Translating Cuba – Page 14 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

“Here, Every Little While They Are Banging on the Pots”

Residents in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood protests again while in Luyanó there are residents who have been without water for 30 days.

Residents of Diez de Octubre once again built barricades and bonfires on Thursday night. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, March 20, 2026 – Havana / The protests, which in recent weeks have moved from social media to the streets, were very loud this Thursday in Havana. At the intersection of Santa Irene and Diez de Octubre Avenue, several bonfires were lit and barricades were built demanding electricity, images that have gone halfway around the world through social media. It was the most striking focal point of last night’s demonstrations, but in Alamar shouts of “Freedom” and “Down with the dictatorship” were also heard, banged out on pots and pans, mixed with demands for electricity.

“Here, every little while the pots are banging,” says María, a resident of Diez de Octubre, “but they have no shame anymore, they don’t care about the protests. And I don’t go outside because, where exactly are they banging? I hear them, and from my house I bang mine, I don’t care. The problem is that if I go out and the young guys come running…,” adds this retiree, who fears joining a protest and being injured in a bad fall that could land her in a precarious hospital.

According to her experience, after several days of hearing pot-banging protests, public lighting turns on quickly when there is a demonstration, but only in the streets and not in homes. “To sum it up: we are like in Peru, when there’s no water or electricity. And now we’re worse, because when there’s no water there’s no electricity, no gas, nothing. Not even shame in this country,” she complains. continue reading

“To sum it up: we are like in Peru, when there’s no water or electricity. And now we’re worse, because when there’s no water there’s no electricity, no gas, nothing. Not even shame in this country”

In Santos Suárez, Lawton and Víbora Park, where the protest caught on in a big way, they are more fortunate than in Luyanó, residents of this latter neighborhood believe, where in addition to problems with electricity there are also issues with water supply. Pedro, a resident of this area, tells 14ymedio that his cousin has been without water for a month. “Yesterday he spent the whole day holding back from going to the bathroom, until a bucket showed up that a neighbor gave him and he was able to go,” he complains.

The poor supply situation is not new for Pedro, but things have worsened in recent times, and small and medium private businesses have a lot to do with it, in his opinion. “Here where I live we are all elderly, physically disabled. There is a community cistern that supplies about eight or ten apartments. So we have requested a water truck, but they say they have a very long list. But water trucks are never lacking for the two or three most famous private businesses around here,” he says.

Pedro states that few have the possibility of paying the 26,000 pesos that the water truck driver demands, under the table. “I can’t. First of all, either I eat or I drink water.” The residents have the option, he says, of getting a bottle at a church “sponsored by some Canadians” that purifies it with a special filter, but there are “huge lines.”

Reality thus clashes, once again, with the epic narrative of the official press. The report that the State newspaper Granma dedicates to the return of unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant, in Cienfuegos, and the 158 megawatts – the same as block 3 – that were added to the system on Wednesday are completely overshadowed by deficits that continue hovering around obscene levels. The 316 megawatts (MW) now in the system corresponding to the entire plant have been of no use: for this Friday, the expected deficit is 1,864 MW. Little difference from the 1,960 MW on Monday, before the most recent addition.

Pedro states that few have the possibility of paying the 26,000 pesos that the water truck driver demands, under the table

On Tuesday the 17th, in the middle of the collapse of the national electric system (SEN), unit 4 synchronized with the rest of the grid after a year and four months of repairs. It still had a scare this Wednesday the 18th, when a failure in the feed pump ruined the triumphant debut, but it recovered a few hours later and the Electric Union was able to celebrate the return.

The population’s indifference was total: “So what? How does that benefit us? Circuit 1 of Palma Soriano was supposed to have power restored from 4 in the afternoon to 7 at night and they didn’t do it. According to information from a colleague at the electrical dispatch, there was no availability at that time, so we have to continue in blackout until they feel like it. Today it has rained all day, imagine cooking with charcoal or firewood under heavy downpours,” complained one user.

The day is expected to be hard again, since during peak hours it is forecast that only 60% of the electricity the country demands will be generated, 1,834 MW compared to the 3,050 needed. The UNE no longer has distributed generation due to the lack of diesel, and thermal generation has limitations of 437 MW, with units 6 of Mariel and 5 of Nuevitas under maintenance and units 5 and 6 of Mariel, 3 of Santa Cruz del Norte, 2 of Felton and 3 and 6 of Antonio Maceo out of service.

Photovoltaic parks, the Government’s great hope, are contributing more and more: 236 MW as the maximum power delivered yesterday Thursday. But when night falls, darkness returns to the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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US Will Prevent the Arrival in Cuba of Two Oil Tankers Heading to the Island with Russian Fuel

• Faced with this ban, the Sea Horse has changed course and is now looking for another port in the Caribbean to sell its cargo
• The Anatoly Kolodkin, sanctioned by Washington, is continuing on its route and had a Russian Navy escort at the start of its voyage

The United States suddenly banned the sale of Russian crude to Cuba this Thursday. The Treasury Department, which on March 12 had issued a license authorizing the sale of Russian crude until April 11, added a new paragraph on Thursday listing countries where the transaction remains prohibited: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

In this way, the exception that had been agreed to try to ease the oil shortage caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in Iran does not apply to the Island—and the first consequences may already be playing out.

The tanker Sea Horse, flying the Hong Kong (China) flag, which until yesterday was heading to Cuba with 200,000 barrels of Russian diesel, has turned around and is now sailing toward Trinidad and Tobago. The vessel’s location—at 3:11 a.m. this Friday—was identified by New York Times (NYT) journalist Christiaan Triebert, a specialist in visual data investigations, who reports in the New York paper on the uncertain future that may also await the Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying around 730,000 barrels of Urals crude and expected to reach the port of Matanzas at the end of March.

The @RoyalNavy, which observed the vessels with HMS MERSEY and a Wildcat helicopter, said Russia stopped escorting the tanker once it entered the Atlantic. Russia said it's ready to provide Cuba with “all possible assistance” during “suffocating embargo.” https://t.co/S7zvhD7ED0 pic.twitter.com/a8EDB1nYKx

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) March 19, 2026

Triebert questions the version put forward by Windward—reported Thursday by 14ymedio—and believes it’s not possible that the Sea Horse reached Cuba and delivered an initial cargo in early March. According to that maritime intelligence firm, the ship—having departed from the Baltic bound for the Island—carried out a deceptive maneuver between mid and late February to force other vessels to give way. With that trick, it allegedly managed to reach Cuba with 190,000 barrels of Russian diesel.

This newspaper contacted University of Texas expert Jorge Piñón, who cast doubt on that maneuver. “Anything is possible, but tracking services, Reuters, and Bloomberg don’t show it,” he continue reading

warned.

Still, the tanker had been spotted again heading toward Cuba with a very similar cargo. “Our calculations indicate it would take approximately five days to reach Cuba’s north coast, 1,146 nautical miles away,” the specialist told 14ymedio on Thursday.

The NYT maintains—along the same lines as Reuters and Bloomberg—that Windward’s analysis doesn’t seem credible. “Analysts were puzzled when the tanker spent three weeks drifting in the Atlantic. Some claimed it manipulated its signal and secretly docked in Cuba; we don’t believe that’s true. It stopped because its owners feared retaliation from the United States,” Triebert argued on social media Thursday.

“According to Marine Traffic, the Sea Horse has changed course and moved away from Cuba, heading somewhere else in the Caribbean in search of a buyer for its nearly 200,000 barrels of diesel. (It has also been at sea for weeks; it needs to dock somewhere),” he added. Hours later, he confirmed the rerouting noted by the same platform, which flagged: “Automatic Identification System (AIS) destination changed.”

The question now is what will happen to the Anatoly Kolodkin. The tanker, owned by the Russian government, left the port of Primorsk in the Baltic Sea on March 9 and was initially traveling escorted by the Soobrazitelniy, a Russian Navy vessel, according to a British military source.
The tanker passed through the English Channel this week and is now heading across the Atlantic, after listing the port of Atlantida (US) as its destination in what looks like a pretty obvious ruse.

Both the Anatoly Kolodkin and its owner—the state shipping company Sovcomflot—have been under US sanctions since 2024, so that destination can basically be ruled out. Kpler says its real destination is Matanzas, citing an industry expert.

The expert explained that the 730,000 barrels of crude—if they make it—would be used to produce diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel, as well as generate electricity. But first it would have to be refined, and in any case it would only be a temporary fix, giving Cuba breathing room for “no more than 30 days.”

The NYT also spoke with Jorge Piñón for its Thursday report. The expert reiterated that the crude would serve to produce fuels and electricity, but would require refining and would only provide short-term relief—again, “no more than 30 days.”

Still, it wouldn’t be the first time the US Coast Guard has forced a Russian tanker to change course despite having a naval escort. At the beginning of January, US forces began tracking the Bella-1 (later renamed Marinera), used to transport hydrocarbons from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, which was heading to the latter. After two weeks under surveillance—and despite being accompanied by a submarine sent by Moscow—the vessel and its crew were detained, although the sailors were later released following an agreement between Trump and Putin.

Although the fleet operating in the Caribbean since the summer of 2025—when Washington stepped up pressure on Nicolás Maduro—has shrunk to support deployments in the Middle East, Coast Guard sources told the NYT there is “a continuous presence in the Florida Strait and the Caribbean.”
In that context, the head of Southern Command, Francis Donovan, told Congress on Thursday that the US military is not preparing for any takeover of Cuba, and added that he is unaware of any plan by the Trump administration to support Cuban opposition groups in exile in order to overthrow the government in Havana.

Translated by GH

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Four State Security Agents Are Sent To Detain Jorge Fernández Era During a Peaceful Protest in Havana

State Security arrests the writer once again amid growing repression in Cuba.

14ymedio, March 19, 2026, Havana / The writer and activist Jorge Fernández Era was detained this Wednesday in Havana for several hours after leaving his home to carry out his usual peaceful protest, which he holds on the 18th of each month.

The writer himself later posted that he remained detained between 3:13 pm and 11:33 pm at night in a cell at the Zanja police unit in Centro Habana.

Fernández Era recounted the details this Thursday in a Facebook post titled The Pact of Zanja, referring, with his usual humor, to the agreement that ended the Ten Years’ War between Cuba and Spain in 1878.

According to the writer, he was intercepted in the Santos Suárez neighborhood by a patrol car with four agents, two from State Security and two from the police and taken handcuffed—“of course,” he writes—to the station. “Given the deployment, people must have thought they had finally caught the second most wanted drug trafficker in the world,” he joked.

Given the deployment, people must have thought they had finally caught the second most wanted drug trafficker in the world

Fernández Era points out that the Zanja station brings back memories of the beating the police gave him last year in that same place. During his detention, he was interrogated by a lieutenant colonel from State Security, who allegedly suggested that he cease his activism: “In the style of Martínez Campos, between the lines he proposed surrender.” The writer rejected the proposal: “I replied that for a long time now the counterrevolution is represented by them and all those who live well at the expense of the sacrifice, silence, and double standards for the people. I told him that he should take me to trial if he felt like it for telling him what he was constantly writing down: I would go proudly to prison if continue reading

he proceeded that way.”

The activist also pointed out the ironic concern the Police had for his physical integrity when releasing him after 11:30 at night. According to his account, his release was not an act of goodwill but rather due to the authorities’ fear of a public reaction.

News of his arrest had been made public yesterday by his wife, Laideliz Herrera Laza, through a message on Facebook: “My husband, Jorge Fernández Era, left at 2:15 p.m. to exercise his right to peaceful protest, recognized in the Constitution, and has not yet returned home.” Hours later, she warned that the activist had not returned. After more than seven hours, she confirmed his release: “My husband is now home. Thank you all for your support.”

The detention occurred just two months after a similar arrest on January 18, when Fernández Era remained missing for 16 hours after attempting to carry out the same monthly protest. The writer has been detained on multiple occasions, and in several of them he has reported mistreatment, including beatings by authorities, who inflicted injuries he later showed to the media.

The writer has been detained on multiple occasions, and in several of them he has reported mistreatment, including beatings by authorities

The writer has participated in these actions since 2023, joining the initiative promoted by academic Alina Bárbara López Hernández, who has also been detained dozens of times for protesting peacefully and who has a pending trial, postponed without a date, for the crime of contempt and disobedience that, according to State Security, occurred during one of those arrests.

This detention takes place amid an intensification of police repression, which has worsened in recent days following protests over power outages. In this context, authorities have increased the use of short-term detentions without charges against activists and independent journalists, especially those who attempt to exercise the right to protest in public spaces.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Imported Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages Will Increase in Price in Cuba

The Ministry of Finance and Prices establishes a tax of 0.30 USD per liter for all alcohol imports.

An imported 355 ml can of beer could increase in price by about 50 pesos if purchased from a mipyme. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, March 19, 2026, Havana / Starting today, imported alcoholic beverages will have a special tax of 0.30 dollars per liter. This is established by the Official Gazette published this Wednesday, signed last March 6 by the Ministry of Finance and Prices.

The list of items subject to the new rate includes malt beers, ethyl alcohol of various strengths, whisky, rum, vodka, gin, liqueurs, and other spirits.

The measure has generated rejection among the population, as can be seen in reactions to the publication on social media, since it implies the inevitable increase in the price of alcoholic beverages for consumers.

In practice, an imported 355 ml can of beer could increase in price by about 50 pesos if purchased from an MSME [mipyme]*, taking into account the current price of the dollar on the informal market. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Public Health in 2022, around 73% of Cubans consume alcohol regularly.

The Ministry of Finance and Prices emphasizes in the resolution that the revenue obtained will go directly to the State Budget “for its redistribution through social continue reading

spending programs in health, education, security, social assistance, and culture, among others.”

The measure has generated rejection among the population, since it implies the inevitable increase in the price of alcoholic beverages for consumers

Domestic production is excluded from the measure, where brands such as Bucanero and Parranda stand out, which could in theory benefit the local industry.

The tax will be applied to the tariff subheadings corresponding to these products and must be paid by both state entities and non-state economic actors that import them. The resolution is based on Decree Law 107 of April 2025 and entered into force on March 19, 2026.

Although the tax formally falls on importers, it will, as is natural, be passed on directly to consumers. A one-liter bottle could increase by at least 0.30 USD. In larger formats or sales in bars, the increase could accumulate significantly for logistical reasons.

The increase occurs in a context of limited access to imported alcoholic beverages, dependence on state stores and mipymes that sell in dollars, freely convertible currency (MLC), or their equivalent in Cuban pesos. A tax of 0.30 USD per liter may seem small, but it adds to high logistical costs and exchange rate volatility.

According to the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei), alcoholic beverages and tobacco led price increases in 2025, with a year-on-year rise of 69.82%.

The informal foreign exchange market reflects a weakening of the Cuban peso, with the dollar surpassing 530 CUP at the end of March 2026. This, together with reduced imports by mipymes and the decline in tourism, contributes to a generalized increase in the price of imported products.

*Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises [mipyme in Spanish]

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The U.S. Treasury Secretary Predicts a “Slow-Motion” Regime Change for Cuba

Scott Bessent links a potential transition on the Island to the collapse of Chavismo in Venezuela.

Bessent also described Iran as a “horrible sponsor of global terrorism.” / EFE

14ymedio /EFE, March 19, 2026 – NEW YORK/The United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, predicted this Thursday a process of “slow-motion” regime change in Cuba. “With Maduro out, Venezuela seems like there could be slow-motion regime change in Cuba. There may be a slow-motion regime change there,” Bessent said in an interview on the Fox Business network.

On Wednesday, the White House and the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, rejected a report published by The New York Times according to which the government of Donald Trump is seeking the removal from power of Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel without demanding a regime change, as part of its negotiations with Havana.

“The reason so many U.S. media outlets keep publishing fake news like this is because they continue to rely on charlatans and liars who claim to be well informed,” Rubio said on continue reading

social media regarding the report.

“At some point, the situation with Russia and Ukraine will be resolved. I think gas and energy prices will be lower than they have been in a long time”

Bessent also referred today in the interview to the role of Iran, which he described as a “horrible sponsor of global terrorism,” assuring that its military capacity is “degraded” and that Tehran has lost its ability to “project power” in the region and the world.

Regarding the conflict in Eastern Europe, the secretary expressed optimism about a short- or medium-term resolution: “At some point, the situation with Russia and Ukraine will be resolved. I think gas and energy prices will be lower than they have been in a long time.”

Cuba has been in the midst of a deep economic and social crisis for six years, which has been worsened since January by the loss of its main benefactor, Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela, in addition to the oil blockade by the U.S. government.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Sea Horse Managed To Clandestinely Unload 190,000 Barrels of Russian Diesel in Cuba, According to Windward

The maritime intelligence agency asserts that the tanker manipulated positioning signals and entered a port on the Island at night in early March.

The Sea Horse, flying the Hong Kong flag, is not subject to sanctions but uses “deceptive” practices to transport sanctioned crude. / Vesselfinder

14ymedio, March 19, 2026 – Madrid/Despite the oil blockade imposed more than two months ago by the U.S. on Cuba, there is strong evidence that the tanker Sea Horse (also Seahorse), under the Hong Kong (China) flag, managed to clandestinely reach a port on the Island and unload about 190,000 barrels of Russian diesel. The arrival took place at the beginning of this month, according to the maritime intelligence agency Windward, which detected manipulation of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which transmits the location, identity, course, and speed of vessels.

The tanker, which is not sanctioned according to Windward, loaded diesel using the ship-to-ship method in Cyprus in early February. It then indicated it was heading to Cuba but soon altered its route and reported “Gibraltar for orders,” a nautical instruction used to indicate that it will remain in that port (belonging to the United Kingdom and located in southern Spain) awaiting final orders.

Between mid- and late February, the Sea Horse was navigating the Atlantic, stopped 1,300 nautical miles from Cuban waters, and began drifting at speeds below one knot, with the warning “not under command,” a visual signal—black balls by day and red lights at night—normally used when, due to damage or malfunction, the captain cannot properly maneuver. In practical terms, this grants what is known as the right of way and requires other vessels to avoid it. Although the purpose is to prevent accidents, in this case the signal may have been used fraudulently to proceed without difficulty.

The Sea Horse was navigating the Atlantic, stopped 1,300 nautical miles from Cuban waters, and began drifting at speeds below one knot, with the warning “not under command”

According to Windward, this is one more of the deceptive techniques the tanker has used before, including switching off transponders during the transfer of Russian oil to evade sanctions against Moscow over its war of aggression in Ukraine. According to the information, this would be the first tanker to reach Cuba since early January, when the Ocean Mariner did so with a cargo of more than 80,000 barrels of Mexican fuel, even though Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said at a press conference last Friday that not a single drop of crude had entered the Island in three months. continue reading

Asked about Windward’s information, University of Texas expert Jorge Piñón told 14ymedio: “Anything is possible, but tracking services, Reuters, and Bloomberg do not indicate it.” However, they do point out, as he himself confirmed again this Tuesday to this newspaper, that the tanker is once again heading toward the Island with some 200,000 barrels of Russian diesel. “Our calculations indicate it would take approximately five days to reach the north coast of Cuba, 1,146 nautical miles away,” the specialist said, after the ship had been drifting. It is now moving “under its own power” at a speed of 9.9 knots.

Added to that vessel is the Anatoly Kolodkin, loaded with Russian oil and heading toward Cuba, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times, which cite information from the maritime intelligence firm Kpler. The tanker carries nearly 730,000 barrels of Urals crude on board and is scheduled to arrive at the port of Matanzas at the end of March.

The tanker carries nearly 730,000 barrels of Urals crude on board and is scheduled to arrive at the port of Matanzas at the end of March

Recent data indicate that the promised Russian aid, which until now had remained only words, may materialize or may have already done so. Since the Trump Administration announced at the end of January sanctions on countries that sold or supplied oil to Cuba, no country had defied the measure, which was technically neutralized by the Supreme Court’s decision declaring illegal the basis on which the White House planned to justify them: tariffs under presidential powers that the president does not possess under current circumstances. Despite this, the president could seek ways to penalize deliveries by resorting to another rule, which has so far functioned as a deterrent mechanism.

In recent days, due to the war in Iran affecting global hydrocarbon trade following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks by both sides on gas and oil facilities, the U.S. has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian crude in an attempt to ease a market whose prices are rising by the minute, a decision that could ultimately benefit Cuba.

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Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly included a reference to the sale of gasoline through the Ticket application. The text was corrected to eliminate confusion between gasoline and diesel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Rosa María Payá Says That Cuba Doesn’t Need a ‘Delcy Rodríguez’ For a Transition

“I believe the conditions are right for the country to be liberated,” she says.

Rosa María Payá emphasized that a real process of change requires “that the Castro family and the group of generals who have held power for 67 years leave” / EFE

EFE, (via 14ymedio), March 17, 2026, Miami / Cuban opposition leader Rosa María Payá stated in an interview with EFE that a possible democratic transition in Cuba does not require a figure from the current power structure, as happened in Venezuela with Delcy Rodríguez, and asserted that civil society and the opposition inside and outside the island have prepared themselves to lead that process without the Castros or the ruling elite.

“Cuba doesn’t need a Delcy Rodríguez. In fact, the process we have been carrying out from civic and opposition organizations, both inside and outside the island, is precisely to have a transition team ready that can lead this provisional period and take the country from totalitarian barbarism toward fair elections,” Payá stated in Miami.

The daughter of the late Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá (1952-2012), who fought for the Varela Project to promote democratic changes in the country, emphasized that Cubans do not need a president like Rodríguez, who assumed interim power in Venezuela after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the US on January 3.

The opposition leader asked President Donald Trump to maintain “pressure” on the government continue reading

of Miguel Díaz-Canel, and is confident that contacts between the two countries would contribute to freedom in Cuba, amid the country’s precarious energy situation, aggravated by the US oil embargo.

The opposition leader asked President Donald Trump to maintain “pressure” on the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

“I believe the conditions are right for the liberation of Cuba. And those conditions, first of all, are the widespread demand for change from the Cuban people,” she said.

However, Payá said that the regime “will not buy us off with old Castroist strategies, such as permitting its citizens abroad to invest in private businesses on the Island without political changes and without rights,” as it announced this week.

Cubans “don’t want a fraudulent change. They don’t want the Castro family, and the group of generals
in power, to keep buying time and lying to the world and to Cubans about the reality.”

According to The New York Times, the Trump Administration has raised the possibility of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s departure, although without necessarily demanding a complete overhaul of the system.

She believes that those in power will not make the transition to democracy on their own.

Payá, however, believes that those in power will not make the transition to democracy and the rule of law on their own. “We don’t understand a transitional process that ends in free elections with the Castro family still in power,” she reiterated.

“It is not true that the regime is going to change itself,” she added. In that sense, she emphasized that a real process of change requires “that the Castro family and the group of generals who have held power for 67 years and their representatives leave.”

On the other hand, she noted that she considers the pressure being exerted by the United States to be “decisive” and stated that it must be increased to stop the repression against the protesters in Cuba: “They must increase that pressure to stop the impunity with which the Cuban regime is carrying out repression to this day.”

She also called on the governments of the region to intercede for the Cuban people.

“We hope that the rest of the Western democracies will join this effort.”

“We hope that the rest of the Western democracies will join this effort. (…). The Cuban people expect it, as they are demanding in the streets at a very high cost, at the cost of their safety, of their very lives,” she said.

Payá asserted that “the rights and freedoms of all Cubans must be guaranteed; political prisoners must be released,” and that none of this “costs money; it can happen on the first day.”

“Cuban civic organizations, opposition organizations on the Island and in exile are united behind a transition plan and forming the transition team that will lead and can lead this provisional period,” she stated.

Payá stated that she understands that a transition process will have to work with some structures of the “bureaucracy” to avoid “chaos,” but that it will not be “negotiable” that “we Cubans recover our national sovereignty.”

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In a Cuba Without Electricity and Without Water, the Government Press Defends Moringa as a Magical Solution

A doctor advises the use of this plant, which obsessed Fidel Castro, to purify murky water as a substitute for chlorine and boiling.

An elderly Fidel Castro touching a moringa plant / Cubadebate/Archive

14ymedio, March 18, 2026 – Madrid / With the energy crisis as a trigger, Cuba is moving at a rapid pace toward a public health crisis in which the inability to manage garbage collection and the lack of electricity to operate the water supply system are delivering the final blow. Two years ago, when the economic situation was not so alarming, barely half of the population had safe access to water, a figure that has dropped sharply in the current context and in the face of which, inexplicably, Cubadebate now offers a high-risk recipe: moringa seeds.

This Tuesday, government newspaper published a text signed by Johann Perdomo Delgado, a doctor specializing in Natural and Traditional Medicine and head of the department and national group of that specialty at the Ministry of Public Health. With these credentials, the expert presents the natural properties of moringa as an almost magical solution for “the purification of drinking water” and places it practically on the same level as chlorination or even something much simpler and more economical: boiling.

The doctor reviews the medicinal uses of moringa, an invasive plant that grows without any control in Cuba and whose properties were an obsession of Fidel Castro, particularly in the last years of his life. Among them are “antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, diuretic, antimicrobial, antipyretic, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-ulcer, antineoplastic, cardio, and hepatoprotective” properties. continue reading

There are up to 90 nutrients in the plant, including proteins, vitamins, and minerals, but its seeds also have, he adds, the ability to “reduce turbidity and eliminate up to 99% of the bacteria”

There are up to 90 nutrients in the plant, including proteins, vitamins, and minerals, but its seeds also have, he adds, the ability to “reduce turbidity and eliminate up to 99% of the bacteria” present in water in a “short settling period.” According to the text, this helps prevent several diseases transmitted by unsafe water, such as cholera, other diarrheal diseases, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and poliomyelitis.

Although the note admits that “for the prevention of infectious diseases transmitted by water, chlorination is a well-known and advisable method that makes it possible to eliminate harmful microorganisms,” it recklessly claims that with moringa seeds it is possible to “guarantee from home the consumption of safe water, through the use of this plant resource.”

In addition, it explains the recipe, as simple as removing the shell from about ten seeds of the plant, crushing them into a paste, and mixing them with 20 liters of water. After stirring and mixing for three minutes, it is enough to let it sit for between an hour and a half or two hours and filter it with a clean cloth. “With this method, according to studies carried out that have proven its harmlessness, it is possible to obtain water that is suitable for human and animal consumption. In this way, especially in the case of natural disasters or other emergencies, resorting to moringa seeds is a way in which we can guarantee the care of our health… all natural!” the text adds casually.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does indeed cite the many natural properties of moringa and has reviewed countless studies on the use of its seeds to purify water. There are at least 20 publications in the institution’s IRIS repository containing information on water treatment using this method, particularly for developing countries, but its benefits are more limited than Cubadebate suggests.

Although they observe that the results are promising, they note that “they still face significant limitations that restrict their widespread use”

The main property of the seeds for this use lies in coagulating cationic proteins, which have a positive surface charge, as a natural way to make dirty (turbid) water appear clear; they adhere to dirt like a magnet. The cleaning is real, but relative. As the doctor himself says, it can reach 99%, although the WHO considers it may be reduced to 90%, leaving enough margin for the consumed water to contain viruses and parasites capable of causing illness. For this reason, science always recommends that this be, at most, a preliminary step to chlorination or, in cases where that is not possible, boiling.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) manuals for water treatment do recognize the use of moringa seeds for a first step: removing turbidity. But this must be followed necessarily by either of the two previously mentioned methods or, in more extreme cases, the SODIS method, widely used in emergency areas with considerable success and consisting of exposing water to sunlight for long hours with extreme precautions regarding the container used.

At the beginning of 2026, the WHO published a study conducted in Brazil on the “viability of plant-based coagulants, including moringa, in water purification,” which in turn reviewed previous publications, with the aim of “advancing sustainable, low-cost treatment solutions.” However, although they observe that the results are promising, they note that “they still face significant limitations that restrict their widespread use.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Despite Popular Rejection and a Ruined Army, Cuban President Díaz-Canel Threatens With “An Impregnable Resistance”

“Cuba would not last even one night against a drone and satellite attack” from the U.S., notes an article in the Spanish press.

Díaz-Canel dressed in military attire during a National Defense Council in 2025 / Cubadebate

14ymedio, March 18, 2026 – Madrid / In the midst of the holding pattern affecting a Cuba that is at the center of conversations abroad, but immobile within its own borders, this Tuesday brought the bad news. While on Monday the deputy prime minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva delivered the good news by announcing to the media – of the U.S. first, the order also matters – the opening of the Island to investment by Cuban emigrants and Americans, yesterday his boss, Miguel Díaz-Canel, lashed out against the “empire.”

“The United States publicly threatens Cuba, almost daily, with overthrowing the constitutional order by force. And it uses an outrageous pretext: the severe limitations of the weakened economy that they have attacked and tried to isolate for more than six decades,” the president wrote on his X account.

The post came a day after the U.S. president told the press that it would be “a great honor” for him “to take Cuba.” “I think I can do whatever I want with it,” he snapped, after again referring to the economic collapse looming over the Island following the oil blockade decreed in January by his Administration. The statement is just one more among the nearly daily references by Donald Trump in the same vein, although it was followed by remarks from his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stating that the opening to investments announced by Pérez-Oliva the day before was insufficient and that Cuba needed “drastic changes” and “to put new people in charge.”

“They intend and announce plans to take over the country, its resources, its properties, and even the very economy they seek to suffocate. Only in this way can the fierce economic war applied as collective punishment against the entire people be explained. Faced with the worst scenario, Cuba is accompanied by one certainty: any external aggressor will clash with an impregnable resistance,” Díaz-Canel added, shortly after Rubio’s statements.

“They intend and announce plans to take over the country, its resources, its properties, and even the very economy they seek to suffocate”

One of the most visible faces of Díaz-Canel’s government is his foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, who repeated almost entirely his boss’s message. “The U.S. threatens Cuba with destroying continue reading

the constitutional order and taking control of the country. The collective punishment applied to us Cubans will not diminish the full exercise of sovereignty nor creativity in the face of the blockade and the energy siege. Any aggression from imperialism will clash with the irreducible will of the Cuban people in defense of the independence of the Homeland.”

The foreign minister – the space also matters – attended Díaz-Canel’s appearance on Friday with a shadow seated behind him: that of Raúl Rodríguez Castro, El Cangrejo, the grandson of Raúl Castro tasked by his grandfather with monitoring political personnel, who occupied a seat behind the minister of foreign affairs both at the president’s meeting with the rest of his cabinet and at the subsequent press conference.

Díaz-Canel and Rodríguez are the only ones who have come out to confront the U.S. at this crucial moment in the negotiations, while the prime minister, Manuel Marrero, remains silent, and although nothing is written, it may be a clue for those who see that there is already nothing left to lose. Both concluded their respective posts yesterday with a “Cuba stands firm,” but the truth is that the regime is at the limit in two key aspects at this moment: popular support and the capacity to face an aggression by force.

Evidence of the first is seen every day in the streets of the Island. When night falls, pots clang; when the sun rises, graffiti appears: “Down with the dictatorship” “Díaz Canel singao [motherfucker].” The blackouts exceeding 30 consecutive hours; the shortage of drinking water, the use of charcoal for cooking, and the improvised garbage dumps on every corner have eroded any trace, if any remained, of sovereign pride. Those who convincingly call to resist are conspicuously absent, while those who demand, publicly or privately, that something happen now, whatever it may be, are plentiful.

But even if there were hands to defend the regime, the means are more than deficient. Not only because it faces one of the largest and best-armed armies in the world, but because it could not even resist a modest one. This Wednesday, the Spanish sports newspaper – yes, sports – AS publishes an exhaustive special on the precariousness of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) that lays the situation bare.

According to the article, the Air Force barely maintains about twenty aircraft in flying condition and frequently resorts to dismantling old units for spare parts, while the Navy is limited to a coastal fleet of about 33 vessels without ocean-going capacity. As for defense capabilities, the Island has S-125 Pechora systems, Soviet missiles from the 1950s updated last year by Belarus, along with 144 launchers as its best asset, since the rest is standard artillery and there are no drones. “In a war of drones and satellites, the Island is still fighting with its grandparents’ binoculars,” the text says.

“In a war of drones and satellites, the Island is still fighting with its grandparents’ binoculars,” the text says

The ground weapons –around 300 tanks– are described by the writer as “a rolling Soviet museum that anywhere else in the world would be scrap, but in Cuba is the backbone of defense.” As with the aircraft, parts are cannibalized to keep them running.

The best asset is personnel, which in principle amounts to 50,000 active soldiers, 39,000 in reserve, and 90,000 paramilitaries, including Territorial Troops and Defense Committees. It is the only option to attempt to resist a land invasion, but as the article warns, “the theoretical mobilization capacity exceeds one million people. Feeding, moving, and sustaining that million is another story.” In addition, among the many striking lines scattered throughout the text, it adds: “Cuba would not last even one night against a drone and satellite attack.”

The epic of resistance that Díaz-Canel has once again resorted to, in contrast to the pragmatism with which the Castros conduct negotiations, clashes with reality. Although it may also be that this is precisely the last role he has been assigned.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Marco Rubio Dismisses the Reforms Announced by the Cuban Regime: “They Need To Put New People in Charge”

The US Secretary of State attributes the island’s crisis to the failure of the political model and calls for “drastic changes”

“That revolution isn’t even a revolution. What they have has survived thanks to subsidies from the Soviet Union and later from Venezuela,” Rubio stated. / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, March 17, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday, dismissed the latest economic reforms announced by the Cuban government, making it clear that, in his view, the island’s problems cannot be solved with partial adjustments or limited openings. “Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work within a political and governmental system incapable of correcting it. Therefore, they have to make drastic changes,” Rubio stated.

The remarks were made to the press from the Oval Office during an appearance alongside Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. The Secretary of State added: “That revolution isn’t even a revolution. What they have has survived thanks to subsidies from the Soviet Union and [then] Venezuela. They no longer receive subsidies, so they are in serious trouble.”

Trump, for his part, did not develop a complete thesis on Cuba during that exchange, but he did introduce a phrase that points to the other historical support of the Cuban regime. “The relationship we have with Venezuela is, I would say, almost unbelievable,” the president commented.

“What they announced yesterday isn’t drastic enough; it’s not going to solve the problem.”

The day before, the Havana regime had announced new provisions to permit Cubans residing abroad, under certain immigration categories, to participate in private businesses on the island, including as owners, and to open foreign currency bank accounts in Cuban banks. For Washington, however, this opening does not alter the core of the problem: the system remains incapable of sustaining itself without external assistance, and the current leadership, according to Rubio, does not know how to pull it out of collapse. continue reading

The US Secretary of State went further: “What they announced yesterday isn’t drastic enough; it’s not going to solve the problem.” Rubio didn’t just say the reforms were insufficient, but presented the power structure itself as an obstacle: “Those in charge don’t know how to fix it. So they have to put new people in charge. That’s what I think.”

Adding to this hardening of rhetoric is another sign revealed Tuesday by The New York Times, according to which Washington has conditioned any eventual agreement with Cuba on the departure of Miguel Díaz-Canel. According to the report, U.S. officials conveyed to Cuban negotiators that the president should resign, although without demanding immediate changes to the rest of the power structure.

“They have important decisions to make there.”

Rubio’s words came at the worst possible time for Havana. Cuba continues its efforts this Tuesday to recover from yet another collapse of the national electrical system, the third in just four months, a sequence that has turned the exceptional into the routine.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines reported a “complete disconnection” of the system, while authorities tried to restore service piecemeal, with microsystems and the gradual start-up of some thermoelectric plants.

Regarding the possibility of easing the sanctions that Washington maintains on Cuba, the Secretary of State stressed that any relief will still be conditional on a political change on the island, given that the embargo is codified by law.

Despite the economic collapse, the blackouts, and the harsh statements made from the Oval Office, there is no sign of real political opening on the island. On the contrary, the repression of protests, the persecution of dissenting voices, and the surveillance of journalists, activists, and opposition members continue. Marco Rubio passed the buck to Cuba: “They have important decisions to make there.”

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The Cuban Regime Is Rehearsing a “People’s War” While the Police Brutally Repress Protests

Díaz-Canel says the frustration caused by the prolonged blackouts is “understandable,” but “there will be no impunity for vandalism and violence.”

Student stronghold in Cienfuegos. / September 5 (Newspaper)

14ymedio, Havana, March 14, 2026 — On the same day as yesterday, Friday the 13th – which ended with a teenage protester injured, according to videos circulating on social media, by a police shot during the massive protest in Morón – the Cuban government was carrying out military exercises and civilian mobilizations throughout the country, celebrating National Defense Day; and preparing the military indoctrination of the youngest citizens.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel took almost 24 hours to react to the riots in Morón, and he did so with a tweet in which he described the discomfort caused by the prolonged blackouts in our people as “understandable,” but added that “there will be no impunity for vandalism and violence.”

Just hours after publicly acknowledging talks with Washington to “carry out actions for the benefit of the people of both countries,” the Cuban president, in his capacity as president of the National Defense Council, visited the Western Army General Staff to be briefed on the plans for ” the war of the entire people ,” which have been reinforced since January of this year due to the regime’s fear of a possible US military intervention.

In every province, preparatory exercises were organized as part of this defensive strategy, which integrates armed forces, reservists, and civilians, always emphasizing the same rhetoric about the common enemy: Yankee imperialism. Although the official media triumphally insist on these celebrations as if they were large-scale events, the images published by the same state newspapers show faces of disinterest and discouragement among the participating civilians.

In Cienfuegos, the Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), Joaquín Quintas Solá, supervised exercises that included the evacuation of children from a daycare center to shelters set up for wartime and visited the so-called “student bastion,” exercises in educational centers that prepare the youngest for military strategies.

According to the newspaper 5 de Septiembre, Quintas Solá emphasized the importance of these activities with students where they “exchange information about advances in science and military techniques, talk with combatants, learn about active military service, listen to the experiences of girls in their continue reading

voluntary female military service and about training at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School.”

The so-called “student bastión,” which aims to indoctrinate minors, was also implemented in provinces including Las Tunas and Artemisa with visits to military units, weapons training, and shooting exercises. These activities reinforced the students’ obligation to perform active military service, seeking to strengthen “patriotic-military education” and “foster an interest in military careers among young people.”

Other provincial media outlets enthusiastically covered the day’s celebrations. In the province of Camagüey, according to the newspaper Adelante, the day “reaffirmed the determination of the people of Camagüey to prepare themselves in the midst of an unconventional warfare scenario.”

The contradictions of this Friday the 13th reached their peak with the police repression in the protests in Morón

In Holguín, municipal defense councils organized rifle assembly and disassembly drills and live-fire exercises. The president of the Provincial Defense Council, Joel Queipo Ruiz, “emphasized the importance of this training in these times, given the complex global situation and the manifestations of imperialism in the region,” according to the newspaper ¡Ahora! [Now!].

In Granma, the president of the Provincial Defense Council, Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló, stated during military training that “the fundamental priority in the current scenario of economic warfare and threats is to intensify the defense of the country, food production and local self-sufficiency.”

This militarization of young people and the mandatory military tactic of “war of the whole people” that involves preparing civilians for armed conflict, is very out of place in the current situation of a population that every night publicly protests the structural crisis of the system and cries out “Bring on Trump!” and “Freedom!”

The contradictions of this Friday the 13th reached their peak with the police repression in the protests of Morón, where the abusive beatings of teenagers reported on social networks, the shots that can be heard in the videos released and the alleged bullet wound of a young protester, accentuate the incredulity at the tiresome rhetoric of national defense.

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Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Confirms Cubans in the US Will Be Able to Invest in Private Businesses on the Island

Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez called the Cuban government’s announcement a “desperate maneuver by the dictatorship to try to save itself.”

On Monday, Pérez-Oliva presented the measures that open up investment opportunities for Cubans living abroad. / Screenshot

14ymedio, Havana, March 16, 2026 — Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, said this Monday that the Government will allow “Cubans who reside abroad even without holding effective residence in Cuba and, based on the category offered by the Cuban migration law called ‘investors and businessmen’, to participate in or own private companies” within the country.

Pérez-Oliva spoke in an interview broadcast on Cuban State TV’s Mesa Redonda [Round Table] program this Monday, after previously giving statements to the foreign press on the subject. In his remarks, he indicated that emigrants will be able to “partner” “with Cuban private companies.” He clarified that this does not refer only to small businesses; it can include infrastructure and large private and state-owned enterprises.

“The doors of our country are open to Cubans abroad,” he emphasized, repeatedly stating that “there are no limitations” for Cubans who want to invest.

He also spoke about the participation of these Cubans in the country’s financial and banking system, something that was not permitted until now. This strategy will allow them to serve as “support for other productive or service sectors.” Furthermore, the emigrants will be able to “open and operate foreign currency bank accounts in Cuban banks. They will be able to do so in the same way as any person or institution residing in our country,” he added.

“The doors of our country are open to Cubans abroad.”

The topic was first reported by El Nuevo Herald on Saturday , and on Monday, in an interview published by NBC News, Pérez-Oliva shared details about the anticipated reform, which was to be announced that same day. “Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with U.S. continue reading

companies and also with Cubans residing in the U.S. and their descendants,” declared the deputy prime minister and great-nephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro.

Pérez-Oliva stated in the interview with the US television network that “this goes beyond the commercial sphere,” and added: “It also applies to investments: not only small investments, but also large ones, especially in infrastructure.”

At the same time, the deputy prime minister did not miss the opportunity to point to the US embargo as the origin of all evils: “The US blockade*, the policy of hostility against Cuba, is undoubtedly an element that affects the development of these transformations.”

Currently, many private businesses in Cuba receive informal financing, through remittances from relatives abroad, especially from the US, something that the reform would explicitly legalize.

Pedro Monreal has warned that the reform could lead to new inequalities within the country’s private sector itself.

Regarding the expectations generated by the details of this measure, Cuban economist Pedro Monreal has warned that the reform could cause new inequalities within the country’s private sector itself and has doubts about the way it is conceived by the State.

“Foreign investors enjoy tariff, tax, and foreign trade benefits, as well as a business structure that private micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) lack,” Monreal points out. This would imply that Cubans residing abroad could enjoy legal and economic advantages over private entrepreneurs within the country.

The specialist posted on his X profile this Monday: “What the Cuban government announces today will not be attractive to many emigrants if it is limited to providing ‘a space for participation in the country’s economic and social development.’ It should go much further: establishing rights and guaranteeing mechanisms to implement them.”

Private business owners in Cuba have expressed similar concerns. Engineer Yulieta Hernández Díaz, executive director of the Pilares Construction Group, which provides services on the island, stated in a social media post that the problem lies not in who invests, but in the conditions under which that access is organized.

If investment is managed within an opaque system, without clear rules, without a level playing field and without transparency, it does not create development, but rather distortion and inequality.

“If investment—whether foreign or from the diaspora—is managed within an opaque system, without clear rules, without a level playing field, and without institutional transparency, what is created is not development, but distortion and inequality,” warns Hernández, adding: “Cuba needs a framework that guarantees equity, transparency, and coherent public policies, allowing all economic actors to grow and develop.”

The EFE news agency, for its part, states that, according to its sources, the possibility of facilitating the purchase of real estate on the island for Cubans residing abroad is being studied, especially for those who left the country before the 2013 immigration reform.

“It’s historic,” Cuban-American businessman Hugo Cancio told EFE when asked about the reforms. “It could be the beginning of the dismantling of the US economic embargo against Cuba,” he said.

Cuban economist Tamarys Bahamonde tempers expectations: “The impact will be greater or lesser depending on the conditions and context surrounding the authorization of these investments,” she says. “Success will depend not only on how Cuba designs and implements it, but also on the flexibility offered by the US,” she added.

The measure has also generated rejection among sectors of the Cuban exile community in the United States. Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez issued a formal statement this Monday in which he described the government’s economic opening as “a desperate maneuver by the dictatorship to try to save itself.”

“In a moment of clear desperation, the same regime that confiscated property, expelled families, and destroyed the future of generations of Cubans wants those same exiles to return and invest their money in the system that oppressed them. The dictatorship is not seeking reforms. It is seeking to survive,” the statement reads.

Fernández calls on Cubans abroad and foreign companies not to invest in the island until there are political freedoms. “The solution for Cuba is not doing business with the tyranny,” he states, insisting that the priority must be “the end of that regime” before any economic opening.

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*Translator’s note: There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it remains in force.

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Matanzas Under Siege Amid the Appearance of Posters Against the Regime

State Security harasses an evangelical pastor for allowing “subversive ideas” in his congregation.

Etecsa center in Peñas Altas, where they are paying one thousand pesos per shift to trusted individuals to keep watch / 14ymedio

Pablo Padilla Cruz, Matanzas, March 17, 2026 – The “City of Bridges” does not sleep, not because of the bustle of its cultural life or the flow of its rivers but because of the weight of a security operation that reveals an unprecedented institutional vulnerability. Following the appearance of a sign in the central Playa del Tenis where the word “Communism” was intertwined with a Nazi swastika, the repressive apparatus in Matanzas has gone on maximum alert, revealing that, for the regime, a can of paint is now more dangerous than a weapon.

Less than 72 hours after the protests in Morón and just one day after the incident at Playa del Tenis, Matanzas woke up militarized at its key points. The speed with which State Security agents covered the anti-communist graffiti was not enough to contain the paranoia. According to internal sources, the security perimeter has expanded to public buildings and strategic locations, attempting to shield a normality that exists only in official discourse.

The fear is not only of crowds but of symbols. The appearance of posters with the word “libertad” [freedom] in the neighborhoods of Naranjal and Los Mangos has triggered a disproportionate response that combines worker coercion, technological sabotage, and religious persecution.

The appearance of posters with the word “libertad” [freedom] in the neighborhoods of Naranjal and Los Mangos has triggered a disproportionate response that combines labor coercion, technological sabotage, and religious persecution

The escalation of tension reached a critical point this Sunday, March 15, when surveillance shifted from walls to religious institutions. In what worshippers describe as “an assault on faith,” an evangelical pastor in the city was the target of a violent repressive operation as he prepared to carry out his pastoral duties.

Eyewitnesses reported that State Security agents intercepted the religious leader, accusing him of allowing “subversive ideas” to filter into his congregation under the cover of the social crisis affecting the province. This attack is not isolated; it is part of the dictatorship’s strategy to decapitate any figure with moral leadership who could continue reading

channel public discontent. The detention or harassment of the pastor, whose name is withheld for fear of further reprisals, confirms that the regime now fears not only paint on walls but also words from the pulpit.

Image of the place where the evangelical pastor was arrested on Monday morning / 14ymedio

The telecommunications company Etecsa, an enforcement arm of digital control on the Island, has turned its workers into ideological custodians. According to employee testimonies, management has formed “shock brigades” made up mostly of members of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).

Despite the collapse of the national electric system (SEN), these brigades remain on guard at bases and telecommunications antennas. “Each antenna will now have reinforced guards,” said a worker speaking on condition of anonymity. The fear is twofold: physical attacks on the facilities or the use of these structures as canvases for public discontent.

Even more alarming is the confirmation of a mass disconnection protocol. Yesterday afternoon, a “drill” left the city without internet access or landline service for two hours. The order is clear: at any sign of protest or anti-communist action, the city must be cut off to prevent the contagion effect that social media facilitated in July 2021.

The most surreal symptom of government fear is visible in commercial areas. Places that have remained closed and abandoned for months are now lit by rechargeable lamps and guarded by civilian personnel linked to the PCC.

In the Peñas Altas neighborhood, the former Mercado Ideal, turned by neglect into a public urinal and out of service since the pandemic, is now a strategic target. Local residents confirm that the government is paying one thousand pesos per shift (from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM) to trusted individuals to guard the ruins.

“That place has been abandoned for a year, no one has taken care of it. The fact that they now spend money to guard it only shows they are more afraid that someone will paint a sign there than that someone might steal something that no longer exists”

“It’s absurd,” said a local resident. “That place has been abandoned for a year, no one has taken care of it. The fact that they now spend money to guard it only shows they are more afraid that someone will paint a sign there than that someone might steal something that no longer exists. The fear is of ink, not vandalism.”

The deployment in Matanzas reveals a government that knows it is being watched and rejected. The mobilization of PCC members to guard empty buildings, the repression of religious leaders on a Sunday of worship, and the preparation to cut off national communications are tactics of a power that has lost consensus and retains only force. While State Security rushes to erase posters, the reality of the province is laid bare: a city where the government watches the shadows, fearing that any wall or any voice might tell the story of an ending already felt in the streets.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Experts: The Government’s Measures Are Stopgaps and Will Not “Resolve or Correct the Multiple Crises”

In addition to facing legal obstacles on the Island and in the U.S., it will be necessary to create guarantee mechanisms for potential investors.

The La Carreta restaurant, in the heart of El Vedado, in Havana, belongs to a Cuban American even though the law until now prohibited it / 14ymedio

14ymedio, March 17, 2026 – MADRID / The ball is in the U.S.’ court about whether it will respond or not to the changes announced this Monday by Cuba’s deputy prime minister, Oscar Pérez-Oliva, in several interviews with U.S. media and the Island’s official outlets. As the Minister of Foreign Investment and Foreign Trade himself has admitted, the announcements will come to nothing if Washington does not make a move, since embargo legislation prevents it. “The United States blockade is, without a doubt, an element that affects the development of these transformations,” the official stated.

“For Cuban residents in the U.S., the proclamation of an official Cuban measure is not enough. The approval of that government would be essential, along with the modification of restrictions on investments in Cuba, without requiring a specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac),” economist Pedro Monreal, based in Madrid, said on his X account.

The expert highlights a factor on the Cuban side that creates an inexplicable gap. The expansion of the private sector through emigrant investment “is based on a legal limbo,” he recalls, since “there is no current legislation published in the Official Gazette continue reading

that allows residents abroad to be partners or owners of small and medium-sized private enterprises.” The regulation was approved by Parliament in July 2024 but has never come into force.

“There is no current legislation published in the Official Gazette that allows residents abroad to be partners or owners of small and medium-sized private enterprises.”

“Even if both legal obstacles were resolved and assuming basic guarantees were adopted—legal stability, currency exchange facilities, and protection against expropriation—additional guarantees would be needed for foreign investment and small business modalities,” Monreal adds. In his view, this implies creating an independent and accessible dispute resolution mechanism (strengthened or hybrid national arbitration), a guarantee fund or insurance against political risks, and direct access to foreign trade and international banking.

This would entail, it is suggested, the creation of one or several Chambers of Commerce for private actors, transparency in authorization processes, a digital one-stop shop for emigrant partners, and commitments of non-retroactivity with a long grace period. “Without a legal framework with basic and additional guarantees that builds trust, many emigrants will prefer to continue sending remittances instead of investing directly, but that type of guarantee does not appear to be on the radar. One should not sell the bear’s skin before catching it,” he concludes.

His is not the only voice pointing out how premature the announcements are on their own. Ricardo Torres, author of Cuba Economic Review, told EFE that if Havana’s “intention” is to “send a signal, then it’s not bad.” However, from a technical standpoint, he says the proposals outlined are partial, incremental, insufficient, late, and heavily bureaucratic.

“None of these measures will change the state of affairs,” he adds. In his opinion, in addition to opening the economy and “creating institutions and regulatory capacity,” “a very strong signal would need to be sent that the paradigm has changed,” which would even imply changes in political leadership for reasons of “credibility.” On the table, according to several U.S. media outlets, is the departure of Miguel Díaz-Canel, demanded by the U.S., which, however, is not asking anything regarding the Castro family, according to sources from The New York Times and USA Today.

Tamarys Bahamonde, a Cuban professor at the City University of New York, has also weighed in, stating that Cuba does not need stopgaps but “medium- and long-term” policies to “resolve or correct the multiple crises” it faces. “Cuba now needs transformations so deep that speaking only of reforms is very limited. Cuba needs real changes in the economic, social, and political spheres,” she emphasizes.

In her opinion, these needs require “solid investors” capable of waiting for medium- or long-term returns, and she calls on the White House to begin lifting sanctions. “The experience of Venezuela and Iran has taught us that Washington’s objective is not democratization and regime change but economic-financial expansion and control,” she underscores.

“The experience of Venezuela and Iran has taught us that Washington’s objective is not democratization and regime change but economic-financial expansion and control.”

In her view, there is a clear loser: the people are bearing the full pressure of this tug-of-war. “They do not deserve this; they are the ones suffering,” she states.

The Spanish agency EFE also spoke with economist Pavel Vidal, a professor at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Cali, Colombia, and head of the Cuban Observatory of Currencies and Finances (Omfi). “The Cuban economy requires a broad stabilization and liberalization program that includes a new strategy of international integration, allowing it to generate exports to pay its debts and begin investing in a productive infrastructure that is practically in ruins,” he emphasizes. He adds that “much more is needed to show willingness for change and to build trust,” especially since the effects are minimal if sanctions are not eased and the oil blockade is not lifted.

Miguel Alejandro Hayes, of the Institute for Research on the Caribbean Basin, believes the reforms are not ambitious enough for Washington’s expectations, as they amount to little more than a “tactical readjustment” given the circumstances.

“The current model and its managers have demonstrated a structural inability to generate the resources needed to overcome the current situation,” he states. In his view, it is necessary to secure “international financing” and implement “a macroeconomic stabilization plan grounded in the restoration of infrastructure,” a key element for enabling large-scale sustainable growth.

The consulting firm Auge, which on its Telegram channel sees the new measure as a “clear” opportunity has been more positive with the uncertainty. “There is a flow of capital and knowledge outside the Island seeking to land in productive projects within the country. For the Cuban private sector, this means potential access to financing and strategic partners,” they state.

However, they also stress that “the challenge is implementation: having the measure published is not the same as having the investment carried out. Viability depends on proper migration classification, obtaining specific licenses, and legal structuring to protect both parties. It is not just about measures but about knowing how to take advantage of them in the context of each business. The theory, which is not yet directly written into regulations, requires well-guided practice.” The consulting firm has not missed the opportunity and offers its experience and analysis to Cubans both inside and outside the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Wakes Up With the Electrical System Connected From Pinar Del Río to Holguín

Guantánamo, shaken by a magnitude 6 earthquake early this morning, while Granma and Santiago de Cuba remain outside the National Electric System (SEN)

The rains helped cool Havana overnight and into the morning this Tuesday, in the midst of a general blackout. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, March 17, 2026 – The reconnection of Cuba’s national electric system (SEN) is progressing very slowly, and by 8 a.m. this Tuesday, 18 hours after the grid collapse, it was possible to link the system from Pinar del Río to Holguín. The three easternmost provinces are still operating with microsystems while awaiting the startup of the Felton thermoelectric plant to achieve full integration of the SEN.

In the morning, 38% of Havana had electricity, totaling 332,926 customers, and 40 hospitals had power. The vice prime minister, Inés María Chapman, reported that the absolute priority is water supply, which was affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the capital, with three pumping stations restored. The weather helped ease the situation overnight, with slightly cooler temperatures in the capital and early morning rain, which intensified in the morning and helped people get through the night without air conditioning or fans.

Meanwhile, in the east, panic was widespread, as the darkness was compounded by an earthquake a few kilometers from Imías, in Guantánamo. The tremor, with a magnitude of 6, struck at 12:28 a.m. this Tuesday and had several aftershocks, according to O’Leary Fernando González Matos, director of the National Center for Seismological Research, who warned that the situation would be monitored and urged the population to “stay informed through official media” during the blackout. “The east is collapsing with the tremors and in darkness. It’s a curse,” lamented a user on social media. continue reading

From the newsroom of 14ymedio, most of the lights visible before dawn came from Havana’s ministerial district. / 14ymedio

Most reports on social media indicate that the earthquake was felt very strongly in areas near the epicenter, as well as in neighboring Santiago de Cuba, although no serious damage is known, and some residents reported having connectivity through Nauta Hogar and some electricity. “I was exhausted; the bed shook, and the noise woke me up. It’s the biggest earthquake I’ve felt in my life,” one user said. “The tremor was extremely strong; the movements were felt continuously. The electrical cables swayed like a kite. It sounded like a train moving forward dragging houses. Neighbors went out into the streets, others were sleeping and didn’t even notice. We’re waiting for aftershocks; damage is unknown; only comments and experiences remain,” added another.

In Santiago, where the tremor was also strongly felt, a microsystem remains in place using the Santiago Este and Pavón engines to supply healthcare centers.

If the good news of the night was the startup of the 10 de Octubre thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas, Camagüey, whose Unit 6 began contributing about 80 megawatts (MW) to the system after receiving external power, by morning, Unit 8 in Mariel, Unit 3 at Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, and the Antonio Guiteras plant were in the startup process, with the latter ready to begin ignition.

“Power may come and go in circuits that have already been restored while the system stabilizes,” authorities in Camagüey warned last night.

In Sancti Spíritus, according to sources from 14ymedio, security was at its highest last night, with surveillance at institutional buildings and mobilization at workplaces due to the risk of spontaneous demonstrations, although some employees resisted complying with the requirement. At this time, 71,221 customers have service, although authorities warn: “It is important to note that some circuits were restored and then affected again, although they did not include vital services,” all in an effort to balance the system.

Sancti Spíritus on Monday night, in the midst of a total blackout. / 14ymedio

In Matanzas, progress was theoretically broader, with 21% of the population – nearly 67,000 users – having service, including some areas of Cárdenas and the historic center of the provincial capital. Authorities there announced the sale of prepared food, water distribution via tanker trucks, and the “use of amateur radio systems to maintain communication between municipalities.”

In Villa Clara, there are 48 MW available at this time, and all municipalities have some electricity, except Corralillo and Ranchuelo. Hospitals in Santa Clara, Sagua la Grande, Caibarién, and Placetas have power, as do the Palmarito and Minerva-Ochoíta water systems, which are operational. The provincial electric company warned, however, that there will be no rotation of circuits until the major thermoelectric plants are synchronized.

In Las Tunas, reconnection occurred at 1 a.m., with 25 MW available at dawn. The official press emphasized that “for the first time in months, the fuel oil (Delicias) and diesel (Las Tunas) plants were synchronized simultaneously,” sending power toward Holguín to support the startup of the Felton thermoelectric plant.

In Holguín, where this plant is located, the connection was achieved after 6 a.m., with service in several circuits and illuminated areas in Mayarí, Nipe, Báguano, and Banes.

As happened during the last disconnection of the SEN, which left two-thirds of the Island in darkness two weeks ago, the lack of oil is complicating the initial startup of all systems, although most of the population can no longer distinguish between a general outage and a scheduled blackout due to shortages. “This can’t be endured anymore. Please, all of you leave, because none of you fulfill the responsibility of guaranteeing basic services to the people,” cried a woman from Guanabacoa on social media.

The causes of this outage are, this time, more unclear than usual. The general director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lázaro Guerra, told state television that the causes are under investigation and that “all system parameters are being analyzed” to identify what happened.

“So far, all parameters are normal,” he added, and noted that “no issues were reported in the generating units that were in service at the time of the blackout.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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