Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Struggles To Defend the Regime in English

In an interview on ABC News, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez hesitates in his answers about free elections and political prisoners.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez during an interview with Whit Johnson in Havana. / ABC News

14ymedio, Madrid, May 11, 2026/ Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez experienced awkward moments in front of ABC News cameras while trying to answer questions about free elections in Cuba, political prisoners, and reforms demanded by Washington.

Rodríguez gave the interview last Thursday in Havana to reporter Whit Johnson, but this Sunday the program Good Morning America highlighted the answers that the foreign minister gave in broken English, when the journalist asked him what changes the Cuban government would be willing to make in the face of pressure from Washington.

The Foreign Secretary, stammering and visibly struggling with the language, managed to reply, “I reject those accusations,” referring to the issues of political prisoners, human rights, and free elections in Cuba. Johnson pressed on: “What do you reject about free elections? It is a single socialist party—essentially, a single family—that has practically ruled Cuba for almost seven decades.”

“Cuba is a democracy, a different kind of democracy.”

Notably nervous, Rodríguez responded that he would return to that topic at another time, maintaining that Cuba “is a country with its own history and its own particularities, and we are a free and independent nation […] but Cuba is a democracy, a different kind of democracy.” Johnson was quick to point out that it cannot be called a “democracy” when there is only one party and a single candidate for whom the population can vote, and asked directly: “What are you worried might happen if there were free elections in Cuba?”

The chancellor hesitated and managed to say: “You are presenting a prejudice.”

Johnson pointed out to viewers that Rodríguez never answered this direct question, which was repeated several times. However, he did answer a question about political prisoners, stating that they “didn’t exist” in Cuba.

In response to Rodríguez’s refusal, the ABC journalist countered by mentioning reports from international organizations and independent monitoring groups that document hundreds of people imprisoned continue reading

for political reasons, including protesters from 11 July 2021: to this day, Prisoners Defenders reports 1,258 prisoners of conscience on the Island.

Bruno Rodríguez asserted that “there has been no progress” in recent talks with the US, and that Washington’s threats would provoke a “bloodbath in Cuba.”

Good Morning America ‘s Cuban-American host, Gio Benitez, noted how “shocking” it was to see a foreign minister responding to those questions in this way. Johnson added that in Cuba he saw the population surviving this desperate crisis on their own and that the citizens he spoke with do want change.

In other fragments from the interview that had been published last Friday, Bruno Rodríguez had asserted that “there has been no progress” in recent talks with the US, and that Washington’s threats were going to provoke a “bloodbath in Cuba.”

The conversation took place amid a new escalation of tensions between Washington and Havana, after the Trump Administration announced new sanctions against the Business Administration Group (Gaesa), the military business conglomerate that controls much of the Cuban economy.

From the outset of the report, ABC described a country exhausted and on the verge of economic collapse: “There is a growing sense of despair and exhaustion here in Cuba, and the government remains defiant.”

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Mexico and Honduras in the Spotlight

Claudia Sheinbaum resists handing over her corrupt officials to the U.S.; in Central America, critics point to the complicity of Nasry Asfura’s new government with Washington’s interventionism

Sheinbaum and Asfura are at the center of the continent’s attention, for different reasons. / Collage

14ymedio, San Salvador, Federico Hernández Aguilar, May 11, 2026 — Two enormous scandals are currently shaking Hispanic America: the so-called Hondurasgate, in the country located at the very center of the continent, and the formal request by the United States to Mexico to extradite a group of senior officials from the ruling party, Morena, in the state of Sinaloa. Both cases are of enormous importance and could demonstrate the existence of extensive criminal networks and political clientelism in the region.

Perhaps because the media outlets that have reported Hondurasgate are clearly ideological in the way they handle the news — something I allow myself to point out with the same ease with which those same outlets label opposing media as “conservative” or “far-right” — the revelation of compromising audio recordings involving former president Juan Orlando Hernández and current Honduran president Asfura, along with other public figures in that country, has not had in Central America the impact it should have had. And that is a shame.

A media outlet’s political subjectivity is not sufficient reason to ignore everything it says, especially when it presents evidence. Nor should we be naive and think that large media conglomerates tend toward objectivity by definition. What is regrettable is that ideological tug-of-war intervenes so deeply in journalism that colleagues accuse each other of “pushing agendas,” each forgetting that free expression protects their work and that people themselves, according to their own conscience and education, will reward each outlet with their attention and preference.

A media outlet’s political subjectivity is not sufficient reason to ignore everything it says, especially when it presents evidence

In the case of Hondurasgate, for example, the recordings can be freely heard on the very platform that published them. And it is very difficult to deny the credibility of these 37 leaks. The voices of those involved are there, clear, with their unmistakable tones and inflections. In those exchanges, Hernández and Asfura appear willing to facilitate the installation of a network of U.S. and Israeli interventionism in Honduras, something that would explain why Donald Trump pardoned the former and supported the latter in the most recent presidential election.

Certainly, the shameless way in which the President of the United States supported Asfura at the end of last year’s campaign, almost at the same time continue reading

he released Hernández — sentenced to nearly half a century in prison for drug trafficking crimes — would have a real underlying reason: turning Honduras into a regional hub for systematic interventionism, including electronic surveillance, lucrative investments, political interference, and citizen control.

The matter goes much further and would prove several hypotheses. Former president Xiomara Castro, of course, would like us to buy the thesis that fraud was committed against her party, but the truth is that Libre candidate Rixi Moncada never gained traction in the polls and barely managed a distant third place, with less than 20% of the vote. No. What these conversations reveal is that the old Honduran two-party system, made up of the National Party (of Hernández and Asfura) and the Liberal Party (now in opposition), is susceptible to corruption at the highest level, involving electoral authorities, legislators, businessmen, and even gangs of drug traffickers and hitmen.

From this entire plot there would also emerge a supposed warning to Mexico, because the broader plan allegedly includes the creation of digital structures for attacks and smear campaigns against the “progressive” governments of Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico and Gustavo Petro in Colombia. There is no doubt that Trump does not sympathize with Sheinbaum, but let us be frank: he does not need any sophisticated machinery to undermine her government. She herself seems willing to do that work without her adversaries even asking. To illustrate this, let us look at the clumsy way the president is handling her own domestic scandal.

In force since 1980, the United States and Mexico have an extradition treaty that stipulates the procedures through which criminals will be exchanged between the two nations. Using this historic bilateral agreement, a formal 34-page indictment issued by a Grand Jury in the Southern District of New York and therefore not subject to manipulation by the White House is now asking Mexico for the arrest and extradition of about ten public officials from the state of Sinaloa.

In force since 1980, the United States and Mexico have an extradition treaty that stipulates the procedures through which criminals will be exchanged between the two nations.

Just as in 2025 other alleged perpetrators of crimes related to drug trafficking, bribery, and organized crime — Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, the Treviño brothers, or Abigael González, to mention a few — were sent through the same process, today the Mexican Attorney General’s Office should proceed with the arrests of those accused without demanding any additional evidence beyond the indictment itself, because the legal cycle of accusation does not require any further element, since the evidence will naturally be presented during the corresponding trials.

But now Claudia Sheinbaum, instead of taking advantage of the opportunity to rid herself of so many discredited figures, has chosen to wrap herself in the Mexican flag, claiming sovereignty, and with a speed worthy of a better cause has backed the Attorney General’s Office over which she does have influence in demanding proof from its northern neighbor against the officials from her party who are implicated. The scandal threatens to grow and become the Watergate of Mexico’s ruling establishment.

As things appear to be unfolding, simple moral principles may end up being more decisive than stale ideologies. “Left” and “right” are merely labels, wrappers, shells… The old misery of human nature prevails.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Families of Political Prisoners Pay Tribute to Opposition Figure Who Died in Venezuelan State Custody

The Venezuelan Church demands that responsibilities be determined and joins the recognitions of Víctor Quero’s mother, who searched for him for months.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Caracas, May 11, 2026 – Families of political prisoners in Venezuela paid tribute this Sunday to Víctor Quero Navas — whose death last year while in state custody was acknowledged this week by the Government after months of searching by his mother — with an activity outside the prison where, according to authorities, he was held.

In the vicinity of the El Rodeo I penitentiary center, near Caracas, relatives and activists placed a sign in his memory highlighting that his death occurred “after remaining in forced disappearance since January” of that year.

“His mother searched for him in Rodeo I, but the authorities denied his detention, concealed his death, and destroyed evidence,” the text adds.

Around the sign were small banners with messages such as “Let no one else die in custody,” “Truth for Víctor, freedom for all,” and “No death in custody can go unpunished.”

There were small banners with messages such as “Let no one else die in custody,” “Truth for Víctor, freedom for all,” and “No death in custody can go unpunished”

On the ground they placed a couple of floral arrangements and candles in the shape of a cross, while on another part of the street asphalt they wrote in chalk “Víctor Hugo Quero present,” according to photographs published on X by the NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPP).

“This May 10, Mother’s Day in Venezuela, the memorial placed in the vicinity of El Rodeo I prison recalls the death in custody and demands justice,” the organization wrote on the social network.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado expressed that all Venezuelan women are “one in señora Carmen,” among others who “represent what it means to raise and fight for a child and demonstrate that a mother’s love never surrenders.” “Soon we will all embrace each other, with our families, in freedom,” she said. continue reading

The main opposition bloc, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), greeted all the women who, with “love, strength, and sacrifice, sustain their families and keep alive the hope of a better country,” and made special mention of the mothers of political prisoners, who “face the pain of injustice and separation, but continue giving an example of dignity, fortitude, and struggle for freedom.”

“Special recognition also to the mothers who live with the distance caused by migration, persecution, or the absence of their children, without ever giving up hope,” it added.

The Primero Justicia party demanded “justice for all the mothers who, because of persecution, the search for a better future, or prison, today cannot embrace their children and grandchildren.”

The organization Encuentro Ciudadano asserted that, in Venezuela, being a mother “has also meant resisting, resisting the separation from children who emigrated, hunger, blackouts, uncertainty, and the pain of seeing a broken country.”

In Venezuela, being a mother “has also meant resisting, resisting the separation from children who emigrated, hunger, blackouts, uncertainty, and the pain of seeing a broken country”

“But today, especially, we think of the mothers of political prisoners. Of those women who cannot embrace their children, who travel through courts and prisons seeking justice, who live between anguish and hope. To them, our respect and solidarity,” it wrote on X.

The party asked that this day “not be only a celebration but also a reminder of the debt Venezuela has with so many mothers who suffer in silence.”

For its part, the NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) stated that hundreds of women spend their day “standing in lines outside a prison, while others wake up far from their children, locked in a cell, watching childhood pass behind a visit, a phone call, or a photograph.”

“There are mothers who travel kilometers carrying food and medicine for their imprisoned children, mothers who grow old amid searches, transfers, and institutional silence, mothers like Carmen Teresa Navas who spend months desperately searching for their children while the regime disappears, tortures, or kills them,” it said.

In that sense, it warned that the prison crisis “not only punishes those deprived of liberty; it also breaks bonds, separates families, and condemns thousands of mothers to live amid pain, uncertainty, and absence.”

The CLIPP demanded, on this “Mother’s Day, freedom for their children.” “That is the gift awaited by the mothers who continue outside the prisons. They do not ask for privileges: they demand justice, truth, and a return home,” it added.

The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) expressed in a statement its “deep consternation and pain” over Quero’s death and demanded that criminal and administrative responsibilities be determined.

“It is imperative to determine the criminal and administrative responsibilities of those officials who, by action or omission, allowed a young Venezuelan to die in oblivion, without access to his family and deprived of due process,” it stated, and asked the Public Ministry and the Ombudsman’s Office to act “with true autonomy and independence.”

The CEV expressed solidarity with the mother, Carmen Navas, and said that she “personifies the ordeal of so many Venezuelan families.” “Her tireless search, marked by harassment and uncertainty, is a cry that reaches heaven. The Church stands in solidarity with the pain of those who seek the truth amid institutional opacity,” it said.

The CEV expressed solidarity with the mother, Carmen Navas, and said that she “personifies the ordeal of so many Venezuelan families”

In addition, the conference recalled that the State “has the inalienable moral and legal duty to guarantee the life and physical integrity of those deprived of liberty.”

On the other hand, it pointed out as “signs of a lack of transparency and probity” by the authorities that the political prisoner “died in July 2025 while the State provided contradictory information to his family.”

“The fact that his whereabouts were denied in facilities such as El Rodeo I, while he had already died, constitutes an extremely serious breach of public ethics. This deliberate concealment constitutes elements of forced disappearance, a crime that justice cannot and must not ignore,” it asserted.

Regarding the exhumation carried out on Friday, the CEV called for international experts to “validate the findings in order to clarify the truth, determine criminal responsibilities for the forced disappearance, and stop the institutional cruelty that revictimizes” the mother.

With Quero Navas, there are now 27 people detained for political reasons who have died in state custody since 2014, according to the NGOs Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP) and Provea.

According to an official statement released last Thursday, Quero died almost ten days later from “acute respiratory failure secondary to pulmonary thromboembolism.” The same day, the Ombudsman’s Office requested an exhaustive and independent investigation and the Prosecutor’s Office announced the start of inquiries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Spain Allocates Half a Million Euros to Buy Food for the Cuban Population

This money comes from the 375 million euro investment fund created in exchange for forgiving Havana part of its public debt to Madrid.

Cubans shopping at a market stall at 17 and K. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, May 11, 2026 — The debt conversion program signed between Spain and Cuba ten years ago is being used to donate food to the Island, according to the newspaper El País this Monday. The bilateral committee managing the program authorized last February a 500,000 euro project to purchase food as urgent aid for the population, following the model of an earlier initiative in which agricultural cooperatives in the eastern region supplied schools with food.

The fund — a mechanism in which debt is forgiven in exchange for investment in projects of common interest — has a value of 375 million euros and was signed in 2016, although it was not until last year that an agreement was reached on how to channel the money. In July 2025, the Economy Ministers of both countries signed an agreement stating that the money would be used to finance sustainable development projects in sectors such as energy, water, and food security.

Technically, according to sources from the Secretariat of State for Trade speaking to El País, that money could not be used for current expenses, as this case would be considered. However, the committee decided to authorize it because of the Cuban crisis, aggravated at that time by the recent publication of the executive order through which the U.S. prevents oil shipments to the Island under threat of sanctions.

Cuba’s public debt to Spain amounts to nearly 2 billion euros, most of it originating from the former Development Aid Fund

Cuba’s public debt to Spain amounts to nearly 2 billion euros, most of it originating from the former Development Aid Fund during the 1980s and 1990s, which the European country considers impossible to recover. continue reading

In an effort to resolve the situation, different governments have signed three agreements with the Island, two during the second term of Mariano Rajoy(2015 and 2016) and a third during the first government of Pedro Sánchez (2021).

The first agreement, part of a broader pact with the Paris Club, was signed in November 2015 and consisted of a short-term debt restructuring agreement worth 201 million euros, of which 110.8 million were forgiven. Another 40 million were used to create a counterpart fund that provides grants to Spanish companies investing in Cuba for their local currency expenses. In March 2024, Spain reported that the fund had almost been fully used.

In 2016, the second agreement was signed, valued at 2.242 billion euros in medium- and long-term debt. Of that amount, 1.492 billion euros were forgiven, and another counterpart fund of 375 million euros was organized: the one now being used to donate food. The last agreement, signed in 2021, involved a reorganization of payments without debt forgiveness.

Although the decision to activate this first 500,000 euro project was made last February, El País notes that this mechanism could continue to be used, becoming an option for donating aid to the Island. On April 19, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signed a statement at the summit held in Barcelona calling for ways to cooperate in resolving the crisis in Cuba.

“We express our enormous concern over the grave humanitarian crisis facing the Cuban people and call for the adoption of the necessary measures to alleviate this situation and avoid actions that worsen the living conditions of the population or are contrary to international law,” the text stated.

However, private companies owed money by Cuba are not pleased, according to the newspaper. The amount of debt was estimated at around 350 million euros owed to 300 companies, according to the Catalan organization Fomento del Trabajo Nacional, although El País speaks of 316 million euros claimed by about 200 companies grouped in the Platform of Those Affected by Non-Payment by the Cuban Government.

‘El País’ speaks of 316 million euros claimed by about 200 companies grouped in the Platform of Those Affected by Non-Payment by the Cuban Government

This group, made up of 50% companies from Catalonia and 20% from the Basque Country, has criticized the move while also considering that there has been inactivity when it comes to demanding payment of the private debt from the Cuban Government. On May 5, the Senate debated a motion urging the Executive Branch to implement measures “that help Spanish companies working or trading with Cuba to collect outstanding amounts owed by the Cuban Government and Cuban state companies.”

The initiative received support from the People’s Party, a center-right opposition party with a majority in that chamber, and Catalan and Basque nationalist parties (Junts and PNV, allies of the Government), while all others abstained. During that session, the spokesperson for the Socialist Party argued that the Government pressures the Cuban state to pay but cannot use public funds to cover private defaults.

“The Secretariat of State for Trade constantly monitors the situation through the debt survey prepared by the commercial office and has made numerous claims before Cuban authorities on behalf of those companies,” he explained. “The commitment to ending non-payment by the Cuban Government is total. What we cannot support is the payment of compensation by the Spanish state as a consequence of commercial operations between private companies and the Government of Cuba. Public spending cannot be allocated to items not authorized by law.”

As a result of that session, the motion was approved, urging the Government to quantify the private debt, develop a plan to defend the interests of companies, study liquidity support instruments for affected businesses, and bring the situation before the competent bodies of the European Union in order to adopt a joint position demanding from “the Cuban Government legal certainty, respect for contracts, verifiable payment mechanisms for European companies, and real progress in freedoms, human rights, and the rule of law.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Mother’s Day Without Flowers or Gifts

“This year, the only thing I can buy for the mothers in my family is a bar of bath soap for each of them,” Dianet admits with a mixture of shame and resignation.

Mother’s Day seems to have become more of an exercise in economic survival than a celebration. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, San José de las Lajas (Mayabeque), May 9, 2026 / Gone are the days of making the bed with the best sheets available and placing gifts for Mom on it every second Sunday of May: perfume, a housecoat, new slippers, or a box of chocolates that remained untouched until after the family lunch. In San José de las Lajas, just days before the second Sunday of May, Mother’s Day seems to have become more of an exercise in economic survival than a celebration.

“This is what we have left of the little money my son sent from abroad,” says 74-year-old Georgina, clutching a debit card with barely nine dollars remaining. In front of her, the shelves of the La Época store display the same familiar scene: packages of detergent, bottles of shampoo, napkins, spaghetti, and a few imported soaps with prices that seem out of this world. The retiree scans the shelves again and again as if, by persisting, a miraculous sale might appear. But no. “It’s vanished like smoke, and we’ve barely bought anything, and there’s a holiday coming up that we should be celebrating.”

Inside the store, the air conditioning is only partially working, offering little resistance to the humid heat that seeps in from the street. Leaning against the cash registers, the clerks chat about the power outages, the price of rice, and the latest blackout in Jamaica, the outlying neighborhood where many have built makeshift homes of concrete and asbestos cement. No one mentions Mother’s Day promotions. There are no plastic flowers, no pink ribbons, not even a hastily written sign with a marker saying “Happy Mother’s Day.” Everything feels as cold as a government office.

“All the stores have the same old things, with the same exorbitant prices.”

“All the stores have the same old things, with the same exorbitant prices,” Georgina complains. She does mental calculations as she looks at a product priced at $2.50. If she buys that for a granddaughter who just gave birth, then her daughter and niece will be left with nothing. “Pensions are around five or six dollars a month, and here any little thing costs half of that,” she laments. continue reading

Inflation has blurred the lines between necessity and sentimentality. / 14ymedio

Among the customers is Dianet, recently arrived from Palma Soriano and now living in a llega y pon [‘shanty town’] on the outskirts of town. She walks with a small child in tow and an impossible list running through her head: soap, deodorant, something for her mother in Oriente, and, if she can afford it, a little something for her cousins and sisters who live nearby. “This year, the only thing I can buy for the mothers in my family is a bar of soap each,” she admits with a mixture of shame and resignation.

As she speaks, an elderly woman examines packages of toilet paper as if appraising fine jewelry. In another corner, two young women argue about whether it’s worth spending seven dollars on shampoo or buying better cooking oil. Inflation has blurred the lines between necessity and sentimentality. A bottle of cologne can cost several days’ worth of food; a simple postcard, if it were to appear, would be almost a luxury.

“A one-way ticket costs 5,000 pesos. Instead of celebrating Mother’s Day, we’re living in times of hardship.”

For Dianet, going into a dollar store is reminiscent of the story of Martina the Cockroach: choosing between too many necessities with barely a few coins in her purse. “Before Friday, I plan to send my mom a money order for 200 or 300 pesos,” she explains. A trip to the East is out of the question. “A one-way ticket costs 5,000 pesos. Instead of celebrating Mother’s Day, we’re living in times of hardship.”

In the private shops downtown, the scene isn’t much different. The shop windows display bottles of rum, packets of coffee, a few imported sweets, and small perfumes that look like relics. The prices, however, are shocking. Twelve dollars for a modest fragrance, almost ten for a body cream, more than 1,000 pesos for a mug decorated with artificial flowers.

Aimé, a worker at the Banco Popular de Ahorro and a new grandmother, has spent days visiting state-run stores and micro-enterprises without making a decision. “I can’t spend $12 on perfume for my daughter, and besides, giving her spaghetti or condensed milk seems tacky for this occasion,” she says. She’s looking for something “that she’ll like and that will be useful,” a combination that has become almost impossible in today’s Cuba.

“A picture postcard accompanied by another item would be a decent gift,” she adds, while looking at some patterned napkins that she might end up buying for lack of alternatives. “But there aren’t even any postcards. Sometimes it’s better not to go into these places, because you leave empty-handed and disappointed.”

Outside, in the central park, a few artisans are trying to salvage the season by selling crocheted flowers, inexpensive jewelry, and varnished wooden frames. Several women stop, ask prices, and continue walking. Most are silently calculating their cash.

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The US Is Openly Increasing Its Military Flights Near Cuba, as a Warning

CNN documents at least 25 missions since February in the vicinity of the island in a pattern similar to that observed before the intervention in Venezuela

MQ 4C Triton, one of the surveillance drones detected in the vicinity of Cuba. / CC

14ymedio, Madrid, May 10, 2026 / At least 25 US military flights have been detected near Cuba since February 4, according to a CNN investigation based on open air tracking data and publicly available flight records. The network maintains that the pattern of operations appears to have been deliberately made visible in the context of increased tension between Washington and Havana.

The investigation documents military and intelligence flights around the island, most concentrated in the vicinity of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, some less than 64 kilometers from the coast. In comparison, the US conducted “only a few intelligence flights” of this nature near the island in 2025.

All the routes were identified using open platforms such as Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange , commonly used to track civil and military air traffic. “This occurs even though the aircraft involved have the ability—if they so choose—to conceal their presence by turning off their location beacons,” CNN notes.

CNN reports that “similar patterns, in which increased rhetoric from the Trump administration coincided with an increase in publicly visible surveillance flights, occurred before US military operations in both Venezuela and continue reading

Iran.”

The aircraft involved have the capability – if they so choose – to conceal their presence by turning off their location beacons.

The public exposure raises the question of whether the US is deliberately sending a signal about the presence of these aircraft to its adversaries. Regardless of whether this signal is intentional or not on the part of the US military or government, the message has triggered nervousness among Cuban officials and the public.

On social media, Cuban users are sharing reports of US surveillance flights and fueling growing concerns about a military intervention, like the one that took place on January 3 in Venezuela.

Most of the operations involved P-8A Poseidon aircraft, used by the US for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance missions. An RC-135V Rivet Joint, an aircraft dedicated to electronic intelligence gathering and interception, was also detected, as well as several MQ-4C Triton drones, used for high-altitude aerial observation.

These surveillance flights coincide with a context of growing verbal and political confrontation between Washington and Havana. Recently, the Trump administration has tightened sanctions against the regime and even hinted at intervention scenarios , although sources cited by The Associated Press (AP) have denied that the White House is planning a military operation in Cuba.

Independent of whether that signal was intentional or not on the part of the US Army or Government, the message has triggered nervousness among Cuban officials.

For its part, the Cuban regime has intensified its rhetoric of defending the “homeland”—or, what amounts to the same thing for them, the political system in place on the island—”to the death,” through the so-called “war of the whole people” strategy. However, despite the intense state campaign to demonstrate supposed popular support, public opinion—reflected in the results of the recent independent poll conducted by El Toque —does not appear to back the government.

CNN adds that the operations have been constant since February 4, the date on which Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío gave an interview to the network in which he stated that Havana was willing to talk with Washington, but ruled out any discussion about a change of political system.

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The Cuban Regime Is Applying a Timid “Chainsaw” to Its Government Apparatus

Cuba’s Council of Ministers proposes reducing the number of state entities from 27 to 21, although it has not yet revealed which ones will disappear or be merged.

The announced reduction may be a sign of belated rationality or merely a cosmetic operation. / Granma

14ymedio, Havana, Alejandro de Cañas, 10 May 2026 / The Cuban government has decided to downsize its own machinery, though instead of a chainsaw it is using garden shears. The Council of Ministers approved a draft bill to reduce the number of agencies in the Central State Administration from 27 to 21, a pruning of six entities in a country where bureaucracy has grown for decades at the same pace as inefficiency. The measure is not yet in effect; it must still be approved by the National Assembly, but it already marks the first concrete step in a restructuring announced weeks ago.

The news was published on May 9 in Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party. The article does not identify which agencies will disappear, be absorbed, or be merged—a significant omission in a reform presented as a fundamental redesign of the state apparatus.

In presenting the proposal, legal expert Andry Matilla Correa stated that “this is not merely a structural change, but rather a redesign of each of the Bodies of the Central State Administration (OACE).” Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz was even more direct: “A small country, a country with such a complex situation, cannot have such a large structure, so much bureaucracy, which makes processes inefficient, and therefore requires a different design.”

For a country with fewer than ten million inhabitants, the structure seems bloated even when compared to governments of larger countries.

The decision didn’t come out of nowhere. In April, Miguel Díaz-Canel had already announced that the regime was preparing a “restructuring” of the state apparatus. In an interview with RT, the president stated: “We are also considering a restructuring of the entire state, administrative, and business apparatus; that is, reducing bureaucracy. This isn’t just about the structures themselves, because even a small structure can be bureaucratic. We have to work in both directions.” He also announced the goal of achieving “fewer continue reading

ministries and fewer intermediate structures between the territories and the country.”

That April announcement also had a regulatory precedent. On the 9th of that month, Decree 127 on budgeted institutions was published, officially presented as a regulation intended to “resize the Central State Administration,” improve its structures, and reduce the administrative burden on the public budget. In other words, before the proposed figure of 21 agencies was known, the Government had already begun to prepare the legal and rhetorical groundwork for streamlining its apparatus.

The reform is late, but not for lack of signals. Cuba currently maintains 22 ministries and five non-ministerial agencies within the 27 existing State Administrative Bodies (OACE), according to the institutional list published by the Presidency. For a country with fewer than ten million inhabitants, an impoverished economy, a chronic shortage of foreign currency, and deteriorating public services, the structure seems bloated, even when compared to the governments of larger countries.

If we consider only the number of ministries, Cuba has 22, the same number as Spain and more than Mexico, with 21 state secretariats; Colombia, with 19 ministries; and Argentina, which, after Javier Milei’s “chainsaw” reshuffle, reduced its cabinet to eight ministries. There is no standardized global ranking , because each country classifies its portfolios and agencies differently, but Cuba clearly ranks among the top countries when compared to several leading governments in Latin America.

The big question is which six organs will be affected.

For years, the Cuban regime presented itself as a model of rational planning, but it has maintained a cumbersome, fragmented, and costly state architecture inherited from the former Soviet Union. Even the official press now admits that this structure hinders processes and multiplies bureaucracy. This acknowledgment comes as the Cuban economy is experiencing one of its worst crises in decades, with blackouts, inflation, declining productivity, and a state increasingly unable to guarantee basic necessities.

The great unknown is which six agencies will be affected. Officially, this hasn’t been announced yet. Granma only reported the total reduction from 27 to 21. Logically, the possible candidates include the Institute of Information and Social Communication, which could be integrated into the Ministry of Communications; the National Institute of Territorial Planning and Urbanism, which could be absorbed by the Ministry of Construction; and the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, which could be transferred to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment.

Among the ministries, the mergers that would make the most administrative sense would be Education with Higher Education, Industries with the Food Industry, or, more debatable, Domestic Trade with Foreign Trade and Investment. For now, all of this remains in the realm of conjecture, not a published decision.

The announced reduction may be a sign of belated rationality or merely a cosmetic operation. The decisive factor will not be how many titles disappear from the organizational charts, but how many procedures, layers of command, and spaces of irresponsibility and corruption disappear with them.

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Relations Between Cuba and Venezuela Are at a Standstill, Awaiting Developments in Both Countries

Havana remains silent on how many aid workers are still in the South American country, while Caracas dismantles part of the alliance that sustained the Cuban regime.

The disruption of Venezuelan oil production comes at a time when the economy is not in a position to withstand it. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, May 8, 2026 / The capture of Nicolás Maduro by US forces has plunged Cuba into one of its worst strategic nightmares. Venezuela no longer subsidizes oil for the island, it does not automatically obey Havana, and has a new government willing to review the cooperation mechanisms that for more than two decades allowed the Cuban regime to compensate for its declining production with Venezuelan aid.

The main blow is, above all, energy. For years, Venezuela was the island’s primary oil supplier, even when shipments no longer reached the levels agreed upon by Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro in 2000. In 2025, Cuba received—according to some agencies—between 11,000 and 16,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude oil per day, although others raise the estimate to 27,000 barrels per day. In some months, the flow was much higher.

This dependence explains the unease that has taken hold in Havana since January, when the new Venezuelan government began to sever ties with the Plaza de la Revolución. Cuban researcher Pável Alemán, quoted by EFE, acknowledges that “it is difficult to pinpoint the exact state of the bilateral relationship,” although he warns of a “gradual cooling” following the decisions made by Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.

The interruption of Venezuelan oil is not happening to an economy in a position to withstand it

According to Alemán, the new Venezuelan government “is gradually dismantling a group of social programs that had been approved long before,” in addition to complying with “the US request to stop exporting oil to Cuba” and approving “much more profound” changes, including the reform of the Hydrocarbons Law. “This has a negative continue reading

impact on Cuban society and, logically, on bilateral relations,” he told the Spanish news agency.

The interruption of Venezuelan oil supplies is not happening to an economy in a position to withstand it. Cuba imports a significant portion of its fuel, its aging thermoelectric plants are operating at near capacity, and the regime has received only one shipment of Russian oil—delivered by a single tanker on March 30—since the last Mexican shipment arrived on January 9. In recent years, imports have been insufficient to prevent blackouts, restrictions on transportation, and an industrial crisis that extends from nickel production to agriculture.

But oil was only one part of the pact with Caracas. The other was the Cuban presence in Venezuela. Doctors, trainers, political advisors, intelligence officers, and military specialists were deeply embedded in key Chavista institutions. The alliance was sold for years as a cooperative effort, but in practice it functioned as an exchange of fuel for professional services and political control.

Relations are “totally paralyzed” and awaiting developments in both Caracas and Havana.

Professor Efraín Vázquez Vera, also quoted by EFE, believes that relations are “totally paralyzed” and awaiting developments in both Caracas and Havana. In his view, Venezuela is no longer a “factor” in Cuban politics, and Maduro’s arrest serves more as a warning: “a latent threat or possibility of what could happen in Cuba.”

Havana, for the moment, is avoiding public confrontation. In the last four months, communications between the two governments have decreased significantly, as have gestures of support and personal contacts.

Silence also surrounds the situation of the Cubans who remain in Venezuela. After Maduro’s capture, 14ymedio documented the repatriation flights on Cubana de Aviación’s Ilyushin IL-96, as well as testimonies from doctors quartered in Venezuela awaiting their return to the island. However, the government has never reported how many aid workers were evacuated, how many remain in Venezuelan territory, or what has happened to the remaining personnel involved in security operations.

There is “a bit of resentment on the part of Cubans,” because some on the Island believe that the operation against Maduro had “internal” Venezuelan support and that, therefore, the Island’s military was “sacrificed.”

Vázquez Vera believes he senses “a bit of resentment on the part of Cubans,” because some on the island believe that the operation against Maduro had “internal” Venezuelan support and that, therefore, the Cuban military personnel who were part of his protection detail were “sacrificed.” Although, officially, the Cuban regime has not issued any criticism.

Alemán avoids using the term “treason,” but acknowledges the moral impact of the incident. It was, he told EFE, “the first time in decades that Cubans had fallen in a conflict on the soil of another country.” At least 32 members of the Cuban Armed Forces died during the U.S. operation on January 3 at Fort Tiuna, where officers specializing in counterintelligence, psychological warfare, and crowd control were stationed.

Alemán maintains that any attempt to replicate a Venezuelan-style operation on the island would clash with Cuban nationalism, which he says is more unifying than ideology itself. “Here, it won’t be easy for them to find someone to negotiate with behind the backs of Cuban society and launch a government replacement project,” he told EFE. The problem for the Cuban regime is that the Venezuelan crisis has already had its effects without a single Delta Force soldier ever setting foot in Havana.

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

From the crumbling doorways of Monte Street to the neighborhoods without electricity, the Cuban capital displays the physical and emotional toll of the crisis

When I finally leave that avenue behind, I feel like I’ve returned from a war zone. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, May 9, 2026 — May doesn’t feel like May. It has the face of July and the temperament of August. I know this from the irritability I encounter at every step. Social fatigue often manifests as fights over anything, a shout here and a shove there that add a little more anxiety to the already harsh daily grind. A shoe unintentionally stepped-on, a phrase spoken to the wrong person, or an indiscrete glance can unleash anything.

But I’m lucky. Amid the widespread discomfort caused by the long blackouts that have returned with a vengeance, the lack of water that makes our skin sticky and our smells unbearable, I always find a helping hand. Like the man who helps me pick up the cachucha peppers I dropped on a corner because the plastic bag couldn’t hold them, or the young woman who helps me get onto the electric tricycle without stumbling, and the elderly woman who stands beside me and shields me with her umbrella because “this sun is unbearable.”

The broken names of former businesses are visible on the floors of the doorways. / 14ymedio

They’re barely turning on the electricity in my neighborhood anymore. Not in my neighborhood, not in the rest of Cuba. A neighbor says we have to eat everything that needs refrigeration this weekend because we won’t have any more power. We’ll have to say goodbye to the electrical outlets in every house, bid a well-deserved farewell to the light switches, hold a wake for all those wires strung between poles, all those silenced appliances, all those LED lights above our heads. We’ll have to close the door on modernity and swallow the key to begin the total return to darkness.

In our apartment, we open windows, doors, and cracks every night. We’re lucky to live on a high floor facing the northeast trade winds. The only thing left to do is peel off our skin to see if that cools things down a bit. In the middle of the night, I always think about the people who live in the tenement in Central Havana where I was born. With hardly any ventilation, living in tiny rooms with a wall from the neighboring tenement blocking any breeze, they have few options. If I’m like this, I’m afraid they must be slowly roasting in that tenement on Jesús Peregrino Street.

Last night a desperate voice cried out in my neighborhood. It said something like “light” and then a swear word. I was drenched in sweat and paralyzed after several nights with barely three or four hours of sleep. When I woke up, I didn’t know if that cry had been real, but a neighbor confirmed it. I feel guilty for not having supported the lone protester, but I was exhausted. The day before, I had been given a grueling task: to go to an area of the city that stirs up memories.

The long inspiration wasn’t just because of the foul smells emanating from their doorways, but also to numb my emotions. / 14ymedio

Monte Street, now that’s a whole other story. So I had to take a deep breath before plunging onto its sidewalks after crossing Fraternity Park. The long inhalation wasn’t just because of the foul smells emanating from its doorways, but also to numb my emotions at the sight of one of the many routes from my childhood, now a ruin. “Let’s go there,” I told myself, not quite believing my own enthusiasm.

No Havana street is as dilapidated and its people as broken as Monte. Traveling along it is like stepping into a Cuba of gritty realism or ghost stories. There’s nothing to inspire optimism along this avenue that cuts through some of the most densely populated neighborhoods of the Cuban capital. They haven’t even touched the occasional fresh coat of paint applied to the facades where foreign dignitaries or popes pass by. Nor has the garbage been collected, unlike in those places visited by government officials for photo ops.

If Monte is a corpse, the alleyways that lead into it are already dust. / 14ymedio

The faded names of former businesses are visible on the portals. The shop windows, their broken panes covered with boards, exhibit in the few pieces intact merchandise covered with dust and and containers of cleaning products that promise to fill the house with fragrance and shine. A store overflowing with imported trinkets has a long line of people buying to take all that single-use plastic and cheap silicone back to some small town on the island to resell.

If Monte is a cadver, the alleyways that lead into it are already dust. I venture into one of them. At the end of a passageway, I see a child playing with a flattened plastic bottle as a ball. Two women are arguing over who gets to fill buckets of water at a sink that’s practically touching the ground. Further on, a man sleeps on a damp piece of cardboard, and a portable radio blasts a song from the nineties, as if the whole place were frozen in time. Nowhere on my journey do I have internet service on my phone.

When I finally leave that avenue behind, I feel like I’ve returned from a war zone. But the truce is short-lived. As soon as I enter my neighborhood, I hear the hum of the Ministry of Transportation’s generator, announcing that there’s no electricity. I run into several neighbors with long faces. Could one of them be the one who, a few hours later, shouted “light!” in the middle of the night?

Previous Havana Chronicles:

The Refuse of Disenchantment

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

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

Dollars, the Classic Card, and a Havana Without Tourists

A Journey Through the Lost Names of Havana

The Shipwreck of a Ship Called “Cuba”

Havana Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

In Havana, the Only Ones Who Move Are the Mosquitoes

Reina, the Stately Street Where Garbage is Sold

Searching for Light Through the Deserted Streets of Havana

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

The Anxiety of the Disconnected Cuban

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

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

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

Havana, in Critical Condition

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Recycled Chinese Shipping Containers Provide New Homes for Hundreds of Homeless Cubans

The first beneficiaries are regime militants who lived in overcrowded conditions for many years

View of the two new container homes in Nuevo Vedado, Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, May 8, 2026 – It is no surprise that Alina Hinojosa Cardona and Nerelys Madan Catalá are celebrating their new homes, containers converted into housing for “young working women, single mothers and heads of household,” as the official press presented them last Saturday.

The first was living, that report stated, in a “small room in poor and overcrowded conditions,” and the second, in a shelter “for more than 13 years.”

Compared to that, the two little container-houses, located in a good area of Nuevo Vedado, in Havana, near 26th Street and just a few meters from Tulipán Avenue, with a rear patio-garden that includes a wash area, a solar panel on the roof, and brand-new finishes and paint, are chalets.

In Granma’s report on the handover ceremony, carried out by none other than the ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, it was not specified whether the homes were privately owned or not.

In Granma’s report on the handover ceremony, carried out by none other than the ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, it was not specified whether the homes were privately owned or not, but 14ymedio confirmed, through one of the two brand-new tenants, that they belong to the State. The women and their families have use of them under usufruct rights.

A neighbor from the area informed this newspaper that the new houses were installed in 12 days and assures that “inside they are very beautiful.” They were delivered, she says, with several appliances, “a blender and everything.” In one of the windows, behind completely transparent glass, they placed a colorful scarf as a curtain, to avoid being seen from the outside.

No air-conditioning mechanism can be seen, however, and the iron of the containers has not been covered with any material, as happens in other parts of the world where this type of structure is converted into habitable spaces. They do, however, have a solar panel on top of the roof.

According to Granma, their construction used “leftovers from tourism investment projects and technologies developed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces.” The base consisted of maritime containers in which “parts and components for photovoltaic solar panel parks sent by the People’s Republic of China” had been imported.

No air-conditioning mechanism can be seen, and the iron of the containers has not been covered with any material. / 14ymedio

There are families living in the homes: Madan Catalá with her mother and child in one, and in the other, Hinojosa Cardona with two children. The official press presents the stories of both women while trying to offer a heroic narrative, but in reality revealing the impossibility of having decent housing even in the case of salaried employees and obedient servants of the Party. Alina, says Granma, leads the base committee of the Young Communist League at her workplace, “an organization she joined at 14 continue reading

years of age,” and Nerelys, besides being a secretary, “served as delegate for her district for two terms starting at age 22.”

Their stories, however, mainly aim to praise the virtues of recycling maritime containers into modular homes and to validate “the viability of this alternative to respond in the short term to the growing housing needs of our people,” which they insist “is an international practice.” Granma’s lengthy chronicle reported that the delivered homes “are proof that these can be built tastefully and aesthetically, integrated into communities and the urban environment, contributing to beautification, while also helping the neighborhood through induced works and serving as encouragement to women, many of them alone and responsible for their families.”

The program, they also claim, “generates enthusiasm,” but according to statements at the same event by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, “it is not moving at the speed desired; it is being done, but it can be carried out faster.” The authorities indeed mentioned the housing deficit the country has, of more than 800,000 homes, and praised “the potential” represented by maritime containers, a “material that is generally an environmental problem,” as reasons to carry out the initiative.

Faced with this, several specialists have expressed suspicions, questioning above all whether, since they are metal structures—a strong conductor of heat—the insulation is adequate for a climate like Cuba’s. Thus, for example, engineer Yulieta Hernández, who wrote on her social media: “Even with designed passive solutions (real cross ventilation, air chambers, shading), the interior can become uninhabitable. In the colder months the opposite happens: thermal inertia is low and comfort is easily lost. An oven in summer and a freezer in winter.”

Image of one of the usufruct beneficiaries at the ceremony handing over the container homes conducted by Miguel Díaz-Canel. / Granma

The expert stated she was speaking from experience, “after having used several as temporary facilities on construction projects.” In her lengthy post she also questioned numerous elements, such as the quality of the electrical insulation: “the combination of metal structure, humidity, leaks, and improvised wiring can be dangerous if there is no proper grounding, differential protection, and rigorous execution;” the waterproofing: “critical points are visible at first glance,” “sheet metal undulations around the windows,” and “areas prone to leaks;” and the possible weakness of this type of housing against cyclones. “The roof looks like it will fly away with the first strong wind,” she states, and the materials are incompatible, since “metal is a material with high thermal expansion and contraction, so when combined with rigid finishes like ceramic or tiles, problems of adhesion, cracking, and detachment tend to appear.”

Other specialists, however, have spoken in favor, such as Abel Tablada. The architect offered his point of view, he explained, after visiting one of these container homes that form part of a group of 300 planned for installation in the area of the former Toledo sugar mill, opposite the José Antonio Echeverría Technological University of Havana (Cujae).

“We were able to verify that to reduce heat transfer, a second roof with an intermediate ventilation space was designed, and in the walls, the metal was insulated with an air layer and a plywood panel on the inside,” Tablada assures in a Facebook post that quickly filled with comments. In it he also says that “professors from Cujae measured the interior temperatures before the transformation and will return once the home is finished to validate the effectiveness of the thermal insulation measures.”

Regarding ventilation, he explains, “it is achieved through cross ventilation due to the narrowness of the container and the placement of louvered windows in each room”

Regarding ventilation, he explains, “it is achieved through cross ventilation due to the narrowness of the container and the placement of louvered windows in each room.” The home, he describes, “has a porch, a kitchen-dining room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry area with a rear porch,” just like those observed by 14ymedio in Nuevo Vedado.

The architect states that he made several suggestions to improve this type of house, among them “completing the monitoring of interior conditions to determine whether the thermal insulation is sufficient,” “using the double roof to install solar panels so that this community not only becomes energy self-sufficient but can also feed energy into the grid,” and “painting the exterior surfaces light colors” to reduce radiation absorption, “since the eaves do not provide good coverage on the rear façade and the sides.”

His conclusion, in any case, reinforces the official narrative that the reuse of containers was not simply a temporary solution for hurricane victims, as the regime initially presented it, but was also something intended to remain permanently: “For families who have lost everything or for young people beginning adulthood without having been able to inherit anything, obtaining a container home is a considerable improvement in their lives, and this solution, despite any additional improvements it may need, is welcome.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The US Sanctions the Cuban State Company Gaesa, Its President and the State-Owned Nickel Mining Company

The list falls under Trump’s executive order from six days ago, which establishes sanctions for those “responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to the national security” of the United States.

Image of the nickel mines in Moa, Holguín, shared by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, criticizing the new US sanctions. / X/@BrunoRguezP

14ymedio, Madrid, May 7, 2026 / The State Department named new individuals within the Cuban regime, on Thursday, sanctioned by the United States. They are the powerful Business Administration Group (GAESA); its president, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera; and the state-owned company associated with the Canadian firm Sherritt International that operates in the Holguín mines, Moa Nickel SA.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that he designated these “subjects” under the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, which determined to impose sanctions “on those responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy.”

Cuba’s military conglomerate Gaesa is on the list, the document states, “for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Cuban economy,” and its president, “for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of Gaesa.” As for Moa Nickel, it is sanctioned “for operating or having operated in the metallurgical and mining sector of the Cuban economy.”

This same Thursday, citing Trump’s May 1st order, Sherritt, the international partner of the Cuban state mining company, announced the suspension of its activities on the island and the immediate repatriation of its employees, including the Cubans it employs in Canada.

It is within this context that the stampede of the Canadian Sherritt from the nickel mines in Moa can be explained.

The sanctions, Rubio explained, mean that “all property and interests” of those designated “are blocked” and “must be reported to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).” Any entity or individual, the statement continued, “that is 50% or more owned, directly or indirectly, by them or with other blocked persons, is also blocked.”

Also prohibited are transactions by Americans, within the country or even in transit, involving any property or interest of the sanctioned, unless, continue reading

it specifies, authorized by an OFAC license.

Similarly, it warns that “foreign individuals who participate in transactions with designated persons” or “who operate in the energy, defense and related materials, metallurgy and mining, financial services, or security sectors of the Cuban economy” risk being “subject to sanctions.” It is within this context that the exodus of the Canadian company Sherritt from the nickel mines in Moa can be explained.

The regime reacted immediately to the new sanctions through its usual channel: the X account of Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. “With the additional collective punishment measures announced today against Cuba, the US government confirms its genocidal intent against the Cuban nation and dispels any doubt about the falsity of its pretexts for attacking our country,” the foreign minister stated, without mentioning any of those sanctioned by name, but attaching an image of the Holguín mining operation.

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More Sanctions Against the Cuban Regime Are Coming, Marco Rubio Announces in Rome

Gaesa is “a holding company created by generals that has generated billions of dollars in revenue, none of which benefits the Cuban people,” the Secretary of State explained to the Italian press.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, alongside his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, at the Farnesina Palace in Rome, this Friday. / EFE/EPA/Fabio Frustaci

14ymedio, Madrid, May 8, 2025 / US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted on Friday that further sanctions against the Cuban regime will follow those announced on Thursday. When asked about them at a press conference in Rome, after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he explained that the Business Administration Group (GAESA) is “a holding company created by generals in Cuba that has generated billions of dollars in revenue, none of which benefits the Cuban people.”

He continued: “Not a single cent of that money benefits the Cuban people. There is the Cuban government, which has a budget, and then there is this private company that has more money than the government itself. Not a single cent from that company goes toward building a single road, a single bridge, or providing a single grain of rice to a single Cuban, except for the people who are part of GAESA.”

“These are not sanctions against the Cuban people,” he affirmed, but rather sanctions against “companies that are basically taking everything that generates money in Cuba and illegally funneling it into the pockets of a few members of the regime.” He emphasized this point, arguing that “this is a sanction against this company that is robbing the Cuban people for the benefit of a few.”

“These are not sanctions against the Cuban people,” he affirmed, but rather sanctions against “companies that are basically taking everything that generates money in Cuba.”

Rubio said he did not discuss it during the audience yesterday, Thursday, with Pope Leo XIV, but added: “We are going to take further measures.”

What they did discuss, he said, was aid to Cuba. Regarding this, he informed the Pope that the United States had provided six million dollars in humanitarian aid, which was distributed by Caritas, the Catholic Church’s charity, and that they were prepared to do more.

“In fact,” he asserted, “we have offered the regime $100 million in humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, so far they have not agreed to distribute it continue reading

to help the people of Cuba. We considered providing hurricane relief, but it is the regime that refuses. It is the regime that is standing in the way.”

The US, he emphasized, “wants to help Cuba, which is suffering because of this incompetent regime that has destroyed the country and the economy.”

The State Department, headed by Rubio, on Thursday named new individuals sanctioned by the U.S. administration within the Cuban regime: in addition to Gaesa: they are the president of Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the state-owned company associated with the Canadian firm Sherritt International that operates in the Holguín mines, Moa Nickel SA

The Foreign Ministry itself echoed this Friday the demonstrations carried out in Italy this Thursday against the Secretary of State

In a statement, the Secretary of State explained that he designated these “subjects” under the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 1 , which determined to impose sanctions “on those responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

The regime reacted immediately to the new sanctions, via the Foreign Minister’s social media accounts, which described the measures as a “collective punishment” and denounced the US for “its genocidal intent against the Cuban nation.”

The Italian Foreign Ministry itself echoed reports on Friday of the demonstrations held in Italy on Thursday against the US Secretary of State for his visit, in “more than 50 cities.” The official press also reported a “massive demonstration” in Rome’s central Piazza dei Apostoli, organized by the Network of Communists and other far-left youth organizations, such as Cambiare Rotta and the Alternative Student Opposition (OSA). “Rubio out of Rome!” and “Cuba is not alone!” were among the slogans chanted by the pro-Castro crowd.

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Meliá Closes 50% of Its Hotels in Cuba Due to Lack of Tourists

Executives of the Spanish chain state that domestic tourism accounts for “virtually all bookings for hotels still open”

The situation confirms the deterioration of a market that for decades was considered strategic for Meliá. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, May 7, 2026 / The Spanish hotel chain Meliá Hotels International has reduced its operations in Cuba, closing approximately 50% of its hotel capacity on the island. The decision, implemented gradually during the first quarter of the year, is a response to the energy crisis, fuel shortages, and the decline in international air connections, as the company acknowledged in its financial results, published this Thursday.

The Balearic company, one of the largest foreign operators in the Cuban tourism sector, did not specify how many or which of its hotels remain closed. However, it admitted that as of the end of March, only about half of its hotel portfolio in the country was operational, where it currently manages 34 establishments and more than 5,000 rooms.

The chain also acknowledges that the establishments still operating depend almost entirely on domestic tourism, which accounts for “virtually all bookings for the hotels still open.” However, this market is insufficient to offset the drop in foreign visitors. In practice, the company has been forced to reduce its operational presence in the country while it awaits an eventual normalization of energy supplies and a recovery in international demand.

Meliá notes that operations in Cuba have been “significantly compromised” since the beginning of the year due to difficulties in obtaining fuel and the deterioration of the tourism market.

The measure expands upon the adjustment announced in February, when Meliá reported the temporary closure of three of its 35 hotels in Cuba . Operations are now concentrated in a smaller number of facilities, an increasingly common practice in the Cuban tourism sector due to shortages of customers, fuel, and supplies.

In its report, Meliá notes that its operations in Cuba have been “significantly compromised” since the beginning of the year due to difficulties in obtaining fuel and the deteriorating tourism market. The company added that the lack of aviation fuel has led to the cancellation of numerous direct flights to the island, including those from continue reading

Canada, which remains the country’s main source of tourists.

This collapse in flights further aggravated an already weakened international demand. Hotels that remained open registered an average occupancy rate of just 34.1% between January and March, a very low figure for a destination that for years received substantial public investment in tourism infrastructure.

The situation confirms the decline of a market that for decades was considered strategic for Meliá. The company operates in destinations such as Havana, Varadero, Cayo Coco, Cayo Santa María, and Holguín, many of them designed for international sun and beach tourism. However, the combination of power outages, fuel shortages, logistical problems, and reduced flights has severely limited the profitability of these destinations.

In its forecasts, the hotel chain warns that the evolution of the business in Cuba will depend on how events unfold, the recovery of supplies, and an eventual return to normality.

Looking ahead to the coming months, the hotel chain is avoiding offering a clear reopening timeline. In its forecasts, it cautions that the evolution of the business in Cuba will depend on how events unfold, the recovery of supplies, and an eventual return to normality. Meanwhile, operations will continue to be limited by the drop in international demand and the coordinated lockdown measures implemented in the country.

The Cuban blow was also reflected in Meliá’s global accounts. The company posted a net profit of €3.3 million in the first quarter, 68% less than the €10.5 million earned in the same period of the previous year. Despite this drop, the group’s total global revenue increased by 4.4% to €460.6 million, and RevPAR, the indicator that measures revenue per available room, grew by 8.3%.

The company attributes this positive performance to other markets, especially holiday destinations in Spain, Europe, and the Caribbean, where it reports double-digit growth compared to the previous year. It also maintains that, for the time being, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have not had a significant impact on either demand or costs, although it remains cautious regarding potential energy price increases and disruptions to air capacity.

For Cuba, however, the outlook is much bleaker. The island is experiencing one of the worst energy crises in its history, with prolonged blackouts, electricity generation deficits, and chronic difficulties importing fuel. This situation affects the population, state-owned enterprises, and also foreign businesses that depend on a stable infrastructure to operate.

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The Onei Admits That Cuba Lacks 91.5% of Medicines and Health Supplies

Inflation figures, 1.5% in April and 14.7% year-on-year, reflect the disappearance of drugs, which are now acquired almost entirely on the black market at high prices.

Illegal drug stall on Diez de Octubre Avenue in Havana. / 14ymedio

The shortage of essential medicines has reached such levels that it is almost necessary to “invent” the cost of products to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Cuba. In its April price report, published this Thursday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), an imputation rate of 91.5% had to be applied in the Health category, a record high since this report began being compiled.

Imputation is a tool used in statistics when the technicians compiling the data cannot find a particular product on the market—whether due to scarcity or unavailability. In this situation, the surveyors make an estimate to ensure the continuity of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This practice is standardized and necessary to maintain the data chain, but it also reveals where there are gaps, whether they are significant, whether they persist over time, and their evolution, among other indicators.

The table for this month shows, as usual, that most sectors remain reasonably stable – with imputations between 0% and 2% – with the exception of the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector, where a 5.25% adjustment was necessary. High imputations in this segment are common in the ONEI CPI reports due to shortages of many food products. For example, a very high rate of 25% was recorded in November 2024.

The shortage was already evident as far back as December 2021, when a 50% charge had to be applied.

However, nothing compares to the catastrophe suffered by the Health division, a segment where prices don’t usually rise. The real reason isn’t so much whether they do or not, but their mere absence. The shortage was continue reading

already evident as far back as December 2021, when a 50% imputation had to be applied. Looking at the trend, almost randomly, one can see how the situation has worsened dramatically. In March 2022, the rate rose to 56.6%, by August 2023 it was already at 66%, and in September 2024 it reached 85%. Just two months later (November 2024) it reached an unprecedented peak of 90.9%, but it stabilized in 2025.

It isn’t that the situation is not much better, as imputations hovered around 85% throughout last year, but that this March they reached 88.7%, and the absolute record was set in April. This figure indicates that almost all products must be “estimated” because there’s no way to measure them, revealing that Cubans are acquiring virtually all their medicines and medical supplies on the black market. The situation has been entrenched for more than five years, but the shortage has reached unsustainable levels that, according to experts, only appear in contexts of hyperinflation and extreme scarcity.

Moreover, inflation levels are rising again after the restraint shown for many months last year. This month, prices rose 1.5% overall, although some sectors stand out, such as transportation at 2.7%. And this doesn’t even take into account the brutal price hikes seen on the street, where gasoline can be found for 5,000 pesos per liter. “Just yesterday, my sister had to go to a family celebration here, about 20 blocks away. We had to make three trips, and the driver charged us 12,000 pesos for each one,” a resident of Luyanó told this newspaper.

The food sector is also rising again and is 21% more expensive than in April 2025, as are restaurants and hotels.

In April, intercity buses and taxis saw price increases of between 10% and 13%, and while the rise in urban transport was more moderate, taxis, at 8.4%, experienced the smallest price hike. This sector, which has been suffering the consequences of fuel shortages for years, is 17% more expensive since January and 21% more expensive compared to prices a year ago, with the resulting consequences for a population for whom transportation is essential.

The food sector is also rising again, and is 21% more expensive than in April 2025, as are restaurants and hotels—which includes takeaway food—which have increased by 24% year-on-year. Although most of the highlighted food items showed price decreases this month, others, such as milk, taro, and mutton, increased by almost 5% in some cases.

Overall, inflation has risen 7.18% so far this year and 14.7% year-on-year, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI). For months now, prices from private vendors have accounted for 83% of the database due to shortages in state-run markets. Meanwhile, American economist Steve Hanke published his own estimate this Friday, which projects inflation at 29% by 2025, placing Cuba 40th in his ranking of the world’s poorest countries. Just a few weeks ago, he placed annual inflation at 44%, while the Cuban peso has depreciated 30% against the dollar, the fifth worst performance for any currency in the world.

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Havana Chronicles: The Refuse of Disenchantment

Each mountain of garbage reveals a country where ideological books end up mixed with broken appliances.

Each abandoned package tells the story of a family that saved money for months to escape the blackouts. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, May 7, 2026 / I pass by yet another mountain of garbage I encounter on the road, and it’s as if each piece of trash speaks to me. The true national narrative emerges from this waste that rots under the May sun and is carried by the wind or downpours through streets and avenues. There are countries that tell their history through their shop windows and museums, but here ours are narrated by our filth.

Years ago, the garbage dumps were littered with vegetable peels, rice husks, and even Granma newspapers. Now, among the trash, boxes empty of rechargeable flashlights, Chinese batteries, small solar panels, and portable generators are appearing. The Island of Darkness has begun to leave its mark even in the garbage. Each abandoned package speaks of a family that saved dollars for months to escape the blackouts, but also of the sacrifice of the emigrants who help illuminate the dark nights.

The boxes often still have the product photos printed on them: a lightbulb in the middle of a spotless room, a smiling couple as electricity illuminates a kitchen where nothing is ever lacking. The advertising for these appliances has a cruel edge in Cuba. The images on their packaging don’t just sell energy—I’d say energy—they also sell normalcy. They promise a quiet fan, refrigerated food, mosquito-free nights, and children doing homework under steady light. They promise a country that doesn’t exist.

Even stray animals have learned to read the transformation of our waste. The dogs and cats that roam around the garbage know that people are throwing away fewer and fewer edible items. Before, they found bones, leftover food, pieces of stale bread. Now they rummage for hours through nylon, damp cardboard, and plastic containers to find barely anything to eat. Inflation has also emptied the garbage piles of the remnants of our daily rations. continue reading

The “divers” know this better than anyone; those men and women who submerge half their bodies inside containers looking for something to eat or to feed a pig

The “divers” know this better than anyone—those men and women who plunge half their bodies into shipping containers looking for something to eat or to feed a pig. Most of the time they stumble upon bladeless fans, gutted televisions, open electric rice cookers, damp mattress stuffing, pieces of plastic, and scraps of cardboard. Some of these appliances were broken by the brutal power surges that accompany the return of electricity after a blackout.

But perhaps nothing is more symbolic than the discarded books. There they are, soaked by the rain and covered in mold: old manuals of Marxism, volumes of political speeches, complete collections of ideological propaganda, and even diplomas awarded “for outstanding participation in socialist emulations.” Sometimes files from state offices appear, bureaucratic papers carelessly tossed aside, and entire archives that no one bothered to destroy. As if even the authorities themselves had lost faith in their significance. Cuban trash no longer contains only material remains: it contains a part of the nation’s disillusionment.

However, amidst all this waste, small dreams also emerge. A box from an air conditioner bought in Panama that will barely turn on due to the lack of electricity. An empty perfume bottle brought from Miami that was never used in a club, because most are closed in this city. Box after box of European chocolates, stored for days before being thrown into the tank, which consumed a good portion of a month’s salary.

It is enough to look at the trash dumps to understand what this nation eats, what it has lost, what it desires, and what it has stopped believing in.

Previous Havana Chronicles:

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

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

Dollars, the Classic Card, and a Havana Without Tourists

A Journey Through the Lost Names of Havana

The Shipwreck of a Ship Called “Cuba”

Havana Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

In Havana, the Only Ones Who Move Are the Mosquitoes

Reina, the Stately Street Where Garbage is Sold

Searching for Light Through the Deserted Streets of Havana

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