English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 16 March 2023 — More than 11,300 drying sheds of recently harvested tobacco burned in a fire on Wednesday night in Jovellanos, Matanzas. The official press confirmed the news, advanced by a user on social networks, which shattered the calm of the neighbors of District 5 of the San Carlos People’s Council. According … Continue reading “A Fire in Matanzas, Cuba Wipes Out 11,300 Tobacco Drying Sheds”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 March 2023 — Cohiba Behike cigars, flagship product of the Habanos SA company and self-proclaimed “most expensive cigars in the world”, are priced at 400 dollars a piece. The Island’s authorities are boasting about this fact in a frenetic campaign, launched this week in the official press to attract foreign clients to … Continue reading “Cuba Sells ‘Most Expensive Cigar in the World’, at 400 Dollars Each”
14ymedio, Madrid, February 28, 2023 — The Festival of the Cigar was inaugurated this Monday in the Cuban capital with the presence of Miguel Díaz-Canel, who had the peace of mind of being present at one of the few sectors that can boast good figures in Cuba. The company, Habanos S.A., took the opportunity to … Continue reading “The Cuban State Receives 545 Million Dollars for Cigars While the Producers Are Ruined”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2023 — A massive blackout left much of Cuba without electricity on Wednesday afternoon. It is the second consecutive day for countless residents of the eastern part of the Island and the fourth out of the last ten days. Around 8 at night, the fault had been solved but the energy … Continue reading “The Fault Has Been Fixed, but the Energy Deficit Prevents Power Returning to Part of Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 14 February 2023 — A fire in a cane field was the cause of the disconnection of the National Electricity System (SEN) that affected half of Cuba this Monday from the center to the east of the Island. The disconnection, from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, occurred around 2 in the afternoon and … Continue reading “A Fire in a Cane Field Caused a Seven-Hour Blackout in the Middle of Cuba”
14ymedio, Mexico, 11 February 2023 — Mexicans did not welcome the reception of Miguel Díaz-Canel by his counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador this Saturday in Campeche, in the southeast of the country. The rejection increased when it became known that the Cuban president will be decorated with the degree of the prestigious Mexican Order of … Continue reading “Outrage Grows in Mexico Over the Award of the Order of the Aztec Eagle to Cuban President Diaz-Canel”
14ymedio, Olea Gallardo, Havana, 28 December 2022 — Miguel Díaz-Canel’s first public statement on Wednesday was a message to his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “It was very pleasant to talk on the phone with Brother President López Obrador,” the Cuban president wrote on Twitter, reiterating “the deep gratitude to the people and Government … Continue reading “Lopez Obrador and Cuba, a Honeymoon that Doesn’t End”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 10 December 2022 — Cuban communists are privileged. Not only because they hold all the power in the nation, but also because they do what they want, without giving explanations, and then in their congresses they erase any responsibility. This is what happened in the recent Political Bureau of the … Continue reading “Economic Reflections on the Communist Party Plenary”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 December 2022 — The fire in the Francisco Vega Sánchez rail maintenance workshops in Luyanó, Havana, on Thursday night was put out by the fire service. Pictures on social media showed huge clouds of smoke and flames coming from the building, as well as electric sparks caused by the fire reaching the … Continue reading “Fire in the Railway Workshops in Luyano, in the Cuban Capital”
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 12 December 2022 — With a tearful speech about his “personal dissatisfactions” as the head of the Government and in the presence of Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel was accountable this Wednesday, at the Havana Convention Center, for his management of the country during 2022. To the usual justifications to explain the … Continue reading “Diaz-Canel Talks About His ‘Dissatisfactions’ Without Offering a Way Out of the Cuban Crisis”
14ymedio, Havana, 10 December 2022 — The leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) took advantage of the closure, this Saturday, of the 5th Plenary of the Central Committee, to justify their actions, which have led the country to a generalized crisis with daily blackouts. “It was a hard and difficult year,” admitted the … Continue reading “In the Absence of Raul Castro, the PCC Plenary Avoids its Responsibility in the Cuban Disaster”
14ymedio, Juan Carlos Espinosa, Havana, 8 December 2022 — The Cuban provinces most punished by Hurricane Ian — which hit the western end of the Island at the end of September — recorded the highest rates of abstention and blank votes in the municipal elections of November 27, according to official data released this Wednesday. … Continue reading “The Cuban Electoral Council Describes Local Voting as a ‘Victory’, Despite the Record Abstentions”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 November 2022 — A fire that occurred on Tuesday afternoon consumed the load of a wagon with tobacco on a train from Pinar del Río, the province that produces the best cigars in the world. The authorities confirmed that the fire was extinguished by the Specialized Fire Forces, but they have not … Continue reading “Fire Destroys a Load of Tobacco on a Train from Pinar del Rio”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 November 2022 — The aquaculture workers of Sancti Spíritus have been able to fulfill only 57% of their production plan for 2022. A lower presence of species, the shortage of fuel to carry out the extraction work and the lack of maintenance of the dams are some of the difficulties they face. … Continue reading “With Dams Invaded by Weeds, Aquaculture Reduces its Production by Half in Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 November 2022 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is heading to China now. It’s the last stop of a presidential tour aimed at courting some partners to whom, in return, little can be promised except influence on the American continent and agreements in countries where the Island still retains some prestige, such as … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Arrives in China to ‘Promote the Adaptation of Marxism to Our Time’”
