Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez continues his international tour with an unannounced visit to Russia
In recent months, the Cuban foreign minister has traveled to several Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and China, in search of support. / EFE
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, February 18, 2026 – Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez is continuing his international tour in Russia in search of energy support to alleviate the fuel crisis engulfing the Island, following the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s Chavista regime. This Wednesday he met in Moscow, without prior announcement, with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and is awaiting a possible meeting at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin.
From Russia, the Cuban foreign minister made several statements regarding White House policies and assured that, despite pressure from Washington, Havana will defend its sovereignty and independence and maintain its “unchanged” course.
“We are ready for respectful dialogue, on equal terms, with any country,” Rodríguez said at the start of his meeting with Lavrov in Moscow.
Lavrov, for his part, stated that Russia, along with most members of the international community, calls on the United States to “show common sense” and “refrain from plans for a naval blockade of the Island of Freedom.” continue reading
“I would like to reiterate that the actions of the United States, which issued a special decree declaring Cuba a threat, are absolutely unacceptable,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.
He regretted that the same decree stipulated that this threat was aggravated by Cuba’s cooperation with Russia, “which is described in that decree as a hostile and malicious State.”
Regarding relations with Russia, they described them as “historic, fraternal, special, and strategic”
Regarding relations with Russia, they described them as “historic, fraternal, special, and strategic,” and declared that cooperation will continue “above any circumstance” and that the objectives set will be achieved.
Moscow recently announced that it is in contact with Cuban authorities and that oil supplies to the Castro regime are expected, something that has not occurred since the shipment of 100,000 tons of crude in February 2025.
However, Russian airlines have had to suspend their flights to Havana and repatriate several thousand tourists due to the fuel shortage on the Island.
In recent months, the Cuban foreign minister has traveled to various Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and China, in search of support. This Monday, during a brief visit, the minister met with his Spanish counterpart, in a trip marked by protests from citizens who also accused Pedro Sánchez’s government of complicity with the Cuban dictatorship.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The Mexican president said her government will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Island
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during her morning press conference this Wednesday. / Screenshot/Presidency of Mexico
14ymedio/EFE, Mexico City, February 18, 2026 – Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said Wednesday that conversations are underway to explore whether the country could facilitate dialogue between the United States and Cuba, while reiterating that her government will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Island.
“There are talks to see whether it’s feasible, but it depends on both governments,” the president said at her regular morning press conference, responding to a Telesur reporter who asked whether the U.S. State Department had “formally responded” to Mexico’s offer to act as an intermediary in possible talks between Washington and Havana.
It does not depend solely on Mexico’s willingness, she added, but also on that of the other two parties “and on the conditions that, within the framework of its self-determination, the Government of Cuba may be establishing.”
Without providing further details, Sheinbaum added that Mexico will continue supporting the Island and called on other countries to join in. “Hopefully more countries will join. We will continue sending aid and support,” she said. continue reading
Despite criticizing the sanctions announced by the United States, Mexico has acknowledged that it has “for the time being” halted fuel shipments to the Island
She also emphasized that cooperation includes citizen-led initiatives in addition to government efforts. “Not only is the Government supporting the people of Cuba, but there are already many civic initiatives. Mexico has always been supportive, and this will be no exception,” she insisted.
The president framed these actions within Mexico’s constitutional principles of foreign policy, such as “the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
The event underscores the fracture between the Island’s exportable image and its life in ruins.
The previous edition of the Cigar Festival, held with a lavish gala dinner at the National Capitol, sparked widespread public backlash. / Habanos S.A.
14ymedio, Havana, February 15, 2026 – The Cigar Festival, considered the premier international showcase for Cuban premium tobacco, was suspended this Saturday with no new date set, amid the worst energy crisis the Island has experienced in decades. The state-owned company Habanos S.A., which holds the global marketing monopoly on the famous cigars, published a brief statement on its website announcing that the 26th edition of the festival, scheduled for February 24–27, has been “postponed,” with a new date to be announced “in due course.”
The official argument claims the decision seeks to preserve “the highest standards of quality and experience” for the event. The reality on the Island, however, has already hit rock bottom: severe fuel rationing, closures or cutbacks of basic services, and a collapsed economy barely able to sustain its most elementary operations.
A worker in the hospitality sector, who has participated in previous editions of the Festival and requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, told 14ymedio that the suspension also thwarted plans for even greater displays of ostentation than last year. “Imagine that this year the private party was going to be at El Morro. The Chinese businessman who organizes the whole thing planned that, at one point during the night, the lighthouse would ‘catch fire’ at the tip, all done with lighting effects, like it was a giant cigar. It would have been visible across the whole city,” she said. According to the source, the businessman is “quite furious” about the cancellation of an event whose reasons, she says, were not only the fuel shortage but also the negative political impact of holding it in the midst of the crisis and after the backlash left by the previous edition.
The worker added that many of the employees involved this year felt an intense conflict that was not felt in previous years. “On one hand, the money was badly needed, because they pay well and in foreign currency. But on the other, there was fear,” she confessed. Fear of possible protests, of being singled out or confronted while serving drinks and dishes to a foreign elite insulated from the blackouts and shortages. “After what happened with the Capitol, no one wanted to be at the center of a viral photo or an altercation,” she said.
Thousands of Cubans reacted angrily to the multimillion-dollar waltz for an elite, in stark contrast to a population condemned to darkness
The previous edition of the Cigar Festival, held with a lavish gala dinner at the National Capitol, provoked widespread public rejection that overflowed onto social media. While the country endured prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and a generalized deterioration of daily life, images of foreign guests toasting under restored chandeliers and luxuriously set tables in one of the Republic’s most symbolic buildings were seen as an obscene provocation. Thousands of Cubans reacted with anger continue reading
to the multimillion-dollar spectacle for an elite, in contrast with a population condemned to darkness, rationing, and daily hardship.
Each year, the Cigar Festival attracts millionaires, global distributors, and international aficionados to a celebration of selective glamour in colonial hotels and luxury halls in Havana. Its auction of exclusive humidors—artistic cases that preserve legendary cigars—has reached stratospheric figures. In the previous edition, a commemorative Behike Line humidor set a historic record by selling for 4.6 million euros, and the seven pieces auctioned totaled more than 16 million euros, destined, according to the Government, for Cuba’s public health system.
But that symbolic and real capital coexists grotesquely with a population pushed to the brink of destitution, following the interruption of oil supplies that Cuba imported mainly from Venezuela and Mexico. Thermoelectric plants, most of them obsolete, operate intermittently, and electricity generation never manages to meet national demand.
The decision to postpone the Festival comes at a time when Cuba’s economy is deteriorating rapidly due to multiple factors: the interruption of Venezuelan oil flows following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the January 29 U.S. executive order threatening tariffs on those who supply fuel to the Island, and the chronic shortage of foreign currency that prevents the import of basic raw materials.
The suspension of the event confirms that outward-oriented luxury and the reality of the average Cuban have become a contradiction that is impossible to conceal
The energy crisis has also served as official justification for shortened workdays, strict gasoline and diesel rationing, temporary hotel closures, and alerts even at airports, where several airlines have canceled flights due to fuel shortages. At the same time, the regime has prioritized internal control, with systematic military exercises and a visible increase in repression.
The Government continues to blame the U.S. embargo and the tightening of oil restrictions for the crisis, presenting it as almost exclusively the result of blockade policy. But that narrative fails to dispel the widespread perception that the national economy is sinking due to internal mistakes and persistence in a failed model. While negotiations continue with foreign distributors and record sales figures are touted, such as the 827 million dollars earned from tobacco in 2024, Cubans’ daily lives unfold amid blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, and a health system on the brink of collapse.
In this context, the suspension of the event confirms that the luxury aimed at foreign audiences and the reality of the average Cuban have become a contradiction that is impossible to conceal. While humidors are auctioned for millions in gala halls, most neighborhoods in Havana and across the provinces survive at the brink. It is the stark contrast between showcase ostentation and everyday misery.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Three Cuban ships roam the Caribbean in a failed attempt to secure LPG, the gas used for cooking on the Island
The Gas Exelero, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, is operating / StealthGas
14ymedio, Madrid, February 16, 2026 – The vessel Gas Exelero, dedicated to transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Cuba and sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, is heading toward Jamaica after having been in Willemstad, Curaçao on Sunday. Its current draft, 4.2 meters, indicates that the tanker was unable to load LPG on the Dutch island and will attempt to obtain it in Kingston, where the Eugenia Gas failed on Saturday, according to University of Texas specialist Jorge Piñón.
The attempt cost the country some of its already scarce fuel reserves, the expert told this newspaper on Saturday, when the ship was returning to Santiago de Cuba after failing to approach the Petrojam refinery in the Jamaican capital. It was the second failure of the Cuban fleet in half a month, after the Emilia, sailing under the Cuban flag, was unable to acquire LPG in Kingston at the end of January.
Jamaica has been a regular supplier of the cooking gas used in Cuba, but that day an order signed by Donald Trump had just taken effect, threatening tariffs on any country delivering fuel to the Island. VesselFinder records indicated at the time that the Emilia left the Island with the same draft with which it returned.
Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images of the levels of light emitted by the Island, determining that the drop reaches 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín
Fuel restrictions have worsened a situation that had already shown extreme fragility over the past two years. This weekend, the financial outlet Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images measuring the continue reading
levels of light emitted by the Island, concluding that brightness has fallen by as much as 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín compared to historical averages. In rural areas, the situation is even worse, while Havana still showed a significant advantage at the time of the study, with the exception of the neighborhoods of Cojímar and Alamar, which were noticeably darker than the rest.
On Sunday, Cuba’s Electric Union reported peak-hour demand of 3,009 megawatts (MW) compared to a generation capacity of just 1,427 MW. The day was also marked by an incident that sparked laughter amid the dramatic situation.
Unit 1 of the Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric plant went offline due to a breakdown before noon, came back online around 3 p.m., and disconnected again just an hour later. At 5:28 p.m., it was reconnected once more, prompting irony from exhausted customers. “Now I can’t remember whether I was coming in or going out,” one said. “Like a Christmas tree: ‘on for a while, off for a while,’” joked another. “So it went out twice and came back twice. The joke tells itself. Thanks, SEN (National Electric System), because despite the criminal blackouts, you make us laugh every day,” commented one user.
Those sanctioned for failing to comply with the Government’s energy-saving plans are likely in less of a laughing mood. The official media outlet in the province of Las Tunas announced specific measures this weekend aimed at curbing energy consumption, a constant concern across most of the Island depending on local conditions and capacities.
“Like a Christmas tree: ‘on for a while, off for a while,’” joked another.
Among the measures announced by Maritza González Llorente, director of the National Office for the Rational Use of Energy in Las Tunas, is the “only punitive measure” to be applied to companies—both state-run and private—that fail to meet their assigned consumption plans: cutting off their electricity supply.
“Everyone who failed to comply with the January consumption plan is having their service cut off. This measure is notified 48 hours in advance. It is then applied for a minimum of 72 hours, and the maximum duration extends until the debtor recovers the excess consumption,” the official explained.
Disconnection will also be applied to businesses located on “non-blackout” circuits, which required identifying those benefiting from their proximity to hospitals or other vital services. “We will increase control actions on each of these non-blackout circuits, and we will check on weekends, from Friday to Monday, whether the switches are open, in order to report any irregularities,” the official warned.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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On March 6, the Island will make its debut in the World Baseball Classic against Panama.
Cuba finished the regular phase with three wins and three losses and was humiliated in the semifinal. / Prensa Latina
14ymedio, Havana, February 15, 2026 – Cuba barely managed to secure third place in a second-tier tournament. On Friday night, Team Asere defeated Panama’s Las Águilas Metropolitanas 7–2 to claim the bronze medal in the second edition of the Serie de las Américas baseball tournament, a championship created as an alternative for winter league teams that do not participate in the Caribbean Series.
Filled with a narrative bordering on the epic, official media stated that “the Cubans turned every hit into an epic verse: they withstood the Panamanian flight, steadied their nerves and, like an Island that never surrenders, closed the tournament with a victory that tasted of honor and memory.”
The national team led by Germán Mesa, which last year ranked 12th in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) standings—the worst position for the Island since this system was created in 2011—scored two runs in the first inning, setting the tone of the game early. However, the Panamanians tied it in the second inning with a home run by Edgard Muñoz.
In the third inning, Cuba again showed offensive power and drove in four runs. The game remained unchanged until the sixth inning, when Roel Santos brought in the Island’s seventh run of the afternoon.
“I’m happy because the work paid off and I was able to help the team. We knew this game was important and we came out fighting from the very first moment,” said Christian Rodríguez, one of Cuba’s standout players in continue reading
the tournament.
“It wasn’t an elite team, but it was a team that fought hard and won a medal. I’m very self-critical”
The celebratory mood was tempered by the Cuban manager’s final remarks, as he admitted that the squad “wasn’t an elite team, but it was a team that fought hard and won a medal. I’m very self-critical, I always want a little more, but the result is fine.”
Although Team Cuba leaves the tournament with a medal, the result falls short of ideal, given that the event is second-tier, as the region’s strongest teams were simultaneously competing in the Caribbean Series in Mexico. In this second edition of the Serie de las Américas, which is not sanctioned by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC), the participants included Cuba (represented by its national team), Panama (Águilas Metropolitanas), Nicaragua (Leones de León), Colombia (Caimanes de Barranquilla), Venezuela (Navegantes del Magallanes), Curaçao (Willemstad Cannons), and Argentina (Club Daom).
In the regular phase, Team Asere finished third with three wins and three losses. With those results, Germán Mesa’s squad advanced to the semifinals, where it was humiliated 9–1 by Navegantes del Magallanes, the team that went on to win the title 10–9 against Caimanes de Barranquilla, also on Friday night, at the Monumental de Caracas stadium.
Thus, Cuba began its road to the World Baseball Classic with a failure in Venezuela. The team will next travel to Nicaragua, where it will play exhibition games against opponents yet to be determined. The preparation schedule also includes two more games during spring training in Arizona: the first against the Kansas City Royals on March 3, and the following day against the Cincinnati Reds.
On March 6, the Island will make its World Baseball Classic debut against Panama at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, provided that the United States grants the necessary visas, something Germán Mesa is confident about. Two days later, Cuba will face Colombia. On March 9, it will take on the host team and will close its participation two days later against Canada. Team Asere will try, at the very least, to match its most recent performance in 2023, when it finished fourth after losing to Mexico, though still far from its feat in 2006, when it reached the final and fell to Japan.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Should the international community look the other way while Cubans are thrown into prison, tortured, humiliated, or expelled from their own country?
¿Is a nation deliberately impoverished and forced to choose between living in silence while enduring illness, hunger, misery, and pain truly sovereign? // 14ymedio
14ymedio, Karel J. Leyva, Montreal, February 14, 2026 — The modern principle of sovereignty was formulated in 17th-century Europe, after the Peace of Westphalia, with a clear objective: to limit wars between powers and establish that each state would exercise authority within its borders without external interference. Sovereignty was thus born as a mechanism to reduce international violence and stabilize a system marked by constant conflict.
Over time, this principle became a cornerstone of international law. Without the rule of non-intervention, the international system would have continued to be dominated by preventive wars and constant disputes over jurisdiction. Sovereignty established a minimum boundary: each state governs within its territory, and others may not freely intervene in its internal affairs. This principle, though imperfect, allowed for a certain degree of stability and especially protected weaker countries from more powerful ones.
However, beginning in the mid-20th century, international law introduced a decisive shift. The United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 1966 International Covenants affirmed that state authority has limits when life, physical integrity, and fundamental freedoms are at stake. Sovereignty ceased to be understood as an absolute principle and began to be understood as authority subject to obligations.
That a situation occurs within a state’s borders does not mean that any action by political power is automatically justified
The principle of the Responsibility to Protect, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, clearly expresses this transformation: sovereignty implies not only rights but also responsibilities, including the obligation to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. When a state fails to fulfill that function, the international community may act, under particular circumstances.
This introduces a fundamental distinction: the fact that a situation occurs within a state’s borders does not mean that any action by political power is automatically justified. The “internal” character of a problem does not render the systematic violation of basic rights legitimate.
The Cuban case illustrates this clearly. For decades, political power has imprisoned opponents, repressed peaceful demonstrations, punished dissent through surveillance, harassment, and disproportionate sentences, and generated continue reading
economic and social conditions that keep broad sectors of the population in persistent structural precariousness. These are not isolated incidents or occasional excesses but part of a system of control spanning more than six decades.
Should the international community look the other way, hiding behind a conveniently interpreted principle?
For too many years, the Cuban regime has demanded respect for national sovereignty while brutally punishing its own people. Whom does the sovereignty they defend truly protect? The Cuban nation, a nation literally plunged into darkness, forced to live with its head bowed, dominated by fear? Is the nation not rather the victim of the success of sovereignist rhetoric? Is a nation deliberately impoverished, forced to choose silence while enduring illness, hunger, misery, and pain truly sovereign?
Is the sovereignty invoked by the Cuban Government the sovereignty of a free people or rather that of unchecked power, whose sole function is to preserve itself and guarantee the survival of the brutality and cynicism of an absolutist regime?
Should the international community look the other way, hiding behind a conveniently interpreted principle, while Cubans who attempt to express themselves freely are thrown into prison, tortured, humiliated, or expelled from their own country?
A principle created to limit war between states cannot become the pretext that legitimizes the systematic violence of a totalitarian state against an entire nation. If it does, it would lose all legitimacy and moral value. The sovereignty of impunity is not the sovereignty of a nation; it is the sovereignty of a tyrant.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Those without dollars must wake up at dawn, endure long hours of waiting, and return when a blackout interrupts the work
Getting or correcting an identity document is no longer just a procedure: it’s a test of endurance. / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, San José de las Lajas, February 14, 2025 — At seven in the morning, when the identity card office in San José de las Lajas should be getting into rhythm, fatigue has already spread through the waiting room. The metal chairs, lined up with a discipline that contrasts with the disorder of the procedures, are occupied by resigned bodies: men in caps, women with large handbags, elderly people staring at the floor, and young people passing the time on their phones. In one corner, two little girls swipe at a screen, unaware of the errand that brought their mothers there. The ceiling fan turns slowly, as if it too were rationing energy.
Handling any paperwork at this Ministry of the Interior office has become an exercise in endurance. Not only because of the usual bureaucracy, but because administrative collapse is now compounded by the so-called “reorganization program” the Government has imposed in response to the energy crisis. In practice, this means unexpected blackouts, interrupted schedules, computers shutting down in the middle of a procedure, and employees who frequently ask for patience as the only possible response.
Yesenia knows this well. She lives in the Jamaica neighborhood at the other end of town, and this is the third time she has repeated the same routine. “I come at five in the morning to get in line, spend three or four hours making sure no one cuts in front of me, and when I finally sit down at the computer, the power goes out or they tell me there’s no material to make the ID,” she says. She has been without identification for nearly a month after losing all her documents. Just getting to the office on 13th Avenue costs her no less than 500 pesos in transportation. “Once is complicated. Three times is disrespectful,” she sums up. continue reading
Just getting to the office on 13th Avenue costs her no less than 500 pesos in transportation.
At eleven in the morning, Yesenia finally manages to sit at the desk. The employee listens halfway and then gets up to go to another department, leaving her hanging. “It’s taking about forty minutes per procedure,” she comments, glancing at the clock. “You need infinite patience.” The official hours, from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon, are more of a theoretical reference. Blackouts, broken equipment, and lack of connectivity turn each day into a game of Russian roulette.
In this uneven game, not everyone is playing with the same cards. Sergio waits calmly in the room, with no sign of having arrived at dawn. “One of the girls here is going to help me,” he says quietly. He is applying for a passport and knows the process can take a month and a half or more, but he also knows there are shortcuts. “If you’re in a hurry, you have no choice but to pay for the stamps at whatever price they ask on the street and let something drop in here,” he explains. His son sent him dollars for that. “It’s the only way not to spend another New Year’s in Cuba.”
The gesture with which he greets the clerk when she enters the room confirms there are unwritten rules. Sergio expects to have his passport in about ten days. He doesn’t know exactly how his acquaintance speeds things up, but he is sure he’s not the only beneficiary. Meanwhile, others keep counting how many times they have come without resolving anything.
Isis carries a different story, though just as exhausting. She is trying to correct an error on her daughter’s ID card. First it was a misspelled last name. Then an accent mark missing from the first name. Now, a wrong number in the birth date. “I check the data on the screen and everything is fine, but when they print it, it comes out wrong,” she says, unable to hide her frustration. For her, the problem is not only the lack of resources but the total absence of empathy. “They don’t put any care into what they do,” she laments.
In four months she has been attended by different employees, almost all with evident difficulties handling the computer.
In four months she has been attended by different employees, almost all with evident difficulties handling the computer. “I don’t think they are properly trained,” she says. And she makes it clear that her case is not an exception. “You end up making new friends here from running into the same people so many times, all of us trapped by the bureaucracy.”
The images in the waiting room reinforce that sense of endless waiting. A television at the back plays without sound; the blinds let in a dull light that does little to ease the heat. Outside, the city continues at its slow pace, also marked by blackouts and fuel shortages.
In San José de las Lajas, getting or correcting an identity document is no longer just a procedure: it is a test of endurance. The “contingency plan,” as the authorities also call it, has added another layer of uncertainty to a system already full of obstacles. Between predawn lines, blackouts, repeated errors, and paid favors, residents learn that in order to exist on paper, they must first survive the wait.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“If I work twelve hours, I can make more than 5,000 pesos a day, although it’s quite hard.”
Motorcycles and bicycles are trying to fill the gap left for transporting goods. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, February 14, 2026 – In a city that is practically at a standstill, some people never stop. You see them crossing empty streets, dodging the potholes along the Malecón or pedaling uphill on Tulipán with a backpack on their backs. They wear no uniforms and have no employment contracts, yet they carry much of Havana’s economy on wheels. They are the young delivery workers, a generation that in these days of fuel shortages has become indispensable in the movement of goods.
Yasiel, 26, delivers pizzas, medicines, and small packages. Orders reach him via WhatsApp from private businesses in the Cuban capital, desperate for the lack of messengers with cars or gasoline motorcycles. Sometimes they ask him for flowers, a cake, or even a plastic basin to bathe a baby. “Whatever can be strapped onto the rack,” he tells 14ymedio as he adjusts the bags on his bicycle that he will deliver to several points around the city. He has no self-employment license and does not belong to any small or medium-sized enterprise, yet he earns more than many professionals. “If I work twelve hours, I can make more than 5,000 pesos a day, although it’s quite hard.”
On Friday night, when only a few electric tricycles and some pedestrians who preferred walking on the asphalt rather than the neglected sidewalks were traveling along Rancho Boyeros Avenue, Yasiel was still making deliveries. An enormous backpack hung from his back and another, even larger, from his chest. He was coming from Playa municipality, near the Almendares River, heading to Nuevo Vedado. “I’m exhausted because I haven’t stopped pedaling all day. Could you give me a glass of water?” he asked one of his customers, nearly fainting.
The company Yasiel was delivering for, one of many that operate digital platforms where emigrants buy food and other basic supplies for their relatives on the Island, “is liquidating its merchandise ahead of what’s coming,” the young man says. The online shop has launched a 15% discount on all its products, and “if they’re frozen, you can get them for up to 25% less,” he explains. Fearing that blackouts will grow longer each day, “many people are avoiding buying anything that requires refrigeration.” continue reading
Some bicycle taxis have spent weeks transporting “more food than people.” / 14ymedio
This Friday, the deliveries Yasiel made were mainly canned goods, grains, and cookies. “There were jars of chickpeas that you could tell had been sitting in the warehouse for a while because of the dust on top.” Bags of flour, sardines, tuna, powdered milk, cereal, vegetable oil, and the ever-reliable cans of Spam rounded out the orders. “For the first time since I started this job, I didn’t move a single package of frozen chicken quarters today.” No one wants a power outage to turn their food into a stinking puddle of water and blood.
In Telegram groups with names like Delivery Habana 24/7 or Mensajeros de Plaza, workers share orders, routes, and clients. Sometimes they also share warnings: “Don’t go through Infanta, it’s pitch dark because of the blackout.” These are work forums, but also spaces of camaraderie. “Here we alert each other when a business is looking for workers, when the power is out, or if a street is closed for a march. We’re like a brotherhood, but without headquarters,” Yasiel explains.
Marcos, 34, nicknamed El Ruedas [Wheels], has spent weeks transporting “more food than people” in his bicycle taxi. Originally from distant Banes in Holguín province, he has spent five years running passenger routes between Central Havana, Cerro, and Old Havana. At the beginning of February, he got a call from a friend who works for a digital site that distributes everything from food to hardware supplies. “He told me they needed bicycles or electric motorcycles because they had fewer and fewer cars due to the gasoline problem.”
Since then, Marcos has “combed Havana” from one side to the other transporting sausages, soft drinks, butter, and whatever a Cuban emigrant in Miami, Berlin, or Madrid buys for family members on the Island. “I’ve been lucky, and besides what they pay me, I’ve received good tips because when people see me arriving in the bicycle taxi, they reach into their pockets to give me something.” Where others fear a worsening fuel crisis, the Holguín native sees his niche: “Now it’s our turn, the ones who don’t need oil or electricity.”
“These are times when you have to stay very alert because people know we’re delivering food and items paid for in foreign currency. We’re a target.”
The day he remembers most gratefully was last Monday, when he delivered “coffee and some of those tubes used so bedridden patients can urinate” to a house in Casino Deportivo. “The little old lady who received me tipped me a dollar,” he recalls. That same day, the U.S. dollar was approaching 500 Cuban pesos on the informal market. “It’s things like that that keep me in this job, though there are bitter moments too.”
In the darkness of a street in the Cerro neighborhood, Marcos watches over his shoulder while handing over one of the orders. Using his phone’s flashlight, he checks the sheet listing products that a digital store has processed for a Havana family. “These are times when you have to stay very alert because people know we’re delivering food and items paid for in foreign currency. We’re a target when we do that.” To avoid complaints later, each product must be verified against the list in front of the recipient, a process that takes time and increases the risk.
Beyond robberies, Marcos’s biggest fear until this week was “that the strong heat would come and it wouldn’t be so easy to pedal from place to place.” However, in recent hours he has had three orders canceled, raising new concerns. “Several of those digital sites are closing off orders from abroad because they can’t guarantee delivery anymore. This is getting ugly.” If online purchases grind to a halt, it won’t matter how strong the messenger’s calves are: “I’ll have to go back to moving people, and dealing with flesh-and-blood customers is more complicated.”
The boom in informal delivery grew alongside the energy crisis and the collapse of state transport, but it reached its peak during the covid-19 pandemic. Now, with the near disappearance of fuel on the Island, after the executive order signed by Donald Trump penalizing countries that send crude oil to Cuba with tariffs, gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles are becoming increasingly scarce, and electric tricycles can’t keep up. In that vacuum, motorcycles and bicycles are trying to fill the gap left in transporting goods.
With each trip, the messenger earns between 1,000 and 1,500 pesos, depending on the distance. / 14ymedio
“I used to work in a refrigeration repair shop, but this pays better,” Landy, 30, tells this newspaper. He coordinates a network of ten messengers. His “headquarters” is a WhatsApp chat. “The small and medium-sized businesses write to me, I pass along the address and calculate the commission. There’s no boss and no fixed schedule. If there’s no connection, I disconnect, and that’s it.” With each trip, the messenger earns between 1,000 and 1,500 pesos, depending on the distance. “There’s no contract, but there’s trust,” the entrepreneur adds. “They pay me my commission at the end of the day, based on the trips completed.”
Most are young men, though there are women as well. Some are university students, IT specialists, or engineers. All are trying to earn money to support their families, and they prefer the independence of not being tied to a state job and being able to work with several businesses at once. “I don’t want anyone bossing me around. I take a job when I need to, and when I don’t feel like it, I stay home,” sums up a 23-year-old delivery worker with an electric tricycle. “My boss is the battery.”
The job is full of risks. “Sometimes it runs out in the middle of the darkness, and I have to push the tricycle until I find a place where I can charge it,” explains a young man from San Miguel del Padrón who makes deliveries in what he calls “a tough area.” Wearing gloves, a helmet, and a black jacket with “Rider” on the back, he distributes packages for small businesses in the municipality, but also takes jobs from larger digital platforms.
The leading online store has announced that it is canceling all its orders starting this Friday. Supermarket, which had managed to extend its deliveries across nearly the entire Island, informed customers that it will only process orders already received. “Due to the current situation regarding fuel availability in Cuba, our logistics operations have been temporarily limited,” reads its website.
Yasiel refuses to let such announcements paralyze him. For Saturday, he has a full schedule of deliveries. “It’s Valentine’s Day, and I’m not going to stop pedaling. I’ll rest tomorrow.” The future is something he avoids thinking about in a country where announcements of cancellations, closures, and interruptions come one day after another.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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In the absence of electricity, this has become an essential resource for cooking in neighborhoods without piped gas.
Most of those waiting to buy a small gas cylinder at Cupet establishments are elderly people. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, Darío Hernández, February 13, 2026 – As the sun begins to set in Regla, under a red sky, people remain crowded in a line that started forming well before 3:00 in the afternoon. Most of those waiting to buy a small gas cylinder at Cupet outlets are elderly; many use the empty tank or the small cart used to transport it as a seat to ease their fatigue.
At 6:00 in the evening, the truck loaded with gas arrives, and finally, two hours later, the crowd slowly begins to move forward amid arguments and commotion.
Not all lines in the capital are the same: some are better organized than others. A young woman scrolling through Facebook on her phone while she waits says loudly that “my mother in Cerro got her cylinder at 1:00 in the afternoon, just imagine,” without taking her eyes off the screen.
The protocol, published in a Telegram group, states that priority in line should be given to those who have gone the longest without refilling their cylinder; in this case, those whose last refill was in August. But in reality, organization depends on the judgment of the workers at each sales point. For example, on Obispo Street in Guanabacoa, “a huge commotion broke out,” neighbors told 14ymedio, because it was decided that only 150 gas cylinders would be sold to the first people who arrived. “Many of them have been marking their place for days or are messengers, so those from August were left without continue reading
a cylinder once again.”
The protocol, published in a Telegram group, states that priority in line should be given to those who have gone the longest without refilling their cylinder / 14ymedio
This Tuesday, the Liquefied Gas Company (GLP) announced the distribution of cylinders for residents of the provinces of Havana, Artemisa, and Mayabeque, with a projected 15,000 units per day, to be distributed “equitably,” supposedly prioritizing by geographic location the areas with the highest customer density. The document stipulates the sale of only one cylinder per contract, the organization of sales points based on customer records, and the date of the last purchase. Registered delivery agents would only be authorized to buy one cylinder per customer per day. However, the reality seen on the streets is far from what is established and reveals chaos well removed from the protocol.
Yamila, a resident of Nuevo Vedado who spoke with 14ymedio, feels very fortunate not to have to endure that “calvary”: “Luckily, the piped gas is working well; I don’t know if it’s because it’s domestically produced. It doesn’t cover the whole city or anything close to that, but for those of us who have it, it’s a blessing to count on that service.”
The growing demand for small gas cylinders, which on the informal market can now reach prices of up to 30,000 pesos, has surged over the past month as the energy crisis has worsened. Faced with shortages of both gas and electricity, many people have begun turning to charcoal and firewood for cooking, a practice long common in eastern Cuba but now increasingly frequent in some Havana neighborhoods.
Jamaica has traditionally supplied liquefied gas to Cuba, but after sanctions imposed by the Trump administration starting January 30 on any country supplying fuel to the Island, shipments were interrupted. On February 1, the Cuban tanker Emilia returned empty to the port of Cienfuegos after a failed attempt to purchase LPG in Kingston.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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A draw against Belize placed the Island’s team at the top of Group F with seven points.
“It’s my first World Cup,” coach Sandro Sevillano told the newspaper El Gráfico after the match against Belize. / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Havana, February 12, 2026 – Cuba is returning to a soccer World Cup after 35 years of frustrated attempts, although not in the senior category. The achievement came this Wednesday when the Under-17 national team secured a scoreless draw against its counterpart from Belize at Cementos Progreso Stadium in Guatemala City. The feat was accompanied by a first-place finish in the group with seven points. The Island’s team joined Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, and the United States, which had previously secured their qualification for Qatar 2026.
“It’s my first World Cup,” coach Sandro Sevillano told El Gráfico at the end of the match, emphasizing: “The key was that we focused the group’s mindset on the goal of qualifying for the World Cup.”
The Artemisa native, who has led the U-17 team since 2022, was instrumental in Cuba’s 1–0 victory over Curaçao thanks to a goal by Deibi Borrell. The team also defeated El Salvador 2–1 with a brace from Yankarlos Iglesias, a result that allowed them to reach the final match with an advantage in the standings. The draw against Belize secured the single point needed to confirm their ticket.
“Today it was our turn,” added the strategist, acknowledging that El Salvador also had a chance to advance but finished with six points, one behind the Island in Group F.
The Island’s team joined Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama and the United States, which had previously secured their qualification to Qatar 2026. / Cubadebate
In 1989, Cuba became the first Caribbean country to qualify for a U-16 World Cup (Scotland). Two years later, it did so again at Italy 1991. continue reading
Independent media outlets highlighted the Island’s accomplishment. “History has been made today in Cuban soccer. A dream come true,” published Por La Goma LLC.
Several of these young players have trained in the “ruins” of Pedro Marrero Stadium, part of Cuba’s National Soccer School, the Cuban National Soccer Team page denounced on Facebook earlier this February. According to the post, the youngsters “have to hang their belongings out to dry” in the stands and train in grass that reaches “above their ankles.”
Regarding the match, the same outlet acknowledged that against Belize “it wasn’t an attractive game,” but it was played intelligently. “Belize put up a fight, their goalkeeper Lucas Gallego had an inspired night, and Cuba couldn’t find the goal but they didn’t need it. The 0–0 tasted like glory, like qualification, like a World Cup.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina face charges of “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “incitement to commit a crime”
People gathered outside the Holguín court this Thursday. / 14ymedio/Courtesy
14ymedio, Holguín, Miguel García, February 12, 2026 – More than 50 people, including relatives, friends, and activists, have gathered since the early hours of Thursday in front of the Provincial People’s Court of Holguín, where a hearing is being held in the case of the young creators of the independent project El4tico. The hearing responds to a habeas corpus petition admitted by the court itself on behalf of Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina, who were detained on February 6.
Coinciding with the growing number of people gathered outside the court, internet outages occurred in the area, interrupting the arrival of messages and reports from the scene, while Zayas and Medina remained inside the building.
On its Facebook page, the Holguín Provincial Prosecutor’s Office justified its decision to open criminal proceedings against the platform’s creators. They are accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “incitement to commit a crime” through posts that allegedly encouraged the public and members of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior to change the constitutional order and that “defamed state institutions.” The statement notes that Medina and Zayas are being held under the precautionary measure of pretrial detention while “investigative procedures continue to obtain evidence.”
The court day was preceded by a new act of harassment
The judicial session was preceded by a new act of harassment. Activist Yanet Rodríguez Sánchez, who filed the habeas corpus petition on February 9 on behalf of the detainees, attempted to leave her home this morning to go to the court, but agents of the political police prevented her from doing so. At least two police patrol cars and a motorcycle were stationed outside her house, and two plainclothes agents blocked her from heading to the court. continue reading
Rodríguez Sánchez has also received intimidating phone calls and messages in recent hours. Since Thursday morning, she has remained cut off from communication and arbitrarily confined to her home, a form of de facto detention that Cuban authorities frequently use to prevent activists from participating in public demonstrations.
The admission of the habeas corpus petition by the First Criminal Chamber of the Holguín Provincial Court constitutes an uncommon event within the Cuban judicial system, where such petitions rarely succeed in cases involving politically motivated detentions. In Cuba, there is no real separation of powers, and the courts, like the rest of the public institutions, operate under the “guidelines” of the Communist Party, the only legal party.
The contrast with other recent cases is evident. In Havana, for example, a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Ankeilys Guerra Fis, a 23-year-old detained since January 14, 2026 and held incommunicado at Villa Marista, the headquarters of State Security, was denied. Guerra was violently arrested at his home for alleged critical expressions on social media. The court rejected the petition, citing the lack of information about the alleged crime, case number, or exact place of detention, information that the authorities themselves systematically refuse to provide.
The hearing requires the Prosecutor’s Office to formally present the charges, justify the legality of the detention, and explain the conditions under which the detainees are being held
In Holguín, relatives and close associates of Zayas and Medina have expressed concern both about the lack of official information and about the conditions of detention at the province’s Criminal Investigation Unit, a facility popularly known as “Todo el mundo canta” (“Everybody Sings”) due to the violence reportedly used during interrogations there. During the operation that led to their arrest, State Security agents confiscated computers, mobile phones, cameras, and other work equipment used by the young men to produce audiovisual content critical of the country’s political and social reality.
Thursday’s hearing obliges the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office to formally present the charges—if any—to justify the legality of the detention, and explain the conditions of confinement, as part of the judicial review resulting from the habeas corpus petition. The process has drawn the attention of human rights organizations, independent journalists, and activists inside and outside the Island, who view the case as a direct violation of freedom of expression and due process.
In recent hours, messages of solidarity have multiplied on social media under the hashtag #TodosSomosEl4tico, calling for the immediate release of the young men and denouncing judicial arbitrariness. In contrast, party authorities, including the first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguín, Joel Queipo Ruiz, joined a public smear campaign, calling the young men from El4tico “mercenaries” and “traitors,” among other insults common in official discourse.
Outside the court, the atmosphere remains peaceful, though tense and filled with expectation. Family members, including Doris Santiesteban Batista, Ernesto’s wife, continue to await news from inside the courthouse, hoping the day will mark a turning point in a case that once again highlights the use of Cuba’s judicial system as a tool of political control and punishment of dissent.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Last year also marked a historic record for Cuban nationals receiving Uruguayan ID cards: 13,852
Never before had so many Cubans entered Uruguay as last year, more than 22,000. / Unicef
14ymedio, Madrid, February 10, 2026 – Never before had so many Cubans entered Uruguay as last year—more than 22,000—nor had so many obtained the South American country’s national ID card, 13,852. According to data from the National Directorate of Migration (DNM), reported by local media, this latter figure places Cuban nationals as the largest group receiving identity documents, apart from Uruguayans themselves, quintupling Argentines (2,635), Brazilians (2,564), and Venezuelans (2,042).
The number of arrivals represents a significant jump compared to the previous year. In 2024, 13,118 Cubans entered Uruguay, according to the DNM. That year, 2,092 Cuban nationals obtained Uruguayan residency.
The organization Uruvene, which assists migrants arriving for the first time in that country, reported that in 2025 they assisted 942 Cubans, far ahead of Venezuelans, at 300. “We have noticed that they arrive in groups of five per family, entire family units,” said Yanitze Gutiérrez, a member of the organization, in statements to Telemundo Uruguay. “The situation in Cuba has become unbearable,” she added. “It’s not just going more than 14 hours without electricity and without access to food, but also that the money, even with what relatives send, is no longer enough.”
The migration route taking Cubans to South America has become firmly established in recent years
The migration route taking Cubans to South America has become firmly established in recent years amid growing difficulties in emigrating to the United States or transatlantic countries such as Spain. The journey does not carry the same dangers as the maritime route across the Florida Straits, organized crime in countries like Mexico or Guatemala, or the harsh Darién jungle, although it is not without risk. continue reading
As Globo reported a few days ago, since last November some 200 Cubans have been victims of a human trafficking organization operating on the Brazil–Guyana border that has since been dismantled by police. The number, sources told the local outlet, is believed to be higher, as the group had reportedly been operating for at least a year.
That total corresponds to Cubans who remained for three months in a clandestine hostel with more than 30 beds. Initially, those involved used their own homes to house migrants. As the flow increased, investigators indicated, a larger structure was set up.
Investigations suggest that the victims were recruited in Cuba and entered Brazil through the state of Roraima, passing through Lethem (Guyana) en route to Boa Vista.
Cuban nationals, as 14ymedio has reported, either remain in Brazil or continue farther south to Uruguay and, to a lesser extent, to Chile.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The head of U.S. diplomacy in Cuba says there is a “Delcy Rodríguez” on the Island and that negotiations should bear fruit within weeks
Mike Hammer during Tuesday’s interview on Telemundo. / Screenshot
14ymedio, Madrid, February 11, 2026 – The head of the U.S. Diplomatic Mission, Mike Hammer, insisted this Tuesday in an interview with Telemundo in Miami that talks are taking place with representatives of the Cuban government and even hinted that parts of the regime are unaware of them. The diplomat went so far as to claim that Washington already has a Delcy Rodríguez on the Island.
“Obviously there are conversations with some very high-ranking people within the regime. Others may not be aware,” Hammer said. “There are some who come out and make a statement: ‘No, no, no, there’s nothing.’ And then suddenly, a day or two later, they say: ‘Well, I mean, this has to be done the way we’re doing it.’ I’ll just give you the example of Venezuela,” he emphasized.
The idea aligns with what U.S. President Donald Trump himself has repeatedly insisted. In mid-January and just a few days ago, the president maintained that dialogue was underway and that there would be news soon. On both occasions, the Cuban regime responded by denying that anything was being discussed beyond the usual matters on which both nations regularly exchange views: migration and drug trafficking.
“Good question, I appreciate it. A good journalist, we’re not going to get into… Yes, there is a Delcy Rodríguez,” he stated bluntly
Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, has maintained in several interviews with international media that there is a willingness to talk, but based on mutual respect, and has asserted that Washington’s comments about possible negotiations are malicious, intended to sow distrust. “If it is being suggested that there is fragmentation within the Cuban government (…) and a willingness by a small group to surrender Cuba’s sovereign rights and give in to pressure (…) that is a mistaken interpretation,” he told continue reading
EFE last week. The Spanish newspaper ABChad just reported, citing sources in Mexico, that dialogue does exist and that the intermediary is General Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Raúl Castro.
Hammer declined to confirm any names, even when Telemundo journalist Damià Bonmatí pressed him to identify who the Cuban Delcy Rodríguez might be. “Good question, I appreciate it. A good journalist, we’re not going to get into that… Yes, there is a Delcy Rodríguez,” he said flatly. “I’m not even going to touch the subject in that sense, just that anyone within the leadership who sees that their children and grandchildren no longer want to be in Cuba because the situation is so miserable, that they go abroad to study, that they’re living the good life in other countries… they know this is coming to an end,” he concluded.
Asked about the timeframe for these talks and how long he believes the Cuban regime has left, Hammer avoided committing to specifics, although his reference to the Venezuelan case and his renewed mention of 2026 as a horizon made clear that the U.S. is thinking in terms of months. “If it doesn’t move forward in weeks, there will be a Plan B,” he said. The diplomat recalled that last November Trump offered dialogue to Nicolás Maduro and talks took place that led nowhere. “There was a call with Maduro and six weeks later he fell. We have to imagine similar timelines,” he noted.
The diplomat also declined to specify what alternatives might exist if the alleged talks do not succeed, but said the priority is to find a “peaceful solution.” “No one wants to see bloodshed, but it is very important that change takes place and that the rest of the world also wake up and help move this process forward,” he asserted.
“No one wants to see bloodshed, but it is very important that change takes place and that the rest of the world also wake up and help move this process forward”
Bonmatí also asked Hammer to what extent the United States bears responsibility for Cuba’s extreme weakness since it has been prevented from acquiring oil, but the diplomat spoke of prior deterioration and avoided any mention of recent weeks. The executive order signed by Trump on January 29 to impose tariffs on countries that deliver oil to the Island has led the Cuban regime to adopt emergency measures.
“The embargo does not place any restrictions on food. The embargo does not place any restrictions on medicine. Cuba can trade with any country in the world, and it does. You go to any of the markets run by SMEs—small and medium-sized enterprises, as they say—and you can buy whatever you want there,” he insisted. Nevertheless, those goods are beginning to remain stranded in ports due to a lack of fuel for distribution.
The diplomat insisted that the U.S. helps the population and cited food shipments valued at three and six million dollars sent by Washington and distributed through Caritas for those affected by Hurricane Melissa. Cuban authorities have described it as “hypocritical to apply draconian coercive measures that deny basic economic conditions to millions of people and then announce soup and canned goods for a few.”
Hammer said that in a potential democracy there could be reconstruction plans in Cuba with the help of emigrants and other foreign investors—plans that will be very costly to finance, since the electrical system alone requires some $10 billion and, as the interviewer reminded him, money does not spring from the ground in Cuba as it does in Venezuela.
Finally, Hammer spoke about his personal situation and the acts of repudiation he has faced from government supporters, as well as the warmth of the population who receive him and share their problems with him.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Hugo Alberto Formes Romero entered Moscow on a tourist visa in September 2025
The Cuban HugoAlbertoFormesRomero entered Russia in September of last year. / Unified Press Service of the Courts of the Volgograd Region
14ymedio, Havana, February 10, 2026 – The Cuban national Hugo Alberto Formes Romero was sentenced in Volgograd, Russia, to eight years and six months in prison for attempting to illegally sell narcotics through information networks and for being part of a criminal network. The 20-year-old must serve his sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.
Although an appeal is possible, five days after the sentencing no legal challenge has been filed.
The Volgograd Prosecutor’s Office accuses Formes of entering Russia to work as a drug trafficker. “Following instructions from his contact, the young man attempted to prepare a stash containing 0.946 grams of mephedrone, but was detained by police,” the office stated as part of the investigation.
Mephedrone, or 4-MMC, also known as “meow-meow,” is a synthetic drug that has flooded Moscow. According to a BBC News report last September, “Russia is mired in a narcotics epidemic that many compare to the fentanyl crisis in the United States.”
Formes entered the country on a tourist visa on September 19, and four days later was detained in an intoxicated state by anti-drug officers in the Traktorozavodsky district. At the police station, he refused to undergo a toxicology test to determine whether he had consumed any drugs in addition to alcohol.
Authorities referred the Cuban’s case to the District Court, where he denied drug use and claimed he was tired from traveling. His arguments were dismissed, he was found guilty, and his deportation was ordered.
Image of the Cuban Hugo Alberto Formes Romero / Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Volgograd Region
However, authorities kept the investigation open, and in less than 24 hours he went from facing expulsion from the country to being charged as a drug trafficker. An officer told the portal V1.RU that Formes’s case is like that of many foreigners, including Cubans, who enter Moscow to commit crimes. continue reading
“Criminals deliberately fly to Volgograd to carry out drug-trafficking activities,” the officer said. In his experience, “these people find information about earnings through messaging apps and arrive with this purpose.”
The official emphasized to the same outlet that “if someone knowingly takes a risk, the law establishes responsibility. That is how his employment ended.” The officer stressed that drug trafficking, “even in a small quantity, but with other indicators, already constitutes a serious crime.”
This is not the first case of Cubans imprisoned in Russia in connection with drugs. Many are recruited through social media with job offers. Last November, a man surnamed Espinosa Rodríguez was placed in pretrial detention in St. Petersburg, in western Russia, for the crime of “large-scale illegal distribution of narcotics.”
The man arrived in the country in October of last year in St. Petersburg after accepting a job offer that “did not specify what it would involve,” reported the local outlet Forpost.
“There they received him and told him he would have to pick up drug packages from designated locations, transport them, and photograph the shipments, sending reports through a messaging system.”
Espinosa Rodríguez remains in pretrial detention. The Cuban stated that he was born and raised on the Island, where he worked as a laborer earning about $209. He added that “an acquaintance offered him part-time work in Russia,” prompting him to travel to the country.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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They were placed in the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi
The Cubans were held in Camp 6, a prison that for years housed jihadists / EFE
14ymedio, Havana, February 10, 2026 – After weeks stranded at the Guantánamo naval base, the group of around 50 Cubans detained by the United States was finally returned to U.S. territory. All of them were placed in the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi, except for one who was sent to Houston, Texas, to receive medical care. The most recent episode of this story was revealed over the weekend by The New York Times (NYT), which has followed the case since last December.
Relatives of these migrants quoted by the New York daily say the men were returned to the United States on a charter flight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), operated by the airline Global X, on a 175-seat aircraft.
Many of these Cubans, aged between 20 and 50, accepted deportation at the end of last year believing they would return to Cuba before Christmas to reunite with their families. According to the report, several of them had been detained in the United States for months, some with work permits and asylum applications still pending. Faced with uncertainty in their cases, several agreed to return to Cuba, never imagining that the flight would end at the naval base.
On December 14, after ICE facilities at Guantánamo had remained empty for weeks, a first group of 22 people arrived, five of whom were considered “high-risk illegal aliens.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said the deported Cubans had “criminal records” for homicide, kidnapping, assault, injury, obstruction of law enforcement, and cruelty to a minor, although they provided no details. Over the following weeks, other flights brought more Cubans, raising the total to around 50 people.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said the deported Cubans had “criminal records”
At the time, their relatives reported that several had been transferred “under false pretenses,” held incommunicado for days, handcuffed, and treated like criminals, even though many had no criminal record.
In Guantánamo, the Cubans were confined in military facilities, first in former barracks and later in Camp 6, a prison that for years housed jihadists.
The original plan for these migrants, detained in the United States last year, was for them to be transported from Guantánamo to a U.S. airport, probably in Puerto Rico, and then sent on to Havana, something that ultimately did not materialize.
The main obstacle is the severe restrictions on flights from the base to the rest of the country. For one of these men to reach Cuban soil, he would first continue reading
have to fly to a U.S. city and from there board another plane to Cuba.
The Department of Homeland Security authorities have not publicly explained why these Cubans were selected
For now, Department of Homeland Security authorities have not publicly explained why these Cubans were selected to be sent to Guantánamo, nor why they were returned to Mississippi, in the midst of a process described by critics as a costly political spectacle.
“The fact that the Trump Administration sent dozens of Cubans to Guantánamo for weeks, only to then bring them back to the United States, reveals the absurdity of the government’s Guantánamo policy,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, quoted by The New York Times. “Quite simply: it is political theater designed to scare immigrants.”
From the Cuban side, there were no official statements from the government, nor were there visible efforts to speed up their return.
The NYT suggests that the Cubans may be trapped in a political standoff between the two governments, at a time when the Trump Administration has also intensified its pressure on Havana, including the U.S. oil squeeze.
The migration operation that took the Cubans to Guantánamo stemmed from an order signed by President Trump
The migration operation that took the Cubans to Guantánamo stemmed from an order signed by President Trump in January 2025, instructing that the base be prepared to receive up to 30,000 deportees. A year later, the actual number is far from that goal. According to The New York Times itself, only 780 people have passed through the base under this scheme, without the U.S. government demonstrating that most had criminal records.
In this regard, CBS reported on Monday that six out of seven migrants detained by ICE in the first year of the current Donald Trump Administration have no history of violent crime, based on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document.
In addition, nearly four out of ten detainees held by ICE had no criminal record at all, and some were only accused of civil immigration offenses, such as living illegally in the United States or overstaying their permitted time in the country.
It was also reported on Monday that at least two migrants have been infected with tuberculosis and another 18 with COVID-19 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, which is considered the largest migrant detention center in the United States, according to The Texas Tribune.
Reports of these infections come a week after the United States closed another detention center—the only one that holds migrant families, also in Texas—due to a measles outbreak.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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14ymedio/EFE, Havana, February 18, 2026 – Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez is continuing his international tour in Russia in search of energy support to alleviate the fuel crisis engulfing the Island, following the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s Chavista regime. This Wednesday he met in Moscow, without prior announcement, with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and is awaiting a possible meeting at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin.
