Translating Cuba – Page 105 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Putin Receives Díaz-Canel and Maduro, Key Pieces in Moscow’s Strategic Alliance With the Bolivarian Axis

Although there were only three of them in the Red Army, the Russian president celebrates the participation of Cubans in World War II.

Díaz-Canel said that for Cuba it is “very significant” to be in Moscow / Kremlin

14ymedio, Havana, May 7, 2025 — In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism, the Kremlin has brought out its symbolic and ideological muscle, strengthening alliances with its most loyal Latin American partners: Cuba and Venezuela. In a week full of gestures, speeches and signing agreements, Vladimir Putin and his chancellor, Sergei Lavrov, have made it clear that for Moscow, the “Bolivarian axis” is not only still in place but is also projected as a geopolitical counterweight in times of war and sanctions.

Miguel Díaz-Canel and Nicolás Maduro, faithful to their roles as ideological allies of the Kremlin, attended the meeting punctually with speeches, flowers and cooperation treaties. They arrived in the Russian capital separately, but with similar speeches. One spoke of historical memory, the other of multipolarity, and both hailed the “unbreakable friendship” with Russia. Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to reinforce his image as a global leader besieged but not alone.

In fact, there were three Cubans: Enrique Vilar and the brothers Aldo and Jorge Vivó, who arrived in the USSR as children

In his meeting with Diaz-Canel on Wednesday, Putin highlighted the island’s role in World War II, which the Russians called the Great Patriotic War. “Cuba made its contribution to the fight against Nazism,” he told his Cuban counterpart. “Cuban volunteers fought alongside army soldiers, particularly near Leningrad.” In fact, there were three Cubans: Enrique Vilar and the brothers Aldo and Jorge Vivó, who arrived in the USSR as children. Of these, only Jorge survived the experience.

Díaz-Canel, for his part, said that it is “very significant” to be in Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi army on the Eastern Front and the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Castro regime and the then Soviet Union. continue reading

“The Russian people have the merit of saving humanity from fascism,” he said, while denouncing attempts to “diminish the leading and heroic role” of the Soviet Union in the victory over fascism. According to the president, “telling the true story” is the best way to “preserve historical memory.”

For the official Cuban media, Lavrov signed an article that could well be titled “Love Letters to Castro.” There he reiterated the “seamless support” of the Kremlin to its Caribbean partner. “Cuba can always count on our support,” he wrote, and not content with that, he added that he hopes the support will be reciprocal. A gesture of courtesy, of course, but also a subtle reminder of the rules of the game between allies.

The tone of the message mixes Soviet epic and utilitarian diplomacy: “We are on the right side of History,” Lavrov said, with no apparent irony. He also stressed Havana’s support for Moscow in “the hybrid war unleashed by the West,” referring to the conflict in Ukraine. There was no lack of references to strategic cooperation, the more than 100 Russian investment projects on the island and gratitude for Cuban support in international organizations.

Plunged into its worst economic crisis in decades, with blackouts, shortages and rampant inflation, Cuba sees Russia as a lifeline / Kremlin

Yes, what Havana is urgently looking for is less ideology and more resources. In its worst economic crisis in decades, with blackouts, shortages and rampant inflation, Cuba sees Russia as a lifeline. But this lifeline comes with conditions: to align politically and attend the Red Square parades on time.

Despite the fact that the Russian Foreign Minister called the island a “priority partner,” Putin preferred to meet with Maduro first. While Díaz-Canel strolled through Moscow and placed flowers next to the statue of Fidel Castro, Maduro signed a new Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in the Kremlin. He did so between praise for the Red Army, recalling that it saved the world with “27 million martyrs” and declaring that Russia is today “the main power of humanity.”

The agreement with Venezuela seeks to consolidate “long-term” relations in sectors such as energy, logistics, health and transport. Putin welcomed the fact that bilateral trade increased by 64% in 2024, although it remains modest in absolute numbers (about $200 million). The photos, however, are more valuable than the balances: in them, Putin and Maduro smile like old comrades, sealing the narrative of a global resistance against the “empire” and its allies.

Cuba and Venezuela are key pieces: loyal, predictable and willing to attend the requires forums and ceremonies

The simultaneity of these gestures is not accidental. In international chess, Moscow carefully cultivates its network of allies with discourses of sovereignty, multipolarity and historical fraternity. Cuba and Venezuela are key pieces: loyal, predictable and willing to attend the required forums and ceremonies. In return, they get oil, wheat, credit, and something even more scarce: international legitimacy.

For the three governments – Russia, Cuba and Venezuela – this type of diplomatic staging serves to reinforce the domestic narrative that they are not isolated, they have powerful partners, and the “new world order” is underway. All this, even if ordinary citizens continue to face blackouts, sanctions, inflation and an institutional inertia difficult to disguise with parades and hugs.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Celac Circus

The institution is an essential instrument to promote despotism

Image of the IX Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, in Tegucigalpa (Honduras) / EFE

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, May 6, 2025 — It must be admitted that Castrochavismo has been very lavish in setting up regional organizations with the aim of having several means to control politics in any of its expressions in the hemisphere and thus build the sea of happiness dreamed of by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, one of the most cruel realities for those who are trapped in their dystopias.

One of these institutions is the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which held its most recent summit last April in Honduras under the pro tempore presidency of Xiomara Castro, president of the Central American country, who passed the baton to Colombia in the person of Gustavo Petro.

It is interesting to note that the CELAC Summit takes place in Honduras when this country is preparing for presidential elections and hands over the presidency to Colombia, which also holds general elections next year. Therefore, it is easy to deduce that these meetings tend to politically boost their hosts, providing them with a platform that, although of little prestige, serves to promote them, a practice that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez implemented during their respective dictatorships. They were fascinated by the circus, although they always rationed the bread to their sycophants. continue reading

Celac will always be an instrument of destabilization and cooperation for those who seek power, those who want to impose their will at the expense of the rights of the governed

CELAC is the populist counterpart of the Organization of American States, the OAS, which in fact seems to be a one-size-fits-all twin in terms of their mutual inefficiency in meeting their respective goals.

CELAC is an essential instrument to promote despotism, so its purposes will remain valid as long as autocrats like Rafael Correa and Evo Morales exert influence in the American context, and individuals like Nicolás Maduro, Daniel Ortega, Xiomara Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel, who have never ceased to be enemies of democratic values, scrutiny and criticism, are in power.

They and their allies, even if they do not have the initial resources that Venezuela’s oil provided, are the enlightened ones of internet times who only appreciate the freedom and rights of others from the meridian of their interests. CELAC will always be an instrument of destabilization and cooperation for those who seek power, those who want to impose their will to the detriment of the rights of the governed.

Castro, Chavez and, of course, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva – once palatable for the Latin American political class and the United States – founded CELAC, UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) and ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America), an outpouring of acronyms that have only served to disseminate their proposals with little success.

The decline of CELAC is more than evident, as indicated by the fact that only 11 presidents from the 33 states that make up the entity attended, lacking the most conspicuous of all, Nicolás Maduro, whom Washington equates with Osama Bin Laden by offering the same amount of money for his capture. The Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel was received in Tegucigalpa by what some say is the real commander in the country, Jose Manuel Zelaya.

The decline of CELAC is more than evident, as indicated by the fact that only 11 presidents from 33 states attended, lacking the most conspicuous of all, Nicolás Maduro

Another important aspect to highlight is that two of the three countries that are to some extent the backbone of the entity, Nicaragua and Venezuela, were absent. Only Cuba participated, because the beggar dictator does not miss an opportunity to claim a shred of anything that allows him to remain in power.

These three countries are facing a deep crisis of governance because of the widespread popular discontent that forces them to impose strict social control where what is not explicitly allowed is prohibited, while keeping numerous people in prisons.

Cuba has 1,152 people locked up for political reasons, most of them 66 years after the tyranny came to power; Venezuela has 1,601 political prisoners; and Nicaragua still has about 100 political prisoners after having emptied prisons by banishing several hundred prisoners and taking away their citizenship. However, any of them are citizens with more decency than the couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo will ever have.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Water Situation in Las Tunas, Cuba’s Driest Province, Is Worsening

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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Only 1 Percent of Spanish Entrepreneurs Are Willing to Invest in Cuba

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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The Cuban Government Will Sanction Companies That Reject the Russian MIR Card

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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Cuban Activist Ángel Cuza Released From Prison After Serving a Sentence for ‘Public Disorder’

The artist and freelance reporter was arrested in December 2022 while lining up to buy chicken.

Activist, artist, and independent reporter Ángel Cuza. / Facebook/ODC

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 May 2025 — “My people, our brave brother Ángel Cuza has just been released from prison.” With these words, activist Thais Franco announced the release this Saturday of the artist and independent reporter Luis Ángel Cuza Alfonso, after a year and a half of incarceration in the Combinado del Este prison in Havana.

According to the Cultural Rights Observatory (ODC), his release from prison came after he fully served the one-and-a-half-year sentence imposed on him in November 2023, along with Lázaro Rolando Kessel Barrueto and Yasser Rivero Bonn, in a trial that human rights organizations determined was riddled with irregularities.

Cuza was arrested in December 2022 outside a store in the capital, while waiting in line to buy chicken. He was accused of “disturbing public order” for carrying “sticks and stones,” a charge both he and eyewitnesses denied. While awaiting trial, which ended almost a year later, he was released on bail of 20,000 Cuban pesos. continue reading

The ODC reported that the reporter “was the victim of numerous acts that violated his most basic rights” while he was at Combinado del Este.

The ODC reported in its publication that the reporter, a CubaNet contributor, “was the victim of numerous acts that violated his most basic rights” while he was in Combinado del Este, a maximum-security prison. As an example, they explain that, at the end of October 2024, he was beaten and imprisoned for almost a month for joining a protest initiated by fellow artist and political prisoner Duannis León Taboada.

Known for being one of the participants in the Obispo Street protest on April 30, 2021 —in solidarity with artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was forcibly confined to the Calixto García Hospital at the time —Cuza has been harassed by State Security ever since.

On May 6, 2022, he was arrested by the political police along with activist Pedro Quiala for broadcasting live from the Saratoga Hotel, which had been destroyed hours earlier in an explosion, the specific cause of which is still unknown. Both were then transferred to Villa Marista, the headquarters of State Security in Havana, where they were interrogated, something that the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights denounced at the time as arbitrary detentions.

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Cubans Are Blocked from Attending Gabriela Fernández’s Talk in Madrid

Only Spaniards loyal to the Cuban regime and Embassy staff were allowed to enter.

Protesters outside Gabriela Fernández’s conference in Madrid on Monday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 5 May 2025 — On Monday, some twenty Cubans heckled Gabriela Fernández Álvarez, host of the pro-government program Con Filo, which airs on Cuban TV, as she left a conference where she gave a talk in Madrid at the Bartolomé de las Casas Spanish-Cuban Friendship Association. The host left escorted by regime officials, while mockingly blowing kisses and listening to the crowd’s cries of “freedom.” Those present demanded, “Look us in the face,” “Freedom for political prisoners,” “Down with the dictatorship,” and “No to political violence.”

National Police officers, who were called in by the organizers, also served as protection for the procession.

Broadcaster Gabriela Fernández Álvarez, in the background, wearing glasses, mockingly blowing kisses to the crowd. / 14ymedio

The protesters had tried to enter the venue but were denied entry. “You’re not welcome, this is a private event,” the venue, located in a neighborhood far from the center of Madrid, told Cubans who wanted to enter. “Cubans can’t enter here,” they reiterated, a discrimination that is illegal in Spain.

With the title “Cuban Youth in the Time of Trump,” the event inaugurated a “tour” by the 25-year-old broadcaster through 12 cities in the “Spanish State”—a term often used by nationalist parties and the far left to refer to the country—until May 21, with the support of the State Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, as announced by the pro-regime media outlet Cubainformación. At no point was it indicated that the events would involve any kind of restriction on who could attend.

Several members of this group covered their faces, either with an umbrella or with a handkerchief bearing the image of Che Guevara. / 14ymedio

The event was held in a nearly empty hall. “It seems they only let in acquaintances, I imagine very close friends,” declared a Spanish citizen who was also not allowed in, adding, “There are more people outside than inside.”

There were barely a dozen people in the small auditorium, including continue reading

prominent members of the Cuban diplomatic corps. From the street, absolutely nothing could be heard: no voices, no applause, no murmurs. “It must have been really boring,” ventured one of those gathered in the small square.

“It seems they only let in acquaintances, I imagine they’re very close friends,” said a Spanish citizen who also wasn’t allowed in. / 14ymedio

Those who congregated outside the association’s doors in the rain did so peacefully. Some held signs calling for the release of political prisoners, including photos of several of them, such as rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo. Five or six State Security agents were closely watching the movements.

The more than 20 Cubans who gathered outside the association’s doors in the rain did so peacefully. / 14ymedio

Half an hour after the talk was scheduled to begin (7:00 PM Madrid time), two National Police vans arrived at the scene. “The Consulate has requested reinforcements,” joked one of those present. In response to a complaint from one of the security guards, one of the Spanish officers was blunt: “Those who are on the streets have the right to be there.”

Led by Michel Torres Corona, heir to the late Iroel Sánchez, Con Filo is one of the most aggressive propaganda programs on Cuban Television. Like Hacemos Cuba, hosted by regime spokesman Humberto López, its objective is to attack and defame activists, opponents, independent journalists, and any other citizen who deviates from Party orthodoxy. All of this is aimed at a “young” audience, with a manner that pretends to be relaxed and borders on apathy.

Gabriela Fernández, in Madrid, escorted by Cuban regime officials. / 14ymedio/Capture

The list of its smear campaigns even includes Alejandro Gil, Cuba’s ousted Minister of Economy, who is detained and whose whereabouts are still unknown.

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US Border Patrol Detains Cuban with Lengthy Criminal Record

The migrant showed up “as if nothing had happened” at a checkpoint in New Mexico, an agency official reported.

In New Mexico, the Border Patrol detained a Cuban migrant who was the subject of a permanent removal order.

14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2025 — Last Friday, Border Patrol detained a Cuban migrant who acted “as if nothing had happened” at a New Mexico checkpoint. The migrant, whose identity has been withheld, had been issued a permanent removal order under Section 8 USC 1253 of the Immigration and Nationality Act for failing to appear for immigration appointments, according to Chief Warrant Officer Michael Banks.

According to Banks, the Cuban man’s arrest “underscores the crucial role that checkpoints play in protecting our communities from violent criminals.”

The arrest of this Cuban migrant follows the arrests in Florida last March of eight other Cubans with criminal records for drug trafficking, fraud, sex crimes, and elder abuse.

This Cuban immigrant is implicated in murder, weapons possession, and drug charges. / X/@USBPChief

“Undocumented immigrants will no longer hide in the shadows of the bureaucracy,” Jeffrey Dinise, head of the Miami sector of the Border Patrol, warned at the time, confirming that detainees rely on mitigating circumstances to avoid imminent deportation.

In the first 100 days of Republican Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president, raids to locate and deport irregular migrants with criminal continue reading

records have intensified.

During January through April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded the arrest of 66,463 migrants, 75% of whom had criminal records. Among those detained were 2,288 suspected members of gangs such as Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Barrio 18. Additionally, 1,329 people were linked to sex crimes and 498 to homicides.

This week, Trump used the CBP Home app to promote self-deportations. He is now offering not only “travel assistance” but also $1,000 to all non-US citizens to voluntarily leave the country.

The Department of Homeland Security called the initiative a “historic opportunity” to offer foreigners “financial and travel assistance to facilitate their return to their home country through the CBP Home app.”

The U.S. government estimates that using the app “will reduce deportation costs by approximately 70%,” even with the payment of assistance. Currently, the average cost of arresting, detaining, and removing an illegal alien “is $17,121,” according to the administration.

Translated by Tomás A.

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The Head of the US Embassy in Havana Challenges the Regime With an Invitation to the Cuban People

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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More Than 40 Organizations Demand From Cuba the “Immediate” Release of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro

The arrests of “these two peaceful pro-democracy activists” occurred in a context of “intensifying authoritarianism.”

Cuban dissidents Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, in archive images.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 5 May 2025 — A total of 43 organizations, including political parties, unions, and NGOs, are demanding the “immediate” release of Cuban dissidents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, after the Cuban government last week revoked their release from jail.

In a statement released this Monday by Prisoners Defenders (PD), they demand “coordinated and effective international diplomatic, political, and legal pressure to end the brutal repression.”

Among the signers of the document, in addition to the PD, are opposition political organizations such as the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) [Consejo para la Transición Democrática en Cuba], Ferrer’s Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the Cuban Women’s Network [la Red Femenina de Cuba], and the Roots of Hopes Association in Spain [Asociación Raíces de Esperanza en España].

The signers believe that the arrests of “these two peaceful pro-democracy activists” occurred in a context of “intensifying authoritarianism by the Cuban regime, and just hours after the funeral of the same pope with whom the regime had agreed to their release.”

These actions further demonstrate that the 230 releases did not represent a gesture of openness

“These actions further demonstrate that the 230 releases, carried out under ignominious and unacceptable home-imprisonment conditions, did not represent a gesture of openness, but rather the opposite. The wave of repression and the hundreds of short-term arbitrary detentions continue reading

demonstrate an even deeper regression by the regime,” according to the statement.

Ferrer and Navarro, who have been active in the opposition for decades, were released last January, following an agreement between Havana and Washington brokered by the Vatican in which Cuba agreed to release 553 inmates and the US agreed to remove the island from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Last Tuesday, the People’s Supreme Court revoked the releases of Ferrer and Navarro, alleging that they “failed to comply with the law during the probationary period they were serving.”

The Supreme Court charged the dissidents, stating that “they are people who publicly call, in their social and digital environments, for disorder and contempt of the authorities, and maintain public ties with the chargé d’affaires of the United States Embassy in Cuba.”

Navarro, 72 years old and with health problems, was serving a nine-year sentence for the crimes of public disorder, contempt, and assault.

According to the court, their arrests are based on two reasons: in Navarro’s case, because he left his municipality seven times without the judge’s permission, and, in Ferrer’s case, because the leader of UNPACU twice failed to appear before the judge.

In response, the signers contend that the arrests of both dissidents “do not constitute isolated events,” as “they are part of a systematic policy of repression against dissident and/or plural voices.”

Navarro, 72, who is in poor health, was serving a nine-year sentence for public disorder, contempt, and assault. Ferrer, 54, is serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for unlawful deprivation of liberty, and assault.

Both were among the 75 opposition members arrested and sentenced during the Black Spring of 2003.

Translated by Tomás A.

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Revocation of the CBP One Migrants’ Work Permit Affects Thousands of Cubans in the US

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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Cuba’s Supreme Court Revokes the Parole of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro

Ferrer and his family were arrested by the political police, who “completely ransacked” the headquarters of Unpacu.
Navarro was arrested while on his way to visit his daughter Sayli in prison

José Daniel Ferrer, in one of his latest videos posted on social media. / Screenshot/Youtube/Unpacu

14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2025 — Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was arrested in Santiago de Cuba after a raid by the political police on the organization’s headquarters in Altamira. Repressive forces completely ransacked the place and detained Ferrer, his wife Nelva Ortega, their young son Daniel José, and activists Roilan Zarraga and Fernando González Vaillant.

“They were all taken to an unknown location,” Ana Belkis Ferrer, the opposition leader’s sister, reported on social media. She reported the news and demanded the detainees’ release.

According to Reuters, the Supreme Court revoked the opponent’s parole, granted three months ago after a negotiation between Havana, Washington and the Vatican, never recognized by the parties. According to Maricela Sosa, vice president of that court, Ferrer is guilty of violating probation by failing to show up in court on two occasions.

“All of them were taken to an unknown location,” denounced Ana Belkis Ferrer on social media.

“Not only did he not show up, but he also announced on his social networks, in flagrant defiance and contempt of the law, that he would not appear before any judicial authority,” Sosa told the British agency.

Felix Navarro was also arrested during a visit he made with his wife, Lady in White Sonia Alvarez, to the prison where his daughter Sayli is being held, in Matanzas. Regarding his case, Sosa said that his parole had also been revoked for leaving Perico, the town where he lives, without a judge’s permission. continue reading

Sosa also had a word about those people released from prison in January who have also made calls for “disorder” and maintained “public ties with the head of the U.S. Embassy,” Mike Hammer. This Tuesday, precisely, the official press published a long warning against the diplomat.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event. The Complaint Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy recalled that Ferrer is a “beneficiary of precautionary measures of protection granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)”.

“We condemn this new aggression by the Cuban regime against those who peacefully fight for freedom and democracy, and demand the immediate release of all detainees, as well as respect for their physical integrity and fundamental rights,” the Center calls for in a statement.

For its part, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba issued a communiqué in which it not only demands the release of Ferrer and Navarro, but also gives details on the legal situation of both.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event.

Ferrer, they claim, had already served his full sentence since August 2024, while Navarro “never had parole conditions imposed on him,” as the Supreme Court alleges.

In short, it is an operation orchestrated by the State Security, a “simultaneous arrest of emblematic figures of the opposition,” which is a clear violation of human rights in the country.

For the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, it is also “a new onslaught by the Cuban regime against opponents and human rights activists, and exposes the increasingly repressive climate on the island.

Unpacu and its leader have lived for months in extreme tension with the political police because of their humanitarian work in Santiago de Cuba. In videos and statements, Ferrer has recounted the process by which the organization feeds hundreds of needy people in the eastern Cuban city and the obstacles the regime has placed in the way of its work.

During all this time, Ferrer assured that he would not accept any conditions for his release and that he would continue to denounce both the critical situation of the country and the responsibility of the government in the multisectoral debacle of the island. In the networks there is also a repeated comment: the arrest took place after the funeral of Pope Francis, who convened the Jubilee of Prisoners, in the framework of which the releases took place on the island. A negotiator to whom the Cuban regime will no longer have to answer.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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In Matanzas, Not Enough Buses and Too Many Billboards For the First of May Celebrations

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

A billboard for the First of May next to the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 1 May 2025 – The colours on the billboard leap out at you in the middle of the terrace around the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. The grassed area has already been worn away by the constant flow of people and by the drought. It the middle of all this parched earth with all its attendant long faces brought on by the transport crisis, the huge billboard inviting you to the First of May procession seems to have landed from a parallel universe.

“Together we’ll do it, for Cuba”, the poster’s text assures us, and it shows us a linesman from the Electric Company and a pioneer character holding a Cuban flag and wearing a kufiya – the traditional Arabic headscarf which Yasser Arafat converted into a political symbol for the Palestinians. And all the while, the country suffers long power cuts and an economic crisis without precedent.

Just a few metres from the hoarding, the actual reality of the situation becomes clear. This Wednesday the bus stop was particularly crowded with desperate travellers, waiting. Some of them had managed to find some shade to sit in, but others, because of lack of space or lack of patience were more dispersed and were forced to wait out on the pavement under the sun, their gaze fixed out there on the road, arm ready to be raised if and when they caught sight of any private transport, annoyance painted on their faces.

The travellers remember when tourism was buoyant and the state-operated buses still had space and stopped to pick them up.

Yunior, 43, wears a cap to shield himself from the unrelenting heat of the sun. He arrives at the bus stop after his day’s work in a nearby state department office every afternoon after five o’clock. With his back to the giant Labour Day billboard, the employee pins all his hopes on any driver from an official organisation who might take pity on someone like him who needs transport back to somewhere near his home.

The Viaduct bus stop is always crowded with people headed out towards the outskirts of the city, to Cárdenas or Varadero. “The bus inspector is here between two and three in the afternoon, and he gets on the first bus that passes. Although his presence doesn’t even guarantee either that the buses continue reading

will actually stop”, Yunior explains. A commotion causes him to turn towards a state registered vehicle which has just picked up two women. Although a crowd of people rushes towards the car, there is only room for those two.

The guy from Matanzas does a quick calculation. “The lorries that head towards Cárdenas charge 200 or 250 pesos, but after 4pm there are hardly any of them. When I manage to board one of them it costs me 50 to get to Peñas Altas and then I have to continue on foot”. In the little more than twenty working days that he has each month Yunior spends a third of his salary on getting to and from work.

The number of people waiting for transport keeps increasing and spreads across the tarmac from the traffic lights behind the Sauto Theatre and up to the Viaduct bus stop. There are even some who stand as far down as the bridge, keeping apart from the crowd in order to keep their options open if a car should suddenly appear with an empty seat. However Yunio stays next to the billboard. “There’ll be a bit of shade from the billboard here shortly and even if I haven’t found a lift yet, at least I won’t end up being baked by the sun”. Even propaganda can have its unexpected uses.

The more unlucky ones had to wait in the sun for a bus to arrive.

Although the Cuban authorities have emphasised that this year’s First of May celebrations will have a lower consumption of fuel, at the Viaduct bus stop people do their own sums and calculate the impact of the event. The local press describes the events of next Thursday morning thus: “On the main thoroughfares, workers, students and representatives of all social sectors will show their support for the Revolution and will reaffirm their commitment to the development of the province”.

“No matter how little fuel they use it’s obvious that the leaders aren’t going to travel from their houses to the procession on foot”, one woman is heard to say: she is one of the lucky ones who this Wednesday managed to find some shade and a bit of wall to sit on beneath the bus shelter. A state employee, like the majority waiting for public transport, she says that in recent months the number of people waiting at Viaduct has increased.

It’s not only the shortage of fuel but also the fall in tourism that has lengthened the amount of time spent waiting here. “Before, when the Transtur buses to and from from Varadero had empty seats they would stop here and take people on board”, she remembers. But the frequency of those buses has plummeted. Just like for many of the others waiting here for a bus, for her the next two days of festivity will merely be a pause in the unwanted drama of trying to get from A to B.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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Neither the Shrimp nor the Lobster Have Been Spared From the Debacle of the Cuban Economy

In five years, pork production has dropped by 95%, pasta by 92%, rice by 82.4%, yogurt by 81.2%, coffee by 65.6%, ice cream by 62% and flour by 60%.

The decline in the production of animal fodder contributes to the understanding of the debacle of animal products / El Artemiseño

14ymedio, Madrid, 1 May 2025 — Cuban authorities can celebrate the increase in rice production in 2024. And little else. The data published on Wednesday on the results of the manufacturing industry last year follow the usual path of certifying that, if something goes wrong in Cuba, it can still get much worse.

The case of compound feed is the paradigm of its disastrous impact on the food chain. With a decrease of 47% in just one year and 80% compared to 2019, only 216,700 tons of this product were produced, which in turn explains the collapse of the meat industry and the lack of animal protein for the Cuban population.

The decline in pork production is nothing new, although the situation has not yet bottomed out. In five years, 95% of the volume of banded pork has been lost, from 134,700 tons in 2019 to only 7,200, aggravating the already enormous decline (90%) recorded the previous year, when the production of 13,300 tons, now considered enviable since it is double that obtained in 2024, already seemed a catastrophe. Less brutal, but not negligible, are the decreases in boneless beef (14,400 tons, 3,700 tons less than the previous year) and canned meat (from 78,200 tons to 61,000 tons), which have just finished the sector.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming. The path is similar. Compared to 2023, cheese fell by 41% (to 4,400 tons), but in the last five years the drop reaches 83.3%. The same goes for yogurt, which left 26,300 tons produced in 2024, compared to 50,000 in 2023 and 140,400 in 2019, a drop of 81.2%. Thus, nothing has been achieved in these years of alleged struggle for food production, and this does not only concern the raw material, but also the destruction of the industry for reasons ranging from the state of the facilities to the lack of personnel, not to mention the extraordinary energy crisis that prevents even imagining that the situation will recover. continue reading

Closing the animal section, the relative recovery of salted butter is striking, which was produced only in 2020 – 100 tons – and has now produced 9,000 tons for two consecutive years. On the other hand, unsalted butter has practically disappeared, from 492,400 tons in 2019 to only 48,100 last year. In five years, 90% of production has been lost.

Fishing is not much better, although it is one of the government’s priority sectors. Shrimp and lobster, protected by their contribution in foreign currency through exports, are also sinking. The first, which left 6,900 tons in 2019, was 1,100 tons last year, 84% less. As for the second, 45% of the production of tails was lost in five years (248,600 tons compared to 136,000) and 9.2% for the whole frozen.

Pasta is another national food product that is gradually being wiped off the map to make way for imported products. No less than 92% of the production has fallen in five years, from 38,200 tons to only 3,000 tons, although in this case it was already foreseen, since in 2023 only 3,200 tons will be produced.

Bread is in the same line, whose case is not so dramatic – from 454,600 to 277,300 tons, 39% less – but its impact is greater because it is an indispensable food in every daily meal and cannot be imported in its non-industrial form. The relationship is evident in the loss of the flour industry, which has also declined by more than 60% in five years. In 2019, 490,300 tons were produced, but last year only 200,600, which shows that the successive shipments of wheat are flying, as confirmed by the decreasing weight of bread.

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes. With a production of 6,600 tons, much of which is exported, one of the most important products of the island shows tiny figures, with a decrease of 65.6% in five years, with the aggravating factor that more than 35% was lost in just one year, since 10,200 tons were produced in 2023.

There is a brief section for respite. The first, as indicated at the beginning of this note, is rice. It is one of the only products that improved compared to 2023, going from 27,900 tons to 34,400, a symptom that Vietnamese aid is of some use. But the joy is short-lived when viewed in perspective, as 196,100 tons were produced in 2019. This means that in a five-year period 82.4% of a staple food in the Cuban diet has been lost, forced to import and receive Asian donations constantly of a grain that is distributed by the ration book.

The rest of the increases remain for a few other foods, including the unhealthy crackers with salt, which increased from 2,700 tons to 3,300 this 2024, although it was 15,500 in 2019. Also improved were canned tomatoes, the largest industrial recovery of the year, with 13,400 tons, compared to 8,400 in 2023.

Without data for oil and evaporated milk, the list is closed by canned fruit, whose production fell by 25%, from 51,900 tons to 38,900 only last year; and ice cream, which with 8,100 tons barely loses when compared to 2023 -8,600-, but the thing changes when it is observed that in 2019 were produced 21,600 and it is seen that the fall exceeds 62%, which explains that MSMEs in the sector import directly even from Italy.

Although the Cuban government has focused on food production as a priority – a totally unrealistic extreme, given the scarce investment and persistence of the same erratic policies – it has said little about food processing, which is no less important, and even less about how to revitalize the industry.

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the forecasts are not only bad, but worsening. The projections of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) showed a negative growth for the island of -0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), but the revision made to reflect the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff measures has lowered expectations for most countries, which are still growing. Cuba, which is not affected by the absence of trade with the United States, loses a tenth in any case and stands at -0.4%, while the rest of the region is growing despite the blow. With the exception of Venezuela (-1.5%) and Haiti (-2%).

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Havana Rejects As “Interventionist” the European Union’s Request To Release Ferrer and Navarro

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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