14ymedio – Translating Cuba

‘Cuba Is In Its Final Moments’ and ‘Will Have a Great New Life,’ Says Trump

The meeting in Florida brought together a dozen allied presidents and set new regional priorities

The meeting in Miami comes amid a tense international context for Washington, marked by the open war with Iran. / EFE

14ymedio/EFE, Miami, March 7, 2026 — US President Donald Trump convened a dozen allied Latin American leaders in Miami on Saturday for the Shield of the Americas summit, a meeting designed to strengthen the alliance of conservative governments in the region and chart a new course for hemispheric policy from Washington. During the event, held at a golf club in Florida, the US president outlined his strategic vision for Latin America, combining geopolitical warnings, diplomatic announcements, and headline-grabbing remarks.

Trump dedicated part of his discourse to the situation in Cuba, a topic he described as an imminent turning point. According to the US president, the island’s political system is in its final stages. “Cuba’s is in its last moments of life, as it was. It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.”

The president also asserted that Washington is holding talks with the Cuban government. “I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba. But for 50 years, I’ve been hearing as a little boy, I’d be hearing about Cuba,” he stated. Trump added that both he and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, are “negotiating” with Havana.

Trump announced that his administration has formally recognized the government headed by Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela.

The comment comes amid the severe economic crisis gripping the island following the collapse of Venezuelan oil supplies. After Nicolás Maduro’s capture during the US-led operation on January 3, Caracas ceased sending crude oil to Cuba.

Despite talking about a possible agreement, Trump made it clear that his immediate priority lies on another international front. He explained that his “focus right now” is on the war with Iran. continue reading

The summit was also marked by a diplomatic shift in US policy toward Venezuela. Trump announced that his administration had formally recognized the government led by Delcy Rodríguez and ordered the restoration of diplomatic relations between Washington and Caracas.

According to him, the decision entails the reopening of diplomatic and consular channels between the two countries after years of institutional breakdown. “She is doing an excellent job,” the US president said, referring to the Venezuelan leader, who assumed the interim presidency with the support of the Chavista institutions that remained in power.

Since then, Washington has pursued a gradual rapprochement with Caracas, including the partial lifting of some restrictions and the opening of diplomatic contacts. The stated objective of the US administration is to promote political stability and economic recovery in the country.

“We will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere, and that includes the Panama Canal.”

The decision also reflects strategic interests, particularly in the energy sector. The White House has expressed its intention to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry and strengthen economic cooperation with the country, especially in oil and minerals.

Trump presented the meeting as the start of a strategy to strengthen U.S. influence in the region and curb the presence of foreign actors. In this context, he warned that his administration would not allow “hostile foreign influence” in the hemisphere, a message he directly linked to the strategic importance of the Panama Canal.

“We will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere, and that includes the Panama Canal,” the president stated. Trump reiterated his interest in the interoceanic waterway during his remarks and addressed the Panamanian president directly. “President of Panama, I love that canal, José. I think (Panama) made the greatest deal in history. They bought it for $1 from one of our brilliant presidents (Jimmy Carter in 1977). I can’t sleep about that deal. They got it for $1,” he said.

The president also defended his renewed interpretation of the traditional US doctrine toward the continent, which he called the “Donroe Doctrine,” an updated version of the historic policy of intervention in America to curb the influence of powers from other regions.

“I’m not learning your damn language. I don’t have time.”

Trump’s speech combined foreign policy announcements with more lighthearted moments. In one comment that drew laughter from the audience, the president asserted that he has no intention of learning Spanish.

“I’m not going to learn your damn language. I don’t have time. I have no problem with languages, but I’m not going to dedicate that much time to learning yours,” he stated, indicating that he prefers to rely on interpreters.

Trump added that his Secretary of State has “a linguistic advantage” because he speaks Spanish and recounted an anecdote about a negotiation with a foreign leader in which, he said, an interpreter did not translate his words correctly.

The Miami meeting comes at a tense international time for Washington, marked by the open conflict with Iran and the White House’s attempt to redefine its global role. In this context, the Shield of the Americas summit appears as a platform through which Trump seeks to reorganize regional alliances and strengthen the US presence in Latin America.

Among those in attendance were the presidents Javier Milei (Argentina), Rodrigo Paz Pereira (Bolivia), Rodrigo Chaves Robles (Costa Rica), Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic), Daniel Noboa (Ecuador), Nayib Bukele (El Salvador), Irfaan Ali (Guyana), Nasry Asfura (Honduras), José Raúl Mulino (Panama), and Santiago Peña (Paraguay), as well as the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Also participating was the president-elect of Chile, José Antonio Kast, who will assume office in the coming days.

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Cuba: What Does Collapse Smell Like?

Burnt garbage, sewage, lack of cleanliness: finding a treat for your nose is a difficult task these days in Cuba

Shipping containers in Old Havana, in a photo taken this Thursday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, March 7, 2026 — I take a mint leaf from the balcony and squeeze it between my fingers before adding it to the water I am going to drink. On my hands lingers a fresh and hopeful aroma. Entertaining the nose is a difficult task these times we are living in, in Cuba. The country’s collapse smells of burning garbage, sewage water, and a lack of cleanliness. Every pleasant scent is a rare and invaluable reward for the senses

It’s four in the morning and I jump out of bed. The electricity has returned after a blackout that began the previous afternoon. As soon as I get up, I head to the rooftop. My two dogs, the stars, and me. The city sleeps, and I scan the horizon. Havana no longer smells the same. At this hour, I’m hit by the stench of the garbage that piles up everywhere, and from the nearby Zoo on 26th Street, I hear the desperate roar of a lion. It must be hungry.

When I was a girl and would visit my relatives in the small towns of Villa Clara and Cienfuegos, when I returned to the capital the smell would hit me. This city always had a particular aroma. The manufactured gas service installed in many homes, the countless vehicles that traveled its streets, and the waters of the bay mixed with the oil that spilled into it, made the place where I was born and raised smell of industrial oils and tar. I never thought I would miss that stench.

Even the money smells of misery. It has a musty stench, as if it had been stored in a dark, filthy cave.

Havana now has another “olfactory signature.” A doorway I used to pass through when walking along Reina Street in Central Havana has become a public urinal that makes me hold my breath whenever I walk by. from the Ultra store wafts a stench, the foul odor of abandonment. The city is dotted with these places that once closed their doors and began to decay rapidly. Large markets, banks, cinemas, and motels that used to smell of freshly brewed coffee, fried food, and air conditioning now only exude a foul odor.

Even the money smells of misery. It has a musty stench, as if it had been stored in a dark, filthy cave. People line up for hours in front of ATMs to withdraw a little cash. Often the machine breaks down or shuts down continue reading

due to a power outage before customers can get their hands on those devalued, colorful bonds that make up the national currency.

Those with more resources pay for the money. Buying pesos has become, for many, the only way to have cash in hand. But what you get is a mess of dirty paper. A friend told me that in the country where he lives, they put some euros in a lab and found traces of drugs, feces, and saliva. I fantasize about someone taking a sample of Cuban pesos to be analyzed. The results wouldn’t surprise me.

Miasmas have taken over the entire spectrum of smells wherever we go

The 1,000-peso note, bearing the face of Julio Antonio Mella, might have traces of gasoline, of perfume and of the liquid that oozes from a box of chicken quarters as it begins to thaw. The 200-peso note, with the image of Frank País, will surely show traces of vegetable oil, tears, and horse manure from the many coachmen who ferry passengers here and there in Cuba’s nearly paralyzed cities. The piece of paper, with its red tones and the face of Ernesto Che Guevara, would bear the marks of a past when it served to pay for something that cost up to three pesos. A remote time when, on the streets of Old Havana, this paper with the guerrilla fighter’s stern expression would be offered to tourists, who came en masse to see this dilapidated social experiment in which we live.

But nowthe money smells like poverty. It also smells of the bureaucratic offices, the once air-conditioned premises of the powerful telecommunications monopoly Etecsa, and even the lobbies of the ministries all feel the same. A miasma has taken over the entire spectrum of smells wherever we go. The elevator in my building smells like urine. At the nearby clinic, someone has sprayed disinfectant to mask the pervasive smell of disease and filth. The dental office no longer exudes that mixture of antiseptics and dental materials.

I press my nose to my armpit. After a whole morning of walking, I too smell like Havana, a combination of hardship and despair.

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Chronicles:

The Death Throes of ‘Granma’, the Mouthpiece of a Regime Cornered by Crisis

The Anxiety of the Disconnected Cuban

One Mella, Three Mellas, Life in Cuba Is Measured in Thousands of Pesos

It Is Forbidden To Leave Home in Cuba Today Because It Is a “Counter-Revolutionary Day”

Vedado, the Heart of Havana’s Nightlife, Is Now Converted Into a Desert

Havana, in Critical Condition

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‘Abusers,’ ‘Turn On the Power,’ ‘Down With Communism’: Cuba’s Night Once Again Fills With Pot-Banging Protests

This Friday the Island reached a record deficit of almost 67% of electricity demand.

Protests in Arroyo Naranjo / Image taken from social media

14ymedio, Havana, March 7, 2026 – “Abusers! How long is this going to last?” “Turn the power on!” “Díaz-Canel singao*!” and “Down with communism!” were some of the shouts heard on Friday night in several places in western Cuba, especially in Havana. After the most recent collapse of the national electrical system (SEN) three days ago, and given the difficulty of restoring it due to the lack of fuel, the noise of the cacerolazos — banging on pots and pans — once again fills the darkness as a sign of protest.

According to eye-witness reports shared on social media, there were demonstrations in Jagüey Grande (Matanzas) and in neighborhoods of the capital such as Centro Habana, Arroyo Naranjo, Old Havana, San Miguel del Padrón, and Marianao, among others.

Cuban-American congressman Carlos A. Giménez, a representative from Florida, posted on his X profile: “The people of Cuba are in the streets demanding freedom. This moment is incredible.” He also shared videos circulated by conservative influencer Eric Daugherty and images published by independent journalist Thomas van Linge showing that Cuban citizens were protesting in the streets.

Fellow Cuban-American lawmaker María Elvira Salazar reacted on social media by posting a video in which pot-banging protests can be heard from her phone. “Cuba is in the streets asking for freedom. To the dictatorship: not one more abuse against the Cuban people!” the congresswoman says in the video, while also warning Cuban authorities not to repress the protests: “We tell the regime: do not go against them. They have the right to go out into the streets and say whatever they want.”

“Cuba is in the streets asking for freedom. To the dictatorship: not one more abuse against the Cuban people!”

Journalist Mario J. Pentón, from Radio and Television Martí, shared several recordings of the pot-banging protests on social media and said he had verified some continue reading

of the reports through direct contact with residents.

Some videos, such as the one reported from Arroyo Naranjo, also show that people in the street, in the middle of the blackout, had lit a bonfire around which demonstrators gathered. Other images show the arrival of police patrol cars at the protests, although no cases of violent repression have been reported.

So far, Cuban authorities have not issued public statements about these incidents.

The state telecommunications company Etecsa has had to ration connectivity service in some provinces, limiting it to only a few hours per day.

Accustomed to blackouts lasting more than 20 hours, this is the first time this year that simultaneous pot-banging protests have taken place in numerous municipalities. Last Wednesday, the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the country, triggered a chain reaction that left two-thirds of the country without electricity, from Camagüey to Pinar del Río.

Although service began to be gradually restored, the system continues operating at minimal levels, to the point of producing unprecedented deficit forecasts. For this Friday, an absolute record of 2,158 megawatts (MW) was expected, 70% of demand (3,055 MW). According to today’s report from the Cuban Electric Union, it did not reach that level (2,046 MW), but it still set a record, almost 67% of demand.

In numerous provinces, power outages exceed 20 hours per day, affecting not only household lighting but also water pumping, food refrigeration, transportation, and connectivity. In some provincial areas, the state telecommunications company Etecsa has also had to ration connectivity service, limiting it to only a few hours per day.

*Translator’s note: “Diaz-Canel singao” rhymes. The epithet is variously translated as ‘bastard’, ‘motherfucker’ and other insults.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At Coppelia They No Longer Sell Ice Cream, Only Cooking Wine

One of the workers, without even looking up, answers that they’re closed and that “no one knows” when they’ll open again.

Under the sign that proclaims “Havana, real and wonderful,” five Coppelia employees kill time sitting around a table. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 3 March 2026 — At the corner of 23 and L, where for decades Havana used to line up to enjoy a five-scoop ensalada (‘salad’), this Tuesday the only flavor on offer was the bitter aftertaste of frustration. The Coppelia ice cream parlor in Vedado, once nicknamed the “cathedral of ice cream,” is closed. Not for repairs, not for inventory, not for one of those usual pauses to paint the walls or rearrange the sections. The famous spot is out of ice cream and has no reopening date.

At the main entrance, under the sign that reads “Havana, real and wonderful,” five employees are just sitting around a table killing time. On the surface — instead of sundae glasses, syrups and little spoons — there are several jugs of seco cooking wine. The product, amber-colored with a faded label, seems like the unlikely replacement for the strawberry, chocolate or almond that made Cuba’s biggest ice cream shop famous.

The woman tries to convince the disappointed customer to take a gallon of seco wine

A customer approaches, still hopeful. “Got any ice cream?” he asks. One of the workers, without lifting her eyes, replies that they’re closed and that “no one knows” when they’ll reopen. The woman tries to hype up the disappointed guy, pushing him to take a gallon of that seco wine — the stuff that usually ends up in yellow rice or in a picadillo that has more imagination than meat. But the man isn’t buying it.

Over the next few minutes the same scene keeps repeating. Even though the city is practically paralyzed by the lack of fuel, Habaneros keep showing up with the dream of eating continue reading

a tres gracias or enjoying a Turquino. They come because even in the worst years of the Special Period, when the scoops got tiny and the flavors kept repeating, there was always something to put in your mouth at that central location. The ice cream might have been watery or scarce, but it existed. Now, not even that.

Translated by GH

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Cuba: A Country Carrying a Curse It Never Chose

Hatred was planted, managed, and turned into official state policy

The top brass decided the nation was their laboratory and the citizens were just replaceable parts. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Rafael Bordao, Miami, 5 March 2026 — Some nations move forward, stumble, and reinvent themselves. Others—like Cuba—have been sentenced to walk in circles, dragging along a sacrifice that stopped being noble a long time ago and turned into straight-up punishment. For decades, everyday life became one long string of giving things up: giving up freedom, giving up your voice, giving up any future, even giving up the basic right to imagine a different life.

The sacrifice stopped being heroic and became a control tool. The people were sacrificed to save the power structure—not the other way around. Generation after generation, the same shoulders carried the shortages, the surveillance, the forced obedience, the endless waiting. The ruling elite, shielded by their privileges, never once felt the sting of the ration lines, the blackouts, the fear, the forced exile. So the question becomes almost philosophical: What kind of system needs its own people to suffer just so it can keep existing?

The hatred didn’t come from the hearts of Cubans. It was sown, administered, turned into state policy. To justify the repression, they needed an enemy. To justify the poverty, they needed someone to blame. To justify the constant watching, they needed traitors.

Hatred has an ontological cost it destroys living together, it eats away at memory, and it fractures the shared identity of a people.

That hatred was fed with endless speeches, school textbooks that confused history with propaganda, newscasts repeating the same fear-based liturgy, compulsory marches where unanimity was just another way to stay alive. Hatred became a renewable resource—there was always someone to blame, continue reading

always an “other” threatening the purity of the project. But hatred carries a deep cost: it destroys coexistence, corrodes memory, and breaks the collective identity. And when a country lives too long under the logic of “the enemy,” it ends up suspicious even of itself.

Nobody voted for this sentence. Nobody chose to hand over their life to a dogma that can’t even sustain the air we breathe anymore. Nobody signed a contract to give up freedom of movement, freedom of thought, freedom to create. That decision was made by a small circle at the top that confused staying in power with saving the homeland, that turned ideology into a compulsory religion and history into a monologue with no cracks.

All that’s left is the question that tears everything apart: How much longer?

That elite decided the country had to keep paying forever for a dream that stopped being a dream and became an alibi; they decided the people had to immolate themselves so they could keep ruling; they decided the nation was a laboratory and the citizens were disposable pieces. Political philosophy teaches us that any power that demands sacrifice without offering freedom is an illegitimate power. But in Cuba that illegitimacy was normalized, ritualized, turned into the everyday scenery.

Today the official discourse floats around like an empty shell. The regulations no longer move anyone, the heroes no longer inspire, the promises no longer fool anybody. The country is exhausted. People don’t believe anymore, don’t hope anymore, don’t fear the way they used to. The dogma has become an ideological fossil that can’t explain the ruin, the massive emigration, the despair you can feel on every corner. When a dogma stops holding up, all that remains is the question that dismantles everything: How much longer?

Writing about Cuba is writing against silence. It’s an act of rebellion, but also of mourning. It’s recognizing that the country was wounded by the very people who swore to save it. It’s saying that memory can no longer be kidnapped by a single story. It’s claiming the right to ask questions, to doubt, to disagree, to imagine. Because a country isn’t saved with orders—it’s saved with truth. It isn’t rebuilt with fear—it’s rebuilt with dignity. It isn’t freed with hatred—it’s freed with justice.

Translated by GH

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Ecuador Declares the Entire Cuban Embassy Staff ‘Persona Non Grata’ and Gives Them 48 Hours To Leave the Country

“Will this mean a complete break in diplomatic relations between the two countries?” Prensa Latina wonders.

The Foreign Ministry cites Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as the basis for its decision. / Cuba Minrex

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 March 2026 — Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility declared the Cuban ambassador in Quito, Basilio Gutiérrez, persona non grata this Wednesday—along with the whole diplomatic staff of the mission—and gave them 48 hours to get out of the country. The news was delivered to the embassy by the Directorate of Ceremonial and Protocol, according to the official agency Prensa Latina.

In a letter sent to the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba, the ministry lists the names of the 21 Cuban employees at the mission, including the consul, Vladimir González Fernández; the minister-counselor, Samuel Bibilonia Ballate; the first secretary, Ivette Franco Senen; and the vice-consul, Armando Bencomo Zamora. They’re given two days to leave “in accordance with diplomatic practice.”

The Foreign Ministry bases this on Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, which governs diplomatic relations. That article says: “The receiving State may at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable.” Ecuador really didn’t give any explanation, and it’s not clear whether this “will imply a rupture of continue reading

diplomatic relations between the two countries,” as Prensa Latina asks.

This move comes one day after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa ended the functions of José María Borja López as Ecuador’s ambassador in Havana.

Shortly after the Ecuadorian government’s announcement, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement calling the decision “arbitrary and unjustified” and describing it as an “unprecedented and unfriendly act.”

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said no reasons were provided for the declaration and that the move harms bilateral relations. They also warned that it “significantly damages the historic relations of friendship and cooperation between both countries and peoples.”

Cuban journalist José Raúl Gallego (who lives in Mexico) commented on the news: “Since 1959, Cuban diplomatic missions have been centers of interference and regional destabilization. The Cuban embassy in Ecuador has been one of the most active in those activities.”

This all happens right after President Daniel Noboa terminated José María Borja López’s role as Ecuador’s ambassador to Havana (he was also accredited to Dominica, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines). Borja had been appointed in October 2021 under then-president Guillermo Lasso.

In April 2025, Noboa won a comfortable re-election as president of Ecuador. He first came to power in November 2023 with a liberal economic platform and a tough-on-crime “mano dura” stance—very different from the correísta governments that ruled for over a decade and were openly aligned with Havana.

Last September, Ecuador tightened its migration policy and started requiring a temporary visitor/transit visa for nationals of 25 countries, including Cuba.

Translated by GH

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The Other Revolution Does Not Need a Foreign Intervention

The regime knows that if it brutally represses a social explosion, it will be handing the powerful neighbor the excuse to intervene on a silver platter.

If they cannot stop the new revolution that threatens them from below, join it from above. / X / Presidency

14ymedio, Miami, Ariel Hidalgo, February 28, 2026 – According to what we have seen in Venezuela since the capture of Maduro until now, almost two months later, and what followed afterward: the rise of Delcy Rodríguez to the Presidency with Washington’s approval, a slow-motion release of political prisoners without guarantees they will not be jailed again, as well as the persistence of dictatorial structures, like a form of madurismo without Maduro, and the control of that country’s oil by President Trump (not for nothing did he publish his photograph as president of Venezuela), it seems to us like an image of what could happen in Cuba, also taking into account what has been reaching us so far about a supposed cabinet made up of figures from the regime.

I do not want to be a spoilsport and I am sure that Cuba’s freedom is closer than ever, but people should not blindly trust the promises of representatives of a foreign power. Is that the only alternative? The uprising of 11 July 2021 [’11J’] was not organized by anyone, neither by dissidents, nor by the CIA, nor by Cubans in Miami, and yet it shook the foundations of power. Did it fail?

We can lament the repression and the imprisonments with draconian sentences, but the massive demonstrations in dozens of cities constituted a political victory, because they were the beginning of a process that leads to another revolution, a word many people do not like but whose meaning is very simple: radical change. Ask yourselves when the last radical changes happened in Cuba. It has been a long time. Nothing changes; they only make reforms that lead nowhere in order to maintain a system that everyone already knows—even they themselves—is a failure. However, they do nothing to change it and improve the living conditions of the people. continue reading

The 11 July uprising was not organized by anyone, neither by dissidents, nor by the CIA, nor by Cubans in Miami, and yet it shook the foundations of power.

Why? Because they fear the people, because those demonstrations not only shook the foundations of the regime but also the conscience of many people who until then could not conceive that something like that could happen, and above all because they know what a pre-revolutionary process is. In the 1950s that process lasted five and a half years from the attack on Moncada until the dictator fled. Although such processes do not last the same amount of time, they generally differ by a few months more or a few months less. And this one has already been going on for a little less than five years.

What will its outcome be? That will depend on the decisions the governmental cabinet makes before that probable social explosion. They know that if that explosion occurs and they repress it brutally, they will be handing the powerful neighbor the excuse for intervention on a silver platter. Then it would be smarter to avoid it.

How? By detaining dissidents or preventing them from leaving their homes? We have already said that it is not dissidents who provoke it, but that they are spontaneous, provoked rather by the leadership itself with its mistaken policies. They cannot station guards outside the homes of millions of people. By cutting the internet? They cannot keep it suspended indefinitely. And since no one can foresee when that explosion will occur, the first spark will be inevitable, wherever it may be, and there will be no time to cut the internet and prevent the news from spreading throughout the country in just seconds.

Therefore, the only solution to avoid it is to change policy in such an evident way that everyone becomes convinced that this time it is not about formal changes meant to change nothing, but about going to the essence of the problems: freeing all political prisoners and engaging in dialogue, not with the external enemy but with the dissidents, who have already become spokespersons for the people. If they cannot stop the new revolution that threatens them from below, join it from above.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Electric Union Generates Barely One-Third of the Energy Demanded by Cuba

This Thursday an absolute record was reached since records began, with a deficit of 2,158 megawatts, 70% of demand.

Cuatro Caminos could not open this Friday until almost 11 a.m. due to a lack of fuel to supply its generator, but it finally appeared. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, March 6, 2026 – Tonight, when peak electricity demand in Cuba arrives, estimated at 3,050 megawatts (MW), the country will only be generating 1,015, just over a third of what it needs. That amount, representing around a 68% deficit (2,075 MW), would be a record on paper, although it remains to be seen whether reality will surpass the forecast. Last night saw the greatest shortage since records began, when at 7:00 in the evening, during peak hours, demand was 3,055 MW and only 920 were produced, a deficit of 2,158, or 70%.

These figures easily surpass those that previously held the record, earlier this same week. On Monday a deficit of 64% was expected, surpassing the 63% of January 30, with the same percentage recorded this Wednesday when the system collapsed in western and central Cuba.

Last November, the Government announced that the Antonio Guiteras power plant would go offline, which was postponed shortly afterward for an “unpostponable” repair. At the time, Cubans trembled at the thought of what would become of them, already exhausted by very long blackouts, when the country’s largest thermoelectric plant, located in Matanzas, stopped providing service. In February came the first test, when the plant suffered two incidents that kept it out of the system for a total of 12 days, amid alarm over the U.S. oil blockade.

Last November, the Government announced the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras plant, which was postponed shortly afterward for an “unpostponable” repair.

But the biggest rehearsal came Wednesday, when a serious failure disconnected two-thirds of the Island from the National Electric System (SEN), from Camagüey to Pinar del Río, because there is less and less diesel left with which to restore the system. Specialists from the Electric Union acknowledged this on Thursday, saying this was the reason reconnection was proving more complicated than on other occasions. continue reading

The method, now more than familiar to engineers, consists of starting engines with fuel oil and creating energy islands that gradually begin feeding circuits of increasing size until everything is reintegrated into the SEN. Now, however, saying that resources are limited would be a serious understatement.

Although shortly after 5:00 in the morning yesterday the system was unified, the situation remained extremely precarious throughout the day. In Havana there were no school activities, affecting at least 300,000 students who had to remain at home. Problems were also reported with the water supply due to failures in pumping stations, and there were constant interruptions in the manufactured gas service that reaches hundreds of thousands of households in the capital.

In Matanzas, Cuba, No One Asks Anymore Why the Power Went Out

The collapse of the National Electric Power System adds to months of endless blackouts that have forced residents to reorganize their lives around darkness.

14ymedio, Matanzas, Julio César Contreras, March 5, 2026 – The blackout came again without warning, like a visitor who no longer even needs to knock on the door. This Wednesday, a new disconnection of the National Electric Power System (SEN) left much of the country without electricity and once again pushed Matanzas into the gloom in which it has learned to live for months. However, during the first hours, many residents did not even notice that it was a general collapse of the system. In this city accustomed to long blackouts, darkness has become part of the landscape.

On San Ignacio Street, in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood, several people remain sitting in the doorways of their homes as if time had stopped. A woman repeatedly checks her phone, waiting for the data signal that also disappeared with the electrical collapse to return. On the sidewalk a thin stream of dirty water runs out of a house and disappears into the drain. No one seems to be in a hurry. When electricity disappears for so many hours, daily life slows down until it is almost suspended.

“How long is this going to last!” shouts Adriana from the doorway of her house so the whole neighborhood can hear her. The single mother has gone two days without being able to give her youngest child a hot meal. “There isn’t even enough time to cook the rice. Between the times they cut it off and turn it back on, we don’t even get an hour with electricity,” she laments. The little food she had in the refrigerator ended up stored in a neighbor’s freezer to keep it from spoiling.

“There isn’t even enough time to cook the rice. Between the times they cut it off and turn it back on, we don’t even get an hour with electricity.”

In recent weeks, blackouts in Matanzas have exceeded 30 continuous hours. People go out to sleep in their doorways, on balconies, or in the entrances of their homes to take advantage of the cool early-morning air, an image many believed had been buried with the hardest years of the Special Period. But now it returns like a collective déjà vu. continue reading

On a nearby block, two neighbors talk while sitting in front of a peeling facade. The man, wearing yellow shorts and flip-flops, wipes the sweat from his face while trying to guess when the electricity will return. Next to him, a woman holds a warm can of soda. Neither speaks about the blackout as something extraordinary. In Matanzas, losing electricity no longer causes surprise, only resignation.

The same thing happens a few houses away, where an elderly man sits in the doorway of his home with a bag beside him. He looks toward the almost empty street while waiting for time to pass. Without television, without a fan, and without radio, the hours become longer. The only distraction is watching the few pedestrians who cross the sidewalk under the sun.

The collapse of the SEN also left much of the mobile connectivity out of service. Hilda, a retiree who lives near Plaza de la Vigía, suddenly lost the video call she was having with her grandson in Spain. “Etecsa raised its rates, but it hasn’t been able to buy new batteries for its towers,” the woman complains. Many times she has to walk almost a kilometer to the square to find a signal.

“But I’m already retired and I don’t qualify for any of those solar panels they say they’re handing out.”

“I’m a teacher by profession, with more than 30 years of experience,” she says. “But I’m already retired and I don’t qualify for any of those solar panels they say they’re handing out,” she explains, referring to the modules that are sold on installment plans to outstanding professionals in their sector. In her home she also does not know when electricity will return or how long it will last once it does.

The instability of voltage in recent weeks has further punished household appliances. “My daughter in Cárdenas had a freezer burn out,” Hilda explains. “In half an hour they turned the power off and on five times. No appliance can withstand that.”

For Ricardo, a machinist who has a small private workshop in Pueblo Nuevo, the national outage means another day without income. “I thought today I might be able to catch up on some of the delayed orders, because lately they turn the power on for a little while in the afternoon,” he explains. But with the total shutdown of the system he cannot do anything at all.

He also hasn’t slept well for days. “My wife and I can’t get any sleep. When the power comes on in the early morning we jump out of bed to cook, run the washing machine, or charge the phones.” Then morning arrives and the exhaustion follows them like a shadow.

“My wife and I can’t get any sleep. When the power comes on in the early morning we jump out of bed to cook, run the washing machine, or charge the phones.”

In Matanzas, that scene repeats itself in hundreds of homes: families who get up at two or three in the morning when they hear the hum of the refrigerator or the sudden start of a fan. In that brief interval of electricity, food is cooked, laundry is washed, phones are charged, and any pending household task is rushed.

Meanwhile, on San Ignacio Street the silence slowly settles in. Without phone coverage or clear news, neighbors inform themselves by asking from doorway to doorway. No one knows when the power will return.

After more than a day without electricity, some have even stopped waiting. Sitting on improvised chairs or on the edge of the sidewalk, they let time pass.

“You have to stay grounded,” says Ricardo, shrugging his shoulders. “Because if you start thinking too much about this, you go crazy.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Driver in Artemisa Is Detained for Carrying a Sign on His Tricycle Against “Catfish and Snitches”

The incident was reported by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press.

Felipe Rodríguez, 68, is described by his neighbors as a beloved man in San Antonio de los Baños. / Facebook / Iclep

14ymedio, Havana, March 5, 2026 / Transport driver Felipe Rodríguez, 68, was detained in the municipality of San Antonio de los Baños, in Artemisa, after placing a message on his passenger tricycle that authorities considered offensive. The phrase “I don’t carry catfish or snitches, only free men” led to his arrest.

The case was reported by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (Iclep), which warned about the situation of the Artemisa resident, who is well known among neighbors in the town for his cheerful character and friendly treatment of passengers.

Images circulating online show the vehicle with the sign placed on the back of the seat. In Cuban popular slang, “clarias” (catfish) and “chivatos” (snitches) are derogatory terms used to refer to informants or people who collaborate with the authorities. According to several complaints, the message was interpreted by police as a provocation.

“Clarias” and “chivatos” are terms used derogatorily to refer to informants or people who collaborate with the regime. / Facebook / Odalys H Rizo

User Odalys H. Rizo was one of the first to report the incident. In a message posted on social media she said that Rodríguez is a highly appreciated person in San Antonio de los Baños. “He’s one of those people you meet and your day lights up because of his jokes and good humor,” she wrote, while denouncing his arrest over the message placed on the tricycle. continue reading

In the same post she claimed that the officer who detained him not only arrested him but also threatened him. According to her account, the officer told the driver: “It makes me want to shoot you right here.” Rizo also said the driver was beaten during the procedure.

Several posts also reiterated that Rodríguez is a familiar figure on the streets of San Antonio de los Baños and that his joking personality is part of who he is. Some internet users described him as “a great human being,” “an amazing person,” and “a man with a big heart.”

Iclep stated that the incident reflects the climate of intimidation faced by those who express criticism or mockery of the political surveillance mechanisms on the Island. According to the organization, the driver’s detention is an example of how a simple expression can trigger reprisals.

Independent organizations and citizens have publicly held the authorities of San Antonio de los Baños responsible for the driver’s physical safety and have demanded clear information about his situation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ecuadorian Soldiers Guard the Cuban Embassy in Quito

President Daniel Noboa jokes about the burning of documents at the diplomatic headquarters.

Ecuadorian soldiers outside the Cuban embassy in Quito / Radio Pichincha

14ymedio, Havana, March 5, 2026 – Following the recent decision by the Government of Ecuador to declare Cuban ambassador Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez García and all diplomatic staff persona non grata, protests and tensions have erupted that reflect the country’s internal polarization.

Shortly after the expulsion was announced, local media reported the presence of military personnel outside the Cuban diplomatic headquarters. That same afternoon, about 30 Ecuadorians gathered in front of the embassy, carrying banners and chanting slogans against U.S. foreign policies, according to EFE.

The demonstrators claimed that Noboa “responds to orders he receives” and denounced the recent military operation carried out by the United States Armed Forces on Ecuadorian territory, which they described as “terrible” for the country’s sovereignty, since last November the installation of foreign bases in Ecuador had been rejected by a majority vote of citizens. One participant concluded: “We have become a U.S. protectorate.”

Ecuadorian opposition lawmakers rejected President Noboa’s decision on Thursday. The president of the Ecuador–Cuba Interparliamentary Friendship Group, Liliana Durán, warned about the negative impact of this diplomatic rupture. According to Durán, the measure shows “the servility and alignment of the Government with Washington’s policy, sacrificing our sovereignty and the dignity of our foreign policy,” and she pointed out that the most serious aspect is that the measure comes precisely when the United States is intensifying pressure against Cuba. continue reading

The measure demonstrates the Government’s servility and alignment with Washington’s policy.

Legislator Nuria Butiña also rejected the decision and recalled that, just hours before the Government’s official announcement, a meeting had been held between the Interparliamentary Group and the Cuban ambassador and his team at the National Assembly. Meanwhile, legislator Mariana Yumbay stated that the measure “joins a geopolitical logic that for more than half a century has sought to isolate and pressure the Cuban people.”

A few hours after the executive branch announced the expulsion, President Daniel Noboa posted on his X profile one of the videos circulated by Ecuador’s right-leaning press, showing alleged Cuban embassy officials burning documents on a grill on the rooftop of the diplomatic headquarters. Noboa jokingly called it a “paper barbecue.”

In an interview with the local outlet Radio Canela, Noboa stated that “all diplomatic documents must remain untouchable by the State,” emphasizing the protection granted to the official documentation of foreign missions. He also continued joking about the burning of the documents: “I didn’t know that part of the Cuban diet consisted of cooking papers and presenting them as a typical dish.”

I didn’t know that part of the Cuban diet consisted of cooking papers and presenting them as a typical dish.

Pro-government assemblywoman Lucía Jaramillo also reacted on social media to the burning: “Who burns papers on the roof of an embassy? Only someone trying to destroy evidence,” said the legislator, adding that the images “confirm what has been denounced for years: indications of political espionage in Ecuador.” In her view, Cuba and Venezuela cover up activities linked to the movement of former president Rafael Correa.

Former president and ally of the Cuban regime Rafael Correa lashed out at Noboa, calling the expulsion “shameful” and adding that when he heard the news he thought it was “a joke.” On X he wrote: “Lackeys trying to earn favor. What a disgrace!” and accused the president of destroying Ecuador.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Republican members of Congress from South Florida celebrated the measure taken by the Ecuadorian government.

María Elvira Salazar posted on X that the action sends “a clear message to the entire region: enough with the Cuban dictatorship.” She also praised Noboa for confronting “a regime that oppresses its own people and exports repression, destabilization, and misery throughout the hemisphere.”

For his part, Mario Díaz-Balart described the decision as “forceful” and said it responds to Ecuador’s national security interests, while strengthening defense and security cooperation with the United States.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Panama Will Visit Its Citizens Detained in Cuba This Friday for Graffiti Against the Regime

Twenty individuals were initially implicated in the case, but half managed to leave the Island.

The ten Panamanians are accused of propaganda against the Government, a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison.

14ymedio / EFE, Panama City, March 5, 2026 – The Government of Panama reported this Thursday that it plans to carry out a consular visit on Friday to the ten Panamanians arrested in Cuba accused of propaganda against the Government of the Island, a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison.

“We have guaranteed consular assistance and have requested to see the Panamanians. This morning I spoke with Ambassador Edwin Pitty and he informed me that tomorrow he will see the Panamanians,” said Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha during the weekly press conference of Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino.

Martínez-Acha emphasized that since learning of the arrest, Ambassador Pitty went to the Cuban authorities to request details of what had happened. They provided him with “the information that was known—that ten Panamanians had painted slogans against the Cuban regime,” although he clarified that the total number of nationals initially involved “was 20, (but) 10 were able to leave the country earlier.”

The graffiti was dated the day it was carried out, February 28, and contained phrases such as “Down with tyranny.”

The foreign minister also stated that the subsequent conversation he had with his Cuban counterpart took place “in very friendly terms,” and that he “gave guarantees that all the Panamanians are being treated well, that they will have access to all legal assistance continue reading

within the Republic of Cuba, and that if the country wishes they could have external advisers, as long as and when they approve it.”

Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior reported last Monday the arrest of the ten Panamanians accused of allegedly carrying out graffiti critical of the Government and the Island’s political system in Havana.

According to the accusation, the graffiti was dated the day it was made, February 28, and included phrases such as “Down with tyranny,” “Communism: enemy of the community,” and “We trust Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Mike Hammer,” referring respectively to the President of the United States, his Secretary of State, and his ambassador to the Island.

The Ministry of the Interior stated that those arrested were recruited in Panama, where they all reside, to “prepare signs with subversive content contrary to the constitutional order,” and that they were going to be paid between $1,000 and $1,500 each upon returning to their country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Amid Accusations of Espionage and Million-Dollar Expenses, 172 Cuban Doctors Leave Honduras

Cuba’s ambassador to that country, Juan Loforte, says the Cuban Government did not receive money from the agreement.

Since Wednesday, members of the medical brigade have been leaving Honduras. / Facebook/César Mejía

14ymedio, Havana, March 5, 2026 – This Thursday the last group of 172 members of the medical brigade left Honduras, a program for which the country spent $10,259,617 over two years, including salaries and housing, transportation, and baggage expenses. The agreement promoted in 2024 by the Island’s ally, Xiomara Castro, allowed the arrival of electricians and nursing technicians for whom the Cuban Government received monthly payments of 1,600 dollars.

In response to statements by nationalist congresswoman and vice president of the National Congress Johana Bermúdez, who requested an investigation to determine whether spies were among the group, one of the doctors leaving from Guillermo Anderson International Airport in La Ceiba joked on Wednesday: “We are spies, but of diseases.”

A review of the agreement, carried out by Ángel Eduardo Midence, deputy minister of the Health Secretariat (Sesal), also revealed the arrival of economists and administrators who had nothing to do with medical practice. The official said last Sunday that it would be up to the State’s regulatory bodies to deepen the investigation and impose sanctions.

Cuba’s ambassador to Honduras, Juan Loforte, who saw off the brigade members on Wednesday and Thursday at Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport in the city of San Pedro Sula, rejected the accusations. The diplomat acknowledged the monthly salary payment of 42,346 lempiras but denied that the money was transferred to the Cuban Government. “They were paid directly to the doctors; they received their full salary here, in their accounts,” the diplomat said.

The Cuban Embassy in Honduras acknowledged that Cuban specialists had salaries of 42,346 lempiras. / Cuban Embassy in Honduras

“Our doctors were well paid and had honorable working conditions,” he insisted to the media covering the departure of the Cubans.

However, the entity responsible for regulating the hiring of medical missions on the Island is the Cuban Medical Services Marketing Company, a firm internationally accused of human trafficking. According to a complaint in 2023 by Cuban geriatrician Juan Andrés Echemendía—who was sent to Mexico as part of these brigades—the money paid for the doctors goes into the regime’s coffers. He said that they “do not receive a salary.” continue reading

“Our salary is in our country, in Cuba,” the specialist insisted, explaining that they “receive a stipend” for personal expenses.

Defending the medical brigades, Loforte stated that the doctors were assigned to 17 of Honduras’s 18 departments and to five ophthalmology centers built by the Government, where nearly 7,000 surgeries were performed on patients with eye problems, in addition to 500,000 consultations. “Figures that reflect the commitment and solidarity vocation of Cuban medicine,” he said.

Loforte insisted that the doctors arrived in the country because their services were needed, but “if they are no longer required, the Government has every right to dispense with their work.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Communications Minister José Augusto Argueta clarified that the Government of Nasry Asfura decided not to renew the agreement because it failed to meet basic requirements for the group to be classified as a medical brigade.

According to Honduran regulations, Argueta explained, a medical brigade can only remain in the country for a period of 90 days, but the Cuban doctors had been working there since 2024. In addition, the doctors’ work was supposed to be free of charge and they had to be accredited before the Medical Association of Honduras, which did not occur.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The U.S. Bans the Use of Cuban State Banks To Export Fuel to the Private Sector on the Island

The suspension does not apply to transactions that use banks in third countries or “other payment systems.”

The fuel would mainly be imported to the Island in isotanks. / CC

14ymedio, Havana, March 5, 2026 – The United States Department of Commerce, through its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), determined that the possibility of using the Support for the Cuban People (SCP) license exception is suspended for operations linked to exports or reexports to Cuba when they involve depositing foreign funds in a state-owned bank.

The measure affects how payments are collected and processed in sales of gas and petroleum products intended for the private sector on the Island and came into force yesterday, Wednesday, March 4.

In its official publication, BIS argues that there are “prolonged and documented problems” of diversion and commission charges associated with Cuban banking, and it emphasizes that several of these banks are on the Cuba Restricted List due to their links with military, intelligence, or security institutions.

The document specifies that the suspension does not apply to exports, reexports, or transfers that do not involve Cuban banks, for example transactions that use banks in third countries or “other payment systems” that do not involve depositing foreign funds in Cuban banks. continue reading

The document also includes a transitional clause: the suspension does not apply to exports or reexports that were already en route before March 4, 2026, to a port of export or reexport, provided that the operation was based on real orders and is completed no later than April 3, 2026.

Allowing deposits of funds in Cuban state banks can generate revenue or contribute to the functioning of the state apparatus, something that, according to BIS, is contrary to the objective of the SCP, designed to support “independent” economic activity in Cuba.

The BIS message sets clear limits on the financial mechanism so that payments are made through channels that do not pass through Cuban state banking.

U.S. regulations contemplate two possible avenues within the SCP license to authorize the export of gas and petroleum products to Cuba.

The first allows exports intended for the Cuban private sector for economic activities of the private sector itself, including those that respond to humanitarian needs. To apply this exception, the products must be directed to the private sector and used in independent economic activities. However, the license is not valid if the operation mainly generates revenue for the State or contributes to the functioning of the state apparatus, for example through projects related to public infrastructure.

The second avenue contemplates exports of these products sold directly to Cuban citizens for their personal use or that of their immediate family. Although the shipments do not have to be made directly to individuals, the final destination must be their personal consumption. This authorization is excluded if the products end up in the hands of officials of the Cuban Government, employees of the Ministries of Defense or Interior, or other entities linked to the State, including those listed on the Cuba Restricted List.

The document also reminds exporters that they are responsible for verifying that the operation complies with all the conditions of the SCP license; otherwise, they must request a specific individual license from U.S. authorities.

The BIS message sets clear limits on the financial mechanism so that payments are made through channels that do not pass through Cuban state banking. Eric Martin, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, emphasized that banking institutions in third countries (for example, Spain and Panama) remain authorized for these purposes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Juan Pablo Guanipa: “My Struggle is to Restore Democracy” in Venezuela

The opposition leader considers the presence of the U.S. “fundamental until the country’s definitive democratic stabilization is achieved.”

Former congressman Juan Pablo Guanipa, during his interview with the EFE agency this Tuesday in Maracaibo (Venezuela) / EFE/Henry Chirinos

14ymedio (EFE), Caracas, Henry Chirinos, March 4, 2026 – Nearly two weeks after regaining his full freedom, former congressman Juan Pablo Guanipa told EFE that he is fighting for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, which he believes is going through a transition process following the U.S. military attack of January 3 that should lead the country to elections.

From his hometown of Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia state (western Venezuela), Guanipa says he sees three “fundamental actors” in the new scenario: opposition unity, made up of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) and other parties that support a process of change, the leadership of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, and the United States.

“Today the United States has presented a project that is based on those three stages of recovery, stabilization, and transition that will end in an electoral process,” said the leader, who considers Washington’s presence “fundamental until the country’s definitive democratic stabilization is achieved.”

In his opinion, this process began in October 2023, when Machado was chosen as the opposition candidate for the July 2024 elections, in which González Urrutia ultimately ran after the future Nobel Peace Prize laureate was disqualified, and in which Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed the winner despite allegations of fraud.

“I always said that this is going to bring consequences,” added Guanipa, who sees the electoral fraud as the origin of “the January 3 events.”

“I always said that this is going to bring consequences,” Guanipa added, noting that those events were the origin of “the January 3 events.”

For this leader, Venezuela is ready for a political alternative after having gone through “many very unpleasant things over these 27 years.”

“The entire process of economic and social impoverishment that the country has experienced, this whole process of dismantling institutions, of destroying the rules, of eliminating the separation of powers, of eliminating the rule of law—all of this has to change,” he stated.

In that sense, he said he notices the people are “hopeful” as they feel they are moving “toward a path of freedom,” but also “desperate.”

“It seems as if we would like everything to happen at once, that two months feels like too long and that we already want the change to materialize,” Guanipa warned, inviting people “to wait a little.” continue reading

It is “fair, necessary, and appropriate, not only the return of María Corina but also of everyone who is in exile.”

Referring to the opposition, he drew a distinction between those who “truly agree and are willing to work to achieve a definitive political change in Venezuela,” and those who believe that acting president Delcy Rodríguez should remain in power, since they assume she “brings more stability to the country.”

“We do not believe it is necessary to unite with them, because the objective of each side is completely different. And I believe that if we interpret the aspirations of the Venezuelan people at this moment, the vast majority want political change and also recognize María Corina as the leader of that democratic alternative,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of Machado’s return to the country, he said it is “fair, necessary, and appropriate, not only the return of María Corina but also of everyone who is in exile.”

“If you want to reconcile, as you say, a country, you have to ensure that everyone returns and that all political prisoners are freed,” he argued.

Guanipa believes that the amnesty law—after whose approval he was released despite the fact that, according to Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez, it did not apply to him—“was not necessary” and also “cannot be exclusionary.”

“They themselves have said that without an amnesty law they released 800 or 900 people,” the opposition leader argued, saying that “what is needed is political will.”

“At first I didn’t know what I was going to face. Secondly, there is the fear of what might happen to you in prison, and, thirdly, there is the issue of when I might get out.”

Regarding his detention from May 23, 2025 until February 8 of this year, when he was released but hours later placed under house arrest after leading a caravan, he recalled his first 21 days as “extremely harsh,” “unpleasant,” and “inadequate.”

“At first I didn’t know what I was going to face. Secondly, there is the fear of what might happen to you in prison and, thirdly, there is the issue of when I might get out of here,” he recalled.

During that initial stage, he said he slept on a mat, in the cold and without blankets. He also wore a uniform that he was able to change 21 days later.

Guanipa, who on the 30th day of his confinement gained access to a book, admits he found refuge in prayer and reading, having read 154 books and 62,000 pages in eight months.

“I was free in prison,” he concluded, clinging to the hope of seeing his children again and of the country emerging “from this situation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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