Reports from Cuba: La Fortuna, an empty bodega that had its glory days, like so many others in Cuba

Miguel Garcia reports in 14yMedio from Holguin via Translating Cuba:

La Fortuna, an Empty Bodega That Had Its Glory Days, Like So Many Others in Cuba

Around the bodega [ration store], several people gathered in search of answers. “I do not understand, really.”

La Fortuna has nothing left of the old enthusiasm that prompted it to be baptized with such a name. The rationed market bodega, located on Carretera Central, Reparto Alex Urquiola, in the city of Holguín, woke up practically empty this Tuesday. The surrounding residents were impatient because the regulated quota of rice has not yet arrived on this fifth day of December, a time of year when consumption and prices increase.

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Cuban dictatorship uses ideology, not money, to recruit American spies

Bolivian President Hugo Banzer, left, and U.S. Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha in La Paz, Bolivia, in 2000.

Besides have a very effective espionage operation that rivals the world’s best, the Castro dictatorship has another very distinct advantage: It rarely needs to pay Americans to convince them to betray their country and spy for them. Instead, the regime employs a very powerful tool, ideology, namely Marxism, as the entry point and the shared ideals to gain loyalty and service from their targets. The Cuban dictatorship expressly targets “true believers,” knowing they would risk it all to promote and defend the cause of Marxism and betray their country with no expectation of monetary reward. Therefore, the big takeaway for the U.S. government here is to stop hiring Marxists, which are easily recruited as spies by America’s enemies.

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American diplomat who spied for Cuba claimed role in shoot-down of American planes by Cuban military

As more information comes to light about the traitorous espionage carried out by U.S. diplomat Manuel Rocha on behalf of the Cuban dictatorship, the more it turns the stomach. Not only was Rocha passing sensitive U.S. intelligence to the Castro regime for more than 40 years, he also claimed to be the Cuban “agent in charge” when two American civilian planes on a humanitarian mission over international waters were shot down by the Cuban military, murdering four innocent Americans.

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Cuban dictatorship carries out 300 documented acts of repression in November

Repression in communist Cuba persists unabated, with the Castro dictatorship continuing its 64-year reign of terror on the Cuban people with almost complete impunity. While the UN Human Rights Council was conducting its Universal Periodic Review, the Cuban people were victimized by at least 300 acts of repression by the communist regime during the month of November, according to a human rights organization.

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Reports from Cuba: A diminished Coppelia reopens in Havana with tiny, bare-minimum scoops

Juan Diego Rodriguez reports in 14yMedio from Havana via Translating Cuba:

A Diminished Coppelia Reopens in Havana with Tiny, Bare-Minimum Scoops

In no time at all, the line of people waiting to get into Coppelia was several yards long.

When it comes to ice cream and sweets, Cubans are true believers. On Tuesday, they lined up In front of Coppelia, Havana’s much-diminished “cathedral of ice cream,” which had been closed for several weeks. They had little reason to rejoice, however. The sluggish employees and poor service have been ridiculed by customers, who claim the only one thing that is back to normal is the long lines.

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Communist Cuba’s long history of high-level spies in the U.S.

The latest American spy for the Cuban dictatorship arrested is just one of many spies the Castro regime has managed to infiltrate into high levels of the U.S. government. For decades, the U.S. government has brushed aside constant and repeated warnings from Cuban exiles about the Castro regime’s infiltration into the most sensitive areas of government, and the American people have paid the price for that. We are not talking about just low-level agents of influence, but high-level government officials who have been compromised and turned by the Cuban dictatorship. But what do Cuban exiles know, anyway? They’re just driven by hatred of the Castros, right?

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During visit to Iran, Cuba’s ‘president’ reaffirms their support for Hamas terrorists

Cuba’s sock puppet president picked the perfect the place to show the world why the communist Castro dictatorship remains on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. While visiting Iran, a fellow terrorism sponsor, the so-called president met with Iran’s dictator, where he reaffirmed Cuba’s support for Palestine’s Hamas terrorists and pledged to continue cooperation with Iran’s terrorist regime.

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U.S. diplomat arrested for being a Castro spy became an agent for Cuba in 1981

For more than 40 years, Victor Manuel Rocha was feeding intelligence to the communist Castro dictatorship while working his way up the ladder of the U.S. State Department. He eventually became an ambassador, with access to intelligence, which he dutifully passed on to the Cuban regime. That Rocha is a traitor who spied for a communist regime is bad enough. That he fit right in at the State Dept. and went undetected despite the warning signs only makes it worse.

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Reports from Cuba: San Lazaro, the Havana street where residents live in permanent fear of collapse

Juan Diego Rodriguez reports in 14yMedio from Havana via Translating Cuba:

San Lazaro, the Havana Street Where Residents Live in Permanent Fear of a Collapse

“What we need here is a ‘Caterpiller’ [wrecker],” said a neighbor close to the collapse this Thursday.

A flap of concrete and steel makes it difficult to exit through the door of the tenement located at 512 San Lázaro Street between Lealtad and Perseverancia, in Centro Habana. This Wednesday what everyone had been fearing for years happened: part of the upper balcony collapsed, leaving a trail of rubble and increasing the fear in which several families in the apartment building live. On a block where just remaining standing is an everyday challenge for the buildings, residents know that the scene could be repeated in the surrounding homes.

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