Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Pumpkins, Skeletons, and Blackouts: Halloween Cuban Style

The holiday is gaining followers among young people, who celebrate amid costumes and cobwebs while the darkness in their neighborhoods needs no special effects.

On San Rafael Boulevard in Central Havana, several businesses have decorated their establishments for the occasion. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, October 31, 2026 – In a country where blackouts can last for days, houses threaten to collapse, and getting food has become a suspense movie, Halloween faces some tough competition. Cubans know everyday fear all too well to need imported ghosts. Nevertheless, this October 31, some have decided to trade their usual nightmares for more entertaining ones for a few hours. Among pumpkins, skeletons, and cobwebs, the festival of the dead is gaining ground on an Island where terror rarely takes a vacation.

On San Rafael Boulevard, in Centro Habana, several businesses have decorated their establishments for the occasion. In one shop, a cadaverous figure hangs above the cash register. Pumpkins with sinister smiles and orange cobwebs share space with prices that are even more frightening than the cardboard ghosts.

The celebration has also reached cultural spaces. At El Proyecto, an old mansion at the corner of 11th and 14th Streets in El Vedado, young people dressed as the Joker, nuns, and other characters gathered on Friday to celebrate Halloween. The venue hosted the party while the neighborhood had been without electricity for about 30 hours. The cobwebs were artificial, but the darkness was completely authentic. continue reading

A makeup artist worked by the light of a desk lamp, and the organizers relied on an inverter to keep the equipment running. The manager, Érica Martínez, explained that the venue was established about a year ago to give young people an opportunity to disconnect from reality. Keeping it open, she acknowledged, is becoming increasingly difficult: when electricity is available only sporadically, they have to reduce the lighting to preserve the movie screenings and concerts.

Pumpkins with sinister smiles and orange cobwebs share space with prices that are even more frightening than the cardboard ghosts. / 14ymedio

Marcos Dulzaides, a 22-year-old physical therapist who used his profession as inspiration to dress up as a doctor, told EFE that these celebrations have become popular among his generation, despite the heat and lack of resources. The young man insisted that Halloween cannot be overlooked. In a country where so many things are canceled because of a lack of fuel, electricity, or funding, finding an excuse to have fun already seems like a small act of resistance.

Havana’s program also includes costume parties, concerts, and electronic music sessions. According to the capital’s cultural listings, celebrations are scheduled for this Saturday at Tempo, with tickets costing 2,000 pesos, and at the Ateneo de La Habana, for 500 pesos. The price of entertainment is hardly imaginary for those who depend on a state salary.

The growing popularity of Halloween, however, is not viewed favorably by cultural authorities. In 2019, former minister Abel Prieto included costumes associated with the celebration among the American symbols used by businesses seeking to attract customers. In his article Lo yanqui y lo moderno (All Things American and Modern), published in Granma, he linked these practices to the cultural influence of the United States. In December 2021, he again complained about Halloween’s growing popularity among Cuban teenagers before the deputies of the Assembly.

The concern dates back even further. In 2014, the official journalist Pedro de la Hoz questioned in Granma the decision by state-run establishments to organize Halloween parties. He believed that institutions responsible for preserving national identity should not promote a “neocolonial” assimilation of foreign customs. Apparently, for certain guardians of culture, an American vampire can be more dangerous than a crumbling building.

A sign has been advertising a Terror Party for this Saturday night in the Salón de los Embajadores at the Hotel Habana Libre for several days. / 14ymedio

But even within the official press, more tolerant views have emerged. In October 2025, Radio 26, in Matanzas, proposed celebrating a Halloween with a national identity: costumes inspired by the Güije or the Madre de Agua, batá drums, and pumpkins stuffed with congrí. It was a formula for reconciling Cuban traditions with a celebration that has already found followers among young people.

Despite official reluctance, the celebration has ultimately established itself even in state-run venues. A sign at the central intersection of L and 23rd Streets in Havana’s El Vedado neighborhood has been advertising a Terror Party for this Saturday night in the Salón de los Embajadores at the Hotel Habana Libre for several days, just a few meters from the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, from which some of the most vehement denunciations of the holiday have been broadcast.

Meanwhile, reality insists on outdoing any stage set. This Friday, numerous Havana neighborhoods had been without electricity for more than 40 hours. Water shortages, spoiling food, and businesses brought to a standstill are all part of a repertoire of horrors considerably less entertaining than a zombie movie.

In other countries, Halloween ends when midnight arrives and the monsters return to the closet. In Cuba, the costumes will be put away, but the blackouts, lines, and shored-up buildings will remain where they were. The problem is not that Cubans celebrate a night of terror, but that when dawn breaks, the nightmares continue.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cupet Resumes Gas Cylinder Sales in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, at a Price of 80 Dollars, Cash Only

The price of a gas cylinder is equivalent to 22 monthly minimum wages at today’s exchange rate.

Cupet commercial outlet in Sancti Spíritus, where gas cylinders are sold for 80 dollars in cash. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, October 31, 2026 – The state-owned company Unión Cuba-Petróleo (Cupet) charges as much as 80 dollars for a liquefied gas cylinder in the city of Sancti Spíritus, as 14ymedio was able to verify. The new 20-pound cylinders, filled and supplied with their fittings, are offered at that price at the state company’s main outlet and at two other locations in the city, one in the Colón neighborhood and the other in Los Olivos.

Payment must also be made in cash. And that does not make buying gas any easier: those interested must put their names on a list and wait their turn, depending on availability.

At the Cupet outlet on Santa Elena Street, in the same city, the arrangement is different. There, a cylinder is offered for 55 dollars, provided the customer hands over an empty one to be refilled. These sales are restricted to healthcare workers, bank employees, and employees of previously authorized workplaces.

To put the cost of the product in perspective, the minimum wage in Cuba is 3,210 pesos per month, equivalent to about 3.65 dollars at the informal exchange rate of 880 pesos per dollar recorded today. Thus, an 80-dollar cylinder costs almost 22 times the monthly minimum wage, while a 55-dollar cylinder costs the equivalent of about 15 times that amount. continue reading

The new 20-pound cylinders, filled and supplied with their fittings, are offered for 80 dollars at the state company’s main outlet and at two other locations in the city

Sancti Spíritus had gone without regular state sales of liquefied gas since October 2025. The interruption had fueled the black market, where 10-kilogram cylinders came to be offered for as much as 70,000 Cuban pesos, equivalent to the 80 dollars they cost today. The resumption of Cupet sales provides an alternative for those who can afford it, but dollar-denominated prices and restrictions on access do little to meet the population’s needs.

This situation has contributed to crime in the province. Earlier this month, two people from Sancti Spíritus were sentenced to 12 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for stealing gas cylinders from more than 20 homes. Two other people involved received prison sentences of two and a half years and two years for participating in the resale of the stolen cylinders and illegally marketing the fuel using other consumers’ contracts. The case illustrates the extent to which scarcity has turned a household necessity into a prized commodity for criminals.

The resumption of state gas sales, now in dollars, and the outrage it has provoked among customers in Sancti Spíritus coincide with reports of a similar situation on the Isle of Youth. According to accounts posted on social media by residents of the special municipality, Cupet sells cylinders there for 89 dollars.

“This is a complete lack of respect for the Cuban people, an outrageous contempt and an unjustifiable abuse toward us,” a woman complained on Facebook. The post reflects consumers’ frustration with prices that are beyond their reach. “It’s the feeling that you scream and nobody listens; that you file complaints and everything stays the same. And that wears you down. It exhausts you. It hurts,” the woman from the Isle of Youth wrote.

“This is a complete lack of respect for the Cuban people, an outrageous contempt and an unjustifiable abuse toward us”

In response to the energy crisis and supply shortages on the Island, the Cuban Government has presented the sale of liquefied gas in foreign currency as an alternative for financing fuel imports. However, the experience of recent months shows that having sales outlets that accept dollars does not guarantee a stable supply or resolve the difficulties faced by those who do not have foreign currency.

Last June, 14ymedio confirmed that the gas cylinders sold by ProGas through the KMCero platform were priced at 24 dollars and resold for 50, although some buyers in Havana reportedly paid as much as 100 dollars for a single cylinder. The company, presented as a private business, used facilities and logistical channels linked to the state-owned Cupet, while numerous consumers continued to go without their usual allocations.

Two months later, in August, ProGas sales outlets closed again after running out of stock, according to accounts gathered by this newspaper. Customers complained that they could not obtain gas either in pesos or in foreign currency.

Last June, the United States added state-owned Cupet to its list of sanctioned entities, a measure that blocks the company’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits transactions with it. Washington justified the decision by citing the company’s relationship with the military conglomerate Gaesa. The sanctions add obstacles to fuel import, processing, and distribution operations in Cuba and worsen the energy crisis the country has been experiencing for years.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Six Traffickers Who Charged Cuban Migrants Up to $40,000 Are Sentenced in Florida

The network used false documents, private flights, and fraudulent asylum applications to bring its clients into the US and laundered more than $22 million

Reception area of Asesoría y Servicios Migratorios LLC, a company linked to human trafficking and run by Cubans. / Instagram/Asesoria y Servicios Migratorios LLC

14ymedio, Havana, October 31, 2026 / Six members of a network that charged up to $40,000 to illegally transport Cuban migrants to the United States were sentenced this Thursday by a federal court in Florida to between two and four years in prison. The organization, whose members also committed asylum application fraud, laundered more than $22 million between 2021 and 2025, as reported by the US Department of Justice.

The longest sentence, four years in prison, went to Liannys Yaiselys Vega Pérez, 27, who ran an immigration services company that filed hundreds of fraudulent asylum applications. Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 30, received 30 months, while Miguel Martínez Vasconcelos, Luis Emmanuel Escalona Marrero, Walbis Pozo Dutel, and Emanuel Martínez González were sentenced to two years each. All six had pleaded guilty.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of $2.9 million from Escalona Marrero, $150,000 from Martínez Vasconcelos, and $95,000 from Treto Santos.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of $2.9 million from Escalona Marrero, $150,000 from Martínez Vasconcelos, and $95,000 from Treto Santos

The network recruited clients through social media and offered flights, travel permits, and immigration paperwork. Some Cubans entered through the border with Mexico, while others used Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approvals obtained with false information. On occasion, the traffickers chartered private planes to transport groups of migrants. continue reading

According to the authorities, the organization passed off Cuban applicants as European travelers and falsely declared that they had not been in Cuba since 2011. Once in the United States, many went to the company Asesoría y Servicios Migratorios, based in Tampa, to file asylum applications based on invented stories.

Some clients were unable to review their applications before they were submitted or to access their own accounts with US immigration services. Vega Pérez, who was neither a lawyer nor an accredited representative, admitted to having directed employees who prepared fraudulent documents.

Among the cases examined by investigators is that of a Cuban minor whose journey was organized from Havana to Miami, via Grand Cayman. Records indicate that she arrived at Miami International Airport in October 2023, after her fraudulent ESTA authorization had been canceled, and was granted a permit to enter the country.

A woman told federal investigators that Frandy Aragón Díaz, another of the defendants, charged her $40,000 for the trip. The victim worked to pay off the debt while living with him in Tampa and, during a call monitored by the authorities, the man demanded payment and threatened her family, according to a criminal complaint whose contents were reported by the Miami Herald. Aragón Díaz remains a fugitive.

The organization was dismantled in September 2025, when US authorities identified twelve people involved

The organization was dismantled in September 2025, when US authorities identified twelve people involved. Investigators established that it had begun operating in January 2021 and continued moving people until June 2025. Its members used front companies, bank accounts, and payment apps to move the money obtained from the migrants.

Of the others involved in the organization, Lázaro Alain Cabrera Rodríguez, found guilty in September of using a travel agency as a front and submitting at least 600 false ESTA applications, is still awaiting sentencing. Yuniel Lima Santos and Gisleivy Peralta Consuegra are in the same situation, while Marianny Lucía López Torres and Frandy Aragón Díaz remain fugitives.

Lima Santos had pleaded guilty in August to migrant smuggling, asylum fraud, and money laundering. The Cuban admitted to having transported women who ended up working in strip clubs to pay off the debts they had incurred for their journeys.

US courts have prosecuted other migrant smuggling networks linked to Cubans. In March, a jury convicted Víctor Rafael Arcia Albeja, a member of an organization that held and beat migrants from the island to demand up to $15,000 from their relatives. In July, Juan Manuel Sifontes Sinales was sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally transporting 25 migrants of various nationalities. The Cuban will be deported after serving his sentence.

Translated by GH.

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La Cumbre, a Neighborhood in Matanzas Where the Streets Stayed in the Last Century

Potholes, stones, and dust complicate the daily lives of residents, who have been waiting for decades for repairs that never come

In some blocks, the streets have lost even the appearance of streets. They are dirt tracks, gravel and stones, dotted with ditches that widen with rain and deepen with neglect. / 14ymedio.

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, October 31, 2026 / The morning sun falls on the loose stones and remnants of asphalt in La Cumbre, a neighborhood in Matanzas where walking demands as much attention as crossing rugged terrain. The dew still dampens the grass growing on both sides of the streets, while mothers send their children off with a warning repeated every day: watch out for the hole on the corner, don’t get to school with your shoes full of mud.

On some blocks, the streets have lost even the appearance of streets. They are paths of dirt, gravel, and stones, dotted with ditches that the rains widen and neglect deepens. Among cinder-block houses, rusty metal gates, and makeshift fences, residents make their way around the obstacles. A man pushes a bicycle up a stony slope. Another drags a cart loaded with sacks, accompanied by a dog that seems to know every dip and bump in the path by heart.

Among cinder-block houses, rusty metal gates, and makeshift fences, residents make their way around the obstacles

“When I have to go in and out of my block without being able to ride my bicycle, it feels like I’m living in the countryside and not in the city,” complains Argelio, as he tries to control the handlebars shaking over the stones. For those who depend on bicycles or mopeds, every outing can end with a flat tire, a fall, or a visit to the mechanic. continue reading

Although the shortest route to the Vía Blanca runs through here, some stretches have been impassable for four-wheeled vehicles for decades. “There are places where bits of sidewalk are still left, but on this block we step straight out onto grass and dirt. No shoe sole lasts six months like this,” adds Argelio.

La Cumbre also displays its social differences. Alongside humble homes, roofed with fiber cement and surrounded by weeds, there are two-story buildings, freshly painted facades, ornamental grilles, and water tanks on the rooftops. However, not even a comfortable house guarantees a decent way in. From the porch outward, everyone shares the same landscape of neglect.

Some sections have been closed to four-wheeled vehicles for decades. / 14ymedio

Freddy, a private taxi driver, knows this contradiction well. Every month he pays rent on a garage eight blocks from his home because his old Moskvich can no longer get to his door. The last few times he braved the potholes, he ended up in a repair shop. Now, one of the most troublesome holes is right in front of his house.

The self-employed worker says that successive Government officials have ignored the neighborhood’s complaints. Accountability meetings and letters sent to the Citizen Services office of the Municipal People’s Power have not managed to bring the pavement back to La Cumbre.

“I want to sell my house or swap it, but when interested people come to see the place, they then vanish,” laments Freddy. The deterioration of the streets also ends up hurting the value of homes and the chances of moving.

When it doesn’t rain, the few vehicles that manage to get through the passable stretches raise a cloud of dust that seeps in through doors and windows. When a downpour comes, the holes turn into small ponds of uncertain depth. Residents swing between wishing for rain to relieve the dust and dreading it for the mud it leaves behind.

When it doesn’t rain, the few vehicles that manage to get through the passable stretches raise a cloud of dust that seeps in through doors and windows

“Not long ago, turning the corner here, my moped slid into a ditch and I had to react fast, because I almost fell,” recalls a social worker who keeps her windows closed to stop the dirt from invading her home.

The young woman says that, months ago, work began on a house on an empty lot. A rumor then spread that it would be for an important official, and some residents got excited. Perhaps, they thought, the arrival of a boss would achieve what years of neighborhood complaints had not. But the hope soon faded when it became known that the house was not for an official.

“Meanwhile, we’ll keep waiting for the 2030 plan to pave all this for us, which will then be postponed to 2040 because of the tightening of the blockade,” the woman says ironically.

In La Cumbre there are still those who carefully dust the ornaments on their shelves, sweep their porches, and put on their best shoes to go out. But they only have to step out the door for that effort to stumble against reality. The neighborhood keeps its lofty name [cumbre means “summit”], although its residents have been waiting far too long for the authorities to rise to the level of their needs.

Translated by GH

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“Neither Customers Nor Electricity”: Blackouts Lasting More Than 40 Hours Are Choking Havana

The lack of electricity adds to water shortages and the collapse of tourism, while Cuba’s main thermoelectric plant remains out of service.

“Neither customers nor electricity,” said the vendors at the San José warehouses in Havana’s port. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, October 30, 2026 – A discharged phone, a piece of chicken beginning to thaw, and several empty containers waiting for water. In Cuba, the blackout is no longer measured solely in hours without electricity, but also in the number of problems it leaves in its wake. This Friday, numerous Havana neighborhoods had accumulated power cuts lasting more than 40 hours, during a week marked by the worsening energy crisis on the Island.

In Luyanó, Yusnel went out to charge his phone in another electrical circuit after more than 20 hours without power. “I have an EcoFlow, but it couldn’t hold out. With this many hours without electricity, no battery can hold up,” he tells 14ymedio. Portable power stations, which provide some relief amid the blackouts, also end up succumbing when the interruption lasts nearly two days.

In Nuevo Vedado, where this newspaper’s newsroom is located, the electricity was out for 41 consecutive hours. “Today I got up at four in the morning to cook the little piece of chicken I had left in the freezer because it wasn’t going to be in good condition by lunchtime,” says a woman who lives in a nearby high-rise building on Tulipán Street. She describes how the lack of electricity has also disrupted her family’s routines.

At a pizzeria in Old Havana, several customers waited in front of the counter this morning. / 14ymedio

“My daughter, who is a doctor, didn’t go to the hospital today because she had no clean clothes to wear, and we didn’t send my little granddaughter to school. What for? To suffer through the heat and probably find that the teacher wasn’t there?” she asks. continue reading

The power cuts offer no respite to small businesses either. At a pizzeria in Old Havana, several customers waited in front of the counter this morning while employees tried to bake and serve food using the scant natural light coming in from the street. At the San José warehouses, a saleswoman arranged souvenirs in the gloom, in front of a T-shirt bearing the face of Ernesto Che Guevara.

“Neither customers nor electricity,” declared a vendor selling paintings in the immense establishment, located in an old pier building, as he fanned away his sweat with a piece of cardboard. “When the day is cooler, you can put up with it and stay here for hours and hours without selling anything, but with the heat and no electricity to run the fan, and on top of that no tourists, it’s torture.”

The blackout comes as the tourism sector is experiencing one of its worst periods. According to official figures, just 27,354 international tourists arrived in Cuba in September, a collapse that leaves sellers of handicrafts and souvenirs with little chance of making up for the losses caused by the power cuts.

This Friday, a man pedaled beneath the elevated railway tracks near the Ensenada de Atarés, carrying two large containers of drinking water on his bicycle. / 14ymedio

But the lack of electricity is only one part of Cubans’ harsh daily reality. This Friday, a man pedaled beneath the elevated railway tracks near the Ensenada de Atarés, carrying two large containers of drinking water on his bicycle. Scenes of handcarts, jerrycans, and tanks being hauled from one municipality to another have become increasingly common in the Cuban capital.

Aguas de La Habana acknowledged that the extensive power cuts on the 28th and 29th had affected practically all the main water supply sources, including Cuenca Sur, Ariguanabo, El Gato, and Palatino. The company warned of widespread delays and announced adjustments to distribution schedules. In high-rise buildings, where water also depends on internal pumping systems, the lack of electricity has multiplied the difficulties.

The national outlook offers no grounds for anticipating an immediate improvement either. The Electric Union (UNE) reported that this Friday the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, the country’s most important thermoelectric plant, remained out of service, along with units at Santa Cruz, Felton, and Renté. For the period of peak demand, the UNE forecasts a shortfall of 1,990 megawatts, against an estimated demand of 2,800.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Fragments of a Nation

The torn flag flying at the Capitol seems to reflect Cuba’s wounds, aggravated by a diplomacy that has replaced arguments with bullying.

A Cuban flag was torn at the Capitol building in Havana on Wednesday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, October 28, 2026 / A Cuban flag, in tatters, flies over Havana’s Capitol Building. The national emblem seems to have lost the battle against the wind and neglect. Its blue and white stripes are torn, and the red color of the triangle has lost strength. It is as broken as the country it represents, an island with diplomats who promote the same gag orders around the world that have been imposed on us here at home.

Yesterday, while this tattered banner flapped near the columns and dome of Havana’s imposing building, another scene unfolded in New York, revealing the decay of our public life. The official Cuban delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, staged an act of repudiation against the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Shouts, banging on the table, and even an attempt to mute Mike Waltz’s microphone made up the disgraceful spectacle.

The method is painfully familiar. Faced with an inconvenient opinion, the Cuban regime has systematically opted to raise its voice, raise its fist, and throw people into jail. When someone tries to argue their disagreement, a barrage of vile insults rain down on them. This attitude has also shaped a diplomacy of bullying, a school of international relations where offense is intended to replace reason and violence is taught as a legitimate response to disagreement.

What happened in New York was not an anomaly: it was a reflection of domestic behavior on an international stage

For years, the Castro regime has displayed its worst political practices abroad. The denigration of adversaries, the contempt for ideological diversity, and the need to turn every exchange into a show of force are all part of this nefarious legacy. What happened in New York was not an anomaly: it was a reflection of domestic behavior on an international stage. continue reading

While it is difficult not to feel embarrassed for these officials, it is worth remembering that those who stage these scenes don’t represent all Cubans. They don’t speak for those of us who endure endless blackouts, for the mothers who say goodbye to their children at airports, nor for the political prisoners who have been demanding their freedom for years. That loud, rude picket line is not the face of this country, no matter how often they repeat it.

Lamentably, in front ofthe cameras and international organizations, their actions end up being associated with our nationality. This constitutes yet another form of dispossession, after they have already appropriated our common symbols and used them in the name of a party, an ideology, and a family clan that considers itself the perpetual owner of this country.

The flag at the Capitol also belongs to the Cuban who protested in the streets on 11 July 2021, to the one who emigrated in search of civil and personal liberties, to the one who remains silent out of fear, and to the one who still believes a democratic opening is possible in this land. No diplomat has more right to it than a dissident who envisions an island without censorship. No functionary can claim a monopoly on that lone star while threatening those who disagree with their doctrine.

Perhaps in the coming days they will replace the tattered flag flying at the Capitol. A ladder and a few minutes will be enough to raise a new one on the flagpole. But repairing the nation will be far more difficult. Rebuilding our nation will require abandoning violence as a political language, accepting pluralism, and understanding that national dignity is not defended through a diplomacy of outrage. Until this process of accepting differences begins, we will remain a broken nation, shattered into pieces.

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The US Announces the Expulsion of a Cuban Diplomat for “Attempted Aggression” at the UN

The incident occurred during the debate on Havana’s annual resolution against the embargo

Richard Tur de la Concepción during a speech at the UN. / UNCuba

14ymedio, Madrid, October 28, 2026 / The US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, stated Tuesday on Fox News that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed the expulsion order for a Cuban diplomat. Although he did not cite his name, it is believed to be Richard Tur de la Concepción, who on three occasions slapped away a cell phone used by a member of the US delegation to record him during the debate on the annual resolution against the embargo presented by Havana at the UN General Assembly.

“Just before going on air tonight, Secretary Rubio signed the documents to expel the Cuban diplomat, the first secretary of his delegation, who pushed and attempted to assault one of our US diplomats,” Waltz said on Fox News. The incident occurred while the Cuban delegation, led by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, had moved to the podium to interrupt and confront the U.S. ambassador, following the method of repudiation used on the island against dissidents. [View the video here]

The ambassador stated that the Cuban “will be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours” and added: “If you lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and I will not allow it.” continue reading

Shortly before the incident, the Cuban delegation had denounced harassment against Tur de la Concepción in an official communication to the UN Secretary-General. The letter, signed by Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, accuses John P. Freire, a member of the US delegation, of engaging in “harassing, stalking, and invasion of personal space” toward the Cuban official, “who was recorded without his consent by the US representative, who approached him to within one meter to film him with his cell phone, with the clear purpose of provocation, even though the Cuban side’s objection to being recorded was repeatedly conveyed to the US representative.”

According to Soberón, who a few days earlier personally led another act of repudiation against Cuban dissidents inside the UN building in New York, the attitude of the US delegation is disrespectful, violates privacy and is incompatible “with the decorum and respect for personal dignity that should prevail in the United Nations premises.”

The document also elaborates that the events occurred within the framework of the annual session in which the resolution against the US embargo is voted on, which is part –they emphasize– “of the aggressive campaign orchestrated by the United States, in its eagerness to undermine the credibility of Cuba and another desperate attempt to divert attention from the broad support garnered by the condemnation of the blockade policy at the United Nations.”

The events took place on Tuesday during the tense debate session —prior to Wednesday’s vote—in which, during the US turn to speak, the Cuban delegation staged a loud protest against Waltz. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, accompanied by six officials, attempted to disrupt the speech by interrupting it with gestures, shouts, and banging on the tables.

In his speech, the US ambassador spoke of the repressive policies of Castroism since the 1960s and accused other members of the family and high-ranking officials of the regime of owning luxury items and living in privilege while the Cuban population suffers from scarcity and poverty.

Rodríguez requested the application of Article 71 of the General Assembly’s rules of procedure to vote against the American’s intervention, but he was reminded that this provision pertains to procedure, not substance. “The reality is that he doesn’t like the substance of what he’s hearing. He doesn’t like hard truths,” Waltz said.

The President of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, had to intervene to restore order and warned that he could suspend the session. He eventually gave the floor to Rodríguez, who had to return to his seat. From there, he accused Waltz of “blatantly lying” and maintaining “an undignified attitude.”

This Wednesday at 10 a.m. – New York time – the session resumes, in which the remaining countries will speak before proceeding to the vote.

This Wednesday at 10 a.m. New York time, the session will resume, during which the remaining countries will speak before the vote, which will take place around the end of the morning or the beginning of the afternoon. In 2025, the resolution against the embargo garnered 165 votes in favor, seven against, and twelve abstentions—the worst result obtained by the island to date. However, this year’s result is expected to be even less favorable, after Washington urged many allied countries to join its position.

The situation is not entirely clear, however, since Chile, which has a pro-Washington president—the right-wing José Antonio Kast—has announced it will abstain. This decision has drawn strong criticism from the organization Cuba Archive, which accuses the government of being “timid” and exclaims: “With friends like these, who needs enemies!”

In its statement, Cuba Archive denounces what it considers an excessive presence of the regime in multilateral institutions and its “enormous apparatus of propaganda, influence and global expansion” and urges “Chile and the democracies of the world to begin by co-sponsoring the first United Nations resolution in support of the Cuban people and condemning the repressive regime of Cuba.”

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In Cuba, Abortions Are Almost Equal to Births, and Contraceptives Are Still in Short Supply

Official statistics reveal a 77% drop in preventive detection of cervical cancer.

The rate is 94.8 abortions per 100 live births, the highest since 1986. / Cubadebate / Irene Pérez

14ymedio, Havana, October 30, 2026 / In a country where fewer and fewer children are being born, abortions are nearing the number of live births. Cuba registered 64,850 abortions in 2025, compared to 68,064 live births. The ratio is 94.8 abortions per 100 live births, the highest since 1986, according to the new Statistical Yearbook of Health from the Ministry of Public Health. The official figures come amid a prolonged shortage of contraceptives, forcing many women to resort to the informal market or products sent by relatives from abroad.

The situation exacerbates a demographic crisis of exceptional proportions in Latin America. Cuba lost 313,414 inhabitants during 2025, around 3.2% of its population, ending the year with just 9.4 million residents. Although emigration remains the primary cause of this loss, deaths (136,214 people) are nearly twice the number of births. The country is emptying not only because of those who leave, but also because far more Cubans are dying than are being born.

In 2025, 3,294 fewer children were born than the previous year, which is why the government has insisted on the need to stimulate the birth rate. Furthermore, condoms, birth control pills, and other family planning methods have been in short supply at state-run pharmacies for years, but this has not stopped the decline in births: abortions remain practically at the same levels as in 2024, while their proportion relative to live births continues to rise. continue reading

In March 2026, the official press warned of an increase in sexually transmitted infections in Sancti Spíritus, especially among young people.

The shortage is not a recent complaint. Back in 2023, Dr. Deglis Luciano, head of the Sexually Transmitted Infections Program in Guantánamo, acknowledged that the lack of condoms, pills, and injections was contributing to unwanted pregnancies and an increase in sexually transmitted infections. At that time, an emergency contraceptive pill could cost between 700 and 900 pesos on the black market. Currently, on buy-and-sell websites like Revolico, it is advertised for up to 1,800 pesos.

In March 2026, the official press reported an increase in sexually transmitted infections in Sancti Spíritus, especially among young people, and pointed to the lack of condoms in the healthcare system as one of the factors exacerbating the situation. This shortage thus affects both the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and protection against HIV and other diseases.

The government is attempting to respond with new measures. In May of this year, Resolution 174/2025 of the Ministry of Health came into effect, ordering that the distribution of contraceptives to adolescents be prioritized, especially in areas with higher birth rates among that age group. However, a regulation on paper alone does not guarantee that the products will reach pharmacies and clinics. The authorities themselves have acknowledged the need to rely on international organizations to bolster the supply.

The lack of options to prevent pregnancy is therefore a problem that transcends the economic difficulties of each family.

The crisis has also exposed the existence of clandestine abortions, despite the fact that the procedure is legal and free in Cuban hospitals. In April 2024, the director of the Hijas de Galicia Hospital in Havana reported that four women had arrived at the emergency room with severe hemorrhaging after terminating their pregnancies outside of healthcare facilities. The doctor denounced the irregular use of misoprostol, a drug used to induce abortions, and the existence of individuals charging for these procedures. There are no publicly available figures to determine the current extent of these practices.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has supplied contraceptives to Cuba through cooperation programs, also recognizes the persistence of unwanted pregnancies and high abortion rates, particularly among younger women. The lack of options for preventing pregnancy is therefore a problem that transcends the economic difficulties faced by each family.

Despite this, the new health yearbook continues to use 2019 data to report on contraceptive use by province. It does not offer updated figures on how many women use each method, which ones have stopped receiving them, or how their availability has changed during the worst years of the economic crisis. This omission is striking in a publication that does accurately record abortions.

Far from recovering after the pandemic, the program continues to decline and has reached its lowest figure since 1971

The deteriorationin the attention to reproductive healthcare is also reflected in the plummeting number of Pap smears, used to detect lesions that can develop into cervical cancer. According to the same yearbook, the number of women with up-to-date Pap smears fell from 871,196 in 2018 to just 197,457 in 2025, a drop of 77.3%. Far from recovering after the pandemic, the program continues to decline and has reached its lowest level since 1971.

The situation is particularly worrying among women aged 40 and over, a group for whom the Ministry records only 40.4 updated Pap smears per 1,000 women. At the same time, deaths from cervical cancer increased from 479 in 2024 to 506 in 2025. Both trends highlight the need to examine what is happening with prevention and early diagnosis.

In 2025, with international support, Cuba began vaccinating girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer. This measure represents progress, but it does not replace screening tests for adult women. Ensuring reproductive health involves more than simply asking Cuban women to have more children; it also means empowering them to decide when to have children and avoiding that preventable or treatable diseases cost them their lives.

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“If You Don’t Have Money, You Starve to Death”: The Cuba Found by the ‘Wall Street Journal’

The American newspaper returns to the Island and gathers the testimonies of retirees, entrepreneurs, and merchants

Fernando Pérez Hernández is an industrial engineer who sells cigarettes and coffee to people waiting in line. / WSJ/ Screenshot

14ymdio, Madrid, October 29, 2026 / “We went to Cuba to see how the fuel crisis is forcing Havana to open its economy.” That is how the Wall Street Journal headlined the report published Wednesday by two of its reporters, who received press visas—one of the few the Cuban regime issues. The newspaper hadn’t set foot on the island since the thaw in relations, and its presence is part of the government’s efforts in recent months to present its narrative to the American public.

The result of this trip is, for now, a video of just over 12 minutes that speaks of an emerging private sector that contrasts with an impoverished population, one that lacks family support and assistance from abroad. “We saw a Cuba growing at two speeds,” they explain.

“If you don’t have money, you starve,” summarizes Bárbara López Chávez, a retired woman interviewed for this story. The pensioner says she receives about 10,000 pesos between her pension and a small cleaning job, an amount the media calculates at $13 a month, although according to the informal exchange rate this Thursday, it’s more like $11.50.

“But nothing arrives at the bodega, my dear.”

When the reporter asks López Chávez how she can live like this and when things started getting so bad, she is emphatic: “After Fidel died, things got really bad.” It is at this moment that Yindira Cerqueda, the administrator of the soup kitchen the woman has to rely on, intercepts her. Taking her by the shoulder, Cerqueda condescendingly reprimands her: “Well, but the Revolution takes care of you,” she replies, adding that thanks to these services they are able to eat. The retiree, with a sour expression, complains: “But nothing ever arrives at the bodega [ration store], my dear,” she says, although she eventually concedes that the soup kitchen is at least a relief. continue reading

The dialogue, which takes place in the last two minutes of the video, undermines the most optimistic part of the report, which points out the opportunity that the timid opening may represent for the private sector.

The first interviewee is Oscar Fernández, who aspired to become Cuba’s largest exporter of dried fruit but has seen his plans “thwarted by US sanctions and the island’s economic collapse.” This entrepreneur explains that he began building a factory on land leased by the government, but the construction should have been finished a year ago, and now all that remains is six months without electricity and work progressing at a snail’s pace.

“In this way, what was a state-run establishment is, in fact, becoming a private business.”

Fernández is optimistic about the new measures in the Cuban economy—although he affirms that the authorities took them because there was no other option—and is confident that things will get even better. “Of course it’s going to change. We’ll be the owners of this whole company. I know it; I’m certain that things are changing. Big changes, a complete turnaround,” he maintains.

The reporter also visits a bakery that was formerly state-run but is now privately owned, and emphasizes that these types of businesses create opportunities that didn’t exist before. “About two weeks ago, the state stopped supplying the ingredients for making bread. People used to buy it for one peso a loaf and could only take one. Instead of closing, the manager decided to get the supplies himself and continue selling bread, now at 50 pesos a loaf, but allowing customers to buy as much as they want. In this way, what was a state-run establishment is, in effect, becoming a private business,” he explains.

The video features Foreign Investment Minister Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, who smiles when asked about fuel imports from the US. “It’s ironic, yes,” he says. “It turns out that no one can sell fuel to Cuba, and the little fuel we’ve been able to receive comes from the US. And one can’t help but think that it’s a way of subjecting us to dependency. We find it completely unacceptable,” he argues. The official also admits that all kinds of goods are purchased from the neighboring country, but insists that it’s not done following standard international trade procedures—since payment is required in advance and in cash, in accordance with the embargo.

“Until now we have operated in a kind of bubble where we competed alone against state-owned companies, which gave us great advantages.”

Also of interest is the participation of Oniel Díaz Castellanos, from the consulting firm Auge, who maintains that it is common for him to receive “many requests from companies in South Florida, some of them owned by Cuban Americans, who saw a huge opportunity to supply the private sector. And that is happening on a large scale.”

Asked if the normalization of relations in the future will generate uncertainty among the island’s business leaders, the specialist smiles. “The most intelligent in the private sector do have that fear. Until now, we’ve operated in a kind of bubble where we competed alone against state-owned enterprises, which gave us significant advantages. We’ll have to compete with new actors who will arrive with more experience, greater resources, and the intention of quickly seizing the country’s opportunities,” he argues.

The Wall Street Journal reporter also touches on the informal sector. On the street, in a bank line, he encounters Fernando Pérez Hernández, an industrial engineer who sells cigarettes and coffee to those waiting in line. On a good day, he can make $10. “I’m earning here in a day what I could earn in a month with the government,” he says, to the journalist’s astonishment. The vendor maintains that he lacks the savings to start a small business and formalize his work, but he surprises when asked about the current economic liberalization. “I fear that the essence of the project will be lost.” “What is that?” the reporter inquires. “Social welfare,” he retorts.

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Some Twenty Women and Children Block 100th Street in Havana to Demand Water and Electricity

After more than 30 hours of blackout, protesters closed one of the main access roads to the Cuban capital.

“”We’d been without power for over 30 hours and people couldn’t take it anymore.” / Screenshot / Facebook / Cántalo TV

14ymedio, Havana, October 30, 2026 / A group of women, accompanied by their children, staged a peaceful protest this Thursday on 100th Street in Havana’s Boyeros municipality, demanding the restoration of electricity and water service. The demonstration disrupted traffic on one side of this important avenue, used daily by cargo trucks and numerous cars entering and leaving the capital.

The participants in the protest came out from several nearby buildings, having endured more than 30 hours without electricity and months of unreliable water service, and marched along Vento Street until they reached 100th Street, near Perla. Once on the roadway, several children sat down, forming a line that blocked traffic, while the women stood beside them.

The images, captured in videos and photos obtained by 14ymedio, show a large group of protesters in the middle of a public street, with cars stopped or searching for alternative routes. The images show approximately twenty people, including women and children.

“We’d been without power for over 30 hours and people couldn’t take it anymore,” a resident of an apartment building who participated in the protest posted on social media. The woman says the situation has become especially difficult due to problems with the water supply and the poor sanitary conditions in the homes. continue reading

She lamented: “At home, my husband and daughter have a virus that seems to be related to the poor water quality, because several neighbors have the same symptoms. The little water we get is of terrible quality.”

The area around Perla and 100th Street is dotted with five-story apartment buildings, along with other taller structures. This high concentration of residents increases the demand for water, making every pumping interruption an additional hardship for those living on the upper floors.

The choice of location for the protest is also significant. 100th Street is one of the main access routes to Havana from the southwest and a common corridor for transporting goods.

The female protagonism in these demonstrations is also related to the weight that falls on Cuban women in domestic and caregiving tasks.

The demonstration also comes amid a week of prolonged blackouts in the capital, with some circuits having gone more than 40 hours without electricity. Havana Water Company acknowledged that the power outages on the 28th and 29th affected its main water sources, causing widespread delays in distribution.

This is not the first time mothers have led protests in Havana over basic services. In July 2025, a dozen women with their children blocked a street in Regla after nearly four months without water. In September of that same year, other mothers sat with their young children and empty containers on Monte Street . More recently, in September 2026, women and children closed a road in Arroyo Naranjo after several days without water and electricity.

The prominence of women in these demonstrations is also linked to the heavy burden of domestic and caregiving responsibilities placed on Cuban women. Obtaining water, preparing food, washing clothes, and caring for children, the sick, and the elderly becomes an exhausting task when essential services simultaneously fail. Furthermore, police repression against men who demonstrate in public tends to be more aggressive.

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Mobile Phones Will Not Follow the Cuban Government’s Instructions to Maintain Daylight Saving Time

Users will have to change the clocks on their smartphones manually.

Until the manufacturer’s update arrives, the changes will have to be made manually. / X/Etecsa

14ymedio, Madrid, October 30, 2026 – When Cubans wake up this Sunday, the time displayed on their mobile phones will be one hour behind the official time. The Government’s decision to maintain daylight saving time came too late for the technology, and most users who have the automatic time option enabled by default will have to make a manual adjustment on their phones.

The official media have warned that smartphones have a manufacturer’s instruction based on historical data and programmed for each country, so Cuba’s will be updated on November 1 from UTC-4 to UTC-5, regardless of the political decision. Until the manufacturer updates the tzdata rule, or IANA time zone database, the phone will follow the instruction stored in its system.

In this situation, the authorities remind users that the first step is to check whether the phone has updated as expected. If it has, they should go to the Date and Time section, usually found under Settings > System. From there, they must manually enter the time established by the Government (UTC-4). Afterward, it is advisable to make sure the “automatic time” function remains enabled, since manufacturers are expected to update the database soon, although this will have to be verified over time. continue reading

Afterward, it is advisable to make sure the “automatic time” function remains enabled, since manufacturers are expected to update the database soon, although this will have to be verified over time

Last week, the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security agreed that electricity consumption could be reduced by approximately 126 megawatts if daylight saving time were maintained at least until November of next year. In addition, it was decided to delay the start time for schools and workplaces by half an hour between November 1, 2026, and March 14, 2027, the period during which winter time would normally have been in effect.

According to the authorities, 76 MW of the projected savings would come from making better use of natural light, while the remaining 50 MW are attributed to the photovoltaic solar power available during those hours. However, no details have been provided about how these calculations were made.

The decision comes at a very critical time for power generation, with the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the country, out of service because of a series of breakdowns even more extensive than usual at this major facility. In any case, it is not the only cause of the situation. This Thursday, the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant in Cienfuegos also went offline because of a failure whose cause remains unknown.

Also out of service due to breakdowns are Unit 5 of the Mariel thermoelectric plant, Unit 1 of the Santa Cruz del Norte plant, Unit 2 of the Felton plant, and Units 3 and 6 of the Renté plant. Units 3 of Santa Cruz del Norte, 5 and 6 of Nuevitas, and 5 of Renté are undergoing maintenance.

This Thursday, the deficit was forecast to reach 1,910 megawatts during peak hours, as projected generation was only 910 MW, against peak demand of 2,820 MW. The blackouts no longer distinguish between regions, and the capital is experiencing very long hours without electricity. The 14ymedio newsroom is in this situation, having now endured 37 consecutive hours without power.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Generation Y: The Story of a Country Told Through WhatsApp

Amid warnings that there will be no bread, gas leaks, blackouts, and deaths, a group of neighbors in a building writes the chronicle of a Cuba in ruins.

Each WhatsApp message is a chapter in an everyday novel where there’s no room for adjectives or embellishments. / 14ymedio

“There will be no bread tomorrow.” I read the phrase on my phone screen. It has the force of a judicial sentence. It needs no explanations, nor exclamation marks, not even emojis. In the WhatsApp group for our building, a complex of over a hundred apartments in Nuevo Vedado, bad news comes in the format of old-fashioned telegrams. Each message is a chapter in a daily novel where adjectives and embellishments have no place.

The group administrator is the only authorized narrator. The rest of us just read. The literature of our community is a monologue where the plot unfolds amidst news of breakups, shortages, and farewells.

“There will be bread tomorrow,” I see on an ordinary afternoon in the instant messaging thread. Every now and then, the chronicler surprises us with a hopeful twist. The bakery at the rationed market on Hidalgo Street finally has flour, and the news takes on the air of a major event. For a few seconds, I revel in such unexpected prosperity, but then I remember the small size and sour taste of that bread and temper my expectations. continue reading

Behind those words are the unlit stoves, the rice that never softens, and the neighborhood cafes with their pizzas still in the oven.

The next installment of this digital saga could arrive at any time. “Due to a break, the manufactured gas service will be interrupted.” Behind those words are the unlit stoves, the rice that never softens, and the neighborhood cafes with their pizzas still in the oven.

Our involuntary novelist also masters the apocalyptic genre. “There was a total blackout of the National Power System,” he reports at the stroke of noon. Sometimes the outage is partial. Only a part of the country is without power, and a sigh of relief sweeps through the building, as if darkness would admit degrees and we should console ourselves with the fact that this time the disaster wasn’t complete.

Between one interruption and the next, a different message occasionally appears. A neighbor has died. The tone changes, but not the brevity. Just a name and some information about the wake. That’s how we learn that someone with whom we share elevators, hallways, and complaints about the leaky roof that’s been dripping from the lobby entrance for decades has died.

I never delete the contents of this peculiar chat. It reminds me a lot of Dangerous Liaisons, that novel constructed through letters that reveal, amidst confidences and silences, the true relationships of a society. Our building also has its correspondence, although here no one is trying to seduce anyone. Our messages don’t uncover love intrigues, but rather the details of a nation disintegrating piece by piece.

Someday, when this era is the subject of archaeologists and doctoral theses, perhaps someone will find our WhatsApp thread. Then they won’t have to read official speeches or endless statistics. Scrolling through these notifications will be enough for them to understand how a country crumbles, while its inhabitants receive, day after day, the news of a new loss.

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Oil Tankers Loaded With Russian Diesel Could Head to Cuba Instead of the United States

Lawmakers from both parties point out that a congressional resolution adopted in 2022 prohibits the importation of hydrocarbons from Russia.

The arrival of the Agioi Fanendes, which departed Primorsk on October 22, was scheduled for November 7. / Marine Traffic

14ymedio, Madrid, October 29, 2026 – The oil tanker Agioi Fanendes, which was carrying 40,000 tons of Russian diesel fuel to the U.S., no longer lists New York as its destination and appears to be stranded while awaiting orders. The surprising situation has led the energy-focused website Oilprices.com to speculate that the product could end up in Cuba.

The arrival of the Maltese-flagged tanker, which departed Primorsk on October 22, was scheduled for November 7, but after briefly passing through Skagen, Denmark, on October 26, it was left without a declared port of destination. Its shipment was part of an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, who discussed the situation in a phone call on October 9.

That conversation, which was very poorly received by European allies and Ukraine, among other reasons because it bypassed sanctions on Russian energy sources, established that Russia would send more than 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to U.S. and global markets, another 500,000 tons during November, and 1,000,000 tons thereafter. continue reading

On October 27, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut demanded that the tanker turn around because it was violating federal law

The plan was intended to alleviate rising fuel prices, which stood at $102.78 in the U.S. this Wednesday (Texas crude oil per barrel). The war in the Middle East has driven gasoline prices to levels that make everyday life difficult for American citizens and threatens to seriously hurt Republicans in the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, hence Trump’s agreement with Putin.

On October 27, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut demanded that the tanker turn around because it was violating federal law. He addressed his demand directly to Thanassis Martinos, managing director of the tanker’s owner, Eastern Mediterranean Maritime. The senator added that the company should refrain from any future agreements to send Russian diesel to a U.S. port.

According to Blumenthal, the 2022 Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act prohibits this type of cargo, and its legal authority supersedes that of General License 135 issued by the Treasury Department, which authorizes transactions involving Russian diesel through April 7, 2027. “The president may have issued a license to facilitate this transaction, but only Congress can make it legally valid,” he wrote.

In his letter, the senator gave the company until October 31 to identify the seller, buyer, charterer, insurer, and terminal operator, as well as to disclose any other details received from the Treasury Department or another federal agency.

The outlet bases its argument on Donald Trump’s statement last March regarding the Anatoly Kolodkin, which brought 730,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to the Island without the president raising any objections

According to Oilprices, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has warned all parties involved, including port authorities in Houston, Corpus Christi, Beaumont, and New York/New Jersey, about the civil and criminal consequences of accepting this cargo.

But there are also two other oil tankers, the Leruo and the Talismán, transporting Russian diesel to the United States, with the added complication that both are subject to sanctions. Maritime data company Kpler puts the total cargo aboard the three vessels at 924,000 barrels. They would be joined by another vessel, not yet identified but announced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, whose departure was scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday.

In the U.S., in addition to the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, there is the Graham Act, named after Republican Lindsey Graham, the late senator from South Carolina who championed it. This law imposed tariffs of 500% on Russian imports and 100% on countries purchasing both oil and gas from Moscow, particularly its main buyers, which helped circumvent sanctions.

The objective of both laws was always to cut off Russia’s main source of funding for its war in Ukraine, but Trump has now not only provided relief through the authorized exemption but has also described the lawmakers who criticized him as “not serious people.”

According to Oilprices’ speculation, “with no declared destination, and with U.S. banks and ports having been warned, the Agioi Fanendes could be redirected to Cuba.” The outlet bases its argument on Donald Trump’s statement last March regarding the Anatoly Kolodkin, which brought 730,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to the Island without the president raising any objections. “They have to survive! I have no problem with it,” the U.S. president said, despite having signed an executive order preventing oil from reaching Cuba from any country.

That has been the only exception he has made, however, since the Sea Horse, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel carrying Russian oil, had to change course while discreetly heading toward the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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U.S. Humanitarian Aid Reaches the Poorest Families in Guasimal, in Sancti Spíritus

A second shipment landed in Santa Clara with 1,400 food and hygiene kits that Cáritas will distribute in rural communities in Sancti Spíritus.

The director of Cáritas Santa Clara, Vanesa Hernández Toledo, received the supplies on the runway at Abel Santamaría Airport. / Diocese of Santa Clara

14ymedio, Madrid, October 29, 2026 – A second shipment of humanitarian aid from the United States Government arrived this Thursday at Abel Santamaría International Airport in Santa Clara, carrying 700 food kits and another 700 hygiene kits intended for poor families in Guasimal, a rural community in the municipality of Sancti Spíritus, in the province of the same name, according to information published by the Diocese of Santa Clara on its social media accounts. The aid will be delivered by the Catholic Church through Cáritas, as part of the $100 million assistance program announced by Washington last May.

The director of Cáritas Santa Clara, Vanesa Hernández Toledo, received the supplies on the airport runway. Bishop Arturo González Amador specified that the shipment is intended for the parish of La Purísima Concepción in Guasimal, where the Sisters of Jesús Verbo y Victima work. Although it belongs to Sancti Spíritus, this locality falls under the Diocese of Santa Clara, which encompasses Villa Clara and much of the neighboring province.

Bishop Arturo González Amador specified that the shipment is intended for the parish of La Purísima Concepción in Guasimal

The nuns will receive the supplies that same afternoon to distribute them among “the poorest families in the various towns within the parish territory,” with the assistance of Cáritas and local volunteers. The diocese stated that those responsible for the deliveries had already organized the work for the coming days. continue reading

González Amador drew attention to the difficulties facing an area “so geographically distant from urban centers” and urged those participating in the distribution to stop and attend to “the poor and those who suffer,” offering them “human closeness and assistance.” The bishopric did not specify how many families would receive the donations.

The first shipment to Santa Clara arrived on September 11, with a similar quantity of supplies intended for Quemado de Güines and Rancho Veloz, in Villa Clara. On that occasion, González Amador acknowledged that needs were far greater than the available resources and that only the most urgent cases could be addressed. He also warned that this was a one-time aid delivery, not a permanent social assistance program.

The shipments are part of the $100 million in humanitarian aid offered by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Of that amount, $60 million is being channeled through the Catholic Church, with the participation of Cáritas Cuba and the U.S. organization Catholic Relief Services. The remaining $40 million is allocated to independent humanitarian organizations.

The shipments are part of the $100 million in humanitarian aid offered by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

The launch of the program was preceded by a confrontation between Washington and Havana. On May 8, when Rubio stated that the United States had offered the assistance and accused the Cuban Government of rejecting it, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez dismissed the announcement as a “fable” intended, according to him, to deceive both peoples.

Six days later, Havana was no longer denying the existence of the proposal but continued to question Washington’s intentions. Rodríguez then stated that Cuba was willing to study it, while describing the offer as “apparent generosity” and demanding that the assistance be provided without political conditions.

The United States stipulated that the donations be delivered directly to the population by religious and humanitarian organizations, without going through the Cuban authorities. Havana, for its part, has accused Washington of using the assistance for political purposes while maintaining sanctions that worsen the Island’s crisis.

The program began to be implemented in July, with a shipment intended for Havana. Since then, the dioceses of Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, Pinar del Río, and Matanzas have also received supplies. The latter received a second shipment on October 22, while Pinar del Río received its shipment on the 27th, intended for the communities of Guanajay and Bahía Honda, in Artemisa, which belong to that diocese.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Floating Pier in Havana, a Project That Was Stillborn and Is Now Being Dismantled

Several young men are trying to pry loose the pier’s metal beams with hammers, probably to sell them as scrap metal.

The platform has lost practically all of its wooden decking, and the iron beams form an open grid over the water. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, October 28, 2026 – The floating pier at the Alameda de Paula in Old Havana is a project that was stillborn. Inaugurated just eleven years ago as part of the restoration of the Old Havana waterfront, it began showing signs of damage shortly after opening to the public and today is an idle, pointless, floating skeleton. This Tuesday, while walking along Avenida del Puerto, 14ymedio saw several young men attempting to pry loose the metal beams with hammers, probably to sell them as scrap metal.

The platform has lost practically all of its wooden decking, and the iron beams form an open grid over the water. Several young men move among the supports and repeatedly strike the structure to detach the beams, even at the risk of falling through one of the numerous gaps.

Selling scrap metal, either to the Union of Raw Materials Recovery Companies or through informal channels, is an attractive business given the official purchase prices, which reach between 400 and 500 per kilogram of copper, depending on its quality.

At the entrance to the floating ruin, a sign belonging to the Avenida del Puerto Investment Group warns: “Access Prohibited” and “Pier Under Repair,” accompanied by the warning “Avoid Being Summoned.” Someone has scribbled on it with a black marker. The young men ignore it and concentrate on dismantling the structure, directly defying the sign.

The scene is reminiscent of the so-called “stone pickers” who, for decades, have dismantled the ruins of the Juraguá Nuclear Power Plant in Cienfuegos to extract all the reinforcing bars and usable materials from that great abortion of Castroist triumphalism. continue reading

The floating promenade was part of a renovation project for Avenida del Puerto promoted by the Office of the Historian of Havana during the final years of Eusebio Leal, now deceased. The aim was to restore Havana residents’ contact with a bay from which the city had been practically cut off for decades.

In November 2014, renovation work on Avenida del Puerto extended from the Muelle de Caballería to the San José warehouses, which had been converted into a commercial and cultural space. The surrounding area’s renovation also included the Alameda de Paula; the Emboque de Luz, which was the terminal for the small boats serving Regla and Casablanca; and the former Wood and Tobacco Warehouse, which had been transformed into a brewery.

Inaugurated in late 2015, the pier soon became a place to stroll at sunset, admire the bay, talk, fish, or enjoy the breeze. Couples even began placing padlocks on the railings as a symbol of eternal love, following a custom widespread on bridges in other cities, such as the Pont des Arts in Paris, where authorities banned the practice in 2015 because of the damage caused to the structure by the weight of the padlocks.

Deterioration began almost immediately after its inauguration in 2015. Less than a year later, the first damage appeared on the decking

But deterioration began almost from the start. By 2016, damage had already appeared on the decking. In 2019, architect Orlando Inclán, one of the designers of the project, acknowledged the problems affecting the installation to the official newspaper Tribuna de La Habana. “After the initial installation, many of the planks were replaced because the first batch did not meet the required quality standards, but the second one did,” he explained, identifying both the poor quality of that first shipment and damage caused by some visitors as reasons for the deterioration.

Inclán also admitted that there was no specific maintenance plan for the promenade. “It is certainly necessary now to provide maintenance for a structure that has been in intensive use for almost five years,” he warned. Even the railings, designed in stainless steel to prevent corrosion, needed attention, although at the time he believed the deterioration could still be reversed because relatively few sections were missing.

The promenade was closed in April 2021 because of the danger posed by its deterioration. A resident consulted by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press said that he had not seen any repair work being carried out.

In 2024, several complaints described a structure with gaps, deteriorated railings, and signs of neglect. In August 2026, a photo report by OnCuba documented raised boards, light fixtures without cables, and dangerous sections, while other citizens raised the alarm about missing components and railings and appealed to the authorities. In recent weeks, videos have circulated on social media showing residents carrying away the boards that made up the structure’s decking.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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