“Who came on that yacht? There’s a ticket there,” curious people comment.
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 25 June 2025 — Unreachable and glistening under the sun of Havana, the luxury yacht First Lady, with the flag of the Cayman Islands, arrived this Wednesday in the bay of the Cuban capital. While people inland face an energy deficit of more than 1,700 MW, the dark grey hull of the boat is just a preview of the comforts enjoyed by its passengers. Nearby, punished by the heat and wearing uniforms soaked in sweat, several policemen guard the ship from early morning.
This type of boat usually is seen in the Marina Hemingway, a much more discreet place than the bay of Havana. “Who’s going on that yacht?” asks a woman sheltering herself in the shade, sitting on a wooden ramp across the street from the Customs Building. “Someone here has a ticket”, says a young man who also scrutinizes the boat, trying to decipher the name of the client who has paid more than $200,000 a week for ploughing through the sea while sitting on a comfortable sofa, filled with cushions, in the main lounge, or for showering while the bow of the First Lady cuts through the waters in its path.
With air conditioning, coffee machine, jacuzzi and a powerful wifi signal for internet connection, the boat was built in 2023, at the Italian shipyard of Riva, and has a capacity of 11 people and 7 crew. Satellite tracking sites located it just a few days ago in Key West, Florida; until June 16 it had been in Miami, the capital of the Cuban exile in the United States.
The trip is surprising because it is no longer the time of the diplomatic thaw between Washington and Havana, when that voyage was more common. Now, with declining tourism on the Island and the tone of confrontational discourse rising between both countries, the First Lady has a ghostly presence, an apparition from another time or dimension.
From the wall of the Malecon you can read, on one side of the yacht, a small inscription that confirms the pleasures enjoyed by its guests. “Dolce vita”, boasts the poster. Fanning herself with a piece of cardboard, an old woman and her grandson, from the opposite sidewalk, follow every detail of the sumptuous “flying saucer” that has not fallen from the sky but has arrived by sea and from the North.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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