Search results for: MSME

While the Euro Reaches 300 Cuban Pesos, the Government Keeps Going in the Same Direction

14ymedio, Havana, 6 February 2024 — The regime’s concern about the current crisis has led the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba to once again publish the Economy section, which will appear in Granma on a weekly basis. Its first article, signed by Joel Ernesto Marill Domenech, author of several texts with proposals … Continue reading “While the Euro Reaches 300 Cuban Pesos, the Government Keeps Going in the Same Direction”

‘Bosses at State-Owned Businesses Are Living on Another Planet’, Cubans Complain

14ymedio, Juan Matos, Manzanillo (Granma province), 23 January 2024 — “No private companies were invited? We’re wasting our time,” one young man was heard saying as he left the “job fair” held on Monday at the local headquarters of the Ministry of Labor in this provincial port city in Granma province. Given a choice between … Continue reading “‘Bosses at State-Owned Businesses Are Living on Another Planet’, Cubans Complain”

The Central Bank of Cuba Admits That the Country Is Not Ready for Electronic Payment

14ymedio, Havana, 24 January 2024 — The Central Bank of Cuba’s (BCC’s) report on the banking process was explained this Wednesday by Cubadebate. The conclusions are not optimistic: the country is not prepared to have electronic collection devices in all businesses, state and private. The fiasco is even more visible in the case of the … Continue reading “The Central Bank of Cuba Admits That the Country Is Not Ready for Electronic Payment”

A Cuban Bank Offers New Prepaid Cards in Dollars for Cubans and Foreigners

14ymedio, Havana, 23 January 2024 — A group of “selected branches” of the Banco de Crédito y Comercio de Cuba (Bandec) will begin selling prepaid cards in dollars for domestic and foreign customers starting this Wednesday. Similar to those already marketed in hotels, the new cards offer advantages over their predecessors: they are valid for … Continue reading “A Cuban Bank Offers New Prepaid Cards in Dollars for Cubans and Foreigners”

Cuban Government Announces Delivery of Chicken Destined for Ration Stores

14ymedio, Madrid, 16 January 2024 — Just as the government was triumphantly boasting of the arrival of a ship laden with chicken destined for distribution to consumers through Cuba’s ration system, figures on poultry imports from the United States in November were being released. After two months of steep declines, sales in this sector doubled, … Continue reading “Cuban Government Announces Delivery of Chicken Destined for Ration Stores”

“Cuban State Security Has Always Opted To Weaken Cuban Freemasonry”

14ymedio, Havana, 17 January 2024 — After the theft of some $19,000 from his office, Grand Master Mario Alberto Urquía, leader of the Cuban Freemasons, has entrenched himself against those demanding his resignation. Measures to reinforce his authority have been drastic: he dismissed senior Masonic officials who questioned him and issued an urgent “call to order.” … Continue reading ““Cuban State Security Has Always Opted To Weaken Cuban Freemasonry””

‘The Cuban State No Longer Has Money To Pay Waste Collectors, so I Sell to the Private Companies’

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 7 January 2023 — Search, collect and crush. Ramón’s day, at age 57, contains those three actions. He makes his rounds through the city center of Holguín, where cans of soft drinks or beer can be more common in the trash. Then, after several days of accumulating, he sells his loot … Continue reading “‘The Cuban State No Longer Has Money To Pay Waste Collectors, so I Sell to the Private Companies’”

The Great Depression 2023 Threatens to be Repeated in 2024 in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 1 January 2024 — There was no reason to think it would be better, after all 2023 had been preceded by disaster. The economic crisis had already given clear signs of having become chronic in Cuba, the mass exodus marked the bleeding of families escaping to anywhere, the official discourse maintained its commitment … Continue reading “The Great Depression 2023 Threatens to be Repeated in 2024 in Cuba”

Cuban Faces of 2023: The 14 Faces That Marked the Year 2023 in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2023 — If instead of choosing faces, at the end of 2023 we had compiled the objects that best represent Cubans this year, we would have included in the list a suitcase, some police handcuffs, a baseball, a judge’s gavel, a keyboard, a microphone and graffiti on some facade. Every presence … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2023: The 14 Faces That Marked the Year 2023 in Cuba”

The Drastic Reduction in US Chicken Imports Aggravates the Food Crisis in Cuba

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 December 2023 — A kilo of American chicken reached its highest price in the last five years in October, with a value of $1.30. The high price may be the cause of a new collapse in imports of the poultry meat that Cuba buys from the neighboring country, which fell to figures … Continue reading “The Drastic Reduction in US Chicken Imports Aggravates the Food Crisis in Cuba”

Cubans Who Leave the Country for More Than Two Months Will Lose Their Ration Book

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 December 2023 — Cubans themselves have disdained the news of the resolution that came into force this Tuesday regarding the ration book with a devastating argument. “With all due respect, for what they give for the book, more is spent on paper and ink on cancellations and breakdowns,” reacts a reader of Tribuna de … Continue reading “Cubans Who Leave the Country for More Than Two Months Will Lose Their Ration Book”

La Fortuna, an Empty Bodega That Had Its Glory Days, Like So Many Others in Cuba

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 5 December 2023 — La Fortuna has nothing left of the old enthusiasm that prompted it to be baptized with such a name. The rationed market bodega, located on Carretera Central, Reparto Alex Urquiola, in the city of Holguín, woke up practically empty this Tuesday. The surrounding residents were impatient because the … Continue reading “La Fortuna, an Empty Bodega That Had Its Glory Days, Like So Many Others in Cuba”

Given the Debacle of National Production, Cuba Will Import Eggs from Colombia

14ymedio, Havana, December 1, 2023 —  The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) announced that it will soon begin exporting fresh eggs to Cuba. Negotiations with Havana began in July, the entity explained in a statement, but they needed approval from the Island’s National Center for Animal Health, which finally gave the green light to the purchase. “We are … Continue reading “Given the Debacle of National Production, Cuba Will Import Eggs from Colombia”

Private Businesses in Cuban Increasingly Distrust the Country’s Banking Reform

14ymedio, Havana, November 24, 2023 — The balance sheet for bancarización* (banking reform) four months after its implementation, is not optimistic: The micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are increasingly suspicious of electronic payment methods and continue to “retain cash.” The shortage of banknotes is still at its peak, and the Island’s banks are suffering … Continue reading “Private Businesses in Cuban Increasingly Distrust the Country’s Banking Reform”

The Cuban Regime Seeks Its Salvation in the Investments of Emigrants

14ymedio, Olea Gallardo, Havana, 19 November 2023 — Those who for decades were called “worms,” “traitors” and “counterrevolutionaries” have become the great hope of the Cuban regime to save the disastrous economy. A main objective seems to guide the Government of Cuba at the conference it is holding with emigrants this weekend in Havana: to … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Seeks Its Salvation in the Investments of Emigrants”