaper.

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Almost Twenty Building Collapses in Havana Cause One Death and Several Injured

In addition to Old Havana and Cerro, the glamorous neighborhoods of El Vedado and Miramar are also affected.

Several neighbors of the municipality of Playa in front of the building that collapsed / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, June 22, 2024 — A group of amazed and curious neighbors crowded this Friday in front of a building, in the shape of a small castle, on 26th Street between 27th and 29th Street in the municipality of Playa, Havana. A crack appeared in the building this morning while a crevice advanced on the facade, and, a bit later, part of its upper floor collapsed.

The recent rains have caused at least 19 partial collapses in the Cuban capital, according to an official source consulted by 14ymedio, who prefers anonymity. There were several injured in those incidents and even one death in the collapse of a wall on Calzada del Cerro, between Patria and Carvajal. The downpours have affected the housing infrastructure, which has lacked maintenance for decades. There has been no government investment in the residential housing stock, and families have been forced to crowd together, in an improvised way, into divided spaces.

Surrounded by an intense police and State Security operation, the perimeter around the collapse seemed, this afternoon, like a war zone. “Fortunately, no one was injured,” clarified an old woman who, close to a stall of agricultural products, had become an improvised source of information for newcomers, given the secrecy of the officials. continue reading

“I was in my house and I screamed, I thought it was a wedding, but no, it was a collapse,” said a woman who claims to have been “born and raised” in the neighborhood next to luxurious tourist accommodations, headquarters of foreign companies and foreign embassies with a meticulous garden and a freshly painted facade.

The property that suffered the collapse of part of its structure was built in the first half of the twentieth century and in an architectural style that mixes the functionality of the spaces with certain aesthetic details of grandiloquence much appreciated by the Cuban bourgeoisie that was stripped of its properties after the arrival of Fidel Castro to power.

The images transmitted on social networks show how a crack was enlarged on one side of the facade while the neighbors shouted to summon the residents of the house to leave as soon as possible. The voices expressed their concern for a girl who was among the residents who were trying to evacuate the house.

“Run, run, get the girl out!” a man and a woman are heard screaming, while the top of the structure collapses and leaves a trail of debris in front of the building. When the cloud of dust falls, neighbors of the surrounding buildings are seen leaving their homes in search of shelter. In the face of a collapse, no one feels safe. “They are major forces,” said a resident on the sidewalk right in front. Despite the widespread idea that building collapses only occur in the poorest and oldest neighborhoods of Havana, residents in the vicinity of the castle, damaged by decades of neglect, rains and weather, know that in any area of the capital buildings can fall like dominoes.

As a reminder of the day that was a turning point in the history of the Island, the nearby First of January polyclinic, honoring the official date of the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, located a few meters from the current collapsed building, suffered a collapse a little more than a year ago that forced patients and workers to relocate.

“People believe that because we live in Miramar there are no problems,” says Miriam, an employee of the clinical laboratory of the Polyclinic who lost her job when the building collapsed. “They offered me a place cleaning an apartment in another municipality but I said no, and I no longer work for the State. A fallen king, buried king. I went with the private businesses. Now I work in a cafeteria that only has one floor, and the roof is a light roof, it can’t fall down.”

This afternoon Miriam was among those who waited and watched on the street in front of the beheaded castle. “I live in a nearby room and every time I passed by here I thought about what my life would have been like to have a house like this. Now they are worse off than me; I have a roof over my head, they don’t.”

In less than a week, the collapses have affected several neighborhoods in Havana. This Thursday a balcony collapsed around 11:00 at night over the El Tablazo cafeteria, located on 1st Street, between C and D, in El Vedado. The accident occurred at a time of maximum attendance at the premises and left three injured, all adults.

A partial collapse occurred a few hours later at 425 Monte Street, between Ángeles and Águila, in Old Havana, leaving a young woman injured. The same property had claimed the life of a man three years ago, when one of its side walls fell.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With the Exception of Varadero, Everything is Falling to Pieces in Matanzas, Cuba

Octavio, Yuneisy and Marcos tell of the difficulties in obtaining decent housing

Near the railway lines, many families have built zinc slab huts in which they live with their children / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 22 June 2024 — The reality of those who live on the outskirts of the city of Matanzas, Cuba, does not appear on postcards and much less in the press or official broadcasts. Barely habitable houses – built with precarious materials – lack of basic services, stagnant water and garbage is the landscape that Octavio sees every morning when he travels along the unpaved roads to his work.

The makeshift neighborhood where Octavio and his family live used to be a landfill and is located just eight blocks from Liberty Park, in the center of the city. Eleven years ago, when the 57-year-old man arrived from Camagüey with his wife and son looking to “make his way,” the area was very different from what it is today.

“Where I currently live there used to be a huge garbage dump, very close to the San Juan River. Little by little and with a lot of effort, I put block on block and was able to put up a plate roof. I went through quite a lot of difficulties to get ownership of the land, and in the end I had to spend a lot of money to get my house,” he tells 14ymedio. continue reading

Octavio did not choose Matanzas by chance, but relied on a niece who lived in the city to help him establish himself

Octavio did not choose Matanzas by chance, but rather he relied on a niece who lived in the city to help him establish himself. Now that he has managed to build the house, although he has only built three rooms, and changed his address to Matanzas, he feels calmer. “At least they can no longer call us ‘illegal’ or send us to Camagüey,” he explains.

What has taken the Camagüeyan more than a decade, is something that people in worse situations never achieve. The peripheral hamlets, which began as small settlements of one or two improvised homes, in a short time have expanded to the limits of neighborhoods such as Versalles, La Marina or Peñas Altas. “I am lucky, because I even managed to make a slab, but many people live in zinc sheds of two or three square meters, sometimes without water or electricity,” he laments.

Octavio’s description matches the situation of Yuneisy, a 27-year-old single mother. The young woman came to Matanzas in 2022 with her partner, and together they built a small house made of zinc plates and some blocks in which she now resides alone with her daughter. “We live about ten meters from the train line. My little house is made with what was found at the time and there is only one room, with an electric stove for cooking. My daughter and I bathe right there, and we relieve ourselves outside,” says Yuneisy.

Last year, the young woman went to the provincial government to raise her housing problem and, although the authorities assured her that they are “analyzing” the situation, so far they have not offered her concrete alternatives. “We are going through a lot of needs, but if we return to my town it will be worse, because there is no hope for anything there,” says the woman from Santiago.

Within the city the situation is not so precarious, but the housing stock and the neighbors suffer from other problems. In the absence of housing, many families have settled in tenements and interior patios, where the eyes of the inspectors cannot reach. They live overcrowded, with up to four generations sharing a small house, and the shortage of materials – or high prices – slows down the construction of their own homes or their repair, which is why many buildings are in a deplorable state.

The improvised neighborhood where Octavio and his family live used to be a landfill / 14ymedio

For those who rent, the situation is even worse. “I have been renting for several years, because with the salary of a professional like me you cannot even build a room,” says Marcos, a young man who moved to the provincial capital from the municipality of Jagüey Grande seven years ago.

“The price of rent has risen exaggeratedly. Today the cheapest thing you can get is a room for 5,000 pesos, with nothing inside and in a bad place. A decent rental costs at least 10,000 pesos. Not to mention renting houses or apartments, which are above 15,000, and many of them in dollars or MLC (freely convertible currency),” lists the young primary school teacher, who has had to look for “extra jobs” to pay rent and other expenses.

Marcos says that a few weeks ago, taking advantage of the beginning of summer, he went to Varadero with some friends. “It’s incredible to see how everything is falling apart in Matanzas while every time I go [to Varadero] one or two new hotels are being built,” he says outraged. “That thing of raising a house daily – a promise that the regime has not mentioned again since 2019 – ended up being one collapse a day.”

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Mexico Sends Cuban Psychiatrists and Dermatologists to a State That Needs Neurologists and Orthopedists

The Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has received 10 of the Cuban specialists out of 50 that it expects in the coming months

The governor of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, foresees the arrival of more specialists from the Island / Video capture/N+

14ymedio, Madrid, 25 June 2024 — The governor of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, Ricardo Gallardo, told local media this Monday that “there are 10 Cuban specialists starting operations” out of the 50 who he hopes will join them in the coming days. These include neurosurgeons, urologists, gynecologists and orthopedists.

However, among the doctors who arrived in the state there are dermatologists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and a rehabilitator, specialties that are not included on the list of services required by the state of Potosí, and which were requested from the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The doctors were sent to the municipalities of Valles (6) and Rioverde (4).

According to state data, there are more than 400 orthopedic surgeries pending, in addition to hernia and gallbladder operations and dialysis processes

According to state data, there are more than 400 pending orthopedic surgeries, in addition to hernia and gallbladder operations and dialysis processes that have not been carried out due to lack of personnel.

“Neurosurgical specialists are generally in private practice. In the state we do not have any in public practice,” stated the governor. continue reading

Gallardo, who a month ago had promised the arrival of 109 specialists, 90% from the Island, confirmed that the high-specialty hospital in Ríoverde will be operational in July. The center will have 120 beds, operating rooms and new laboratories and is part of IMSS-Bienestar, the free health organization created by the López Obrador government for 23 states in the country.

The incorporation of Cubans has generated discomfort from the College of the Medical Profession – a non-profit NGO – and among specialists, who believe that they are taking away positions from Mexican doctors.

Acosta Díaz de León noted that Cubans have a contract, without specifying the duration, and “at the end they must go on vacation and then they could return.”

The president of the College, Antonio Chalita Manzur, denounced the presence of the island’s doctors to the State Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Coepris) for failing to comply with the administrative requirements to practice their profession. “To work legally as doctors in San Luis Potosí, it is necessary to equate the degree they have from their country of origin with the studies carried out in Mexico,” he stressed.

The head of the IMSS-Bienestar in San Luis Potosí, Daniel Acosta Díaz de León, acknowledged the discomfort over the hiring of specialists from the Island. However, he argued “that no matter how many calls we have made, it has not been possible to fill the places, which is why we resorted to hiring Cuban doctors.”

Acosta Díaz de León noted that the Cubans have a contract, without specifying the duration, and “at the end they must go on vacation and then they could return to work.”

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