14ymedio – Translating Cuba

Three Sources Confirm to Axios Talks Between Marco Rubio and Raúl Castro’s Grandson

According to the U.S. outlet, the relationship between the two has been positive: “There are no political diatribes about the past. It’s about the future.”

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, “El Cangrejo,” [The Crab] Raúl Castro’s grandson, in the center, dressed in white / Cuban Presidency

14ymedio, Madrid, February 18, 2026 – Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held secret conversations with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known on the Island as “El Cangrejo,” the favored grandson of Raúl Castro, according to three U.S. administration sources who spoke to Axios.

“I wouldn’t call this ‘negotiations,’ but rather ‘discussions’ about the future,” a senior Trump administration official said.

The outlet maintains that the contacts make clear that Washington considers Raúl Castro the true head of the regime, although there are still doubts about how the situation might ultimately take shape.

“Our position — that of the U.S. government — is that the regime has to go,” the senior official told Axios, “but what that looks like exactly depends on President Trump, and he hasn’t decided yet. Rubio continues in talks with his grandson.”

Earlier this month, the Spanish newspaper ABC reported, citing sources in Mexico, that the mediator in the U.S.–Cuba conversations was the son of former president Raúl Castro, General Alejandro Castro Espín. However, the U.S. outlet points instead to the elderly Castro’s current caretaker as the chosen interlocutor.

“She is the apple of her grandfather’s eye, she served as his bodyguard and has allies running the massive military-business conglomerate known as Gaesa”

“She is the apple of her grandfather’s eye, she served as his bodyguard and has allies running the massive military-business conglomerate known as Gaesa,” one of the sources said.

Rodríguez Castro is the son of the late Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who served as executive president of the group and as a member of parliament until his death in the summer of 2022 from a heart attack. Castro’s powerful son-in-law had been viewed up to that point as one of the possible replacements for Díaz-Canel, who has never enjoyed widespread popularity.

The conversations between Rubio and Castro are described by Axios sources as “surprisingly” friendly. “There are no political diatribes about the past. It’s about the future,” one source said, adding that despite the age difference — Castro is 41 — they share considerable cultural common ground.

“Raulito could have come straight out of Hialeah. It could be a conversation between regular guys on the streets of Miami,” the source added.

According to Axios, Rubio and his team continue reading

see Castro’s grandson and his circle as representatives of a younger, more business-minded generation of Cubans, for whom revolutionary communism has failed and who see value in a rapprochement with the United States. The Secretary of State, for his part, considers Díaz-Canel a party apparatchik incapable of negotiating meaningful change.

The report adds that, although everything remains speculative, a possible agreement could exempt members of the Castro family, including the former president, from exile, though such a decision would be difficult because of the impact it could have on Miami’s Cuban community.

The report adds that, although everything remains speculative, a possible agreement could exempt members of the Castro family, including the former president

On Monday, Donald Trump insisted that talks are underway between the Cuban regime and his administration, led by Rubio, although Havana has systematically denied them. The chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer, even suggested in an interview that Díaz-Canel might not be aware of the dialogue, but his government reiterates that such claims are malicious insinuations aimed at sowing division.

“We are talking to Cuba right now. Marco Rubio is talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely reach a deal, because it is truly a humanitarian threat,” Trump said aboard the presidential plane.

Rubio, for his part, said Saturday in an interview with Bloomberg that “the fundamental problem” of the Island is that “it doesn’t have an economy” and that its leaders “don’t know how to improve the daily lives of their population without giving up power in the sectors they control.”

“It’s important for the people of Cuba to have more freedom, not only political freedom but also economic freedom. I truly think that their willingness (the Cuban government’s) to begin opening up in that respect is a potential path forward.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

______________________

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.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Continues His International Tour With an Unannounced Visit to Russia

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez continues his international tour with an unannounced visit to Russia

In recent months, the Cuban foreign minister has traveled to several Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and China, in search of support. / EFE

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, February 18, 2026 – Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez is continuing his international tour in Russia in search of energy support to alleviate the fuel crisis engulfing the Island, following the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s Chavista regime. This Wednesday he met in Moscow, without prior announcement, with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and is awaiting a possible meeting at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin.

From Russia, the Cuban foreign minister made several statements regarding White House policies and assured that, despite pressure from Washington, Havana will defend its sovereignty and independence and maintain its “unchanged” course.

“We are ready for respectful dialogue, on equal terms, with any country,” Rodríguez said at the start of his meeting with Lavrov in Moscow.

Lavrov, for his part, stated that Russia, along with most members of the international community, calls on the United States to “show common sense” and “refrain from plans for a naval blockade of the Island of Freedom.”

“I would like to reiterate that the actions of the United States, which issued a special decree declaring Cuba a threat, are absolutely unacceptable,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.

He regretted that the same decree stipulated that this threat was aggravated by Cuba’s cooperation with Russia, “which is described in that decree as a hostile and malicious State.” continue reading

Regarding relations with Russia, they described them as “historic, fraternal, special, and strategic”

Regarding relations with Russia, they described them as “historic, fraternal, special, and strategic,” and declared that cooperation will continue “above any circumstance” and that the objectives set will be achieved.

Moscow recently announced that it is in contact with Cuban authorities and that oil supplies to the Castro regime are expected, something that has not occurred since the shipment of 100,000 tons of crude in February 2025.

However, Russian airlines have had to suspend their flights to Havana and repatriate several thousand tourists due to the fuel shortage on the Island.

In recent months, the Cuban foreign minister has traveled to various Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and China, in search of support. This Monday, during a brief visit, the minister met with his Spanish counterpart, in a trip marked by protests from citizens who also accused Pedro Sánchez’s government of complicity with the Cuban dictatorship.

Translated by Regina Anavy

______________________

“There Are Talks To See Whether It’s Feasible” To Mediate a Dialogue Between the U.S. and Cuba, Says Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum

The Mexican president said her government will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Island

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during her morning press conference this Wednesday. / Screenshot/Presidency of Mexico

14ymedio/EFE, Mexico City, February 18, 2026 – Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said Wednesday that conversations are underway to explore whether the country could facilitate dialogue between the United States and Cuba, while reiterating that her government will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Island.

“There are talks to see whether it’s feasible, but it depends on both governments,” the president said at her regular morning press conference, responding to a Telesur reporter who asked whether the U.S. State Department had “formally responded” to Mexico’s offer to act as an intermediary in possible talks between Washington and Havana.

It does not depend solely on Mexico’s willingness, she added, but also on that of the other two parties “and on the conditions that, within the framework of its self-determination, the Government of Cuba may be establishing.”

Without providing further details, Sheinbaum added that Mexico will continue supporting the Island and called on other countries to join in. “Hopefully more countries will join. We will continue sending aid and support,” she said. continue reading

Despite criticizing the sanctions announced by the United States, Mexico has acknowledged that it has “for the time being” halted fuel shipments to the Island

She also emphasized that cooperation includes citizen-led initiatives in addition to government efforts. “Not only is the Government supporting the people of Cuba, but there are already many civic initiatives. Mexico has always been supportive, and this will be no exception,” she insisted.

The president framed these actions within Mexico’s constitutional principles of foreign policy, such as “the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.”

“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. continue reading

“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.”

______________________

“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.”

______________________

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.”

______________________

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.”

______________________

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.

______________________

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.”

______________________

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.

______________________

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.

______________________

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.

______________________

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.

______________________

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.

_____________________

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

______________________