English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Valencia, December 11, 2020 — O.K. So now we know. All the official news media outlets made the big announcement: there will be one single currency for the entire economy, the transition* will begin January 1, 2021, and we know what the official peso-to-dollar exchange rate will be. Postponement is not … Continue reading “An Unrealistic Peso-Dollar Exchange Rate as Cuba Unifies its Currency”
The intention of the independent media, says Banco Metropolitano, is to reach 11 July 2024 with the US currency at 480-500 pesos 14ymedio, Madrid, 3 May 2024 — On Thursday, 2 May, Cuba’s Metropolitan Bank (BM) launched a WhatsApp channel with which it plans to counteract the “induced inflation” that, according to the entity, is … Continue reading “Unable to Control the Collapse of the Cuban Peso, the Regime Intensifies its Offensive Against ‘El Toque’”
14ymedio, Havana, January 30, 2024 — Despite the declared optimism of the Cuban authorities about the potential of beekeeping, honey production is no longer free from the general collapse of the national economy and registered data lower than official forecasts in 2023. According to the information published by the newspaper of Las Tunas, this province … Continue reading “Even Honey, Cuba’s Star Product and a Great Source of Foreign Exchange, Suffers a Collapse”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 October 2023 — At the end of September, with just four months left until the end of the year, 649 houses had been built in Ciego de Ávila, fewer than half of the 1,321 in the state annual plan for 2023. According to the official press, even building 40,000 homes would not … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities: Even Building 40,000 Houses Will Not Help the Housing Shortage in Ciego de Avila”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 October 2023 — After turning a blind eye for decades to street currency sellers, the authorities have decided that this activity “hinders” the bancarización* [banking reform] decreed by the Government last August. On Friday, the official press reported a police raid in Sancti Spíritus against an “illegal cadeca” (exchange house run by individuals). Those … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Blame the Failure of Banking Reform on Hard Currency Sellers”
14ymedio, Madrid, September 19, 2023 — Over the last three decades, Cuban emigrants have sent their relatives on the Island, a total of 52.252 billion dollars in remittances and another 50 Billion in consumer goods. The data is included in the most recent report by the organization Cuba Siglo 21, signed by academic Emilio Morales, who points … Continue reading “Emigrants Have Sent 52 Billion Dollars in Remittances to Cuba in the Last 30 Years”
14ymedio, Madrid, 31 August 2023 — The future of Cuba’s 4.827 billion dollar debt with its Paris Club creditors is at stake today in Havana. According to the official press, William Roos, co-president of the institution, proposed establishing a new calendar in accordance with Cuba’s ability to pay after expressing that “there is understanding towards … Continue reading “Cuba’s Umpteenth Negotiation With the Paris Club for Non-Payments, Meanwhile Luxury Hotels Multiply”
The monopoly’s revenues have plummeted from $807 million in 2020 to $128 million in 2022 14ymedio, Havana, 24 August 2023 — The poor quality of international telecommunication connections in Cuba is an ongoing source of customer frustration. What no one suspected until recently is that this is a deliberate strategy by the state telephone monopoly … Continue reading “Cuba’s State Telecommunications Monopoly Etecsa Sabotages Internet to Force Customers to Pay for Long-Distance Calls”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, August 1, 2023 — The line at the Banco Metropolitano ATM on Marino y Conill street, in Nuevo Vedado, was abuzz this Tuesday. To the number of elderly people in the neighborhood, who were waiting to be able to extract their pension payment, were added neighbors who came from Calzada … Continue reading “Lack of Cash Makes Cubans Desperate: ‘I’ve Gone Out in the Street to Fight for Pesos’”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 9 May 2023 — Local food production is the latest experiment practiced by Cuban communists but it will be a failure. Like many others. The municipalities aren’t up to the task of producing enough food. The idea proposed — to shift state responsibilities to the local level for them to … Continue reading “Cuba’s Food Production Labyrinth: Heading Toward Failure”
14ymedio, Madrid, 26 April 2023 — The rise in prices accelerated in March in Cuba, where eating and drinking is already almost 11% more expensive than when the year began. With an increase of 4.5% in the third month of the year alone, acquiring food and non-alcoholic beverages costs 75% more than in March 2022. … Continue reading “In March, the Price of Rice in Cuba Skyrocketed by 23.1 Percent Despite Donations From Vietnam”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 5 April 2023 — That April 19, 2018, when deputies had to “elect” the president of the Republic, there was only one name on their ballots aspiring to the position. Raúl Castro himself cleared away all doubts by declaring that his appointment was not a coincidence, that it was planned … Continue reading “Cuba’s Diaz-Canel, Five Years as Hand-Picked Dictator”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 9 September 2022 — The document announcing the constitution of an entity called D Frente [D Front] is part of the civilized tradition of using words to call for action, as opposed to the revolutionary practice of executing actions that are then justified with words. The text complies with three indispensable rules: … Continue reading “‘D Frente’: A New Effort to Find Solutions in Cuba”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Valencia, 30 December 2021 — Well, we have come to the end of a very difficult and complicated year for all Cuban compatriots. The deadline is looming for people who still have convertible pesos, CUC, in cash, to exchange them for Cuban pesos (CUP) in compliance with the central measure of … Continue reading “The Deadline to Change CUC to Cuban Pesos Expires This Thursday”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 23 December 2021 -“There is rum and cigarettes,” an old man proclaims as he walks from one corner to another on Reina de La Habana street. “Rum at 600 and cigarettes at 100,” he details to a passerby who approaches, interested. “That rum is not homemade, is it?” Asks the … Continue reading “Cubans: “Give Us a Piece of Meat for New Year’s Instead of a Bottle of Rum””
