The Numbers that Cuba Shelves

According to the newspaper Granma, Cuba is among the 16 countries that have already reached the goal set by the World Food Summit in 1996, halving the number of undernourished people in every country of the world before 2015.

It is sad that Mr. José Graziano da Silva, director general of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO, for its acronym in English), asserts that the credit has been possible thanks to the priority given by the Cuban government to guaranteeing its people’s right to food and the policies implemented to achieve this objective.

Nonsense, but explainable. It’s hard to see beyond the growth with its perfection that aims to show a government that distorts all its data and knows that for the vast majority of international organizations, the world is reduced to numbers. We are numbers and calculations; very dangerous arithmetic that some Cuban officials handle with excellence. My country is a place of impunity reigned over by an impeccable combination of politics and prostitution.

I don’t want to go overboard citing old familiar tactics used by the Cuban government to lobby and win votes in the different international level forums. It makes no difference if it’s the CDR, FMC, UNICEF, FAO, HRC, EU, UNDP, OEI, CARICOM … Every acronym is handled the same, national or international. When there are funds, nothing will be impossible because in island politics you just have to wait and what is won is lost and what is lost is won.

In the mid ’90s, a young neonatologist who worked in the Ramón González Coro OB-GYN Hospital in Havana Vedado, formerly the Sacred Heart clinic, was among the many selected to be part of a commission that would study what then was a TOP SECRET investigation.

Hiding a smile, and trying not to show her immense gratitude for such reliability, the talented doctor went to work. And counting on the full support of the Council of State itself, she thought that telling the truth would be the seed of what with great passion she called “My Revolution.”

The hurried exploration found that the Cuban infant born underweight, which later resulted in a considerable and irreversible decrease in size of the Cuban child, which even scientifically established standards considered “alarming.”

For this study, which lasted some time, this multidisciplinary team compiled a spreadsheet which took into account variables such as maternal age, health status assessment to detect pregnancy, treatment with nutritional supplements, weight gain in pregnancy , history of curettage, etc.. All these data were extracted from the records of pregnant women in doctors’ offices, and in the various departments of statistics for each local polyclinic.

The final report revealed that the factors associated with the preterm birth of many Cuban infants weighing under 2,500 grams, are inadequate nutrition of the future mother (this represented the highest percentage of cases studied), anemia during pregnancy and an inadequate time between births.

Since then, and as appropriate, the results were altered and the real results were shelved under lock and key. And my friend, who left medicine and has dedicated herself to painting, says that facial hair is not the only thing that connects Cuban officials with the Taliban.

21 May 2013

Behind a Kilo of Meat in Cuba

A few days ago I read that within the vast and complicated machinery of the Cuban Ministry of the Food Industry (MINAL), the meat company nationwide scored higher sales volume during the past fiscal year.

It surprised me, in that ministry there are several companies with more administrative staff than workers; but happy or alarmed was my “to be or not to be.”

The official press lies a little, although regularly, and as an established norm avoids part of reality. So I thought that this note would be published with the only objective of cleaning the stench of corruption that the wave of investigations and arrests that led the former head of this industry, Alejandro Francisco Roca Iglesia, to prison, along with his vice minister, Celio Hernandez and so many other officials. Especially knowing that, although the new minister of the branch is Dr. Maria del Carmen Concepcion Gonzalez, the one who has the upper hand in such a necessary institution in the foolish and never well-thought of engineering specialist in the applied chemistry of human nutrition, Deborah Castro Espín.

Anyway, the irony is liberating and as the old sailor’s saying goes, “When the dolphins leap the storm is coming.” I continued to keep my intellectual apathy busy and communicated with Havana using the overly expensive invention patented in 1876 by the British speech therapist Alexander Graham Bell.

“The Union of the Flesh” — and I quote almost verbatim someone who asked not to be revealed — “is the company that within this large conglomerate sold more last year. Supported, of course, by the Food Corporation SA (a mysterious Cuban capital private entity).

“Meat consumption grew, and both entities were responsible for producing and marketing meat products, plus all their derivatives.”

So far everything was going well, the scandalous is the rest. For a long time is hasn’t been profitable to produce a kilo of meat in Cuba, taking into account feed prices, the costs of caring for the animal, veterinary care and fuel. With all this an expensive product reaches Cuban processors. But the Cuban government didn’t calculate, or foresee the tangible increase, it has had since last year, in private restaurants (the paladares) and for that reason the MINAL was forced to innovative solutions to meet the pressing demand.

“We had no response,” my interlocutor told me stealthily, “and the ‘higher ups’ ordered ground beef to be mixed with small amounts of horse meat and texturized soy, to maintain an acceptable level of nutrition and not affect the typical cherry-red color of the fresh meat.

How dreadful, the Cuban officials lost respect and restraint; they gained irresponsibility, shamelessness and perversion. The fraud here is not in the mixing of the meat, if it’s not misleading or not properly informed.

It should be clarified that from the middle of 2012 to date, ground beef, selling at the price of steak priced in CUC, and that tourists and nationals enjoy, is fit for human consumption, but it is not ground beef. Indeed, in Cuba it’s never what it seems.

13 May 2013

My Brides in White / Juan Juan Almeida

Just three days ago, I was at the Miami airport, I did not want to miss the arrival of Berta Soler to this city. Discrete and humble, there they were, sitting in a corner, a small group of those women who from their immensity, some time ago I named “My Brides in White”; then I remembered a Sunday morning, under that strong and indiscreet sun on 5th Avenue in Havana, and revealed before my eyes a perfect formation, which out of ignorance I thought was a convention of santeros.

A total misconception, they were women dressed in white with a flower in their hands. I stopped to watch, and a a fifty-something guy in a beige guayabera, his face distorted by shock and emotion, approached and slapped the hood of my car, and showing his G2 cars ordered me, with unusual kindness, “Get out of here, those are the Ladies in White.” I continued my slow march, determined to know who were those women.

Days later I learned that the same group of women were protesting near Revolution Square, just where I had demonstrated considering it to be the marketplace of Cubans, and that one of them (Berta Soler), was planning not to leave there until she could see her husband, detained and sick. But of course, the police and paramilitary forces evicted them using the always repugnant help of kicks and shoves.

By then, I knew they weren’t just a curiosity, it was a duty, a feeling, I approached the women who demand the release of their families, their loved ones, every Sunday, who even today now manage to upset the complacency of Cuban dictators. Who dares to love so much?

The first time I saw, in the distance, a stout brunette with braids, and a blonde with a sunhat, who turned out to be the angel who, when everything was dark, God placed in my path and whose earthly name was Laura Pollán.

Suddenly a “Down with the Castro brothers” interrupted my memories, it was the deep and serious voice of an ebony become woman, of a lady who for her tenderness and simplicity it is impossible for some to believe that she is an open book. Her smile is a hook; and her courage rhymes with beauty, but not with fakery.

For a second I feared to approach her, I thought of time and its ravages and that she wouldn’t remember me; but no, I was wrong, despite her world travels, and I received many signs of affection from Berta, still a soldier of hope, armed with her helplessness. Practical, rational, obstinate, direct, strong, good-natured, happy, loyal, charismatic and sweet, she is an excellent friend, a perfect fusion of defects and virtues, an authentic Cuban. This simple woman of indomitable spirit; with no pretension to power, practicing love for those who find no mercy. She is a human being immune to this fever of stardom that both swarms and atrophies.

I hugged and kissed the same woman who one Sunday, dressed in white, after attending Mass at Santa Rita Church in Havana, and marching down 5th Avenue, I met sitting on one of the old benches still zealously guarded in Gandhi Park in Miramar, that beautiful Havana neighborhood that resists continuing to be anchored to the era of the thaw.

1 May 2013

Chinese with Cuban Identities on the Way to the U.S.

According to Wikipedia, the Chinese in Cuba are the most prominent and largest Asian community settled on the island. History records that on June 3, 1847 the Spanish brig “Oquendo” landed the first 200 Chinese laborers from the port of Amoy; although long before the “Oquendo” there were already Chinese in Cuba who had arrived from the Philippines, the so-called Manila-Chinese.

The Ten Years War surprised these migrants in Cuba and they joined the liberation forces. Many of them mixed with Spaniards, blacks and even mulattoes. From there was born the Chinese-Cuban.

The relations between the governments of Cuba and China have been up and down over the years but mostly down; but sometimes things go smoothly. Several Cuban leaders drive Geely cars — made in China — models also used by the National Revolutionary Police automotive troops and the G2 – State Security. The “kitsch” Cuban progeny — offspring of those in power — venture in what they believe to be new routes and go shopping in Hong Kong, experts in social themes exchanging opinions of “change” with certain regularity, businessmen of both countries sign galactic contracts, and high level delegations visit with such pleasure that the Cuban president even sang to Hu Juntao in Mandarin.

The new surreptitious business is “solidarity” with groups of Chinese who land on the island with regularity with which water drips from a broken pipe, constant drops, stimulating black market springs that move the well enshrined chain of the underground economy.

Some authorized contractors assert they are very calm customers, they don’t take hookers home and barely leave their rooms. They don’t behave as tourists, don’t go to the beach, don’t buy maracas or visit museums; throughout their stay on the island they spend their time muttering, and eating.

So much so that the new culinary specialty in the rooms-for-rent homes is to make a cup of rice with two and half cups of unsalted water, which makes a hideous mass which is then allowed to dry, add curry, make balls, and after frying it it’s called Rice Croquettes are called.

This has given rise to traveling salesmen who used to go door to door selling flowers, condoms, lobster or beef and who now support themselves selling rice (the little balls). It’s not illegal and they earn more, hence the refrain, “Take advantage of good fortune, when it’s rare,” (which, of course, rhymes in Spanish).

But housing agent who leads foreign clients to rental housing, the former immigration official for the Playa neighborhood, referring to the development of this lucrative market and new line of work, assured me with sarcastic ingenuity, “Nothing changes. The government sees nothing and tomorrow will say they didn’t know; but up to today it goes on and there’s no lack of “curry” in the hard currency stores. Look,” he continued, changing to a secure line and French, “What they know they don’t question. The reality is the Chinese are coveted customers, they travel  in small groups, stay in Cuba for 13-25 days, but before leaving, hello, what is important here is cash, everything is original and well-done, they pay up to 700 CUC for a Cuban passport, 200 for an identity card, and a thousand more to be included in the official civil registry, thus becoming duly legalized Chinese-Cuban citizens.  And now nationalized, they continue traveling into the future destined to our larger neighbor, ready to be welcomed by the Cuban Adjustment Act.”

The illegal traffic of Chinese using Cuba as a trampoline is a forbidden business that, tolerated, accepts accomplices, not witnesses.

24 April 2013

Changes In Cuba, I’ll Believe It When I See It

Many of you remember what happened in our country in the summer of 1989*. I’m referring to those trials that popular wits baptized, for the range of events and actors, “Tropicana show under the stars, first and second parts.” During those dark and sordid events, in certain circles of power a refrain that marked my life began to be heard: “Don’t believe anything you hear; only believe half of what you see.”

It is precisely because of this that today, at a distance of almost three years (since I left the island) and more than 90 miles, I can’t accept the different discourses coming from the island that describe an actuality that speaks much and says little.

Can we attest that the modifications in the travel and immigration law eased the entry to and exit from the country for Cuban citizens? Some assert that yes, they did; but just a few days ago the Cuban counsel in Moscow, under orders from Havana, refused permission for a gentleman in his 70s who, feeling destroyed, told me in an email, “… They continue to prevent my entering my beautiful island, I continue to be prevented from hugging my three children and meeting my three grandchildren who were born during the seven years they’ve prohibited my visiting Cuba.”

How, then, can we believe in the ends? It’s very true, the government of the island needs a change, but that doesn’t mean that it’s choking or dying; rather it is renewed, much to our regret. The abuse and threats are not remotely proof of their losing power.

Judges, prosecutors and lawyers in the exercise of their profession, assure that popular violence increases, irregular groups begin to take to the streets with relative impunity, and the issue of corruption exceeded the limits of unemployment. But of course, due to the divine lineage of unnamed persons involved in crimes of embezzlement, the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba, which has the institutional mission of protecting the political and legal order of the State and Society,  was ordered to dismiss more than three thousand cases. A disturbing figure.

The country doesn’t appear to be doing well and there are no visible signs we can take as economically favorable. However some of my friends who are officials, but not passionate, who hold important positions in the central administration of the State, assure me that even though Cuba’s industries have no longer carry any weight, the economy is recovering and predictions for tourism are on the rise.

It’s difficult, from the United States, to understand how so many artists, scientists, farmers, housewives and workers whose only purpose in life is to survive day by day, and without belonging to either side, whether it be the Montagues or Capulets, can visualize a slight personal growth, and a subtle awakening of respect for individual liberty.

Right now, it seems like an hallucination to me; I’m not interested in become an echo of the deluded or frustrated, of the optimistic or pessimistic, the subjected or the believers. There are certain events that manage to change our course and, as my grandmother used to say, on the bus of life we are all passengers, even the driver.

I’m skeptical, unfortunately distance distorts events. Like St. Thomas, seeing is believing. And however things are going, I want to witness it in the first person singular, then I will ask for the absurd but established permission and tell you about it.

*Translator’s note: Highly decorated General Arnaldo Ochoa and others were tried and convicted of drug trafficking and executed. See “The day my mother lost her faith in the Cuban Revolution” by Yoani Sanchez, for another perspective.

19 April 2013

Cuba Between Blockade and Embargo

I will not waste a second in explaining the difference between “Blockade” and “Embargo”; that’s irrelevant, it’s all in the dictionary. Cubans (from here, there and the hereafter) understand that this definition does not lie in the linguistic details, it comes from the place of residence of the person referring to it and/or, of course, in the subtle hypnotic force exerted on the individual by the media.

I am referring to the measure began as a response by the U.S. government to the expropriations, by Cuba, carried out against U.S. citizens and companies.

There’s no need to explain that it all happened before I was born, perhaps you weren’t either. The measure, pun intended, was understood by those affected, the dispossessed; and in certain legal circles it still stimulates vigorous debates over whether or not it violates the extraterritoriality of the law.

Perhaps to omit its history is a mistake; but I assume we all know it is very easy to Google to find a bibliographic reference. First it was a measure, then it was an ordinance that has been, in essence, the platform of many.

Some speakers use it with relative shamelessness to add that pinch of salt, or sugar (in controversy, it’s the same thing) that manages to catch the attention of whatever boring set. It’s magisterial how people continue to zigzag for or against the issue, depending on the audience, and so gain a loyal base of fans who on feeling pleased end up being complacent.

Cuba’s government maintains business relations with companies and governments of almost all UN member countries, the three observer states, and at least one of the so-called disputed territories. The island is also known for its chain of defaults, and for assuming commitments that it never meets.

The strategy they use is simple, after acquiring the needed amount in credits and/or loans, wham! in one breath they expel from the country under any pretext, the ousted employer or company and ban them from returning. Examples abound.

For the revolutionary government, “The Blockade” is the leitmotif that serves like a worn out prop in the staging of the biblical battle of David against Goliath, but in the hermetic Cuban shell the issue is not seen in the same way. Cuban entrepreneurs hallucinate about breaking the U.S. embargo, not for “patriotic” reasons but to feel themselves close to the longed for and prohibited.

The embargo law is what protects those U.S. farmers who manage to sell their products to Cuban companies. For them, although they ignore it, it’s recommended that they know that the embargo is the only real and legal instrument they have in order to get paid. Today, more than working, it’s an excellent relief that guarantees commercial seriousness on the part of the revolutionary government. Also, it assures, under the contractual time, that a little rice, a piece of chicken and a piece of bread reach Cuban homes.

Every law, new and old, generates a moral dilemma. Today, I’m in favor of the embargo.

9 April 2013

The Aging of Cuba and the Fiscal Deficit

It is extremely worrying that our island is one of the countries with the oldest populations on the planet. The particular Cuban phenomenon is due to reasons too well-known, emigration increased while the birth rate and population growth decreased.

As what is critical rarely leaves time for what is important, it is not difficult to understand that irresponsible policies or at least misguided ones, increased pension costs and led to the unstoppable increase in the Cuban fiscal deficit.

Many will say that it is desirable to change the social system, but in my opinion it depends on the popular decision. The fact is that the population is aging, and with regards to labor issues, in Cuba the concept of the “third age” disappeared.

For the elderly, retiring is a goal; and it is a fiction that a young man of 20 — which describes so many of those who are now unemployed — can find work for the time needed to meet the requirements to retire. The young would have to work more than their entire lives to collect a pension. Of course, the orphans and disabled are — full stop — even worse off.

The aging of the population exhausted the limited financial sustainability of the pension system; its base is completely insufficient to cover the age span of a retiree.

Therefore, it is more than necessary, it is imperative to reform this system, increase revenue, expand coverage and ensure sustainability in the very near future.

We need to forget the past for a while and look towards a common horizon, abandoning this ridiculous antagonism brought by the struggle for power, and help the youth of today, so they don’t become the homeless of tomorrow.

In 2005 the Revolutionary government ordered an increase in payments, even passing new laws in this regard, but the continued devaluation of the Cuban peso has proportionally reduced the real value of the amount of money received by a pensioner. So today, they are receiving more, but it buys far less.

In the present circumstances, to offer certain status to the working population, the government would have to increase the contribution paid by workers and, in turn, increase the retirement age to 200 years. Egregious nonsense. The measures are still notoriously inadequate and misleading.

We know well that the country’s leadership began its so-called “update of the socialist model” to rid itself of a hindrance; eliminating state jobs and laying off staff without vocations, they had no choice to take refuge in the nascent private section which lacks any pension system. Office workers were turned into peasants; and bureaucrats into french fry sellers. But these workers, like every other Cuban, lack confidence in banks and continue in a limbo of abandonment.

I do not want to talk about the problem without offering my assessment; I think that, for the State workers, it would be effective to readjust the subsidy according to personal efficiency, not according to age; a kind of sustainable work that contributes, taking advantage of the individual and reassessing the self-worth of those likely to feel valued.

On the other hand, it’s urgent to modify the law governing foreign investment in a way that can provide attractive incentives such as tax exemptions for a determined period to foreign businesses that organize reliable retirement plans for those many workers who receive monthly income and which, for reasons of semantics, instead of being called entrepreneurs are called “self-employed.”

4 April 2013