Juan Diego Rodríguez – Translating Cuba

Havana: An Oasis of Cleanliness in Línea, Mountains of Garbage in Neighboring Streets

The El Rampeño project is yielding results on a very small scale in waste collection with a small fleet of tricycles.

“I don’t know if this project will be sustainable in the long term or if the vehicles will hold up, but for now it seems to be working,” said a local resident. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 15, 2026 [updated]/ One hundred pesos and a street mark the boundary between living with a garbage dump in front of you and having clean sidewalks. The El Rampeño Local Development Project has just completed its 15th day, and its success can be considered resounding. A tour of the areas included in the garbage collection service provided by the initiative is enough to confirm that hygiene is not utopian.

So far, this involves four very small zones in the Rampa neighborhood of Plaza de la Revolución. 14ymedio walked through the two largest zones this Wednesday and saw only a single bag, apparently left out outside of the scheduled collection times—there are two collections, at 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.—after the electric tricycle used for waste collection had already passed. A few empty cans, a cigarette pack… the small items discarded by people after consuming drugs were the only blemishes on this otherwise clean oasis.

’14ymedio’ walked along the two largest streets this Wednesday and saw only one isolated bag, apparently left by someone outside of the designated hours. / 14ymedio

“I don’t know if this project will be sustainable in the long term or if the vehicles will hold up, but for now it seems to be working and there aren’t any major garbage problems,” said a local resident.

It’s enough to turn the corner to see the striking contrast. At the intersection of 17th and L, where El Rampeño is no longer operating, the garbage dump is the telltale sign. The bins are overflowing and the piles of waste, along with the stench, have returned to the area, once one of the most well-maintained in the capital. In the more distant neighborhoods, the situation is repeated even at the doors of health institutions, such as the mountain of waste accumulating continue reading

in front of the 14 de Junio polyclinic on Acierto Street in Luyanó.

The El Rampeño initiative was announced on June 30th, one day before the service began. Pedro Garcés, the local council delegate and tireless activist, presented the project to the official press. The project is funded through state contributions for the electric tricycles, municipal contributions (including a 1% local tax), and private contributions. The price is 100 pesos per household, except for those whose residents are classified as vulnerable.

At the intersection of 17th and L streets, where El Rampeño is no longer operating, the landfill is the sign. / 14ymedio

The main fees, the amount of which is unknown, will come from state-owned and private companies in the area, and a special rate is charged for nighttime collection. In addition, El Rampeño will also profit from the sale of recyclable materials.

A mountain of garbage is piling up in front of the 14 de Junio polyclinic, on Acierto Street, in Luyanó. / 14ymedio

These funds are being used to hire the staff responsible for garbage collection. The project stated that it had planned for an approximate salary of 15,000 pesos, although this would depend on the specific role. In a report by 14ymedio last December, street sweepers in the capital told this newspaper that their salary was around $10, less than half of what is offered for this service.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on the service this week and interviewed one of its workers, Lile Esperanza Pérez, who applied for the job and says she is more than satisfied. “It’s the best thing we can do,” she says, raising her eyes to the sky as she hopes the service will be extended to the entire city and country so that “beautiful Havana” can be seen again.

In the short video, the workers claim that the population is disciplined and increasingly punctual in appearing with their bags when they see the tricycle approaching. What the Chinese report doesn’t show is what lies on the other side of the street in a Cuba where the differences are becoming increasingly apparent.

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PedroCarr Private Company Sells Viazul Tickets in Euros From Abroad

While finding any transportation in pesos has become an ordeal, the private company offers routes across the Island to those who can pay in foreign currency.

A brand-new PedroCarr bus stands out in a city battered by the transportation crisis. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez / Alejandro de Cañas, July 2, 2026 – A large PedroCarr bus, with the company’s logo prominently displayed on its side, left passersby in Central Havana astonished this Thursday. In the midst of Cuba’s transportation crisis, seeing luggage being loaded and passengers about to board is nothing short of a miracle.

PedroCarr, a private small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), has just opened a much easier option for those who can pay from abroad. On Wednesday, the company launched a digital platform to book interprovincial trips, hotel transfers, and transportation from Cuban airports, with fares listed in euros.

“Travel through Cuba with us,” the private company announces in a social media campaign. Through its new website, PedroCarr promises “fast and secure” reservations, bus rentals for excursions and events, as well as connections between the Island’s main cities and tourist destinations.

The company says its regular services in Cuban pesos will continue operating “under the same conditions and accessibility as always.” However, the launch is clearly aimed at Cubans living abroad who pay for their relatives’ travel and foreign tourists—two groups with access to hard currency in a country where the average state salary barely covers a fraction of the cost of any trip sold in euros. continue reading

PedroCarr also offers a downloadable 28-page fare schedule explicitly labeled “Viazul Service Fares”

The most striking aspect is not only the announcement itself but also the documents available on the website. PedroCarr allows users to download a 28-page fare schedule explicitly titled “Viazul Service Fares,” listing routes from airports, provincial capitals, hotels, and tourist destinations across the country.

From Terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport, for example, a transfer to Old Havana costs 10 euros. A trip to Las Tunas is listed at 44 euros, Holguín at 50 euros, Santiago de Cuba at 60 euros, and Baracoa at 74 euros. The fares include two suitcases and vary for children, round trips, and multi-destination itineraries.

The document is virtually identical to the one used by Viazul, the service operated by the state-owned National Bus Company, traditionally aimed at tourists and passengers paying in foreign currency. PedroCarr does not explain in its announcement whether it acts as an intermediary, a ticketing agency, or a transportation contractor for Viazul, nor does it specify what portion of the fare remains with the private company.

The platform presents itself as a bus transportation management and reservation system, but the network of routes it offers covers virtually the entire country, from Viñales to Baracoa, as well as airports, island resorts, and hotel complexes.

PedroCarr is not a newly created company. Cuba’s Ministry of Economy and Planning included it in its official registry of new economic actors as a private SME based in the municipality of Las Tunas, dedicated to ground passenger transportation. It was authorized in 2022 during the first major wave of small and medium-sized enterprises approved by the Government.

In February of this year, the company’s own fleet consisted of ten Yutong buses and seven Foton minibuses, in addition to another 17 leased vehicles.

Behind the business is Pedro Yosvany Carbonell Fernández, known as El Chino. The official Las Tunas newspaper 26 identified him in 2022 as the manager of what was then called Pedrocar y Socio, noting that the project began on May 8 of that year. Its original goal was to transport passengers between Las Tunas and Havana.

A Prensa Latina report published in February of this year refers to him as president of PedroCarr and states that the company operated the Havana–Puerto Padre and Havana–Las Tunas routes with fares in Cuban pesos. To acquire its buses, the private company obtained financing through an unidentified Spanish institution, arranged via Consultoría Internacional. PedroCarr also worked with foreign suppliers, including China’s Yutong Bus and Mexico’s Sunshine Best.

At that time, the company’s own fleet consisted of ten Yutong buses and seven Foton minibuses. Those 17 vehicles were supplemented by another 17 leased from the state-owned National Bus Company, giving PedroCarr a total of 34 vehicles under its management. The launch of a platform offering connections throughout the Island now points to a further expansion of its operations.

The service exists, the bus and fuel appear without problems, and reservations can be made without long lines… but in euros.

The private company’s growth has therefore taken place hand in hand with public institutions. PedroCarr has marketed transportation capacity through state bus terminals and has operated in a sector where fuel shortages, lack of spare parts, and vehicle scarcity have left numerous state-run routes paralyzed.

For a Cuban living on the Island, paying 44 euros for a trip from Havana Airport to Las Tunas amounts to tens of thousands of pesos on the informal market. For a relative paying from Miami or Madrid, however, it may be a quick solution when state-run tickets are impossible to obtain.

That contrast summarizes the direction much of the Cuban economy has taken. The service exists, the buses and fuel are readily available, and reservations can be made without long lines, but only if someone, usually from abroad, has euros.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Operation Garbage Begins in El Vedado With Only Five of the Planned 30 Tricycles

There will be inspectors to apply “severe measures” against those who put out garbage bags outside the scheduled hours.

A tricycle from the company Vedca collects waste in El Vedado. / 14ymedio

Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 1, 2026 — It was just a few minutes past 7 a.m. when, on 11th Street in Havana’s El Vedado neighborhood, a lone garbage bag waited beneath a palm tree for the brand-new El Rampeño service. The previous hours had been rich in information. The delegate of the Rampa People’s Council, the hyperactive Pedro Garcés, had circulated a large amount of information on social media about the waste collection zones announced Tuesday in the state press.

“Tomorrow, July 1, we begin the new solid waste collection project in these locations,” read a message listing the streets involved. The text specified that collection would be carried out door to door and stated that once the garbage had been picked up, it was “strictly prohibited” to dispose of any more waste. It also warned that, because of the new home collection service, the garbage containers would be removed the previous day.

A worker collecting garbage on the first day of the program / 14ymedio

This morning the containers were still in place, overflowing with waste, as the project’s first day got underway. Even if somewhat chaotic, it seemed better than nothing. “Don’t carry the sack all the way over there, just take the bags and bring them to the tricycle,” advised the driver of the electric vehicle from the Chinese-Cuban company Vedca, who effectively kicked off the operation. His coworker had intended to take the sack door to door, apparently unaware that its weight would increase minute by minute.

Gradually, more and more garbage bags appeared along the streets, delighting the occasional scavenger searching through them for anything salvageable. Participation in this first collection effort was modest, although given the size of the tricycle, that was probably for the best.

The first solitary garbage bag seen during a route through El Vedado. / 14ymedio

“We still don’t know where it’s headed. We’ve just started and we’re waiting for the delegate to tell us something,” the garbage collector—wearing red pants, a red cap, and gloves—told a local resident. The improvisation was obvious, since even the workers themselves did not know exactly where to go. Still, somewhat encouraged, residents wished the team success with the project.

Tuesday’s message called on “the men and women of Rampa living in the mentioned areas to maintain discipline and vigilance. Let us show from this small piece of land that it is possible to have a healthy environment. The cleanliness of my block, my greatest pride!” it concluded. continue reading

Yet at 19th and O Streets, one of the collection zones, garbage was visible both inside and outside the containers, making it clear that the initiative will need, at the very least, some time to take hold.

The containers that were supposed to have been removed Tuesday were still there at 7 a.m. / 14ymedio

The local development project El Rampeño is expected to receive 30 electric vehicles provided by the government, although only five are currently available. The charging station that will support the tricycles, other private transportation, and residents’ electrical devices is still under construction, financed in part by revenue from the municipal 1% tax on state and private enterprises. In addition, residents will be required to contribute 100 pesos per household, payable either in cash or through a QR code payment system.

According to Garcés, the main funding will not come from residents but from organizations and businesses of all kinds. “If your state company or private business is located in this area, you may also call 56275023 for the mandatory renewal of your contract if you already have one, or for a new contract if you have not previously signed one. Next week, between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the People’s Council headquarters (17th and K Streets), you may complete the contracting or renewal process,” stated the Gente de Barrio channel, which also clarified an issue that had remained unresolved the previous day.

At 17th and N Streets, at 9 a.m., the containers remained full of garbage even though they should have been removed the day before. / 14ymedio

Inspectors will be present “on a permanent basis” to apply “severe measures against violators,” meaning those who put out garbage outside the designated collection times. It is also known that “there may even be criminal proceedings for the offenses of disobedience or spreading epidemics.” However, no one appears responsible for the containers that should not have been there today and that continue to overflow with garbage, as they do every day.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Bank Robbed in Havana Hours Before Pension Payments Were to Be Distributed

On the same street and during the same night, solar panels were stolen from a nursing home.

Metropolitan Bank branch on Dolores and 18th Street, in Lawton, Havana, this Tuesday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, June 16, 2026 — The Metropolitan Bank branch located at Dolores and 18th Street in Lawton, Havana, was robbed Monday night during a blackout, as confirmed by 14ymedio at the scene. “They broke the ATM and got in through there,” a resident living near the branch told the newspaper, although there was no visible sign today that the bank had been burglarized.

Several retirees were surprised by the news on Tuesday when they found the branch closed. Tuesday was the day they were scheduled to collect their pensions. For that reason, it is plausible that the bank had more cash on hand than usual. Currently in Havana, individuals cannot withdraw more than 1,000 pesos at a time, and only in small denominations. “I imagine they must have brought a truckload of 20-peso bills,” one customer remarked with bitter irony.

Several retirees were surprised by the news on Tuesday when they found the branch closed. / 14ymedio

The Ministry of the Interior immediately launched an operation in response, but authorities have provided no information about the incident.

On the same street, Dolores, and during the same blackout, thieves also stole the solar panels from a nursing home located at the corner of 11th Street.

These incidents add to the growing list of crimes committed under the cover of blackouts, which leave streets and homes in complete darkness. “After 8:00 at night it’s impossible to go out, not only because of the darkness, but because people are being robbed and thieves are even breaking into continue reading

apartment buildings while the owners are still inside,” a resident of the Reparto de los Médicos neighborhood in San José de las Lajas told this newspaper two months ago.

Nursing home at Dolores and 11th Street in Lawton, Havana, robbed during the blackout. / 14ymedio

Power outages are approaching 48 hours in some areas, exhausting the population’s patience and triggering numerous protests, often involving residents banging pots and pans. Also on Tuesday, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), posted on social media that he was in La Güinera, one of Havana’s neighborhoods where the repression of the July 11 and 12, 2021 demonstrations was particularly severe. There, according to the former spy, “there are districts affected by a breakdown that has prolonged the blackout for nearly 40 hours, causing frustration among residents.”

The daily report issued by Cuba’s Electric Union itself acknowledges that service was disrupted for more than 24 hours yesterday, as the power deficit persisted “throughout the early morning hours.” With the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant showing no signs of a quick recovery, nine thermoelectric generating units remain offline, along with more than 100 distributed-generation plants that are out of service due to fuel shortages.

During Tuesday evening’s peak demand period, Cuba is expected to be short by 2,000 megawatts (MW) out of a maximum demand of 3,000 MW, two-thirds of the electricity needed. Only 1,030 MW of generating capacity will be available.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Chilean Mural in Havana Cannot Hide the Words ‘Down With the Dictatorship’

This Wednesday, the trace of one of the “subversive” posters was still visible, despite the persistent black paint.

Mural by Sebastián E. in José Raúl Capablanca Park, in the Playa municipality of Havana. “What side of the blade are you on?” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, June 11, 2026 / The Chilean “urban artist”Sebastián E., known professionally as Rata Virus, has attracted significant media attention, including from some international outlets, for the mural he created in José Raúl Capablanca Park in Havana’s Playa municipality. Covering a large wall with a black background, the mural depicts a male figure, with only half of his face and his chest visible, wielding a machete, beneath the caption: “Which side of the edge are you on?”

As the artist himself explained to EFE, he traveled to Cuba following a promise to the late Uruguayan president José Mujica, and with his work he seeks to reflect how “the people always lose” in scenarios of political confrontation. “Not everything can be seen in black and white,” he told the Spanish news agency, somewhat cryptically.

This Wednesday, the “down with the dictatorship” slogan was still visible, despite the persistent black paint. / 14ymedio

“Generally, the Cuban people are on the edge of the machete, they’re in the middle, and the powerful are on the handle of the machete, they’re the ones who control the blade.” He added: “The work is interesting because it makes you reflect on the fact that whichever side you choose will always end up cutting you.”

What wasn’t mentioned in those media interviews is the subversive slogans written on top of the mural, which were conveniently covered up by the authorities. This Wednesday, still visible in the outline of one of them was the “down” of “down with the dictatorship,” despite the persistent black paint.

Salvador E. during his interview with the EFE news agency in Havana. / EFE/Screenshot

“In Cuba, the fracture is mainly seen in a senstion of political tension that translates into fear, into uncertainty,” Sebastián E. explained in his conversation with EFE, in front of a Basque flag and Nietzsche’s words in German: “Gott ist tot” (“God is dead”).

In the same space, he added, unknowingly putting the finishing touch on the hidden message: “People don’t know what’s going to happen, especially when you add a little something extra that is censorship.”

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Cuba’s Central Bank’s Decision Is Brought Forward to Thursday: Visa and Mastercard Can No Longer Be Used in Cuba

Customers who went shopping at the Vima store today were unable to make purchases and were very upset.

At Carlos III Plaza, signs are still displayed on the doors stating that Visa and Mastercard are accepted, but that is no longer possible. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, June 4, 2026 / Although the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) announced on Wednesday that Visa and Mastercard cards could no longer be used starting June 6, stores stopped accepting them today. Fincimex announced it yesterday in a late-afternoon social media post, but the vast majority of people only found out today when they arrived at the stores.

At Vima—a partnership between the Spanish food company and Cimex—an employee said that Saturday is “when the bank withdraws,” referring to the foreign institution that authorities have never identified by name. However, Fincimex must carry out its periodic reconciliation with the foreign bank and, for that reason, “they closed operations yesterday at two in the afternoon.” In fact, he added, “when we try, the card comes up invalid; it’s not that we don’t want to accept it, it’s that we can’t.”

The explanation matches the brief statement issued by the financial arm of the military conglomerate Gaesa, which reported that, “in order to avoid possible additional economic impacts,” operations were halted at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. It continued: “Normally, transactions using these cards through POS terminals require 72 hours for settlement from abroad, so financial operations carried out today would complete their processing after the termination date of the agreements signed with the foreign bank and would represent financial losses for Cuba.”

“When we try, the card comes up invalid; it’s not that we don’t want to accept it, it’s that we can’t”

In this way, the statement concluded, “due to the illegitimate actions of the U.S. Government, a commercial operation that for 32 years allowed Visa and Mastercard cards to operate in Cuba according to international standards has been interrupted.”

The explanations, given without advance notice, have been of little comfort. Customers who had gone to shop at Vima today, relying on the deadline announced by the BCC, were visibly upset. “Then why do they say it starts on Saturday if you already can’t use them today?” protested one woman, pulling at her hair and wringing her hands. continue reading

At Carlos III Plaza, staff are giving the same explanation, although, unlike Vima, signs are still displayed on the doors stating that Visa and Mastercard can be used.

According to the brief BCC statement released yesterday, the reason international cards were being withdrawn from the Island was that the “foreign bank that processes transactions carried out in Cuba using Visa and Mastercard cards” ended its relationship with Fincimex on Tuesday.

That “interruption,” the statement continued, was “directly” related to the executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 1, which opened the door to new sanctions against officials, institutions, and companies linked to the regime and which the Central Bank describes as “part of its strategy of suffocation against the people of Cuba.”

Entrance to Vima, on Infanta Street in Central Havana, now without the notice about those international cards. / 14ymedio

“The foreign bank announced that, beginning June 6, the date on which the Empire’s measure comes into force, it becomes unlawful and impossible to continue carrying out the agreements with the Cuban entity,” the notice stated, without mentioning whether Visa and Mastercard themselves had taken any action. It did indicate that the “100% national” prepaid cards Clásica and Tropical, as well as Russia’s Mir card and China’s UnionPay, could continue to be used, along with cash.

The BCC statement attempted to project normalcy at the end, but the list of alternatives confirmed the scale of the problem, since replacing those cards with the permitted options is far from equivalent. Visa and Mastercard are the most widely used payment instruments among European, Latin American, and Canadian travelers. Mir has limited reach and operates in the context of international sanctions against Moscow, while UnionPay has a broader global presence but is not part of the payment habits of most Western tourists visiting Cuba.

For many foreign residents, international cards provided direct access to these stores without depending on the informal currency market. A significant percentage of ordinary Cubans who shop in dollar stores also do so with cards obtained abroad by relatives.

The decision by this mysterious “foreign bank” adds to the actions of numerous companies that have been leaving the Island in recent weeks or ending contracts with the Business Administration Group (Gaesa), which has been specifically sanctioned by the United States. This Wednesday, the Spanish hotel company Meliá Hotels International confirmed its withdrawal from 15 of the 34 hotels it manages on the Island, those owned by Gaesa. Earlier, Iberostar stopped operating and marketing 12 hotels, and Blue Diamond Resorts announced the complete cessation of its operations in Cuba.

Meanwhile, Sherritt International, one of the largest foreign investors in Cuba, suspended in May its direct participation in its joint ventures on the Island and announced the repatriation of its personnel after Washington sanctioned Moa Nickel S.A., the company it shares with the state-owned Compañía General de Níquel. The multinational later paused its plan to dissolve its Cuban operations while reporting that it is negotiating with a former Trump adviser for the purchase of a majority of its shares.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘100% Cuban’ Products Sold in Dollars in a New State Store

Wasteful use of lighting and air conditioning in the new store opened in Havana by a state partnership associated with a Slovak company

Entrance to the ‘Hecho en Cuba’ [Made in Cuba] store, in Havana’s Cerro municipality. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya/Juan Diego Rodríguez, May 28, 2026 – Brightly lit and with the air conditioning running at maximum power, the new Hecho en Cuba 100% store seems oblivious to the severe energy crisis the country is experiencing. The business, located in the Trimagen complex, the film division of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), in Havana’s Plaza municipality, was inaugurated this Tuesday with great ostentation.

The company’s social media accounts documented the event. The firm appearing to be in charge is Proxcor S.A., a joint venture formed by the Slovak company Proxenta and the Cuban Corporación Alimentaria S.A. (Coralsa), dedicated to the commercialization of food and beverages through companies such as Los Portales, Bucanero, Bravo, Papas & Company, and Stella. The post quickly filled with comments, mainly asking about prices and payment methods, but the replies were unclear.

“If everything is made in Cuba, they should sell according to the salaries we earn in Cuba and of course in national currency,” one user remarked with barely concealed irony. “Thank you for your comment, we will take it into account,” was the response.

The facilities are excellent, but they offer little product variety. / 14ymedio

It is worth remembering that Proxenta arrived in Cuba in 2019 through the creation of Proxcor S.A. in Villa Clara, with a 25-year contract for confectionery production, and later expanded its partnership with the Cuban State by founding Baracocoa S.A. for the processing and commercialization of local cocoa. The decision dealt a blow to local farmers who had temporarily been allowed to enter the cocoa business, a highly profitable sector in foreign currency.

During a visit to the new store on Ayestarán Street this Wednesday, 14ymedio confirmed what commenters feared: the store only sells in dollars, and payment can be made in cash, with foreign cards, or with the Clásica prepaid card. The place has the unmistakable atmosphere of state power, with some employees dressed in Cimex uniforms.

Beers for sale at Hecho en Cuba 100%. / 14ymedio

The facilities are excellent, yes, but they offer few products. “Of course, if they sell what is produced in Cuba, this little bit is all there is,” observed one customer passing shelves packed with the same product. Bravo cold cuts, Cristal and Bucanero beers, Findy mayonnaise, Ciego Montero soft drinks, flour from Unión Molinera de Cuba… The brands, indeed, were not lying: merchandise from the battered national production system.

A woman visiting the establishment for the first time was especially surprised by the variety of Cuban coffee brands, including Cubita, Arriero, and Regil, something unimaginable for a long time in other stores. The selection was completed with small black cups bearing the word Cubita. “It’s been years and years since I saw this for sale!”

The prices, meanwhile, are not for everyone. A tube of ham for 13 dollars or a one-kilogram package of coffee for 16 dollars gives an idea of the costs; an arepa mix costs 4 dollars, and six small cups cost 20.

At the Bazar A&M branch on Infanta and Carlos III in Central Havana, employees were sitting idle. The sign reads: There is no milk”/ 14ymedio

One cashier slowly and carefully wrapped a customer’s purchase. The customer told her: “Don’t take too long, in case the power goes out and I can’t pay with my card,” but the worker reassured her enthusiastically: “The power almost never goes out here, and when it does, they restore it very quickly.” “Do you have a generator?” the shopper asked. “No, but they almost never cut our electricity.”

In contrast to this privileged situation, the commercial heart of Central Havana looked gloomy that same day. At the Bazar A&M branch on Infanta and Carlos III, employees were sitting idle. “No milk,” “no milk,” “no milk,” repeated three signs discouraging customers from asking for anything.

Fress location on Carlos III, without electricity and therefore without cold soft drinks. / 14ymedio

At Plaza de Carlos III, the power went out in the middle of the morning rush of customers. The darkened stores, without cold drinks to relieve the heat of these days, were buzzing with complaints from the workers themselves. One single topic monopolized conversations: the sleepless night caused by the blackout. “We only had twenty minutes of electricity at two in the morning, and we had to start pumping water from the cistern to the tank,” one cashier told a colleague.

At Fress, the first private business established in Plaza de Carlos III, employees said they did not know if they would be able to continue working today. “There’s no fuel for the shopping center’s generator. They say the power went out last night and they couldn’t turn it on again.”

The blackouts, at least in principle, do not distinguish between state and private businesses: they affect everyone equally. Except for Proxcor’s new store.

Plaza de Carlos III in blackout since yesterday. / 14ymedio

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Ravages of the ‘Chemical’ in the Streets of Central Havana

“This place is a hotbed of informal vendors, filth and collapses, the police don’t show their faces, marginality reigns supreme.”

Young women affected by the ‘chemical’ on Ángeles Street at the corner of Monte Street, in Central Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, May 24, 2026 / They may be minors or simply young women shrunken by a life of malnutrition and other hardships. Sitting on the curb at the corner of Ángeles and Monte streets in Central Havana, the two—one dark-skinned and the other white, representing the country’s diverse mix—sway forward, their heads dangling so low they almost touch the ground, saliva drooling uncontrollably from their mouths. Passersby who look at them have no doubt: “That’s el químico” [the chemical].

The synthetic cannabinoid that authorities have been fighting for several years is appearing on the streets of the capital, even in the busiest areas, like this one, in broad daylight. It’s barely ten in the morning.

Surrounded by onlookers, the young women receive no help. There are no police officers to assist them either. The people who see them simply mock them: “Look, look, how the little black girl is drooling,” one woman remarked to another she was walking with.

“What can I say?” lamented an elderly witness to the scene, “this place is a hotbed of informal vendors, filth and collapses, the police don’t show their faces, marginality reigns supreme.”

Surrounded by onlookers, the young women receive no help. There are no police officers to assist them either. The people who see them simply mock them.

The regime’s efforts are largely ineffective against a drug to which it has remained blind, mute, and deaf for far too long . Last April, the General Customs Office of the Republic seized 22,800 doses of the chemical from the United States, giving it the opportunity to blame the phenomenon on its perennial enemy, claiming it is “the main source” of the substance, and to boast of its effectiveness .

The government has, however, acknowledged an increase in drug use for the past couple of years, unlike in the past, and has expressed concern about its circulation on the island, especially among young people. At the same time, it insists that the island “is neither a producer nor a transit country for illicit drugs” and that the official policy is one of “zero tolerance.”

In 2025, authorities seized a total of 507 kilograms of drugs, primarily cocaine, and arrested 174 people linked to drug trafficking. The head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug unit, Juan Carlos Poey, reported last December that 51 young adults and 72 minors were involved in “83 incidents of drug trafficking and consumption.” He also noted that almost all of them were teenagers between 13 and 16 years old who use the drug known as químic” (47%).

The Cuban Penal Code punishes “the possession and trafficking of illicit drugs with sentences ranging from four to 30 years in prison, including life imprisonment and even the death penalty.”

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At Havana’s State Bodegas: Plenty of Slogans, No Products

The dilemma Cubans face every day is that whatever they can afford doesn’t exist, and whatever does exist they can’t afford.

Empty of products, but not of slogans, was the ration store this Tuesday.

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, May 13, 2026 – The old state-run bodega next to the market at 19 and B, in Havana’s Vedado district, has never really been able to compete with the bustling produce market. Well stocked with every kind of fruit and vegetable, the market stands in stark contrast to the shop reserved for ration-book purchases, which has increasingly become the very symbol of the country’s shortages.

When, at the end of December 2023, the private home-delivery business Zona K’liente set up shop in half of the premises, the contrasts became even sharper. But never to the extent seen now, as the crisis has worsened due to the fuel shortage and the ration-market stores have been left completely empty.

Meanwhile, not only is the small private business Zona K’liente thriving, but so are the stalls in the adjacent market.

This Tuesday — the first day of the week when the market at 19 and B reopens after the Sunday and Monday break — the shelves contained only a tiny quantity of fruit purée, intended for children up to two years old in each household. Empty of products, but not of slogans. “We Are Continuity,” “Thinking as a Country,” are some of the phrases written continue reading

in capital letters across the front of the green-painted counter, as if big, strident lettering were enough to feed people.

Meanwhile, not only is the small private business Zona K’liente thriving, but so are the stalls in the neighboring market. Prices*, however, are another matter. Imported mandarins at 1,500 pesos a pound, soursop at 1,000, red cabbage at 2,000, pork leg at 950, a single mamey fruit at 400 pesos…

Both places lay bare the dilemma ordinary Cubans face every day just to survive: whatever they can afford doesn’t exist, and whatever does exist they cannot afford.

*Translator’s note: The monthly retirement benefit in Cuba is roughly about 3,000 to 4,000 pesos a month.

Translated by GH

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Cuba’s Official Social Media Celebrates a “Lit Up” City: Havana Regains Light and Buses for a Few Hours

Russian oil barrels are giving the capital a respite that will be short-lived according to the Cuban government’s own data.

“Looks like they’ve been given a shot of fuel,” commented a passenger as he watched two buses pass by one after the other. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, April 22, 2026 – “Today at four in the morning I went up to the rooftop and was impressed. It had been a long time since I’d seen all of Havana lit up without dark patches everywhere,” a resident of Nuevo Vedado, whose building offers a view of much of the city, told this newspaper. The image, almost absent from the capital in recent months, sums up what happened this Wednesday. For a brief stretch in the early morning, Havana was almost completely illuminated again, and at dawn, several buses reappeared on the main avenues.

The national electrical grid managed to meet demand between 4:12 and 5:07 a.m., according to a press release from the National Electric Union (UNE). This 55-minute period without outages was a brief respite in a day marked by frequent blackouts. The UNE’s daily reports, published by Cubadebate, also indicate that such a window of uninterrupted power had not occurred since February 8th.

The change was noticeable on the streets before dawn. “I’ve seen some buses on the streets today, which haven’t been seen for a long time,” said a Havana resident who left her house early in the Cerro municipality. Another woman, at a bus stop on Diez de Octubre Avenue, summed up the scene with a mixture of astonishment and sarcasm: “There are buses on the streets today, what a miracle.”

The image of the return of electricity and buses coincided with a campaign launched by several pro-government accounts on social media the previous night. The most visible example was that of Vice Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal, who shared a post with the idea that “a fuel ship arrives in Cuba and the lights come back on,” echoing a message disseminated earlier, in Portuguese, by Mídia Ninja, a Brazilian alternative media network with an activist profile. Photos of a lit-up Havana and texts about the supposed energy relief circulated as proof of a visible improvement, at least for a few hours, in the capital. continue reading

“There are also people at the bus stops, which had been empty for a long time.” / 14ymedio

Off-screen, the perception was far less dramatic. “Looks like they’ve been given a shot of fuel,” commented one passenger upon seeing two buses pass by one after the other on a route where none had appeared in recent weeks. It wasn’t just the presence of the vehicles that was striking. “There are also people at the bus stops, which had been empty for a long time,” he added. During the worst days of the shortage, many of those corners had been practically deserted.

Since the weekend, the state press has been presenting the arrival of the Russian-donated oil shipment in Cuba as a turning point. The Russian vessel Anatoly Kolodkin arrived in Matanzas on March 31 with 100,000 tons of crude oil, equivalent to about 730,000 barrels. This fuel was processed at the Cienfuegos refinery because the Havana refinery is not operational, and according to the official version, gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and liquefied gas are already being produced and distributed from this refined product.

The authorities maintain that processing took between 12 and 15 days and that the distribution of refined products to consumption centers is being carried out in stages. These products, the government insists, will help sustain some electricity generation, transportation, and economic activity. According to this official account, diesel and fuel oil will power generating plants, while gasoline and other fuels will help move cargo, passengers, and services.

On April 18, the State newspaper Granma reported that these fuel derivatives were already being distributed throughout the country and were beginning to reduce disruptions to the electrical service. The same article added that the available fuel, although limited, would also be used for transportation and to support the economy. This is essentially the explanation that state media have used in recent days to accompany the image of a brighter capital with more buses on the road. Outside of Havana, however, the situation is far from similar, and in much of the country, blackouts continue with the same frequency, while any relief is barely noticeable.

The total amount of derivatives obtained would cover “around a third of the national demand for a month”

However, the National Electric Union’s own report qualifies the extent of the improvement. The agency reported that on Tuesday there were outages throughout the 24-hour period, reaching a maximum of 1,384 megawatts. For the evening of April 22, the forecast still predicted a deficit exceeding 1,100 megawatts. The early morning without a blackout, therefore, did not represent a return to normalcy for the system, but rather a brief respite in the midst of a crisis that remains far from over.

Even so, the government has insisted on presenting the arrival of Russian crude as a substantial relief. According to official statements reported by Cubadebate, the total amount of refined products obtained would cover “around a third of national demand for a month.” This phrase, repeated optimistically by officials, state media, and affiliated social media accounts, has become a central tenet of the official narrative in recent days.

In Havana, that discourse found a concrete, albeit brief, translation into daily life this Wednesday. In a city where blackouts and lack of transportation have become part of the landscape, 55 minutes without shortages and a few buses returning to the avenues were enough for many to believe, for a moment, that normalcy had returned to the capital.

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Spain’s Vima, With Business in Cuba, Doubles Its Revenue Despite the Crisis on the Island

The company sells low-quality products at high prices in the stores of the Cuban military conglomerate Gaesa

State store of Vima and Cimex at Infanta and Santa Marta, Centro Habana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Olea Gallardo, April 8, 2026 – The Vima Foods group, known in Cuba for its low quality food products, expects revenue of 250 million dollars (216 million euros) in 2026, a figure higher than last year and more than double what it reported in 2024. In a statement distributed to the media this Tuesday, the Spanish company also states that it plans to double those revenues in five years, thanks to the expansion of its businesses in the Americas and its “leap” into European and African markets.

Thus, by 2030 the firm, whose name comes from the combination of the initials of its founder, Víctor Moro Suárez, aims to reach 500 million dollars (432 million euros), driven by “its recent change in visual identity and its positioning as a trusted partner” in what the sector calls the “horeca channel”—an acronym for hotels, restaurants, and catering—and in retail sales “worldwide.”

This year they also plan to become a “comprehensive distribution solution” for Spanish and international brands “with expansion strategies in global markets.” This offer to serve as a “bridge between Spanish production and global demand” is considered by Vima as “a step forward,” supported by “its consolidated infrastructure, its knowledge of local markets, and its network of relationships with operators, supermarkets, and distributors in more than 30 countries.

The company boasts of operating “in more than 10,000 points of sale” and of being “in the main supermarket chains in the Americas”

The company boasts of operating “in more than 10,000 points of sale” and of having a presence “in the main supermarket chains in the Americas such as Walmart, Chedraui, Rey, Éxito, Soriana, and Carrefour.” Likewise, it notes that it supplies “the main hotel chains in the region.”

In its statement, it does not detail how business is distributed among the seven countries where it claims to have distribution centers: Spain, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, and China, listed in that order. However, according to last year’s figures, the Island is its main market, accounting for nearly half of its business continue reading

volume. At that time, they reported that of the nearly 106 million euros in business volume of the group’s Coruña-based subsidiary, Corporación Alimentaria Vima, 49 million euros corresponded to operations with Cuba, followed by the Dominican Republic with 33 million and Mexico with 15.4 million. This implies a very minor margin, about 9 million euros, for the rest of the world where it claims to operate.

In Cuba, Vima products, ranging from frozen vegetables to prepared foods, including canned vegetables, jams, and grains, are as ubiquitous in stores as they are criticized by buyers. To the poor reputation for quality is added, in the midst of the unprecedented crisis in the country, the high prices at which they are sold in Cimex’s dollarized stores, which belong to the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (Gaesa), the conglomerate of the Armed Forces.

A 1.5-liter bottle of water costs one dollar, double what it costs in a private shop, and rice is 1,000 pesos per kilogram, when it is 600 in small private businesses.

Vima bags have become a clever form of advertising paid for by users of state-run stores. / 14ymedio

Another thing that has proliferated in recent times, not only in Vima’s own establishments but also in other dollar stores, is reusable green bags with the Vima logo. Their price is 40¢ (US), and since there are almost never free plastic bags in these markets, the customer is forced to buy one, a clever form of advertising paid for by users of the state-run stores where the Spanish company sells its goods.

The products of this brand, moreover, are not found in Spanish supermarkets, nor in Mexico City, but one would not guess this from reading its corporate information, where the Island appears to occupy just another space, and not the pillar of the conglomerate.

Vima insists on describing itself as a “family business whose roots are linked to the Galician fishing sector,” despite being little known in that region, while emphasizing its renewed expansionist ambitions. “One of our crucial markets continues to be the Americas, where we already have a very consolidated presence from north to south. However, our vocation is global; we are preparing the ground for large-scale expansion into Europe and Africa,” Víctor Moro Morros-Sarda, vice president of the conglomerate and son of the president and founder, Víctor Moro Suárez, is quoted as saying in the text.

His statements continue, emphasizing the company’s future ambitions: “We want Spanish and international brands to see Vima Foods not only as a distributor, but as a strategic ally. We have the infrastructure, local knowledge in complex markets, and the logistics necessary to bring the quality of our products to any corner of the world.” And they conclude: “Our recent participation in the Alimentaria trade fair has been the turning point to showcase this new identity and our capacity to scale the business exponentially through 2030.”

“We have the infrastructure and logistics necessary to bring the quality of our products to any corner of the world”

Except in this statement, moreover, the Moro family has never hidden its ties to the Island. Moro Morros-Sarda held a lavish wedding in Havana in December 2023, and his father, the son of Víctor Moro Rodríguez, a politician of Spain’s Transition, who died in 2021 and also headed a frozen packaged goods conglomerate, lived for more than 25 years in Cuba, where he was president of the Association of Spanish Businesspeople in the country.

Last year, in a report published by the local press, they highlighted a “new subsidiary” created by the group on the Island, Vima Caribe, intended to channel “all commercial operations into a new branch, a company with 100% foreign capital, responsible for the import, storage, commercialization, and distribution of the group’s products in Cuba.”

It thus became clear that the “collaboration project” between Vima and Gaesa, signed in 2024, went beyond the management of several “dollarized” stores. It involved the legal creation of a new company, which has not been reported by the official Cuban press.

In the same report, Economía Digital provided other details about the ups and downs of Vima Foods’ subsidiaries, not for nothing referring to it as “a highly dispersed conglomerate.” For example, it said that Corporación Alimentaria Vima had “transferred” its corporate employees in Spain to a new company, CS Vima, based in Madrid. It is in the Spanish capital where the head of the conglomerate is registered, that until March 2023 was located in Panama.

That same year, as recorded in the Commercial Registry, the group moved its registered office to Spain and transformed from a public limited company to a limited liability company, something that, above all, further strengthens the family’s control over the company and external investors.

In 2001, its revenues had been, as detailed, 25 million euros. That is, in a quarter century, the business has multiplied nearly tenfold

Even more opaque is the origin and growth of its multimillion-dollar business. The Panama Papers, the publication of the Mossack Fonseca law firm database by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed in 2016 that Vima World, whose name has changed several times since it was founded, appeared among companies registered in tax havens.

In the ICIJ database, it appears as founded in January 1994 in the British Virgin Islands. However, Moro Suárez himself admitted in an interview with the Galician press in 2006 that his empire began in Cuba. When asked by the journalist how he “learned” to manage “one hundred sixty employees who serve twenty million meals worldwide,” the businessman replied: “I found a niche in the Caribbean area, starting from Cuba, and that circumstance led me to organize this group of companies.”

Another earlier report, published in La Voz de Galicia, also confirmed this: “Vima was born in Havana in 1994, to take advantage of the opening of the Cuban market to tourism investment, and become the main distributor to hotels and restaurants.” In 2002, the report stated that Vima World, “a distributor based in Vigo and 100% owned by the Galician Moro family,” was the leader in the sector in Cuba, controlling 15% of food distribution and 25% of supply to hotels. In 2001, its revenues had been, as detailed, 25 million euros. That is, in a quarter century, the business had multiplied nearly tenfold.

How a company could be founded in Cuba, run by a foreigner in the mid-1990s, and reach those figures in just a few years is one of the questions raised about Vima, which began appearing in establishments on the Island precisely at that time, the era of dollarization and the desperation of the Special Period. The answer may lie in that 2006 interview, in which the journalist wrote that, according to what he had been told, Moro Suárez had connections with figures of the regime, including Fidel Castro himself.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“Here, Every Little While They Are Banging on the Pots”

Residents in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood protests again while in Luyanó there are residents who have been without water for 30 days.

Residents of Diez de Octubre once again built barricades and bonfires on Thursday night. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, March 20, 2026 – Havana / The protests, which in recent weeks have moved from social media to the streets, were very loud this Thursday in Havana. At the intersection of Santa Irene and Diez de Octubre Avenue, several bonfires were lit and barricades were built demanding electricity, images that have gone halfway around the world through social media. It was the most striking focal point of last night’s demonstrations, but in Alamar shouts of “Freedom” and “Down with the dictatorship” were also heard, banged out on pots and pans, mixed with demands for electricity.

“Here, every little while the pots are banging,” says María, a resident of Diez de Octubre, “but they have no shame anymore, they don’t care about the protests. And I don’t go outside because, where exactly are they banging? I hear them, and from my house I bang mine, I don’t care. The problem is that if I go out and the young guys come running…,” adds this retiree, who fears joining a protest and being injured in a bad fall that could land her in a precarious hospital.

According to her experience, after several days of hearing pot-banging protests, public lighting turns on quickly when there is a demonstration, but only in the streets and not in homes. “To sum it up: we are like in Peru, when there’s no water or electricity. And now we’re worse, because when there’s no water there’s no electricity, no gas, nothing. Not even shame in this country,” she complains. continue reading

“To sum it up: we are like in Peru, when there’s no water or electricity. And now we’re worse, because when there’s no water there’s no electricity, no gas, nothing. Not even shame in this country”

In Santos Suárez, Lawton and Víbora Park, where the protest caught on in a big way, they are more fortunate than in Luyanó, residents of this latter neighborhood believe, where in addition to problems with electricity there are also issues with water supply. Pedro, a resident of this area, tells 14ymedio that his cousin has been without water for a month. “Yesterday he spent the whole day holding back from going to the bathroom, until a bucket showed up that a neighbor gave him and he was able to go,” he complains.

The poor supply situation is not new for Pedro, but things have worsened in recent times, and small and medium private businesses have a lot to do with it, in his opinion. “Here where I live we are all elderly, physically disabled. There is a community cistern that supplies about eight or ten apartments. So we have requested a water truck, but they say they have a very long list. But water trucks are never lacking for the two or three most famous private businesses around here,” he says.

Pedro states that few have the possibility of paying the 26,000 pesos that the water truck driver demands, under the table. “I can’t. First of all, either I eat or I drink water.” The residents have the option, he says, of getting a bottle at a church “sponsored by some Canadians” that purifies it with a special filter, but there are “huge lines.”

Reality thus clashes, once again, with the epic narrative of the official press. The report that the State newspaper Granma dedicates to the return of unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant, in Cienfuegos, and the 158 megawatts – the same as block 3 – that were added to the system on Wednesday are completely overshadowed by deficits that continue hovering around obscene levels. The 316 megawatts (MW) now in the system corresponding to the entire plant have been of no use: for this Friday, the expected deficit is 1,864 MW. Little difference from the 1,960 MW on Monday, before the most recent addition.

Pedro states that few have the possibility of paying the 26,000 pesos that the water truck driver demands, under the table

On Tuesday the 17th, in the middle of the collapse of the national electric system (SEN), unit 4 synchronized with the rest of the grid after a year and four months of repairs. It still had a scare this Wednesday the 18th, when a failure in the feed pump ruined the triumphant debut, but it recovered a few hours later and the Electric Union was able to celebrate the return.

The population’s indifference was total: “So what? How does that benefit us? Circuit 1 of Palma Soriano was supposed to have power restored from 4 in the afternoon to 7 at night and they didn’t do it. According to information from a colleague at the electrical dispatch, there was no availability at that time, so we have to continue in blackout until they feel like it. Today it has rained all day, imagine cooking with charcoal or firewood under heavy downpours,” complained one user.

The day is expected to be hard again, since during peak hours it is forecast that only 60% of the electricity the country demands will be generated, 1,834 MW compared to the 3,050 needed. The UNE no longer has distributed generation due to the lack of diesel, and thermal generation has limitations of 437 MW, with units 6 of Mariel and 5 of Nuevitas under maintenance and units 5 and 6 of Mariel, 3 of Santa Cruz del Norte, 2 of Felton and 3 and 6 of Antonio Maceo out of service.

Photovoltaic parks, the Government’s great hope, are contributing more and more: 236 MW as the maximum power delivered yesterday Thursday. But when night falls, darkness returns to the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana’s Iberostar Hotel in the Torre K Closes “Due to the Country’s Situation”

There are no flags on the flagpoles at the main entrance, which indicates a decision beyond something temporary.

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, March 13, 2026 –The Iberostar Selection La Habana hotel, which occupies the skyscraper located on the central 23rd Avenue known as Torre K and was inaugurated only last year, has closed its doors, and no one knows when it will reopen. At its main entrance, there are not even flags on the flagpoles, which indicates a decision that goes beyond something temporary.

Asked about it, the guard at the site, without a uniform, responds that he does not know and that the closure is “because of the country’s situation.” The Avenida 23 cafeteria, located on the ground floor with views of K Street, which provides service to the public and not only to hotel guests, is also closed. “The only thing still open inside the hotel is the bank, until noon,” the guard also says.

The man does not specify which institution he is referring to, and on the official website of the accommodation no bank branch appears among its services.

Just two days ago, sources familiar with the matter revealed to 14ymedio that, due to the lack of electricity, Aguas de La Habana would stop pumping the water supply to the capital for at least 48 hours. “Anything that runs on motors, including Torre K, is pointless,” said an employee of the state company.

“The only thing still open inside the hotel is the bank, until noon,” the guard also says.

The hotel has its own generators, which have provided it with electricity even during the worst blackouts, including complete collapses of the national power system. These require fuel oil, and after more than two months without a tanker arriving in Cuba, fuel is scarcer than ever.

According to posts on social media, tourists who were staying at the facility have been transferred to the Hotel Packard, located on Paseo del Prado, but in truth there is no confirmation that there were even guests there. Torre K had been almost a ghost hotel since continue reading

its opening due to the lack of customers. This newspaper confirmed it during a visit three months after its inauguration.

Not even the building’s main attraction, the observation deck on the 41st floor, drew enough visitors. From up there, the highest point in Havana, the city could be seen as never before, and only the ocean seemed free from decay.

The iconic buildings Focsa and Habana Libre, which were once the tallest in the capital, appeared diminished and deteriorated. Trying to identify the Castillo del Morro, the Hotel Nacional, the José Martí Memorial, or the dozen buildings erected in the 1950s before the Revolution swept away modernity produced only discouragement. From Torre K, misery was evident on every rooftop.

The Avenida 23 cafeteria, on the ground floor and overlooking K Street, which serves the public and not only hotel guests, is also closed. / 14ymedio

“They told us it was paid for with government money, that it cost I don’t know how many millions of dollars and was handed over to Iberostar to manage. But from the outside it looked closed; we didn’t see much activity,” a Spanish tourist told 14ymedio last October. She had vacationed on the Island the previous month and said her travel agency had “deceived” them by hiding the country’s real situation.

Controversy surrounded the building from the moment its construction was announced in 2018. The structure, first popularly called the “López-Calleja Tower” (before the death of the head of the military conglomerate Gaesa, which owns the facilities through one of its subsidiaries, the Gaviota Group) and later Torre K, represented from the outset a waste of resources in an impoverished country.

As construction progressed and tourism numbers kept falling, technical criticism also began. Several architects pointed out the project’s “mistakes,” including its “pretentious gigantism,” the “insulated glass” that is blinding in a tropical country, and the poor orientation of the hotel, which lacks views to the north, the best side for orienting rooms so they do not suffer from “that Caribbean sun that costs a lot of energy and money to cool.”

The opening of a luxury Iberostar inside the massive structure added further controversy and was not without setbacks. Its inauguration was delayed several times after it had been announced. Initially, Havanatur said it would open on January 15, 2025, but that did not happen. Days later, the company enabled reservations starting February 1, but it was still not ready by then.

When reservations finally opened to the general public in March 2025, after the rooms had briefly been used to house visitors to the Habano Festival, a source linked to Iberostar, the second Spanish hotel company with the largest presence in Cuba after Meliá, admitted that management was concerned about the negative image the hotel had already acquired among citizens.

“People are going to associate the hotel with an increase in misery,” the source told 14ymedio.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban State Security Prohibits a Student Sit-In on the Steps of the University of Havana

The FEU (Federation of University Students) tried to prevent the protest called to express “the students’ dissatisfaction with the current teaching plan”

Image of students on the steps of the University of Havana, this Monday. / X/@CNN_Oppmann

Darío Hernández/Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, March 9, 2026 — About twenty students are meeting with education authorities after holding a peaceful protest on the steps of the University of Havana this Monday morning. Around 3:00 p.m. on Monday, the site showed no trace of what had happened several hours earlier, except for the internet connection being blocked

The students, around 25 in number, occupied the stairs in a peaceful protest. As stated on the poster circulated through a WhatsApp group, the “university sit-in” was scheduled for March 9th at 10 am “to publicly and peacefully demonstrate the student body’s dissatisfaction with the current teaching plan.”

The situation, an eyewitness reported to the organization Ciudadanía y Libertad, (Citizenship and Freedom), “remained calm at first,” but “changed when more students began arriving, interested in joining the protest.” Then, the sources continued, State Security agents blocked more people from entering the steps and the university grounds.

Police patrols in the vicinity of the University of Havana, this Monday. / 14ymedio/Courtesy

According to CNN correspondent Patrick Oppmann in Havana, who posted a picture of the protest on his social media, the students who had previously been on the steps entered the center to meet with officials and authorities.

The rector of the University of Havana, Miriam Nicado García, and the first deputy minister of Higher Education, Modesto Ricardo Gómez, approached the place where the young people were gathered.

“How many hours of electricity did you have last week? And do you have a connection when the power is cut off?” a student asked a dean, according to EFE.

“Many students from the provinces haven’t been able to submit anything because there’s no connectivity,” another student said.

These predominantly academic demands were gradually overtaken in the conversation by complaints about how university students can raise their issues and participate in the debate on solutions and decision-making processes.

“The paths to reach the Ministry of Higher Education are obstructed,” a young woman continue reading

stated, to which a student added: “This sit-in, I’m afraid, is a last resort.”

The First Vice Minister of Higher Education directly addressed the young people in an attempt to end the sit-in: “This isn’t going to solve the problems we have. Why this, gentlemen, young men, when my whole life has been dedicated to educating you?”

The young people, around 25 in number, took to the stairs in a peaceful protest. / 14ymedio/Courtesy

“Because they haven’t listened to us from the very beginning: that’s the answer you have,” a young man retorted.

In fact, the students had started to feel sidelined last week and, faced with what they perceived as decisions made from above, they created several alternative discussion groups on social media and launched the call for the sit-in.

Both the University of Havana and the FEU quickly came out to say that this initiative was “fake” and stressed that the established dialogue spaces were working.

Several young people highlighted that part of the erosion of trust in the University and in the FEU began last June, when the students’ discontent over a very sharp increase in the rates for mobile service by the state-owned telephone company was not addressed as they wished.

On the other hand, in the early afternoon, in the WhatsApp group for the call, the students posted: “For all those who are following the situation, the group that responded to the call is in dialogue with the Minister of Higher Education, expect more information before the end of the day.”

“Defending institutional dialogue is correct, but pretending that it exhausts all legitimate forms of expression is a mistake.”

In a letter shared on their social media, the organizers addressed the Secretariat of the University Student Federation (FEU), responding to a statement in which the pro-government organization dismissed the call, calling it “completely false” and “unnecessary”.

“We feel an obligation to respectfully disagree with your posture,” the missive stated. “Defending institutional dialogue is correct, but claiming that it exhausts all legitimate forms of expression is a mistake.” In four points, the students explained why the sit-in “is both real and necessary.”

First, they said, because “it is not a denial of dialogue, but rather its deepening.” A sit-in, they explained, is a tool to demand dialogue “when it becomes insufficient or slow” and “means bringing concerns to the forefront,” so that the “actions” taken by educational authorities “do not remain in closed spaces, but rather become the focus of collective conversation.”

On the other hand, they alluded to the fact that the FEU Secretariat told them they had already been “receiving concerns.” “This is valuable, but it’s not sufficient,” they retorted. “The legitimate question many have is: what happens to these concerns once we communicate them to you?” The protest, they argued, “seeks to break down the intermediaries and create a horizontal space, student to student, to compare opinions and reach our own conclusions, unfiltered by a structure.” And they continued: “If the current channels were effective, there wouldn’t be this spontaneous need for hundreds of students to seek an alternative way to organize.”

“We appreciate your work, but the solution to the problems in teaching and the general discontent cannot simply be ‘waiting’ for them to be addressed.”

On a third point, they criticized the FEU for referring to their action as “symbolic,” “as if it were something negative.” They argued: “The history of the University of Havana is built on symbols. Sitting in a common place, looking each other in the eye, and debating the problems of teaching and the situation of the country is a profoundly transformative act.”

Finally, they referred to the “management of solutions” that the Secretariat had offered them. “We appreciate their work, but the solution to the problems in teaching and the general discontent cannot simply be to ‘wait’ for them to be managed. The university community must be an active part in creating those solutions.”

The worsening energy crisis has led to the suspension of in-person classes at all universities, a cancellation that has left thousands of students at home. Maintaining contact with teachers through WhatsApp groups and other virtual platforms is not a viable option in a country where internet access is becoming increasingly unreliable.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by GH

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