International
Cuba factory that rolled Castro’s cigars still strives for ‘the perfect puff’
AFP | by Leticia PINEDA
Seated before a machine that checks cigar quality, Orquidea Gonzalez says she is proud to carry on the craft’s tradition and contribute to an export industry that has grown during the pandemic.
“I love making cigars. This is where I’ve spent my life, and it’s an art. Not everyone knows how to make cigars, like not everyone knows how to paint a picture,” said the 55-year-old factory worker.
Her job is to measure in a metal tube the draw of each cigar to ensure that the smoker gets the perfect puff.
“If it’s less than 40, the (suction) level is excessive; if it’s more than 80, it’s too low,” she explained, her eyes glued to the machine’s needle.
The El Laguito factory opened in 1966 in western Havana to make the cigars favored by the hero of the 1959 Communist revolution and longtime president Fidel Castro.
The factory is the birthplace of Cohiba cigars, Cuba’s most prestigious brand. The name recalls the way the native Taino people referred to the rolled tobacco leaves they smoked.
Rolling one’s own leaves is a tradition that endures among farmers in the western province of Pinar del Rio, where most Cuban tobacco farms are located.
Flavor
Castro’s favorite cigar, the Cohiba Lancero, which he smoked until he quit in 1985 at the age of 59, is still produced in the factory.
“Despite all the difficulties we face,” the goal is to manufacture “nearly two million” cigars in 2022, or roughly 9,000 a day, said factory head Oscar Rodriguez.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Cuban cigar exports grew by 15 percent in 2021, totaling $568 million, according to Habanos S.A., which includes all national brands. That constitutes a significant boon for the Cuban economy, which is in the grips of its worst crisis in 30 years, with daily shortages and power cuts.
The factory “did not stop for a single day” during the pandemic, eventually making cigars “the country’s second-largest export,” Rodriguez said.
Spain, China, Germany, France and Switzerland are among the top buyers.
Expertly handling curved blades and a sticky substance, dozens of workers put the finishing touches on the ends of newly rolled cigars.
Some 60 percent of the workers are women — following a tradition at the factory founded by Castro’s comrade-in-arms Celia Sanchez — that aims to give opportunities to single mothers or women in difficulty.
Another founder, Norma Fernandez, who died during the pandemic, rolled the cigars for the leader of the revolution.
“It was a privilege to be able to say, ‘I made the president’s cigars,’” said Orquidea Gonzalez, hard at work at the factory, which is housed in an elegant 1950s villa.
Caridad Mesa, now 55, started working at El Laguito as a cleaning lady. Thirty years later, she is in charge of spotting the smallest defects in the cigars.
It is necessary to control “the quality, the weight, the length… the thickness,” she said, scrutinizing boxes brimming with cigars under a large portrait of Communist revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
Cohiba cigars, which include a wide range of styles, can cost $30 to $200 each, both in Cuba and abroad.
“Cuban tobacco is distinguished from all other kinds by the flavor of the land of Pinar del Rio,” said Gonzalez.
It is there, she added, “where the best tobacco crops are grown.”
International
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump would be a “mistake” without certainty of concrete results, following the cancellation of the planned meeting in Budapest.
“Without a doubt, such a meeting must be well-prepared. For me and the U.S. president, it would be a mistake to treat it lightly and come out of that meeting without the expected outcome,” Putin told local media from the Kremlin.
The Russian leader said the initiative for the summit came from the U.S. side and that he had accepted the proposal. “In our last phone conversation, both the meeting and its location were proposed by the U.S. side. I agreed,” he said.
Putin added that Moscow continues to support dialogue, even in the current context. However, he admitted uncertainty about whether a meeting with Trump could take place later. “Now I see that, in his statement, the U.S. president has decided to cancel or postpone the meeting. Most likely, it is a postponement, since dialogue is always better than confrontation, disputes, or especially war,” he emphasized.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reaffirmed that Moscow does not consider a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine that does not meet its original demands. “We see no alternative other than achieving the objectives of the special military operation,” Zakharova stated.
Among the conditions Russia has set for resuming dialogue with Washington and other international actors are: ensuring Ukraine’s neutral and non-aligned status, its demilitarization, the removal of elements considered “Nazis,” full respect for the rights of Russian-speaking populations, and unrestricted operation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
International
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Colombian President Gustavo Petro downplayed on Thursday the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all economic aid to the country, asserting that the measure “changes nothing” structurally, although he acknowledged potential effects on military resources.
“What happens if they take away our aid? In my opinion, nothing (…) I have never seen a single dollar of aid in Colombia’s budget,” Petro said during a press conference at the Casa de Nariño, a day after Trump publicly announced the suspension of all payments and subsidies to Colombia.
The Colombian leader explained that U.S. funds are not allocated directly to the government but rather to organizations linked to the now-defunct USAID. “U.S. aid is not for the government; it is for the NGOs managed by USAID, that is, for themselves,” he argued.
Petro also questioned the effectiveness of this cooperation, stating that Washington’s decades-long anti-drug strategy has failed by focusing on forced eradication of illicit crops, which, according to him, has perpetuated violence in Colombia. “They have condemned us to violence,” he asserted.
Although he acknowledged that the suspension could create difficulties in the military sector—such as the withdrawal of combat helicopters and limitations in arms supply—he assured that his government is prepared to replace that support with the national budget. “Colombia buys its own weapons,” he emphasized.
International
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández (2007–2015) described this Thursday as “decisive” the legislative elections taking place this Sunday in Argentina, urging voters to support Peronism as a way to put a “brake” on Javier Milei’s government.
“The brake on Milei starts this Sunday, but the work continues the next day to think about how to get Argentina out of the disaster this government will leave. This October 26 is Milei and permanent austerity, or Argentina, our common home,” Fernández said in a recorded message from her Buenos Aires residence, where she is serving a six-year prison sentence for irregularities in the awarding of road construction contracts during her presidency.
Fernández emphasized that the elections are not only about choosing deputies and senators but also represent “a great democratic opportunity” to “set limits on Milei’s mismanagement.”
“The libertarian experiment has failed, and everyone knows it. People cannot make ends meet, they have to go into debt to pay for electricity, buy food, or medicine,” she added.
The former president also criticized the government for changing the voting system “without proper training, putting transparency at risk,” referring to the introduction of the Single Paper Ballot, which lists all candidates, offices, and political parties on a single sheet.
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International2 days agoThe Chief Builder: Trump and his remodeling of the White House
-
International4 days agoU.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
-
International3 days agoJoe Biden finishes prostate cancer radiotherapy at Penn Medicine
-
Central America3 days agoWhite House targets Nicaragua over human rights and labor violations
-
International2 days agoTrump warns Hamas that they will be “eradicated” if they break the ceasefire with Israel in Gaza
-
International1 day agoUruguay’s Orsi and Tony Blair discuss AI cooperation and child poverty policies
-
International2 days agoVenezuela accuses U.S. of using anti-drug operations as pretext to target Maduro
-
International1 day agoColombia conducts nationwide emergency drill focused on hidroituango dam
-
International3 days agoZelenskyy: Meeting with Trump “Positive” Despite Rejected Missile Request
-
International1 day agoCuba accuses U.S. of pressuring countries ahead of UN vote on embargo
-
International2 days agoTrump assures that Ukraine could still “win” the war
-
International2 days agoThe United States investigates why a Waymo autonomous vehicle did not respect a stop sign
-
International3 days agoTrump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
-
Central America1 day agoU.S. and Panama hold joint jungle exercises to strengthen security ties
-
International2 days agoCosta Rica hails appointment of Japan’s first female Prime Minister, Takaichi Sanae
-
International2 days agoMexico and the US launch an unprecedented joint border plan to stop arms trafficking
-
International4 hours agoColombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
-
International2 days agoColombian court overturns ex-president Uribe’s conviction for witness tampering
-
International4 hours agoCristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
-
International4 hours ago
Trump announces over 3,000 arrests in major U.S. crackdown on drug cartels
-
International3 hours agoPutin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results