Translator: Regina Anavy – Page 39

In a Dark Year for Health in Cuba, Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates Go Up

The infant mortality rate rises to 8.2 per thousand and the maternal rate to 56.3 per cent.
“Among the population, there is still a fair amount of dissatisfaction associated with the provision of services that we have been unable to resolve,” said the minister.

Maternity hospital in the city of Matanzas / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 15, 2025 — “It has been impossible to achieve the expected results in the most sensitive issues affecting our people.” With these words, published by the official press on Monday, the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, reported on the performance of his sector during the first half of the year. The picture is very dark, and the mother-child program is at the top of the list.

From January 1 to July 12 of this year, 234 infant deaths were recorded out of 28,400 live births. Although there were 26 fewer deaths than in the first six months of 2024, there were also fewer births: 28,400 compared to 35,138 in the same period last year. As a result, the infant mortality rate rose to 8.2% per 1,000 births, almost one percentage point higher than last year’s 7.4 percent.

Only six provinces maintain rates below 7: Sancti Spíritus (1.9), Cienfuegos (3.7), Pinar del Río (4.3), Matanzas (4.2), Artemisa (5) and Las Tunas (5.7).

The aging of the population was another of the “challenges” identified by the minister.

Although eight provinces maintain a zero maternal death rate, seven others do record deaths: three, respectively, Guantánamo, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba; two, Havana and Granma; and one, Mayabeque, Las Tunas and Pinar del Río.

The aging of the population was another of the “challenges” identified by the minister of the Health and Sports Committee, who is preparing a report for the next regular session of the National Assembly of People’s Power. Of the official figure of 9.7 million inhabitants, almost 2.5 million are elderly adults, 25.7% of the total, and care for them is not optimal. In the country, said Portal Miranda, there are 305 elderly facilities for 13,949 places, “90% of them certified,” and 156 nursing homes, 70% certified.

The minister not only recognized the disaster in these areas, but also the “difficulties to improve the state of construction of medical offices and an availability of only 30% of the basic set of drugs, which in pharmacies is barely 32%.”

The latter is one of the elements most criticized by the population, but it does not follow from Portal Miranda’s presentation that there is an easy solution. The minister vaguely alluded to the elimination of the illegal sale continue reading

of medicines and said that “they ought to have a gradual recovery as long as the necessary financing is available.”

In the country whose propaganda flag has been healthcare since 1959, the medical staff and coverage of clinics are not complete.

Despite placing the “blockade” of the United States at the top of the list of those responsible for the situation, Portal Miranda did not fail to mention other obvious problems: the “exodus of professionals; failures in the organization of services -such as delays in surgical treatments; unethical attitudes; and the illegal sale of services in some institutions.” Thus, he conceded, insisting: “Among the population there remain fair dissatisfactions associated with the provision of services, which we have been unable to solve.”

In the country whose propaganda flag has been healthcare since 1959, the medical staff and coverage of clinics are not complete. There are 16,541 “healthcare facilities,” the minister indicated, “with 92.2% covered.” Although the minister says that wage benefits have been implemented for 72% of workers in the sector, which has “contributed to reducing layoffs by 25%, this does not solve all dissatisfaction.” The reduction in staff, he says, “has made it more difficult for hospitals to function.”

As measures to recover the labor force, for example, 156 retired nurses were hired, and “the rescue of another 191 through personalized arrangements” was achieved, said Portal Miranda, without specifying the details of those arrangements.

In the midst of the debacle, only one aspect shines: foreign exchange income; that is, the sale of medical services, Cuba’s main source of revenue. In the first half of the year, they achieved 102%, “reaching 50% of the annual target.”

However, despite this “over-fulfillmemt” and a “self-financing scheme in currencies” that “have allowed activities to be reordered and halted the deterioration of the system,” Portal Miranda said, with vocabulary typical of the Special Period, the conclusion is not ambiguous: “There are still no relevant results.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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If You Need Blood in Cuba, You Will Probably Have To Buy It

While donations are at a minimum, people increasingly offer in exchange for money, food, or even a high-end cell phone.

National donations fell by more than 100,000 between 2020 and 2023 alone / Granma]

14ymedio, Madrid, 23 June 2025 — With a population estimated at 404,037, the health authorities of Sancti Spíritus estimate that 12,000 blood donations are needed throughout the year. However, in 2024 they were just 7,252, the lowest level in the last five years. Failing to reach the goal of 1,000 donations per month, they have to turn to the families of patients who can donate or to the lucrative black-market blood-selling business.

In a report by the provincial newspaper Escambray, the former coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) of Sancti Spíritus, Jorge Luis Nápoles Marín – replaced in May by Yurkenia Ciriano Alonso – admitted that the organization’s ability to motivate citizens is limited. “This is not going as well as before; it’s a reality that you can’t blame on the blockade or the economic situation,” he says, although he takes care to explain the real reasons: the population’s disaffection towards the regime’s mass organizations, especially the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs).

“Sancti Spíritus has 308,000 CDR members and a plan of 12,000 donations per year. We have plenty of arms to donate”

He admits that there are no healthcare hearings or debates on the subject and accepts the criticism, although his arguments draw attention. “Sancti Spíritus has 308,000 CDR members and a plan of 12,000 donations per year. We have plenty of arms to donate,” he says, regardless of the fact that CDR membership has lost relevance.

The Escambray article, entitled The Virtual Blood Donation Market, reviews the country’s latest official donation data: 254,845 in 2023, compared to 357,665 in 2020. The pandemic, which accelerated the demographic and economic crisis, stands as a definitive turning point for the catastrophe, since between 2014 and 2020 the number fell by just over 57,000 donations, while between 2020 and 2023 the decrease was 102,820.

Among the reasons, which Escambray has asked people connected to the sector about, is the lack of mobile banks. “In Topes de Collantes, donors have been scheduled up to eight times, and they haven’t been able to attend because we don’t have a car,” says Barbarita Altunaga Villas, head of the blood collection center in Trinidad, the area with the worst situation in the continue reading

province. The outlet states that work is underway to repair a vehicle for this purpose, but also poses a rhetorical question: “Why has the Banco Provincial not had its own facility for more than two years?”

Mirta Santos León, Director of Medical Assistance at the General Directorate of Health, claims that there have been times in recent years when the blood supply situation has become, she points out, a headache, and when there has been a shortage of collection bags. However, although there has been no shortage in 2025, “the problem lies in the willingness to donate.”

Experts consulted by Escambray believe that the loss of quality of the snacks given to volunteers is one of the reasons why the willingness to donate blood has declined. Raumara Ramos, acting director of the Provincial Blood Bank, believes it’s almost essential that the situation improves. “The snacks need to be of better quality. If we go to a place with which we have a contract and they tell us, ‘What we have is mortadella,’ we have to take it.”

The article repeatedly emphasizes that the lack of altruism is increasingly perceptible, and even calls on a sociology expert to speak of a loss of values. “Foreign codes are being adopted because the alternatives conceived within our social system as altruistic, moral, and supportive have ceased to work for a segment of the population,” reproaches José Neira Milián, a doctor in sociology, who believes that this “disdains what has been constructed in terms of human values, the original moral meaning being the intrinsic and authentic value of blood donation.”

Neira Millán describes exchanges—financial or in-kind—for blood donations as “foreign codes,” while admitting that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), altruistic or minimally incentivized donations are the majority worldwide. According to available data, Cuba collects 20 donations per 1,000 inhabitants, far from the 40 recommended by the WHO. Spain, the world leader in blood donation, only gives volunteers a small sandwich and a soft drink and has placed the city of Burgos at the top of the world list , with 60 per thousand inhabitants.

“We’ve looked for ways to get people to donate, and material support is more influential than moral stimulation.”

However, those interviewed by Escambray insist on the “incentive” approach. “We’ve looked for ways to get people to donate, and and material support is more influential than moral stimulation. We’ve stopped holding donor days; we no longer encourage those who are prominent on the block or in the work groups. It’s a botched job for a bank to offer a snack that consists of a poorly prepared sandwich and a soft drink, or not even having a mouthful of coffee to give,” says Nápoles Marín.

“Voluntary donors hardly ever show up, and only the relatives of the patient undergoing surgery attend. We need to encourage more; before, we did the donor activity, they were given a sweater, a module [food or supplies]…” says Raumara Ramos.

“What was done at one point,” says Mirta Santos, “isn’t possible now. And stimulation isn’t just about giving people a package of detergent. The Ministry of Health can guarantee medical care; but there are other things that neither the Ministry of Health nor anyone else can offer because they aren’t available today.” Altunaga Villas, however, maintains that work must be done with the private sector to find something, and reveals that this is already being done in Cienfuegos. “It doesn’t have to be a package of chicken; something always helps,” she adds.

Sonia Sánchez, head of the Transfusion Service of the Hemotherapy Department at the Camilo Cienfuegos General Provincial Hospital, says that about 20 or 30 transfusions are needed every day and gives the example of what happened one day she remembers perfectly: April 25th of this year, when she looked at the statistics, availability was zero.

“Sometimes, not always. When we’ve had the noose around our necks, we’ve had support. In recent days, the government and some companies have pledged to help us,” says Altunaga Villas.

In March 2024, the Provincial Bureau of the Communist Party requested the reactivation of the national blood program, which was in decline—in its opinion, due to “insufficient CDRs”; it is up to them, together with the Ministry of Health, to revitalize this movement,” said its head. Meanwhile, the marketing continues, and those interviewed describe cases in which people are asked for anything from 5,000 to 12,000 pesos or a high-end cell phone without the slightest hesitation right at the door of the provincial Blood Bank. Although those who were clearly doing this at the center have been called to attention, those responsible deny having filed complaints due to lack of evidence. However, they acknowledge: “Everyone knows about this.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Poor, Abandoned and Unable To Emigrate to the US, the ‘Palestinians’ Survive in Havana

Without housing, formal employment, and a ration book, these internal migrants are “illegal” in their own country.

Many arrive in the capital, where they are required to meet legalization requirements which, in most cases, the eastern migrants cannot meet. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 17 July 2025 — Tens of thousands of Cubans are “illegal” in their own country, according to Government parameters, above all in Havana, the last stop for migrants who arrive from the east of the Island to escape extreme poverty and who don’t have the means to emigrate to the US or any other destination. Until yesterday, before the dismissal of the Minister of Labor, Marta Elena Feitó, they were also invisible or “disguised” as beggars.

Officialdom attributes the recent intensification of this migratory phenomenon “to a greater urbanization of society,” as stated by Antonio Ajas, director of the Center for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana, in comments reported by the State newspaper Granma on July 13. According to the expert, this is a natural trend in the country’s development process, where more and more people leave rural areas to settle in cities, especially in Havana, the main receiver of these displacements.

At first glance, Ajas’ explanation may seem reasonable: as cities grow, villages are emptied, and the countryside population gets older. However, attributing this phenomenon to “growing urbanization” ignores the social, economic and political context that gives rise to it. This is not a desired migration, a planned one or the product of progress, but the impoverishment and lack of prospects that push many Cubans to leave their places of origin in search of the minimum indispensable for survival. What Ajas describes as a process of urbanization is actually a desperate escape from poverty.

This reality has a face and a name, although not official. In popular Cuban language, especially in the capital, those who emigrate from the eastern provinces are called, in a derogatory way, Palestinians. The term — inherited from the idea of a displaced people, without land and without rights — has acquired a stigmatizing character. As a publication Acento notes, this phenomenon “is the result of institutional fragility in the countryside and the abandonment of rural areas, which push its inhabitants to wander around the country in a kind of contemporary nomadism.” continue reading

Unlike international displacements, these Cubans migrate within their own borders but suffer similar restrictions.

Unlike international displacements, these Cubans migrate within their own borders but suffer similar restrictions: discrimination, lack of access to housing, legal insecurity and almost total invisibility in public policies. Many arrive in Havana without a place to live, without formal employment, without a ration book, and in many cases, without being able to legalize their stay because of the still-existing restrictions of the home registration system. They are citizens of their own country but are treated as intruders.

To this situation is added a legal obstacle that further aggravates the vulnerability of internal migrants: regulations that prevent provincial Cubans from settling legally in Havana without express authorization. Decree 217 of 1997 imposes restrictions on moving to the capital, requiring a series of steps that, in most cases, eastern migrants cannot meet. This special permit system, inherited from a territorial control scheme, makes Havana a sort of restricted enclave within the country where not all citizens can legally reside.

In a 2016 article, the journalist Abraham Jiménez Enoa managed to collect statements from several deported Palestinians: “I am your brother-in-law. Look, yesterday at noon they took Junior. But calm down, he did nothing. He was with me having lunch at the gate of Alfredo’s house, and a police car parked in front of us and asked for our identity cards. They saw that he was from Santiago de Cuba and arrested him.” Two buses leave Havana every Friday, each with 45 seats plus a monthly train, returning those people to their provinces of origin.

Decree 217, still in force in practice but not always applied with the same severity, contradicts the Cuban Constitution itself. Article 52 of the Constitution recognizes the right of every citizen to reside anywhere in the national territory. The paradox between constitutional letter and decreed regulations reveals a state that, instead of facilitating integration and equitable access to rights, imposes barriers that fuel exclusion.

The birth rate continues to fall, and population aging increases; more than 25% of Cubans are over 60 years old

Official figures confirm the extent of the phenomenon. According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), the population of Cuba decreased by 307,961 people between 2023 and 2024, reaching 9,748,007 inhabitants, although the renowned economist and demographer Campos believes it has actually dropped to 8 million. The birth rate continues to fall, and the aging population increases; more than 25% of Cubans are over 60 years old. In parallel, more than 250,000 people emigrated abroad in 2024 alone. But what is not discussed enough is what happens inside the country: a massive internal movement from the provinces of the East and the Center to the West, with Havana as an almost obligatory destination.

Although it is also the main point of exit, the capital concentrates the bulk of internal migration. According to the ONEI, only Havana and its metropolitan area maintain positive population growth figures, precisely because of this constant flow of internal migrants. Meanwhile, provinces such as Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín and Guantánamo are losing inhabitants at an accelerated rate. In many of them, the loss of young people is alarming and threatens to render unviable local economic and social projects, already fragile after years of state divestment.

However, this forced migration is not limited to the movement from the countryside to the city. As Ajas himself points out, there is also displacement between rural areas: farmers who leave unproductive land in their municipality to settle in another where more land is available or better conditions. This movement, although less visible, reveals a logic of economic survival which has nothing to do with urban growth or modernization. It is simply the need to find a space where one can work and live with a minimum of stability.

There are no specific programs to accommodate, legalize and guarantee basic services for these people.

But the state still does not design a clear policy towards these internal migrants. The official discourse prefers to speak of “circularity,” “return” or a “rapprochement with the diaspora,” while ignoring those who, without leaving the country, are in a legal and social limbo. There are no specific programs to accommodate, legalize and guarantee basic services for these people. Access to the rationed market, children’s school enrollment, jobs and even health care for pregnant women becomes cumbersome for Palestinians. Nor is there a serious strategy to revitalize the countryside beyond slogans about “food sovereignty.”

The case of the Palestinians shows a double abandonment: that of their places of origin, emptied of opportunities, and that of their new destinations, where they are treated as second-class citizens. Rather than taking this reality seriously, the authorities present it as a “technical challenge” or a “natural process.”

But there is nothing natural about tens of thousands of Cubans being forced to leave everything to start from scratch, without state support, without minimum guarantees and bearing the burden of stigma. This is not urbanization. It is simply forced displacement.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With Their Pension, Cuban Retirees Will Be Able To Buy One Carton of Eggs a Month

Instead of 1,528 pesos, the monthly payment will be 3,056 pesos for about 430,000 people.

[In Cuba, more than a quarter of the Cuban population is aged 60 or over. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, July 16, 2025 — The Cuban government announced this Wednesday an increase in the minimum pension for about 430,000 retirees starting in September, as confirmed by the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, before Parliament. State aid will increase from 1,528 Cuban pesos (about $12.70 at the official exchange rate) to 3,056 pesos ($25.40), a figure that, although it represents twice the current amount, is still well below informal market prices.

Marrero justified the measure after a recent meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), where the “complex situation of pensioners’ incomes” was assessed. According to the head of government, the adjustment will benefit 79 per cent of all retirees in the country — about 1.3 million people — who currently receive less than 4,000 pesos. “We are still looking for solutions, but I think it is fair that, although now we cannot cover everyone, we have started with 1.3 million because they are the most vulnerable,” said Marrero.

The Government did not specify where the resources will come from to cover this sum.

The measure will have an estimated tax cost of 22,000 million pesos per year (about 916 million dollars at the official exchange rate for companies), although the Government has not specified where the resources will come from to cover this sum. Marrero only advanced that “a group of measures” will be implemented to finance the expenditure, without providing details.

However, beyond the official rhetoric, the real impact of this adjustment on pensions is limited. In a country where one carton of 30 eggs can exceed 3,000 pesos, the new minimum would barely cover a single commodity, leaving pensioners unprotected against the rest of continue reading

everyday expenses, from medicines and transport to electricity, water and food. As manyindependent economists have warned, the problem is not only the low level of income, but the continued devaluation of the Cuban peso and the galloping inflation that has pulverized purchasing power.

More than a quarter of the Cuban population is aged 60 or over.

According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), more than a quarter of the Cuban population is aged 60 or over. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of people over 60 grew from 2.3 million to 2.4 million, an increase of 3%. In contrast, the 15-59 age group fell by almost 12 per cent from 6.7 million to 5.9 million. This demographic change poses enormous challenges for a social security system that is increasingly supported by fewer contributors and more dependents.

The situation is compounded by deteriorating health services, chronic drug shortages and the collapse of the primary care system for older adults. In provinces like Guantanamo and Granma, homes for the elderly survive on donations, while many retirees must rely on remittances from relatives abroad, barter or informal jobs to survive. In recent reports, 14ymedio has documented how retirees sell coffee, soap and cigars on the streets, collect plastic bottles or take care of houses for tourists as their only means of subsistence.

The announcement looks more like a gesture of restraint than a substantive solution.

In addition, while the Government announces these partial reforms, it offers no guarantees of transparency or mechanisms for citizen control over the use of the state budget. The increase in pensions comes without being accompanied by a comprehensive economic reform plan or a coherent fiscal policy that addresses the structural roots of the crisis: unproductivity, bureaucracy and unbridled inflation. Nor have immediate relief measures such as the opening of markets in national currency or the liberalization of individual imports without customs barriers been considered.

In the midst of this panorama, the announcement seems more a gesture of restraint than a substantive solution. The population is aging, families are emigrating, and the generation that built the Revolution today is forced to subsist on pensions that do not cover even one lunch. With the currency in free fall, undersupplied markets and stagnant wages, doubling the minimum pension is at best a bandaid on an open wound.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Caballero de París and the Homeless That Don’t Exist

It’s true that the problem of begging was not born with the Revolution, but it is a direct result of the demagogy and cynicism of pretending to serve the poor.

José María López Lledín was born in Spain in 1899 and emigrated to Cuba as a child. / Gaspar, El Lugareño

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 17 July 2025 — In the collective memory of Cubans, there are figures who, without having held official positions, are more remembered than most ministers. One of them is José María López Lledín, better known as El Caballero de París, the Knight of Paris. His image — with prophetic beard, white mane and an unbreakable dignity wrapped in rags — still inhabits the imagination of Havana residents. Despite being a wanderer, a “street madman” to many, he became a myth, an urban legend and a symbol of the Cuban contradiction between marginality and popular respect.

López Lledín was born in Spain in 1899 and emigrated to Cuba when he was just a child. He is said to have worked in hotels, restaurants and even as a bank clerk. But it was the street that eventually took him in. For decades he wandered through Havana with a flowery speech, greeting those he met with nineteenth-century courtesy, pronouncing philosophical phrases, improvising speeches, collecting papers, sometimes writing in the air. His wandering made him part of the urban landscape, a kind of living statue that roamed the city without restrictions. He died in 1985, in the Psychiatric Hospital of Mazorra.

The official story has tried to turn him into a romantic eccentricity of the past. He has even been carved in bronze in front of the convent of Saint Francis of Assisi, as if the country had to settle its debts with the homeless only after death. But what is most annoying is not that kind of late symbolic redemption. What’s irritating is that the same system that tried to cover up the problem of begging by locking up wanderers now continue reading

disguises itself as “sensitive.”

What’s irritating is that the same system that tried to cover up the problem of begging by locking up wanderers now disguises itself as “sensitive.”

The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó, has “resigned” after generating a scandal by saying that “there are no people living on the street,” only “people who disguise themselves as beggars.” The regime first tried to erase the videos of her speech. Then, when they understood that it was too late and the indignation almost reached the doors of the Parliament, they decided to “disappear” her. Her speech, worthy of a libretto by Ionesco, exposed a Revolution that swore to be humble but ended up accommodating a caste that never lowers the windows of its cars.

It’s true that the problem of begging was not born with the Revolution, nor was corruption, opportunism or poverty. Cuba, like any country in the world, has always had its marginalized population. But what is the direct fruit of the regime is the demagoguery and cynicism of
pretending to serve the poor, but instead multiplying them. For decades, “madmen” and beggars were hidden in institutions such as Mazorra or “social rehabilitation” centers, just as they also tried to hide homosexuals, believers and the ideologically confused. The city had to look clean, disguised only by workers and militants.

The Knight of Paris, with all his elegance and delirium, represents something uncomfortable for power: the dignity of the homeless.

Today, economic decline, runaway inflation and loss of meaning in a country with no visible future have dramatically increased the number of homeless people. You only have to go for a walk through Centro Habana, Matanzas, Santa Clara and Santiago. And yet, the official speech insists on the mirage that “no one will be left behind.” Social networks, counter-revolution and imperialism are blamed for the real image of the country, while a parallel narrative is produced where Cubans have a hard time only “in the movies.”

The Knight of Paris, with all his elegance and delirium, represents something uncomfortable for power: the dignity of the homeless, the untitled intelligence, the madness that tells truths. His figure, idealized by some, reminds us that social problems are not solved with bronze statues, denial or falsely empathetic speeches, but with concrete policies.

Today we do not have a Knight of Paris, but we have thousands of Cubans sleeping on cardboard, escaping from hunger and dodging the police, “inventing” to survive. Meanwhile, the statue in front of Saint Francis of Assisi seems to ask, in silence, why those who come to pay homage to him today do not want to look at those who continue, like him, to wander the streets of an unremembered Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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US Deports a Cuban Gang Member and Four Other Convicts to the African Kingdom of Eswatini

The spokesperson for the African country says that Roberto Mosquera Del Peral and those expelled from Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Vietnam are in transit.

Roberto Mosquera Del Peral Cuban, is among the five fugitives who were detained in prison in Eswatini. / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 16 July 2025 — The US government resumed deportation flights to third countries on Tuesday with the expulsion to Eswatini of Cuban Roberto Mosquera Del Peral and four other migrants from Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Vietnam. Because of their criminal records, they were not accepted by their countries of origin.

According to Undersecretary of National Security Tricia McLaughlin, “murderers and a rapist, all convicted” were on the flight that landed in the African country, the former Swaziland.

Among those expelled is the 58-year-old Cuban, Mosquera, who was arrested last June. The US authorities point him out as a member of the Latin Kings gang, which emerged in the city of Chicago in the middle of the last century and is considered by the FBI to be “a serious threat” to the country. He also has “a conviction for murder and aggravated assault on a police officer with a weapon” in Miami. continue reading

The Eswatini Government confirmed the landing of the deportees and said that they do not pose a threat to national security.

The Eswatini Government confirmed the landing of the deportees and said that they do not pose a threat to national security. The migrants were detained in isolated units inside penitentiary centers, “where similar offenders are held,” interim spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said. However, he specified that criminals expelled by the US “are only in transit” and insisted that they will be repatriated to their respective countries of origin.

“Eswatini and the United States have had fruitful bilateral relations for more than five decades. Therefore, each agreement reached is carried out with meticulous attention and putting the interests of both nations first,” Mdluli said.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has pushed for express expulsions to countries like El Salvador, South Sudan and now Eswatini as part of his mass deportation campaign, one of his main campaign promises.

Earlier this month, the US government sent eight migrants of various nationalities, including two Cubans and a Mexican, to South Sudan after a court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries with which detainees have no ties.

Eswatini has a population of about 1.2 million people who are predominantly rural, and 60% are living on resources below the poverty line, according to data from the World Bank.

The Washington Post reports that an ICE memorandum instructs immigration officials to keep immigrants in detention “for as long as their deportation process lasts.”

King Mswati III, head of state since 1986 and leader of the last absolute monarchy in Africa, holds executive and legislative power, and although the country holds elections every five years to elect members of the lower house of parliament, these only play the role of advisors to the monarch.

The deportation flights are taking place while The Washington Post reports that an ICE memorandum instructs immigration officials to keep immigrants in detention “for as long as their deportation process lasts.”

Vanessa Dojaquez Torres, practice and policy advisor to the American Association of Immigration Lawyers, denounced policies that keep people in detention longer. “The Government’s goal of detaining and deporting more people is growing.”

The Cubans with form I-220A, Jhon Eduardo Hernández, Denis Durán Dávila and Hermes Sánchez López, were arrested last week after going to court in Miami. They were admitted to Alligator Alcatraz without the option to post bail.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico and Cuba Seal an Alliance To Protect and Study Their Biosphere Reserves

Officials say that the mountains of Manantlán and Rosario “are recognized as sisters.”

They will study the connectivity between natural spaces and the effects of climate change. / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Mexico City, July 16, 2025 — Mexico and Cuba signed a collaboration agreement on Wednesday to conserve, protect and study the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve in Cuba, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) reported.

By signing at the Orquideario de Soroa Botanical Garden in Cuba, Lelieth Feyobe Sandoval, director of the Cuban reserve, and Carlos Alberto Gallegos Solórzano, head of the Mexican Sierra, agreed to “the rebirth of a biocultural family, where the mountains of Cuba and Mexico are recognized as sisters,” according to a statement describing the relationship.

They will study the Biosphere Reserve Youth Network

The Partnership and Action Plan Agreement will seek to cooperate in areas of agro-biodiversity and agricultural production systems; biological corridors and connectivity between natural spaces; studies on climate change impacts; and issues of ecosystem management and services, in addition to working on the Biosphere Reserve Youth Network. continue reading

This twinning occurs three decades after the first agreement, symbolizing “the continuity of a shared history and the renewal of a joint commitment to biodiversity, communities, and ancestral and scientific knowledge,” presented by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico.

The setting of the signing also served to raise the importance of mountain areas for the resilience of coastal basins, through the panel ’Ecological research in both Protected Natural Areas (ANP)’.

They raised the importance of mountain areas for coastal basin resilience.

At the Sierra del Rosario Ecological Station, institutional presentation sessions, working tables, collaborative mapping and cooperation agreements were held to establish a common vision of the challenges and opportunities of the spaces.

The Sierra de Manantlán is a biosphere reserve located between Jalisco and Colima (in the west of the country), known for its biodiversity and its wild corn.

For its part, the Sierra del Rosario was the country’s first biosphere reserve, characterized by its tropical ecosystems.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“For Every 100 Cattle Thefts, Only One or Two Are Cleared Up,” Confesses a Deputy From Santiago De Cuba

Private producers hold 84.5% of the livestock mass, but the Government continues to prioritize the State sector.

“I sleep with a gun next to me, keeping watch 24 hours a day. This is not business; it’s passion and sacrifice” / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 15 July 2025 — There is no more precise metaphor to describe the situation of Cuban livestock than the image of a skinny cow, chased by rustlers in the early hours, locked up before sunset to avoid becoming meat, and poorly fed by bureaucracy and improvisation. That portrait, as sad as it may seem, is very close to the panorama that the Agrofood Commission of the Cuban Parliament released on Monday, a session that purported to be a road map to rescue the sector and ended up being a collective confession of impotence.

The official narrative, as usual, invoked the “blockade,” recent rains and financial constraints. But the data are more stubborn than the slogans. Livestock, far from advancing, has decreased without pause since 2019, in milk and meat. And it does so in the midst of a monumental paradox. Private producers hold 84.5% of the livestock mass, but the Government continues to prioritize the State sector, unable to guarantee even the shade under which its cows graze.

“What is this idea of prioritizing State enterprises?”

The economist Pedro Monreal was right in his criticism. He pointed out that the parliamentary discussion revealed the fundamental inconsistency of continue reading

trying to fit a private activity within a State regulatory corset designed for a centralized economy and without real incentives. “What is this idea of prioritizing State enterprises?” he asked on X.

But the nonsense goes further. The plan to save livestock includes dollarizing some of the scarce, if not symbolic, milk and meat production
and genetic material in a clumsy attempt to attract foreign exchange. “We have the regulation, the idea, the approval, but then we get stuck in the implementation… everything is complex for us,” admitted Deputy Nidia Montes de Oca. The example she used to illustrate this disorder could not be more revealing: genetic procedures that in the private sector are solved with an invoice and nitrogen, get lost in the State’s bureaucratic maze without an exit.

Parliament, in a rare moment of frankness, acknowledged the structural inefficiency and Kafkaesque slowness surrounding the implementation of any policy. “In a country where a liter of milk costs 200 pesos on the street, and the State wants to pay only 30, where do producers get any incentive to continue milking their cows for the official system?” questioned another MP.

“This is not solved just by Agriculture or the Minint; we all have to unite.”

One of the most alarming revelations of the session was the mention of a scourge that is little talked about in official media: the theft of livestock. The deputy for Contramaestre (Santiago de Cuba), Víctor Manuel Montesinos, warned: “For every 100 cases, only one or two are clarified.” And he added: “This is not solved just by Agriculture or the Minint [Ministry of the Interior]; we all have to unite.”

Monreal quipped: “Where is the State? Did it give up its most basic function, that of ensuring security in the countryside? Or is it preparing to install its own version of a Wild West sheriff?”

Insecurity, coupled with lack of inputs, deteriorating infrastructure and uncompetitive prices, has placed private producers in an unsustainable position. Some, like Rolando Benítez Fernández, a resident of Remedios, said without exaggerating: “Today those who keep livestock are heroes. I sleep with a gun next to me, keeping watch 24 hours a day. This is not business; it’s passion and sacrifice.”

“I sleep with a gun next to me, keeping watch 24 hours a day.”

In the meantime, the 63 measures adopted for the development of the sector remain in the drawer. The so-called Livestock Promotion and Development Law has been unable to promote anything or develop anything beyond discourse. As another parliamentarian pointed out: “What we are seeing here today is not promotion or development; it is the decline of livestock farming.”

This decline is not only economic. It is also moral. It is the symptom of a model that insists on ignoring that without real incentives, without respect for the laws of the market, without simplification of formalities and without legal or physical security for producers, the famous “glass of milk for every Cuban” that Raul Castro promised two decades ago will never be a reality.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Mountain of Garbage Around a Church in Matanzas Reaches Levels of Heresy

“The Community Services Company has left all this dirt on purpose,” complains a member from the parish of San Pedro Apóstol.

Passing bystanders try to avoid getting their shoes dirty and take small jumps to dodge the water. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, July 13, 2025 — “May the Lord protect us from so much garbage.” The phrase, pronounced by an elderly man who raises his gaze to the bell tower of the parish of San Pedro Apóstol, summarizes the concern about the debris that accumulates next to this church in Matanzas. The panorama is repeated throughout the city, but the mountain of waste reaches levels of heresy around the majestic building.

“I come to mass every Sunday, and the bad smell is very unpleasant,” says Lydia, a Catholic from the neighborhood of Versalles who considers the parish her “second home.” With more than seven decades of life, the resident from Matanzas claims to have “seen everything.” She lived through the days of anti-religious extremism, when scapulars were torn from the necks of those who publicly maintained their Catholic faith.

If in those years, Lydia had to put away the picture of the Sacred Heart that her grandmother had hung in the house and fill herself with courage to attend the Sunday service, she must now overcome the waste to be able to sit on the long wooden benches inside the building designed by Italian architect Daniel Dall’Aglio.

“I think the Community Services Company has left all this dirt on purpose, because no collector has picked it up,” she says, complaining about the lack continue reading

of containers nearby and the ups and downs in waste collection. “We have sent letters to the Government and the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Party. They promise to clean up the area, but it’s nothing but words.”

“I think the Community Services Company has left all this dirt on purpose, because no collector has picked it up.” / 14ymedio

As the priest loudly repeats fragments of the Bible, the stench of rotting garbage comes to the noses of the assembled parishioners. From the mountain of bags thrown on the sidewalk, which now reaches into the street, a putrid stream springs that continues spreading its miasmasdownhill. Passing bystanders try to avoid getting their shoes dirty and take small jumps to dodge the water.

Most of the countless Catholic churches on the Island are located in very central and densely populated areas. Hence, with the collapse of the garbage collection service, the image of waste that grows around the walls of churches, monasteries and convents is becoming more common. But the extent of the evil does not console parishioners, who believe that there is a more marked official neglect of these buildings.

“The garbage is piled on the wall of a building that has the status of a National Monument,” comments another resident in the vicinity of San Pedro Apóstol. “There is nothing left of the sidewalk that leads to the door.” The man reports that the municipal trucks assigned to the area do not meet the scheduled collection cycles, with the excuse that there is a shortage of fuel, personnel and spare parts.

Municipal trucks assigned to the area do not meet the scheduled collection cycles. / 14ymedio

Although he recognizes that the responsibility for dumping waste in the area lies with the neighbors, he justifies the attitude by the lack of sufficient containers to deposit household waste. “If they had to collect what the tourists throw away when they take pictures of the church they would have bought containers and they’d sing a different song,” he says.

The angry resident does not fail to notice that the problem is not repeated with the same magnitude in the vicinity of the main official institutions of the province, such as the headquarters of the Communist Party or the premises of the National Assembly. “There is no interest in churches looking more beautiful and people being happy to come to mass, that’s clear.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Artex Has a Lot of Income but Does Not Pay Cuban Musicians and Artists

The provincial branch of Matanzas collected 257 million pesos in 2024: “The money enters the box office and the talent is forgotten.”

If the profits were so significant, where is the salary of the artists? / Ricardo López Hevia

14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, Matanzas,15 July 2025 — Various voices of the cultural guild linked to Artex S.A. -the State trading company responsible for marketing Cuban culture- complain about delays of three to six months for delivery of their salaries. According to the statements of artists from different provinces, the payment they should receive for concerts in venues, hotels and festivals simply does not materialize.

“Three months of waiting, and they say the money is there, but it never arrives,” says José, a night club worker in the city of Matanzas. “There are colleagues with six months in this situation. Imagine, a salary is never enough to live on, much less without receiving tips.”

Joseph’s testimony is no exception. Efrén, a musician hired by a hotel in Varadero, says that he worked his shifts on time, but he has not been paid anything. “I started playing at the agreed time, but if I ask for my salary and they say ’not yet’. That’s how it’s been for two months.” continue reading

Artex’s branch in Matanzas closed the year 2024 with more than 257 million pesos in gross revenues.

In the annual balance sheet of the provincial Artex branch in Matanzas, it was announced that the entity closed the year 2024 with more than 257 million pesos in gross revenues. This positioned the territory as the second highest-earning branch in the country. For these results they received the status of “national vanguard” for the thirteenth time. If the profits were so significant, many question, where is the salary for the artists?

The same is true in Havana. The persistence of these defaults has led artists like Yanairis Fernández, director of the metal band Bonus, to warn that they will stop performing in centers such as Submarino Amarillo and Jardín del Mella if they do not receive their remuneration before July. His decision has also affected rock bands like Pyra and Green Beans, who have been claiming arrears since March. On social networks like Facebook, some directors have announced the sending of open letters calling on musicians to stop their performances until Artex complies.

The president of Artex posts more political propaganda on his social media than artistic promotion

Artex is a complex State trading company with headquarters, agencies, divisions and branches throughout Cuba. Its commercial network includes shops, cultural centers and promotion of products and services in both Cuban pesos and foreign currency. Its catalogue includes entities such as Bis Music (recording and publishing), Ediciones Cubanas, Clave Cubana, Musicalia, d’Arte, Paradiso (cultural tourism) and Soy Cubano (export of cultural products and services). Artex manages festivals, hotel events, tours and contracts with Cuban artists.

A glance at the X profile of Artex’s national president, Eladio Marrero Florido, reveals an extensive campaign to promote political figures such as Fidel Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel, as well as attacks on Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. But it is almost impossible to find promotions, comments or allusions to the work of Cuban artists, much less a report on the fulfillment of payment dates for their work.

Artex “has money,” but the concept of “paying for talent” does not seem to be part of its priorities.

Musicians, sound technicians and artistic directors consulted by 14ymedio report that Artex “has money,” but the concept of “paying for talent” does not seem to be part of its priorities. “They promote festivals in Varadero paid in dollars and have huge advertising campaigns, but those of us who work directly at these events are waiting, without a clear explanation,” says Efrén. Sound technician Yoangel, in another hotel in the same area, says that signing a contract with Artex is like “playing Russian roulette.” After two months without pay, he decided to quit to avoid getting trapped in an endless wait.

“How many more months do you plan to leave us without pay?” asks a musician who threatens to boycott performances in venues linked to Artex. The proposal for a standstill is presented to a company which, without issuing official apologies or explanations, continues to operate and sell culture without paying the creators. The pressures extend to requesting the intervention of the Ministry of Culture and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, denouncing a supposed structural exploitation: “The money enters the box office and the talent is forgotten.”

In a country where the average wage barely covers the basics, these defaults are a daily tragedy. Artists like José, Efrén and Yoangel divide their time among concerts, private classes and informal jobs to survive. “I live on what I sell to tourists, records and tips; but I can’t go on like this anymore,” one admits. For families who depend on their work in culture, these unpaid months mean losing shelter, food and medicine.

Bars, restaurants and even small private cafes have become the alternative for artists.

Others have begun to present themselves in private venues, aware that the State is increasingly lacking in resources to meet its commitments. Bars, restaurants and even small cafes have become the stage for singers, magicians and comedians, who, tired of waiting for their salary, prefer to close a deal with an entrepreneur and support themselves with tips from customers.

Artex’s reputation is faltering under the shadow of this wage crisis. The question that resonates in the guild is clear: can a sustainable culture maintain itself on broken promises? Artists and workers demand immediate payments, transparency in financial management and a genuine commitment from the institution. If not, they warn, the silence could become louder than any song.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Florida Lawmakers Report 750 Migrants in Cages at Alligator Alcatraz

“The images you have seen do not do justice to the place. They are essentially crammed into cages,” they say.

Florida opened the site to Democratic legislators, but not to the press. / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Florida, June 13, 2025 — Florida federal and state lawmakers reported on Saturday, after their first visit, that there are 750 migrants in cages at the new Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center. They called it an “internment camp” and an “expensive political publicity stunt” of the Trump administration and the Florida state government. The center opened last week at an abandoned airport in the middle of the Everglades, a natural area west of Miami surrounded by swamps, alligators, snakes and panthers.

“I just left the immigration detention camp in the Florida Everglades. There are 750 humans in cages. We were not allowed to speak with the detainees. We did not walk through occupied areas. There are immigrants in there with no criminal record,” said state senator Carlos Guillermo Smith.

Florida opened the site to Democratic lawmakers, though not to the press, after the first immigrants detained at Alligator Alcatraz denounced to local media the “sub-human” conditions in the makeshift tents, with “suffocating” heat and humidity, a shortage of water and rotting food.

Federal congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said after walking through the center that there are up to “32 detainees per cage,” with only a few bunks and bathrooms, so they “get water to drink and wash their teeth where they defecate, in the same unit. They are using cages. These detainees are living in cages. The images you have seen do not do justice to the place. They are essentially crammed into cages,” she told the media outside the continue reading

center.

Federal legislator Darren Soto questioned the cost of the detention facility, estimated at almost $500 million

Federal legislator Darren Soto questioned the cost of the detention center, estimated at nearly $500 million, in addition to being built in a flood-prone area during the current Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. He argued that the site “endangers” not only those detained by the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE), but also federal agents and the Florida National Guard.

“Sadly, we see that President Trump is taking away the legal status of nearly one million Cuban, Venezuelan, Haitian and Nicaraguan immigrants in our state, and now he’s deporting relatives of millions of Florida citizens in the most inhumane way possible,” he said.

After the tour, the Democrats argued that full and constant monitoring is needed on site, which the Florida government opened last week with a projected capacity of up to 5,000 migrants following a visit from Trump. The criticism has also been joined by the Archdiocese of Miami, which labeled the new detention center as “corrosive” and “inappropriate.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Performances Interrupted in Cinemas and Theaters by Blackouts, Another Frustration for Cubans

The screenings end abruptly and the spectators, resigned, leave the theaters.

Seeking emotional refuge in the cinema or theatre has become, for many, an additional source of frustration. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, July 13, 2025– On a Sunday that appeared to be a cultural normality, the Teatro Trianón in Havana had a day that crudely reflects the energy crisis that has become embedded in the daily life of Cubans. An adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles was again a victim of the blackouts. Saturday had already been canceled, and on Sunday, a video captured the dismay of the attendees: “Again?” they complained from the seats.

At the Trianon, actors rehearse in stifling heat. Hundreds of spectators brave the congested transport system, cross half the city, and sacrifice an entire afternoon to finally face the uncertainty of the electricity grid. Fortunately, the performance was able to resume that Sunday afternoon, albeit more than half an hour late.

In the provinces, the situation is often even more critical. Just a few weeks ago, in Santiago de Cuba, the Hermanos Saíz Association website bluntly announced: “The Teatro El Portazo performance at the Santiago Theater Council has been canceled tonight due to a power outage. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

In Camagüey, the Teatro del Viento [Theater of the Wind] has also suffered prolonged power outages that have paralyzed its performances. Its director, continue reading

Freddys Núñez Estenoz, denounced on social media that they had been “living in hell for weeks with blackouts ranging from 17 to 23 hours a day.” On July 3, he wrote: “We still can’t offer dates or times for performances. We can’t even guarantee that we’ll have performances. We’re waiting for something as simple as finding out the blackout schedule for the circuit where the theater is located. And we’re not the only ones. The Camagüey Ballet is also waiting for the premiere ofDracula.”

A screening of an adaptation of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was once again affected by the power outages. / 14ymedio

Under such conditions, theatrical creation becomes an act of resistance. Rehearsals are interrupted, premieres are postponed, performances are canceled. This is what happened with the play Fibra [Fiber], which the Camagüey-based collective planned to premiere on its 26th anniversary but it was postponed due to the impossibility of lighting the stage and setting up the installation.

The situation is no different in movie theaters. Last Sunday, in theaters 23 and 12, they were showing a series of favorite films by the late president of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, Alfredo Guevara. But Jacques Becker’s Cascos de Oro was only halfway through when the theater went completely dark, and the screening ended abruptly. Resigned, viewers left the theater with no clear destination, adding yet another disappointment to the national routine. Seeking emotional refuge in the movies or theater has become, for many, an additional source of frustration.

The blackouts plaguing the country are not just incidental. With outages of up to 22 hours a day in several regions, even events planned months in advance are not spared. During the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, multiple screenings were canceled due to the power outages.

In theaters 23 and 12, the film was only halfway through when the theater went completely dark, and the resigned viewers left the theater. / 14ymedio

A Cuban filmmaker described that edition as an “organizational disgrace”: dark theaters, absent signage, and makeshift restrooms on 23rd Avenue in Vedado, with an unbearable stench. The reduced capacity, last-minute cancellations, and endless lines have become an inseparable part of the country’s cultural landscape.

The only show free of blackouts, it seems, was the premiere of La Colmenita, which was attended by Raúl Castro, Díaz-Canel, and almost the entire staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Propaganda never lacks power.

In a Cuba where even art is forced to wait for the lights to come back on, theater director Freddys Núñez summed up the general feeling with a lapidary phrase: “What’s the point of continuing to play the game that something is working, when in reality everything is screwed up…? Nothing works. Nothing.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime Expresses Its Impotence in the Face of the Economic Collapse of the Country

Official data confirm an 11% fall in GDP over the last five years.

The current revenues of the State “do not suffice to acquire essential raw materials. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 14 July 2025 — The Cuban economy is not in recovery. Economy Minister Joaquín Alonso Vázquez made this clear on Monday during the session of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, in the presence of the president himself, Miguel Díaz, and the president of the National Assembly, Esteban Lazo. In his report, Alonso Vázquez revealed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has fallen by 11% over the last five years, although it is likely to have been even more, apart from the official statistics. The session was marked by a gloomy tone, lack of solutions and an implicit recognition of a country in the midst of economic collapse.

The most crushing figure was the contraction of 1.1% of GDP in 2024, against the modest 2% growth that had been planned. But the most alarming thing is that, since 2019, the national economy has lost more than one-tenth of its size. According to the minister, primary production – including agriculture, livestock and mining – has been hit hardest, with a 53% drop. Manufacturing (23%) and social and non-social services (6%) also declined.

This decline is compounded by a complicated external context, marked by lack of access to fuels, rising international prices and the paralysis of key imports due to currency shortages. However, the biggest obstacles remain internal: structural distortions, an unstoppable growth in external debt, business inefficiency and a dilapidated energy system.

Cuban exports in the first half of 2025 barely reached 62% of what was planned

Minister Alonso’s report revealed that Cuban exports in the first half of 2025 barely reached 62% of what was planned, well below the disastrous 78% of the same period last year. The country is unable to place products such as nickel, honey, charcoal and shrimp on the international market, and biopharmaceuticals are also experiencing setbacks. Although there was some recovery in items such as tobacco, lobster and fishery products, it was not enough to reverse the negative balance.

As for tourism, another of the country’s strategic sectors, the figures are particularly depressing. At the end of the first half of the year, Cuba received continue reading

1.6 million visitors, which represents only 71% of the planned number. Domestic tourism also suffered, falling by 5.2 per cent.

During his presentation, Minister Alonso explained that the country continues to import more than it exports, which increases the trade deficit. Imports covered only 67 per cent of the plan’s projected needs, but expenditure was 7 per cent higher than in the previous year, reflecting an increase in the cost of international goods and freight.

Massive external debt continues to be a growing and unsustainable burden

One of the heaviest burdens on the Cuban economy is its large external debt, the size of which, according to the minister, remains a growing and unsustainable burden. Although the Government has been successful in renegotiating installments and restructuring commitments, the lack of liquidity and systematic default on payments have eroded the country’s financial credibility.

The situation is so critical that, according to Díaz-Canel himself, that the current revenues of the State “are not enough to purchase basic raw materials to increase national production.” Nor are they sufficient, he said, to “inject currency into a functional exchange market” or to supply semi-finished goods to shops in national currency.” We try to solve problems by redistributing scarce resources, but that is no longer enough,” he acknowledged.

In his assessment of the business system, the Minister warned that while the number of loss-making enterprises has decreased, this is not due to efficiency improvements but to a general rise in prices. Private MSMEs*, which already number over 11,000 in the country, account for more than 50 per cent of the national economy, but they still face bureaucratic obstacles, import restrictions and an increasing tax burden.

The deputies called for exploring new ways to capture remittances

Speaking about remittances, one of the country’s financial engines in the last decade, the minister noted that there are increasing difficulties in channeling them due to US restrictions, but he did not give details about possible alternatives. The deputies called for exploring new ways to capture that cash flow, which in practice supports millions of Cubans.

Nor has there been progress in foreign investment. In the first half of 2025, only 14 new businesses with foreign capital were approved, focusing on areas such as hydrocarbon production, wholesale and retail marketing, light industry, and finance. None of these projects has begun to generate substantial revenues.

Alonso stressed the urgency of implementing measures to stabilize the economy. Among them he mentioned the reform of the exchange market, the containment of the fiscal deficit and the promotion of exports through self-financing schemes, 23 of which have already been implemented. However, none of these measures seems to have an immediate effect.

The National Assembly admits that the current model is no longer viable.

The Minister also acknowledged the increase in accounts receivable, the persistence of tax evasion and the lack of productive “chains” as elements that hinder any attempt at recovery. Meanwhile, prices remain high, wages are insufficient, and inflation, although lower than in 2023, continues to affect purchasing power.

The Cuban regime is failing to contain the economic collapse and now admits, with fewer and fewer euphemisms, that the current model does not work. But instead of undertaking a major reform, it insists on partial measures, attributes the causes to external factors and clings to an approach of control that has already failed. The pessimism that fills the air of the National Assembly does nothing more than reflect the widespread feeling on the streets: the Cuban economy is literally in free fall.

*Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In Holguín, Cuba, Unlimited Beer for Leaders and Their Relatives Amid Blackouts and Shortages

The Cristal Fiestas, organized by Bucanero, coincided with the anniversary of 11J and the massacre of the ’13 de Marzo’ tugboat.

“How much did this cost? With what money?” multiple users asked.

14ymedio, Holguín, 14 July 2025 — Lights, beer, music and official propaganda. That’s what the Cristal Fiestas offered this Saturday near the Calixto Garcia stadium, while most of the residents of Holguín lived through another night in darkness, without electricity, water or enough food. The event, organized by Cervecería Bucanero S.A. and MB Producciones as part of the official “Forever Young Summer” campaign, has been described on social networks as a “mockery” and an “immoral waste.”

The festival, promoted by official media Now! and Radio Angulo, featured groups such as Elito Revé and his Charangón, Maykel Blancoa nd his Salsa Mayor, Juan Guillermo (JG) and Wildey. According to the organizers, the goal was “to bring joy to the Holguín family” and “to strengthen Cuban music,” with free admission, 16 beer tents, food stalls, raffles and games.

“It was free for those on the stage”

But what was promised as a “night for the people” became, for many, an elitist party in the midst of national chaos. In comments on social networks, citizens reported restricted VIP areas, exclusive wristbands and unlimited beer for leaders and their relatives. “It was free for those on the stage,” quipped one user.

The annoyance was not limited to the contrast between the opulence of the event and the generalized crisis. The celebration coincided with three highly symbolic dates: the fourth anniversary of the protests on July 11 and 12, 2021 – the historic ’11J’ social explosion severely repressed by the regime; the 31st anniversary of the March 13 tugboat massacre, in which more than 40 people, including children, died while trying to flee Cuba; and the execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sánchez on July 13, 1989. continue reading

“While in San Antonio de los Baños they detain the released prisoners to prevent them from protesting, here they waste money on drunkenness to silence the people”

Freelance journalist Annarella Grimal, also from Holguín and currently living in Ireland, reacted on her social media with the phrase “national shame.” “It is a slap in the face to the memory of 11J,” wrote an Internet user. “While in San Antonio de los Baños they detain the released prisoners to prevent them from protesting, here they waste money on drunkenness to silence the people,” added another. The criticism also pointed to the amount of electricity deployed for the event. “Why not save that current and give us a little to help us sleep?” questioned a neighbor.

There were also direct attacks on figures linked to the show, such as the presenter Edith Massola, artistic director of the event. “She promotes official parties while her daughters live comfortably outside of Cuba,” one commentator said. Outrage also spread to local media for “engaging in propaganda” against a backdrop of hunger, a collapsed health system and repression.

“And Sandrito isn’t coming?”

There was, obviously, no lack of allusions to the mischievous grandson of Fidel Castro. “And Sandrito isn’t coming?” someone asked, referring to Sandro Castro’s incessant promotion of the beer brand on his Instagram page.

A source in Holguín commented to 14ymedio: “The irony is that the company Bucanero S.A. itself is going through a crisis. They hardly have any beer production, because the pumping of water is also affected by the blackouts. Tell me these parties aren’t going to be controversial!”

The Fiesta Cristal in Holguín comes amid reports of more than 20-hour blackouts, lack of medicines, endless lines to get basic products and building collapses that end several lives. “How much did this cost? With what money?” multiple users asked. The official answer, if it comes, will probably be in the form of another slogan, another concert or another spotlight for a “Forever Young Summer,” but alien to the daily drama of the average Cuban.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Beach Volleyball Duo Takes Gold and Nearly $2,000 in the Russian League

Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo obtain 600 points and a better position in the world ranking.

Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo will play another stage of the Russian Cup in Saint Petersburg. / Facebook/CubanSp1ke

14ymedio, Havana, 14 June 2025 — Cuban beach volleyball players Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo won the gold medal in the Moscow Open tournament, corresponding to the Russian Beach Volleyball Circuit 2025. This Sunday’s victory against Oleg Stoyanovski and Ilya Leshukov also guaranteed the Cuban athletes a prize of 150,000 rubles ($1,920).

“This is the second Russian League title, in addition to that of Kazan last year. Added to the gold of the Russian Cup and the Sirius Tournament, the Cubans earned four in a country that has treated them very well and has been key to the growth of both as athletes,” reported the digital sports media All in 1 Deportes on Facebook.

The sports evolution of Díaz and Alayo confirm that they are considered the “new hope of Cuba,” according to the specialized portal Olympics, after Idalys Ortiz (judo) and Mijaín López (wrestling) announced their retirements at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Their results “have put them in the sights of Cuban fans, who are in the process of searching for new idols,” highlighted the report.

The sports evolution of Díaz and Alayo confirmed that they are the “new hope of Cuba,” according to the specialized portal Olympics after Idalys Ortiz (judo) and Mijaín López (wrestling) announced their retirements.

Under the guidance of Francisco Álvarez Cutiño, Díaz and Alayo won in the first set, 21-11. However, Stoyanovski and Leshukov rallied and beat the Cubans in the second set, 21-16. The definitive set was won by the Cubans, 15-12, which, according to official media, reaffirmed them as one of “the best pairings in the world.” continue reading

Prior to the event, Díaz and Alayo were ranked 22nd in the world after finishing ninth at the Elite 16 tournament in Gstaad, Switzerland, part of the 2025 Beach Pro Tour. With the victory in Russia, the Cuban volleyball players obtained 600 points for a total of 3,940. At the top of the list are Norway (8,560), followed by Argentina (6,520) and the Netherlands (5,920).

“The Olympians had their best performance in that period, achieving first place in the Elite 16 of Quintana Roo, where they earned 1,200 points,” highlighted Granma, while recognizing that they “need to continue competing in competitions that deliver points and, for the moment, participate in the Russian tournament and then rejoin the world circuit in the Elite 16 in Hamburg, Germany, scheduled to take place this August 27 to 31.”

There are also international events such as the World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, on November 14 to 23; the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026; the Pan American Games in Lima 2027; and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028. For this last one, the Cuban government accepts that if the US government maintains its refusal to grant visas, “they simply will not go and will do other things.”

The absence of Cuba in Los Angeles 2028 will truncate the rhythm of the Cuban duo’s process after winning second place at the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 and generating expectations in Paris 2024.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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