Chile Faces the Danger of Following in Cuba’s Footsteps

Although they were all fair demands, the way of expressing them through citizen “revolts,” in which the current president Gabriel Boric also participated, left much to be desired / Twitter/Archivo

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Houston, Jorge Luis León, 15 March 2024 — Chile is a beautiful and vigorous country – I saw this when I visited my Chilean family in 1996 – but the political instability and constant protests that shook the country distorted that beauty. The Estallido Social, a social outburst that lasted from October 2019 to March 2021, has been one of the most violent in recent years. Many say this was the moment of the “awakening of Chile”; others describe the protests as a “big mistake” that weakened the country enormously. For me, the outburst exceeded the limits that Chilean democracy could endure.

The trigger was the increase in public transport rates, later joined by demands for reform in the health and education sectors, as well as with pensions. Although they were all fair claims, the way of expressing them through citizen “revolts,” in which the current President Gabriel Boric also participated, left much to be desired.

The violence covered Santiago and quickly spread to other regions of the country. The “awakening” left about 34 dead, in addition to thousands wounded and arrested. On the economic front, the losses amounted to 3.3 billion dollars, between 100,000 and 300,000 jobs, the devaluation of the Chilean peso and a decline in the country’s economic growth. continue reading

The “awakening” left about 34 dead, in addition to thousands wounded and arrested   

This was the situation when Boric came to the presidency in 2022. His program promised everything that citizens had demanded during the demonstrations: justice, order, increase in the minimum wage, improvements in education and health, and, as a highlight, a new Constitution for the country. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, although the inclusion of several communist politicians in his cabinet raised suspicions.

In the long run, the Administration demonstrated its inability and clumsiness in governing, to the point that 65% of the population disapproves of its management. Nothing has been resolved. On the contrary, new problems have arisen with few solutions, and the Government “advances” blindly in the face of many possible missteps.

One of the scenarios where Boric’s poor political judgment was clearly perceived was the creation of a preliminary draft of a new constitution for Chile, with which he intended to divide the country into multiple nations. Naturally, the proposal was rejected by the Chileans. Weren’t there enough elements to suggest that such clumsiness would not pass the scrutiny of the people? Yes, there were, but a myopic president and an unprepared government team could not perceive them.

This is how things continue in a country that was called at some point, with good reason, the “locomotive of South America.” If this Government does not rectify its course, if it persists in blindly following the continent’s far left, the consequences are predictable: stagnation, poverty and, what is worse, hopelessness.

Let’s look in our own mirror: Cuba, one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, became one of the poorest. I hope history doesn’t leave the Chileans, like us, mortally wounded.

Translated by Regina Anavy    

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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 Proposal To Join Forces Against the Dictatorships of Cuba and Its Allies

Luis Zúñiga, former Cuban political prisoner, during the conference on torture and dictatorships in Latin America held in Madrid. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, Rosa Pascual, 18 March 2024 — More than 4,000 miles away from Santiago de Cuba, in Madrid, there was talk this Monday night of the protests that took place in the eastern capital and other cities of the Island. “Let’s keep present in our thoughts the people who are in the streets right now,” said Javier Larrondo, founder of Prisoners Defenders, at the beginning of the part dedicated to Cuba in Faces of Torture, autocracies in Latin America.

Leopoldo López, general secretary of the World Liberty Congress, which organized the event with the support of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), had inaugurated a conference for victims of the tyrannies of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, asking for the unity of the citizens of all countries living under an autocratic regime. “Human rights have no borders; human rights cannot be defended on islands, without understanding that every human being has the same rights, regardless of where he lives,” said the Venezuelan opponent, exiled in Spain since October 2020.

Both he and former Bolivian senator Zvonko Matkovic, who spent ten years in pretrial detention without trial, insisted on the union of the activists of the four countries in response to the authoritarian regimes, all members of the Puebla Group. “The rulers help each other, and we also have to help each other.”

“They have the whole society on its knees. They need to establish terror in society. That’s why they torture those who have the audacity and courage to face them”

Along with Larrondo, the voice of Cubans was represented by Luis Zúñiga, a former political prisoner described by the regime as an “anti-Cuban terrorist,” who began by exposing how Castroism has used the Armed Forces from the beginning to torture and repress the Cuban people. “They continue reading

have the whole society on its knees. They need to establish terror in society. That’s why they torture those who have the audacity and courage to face them,” he said.

Zúñiga, who silenced the already sensitized audience by telling how he and other prisoners covered their ears with threads pulled out of their underwear so as not to hear the screams of the tortured, detailed the process of accelerated establishment on the Island of a terror based on that of the Stalinist regime. To illustrate, he gave a figure.

Before 1959, there was a prison for each province in Cuba, which then numbered 6, and now number 15. After, 240. “On an island of 11 million inhabitants. So that you understand the level of repression that has been experienced in Cuba for 65 years.” In the 1960s, he said, there were 120,000 political prisoners, “recognized by Fidel Castro and commented on at the United Nations.” He showed a photograph of a walled cell, like the one in which he himself spent nine of the 19 years he was in prison. “There is no window in the cell, and that’s where you live. You live perpetually in that twilight,” he added.

Zúñiga also spoke of the Cuban presence in Angola and showed photographs from the ’11J’ demonstrations of the wounded and beaten. By criticizing the regime, Cubans can lose their jobs and, even worse, their freedom. In addition, he stressed, Cuba is the model to follow for the rest of the autocratic countries in the region. “They have two strategies: one for friendly countries, which are Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil and Honduras; and another for other countries, such as Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay.” In the former, he specified, intelligence and the Armed Forces are trained, while in the second they act “through non-governmental organizations, civil society and far-left organizations.”

Venezuelan Leopoldo López, general secretary of the World Liberty Congress, inaugurated the event in Madrid. (14ymedio)

Javier Larrondo asked everyone to have a symbolic and specific thought for the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer, among the many individual cases he cited. The alarm has increased over this prisoner in the last 24 hours, after his relatives – later supported by American and European political leaders – asked for proof of life. They haven’t heard from him since November 2023. “There is a victim who is being tortured, and they are killing him slowly, systematically. And his name is José Daniel Ferrer. They want to release him in a wheelchair, that’s a reality,” Larrondo shouted.

In his speech there was no lack of reproach toward the leaders of the European Union, for sitting down and shaking hands with the leaders of the regimes who torture those who are willing to stand up to them.

The figures provided at the beginning of the event by Javier El-Hage, legal director of HRF, did not leave anyone indifferent. “In the world, there are a total of 97 authoritarian or hybrid states; that is, with a democratic facade but authoritarian methods.” Among those he considers “hybrids” are India and Serbia, he said, warning of the considerable ground that authoritarian governments are gaining in the face of democracies.

“There is a victim who is being tortured, and they are killing him slowly, systematically. And his name is José Daniel Ferrer”

His introduction was followed by Jhanisse Vaca Daza, of the Jucumari Foundation, and Alejandra Serrate, both Bolivians, who demanded that the situation of their country be taken into account, overshadowed by the apparently most brutal cases of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Vaca Daza told the story of the indigenous opponent, César Bazán, a cocoa grower, who is in a private prison for medical assistance after suffering three embolisms that paralyzed him after being tortured. According to her report, the jailers pressured him to sign – with a finger, since he lacks mobility – a paper admitting his guilt. “They told him that he could be free and have the necessary care, that he is there because it is his decision to be suffering that type of torture, that he does not know because he is very stubborn and does not want to accept it,” she said.

Both agreed that the Government of Luis Arce is even “stronger in terms of repression, political persecution, torture and authoritarianism, even armed attacks on the press, because it wants to win the vote of the people who support Evo Morales.”

Another of the most emotional moments occurred during the testimony of the Nicaraguan student leader Lesther Alemán, who received a standing ovation from the auditorium by reclaiming his nationality, lost “only on paper.” “I am and will continue to be Nicaraguan, however painful that is.” Alemán, 26, spoke together with the activist Alexa Zamora, also stripped of her passport, and told of the case of the children who are collateral victims of the violence of these dictatorships, exemplified in the case of the son of one of the stateless opponents who – like him – was forcibly expatriated on a flight to the United States.

Alemán did not want to reveal the name of the affected person, but he did explain that the child could not leave the country because his father, lacking a passport, “did not exist.” The solution that was offered to the family in Migration – “sent from above” – was to deprive the minor of his paternal surname and formally take away parental authority. “The minor has had to lose his father’s last name to be able to hug him,” he said, showing the way family members are pressured.

“Not only is it worrying that there are more and more dictatorships, but that their economic and commercial power is increasing”

Venezuela was very present at the event, especially thanks to the video with virtual reality prepared by Víctor Navarro, from Voices of Memory, to place attendees of the exhibition – which will be open until Wednesday in the Serrería Belga cultural space in Madrid – inside the Helicoide prison itself, headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service in which all kinds of tortures have been reported.

Both he and Molly de la Sotta put the focus on the many detainees of the Maduro regime that “liberates political prisoners on one hand and imprisons as many on the other.” Both were critical of the processes of dialogue that have been carried out with the Government of Nicolás Maduro and, even more, of the many dealings that the different countries have with Venezuela. “Many democratic countries continued to do business with Venezuela. Not only is it worrying that there are more and more dictatorships, but that their economic and commercial power is increasing. According to a report, 48% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product is produced by autocracies,” said Navarro. “An economy that is maintained thanks to the blood of the tortured.”

De la Sotta shook up the public detailing some of the methods of torture of Chavismo that have been documented, including asphyxiation by immersion, hanging with ropes, cuts in the soles of the feet, rapes with a rifle, simulation of executions, deprivation of food and sleep for more than 48 hours, obligation to eat their own excrement and vomiting, and all kinds of ideas, imaginable or not.

“This is a key year for the permanence of this autocracy. A key year for a transition process. Yes, we need the European Union. We need you to say that there is torture in Venezuela. We need you to demand the release of political prisoners. In Venezuela there is torture; in Venezuela there is murder. But there are also Venezuelans who are not going to shut up and who are going to continue fighting,” Navarro concluded.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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 and North Korea Congratulate Putin on His Electoral Victory With 87 Percent of the Votes

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in an archive image.

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 18 March 2024 — The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, congratulated his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on his re-election for a fifth term as president, after achieving his biggest electoral victory since he came to power this Sunday, which will allow him to remain in the Kremlin until 2030.

“Our sincere congratulations on the re-election of President Vladimir Putin. It is a reliable sign of the Russian people’s recognition of his management,” the Cuban ruler said on the social network X.

Díaz-Canel said that “links between Cuba and Russia will continue to be strengthened, in sectors identified for the well-being of our peoples.”

In the last year, the relationship between the two governments has intensified, with the exchange of visits by senior officials, including trips to Havana by the Russian Chancellor, Sergey Lavrov, the secretary of the Security Council and the deputy prime minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko. continue reading

Russia is one of Cuba’s top ten trading partners, and both governments define their association as “strategic.” In November 2022, Díaz-Canel and Putin analyzed in Moscow the development prospects for the Russian-Cuban strategic partnership in the political, economic, commercial, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Several agreements were signed, including the supply of oil, a key area for Havana.

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, also sent a message of congratulations to the Russian president for his victory in the presidential elections held on Sunday, in which the authorities did not allow the participation of any strong opposition candidate.

In a brief note, the North Korean news agency KCNA said that Kim “congratulated Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on Monday on his re-election to the presidency of the Russian Federation.”

The message, the report adds, “will be transmitted to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Sin Hong-chol, ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (official name of North Korea) to the Russian Federation.”

The Russian Central Electoral Commission allowed only three candidates considered loyal to the Kremlin to take part in the presidential elections  

Kim and Putin held a summit meeting last September at the Russian cosmodrome in Vostochny. They agreed to expand cooperation in the military field and certified the recent rapprochement between the two countries.

Since then, Pyongyang has transferred thousands of containers with weapons that the Russian Army has used against Ukraine, and in return, it is believed that Moscow advised the North Korean regime on successfully launching its first spy satellite.

Both countries have also strengthened their cooperation in the areas of food, commerce, science, tourism and sports.

Alleging technical or formal defects, the Russian Central Electoral Commission (CEC) allowed only three candidates considered loyal to the Kremlin to take part in the presidential elections.

Putin, 71 years old and in power since 2000, received 87.34% of the votes, ten points more than in 2018 (76.5%), during the three days of voting in the eighth presidential election in the history of Russia since 1991, according to the scrutiny of 50% of the votes reported by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

The second and third candidates with the most votes were the communist Nikolai Kharitonov and the representative of the New People party, Vladislav Davankov, with just over 4% of the votes each. The last contender was the ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutski, who received approximately 3% of the votes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Russia Promises Cuba a Stable Supply of Petroleum, Wheat and Basic Necessities

Cabrisas and Chernishenko, during a high-level meeting in Moscow

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — Being a key partner and reliable ally of the Kremlin has its advantages. Cuba knows this well all too well. During an intergovernmental meeting in the Russian capital on Friday, Russia committed to prioritizing “the supply of hydrocarbons, wheat and fertilizers” as part of its alliance with the island.

Cuba’s state news agency, Prensa Latina, reported that the Cuban delegation, headed by Minister of Foreign Commerce Ricardo Cabrisa, was informed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko that the island would be receiving new loans intended to “guarantee the stable supply of oil, petroleum products, wheat and fertilizers, an issue that is extremely important to Cuba.”

The high-level meeting, which the news agency described as “plenary” in nature, was preceded by meetings of seventeen working groups that make up the Cuban-Russian intergovernmental commission. “With no other partner country in Latin America does Russia have such a long and diverse experience in the commercial and economic sphere as with Cuba,” Chernishenko stated. “We value the special nature of bilateral relations, which are not affected by external conditions.” continue reading

Chernishenko revealed that roughly a hundred Russian companies have been operating in Cuba since 2003 and that they have made significant economic investments in the country

The Russian official revealed that roughly a hundred Russian companies have been operating in Cuba since 2003 and that they have made significant investments in heavy industry, energy, banking, agriculture, information technology and tourism. He added that several Russian banks will be opening branches on the island in the future.

Jorge Piñón, a senior research fellow at the University of Texas and former oil industry executive, has no doubts about the significance of this event: Russia is coming “to the rescue” of its ally at moment of extreme crisis. The movement of tankers towards Cuban ports, which Piñón regularly monitors, confirms this.

One example is the NS Concord, an oil tanker carrying 697,000 barrels of crude oil that set sail from the Russian port of Ust-Luga, and is expected to arrive in Matanzas on March 29. Piñón also recalls that Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, recently mentioned — wihout providing details — that a “ship carrying 40,000 tons of diesel that would be arriving in Cuba “in the coming days,” which would have been in late February.

Piñón believes that it is under the direction of Eco Fleet, which has been transporting approximately 260,000 barrels of diesel fuel from Tunisia since February 7 and which has been in Cuban territorial waters since the 25th. As he points out, the ship has been waiting to dock and unload for twenty days, something he finds suspicious.

“Have they not had the money to pay for the cargo? Is there a problem with the ship? Are there problems with the quality of the fuel?” he asks. Someone will have to pay for the delay, he points out, if — as is customary — the Cuban government does not provide an explanation.

At a meeting with journalists on Wednesday, Vicente de la O Levy stated, “The path outlined for Cuba is to advance with our own resources, to move towards sustainability and energy sovereignty with our own crude oil, our gas and renewable energy sources.” The claim, in Piñón’s opinion, is naive at best.

Cuba’s dependence on Russia and its other allies, cemented by their political similarities, is the only thing the country can count on

Cuba’s dependence on Russia and its other allies, cemented by their political similarities, is the only thing the country can count on. “Russia has plenty of crude oil and, because of U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, is looking for new markets.” Also, Russian crude from the Urals region is the kind best suited to Cuban refineries’ capabilities. In fact, the refinery in Cienfuegos was designed specifically handle it. The most pressing problem for Havana is how to pay for it.

Another country that has been coming to Havana’s rescue is Mexico, whose exports to Cuba have exceeded those of Russia. The cargo ship Esperanza, notes Piñón, left the Mexican port of Pajaritos on March 5 headed towards Cienfuegos, where it arrived three days later. It is the only such transport between Mexico and Cuba that has, so far, been recorded this month.

Piñón also reports that the tanker Ocean Mariner – one of the most active vessels in Cuba’s oil fleet – is now somewhere off the coast of Pinar del Río, though he adds that its exact location cannot be determined until it crosses Cape San Antonio.

The shipments from Russia, however, pose a key question for the island’s energy future. With Russian oil now on its way, will the Mexican supply be discontinued? We will have to wait and see, concludes Piñón, adding that we will also have to keep a close eye on Venezuela, the third point in the oil triangle.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cubans ‘Eat Fear’ Again and Take to the Streets to Protest

One of the moments of the protest in Santiago de Cuba, this Sunday, March 17 / Facebook/Rompiendo Cadenas

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 18 March 2024 — When they woke up yesterday — Sunday — none of the Cubans who demonstrated this March 17 imagined that, a few hours later, they would be in the streets shouting Freedom! The morning passed between blackouts and difficulties finding food, but, by the afternoon, the indignation had escalated to a point that not even the fear of beatings, fines or prison could stop them. In the videos of the protests, they are seen behaving as a single organism in sync.

The popular demonstrations in Santiago de Cuba, El Cobre, Bayamo and Santa Marta show that social fatigue has been more powerful on this Island than the terror caused by the mass arrests and exemplary sentences after 11 July 2021. For the people who he chanted “Electricity and food!” in front of one of the headquarters of the Communist Party in the capital of Santiago, the fear of ending up in a dungeon or with a broken head was not stronger than their rejection of a system that has condemned them to a perpetual crisis.

Cubans took to the squares and streets fed up with a regime that they did not choose and that in more than six decades has shown its incompetence to provide them with a decent life

Cubans took to the squares and streets fed up with a regime that they did not choose and that in more than six decades has shown its incompetence to provide them with a decent life. They booed the officials who climbed onto the roofs to repeat, from above and at a distance from the people, the vain promises of an improvement in the energy supply and the meager ration of food in the rationed market. Protesters sang the national anthem in Bayamo to remember that the nation does not belong to a political group nor should it be the fiefdom of a failed ideology. continue reading

Homeland and Life! some exclaimed. We are hungry! others added. No to violence! warned the Bayamese when the Police stood in their way. As a civic body they acted, beat and behaved. As a single entity, moved by the disgust of being condemned to scarcity and lack of expectations, they demonstrated against a model imposed by force. The Cuban streets have spoken again and the message is loud and clear: this dictatorship has to end. Every day under this regime only brings us more poverty, exodus and repression .

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Cuban President Diaz-Canel Accuses ‘Terrorists Based in the United States’ of Provoking the Protests in Cuba

In Bayamo, the protesters loudly sang the national anthem that bears the name of their city. / Screen capture

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 18 March 2024 — With the slogans of “Freedom!”, “No more violence” and singing the national anthem La Bayamesa, Cubans took to the streets this weekend in several provinces to demand food and an end to the blackouts. In complete darkness and to the sound of people banging on pots and pans, the residents of the town of Santa Marta, in Matanzas, were the last to join the intense day of protests on Sunday night , mostly in eastern Cuba.

The general unrest was sparked by the lack of food and the electricity cuts of more than 12 hours, and in addition to the people of Matanzas, other residents took to the streets in El Cobre and the main city in Santiago de Cuba, Bayamo, in Granma, in Cacocum, on Saturday in Holguín. The protests were responded to this Monday by President Miguel Díaz Canel, who dedicated to it a sequence of messages on the social network X.

“In the last few hours we have seen how terrorists based in the United States, whom we have denounced on repeated occasions, encourage actions against the internal order of the country.” The president’s phrase makes clear the regime’s response to the protests, which he considers carried out by a minimal group of concerned citizens, who are being manipulated by the “enemies of the Revolution.”

Hours earlier, another tweet from Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez pointed to the United States Government as the direct culprit of the “acute economic situation that weighs on the well-being of the Cuban people” and warned its Embassy in Havana that it must “refrain from interfering in Cuban affairs, internal affairs of the country and inciting social disorder.” The US diplomatic headquarters assured, for its part, that it remains aware of the protests and demanded that the Island’s Government respect the rights of the protesters and respond to their demands. continue reading

Regarding the protests in Santa Marta, one of the cities where the demonstrations on 11 July 2021 were strongest and which suffered intense repression afterwards, not many details are known. A video posted on Facebook shows a group of people walking and banging on pots and pans peacefully on a dark street, with the only light coming from cars and an electric motorcycle.

The protest of the Holguín residents, started last Saturday in Cacocum, made its way with the sound of banging on pots and pans and shouts of “We want electricity.” A gesture that was replicated on Sunday in the city of Santiago de Cuba and in the town of El Cobre. According to reports from the EFE agency, the demonstration in the second most important city on the Island was started by a group of women asking for food for their children. They were joined by dozens of people shouting other slogans such as “Patria y vida” [Homeland and Life], “Freedom”, “Electricity and food” and “We are hungry.”

After the crowd grew to a considerable magnitude on the Carretera del Morro, close to several popular and humble neighborhoods such as Vista Hermosa, Van Van, Dessy and Altamira, the newly appointed secretary of the Communist Party of the province, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, got on to the roof of the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party in the capital of Santiago to try to calm the protesters, who responded with shouts of “We don’t want jargon.”

Although the videos and several reports from neighbors assure that the city was completely militarized, there have been no confirmed cases of repression or arrests against the protesters, who dispersed hours later, presumably when electricity was restored in the city.

Something similar happened in El Cobre hours later, where local leaders also took over a rooftop to try to contain the protesters, who responded by shouting “No one elected them.” In a video spread on social networks, dozens of neighbors are seen walking near patrol cars and uniformed officers while shouting “No to violence.”

There were only reports of police repression, although they are not confirmed, in Bayamo. A video of the protests in that city records, already at night, a group of citizens struggling with several police officers while others run to avoid the blows. Another audiovisual, shared by La Hora de Cuba, shows, earlier in the day, a protest with hundreds of people chanting “Patria y vida,” while the media claims that the entire city was militarized Likewise, in a third video broadcast on social networks, several patrols are seen blocking a street, identified by several users as Zenea Street, to prevent the protesters from continuing the march.

In support of the popular demonstrations, dozens of Cuban residents in Miami, along with members of congress and exile leaders, gathered this Sunday in front of the Versailles restaurant, in the Little Havana neighborhood. The act, however, was dismissed by Díaz-Canel, who described the gathering as a “parade of the infamous.” “Mediocre politicians and terrorists in networks lined up from South Florida to heat up the streets of Cuba with interventionist messages and calls for chaos. “They were left wanting,” the president wrote on X.

Unlike the official reaction after the protests of 11 July 2021, the Cuban authorities have maintained a cautious tone in statements about this Sunday’s demonstrations. The Sierra Maestra newspaper, the main media outlet in Santiago de Cuba, has not even published details of what happened. Only the official Cubadebate, in an unprecedented act, recognized this Sunday in a Facebook post that the protests in Santiago de Cuba were due to “the long hours of power cuts due to the unavailability of fuel and other situations derived from the current economic crisis.” Although “isolated” cries of “Patria y vida” were heard, the outlet insisted, “they were not followed by the majority.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

In the Town of Cacocum, Holguin, a Crowd Took to the Streets Last Night To Protest the Blackouts

Moment when the residents of Cacocum, Holguín, took to the streets this Saturday to protest the blackouts / Facebook/Capture

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2024 — “We want electricity, we want electricity!” In Holguín, they can no longer cope with the blackouts, and on Saturday night, a crowd went out to demonstrate by banging on pots and pans in the municipality of Cacocum. “People threw themselves into the street, and it was not four or five, but dozens,” a source tells this newspaper.

In the province, the power went off yesterday at six in the morning and, after seven at night, the residents’ complaints were  widespread. “I’ve just been without power for 14 hours and 15 minutes. It’s abusive, with not enough time to make coffee in the morning, or lunch, or cook food, or have cold water, because when they put it on there’s not even time to make ice, you have to buy food on the street.” This is how Maidelys describes the litany of problems faced by the residents.

In the neighborhood of Loma de la Cruz, for example, the water has not arrived for days, says Manuel, due to the lack of power required to pump it. “When you have to buy purified water on the street, it’s a disaster,” he says. “People are buying that water, which is usually only for drinking, for everything, even for cleaning.” continue reading

“I’m in the dark again, and all the children in the families around me are crying. It hurts me to think that they and I, born in the 90s, will share similar childhoods; and that their parents, like mine, will have to grab fans to ward off the heat and the nocturnal terrors of their children.” This fragment is not from an opponent, but from an article published this Saturday in Girón, the Communist Party newspaper in Matanzas. Not even the official press can continue to gloss over the energy disaster that Cuba is going through.

Note to readers: a ‘nighttime’ video can see here. We were not able to insert it into this post.

Nor can the the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, hide it. His statements to national television this Saturday fully show the “complex energy situation.” The minister assures that this Monday the Guiteras thermoelectric will go into operation in Matanzas, with a power of 280 megawatts, higher than what it had when it shut down for one more repair. However, he also warns that “the situation will remain tense.”

The “fundamental problem” pointed out by De la O Levy is “the issue of fuel.” According to his words, which do not specify whether the donations from Venezuela and Mexico have stopped, they are undertaking “an intense work and a great sacrifice” at a financial level, “because we have to buy fuel in the international market.”

The minister concedes: “We have debts, and we are renegotiating and working with each country. Some have accepted; they understand our situation with electricity.” As an example, he mentioned the “boat that will arrive on the 23rd, with about 43,000 tons of fuel.”

On Friday, the mammoth Tower K, on 23rd Street in El Vedado, adorned its facade with a play of lights / 14ymedio

The minister may well be referring to the tanker Eco Fleet, which arrived from Tunisia almost three weeks ago, on February 25, and has not yet unloaded. That cargo, in any case, as the minister explained, will only give fuel for “ten or twelve days.” Then, “another ship will arrive on the 29th, with crude oil that we can refine,” but the energy generation that this product will allow once refined will not happen until April 6, the senior official said. Will things get better from then on? It doesn’t seem so: “That week [April 6] we are going to have a better situation, but then there will be a bump. We are buying fuel with the few financial resources we have.”

In the meantime, an “exact hour-by-hour planning” will continue on the part of the Government. They are, says the minister, doing the impossible to reserve fuel for the hours of the night, “so that people can rest, because we are aware of what is happening.” There are regions, he acknowledges, “that have entire mornings of blackout and practically the whole day.”

Not only does this occur in Holguín but also in other provinces, such as Mayabeque, where the electricity company reported blackouts of more than 10 hours in a row, with power going on for only two to three hours. In Camagüey, independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada reported that the deficit on Saturday was 105 MW, “which represents 99 percent of the province having no electricity from 5:00 in the morning.”

I had to throw away a lot of food, chicken thighs, fish and even cheese that spoiled,” says Dunia, desperate

The same thing happened in Sancti Spíritus. “I had to throw away a lot of of food, chicken thighs, fish and even cheese that spoiled,” says Dunia, desperate. “We are worn out, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” The electricity company  had warned that due to the deficit, there would be more blackouts than planned: “It is necessary to extend the affected time period, as well as to advance some circuits before the scheduled time.”

In San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, cradle of the massive Island wide demonstrations of July 11, 2021, rumors of protests proliferate after a Saturday of continuous blackout. “They put it on and then turn it off again at about eight at night,” says María Fe. “My brother got in the shower and they cut off the power. I told him to get out, to shave with salt, because you can’t bathe in cold water. If we get sick, things will get complicated.”

Once the sun went down yesterday, mosquitoes crowded onto the screens of mobile phones, the only light in many neighborhoods of Havana, which, as the minister acknowledged, also suffers “significant affects.” In Central Havana, for example, there was an “extra” blackout that was not in the planned calendar: “Things must be very bad for them to dare do it here; our block was not planned for today,” Miguel observes.

This man, age 40, feels tired. “I calculate that last night’s blackout was a little more than three hours. When the electricity returned, the murmur of joy and relief that ran through the entire neighborhood was really impressive.” From Miguel’s balcony, you can see an object that never loses power. On Friday, the mammoth Tower K, on 23rd Street in El Vedado, adorned its facade with a play of lights. “K-23, it said,” says Miguel. “But the 2 was missing a piece. Even that building suffers from blackouts, albeit a small one.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Ukraine Warns of the High Number of Cubans Fighting With Russian Troops

Darío Jarrosay at the press conference held in Kiev, where several prisoners of war were interviewed

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Kiev, 16 March 2024 — The Ukrainian body that deals with prisoners of war warned this Friday of the high number of Cubans fighting with Russian troops in the war in Ukraine, and reproached the authorities of Havana for their tolerance of Russian recruitment operations on the Island.

“We see photographs and videos of the Russian side where many mercenaries from Cuba are seen,” said Petro Yatsenko, the head of the Ukrainian Committee for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. At a press conference held in Kiev, he warned of the growing number of mercenaries recruited by Russia from the so-called Global South countries.

Asked by EFE about the position of the Cuban Government in the face of Russia’s actions to attract Cuban citizens into the ranks of its Army, Yatsenko stated that Ukraine has no evidence of Havana’s official participation in this type of effort. “We cannot say that it is a (Cuban) state program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it,” said the Ukrainian official, who also said that “Russian agitators” work without restrictions in Cuba. continue reading

“We cannot affirm that it is a state (Cuban) program, but we know that no one (in Cuba) opposes it”

Yatsenko made these statements at a press conference in which eight prisoners of war from Nepal, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Cuba also participated, imprisoned by Ukrainian troops while fighting with Russian forces.

Darío Jarrosay, a Cuban prisoner of war, is a 35-year-old teacher and musician from Guantánamo. He said he had been attracted to Russia by a false offer on Facebook to work in construction, and he was then dragged to fight with the Russian Army on the front. “I joined the Russian Army because, in Cuba, I received a banner (announcement) on Facebook saying that people were needed for construction.”

Jarrosay explained that he traveled to the Russian Federation from Cuba after filling out a form to work in construction. “It wasn’t to enter the war; I never agreed to enter the war,” he said at the event held in the Ukrainian capital. “When I arrived in Russia, I found myself in the war,” he said. This Cuban geography teacher and musician is now waiting for a solution to his case as a prisoner of war in Ukraine.

Petro Yatsenko, from the Ukrainian authority that deals with prisoners of war, said at the same press conference that Ukraine is open to negotiating the return of these fighters to their countries of origin. Jarrosay said he was on the flight to Russia with five other Cubans who were also looking for work in Russia. He found other Cubans In the Russian Army, and he received 250,000 rubles (about 2,500 euros) a month for fighting on the Russian side, a salary much higher than the one he received in Cuba.

Asked about the message he sends to his compatriots, Jarrosay recommended that Cubans “not go.” “Everything is a hoax,” he said. “Overnight when you go to your job you find yourself in the war.”

Along with Jarrosay, five Nepali prisoners of war, one from Sierra Leone and one from Somalia, participated in the press conference. All of them were captured by Ukraine while fighting as mercenaries with the Russian side and claimed to have been deceived when they were recruited. Some of them said that they ended up in the Russian Army after traveling from Cuba to look for civilian jobs. Others claimed to have been sent to the front after having agreed to carry out military tasks behind the front lines.

The other prisoners of war reported having been victims of deception to be recruited by the Russian Army.

By making these testimonies public, Ukraine is hoping to prevent other citizens of low-income countries from accepting jobs in Russia or positions in the Russian Army that end up leading them to kill Ukrainians, or to being captured or dying at the front, according to Yatsenko.

According to the Ukrainian official, Russia recruits more and more mercenaries from countries in Africa, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Latin America, to make up for casualties in their ranks. Ukraine has been open to negotiating the return of these captured fighters to their countries.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

“No Martyrs or Leaders,” the New Directions for the Diminished Cuban Bodegas

This newspaper was able to confirm that the images of the country’s former leaders were no longer in at least a dozen places where they were previously exhibited.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, 16 March 2024  — “They told us to remove the photos,” explains the employee of a bodega (ration store) in Nuevo Vedado, Havana, before the question of a customer surprised by the disappearance of the images of Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl and Ernesto Guevara who, until recently, alternated on the wall with the blackboard that announces the ever-shorter list of available products. “They called from the Ministry of Internal Trade and advised us that we could not have any martyrs or leaders,” he says.

The practice of placing images of leaders of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), guerrillas and people who fell in combat during the revolutionary battles, was very common in the ration stores. “You went with your libreta (ration book) to buy something, and instead of beans you found a poster with a smiling Camilo Cienfuegos or propaganda from a PCC Congress,” says Liuber, a resident of San Lázaro Street in Central Havana. He was surprised a week ago when he arrived at his bodega and found “nothing; those faces were no longer on the shelves.” continue reading

“You went with your ration book to buy something and instead of beans you found a poster with a smiling Camilo Cienfuegos”

This newspaper was able to confirm that the images were no longer in at least a dozen places where they were previously exhibited before the eyes of those who entered. A butcher’s shop on Basarrate Street in El Vedado, which until recently showed a portrait of Ernesto Guevara, with a beret and a thin beard, no longer had the photograph, previously located on the table behind the counter.

“It seems they don’t want people to continue taking photos of the bodegas and butcher shops without food but full of propaganda and posting them on social networks,” says another bodeguero in Old Havana who also received the “direction from above” to remove the images “that had been there for more years than the tomato sauce that didn’t arrive for the libreta.

The butcher shop on Basarrate Street replaced the painting of Che with an abstract / 14ymedio

However, the employee clarifies that the new regulations have not reached them in writing. “They told us at a meeting that the counterrevolution was using the photos they took inside the bodegas to create popular discomfort and associate the leaders of the process with the shortages.” The woman regrets the decision because “those images attracted tourists, who came in, started talking to us and some even left us a little gift.”

Now, the little rice that arrives every month for the standard quota does not pose for the cameras next to the face of a leader sheathed in his olive green uniform, and the sugar that is delayed in the supply no longer shares space with a poster of a guerrilla with a rifle on his shoulder. The political altars can no longer be next to the meager ration of food that is sold in the Cuban bodegas and butcher shops.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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 Reaffirms Its ‘Unique Friendship’ With North Korea

Miguel Díaz-Canel and Ma Chol Su, the ambassador of North Korea

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — The Cuban government decorated the ambassador of North Korea, Ma Chol Su, who finalized his diplomatic work in Havana, while reaffirming Cuba’s “unique friendship” with the Asian country, state media reported on Saturday.

The official newspaper Granma reported a meeting between the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel and the North Korean diplomat. In it, the Cuban president affirmed that the decoration was a “reaffirmation of friendship, solidarity and the brotherhood that exists between our Parties, our peoples and our Governments.”

North Korea maintains a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War

“Our relations have matured with the passage of time; they have  endured and been consolidated. This process has been achieved because our relations have elements that distinguish them as truly unique among peoples,” he added. continue reading

The North Korean ambassador assured that he would transmit “to the leader Kim Jong-Un the messages of friendship and the fraternal feelings expressed” by Díaz-Canel.

North Korea has a historic relationship with Cuba that dates back to the time of the Cold War, in 1960. Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (1926-2016) visited North Korea in 1986, where he met with the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, grandfather and father, respectively, of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The reaffirmation of political ties with North Korea takes place almost a month after the announcement of the formalization of relations between South Korea and Cuba, broken since 1959.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

German Tourism Giant TUI Suspends Its Flights From Amsterdam to Varadero

TUI maintains that it is not profitable to travel to Varadero

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2024 — The German operator Touristik Union International (TUI) announced that it is canceling the only service that connects Cuba with the Netherlands due to a shortage of customers. “There is not enough demand for this destination,” a TUI spokeswoman told the Luchvaart Nieuws website. Thus, from mid-May, there will be no more flights between the airports of Schiphol, in Amsterdam, and Varadero, in Matanzas.

Up to now, that flight has been operating on a weekly basis and makes a stopover in Varadero on its route to Cancun, Mexico, but the limited number of passengers who disembark and embark at Juan Gualberto Gómez airport is not profitable for the German company.

That flight operates on a weekly basis and makes a stopover in Varadero on its route to Cancun

“Travelers who have already booked a trip (after mid-May) will be personally informed by TUI or the travel agency with which they booked,” the spokesperson explained. The airline will also cancel the flights for the next winter season and does not plan to resume the route to the Cuban destination in the future. continue reading

The company will maintain, however, its flights to Cancun from Amsterdam, once a week without a stopover, and another with a stopover in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In 2019, KLM Airlines, which was flying between Schiphol and Havana, suspended its operations due to the crisis caused by COVID-19. With the interruption of TUI’s services, Cuba has no direct connection with the Netherlands.

Luchvaart Nieuws adds that since the US abolished the visa exemption for those who have traveled to Cuba, interest in the Island as a tourist destination has decreased in that market. As provided by the measure that came into force in July 2023, if a traveler has visited the Island from 2021 and wants to enter the United States, they must apply for the B1/B2 visitor visa, which is more expensive and takes time.

The company will maintain its flights to Cancun from Amsterdam, once a week without a stopover, and another with a stopover in Montego Bay

The best alternatives for residents of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg who want to travel to Cuba will be the routes that operate between the airports of Frankfurt and Paris to Havana and Varadero

In December 2023, TUI announced that, beginning in May of this year, it will suspend the route that connects the city of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, and Varadero.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Spain Will Support the Construction of a Solar Park in Cuba Through an EU Initiative

The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewables  by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 March 2024 — Spain will support the construction of a solar park in Cuba within the framework of the Global Gateway strategy of the European Union (EU), the EU embassy on the Island reported in a statement on Friday.

The European bloc “has committed to supporting the energy transition in Cuba through renewable energies,” said the statement, which is made public in the midst of the energy crisis that the country is suffering, with prolonged daily blackouts.

A delegation visited the Island this week to hold talks. Spain announced its contribution, and the EU, Spain and France showed their willingness to work “to mobilize new investments in the sector,” according to the statement, which did not provide details about the project that has Spanish support. continue reading

This project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households and generate savings of 84 million euros

The EU delegation visited a solar plant in the west of the Island, financed entirely with European funds. According to the EU embassy in Cuba, this project aims to provide energy for 8,500 households, generate savings of 84 million euros (about 91 million dollars at today’s exchange rate), replace 168,000 tons of fuel and avoid the emission of 721,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Global Gateway’s goal is to “promote smart, clean and safe links in the digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems around the world,” in accordance with the EU.

Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs

Cuba, plunged into a serious economic crisis for more than three years, is also going through a difficult energy crisis. Since the end of January, the daily rate of maximum energy deficit is between 20 and 45% of the country’s needs. This situation is due to the poor state of the national electricity system, which has seven obsolete thermoelectric plants with a chronic investment deficit, and a shortage of fuel due to lack of foreign exchange for importation.

This Wednesday, a plan was announced to install 92 solar parks on the Island to generate 2,000 megawatts. The national energy plan is to reach 24% renewable energies by 2030, a goal for which Cuba has a late start.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.

Of the 314 Women Detained in Cuba for Political Reasons Since ’11J’ Mass Protests, 56 Are Still in Jail

Posters with photos of Cuban women prisoners during a press conference in Miami, Florida, on May 16, 2023. (EFE/EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH)

14ymedio bigger

14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2024 — One month after being diagnosed with a five-centimeter uterine fibroid, Lizandra Góngora, a political prisoner for participating in the protests of 11 July 2021 and sentenced to 14 years, remains in Los Colonos prison, on the Island of Youth. Although neither the hospital of the special municipality nor the prison’s medical services have the supplies or personnel to treat her, the authorities are still reluctant to send her to Havana for medical treatment.

Góngora’s situation, who was also imprisoned far from her province of origin (Artemisa) and her husband and children, reflects just one aspect of the circumstances of the 56 women who remain in detention since July 11, 2021 (’11J’) onwards, due to the protests in Cuba. Of the 56 prisoners, 30 are mothers and two are awaiting sentencing after being tried. Only one, Leydiana Cazañas, detained in March 2023 without protest, remains awaiting trial.

According to the NGO* Justicia 11J database, since the 2021 protests and to date, a total of 314 women have been detained for political reasons. Of that total, 40 were released and 171 were sentenced to house arrest, mobility restriction, correctional work, or fines and bail, so they did not serve time in prison. Another 30 women live in exile. continue reading

The NGO has requested help to find out the statuses of 15 other women. It is not known whether they remain in prison or have been released

Alina Bárbara López, a Matanzas professor who has been arrested on several occasions for her activism, has been banned from leaving the country and was tried and sentenced to pay a fine of 7,500 pesos after refusing to attend a police summons that she considered illegitimate.

The situation of the transsexual woman Brenda Díaz, imprisoned in a male prison for AIDS patients, has been one of the most widespread outrages. Last January, Ana María García, mother of the political prisoner, complained to prison authorities about the constant abuse that the inmate, a participant in the 11J protests, is being subjected to.

As she explained, Díaz was locked in a punishment cell after being unfairly linked to alcohol trafficking within the prison. After clearing up the misunderstanding she was released, but when she reported her mistreatment, she was returned to her cell.

The case of Díaz, sentenced to 14 years and seven months – to which were added another seven months last April 2023 for “contempt” – even caught the attention of Mariela Castro, Director of the National Center for Sexual Education and daughter of Raúl Castro, who assured the EFE agency that García’s story is an “overblown tale full of fantasies”.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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 Nurse is Assassinated by Her Husband, a Doctor in Santiago de Cuba

Samantha Heredia was 22 years old and lived with her aggressor, Pedro Carmenate, in a district known as “El Salao” / Facebook

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 3 March 2024 — Samantha Heredia, a 22-year-old nurse, was murdered in Santiago de Cuba by her husband, Dr. Pedro Carmenate. An employee of the Juan Bruno Zayas Clinical Surgical Hospital in the eastern capital, where the victim and aggressor met and the latter worked as a resident doctor, confirmed the news to 14ymedio. Likewise, she declares that many of Heredia’s acquaintances came to the hospital after reading the news on Facebook.

According to a source from independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, the young woman was “brutally beaten and then drugged” and Carmenate turned himself in to the Police. The couple resided in the Micro 1B subdivision of the Abel Santamaría district, known as “El Salao.”

Heredia, a graduate from the School of Nursing and Health Technology in Santiago de Cuba just two years ago, worked as a nurse at the Josué País García Polyclinic. continue reading

So far, independent platforms have not confirmed the femicide of Heredia, who will be buried this Sunday afternoon.

So far, the independent platforms Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo, both in Cuba, have not confirmed Heredia’s femicide, who will be buried this Sunday afternoon. Her death represents the eleventh femicide on the Island so far in 2024.

On February 24, Yanelis Coca, 40, was murdered by her ex-husband in La Conejera, in the town of El Caney, also in Santiago de Cuba. The femicide occurred at the victim’s home in the presence of her 7-year-old grandson, who lived with her.

A day later, on February 25, Raquel Arriera Álvarez, 22 years old, was murdered in the town of Guayacanes, in Majagua, Ciego de Ávila. The young woman was killed by her husband, a former police officer and father of their two children, who were orphaned after the event.

Translated by Norma Whiting
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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 Strong Smell of Gas Alarms the Residents of Central Havana and the Authorities Do Not Respond

This Friday, those who passed by Galiano and Zanja couldn’t comment on anything else

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 15 March 2024 — A penetrating odor of gas has been alarming the neighbors of Galiano and Zanja, in Central Havana, for more than 24 hours. Early this Friday, those who passed by couldn’t comment on anything else. The situation, the residents say, is unsustainable.

In a phone call, the Gas Company confirmed to 14ymedio that several residents had already reported what appears to be a leak. “My car is now in the area,” the employee said, referring to a state service vehicle. “It looks like it’s on the street.”

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street   

To the question of what he advised the neighbors to do while determining if there was a way out and where to go, he answered: “Listen, I can’t give you an answer because I don’t know what’s going on.” continue reading

In a second inspection by this newspaper, however, no official car was observed on the street.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of fear. People still remember the terrible images of the Saratoga Hotel, which flew through the air on May 6, 2022, due to improper handling of liquefied gas from a tanker truck, which claimed the lives of 47 people.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 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.