EFE – Page 3 – Translating Cuba

Lukashenko: “We Are Willing To Do Everything Possible for Cuba and Everything the Situation Allows”

Salvador Valdés Mesa met in Astana with the presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus during the Eurasian Economic Union summit

In his meeting with Valdés Mesa, Lukashenko assured that Minsk “is aware” of what is happening in the “friendly country.” / X / Salvador Valdés Mesa

EFE / 14ymedio, Astana, May 29, 2026 — Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa met this Friday in Astana with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit, a bloc in which Havana participates as an observer country.

During the meeting with Tokayev, the parties discussed the development of bilateral relations, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, according to a statement from the Kazakh presidency. The president explained to Valdés Mesa the steps being taken by the largest country in Central Asia to introduce new technological solutions and expressed his willingness to share that experience with Cuba.

In addition, both leaders highlighted the potential for expanding cooperation in “promising” sectors such as medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. They also examined opportunities to deepen trade, cultural, and humanitarian ties.

The closeness between Cuba and Belarus is not limited to the commercial sphere

In his meeting with Valdés Mesa, Lukashenko assured that Minsk “is aware” of what is happening in the “friendly country.” “We are willing to do everything possible for Cuba and everything the continue reading

situation allows,” said the Belarusian leader, one of Moscow’s closest allies.

Lukashenko added that his country would strictly comply with the agreements reached within the framework of the EAEU and invited Havana to present “additional proposals” to improve bilateral cooperation, which would be considered by Minsk.

The closeness between Cuba and Belarus is not limited to the commercial sphere. In recent years, both countries have strengthened military contacts, with visits by high-ranking Cuban Armed Forces officials to Minsk and Belarusian military chiefs to Havana. In 2023, the defense ministers of both countries discussed military and technical-military cooperation; afterward, the Belarusian press reported Cuban interest in systems such as the Polonez-M missiles, while new “negotiations” and visits linked to air equipment, combat drones, and air defense systems have been documented.

Valdés Mesa invited business leaders from the regional bloc nations to participate in the Havana International Fair scheduled for November

Cuba and the EAEU, made up of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, agreed this Thursday on a roadmap to strengthen cooperation in the economic, commercial, and scientific sectors.

Among the areas with business opportunities on the Island, Valdés Mesa pointed to the Mariel Special Development Zone, biotechnology, tourism, the sugar industry, and agriculture.

The Cuban vice president also described to his hosts the complex situation the country is going through, which he attributed to the “tightening of the U.S. economic and oil embargo” and to “Washington’s threats of military aggression against the Island.”

In addition, he invited business leaders from the nations of the regional bloc to participate in the Havana International Fair scheduled for November, where new business deals could be finalized.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Prison Sentence for Immigration Fraud for One of the Military Officers Indicted Alongside Raúl Castro in the U.S.

Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez was sentenced to seven months in prison after admitting he lied on immigration forms

Luis Raúl González-Pardo, left, in an image included in the prosecution files that led to his conviction for fraud. / American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora

EFE/14ymedio, Miami, May 28, 2026 — Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, a Cuban pilot who was indicted last week alongside former president Raúl Castro for the shootdown of two planes belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue, was sentenced this Thursday to seven months in prison in the United States for lying on immigration forms. The sentence comes one week after the defendant, who entered U.S. territory under humanitarian parole, admitted guilt to fraud in obtaining a visa.

The man was already being held in a state prison, so he is expected to be released before that term is completed.

González-Pardo Rodríguez is one of the five military officers whom the U.S. Department of Justice indicted last week, together with Castro, for the deaths of four people — three U.S. citizens and one legal resident, all of Cuban origin — in the 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft. The other military officers are Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez. The indictment includes four counts of murder, conspiracy to kill Americans, and destruction of aircraft.

The U.S. government has not detailed what the next steps might be in the prosecution of Raúl Castro

Unlike González-Pardo Rodríguez, who was already in the United States at the time of the indictment, Castro, 94, remains in Cuba, and the U.S. government has not detailed what the next steps in his prosecution might be.

During the announcement of the indictment last week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the former Cuban president would appear before justice “of his own will or by some other means,” though he avoided answering whether Washington was planning an operation in Cuba similar to the one carried out in Venezuela on January 3 to capture then-ruler Nicolás Maduro.

According to Cuba, the attack under scrutiny in this case took place in Cuba’s territorial waters, in legitimate defense and after more than a dozen warnings, and therefore did not violate international law. However, reports from continue reading

the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, established that the aircraft were shot down in international airspace.

More recent image of González-Pardo, included in his profile as a repressor by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. / FHRC

Brothers to the Rescue was a nonprofit organization founded in Miami by José Basulto in the early 1990s. Its members patrolled international waters searching for Cuban rafters attempting to flee the Island, while Havana accused them of violating Cuban airspace and carrying out political provocations.

Subsequent investigations revealed that at least two Cuban agents infiltrated into Brothers to the Rescue provided detailed information about flight routes and schedules to the Cuban government, facilitating the regime’s military operation. In 2003, a U.S. federal court charged a Cuban general and two fighter pilots over the shootdown, but no formal charges were brought at that time against the Castro brothers.

In June 1996, El Nuevo Herald published an audio recording in which Raúl Castro can be heard saying: “I said they should try to shoot them down over the territory, but they entered Havana and left again… Of course, with one of those air-to-air missiles, what comes down is a fireball, and it’s going to fall on the city. Well, shoot them down at sea when they show up.” In the same audio document, the then-head of the Armed Forces speaks of giving “authority” to “five generals.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Transnational Network Dedicated to Trafficking Cuban Migrants Is Dismantled

It allegedly facilitated the clandestine entry into Spain of at least 40 people in exchange for 3,000 euros

The investigation remains open and further arrests are not ruled out / EFE

14ymedio/EFE, Málaga, May 27, 2026 — The Spanish Police, with the collaboration of Europol and the Serbian Police, dismantled an international network operating in Spain and Serbia that was allegedly dedicated to trafficking people from Cuba, an operation that resulted in eight arrests.

The migrants, some with minors in their care, flew to Belgrade and from there were transported by vehicle to Spain, passing through North Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and France, according to information released this Wednesday by the Police.

The organization allegedly facilitated the clandestine entry into Spain of at least 40 Cuban nationals in exchange for amounts close to 3,000 euros.

Seven people were arrested in the province of Málaga and the eighth was arrested in Zamora

Seven people were arrested in the province of Málaga and the eighth was arrested in Zamora; among those arrested are two of the alleged leaders of the organization.

According to the investigation, the criminal network recruited Cuban citizens by offering them a package called a “travel bundle,” which included airline tickets, invitation letters, medical insurance, and hotel reservations.

Upon arriving in Spain, the objective was to settle there and request international protection, “evading European and Spanish regulations” regarding the entry, transit, and stay of foreigners.

Investigators confirmed that the criminal network took advantage of the migrants’ vulnerable situation.

After a difficult journey, the branch of the network established in Spain transported the migrants mainly to the province of Málaga, where they were instructed on how to regularize their status in Spain. continue reading

Before applying for international protection, they reported their passports as lost

Before applying for international protection, they reported their passports as lost, with the aim of leaving no record of the migration route followed and preventing authorities from verifying their irregular entry into Europe through the stamps placed in their documents upon arrival in Serbia, which could lead to the blocking of any application for international protection in Spain.

After obtaining new passports, during asylum and refugee application interviews the migrants claimed they had only recently arrived in Spanish territory, which allowed them to qualify for that protection.

Agents documented 27 incidents of facilitating illegal immigration through this modus operandi since 2021, through which at least 40 people of Cuban origin allegedly entered Spain irregularly.

Payments were made to Spanish and foreign accounts through money transfer companies, apps, and cryptocurrencies, which prevented the tracking and monitoring of the amounts.

In the investigation, 2,252 money transfers of 380,775 euros by the suspects based in Spain were analyzed.

The investigation remains open and further arrests are not ruled out.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Kallas Calls on Cuba To ‘Put an End to Political Repression’ and to Its ‘Uncompromising Control of the Economy’

The Cuban regime accuses the EU of lacking objectivity and independence from the United States

Cuban pensioners waiting to be served at a bank in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 25 May 2026 / The Cuban regime criticized the European Union (EU) for lacking “objectivity,” by failing to consider that United States sanctions are the main cause of the crisis on the Island, and expressed the hope that the European bloc’s position would be voiced with “independence” from Washington.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez posted a critical comment on social media this Monday about the EU’s positions, recently expressed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, during a special debate on Cuba in the European Parliament.

Rodríguez stated that failing to recognize that U.S. sanctions, “the oil siege and the military threat” against the Island are “the main causes” of the crisis “strips the European bloc of objectivity and reveals a clear double standard.”

“Nor have we heard any concern or support from her for the many European companies and citizens who are being threatened and harmed by the latest U.S. measures, which are clearly extraterritorial and illegal in nature,” he wrote.

In the Cuban foreign minister’s view, Kallas would be expected to adopt “a consistent position” in line with “international law and the peace promoted by the European bloc.” continue reading

The country’s situation “is the result of decades of structural economic failures, bad policies, and the impact of ongoing external restrictions and measures”

“We hope that the EU’s foreign policy, in the complicated circumstances the world is living through, where the use of force and imperialist domination are being imposed, will express European independence and traditional European and multilateral values, as its citizens demand,” he added.

Rodríguez nevertheless acknowledged the humanitarian aid offered by the EU and several of its member states, as well as their “contribution to the development of bilateral cooperation” structured through the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement.

He added that Cuba will continue to back a relationship with the EU based on “respect, equality and reciprocity.”

Kallas, speaking in the European Parliament, said that “a negotiated reform is preferable” on the Island, but called on Havana to “put an end to political repression” and to its “uncompromising control of the economy.”

The head of European diplomacy stated that the country’s situation “is the result of decades of structural economic failures, bad policies, and the impact of ongoing external restrictions and measures.” She also stressed that “the European Union does not finance the Cuban State” and warned that “humanitarian support will not resolve Cuba’s crisis, but will merely alleviate immediate human suffering.”

Translated by GH

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New Donations From the U.S. Arrive in Santiago de Cuba for Victims of Hurricane Melissa

According to Cáritas, the shipment consists of 1,900 hygiene and food kits, part of aid valued at three million dollars.

Image of Granma after the passage of Hurricane Melissa. / La Demajagua

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, May 22, 2026 — The Catholic organization Cáritas reported this Thursday that 1,900 hygiene and food kits from a U.S. government aid shipment valued at three million dollars for victims of Hurricane Melissa arrived in Santiago de Cuba this week.

Two flights from Miami transported the donations on Tuesday the 19th and this Thursday to Santiago, where they will be distributed to vulnerable families affected by the hurricane’s passage through the eastern third of Cuba on October 29, Cáritas explained on social media.

The organization recalled that donations from this first package began arriving on January 14 and included food kits, hygiene supplies, and household items purchased and sent by Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

Cáritas clarified that, so far, 82% of this aid has been delivered

Likewise, Cáritas clarified that up to this point 82% of the assistance has been carried out, which the U.S. government stipulated must be distributed by the Catholic Church and under no circumstances by the regime.

The Catholic organization added that the remaining 18% of the assistance will be received this month and that, in total, it will benefit 8,800 families in the affected provinces: Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Bayamo, and continue reading

Guantánamo.

It also announced that “at the same time, work is beginning on the management and implementation of a new donation which, valued at six million dollars, has been made by the U.S. government for the same purpose.”

As Cáritas previously explained, the beneficiaries are “single mothers with small children, older adults, people with disabilities, and people with limited or no mobility.”

The donations have included rice, beans, oil, sugar, water purification tablets, pots, kitchen utensils, blankets, and flashlights.

Hurricane Melissa crossed the eastern part of the Island on October 29 as a Category 3 storm (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and rainfall of up to 400 millimeters in some parts of the country.

According to assessments by the Cuban government, the storm caused no fatalities but did cause extensive material damage to more than 116,000 homes, as well as to 600 state medical facilities, more than 2,000 schools, around 100,000 hectares of crops, and infrastructure related to transportation, telecommunications, electricity, and water supply.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Ladies in White Lament that Sissi Abascal Had to Leave Cuba to Regain her Freedom

“It’s not the way one would want to be free, but the prisoner and their family are the ones who decide,” says Berta Soler

“Sissi and her mother Annia were two women worthy of respect,” Soler emphasized. / Facebook / Sissi Abascal

14ymedio / EFE, Havana, May 16, 2026 – The leader of the Cuban opposition group Ladies in White, Berta Soler, lamented this Friday that political prisoner Sissi Abascal, 28, one of the youngest members of her group, had to leave the country in order to regain her freedom.

“Two brave Ladies in White, Sissi Abascal Zamora and her mother, Annia Zamora, arrived in exile; the choice was to leave Cuba or remain imprisoned,” Soler wrote on social media following the arrival of both dissidents in the U.S. city of Miami.

Soler considered that “it’s not the way one would want to be free, but the prisoner and their family are the ones who decide.”

“With their example, courage, and love for their homeland, they became leaders in this place”

She also highlighted that “Sissi and her mother Annia were two women worthy of respect” in the town of Carlos Rojas in the province of Matanzas, and affirmed that “with their example, courage, and love for their homeland, they became leaders in this place.”

Soler recalled that Abascal is one of the youngest women in the Ladies in White movement, which she joined “at only 16 years old.” continue reading

The independent group Justice 11J, which has been responsible for documenting arrests, judicial proceedings, and human rights violations on the Island, celebrated on social media that “Sissi is out of prison.”

But it also demanded that “all people imprisoned for political reasons be released, without exile being imposed on them as a condition.”

Prisoners Defenders, based in Madrid, recorded 1,260 political prisoners in Cuba

Likewise, the NGO Cubalex emphasized that Sissi Abascal “is being forced to leave Cuba, with her freedom conditioned on exile” and that “she is leaving the country alongside her mother Annia Zamora.”

The organization added that in 2025 Cuban authorities denied Abascal the benefit of being transferred to a minimum-security regime, as well as parole.

“Today, they prefer to grant her the benefit of parole — at the discretion of the authorities — in order to exile her, rather than place her in a less severe regime within Cuba,” Cubalex stated.

Abascal was sentenced to six years in prison for the crimes of “public disorder,” “contempt,” and “assault” for her participation in the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021, the largest in decades in Cuba.

Abascal’s release coincided with the publication of the latest report by the Madrid-based NGO Prisoners Defenders, which recorded 1,260 political prisoners in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Trump Wants To ‘Turn Things Around’ in Cuba, Despite the Regime’s ‘Red Lines’

In an interview with ‘The Hill’, Havana’s ambassador to Washington insists that the “political system and internal order” are not on the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump in an archive photograph. / EFE/Samuel Corum

EFE/14ymedio, International Desk, May 16, 2026 / US President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration is confident that the Cuban government will eventually side with Washington at a time when it has intensified its US pressure campaign on the island.

When asked by journalist Bret Baier in an interview with Fox News whether Cuba would side with the US and not with China, Trump replied: “I think we’re going to turn it around.”

The president praised the role of Secretary of State Marco Rubio when asked about his administration’s actions regarding Cuba.

In addition, Trump expressed confidence in limiting the influence of his global rivals over Havana when questioned about his stance on the visit of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, which took place this Thursday .

According to a CIA statement, Ratcliffe traveled to the Cuban capital to hold direct talks with officials from the Ministry of the Interior and those responsible for the island’s intelligence services.

During the meeting, issues related to intelligence cooperation, regional security, and Cuba’s economic situation were discussed, against a backdrop of persistent tensions between Washington and Havana. The visit included meetings with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro—grandson of former president Raúl Castro and a security advisor—as well as with Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas. continue reading

In addition, reports this week have surfaced that the US justice system may file a criminal case against former President Raúl Castro for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996.

Cuban Ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera. / Ministry of Foreign Affairs

You are not going to put your political system or your internal order on the table, as the people of our country decide in a sovereign manner.

This Friday, Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s ambassador to the US, stated in an interview with The Hill that Havana is maintaining its “red lines” amid stalled negotiations that, she said, “have not progressed,” and in the face of President Trump’s looming threat to invade the nation.

Torres Rivera stated that the country maintains a policy of “discretion” regarding the ongoing negotiations and declined to comment on the topics being discussed. However, she reiterated that Cuba’s independence is not subject to negotiation.

“A serious country that respects itself,” Torres Rivera said, “would not negotiate its sovereignty with another country. You’re not going to put your political system or your internal order on the table, which the people of our country decide in a sovereign manner,” she affirmed. “Those are the red lines.”

Although Torres Rivera acknowledged that the protests over the blackouts are understandable, she warned against a “misinterpretation” of them as a sign of a weakening of Cuban resolve.

“When they endure 20 hours of blackout, they have reasons to complain and they express it,” she said, but added that the US should not interpret that as meaning that “the Cuban people will not defend themselves against US aggression, will not defend our homeland against an invasion.”

We see no need for war or any US military action against Cuba, simply because we are not a threat to the US in any way.

The diplomat asserted that the Cuban government is preparing for a possible military escalation, but insisted that these measures are “defensive” and not offensive. “We don’t want Cubans dying in Cuba,” she declared, and recalled Bruno Rodríguez’s words, reiterating that an intervention could turn into “a bloodbath” on the island.

“We see no need for a war or any US military action against Cuba, simply because we are not a threat to the US in any way,” she stated.

When questioned about the $ 100 million in aid announced by Washington, which would be distributed through non-governmental organizations and the Catholic Church, Torres Rivera stated that the Cuban government is still unaware of the specific details of the proposal, although she asserted that Cuba has never rejected foreign aid “when it is done in good faith and does not constitute political manipulation.”

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Rubio: ‘Wealth in Cuba Is Controlled by a Company of Military Officers Who Keep All the Money’

The U.S. secretary of state again insisted that “additional designations can be expected in the coming days and weeks”

The Gran Muthu Habana was built a few years ago by Gaesa in Playa, Havana. / 14ymedio

EFE/14ymedio, Washington, May 14, 2026 — United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio once again lashed out at the Cuban Government this Wednesday, asserting that the Island is “controlled by a company owned by military generals,” in a new criticism amid Washington’s pressure on Havana, which has intensified in recent weeks.

“Wealth in Cuba is controlled by a company owned by military generals who keep all the money,” Rubio stated during an exclusive interview with Fox News, broadcast Wednesday night and recorded aboard Air Force 1 en route to China.

The head of U.S. diplomacy, who has Cuban roots, also warned that people in Cuba are currently “literally eating garbage off the streets” while at the same time the “company” that controls the Island has “16 billion dollars” at its disposal.

The head of U.S. diplomacy, who has Cuban roots, also warned that people in Cuba are currently “literally eating garbage off the streets”

Last week, the United States announced sanctions against the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA, its director, and Moa Nickel, a joint venture with the Canadian company Sherritt International, as part of actions aimed at strangling the Island’s economy amid threats by President Donald Trump to take control of the country.

These new “decisive measures” by Washington seek “to protect the national security of the United States and deprive Cuba’s communist regime and military forces of access to illicit assets,” Rubio said.

“Just 90 miles from U.S. territory, the Cuban regime has continue reading

driven the Island into ruin and auctioned it off as a platform for foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations. Additional designations can be expected in the coming days and weeks,” Rubio added.

According to the State Department, the military company GAESA “constitutes the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system,” controlling “an estimated 40% or more of the Island’s economy” for the benefit of “corrupt elites,” while the Cuban people endure one of the most severe economic crises in the country’s history.

Last March, however, an official close to talks between the United States and Cuba affirmed precisely that the precarious economic situation of GAESA could serve as leverage for change. The information was published by The Economist, which argued that Gaesa’s collapse is due to having invested 70% of its resources over the last 10 years in a tourism sector that is now practically at zero.

“Before the United States tightened restrictions, Gaesa barely had one billion dollars in reserves”

“Before the United States tightened restrictions, Gaesa barely had one billion dollars in reserves. That figure is rapidly declining, as its luxury hotels remain empty,” the article said, estimating Cuba’s international reserves at around 3 billion dollars.

Trump signed a new executive order on May 1 extending the scope of sanctions against Cuba to include almost any non-U.S. person or company doing business with the Island, especially in the energy, defense, security, and financial sectors.

This adds to the oil blockade imposed in January by the American president, who has said he will “take control” of Cuba “almost immediately” and could deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln to Caribbean waters.

On Tuesday, before departing for China, Donald Trump said that Cuba’s situation was that of “a failed country” that “is asking for help, and we’re going to talk!”

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Families of Political Prisoners Pay Tribute to Opposition Figure Who Died in Venezuelan State Custody

The Venezuelan Church demands that responsibilities be determined and joins the recognitions of Víctor Quero’s mother, who searched for him for months.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Caracas, May 11, 2026 – Families of political prisoners in Venezuela paid tribute this Sunday to Víctor Quero Navas — whose death last year while in state custody was acknowledged this week by the Government after months of searching by his mother — with an activity outside the prison where, according to authorities, he was held.

In the vicinity of the El Rodeo I penitentiary center, near Caracas, relatives and activists placed a sign in his memory highlighting that his death occurred “after remaining in forced disappearance since January” of that year.

“His mother searched for him in Rodeo I, but the authorities denied his detention, concealed his death, and destroyed evidence,” the text adds.

Around the sign were small banners with messages such as “Let no one else die in custody,” “Truth for Víctor, freedom for all,” and “No death in custody can go unpunished.”

There were small banners with messages such as “Let no one else die in custody,” “Truth for Víctor, freedom for all,” and “No death in custody can go unpunished”

On the ground they placed a couple of floral arrangements and candles in the shape of a cross, while on another part of the street asphalt they wrote in chalk “Víctor Hugo Quero present,” according to photographs published on X by the NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPP).

“This May 10, Mother’s Day in Venezuela, the memorial placed in the vicinity of El Rodeo I prison recalls the death in custody and demands justice,” the organization wrote on the social network.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado expressed that all Venezuelan women are “one in señora Carmen,” among others who “represent what it means to raise and fight for a child and demonstrate that a mother’s love never surrenders.” “Soon we will all embrace each other, with our families, in freedom,” she said. continue reading

The main opposition bloc, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), greeted all the women who, with “love, strength, and sacrifice, sustain their families and keep alive the hope of a better country,” and made special mention of the mothers of political prisoners, who “face the pain of injustice and separation, but continue giving an example of dignity, fortitude, and struggle for freedom.”

“Special recognition also to the mothers who live with the distance caused by migration, persecution, or the absence of their children, without ever giving up hope,” it added.

The Primero Justicia party demanded “justice for all the mothers who, because of persecution, the search for a better future, or prison, today cannot embrace their children and grandchildren.”

The organization Encuentro Ciudadano asserted that, in Venezuela, being a mother “has also meant resisting, resisting the separation from children who emigrated, hunger, blackouts, uncertainty, and the pain of seeing a broken country.”

In Venezuela, being a mother “has also meant resisting, resisting the separation from children who emigrated, hunger, blackouts, uncertainty, and the pain of seeing a broken country”

“But today, especially, we think of the mothers of political prisoners. Of those women who cannot embrace their children, who travel through courts and prisons seeking justice, who live between anguish and hope. To them, our respect and solidarity,” it wrote on X.

The party asked that this day “not be only a celebration but also a reminder of the debt Venezuela has with so many mothers who suffer in silence.”

For its part, the NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) stated that hundreds of women spend their day “standing in lines outside a prison, while others wake up far from their children, locked in a cell, watching childhood pass behind a visit, a phone call, or a photograph.”

“There are mothers who travel kilometers carrying food and medicine for their imprisoned children, mothers who grow old amid searches, transfers, and institutional silence, mothers like Carmen Teresa Navas who spend months desperately searching for their children while the regime disappears, tortures, or kills them,” it said.

In that sense, it warned that the prison crisis “not only punishes those deprived of liberty; it also breaks bonds, separates families, and condemns thousands of mothers to live amid pain, uncertainty, and absence.”

The CLIPP demanded, on this “Mother’s Day, freedom for their children.” “That is the gift awaited by the mothers who continue outside the prisons. They do not ask for privileges: they demand justice, truth, and a return home,” it added.

The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) expressed in a statement its “deep consternation and pain” over Quero’s death and demanded that criminal and administrative responsibilities be determined.

“It is imperative to determine the criminal and administrative responsibilities of those officials who, by action or omission, allowed a young Venezuelan to die in oblivion, without access to his family and deprived of due process,” it stated, and asked the Public Ministry and the Ombudsman’s Office to act “with true autonomy and independence.”

The CEV expressed solidarity with the mother, Carmen Navas, and said that she “personifies the ordeal of so many Venezuelan families.” “Her tireless search, marked by harassment and uncertainty, is a cry that reaches heaven. The Church stands in solidarity with the pain of those who seek the truth amid institutional opacity,” it said.

The CEV expressed solidarity with the mother, Carmen Navas, and said that she “personifies the ordeal of so many Venezuelan families”

In addition, the conference recalled that the State “has the inalienable moral and legal duty to guarantee the life and physical integrity of those deprived of liberty.”

On the other hand, it pointed out as “signs of a lack of transparency and probity” by the authorities that the political prisoner “died in July 2025 while the State provided contradictory information to his family.”

“The fact that his whereabouts were denied in facilities such as El Rodeo I, while he had already died, constitutes an extremely serious breach of public ethics. This deliberate concealment constitutes elements of forced disappearance, a crime that justice cannot and must not ignore,” it asserted.

Regarding the exhumation carried out on Friday, the CEV called for international experts to “validate the findings in order to clarify the truth, determine criminal responsibilities for the forced disappearance, and stop the institutional cruelty that revictimizes” the mother.

With Quero Navas, there are now 27 people detained for political reasons who have died in state custody since 2014, according to the NGOs Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP) and Provea.

According to an official statement released last Thursday, Quero died almost ten days later from “acute respiratory failure secondary to pulmonary thromboembolism.” The same day, the Ombudsman’s Office requested an exhaustive and independent investigation and the Prosecutor’s Office announced the start of inquiries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Artist Tania Bruguera Gives a Microphone to New York and Warns of “Freedom of Expression in Danger”

“This work had such great significance in Cuba in 2009, and unfortunately, the conditions of censorship are repeated throughout time and the world.”

“We are in a time of rising autocracies and dictatorships worldwide,” the artist stated. / EFE / Screenshot

EFE/Nora Quintanilla (via 14ymedio), New York, May 2, 2026 / Above the hustle and bustle of Times Square, words against authoritarianism, labor exploitation and the mistreatment of immigrants were heard this Friday from an ephemeral stage, the work of Cuban artist Tania Bruguera, who warned EFE of a “freedom of expression in danger.”

Bruguera (b. Havana, 1968) performed at the most famous intersection in the United States a variation of her performance Tatlin’s Whisper #6, in which she offers a platform and a microphone to anyone, on the occasion of May 1st, International Workers’ Day, at a time that worries her.

“This work had such great significance in Cuba in 2009, and unfortunately the conditions of censorship are repeated throughout time and the world,” explained the artist, whose work caused great controversy at the Havana Biennial, where blogger Yoani Sánchez, among other participants, demanded freedom and democracy.

“We are in a time of the rise of autocracies and dictatorships in the world, not only in the United States, where freedom of expression is in danger,” said Bruguera, who observed a rather subdued audience and closed the event by exclaiming “Down with the dictatorship in Cuba.”

Each participant who dared to take the stage received a white dove and could speak for one minute, flanked by two imposing security agents, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, who, when the time was up, placed their hand on their shoulder in a threatening manner.

Bruguera said she heard someone censoring themselves because the event would be broadcast online.

Throughout the hour-long performance, there were silences in which no one took the microphone, but most respected the times and ways to make complaints of all kinds, although one man went up twice and continued speaking, defiantly in front of his guards, about “the power of the people.”

Another man took the opportunity to promote a Spanish-language comedy event at the World Cup, another sang ” We Shall Overcome” with a guitar, another lamented the persecution of the LGBT community and proclaimed “Free Palestine,” and a woman defended the labor movement and human empathy.

Bruguera said she heard someone self-censor because the event would be broadcast online, and acknowledged that people are “very aware that the internet is a storehouse that always exists and that they can twist things whenever they want,” but reaffirmed the power of speaking out.

She compared the situation to that of Cuba, where recently “a person who wasn’t even a dissident, just a normal person who went out with a sign that said ‘freedom,’ was imprisoned,” and stressed that “art helps to prevent, to make us think before things have happened and become final.”

Sin pelos en la lengua — without mincing words — this artist, famous for her social interventions and as a professor and head of media and performance at Harvard University, also reflected on what it is like to be part of the Cuban community in exile, emphasizing that “the regime is not the people.”

For Bruguera, Cuba is in a “tense moment where people have placed a lot of hope,” because, she maintained, Cuban civil society “is more than prepared to lead that country.”

“It is a distinction that must be made in order to be fair to the entire struggle and the voice of a people who are not heard,” she said, pointing to the protests on social media and in the streets against the propaganda, with mothers who face “empty refrigerators” and remembering their “minor children imprisoned.”

For Bruguera, Cuba is in a “tense moment where people have placed a lot of hope,” because, she argued, Cuban civil society “is more than prepared to lead that country” and make changes, including the thousands of qualified Cubans and workers who are around the world.

“They can return to Cuba and build a Cuba that will definitely be better, because anything they do will be better than the garbage they are doing now, the Cuban regime, which is starving the people to death,” she added.

The initiative was coordinated by Times Square Arts, which manages public art in the square, and Fall of Freedom, an entity that has organized some 300 cultural activities, from museums to theaters and concert halls, to “unite in defiance of the authoritarian forces that are sweeping” the US.

The writer Laura Raicovich, one of the creators of Fall of Freedom, considered Bruguera’s work important today, when “people in the US and around the world are looking for those in power to understand that that power really resides in us, the workers, the ordinary people who do ordinary things.”

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Canada Allocates Another Four Million US Dollars in Humanitarian Aid to Cuba

Part of the resources will be used to support the healthcare network and food distribution.

Authorities added that they continue to closely monitor the situation on the island. / Facebook/Embassy of Canada in Cuba

EFE (via 14ymedio), Toronto, April 17, 2026 / Canada announced on Friday a new allocation of 5.5 million Canadian dollars – about four million US dollars – to address urgent needs in Cuba, especially for medicines, food and medical supplies.

According to a statement released by the Canadian government, five million Canadian dollars will be given to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to “protect the health and well-being of vulnerable populations in Cuba.”

The aid, according to Ottawa, seeks to improve the availability of and access to essential health services, critical medicines and other medical supplies, as well as strengthen supply chains and support both primary care and specialty care hospitals on the Island.

The Canadian government specified that these funds will also serve to support essential logistics and cover fuel needs.

The remaining 500,000 Canadian dollars will be allocated to the World Food Programme (WFP) for food assistance. The Canadian government specified that these funds will also support essential logistics and cover fuel needs related to the humanitarian response.

Authorities added that they continue to closely monitor the situation in Cuba to “assess and respond to evolving needs.”

The new contribution adds to another eight million Canadian dollars delivered at the end of February to the WFP and UNICEF for the purchase of food.

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Proposes a Declaration Against Military Intervention in Cuba

Speaking to progressive leaders gathered at the IV Summit in Defense of Democracy in Barcelona, the Mexican president reaffirmed her country’s diplomatic tradition.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. / EFE/Jorge Núñez

EFE (via 14ymedio), Barceona, April 18, 2026 / Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced this Saturday — in her opening speech at the IV Summit in Defense of Democracy being held in Barcelona — that she wants to propose a declaration against military intervention in Cuba.

“I want to propose a declaration against military intervention in Cuba. May dialogue and peace prevail,” said the Mexican president in her opening remarks at the summit in Barcelona, which was attended by progressive leaders from around the world.

The President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, are bringing together a dozen progressive leaders in Barcelona to defend democracy. Among them, in addition to Sheinbaum, are the presidents of Colombia, South Africa and Uruguay, as well as representatives of other progressive governments.

Sheinbaum questioned a freedom that involves submitting to “external interests” or “turning nations into modern colonies.”

Sheinbaum asserted that Mexico “has been able to uphold its principles even in solitude” and “that it raised its voice against the blockade of Cuba in 1962 when others remained silent.”

“To this day, we believe, speaking of that small Caribbean island, that no people is small, but rather great and stoic when it defends its sovereignty and the right to a full life,” she added.

In a speech in which she proudly highlighted some milestones in Mexican history, including the 2024 election of the first female president, Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico’s constitutional principles in foreign policy are “more alive than ever” on the world stage today.

Among them she cited respect for the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the rejection of the use of force, the legal equality of states and the permanent struggle for peace.

The president questioned a freedom that implies submitting to “external interests” or “turning nations into modern colonies” and argued that freedom “is an empty word if it is not accompanied by social justice, sovereignty and the dignity of peoples.”

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A Cuban Man and Others Deported by the U.S. to Eswatini Will Have the Right to a Lawyer

Roberto Mosquera del Peral, who had served a sentence for homicide in Miami, was sent to that African country last summer

In October 2025, the Cuban’s lawyer said her client had begun a hunger strike to protest his detention. / DHS

EFE / 14ymedio, Nairobi / Madrid, April 11, 2026 – The Supreme Court of Eswatini, the former Swaziland, ruled in favor of four of the migrants deported by the United States to that small African kingdom and recognized their right to meet with a lawyer, after spending nine months without in-person access to legal assistance. Among them is the Cuban Roberto Mosquera del Peral, sent to the country last summer as part of the new policy of expulsions to third states promoted by the Trump administration.

The court’s decision confirms an earlier ruling by a lower court, which had been challenged by the Eswatini government. The case refers to the first group of deportees that Washington sent to Eswatini in July 2025: initially there were five men, although one of them was later repatriated.

The judicial resolution does not end the case nor immediately improve the underlying situation of the deportees, but it does represent a defeat for the Eswatini executive, which had argued that those men did not have the right to a defense because, formally, they were not detained nor had they been charged with any crime in the country. It also claimed that they did not wish to meet with the local lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, who acts on behalf of the attorneys representing them from the United States and who until now had only been able to speak with them by phone.

Amnesty International (AI) welcomed the ruling, although it warned that the main problem remains unchanged. “The Supreme Court’s ruling represents an important step in defending the right to access a lawyer for people who have been illegally transferred by the U.S. to Eswatini,” said Vongai Chikwanda, regional deputy director of the organization for East and Southern Africa.

“No one should be transferred to a country in violation of international law guarantees, only to then be secretly detained without a clear legal process”

The NGO, however, stressed that access to a lawyer does not correct the most serious violations reported for months. According to AI, these transfers are part of an abusive practice that leaves deportees trapped in continue reading

countries with which they have no connection, without a clear judicial process, and without guarantees against a new expulsion.

“No one should be transferred to a country in violation of international law guarantees, only to then be secretly detained without a clear legal process, without access to lawyers, and without protection against a subsequent illegal expulsion,” the organization insisted.

The case of Mosquera del Peral illustrates this policy. The Cuban man had served a sentence for homicide in Miami and was one of the individuals sent by Washington to Eswatini after his country of origin, like others, refused to accept him. He traveled with nationals from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, and Yemen. Over the months, the number of deportees transferred to that African kingdom grew to at least fifteen people, although two of them have already been returned to their countries, Jamaica and Cambodia.

Last October, Mosquera’s lawyer, Alma David, reported that the Cuban had been held for more than three months without charges in the maximum-security prison of Matsapha, in Eswatini. The attorney said at the time that her client had begun a hunger strike to protest his detention and warned that his life was in danger, while demanding that he be allowed access to a lawyer in that African country.

Washington agreed to pay 5.1 million dollars to the Eswatini government, as acknowledged by the kingdom’s authorities

According to complaints filed in court and by human rights organizations, the deportees have remained detained without charges and in isolation in the maximum-security prison of Matsapha, near Mbabane, the capital of Eswatini. The local government denies that these are illegal detentions, but that has been precisely one of the central issues in the litigation.

As early as last February, Eswatini’s judiciary rejected an appeal that sought to halt the deportation of third-country nationals from the United States. That lawsuit had been filed in August, shortly after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed the transfer of the first five foreigners to the African country.

The agreement was not free. Washington agreed to pay 5.1 million dollars to the Eswatini government, as the kingdom’s authorities acknowledged. That figure further fueled criticism from activists and legal experts, who see in these agreements an externalization of the U.S. migration system: those expelled leave American territory but do not necessarily return to their countries of origin, instead being sent to third states willing to receive them in exchange for financial compensation.

Nine months after their arrival at a maximum-security prison in a foreign country, they remain in a situation of legal limbo

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has hardened his migration policy and promoted rapid expulsions with the support of several countries. In addition to Eswatini, Washington has reached similar agreements with El Salvador, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Humanitarian organizations believe these agreements expose hundreds of people to a chain of abuses: arbitrary detention, mistreatment, isolation, and the risk of being sent to places where they may face persecution, torture, or degrading treatment. For this reason, they have called on several African governments to refuse to become destinations for migrants expelled from the United States.

In the case of Eswatini, the Supreme Court’s ruling opens a legal window for the deportees but does not clarify how long they will remain detained or what their final destination will be. Nor does it resolve the underlying issue: whether a country can accept people expelled from another state and keep them detained for months, without charges, without transparency, and without explaining what will happen to them.

For Mosquera del Peral and the other men, the ruling means at least a possibility of defense that had until now been denied to them. But nine months after their arrival at a maximum-security prison in a foreign country, they remain in a situation of legal limbo, turned into pawns of a migration policy that has moved the problem far from the U.S. border.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Vatican Has Secured the Release of 27 Political Prisoners, Separate From Common Inmates Pardoned by the Cuban Regime

Of the list of 51 agreed upon with the Holy See, 24 still remain to be released.

Released prisoners walk outside La Lima prison in Havana. / EFE/STR

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, April 5, 2026 – The NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD) reported this Saturday that the number of political prisoners released by the Cuban government has risen to 27 since the announcement, on March 12, of a process agreed upon with the Vatican that contemplates the release of 51 inmates.

“Of the 51 prisoners the regime said it would release in March, only 27 are political prisoners. To reach the announced 51, 24 political prisoners still remain to be released, since the rest would be common prisoners. In March, 14ymedio confirmed that more than 10 of that group were common inmates,” the NGO stated in a message on social media.

It also clarified that the figures published this Saturday regarding “the release under threats of 51 prisoners in March” should not be confused with “the release/pardon of the 2,010” that the Cuban government announced this Thursday.

The figure reported by Prisoners Defenders refers to the information provided by the Havana government on March 12, when it announced the release of 51 prisoners. These individuals, according to officials, had served “a significant part of their sentence and maintained good behavior in prison.”

These releases are not pardons, but rather a benefit that allows the prisoner to leave the penitentiary even though the sentence has not been completed.

At the time, Cuban authorities framed the decision as part of “a spirit of goodwill and the close, fluid relations between the Cuban State and the Vatican.” continue reading

These releases are not pardons, but a measure that allows inmates to leave prison before completing their sentence, subject to compliance with certain conditions during the remaining time.

Separately, on April 2, the Cuban government announced the pardon of 2,010 prisoners, describing it as a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture of solidarity” in the context of Holy Week celebrations.

The regime has excluded in its statement those convicted of “crimes against authority,” a category that applies to 95% of political prisoners.

In its statement, the regime indicated that those included “feature young people, women, adults over 60, those nearing the end of early-release periods in the final semester and the coming year, as well as foreigners and Cuban citizens residing abroad.”

Cuba closed February with 1,214 people detained for political reasons, according to PD’s latest monthly report, the highest figure recorded since the organization began documenting prison conditions on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Calls the Friendship Between Moscow and Havana an “Enduring Value”

“It cannot be properly measured in kopeks, dollars, or pesos,” says Sergei Ryabkov.

The Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin at the dock of the Supertanker Base in Matanzas. / Facebook / Oliver Zamora Oria

14ymedio/EFE, Madrid/Moscow, April 3, 2026 – The friendship between Russia and Cuba is enduring, declared Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, on Friday, stating that Moscow will continue supporting Havana despite U.S. pressure on the Island. “It cannot be properly measured in kopeks, dollars, or pesos. It is an enduring value. We value it highly,” the Russian diplomat emphasized in an interview with the TASS agency.

Both countries, he recalled, have interacted for decades “across the full spectrum of issues aimed at ensuring high human development, the development of science and education, cultural and human exchanges, and the development of the arts.”

“Not to mention our shared history and the solidarity, mutual support, which has always been felt and continues to be felt. And Russia maintains its commitment to this policy, especially at the current difficult stage,” he added. The senior Russian diplomat also reiterated the demand to end U.S. pressure on the Island.

“We insist that Cuba’s security be guaranteed. We demand an end to the blockade of the Island, which is absolutely illegal and illegitimate.”

“We insist that Cuba’s security be guaranteed. We demand an end to the blockade of the Island, which is absolutely illegal and illegitimate. And I am sure that the results Washington hopes to achieve with this blockade will continue to go unrealized,” he said. continue reading

The tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, sanctioned by the United States and the European Union and carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil, arrived Tuesday in Matanzas, marking the first oil shipment to reach the Island in three months, following the oil blockade imposed by the United States at the end of January. “This valuable assistance arrives amid the energy siege imposed by the United States, which seeks to suffocate the Cuban population,” Havana’s Foreign Ministry said on the social network X.

U.S. President Donald Trump had downplayed Moscow’s move to break the blockade imposed by Washington and dismissed the idea that the arrival of crude oil in Cuba would have any impact on the Island’s current situation. “It doesn’t bother me (…) they have a bad regime, they have bad and corrupt leadership, and whether a ship of oil arrives or not, it doesn’t matter,” the president said.

On Thursday, Russia’s Energy Minister, Sergei Tsiviliov, reported that after sending the Anatoly Kolodkin, his government is preparing a second shipment of crude oil to Cuba. “We will not abandon the Cubans,” Tsiviliov told local media at an energy forum held in the city of Kazan.

Cuba requires about 100,000 barrels per day to meet its energy needs, of which around 40,000 come from domestic production, mainly used to keep its outdated thermoelectric plants running. The inability to cover the remaining demand has resulted in long daily blackouts and the near-total paralysis of the economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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