Search results for: coffee shortage

‘We Give Priority to the Basic Basket,’ Says a Cuban Minister With Black Humor

14ymedio, Madrid, October 18, 2023 — Everything is bad in Cuba, but it could be worse. This is basically what Manuel Sobrino Martínez, Minister of Food Industry, said this Tuesday in a brilliant appearance on State TV’s Roundtable program, where he reviewed in detail the systematic sinking of the forecasts for this year and ended … Continue reading “‘We Give Priority to the Basic Basket,’ Says a Cuban Minister With Black Humor”

Cuban Business Owner Does in Months What the State Didn’t Do for Years

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, October 18, 2023 — A motorcycle zips by as a horse-drawn carriage makes its way on the other side of road. The sunlight glistens off the asphalt which is, quite surprinsingly, flawless, without a pothole or a crack. The owner of the nearby privately owned company, Super Rapido CG, invested in … Continue reading “Cuban Business Owner Does in Months What the State Didn’t Do for Years”

‘Prices Are Expressed in Dollars’ Says the Sign in Cuban Shops

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 13 October 2023 — “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” was repeated several times a day between those walls. The former Legal Consultancy of Nuevo Vedado in Havana, which welcomed so many marriages between Cubans and foreigners, is now a business immersed in the separation of goods for the … Continue reading “‘Prices Are Expressed in Dollars’ Says the Sign in Cuban Shops”

A Son of Fidel Castro Defends the Cuban Regime on Social Media With Capitalist Arguments

14ymedio, Madrid, 12 October 2023 — It’s been a little over a month since Alexi Castro Soto del Valle, one of the children that Fidel Castro had with his last wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, opened an account on the social network X, where he maintains a remarkable level of activity dedicated to the active … Continue reading “A Son of Fidel Castro Defends the Cuban Regime on Social Media With Capitalist Arguments”

Encounters of the Third Kind with Cuban State Security

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 October 2023 — Those of us who have been a target of the State Security often make two serious mistakes. On the one hand, we overestimate them. They are not the X-Men. They do not have all the latest technology nor are they omnipresent. Their officers come off as … Continue reading “Encounters of the Third Kind with Cuban State Security”

The Cuban Economy is Close to Collapse

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, September 29, 2023 — In the latest edition of the State TV’s Roundtable program, Cuba’s Minister of Economy Gil reaffirmed the “socialist” model to get the Cuban economy out of the rut, a combination of rejection of the market and a determined commitment to planning that are, in short, the … Continue reading “The Cuban Economy is Close to Collapse”

Varadero Resort For Cubans ‘All Inclusive Scam’

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez and Olea Gallardo, Havana, 14 September 2023 – In the bus back home to Havana from Varadero, Manuel and his wife, like many other local tourists, talked about nothing else. Every one of them, though having stayed in different hotels, felt that they had been swindled; that despite the stratospherical amount … Continue reading “Varadero Resort For Cubans ‘All Inclusive Scam’”

For the Second Time in Four Years, a Private Bar Is Set on Fire in Santiago de Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 12 July 2023 — A fire caused serious damage to the ground floor of the M’ka bar in the city of Santiago de Cuba this Tuesday around 9:30 in the morning. The private premises also suffered a similar accident in January 2019. In both cases, there was no loss of human life or … Continue reading “For the Second Time in Four Years, a Private Bar Is Set on Fire in Santiago de Cuba”

Cuba Lacks Food. . . and Will Continue to Lack Food

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 22 June  2023 — In Cuba, food is lacking. It’s been six decades of pernicious scarcity that demand a response to one of the most serious day-to-day problems for Cubans. A recent edition of the State TV program Mesa Redonda [Roundtable] was dedicated to this issue, with the title What … Continue reading “Cuba Lacks Food. . . and Will Continue to Lack Food”

Two Thousand More Tons of Donated Vietnamese Rice Will Arrive in Cuba in September

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 July 2023 — In the absence of an increase in agricultural production, and in the midst of an unprecedented shortage and inflation, more rice donated by Vietnam will arrive in Cuba. In May the Asian country sent 5,000 tons; this time it will send 2,000. The first shipment left the port of … Continue reading “Two Thousand More Tons of Donated Vietnamese Rice Will Arrive in Cuba in September”

Goya and Fabelo, Worlds in Collision

Xavier Carbonell, Madrid, 25 June 2023 – In the land of Roberto Fabelo all the statues have been decapitated and the cities are in ruins. Junk, coffee pots, washbasins, cookpots, drowsy and rugged faces, letters that have forgotten what words they belong to, men who are half asleep or who sleep the sleep of reason … Continue reading “Goya and Fabelo, Worlds in Collision”

Cuban Police Dismantle a Clandestine Tobacco Factory in Placetas

14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2023 — The Facebook page “Fuerza del Pueblo,” an account linked to the Ministry of the Interior, details a police operation in the factory known as Chinchal de Tabaco, in the town of Báez, where agents seized several bags of material, molds and tools for the preparation of cigarettes. In addition, … Continue reading “Cuban Police Dismantle a Clandestine Tobacco Factory in Placetas”

As of May, Cubans Older than 13 Won’t Get Chicken on the Ration Book

14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2023 — Cubans over the age of 13 will no longer receive standard chicken meat, but rather picadillo and mortadella. The news, slipped into a report on the difficulties in supplying the basic family basket, adds that only the chicken “in the distribution” will be for minors 13 and under age … Continue reading “As of May, Cubans Older than 13 Won’t Get Chicken on the Ration Book”

Deprived of the Right to Take to the Streets, on March 8 Cuban Women Will Wear a Black Ribbon on Their Hands

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 8 March 2023 — Gladys lives in Caibarién, a small coastal city in the center of Cuba. Two months ago, her son left with other young people on a rustic raft to try to reach the United States. She since then she has heard nothing from them. A teacher by … Continue reading “Deprived of the Right to Take to the Streets, on March 8 Cuban Women Will Wear a Black Ribbon on Their Hands”

A Pound of Sugar Approaches 200 pesos ($8.30) on the Informal Cuban Market

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 26 February 2023 — Rice and sugar seem to have launched a competition in Cuba to see which increases the most in price on the informal market. While rice already exceeds 200 pesos ($8.30) a pound in several areas of the Island, sugar, once the national emblem, is on its … Continue reading “A Pound of Sugar Approaches 200 pesos ($8.30) on the Informal Cuban Market”