English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 21 May 2021 — One day, they close due to a supposed renovation or the need to take inventory, and weeks later they open in another currency. That is the story of many neighborhood stores that have gone from selling in Cuban pesos to offering their products in freely convertible … Continue reading “Little by Little, The Dollar is Imposed on Neighborhood Stores in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, April 20, 2021 — The shortage of basic necessities endemic to peso stores is also affecting retail businesses where customers need freely convertible foreign currency, known locally as MLC, to make purchases. Long lines from one day to the next and empty shelves are constants in these stores that sell in dollars. Less … Continue reading “Cuba: Even the Stores That Operate Only in Dollars Have Nothing to Sell”
14ymedio, Havana, April 17, 2021 — On Thursday the Cuban government promised to expand the private sector according to details released by press office of the Council of Ministers, several of whose officials held a meeting with self-employed workers on the eve of the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party. “At this time, the process … Continue reading “Cuba’s Private Sector to Expand but State Maintains Control of Foreign Trade”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 15 March 2021 — Not a year has passed since their opening and the stores that sell food and cleaning products in foreign currency are already going through a crisis. Little supply and very long lines mark the days in the most criticized shops in the country, the only ones, however, that still … Continue reading “Even the Stores Selling in Dollars are in Crisis in Cuba”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 26 January 2021 — It is very difficult not to be repetitive when talking about recidivism. Before referring to the expectations regarding the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), scheduled for the middle of April, I reviewed what I had published on the eve of the VII Congress, held … Continue reading “Cuban Communist Party 8th Congress: The Continuity of the Useless”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2020 — This has been a year dominated by the pandemic, but the extreme situations that have caused the coronavirus, the confinement and the economic crisis that Cuba is going through have also been a part of the phenomena and figures that have shaped the face of the 12 months now … Continue reading “Plural and With a Mask: The Face Of Cuba in 2020”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 December 2020 — As he leaves the store, he passes the magnetic card to his sister who is still waiting in line. Not only do they share the form of payment in La Arcada, a foreign exchange business on Havana Boulevard, but they also share the profits from the informal resale of … Continue reading “From the Hard Currency Store to the Cuban Black Market, the New Informal Supply Route”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 October 2020 — The elimination of the country’s dual currency is delayed, according to the latest statements by Cuban leaders who are at the forefront of the so-called “regulatory task.” In the Roundtable TV program on Tuesday the issue was addressed but without giving details about the date on which the monetary … Continue reading “Cuba Will Subsidize Unprofitable State Companies After Monetary Unification”
14ymedio, EFE, Havana, March 28, 2020 — Cuban health authorities acknowledged this Friday the first case of local infection of COVID-19, which until now had only occurred stemming from foreigners or Cuban travelers arriving with the disease on the Island, according to official reports. The Cuban Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal, reported this Friday … Continue reading “Cuba Records its First Case of Local Transmission of COVID-19”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, WEST PALM BEACH, United States. – The highly announced Roundtable TV show on Tuesday, 15 October 2019, where the “new economic measures” of the Cuban government were revealed, has just deflated any expectations that those who were waiting for some opening in the internal economy of Cuba might have had. This time … Continue reading “New “Economic Measures”: Another Trap to Catch the Gullible / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, September 11, 2019 — President Miguel Díaz-Canel spoke this Wednesday about the problems with the arrival of fuel to Cuba that are affecting the day to day life of the Island, although he ruled out that it is a second Special Period, similar to the crisis of the 90s that left a traumatic memory … Continue reading “Diaz-Canel Defines the Current Energy Crisis as a "Temporary Situation"”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 July 2019 — Cuban State Television’s Roundtable show has needed two days to explain, with Miguel Diaz-Canel and his Economy Minister, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, the salary increase for state sector employees announced last Thursday. Among the few novelties outlined by the duo responsible for the economic march of the nation was the advancement … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Gives the Mules a Reprieve Until Further Notice”
14ymedio, Havana, 10 July 2019 — Authorities will approve a new package of measures to “stop illegalities” in the private sector, Margarita González Fernández, Minister of Labor and Social Security, announced Tuesday during a session of the National Assembly of People’s Power. The official explained during, a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs, … Continue reading “Cuban Government Prepares New Rules to "Stop Illegalities" in the Private Sector”
14ymedio, 27 June 2019 — Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel announced, on Thursday, a salary increase for workers in the state sector. A statement read on Television News detailed that the minimum wage on the island is set at 400 CUP per month, about 16 dollars, while the average salary reaches 1,067 CUP (roughly $42.70 US), … Continue reading “Cuban Government Announces Salary Increase for More than 1.4 Million State Workers”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 18 June 2019 — Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel’s recent speech at the Congress of Cuban economists recalls that old perestroika joke that showed Mikhail Gorbachev driving the car of Soviet socialism. Each time the taillights indicated that it would turn to the left it ended up turning to the right. Popular political terminology … Continue reading “The Latest ’Timonazo’*”
