Translator: Gustavo Loredo – Translating Cuba

CITIZEN DECLARATION OF HEALTH EMERGENCY IN THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA

Refuting Cuba’s National Television News: Facebook Post by Alberto Arufe Rodriguez. Friday, November 21, 2025.

Proclaimed by the people of Cuba in response to the regime’s inaction and negligence. The Cuban Nation, in exercise of its popular sovereignty and in defense of the fundamental right to LIFE and HEALTH, formally declares a National Health Emergency in light of the serious epidemiological crisis facing the country and the current regime’s manifest inability to respond effectively, transparently, and humanely to the ongoing catastrophe.

I. Considerations

1. That the Cuban people are facing an unprecedented health crisis, with the simultaneous spread of arboviruses such as dengue, zika, chikungunya, and oropuche, among others, affecting millions of citizens throughout the country, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women.

2. That hospitals and health centers are overwhelmed, unable to receive new patients, and that medical personnel are working in inhumane conditions, without basic supplies, diagnostic reagents, essential medicines, drinking water, or a stable electricity supply.

3. That the epidemiological surveillance system has completely collapsed, as laboratory tests and clinical confirmations cannot be carried out, and that the health authorities are deliberately concealing the magnitude continue reading

of the outbreak to avoid international recognition of the crisis.

4. That the regime’s refusal to declare an official health emergency prevents the arrival of international aid, humanitarian donations, hospital supplies, specialized personnel, and logistical support from multilateral organizations and NGOs, blocking all avenues of assistance to the people.

5. That the government prioritizes tourism and the economic interests of military conglomerates such as GAESA—which controls more than $18 billion in assets—over public health, concealing the health disaster so as not to affect the income of the hotel sector or the privileges of the ruling elite.

6. That the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, although distorted in its democratic spirit, recognizes the right to life, dignity, and health of all citizens, rights that are currently being violated in a massive and systematic manner.

7. That the international community, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Health Regulations (2005), has a moral duty to intervene humanitarily when a State demonstrates its inability or unwillingness to protect its population in the face of a health emergency.

II. Declaration: Therefore, the people of Cuba, in their sovereign and inalienable right, proclaim a NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY, in order to:

1. Highlight the magnitude of the epidemiological crisis and break through the information blockade imposed by the regime.

2. Call for immediate assistance from the international community, health organizations, and supportive governments.3. Protect the lives and health of Cuban citizens in the face of the criminal inaction of the state apparatus.

4. Demand the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to allow the free entry of medicines, medical equipment, drinking water, specialized personnel, and technical assistance.

5. Request that the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the International Red Cross, and independent medical organizations officially recognize the Cuban health situation as a public health emergency of international concern.

6.Urge democratic governments and international financial institutions to enable emergency assistance and loan programs administered directly by humanitarian agencies, without the mediation of the regime.

7. Call on the Cuban medical corps, both inside and outside the island, to organize solidarity networks for care, information, and supplies for the benefit of the people.

III. Moral and humanitarian justification

Health is a human right, not a concession of power. When a government turns illness into censorship, misery into silence, and death into statistics, it ceases to represent the people. Therefore, this declaration is not a partisan political act, but an act of love, life, and national dignity.
The Cuban people cannot continue to die of fever, pain, and neglect while those in power protect their hotels, their banks, and their propaganda.
This proclamation is based on a universal principle: “Where the state abandons the citizen, the citizen has a duty to raise his voice for their life and the lives of others.”

IV. Immediate demands

1. International recognition of the Cuban health emergency by the WHO, PAHO, and UN.

2. Urgent creation of an international humanitarian medical mission to assist the civilian population.

3. Guarantee of free access to health care without political conditions.

4. Transparency in epidemiological information, with the participation of independent doctors.

5. Temporary suspension of trade or financial restrictions that impede the flow of health resources to the island.

6. Protection for journalists, doctors, and citizens who report on the real health situation.

V. Final appeal

The people of Cuba proclaim this emergency on behalf of the sick who have no hospital,
– the doctors who work without syringes,
– the children who sleep with fever without diagnosis or antipyretics,
– the mothers who pray for their families,
– and the elderly who cannot even access painkillers.

We urgently call on the free nations of the world, on people of solidarity, on humanitarian organizations, and on Cubans in the diaspora to join forces and save lives.

We are not asking for political intervention, we are asking for humanitarian intervention, based on the principles of international law and the universal defense of life.

Cuba does not need speeches, it needs help. Cuba is not asking for charity, it is demanding assistance. The people cannot wait any longer.

Proclaimed in the name of the people of Cuba, for life, truth, and national dignity.

Share this message through all possible channels so that it reaches as many people, institutions, organizations, and governments around the world as possible. Do it for Cuba.

Do it for Cubans. If you can’t do anything, just spread the word.
#CubaEstadoFallido #SOSCuba

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

As the Cuban Economy Sinks, Spanish Group Vima Increases Its Revenue on the Island

The profits, which reached €10 million, “demonstrate the weight of the Moro family’s discreet food empire.”

Vima Caribe dollar store on Infanta and Santa Marta in Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Olea Gallardo, Havana, July 30, 2025 (delayed translation) — The Vima Foods group increased its profits last year thanks to its buoyant business in Cuba. Specifically, according to a report on Tuesday by Economía Digital, the conglomerate’s purchasing center, which operates from La Coruña (Spain) under the name Corporación Alimentaria Vima, increased its profits by 16%, from €8.6 million in 2023 to €10 million in 2024, as well as its turnover, from €88 million to €105.8 million.

Of these nearly 106 million, 49 million correspond to its operations with the island, its main market, which is nevertheless suffering the worst food crisis in its history.

According to Economía Digital, based on the latest accounts submitted to the Spanish Commercial Registry by Corporación Alimentaria Vima, a conglomerate founded by Víctor Moro Suárez—son of Víctor Moro Rodríguez, who died in 2021, a politician during the Spanish Transition and also head of a frozen food packaging conglomerate— Cuba is followed in importance by the Dominican Republic (33 million) and Mexico (15.4 million). The data, according to the local media, “highlights the weight of the Moro family’s discreet food empire.”

The article does not mention Spain—although it does mention other countries where Vima Foods claims to have a presence, such as China, Panama, and the United States—and rightly refers to the Coruña-based company as “a firm as little known as it is profitable.” Vima’s products, which are as ubiquitous in Cuban stores as they are reviled by their buyers—and which range from frozen vegetables to pre-cooked foods, canned vegetables, jams, and grains—are not found in Spanish supermarkets. continue reading

As an explanation for its growth, the company’s administrators stated in their most recent report that it was due to increased activity across the group as a whole

As an explanation for its economic growth, the company’s administrators stated in their most recent report that it was due to increased activity across the group as a whole: “Throughout the 2024 financial year, the company has experienced growth in turnover as a result of the product rebranding strategy initiated in previous years and the consolidation of the group’s presence in the retail and food services channels, which has led to an increase in demand from Vima Group companies at its purchasing center.”

A notable element in the report is the “new subsidiary” created by the group on the island this year, Vima Caribe, “which channels all commercial operations to a new branch, a 100% foreign-owned company responsible for the import, storage, marketing, and distribution of the group’s products in Cuba.”

This makes it clear that the “collaboration project” between Vima and the military conglomerate Gaesa (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.) through its corporation Cimex, signed last January, goes beyond the mere management of several “dollarized” stores. It has involved the legal creation of a new company, which has not been reported in the official Cuban press.

This new branch,“ continues Economía Digital, ”will replace the previous one, and it is expected that its status as an importer will give it greater commercial capacity.”

The media outlet also clarifies the latest ups and downs of Vima Foods’ subsidiaries, which are not without reason referred to as “a highly dispersed conglomerate.”

The media outlet also clarifies the latest ups and downs of Vima Foods’ subsidiaries, which are not without reason referred to as “a highly dispersed conglomerate.” As a result, Corporación Alimentaria Vima “has transferred its corporate employees in Spain to a new company, CS Vima, based in Madrid, which will be responsible for centralizing all services related to leadership, operational support, and human resources provided to all companies within the group.””

The headquarters of the conglomerate, Vima World, is registered in the Spanish capital, having previously been based in Panama until March 2023. At that time, according to sources from the specialized outlet, “it completed the process of transferring its registered office to Spain and converting into a limited liability company, while retaining its legal identity.”

The group’s business prospects, according to Economía Digital, will continue to grow, focusing on “its consolidation in the food distribution segment in Central America” and “opening markets in countries where it did not previously have a presence.”

Vima continues to describe itself on its website as a “family-run company founded in 1994” and as a group “originally linked to the fishing industry in Galicia, Spain,” despite being relatively unknown in that region.

At the same time, the Moro family has never hidden its connection to the Island, and in fact, Moro Suárez’s son, Víctor Moro Morros-Sarda, held a lavish wedding in Havana in December 2023. The patriarch himself has lived in Cuba for over 25 years, where he served as president of the Association of Spanish Entrepreneurs in the country.

The Moro family has never hidden its connection to the Island, and in fact, Moro Suárez’s son, Víctor Moro Morros-Sarda, held a lavish wedding in Havana

The origins and growth of its multimillion-dollar business are more opaque. The Panama Papers, a publication of the Mossack Fonseca law firm’s database by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed in 2016 that Vima World was listed among the companies registered in offshore tax havens.

According to the ICIJ database, it was founded in January 1994 in the British Virgin Islands. However, Moro Suárez himself acknowledged in a 2006 interview with the local Galician press that his business empire began in Cuba. When asked by the journalist how he had “learned” to manage “one hundred and sixty employees serving twenty million meals around the world,” the businessman replied: “I found a work niche in the Caribbean region, starting from Cuba, and that circumstance led me to organize this group of companies.”

A report published in La Voz de Galicia four years earlier confirmed this: “Vima was founded in Havana in 1994 to take advantage of the Cuban market’s opening to tourism investment and become the leading supplier to hotels and restaurants.” In 2002, the article stated that Vima World, “a distribution company based in Vigo and fully owned by the Galician Moro family,” was the market leader in Cuba, controlling 15% of food distribution and 25% of hotel supply. In 2001, its revenues reportedly reached 25 million euros. Over the course of a quarter century, the business has quadrupled, nearing 106 million last year.

How a company led by a foreigner could be founded in Cuba in the mid-1990s and reach such figures within just seven years remains one of the questions surrounding Vima, which began appearing in establishments across the Island during that very period — marked by dollarization and the desperation of the Special Period. The answer may lie in that 2006 interview, where the journalist wrote that, according to what he had been told, Moro Suárez held meetings with regime figures, including none other than Fidel Castro himself.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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The Battle of El Uvero, a Simple Skirmish Turned Into an Epic

The Revolution has been an expert in turning defeats into victories – that is, in lying – and in exaggerating its triumphs, however small they may have been.

The survivors, including Fidel Castro, took refuge in the Sierra Maestra, where they began to reorganize and recruit new members. / EFE

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, May 30, 2025 — On May 28, 1957, in a far-off nook of the Sierra Maestra known as El Uvero, a skirmish took place that the official Cuban narrative has elevated to the altars of revolutionary epic. Historians of the regime describe it as “heroic,” and Díaz-Canel insists that today’s youth view it as a battle of titans, aware that many of them are more familiar with Marvel movies than with Cuban history itself.

The Revolution has shown remarkable skill in transforming defeats into victories—essentially, in distorting the truth—and inflating even the smallest triumphs. The battle of El Uvero has been portrayed as a turning point, the coming of age of the fledgling Rebel Army, and a display of exuberant courage by a few aspiring bearded fighters. Yet, when the events are examined more closely, a less heroic and far more grounded version of that encounter comes into view.

To grasp the true significance of El Uvero, one must situate it within its historical context. In late 1956, the 26th of July Movement suffered a disastrous landing at Alegría de Pío, where the majority of its fighters were either killed or captured. The few survivors—including Fidel Castro—sought refuge in the Sierra Maestra, where they began regrouping and recruiting new members.

What was a military barracks doing there? Primarily, it served to monitor the coastline and secure the area against smuggling. But above all, it was tasked with controlling a modest, makeshift airstrip.

In 1957, El Uvero could scarcely be called a “town” in the conventional sense. It was a fleeting settlement of perhaps fewer than 200 souls (a generous estimate), made up of a handful of shacks, a general store, a rural school that functioned sporadically, and a military barracks housing several dozen of Batista’s uniformed men. What was a military barracks doing there? Primarily, it served to monitor the coastline and secure the area continue reading

against smuggling. But above all, it was tasked with controlling a modest, makeshift airstrip.—useful for resupplying troops or dispatching goods like tobacco and timber, which did, in fact, circulate through the region.

The name hides no secret symbolism or conspiracy theory: simply, the area was rich in trees known as beach grapes (Coccoloba uvifera), which produce small, grape-like fruits. The name wasn’t the brainchild of a revolutionary poet, but rather of farmers with practical botanical acumen.

According to official accounts, the so-called “army” led by Fidel Castro launched an assault on a Batista regime garrison composed of just 53 soldiers. With roughly 80 fighters, the rebels managed to force the surrender of the barracks after nearly three hours of combat. The outcome: seven rebels killed and eight wounded, while government forces sustained 14 fatalities and 19 wounded.

When these figures are placed under scrutiny, an uncomfortable question emerges: can it truly be considered a heroic feat when a numerically superior force, bolstered by the element of surprise, overcomes a smaller, poorly equipped garrison?

In a recent television report, propagandist Gladis Rubio described El Uvero—her voice lofty, set against a swelling soundtrack—as a mighty bastion, complete with “fortresses made from the thick trunks of the oldest trees in the Sierra Maestra.” The flourish of language, however, was a transparent attempt to obscure the actual conditions: a ramshackle wooden barracks, scarcely fortified and feebly defended. She conveniently avoided mentioning the soldiers’ lack of training and the fact that they were taken by surprise. Yet even under such circumstances, it took Castro’s 80 combatants nearly three hours to subdue them.

Revolutionary propaganda has done what it does best: distort reality, creating a narrative that serves political ends more than historical truth.

Today, El Uvero remains a remote and semi-forgotten place, unnamed on Google Maps, only reached after hours of trail and patience.

While the victory was a modest achievement for the rebels, it is difficult to call it a feat. The numerical superiority of the attackers and the limited strategic importance of the barracks undermine any grandiloquence. In military terms, it was more a tactical operation than a decisive battle.

Today, El Uvero remains a remote and largely forgotten spot, unmarked even on Google Maps and accessible only after hours of arduous trail travel—and a good deal of patience. A modest monument commemorates the so-called “battle,” erected by the Revolution to ensure that the site wouldn’t fade from official memory, unlike so many others that never drew the glare of television cameras. A rural school bears a date as its name—a common stand-in when imagination runs short—and here and there, faded graffiti still clings to walls, quoting Fidel or Raúl. As for the uvero trees themselves, few have survived; coastal erosion and years of neglect have quietly erased them.

Díaz-Canel, however, seems desperate to claim—at the very least—his own Uvero. The gray-haired, clean-shaven successor can’t even muster a Pyrrhic victory. With the population teetering on collapse, the nation unraveling, and generals clamoring for a flicker of hope or a miracle, the hand-picked president might have no choice but to call on Gladis Rubio again—to craft a pseudo-poetic report extolling the monumental feat of… a lineman, perhaps?

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Cubans Pay up to 500 Euros for a Free Appointment at the Spanish Embassy

A Spanish consumer association denounces “marketing” of visa appointments and other procedures.

Queue at the Spanish embassy in Cuba last week / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, May 27, 2025 — Some intermediaries are charging Cubans up to 500 euros for a free procedure at the Spanish Embassy in Cuba. One of the best-known consumer associations in Spain, Facua-Consumers in Action, denounced this practice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, which is responsible for the consulate.

Facua denounces the “slow and cumbersome” visa application process for entering Spain, which has caused discomfort among several users, including Cubans wishing to travel to the country and Spanish citizens residing on the island.

“Cubans, Spaniards, and anyone else who wants to access the services of the Consulate of Spain in Havana are experiencing constant delays in obtaining a prior appointment, which is required for completing the necessary bureaucratic procedures,” warns the association, which expresses concern about the “marketing” that the situation is generating.

“This delay in obtaining an appointment often causes the previously sent documentation to expire and lose its validity.”

Users must send the required documentation electronically to obtain an appointment. Then, the embassy generates an access code for the applicant to book his or her appointment online, but the appointments sell out in just minutes, making it difficult -if not impossible- to find available dates. “This delay in obtaining an continue reading

appointment often causes the previously sent documentation to expire and lose its validity, forcing users to start the process from the beginning,” regrets Facua.

At that moment, managers and other intermediaries step in, “taking advantage of the desperation of many users trying to obtain a visa,” demanding amounts that can reach up to 500 euros. To prevent such abuses, the association urged the Ministry to take measures to streamline the processes and make them more secure, “thus avoiding situations like those currently occurring in Cuba, where third parties exploit others’ needs for profit by managing procedures that should be free of charge.”

The association, as explained in its press release, has received a response from the undersecretary of the Ministry, who said he was confident that the new system of appointments and shifts that will soon be implemented will help to avoid problems of this type. The transition is part of the Consular Digitalization Plan, which began in 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in July, when all of Spain’s embassies will have migrated to the new platform of applications, infrastructure and content.

The Embassy in Cuba is immersed in this process, which includes the new electronic civil registry (DICIREG), which landed at the Havana headquarters this April. Although what keeps most people on tenterhooks is the implementation of the appointment platform, which will also affect applicants for Spanish nationality through the Law of Democratic Memory, whose deadline expires next October.

The diplomatic mission warned last week that on June 23, the credentials from the old system will be removed, making that the deadline for booking appointments using those credentials. Those who have not managed to do so will need to submit a new request using the new tool, which will be explained later.

“It is clarified that it is the booking operation that must be completed before June 23; however, the scheduled appointment can be set for a later date.”

“It is clarified that it is the booking operation that must be completed before June 23; however, the scheduled appointment can be set for a later date. Individuals are requested to attend their appointment with the reservation receipt,” the Consulate stated in a communiqué, also reminding that the application for Spanish nationality must be submitted before October 22, 2025, although—again—the appointment for the procedure may take place afterward.

The fever to obtain Spanish nationality has uncovered a multitude of abuses and frauds, both at the time of obtaining documents and appointments: a black market in which thousands of euros are moved.

Among the most well-known cases is the network that produced false certificates to certify Spanish ancestry for up to 2,000 or 3,000. Although cases of this kind are not uncommon, the volume of fraudulent documents in Cuba was so high that the consulate began requiring double verification from the Historical Archive of Ourense: the institution’s seal and the vicar’s signature, whereas in the rest of the world, only the seal is usually enough. The information was revealed on a local television program in the province, where a young diocesan archivist shared anecdotes about the heavy workload caused by the demand for documents, particularly from Latin America.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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The ‘Reparto’, Musical Genre of Poverty in Cuba, Annoys the Regime’s Cultural Commissars

This style, “like rumba and son before it, was marginal until the market made it profitable,” complains ’Cubadebate’

The official fear is that, the “reparto” will become the musical chronicle of a country in total crisis, just as reggaeton did in the past.

14ymedio, Havana, 25 May 2025 — As a genre, musical style, or a breeding ground for certain social attitudes—such as aggression or sexuality— the “reparto”* is under scrutiny by Cuban cultural commissioners. Several reports and ministerial meetings have taken place in recent weeks to address this “issue,” and this Wednesday, Cubadebate also brought it into the spotlight.

The official fear, spoken in whispers and acknowledged by Randy Alonso’s digital channel, is that the reparto will become the musical chronicle of a country in total crisis, just as reggaeton did in the past. Born and raised in that crisis, the singers have made it their main theme. They were born in humble environments, and now their music is “consumed” by everyone, “even high-level professionals,” laments the text.

The only thing left is the “cultural battle,” a duty to which the Ministry of Culture seems committed without a clear strategy. For now, the official press is leading the debate, arguing that reparto may have once embodied a form of “resistance” against the hardships of daily life in Cuba. However, they now claim it has become a defining trait for any young person, reflecting the environment they navigate.

“Prohibit or apprehend” are the two terms of the equation that the Center for the Research and Development of Cuban Music has put forward to deal with the reparto and, in general, with all urban music. The state entity attributes external origins to the phenomenon, especially in Puerto Rico and Panama. continue reading

The ’reparto’ imitates “foreign patterns” with simple, repetitive electronic bases.

Like reggaeton in the past, they claim, the reparto imitates “foreign patterns” with simple and repetitive electronic bases. Cubadebate points to the controversial “repartero” Chocolate MC as the father of the genre and creator of its most recognizable characteristics: a repertoire born from the orality – and even vulgarity – of Cuban slums.

These characteristics have made Chocolate – currently imprisoned in the United States and the source of countless controversies, crimes and rumors, including that of his recent faked death – a very popular figure among young people.

With a “crude, sexualized and sometimes violent” repertoire, the reparto represents the normalization of vulgar Cuban language, according to musicologist Xiomara Pedroso. “They are the reflection of a society where the daily struggle is in every verse,” she assures. As an example, Cubadebate also quotes a single mother, interviewed in Arroyo Naranjo, who summarizes her opinion on the topics addressed by the reparto: “How can we criticize that they talk about sex or money if that is what is missing at home?

The official press also reaches a problematic conclusion: The reparto is popular because it sells. However, they do not explain who is selling or what rules determine the market in a country where the music industry — if the term is applicable here — does not function the same way as in the rest of the world.

It also claims that more than 90 percent of Cuban teenagers prefer reggaeton and that there are no significant differences in musical taste between young people in cities and in rural areas. Incomprehensibly, they invoke the increased consumption of Latin music on Spotify, which Cubans cannot access, and mention the growing popularity of singers such as Bad Bunny, Karol G, and Anuel AA.

Cubadebate’s handling of the disturbing notion of “official values,” to which the reparto seems to be alien, dictates that cultural spaces such as the Houses of Culture, Cuban Television, and the Lucas Awards should promote alternatives to a problematic musical genre. However, it is paradoxically in these spaces where representatives of the reparto are most promoted.

“A genre born in the slums is now heard in the Lucas. Like rumba or son before it, the reparto was once considered marginal until the market made it profitable,” complains the media.

“The ’reparto’, ’trap’ or reggaeton are not the problem per se; they are rather reflections of complex social realities.

The fact that last Wednesday’s report in Cubadebate was written by multiple authors seems to explain the coexistence of divergent views within the text. While the first part of the text appears to take a critical approach to the Reparto, the second part — which views the Reparto as a “symptom” — is surprising for its sympathetic paragraphs about what the genre represents.

“The reparto, the trap or the reggaeton are not the problem per se; they are rather reflections of complex social realities. Their content should not be seen as a lack of values, but rather as a consequence of deeper issues: the rise in poverty, the lack of opportunities, and the emotional exhaustion that weakens the ethical foundtions of society.”

The university magazine Alma Mater took a more open approach to the subject. Several days ago, it claimed that it had no intention of defending or criticizing the Reparto, but rather of gathering situations that bear its imprint on today’s Cuba.

It was, ultimately, a sarcastic portrayal of the repartero Bebeshito—as controversial as Chocolate—in which the intention was to synthesize the entire guild. However, Alma Mater subtly hinted at what appears to be the State’s true concern regarding reparteros.

It is not just a matter of ethics or civility, but also of relationships with small and medium-sized enterprises and private businesses, which favor the performances of these musicians. However, even here, the official press does not dare to settle its differences with a musical proposal that it criticizes as an institution, despite the fact that—on a personal level, and these texts are the greatest evidence of it—all its journalists listen to and enjoy it.

*Translator’s note: In Cuban music, “reparto” refers to both an urban genre influenced by reggaeton and the working-class neighborhoods where many of its artists originate. This link between music and social identity shapes its lyrics and cultural impact.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Something That Has Deeply Affected Cuban Literature Is Fear

Leonardo Padura presented his book this Wednesday at La Mistral, a few meters from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 22 May 2025 — Madrid starts the week in full swing with Cuban literature. On Tuesday, Carlos Celdran presented his book -with two plays- at the Arenales bookstore. A day later, Roberto Carcassés presented his first novel at El Argonauta, while Leonardo Padura attended the presentation of Un camino de medio siglo: Alejo Carpentier y la narrativa de lo real maravilloso, at La Mistral. Despite the coincidence, the audience filled all the seats.

Padura shared a table with Luis Rafael Hernández, director of the publishing house Verbum, and the Spanish critic and professor Fernando Rodríguez Lafuente, former director of the Cervantes Institute. The conversation was a kind of meeting between the living and the dead, a contest between the marvelous and the harshly real, but also a confession of the fears that have accompanied generations of Cuban writers.

Winner of the Princess of Asturias Prize for Literature (2015), Padura does not hide Carpentier’s influence on his work, even though his colleagues joked that every writer should “erase the traces of his referents”. Carpentier himself used to say that “writers should not talk about their masters, so that the seams do not show.

The label of the Latin American boom has also been applied to Borges and Carpentier, without much nuance. The result: theoretical confusion and the lumping together of different literatures. continue reading

In 1978, Padura wrote a review of La consagración de la primavera, which El Caimán Barbudo subtitled “Más realismo que maravilla” (More realism than wonder). “It was already a novel in which the ’marvelous real’ didn’t work in the same way; you had to look at things from a different point of view,” he explained. But critics continued to work with the same aesthetics, the same categories. The label of the Latin American boom was also applied to Borges and Carpentier, without much nuance. The result: theoretical confusion and the lumping together of different literatures.

Padura drew a clear line: magical realism accepts the fantastic as an indistinguishable part of reality; marvelous realism, on the other hand, presents the magical from a logical, almost rational approach.

The research underlying this essay began in the midst of the Special Period, when access to information in Cuba was a titanic task. To write The Man Who Loved Dogs, he had to rely on friends with free Internet access who downloaded PDF files from abroad. “We’re talking about 2006 or 2007. Imagine what it was like before,” he said.

“In the 1990s, I wrote like a madman in order not to go crazy,” he confessed without laughing. And he recalled that when he gave the essay to Carpentier’s widow, “there were things she didn’t like because she was very jealous, very widowed.”

Thanks to this research, he was able to better understand Carpentier’s concept of history, his vision of space and, above all, his interpretation of the concept of revolution, which Padura considers “very saccharine” and with which he admits to disagreeing. He also told an anecdote that illustrates the biographical ambiguity of the author of The Century of Enlightenment: for fear of being deported during the Machado regime, Carpentier claimed to have been born at 14 Maloja Street in Havana, when in fact he was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. “All in all,” added Padura, “he is the most Cuban Swiss-born writer one can imagine.”

“The writers of the 1970s who survived wrote in fear. And later generations have not been completely free of it.”

In addition to Carpentier, the author revealed three other great references: Vargas Llosa, Cabrera Infante – “who taught me to write in the Havana language” – and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán – “who showed that it was possible to write police literature that was, above all, literature”. “I’ve been wanting to write a note for about two years, and I couldn’t do it while Vargas Llosa was alive, because it might seem like I was buttering him up” he joked.

The writer recalled that his years as a student at the university were marked by a power that demanded “a Marxist understanding of history”. In addition, the culture of the island suffered the ostracized death of two “phenomena” of world literature: Virgilio Piñera and Lezama Lima.

“It was very difficult” – Padura admitted – “something that has deeply affected Cuban literature is fear. People wrote with fear. The writers of the 1970s who survived wrote with fear. And later generations have not been completely free of it.”

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Cuba’s Supreme Court Revokes the Parole of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro

Ferrer and his family were arrested by the political police, who “completely ransacked” the headquarters of Unpacu.
Navarro was arrested while on his way to visit his daughter Sayli in prison

José Daniel Ferrer, in one of his latest videos posted on social media. / Screenshot/Youtube/Unpacu

14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2025 — Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was arrested in Santiago de Cuba after a raid by the political police on the organization’s headquarters in Altamira. Repressive forces completely ransacked the place and detained Ferrer, his wife Nelva Ortega, their young son Daniel José, and activists Roilan Zarraga and Fernando González Vaillant.

“They were all taken to an unknown location,” Ana Belkis Ferrer, the opposition leader’s sister, reported on social media. She reported the news and demanded the detainees’ release.

According to Reuters, the Supreme Court revoked the opponent’s parole, granted three months ago after a negotiation between Havana, Washington and the Vatican, never recognized by the parties. According to Maricela Sosa, vice president of that court, Ferrer is guilty of violating probation by failing to show up in court on two occasions.

“All of them were taken to an unknown location,” denounced Ana Belkis Ferrer on social media.

“Not only did he not show up, but he also announced on his social networks, in flagrant defiance and contempt of the law, that he would not appear before any judicial authority,” Sosa told the British agency.

Felix Navarro was also arrested during a visit he made with his wife, Lady in White Sonia Alvarez, to the prison where his daughter Sayli is being held, in Matanzas. Regarding his case, Sosa said that his parole had also been revoked for leaving Perico, the town where he lives, without a judge’s permission. continue reading

Sosa also had a word about those people released from prison in January who have also made calls for “disorder” and maintained “public ties with the head of the U.S. Embassy,” Mike Hammer. This Tuesday, precisely, the official press published a long warning against the diplomat.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event. The Complaint Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy recalled that Ferrer is a “beneficiary of precautionary measures of protection granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)”.

“We condemn this new aggression by the Cuban regime against those who peacefully fight for freedom and democracy, and demand the immediate release of all detainees, as well as respect for their physical integrity and fundamental rights,” the Center calls for in a statement.

For its part, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba issued a communiqué in which it not only demands the release of Ferrer and Navarro, but also gives details on the legal situation of both.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event.

Ferrer, they claim, had already served his full sentence since August 2024, while Navarro “never had parole conditions imposed on him,” as the Supreme Court alleges.

In short, it is an operation orchestrated by the State Security, a “simultaneous arrest of emblematic figures of the opposition,” which is a clear violation of human rights in the country.

For the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, it is also “a new onslaught by the Cuban regime against opponents and human rights activists, and exposes the increasingly repressive climate on the island.

Unpacu and its leader have lived for months in extreme tension with the political police because of their humanitarian work in Santiago de Cuba. In videos and statements, Ferrer has recounted the process by which the organization feeds hundreds of needy people in the eastern Cuban city and the obstacles the regime has placed in the way of its work.

During all this time, Ferrer assured that he would not accept any conditions for his release and that he would continue to denounce both the critical situation of the country and the responsibility of the government in the multisectoral debacle of the island. In the networks there is also a repeated comment: the arrest took place after the funeral of Pope Francis, who convened the Jubilee of Prisoners, in the framework of which the releases took place on the island. A negotiator to whom the Cuban regime will no longer have to answer.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Neither the Shrimp nor the Lobster Have Been Spared From the Debacle of the Cuban Economy

In five years, pork production has dropped by 95%, pasta by 92%, rice by 82.4%, yogurt by 81.2%, coffee by 65.6%, ice cream by 62% and flour by 60%.

The decline in the production of animal fodder contributes to the understanding of the debacle of animal products / El Artemiseño

14ymedio, Madrid, 1 May 2025 — Cuban authorities can celebrate the increase in rice production in 2024. And little else. The data published on Wednesday on the results of the manufacturing industry last year follow the usual path of certifying that, if something goes wrong in Cuba, it can still get much worse.

The case of compound feed is the paradigm of its disastrous impact on the food chain. With a decrease of 47% in just one year and 80% compared to 2019, only 216,700 tons of this product were produced, which in turn explains the collapse of the meat industry and the lack of animal protein for the Cuban population.

The decline in pork production is nothing new, although the situation has not yet bottomed out. In five years, 95% of the volume of banded pork has been lost, from 134,700 tons in 2019 to only 7,200, aggravating the already enormous decline (90%) recorded the previous year, when the production of 13,300 tons, now considered enviable since it is double that obtained in 2024, already seemed a catastrophe. Less brutal, but not negligible, are the decreases in boneless beef (14,400 tons, 3,700 tons less than the previous year) and canned meat (from 78,200 tons to 61,000 tons), which have just finished the sector.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming. The path is similar. Compared to 2023, cheese fell by 41% (to 4,400 tons), but in the last five years the drop reaches 83.3%. The same goes for yogurt, which left 26,300 tons produced in 2024, compared to 50,000 in 2023 and 140,400 in 2019, a drop of 81.2%. Thus, nothing has been achieved in these years of alleged struggle for food production, and this does not only concern the raw material, but also the destruction of the industry for reasons ranging from the state of the facilities to the lack of personnel, not to mention the extraordinary energy crisis that prevents even imagining that the situation will recover. continue reading

Closing the animal section, the relative recovery of salted butter is striking, which was produced only in 2020 – 100 tons – and has now produced 9,000 tons for two consecutive years. On the other hand, unsalted butter has practically disappeared, from 492,400 tons in 2019 to only 48,100 last year. In five years, 90% of production has been lost.

Fishing is not much better, although it is one of the government’s priority sectors. Shrimp and lobster, protected by their contribution in foreign currency through exports, are also sinking. The first, which left 6,900 tons in 2019, was 1,100 tons last year, 84% less. As for the second, 45% of the production of tails was lost in five years (248,600 tons compared to 136,000) and 9.2% for the whole frozen.

Pasta is another national food product that is gradually being wiped off the map to make way for imported products. No less than 92% of the production has fallen in five years, from 38,200 tons to only 3,000 tons, although in this case it was already foreseen, since in 2023 only 3,200 tons will be produced.

Bread is in the same line, whose case is not so dramatic – from 454,600 to 277,300 tons, 39% less – but its impact is greater because it is an indispensable food in every daily meal and cannot be imported in its non-industrial form. The relationship is evident in the loss of the flour industry, which has also declined by more than 60% in five years. In 2019, 490,300 tons were produced, but last year only 200,600, which shows that the successive shipments of wheat are flying, as confirmed by the decreasing weight of bread.

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes. With a production of 6,600 tons, much of which is exported, one of the most important products of the island shows tiny figures, with a decrease of 65.6% in five years, with the aggravating factor that more than 35% was lost in just one year, since 10,200 tons were produced in 2023.

There is a brief section for respite. The first, as indicated at the beginning of this note, is rice. It is one of the only products that improved compared to 2023, going from 27,900 tons to 34,400, a symptom that Vietnamese aid is of some use. But the joy is short-lived when viewed in perspective, as 196,100 tons were produced in 2019. This means that in a five-year period 82.4% of a staple food in the Cuban diet has been lost, forced to import and receive Asian donations constantly of a grain that is distributed by the ration book.

The rest of the increases remain for a few other foods, including the unhealthy crackers with salt, which increased from 2,700 tons to 3,300 this 2024, although it was 15,500 in 2019. Also improved were canned tomatoes, the largest industrial recovery of the year, with 13,400 tons, compared to 8,400 in 2023.

Without data for oil and evaporated milk, the list is closed by canned fruit, whose production fell by 25%, from 51,900 tons to 38,900 only last year; and ice cream, which with 8,100 tons barely loses when compared to 2023 -8,600-, but the thing changes when it is observed that in 2019 were produced 21,600 and it is seen that the fall exceeds 62%, which explains that MSMEs in the sector import directly even from Italy.

Although the Cuban government has focused on food production as a priority – a totally unrealistic extreme, given the scarce investment and persistence of the same erratic policies – it has said little about food processing, which is no less important, and even less about how to revitalize the industry.

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the forecasts are not only bad, but worsening. The projections of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) showed a negative growth for the island of -0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), but the revision made to reflect the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff measures has lowered expectations for most countries, which are still growing. Cuba, which is not affected by the absence of trade with the United States, loses a tenth in any case and stands at -0.4%, while the rest of the region is growing despite the blow. With the exception of Venezuela (-1.5%) and Haiti (-2%).

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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March 8 in Cuba: When Dignity and Obedience Are Confused

The Federation of Cuban Women said it was celebrating, not Women’s Day, but the right that the Revolution gave them to be “dignified.”

March 8th commemoration in the presence of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Havana, 10 March 2025 — This past March 8th, the Cuban regime’s institution responsible for monitoring and controlling women put out a weak, shaky, and contradictory statement. The FMC (Federation of Cuban Women) announced in their pamphlet that they were celebrating not International Women’s Day, but rather the right the Revolution gave them to be “dignified.” They claimed to uphold the principles — not of their own female leaders (if they even have any) — but of a macho man who presided over all their congresses and always insisted on having the final say. It’s pretty clear the statement was a throwback to recent events in Río Cauto.

The population of this Granma municipality sank into darkness and misery each year, like the rest of the country, but the local press only spoke of fictitious achievements and a supposed revolutionary euphoria. Río Cauto had been proclaimed “Vanguard Municipality” in the celebration of July 26th in 2023. That same year, it had earned the distinction of hosting the provincial event commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution.

But the most striking event occurred in February 2024, when the town experienced a collective ’bristling’ following the visit of the appointed dictator, Miguel Díaz-Canel. Its three key officials — Sadia Pérez Nápoles (first secretary of the municipal PCC), Dailín Cox Pajaró (president of the Municipal Assembly), and Yaniel Yero Nápoles (mayor) — had already amassed a significant collection of diplomas and were sharpening their claws to be promoted, without a doubt, to provincial positions.

But just a year later, an unexpected turn of events once again put Río Cauto in the spotlight, and not for its usual submissiveness. All Cubans saw on social media a humble woman protesting against hunger and misery. We also witnessed two mastodontic goons violently dragging her away in front continue reading

of her children. We read the statement from Río Cauto’s authorities branding her ungrateful and throwing in her face the four planks and zinc roof that the Government, in its boundless generosity, had provided her. At the climax of this chronicle, we all closely followed how her neighbors took to the streets in the most resounding protest of the year so far across the country, demanding her release and voicing their collective exasperation.

Cuba Lost More Than 300,000 Inhabitants in One Year, Confirms the Government

The regime gives the figure of the current population of the Island: just over 9,700,000

“We are an aging country, so the strategies and actions being implemented are still insufficient” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 21 February 2025 — It has been known since last July, as the Government itself acknowledged, that Cuba’s population had dropped below 10 million. However, until this Friday, they had not disclosed the exact figure. The number of inhabitants on the Island as of December 31, 2024, according to Juan Carlos Alfonso Faga, deputy head of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), was 9,748,532—more than 300,000 fewer people than the previous year (10,055,968), the official specified.

He also indicated that more than a quarter of the Cuban population is 60 years old or older, and that the elderly are the only demographic group that has grown in recent years. By the end of 2023, for example, as revealed just three months ago, this age group accounted for 24.4% of the population (2,452,489), one percentage point more than the previous year and nearly five compared to 2016 (19.8%), when it was already considered high. Furthermore, over the past 20 years, the increase has been 9.7 percentage points.

Adding to these dramatic figures is the fact that only about 71,000 births were recorded last year, ’the lowest number in decades,’ they conceded.

About 71,000 births were recorded last year, ‘the lowest number in decades’

In light of this situation, the authorities gathered in the governmental commission on the subject, presided over this very Friday by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, expressed that ’implementing strategies’ for the Demographic Dynamics Program is ’a priority.’ One of these strategies is the establishment of ’fertility programs and the maternal and child continue reading

program.’

In this regard, Marrero asked the ’state business organizations’ to create childcare facilities ’according to the demand of their own workers.’ ’It cannot be that the central government has to be using the Ministry of Education’s budget to make investments for this purpose, when these are mothers who are employed, generating wealth, working with the State, in these business organizations that should be the ones executing these investments,’ lamented the Prime Minister.

In the meeting, which was echoed by the Canal Caribe news program, it was also revealed that not all of the budget allocated to social public policies has been executed. Referring to this, Marrero called for ’discipline’ and exclaimed: ’How is it possible that we have money and do not spend it?’

Nevertheless, they acknowledged: ’Although work is being done on different programs aimed at addressing the needs of the elderly, we are an aging country, so the strategies and actions being implemented to protect the nation’s demographic dynamics are still insufficient.’

’How is it possible that we have money and do not execute it?’

The post by pro-government journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso spreading the news was immediately filled with comments full of bitter humor. “I would like to know where the rations are for the almost three million missing people,” wrote Yariel Abrahante Jiménez, to which D Jorge Daba responded: “Simple, the shipment of rice from December, January and February arrived, and now the three million missing people show up.”

Others are simply asking for explanations. ’And how are they going to solve the issue? Soon we’ll be back to six million again,’ says Erick Sánchez, alluding to the population figure from 1959, at the triumph of the Revolution.

What was not mentioned at any point in the official media are the causes of the dramatic population decline, which specialists like Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos view as close to an ’implosion.’

This Cuban economist and demographer published a study last July estimating that Cuba had lost 18% of its population between 2022 and 2023, mainly due to migration. Albizu-Campos’s figures were more pessimistic than the Government’s (8.62 million inhabitants), but they align with the fact that many emigrants who left less than two years ago are still counted as residents on the Island.

In any case, the figure is also explained through many additional indicators, such as the increase in child poverty, the rise in maternal mortality, the decline in life expectancy, or the surge in teenage pregnancies.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Due to a Staff Shortage, Cuba’s Funeral Homes Are Turning to Inmates for Various Tasks

The situation in Ciego de Ávila is dramatic: coffins of poor quality and only 8 of the 19 assigned hearses are working

Two workers at the city cemetery in Ciego de Ávila. / Invasor

14ymedio, Madrid, 17 February 2025 — The funeral services in Ciego de Ávila are in chaos. Broken-down hearses, poor quality coffins, a flower shortage for making wreaths, and a lack of workers for maintenance and cleaning paint a bleak picture. It’s the province’s own Director of Communal Services, Luis Alberto Pérez Olivares, who provided this information to the provincial newspaper Invasor in an article published this Monday.

One of the ‘complaints from the public’ reported by the state-run newspaper is the poor quality of the coffins. The provincial director of Communal Services defends himself by explaining that they have a factory to meet the demand of the 21 existing funeral homes and it ‘works well,’ but the same can’t be said for the raw materials.

Contracts are established with the sawmills of the Forestry Company, but the wood quality is poor. Even though they try to select the best available, they often can’t get what they need. The official laments that they used to get a type of pressed cardboard that gave the coffins more sturdiness, but they haven’t received it in years. Now, they make coffins of different shapes with durable finishes, but they can’t guarantee a better appearance, nor can they provide glass viewing panels for each one, so they only use a small square of glass at the funeral home.

Additionally, they lack staff ’due to low wages,’ which forces them to turn to carpenters and dock workers ’from the Trust Task,’ meaning inmates. continue reading

There is a lack of staff because ’the wages are very low and not attractive enough

The lack of labor is worrisome throughout the entire area. The whole province has a total of 158 workers in funeral services, who share the tasks of cleaning the facilities, refurbishing and painting, as well as grave digging and coordination.

Pérez Olivares doesn’t mince words: ’There’s a lack of staff for cleaning funeral homes, and the task has to be taken on by coordinators and drivers because, being a budgeted entity, the wages are very low and not attractive.’ He therefore calls on those with cemetery plots to visit at least once a month to maintain those areas and not neglect their upkeep.

Another issue plaguing this service is the lack of hearses. For instance, two municipalities in Ciego de Ávila, Baraguá and Venezuela, don’t have any hearses available. Most of the vehicles that should be in service are out of order in the province: 11 out of 19. Only eight are currently working, according to the official.

Another three vehicles are ’proposed for disposal,’ meaning they’ll be scrapped, while the rest are being repaired at the Comprehensive Automotive Services Company (Eisa). Only two hearses are new, received last year, says Pérez Olivares, ’but the others are old and have numerous issues.’

They considered the possibility of having two small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have the necessary conditions take over the repair of those vehicles.

The new hearses are reserved for ’transporting the deceased to other provinces, which happens frequently due to the characteristics of the local population,’ and for foreign tourists who pass away in the northern keys.

The state-run newspaper acknowledges that in Ciego de Ávila, ’there are many obstacles to overcome when requesting funeral services.’ It recalls a recent visit to the city by the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, where they considered having two micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have the necessary conditions take over the repair of those vehicles that provide a highly sensitive service to the population.

However, the plan seems to be just that—a possibility. According to the director in his interview with Invasor, ’there is a command post set up at the provincial Communal Services headquarters to monitor the service and respond to the demands of the municipalities that don’t have hearses, as well as any breakdowns that occur during transport.’

All of this causes delays in the transportation of the deceased, which doesn’t seem to be resolved in the short term, although Pérez Olivares assures that one of the repaired vehicles will be assigned to Morón in the coming days.

Transportation, coffins, and labor aren’t the only things the deceased in Ciego de Ávila lack. There is also a shortage of flower wreaths, which the official blames on ’families requesting a much larger amount’ than the seven wreaths per deceased that Comcávila, the company that cultivates the gardens, can guarantee. Additionally, there is a lack of furniture in the funeral homes.

The director acknowledges that ’attending these services represents a painful moment for people’ and ’another discomfort due to quality issues should not be added to it.’

It’s not the first time that the precarious state of funeral services on the Island has made the news. From cemeteries, which get looted by bone thieves, to hearses, often crippled by fuel shortages and breakdowns.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Amnesty International Denounces That the Process of Releasing Prisoners in Cuba Is ’Full of Irregularities’

The regime has also “not had the will to guarantee immediate and unconditional freedom for prisoners of conscience such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Loreto Hernández, Roberto Pérez Fonseca or Sayli Navarro”

The director for the Americas of the NGO Amnesty International, Ana Piquer, during a conference in Bogotá (Colombia). / EFE/Carlos Ortega

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 17 February 2025 — The NGO Amnesty International (AI) accused the Cuban government on Monday of “irregularities” and “lack of transparency” in the process of releasing 553 prisoners, which was announced following the agreement between Washington and Havana, mediated by the Vatican and announced in the last days of Joe Biden’s presidency.

In a statement by AI, the organization’s Director for the Americas, Ana Piquer, criticized that the authorities on the island “have not acknowledged the existence of people detained for political reasons” and have “not published a list of names of those who will be included in this process.”

Piquer stated that the regime has also “failed to show the willingness to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Loreto Hernández, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, and Sayli Navarro.”

Six days before leaving the White House, Biden removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Hours later, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it would begin a process of releasing 553 people convicted of “various crimes.”

“People imprisoned for political reasons have once again been used in a dehumanizing manner.” continue reading

Officially, Havana has never linked the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism with the release of prisoners—only Washington has mentioned an agreement—and it quickly rushed to clarify that those benefited were granted conditional release, so their sentences were not extinguished.

Various organizations, such as Prisoners Defenders and Justicia 11J, warned that the releases were halted over the weekend before Donald Trump took office on January 20th. One of the first decisions made by the current U.S. president was to reintroduce Cuba to the blacklist.

“The possible cancellation or pause of the releases is alarming, as it would seem to show that people imprisoned for political reasons have once again been used in a dehumanizing manner, as bargaining chips in a political game, without their lives, physical integrity, and rights being taken into account,” criticized Piquer in the statement.

According to the NGO, 172 prisoners have been released, and another nine have received some change in their legal status, mostly participants in the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). Prisoners Defenders, for its part, counts 200 released political prisoners and has confirmed that some common prisoners have also been released.

Among those benefited are historical dissidents, such as Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, and activists like Pedro Albert Sánchez, Luis Robles, and the Lady in White Tania Echeverría. However, many prisoners considered political remain in prison, including some with international recognition, such as artists and activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, who have been classified as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Long Gone Are the Times When a Flying Saucer Arrived at the Ciudad Deportiva in Havana

Stagnant water has turned a shade of green within the pools. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, February 9, 2025 –Resembling a flying saucer or a hamburger bun, Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva stands not only as one of the city’s premier architectural treasures but also as the backdrop for thrilling events like championship finals and Cuba’s sole Rolling Stones concert.

Nestled at the crossroads of several capital neighborhoods, this grand complex, inaugurated in 1958, symbolizes the current state of sports on the island. The training grounds, race track, indoor courts, and especially the swimming pools, are all in dire need of extensive renovation to regain their former glory and pivotal role in nurturing young athletes

Stagnant water has turned a shade of green within the pools—one Olympic-sized and the other for diving. The cracked and peeling interior walls vie with the damaged stands where once the crowd buzzed, shouting or applauding as their favorite athletes swam. Now, a leak has flooded part of the seating area, from which a nauseating smell emanates. continue reading

There are five basketball courts, but of the ten hoops they should have, only three remain. / 14ymedio

Adjacent to the pool area, five basketball courts stretch out, though only three of the ten hoops remain. One of the courts is also plagued by wastewater, giving it an appearance somewhere between a swamp and a landfill where all sorts of trash pile up.

One of the remaining basketball nets collapsed a few days ago, and a coach with his students took it upon themselves to set it back up, knowing that the Ciudad Deportiva staff wouldn’t handle the repair. The officials from the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (Inder), located within the complex, seem indifferent to the decay spreading around them.”

At the entrance of the Inder headquarters in Havana, coaches and their students often wait to ’catch’ the president of the official entity, Osvaldo Vento. Only after persistent insistence and complaints about the area’s deterioration does the official agree to send some workers to assess a fallen hoop, a race track overgrown with weeds, or the sewage water accumulating in parts of the grounds. Most of the time, only a ’temporary patch’ is done, laments a basketball coach.

Residents avoid the area at night due to the multiple gaps in the fence and the lack of surveillance, making it a dangerous place. During the day, some residents from the nearby neighborhoods of Cerro or Nuevo Vedado come to run, do calisthenics, or simply cut through the complex to shorten their route. The crossing must be done with caution, as the holes and tall grass can hold unexpected surprises.

Residents avoid the area at night because its multiple holes in the fence and lack of surveillance make it a dangerous area. / 14ymedio

Its current state surprises no one. Since its opening, the Ciudad Deportiva has undergone only two major renovations. The first was in preparation for the 1991 Pan American Games in the Cuban capital, and the second as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the Villa de San Cristóbal de la Habana. Five years after that milestone, the cracks of a renovation that was more superficial painting than deep intervention have emerged.

In memory, however, some stories of its past remain. Like that day on December 28, 1954, Cuba’s equivalent of April Fool’s Day, when Cuban humorous wit flourished on the grounds where the Ciudad Deportiva was being built. Probably influenced by the overwhelming impact of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, a rumor—strengthened by news spread by the national press—spread about the landing of a flying saucer in the vicinity.

Thousands of curious onlookers gathered at the site, with talks of even mobilizing the Army. Eventually, several famous Cuban actors and singers, including the popular Rosita Fornés, emerged from the artifact dressed as Martians. The ’close encounter’ with the Habaneros was accompanied by a musical piece asserting, ’The Martians have arrived / And they arrived dancing cha-cha-cha,’ composed by Rosendo Ruiz.

Seventy years have passed since that memorable day, and the promises to transform the area into a modern zone with cutting-edge infrastructure have not been fulfilled. Neither the enthusiastic crowds nor the thousands of voices that once filled the grounds of the Ciudad Deportiva remain.

One of the playing fields is also affected by wastewater. / 14ymedio

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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“We Have Reified José Martí to the Point of Exhaustion and Young People See Him as a Distant Reality”

Armando, a professor in Manzanillo, regrets the manipulation of the image of the hero by the Cuban regime

The Cine Martí, one of the numerous public spaces named after the national hero. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Carlos A. Rodriguez, Manzanillo, Cuba, 29 January 2025 — “We have objectified Martí to the point of exhaustion, we have limited him to a photo, a slogan, a piece of marble, and children and young people increasingly see him as a more distant reality,” reflects Armando, a secondary school teacher in Manzanillo.

On the 172nd anniversary of the birth of the apostle of Cuban independence, the usual tributes were observed in Granma province. Pilgrimages, parades, special matinees, and vigils were held, but a growing apathy was noticeable among the already scarce public. “We are stuck in time. We have become monotonous and repetitive.” noted one observer, a local professor.

From the largest city to the most intricate village, there is a street, a school or a monument to Martí, like this Cultural Center in Manzanillo. / 14ymedio

From the largest city to the smallest, most intricate village, there is a street, a school, or a monument bearing his name. However, “a society that considers itself as embodying Martí must be able to build upon his legacy, and I think we’re moving backward in this regard,” adds the professor.

“We must see Martí for what he truly is: a visionary, but above all, a human being with a solid ethical foundation and great wisdom. That is why I dislike certain manipulations about his person and his work. Martí was a profound patriot, an advocate for independence, and an anti-imperialist. However, it is questionable how his ideas are forcibly linked to a Marxist process. Of course, I cannot say this in class,” he says with a rueful smile.

“And even less can I say that they should have held a referendum to build Fidel’s tomb next to the mausoleum of El Maestro. The elders say that in the past, even for constructing a fountain or a plaque, one had to seek continue reading

permission from the municipalities. That was not the case at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago. But nobody would dare to change that now. Fortunately, it’s not my subject, so I limit myself to telling my students that José Julián was brave and exceptionally intelligent.”

Martí Avenue is filled with ditches that mar its appearance, and the cinema has yet to fulfill its social purpose. / 14ymedio

Manzanillo has a primary school, an avenue, and a cinema all named after the apostle, and even a replica of his birthplace on Paula Street in Havana. However, Martí Avenue is filled with ditches that mar its appearance, the cinema has yet to fulfill its social purpose, and the Cultural Center, which includes the replica, has not yet realized its privileged position on the city’s promenade.

“Meanwhile, Lázaro, an elderly man who describes himself as a patriot since childhood, laments. In those years, it was common to have photos of ‘el Apóstol‘ in the homes of communists. Not a partisan orientation; it was something that came from within. Now, everything has changed. On January 27, we used to have a Noche Buena Martiana, a vigil that crowded the poet Navarro Luna’s house. I can no longer attend because of my health. Today, those who go do so because they are summoned by their work. In my time, we went as if going to mass, to pay homage to the greatest Cuban. And that’s it.”

When asked about his dreams and frustrations as an octogenarian, Lázaro disarms us. “At my age, I no longer dream. I would have wanted another city, another country. A truly Martian one. Beautiful, prosperous, even if I continued to carry sacks at the port. So I content myself with praying to Martí at night. And I ask for his forgiveness, like I would to the baby Jesus, for all the stains that have been placed on his name.”

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Concern Over Possible Suspension of Release Process for Political Prisoners in Cuba / Cubalex

January 21, 2025

Cubalex expresses its deep concern over the possible suspension of the release process announced by the Cuban government on January 14, in which it promised the gradual liberation of 553 sanctioned persons, generating expectations among the families of persons deprived of liberty for political reasons.

However, following the U.S. administration’s recent decision to revoke Cuba’s exclusion from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, we have not received any new reports of people being released from prison. In addition, the Cuban government has not officially informed us whether the release process will continue, which increases uncertainty and concern among those affected and their families.

Commitment to the Vatican and Proclaimed Humanism

In its official statement, the Cuban government affirmed that this measure had been taken “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025” and as part of “the close and fluid relations” with the Vatican. In light of this, Cubalex urges the Cuban state to honor its public commitment and demonstrate the “humanism” that it claims characterizes its criminal justice framework and penitentiary system.”

The uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the release process generates deep concern and highlights how the lives, freedom, and integrity of those deprived of liberty are being used as pawns in a political game between the Havana regime and Washington.

Persistant Omissions and Fundamental Concerns

Denial of the existence of political prisoners: Despite repeated statements from international organizations such as the Committee Against Torture, the Universal Periodic Review, and CEDAW, which recognize actions that criminalize and penalize the exercise of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association as repressive, the Cuban government continues to deny the existence of political prisoners. This official discourse attempts to delegitimize international complaints, minimize the impact of human rights violations, and avoid international accountability. This generates fear that most of the people released from prison include those punished for common crimes, while the victims of political repression continue to be unjustly imprisoned.

Generating expectations without guarantees: It is unacceptable and macabre to create false hopes in the families of persons deprived of liberty. Cubalex has recorded cases in which the benefits granted in this process are not new concessions, but rights previously denied even though they met the legal requirements. continue reading

Lack of transparency: Monitoring conducted by Cubalex has identified troubling patterns in the releases. To date, we have recorded 172 beneficiaries, with an average age of 32 years, including 24 women, 147 men, and one person belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community. Among the beneficiaries, only three are over 60 years old. The complete and verified list is available on our website. Similarly, it is important to note that we do not know the total number of people who have been released due to the lack of transparency from the Cuban government. On January 16, the authorities announced that 127 people were released between Wednesday and Thursday, but without providing specific details or verifiable information.

Exclusion of civil society and victims: The process has not included the participation of civil society nor mechanisms to support the physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation of the released individuals. These measures are essential for those who have suffered inhumane detention conditions, which in many cases constitute torture.

Cubalex demands that the Cuban government fulfill its compromise to release all individuals detained for political reasons and ensure full respect for their fundamental rights. Likewise, we urge the international community to adopt a critical stance towards these actions, demanding concrete guarantees to protect the individuals who have been released.

Freedom should not be used as a bargaining chip or presented as a humanitarian gesture after years of unjustified suffering. Cubalex reaffirms its commitment to continue monitoring the process and denouncing any human rights violations.

The post Concern over the possible suspension of the release of political prisoners in Cuba appeared first on Cubalex.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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