Translating Cuba

Activist Who Tried To Visit Alcantara in Hospital Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

Adrián Curuneaux Stivens has been sentenced to four years for assault and aggravated contempt in addition to a previous sentence of four years for assault and battery.

With both sentences combined, the activist will spend a total of 11 years in prison / FNCA/X

14ymedio, Havana, 9 September 2024 — Activist Adrián Curuneaux Stivens, who was arrested after attempting to visit Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in Havana’s Calixto García hospital in May 2021, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for two crimes of attempted assault and one of aggravated contempt. The sentence, to which CubaNet had access this Sunday, was issued after the trial he was subjected to in July.

According to the document, Curuneaux Stivens tried to enter the healthcare center, where the artist and leader of the San Isidro Movement – “with whom he had no relationship or friendship”, the text specifies – was being held after a hunger strike, and the employees explained to him that visits were not allowed because of the restrictions at the time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The activist “ignored them and began to get agitated,” states the sentence.

When some policemen who were on the scene approached him and asked him for his ID, Curuneaux, 52 years old, began to record them, which is why they decided to detain him and transfer him to the nearest police station. Despite his being subdued and handcuffed, the two policemen involved, who identified themselves as Cristhian Damian Urquiza Fernandez and Diosbel Barreras Abad, claim that the activist assaulted them.

The activist is accused of ripping off the button of the right epaulette of the uniform worn by a policeman who was trying to subdue him

Once inside the police car, according to the policemen’s version, the activist began to kick Urquiza Fernandez, who was sitting next to him in the back of the vehicle, “without causing him any injuries and without causing any damage to the acrylic that divides the back from the front”. continue reading

To be able to subdue him, Barreras Abad decided to move to the back of the vehicle and it was at that moment when the activist allegedly “bit him on his right thumb” and “tore off the button of the right epaulette of the uniform he was wearing, resulting in damage to the epaulette”.

In their testimony, the policemen also state that when they were walking towards the police car, Curuneaux began to shout phrases such as “Down with Fidel” and “Down with Raul”. In addition, the document literally reads, he said: “screw them all and all the police officers who were all bitches, referring directly to the top leaders”.

In addition to the time in prison, he must “compensate his victim,” Officer Urquiza for 54 pesos for the damages caused, the Municipal People’s Criminal Court of Centro Havana ruled.

Curuneaux’s wife, Yurisán Valdés Pedraza, maintains that this is an injustice. “I don’t understand why Adrián is being sentenced to seven years. It is unfair what they are doing to him and I demand his freedom,” she said in a video.

For the organization Cubalex, the conviction of Curuneaux Stivens, vice-president of the “Movimiento Opositores por una Nueva República”, shows that there is a “repressive escalation” against him “ aimed at keeping him in prison as long as possible because of his political activism and his work in defense of human rights”. Moreover, it reflects a repressive pattern of the Cuban State, “which consists of falsely charging or provoking ordinary crimes against activists to cover up politically motivated repression”.

This is not the first time the regime has sentenced the activist who has been in court several times

This is not the first time that the regime has sentenced the activist, originally from Santiago de Cuba, who has a lengthy record before the courts for similar offenses. The list goes back to 1990, when he was fined 200 pesos for disobedience and, in a different criminal case, 300 pesos for theft. Later, in 1996, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assault in the People’s Provincial Court of Santiago de Cuba.

In 2021, he was again charged with assault, in March of that year, for allegedly assaulting a policeman. The regime punished him with one year of limited freedom. A few months later, in May, he was arrested again when he tried to visit Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in the Calixto García hospital in Havana.

He spent a year and a half detained in Valle Grande prison without a conviction, and in November 2022 he was released pending trial. The trial took place just in July. However, another incident kept him in prison, serving a four-year sentence since April, along with his son, identified as Luis Enrique Fajardo Nápoles, for injuries against a third person.

Besides the four years he is serving in the 1580 penitentiary center in Havana for the crime of injury in the incident with his son, he is serving this last sentence of seven years which was ratified this Sunday. This means he will spend a total of 11 years in prison.

Translated by LAR

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Non-Payments Lead to a 97 Percent Decrease in Rice Production in a Cienfuegos Cooperative

The official press accuses 41% of Avila producers with electrified irrigation of “not contributing to the food of the people”

Non-payments have generated discomfort among producers, which is reflected in the decrease in production /EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, 9 September 2024 – “For three months they stopped paying us in the national currency, and they have never paid us what we are owed for over fulfillment,” complains Juan Carlos Durán Rodríguez. The rancher, owner of cattle and land in Cienfuegos, launched the claim in a debate between the authorities and local producers prior to the congress of the official National Association of Small Farmers (Anap), where the impact of these non-payments was verified, which contributed to rice production decreasing by almost 98% between 2018 and 2023.

The official press echoed his complaint this Sunday, saying that Durán complies with the agreed milk delivery figures to the Escambray Dairy Products Company, with between 13 and 18 liters per day. According to September 5, the “accumulation of non-payments to rice and milk producers, along with the inconveniences of banking” are the main concerns expressed by the farmers of the municipality of Aguada de Pasajeros.

“By not having this money on time, we are almost forced to cut back on our duties, because we live from milk production; this is how we maintain the family, pay for electricity and invest, for example, in the fences, something very expensive, because a roll of wire costs up to 18,000 pesos,” Durán argues. continue reading

Their situation is, despite this, better than that of the rice growers, who have accumulated four months of non-payment by the state-owned Granas Agroindustrial Company, which says it has no liquidity. And it is no exception.

“Already last year I went for months without getting paid, and now it’s the same. It’s a very difficult situation, because I’m a major producer”

“Already last year I went five months without getting paid, and now it’s the same. It’s a very difficult situation, because I’m a major producer. I own more than three cabalerrías (126 hectares) of land, with high production costs that are around four million pesos. In addition, I have a family, equipment to fix, and the repair of a tractor today costs between 200,000 and 300,000 pesos,” says farmer Pedro López Izquierdo. “I don’t care about the price, ten pesos more or less doesn’t hurt; the damage is that they don’t pay, because that slows down production, and one lives from what he produces,” he summarizes.

Taymí Torres Machín, president of the Pedro Filgueiras Solís cooperative – which manages to comply with the projections despite everything – puts figures on the damage caused by those non-payments.

“Otherwise, we would have increases in rice production, but the reality is that we do not see solutions, and the farmers are very upset with these issues. In 2018 we contributed 68,000 quintals, but in the recent campaign we delivered only 160 [metric] tons,” equivalent to 1,600 quintals, which reflects a 97.7% drop in production in just five years.

Among those present at the meeting was Caridad Capote Core, deputy director of the Agroindustrial Grain Company, who tried to calm the rice farmers by telling them that a credit has been requested, and she hopes that the Wholesale Company of Food Products will pay off a debt worth 16 million pesos with which they hope to be able to pay what is due.

“You go to the ration store and there is never money; in the Bank they don’t have funds either, and this creates a lot of limitations, because we have to pay for things in cash”

The cooperative members also mentioned banking as a problem, especially because of the lack of mobile coverage in the area, although much more so because of the limitations when it comes to obtaining cash. “You go to the ration store and there is never money, and the Bank doesn’t have funds either. This creates a lot of limitations, because we have to pay for everything in cash. Fuel, when it appears “on the left,” (on the black market) is 8,000 pesos cash in hand,” says Durán Rodríguez.

Non-payments by the State have been, for years, one of the most frequent complaints of Cuban producers, many of whom choose to stop making these contracts and/or live by the “informal” market, although with the sword of Damocles permanently hanging over their heads. However, the reproaches of the regime do not cease. This same Saturday, the provincial newspaper of Ciego de Ávila, Invasor, published an editorial in which it accused the farmers of benefiting from the electrified irrigation systems provided by the Government but who “do not contribute as they should or could, because having to do and being able to do are phrases that are similar but do not mean the same,” it says.

Ciego de Ávila produced almost 62,000 [metric] tons of crops up to June that do not seem to be enough for the editor because, he says, “with what you have, you can do more. ” However, he admits that the so-called “technological package” is not being delivered and that the fuel is insufficient. From 2009 to date, there are 362 “electrified” agricultural producers in this province, of which 41% – according to a commission that has supposedly evaluated it – “do not contribute to the food of the people,” starting with 75 of them who have not delivered anything and an equal number who have not delivered a single quintal to the Acopio Company.”*

Seventy-five of them have not delivered anything and “an equal number have not delivered a single quintal to the Acopio Company”

According to the newspaper, this is a brake on “the transition to food sovereignty,” and an impediment to increasing production and stopping the dependence “on the food imports, which costs Cuba, just for the basic basket, more than 1.6 billion dollars,” according to data from the Ministry of Economy and Planning.

Despite the fact that private farmers – owners, usufructuary or cooperative members – contribute around 75% of the food, fruits and vegetables and 40% of the rice, according to the most recent annual data (from 2021), the Government continues to strengthen state control over these productions. In the latest resolution for the contracting and marketing of these products for 2025, the preamble indicates that agriculture must be oriented to “support the Plan for the Economy.”

*Translator’s note: Acopio is the state-owned company that manages the procurement and distribution of food in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The First Secretary of the Party in Villa Clara Imparts ‘Edifying Lessons’ to the Farmers

The leader did not say where they could get the components of his detailed list, but he did recommend that his local subordinates “demand compliance”

Party official Osnay Colina (l) during his visit to Cifuentes / Vanguardia

14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2024 — Escorted by a press team that could not be more loyal to him, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Villa Clara embarked on a journey to one of the great forgotten places of the province: Cifuentes. The tour – narrated in an almost evangelical tone by Vanguardia – describes Osnay Colina’s “edifying lessons” to the farmers, his diatribes against poor production and his “instructive demeanor,” an euphemism to describe his main objective: to scold.

Everyone has left Cifuentes, immersed in the “geographical dispersion” and without resources to guarantee this year’s agricultural goals, of which Colina reminded them insistently. There was no lack of the photographs that Miguel Díaz-Canel has tried to popularize: those of the leader with two or three farmers, who hear from the mouth of a bureaucrat how to do their work.

In the newly founded Agricultural Industrial Company, which was granted 10,000 hectares, Colina gave his first scolding: 10% of the land suffers a “heavy infestation of marabou,” and in the arable area only 72% of the plan has been sown, in “imminent closure.” To top it off, the Company abounds in illegalities, which he asked to be “contained,” and the stocks of milk and meat are plummeting. continue reading

There was no lack of the photographs that Miguel Díaz-Canel has tried to popularize: those of the leader with two or three farmers

Colina’s rigid face, his authoritarian gesture and his speech under the sun were highlighted by the newspaper photographer. Among his many utopian requests was “planting despite the limitations of resources and technological packages, machinery, fuels and the use of animal traction.” The leader did not say where the farmers could get the components of his detailed list, but he did recommend that his local subordinates “demand compliance.”

“A lot of food escapes to third parties,” he warned, alluding to Cifuentes’ black market. Colina asked to go to the farms to see “what happened” with the farmers who did not deliver what was due, and to help – although only “as far as possible” – the one who does comply with the State. To show his interest in the agreements between the producer and the Government, he had himself photographed reviewing the farmers’ contracts.

On paper was, precisely, what was agreed with the state company Acopio, said a delegate of the Ministry of Agriculture in Villa Clara during a meeting with Colina. Eighty-five percent of the farmers hired did not fulfill their agreements or delivered a minimum production. “Where is the other part going? That’s the one that escapes to different destinations,” he argued.

Vanguardia insisted that Colina went on his tour “without many warnings to the parties involved,” a way of saying that no one, supposedly, had time to “put makeup on” Cifuentes’ terrible situation. The “instructions” of his trip are quantified in lessons: if the payments are delayed, it’s because the municipality is “old-fashioned” and ignores the bancarización [banking reform]; if the production is not going well it’s because the “non-state actors” are murky in their management; if the money does not flow, it is because the farmers refuse to have tax accounts.

The situation is not exclusive to Cifuentes: only 21% of the farmers of Villa Clara, Colina complained, have a bank account, and about 200 markets – 23% – still do not have the means to make electronic payments.

Local leaders hoped an old pigsty converted into a “rustic milking shed” would impress Colina. It was a failure. While the official applauded the transformation of the premises, which now has 47 cows bought by the State, milk production is up to the annual plan nor are the animals fed properly.

Local leaders hoped that an old pigsty converted into a “rustic” milking shed would impress Colina

“And what about forage for the livestock?” asked Vanguardia. The answer: 13 hectares of cane and two of grass. Colina got angry again and said that improving the place was “critical. It has to change to achieve systematic improvements,” he said. The cows are “improving genetically, but they don’t have enough water, shade and, even less so, food.”

The worries that the newspaper’s story attributes to Colina have no end. The prose is not afraid to fall back on a kind of resentment toward the farmers who are making the leader suffer, and it asks questions that, like Colina, are also scolding: “Where are the sowing programs, with their respective seed banks? Of course they are null. That, along with the theft and illegal slaughter of livestock, impoverishment and deaths will be the order of the day if critical points are not corrected,” the report concludes.

With the fidelity of the Communist Party newspaper in Villa Clara – known for not departing one iota from orthodoxy or making space for excessive criticism – Colina practices a method that has given results to other colleagues, such as Liván Izquierdo: to be praised by the official press until the Government rewards him and “elevates” him to a post in Havana.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Police Operations Begin Against Sellers of the ‘Weekly Packet’ in Cuba

Audiovisual copies, which have been widespread on the island for more than a decade and de facto permitted by the authorities, were specifically prohibited in the latest provisions against private individuals.

Audiovisual copy shop in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 9 September 2024 — The alarm has spread through the shops in Cuba that sell the paquete [the weekly packet], the compendium of audiovisuals that for years has served as an alternative to the scanty official television schedule. “This week’s is the last one I’m going to sell because the operations and confiscations have already begun,” a self-employed worker from Lawton, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, told 14ymedio.

“The police came down hard on the person who sold me the matrix, which I then copy and sell to my clients, and they took away his hard drives, computers and everything he used for this business,” the entrepreneur said on condition of anonymity. “They have already started to apply the list of prohibited occupations that was published in the Official Gazette,” the woman said, referring to the Official Gazette of August 19, a huge legislative package that included up to 19 provisions with the aim of tightening measures against private activity. Among them, increasing to 125 the number of economic activities prohibited for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs ), non-agricultural cooperatives (CNA) and self-employed workers (TCP).

In the report, under the heading “Information, communication and telecommunications,” number 61 prohibits “cinematic exhibition activities (5914), which include films, documentaries, series, soap operas or other similar works, as well as their availability to the public through computer media.” With a few sentences, the Cuban government put an end to a practice that has been spreading throughout the island for more than a decade. continue reading

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without my Turkish soap opera, that’s the only thing that keeps me sane, because the situation is so difficult that without it I’d go crazy”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without my Turkish soap opera, that’s the only thing that keeps me sane, because the situation is so difficult that without it I go crazy,” says Marilyn, a resident of Nuevo Vedado and a regular customer of a copy shop near the Army of Youth Labor market on Tulipán Street. “Today I went to the pharmacy in the morning and everyone was talking about it, it’s the topic of the day.”

“My provider had already told me that he was not going to continue and that he had found another job in a pizzeria. The man had been in this business for more than eight years and everyone in the neighborhood knows him, he is very serious and very efficient,” she explains to this newspaper. “This makes no sense, it is not the time to be prohibiting more things, but to permit and open up.”

In the La Timba neighborhood, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, inspectors visited several sellers of the weekly packet last week. “They told us that we couldn’t continue with this, that copying series, films, music and video games was never expressly permitted and that it was a distortion that had to be corrected,” explains Rubén, who also sells applications for Android mobile phones and software with language courses.

“Absolutely nothing, not even Little Red Riding Hood can be sold on video,” criticizes the packet seller. “Let’s see how they’re going to stop this because what’s going to happen is that people are going to close the shops and send the packet to the clients’ homes by courier. This only makes things more complicated for us, but people are going to continue to need to be entertained, these prohibitions are not going to make them watch the [State TV] Round Table.”

However, the weekly packet is not currently the main support for these audiovisuals censored on national television

The most widely held opinion among the sources consulted by this newspaper is that the measure is due to an attempt by the authorities to stop the flow of content which includes documentaries critical of the communist model, testimonies of Vladimir Putin’s excesses in the war in Ukraine, documents on Stalin’s crimes and a wealth of historical material on the repressive acts of the Cuban regime.

The weekly packet, however, is not currently the main medium for these audiovisuals censored on national television. Although the weekly compilation initially gave the government a lot of headaches, soon after those who operate the business instituted the rule of “zero politics, zero violence, zero pornography,” which allowed them to avoid official censorship, although it has never been well received by cultural institutions, which accuse them of promoting frivolity and bad taste.

The mochila [backpack] was the official antidote that the authorities found against the “poison that they are putting in the heads” of young people in the weekly packet. However, the underground choice won the battle. The alternative prepared by the Cuban State and distributed through the Youth Computer Clubs, despite its enormous resources, barely found an audience and was slowly languishing

Now the paquete has encountered a new enemy in the form of a new regulation, and no one knows whether it can be strictly enforced or whether it will become another absurd prohibition overtaken by reality.

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In Cienfuegos’ Pueblo Griffo Neighborhood, Water Comes Only Once a Month

Despite the announced investments, in Cienfuegos the lack of water extends from the center to the periphery

Outside a tenement on 35th Street, a water truck supplies water to residents. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 9 September 2024 — Three weeks have passed since the official press celebrated that water is flowing with less difficulty in Cienfuegos, thanks to the “execution of significant investments,” but the residents of the Pearl of the South do not perceive any change in a problem that extends from the center to the periphery, forcing them to seek solutions by their own means.

Outside a tenement on 35th Street, a truck supplies water to residents. “We had spent more than 15 days without being able to clean our houses. We could barely do the minimum things related to hygiene and consumption. With a lot of effort, we all managed to gather twenty thousand pesos so that this truck could bring us a few liters of water here,” explains Mercedes, a 49-year-old from Cienfuegos, who says she is living the worst time of her life, in this regard.

“I don’t know what they do with the money from the famous investment plans that supposedly would renew the water and sewerage network. As soon as they tell you that there are resources they tell you that there aren’t. It’s all a lie and the people are the ones who pay the price, in this case, the lack of water,” she complains. Mercedes adds that there is not even easy to access plastic or metal tanks to guarantee storage, since prices on the informal market are continually rising, in an uncontrolled manner. continue reading

Some people have to sweep the area between the curb and the street. Otherwise, the water builds up and the stench becomes unbearable

In contrast to the lack of water for human consumption, new leaks appear scattered throughout the city, which end up becoming small puddles or noticeably putrid lagoons. Mercedes explains how her sister, a resident of 54th Street, one block from Martí Park, has to sweep between the edge of the sidewalk and the public road. Otherwise, the water accumulates and the stench becomes unbearable.

Other, more fortunate Cienfuegos residents have hired “water thieves” to fill the tanks on the roofs of their houses. “In this neighborhood there was always water, but recently we only received it once every 15 days, approximately. I had no choice but to buy two prefabricated tanks. I had to spend forty thousand pesos to have that peace of mind,” says Amaury, a resident of Pastorita.

“There is no alternative but to resolve the problem at all costs. A friend of mine had to sell carpentry tools to buy a turbine. Now he can get the water up to the third floor. His situation is worse, because where he lives, in Pueblo Griffo, the water comes in only once a month,” he concludes. Several Cienfuegos residents speaking to 14ymedio said that, in certain places, such as La Juanita, people have taken to the streets to protest, complaints that are calmed by the government sending a tanker truck to pacify tempers, without giving a definitive solution to the matter.

As in other places where water has been arriving with difficulty, such as in Havana, quality is an added problem. “No one drinks the water that comes in from the aqueduct. The level of impurity is so high that it is not enough to filter it. You have to boil it to be able to consume it,” Damaris says without fear of being wrong. She lives on San Carlos Street and generally has to take a break from work to fill the tanks, since the water comes into her home for a short time, only at midday.

“The water that comes in from the aqueduct is undrinkable. The level of impurity is so high that it is not enough to filter it. It has to be boiled to be able to consume it.”

“I am a cleaning assistant at a state institution. I spend my life collecting water to keep my workplace and my house clean,” says Damaris, who moved to a central street thinking that she would not have problems with water resources there. However, at certain times of the month she has received drinking water only three times a week. “Those of us who cannot afford to buy a large tank or a turbine are at constant risk. We have to save that too,” she laments.

Authorities acknowledged on Tuesday that more than 600,000 people in the country are suffering from problems with their water supply. According to a note published in the state newspaper Granma, the number of people who lack adequate access to water in Cuba has been increasing to reach 7%. In November of last year, the regime acknowledged that there were 450,000 people affected throughout the country and by April the number was already around 500,000. Last April , the official press explained that, with data from the end of 2022, 5,689,476 Cubans did not have “decent access to water,” that is, half the population.

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The Silenced Voices of ‘Castrochavismo’

Despots, regardless of ideology or origin, deeply hate their fellow men

Part of a police operation in 2022 that surrounded the home of the Cuban reporter Luz Escobar, now exiled in Spain / 14ymedio

14ymedio / Pedro Corzo, Miami, 8 September 2024 — The vast majority of the political prisoners of the castrochavista regimes are young people, sometimes teenagers, who are practically beginning their lives and embrace, with full consciousness, the stanza of the Cuban national anthem that claims: “To live in chains is to live mired in shame and disgrace.” Despots, regardless of ideology or origin, deeply hate their fellow men, but there are two sectors of society that they especially despise: the young and the journalists.

The youth, because they know the willingness to take risks at that stage of life. Young people rarely properly assess danger, and that is probably what makes that period of our existence so magical and unforgettable.

There is a strong tendency to take risks, to defend ideals with sticks and stones, even if their enemies, like the serial killer Ernesto Che Guevara, enjoy the sound of machine guns.

The autocrats of castrochavismo, more than their military peers, like to censor and intimidate journalists and the media

The prisons of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia are full of people sentenced for the honorable crime of justly claiming civil rights for themselves and the country.

In the homeland of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, despot Nicolas Maduro imprisoned around 100 young people between 13 and 17 years old for opposing electoral fraud. These teenagers were then released from prison with severe restrictions on their rights.

Nicaragua is not far behind. According to a report in the newspaper La Prensa, in May of this year, 66 of the 138 political prisoners were between the ages of 15 and 39. Even more tragic is the case of Bolivia, another autocratic state that does not recognize itself as such: its political prisoners, young and old, are barely documented. continue reading

However, in Cuba, the only country in the hemisphere where “real socialism” prevails, there are 1,119 political prisoners according to Prisoners Defenders, mostly young people, some sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally attempting to leave the country and others for participating in protest demonstrations.

The situation of journalists under these regimes of force is worse than what they suffered during the military regimes that overshadow the history of the hemisphere.

The autocrats of castrochavismo revel even more than their military peers in censoring and intimidating journalists and the media, with the ultimate goal of imposing permanent censorship until they achieve the ideal situation in which the communicators censor themselves.

Even more tragic is the case of Bolivia, another autocratic state that is not recognized as such: its political prisoners, young or old, are barely documented

The control or absence of the freedoms of expression and information is an almost constant practice in the countries of castrochavismo, Cuba again being the exception, because in that country all the media were confiscated in 1961 and remain under the absolute control of the Government 63 years later.

The rulers of these countries are ex officio censors, which is why they pay particular attention to the media, since they refuse to admit that information that refutes the official one is reported.

The situation in Cuba is quite unique. The censorship on the island is total. The media are controlled, and the journalists are officials, because they do not have the power to investigate or prepare a work that has not been previously subjected to censorship. Hence, on Castro’s island, independent journalism has emerged that involves great risks for the men and women who practice it.

The situation of journalists under these regimes of force is worse than what they suffered during the military regimes that overshadow the history of the hemisphere

In Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, the independence of the media has been severely restricted, to the extent that it is practically non-existent.

Nicolas Maduro, imitating a provision on the press issued by the Cuban dictatorship in 1999 – Law 88 on the Protection of National Independence and the Economy of Cuba – created the Strategic Center for Homeland Security and Protection (Cesppa), with the aim of “predicting and neutralizing potential threats from internal or external enemies.”

If Castro’s Law 88 was applied to the infamous Black Spring of Cuba, in which dozens of independent journalists were arrested, among other activists, Maduro’s Cesppa now provides invaluable services to the Venezuelan despot. The same happens in Nicaragua with a law of the Ortega-Murillo regime, which after controlling traditional media such as the distinguished newspaper La Prensa, intends to manipulate the Internet at will with its arsenal of legislation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Dozens of Devotees Venerate the Virgin of Regla on the Eve of the Day of Cuba’s Patron Saint

The procession precedes the celebration of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, patron saint of the island, popularly called ‘Cachita’

People participate in the procession of the Virgin of Regla

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 8 September 2024 –Dozens of devotees attended the mass and subsequent procession of the Virgin of Regla this Saturday, in the Havana municipality that bears her name, on the eve of the celebrations for the day of the patron saint of Cuba, the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.

After the mass at the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Regla, a crowd accompanied the procession as they do every September 7, dressed in blue and carrying black dolls in allusion to the virgin who, in the Yoruba religion, resembles Yemayá, the goddess of the sea.

The cult of the Virgin of Regla began in 1867, in a wooden hermitage in the fishing village of Regla / EFE

According to historical data, the cult of the Virgin of Regla began in 1867, in a wooden hermitage in the then fishing village of Regla.

In 1708, it was declared by the chapter of the town of Regla patron saint of the fishermen and the population, the port and the Bay of Havana.

This virgin was brought to Cuba by the Spanish colonizers who inherited the religion of Andalusia. This Catholic tradition has become common on the Island, where she is considered a protector of fishermen, sailors and all those people whose lives depend on the sea. continue reading

The church of the Virgin of Regla was built in 1811. It is a humble temple where the image of a black virgin dressed in blue with white lace stands out. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Regla was declared a National Monument in 1987.

This tradition has become common in Cuba, where the virgin is considered a protector of fishermen and sailors / EFE

This Saturday’s procession precedes the celebration on Sunday of the day of the Virgen de la Caridad, patron saint of the Island, popularly known as “Cachita.” African slaves recognized her in their Yoruba pantheon as the deity Ochún.

According to Catholic legend, the Virgin of Charity first appeared in 1612 with a child in her arms, floating on a board with an inscription that said: “I am the Virgin of Charity,” before three fishermen who sailed in a boat through the eastern bay of Nipe.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cubans Pay Tribute to ‘Cachita’ in the Midst of Inflation and a Mass Exodus

The profound economic crisis has reduced the number of offerings left on the altar at the entrance to the church of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre /14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 9 September 9, 2024 — The heat and lack of water in wide areas of the Cuban capital did not prevent the church of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre on the corner of Manrique and Salud, in Central Havana, from being filled with devotees, who celebrate on September 8 the day of the Patron Saint of Cuba. The effects of inflation and the mass exodus, however, were noticeable.

The bouquet of sunflowers, with its yellow petals in tribute to the saint, fondly called Cachita, now costs 1,000 Cuban pesos, twice the price of two years ago. On this occasion, the deep economic crisis has also reduced the number of offerings left on the altar at the entrance to the church, including candles, holy cards and gifts to the Virgin.

“Coming here was already a sacrifice,” says Celeste, 68, who arrived with her daughter and a grandson. “This is the only family I have left in Cuba, and we have come to ask Oshún (the equivalent of the Virgin of Charity del Cobre in the Yoruba religion) to send them quickly and safely on the way.” The family entered the church shortly after four in the afternoon for the mass given by Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana.

In the large enclosure, the average age of those present exceeded 50 years, a sign of the exodus suffered by the Island / 14ymedio

In the large enclosure, the average age of those present exceeded 50 years, a sign of the exodus suffered by the Island. Some children, accompanied by their grandparents, stood out among so many gray hairs and gave some amusement in the middle of the sober ceremony. At the base of an arch continue reading

supported by regal columns, a Latin phrase contradicted the reality of the missing young people: “beatam me dicent omnes generations” (all generations will hold me blessed).

In contrast to the small number of young people and children, those who never miss the date are the police and state security agents who closely monitor, every year, the commemoration of September 8 and, especially, the procession that runs through several streets of one of the most populated municipalities of Havana. The rectangle formed by Manrique, Zanja, Galiano and Reina streets is the route along which Cachita’s followers walk, accompanied by priests, nuns, parishioners, santeros (practitioners of Santería) and segurosos (security guards).

From Galiano Avenue, metal fences and several police officers controlled the passage to the Havana church where tribute is paid to “the mother of all Cubans.” In the vicinity of the church, the surveillance cordon was stricter and, significantly, the large mountains of garbage that are now part of the landscape had disappeared from the area. Now that the filth was further away, the sellers were able to unfold their tables and display their necklaces, wood carvings with the mambisa* virgin’s image, bouquets of flowers and dolls dressed in yellow. But unlike other years, the merchants did not have an avalanche of customers this Sunday, because some were deterred by the high prices, and others, simply, weren’t able to make the journey.

Adorned with balloons with the colors of the Cuban flag, the image of the Virgin of Caridad del Cobre on procession was protected inside a glass case. After five in the afternoon the procession with Cachita peeked through the door of the church, and she was greeted with applause, tears and hundreds of raised arms trying to capture the moment with their mobile phones.

“There are many people but fewer than in other years,” said a young man who was trying to broadcast live on his social networks the moment of the Virgin’s departure. “I barely have 4G so I don’t know if the images are showing,” he said. “I’m trying to send the video to my sisters, who left a few months ago and used to come to this parish a lot. One is in Madrid and the other in Valencia, but they are still very devoted to Cachita.”

Smiles were also scarce. The procession that a few years ago had a certain touch of fiesta and revelry was this time more introverted and circumspect. There were thinner faces, fewer petals falling from the balconies due to the high price of flowers, more calm and fewer spontaneous screams like the ones a few years ago that broadcast the need for a national understanding to “accept us all, under the mantle of Cachita.”

The day has been influenced from the start by the prayers and complaints about the harsh situation that Cuban families are going through / 14ymedio]

During the procession, applause was heard, shouts of “Long live the Virgin” and tunes like “If you go to Cobre, I want you to bring me a a little Virgin of Charity.” Megaphone in hand, the Cardinal asked the Patron Saint of Cuba to help the residents of the Island to “solve the serious economic, political and social problems” they suffer in a debacle for which there is no solution in the short or medium term.

In other parishes of the country, processions and similar masses were held, especially the one that took place at the Cobre Sanctuary in Santiago de Cuba, where dozens of people celebrated the 412nd anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin.

For the rest, the day was influenced from the beginning by prayers and complaints about the difficult situation that Cuban families are going through. For the occasion, the superior of the Daughters of Charity in Cuba, Nadieska Almeida, published a text on Facebook describing the deep crisis on the Island. “I also suffer as a Cuban when I have no strength to get up, when hope seems to be extinguished.” The nun regrets “so many unnecessary deaths due to hunger, lack of resources and, what is more serious, negligence, because our damage is so severe that we stop caring.”

*Translator’s note: In 1915, several veterans of Cuba’s War of Independence (“mambises”) wrote to Pope Benedict XV, asking him to proclaim the Virgin of Charity del Cobre as the patroness saint of Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Police Interrogate Former Political Prisoner Samuel Pupo for His Posts Against the Regime

They gave him a warning for being “prone” to committing crimes of “propaganda”

Pupo with his wife, Yuneisy Santana, in a photo taken in July, three months after leaving prison / Samuel Pupo Martínez/Facebook]]

14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2024 — Samuel Pupo Martínez – who was imprisoned for two years, eight months and 21 days following the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (11J) – was threatened again by State Security agents with being returned to prison, this time for his posts on social networks, which criticized the regime. This Tuesday they forced him to sign a warning. In the document they indicate that he is “prone to committing a crime of propaganda against the constitutional order,” he told 14ymedio.

“They told me to put social networks aside and not post anything more against the Government and the system,” he explained to this newspaper, alluding to his encounter with two agents who identify themselves as “Darío” and “Omar.” The duo has continuously harassed him since his release from the Agüica maximum security prison on April 1, when he received a reduction of his seven-year sentence for the crimes of public disorder and contempt.

According to Cuban law, the crime of propaganda against the constitutional order can lead to sentences of between four and 10 years in prison. On the warning, Pupo wrote that he did not agree with the accusation. continue reading

His posts on social networks criticized the regime

The agents were insistent, and they not only spent part of the interrogation intimidating him in a subtle way, but they also tried to find out what he’s been doing since his release from prison. “They asked about my employment, and I replied that I am not yet working in a permanent job because my computer is broken. I have not been able to repair it, and I need it to be self-employed,” he said.

Pupo has always been an enterprising man and has a good command of English. Before ending up in prison, he taught that language to a group of students. But now, with his computer broken and his health diminished, he does “the odd job, anything else that appears.”

The time he spent locked up in Agüica wreaked havoc on his body. During that period, in addition to enduring the hostile environment, he also had to deal with scleroderma, diabetes and glaucoma, which have afflicted him for years without his receiving proper medical care. “In prison, my illnesses had a field day, so now I’m just trying to survive,” he says. Among other consequences, the prison affected Pupo’s ability to see.

With his computer broken and his health diminished, Pupo limits himself to doing ’the odd job, anything else that appears,’ he told this newspaper

During the interrogation, the agents reproached him for having met with relatives of other political prisoners and accused him of using his social networks to spread what they described as “propaganda” against the regime. This is in reference to various posts on his Facebook page where he denounces prison abuse, among other things.

In the interrogation, “Darío” and “Omar” insinuated that, if he did not comply with the warning to moderate his posts, there could be repercussions for his family. “They told me that if my intention is to leave the country with my family, the best thing is to remain calm, because they could regulate my departure,” the activist explained about the attempt to dissuade him from exercising his freedom of expression.

“Everything happened in a calm atmosphere. They didn’t yell at me; they talked in a normal way but insisted on what I should do, telling me that I could return to prison and for a longer period this time,” he said.

State Security has not left Pupo alone since, in the protests of 11J, he climbed on top of a car in the middle of the demonstration in Cárdenas, Matanzas, in front of Party headquarters, and shouted “down with communism!” and “homeland and life!” The photo taken of him became one of the most iconic images of that day.

For Cubalex, the action of the agents this Tuesday, by harassing and threatening Pupo for expressing his opinions, “violates the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, which requires public officials to respect the law and act within the bounds of their authority.”

In a statement published this Thursday, Cubalex emphasized that “discriminating against a person for his political opinion threatens human dignity,” and considered that the agents “exceeded the legal limits of their authority,” not only by trying to intimidate Pupo but also by initiating a process of illegitimate criminal prosecution, motivated solely by his political opinions.

The image of Pupo shouting ’down with communism’ and ’homeland and life’ on top of a car is one of the most iconic of 11J

Pupo also denounced on his Facebook account, one day after the interrogation, that he had been restricted from accessing the internet. “I have paid for mobile data, and in advance. But I don’t know why my service was cut off,” he said.

In his most recent post, the activist explained that after spending the whole day without internet he was able to connect to the mobile data network using another telephone line, and that’s when he changed his SIM card. “Something must have happened to my SIM card, or some problem in Etecsa left me without internet. I’ll find out tomorrow. If the Etecsa company could be sued, it would have gone bankrupt a long time ago,” he joked.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The ‘Stylish’ Closing of the Cienfuegos Cultural Summer Celebration Ended in the Dark

The sound equipment was installed in front of Calle 56, very close to the Guiñol Theater / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Cienfuegos, 30 August 30, 2024 — It’s 8:00 at night, and much of Cienfuego’s El Prado is without electricity. The Asociación Hermanos Saíz (AHS) had announced a “stylish” activity to close the summer activities. The institution has developed a whole theatrical production in rural neighborhoods and communities whose completion was scheduled for this Thursday in coordination with the Provincial Council of Performing Arts.

The sound equipment was installed in front of Calle 56, very close to the Guiñol Theater for a show, called “El arte nos une” (Art unites us), which was supposed to start at 7:00. “I’ve been here since 6:00 in the afternoon, and when I arrived there was no electricity anymore,” says Betty, a young dancer who was supposed to participate in the evening. Her usual punctuality contrasts with the delay that characterizes the events organized by the ruling party.

“It’s incredible how in this country resources are moved around unnecessarily, with the misery that there is,” says Arturo, a man who sits every night on a bench in El Prado. “Then they post photos on social media as if it had been a success when, in reality, they don’t even have an audience to come see them. Those of us who are sitting here come to clear our heads for a while, not to witness an artistic gala,” he protests. continue reading

At 8:10 at night the electricity was restored, but the lighting continued to be terrible / 14ymedio

Finally, at 8:10, the electricity was restored, but the lighting was still terrible. “Luckily, I listened to my mother when she told me not to wear high heels. When these things happen, and they happen very often, I think about taking a leave from the AHS,” Betty confesses to 14ymedio. But she ends up discarding the idea because, she recognizes, “marking myself” is not going to solve anything.

To the cry of “the snack has arrived,” the cast of the “young artistic vanguard” prepares to consume the squalid assigned ration. “With this and a check of 200 pesos, most of our colleagues are satisfied. Then we go to the meetings to say that everything is fine, deceiving ourselves, because no one believes the story that the work of the Association has any social impact,” admits a leader of the institution.

“Anyone who sees our photos of the theatrical production would think that everything was wonderful” / 14ymedio

“Anyone who sees our photos of the theatrical production would think that everything was wonderful. However, once again, reality surpasses fiction by demonstrating the uselessness of theory and the pointlessness of practice,” says Betty referring to the countless problems that always end, when the performance is not suspended, by reflecting a poor aesthetic quality. Poor aesthetic quality or a suspension of scheduled activities. “I’m going to ask what they’re going to do with this, because I feel like leaving now,” she concludes.

“Could you tell me when the show starts?” Arturo asks, and, after 9:30 at night, a recorded song by the duo Buena Fe is heard, as a preamble to the delayed start. At this time some people stop at El Prado to observe what is happening. They have put a spotlight near the improvised scenario that improves visibility a little. Even so, the small crowd gathered remains in the shadows without any place to sit.

The small audience gathered remains in the shadows without any place to sit / 14ymedio

The show included music, dance, singing, plastic arts and circus acts. “They announced a lot and it lasted a little,” says Arturo, while the audio operator collects the equipment. “United by art” ended up uniting the hopeful young artists, who took advantage of the occasion to talk about future plans, most of them far away from the AHS and Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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General Sotomayor García, Sanctioned by the US for the Repression of the ’11J’ Protests, Has Died

His remains have been cremated and will be on display on Tuesday at the Calzada and K funeral home, between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm

After the triumph of the Revolution, Sotomayor was sent to La Cabaña, where hundreds of people were executed under the command of Ernesto ’Che’ Guevara. / Radio Bayamo

14ymedio, Havana, 2 September 2024 — Hero of the Revolution for some, known repressor of the dictatorship for others, General Romárico Vidal Sotomayor García died in the early hours of September 1 in Havana at the age of 85. The soldier, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, deputy in the National Assembly and a senior position in the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior for decades, was one of those responsible for the repression of the anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021 (11J), for which he was sanctioned by the United States.

“There are no mysteries in how General Sotomayor has successfully managed to fulfill such dissimilar and complex missions,” Raúl Castro had written about him in the prologue of “Sin olvidar mis raíces (Without Forgetting my Roots”), his biography. The former president stated in the text that his “unconditional loyalty to our people, to the Homeland, to the Revolution, to its Commander-in-Chief and to those who have acted on their behalf; confidence in the decisions of their superiors and absolute commitment to comply with them,” the official press reported.

Born in Bartolomé Masó, Granma Province, in 1938, Sotomayor joined the Rebel Army in 1957, where he was part of column I, and after the triumph of the Revolution he was sent to La Cabaña, where hundreds of people were executed under the command of Ernesto Che Guevara, although his continue reading

biography officially indicates that there “he continued his military studies.”

Sotomayor was in Angola from September 1975, and between 1982 and 1984 he was Chief of Staff, before occupying the post of head of the Southern Troops Group.

Sotomayor was in Angola from September 1975, and between 1982 and 1984 he was chief of the General Staff, before occupying the position of head of the Southern Troop Group

Among the decorations he holds are the order of Che Guevara; the order of Camilo Cienfuegos; the medals of the XX Anniversary of the Moncada; Fighter of the “War of Liberation” [Cuban Revolution] (1956-1958); Combatant of the Clandestine Struggle [the Escambray Rebellion] (1959-1966); First Class Internationalist Fighter; and several others, such as the Calixto García and the Ignacio Agramonte.

In addition, Raúl Castro awarded him the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba in 2015, coinciding with his retirement, at the age of 77.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included him on the list of those sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2022, for his relationship to “actions to repress peaceful and pro-democratic protests in Cuba,” which is why many Cubans have not regretted his death – in fact, just the opposite.

The messages of condolences – “Before his transfer to the Minint he was head of the 1580 regiment, where I met him. An exceptional boss, my condolences to his family and friends” – have alternated with messages of satisfaction and relief – “He won’t be missed, no great loss” or “I didn’t wish for his death, but we all eventually fade away.”

His remains have been cremated and will be on display on Tuesday at the Calzada and K funeral home, between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., according to the official press.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Lack of Security and a Health Crisis, New Reasons for Cuban Emigration

They are not driven by the desire for economic improvement, because they have lived for years in the bubble of receiving remittances in foreign currency

Trash and stagnant water in the in the Luyanó neighborhood in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 7 September 2024 — She decided to pack her bags in less than 24 hours. It was a Tuesday. Gladys had gone out with a friend and left her house “as always, tightly locked.” When she returned, the door of the apartment on Ayestarán Street in the municipality of Cerro had been forced and the television, a cordless phone, some food in the refrigerator and other personal belongings had disappeared. “That same day I called my son in Miami and told him to get me the [humanitarian] parole,” she recalls.

After several weeks of police investigation, the pensioner has lost hope that the thieves will be caught and has had to ask a niece to stay overnight with her. “I’m afraid to be at home, that had never happened to me before, but now when I’m alone I even get palpitations. You can’t live like this.” The insecurity that is spreading throughout the island has become, in recent years, a new reason for emigrating.

Gladys was one of those who swore up and down that she did not want to start a new life in another country, far from the house where she was born 67 years ago. “I lived comfortably, because if I asked my son to fly away, he would send me away, but it is no longer a question of money, I am leaving because the next time they come into my house, if I am inside, they will kill me.” This week she auctioned off some appliances and, with the parole already approved, she is only waiting for the travel permit to get on the plane. continue reading

Low crime was portrayed for decades as one of the social achievements of the political model imposed in Cuba 65 years ago. Like all authoritarianism, with an extensive network of controls, vigilantes, informers, political police and repressive bodies, the Havana regime was very effective in detecting and neutralizing criminal groups, gangs and even lone wolves planning a robbery or some other misdeed. Security was, according to an independent journalist, a collateral benefit of the dictatorship.

You avoid going out at night, you look over your shoulder when you hear footsteps behind you and you hide your cell phone in your underwear

However, that sensation that one could walk through any Cuban neighborhood in the early morning without fear of being assaulted or murdered has long since disappeared. Doors and windows have been covered with bars, people keep a machete, a crowbar or a metal pipe somewhere in their house to defend themselves from any invasion by thieves and scoundrels. People avoid going out at night, look over their shoulders when they hear footsteps behind them and hide their cell phone in their underwear to avoid it being snatched away.

We Cubans live on tenterhooks, and not just because of insecurity.

Edwin woke up with pain all over his body and a fever. He had been suffering from constant mosquito bites for several days due to a huge pool of stagnant water in the corner of his building that has served as a breeding ground for the Culex insect and the gnats that fly freely through the Havana neighborhood of Lawton where he lives. “I spent almost a month without being able to even get out of bed,” he explains.

“When I felt worse, I decided to go to the Polyclinic, but that day there was no doctor on duty, only a nurse trying to care for almost ten patients with similar symptoms.” Edwin had tried, by every possible means, not to get infected: “I live locked up, I have air conditioning, mesh on the windows, I never go out at dawn or dusk, which they say is when mosquitoes bite the most, because at 71 years old and with diabetes, any illness can become quite complicated for me.”

But the game of hide and seek didn’t work. “I caught the Oropouche and I had a tough time.” Lying down, with shivers running through his body, one thought kept coming back to him: “I can’t stay in this country, where there aren’t even any aspirin.” When the virus allowed him to get up, he started selling some electrical appliances and auctioned off his Lada car. “I already have the money for the ticket to Spain. Years ago I got my passport through my father and my daughter lives in Madrid, so I’m leaving.”

Epidemiological problems and the deterioration of the Public Health system have been, in his case, the main reasons for leaving the Island. “The puddle on the corner will still be there and I can’t lock myself in a glass box so the mosquitoes don’t bite me and the next time I go to the Polyclinic, there won’t even be a nurse because she left on a raft.”

A year ago, neither Gladys nor Edwin had any plans to live anywhere else, but this summer they had reached their “breaking point.” They were not driven by the desire for better economic conditions, because both have lived for years in the bubble of receiving remittances in foreign currency and enjoying their own home. They packed their bags to escape the violence and unsanitary conditions. It is the knives and filth that are the reason they are shortly boarding a plane.
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The New Bet of the Cuban Regime To Stop the Tourism Debacle: ‘Peace and Security’

Faced with the decline in visitors from Canada and Europe, the Government tries to attract more Russians and Mexicans

Foreign tourists putting on sunscreen on a street in Havana/ 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 6 September 2024 — Cuba is wrapping up its first tourism law, which should be approved in December 2025. The news broke this Thursday in Montevideo when the Observatory of Tourism Law of the Americas and the Caribbean was inaugurated, a venue agreed on last May in Varadero.

Juan José Álvarez, legal director of the ministry headed by Juan Carlos García Granda, represented Cuba at the inauguration of the Observatory, where the regime will expose – he said – “the values that support its tourism policy, based on peace and security.”

The first task of the new body is to perform a diagnosis of regional tourism legislation in order to subsequently develop proposals and carry out best practices. The basis is sustainability, accessibility and inclusiveness, according to the Cuban official, who did not expand on how this will be transferred to the national context, whose policy has been marked for decades by the exclusion and overexploitation of resources, including natural ones.

Experts in Law and Tourism from the University of Havana are working on the elaboration of the Cuban law, and the only clue about its content is that it will be “a moment of consolidation of what the country has done in tourism,” which is not exactly a good omen. continue reading

Despite the fact that the Island joined the Spanish Smart Tourist Destination program in 2023, neither of the cities that applied – Cayo Largo del Sur and Guardalavaca – have yet managed to advance in the designation. Cities that aspire to enter this category must demonstrate a high level in the five segments that are valued – governance, sustainability, accessibility, innovation and technology – to advance to the fifth and final stage. Montevideo, at level three, is among the cities in the world that are achieving this goal.

The Cuban tourism strategy, despite the repeated declarations of intentions, is still anchored in the past

The Cuban tourism strategy, despite the repeated declarations of intent, is still anchored in the past: a lot of hotel construction and an apartheid attitude towards the national tourist that is no longer a written rule but is still the usual practice.

The result had been positive until, shortly before the pandemic, things began to change. Since then, the tourism data have disappointed by leaps and bounds, and the Island has been unable to catch its breath after the pandemic. In addition, even with the excessively bad investments in relation to both the results and the money, which could have been allocated to food, health and education – the data are worsening.

In July, the last month with available figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), 153,261 travelers arrived in Cuba, similar to the same month of 2022, but lower by 13.56% than last year, when 177,306 tourists were received. In addition, if we count since January, the number of tourists is 1,463,097 – 26,230 fewer, or 1.8% – than for the same period of the previous year, which suggests that the goal of 3.2 million for 2024 is further away than ever. The 2023 target was not met either, when 2.4 million tourists were received compared to the 3.5 million planned.

Given the evidence of a reduction in travelers from some of its traditional markets, starting with Spain and continuing with a worrying setback for Canada, which was first in numbers for decades, Cuba’s strategy has been to seek new horizons.

“Our job is to bring more Mexicans to Cuba and recover the high presence of Mexican tourists that we used to have”

This attempt frames the efforts to capture the Russians, who arrived in record numbers even before the pandemic and, to this day, continue to be among the countries with the highest growth (41% in July). The increase in Mexican travelers, which in June was already 40,146, 221% more than in the same period of the previous year, has not gone unnoticed by the authorities of the sector.

Hence, the regime has pulled out all the stops to continue attracting citizens of the neighboring country, for which it has reserved an online visa program making it possible to obtain the document up to 72 hours before the trip, for a cost of 575 Mexican pesos, about 29 dollars.

The Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez Costa, presented the tourist strategy in the country, stating that the Island, despite the difficulties, “is more than ready to offer an unforgettable experience, full of flavors, colors and a great diversity of places to discover, both on its beaches and in its vibrant cities.”

Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus and Magnicharters connect both countries, and Mexicana de Aviación also plans to fly to Cuba, according to the ambassador, after a meeting at the end of August with the company’s executives.

“Our job is to bring more Mexicans to Cuba and recover the high presence of Mexican tourists that we used to have,” said Rodríguez Costa. However, Mexican media specialized in tourism have echoed the debacle of the sector on the island. This Thursday, Preferente points out in a note entitled “Tourism for the Dominican Republic, Cancun and Cuba,” that the three main destinations in the Caribbean have recorded an “uneven first half of the year, with the enclave that covers Punta Cana at the head, in contrast to the Island, whose tourist axis is located between Havana and Varadero.”

The Dominican Republic has, it emphasizes, an outstanding year-on-year growth of 11%, compared to the 5.4% expected by Quintana Roo, which they consider poor. Cuba’s data, however, are in negative territory.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana Claims To Have Repaired the Breakdowns, but There Are Neighborhoods That Are Still Without Water

Residents walk through the streets with bottles and buckets to fill them in houses with cisterns that still have a little water

Aguas de La Habana workers on Melones Street in Luyanó / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, September 6, 2024 — The government of Havana assured this Friday that it is restoring the water supply service, two days after it was interrupted in the main sources of supply of the capital by “electrical interruptions.” According to a brief report, “17 pumps – out of 19 – are already operating in Cuenca Sur,” one of the three large conductors that suffered breakdowns along with those in Ariguanabo and El Gato.

The effects had an impact on numerous neighborhoods. In El Vedado and Nuevo Vedado, severely affected by the breakdowns of the last few days and by previous ones, the lack of water forced private businesses to close. On Tulipán Street, numerous coffee shops suspended the sale of pizzas and sandwiches. The cancellation disappointed students from several schools and workers from nearby ministries who are regular customers of these premises.

Near Boyeros Avenue, in one of the spots that sells fruit smoothies and sandwiches, this Friday morning a nearby neighbor warned that “not a drop of water has entered the cistern, so they can’t not even wash the glasses.” A nearby candy store also closed its doors waiting for the service to be restored in a neighborhood that, a few years ago, was described in the classifieds of buying and selling homes as a place where “there is always water, never missing.” continue reading

A nearby neighbor warned that “not a drop of water has entered the cistern, so they can’t even wash the glasses”

Despite the government’s announcement, in some neighborhoods, such as Luyanó, not even one drop of water has arrived. Residents walk through the streets with bottles and buckets to fill them in with houses with cisterns that still have a little water.

Frustrated, the inhabitants also see that the little water in the area is wasted. “How is it possible that there is no water in the city when a river is overflowing on the road in Luyanó?” a resident asked 14ymedio. This newspaper found that, in fact, there is a jet of water running all over the pavement. “A river is running all over the road. I don’t know where it’s coming from,” she says.

“I haven’t had water for three days,” she adds. “No one has water here, because almost no one has a cistern.” In addition, there are water thieves, who insert a hose into the pipes that run through the streets and sidewalks in front of the houses and suck up the water.

To the shortage must be added “the quality of the water, which is reaching the already contaminated neighborhoods, which we can detect by its color and bad smell. We have to prevent an epidemic from being triggered by this. Imagine the complications that such an event would bring, especially with the lack of medicines,” denounced Marilín López, a resident of Havana, in a Granma report.

The interruption of the supply in recent days has led to despair among the inhabitants in many areas of Havana. Last Tuesday night, in San Miguel del Padrón, the residents took to the streets to protest after more than two weeks without water. In previous days, in Central Havana, Old Havana and Luyanó, the demonstrations managed to restore the service.

“What else are they going to do, if they can’t flush the toilets? So they put a bag in a bucket as a toilet bowl and then close the bag and throw it in the dumpster”

That same Tuesday, the authorities recognized that currently more than 600,000 people suffer “affectations” with the water supply in Cuba. A report published by Granma explained that the number of people who do not have adequate access to water in Cuba has been increasing by almost seven percent.

Although the problem is not new, it has become more acute in the last two weeks. On August 21, 14ymedio reported that the shortage had caused the situation to become scatological in some parts of the capital. In the municipality of Nuevo Vedado, for example, like those who live closer, in Luyanó, they use plastic bags when “nature calls.”

“What else are they going to do, if they can’t flush the toilets? So they put a bag in a bucket as a toilet bowl and then close the bag and throw it in the dumpster,” where it ends up in the open-air landfills, says a resident of that municipality. This creates another problem, because the organic waste piles up in the 20,000 tons of garbage generated every day in the capital, and that remain on the streets for days.

The crisis was also serious in Caibarién, Villa Clara, where it started on August 18. It was not until two weeks later that the Villa Clara Aqueduct and Sewerage Company offered “apologies for the inconvenience caused.” Almost 35,000 were officially affected. The response to the delay in repairs and the “very critical situation” was the “policy” of selling bottled water to the population.

The official spokesperson Henry Omar Pérez reported this Thursday that 4,255 gallons of water had arrived in Caibarién. Each gallon costs 85 pesos. However, he said that distribution will be prioritized for children between zero and 13 years old (5,089). Then come “the bedridden, pregnant and sick”; if there is any water left, the rest of the population will be able to buy it.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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UN Agency Finances the Installation of Solar Electric Pumps for Agriculture in Cuba

The FAO, a United Nations agency, did not declare the amount it will spend on the project

The purpose of the initiative is to use solar energy to extract water / Granma

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 31 August 2024 — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Environment Fund will support the installation of solar electric pumps for agricultural plantations and livestock facilities in Cuba, the State press reported on Saturday. “The collaboration responds to the common interest of introducing sustainable technologies in the agricultural sector,” explains the FAO in a statement quoted by the State newspaper Granma.

The report explains that the equipment will be installed in selected locations in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus and Granma, and in the Company for the Conservation of the Zapata Swamp, in Matanzas. The purpose of the initiative is to use solar energy to extract water for the wellbeing of the animals and the irrigation of the plantations, and to contribute to “the conservation of water resources and the reduction of the carbon footprint.”

“The innovative solution – part of the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of ecosystems in agriculture, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture – reduces dependence on fossil fuels and minimizes environmental impact,” according to the report. continue reading

Cuba is suffering from an intense drought that, says the Government, as a direct result of the climate crisis. It is not the first time that the Caribbean country has worked together with the FAO; since 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture has received technical assistance from the agency in a project called IRES,* dedicated to climate resilience in rural communities, the first Cuban initiative with funding from the Green Climate Fund.

The project seeks to mitigate the emission of around 2.7 million tons of greenhouse gases

The project seeks to mitigate the emission of around 2.7 million tons of greenhouse gases, involve 52,000 family farmers in the process and introduce better agroforestry practices for 35,000 hectares of land.

At the beginning of August, the FAO announced that it would devote 1.3 million dollars to promoting sustainable fishing practices and protecting the biodiversity on the Island. The sector is one of the most difficult due to the shortage of fishing gear, fuel and other resources. The objective is to strengthen the capacities of the Fisheries Research Center (CIP) of the Ministry of Food Industry and the technical departments of fishing companies operating in the Gulf of Guacanayabo, on the southeastern coast of the Cuban provinces of Granma, Camagüey and Las Tunas, according to FAO reports cited by the Cuban state press.

The initiative is part of the Conpescas Guacanayabo project that focuses on the sustainable management of marine resources, promotes the use of selective and environmentally friendly fishing gear and promotes the application of good practices in the sector, according to the FAO perspective.

The amount of money invested in the Island by the United Nations agency does not stop there. In 2020, Cuba and FAO agreed on the execution of a project to combat climate change in the amount of 119 million dollars, used to help vulnerable communities in three of the Island’s provinces.

*”Increased climate resilience of rural households and communities through the rehabilitation of production landscapes in selected locales of the Republic of Cuba.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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