Author: Translating Cuba

CITIZEN DECLARATION OF HEALTH EMERGENCY IN THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA

Refuting Cuba’s National Television News: Facebook Post by Alberto Arufe Rodriguez. Friday, November 21, 2025.

Proclaimed by the people of Cuba in response to the regime’s inaction and negligence. The Cuban Nation, in exercise of its popular sovereignty and in defense of the fundamental right to LIFE and HEALTH, formally declares a National Health Emergency in light of the serious epidemiological crisis facing the country and the current regime’s manifest inability to respond effectively, transparently, and humanely to the ongoing catastrophe.

I. Considerations

1. That the Cuban people are facing an unprecedented health crisis, with the simultaneous spread of arboviruses such as dengue, zika, chikungunya, and oropuche, among others, affecting millions of citizens throughout the country, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women.

2. That hospitals and health centers are overwhelmed, unable to receive new patients, and that medical personnel are working in inhumane conditions, without basic supplies, diagnostic reagents, essential medicines, drinking water, or a stable electricity supply.

3. That the epidemiological surveillance system has completely collapsed, as laboratory tests and clinical confirmations cannot be carried out, and that the health authorities are deliberately concealing the magnitude continue reading

of the outbreak to avoid international recognition of the crisis.

4. That the regime’s refusal to declare an official health emergency prevents the arrival of international aid, humanitarian donations, hospital supplies, specialized personnel, and logistical support from multilateral organizations and NGOs, blocking all avenues of assistance to the people.

5. That the government prioritizes tourism and the economic interests of military conglomerates such as GAESA—which controls more than $18 billion in assets—over public health, concealing the health disaster so as not to affect the income of the hotel sector or the privileges of the ruling elite.

6. That the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, although distorted in its democratic spirit, recognizes the right to life, dignity, and health of all citizens, rights that are currently being violated in a massive and systematic manner.

7. That the international community, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Health Regulations (2005), has a moral duty to intervene humanitarily when a State demonstrates its inability or unwillingness to protect its population in the face of a health emergency.

II. Declaration: Therefore, the people of Cuba, in their sovereign and inalienable right, proclaim a NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY, in order to:

1. Highlight the magnitude of the epidemiological crisis and break through the information blockade imposed by the regime.

2. Call for immediate assistance from the international community, health organizations, and supportive governments.3. Protect the lives and health of Cuban citizens in the face of the criminal inaction of the state apparatus.

4. Demand the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to allow the free entry of medicines, medical equipment, drinking water, specialized personnel, and technical assistance.

5. Request that the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the International Red Cross, and independent medical organizations officially recognize the Cuban health situation as a public health emergency of international concern.

6.Urge democratic governments and international financial institutions to enable emergency assistance and loan programs administered directly by humanitarian agencies, without the mediation of the regime.

7. Call on the Cuban medical corps, both inside and outside the island, to organize solidarity networks for care, information, and supplies for the benefit of the people.

III. Moral and humanitarian justification

Health is a human right, not a concession of power. When a government turns illness into censorship, misery into silence, and death into statistics, it ceases to represent the people. Therefore, this declaration is not a partisan political act, but an act of love, life, and national dignity.
The Cuban people cannot continue to die of fever, pain, and neglect while those in power protect their hotels, their banks, and their propaganda.
This proclamation is based on a universal principle: “Where the state abandons the citizen, the citizen has a duty to raise his voice for their life and the lives of others.”

IV. Immediate demands

1. International recognition of the Cuban health emergency by the WHO, PAHO, and UN.

2. Urgent creation of an international humanitarian medical mission to assist the civilian population.

3. Guarantee of free access to health care without political conditions.

4. Transparency in epidemiological information, with the participation of independent doctors.

5. Temporary suspension of trade or financial restrictions that impede the flow of health resources to the island.

6. Protection for journalists, doctors, and citizens who report on the real health situation.

V. Final appeal

The people of Cuba proclaim this emergency on behalf of the sick who have no hospital,
– the doctors who work without syringes,
– the children who sleep with fever without diagnosis or antipyretics,
– the mothers who pray for their families,
– and the elderly who cannot even access painkillers.

We urgently call on the free nations of the world, on people of solidarity, on humanitarian organizations, and on Cubans in the diaspora to join forces and save lives.

We are not asking for political intervention, we are asking for humanitarian intervention, based on the principles of international law and the universal defense of life.

Cuba does not need speeches, it needs help. Cuba is not asking for charity, it is demanding assistance. The people cannot wait any longer.

Proclaimed in the name of the people of Cuba, for life, truth, and national dignity.

Share this message through all possible channels so that it reaches as many people, institutions, organizations, and governments around the world as possible. Do it for Cuba.

Do it for Cubans. If you can’t do anything, just spread the word.
#CubaEstadoFallido #SOSCuba

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

Venezuela Now Has Imported Blackouts / Ciro Diaz [Oldie but Goodie]

This video is under two minutes long. Originally posted in 2012, we reposted it in 2014 given what was happening in Venezuela. It seems even more prescient now, in 2019, so here it is again… and… now in 2025… here it is AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN!

The subtitles appear to have stopped working.  Here are the lyrics:

IMPORTED BLACKOUTS – An original song by Ciro Diaz

Ohhh…. Fucking up a little island is nothing
Anyone can fuck up a little island
With few natural resources it was easy, to drown it in misery
But Fidel Castro loves the hardest efforts
That’s why he made friends with Chavez
To see if he could fuck up Venezuela

It looked like it would be hard
Because every time they dug a hole
They found every imaginable mineral
And the oil never stopped gushing

Only a president truly idiotic
Would allow his plans to embrace
The foolish ideas of Fidel and Cuban counter-intelligence.
And just like that ten years later, the job seems to be completed

Venezuela now has blackouts, blackouts imported from Havana
Venezuela now has blackouts, our experience was useless to them
Venezuela now has blackouts, blackouts imported from Havana
Venezuela now has blackouts, if they don’t hurry they will be left with nothing.

Ten Cuban Players Attend the European Baseball Championship

Spain, the current tournament champion, has seven Cuban players among its ranks

Ernesto Martínez Jr. joins the roster of France (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, September 22, 2025 —
The European Baseball Championship, which began last Saturday in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, has a strong presence of Cuban players. Ten players born on the island represent four different teams, including Spain, the current champion of the event, whose roster is more than 50% Cuban.

The Spanish team, which won 15-0 against Sweden last Saturday, has seven players in its ranks: catcher Omar Hernández, outfielders Frank Hernández and Félix Stevens, and pitchers Pablo Luis Guillén, Carlos Sierra, Royd Hernández and Rubén Menes. In addition, there is William Escala, born in Miami but with a Cuban father. Also, on the coaching team is Néstor Pérez Jr. from Matanzas, who played seven seasons in the minor leagues with Tampa Bay.

Spain, which seeks to defend the title won two years ago in the Czech Republic, lost its second game 9-1 this Sunday, precisely against the Czechs. William Escala, whose father is Cuban, played in this game. In Spain’s last game this Monday, they won 2-1 against Germany and are waiting to know their future, once all the games have concluded. continue reading

Noel González is on the Italian team, which began with a resounding 18-0 victory against Switzerland

Noel González, from Holguín, is on the Italian team, which began with a resounding 18-0 victory against Switzerland; he will play his second European tournament with them. After finishing ninth in the disputed edition two years ago, the Italians intend to return to the podium, something they have not achieved since 2021, which is an outstanding debt for the second team to win more times in the history of the competition with 10 championships, only behind the Netherlands, which has 24.

Another Holguín player will be part of the contest, but with the colors of France. Ernesto Martínez Jr. leads the roster and will have his second participation in a European tournament with that team. In the past, in the Czech Republic, he hit .286, with a home run and three RBIs. He is also the only player of his team with a contract in the major leagues, since the rest of the players are part of teams from the Netherlands, Italy and France.

Finally, Raxon Martínez Miranda from Pinar del Río is playing with Belgium and experiencing his first international event with that country. He was not in his team’s debut on Saturday, which lost 16-8 to Austria, although he played on Sunday against Hungary (19-9 victory) and is playing this Monday against Croatia (game in progress).

Raxon Martínez Miranda, from Pinar del Río, is playing with Belgium, experiencing his first international event with that country

Raxon left Cuba after marrying a Belgian citizen about five years ago. He has played for Belgium in the first division of baseball in the 2022 to 2025 seasons (in the first three championships with the club Brasschaat Braves and in the last one with Deurne Spartans). The 29-year-old pitcher played in Cuba’s U23 National Championship in the 2019 sixth edition and had 60 turns at bat; he scored 10, with 11 hits, two triples and four RBIs.

If Spain manages to win, it would be the third European Baseball Championship in their showcase. For this edition, the tournament — which opened in 1954 — has the participation of 16 countries. The final round will be played from September 25 to 27 in Rotterdam. The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, September 26, followed by the bronze medal match and the final next Saturday.

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.

Zenaida and Manuel Return to the Freedom Tower 60 Years Later

Thousands of Cuban refugees passed through this Miami building, which is now being reopened as a museum of the exodus.

The Freedom Tower, located on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, María Casas, Miami, 21 September 2035 — A food delivery robot passes by the imposing facade. Around it, skyscrapers and cranes dominate the landscape. Much has changed in Miami since 1925 when the building that houses the Freedom Tower was completed, a structure that opened its doors to thousands of Cuban refugees and is now reopening as a museum commemorating an exodus that has continued unabated for six decades.

Zenaida and Manuel arrived this Saturday afternoon at the gate through which, without having met yet, they had passed as children. The news of the reopening of the Freedom Tower last week reached the ears of these two septuagenarians and, wearing a white dress for her and an impeccably ironed shirt for him, they decided to return to the place where “they gave me the first hug when I arrived here,” Zenaida tells 14ymedio. “They handed out bags of powdered milk that were a blessing,” Manuel adds.

Located on Biscayne Boulevard, the Freedom Tower underwent a profound renovation that took two-years and cost $25 million. The project included significant structural repairs but, above all, a redesign of its collections, adding extensive audiovisual material, voices, testimonies, and the ability to interact with some of the exhibits, creating a museum tailored to each visitor.

With a deep sigh, Zenaida and Manuel begin their tour. About twenty people have gathered for a guided tour, which will end with a tasty cortadito or a glass of champagne, according to their taste. In October, the tower will reopen to regular visitors, but for now, these groups, who tour its spacious halls, enjoy a more intimate and serene experience.

The project included significant structural repairs but, above all, a redesign of its collections, including the addition of extensive audiovisual material. / 14ymedio

Closed since 2023 and declared a National Historic Landmark 15 years earlier, the building retains many of the architectural elements from its original function as the headquarters and printing plant of The Miami News. Most visitors this Saturday opt for the stairs instead of the elevator and end up in a vast hall with columns and large windows. Zenaida and Manuel clasp hands; the place is familiar but much changed.

“I was very little, but I remember my mother was very distressed,” recalls the native of Manzanillo who came to the United States in 1965. Meanwhile, the guide shows several replicas of the tower placed throughout the room, which function as information stations with videos and holograms that review the most important moments of the building. “They helped my aunt fix a tooth here,” adds Zenaida.

The group is diverse. There are a couple of tourists who look like they’ve just stepped off one of the cruise ships that arrive weekly at the port of Miami, several Americans, and many Cubans, most of them over 65. The city Manuel arrived at in 1963 “wasn’t like anything here; it’s another world,” reflects the exile from Luyanó, Havana. There are also some refugees who have joined the tour with their children, who have probably never set foot on the island and whose primary language is English.

“Look, look, she looks like your grandmother,” says a woman dressed in green, accompanied by a teenager who looks up from his phone to look at one of the photos. In the image, a very thin woman with a sad expression stares directly into the lens. The young man responds with a brief “OK” and returns to a TikTok video. The group moves to another room with books full of illustrations about Florida, its original inhabitants, and the multiple cultures that have shaped the Miami that many today call the City of the Sun or the capital of Latin America.

On one of the walls, a text clarifies that to be at a “crossroads” is to find oneself at a “connective node that acts as a meeting point.” This is what the city has become, a place that in official Cuban propaganda continues to be the target of the most virulent adjectives and the most irate accusations. The island in flight has nurtured and shaped a city where all kinds of accents are now heard, and where people eat yuca with mojo sauce and arepas, fried plantains, and tacos.

“We were going to have all this in Havana,” the woman dressed in green reiterates, trying to draw the teenager away from the screen. Through the window, a huge skyscraper occupies a large part of the landscape. The guide quickens her pace and enters another room with a large screen showing a video of faces and testimonies from exile. The past in black and white, the present in color.

The group is diverse. There are a couple of tourists who look like they’ve just gotten off one of the cruise ships that arrive weekly at the port of Miami, several Americans, and many Cubans. / 14ymedio

Objects pile up in the following rooms. There are suitcases, bags, travel documents, children’s clothes, and a doll, as well as photographs of balseros, rafters. Dozens of Cubans crowded onto a flimsy boat, and others perched on a truck converted into a vessel. Also visible are shirts, a wedding dress, books, and a fan. These were the few belongings the exiles were able to take with them. Most arrived with only the clothes on their backs.

“They took everything from my father: the apartment building he rented, the pharmacy, and the cars,” Manuel tells this newspaper. “My mother even had to leave her wedding ring behind because at the Havana airport they told her she couldn’t take it out.” A prosperous businessman in Cuba, Manuel’s father arrived in the United States penniless. “He had to start from scratch, but he had a flair for business, so in less than ten years he was running several car repair shops,” Manuel says.

The most moving moment for the couple is the room that recreates the registration office of the Emergency Center for Cuban refugees, which was founded in the 1960s in the tower. The office was used to process and document exiles and provide them with medical and dental services. The chairs arranged in rows, the signs in English and Spanish, and the old telephone in the corner bring a wave of emotions to Zenaida.

“It was like that, there were a lot of women with children,” she says. “They gave my family a few dollars to start, and with that, we were able to rent an apartment that was a tiny thimble; there was barely enough room for all of us to fit in.” Within a few years, they moved to Kansas City, where shortly after, her father started a photo development and printing business. “We made good money, and when we had enough to buy a house, we returned to Miami because this was the place we liked and that reminded us of Cuba.”

Zenaida and Manuel have never returned to the island. “We’ve been gradually removing the family we had left there; the last one we brought back was a great-niece with her two children.” From Manzanillo and Luyanó, they receive snatches of stories. “My family’s house is an office used to recruit young men for military service,” she says. “The place where I spent my childhood in Havana fell into ruin,” he laments.

Many of those who left in the 1960s and 1970s never returned to the island. / 14ymedio

In one room of the museum, a Singer sewing machine draws the group’s attention. Even the teenager leaves TikTok and tries to decipher the purpose of the object that, in a display case, seems so important. Sewing was a source of employment for many of the Cuban emigrants who came to the US. “My mother paid for our studies by making everything on her machine and ended up opening a shop selling elegant dresses,” another elderly woman explains, responding to the guide’s comments.

A large wall filled with faces offers another moving experience. Visitors can choose to listen to the testimony of any of the hundreds of people who look down on them from the walls. The voice of writer Luis Felipe Rojas speaks of living without fear and the importance of telling the truth. The exile, harshly repressed in Cuba for his work as an independent journalist, maintains that his children will be better human beings because they have grown up in an environment where they do not have to pretend or feign an ideology.

Zenaida’s eyes are red, and Manuel’s pace is slower. The tour is over, and she opts for a coffee, while he enjoys champagne. Outside, it is starting to rain.

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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.

Note to Readers on Recent ‘Problems’ Posting Translations on this Site

Dear Readers,

We finally figured out why ‘Translating Cuba’ hasn’t been ‘working’… we have been attacked and hacked from the ‘communist bloc’.

We appear to have control again.

Thank you for your patience!

Cubans Enraged by the Telecommunication Monopoly Etecsa’s ‘Tarifazo’

Thanks to connectivity, Cubans feel like citizens of the world

No one has been unaware of the impact on wallets of the reduction and increase in web browsing gigabyte (GB) prices in local currency. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 3 June 2025 – Cuba hasn’t felt this much popular outrage since the economic shock at the beginning of 2021 that buried the convertible peso, sent food costs through the roof, and plunged wages. Now, with internet connection prices rising as of last Friday, social outrage has erupted again, this time against the state-owned telecommunications monopoly Etecsa. In a country already starved for food due to prolonged blackouts, making the escape represented by connecting to social media more expensive has been too much for people to bear.

The discontent is not limited by age or economic class. Complaining are teenagers, digital natives, who find social contact in WhatsApp groups, which is so difficult for them on nights without electricity and overpriced recreational venues. Anger is knocking on the door of university students, who are forced to consult most of their bibliography online, given the decrepitude of school library archives. The unease extends to working-age adults, who, through remote work, have found a way to contribute to their diminished family coffers and also to apply for scholarships, courses, or visas to leave the island. Retirees have also expressed their discomfort, as many of them are forced to maintain contact with their emigrated children and grandchildren through weekly video conferences.

Retirees have also expressed their discomfort, many of whom are forced to maintain contact with their emigrated children and grandchildren through weekly video conferences.

No one has been blind to the impact on Cuban wallets of the reductions in service and increases in web browsing rates per gigabyte (GB) in national currency. Neither the explanations from Etecsa officials nor the calls for understanding the infrastructure crisis facing the state monopoly have served to silence the critics. The company is among Cubans’ most poorly continue reading

rated entities, a sad privilege it shares with the Electricity Union, State Security, and the Ministries of Transportation and Domestic Trade. Just mention the six letters of the telephone company’s name and its customers’ faces transform into grimaces of disgust and rejection.

The official explanation for increasing the price of per gigabyte by 1,229%, or, in other words, multiplying it by 13, lies in the need to raise foreign currency to invest in the country’s disastrous telecommunications infrastructure. By favoring top-ups paid for abroad, the state monopoly seeks to raise dollars that will allow it to buy cables, new telecommunications towers, and backup batteries to maintain service when the power goes out. The argument might have worked a few years ago, but Cubans have grown weary of their depreciated currency, of the privileges accorded to those with those greenbacks bearing the faces of Washington or Lincoln, and of a state that increasingly ignores those who only have access to the national peso.

“Soon they’ll be putting a portion of the electricity bill to be paid by the exiles from abroad,” reads the caption of one of the many Etecsa posts on Facebook that have sparked thousands of comments, most of them rejecting what has already been popularly dubbed the tarifazo*. “All this has happened because the money raised hasn’t been invested in telephone service, but in repression,” warns another internet user, who complains that in his small town in the province of Pinar del Río, he has to climb onto his roof in the early hours of the morning to get a precarious internet connection. “New cars for the police, but few resources to improve the connection,” he added with annoyance.

“New cars for the police but few resources to improve the connection,” he added with annoyance.

A distant observer of the Cuban situation would soon wonder why the rise in internet access prices has managed to mobilize citizens in a way that prolonged power outages and paltry salaries have not. In a country where official propaganda remains suffocating and the regime tries to control every aspect of daily life, access to the web has become a balm and a way to escape the daily crisis. Thanks to connectivity, Cubans feel like citizens of the world. Social media is that window that lets them know that there is something beyond the empty markets and the surveillance of the political police. It helps them to believe that there is hope.

On 11 July 2021, a few months after the Ordering Task was decreed, the island’s streets were filled with thousands of people shouting “Freedom!” We must be attentive to the reaction, in the short-term, of Etecsa’s current whim, which is already generating so much indignation.

*Translator’s note: The “azo” ending in Cuban Spanish is a ’magnifier’, in this case, roughly: “the gigantic price increase thing”

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on DW and is republished with the author’s license.

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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.

Back in a Moment… Apologies to our readers and translators

Translating Cuba, 22 May 2025 — Once again travel, technology and internet access (lack of!) made it impossible to maintain this site from afar… but we are BACK and will catch up over the next couple of days. 22 May 2025

“My Little Girl Tells Me, ‘Mama, Come,’” Says the Cuban Mother Deported From the United States

 The Department of Homeland Security’s version is far from what Heidy Sánchez and her lawyer say.

In an interview with EFE, the Heidy Sánchez recounts details of her deportation. / EFE

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 7 May 2025 — The story of Heidy Sánchez—the Cuban mother recently deported from Florida to Havana without her 17-month-old daughter—has sparked a wave of criticism and outrage in legal circles and among immigrant rights advocates. Now, in an interview with EFE, the 44-year-old Cuban woman recounts the details of her deportation.

Sánchez says she was taken handcuffed to a cell, where she told an officer, “What need do you have to handcuff me? You’re already taking my life, you’re already killing me, you’re separating me from what I love most in the world.” The girl, a U.S. citizen—like her father—was left in his care while her mother was transferred to various detention centers and finally sent back to Cuba, without being allowed to take the child with her or to say goodbye to her.

Sánchez has no criminal record and was treated as if she were a dangerous criminal.

Her lawyer, Claudia Cañizares, denounced that the procedure was riddled with irregularities: “Sánchez has no criminal record and was treated as if she were a dangerous criminal.” According to her allegations, the mother was never given the legal option of being deported along with her daughter, as stipulated in immigration protocols for family situations.

The case has also prompted a response from the Department of Homeland Security. Its spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it was Sánchez herself who requested to return to Cuba “without her daughter,” leaving her in the care “of a relative.” McLaughlin added: “We take seriously the responsibility to protect children and will continue to work with authorities to ensure that minors are safe and protected.” continue reading

But the official version is far from what Sánchez remembers. She arrived in the US in 2019, crossing through Laredo, Texas, and was admitted under supervision, with the obligation to report periodically to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) offices. Initially, she was required to do so once a year, but with the change of administration, the appointments became monthly.

“I had no choice. They didn’t tell me anything, except that the decision had already been made.”

“I was complying with everything. But in April, I decided to move up the appointment because I felt something wasn’t right.” When she arrived at the ICE office, they told her: “No matter what you do, the decision has already been made. You’re leaving.” Sánchez recounts that the ICE agent in Tampa simply told her to call her husband to pick up the girl. “I had no choice. They didn’t tell me anything, just that the decision had already been made,” she said.

Amidst the confusion and fear, she barely managed to make a brief call to the child’s father. “Did they give you the girl?” was the first question he asked when he answered, concerned about the fate of the little girl, who also suffers from epileptic seizures.

She then spent 48 hours being transferred from one detention center to another, without access to her daughter or adequate legal counsel, until she boarded the plane that returned her to Cuba. “They let me change clothes only to put on the gray uniform from the center. I’m not a criminal, but that’s how they treated me.”

During those dark days, Sánchez found a moment of solace with two other mothers—one Cuban and one Honduran—who were also facing deportation. “We hugged each other like sisters. Neither of us understood why they were separating us from our children. All we did was seek a better life for them,” she recalled, her voice breaking.

 Poor connectivity and power outages complicate the phone calls

From Cuba, the woman tries to communicate daily with her family in Tampa, although poor connectivity and power outages complicate the phone calls. “Every time I manage to talk, my little girl stares at me through the screen and says, ‘Mama, come.’ That devastates me.”

Sánchez’s case has rekindled the debate over immigration policies in the United States, especially those affecting mixed families, with migrant parents and citizen children. “It’s not a matter of politics. I know they’re doing their job. But what about feelings? My daughter needs me, and I need her too. That’s what they don’t want to see or understand,” she said.

Attorney Claudia Cañizares, along with Sánchez’s family, has launched a campaign to gather signatures, attract public attention, and explore all possible legal avenues to achieve family reunification. “This case demonstrates that rhetoric about security can no longer serve as a justification for inhumane practices. It’s not an isolated case, but it is a tragedy,” the attorney concluded.

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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.

Tuambia Announces Its Closure Due to Difficulties in Offering a “Sustainable” Service in Cuba.

The platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed until April 30.

The unloading area of ​​a Tuambia warehouse in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — The e-commerce platform Tuambia announced this Thursday the “interruption of its operations” and the suspension of new orders through its website. This is a “difficult but necessary decision,” which the company attributes to the difficulties in continuing to operate “sustainably” in the current context of the crisis and financial difficulties in Cuba.

In a statement posted on its social media, the platform assured that it will fulfill all orders placed by April 30th and that it has opened lines to address “any issues.”

However, it promised that Tuambia customers will continue to have access to their purchase history through the website, and that their customer service team—at least during the closure process—will remain active.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal.

Tuambia’s farewell message was also sent by email to all customers registered on the portal. For weeks, the company had announced that it was discontinuing the digital wallet, where consumers could store funds for continue reading

future purchases. Last week, it also announced a 10% discount on all its products, including household appliances. In light of Thursday’s announcement, this offer indicates a clearance sale of merchandise in its warehouses.

However, the service dedicated to preparing ready-to-serve food was still operating this Thursday, according to 14ymedio‘s website. The delivery of pre-cooked food is linked to restaurants and eateries located in several Havana municipalities, which apparently continue to offer a menu ranging from Creole dishes to Asian recipes.

In recent years, Tuambia had emerged as an alternative to other digital portals selling food, basic products, and household appliances for delivery on the island. With a diverse catalog, the online store grew rapidly and expanded to all provinces, also delivering pre-cooked and ready-to-eat meals, construction materials, and pharmaceutical supplies.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape, and the company also became an attractive source of employment for couriers who make a living delivering goods to homes.

On the streets of Havana, its fleet of minibuses became an increasingly frequent part of the urban landscape.

On the company’s Facebook page, the post with a farewell had surpassed 600 comments in just a few hours. Some customers inquired about the possible return of operations in the near future, but Tuambia’s response was emphatic: “The store has closed its operations. We appreciate that you were part of this process.”

The company had been taking its final steps for months. Last October, in another public statement, they noted the impact of the energy crisis on the normal operation of their services. At that time, they had to suspend deliveries “to protect the preservation of frozen foods, and taking into account that they could not be received by recipients at this time if they do not have the conditions to maintain their refrigeration.”

“As soon as the energy situation stabilizes, we will resume deliveries,” they promised at the time. The long-awaited stability never arrived. In the following months, the country faced four complete blackouts caused by total disconnections from its electrical system.

In addition, the platform faced technical difficulties also caused by the energy imbalance.

In addition, the platform was facing technical difficulties also caused by the power outage. “We have implemented solutions to continue working, but we ask for your cooperation to avoid overloading the service at this time, as the high volume of messages slows our response capacity,” they stated.

According to its own figures, Tuambia has made more than 1,200,000 deliveries, benefiting, it claims, more than 360,000 homes on the island. The company was allegedly linked to former Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella – who was dismissed last December – through his brother Yoel, a businessman with very good connections within the elite.

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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.

A Spanish NGO Will Install Solar Farms To Produce More Coffee in Eastern Cuba

Sodepaz has also begun exporting high-quality organic coffee produced in Guantanamo.

In addition to coffee, the organization has expanded its interests on the island in recent years. / Cubadebate

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 29 March 2025 —  A Spanish NGO is threatening to overthrow Italy’s control of Cuban coffee. Sodepaz, with three decades of presence on the island, is expanding rapidly—financed by Spanish government funds—and has begun exporting high-quality organic coffee produced in Guantánamo. As if that weren’t enough, as part of an optimization project, it has opened up the possibility of installing solar farms in the eastern part of the country and, if necessary, “small hydroelectric or wind systems.”

“On March 24, 2025, we will begin distributing BIO coffee from Cuba. A Caracolillo robusta coffee from the eastern Cuban province, medium natural roast, produced in the mountains of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba by the cooperatives of the Agroforestry Group of Cuba and processed by the joint venture BioCubaCafé,” explains Sodepaz on its website.

In addition to coffee, the organization has expanded its interests on the island in recent years, and has in its stores a variety of Cuban products such as cane sugar “from the Carlos Baliño mill in Santa Clara” (4.10 euros per kilogram), Santiago de Cuba Carta Blanca rum (12 euros), Cubay añejo rum (16 euros) and now the BIO Frente Oriental coffee (5.60 euros for 250 grams).

The new project, Innova Café Guantánamo, it is being carried out in collaboration with the province’s Center for Technological Applications for Sustainable Development (Catedes) and will last 24 months, extendable for another 12, to seek “sustainable solutions to the current situation of coffee production in Cuba’s easternmost province,” the official press explained. Neither the organizations nor the media revealed the funds allocated to deploying solar panels. continue reading

The initiative seeks to “transform the coffee value chain” through the use of renewable energy sources.

The initiative seeks to “transform the coffee value chain” through the use of renewable energy sources, as well as improve the sector’s efficiency. To this end, Catedes plans to “diagnose” coffee production and determine where solar energy is best used.

The municipalities that will benefit, at least in the initial phase, will be San Antonio del Sur, Maisí, Yateras, Guantánamo, and El Salvador. However, expansion is planned to include a total of eight coffee-growing territories in the province, alleviating “the current electricity problems,” according to the press, as paraphrased by Cadetes.

Sodepaz, more concerned about production, explained that the budget had been approved in 2024 and was intended to “strengthen production and support other projects such as ProdeCafé or MásCafé.” The latter was funded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, which has offices in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Guantánamo, and Granma.

Activities will also be held to promote Guantanamo coffee, which will be marketed through “fair trade networks.” According to the NGO, Spain is a major consumer of Cuban coffee, and with its help, it will be able to improve its quality.

“Innova Café is seeking immediate benefits that will include greater stability in bean processing with the development of solar dryers and heaters, reducing environmental pollution from waste, and reusing it in a way that contributes to the circular economy,” the state press added. All the equipment, it is understood, will be provided by the organization.

Frente Oriental is not the first Cuban coffee exported by Sodepaz, which also has a presence in Nicaragua, Palestine, and Haiti.

Frente Oriental is not the first Cuban coffee exported by Sodepaz, which also has a presence in Nicaragua, Palestine, and Haiti. In 2021, the organization began selling Extra Turquino Especial, made with a dark-roasted Arabica bean, also harvested in Guantánamo. The product’s launch coincided with that year’s UN vote against the US embargo, one of Sodepaz’s sworn enemies.

“Aware that there is a lack of united initiatives to break the blockade* and at the same time have an impact on the Cuban economy, these are the reasons why this project of importing, processing, and marketing Guantánamo coffee in a fair and supportive manner was born,” explains the project’s website.

Along with the rest of the agricultural industries on the Island, Cuban coffee is experiencing one of its worst periods. According to the National Statistics and Information Office production has fallen by 51% in the last five years—which has forced the Cuban government to define its priorities. The decision comes as no surprise: so while the ration stores have stopped receiving the packages, the exports — especially those guaranteed by international organizations — have not slowed down.

*Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.

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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.

Opposition Leader José Daniel Ferrer Released From Prison After Negotiations Between the Cuban Regime and the Vatican

José Daniel Ferrer’s release from prison, like that of Luis Robles, was one of the most anticipated since the Cuban regime’s announcement on Tuesday 

The opponent José Daniel Ferrer, in an image shared this Thursday, the day of his release, on social networks. / X/@jdanielferrer

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 16 January 2025 — José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was released from prison this Thursday. “I don’t know the conditions, if it was under extracriminal license, if it was parole, I don’t know, but they say he’s going home,” Carlos Amel Oliva reported in a video broadcast by the Prisoners Defenders organization, and confirmed by the opponent’s sister, Ana Belkis Ferrer.

The dissident’s wife, Nelva Ortega, had been called the day before by the authorities to appear this morning at the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, where the opponent had been imprisoned since July 11, 2021.

In his first statements after his release, to Martí Noticias, Ferrer said: “I was kicked out of prison because I don’t accept conditional release.” The authorities, in any case, warned him that “if he does not comply with the rules of socialist society” they will “try him in court again.

I was kicked out of prison because I don’t accept conditional release”

The leader of Unpacu said that, although he has health problems, none affects his “desire to continue fighting for democracy and human rights.” “I’m ready, I’m going to continue doing what I’ve always done,” he said, while asking the opposition to “be more united than ever.”

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Ferrer said he felt “embarrassed over this agreement, for the way in which the Biden administration and the Vatican have handled it.” And he continued: “According to the terms of the statement published by the regime, it seems that they have just defeated them in three rounds, as if by chance they decided to give freedom to the 553 prisoners.”

“If Biden and the Vatican don’t deny this, they are playing the game of a bully similar to Pablo Escobar, who does what he wants, an ally of Nicolás Maduro and Vladimir Putin. They [the Regime] boast that both Washington and the Pope have done what they wanted. They have no respect.”

In the same way, he estimated: “If the regime has not eliminated me like Oswaldo Payá, it is thanks to the solidarity of the European members of Parliament and the good press of the free world.” continue reading

For its part, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, of which Ferrer is president, celebrated this Thursday, in a statement, the release of the opponent, and “deeply thank the role of the Vatican in its mediation for this important step.” However, it clarified that other prisoners, such as Félix Navarro, 71, should also be released.

“The current releases are no more than a form of imprisonment without bars”

“We reiterate our urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and the decriminalization of dissent in Cuba,” they insist in their text. “Freedom cannot be conditioned. The current releases are nothing more than a form of imprisonment without bars, where rules of ‘good behavior’ are imposed.” “In reality, this means that anyone who exercises their right to freedom of expression will be sent back to prison to serve the rest of their sentence.”

In any case, the release of Ferrer, like that of Luis Robles Elizastigui, also this Thursday, was one of the most anticipated since the Cuban regime announced, on Tuesday night, that 553 people would be released from prison as part of a negotiation with the Vatican.

An hour earlier, President Joe Biden’s order to remove Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism had been made public, in addition to other measures, which the Island has done everything possible to dissociate from the release of prisoners.

Ferrer had been locked up in Mar Verde prison, without trial, since 11 July 2021, when he was arrested before being able to join the massive demonstrations of that day. His situation in prison, subjected to all kinds of abuse and harassment, has been denounced on numerous occasions not only by his family and by non-profit organizations such as Amnesty International and Prisoners Defenders, but also by international governments, including the United States and the European Union.

On November 18, the opponent had to be admitted to the hospital of the Santiago de Boniato prison after being beaten in Mar Verde

On November 18, the opponent had to be admitted to the hospital of the Santiago de Boniato prison after being beaten in Mar Verde by prison staff. His wife, Nelva Ortega, was able to see him in early December, for the first time in more than 20 months, during which he had been systematically denied a marital visit.

However, they did not give him access to the food that his family had brought, and he declared a hunger strike.

The dissident leader, part of the group of prisoners of the Black Spring of 2003, with a death sentence commuted to 25 years in prison, was released after eight years thanks to the efforts of the Vatican and the mediation of Spain. Since then, he never left his dissident work at the head of the Unpacu or, as a consequence, stopped being harassed by State Security.

For his part, Luis Robles Elizastigui, called the “young man with the placard” and arrested for holding up a sign on the central Boulevard San Rafael in December 2020 calling for the release of rapper Denis Solís, was serving a five-year sentence in the Combinado del Este maximum security prison, in Havana.

The 30-year-old activist has suffered several health problems since he entered the prison.

His mother, Yindra Elizastigui, one of the most active in demanding the freedom of her son and all political prisoners, expressed her bittersweet feelings on her social networks. “Today inside, from the sadness and consternation that my family is experiencing, taking into account the unjust confinement that my son Lester and my son-in-law Alejaime Lambert Reyes are still suffering, and the hospitalization of the father of my children, who is in intensive care due to a cerebral infarction, a ray of light has come to us,” she wrote about the release of Robles. She indicated “that he is only four months and days away from his total release” and apologized for not being “as expressive as usual.” “I need you to understand our pain,” she explained.

Just in February of last year, long after what he was due, Robles received his first prison pass and was able to return home to visit his family. The 30-year-old activist has suffered several health problems since he entered the prison, which have been reported by his mother, in addition to mistreatment, and ophthalmological and gastric complications. He has also been denied appropriate medical assistance.

Little by little, without much official information and through, above all, social networks, the names of those released from prison have come to light. The Cuban government did not give further details about them, nor for what crimes they were convicted, nor if they are, effectively, political prisoners.

Dariel Cruz García, another of those released from prison on Wednesday, belongs to the latter group. His mother, Yaquelín Cruz García, tells 14ymedio how he has spent these first 24 hours in freedom. The woman says that she feels “good and happy” to finally have El Bolo by her side, as he is known in the neighborhood, although she fears that “anything can happen, because here in Cuba the situation is very bad and they want to put him back in jail.”

The anxiety over her son continues. “He is on probation and has to follow the rules imposed on him,” she explains. “If my son had been given total freedom and could leave the country, I would do everything I could to get him out of Cuba as soon as possible, even if he goes to Haiti,” she says. “Today they already summoned him to the police station, and until the moment his sanction ends, he has to walk the line so they don’t put him back in prison.”

“He is on probation and has to follow the rules imposed on him”

Cruz García, now 23 years old, was arrested on July 16, 2021, after participating on July 12 in the demonstrations that took place in La Güinera, in the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, where the only death of the 11J recognized by the authorities, Diubis Laurencio Tejada, took place at the hands of the police, who went unpunished. With a prosecutor’s request for 15 years in prison for sedition, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison, and managed, through a cassation trial, to be temporarily released with a change of sanction to correctional work with internment. Finally, he received a sentence of 5 years of correctional work with internment.

On Wednesday, the vice president of the People’s Supreme Court, Maricela Sosa Ravelo, clarified on state television that the measure is not an amnesty or a pardon, words that, in fact, do not appear in the statement issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the official’s explanation, amnesty and pardon “entail the total extinction of the sanction,” something that does not happen in these cases.

In an interview with the spokesman for the regime, Humberto López, Ravelo said that, on the contrary, these prisoners have been given “benefits from early release.” If they do not fulfill the “obligations,” he warned, they could go back to prison. Those on the list were prosecuted for “dissimilar” crimes, which he listed: “Historic crimes such as theft, robbery with force. There are threats, there are injuries, there are disorders. There are also some people who were punished for sedition, but sedition is not a political crime.”

The crime of sedition, for example, was the one charged against the 11J demonstrators who received the highest sentences, up to 20 years in prison (later reduced in some cases).

Los excarcelados conocidos hasta el momento son:

The released prisoners, as of now, are:

  • Reyna Yacnara Barreto Batista
  • Lisdani Rodríguez Isaac
  • Mailene Noguera Santiesteban
  • Yessica Coimbra Noriega
  • Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro
  • Dariel Cruz García
  • Donaida Pérez Paseiro
  • Liván Hernández Sosa
  • Katia Beirut Rodríguez
  • José Miguel Gómez Mondeja
  • Jorge Gabriel Arruebarruena León
  • Magdiel Rodríguez García
  • Rogelio Lázaro Domínguez Pérez
  • César Adrián Delgado Correa
  • Liliana Oropesa Ferrer
  • Endris Fuentes Zamora
  • Javier González Fernández
  • Arturo Valentín Rivero
  • Randy Arteaga Rivero
  • Luis Robles Elizastigui
  • José Daniel Ferrer García
  • Jorge Luis Salazar Brioso
  • Lisdiany Rodríguez Isaac
  • Orlando Pineda Martínez
  • Marlon Brando Díaz Oliva
  • Ciro Alexis Casanova Pérez
  • Juan Yanier Antomarchi Núñez
  • Frank Daniel Roig Sotolongo
  • Yandier García Labrada
  • Eduin Rodríguez Fonseca
  • Andro Ledesma Prieto
  • Iris Belkis Oduardo Rodríguez
  • Carlos Manuel Pupo Rodríguez
  • Yunior Rodríguez Rivero

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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.

They Confront Us So That We Do Not Confront them

Reinaldo’s cell phone rings: someone is stuck in the elevator during the power cut this Thursday

The elevator stopped due to power outage, in the building of the editorial office of ’14ymedio’. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 22 August 2024 — There is a sudden silence. It is daytime, so the signs of the blackout do not appear through a lack of lighting but through the absence of sound. A deep emptiness that we all know what it means: the power has gone out. Reinaldo’s cell phone rings. Someone is stuck in the elevator with the power cut this Thursday, when the energy deficit in Cuba reaches 39% of consumption. I see him walking down the hall, with his 77 years on his back, and his enthusiasm of a 20-year-old.

On the Facebook account of the Cuban Electric Union, messages are posted in a cascade. People complain that they cannot sleep because of the heat and the mosquitoes, they tell of towns plunged into darkness and faces with large dark circles under their eyes who can barely perform at work. Along with these complaints, another is repeated: Havana is privileged and does not suffer from the same power cuts as the rest of the country. Regional hatred is stoked and divisions are emerging, even though the person responsible for our disaster is the same one.

It suggests that the residents of the Cuban capital are enjoying the darkness of others, while we enjoy our own illumination. Nothing could be further from the truth. Weeks with scarce water supplies and mountains of garbage with their constant flow of flies and rats have made life in this city an ordeal. The tall buildings, converted into prisons for the elderly, because they cannot bring supplies up or down, add to the deterioration of the entire city infrastructure. What we are experiencing is not a privilege, it is a trap. continue reading

Railing against the people of Havana for the supposed regional “privileges” that we enjoy only benefits those who have plunged us into this situation.

Railing against the people of Havana for the supposed regional “privileges” that we enjoy only benefits those who have plunged us into this situation. Those who, incapable of managing a country, distribute cuts at their convenience in order to also stir up internal conflict, make us lose our bearings over responsibilities and confront us in a fratricidal struggle without end. No, it is not about here or there, about El Vedado or Piedrecitas, it is about “them.” Setting us up to fight each other is a strategy that has been effective in the past. They threw us into a fight by region, by political colors and by economic levels to prevent us from facing up to them from a civil perspective.

They confront us so that we do not confront them.

Lunch is served, but it is getting cold. It is better that way. It is hard to put hot food into your mouth in the heat. Rei comes back and washes his hands, covered in the thick grease that comes from equipment with bearings. The whole apartment is filled with that rough, industrial smell. I see that he has a bleeding wound on his leg, small but deep. It is the bruises of those who try to rescue those who get stuck in a metal box when the power goes out. They are a brotherhood in retreat.

Some are old, others are sick, and most of those who once helped rescue those “stuck” in the elevator have died. Rei is one of the few vestiges left of that mixture of altruism and technical knowledge. The gusano — the ‘worm’ — on the 14th floor, the independent journalist about whom so many have made reports to the political police or have distanced themselves from, is the only salvation when they are stuck between those four metal walls, with no supply of fresh air. There is no ideology there: “Get Macho,” even the reddest ones whine . And there he goes to save them. A big heart is like that, and I hope that the future Cuba is full of those wide and generous auricles.

Then he comes back with his hands covered in grease and his wounds. “It’s nothing,” he says, because heroes don’t strut. But I see that the cut on his leg is a deep, dark color and he puts his foot up on a chair so that it doesn’t drain any more. What will happen when the “counterrevolutionary” from the 14th floor can no longer get everyone out of the elevator? I ask him to provoke him. Are they going to tear each other apart or will they work together to get the shaft moving again, raise the cabin, lower the counterweight, open the doors and get the prisoners out?

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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.