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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Cuban students seek concessions as frustration grows over internet rate hikes
FILE PHOTO: People pass by an office of state-run telecommunications company ETECSA in Havana, Cuba June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Norlys Perez/File Photo HAVANA - Cuban students clamored on Wednesday for further concessions to roll back a rate hike on internet data, saying a decision on Monday to offer them discounted access did not go far enough. Students of at least one department at the University of Havana, the country's largest, called on their peers to skip classes in protest of the price hikes, which have been rebuked across the Caribbean island nation. Reuters spoke with several students outside the university on Wednesday who confirmed the calls for a class boycott in some departments. They said the situation remained tense on campus, and the issues unresolved, despite concessions on Monday from state-run telecommunications firm Etecsa that offered deeper data plan discounts for university students. Haydee Fernandez, a 28-year-old student, said the price increases were unreasonable. "I can't study if I don't have up-to-date (online) information," she said. "If it's necessary to stop classes, they should be stopped until there's a logical response to these needs." Four students said attendance appeared largely normal on Wednesday but that many students continued to threaten walkouts. Hany Blanco, 19, a first-year student, said she would continue going to classes but felt prices needed to be rolled back immediately. "The old prices were accessible but now it's gotten very difficult." Etecsa on Friday capped subsidized mobile data plans - offered for a steeply discounted rate of 360 pesos (less than $1 on the informal market exchange) - at six gigabytes, well shy of Cuba's average monthly usage of 10 gigabytes, according to state data. Prices for an additional three gigabytes soar to 3,360 pesos ($9), more than Cuba's monthly minimum wage of 2,100 pesos ($6). The price hikes - billed by the government as necessary to upgrade ailing infrastructure - have touched a nerve in Communist-run Cuba, where inflation has soared in recent years. The University of Havana acknowledged the debate over the hikes but warned in a statement late on Tuesday that it would not tolerate disruptions to its classes. Cuba rolled out widespread mobile internet in 2018, well behind much of the world. Cellphone data use on the island has soared since, with over 7.5 million users. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Cuban students seek concessions as frustration grows over internet rate hikes
FILE PHOTO: People pass by an office of state-run telecommunications company ETECSA in Havana, Cuba June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Norlys Perez/File Photo HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban students clamored on Wednesday for further concessions to roll back a rate hike on internet data, saying a decision on Monday to offer them discounted access did not go far enough. Students of at least one department at the University of Havana, the country's largest, called on their peers to skip classes in protest of the price hikes, which have been rebuked across the Caribbean island nation. Reuters spoke with several students outside the university on Wednesday who confirmed the calls for a class boycott in some departments. They said the situation remained tense on campus, and the issues unresolved, despite concessions on Monday from state-run telecommunications firm Etecsa that offered deeper data plan discounts for university students. Haydee Fernandez, a 28-year-old student, said the price increases were unreasonable. "I can't study if I don't have up-to-date (online) information," she said. "If it's necessary to stop classes, they should be stopped until there's a logical response to these needs." Four students said attendance appeared largely normal on Wednesday but that many students continued to threaten walkouts. Hany Blanco, 19, a first-year student, said she would continue going to classes but felt prices needed to be rolled back immediately. "The old prices were accessible but now it's gotten very difficult." Etecsa on Friday capped subsidized mobile data plans - offered for a steeply discounted rate of 360 pesos (less than $1 on the informal market exchange) - at six gigabytes, well shy of Cuba's average monthly usage of 10 gigabytes, according to state data. Prices for an additional three gigabytes soar to 3,360 pesos ($9), more than Cuba's monthly minimum wage of 2,100 pesos ($6). The price hikes - billed by the government as necessary to upgrade ailing infrastructure - have touched a nerve in Communist-run Cuba, where inflation has soared in recent years. The University of Havana acknowledged the debate over the hikes but warned in a statement late on Tuesday that it would not tolerate disruptions to its classes. Cuba rolled out widespread mobile internet in 2018, well behind much of the world. Cellphone data use on the island has soared since, with over 7.5 million users. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Mario Fuentes in Havana, additional reporting by Alien Fernandez and Nelson Acosta; Editing by Rod Nickel)
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ancient Cuban flatbread makes comeback as economic crisis bites
By Alien Fernandez and Norlys Perez HAVANA (Reuters) - A bustling restaurant in old Havana offers diners a blast from the distant past - small circular flatbreads made from ground yucca served alone or topped with any combination of onion, tomato, pork and garlic. The dish, known locally as casabe, has been around for over a thousand years, historians said. More recently, it has mostly been relegated to field hands and Cuban country outposts. Now it may be making a comeback. Cuba's dire economic crisis has vastly reduced the import and production of such basics as wheat flour, sugar and salt. This has prompted some to give the simple flatbread another look. Its only ingredient is locally grown yucca root, also known as cassava. 'In a time of food crisis like the one we're currently experiencing, we believe cassava bread can help," said Yudisley Cruz, co-founder of Yucasabi, a small business and restaurant that promotes yucca-based products. Her small restaurant in touristy old Havana sells a single casabe for 15 pesos (4 cents), making it nutritious, delicious and affordable for both tourists and locals alike, she said. Cruz's restaurant - the only one in Cuba dedicated exclusively to yucca - is trying to popularize the flatbread in urban areas. But in the countryside, peddlers on foot, bike and moto-taxi sell casabe at even lower prices, a rare foodstuff nearly everyone can afford. Its near universal appeal, simplicity and cultural roots - it was first cooked on hot rocks by the indigenous Taino people in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean - prompted the United Nations last year to add the food to its intangible cultural heritage of humanity list. Yucasabi, which features paintings of Tainos in Cuba's lush countryside on its walls, has given the ancient bread a modern spin, in hopes of attracting a new and larger clientele. "Casabe from Cuba, 100% artisanal, vegan, zero gluten," reads its advertising on social media. Simplicity, however, remains the flatbread's top selling point, says Julio Cesar Nunez, an 82-year-old traditional casabe producer who lives outside Havana. Nunez oversees the harvest, peeling, drying, grinding of the yucca root. That is formed into tortilla-like discs and cooked on sheet metal over flames. 'Anyone who takes the time to learn can do it," he said. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
The Star
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Ancient Cuban flatbread makes comeback as economic crisis bites
A view of a casabe dish being prepared at a farm in Quivican, Cuba April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Norlys Perez HAVANA (Reuters) - A bustling restaurant in old Havana offers diners a blast from the distant past - small circular flatbreads made from ground yucca served alone or topped with any combination of onion, tomato, pork and garlic. The dish, known locally as casabe, has been around for over a thousand years, historians said. More recently, it has mostly been relegated to field hands and Cuban country outposts. Now it may be making a comeback. Cuba's dire economic crisis has vastly reduced the import and production of such basics as wheat flour, sugar and salt. This has prompted some to give the simple flatbread another look. Its only ingredient is locally grown yucca root, also known as cassava. 'In a time of food crisis like the one we're currently experiencing, we believe cassava bread can help," said Yudisley Cruz, co-founder of Yucasabi, a small business and restaurant that promotes yucca-based products. Her small restaurant in touristy old Havana sells a single casabe for 15 pesos (4 cents), making it nutritious, delicious and affordable for both tourists and locals alike, she said. Cruz's restaurant - the only one in Cuba dedicated exclusively to yucca - is trying to popularize the flatbread in urban areas. But in the countryside, peddlers on foot, bike and moto-taxi sell casabe at even lower prices, a rare foodstuff nearly everyone can afford. Its near universal appeal, simplicity and cultural roots - it was first cooked on hot rocks by the indigenous Taino people in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean - prompted the United Nations last year to add the food to its intangible cultural heritage of humanity list. Yucasabi, which features paintings of Tainos in Cuba's lush countryside on its walls, has given the ancient bread a modern spin, in hopes of attracting a new and larger clientele. "Casabe from Cuba, 100% artisanal, vegan, zero gluten," reads its advertising on social media. Simplicity, however, remains the flatbread's top selling point, says Julio Cesar Nunez, an 82-year-old traditional casabe producer who lives outside Havana. Nunez oversees the harvest, peeling, drying, grinding of the yucca root. That is formed into tortilla-like discs and cooked on sheet metal over flames. 'Anyone who takes the time to learn can do it," he said. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
