International

Cuba: “The history of tobacco”

Photo: Pixabay / Fetcaldu

October 17 |

Everyone on the Island knows that this is the longest story in the world, that when your grandfather drops the first word, the knot of worsted is untied, the sentences are chained to each other, the stories are connected to each other and little by little before the eyes is built an eternal road of words that goes around Cuba, goes out to sea and sails around the world until the word tobacco throws twist, ends up in the mouth of a Russian in Siberia.

As far can the stories go as the ships, as close to the sea grow the leaves that Christopher Columbus discovered in the name of the Old World. For more than two centuries, the starting point of this narration has been the hands of the people of Pinar del Río, people from the west, and not precisely the proud conquering the desert, but simple and noble hands that have chosen tradition as a way of life.

Among the modern descendants is Miyelis Canales Machuat, a teacher by profession and vocation, but faced with the vicissitudes of life she had no choice but to take up work on the land as a way of life. Seven years ago her husband passed away, and since tobacco production was the main income for her family, she put all her efforts into running the farm.

But her battles have not been few, last year Cuba registered one of its strongest hurricanes of all times, Ian with category 3 made landfall in Cuba precisely in the town of La Coloma, not far from Miyelis’ farm, who tells us: “when it passed through here, out of 59 tobacco houses that these lands had, only 6 were left standing”.

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“I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think that my tobacco house would have been on the ground, completely destroyed, because it wasn’t new, but it wasn’t in such bad conditions, but that cyclone, the hardest part was after the eye passed, everything was destroyed, all these fields were devastated, completely devastated”.

Cuba
Among the modern descendants is Miyelis Canales Machuat, a teacher by profession and vocation, but faced with the vicissitudes of life she had no choice but to take up work on the land as a way of life. I Photo: teleSUR
Miyelis, who at the time, full of tears, did not know what to do, tells that her children were discouraged, they thought it would be impossible to harvest tobacco, they did not know how to raise again a priest’s house because they lacked the resources. The hurricane had left the production of Pinar del Río totally in ruins.

But giving no place to grief, Canales says that she and her children rebuilt a dream based on rubble, rescued the wood and zinc they could and with that they faced hopelessness. They put their feet on the ground and were able to be even one of the few producers who were able to plant in the previous season. With the house half-built, they obtained more than 50 percent of the plan they had to stockpile.

Photo: teleSUR
“Tobacco takes a lot of dedication but the greatest satisfaction is to see the final result, when you have money that satisfies all the basic needs of your house and others that perhaps are not so basic but that make your life more human.”

Miyelis’ life is a sort of odyssey, an incarnation of Homer if you want to compare. This Cuban woman does not give up, she does not stop thinking that the future is one of construction, of “echar pa’ lante”.

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The history of tobacco is long, but they always have mouths to tell it, adept at unraveling the mysteries in the leaves. Among the smoke of a smoker, made into faint shapes is the voice of the Taino Indians, the voice that whispers “Cohiba”.

International

U.S. Senate Rejects Budget, Bringing Government Closer to Shutdown Amid DHS Dispute

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday against a budget proposal in a move aimed at pressuring changes at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), following the killing of two civilians during a deployment of immigration agents in Minneapolis.

All Senate Democrats and seven Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, which requires 60 votes to advance, pushing the country closer to a partial government shutdown that would cut funding for several agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Health.

The rejection came as Senate leaders and the White House continue negotiations on a separate funding package for DHS that would allow reforms to the agency. Proposed measures include banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing face coverings and requiring them to use body-worn cameras during operations.

The vote took place just hours after President Donald Trump said he was “close” to reaching an agreement with Democrats and did not believe the federal government would face another shutdown, following last year’s record stoppage.

“I don’t think the Democrats want a shutdown either, so we’ll work in a bipartisan way to avoid it. Hopefully, there will be no government shutdown. We’re working on that right now,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

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International

Trump Says Putin Agreed to One-Week Halt in Attacks on Ukraine Amid Extreme Cold

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he secured a commitment from Russian President Vladimir Putinto halt attacks against Ukraine for one week, citing extreme weather conditions affecting the region.

“Because of the extreme cold (…) I personally asked Putin not to attack Kyiv or other cities and towns for a week. And he agreed. He was very pleasant,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting broadcast by the White House.

Trump acknowledged that several advisers had questioned the decision to make the call.
“A lot of people told me not to waste the call because they wouldn’t agree. And he accepted. And we’re very happy they did, because they don’t need missiles hitting their towns and cities,” the president said.

According to Trump, Ukrainian authorities reacted with surprise to the announcement but welcomed the possibility of a temporary ceasefire.
“It’s extraordinarily cold, record cold (…) They say they’ve never experienced cold like this,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later commented on the announcement, expressing hope that the agreement would be honored.

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International

Storm Kristin Kills Five in Portugal, Leaves Nearly 500,000 Without Power

Storm Kristin, which battered Portugal with heavy rain and strong winds early Wednesday, has left at least five people dead, while nearly half a million residents remained without electricity as of Thursday, according to updated figures from authorities.

The revised death toll was confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson for the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANPEC). On Wednesday, the agency had reported four fatalities.

Meanwhile, E-Redes, the country’s electricity distribution network operator, said that around 450,000 customers were still without power, particularly in central Portugal.

Emergency services responded to approximately 1,500 incidents between midnight and 8:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, as the storm caused widespread disruptions.

The Portuguese government described Kristin as an “extreme weather event” that inflicted significant damage across several regions of the country. At the height of the storm, as many as 850,000 households and institutions lost electricity during the early hours of Wednesday.

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Several municipalities ordered the closure of schools, many of which remained shut on Thursday due to ongoing adverse conditions.

Ricardo Costa, regional deputy commander of the Leiria Fire Brigade, said residents continue to seek assistance as rainfall persists.
“Even though the rain is not extremely intense, it is causing extensive damage to homes,” he noted.

In Figueira da Foz, a coastal city in central Portugal, strong winds toppled a giant Ferris wheel, underscoring the severity of the storm.