Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Miguelito, a Psychiatric Patient Abandoned to His Fate, Like So Many Others in Cuba

Last week, the man lost his life in a failed break-in attempt. The lack of proper treatment had turned him into a danger to his neighbors and to himself

Everyone in the thirteen-story building sympathized with Miguelito’s mother, but they feared what he was capable of doing in his condition.

14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, 13 July 2026 / It was around ten o’clock at night on July 7 when a man, later identified as Miguel, fell from the sixth floor of the well-known thirteen-story old building in Matanzas while attempting to break into a neighbor’s home. According to the preliminary forensic report, the intruder tried to grab onto a protective railing on the building’s balcony, but the structure gave way, sending him plummeting to the ground floor.

When Miguelito fell he was wearing a ski mask covering his face, which initially kept neighbors from identifying him. It was his own mother who, before police investigators, confirmed the identity of the deceased.

For the community, the tragic outcome was not a surprise but something expected for a person like Miguelito: mentally ill for years, with a criminal record, and forgotten by the authorities.

“He was a problem for the neighborhood,” says one neighbor, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He was someone with a mental disorder who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. About fifteen years ago he stabbed a young man in the same building several times – a young man who used to help him and even gave him work making handicrafts. One day, with no prior argument or dispute, he waited for him downstairs and stabbed him repeatedly,” he recounts.

“He was someone with a mental disorder who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. About fifteen years ago he stabbed a young man in the same building several times who used to help him”

Miguel spent eight years in prison and, once he had served his sentence, returned to the neighborhood. It was the victim who had to move away, out of fear of another attack. “I’m no judge, but someone who endangers continue reading

other people’s lives should either be given specialized help or removed from society. What you can’t do is send him back, after just a few years, to the very place where he nearly killed an innocent person,” the neighbor laments.

The alarming lack of infrastructure, medication, and follow-up protocols for people with chronic mental illness is one more open wound among the many in Cuba. The extreme shortage of antipsychotic drugs and sporadic medical supervision have left it up to families and neighbors themselves to contain patients who, during a crisis, can become very dangerous.

The island’s health system, which years ago centralized control of these cases through extended hospital stays or strict provision of treatment, no longer takes charge of them. Faced with the collapse of hospitals and pharmacies, patients with severe diagnoses of schizophrenia or psychosis end up wandering the streets or confined to homes that lack sufficient resources to care for them. The lack of adequate inpatient institutions and the absence of supervised reintegration programs turn mental health care in Cuba into a game of Russian roulette for public safety.

Odalis, the owner of the apartment Miguel tried to enter on the night of July 7, confirms the earlier account while still trying to come to terms with what happened. “I’m still shaken. His mother is a much-loved neighbor, but that young man needed urgent medical attention. He’d tried to get into my home several times that same week for different reasons, and now this happens. Nobody knew his real intentions – only that he was wearing a ski mask and had a rope and a hammer in a backpack. It’s hard to think that if he hadn’t fallen, the one who ended up dead today might have been me,” she says with sorrow.

Although a sense of helplessness can be felt throughout the building, her case is a special one, and she agrees this was foreseeable. “Ever since he stabbed Eduardito, the craftsman, we all knew – and the police did too – that he wasn’t right psychologically. All because no one treated a sick person or took him somewhere he could get help.”

“It’s not that everything bad that happened in the building was Miguelito’s fault, but he used to follow the girls around, harass them, and threaten families”

Residents say Miguel’s erratic and intimidating behavior was frequent and that early warnings were systematically ignored by law enforcement. In recent nights, Miguel, adds a third neighbor interviewed, had taken to throwing bottles from his balcony at passersby.

“We called the police and they never came,” he laments. “Just like they never came when Cecilia, a neighbor on the eleventh floor, had her door forced open and her EcoFlow unit stolen. It’s not that everything bad that happened in the building was Miguelito’s fault, but he used to follow the girls around, harass them, and threaten families. The Ministry of the Interior and the local sector chief never did a thing. Now look – if this tragedy hadn’t happened, Odalis might not be alive,” he continues.

The neighbor says all the residents deeply feel for Magalys, his mother. “She’s a lovely person, but this is like the García Márquez book: a chronicle of a death foretold. The worst part is that it could have been prevented with treatment and supervision from specialists.”

Translated by GH.

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Five Years Later, the Cuban Exile Community in Madrid Keeps Alive the Cry of the 11th of July

The day included testimonies from Cuba, an augmented reality installation about 11J, and a demand for the release of political prisoners.

A discussion was held in Madrid to commemorate the fifth anniversary of July 11th, with the participation of Cuban activists, former political prisoners, and human rights defenders. / 14ymedio

Five years after Cuba’s Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021, some of its protagonists met again, far from the streets where it all began. This time it was in Madrid, in a venue in the Malasaña neighborhood, but with the same urgency as before: to remember the largest social uprising in Cuba since 1959 and to denounce the fact that the repression unleashed after that event has not ended. Under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” Cuban civil society in exile is organizing three days of activities in the Spanish capital to discuss memory, resistance, political prisoners, and the democratic future.

The first event was the discussion ” Five Years Later: Memory, Resistance, and Freedom,” held this Thursday at the Casa del Cura Community Social Center. The gathering brought together activists, former political prisoners, human rights defenders, and direct participants in the demonstrations that shook the island five years ago, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets chanting “Libertad” [Freedom] and “Patria y Vida” [Homeland and Life.

The discussion was moderated by Dayana Prieto, a Cuban audiovisual producer and activist based in Madrid. Guests included Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders; art curator and artivist Solveig Font Martínez; playwright Yunior García Aguilera; filmmaker and activist Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez Yong; and Elías Rizo León, known as “the boy with the flag” for being the subject of one of the most symbolic images of those days.

The panel’s composition brought together several layers of the events of July 11th: the citizen protests, the immediate repression, imprisonment, exile, and the persistence of a memory that the Cuban regime attempts to erase or reduce to a mere legal case. Solveig Font and Yunior García were arrested during the demonstration in front of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television in Havana, one of the locations where popular demands merged with calls for freedom of expression and rejection of official propaganda. Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez Yong was also arrested that day, while Elías Rizo had to remain in hiding with his family until he was able continue reading

to leave the country.

Filmmaker Yimit Ramírez explains his augmented reality installation, Caribbean Jacuzzi, while Elías Rizo observes the recreation using smart glasses. / 14ymedio

Testimonies also arrived from Cuba reminding everyone that the wound of July 11th remains open. Former political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez sent a message emphasizing the need to remember those imprisoned for taking to the streets in July 2021 and to maintain international pressure demanding their release. His remarks drew a connection between the event in Madrid and the reality of those on the island who still face surveillance, harassment, and the legal consequences of that protest. The message from Mailín Rodríguez Sánchez, wife of political prisoner Yosvani Rosell García, convicted for his participation in the 11 July protests, was also heard. Her testimony put a name and a familiar face to the cost of the repression. In her voice, the anniversary ceased to be a political date and became an intimate denunciation of the prolonged punishment inflicted upon the protesters and their families.

One of the most unique moments of the event was the presentation of Caribbean Jacuzzi, an augmented reality installation by artist Yimit Ramírez. Through smart glasses, viewers could interact with a recreation of the overturned police car from the 11 July protests and with the iconic image of the young man who, standing atop the car, waved the Cuban flag amidst the crowd. The piece brought one of the most powerful visual symbols of those days into the exhibition space, not as a mere archival document, but as an immersive experience.

The participants concluded the meeting with a demand for the release of Cuban political prisoners, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. / 14ymedio

The scene took on a particularly poignant tone when the man in the photograph, Elías Rizo, put on the glasses and saw himself in the installation. The gesture encapsulated the distance between the historical moment and his memory: the young man who five years earlier had become a symbol of defiance now returned to that image from exile, transformed simultaneously into a witness, a participant, and a survivor of a protest that marked a generation.

At the end of the event, activist Yanelis Núñez held a live broadcast in which several participants expressed their concern for the situation of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and demanded his release. The Cuban artist and dissident remains in the custody of State Security, despite having completed his unjust sentence on July 9. The live broadcast served as a political epilogue to the day’s events.

The activities will continue this Friday, July 10, at 5:00 p.m., at the Casa de la Libertad in Cuba, with the colloquium ” Challenges for the Cuba to Come.” The meeting, moderated by Dr. Antonio Guedes, will shift the focus from the memory of 11 July to the challenges of a potential democratic transition, in a debate about the country that could emerge after the regime and about the role of the exile community in that reconstruction.

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The Cuban Exile Community Brings the Spirit of 11J to Spain’s Puerta del Sol With a Demand for Freedom for Cuba

The day concluded three days of activities in Madrid, following a discussion on the memory of July 11 and a debate on the challenges of a future democratic transition

“It’s been 67 years of abuse of power, mistreatment, and misery. Enough is enough,” a Cuban woman summarized in Puerta del Sol. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Dayana Prieto Espinosa, Madrid, 11 July 2026 / The Cuban exile community brought the spirit of July 11th to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of the social uprising. Dozens of Cubans and Spaniards participated for several hours in a public demonstration to commemorate the largest protest against the regime on the island, demand the release of political prisoners, and denounce the ongoing repression.

Under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” the initiative concluded three days of activities organized by Cuban exile groups. The program began last Thursday with the discussion “Five Years Later: Memory, Resistance, and Freedom,” which included activists, journalists, and participants in the protests, and continued on Friday with the colloquium “Challenges for the Cuba to Come,” moderated by Dr. Antonio Guedes and focused on the political, economic, and institutional challenges of a future democratic transition.

In Madrid’s central square this Saturday, participants displayed Cuban flags, distributed information to passersby, and spoke with dozens of people who approached them, interested in the situation on the island. The day combined public speeches, artistic performances, and testimonies from Cubans who have left the country and from Spaniards who support the democratic cause. continue reading

“At first I returned to my country for a visit. But I don’t want to go back until I’m free.” / 14ymedio

“It’s been 67 years of abuse of power, mistreatment, and misery. Enough is enough,” summarized Odalis Chongo, a native of San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana.

Independent journalist Iliana Hernández emphasized the historical significance of the 2021 protests. “The 11th of July is the true day of the national rebellion, not the 26th of July. On that date in 1953, criminals who today hold the Cuban people hostage stormed a barracks,” she stated.

Hernández also dedicated part of his speech to denouncing the situation of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. He noted that the artist has been held captive by State Security for three days, despite having fully served his sentence.

Among those present was Alicia, a Cuban woman who has lived in Spain for over two decades. “At first, I came back to visit my country. But I don’t want to return until it’s free,” she explained while holding a Cuban flag.

The event also brought together Spanish citizens who wanted to express their solidarity with Cubans. A woman from Madrid stated that she has never traveled to the island and does not intend to do so while the current political system remains in place. “I wouldn’t go as a tourist to a country where they repress people and where they are suffering so much. I find what Spanish politicians like those from Podemos are doing shameful. They only represent a very small percentage of Spaniards. They cannot speak for all of us,” she asserted.

“I wouldn’t go on vacation to a country where they repress people and where they’re suffering so much,” said a woman from Madrid. / 14ymedio

Simón Elías Rodríguez, a 19-year-old Cuban who emigrated just a year ago, explained why he decided to attend the rally. “I emigrated from Cuba when I was 18. When there’s no freedom, there’s no economy, no future. I’m here for that reason and for the political prisoners,” he said.

Another Spanish woman explained that she was attending on behalf of her family. “I’m here representing my husband, who is Cuban. My son was born in Spain, but he feels very Cuban. It’s essential that there be a change,” she stated.

For Iancarlo Rocabruno Pentón, the day also served to combat the regime’s official narrative. “There is an oppressive dictatorship in Cuba,” he stated. In his opinion, there are still people in Spain who believe “in the regime’s propaganda, in the false socialist paradise,” although he noted that many passersby approached him with interest to learn about the Cuban reality. “Many Venezuelans approach us because they understand, like few others, what these dictatorships do to people,” he added.

Five years after those demonstrations that swept through dozens of Cuban cities with cries of “Freedom” and “Homeland and Life,” the organizers insisted that the rebellion that began in the streets of the Island remains open as long as political prisoners remain, repression continues, and millions of Cubans continue to be deprived of fundamental rights.
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Vigils and Marches in Several Countries Commemorated the Fifth Anniversary of Cuba’s ’11J’ Protests.

Washington, Miami, Bilbao and Madrid hosted some of the main events organized by Cuban exile organizations to denounce the repression on the island.

Vigil for the fifth anniversary of 9/11 in front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, organized by the Center for a Free Cuba and Students for Liberty. / Courtesy

14ymedio, Madrid, July 12, 2026 / Five years after the historic protests of 11 July 2021, Cuban exile organizations commemorated the anniversary this Saturday with vigils, demonstrations and rallies in several cities to remember the biggest social uprising on the island since 1959 and to demand the release of political prisoners.

In Washington, dozens of people participated in a vigil outside the Cuban Embassy organized by the Center for a Free Cuba and Students for Liberty. The gathering was dedicated to the more than 1,300 political prisoners currently reported on the island and focused on several inmates whose health or prison conditions are considered especially serious.

“The dictatorship’s response was and continues to be repression, terror, and measures that further impoverish the Cuban people. This must stop: Cubans need to be free to rebuild their country,” declared John Suárez, executive director of the Center.

The protesters remembered the victims of the sinking of the tugboat 13 de Marzo, in July 1994./ Courtesy

The organizers also commemorated the victims of the sinking of the 13 de Marzo tugboat, in which 41 men, 10 of them minors, died on July 13, 1994, while attempting to flee Cuba. Various international human rights organizations have called for an independent investigation into the incident for years.

The vigil concluded with a prayer by Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart and a collection of signatures to demand the release of political prisoners.

“The dictatorship’s response was and continues to be repression, terror, and measures that further impoverish the Cuban people. This must stop.”

Also in the US, in Miami, hundreds of people participated in the Liberation Day Rally, held on Calle Ocho in Little Havana. The event centered around the Tower Theater and Domino Park, where a march, an art exhibit, a screening of the documentary “Cuba and the Night,” and cultural presentations were organized to commemorate the 11 July protests and demand the release of Cuban political prisoners.

Across the Atlantic, the commemoration also brought together continue reading

the Cuban community in various Spanish cities. In Bilbao, the Cuban-Basque Association Demokrazia Kubarentzat organized a demonstration to commemorate the fifth anniversary of July 11th. The gathering was attended by Cubans residing in the Basque Country, along with representatives from the Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Mexican communities, as well as members of the People’s Party.

Demonstration in Bilbao commemorating the fifth anniversary of 11J, organized by the Cuban-Basque Association Demokrazia Kubarentzat. / Courtesy

Participants recalled that 11 July 2021, “was the day a people overcame their fear and took to the streets peacefully to demand freedom, dignity, and a better future for their children.” They also paid tribute to those who remain imprisoned for participating in those protests, to the families separated by exile, and to the Cubans who continue to suffer the lack of freedoms on the island. The association affirmed that the spirit of 11 July remains intact, “because 11 July does not belong to the past: it is a living cause that will continue to inspire the peaceful struggle for a free Cuba.”

In Madrid, the anniversary was commemorated with three days of activities under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” which included talks with former political prisoners and activists, an art installation, cultural events, and a rally to demand the release of Cuban political prisoners.

Events commemorating the fifth anniversary of July 11th were also held in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Nuremberg, Germany. With these gatherings, the Cuban exile community once again transformed the date into a day of protest against repression on the island and of solidarity with political prisoners, five years after the protests that marked a turning point in Cuba’s recent history.

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June, the Month When Everything Seemed Possible

The lack of official information once again fueled a chain of rumors that mixed politics, economics, and successions within the Cuban power structure.

The figure of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Raúl Castro’s grandson popularly known as ‘El Cangrejo’ [The Crab], also did not escape the machinery of speculation. / Social networks

14ymedio, Madrid, 11 July 2026 / Every month brings its harvest of rumors to Cuba. Some originate in an anonymous Facebook post, others jump from a Telegram channel to a WhatsApp group, and there are always those that begin with the classic “someone who works at… told me.” The speed with which they circulate speaks volumes about the country’s precarious state of information. Where official data is scarce, speculation abounds. And on an island where for decades important decisions have been announced at the last minute, or simply imposed without warning, these so-called “rumors” end up occupying the space that should belong to public information.

June was no exception. Amid blackouts, economic reforms, official tributes, and constant political uncertainty, social media and street corner conversations once again became the main laboratory for national hypotheses.

One of the most striking rumors claimed that the government was preparing the “mandatory relocation” of more than 45,000 Havana families to provinces in the central and eastern parts of the country to “decongest” the capital. The story included precise figures, references to the Council of Ministers, and even a supposed relocation schedule starting in July. It was enough to recall the immigration restrictions that for decades limited settlement in Havana for many to find the version perfectly credible. The rumor combined a familiar element—the old control over internal movement—with the current deterioration of services in the capital. No evidence of such a plan existed, but for several days some people asked with genuine concern whether they should start packing their bags.

One of the most striking rumors claimed that the Government was preparing the “mandatory relocation” of more than 45,000 Havana families to provinces in the central and eastern parts of the country

US politics also retained its traditional place in Cuban rumor mill. In June, yet another ultimatum attributed to President Donald Trump resurfaced. The message spoke of a mere 96 hours for the Cuban leadership to hand over power to a supposed military force already prepared, and promised multimillion-dollar investments just three days after the political transition. The formula barely differs from other versions circulating for weeks: an imminent deadline, a spectacular outcome, and the promise of an immediate transformation of the national reality. The timeline changes, the protagonists are updated, but the structure remains intact.

Another widely shared story featured Raúl Castro. According to the message, the Communist Party had instructed publishers, media outlets, schools, and cultural institutions to abandon all references to Fidel Castro and concentrate all propaganda on exalting the general. The rumor exaggerated a verifiable reality to the point of absurdity: the growing media presence Raúl Castro has acquired in recent months, especially after being accused in the United States of murder for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes. The former leader also recently turned 95, and his image is at the center of an intense official campaign to rehabilitate his legacy. As is often the case, a true observation ended up being transformed into a disproportionate theory.

Economic tensions also fueled another widely circulated rumor. A supposed presidential decree announced an absolute ban on the use of the US dollar in any transaction within the island, effective July 1st. The text carefully mimicked official language, invoked the defense of monetary sovereignty, and blamed the US currency for distortions in the domestic market. The story found fertile ground because it coincided with the confusion generated by the growing partial dollarization of the Cuban economy.

The figure of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, popularly known as El Cangrejo (The Crab) and grandson of Raúl Castro, also fell prey to the machinery of speculation. A video following the route of a private jet between Cuba, Cozumel, and Cancún fueled all sorts of theories about a supposed hasty exodus of fortunes linked to the ruling elite. The narrative connected flights, companies, front men, and potential asset restrictions in a puzzle where the most important pieces remained mere conjecture. Without sufficient public information about the movements of those within the inner circle of power, any movement ends up becoming fuel for suspicion.

As long as the State continues to consider public data as the exclusive property of those in power, the balls will continue to thrive.

The persistence of these stories reveals much more than the imagination of those who spread them. It speaks of a society accustomed to interpreting silences, reading between the lines, and distrusting official narratives. For decades, numerous momentous decisions, from economic reforms to immigration changes or leadership replacements, were preceded precisely by rumors that the authorities denied or ignored before confirming them with events.

In Cuba, the line between rumor and news has never been entirely clear. Not because speculation is necessarily true, but because official secrecy has ultimately transformed it into a collective tool for trying to anticipate the future. When information is scarce, uncertainty fills the available space. And as long as the State continues to consider public data the exclusive domain of those in power, rumors will continue to thrive.

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The Cuban Revolution Is Dead, but Its Funeral Is Being Unbearably Prolonged

Amid political prisoners, blackouts, and palace infighting, the fifth anniversary of ’11J’ confirms the regime’s final exhaustion.

Images from the July 11, 2021 social uprising in Havana. / Screenshot

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, July 11, 2026 – Five years after 11 July 2021, the Cuban Revolution is dead. The people know it, the military knows it, the leaders know it, and even the news anchor who puts makeup on the corpse every night knows it. The only thing missing is the burial. And that funeral is being unbearably prolonged because those who inherited the funeral home also possess the weapons, the prisons, and the keys to the cemetery.

The demonstrations of 11J did not bring down the regime, but they destroyed its narrative forever. That day it was not a “minority paid from Miami,” as the propaganda used to claim, that took to the streets. It was Cuba. The poor neighborhoods came out, the young people with no future, the exhausted mothers, the Black Cubans whom the government claims to have redeemed, and the workers to whom six decades of socialism have barely guaranteed the right to stand in line.

Five years later, Prisoners Defenders counts 1,306 political prisoners. Among them are 40 people who were detained while they were still minors, and 16 of them remain imprisoned in adult facilities. The project that promised to create a New Man has ended up imprisoning teenagers to keep a group of potbellied men in guayaberas in power.

Cuba reaches this anniversary in almost complete darkness. In 2026, the national electrical system has already suffered four total collapses, two of them in the same week leading up to 11J. Electricity has become a ghostly apparition: no one knows when it will arrive, how long it will last, or what sin must be atoned for to deserve it. The Government blames the embargo, fuel shortages, the heat, a breakdown, Trump, and when it runs out of culprits, even Thomas Edison for popularizing the light bulb.

The empty cooking pot has become the country’s most popular musical instrument. It requires no training, no sheet music, and no permission from the Ministry of Culture

But Cubans are no longer protesting solely to get the power back. In Central Havana, when electricity returned, some residents remained in the streets shouting: “We want freedom, not electricity.” That phrase reflects a decisive political evolution. For years, the regime sought to reduce every conflict to a material need. Hunger, but not rights. Misery, but never freedom. Now people are beginning to name the illness, not just its symptoms.

The pot-banging protests, blocked streets, and burning garbage are the noise of a society stretching the rope of fear another meter every day, and one that is on the verge of snapping it. The empty cooking pot has become the country’s most popular musical instrument. It requires no training, no sheet music, and no permission from the Ministry of Culture. Only exhaustion and a ladle.

The disastrous interview given by Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro did more than generate headlines. It caused a short circuit within the government itself. Suddenly, the guardians of orthodoxy started talking too much. The mother of Leticia Martínez, Díaz-Canel’s press chief, posted on Facebook what her daughter likely hears every day in the halls of the Palace. Without intending to, she ended up airing the conversations of the very power that has always demanded absolute silence from everyone else.

The late Ángel Castro watches from his grave as his descendants extended the fence around their properties to encompass the entire Island, turning an entire country into the family’s estate

The contrast was even more revealing. While Manuel Marrero, a political creation of Gaesa, hurried to defend López-Calleja’s son and assure everyone that everything was under control, Díaz-Canel remained in a silence that spoke volumes.

It was fascinating to watch the reaction of the courtiers. Israel Rojas, poet of the bulb and otherness, beat his chest lamenting how naïve he had been, as though he had just discovered that hereditary privilege existed in Cuba. Michel Torres Corona, the increasingly watered-down host of Con Filo, directed his attacks at El Cangrejo and Sandro Castro with a discourse that conveyed less moral indignation than class resentment. He did not seem scandalized that a revolutionary aristocracy existed. He seemed bothered that he was not part of it.

The scene was almost Shakespearean. The court jesters hasten to bow before the Crown, yet despise the royal princes. They swear loyalty to the kingdom while grumbling about its heirs. And in that theater of forced loyalties, the great truth that Castroism has spent decades trying to conceal was laid bare: the Revolution has become a hereditary monarchy that preserves the language of Marxism to justify the privileges of a dynasty.

A system whose international defenders can only invoke victimhood is no longer a “beacon” of anything, but a ruin shrouded in darkness.

In 1961, Fidel Castro asked whether the Revolution’s weapons were in the hands of the “sons of the rich” or the “young gentlemen.” Sixty-five years later, the question has returned like a boomerang, this time aimed at his own family. Those who bear his surname travel on yachts and private jets; they speak in Cuba’s name without ever having received a single vote; they move through the halls of power like the natural heirs to an estate. The late Ángel Castro watches from his grave as his descendants extended the fence around their properties to encompass the entire Island, turning an entire country into the family’s estate. No one can protest that vast landholding without risking imprisonment, exile, or being branded an enemy. It is the perfect estate.

A regime that must persecute and threaten young people and teenagers because it can no longer buy loyalty is not defending a cause: it is administering terror. A system whose international defenders can only invoke victimhood is no longer a “beacon” of anything, but a ruin shrouded in darkness. And a State whose own propaganda apparatus ends up leaking its palace quarrels on Facebook is no longer governing: it is broadcasting its own collapse live.

The Revolution is dead. Its corpse still occupies the ministries, gives orders, signs sentences, and appears on television made up like a zombie. But it stinks. And no matter how much ideological incense its priests burn, all of Cuba recognizes the stench. It is time to close the coffin, lower the body into the ground, and return Cuba to those who are still breathing, before the entire country ends up becoming a cemetery.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five Years After 11J, the Regime Tightens Repression Amid Fears of a New Social Uprising

Cubalex reports a record 319 repressive incidents and 253 protests in June, the highest figure since it began monitoring in 2022.

The home of Wilber Aguilar, father of political prisoner Walnier Luis Aguilar, has remained under police surveillance since early July.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 11, 2026 – Five years after the massive protests of July 11, 2021, the Cuban State has responded with repressive measures and increased surveillance and militarization. The 14ymedio newsroom awoke this Saturday surrounded by a police patrol preventing its director, Yoani Sánchez, from leaving her home.

Surveillance has also been extended to other independent journalists, opposition figures, and relatives of political prisoners. This Saturday, journalist Camila Acosta, opposition leader Manuel Cuesta Morúa, and intellectual Roberto Veiga reported police operations. The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights also reported another operation outside the home of Wilber Aguilar, father of political prisoner Walnier Luis Aguilar. Although State Security repeats these control measures every year on this date, they now coincide with the worsening economic and political crisis affecting the Island and growing public discontent.

The 2021 protests erupted because of deteriorating living conditions during the pandemic, but from the outset they expressed political demands with slogans such as Patria y Vida, “Homeland and Life”, and Libertad, “Freedom.” The repression was brutal: at least one person was killed by gunfire during the demonstrations; more than 1,300 people were detained or prosecuted in connection with those events, according to various independent organizations, and seven political prisoners have died in custody, according to the NGO Cuba Archive.

Against this backdrop, the regime has intensified its surveillance and control measures in anticipation of the possibility of another social uprising.

Five years later, living conditions have deteriorated even further. The energy crisis has reached the point where people no longer speak of blackouts but of alumbrones, “light-ups”: brief intervals of electricity between more than 30 hours without power in Havana and up to 90 hours in some provincial areas. This is compounded by a water supply crisis that, according to the authorities themselves, affects more than 500,000 continue reading

residents of Havana. Against this backdrop, the regime has tightened surveillance and control measures in anticipation of another social uprising.

This Friday, the Government intensified its security preparations ahead of the anniversary. President Miguel Díaz-Canel chaired a meeting with military commanders in Havana’s Cerro municipality as part of National Defense Day activities. According to the State newspaper Granma, the meeting reviewed measures to preserve “internal order” in communities and protect strategic economic targets.

This newspaper confirmed that, beginning Friday night, police patrols and “cage trucks”—vehicles used to detain and transport so-called “agitators of public order”—were already circulating through the streets of Havana. During the July 11, 2021 protests, police even used garbage trucks for that purpose.

Cubalex documented a record 319 repressive incidents and a historic high of 253 protests during June, the highest figure since it began this monitoring in 2022

That atmosphere of tension was also reflected in Cubalex’s latest monthly report. The independent organization documented a record 319 repressive incidents and a historic high of 253 protests during June, the highest figure since it began monitoring in 2022. The report notes that “the days with the highest number of arbitrary detention incidents generally coincided with special operations and peaks in protests during the month.” At least 254 people were victims of repression. Nearly half were neither activists nor well-known opposition figures, but ordinary citizens who took part in demonstrations prompted by blackouts and worsening living conditions.

Havana accounted for 176 of those protests, followed by Santiago de Cuba with 35 and Villa Clara with seventeen. The cacerolazos, pot-banging protests, were increasingly frequent during the daytime as well as the main form of demonstration. The organization also documented the burning of garbage and tires, road blockades, stone-throwing at police stations and bank branches, as well as graffiti against the Government and Raúl Castro.

Cubalex also warns about the “deployment of undercover agents in Havana neighborhoods with the aim of identifying those who protested in previous days.”

Among the most frequent violations are police deployments for surveillance and control, arbitrary arrests, forced transfers, threats, and the denial of medical care to people deprived of their liberty. The report also notes an increase in harassment operations against independent journalists. Documented cases include the constant surveillance of Yoani Sánchez and Camila Acosta.

Cubalex also warns of the “deployment of undercover agents in Havana neighborhoods with the objective of identifying those who protested in previous days.”

In the organization’s view, “the deterioration of material living conditions and the increase in social discontent coincided with a State response focused on control, ‘state of war’ propaganda, and containing protests.”

The national electrical system suffered another total collapse this Friday, the second in a week, and more than 24 hours later authorities had still not fully restored service. The new collapse points to another day of prolonged blackouts across much of the country on this already tense date.

Despite police operations aimed at maintaining control, protests again broke out Friday night in several provinces. Videos shared on social media show dozens of residents in Mariel, Artemisa, burning piles of garbage while chanting “Freedom.” In San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, residents blocked Vía Blanca highway to protest the prolonged power outages.

This Friday, Cuban sociologist Ramón García Guerra also warned about tensions in his Santa Fe neighborhood. “After three days of protests against the Government’s neglect, the conflict in my neighborhood has escalated, and today a more violent confrontation between the police and the dissatisfied residents is expected,” he wrote on social media.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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11J, Five Years Later: Cuba’s Real Unfinished Revolution

**11J at Five: Cuba’s Real Unfinished Revolution..** Photo: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

The Cuban American Voice, Julio M. Shiling, July 10, 2026 / Five years have passed since July 11, 2021 (11J), when thousands of Cubans took to the streets in the largest nationwide uprising since the establishment of the Castro-Communist dictatorship. The demonstrations shattered one of the regime’s most enduring myths: that the Cuban people had accepted communist rule. Instead, 11J exposed a nation exhausted by more than six decades of political repression, economic ruin, and systematic violations of fundamental human rights.

The events of 11J revealed two enduring realities. First, the overwhelming majority of Cubans are profoundly dissatisfied with the existing political system. The spontaneous nature of the demonstrations—erupting simultaneously across dozens of cities and towns without centralized leadership—demonstrated that discontent had reached every sector of society. Cubans marched not merely because of shortages of food, medicine, or electricity, but because they recognized that these hardships were symptoms of a deeper disease: an irredeemably failed totalitarian system.

Second, 11J confirmed that Castro-Communism can survive only through the continued exercise of state terrorism. The regime’s immediate response was not dialogue or reform but repression. Peaceful demonstrators were beaten, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to summary trials, and sentenced to extraordinarily harsh prison terms. Communist Cuba’s revolving door political prison system, according to Prisoners Defenders’ July report, holds the number at 1,306. Many of these are young people, women, and individuals who would never have faced prosecution in any civilized democratic society. Reports of torture, psychological abuse, denial of medical treatment, and inhumane prison conditions continue to emerge with alarming regularity.

The dictatorship’s reaction unfolded through three distinct, but complementary strategies designed to preserve its monopoly on power. The first was a brutal nationwide crackdown. Security forces, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), state security agents, and pro-regime paramilitary groups rapidly suppressed the demonstrations through overwhelming force. The subsequent judicial process became an extension of political repression rather than an instrument of justice. During this period, questions also arose surrounding the unexplained deaths of numerous senior officials within the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and MININT, events that have never received transparent public explanation.

The second strategy sought to neutralize the momentum generated by 11J through political manipulation. The proposed November 15 (15N) demonstrations organized by the Archipiélago movement initially appeared capable of becoming a second nationwide mobilization. Instead, the regime effectively penetrated, monitored, and ultimately neutralized the initiative through its extensive intelligence apparatus, depriving the opposition of the momentum that might have transformed 11J into a sustained civic movement.

The third response relied upon a familiar instrument that the Castro regime has repeatedly employed throughout its history: facilitating mass emigration. Through Nicaragua’s visa-free policy and migration routes through Central America and Mexico, hundreds of thousands of Cubans departed the island, with many ultimately entering the United States. This massive exodus relieved internal social pressure while simultaneously exporting the consequences of Cuba’s political failure abroad. The migration crisis became another mechanism for preserving the dictatorship rather than addressing the causes that compelled Cubans to flee.

Despite these efforts, the spirit of 11J has not disappeared. Smaller demonstrations have continued across the island during the past five years, particularly in response to prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and deteriorating living conditions. Having been caught by surprise in July 2021, however, the regime has adapted. Security services now intervene preemptively, deploying surveillance, preventive detentions, intimidation, internet restrictions, and rapid response forces to prevent localized protests from evolving into another nationwide uprising. Repression has become more sophisticated but no less brutal.

Meanwhile, the contrast between Cuba’s ruling elite and ordinary citizens grows increasingly stark. The regime has evolved into what many scholars describe as a sultanistic kleptocracy centered around an extended ruling family and a narrow political aristocracy. While ordinary Cubans endure chronic scarcity, collapsing infrastructure, and near-total economic despair, those connected to the centers of power continue to enjoy privileged access to wealth, imported goods, exclusive facilities, and opportunities unavailable to the overwhelming majority of the population. The ideological rhetoric of equality has long since given way to an unmistakable reality of political privilege.

Beyond Cuba’s borders, the dictatorship remains a source of regional instability. Successive American administrations have recognized that the Castro regime presents challenges extending beyond the island itself. Havana continues to serve as an important hub for anti-democratic movements throughout Latin America while maintaining close strategic relationships with China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Cuba’s intelligence services have historically exercised influence well beyond the country’s size, making the island a strategic platform for geopolitical rivals seeking greater influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Today, the regime increasingly speaks of economic “reforms” while carefully avoiding any discussion of genuine political liberalization. Such proposals misunderstand—or deliberately obscure—the nature of Cuba’s crisis. The fundamental problem is not economic but political. Economic adjustments administered by a totalitarian state cannot produce meaningful freedom, justice, or national reconciliation. Without independent courts, free elections, freedom of expression, private property protected by law, and genuine constitutional government, economic tinkering merely prolongs dictatorial rule. A system built upon absolute political control cannot be reformed through administrative modifications alone.

As America commemorates the 250 th anniversary of its struggle for independence, history offers an instructive reminder. The United States did not secure its liberty in isolation. French military intervention proved decisive at Yorktown, while Spanish financial assistance also contributed materially to the American cause. This is just one example of foreign intervention that substantively benefited the United States. It can well be argued and should be remembered by Washington that without French military help, America likely would have ended up like Canada. Successful struggles for freedom quite often depend on the support of democratic allies willing to confront tyranny.

The Cuban people have already demonstrated their desire for freedom. They did so courageously on July 11, 2021, and they continue to demonstrate it through their daily resistance despite extraordinary risks. Five years later, the lesson of 11J remains unmistakable. Cuba’s dictatorship never had the consent of its people, as a democracy demands. It governs only through fear, coercion, and repression. The unfinished task before the democratic world is not to encourage cosmetic reforms that prolong Castro-Communism, but to support the restoration of liberty, justice, constitutional government, and national sovereignty for the Cuban people.

In an Operation Similar to That of Otero Alcántara, the Cuban Regime Takes Maykel Osorbo out of Kilo 8 Prison

The rapper and activist has been transferred to the maximum security prison in Guanajay.

Osorbo, arrested at his home on May 18, 2021, faces a nine-year sentence for contempt, assault, public disorder, and “defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes and martyrs.” / Facebook

14ymedio, Madrid, July 10, 2026 / Rapper and activist Maykel Castillo Osorbo was transferred to the maximum security prison of Guanajay this Friday, three days after the Cuban regime carried out a similar operation with the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose whereabouts are unknown.

“We have learned, through a supportive source, that Maykel Castillo was released today from Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Río, where he had been held since January of this year,” art historian Anamely Ramos, a member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) like the two political prisoners, initially reported on her social media. In that post, the activist also denounced that the artist’s whereabouts were still unknown.

Hours later, Ramos confirmed that Osorbo had made a call informing them where he had been transferred. “Maykel already called. They took him to the maximum-security prison in Guanajay. They’re macabre,” the activist declared, pointing to the Cuban regime in that last sentence.

Ramos is the only person who has had contact with Otero Alcántara, via telephone, this Friday. Through a State Security mobile phone , the MSI leader told her that he was “fine,” but that he didn’t know where he was.

Everything points to the regime’s objective, which has increased repression in the lead-up to the anniversary of the July 11, 2021 demonstrations, being a “double exile”

In the post where she shared this information, Ramos explained that the parole request for Otero Alcántara to travel to the United States was still “in process” and that the artist would be “in that unknown location until it is resolved.” And she asserted: “Luis’s friends are doing everything within our power. The Cuban regime wants him out. The regime has taken over our country and is using us all to secure its possession.”

Everything points to the regime’s objective, which has intensified repression in the lead-up to the anniversary of the 11 July 2021 protests, being a “double exile.” The fact that Osorbo, unlike Otero Alcántara, will not serve his nine-year prison sentence until 2030 only serves to confirm the arbitrary way in which this dictatorship operates.

The sentence of Otero Alcántara, arrested on 11 July before he could participate in the demonstrations and sentenced to five years, expired this Thursday. Osorbo, arrested at his home on May 18, 2021, is serving a nine-year sentence for contempt, assault, public disorder, and “defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes, and martyrs.”

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The Cuban Government Amends Foreign Investment Regulations to Speed Up Approval Times

The new rules mainly affect the required documentation and require many issues to be resolved more quickly.

MCV Comercial is a joint venture between the Cuban State and Mercedes-Benz that has operated in Cuba for decades. / 14ymedio

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, July 10, 2026 – The Government published a set of regulations on Thursday amending the implementing rules of the 2014 Foreign Investment Law. Most of the changes are technical in nature and affect deadlines and document formalization, with the aim of “streamlining the processes for evaluating, approving, and operating the various forms of foreign investment.”

Decree 153/2026 modifies the procedure for submitting foreign investment opportunities and updates the rules governing the promotion of foreign investment. It also establishes new requirements for submitting foreign investment business proposals, regulates partnership agreements for the creation of joint ventures, and sets deadlines for the evaluation and approval of foreign investment applications.

The regulation, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, eliminates some intermediate procedures by repealing articles that required additional consultation and documentation steps, which should, in principle, reduce bureaucracy and speed up the process. continue reading

The regulation eliminates some intermediate procedures by repealing articles that required additional consultation and documentation steps, which should, in principle, reduce bureaucracy

The new rules state that applications accepted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment are forwarded to the Foreign Investment Business Evaluation Commission, which must evaluate them within seven business days.

If the Commission requests revisions, applicants will have seven calendar days to make the required changes and submit the revised proposal.

Applications requiring approval by the Council of State are submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment through the Council of Ministers, and decisions approving or rejecting the applications must be issued within 60 calendar days.

Other decisions, such as increases or decreases in capital without changes in share ownership, must be made within 15 business days, while decisions approving or denying the incentive fund must be issued within seven business days.

Proposals submitted by parties seeking to establish businesses must include an application for approval accompanied by the business plan endorsement, corporate bylaws, the business plan itself, proposed Cuban executives for management bodies, a list of import and export products, and any other documents required by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment.

Foreign investors’ business plans must include, among other documents, a certificate from the commercial registry of their country of origin issued no more than one year earlier, valid bank references, financial statements for the most recent fiscal year certified by an independent entity, a letter of sponsorship from the parent company if the investor is a branch or subsidiary, and legalized powers of attorney.

Domestic investors are required to submit a certificate from the investor’s governing or management body, documentation certifying the company’s registration and corporate purpose, as well as financial statements for the most recent fiscal year.

Decree 153 marks the third amendment to the regulations since their approval in 2014, following changes made in 2018 and 2019, and is linked to the recent package of economic and social reforms

Decree 153 marks the third amendment to the regulations since their approval in 2014, following changes made in 2018 and 2019, and is linked to the recent package of 176 economic and social reform measures aimed at liberalizing and decentralizing the Cuban economy.

On Wednesday, in an analysis by the consulting firm Auge, which has advised foreign investors interested in Cuba for years, the firm stated that, based on its experience, the announced reforms represent a good opportunity for companies that have already been operating on the Island for years.

However, it advises those who do not yet have businesses in Cuba to wait and closely monitor developments over the coming months, given the current uncertainty. “The combination of tighter sanctions and the energy crisis means that the risk-return equation remains unfavorable. Waiting for conditions to improve is not a bad strategy; it is a prudent one,” Auge warned.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Communist Party of Cuba Publicly Backs ‘El Cangrejo’ as Negotiator with the U.S. Amid Doubts and Criticism

Cuba’s ruling party is divided in its criticism of Raúl Castro’s grandson, and the prime minister calls for unity: “Character assassination, manipulation, and calls for division and fracture are part of a well-designed plan.”

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, “El Cangrejo,” has now openly received the Communist Party’s endorsement.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 10, 2026 – The Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and the Government’s previously tacit support for Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro’s role as a key figure in negotiations with the U.S. became explicit on Thursday. El Cangrejo [‘The Crab’] as the grandson of former President Raúl Castro is known on the Island, received an unmistakable endorsement from the PCC through Elier Ramírez Cañedo, an official in the Ideological Department of the Central Committee.

The party official forcefully rejected the many criticisms directed at the young Castro from within the regime itself and made the Party’s position unmistakably clear midway through his post. “The manipulation and lies, the yellow journalism surrounding Raúl Guillermo, as the Cuban side’s interlocutor, by decision of the country’s highest leadership, serve that objective,” he wrote.

Last Monday, the U.S. newspaper USA Today published a lengthy article based on two interviews with Rodríguez Castro, people close to him, and experts on Cuban politics. The piece portrayed the general’s grandson as someone groomed by his grandparents, for whom he expressed genuine admiration, as well as for his great-uncle Fidel, aware that he had lived a life of privilege and who sees himself as capable of helping the country prosper through negotiations with the United States.

“The manipulation and lies, the yellow journalism surrounding Raúl Guillermo, as the Cuban side’s interlocutor, by decision of the country’s highest leadership, serve that objective,” he wrote

The article struck a nerve among some regime supporters who were upset by Rodríguez Castro’s prominence and by the selection of someone technically outside Cuba’s political class. María del Carmen Hernández Carús, the mother of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s communications chief, openly lashed out in a post that many believed had the backing of the presidential inner circle. “Why is this young man allowing himself to be interviewed and assuming a role that is not his? Could someone please bring this boy back down to earth? Could someone tell him to keep quiet?” she wrote. The post also suggested that “Cuba’s enemies” were behind the situation, seeking to claim that only members of the Castro family can have a voice in Cuba and therefore to undermine the president.

A similar view was expressed indirectly by Israel Rojas, one of the musicians most closely associated with the regime. Responding on Facebook to a post by historian and journalist Ernesto Limia, Rojas wrote: “No familiarity or casualness on the part of a revolutionary leader can justify bypassing, even symbolically, the country’s institutions.” The member of the duo Buena Fe lamented that Castro’s grandson represents the opposite of the Revolution’s ideal, describing instead “men and women who bear the burden of the embargo and internal blunders. Far removed from luxuries, yachts, indecent gifts, and VIP areas, he complained.”

“Men and women who bear the burden of the embargo and internal blunders. Far removed from luxuries, yachts, indecent gifts, and VIP areas,” he complained

The situation shifted after Elier Ramírez Cañedo’s remarks. While defending El Cangrejo’s appointment, he blamed the U.S. press for trying to distort negotiations that, he argued, should remain discreet. “What marks a break from the past is that the current U.S. administration has been neither serious nor discreet during the process, causing leaks that put it at risk and create uncertainty about its true intentions,” he said.

Although Rodríguez Castro himself voluntarily spent several days speaking with USA Today reporters, the party official referred to “a media operation from the U.S. aimed at promoting a narrative of division within our country’s leadership, including character assassination, something that is not new but takes on greater significance in the context of the crisis Cuba is experiencing.”

Although Ramírez’s post received overwhelming support, many commenters demanded an explanation for why El Cangrejo agreed to the interviews. “But this man’s public appearances are real, even on our own media outlets. Don’t the people deserve an explanation? Trust is not requested blindly; it is built,” one user wrote. Another added: “The interview is a total insult to the people and to their intelligence. If the interviewee really is playing a role in some negotiation and that role is supposed to remain secret, he should have refrained from speaking publicly with such recklessness and arrogance. And if he made a mistake, then it is up to the country’s leadership to clarify whatever is necessary. The country belongs to all of us, not just a small group of chosen people.”

Former Culture Minister and former president of Casa de las Américas Abel Prieto, however, praised Ramírez’s post on Facebook: “Thank you, Elier, for that precise and necessary text. Today, more than ever, it is essential to preserve unity and avoid falling into our enemies’ traps. They shall not pass!!!”

The disagreement escalated to the point that Prime Minister Manuel Marrero addressed it on X on Thursday using language strikingly similar to Ramírez’s, suggesting he supports the same position. “As President Miguel Díaz-Canel has stated, in keeping with the Revolution’s consistent policy, talks have been held with representatives of the U.S. government aimed at seeking solutions to bilateral differences through dialogue,” he began in a short thread.

The prime minister went on to say that it is not the Revolution’s leadership’s practice “to respond to speculative campaigns” about such sensitive matters and that “the working team entrusted with this strategic responsibility enjoys the confidence, support, and mandate” of Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel. “Character assassination, manipulation, and calls for division and fracture are part of a well-designed plan to generate uncertainty and distrust. Every step taken at this decisive historical moment is in defense of the Revolution and our sovereignty,” he said. Given the similarities with Ramírez’s statement, it is widely assumed that, without naming El Cangrejo, Marrero was acknowledging that he is indeed the designated negotiator.

Given the similarities with Ramírez’s statement, it is widely assumed that, without naming El Cangrejo, Marrero was acknowledging that he is indeed the designated negotiator

USA Today followed up on the controversy Friday, consulting additional sources. “Many Cubans were caught off guard this week by Rodríguez Castro’s freedom to speak openly about sensitive diplomatic negotiations,” said Michael Bustamante, a history professor at the University of Miami.

Bustamante believes there is confusion within the ruling establishment over El Cangrejo’s prominence, but says it is now effectively acknowledged that he is the key figure. The newspaper notes that Castro’s grandson is virtually the only member of the leadership and its relatives not subject to sanctions. “People are asking: ‘Who is this guy, speaking this way? Has he fallen into a trap? Is he the person chosen by the U.S. media to sow division?’ This open approach is not consistent with the style and discretion of traditional Cuban diplomacy. But the truth is that no one has denied it,” Bustamante added.

The astonishment was also reflected in the comments of former Cuban diplomat and former ambassador to the European Union Carlos Alzugaray, who responded directly to the USA Today article: “I cannot believe that any level of the Cuban leadership authorized something so crude and clumsy regarding such a delicate matter.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five Years of a Wrong Answer

The exodus, inflation, blackouts, and repression illustrate the cost of having responded to 11J with the “combat order”

I have no way of proving that we would be living in a better country today. History never offers parallel experiments. What we do know is the result of the decision that was made. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, July 10, 2026 / There are questions that never grow old. On the contrary, time sharpens them. Five years after the protests of 11 July 2021, I wonder what kind of country we would have today if those in power had listened to those who shouted “freedom,” “we want change,” or “Patria y Vida” [Homeland and Life] during that day across this island.

We will never know that answer. But we do know the path that was chosen.

Repression was chosen. A citizen’s demand was turned into a police case. The response was the phrase that now occupies a dark place in our contemporary history: “The combat order has been given,” uttered before the cameras of national television by President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Imprisonment, beating, surveillance, expulsion, and the sowing of fear were chosen where there had been an opportunity for dialogue.

Governments, like people, end up resembling the decisions they make in crucial moments. And that July was one of those moments.

Thousands of Cubans discovered, simultaneously and in dozens of cities, that they were not alone in their discontent. However, the price has been enormous.

That day, a political system didn’t fall, but a spell was broken. Thousands of Cubans discovered, simultaneously and in dozens of cities, that they weren’t alone in their discontent. However, the price has been enormous.

In the last five years, Cuba has lost more than a million inhabitants to emigration, according to estimates by independent experts. The authorities themselves acknowledge a drastic demographic decline. Young people are leaving in droves, families are breaking apart, and neighbors are learning to say goodbye at a pace reminiscent of wartime.

The Cuban peso ceased to be a currency and became a symbol of lack of confidence. Inflation devoured salaries, pensions, and savings. Blackouts went from being a nuisance to becoming the clock that organizes daily life. Hospitals, schools, factories, and homes began to operate around the hours of available electricity, as if the 21st century had decided to turn back several decades.

At the same time, the clanging of pots and pans returned to the dark nights. No longer just to demand food or electricity, but to remind everyone that discontent remains alive even though the streets are more heavily patrolled and the prisons are overflowing.

Would we have arrived at this same place if, instead of mobilizing troops, a national dialogue had been convened?

Would we have arrived at this same place if, instead of mobilizing troops, a national dialogue had been convened? If the regime had understood that a protesting citizen is not necessarily an enemy? If it had accepted that governing also involves listening?

I have no way of proving that we would be living in a better country today. History never offers parallel experiments. What we do know is the result of the decision that was made. That experiment has already been realized. It is called Cuba, 2026. It is enough to walk down any Cuban street to find nearly empty buildings because their inhabitants have emigrated, shops where prices change several times a week, elderly people eating from the garbage, and young people whose principal illusion is to leave.

Five years later, the greatest failure of the regime is not only having repressed a protest of that magnitude. It is having squandered the last great opportunity to reconcile with its own country. The result is before us: a sadder, poorer, older, and more broken country than the one that took to the streets on that July 11th.
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Five Years Later, the Cuban Exile Community in Madrid Keeps Alive the Cry of July 11th

The day included testimonies from Cuba, an augmented reality installation about 11J, and a demand for the release of political prisoners.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 9, 2026 / Five years after the protests of 11 July 2021 [‘11J‘], some of its protagonists met again, far from the streets where it all began. This time it was in Madrid, in a venue in the Malasaña neighborhood, but with the same urgency as before: to remember the largest social uprising in Cuba since 1959 and to denounce the fact that the repression unleashed after that event has not ended. Under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” Cuban civil society in exile is organizing three days of activities in the Spanish capital to discuss memory, resistance, political prisoners, and the democratic future.

The first event was the discussion “Five Years Later: Memory, Resistance, and Freedom,” held this Thursday at the Casa del Cura Community Social Center. The gathering brought together activists, former political prisoners, human rights defenders, and direct participants in the demonstrations that shook the island five years ago, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets chanting “libertad” and “Patria y Vida” [“Freedom” and “Homeland and Life”].

The message from Mailín Rodríguez Sánchez, wife of political prisoner Yosvani Rosell García, convicted for his participation in the July 11th protests, was also heard. Her testimony put a name and a familiar face to the cost of the repression. In her voice, the anniversary ceased to be a political date and became an intimate denunciation of the prolonged punishment inflicted upon the protesters and their families.

One of the most unique moments of the event was the presentation of Caribbean Jacuzzi, an augmented reality installation by artist Yimit Ramírez. Through smart glasses, viewers could interact with a recreation of the overturned police car from the July 11 protests and with the iconic image of the young man who, standing atop the car, waved the Cuban flag amidst the crowd. The piece brought one of the most powerful visual symbols of those days into the exhibition space, not as a mere archival document, but as an immersive experience.

The activities will continue this Friday, July 10, at 5:00 p.m., at the Casa de la Libertad in Cuba, with the colloquium ” Challenges for the Cuba to Come .” The meeting, moderated by Dr. Antonio Guedes, will shift the focus from the memory of July 11 to the challenges of a potential democratic transition, in a debate about the country that could emerge after the regime and about the role of the exile community in that reconstruction.

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Colombia’s New Government Will Close Its Embassies in Cuba and Nicaragua

The foreign minister designated by De la Espriella states that they will “review” Colombia’s participation in international organizations such as the UN and the OAS

Omar Bula Escobar, Colombia’s designated Minister of Foreign Affairs. / EFE/Prensa Abelardo de la Espriella

14ymedio, Madrid, July 9, 2026 / The shift in Colombia’s government under recently elected Abelardo de la Espriella is also clear in its foreign policy, with barely a month to go before he takes office. The foreign minister designated by the new president, Omar Bula, has confirmed that he will close the embassies in Havana and Managua.

“We want an efficient, proactive foreign ministry, with good relations with everyone, but without supporting governments that are completely opposed to President De la Espriella’s philosophy, as in the case of Nicaragua and Cuba. We are not going to legitimize regimes by placing an embassy there,” the designated foreign minister stated in an interview with Noticias RCN.

Asked by reporters whether they were going to cut off diplomatic relations, he said: “There will be relations – what there won’t be is embassies.” There are “several models that can be used,” he explained, but he insisted: “In any case, these are countries that are definitely on a different course, not so much because of ideology: these are dictatorships, long-standing dictatorships, and I don’t think it’s our role to legitimize them in any way.” continue reading

“These are dictatorships, long-standing dictatorships, and I don’t think it’s our role to legitimize them in any way”

Regarding Venezuela, Bula stated that they will stay “very close” to the process currently under way alongside the United States, “always with a vision oriented toward a near future in which we can work together, in favor of democracy, free enterprise, Western values, so many things that have been weakened in our country in recent years.”

“It’s a gigantic opportunity,” the designated foreign minister declared. “For me, it’s a beautiful thing to be able to imagine Colombia and Venezuela coming together, developing their resources rationally, opening up, and building solid democratic systems.”

He also stated that they will restore diplomatic ties with countries whose relationship “has been badly affected in recent years.” Urgently, he said, with the United States, but also with Israel, a state with which – before outgoing president Gustavo Petro broke off relations in May 2024 – “we had cordial relations for decades.”

The “great pillars” on which he will base his term at the head of Colombian foreign policy, Bula mentioned, are three: “modernization, professionalization, and austerity.” In this regard, he stated that, despite it being a public service, he intends to bring his experience as an administrator to the foreign ministry and get it to function “like a company,” with “measurable results, focusing heavily on economic and technological diplomacy.”

“We know that there is also Colombian money, taxpayer money, that goes toward international cooperation. That will be the criterion: essentially a business criterion”

He expanded on this in another interview, with Blu Radio, in which he said they will examine the funds allocated to international cooperation. “We know that there is also Colombian money, taxpayer money, that goes toward international cooperation. That will be the criterion: essentially a business criterion,” he said.

In that same interview, Bula announced that a review will be carried out of Colombia’s participation in multilateral bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS). “We are going to carry out a very thorough and rigorous analysis of our relationship with each of the international organizations. This is not about abandoning the international community, but about reviewing the agreements currently in force. Based on that analysis, we will seek to have everything serve our national interest.”

And he continued: “If at some point there is a clash of criteria between what the United Nations proposes and international agendas clash with our own agenda, we will have to analyze, from a sovereign standpoint, what serves us and what does not. At that point we will make the decision.”

Translated by GH.

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Blackouts: New Electrical Deficit Record in Cuba, Exceeding 75%

This Wednesday a shortfall of 2,341 megawatts was reached – unprecedented, discounting total system collapses

Traffic light at Diez de Octubre and Avenida México, in Havana, dark due to lack of electrical power / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, July 9, 2026 / Three days after the most recent collapse of the national electrical system (SEN), it is barely noticeable that it is now connected. The continuous power cuts are announcement enough for Cubans, but they also have the authorities’ report: this Wednesday marked a new record deficit – discounting total system collapses – far surpassing the forecast.

For a peak demand of 3,100 megawatts (MW), a shortfall of 2,341 MW was recorded at 8:20 pm, “a figure higher than planned due to the failure of scheduled units to come online,” the Cuban Electric Union (Unión Eléctrica de Cuba) explains this Thursday in its daily report. This meant the absence of more than three quarters of the energy the country needed (75.5%).

Thursday’s forecast is not much better: as much as 2,260 megawatts (MW) will be missing out of the 3,200 MW that peak demand will reach, during the afternoon-evening peak hours. This will mean a shortfall affecting 71% of the entire country.

The day, in fact, has already begun dark – never more fitting a description: at six in the morning, availability was barely 880 MW against a demand of 2,730 MW. continue reading

No fewer than 11 of the 16 units the island has spread across various thermoelectric plants are shut down, whether due to breakdown or maintenance

No fewer than 11 of the 16 units the island has spread across various thermoelectric plants are shut down, whether due to breakdown or maintenance. This includes the country’s most important plant, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant (CTE) in Matanzas, and the most important ones in the east, the Felton plant in Holguín and the Renté plant in Santiago de Cuba.

If for ordinary Cubans these numbers have one translation – blackouts – for the regime they have another: possible protests. This is no small matter, with just two days remaining until the fifth anniversary of July 11, 2021. In recent days, as the energy crisis has worsened, demonstrations have multiplied.

14ymedio witnessed one of the most recent of these, this Wednesday and in broad daylight. Dozens of residents of the Havana municipality of Regla, exhausted not only by the lack of electricity but also of water, demanded answers outside the headquarters of the municipal Government and Party. Under an intense sun, this newspaper observed women with children, elderly people, men in flip-flops, mopeds, tricycles, a patrol of the Operational Guard of the Police, and several uniformed officers attempting to contain the tension.

Just yesterday the capital woke up bearing the marks of several other protests. At the corner of Belascoaín and Ánimas, in Centro Habana, ashes, stones, pieces of wood, charred cardboard, and remnants of burned trash remained on the asphalt. The images taken by 14ymedio show a street where the marks of a night of tension remain, amid widespread popular exhaustion.

Videos of pot-banging protests (cacerolazos), blocked streets, and burning trash have multiplied from various points around the city. In Centro Habana, residents took to the streets following blackouts that, according to reports circulated on social media, exceeded 80 hours. Protests were also recorded in the municipality of La Lisa, after more than 40 hours without power. In Alamar, in Habana del Este, groups of residents banged pots and pans and burned trash in the middle of the public street.

Translated by GH.

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