Translating Cuba

Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, sanctioned by the U.S. on May 1, the same day the extension of measures against individuals or companies associated with Cuba and “responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” was announced.

On that occasion, Marco Rubio said that “Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida, while also helping the communist regime in Havana,” without further explanation. The U.S. secretary of state personally claimed responsibility for the cancellation of “her permanent resident status” from his official X account.

Rubio added that Lastres Morera had been arrested on May 20 and placed in ICE custody. “There will be no place on this Earth — much less in our country — where foreigners who threaten our national security can live luxuriously,” he declared.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“it is the responsibility of the United States to protect” the Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado.

“If things are done too soon,” León argued, “blood could be spilled and the United States would be guilty of that.”

Thus, the ambassador defended that “the United States is being very cautious and is carrying forward, little by little, step by step, the process of complete and total democratization in Venezuela.”

“The time will come for the people to vote for whichever person they prefer among all those who will run when the time comes,” he predicted, insisting that this would be the final stage of the U.S. plan and refraining from setting a timetable for reaching it.

One would have to ask President Trump or Secretary Rubio “so they could tell us more or less when they think that will happen,” he concluded.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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in those places as unheard of as consuming contaminated food. “The water was contaminated, it contained feces, and you could see them on the floor when you went to shower… People had spots all over their bodies, their fingers were rotting; that’s what Alcatraz was like,” said a Cuban named Miguel Ángel.

“Fifteen days without seeing daylight. Fifteen days without going out, without calls, receiving food through a slot in the door. I was alone, isolated. They drive you crazy, they don’t tell you how long you’ll be [in isolation],” another described about the center in El Paso, Texas. In this place, another interviewee, Gonzalo, spoke about a violent incident involving a detainee to whom “they put a foot on his neck,” and who later died from the injuries. The account matches the case of Geraldo Lunas Campos, classified as a homicide caused by “compression asphyxia of the neck and torso” in a forensic report.

Things have not improved much upon arriving in the neighboring country either. “They are leaving us here to die,” said one of the Cubans. “There is no help. We cannot work because we have no papers. They give us nothing, absolutely nothing… How are we supposed to eat, pay rent?” Interviewees revealed problems obtaining work and medical care; in addition, they are in cities struggling to provide basic services and with high levels of violence. The report also denounces that U.S. aid cuts to UNHCR — the U.N. refugee agency — have influenced this situation.

Until April 2026, Mexican law also did not facilitate movement, since valid identification is required to travel through the country in search of better options

Until April 2026, Mexican law also did not facilitate movement, since valid identification is required to travel through the country in search of better options. Asylum has been the only option, but it is difficult to obtain for various reasons, from the complexity of bureaucracy to lack of resources, not to mention the fact that, after decades outside Cuba, many exiles lack the ability to prove a well-founded fear of persecution on the Island.

All the Cubans interviewed, except one, said they had had legal permanent residency at some point, although 35 of them lost it because of offenses that may be considered minor, such as driving after drinking alcohol, falsification of documents, or minor drug-related charges. Six of them had more serious offenses, such as assault or weapons possession. They were never returned to Cuba because of the absence of migration agreements and remained in the U.S.; most rebuilt their lives, obtained work permits, and lived normally — under supervision, some of them — until 2025.

Of all those interviewed, only three agreed to be deported to Mexico, “including two who said they had relatives kidnapped or murdered there.” “If you are 60 or 70 years old, why do they send you here?” Mario, 60, said through tears. “They send us here to die.”

The report includes details from several interviews, such as that conducted with Javier, 62, who arrived in the U.S. at age 18 and combined his studies with a job as a waiter. “I have spent 44 years in the United States. I went to college and kept working nonstop.” When he was detained he had two different jobs, one at a car dealership and another at a convention center. “You know? Some of the people I met [in the ICE detention center] had been in the United States for more than 40 years; it’s incredible,” said Manuel, 63, a resident of West Palm Beach, after leaving Cuba at age six.

“You know? Some of the people I met [in the ICE detention center] had been in the United States for more than 40 years; it’s incredible,” said Manuel

The document contains extensive sections on the background of migration policies in both the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the reasons and methods for leaving Cuba, mostly during the Mariel boatlift. Some also spoke about recent political motives, an occasion HRW uses to recall that “repression continues on the Island, where authorities continue punishing dissent and arbitrarily detaining critics and protesters.” Added to this is the progressive worsening of economic conditions.

The report highlights other issues, such as those who lived for years with deportation orders that were never enforced, contributing to a false perception of security. There is also a meticulous review of their medical problems, since 20 of the 41 interviewees had illnesses, 14 of them chronic and some as serious as cancer. Several have depression and trauma related to their current status.

A significant number of respondents also spoke about their established situation in the U.S., where they left their relatives behind, and the desperation of finding themselves trapped in Mexico without dignified conditions.

The report includes a series of demands for the countries involved. It calls on the United States to guarantee people facing deportation an individualized review, access to evaluations to assess their protection claims, and humane detention conditions if detention is considered necessary.

It demands that Mexico provide emergency access to shelter, medical care, and a pathway toward permanent legal status for the deportees it has received. And for Cuba it also has at least a couple of messages: that it respect the right of its citizens to return to their country, as established by international law; and that it ensure consular authorities in Mexico attend to and provide consular services to those affected, whether they wish to obtain permanent residency in the country or voluntarily return to the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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.

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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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.

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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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.

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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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.

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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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.