English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 27 April 2021 — Beekeeper Yoandy Verea’s worst nightmare has come true. After months of intense work, the lack of fuel caused the loss of tons of honey in his fields in the municipality of Perico in Matanzas, according to his posts on the social network Facebook. “I am a beekeeper contracted by … Continue reading “Cuban Beekeeper Denounces the Loss of ‘Tons of Honey’ for Lack of Transport”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 5 April 2021 — While more and more images are arriving of the impact of the social protests that increase throughout Cuba — including the San Isidro Movement and UNPACU — the communist leaders try to cope with the great problem of lack of food and introduce small reforms such … Continue reading “Cuba: Reforms in the Countryside Should Not be Left Half Done”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 April 2021 — Yamile Bombino, an agricultural producer from the municipality of Cabaiguán, in Sancti Spíritus, opted to denounce the incompetence of the state-owned Acopio on April 3. The Sancti Spritus woman has a contract for the delivery of 400 quintals (1 quintal = approx. 100 pounds) of tomatoes with the company, but … Continue reading “Cuba: Tomatoes and Squash Rot in the Fields Because There is No Fuel”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 31 March 2021 — Current attempts by Cuban leaders to solve the problem of self-sufficiency in the capital are giving rise to exceptional proposals, such as the famous ’Marrero patios’. Well, it’s very simple, you have to forget what they say they want to do, before it’s too late. The communists have gone … Continue reading “Another ‘Great Achievement’ of the Revolution: Havana Turned Into an Urban Garden”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2020 — A farmer from the Los Palacios de Pinar del Río municipality was arrested on charges of “illicit economic activity” for producing and selling tomato puree. According to a report issued by Cuban Television, the producer, a member of the Manuel Ascunce Credit and Service Cooperative in the Paso Quemado Popular … Continue reading “In Cuba the Tomato King Pays for His Success With Prison”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, September 7, 2020 — Empty stalls, closed markets and long faces were common sights this weekend around several stores selling farm products in Havana. Checkpoints set up along highways into the capital have led to short supplies at privately run businesses and growing resentment among workers in the informal market. … Continue reading “Highway Checkpoints Choke Off Havana’s Produce Markets”
14ymedio, Havana, August 13, 2020 — “We’re approaching a famine that can be avoided,” begins the letter that the League of Independent Cuban Farmers and the Latin American Federation of Rural Women (Flamur) delivered to the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. The authors of the letter request an urgent intervention from the … Continue reading “The Cuban State “Is Intensifying Its War Against Farmers,” Farmers’ Groups Inform Bachelet”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 6, 2020 — There are serious challenges in the Cuban agricultural sector for more and better production, and Diario de Cuba has confirmed the discontent in large sectors of the campesino population over the repressive measures being applied by the Communist government. These measures go beyond the precariousness that … Continue reading “Without The Countryside There Is No Country”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, June 27, 2020 – Machado Ventura, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, is relentless. His call for Cuban farmers to cultivate all the land is repeated over and over in the pages of the official Communist newspaper, Granma, which has carried this message for weeks and months. “The … Continue reading “Machado Ventura Harangues The Countryside: You Have To Cultivate All The Land”
Fernando Dámaso, 4 June 2020 — After the 1959 “accident” occurred, Cuban agricultural production, which had been prosperous and efficient, ensuring the population with an adequate food supply, began to plummet. Two agrarian reform laws — the second one took away what the first had provided — were carbon copies of the failed Soviet system … Continue reading “Cuban Agriculture: A Chain of Inefficiency, Bureaucracy and Corruption / Fernando Damaso”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 1 June 2020 — Just three years after Parliament debated the “guidelines,” the President of the Republic has called on the Government to engage in “a deep exercise in innovative thinking” to face the crisis created by the pandemic and to “lead to a firmer, safer and faster implementation of everything … Continue reading “Cuba Needs Facts, Not "Innovative Thinking" From Above”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2020 — The League of Independent Farmers and the Cuban chapter of the Latin American Federation of Rural Women (Flamur) have launched a campaign directed at the Cuban Government demanding the liberalization of agriculture in Cuba in the context of the Covid-19 health crisis. In their opinion, the crisis could lead … Continue reading “A Group of Independent Cuban Farmers Calls for the Liberalization of Agriculture”
14ymedio Havana, April 20, 2020 – Two municipalities in Santiago de Cuba, Marimón (Agüero Mar Verde) and Cuabitas (Boniato), are under quarantine starting this Sunday for the next 14 days. Entering and exiting these towns is limited to residents and essential personnel for the operation of commerce and other essential services, who will work only … Continue reading “Santiago de Cuba Declares Two Municipalities Under Quarantine”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 13 April 2020 — He used the wheels to make a toy for his son, with the bottom boards he reinforced his sofa, and the iron frame now supports his home’s water tank. My neighbor Yunier, 38, dismantled the makeshift vehicle in which he was selling fruits and vegetables after the last … Continue reading “Days 23 and 24 of the Covid 19 Emergency in Cuba: What We Need Now Are Pushcart Vendors”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 September 2019 — The Roundtable TV show once again featured a new parade of ministers summoned to appease the Cuban people, who are greatly affected by the energy situation despite the arrival of a Venezuelan oil tanker on September 14. In this edition, the participants on the show were: Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Minister … Continue reading “On the Roundtable TV Program the Ministers Have Solutions for All of Cuba’s Problems”
