Judge rules cruise ships violated embargo on Cuba | March 25, 2022
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Yesterday, Cuba reported 836 COVID-19 cases. There are currently 3,627 total active cases of COVID-19 on the island. The total number of cases since March of 2020 is 1,085,404 and the total number of deaths since March of 2020 is 8,508. Approximately 89.4 percent of the population is fully vaccinated (not including the booster). For a graph of case numbers since March 2020, see here. For a detailed breakdown of all COVID-19 data, visit this website.
This week, in Cuba news…
U.S.-CUBA RELATIONS
‘Prohibited Tourism:’ Miami Judge Deals Major Blow To Cruise Companies That Traveled To Cuba
A Miami federal judge ruled that the cruise companies Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises violated Title III of the Helms Burton Act by transporting passengers to Cuba and profiting from the use of ports confiscated by Cuba’s government, The Miami Herald reports. U.S. Judge Beth Bloom ruled that the cruise companies unlawfully engaged in actions outside of the permitted people-to-people activities between 2015 and 2019 and that their services instead constituted statutorily prohibited tourism. The ruling sided with the American company Havana Docks, which has several lawsuits against the cruise lines Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC Cruises, respectively. Havana Docks claims that three Havana ports previously owned by the company were wrongfully confiscated by the Castro government in 1960 and that the cruise lines’ use of the docks constituted trafficking in confiscated property. The Helms Burton Act’s Title III—which allows Americans to sue entities in U.S. court for “trafficking” in properties nationalized during the Cuban Revolution—was enforced for the first time under the Trump administration, which allowed Havana Docks to proceed with their lawsuit against the cruise lines. Under Judge Bloom’s ruling, the four cruise lines will have to compensate Havana Docks for their use of the Havana ports for trips made outside of the 12 legally authorized travel categoriesIn May, a jury trial will decide on monetary damages that the cruise lines must pay.
The cruise lines argued that the permitted use of confiscated property if used for “lawful travel” under the Helms-Burton Act, and licensing granted from “the Treasury, from Commerce, and the blessing of the White House” constituted their actions as lawful. However, Judge Bloom ruled that licensing and the support of President Obama did not “automatically immunize defendants from liability if they engaged in statutorily prohibited tourism,” and the cruise lines were therefore in violation of U.S. law. The court documents also revealed that the cruise lines made deals with Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism agencies to provide “tourist services” to their passengers, despite tourism to Cuba being statutorily prohibited and the cruise lines pledging that their passengers would participate in humanitarian initiatives to help Cubans gain independence from the state. Evidence presented at a January hearing revealed that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian all signed contracts with Havanatur, Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism’s largest travel agency, which included terms by which Havantur would sell “tourist reception services” to the passengers. Court records showed that Havantur received $38 million and Cuba’s government made $54.4 million in tourist visas related to cruise travel.
The ruling has the potential to conflate all people-to-people travel to Cuba with tourism and therefore inhibit the reestablishment of the people-to-people travel license category to Cuba, which facilitates vital cultural exchange activities. People-to-people travel was one of multiple new or renewed avenues for engagement that was facilitated by policy changes during the Obama administration and that resulted in a surge in U.S. travel to the island. In June 2019, U.S. cruise travel to Cuba was halted after the Trump administration announced new travel regulations prohibiting them.
21 More Migrants Land In Florida Keys. More Than 75 Detained In Last Week; Border Patrol Stops 10 Cuban Migrants Who Came Ashore in Florida Keys; US Coast Guard Repatriates 44 People to Cuba; Guatemala Detains Dozens Of Migrants, Mostly Cubans, In Boats Heading To US
Over the last week, nearly 100 Cuban migrants have been intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) after attempting to travel to the United States, The Miami Herald reports. Last weekend in the span of only 24 hours, CBP stopped two groups of 10 total Cuban migrants off the coast of the Florida Keys. On Monday, 44 Cubans were repatriated to Cuba following three interdictions near Key West, Florida. Later that day, two more groups of Cuban migrants, totaling 21 people, were intercepted by CBP and taken into federal custody. On Thursday morning, Miami’s CBP Chief reported 15 Cuban migrants made landfall in Key West and were subsequently taken into custody. Hours later, an additional 8 Cubans were intercepted and taken into custody by CBP. The number of interdictions in fiscal year 2022, which began on October 1, 2021, has already surpassed the total number of interdictions in fiscal year 2021. So far in fiscal year 2022, 1,053 Cuban migrants have been interdicted at sea. In fiscal year 2021, the Coast Guard interdicted 838 Cuban migrants, compared to 49 Cuban migrants in fiscal year 2020 and 313 interdictions in fiscal year 2019.
In the past five months since fiscal year 2022 began, more than 47,000 Cubans have entered the U.S. through various border points. In February alone, 16,550 Cubans were taken into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border, which is the highest single-month total on record, according to USBP data. According to USBP, 39,000 Cuban migrants attempted to reach the U.S. in fiscal year 2021, mainly through the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico. In the previous fiscal year, there were significantly less Cuban migrants reported, with numbers reaching only around 14,000.
On Thursday, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) condemned the U.S.’s migration policy towards Cubans, calling it “abusive” for requiring Cubans to make often cost-prohibitive trips to the U.S. Embassy in Guyana, “stimulating” irregular migration through its policies, violating bilateral agreements, and placing a burden on transit countries throughout Latin America. One such transit country, Guatemala, reported finding two boats of 50 Cuban migrants and two Honduran migrants attempting to travel to the U.S. by sea on Tuesday, Reuters reports. The migrants were attempting to travel through a lake and river system on Guatemala’s eastern coast, which the immigration authority has identified as a “new trend in the region,” and had the U.S. as their final destination. Since 2021, 84 Cubans have been expelled from Guatemala after trying to cross through the country to reach the United States. As Guatemala requires Cubans to present a visa to enter the country, the group was expelled back to their previous transit country, Honduras.
Cuban Scuba Diving Instructor Attempts To Windsurf To Florida Hoping To Get Medical Treatment
On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) rescued a 48-year old Cuban man traveling on a windsurf board to the U.S. in hopes of receiving medical treatment for colon cancer, WPLG Local 10 reports. Elian López, a trained windsurfer and scuba diving instructor from Varadero, Cuba, was rescued with a colostomy bag, a life jacket, GPS system, and a cell phone off the coast of the Florida Keys. After locating Mr. López thanks to his GPS system, USCG transferred him to EMS for a higher level of care. Mr. López had received medical treatment for his cancer in Cuba, however, needed to continue treatment with medications unavailable in Cuba and saw traveling to the U.S. as his only way to receive the necessary medical care. Relatives of Mr. López have started a petition to urge U.S. immigration authorities to allow him to stay in the U.S. to receive adequate medical treatment.
IN CUBA
Cuba relaxes rules for import and export of non-commercial goods (Spanish)
On Thursday, Cuban officials across several sectors, including Cuba’s Ministries of Finance and Prices, Public Health, Transportation, Culture, Agriculture, and Cuba’s Central Bank, announced on Mesa Redonda (The Roundtable), the government’s televised official channel of communication, updates to temporary relaxations on restrictions on the import and export of commercial goods, OnCuba reports. Notable changes include: the removal of tariffs on imported goods that contribute to the creation of products that can be exported, therefore bringing in foerign currency to Cuba’s economy, a privilege and incentive already afforded to the state sector which will now be afforded to the private sector as well; the computerization of customs operations systems to ease customs processes; increasing the amount of cash permitted to be imported and exported from the country from 2,000 to 5,000 Cuban pesos (the permitted amount of freely convertible currency, or MLC, which is 5,000, will remain without tariffs). The updates also include regulations on temporary imports and exports (goods that are brought to Cuba and re-exported), marine engines, tobacco, and certain controlled substances, among other updates.
In July 2021, following the July 11 demonstrations on the island, Cuba announced exemptions on tariffs, including on the monetary value of and quantity of, non-commercial imports of food, medicine, hygiene products, and medicines to state and non-state entities, so long as the products arrived together one piece of luggage. The tariffs were also exempted for raw materials imported by the state for distribution to the non-state sector. In December 2021, the exemptions were extended to July 30, 2022.
Manifesto Against Silence, For Justice (Spanish)
In an open letter titled “Manifesto Against Silence, For Justice,” a group of renowned Cuban intellectuals and artists called for the release of prisoners convicted on charges related to the July 11 demonstrations, El Toque reports. The letter denounces the repressive response from Cuba’s government on July 11 and the “exemplary sentences” to those who have been tried, asserting that Cuba’s government has responded to the protests and protesters with “disproportionate political and legal violence.” In addition, the letter argues that it’s a “humanist” duty to condemn the violence, and calls on other artists and intellectuals to also issue complaints in support of the imprisoned demonstrators “without ideological exemptions” because the protests were “a social outbreak expressed through civil disobedience.” According to the signatories of the letter, silence and complacency will only perpetuate their concerns and implicate those who are silent as accomplices of violence and injustice. Signatories of the letter include Pedro Monreal, Tania Bruguera, Eloy Viera Cañive, Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva, and Carmelo Mesa-Lago, among others living both on and off the island.
Trials for Cubans sentenced in connection to their involvement in the July 11 protests have been ongoing since mid-December 2021, with those accused of more serious crimes being tried first, and many receiving sentences of up to 20 years in prison. As reported last week, Cuba’s Supreme Court announced in a press release that 129 people involved in the July 11 demonstrations had been sentenced to prison for between four and 30 years, only one of whom has been acquitted. Tremenda Nota reported this week that Yoan de la Cruz, a young Cuban man who was arrested for streaming the beginning of the July 11 protests from his cellphone in San Antonio de los Baños, was sentenced to six years in prison. Yoan’s mother, Maribel Cruz, confirmed the sentencing, calling it an injustice, and issued concerns that her son would suffer discrimination in prison due to his sexual orientation. The majority of the defendants have been convicted on charges of sedition, vandalism, and theft, among other criminal charges. According to the press release, the sentences were carried out against citizens “accused of committing and provoking serious disturbances and acts of vandalism, with the purpose of destabilizing public order, collective security and citizen tranquility.” In February, defendants in Holguín, Santa Clara, Mayabeque, and Havana who were charged with sedition faced trial and also were charged with up to 20 years in prison. Human rights watchdogs say that over 1,000 Cubans have been arrested in relation to the protests.
Long Lines For Fuel Across Cuba Sparking Concerns Over Supply, Rationing; Cuba Says Fuel Shortages Due To Spike In Demand, Troubles At Power Plant; Cuba: Authorities Take Measures In The Face Of Fuel Shortages (Spanish)
Cuba’s government reported that hours-long lines at gas stations across the island this week were caused by a spike in demand for fuel and the failure of the country’s largest power plant, Reuters reports. A program coordinator for the Matanzas provincial government told local Cuban media of plans to ration fuel on Monday, which quickly spread and caused long lines at fuel stations in neighboring provinces, including in Havana. According to the program coordinator, the rationing was not due to a fuel deficit on the island, but rather a temporary problem due to logistical constraints and the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the island’s largest thermoelectric plant, unexpectedly disconnecting from the National Electric System. The disconnection resulted in the enforcement of energy saving measures and a shortage in energy production. While the plant came back online on Tuesday, a greater amount of diesel fuel was used to power generators that compensated for the plant while it was out of service, which worsened the deficit. Cuba’s state telecommunications company, ETECSA, also reported that the plant’s failure caused disruptions to phone, mobile data and SMS services. According to Jorge Piñon, a professor and energy policy expert at the University of Texas at Austin, Cuba’s current fuel supply challenges are not a temporary logistical problem, but rather stem from reliance on Venezuelan oil, limited domestic refining and production capacity, and “[Cuba’s] inability to purchase (with cash) gasoline and diesel in the international oil markets to supplement their Venezuelan oil deliveries, due to high oil prices."
On Tuesday, Cuba’s government recognized the fuel deficit and announced measures to address the shortage, OnCuba News reports. To reduce the impact of the Antonio Guiteras plant disconnecting last week, specialized and more frequent deliveries to service stations and deliveries with larger quantities of fuel have begun as part of efforts. Cuba’s largest state-owned oil company, CUPET, shared their plans to ensure service centers are supplied.
CUBA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
Cuba Defines Its Relationship With China As "Long-Term" And "High Priority" (Spanish)
At a virtual convening of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Communist Party of China, Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel affirmed that strengthening relations with China is a high-priority for the island, OnCuba News reports. According to Cuba’s President Díaz-Canel, the countries share a strong political will, historical ties, “common challenges, ideological identity, political trust and maturity” that unite the countries and safeguard prosperous relations. President Díaz-Canel also reflected on previous exchanges with China’s President Xi Jinping, sharing that the presidents have agreed to promote “the comprehensive development of bilateral ties, including inter-party relations.” In December, Cuba signed a cooperation plan with China for the joint promotion of China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The plan solidifies and outlines the principal projects for Cuba and China under the BRI, which was initiated through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2018. According to the initial agreement, the MoU aims to advance Cuba’s short, medium, and long term economic and social development objectives with support from China as a strategic partner and investor. Since 2018 and as recently as this past May, when China donated 5,000 solar panels to Cuba as part of the BRI, China has invested in various parts of Cuba’s infrastructure. China has been a top trading partner for Cuba; in 2017 it was the island’s most active trading partner, and as of 2019, China was Cuba’s second largest trading partner, behind Venezuela.
Cuba: Amnesty International Calls For Access To Country To Monitor Trials Of 11J Protesters
On Thursday, Amnesty International asked Cuba’s government to allow the international human rights watchdog entrance into Cuba to monitor the ongoing trials of those charged in relation to the July 11 protests, according to an Amnesty International press release. Amnesty International’s Director of the Americas, Erika Guevara-Rosas, condemned the trials, calling them “unfair and opaque proceedings and trials” aimed at “re-establishing the culture of fear that was ruptured last year when people took to the streets to express themselves.” The organization specifically requested the ability to monitor the trials of Cuban artivist (artist and activist), and dissident, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo, who is one of the two Cuba-based singers feature in the viral song Patria y Vida (“Homeland and Life”). Amnesty International has named both of the activists “prisoners of conscience.” Along with requests to monitor the trials, the organization also re-issued its request made in August for information regarding those detained following the July 11 protests including the number of people who are detained, how many remain in the custody of the state and under investigation, the location of the detention centers, and “the criminal charges filed, broken down by number of people arrested and broken down by gender or sex.” For decades Amnesty International has asked for entrance into Cuba to monitor human rights; however, the organization has never received permission.
Cubans Arrive In Belarus From The Border With Poland, Where They Faced Extreme Conditions (Spanish)
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) confirmed the safe arrival of over 40 Cubans who were stranded on the border between Poland and Belarus arrived in Belarus this week, OnCuba News reports. Last week, MINREX shared they were working with Belarussian and Polish authorities to locate the group of Cubans after it was reported that they were living in a “critical” situation at a makeshift camp on the border. The group consisted of several women, one of whom is pregnant, and children, traveling from Russia. The group also shared that they are not considering returning to Cuba. Earlier this month, MINREX reported that it was also monitoring the location of groups of Cuban citizens traveling to Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary after fleeing from Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion of the country.
Cuba Will Continue Supporting ALBA-TCP: President Diaz-Canel
During a meeting in Havana on Wednesday, Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel reaffirmed the island’s commitment to supporting ALBA (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América, or Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas), teleSUR reports. The Secretary of ALBA, Sacha Llorenti, visited Havana this week to meet with various Cuban ministers and discuss ways to strengthen the Alliance and support the development of member countries. ALBA has been defined as an “anti-imperialist” forum and alternative to U.S.-controlled free trade agreements. In December, Havana hosted the XX Summit of ALBA to discuss how to best adapt to new circumstances generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirm ALBA’s strength in the face of U.S. influence.
ALBA was founded in 2004 by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. The intergovernmental organization is made up of ten countries from Latin America and the Caribbean: Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Grenada.
RECOMMENDED READINGS & VIEWINGS
Op-Ed: Economic Embargo Put In Place By JFK Makes Cubans Go Hungry, Anthony DePalma, LA Times
In this op-ed, author Anthony DePalma writes about the history of la libreta, or the ration booklet, in Cuba, sharing how it acts as a cultural symbol of the current inequalities and crises on the island, and urges the U.S. to lift sanctions on Cuba. Mr. DePalma cites strong support among members of Congress for lifting sanctions in order to alleviate the island’s current economic and humanitarian crisis, writing that such an action will not be a “free pass” for Cuba’s government, but an acknowledgement of the contributions of U.S. policy to the harm of the Cuban people.
47 Thousand Cubans Emigrate To The United States In Less Than 5 Months (Spanish), El Toque
This article by independent Cuban news source El Toque shares observations from episode 94 of El Toque’s El Enjambre podcast, in which Cuban entrepreneur Camilo Condis, Cuban co-founder and host of the El Enjambre podcast Lucía March, and Cuban Editorial Director of independent Cuban LGBTQ+ media source Tremenda Nota, Maykel González, discuss the detentions of July 11 demonstrators, high rates of Cuban migration, the recently reported financial losses by state companies, and the implications of these for island’s future.
Big Pharma vs. Little Cuba: Why Cubans Trust Vaccines And How They're Helping Vaccinate The World, Jennifer Ruth Hosek, The Conversation
In this article, Professor of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Jennifer Ruth Hosek, writes about her research into Cuba’s high vaccination rate and Cubans’ trust in vaccines, which she assesses are a result of clear messaging, a “densely woven and interconnected web of health services,” and national norms.
How Could Oil Talks With Maduro And Russia's War Impact Cuba?, Norma Gámez Torres, The Miami Herald
In this article, author Norma Gámez Torres reports on Cuba’s current position in geopolitics, including its alliance with Russia in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and how the U.S.’s overtures to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro could bring Cuba closer to the U.S. as a result. According to the article, as the U.S. engages Mr. Maduro in discussions around the production and sale of oil and considers removing sanctions in an effort to drive a wedge between Venezuela and Russia, it would be nearly impossible for Cuba not to benefit. Increased oil production in Venezuela is likely to lead to increased oil shipments to Cuba, which relies heavily on Veneuzelan oil. While the Biden-Harris administration’s objectives are to support the Cuban people as opposed to Cuba’s government, the U.S. could, according to the article, pull Cuba away from Russia even if it cannot fully bring the island’s government into alignment with the U.S. According to Ric Herrero, Executive Director of Cuba Study Group, “It’s really hard to imagine a scenario in which Maduro draws closer to the United States, and Cuba doesn’t.”
After Pandemic Peace, Fresh Swarms of Crabs Invade Cuba’s Bay of Pigs, Dave Sherwood and Mario Fuentes, Reuters
According to this article and accompanying video, following two years of the pandemic and the lack of tourism and traffic, the local land crab population in Cuba’s Bay of Pigs has soared. While scientists have yet to confirm the initial reports of a pandemic-induced recovery, the millions of red, yellow and black land crabs migrating to the coast in order to spawn speaks to a recovery of the species.
Cuba And Its Youth: The Generational Challenge, OnCuba Staff, OnCuba News
This article examines the challenge facing Cuba as they continue to emigrate in large numbers. It discusses the various factors influencing this migration and the government’s plans to address this crisis, which include a working group of leaders, researchers, and experts who are charged with drafting a “comprehensive policy for the treatment of young people and children.” The article argues that while the policy that is being prepared is to propose actions to guarantee the “four pillars of the social integration of youth: education, employment, family emancipation and participation”, the problem is “based on an economy incapable of guaranteeing social mobility, within a country that has the lowest population growth rate on the continent and one of the lowest internationally.”
Will it be easier to separate parents and children with the new Families Code? (Spanish), El Toque Staff, El Toque
This article by independent Cuban news source El Toque offers an in-depth analysis of the change from the term “parental rights” to “parental responsibility” in the draft of Cuba’s new Families Code, which has sparked fears from parents that Cuba’s government could use the language to take children away from their parents.
Some clues about the sentences of Toyo and La Güinera (Spanish), Eloy Viera Cañive, El Toque
This article by independent Cuban news source El Toque examines the sentences handed down to the 130 defendants involved in the events at the Toyo corner in the La Güinera neighborhood of Havana and how those sentences, according to the article, demonstrate that the courts are a “structure used to legitimize the state violation of the most basic human rights.” Among other subjects, the article examines high conviction rates, the difficulty in mounting a proper defense, how, according to the article, anyone in a public or tumultuous protest can be accused and convicted of sedition, the political nature of the cases, and the lack of impartiality of judges.
EVENTS
Virtual, Pablo Armando Fernández, 1930-2021: Memories & Poetry, April 5
The Cuba Program at Columbia University’s Institute of Latin American Studies will host a webinar to commemorate the life and writing of Cuban author Pablo Armando Fernández which includes poetry, novels, essays, and plays. The webinar will feature readings of excerpts from Mr. Armando’s writings and reflections on his life and work by distinguished poets Nancy Morejón, Reynaldo González, Nina Serrano, and the academics Dr. Philip Brenner, Dr. Soraya M. Castro Mariño, Dr. Margaret E. Crahan, author and Executive Director of the Center for Cuban Studies in New York City and Director of the Center's Cuban Art Space, Sandra Levinson, and filmmaker Giselle Garcia. Speaking for the family will be Teresa de Jesús Fernández. The webinar will be moderated by author and former professor from Rutgers University Dr. Jeane Cappello. Topics will range from Mr. Armando’s love of Cuba and his fond memories of his youth in New York, as well as his love for his family and friends. Register for the virtual event here.
Virtual, The Body Never Forgets: Forced Labor, the New Man, and Memory in Cuba, April 11
Dr. Abel Sierra Madero, visiting Assistant Professor of History at Florida International University (FIU), will discuss his new book, “The Body Never Forgets: Forced Labor, the New Man, and Memory in Cuba” which reconstructs the systemic and structural character of forced labor and state violence in Cuba. Dr. Sierra Madero will speak in conversation with Lillian Guerra, Professor of History at the University of Florida. The virtual book presentation hosted by the Cuban Research Institute at FIU and Books and Books will begin at 7:00PM EST and will be conducted in Spanish. Register for the virtual event here.
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