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Imágenes curiosas y raras del Primero de Mayo en Cuba

Estos son los muertos y desaparecidos tras la explosión del hotel Saratoga

El servicio militar obligatorio y las manipulaciones de la diplomacia cubana

¿Por qué se ha sentido olor a gas en La Habana?

Países que exigen visa de tránsito para cubanos (2022)

Cubans can’t imagine a New Year’s celebration without roast pork as the main dish. However, the reality on December 31, 2021 was very different for some families: high prices of pork meant that the longed-for food wasn’t featured on many tables.Nostalgic memories include a suckling pig sandwich on the street, pork steak at lunch time and even rearing a pig or two in the middle of the city that later inspired the parody song «La puerca de papa» (Daddy’s Pig) by the comedy group Punto y Coma, over 10 years ago.It was these current shortages and pork prices going up in Cuba that Lucia March, Camilo Condis and Maykel Gonzalez spoke about on the 97th episode of El Enjambre, a podcast by elTOQUE.<div class="ql-embed-external" src="<iframe id='audio_85518770' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='' scrolling='no' height='200' style='width:100%;' src='https://www.ivoox.com/player_ej_85518770_6_1.html' loading='lazy'></iframe>"><iframe id="audio_85518770" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" height="200" style="width:100%;" src="https://www.ivoox.com/player_ej_85518770_6_1.html" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>Lucia referred to a report by Cuban TV News that labeled pork as a luxury on the table of Cubans that decided to keep it in their diets. «The same news feature admitted that the most typical meat in Cuban cuisine is now too expensive to eat in today’s Cuba».«The news said that supply and demand prices of pork went up from 50 pesos in 2020 to over 200», Camilo added. «This week, I saw it selling for 230 pesos per pound and you couldn’t buy it by piece, you had to buy the whole leg. According to official figures shared during the report, some 26,000 tons of pork are expected to be produced this year, which is ridiculously low considering 200,000 tons were produced in 2016».«To give you an idea of just how dire things are», the podcaster continued, «only 52 tons of pork were produced in Sancti Spiritus, in the first few months of 2022. That is the equivalent of how much Cuba used to produce in just one day back in 2018».Emilio Interian, a pork producer interviewed in the news report, said that the main cause of this crisis is shortages of fodder for pigs. The situation is so serious that the farmer has two to three pigs starving to death on him every day, which affects breeding. Births before used to give an average of ten to eleven piglets, but now the average is five to six.The report gave statistics that allow us to quantify the reduction in fodder imports for pigs. In 2017, there were approximately 14,000 producers with pork agreements in Cuba, while there are only 1400 registered pork producers today, which means that 90% of them stopped rearing pigs for sale.«Farmers are buying fodder for pigs via the Gelma marketing company at US dollar prices on the magnetic MLC cards, which has shot up expenses and forced them to hike up prices in order to continue producing. Where does a farmer get MLC (The magnetic cards in USD that people don’t earn in Cuba) to buy fodder from? They have to buy the MLC with their pesos on the illicit market, because there’s no other choice», Camilo explains.<h2>Controversy surrounding the draft Family Act</h2>The young podcasters also mentioned controversial statements made by Pastor Barbaro Marrero Castellanos on Cuban TV show Palabra Precisa, on April 1st. The religious leader was invited to talk about the draft Family Act, along with Pastor Dora Arce Valentin. The program stirred a commotion on social media with Pastor Marrero’s statements and many independent media outlets echoing the news.The pastor said that, in line with the Baptist Church’s teachings, the Family Act has positive aspects such as caring for the disabled, elderly and family conflict resolution strategies. But he also spoke about what he considered to be negative aspects of the Act.«One of the first criticisms he made, which I was completely taken aback by, was that parents’ rights are limited if they aren’t able to use corporal punishment on their children. I never thought that hitting children would be a priority for members of the Church. It never entered my mind that a pastor would say on national TV that he wanted the right to beat his children; moderately, but to hit them. What the hell is that! I don’t understand», Camilo says.«Corporal punishment in our society and country is perfectly normal, it’s been going on since the time of our great-great-grandparents», Maykel points out. «Physical beatings were never a thing in my family because my father had suffered them when he was a child, and he decided he would never beat us, as he believed they were counterproductive».The statement from the religious leader that really sparked outrage was the following: «The Church isn’t called upon to adjust to the times, like we say today; the Church shouldn’t have to adapt, but should rather be a driving force for society to change; the Church isn’t a thermometer that adapts to the weather around it; it is a thermostat that is called upon to establish a healthy climate for society not to become corrupted».In this regard, Camilo said: «This is a tough one because we are talking about a secular State where the Church hasn’t had any formal power since 1959. I’m also shocked that he would say on national TV that the Church is who should be the one defining society’s rules and dictating the laws that we live our lives by».<h2>Growing migration</h2>The El Enjambre podcasters also gave an update on US-Cuba relations, talking about an interview published on Cubanet with US Charge d’Affaires in Cuba, Timothy Zúñiga-Brown.Regarding resuming consular services in Cuba, the US diplimat said that they had been working internally and with the Cuban Government to gradually resume the immigration visa process. He specified that it would only be this kind of visa, not tourism or short-stay visas for the US. He said that they were working on building up their personnel to process more visa applications and that for now applications continued to function at the US Embassy in Guyana.Regarding the current exodus of Cubans towards the US, Zúñiga-Brown pointed out that the number of young people leaving was especially a cause for concern, and the way they leave, especially those who travel by sea. However, he admitted that there had been a turnaround in the flow of people from Cuba who now prefer to migrate by land, which means many more are crossing the border.«We know that many of the main reasons for illegal migration are a lack of economic opportunities, citizen security, and respect for human rights and basic freedoms (…). The agreement that exists is to grant a minimum of 20,000 visas per year, however, the number of people leaving Cuba is much higher than this. I get the idea that there are many more reasons Cubans are leaving Cuba», the US diplomat said.When talking about US-Cuba relations, Zúñiga admitted that they have always been difficult, but that this may be the worst time in decades since the Revolution triumphed. He referred to those arrested during the July 11th protests and appealed to the Cuban Government to respect freedom of thought, speech and assembly, rights recognized by the Cuban Government in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. <blockquote>This article was translated into&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/pigs-without-feed-and-cubans-without-pork/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">English</a>&nbsp;from the original in&nbsp;<a href="https://eltoque.com/cuba-y-sus-mayores-desde-lentes-jovenes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">Spanish</a>.</blockquote><blockquote>Follow&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/is-us-cuba-immigration-remittances-policy-loosening-up/blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(40, 157, 204);">this link</a>&nbsp;to listen to all El Enjambre episodes&nbsp;in Spanish only.</blockquote>

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Pigs without feed and Cubans without pork

HAVANA TIMES – Pornography and erotic representations date back to the oldest times of humanity. Since the Paleolithic era, primitive tribes had already established a totemic cult centered towards procreation, the womb and the phallic cult.
Based on these ancient cults, it is assumed that paleolithic figures of Venus, such as the Willendorf Venus, evoked human admiration for the genitals, motherhood, fertility and eroticism, through breasts and buttocks of exaggerated proportions – with a possible intention to represent pornography.
In Indian culture, especially within philosophies such as that of the Tantra, it was understood that sex was a part of human divinity and at times represented a path towards spiritual enlightenment. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana (400-200 BC) is the epitome of sexuality in Ancient India.
The classical societies of Ancient Greece and the Ancient Roman Empire adopted human sexuality as the basis of artistic expression. The representation of sexual scenes was common in these civilizations; one example being the details in the frescoes of the suburban baths of Pompeii, where scenes with sexually explicit acts are appreciated – including the representations of group sex, homosexual and oral sex.
The modern concept of pornography is defined by the massive commercialization of erotic material, thus abandoning its artistic character and increasing its distribution via mass production, thereby gaining a greater presence dating from the sexual revolution during the 1970s to the present day.
Since the advent of the Internet, pornographic consumption has skyrocketed to astonishing levels. Pornhub, the largest free porn website on the network, received more than 42 billion visits during the year 2019, which is equivalent to the impressive 115 million visits a day. Within the statistics of the site, it was revealed that amateur videos top the list of user preferences and that 32% of people who access the website are women – increasing by 3% compared to the previous year.
Does more internet mean more porn in Cuba?
In Cuba, the increase in Internet access has meant a parallel increase in the consumption of pornography. It still remains far from topping the list of countries with the highest data traffic within the statistics of the Pornhub platform.
However, reports from the site itself, reveal that the increase in Cuba’s participation in the web during the last 5 years has been overwhelming; appearing as one of the leaders in internet surfing growth from cell phones – according to data from 2016. The increase in mobile traffic to Pornhub amongst Cuban users was 310%.
The explanation of this phenomenon became evident since the implementation and increase of Wi-Fi points in the country as of 2013, the reduction in navigation rates in 2015 and the enablement of access through mobile data in December 2018. Therefore, the consumption of pornography in Cuba is under new conditions caused by increased internet access.
To undertake this article, 20 young Cubans were surveyed – aged between 20 and 35 years. 15% confessed to consume online pornography, arguing that the facilities had arisen in the face of greater internet access within recent years. 55% admitted having downloaded pornographic videos from websites such as Bingoporno, Miporno and of course – Pornhub.
What motivates a Cuban to use the Internet to consume porn (at its still relatively expensive price) when the distribution by USBs still works effectively? The possibility of choosing content within greater diversity – was one of the responses of the respondents.
Telegram and its XXX channels
When the cost of Internet browsing is as high as it is in our country, any tool that promises to speed up the process and optimize our search is a treasure. Telegram, the application developed by the Dúrov brothers – launched in 2013, provides the user with a huge amount of multimedia content in the most automatic way possible.
In 2015, the application incorporated the “channels” service. Through this option it is possible to send all types of files on a massive scale; allowing users to subscribe in an open and unlimited way. These channels can be found on the web via a URL – being able to access the entire history of sent messages.
Hundreds of institutions and individuals currently use this route to disseminate their contents, and of course the proliferation of XXX channels was notoriously fruitful.
At the end of the year 2019 there were hundreds of Telegram channels where pornographic content was shared. By subscribing to one of these channels – The Bots – the virtual assistants of Telegram, a board of options is shown with the most diverse sexual content.
In this way, the user can select the variety of his or her preference, and the bot redirects him or her to the videos of that category. This process saves the user considerable navigation time trying to find and select the specific content that they are looking for.
Some of these sites are very active; publishing dozens of daily videos and with several thousand subscribers. There are also channels specializing in home or amateur videos; the category that tops the list of preferences, according to Pornhub statistics.
Of the young people surveyed, 25% admitted to subscribing to an XXX channel on Telegram.
Is pornography morally acceptable?
What is understood as pornography is conditioned by the subjectivities of each person with respect to sex. But the conception is – almost always, of a video or photograph showing sexual intercourse or an explicit sexual act. This explicitness is what the user, spectator, consumer – expects. What the industry has created as an expectation, and what differentiates a pornographic material from an erotic one.
The human being is, in general, highly sensitive to visual stimuli, the inclination to observe sexual scenes is an innate characteristic. The areas of the brain that are activated when watching pornography are the same that are stimulated during sexual intercourse, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter mainly associated with the anticipation of reward that also acts in the programming of memories and of information in the brain.
This means that when the body wants, for example, food or sex, the brain remembers what it must do to get the same pleasure as on previous occasions. This, combined with the accessibility and anonymity provided by the consumption of porn, makes us extremely sensitive subjects to its hyper stimulant effects.
There are conflicting opinions about the morality of pornography; a sector of society condemns it for its commercial nature and because it can trigger an addictive and therefore harmful vice for the individual.
However, a current train of thought considers it an art form, in order to show the beauty of human sexuality. Some defend this precept by arguing that it is a form of freedom, and that it is fundamental to the evolution of a society free from prejudices and taboos.
All of the 20 young people surveyed, confessed to having accessed pornography, 55% of them being women, thus demonstrating that females, who historically represent a smaller percentage, are also consumers of this industry. However, there are few those who dare to admit it – as they remain subjugated to the social prejudices of yesteryear.
The survey also revealed that 70% had made homemade pornographic videos with their partners, 50% had maintained telephone sex, via instant messaging or video calls, and another 35% admitted that they would like to try this practice. The opinions in general of the young people with whom I had the opportunity to spend time with, were of support and acceptance to the porn industry – 95% of them said that they considered it morally acceptable.
However, all agreed on the danger of excess. The scenes that can be seen in porn, as with addictive substances, are hyper stimulant triggers that produce an unnatural secretion of high levels of dopamine, which can deteriorate the reward system of dopamine and render it useless in the face of a natural pleasure source.
Psychiatrist Norman Doidge explains it this way:
“Pornography satisfies each of the prerequisites for neuroplastic change. When pornographers boast that they are going one step further by introducing new and stronger themes, they forget that they must do so because their clients are developing a tolerance to the usual content.”
The data collected by Pornhub reveals that conventional sex is less and less interesting for consumers, who replace it with themes such as incest or violence. The perpetuation of sexual violence is especially worrisome, as it could directly influence the statistics of violent episodes in real life.
What is the position of the Cuban state in the face of the increase in porn consumption in our country?
The current Law no. 62 of the Criminal Code of Cuba (Art. 303, subsection C), penalizes with a penalty of deprivation of liberty ranging from three months to one year, or a fine of 100 to 300 installments to he who “produces or circulates publications, prints, film tapes or tape, recordings, photographs or other objects that are obscene, with a tendency to pervert and degrade customs. ”
What are those objects? What is considered obscene? What can pervert and degrade customs? Which customs? As much as the State tries to keep Cubans outside of the “obscenities” considered improper in the socialist system, the ports of entry always mocked them. If not, how did Playboy magazines and graphic-erotic novels enter the country? And the “original” movies on VHS, with their covers illustrated in colors?
The USB distribution – copying content on external discs – revolutionized the modalities of audiovisual consumption in Cuba. Thus, resulting in the first channel for the “virilization” of content on the Island. Porn, was not left out.
So how could the government control the consumption of porn over the Internet? What mechanisms does one adopt in restricting access to pornographic content for children and adolescents?
Although many have insisted on showing a “neat” image of Cuba in that sense, the consumption of pornography among adolescents is a reality, even within educational centers. In the surveys carried out, 65% confessed to having consumed pornography before the age of 15, and 15% of them admitted to having started watching porn merely out of curiosity.
The most alarming of these figures is that if we take into account that we are talking about the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, when the access and distribution of pornography was negligible compared to the current levels, it can be speculated that the percentages are much higher in children and adolescents today.
There is, at least not legally or publicly registered, any mechanism for the Cuban telecommunications company – ETECSA, to regulate the consumption of pornography – especially the consumption among minors.
These mechanisms could be aimed at identifying the mobile devices of children and adolescents to restrict access to this type of material, create alert generation systems before the attempt to access these devices, by sending notifications to parents, encouraging the use of parental control tools.
These actions could be considered duties of the company with respect to consumption via the Internet. The rest would be the responsibility of families and school institutions, although controlling all distribution channels among minors is practically impossible, especially when there are very popular alternative channels in Cuba, such as Zapya, a mobile application for wireless file sharing, or the USB copy.
The scenario demands to modernize the regulations. It is absurd that the production and distribution of pornographic material is penalized or that its exhibition in theaters is censored and its entry intended to be controlled from abroad, when the Internet remains an open and increasingly popular channel in Cuba, as in the rest of the world, for all those activities.
It’s necessary to admit that the consumption of pornography in Cuba is a fact; open your eyes to the reality of what has been going on for decades and that it is gaining more strength in the face of the internet’s rise and access in our country.
Instead of masking the truths and trying to avoid the tarnishing of this false image of ‘the preservers of good manners and morality’, it is imperative to adapt regulations and laws so that they themselves may adapt to the times we are living in, and thus work so that the explosion of multimedia does not foment crime or especially affect children and adolescents – the most vulnerable to all these changes.
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<blockquote>This article was translated to <a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/pornography-and-the-internet-its-impact-on-cuban-society/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">English</a> from the original in <a href="https://zona-binaria.com/cacharreando/pornografia-e-internet-su-impacto-en-la-sociedad-cubana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spanish</a>.
This text was originally published by the Zona Binaria blog and its author is Jessica Jones. It is fully republished in elToque with the intention of offering varied content and ideas and from different perspectives to our audiences. What is reproduced here is not necessarily the editorial position of our media.
</blockquote>

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Pornography and the Internet: Its Impact on Cuban Society

Over 900 people signed the petition by Feministas Cubanas on Change.org, requesting the Cuban government can open up a corridor of humanitarian flights from the US. Basic essentials, such as medicine and personal hygiene items, would enter the island via this corridor, without Customs restrictions.Addressed to president Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Ministry of Interior and the Council of State and Ministers, the petition asks for mechanisms to be put into place so that Cubans living abroad can travel to the island and deliver these products, as long as they can provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations beforehand.The text mentions the vaccination rate in the US, where “48.4% of the adult population has been vaccinated against the virus, and 60.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccines available in this country,” according to statements from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).It also announces that it is very easy to confirm that US residents wanting to enter Cuba with necessary resources have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as they have a card issued by this very center.“Cuba is facing a serious health crisis right now, with shortages of medicines, food and personal hygiene items, caused by the country’s deteriorating economic situation and the COVID-19 pandemic,” the petition explains at the beginning, recognizing that “unilateral sanctions weigh heavily upon the country” and that “measures implemented by the Cuban government” restrict deliveries of these items.Since February 6th, the Cuban government has cut down on certain flight connections and has canceled others, due to the declining health situation in the country.&nbsp;According to the Cuban Airports and Airport Services Company (ECASA) Facebook page, American Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest and charter flights will continue to fly from the US, on a weekly basis.On the other hand, financial restrictions established by the embargo, as well as the ban on remittances being sent via different platforms (especially via Western Union), have directly affected the way Cubans living abroad can contribute.Given this situation, individuals and organizations are looking for safe ways to send their aid to Cubans living on the island.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> <h4>Humanitarian corridors, humanitarian flights or safe air travel corridors</h4>Not every crisis situation justifies opening up a humanitarian corridor. On December 14, 1990, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 45/100 that stipulated, for the first time, the need to establish this kind of safe route.This resolution defines corridors as a means to facilitate the circulation of humanitarian convoys, victims of armed conflicts and humanitarian personnel. Transfers (of people or aid) normally take place from, or to, a region of armed conflict.According to International Humanitarian Law and its implementation, such are established mostly in the system of peacekeeping missions and refugee protection programs by the UN and other international bodies. Depending on their purpose, safe areas can be defined as: providing humanitarian aid, evacuating endangered persons; and to encourage the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons. Humanitarian corridors can be land, sea or river or air routes.Secondly, agreements between all parties involved are the key to these demilitarized areas. The Cuban government would have to enter in agreement with some US counterpart to establish “every party’s obligations, the principle of national sovereignty, the territorial integrity of the State in question” and respect for the so-called “Guiding Principles on the Right to Humanitarian Assistance“, which were written up at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, in 1992.The five restrictions allude to:<ol><li>Time: humanitarian corridors are established during an emergency period, during which you have the right to travel and provide aid for as long as needed. As a result, if a corridor of humanitarian flights were established to bring medicine into Cuba, this would be limited to a fixed duration of time outlined between both parties.</li><li>Space: the most direct route possible to the destination should be established. This means that if a corridor of humanitarian flights is established, medicines would leave from a certain place, and arrive at a certain place. Yet, the US government has banned charter flights from the US from reaching Cuban provinces, since March 10, 2020. In this case, mechanisms would have to be established and monitored so that aid can reach other provinces in Cuba, once they arrive at Jose Marti International Airport, in Havana.</li><li>Objects: according to the San Remo document, only care items, medicines, emergency medical/surgical materials and food should be transported. In this case, people responsible for bringing aid are normally considered “humanitarian personnel”, and they are duly trained and focused on delivering and supervising aid. They should not be citizens living in one country, who are visiting citizens living in another.</li><li>Practice: humanitarian corridors should not threaten peace, order or State security, in the places they are established.</li><li>Ethical restrictions imply a respect for impartiality, and the obligation to prevent assistance from being diverted. In regard to these last two principles, the State receiving assistance will have to recognize a state of crisis and allow international organizations and humanitarian personnel to verify the mechanisms established to manage this assistance and that they comply with the agreement.</li></ol>On the other hand, humanitarian flights and repatriation are normally used to transport passengers who have been left stranded in other countries, who require emergency medical treatment, or to take refugees away from areas of armed conflict, or to transport humanitarian assistance.Generally-speaking, assistance is delivered via humanitarian personnel, not citizens who are interested in offering help. Their services should be free, as paying for this assistance goes against the humanitarian essence.Furthermore, respective States, diplomatic missions, embassies, and aeronautical authorities involved must be responsible for organizing this assistance and covering costs. Once again, this depends on the agreement outlined between involved parties and under the San Remo’s five guiding principles.Finally, safe air corridors have been applied in many countries, especially in the European Union, to ensure tourist travel between two countries with a similar Rt rate.They normally go through different phases, depending on the health situation in the countries that decide to open up an air corridor. These phases range from more limited movement, to slowly lifting border controls, as the pandemic situation in both places improves.Every country can outline its own methodology to create a corridor, but they normally have to receive authorization from international health organizations, that confirm or verify the States’ information about the pandemic and its impact.<h4>Citizen-led assistance</h4><figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> This isn’t the first time that civil society groups or activists have created a petition for humanitarian aid to Cuba. One of the most popular was the letter signed by professor Carlos Lazo, which gained over 15,000 signatures, to the US president at the time, Donald Trump, asking the US to lift sanctions against Cuba during the pandemic. Months later, he wrote an open letter to Joe Biden with the same objective, that gained over 20,000 signatures.Some of the most repetitive humanitarian petitions on platforms such as Change.org, and which involve the Cuban and US governments, have to do with opening up the US Embassy in Havana again so it offers all services, visa applications etc.; restoring the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program) which was suspended in 2017; the elimination of strict Cuban Customs regulations; and the chance to send unlimited remittances back to Cuba.Recent petitions for sending medicines to Cuba are now joining this list, and they involve three key routes: direct deliveries via courier services, raising money for buying sanitary materials via international organizations and money donations and resources for Cuban NGOs or NGOs based in Cuba.The first route is mainly for organized citizens who use their own means to buy medicines and send them using different delivery platforms.However, this tends to be the most expensive way, as prices depend on the weight of the delivery, as well as the expense of buying medicines. So, promoters are asking that charter and commercial flights begin to fly to Cuba more frequently, and for Customs restrictions to be lifted, so they can deliver this aid in person.In this case, ensuring transparency of the delivery of resources will be a challenge, as aid directed to individuals or groups of people will make it difficult to register.Organizers of these initiatives normally make appeals on social media so that networks can be formed in different countries, thereby minimizing delivery and purchase costs.One of the more popular petitions has been the one organized by Reynaldo Lastre and Eilyn Lombard, which was shared on Facebook by the academic Mabel Cuesta. According to the organizers, they were able to raise “almost 3000 USD and infinite kilos of medicines” in less than 24 hours, Cuesta posted on her personal profile.In a more recent post, Cuesta explained that half of the load was currently in Havana, according to the tracking service used by the delivery agency, and the rest will arrive at Varadero and Santa Clara Airports, coming from Canada.She also posted on her page that they have received “a huge donation of medicines: antibiotics, surgical supplies, vitamins, gloves, digestive medicines, Omega, everything…”, and now they are collecting money via PayPay to send this as a package to Cuba.The second route is used by international organizations and cooperation agencies, to contribute towards the COVID-19 vaccination process. Normally, big anti-US embargo campaigns are articulated, that seek to gain individual donors and organizations, so that once they’ve raised their target, this money can then be used to buy resources.Cuba is using this mechanism to ask for help to buy syringes, needles and masks. The Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association and its network of members had managed to buy and send a container with 1,920,000 syringes by April 12th, and they are preparing the second one.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> From Europe, the SODEPAZ organization has promised to collaborate in raising funds to buy 10 million syringes with the slogan “Blockades kill, your solidarity gives life”, and UN agencies such as UNICEF and PAHO have also delivered kits with supplies for COVID-19 health emergencies.Puentes de Amor, project by professor Carlos Lazo, NEMO (Cuba Anti-Embargo Movement) and Codepink: Women for Peace&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/us-cuba-humanitarian-corridor/blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">have also launched</a>&nbsp;a campaign to raise funds to buy syringes.According to the organizers, they have a 100,000 USD target so they can send 3 million syringes to Cuba. Lazo himself said that “the US Department of the Treasury has granted a licence so that funds can be raised to buy syringes for Cuba.”In these cases, donations would reach health authorities, who would then be responsible for distributing these resources to hospitals or care units and ensure they are being used ethically.The third route to send medicines to Cuba consists of getting in touch with different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are working in Cuba. People, groups and organizations that get in touch with NGOs to deliver these resources to them.The NGOs would then be responsible for distributing this aid and applying accountability mechanisms to donors. Caritas and the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Center are two of the NGOs that are normally in charge of collecting and distributing donations: the latter mostly coming from Pastors for Peace caravans.&nbsp;This article was translated into <a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/us-cuba-humanitarian-corridor/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">English</a> from the original in <a href="https://eltoque.com/un-corredor-humanitario-de-estados-unidos-a-cuba" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spanish</a>.

Hombre camina por La Habana, ciudad, Cuba, alimentación, Capitolio. Foto: Natalia Favre.

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US-Cuba Humanitarian Corridor?

Reusing is an everyday activity in Cuba. Giving a second or third life to objects after they’ve served their original purpose has become so naturalized, that few people understand the importance what they do out of necessity has on the environment.Within the business community and for many years, Cubans have been putting into practice a concept that is currently booming right now, especially in industrialized countries, and they didn’t even know it: sharing, renting out, reusing, repairing and recycling materials as many times as possible, looking after natural resources and thereby respecting Nature.“The circular economy isn’t new on the island. The clearest example of this is people going out to buy perfume bottles to refill them. We don’t agree with this business because these perfumes don’t have a quality certification and everything else, but you can see the intention of reaching a circular economy, maybe not even knowing about it or being aware of it,” Budery Dueñas explains, a member of the Negolution community.Like its name indicates, the term refers to the circular cycle that optimizes use of resources, renewing products, choosing renewable energy sources. It’s a production and consumer model that goes against the linear economy: manufacture, use and waste.Many Cuban small private businesses make or have mechanisms to implement a circular economy; however, they don’t know what it is exactly or have the tools to implement it.Dueñas gives the example of a hairdresser who wastes a lot of water every day with remains of dye, shampoo, conditioner, and she doesn’t know how she can avoid wasting it.She also knows young women at a carpenter’s workshop, where a lot of sawdust is created and they don’t know what to do with it. “They are aware that this is a material in high-demand by people with cats because of its ability to absorb urine and dehydrate faeces,” she says.However, they have no idea how to close this cycle and make sawdust a product they can give away or sell.“It’s worth pointing out that the circular economy isn’t about donating waste, like many people think it is. You can still earn money from what you consider waste, because it’s a raw material to somebody else,” Budery Dueñas explains.The environment is the “raw material”While some businesses are structuring themselves and exploring new strategies, there are others who set out on being sustainable and implementing the circular economy, as much as they could, from the get-go. Some use what seems completely useless, and others responsibly use what Nature gives them: rain, sun, plants…Selva&nbsp;is one of these alternatives, an eco-friendly business that promotes environmental awareness and works in two different aspects: textiles and cosmetics.<figure class="image-ql" src="/uploads/Carteras_SELVA_5ca3e87bd3.jpg" alt="" caption="" width="50" style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="/uploads/Carteras_SELVA_5ca3e87bd3.jpg" alt=""></a></figure>“We collect recycled materials, whether that means buying it or calling on our customers to exchange clothes they no longer wear for discount coupons in our store. We also use eco-friendly fabrics that don’t pollute the environment, such as cotton or linen, and we combine them with natural fibers such as wicker and beads, materials that are produced locally,” its founder Ena Maria Morales says.<figure class="image-ql" src="/uploads/Accesorios_SELVA_1_bbec0bfea0.jpg" alt="" caption="" width="50" style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="/uploads/Accesorios_SELVA_1_bbec0bfea0.jpg" alt=""></a></figure>When it comes to natural cosmetics,&nbsp;Selva&nbsp;has formed partnerships with different farms and small backyards in Havana’s Marianao municipality, where they get their 100% organic supplies.“Every farm gives us different supplies such as coconut oil, sunflower seeds which we also use to extract oil. There are backyards that give us peanuts; it all depends on the machinery they have. Others provide us with aloe vera, basil, moringa, prickly pears, sage and bamboo,” she explains.All of&nbsp;Selva’s products come with a label made out of plantable seed paper, with mostly vegetable seeds. The initiative intends to involve customers in the same eco-friendly practices that the business encourages.<figure class="image-ql" src="/uploads/Etiqueta_plantable_SELVA_f4b72cd660.jpg" alt="" caption="Selva’s plantable label. Photo: Courtesy of Ena Maria Morales" width="50" style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="/uploads/Etiqueta_plantable_SELVA_f4b72cd660.jpg" alt=""></a>Selva’s plantable label. Photo: Courtesy of Ena Maria Morales</figure>According to Ena, it’s very hard to talk about a sustainabele model that doesn’t involve her customers or supply chains. “This cycle first includes supplies, then ourselves as responsible creators and then, the customers as buyers who are conscious of what you’re making. It’s a large network to control; it’s difficult.”Both&nbsp;Selva&nbsp;and&nbsp;OroZuz, a business focusing on creating infusions with herbs, fruit and flowers, have their own problems when it comes to implementing a circular economy. However, they both agree that they need a space where getting their raw materials and making the final product meet. Otherwise, fuel, transport and time are used that prevents the cycle from completely closing.<figure class="image-ql" src="/uploads/Accesorio_bicicleta_7218ce52ec.jpg" alt="" caption="" width="50" style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="/uploads/Accesorio_bicicleta_7218ce52ec.jpg" alt=""></a></figure><figure class="image-ql" src="/uploads/Bolso_SELVA_e733bb39a2.jpg" alt="" caption="" width="50" style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="/uploads/Bolso_SELVA_e733bb39a2.jpg" alt=""></a></figure>Nevertheless, according to William Bello, CubaEmprende’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, while businesses don’t always have a circular economy that’s 100%, projects are being developed that strike a balance between society and the environment.“It’s hard, but it’s not impossible. It all depends on the business model, access to technology, resources. More general matters also come into play, such as access to funding for an initial investment. Current inflation rates in the country make this especially hard, as resources dilute down in exchange rates or in the way businesses receive funds.”Dueñas believes that in addition to economic obstacles, there are also hurdles that Cubans put in their own way out of their fear for “there isn’t any, I can’t, they won’t let me.”In this kind of business, the ingenuity comes from investing in processes, that is to say, not looking for what you need but in how you can make a specific product, without knowing what you have to work with and figuring out how you can do this.The greatest dilemma when it comes to implementation is not knowing what a circular economy is and the poor dissemination of this concept in our country.“The Special Period (1990s crisis) was a “university degree” in circular economy,” Dueñas says. However, very few people are aware of the concept, its benefits and the need to implement it. Can you imagine lots of people knowing they can form part of a greater network? Now, it’s up to us to provide this information.”&nbsp;This is why on April 28th, the Dutch Embassy launced the 2022 Circular Economy Orange Competition, alongside the Credit4Cuba foundation, for private business owners and SMEs in Cuba with innovative and sustainable ideas, so as to encourage and connect businesses.Participants can sign up until May 25th and the deadline for submitting a business plan is August 1st. Every member needs to take a course in modules on circularity and learn how to draw up their project. The award for the top three projects will be an educational trip to the Netherlands. <blockquote>This article was translated into&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/recycling-materials-is-a-natural-must-do-for-cubans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">English</a>&nbsp;from the original in&nbsp;<a href="https://eltoque.com/economia-circular-o-el-negocio-cubano-de-los-desechos" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">Spanish</a>.</blockquote> ﻿

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Recycling Materials Is a Natural Must-Do for Cubans

May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed it so in 1993. The date deliberately coincides with the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration. This document was written up by representatives of the African press and establishes the principles of freedom of the press.According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of speech is a fundamental right. It also stipulates that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”With this premise as a guide, general principles of freedom of the press explain that there is only an independent press if it is free from “governmental, political or economic control or from control of materials and infrastructure essential for the production and dissemination of newspapers, magazines and periodicals.”It also recognizes that “by a pluralistic press, we mean the end of monopolies of any kind and the existence of the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within the community.”&nbsp;Another May 3rd came around in Cuba and there are still no safeguards for these principles. It’s a society where key media outlets are controlled by the only existing political party, and those who try to be independent are criminalized, stigmatized, and persecuted.This persecution not only happens to independent professional journalists, but also to citizens who express their concerns on social media, in the public space and on alternative communication channels to report the reality in their neighborhood or society. Laws such as Decree Law 370 and 35 lay out restrictions and sanctions for expressions in the virtual space, and the draft bill of the new Penal Code further expands upon this.Within this context, it’s especially important for Cubans that the UN chose the theme: “Journalism under digital siege”, to shine a light on this year for World Press Freedom Day. A theme spotlights “the multiple ways recent developments in surveillance, as well as big data collection&nbsp;and artificial intelligence (AI), impact journalism, freedom of expression&nbsp;and privacy. Also, under the spotlight will be digitally-mediated attacks on journalists, and the consequences of all this on public trust in digital communications,” the UN website reads.Network surveillance – which independent journalists, opposition members and activists suffer in Cuba – is seen as a threat to the exercise of freedom of the press, in other parts of the world. In UNESCO’s last report on World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development (“Threats that Silence”), electronic and digital surveillance endanger journalism all around the world. The report says that surveillance endangers journalists’ safety because it reveals sensitive and personal information that can be used to harass them in court or to attack them arbitrarily.On World Press Freedom Day, we, here at El Toque, want to recognize all the Cuban journalists who suffer harassment, surveillance and repression for practicing their profession. Especially Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca, who has been in prison for approximately 300 days for exercising journalism and standing up to the status quo. This article was translated into&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/opinion/reporting-isnt-a-crime-but-in-cuba-its-treated-as-such/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">English</a>&nbsp;from the original in&nbsp;<a href="https://eltoque.com/informar-no-es-delito-cuba-asedio-a-la-libertad-de-prensa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">Spanish</a>.

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Reporting Isn’t a Crime, but in Cuba It’s Treated as Such

Caraqueña. Licenciada en Comunicación Social, mención Periodismo, de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.

Ten children are sitting with their mothers in a waiting room at a health center in Santa Lucia, in the Paz Castillo de Valles del Tuy municipality, Miranda state, waiting for their turn to see the doctor.&nbsp;They are children whose bones can be easily seen poking out under their thin skin. Their eyes are sunken in deep bags. With a blank stare, fixed on some point on the white walls.Any energy seems to have slipped away from these young 1-to-3-year-olds. They don’t laugh or cry. They don’t fidget. None of them wants to get up and run about.Perhaps this lack of enthusiasm is the result of not eating properly: they only eat one corn&nbsp;arepa&nbsp;without any filling, or a cup of rice per day.Their young mothers anxiously await their turn to go in and see the specialist who has called them in this February morning, in 2019.&nbsp;They were told that he could help their children reach the normal weight for their age and develop normally.The doctor’s office door opens and a young, tall man begins to call each patient in. He has a kind look in his eyes, a gentle tone in his voice and smiles. These are details that a mother always remembers and appreciates.Once inside, the man welcomes them. The children are first examined by doctor Francisco Peñalver, to determine their health condition, confirm malnutrition and verify that the child doesn’t suffer any other ailment that could be counter-productive to the treatment they’ll receive.Then, the young man takes over again. He asks them about their dietary habits.&nbsp;They respond by saying they only eat corn&nbsp;arepas&nbsp;on their own, or with margarine spread, beans or lentils and rice. Then, he checks the complete blood results of the tests they’ve had.All of this information is enough to begin a treatment that intends to bring these ten children back to the appropriate weight and size for their age (which they haven’t reached because of nutritional deficiencies in their early years), in just 21 days.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" contenteditable="false"><img src="null" alt="null"></figure>This kind man is Oscar Vasquez, a nutritionist who graduated from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). He believes in this process: he has waited two years before being able to carry out the final test for his research.Oscar has always wanted to help people. He used to dream of being a doctor when he was a little boy. However, growing into a teenager, he realized that Medicine isn’t what they show you on a TV series. He didn’t like the sight of blood. So, when he graduated and got his Batchelor’s degree, he applied himself – and ended up – studying Nutrition and Diet at the UCV.Over time, he began to like the field. He realized that nutrition is just as important as Medicine. It’s the basis for preventing diseases, and is also key in treating some. He liked doing rounds in the hospital and carrying out research.He received his degree in 2010. He began to work at a health clinic, taking care of patients.&nbsp;In 2016, Venezuela was already elbow-deep into a profound economic crisis, that took its toll on the population’s diet. That year, there was not a single child out of the 20 that he would see every day, that left his office without being diagnosed with moderate or acute malnutrition.Mothers, fathers and grandmothers would come crying buckets out of desperation, which meant they didn’t have the financial means to take home a decent shopping, or because they spent all day waiting in long lines at food stores and they weren’t able to get the food they needed.Every day, Oscar would run into skinny children, skin hanging off their bones and with a lost gaze, in the streets of his community in Los Valles del Tuy, and in Caracas’ streets.Oscar did everything he could to help his patients. They were children living in extreme poverty, so he would refer them to a soup kitchen in his community where they could at least eat one decent meal, every day.He knew that he couldn’t prescribe them drinks like PediaSure or Sustagen for two reasons: 1) the children’s parents didn’t have the means to pay for them and 2) the child’s condition was already precarious, because these supplements need to be mixed up with water.&nbsp;Plus, in communities where running water supplies are neither regular nor quality, the product can become contaminated. This would only make things worse.It was in 2016 that Oscar began to study his Masters in Food, Nutrition and Meal Preparation. He had to develop the subject for his thesis from the very beginning. Thinking about everything he would see day in and day out, he knew he had to focus on doing something that could help alleviate the situation.He had the great idea of creating a food supplement to counteract the effects of malnutrition.&nbsp;He went through all of the possibilities. He carried out market studies for the ingredients he needed. In early 2018. Oscar began to develop his food after his teachers gave him the green light.First of all, he took recommendations from the Codex Alimentariusm the UN’s international food regulations for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), as his guide.This manual stipulates that a requirement of this product is that it is enriched with “premix”, a combination of vitamins and minerals that provide the child with a daily percentage of nutrients, to make up for any deficiencies.In order to get the perfect mix, Oscar researched the components of an endless list of possible ingredients for his food. Then, he evaluated the formula of different products with trials, analysis and statistics.All of the ingredients he chose for producing his food were bought in Venezuela. That was part of his objective: for it to be made with local ingredients, with no need for imports.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" contenteditable="false"><img src="null" alt="null"></figure>Oscar’s project was ambitious and fascinated those who work in the nutrition and food manufacture business. One person from the acquaintances of his professors, advisers and his tutor, came forward and wanted to make a significant and anonymous contribution: they funded the purchase of supplies to make the premix, food trials, lab exams and the final product.Sesame, nance fruit, peanuts and cocoa were the ingredients Oscar chose to begin his preparations.At that time, the investment was 700,000 bolivars (approximately 1700 USD) after the currency revaluation on August 20th 2018, a significant amount and Oscar wouldn’t have been able to pay this out of his own pocket.He made five products for his study in labs at the Department of Biological Sciences, in the Postgraduate Tech and Food course at Simon Bolivar University.One was made with nance fruit, another one was made with nance fruit and chocolate, another one was made out of peanuts and another one was made out of peanuts and chocolate, with the last one being made with just sesame seeds. They were all accompanied by powdered milk, oil and a mineral and vitamin premix and iron.Then, he moved to the assessment stage in which he asked 100 children to taste the five samples, as well as “Ready-to-use therapeutic food”, an international protein food that NGOs use, that even the National Institute of Nutrition in Venezuela uses, to treat malnutrition in its patients.The latter he took the initiative itself, as a challenge and for the product that was being created. He wanted to weigh the acceptance of Oscar’s food with the international formula.This test was carried out so that children could indicate which product they liked the most, through descriptions of taste, smell and tact.89% of children said that the food they liked the most was the peanut and chocolate one. When comparing Oscar’s food to the international model, the children continued to like the peanut and chocolate one.There was a winner.Unlike other products, including Ready-to-use therapeutic food, Oscar wanted his product to forego the need to be mixed with any liquid for ingestion, which would reduce the risk of contamination.So, he concentrated on creating a kind of chocolate-colored paste, with a creamy consistency, that can be eaten on its own by squeezing it out of the packet. As it would be consumed by children with deficiencies and a lack of strength, the consistency of a cream was better than that of a biscuit, as children normally lose their energy to chew.It was a fact: he had created the perfect formula in two years.It wasn’t easy to work with hyperinflation working against him: in addition to food prices going up and the blockade on vitamins (for the premix), there were also shortages in Venezuelan stores, as well as expensive costs for microbiological trials and nutrient analysis.Oscar wouldn’t have been able to dodge certain obstacles without the support he found along the way. As quotes were only valid for 24 hours that had Oscar chasing after his funder for the money before prices changes, labs helped him by freezing their analysis prices, or only increasing them only slightly.That February morning in 2019, in that doctor’s office in Los Valles del Tuy, Oscar thought about the journey that had led him to this moment of applying the treatment to these children.He had decided to carry out the practical aspect of his thesis in the community where he lives because it’s easy to travel to, and because he can dedicate the time he needs to every child’s consultation and the product’s administration without any interruptions.Knocking on door to door, Oscar and Francisco found children with different ailments in addition to malnutrition: diarrhea, fever, vomiting, infections, rashes… They were referred to hospitals so they could recover a little and then opt for the malnutrition treatment. The children that didn’t suffer from any other disease, and weren’t allergic to peanuts or cocoa, were called to the doctor’s office.Ten children aged between 1-3 were chosen.&nbsp;The treatment is designed to prevent the loss of intellectual abilities because of a lack of nutrients, and to be used in children under 5, because they are more vulnerable during this phase of their lives and their nervous systems are developing.That morning, they were diagnosed to figure out what their nutritional deficiencies were. Before a clinical check-up, they were told to remove parasites. Many of them had inflated bellies. They were all anemic, without energy to even walk.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" contenteditable="false"><img src="null" alt="null"></figure>&nbsp;Then, Oscar told every child how much food they needed, depending on the kind of malnutrition they were suffering. UNICEF states that children with moderate malnutrition should be given two 100g packets of the supplement (like the one he developed), while children with acute malnutrition should have three.After that first session, which began the treatment, Oscar and Francisco would go to see the children every week and check them over to see if everything was going well.Every consultation took approximately 40 minutes, because they needed a nutritional assessment as well as a medical evaluation. They wanted to make sure that they were taking the right amount of food.Over the days, the children’s recovery was so great that it could be seen with your eyes.&nbsp;Soon, smiles began to appear of the faces of those children, their bodies took on a better composition. Oscar saw that they were more lively and awake. He noticed that their eyes were now twinkling.Seeing their children make such progress with this food, the mothers thanked Oscar and Francisco, and were moved to tears.On average, the product managed to make the group gain 2.5 kg each in body weight, an extremely significant figure which children were able to reach in less than a month.On the whole, they went from moderate malnutrition to a healthy weight. This recovery in record time was due to the high calorie concentration in the product, which makes the child recover a lot faster.These results were a lot more encouraging than what even Oscar was expecting: the product can be used in food and nutritional emergencies where acute malnutrition happens the most.In order to not lose progress made, Oscar referred the patients and their parents to an NGO after the study finished, so that they could continue to receive assistance.Oscar’s thesis got the highest grade: the jury gave him a published mention. He presented it on February 13th 2020.When he thinks about a word to best sum up everything he experienced with his project, “gratitude” is the one that shines in Oscar’s mind.&nbsp;Gratitude is what he feels for all of the people and centers who helped him. Gratitude for what he sees in the mothers of his recovered patients’ eyes, and in the children themselves, who are now smiling and restless.This is why now he has an even more ambitious dream, and he hopes to be able to make it true as soon as the COVID-19 emergency ends. For the food he created to be mass produced. He says that this is how he will continue to help people. Which is what he has always wanted to do.——* This article was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lavidadenos.com/gratitud-es-la-palabra-que-lo-resume/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">originally published in La vida de nos</a>&nbsp;in Venezuela, and has been reproduced as part of the Human Journalism Network. It was translated into <a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/venezuelan-nutritionist-creates-food-for-malnourished-children/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">English</a> from its previous reproduction in <a href="https://eltoque.com/nutricionista-venezolano-crea-alimento-terapeutico-para-ninos-con-desnutricion/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spanish</a>.

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