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
Trump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday the departure of Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, one of the key architects of the administration’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants.
Noem, who has been assigned a new role as a “special envoy” to Latin America, will be replaced starting March 31 by Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, the president said in a message posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
According to media reports, Trump made the decision after Noem’s recent hearings in Congress, during which she faced tough questions regarding the awarding of a major public contract.
International
Young Woman Will Represent Mexico at 2026 World Cup Opener, Says President Sheinbaum
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced Thursday that the young Mexican woman who proves to have the best ball control skills will receive her personal ticket to the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.
The left-wing leader had previously said she would not attend the tournament’s opening game on June 11 in the Mexican capital and instead planned to give away the ticket number 00001, reserved for her by FIFA.
During her morning press conference, Sheinbaum explained that women between 16 and 25 years old can participate by submitting a video through an official platform.
“What do they have to do? Keep the ball in the air for one minute,” she said, referring to the soccer juggling challenge that will determine the winner.
Among the judges selecting the winner will be Mexican striker Charlyn Corral, the world’s top female scorer who set a ball-control record in 2005, and professional referee Katia Itzel García.
Sheinbaum also revealed that she plans to watch the opening match during a large public gathering with giant screens in the Zócalo, located in the historic center near the presidential palace.
“Very few people will be able to attend the opening. So I will watch it here with the people, and a young woman will represent me and the people of Mexico,” the president said.
Sheinbaum has previously commented on the high cost of World Cup tickets, as well as the difficulty of obtaining them in a metropolitan area with more than 20 million inhabitants.
In the 2026 tournament, jointly hosted by United States, Mexico, and Canada, Mexico will stage 13 matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.
The opening match will take place at the legendary Estadio Azteca, which previously hosted World Cup opening ceremonies in 1970 and 1986, occasions when the presidents in attendance were famously booed by the crowd.
International
Claudia Sheinbaum: Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Was Based on Pending Arrest Warrants
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday rejected claims that the military operation that resulted in the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was carried out under pressure from the United States government.
Sheinbaum explained that the deployment of federal forces was aimed at executing outstanding arrest warrants against Oseguera Cervantes, who was considered one of the most wanted criminals in both Mexico and the United States.
“That was not the objective (to ease pressure from the United States). It is very important, and I want to repeat it. This individual had an arrest warrant, or several,” Sheinbaum said, referring to the operation conducted on February 22.
According to the president, the initial goal was to capture Oseguera Cervantes, but military forces responded after coming under attack during the intervention.
“The operation was to detain him. The problem is that they were attacked — the Secretariat of National Defense — and they responded at that moment,” she said.
The president insisted that the action was not carried out in response to external demands, although she acknowledged intelligence cooperation with the United States.
“It was not done in any way because of pressure from the United States, not at all. Of course, there was intelligence information from the United States that was used specifically,” she concluded.
Trump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
Young Woman Will Represent Mexico at 2026 World Cup Opener, Says President Sheinbaum
Claudia Sheinbaum: Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Was Based on Pending Arrest Warrants
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