This is the account where the specialists transfer most of their salary once they receive it from Italian entities.
Cuban doctors, in an image shared on social media by Calabria Governor Roberto Occhiuto. / Facebook/Roberto Occhiuto.
14ymedio, Madrid, August 28, 2026 – The account of the Cuban Medical Services Commercialization Company (CSMC) at the Italian bank BPER has been blocked since the end of July, and everything seems to indicate that this was a decision by the institution itself to avoid exposure to possible U.S. sanctions. This was reported by Diario de Cuba in an article signed by Annarella Grimal and published this Thursday, based on several knowledgeable sources, including two members of the brigade in Calabria.
These sources, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, told the independent newspaper that transfers made to CSMC by the doctors have been returned and that the Commercialization Company “cannot access the deposited money” or carry out transactions from the end of July through the account the state organization holds at Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna (BPER).
According to Diario de Cuba, Calabrian healthcare entities deposit the doctors’ pay directly into their personal accounts on the 24th of each month. In a mechanism common to other missions, the specialists submit their pay statements to the mission’s officials, who calculate how much they may keep, and then, “voluntarily,” as one of the healthcare workers admitted in an interview with Associated Press last July, they hand over most of the money to the Commercialization Company.
“Of what is received for overtime, only 28.5% is theirs,” the independent newspaper asserts
In the case of Calabria, according to Diario de Cuba, the base salary stipulated by the Italy-Cuba Agreement is 4,700 euros, of which CSMC allows the healthcare worker to keep a maximum of 1,200 euros. “Of what is received for overtime, only 28.5% is theirs,” the independent newspaper asserts. The remainder must be transferred “within 24 hours” to the account at BPER that is now frozen. continue reading
As Diario de Cuba concludes, the measure “interrupts the final stage of the extraction scheme through which the Cuban state company collects most of the doctors’ salaries in Italy,” something for which these brigades have been identified by the U.S. and several international organizations as forced labor.
Faced with this setback, which Diario de Cuba dates to between July 24 and 28, the head of the Cuban Medical Mission in Italy, Luis Enrique Pérez Ulloa, “called an urgent meeting” and issued instructions on what to do next. According to one source, he “asked them to hold on to the money until a solution was found,” while another source said they were also advised to “take the money to Cuba during their vacations and hand it over there to a person assigned to collect it.”
In Italy, meanwhile, the same outlet reports, “they are investigating everything that is happening with the Cuban mission and the money transfers.” It is more than likely that the account freeze is related to the most recent U.S. sanctions against entities directly connected to the export of Cuban doctors, imposed on July 23.
At that time, not only was the Cuban Medical Services Commercialization Company placed on the blacklist, but Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda and the director of the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation, Gretza Sánchez Padrón were also. These sanctions, which follow the path set by the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, do not apply only to the entities and individuals named, but also to anyone who conducts transactions with them, who may likewise face sanctions.
That is why the Italian bank has decided, as a precaution, to freeze the CSMC account.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The Spanish singer chose the San Francisco El Nuevo church for her concert.
Spanish singer Sílvia Pérez Cruz, at the San Francisco El Nuevo church in Old Havana. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, August 26, 2026 – Sílvia Pérez Cruz’s velvet voice, capable of moving from flamenco to bolero, from jazz to fado, from copla to French chanson, from Mediterranean folk music to all the colors of the Americas, could not be appreciated in all its splendor this Sunday in Cuba. The concert she gave, free of charge, at the San Francisco El Nuevo church, in the heart of Old Havana, disappointed part of the audience because of the poor sound.
The Renaissance-era church had been deliberately chosen by the Spanish singer precisely because of its acoustics, so that she could offer a recital without electricity and by candlelight. But it did not work out. The cacophony eventually prompted the artist to use a microphone, although it did little to help. The smiles and tireless efforts of the ensemble, completed by the trio of Bori Alberto (bass), Marta Roma (cello) and Carlos Monfort (violin), did not quite succeed.
With the church packed with people, spectators scattered across the floors, the doors open letting in all the noise from the street, and the heat activating hundreds of fans, it was difficult to hear. Her own songs, such as Verde o Mañana, and versions of others, much beloved in Cuba, such as Veinte años and La tarde gradually made their way through.
The cacophony eventually prompted Sílvia Pérez Cruz to use a microphone, although it did little to help. / 14ymedio
“For a reason, Havana’s orchestras give their concerts at the San Francisco de Asís convent or the San Felipe Neri Oratory, which do have good acoustics,” an expert explained to 14ymedio.
“You can’t understand anything at all, not a single word,” a woman complained before leaving the venue, barely half an hour after the concert had begun. Like her, many others left the concert early.
Another spectator said: “Everyone appreciates that someone like her comes to Havana under these circumstances and gives a free concert, but did no one do a sound check? Someone here didn’t do their job.”
The night before, those attending the private bar La Casa de la Bombilla Verde, in El Vedado, had better luck. There, Sílvia Pérez Cruz sang some “improvised songs,” as she herself described them on her social media, alongside her friend Roly Berrío, and she could be heard flawlessly. continue reading
The Cuban singer — who takes part in the Catalan artist’s song Nombrar es imposible from the album Toda la vida, un día, whose music video was filmed in Havana in 2022 — also attended the San Francisco El Nuevo concert and told 14ymedio about the difficulties of the performance.
The Renaissance-era church had been deliberately chosen by the Spanish singer precisely because of its acoustics, so that she could offer a recital without electricity and by candlelight. / 14ymedio
“It was a beautifully difficult concert. A lot of people, an immense space and a tiny bit of audio, just enough for the voice to float a little above the acoustic, unplugged instruments,” she said in her defense. For the artist, the experience “required a supernatural silence and stillness that was achieved, but which could be broken by little more than a fan moving against the heat.”
Berrío asserts that it was “a very loving concert. Added to the delicacy of the songs and the performance was a strong energy of desire, of wanting to be there, to share, to reach out. Giving and giving and giving. I enjoyed it very much and I will be grateful for it all my life.”
The applause from those who did stay until the end confirms that this was the majority sentiment. At the end of the concert, the artist asked everyone to join together for “one more,” and together they sang De qué callada manera, by Pablo Milanés.
Pérez Cruz herself has spoken of her “intimate relationship” with the Island, which she first came to know through her father, jazz musician Cástor Pérez, who, she says, taught her La tarde, by the legendary Sindo Garay, when she was four years old. She recorded a version of this bolero in 2010, when her father died. He was an expert in Cuban music, as well as a researcher and composer of habanera music, which became enormously popular in Spain beginning in the 19th century.
Another Cuban composer featured in her discography is Marta Valdés, to whom she dedicated an entire album, En la imaginación, in 2011, together with Javier Colina’s trio.
Born in Palafrugell (Girona), Pérez Cruz began her musical career as a member of Las Migas, an original female quartet that has received several Latin Grammy awards, shortly after graduating from the prestigious Catalonia College of Music.
The celebrated Rosalía also studied there, and she has stated that Pérez Cruz was always an inspiration to her and, in fact, invited her to collaborate on La rumba del perdón from her most recent album, Lux.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The vehicles the Government was supposed to provide have not arrived, nor has the “solinera” charging station.
Garbage trucks in El Vedado, Havana, in an image shared last July 22. / Pedro Garcés/Gente de Barrio
14ymedio, Havana, August 26, 2026 – Barely two months after it was announced, the El Rampeño local development project in Havana’s El Vedado, intended to collect garbage using electric tricycles, is considered a failure. Its own organizer, Pedro Garcés, president of the Rampa Popular Council, announced this on Tuesday on his active Telegram channel, lamenting that the objective “has not been achieved.”
The official cites several reasons, one of them being the lack of tricycles, which were supposed to be donated “by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and the central Government,” and the fact that the charging station they promised has not been built at the corner of 23rd and J streets. Garcés adds “the delay in the project’s search for alternatives to overcome the country’s own energy needs,” even while having “the support of some institutions and workplaces that help charge the tricycles.”
According to Garcés, the group held a working meeting “with the project’s leadership,” after which they hope “that what was agreed upon by both parties will soon be resolved.”
“The current reality is that we have a mostly clean council, but not the one we optimally need and deserve”
“The current reality is that we have a mostly clean council, but not the one we optimally need and deserve,” the official estimates, despite the fact that the flooding of waste has continue reading
clearly not spared an area once as well-kept as El Vedado.
Garcés asks residents “to double their vigilance and join the fight if they want to achieve a pleasant environment,” and he adds: “Social indiscipline continues to be a cancer that is slowly consuming us, and it is very sad that this is happening.”
And he assures: “Nothing and no one will prevent our Rampa Popular Council from continuing to aspire to be the cleanest, healthiest and most beautified council in the capital of all Cubans.”
Launched last July 1, El Rampeño faced difficulties from the outset, as 14ymedio documented. That same morning, very few containers were emptied, and only five of the 30 planned tricycles were operating.
“We still don’t know where it’s going; we’ve just started and we’re waiting for the delegate to say something,” one of the garbage collectors told a resident of the area at the time. The improvisation was evident, since even the workers themselves did not know where they were supposed to go.
The charging station that was to accompany the project, to charge not only those tricycles but also other vehicles and equipment, remains uncertain. According to initial reports, it would be built in part with funds from the 1% municipal tax on state and private companies. But residents were also supposed to contribute 100 pesos per household, although Garcés said the main payments would not come from individuals but from “entities of all kinds.”
During the past few weeks, the official, who is active in all kinds of community initiatives, has not spoken again about El Rampeño. Not even on July 22, when he reported that garbage had been collected from 15th to 19th streets and from G Street to the Malecón. That was done by ordinary trucks, not tricycles.
The news of El Rampeño’s fiasco, however, coincides with statements by China’s ambassador to Cuba, Hua Xin, who expressed satisfaction on Monday that his country is contributing to garbage collection in the Island’s capital. “Chinese electric tricycles are helping clean Havana,” he wrote on his social media accounts.
In light of what Garcés says, there are not enough vehicles for everything.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The mission even prohibits specialists from buying or driving a vehicle.
Cuban pediatrician in Botswana, in an image published by the Island’s state press. / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Madrid, August 25, 2026 – A Cuban doctor on a mission in Botswana receives only $1,000 a month out of the $4,000 that the country’s government pays Havana. That is, 24.4% of the total. The figures were revealed Tuesday in a report by the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD), which obtained access to the bilateral agreement.
According to this document, which, like others of its kind, is not publicly available, Botswana pays Cuba more than $4.2 million annually for 90 specialists. In addition, an internal document, signed just this past July 3, 2026, by the head of the brigade, Pablo Ricardo Betancourt Álvarez, confirms something that has also been documented in other missions: that Cuban healthcare workers are subject to restrictions on “travel, visits, friendships, overnight stays, use of vehicles, freedom of expression, and social life.”
“They live in a prison, and not in Cuba, but in Botswana,” said Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders, who cites Betancourt Álvarez’s complete letter. It establishes “mandatory regulations for Cubans, despite their being residents of Botswana.” Among the provisions, the first is a restriction on the “collaborators” leaving their respective districts except for “professional or health matters, and always after prior consultation with the Head of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Botswana.”
Likewise, they are prohibited from “having people who are not part of the Cuban Medical Brigade present in their homes, whether visiting or intending to stay overnight”
Likewise, they are prohibited from “having people who are not part of the Cuban Medical Brigade present in their homes, whether visiting or intending to stay overnight, as well as brigade members staying overnight outside them,” a ban that extends to brigade members visiting the homes of Cuban residents outside the mission, and to activities other than those organized by the brigade.
Specialists on the mission are even prohibited from buying or driving a vehicle without express authorization. And so it goes, through ten regulations, all specifically detailed in the continue reading
Prisoners Defenders report, which adds that it has firsthand sources: professionals who were assigned to Botswana.
For the Madrid-based NGO, the Government of Botswana “cannot claim ignorance of the mechanism that takes away most of the remuneration from Cuban professionals,” because the agreement it signed with Havana “requires the Cuban side to issue a monthly invoice that expressly separates the amount intended for professionals from the amount transferred to Cuba.” Moreover, the African government itself informed its Parliament — on April 1, 2025, according to PD, as recorded in the parliamentary Hansard — of the contractual rate for each doctor: 3,500 euros per month, equivalent to $4,094.65 at the official exchange rate.
And not only that, but administrative documents from Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone also record remuneration. The example cited by PD consists of reports dating from March 2020 onward, which allocate up to $800 for 18 specialist or coordination positions and were submitted to the Botswana Ministry of Finance.
“State complicity therefore cannot be attributed to ignorance of the payment mechanism”
“State complicity therefore cannot be attributed to ignorance of the payment mechanism,” Prisoners Defenders asserts, accusing Botswana of “acting in complicity with the exploitation, as it finances, controls, directs, and with full knowledge implements the Cuban slave system.”
The organization points out that the initial annual ceiling established in the Agreement, equivalent to $2,889,200, should correspond to 62 positions — 46 specialists and 16 auxiliary professionals — but, it continues, in 2025 the national coordinator of the brigade stated that the actual contingent consisted of 90 professionals. Based on this number, PD applies the contractual rates signed with the Cuban regime and concludes that the actual contingent represents an estimated cost of $350,500 per month; “that is, $4,206,000 annually: $1,316,800 above the initial ceiling.”
This deployment, the NGO observes, “therefore requires an addendum, a budget increase, or another financial instrument that the Government of Botswana has not made transparent to the public or to its Parliament, the Botswana Hansard.” What provision allowed this increase? PD asks in a series of questions that it says the Botswana state must answer.
These include questions such as “What did the Ministries of Health and Finance know about the withholding [of salaries], passport confiscation and the disciplinary regime?” “Did Botswana know about or authorize the July 3, 2026 order?” “How many professionals have requested to end their mission, been replaced, repatriated or declared deserters?”
“Why is there no independent, confidential reporting channel outside the control of the Cuban leadership?”
At the end of its report, the NGO calls on the Botswana government to “publish the complete agreement, all its addenda, budget authorizations, monthly invoices and payments made, protecting only legitimate personal data.” It also calls for each professional to be paid directly “the full amount corresponding to their work, subject only to ordinary and transparent taxes, and prohibiting forced salary transfers to third parties.”
Finally, it urges the government to “suspend and investigate” the implementation of the mission chief’s July 3 order, “which is incompatible with the Constitution and labor legislation of Botswana”
It also asks the Botswana government to interview the aid workers individually, “without the presence of Cuban coordinators,” and to guarantee that they retain their passports, contracts and all their freedoms. Finally, it urges the government to “suspend and investigate” the implementation of the mission chief’s July 3 order, “which is incompatible with the Constitution and labor legislation of Botswana.”
The publication of this report on Botswana comes one week after Prisoners Defenders launched a digital platform aimed at collecting data and information related to “the regulations, payments, and reported violations” involving Cuban medical missions around the world over more than six decades.
According to PD, it is “a verifiable country-by-country dossier,” containing historical data, contracts and regulations, and it “allows users to investigate, compare and download information about Cuban medical missions in 209 countries and territories.”
According to the NGO, it “distinguishes between active, inactive, canceled or pilot missions” and contains information related to approximately “1,185 protected testimonies and 217 public testimonies” from 60 countries, which have been examined by the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch.
In recent months, and under pressure from the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago suspended their medical cooperation with Cuba or revised the terms.
Before that came the cases of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and El Salvador, which ended their programs between 2018 and 2019. In Brazil, it was Cuba that decided to withdraw the mission after the government of Jair Bolsonaro demanded that doctors receive directly the entirety of the salaries paid by the country. More than 8,000 professionals then returned to the Island.
In 2019, the missions in Bolivia and Ecuador also ended, fmollowing political changes in both countries. El Salvador ended its medical cooperation with Cuba during that same period.
For Cuba, the hemorrhaging of its main source of income is significant. Prisoners Defenders, for example, estimates that medical missions generated nearly $5.976 billion in 2021, based on official Cuban statistics and international trade data.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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This is how Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel dodges the uncomfortable questions from a friendly journalist from Folha de S. Paulo.
Miguel Díaz-Canel during the interview with Mônica Bergamo of Folha de S.Paulo. / Screenshot/Folha de S.Paulo
14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo, Madrid, August 24, 2026 – The interview, granted to Mônica Bergamo of Folha de S. Paulo and published on August 23, 2026, begins with a scene bordering on surrealism. Before the first question, Lis Cuesta, the first lady, uses saliva to smooth her husband’s gray strands, trying to tame unruly hair over a drawn, gaunt face. It is the image of power without filters. But as soon as he begins to speak, the fragility disappears: Díaz-Canel regains narrative control with figures, dates and metaphors already repeated in at least five previous interviews.
That control is the most revealing fact: not what Díaz-Canel says, but that he had already said it as a theatrical performance to NBC, Newsweek, RT en Español, Radio 750 and now Bergamo. The “multidimensional war” and the same dates as the origin of the “energy blockade” return with a fidelity that demonstrates the practice of a permanent memorization exercise: the emphasis always falls in the same place, the silences are repeated, and even the pauses come at the same point in each answer.
He constantly repeats the word “genocide.” But the term, as he uses it –and as he demands “international condemnations” for it– does not correspond to the legal standard he invokes. The 1948 Genocide Convention requires proof of the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group “as such.” Washington’s sanctions, however harsh and questionable they may be, are intended to pressure a government clinging to power, not to annihilate or depopulate the Cuban nation. It is a political accusation prepared for the headlines of the state-run press.
The journalist recounts that, while traveling around the Island, she heard an expression that did not come from the dissidents but from the streets, from ordinary people: “internal blockade.” Díaz-Canel denies it twice
The most interesting moment, however, lies in the crack that Bergamo manages to open. The journalist recounts that, while traveling around the Island, she heard an expression that did not come from the dissidents but from the streets, from ordinary people: “internal blockade.” Díaz-Canel denies it twice and reduces it to “dissatisfaction with bureaucracy and slowness,” ending with a categorical phrase: “even if we had done everything right, without defects, the main cause… is the blockade.” First he shrinks the problem; then he dismisses it.
The pattern is measurable. Over the course of the hour, words that shift blame to Washington – blockade, genocide, sanctions, imperialism, suffocation, pressure, crime – appear 79 times. An acknowledgment of his own failure appears only once and is neutralized continue reading
in the following sentence. Seventy-nine to one, it is clear that for Diaz-Canel the regime bears no blame.
That exclusive causality also does not withstand comparison with Cuba’s economic history. The deterioration of health, education and vaccination is not recent: it has been developing for nearly two decades and became more exposed during the pandemic, when the State allocated 45.5% of its investment to real estate services – the domain of Gaesa, the military conglomerate that controls tourism – compared with barely 0.8% for health, while hundreds of Cubans died from a lack of oxygen. Gaesa today controls between 40% and 70% of the Cuban economy, with revenues three times the State budget. Eight economists consulted by EFE in 2025 agreed that sanctions harm the country, but that the deeper problems come from the model: centralized planning is, according to Pedro Monreal, “the pillar that does not work.”
Before the first question, Lis Cuesta, the first lady, uses saliva to smooth her husband’s gray strands, trying to tame unruly hair over a drawn, gaunt face. / Screenshot/Folha de Sao Paulo
The figures Díaz-Canel gives on infant mortality are accurate: the rate, which historically hovered between 4 and 5 per thousand live births, ended 2025 at 9.9, according to the Ministry of Public Health itself, a figure confirmed by the UN. The deterioration is real. What is not true is to present it as sudden damage caused solely by this year’s energy blockade: the indicator had already been rising since 2018, the same years in which the country was building luxury hotels that today have occupancy below 30%.
There lies the real diagnosis, beyond any reading of his state of mind: a president managing real data from a country in collapse, and who, instead of using them to open a serious conversation about 20 years of bad decisions, reinserts them into the narrative already prepared to absolve himself of blame. When Bergamo takes him into territory he does not control, the response is not an argument but a shutdown: “If you don’t live in Cuba, you can’t understand what the blockade is.” A phrase that cancels the question, and the exact distance between the script and the real country that Bergamo found cooking with charcoal.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Other demonstrations took place in Old Havana and Cienfuegos.
Por lo que puede apreciarse, a los manifestantes en Jaimanitas se enfrentaron partidarios del régimen. / Captura
14ymedio, Madrid, August 24, 2026 – A new pot-banging protest shook Havana Sunday night. This time, it was in Jaimanitas, in the municipality of Playa. In images posted on his social media by rapper Eliexer Márquez (El Funky), a crowd can be seen in the middle of the street, shouting at one another as the banging of pots rings out.
In the midst of them, a police officer tries to calm the situation. Judging by what can be seen, regime supporters confronted the protesters. Although Jaimanitas has a social makeup of fishermen, workers, artists, and people involved in tourism, it borders neighborhoods reserved for Cuba’s political elite.
At one point, a car suddenly speeds into the middle of the crowd, which had to move aside to avoid being run over. “Jaimanitas in the streets, no electricity, no water, nothing!” El Funky, co-author of Patria y Vida and an exile in Miami, posted.
Over the weekend, there were again mobilizations, both in Havana and elsewhere on the Island. According to information from CubaNet, residents of a building in Old Havana blocked Villegas between Teniente Rey and Muralla on Saturday because of continuous blackouts and the authorities’ lack of attention.
“Jaimanitas in the streets, no electricity, no water, nothing!” El Funky, co-author of Patria y Vida and an exile in Miami, posted
“People are protesting because one phase always goes down, the power goes out, and they don’t come to fix it,” a source told the independent newspaper. “The breakers caught fire and nobody does anything, so the people in that building got fed up and closed the block.”
That same Saturday, in Cienfuegos, Martí Noticias reported, about twenty residents gathered outside the Provincial Government headquarters after being without electricity since Thursday morning. The complaint, according to activist continue reading
Raúl González González, coordinator of the Consenso Ciudadano movement, is that there are no service interruptions in the neighborhoods where the officials live. “They have protected circuits for entire weeks,” he told Martí Noticias.
Independent journalist Yoanni Limonta, who also lives in Cienfuegos, told the Cuban-American newspaper details of the demonstration: “Several mothers with sick children, children in their arms, went to the government, showed up there, and demanded answers regarding the excessive power cuts.”
For that day, the Electric Union had forecast a deficit of 2,240 megawatts (MW) during peak hours, against demand of 3,300 MW. That is, nearly 68% of the energy needed. The outages were compounded by the fact that the Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric plant, known as Felton, was unable to resolve the breakdown that has left both of its units shut down.
“A crack in the upper area of the boiler, very close to the dome, increased water consumption in the preceding days and forced a reduction in power generation before the decision was made to shut down the unit,” Cubadebate explained in a report in which it warned that repairs to a leak in the boiler could not be completed Friday, as planned, because “they proved to be the most complex tasks on the critical path.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The state-owned company acknowledges a “technical-human error,” as the scientific magazine ‘Juventud Técnica’ had anticipated
“We are aware of the concern and distress generated as a result of the error, and therefore we apologize to the population,” Etecsa admits. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, August 22, 2026 – Etecsa was finally forced to acknowledge that the error was its own. The false earthquake alert that caused thousands of Cubans to hurriedly leave their homes last Tuesday was generated by specialists from the company itself while they were conducting tests on the telecommunications network. The admission comes three days after the incident, when the authorities had blamed Google’s alert system and only after an investigation by the state-run magazine Juventud Técnica dismantled that explanation and followed the clues to the Island’s telecommunications monopoly.
“On the afternoon of August 18, users in several areas of the country received messages on their mobile phones with an earthquake alert,” begins the brief statement published by Etecsa. After assuring that it had launched an investigation, the company admits that “the messages were issued due to a technical-human error, generated by our specialists who were conducting tests on the telecommunications network.”
The company also says that “the corresponding analyses were carried out, measures were adopted with those responsible, and actions are being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.” It does not identify those responsible, specify what measures were taken, or explain how an internal test managed to become an earthquake alarm distributed to phones across much of the country. “We are aware of the concern and distress generated as a result of the error, and therefore we apologize to the population,” it concludes.
In a country where finding a foreign culprit is often considerably faster than finding a domestic solution, Google seemed to be carrying the blame for an earthquake that never existed
The episode began at around three in the afternoon on Tuesday. Thousands of Android phones suddenly emitted a shrill “earthquake alert” warning that recommended seeking shelter. In Havana, numerous residents left their homes, many of them in the middle of a blackout. Testimonies gathered at the time described elderly people going down stairs with walkers, people who came outside in their underwear, and neighbors trying to get their pets to safety. In a building in Luyanó, the pleas of an elderly woman asking not to be left to die alone could be heard.
The ground, however, had not moved. continue reading
Minutes later, Civil Defense reported that the National Center for Seismological Research (Cenais) had not recorded any seismic movement. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the National Seismological Service, called the alarm “completely false.”
As questions mounted, initial suspicions circulated on social media about Etecsa and a possible failed drill. Cubadebate, however, was quick to dismiss that possibility and presented Google’s earthquake alert system for Android as a possible explanation, a system that uses the accelerometers in phones to detect vibrations. Suddenly, in a country where finding a foreign culprit is often considerably faster than finding a domestic solution, Google seemed to be carrying the blame for an earthquake that never existed.
When ‘Juventud Técnica’ approached Etecsa seeking answers, the company did not accept any responsibility at the time and referred the questions to Civil Defense
The version began to fall apart when Juventud Técnica asked the multinational company directly. “These claims are incorrect. The Android Earthquake Alerts System did not detect an earthquake or send alerts in Cuba,” a Google spokesperson responded.
The magazine went further. By analyzing the format of the messages and Android’s source code, it determined that the alert was compatible with the ETWS protocol, used to transmit earthquake and tsunami warnings through Cell Broadcast. Under that system, Google is not the entity that sends the message; the public mobile network does. In Cuba, that network belongs exclusively to Etecsa. Android even distinguishes between the code intended for an actual earthquake alert and the one reserved for a test.
When Juventud Técnica approached Etecsa seeking answers, the company did not accept any responsibility at the time and referred the questions to Civil Defense. That move now leaves an additional question. Amneris Santos Hernández, head of Civil Defense’s Preparation and Communication Department, acknowledged to the publication that the agency was “exploring the use of these alerts,” although she assured that they were not yet being implemented and that the incident was under investigation.
Arango Arias pointed to the greatest danger of all: that a false alarm could happen again and, when a real one arrives, the population might stop believing it
That statement and Etecsa’s subsequent confession leave unresolved what role Civil Defense played in the tests. There is currently no public evidence that would allow anyone to say that it ordered the test or participated directly in it, but it is significant that Etecsa initially referred questions about a test that it now acknowledges was its own to that agency, and that Civil Defense admitted that it was experimenting with precisely this technology.
The damage, in any case, was not limited to a computer error. Arango Arias warned after the incident that there were still “many unanswered questions” and pointed to the greatest danger of all: that a false alarm could happen again and, when a real one arrives, the population might stop believing it.
That is the most serious consequence of those minutes of panic. An early warning system depends on an immediate response, not on citizens first having to determine whether Etecsa is conducting tests. What remains to be learned is who ordered the test, for what purpose, and how the drill managed to go much farther than the explanation.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The insects have even settled into the old books that contain residents’ registrations.
“We are closed until further notice,” an employee explains from the entrance of the premises. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, August 22, 2026 – Bedbugs have managed to accomplish in Guanabacoa what power outages, paper shortages, and staff shortages had already achieved many times by other means: close a public office. The Civil Registry of the Havana municipality remains out of service because of an invasion of these insects, workers at the office confirmed to several users this Friday.
“We are closed until further notice,” an employee explains from the entrance of the premises, located on San Francisco Street, at the corner of Máximo Gómez. The reason, she admits shortly afterward, is a “bedbug infestation.”
According to the employee, the closure could last “15 to 21 days,” although she did not specify when work to eliminate the insects began or what treatment is being applied inside the building.
“But there are almost only plastic chairs in there,” commented one of the users. / 14ymedio
The news has caused disbelief among some users, mainly because the office has very little furniture where, at first glance, the parasites could take refuge. “There are almost only plastic chairs in there,” one of them commented. But the answer appears to lie in an object that is much more abundant than the furniture: the books.
The Civil Registry’s old volumes, several of them cloth-bound and stored for decades, are reportedly infested, according to workers and users of the office. Bedbugs can hide in cracks and small crevices and can also take advantage of materials such as paper, cardboard, and fabric, meaning the historical archive offers more hiding places than the austerity of the furniture might suggest.
While the closure lasts, the employee says those affected can “go to any registry” in the capital to handle their affairs. But the solution turns out to be considerably simpler at the office entrance than in real life.
Very close to the Registry, the office responsible for identity cards was also not operating this Friday. / 14ymedio
Two people who went to the Regla Civil Registry after finding the Guanabacoa office closed were unable to resolve their paperwork there, they told 14ymedio. The possibility of processing certain certificates at other offices does exist, especially when registrations have been digitized, but not all procedures can be transferred from one office to another without difficulties.
The episode adds a bureaucratic twist to an infestation that has been spreading through Havana for weeks. At the end of July, this newspaper documented the proliferation of bedbugs in homes in different municipalities of the capital, where mattresses and sofas began ending up directly in garbage dumps because of the impossibility of getting rid of the insects. Power outages, accumulated waste, and, above all, the difficulty of obtaining effective fumigation products have made the situation continue reading
even more complicated.
In a city where almost everything ends up becoming part of the crisis archive, even the insects seem to have discovered the Civil Registry. / 14ymedio
Less than a month after those reports, the appearance of an infestation in a public building shows that the problem is no longer limited to bedrooms and household furniture. The insects have now reached a State archive, where they share space with documents that in some cases have been stored for decades.
Very close to the Registry, the office responsible for identity cards, located on Máximo Gómez at the corner of División, was also not operating this Friday. People who went there said that this office had also closed because of bedbugs. Users were told that it would possibly reopen on Monday.
The promise was met with caution. “That is not known for certain,” one of them said, accustomed to the office suspending services for other reasons, including a lack of materials to produce the documents. In a city where almost everything ends up becoming part of the crisis archive, even the insects seem to have discovered the Civil Registry.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Fourteen of the 27 cars left the tracks, blocking the passage of a train carrying 873 passengers, who were taken to Havana by bus.
Among the containers, some belonging to the French shipping company CMA CGM could be seen. The company had suspended its shipments to Cuba in mid-May. / Ministry of Transportation
14ymedio, Madrid, August 21, 2026 – The railway line between Havana and Santiago de Cuba has been interrupted since Thursday, when a freight train derailed near the town of Piedrecita, in Camagüey. The train was traveling from Artemisa to Holguín and, judging by images released by the authorities, was transporting goods from the Port of Mariel, the Island’s main commercial terminal.
Among them, in fact, were containers belonging to the French shipping company CMA CGM, which had suspended its shipments to the Island in mid-May because of the threat of sanctions posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14404, dated May 1. There is no public information indicating that the company has resumed its arrivals in Cuba, but the company’s search engine shows that since last July, three CMA CGM ships have arrived in Mariel from Kingston, Jamaica.
At that port, the authorities reported last month, five containers carrying medical supplies were stranded. It can be assumed that they arrived on one of the vessels that reached the Artemisa terminal: the Alexandria on July 27, the Ceara on July 28, or the Iremos on August 15.
As for the accident in Camagüey, according to a publication by Cuban Railways, 14 of the convoy’s 27 cars left the tracks. Of these, 25 were carrying containers, but the containers were not damaged. In that same post, it was reported that measures were being taken to assist passengers on another train that was traveling from Guantánamo to the capital at the time and whose journey was halted because the so-called Central Line was affected.
“Under very complex conditions due to the availability of fuel, arrangements have been made to transport all passengers to their respective destinations,” the agency said in a subsequent report. The 873 passengers on that convoy would be distributed among a total of 25 buses.
The largest number of them were headed to the capital. Between Camagüey and Havana, 15 vehicles were hired for 625 passengers, and two more continue reading
between Sancti Spíritus and Havana, for 81 passengers.
“In compliance with the established protocol, an investigative commission was created to clarify the causes and conditions that led to the occurrence of the incident”
“In compliance with the established protocol, an investigative commission was created to clarify the causes and conditions that led to the incident,” the institution also indicated, adding that officials from the Railway Transportation Administration, as well as police and Ministry of the Interior agents, went to the scene of the accident.
This type of accident has become more frequent in recent years on the Island. On June 2, a passenger train with 900 people on board, also traveling on the route between Santiago de Cuba and Havana, derailed in the vicinity of Las Tunas, with no injuries reported. Although authorities said at the time that they would investigate the causes, they have not commented on the matter since.
The previous railway incident occurred in November of last year, when a passenger train traveling the Havana-Sancti Spíritus route suffered an accident near the municipality of Placetas, in Villa Clara, with no injuries reported among passengers or crew.
Las Tunas, precisely, has recorded at least three of these incidents in less than two years. In addition to the aforementioned accident, another occurred in Jobabo in August 2024, when the Manzanillo-Havana train derailed without injuries or significant damage, and in Bartle, in October 2025, with 577 passengers on board. No injuries were reported in that incident either.
The deterioration of Cuba’s railway system, affected by a lack of maintenance, an aging locomotive fleet, and shortages of spare parts, has turned derailments into another symptom of the national transportation crisis. It is estimated that 67% of the tracks and 40% of the infrastructure require maintenance in the country.
In recent years, the Government has announced plans to modernize both the tracks and machinery with foreign investment—mainly from France and Russia—but the improvements have not materialized.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Luis Raúl González-Pardo is the only detained defendant among the six accused in a case that also includes Raúl Castro.
González-Pardo (center) had been detained since last November on a separate case related to immigration fraud. / Facebookk
14ymedio/EFE, Miami, August 21, 2026 – The trial in the United States against Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo over the 1996 downing of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft has been postponed until at least September. The proceedings, which were scheduled to begin next Monday in Miami, are part of a case in which former Cuban ruler Raúl Castro is also accused.
Court documents available this Friday indicate that federal Judge Darrin Gayles of the Southern District of Florida scheduled a status conference for September 2, a meeting between the defense and the prosecution to determine the next steps in the proceedings.
The trial was initially scheduled for Monday, August 24, but both sides requested that it be postponed because of the volume and complexity of the evidence. González-Pardo is the only detained defendant among the six Cubans indicted in May by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to González-Pardo and Raúl Castro, the Department of Justice indicted four other Cubans on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and murder
“The Government has informed the defense that this case involves a significant volume of evidence, including classified material, obsolete media storage and physical evidence from three decades ago, as well as reports that were not previously preserved in electronic format,” one of the court documents states.
The indictment is related to the February 24, 1996, downing of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft by Cuban Air Force fighter jets. Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario Manuel de la Peña and Pablo Morales were killed in the attack, three U.S. citizens and one legal U.S. resident, all of Cuban continue reading
origin.
Brothers to the Rescue conducted flights over the Florida Straits from Florida to locate and assist rafters leaving Cuba.
In addition to González-Pardo and Raúl Castro, the Department of Justice indicted four other Cubans on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and murder.
The pilot arrived in the United States in April 2024 through the humanitarian parole program created during the Joe Biden administration
González-Pardo had been detained since last November on a separate case related to immigration fraud. In May, he was sentenced to seven months in prison for providing U.S. authorities with false information about his career in the Cuban Armed Forces.
The pilot arrived in the United States in April 2024 through the humanitarian parole program created during the Joe Biden administration. According to the Department of Justice, he omitted or falsified information about his membership in the Cuban Air Force between 1980 and 2009 when he filed Form I-485 to apply for adjustment of his immigration status.
In the Brothers to the Rescue case, Judge Enjolique A. Lett ordered on June 23 that he remain in custody after the prosecution argued that there was “a serious risk” that he would not appear for trial.
The case was formally opened on May 20, when the Department of Justice announced the indictment of Raúl Castro and five other Cubans over the deaths of the four members of Brothers to the Rescue.
The charges could carry sentences of life imprisonment or even the death penalty. The indictment against 95-year-old Castro came amid Washington’s hardening policy toward Havana under the administration of Donald Trump.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Despite sentences of up to 12 years in prison, the theft of this product, which is sold on the black market to replace diesel, is increasing.
The incident is the latest in a long series of dielectric oil thefts. / Facebook/ Empresa Eléctrica de Santiago de Cuba
14ymedio, Havana, August 20, 2026 – The theft of dielectric oil from a transformer supplying the Molecular Medicine Center in Santiago de Cuba forced samples from a critically ill patient who needed urgent tests to be transported to Granma this Thursday. The facility was affected after the essential liquid for the equipment’s operation was stolen early Wednesday morning, according to the provincial Electric Company.
“That meant an additional trip, fuel consumption and the mobilization of resources that could have been avoided,” the state entity lamented on its social media. “But there is something even more important: the time a patient loses when they urgently need a diagnosis.”
The incident is the latest in a long series of dielectric oil thefts that have affected transformers and substations in several provinces in recent months. The product acts as an insulator and coolant and prevents equipment from overheating. Its removal can end up causing a breakdown even if the transformer continues operating immediately after the theft.
The damage can leave thousands of people without power
Santiago de Cuba has been one of the hardest-hit provinces. On April 11, a man died and his brother suffered severe burns when the two were attempting to steal oil from a transformer bank supplying the water booster system in Altos de Esperanza, in Songo-La Maya. The explosion also damaged a 33-kilovolt line and left areas of that municipality and Segundo Frente without electricity service.
Following the accident, authorities recovered 70 liters of oil about 100 meters from the site. Months earlier, in September 2025, another man had been electrocuted on the Siboney highway while attempting to extract the continue reading
same product from a transformer.
The damage can leave thousands of people without power. In San Luis, also in Santiago de Cuba, about 300 liters were stolen from a transformer at the Paquito Rosales substation during a disconnection of the National Electric System (SEN). Some 17,000 people in several communities were affected.
In Matanzas, during the first quarter of this year, authorities were investigating about 33 complaints related to these crimes, with around 40 people being prosecuted
The wave of thefts is not limited to eastern Cuba. In 2025, Ciego de Ávila recorded 41 criminal incidents, 84 affected transformers and 14,440 liters of oil lost. Last April, the theft of 600 liters from two transformers in Amancio, Las Tunas, left nearly 5,000 customers without electricity and affected the polyclinic, telecommunications and water pumping.
In Matanzas, during the first quarter of this year, authorities were investigating about 33 complaints related to these crimes, with around 40 people being prosecuted. According to the Ministry of the Interior, thieves frequently take advantage of the blackouts themselves to puncture transformers and drain the liquid.
The destination of the oil partly explains the surge in thefts. The product has found an outlet on the black market as a substitute for diesel and lubricants, which are scarce in the country. As early as September 2024, the official press mentioned a network that sold the liquid for 250 pesos per liter to use as fuel in diesel vehicles. In April of this year, a Facebook advertisement offered 100 liters of “transformer oil” for about 1,700 pesos per liter.
Neither the threat of long prison sentences nor calls from Prime Minister Manuel Marrero to take “tough action” appear to be stopping the phenomenon
Authorities themselves have also warned of a much more dangerous use. Radio Mambí, an official Santiago-based outlet, said in March that the product had even been used “for human consumption.” The possibility that it could end up being mixed with or sold as cooking oil has been repeatedly reported, although it has not been demonstrated that this is the destination of most of the stolen liquid.
In response to the increase in cases, the Government has toughened the penalties. In May 2025, the People’s Supreme Court established, through Ruling 475, that damage to electrical infrastructure can be prosecuted as sabotage. Article 125 of the Penal Code provides for prison sentences of seven to 15 years, which can increase considerably when aggravating circumstances apply.
The sentences have already begun to reflect that policy. On May 23, the Prosecutor’s Office requested 12 years in prison for a 36-year-old man accused of stealing 70 liters from a substation in Cayajabos, Artemisa. In July, another 12-year sentence became known for the theft of oil in Bungo 2 (Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba), which caused about 48 hours of electrical disruptions. But neither the threat of long prison sentences nor calls from Prime Minister Manuel Marrero to take “tough action” appear to be stopping the phenomenon.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The water tanker truck, arrived without a hose, and a high-ranking officer demanded that residents carry their own buckets.
“You need it, you carry it,” one of the high-ranking officers snapped. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, August 19, 2026 – “You need it, you carry it.” The response from a high-ranking officer to Regla residents protesting this Wednesday over the lack of water only heightened the tension on Maceo Street, between Fresneda and Perdomo. After complaining at the police station, several women managed to get a water tanker truck to appear, but it arrived without a hose, and the solution offered was for each family to transport the water to their homes in buckets.
The protest began shortly beforehand, according to 14ymedio’s observation at the scene. A group of women were outside the police station, visibly upset, demanding a response to the lack of water supply. Later, on their way back toward the neighborhood, one of them shouted to the residents that they should all come out into the street, because the problem did not affect only those who had gone to protest.
“She was saying that we all had to come out, because everyone was lacking water, not just them,” says Frank, a local resident. He has heard the same thing in different parts of the municipality. “People are complaining because we didn’t even have a drop of water left.”
The vehicle did not have a hose to deliver the water directly to the homes. / 14ymedio
About 15 minutes later, a water tanker truck arrived, and a group of police officers had been deployed, including high-ranking officers, some of them with the rank of colonel. On the sidewalks, numerous residents, including women and children, watched the argument.
The arrival of the tanker truck, however, did not end the conflict. The vehicle did not have a hose to deliver the water directly to the homes, and the driver expected the residents themselves to come over to fill their own containers and carry them.
The exchange between the residents, the driver and the officers became increasingly heated. “You need it, you carry it,” one of the high-ranking officers snapped. The remark particularly angered those continue reading
who pointed out that many elderly people and people unable to carry several buckets of water from the street to their homes live in the neighborhood.
A group of police officers was deployed at the scene, including high-ranking officers, some of them with the rank of colonel. / 14ymedio
The method also does not guarantee a sufficient amount for a family’s needs. The residents explained that, when the situation was less critical, one water truck could supply two or three homes and fill household water tanks. Now, with many more homes depending on the trucks, each household ends up receiving barely three or four buckets.
“That doesn’t solve anything,” another resident lamented. Much less, he added, for those who must reserve water for drinking, cooking, bathing and maintaining minimum hygiene conditions for several days.
The supply crisis in the municipality is not new. On August 13, Aguas de La Habana acknowledged disruptions in the lower part of Regla and Casablanca linked to the El Gato System, one of the main sources supplying the capital. That day, the state-run company also reported electrical problems that had left several pieces of equipment in the system out of service.
As long as water supplies continue to depend on improvised responses, the next complaint seems to be only a matter of time. / 14ymedio
The interruptions have turned access to water into a recurring source of discontent in Regla. In June, residents of the municipality blocked a street after going more than 24 hours without electricity or water. Police quickly arrived in the area, and the tension eased only after electrical service returned.
A month later, on July 8, dozens of people mobilized again and took their complaints to the municipal Government and Communist Party offices after several days without either service. Women with children, elderly people and other residents gathered under the sun while police and officials tried to contain the discontent.
Wednesday’s scene once again showed something that is repeated in different parts of the Island. Women are often the first to come out to protest; then the uniformed officers arrive and, only then, some emergency solution appears. This time, the tanker truck temporarily eased the lack of water in a Regla neighborhood, but it was far from resolving it. As long as water supplies continue to depend on improvised responses, the next complaint seems to be only a matter of time.
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Of the 40,000 migrants from the Island who have settled in that country over the past five years, 99% work illegally.
They estimate that 70% of those in Cuba travel with a migratory intention or with the idea of exploring possibilities for settling abroad. / Granma
14ymedio, Havana, August 19, 2026 – Suriname has begun to emerge as a migration destination for Cubans in 2026. The country, neighboring Guyana, where the oil boom caused more than 135,000 people from the Island to migrate in 2025, is becoming one of the most requested destinations at travel agencies in the country.
Pedro Escalante, Operations Director of DP Travels, based in Holguín, tells 14ymedio that the smallest country in South America began to attract interest among the Cuban population several months ago. “The increase in inquiries about Suriname has been clearer since May, although the interest did not appear overnight,” he says. “At first they were isolated inquiries and, later, we began receiving more questions related to flight availability, entry requirements and possibilities for traveling,” he adds.
Escalante emphasizes that “during 2025 and, especially, in 2026 we have noticed that the destination began to appear more frequently in conversations with clients.”
According to the agency’s figures, there has been steady growth and so far this year, through this Wednesday, August 19, the number of Cubans who traveled to Suriname with DP Travels already exceeds by almost one third those recorded throughout 2025, although the numbers remain small. “Our records show approximately that in 2024, 32 people traveled to that country; in 2025, 54, and in 2026, from January to continue reading
August, 73,” Escalante details.
“Our records show approximately that in 2024, 32 people traveled to that country; in 2025, 54, and in 2026, from January to August, 73”
Guyana also shows a sustained increase in travel carried out by the agency since 2024. That year, 122 Cubans traveled with the company; a year later, 178, and so far this year, 224.
“We have begun to notice greater interest in Suriname,” he says, although the reasons, according to his experience, are different. “Some clients see it as a destination to remain in, while others consider it part of a broader route within South America,” he says.
In the case of those who arrive in the country to settle, most of the time they do so irregularly. They enter the country as tourists and begin looking for some kind of employment. In this regard, DP Travels points out that other services promise to obtain a visa, a job or residency in exchange for money, “when in reality no one can guarantee a decision that belongs to an immigration authority.”
In those cases, Cubans accept the work they find and receive whatever they are offered. Last May, Starnieuws, Suriname’s main media outlet, reported that 99% of Cubans living in that country work illegally.
Of the 40,000 Cubans who have settled in Suriname since 2020, according to the report, only 248 have applied for work permits, according to figures from that country’s Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor.
Of the 40,000 Cubans who have settled in Suriname since 2020, according to the report, only 248 have applied for work permits
Most enter via Panama on flights operated by Copa. At Tocumen Airport, flights to Paramaribo are usually full, “mainly because of Cubans who frequently travel to Suriname with their entire families,” the outlet maintains, adding that of the 40,000 Cubans in the country, only 1,292 have legal status.
“In some cases, clients already have a trade before traveling and their intention is to use that experience to look for employment opportunities,” Escalante indicates, noting, based on the contact he has been able to establish with some of the travelers, that they try to enroll in sectors such as “construction, services, commerce, restaurants, transportation, informal work and other trades.”
If they do not take those jobs, the alternative is to return to an Island where opportunities are increasingly scarce and where a crisis is deepening rapidly and irreversibly. “We have seen an increase in inquiries and demand for certain destinations,” the agency says, emphasizing that, although “it is difficult to attribute each trip exclusively to Cuba’s economic or social situation, it would be naïve to ignore that the country’s current conditions influence the decisions of many people.”
The Operations Director of DP Travels asserts that in conversations with clients, “concerns related to the economic situation, employment, income, the possibility of providing financial assistance to their families and the search for better opportunities frequently arise.”
“Concerns related to the economic situation, employment, and income frequently arise”
“If I had to make an estimate based exclusively on what we see at our agency, I would say approximately that 70% travel with a primarily migratory intention or with the idea of exploring possibilities for settling, while 30% do so for tourism, family visits, business or other reasons,” Escalante indicates.
Finally, the agency, with 12 years of experience, points out that it faces some difficulties because “the Cuban context makes working with international travel particularly complex, and changes in departure and entry conditions, documentation and routes can directly affect both the client and the agency.”
It also faces problems in an environment filled with distrust due to the constant cases of fraud. Faced with a population seeking to leave the country, desperation has become fertile ground for dozens of Cubans to be scammed with fake tickets, nonexistent reservations, supposed agents, visas, lodging or immigration processes.
“We have received comments from many clients, as was the case with one who was scammed out of $7,500. She lost her house and, with two children, had to rent, and over time managed to leave the country again with our agency. Many, before reaching us, also recount negative experiences with people who offered supposed services related to travel,” he warns.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Civil Defense confirmed that “no seismic movement has been recorded in the national territory during the afternoon this Tuesday.”
Residents of Havana left their homes and took to the streets alarmed by the false earthquake alert. / Social media
14ymedio, Havana, August 18, 2026 – At approximately three in the afternoon this Tuesday, thousands of Cubans across the Island were startled when they received a loud alarm on their phones urgently informing them of an “earthquake alert.”
In Havana, the warning triggered nervousness among residents who immediately rushed to leave their buildings. “Remain calm and seek shelter somewhere nearby,” the alert on the phones indicated, a message that sparked scenes of panic. The vast majority were caught by the alarm in the middle of the blackout. Several accounts received by the 14ymedio newsroom described elderly people with their walkers hurrying to get out as best they could. In the Luyanó neighborhood, according to witnesses at the scene, an elderly woman screamed for them not to let her die alone. Some only managed to get out in their underwear, while others tried to rescue their pets.
A phone displays the earthquake alert received by thousands of users on the Island. / 14ymedio
On the street, neighbors looked at one another amid uncertainty, nervous laughter and fear. Some elderly people were still trying to finish making their way down the stairs as their strength allowed. Others regretted having left their cat sleeping under the bed.
Minutes later, Cuba’s Civil Defense reported through its official channels that, according to confirmation from the National Center for Seismological Research (Cenais), “no seismic movement has been recorded in the national territory this continue reading
Tuesday during the afternoon.”
“In the event of any real event, our official systems and channels will activate the corresponding protocols in a timely manner”
Dr. Enrique Arango, head of research at Cenais, described the alert that reached mobile phones and caused confusion among the population as “completely false.” “In the event of any real event, our official systems and channels will activate the corresponding protocols in a timely manner,” Arango stressed.
Following the scare, the official media began repeatedly issuing clarifications ruling out that it was an earthquake. Versions circulated on social media attributing the warning to an alleged Etecsa drill or a failed test, which Cubadebate quickly denied.
In an Island where residents constantly suffer from blackouts, shortages and bad news, Google seems to be taking the blame
The official media outlet pointed to the operation of Google’s earthquake alert system for Android phones as a possible explanation: the mechanism operates using accelerometers built into phones, which can detect movements compatible with the first vibrations of an earthquake. When numerous devices register similar signals at the same time, the system analyzes that data and can send an alert to phones located in the area. It is designed to gain a few seconds in the event of an earthquake, but its estimates can be wrong and an automatic alert by itself does not constitute confirmation that a tremor has occurred.
So far, the authorities have not explained what signal or movement could have triggered the mass activation of the alert. On an Island where residents constantly suffer from blackouts, shortages and bad news, Google seems to be taking the blame for the scare that sent neighbors running from their homes this Tuesday. The earthquakes that shook Venezuela and Colombia in recent weeks are still very fresh in the memories of Cubans and left many with the feeling that another major earthquake could occur at any moment in the region.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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An audio recording reveals how a powerful neighbor manages to restore electricity to his circuit by taking it away from residents of San Lázaro Street, in Centro Habana.
The Héroes del Baire General Teaching Hospital, on the Isle of Youth / Victoria
14ymedio, Havana, August 18, 2026 – This Tuesday, only the hospital and the water pumping system on Isla de La Juventud will have guaranteed power to operate. The rest of the territory was left practically without electricity from 6 in the morning due to the fuel deficit affecting generating plants.
The territory’s Electric Company reported in a Facebook message, with a photograph of a brief physical document, that photovoltaic circuits A230 and A030 will be energized between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. With this schedule, “one generating unit will remain operating at 75% of its capacity.”
To close its message, the company asked for “understanding, support and discipline to face this complex scenario.”
The responses were not long in coming. Dozens of island residents reproached the lack of electricity, an issue that has worsened during the year: “No, don’t screw around anymore. Enough, please. Food spoils in two hours. Imagine this situation now. How long will we continue living like this, in such an inhumane way?”
“They make the announcement and everyone has to fend for themselves. They don’t say whether the oil is already on its way, they don’t say anything. They drop the bombshell and that’s it”
Someone else added: “And they don’t say when it might be restored. They make the announcement and everyone has to fend for themselves. They don’t say whether the oil is already on its way, they don’t say anything. They drop the bombshell and that’s it.”
The episode expands an electricity crisis in the special municipality that in February forced blackouts to be extended in four-hour cycles because of the shortage of fuel for continue reading
generation. It was also noted that “the measures being reported today are not permanent; their implementation will depend on how the availability of fuel evolves.”
As the months passed, the situation in the territory took on more dramatic overtones. At the end of May, the general director of the Electric Union, Rubén Campos Olmo, acknowledged that Isla de la Juventud was operating with barely six hours of electricity a day, despite having been considered for years one of the territories with the greatest energy stability in the country.
By June, everything had gotten worse, as in the rest of the country. A report in the official newspaper Victoria indicated that the territory would barely have 120 minutes of electricity supply guaranteed per day.
At the national level, the outlook is no better. According to the daily report from the Electric Union, this Tuesday, during the period of peak demand, when solar energy is no longer contributing anything to the national electric system (SEN), the state company estimates a projected shortfall of 2,369 MW against a maximum demand of 3,350 MW.
Many residents have denounced “interference in the blackout system and preferences for circuits,” as reflected in a complaint collected by 14ymedio in Havana
The bleak outlook is due, in part, to units 6 and 8 of the Máximo Gómez Thermoelectric Plant, in Mariel, as well as unit 6 of Diez de Octubre and unit 2 in Felton, “being out of order,” while unit 3 of the Ernesto Guevara de la Serna plant, in Santa Cruz, units 5 and 6 of Renté, and unit 5 in Diez de Octubre “are undergoing maintenance.” Added to this is Unit 3 of the Antonio Maceo plant, which is out of service “due to moisture in the generator’s control cabinet.”
In total, eight of the country’s 16 thermoelectric generation units are not operational. This source is responsible for 40% of the energy mix and is supplied with domestic crude oil. Another 40% of the mix is handled by generating engines, but this energy source, which requires diesel and fuel oil, is shut down because of the fuel shortage resulting from the oil blockade and sanctions imposed by Washington on the Island.
The precarious energy situation in the country has caused, particularly since March, a wave of protests in various parts of the country.
The complaints have not been limited solely to the electricity supply: many residents have denounced “interference in the blackout system and preferences for circuits,” as reflected in a complaint collected by 14ymedio in Havana.
The source, who asks to remain anonymous, maintains that “San Lázaro Street, full of el químico — drugs — and danger at all hours, was almost entirely disconnected in order to connect another circuit, P326, which is even larger and generates greater electricity demand, to provide electricity to the television networks.”
The neighbor shares an audio recording of just over seven minutes in which the voice of a man can be heard boasting that he can restore the P326 circuit and announcing the arrival of a truck carrying utility poles “between tomorrow and the day after.” The man adds that, “once the truck with the poles arrives, the number one priority of the Ministry of Energy and Mines is the restoration of protected circuit 326, which is the circuit belonging to us that is being affected at this moment.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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14ymedio, Madrid, August 28, 2026 – The account of the Cuban Medical Services Commercialization Company (CSMC) at the Italian bank BPER has been blocked since the end of July, and everything seems to indicate that this was a decision by the institution itself to avoid exposure to possible U.S. sanctions. This was reported by Diario de Cuba in an article signed by Annarella Grimal and published this Thursday, based on several knowledgeable sources, including two members of the brigade in Calabria.
