Category: Translator: Regina Anavy

precisely those microsystems or “microislands” to serve specific areas.

Shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon, UNE reported that “microsystems in several territories” were beginning to operate, and twenty minutes later, they assured that the Energás plant, operated with the Canadian company Sherritt in Boca de Jaruco, already had “a generating unit in service.”

As is usual in similar situations, the authorities said that “the restoration will be done gradually as conditions in the National Electric System allow.”

The Mesa Redonda [Round Table] program announced that the interview with Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga would take place at 7:00 pm

The prolonged power outages since the most recent partial system failure, which have lasted more than three days in some areas, have reignited the flames of indignation across the island, which awoke this Monday after its tenth consecutive night of pot-banging protests. The climax of these protests occurred last Friday in Morón (Ciego de Ávila), where dozens of residents took to the streets chanting “Freedom.”

The march traveled through different areas of the city to the rhythm of banging pots and pans, reached a police unit and ended in front of the headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba, where the protesters stormed the building, threw furniture and banners into the street and lit a bonfire in the middle of the public road.

Several people have been arrested for what the regime considers “acts of vandalism,” and security forces have been deployed across the country with the order of “zero impunity.”

The Mesa Redonda program announced that the interview with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga , announced last Friday by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, will take place at 7:00 pm, an unusual time, likely due to the total power outage. It is expected that during the interview, the Vice Minister, who is also the great-nephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro, will provide details about what he already confirmed to NBC News: that Cubans abroad, including those residing in the United States, will be able to invest in private businesses on the island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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allowed to.

As for athletes who left contracts under the control of the Island’s sports authorities, there is also no guarantee that all of them will be readmitted. Although Yariel Rodríguez was allowed to pitch again in a Classic after abandoning his contract with the Chunichi Dragons in the Japanese League, it was never clarified whether other baseball players in the same situation such as Oscar Colás or Julio Pablo Martínez would be allowed to wear the uniform of the Four Letters again.

Experience at the highest level of Major League Baseball (MLB) is not only needed among players, but also within the coaching staff. Having coaches familiar with organized baseball in the United States is vital to strengthen the team project and encourage the top stars to take part. Above all, Cuba needs to appoint a general manager who can operate in the United States, negotiate each player’s availability with the organizations, and meet face to face with the potential stars of a future roster. In that regard, it may be necessary to take lessons from other Caribbean baseball powers.

Last but not least, it is essential to restore the strength of the local baseball championship. In 2006, Cuba managed to finish as runner-up in the World Baseball Classic using only players from its National Series. However, over time, the massive exodus suffered by the country, its decline across all branches of the economy, and its political and social collapse have contributed to the deterioration of the state-run sports structure. Government funds have lost the capacity to sustain the training of high-performance athletes and to turn domestic tournaments into a spectacle.

For nearly seven decades, since the rise of Castroism to power, Cuban sports have suffered excessive government interference for propaganda purposes and have been stripped of professionalism. Today, the privatization of sports in Cuba, with the capital injection it would bring, appears to be the only solution to prevent national passions such as baseball from dying through neglect. And perhaps, to correct the taboos that persist in our sport, it will be necessary to correct the political system that gave rise to them.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The president said that a set of measures has been adopted aimed at easing current bureaucratic barriers

During an appearance before state media and international outlets friendly to the Government, when asked about Cuban Americans who allegedly want to invest in the country, the president said that a set of measures has been adopted aimed at easing current bureaucratic barriers. The decisions will be announced Monday in an appearance by Pérez-Oliva on a television program that could be, he said without full certainty, the Mesa Redonda [Round Table] program.

“The return of the Cuban diaspora is imminent,” says a source familiar with the issue interviewed by the Herald, who also raises doubts about how quickly all the measures agreed upon behind closed doors will be implemented. Laws and regulations approved by the Cuban Government have sometimes taken months or even years to be fully developed.

Some entrepreneurs in Miami interviewed by the newspaper expressed questions about the guarantees Havana would be willing to offer to provide legal certainty to investors. Such guarantees would require modifications to Cuban legislation and, ultimately, to the Constitution itself. Without those guarantees, they expect the country to receive few large-scale investments.

On this matter, Sebastián Arcos, who directs the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, said in an interview with Local 10 News that “obviously, they are more interested in making money than in the freedom of the Cuban people.”

“Obviously, they are more interested in making money than in the freedom of the Cuban people”

The academic, born in Havana and experienced in monitoring human rights violations on the Island, also noted that “there cannot be an economic recovery unless there is first a political reform,” warning that doing business in Cuba “would be too risky” for now.

Carlos Giménez, a U.S. congressman of Cuban origin, also emphasized the importance of a profound change in the country. Through X, he stated that “there will be no investment from the United States unless a major political change takes place on the Island.” He also made it clear that “the regime needs us; the United States does not need them.”

Despite these warnings, some entrepreneurs say they are ready for the new opportunities that could open up in the country. That is the case for a group in Miami’s Little Havana.

“Hopefully now that things are changing very quickly,” says Fidel Asís López, owner of The Havana Collection on Calle Ocho, which specializes in guayabera shirts. When asked whether he would invest in Cuba, Asís López responded: “In a free Cuba, 100% for sure.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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of a possible investigation related to the case.

Similar cases have been reported in recent years in different parts of Havana, such as the case of a baby girl found in June 2025, still with the umbilical cord, in the municipality of Cerro.

Cuba was one of the first countries in Latin America to legalize abortion. However, today many of these procedures are carried out without anesthesia due to a lack of supplies and the precarious conditions of the healthcare system. This is compounded by the well-known shortage of condoms and contraceptive pills.

According to a report from the National Office of Statistics and Information published in May 2024, the capital recorded 27,864 deaths, almost triple the 10,783 births counted during the same period.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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what I studied. It’s a job that not even the unemployed want to take, and the worst thing is that they present it as if it were a solution,” he says with frustration.

Maday, a clerk at a café in central Varadero, also recounts her experience with a mixture of resignation and concern. “Fortunately, I can still work, but the number of customers keeps getting smaller. Cubans, who used to help us on a bad day, hardly come anymore. Besides, I have to spend 200 pesos to get to Varadero from Cárdenas, and another 500 on an electric car to return home in the afternoon,” she says. That means a daily expense of 700 pesos, which is hardly compensated by the tips she receives. The tourists simply are not enough to maintain the flow of income.

“If you want to be ‘interrupted’ [work on specific days], the job options they offer are in an organoponic garden or in municipal services,” adds Maday, sadly: “They offer me these positions just to complete the paperwork, but in reality I have no options.”

Meanwhile, buy-and-sell groups on social media in cities like Matanzas and Cárdenas have seen the demand for work multiply. Clerks, cooks, DJs, and artisans are trying to find their way in an oversaturated market, seeking to survive amid the uncertainty of the private sector. However, the situation becomes even more complicated for workers at craft fairs, who historically have depended on tourism to sustain their work.

Raúl, a visual artist who has spent nearly two decades working in crafts, laments the crisis affecting his sector. “I’ve seen good and bad moments over the years, but what we’re living through now is unprecedented,” he says. “With Covid-19, we knew the situation would improve someday, but now we’re facing a crisis with no short-term solution.” Like other workers in the sector, Raúl notes that the Varadero craft fairs, which once received thousands of tourists, are now deserted. “Varadero adapted to receive more than one million foreigners a year, but now not even 250,000 arrive. The few who survive are those who have tables inside the hotels,” he points out.

Competition among artisans has increased significantly, making it even harder to generate sales. “When a tourist shows up, there are so many of us competing that we barely manage to make anything,” Raúl says. And, to make matters worse, the National Fund for Cultural Assets, which manages the spaces for the fairs, demands payments for the use of the space, another burden for the already impoverished workers in the sector.

Beatriz, a Spanish tourist who has been returning to Varadero for ten years, has also witnessed the crisis affecting the Island. “I knew the situation was difficult, but I didn’t think it was this bad,” she comments. Bea, as the workers at the Cuatro Palmas hotel call her, considers herself almost part of the family in Varadero, since she has returned year after year. “This beach is the best in the world, but the situation has become unsustainable. The electricity goes out too often, and I’ve even had to bring eggs from Spain,” she says with frustration.

Beatriz also notes a change in her relationship with Cubans. “They no longer see me here as a foreigner but as an ATM,” she says regretfully. “No matter what I give away, they always want more.” The friendliness and warm atmosphere she once felt on the Island have been overshadowed by the desperation of those who depend on tourism to survive. “I don’t know if I’ll return next year. If I do, it will be for less time, or maybe I’ll change destinations,” she concludes, hinting that the crisis may have marked the end of her relationship with Varadero.

The city, which was once the locomotive of the Cuban economy, now lies almost empty. Buildings are half-repaired, the lack of potable water and electricity is constant, and only a few residents walk through streets once crowded with tourists. Hotels, private hostels, and recreational centers remain mostly closed. The laughter of tourists is gone, and the bustle of workers returning home has faded. Now, the wind and the occasional carriage drivers urging on their horses are the only sounds accompanying the decline of what was once considered the best beach in the Caribbean islands.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The volatility allowed Brent to record, first, the largest increase in its history, of 26.7 dollars, and later also the largest intraday drop

These lows did not last long because a day later, on Wednesday, oil rose again by more than 5% and the barrel approached 93 dollars, despite the fact that the International Energy Agency had announced the release of 400 million barrels, the largest reserve intervention in history.

In the early hours of Thursday, the barrel reached 101.59 dollars, a rise that moderated throughout the morning but gained strength again after Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, pushing crude back to 101 dollars.

Alongside Brent, West Texas crude, the benchmark in the United States, has also recorded strong fluctuations and is currently trading around 97 dollars.

Middle Eastern crude exports, which normally depend on the Strait of Hormuz, are approximately 16 million barrels per day.

A prolonged conflict in Iran with extended disruptions in Hormuz would push Brent to 120 dollars

Analysts at XTB have analyzed several possible scenarios for Brent, estimating a 50% chance that it will move around 100–110 dollars in a scenario of containment in Iran, while a ceasefire or political agreement, with a 25% probability, could bring crude down to 80 dollars.

The most unlikely scenario, a prolonged conflict in Iran with the risk of longer disruptions in Hormuz, would place Brent above 120 dollars per barrel.

The near-total slowdown of maritime transport through the Strait of Hormuz has begun to test the resilience of the global economy, with the risk of slower growth accompanied by higher inflation.

UBP’s Director of Information Systems and its Head of Advisory and Asset Allocation, Michael Lok and Nicolás Laroche, respectively, have highlighted that Europe and Asia are more affected by the conflict in Iran because they are net energy importers, in contrast to the United States, which is a net exporter and the largest oil producer in the world.

The Iranian Army said it will destroy “all oil, economic and energy infrastructure related to the United States” if there is aggression against its own energy facilities

The Iranian Army said this Saturday that it will destroy “all oil, economic and energy infrastructure related to the United States” in the Middle East if there is aggression against its own energy facilities, following the U.S. attack on Iran’s Kharg Island, the heart of the Islamic Republic’s oil industry.

“If there is an attack on the oil, economic and energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as we have already warned, all oil, economic and energy infrastructure belonging to oil companies in the region that have U.S. shares or cooperate with the United States will be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes,” said a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

The statement, in response to “the declarations of the aggressive and terrorist president of the United States,” came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that his armed forces carried out one of the “most powerful” bombings in the history of the Middle East against “military targets” on Kharg Island, where 90% of the oil the country exports to the world is stored.

Trump said he had chosen “not to destroy the island’s oil infrastructure,” a decision he may reconsider if the blockade in the Persian Gulf continues.

“If Iran, or anyone else, does anything that interferes with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision,” he warned on his Truth Social account.

Kharg, located 25 kilometers off the Iranian coast, is described as a vital point for Iran because it concentrates the country’s main oil terminal and is the largest crude loading point for oil tankers.

According to local media, the island is also known for having large oil storage tanks used to distribute crude to the international market.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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political control in the territory.

The official government press speaks of “acts of vandalism” carried out by “a group of people” from the El Vaquerito neighborhood council

The scene contrasts with the version published by the official government newspaper Invasor, which described what happened as “acts of vandalism” carried out by “a group of people” from the El Vaquerito neighborhood council. According to the state media outlet, what began as a peaceful protest over the electrical situation and food shortages “turned into acts of vandalism against the headquarters of the Municipal Party Committee,” where a small group allegedly threw stones at the entrance of the building and started a fire with furniture from the reception area.

Images shared by residents tell a more complex story. In several videos, dozens of people can be seen walking through the city, banging pots and chanting slogans. Some witnesses say the march advanced without incident for a long stretch, until it gathered in front of the PCC headquarters, where tensions with security forces finally erupted.

One of the most serious moments of the night was captured in a recording circulating on social media: a young man is carried in the arms of several protesters after receiving a gunshot wound to the thigh. According to testimonies shared by residents of the area, the shot was fired by
a police officer who was trying to disperse the crowd gathered in front of the Party building.

In the images, several people can be seen carrying the wounded man while trying to move him away from the area to give him first aid. The government newspaper denies the shooting and claims that the injured person was “in a state of drunkenness” and “suffered a fall.” It also states that the person is being “treated at the Roberto Rodríguez General Hospital.”

The official publication also mentions supposed damage to other establishments

Other reports speak of violent repression by special forces from the Ministry of the Interior, including black-beret units and officers with dogs. Witnesses claim the forces released the animals against the protesters and carried out arrests, five according to the newspaper Invasor.

The official publication also mentions supposed damage to other establishments, including a pharmacy and a sales point belonging to the Tiendas Caribe chain, although it offers no details about the damage or about the real scale of the protest.

What does seem clear is the origin of the outbreak: it is the energy collapse the country is experiencing, which in recent weeks has caused prolonged blackouts across the Island. In Morón, as in much of Ciego de Ávila, electricity cuts have stretched for hours amid food shortages and the general deterioration of basic services.

Ciego de Ávila is under the provincial political leadership of Julio Heriberto Gómez Casanova, first secretary of the PCC in the territory. Gómez replaced Liván Izquierdo Alonso in 2024. Despite corruption scandals surrounding Izquierdo in the province, he ended up being appointed first secretary of the Party in Havana. Gómez Casanova’s account on X remains restricted.

The events in Morón also occurred on the same day that Díaz-Canel appeared before the government press to confirm that the Government is holding talks with the United States

Direct political and administrative responsibility for Morón rests with three key figures in the state and party apparatus: Alberto Echemendía Manzanares, first secretary of the PCC in the municipality; Celia María López Reyes, president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power; and Yorqui Navarro Pérez, mayor. In a system where the Party dominates all state structures, the three concentrate the political and governmental leadership of the territory and are therefore the main officials responsible for local management amid the crisis that triggered the protests.

The events in Morón also occurred on the same day that the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, appeared before the official press to confirm that the Government is holding conversations with the United States, after repeatedly denying those contacts. His speech, which once again repeated the usual narrative without offering concrete solutions to the crisis, generated widespread rejection both among critics of the regime and within sectors traditionally aligned with the Government.

In reaction to the events, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) said this Saturday that the protests reflect the growing social exhaustion on the Island. In a statement released from Madrid, the organization said that only hours after the televised appearance of Miguel Díaz-Canel, “the people took to the streets demanding freedom and a change of system.” The OCDH also asked countries such as the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Sweden to promote actions to protect protesters and opposition members, and reiterated that in the face of the regime’s economic and social collapse, the only way forward for Cuba is a peaceful transition to democracy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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penalty, according to the current Cuban Penal Code (Law 151 of 2022).

Paizán’s mother said that a police investigator at Villa Marista received her and informed her that her son was under investigation for violating constitutional provisions. “He says that my son led the public demonstration and explained to me that they recognize the right to freedom of expression and the right to protest, but that it has a limit. What he could not explain to me was what limit my son crossed,” the mother said.

“He explained to me that they recognize the right to freedom of expression and the right to protest, but that it has a limit. What he could not explain to me was what limit my son crossed.”

Juan Carlos Chillón Paizán is an activist who has participated in civic movements seeking democratic reforms in Cuba. He has been president of the M-SURD movement, dedicated to promoting constitutional changes and respect for citizens’ rights, and he has a history of arrests for his activism in Havana, including during the Island-wide 11 July 2021 [’11J’] protests.

His mother says that Paizán had already filed a complaint days earlier with the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Havana, when he submitted a document stating that several rights recognized in the Constitution are not respected in practice.

She has not been able to see him since his arrest and says that at Villa Marista she was prevented from delivering medication, even though Chillón Paizán suffers from epilepsy and needs treatment with carbamazepine. “I went to bring the medicines, but they would not accept them because I had to bring a medical certificate explaining why he takes carbamazepine,” she said.

The family says they do not have the resources to hire a lawyer who could clarify the legal process the detainee is facing.

On social media, users have expressed solidarity with Chillón Paizán, demanding his immediate release. The messages ask for a “proof of life” and hold the authorities responsible for his physical safety.

“I went to bring the medicines, but they would not accept them because I had to bring a medical certificate explaining why he takes carbamazepine.”

His case adds to the wave of arrests that has occurred during the recent protests against blackouts. The independent legal organization Cubalex has documented at least 14 detentions related to demonstrations recorded since March 6 in Havana. Of those arrests, the identities of only eight people have been confirmed.

In its February report, the organization Prisoners Defenders reported a new record number of political prisoners in Cuba: 1,214, including 131 women and 31 detainees who were minors at the time of their arrest.

Meanwhile, political prisoner Roilán Álvarez Rensoler, a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), has been on a hunger strike for nearly 40 days and is hospitalized in serious condition.

Álvarez Rensoler was arrested on January 30 of this year for alleged anti-government graffiti in several municipalities of Holguín and began his hunger strike while detained at the Pedernales police operation center.

His sister reported that authorities have conditioned his release on the family guaranteeing his immediate departure from the country. “They asked whether we had a way to get him out of here immediately, even tomorrow. If there was any certainty about something, it was that they would take him out of the situation he is in,” she explained.

Álvarez Rensoler is currently in intermediate care with severe kidney damage because he is consuming only minimal amounts of water.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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conditions while serving the rest of their sentences outside prison, and any violation could result in their return to a penitentiary facility. This model of conditional release has previously occurred in other cases of negotiated releases.

The decision applies to those who have served a significant portion of their sentence and have shown good behavior during their time in prison.

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the decision applies to those who have served a large part of their sentence and demonstrated good conduct while imprisoned. The government described the measure as sovereign, although it noted that contacts were maintained with the Vatican, in line with the tradition of dialogue on prisoner release processes. In its statement it also linked the measure to the “proximity of the celebrations of Holy Week.”

Amnesty International and Justicia 11J criticized the lack of transparency in the process, since the complete list of those released has not been published and the conditions of their release have not been detailed. Amnesty International also denounced the use of prisoners as “bargaining chips in a political game” and reiterated its demand for the “immediate and unconditional” release of those it considers unjustly imprisoned in Cuba.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez met on February 28 at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to discuss dialogue and mediation on prisoner issues. In addition, the U.S. ambassador to Cuba, Mike Hammer, met days earlier with Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for Relations with States.

In 2026, Cuba reached a historic record of political prisoners with a total of 1,214, according to the latest report by Prisoners Defenders published at the end of last February.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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to an end.

“Any negotiation that preserves a one-party communist dictatorship while ignoring the fundamental requirements of the Libertad Act (Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996) is unacceptable.”

In the interview, however, he compared that dialogue with those that took place in Iran or “with the Maduro regime,” he emphasized. A phrase that offers little reassurance to those who fear something remotely similar could happen that would allow high officials of the current Cuban government to remain in power, as has happened in Venezuela.

That concern is reflected in the statement by Miami-Dade County commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis, who considered that “any negotiation that preserves a one-party communist dictatorship while ignoring the fundamental requirements of the LIBERTAD Act is unacceptable.” For now, she is the only one to specifically refer to Díaz-Canel’s announcement. “Today’s announcement (…) highlights the desperation of a regime facing an increasingly deep economic and political crisis,” she said.

Although she believes that Trump “deserves recognition” for the pressure exerted on the Island, “the law of the United States is clear. Sanctions can only be lifted when Cuba begins an irreversible transition toward a multiparty democracy, fully respects basic human rights and civil liberties, and takes concrete steps to return or compensate for the properties confiscated from Cuban and Cuban-American families,” she argued.

Milian Orbis stressed that the pressure must lead to “real changes” and that the United States “must not legitimize or finance their oppression.” “The Cuban people deserve freedom, not another agreement that keeps a communist dictatorship in power,” she added.

“Mexico will always promote peace and diplomatic dialogue, particularly in the face of this injustice that has been committed for many years against the Cuban people through the blockade.”

From Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the dialogue, something she had proposed mediating many times. “That’s good,” the president said during a press conference in Colima (western Mexico) when asked about the talks.

“Mexico will always promote peace and diplomatic dialogue, particularly in the face of this injustice that has been committed for many years against the Cuban people through the blockade* that has generated various problems. Therefore, it is essential that this dialogue take place,” the president declared.

Sheinbaum also reiterated Mexico’s support for the Cuban people, both for humanitarian reasons and because of the country’s foreign policy principles. “Mexico will continue supporting the Cuban people through all possible channels, not only as a matter of humanitarian aid but also because our Constitution establishes the self-determination of peoples and solidarity in the search for peace,” she stated.

*Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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bilateral relations between the two nations and requires enormous and arduous efforts to find solutions and create spaces of understanding that allow us to move forward and away from confrontation.”

Díaz-Canel insisted that “in the exchanges that have taken place, the Cuban side has expressed its willingness to carry out this process on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems of both states, for sovereignty, and for the self-determination of our governments,” taking into account “reciprocity” and adherence to international law.

At a press conference following his initial remarks, where there was not a single question about the dialogue with the United States, Díaz-Canel spoke about the seriousness of the energy situation. The president claimed that no ship carrying crude oil has entered the country in the last three months, although reports indicate that the Ocean Mariner entered Cuba on January 9, and that the situation has worsened, especially in March.

Up to that point, the country had been working with rationed crude oil that was supplied to the engines in Moa and Mariel, and it has now run out. Aside from that, only the thermoelectric plants using domestic oil, Energás, and solar energy remain. The latter sometimes contributes, he said, up to 53% of energy, but not all of it can be used due to the adjustments needed to balance the system. “There are 1,400 megawatts of fuel that cannot be used,” he regretted.

The president praised the workers of the Cuban Electric Union for the continuous effort they make, as well as the population, which is affected in daily services such as water, communications, and health care, although he also reproached those who “criticize.” “The magnitude of the problem is so great that it cannot be seen,” he said, before listing the countless temporary fixes that have been implemented to alleviate the situation, from charcoal to solar panels installed in countless places. He also announced future photovoltaic parks, progress in the works at the Matanzas supertanker base, increased national crude production, and the incorporation of thermoelectric units for the remainder of the month.

Díaz-Canel also spoke about the situation at universities, during a week in which several students have protested demanding reforms. The president only referred to the controversial semi-in-person teaching format and, after acknowledging that the academic year may advance with difficulty under these circumstances, rejected ending classes. “What are we going to do, throw in the towel?”

The decisions will be communicated Monday in an appearance by Pérez-Oliva on some television program that could be, he said without complete certainty, Mesa Redonda.

Asked about Cuban Americans who allegedly want to invest in the country, Díaz-Canel said that a set of measures has been adopted that will ease current bureaucratic barriers and facilitate those practices. The decisions will be announced Monday in Pérez-Oliva’s television appearance, possibly on Mesa Redonda.

At the press conference, there was also discussion of donations from third countries and the interception of a boat from Villa Clara. “In the investigation, everyone has acknowledged that they fired at our border guard service and have provided very important details that will be revealed later about who recruited them, who prepared them, and their names,” he said.

Only at that point did Díaz-Canel again refer to Washington, announcing that a delegation from the FBI will soon arrive on the Island to investigate the case. “Yes, there is cooperation,” he stated.

Before concluding and leaving for “defense activities,” Díaz-Canel referred to the announced release of 51 prisoners, a process that the Holy See also referred to on Friday to confirm its participation. The president, aware that the move will be interpreted as a concession toward the United States, emphasized that the decision was made in a sovereign manner. “Now prepare to be happy,” he added.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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