“If there are no jobs for Mexicans, there will be even fewer for deported Cubans.”
Migrants at the Diocesan Shelter Belén, in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. / Facebook/Albergue Diocesano “Belén”
14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, May 26, 2026 / Geraldo Benítez, a Cuban, sells bottled water in Centenario Park, a spot in downtown Tapachula where hundreds of migrants without papers have been congregating for months. His story epitomizes the suffering of his compatriots expelled from the US and deposited in Mexico, a kind of planet Mars for them. “There’s no work here, but you can’t move around either. Things are tight at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar),” months go by and “they don’t regularize your status.”
Benítez tells 14ymedio that the deportees end up “sleeping on the street or in shelters.” In the mornings they wander around, “looking for food, because if there’s no work for Mexicans, there’s even less for elderly deported Cubans.”
At the Jesús el Buen Pastor del Pobre y el Migrante shelter, support is provided to about 40 migrants, most of them from states mired in violence.“who have no one, people who want to cross back into the United States because their wives, their children, their lives are there,” says Olga, the shelter’s founder. “There are also four Cubans; one of them is an elderly man who was deported after 46 years in Cuba. He can barely speak. I know his family sends him aid.”
Olga maintains the shelter with the profits from her store. “I don’t give them much, but those who arrive are guaranteed a place to sleep and a simple meal: rice, beans, tortillas, and water are never lacking.” The flow of migrants has disminished, and with that, the border region is facing a crisis, she explains. “That’s normal, but we’re holding on.”
Lázaro was deported by the US last February. “Without a deportation order,” he says, “they dumped me in Tapachula.” / OEM video capture
Lázaro is one of the Cubans who considered going to one of the shelters. In the mornings, he walks the streets with a thermos and a backpack, “offering Cuban coffee.” The man was deported by the US last February. “Without a deportation order,” he says, “they dumped me in Tapachula.” He recounts that he spent four years in a federal prison, although he doesn’t specify continue reading
what crime he committed.
At the Siglo XXI immigration station, where he went to try to regularize his status, he says, “the agents treated us like dogs and gave us nothing.” The same thing happened at the COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance): “They don’t give you papers, they don’t give you anything.” The idea for the coffee came to him when he noticed that people liked the way it was made, and “for five pesos you get the Cuban flavor.” What he earns from selling it and what businesses give him for helping out “helps pay the rent and get by.”
Father César Augusto Cañaveral Pérez, of the Diocesan Belén shelter, tells this newspaper that he provides weekly support to 100 to 120 migrants. “Many of them are just passing through because they are determined to reach the United States.” Another group consists of deported Mexicans who, “after being left stranded, stay for a day or two before returning to their places of origin.”
Cañaveral Pérez laments the lack of support for “psychosocial containment,” in addition to other shortcomings. “Many Cubans seek legal support,” she laments, “but we don’t have enough lawyers or staff to handle everything involved in human mobility.”
The shelter manager asserts that the people need assistance from COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance) to “be able to find work” and insisted that “these people aren’t asking for handouts, they want an opportunity to settle down.” He emphasizes that among these people are “professionals” who end up working in “businesses, bars, and farms where they are exploited.”
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Treatments for tuberculosis and food donations aim to benefit nearly 10,000 people
The PAHO announced the delivery of tuberculosis medicines to treat approximately 1,000 patients / PAHO
14ymedio, Havana, May 26, 2026 — Donations continue to be the only resource to provide Cuba with a slight reprieve. This Monday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced the delivery of tuberculosis medicines donated by Brazil, intended to treat approximately 1,000 patients.
The announcement was made at an official event at the Benéfico Jurídico Pneumology Hospital in Havana, attended by officials from the Ministry of Public Health, Brazilian diplomatic representatives, and PAHO authorities. During the meeting, Cuban authorities pledged to ensure the proper distribution and use of the donated medicines, which will benefit health services in other centers across the country.
Although tuberculosis is a low-incidence disease, with approximately six cases per 100,000 inhabitants, numerous infections and deaths have been reported in the country’s prison system. Just on April 11, common prisoner Alfredo Poll Imber, 50, died from the disease while in state custody at the Guantánamo Provincial Prison. continue reading
Cubalex denounced the deaths of eight prisoners in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba due to malnutrition and tuberculosis
In March 2025, Cubalex denounced the deaths of eight prisoners in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba due to malnutrition and tuberculosis. The legal aid organization stated at the time that Boniato is a detention center where “neglect, unsanitary conditions, and lack of medical care continue to claim lives.” Two years earlier, an outbreak forced staff at the Combinado del Este prison in Havana to quarantine part of the inmate population.
This aid from Brazil adds to that delivered last August. At that time, it sent combined medications for the treatment of tuberculosis in children. According to a report by the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the donation would benefit pediatric care in the provinces of Havana, Villa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba.
As for food donations, this Monday the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) delivered 106 tons of canned meat in the province of Villa Clara, with the goal of supplementing the diet of more than 8,500 vulnerable people served in 130 community kitchens within the family assistance system.
This Monday, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) delivered 106 tons of canned meat
The protein, the ACN reported, will be added to a basic food basket provided by the program itself, consisting of rice, oil, and peas, highlighting the state’s difficulties in guaranteeing animal protein within regular social assistance.
The donation, funded by the government of the Canary Islands and implemented together with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and the provincial government, adds to other external food aid that partially sustains an increasingly deteriorated social system, such as the 15,000 tons of rice that arrived in the country on Sunday.
Last April, the government of the Canary Islands also made a donation as part of the WFP. At that time, it announced the donation of 75 tons of canned chicken, also for the population of Villa Clara, and it previously sent 48 tons of frozen chicken and 5.5 tons of canned chicken to the same program.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Investors are weighing their business interests in the United States and whether it is worth leaving the Island to preserve those interests or not
Some companies, such as Iberostar, have had business operations in Cuba for many years. / Facebook/Magdiel Perez Martinez
14ymedio, Madrid, May 26, 2026 — Spanish companies with a presence in Cuba are analyzing how to remain on the Island after the United States approved new sanctions against foreign banks and companies operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy. Those that arrived recently are the ones most likely to reduce or suspend their presence, but those with decades of strong involvement in the country are simply studying the best way to continue, according to legal scholar Fátima Rodríguez, head of the criminal law division at the law firm Lupicinio International Law Firm.
In an interview with the Spanish outlet Artículo14, the specialist describes the work her firm has been carrying out in recent weeks to answer questions from clients. Lupicinio is one of the Spanish firms with the greatest experience in international sanctions and with forty years specializing in Cuba, although Rodríguez says that the main concern for business owners today is not so much the executive order itself as its lack of specificity. “That combination of extraterritoriality and regulatory ambiguity means that a decision adopted in Washington can suddenly leave contracts, investments, or financing lines that had functioned without problems for years hanging in the balance,” she explains.
“That combination of extraterritoriality and regulatory ambiguity means that a decision adopted in Washington can suddenly leave contracts, investments, or financing lines that had functioned without problems for years hanging in the balance.”
From what she has observed since the new sanctions were announced, the attorney sees three distinct groups. The first consists of those with recent or limited exposure. “They are clearly in retreat mode: freezing new investments, reducing operations, and, in parallel, designing orderly exit scenarios if the regulatory risk continue reading
continues to escalate,” she explains. The next group includes those with businesses in sectors explicitly targeted by sanctions, such as energy, defense, mining, and financial services. For them, she says, “Cuba is beginning to compete in an internal ranking of ‘difficult countries’ where, at times, it is not the one that wins.”
Finally come the companies that have maintained major business operations in Cuba for many years. Although she does not mention them specifically, the prime example would be Meliá and other hotel chains. “Rather than shutting down and leaving, they are asking themselves how to stay, but in a different way: reducing exposure to particularly sensitive sectors, sharing risk with local or third-country partners, or concentrating on activities clearly protected by humanitarian exceptions. Internally, conversations are no longer revolving around whether to stay or leave, but under what conditions it is responsible to continue.”
Rodríguez says some investors must also weigh their business interests in the United States and decide whether it is worthwhile to leave the Island in order to preserve those interests. She notes that Spanish business owners are coldly analyzing the risks, focusing mainly on who their partners are in Cuba, and she adds that their greatest concern is whether the sanctions will affect them financially on the international level. “The fear is no longer limited to receiving a fine, but to being internally categorized by banks and global suppliers as a ‘high-risk client linked to Cuba,’ which can translate into account closures, canceled insurance policies, restricted credit, and much more intense scrutiny of any operation, no matter how legally sound it may be,” she summarizes.
At her law firm, she says, the work being done has two dimensions. On one hand, the technical side: determining what is and is not permitted, redesigning contracts, structures, or logistics chains to comply with the new requirements. On the other hand, there is what she describes as the human side: “supporting local management and business teams in difficult decisions, where it is necessary to balance responsibility to headquarters with commitment to the country and to Cuban workers themselves.”
On the other hand, what she describes as the human side: “supporting local management and business teams in difficult decisions, where it is necessary to balance responsibility to headquarters with commitment to the country and to Cuban workers themselves.”
The focus, she says, is on ensuring as much as possible that there are no links to risky sectors or individuals. “They are implementing Cuba-specific policies, sector risk maps, reinforced approval processes, and screening systems that automatically block operations with entities or individuals connected to the sanctioned network. Added to this are deeper and periodic due diligence audits, as well as impact reports,” she explains.
That caution, she says, is the first line of defense against sanctions, because it allows companies to demonstrate that they monitored operations and reacted quickly. “It often makes the difference between an exemplary sanction and a more proportionate resolution,” she emphasizes, while also mentioning the European tools available to national companies, including the Blocking Statute, which allows foreign laws to be rendered ineffective. “They are not magic solutions, but they do remind us that companies are not completely defenseless against unilateral decisions by third countries,” she adds.
Although tourism is not among the sectors explicitly mentioned in the May executive order, Rodríguez recalls that sanctions directly affecting other sectors, particularly energy, inevitably affect tourism and others as well. “If access to fuel, financing, and certain technological inputs is strangled, not only do those sectors suffer, but all activity dependent on them suffers too: from retail commerce to food refrigeration chains and the functioning of hospitals and schools.”
There are projects, she says, that were already difficult to finance and are now impossible. “Banks that previously accepted working under certain exceptions are beginning to close their doors out of pure fear of violating the executive order. And a domino effect emerges: suppliers withdraw; insurance policies are not renewed; shipping costs rise; routes disappear; and there is a growing perception that any activity linked to those sectors can end up contaminating the rest of a company’s business,” she argues.
“The paradox is that the harsher the sanctions become, the more this logic of ‘waiting while prepared’ is reinforced, even though the official message continues to be one of maximum pressure rather than openness.”
Asked whether they observe movements by American companies preparing the ground to invest in Cuba, Rodríguez points to a paradox. “In a context like the current one, at first glance it is difficult to imagine. However, anyone familiar with the history of bilateral relations knows that strategic and economic interest in the Island has never disappeared.” The attorney recalls that active export licenses already exist from which many companies benefit, including food and vehicle companies, and that this could multiply in the future.
“More than visible movements, what is perceived today, and what business circles tell us, is very close observation: market studies, scenario analysis, discreet contacts, and the conviction that if a window for normalization ever opens, nobody will want to be left out. The paradox is that the harsher the sanctions become, the more this logic of ‘waiting while prepared’ is reinforced, even though the official message continues to be one of maximum pressure rather than openness.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“Spanish hotel companies could discover that their historical advantage rests on a more fragile foundation than it seemed,” says an expert
Hotel Sevilla Habana Affiliated by Meliá, another Cuban government establishment managed by the company. / Meliá
14ymedio, Madrid, May 26, 2026 — Decades of investments by Spanish companies in Cuba could be reduced to ashes if Donald Trump’s administration demands the tourism sector as spoils in its negotiations with the Island. The theory is laid out in a report published this Tuesday by El Confidencial, which starts from the undeniable premise that no foreign hotel company actually owns the establishments it manages.
“It would be very easy, under pressure, for a new Cuban government to terminate the contract with a Spanish company and give the contract to an American company,” says Paolo Spadoni, professor at Augusta University in the United States and an expert on Cuban tourism. The specialist reinforces the newspaper’s argument by considering tourism the only sector capable of producing immediate returns.
“Few things appeal to Trump more than a grand luxury hotel,” writes the reporter, who begins the article by discussing the U.S. president’s need for a quick and effective victory after the fiasco in Iran. In Venezuela, it became clear that the objective was control of the oil industry, the article continues, and in Gaza there was even a presentation of a far-fetched project to build a luxury resort after the signing of a peace agreement.
Cuba has nothing, the article says, except one thing: its global brand as a paradisiacal tourist destination.
Cuba has nothing, the article says, except one thing: its global brand as a paradisiacal tourist destination. “If the United States succeeds in forcing Cuba’s economic opening and lifts travel restrictions, the impact would first reach airlines, cruise companies, booking platforms, tour operators, vacation rental businesses and, of course, hotel chains,” the expert says, referring to a market continue reading
that Spanish entrepreneurs have dominated for decades.
Meliá, Iberostar, Barceló and NH “learned how to operate on the Island, assumed the political cost of doing so and positioned themselves in one of the few Cuban sectors capable of generating foreign currency,” the article argues, maintaining that the goal was to be well positioned when change finally arrived in Cuba. However, things could change overnight if Washington claims the prize.
“American companies would arrive late, but with the backing of the actor that forced the change. The Spanish companies, meanwhile, could discover that their historical advantage rests on a more fragile foundation than it seemed.”
The article addresses the relationship with the military conglomerate Gaesa, the main actor with whom the Spanish companies had to negotiate and which is now completely tainted by sanctions. Most companies operate within this scenario, according to an interview also published today in the Spanish press.
The article focuses on the shrinking arsenal of legal defenses currently available to European companies. When the Helms-Burton Act was approved in 1996, the European Union responded by creating the Blocking Statute, which protects European companies from extraterritorial measures. There was also a diplomatic offensive that led to the suspension of Titles III and IV of that law, which were activated by Trump’s first administration two decades later.
Now, since 2023, the European Union has another weapon: the Anti-Coercion Instrument, better known as the “trade bazooka,” which allows direct commercial retaliation if authorities determine that measures are intended to influence EU policies or those of its member states. What remains uncertain is whether the 27 EU countries would decide to enter that battle while they already face more significant disagreements with the U.S. administration, including the war in Ukraine and Washington’s decision not to enter the conflict with Iran.
“Spanish hotel companies do not have much room to maneuver in this. They are at the mercy of whatever happens”
“Spanish hotel companies do not have much room to maneuver in this. They are at the mercy of whatever happens,” says Spadoni. The expert believes there is only one obstacle to the possible American plan to seize control of the tourism sector: the need to completely transform all of the Island’s infrastructure, from airports to payment systems, telecommunications networks, roads, electricity and countless other things.
In the Dominican Republic, the professor says, tourism eventually pulled the rest of the economy along with it, but in Cuba it will not be so easy. There are factors dragging everything down, such as the weak presence of the private sector in a country where every large company is state-owned and also dependent on imports. “Tourism in Cuba is not embedded in an economy capable of creating productive linkages. It is an exhausted, inefficient and overly centralized economy, and that is why tourism cannot play the same role it does in other countries,” he warns.
The article concludes on a pessimistic note for the population, as the expert adds that it will take “a very long time” for improvements to translate into salaries, consumption and opportunities for ordinary citizens. “Until then, Rubio’s promised new Cuba could look far too much like the old one: an Island where dollars enter through the hotel door, but rarely make it to the street.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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With the Guiteras thermoelectric plant offline, UNE anticipates an outage of 2,147 MW tonight.
The floating power plant in Regla, Havana, remains shut down due to a lack of fuel. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, May 25, 2026 / “Let the police come, I’ll tell them what’s going on in this país de pinga [fucked up country]!” The woman who exclaimed the curse word in broad daylight this Monday on San Rafael Boulevard in Central Havana is not the only one. Frustration has replaced civility in the streets. “There’s no water, no electricity, nothing,” laments another resident of the same neighborhood, who has been without power since 3:00 AM.
The complaints are the public’s expression of the figures reported daily by the Cuban Electric Union (UNE), which again forecasts a deficit exceeding 2,000 megawatts (MW) for this Monday . For the evening peak hours—when a total of 3,250 MW is needed—only 1,133 MW are expected to be available, just over a third of the maximum demand. The actual impact will be 2,147 MW.
Public discontent has led to collective protests that have intensified in recent days. According to videos circulating on social media, among the most notable demonstrations on Sunday night were those that took place on Monte Street in Old Havana. Dozens of people banged pots and pans, blocked roads, and burned garbage cans in the streets, in addition to shouting slogans that went beyond demands related to shortages. In the videos, protesters can be heard demanding food and electricity, but they also chanted in unison, “Freedom!”
Testimonies gathered by Martí Noticias report that residents of the area had been without power for 14 hours. “It’s practically a daily occurrence,” one neighbor stated. “Sometimes we’ve been without electricity for 18, 20, even 22 hours.” Residents also lamented that, due to the blackouts, pumps are unable to operate, leaving some areas without water. continue reading
After the protest, the electricity service was restored, and in the videos it can be seen that, even with the lights back on, the neighbors continued shouting “Freedom!”
According to reports, power was restored after the protest. Videos show that even with the lights back on, residents continued shouting “Freedom!”
In this context, the Russian oil tanker Universal, carrying an estimated 250,000 barrels of diesel—whose initial destination was presumably Cuba and which had been stranded in the Atlantic for weeks —has finally increased its speed to move further away from the Caribbean. Specialist Jorge Piñón, a researcher at the University of Texas Energy Institute, confirmed the ship’s change of course to 14ymedio.
“It’s not just the change of route, but also the speed. After more than thirty days in limbo, the Universal has clearly changed course (southeast), entering the South Atlantic, far from Cuban shores,” stated Piñón, who clarified, however, that the vessel’s final destination still does not appear on the tracking platforms. “Its speed has increased from 1.3 knots to 10.5 knots, which indicates a specific destination.”
The Universal is part of the Russian oil tanker fleet under sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine. Opacity regarding its destination is common in high-risk maritime operations, especially when the vessels are subject to surveillance, sanctions, and financial restrictions. Although the U.S. Treasury Department has extended authorization for transactions related to Russian oil until May 17, 2026, Cuba was excluded from that measure.
After more than thirty days in limbo, the Universal has made a clear change of course (southeast) entering the South Atlantic, far from Cuban coasts
The only oil shipment received by Cuba after the last one sent by Mexico on January 9 — more than 80,000 barrels of fuel aboard the Ocean Mariner — was from the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin , which unloaded some 730,000 barrels of crude oil in Matanzas at the end of March. That supply ran out a few weeks later.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged on May 14th that the country had “absolutely no fuel, no diesel.” According to the minister, the island would need eight ships a month, like the Anatoly Kolodkin, to cover the minimum fuel demand.
Adding to the crude oil shortage is the collapse of the national electricity system (SEN), plagued by years of deterioration, lack of maintenance, and resource scarcity. This week also began with another shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant — the country’s largest generating unit — which has suffered repeated breakdowns in recent months.
According to Román Pérez Castañeda, general manager of Guiteras, the unit will need to be offline for three to four days, starting from the breakdown that occurred early Sunday morning. He emphasized to the press that although the plant has been offline for short periods in recent weeks, this is not due to poorly executed repairs, but rather to breakdowns occurring in different locations.
The director insisted that although the plant has been shutting down for short periods of time in recent weeks, this is not due to poorly executed repairs.
In addition to the outage at the Guiteras plant, the UNE report adds other incidents throughout the National Electric System (SEN), such as breakdowns at the Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric plant, Unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez plant, and Units 3 and 5 of the Antonio Maceo plant; as well as maintenance shutdowns at Unit 5 of the Mariel plant, Unit 6 of the Renté plant, and Unit 5 of the Nuevitas plant. The Regla floating power plant, meanwhile, remains shut down due to a lack of fuel.
Amid this debacle, the UNE presents as an achievement the electrical contribution of the 54 photovoltaic solar parks, which reached a maximum power of 480 MW during the day yesterday, despite having an installed capacity of 1,200 MW.
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Filmmaker Pavel Giroud considers Colombia a great example: it went from producing two films a year to 40 thanks to a very well-structured system.
The filmmaker has openly defended the need to rebuild Cuban audiovisual production outside the logic of state control. / Leandro Betancor
14ymedio, Barcelona, May 24, 2026 / Born in Havana in 1973, filmmaker Pavel Giroud is known internationally for feature films such as El acompañante [The Companion] (2015) – Cuban candidate for the 2017 Oscar Awards– and El caso Padilla [The Padilla Case ](2022) – winner of the Best Documentary Film award at the 2023 Platino Awards for Ibero-American Cinema.
Giroud burst onto the Cuban film scene in the early 2000s, when the economic crisis and digital resources began to dismantle the aesthetic and institutional monopoly of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Based in Madrid for the past twelve years, Giroud has become one of the most visible voices of the Cuban audiovisual diaspora, developing a filmography that is increasingly free in terms of both themes and form.
With films like The Padilla Case, which addresses the arrest and public humiliation of the poet Heberto Padilla in 1971, his political vision became more direct. His most recent feature film, Commander Fritz (2025), dismantles some of the political and sentimental myths of official history.
Giroud has openly defended the need to rebuild Cuban audiovisual production outside the logic of state control. This conversation with 14ymedio is a critical reflection on the structural collapse of Cuban cinema and the role the diaspora could play in the country’s future cultural reconstruction.
Question: What is the current state of the Cuban audiovisual sector, its principle material and human resource deficiencies, and in what moment did it began its decline?
Answer: I haven’t been to Cuba in a while, and there are very few people left there who can keep me up to date. I can only tell you about the impressions I get from a distance. The most palpable is that Cuban cinema made on the island is practically nonexistent in the Ibero-American film scene. That is a reality. Films are still being made, but continue reading
they don’t leave 23rd Street [Havana Avenue where the Cuban Film Institute is located]. Very few made in Cuba films have been present at festivals and high-level events in the last decade. Today, those being made in the diaspora are having more of an impact.
In terms of humanity, I believe it is our principal patrimony
Once again, I served as a juror for the Platino Awards this year, and I was impressed by the number of films from Caribbean countries that previously produced only a trickle of them. Meanwhile, from Cuba, during the phase in which I began my judging, there was barely one documentary: the one about Pablo Milanés, directed by Fabien Pisani. And to top it all off, it’s a film that’s censored in Cuba.
In terms of people, I believe that’s our greatest asset. Since I came to live in Spain—and I’ve already made more films since moving abroad than I did in Cuba—I’ve always tried to include Cubans on my teams, and I can tell you that even the youngest newcomers are ready or have the skills to work at the highest level.
Q. If a process of opening and institutional reconstruction were to begin tomorrow in Cuba, what should be the immediate priorities for rescuing the audiovisual sector? Does it make sense to preserve institutions like ICAIC and state television by reforming them, or would it be necessary to build new structures from scratch?
R. First and foremost, the system needs to be structured with people who are qualified for it, and not just artistically. A film institute, in my opinion, should exist, but not produce films. ICAIC is a brand, and personally, I don’t care whether it keeps that name or not; but there must be an institution that regulates, protects, promotes, and strengthens filmmaking. That said, it has to be built from zero. And I’m not sure there should be public television. If there were, ideally it would be independent of the government in power, but that seems like a chimera to me.
Generally, public broadcasters serve the interests of those in power under the guise of impartiality, so paying for that, as a taxpayer, doesn’t appeal to me.
I’m not sure there should be public television. If there were, ideally it would be independent of the government in power, but that seems like a chimera to me.
Q. What legal changes would be essential to allow the emergence of a true audiovisual industry in Cuba?
I know absolutely nothing about legal matters, but a structure must be developed that establishes a framework of duties and rights, both for the production companies that are established here and for the companies that offer goods and services to the industry, or those that come from abroad to carry out this activity in Cuba. Work must also be done on fiscal policies that encourage investment by companies outside this industry.
Pavel Giroud during the filming of the feature film ‘Commander Fritz’ in the Canary Islands. / Leandro Betancor
Q. They will face the same challenges as any company in this sector worldwide. Everything will depend on each company’s profile. Some will simply aim to generate profit, and it’s already been shown that even Hollywood can’t always succeed with seemingly safe bets. Others will take greater risks, seeking artistic or creative merit. But both must have the capacity to generate, access, and develop strategies that allow them to finance these projects and fulfill every agreement that guarantees their survival.
Q. And what relationship do you think should exist between the State and audiovisual production in a democratic Cuba?
R. When we speak of subsidies for the film industry here in Spain, many tend to demonize it. Film people are portrayed as vampires who feed off public funds, and that’s a very simplistic way of analyzing it, especially when box office figures are used as a pretext for the attack. Every time someone speaks to me in those terms, I give them an assignment: the next time you go to the cinema, sit in your seat and read the entire end credits, and you’ll see how many people, how many rental companies, service providers, hospitality businesses, how many communities benefit from a single film shoot.
Investing money in film isn’t just about supporting culture, which is a valuable asset in a country like Cuba; it is also about generating cash flow and making it grow. The company that rents me the camera then reinvests in equipment—that is, it buys from the company that sells camera equipment, which in turn is supplied by another company; the catering company buys raw materials from various suppliers; and the hotels and accommodations near the filming locations fill up. Film generates money beyond box office revenue. For starters, practically half of the funding provided automatically returns to the public coffers in the form of taxes.
People don’t fear cinema because it consumes public money; they fear it because it is a powerful tool for denunciation with a great reach.
People don’t fear cinema because it consumes public money; they fear it because it is a powerful tool for denunciation with a great reach. That’s why its demonization usually originates from the political class.
There needs to be a system of subsidies, loans, and tax incentive programs for film investment created. There also needs to be a film commission created, whose strategies offer the country as an ideal filming location while simultaneously showcasing the capabilities of its technicians and filmmakers. It would also be beneficial to leverage the prestige still held by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio (EITV), despite its current state, to revitalize the island as a haven for international film education.
And it is imperative to rethink the entire system of distribution and exhibition of local and international cinema, as well as the sales and distribution of national cinema worldwide. There is much to be done.
Q. Cuban television has lost a large part of its audience and credibility. How do you envision a viable public television system in the future?
R. I am not a television consumer and the issue of media credibility is something that transcends Cuba.
The news, the messages, the editorial policy of a network depend not so much on its owners as on its sponsors. I believe that the television we know, the same one that once threatened the very existence of cinema, has its days numbered. Furthermore, as I said before, I don’t believe in public television, because it will always be subject to the government in power.
Q. What role could the Cuban diaspora play in the reconstruction of national cinema and television?
R. The Cuban diaspora will have to play an important role in the reconstruction of a new country, regardless of the means. Every scientist, economist, teacher, doctor, engineer, and athlete who has developed their profession with some success in what we might call “the real world” has much to contribute.
I believe that Cuba’s first step is for it to function with a certain degree of “normality,” even though it is a poor country, not as a planet separate from the global system.
A friend recently asked me if I would ever live in Cuba again, and I told her: “The only reason that would take me back would be to help and contribute what I have learned abroad to the construction of a new scenario.”
I believe that Cuba’s first step is that, even though it is a poor country, it functions with a certain degree of “normality,” not as a planet separate from the global system.
Q. How do you think the country’s narratives would change in a context of cultural freedom? What stories do you feel Cuban cinema has not yet been able to fully tell?
R. It will change, of course. Buried stories will come to light, and the new environment will give rise to new stories. We will enter into new forms of censorship and norms: those of the market, which increasingly prefers less controversy and delves deeper into sensitive topics.
Here in Spain there’s an apparent freedom, but any story that delves deeply into topics that could offend political and social sensibilities is best avoided, to prevent problems. Talking about Latin gangs is demonizing immigrants, talking about prostitutes is denigrating women, talking about neo-Nazi groups is a jab at the conservative sector.
Furthermore, since Cuba is not a market country, like Mexico, our stories will lose the sexy appeal that the “revolutionary epic” used to provide and that critical and dissident cinema now provides.
Q. What countries or international models could serve as a reference for rebuilding Cuban cinema and television?
R. For me, a great example is Colombia, which went from producing two films a year (ICAIC was a great ally three decades ago) to establishing a very well-structured system that produces around 40 films.
Their film development fund is supported by contributions from distributors, exhibitors, and producers. They also have Proimágenes Colombia, a public-private entity that, in addition to managing this fund, does excellent work promoting Colombian cinema internationally. They offer incentives to foreign productions with a 40% reimbursement of film service expenses and a 20% reimbursement of logistics costs. There are tax incentives for foreign companies that produce films in Colombia, and many of their production companies based there provide services to Netflix, Amazon, and Disney; others are present year after year at Cannes, Berlin, or Venice.
A great example is Colombia, which went from producing two films a year to establishing a very well-structured system that produces around 40 films.
Another nearby country that has made a significant leap forward, both quantitatively and qualitatively, is the Dominican Republic. Fifteen years ago, Dominican cinema was practically nonexistent, and today, thanks to its new laws, especially those that reward private investment in the industry, one can speak of a national film industry. Dominican companies can invest up to 25% of their Income Tax in local film projects, and for foreign productions, the credits are transferable, meaning they can be sold to local companies for an immediate return on investment. Furthermore, they have invested in infrastructure: Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios boasts, among its many impressive features, one of the most advanced water tanks for underwater filming in the world, and they continuously provide services to major platforms and studios.
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This article was produced in collaboration with Cuba Siglo 21 as part of the project “Cuba: Stabilize and Develop.”
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To date, those in power in Cuba have reaffirmed their decision to self-immolate, which translates to their decision to immolate us.
As is often the case, the best is the hardest thing to achieve. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, May 22, 2026 / The urgency of profound change for Cuba is so obvious that all the proposals for transition are essentially the same. With nuances in the tone of the language, be it moderate, academic, or radical, the same thing occurs to all of us: freedom for political prisoners, decriminalization of political dissent, economic opening, a balance between justice and reconciliation, a new Constitution, and, of course, multiparty elections.
It would be pretentious to claim that I have read all the proposals—there are so many!—and that’s a good thing, but what I do not find is the sequence expressed in the temporal plane, a chronology that makes it clear what should happen first.
And here I return to the old theme of the four possible variables (mentioned in no particular order):
1 A decision from above to save the country before ideology.
2 An uncontrollable social explosion that will sweep everything away.
3 A foreign intervention.
4 Let everything stay as it is forever.
Step two leads to step three. If step three is reduced to economic limitations, excluding military action, it can lead to either step one or step two.Number four opens the door to the others.
No one doubts anymore the obsolescence of the ideological proposal that this party defends in its discourse.
As is often the case, the best is the most difficult, and that is for those who rule in Cuba to have a “surge of patriotism” and decide to save the country before the ideological proposal of the only permitted party, which could also be understood as saving the country before their obscene attributes of power, because no one doubts anymore the obsolescence of the ideological proposal that, in its discourse, that party defends.
The scenario is clear: foreign intervention, expressed in limitations on acquiring fuel, plus threats of escalation to the military level, may lead those in charge in Cuba to save the country before the ideology and, in parallel, generate the conditions for an uncontrollable social explosion.
To date, those in power in Cuba have reaffirmed their decision to self-immolate, which translates as their decision to immolate us, as if what they were defending had any future.
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The Cuban regime accuses the EU of lacking objectivity and independence from the United States
Cuban pensioners waiting to be served at a bank in Havana. / 14ymedio
14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 25 May 2026 / The Cuban regime criticized the European Union (EU) for lacking “objectivity,” by failing to consider that United States sanctions are the main cause of the crisis on the Island, and expressed the hope that the European bloc’s position would be voiced with “independence” from Washington.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez posted a critical comment on social media this Monday about the EU’s positions, recently expressed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, during a special debate on Cuba in the European Parliament.
Rodríguez stated that failing to recognize that U.S. sanctions, “the oil siege and the military threat” against the Island are “the main causes” of the crisis “strips the European bloc of objectivity and reveals a clear double standard.”
“Nor have we heard any concern or support from her for the many European companies and citizens who are being threatened and harmed by the latest U.S. measures, which are clearly extraterritorial and illegal in nature,” he wrote.
In the Cuban foreign minister’s view, Kallas would be expected to adopt “a consistent position” in line with “international law and the peace promoted by the European bloc.” continue reading
The country’s situation “is the result of decades of structural economic failures, bad policies, and the impact of ongoing external restrictions and measures”
“We hope that the EU’s foreign policy, in the complicated circumstances the world is living through, where the use of force and imperialist domination are being imposed, will express European independence and traditional European and multilateral values, as its citizens demand,” he added.
Rodríguez nevertheless acknowledged the humanitarian aid offered by the EU and several of its member states, as well as their “contribution to the development of bilateral cooperation” structured through the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement.
He added that Cuba will continue to back a relationship with the EU based on “respect, equality and reciprocity.”
Kallas, speaking in the European Parliament, said that “a negotiated reform is preferable” on the Island, but called on Havana to “put an end to political repression” and to its “uncompromising control of the economy.”
The head of European diplomacy stated that the country’s situation “is the result of decades of structural economic failures, bad policies, and the impact of ongoing external restrictions and measures.” She also stressed that “the European Union does not finance the Cuban State” and warned that “humanitarian support will not resolve Cuba’s crisis, but will merely alleviate immediate human suffering.”
Translated by GH
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“They give us 15 minutes of electricity, several times like that over the last three days, but yesterday was too much, and everyone came out together to bang their pots.”
An improvised kiosk keeps a small generator running, roaring like an old engine. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, May 25, 2026 / “Havana wakes up with bags under its eyes,” says a resident of Regla, though he makes it clear he is not trying to be poetic. The bags under their eyes are not from a night out, nor from age, but from that sticky darkness that falls over homes when the power goes out and turns the night into a test of endurance.
In his neighborhood, as in so many other parts of the Island, residents came out to bang pots after 27 hours without electricity. The noise of the pot-banging is the way of raising their voices for people who no longer know what to do about the heat, the mosquitoes, the spoiled food, the children unable to sleep, and the rage.
“The pots were ringing out on every block,” the resident tells this newspaper. According to other residents of the Havana municipality, the neighborhood had been without service for more than a day. When it was supposedly time for power to be restored under the block rotation system, a fault appeared. Then came the “on and off”: a few minutes of power, another blackout, another attempt, another wait. Until patience went out too.
“In the end they were giving us 15 minutes of electricity,” says the man, with those same bags under his eyes. “Like that, several times over the last three days, but yesterday was too much, and everyone came out together to bang their pots.” continue reading
“What the Electric Union reflects in its Telegram messages does not come anywhere close to reality,” another witness says
“What the Electric Union reflects in its Telegram messages does not come anywhere close to reality,” another witness says. Out on the street, the crisis is not measured in megawatts, but in hours without sleep.
A woman from the same neighborhood sums it up without metaphors: “Sleeping in Cuba has become a privilege.” Sleep depends on having a rechargeable fan, on having been able to charge it beforehand, on the battery lasting, on having a generator, on having fuel, on living in a house where some air comes in, and on the mosquitoes granting a truce.
“The power went out at 4:30 in the afternoon and came back at 7:30 in the morning,” one Havana woman says. “The whole night without power.” She puts the rechargeable fan on the lowest speed to stretch out the battery. But the heat is already starting to bear down. She opens the windows. At one in the morning she wakes up because of the mosquitoes, even though she lives on an upper floor. She closes the windows again. She turns up the fan speed. Then another problem appears: the noise will not let her sleep. Two hours later, the charge runs out.
“Then you turn on the generator and put the fan to charge,” she says. “And that is how the whole night has gone until the power comes back, and you have slept only a couple of hours.”
At dawn there is no rest. The plans for the following day are cancelled before they even begin. “There is no way anyone can cope with this,” she says. And then she immediately qualifies it, with a mixture of guilt and clear-headedness: “I consider myself privileged. I have a fan and a generator. Most people have nothing.” The question hangs in the hot room: how do the others sleep?
A teacher gives a simple and devastating answer. Adults no longer sleep. They spend the night fanning the children with a piece of cardboard so the mosquitoes do not bite them. When the power comes back, nobody celebrates anymore. People run.
Adults no longer sleep. They spend the night fanning the children with a piece of cardboard so the mosquitoes do not bite them. When the power comes back, nobody celebrates anymore. People run
“When the power comes on, whatever time it is, there is a mad rush: to charge everything, to cook, to put the washing machine on, always with the fear that it will not last long,” says the teacher, who spent 15 hours without service. She speaks from a house that gets sun all day and where the heat clings to the walls. The night before she tried to sleep, but she could not either. “I fell asleep from exhaustion, an uncomfortable sleep, not deep at all,” she says.
“I now know almost as much as Lázaro Guerra,” the woman says ironically, referring to the official face who gives the daily report on the energy crisis. “Until a few years ago I was a complete novice when it came to megawatts, circuits, synchronizations, deficits. Now I could give the energy report myself if I set my mind to it.”
“I woke up about five times in the early hours,” the same woman says. “Each time I checked the Telegram channel, hoping to see: ‘Block 1 begins the gradual restoration of service.’” The bureaucratic phrase has become a kind of civic prayer. It is waited for the way one waits for a sign.
“Look what we have been reduced to,” she says. “I feel as though I am begging for crumbs of a service that is a right and that is not free, because I pay for it every month.” Electricity thus appears like an intermittent handout. A concession that forces people to live with body and soul hanging on a switch.
The material deterioration brings another, more silent one: damage to health. One of the accounts speaks of a stomach ache after ordering food for delivery. He suspects it was in bad condition because of lack of refrigeration. “Or who knows how many times that food was frozen and thawed,” he says. He has gone days without drinking cold water. He has no strength. He feels “wrecked.”
“After 12 hours of continuous blackout, my mood changes. All you think about is how to get out of this. You don’t feel like reading, going out, watching something. Nothing. The body goes into survival mode.”
“After 12 hours of continuous blackout, my mood changes. All you think about is how to get out of this. You don’t feel like reading, going out, watching something. Nothing. The body goes into survival mode.”
“Does anyone think about that, about the mental health of Cubans?” his partner asks. “The bags under my eyes are already part of my look, and with no cucumbers or potatoes to improve them.” The humor appears, but it does not save them. It barely lets them breathe amid the annoyance. “That is why people in the street are in a bad mood. The quality of sleep determines many things,” she insists.
“The worst thing is not the heat, or the mosquitoes, or the anxiety, or tossing and turning in bed at three, at four, at five,” the woman says. “The worst thing is opening your eyes and seeing everything dark, feeling that the night is swallowing you, along with the neglect, the lies of a Government that thinks about itself but not about its people.”
At seven in the morning, light begins to come in through a crack. But that is not a sign of relief either. It is the announcement of another day of work, queues, walking, finding something to eat, accumulated tiredness, and supposed normality. And, at the same time, the certainty that when night falls everything may happen all over again. “In Cuba you cannot sleep, much less dream,” says the resident of Regla, and he brings his fingers to the bags under his eyes, trying to rub them away.
Translated by GH
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“I present to you the paramilitary man who killed your people in Venezuela,” Ratcliffe told his counterpart in Havana, according to CBS
The CIA usually protects the identity of its operatives with extreme secrecy, especially if they participated in sensitive operations. / X / CIA
14ymedio, Havana, May 24, 2026 — The report published by CBS News about CIA director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Havana contains all the ingredients of a scene designed to shock: a U.S. intelligence chief sitting before senior Cuban officials and, beside him, a paramilitary operative who allegedly participated in the capture of Nicolás Maduro. According to the report, Ratcliffe not only brought him to the meeting, but introduced him as the man responsible for the deaths of the 32 Cuban military personnel during the January operation in Venezuela.
The detail is explosive. Imagining that the CIA presented this supposed paramilitary operative before the heads of the Cuban security apparatus as “the man who killed your people” carries an obvious theatrical charge, difficult to accept without reservations.
The scene described by CBS sounds more like dramatized intimidation than secret diplomacy. It may have happened, but it is also possible that the story was inflated by sources interested in projecting an image of extreme toughness in negotiations with Havana.
In CIA language, “paramilitary” can refer to special activities operators linked to covert missions or direct-action forces
The word “paramilitary” itself requires caution. In the Latin American world, the term refers to irregular armed groups, illegal squads, or structures operating parallel to the State. In CIA language, however, it can refer to special activities operators connected to covert missions or direct-action forces. Translated without context, the expression can distort public continue reading
perception for the audience targeted by the American media report.
CBS states that Ratcliffe met, among others, with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro. The outlet identifies him as “Raulito,” a nickname used in family and diplomatic circles, though among Cubans he is better known as “El Cangrejo” (“The Crab”).
The presence of Rodríguez Castro at the meeting confirms, at least, his role as a direct link to the family core that has ruled Cuba for more than six decades. His prominence also reinforces the idea that Washington’s message would not be aimed at Miguel Díaz-Canel’s formal Government, but at the heart of real power: the military, the security services, and the Castro family.
The only American serviceman publicly identified for participating in Maduro’s capture is Eric Slover
Even so, the story of the paramilitary operative raises eyebrows. Until now,
the only American serviceman publicly identified for his participation in Maduro’s capture is Eric Slover, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot decorated by Donald Trump with the Medal of Honor during the State of the Union address.
But Slover has not been described as a CIA paramilitary operative, but rather as an American serviceman. If the “paramilitary” mentioned by CBS is in fact a covert operator, it is difficult to believe Washington would want to display him before Cuban officials, even as an intimidation tactic.
The story also has a problem of operational logic. The CIA usually protects the identity of its operatives with extreme secrecy, especially if they participated in a mission as sensitive as the capture of a foreign head of state. Bringing one of them to Havana, identifying him before historic adversaries, and directly associating him with the deaths of Cuban military personnel would imply an unnecessary risk. Cuba maintains intelligence ties with Russia, China, and Iran. It also still keeps its embassy active in Venezuela and operates special flights between Havana and Caracas. Exposing an operative of that profile before Havana would amount to handing information to half of Washington’s adversarial intelligence community.
Exposing an operative of that profile before Havana would amount to handing over information
That does not mean the report is false. The meeting took place. The tension exists. The pressure on Cuba is real. Maduro’s fall altered the regional chessboard. But the scene of the paramilitary operative presented like a human trophy before the Cubans seems too novelistic even for a psychological warfare leak.
In any case, the report reveals that Washington is trying to make Havana understand that the old regional balance has been broken. Venezuela is no longer the shield it once was. The Castros, even in biological retreat, remain interlocutors of power. And Cuba once again finds itself at the center of a confrontation that mixes intelligence, oil, sanctions, threats, and the memory of the Cold War.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“This place is a hotbed of informal vendors, filth and collapses, the police don’t show their faces, marginality reigns supreme.”
Young women affected by the ‘chemical’ on Ángeles Street at the corner of Monte Street, in Central Havana. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, May 24, 2026 / They may be minors or simply young women shrunken by a life of malnutrition and other hardships. Sitting on the curb at the corner of Ángeles and Monte streets in Central Havana, the two—one dark-skinned and the other white, representing the country’s diverse mix—sway forward, their heads dangling so low they almost touch the ground, saliva drooling uncontrollably from their mouths. Passersby who look at them have no doubt: “That’s elquímico” [the chemical].
The synthetic cannabinoid that authorities have been fighting for several years is appearing on the streets of the capital, even in the busiest areas, like this one, in broad daylight. It’s barely ten in the morning.
Surrounded by onlookers, the young women receive no help. There are no police officers to assist them either. The people who see them simply mock them: “Look, look, how the little black girl is drooling,” one woman remarked to another she was walking with.
“What can I say?” lamented an elderly witness to the scene, “this place is a hotbed of informal vendors, filth and collapses, the police don’t show their faces, marginality reigns supreme.”
Surrounded by onlookers, the young women receive no help. There are no police officers to assist them either. The people who see them simply mock them.
The regime’s efforts are largely ineffective against a drug to which it has remained blind, mute, and deaf for far too long . Last April, the General Customs Office of the Republic seized 22,800 doses of the chemical from the United States, giving it the opportunity to blame the phenomenon on its perennial enemy, claiming it is “the main source” of the substance, and to boast of its effectiveness .
The government has, however, acknowledged an increase in drug use for the past couple of years, unlike in the past, and has expressed concern about its circulation on the island, especially among young people. At the same time, it insists that the island “is neither a producer nor a transit country for illicit drugs” and that the official policy is one of “zero tolerance.”
In 2025, authorities seized a total of 507 kilograms of drugs, primarily cocaine, and arrested 174 people linked to drug trafficking. The head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug unit, Juan Carlos Poey, reported last December that 51 young adults and 72 minors were involved in “83 incidents of drug trafficking and consumption.” He also noted that almost all of them were teenagers between 13 and 16 years old who use the drug known as químic” (47%).
The Cuban Penal Code punishes “the possession and trafficking of illicit drugs with sentences ranging from four to 30 years in prison, including life imprisonment and even the death penalty.”
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US authorities summon streamer Hasan Piker and Susan Medea Benjamin over their trips to Cuba
CodePink delegation upon its arrival in Holguín last week. / X/@codepink
14ymedio, Madrid, May 24, 2026 — A total of 145 organizations established in the United States have been identified by Fox News as part of the network of influence that Donald Trump’s Administration suspects the Government of Havana has built on U.S. territory. The network reported this in a feature story on Saturday, announced as part of a series dedicated to the subject.
As part of the investigation, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has cited Marxist influencer Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founder Susan Medea Benjamin, who traveled to Cuba last March to deliver humanitarian aid as part of the Our America Convoy .
Fox News also reports that the activities of Olivia DiNucci, CodePink’s Washington, D.C., coordinator, are being examined. The network states that 40 other Americans are under investigation by federal authorities for allegedly coordinating with Cuban regime officials to transport goods and supplies to the island in convoys and flotillas.
“A coordinated rapid response network was already being mobilized across the United States to defend Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba.”
The lengthy Fox News report focuses on the analysis of numerous messages issued in response to the formal indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro for the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes last Wednesday. Just nine minutes after the news became public, Fox News states, “a coordinated rapid-response network was already mobilizing across the United States to defend Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba.” continue reading
Some of the slogans were: “Baseless indictment against Raúl Castro,” “A pretext for another war,” “We will not hand over Raúl,” or “Cuba is not a threat to the world. The United States is a threat to the world. The world supports Raúl Castro, hero of the Cuban Revolution. The world turns its back on Donald Trump, clown of human destruction.” This last message, the news channel notes, was shared by Manolo de los Santos, executive director of The People’s Forum, a New York-based NGO, and by leaders of CodePink.
Both organizations, according to another investigation carried out by Fox News last March, are part of an international leftist network financed largely by Shanghai-based American tech businessman and supporter of the Chinese regime Neville Roy Singham. Other groups within the network include Answer Coalition, Liberation News and Party for Socialism and Liberation, International People’s Assembly, Venceremos Brigade, Hatuey Project, BreakThrough News, Tricontinental Institute, IFCO, and Pastors for Peace.
Aside from the Singham network, Fox News names six more structures within the “ecosystem” of support for Cuba: unions such as United Union of Roofers or Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36, aid brigades and delegations such as Global Exchange or the Convoy Nuestra América, Marxist organizations such as the Communist Party USA or the African People’s Socialist Party, media outlets such as BT News or Liberation News, academic and professional networks such as the National Lawyers Guild, and humanitarian and infrastructure aid campaigns such as Global Health Partners.
In total, the network identifies 145 groups, including NGOs, unions, and other activists, whose annual revenues reach one billion dollars.
For Homeland Security officials investigating the influence of foreign governments on U.S. territory, this kind of “rapid response” campaign is evidence of Havana’s influence, disguised as “solidarity” with the Island.
“It is neither extraordinary nor a violation of any international or U.S. law for Cuban diplomats to interact with civil society”
Asked about the matter, the Cuban Embassy in Washington denied any improper activity to Fox News and, through a spokesperson, stated that “Cuban diplomats strictly comply with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” whose Article 41 establishes that diplomats have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of a State.
The spokesperson also stated that “part of diplomatic work” consists of “promoting friendly relations” and “interacting with organizations and institutions of civil society in the State to which they are accredited.” The Cuban mission continued: “It is neither extraordinary nor a violation of any international or U.S. law for Cuban diplomats to interact with civil society,” concluding that this “does not encourage Americans to overthrow or act against the constitutional order of the United States.”
Sources close to the government investigation told Fox News that they are examining the activities of several prominent activists and organizers linked to the Cuba solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin, and CodePink coordinator in Washington D.C., Olivia DiNucci. Likewise, they are investigating another 40 Americans who allegedly coordinated with Cuban Government officials to bring goods and supplies to the Island in “convoys” and “flotillas” earlier this year.
This past Saturday, the Cuban official press echoed the “denunciations” made by CodePink — one of the organizations in the “Singham network” — and Democratic Party senators against Donald Trump’s Government over the increasing pressure on the Island. “We must stop this madness. Cubans, and not politicians in Washington nor hardline fanatics in Miami, should decide Cuba’s future,” was one of the CodePink messages circulated by several state media outlets, which praised the civil organization for warning “about the danger of a new war” and demanding “an end to the unilateral coercive measures that threaten the sovereignty and living conditions of the Cuban people.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Joe García describes eight issues on the table, including political prisoners, the embargo, confiscated properties, internal reforms, and financial reintegration
According to García, the talks would not point toward an immediate expulsion, but rather a gradual scheme. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Madrid, Yunior García Aguilera, May 24, 2026 — Much has been speculated in recent weeks about the secret agenda between Havana and Washington. But now, for the first time with this level of detail, a source with access to officials from both Governments is laying out a concrete roadmap. Businessman and former Democratic congressman Joe García speaks of eight points ranging from the release of political prisoners to the lifting of the embargo. At the center of this possible negotiation, however, appears an issue more thorny than any diplomatic gesture: the return to the Island of up to 500,000 Cubans currently living in the United States.
The figure alone is enough to shake both sides of the Florida Straits. Half a million people is not an abstract category in a federal file. They are families, workers, people who arrived under humanitarian parole, asylum seekers, and individuals with pending cases. It would also include individuals considered inadmissible because they committed crimes. Mixing everyone into the same bag may be politically useful, but humanly dangerous.
In an article published by The Palm Beach Post, García identifies eight main points in the conversations between the United States and Cuba: the release of more than 1,000 political prisoners, economic reforms, compensation for confiscated properties, political reforms, lifting the embargo, readmission of the Island into multilateral organizations, Most Favored Nation status, and the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Cubans.
The release of political prisoners would be the minimum moral condition needed to sell any agreement to the exile community and to Congress
It would, therefore, not be a simple immigration arrangement, but rather a return to the entire chessboard of the bilateral relationship. Speaking with 14ymedio, García acknowledges that the issue of the half million migrants “is the one that moves the heart,” but he considers the other seven aspects also very “specific” and constituting “a fairly large movement.”
The release of political prisoners would be the minimum moral condition needed to sell any agreement to the exile community and to Congress; economic reforms would open the door to investments that today collide with state and military control over strategic sectors; compensation for continue reading
expropriations would touch an open wound dating back to 1959 and would require the creation of legal and financial formulas for American and Cuban claims; and political reforms would be the most sensitive point for Havana, because any real opening would call into question the monopoly of the Communist Party.
García’s statements rest on an old rule of American foreign policy: sometimes only a hawk can negotiate with the enemy without being accused of weakness. Nixon was able to open the door to China because his anti-communist record protected him from suspicion. Reagan was able to sit down with Gorbachev after having called the Soviet Union “the evil empire.” And George H. W. Bush was able to manage the Soviet collapse without turning it into a public humiliation that would push Moscow toward chaos. In all those cases, the rapprochement was not sold as
I can imagine the number of onions, potatoes, mangoes, and peppers that won’t survive another day to be sold this Saturday.
You have to hold on to something. Waiting for those yellow petals to open in the middle of the rooftop gave me hope. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, May 23, 2026 / I need onions. I take advantage of the electricity and go down in the elevator, also carrying the garbage that has accumulated during the days of blackout on our 14th floor. On the corner, the bins are no longer visible because a mountain of waste has covered their blue plastic. Several wheels have also been ripped off to make wheelbarrows for hauling water. One has its plastic ripped lengthwise, the other has holes caused by the flames of some fire. Neither has a lid.
I continue along Factor and turn onto Tulipán Street. A cart loaded with plantains and papayas catches my eye and makes my mouth water. It belongs to a family who come every weekend from San Antonio de los Baños, in Artemisa. I calculate the distance, consider the work it must take to move the merchandise to Havana, amidst the fuel shortage. “Everything is brought here because this is where the money is; in our town, there’s not even enough room to tie up a goat,” the matriarch of the clan, who also sells guavas, confides in me.
There was a time when I used to go to San Antonio de los Baños a lot. I would take my German students to visit the Museum of Humor, we’d go boating on the Ariguanabo River, and we’d even sneak into the International Film and Television School. The last few times I’ve been to that small town, a bridge between so many other areas of “red earth” and old pre-university schools in the countryside, I’ve barely recognized the once beautiful village. After 11 July 2021, which erupted right in its streets, the small town has become a place of silence. “We don’t even have water,” the vendor tells me as she offers me a handful of tiny plantains.
They tell me that “they’ve given the order to go to the march for Raúl [Castro]” and that’s why the most important market in the area hasn’t opened.
I continue along Tulipán Street to the farmers market, but I came across a closed gate and other people, like myself, arriving and feeling frustrated to see the empty stalls and an eerie silence that hangs over the place, on a Friday that is traditionally bustling. No one knew what had happened. I turned around and approached the other gate, which opens onto Marino Street. Inside, two young men were dozing in a guard booth. At my insistence, they told me that “they’ve given the order to go to the march for Raúl [Castro]” and that’s why the most important market in the area hadn’t opened.
An elderly man approaches with perplexed look upon hearing the justification. “So all this is because we went to support that old guy who shot down the planes,” he says angrily. Fury has taken hold here, where complaints used to be voiced with a touch of irony, a half-smile. Now anger has become the state in which we spend most of our time. We’re angry the 24 hours of the seven days in the week. There aren’t even jokes left to tell amidst a collapse that, according to one of my neighbors, “hasn’t hit rock bottom yet.”
Standing in front of the silent market, I imagine the countless onions, potatoes, mangoes, and peppers that won’t survive another day to be sold this Saturday. A single day of closure skyrockets spoilage, costs, and losses. Nor can I imagine the private vendors who fill these stalls, once run by the Youth Labor Army (EJT), crowding into the Anti-Imperialist Tribune to support a man they feel is both distant and responsible for the debacle we’re living through. There go the military personnel, the relatives of Castro, a fugitive from US justice, where he has been indicted on criminal charges including murder for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996. There go the workers from the military conglomerate Gaesa, who can’t refuse these calls to action. There go those who haven’t realized, or don’t want to realize, the rage that throbs in these streets.
There go the military personnel, the relatives of Castro, a fugitive from US justice, where he has been charged with criminal offenses.
The onions will have to wait for another day. I’m heading home quickly before the blackout hits. Last week was terrible. One day we only had electricity for an hour and a half, divided into two 45-minute blocks. They couldn’t pump water to our building’s tank those days, and to top it all off, the Havana Water Company announced a break. One morning we only had one pitcher of drinking water left, but a sunflower I’ve been carefully cultivating absolutely needed some water.
You have to hold on to something. Waiting for those yellow petals to open in the middle of the rooftop gave me hope. Should I drink the blessed glass of water or give it to this spindly plant that won’t make it to tomorrow if I don’t water it now? I faced the dilemma. With its drooping leaves and limp stem, it didn’t have much of a chance. I’m definitely not prepared to survive by trampling over other lives. I poured the last of my water on it. That morning, miraculously, the electricity came back on and they were able to pump water into the tank.
This Friday, when I returned from the closed market, the sunflower on the rooftop was waiting for me in full bloom. I’m not ready to give up on beauty, not even amidst so much pent-up anger.
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
Father Alberto Reyes points out that “the people want and expect” international intervention. Many Cubans say they “prefer a horrific end to endless horror.”
The documentary screening was followed by a discussion of more than two hours with Reyes, one of the most critical Catholic voices in Cuba. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Dayana Prieto, Madrid, May 23, 2026 / “Cuba is not that happy, Caribbean, beautiful paradise of propaganda.” The phrase, uttered by Cuban priest Alberto Reyes before a packed auditorium in Madrid this Friday, summed up the sense of despair felt by a large part of Cuban society. Amid applause, laughter, and tears, the audience experienced the bitter realization of a country where, according to the priest from Camagüey, “life is unlivable” and “misery is insurmountable.”
The Palacio de la Prensa in Madrid hosted the presentation of the documentary Cuba’s Eternal Night on May 22nd. The film is by British-American filmmaker, journalist, and human rights advocate Jordan Allott, founder of In Altum Productions and senior advisor to the organization In Defense of Christians. The screening of the film—whose title is inspired by Oswaldo Payá’s famous quote, “The night will not be eternal”—was followed by a discussion of more than two hours with Reyes, one of the most critical Catholic voices in Cuba.
🇨🇺 “Life in Cuba is unlivable”: Father Alberto Reyes’ testimony shakes Madrid / 14ymedio
The event was part of the Fourth Wall project, organized by “It’s Time to Think”, also known as “the thought movement.” The hall, with a capacity of about 200 people, was completely filled with Cubans, Spaniards, and people from various other countries. Before it began, the priest personally greeted the attendees at the entrance, in a gesture that combined pastoral warmth and a sense of community.
One of the most harrowing stories is that of Emilio, a father of three who participated in the La Güinera protests.
Cuba’s Eternal Night delves into the aftermath of 11 July 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets chanting “freedom.” The documentary follows several families marked by repression, exile, surveillance, and imprisonment. In a video submitted for the presentation, Allott explained that he met Reyes in Mexico and, from that moment on, knew that his testimony had to be included in the film.
Among the stories collected is that of Ariadna, a protester on July 11th and mother of two girls. After the protests, she had to leave the island after authorities threatened to imprison her or harm one of her daughters if she continue reading
didn’t leave the country. The camera follows her journey to the United States, but the narrative doesn’t stop at her arrival; instead, it focuses on what she leaves behind: her daughters, the family rupture, and that form of exile that begins even before crossing a border.
Also featured is Camila Acosta, a journalist for Cubanet and contributor to the Spanish newspaper ABC, arrested on July 12, 2021, and still subjected to surveillance and persecution by State Security in Cuba. And Raúl appears, the son of an evangelical pastor, who participated alongside his father in the demonstrations and is presented as a young man who believed, for a few hours, that Cuba could become free.
“In Cuba we say this phrase: if Yankee imperialism hadn’t existed, Fidel would have invented it.” / 14ymedio
But one of the most harrowing stories is that of Emilio, a father of three who participated in the protests in La Güinera—on the outskirts of Havana—one of the neighborhoods hardest hit after July 11. His daughter was the one who came to the aid of Diubis Laurencio, shot in the back by the police. Then came the punishment. Emilio’s three children were sentenced to ten years in prison.
Since then, that father’s life has become a pilgrimage through prisons, scarcity, and exhaustion. He must find food in a country where everything is in short supply, pack bags, scrape together money for transportation, and travel from one end of the country to the other to visit his children. One daughter is incarcerated in a women’s prison, one of his sons is in a juvenile detention center, and another is in a men’s prison. The sentence, in practice, didn’t fall only on them. It also fell on the father, who grows old standing in lines, traveling, carrying packages, and trying to support three lives unjustly imprisoned.
The figure of Alberto Reyes plays a central role in the film. The images show him in his pastoral work in the province of Camagüey, in remote and hard-to-reach villages, delivering medicine and humanitarian aid to communities in need, but also denouncing human rights violations. In Madrid, the priest once again dismantled one of the regime’s favorite arguments: the constant justification of the disaster by blaming “the blockade.”
“Something in Jonathan Muir has already died. Something of his innocence, of his childhood, has already died, and no one has been able to do anything about it.”
“Cuba has very effectively exploited the technique of the external enemy,” he stated. “In Cuba we say this phrase: if Yankee imperialism hadn’t existed, Fidel would have invented it.” For Reyes, the embargo—“blockade, embargo, whatever we want to call it”—functions as “the easy excuse to justify the unjustifiable.”
The priest maintained that Cuba trades with numerous countries and that the United States itself sells products to the island, on the condition that the government pays in cash. “The chicken consumed in Cuba comes from the United States,” he noted. “So, in reality, the embargo is a justification.”
The conversation turned to the possibility of a U.S. intervention. Reyes didn’t sugarcoat what, according to him, is being said on the street. “What does the average Cuban say? They want it and they’re waiting for it. That’s the reality of my people.” To explain, he used a simple image: if an eight-year-old is bullied by another child of the same age, they can stand up to them; but if the aggressor is a 16-year-old, it takes “a higher power” to stop them.
“We prefer a gruesome end to a horror without end.”
“There is no rule of law in Cuba,” he said. “Civil society is extremely vulnerable.” He then mentioned the case of Jonathan Muir, a 16-year-old who went out with his father to demand freedom. He is imprisoned, has a health condition, is accused of sabotage, and faces an eight-year sentence. “He was beaten the other day,” Reyes reported. “I think he’s a broken child. He’ll get out of prison, he’ll get through this, but something inside Jonathan Muir has already died. Something of his innocence, of his childhood, has died, and no one has been able to do anything about it.”
That sentence silenced the room. Because Jonathan is not just a court case. He is, above all, a warning. To young people, to parents, to churches, to anyone who thinks that demanding freedom can come without consequences.
As the night drew to a close, there were no easy answers. Nor does the documentary offer them. Cuba’s Eternal Night portrays an island where repression is inherited, imprisonment extends to the family, and exile begins long before the airport. But it also reveals something that the regime has failed to silence: the voice of those who still dare to speak out.
Reyes left the Press Palace in Madrid with several masses scheduled for the weekend in the Spanish capital. Many approached to greet him. Others remained in their seats, some in tears, others in silence. Many were left with the phrase that, according to Reyes, is heard throughout the island: “We prefer a horrific end to a horror without end.”
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, May 26, 2026 / Geraldo Benítez, a Cuban, sells bottled water in Centenario Park, a spot in downtown Tapachula where hundreds of migrants without papers have been congregating for months. His story epitomizes the suffering of his compatriots expelled from the US and deposited in Mexico, a kind of planet Mars for them. “There’s no work here, but you can’t move around either. Things are tight at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar),” months go by and “they don’t regularize your status.”
