AREQUIPA, Peru – The severe crisis existing on the Island affects the propaganda mechanisms of the Cuban regime, which is unable to even distribute its own official press in some territories.
Such is the case of the province of Ciego de Ávila, where the newspaper Granmapress organ of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), presents serious difficulties in reaching readers in its printed version.
A report from the state newspaper Invader points out that, despite the improvement in the distribution system, “subscribers’ complaints about delays or absences of the contracted product still persist,” in relation to the newspaper.
Osmaida Valdés Ramírez, director of the Correos Base Business Unit (UEB), of the municipality of Ciego de Ávila, explained that since last July her entity has been in charge of the transfer from Sancti Spíritus of the magazines and newspapers destined to circulate in the province.
“Previously, the UEB of Camagüey was in charge of transporting the press from the Enrique Núñez Rodríguez polygraph, in Santa Clara, to the capital of Avila; but, after some agreements with the UEB from Sancti Spírituswe ensure that these daily shipments are delivered to the neighboring province, and thus we avoid the cost of fuel to Villa Clara,” comments the director.
Regarding the persistent problems in distribution, Valdés Ramírez highlighted that it is due to a significant personnel deficit that, in the case of the main municipality, can be easily illustrated: of the 35 postmen that they should have, today there are only eight in the entity. , and its absence especially affects the Vista Hermosa area.
“We have already given our colleagues at Labor and Social Security the number of vacant places we have, so that those interested can contact us and, after verifying their conditions, join Correos,” he added.
According to the directive, once the workforce in the municipality of Ciego de Ávila has been stabilized, the city’s subscribers should not suffer any further impacts on the delivery of the press.
Among other causes, Valdés Ramírez indicated the lack fuelso the UEB has to “take advantage of the transportation” used in the delivery of parcels.
“This distribution to the municipalities is carried out two or three times a week, depending on the amount of fuel we have,” he pointed out.
Furthermore, the regime’s official press not only faces distribution challenges to reach its few readers, but is also affected by the lack of workforce to create content approved by the PCC.
At the end of 2023, Granma joined the state site Cubadebate in a campaign that sought to recruit journalists and other specialists who would serve the communications and propaganda apparatus of Castroism.
In several reportsthe newspaper camouflaged the lack of personnel in a call that it described as a job “opportunity.”
“We begin a new stage of work with changes in our editorial and administrative dynamics, which is why we seek to strengthen our team with the incorporation of new workers,” the note states. Granma.
The exhortations of the media were inserted in a context of mass exodus, still latent, that has affected to the country’s workforce, a situation that linked to official censorship and the flourishing of independent journalism on the Island, causes the aversion of many professionals to reproduce the official discourse.