Tag: Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel

Cuba’s Combatant March of December 20   

On December 20, Cuba’s Combatant March of more than 500,000 Cubans, representing the people of the entire nation, flooded the Malecón in Havana [in front of the U.S. Embassy]. . . to send a message across the ocean to the United States government to protest against the blockade and to ensure that Cuba no longer remains on the list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism.[1]

Diaz-Canel, the President of Cuba and the leader of its Communist Party, delivered the following lengthy speech at the  end of the march:

  • “The current US administration, which today has exactly one month left in the White House, has done nothing to move away from the line of reinforced blockade and economic suffocation of Cuba that was left as a legacy by the Republican administration that returns to the Oval Office in January.”
  • “By implementing the 243 additional measures and keeping Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, Biden has cruelly and disciplinedly complied with the policy that Trump approved during his term in office.”
  • “In recent weeks and days, there have been numerous statements by personalities from the United States and other parts of the world demanding that Biden use his power to at least remove from that spurious list the name of a nation that should never have been on it.”
  • “To point to Cuba as a state that supposedly sponsors terrorism is at the very least false and immoral, no matter where the accusation comes from, but it is doubly so when the accusation comes from US territory, where paramilitary groups are currently training to organize, promote and finance terrorist actions against social and economic structures in Cuba.”
  • “They are based in South Florida and do not hide away to train. They do it publicly, in plain sight and with the protection of local authorities, even violating their own laws and international treaties.”
  • “This is how they have acted for many years, sheltering in their territory confessed terrorists from this continent, such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, masterminds of the abominable crime in Barbados who, however, died peacefully in the United States without ever paying for their crimes.”
  • “Knowing such antecedents, no American ruler can classify Cuba as a terrorist state.”
  • “The current government of that country knows this well. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged this last May when he told the media that there was no justification for Cuba to remain on that list.”
  • “They acknowledge this but do not act, because US policy towards Cuba was hijacked more than six decades ago by a mafia stronghold of the Batista regime, based in South Florida, and against which they have shown weakness when it comes to acting coherently towards our country.”
  • “Cuba’s continued presence on that list and the intensification of the blockade policy are ruthless actions towards the Cuban people that must cease now!”
  • “When our international trade is persecuted and financial transactions are prevented, the Cuban people are being denied food, medicine, fuel, goods, supplies and merchandise essential to their survival.”
  • “When obstacles are placed in the way of our exports or when relations with our companies are persecuted and penalized, the country is being deprived of the currency that is essential for our development and for financing our project of social justice.”
  • “When onlineservices are prevented or academic and scientific exchanges are restricted, a blow is dealt to a nation that seeks to develop and move forward with its own talent and efforts, in the midst of an increasingly interconnected world.”
  • “When a people are denied medical oxygen in the midst of a pandemic, and even other countries or foreign companies that can do so are intimidated, this is criminal action.”
  • “This is the day-to-day life in which Cuba, its people and its government struggle to make their way.”
  • “The United States’ attempt to undermine the dignity of this people by means of the club has been destroyed today with this rally and combat march, which demonstrates how high the honor of our country still is!”
  • “Since we launched the call for this march, the prophets of anti-Cuban hatred have been hysterically shouting that it would be a failure, calling for a boycott and lying about their motivations.”
  • “How little they know about the Cuban people! How much they still underestimate our patriotic and revolutionary convictions!”
  • “Other spokesmen for the US government and the anti-Cuban mafia in South Florida insisted on poisoning the networks with the false idea that this was an anti-American march.”
  • “We do not profess the slightest feeling of hatred or animosity towards the American people. Towards the noble citizens of that country we have all our respect, and our hand is always extended to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between the two peoples.”
  • “It is the same hand that we have extended to all governments of the United States, from the triumph of the Revolution until today, always based on a serious, respectful relationship on equal terms.”
  • “But if the United States persists in its efforts to undermine our sovereignty, our independence, our socialism, it will only encounter rebellion and intransigence!.”
  • “Every administration that has tried has outlived the Cuban Revolution, and will continue to do so.”
  • “This will be a march, yes, a very anti-imperialist one! Against American imperialism and its attempt to impose itself in Cuba by force or seduction, we will march now and always!”
  • “We are marching now to tell the United States Government: Let the Cuban people live in peace!”
  • “Down with interference! (Shouts of ‘Down!”)

“Down with the blockade!”(Shouts of “Down!”)

“Down with unilateral coercive measures against Cuba!” (Shouts of ‘Down!”)

“Down with Cuba’s continued presence on the list of state sponsors of terrorism!.”” (Shouts of: “Down!”)

“Down with the genocide against the Cuban people!“ (Shouts of: “Down!’)

“Socialism or Death!”

“Homeland or Death!”

“We will win!”(Exclamations of: “We will win!”)

Reactions

Although this blogger wants as soon as possible to see the end of the U.S. Cuba embargo (blockade) and designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, this march was not a reason for that opinion.

[1] ‘Allow a counter-march. If they overtake us there, their strength will have no objections,’ Diario de Cuba (December 21, 2024); On the march to victory, and with the foot in the stirrup, Granma (Dec. 21, 2024); Against the attempt to impose itself in Cuba by force or seduction, we will march now and forever! Granma (Dec. 20, 2024); A march that was, yes, very anti-imperialist!, Granma (Dec. 20, 2024).

 

 

U.N. Human Rights Council Demands U.S. End Designation of Cuba as State Sponsor of Terrorism

On June 26, 2024, the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva Switzerland issued a declaration signed by 123  countries demanding that the U.S. remove Cuba from the list of countreis that allegedly sponsor terrorism. [1]

Cuba’s President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, expressed his gratitude for this expression of support. He also pointed out out that the unjust accusation goes against the fundamental principles and the imperative norms of International Law, and that the process through which the designation for that list is made is neither clear nor transparent. In addition, he said this U.S. designation also causes extraordinary negative consequences, due to its intimidating effect and the obstacle to economic-financial operations of third parties, for fear of being fined. It also hinders access to food, medicines, fuel, medical equipment and other basic goods.

In addition, this U.S. designation was condemned by Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures; Cecilia M. Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; and George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.

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[1] Statement by 123 Countries Demanding the Exclusion of Cuba from the Unilateral List of States That Allegedly Sponsor Terrorism, Cuba Ministry of Foreign Affairs (June 26, 2024);UN: Cuba is not a sponsor of terrorism, Granma (July 31, 2024); One hundred and twenty-three countries do not believe that Cuba sponsors terrorism, Granma (Aug. 1, 2024)

Russian Military Ships’ Recent Visit to Cuba 

On June 12th  four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine and a frigate capable of carrying hypersonic missiles, arrived in Cuba. Their arrival and visit were monitored by U.S. and Canadian ships.[1]

Just hours later on June 12th a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine (the USS Helena) stopped in the waters near the U.S. Guantanamo Naval Base at the eastern end of Cuba, and other U.S. and Canadian military vessels were in the island’s vicinity.[2]

According to the Official statement of Cuba’s Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces, the visit of the four Russian naval vessels was “part of the historic friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation, [and] strictly adheres to the international conventions to which the State of Cuba is a party. Since none of these ships carry nuclear weapons, their stopover in our country represents no threat to the region.”[3]

While the Russian vessels were docked in Havana, they were open for visits to Cuban visitors, including its President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. The Russian vessels left Havana on June 18th, and its frigate went north along the U.S. eastern coastline.

On June 18th Alexander Moiseev, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, said that “the proximity of the detachment of ships of the [Russian] Northern Fleet to the borders of our current opponent [the U.S.] irritates someone. For us this is very important, and we trusted the actions of our forces. In addition, it shows support for the Republic of Cuba, which is close to us. The campaign had an effect,” and the Kremlin “will continue the practice of sailing ships to distant maritime zones.” [4]

On the same date, June 18th ,  the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, Major General Pat Ryder, said, “we obviously closely monitored [the Russian naval activity near Cuba and now near the U.S.. but we], don’t see any threat to the homeland and, and these types of exercises are not new. We’ve seen them take place . . . over the years.”

U.S. Congressional Hearing[5]

On June 12, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on “Great Power Competition in the Western Hemisphere” with the following witnesses: Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Todd Robinson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Department of State; and Mr. Michael Camilleri, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development.

Chairman McCaul’s Opening Statement

The Committee’s Chair, Representative Michael McCaul (Rep., Tex.), opened the hearing with an Opening Statement, which stated, in part, the following:

  • “Under the Biden administration, China, Russia, and Iran have bolstered their presence in the region. They have cornered critical mineral markets, expanded their military footprint, and deepened their intelligence capabilities. All aided and abetted by many authoritarian regimes in the Americas. As we speak, four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, and a frigate carrying hypersonic missiles are set to arrive in Cuba.”
  • “Congress has given the President tools to combat and compete with the great powers. It has authorized the [U.S. International Development Finance Corporation], appropriated bilateral economic assistance, and provided funding through the CHIPS Act – which I authored and passed into law – to secure our supply chains. It has mandated corruption sanctions against foreign officials and their family members.”
  • “And yet, the Biden administration has not effectively used all the tools Congress has provided. The result is a hemisphere more and more aligned with our adversaries.”
  • “Our adversaries cannot be separated. They are all connected and they are all working together. We can’t win the game if we are not on the field competing.
  • “And in the great power competition in our hemisphere, I believe, that America is falling behind.”

In his subsequent questioning of the three witnesses, McCaul said, “ I think we need a new doctrine for our hemisphere. One that protects our interests, combats our enemies, and promotes shared prosperity between us and our allies.”

Assistant Secretary Nichols’ Testimony

Assistant Secretary Nichols told the Committee that the U.S. in discussions with Cuban officials has raised U.S. concerns about Cuba’s allowing or promoting “the participation of Cuban mercenaries as part of Russian aggression against Ukraine.” This is just one of many actions that demonstrates the importance of the Cuba-Russia  military relationship, including the arrival this week of four Russian vessels in Cuban waters, and their monitoring by U.S. and Canadian warships.[6]

Nichols also mentioned the recent U.S. efforts to encourage the growing importance of private business enterprises in Cuba, which the U.S. believes are vital to counteract the malign influence on Cuba of Russia and China.

Conclusion

Unfortunately the U.S. continued embargo of Cuba and identifying the island as a state sponsor of terrorism have contributed to a tense relationship between the two countries and to Cuba’s need for support from other strong countries like Russia. As has been argued in other posts to this blog, the U.S. should cease these policies that are harmful to Cuba and pursue a policy of reconciliation.

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 [1]  E.g., Russian ships arrive in Cuba as Cold War allies strengthen their ties, CNN.com (June 12, 2024).

[2]  The US sends an attack submarine to the Guantanamo Naval Base, Diario de Cuba (June 13, 2024).

[3] The regime regarding the US nuclear submarine: ‘We were informed, but we do not like its presence, Diario de Cuba (June 15, 2024).

 [4 ] What Is the Russian war flotilla that was in Cuba doing off the coast of Florida, Diario de Cuba? (June 19, 2024); The Russian war flotilla leaves Cuba, while US ships and tracking planes are activated, Diario de Cuba (June 17, 2024)

[5] House Foreign Affairs Comm., Committee Hearing Notice (June 5, 2024); House Foreign Affairs Comm., Hearing Webcast, Great Power Competition in the Western Hemisphere (June 12, 2024)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[6] Granma, the official newspaper of the island’s communist Party, said the arrival of these Russian vessels was “a sign of the two countries’ “relations of friendship and collaboration.” (In Cuba, naval detachment of the Russian Federation, Granma (June 13, 2024) https://www.granma.cu/mundo/2024-06-13/en-cuba-destacamento-naval-de-la-federacion-de-rusia-13-06-2024-02-06-11

 

 

U.S. Again Ranks Cuba in Worst Category for Human Trafficking

On June 24, the U.S. State Department released its 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report on human trafficking, whose “severe forms” are defined in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Proetection Act (TVPA) as: “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”[1]

U.S. Secretary of State’s Comments

U.S. Seretary of State Antony J. Blinken opened the State Department’s session with the following message:

  • “Human trafficking is a stain on the conscience of our society.  It fuels crime, corruption, and violence.  It distorts our economies and harms our workers. And it violates the fundamental right of all people to be free.”
  • “Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex.  Through force, fraud, and coercion, they are made to toil in fields and factories, in restaurants and residences.  Traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals – profiting from their plight.”
  • “The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report provides the world’s most comprehensive assessment of this abhorrent practice, as well as efforts by governments and stakeholders around the globe to combat it.  By measuring progress in 188 countries – including the United States – we are advancing President Biden’s commitment to prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect survivors.”
  • “Even as this resource covers long-standing forms and methods of trafficking, it also examines the growing role of technology in both facilitating exploitation and countering it.”
  • “Digital tools have amplified the reach, scale, and speed of trafficking. Perpetrators use dating apps and online ads to recruit victims.  They use online platforms to sell illicit sexual content.  They leverage encrypted messaging and digital currencies to evade detection.”
  • “At the same time, technology is also one of our most powerful tools to combat this enduring scourge.  Mobile phones, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence make it possible for advocates and law enforcement to raise greater awareness about the rights of workers and migrants, locate victims and perpetrators of online sexual exploitation, and analyze large amounts of data to detect emerging human trafficking trends.”
  • “As technology makes it easier for traffickers to operate across geographies and jurisdictions, those of us committed to rooting out this horrendous crime – in government, businesses, civil society – can and must work together and coordinate our efforts.”

U.S. Ambassador at Large’s Comments

Cindy Dyer, the U.S. Ambassor at Large, added comments about this report that focused on the importance of partners (survivors, other governments and non-governmental agencies) in combatting this trafficking.

Ranking of Countries

The report ranked all countries of  the world into the following tiers:

  • “Tier 1 Countries whose governments fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” (30 countries, including the U.S.)
  • “Tier 2 Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.” (105 countries)
  • “Tier 2 Watch List. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and for which:the estimated number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing and the country is not taking proportional concrete actions; or there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials.” (26 countries)
  • “Tier 3. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” In addition, “The TVPA, as amended, lists additional factors to determine whether a country should be on Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) versus Tier 3: the extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit, or destination for severe forms of trafficking; the extent to which the country’s government does not meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and, in particular, the extent to which officials or government employees have been complicit in severe forms of trafficking; reasonable measures that the government would need to undertake to be in compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government’s resources and capabilities to address and eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons; the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to investigate and prosecute human trafficking, convict and sentence traffickers; and obtain restitution for victims of human trafficking; and the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to protect victims and prevent the crime from occurring.” (24 countries, including Cuba. The other countries so ranked are Afghanistan, Algeria, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, China (People’s Republic of), Curacao, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of ), Macau, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sint Maarten, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.)

Report’s Comments on Cuba

 In the section entitled “Topics of Special Interest” the report discussed  “Human Trafficking in Cuba’s Labor Export Program.” Here is what it said:

“Each year, the Cuban government sends tens of thousands of workers around the globe under multi-year cooperation agreements negotiated with receiving countries.  While medical missions remain the most prevalent, the Cuban government also profited from other similarly coercive labor export programs, including those involving teachers, artists, athletes and coaches, engineers, forestry technicians, and nearly 7,000 merchant mariners worldwide.   According to a report published by the Cuban government, by the end of 2023, there were more than 22,000 government-affiliated Cuban workers in over 53 countries, and medical professionals composed 75 percent of its exported workforce.  The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for medical workers in many places around the world, and the Cuban government used the opportunity to expand its reach by increasing the number of its medical personnel abroad through the Henry Reeve Brigades, which Cuba first initiated in 2005 to respond to natural disasters and epidemics.  Experts estimate the Cuban government collects $6 billion to $8 billion annually from its export of services, which includes the medical missions.  The labor export program remains the largest foreign revenue source for the Cuban government.”

“There are serious concerns with Cuba’s recruitment and retention practices surrounding the labor export program.  While the conditions of each international labor mission vary from country to country, the Cuban government subjects all government-affiliated workers to the same coercive laws.  Cuba has a government policy or pattern to profit from forced labor in the labor export program, which includes foreign medical missions.  The Cuban government labels workers who leave the program without completing it as “deserters,” a category that under Cuban immigration law deems them as “undesirable.”  The government bans workers labeled as “deserters” and “undesirables” from returning to Cuba for eight years, preventing them from visiting their families in Cuba.  It categorizes Cuban nationals who do not return to the country within 24 months as having “emigrated.”  Individuals who emigrate lose all their citizen protections, rights under Cuban law, and any property they left behind.  These government policies and legal provisions, taken together, coerce workers and punish those seeking to exercise freedom of movement.  According to credible sources, by 2021, the Cuban government had sanctioned 40,000 professionals under these provisions, and by 2022, there were approximately 5,000 children forcibly separated from their parents due to the government’s policies surrounding the program.”

“Complaints filed with the International Criminal Court and the UN indicate most workers did not volunteer for the program, some never saw a contract or knew their destination, many had their passports confiscated by Cuban officials once they arrived at their destination, and almost all had “minders” or overseers.  According to the complaints and survivors, Cuban heads of mission in the country subjected workers to surveillance, prevented them from freely associating with locals, and imposed a strict curfew.  Cuba also confiscated between 75 and 90 percent of each worker’s salary.  As a result of the well-founded complaints and information about the exploitative nature of Cuba’s labor export program, at the end of 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur for Contemporary Forms of Slavery filed a new communication outlining the persistent concerns with the program, particularly for Cuban workers in Italy, Qatar, and Spain.”

“While exploitation, including forced labor, of workers remains the primary concern with the program, Cuba’s practices can also negatively impact a host country’s healthcare system.  Survivors of the program have reported being forced by the Cuban in-country mission director to falsify medical records and misrepresent critical information to justify their presence and need to local authorities.  Some individuals reported discarding medications, fabricating names, and documenting medical procedures that never occurred.  When medical workers refused to comply with the demands of the Cuban in-country mission director, they faced punishment and retaliation.  While the Cuban government promotes workers as highly skilled medical professionals and specialists, these workers often lack adequate medical training to treat complex conditions.  These practices are unethical, negligent, exploitative, and risk the lives of those they serve.”

“Governments should make efforts to combat human trafficking, and this includes not purchasing goods or services made or provided with forced labor.  Governments that utilize Cuba’s labor export programs despite the serious concerns with the program should at a minimum conduct frequent and unannounced labor inspections to screen these workers for trafficking indicators and employ victim-centered interviewing techniques.  These host governments should ensure all Cuban workers are subject to the same laws, regulations, and protections as for other migrant workers and that they are not brought via a negotiated agreement with the Government of Cuba that limits these protections or exempts Cuban workers from Wage Protections Systems or other tools designed to strengthen transparency.  Officials should ensure workers maintain complete control of their passports and medical certifications and can provide proof of full salary payment to bank accounts under the workers’ control.  They should scrutinize medical reports produced by these workers, offer protection for those who face retaliation and punishment for terminating their employment, and raise awareness of trafficking risks for all foreign workers, including government-affiliated Cuban workers.”

Cuba’s Comments on This Report[2]

On June 24, Granma (the official voice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) said, “[A lier is] the neighboring government, that one to the north of the archipelago, which, like the naked king in a children’s story, displays its falsehoods about Cuba, without realizing that its shame is in the air; so arrogant is its arrogance.The current U.S. administration arbitrarily insists on keeping Cuba in the worst category (level 3) in its recently published annual State Department report on human trafficking. The actions of the Washington authorities, marked by political motivations, deserved the response, from . . . the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez [who said]:

“The empire has once again listed Cuba in its manipulative report on human trafficking, an outrageous maneuver in the open war against Cuban medical collaboration. Enough cynicism, Secretary Blinken. You are well aware of our zero-tolerance policy for this criminal practice. To justify the action, the report referred to the year 2023 uses contradictory arguments, based on the defamation of the work of Cuban medical collaboration in more than a hundred countries. Cuba’s cooperation with other peoples in the field of health is so humane that they have to attack it. It bothers them that, in the midst of the lordship of perversity and dishonor with which they pretend to dominate the world, the unsubmissive island brings light to the darkness and health to those who suffer.”

“But it is not fortuitous to include Cuba in spurious lists, to consider the island in the worst category in its report on human trafficking allows the White House to justify the blockade and the endless saga of coercive measures aimed at starving its people.”

“It would seem that the world is upside down: those who promote human trafficking, encouraging illegal departures, those who hinder the normal migratory flow between the two nations, are the ones who judge and punish.”

“Those who do not allow – to cite just one example – our baseball players to benefit from an agreement that prevents them from falling into the arms of human traffickers to reach the MLB, are the same ones who seek to condemn those who maintain a zero tolerance policy against human trafficking.”

Conclusion

This is a very complicated report, and the State Department website says, “This posted version is not fully accessible, meaning it may be inaccessible or incompatible with assistive technology. An accessible version will be posted as soon as the ongoing updates are concluded.” (Thus, there may be errors in this post and readers are invited to note any such corrections.)

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[1]U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report (June 2024); The US considers that the regime ‘is not making significant efforts’ to combat human trafficking, Diario de Cuba (June 24, 2024).

[2] Capote, Accusing Cuba of human trafficking, another ruse to justify economic warfare, Granma (June 26, 2024).

No Solutions to Cuba’s Water Crisis 

On a recent national television program, the president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources of Cuba (INRH), Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez, responded to a question from President Diaz-Canel about why 90% of responses in a recent survey said state water services were disastrous.[1]

The response: the water service is “marked by broken equipment, lack of maintenance and spare parts and accessories, that is, the obsolescence of the infrastructure, which prevents establishing an estimated time to resolve the problems, which currently includes the lack of fuel.”

Rodriguez added, “ the responses of the people “coincide with real problems that we have in different places, and affect both the water supply and the solution of leaks or the management of sewage.” This includes “thousands of liters of drinking water are dumped daily as a result of leaks.”

Another point made by Rodriguez was “there are times that we repair [a problem] poorly, that is, we don’t do the job as we have to do it, and we have to go back to the same place once or twice.” This often was due to  “the lack of aggregates and cements.”

The Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory recently reported that despite having extensive reservoir systems, more than 67% of the Cuban population does not receive stable water in their homes” and “almost 2 million Cubans (1,884,000) do not have access to drinking water.”

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[1] There is no solution to the water crisis in Cuba, Diario de Cuba (May 6, 2024).

 

 

 

U.S. State Officials in Havana Promoting Exports of U.S. Agricultural Products to Cuba

On February 18 a delegation of 13 U.S. state agricultural officials began a five-day mission to Cuba to promote Cuban imports of U.S. agricultural products. Their leader was Ted McKinney, the CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).[1]

The NASDA press release for this mission said its purpose “is to identify and address trade barriers for U.S. agricultural products, gain a better understanding of trade rules and regulations as well as the political and economic environment in order to strengthen the United States’ trade relationship with Cuba. While in-country, NASDA will meet with government officials, as well as industry and private sector leaders, to learn more about how the U.S. and Cuba can collaborate in the future.” The delegation includes representatives of seven state agricultural agencies (Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana and South Carolina) plus Ernesto Baron of FTA International and USA Poultry and Egg Export Council and Paul Johnson with FocusCuba.

February 19 Events[2]

On February 19, the delegation met with Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who offered the following official welcome.

”It is a pleasure and a satisfaction to have you present in Cuba in such an important composition, with Secretaries of Agriculture from several states and representatives of the US agricultural sector. “This is a sector with which we have a long-standing relationship, which has always had an understanding and sensitivity towards the Cuban people; a sector that has always worked to find paths that tear down walls, paths of greater rapprochement and benefit for both countries. If it were not for the blockade, there would be many mutual opportunities for work, to advance for the benefit of both peoples.” Cuba is “a small country, but not a negligible market” and his Government works “to ensure the food of eleven million Cubans.”

“This is a sector with which we have a long-standing relationship, he said, “a sector that has always had an understanding and sensitivity towards the Cuban people”; a sector – he added – “that has always worked to find paths that break down walls, paths of greater rapprochement and benefit for both countries.”

“if it were not for the blockade, we would have many mutual opportunities to work, to advance for the benefit of both peoples.”

“We are a small country, but not a negligible market; We work to ensure food for 11 million Cuban men and women,.”

“The activism of US farmers was fundamental for the Congress of the northern country to approve the Sanctions Reform and Expansion of Exports law in 2000, which allowed the Island to buy food there, although in disadvantageous conditions, imposed by anti-Cuban sectors and against the will of American farmers.”[3]

Afterwards Diaz-Canel said in a social media post, between the authorities of the regime and the US farmers “there has been a permanent dialogue,” which is why delegations from that sector are frequently received in Cuba.

February 21 Press Conference[4]

At the end of their Cuba trip, Ted McKinney, the NASDA CEO, several NASDA members and Ernesto Baron (USA Poultry and Egg Export Council) held a press conference at a Havana hotel on February 21.

McKinney said, “There may be new opportunities and we are optimistic about the possibility of future cooperation with Cuba” and they would convey to U.S. authorities the “positive and optimistic atmosphere” they saw during their stay in Cuba.” They saw the greatest possibility for cooperation in meat production, grains and food processing. And they thought if the U.S. embargo did not exist, bilateral agricultural exchange would be about $1 billion annually. But “we do not have that role of interceding to relax the (economic) sanctions of the embargo.”

Cuban Confession of Ineffectiveness of Food Law[5]

The day before the NASDA press conference, Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, confessed that its Food Sovereignty Law of 2022 had not produced satisfactory results in that violations, corruption and lack of control have proliferated in “strategic tasks such as the delivery of land and livestock in usufruct,” according to Workers, and said that it cannot be allowed “that those who benefited from those embezzle state resources with them” and feel they are absolute owners.” Also needed review of “everything related to possible distortions in hiring, in exports and foreign investments as sources of foreign exchange earnings, in the application of science and technology, and in the attention to producers, to the productive bases, the mountains and the rural areas.”

There also were strong statements from Salvador Mesa (Cuba’s Vice President and member of the Political Bureau of the island’s Communist Party) and from Jorge Luis Tapia (vice prime minister) “about the need to review the organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture, hiring, confronting  theft and slaughter of livestock and production plans.”

Reactions

As a U.S. citizen who wants the U.S. embargo of the island to end as soon as possible, this blogger is glad to learn about this U.S. agricultural group’s trip to Cuba and its voicing a similar opinion.

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[1] A US state agricultural committee seeks to trade in Cuba despite the embargo, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 19, 2024); NASDA, Press Release: State agricultural officials to address trade opportunities between the U.S. and Cuba (Feb. 16, 2024)

[2] Leon, The United States agricultural sector “has always worked to find paths that break down walls,” Granma (Feb. 19, 2024);Diaz-Canel receives the US agricultural delegation and pushes it to continue skipping the embargo, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 20. 2024).

[3] In 1993 Cuba legalized micro-enterprises and established a tax regime for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. (U.N., The tax regime for micro-enterprises in Cuba.)

[4] U.S. agricultural officials. ‘optimistic’ about their visit to Cuba, deny that they can do business, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 22, 2024); Ballaga, The US agricultural sector is interested in doing business with Cuba (+Video), Granma (Feb. 22, 2024).

[5] The Government of Cuba admits that its Food Sovereignty Law does not have palpable results, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 21, 2024).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of Increasing Connections Between Cuban Private Enterprise and U.S.  

As noted in prior posts, Cuba has a small and prospering private business sector in its economy.[1]

The Biden Administration has been indicating that it will adopt regulatory changes that will bolster that entrepreneurial sector by giving Cuban entrepreneurs access to the U.S. banking system. In addition, Cubans could access U.S. internet services (e.g., videoconferencing, e-learning, automated translation, I.T. managing services and cloud-based services). These upcoming changes are prompted by the Administration’s seeing these Cuban businesses as Cuba’s best hope to grow its economy and curb the outflow of its citizens escaping the island’s dire economy. But as of September 27th no such changes have been officially announced.[2]

On September 25-26, about 70 Cuban entrepreneurs from the island attended an event in Miami that offered advice on how to improve their businesses and navigate the restrictions imposed by the U.S. embargo.[3]

Former congressman Joe Garcia, who helped organize the trip, said, ““The Cuban American community believes that an essential part of a future democratic and prosperous Cuba includes a free enterprise system.” Garcia, who does consulting for some companies doing business with Cuba’s private sector, added that the basic idea behind the trip is to prove that these enterprises are real and not a front for the Cuban government.

The Cuban visitors consists of men and women from various Cuban provinces, some of whom have never been to the United States. They own businesses in several sectors, including transportation, construction, software development, clothes and beauty products and manufacturing. Many said they are looking to cut costs and prices by contacting providers directly so they don’t have to buy from resellers. Others are searching for a market and partnerships to help them scale their operations.

One of the visitors, Zoraida Perez Barrera, has a small but successful women’s and baby clothing business in Santa Clara, a city in central Cuba with 14 employees. She wants to find a U.S. market for her products. “All of us who are Cuban know how rooted we are in our traditions and I make the traditional newborn arrival clothes. In fact, people who live [in Miami] ask us how to buy the baby clothes.”

Some of these relatively new private companies on the island  have become major employers and significant importers of food and other essential goods at a time when “the Cuban state is broke,” said Aldo Alvarez, whose own company, Mercatoria, has been importing large quantities of wheat, chicken and cooking oil to sell on the island.

Several of the visiting entrepreneurs said they are particularly encouraged by news reported by the Miami Herald that the Biden administration is readying to announce new regulations allowing Cuban private entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States —something they can’t do now because of the U.S. embargo that would make it easier for them to pay providers abroad.

Also in attendance were two of the largest Miami exporters to Cuba’s private sector: Hugo Cancio, the owner of Katapulk, a marketplace for over a hundred private enterprises, and Ariel Pereda, whose company, Pearl Merchandising & Distribution, first started selling food to Alimport, the Cuban state monopoly, and now is primarily exporting to the private sector.

A keynote address was provided by U.S. healthcare executive and billionaire Mike Fernandez, who said he believes Cuba’s new private businesses are “the beginning of something monumental that will change” Cuba, though there is always the threat that Cuba could “reverse the process” if it finds other ways to resolve its economic crisis.

This gathering also heard from U.S. lawyers and U.S. officials from the Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce, who explained the regulations that allow American companies to export goods to the Cuban private sector. Though the embargo generally prohibits any transactions involving Cuba, the Obama administration eased restrictions on transactions if the final beneficiary is a member of the private sector, not the Cuban government.

A few days earlier Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who was at the U.N. in New York City, met with approximately 40 representatives of the American private sector, including Hugo Cancio, and told them that the Cuban regime is considering allowing Cuban Americans to invest and own businesses in Cuba. But the President was not prepared to discuss in detail the new regulations the regime needs to pass to allow private companies in Cuba to receive investment and financing from American companies.[4]

Conclusion

 Let us hope that the U.S. soon will announce the promised new regulations to enhance Cuban entrepreneurs access to the U.S. banking system and that this sector of the island’s economy will continue to prosper. Of course, the U.S. also should end its embargo of the island and its designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, both of which would improve the lives of Cubans on the island while Cuba should end its recent expansion of Russian and Chinese military and espionage activities on the island.

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[1] See, e.g., these posts to dwkcommentaries: U.S. Needs To Improve Relations with Cuba (Aug. 4, 2023);COMMENT: Developments Regarding U.S. Private Exports to Cuba (Aug. 25, 2023);1.5 Million Tourists Tourists Have Visited the Island So Far this Year (Aug. 26, 2023).

[2] Martin & Wilcary, Biden Readies Measures to Support Cuba’s Small Business Owners, Wash. Post (Sept. 18, 2023). Torres, Cuban entrepreneurs to be allowed to open U.S. bank accounts, access internet services, Miami Herald (Sept. 19, 2023).

[3] Torres, In historic meeting, Cuba’s private entrepreneurs look for opportunities in Miami, Miami Herald (Sept. 26, 2023); Almost 70 MSME ‘entrepreneurs’ from Cuba arrive in Miami looking to do business, Diario de Cuba (Sept. 26, 2023).

[4] Diaz-Canel baits Cuban-Americans who want to own businesses on the island, Diario de Cuba (Sept. 23, 2023);Reyes, Diaz-Canel did not make the announcement in the US that businessmen expected, reproaches the anti—embargo lobby, Diario de Cuba (Sept, 25, 2023).

U.S. State Department’s Recent Actions on U.S. Policies Regarding Cuba

In two press interviews on January 23, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo addressed questions about Cuba.  Earlier in the month an unnamed “Senior Department Official” also had comments about Cuba and two days later the Administration announced new sanctions. Here is a summary of those developments.

Pompeo’s Interview by El Nuevo Herald/Miami Herald [1]

A reporter for el Nuevo  Herald and the Miami Herald asked, “Is the U.S. considering further sanctions against the Cuban Government?  And if so, how can you assure that those measures won’t hurt Cuban families already affected by some restrictions on visa and air traveling?”

Pompeo responded, “It’s always something that we consider very carefully.  We love the Cuban people.  We wish them enormous success.  Indeed, we expend a lot of energy and time to try and help them have that success.  At the same time, the policies of the previous administration were putting lots of money in the pockets of the regime.  The very leaders, the very dictators, the very communists that have repressed the Cuban people for so many decades now were being bolstered and supported by some of the commercial activity that’s taking place.”

“So our mission set has been to do our best not to harm the Cuban people – indeed, just the opposite of that: to create space where there’ll be an opportunity for democracy and freedom and the economy inside of Cuba to flourish while not lining the pockets of the corrupt leadership there.”

Pompeo Interview by WIOD-AM Miami[2]

The radio host, Jimmy Cafalo, asked, “How . . .[do American values] apply to our part of the world here in south Florida, when we are concerned about Venezuela or concerned about Cuba?”

Secretary Pompeo answered, “So President Trump’s been very realistic about how our foreign policy ought to be conducted.  He’s not about nation-building; he’s about protecting the American people.  When we stare at this problem set . . .with these communist regimes in Cuba, in Nicaragua, in Venezuela, America has always been committed to trying to help those people establish democracies to stamp out communism.  We continue that effort.  It’s good for the region, it’s good for the people of those countries, and it’s important to the citizens of south Florida and people all across the United States.”

Another question from Senor Cafalo, “Do you believe we should move closer to Cuba?  I mean, it seems it’s a vacillating element.  With the previous administration, we were moving much closer, and people with families there were going over and back and forth and trading a lot of things.  And now that seems to have just all but shut down.  What’s your take on Cuba?”

The Secretary’s response: “President Trump doesn’t want to see trade taking place with Cuba that is benefiting the regime, benefiting these oppressive communist dictators who are treating their own people so horribly, so terribly.  So our mission set has been to do all that we can to support the people of Cuba, while making sure that money, dollars, trade, all the things that prop up this military, this junta, this set of dictators that have done so much harm to the people of Cuba – you know them so well, they live – so many live in this region.  Our mission set has been to create the conditions where the Cuban people can have the opportunity to throw off the yoke of communism.”

Previous “Senior Department Official” Statement[3]

On January 8, an unnamed “Senior State Department Official” at a Special Briefing at the Department on “2019 Successes in the Western Hemisphere Region,” said the following about Cuba:

  • “The United States will cut off Cuba’s remaining sources of revenue in response to its intervention in Venezuela. We’ve already eliminated visits to Cuba via passenger and recreational vehicles. We suspended U.S. air carriers’ authority to operate scheduled air service between the U.S. and all Cuban airports other than Havana. This will further restrict the Cuban regime from using resources to support its repression of the people of Cuba. Countries in the region have also taken action regarding the Cuban Government’s program which traffics thousands of Cuban doctors around the world in order to enrich the regime. Brazil insisted on paying the doctors directly at a fair wage. The Cuban regime in response withdrew the doctors from Brazil. Doctors have also now left Ecuador and Bolivia.”

In response to a journalist’s question about whether the U.S. was planning to close the U.S. Embassy in Havana and to cease all diplomatic relations with Cuba, the Official said the following, ”[As] long as the Cubans keep doing what they’re doing, especially in Venezuela – I mean, we’ve had problems with what they do in Cuba forever, but they’re . . . intervening in another country now. We’ve been pretty clear with them that the pressure on them is going to continue to rise. And we haven’t ruled in or out any specific [actions] I [previously] mentioned some of the measures we’ve already taken; there will be more.”

U.S. Additional Restrictions on U.S. Air Travel to Cuba[4]

Only two days after the Senior Official’s Special Briefing, Secretary Pompeo issued a Press Statement announcing that at his request, “the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) suspended until further notice all public charter flights between the United States and Cuban destinations other than Havana’s José Martí International Airport.  Nine Cuban airports currently receiving U.S. public charter flights will be affected.  Public charter flight operators will have a 60-day wind-down period to discontinue all affected flights.  Also, at my request, DOT will impose an appropriate cap on the number of permitted public charter flights to José Martí International Airport.  DOT will issue an order in the near future proposing procedures for implementing the cap.”

U.S. Embassy in Havana said, “Today’s action will prevent the Cuban regime from benefiVenezuelating from expanded charter service in the wake of the October 25, 2019, action suspending scheduled commercial air service to Cuba’s airports other than Havana.  Today’s action will further restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to obtain revenue, which it uses to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its unconscionable support for dictator Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.  In suspending public charter flights to these nine Cuban airports, the United States further impedes the Cuban regime from gaining access to hard currency from U.S. travelers.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and other Cuban officials blasted the move, calling it a violation of human rights that would hinder family reunification. As put by his colleague, the foreign ministry’s General Director for U.S. Affairs Carlos Fernandez de Cossio tweeted, this new measure by the U.S. would punish Cubans “on both sides of the Florida Strait.” It also validated the previous prediction by Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel, when he said there “is a turn of the screw every seven days to suffocate our economy.” And Cuba’s Ambassador in Washington, D.C. said the new limitation was imposed to “limit the amount of people that see CUBAN reality by themselves.”

A U.S. voice also criticized this move. Engage Cuba, a nonprofit coalition of private companies and organizations advocating for the end of the U.S. embargo, stated in a tweet, “Just tragic. This is heartbreakingly cruel. Cuban families now cannot travel to see their loved ones.”

Conclusion

All of this is “old news” of the Trump Administration’s repeated desires to increase sanctions against Cuba supposedly to induce Cuba to change many of its policies. Needless to say, that premise is unfounded. Instead, these U.S. measures make life harder for Cubans on the island as well as Cuban-Americans with relatives back home on the island. These U.S. measures also harm the emerging private sector on the island, which presumably should be encouraged by a Republican administration. (In contrast, the Obama Administration from December 2014 until its last days in January 2017, engaged in respectful discussions and negotiations over many issues that had accumulated over the prior 50-plus years and sought to encourage the Cuban private sector. That is the legitimate way to seek to resolve these matters.) [5]

Of special note is the U.S. campaign against Cuba’s foreign medical mission program. Recently Cuba filed a statement with the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland that asserted the program was “committed to the principles of altruism, humanism, and international solidarity, which have guided it for more than 55 years” and that allegations that doctors are forced to participate are “absolutely false. It’s unacceptable to mix Cuba’s medical collaboration with the horrid crime of human trafficking, modern slavery or forced labor.” [6]

It also should be mentioned that this blog repeatedly has denounced the specious rationale for the Trump Administration’s hostility towards Cuba’s foreign medical mission program, especially the allegation that it is engaged in illegal forced labor.[7]  However, recent allegations that some of the individuals on these missions were not health professionals, but instead were engaged in political activities, and that some Cuban doctors were forced to create false patient records are more troublesome. Cuba denies these allegations, but no independent investigation and analysis of these claims has been found by this blogger. [8]

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[1] State Dep’t, Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Nora Gomez Torres of El Nuevo Herald and Miami Herald (Jan. 23, 2020).

[2] State Dep’t, Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Jimmy Cefalo of South Florida’s First News, WIOD-AM Miami (Jan. 23, 2020).

[3] State Dep’t, Senior State Department Official On State Department 2019 Successes in the Western Hemisphere Region (Jan. 8, 2020).

[4] State Dep’t, United States Further Restricts Air Travel to Cuba (Jan. 10, 2020); Reuters, U.S. Seeks to Squeeze Cuba by Further Curbing Flights to Island, N.Y. Times (Jan. 10, 2020); Finnegan, U.S. further restricts air travel to Cuba to increase pressure, abcNews (Jan. 10, 2020).

[5] See posts listed in the sections on “U.S. (Obama) & Cuba Relations (Normalization)” for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CUBA.

[6] Krygien, The U.S. is pushing Latin American allies to send their Cuban doctors packing—and some have, Wash. Post (Jan. 21, 2020).

[7] Here are just two of the posts criticizing the Trump Administration’s campaign against Cuba’s medical mission program:U.S. Unjustified Campaign Against Cuba’s Foreign Medical Mission Program (Sept. 4, 2019); More U.S. Actions Against Cuba (Sept. 30, 2019).

[8] E.g., 80% of what Bolivia paid to Havana for doctors was going to ‘finance castrocomunismo,’ Diario de Cuba (Jan. 22, 2020); Gamez Torres, Bolivia severs relations with Cuba over dispute about controversial medical program, Miami Herlad (Jan. 24, 2020).

Former Cuban Judge Criticizes Cuban Legal System   

On January 13,  Edel González Jiménez, a former high-ranking Cuban judge who left the island in 2018 and now lives in Peru, told a press conference in Madrid, Spain about the many problems in Cuba’s legal system. Other details were added by Javier Larrondo, the president of Prisoners Defenders and a longtime anti- Castro activist.[1]

González Jiménez’s Comments

Based upon recently released Cuban government secret documents, González said the Cuban government is holding thousands of inmates on dubious charges and has the highest incarceration rate in the world. These records show that Cuba’s prison system holds more than 90,000 prisoners. (Previously the Cuban government had only publicly released the figure once, in 2012, when it claimed that 57,000 people were jailed.)

“What is important is what is behind those numbers,” Mr. González said. “People are in prison for stealing flour, because they are pizza makers and the government has set up a system where the only way to get flour is by buying in the black market from someone who stole it from the state.”

González said that Cuba’s judiciary was often controlled by state security forces that can manufacture cases against political opponents. “What happens, for example, when an issue has a political nature? Well then there is fear [by the judges of losing their jobs]. And that fear . . .can have a negative impact on justice” by “judges, fearful of losing their jobs, go along with evidence that is often flagrantly concocted.”

In ordinary criminal cases, however, judges are independent and free of government influence. González added, “I never received, in 17 years, any interference from either the [Communist Party of Cuba] or the Government.”

“The repression that I am seeing against some of my people is not what I want for my people. I have a lot of fear about the future. Every day Cubans face more fear. I don’t want blood on the streets of Cuba, I don’t want these imprisonments.”

González Jiménez also said that the majority of the Cuban people “unconditionally had accepted the system implemented by Havana more than 60 years ago.” Therefore, “the only thing we are asking for is that in the field of human rights, whether through mercy, it is understood that we have to work on the issue and that we have to take steps forward.” Indeed, “there are countless government officials who have a high sensitivity, who know that these human rights issues are hitting them and are delegitimizing even the country’s own image.” Such officials, however, are held back by their “own internal fear.”

González also raised a proposal for “national internal inclusive dialogue” between the State, opponents, dissidents and social sectors for the regulation of fundamental rights in the Cuban legal system.

Still, Mr. González insisted that there was time for Cuba to resolve its problems internally, and he warned against any outside interference. “We will not allow anybody to impose anything, that should be clear to all countries. Cubans can manage this alone without any kind of interference,” he said. This process “must be “sovereign, free and transparent.”

Mr. González also cautioned against coming to the conclusion that the high number of prisoners in Cuba was proof of a failed society and judiciary. Other countries, he said, had fewer prisoners, but that reflected a high level of “impunity” and failure to prosecute common and violent crime, while Cuba instead “maintains social order.”

Javier Larrondo’s Comments

Another participant in the press conference was Javier Larrondo, who runs an organization called Prisoners Defenders in Madrid, and who publicly announced his call for the Cuban government to respect civil rights.

“This [press conference] is an important blow to the regime,” Mr. Larrondo said.

Mr. Larrondo released Cuban court documents showing that dozens of men received sentences between two and four years in prison for offenses falling broadly under the category of “antisocial” — a phrase that can be applied to people who are unemployed, who do not belong to civic organizations associated with the state, who behave disorderly and harass tourists, and who associate with similarly “antisocial” people. In case after case, the description of the crime is identical, said Larrondo, suggesting that the police cut and pasted the language in the investigative report.

Cuban Prisoners Defenders and Civil Right Defenders reported that more than 90,000 people were in prison on the Island , where about 99% of the citizens tried are found guilty. In addition, Larrondo and Erik Jennische, director for Latin America of Civil Rights Defenders, said that in Cuba there are 37,458 people “in other situations of judicial and police control,” which gives a total of 127,458 convicted. That  is an imposing number of people who, as their “first criminal sanction, are being deprived of liberty, something of extreme rigor, and really unusual in most criminal systems” and who are less likely go obtain early release.

This analysis of the data showed that Cuba is “the first country for (number of) persons deprived of liberty in the world”, taking into account its population of 11 million inhabitants. The Island would be ahead of the U.S., El Salvador and Turkmenistan, whose data has been published by the World Prison Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research.

In the files of prisoners obtained and published by the organizations (with the identity of the condemned hidden) elements are repeated such as lack of labor ties with the so-called mass organizations (controlled by the regime), being “prone to crime” for associating with “similar people,” practicing the “siege of tourism” and altering public order, as arguments to condemn citizens to sentences of up to three years in prison for an alleged “danger index. “This formula, known as “pre-criminal social danger,” frequently has been applied to opponents and other critical citizens of the Government to remove them from the streets.

This accusatory procedure “is frequently used for its speed and efficiency against dissidents, entrepreneurs and any type of person who is considered an urgent danger to the regime, which entails not only preventive detention, but very summary processes that prevent the proper exercise of the defense.”

The previously mentioned documents, according to the New York Times, showed that approximately 92 percent of those accused in the more than 32,000 cases that go to trial in Cuba every year are found guilty. Nearly 4,000 people every year are accused of being “antisocial” or “dangerous,” terms the Cuban government uses to jail people who pose a risk to the status quo, without having a committed a crime.

Conclusion

Last year, Mr. González’s former boss, Rubén Remigio Ferro, president of the Cuban Supreme Court, told the state newspaper, Granma that although the administration of justice on the island is improving, “deficiencies” still exist, such as trial delays, misguided decisions and a lack of professionalism. More recently President Miguel Díaz-Canel told judges while inaugurating the new judicial calendar that the courts must “remain a system that is distinguished first and foremost by its ethics, its transparency and the honest behavior of its members.”

From this blogger’s U.S. perspective, González’s career as a judge and his professed support for the Cuban Revolution should give these criticisms greater weight for Cuban officials. On the other hand, it was surprising there was no mention of at least a partial explanation of Cuban prosecution of individuals for “antisocial” behavior. Cuba knows that the much more powerful U.S. has a long history of hostility towards Cuba and has recruited some Cubans to engage in activities critical of the Cuban regime. Therefore, it arguably could be a matter of self-defense for the regime to arrest at least some of these individuals.

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[1] Robles, Ex-Judge Reveals Secrets of How Cuba Suppresses Dissent, N.Y. times (Jan. 13,   2020); 8,400 Cubans Serve Time for “Pre-Criminal Social Dangerousness,” Civil Rights Defenders (Jan. 13, 2020); In Cuba ‘the fear’ of judges threatens justice, says a lawyer, Diario de Cuba (Jan. 14, 2020); Cuba’s police state exposed:’an important blow to the regime,’ Democracy Digest (Jan. 14, 2020);  González: “Many high-ranking officials of the Cuban government are hurt by repression against dissent,” Archyde (Jan. 13, 2020). González also gave an extensive interview to ABC International, but the English translation is difficult to follow. (Gavińa, Edel González: “Many high-ranking officials of the Cuban government are hurt by repression against dissent,” ABC International (Jan. 14, 2020).)

 

 

U.S. Reduces Airline Flights to Cuba          

On October 25  the U.S. Department of Transportation, at the request of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, announced that effective December 10, all U.S. airlines would be banned from flying to all destinations in Cuba except Havana.

U.S. Government’s Announcement[1]

This announcement said this action was taken to “”further the administration’s policy of strengthening the economic consequences to the Cuban regime for its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its support for Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.”  Charter flights, however, are not affected.

The State Department said that this new restriction will “prevent revenue from reaching the Cuban regime that has been used to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its support for Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.” It also will impede “the Cuban regime from gaining access to hard currency from U.S. travelers staying in its state-controlled resorts, visiting state-owned attractions, and otherwise contributing to the Cuban regime’s coffers near these airports.”

In addition, the State Department said the “United States continues to hold Cuba accountable for its repression of the Cuban people, and its interference in Venezuela, including its unconscionable support of the illegitimate Maduro regime. The human rights situation in Cuba remains abysmal, with state authorities harassing and arbitrarily jailing activists, dissidents, artists, and others questioning regime authority with impunity. Despite widespread international condemnation, Maduro continues to undermine his country’s institutions and subvert the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination. Empowered by Cuba, Maduro has created a humanitarian disaster that destabilizes the region.”

Secretary of State Pompeo added in a tweet, “This action will prevent the Castro regime from profiting from U.S. air travel and using the revenues to repress the Cuban people.”

U.S. Reactions

U.S.-based Cuba Educational Travel (CET) warned that this new restriction is another counterproductive action by the Trump Administration as part of a completely failed approach to Cuba. “Travel between the United States and Cuba benefits Cuban families and entrepreneurs, and many American companies. These measures will harm many people, ”said the president of that organization, Collin Laverty. Ending flights to cities that are frequented mainly by Cubans who travel to see their loved ones “is another blow for Cuban families on both sides of the Florida Strait.” CET added that this and earlier travel restrictions imposed by the Trump Administration  lead “to family separation, damage to the private sector of Cuba and the general difficulties for the Cuban people.”

The new restrictions taking effect soon before Christmas and New Year’s will adversely affect many Cuban Americans who flock to the island for family reunions over the holidays.

The president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, John S, Kavulich, said the new restrictions are unlikely to significantly harm the Cuban economy.

Cuban Reactions[2]

Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted that Cuba strongly condemned the move  as strengthening “restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba and its citizens’ freedoms” and that it would not force Cuba to make concessions to the U.S.

Another tweet by Carlos F. de Cossío, head of Cuba’s department of U.S. affairs, said,  “Eager to punish Cuba’s unbreakable defiance, imperialism is going after regular flights to various Cuban cities. It doesn’t matter that they’re affecting family relations, or the modest pocketbooks of most Cubans in both countries.”

The Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s tweet said, “”It is the height of impotence and failure in the face of the dignity of a heroic people that makes them act with viciousness, evil, evil.”

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[1]  State Dep’t, United States Restricts Scheduled Air Service to Cuban Airports (Oct. 25, 2019); Reuters, U.S. bars Airline Flights to All Cuban Airports except Havana From December 10, N.Y. Times (Oct. 25, 2019); Assoc. Press, Washington Banning US Flights to All Cuban Cities but Havana, N.Y. Times (Oct. 25, 2019).

[2] See also Montague, Trump Administration Cuts Flights to Most Cuban Airports, N.Y. Times (Oct. 25, 2019).

[3] See also Suspension of flights to destinations in Cuba, a blow to families, warns travel organization, Cubadebate (Oct. 26, 2019).