14ymedio – Translating Cuba

“Sherritt Put All Its Hopes in Cuba and Has Lost Everything in Cuba”

Businessman William Pitt fears the consequences for the natural gas production that the Canadian company manages and supplies to the population of Havana.

Nickel mine in Moa, operated by the Canadian company Sherritt. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Madrid, 18 February 2025 — “It was written in the clouds!” For businessman William Pitt, the suspension of Sherritt’s operations at the Moa mines in Holguín, due to a lack of fuel, announced this Tuesday , was more than predictable.

“Little by little they approached the failure, and not even the administrative change could stop its decline,” said the American speaking to 14ymedio. He was referring to the December 8th appointment of Peter Hancock as interim director of the company, replacing Leon Binedell, who had served as CEO for the previous four years. His family had had multiple mining properties expropriated by the regime in 1960, including the one operated by the Canadian giant in Holguín.

According to Pitt’s analysis, Sherritt’s decision—which he asserted is not having “an immediate impact” on the refinery it operates in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, as it continues to produce nickel and cobalt “finished for sale”—means that “no more nickel and cobalt sulfide will arrive from Cuba to be refined into nearly pure blocks of nickel or cobalt briquettes” and that “they will only be able to process the sulfides they already have in storage.” The company estimates it has enough raw material to last until approximately mid-April.

“It is very costly and very difficult to restart production in Moa,” Pitt summarizes, “therefore this plant shutdown is going to be a long one.”

The most significant point, the businessman explains, is that the production process for the nickel-cobalt sulfide used by Sherritt is a “continuous process,” meaning “it is not produced in batches but in series.” He continues: “Only at the very end, when the powder is put into its bags for shipment to Canada, can it be considered as a batch.” What does this mean? “Restarting production in Moa is very costly and very difficult.” Therefore, Pitt summarizes, “this plant shutdown is going to be a long one.”

To survive, the specialist speculates, the mining giant will have to sell all the nickel and cobalt it has stored in Canada. There’s an added and serious difficulty: the Cuban government was paying Sherritt with cobalt to repay its $250 million debt, and while production is halted it will no longer be able to do so.

This is not just another default by Havana, as it could affect the plants that the Canadian company operates with Energas in Mayabeque and Matanzas. “Cuba will have no way to pay for the 50% that Sherritt produces in Boca de Jaruco, Puerto Escondido, and Varadero,” Pitt asserts. The consequences could be disastrous for Havana residents, who directly benefit from the cooking gas produced by these two plants and delivered to them via pipeline. “If everything was working well,” the businessman recalls, “it was because Sherritt was managing the production.”

Pitt believes that natural gas is at risk if the Sherritt is withdrawn.

“Investments in oil and copper and gold mines that have been waiting for years to materialize have no chance whatsoever of being implemented.”

On the other hand, Pitt observes, there are the “thousands of Cubans who work in mining” and the people of Moa themselves, “who depend almost exclusively on Sherritt’s work,” and who now see their jobs end and, with them, the food subsidies they received. The government fully controls another mine and the Comandante Che Guevara plant and “may try to keep it operating by force even if it loses money.”

The businessman advises, with a note of optimism, that the universities of the Island “should not stop training future professionals in the industry, because sooner or later, Cuba will have a global role in mining.”

He is harsher on Sherritt, predicting very little chance of surviving the losses, “when the only operation that is economically profitable for it is fertilizer production in Canada,” for which it used raw materials extracted from Moa. “On the stock exchanges, Sherritt’s entire economic value is plummeting, just like Cuba’s.” He doesn’t regret it: “They put all their hopes in Cuba and have lost everything in Cuba.”

Finally, one thing is certain for him: Sherritt’s experience spells the end of all expectations placed on the Island by the Australian companies Melbana and Antilles Gold : “The investments in oil and copper and gold mines that have been waiting for years to materialize have no chance whatsoever of being implemented.”

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“We Escaped From Hunger,” Say Seven Cuban Rafters Who Were Rescued by Mexican Fishermen

The migrants left Pinar del Río and are originally from Havana, Matanzas and Sancti Spíritus

A fisherman from Mahahual says that sightings of Cubans are normal. “Some get swept away by the current,” he said. / Facebook

14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, February 15, 2026 — The National Migration Institute (INM) is taking into custody seven Cuban migrants who were rescued last Friday by fishermen in Mahahual, off the coast of Banco Chinchorro, a reef reserve in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The migrants requested asylum and told authorities they were fleeing “hunger and a lack of medicine,” an official who asked to remain anonymous told 14ymedio.

The rafters from Havana, Matanzas, and Sancti Spíritus said they left the island on a raft on the Pinar del Río side. They recounted that the fuel shortages and constant power outages are the beginning of a country that is “falling apart.”

One of the Cubans said that “the situation is unsustainable” and that he would rather “die at sea” than stay in Cuba. The migrants are in good health and are waiting to submit their asylum application to the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar).

Jany Tun, a fisherman from Mahahual, says that sightings of Cubans are normal. “Some are carried by the current, others, like what happened now, are brought to the shore by the wind,” but “nobody says anything because we are peaceful people.” continue reading

The migrants were handed over to the Navy and, after their medical evaluation, were placed under the protection of the INM (National Migration Institute).

A call alerted the authorities last Friday about the arrival of Cubans. “Los muchachos hadn’t even arrived yet and agents from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) were already waiting for them at Banco Chinchorro. Someone must have reported them,” Tun told this newspaper.

The migrants were handed over to the Navy and, after a medical evaluation, were placed in the custody of the National Migration Institute (INM). Last October, Dagoberto Canul, a municipal police officer from Yucatán, told 14ymedio that “Mexico is no longer just a transit country due to U.S. restrictions and is becoming a destination country.” Unfortunately, he says, “the country is not prepared.”

This news desk of this paper has also received information about the routes used by the coyotes. The main arrival points are the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, due to its “lack of surveillance,” Isla Mujeres, and Cancún. “Dozens of rafters have come from Isla de la Juventud and landed in Cancún,” the official stated.

Javier Robles, a fisherman who owns a catamaran that he rents to tourists in Cancun (Quintana Roo), told this media that the clandestine arrivals have left several boats stranded on the coast, to the point that “Isla Mujeres is becoming a graveyard of abandoned rafts used by Cubans to reach Mexico.”

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The Holguín Cigar Factory, Another Cuban Company That Has Shut Down Due to Lack of Fuel

“They do not expect a resumption of work activities in the short term,” an employee told ’14ymedio’.

Raw materials are arriving at the Lázaro Peña factory in Holguín, but without fuel, the boilers and machinery aren’t running. / Radio Angulo

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, February 17, 2026 – There is no official statement, but the Lázaro Peña cigar factory in Holguín has been closed for five days. The reasons, two employees of the state-owned company—one of them a manager—told 14ymedio, are the same as those that have put many other operations on hold in Cuba in recent weeks: a lack of fuel. “Raw materials are coming in, but without fuel, the boilers and machines aren’t running,” explains one of the workers, who asked to remain anonymous.

“We closed on the 12th, and it’s an indefinite closure,” reports another employee, who continues: “They’ve talked to us about job relocation, but they haven’t given us any specifics yet.” According to this source, the company is in talks with the Holguín Municipal Labor Directorate. “Because workers are supposed to be paid 100% of their salary for the first month and 60% for the second.” Why are they negotiating this issue with that agency from the beginning? The man answers: “Because it seems they don’t expect work to resume anytime soon.”

Until they decide what to do, the state-owned company’s management will try to reorganize the two shifts working at the factory, he continues. “Let’s see how they manage to give us work on both shifts,” the first employee summarizes skeptically.

The factory, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, has not announced the suspension of its activities, although it has continued to post on its social media accounts after the 12th.

The factory, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, has not announced the suspension of its activities, although it has continued posting on its social media accounts since the 12th. One of these posts was a reproduction of the statement from Habanos SA, the state-owned cigar monopoly, announcing the cancellation of the Cigar Festival, which had been scheduled for February 24-27.

The cancellation of the event, the major international showcase for Cuban tobacco, represents a considerable loss for the state coffers, which have seen the festival set revenue records year after year. Last year, a commemorative humidor from the Behike Line set a historic record by selling for 4.6 million euros, and the seven pieces auctioned totaled more than 16 million euros, earmarked, according to the regime, for the public health system. continue reading

Far from such luxury, however, the Lázaro Peña Cigar Company has not been known for offering a quality product in recent times. On the contrary. Last January, the newspaper ¡Ahora! reported that the factory was determined to “diversify production and reduce costs,” a statement that, translated into smokers’ terms, means making more cigarettes with less tobacco.

The article explained that, under the umbrella of the “circular economy,” the use of dust and the central vein of the leaf, the waste that the text itself admits was considered as “industrial waste,” would be increased to “add weight and volume”.

With the news of the work stoppage, the production of these “rompepechos” (literally ‘chestbreakers’) has come to a halt. For most smokers on the island, this simply means less product and higher prices. “We’re going to have to quit smoking,” explains a retired woman from Holguín, “because the cigarettes I was buying at a wholesale micro-enterprise, at 4,400 a pack, first went up to 4,600 and now to 5,000, and the employee told us they’re expected to keep going up.”

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Travelplan Redirects its Trips from Cuba to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Cancun in Mexico

“Each of our arriving planes requires at least 10 buses for transfers, and there is no fuel,” the company stated.

Cuba received 1.8 million tourists in 2025, far from the 4.7 million in 2018, its record number of visitors / 14ymedio

Contrary to the optimism he expressed just days ago, when he stated that the situation in Cuba would allow them to continue their operations, Constantino Pinto, commercial director of the Ávoris Group’s tourism operations in Portugal, has now announced the cancellation of all Travelplan flights from that country to the island. In an interview with the local media outlet Turisver, he reported that “serious supply problems, mainly with fuel” are the reason for his decision.

Pinto pointed out that not only is there no jet fuel for the planes, “which would force us to resort to a triangulation maneuver on the return trip,” but he also highlighted another major problem: the transportation of tourists. “Each of our arriving planes needs at least 10 buses for transfers, and if there is a fuel shortage, we would run the risk of having problems at any moment,” he stated.

“We cannot subject our clients to unnecessary risks, and initially we canceled the first three departures to Cayo Santa María, but since then we have decided to cancel the rest of the operation,” added the executive of Ávoris, the travel division of the Barceló Group , which has two hotels in Varadero.

“We cannot subject our clients to unnecessary risks.”

With this decision, flights scheduled for Saturdays to Varadero will be redirected to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from the end of May, and from June, the one that was supposed to connect with Cayo Santa María will go to Cancun, Quintana Roo, in Mexico.

The measure will take a few months, so that passengers who had booked those flights “have the option to rebook to these destinations. We canceled well in advance and for a perfectly justifiable reason, but we will give them the opportunity to book other destinations, just as we did with the three dates we initially canceled,” Pinto added. continue reading

This announcement comes amid a wave of flight cancellations by several airlines, particularly those from Canada, the island’s main source of travelers. Last year, Canada contributed 754,010 visitors to the tourism sector, nearly half of the total of 1,810,663 This figure falls far short of the 1.9 million projected by Parliament in mid-December and, even worse, is significantly lower than the projections made a year earlier. The forecast at that time was for 2.6 million visitors, 30.3% higher than the final number.

Last year alone, Mexico received 47.78 million international tourists, an annual increase of 6.1%.

In addition, it will benefit the booming tourism sector in the two countries that will now be the destinations for Travelplan flights. Last year alone, Mexico received 47.78 million international tourists, a 6.1% annual increase for the country, the sixth most visited in the world, according to figures from the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

The same is true in the Dominican Republic, which received 11.6 million visitors in 2025, a record figure for the country’s tourism, making it one of the country’s main sources of foreign exchange in this sector.

Until now, there were no plans for Travelplan to extend this measure to flights from Madrid. Neither their website nor the news released by the organization indicated this, although logic suggests that the same is likely happen with Spanish flights at any moment.

“Cuba has everything to be a great destination; we would like to see its tourism take off, which unfortunately is not happening.”

The company’s stance contrasts sharply with what was published in the Diario de Mallorca just February 12th, when the group stated that the company was continuing its operations “as normal,” although a year earlier one of its directors, Simón Pedro Barceló, expressed his displeasure that tourism in Cuba was not improving.

“Cuba has everything to be a great destination; we would like to see its tourism take off, which unfortunately is not happening,” he stated in a March 2025 interview with the same Mallorcan newspaper, when the crisis had not yet fully manifested itself on the island.

The crisis has also prompted governments in the Americas and Europe to issue warnings to potential travelers or to urge their citizens to leave the island. This Monday, for example, Costa Rica issued an urgent directive for its citizens to leave Cuba, also recommending the suspension of all non-essential travel to the country. This request responds to “the worsening shortages of fuel, electricity, and basic goods, such as food, water, and medicine in Cuba.”

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A Professor From Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, Is Serving a 10-Year Sentence for Painting “Counter-Revolutionary” Posters.

Ariel Manuel Martín Barroso was prosecuted for “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “contempt” for writing phrases like “Fatherland and Life” and “Díaz-Canel singao [motherfucker]” with a “permanent” marker.

The court accuses the professor of having contacted “various YouTubers, primarily based in the United States.” / Facebook/Iliana Curra Lussón

A professor from Sancti Spíritus, Ariel Manuel Martín Barroso, is serving a 10-year sentence in the Nieves Morejón prison, in the municipality of Cabaiguán, Sancti Spíritus, for posting several anti-government graffiti between the last months of 2024 and the first months of 2025.

Arrested on February 25 of that year, Martín Barroso was prosecuted for the crimes of propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt of court in a trial held in Santa Clara last September. The case was made public this Sunday by activists on social media and was confirmed this Tuesday by the Observatory of Academic Freedom.

The NGO denounces that the sentence being served by the professor, 42 years old and a teacher at the Faculty of Technical and Business Sciences of the University of Sancti Spíritus, is “for strictly political reasons.”

The case of Martín Barroso has not been made public until now due to the reluctance of his relatives to report it, sources close to the family told 14ymedio. “His father belongs to the Communist Party, and the family initially thought that speaking publicly would only make things worse,” one of them stated. continue reading

The case of Martín Barroso has not been made public until now because of the reluctance of his relatives to report it

According to the sentence, which this newspaper had access to, Martín Barroso posted graffiti such as “down with Díaz-Canel,” “Fatherland and Life,” “Díaz-Canel singao” and “fire with the communists”, with a “permanent black marker -pen- Erich Krause brand,” which was confiscated as evidence of the crime, along with a computer and a cell phone.

Before detailing dates and places – from October 17, 2024, when he first painted a poster in a hallway of the university where he teaches, and until a vague date the following February – the legal text establishes as a “proven fact” that Martín Barroso “from a date not specified exactly, but for several years, had been showing disagreement with the revolutionary and socialist process, mainly because of the measures that, from the economic point of view, have been implemented by the Cuban State.”

Therefore, the ruling continues, he “conceived the illicit idea of creating several posters to display in different locations” both in the municipality of Sancti Spíritus and in the province. The court accuses the professor of having contacted “various YouTubers, primarily based in the United States,” to carry out his actions, using “propaganda from the counterrevolutionary organization abroad,” Autodefensa del Pueblo [People’s Self-Defense Forces], which it describes as “neo-terrorist” and based in Florida.

The text presumes a freedom of expression nonexistent on the island by stating that “instead of expressing his grievances through established legal channels, he chose to create posters with counterrevolutionary content,” taking advantage, it continues, “of the tense situation in our country with the electricity supply.” The judges of the court, in fact, lament that the posters were painted during a blackout.

The text presumes a freedom of expression that does not exist on the Island by saying that “instead of expressing his grievances through established legal channels”

The case of the university professor has come to light at a time when the regime is currently holding record numbers of political prisoners, coinciding with the worsening energy crisis following the fall of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. According to the Madrid-based NGO Prisoners Defenders, there are a total of 1,207 political prisoners, 18 of whom have been imprisoned during this year.

One of the most recent cases of repression is that of Ernesto Medina and Kamil Zayas, members of the El4tico project, who were arrested on February 6 in Holguín for freely expressing their opinions on social media. The videos produced by these young men from Holguín have gone viral, and today their Facebook and Instagram accounts have over 138,000 followers. State harassment against these young men had been brewing for several months prior to their arrest.

On February 4th, a group of Cuban activists submitted a petition to the National Assembly of People’s Power calling for an amnesty law to free political prisoners. The initiative, “For Amnesty Now!”, had, at the time of submission, gathered over 1,500 verified signatures, out of the 10,000 required to request the drafting of such a law.

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Companies That Served Food to Cuban Doctors in Mexico Received Preferential Treatment

The government of Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum allocated part of the 1.6 billion pesos disbursed over four months to various consortiums

A group of Cuban doctors in the state of Guerrero (Mexico) / Facebook

14ymedio, Mexico City, February 16, 2026– New data fuels the controversy in Mexico over the importation of Cuban doctors. This time, the data pertains to companies contracted to provide lodging, food, and transportation for the Cuban medical personnel in 12 states governed by Morena, the ruling party.

According to a report published in the weekly magazine Proceso, the Kol-Tov companies, in partnership with Productos Serel, and Perlop Operadora de Alimentos, which have been “investigated for irregularities,” received preferential treatment from the government of Claudia Sheinbaum. Some of these companies, the investigation states, “benefited from direct awards.” In total, Mexico paid part of the 1.6 billion pesos (US$93,234,765) disbursed over four months to these consortiums to cover external services for specialists on the island.

According to information obtained by 14ymedio on the Compras MX website, between September 1 and December 31, 2025, the companies Kol-Tov and Productos Serel received 179,274,480 pesos (10,445,877 dollars) as payment for food services to Cuban specialists — without specifying how many — in the State of Mexico and Mexico City.

The amounts do not include the salaries of the Cuban doctors, which are 50,000 pesos (US$2,732 per month). Those sent to remote and hard-to-reach areas receive a bonus of 10,000 pesos (US$545), bringing the monthly total to US$3,277. This money is managed by Neuronic Mexicana, which is a subsidiary of Neuronic SA Cuba. Since 2018, this company has represented the products and services of the island’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry and is headed by Cuban national Tania Guerra. continue reading

The Kol-Tov and Productos Serel companies received $10,445,877 as payment for food services to Cuban specialists.

La Opinión de México reported last May that the Landsmanas family, as well as subsidiaries and partners of the company Kol Tov, “have benefited from contracts awarded through favoritism .” Between 2024 and 2025, 4,392,884,951 pesos (US$255,982,866) were deposited into the coffers of the company led by Jack Landsmanas Stern.

The same media outlet reported that the company is part of the Kosmos corporation, which is also linked to the embezzlement of funds from Mexican Food Security (Segalmex). In 2021, under the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), the agency awarded 797,000,000 pesos (US$39,299,802 at the exchange rate at the time) to a network of shell companies that failed to deliver supplies such as pesticides, sacks, and tarpaulins intended to protect and store grains like corn and beans.

During the administration of the so-called 4T, Kol-Tov, with tax addresses in both Mexico City and Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, has also benefited from the awarding of contracts with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the Federal Protection Secretariat, and the now-defunct Federal Police.

The leak of documents through Pandora Papers revealed in October 2021 that Corporativo Kosmos owned the subsidiaries La Cosmopolitana, Serel and Kol Tov.

The Pandora Papers leak in October 2021 revealed that Corporativo Kosmos owned the subsidiaries La Cosmopolitana, Serel, and Kol Tov. The food supplier to hospitals, businesses, daycare centers, prisons, Pemex platforms, and toritos (detention centers for Administrative Sanctions and Social Integration) in 27 states “grew uncontrollably under the protection of political power,” with more than 5 billion pesos (US$144,759,698 at the exchange rate at the time) in contracts with the government of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), not including Pemex.

Data published by Mexicans Against Corruption revealed that in October 2014, as a result of the split of Kosmiko [one of the multiple business arms of Kosmos] four new companies were formed: RX Health, of which Fernández is a founding partner; Productos Serel, La Cosmopolitana and Fármacos Darovi SA de CV.

Perlop Operadora was awarded the contract to provide food services for Cuban specialists in the states of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatán. This generated profits of 1,217,150,500 pesos (US$70,927,112).

According to ‘Proceso’, “the minimum total number of doctors mentioned is 1,309 and the maximum total is 2,609. In that calculation, the states where the most were displaced were Guerrero and Veracruz, with 449 health specialists; while the state that would receive the least would be Yucatán, with 18.”

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Cuba’s Private Sector Has Begun Importing Fuels, but Always Through a State-Owned Company

Shipments of diesel from various countries are arriving at the port of Mariel

Businesses must ensure they have all necessary permits, including for storage, which may be provided by Cupet. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, February 17, 2026 — Cuban private companies are importing oil authorized by the government, Martí Noticias confirmed on Monday. Anonymous sources consulted by the Miami-based news outlet stated that shipments of diesel in ISO tanks are already being sent from various countries. “Each unit can transport around 24,000 liters, and delivery is made at the port of Mariel directly to the clients,” said one of the sources.

This method of transport makes it possible to deliver smaller and more flexible shipments, and is less conspicuous than traditional cargoes on large ships.

Sources added that companies with active licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce were involved in operations related to fuel supply. “It’s being handled with the utmost discretion. There are fears that the Trump Administration could also restrict this channel, although after recent statements by Marco Rubio, there are expectations that no measures will be adopted that directly affect SMEs*,” one of the sources told Martí Noticias.

The news came just hours after the company Sonicarpa SRL posted a notice on social media outlining the requirements for importing oil, which had been permitted without further details in recent weeks. On February 7, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, announced the savings plan to address the oil blockade, stating that the government was facilitating and authorizing any company with the capacity to purchase fuel to do so. “We have decentralized, you could say, fuel imports,” he stated, without elaborating further.

Expectations about the viability of this initiative had generated skepticism in public opinion. On Monday the list of indications was finally continue reading

made public, the first of which is to have the authorization of the Institute of Physical Planning on the location of the fuel depots, leased to Cuba Petróleo (Cupet) or to another state company.

Furthermore, obtaining certification from the Fire Department that guarantees the safety of the storage is essential. The fact that the state-owned facilities already have the necessary permits—which must also be insured by the company Esicuba—affects the situation, while simultaneously expediting the contracting of state-owned storage facilities.

Private companies must also submit a shareholders’ agreement demonstrating that the fuel will be used for the company’s authorized activities. Finally, SMEs must import the fuel through a state-owned company such as Quimimport or Maprinter, which will manage the purchase. This requirement has generated considerable discontent on social media, where many are demanding that companies be able to purchase fuel directly.

“It wouldn’t be profitable for any private company to pay $85 for a barrel of oil on the international market, then have the state importer apply a tax, and then have to pay Cupet for the specialized truck and storage space. It is even less profitable to sell it domestically. At what price, if after all those expenses a barrel of oil costs you $150 or $200?” one user wondered.

Another question raised by the information is whether the US will allow these sales, which will go through the State, amidst an energy blockade decreed at the end of January by Donald Trump, who imposed tariffs on any country that supplies fuel to Cuba.

At the 8th Investment Forum of the Havana International Fair (FIHAV 2025) held last November, Óscar Pérez-Oliva promised that the new package of measures to “correct distortions” and revive the Cuban economy would include an evaluation of which foreign companies could import fuel “when necessary.” Amid the current energy crisis, no concrete details have yet been provided regarding the implementation of this measure.

*Small and Medium Enterprises (‘mipymes’ in Spanish), generally privately operated.

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Lech Walesa to Cubans: “You Should Take Advantage of Trump, but He Will Not Bring You Freedom”

The former Polish president warns that the US president is heading in the right direction, but he is looking out for his country’s interests, not those of the Cuban people.

Walesa argues that Poland took advantage of Pope John Paul II just as Cuba should take advantage of Trump. / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 13 February 2026 — Speaking in Miami this Thursday, the former Polish President Lech Walesa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, suggested that Cubans in Florida “take advantage” of US President Donald Trump to achieve change on the island, but warned that the president “will not bring you freedom.”

“You need to take advantage of Trump because he’s going in the right direction, but remember that he is going in the direction of American interests, not Cuban interests. So you need to be prepared for all of this to converge,” Walesa responded to a question from EFE.

The recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1983) compared Cuba’s current struggle to the one he led to end the communist regime in 1989. Speaking at the Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, he recalled that his movement “took advantage” of the fact that there was a Polish pope, John Paul II, so Cubans should “take advantage” of Trump.

The recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1983) compared Cuba’s current struggle with the one he led to end the communist regime in 1989, speaking at the Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami.

“You have a similar situation. There’s Trump, but the question is how to take advantage of him being president because he won’t bring you freedom. You have to take advantage of Trump to win your freedom,” he said.

The Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC), and other exile organizations recognized Walesa as the first “ambassador of freedom in Cuba,” considering that “the fall of the regime” is closer than ever due to the policies of Trump and the Cuban-born Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Washington has increased pressure on Havana following the intervention in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, cutting off the supply of Venezuelan crude to the island and declaring a “national emergency” to sanction countries that supply oil to Cuba. continue reading

Walesa, who in 1990 became Poland’s first democratically elected president since 1926, and has inspired Cubans for their fight against communism, told the exiles that “you have the opportunity for a quick victory, but that’s when the problems will begin” because they risk civil war.

María Corina Machado “gave her Nobel Prize to Trump too quickly and too easily”

“So I wish you freedom and, really, I’m asking you, let me participate in your victory parade in Cuba. Hurry,” the 82-year-old former president said.

The Polish politician also revealed that he had a conversation last week with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. “She gave her Nobel Prize to Trump too quickly and too easily,” he said he told her.

“Of course, we will stay in touch and I will participate in the fight for freedom in your country (Venezuela), your country (Cuba), and other countries. What I have seen is that you have a fighting spirit,” he said.

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Cubans in the US Are Accelerating Aid Shipments to the Island but Are Asking Trump for More Restrictions

Dozens of exiles line up with boxes and bags of food, toilet paper, and other basic necessities at parcel delivery companies in Miami’s Little Havana

Cuban citizens wait next to boxes and bags of food and basic supplies to send to their families on the island this Friday in Miami, Florida. / EFE/Alberto Boal

14ymedio, Pedro Pablo Cortés (EFE), Miami, 13 February 2026 — Cubans in the United States are accelerating shipments of food and medicine to their families, who depend on this aid to survive as the crisis on the Island worsens, but they express to EFE their support for President Donald Trump to increase restrictions so that “the regime falls.”

Dozens of exiles line up with boxes and bags of food, toilet paper and other basic necessities at shipping companies in Miami’s Little Havana, motivated by power cuts in Cuba and the feeling that things will evolve quickly. Among them is Manuela Labori, who is sending aid to her 90-year-old mother.

“What she’s eating is from the three of the children she has here, and we have to send her the medicine she needs as well. She can’t even walk because her knees are damaged; the cartilage and bone have worn away, and the hospitals have nothing to relieve her pain or perform surgery,” she tells EFE.

“There should be a complete blockade, shutting down everything so we can’t even send anything, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall.”

The UN Human Rights Office warned on Friday that Washington is “failing” to comply with international law with the sanctions it imposed in January to prevent oil supplies to Cuba, which is causing the “dismantling” of the food, health and water supply systems.

But Labori, who has lived in Florida for over 40 years, considers Trump’s measures “excellent” and asks for more, even if it means no longer sending aid to her family.

“It should be a complete blockade, shutting everything down, preventing us from sending anything, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall. Communism has no place anywhere. They should end it for good,” she exclaims.

Humanitarian donations from the US to Cuba nearly doubled in 2025, with an estimated value of $130.9 million compared to $67.8 million the previous year, including food, medicine and clothing, according to a report by the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. continue reading

Although many on the island “depend heavily” on the exiles, former political prisoner Ángel de la Fana, leader of the Los Plantados group, points out that “the vast majority do not have relatives in exile who can send them help.”

“[We need to] increase the pressure because it’s not enough for us in exile to send aid to our families. What we need is for the Cuban people to be free, to have the freedom to create wealth, to be able to produce food,” he argues.

Cuban-American lawmakers in Florida have asked Trump to ban remittances to Cuba, as well as flights, and business licenses for companies “doing business with the regime,” while the cities of Miami and Hialeah investigate hundreds of companies with possible ties to the Cuban government, including parcel services.

José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that the shipment of “basic supplies” should “still be allowed.”

José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that the shipment of “basic supplies” such as “food, medicine and hygiene products” should still be allowed because “many need them,” but he calls for a ban on other “luxury, entertainment or pleasure” items.

During a tour of several shipping agencies, service employees and immigrants refused to speak to EFE for fear of reprisals from the Cuban government or U.S. authorities.

Others, like Usmara Matamoros, fear that the US restrictions will not bring changes to the island and will only mean that their relatives will not have the products they are sent from Miami.

“No, I don’t agree because imagine how they’re going to live,” he told EFE. “They’re nothing without us.”

Some send whatever they can regardless of the political context or whether there are requests for help, like Teresa Martínez, who sends “medicine, rice, milk, anything that can be food” whenever she has the opportunity.

“They don’t ask me, I send them things because I know they need everything, and there are two little children that I send to every month,” she says through tears.

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Havana’s 3rd and 70th Supermarket, an Emblem of Dollarization, Is Half Empty and Has Unaffordable Prices

The building of the same name located across the street was dismantled and converted into a warehouse

The few products available are being sold at “exorbitantly high” prices, according to several shoppers. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, 12 February 2025 — It has been just over a year since the grand opening of Havana’s 3rd and 70th Supermarket, the figurehead of dollarization in Cuba, but it feels like a lifetime. The establishment, located on the ground floor of the luxurious Gran Muthu Habana Hotel in Miramar, is a far cry from the one whose shelves were once overflowing with a wide variety of products. Although it is still clean and well-lit, it is now just a shadow of its former self.

Rows of bare shelves, other shelves repeatedly stocked with the same product, and prohibitive prices even for shoppers who receive remittances or income in foreign currency—this was the scene at the supermarket on Wednesday. “If this is empty, anything can happen, because it used to be the best-stocked store in the country,” asserted a Havana resident who had been shopping there since it opened.

“If this is empty, anything can happen, because it used to be the best-stocked store in the country.” / 14ymedio

Where canned goods, pasta, oils, and cleaning products once alternated, now only metal shelves remain. In other sections, the scarcity is disguised by an artificial overabundance, with the same item repeated again and again, as if quantity substituted for variety. “There are more empty spaces than usual,” a customer remarks as he walks through the store without a cart, aware that there isn’t much to choose from.

This scarcity of offerings is compounded by the problem of prices. The few products available are sold at “exorbitantly high” prices, according to several shoppers. These same items—or their equivalents—can be found on the street, in informal markets, and paid for in Cuban pesos, albeit at the cost of illegality and runaway inflation. The supermarket, conceived as a showcase of order and supply, has lost any advantage over the informal market. continue reading

Shelves piled over and over with the same product. / 14ymedio

One of the clearest symbols of this transformation was the closure of the market that operated in freely convertible currency (MLC) across the street from the same establishment at 3rd and 70th, bearing the same name. It hasn’t just been “dismantled,” says a local resident, but converted into a warehouse for the neighboring market that operates in dollars. “It’s like the prince and the pauper,” the man says ironically, summarizing the coexistence of privileged spaces for those who can pay in foreign currency and the growing precariousness for everyone else.

Opened on January 31, 2024, the 3rd and 70th Street Supermarket was the first of the establishments that accepted payment exclusively in dollars, a type of store that has since proliferated in Cuban cities. Intended to as a source of foreign currency for a state increasingly short of it, the store offered at least the illusion of variety and abundance. Now, it is nothing more than a shell, a stark reminder of an economic system in its death throes.

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Illegal Garbage Burning Begins to Choke Havana

Desperate due to the lack of trucks, neighbors set the garbage on fire

At dawn or dusk, day or night, the neighbors set fire to the garbage without any restraint. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, February 16, 2026 – – Just as mountains of garbage have proliferated on every corner of Havana in recent months, so too has the illegal burning of it. At dawn or dusk, day or night, neighbors set fire to the trash without any restraint. Smoke over the capital and black wisps falling like negatives of snowflakes are becoming commonplace, with the consequent health risks.

“I don’t think people are aware of how dangerous burning solid waste is,” says a nurse who lives in Central Havana. “But they don’t have any other choice. There are garbage dumps burning next to houses, parks, sports fields, everywhere.”

Another Havana resident from Guanabacoa told 14ymedio that on Saturday, returning home at night, he saw a curtain of smoke along his entire route on Vía Blanca. “At certain times of the day, the smell of burning is constant,” he said. Not only in his municipality, he explained, but throughout the city, burning trash “is now a widespread practice because the garbage trucks are delayed or simply don’t come at all.” continue reading

Returning home at night, he saw a curtain of smoke along his entire route. / 14ymedio

“The smell of burning is better than the stench of all that filth,” asserts a resident of Plaza de la Revolución. There’s no other way, she says, to light a fire to get rid of the flies.

From her tall building, she sees what she calls a “Sauron’s ring of waste,” referring to the villain from The Lord of the Rings: distinct garbage dumps that, due to a lack of trucks to collect them because of the critical fuel shortage—exacerbated by the US oil embargo in force since early January—have merged together. “The one that runs from Factor and Conill joins the one at Estancia and Conill, which in turn joins the one at Santa Ana and Estancia, which completes the circle with the one at Factor and Santa Ana,” she lists, lamenting that since the temperatures have begun to rise, the smell is unbearable. Ironically alluding to the plot of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, she concludes: “One ring to choke them all.”

Two weeks ago, the official newspaper Cubadebate published a report highlighting some figures on the collapse of waste collection: Havana has 10,000 garbage containers but needs between 20,000 and 30,000, and only between 16,000 and 17,000 cubic meters are being collected daily, whereas in the past between 25,000 and 30,000 cubic meters were collected.

“There’s no other way to get rid of the flies than to light a fire.” / 14ymedio

One of the main problems, the media outlet said, quoting officials, is not only the lack of fuel but also the poor condition of the equipment: of 106 collection trucks, only 44 are working. “We are between 37% and 44% technical availability, well below what is needed,” acknowledged Alexis González Inclán, an official from Municipal Services.

Another drawback is the lack of labor. There is little interest in being a street sweeper because the basic salary they received, which a few years ago was attractive, today, according to González Inclán, “is little more than 2,000 pesos,” while a carton of 30 eggs costs between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos or a pound of rice costs 300 pesos on the informal market.

In a meeting on the issue, President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized his officials for not acting more quickly before the problem reached its current levels. The Havana government presented 49 measures to address the accumulated garbage piles, but so far, none have been implemented, either on paper or in practice.

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Cuba Suspends the Cigar Festival Amid Energy Crisis and Economic Collapse

The event underscores the fracture between the Island’s exportable image and its life in ruins.

The previous edition of the Cigar Festival, held with a lavish gala dinner at the National Capitol, sparked widespread public backlash. / Habanos S.A.

14ymedio, Havana, February 15, 2026 – The Cigar Festival, considered the premier international showcase for Cuban premium tobacco, was suspended this Saturday with no new date set, amid the worst energy crisis the Island has experienced in decades. The state-owned company Habanos S.A., which holds the global marketing monopoly on the famous cigars, published a brief statement on its website announcing that the 26th edition of the festival, scheduled for February 24–27, has been “postponed,” with a new date to be announced “in due course.”

The official argument claims the decision seeks to preserve “the highest standards of quality and experience” for the event. The reality on the Island, however, has already hit rock bottom: severe fuel rationing, closures or cutbacks of basic services, and a collapsed economy barely able to sustain its most elementary operations.

A worker in the hospitality sector, who has participated in previous editions of the Festival and requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, told 14ymedio that the suspension also thwarted plans for even greater displays of ostentation than last year. “Imagine that this year the private party was going to be at El Morro. The Chinese businessman who organizes the whole thing planned that, at one point during the night, the lighthouse would ‘catch fire’ at the tip, all done with lighting effects, like it was a giant cigar. It would have been visible across the whole city,” she said. According to the source, the businessman is “quite furious” about the cancellation of an event whose reasons, she says, were not only the fuel shortage but also the negative political impact of holding it in the midst of the crisis and after the backlash left by the previous edition.

The worker added that many of the employees involved this year felt an intense conflict that was not felt in previous years. “On one hand, the money was badly needed, because they pay well and in foreign currency. But on the other, there was fear,” she confessed. Fear of possible protests, of being singled out or confronted while serving drinks and dishes to a foreign elite insulated from the blackouts and shortages. “After what happened with the Capitol, no one wanted to be at the center of a viral photo or an altercation,” she said.

Thousands of Cubans reacted angrily to the multimillion-dollar waltz for an elite, in stark contrast to a population condemned to darkness

The previous edition of the Cigar Festival, held with a lavish gala dinner at the National Capitol, provoked widespread public rejection that overflowed onto social media. While the country endured prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and a generalized deterioration of daily life, images of foreign guests toasting under restored chandeliers and luxuriously set tables in one of the Republic’s most symbolic buildings were seen as an obscene provocation. Thousands of Cubans reacted with anger continue reading

to the multimillion-dollar spectacle for an elite, in contrast with a population condemned to darkness, rationing, and daily hardship.

Each year, the Cigar Festival attracts millionaires, global distributors, and international aficionados to a celebration of selective glamour in colonial hotels and luxury halls in Havana. Its auction of exclusive humidors—artistic cases that preserve legendary cigars—has reached stratospheric figures. In the previous edition, a commemorative Behike Line humidor set a historic record by selling for 4.6 million euros, and the seven pieces auctioned totaled more than 16 million euros, destined, according to the Government, for Cuba’s public health system.

But that symbolic and real capital coexists grotesquely with a population pushed to the brink of destitution, following the interruption of oil supplies that Cuba imported mainly from Venezuela and Mexico. Thermoelectric plants, most of them obsolete, operate intermittently, and electricity generation never manages to meet national demand.

The decision to postpone the Festival comes at a time when Cuba’s economy is deteriorating rapidly due to multiple factors: the interruption of Venezuelan oil flows following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the January 29 U.S. executive order threatening tariffs on those who supply fuel to the Island, and the chronic shortage of foreign currency that prevents the import of basic raw materials.

The suspension of the event confirms that outward-oriented luxury and the reality of the average Cuban have become a contradiction that is impossible to conceal

The energy crisis has also served as official justification for shortened workdays, strict gasoline and diesel rationing, temporary hotel closures, and alerts even at airports, where several airlines have canceled flights due to fuel shortages. At the same time, the regime has prioritized internal control, with systematic military exercises and a visible increase in repression.

The Government continues to blame the U.S. embargo and the tightening of oil restrictions for the crisis, presenting it as almost exclusively the result of blockade policy. But that narrative fails to dispel the widespread perception that the national economy is sinking due to internal mistakes and persistence in a failed model. While negotiations continue with foreign distributors and record sales figures are touted, such as the 827 million dollars earned from tobacco in 2024, Cubans’ daily lives unfold amid blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, and a health system on the brink of collapse.

In this context, the suspension of the event confirms that the luxury aimed at foreign audiences and the reality of the average Cuban have become a contradiction that is impossible to conceal. While humidors are auctioned for millions in gala halls, most neighborhoods in Havana and across the provinces survive at the brink. It is the stark contrast between showcase ostentation and everyday misery.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Companies That Consume Too Much Electricity Will Be Punished With Power Cuts of at Least 72 Hours

Three Cuban ships roam the Caribbean in a failed attempt to secure LPG, the gas used for cooking on the Island

The Gas Exelero, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, is operating / StealthGas

14ymedio, Madrid, February 16, 2026 – The vessel Gas Exelero, dedicated to transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Cuba and sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, is heading toward Jamaica after having been in Willemstad, Curaçao on Sunday. Its current draft, 4.2 meters, indicates that the tanker was unable to load LPG on the Dutch island and will attempt to obtain it in Kingston, where the Eugenia Gas failed on Saturday, according to University of Texas specialist Jorge Piñón.

The attempt cost the country some of its already scarce fuel reserves, the expert told this newspaper on Saturday, when the ship was returning to Santiago de Cuba after failing to approach the Petrojam refinery in the Jamaican capital. It was the second failure of the Cuban fleet in half a month, after the Emilia, sailing under the Cuban flag, was unable to acquire LPG in Kingston at the end of January.

Jamaica has been a regular supplier of the cooking gas used in Cuba, but that day an order signed by Donald Trump had just taken effect, threatening tariffs on any country delivering fuel to the Island. VesselFinder records indicated at the time that the Emilia left the Island with the same draft with which it returned.

Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images of the levels of light emitted by the Island, determining that the drop reaches 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín

Fuel restrictions have worsened a situation that had already shown extreme fragility over the past two years. This weekend, the financial outlet Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images measuring the continue reading

levels of light emitted by the Island, concluding that brightness has fallen by as much as 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín compared to historical averages. In rural areas, the situation is even worse, while Havana still showed a significant advantage at the time of the study, with the exception of the neighborhoods of Cojímar and Alamar, which were noticeably darker than the rest.

On Sunday, Cuba’s Electric Union reported peak-hour demand of 3,009 megawatts (MW) compared to a generation capacity of just 1,427 MW. The day was also marked by an incident that sparked laughter amid the dramatic situation.

Unit 1 of the Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric plant went offline due to a breakdown before noon, came back online around 3 p.m., and disconnected again just an hour later. At 5:28 p.m., it was reconnected once more, prompting irony from exhausted customers. “Now I can’t remember whether I was coming in or going out,” one said. “Like a Christmas tree: ‘on for a while, off for a while,’” joked another. “So it went out twice and came back twice. The joke tells itself. Thanks, SEN (National Electric System), because despite the criminal blackouts, you make us laugh every day,” commented one user.

Those sanctioned for failing to comply with the Government’s energy-saving plans are likely in less of a laughing mood. The official media outlet in the province of Las Tunas announced specific measures this weekend aimed at curbing energy consumption, a constant concern across most of the Island depending on local conditions and capacities.

“Like a Christmas tree: ‘on for a while, off for a while,’” joked another.

Among the measures announced by Maritza González Llorente, director of the National Office for the Rational Use of Energy in Las Tunas, is the “only punitive measure” to be applied to companies—both state-run and private—that fail to meet their assigned consumption plans: cutting off their electricity supply.

“Everyone who failed to comply with the January consumption plan is having their service cut off. This measure is notified 48 hours in advance. It is then applied for a minimum of 72 hours, and the maximum duration extends until the debtor recovers the excess consumption,” the official explained.

Disconnection will also be applied to businesses located on “non-blackout” circuits, which required identifying those benefiting from their proximity to hospitals or other vital services. “We will increase control actions on each of these non-blackout circuits, and we will check on weekends, from Friday to Monday, whether the switches are open, in order to report any irregularities,” the official warned.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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The Surrender

A metaphor for the heart of ancient karate, where victory occurs before the fight

Sōkon Matsumura (1809–1899) is one of the founding figures of Tōde, the martial art that later gave rise to Okinawan karate. / Milton Chanes

14ymedio, Milton Chanes, 8 February 2026, Berlin

The Surrender

Shuri, Ryūkyū Kingdom — probably between 1820 and 1835

The king watched from the upper portico, leaning against the carved wooden backrest that overlooked the inner courtyard of Shuri Castle. He had summoned no one beyond a few courtiers and guards. It was not a formal audience. There were no documents, no seals, no affairs of state.

That morning, something else occupied his mind.

An idea that had taken root as useless decisions sometimes do: without cause or purpose, born solely of the boredom that accompanies power when it meets no resistance.

—They say Matsumura is the strongest man in the kingdom —he remarked, without addressing anyone in particular.

The silence that followed was immediate. At court, silence was a form of survival. The king knew that a poorly placed word was enough to turn a casual remark into an irrevocable order.

—They say —he repeated— that there is no one who can defeat him.

One of the advisers inclined his head slightly.

—That is so, Your Majesty. Matsumura Sōkon has served faithfully as royal protector for many years. His reputation—

The king raised his hand. He did not want reputations. He wanted spectacle.

—If he is as strong as they say —he interrupted—, he should be able to face a bull.
The adviser blinked. Not because he had misheard, but because he immediately understood the consequences of those words.

—Your Majesty…

—A fierce bull. One of the large ones. The kind that has killed men —the king added, with a faint smile—. I want to see it.

No one argued. No one asked why. In the Ryūkyū Kingdom, the king’s decisions were not explained; they were carried out.

When the order reached Matsumura, there was no surprise on his face. No indignation either. Only a slight nod, as if this absurd request were just another among the many he had accepted in silence throughout his life.

—When? —he asked.

—In ten days. Before the court.

Matsumura inclined his head and said nothing more.

That same afternoon, he asked to see the keeper of the stables.

The bull was an imposing animal. Black, muscular, its flanks marked by old scars. It had been used in fights, in trials of strength, in exhibitions where men proved their bravery by confronting a beast that knew no fear. Two of them had not survived.

Matsumura observed it in silence from the entrance to the stable. He carried his bō with him—a long staff of smooth wood, simple and unadorned, used both for walking and for combat. He rested it naturally against the ground, as if it were an extension of his body rather than a weapon. He did not step forward at first. He did not measure distance with his body, but with his eyes.

The bull lifted its head, snorted, struck the ground with a hoof. It was accustomed to men reacting—to stepping back, shouting, or brandishing weapons.

Matsumura did nothing.

When he finally entered, he did so slowly, with no visible tension in his shoulders or hands. He walked straight ahead, without hesitation, holding the bō lightly, as if the animal did not exist and, at the same time, as if it were the only thing that mattered.

The first contact was quick and dry.

Not a blow, but a precise touch with the end of the bō to the muzzle, right where an exposed nerve forces even the largest beasts to recoil by pure reflex.

The bull snorted, shook its head, took a step back.

Matsumura was already turning away.

He did not look back as he left.

The next day, he returned.

And the day after that.

Always at the same hour. Always with the same gesture. He entered, advanced without hesitation, touched once with the bō, and left. There was no challenge. No anger. No intent to dominate—only to establish a silent truth.

The bull began to change.

Not in its body, but in its gaze.

When it heard Matsumura’s footsteps, it stopped charging the stable walls. When it saw him cross the threshold, it tensed its muscles… and then hesitated. The touch always came before it could react.

For the animal, this was not a physical defeat, but a certainty: this man did not enter its game.

On the seventh day, Matsumura did not touch the bull.

He entered, advanced to within a few steps of the animal, and stopped. He set the bō on the ground, adopting no stance at all. The bull lowered its head by instinct, as if waiting for the impact that always came.

Nothing happened.

Matsumura turned around and left.

The same occurred on the days that followed. No blow. No gesture. And yet the bull prepared itself each time, tensing its body for an attack that no longer came.

On the day of the confrontation, the castle courtyard was full. Nobles, guards, and servants. The king sat in his place, satisfied. He had awaited that moment the way one awaits a diversion—with a curiosity born not of respect, but of the desire to see something break.

The bull was led to the center of the courtyard. It pulled against the ropes, snorted, struck the ground in fury. The crowd murmured. There was fear, but also anticipation.

Matsumura entered alone.

He was simply dressed. He wore no armor and no protection. Only his bō.

He walked until he stood before the animal and stopped.

For an instant, everything fell silent.

The bull lifted its head.

And recognized him.

There was no charge. No roar.

The animal took a step back. Then another. It lowered its head slowly, as if the weight of its own body had suddenly become unbearable. Finally, it bent its front legs and remained still. Not defeated. Surrendered.

A murmur ran through the court.

The king rose in his seat.

—What does this mean? —he asked, his voice tense.

Matsumura did not answer immediately. He did not look at the king. He did not look at the crowd. His eyes remained on the bull, which trembled slightly.

—Your Majesty —he said at last—, the fight already took place.

—Nothing happened! —the king retorted.

Matsumura then raised his gaze.

—Precisely.

There was no applause. No celebration. The king made a brusque gesture with his hand, ordering the animal to be taken away. The spectacle had ended without giving him what he expected.

But something had broken.

Not in the bull.

What had broken was the very idea of strength that had given rise to that whim.

That night, Matsumura returned to his home without a word. He did not consider himself victorious. Nor did he believe he had delivered a lesson. He had simply acted in accordance with a certainty that had accompanied him for years: that violence is always a belated form of resolution, and that the true contest is decided before the body ever has to intervene.

Some would later say he had humiliated the king. Others, that he had displayed supernatural power. Matsumura corrected no one.

He knew that words rarely reach where actions have already spoken.

Long afterward, when someone asked him what his greatest fight had been, he answered without hesitation:

—The one I did not need to fight.

For the art he had learned did not reside in the strike, but in the instant that precedes it: in reading time, in understanding the other, in the ability to enter a space without imposing oneself upon it.

Though to many the bull had been defeated, the truth is that the language of men is not the same as that of animals. It was not defeated, because it had first been understood. Matsumura did not confront it through force, but through knowledge of its impulses and of the silent laws that governed its world. He acted according to those laws, not against them.

And the king, though he never admitted it, learned something no throne can teach: that there are forces that do not bow to authority, but to calm— even when that calm has been built upon rules of its own, older than any power.

It was a victory without visible scars.

And perhaps for that reason, the only one that endures through time, even if it does so in the form of legend.

Written by Milton Chanes

Sōkon Matsumura (1809–1899) is one of the foundational figures of Okinawan karate. A warrior, strategist, and master, he served as bodyguard to the kings of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and as the custodian of a martial knowledge that went far beyond physical combat. In an era when weapons were forbidden and power was exercised from the shadows, Matsumura developed an art grounded in observation, control of timing, and understanding of the opponent.

Decades later, that legacy would reach Gichin Funakoshi, who, while still young, received Matsumura’s teachings indirectly through his disciples—most notably Ankō Itosu—and carried them into modern Japan, transforming them into what we now know as Karate-Dō. Although Matsumura and Funakoshi did not belong to the same active generation, the bond between them is profound: one embodied the original spirit of the art; the other translated it for the world.

The story that follows—the legend of the bull—is not merely a tale of strength or bravery. It is a metaphor for the heart of ancient karate: the victory that occurs before the strike, when violence is no longer necessary. To understand Matsumura is to understand that principle. And to understand that principle is to grasp where everything that followed truly began.

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Cuba Wins Bronze in the Serie de las Américas, a Second-Tier Baseball Tournament

On March 6, the Island will make its debut in the World Baseball Classic against Panama.

Cuba finished the regular phase with three wins and three losses and was humiliated in the semifinal. / Prensa Latina

14ymedio, Havana, February 15, 2026 – Cuba barely managed to secure third place in a second-tier tournament. On Friday night, Team Asere defeated Panama’s Las Águilas Metropolitanas 7–2 to claim the bronze medal in the second edition of the Serie de las Américas baseball tournament, a championship created as an alternative for winter league teams that do not participate in the Caribbean Series.

Filled with a narrative bordering on the epic, official media stated that “the Cubans turned every hit into an epic verse: they withstood the Panamanian flight, steadied their nerves and, like an Island that never surrenders, closed the tournament with a victory that tasted of honor and memory.”

The national team led by Germán Mesa, which last year ranked 12th in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) standings—the worst position for the Island since this system was created in 2011—scored two runs in the first inning, setting the tone of the game early. However, the Panamanians tied it in the second inning with a home run by Edgard Muñoz.

In the third inning, Cuba again showed offensive power and drove in four runs. The game remained unchanged until the sixth inning, when Roel Santos brought in the Island’s seventh run of the afternoon.

“I’m happy because the work paid off and I was able to help the team. We knew this game was important and we came out fighting from the very first moment,” said Christian Rodríguez, one of Cuba’s standout players in continue reading

the tournament.

“It wasn’t an elite team, but it was a team that fought hard and won a medal. I’m very self-critical”

The celebratory mood was tempered by the Cuban manager’s final remarks, as he admitted that the squad “wasn’t an elite team, but it was a team that fought hard and won a medal. I’m very self-critical, I always want a little more, but the result is fine.”

Although Team Cuba leaves the tournament with a medal, the result falls short of ideal, given that the event is second-tier, as the region’s strongest teams were simultaneously competing in the Caribbean Series in Mexico. In this second edition of the Serie de las Américas, which is not sanctioned by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC), the participants included Cuba (represented by its national team), Panama (Águilas Metropolitanas), Nicaragua (Leones de León), Colombia (Caimanes de Barranquilla), Venezuela (Navegantes del Magallanes), Curaçao (Willemstad Cannons), and Argentina (Club Daom).

In the regular phase, Team Asere finished third with three wins and three losses. With those results, Germán Mesa’s squad advanced to the semifinals, where it was humiliated 9–1 by Navegantes del Magallanes, the team that went on to win the title 10–9 against Caimanes de Barranquilla, also on Friday night, at the Monumental de Caracas stadium.

Thus, Cuba began its road to the World Baseball Classic with a failure in Venezuela. The team will next travel to Nicaragua, where it will play exhibition games against opponents yet to be determined. The preparation schedule also includes two more games during spring training in Arizona: the first against the Kansas City Royals on March 3, and the following day against the Cincinnati Reds.

On March 6, the Island will make its World Baseball Classic debut against Panama at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, provided that the United States grants the necessary visas, something Germán Mesa is confident about. Two days later, Cuba will face Colombia. On March 9, it will take on the host team and will close its participation two days later against Canada. Team Asere will try, at the very least, to match its most recent performance in 2023, when it finished fourth after losing to Mexico, though still far from its feat in 2006, when it reached the final and fell to Japan.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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