In Santiago de Cuba, Shopping in the Ration Stores has Become Mission Impossible

Restricted store hours have increased lines at a time when the need is to eliminate them. (14 ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Alberto Hernández, Santiago de Cuba | 2 Septiembre 2021 — The harsh restrictive measures that came into force last August in Santiago de Cuba to try to contain the contagion of covid-19 have made the purchase of the products of the basic basket an impossible mission.

The new hours of the ration stores (called bodegas), restricted the opening hours for the population to just two (from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and another two hours (from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.) for the couriers assigned by the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution to make deliveries to people. The hours, planned to be in effect for 15 days but, after this period, the authorities of the province extended it for another fortnight.

“At the beginning of August, when these measures were not yet in place, I managed to buy part of the goods that arrived, incomplete. It has been more than a week since the other part arrived and I have not yet been able to get what I have coming in the store because it’s always full,” Ofelia, a neighbor of the Micro 9 buildings, in the José Martí district, told 14ymedio.

Warehouse 4005 of Micro 9 serves a population of more than 1,600 households (about 6,000 people) and is divided into two teams, with a couple of dependents each. “It is impossible to buy at continue reading

that rate, I have hardly seen the courier. These measures were supposedly made to limit the spread of covid-19, but the reality is that the crowd of people is now much greater, and the ’messaging’ does not work,” Ofelia laments.

The José Martí district, with more than 129,000 inhabitants, and Abel Santamaría, with 98,000, are, according to 2018 data, the districts with the highest population density in Santiago de Cuba. In them, limiting the hours of sale in the ration stores to the morning have been insufficient and, sometimes, the only way to buy is to skip some rule.

This is how Rita, 67, managed to buy mortadella, thanks to the butchers continuing to deliver after 9 in the morning. “The situation was desperate. I have several health ailments that make me vulnerable and I had to endure more than 5 hours in the crowd, because I arrived at dawn, before the ration store opened.”

Getting up early, however, is not an option for everyone, and neither is going shopping alone. Marina, the mother of two 2- and 5-year-old children, had to choose to take the little ones in order to buy the food they are allocated under the ration system. “I can’t get up early because I don’t have someone to leave my children with, so this month I had to go with them to the tumult and risk infecting all of us with the coronavirus.”

The young woman also wonders what happened to the donation that, according to the provincial press, was going to reach the families. “Some time ago it appeared in the newspaper that they were going to give out a can of tuna, of which came as a donation, but I have been left with the desire, because they have not given me anything.”

Marta is another mother concerned about measures that exclude the specific cases of some families. “On my card there are 14 people. We buy the errands divided into five families and each one collects their own when they can, but when I explained the matter to the courier he refused to provide us with the service.”

One of the missions of the couriers is to help vulnerable people, such as Yoel, a 67-year-old widower who lives alone in an apartment in the Abel Santamaría District and is entitled to this support. However, he says that he does not even know the courier. “I asked the president of my CDR and she could not say clearly, she told me that I should go with the delegate of the area,” he laments.

The restrictions also apply to foreign currency stores. Although its schedule, from 7 am to 1 pm, is somewhat longer, it has not served to solve the crowds either. “I’ve been trying to buy some LED lamp tubes  for more than a week and every day is a different situation,” protests Rubén.

“When did go I didn’t manage to get a place in the line, which would have been for two days later, because those of the previous days were cancelled by blackouts and there are only 25 a day.”

Faced with this situation, Rubén decided to show up one day at 5 in the morning, but the line was already full of people. “When I inquired they told me that the first ones came around 9 o’clock the night before, without caring about the curfew. I had to give up on the purchase.”

____________

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.

A Member of the Central Committee Assaults a Woman in Cuba, and She is the One Who is Arrested / Cubalex

Cubalex, 13 May 2021 — On May 8, Yeilis Torres Cruz, a former prosecutor and human rights activist, approached Humberto López, the journalist and member of the Party’s Central Committee, who was on the public street after leaving a rental house in the La Lisa neighborhood of the Coronela, while not in the performance of his official duties, and asked him in a friendly, peaceful manner in a conversational tone of voice, how he was doing, as a form of a greeting, along with another question about his personal life. Humberto López responded by attacking Yeilis and trying to grab her cell phone. This can be seen in the video.

A short time later, Yeilis was shown in another video where she appears with injuries to her face and arms, very nervous and crying, after having had to defend herself from a man who threw her to the ground and took advantage of her plight to try to rip off her cell phone while hitting her in the belly and kicking her arm.

Humberto López touched her genitals while searching for her cell phone, and exposed her buttocks in the middle of the street, a situation that he used to take photos of her half naked, with the intention of disparaging her. Torres Cruz had to go to her house barefoot, because continue reading

her sandals broke trying to flee from the beating that the journalist gave her.

Although State Security agents swarmed her home, she was able to get to the hospital to seek medical help. The doctors acknowledged her injuries, but refused to issue a complete medical report, claiming that they would only do so if requested by the police, after she filed the complaint.

She went to the Police Unit to file a complaint but they refused to accept it.

Yeilis Torres Cruz is currently detained at 100 and Aldabó*, far from her two children, one of them only 6-years-old, for having been officially accused of the crime of assault, after being brutally violated by the State spokesman, Humberto López.

In the last video from her, planned in advance and published today, Yeilis asks the community for support for her family in case the government detained her for political reasons. Which is what happened.

[*a notorious Secret Police torture facility and jail]

Translated by Tomás A.

Cuban President Diaz-Canel Visits Tenement Where Celia Cruz was Born but Does Not Mention the Queen of Salsa

The official media described Tamarindo as one of the 62 “most complex” neighborhoods in the capital. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 3 September 2021 — Miguel Díaz-Canel closed his tour of the Popular Council of Tamarindo on Friday, in the Havana district of Santo Suárez, with a visit to the Las Margaritas site. The cuartería in the municipality of Diez de Octubre is very popular because it is the place where the Cuban singer Celia Cruz was born in 1925 and where her sisters later lived.

The name of the Queen of Salsa did not come to light in any of the president’s statements, which later made headlines in the official media. Despite the great success of Celia Cruz and her status as a favorite among Cubans when it comes to dancing, her name and her voice were banned for decades in the national media and it was not until 2012 that she could be heard on the radio.

Under a strong security operation and surrounded by bodyguards, the president toured the streets where the hurried repair of sidewalks, facades and the park that bears the name of the neighborhood was notable.

In an attempt to appease the rebellion unleashed on July 11, Díaz-Canel has visited some of the neighborhoods where there were the strongest clashes between protesters and the forces of order, such as La Güinera, Los Sitio and San Isidro.

A few blocks from the place chosen for this Friday’s visit, exactly on the corner of Toyo, one of the most tense moments of the protests continue reading

took place. The photographs and videos of uniformed men beating young people who tried to join the demonstration, as well as the reaction of these who overturned and stoned some patrol cars, went viral on social networks.

In a report broadcast on the noon newscast, they described Tamarindo as one of the 62 “most complex” neighborhoods in the capital with a population of 34,000.

“We are making a tour of the Popular Council to assess all the actions that you know are being done in the neighborhoods,” the president told several residents.

Last July 16 marked the 18th anniversary of the death of Celia Cruz, known as La Guarachera de Cuba, one of the most popular and important artists of the 20th century in the American continent and an icon of Latin music within the United States.

A day after her death, Granma published a brief note in which it noted that the singer popularized Cuban music in the United States and was “used as an icon by the counterrevolutionary enclave in South Florida” because Cruz was active for decades “in the campaigns against the Cuban Revolution.”

During her fifty-five-year career, the singer of Guantanamera , La negra has tumbao, JPor si acaso no regreso, and La vida es un carnaval, accumulated innumerable awards and recognitions that have not stopped after her death, such as several Grammys, a stamp honoring her from the US Postal Service, and her election as the first Latina on the Walk of Fame at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem (New York).

The sadness of not being able to return to Cuba, after going on a tour of Mexico in 1960 accompanying the band Sonora Matancera, saddened her until her death. She could not return even when her mother died. In 1990 she sang at the Guantánamo naval base and from there she took a handful of earth, which she asked to be deposited in her coffin.

____________

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.

Cuba’s Ladies in White Show Solidarity With the 11J (July 11th) Detainees

Berta Soler (center with sign), leader of the Ladies in White, during a demonstration in Havana in 2018. (Ladies in White)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 September 2021 — The leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, joined the fast of other dissidents on Thursday in support of the opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, both former prisoners of the Black Spring of 2003, who were arrested on July 11, the day of the massive protests throughout the island.

Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, is in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, according to a letter released by the authorities with the signature of Ferrer himself, although his family still doubts his having signed it, while Navarro, President of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy has been on a hunger strike for 11 days in the Combinado Sur prison in Matanzas.

In declarations to 14ymedio, Soler says that her “solidarity fast” extends to “all those detained on July 11 and 12,” among which are other figures of the dissidence, such as the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement.

“We want them free and healthy. Freedom now,” said the Lady in White on her networks, and she also demanded proofs of life from both Ferrer and Navarro. continue reading

The dissident said that the first to show solidarity with a fast, in concrete support of Félix Navarro, was Caridad Burunate. “The day after her initiative we are in solidarity with her,” said Soler.

Along with them, she says, there are another twenty Ladies in White fasting – spread between Havana, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo – from seven in the morning to noon.

At the same time, Soler denounces that the harassment of the headquarters of her organization has not stopped: “Here we have the patrols and the State Security agents are visible, and they detain everyone who comes.”

According to the Cubalex legal advice center, the list of detainees, which reached 917 people since July 11, now contains 427 names of those confirmed to be still detained as of this Friday.

From the same day of June 11, the Government unleashed a tough hunt to identify and imprison the protesters through the videos and photos that were published on social networks.

The official press reported this Friday that in Sancti Spíritus “criminal proceedings are progressing for the riots of July 11” and specified that 11 people were charged, one of whom is still waiting for his case to reach the courts.

An article published in the newspaper Escambray states that they carried out five criminal proceedings in which the detainees were accused of “creating a climate of destabilization” during the protests and one of them, in addition, was accused of “instigation to commit a crime.” He was sentenced to nine months of deprivation of liberty.

The local media pointed out that this person “publicly incited, through social networks” … “the people of Sancti Spíritus go out, demonstrate against the Government and subvert order, in the midst of a complex epidemiological scenario due to the pandemic” of covid-19.

Nine of those involved “received administrative treatment”, which in this case translates into fines amounting to 5,000 pesos, as provided in Article 8.3 of the Penal Code for crimes of “public disorder” or “contempt.”

____________

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.

‘I Didn’t Care If I Died or Lived,’ Says Cuban Rafter Hospitalized in the US

Capote left from Playa Herradura, in Mariel, Artemisa province, along with three other young people who died during the crossing. (Collage)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana | 2 September 2021 — After ten days at sea that left him on the brink of death, Cuban rafter Julio Cesar Capote will be able to begin his asylum process on U.S. soil. “I didn’t care if I died or lived,” the 21-year-old confessed to Telemundo 51 on Wednesday.

Capote was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard on August 25 in the vicinity of Fowey Rocks, in southern Florida, while sailing in a precarious six-and-a-half-foot boat. Due to his physical injuries and the degree of dehydration in which he was found, the rafter had to be hospitalized.

“I was thinking a lot of things, if I was going to make it, if I was going to die, what was going to happen to me,” Capote told the television channel shortly after being discharged from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, from where he left accompanied by family members living in the United States.

The young man had his legs bandaged because of the burns he suffered during the crossing, which he made together with three other migrants, who, Capote himself explained to the Coast Guard, had died on the journey.

About the crossing, the rafter reported that the companions who died were young people. He left from Playa Herradura, in Mariel, Artemisa province, together with his uncle, Chenli Yoan Capote, 21, and siblings
Josue Gabriel, 22, and continue reading

Karen Rojas Pareta, 18. “Three days later, the raft capsized and our food, water were dumped, everything,” he said.

“The sun began to burn us and the girl’s and her brother’s nails began to fall off, their hands began to peel, their ribs began to burn and she said ’I can’t take it anymore’ and jumped into the water with her brother. The brother was worse than her; from the time he left he was vomiting, dehydrated, vomiting blood and everything”, says Capote, who then stayed with his uncle, who “had already started to hallucinate.”

At another point “a piece of the raft fell off” and the uncle jumped into the sea to try to rescue the piece, but “the waves were too big and he was carried away.” He spent about ten days adrift until he was found by a citizen who was sailing south of Florida and alerted the Coast Guard.

Regarding the rafter’s legal options, Immigration attorney Willy Alllen told the television channel that, at the Customs office, there is the possibility of being granted the so-called ’parole’, a document with which, after a year and a day, he can opt for residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

The lawyer also said that they could eventually send him before an immigration judge, but he stated that cases like Capote’s are isolated, because most migrants intercepted at sea are medically treated and repatriated to Cuba immediately.

At the beginning of last August, a Cuban managed to pass the “Credible Fear” Review on the high seas in the United States. The migrant, identified as Ernesto Urgellés, according to his relatives, was a policeman in Cuba and had been intercepted along with other rafters, who themselves were returned a few days later to the island by the Coast Guard.

Urgellés cannot enter the U.S. while his asylum request is being studied, so he must remain at the Guantánamo base or in some third country that will provisionally accept him.

Translated by: Hombre de Paz

____________

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.

‘Our People’ Do Not Want to Return to Capitalism, Asserts Cuban Minister of Economy

A Cuban may not own more than one business (though it may have widespread activity), since it is contrary to the socialist principle against accumulating wealth. (yelo34)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, September 1, 2021 — The ministers of the Government’s economic area, led by Vice Prime Minister Alejandro Gil, appeared on the Mesa Redonda (Roundtable) television program on Tuesday, presumably to give the “Necessary answers regarding the actors of the Cuban economy.” Although little news came out of this tedious exercise, there was time to finish the program by denying that the approval of the MSMEs [micro, small, and medium-size enterprises] could mean a return to capitalism which, as they argued, is not what the people want.

Gil contended that the approval of the norms that regulate non-agricultural cooperatives and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which comes into force on September 20, is nothing more than an improvement and modernization of socialist principles. “We do not want a capitalist and neoliberal style project,” he argued, despite the fact that the Cuban economy is increasingly on the path to a ruthless state capitalism.

“We are going to achieve a country with greater coherence, where people can develop their life project. This is more socialism and more Revolution,” Gil claimed in a kind of final argument.

Along the same line, the ministers had already referred to the impossibility of having more than one company per person, a rule that is based on the constitutional (socialist) principle of avoiding the concentration of property and wealth. Nor, for the same reason, can one company be continue reading

a partner of another. “It would be laughable if successive MSMEs were set up where the owner was always the same person. If this happened, it would be in a way breaking the rule,” they warned. Of course, they pointed out that the company’s corporate purpose can be so broad that it includes multiple services.

The ministers went over the most frequent doubts that have circulated since the legislative content became known, but the answers did not clarify much, when all they did was limit themselves to repeating what was already known.

For example, they insisted on pointing out what they have considered priority sectors for the first phase — which will be food production, technology-based companies related to additive manufacturing, robotics or the creation of new materials or establishing technology parks, local development projects — without explaining how they plan to manage, right off the bat, such a radical change in the country’s productive fabric.

The Minister of Economy also referred to the possibility of foreigners investing and, in that sense, recalled that the rule is the same as for the state-owned company: only a company that is set up as a mixed-ownership company may be formed with capital from a resident in Cuba and another abroad. But according to the Foreign Investment Law (2014), a “mixed company” is a “commercial company that takes the form of a corporation,” something that is prohibited to individuals and reserved to the State.

Nor does it change anything with respect to exports and imports, which can be done as long as they are channeled through a state company, and they are “prohibited” for professions, such as architects, lawyers, engineers, teachers, journalists or veterinarians.

Gil argued that professionals can work in the private sector, but cannot create a company dedicated exclusively to an activity that is not allowed, so that, based on their statements, a lawyer, for example, could offer legal services to a company, but could not represent it in court.

“There are a range of malicious opinions that say that if you are a professional you cannot work in a MSME or that if you work in one you have to develop an activity for which you are not qualified. This is not the case. . . . What is not allowed are activities that are dedicated only to professional services. Computer scientists, the pet veterinarian, the bookkeeper for accounting activities are allowed.” A short and very restrictive list.

The Minister of Labor and Social Security took on one of the questions that will remain to be answered later. Maria Elena Feito Cabrera gave assurance that the salary of workers in private companies may be decided by employers with the participation of workers through a collective agreement and with the participation of unions. But she did not specify whether there could be unions other than the official ones and whether employees could form their own collectives to look out for their interests.

The worst of last night’s news came from the Central Bank of Cuba, which affirmed that companies will be able to request loans in Cuban pesos, but not in foreign exchange, though in all probability they will have to buy a multitude of raw materials and supplies in the international market.

“To grant financing in that currency [freely convertible] we would have to have individuals involved who have income in that currency and the capacity to repay the financing, hence the possibility of withholding money for exports, or liquidity for sales to Mariel [Port of Mariel Special Development Zone], or for sale in MLC [Freely Convertible Foreign Currency] stores,” he explained.

Translated by Tomás A.

____________

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.

The Convenience of the Inactivity of the National Assembly / Cubalex

Central Havana Municipal Assembly of People’s Power. Solutions from the Communities. (Screen capture)

Cubalex, Julio Ferrer Esq., 2 September 2021 — “The assembly is not in session, during which time governance is by decree, and the approval of laws in the legislative schedule is still pending. To this we add that the president affirms that the country’s institutional framework is being strengthened and reinforced.”

It is necessary to ask Homero Acosta, Secretary of the Council of State, how is it possible that the Municipal Assembly of Central Habana can meet, yet the National Assembly, the highest legislative body in the country, cannot?

Could it be that Covid-19 only represents a danger for national deputies? Is it not convenient for the Cuban government that the highest legislative body should meet? If it did, it would have no option but to comply with the Legislative Schedule and approve the much-announced and long-awaited laws such as that of the claim, before the courts, for violation of constitutional rights, and of Criminal Procedure, and of the one that should implement the right to peaceful demonstration and protest.

The legislative inactivity of the National Assembly allows the authorities to continue enjoying the state of impunity that they have always enjoyed, especially after July 11, 2021. They continue to apply obsolete legal provisions untempered by continue reading

the new Constitution, as is the case with the archaic Criminal Procedure Law, dating back more than 44 years. This law permits holding summary trials without an appearance by a defense attorney, in outright disregard of what is established in article 95, subsection b, of the Constitution.

In my opinion, believe me I wish I were wrong, the Constitution will continue to be disrespected in Cuba by the very authorities who are responsible for asserting the superiority of that Magna Carta. Cuba continues to be governed by decrees, resolutions, agreements, etc., in a manner less democratic, less inclusive, and less participatory for ordinary citizens. Their opinions are not taken into account in the drafting and editing of these decrees and other normative provisions, issued without being prepared in the Legislative Schedule.

And so the President asserts that in this way the country’s institutionality and the “Socialist State of Law” are strengthened and reinforced. This term, which according to him was embodied in the new Constitution, still waits to be defined or conceptualized: at this point we do not know what the “Socialist State of Law” is.

Translated by Tomás A.

More Than 400 People Continue to be Detained After the Cuban Protests of July 11

No one detained during the 11th July protests is still listed as missing by Cubalex. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, September 1, 2021 — At least 405 people arrested during the protests in Cuba that began on July 11 remain in prison, according to a report by the Cubalex legal advice center. These data, collected independently with the help of a group of volunteers, show that of the total number of arrests (898), the crimes most commonly charged are “public disorder,” “contempt,” “instigation to commit a crime,” and “assault.”

One of those who remains imprisoned is Liliana Ferrer, 20, arrested in the La Güinera neighborhood of Havana in the heat of the July 12 protests. The young woman is currently in the Guatao prison accused of assault. Her mother, Lizandra Ferrer, tells 14ymedio that she spoke with her by phone this Wednesday but that “she doesn’t know anything about her legal proceedings.”

“She’s accused of assault but there are many charged with the same crime who were bailed out for 2,000 pesos. Then they paid a fine and are now free,” she says in anguish. “So I don’t understand what’s happened with her. They haven’t held a trial. I already hired a lawyer but he hasn’t gotten a change of status for her so she can be at home.”

She explains that on the block where they live the authorities have done “like three investigations” regarding her daughter’s social behavior and continue reading

that she knew that they have always “spoken highly of her, that she doesn’t meet with antisocial people and that she is a good little girl. I don’t understand why she’s going through this.”

The mother claims she doesn’t know precisely what evidence they have against Ferrer. “Some people, including the lawyer, have told me that they accuse her of having a bottle in her hand and that in a photo of her you can see when she gives it to a man who asks for it,” she explained.

The sisters Lisdani and Lisdiani Rodríguez Isaac, both 22 years old, are in a similar situation. They are being held under a “precautionary measure of provisional imprisonment” in Guamajal Prison, in Placetas, Villa Clara, for the crimes of “public disorder, contempt, instigation to commit a crime, assault, and the propagation of epidemics.”

Also in prison awaiting trial on assault charges are Livan Hernández Lago, from Artemisa; Luis Felipe Castillo Ochoa, from Havana, and Maykel Armentero Oramas, in Villa Clara. María Cristina Garrido, from Mayabeque, charged with the crime of attack, is also accused of “public disorder, resistance, and the propagation of epidemics.”

In Holguín province, Marco Antonio Pintueles, a business student, is also accused of assault after his arrest in the Plaza de la Revolución in that province. The young man is currently in the Provincial Prison, according to a report by his mother, Dairy Marrero, speaking to Radio Martí.

The woman says that she went to the Prosecutor’s Office seeking information on her son’s case but didn’t get answers “anywhere” and considers what happened “an injustice.” “He’s a boy who just turned 18. I didn’t know he’d been arrested until about five days ago when he called me from prison,” Rivero explained this Tuesday.

The crime of assault, according to the Cuban Penal Code, carries a prison sentence of one to three years.

On Cubalex’s list, no detainee is reported as missing. One of those who had been included in this category is the dissident José Daniel Ferrer, but his family reported this Friday that they had received a letter signed by him, which they are “fairly certain” is from him. In the letter, Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), said he is being held in Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba.

“We give some credence to it, but we can’t guarantee that it’s really his own handwriting,” said his sister, Ana Belkis Ferrer García. The dissident has been incarcerated since July 11.

The activist also said that the letter complains that since August 12, Ferrer “remains confined semi-naked in an isolation cell, in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions” and that “on two occasions they have forceably put him in the uniform of a common prisoner. They refuse to give him his own clothes, so he’s in his underwear.” Regarding his health, she said that he had “serious problems with heartburn and constant stomach pain.”

Translated by Tomás A.

____________

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.

Detentions, Food Shortages and Forced Disappearances: This is How a Week Goes By in Cuba / Cubalex

Cubalex, 25 May 2021 — Cubalex monitored acts of harassment against civil society from May 17 to 23, 2021, as well as related news associated with government measures taken during the pandemic, and instances of shortages of products and basic goods. This report also analyzes the selective internet outages that activists and dissidents have suffered, and highlights accounts from the official press of threats, attacks, and violations of rights.

Our organization corroborated the deterioration of the population’s quality of life, which translates into longer periods of power outages, and worsening shortages of food and basic essentials throughout the country, together with the difficulties to get them, such as long lines, even in MLC (hard-currency) stores.

Seventy events were documented during the week of May 17-23, for a total of 201 events that our organization has monitored during the month of May.

On Tuesday the 18th, State Security and the police detained Maykel Osorbo while he was having lunch at his home, arresting him without a shirt or shoes, and as of the date of this report they have kept him in “forced disappearance,” which constitutes a crime under international law.

May 23rd was the day of greatest impact, although the repression was also evident on May 19 and 20, dates that coincided with the anniversary of the death of José Martí and the founding of the Republic.

We followed up on incidents that occurred in 13 of the country’s 15 provinces; 40% of them occurred in Havana.

You can consult our report for further details.

Translated by Tomás A.

The Cuban Government Will Not Put Up With Dissent (Even From Abroad) / Cubalex

Cubalex, 20 May 2021 — Cubalex monitored acts of harassment against civil society from May 10 to 16, 2021, as well as related news associated with government measures taken during the pandemic, and instances of shortages of products and basic goods. This report also analyzes the selective internet outages that activists and dissidents have suffered, and highlights accounts from the official press of threats, attacks, and violations of rights.

There has been a deterioration in basic living conditions of the population. Electric power outages have begun to be reported, the range of products sold in MLC (hard-currency) stores has increased, and the frequency of transport between Havana and the provinces has decreased. At the same time, the reported cases of Covid-19 and the difficulties in acquiring food continue to increase.

In one week, our organization documented 35 incidents of repression, including acts of repudiation, home confinement, and arrests; which affected 53 people, 16 of them women.

One of them was the activist Yeilis Cruz who is detained at the 100th and Aldabó station, accused of an attack, after filming the television presenter Humberto López on the street. López himself, director of the program “Hacemos Cuba” (We Make Cuba), presented on this program continue reading

a series of laws, including Law 88, under which 75 journalists were imprisoned in the 2003 Black Spring. A  lawyer on his show once again threatened maximum penalties for those who disagree with the government. In addition, the guest spoke of the possibility of trying in absentia or extraditing Cubans who are outside the country who finance, cooperate with or coordinate activities that the country considers to be crimes.

Of the events monitored by Cubalex, 63.3% occurred in Havana, and one part related to the state of isolation in which they are keeping Luis Manuel Otero. Several activists who tried to get to the hospital to inquire about him were arrested, including Adrián Curuneaux, a member of the Opposition Movement for a New Republic (MONR), who is still imprisoned for this reason.

You can read all the details in our weekly report.

Translated by Tomás A.

What Happened to Freedom of Expression in Cuba in 2020? / Cubalex

Cubalex, 19 May 2021 — The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression [of the  Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)] documented a continuation during 2020 of the pattern of restrictions on freedom of expression and access to public information in Cuba.

The annual report issued by the organization indicates that acts of threats, harassment, and persecution had been observed against journalists, dissidents, activists, artists, and teachers who question the regime, or who disseminate information or opinions on issues of public interest. Although these forms of harassment are not new, the IACHR  and its Rapporteurship also observed that they have increased during 2020 in the midst of the pandemic.

The provisions of Decree-Law 370 “on the computerization of society in Cuba,” protect a large part of the persecutions against expressions of criticism. This rule criminalizes social media posts and affected dozens of Cuban citizens during the year.

The rapporteur noted that, in addition to the fines limiting freedom of expression in networks, harassment against independent journalists includes intimidation against their families, and confiscation of their work resources.

For example, on January 8, agents of the National Revolutionary Police and the Cuban Intelligence Directorate raided continue reading

the home of CiberCuba reporter Iliana Hernández, in the town of Cojímar, east of Havana. According to the information available, the officers took several of her personal belongings, including her personal computer and her cell phone.

In the second half of the year, the report highlights the release of journalist Roberto Quiñones, a few days after serving a year of imprisonment. The independent journalist complained that in prison he was denied “all the benefits” he was entitled to, in addition to denouncing the overcrowded conditions, poor quality of water and food, and the lack of medical attention. The Cubanet reporter was sentenced on August 7, 2019 by the Guantánamo municipal court to one year in prison for the crimes of resistance to authority and disobedience. The authorities arrested him when he tried to report on a trial in his home province.

It should be added that the Office of the Special Rapporteur learned of complaints of the blocking of certain applications and websites, as well as interference and alteration of mobile-phone data by the government. Many of these events took place in the setting of an agitated social climate and calls for protests, thereby preventing communication and coordination of citizens. The internet cuts were also selective, mostly targeting activists and journalists.

Thus, for example, on November 29 an “intermittent blockade” of social networks and internet services was reported, which would be linked to the events that occurred of the previous days, among which were the eviction and arrests of activists, who remained locked up and on strike as a protest, at the San Isidro Movement headquarters and the artists’ demonstration of in front of the Ministry of Culture.

In the report that you can download at this link, the IACHR and its rapporteur break down the acts contrary to freedom of expression that affected Cuban citizens during 2020.

Translated by Tomás A.

Independent Organizations and Media Call on the Government of Cuba to Respect the Right to Demonstrate and Freedom of Expression and to Stop Violence Against Demonstrators / Cubalex

Cubalex, 25 May 2021 — Cubalex, as one of the signatory organizations, condemns the Cuban government’s repression of the citizen protests registered on July 11, 2021, and which are continuing to occur. Likewise, we urgently call on the administration led by Miguel Díaz-Canel to stop all acts of violence and violations of the human rights of citizens through the use of force, police repression, and the call for confrontation between Cubans.

You can download the full statement here

Translated by Tomás A.

“My People Will Never Allow any Kind of Injustice to be Done to Me”

Yomil believes that ‘De Cuba Soy’ is the most important song in his life because he is committed to a just cause, even putting part of his career at risk. (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Luz Escobar, 31 August 2021 — It’s not so long since the reggaetoner Roberto Hidalgo Puentes, known as Yomil, distanced himself from politics and asked that artists be left alone, but it’s been an eternity. The death of his colleague in the duet, El Dany, changed everything forever and now he not only claims justice to clarify the negligence that cost his “brother” his life, but he also takes to the streets of Havana shouting “freedom,” as he did on July 11th with thousands of other protesters. Now, with his song De Cuba Soy, he has once again placed himself in the spotlight and speaks openly with 14ymedio about his commitment to democracy.

Escobar. You presented De Cuba Soy stating that it was “the most important issue” of your career, why do you see it that way?

Yomil. I believe that when an artist joins the just cause knowing that he may lose everything he has fought for, the work surpasses all successes. It is the greatest contribution I can make to my people.

Escobar.The video is risky, starting with the choice of the director who was controversial within [Cuba’s] institutions, and continuing with its aesthetics, which is quite unusual. How did this collaboration with Yimit Ramírez come about? Was he aware of the risks involved?

Yomil. I started a friendship with Yimit some time ago. I saw his work and it interested me, I take a lot of risks when working with talented filmmakers and he was not going to be the exception. I knew I would do something tough, knowing how important this topic is to my life, and I just let him create and go free, but I never thought he was going to impress me so much. I’m very proud of the result and his creativity, that’s why I respect him a lot.

“I knew I would do something tough, knowing how important this topic is to my life, and I just let him create and go free, but I never thought it would impress me so much. I am very proud of the result”

Escobar.It has been less than a week since the song and the video were released and it has already received attacks and threats from the official press and cultural institutions. Did you expect it? Do you have support around you?

Yomil. Of course, I knew that this was going to happen when I saw how they have acted with other artists who have manifested themselves in the same line. I knew they were going to threaten, offend and defame me, that’s not news to anyone. But on the part of my team continue reading

, they have known how I think for a long time, so that did not take them by surprise either; and as for the public I am more than satisfied with the reaction and support. I am very happy because I know that since I was at zero hour with my people, my people will never abandon me or allow some kind of injustice to be committed against me. That’s what keeps me calm, because if not, things would be very different.

Escobar.Other artists who have openly assumed their critical vision towards the Government are imprisoned today, such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo or Hamlet Lavastida. Are you afraid of finding yourself in a situation like that?

Yomil. I believe that I have not crossed any limits, since I am an artist and I have the right to be free in my work. Since I decided to risk everything, I am psychologically prepared for the worst, but I think the government is idiotic in reacting to some things and very smart about others. If something like this happens to me, they know that young people follow me and are capable of doing anything for their favorite artists. The proof of that was the loss of my brother Dany, when the people, spontaneously and without any convocation, went out to bid farewell to him in different provinces and cities around the world. Something like this had never happened in the country and I think the Government realized the great level of appeal that Yomil and El Dany had in Cuban society, so I don’t think they will make unexpected decisions that make their situation worse. There could be another July 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and they know it. So I think they will leave it at that. 

“The Government is idiotic in reacting to some things and very smart about others. If something like this happens to me, they know that young people follow me and are capable of doing anything for their favorite artists”

Escobar.Speaking of El Dany, at one point in the song you refer to him and the need for justice to be done, to what do you think the lack of answers about what happened in the hospital that day is due?

Yomil. It was medical negligence, and the treatment they gave him was a total lack of respect, since only they know the measures they took with the nurse who was on duty that morning. That’s why, because of the respect and brotherhood that I have towards Daniel, I will always ask for justice, because if that had happened to the son of any high-ranking leader in this country, believe me, they would imprison the whole country, but they looked the other way when it came to my brother, and that hurts and offends.

Escobar.On July 11th, you took to the streets together with those who were demonstrating against the Government. Did your vision of Cuba change from the political and social point of view then?

Yomil. I think that my vision on the social political issue of my country changed since I began to travel and worry about the serious problems we are experiencing, noticing that the Government has a hard time accepting different points of view and criticism, when I go out on the streets of my Havana and see how it deteriorates more every day, when arriving at any province and seeing how suspended in time it continues to be, when seeing the way the Government acts in the face of the thousands of problems that exist due to its mismanagement, when seeing how disconnected they are from reality, and so on. There are many things that I have seen, I have lived and I have learned. When one is acquiring maturity and knowledge, one must contribute his grain of sand to try to accelerate that process of change that my country is sorely lacking. I live here and I know that the most precious thing human beings have is time and that Cuba is in no condition to lose it, on the contrary, it is time to recover it, because there is only one life.

“I live here and I know that the most precious thing that human beings have is time and that Cuba is in no condition to lose it, on the contrary, it is time to recover it, because there is only one life”

Escobar.Yomil and El Dany sang the song Música Vital with several Cuban artists who today remain silent in the face of the repression that took place on July 11th. How do you feel about that?

Yomil. I don’t really know, because I haven’t seen any of them making any statement against me, but I did have a meeting last Saturday with the president of the Institute of Music. They summoned me at 10 am at my company to explain the reason for my song and I explained all the reasons in a meeting that lasted more than two hours. She told me that, on the part of the institution, nothing was going to happen, but that she would wait for the response of several artists from the union who were supposedly outraged, since they are committed to socialism. I respect their position always and when they respect mine, and depending on their answer, they will have mine too.  I think they are not prepared to put up with being told a few truths (laughs), but so far, these are just speculations, so let’s wait and see.

Escobar. What do you visualize when you think of “a change” for Cuba?

Yomil. I see Cuba being State with the rule of law, where ordinary Cubans are the highest authority, where there is no abuse of power, repression or censorship for thinking differently, where dialogue is accepted as a way to solve problems, because I think that the first thing we have to have is a change of mentality and make it an open country, not only of the so-called “revolutionaries” who, for me, have nothing of revolutionaries. It must become a country of everyone and for everyone, also for those Cubans who had to leave it, many risking and losing their lives in order to have a better future, who had to start a life from scratch in a foreign country to help their families and have a dignified life. I want my country to be one of the best in the world and I tell you with total confidence that it can be done, as long as everything that needs to be changed is changed.

Translated by Norma Whiting

____________

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.

Polish Officials Prevent a Cuban Family From Crossing the Border With Belarus

“They were very violent,” said the Cuban who spoke with the Belarusian authorities. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, August 31, 2021 — A family of five Cubans, including a minor, was returned to Belarus at gunpoint on Monday by Polish border guards. The migrants were trying to cross into Poland and request asylum, they stated.

In a video shared by the Belarusian Border Guard, the Cubans, standing in the cold and rain, said they were beaten and threatened by the Polish soldiers. “We arrived here [in Belarus] forced by them, threatening us with their weapons, forcing us to jump the border,” said a Cuban who spoke on behalf of the group, also made up of a woman and two young people. The migrant also clarified that they requested political asylum in Poland, and even asked for a doctor to attend to them, but the border guards “did not understand.”

The video shown by the Belarusian authorities included a recording of the Cubans when they were intercepted in the neighboring country. The moment was recorded when the guards opened the door of the vehicle and the migrants, upon being discovered, demanded to see the police while the uniformed men tried to drop off two other foreigners who were also in the car.

In another part of the material, Cubans are heard shouting “human rights” and the girl, between sobs, pleading: “Please don’t hurt me.”

“They were very violent,” said the Cuban continue reading

who spoke with the Belarusian authorities, who also confirmed that they were beaten, their claims were not heard, though he specified that “they did nothing to the girl and the woman.”

The expulsion of the Cuban migrants from Poland, happened almost two months after Belarus president Alexandr Lukashenko, in response to the sanctions of the European Union (EU), said that he was not going to stop the migratory wave toward Poland. It was not been the first time that Lukashenko threatened to open the floodgates to illegal migration to that geographical area in response to political and economic pressure from the EU, reports La Voz de Galicia.

In recent years Russia has become an irregular gateway to Europe for hundreds of Cubans. At present, the Eurasian country does not require a visa for nationals of the Island. Many arrive in Moscow with the intention of emigrating to other countries across borders, often starting with Belarus.

A report from El Diario.es in mid-July stated that one of the busiest routes for Cubans to reach European soil is through the Balkan peninsula. In 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned of the increase in the migratory flow in that area. That year alone, at least 168 refugees were recorded who remained stranded in detention centers in Serbia, faced with difficulties in successfully crossing its border to continue on their way to a European country.

 

[from Russian] A family of refugees was forcibly taken to the Belarusian border

Translated by Tomás A.

____________

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.