EFE – Page 3 – Translating Cuba

Iberostar, the First International Chain Authorized to Rent Hotels in Cuba

Foreign companies will have more freedom to manage facilities and set wages

The first hotel on the island to implement the new formula will be the Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul in Varadero, starting January 1st. / Facebook/Magdiel Perez Martinez

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, October 17, 2025 / In its desperation to stem the sharp decline in tourism and foreign currency inflows, the Cuban government has taken a step it had long resisted: allowing international chains to rent out state-owned hotels and set employee salaries. According to EFE, sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed the first agreement was signed with the Spanish company Iberostar .

This represents a paradigm shift in a sector that until now had been tightly controlled by the Cuban State through the Ministry of Tourism and various companies in the Gaesa (Business Administration Group SA) business consortium, which is controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The new management model, among other things, and according to the same sources, will allow hotel chains to set the salaries they pay their employees for the first time—although it is not specified whether they will be able to pay part of the wages in dollars or euros—instead of having to pay the very low salaries set by the State in pesos.

The new system aims to begin with pilot experiences in establishments of various large international hotel chains.

The first hotel on the island to implement this new formula is the Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul, located in Varadero. The agreement has already been signed and will begin operating on January 1, 2026.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, in advance, this year’s FITCuba trade fair, announced that among the measures the executive branch was considering to boost the sector, which is facing an unstoppable debacle, was the leasing of state-owned tourist facilities. These agreements, according to EFE, represent a qualitative leap forward compared to the first concrete announcement in this respect: the two letters of intent signed with Chinese counterparts “for the negotiation of a lease for the Copacabana Hotel” in Havana, as reported in late April by the official newspaper Granma.

The movement, sources consulted indicated, has a dual objective. On the one hand, it seeks to increase the country’s income, which is mired in a serious crisis and urgently needs foreign currency to import basic necessities such as food and fuel. continue reading

On the other, it seeks to provide the large hotel chains operating on the island with greater autonomy and flexibility to improve service—one of the main handicaps in the sector today—and, consequently, also improve the image of these establishments, which has suffered in recent years due to the country’s crisis.

According to EFE, the new system aims to begin with pilot projects in establishments belonging to several major international hotel chains. Cuban authorities are negotiating the terms of these agreements separately with each chain, and there are apparently no common scales for setting the rent or fixed fees. Neither party has agreed to disclose the agreed rental amounts.

With this decision, the Cuban government seeks to increase its foreign currency income in two ways. Directly, through the revenue it earns from renting out properties to hotel chains. Indirectly, this measure also seeks to boost a key economic sector for the country.

With this decision, the Cuban government seeks to increase its foreign currency income in two ways.

Tourism is also Cuba’s third largest source of foreign currency (behind professional services and remittances), which it needs because it imports 80% of what it consumes. This is intended to revitalize visitor numbers, which are currently at their lowest levels this century (excluding 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions).

So far this year, international tourist numbers have fallen compared to 2024, when they were already the lowest in 17 years. Industry sources expect the year to end at around 1.8 million visitors, compared to 2.2 million in 2024 and the 4.7 million—the island’s all-time high—reached in 2018.

The hotels also perceive the measure as beneficial, according to people involved in the negotiations with the Cuban government. First, because it allows them to have “totally autonomous” management for the first time. Until now, although they managed hotels owned by Gaesa, they had to follow multiple official guidelines and obtain state approval for many issues, from investments to menus, including salaries.

The plan, after these pilot tests, includes expanding the process of change in management to the country’s hotels, although no timeline has been set.

In a context of global tourism growth, Cuba’s figures are alarming and have been disastrous for Spanish hotel chains, such as Iberostar and Meliá. As the specialized media outlet Hosteltur recently pointed out, consistent with another article published by the economic daily Cinco Días, these companies have persisted in their commitment to Cuba despite it being the country that is going against all the positive global forecasts for the sector, especially its direct competitors, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

In a context of global tourism growth, Cuba’s figures are alarming and have been disastrous for Spanish hotel chains.

At the end of August, the same outlet published graphs highlighting the situation of Spanish companies compared to the official figures reported by Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI). Hosteltur notes that “in 2018 and 2019, the island received 4.6 and 4.2 million international tourists, respectively, driven by a more favorable context in relations with the US and greater openness to travel.” Although pre-pandemic rates have already been surpassed in other countries, this is not the case in Cuba by a long shot.

After hitting historic lows due to COVID-19, Cuba’s numbers slowly climbed to 2,436,980 tourists in 2023. Since then, it has been on a downward spiral. Last year, the number of foreign visitors fell to 2,203,117, and in the first half of 2025, only 981,856 were received, which proportionally amounts to fewer than two million a year.

The consequences for the interests of the Spanish chains have been catastrophic. They have 71 hotels on the island, primarily Meliá (34) and Iberostar (18). Further behind are Roc (with five establishments), Valentin Hotels (with four), Sirenis (with three), Barceló, Blau, and Minor (each with two), and Axel Hotels with one. In total, they have 27,679 rooms.

The island, in fact, is the third country in terms of the number of rooms offered by Spanish hotel chains, behind only Mexico (around 50,000 rooms in 125 hotels) and the Dominican Republic (36,000 rooms in 75 establishments). The significant difference is that in these two countries, the sector continues to set records for occupancy and profits.

Between January and July of this year, the Dominican Republic received almost 7,200,000 tourists, 3.2% more than the same period last year, and Mexico registered, from January to June, no less than 47.4 million international visitors, 13.8% more than in the same months of 2024.

Taking into account that only 981,856 were received in the first half of 2025, proportionally it would not even amount to two million annually.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, only 1,259,972 international visitors arrived as of August, representing a 21.64% drop compared to 2024.

Although this represents an improvement compared to July—when the drop reached 23.2% compared to 2024—the figures already make the government’s goal of reaching 2.6 million tourists this year unfeasible. Considering that only 981,856 tourists were received in the first half of 2025, proportionally, this would not even reach two million annually, which would surpass the record negative figure of 2024, when 2.2 million travelers were received.

It was the worst record in 17 years, excluding 2020 (with 1,085,920 foreign visitors), 2021 (with 356,470), and 2022 (with 1,614,087), the years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Onei recorded that 135,985 international travelers arrived on the island in August, a lower number than in July, when 142,131 arrived.

On the other hand, according to the Onei semiannual report, between January and June of this year, revenues fell below one million ($981,856), a 25% decrease compared to the same period in 2024 ($1,309,655). Consequently, revenues plummeted by 20.6% (from almost 71 billion pesos to just over 56 billion).

Onei does not provide net income after deducting operating costs—very high in the tourism sector—but in Cuba’s case, it is estimated that these represent 70% of gross income, which would give a net income of $703 million, in the best-case scenario.

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‘I’m in shock, I Can’t Believe it,’ says Nobel Peace Prize Recipient María Corina Machado in a Conversation with Edmundo González

The former presidential candidate says the Nobel Peace Prize recognizes the struggle for democracy in Venezuela.

Edmundo González speaks with María Corina Machado from his home in Madrid. / Screenshot.

14ymedio/EFE. Madrid, 10 October 2025 — María Corina Machado’s first reaction to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was astonishment. “I’m in shock,” “I can’t believe it,” she said in a video posted on social media by Edmundo González.

González, the Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate, who now lives in Madrid, posted a message on X saying that this award is a recognition of “the struggle of a woman and an entire people” for “freedom and democracy” in Venezuela.

“Our beloved Maria Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize! Well-deserved recognition of the long struggle of a woman and an entire people for our freedom and democracy. Venezuela’s first Nobel Prize winner! Congratulations @mariacorinaya, Venezuela will be free!” he wrote.

The message was accompanied by the conversation the two had as soon as they learned of the decision.

Hours later, the Norwegian committee released the video in which the opposition leader was informed of the decision, minutes before the formal announcement. Machado, initially shocked, composed her voice to emphasize that this is an “achievement” and “recognition” for all the Venezuelan people.

“This is an achievement for the entire society. I’m just one person, I don’t deserve it,” she stated. “I feel honored, overwhelmed, and very grateful on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”

The opposition leader, who still doesn’t know if she will be able to attend the ceremony, told Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, that it would take her “much longer to believe what I just heard” and was cautious about the future of her struggle.

“We are not there yet. We are working hard to achieve it. I’m sure we will win. This is the greatest recognition for our people, and they deserve it,” she said.

Later, in a letter published on her X account, Machado insisted on receiving the award “in the name of the people of Venezuela, who have fought for their freedom with admirable courage, dignity, intelligence and love.”

The Nobel Prize, she explains, is a “unique boost that injects energy and confidence into Venezuelans, both inside and outside the country, to complete our task.”

In the missive, she recalls that Venezuelans have suffered “26 years of violence and humiliation at the hands of a tyranny obsessed with subjugating its citizens and breaking the soul of the nation,” whose machinery of oppression has been “brutal and systematic, characterized by detentions, torture, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions that constitute crimes against humanity and state terrorism.”

However, she continues, “the response of the people has been firm and unyielding.” She asserts, “Today we are very close to achieving our goal.” The Nobel Prize, she explains, is a “unique boost that injects energy and confidence into Venezuelans, both at home and abroad, to complete our task,” a “support” that “demonstrates that the global democratic community understands and shares our struggle,” and a “firm call for the transition to democracy in Venezuela to be achieved immediately.”

Also speaking from Madrid, Leopoldo López said that, equally, he considers this a recognition of “a people determined to change.”

“Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado for this well-deserved recognition of your courage and tireless fight for democracy, freedom, and human rights,” said López, who has been in exile since 2020.

The opposition leader noted that “nothing and no one will stop us until we achieve a free and democratic Venezuela.”

Vente Venezuela, the political movement of María Corina Machado, considers the Nobel Prize to be an “incentive” that “recognizes and exalts” the struggle of all democrats and of an entire people for freedom.

“It’s an indescribable feeling, it is recognition of years of work by María Corina and, obviously, a team. And, in the end, I think it’s recognition of the struggle of a people,” José Antonio Vega, coordinator of Vente Venezuela and the opposition coalition Comando con Venezuela en España, told EFE on Friday.

“In Venezuela, we are fighting against a regime that, years ago, declared war on its citizens (and the Western world), and we have had to confront it,” he explained. “And the fight is precisely that, to rescue peace, tranquility, since nearly nine million Venezuelans have had to emigrate to achieve the peace that was denied to us there.”

Beyond all the awards, her greatest reward is that of her own people, “who legitimized her at the polls,” he commented, referring to the July 2024 presidential elections. The people continue to support her, accompanying her because “they recognize in her courageous, responsible, and consistent leadership,” Vega added.

The island’s first reaction comes from the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, which expressed its “deep joy” for the “tireless struggle for a democratic transition,” which makes it an “inspiration for other nations like Cuba that fight for freedom.”

“For us, as Cubans, this award also represents a shared hope: that courage, commitment, and the civic and peaceful struggle for democracy are possible paths to achieving freedom for our people,” it added. “Today we join the Venezuelan people in this well-deserved recognition, and we reaffirm that the cause of democracy and human rights is a common cause. The cause of freedom for Venezuela is also the cause of freedom for Cuba.”

In Europe, EU leaders have expressed their congratulations to the winner. “This award honors not only your courage and conviction, but also every voice that refuses to be silenced. In Venezuela and around the world,” said EU President Ursula von der Leyen on social media. Similar comments were made by Portuguese Social Democrat Antònio Costa, President of the European Council, and by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola of Malta, who recalled that the European Parliament’s 2024 Sakharov Prize went to Machado and González Urrutia.

Leaders such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuele Macron also expressed their congratulations, as did the presidents of Panama and of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who said he hoped the award “will help your country achieve dialogue and maintain peace.”

The UN Human Rights Office emphasized that the recognition “reflects the clear aspirations of the Venezuelan people for free and fair elections, civil rights, and respect for the rule of law.”

“The High Commissioner for Human Rights (Volker Türk) has consistently upheld these values,” added Thameen Al Kheetan, a spokesperson for the office, in a press conference.

The spokesperson emphasized the UN office’s desire to “maintain a dialogue in good faith with the Government of Venezuela and all parties involved, based on mutual respect.”

“We remain firmly committed to continuing to work to defend and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans, both within the country and abroad,” he added, lamenting that in July the Venezuelan National Assembly declared High Commissioner Türk persona non grata .

The spokesperson for the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, joined the congratulations at the same press conference and noted that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has recognized Machado for “her promotion of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

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For the First Time in History, One in Five US Residents is Latino

The annual increase in 2024 was two million people of Latino origin

Latino American worker Leonardo García Venegas, in Baldwin County, Alabama (USA). / EFE/Institute of Justice

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, October 8, 2025 — For the first time in history, one in five U.S. residents is of Latino origin, for a total of 68 million people, according to a report Tuesday from the Latino GDP project of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and California Lutheran University.

The study found an annual increase of two million people of Latino origin in 2024 by analyzing updated data from the Census Bureau, which reports a total of 340 million inhabitants in the United States.

This means that the Latino community grew by 2.9% from 2023 to 2024, a rate equivalent to 5.8 times the increase in the population of other origins, the report detailed.

To explain the increase, the study cited “natural population change,” which results from subtracting deaths from births, implying a cumulative growth of 3.2 million Latinos from 2020 to 2024, compared to a decrease of 1.3 million people from other demographics over the same period.

The report also noted a record year-over-year increase of 5.5% in the Latino workforce in 2024 to 35.1 million workers.

“This is an extraordinary difference of 4.5 million people. Latinos withstood the extraordinary challenges of the (COVID-19) pandemic and were responsible for maintaining the positive natural population continue reading

shift in the United States overall,” the report noted.

The report also noted a record year-over-year increase of 5.5% of the Latino workforce to 35.1 million workers in 2024, an increase of 46.5% since 2010, a growth rate 7.2 times faster than the rest of the population.

The labor force participation rate among Latinos also reached a record high of 69%.

“Time and again, we find that hard work, self-reliance, optimism, and perseverance are characteristics that underlie the strength and resilience of Latinos in the United States,” said Matthew Fienup, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at Cal Lutheran.

These findings follow another study in April by Latino GDP, which revealed that the gross domestic product (GDP) of Latinos in the United States reached $4.1 trillion, the fifth highest in the world, ahead of India.

But this study also comes after it was revealed that the United States lost 1.4 million migrants in the first six months of the Donald Trump administration, marking the first decline in the immigrant population since the 1960s, according to a Pew Research Center report in August.

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Cuban Prosecutor’s Office is Seeking up to Nine Years in Prison for Six People for a ‘Cacerolazo’ Protest in Villa Clara

Among the accused is the writer and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea

For the past 10 months, Barrenechea has been imprisoned at La Pendiente Penitentiary in Santa Clara. / Facebook

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 24 September 2025 — The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office is seeking up to nine years in prison for six Cubans for peacefully banging pots and pans — a cacerolazo — in protest of blackouts during a trial that began Wednesday in the Villa Clara provincial court.

The defendants, including Cuban intellectual and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea, are accused of public disorder, according to the final conclusions of the Prosecutor’s Office’s brief, to which EFE has had access.

Five of the defendants have been in pretrial detention since a few days after the events in question occurred on 7 November 2024.

The trial began in the afternoon, with the defendants’ statements. Activists and family members denounced the arrest of longtime Cuban opposition figure Guillermo ‘Coco’ Fariñas as he was traveling to the courthouse to attend the hearing.

According to the prosecution’s brief , the defendants—with three cauldrons “that could not be seized”—led a cacerolazo in the town of Encrucijada (central Cuba), taking advantage of “the power outage caused by the country’s energy crisis.”

The action, with “incessant blasts” and “high decibels,” was accompanied by repeated shouts of “Turn on the power, we want power.” This, the Prosecutor’s Office argues, resulted in “disturbing the public peace” and “obstructing vehicle traffic on public roads.” continue reading

The Prosecutor’s Office is requesting six years in prison for Barrenechea.

With this description, the Prosecutor’s Office is requesting nine years in prison for two of the defendants, six for Barrenechea, five for another, and four for a final suspect. For the sixth defendant, they are seeking five years of restricted liberty.

The six defendants are all men, originally from Encrucijada, and range in age from 26 to 53. None have a criminal record.

Barrenechea was arrested a few days after the protest. His request to be released pending trial was rejected, and he was only allowed to leave prison to attend his mother’s funeral (but not to visit her, as she was already seriously ill).

On June 25, the Prosecutor’s Office submitted a request to the Provincial Court of Villa Clara for a six-year prison sentence for the journalist, a contributor to this newspaper. The document details that Barrenechea’s “crime”—they initially sought to charge him with sedition—during the peaceful demonstrations after 48 hours without electricity in Encrucijada, was shouting “Turn on the power, we want the power,” in unison with other protesters, and urging “those present not to desist from their actions.”

The document adds that the journalist “shows total disaffection for the revolutionary process and its top leader.” It also notes that he is a citizen with no criminal record, but that he “associates with people of poor moral character and social conduct, and has no recognized employment relationship.”

The document adds that the journalist “shows total disaffection for the revolutionary process and its top leader.”

For the past 10 months, Barrenechea has been imprisoned at La Pendiente Penitentiary in Santa Clara. The facility is “known for its extremely overcrowded conditions and for housing all types of prisoners,” according to the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy’s Complaints Center. His stay there has represented “a serious risk to his life,” the organization emphasized in a statement days after the journalist’s arrest.

While in prison, the journalist suffered the death of his mother, Zoila Esther Chávez, who depended on him, and was only allowed to attend her funeral for an hour and a half.

Amnesty International’s Cuba researcher, Johanna Cilano, addressed the trial on social media this Wednesday. “Protest is a right; no one should be imprisoned simply for exercising their human rights,” she asserted.

Cilano linked this case to two other recent trials in Cuba, such as the one following the Bayamo protests of March 2024, in which 15 people were sentenced to up to nine years in prison for protesting.

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A Study Identifies 108 Marine Species at Risk of Extinction in Cuba

Of these, 29 are listed as”critically endangered”

A shark diving team in Cuban waters. / Online Tours

14ymedio (via EFE), Havana, 30 August 2025 — A study by a team of 30 Cuban scientists identified 108 marine species in the country at risk of extinction, of which 29 are listed as “critical endangered,” reported the state press on Saturday.

Corals lead the species in being “critically endangered,” followed by sharks, rays, bony fish and turtles, according to the project Threatened Marine Species in Cuba, coordinated by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

The results of the initiative, published in the State newspaper Granma, warn that of the total threatened, 26 are categorized as “endangered” and 53 as “vulnerable.” As for mangroves, seagrasses, macroalgae, sponges and molluscs, although none was assessed as threatened by international criteria, 25 species were categorized under a preliminary threat criterion,” the report added.

The research involved 30 marine biologists from various Cuban institutions and was carried out between January 2021 and December 2024. The information gathered will serve as a basis for the Red Book of Marine Species in Cuba, which is expected to be continue reading

published by the end of 2026, according to the official press.

The research involved 30 marine biologists from various Cuban institutions and was carried out between January 2021 and December 2024

The loss of biodiversity is the main environmental problem in Cuba and is related to pollution, the use of unsustainable production practices, poaching, illegal trade and the introduction and spread of alien and invasive species, according to the study. Of the approximately 36,700 listed species, 35% are threatened with extinction, and it is estimated that up to 75% of mammals could disappear. Plants are also severely affected: 580 plant species are critically endangered, along with 16 amphibian species. In addition, 70% of amphibians, of which 71 species (94% endemic) identified on the island, are threatened.

This deterioration is mainly due to illegal hunting, intensive agriculture, mining, deforestation and pollution, which has eroded natural habitats and drastically reduced local fauna. However, the attention of the State also plays an essential part in a context of economic crisis, in which tourist enjoyment is prioritized over the protection of natural reserves.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘La Libertad Es Un Verbo’ (Freedom Is a Verb), an Intimate Look at the Art of Cuban Artist Edel Rodríguez, Now Launching

“I wanted this story to be told because in places like Spain and other countries in Europe they think that Cuba is an ideal country”

Rodriguez usually depicts the US president’s face completely orange and always without eyes / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Hugo Barcia, Miami, 8 August 2025 — Illustrator Edel Rodríguez, known for his covers of Time, The New York Times and Der Spiegel magazines, is used to portraying what is happening around him, but in the documentary ‘Freedom is a Verb’, which will be released digitally next Tuesday, he is the one being portrayed.

Edel Rodriguez: Freedom is a Verb

His time in Cuba, where he was born in 1971, his exile to the United States during the Mariel exodus in 1980 and his progressive path to his current fame have been compressed into just 18 minutes to create a documentary that reviews Rodríguez’s artistic career. “The documentary tells a lot about the Cuban experience, about what it is like to be a Cuban born in Cuba and to be a refugee”, the artist told EFE in a virtual interview.

“I wanted this story to be told because in places like Spain and other countries in Europe they believe that Cuba is an ideal country and that the Revolution was very good for the country,” Rodríguez added.

Freedom has always been the artist’s driving force. It was what pushed his family to leave the island when Rodríguez was a child and it is what now influences his covers, which are seen all over the world. “When I do my work I always have that in mind: people in Cuba are looking at me, people in Iran are continue reading

looking at me. I have friends in Iran who write to me in secret,” the illustrator admitted.

And while he fled Cuba in search of freedom, Rodríguez said that in recent months, after President Donald Trump came to power, he has been reacquainted with an old friend in the United States: fear. “It’s not Cuban-style fear of a dictatorship that is going to lock you up”, Rodríguez said, but it is a kind of self-censorship for fear of “pissing someone off” and that it might affect his work or the funding a gallery or media outlet receives.

It’s not a Cuban-style fear of a dictatorship that you will lock you up,” Rodriguez said, but it is a kind of self-censorship for fear of “pissing someone off”.

The artist regretted having witnessed this fear first-hand, assuring that “there have been several situations” in which galleries or media have been reluctant to publish his work, although he maintains that he knows how to deal with it. Trump has been the subject of some of Rodríguez’s most famous covers, and in the documentary he tells how he usually depicts the US president’s face completely in orange and always without eyes. “I want people to pay more attention to what he is doing. When you make eye contact with someone, you have more empathy with that person or with the illustration,” the artist is heard saying in the documentary.

‘Freedom is a Verb’ was released in November 2024, but until now it has only been available at festivals in the United States and Europe. From next Tuesday it will be available in digital format on YouTube. “The film invites you to reflect on the fragility of democracy, censorship (…) and the value of activism, of people taking to the streets”, said Creus.

Translated by GH

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Trans Women in Havana Have One of the Highest HIV Rates in Latin America, According to Cuban Government Data

The study also provides figures on the spread of diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis B in Havana, Cienfuegos and Bayamo.

Only 46.8% of transgender women in Havana and 32.2% of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the capital knew they had HIV before undergoing testing. / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 19 August 2025 — Transgender women in Havana have “one of the highest prevalence rates” of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in all of Latin America, according to a study published Monday by Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).

The “HIV, Syphilis, HBV, and HCV Seroprevalence Survey,” the first to detail HIV prevalence rates in selected Cuban cities, indicates that 54.9% of transgender women in the Cuban capital have the virus.

By comparison, the median HIV prevalence among transgender women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, the study reports, citing the United Nations.

In comparison, the median HIV prevalence among transgender women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, the study reports, citing the United Nations.

The other key population focused on in the study, men who have sex with men (MSM), has an HIV prevalence of 37.9% among residents of this group in Havana.

Of those surveyed, only 46.8% of transgender women in Havana and 32.2% of MSM in the capital knew they had HIV before undergoing the test.

The study notes that, globally, so-called key populations (trans women, MSM, sex workers, intravenous drug users, and prisoners) represent less than 5% of the population but account for 70% of new infections. continue reading

The survey estimates that there are approximately 1,443 transgender women and 29,104 MSM living in Havana alone. It also highlights that in Cuba, the main route of HIV transmission is sexual, accounting for more than 99% of reported cases.

The 234-page study also provides figures on the prevalence of diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis B in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Bayamo, the three cities where the survey was conducted; these figures present much lower rates than that of HIV.

The research was conducted between December 2022 and April 2023 and was supported technically and financially by the United Nations Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

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Hundreds of Migrants, Mostly Cubans, Leave for the North but No Longer Seek To Go to the US

Trump’s veto on travel from 19 countries, including Cuba, “puts at risk” the generation of taxes, warns a report.

Migrants report that work permits are available from Canada, Germany, Australia and Switzerland. / Archive / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Tapachula/Washington, August 7, 2025 — Hundreds of migrants, mostly Cubans, set off on Wednesday in a new caravan from the southern border of Mexico, looking to reach the north of the country. There they hope to regularize their documents to be able to travel to Canada or other countries that offer work, in the face of the tightening of US immigration measures.

“We want to get to Monterrey because the embassies of Canada and Germany are giving us visas to work and to populate their cities,” Maydali Barajo, a Cuban woman who travels with her grandson, told EFE.

The woman explained that they had the illusion of making their dreams come true in Mexico, but the country “denied it.” Now, she says, they want to look for other horizons “where we can realize ourselves as human beings and be the honest people that we are. And fight and help those we left behind.”

La Cubana points out that she went to Mexico because she hoped that the government would welcome them and give them work opportunities after Donald Trump “closed the dream to the whole world” of entering the US. But both the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR) and the migration authorities “refused everything.” continue reading

‘La Cubana’ points out that she went to Mexico because she hoped that the government would welcome them and give them work opportunities.

In the caravan there are women and men, old people and children, who are undertaking this journey on federal highway 200 despite the risks and dangers.

This was after their stay in Tapachula, Chiapas, where they had been waiting several months for the resolution of an unsuccessful asylum application.

Prior to their departure, Father Heyman Vázquez Medina, pastor of San Andrés Apóstol in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, prayed with the migrants and asked them to remain united on their way towards their next destination.

The priest said that the migrants want to reach a city so they can work, have a better quality of life and live with dignity, but he regretted that the authorities intimidated them to avoid mobilizations.

“It’s a way of telling them: ’We’re going to hold you,’ of scaring and intimidating them so that they don’t have the courage to leave. The migrants are determined; it’s good, positive, that they come out, that the government and the world realize what is happening in Chiapas,” he said.

Juan Ríos, a Nicaraguan migrant, spokesman and coordinator of the group, told EFE that they organized themselves voluntarily because they do not want to stay in Tapachula. Although some have found employment, they face 12-hour working days for a salary of only 200 pesos per day (about $10.75), while conditions in the shelters are precarious.

“We have no destination in the United States. Our destination is to get to Monterrey, because most want to travel to Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Australia, which are giving work visas,” he said.

He also argued that they are not criminals, but working people. ” We are university students; here there are doctors and nurses who are suffering under a regime, for example in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.”

The Trump administration eliminated a number of immigration programs and benefits created by his predecessor, Joe Biden, including the Humanitarian Parole Program for Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti, and the CBP One application, which allowed people to request an appointment to legally cross the border.

As a result, more than half a million people have been left in legal limbo, while the courts decide on the legality of the programs, or directly on an irregular migration situation.

More than half a million people have been left in legal limbo, while the courts decide on the legality of programs, or directly on an irregular migration situation.

Trump is seeking to accelerate deportations and detentions to fulfill his campaign promise to expel the more than 11 million undocumented migrants living in the country.

Another part of his migration plan, the ban on travel to the US from 19 countries -among which is Cuba- puts “at risk” and impacts the generation of $715 million in taxes and $2.5 billion in purchasing power, according to a report by the American Immigration Council published this Wednesday.

“Those affected by this travel ban are students, workers and family members who pay taxes, support local economies and hold jobs in industries with massive shortages,” the report says.

According to the American Immigration Council, Trump’s measure puts the generation of 2.5 billion dollars at risk, because “thousands of workers cannot enter the country or move freely in the territory.” The analysis says that during 2022, the nearly 300,000 people representing the 19 banned countries generated $3.2 million in labor income and $715 million in taxes.

The human and social impacts also include family division, as some 2.4 million people in sanctioned countries are naturalized, but now many of their relatives will not be able to visit them.

Finally, the US Immigration Council considers that the veto is an exclusionary measure towards Muslim and African groups and questions the reasons Trump gave as justification for implementing the migration veto, recalling that at least 13 of the affected countries have very low rates of migration violations.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Boluarte Says She Avoided ‘A Failed Country Like Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia’

“Out of my deep love for our country, I resigned from a political project that led to unhealthy polarization.”

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte reviews troops upon her arrival at Congress in Lima on Monday. / EFE/Paolo Aguilar

EFE/14ymedio. Lima, 28 July 2025 — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte asserted this Monday, during her final address to the nation, that upon coming to power from the vice presidency after the impeachment of former President Pedro Castillo, she prevented Peru from becoming “a failed country like Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia” by renouncing “a political project that was leading to destruction.”

In her speech before the full Congress, interrupted several times by cries of “murderer, murderer” and banners from leftist groups demanding Castillo’s freedom, Boluarte asserted that “it was not this president who sought to disrupt the constitutional order to place Peru on the path of destruction and failure.”

The head of state was referring to Castillo’s failed coup attempt on December 7, 2022, which led to his removal from office and imprisonment. Boluarte, who was his vice president, took office amid a wave of protests whose repression left more than 50 dead. continue reading

“”What would have happened if I hadn’t taken office and acted with full respect for democratic order and institutions?”

Boluarte, who was elected in 2021 as Castillo’s vice president for the Marxist Peru Libre party, decided to remain in office with the support of a group of conservative forces, mostly right-wing, that control Congress.

“Out of my deep love for our country, I resigned from continuing a political project that led to unhealthy polarization, fratricidal confrontation, and the destruction of Peru,” the president said.

“Many criticize me for having preferred the constitutional duty to preserve democracy, freedom, property, respect for human rights, and democratic institutions,” Boluarte stated, amid frequent interruptions from leftist parliamentarians who shouted “murderer, murderer” at her while demanding Castillo’s release.

“What would have happened if I hadn’t taken office and acted with full respect for the democratic order and institutions? The country would be mired in a power vacuum, with serious consequences, elections held amid violence and an authoritarian and improvised government to draft a new Constitution, a pretext for those who are traitors to the country,” she added.

The leader considered that during her term she has been “the target of constant criticism and motions for impeachment not motivated by objective facts.”]]

The president insisted that those instigating the protests against her “wanted to turn Peru into a failed country, that is, into an international pariah.”

“However, between preferring the incomprehension of some and my mandate to the country, I chose to fulfill my duty to recover the country,” she reiterated. Boluarte added that “in Peru, there will never be ration cards with which the State tells citizens what and how much they should eat.” “We achieved this by staying united,” she added.

The leader considered that during her term she has been “the target of constant criticism and motions for impeachment motivated not by objective facts, but by other types of interests.”

“The narrative that has been constructed has sought to turn the president into a scapegoat. (…) History will judge these unhealthy intentions that do not weaken us in our quest to save the country. We will remain steadfast,” she commented.

She noted that her decision to remain in power in the face of criticism meant facing “the powers that be and countless investigations and prosecutions.”

“They thought that by extending this harassment of officials in my government and members of my family, they would weaken my commitment to all Peruvians, but I am a president firm in the face of adversity and I remain standing in service to the Peruvian people, with my unwavering commitment,” she concluded.

The president enters her final year in office as the most unpopular president in Latin America, with an approval rating that, according to polls, hovers between 2% and 3%.

Boluarte faces several open investigations by the Attorney General’s Office for deaths during protests, for receiving luxury gifts such as Rolex watches, for undergoing a series of surgeries without publicly announcing that she would be temporarily incapacitated, for alleged prohibited financing of political organizations, and for allegedly covering up for fugitive Vladimir Cerrón, leader of Perú Libre.

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The Venezuelan Prison Observatory Documents the Deaths of 22 Political Prisoners

“Authorities wait until the last minute to treat the detainee, regardless of their medical condition, and the outcome is loss of human life.”

A man with his sign during a protest by relatives and friends of those considered political prisoners in Venezuela, in front of the Mexican embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. “Political prisoners suffer cruel and inhuman treatment” / EFE/Miguel Gutiérrez

EFE (via 14ymedio), Caracas, 22 July 2025 — The NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) reported Monday that 22 political prisoners have died in state custody since 2015, and warned that authorities are waiting until the “last minute” to treat detainees who report health problems.

“Unfortunately, in our prisons, authorities wait until the last minute to treat detainees, regardless of their clinical condition, and the outcome is loss of human life,” the NGO noted in its most recent report, “Without Separation or Autonomy of Powers: Prisons and Cells as a Tool of Torture.”

It also said that another practice is “misdiagnoses in prison, and illnesses that, if treated early, would have a good prognosis, but end in death.”

Of the 22 political prisoners, four were arrested following protests against the official results of the presidential elections held on July 28 of last year.

Of the 22 political prisoners, four were arrested following protests against the official results of the presidential elections held on July 28 of last year. The electoral body declared President Nicolás Maduro’s victory, a result questioned by the majority opposition and part of the international community.

The report also said that the urns of these detainees were “sealed and guarded by the same officials until they were buried.”

“Afterwards, the relatives were also pressured to stop making further statements to the media. We infer, the intention was to stop them from continuing to report the arbitrary acts,” it added.

Given this situation, the OVP urged the State to ensure that prisoners’ food is sufficient, balanced, and adequate, as well as guarantee effective access to healthcare, “through the timely provision of medical care, adequate medication supplies, and immediate transfer in cases of emergency.”

The organization also calls for an “independent, timely, and impartial” investigation into deaths that occurred in state custody, “guaranteeing access to truth, justice, and reparation for victims and their families, as well as the implementation of effective guarantees of non-repetition.”

The Maduro government says there are no political prisoners in the country and that those identified as such are incarcerated for “committing terrible punishable acts,” a claim denied by activists, NGOs, and opposition political parties.

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Mexico and Cuba Seal an Alliance To Protect and Study Their Biosphere Reserves

Officials say that the mountains of Manantlán and Rosario “are recognized as sisters.”

They will study the connectivity between natural spaces and the effects of climate change. / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Mexico City, July 16, 2025 — Mexico and Cuba signed a collaboration agreement on Wednesday to conserve, protect and study the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve in Cuba, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) reported.

By signing at the Orquideario de Soroa Botanical Garden in Cuba, Lelieth Feyobe Sandoval, director of the Cuban reserve, and Carlos Alberto Gallegos Solórzano, head of the Mexican Sierra, agreed to “the rebirth of a biocultural family, where the mountains of Cuba and Mexico are recognized as sisters,” according to a statement describing the relationship.

They will study the Biosphere Reserve Youth Network

The Partnership and Action Plan Agreement will seek to cooperate in areas of agro-biodiversity and agricultural production systems; biological corridors and connectivity between natural spaces; studies on climate change impacts; and issues of ecosystem management and services, in addition to working on the Biosphere Reserve Youth Network. continue reading

This twinning occurs three decades after the first agreement, symbolizing “the continuity of a shared history and the renewal of a joint commitment to biodiversity, communities, and ancestral and scientific knowledge,” presented by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico.

The setting of the signing also served to raise the importance of mountain areas for the resilience of coastal basins, through the panel ’Ecological research in both Protected Natural Areas (ANP)’.

They raised the importance of mountain areas for coastal basin resilience.

At the Sierra del Rosario Ecological Station, institutional presentation sessions, working tables, collaborative mapping and cooperation agreements were held to establish a common vision of the challenges and opportunities of the spaces.

The Sierra de Manantlán is a biosphere reserve located between Jalisco and Colima (in the west of the country), known for its biodiversity and its wild corn.

For its part, the Sierra del Rosario was the country’s first biosphere reserve, characterized by its tropical ecosystems.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Washington Sanctions Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel for the First Time, on the Fourth Anniversary of the ’11J’ Protests

The measures also affect the Ministers of the Interior and the Armed Forces and restrict the entry into the US of their relatives.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez says that Washington “does not have the capacity to bend the will of the people or its leaders.”

The Cuban president, appointed by Raúl Castro, unleashed a brutal repression after saying “the order of combat has been given”/ Screen capture

EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana, 11 July 2025 — The United States government imposed sanctions on Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel this Friday for his direct responsibility in “serious human rights violations” after ordering the repression of the 11 July 2021 Island-wide social outburst (’11J’). The measure, announced by the State Department, marks the first time that the Cuban president – hand-picked by Raúl Castro and head of the Communist Party – is subject to personal sanctions from Washington for having unleashed a brutal repression after announcing, four years ago on national television, that “the order of combat has been given.”

The restrictions also affect the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera, and the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas. All of them, including their immediate family members, are prohibited from entering the United States.

The sanctions are imposed under a section of the State Department Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2025

“The United States will never forget the tenacity of the Cuban people four years ago in demanding freedom and a future free from tyranny,” a senior State Department official told the Miami Herald. According to the official statement, sanctions are imposed under a section of the State Department’s Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2025 that denies entry to foreign officials involved in significant corruption or human rights violations.

Díaz-Canel, who had so far avoided personal sanctions despite repeated condemnations of the Cuban regime for repression and censorship, thus becomes the highest official sanctioned by the US since the 11J protests. continue reading

Until this Friday, the measures had been addressed to police, military leaders, and prosecutors, but not to the president.

For its part, the regime dismissed the sanctions and said that Washington “has no capacity to crush” the Cuban people and their leaders. “The US is capable of imposing migratory sanctions against revolutionary leaders and maintaining a prolonged and ruthless economic war against Cuba,” denounced the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, on the social network X.

The action coincides with a new wave of repression on the eve of the anniversary of the protests. In municipalities such as San Antonio de los Baños -where the uprising began in 2021- several demonstrators released from prison have been harassed, threatened and subjected to police surveillance. Arrests and strong street surveillance are also reported in many provinces.

The US visa restrictions announced this Friday also affect judicial and prison officials who are “responsible for or accomplices of unjust detention and torture” of the demonstrators. For confidentiality, their names were not disclosed.

Among those now included are luxury hotels recently opened in Havana, such as the controversial Torre K

As part of the new sanctions package, the State Department also added 11 Cuban hotels to its Prohibited Accommodation List, which includes facilities controlled by the Gaesa military conglomerate. Among those now included are luxury hotels recently opened in Havana, such as the controversial Torre K [Tower K], managed by the Spanish Iberostar, whose construction was widely criticized for coinciding with the food and health crisis of the country.

Since the outbreak of the 11J protests, more than 1,400 people have been arrested according to human rights organizations, and 421 are still serving long sentences, while hundreds more live under constant harassment. The international community has repeatedly denounced the use of fabricated charges, summary trials and inhuman conditions in Cuban prisons.

“The Cuban regime must know that the cost of repression is not forgotten and does not disappear,” said the US official. “These sanctions are a clear message: those who commit abuses will pay a price.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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While Protecting Criminals, Havana Updates Its List of ‘Terrorists’, Which Includes ‘Influencers’

In total, the government identifies 62 individuals and 20 organizations, mostly based in the US.

Víctor Álvarez presented the updated list to the international press / Screen capture

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 10 July 2025 — This Wednesday, the government of Cuba gave the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres, an updated list of people whom it considers terrorists, which includes activists, historical leaders in exile and foreign-based influencers. The Cuban regime asks the countries with which it has relations to cooperate in their arrest and extradition.

At a press conference with foreign media, the authorities stated that a version already existed, published in the Official Gazette in December 2023. Four names of people who died last year have now been deleted, and some new ones have been added.

In total, the Government identifies 62 individuals and 20 organizations, mostly based in the United States, as terrorists. Among the new entities is the Council for the Anti-Communist War of the Cuban opponent Manuel Milanés. The list repeats influencers and YouTubers like Álex Otaola, Paparazzi Cubano, Ultrack and Eliécer Avila.

The document also includes a wide range of names of people investigated for the explosions in hotels and resorts in Cuba in the nineties, such as Pedro Ramón Crispín Rodríguez and José Francisco Hernández Calvo, and historical political leaders from the Miami exile community, such as Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance. continue reading

Among the new names are Armando Labrador and Seriocha Humberto, of the organization Cuba Primero, as well as Rolando Miguel Pérez Ruiz and Leordan Cruz Góme

Among the new names are Armando Labrador and Seriocha Humberto, of the organization Cuba Primero; Rolando Miguel Pérez Ruiz and Leordan Cruz Gómez, accused of “introducing weapons, ammunition and equipment along the north coast of Matanzas”; and Hamlet Pedraza Rivas, related to acts of sabotage in Villa Clara.

The deputy chief of the Specialized Body of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, Víctor Álvarez, told the press that all the names have open trials or are in expert stages within the country.

Although he did not mention them directly, Alvarez charged the influencers on the list, saying that they carry out acts of “cyberterrorism” with an “excessive use of social networks to incite violence” and generate “opinion matrices” contrary to the Government. Similarly, several of them were singled out for allegedly financing violent activities in the country.

Also, Josefina Vidal, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, accused the US of “inaction” for not collaborating with Cuba in the fight against terrorism.

“The US government, in particular the Secretary of State [Cuban-American Marco Rubio] has put these mechanisms in a standstill, which showed in the past that, despite differences, it is possible to cooperate against a scourge of global scope,” she stated.

Vidal also accused the US of having a “cynical” attitude and “paradoxically” designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism (…) when any astute and impartial observer can conclude which government is actually encouraging, supports and tolerates terrorism, and which country is confronting it and fighting it at the same time that it has been a victim of this scourge for over 60 years.”

Washington bases its decision on Havana’s refusal to extradite members of the ELN who were in Cuba negotiating peace when the organization attacked the Bogota Cadet School

The US has kept Cuba at different times on the list of states that sponsor terrorism and says that the Island doesn’t cooperate against terrorism. The list ,which has more consequences, has been in effect since 2017 to the present. During the last week of the Biden administration, there was an agreement between Washington and Havana, mediated by the Vatican and never recognized by the parties, in which the Regime committed to releasing more than 500 prisoners. More than half of the beneficiaries were ordinary prisoners, and three of the political prisoners who left prison have been returned: Donaida Pérez, José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro.

Washington bases its decision on Havana’s refusal to extradite members of the ELN who were in Cuba negotiating peace when the organization attacked the Bogotá Cadet School, killing 23 people. Also on the Island are William “Guillermo” Morales, a Puerto Rican independence activist who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1979 for making bombs-one of them killed four people at a tavern in New York in 1975- and Joanne Chesimard, known as Assata Shakur, sentenced for the murder of a New Jersey state policeman in 1973, who also found refuge in Castro’s Cuba and for whom Washington offers up to $2 million for information leading to her capture.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Two Cubans Lose Their Appeal in the US To Avoid Being Sent to South Sudan

In total, eight migrants have been detained at a US military base in Djibouti since late May awaiting judicial decision.

The Supreme Court has twice ruled that the Trump administration can deport migrants to third countries / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Washington, 5 July 2025 — The eight migrants, including two Cubans and a Mexican, who remain held by the US in Djibouti, have lost their last appeal against the US government’s controversial attempt to deport them to South Sudan. Late on Friday, federal judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts denied the appeal, which opens the door for all of them to be sent to the African country, where the human rights situation is worrying, according to various organizations, and which the US itself recommends not to visit due to the escalation of the local armed conflict.

All eight have been detained at a US military base in Djibouti since the end of May, when Murphy determined that the Trump administration violated an order preventing him from deporting these immigrants to a country where they can be tortured without giving them the opportunity for a proper legal defense.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has been pushing for express expulsions

The US Supreme Court has twice ruled that the Trump administration can deport migrants to third countries, most recently last Thursday. The ruling then overturned a motion issued by Judge Murphy, and that same night the appeal was filed, which the magistrate himself has ultimately denied. continue reading

Since his return to the White House in January, Donald Trump has been pushing for express expulsions as part of his campaign for large-scale deportations, one of his campaign promises. This has led to various entities accusing their government of violating basic rights such as due process.

Of the eight deportees, only one is from South Sudan and the rest are from Cuba, Mexico, Laos, Burma and Vietnam.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban Opponents Proudly Celebrate Rosa María Payá’s Election to the IACHR

The Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba highlights the “tireless career” of Oswaldo Payá’s daughter as a defender of “human rights, freedom of expression, and human dignity.”

Cuban Rosa María Payá celebrates after being elected as a new member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Saint John’s (Antigua and Barbuda) / EFE/Bienvenido Velasco

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 30 June 2025 — The opposition platform The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) celebrated this Monday with “pride” in the election of Cuban Rosa María Payá as a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

In a statement, the group highlighted Payá’s “tireless career” as a defender of “human rights, freedom of expression, and human dignity.”

“The election of Rosa María Payá reaffirms the independence, credibility, and courage of the IACHR to safeguard fundamental freedoms and promote democratic renewal in the hemisphere,” the opposition group stated.

Payá, nominated by the United States, was elected on Friday as a new member of the IACHR.

Her election occurred in a vote held at the 55th OAS General Assembly in Antigua and Barbuda to select three of the seven IACHR commissioners.

“The election of Rosa María Payá reaffirms the independence, credibility, and courage of the IACHR in safeguarding fundamental freedoms.”

Rosa María Payá, founder of the organization Cuba Decide and daughter of the opposition figure Oswaldo Payá — whose death in 2021 the Commission formally attributed to the Cuban State — was the first person elected, with 20 votes.

The Donald Trump administration had strongly emphasized the need to appoint Payá to the Commission due to his harsh stance toward Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

For its part, the island’s regime called the new member of the IACHR a “mercenary” and claimed that she was elected under “pressure and blackmail” from the United States.

“Multiple pressures and threats, including blackmail claiming the United States would cut budgets for cooperation programs in the hemisphere, narrowly led to the election of notorious mercenary Rosa María Payá Acevedo,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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