Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Specialists in Miami Present a Plan to Rebuild Cuba

Experts agree that private investment and the diaspora will be essential to modernizing the island after a democratic transition.

The forum ‘Rebuilding Cuba’s Infrastructure as Part of the Transition to Democracy’, organized in Miami. / El Nuevo Herald / Pedro Portal

14ymedio, Havana, July 24, 2026 / Decades of neglect have left Cuba with an obsolete and deeply decayed infrastructure. Rebuilding it will be the main challenge facing a future democratic transition, according to specialists gathered at the forum “Reconstruction of Cuba’s Infrastructure as Part of the Transition to Democracy” held on July 22 at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami.

Cuban-American academics, business leaders, engineers, and architects analyzed a hierarchy of urgent needs—electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, and connectivity—and proposed recovery strategies that, above all, will depend on creating a legal framework capable of attracting private investment and facilitating the participation of the Cuban diaspora. This was emphasized especially by economist Rafael Romeu, president of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.

Romeu proposed an initial phase of humanitarian aid aimed at sustaining basic services and responding immediately to the urgent social situation: the deterioration of the electrical grid, the water supply, and the healthcare system. The analyst noted that Cuba does not have immediate access to aid from organizations like the International Monetary Fund, from which it withdrew in 1964. “Waiting for international organizations could lead to chaos and suffering for the Cuban population, who would have to face worsening hyperinflation, dollarization in the black market, and the collapse of essential services.”

“Waiting for international organizations could lead to chaos and suffering for the Cuban population.”

Romeu insisted that the recovery will depend on a combination of public and private resources, with private investment as the main driver. Among his stabilization measures is the dollarization of the economy, a proposal he believes would curb inflation and dismantle the distortions that currently continue reading

fuel the informal market.

The reconstruction of Cuba, in any case, would cost billions of dollars, and that’s where “the venture capitalists” would come in, according to Romeu, who also pointed to tourism as one of the activities with the greatest potential for attracting capital. The economist estimated that an open Cuba with adequate infrastructure could receive between seven and ten million visitors a year.

For his part, Jorge Piñón, a researcher at the Austin Energy Institute at the University of Texas, addressed his area of expertise. “Without energy, there is no country,” he affirmed. For him, the immediate priority is to ensure a reliable and clean energy supply, essential both for daily life and for attracting investment.

As he told 14ymedio in an interview, Piñón is committed to expanding the use of natural gas, which Cuba already extracts in Canasí and Puerto Escondido, and complementing it with solar energy and ethanol produced from sugarcane. His proposal involves gradually abandoning crude oil refining and transforming existing refineries into open-access fuel storage and distribution terminals. According to the expert, this conversion would avoid the high costs of modernizing aging facilities, reduce pollution, and facilitate competition among suppliers.

The expert explained that although Cuba has 59 treatment plants, many barely function or do so with low efficiency.

With regards to the water crisis also affecting the island, engineer José Enrique Cueto, former director of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewerage Department, spoke. The expert explained that although Cuba has 59 treatment plants, many are barely functioning or operating at low capacity due to a lack of chemicals, equipment, pumps, and adequate filters. He advised that the use of chlorine gas as the primary disinfectant adds risks due to its toxicity. Furthermore, an insufficient sewer system forces a large part of the population to rely on septic tanks.

Cueto proposed starting by restoring pumping, drinking water treatment, and pipelines, prioritizing hospitals, densely populated cities, and vulnerable communities. He estimated two to five years for basic rehabilitation, up to ten for modernization, and more than a decade to expand wastewater infrastructure, industrial capacity, and agricultural supply. This is not, therefore, a quick fix, but a long-term national program.

Transportation in Cuba has also suffered from severe deterioration for decades. Carlos Peñín, founder of CAP Government and former president of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, stated that 70% of Cuban roads are in poor condition. The Central Highway and the National Highway—unfinished for decades—reflect the neglect of a network where fatal accidents are frequent and vehicles, carts, and pedestrians coexist without minimum safety conditions. According to Peñín, there is potential for transportation development on the island, but a significant investment would be needed for it to have an economic impact.

Regarding port infrastructure, experts noted that Cuba has 30 ports, including Mariel, but cautioned that many require comprehensive modernization. Even so, they highlighted the potential for reviving cruise tourism and leveraging the reconstruction of the transportation system to incorporate the most advanced technologies from the outset.

Lebeña stated that the transition to a modern telecommunications network, including 5G technology, could be completed in less than three years.

Willy Bermello, president of Bermello Ajamil & Partners, estimated that modernizing Cuban airports and bringing them up to international standards would require between $8 billion and $10 billion over 15 years.

Jesús Lebeña, vice president of corporate operations at MasTec Communications Group, addressed the topic of telecommunications. In his view, a Cuba in transition should guarantee unrestricted access for the entire population to voice, messaging, and data services with international connectivity.

Lebeña stated that the transition to a modern telecommunications network, including 5G technology, could be completed in less than three years if Cuba connects via fiber optic cables to the US and other countries and opens the sector to competitive bidding among international companies. According to him, this would lower service costs for consumers and allow the entry of satellite internet platforms like Starlink, currently prohibited on the island. In that scenario, Cuba could even aspire to become a regional data center.

In conclusion, Marcell Felipe, president of the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, maintained that the talent and capital of the exile community exist, but their participation will depend on a change of government in Cuba and the creation of rules that guarantee economic freedom, competition, and legal security. According to the specialists gathered at the forum, post-Castro Cuba will inherit a devastated infrastructure and an exhausted population. The question will no longer be whether the country will need aid, but rather which institutions will be prepared to administer it without repeating the monopolies, improvisation, and opacity that led to the current crisis.

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The Cuban Regime Adopts a Less Belligerent Tone in Response to New U.S. Sanctions

So far, only Bruno Rodríguez has spoken out: “an attack on the human right to access health care for hundreds of thousands of people in many parts of the world”

“We urge governments to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime’s slave drivers,” the statement emphasized / PL

14ymedio, Madrid, July 24, 2026 / The Cuban regime’s response to the most recent round of sanctions announced by the U.S. has been, so far, more restrained than the previous one. Neither Miguel Díaz-Canel nor Manuel Marrero—the president and prime minister, respectively—have spoken out, nor has the person directly affected, Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda.

Bruno Rodríguez has been tasked with issuing the main statement of condemnation via his X account, where he denounced what he considers “an attack on the human right to access health services for hundreds of thousands of people in many parts of the world.” Some of the measures are directed against the Cuban Medical Services Marketing Company, S.A. (CSMC) and the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation (UCCM), as well as Gretza Sánchez Padrón, director of the latter, and Portal Miranda.

“They are punishing Cuba for providing a humane and compassionate service that has been recognized by the international community. This is being done by the government of the world’s richest country, which is determined to deny that basic human right to tens of millions of its own citizens,” the foreign minister argued, referring to a free and universal public health system, although part of the sanctions are specifically directed at the company that sells health services for foreign currency, both domestically to tourists and abroad to governments.

“They are punishing Cuba for providing a humane and compassionate service that has been recognized by the international community”

CSMC operates in medical tourism—offering packages that include medical treatment, wellness, and natural therapies—sells university programs, provides healthcare at border crossings (ports and airports), organizes scientific events, forges biotechnology partnerships, and, most importantly, exports doctors to other countries upon payment. continue reading

In contrast, the sanctions against UCCM do affect services linked to humanitarian work, such as the Henry Reeve Brigade, or the commercial management of medical missions in foreign countries. This department is responsible for mobilizing its response to emergencies, as well as for the selection, training, and deployment of international missions. In this regard, it is held responsible for the conditions under which Cuban doctors live, including restrictions on socializing, curfews, and—far more seriously—the withholding of passports.

“Every act of aggression by the U.S. government—such as the measures announced on July 23 by the Secretary of State—demonstrates that the objective is to impose collective punishment on the entire Cuban people. Although the U.S. government continues to deny the existence of the economic blockade against Cuba, it is finding it increasingly difficult to hide its genocidal intentions and its desire to provoke a humanitarian crisis,” Rodríguez protested.

Although the foreign minister focused on medical services, just as—if not more—worrisome for the population are the new sanctions against the port of Mariel, which expand upon the existing ones. Until June, the terminal was operated by the company Terminal de Contenedores de Mariel S.A., owned by Gaesa, but when the military conglomerate was sanctioned, the state transferred control to two new entities: Coral Marítima S.A., which took over the assets, and the Grupo Empresarial de Transporte Marítimo Portuario (Gemar), which controls the country’s port infrastructure, ships, freight, and maritime logistics operations.

On July 13, the U.S. Department of State included these two companies in its previous round of sanctions. But now, it has added the original company, Terminal de Contenedores Mariel, on the grounds that all three are responsible for a scheme to circumvent the sanctions. This closes any legal loophole for sanctioning the port through which approximately 85% of the goods received by the island pass, according to data from the Ministry of Transportation, the port operator PSA International, and the State Department’s own assessment.

Major shipping companies, such as France’s CMA CGM and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd—which, according to two Reuters analysts, account for approximately 60% of cargo bound for Cuba—had already ceased operations in anticipation of these measures. Currently, as reported by Medicuba, ten containers holding medical supplies and medications are being held by these companies in ports in Jamaica and Colombia, while food is beginning to run short.

Ten containers of medical supplies and medications are being held by these companies in ports in Jamaica and Colombia, while food is beginning to run short.

Ernesto Soberón, Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations, took the opportunity to denounce the new measures during a debate on Thursday at the UN dedicated to “strengthening mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes.”

“Preventing conflicts requires full respect for the United Nations Charter, international law, and the sovereign equality of states. I denounced the intensification of the U.S. blockade against Cuba, the energy siege, and the use of unilateral coercive measures, which contradict the principles of peaceful coexistence and pose a threat to regional and international peace and security,” he said. At the same time, he affirmed that the regime remains open to serious and respectful dialogue.

The announcement of new sanctions, which also affect other entities in the energy and financial sectors, coincides with recent remarks by the U.S. Secretary of State, who spoke in Manila, where he was attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. There, when asked about Cuba, Rubio stated that talks with the regime are continuing to see “what kind of changes they can make.” “We are willing to be very realistic and patient about how. A serious process is needed to bring that about,” he added, offering the carrot just hours before delivering another stick.

Translated by GH.

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The First Cuban Defection at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo Occurs Before the Opening Ceremony

Moisés David Torres Puig, from Las Tunas and named the best goalkeeper in the 2024 National Championship, left the delegation.

The departure is the first known defection from the Cuban delegation during the Santo Domingo Games. / / Facebook / DPorto Sports News

14ymedio, Havana, July 24, 2026 / Field hockey goalkeeper Moisés David Torres Puig left the Cuban delegation participating in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo on Friday, just hours before the tournament’s official opening ceremony and without having played a single match.

The departure of the athlete, a native of Las Tunas and the youngest member of the men’s national team, was revealed by sports journalist Yasel Porto, who said he had received an audio message from the player himself and confirmed the case with sources close to the delegation.

According to Porto’s account, Torres Puig took advantage of the fact that the men’s team was at a stadium watching a match involving the women’s national team. The goalkeeper pretended to have been struck by a ball during training and asked for ice to treat the supposed injury. Shortly afterward, he said he was going to throw the ice into a container located in one of the facility’s hallways. Another person was waiting for him there, and the two exchanged clothes before Torres Puig walked out of the venue and left in a vehicle requested through the Uber app.

The account also reflects the strict surveillance that Cuban athletes are typically subjected to during their trips abroad

“I made the decision to stay here in the Dominican Republic and break all ties with the Cuban delegation,” the athlete says in the audio attributed to him, as quoted by DPorto Sports News. The account also reflects the strict surveillance that Cuban athletes are typically subjected to during their trips abroad, accompanied by coaches, officials, and other delegation “supervisors” who monitor their movements. “I was very nervous in case they discovered me,” Torres Puig confessed. continue reading

The young player was listed on the national team roster alongside Ignacio Miguel Aroche O’Farrill, the other goalkeeper called up for the competition. His departure leaves the team with only one available goalkeeper before its first match, scheduled during the tournament being held between late July and the first days of August.

His absence poses an additional problem for the coaching staff, which will have to compete throughout the tournament with only Aroche O’Farrill, unless the organizers allow a replacement to be added after the established deadline. No sports authority has yet clarified whether Cuba will request a replacement or whether Torres Puig has been formally removed from the accreditation list.

Just one week before leaving the country, the official press in Las Tunas had included his home among the so-called Central American Houses. / Facebook / Walfrido Quesada

The young man was not a last-minute addition to the team. In April 2024, he was named the best goalkeeper at the National Field Hockey Championship held in Ciego de Ávila, where that province’s team retained the men’s title. His performance established him as one of the country’s most promising goalkeepers. He had also received special recognition from the sports authorities in Las Tunas for his achievements during 2023.

Just one week before leaving the country, the official press in Las Tunas had included his home among the so-called Central American Houses, a propaganda initiative through which provincial authorities identify the homes of athletes and coaches participating in international competitions. In Torres Puig’s case, the gesture became ironic: while the authorities were publicly celebrating his “sense of belonging,” the athlete was preparing his escape.

Every international trip continues to be, for many athletes, an opportunity to escape the Island

Field hockey has also suffered numerous defections. Five players left the Cuban delegation during the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, while other members of the national team had previously abandoned the squad during a stay in Spain.

In every case, the sports authorities have repeated their usual formula, describing the decisions as “serious acts of indiscipline” or abandonment of commitments, without referring to the low salaries, the lack of professional opportunities, and the restrictions athletes face on the Island, not to mention the crisis affecting the majority of the population.

Santo Domingo was supposed to serve the Cuban Government as a showcase for an ambitious delegation and help stem the decline in its regional results. However, every international trip continues to be, for many athletes, an opportunity to escape the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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No Electricity in Cuba Means No Chicken

The cold chain is breaking down in warehouses, trucks, and stores, while foods that require refrigeration are disappearing from refrigerators.

The La Isla de Cuba store, located just a few meters from Fraternity Park, has remained closed for weeks. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López, Havana, July 24, 2026 – When a customer opens the door of a refrigerator at La Puntilla store, they no longer expect to find a tray of chicken or a package of cheese. The first thing they notice is the absence of that blast of cold air that used to escape. The motors are turned off, the shelves are empty, and the silence is broken only by the distant hum of a generator. In a Havana where heat and blackouts have become inseparable companions, even the cold seems to have disappeared from stores.

This Thursday, the market in the municipality of Playa presented a bleak scene. The refrigerators remained empty and switched off. The butcher section seemed frozen in time, with several employees having almost no work as they stood behind counters with no merchandise. According to one of the workers, there are several reasons, but they all lead to the same crisis.

“Nobody has any way to keep anything cold—not in the warehouses, not in the trucks, and certainly not here,” the employee told 14ymedio. Along with the prolonged blackouts comes another problem: the lack of supplies. “We’re not even receiving merchandise of that kind anymore,” he admitted.

“Nobody has any way to keep anything cold—not in the warehouses, not in the trucks, and certainly not here”

The same scene is repeated in other parts of the capital. A few kilometers away, at the dollar-denominated market near the Almendares River bridge, the situation is equally discouraging. The freezers remain empty, and tape blocks access to the area designated for meat products, an unmistakable sign that there is nothing requiring refrigeration to sell. continue reading

Customers receive the same answer at the store on 26th Street. “No, we’re not getting any of that,” an employee replies when a shopper asks about meat, cold cuts, or cheese. The exchange lasts only a few seconds. The lack of products makes any further explanation unnecessary.

In response to a question from this newspaper about whether the merchandise arrives but is refused because of the lack of refrigeration, or whether the State simply is no longer trying to supply refrigerated products to its own dollar stores, the employee explained that it is “a bit of both.” Store managers “don’t place the orders, and if a truck arrives with chicken, they tell it they can’t accept it because otherwise we’d end up with too much spoilage, and that can’t be justified. The company itself won’t allow you to report losses of that magnitude.”

At La Mariposa, on Tulipán Street in Nuevo Vedado, the deterioration of the commercial offering has reached an almost symbolic point. One of the refrigerators, disconnected from the power supply, is no longer preserving food; it now serves as an improvised shelf for storing packages of macaroni. Where frozen products once stood, only dry pasta remains, capable of enduring entire days without electricity.

The transformation has also reached establishments that for years were a benchmark for those with access to foreign currency. The La Isla de Cuba store, located just a few meters from Fraternity Park, has remained closed for weeks, another symptom of the difficulties facing a retail network that is increasingly unable to guarantee a stable supply.

Nor is the crisis sparing the private sector. Small businesses that until a few months ago competed to offer a wide variety of frozen meats have drastically reduced their inventories. Most now carry only indivisible packages of about ten pounds of chicken drumsticks. The popular mixed packs of drumsticks and thighs, much more sought after by families because they allowed them to make better use of their purchases, have practically disappeared from refrigerators. Ground meat, hot dogs, cheeses, and other foods that depend on a stable cold chain are also in short supply.

The popular mixed packs of drumsticks and thighs, much more sought after by families because they allowed them to make better use of their purchases, have practically disappeared from refrigerators

“That’s like jumping into the sea without a life jacket. Nobody wants to take that risk right now,” admitted the manager of a private small business with a store on Ayestarán Street. “A lot of people come asking, and you can tell they’re getting desperate, but nobody can demand that we buy merchandise when so much of it is going to spoil. That’s our decision, and we’ve decided not to take the risk.”

Merchants acknowledge that the financial risk has become far too great. Keeping frozen goods during blackouts that in many parts of Havana now last well over 12 hours a day means accepting losses that are difficult to recover. On top of that are power outages at warehouses, cold storage facilities, and distribution centers, as well as the challenges of transporting refrigerated food in a country where fuel is also in short supply.

According to official figures published recently, retail sales continue to decline, and data for the first months of the year already show a significant contraction compared to 2025. However, all indications suggest that the statistics for June and July could be even worse, coinciding with the worsening energy crisis, marked by blackouts lasting more than 20 hours in numerous provinces and increasingly prolonged outages in the capital as well.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Will Receive 13 Million Eggs a Month from the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo is offering a subsidy to its producers so they can compete with the U.S. in the Cuban market

Since 2023, Cuba has relied on imports from the Dominican Republic to try to cover part of its production shortfall.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 24, 2026 / The Dominican Republic resumed egg exports to Cuba this week, which had been suspended for several months due to logistical difficulties stemming from the most recent U.S. sanctions against the regime in Havana.

The resumption of trade was made possible by a new regulation approved by the Dominican government to subsidize maritime transport. The measure aims to offset rising logistics costs and ensure the continuity of shipments to the island, as Miguel Lajara, a member of the Dominican Poultry Association, explained to El Nuevo Diario.

Lajara also noted that 12 containers containing 3,900,960 eggs—corresponding to the first export batch—have already been shipped, with the companies Agrokilda, Granja Wilse, Huevos Perla, and Agropecuaria SSK participating. He added that shipments could take place twice a month, with an expected volume of more than 13 million eggs sent to Cuba each month. The figure, however, remains well below the nearly 60 million eggs per month that Argentina used to export to Cuba before shipments were suspended. continue reading

“We had been building up capacity for Cuba. That market disappeared overnight, and it will take time to recover that volume.”

“We encountered a setback due to the restrictions the U.S. has imposed on ships, and we are working to resume that trade,” Pavel Concepción, president of the Dominican Poultry Association (ADA) told the local press. He added that the interruption in shipments was not due to a total suspension of maritime travel, but rather to the fact that, as a result of U.S. sanctions, shipping companies reduced the availability of refrigerated containers. He noted that the sector secured a new shipping company willing to cover the route to Cuba, which allowed exports to resume.

During the time the Dominican Republic was absent from the Cuban market, the U.S. filled its role as a supplier of eggs to the island, according to Concepción. “We managed to get the government to help with part of the transportation costs, which lowers the price of eggs and may allow us to compete with U.S. eggs.”

“We had been building up capacity for Cuba. That market disappeared overnight, and regaining that volume will take time,” the leader explained.

The government program includes a fund of 25 million Dominican pesos—about 430,000 dollars—administered by the Dominican Poultry Association, in coordination with the National Association of Laying Hen Producers, and establishes a subsidy of 4,500 dollars for each container exported, with a limit of up to 20 containers per week, until available resources are exhausted.

“We managed to get the government to help cover part of the transportation costs, which lowers our expenses and may allow us to compete with eggs from the United States.”

In Cuba, eggs have become a luxury item in recent years. They cost around 3,000 pesos for a 30-count carton in a country where the minimum wage is 3,210 pesos per month (less than five dollars), while prolonged power outages—exacerbated by the energy crisis—make it difficult to store them.

The island’s poultry sector has been in a state of severe decline for nearly a decade. Domestic production fell from about five million eggs per day in 2020 to around 2.2 million in 2023, as a result of shortages of feed and other poultry farming supplies. The lack of feed even forced the culling of more than 50,000 laying hens in Holguín, further reducing the country’s egg production capacity.

Egg distributions through the “canasta familiar” (basket of essential goods) have been reduced or suspended in numerous provinces, while the crisis has forced the Cuban government to rely increasingly on imports to meet part of domestic demand.

Since 2023, Cuba has turned to imports from the Dominican Republic to try to cover part of the production shortfall, a dependence that has intensified as the national poultry industry has deteriorated. The resumption of exports will ease supply constraints, but it will not resolve the structural problem of domestic production, which remains limited by the lack of poultry feed and other inputs.

“The difficult situation regarding feed production in Cuba—which is vital for livestock farming and the production of meat and eggs—has been a persistent burden on the national economy and the people’s food supply,” the State newspaper Granma acknowledged earlier this year, before the U.S. tariff sanctions that have exacerbated the crisis on the island had been implemented.

Translated by GH

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Cuba: Living in Small Portions

Blackouts, shortages, and uncertainty have narrowed the horizon for Cubans to the point that planning for next week seems like a luxury.

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) without internet access on Carlos III Avenue in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez, July 21, 2026 / “Can you sell me just one pound of chicken?” a woman asks pleadingly as she enters one of the many privately owned shops on Monte Street in Havana. But her plea falls flat: “Only the whole package,” the clerk says firmly. In a city where electricity is increasingly scarce, taking home several kilograms of food that needs refrigeration is like shooting yourself in the foot.

But these small offerings aren’t just affecting our plates and refrigerators; our lives are also being scaled down. I run into an old acquaintance who needs to undertake repairs so he can use his shower again. “What’s the point if we don’t even know if there will be water, or if we’ll even have a country left in a couple of weeks?” he asks, paralyzed by fear. Forecasts have become so unreliable that it’s best to plan only for a few hours; for tomorrow, if that.

We live in such a narrow present that any medium-term plan seems extravagant.

There’s a word that has become too big for our reality: future. It used to encompass buying a refrigerator, fixing up a room, or taking an August vacation. Now it barely allows us to decide whether it’s worth defrosting a package of sausages or saving our phone’s dwindling battery for an important call. We live in such a narrow present that any medium-term planning seems extravagant.

Uncertainty has ended up colonizing everything. Friends who postpone weddings, parents unsure whether to enroll their children in extracurricular activities, elderly people missing doctor’s appointments because they don’t know if there will be transportation or electricity that day. Everything has become provisional. The sensation that any decision could be overturned by a blackout, a breakdown, or a new crisis turns daily life into a kind of makeshift camping. continue reading

Perhaps the most profound damage isn’t the spoiled meat, the water that doesn’t come, or the shower my friend won’t repair. Maybe it’s having learned to live without plans. A nation that stops imagining next month, next year, or the next decade is a nation that shrinks every day. And when even hope has to be rationed in small portions, like that package of chicken that couldn’t be sold by the pound, the real scarcity is no longer in the markets, but in our dreams.

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Weary of Utopia

After almost seven decades of promises, the problem is no longer the horizon, but the distance between official discourse and everyday life.

To those who imposed this illusion on us without consulting us, we should say something very simple: we don’t want to live chasing what doesn’t exist, what will never exist. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez, July 23, 2026 / Miguel Díaz-Canel tried to get philosophical. In a recent interview, he spoke about utopia and attempted to repeat a phrase popularized by Eduardo Galeano, which he didn’t even manage to quote correctly. He said that “utopia is on the horizon. When we take two steps forward, utopia takes two steps back. And the horizon moves ten steps forward.” A strange mix that ended up sounding more absurd than inspiring.

And yet, perhaps the most revealing thing is not that he muddled the quote. What is truly revealing is that, after almost seven decades of this regime, the country’s top leader continues to offer us a utopia instead of a reality.

I, sincerely, am already tired of utopias.

Not because I’ve stopped believing in a better country. On the contrary. Precisely because I want a better nation, I refuse to continue living within a dream that belongs to others.

We inhabit a utopia that is not our own. Some who don’t even experience it try to convince us, from a distance, that we must conserve it intact.

We inhabit a utopia that isn’t ours. Some who don’t even experience it try to convince us, from a distance, from an office, or from the comfort of their privilege, that we must conserve it intact. They ask us for resilience, sacrifice, and faith. But they aren’t the ones who spend entire nights without electricity, who have to walk miles because there’s no public transportation, or who have to bring even antibiotics when a family member is hospitalized. They aren’t the ones who have to choose between buying medicine or putting food on the table.

It is profoundly alienating to live within the illusion of another person. To carry for a whole life the weight of a dream we never continue reading

chose. No one asked Cubans if we wanted to dedicate our lives to building that utopia. No one consulted us if we were willing to trade our youth for promises, our maturity for slogans, and our old age for speeches that always tell us the future will be better.

That future has been coming for almost seventy years.

And it never arrives.

Because the difference between a utopia and public policy is enormous. Public policy must produce results; it must ensure there is food, transportation, electricity, decent wages, functioning hospitals, and schools where teachers don’t abandon their classrooms. A utopia, on the other hand, always finds an excuse to postpone itself. It always lacks one more effort, there is always a little more resistance, always another step to take.

But while we walk toward that unattainable horizon, reality does the exact opposite: it regresses. The electrical system is deteriorating, transportation is decaying, and agriculture is shrinking. Hospitals are falling apart. The population is dwindling, with hundreds of thousands leaving the country. Even hope is fading.

Utopia can no longer be used as an argument to justify the persistent failure of a model. Because it is one thing to strive towards an ideal and another very different thing to use this idea to explain why even the most basic objectives are never achieved.

We don’t want to be governed by improvised philosophers. We want people capable of guaranteeing that there is running water, electricity at night, and food that can one can pay for with their wages. We want to live in a country where emigration isn’t the only option.

To those who imposed on us without consulting us, this mirage, we must say to them something very simple: : we do not want to live chasing what does not exist, what will never exist.

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Rubio on Cuba: “We Keep Talking With Them About the Kind of Changes They Can Make”

The US Secretary of State now tempers expectations of imminent action: “We are prepared to be very realistic and patient.”

Rubio insisted that it is a “failed state,” but maintained that he has “never” provided a timeline. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, July 23, 2026 / In a new episode of the tug-of-war between the US and Cuba, this Wednesday Marco Rubio had to dispel any notion of an imminent resolution to the issue . “We continue talking with them about the kind of changes they can make,” he declared to the press at the Manila International Convention Center in the Philippines, where he is attending the The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

Asked whether the Trump administration still aimed to achieve regime change through economic collapse or military intervention, the US Secretary of State said the goal was to bring “prosperity, security, certainty, and a better future” to Cubans. With regards on how to achieve this, he stated, “We are prepared to be very realistic and patient about how. It takes a serious process to get there.”

Rubio was visibly annoyed when the press asked him about the many statements made throughout the year by members of Congress, senators, and various other U.S. officials who have spoken of short timelines for regime change. “Who are ‘many of them’? Who was saying that?” the Secretary of State snapped at the reporter, who said he was referring to “people within continue reading

the administration who work on this issue.”

“No, global affairs are not a miniseries where you go through three episodes and that’s it. Global affairs are difficult.”

The high-ranking official insisted: “Like whom? Because I work on this issue more than anyone, and I never said that,” he continued. And when the reporter responded that the expectation of imminence stemmed, above all, from Cuba’s own weakness, Rubio replied, “No, global issues aren’t a miniseries where you go through three episodes and it’s over. Global issues are difficult.”

Despite Rubio’s reticence, mentions of imminent change in Cuba range from Trump himself—who less than a week ago spoke of a two-month timeframe—to Florida congressmembers who have mentioned summer or “before the end of the year.” Yesterday, however, Rubio tempered the sense of urgency after several minutes spent reminding everyone that it is a regime that has been entrenched in the country for more than six decades. He insisted that it is a “Failed State,” but maintained that he has “never” given a timeline. “I wish it were tomorrow because they deserve it; the people of Cuba deserve a better future,” he said.

The Secretary of State insisted that Cuba’s economic model is not working and reminded everyone that it no longer receives free oil from Venezuela, without mentioning that even if it could, it wouldn’t be able to buy it. Since the end of January, his administration has prevented any country from sending fuel to the island—whether for payment or not. He did speak, however, of the first shipment of US humanitarian aid that arrived on the island this Tuesday, “which will be distributed by non-governmental organizations on the ground.”

Another topic that inevitably came up was the recent report from his department that identifies Cuba as the main promoter of international communism. “This is a government that has passed, a regime—he corrected himself—that has spent most of the last 30, 40, or 50 years destabilizing the region with the movements it has supported. And they have lost, I don’t know, between 10% and 15% of their population since 2021,” he said.

“Yes, but our problem is with communist interference within our country.”

A reporter asked Rubio why this report focused on Cuba and not China. “They are the largest communist party in the world, with 100 million members,” the reporter inquired. “Yes, but our problem is with communist interference within our country. That report was about what these different elements do to interfere in our country and undermine our foreign policy,” the Secretary of State responded.

Rubio also expressed his preoccupation with the potential for mass migration from Cuba if the country becomes destabilized, one of the major reasons for his caution and his defense of continuing the conversations. “We want them to have a better future, and we are willing to do whatever it takes to help them achieve it. But they have to decide they want to do it. Those in charge there right now don’t want to,” he added, but insisted that his Administration is prepared “to do everything in our power to bring about positive change in Cuba because it directly impacts our national security.”

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Any Small Private Business in Cuba Wants to Sell Fuel to Cash In on the Business

“A Granel was only the first of many,” says a knowledgeable source who requested anonymity. “The fuel is coming in through pipelines.”

A Cupet fuel tanker leaving a gas station in Guanabacoa. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, July 23, 2026 – It is no longer just small private businesses connected to the oil or transportation sectors, or those that specifically need gasoline to operate. The importating of fuel from the U.S., authorized for the private sector since last February, has spread to all kinds of businesses.

This can be seen at several gas stations in Havana. One example is the service station known as the Shell Roundabout in Guanabacoa, which was closed to the public five months ago to serve only yellow taxis and began selling imported gasoline last May. There, 14ymedio confirmed that gasoline is being sold for $5 dollars per liter*.

“They lease the gas stations, issue invoices, and sell gasoline by the liter in dollars,” summarizes a customer at that station, where, as this newspaper previously reported, fuel is supplied not only to private businesses but also to state-owned companies, in direct violation of the authorization granted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

This Monday, in a report published by the Sancti Spíritus provincial newspaper Escambray, José Lorenzo García, the provincial transportation delegate, stated that the ministry had “circulated” a document regarding the possibility of bus companies purchasing fuel from small private businesses, but continue reading

that there was still no regulation in place to govern the practice.

“They lease the gas stations, issue invoices, and sell gasoline by the liter in dollars” / 14ymedio

In practice, this newspaper has confirmed that, in Havana, these State-owned vehicles are already fueling up at the same gas stations that serve private businesses. Among them is the station on Avenida del Puerto, where fuel is sold to national buses, whose terminal is located right next door, while the station at Vía Blanca and Fábrica serves trucks and water tankers. In addition, many state-owned Lada cars can be seen at the Vía Blanca station near the Luyanó bridge.

An entire black-market buying and selling network has also emerged that goes far beyond specialized businesses. “Right now anyone on the street has gasoline and will sell it to you at outrageous prices,” says a Havana driver. “Food businesses, people in the dollar-selling business—anyone will sell you a liter of gasoline for 3,500 pesos.”

One example is a small company dedicated to selling beer. “Right now, all they are promoting is gasoline, nothing else,” says one customer. In a WhatsApp message, they explain the requirements and, while revealing other service stations operating like the Shell Roundabout, warn: “You have to keep in mind that a waiting list is made, and you will be notified when they are ready to enable fueling at Tropicana [a gas station in the Playa municipality] and Acapulco [in Nuevo Vedado].”

Advertisements are also multiplying on social media. “Imported premium gasoline, minimum purchase 20 liters, $4.30 per liter,” reads one ad from Jaimanitas, in Playa. The same seller offers a price of $4.25 per liter for purchases of 40 liters or more, $4.20 for 100 liters or more, and $4.15 for purchases of 200 liters or more.

Beyond the fact that the business activities of these companies have nothing to do with fuel, the issue is that they are using the State distribution network, thereby also violating U.S. regulations. This is the case of A Granel, documented by 14ymedio, which sells diesel for $2.50 per liter from an industrial warehouse located at the end of Avenida del Puerto, owned by the Cuban Lubricants Company (Cubalub), which belongs to the State-owned Cupet.

“A Granel was only the first of many,” says a knowledgeable source who requested anonymity. “The fuel is coming in through pipelines”

Whatever the case, it is privately imported fuel that is keeping the country minimally running since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade

Whatever the case, it is privately imported fuel that is keeping the country minimally running since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade on the Cuban regime following its intervention in Venezuela earlier this year. Since January 9, the date when the last Mexican tanker, the Ocean Mariner, arrived on the island, only one vessel has docked: the Anatoly Kolodkin, which arrived on March 30 carrying Russian crude oil.

The official price of gasoline increased on July 10: gasoline rose from $2 to $2.50 per liter, while diesel increased from $1.80 to $2 per liter. In any case, fuel available for public sale through the Ticket app has reached extremely low levels.

In Havana it has been unavailable since May 28. Only a few gas stations outside the capital remain open, almost exclusively in Sancti Spíritus, where the number of operating service stations has also been reduced since July 8. Matanzas and Villa Clara, which had been dispensing fuel almost daily at several stations, have not done so since June 4.

There have been three exceptions to this situation: this Tuesday, when a gas station opened in Camagüey; on June 16, when another station opened in Artemisa; and on June 30, when fuel was dispensed at a service station in Havana (Santa María del Rosario).

*Equivalent to almost $19 a gallon

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana Chronicles: Cuba, The Country That Unlearns

The Cuban crisis forces people to give up the basic habits that sustain communal life

I’m crammed against the back door, and right in front of my face is a sign that warns: “Don’t slam the door.” They’re asking for a kind and courteous gesture in this every-man-for-himself situation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 22, 2026 / The street I walk down is called Hidalgo, but on one of its corners, the poorest people in my neighborhood gather, while waiting for their bread from the ration books. Some couldn’t survive without this support, which, for others, is just a small piece of dough, sometimes sour, sometimes almost greenish. I have a neighbor who goes down more than ten flights of stairs and then back up just to make sure he gets this extra portion of his daily ration. Poor quality, but still subsidized, this bread remains the main source of sustenance for many of the people I pass every morning.

I jump over a sewage-filled stream, just a few meters from where a tamale vendor is hawking his wares. I quicken my pace toward La Timba. Only the building of the General Customs of the Republic appears freshly painted. Everything around me is parched from the heat and lack of rains, peeling from the crisis, and dulled by neglect. Even Paseo Street, once the sacred thoroughfare of power, where caravans of official vehicles escorted by motorcyclists used to parade, looks abandoned. Have the Party leaders boarded that plane and we don’t even know it? Like in some novels, is it that power in Cuba is nothing more than an empty shell that survives only in our imaginations and in the offices of State Security?

For the work and grace of daily survival, now “five” means five hundred and “two” is enough to describe two hundred.

It’s not summer. In July and August, everything usually slows down a bit; the heat is oppressive, and the city seems to yawn at every turn. But this year is different. This isn’t slowness. It’s paralysis.

“It’s three to Prado,” the driver of the electric tricycle tells me as I hop on in Vedado. Money has become so difficult to pronounce that we’ve ended up simplifying it. Thanks to the daily grind of survival, now “five” means five hundred and “two” is enough to describe two hundred. We drop zeros from conversations as quickly as those colorful bills disappear from our pockets. But if “one” equals one hundred, what do we do with that bill that showed José Martí’s face and that for so long represented one peso? That one no longer exists. It has been erased by inflation and by forgetfulness.

The almendrón, the classic American car, that’s taking me home speeds by. I’m pressed against the back door, and right in front of my face is a sign that warns: “Don’t slam the door.” They’re asking for a kind and courteous gesture amidst the chaos. “It’s five to Boyeros and Tulipán,” the driver explains. His statement confirms that zeros to the right of the fare are worthless; they’ve become as useless as those on the left. Just as we’ve eliminated hundreds and thousands of our conversations, we’ve also been stripping our days of any embellishment. There’s no room for frills anymore. Only the most urgent and basic needs remain.

Animalization rarely happens suddenly. It creeps in little by little. The real deterioration is not just in the streets or on the facades.

While walking down Colón Street a few days ago, a bag full of excrement flew over my head before hitting the pavement. The residents of that area have been without water for days. Instead of accumulating their waste in a toilet that seems unlikely to be flushed, they throw it in the nearest garbage can. In this country, we’ve been pushed to disregard centuries of basic lessons: mixing shit with public space ultimately turns life into shit.

It is not the only setback. There are neighborhoods where people cook with firewood in the middle of the city and where the darkness of the blackouts forces them to sleep with the chickens. A friend called me a few days ago to invite me to a comedy show. “I can’t,” I told him, “I have to get up before five in the morning to get online for a few minutes and get some housework done.”

Progress can not only stop; it can also reverse at great speed.

Havana wasn’t sustained solely by buildings or avenues. It was also raised on unspoken agreements: don’t throw excrement out the window, keep sewage away from where you cook. These are rules so old they seem instinctive, but a prolonged crisis is enough to reveal that they aren’t. We’ve begun to accept as normal scenes that just a few years ago would have seemed like something out of a refugee camp.

Animalization rarely happens in one blow. It creeps in little by little. The real deterioration isn’t just in the streets or the facades. It’s in realizing that, to survive, we’ve had to forget too many things that kept us healthy and sane.

Previous Havana Chronicles: continue reading

“Here, Surviving”

The Blackout Lunatics

From the Mariel Boatlift’s Weaponized Eggs to the Luxury Egg

Cuba Is Once Again Without Internet

Under the Shadow of a Giant Syringe, Cuba Remains the Land of Waiting

The Time For Reforms Has Passed

Surrounded by Garbage, Miramar Is No Longer the Glamorous Neighborhood It Once Was

A Circus Facing Off Against Power, and a City Growing Increasingly Lonely

Chronicle of a Monday That Feels Like Wednesday

“We Used to Complain About the ‘CUC’, But Now We Miss It”

The Roar of Despair of a Cuban Woman Returning to Her Country After Many Years

The Tulipán Market Closed: “They’ve Given the Order To Go to the March for Raúl”

Along Carlos III Street and towards Ethiopia

Sleeping Is Also a Privilege in Havana

A Desperate Plea in the Middle of the Dark Havana Night: ‘Light!’

The Refuse of Disenchantment

Under a Picture-Postcard Blue Sky, the Country is Crumbling

Fatigue Barely Allows One to Enjoy the ‘Lights On’ in Havana

Dollars, the Classic Card, and a Havana Without Tourists

A Journey Through the Lost Names of Havana

The Shipwreck of a Ship Called “Cuba”

Havana Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

In Havana, the Only Ones Who Move Are the Mosquitoes

Reina, the Stately Street Where Garbage is Sold

Searching for Light Through the Deserted Streets of Havana

The Death Throes of ‘Granma’, the Mouthpiece of a Regime Cornered by Crisis

The Anxiety of the Disconnected Cuban

One Mella, Three Mellas, Life in Cuba Is Measured in Thousands of Pesos

It Is Forbidden To Leave Home in Cuba Today Because It Is a “Counter-Revolutionary Day”

Vedado, the Heart of Havana’s Nightlife, Is Now Converted Into a Desert

Havana, in Critical Condition

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The Cuban State Authorizes Its Enterprises to Buy Raw Materials and Supplies From the Private Sector

Entities and any State establishment, including food-service ones, will also be able to pay these suppliers in cash

The managers of State-run establishments will be responsible for contracts with private parties, without recourse to superiors. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / The shortages in the state system have forced the Cuban Government to take a further step in the liberalization of parts of the market, in this case retail trade. From now on, enterprises, basic units, and any State establishment, including restaurants, cafeterias, and rationed-market bodegas, will be able to contract with the private sector not only for fresh and prepared food – something that was already partially allowed – but also for supplies, raw materials, and other products needed to provide their services.

The decree enabling this, published in the ‘Official Gazette’ this Monday, states that it is “necessary to adapt commercial relations to the market’s current conditions and objectives,” with the aim of “making it possible to obtain resources without limitations and encouraging an increase in offerings in gastronomic activities, the retail sale of merchandise, and the corresponding services under local subordination.”

With the new authorization, all services subordinate to the domestic trade system will be able to carry out “self-managed purchases” – that is, without going through the State – “from individuals and legal entities”

With the new authorization, all services subordinate to the domestic trade system will be able to carry out “self-managed purchases” – that is, without going through the State – “from individuals and legal entities,” another euphemism to avoid explicitly mentioning the private sector. Despite the liberalization, there is a series of prohibited products, although the prohibition stems from the fact that private individuals are not authorized to engage in these highly profitable areas, over which the State retains exclusivity: horse meat, coffee (except torrefacto-roasted coffee), bee honey, raw tobacco, and cocoa. continue reading

The regulation specifies that the purchasing party must have verified that the supplier holds a license and has all required documents in order, and is also required to keep this information updated to ensure that sellers remain valid. As for payment, the decree indicates that establishments must maintain a fund for these purchases approved by their director, which may be paid by bank account or in cash.

The purchasing and contracting committee of each entity is responsible for deciding maximum purchase prices, “without contradicting what has been approved by local governments, in order to avoid increases in the retail prices charged to the public,” the document adds.

The current regulation expands on previous liberalizations in the sector, which were much more timid and controlled. The first took place in mid-2019, when the Government published the first decree allowing the managers of State establishments to purchase food products (fresh or prepared) directly from farmers, cooperatives, and self-employed workers. That document had in common with the current one the list of prohibited foods, although broader, including meat from all types of livestock, and milk. The main difference, however, lay in payments, which could only be made through bank transfers approved by managers.

The main difference, however, lay in payments, which could only be made through bank transfers approved by managers

Two years later, with the Tarea Ordenamiento (Ordering Task) destabilizing the economy even further than it already was, and the pandemic contributing to making everything worse, the regime opted to convert basic business units (UEB) into autonomous entities with their own accounting. At that time, they were authorized to make purchases without permits from provincial or municipal enterprises, and procedures for contracting directly with producers were simplified.

The regulation, signed by the Minister of Domestic Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, is a decree included in an ordinary Official Gazette published this Monday that also includes other resolutions of lesser relevance, among them the reservation of new telephone numbering blocks, the regulations governing the emergency fund for the payment of wages, permission for the Samá maritime base (Holguín) to operate in the tourism sector, and authorization – pending regulatory development – to work as a private insurance agent.

Translated by GH.

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Almost a Quarter of a Million Cubans Emigrated in 2025

313,414 people left permanently, although the return of 72,056 slightly softened the figure
180 days of residency on the island will no longer be required to obtain effective residency

The average age in Cuba continues to rise and now stands at 43.

Official statistics have put numbers to the perception that Cuba’s migration crisis has no end. In 2025, 313,414 people left the island permanently, although the return of 72,056 slightly softened the figure, leaving a net migration balance of 245,264. The worst of the last five years remains, by far, 2022, when the country lost half a million inhabitants, while in 2023 the figure was 330,000 and a year later 307,961. These are, once again, unprecedented figures for a country that is not at war. Cuba’s population, as the official press had already reported a few days earlier, stood at 9,434,593 people at the end of last year.

The capital leads the exodus by a wide margin, with 98,773 emigrants, followed by Matanzas, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, which lost more than 20,000 people last year. Between 10,000 and 15,500 emigrants were recorded in Holguín, Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila, Las Tunas, and Mayabeque. At the bottom of the list are Guantánamo, Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Granma, and the Isla de la Juventud.

To these figures must be added the low birth rate of 2025, with only 68,051 births, and the very high mortality rate, 134,354 deaths, which left a negative natural balance of 66,303 people. In this regard, the mortality rate – already reported in January by the official press – stood at 9.9 per thousand live births. The detail is even more alarming given that Havana has a rate of 14.2, Isla de la Juventud 12.9, and Camagüey 12.4 – figures more typical of the rest of the continent than of a country that, until a few years ago, had First World figures of between 3 and 5 per thousand. continue reading

The detail is even more alarming given that Havana has a rate of 14.2, Isla de la Juventud 12.9, and Camagüey 12.4

As a result, the Yearbook reveals another figure that continues to rise: the mean and median age. Both indicators have risen two points compared with 2021 and now stand at 43 and 45 years respectively, higher for women (44.1 and 46.5) than for men (42.9 and 43.3).

The information comes on the same day that Cubadebate published a special report explaining certain details of the new Migration, Citizenship, and Immigration laws, which the Government published in the Official Gazette this past May and which take effect in 180 days. First Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration, and Foreign Nationals Affairs at the Ministry of the Interior, answered a list of questions whose responses contain few new developments; the main one concerns effective migratory residency – an expansion of the recognition of effective residency.

As was already known, the concept recognizes those who maintain “their principal connection with Cuba,” where they live their lives because they remain there – generally – for most of the year. Therefore, a foreigner needs to live on the island for 180 days to acquire this status. “However, the law incorporates a broader concept that is not limited solely to length of stay. Effective residency may also be recognized for those who remain in the country for at least 120 days, provided they can demonstrate genuine ties to Cuba through family, employment, economic, or property connections,” explains the official, who justifies this by the need to prevent a mere number from being used to limit these rights.

The rights that will be recognized will not, in any case, include political rights. Whether a foreigner recognized as a resident of Cuba may or may not vote in elections will be addressed in a separate law, the Electoral Law, Méndez clarified.

Among the other key points highlighted in the laws is the regulation, for the first time, of the renunciation of Cuban citizenship, which must be requested through the consulate abroad, and its recovery, which can be done only once, after a minimum of five years from the loss and under certain requirements. Children of Cubans also retain the right to apply for citizenship.

Cubans living abroad may remain in Cuba for as long as they wish without limit, without having to complete paperwork or request extensions of stay. As usual, if they retain their nationality, they must enter the country using their Cuban passport – if it has expired, entry is still permitted, but they are required to renew it before they can leave – and the rights and obligations arising from it will apply to them.

Whether a foreigner recognized as a resident of Cuba may or may not vote in elections will be addressed in a separate law, the Electoral Law, Méndez clarified

Among the rights that were previously lost but that the new law now allows them to retain are property rights, including the right to keep property, inherit, and conduct business.

For foreigners who do not live in Cuba but wish to participate in its economy, a new category has been created: Investment and Business for emigration. “While they remain in Cuba, they will enjoy the rights that the legal system grants to Cuban citizens, which strengthens the legal security of their projects and investments in the country,” the official states, in a superficial reference to a core issue.

There is also another new category that did not exist before, that of humanitarian resident, and the Migration Police is officially established, whose functions are “prevention, attention to migrants, protection of their rights, social discipline, and public order. It will also contribute to the execution of decisions adopted by the courts and migratory authorities within the scope of their competencies.” That is no small matter for the tiny – undisclosed – number of foreigners who wish to live in Cuba.

Translated by GH.

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U.S. Sends First Flight of Food and Hygiene Supplies to Cuba as Part of Promised $100 Million in Aid

The U.S. State Department reiterates that the shipment is intended “for the Cuban people, who are suffering the consequences of the kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence of the communist regime”

A shipment of aid to Cuba arrives at Miami airport this Tuesday. / Screenshot/@USForeignAssist

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / A shipment consisting of 700 hygiene kits and 700 food packages arrived in Havana this Tuesday from the United States, as part of the Donald Trump administration’s promise to send up to $100 million in humanitarian aid to the island. It is the first under that “historic commitment,” according to a statement from the State Department.

The statement makes clear that the shipment, aboard a plane operated by 7Air Cargo, is intended “for the Cuban people, who are suffering the consequences of the kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence of the communist regime,” and notes that the packages will be delivered through the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba. The agreement, the statement adds, builds on the success of the previous aid delivery following Hurricane Melissa, which was also handled by the Catholic organization.

Before the press, at a cargo warehouse at Miami International Airport, U.S. authorities said the assistance responds to the “deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Cuba, marked by shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential services.”

The assistance is a response to the “deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Cuba”

It was precisely in an interview given to Roberto Cavada, a Cuban exile in the Dominican Republic, on June 24, that Miguel Diaz-Canel said the $100 million in U.S. aid promised in May by the Trump administration did not include food and medicine. State Department officials pushed back on that a week later, in statements to the independent outlet Cafe Fuerte, flatly rejecting the Cuban president’s comment and announcing that shipments would begin that same month of July – as indeed has happened.

“We can confirm that the aid is ready to be sent and that Miguel Diaz-Canel’s illegitimate regime has been delaying the approvals,” the source said. Asked about the contents of those shipments and Diaz-Canel’s claim, the official added: “That is completely and utterly false. The shipments offered by the State Department include continue reading

food, as was demonstrated during the inspections carried out in the humanitarian aid phases following Hurricane Melissa, and this can be verified by the Catholic Church and other NGOs.”

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba had said on June 17 that 60 of the 100 million dollars announced would be managed by the Catholic Church and the remaining 40 million by other NGOs. The agreement was finalized at a meeting between the head of the diplomatic mission, Mike Hammer; Sean Callahan, president of Catholic Relief Services; and Carmen Maria Nodal Martinez, director of Caritas Cuba.

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba had said on June 17 that 60 of the 100 million dollars announced would be managed by the Catholic Church and the remaining 40 million by other NGOs.

“These meetings addressed coordination for distributing humanitarian aid to ordinary Cubans, with the goal of ensuring that support effectively reaches those who need it most,” a statement issued by the U.S. embassy said.

In October 2025, after Hurricane Melissa struck eastern Cuba, Marco Rubio offered the Cuban regime aid valued at three million dollars. After a back-and-forth between the parties, mainly over how the distribution would be organized, shipments began arriving on January 14, with distribution handled by Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, which have remained in charge of all subsequent shipments.

The organizations have run into serious logistical problems due to fuel shortages, to the point that the Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, told the Washington Post that agreements inevitably had to be reached with the Cuban regime to transport the aid by ship from Havana to Santiago. According to Cafe Fuerte, its source acknowledged that this was a subject that had come up. “Of course, both humanitarian aid and oil and energy matters have been topics at the negotiating table,” the source said.

According to Caritas, 82% of the donations have so far been delivered to the affected areas, reaching some 8,800 families in Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Las Tunas, Bayamo, and Guantanamo.

Translated by GH.
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Iberostar Confirms It “No Longer Operates” Any Hotel in Cuba the Same Day Melia Announces Its Withdrawal

Until now, it had continued operating six hotels belonging to Cubanacan and Gran Caribe

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / The Spanish chain Iberostar confirmed this Tuesday that it no longer “operates or markets any hotel in Cuba.” It told the specialized outlet Hosteltur, just hours after the also-Spanish company Melia announced that, starting this Friday, it is ceasing all operations on the island.

In Iberostar’s case, no details were given as to when the withdrawal took effect. On June 1, the hotel company severed ties with Gaviota, the chain controlled by the Business Administration Group S.A. (Gaesa), which had just been sanctioned by the United States, and stopped managing the twelve hotels associated with that entity. Among them were the Hotel Grand Packard, on the Paseo del Prado, and the Iberostar Selection Habana, located in the controversial Torre K and closed for some time due to the crisis. The company announced, however, that it would maintain its presence in Cuba through six properties whose state counterpart belongs to other tourism groups not linked to the military conglomerate, including Cubanacan and Gran Caribe.

Two days later, Melia did the same. The company announced it was abandoning all the Gaviota-managed hotels it operated and retaining management of the remaining 19. Gabriel Escarrer, personally determined to remain in Cuba, had stated in recent weeks that everything was subject to whatever might happen on the island and that, as a publicly traded company, it would ultimately make the decision it had to, out of responsibility to its shareholders.

Those decisions became known close to the deadline set by the U.S. State Department under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which imposed sanctions “on those responsible for repression in Cuba and for threats to U.S. national security and foreign continue reading

policy.” A few days later, the decree began to take concrete form with specific sanctions against Gaesa, its president, Ania Guillermina Lastres, and Moa Nickel S.A.

Since then, both Melia and Iberostar have been in the crosshairs of U.S. pressure.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) set June 5, 2026, as the deadline for these companies to halt their operations, under risk of being exposed to sanctions.

Since then, both Melia and Iberostar have been in the crosshairs of U.S. pressure, even though their executives had assured months earlier that they would not leave Cuba.

In a statement sent to 14ymedio this Tuesday, Melia reported that it will halt all its activity on the island as of July 24, citing “significant” operational, legal, and financial-economic difficulties in the country resulting from U.S. pressure measures, as it also reported today to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

“The company reports that its Portuguese subsidiary, Ilha Bela, has decided to cease, effective July 24, 2026, the provision of its hotel management and marketing services in connection with all of its properties in Cuba. This decision also extends to the use of licensed brands, inbound tourism services, and the local supply chain associated with supplying the aforementioned properties, whose operations will also be interrupted,” said the company owned by the Escarrer family.

In the same statement, the company denied that its CEO, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet had claimed in a report published this Monday that got ahead of the Balearic hotel company’s decision. Beyond that, it referred entirely to the statement it had issued.

“The company is working to ensure an orderly and responsible transition, minimizing as far as possible the impact on the various stakeholders linked to the operation, including staff, clients, suppliers, and local partners, while maintaining transparent communication with all of them at all times, and is likewise, applying the principle of prudence, assessing the financial impacts of this decision,” the statement notes.

The company, the first foreign hotel operator to enter Cuba to manage state-owned properties, closed its statement by expressing “its gratitude to all the people and entities that have been part of its history in Cuba over the years, as well as the company’s respect and consideration for the country.”

Of the Spanish hotel companies, only Barcelo remains, but not for much longer. The company already announced last June that it plans its definitive exit from the island once its current contracts with Gran Caribe conclude, in 2027. In its case, it had only kept management of the Barcelo Solymar and the Occidental Arenas Blancas, both located in Varadero, though the latter has been closed for months due to the drop in tourism.

Translated by GH.

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Meliá to Completely End Its Hotel Operations in Cuba This Friday

The hotel company attributes the decision to the “significant operational, legal, and economic-financial difficulties” in the country following U.S. pressure measures.

Meliá managed 34 hotels on the Island until just a few months ago.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 – Spanish hotel company Meliá will cease all of its operations on the Island this Friday, July 24, due to the “significant operational, legal, and economic-financial difficulties” in the country following U.S. pressure measures, the company announced Tuesday in a filing with Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

“The company informs that its Portuguese subsidiary, Ilha Bela, has decided to cease, effective July 24, 2026, the provision of its hotel management and marketing services for all of its establishments in Cuba. This decision also extends to the use of licensed brands, inbound tourism services, and the local supply chain associated with supplying the aforementioned establishments, whose operations will also be discontinued,” the Escarrer family company stated in a filing submitted to the CNMV.

In a statement sent to 14ymedio, the company firmly denied that its chief executive officer, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet claimed in a report published Monday that first revealed the Balearic hotel company’s decision. Aside from that, it referred entirely to the official statement it had released.

The company firmly denied that its chief executive officer, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet claimed in a report published Monday

“The company is working to ensure an orderly and responsible transition, minimizing as much as possible the impact on the various stakeholders involved in the operation, including employees, customers, suppliers, and local partners, while maintaining transparent communication with all of them. In keeping with the principle of prudence, it is also evaluating the financial impacts of this decision,” the statement said.

The company, the first foreign hotel operator to enter Cuba to manage state-owned hotels, concluded its statement by continue reading

expressing “its gratitude to all the individuals and organizations that have been part of its history in Cuba over the years, as well as the company’s respect and consideration for the country.”

Meliá arrived in Cuba in 1990 under the leadership of the founder of the Mallorca-based company and father of its current CEO, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, who developed a close friendship with Fidel Castro. Castro had initially been reluctant to embrace tourism, which he considered closely tied to capitalism, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union he had little choice but to accept the idea of profiting from the Island’s only free resource: its natural environment. Melia celebrated its 35th anniversary in May 2024, when its executives said they hoped for “another 50 years of growing together.”

That first hotel, Sol Palmeras in Varadero, marked the beginning of an adventure that lasted until 2026. Meliá had contracts with Gran Caribe and Cubanacán to manage 19 hotels, while it managed another 15 for Gaviota, the tourism arm of the military conglomerate Gaesa. Altogether, it operated 34 hotels with about 14,000 rooms that, in recent years, had generated only minimal returns.

For Meliá, however, this was not a major problem. The substantial profits the hotel chain earned worldwide allowed it to maintain its ties with Cuba while waiting for conditions to improve, but in May everything began to change.

As early as February, with the suspension of most international flights and the resulting collapse in tourist arrivals, the hotel chain was forced to alter its strategy by consolidating guests into a smaller number of hotels and closing nearly half of its properties. But after U.S. President Trump signed an executive order in May under which any company maintaining ties with Gaesa risked being sanctioned, events accelerated.

On June 3, the company officially announced that it was withdrawing from all of the Gaviota hotels it managed

On June 3, the company officially announced that it was withdrawing from all of the Gaviota hotels it managed, while temporarily retaining management of the remaining 19 properties. Gabriel Escarrer, who had been personally committed to remaining in Cuba, had stated in recent weeks that everything depended on whatever developments occurred on the Island and that, as a publicly traded company, it would ultimately make whatever decision was necessary out of responsibility to its shareholders.

Despite the exodus of foreign hotel companies that have abandoned nearly all of the properties they operated in Cuba in response to the U.S. threat of sanctions, few experts had predicted that Meliá would leave the Island entirely. Most specialists, who had expressed confidence that Trump had set his sights on the tourism sector, believed that some hotel chains—especially the Mallorca-based company, which was foremost in everyone’s mind—would remain to contribute their expertise and capitalize on the many years they had invested in the country. For some reason, that has not been the case.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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