Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez was sentenced to seven months in prison after admitting he lied on immigration forms
Luis Raúl González-Pardo, left, in an image included in the prosecution files that led to his conviction for fraud. / American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora
EFE/14ymedio, Miami, May 28, 2026 — Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, a Cuban pilot who was indicted last week alongside former president Raúl Castro for the shootdown of two planes belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue, was sentenced this Thursday to seven months in prison in the United States for lying on immigration forms. The sentence comes one week after the defendant, who entered U.S. territory under humanitarian parole, admitted guilt to fraud in obtaining a visa.
The man was already being held in a state prison, so he is expected to be released before that term is completed.
González-Pardo Rodríguez is one of the five military officers whom the U.S. Department of Justice indicted last week, together with Castro, for the deaths of four people — three U.S. citizens and one legal resident, all of Cuban origin — in the 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft. The other military officers are Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez. The indictment includes four counts of murder, conspiracy to kill Americans, and destruction of aircraft.
The U.S. government has not detailed what the next steps might be in the prosecution of Raúl Castro
Unlike González-Pardo Rodríguez, who was already in the United States at the time of the indictment, Castro, 94, remains in Cuba, and the U.S. government has not detailed what the next steps in his prosecution might be.
During the announcement of the indictment last week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the former Cuban president would appear before justice “of his own will or by some other means,” though he avoided answering whether Washington was planning an operation in Cuba similar to the one carried out in Venezuela on January 3 to capture then-ruler Nicolás Maduro.
According to Cuba, the attack under scrutiny in this case took place in Cuba’s territorial waters, in legitimate defense and after more than a dozen warnings, and therefore did not violate international law. However, reports from continue reading
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, established that the aircraft were shot down in international airspace.
More recent image of González-Pardo, included in his profile as a repressor by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. / FHRC
Brothers to the Rescue was a nonprofit organization founded in Miami by José Basulto in the early 1990s. Its members patrolled international waters searching for Cuban rafters attempting to flee the Island, while Havana accused them of violating Cuban airspace and carrying out political provocations.
Subsequent investigations revealed that at least two Cuban agents infiltrated into Brothers to the Rescue provided detailed information about flight routes and schedules to the Cuban government, facilitating the regime’s military operation. In 2003, a U.S. federal court charged a Cuban general and two fighter pilots over the shootdown, but no formal charges were brought at that time against the Castro brothers.
In June 1996, El Nuevo Herald published an audio recording in which Raúl Castro can be heard saying: “I said they should try to shoot them down over the territory, but they entered Havana and left again… Of course, with one of those air-to-air missiles, what comes down is a fireball, and it’s going to fall on the city. Well, shoot them down at sea when they show up.” In the same audio document, the then-head of the Armed Forces speaks of giving “authority” to “five generals.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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What remains for the regime is to renounce the hegemonic role of the only permitted party and attempt a real opening, even if it appears to be a fraudulent change
The most dynamic parts of the contradiction are, in my view, the governments of Cuba and the United States, despite the fact that the fundamental contradiction lies between the population and the dictatorship. / EFE
14ymedio, Havana, Reinaldo Escobar, May 28, 2026 — Three actors are currently leading the Cuban drama: the dictatorship in power, the population, and external factors.
Although the regime wants to give the impression that it is a monolithic structure, it is enough to cite its different names, or perhaps masks, to perceive the subtle differences: the Party, the military, the family clan, the State, Parliament, the State Security organs. Suspicion falls on each of them as to who is truly governing the country.
Where it says “the population,” one could say “the citizens,” but that designation should be reserved for those human groups whose members are empowered to challenge authority, organize according to their preferences, and periodically go to the polls to reward or punish politicians. One could also say “the people,” but that is the subject that storms government palaces. For now, we are reduced to being merely the inhabitants of this Island. Here, no one asks how the unions will react or what the students will do.
Where it says “the population,” one could say “the citizens,” but that designation should be reserved for those human groups whose members are empowered to challenge authority
Only intuitively, and with an enormous effort to strip away one’s beliefs, can one define the sectors of the population to place supporters of the process on one side and the dissatisfied on the other.
A more detailed study would divide the supporters into different strata: the Marxist-Leninists convinced that socialism is the correct path; those who for some reason feel benefited; the perennial opportunists; and those who, out of inertia, obey and march wherever they are ordered.
The dissatisfied camp is equally varied: the anti-communists continue reading
convinced that socialism as a doctrine ruins nations; those harmed by some law or measure taken over the last 67 years; and those suffering the immediate consequences (scarcity, blackouts, disconnection) but who still do not have the “political consciousness” to participate in a clearly opposition-oriented initiative, where an undeniable minority is active.
External factors are also divided into two camps: on one side, the Government of the United States exercising its enormous economic, diplomatic, and military power to demand the dictatorship’s capitulation. It is timidly accompanied by some democratic countries in Latin America and by the indecisiveness of the European Union, where the belief still prevails that signed agreements and accords can open a path toward democratization.
On the other side, with a less explicit commitment, are Russia, China, and Iran, with their declarations of unrestricted support for the Havana regime, and among neighboring countries, the supportive hand of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, joined by a breeding ground of organizations dressed in progressive rhetoric mainly dedicated to confronting, often violently, demonstrations by Cuban exiles abroad. From this chapter of external factors come shipments of food and medicine, cash donations, solar energy installations, and above all applause. They are the deniers of the need for political change. Some for strategic needs, others because they do not want to realize how illusory their illusion about Cuba is.
From the northern neighbor, which struggles with the limits of how far its interference should go, political common sense and trust in the population are expected — a population tired of its condition as mere inhabitants and eager to become citizens peacefully
From this parallelogram of forces, where each side pulls and pushes in different directions, a result must eventually emerge.
The most dynamic parts of the contradiction are, in my view, the governments of Cuba and the United States, despite the fact that the fundamental contradiction lies between the population and the dictatorship.
What remains for the regime is to renounce the hegemonic role of the only permitted party and attempt a real opening, even if it appears to be a fraudulent change.
From the northern neighbor, which struggles with the limits of how far its interference should go, political common sense and trust in the population are expected — a population tired of its condition as mere inhabitants and eager to become citizens peacefully, but on the verge of reacting angrily as a people.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The digital outlet Axios cites a State Department source: with the heat, irritation will grow and people will take to the streets
“The president does not want troops on the ground for more than 48 hours”
“It’s going to be hot. People won’t have electricity. Food will spoil without refrigeration. People will be more irritated. They may take to the streets. And then what will happen?” / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Madrid, May 28, 2026 — The leaks from the U.S. State Department to Axios that so irritate Havana continue unabated. The latest installment, published this Thursday, again speaks of an open-ended scenario in which all options are being considered. Apparently, President Donald Trump trusts that the regime will slowly stew in its own juices, a fairly literal metaphor considering negotiators are talking about a summer in which heat itself will become another suffocating factor that could push the population to explode.
“We do not want to end the regime just yet. There is a method to this, in stages,” one of the sources said. The Administration expects a collapse in the coming months through a strategy the official describes as “accelerationist,” although that definition weakens when he explains that the pressure will be applied “in slow motion.” “Trump wants to exhaust every tool at his disposal. But at this moment, he does not have as many as before,” the source added, maintaining that the president is in no hurry and is focused on Iran, an issue that becomes more complicated the closer it seems to a resolution.
“We have a broad range of resources, especially regarding sanctions and their enforcement. And more measures are coming,” the source said, without clarifying which additional sectors might be affected.
“We have a broad range of resources, especially regarding sanctions and their enforcement. And more measures are coming”
One of the most enigmatic statements the sources gave Axios was the suggestion that there could indeed be someone within the regime capable of steering a transition, although the operation has not yet been approved. “The problem is not that there is no Delcy in Cuba. There could be people continue reading
with a similar profile. But Trump has not yet given the green light to formally get involved,” one official maintained.
According to these sources, there are two other issues that distinguish Cuba from Venezuela. Washington believes that an operation to capture Raúl Castro — criminally charged in the U.S. a week ago for the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes — similar to the one carried out against Nicolás Maduro would be useless because Raúl Castro already carried out a transition 30 years ago “toward a less authoritarian regime,” and nothing would change. From the official’s remarks, it is understood that the U.S. problem with Cuba is the current system’s economic “incompetence,” without mentioning political aspects.
The other issue is that the embargo is subject to legislative control, meaning the presidency has more limited room to maneuver. “This prevents Trump from normalizing relations with a new government through executive order, as he did in Venezuela, where sanctions were imposed by the U.S. executive branch,” the sources reflected, adding that the interests of Cuban-American representatives play a role here. “They hold hardline positions on Cuba that reflect the conservative exile community in South Florida.”
Removing Venezuelan support has been key to the U.S. strategy, they added. The rest has continued through additional sanctions, and summer, they hope, will do its part. “It’s going to be hot. People won’t have electricity. Food will spoil without refrigeration. People will be more irritated. They may take to the streets. And then what will happen? I do not see the president doing nothing if there is repression,” one source said.
But another of those consulted disagrees. “The president does not want troops on the ground for more than 48 hours. It is a brewing quagmire. This could get complicated.”
Be that as it may, all plans are on the table, as Politico insisted this Wednesday in an article stating that “strategically positioned assets are laying the groundwork for military action, from capturing Havana’s leadership, similar to what was done with Nicolás Maduro, to a series of precision strikes.” “Everything is on the table, but there is no planned or imminent invasion,” they confirmed to Axios. “When the president gives the order, we will be ready for anything.”
“We will talk with them, work on it; we want something good for the Cuban people and, hopefully, there will be a good outcome for them. There has to be”
Amid this situation, the carrot-and-stick strategy remains alive. The U.S. secretary said this Wednesday that he trusts negotiations will succeed. “We will talk with them, work on it; we want something good for the Cuban people and, hopefully, there will be a good outcome for them. There has to be,” Rubio said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House chaired by Trump.
That strategy can also be seen in the offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid that Rubio offered Havana last week and which it accepted. Like the aid sent after Hurricane Melissa, it will be channeled through the Catholic Church. “If we had wanted to accelerate the collapse, we would not have sent any aid,” a senior government official told Axios. This is, he said, a “campaign to show people that they can have a better life if the regime gets out of their way.”
“The political situation is complex on both sides [of the Florida Straits],” another official concluded. “But we have time. They do not.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“The rent-seeking logic of the military elite in Cuba hinders the increase of national production,” says Food Monitor
In the country, barely 29% manage to have two meals a day and 7% never eat meat / Granma
14ymedio, Havana, May 27, 2026 — The NGO Food Monitor Program filed a complaint this Tuesday before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food against the all-powerful military conglomerate Business Administration Group (Gaesa) — recently sanctioned by the U.S. — for controlling the country’s food resources and limiting access to them.
The document, prepared in response to a UN call to report examples of “concentration of corporate power in global food systems,” states that Gaesa “significantly limits the autonomy and popular sovereignty of socioeconomic actors, reflected mainly in the food system, impacted by the monopoly over foreign currency, imports, and food distribution and commercialization chains,” which has turned access to food into a “mechanism for extracting foreign currency, using the Cuban diaspora as a market.”
It also stresses that “the rent-seeking logic of the military elite in Cuba hinders the increase of national production.” Food Monitor Program explains in its complaint that it has warned “about the government’s lack of interest in resolving the production deficit: 80% of food is imported, while national food production has fallen by 67% over the last five years in favor of food imports.”
Eighty percent of food is imported, while domestic production has fallen by 67%
This, it adds, “limits citizens’ access to basic products, especially when these are sold in foreign currencies inaccessible to many Cubans, and restricts the development of autonomous business and corporate initiatives, and the dynamism of the national economy, in favor of enriching the ruling elite.”
Furthermore, the complaint points out that companies under the control of military figures, such as Flora y Fauna S.A., directed by Commander Guillermo García Frías, “are evidence of the advance of administrative capitalism in the country. Companies under its leadership centralize and restrict popular access to natural food continue reading
resources.”
Regarding this company, the report notes that “under the legal structure of heritage conservation, its units allow the exclusive economic control of species and products such as meats, seafood, and charcoal, which the same company exports in competitive markets.”
That monopoly has pushed independent Cuban producers out of the picture. In the complaint, they anonymously describe their exclusion from decisions about their own work: “It is not fair that we, the people who live on and work the land, do not have control over what we produce, how we do it, or to whom we sell it.”
“It is not fair that we, the people who live on and work the land, do not have control over what we produce”
As for the decision-making process within the sector, farmers state that “organizations have had their space in some agricultural policy discussions, but in the end, it seems that decisions come from above and we are only there to fill seats. Sometimes it feels like they only use us to legitimize what had already been decided.”
Small private entrepreneurs face price caps, tax increases, import restrictions, and provincial bureaucracy that blocks their development, the organization accuses.
The NGO also highlights that, despite “clear violations of the socioeconomic rights of producers in Cuba, including recorded acts of repression and intimidation based on ideological criteria, there are no lawsuits advancing through national legal channels, nor any rulings against the corporations mentioned in this document, which are strongly backed by the ruling leadership.”
There are “clear violations of the socioeconomic rights of producers in Cuba, including recorded acts of repression and intimidation”
In Cuba, Food Monitor recalls, there is no separation between the Executive and Legislative branches, “which means the latter functions as legal support and a legitimizing apparatus for official policies.”
The report warns that hunger is worsening in Cuba, stating “that 96% of the population has lost its purchasing power for food,” according to its 2024 survey, in a country where barely 29% manage to have two meals a day.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The KMCERO platform appears to be a private small business, but it uses the logistics of the state company Cupet
A 10-kilogram liquefied gas cylinder is being offered for 24 dollars. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, Darío Hernández, May 27, 2026 – “Those balitas, just as you see them, are from here. The same ones they distribute through the ration book system. Don’t let them fool you.” The remark came from a woman standing in line in San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana, while several customers waited to pick up a propane cylinder purchased online in dollars. She pointed to the usual balitas, the same ones that for decades have circulated through Cuba’s state liquefied gas distribution network.
In theory, that product arrives through a regulated system. Each contracted customer receives one when their turn comes, hands over the empty one, and waits for the next cycle. But delays are frequent, and many families spend weeks waiting for a delivery that can determine the rhythm of an entire household. Without propane, cooking becomes an obstacle course, especially with the increase in blackouts.
That overloaded and sluggish system now has a parallel outlet. On the KMCERO platform, presented as a digital marketplace for petroleum derivatives, a 10-kilogram liquefied gas cylinder is being sold for 24 dollars. The buyer must hand over another empty cylinder in good condition. Payment is made with Clásica, AIS, Tropical, Visa, or Mastercard cards. The operation excludes the Cuban peso, even though the product is the same one many families are waiting for through the regulated system.
When asked whether other pickup sites would be available, the person in charge replied that there were plans to open one more. / 14ymedio
The only pickup point visible so far is in a small alley at Ciudadmar and 7th Street, in San Miguel del Padrón. When asked whether other pickup sites would be available, the person in charge replied that there were plans to open one more, although it was still “in process.”
About 15 people, each carrying an empty balita, stand in a discreet line. One question circulates among them: if someone buys now in dollars, continue reading
will they later be able to use that same cylinder once distribution through the ration book system resumes?
One woman answered without hesitation. “Last time, as I remember, when they distributed balitas, nobody asked for the numbers anymore. You handed one over and that was it. Besides, if half the population is now going to buy them here, it’s obvious they’ll allow it.” She then added the detail that most concerned those present: “They’re not like the white ones that Supermarket23 used to send; these are the same ones from the regular service.”
The comparison with Supermarket23, another foreign-currency shopping platform used by Cubans inside and outside the Island, helps place the new business in context. There, a balita can cost around 30 dollars. The KMCERO one costs 24, although it requires traveling to the pickup point. For those without a compatible card, the final cost rises. A man sitting at the site explained that he had to buy dollars from a friend through a Clásica card, so he ended up paying more.
“To get a balita, you have to be ready at 7:00 am, do everything quickly, because the cylinders disappear immediately.” / 14ymedio
The website adds another obstacle: availability. According to reports collected by this newspaper at the delivery point, the cylinders sell out quickly. “To get a balita, you have to be ready at 7:00 am, do everything quickly, because the balitas disappear immediately,” one customer commented. Even after paying, customers do not receive the product right away. Pickup is scheduled for the following day.
The supplier listed on KMCERO is Progas. However, many questions surround that company. The website does not provide a clear explanation of who is behind the operation. The “Who We Are” section is either inaccessible or fails to provide enough information. The commercial brand appears on one side, the platform on another, and the promotion comes from state-linked entities.
That last detail is key. KMCERO was promoted by Tecnomática together with the state SME TM-NEXGEN as a virtual store for purchasing fuels and lubricants in Cuba. Tecnomática is part of the business ecosystem linked to Cupet, the state conglomerate that heads the petroleum sector on the Island. The platform itself markets products associated with fuel, oils, and gas, a business that requires permits, specialized transportation, secure storage, and access to infrastructure rarely available to a small private enterprise.
“What exactly does Progas contribute besides a new label and a way to charge in dollars?” / 14ymedio
Suspicion grows when examining the details closely. Customers hand over cylinders identical to those used in the state system and receive similar ones in return. The logistics point to already existing facilities. The transportation observed by neighbors and customers resembles that historically used by Cupet. None of those elements alone proves that Progas is a front for the state company. Together, however, they sketch an operation difficult to present as an independent private business.
“If the product, the cylinders, the logistics, and the promotion belong to the state system, what exactly does Progas contribute besides a new label and a way to charge in dollars?” asks one customer while waiting in line.
Progas appears precisely within a gray area that several observers of the Cuban economy have been pointing out for years: the creation or use of formally private companies to operate where state entities carry a poor commercial reputation or seek to evade U.S. sanctions. Under that model, a company with the appearance of a non-state actor can import fuel, hire services, or present itself to foreign suppliers as an independent business, even though in practice it depends on state assets, permits, logistics, or decisions.
What is clear is that the balitas can no longer be obtained in national currency. / 14ymedio
In strategic sectors such as fuel, where official control has historically been nearly absolute, an opaque brand forces observers to look beyond the commercial name. The question is not only who delivers the cylinder, but who owns the product, the containers, the trucks, the warehouses, and the money entering from each sale.
No one knows where the gas comes from, whether from the Energas plant in Varadero or from a private import operation in partnership with the Cuban state, the only economic actor authorized to charge in dollars. What is clear is that the balitas can no longer be obtained in national currency.
For Cuban families, the immediate answer lies not in corporate documents but in the kitchen. Those with cards, internet access, and foreign currency can try to buy. Those dependent on salaries paid in pesos must continue waiting for the regulated distribution. The balita that once formed part of a rationed system now appears in a digital store, with another name, another currency, and one unanswered question: who is really collecting the money for the gas?
Translated by Regina Anavy
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
The company seeks options to offset the effects of the collapse of international tourism
The move comes despite the dramatic fall of 55.8% in international visitors during April / ‘Sol de Cuba’
14ymedio, Havana, 28 May 2026 / The Canadian hotel chain Blue Diamond reopened three resorts this week on the beaches of Varadero, despite the dramatic drop in tourism (55.8% fewer arrivals in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period the previous year). The announcement was initially disseminated in brief form by the Havanatur agency and picked up by the official outlet Sol de Cuba, which reported that on 22 May the Royalton Hicacos-Varadero – a five-star all-inclusive hotel with sea-view rooms and diving programmes – resumed operations.
The other two properties that reopened are the Resonance Musique, a four-star hotel offering sports courts and an extensive themed dining offer in addition to its beach, designed for groups and families, which reopened last Monday – the same day as the Resonance Blu Varadero, also four-star, “with direct beach access” and other services. The specialist outlet Reporturnoted this Wednesday that the move appears aimed at attracting domestic tourists.
“We are preparing new incentives to increase arrivals of Cubans living abroad; we want to develop that market,” Lessner Gomez, Director General of Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism, highlighted in April. continue reading
“We are preparing new incentives to increase arrivals of Cubans living abroad; we want to develop that market”
In an interview with Sol de Cuba, he said the aim was to boost the sector during the country’s holiday season. “We have done extremely important work to create every facility for Cubans living abroad and also for their families,” he added.
He also reported that the ministry had designed special programmes in Havana, Pinar del Rio and Varadero, including car rental and hotel services tailored to the needs of those travelling to the island to be reunited with their families.
On the subject of international tourism, the official denied that the sector’s collapse – far below pre-COVID-19 pandemic figures – is due to quality issues. Instead, he used the opportunity to blame “the laws and sanctions that the United States Government” has imposed on Cuba. “Otherwise, we would today have a peak season higher than last year’s, which was the trend that had been shown in January.”
His optimism, however, collides with the cold hard figures from the Cuban Government itself. In 2025, the island closed the year with barely 1.8 million international visitors – the worst figure since 2002, excluding the pandemic years. The hotel occupancy rate fell to 21.5% in the first half of the year, and the main source markets, Canada and Russia, also declined. Far off are the 4.7 million tourists reached in 2018, during the thaw with the United States.
Of last year’s international visitors, 754,000 were Canadian – the main source of foreign travellers to Cuba – representing a 12.4% drop compared to 2024
Of last year’s international visitors, 754,000 were Canadian – the main source of foreign travellers to Cuba – representing a 12.4% decline compared to 2024, according to official Cuban figures.
Blue Diamond’s properties, along with other major hotel chains, began to close last February due to a “critical shortage of fuel” for aircraft flying to Cuba, which led Canadian airlines – the source of the majority of their guests – to suspend their flights to the island.
Both Blue Diamond and the main foreign companies managing properties on the island were forced to close the majority of their hotels – already half-empty despite being peak season – and to concentrate resources in just a few of them.
Translated by GH
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The drinking water system and transport have not ground to a complete halt thanks to probable fuel deliveries imported from Texas and Florida by private SMEs
In big cities, any failure of a booster pump or re-pumping system due to lack of electricity immediately affects thousands of people. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Madrid, 28 May 2026 / As if the lack of electricity weren’t enough, the shortage of running water is emerging as the more serious problem for the Cuban population, with unpredictable consequences for public health. “It is one of the sectors hardest hit by the blockade, being among the country’s biggest energy consumers,” said Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez, president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), on Wednesday during the Mesa Redonda programme on Cuban Television. One of the most recent difficulties facing the institution is the lack of financing and suppliers’ fear of falling foul of the new sanctions, the official revealed.
Until recently, the state enterprise was making annual imports of close to 100 million dollars, but in the past year it managed to import only a tenth of that. “Today we have no operating credit,” he stated — a consequence of the sanctions imposed by the US on 1 May, compounded by the withdrawal of regular suppliers. “Others who still hold contracts are in a wait-and-see mode while they assess the legal implications of doing business with Cuba, as well as the banking obstacles to processing payments and the disruption of the maritime transport of supplies by international shipping companies,” he added.
Rodríguez said that everything possible is being directed towards recovering capacity, yet even so there are “around 2.7 million people affected on average by difficulties in the water supply” — not always the same territories or the same people. “They say they blockade the country because we supposedly violate human rights. And isn’t water a human right? Because every day their genocidal measures prevent that vital liquid from continue reading
reaching Cuban homes,” the official protested.
Among the biggest technical problems arising from the fuel shortage are unblocking pipes and cleaning cesspits, the tanker-truck service, fixing leaks, and the logistics of chemicals for purifying water
Among the biggest technical problems arising from the fuel shortage, he said, are unblocking pipes and cleaning cesspits, the tanker-truck service, fixing leaks, and the logistics of chemicals for purifying water. The enterprise receives just over a third of the fuel it needs. “With that 37% we’ve been muddling through, looking for alternatives to minimise the impact,” he admitted, without explaining where those reserves come from — reserves which at this point can only be being drawn from private-sector imports, which the Government itself described just days ago as insufficient for industrial-scale use.
Moreover, he continued, the lack of electricity is fatal for pumping. Cuba has 3,331 pumping stations that need to operate between 18 and 24 hours a day, but some operate for only two — “almost as if the water only flows while filling the pipe.”
In big cities, any failure of a booster pump or re-pumping system due to lack of electricity immediately affects thousands of people. “If the Marianao booster doesn’t have water, a significant part of the city goes without; the same happens if the El Gato or Palatino pumps fail,” he said, referring to Havana.
Of the 480 most important pumping stations in the country, which supply between 70% and 80% of the population, only 145 are on circuits protected from blackouts, and 73 have generators that are today themselves suffering from the fuel shortage. To make matters worse, frequency and voltage fluctuations are increasing failures across the entire pipeline and equipment network.
Of the 480 most important pumping stations in the country, only 145 are on circuits protected from blackouts
In these circumstances, work has gone into repairing domestic equipment — 17 pumps were imported but 245 were repaired on the island — and switching the existing grid to solar. So far there are 841 solar-powered stations serving around 500,000 people, and negotiations are under way to add 446 more, which would represent 37% of the total. In addition, he said, the plan is to add a further 520, bringing the solar share to 52% overall. Rodríguez did not mention with whom these agreements are being made, though it seems likely that China will be the supplier — as the world leader in the sector and a country with which Cuba has struck energy deals beyond the current solar parks.
During his appearance, the INRH president was joined by the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, who returned to the drastic cuts announced just over a week ago. Supply is so scarce that, he warned, ticket sales are being suspended — both at agencies and via the APK Viajando app — until the authorities work out how to prioritise travel for medical or family emergencies. The official acknowledged the risks of corruption and arbitrary decision-making that this decision might bring, but concluded there is no other option at this point.
On the subject of air transport — which has been domestic only since February — Rodríguez Dávila referred to the cancellation of Cubana de Aviación’s contract with the Spanish airline Plus Ultra, whose aircraft had covered the Havana–Santiago de Cuba route. The rest are being kept going “with great effort,” he said, as are all airports and seaports. With the bare minimum of fuel available — which, again, can presumably only be coming from private-sector imports — the absolute priority, he said, will be transporting food from the main ports to prevent shortages, followed by healthcare services, haemodialysis, and special education.
Rodríguez Dávila referred to the cancellation of Cubana de Aviación’s contract with the Spanish airline Plus Ultra, which covered the Havana–Santiago de Cuba route
He also described local transport as “deeply deficient” and said there is no alternative but to promote the use of electric tricycles and begin a census to legalise and certify vehicles assembled from parts, in offices that will run on solar panels to avoid disruption from blackouts. He also announced a long-term strategy involving the foreign-currency fund created two years ago with revenue from the sale of petrol in dollars, which until now has been used to set up solar stations and procure electric vehicles — including the 200 that are due to come into service for haemodialysis patients.
The government’s Mesa Redonda TV program had opened with more familiar ground: a review of the current situation with Rubén Campos Olmo, Director-General of the Electrical Union (UNE), who described as “devastating” the impact of the sanctions decreed by the US on 29 January banning fuel deliveries to Cuba. There was little that Cubans don’t already know and live with every day. Distributed generation that is not available now accounts for more than 50% of the total, averaging some 1,400 megawatts. “When the sun goes down, the system is left with only the output from the thermal plants and gas: just over 1,100, sometimes 1,200 MW, depending on how many thermal units are out of service at any given moment,” he said.
Campos pointed out that the 100,000 tonnes of crude donated by Russia proved that when raw materials are available the situation improves, and lamented that access to components for the thermoelectric plants is becoming ever more complicated. “Unless these coercive measures are reversed, electricity generation in the country will remain in a delicate balance, dependent on domestic crude, gas, and renewable energy, well below what the population and the economy need,” he warned.
As the sole lifeline he cited China — also glossing over the fuel arriving via private importers — which last year extended a credit for metals and parts intended to improve units 5 and 6 at the Renté plant in Santiago de Cuba, and unit 5 at Mariel, as well as Nuevitas, in July. By that point they hope to have added 1,000 MW more to the grid. Insufficient, but not negligible — provided there is no certainty that another breakdown won’t occur at the same time.
Translated by GH
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Wasteful use of lighting and air conditioning in the new store opened in Havana by a state partnership associated with a Slovak company
Entrance to the ‘Hecho en Cuba’ [Made in Cuba] store, in Havana’s Cerro municipality. / 14ymedio14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya/Juan Diego Rodríguez, May 28, 2026 – Brightly lit and with the air conditioning running at maximum power, the new Hecho en Cuba 100% store seems oblivious to the severe energy crisis the country is experiencing. The business, located in the Trimagen complex, the film division of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), in Havana’s Plaza municipality, was inaugurated this Tuesday with great ostentation.
The company’s social media accounts documented the event. The firm appearing to be in charge is Proxcor S.A., a joint venture formed by the Slovak company Proxenta and the Cuban Corporación Alimentaria S.A. (Coralsa), dedicated to the commercialization of food and beverages through companies such as Los Portales, Bucanero, Bravo, Papas & Company, and Stella. The post quickly filled with comments, mainly asking about prices and payment methods, but the replies were unclear.
“If everything is made in Cuba, they should sell according to the salaries we earn in Cuba and of course in national currency,” one user remarked with barely concealed irony. “Thank you for your comment, we will take it into account,” was the response.
The facilities are excellent, but they offer little product variety. / 14ymedio
It is worth remembering that Proxenta arrived in Cuba in 2019 through the creation of Proxcor S.A. in Villa Clara, with a 25-year contract for confectionery production, and later expanded its partnership with the Cuban State by founding Baracocoa S.A. for the processing and commercialization of local cocoa. The decision dealt a blow to local farmers who had temporarily been allowed to enter the cocoa business, a highly profitable sector in foreign currency.
During a visit to the new store on Ayestarán Street this Wednesday, 14ymedio confirmed what commenters feared: the store only sells in dollars, and payment can be made in cash, with foreign cards, or with the Clásica prepaid card. The place has the unmistakable atmosphere of state power, with some employees dressed in Cimex uniforms.
Beers for sale at Hecho en Cuba 100%. / 14ymedio
The facilities are excellent, yes, but they offer few products. “Of course, if they sell what is produced in Cuba, this little bit is all there is,” observed one customer passing shelves packed with the same product. Bravo cold cuts, Cristal and Bucanero beers, Findy mayonnaise, Ciego Montero soft drinks, flour from Unión Molinera de Cuba… The brands, indeed, were not lying: merchandise from the battered national production system.
A woman visiting the establishment for the first time was especially surprised by the variety of Cuban coffee brands, including Cubita, Arriero, and Regil, something unimaginable for a long time in other stores. The selection was completed with small black cups bearing the word Cubita. “It’s been years and years since I saw this for sale!”
The prices, meanwhile, are not for everyone. A tube of ham for 13 dollars or a one-kilogram package of coffee for 16 dollars gives an idea of the costs; an arepa mix costs 4 dollars, and six small cups cost 20.
At the Bazar A&M branch on Infanta and Carlos III in Central Havana, employees were sitting idle. The sign reads: There is no milk”/ 14ymedio
One cashier slowly and carefully wrapped a customer’s purchase. The customer told her: “Don’t take too long, in case the power goes out and I can’t pay with my card,” but the worker reassured her enthusiastically: “The power almost never goes out here, and when it does, they restore it very quickly.” “Do you have a generator?” the shopper asked. “No, but they almost never cut our electricity.”
In contrast to this privileged situation, the commercial heart of Central Havana looked gloomy that same day. At the Bazar A&M branch on Infanta and Carlos III, employees were sitting idle. “No milk,” “no milk,” “no milk,” repeated three signs discouraging customers from asking for anything.
Fress location on Carlos III, without electricity and therefore without cold soft drinks. / 14ymedio
At Plaza de Carlos III, the power went out in the middle of the morning rush of customers. The darkened stores, without cold drinks to relieve the heat of these days, were buzzing with complaints from the workers themselves. One single topic monopolized conversations: the sleepless night caused by the blackout. “We only had twenty minutes of electricity at two in the morning, and we had to start pumping water from the cistern to the tank,” one cashier told a colleague.
At Fress, the first private business established in Plaza de Carlos III, employees said they did not know if they would be able to continue working today. “There’s no fuel for the shopping center’s generator. They say the power went out last night and they couldn’t turn it on again.”
The blackouts, at least in principle, do not distinguish between state and private businesses: they affect everyone equally. Except for Proxcor’s new store.
Plaza de Carlos III in blackout since yesterday. / 14ymedio
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Doctor Alina Rosales Aguirreurreta arrived in the U.S. in 2023 and was attempting to obtain residency through the Cuban Adjustment Act
Alina Rosales Aguirreurreta, daughter of General Ulises Rosales del Toro, detained by ICE. / Facebook
14ymedio, Madrid, May 27, 2026 — Alina Rosales Aguirreurreta, daughter of Cuban general Ulises Rosales del Toro, has been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), according to reports first published Tuesday by the Miami press and as can be verified in the agency’s records, which however do not indicate the facility where she is being held.
So far, no further details about the arrest have emerged. It is known that Rosales, 51 years old and a physician by profession, specializing in plastic surgery and burn treatment (reconstruction of burned tissue), arrived in the U.S. in 2023 on a tourist visa and decided to remain in the country. According to journalist Mario Pentón, the doctor attempted to apply for residency through the Cuban Adjustment Act, but “did not have the opportunity,” he said without clarifying the reasons.
Ulises Rosales del Toro, 84, is a historic figure of the Revolution, in which he participated alongside Fidel Castro. Beginning in 1959, he held high-ranking positions in the Armed Forces and in the leadership of the Communist Party, in addition to holding the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
Since then he has lived away from the public spotlight, although the Florida press has continued scrutinizing the lives of his children, some of whom live outside the Island or have businesses there
Between 1997 and 2009 he served as Minister of Sugar, and from 2008 to 2010 has Minister of Agriculture. In 2009, he was also was appointed Vice President of the Council of Ministers, a position from which he was removed in September 2019. Since then he has lived away from the public spotlight, although the Florida press has continued scrutinizing the lives of his children, some of whom live outside the Island or have businesses there.
Rosales’s case comes days after ICE also detained Adys Lastres Morera, sister of the president of the military conglomerate continue reading
Gaesa, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, sanctioned by the U.S. on May 1, the same day the extension of measures against individuals or companies associated with Cuba and “responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” was announced.
On that occasion, Marco Rubio said that “Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida, while also helping the communist regime in Havana,” without further explanation. The U.S. secretary of state personally claimed responsibility for the cancellation of “her permanent resident status” from his official X account.
Rubio added that Lastres Morera had been arrested on May 20 and placed in ICE custody. “There will be no place on this Earth — much less in our country — where foreigners who threaten our national security can live luxuriously,” he declared.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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It allegedly facilitated the clandestine entry into Spain of at least 40 people in exchange for 3,000 euros
The investigation remains open and further arrests are not ruled out / EFE
14ymedio/EFE, Málaga, May 27, 2026 — The Spanish Police, with the collaboration of Europol and the Serbian Police, dismantled an international network operating in Spain and Serbia that was allegedly dedicated to trafficking people from Cuba, an operation that resulted in eight arrests.
The migrants, some with minors in their care, flew to Belgrade and from there were transported by vehicle to Spain, passing through North Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and France, according to information released this Wednesday by the Police.
The organization allegedly facilitated the clandestine entry into Spain of at least 40 Cuban nationals in exchange for amounts close to 3,000 euros.
Seven people were arrested in the province of Málaga and the eighth was arrested in Zamora
Seven people were arrested in the province of Málaga and the eighth was arrested in Zamora; among those arrested are two of the alleged leaders of the organization.
According to the investigation, the criminal network recruited Cuban citizens by offering them a package called a “travel bundle,” which included airline tickets, invitation letters, medical insurance, and hotel reservations.
Upon arriving in Spain, the objective was to settle there and request international protection, “evading European and Spanish regulations” regarding the entry, transit, and stay of foreigners.
Investigators confirmed that the criminal network took advantage of the migrants’ vulnerable situation.
After a difficult journey, the branch of the network established in Spain transported the migrants mainly to the province of Málaga, where they were instructed on how to regularize their status in Spain. continue reading
Before applying for international protection, they reported their passports as lost
Before applying for international protection, they reported their passports as lost, with the aim of leaving no record of the migration route followed and preventing authorities from verifying their irregular entry into Europe through the stamps placed in their documents upon arrival in Serbia, which could lead to the blocking of any application for international protection in Spain.
After obtaining new passports, during asylum and refugee application interviews the migrants claimed they had only recently arrived in Spanish territory, which allowed them to qualify for that protection.
Agents documented 27 incidents of facilitating illegal immigration through this modus operandi since 2021, through which at least 40 people of Cuban origin allegedly entered Spain irregularly.
Payments were made to Spanish and foreign accounts through money transfer companies, apps, and cryptocurrencies, which prevented the tracking and monitoring of the amounts.
In the investigation, 2,252 money transfers of 380,775 euros by the suspects based in Spain were analyzed.
The investigation remains open and further arrests are not ruled out.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“If things are done too soon, blood could be spilled,” says Benjamín León Jr. speaking about Venezuela
Benjamín León at a news breakfast in Madrid. / EFE
14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, May 27, 2026 — The United States ambassador to Spain, Benjamín León Jr., said this Wednesday that the war initiated by the U.S. and Israel in Iran “extends” the timeline of the transition outlined by the Administration of Donald Trump for Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro at the beginning of the year.
“I have no doubt that María Corina Machado’s day will come in Venezuela,” León said confidently at a news breakfast held in Madrid.
At the event, attended by business leaders and politicians, the new U.S. ambassador to Spain since February, recalled that Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had outlined “the Venezuela issue” in three stages: stabilization, recovery, and transition.
“We are still in stage one. In my personal opinion, the Iran war has extended the time of that first stage”
“We are still in stage one. In my personal opinion, the Iran war has extended the time of that first stage,” he opined and, immediately afterward, stated that continue reading
“it is the responsibility of the United States to protect” the Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado.
“If things are done too soon,” León argued, “blood could be spilled and the United States would be guilty of that.”
Thus, the ambassador defended that “the United States is being very cautious and is carrying forward, little by little, step by step, the process of complete and total democratization in Venezuela.”
“The time will come for the people to vote for whichever person they prefer among all those who will run when the time comes,” he predicted, insisting that this would be the final stage of the U.S. plan and refraining from setting a timetable for reaching it.
One would have to ask President Trump or Secretary Rubio “so they could tell us more or less when they think that will happen,” he concluded.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Human Rights Watch points out that 26% of the 4,453 deportees originating from the Island had no criminal charges at all.
A group of migrants in Miguel Hidalgo square, in Tapachula. / Facebook/VENUS En Línea
14ymedio, Madrid, May 27, 2026 — The deportations of Cubans to Mexico have multiplied exponentially during the second term of Donald Trump, reaching 4,453 when counting from January 2025 through March 2026. Of the total, 55% had criminal records in the United States, 16% had pending charges without conviction, and 26% had no criminal case at all. In addition, only 16% had, as their most serious conviction, a violent or potentially violent crime.
Many of them, moreover, are elderly people with serious health problems who lived many years in the U.S. and now find themselves in Mexico under an opaque agreement signed between both countries, and their situation is one of great helplessness, as denounced by a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) published this Wednesday. The 66-page document is titled “Casting Us Aside to Die” and includes interviews with citizens from other countries who were also handed over to Mexican authorities, although the majority were from Cuba, a peculiar situation, since never before had the Island accounted for the bulk of deportations.
“The Trump Administration is using Mexico as a dumping ground for people it cannot deport to their countries of origin, including many Cubans who have been in the United States for decades,” said Alcira Silva Hava, HRW researcher, who also extends responsibility to the Mexican Government. “It offers them no pathway to obtain durable legal status outside the asylum system, leaving many in limbo, without housing, without medication, and at the mercy of criminal organizations.” Of the 18,000 deportees, 13,000 were sent to the neighboring country (70%), with Cubans being the nationality with the highest number.
“The Trump Administration is using Mexico as a dumping ground for people it cannot deport to their countries of origin, including many Cubans who have been in the United States for decades”
To prepare the document, 53 people deported to Tapachula (Chiapas) and Villahermosa (Tabasco) were interviewed, of whom 41 were Cuban men. Most had lived for years or decades in Florida, where they arrived fleeing misery and/or the lack of freedoms in Cuba. “Many had created businesses, owned homes, and left relatives in the United States. Most are 60 years old or older and suffer from chronic illnesses requiring continuous medical treatment,” the report specifies, denouncing that none of them even had the opportunity to challenge the deportation, which constitutes a violation of rights and due process, according to U.S. and international law.
Those affected revealed numerous abuses by the U.S. Government. “In immigration detention centers they suffered overcrowding, extreme temperatures, inadequate food, poor access to medical care, and lack of access to information about their cases, as well as physical and verbal violence by guards.” Some interviewees described situations continue reading
in those places as unheard of as consuming contaminated food. “The water was contaminated, it contained feces, and you could see them on the floor when you went to shower… People had spots all over their bodies, their fingers were rotting; that’s what Alcatraz was like,” said a Cuban named Miguel Ángel.
Deportations of Cubans from the US to Cuba and Mexico by month
“Fifteen days without seeing daylight. Fifteen days without going out, without calls, receiving food through a slot in the door. I was alone, isolated. They drive you crazy, they don’t tell you how long you’ll be [in isolation],” another described about the center in El Paso, Texas. In this place, another interviewee, Gonzalo, spoke about a violent incident involving a detainee to whom “they put a foot on his neck,” and who later died from the injuries. The account matches the case of Geraldo Lunas Campos, classified as a homicide caused by “compression asphyxia of the neck and torso” in a forensic report.
Things have not improved much upon arriving in the neighboring country either. “They are leaving us here to die,” said one of the Cubans. “There is no help. We cannot work because we have no papers. They give us nothing, absolutely nothing… How are we supposed to eat, pay rent?” Interviewees revealed problems obtaining work and medical care; in addition, they are in cities struggling to provide basic services and with high levels of violence. The report also denounces that U.S. aid cuts to UNHCR — the U.N. refugee agency — have influenced this situation.
Until April 2026, Mexican law also did not facilitate movement, since valid identification is required to travel through the country in search of better options
Until April 2026, Mexican law also did not facilitate movement, since valid identification is required to travel through the country in search of better options. Asylum has been the only option, but it is difficult to obtain for various reasons, from the complexity of bureaucracy to lack of resources, not to mention the fact that, after decades outside Cuba, many exiles lack the ability to prove a well-founded fear of persecution on the Island.
All the Cubans interviewed, except one, said they had had legal permanent residency at some point, although 35 of them lost it because of offenses that may be considered minor, such as driving after drinking alcohol, falsification of documents, or minor drug-related charges. Six of them had more serious offenses, such as assault or weapons possession. They were never returned to Cuba because of the absence of migration agreements and remained in the U.S.; most rebuilt their lives, obtained work permits, and lived normally — under supervision, some of them — until 2025.
Of all those interviewed, only three agreed to be deported to Mexico, “including two who said they had relatives kidnapped or murdered there.” “If you are 60 or 70 years old, why do they send you here?” Mario, 60, said through tears. “They send us here to die.”
The report includes details from several interviews, such as that conducted with Javier, 62, who arrived in the U.S. at age 18 and combined his studies with a job as a waiter. “I have spent 44 years in the United States. I went to college and kept working nonstop.” When he was detained he had two different jobs, one at a car dealership and another at a convention center. “You know? Some of the people I met [in the ICE detention center] had been in the United States for more than 40 years; it’s incredible,” said Manuel, 63, a resident of West Palm Beach, after leaving Cuba at age six.
“You know? Some of the people I met [in the ICE detention center] had been in the United States for more than 40 years; it’s incredible,” said Manuel
The document contains extensive sections on the background of migration policies in both the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the reasons and methods for leaving Cuba, mostly during the Mariel boatlift. Some also spoke about recent political motives, an occasion HRW uses to recall that “repression continues on the Island, where authorities continue punishing dissent and arbitrarily detaining critics and protesters.” Added to this is the progressive worsening of economic conditions.
The report highlights other issues, such as those who lived for years with deportation orders that were never enforced, contributing to a false perception of security. There is also a meticulous review of their medical problems, since 20 of the 41 interviewees had illnesses, 14 of them chronic and some as serious as cancer. Several have depression and trauma related to their current status.
A significant number of respondents also spoke about their established situation in the U.S., where they left their relatives behind, and the desperation of finding themselves trapped in Mexico without dignified conditions.
The report includes a series of demands for the countries involved. It calls on the United States to guarantee people facing deportation an individualized review, access to evaluations to assess their protection claims, and humane detention conditions if detention is considered necessary.
It demands that Mexico provide emergency access to shelter, medical care, and a pathway toward permanent legal status for the deportees it has received. And for Cuba it also has at least a couple of messages: that it respect the right of its citizens to return to their country, as established by international law; and that it ensure consular authorities in Mexico attend to and provide consular services to those affected, whether they wish to obtain permanent residency in the country or voluntarily return to the Island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“If there are no jobs for Mexicans, there will be even fewer for deported Cubans.”
Migrants at the Diocesan Shelter Belén, in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. / Facebook/Albergue Diocesano “Belén”
14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, May 26, 2026 / Geraldo Benítez, a Cuban, sells bottled water in Centenario Park, a spot in downtown Tapachula where hundreds of migrants without papers have been congregating for months. His story epitomizes the suffering of his compatriots expelled from the US and deposited in Mexico, a kind of planet Mars for them. “There’s no work here, but you can’t move around either. Things are tight at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar),” months go by and “they don’t regularize your status.”
Benítez tells 14ymedio that the deportees end up “sleeping on the street or in shelters.” In the mornings they wander around, “looking for food, because if there’s no work for Mexicans, there’s even less for elderly deported Cubans.”
At the Jesús el Buen Pastor del Pobre y el Migrante shelter, support is provided to about 40 migrants, most of them from states mired in violence.“who have no one, people who want to cross back into the United States because their wives, their children, their lives are there,” says Olga, the shelter’s founder. “There are also four Cubans; one of them is an elderly man who was deported after 46 years in Cuba. He can barely speak. I know his family sends him aid.”
Olga maintains the shelter with the profits from her store. “I don’t give them much, but those who arrive are guaranteed a place to sleep and a simple meal: rice, beans, tortillas, and water are never lacking.” The flow of migrants has disminished, and with that, the border region is facing a crisis, she explains. “That’s normal, but we’re holding on.”
Lázaro was deported by the US last February. “Without a deportation order,” he says, “they dumped me in Tapachula.” / OEM video capture
Lázaro is one of the Cubans who considered going to one of the shelters. In the mornings, he walks the streets with a thermos and a backpack, “offering Cuban coffee.” The man was deported by the US last February. “Without a deportation order,” he says, “they dumped me in Tapachula.” He recounts that he spent four years in a federal prison, although he doesn’t specify continue reading
what crime he committed.
At the Siglo XXI immigration station, where he went to try to regularize his status, he says, “the agents treated us like dogs and gave us nothing.” The same thing happened at the COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance): “They don’t give you papers, they don’t give you anything.” The idea for the coffee came to him when he noticed that people liked the way it was made, and “for five pesos you get the Cuban flavor.” What he earns from selling it and what businesses give him for helping out “helps pay the rent and get by.”
Father César Augusto Cañaveral Pérez, of the Diocesan Belén shelter, tells this newspaper that he provides weekly support to 100 to 120 migrants. “Many of them are just passing through because they are determined to reach the United States.” Another group consists of deported Mexicans who, “after being left stranded, stay for a day or two before returning to their places of origin.”
Cañaveral Pérez laments the lack of support for “psychosocial containment,” in addition to other shortcomings. “Many Cubans seek legal support,” she laments, “but we don’t have enough lawyers or staff to handle everything involved in human mobility.”
The shelter manager asserts that the people need assistance from COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance) to “be able to find work” and insisted that “these people aren’t asking for handouts, they want an opportunity to settle down.” He emphasizes that among these people are “professionals” who end up working in “businesses, bars, and farms where they are exploited.”
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Treatments for tuberculosis and food donations aim to benefit nearly 10,000 people
The PAHO announced the delivery of tuberculosis medicines to treat approximately 1,000 patients / PAHO
14ymedio, Havana, May 26, 2026 — Donations continue to be the only resource to provide Cuba with a slight reprieve. This Monday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced the delivery of tuberculosis medicines donated by Brazil, intended to treat approximately 1,000 patients.
The announcement was made at an official event at the Benéfico Jurídico Pneumology Hospital in Havana, attended by officials from the Ministry of Public Health, Brazilian diplomatic representatives, and PAHO authorities. During the meeting, Cuban authorities pledged to ensure the proper distribution and use of the donated medicines, which will benefit health services in other centers across the country.
Although tuberculosis is a low-incidence disease, with approximately six cases per 100,000 inhabitants, numerous infections and deaths have been reported in the country’s prison system. Just on April 11, common prisoner Alfredo Poll Imber, 50, died from the disease while in state custody at the Guantánamo Provincial Prison. continue reading
Cubalex denounced the deaths of eight prisoners in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba due to malnutrition and tuberculosis
In March 2025, Cubalex denounced the deaths of eight prisoners in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba due to malnutrition and tuberculosis. The legal aid organization stated at the time that Boniato is a detention center where “neglect, unsanitary conditions, and lack of medical care continue to claim lives.” Two years earlier, an outbreak forced staff at the Combinado del Este prison in Havana to quarantine part of the inmate population.
This aid from Brazil adds to that delivered last August. At that time, it sent combined medications for the treatment of tuberculosis in children. According to a report by the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the donation would benefit pediatric care in the provinces of Havana, Villa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba.
As for food donations, this Monday the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) delivered 106 tons of canned meat in the province of Villa Clara, with the goal of supplementing the diet of more than 8,500 vulnerable people served in 130 community kitchens within the family assistance system.
This Monday, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) delivered 106 tons of canned meat
The protein, the ACN reported, will be added to a basic food basket provided by the program itself, consisting of rice, oil, and peas, highlighting the state’s difficulties in guaranteeing animal protein within regular social assistance.
The donation, funded by the government of the Canary Islands and implemented together with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and the provincial government, adds to other external food aid that partially sustains an increasingly deteriorated social system, such as the 15,000 tons of rice that arrived in the country on Sunday.
Last April, the government of the Canary Islands also made a donation as part of the WFP. At that time, it announced the donation of 75 tons of canned chicken, also for the population of Villa Clara, and it previously sent 48 tons of frozen chicken and 5.5 tons of canned chicken to the same program.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Investors are weighing their business interests in the United States and whether it is worth leaving the Island to preserve those interests or not
Some companies, such as Iberostar, have had business operations in Cuba for many years. / Facebook/Magdiel Perez Martinez
14ymedio, Madrid, May 26, 2026 — Spanish companies with a presence in Cuba are analyzing how to remain on the Island after the United States approved new sanctions against foreign banks and companies operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy. Those that arrived recently are the ones most likely to reduce or suspend their presence, but those with decades of strong involvement in the country are simply studying the best way to continue, according to legal scholar Fátima Rodríguez, head of the criminal law division at the law firm Lupicinio International Law Firm.
In an interview with the Spanish outlet Artículo14, the specialist describes the work her firm has been carrying out in recent weeks to answer questions from clients. Lupicinio is one of the Spanish firms with the greatest experience in international sanctions and with forty years specializing in Cuba, although Rodríguez says that the main concern for business owners today is not so much the executive order itself as its lack of specificity. “That combination of extraterritoriality and regulatory ambiguity means that a decision adopted in Washington can suddenly leave contracts, investments, or financing lines that had functioned without problems for years hanging in the balance,” she explains.
“That combination of extraterritoriality and regulatory ambiguity means that a decision adopted in Washington can suddenly leave contracts, investments, or financing lines that had functioned without problems for years hanging in the balance.”
From what she has observed since the new sanctions were announced, the attorney sees three distinct groups. The first consists of those with recent or limited exposure. “They are clearly in retreat mode: freezing new investments, reducing operations, and, in parallel, designing orderly exit scenarios if the regulatory risk continue reading
continues to escalate,” she explains. The next group includes those with businesses in sectors explicitly targeted by sanctions, such as energy, defense, mining, and financial services. For them, she says, “Cuba is beginning to compete in an internal ranking of ‘difficult countries’ where, at times, it is not the one that wins.”
Finally come the companies that have maintained major business operations in Cuba for many years. Although she does not mention them specifically, the prime example would be Meliá and other hotel chains. “Rather than shutting down and leaving, they are asking themselves how to stay, but in a different way: reducing exposure to particularly sensitive sectors, sharing risk with local or third-country partners, or concentrating on activities clearly protected by humanitarian exceptions. Internally, conversations are no longer revolving around whether to stay or leave, but under what conditions it is responsible to continue.”
Rodríguez says some investors must also weigh their business interests in the United States and decide whether it is worthwhile to leave the Island in order to preserve those interests. She notes that Spanish business owners are coldly analyzing the risks, focusing mainly on who their partners are in Cuba, and she adds that their greatest concern is whether the sanctions will affect them financially on the international level. “The fear is no longer limited to receiving a fine, but to being internally categorized by banks and global suppliers as a ‘high-risk client linked to Cuba,’ which can translate into account closures, canceled insurance policies, restricted credit, and much more intense scrutiny of any operation, no matter how legally sound it may be,” she summarizes.
At her law firm, she says, the work being done has two dimensions. On one hand, the technical side: determining what is and is not permitted, redesigning contracts, structures, or logistics chains to comply with the new requirements. On the other hand, there is what she describes as the human side: “supporting local management and business teams in difficult decisions, where it is necessary to balance responsibility to headquarters with commitment to the country and to Cuban workers themselves.”
On the other hand, what she describes as the human side: “supporting local management and business teams in difficult decisions, where it is necessary to balance responsibility to headquarters with commitment to the country and to Cuban workers themselves.”
The focus, she says, is on ensuring as much as possible that there are no links to risky sectors or individuals. “They are implementing Cuba-specific policies, sector risk maps, reinforced approval processes, and screening systems that automatically block operations with entities or individuals connected to the sanctioned network. Added to this are deeper and periodic due diligence audits, as well as impact reports,” she explains.
That caution, she says, is the first line of defense against sanctions, because it allows companies to demonstrate that they monitored operations and reacted quickly. “It often makes the difference between an exemplary sanction and a more proportionate resolution,” she emphasizes, while also mentioning the European tools available to national companies, including the Blocking Statute, which allows foreign laws to be rendered ineffective. “They are not magic solutions, but they do remind us that companies are not completely defenseless against unilateral decisions by third countries,” she adds.
Although tourism is not among the sectors explicitly mentioned in the May executive order, Rodríguez recalls that sanctions directly affecting other sectors, particularly energy, inevitably affect tourism and others as well. “If access to fuel, financing, and certain technological inputs is strangled, not only do those sectors suffer, but all activity dependent on them suffers too: from retail commerce to food refrigeration chains and the functioning of hospitals and schools.”
There are projects, she says, that were already difficult to finance and are now impossible. “Banks that previously accepted working under certain exceptions are beginning to close their doors out of pure fear of violating the executive order. And a domino effect emerges: suppliers withdraw; insurance policies are not renewed; shipping costs rise; routes disappear; and there is a growing perception that any activity linked to those sectors can end up contaminating the rest of a company’s business,” she argues.
“The paradox is that the harsher the sanctions become, the more this logic of ‘waiting while prepared’ is reinforced, even though the official message continues to be one of maximum pressure rather than openness.”
Asked whether they observe movements by American companies preparing the ground to invest in Cuba, Rodríguez points to a paradox. “In a context like the current one, at first glance it is difficult to imagine. However, anyone familiar with the history of bilateral relations knows that strategic and economic interest in the Island has never disappeared.” The attorney recalls that active export licenses already exist from which many companies benefit, including food and vehicle companies, and that this could multiply in the future.
“More than visible movements, what is perceived today, and what business circles tell us, is very close observation: market studies, scenario analysis, discreet contacts, and the conviction that if a window for normalization ever opens, nobody will want to be left out. The paradox is that the harsher the sanctions become, the more this logic of ‘waiting while prepared’ is reinforced, even though the official message continues to be one of maximum pressure rather than openness.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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EFE/14ymedio, Miami, May 28, 2026 — Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, a Cuban pilot who was indicted last week alongside former president Raúl Castro for the shootdown of two planes belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue, was sentenced this Thursday to seven months in prison in the United States for lying on immigration forms. The sentence comes one week after the defendant, who entered U.S. territory under humanitarian parole, admitted guilt to fraud in obtaining a visa.
