Without the Castroist scourge, Cuba today would have had 15 one-term presidents of the Republic, constitutionally elected for four-year terms, and a population of approximately 18 million
A Cuban sitting at the entrance to a closed shop.DIARIO DE CUBA
Although he acknowledges that 'the offensive' against the sector has not yielded the expected results, Díaz-Canel stressed what has been achieved at the cost of Cubans' further impoverishment.
Castroism is hanging on thanks to a suicidal embrace of stopgap measures with no future, producing a steady decline in the country's productive capacity.
Former political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, "Antunez," holds a photo of Miguel Diaz Bauza.Roberto Koltun/Facebook
He is the oldest political prisoner in Cuba, and accepts the eight years he has left. His only desire, he tolds DIARIO DE CUBA, is to be with his family.
The Castroist fantasy of prosperous socialism is dispelled by old cars without fuel, depressing schools with even more depressing teachers, hospitals with more cockroaches than doctors, and thermoelectric plants that only turn back on to break down again.
Carlos Michael Morales after leaving prison.Iris Ro/Facebook
Access to medicine is 'a horror movie' says the former political prisoner. If a sick inmate doesn't have a family member to take care of him, 'he's just not going to get cured.
Tarek William Saab condecorado por Nicolás Maduro.Presidencia de Venezuela
La cifra superior a los 2.000 presos políticos, que Maduro ha mostrado como símbolo de su fuerza, es el número más elevado en las últimas seis décadas en Venezuela.
A line to buy gas in Santiago de Cuba.Diario de Cuba
'There's no chicken in Santiago de Cuba,' complains a mother of three. 'The MSMEs were the ones that had it, despite the price cap, but they rotted, due to the blackouts'
A street vendor selling produce in Havana in the middle of a blackout.Diario de Cuba