Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

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

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

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

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

The dictatorship’s reaction unfolded through three distinct, but complementary strategies designed to preserve its monopoly on power. The first was a brutal nationwide crackdown. Security forces, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), state security agents, and pro-regime paramilitary groups rapidly suppressed the demonstrations through overwhelming force. The subsequent judicial process became an extension of political repression rather than an instrument of justice. During this period, questions also arose surrounding the unexplained deaths of numerous continue reading

senior officials within the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and MININT, events that have never received transparent public explanation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five Years of a Wrong Answer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Testimonies also arrived from Cuba reminding everyone that the wound of July 11th remains open. Former political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez sent a message emphasizing the need to remember those imprisoned for taking to the streets in July 2021 and to maintain international pressure demanding their release. His remarks drew a connection between the event in Madrid and the reality of those on the island who still face surveillance, harassment, and the legal consequences of that protest.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by GH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by GH.

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Cuban Doctors in Calabria Acknowledge They Give Up to Half Their Salaries to the Regime

The president of the region, Roberto Occhiuto, reveals that the Joe Biden administration had already tried to pressure him to suspend the cooperation

Group of Cuban doctors at Gioia Tauro Hospital, Reggio Calabria, Italy. / / Facebook/Misión Médica Cubana en Calabria

14ymedio, Madrid, July 9, 2026 – It had long been an open secret, but a Cuban doctor contracted to work in Calabria has, for the first time, openly acknowledged that part of the salary paid directly by the health authorities of the Italian region goes to the Cuban State. “We are all aware of the economic situation Cuba is going through. It is a voluntary contribution because Cuba trained us, educated us, and made us doctors,” Zoila Yakelín Arévalo Cruz said in an interview with the Associated Press.

According to the AP correspondent in Italy, who traveled to the southernmost region of the Italian peninsula to report on the only part of Europe that receives Cuban doctors under an agreement with the Island, the donations amount to as much as half of their salaries.

Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabria region, has become one of the few political leaders to stand up to the demands of the Donald Trump administration, as well as those of its predecessor. The revelation comes directly from the politician himself: “I also faced some pressure during the Biden administration. But it increased under Trump,” he said.

The governor even laughed about the fact that the Cuban regime had turned him into an almost heroic figure. “Can you imagine? My picture appeared in Granma!”

The governor laughed again as he told AP: “Can you imagine? My picture appeared in Granma!” Occhiuto is a senior member of Forza Italia, the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi, which the reporter describes as having “strong roots in anti-communist sentiment.”

Nevertheless, the regional leader says reality has forced him to accept the situation. Although Cuban socialism does not align with his political views, the region depends on the Cuban doctors. Last February, he promised U.S. Ambassador to Cuba Mike Hammer that he would continue reading

continue working on incentives to recruit Calabrian doctors, but for now nothing has changed.

“I reiterated to U.S. Ambassador Hammer that I needed to keep the hospitals open and that I intend to keep the Cuban doctors currently in Italy in their positions,” Occhiuto insisted, maintaining the same position he made clear earlier this year. His original intention had been to triple the number of Cuban doctors, but apparently that has not happened.

According to AP, Calabria ranks last in Italy in healthcare services, reflecting the country’s deep divide between its wealthy industrial north and its less-developed south. Healthcare professionals there earn salaries 30% lower than elsewhere in Italy, while unemployment is twice the national average. On top of that, decades of mafia influence and corruption drove thousands of professionals to move north in search of better opportunities.

Calabria ranks last among Italy’s 20 regions in access to public healthcare, according to the Ministry of Health. “It was a disaster. I kept the emergency room open completely by myself,” said Francesco Moschella, chief physician at Polistena Hospital.

“For a First World country, in Europe, we had a completely different idea. We never imagined the shortage of doctors was so severe,” said the Cuban specialist interviewed by AP. She left her son behind in Cuba in 2023 and now works in the emergency department of a medical center in Polistena alongside six other Cuban doctors, making up half of the hospital’s 12 physicians. “There used to be lines lasting eight to twelve hours at this hospital. Now, thanks to our work, you can see a doctor in less than an hour,” she said. She now speaks Italian fluently and has even picked up some Calabrian dialect from talking with her patients.

“They’re intelligent, they’re compassionate, and they’re also humble, something you don’t often see in Italian doctors,” local resident Maria Morano told AP. “We’re lucky they came; otherwise, our hospital would have closed”

“They’re intelligent, they’re compassionate, and they’re also humble, something you don’t often see in Italian doctors,” local resident Maria Morano told AP. “We’re lucky they came; otherwise, our hospital would have closed.”

Calabria signed its first agreement with Cuba in 2022 in the presence of Cuban Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda and his Italian counterpart, Orazio Schillaci. At the time, the Italian local press reported that 3,500 euros per month was paid in salary for each doctor, plus another 1,200 euros for maintenance, housing, travel, and training.

The terms were later modified, switching to individual contracts. According to Occhiuto, 63 Cuban doctors who originally came to Calabria through the Cuban State have requested to remain under the new arrangement. The doctors now receive their salaries, whose amount has not been disclosed, in accounts at Italian banks. “We absolutely do not consider ourselves modern slaves, as some have called us. We love our country, we make an economic contribution, and we’re happy to do so,” admitted another Cuban healthcare worker, cardiologist Daisy Luperon Loforte.

For more than a year and a half, the U.S. has been working to reduce the Cuban government’s income from the export of medical services, and it has largely succeeded. Countries such as Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have either modified or ended their agreements. For now, however, Mexico, several Persian Gulf countries, and Calabria continue to participate.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Family of a Cuban Man Who Died in ICE Custody Is Demanding More Than One Million Dollars

They blame four agents and the companies that ran Camp East Montana

Geraldo Lunas Campos with his wife and children before his arrest. / TVNoticias

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, July 7, 2026 / The family of Cuban national Geraldo Lunas Campos is demanding more than one million dollars and blames four agents and the companies that managed the Texas detention center for his death while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to The Washington Post, the lawsuit accuses the guards of “killing him” and claims that the staff at Camp East Montana, where he was being held, were not “trained” to care for him.

The camp was hastily constructed last summer after the U.S. government awarded a contract, “now worth up to $1.3 billion, to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a Virginia contractor that had never operated an ICE facility,” the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the same media, the subcontractors included security firm Akima Global Services and medical provider Loyal Source, both of which are the subject of a lawsuit.

The plaintiffs allege that Lunas Campos’s mental illness was not properly treated at the largest detention center in the US, endangering his life. His family claims that he “requested medical attention on several occasions” because he “suffered from bipolar disorder, anxiety, and even expressed suicidal thoughts weeks before his death.”

According to the publication, “health professionals recommended a broader psychiatric evaluation, but the transfer never happened.”

The lawsuit includes the autopsy report, which indicated that the body showed injuries to the neck, chest, and knees, consistent with physical force, and that death was caused by asphyxiation due to compression of the torso and neck. The coroner concluded that it was a homicide. continue reading

“He was mistreated, beaten and strangled to death,” said Jeanette Pagan López, mother of two of Lunas Campos’ children.

In the first 500 days of Donald Trump’s second term, 52 people have died, four of them Cubans.

The case of Lunas Campos is one of dozens of abuses committed in ICE detention centers. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights revealed last June that in the first 500 days of Donald Trump’s second term 52 people have died, four of them Cubans.

Denny Adán González died last April. According to an official statement, he was found unconscious in his cell, and the cause of death remains under investigation. Aled Damien Carbonell Betancourt, 27, was found on April 12 in his cell at the Miami Federal Detention Center. ICE classified the death as a suicide, the 49th recorded in custody since Trump’s return to power.

The other two cases are those of Isidro Pérez (75 years old), who died on June 26, 2025 at the HCA Kendall Hospital in Miami while he was in the Krome Detention Center awaiting deportation, and that of Lunas Campos.

Last November, Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar of Texas denounced “the dangerous and inhumane conditions faced by migrants at Camp East Montana,” located at the Fort Bliss Army base outside of El Paso.

A report by the Associated Press last March exposed the suicide attempts, fights, and suffering inside the center. Owen Ramsingh, a former property manager in Columbia, Missouri, who spent several weeks there, said that Camp East Montana was “1,000% worse than a prison,” where “every day felt like a week. Every week felt like a month. Every month felt like a year.”

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The End of Price Caps Brings More Inflation Than Liberalization to Matanzas, Cuba

Private businesses charge different prices for the same product, and customers visit several stores before deciding what to buy.

“Customers only see that a liter of cooking oil cost 1,300 pesos yesterday and 1,500 today. But we don’t know how much it costs the store owner to put that bottle on the shelf.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, July 8, 2026 – “Last week I bought bologna right here for 550 pesos. Today they’re selling it for 680, and by the time I come back it’ll probably be over 700,” complains Silvia, without taking her eyes off the refrigerator where the cold cuts are displayed. Cubans had grown accustomed to the price caps imposed in 2024 on six essential products, and now they are watching in astonishment as prices fluctuate in a way more typical of runaway inflation than of a free market.

With 500 pesos more than usual in her purse, Silvia left her home in Pueblo Nuevo (Matanzas) this Tuesday determined to face another day of shopping. It was not optimism that drove her, but caution. “Prices have gotten completely out of control now that everyone is allowed to set their own rules. Every time they impose or remove a measure, the people are the ones who lose, even though the speeches say otherwise,” she laments.

The first stop in her search for the best price before it changed was a neighborhood store whose shelves were well stocked with cookies, canned goods, personal hygiene products, and beverages. However, the small handwritten price tags displayed figures that seemed to have changed only hours earlier. Behind the counter, a young sales clerk waited for customers while a long row of packages of hot dogs hung beside the candy and detergents.

The routine is repeated in many neighborhoods across Matanzas: the customer asks the price, pauses, does the math mentally, and, more often than not, continues on to the next store

After leaving without buying anything, Silvia enters another small shop just across the street. From the sidewalk, a simple counter can be seen, several cartons of eggs stacked by the entrance, and shelves filled with imported continue reading

products. The routine repeats itself over and over again in many Matanzas neighborhoods: the customer asks, hears the price, pauses, calculates mentally, and often keeps walking to the next business.

“The problem is that every product goes up by 50 or 100 pesos, and when you add it all up, you end up having to choose between half a carton of eggs or three pounds of rice. Nobody can live like this,” Silvia says as she puts the money back into her purse.

The prices of refrigerated meat products remain relatively stable in stores that are still suffering the full impact of the blackouts and do not have solar panels or generators. The need to sell goods quickly before they spoil sometimes forces businesses to limit price increases.

“I just bought a package of hot dogs for 680 pesos. The store next door had them for 640, but according to the clerk they’d been without electricity for more than 48 hours,” says Ignacio after leaving a private business where only a single fan powered by a small battery was operating. For weeks now, he admits, before asking about a product he first checks whether the store has its lights on. “That already tells you a lot about how they’re probably handling their merchandise.”

For this Matanzas resident, blaming entrepreneurs alone for the latest wave of price hikes oversimplifies a much more complex reality. “Customers only see that a liter of cooking oil cost 1,300 pesos yesterday and 1,500 today. But we don’t know how much it costs the store owner to put that bottle on the shelf, with blackouts, expensive transportation, scarce fuel, and a dollar that just keeps rising,” he reflects.

Ignacio does not completely absolve the private sector either. He believes some merchants are taking advantage of the new environment to increase their profit margins, but insists that this is only part of the problem. “The Government is the main source of losses for private businesses, directly or indirectly. Even if many entrepreneurs wanted to keep competitive prices, they’d end up going bankrupt.”

“It’s hard for me to understand how a package of cookies can have different prices within just a few days”

The removal of price caps on the six products previously protected—hot dogs, powdered milk, pasta, and cooking oil—has spread to the rest of the market, causing prices to rise even for products that had never been subject to government price controls, such as beverages, cookies, candy, and other everyday consumer goods.

“It’s hard for me to understand how a package of cookies can have different prices within just a few days,” says Damaris outside a kiosk on Calzada de Tirry, illustrating how unfamiliar ordinary Cubans are with the laws of supply and demand. From the window protected by heavy bars, she looks at the well-stocked shelves, but also at the constantly changing price tags. “I live next door to a private business, and I see everything continuing to go up, even when no new merchandise has arrived. I think some private business owners are contributing to this disorder in some way because they’re afraid of losing their investments.”

Her six-year-old daughter had asked for a package of sweet cookies before they left home. Damaris looks at the price again, sighs, and decides to leave them for another day.

“I have to stretch the food as much as possible and save the little piece of meat or the egg for my daughter,” she confesses. “It breaks my heart when she asks for some little treat and I can’t give it to her. With this unstoppable inflation, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I can’t even remember the last time I drank a cola because buying one means not having enough money left for something more important.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Regla Confronts the Municipal Government After Several Days Without Electricity or Water

Residents report outages since Sunday, block streets, bang pots, and confront officials and police.

“The people are standing at the door because they can’t take it anymore,” says one of the protesters. / 14ymedio

Darío Hernández, Havana, July 8, 2026 – The protest is no longer taking place on a street corner or under the cover of darkness. In Regla, a Havana municipality battered by several days of blackouts and water shortages, residents have decided to take their demands directly to the doorstep of the local authorities. Dozens of people gathered this Wednesday outside the offices of the municipal Government and Communist Party, where they demanded answers from officials and police officers deployed at the scene.

Images taken by 14ymedio show large groups of residents outside the deteriorating public building, with its windows open and its entrance packed with people. In the street, under the blazing sun, women with children, elderly residents, men in flip-flops, motor scooters, tricycles, a Police Operational Guard patrol car, and several uniformed officers can be seen trying to contain the tension.

“We block the streets and bang pots. Every day,” says a neighborhood resident. / 14ymedio

“The people are standing at the door because they can’t take it anymore,” says one of the protesters. The frustration, he says, has been building for days. “Several areas have been without electricity and water since Sunday,” he adds. According to his account, the crisis worsened after the collapse of the national electrical system. “The SEN went down on Monday,” he recalls, but in some neighborhoods the power had already been out before that.

The same scene has been repeated for several days. Residents come out, block sections of the streets, bang pots, and demand that someone take responsibility. “We block the streets and bang pots. Every day,” says another local resident.

The exhaustion is also evident in the way residents confront the authorities. “As you can see, people are shouting right in the faces of the officials and continue reading

the police,” explains another resident. Two officers remain at the entrance of the building while several people argue just a few yards away. A white police patrol car is parked in front of the crowd, a reminder that the state’s response combines promises, surveillance, and repression.

Political chants were not widespread, but they were present. A woman with a weary face, after several sleepless nights, shouted, “Patria y Vida!” The slogan, Homeland and Life,” which has become a symbol of protest against the Cuban regime since 2021, now mixes with basic demands: electricity, water, food that won’t spoil, spending the night with a working fan and refrigerator.

The heat is making the desperation worse. According to the report, another woman had to be taken to the local polyclinic after suffering a heart attack or cardiac episode in the midst of the situation. “A woman had to be taken to the polyclinic after suffering a heart attack from empingue,” another protester said, using a popular Cuban expression to convey the neighbors’ level of exasperation.

A white police patrol car is parked in front of the crowd, a reminder that the state’s response combines promises, surveillance, and repression. / 14ymedio

The lack of electricity has also brought daily life and small businesses to a standstill. “We went past several stores and nobody had cold drinks,” another witness said. Without power, refrigerators stop working, products spoil, and even finding cold water becomes a luxury. “I’m telling you, it’s been like this since Sunday,” he insisted.

“A woman had to be taken to the polyclinic after suffering a heart attack. She was completely fed up.” / 14ymedio

In the photographs, the protest bears the familiar face of Cuba’s crisis: women waiting in line with shopping bags, children standing under the sun, elderly people leaning against walls, men staring toward the building’s entrance, uniformed officers, and officials who appear to listen without offering any visible solutions. There are no open clashes, but the tension is unmistakable. The crowd is not there to carry out routine government business but to demand answers after days of neglect.

Regla, a historically working-class municipality, has experienced a rapid deterioration of its public services in recent years. Prolonged blackouts, water shortages, and inadequate transportation have turned every breakdown into a full-scale crisis. When power outages and water shortages occur at the same time, protest ceases to be a remote possibility and becomes inevitable.

View video here.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Luis Otero Alcántara, Whereabouts Unknown After His Release From Guanajay Prison

14ymedio, Havana, July 7, 2026 – 7:00 PM. Updated July 8, 2026 – 6:07 AM / Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was released today from the maximum-security prison in Guanajay, Artemisa province, according to his official channels.

The exact date of his transfer is unknown with precision, but he has not been at that prison since at least July 7th, and as of early Wednesday morning his whereabouts remain unknown. His family has confirmed that the activist and leader of the San Isidro Movement is not at his usual residence in the El Cerro neighborhood of Havana.

Activist and art historian Yanelis Núñez confirmed this Tuesday to the independent newspaper 14ymedio that Otero Alcántara’s prison release date was July 9, just as recorded in the document delivered by the Supreme Court regarding the artist’s case and the fulfillment of his sentence.

“Today we learned from other prisoners that Luis has been taken from the prison. We don’t know where he is at this time.”

“Today we learned from other prisoners that Luis has been taken from prison. At this time, we don’t know where he is. We have spoken with his family in Cuba, and he is not at home. We are waiting for more information to find out where he is,” said Núñez, who lives in Madrid.

“The regime has put on the table the option of exile for Luis Manuel in recent months, but we have no certainty that this will happen in the coming hours or days. It’s something that is on the table, due to pressure from the regime itself,” the activist added.

The artist’s official platforms assured that they will continue to provide urgent updates as soon as any verified information about his status and location is confirmed. Around noon, Madrid time, Núñez posted on social media: “A parole request for Luis Manuel was initiated in the United States a few weeks ago, which, if approved, will grant him a way to leave the country. The Castro regime’s decision, in response to the delay, has been to detain Luis because they don’t want him on the street for even a few days or hours, much less so close to July 11th.” continue reading

“Luis Manuel Otero was removed today from Guanajay prison in Artemisa province. At this moment, we do not know where he is. We have confirmed with his family that he is not at his home in El Cerro. We have no further information about where he is or under what conditions he was transferred.”

The activist added that “the Cuban dictatorship is not giving in. It is not opening up. Luis should already be free; in fact, he always should have been. The Cuban dictatorship is repressing people more and more each day, and it will continue to do so until we remove them from power.” She also stated that the regime is repeating a repressive pattern “that dictates that the only paths for an activist are silence, imprisonment, or exile.”

Otero Alcántara had been in prison since July 2021 after attempting to participate in the July 11 protests. He was sentenced in 2022, along with rapper Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’, to five and nine years, respectively, for the crimes of “contempt” and “public disorder,” commonly used to punish political positions contrary to the government on the island.

Since 2022, the Penal Code has incorporated the concept of “propaganda against the constitutional order,” used to imprison citizens who express themselves in ways as diverse as putting up anti-government posters or publishing their critical opinions on social media.

During his time in prison, the artist staged several hunger strikes and was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, while international organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and PEN International demanded his immediate release.

This Tuesday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla engaged in a heated exchange of accusations with United States ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, regarding the issue of political prisoners, during the intense debate of the General Assembly on the US embargo against the Island.

“They are not violent; what they do is write poetry and songs, and that is why the regime tries to eliminate them by putting them in jail.”

Waltz said that “the regime and its representatives do not want you to hear the following: that this month marks the anniversary of when thousands of Cubans took to the streets to demand their freedom.”

“For 67 years, the regime has enriched itself by abusing its people, stifling private enterprise, and penalizing dissent with a communist economy,” the ambassador added.

Waltz then took a series of photographs of some artists detained by the Cuban government, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.

“Look at their faces when they give their speeches, because they are in jail for demanding freedom. They are not violent; what they do is write poetry and songs, and that is why the regime is trying to eliminate them by putting them in jail,” the ambassador emphasized, addressing the UN member states.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Havana Chronicles: The Blackout Lunatics

Amid banging pots and pans, plumes of smoke, and outages, the Cuban electricity crisis seems to have turned madness into a widespread state.

On an island where electricity disappears for days at a time, the line between sanity and madness is no longer clear. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 7, 2026 / The day after a power outage, everything moves much more slowly. This Tuesday, I spent long minutes trying to flag down an electric tricycle on Calzada del Cerro to take me to Fraternidad Park, but yesterday, with the collapse of the National Power System, most drivers couldn’t recharge their vehicles’ batteries. So I had to walk. I was also walking at half speed because of lack of sleep, dragging my feet with the weariness of a nearly sleepless night.

From inside some homes and businesses along the avenue, a stench rises from the humidity and spoiled food. This Monday, when many were waiting for the end of the blackout that had kept them sweating all night, the dreaded disconnection of Cuba’s dilapidated electrical grid arrived. Those who had put away a piece of chicken, hoping the refrigerator would hum again, saw their hopes turn into a foul-smelling drip escaping from the freezer.

A neighbor says they’ve authorized banging pots and pans. She tells me this with such conviction that, for a moment, I think I’ve missed some important official announcement. But no. The woman claims that Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that we have to bang our pots and pans for our neighbors to the north, who are the ones causing this blackout. The conclusion was immediate: “Well, we’ll have to bang them harder and every night, so that it can be heard outside the island too,” the woman adds mischievously.

“Well, we’ll have to hit harder and every night, so that it can be heard outside the island too,” the lady concludes mischievously.

Everyone has their favorite thing to bang on during power outages. A friend of mine has acquired an old saucepan which his mother, now dead, used to roast coffee beans. “It sounds best with a hammer; it sounds like a cathedral bell.” In another building in my neighborhood, there’s a family that even has a well-rehearsed orchestra. When one of them starts banging continue reading

on the pan, the others join in a furious, desperate conga line.

Further on, a retiree takes out his frustration on an empty oxygen cylinder he keeps in his backyard. It belonged to his father, who died during the pandemic, precisely when getting a tank of that vital gas was a life-or-death race won by only a few. Since then, the man uses the old metal tank to vent his anger. When the water doesn’t come to the neighborhood for several days, rattatat. If the electricity goes out for long hours, it rattatatatat. If the price of bread goes up again or the manufactured gas supply is cut off, it rattatatatatats again. The cylinder responds with a metallic echo that has become part of the soundscape of this area.

At night, flares continue to appear on the horizon, only to turn into plumes of smoke the next day. I’ve taken to reading science fiction again. When I see the glow of the burning garbage mountains across from my balcony, I’m reminded of ” Nightfall,” the famous short story Isaac Asimov published in 1941. The story describes Kalgash, a planet with six suns where it never gets dark. Every 2,049 years, a total eclipse occurs; the arrival of darkness triggers a collective frenzy, and people end up setting everything ablaze.

We’re all a little crazy on this island. My greatest fear has always been losing my mind. I’ve never been afraid of spiders, or the dark, and much less of the “inquiet muchachos” of the political police. However, the thought of getting lost in that world of distorted reflections that is dementia terrifies me. That’s why I’m very attentive to every sign of delirium and especially sensitive to noticing when alienation is taking hold in others. I have, for madness, the keen nose of those of us who believe ourselves to be potentially deranged.

However, the thought of getting lost in that world of distorted reflections that is dementia terrifies me. That’s why I’m very attentive to every sign of delirium

Yesterday I saw a man at the traffic light at Belascoaín and Reina. He was dressed in rags and trying to direct traffic because the power outage had knocked out the lights that were supposed to indicate when to go and when to stop. With his arms outstretched, he was performing a strange choreography that, if followed to the letter, would have caused drivers to end up going around in circles, doing somersaults, and even crashing into each other. From some car windows, people were throwing insults at him, and a teenager riding by on a bicycle spat at him without stopping.

I kept walking, but for several blocks I couldn’t get him out of my head. Maybe the man was just crazy. Or maybe he was trying, in his own way, to impose some order on a country where lucidity was lost long ago. On an island where the electricity disappears for days, where food rots in refrigerators, where the nights are filled with banging pots and pans and mountains of garbage burn as if announcing the end of an epoch, the line between sanity and madness is no longer clear.

In Nightfall, Asimov imagined that darkness alone was enough to unleash madness. We have been living for too long amidst shadows and sleepless nights. As I turned the corner, I glanced one last time at the traffic light. The man was still waving his arms with the same conviction. No one was paying him any attention, but I couldn’t tell if I was looking at a madman… or a prophet.

Previous Havana Chronicles:

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

Cuba Is Once Again Without Internet

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

The Time For Reforms Has Passed

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

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

Chronicle of a Monday That Feels Like Wednesday

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

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

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

Along Carlos III Street and towards Ethiopia