English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The altar of “Homeland or Death!”, a showcase of ideological fidelity, is for rent. 14ymedio, Havana, May 12, 2025 — A new era is dawning for the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune* located directly across from the U.S. Embassy in Havana. From being a “distinguished bastion” that emerged in the heat of the Battle of Ideas … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Rents Out the Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana”
The event was called by youth organizations under the slogan “Here, with Fidel” EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, April 2, 2026 – Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel took part this Thursday in a march in Havana called by state-run youth organizations, amid the energy crisis and pressure from Washington for political and economic change on the Island. … Continue reading “Díaz-Canel and the Cuban Regime Leadership Take Part in an “Anti-Imperialist” March with Low Attendance”
I can imagine the number of onions, potatoes, mangoes, and peppers that won’t survive another day to be sold this Saturday. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, May 23, 2026 / I need onions. I take advantage of the electricity and go down in the elevator, also carrying the garbage that has accumulated during the days of … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: The Tulipán Market Closed: “They’ve Given the Order To Go to the March for Raúl””
The main speaker was Gerardo Hernández, one of the five former spies accused in the US of participating in the conspiracy to shoot down the Brothers to the Rescue planes 14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, May 22, 2026 / In a new attempt to display popular support, increasingly weakened, the Cuban government called for another mobilization … Continue reading “An Exhausted Bussed-in Crowd Attends the Rally in Defense of Raúl Castro in Havana”
May 1, 2026, exposed two radically opposing political realities unfolding ninety miles apart. In Havana, the Cuban communist dictatorship attempted to stage its annual revolutionary spectacle amid visible fear, militarization, and growing insecurity. In Washington, the United States escalated its confrontation with the Castro-Communist regime through a sweeping executive order targeting the financial, political, and … Continue reading “A Tale of Two Cities: Havana and Washington on May Day”
The peace petition campaign took center stage at the event, while official rhetoric alternated between calls for dialogue and threats of bloodshed and violence. 14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, May 1, 2026 / “Practically half the people had already left when it started,” says an attendee at the May Day parade in Havana. The José Martí … Continue reading “Half a Million, According to the Cuban Government; Weariness and Disinterest, According to the Street”
The 730,000 barrels received provide a breath of fresh air to the regime for a few weeks, but do not lift Cuba out of its energy crisis. 14ymedio, Havana, April 19, 2026 — The Cuban government is trying to present the refining of 100,000 tons of crude oil donated by Russia in Cienfuegos as a … Continue reading “Cuba’s Largest Oil Company, Cupet, Begins Distributing Fuels Obtained From Russian Oil”
With grandiloquent language and references to ‘Che’ Guevara, the CTC calls to “defend the country from the furrow, the factories, the classrooms, from every trench of combat” 14ymedio, Madrid, April 13, 2026 – The Island’s single union, the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), will once again adapt to circumstances and on May 1 will … Continue reading “Cuba’s Only Labor Union (CTC) Calls To Celebrate May 1st ‘While Rationally Assuming the Imposed Restrictions’”
Colonel Pedro Yadín reveals that the officers were asleep and were attacked with “bombs and drones” 14ymedio, Havana,January 16, 2026 –- Havana once again deployed its political liturgy this Friday following the death of the 32 Cubans who fell in Caracas during the capture of Nicolás Maduro. At the Anti-Imperialist Tribune, facing the Malecón, the … Continue reading “Mourning, Propaganda, and a Survivor’s Version That Doesn’t Fit the Regime’s Epic Narrative”
Nervous and hoarse, Díaz-Canel addressed an indifferent audience at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune 14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, January 3, 2026 – The morning dawned somewhat cold in Havana, with clear skies that failed to conceal the power outages in several municipalities and the water supply problems that continue to affect daily life in large areas of … Continue reading “Cubans Are Worried About the Cut-off in Oil Supply Caused By the Fall of Maduro”
Military escalation casts doubt on the future of the medical brigades 14ymedio, Havana, January 3, 2026 — From the early hours of this Saturday, when news broke of the United States’ intervention in Venezuela, one of the questions that began circulating in Cuba was what would happen to the Cuban doctors who remain on mission … Continue reading “Uncertainty Grows Over Cuban Personnel in Venezuela”
The U.S. Embassy in Havana suspended its consular services today due to the demonstration led by Díaz-Canel at the ‘Anti-Imperialist Tribune’ 14ymedio, Havana, October 9, 2025 — Barely hours after US President Donald Trump announced the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Cuban regime continued mobilizing its forces to demonstrate for Palestine this Thursday … Continue reading “For the Cuban Regime, There Is No Peace Agreement and It Mobilizes Thousands of Cubans Against Israel”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 23 September 2022 — In its desperate struggle for the yes to win in the referendum on the Family Code this Sunday, the Cuban Government has mobilized not only workplaces but also schools. Barely thirty kids, from nearby schools, arrived this Friday at the corner of G and Malecón, in … Continue reading “Little Enthusiasm and Expensive Food at an Official ‘March’ in Support of the Family Code in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2021 — The playwright and actor Yunior García Aguilera said that Silvio Rodríguez promised to “advocate for the release of all the prisoners who participated in the protests.” The young artist met the official singer-songwriter this Wednesday in his recording studios – called Ojalá for its most famous song – after having urged him to … Continue reading “Silvio Rodriguez Will Ask for ‘Amnesty’ for Cubans Arrested Who ‘Were Not Violent’”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 July 2021 — With an attendance below previous times, at 6 am this Saturday, an act of “revolutionary reaffirmation” took place on the Malecon, in Havana, in which the ruler Miguel Diaz-Canel intervened. On the eve of this demonstration, a group of students from University of Havana’s School of Biology had criticized the decision to … Continue reading “Cuban Biology Students Object to Mandatory Attendance of ‘Revolutionary Reaffirmation’ Act”