Gaesa Used the ‘Small Business’ Law to End the Competition of Cuban Entrepreneurs

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 March 2023 — The Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (Gaesa), the all-powerful conglomerate belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been deliberately drowning the private sector in Cuba since 2016, and the SME law (micro, small and medium enterprises), promulgated in 2021, is only a “false opening” to attract foreign investment and … Continue reading “Gaesa Used the ‘Small Business’ Law to End the Competition of Cuban Entrepreneurs”

New Stores are Born in Cuba with a Strange Alliance Between the Private and State Sectors

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Olea Gallardo, Havana, 20 February 2023 — A new market in the heart of Centro Habana, a ration store with various items, a stationery store in the Miramar Trade Center, a fabric and upholstery store in El Vedado, a re-opened Italian pizzeria in the same neighborhood… these establishments have three things in … Continue reading “New Stores are Born in Cuba with a Strange Alliance Between the Private and State Sectors”

Cubans and Foreigners Linked to the Regime Take Over State Companies Without Competition

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Olea Gallardo, Havana, 26 January 2023 — A tetrapak of fried tomato sauce weighing 8 ounces for 630 pesos, some even smaller containers of mayonnaise at 280 pesos, and packet of cookies for 380 pesos, a 3.5 ounce bag of chips for 150 pesos… All imported and at reasonable prices unattainable for … Continue reading “Cubans and Foreigners Linked to the Regime Take Over State Companies Without Competition”

Warnings of Cuba Transitioning into a ‘Mafia State’ Much Like Putin’s

The agreement between Cuba and Russia will facilitate the future hegemony of Moscow over the Cuban economy, Cuba Siglo 21 [21st Century Cuba] has warned. (Presidencia)14ymedio, Havana, 22 January 2023 — The creation of a Centre for Economic Transformation — the agreement reached last Friday between Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the chief of the … Continue reading “Warnings of Cuba Transitioning into a ‘Mafia State’ Much Like Putin’s”

More Than 17,000 Cubans Have Applied for Refuge in Mexico, Most of Them to Avoid Deportation

14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, 15 December 2022 — The brothers José Luis and Raúl Borroto entered Mexico 40 days ago through Chiapas. “We paid the coyote $4,000 to take us to the border and he abandoned us.” These Cubans are part of the group of 368 migrants that the National Guard arrested on November 18 in the … Continue reading “More Than 17,000 Cubans Have Applied for Refuge in Mexico, Most of Them to Avoid Deportation”

Cuba: The Majority Dilemma

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 12 April 2022 — The majority demanded Pontius Pilate crucify Christ. The majority of Germans, in the times of Hitler, acclaimed the Führer. The majority of Cubans, at some point, shouted “Firing Squad” and “Get out.”  This civic immaturity creates Peter Pan societies, which refuse to grow up and hold … Continue reading “Cuba: The Majority Dilemma”

Cuban Intellectual Ambrosio Fornet, Who Baptized the’Five Gray Years’, Dies

14ymedio, Havana, 5 April 2022 — The Cuban film writer and screenwriter Ambrosio Fornet Frutos died this Tuesday at the age of 90, the Casa de las Américas reported on its social networks. “His work constitutes a fundamental part of the nation’s culture, which he always defended,” the institution wrote, recalling that the intellectual was “one of its … Continue reading “Cuban Intellectual Ambrosio Fornet, Who Baptized the’Five Gray Years’, Dies”

Dozens of Cubans are Scammed by Mexican Officials in Cancun

14ymedio, Havana, August 22, 2021 — Dozens of Cubans have been scammed by a network that offered advice for naturalization in Mexico. The organization operated from the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cancun and, according to the documentation published by the newspaper Luces del Siglo, was directed by Víctor Hugo Sulub Chi, an … Continue reading “Dozens of Cubans are Scammed by Mexican Officials in Cancun”

Cuba: The Hard Currency Store in Sancti Spiritus Hasn’t Opened Yet and There is Already a Line

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 24 May 2021 — Faces glued to the windows and eyebrows raised after reading the prices, is the reaction of many residents of the city of Sancti Spíritus when they pass in front of the Quinto Siglo store, the most recent of the markets in that province that has switched from … Continue reading “Cuba: The Hard Currency Store in Sancti Spiritus Hasn’t Opened Yet and There is Already a Line”

More Than Half A Century Making A Mockery of Human Rights / Julio Cesar Galvaz #Cuba

By: Julio César Gálvez. The current economic and social crisis spreads and worsens among the most vulnerable sectors of the population: children, elderly, disabled, women, ethnic minorities. It is not an isolated case. It is a well-structured plot over 50 years ago to control an entire country. The lack of ethical and moral values and … Continue reading “More Than Half A Century Making A Mockery of Human Rights / Julio Cesar Galvaz #Cuba”

The Owner of the Restaurant El Patio De Olga in Santa Clara Is Murdered

The 31-year-old offered transvestite shows in the restaurant 14ymedio, Havana, 2 October 2024 — Luis Miguel Llanta, 31, who worked as a transvestite with the stage name Gia D’Yenifer in the restaurant he owned, El Patio de Olga, was murdered this Tuesday in Santa Clara by another man with whom he had a relationship. The … Continue reading “The Owner of the Restaurant El Patio De Olga in Santa Clara Is Murdered”

Dressmaker, A Dying Profession / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz

14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz, Havana, 16 February 2016 – Spending her days among needles, threads and fabrics, the dressmaker Yansa Muniz defends handmade garments against the widespread trend to prefer brand name clothes. Her tenacity has led to the creation of Impar (Unparalleled), a workshop in Havana’s Nuevo Vedado neighborhood, where she dedicates herself to made-to-measure … Continue reading “Dressmaker, A Dying Profession / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz”

A Good Place for Killing Children and Living Peacefully / Dora Leonor Mesa

In Cuba there are two ship sinkings that captured public opinion. One of them (1994), the ferryboat 13 de Marzo, was presented in 1996 to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1,2,3). The other occurred years earlier (1980), known in the press as the Slaughter of Rio Canimar (4,5,6), which merits investigation by the Cuban … Continue reading “A Good Place for Killing Children and Living Peacefully / Dora Leonor Mesa”

The Five Grey Years: Revisiting the Term / Ambrosio Fornet

By Ambrosio Fornet / See here for background information on this series of posts. 1 It seemed as if the nightmare was something from a remote past, but the truth is that when we awoke, the dinosaur was still there. We haven’t found out — and perhaps will never know — if the media folly was … Continue reading “The Five Grey Years: Revisiting the Term / Ambrosio Fornet”

OLPL Speaks at Johns Hopkins / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Speech by OLPL in Kenney Auditorium, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC, 16 May 2014. Dear friends: As a Cuban from the Island —and all Cubans are, no matter how far and how much time has passed since we left or were expelled from the Island—, as a critical intellectual —that … Continue reading “OLPL Speaks at Johns Hopkins / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”