While United Nations international solidarity and solidarity expert, Ms. Dandan, runs the island through the hands of Cuban exespies and government and non-government officials of the dictatorship without meeting once with independent organizations, the dramatic crisis of Housing in Cuba is news again.
In this week’s sessions in the National Assembly of People’s Power, the only parliament in this hemisphere that meets six days a year and unanimously approves it, it was reported that the housing deficit increased to 883,050 units and affects 2.6 million Cubans. This is a much lower figure than the real, as experts estimate that the housing deficit amounts to no less than 1.5 million homes.
Generally the regime does not include in its statistics the hundreds of thousands of houses that have to be repaired or rebuilt completely, nor the tens of thousands of people who live in shelters in medieval conditions. More than two-thirds of the homes need capital or partial repairs, and many are either propped up to collapse, or have already partially collapsed. Total landslides do not cease, and with fatalities. Since 1960 all the plans have been breached and the government has stopped building 1.5 million homes, exactly the country’s current deficit. The housing situation is a central factor in the current social crisis in the country.
But there is also no progress in connectivity with the Internet as we approach the end of the second decade of the third millennium.
Miguel Díaz-Canel, alleged second man of the government, far from showing signs of being tempered by the necessary opening demanded by Cuban society, made a call to censor and control the internet even more, in a country that has the sad record of being the Less connected region of Latin America to the third most important technological revolution in modern history. And he intended to celebrate that connectivity had tripled when the benchmark was tiny. Statistical manipulation has rarely been so obvious as to generate amiable press headlines. Cuba remains by far the most disconnected country in the Americas. The crisis of digital connectivity constitutes a central element of the crisis to be inserted in the 21st century.
Apparently abroad there are governments that do not let themselves be easily dazzled by these media adventures. The European Union adopted a resolution ending the previous Common Position and opening the possibility that the bloc could have bilateral agreements with the island.
But the final approval process involves ratification by each of the more than two dozen parliaments of the countries that make up that bloc. The Spanish government postponed the “thaw” implemented by the European Union with Havana. He postponed the vote on that agreement and postponed the trip of the chancellor Alfonso Dastis – as well as those of the head of government (Rajoy) and the King – to the island. The government of Mariano Rajoy prefers to wait for Raul Castro to deliver the presidency in February.
Nor was it pleasing to Havana that the resolution should be accompanied by a clause indicating that progress in implementing the agreements would be accompanied by a regular review of the state of basic human rights.
Meanwhile, Cuba is being increasingly affected by the crisis in Venezuela whose regime runs behind the scenes. It was known that the delivery of Venezuelan oil to the island in the first half of the year was reduced by another 13%. The blackouts begin to resurface and the involvement of transport of all kinds in Cuba brings bad memories of the so-called “special period”.
The problem is that the island does not have the money to buy oil in the market and Russia made clear to General Castro that he will only send him oil if he now pays for it.
Cuban society, its economy, social situation and governability, is approaching a time of storm.
FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA.
Weekly news
POLITICAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Call on the Electoral Commission to respect the law
Activists determined to run as candidates in the 2018 municipal elections in Cuba denounced the regime’s harassment to desist from its purpose. The government, specifically the MININT, exercises coercion against candidates for candidates, as well as on the group of Citizens Observers of Electoral Processes (COPE), Manuel Cuesta Morúa.
Díaz-Canel calls for more control of Internet content in Cuba
Miguel Díaz-Canel, the first vice-president of the State Council, insisted that we have to “counteract the avalanche of pseudocultural and banal content” of the Internet, replacing it with the “contents of the Revolution in social networks.” He warned that Internet connectivity is a “complex process” that “cuts across economics and ideology.”
Cuban Parliament: spearhead against human rights
“Granma,” the rest of the official press and Cubadebate have hidden the declaration of the National Assembly in response to the resolution on Cuba approved in the European Parliament. The systematic practice of misinforming citizens is the first violation of human rights in Cuba, says analyst Marlene Azor in an article published in Cuba.
Madrid delays the ‘thaw’ with Havana
The Popular Party, which rules Spain, deferred the vote on the new Brussels Agreement with the Cuban government and postponed the trip of Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis to the island. Spanish media say that the government wants to wait for the changes of power in Havana next February 24, when General Raul Castro will leave the presidency.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499730740_32478.html
Opinions from residents about the issues that should be addressed by the National Assembly
Cuban residents on the island expressed their views on the issues that should have been addressed by the deputies in the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power. They said that they should address the shortage of food and medicines, the poor state of the streets, or freedom of expression, rather than the sale of toys and TV programming.
https://www.cubanet.org/noticias/la-anpp-analiza-la-economia-y-discute-sobre-juguetes-y-tv-infantil/
European Legislator urges regime to make a peacefully transition to democracy
Antonio López-Istúriz, general secretary of the European People’s Party (PPE), was “surprised” by the Cuban government’s protest over the human rights clause included in the agreement with the European Union and urged him to use these energies in ” Find the way for a peaceful transition to an inevitable democracy on the island. “
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499470468_32422.html
‘ Subhuman’ conditions in the prison of Combinado del Este are revealed.
Yosvany Martínez and Ismael Boris Reñí of UNPACU were released after a year of imprisonment in the Combinado del Este, where beatings were frequent. I said I called the conditions “inhumane” there. He explained that in his section the hygiene was terrible, and that the walls and the ceiling dripped over them the water of sanitary toilets.
Cuban Opposition: Europe has decided to legitimize the Cuban dictatorship.
A group of Cuban opponents has issued a letter of protest over the recent agreement signed between the European Union (EU) and the Cuban government. The agreement, say the activists who signed the letter, has served to “formally legitimize the Cuban dictatorship” that is responsible for the “disaster in our land” and the conflict in Venezuela.
https://www.cubanet.org/noticias/europa-ha-decidido-formalmente-legitimar-la-dictadura-cubana/
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/opositores-envian-carta-a-union-europea/148477.html
Opposition doctor Eduardo Cardet is awarded the ‘Freedom of Conscience Award’
The Peace and Cooperation Foundation presented the ‘Freedom of Conscience Award’ to opposition doctor Eduardo Cardet, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) in Madrid. The prize was collected in his name by Regis Iglesias, MCL spokesman. The award was given in support of the Cuban transition and as a request for the release of all political prisoners in Cuba.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1499950450_32540.html
Release of opposition leader after ‘horrible’ year in a women’s prison
Aimara Nieto, detained with her husband and another activist when she distributed leaflets to the population, returned home after a year in Guatao women’s prison, Havana. The UNPACU activist described life as “horrible” in that prison, and said that all women prisoners, whether opponents or not, were victims of great injustices because “everything there its arbitrary”.
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-liberan-activista-aimara-nieto-munoz/148887.html
A Castro deputy travels to the US on political propaganda tour
Víctor Lemagne, deputy and Secretary General of the hotel and tourism trade union of Cuba, is on a tour of the US making Castro propaganda. Taking advantage of what remains of Obama’s “thaw”, Lemagne speaks of wonders about labor rights in Cuba. “I’ve seen a lot of people living under the bridges, that does not exist in Cuba,” he said at the University of Berkeley, California.
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/alto-cuadro-de-la-ctc-recorre-eeuu-en-gira-de-propaganda/148560.html
On the brink of jail Ladies in White accused of not paying fines.
The Ladies in White Daysi Artiles and Maylén González, were detained as they prepared to participate in the Todos Marches Day, are about to go to jail because they are not willing to pay the unfair fines imposed on them, declared Lourdes Esquivel, a member of the Opposition group, in the program Contact Cuba of Radio Martí.
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-damas-de-blanco-calabozos-impago-de-multas/148573.html
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND LABOR RIGHTS
More than 2.6 million Cubans affected by homelessness
The housing deficit recognized by the regime in the National Assembly of 883,050 homes affects more than 2.6 million Cubans. The Housing Director, Vivian Rodríguez, admitted that one of the causes of the crisis is “the deterioration of buildings.” Neither the scarce state construction, nor the purchase and sale, nor the subsidies to construction on account.
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/espiral-descendente-de-la-vivienda-en-cuba-no-se-detiene/148947.html
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499890100_32527.html
Oil supply from Venezuela to Cuba falls by 13%.
Shipments of crude oil and fuels from Venezuela to Cuba fell by 13% in the first half of 2017, state oil company PDVSA reported. The bulk of the reduction in shipments was in crude for refineries, which dropped to 42,310 barrels a day. In total Venezuela sent to Cuba 72,350 barrels of crude oil and light products, about 35,000 barrels less than two years ago.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499969205_32547.html
Well-known agricultural market of Cuatro Caminos goes to the military .
By December 2019 the traditional Cuatro Caminos market for agricultural products at low prices, since 1920, will be a luxurious shopping center. The building, rich in historical and cultural meanings, will be managed by the CIMEX group, which belongs to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which seeks to raise foreign exchange in this huge market
https://www.cubanet.org/facebook/cuatro-caminos-ya-no-volvera-ser-un-mercado-popular/
Forbes Magazine: US travel to Cuba is a ‘zombie’ market
Forbes magazine does not believe that the US travel market to the island has been affected or affected by Washington’s policy change. The publication points out that this market has always been “zombie” and, therefore, it is difficult to kill what was already dead. “The Americans who flew to Cuba after the market opened last year quickly discovered that there is not much to do there,” Forbes adds.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499455711_32415.html
Two dead and eight workers injured in another landslide
Two workers were killed and another 8 were injured on 11 July as a result of the collapse of several walls on the second floor of the Hotel Comercio in Caibarién, Villa Clara, the official Granma newspaper reported. Mariela Villareal de Dios, vice president of Popular Power in Caibarién, explained that “the deceased were buried under the rubble”.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499802908_32505.html
I don’t make the laws” responds official to complaints of the population
Several residents of Centro Habana complained that they could not start the process of legalizing home ownership because of “an error in construction licenses issued before 2015.” An official of Physical Planning responded: “I do not make the law, if there is a claim of law, it is not for me who has to solve its affectations.”
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499521289_32436.html
Group feeding the needy suffers heavy harassment from MININT
Two months after the kitchen utensils were taken over, activists in charge of providing food to homeless people in Colón, Matanzas, continue their community work despite police harassment. “Yesterday we gave the food and we had a very big operation” of the MININT, informed Francisco Rangel, manager of the Tondique project in Matanzas. “So we all shared 37 meals,” he added.
Increase in traffic accidents due to poor road conditions
A total of 1,070 traffic accidents occurred in Cuba between January and May this year, with a balance of 314 deaths and 3,478 injuries, was reported in the parliament. Among the causes of accidents was mentioned that 76% of the country’s roads are in a “regular to bad” state, and also the driver’s lack of attention, and speeding.
Boiled water drops , only relief of conjunctivitis in Santiago
Conjunctivitis is a summer epidemic that affects Santiago de Cuba. Health authorities insist on hygiene for its prevention. The lack of drugs aggravates the epidemic and everything has worsened in recent times, because only boiled water does not solve the problem. Once the disease infects someone, it will infect others.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1499868966_32518.html
T-Mobile suspends text messages to Cuba because prohibitive cost
T-Mobile, the third-largest US phone company, announced that it will not continue to “support” text messaging to Cuba since August 9. “At this time, it is not possible to receive a return text by dialing the +053 number in the US and the cost of continuing to provide this incomplete service is prohibitive,” the company said in an email sent to Martí Noticias.
Woman is arrested for protesting at the residence of Communist House of Party secretary
Lisandra Santana was arrested before the residence of the first secretary of the Communist Party in Santa Clara, Julio Lima. Lysandra put all her belongings in a wagon and lowered them before the house of Lima. His protest was due to the fact that he had not just been given an adequate home. The health of her 6-year-old daughter, who suffers from five diseases, is aggravated by the unhealthiness in which they live.
http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1499601536_32445.html
Havana’s youth use alternative network and organize a tournament
In spite of the rain, 100 young habaneros attended the opening of a tournament of the popular videojuego Dota 2, in front of the Malecón, through the alternative network SNet. The possibility of instant communication and the numerous communities of gamers enabled the success of the tournament. Not only did players, but also friends and family willing to support them.