English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2017 — The year 2017 has not left a pleasant memory among Cubans. The last twelve months were marked by economic difficulties, the retreat in the diplomatic thaw with the United States, the destruction left by Hurricane Irma and a regional context increasingly adverse for the island’s government. Despite the reported growth … Continue reading “2017, Another Year Lost For Cuba”
Cubanet, Havana, Miriam Celaya, 22 December 2017 — On the morning of 21 December 2017, it became known in the international media that “the Cuban Parliament” – whose most outstanding feature is not having decided anything at all in its more than 40 years of existence – has “just decided” to extend the presidential mandate … Continue reading “Castro Suspects / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
EFE / via 14ymedio, Havana, 21 December 2017 — The president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, confirmed on Thursday that he will leave office on April 21, after the Cuban Parliament extended his current mandate until that date, a mandate which was due to end on February 24. “When the National Assembly is constituted I will … Continue reading “Raul Castro Confirms He Will Leave the Presidency and Urges Elimination of Dual Currency”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 23 May 2016 — Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, recently made his second visit to Cuba. Unlike his first, in November 2014–when the general-president did not deign to meet with him—this time his “highest excellency” Spanish Foreign Minister was emphatically welcomed by the upper echelons of … Continue reading “The Step-Motherland’s Droit de Seigneur / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
Ivan Garcia, 4 January 2016 — José Manual Cordoví keeps his savings in a rusty cookie tin. He runs a business forging windows, doors and iron in a suburb of low hovels in Arroyo Naranjo, a municipality 40 minutes by car from the heart of Havana. Cordoví has no relatives or friends who are close … Continue reading “The Dollar Gains Strength in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 19 October 2015 — In Cuba the shortage of goods, including basic staples, has been a continuous phenomenon in all retail chains for decades, so repetitive that it seems incorporated into the very genome of the regime, and has become one of the hallmarks of the laziness, inefficiency, and mediocrity of the economic … Continue reading “Shortages in Cuba: A Deliberate Strategy? / Jeovany Vega”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 29 January 2015 — It was barely 10:00 am Wednesday, January 28th, and the currency exchange (CADECA) at Belascoaín had no national currency (CUP)*. One of the tellers explained that he had only several 50 peso bills and that was it until the “cash truck” arrived. Some customers, leaving because they could not transact business, … Continue reading “Early Farewell to the CUC / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, Miriam Celaya, 27 August 2014–The information that the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) published on August 19th in the paper edition of the newspaper Granma about “the next issuance of high denomination bank notes (100, 50 and 20 pesos, CUP) with new security measures” brings back to the forefront the issue of the … Continue reading “What Purpose Did the Dual Currency System Serve? / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
The Cuban population has no idea of the real worth of a Cuban peso. So many private taxi drivers, like the pioneers of money devaluation–the state snack bars–never stop annoying people with measures outside any legal range. If the government pays you 24 Cuban pesos (CUPs) for one Cuban convertible peso (CUC), and sells you … Continue reading “In the End, How Much is My Money Worth? / Anddy Sierra Alvarez”
14ymedio, Havana | June 23, 2014 — The Cuban economy is growing at a rate slower than the official forecasts, according to data announced by the Minister of Economy and Planning, Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez. He said that during the first half of this year the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) will increase by just 0.6%, but … Continue reading “The Modest Growth of the Cuban Economy Falls Short of Expectations / 14ymedio”
(Originally published in Cubanet the April 11, 2014 , titled ” Raul Castro Goes in Reverse”) Clearly, the new Foreign Investment Law “approved” by the usual parliamentary unanimity last March 29, 2014, has been the talk of the town on the topic of “Cuba”, for the Island’s official as well as for the independent and … Continue reading “Driving in Reverse / Miriam Celaya”
Photo: Rebeca Two upsetting phenomena have occurred in the last few weeks: some products have disappeared from the market stalls, both those selling in Cuban pesos and those selling in hard currency, and prices overall have gone up. Cleaning products on sale for Cuban pesos don’t exist or are scarce, and personal hygiene products are … Continue reading “The Holes in the Belt / Fernando Damaso”
The Council of Ministers met on December 19-20 in conjunction with the National Assembly of People’s Power, to hear information about the fulfillment of the 2013 Economic Plan, approve the Plan for 2014, and the draft State Budget for the coming year, and to release the report about the compliance with the Party’s Political, Economic … Continue reading “The Cuban Economy in 2013 and Perspectives for 2014 / Miriam Leiva”
The architects of the quagmire that is the Cuban economy now claim that the country will not be in a position to raise workers’ salaries until there is first a convincing increase in the level of worker productivity. At first glance this would seem reasonable. Anyone unaware of the island’s economic twists and turns would … Continue reading “The Cry of a Mourner / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Madrid, February 12, 2024 — Cuba has fallen thirty places in the Human Development Index (HDI) prepared by the United Nations in just 15 years and is at risk of moving from the group of States at a high level to a medium level, which would mean a severe blow for the Government, which … Continue reading “Poverty in Cuba Surpasses the Worst Moment of the ‘Special Period’”
