English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 24 April 2020 — In the Comodoro Hotel the food delivery service is shut down. It is not the only one in the capital to have suspended a service launched earlier this month, after authorities asked the population to restrict their outings to contain the spread of the coronavirus. But one of its workers has … Continue reading “"The Orders Came From Above"”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 16 September 2019 — Each dictator celebrates the inaugurations of what they can, or what they leave. There is a close relationship between authoritarian power and political celebratory openings. In the case of Franco, it was common to see him in the “News and Documentaries” — known as No-Do — inaugurating reservoirs for the … Continue reading “Of Inaugurations and Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Tourism in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 June 2019 — This Tuesday, the law firm Rivero Mestre LLP, based in Coral Gables, Miami, filed a lawsuit against Trivago, a German transnational specializing in hotel and lodging search services, for “trafficking” with properties confiscated by Fidel Castro’s regime at the beginning of the 1960s. The lawsuit, under the provisions of Title … Continue reading “Trivago Sued for "Trafficking" in Confiscated Properties in Cuba”
14ymedio, Maite Rico, Madrid, 23 April 2019 — Shocking to the Spanish business community. Especially the hotel sector. And more specifically in two of the big ones, Meliá and Iberostar. The United States has opened the door for its citizens to file court claims over properties confiscated in Cuba since the 1959 Revolution. Since the … Continue reading “Cuba, Sun Tourism and… Problems”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 4 March 2019 — The Donald Trump Administration announced Monday that it will allow trials in US courts against those companies sanctioned by Washington that operate in Cuba and that are included in a “black list,” according to statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, for the rest of the companies, the … Continue reading “US Renews Partial Suspension of Helms-Burton Act But There Will be Exceptions”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 19 January 2018 — Every night during the ’90s there were knocking sounds from the abandoned hotel San Carlos, which borders the market in the historic center of Cienfuegos where Joaquín Rodríguez worked as custodian. There were hardly any vestiges left of the navy blue of the façade and fragments of the cornices … Continue reading “From a Public Urinal to a Luxury Hotel, The San Carlos is Reborn in Cienfuegos”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 17 November 2017 – Cuba’s northern keys are a tropical paradise that were forbidden to Cubans for decades. In 2008, in the midst of a severe liquidity crisis, the reforms of Raul Castro’s regime allowed, for the first time since the opening to international tourism in the ’90s, Cubans to stay in … Continue reading “Cubans Are Traveling Abroad More and On The Island Less”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Zunilda Mata, Havana/Varadero, 21 September 2017 — “This is what’s left of the gardens of the Blue Lagoon,” says an employee while looking at a cellphone photo of fallen palm trees and tangled vegetation. The bus in which he is traveling is responsible for distributing staff to the hotels in Varadero, Cuba’s … Continue reading “Irma Reconfigures Cuba’s Tourist Map”
Iván García,13 September 2017 — On Friday September 9th, Omar, 55 years old, set up two speakers in his house, located in an inside corridor off San Lázaro Street, in Lawton, in the south of Havana, just like he does almost every weekend, and, at 6 in the evening he started to open some bottles of … Continue reading “Cuba: The Day After / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 22 August 2016 — The breeze coming from the coast is a blast of hot air that barely cools things off. The sun reverberates and the tourists take refuge from the insufferable irradiation in a swimming pool in the form of a huge shell, split in two by a cement walkway. Others escape … Continue reading “Cayo Coco: An Emporium Of Cuban Military Capitalism / Iván García”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 19 January 2016 – The noise of the rain mixed with the sounds of the clerk complaining because the cash envelopes were overflowing because they can’t cope with “so many Cuban pesos.” The scene is repeating itself lately at the Cubatur tourist office in the Habana Libre Hotel, with the authorization … Continue reading “2,850 pesos for one night in Varadero / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Ivan Garcia, 10 January 2016 — One month before their trip, José María, his wife and two sons from Valencia Spain made reservations through the internet for two rooms at the Hotel Riviera, which faces Havana’s seaside drive, the Malecón. “There was no way to rent a car,” says José María as he sips papaya juice in … Continue reading “Cuban Tourism: Are There Enough Beds? / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 2 September 2015 — After working two years in a remote part of Africa, Migdalia, a pediatrician, carefully considered the summer vacation packages available in Cuba. In the end she opted to stay three nights in a five-star hotel in Cayo Santa Maria, on the northern coast of Villa Clara, 460 kilometers east … Continue reading “Cuba: High-Priced Tourism / Ivan Garcia”
Last summer, 48-year-old Lisván, owner of a small photographic studio in a neighbourhood in the east of Havana, personally suffered the consequences of the absurd prohibitions that the Castro regime imposes on its citizens. With the profits made from his business and after saving a part of the money sent to his family from abroad, … Continue reading “Cuba: The Other Embargo / Ivan Garcia”
Under a warm sun and unusually cool breeze, a worker puts the final touches on the exterior of PABEXPO, an exposition and meeting center of 60,000 square yards, located in the Siboney neighborhood, to the west of Havana. There, from Saturday the 25th to Tuesday the 29th of January, experts, foreign ministers and presidents will … Continue reading “CELAC Summit in Havana: The Regime is Cashing In / Ivan Garcia”
