Translating Cuba

The US Has Granted Humanitarian Parole to a Pilot Who Participated in the Downing of the Brothers to the Rescue Planes

Luis Raúl González-Pardo was in command of one of the MiG 29s but did not fire

González-Pardo, in the center, with a group of pilots from the Cuban Armed Forces / Martí Noticias

14ymedio, Havana, 17 September 2024 — “Everything, or most of what has been said, is false,” were the last – and almost only – words to a media outlet, Martí Noticias, from the former pilot of the Cuban Armed Forces Luis Raúl González-Pardo, who has been living in the United States since last April thanks to the US Humanitarian Parole program. Afterwards, he hung up the phone on journalist Mario Pentón and deleted his number from WhatsApp.

González-Pardo was involved in one of the darkest episodes of the Cuban regime: the shooting down, in 1996, of two small planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, a humanitarian organization of exiles. He also held civil positions, such as the direction of Terminal 2 of the José Martí International Airport, and his wife still lives on the Island, waiting for a visa to join him.

“Right now I have a very difficult situation,” the former pilot told Pentón on Monday. “I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do, or if I’m going to give interviews or not, mainly because of some additional situations that I have that could affect me.”

The journalist also shared on Tuesday an internal document from the US State Department, obtained by Martí Noticias and dated 2016, in which González-Pardo requested that his visa be expedited because he is a “facilitator” of high-level trips and a “key diplomatic contact” when it comes to organizing exchanges between the two countries. His visit – to continue reading

“observe American culture firsthand” – was considered of interest by Washington, which is why his consular interview was brought forward twice.

González-Pardo’s case is one of the most recent in a wave of high-ranking officials and members of the regime’s security forces who have ended up in Miami to live out their “retirement.” Photos of him wearing the uniform of the Armed Forces alongside several fighter pilots have circulated alongside the complaint in independent media.

According to several sources, González-Pardo was the man who was at the controls of the Mig 29 that pursued José Basulto – the leader of Brothers to the Rescue – to the north of the 24th parallel, in the Straits of Florida. Basulto himself confirmed this information to the military pilot Orestes Lorenzo, who escaped to the US in 1991 and returned to Cuba, despite the risks, to collect his family.

“I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do, or if I’m going to give interviews or not, mainly because of some additional situations that I have that could affect me.”

Lorenzo, a friend of González-Pardo, was not aware of his involvement in the events of 1996. In 2017, he asked the US authorities to extend the validity of his visa to attend a meeting of former Cuban military personnel and a trip to the Disney parks, Universal Studios and Kennedy Space Center Museum, in Florida.

Aboard two Cessna planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, exiles Carlos Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña, Armando Alejandre and Pablo Morales died on February 24, 1996, the day González-Pardo and the rest of the squadron hunted them down.

After it became known that Washington had approved the visit of the former pilot, a barrage of criticism and questioning from Cuban exiles has fallen on the US authorities. The emigrants have pointed out that, although he did not shoot at the planes, he pursued them while armed, knowing that those he harassed could not defend themselves.

One of the key factors in the success of that persecution was the information passed to Havana by Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, one of a group of five other spies, who are now considered “heroes” of the regime and hold several important positions.

In the case of Hernández – current coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution – he was one of the leaders of the so-called Wasp Network of Cuban counterintelligence in Florida. The members of this group were arrested in 1998 and only five returned to the Island, thanks to a prisoner exchange during the Barack Obama Administration.

The Brothers to the Rescue tragedy became a topic of interest again at the end of last year, after Netflix produced, in 2019, a film about the Wasp Network and offered a manipulated version of the events. Basulto then sued Netflix for defamation and reached an agreement whose terms were not revealed. According to the exile, the film made concessions to the regime – which allowed scenes to be filmed in Cuba – and romanticized Fidel Castro’s crimes.

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Lunch or Dinner, the Daily Dilemma for Cubans in the Face of High Prices and Shortages

“Our diet is terrible, we eat whatever we can get hold of and not what our bodies need”

People searching the streets of Cienfuegos for some affordable food / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 15 September 2024 – When the midday sun heats up the streets of the city, dozens of Cienfuegueros go in search of something light to eat, for the lowest possible cost, to help them “endure” the rest of the day until their evening meal. Others don’t even have this possibility, because of the restrictions of their meagre income. And some even have to resort to begging in order to feed themselves. Still others hardly even manage to get a soft drink or a little water at lunchtime in order to hydrate themselves in the intense heat.

“Until last year, you could get a pizza in that place for 60 pesos. But a private owner took over and now the cheapest one costs 150 pesos”, says Arelis, 54, who has just walked past the pizzeria on Calle 37 in the city centre Prado district. “How many of them can I eat in a month if I earn 2,800 pesos? And in the bar next door a croquette roll costs 80 pesos and no one is buying”, she says.

The woman says she’s tired of having to eat pizza all her life. “The average Cuban’s diet is terrible. We eat whatever we can get hold of and not what our bodies need. At home we spend the whole month stretching out a bit of rice, or beans, or chickpeas, or whatever turns up”, she says. Like her, the majority of Cienfuegueros who spoke to us told us that they always have to make a choice between lunch or dinner, whether it’s because they can’t afford both or because the food isn’t available.

Some people are even seen to have to resort to begging in order to feed themselves

Until recently, Arelis’s mother sorted out her lunch in a social security canteen but the establishment shut some months ago for repairs and there’s no date given for its reopening. “I live very near to the ring road and work in the centre near Martí Park, which means that although I would like to, I can’t go home for lunch”, Arelis explains. “So I have to eat whatever I can find, as long as it’s not beyond what I can afford”.

Several people pass down Calle 54, hoping to find something affordable to eat. “The only thing I had this morning, before I left the house, was a sip of coffee. I have two children and what little there is has to go to them, including their snacks now that school has started”, says Nora, a well known university professor who, nonetheless, confesses to 14ymedio that she has to go hungry and forego all kinds of necessities. Her salary isn’t enough, but she’s not allowed to teach private lessons.

At lunchtime some people only have a soft drink or some water, to at least hydrate themselves in the intense heat / 14ymedio

“I come every day from Lajas to work. I leave at five in the morning, most of the time without breakfast. Throughout the day all I’ll have is some bread with some kind of filling, or an ice cream cone. By seven in the evening I’m exhausted”, says Jorge, who’s about to retire. “I never thought that after sacrificing so much I’d be seeing myself in this situation. And what’s worse is that they keep on asking me for more sacrifice. How long can this go on?”

Many Cienfuegueros go to work in the mornings most of the time without breakfast

“Until a few years ago I could go out to eat with my family. Sometimes we used to go to La Covadonga, over there in La Punta, and we had a lovely time. All that’s gone now”, says the man. And he adds that on an average salary he can only afford to buy the basics for a week or two at most. “And what then? Where will the meat and veg come from, as well as the other basic things? No one can survive like this”.

In any given cafeteria, whether it be on Calle San Carlos, Calle Santa Clara or on Calle Industria, a sandwich can cost at least 150 pesos and it doesn’t matter the type of place that sells it, or the quality of the product. “I feel sorry for my kids because they arrive home from school desperate to eat something and I have to throw something together from the manky bread that we get with the rations and add some filling to last them until dinner time with at least something in their stomachs”, Nora explains.

She and her family have been forced to stop using dairy milk because they can’t pay the price charged at the independent shops. “It’s criminal what we’re going through. I feel like we’re slowly dying”, says the professor as she watches a group of foreign tourists having lunch in Hotel La Unión, part of the Spanish Meliá chain. “At this time my kids have to have just a small yogurt and some yellow rice left over from last night. I think there are no words that can express this”, she says.

The food crisis in Cienfuegos doesn’t discriminate among people, says Arelis: “Hunger doesn’t care about the colour of your skin here, nor about the level of your intellect. You’ll see well dressed people that haven’t had a bite to eat all day”. In Cienfuegos it’s common to see independent restaurants open at all hours with doormen who wait in vain for consumers to walk in. Whilst the menus display attractive dishes with eye-watering prices, people pass by at a distance wondering what they might be able to concoct for their dinner.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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Despite the Capped Prices, Year-on-Year Inflation in Cuba Exceeds 30 Percent

The Hanke index, which measures prices based on the dollar, places the increase at 42%

Price caps have also influenced the influx of customers / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 16 September 2024 — Price controls on private sales in Cuba, in force since mid-July, may be behind the containment of the consumer price index this August. Official data show that last month, general inflation barely rose by 0.42%, particularly for the sectors of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which increased by only 0.02%. With these figures, the annual variation remains at 19.3%, while the year-on-year is 30.12%, still very high for the punished pockets of the citizens, but moderate compared to previous months.

In addition, the informal market’s inflation, which is measured by the American economist Steve Hanke and includes the effect of the exchange rate with the dollar, reaches 42% year-on-year, despite the stabilization of the greenback at 320 pesos after having grazed the 400 bar.

The coincidence in a moderation of the increase in the CPI in both the official and informal market data points to a possible reaction to the price cap in private stores of six products considered of basic necessity by the Government. It is also consistent with the paralysis of the exchange rate in the informal foreign exchange market, but it is not a guarantee of good news. As the Observatory of Currencies and Finance of Cuba (OMFI) pointed out in its report last week, the cost of this measure is “increasing shortages and strangling consumption.” continue reading

By sector, the prices of Alcohol and Tobacco fell (-0.3%), although the increases at the beginning of the year weigh down this sector. Cubans have paid 38% more so far this year and 50% more if compared to August 2023.

Food is another sector that rose the most year-on-year, almost 34.9%, despite its record decline this month

Food is another sector that rose the most year-on-year, almost 34.9%, despite its record decline this month. Onions (4.4%) and eggs (4.16%) are the only products highlighted for their rise, while avocado (-8.6%), rice (-5.7%), processed cheese (-4.7%) and white cheese (-4.4%) fell, in addition to cooking oil (-3.6%), one of the products capped by the Government.

It is followed by the year-on-year increase in the Restaurant and Hotel sectors, which essentially also include food. Although in August they rose by just 0.34%, so far this year they have increased by 19.2%, and in relation to the same month of 2023, 30.1%. In this sector, the party or birthday buffet (3.25%) leads the increases, followed by breakfast (1.4%) and soda (1.2%).

Transport rose in August by only 0.58% and puts its annual growth at 22.8% and year-on-year growth at 31.6%. Although it is almost an achievement after having quadrupled the official prices at the beginning of the year, these increases represent a great impact for the mobility of Cubans every day. In this section, the strong rise of urban motorcycles (4.12%) and urban taxis (3.4%) stands out, followed by other interurban (2.8%) and urban (1.26%) transport, while the intercity taxi increased its price by only 0.6%.

This August, the sector of various Goods and Services (1.35%) stood out for its increase, dragged down by shampoo (2.8%), conditioner (3.1%), deodorant (1.4%), hair dye (1.9%) and manicure (1.8%). In addition, toothpaste increased by 7.9%, the highest of any product last month. OMFI also highlighted the “beach excursions” for this holiday month, which increased by 4.8%.

There was much less increase in the sectors of Education (1.17%), Housing services (1.11%), Clothing and Footwear (0.98%), Recreation and Culture (0.75%), and Communications (0.04%). The Health sector did not change (0%), while Furniture and Household items fell by 0.2%.

In the midst of this scenario, where the first signs point to a worsening for September, we must take into account the depreciation of the currency, which has seriously added to the increase in prices. According to Hanke, the Cuban peso has devalued against the dollar by 22% so far this year.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Of the 1,105 Political Prisoners in Cuba, 62 Suffer From Mental Disorders

The most recent Prisoners Defenders report adds two new prisoners of conscience and subtracts 16, for suicide, expatriation or completing their sentences

Political prisoner Lizandra Góngora Espinosa, who suffers from uterine fibroids, is incommunicado / Facebook/Archive

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, September 16, 2024 — The number of political prisoners in Cuba barely decreases, according to the latest monthly report of Prisoners Defenders (PD), published on Monday. At the end of August, the NGO, based in Madrid, recorded a total of 1,105 prisoners, 14 fewer than those listed in July. Two were added to the list, while 16 were subtracted. One of them, Yosandri Mulet Almarales, had committed suicide, and the rest had either been forcefully expatriated or completed of their sentences.

In the statement, the organization emphasizes “the horrible situation experienced by prisoners, who are hungry, sick, without medical attention and being tortured.” At least 62 of the politically motivated prisoners suffer from mental health disorders and don’t receive psychiatric care or medications, in addition to being victims of abuse.

The report also points out that the “lack of food, zero medical care and the denial of medications are three common forms of torture for Cuban political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba.”

According to its records, 329 of the 1,105 political prisoners suffer from “serious pathologies that put their lives at risk,” including cases of diabetes, hypertension, cerebral ischemia, hepatitis B, malnutrition, anemia and cancer.

One example is Lizandra Góngora Espinosa, who suffers from uterine fibroids. “She does not receive medical care nor does the State provide her with her medications in prison,” says PD. Góngora Espinosa was arrested continue reading

for demonstrating on 11 July 2021 – ’11J’ – and sentenced to 14 years for the “fabricated crimes” of attack, public disorder and sabotage. The activist is serving her sentence in the Los Colonos forced labor prison, on the Isle of Youth, where she was transferred in March 2023 from Havana, where she resided with her five children, four of them still minors.

PD says the doctor told her that “there is a line of 1,300 people waiting to have surgery,” and that “most Cuban women live with fibroids, so nothing will happen to you.”

This is another of the tortures pointed out by the NGO: keeping her away from her family, who were able to visit her for the first time in five months in August 2023, thanks to a trip that lasted several days. While waiting for surgery for her fibroids, Góngora Espinosa is incommunicado. PD says the doctor told her that “there is a line of 1,300 people waiting to have surgery” and that “most Cuban women live with fibroids, so nothing will happen to you.”

Also, Prisoners Defenders says that 30 minors are still on the list of prisoners, of which 28 are serving their sentences and two are being criminally prosecuted “with precautionary measures without any judicial protection.” The minimum criminal age in Cuba is 16 years.

Prisoners Defenders reported that 15 of the minors have been convicted of sedition, with an average sentence of five years of deprivation of liberty.

It also highlighted the “discriminatory and abusive” treatment suffered by the 117 women included in its list of political prisoners.

The statement added that since July 2021 – when the largest anti-government protests in almost six decades took place on the Island – “Cuba has had a total of 1,583 political prisoners in its jails.”

The PD report coincides with those of other organizations, such as Justicia 11J and the Cuban Prison Documentation Center, which, after the death of Mulet Almarales, warned that there are a dozen political prisoners at risk of suicide. Abuse and torture are widespread in all these cases.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Leonardo Hierrezuelo Left the Cuban Futsal Team Because They Didn’t Pay Him Even One Peso

The athlete took advantage of international tours to buy things that he could sell on the Island.

Cuban goalkeeper Leonardo Hierrezuelo worked in a bicycle repair shop in Havana to support himself /Leonardo Hierrezuelo

14ymedio, Havana, 15 September 2024 — Leonardo Hierrezuelo didn’t even earn one peso as the goalkeeper of the futsal* team in Havana. This was the main reason that led him to flee hours after the national team arrived in Spain at the end of August to face preparation matches. The decision, he tells the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, was made “a week before, when the tour in Portugal began.”

Hierrezuelo had been double provincial champion with Old Havana, national champion with Havana and Under-23 champion in the I Caribbean Games of Guadalupe 2022. Despite that record, he only received 350 pesos per month for the medal he won two years ago. He had to work all week in a bicycle repair shop to support himself. Like all athletes, he took advantage of international trips to “buy things that could sell well in Cuba such as sports shoes and clothing,” he says.

“Living in Cuba is very difficult; it has always been bad, but after coronavirus everything has gotten worse,” he emphasizes to the Spanish newspaper.

In Hierrezuelo’s home, that situation is palpable. “It is very difficult to find food in supermarkets, and when there is any, it’s at very high prices,” says the 23-year-old athlete. In addition, his mother “only earns about 3,000 or 4,000 Cuban pesos [monthly], which is equivalent to 10 euros.” continue reading

Leonardo Hierrezuelo received 350 pesos as support for the gold medal won at the I Caribbean Games in Guadalupe 2022 / Instagram/Leonardo Hierrezuelo

Being in Huelva, Hierrezuelo decided to leave the hotel where his team, Los Leones del Caribe, was concentrated, in the early hours of dawn on August 27. Everything was well planned; after the escape, he contacted a friend who paid for his train ticket and who is now hosting him.

The Cuban athlete has taken a step towards freedom, but his immediate urgency is to get a job and be able to stay in Spain to help his family on the Island. He does not rule out continuing his professional career in some Spanish futsal club.

Before Hierrezuelo’s escape on August 24, the Camagüeyan Harold Aguilera, 22 years old, abandoned the Cuban team in Portugal. He is considered one of the “leaders of the locker room and a regular closer.” He was also part of the Phygital futsal team (digital futsal) that recently competed in the Brics 2024 Sports Games in Kazan, Russia.

The escapes of Harold Aguilera and Leonardo Hierrezuelo have been a hard blow to the team led by Osmel Valdivia, who was looking for a competitive team to face the Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan.

Cuba had a shameful debut against Brazil’s Verdeamarelha by losing 10-zero, an encounter that the official newspaper Jit considered a battle between “David of Judah against the giant Goliath of the Philistines.”

* Futsal is related to soccer but played on a smaller, harder, indoor court with only five players, one of whom is a goalkeeper.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Faced With the Lack of Water, Cubans Risk Their Health by Buying Used Tanks

Desperation led Dayron to acquire a tank that had been used to store ink

A water tank is badly placed on a balcony in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 16 September 2024 — He vigorously scrubs the inside of the tank and an orange liquid with a strong chemical smell comes out. “It was cheaper because it’s recycled,” Dayron boasts as he shows off a blue plastic tank that he is reconditioning to increase the water reserves in his home, which has been hit by the instability in the water supply now affecting Havana. “Before, it was used to store ink, I think it was the kind used to print newspapers,” he tells 14ymedio.

The rooftops, balconies, terraces and walkways of the city have been filling up with these tanks that have always been part of the urban landscape on the Island but which, in recent years, have multiplied due to the constant breakages of the pipes and pumping equipment. “I look out the window and see tanks everywhere, people are putting them even on the narrowest balconies because they know that this problem will last a while, there is no short or medium term solution,” explains Dayron, a resident of J Street between 19 and 21 in El Vedado.

“My neighbor used to have a terrace full of ferns, which were really pretty. Now he got rid of the plants and installed two 750-liter tanks,” explains the man who joined a Facebook page called “Victims of Havana’s water.” On this virtual community, dozens of messages are posted every day, most of them desperate cries in the face of dry pipes and the lack of response from the state company. “We are in the desert,” says one Internet user, and another responds that the official monopoly is “a terrorist group” that is playing with the patience of the Cuban people. continue reading

The cheapest tanks pose health risks because removing all their waste is almost impossible

Between one message and another, advertisements for the sale of tanks are slipped in. There are tanks with a capacity of more than 1,500 litres, reinforced by a metal frame, black, blue, white, with wide lids and all their fittings, or, available more economically, are those that are recycled and that previously contained vegetable oil, fuel or printing ink. The latter are cheaper but also entail health risks because removing all their waste is a complex and sometimes impossible task.

“What am I going to do?” Dayron asks. “The ones that are originally for water cost me between 30,000 and 35,000 pesos, the ones that hold 750 liters. If it’s one that holds 1,000 liters, that’s almost 50,000 pesos,” laments the Havana native. For exactly half that price, he got a tank previously used in the printing industry, but now he has the hard task of cleaning its interior and getting it “ready as quickly as possible.”

The urgency could speed up the cleaning process and turn the tank into the new reservoir for the water that Dayron’s family will use to bathe, clean the house, cook and even drink. “Either we die from this or from thirst,” the man says with resignation.

In the Facebook group, which already has more than 2,500 members, someone has posted a couple of ads with “good tanks, those for industrial use, but clean. Guaranteed safety,” it stresses. No one knows what they contained, but everyone is sure what they will be used for: to contain that resource that is so scarce in pipes and faucets.

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A Cuban With a Deportation Order in the US Faces 12 Years in Prison if He Returns to the Island

José Antonio Cue was convicted of “sabotage” and “public disorder” for demonstrating on June 11 in Cárdenas, Matanzas

José Antonio Cue fears being deported to the island because he would be imprisoned / Image capture/Telemundo 51

14ymedio, Havana, 16 September 2024 — José Antonio Cue escaped from Cuba by sea almost two years ago to avoid prison. As he told the Telemundo 51 channel, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of “sabotage” and another two for “public disorder” due to his participation in the 11 July 2021 (11J) demonstrations in Cárdenas, Matanzas.

According to the database compiled by Cubalex and Justicia 11J, Cue was also sentenced to pay “joint and several” compensation of almost one and a half million pesos “for stolen and damaged merchandise, fixed assets, and damaged and lost utensils, broken pump and glass, as well as labor employed” at the Cimex state store in Cárdenas.

Born in 1993 and the father of a son, Cue embarked with other Cubans on a rustic raft that they built with 55-gallon tanks

Born in 1993 and the father of a son, Cue embarked with other Cubans, who he did not identify nor offer any other details about, on a rustic raft that they built with 55-gallon tanks. “It was that, throw myself into the sea or go to jail,” said the Cuban, who upon arriving in the United States received an I-220B form and who now faces a deportation order, which can be executed at any time continue reading

“If I go back, I will lose my freedom,” said this Cuban who says that in the US he feels free and has managed to establish himself. In Cue, his escape from the island is very present. “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I am still escaping from Cuba,” he said.

He also does not want to return to prison, where he says he spent four months before his trial. “Those prisons are the most disgusting thing you can see. There is no water, cockroaches crawl on your body. There is a smell of urine. It is a locked room, without ventilation, humid, that is the most hellish thing there is,” he said.

Regarding the protests, he said that “rumors began to be heard that there were demonstrations on Calle Real, in Cárdenas. I see that, the people demonstrating, unleashed like I had never seen before.”

Cue decided to join the protests, which he said were violently repressed by the police, because “they had lost control.” Faced with the crowd, he said, “the police were afraid.”

Cue decided to join the protests, which he said were violently repressed by the police, because “they had lost control”

Immigration attorney Eduardo Soto, who took on Cue’s case, is working to overturn the deportation order. Although the rafter has presented documents proving that he fled Cuba because of repression, he remains fearful.

Recently, in August, the deportation of Cuban Vivian Limonta was recorded. She was deported along with 47 other Cubans on a flight from the United States. “I am happy about everything you have been through,” an official at the José Martí International Airport told her.

Cuba has received 1,046 deportees from different countries between January and August 29. In April 2023, deportation flights were resumed, mainly for people considered “inadmissible” after being detained at the US-Mexico border.

According to a recent report by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), 17,563 Cubans arrived in the United States in June, the lowest number during a calendar month of the current fiscal year 2024, which began last October.

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Cuban Uber, One of the Few Things That Works Amid the Chaos

It’s called La Nave, it’s expensive, punctual, safe and a good deal for drivers.

When hiring La Nave’s service, a customer can choose between different vehicles / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 16 September 2024 — Marco and Liudmila drink a cold beer while watching the long line of people trying to catch a taxi in the vicinity of L and 23 in El Vedado, Havana. The couple is not worried. As soon as they finish the drink, she will take out her mobile phone, make a couple of clicks and a vehicle will come to pick them up. In the middle of a city almost paralyzed by the lack of fuel, the La Nave [Ship] application carries those customers who can pay its high prices.

“I’ve been using it for over a year and it has never failed me, which is rare in this country where when it’s not one problem, it’s another,” Liudmila told 14ymedio. “I heard about it from a friend who came to visit from abroad and told me about La Nave. I didn’t even know it existed, but he had read about the service on an internet forum and he used it all the time during the days he was here.”

Also known as the “Cuban Uber” due to its similarities with the popular American company that provides transportation in numerous countries, it attracts customers who want efficient transportation and are willing to pay fares that can be several times higher than the prices of the almendrones, but which can sometimes be cheaper than those of other private taxis. For drivers, it also has many attractions, including better earnings and greater safety. continue reading

“It has many advantages and you earn good money, although you have to give 20% to the agency, but it brings me business”

“I’ve been working with La Nave for two and a half years and I don’t want to go back to driving on my own because it’s a bit dangerous now to be picking up passengers on the street without really knowing who the person is or where they’re going,” explained a driver who responded to a ride request this Sunday from Cojímar, in East Havana, to the vicinity of the Neptuno hotel in Playa, speaking to this newspaper.

“There are many advantages and you earn good money, although you have to give 20% to the agency, but it brings me business. There are days when I make up to 20,000 pesos*, after deducting what I have to give to management,” he explains. “I don’t make trips to the airport or go out to the provinces, but I take passengers anywhere else.”

With his bright red Lada, the young driver greets his clients, two Cuban-Americans, with a smile and heads toward their destination while a GPS attached to the app on his cell phone screen guides him through the city streets. At the end of the trip and depending on the distance traveled, the traveler will know the total amount to pay, although La Nave shows an estimate from the beginning.

On the mobile screen, when ordering the service, a customer can choose between different vehicles ranging from a motorcycle, to a basic car, to others with greater capacity or better conditions. “Luxury, what is luxury, there is none, but you can ask for cars with greater comfort and air conditioning, for example,” explains the driver to his clients, who are still surprised by the speed with which they were picked up after requesting the trip.

The car arrives at its destination and the fare exceeds 3,000 pesos, the average monthly salary of a Cuban worker. One of the young men hands over three bills with the face of Julio Antonio Mella. “Don’t slam the door on me when you leave,” warns the driver, who almost immediately receives an announcement of another ride through the app. “Good afternoon, Norge, I’m your driver and I’m going to pick you up, I’m three minutes away,” he explains in a call. By the end of the day, he will have repeated the cycle a dozen times.

For 100 dollars paid electronically, the customer’s account is recharged this week with 35,200 pesos

For those who have relatives abroad or have a Visa or Mastercard, the payment process can be simplified by an online purchase. For 100 dollars paid electronically, the client’s account is recharged this week with 35,200 pesos, even above the informal market rate which this September has stabilized at 320 CUP per dollar.

“The fund that the La Nave driver has to deposit to start receiving rides through the app can also be paid this way and now it must be at least 10,000 pesos. My brother who lives in Spain puts it in for me,” explains a woman who has been registered as a driver at La Nave for over a year with her Czech-made Skoda. “As a woman, it is safer for me to work this way because from the moment the client requests the ride I already have an idea of who they are and where they are going. There are no surprises or scares.”

Another similar service, Agencia René, instead of using an app, uses the instant messaging services Telegram and WhatsApp to interact with its clients. Leandro, 49, who is dedicated to importing merchandise from Panama to resell in the island’s informal market, is one of its regular clients.

“I always ride to the airport with the René Agency because they are very serious. I usually leave on the Copa Airlines flight at six in the morning because it is cheaper, so I need a taxi in the early morning and with them I feel confident that they will come and I won’t have any problems,” he explains to this newspaper.

“Right now the situation is a bit complicated because they launched an audit and La Nave no longer has a physical headquarters in Cuba”

Every time Leandro has a flight, he hires the ride through Telegram, detailing how many passengers will travel, the nationality of each one, whether they have luggage and in what currency he prefers to pay. “The last time, a few days ago, the trip from La Víbora to terminal three of the airport cost me 6,500 pesos, 500 pesos more than what I paid at the end of July,” he says.

The René Agency fleet includes numerous taxis that are rented by their drivers from the State. Yellow and modern, the vehicles were once the taxi fleet intended primarily for tourists arriving on the island. However, the drop in the number of visitors has increasingly forced its drivers to accept domestic clients.

Heriberto, 55, is one of these drivers who went from working at a state-owned base to renting a state-owned Citroën and working for a private agency. “I provide services with both La Nave and Agencia René,” he explains to 14ymedio. “Right now the situation is a bit complicated because they launched an audit and La Nave no longer has a physical headquarters in Cuba,” he says. “Before, there was an office and you went there to register, with your operating license, to be able to provide service, especially trips to the airport.”

The driver explains that “an audit at that headquarters and the constant problems with banks in Cuba have meant that the application is now being operated from abroad.” In the case of the René Agency: “They also got a scare with an audit and had to close for a few days, but they are now working again, although they do everything through digital channels.”

For Heriberto, “the fuel crisis has complicated everything.” In his opinion, “there are drivers who are giving up covering a route with their taxis to get into the transportation app business because they are more comfortable and earn more.” This “can be seen in the number of cars available for some stretches and, of course, it leaves out all those customers who now pay 200 or 300 for a trip and cannot afford to pay 2,000 or 3,000.”

“Liudmila and Marco still have the taste of beer in their mouths when the car that brought them from the corner of L and 23 drops them off in front of their house at the Casino Deportivo. As soon as they arrive, the woman gives La Nave a high rating for the driver for good service. “It was a comfortable and fast trip, it’s incredible that this continues to work in this country where nothing works.”
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A Perfect World for Dictatorships

Politicians are dithering, companies are just out to make money, and ordinary people are becoming increasingly polarized on social media

Members of the Bolivarian National Police confront demonstrators during a protest against the results of the presidential elections, in Caracas. / EFE/Ronald Peña R.

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguiler, Madrid, 12 September 2024 / Latin America suffered several dictatorships during the 20th century. One of the declared aims of these regimes was to stop the advance of communism in the region, to curb the influence of the USSR and Cuba, its spearhead in the region. These regimes were defeated in the streets, at the ballot box or by transitions they themselves permitted. But the trail of blood they left only managed to fuel resentment against right-wing ideologies and incubate a left-wing mystique that would later be exploited by populist leaders. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Fukuyama spoke of “The End of History.” It seemed that liberal democracy had definitely triumphed. However, it was not yet the end.

The Cuban regime was left as a lost cause against which it was not worth using too much force or giving the final blow. It would disappear on its own, like a dying dog, or it would be forced to transform itself. Pushing it to adopt open-minded recipes should have the same effect as in Eastern Europe. However, they underestimated the ability of the regime to take advantage of misery to its advantage, to victimize itself, to make the citizens more dependent on its crumbs, to awaken new sympathies in the world and to wait in ambush for the opportune moment to expand, once again, its influence.

Today, at the end of the first quarter of the new century, there are three dictatorships of pure Castro style in Latin America and a handful of pseudo-democracies that prop up these regimes and flirt with authoritarianism. Today’s dictatorships have noted all the errors of their predecessors and have a new manual that is proof against ballot boxes, social upheavals and transitions. Nor is the world is the same as it was in the 1990s. continue reading

Contrary to what some people expect with a pang of nostalgia, the US is not going to intervene in the region, neither with Kamala nor with Trump in the White House

Paradoxically, China was one of the countries that benefited most from neoliberal globalization. The red giant became a super-capitalist power without giving up ideological ground. And Putin’s Russia, for its part, played the “let’s make Russia great again” game. While this was happening, the American middle classes were affected when large companies migrated to countries with cheap labor. This created a perfect breeding ground for ultra-nationalist ideas, the resurgence of anti-immigrant sentiments and the need for a strong leader focused on domestic issues.

The American superpower is in full decline, threatened by its internal fissures and oriented externally towards its main enemy: China. This has caused it to divert its attention from Latin America and delegate leadership to countries such as Mexico and Brazil, today governed by the left. Contrary to what some expect, with a pang of nostalgia, the United States is not going to intervene in the region, not with Kamala and not with Trump in the White House.

Aware of the world we live in, Nicolás Maduro commits the biggest fraud in history to stay in power, forces the elected president into exile, represses and harasses the opposition… and nothing happens. Daniel Ortega, for his part, makes and unmakes in the most crude way in Nicaragua, crushing the most basic rights… and there he remains. Miguel Díaz-Canel, in Cuba, imprisons and exiles dissidents, takes the economic and social crisis to inhuman levels… nobody cares anymore. There they are, without ballot boxes, but with weapons; without rights for all, but with totalitarian laws; without civil society, but with docile institutions and yielding to their whims.

There they are, without ballot boxes, but with weapons; without rights for all, but with totalitarian laws; without civil society, but with docile institutions and yielding to their whims

It is the perfect world for these shameless dictators. Who is affected by a couple of sanctions, as long as the BRICS provide them with relief in a timely manner? What good are four denunciations and strong declarations at international summits, if in the end they are a dead letter? What does it matter what the European press says, if their governments play at extreme caution, without even daring to call the dictatorships by their name?

People suffering under these dictatorships have only three options: to revolt, to flee or to bow their heads. The last option is ideal for perpetuating the dictators and forcing the population to resign itself to material and human misery. The second is a problem for countries with solid democracies, where waves of migration are causing more and more discontent among their own voters. And the first option represents a sure grave or prison for those who dare to take it.

Parallel to all this, there is the issue of social media. A priori, it is a tremendously effective tool for denouncing abuses and mobilizing the population. But it also has its dark side. News oversaturation tends to normalize a problem, whatever it may be, turning information into noise. People can follow a crisis closely for a couple of months, but then they get fed up and feel the trivial need to turn the page and focus on the next crisis, as if real life were a streaming platform where we click on the next entertainment show. Opinions, on the other hand, do not come only from experts or well-informed people. It is common for stupidity to dominate the forums, replacing arguments with slogans, ideas with insults and concrete proposals with empty cries.

It is common for stupidity to dominate the forums, replacing arguments with slogans, ideas with insults and concrete proposals with empty cries

No one is surprised that the man who defeated Maduro in a landslide at the polls had to flee the country where his integrity was threatened. But it is also not surprising that the masses accustomed to Marvel and DC are quickly disappointed if they do not see superhuman powers in the hero. There are already attacks on the networks against Edmundo González, for the sin of still being alive. Contrary to what the masses accustomed to Netflix series think, the dead do not change regimes, the living do. When I hear María Corina Machado say “this is until the end,” I never expect that the end will be her death, because these are not the times of martyrs. And we Cubans should know this. The death of Oswaldo Payá did not pose any danger to the regime, on the contrary, and if he were still alive perhaps the opposition would have the leadership that we lack today.

It would be terrible if, within one decade instead of three, Latin America doubled its number of dictatorships. And it would be terrible if the international community continued to do nothing about it. While politicians dither, companies only want to profit, and while ordinary people become increasingly polarized on social media, we are creating the perfect world for dictatorships to spread, like a pandemic.

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Half of the Cubans at the Budapest Chess Olympiad Play for Other Countries

Eight of the 18 Cubans participated on behalf of the United States, Colombia, Spain, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama and Cape Verde.

The Cuban ambassador in Budapest receives the delegation of the island / Minrex

14ymedio, Havana, 13 September 2024 — There have not been too many challenges for the hitherto undefeated Cuban delegation at the Budapest Chess Olympiad. High-calibre players such as Luis Ernesto Quesada and Yniemig Hernández – who remain loyal to the regime – have triumphed in the Hungarian capital against lesser teams such as South Africa or Malaysia. This Friday, with their match against Spain, this good run is at risk of coming to an end.

On the other hand – and in a scenario similar to that of the Olympic Games – of the 18 Cubans who traveled to Budapest, eight will play representing other countries. This is the case of Leinier Domínguez, the best living Cuban chess player, who plays under the flag of the United States; Roberto Pantoja (Colombia); Neuris Delgado and Jennifer Pérez (Paraguay); Zenia Corrales and Tania Miranda (Mexico); Roberto Carlos Sánchez (Panama) and Mariano Ortega (Cape Verde).

Domínguez, as expected, is the most successful player so far as part of a delegation of great champions, such as Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian. With a 2,748 Elo rating – the score that expresses the experience of a chess player – the Cuban has beaten his rivals, the Panamanian Alex Delgado and the Singaporean Jagadeesh Siddharth. continue reading

In both the open and women’s categories, Spain – with which Cuba often has close matches in international competitions – has top-ranked chess players, such as the Iranian exile Sara Kahdem (known for playing without a hijab in 2022, in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini), and the Latvian Alexei Shirov. Spain is also one of the favorites of the event and is already among the top five places.

Cuba finished the second round in 32nd place in the open category and 29th in the women’s category

In Round 3, which will be held this Friday, Camagüeyan Carlos Daniel Albornoz will face Shirov, and Oleiny Linares will face Khadem, in what will be two of the most interesting duels of the day. Among the other members of the squad – four Cubans playing against four Spaniards – are Quesada, current national champion, Hernández and Omar Quintana, all with exemplary performances this year.

Cuba finished the second round in 32nd place in the open category and 29th in the women’s category. It is in this last category where the successes have been most notable. The Cubans beat Sudan and then Malaysia, two relentless clashes. Only Santiago’s Oleiny Linares, who is making her debut in the Olympic category, obtained half a point with a draw, after 35 moves with Malaysia’s Liting Tan, the rest of the squad achieved victories.

The Budapest Olympiad will have 11 rounds and is currently led by India, Slovenia, Georgia, the United States and China in the open category, and Poland, Spain, Armenia, Iran, Argentina and China in the women’s category. The event – as is usual in chess – has become a miniature of current geopolitics and how it affects sports.

Of the 201 countries registered with the International Federation, only 175 participated in the first round, while 23 had their visas rejected by the Hungarian government, according to El País. Among the nations without a delegation are Afghanistan — where chess is banned by order of the Taliban — and Palestine.

The migration obstacles imposed by Viktor Orbán’s administration have also prevented the refugee team, who were in Nairobi (Kenya), from reaching Budapest, although the Spanish newspaper claims that they have already been granted visas. In the case of the Afghans, who had to travel to Iran to complete the paperwork, they are still waiting for their documents.

In all cases, the Hungarian government has claimed that it was unable to verify – despite multiple endorsements – that these were “real” players. There have also been complaints about the overpriced hotels and meals for the chess players. Hungary is also the homeland of Judith Polgar, a true chess prodigy and the only woman in history to have been among the world’s top ten players.

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La Chocolatera, an Oasis of Luxury in Cuba, Alongside Poverty and Scarcity

La Chocolatera shop, at the entrance to the Havana Club, in the municipality of Playa / Facebook/ La Chocolatera

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Olea Gallardo, Havana, 14 September 2024 — Entering La Chocolatera is a pleasure for all the senses. The place, situated at the Havana Club in the municipality of Playa, is small but clean, illuminated, stocked and perfectly air-conditioned. The strong odor – a sour vanilla – of chocolates and sweets seeps into the brain. The experience is, in short, delicious, and, therefore, very unusual in an increasingly depressed Cuba.

Not many Cubans can afford it, and one of the things that attracts the most attention to the establishment is precisely the number of employees that work there – half a dozen – for so few customers. Of course, they are very friendly, impeccably uniformed, and they serve the merchandise with fine latex gloves. “Look at all that, wow,” agrees Ana María, who visited La Chocolatera a few days ago to buy bonbons for her daughter, who just became a mother, after seeing the store’s ad on social networks. “This place is very expensive, but the occasion deserves it. It’s not every day that I become a grandmother!” she confides to 14ymedio.

Each piece of chocolate, for example, depending on the flavor and shape, ranges between 150 and 200 pesos and can be solid or filled with cream or liquor. “But there are other specialties that cost more,” reports Ana María. “There are some very nice boxes, one of 35 pieces at 8,000 pesos and others of 50 at 9,000. Too bad I couldn’t spend that much, because they are exquisite!” continue reading

The establishment also offers other items, such as stuffed animals, sweet and savory preserves and Spanish sparkling wine / 14ymedio

According to one of the workers, the bonbons and chocolate, of their own brand, D’Carlie, are made by them, while the sweets – cheesecakes, brownies, cinnamon rolls, cheese snacks, fruit drops, nougats – are made on external premises, and, if at all, only then are they covered with cocoa and decorated. The establishment also offers other items, such as stuffed animals (at 7,000 and 8,000 pesos), sweet and savory preserves and Catalan sparkling wine.

Everything is luxury in La Chocolatera, starting with the location itself, at the very door of the Havana Club, next to the complex’s checkpoint. The exclusive facility, founded in the 1920s with the name of Havana Country Club, has a cafeteria, golf course, tennis courts, swimming pools and even stables for the equestrian trails. It was expropriated after the triumph of the Revolution and, having gone through better and worse times, is now intended for housing and the recreation of senior officials, diplomats and foreign businessmen.

Due to proximity and economic capacity, the neighbors themselves are the natural clientele, although the company offers online sales and home delivery on its Facebook page. Not only is it prohibitive to buy in this shop for the vast majority of Cubans, but it’s also expensive to get there. “Just paying for a taxi, the bill shoots up,” laments Josué, who lives in Central Havana and gives up after a private taxi driver wants to charge him 5,000 pesos. With the shortage of fuel, public transport is not an option.

Image of La Chocolatera on the ground floor of the Hotel Gran Muthu in Havana, opening soon / Facebook/La Chocolatera

For La Chocolatera, however, the word “crisis” does not seem to exist. And that is another peculiarity in a country with increasingly harsh conditions for the ever-incipient private initiative. “The company has been developing and investing for its needs,” said its owner, Carlos Luis Menéndez Jorge, in an interview with Revista Visión, in which he shows the shop in all its splendor to the camera.

The firm can even afford to advertise on official media, such as Radio Rebelde, where it sells itself as the “leading store in chocolate-derived products.” All their ads give the opening hours: every day of the week from ten in the morning to nine at night, including Sunday.

Far, very far from the crisis, La Chocolatera is, on the contrary, expanding. This same week they are offering employment for cashiers and salesclerks. No wonder. As they enthusiastically reveal on their social networks, they are about to open two more stores: one outside the capital, in the tourist enclave of Varadero, and another in the Havana municipality of Playa, as part of the luxury hotel Gran Muthu Habana – which has been announcing its opening for more than a year – at 3rd and 70th.

“We are not alone in this dream. This time we are joining forces and discussing ideas with the Palco Business Group to provide you and visitors with our line of fine Cuban handmade chocolates,” said the owner of La Chocolatera in a Facebook post.

Image of the premises of La Chocolatera in Varadero, opening soon / Facebook / La Chocolatera

Palco is one of the most powerful state conglomerates on the Island, dedicated to “integral services” for the Government and the diplomatic corps through shops, congresses, exhibitions and fairs with juicy benefits, such as the Cigar Festival, at whose last edition, by the way, La Chocolatera was present. Menéndez Jorge puts himself out there all the time, and he has ties with the regime, including as a deputy of the National Assembly, and with sports figures like Mijaín López, the hot new savior of the Island’s debacle at the Paris Olympic Games.

What is less clear, according to his account, is how his company was truly born. In an interview published by Cubalite, he says that “this passion” came from his mother, María Cristina Jorge, director of the Latin American School of Chocolate. “I was practically born in the middle of chocolate,” he says, quickly mentioning that he went through “several courses, schools, techniques, preparation and an appointment as Master Chocolatier by the Chocolate Museum of Belgium until we decided to make our own artisanal fine chocolate.”

He does not say that María Cristina Jorge, in addition to directing that educational center, was a senior state official, as head of the Cereal and Milling Plant of the Research Institute for the Food Industry. There she met the inventor of the Latin American and Caribbean School of Chocolate, Quim Capdevila.

According to a 2001 chronicle by the then correspondent in Havana of the Spanish newspaper El País, Mauricio Vicent, Capdevila, an old chocolate master and communist militant, had ended up in Havana a year earlier, after retiring and transferring the family business from the town of Vic, at the behest of his friend Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. The famous writer, who had recently published “And God Entered Havana,” Vicent writes in his piece, “sent him to see Eusebio Leal, the Havana City Historian, who guided him to where he should go.”

This is how he arrived at the Research Institute for the Food Industry, built in the late 1980s with funding from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), with the aim of being a “regional training center in the field of food.” And there he met María Cristina Jorge, with whom he created the school.

Carlos Luis Menéndez Jorge with his mother, María Cristina Jorge, at the opening of the shop at the Havana Club, in October 2022 / Facebook / La Chocolatera

“The school’s goal is to achieve self-financing; it is not for profit,” Capdevila explained to El País, saying that the project was subsidized by the Barcelona Provincial Council and the University of Vic. The School offered conferences and training courses, not only on the Island but also in other countries, such as Mexico, and it was even supported by UNESCO.

Neither Quim Capdevila nor María Cristina Jorge has mentioned what happened to the School, but the Facebook page stopped updating in May 2020, just when the covid-19 pandemic broke out in Cuba. This newspaper has tried to communicate on the phone that appears on its social networks, but no one answers, and the number does not appear in the phone book. The institution, according to that same page, had its address in the Havana municipality of La Lisa, a short distance from where Carlos Luis Menéndez Jorge opened the first store of La Chocolatera in August 2019. With that address and with the number 2,054, it appears in the register of micro, small and medium-size enterprises, dedicated to the “production of cocoa, chocolate and other confectionery products.”

He was there until October 2022, when he moved the headquarters to the Havana Club. The rest is a dazzling success story, shamelessly celebrated on September 13, the day of the birth of Milton S. Hershey, founder of the brand of the same name. Roald Dahl, the creator of the Willy Wonka character, commemorates International Chocolate Day, although very few Cubans will have learned of the existence of La Chocolatera, a private company created by the State to satisfy the whims of a privileged few in a sea of poverty and scarcity.

Everything is luxury in La Chocolatera, starting with the location itself, at the door of the Havana Club / 14ymedio

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Will a New Oligarchy Emerge in Cuba?

Middle-ranking officials would benefit the most from this law

14ymedio, Ourense (Spain), 14 September 2024 — With the publication of the Official Gazette on August 19, 2024, the Cuban Government authorized its own political and mass organizations to create private companies, as of September 19. Soon, the Union of Young Communists, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women and the National Association of Small Farmers will be able to form companies.

This act of “deconcentration” could entail certain benefits for the state officials of these organizations, whose private businesses will be able to take part in a regulated market and will enjoy the regime’s approval.

However, according to the Gazette, these companies will not be able to exercise any function other than “social development programs, particularly in the community, including care for people and families in vulnerable situations.”

One of the possible responsibilities that the regime could give to these newly created companies is the management of food, products and basic services for the inhabitants of the region where they live. This function would ease the burden on the State and focus the population’s attention on these private companies, since they would be the suppliers of essential items and food.

The Gazette refers to Article 53 of the Constitution: “The State encourages, through fiscal or other incentives, private companies that carry out socially responsible practices that pay tribute to the economic, social and environmental development of the territories and the nation.” This rule continue reading

opens the door for these companies to enjoy financial incentives and even state financing – through the mass organizations themselves.

This green light for the creation of economic entities could be the first step toward the emergence of a new oligarchy

This green light for the creation of economic entities could be the first step toward the emergence of a new oligarchy in Cuba, outside the upper echelon but protected by political power.

The law has its precedent in what happened in Russia after the dismemberment of the Soviet Union. During the government of Boris Yeltsin, a process of privatization of industry began, where the main beneficiaries were entrepreneurs and former officials who handled relevant information about the companies, whose shares were put up for sale. That is, these companies never changed “owners.”

In 1999, Vladimir Putin came to the presidency and created – through relations of influence – new links between companies and power. Then the term silovarcas emerged, a union between oligarch and siloviki, a Russian word that describes the military and security elite of that country.

If there were a tropical version of the silovarcas in Cuba – which already exists to a certain extent but maintains a low profile – the intermediate officials who will be in charge of private companies belonging to political and mass organizations would benefit the most. Its emergence, however, would lead to an environment conducive to corruption, influence peddling and the exploitation of resources for one’s own benefit.

There will be no bureaucratic obstacles to the creation of these companies, and they will also enjoy ample facilities to establish preferential prices for their goods and services. Moreover, they will not have supply problems, since their logistics networks are directly connected to the infinity of resources for these organizations.

As of September 19, 2024, political and mass organizations, as a result of these new provisions in the Official Gazette, will have free rein to displace and replace the Cuban private sector.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In José Martí Park in Cienfuegos Boys Bet Money and Girls Look for a Foreigner

“Business” starts after four in the afternoon, when school lets out and the teenagers arrive at the park / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 14 September 2024 — It is difficult to guess that behind a quiet soccer game or a conversation between friends sitting on a bench in José Martí Park, in Cienfuegos, there are various ways to “earn a living” among children who are barely 15 years old. The “business” begins after four in the afternoon, when the teenagers arrive at the park, still wearing their school uniforms and making sure that no stranger interferes or invades their territory.

“Here we form a big group and play at anything we can think of. Most of the time we bet money, because it’s very boring to play without winning anything. A very clear rule between us is that losers have to pay. That’s how things are settled,” says Marlon, who at just 14 participates in the bets that are being arranged in the park.

Although it doesn’t seem like it at first glance, Marlon and many of his friends come from families in a bad financial situation, and they have learned to “resolve” things any way they can. “We collect empty soda and beer cans to sell them; we bet on cockfights in clandestine cockpits; we make money with the first thing that appears. We do it or we go hungry,” the teenager tells 14ymedio. continue reading

Playing soccer is one of the ways that young people prefer to earn “a few pesos” / 14ymedio

Playing soccer is one of the ways that young people prefer to earn “a few pesos,” and with bets, Marlon has incorporated other habits into his routine that his friends copy. When someone wants to stop the game for some reason, several players go to the rusty metal chairs in the park. Then, the smoke that the cigars give off can be seen from the roundabout or the small Arc de Triomphe. “I learned to smoke here, and from time to time, we consume anything else we can get. This is becoming a man: sharing with friends, without being afraid of anything,” Felix explains, putting his foot on top of a punctured soccer ball.

The activity of young people in José Martí Park is not limited to betting. The frequent passing by of some tourists has not been overlooked by the boys, who rush to ask them for money as soon as they have the opportunity. “A while ago a lot of yumas [Americans] came here. I ran away from school at noon and always ended the day with at least 10 dollars, but this has gotten so bad that not even the pigeons come anymore,” laments the tenth grader, with his uniform’s blue shirt tied to his waist.

At the other end of the park, in front of the city’s cathedral, some girls dressed in the basic high school uniform talk about the best way to quickly sell clothes and shoes. According to Laura, one of the teenagers, she has to leave soon, because her mother is sick.

Experience in “business” has made “clear” to her and her friend their future plans. “What you have to do is look for a foreigner to get out of this country. In the meantime, we sell on Revolico the things that my cousin brings from outside,” she says. Among the girls the possibility of continuing studies after finishing the ninth grade is excluded, because, as they conclude, in Cuba “people are condemned to die in poverty.”

At the other end of the park some girls talk about the best way to quickly sell clothes and shoes / 14ymedio

A similar disenchantment is experienced by Marlon, who as a child liked to act and interpret characters in school events. “I wanted to make my own puppets and act, but neither of my parents could support me to study that career, nor do I have anyone to help me get into an art school,” he says.

With night approaching, the soccer game stops, and the girls, still dressed in their mustard uniforms, decide that it’s time to leave. They will go home for just a few minutes to bathe, eat something and return to the street again. Felix passes in front of the students, proposing to see them later on the Malecón. “Sure, but you have to buy us something. We know that you have money,” says Laura with a mischievous smile on her lips.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Parliament Resurrects the Accountability Assemblies, Suspended Since 2021

Delegates propose to hold countless meetings but warn that the solution depends on the Government

The newspapers of the Communist Party have recently published profiles and interviews of the delegates / Periódico 26

14ymedio, Havana, September 14, 2024 — A new “meeting fever” threatens to occupy the agenda of Cuba’s leaders between September and November. The huge number of exchanges they have planned to attend is almost impossible, but it already appears on paper: in Villa Clara alone, for example, they will carry out 5,300 “dialogues with the people.” In Havana there will be more than 10,000. In heavily populated municipalities, such as Arroyo Naranjo, the plan is to celebrate 1,327.

These are the accountability assemblies – in which each delegate is accountable to the voters – that the Government held in 2021 and then postponed for several reasons: the pandemic, first, and then the endless “situation that the country faced,” a label with which the official press summarizes three years of blackouts, shortages and transport crises.

There has been little change in Cuba, but Parliament considers it so “necessary” to hold meetings that workers who attend will even be exempted from work. The “essences of the Revolution” are at stake, argued the organizing committee in Havana. According to Liván Alonso Izquierdo – former secretary of the Party in Ciego de Ávila, promoted to a post in Havana – the assemblies propose an objective: “to defend the Cuban political system.” continue reading

According to Liván Alonso Izquierdo, the assemblies propose an objective: “to defend the Cuban political system”

The local leaders have taken the instruction literally, and even meeting “rehearsals” are being carried out. In the Virginia People’s Council, in Santa Clara, the leaders of Villa Clara held their “model assembly” this week. It is part of the long process of preparing the cadres that the official press has been reporting on for months – also with record numbers of “heard concerns” – to “strengthen the ties between the people and their delegates.”

Vanguardia admits that the moment is “extremely complex” and that the Government will not be able to respond “immediately” to the flood of requests which, judging by the number of meetings, will be written in the minutes. “Many of them require investments and their incorporation into the plans of the economy for a definitive solution,” which means we will have to keep waiting, but the dialogue, says the report, is a “challenge” in itself.

There will also be meetings of leaders with leaders, of the Government with the Party and of leaders with subordinates. The objective is to draw attention to state administrators, whose corruption has been the subject of many articles in the official press during the last year. The most serious will need “sponsorship,” a euphemism that refers to greater vigilance so that “community problems” do not continue.

As if that were not enough, groups of pre-university students and those from the Central University of Las Villas will also attend each meeting, “as observers” of the process.

Groups of pre-university students and those from the Central University of Las Villas will attend each meeting “as observers”

The conversations, they predict, will not be comfortable. “We will have to face objective problems that directly affect our daily lives, such as the situation with transport, the instability of the National Electricity System, the collection of solid waste, the condition of the roads, the limitations with medicines and the assurance of the basic family basket, among other problems that affect the population,” warns the official press. This comes just after the notice that no practical response will be given to these problems.

The newspapers of the Communist Party have also taken care, in recent weeks, to publish profiles and interviews of the delegates, so that the citizens can “know” them. In Escambray, for example, Alexis Cáceres appeared this Thursday, a state chef turned politician who is now a delegate of Kilo-12, one of the poorest neighborhoods of Sancti Spíritus.

The leader says that he has spent years “wisely carrying on his shoulders the burden of dissatisfaction” of his 1,700 voters. Cáceres complains that he “lacks the attention” of his superiors and the money to resolve problems with the pharmacy, the doctor’s office, the ration store and the water supply system in his area, the Santa Cruz neighborhood. There are difficulties with the sewer system, and the problems with the aqueduct are alarming. It has cost a lot, he says, “to keep Kilo-12 away from demonstrations of alienation.”

Cáceres states that he and his colleagues have these petitions annotated with bullet points and red underlining in their agendas, the same ones that – along with the checkered shirts, the meetings and the bellies – have become a symbol of the Cuban leader. He talks a lot and takes notes, but solves little.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Pinar Del Río, Cuba, Is Without Public Transport Until Further Notice

The only vehicles that continue to provide service in the province are the electric tricycle fleet

Transport routes in the province have run out of gasoline / Granma

14ymedio, Havana, 14 September 2024 — The authorities of Pinar del Río reported that the suspension of public transport that begins this Saturday – justified by the “difficulties” in acquiring fuel – will continue “until conditions allow the restoration.” Nor will the train from the provincial capital to Havana operate, indispensable for pinareños who work in the capital of the Island.

Another of the affected routes is the one that leads to the municipality of Guane, which will resume its “usual departure until the 16th,” according to a statement from the Directorate of Transport. This train left on September 12 to transport students from the provincial capital, although the report does not specify if they are scholarship students whose return transport is guaranteed.

It was a preview of what was to come after the summer

The only vehicles that continue to provide service in the province are the fleet of electric tricycles in which the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, has encoded the solution to the debacle of transport – a partial one, since it depends on the unstable electricity generation of the country. The statement, however, does not explain whether the 20 tricycles in Pinar del Río will continue to operate normally after the announcement. continue reading

Rodríguez Dávila said last June – when the tricycles were donated – that it would be “very important to incorporate these vehicles” due to the “very complex circumstances and difficulties with the availability of fuel, spare parts, batteries and tires for the means of transport.” It was a preview of what was to come after the summer.

The key to keeping the tricycles going is the operation of thermoelectric plants and other components of the National Electric System, which continues from one crisis to the next. Both the thermoelectric plants and the floating generating platforms, the “patanas” rented from the Turkish company Karpowership, are in check for the same reason that the province’s transport is paralyzed: the lack of fuel, an excuse to which the Government has been resorting for years to explain the debacle.

According to the daily report of the Unión Eléctrica, this Saturday unit 2 of the Felton thermopower plant (Holguín) and units 5 and 6 of the Renté thermoelectric plant (Santiago de Cuba) are damaged. About 50 distributed generation plants are paralyzed, and the Regla patana – part of the floating plants that the Government celebrated as one of its energy solutions – are also out of service.

A deficit of 890 megawatts is estimated for this Saturday, which translates into more blackouts, offering no relief even though the summer – the most critical period due to high consumption – is over.

For this Saturday the UNE estimates a deficit of 890 megawatts, which translates into more blackouts

Each province has sought supposed alternatives in the face of the crisis. In Villa Clara, whose provincial capital depends almost exclusively on private transport, the official press has denounced the overexploitation of animal-drawn vehicles. Horse-drawn carts, which connect the center with key points of the city – hospitals, the bus and train terminals, and the exit to Camajuaní – increasingly expose the drivers’ abuses.

This Friday, Vanguardia described how the animals are subjected to “fright, pain and fatigue” when they are whipped by the cart drivers. Faced with the passengers’ protests, the driver replies: “The horse is mine, and I’ll do with it what I want. If you don’t like it, get off.”

In the midst of the crisis, with no end in sight, it is almost ironic that the Government organizes a Renewable Energy Fair with the aim of “exchanging experiences and knowledge that pay tribute to Cuba’s strategy of changing its energy matrix.” With money from its allies – in particular China – the Island plans to install more and more solar panels, a new “solution” with which the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, promises – as he has done so many times before – to end the blackouts once and for all.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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