Authorities call for “savings,” while residents demand urgent infrastructure investments.
The cycle of abandonment threatens to turn this piece of Cuba into a literal desert / Periódico 26
14ymedio, Havana, May 6, 2025– Named for the prickly pear cactus that thrives in arid climates, Las Tunas is today facing one of the most severe droughts in its recent history. This situation has aggravated the already critical vulnerability of the country’s driest province, where the average annual rainfall is barely 1.038 millimeters (25.4 inches).
The local press reports this Tuesday that there are divers currently working in the El Rincón reservoir to install a floating outlet which, according to the authorities, will improve the water supply to the provincial capital. Most alarmingly, shortages affect not only households and industries but also particularly sensitive sectors such as public health.
The El Rincón reservoir, with a capacity of 22 million cubic meters (77.7 cubic feet), currently stores only about 6 million (212 million cubic feet). Given this situation, the authorities have chosen to reiterate the usual “call to conserve water” in each home and workplace, as reported by Piedad Herrera, director of the Aqueduct and Sewerage Basic Business Unit of the municipality of Las Tunas, in telephone statements to Periódico 26, the official media of the province. continue reading
Pumping from Piedra Hueca has also been stopped due to a transformer failure
To further aggravate the situation, pumping from Piedra Hueca has also been stopped due to a transformer failure. Nor do the alternatives offer guarantees: from the La Cana basin, of the 50 liters (13.2 gallons) per second that could be pumped, between 20 (5.28 gallons) and 30 (7.93 gallons) are lost on the way to the city due to leaks in the distribution network.
More and more Las Tunas residents think that it is not enough to call for conserving water or waiting for the arrival of rain. They call for urgent investments in water infrastructure and more efficient management of resources, guaranteeing access to safe drinking water as a basic right for all citizens.
The effects of this crisis are not just immediate: the medium- and long-term consequences may be even more devastating. Alberto, a young farmer from the area, complains on Facebook: “The government is good at making diagnoses but terrible at offering solutions.”
More than 80% of the soils in Las Tunas are classified as being between regular and poor
The data confirm this. More than 80% of the soils in Las Tunas are classified as being between regular and poor, due to factors such as erosion, salinization, compaction and poor drainage. This deterioration has a direct impact on agricultural and livestock production, and threatens the food security of the region.
It is ironic that the name of the province comes, according to tradition, from landowner Jesús Gamboa, owner of a property famous for its thorny plants back in the seventeenth century. It was said that he gave his visitors one of his “brave tunas,” a symbol of protection against bad luck.
Today, the inhabitants of that land need more than amulets. It is not enough for the long-awaited May downpours to arrive. What Las Tunas urgently needs is a clear, coherent and effective policy of investment and management of water resources, which will finally break the cycle of abandonment that threatens to turn this piece of Cuba into a literal desert.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Legal uncertainty is the main deterrent factor, in addition to poor infrastructure.
Spanish companies cite legal uncertainty as the main negative factor when investing in Cuba / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Madrid, May 6, 2025 — History repeats itself, but for the worse. Spain is still one of the countries with more investors in Cuba, but it is the Latin American country where Spaniards invest the least, and the percentage has been reduced by half in just one year. In 2024, only 2% of Spanish companies with presence in the region had contributed fresh capital the previous year, mainly due to “deficient infrastructures” in Cuba. Now, only 1% would do so, and the most relevant factor is “legal uncertainty.”
The data appear in the 2024 Panorama of Spanish Investment in Ibero-America, published this Monday by IE University, Auxadi and Iberia and presented by Casa de América in Madrid. It presents the consequences of Donald Trump’s tariff policy that, although affecting countries in the region to a lesser extent than in other areas, influence the business prospects of Spanish entrepreneurs.
“It seems that more Spanish companies will opt for a policy of waiting for developments before making new investment decisions. The commitment to the region remains strong, but we are waiting to see what happens in the United States,” says the document in its introduction. The data reflect a drop in investment plans in Latin America of up to 13 points, from 76% last year to 63% this year. In addition, 30 per cent intend to maintain their plans and 7 per cent to reduce them. continue reading
From the 80% of SMSEs willing to invest in the region in previous years, it has fallen to 50%
The percentage falls sharply when looking at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): from 80% willing to invest in the region in previous years, it has fallen to 50%. The change is so significant that, for the first time since the report was drawn up, companies expect sales to rise more in the European Union than in Latin America.
The report barely mentions Cuba, except to highlight that it is on the list of countries where Spaniards plan to invest. Mexico, despite being one of the countries most affected by tariffs, repeats as a priority objective for companies in Spain, followed by Colombia, Chile, Peru and Brazil in that order. Costa Rica and Paraguay improve, while the rest remain stable.
Argentina will have “enormous difficulties,” but entrepreneurs are optimistic about its development for 2025 and give it a 3.59 (out of 5 points) of confidence. Uruguay and the Dominican Republic follow, but Mexico is losing ground because of its “high exposure to the U.S.” Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela have 2.65, 2.31 and 2.09 respectively.
One of the questions measured in the report is what advantages Latin American countries offer that encourage investment and give access to an attractive domestic market. Mexico, Brazil and Chile are highlighted (67%), followed by a skilled labor force in Mexico, Chile and Colombia (33%). In addition, there are access to raw materials (Brazil, Chile and Argentina), free trade agreements with third countries (Mexico, Argentina and Chile), competitiveness in the region (Mexico, Chile and Brazil) and advantageous geographical location, where Cuba again loses the opportunity to stand out and entrepreneurs prefer, once again, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Cuba does appear in the opposite table: that of the region’s disadvantages. Although political instability (76%) is the worst of the identified risks -highlighting here Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador – followed by exchange rate (56%), with Argentina, Brazil and Chile at the top, legal uncertainty is the terrain led by Cuba. Followed by Venezuela and Bolivia, these are the countries where entrepreneurs most fear that some legal regulation will arise that will cause them harm.
The table closes with citizen insecurity (33%), economic slowdown (27%) and social instability
The table closes with citizen insecurity (33%), economic slowdown (27%) and social instability.
Cuba once again fares badly for the countries with more complex taxation. It is in fourth place with 3.83 (of 5 points), behind Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, while the Spanish value the simple systems of Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay and Honduras. The latter has a score of 2.07, relatively far from the Uruguayan 2.80.
The report points out that one of the most significant changes is entrepreneurs’ perception of China as a competitor. Last year, 70% of respondents believed the Asian giant was not a significant competitor, compared to 55% this year. In addition, in the previous report 15% saw China as a “rather important” competitor, ten points less than this year when the amount rose to 25%. And those who saw China as competition rose from 15% to 20%.
For cities, the Mexican capital is still the preferred metropolis for Spaniards to locate their headquarters in Latin America (33%), far ahead of Bogota (15%) and Miami (14%). The latter, on the other hand, remains the preferred option for living, as it gains in safety, leisure and quality of life over Mexico City. The second city most chosen by Spanish entrepreneurs to move to is Santiago de Chile, which ties with Panama City.
In general terms, the document concludes that Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House has “turned the entire economic and geopolitical landscape upside down” and that the trade war he has embarked on has “radically” changed the economic outlook, which is reduced, according to the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Díaz-Canel proposes a direct flight connection between St. Petersburg and Havana to boost Russian tourism.
Cuba hoped to attract this year the 200,000 Russian tourists that it did not reach last year, but there is a 50% decrease in the first quarter.
14ymedio, Madrid, 6 May 2025 — Miguel Díaz-Canel’s trip to Russia to attend the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Army over Nazi Germany, which will be commemorated on May 9, is front page news without any concrete results of the visit being given. The appointment is turning out to be more institutional and propagandistic than the government wanted, which yesterday made an announcement that it’s not even that.
The Cuban president met with the governor of Saint Petersburg, Alexandr Beglov, at the Smolny Palace, the Bolshevik headquarters in the October Revolution, and they explored options for establishing direct flights between that city and Havana. And that is, for now, the non-news that international agencies have reproduced, quoting statements from Díaz-Canel to Tass. The president said that work is being done to increase the number of tourists from Russia’s second largest city to Cuba and that options are being considered for a route to Havana.
Whether this connection will be achieved remains to be seen. The companies must decide whether they are compensated by this route, just in the middle of the decline of Russian tourism to Cuba. In the first quarter of the year, the decrease in this market was 50%, with only 33,395 travelers arriving from Russia compared to the 66,879 of last year. continue reading
In the first quarter of this year, the market fell by 50%, with only 33,395 passengers arriving from Russia, compared to the 66,879 of last year
The announcement by Díaz-Canel has led the Russian press to refloat a report that the Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, gave last week at the International Fair of the sector (FitCuba), which had not yet been publicized. In the midst of a frenzy to attract Russians that did not succeed, the Cuban government approved in early 2023 the use of Mir cards on the island and committed to accelerate the implementation – both in payment and withdrawal of rubles at cash machines – to provide facilities for tourists from Russia.
Apparently dissatisfied with the process, the authorities had spoken on several occasions of a wider expansion, but now they announce the “total” extension and warn of the consequences that resisting the process could entail.
“We have issued clear recommendations for the field of tourism: everyone should accept Mir cards, regardless of technical preferences. We are preparing the second stage: if the business refuses to comply with this requirement, its activities may be limited,” García Granda told Ria Novosti.
The minister said that there are already more than 20,000 hotels and retail stores that accept the Russian card, but that coverage must be complete. In the absence of further details, his statements infer that private or self-employed workers could lose their licenses if they do not accept this payment system, which does not seem to be a sufficient incentive to encourage tourism from Russia.
In the absence of further details, his statements infer that private individuals or self-employed individuals may lose their licenses if they do not accept this payment system
In 2024, the Cuban government estimated that it was possible to attract 200,000 visitors from Russia, based on promising data for 2023 that were influenced by Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
However, only 185,816 Russians finally arrived, even though it was one of the best performing sectors, as it grew by 0.5% compared to the tourism losses of almost all countries (only Mexico, with 0.8% more travelers, surpassed Russia). García Granda said then that the forecast of 200,000 should wait until 2025, and he announced deals that have not yet materialized.
“I think we are very close to the fact that the first hotels built by Russian businessmen will appear in Cuba. In addition, a number of existing hotels could be transferred to the management of Russian travel companies,” he said. Nothing substantive has been reported.
It is not a good time to invest in the sector, although the prime minister, Manuel Marrero, announced new measures for a turnaround in tourism policy during FitCuba, plus advantages for China, the market to which he now aspires. Less than a month ago, the Spanish agency EFE reported that the Cuban government is preventing foreign companies from repatriating the currencies in their bank accounts.
According to its sources, it is expected that in return they will be able to open new “unlimited” accounts with monetary backing. These accounts, however, will only admit new capital, because, says EFE, the previous accounts cannot be transferred: only transfers from abroad will be accepted. While some entrepreneurs have regretted a decision that prevents them from taking out their own money, others pointed out that it has been happening for a long time They hope that with the new accounts they will be able to conduct international transactions and repatriate profits.
Among those who do not hesitate to maintain their loyalty, against all odds, is Miquel Fluxà, president of the Balearic hotel company Iberostar, who took advantage of his visit to FitCuba last week to express his confidence in the recovery of tourism on the island.
“I have come all these 30-something years with affection, without looking for anything, and I have felt very respected and loved by the Cubans, which has prompted me to develop all the business we are doing here”
“We believe that things can improve in Cuba,” the businessman told Televisión Cubana. Fluxà pointed out that his company is committed to the development of urban tourism, which seems to endorse his taking over the management of the hotel located in the controversial Tower K in Havana, which opened its doors at the end of February and has received few customers.
“I have come all these 30-something years with affection, without looking for anything, and I have felt very respected and loved by the Cubans, which has prompted me to develop all the business we are doing here. We are trying to do things with the best intention, the best quality,” said Fluxà, who left a declaration of love for his workers on the island.
“I am very satisfied and very proud because we have a group of people who love the company. The important thing is not to do things out of obligation but to do them out of devotion, and we really have a team of people who love the company. Within the circumstances, we try to make them happy and do everything possible to educate them, train them and give them opportunities. People are human, they’re good, and it’s really hard for them not to love Cuba,” he concluded.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Mike Hammer records a video message on the streets of Havana to get people to approach him.
Hammer invites people to speak with him and express their ideas / US Embassy in Cuba
14ymedio, Madrid, May 2, 2025 — “Hi I’m Mike Hammer, the head of mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba.” This is how the diplomat presents himself in a short video uploaded to the Facebook page of the US Embassy on the Island. In just 37 seconds, Hammer sends a message to the population inviting them to approach and speak with him if they see him walking around.
“I am traveling through Cuba because I know from my experience as a diplomat for more than 35 years and having been an ambassador in Chile and Congo, that it is very important to understand a country and its people by traveling and visiting all the provinces. So, when you see me on the street, I would like to speak with anyone who wants to share their perspectives, their ideas, and I hope we can have a nice conversation. See you around and until next time,” says a friendly Hammer.
The post, published on the Embassy’s Facebook page, is accompanied by a short text that encourages, even more, the ordinary citizen to contact the delegation and approach Hammer. “I would like to know the country well. Please send me your suggestions of places I should visit, and if you want, meet me when I am on the ground. Send an email to: havanapublicaffairs@state.gov”.
The video constitutes a challenge in a week in which the diplomat has been pointed out by the Regime, which accuses him of maintaining “disrespectful behavior contrary to the rules of international law” and calls his action “silly and interfering.” In an article published in Cubadebate, its director and well-known spokesman for the Regime, Randy Alonso, pointed to Hammer as a”subversive agent and self-promoter” on the Island.
In the article, Alonso states that “Cubans” have complained that the Embassy’s business manager “is encouraging them to act against the State and the authorities, to become critics of official policies and generators of dissatisfaction.” Furthermore, Alonso reminds Hammer that he is obliged continue reading
to respect the laws of the country in which he is located without taking advantage of the immunity granted by his office and tells him that he has already been warned on several occasions that his conduct is “disrespectful” and “serves the narrow interests of anti-establishment politicians.”
The criticism is not new, but it smells of a final warning. “No one explained to him in time that the accumulated experience of many years of frontal struggle against imperialist aggression allows us to observe with firmness and patience his silly and interventionist behavior, but only until Cubans have had enough,” it warns.
Mike Hammer took office in November 2024, succeeding Benjamin Ziff. At that time, the official Cuban press made no mention of the change and ignored the diplomat for a few months. Then Hammer began an agenda until then unprecedented, since none of his predecessors – Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, Mara Tekach and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, besides Ziff – had gone even half way in his approach to the opposition, first, and the Cuban people, now.
In December, Hammer began to meet with some opponents, starting with the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, and the historical dissident Martha Beatriz Roque – who presumably this Thursday traveled back to Cuba after undergoing medical treatment in the U.S., without knowing if she would have been able to do so in Cuba. The official news source, Razones de Cuba, already pointed out that Hammer had met with “two worn-out figures of the Cuban counterrevolution” and warned: “The new US representative has gone down a bad path, because nothing good can be expected from this scourge.”
Hammer was not intimidated by this, and he continued to tour the Island and meet with well-known opponents, including José Daniel Ferrer, who received him at home. The leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba had just been released from prison, a measure reversed this week by the Supreme Court, which considers him in breach of the conditions imposed and presumes that he has violated new rules. Hammer also approached the hermitage of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and was seen with Félix Navarro, who, like Ferrer, has just been returned to prison, and with Oscar Elías Biscet and the Camagüeyan priest, Alberto Reyes.
Hammer was not intimidated and continued to tour the Island and meet with well-known opponents, including José Daniel Ferrer
This week he met in Camagüey with Henry Constantín and Iris Mariño, independent journalists of La Hora de Cuba, and with relatives of political prisoners Andy García Lorenzo and Aroni Yanko García Valdez, in Santa Clara.
His meetings with opponents and their relatives have multiplied in every Cuban province, and he has also been with part of the exile. During a visit to Madrid, the diplomat met with Yanelis Núñez of the feminist platform Alas Tensas; Iliana Hernández and Luz Escobar, independent journalists; and former political prisoner Angélica Garrido.
All these meetings were criticized in an article published by the official media in March, entitled: “Weaving the anti-Cuban web: Hammer’s agenda.” The penultimate chapter was the text of last Tuesday. The US diplomat is not willing to slow down, and it is uncertain whether the Regime will either.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Those affected have 15 days to prove that they have a valid temporary residence permit in the country.
CBP One was created by the Biden administration to stop illegal border crossings/ EFE
14ymedio, Florida, May 1, 2025 — Thousands of Cubans who entered through the CBP One program received a work permit cancelation notice from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) this Wednesday.
“We have issued a notification explaining our intention to revoke the prior approval of your case,” the federal agency told migrants who entered through the program implemented by the Biden government. The message, which can be read in the applicant’s profile on the USCIS website, indicates the reference used when managing their work permit.
On April 18, thousands of migrants who legally entered the US using the CBP One application began to be notified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that their form I-94 (temporary stay permit or parole) was cancelled, so most of them assumed that the same thing would happen with the work permit.
USCIS explains that those affected have up to 15 days to prove that they have a valid temporary residence permit in the country and thus be able to keep their work permit. This situation leaves the thousands of Cubans who hope to obtain permanent residence through the Adjustment Act without the right to work in the US.
“I was waiting until the last moment for my work permit not to be canceled,” says Marcos, a Cuban from Santiago living in Tampa. He entered the US in January 2023 and applied for permanent residence last December. “Although I have already applied for a work permit along with my continue reading
residency, those permits are taking a long time,” he says.
“If my company realizes that the work permit with which I was hired was canceled, they will sack me tomorrow,” he adds with concern. “I only think about how to pay my rent and my monthly debts, because jobs don’t seem too easy to find here in Florida.”
Just as desperate is Yoandry, who has only been in the US for seven months and also lives in Tampa. “There are many obstacles to working without papers here in Florida; something always appears but it is unstable,” he says. “For now I have to wait one year and a day to apply for residency, but until then if I don’t find work under the table I don’t not know where I will live. The rent alone costs me $1,000.”
Just as desperate is Yoandry, who has only been in the US for seven months and also lives in Tampa
The CBP One program began operations in January 2023. More than 930,000 people have appeared in these two years of validity at the ports of entry for the authorities to process their cases, according to official data. During the procedure, foreigners received a temporary residence permit.
Of the total number of beneficiaries of the program — which for December alone, the last month available, was about 44,000 — 110,970 were Cubans. Through this system, 1,450 migrants could enter each day through seven border crossing points.
CBP One was created by the Biden administration to stop illegal border crossings and manage the organization of entry points, but in recent months, and following the election victory of Donald Trump, who had promised to eliminate it, the number of applicants has decreased.
In the first week of April, the Trump administration demanded that migrants who entered with CBP One leave the country “immediately,” through an e-mail warning that the immigration police have the means to locate those who do not comply with the request and hide from the authorities.
“It’s time for you to leave the United States,” the text said bluntly from the beginning. “You are here because the Department of Homeland Security has granted you an entry permit for a limited period of time.” Invoking section 1182 of the US Code and Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the institution informed that it was going to exercise its right to revoke the permit “immediately.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The European Union (EU) asks Cuba to review the revocation of the release of opponents Ferrer and Navarro.
Mounir Satouri, MEP for the Greens and chairman of the Human Rights sub-committee, denounced the situation of Ferrer and Navarro / EP
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana/Brussels, May 1, 2025 — This Wednesday the government of Cuba “strongly” rejected a request from the EU that calls on the Regime to review its decision to revoke parole for opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, arrested two days ago in their respective places of residence.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the EU statement “intrusive and disrespectful on matters of national sovereignty in which it has no right or moral authority; unaware of the truth and information offered by the Supreme Court of Cuba,” according to a message on social networks.
The People’s Supreme Court (TSP) confirmed last Monday the revocation of the releases of the historic opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro and claimed that both “violated” the conditions imposed on them. In addition, it reiterated that the decision has a “legal basis.”
The Foreign Ministry called the EU statement “intrusive and disrespectful on matters of national sovereignty in which it has no right or moral authority; unaware of the truth and information”
“The criminal courts of the popular provincial courts of Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba revoked the parole of two persons who did not comply with the law during the probation period to which they were subject,” stated the vice president of the TSP, Maricela Sosa Ravelo.
The EU, through a spokesman for the EU’s senior representative for foreign affairs and security, Kaja Kallas, regretted the decision and also called in a statement for Cuba to release “all persons arrested for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.” continue reading
“The EU reiterates its calls for full respect of human rights and to ensure that all citizens, including those with dissident views, are able to exercise their fundamental freedoms freely,” she added.
Furthermore, she stated that the EU will “monitor the human rights situation” in Cuba and “use all established mechanisms to raise its concerns,” in line with the principles of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC), the legal framework on which the two parties base their bilateral relations.
Her demand was joined by that of the legislature. The European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights also expressed its “deep concern” about the situation of Ferrer and Navarro and called on the Cuban authorities to guarantee their fundamental right to express themselves freely without fear of persecution.
The chairman of this Sub-Committee, the French MEP from the Greens, Mounir Satouri, called in a statement “for the urgent, immediate and unconditional release” of both activists, as well as official confirmation of their whereabouts and guarantees for their physical safety and protection.
“We reaffirm our call to the Cuban authorities to respect fundamental rights and ensure that all citizens are free to express themselves without fear of being persecuted, even those with dissenting opinions,” he said.
“We reaffirm our call to the Cuban authorities to respect fundamental rights and ensure that all citizens are free to express themselves without fear of persecution”
Satouri, on behalf of the Sub-Committee, also urged the Cuban government to “respond to the legitimate demands of the Cuban people through an inclusive and sincere dialogue.”
The MEP also reached out to the ADPC and assured that the EU will continue to closely follow developments and make “full use of all available mechanisms” to address its concerns.
“The EU stands in solidarity with all those working peacefully for democratic change and remains committed to supporting efforts towards a more open and inclusive society,” he added.
Ferrer had planned to take part, at the beginning of this month, in the public hearing held by the EU Sub-Committee on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Cuba. Unable to connect live due to a power cut, he sent a pre-recorded video detailing “very worrying accounts of torture and systematic abuse in Cuban prisons,” Satouri pointed out.
Ferrer and Navarro, both with decades of opposition activism, were released last January, following an agreement between Havana and Washington mediated by the Vatican – and not recognized by the parties – in which Cuba committed to releasing 553 prisoners and the US to exclude Cuba from the list of countries promoting terrorism.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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In addition, the $30 tourist health fee will be waived and payments in euros and Canadian currency will be authorized.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero inaugurates FITCuba / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — With a list of proposals that promise “different times” for the Cuban tourism sector, on Wednesday Prime Minister Manuel Marrero opened the International Tourism Fair (FitCuba). Transactions in Canadian dollars and euros, cancellation of health fees at airports and rental of tourist facilities are some of the measures announced by the Prime Minister, who assured that the recovery of the sector has become a “question of honor.”
China, the invited country, has been the privileged partner during this edition of the Fair, which welcomes 850 international participants and 2,000 national ones. Both governments signed letters of intent to lease the Copacabana hotel, owned by the Cubanacan group and located in Miramar, Havana, to Beijing. “As a sign of reciprocity, Cuba decided to eliminate the visa requirement for holders of ordinary passports from the People’s Republic of China in 2024, and dedicated the Fair to China as the guest of honor,” added Marrero.
The Prime Minister also promised – with his “bold” and “different” strategy but closely controlled by the State to stimulate foreign investment – “facilities for trading in foreign currencies,” the opening of new air routes, such as flights to Germany from November onwards, and the elimination, as of Thursday, of the health charge applied to travelers in airports, ports and marinas.
The minister also announced more special economic zones with benefits for investors
This payment, of 30 US dollars or its equivalent, was implemented in all international terminals following the coronavirus pandemic, and, with its cancellation, authorities hope to create an incentive for tourists to continue arriving on the Island.
The minister also announced the creation of more special economic zones with benefits for investors, such as Mariel, although this has not yielded the expected results. It was initially expected to raise some $2.5 billion annually, but barely reached a total of $3.5 billion during its first 10 years of continue reading
life.
He also said that the Government’s plan is to involve both the State and private sectors in tourism development, as well as “improving payment systems and incentives” for workers in this sector. These are all measures with which the Regime, accustomed to restricting the freedom of management especially of Cuban entrepreneurs, has been cautious.
In fact, Marrero offered “greater autonomy for exporting companies and businesses with foreign capital” but did not mention greater freedoms for private individuals, who even depend on the State to import their goods.
With more prominence in speeches on the sector than the Minister of Tourism himself, Juan Carlos García Granda, Marrero – the former head of the portfolio – said that “at different times, different solutions are imposed. Cuba is more than sun and beach; we offer ecotourism, rural tourism, cultural, heritage, sports, health, scientific, cruises and more,” he added.
“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward”
“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward,” he explained, and he connected the strategies to attract tourists with the investments needed to improve the national electricity system.
Although his speech was full of references to a reform in the management of the sector, the plans for Tourism are still part of the usual strategy, which has not worked so far: “correct distortions and revive the economy.” According to economist Pedro Monreal, Tourism made a “loose update of the official report on a failed bet, and there is an absence of a credible proposal of the tourism-development relationship in the post ’Ordering Task’ era.”
With a “display of tradition and protocol” in the fortress of La Cabaña, as described by Cubadebate itself, the Minister of Tourism also proposed to several member countries of ALBA* the creation of a multi-destination tourist plan that includes tours not only on the Island but also in other countries in the region.
The need for change is becoming inexcusable now that Tourism is unlikely to reach the target of 2.6 million visitors in 2025, despite the fact that the failures of the last two years have forced it to lower the goal. Until the end of March, which is the end of the high season, Cuba received only 571,772 travelers – 30% less than in 2024 for the same period – and, in the coming summer months, when the traffic of travelers decreases, the numbers promise to be worse.
In that quarter, none of the top ten countries managed to increase the number of travelers compared with the same quarter of 2024. And China, which the authorities strive to present as a growing market, is not even among the first.
In recent years hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared
The State is not alone in suffering the debacle. In recent years, hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared or moved to other businesses due to the decline in tourism. For the renters of private homes that resist, more bad news comes to cloud the panorama. Airbnb, the hosting platform used by many of them, has decided to suspend payments to Cuba unless landlords have overseas accounts.
“In accordance with recent US federal regulations, we have notified hosts in Cuba that they must add a new payment method to their account in order to continue hosting on Airbnb. We are working with hosts and providing clear instructions on how to update their accounts and regain access. In addition, we would like to point out that we have already processed the payments corresponding to future confirmed reservations using the current payment method,” the company told El Toque.
* ALBA is an organization created for the political and economic cooperation of Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved this regulation, still unpublished
Several passengers in line to check in for an Air Century flight at Terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport, Havana / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Stuck in limbo: this is how Dayuri, 47, feels. She arrived in Miami from Havana at the end of 2023 after crossing the U.S. southern border. In December, the two-year period expires, which the Cuban authorities allow her for being off the Island without losing her residence and ownership of a house in Cerro municipality. Cuba’s new Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws, which eliminate this requirement, have not even been published in the Official Gazette.
Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved the regulations regulating core issues such as permanent residence on the Island, the right to retain property even when living outside the country and the mechanisms through which foreigners can settle and invest in the national territory. For Dayuri the delay may mean the loss of the family home she inherited from her parents, who died during the covid-19 pandemic.
“When I left, there was already talk of new legislation coming and that they were going to remove the obligation to return after 24 months,” she told 14ymedio. In mid-2024, when she had already been in the U.S. for more than half a year, Dayuri was relieved to see all Cuban parliamentarians voting unanimously for the new regulations. “I thought that before Christmas they were going to publish it in the Gazette and that my house was going to be secure.”
“We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here”
But so far the new legislation has not appeared in the Official Gazette of the Republic, after which 180 days still have to pass before it comes into force. The delay affects an undetermined number of migrants who are about to complete their two years outside Cuba but have not yet obtained legal continue reading
residence in the U.S., without which they must not leave U.S. territory; otherwise, they will not be able to return.
“I search and search in the news, and nobody talks about this. Everyone comments on the deportations, the Cuban Adjustment Law, the I220-A visas, but no one says anything about our situation. We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here,” Dayari says. She is right. If the subject of the Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws made headlines in the official Cuban press prior to its approval, it seems to have disappeared from the information agenda months ago.
The most awaited is the Migration Law, because of what it means for properties on the Island. Its entry into force invalidates numerous procedures related to both the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Aliens and the Housing Institute, in addition to requiring updates for notaries and Cuban consulates.
So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home
So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home. To avoid the seizure of the property by the State, the owners give a power of attorney to a relative, friend or acquaintance to sell, transfer or donate the house. With the mass exodus that the Island is experiencing, the current legislation has triggered this type of paperwork and bureaucratic red tape.
The solution for Orlando, a citizen of Cienfuegos who arrived in Houston last August and has not yet been granted U.S. residency, was to give power of attorney for his brother to sell or transfer his property if the Migration Law continues to be delayed and he fails to keep the house in Abreus municipality in his name. The procedure costs between $150 and $300 in consulates in the United States, where a large Cuban community resides. In recent years, with the migration stampede, the need to carry out this paperwork has multiplied.
A number of private companies outside the Island have emerged as intermediaries to expedite and secure procedures. Through one of them, Orlando organized his process. “I trust my brother, but there are people who have had to give power of attorney to a neighbor or a friend because their stay away is about to reach two years, and it’s either that or lose the house.” The biggest nightmare of the migrant is “to be deported from the U.S. and arrive at my town to see that my house, which cost me so many sacrifices, is now in someone else’s name.”
Orlando finds it hard to believe that in a country that has experienced the largest migratory exodus in its history in recent years, “it is not a priority to finish fixing this two-year issue so that people can keep their homes even if they spend years and years outside the country.” He regrets that the complaints on social networks are directed more towards the U.S. than to Cuba. “We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law.”
“We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law”
Once the regulations are in place, not only can those who are away spend as much time as they want without returning to Cuba and not lose their home, but a Cuban who does not reside on the Island will be able to acquire property. “It is an earthquake that will happen at the level of the legislation for houses, and they are still projecting and calculating the consequences,” explains to 14ymedio a worker from the Housing Institute who asks for anonymity.
According to the employee, “a change in the Housing Law has been on the table for years to make it more flexible not only with regard to the property of those who reside outside but also to allow those inside to own more than one dwelling under the same name,” she explains. ” With the new Migration Law, it must be remembered that there will no longer be a concept of ’emigrated’ but rather one of effective residence and another that is not, depending on whether or not you spend most of the time in a year in Cuba or not.”
But it’s not only houses that are at stake. Once the regulations enter into force, Cubans residing off the Island will be able to apply for “investor” status. This possibility is currently closed to them and will open the door to hundreds of thousands of potential investors.
One of them is Enrique, name changed, who has lived since the 1980s in Berlin, Germany. As a student in East Germany, after the wall came down, he decided to settle in the country, where he married and later retired. “I have saved money and would like to open a business of rental houses in Havana, specifically in the neighborhood of Santos Suarez, where I was born.”
Enrique, however, is considered under current legislation to be a Cuban resident abroad with no right to property or a business on the Island. “Since the new law was passed, I have often called the consulate to find out when it will be implemented, and they just give me a hard time,” he complains. ” This surprises me, because there is legislation that has been announced on the same day that it is published in the Gazette, which comes into force 24 hours later.”
“There appears to be no political will for this Migration Act to enter into force as soon as possible”
“They made a lot of noise announcing it, publishing the discussions in Parliament, but now it seems that there is no political will for this Migration Law to come into force as soon as possible and solve the situation of so many Cubans. My friends have recommended that I look for several front men, within my own family, who have properties in Santos Suarez, and I can manage them from here, but that’s not the way I want to do business.”
For Dayari, time is running out. Unlike Orlando or Enrique, she has no one to whom to transfer the ownership of her home. In her mind, two countdowns resonate at the same time without giving her a break. One marks the time remaining to obtain residence in the United States after almost two years of upheavals. The second ends in December, when under Cuban law she becomes an emigrant without the right to have a home on the Island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“You don’t kill the truth by killing journalists.” The gap between the Western European press and the rest of the world is widening / EFE
EFE (via 14ymedio), Paris, 2 May 2025 — Press freedom worldwide is at its worst since Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) began compiling its index in 2002, due to the poor economic situation of the media, threatening their survival and the integrity of their work.
In its annual report on press freedom published this Friday, RSF warns that “for the first time in the history of the ranking, the situation of press freedom is becoming ’difficult’ worldwide.”
The communications media “are caught between guaranteeing their independence and their financial survival,” it adds.
“Half of the countries evaluated have poor conditions for journalism, and only one country out of four has a good situation,” explains Elena G. Viscasillas, spokesperson for RSF, at its headquarters in Paris.
The organization stresses that this situation has further damaged a media that is “already being harmed” by an advertising market controlled by Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, which in 2024 captured advertising revenue on their “largely unregulated” social platforms of $247.3 billion, 14% more than in 2023.
“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality”
“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality and can fall prey to oligarchs or political leaders who continue reading
instrumentalize them,” says Anne Bocandé, RSF editorial director.
RSF points to the U.S. as the “leader of the economic depression” in the media and ranks it in 57th place on the index (dropping two places compared with 2024 and 12 since 2023), mainly because some areas have become “news deserts” due to the closure of media.
In addition, it points out that the second term of Donald Trump “has aggravated this situation” at a global level, with the cessation of funding for media such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, which has deprived “overnight” more than 400 million people worldwide from having access to reliable information.
The USAID funding freeze has also affected hundreds of media outlets, some of which are now closing, as in Ukraine where 90% of the media depends on foreign donations.
RSF reports that in 46 countries media ownership is highly concentrated in private or State hands.
The report stresses that this media hyperconcentration is “a cause for concern in well-positioned countries” such as Finland (ranked 5), Canada (21) and Australia (29). In France (which dropped four places in one year to 25), eight large companies own about twenty-five media that account for 81% of national newspaper coverage and 95% of national weekly newspapers.
The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in the five indicators that make up the ranking
The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in all five indicators that make up the ranking: media environment, independence, pluralism, legal framework and journalist safety. It is followed by Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Ireland. The top 15 countries are European, with New Zealand in 16th place.
Spain ranks 23rd, improving by seven positions compared to last year.
The last place is again Eritrea (180), and just above it are North Korea, China (drops six places), Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.
In 42 countries, which account for 56.7% of the world’s population, the situation regarding press freedom is “very serious,” warns RSF.
By region, the changes in the list show how the gap between Western Europe and other regions, including Eastern Europe, is widening.
Russia drops 9 places and ranks 171, making it into the bottom ten. “The media are controlled by the State or by oligarchs close to the Kremlin,” states RSF.
In the Americas, 22 out of 26 countries have seen a deterioration in the media’s economic health indicator.
The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press.” Cuba occupies position 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142
Argentina continues its drop in the ranking to position 87 (by 47 positions in two years). The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press,” says RSF.
Cuba ranks 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142. Mexico is ranked 124, while Colombia is ranked 119. The best-placed Latin American country is Costa Rica (36), which still drops ten positions. Brazil ranks 63, recovering 47 positions in two years after the departure of Jair Bolsonaro from power.
The map in the report, which as usual colors countries according to their press freedom situation, shows how the dark color has spread considerably since last year in a large area starting in East Africa and spreading through Russia and virtually all of the Middle East and Asia.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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In Ciego de Ávila, production went from 120 million annually in 2016 to just 16 million currently.
The alliance between a state company and private producers is giving results in Ciego de Ávila / Cubadebate
14ymedio, Havana, 2 May 2025 — In the last decade, the debacle of egg production in Ciego de Avila, according to official press reports, has been “brutal.” From reaching a maximum of 120 million units in 2016, the province barely reaches 16 million currently, five million less than it needs to meet local demand. The disastrous figures were exposed by the authorities last Wednesday to Miguel Díaz-Canel, who predicted that “the time will come when we can offer them again for the [family ration] basket.”
The hope of the president seems to be placed in a new mode of business of a poultry company in the province that resorted to private sales after being shut down eight months for lack of feed. The deal, explains the newspaper Invasor, is that the private part rears the hens and guarantees production, of which it delivers 36% to the state company. Feed is obtained from Tabacuba, which pays for the feed in meat, eggs or freely convertible currency (MLC).
The media does not explain why Tabacuba did not deliver feed to the poultry company in exchange for payment, without the need for mediation by the private producer, but the answer seems to be in the chronic lack of resources and money of state institutions. With private individuals, Tabacuba has a better chance of getting payments on time and not having to deal with debts. continue reading
“We will be able to overcome all the decline that we have suffered in the production of eggs, which is an important protein for the population”
“We will be able to overcome all the decline that we have suffered in the production of eggs, which is an important protein for the population, through these links with the non-state sector,” said Díaz-Canel.
Aware of the unattainable price of eggs on the Island, and that they are easier to find in a MSME or a small dollar market than in a ration store, the representative gave even more importance to the success of the company: “There came a time when we did not have eggs. Now, they are sold both in foreign currency and in national currency, but in the end, the price goes down, and as this system continues to advance, production and sales will continue to grow”.
Apparently, by “linking” to the poultry company nothing bad happens. Profits exceed 3 million pesos, and it has managed to give its 24 workers benefits that have increased their wages to between 14,000 and 23,000 pesos. However, a carton of 30 eggs in the neighboring province of Sancti Spíritus is around 2,100 pesos, according to the market data from 14ymedio, between 9% and 15% of these wages.
At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed a catastrophic decline in the population of laying hens from 8 million to 3 million in four years. Egg production, reduced by the lack of feed, had fallen from 5 million units per day to a mere 1,200,000.
Cuba has started to rely more and more on imports in order to deal with the demand for eggs
Cuba has begun to rely more and more on imports in order to deal with the demand for eggs. Although it is known that both Colombia and the Dominican Republic have exported eggs to the island, imports from “sister countries” such as Mexico also appear in the foreign currency markets and in the informal market.
There is also the question of whether all poultry companies in Ciego de Ávila are doing as well as the one visited by Díaz-Canel, who criticized producers for “drooling” while waiting for state aid.
The head of state, who seems to have noticed that problems are “solved” by his presence – at least for the duration of the government visit – encouraged the authorities to monitor agricultural production more closely and to visit the municipalities to see that good work is being done. And he promised, “See you in a month”.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The state government of Chiapas has launched two programs to provide temporary employment to 890 people from other countries.
Deivy Gurrola, Cuban, wants to settle in Tapachula, Chiapas / EFE
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, 22 April 2025 — The municipal president of Tapachula, in the Mexican border state of Chiapas, Aarón Yamil Melgar Bravo, has proposed that migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti who are stranded in the municipality be employed in different public works and factories. Among them, mentioned to EFE, was the Maya Train, the Interoceanic Corridor.
According to the official, the state has almost 400 hectares available for industrial projects that promote trade between the Pacific and the Atlantic, and between North and Central America. The migrants, Melgar Bravo told the Spanish agency, could be inserted into the crews for “the completion of the train tracks connecting the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Puerto Chiapas.”
The municipal president has specified that the migrants “will be able to remove the containers from the boats and take them to the trains. Obviously, the other branch of the railway tracks is going to go to Suchiate (the border with Guatemala).”
However, the recruitment process has not yet started, and no date is set in the near future, as the Cuban Yumili Acosta told 14ymedio. Last February she joined the three-month temporary program that the government of Chiapas promoted for 500 migrants, most of them with asylum procedures continue reading
before the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).
Cuban Anaeliet Salgado is part of one of the temporary employment programs in Tapachula / EFE
“In May the program ends, and we were told that we would have to wait. Everything depends on their budget. If the money doesn’t arrive, the program will end,” says Acosta, 27, who has received 1,250 pesos ($61.59) per week for five-hour days from Monday to Friday.
Cuban Yaniel Ponce de León, who is also part of the group that sweeps streets, collects garbage and paints public spaces, says that “the municipal president of Tapachula says the money is not certain. I was told (by officials) that it is more for Guatemalans.”
Between February and March, the state of Chiapas promoted two temporary employment programs for migrants, opening 890 places during this period. The most recent is for fumigators to stop the spread of diseases such as dengue, malaria, zika and chikungunya.
Each of the 390 migrants is paid a salary of just over 2,300 pesos every two weeks, less than the average wage of 3,350 that a worker receives. In addition, they do not have medical services or other benefits stipulated in the Federal Labour Law such as the payment of utilities, a savings fund and food vouchers.
Despite the unfavorable working conditions, for the Cuban Deivy Gurrola, the possibility of having a job is an incentive: “I could rent a room and support myself here in Mexico, because yes, we want to live cheaply, and we will work in able to afford that,” she told EFE. She also wants the Mexican authorities to encourage a regular stay for those who wish to work on these projects, “so they can find work quickly in established factories and companies.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 21 April 2025 — On the Island, inflation does not give respite to even the most basic needs. The price for using the public restroom in the busy Parque Fe del Valle, in Centro Habana, has gone up from 10 to 20 pesos. According to one of the local workers, the National Tax Administration Office increased their tax payments and also took away the little income they received from the State. Now they must pay for everything on their own.
What used to be a quick relief is now almost a luxury, and the new tariff did not come with improvements.
The measure is already beginning to be noticed in the urban landscape. “There are now old men who, when they say 20 pesos, leave without urinating and end up behind a bush. I have seen that with my own eyes,” said a regular user of the park. The price increase not only tightens pockets but also bladders.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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A young doctor tells ’14ymedio’ that among his colleagues “there are many hooked” on this cheap and highly addictive drug.
Hospital Calixto García, in Havana / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, havana, 21 April 2025 — “Time of death 2:32 in the morning, cause: cardiac arrest,” summarizes the death certificate of a young man from Havana, 28, who died earlier this year in the emergency room of the Calixto García, in Havana. The small print, however, hides a much more dramatic story of addiction, drug use and meager resources in the Cuban health system, faced with the spread of “el químico” [the chemical].
“I was on duty that night, and when he arrived I thought he had an asthma attack,” recalls Marieta, a nurse at the hospital center whose name has been changed for this story. “He came with two friends after midnight on a Saturday, which is usually a time with many cases of knife wounds, cuts from bottles thrown at some party and also injuries from domestic altercations,” she says.
When she graduated, two decades ago, Marieta remembers that on weekends in the emergency room of the central hospital, a few meters from 23rd street with its clubs, bars and recreational centers, most of the emergencies were from “alcohol and fights.” The newly recruited doctors and nurses received the hardest shifts. In those long hours of late Saturday and Sunday, they learned very well to “sew heads and knife wounds while the patient’s foul smell of rum almost asphyxiated us,” she recalls.
“More and more cases arrive of people intoxicated with drugs”
However, for some time now the uninvited guest of the night has changed. “More and more cases arrive of people intoxicated with drugs, especially the “chemical,” but in recent months we have treated cases of all kinds of drug mixtures,” she explains to 14ymedio. One of the serious problems faced by health professionals who assist these patients is the lack of information about what has happened to them.
“We know an accident victim has been run over by a car or hit by a motorcycle, because the people who brought him tell us and give us the details, but with drug addicts it doesn’t happen,” she says. “People have left them lying on the entrance ramp and run away so they don’t show their faces. Others come accompanied by friends, but these people don’t talk. They won’t tell us what happened or just say that the person started feeling bad.”
Not only do you see the progression of drug addiction among patients treated in the emergency room. The medical sector itself is also being rocked by the chemical, which is currently sold in Havana at a price ranging from 150 to 200 pesos per dose. A pound of beans costs more than one of those little pieces of paper that envelop the substance for its illicit trade. In a country where commodities are on the rise, this drug is still surprisingly cheap.
A young doctor tells this newspaper that among his colleagues “there are many who are hooked” on the addictive mixture. “It comes from the bad neighborhoods,” he warns. “My girlfriend and several friends in the healthcare profession are consuming it in an uncontrolled way; it is no longer just something for poor people.”
Among their most complicated cases are those who have recently come in with serious breathing problems and heart failure after having consumed the ’chemical’
In the emergency room, a police officer takes note of patients arriving with knife wounds, gunshots or signs of violence, but the protocol for drug users who arrive in bad shape “is not so clear,” says the woman. “If it is a slight intoxication, the doctor himself doesn’t want to report it so as not to get into trouble with the patient, but there are some who arrive in an obviously very high state, and there is no way to hide it.”
Among their more complicated cases are those who come in with serious breathing problems and heart failure after having consumed the chemical, the most popular drug right now in Havana. With a formula that may vary depending on who prepares it, its base is synthetic marijuana mixed with drugs, some intended for the treatment of epilepsy, tranquilizers for animals or compounds used in surgery. Once hooked, addicts try other very risky combinations, such as adding lidocaine, a local anesthetic that is readily available on the Island’s informal market.
“I saw a boy who was not even 18 take one of those lidocaine patches that you put, especially on your back, when you have some pain. He cut it into small pieces, ate it and immediately had neurotoxic and cardiotoxic reactions. When they brought him in, there was nothing that could be done,” he says. “They’re not just mixing the chemical with drugs that are hard to get or more expensive. Now even a less-controlled medication can be a hazard if it is consumed incorrectly or in conjunction with other substances.”
Among the products most imported by mules to the Island, protected by the exemption of tariffs on food and medicines, are not only coffee, spices and multivitamins, but also the popular lidocaine patches. In an aging population like the Cuban one, there is a wide demand. Light-weight, without customs controls and apparently harmless, in the wrong hands these patches become a danger.
In a society that is very loquacious about defining illegal phenomena, it is surprising that there is no clear term for defining the drug trafficker
“After oral ingestion, lidocaine enters the systemic circulation very quickly due to the extensive hepatic metabolism of the compound,” warns a patient from another hospital in Havana who prefers anonymity. “It begins its action very quickly, and the signs of intoxication begin to be noticed within the first 10 to 25 minutes. By the time these patients arrive at an emergency room, their clinical condition is very advanced.”
The code of silence spreads among addicts and those who accompany them to the hospitals. Describing what they consumed can draw the attention of the police, who will pressure them to report the dealer. The producers and sellers of the chemical, ambrosio* and other mixtures are mostly thugs who threaten to retaliate against the snitches and their families.
In a society that is very loquacious when it comes to defining illegal phenomena or the vagaries of the informal market, it is surprising that there is no clear term for defining the drug trafficker. This figure, who is known elsewhere with expressions ranging from the well-known “camel,” through “eraser” to the explicit “coke pusher,” has just begun in Cuba to have its own name. In a country where the illegal lottery, known as the “bolito,” has a wide range of terms, and prostitution also contains a vast vocabulary, the world of drugs, however, is more sparse. Perhaps the language has not evolved at the same speed as the spread of the chemical through the streets.
“Some say ’quimiqueros’,” advises El Pury, a resident of the Los Sitios neighborhood, who knows very well the damage that drugs are causing among the young people in his community. Proud to be”ten years clean” after spending time in the addiction ward of a psychiatric hospital, he now works as a stretcher-bearer. “I was inside the monster and I know its entrails,” he says, reinterpreting José Martí’s well-known phrase.
“I just have to see a little kid who arrives trembling, skinny because he barely eats and with skin the color of paper, and I know that it’s because of the drug,” he says. “It’s one thing to see it in the movies, or someone from abroad telling you about it, and another to experience it here.” Two weeks ago he had to carry a body from the emergency room to the morgue on a stretcher. The official cause of death was respiratory arrest, but El Pury knows that the young man died “from the shit that is killing everyone.”
*Translator’s note: Ambrosio is a mixture primarily involving drugs like Diazepam, Parkisonil, and Amitriptyline. Sprinkled with Ketamine, it is smoked in a roll or added to an alcoholic drink.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Soler and Moya together with the head of the US Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer
14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2025 — The police operation set up around the headquarters of the Ladies in White and the home of opponents Berta Soler and Angel Moya, this Sunday, were confirmed by them in a call to 14ymedio. However, this Sunday’s siege, Moya notes, is similar to the one they usually suffer on weekends to prevent them from attending church. Saturday, on the other hand, was enormous. “They are on both corners with tremendous impunity because we cannot directly publish anything of what they are doing to us because we do not have phones, Moya confirmed yesterday to this newspaper.
“Several of our neighbors have told us that there is also a large operation on Porvenir Avenue,” said the former prisoner of the Black Spring who, along with his wife, activist Berta Soler, was arrested last Thursday and had their phones confiscated by State Security. He added that their legal status, at this time, is that both are “under a precautionary measure of house arrest for the alleged crime of violating the established constitutional order.”
Both Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, and Moya are under house arrest for 48 days and cannot leave their homes because, among other charges, they “violate the country’s independence and sovereignty” due to their recent meeting with the head of the US Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer.
Hammer accompanied Soler on April 13, Palm Sunday, to the church of Santa Rita, in the Havana neighborhood of Miramar. He escorted her to the parish after several Sundays in which a large police operation prevented her from leaving her home. Subsequently, last Thursday, both opponents were arrested around 2:00 pm in the area of the Virgen del Camino, in Havana, as reported by the organization Cubalex. continue reading
Moya clarifies that although they have not yet been formally charged, they are “under investigation”
Moya clarifies that although they have not yet been formally charged, they are “under investigation.” During the arrest, Soler and Moya’s mobile phones were seized by State Security, a concern for both. ” They are the cell phones that we use to connect to social networks and were switched off when we handed them over. They asked us for our passwords and we refused to tell them.” The political police officers warned them that despite this they were going to “open and technically check” the devices.
The opponent warns: “if our social networks and our private channels contain confusing and biased messages then it is State Security that is writing them.”
The activists have tried to spread the word about their situation through various channels despite being under house arrest. This Sunday, Moya and Soler managed to appear on social networks and said that they would go out on the street after 12 noon. “The house is not a dungeon,” argued Soler. Moya explained that after the arrest they had been taken to different police units -Soler to the station of Cotorro and he to Guanabacoa – where they stayed for more than 24 hours. After returning to their home, they were cut off from internet access.
The US Embassy in Havana shared on Saturday a publication from the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs expressing its “outrage” at the repression against the dissidents. “This further demonstrates the regime’s ruthless disregard for religious freedom and once again exposes the brutal ill-treatment that the regime inflicts on its own people by attempting, as it admits, to intimidate US diplomats,” the Office denounced.
It added that the Embassy “will continue to meet with Cubans from all walks of life, particularly those who defend human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity.”
The previous arrest of both dissidents occurred on Sunday, April 6, when they tried to attend mass
The previous arrest of both dissidents occurred on Sunday, April 6, when they tried to attend mass. In recent years, Berta Soler has reported multiple temporary arrests of her and members of the organization she leads, mostly on Sundays when they are preparing to go to church and are prevented by the police.
The Ladies in White movement was born on the initiative of a group of women relatives of the 75 dissidents and independent journalists arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to long prison sentences during the so-called Black Spring. From then on, the wives, mothers and other relatives of those prisoners identified themselves as always dressed in white and, after attending mass in a Catholic church, began to hold Sunday marches to ask for their release.
In 2005, the Ladies in White received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
This beginning of the year has been active for the repressive apparatus of the regime. In parallel with the release of 230 political prisoners through the Vatican, the Island’s government has intensified its persecution of activists and relatives of detainees.
Last Wednesday, the writer and collaborator of 14ymedio, Jorge Fernández Era, was arrested for more than 10 hours after he tried to demonstrate in Havana in solidarity with the protests that teacher Alina Bárbara López carries out every 18th day of the month. Another colleague of the scholar, Jenny Pantoja, who also wanted to support López, was forced to stay in her home by State Security.
Two other 14ymedio collaborators are currently imprisoned: Yadiel Hernández Hernández, known as Kakashi, in Matanzas, since late January, when he was investigating drug trafficking and consumption at a school in the city. The other is José Gabriel Barrenechea, who has been in prison for five months, awaiting trial, for participating in the protests against the blackouts on 8 November at Encrucijada, Villa Clara.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Carlos Seijas Meneses, Caracas, 20 April 2025 — Nicolás Maduro reached the first 100 days of his controversial third term in Venezuela this Sunday, marked by questions about his legitimacy, sanctions and the return of more than 2,500 migrants, mostly deported by the United States.
The following are the eight events that have marked the Chavista’s management since his inauguration on January 10:
Proclaimed winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is linked to the Chavista regime, Maduro advances in his third term without, almost nine months later, disaggregated results being known -contrary to the established official schedule- which led the Carter Center, which was an observer, to conclude in February that these elections “cannot be considered democratic.”
The largest opposition coalition, the Unitary Democratic Platform (PUD), denounced the consummation of a “coup,” insisting that the winner was Edmundo González Urrutia.
Washington tightened sanctions against Caracas after Donald Trump’s return to the White House
Maduro is backed by countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Belarus, Serbia, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
By contrast, the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, the continue reading
Dominican Republic, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany, Italy and Japan have questioned his legitimacy.
Washington tightened sanctions against Caracas following the return of Donald Trump to the White House, ending oil licenses and imposing 25% tariffs on Venezuelan crude buyers, as well as 15% tariffs on products from the Caribbean nation, whom the Republican accuses of having sent “tens of thousands of criminals” to the United States, which rejects Chavism.
Maduro insists that “there is no threat in the world that can intimidate” his country, and this month he decreed an economic state of emergency in response to Washington’s measures. Caracas also issued a “travel alert” about “risks” in the United States.
Since February, according to official figures, 2,559 Venezuelans have returned to their country – most of them from the United States- on 13 flights, three of them American planes, as part of an agreement reached during a visit to Caracas by Richard Grenell, special representative of Trump, in January.
Since February, according to official figures, 2,559 Venezuelans have returned to their country, mostly from the United States, on 13 flights
On April 9, Maduro denounced a “civilizing aggression” against migrants in the United States, which in March deported more than 200 people to El Salvador, accused of allegedly belonging to the criminal gang of Venezuelan origin Tren de Aragua, designated as terrorist by Washington and condemned by the Maduro administration.
Maduro assured that this year there will be at least a dozen elections, including regional and parliamentary ones, to be held on 25 May. This has created divisions within the opposition between those who call for voting and those who do not.
Maduro also plans to submit for consultation a draft constitutional reform that is being prepared by a commission headed by the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, to be presented in May, when the 90-day deadline given by Maduro in February expires.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
14ymedio, Havana, May 6, 2025– Named for the prickly pear cactus that thrives in arid climates, Las Tunas is today facing one of the most severe droughts in its recent history. This situation has aggravated the already critical vulnerability of the country’s driest province, where the average annual rainfall is barely 1.038 millimeters (25.4 inches).
