Translating Cuba – Page 3 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

The Isla de la Juventud ‘Ferry’ Breaks Down Again and Foreign Experts Are Awaited to Inspect It

The ‘Perseverancia’, with a capacity of 430 passengers, will be replaced by the ‘V2V Empress’, a Mexican catamaran that can carry only 240 people

The ferry cannot even be towed, and authorities are awaiting the arrival of foreign specialists to assess the damage / Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, October 26, 2027 / The Perseverancia, which connects the Isla de la Juventud with Batabanó, in Mayabeque province, is once again out of service after suffering a serious breakdown in one of its engines, the local station Radio Caribe reported this Monday. The ferry cannot even be towed, and the authorities are awaiting the arrival of foreign specialists to assess the damage and determine when it can be repaired.

The new breakdown comes less than a year after a repair that forced it to be withdrawn from service and that lasted from October to December 2025 in the Havana shipyards, with supplies contracted for more than 550,000 euros. “All very nice, but they don’t say when it’s going to sail, whichever boat it is,” one user complained in the comments on the station’s post.

The new breakdown comes less than a year after a repair that lasted from October to December 2025

As Carlos Lázaro Arroyo Salas, director of the Viamar Basic Business Unit, explained to the official Isla de la Juventud station, the ferry suffered a serious failure in its main port engine, which ended up contaminating the crankcase with fresh water.

Water getting into the oil reservoir that lubricates the engine parts can cause major damage. To assess its extent, foreign specialists are due to arrive in Nueva Gerona this Tuesday; their visit had initially been planned for the first quarter of 2027. The ferry was built in South Korea and is equipped with two American Cummins engines. continue reading

Radio Caribe explains that the specialists are “the only ones authorized to open up the engine” and determine the magnitude of the breakdown, so only after their inspection can a repair schedule be established. In the meantime, the vessel remains immobilized.

‘Radio Caribe’ explains that the foreign specialists are “the only ones authorized to open up the engine” and determine the magnitude of the breakdown

For now, trips depend on the V2V Empress, the Mexican catamaran that began operating in October 2025. It has capacity for about 240 passengers, compared with the Perseverancia’s 430, and maintains a limit of 20 kilograms of luggage per traveler. The authorities give priority to those who need to continue on to other provinces, catch international flights or attend oncology appointments.

Faced with the difficulties in repairing the Perseverancia, the authorities once again fell back on the US embargo as an explanation. According to Radio Caribe, there are “containers held up in Central America” with spare parts for the ferry that have not been able to reach Cuba, although the station does not specify where they are or how long they have been waiting to be shipped.

According to ‘Radio Caribe’, there are “containers held up in Central America” with spare parts for the ferry that have not been able to reach Cuba because of the “blockade”

User Rubi Sánchez Cuza commented sarcastically on that justification. “Everything was going perfectly until I saw the word ‘blockade’ and that the parts are held up in a container,” she wrote. Miguel Martel questioned how the visit of the foreign specialists can be arranged but not the shipment of the spare parts, and snapped: “Enough with the excuses already.”

Lino Nelson Bouza, a 74-year-old retiree, pointed out that the authorities cannot keep waiting for the United States to lift the embargo to solve the transportation problems and called for alternatives for the residents of the Isla de la Juventud.

A user identified as Isla Lg questioned the transport of baseball teams while there are residents who cannot get a ticket. Another comment criticizes the space given over to goods for private businesses when there are families who need to travel.

Several comments also point out that the Perseverancia is an essential route for bringing food to the special municipality. Now the shortages could worsen further and prices could rise.

The ‘Perseverancia’ is an essential route for bringing food to the special municipality, and now the shortages could worsen further and prices could rise

In September 2023, barely two months after entering service, the Perseverancia suspended its trips until further notice, amid the fuel shortage. The Viajero Company then asked residents to limit their travel to matters that could not be postponed and suspended the waiting lists.

Transportation Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila acknowledged in August 2024 that the ferry was overworked, after having made hundreds of crossings carrying passengers and goods. The catamarans Río Júcaro and Río Las Casas were still under repair, and the plane linking Havana with Nueva Gerona was not operating either due to technical problems. The official then called for “taking extreme care” of the Perseverancia, the only means available.

The situation worsened in November of that year, when the port of Batabanó had to be dredged after Hurricane Rafael left accumulated sediment that prevented the vessel’s safe passage.

When it was withdrawn for a new repair in October 2025, the Perseverancia had racked up, in just over two years, 716 crossings, carrying almost 298,000 passengers and more than 82,000 tons of cargo. In the Havana shipyards it underwent more than fifty technical interventions, including the replacement of propellers, steering system components and shaft lines. The work ran ten days longer than planned due to unforeseen technical issues and was completed in December.

Translated by GH.

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The Las Tunas Surgical Glove Factory, a Paradigm of Cuba’s Industrial Failure

The official press blames the embargo for the collapse in the production of latex goods, which was going very well until 2017

The production of the gloves requires products purchased abroad “and currently unavailable at the factory,” such as potassium oleate, ZDBC accelerator, and liquid pigments. / Granma

14ymedio, Havana, October 26, 2026 / It has been nine years since the Las Tunas Latex Goods Factory, the only one of its kind in Cuba, produced surgical gloves. That, at least, is what a report published this Sunday in the official press states, blaming the situation on the “economic, commercial, financial and energy blockade that the United States Government intensifies day after day to suffocate the people.”

With this example, the report seeks to shore up the Cuban regime’s traditional excuse – the US embargo – to explain the fragility of the country’s productive apparatus, but at the same time it does not hide one of its main weaknesses: dependence on imports of raw materials, in addition to not paying its bills. In this case, they acknowledge that the Las Tunas plant “had a supplier of natural latex in Guatemala that could not maintain its commercial relations, and as an alternative, Cuba found a more secure market in an Asian nation.”

The “Asian nation” that the official media refuses to identify is India, which sold the island 29,876 kilograms of natural latex in 2024 for a value of $55,600. In previous years, China and Thailand were also suppliers, as well as Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. continue reading

The “Asian nation” that the official media refuses to identify is India, which sold the island 29,876 kilograms of natural latex in 2024 for a value of $55,600

One of the factory’s officials, Milaydys García Aguilar, laments that the “solution” has “an enormous cost due to the distance,” although they do not specify which country they are referring to or explain why they do not buy it from a closer nation, such as Brazil or Mexico, which are also friends of the Havana regime. According to World Bank data, Cuba bought 353 tons of natural latex from Guatemala in 2015 for a value of $640,000 and barely 59 tons in 2022. The following year the island imported nothing and, in 2024, almost all of it came from India. In 2025, only 2,400 kilograms were imported, from the European Union.

The statement does not explain why Guatemala stopped selling to the island, but exporters in various sectors are known to have suspended their shipments because of Havana’s failure to pay.

The official statement does not explain why Guatemala stopped selling to Cuba, but exporters in various sectors are known to have suspended their shipments because of Havana’s failure to pay

García Aguilar, on the contrary, expands on her explanation, saying that “it’s not only a matter of paying a higher price for the product,” but that “the corresponding transportation fees and tariffs also increase,” even though these depend on the Cuban Government, which can lower or eliminate them to reduce costs for its factories.

Furthermore, with the arrival of raw materials delayed, the factory’s production manager argues, “some may arrive expired or defective.” To make the gloves, those in charge explain, other products purchased abroad are needed, “which are nonexistent in the factory right now,” such as potassium oleate, the ZDBC accelerator and liquid pigments.

“The last time, we received those dyes in powder form, and to use them they had to be reduced to particles smaller than those that make up the latex. At the center we don’t have suitable mills to handle that process, and it’s another of the reasons why we haven’t been able to produce this year,” García Aguilar specified.

According to the official statement, the latex factory went into decline in a single year. Or so, at least, it appears from the statements of the plant’s head, Antonio Elio Núñez Nojas, who stated that in 2016 they set “a production record amounting to six million pairs of sterilized surgical gloves,” an output that “helped supply health services throughout the country.”

The plant’s head stated that in 2016 they set “a production record amounting to six million pairs of sterilized surgical gloves”

One of the key factors in the lack of surgical glove production is that the plant’s sterilizer, “with a total capacity of ten cubic meters, which ranks among the largest of its kind in the country,” is shut down. “The equipment remains unused because it runs on ethylene oxide, a product that must be imported in 34-kilogram cylinders,” says the official press.

The paralysis of the factory does not affect only medical items, they explain. The “auxiliary” lines, where household gloves were made – with much less strict safety requirements – as well as membranes for collecting bee venom and cones used in the collection of bovine semen for artificial insemination, have also been put out of service.

This is not the first time the plant, which belongs to the Thaba Basic Business Unit (UEB) of the National Saddlery Company, has made news in the state media. In 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cubadebate reported the reactivation of the plant, after six months at a standstill, with the goal of producing almost 300,000 pairs of household gloves in one month.

In 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cubadebate reported the reactivation of the plant, after six months at a standstill, to produce household gloves

That report did not mention surgical gloves, but it referred to a recent purchase of some 26,000 kilograms of “centrifuged natural latex,” the main raw material for those items, “along with some twenty components that are also imported,” all at a cost of two million pesos, at the official exchange rate of 24 CUP to one dollar, equivalent to $83,333. In the same piece they announced more materials for September, something that would allow manufacturing to continue until the end of that year.

Nor did they refer to the US embargo, an idea that does form the backbone of this Sunday’s report in Granma.

In this one, however, there is no trace of the disastrous figures for the manufacturing industry on the island in general, which in 2025 showed a decline in almost all its categories. In the list detailed by the National Office of Statistics and Information in a report on the subject last May, there were only five products whose indicators improved: tobacco, detergent, beer, bed sheets and frozen lobster.

During 2025, manufacturing industry on the island showed a decline in almost all its categories, except tobacco, detergent, beer, bed sheets and frozen lobster

Three products closely linked to construction and the home fell by somewhat more than 94% over the last five years: corrugated steel bars, air conditioners and hydraulic floor tiles, and wooden doors and windows are not far behind, with reductions of 92%. If these are combined with the large drops in cement (65%), lime (66%), concrete blocks (84%) and sanitary fixtures (62%), the serious housing problem becomes understandable, both for building and for renovating, causing a housing shortage that leaves entire families sharing minimal spaces in poor condition.

Among the data provided by the official body, which also include a slight decline in the number of people working in this sector and in their average wages, the energy consumption of these industries is also shown, which has fallen notably in recent years due to the difficulties in generating electricity. In 2020, manufacturing industry – the sugar industry is, as always, excluded from these data and reported separately – consumed an average of about 1,089 GWh, compared with 613 in 2024, a 44% drop whose direct consequence is the collapse of all the indicators.

Translated by GH.

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Darkness and Robberies Scare Away Visitors to Lennon Park in Havana

National Film Award winner Luciano Castillo had his cell phone stolen in broad daylight, and the Beatle statue no longer has a guard or even glasses.

John Lennon Park, in Havana’s Vedado district, is no longer the bustling place where young people used to gather and chat until late into the night. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Darío Hernández, October 26, 2026 / John Lennon Park, in Havana’s El Vedado district, is no longer the bustling place where young people used to gather and chat until late into the night. On Sunday, shortly before 7:00 p.m., 14ymedio found only a handful of visitors, mainly older people trying to connect to the internet. Under the trees, the paths were beginning to grow dark.

Located on 17th Street, between 6th and 8th, in El Vedado, the park was for years a meeting place for young people and rock fans, as was also the case on nearby G Street (Avenida de los Presidentes). Now, the interminable power outages, which plunge the area into near-total darkness for hours and facilitate criminal activity, have turned it into a place many prefer to avoid.

The interminable power outages, which plunge Lennon Park into near-total darkness, have made it a place many prefer to avoid. / 14ymedio

Last week, film critic and researcher Luciano Castillo, winner of the 2026 National Film Award and director of the Cuban Film Archive, had his phone stolen in the park, according to 14ymedio. The act occurred during the day. Castillo filed a police report. According to sources close to the case, he was told at the police station that 15 other robberies had been reported in the area that same day. continue reading

Last week, Luciano Castillo, winner of the 2026 National Film Award and director of the Cuban Film Archive, had his phone stolen in Lennon Park.

An elderly woman told 14ymedio that about a month earlier, her cloth purse had been slashed while she was shopping at the farmers market next to the park in the morning, although none of her belongings were stolen. The theft was so subtle that she only discovered it when she got home.

During 14ymedio‘s tour of the park, the John Lennon statue was unguarded. However, at the entrance to the Yellow Submarine, staff were watching over the parked motorcycles, a common target for thieves.

Insecurity is spreading to other public spaces on the island, amid the economic crisis, power outages, and deteriorating street lighting. On October 20, 14ymedio documented how thefts of phones, watches, and purses have driven visitors away from Plaza de la Vigía in Matanzas. There, a student recounted having his cell phone snatched in broad daylight, near the Sauto Theater.

Insecurity is spreading to other public spaces on the island, amid the economic crisis, blackouts, and deteriorating street lighting.

In August, a couple from Guanabacoa told this newspaper that two hooded men stole their motorcycle at knifepoint as they were returning home during a power outage. Days later, soldiers were deployed to several locations in the municipality identified by residents as sites of robberies.

Thefts at Lennon Park have a long history, dating back to the statue’s unveiling in December 2000. His glasses were stolen at least twice, prompting authorities to hire security guards who took turns protecting them. One of them, Juan González, carried the glasses in his pocket and placed them on the musician for tourist photos.

Thefts in Lennon Park have a long history dating back to the statue’s unveiling in December 2000.

In March 2018, 14ymedio documented the theft of the glasses again. Now, with no guard in sight during the tour, even the sculpture itself is once again vulnerable to thieves.

On Sunday, the statue was still on its bench, but the crowds that once gathered around it were gone. The park still bears the name of the British musician and the memory of those youthful gatherings, although fewer and fewer people are willing to stay as evening falls.

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An NGO Reports That the US Will Deport Sick Migrants, Including Cubans, to Africa

Noslén Sendra, who suffers from diabetes and acute pancreatitis, was told that Mexico rejected him.

Image of a migrant detention center in the US. / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, October 22, 2026 / Noslén Sendra, a Cuban man with diabetes and acute pancreatitis, is one of the sick migrants who will be deported by the US to Africa. According to Arianne Betancourt, a migrant rights organizer with the Workers Circle, who spoke to the British newspaper The Guardian, deportation agents informed Sendra of his transfer, noting that Mexico had refused to accept him.

Figures published last July by Al Jazeera indicate that 6,000 Cubans were deported by the US and sent to southern Mexico. According to the report, these mass deportations to Mexico are part of “a permanent, unwritten agreement to accept Cuban citizens for deportation.”

Noslén Sendra, a 41-year-old Cuban man at the Krome Service Processing Center, was told that “Mexico wouldn’t accept him because he needs too much medication.” Nor is Cuba an option. However, he has to be deported, and he’s been told it will be to Africa. The migrant’s wife, Anisley Cortés, has been living in uncertainty since she found out, “not knowing how he is or if we’ll ever see him again.”

The woman told the same media outlet that Sendra, who has been imprisoned since last November and was held at the Alligator Alcatraz prison until last April, lost 22 kilos (48 pounds). “They weren’t giving him his medication or enough food. It was a nightmare for all of us,” she said. “He’s very sick and needs proper medical attention.” continue reading

Sendra, who has been imprisoned since last November and was held at the Alligator Alcatraz prison until last April, has lost 48 pounds

“We know that once deported and sent to these third countries, they do not receive medical attention in the detention centers. They have difficulty obtaining medication,” Betancourt warned.

Yasmany Moreno, who is in one of the six detention centers in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, has denounced the “inhuman” conditions in which the deportees are being held.

The poor conditions and food have taken their toll on Moreno and four other Cubans, who are experiencing “diarrhea, headaches, and fatigue,” symptoms of malaria. UN personnel provided them with a box of doxycycline for treatment.

Without specifying the number of people, Betancourt — the immigrant rights organizer for Workers Circle — indicated that those expelled are currently in two immigrant detention centers in Florida.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied to The Guardian that sick migrants are being sent to third countries. “No sick detainees are deported. All detainees receive medical clearance before travel and leave with the necessary medication,” the spokesperson stated.

The official said the story was false and that they were trying to discredit ICE agents, who, he claimed, “are facing an increase of more than 1600% in attacks against them.”

Between January 20, 2025, and August 31, 2026, at least 25,447 citizens have been deported from the United States to countries with which they have no ties. The Forbidden Stories consortium has presented an interactive map of these transfers, largely kept quiet by the U.S. government, revealing that some 35 countries have signed agreements for which the Trump administration has allocated a total budget of $410 million.

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Antonio José Ponte and Néstor Díaz de Villegas Explore Power and Repression in Cuba

Venue: Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus, Building 8, fifth floor, room 8503. 300 NE Second Avenue, Miami, Florida 33132, United States.Start date: November 22, 2026, 4:30 pm. End date: November 22, 2026, 5:30 pm.

Antonio José Ponte y Néstor Díaz de Villegas presentan dos libros que exploran diferentes momentos de la historia política cubana.

14ymedio, Miami, October 26, 2026 / Cuban writers Antonio José Ponte and Néstor Díaz de Villegas are taking part in the event Cuba: territorios del poder [Cuba: Territories of Power], a conversation about history, literary creation and the mechanisms of political repression on the island, as part of the Miami Book Fair program.

Ponte presents Desfila La Habana [Havana on Parade], a novel that combines fiction and reality to reconstruct the political and social atmosphere of Cuba between 1958 and 1959, in the months that preceded and accompanied the triumph of the Revolution. The work delves into a period of profound transformation, marked by the fall of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship and Fidel Castro’s rise to power.

A poet, fiction writer and essayist, Antonio José Ponte is one of the most recognized voices in contemporary Cuban literature. His books include La fiesta vigilada, Un seguidor de Montaigne mira La Habana and Contrabando de sombras. His writing has repeatedly explored the relationship between history and memory, as well as the material and symbolic ruins of Cuban society. continue reading

For his part, Néstor Díaz de Villegas presents Cómo entrar a una cárcel [How to Enter a Prison], a testimony that addresses the relationship between artistic creation, dissent and repression in revolutionary Cuba. The work draws on the experience of a writer who learned from a very young age the consequences of standing up to political power.

Díaz de Villegas was imprisoned in Cuba in the 1970s for political reasons and later settled in the United States, where he has built an extensive career as a poet, essayist and fiction writer. His work is characterized by a critical, often irreverent, view of Cuban history and culture.

Although they belong to different generations and use different narrative techniques, both authors share a concern with examining the weight of political power on individual and collective life. Their books offer two approaches to Cuba’s recent history: one through the literary reconstruction of the founding moment of the revolutionary regime, the other through the personal experience of repression.

The conversation will be led by Alejandro Ríos, a journalist and film and art critic, who will discuss with the writers their works and the potential of literature to revisit the past and question official narratives.

The event will be held in Spanish and is part of the Ibero-American program of the Miami Book Fair.

Translated by GH.

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Inter American Press Association Demands the Release of Henry Constantín and the Legalization of Independent Media in Cuba

On Nicaragua, the organization denounces that there continues to be “structural censorship and systematic persecution of independent journalism”

La SIP pide “el pleno respeto” de las garantías judiciales de Henry Constantín. / Facebook/Henry Constantín Ferreiro

14ymedio, Havana, October 26, 2026 / The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has once again included Cuba in the alerts it issued following its annual assembly, held this time in Bogotá (Colombia) this Sunday. In its report, the organization refers expressly to the case of Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and regional vice president for the island of the IAPA’s own Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information, whose pretrial detention it considers to be “especially serious.”

As the organization recalls, Constantín “remains held in the Kilo 7 prison, accused of disobedience, after a court rejected a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf.” It therefore demands his release “and full respect for his judicial guarantees and his right to a defense.”

In its recitals, the IAPA states that in Cuba “the use of police and judicial mechanisms against independent journalists, content creators and activists who report on matters of public interest has intensified, through arrests, summonses, surveillance, restrictions on movement and criminal proceedings,” and that “independent journalists continue to face restrictions on leaving the country, while the independent press lacks legal recognition and the State maintains control over the main media outlets, telecommunications and other activities essential to the production and dissemination of information.” continue reading

“The application of broad-reaching criminal offenses persists in cases linked to freedom of expression, as well as the lack of information on investigations”

According to the organization, Decree 160/2026 – which since last July has opened several activities to the private sector – actually reinforces control, “by limiting the possibility of formalizing independent media and keeping activities related to journalism, media publishing, news agencies and broadcasting under state control, in a context aggravated by blackouts and connectivity deficiencies.”

It also states that “the application of broad-reaching criminal offenses persists in cases linked to freedom of expression, as well as the lack of information on investigations or sanctions against those responsible for acts of harassment and repression.” In its statement, the IAPA cites the Declaration of Chapultepec, which establishes that “there are no free people or societies without freedom of expression and of the press” and that its exercise “is not a concession by the authorities; it is an inalienable right of the people.”

Thus, in addition to Constantín’s release, the organization urges the regime “to guarantee the recognition and functioning of independent media and to eliminate the rules and practices that restrict the exercise of press freedom.”

Likewise, it resolved “to condemn the harassment, surveillance, arrests and criminal proceedings against journalists, content creators and citizens for exercising their right to inform and to express themselves,” as well as “to demand an end to the arbitrary restrictions on movement and the bans on leaving the country imposed on journalists.”

“The decrease in physical attacks on the street does not reflect an improvement in guarantees, but rather the virtual disappearance of field journalism within the country”

At its 82nd General Assembly, the IAPA also referred to Nicaragua, attesting that the Government of spouses and co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo maintains “structural censorship and systematic persecution of independent journalism” in that country.

“The decrease in physical attacks on the street does not reflect an improvement in guarantees, but rather the virtual disappearance of field journalism within the country, where those who continue to report must do so clandestinely or under constant surveillance,” the IAPA warned in the report approved after the meeting in Bogotá.

The organization cites a study by the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (Fled), which has documented that since 2018 more than 300 journalists and media workers have gone into exile, while in 2025 at least 58 communicators left the profession due to economic precariousness, unemployment, the closure of news outlets and the risk of repression.

As a consequence, Fled identifies 11 departments (provinces) – 65% of the national territory – as “zones of informational silence,” although the efforts of media outlets and journalists in exile continue to keep the population informed.

In Nicaragua, moreover, there are currently no printed newspapers in circulation, it warned.

The IAPA indicated that, with street journalism having all but disappeared, state pressure has shifted to the digital sphere and to administrative and legal mechanisms

The IAPA indicated that, with street journalism having all but disappeared, state pressure has shifted to the digital sphere and to administrative and legal mechanisms.

In this regard, it said that in April 2025 the Government, through the state-run National University of Engineering (UNI), eliminated the .com.ni domains of outlets such as La Prensa, Onda Local and 100% Noticias.

A month later, the state-run Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (Telcor) ordered the closure of Radio Stereo Romance and confiscated its equipment, alleging technical non-compliance.

Between April and June of last year, Fled recorded 28 digital attacks, including smear campaigns, the disclosure of personal data and threats against journalists and their families, driven by networks of trolls and profiles sympathetic to the ruling party.

The IAPA also warned that the legal framework continues to be used as an instrument of intimidation and mentioned the reforms to the Special Law on Cybercrimes and to the Penal Code, which incorporated ambiguous concepts linked to “national security,” “sovereignty” and “stability of the State” that allow the dissemination of information deemed unauthorized to be restricted.

In addition, it noted that in 2026 a constitutional reform was also pushed through to raise to constitutional rank restrictions applicable to persons officially labeled as “coup plotters” or “traitors to the homeland,” labels that have been used against journalists.

Similarly, the inter-American organization stated that the right of access to public information remains practically inoperative for independent journalists.

Furthermore, Fled also documented attempts to recruit journalists as state informants. The National Police and other state agents are identified as those chiefly responsible for these practices, which include being followed, restrictions on mobility, confiscation of devices and interrogations, according to the report.

Translated by GH.
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Norbert Galland’s Last Set of Clothes Is for Sale

Inflation and the rising cost of living are forcing more and more elderly Cubans to work or part with their belongings.

He’s not updating his wardrobe or making room in the shop window; he’s selling what little he has just to be able to eat. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, October 23, 2026 / Norbert Galland doesn’t have a shop, a counter, or even a rack to display his merchandise. The corner of Vía Blanca and Diez de Octubre in Havana is all he needs to try and earn a few pesos. His small business can be counted in two hands: a white shirt, a dark one, and a few other items he takes from his own wardrobe. He’s not renovating his wardrobe or making room in the whop window; he’s selling what little he has to be able to eat.

Wearing a worn cap, his face gouged with wrinkles, and a thinness that seems to have diminished even his shadow, Galland stands by the sidewalk and holds up the shirts for passersby to examine. In his hands he holds a white garment, neatly buttoned and still on its hanger; also two shirts, one dark and one light, as if offering an assortment capable of satisfying any customer’s taste.

Motorcycles, tricycles, and trucks pass by. The traffic in this Havana neighborhood continues its course, indifferent to the elderly man who has turned the sidewalk into an improvised commercial establishment. A few meters away, potholes, puddles, and trash complete a scene that perfectly encapsulates the Cuba in which this impromptu vendor lives. continue reading

His small business could fit in two hands: a white shirt, a dark one, and a few other items he takes from his own wardrobe. / 14ymedio

Galland receives neither a pension nor state assistance, as he told 14ymedio. His situation is especially hard in a country that for decades boasted of having guaranteed social protection to all its citizens, from cradle to grave. Now, for many elderly people, that promise seems to have fallen short, precisely when they most need someone to uphold the other part of the bargain.

The streets of the island have become increasingly crowded in recent years with elderly people selling anything they can to supplement their income. Some offer candy, nylon bags, or single cigarettes; others collect cans, scavenge for food in the trash, or try to earn a few bills using skills learned decades ago. Old age, which should bring some rest, has become for many a workday with no set hours and no vacation time.

Their situation is especially difficult in a country that for decades boasted of having guaranteed social protection to all its citizens, from cradle to grave.

Inflation has eroded the purchasing power of pensions, while the dollar continues its climb on the black market, driving up food prices. Family support isn’t always an option either: children and grandchildren have emigrated, and not all of them can send remittances. Relatives who remain on the island are often just as financially strapped as their parents and grandparents.

In this geography of survival, Galland parts with his belongings to solve the problem of daily food.

The white shirt looks clean, intact, almost elegant. It could be worn for a celebration, an important visit, or a special occasion. But in the old man’s hands, it’s just a small financial reserve that dwindles with each passing hour, and no one buys it.

In Cuba, even the last Sunday best can end up as Monday’s lunch.

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Ten Cuban Rafters Rescued 12 Miles Off Isla Mujeres

One of the migrants showed signs of severe dehydration, and some said they were from Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Río.

The Cuban rafters asked not to be returned to the island. “We want asylum,” said one of the men. / Marina

14ymedio, Mexico City, Angel Salinas, October 25, 2026 / The National Migration Institute (INM) is holding 10 Cuban rafters who were rescued this Saturday 12 nautical miles south of Isla Mujeres. According to a source who requested anonymity, “some are from Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Río.” This group joins the other 11 migrants who arrived in Cancún in the last month on two boats.

The migrants asked not to be returned to the island. “We want asylum,” said one of the men as he was transferred from the Fifth Naval Region and later to the Advanced Naval Station in Puerto Juárez.

The same source confirmed that the Cubans will receive assistance for the process this Monday, although it warned, “it will be handled and will depend on the internal processes of Migration.”

The group made up of men claimed to have been “adrift for four days” and it is thanks to a cruise ship that spotted them that they survived. The Fifth Naval Region received an alert about a wooden raft with several people in danger. continue reading

The group of men claimed to have been adrift for four days and that they were only able to survive thanks to a cruise ship that spotted them. / Marina

The Ministry of the Navy coordinated the rescue operation and sent a speedboat from the Search and Rescue Station to the location. At the site they found “one person suffering from severe dehydration and nine others who received medical assistance.”

Fisherman Javier Robles tells 14ymedio that these arrivals make “a wave of clandestine arrivals possible. A few days ago it was revealed that there were 28 abandoned boats, some used by Cubans in the Nichupté Lagoon, but there have been many more.”

Robles recalled that in 2024 a fishing boat with registration PR5348F5a was abandoned on Playa de Mascotas; it remained there, and traces of that vessel can still be found. That same year, in the area known as El Riíto, “some Cubans, upon seeing the beach nearby, jumped ashore and disappeared into the streets.”

To this are added other Cubans who arrive through coyotes. Graviel García, a Cuban originally from Havana, confirmed to this newspaper in 2022 the clandestine departures from Pinar del Río. “I never contacted the smuggler, but I do know they charged $7,000, a lot for that danger,” he said at the time.

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When a Marxist Regime Needs God to Save It

After persecuting believers for decades, the Cuban Government turns to the Vatican in search of a political miracle

Miguel Díaz-Canel and other leaders of the Communist Party during a mass in memory of Pope Francis, in Havana. / Facebook/Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba / Facebook/Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Cuba

14ymedio, Madrid, Yunior García Aguilera, October 25, 2026 / After 67 years of die-hard Marxism, the Cuban Revolution seems determined to ask the Pope for a miracle. It is not about turning water into wine, although getting running water in Havana would already be a marvel. Nor about multiplying the loaves, which would come in quite handy. The miracle Cuba’s leaders need is far more complicated: getting their political system to survive. And since Marx isn’t answering, Lenin has been embalmed for too long and Che was never a specialist in resurrections, they have decided to try their luck with the Vatican.

The Cuban ambassador to the Holy See, Leyde Rodríguez Hernández, has just repeated the official invitation to Leo XIV to visit the island. They have been inviting him, without much luck, ever since the white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. But, for now, the Pope does not seem in any hurry to pack his bags for Havana.

The insistence comes in the midst of the worst economic crisis and growing tensions with Washington. The Communist Party, which for decades preached dialectical and historical materialism, seems to have discovered the practical advantages of divine intercession. Of course, it is not asking forgiveness for its sins. It is desperately asking for a favor. continue reading

In 1992 the State stopped declaring itself atheist. The move coincided, not at all by chance, with the collapse of the communist altars in Europe

It is worth recalling a few details of this sudden religious vocation. In the early years of the Revolution, the Government confiscated Catholic schools, expelled priests and turned faith into an obstacle to getting ahead professionally. Believers were discriminated against in universities, workplaces and political organizations. Some even ended up in the sadly notorious Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP), those forced labor camps where the aim was to correct, by dint of the machete, the ideological, sexual and spiritual deviations of Cubans.

Over time, official atheism softened. In 1991, the Party finally admitted believers, and in 1992 the State stopped declaring itself atheist. The move coincided, not at all by chance, with the collapse of the communist altars in Europe. There was no need to prove the existence of God by means of a scientific treatise. It was enough to realize that religion could be very useful in international relations.

In 1998 John Paul II arrived; then came Benedict XVI and Francis. Cuba’s leaders learned to take off their combat fatigues and receive pontiffs with smiles, ties, ceremonies and speeches about peace. They suddenly discovered the diplomatic advantages of appearing alongside the successor of Saint Peter.

The Government wants the Pope to talk about the embargo, but does not seem to show the same devotion when the bishops mention pluralism and freedoms

Vatican diplomacy has already intervened in prisoner releases and in negotiations with the United States. But the most recent episode deserves special attention. In March, Havana announced the release of 51 prisoners as a goodwill gesture toward the Holy See. According to later investigations by Prisoners Defenders, the beneficiaries included common criminals and only a tiny fraction were political prisoners. It was a veritable “Operation Barabbas.” Moreover, several of those released kept their sentences and restrictions.

It would be unfair, however, to confuse the intentions of the Vatican with those of the Palace of the Revolution. The Church has legitimate reasons to be concerned about the suffering of Cubans, to call for an end to the measures that worsen their hardships and to promote peaceful solutions. Leo XIV himself joined, in February, the appeal of the island’s bishops, who warned of the urgent need for profound changes. Curiously, that last part of the message tends to arouse considerably less enthusiasm in official offices. The Government wants the Pope to talk about the embargo, but does not seem to show the same devotion when the bishops mention pluralism and freedoms.

The Hermanos Saíz Association awards its Master of Youth prize to Frei Betto, a Brazilian friar whose loyalty to the Revolution has survived even its economic failures and its orders of combat

The question is what exactly Havana expects from a new papal visit. Mediation with Trump or with Marco Rubio, as Catholic as he is anti-Castro? An easing of sanctions? A photograph that would let the Government present itself to the world as a respectable interlocutor? Any of those possibilities is understandable in terms of political calculation. The trouble with inviting the Pope is that he might come with the inconvenient habit of also listening to his bishops.

And while the Foreign Ministry invites Leo XIV, the Hermanos Saíz Association awards its Master of Youth prize to Frei Betto, a Brazilian friar whose loyalty to the Revolution has survived even its economic failures and its orders of combat. We don’t know whether Cuban communism has finally found God, but it seems to have discovered that some foreign clerics turn out to be more deserving of tributes than troublesome local artists. For purely utilitarian reasons, mind you.

In the Catholic tradition, absolution requires repentance and a firm purpose of amendment. The Revolution seems very interested in absolution (and not only the historical kind, as the bearded one dreamed [a reference to Fidel Castro’s “History will absolve me”], but also the divine kind). It wants its debts forgiven, its sanctions lifted and another chance granted, but without renouncing any of the commandments of its own peculiar political catechism: a single party, blind obedience and prison for heretics.

Translated by GH

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Cuba Will Keep Daylight Saving Time All Year to Save Energy

Authorities will push back the start of school and work by 30 minutes between November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027

Imagen de archivo de los trabajos de mantenimiento del reloj de Quinta Avenida, en Miramar, La Habana. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, October 25, 2026 / Cubans will not have to set their clocks back an hour on November 1. The Government announced this Saturday that it will keep daylight saving time until November 7, 2027, with the aim of reducing electricity consumption during peak demand hours and easing the prolonged blackouts the country is suffering. The decision will also mean pushing back the start of school and work by half an hour over the coming months.

The measure was announced jointly by the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which estimate that keeping clocks forward will avoid a 126-megawatt (MW) increase in power outages during the evening hours, when one of the consumption peaks occurs.

According to the authorities, 76 MW correspond to the savings from making longer use of natural light, without the need to resort to artificial lighting, while the other 50 MW are attributed to the solar photovoltaic generation available at that time of day.

The statement, however, does not explain how those calculations were made or how much electricity consumption could rise during the early morning hours, when artificial lighting will have to be used for longer. continue reading

To offset the difficulties this change will cause at the start of the day, the authorities have ordered the start of school and work to be pushed back by 30 minutes

With the decision, Cuba will remain on UTC−4 throughout the winter, instead of returning to UTC−5, as usually happens when daylight saving time ends. This means that sunrise and sunset will occur an hour later by the clock, although the actual length of the day will remain exactly the same.

To offset the difficulties this change will cause at the start of the day, the authorities have ordered the start of school and work to be pushed back by 30 minutes between November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027, the period during which standard winter time would normally have been in effect.

The adjustment will not, however, prevent many students and workers from having to set out before sunrise. In Havana, for example, during the weeks around the December solstice, sunrise will come shortly after eight in the morning under the current time, which will force many families to carry out much of their morning routine still in the dark.

The ministries specified that the heads of workplaces must agree on the new schedules with the trade union organizations, in accordance with article 223.2 of Law 189, the Labor Code, of July 30, 2026. The change, they stated, may not result in any reduction in employees’ wages.

To justify the decision, the Government once again blamed Washington for the energy crisis. According to the official note, the tightening of the US embargo and what it calls an “energy siege” have caused a shortage of the fuel needed for electricity generation.

The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country’s largest generating unit, dropped off the SEN again this Saturday at 8:11 p.m., due to vibrations in the turbine

The fuel shortage, however, comes on top of the deterioration of the thermoelectric plants, the frequent breakdowns and the insufficient generating capacity that have plagued the national electricity system (SEN) for years. The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country’s largest generating unit, dropped off the SEN again this Saturday at 8:11 p.m., due to vibrations in the turbine. The Matanzas plant had been running for barely three days, having come back online on Wednesday after several breakdowns and failed synchronization attempts.

Nor has the addition of solar photovoltaic parks managed to eliminate the large deficits recorded every day, especially when solar radiation drops.

Keeping daylight saving time is intended to make better use of the overlap between natural light, photovoltaic output and peak consumption hours. However, moving the clocks forward does not in itself increase the amount of electricity generated by solar panels, whose output depends on the radiation they receive.

Nor have the authorities specified what proportion of the electricity deficit projected for the coming months the announced 126 MW represents, or whether they have calculated the effect of shifting part of the consumption to the mornings.

The decision comes in the midst of an electricity crisis that keeps numerous towns on the island subjected to daily blackouts of more than 20 hours, while the Government looks for ways to reduce demand without having sufficient generating capacity.

Translated by GH.

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A Enormous Sinkhole Becomes a Waterfall and a Trap for Pedestrians in Havana’s Cerro District

Water rushes into a deep cavity at Amenidad and Cruz del Padre, carrying with it the garbage accumulated in the street.

A woman lifts her shopping cart to cross the flooded area, while other pedestrians look for places to put their feet. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, October 24, 2026 / A massive sinkhole at the intersection of Amenidad and Cruz del Padre, in Havana’s Cerro municipality, has become a dangerous trap for pedestrians and vehicles. The pavement has a large opening through which rainwater pours down like a waterfall. Around the hole, sewer grates are displaced, the asphalt is broken up, and trash accumulates among the debris.

Barely meters away, several pedestrians try to cross the street, which has become a series of puddles and potholes. A woman lifts her shopping cart to cross the flooded area, while other passersby look for somewhere to put their feet without ending up in the water.

The danger is not hypothetical. In February 2025, Jonathan Oliva, a 12-year-old boy, died after being pulled into a sewer during floods that affected Havana. The boy was returning from school when he was swept away by the water in the Villanueva and Vía Blanca area of Luyanó, near the Miguel Enríquez Hospital. His body was found the next day.

Jonathan Oliva was 12 years old and was returning from school when he was sucked into a sewer. / Facebook

The tragedy shocked the capital and once again highlighted the deteriorating state of the sewage system. During a tour of the flooded areas, this newspaper observed numerous accumulations of garbage clogging the drains, while the water reached over a meter in some places.

Just a few steps away, everyday life tries to go on. / 14ymedio

Another fatal incident occurred in September 2022, when a girl was swept away by the current while trying to cross a flooded street with her cousin in the municipality of Cotorro. A man managed to rescue one of the girls, but was unable to save the other. Some witnesses claimed at the time that both had been swept into a storm drain. continue reading

Vehicles have also become trapped in Havana’s enormous potholes. In June 2024, a motorcycle and a car fell into a deep, water-filled crater at the intersection of Infanta and Ayestarán streets, also in the Cerro neighborhood. Neighbors helped recover the motorcycle, and no injuries were reported.

In April of that same year, another enormous pothole in the same municipality had become an impromptu swimming pool where several children were bathing. According to residents, it had been open for about five years without the authorities addressing the problem. The hole was so large that it prevented larger vehicles from passing.

The problem resurfaced with particular severity in July of this year, when rains and clogged drains created a river of sewage in Cuatro Caminos, in Central Havana. A neighbor expressed her fear at the time that another child would be swept away by the current, as had happened to Jonathan Oliva.

In Amenidad and Cruz del Padre, meanwhile, water drips into the sinkhole, amidst debris, displaced grates, and broken pavement edges. Just a few steps away, daily life tries to go on, as if resigned to the fact that this and other disasters are an unavoidable part of normality.

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The U.S. Acknowledges That the Cuban Regime Diverts Fuel Intended for the Private Sector

A State Department spokesperson maintains that the Havana government “must now resort to subterfuge and illegality” to obtain fuel.

The U.S. State Department celebrates that Washington’s policy toward the Island “has broken the Cuban regime’s monopoly on fuel.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, October 24, 2026 — The U.S. government acknowledges that some of the fuel it exports to Cuba’s private sector may end up in the hands of the regime. This is stated by a State Department spokesperson in a statement sent to journalist David Adams, to which 14ymedio obtained access.

“We cannot rule out some diversion to figures or entities linked to the regime, but we will continue cracking down on its efforts to evade sanctions, targeting any company that knowingly supplies the regime,” the spokesperson states, adding that “the regime must now resort to subterfuge and illegality just to obtain a small portion of the fuel entering the country, instead of controlling the entire market.”

The statement celebrates that Washington’s policy toward the Island “has already brought about the greatest privatization in the history of the Cuban economy,” and recalls that after Venezuela cut off its free oil supplies to the regime, some of which was resold abroad for foreign currency, the spokesperson notes, the Trump administration maintained fuel exports to Cuban private business owners. These, the spokesperson says, “now import and sell to other private businesses, humanitarian NGOs, and diplomatic establishments,” meaning that “the regime’s monopoly on fuel has been broken.” continue reading

“The Trump administration continues to target key sources of revenue for the illegitimate Cuban regime by imposing sanctions. We are also combating the regime’s evasion of sanctions,” the State Department emphasizes.

The regime must now resort to subterfuge and illegality just to obtain a small portion of the fuel entering the country, instead of controlling the entire market.

This statement was issued in the context of Washington’s offensive against fuel shipments intended for the state sector. On October 7, agencies of the Department of Homeland Security announced the seizure of 90 shipments of biodiesel, 71 at Port Everglades, Florida, and 19 in Houston, Texas. Their value was around $2.8 million, and their destination was the state-owned company Enetec, which was added to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list on July 13.

Washington’s acknowledgment confirms what this newspaper has been documenting since April, when the authorities began leasing state-owned gas stations to MSMEs* like Acapulco, in Nuevo Vedado, to dispense fuel purchased in the United States. It had been possible to establish since then that the Ticket platform, managed by Cimex, a corporation belonging to the Gaesa military conglomerate and sanctioned by OFAC, was already selling gasoline and diesel in dollars in Havana when only private businesses were permitted to import them from the United States.

A month later, this newspaper confirmed that Transmed vehicles and those of other state-owned companies were refueling at the former Shell station in Guanabacoa, using pumps leased by private operators, which U.S. regulations expressly prohibit.

In September, 14ymedio revealed this connection in a more disturbing way: the El Eficiente gas station, one block from Villa Marista, was supplying vehicles belonging to the state-owned Sepsa, trucks operated by the so-called Black Berets—special brigades of the Ministry of the Interior—and Suzuki motorcycles belonging to State Security. More than five months had passed since the last oil tanker carrying hydrocarbons had arrived in Cuba—the Anatoly Kolodkin, from Russia—and since the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, had publicly declared: “We have absolutely no fuel oil; we have absolutely no diesel.”

Among the documents demonstrating this connection is an invoice dated September 21 from Cimex-Mariel to an Oro Negro service station for more than 23,000 liters of gasoline

Just a few weeks ago, an incident once again exposed this connection: a fire in a fuel tank at Azutecnia, a subsidiary of the state-owned Azcuba company, in Granma province. The official information does not specify what type of fuel burned or where it came from, but Cuba lacks the capacity to produce refined fuel from its domestic crude oil.

As of today, the Ticket platform, which continues to sell fuel at state-owned service stations, remains the most visible indication. Not only are gasoline and diesel sales still taking place in the provinces, but prices have also fallen over the past several months.

An investigation by ADN Cuba and Martí Noticias, published this Friday, has confirmed that Cimex purchases fuel from 21 suppliers, at least 16 of them MSMEs*, and resells it through its network of service stations, in addition to supplying the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. Among the documents demonstrating this connection is an invoice dated September 21 from Cimex-Mariel to an Oro Negro service station for more than 23,000 liters of gasoline. Cimex does not appear as a direct importer, but rather as a purchaser of fuel supplied by Cuban MSMEs.

From January through August of this year, the total value of petroleum products exported from the United States to the Island reached $231.74 million, an unprecedented figure in the entire history of trade relations between the two countries.

These specific figures did not prevent De la O Levy from stating in a recent interview with Reuters about those imports: “I would venture to say that the quantity entering the country does not even cover 3% of its fuel needs.”

“No Cuban state-owned company has managed to secure a fuel contract, whether for small or large quantities,” the minister said at the time.

*Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Prison Sentences of 4 and 5 Years for Several Starlink Antenna Sellers in Santa Clara, Cuba

A pro-government account claims that 37 devices were confiscated and threatens to apply the law to buyers, transporters, and distributors.

““Legalize other companies that compete with Etecsa’s terrible service, and you’ll see that no one will risk losing so much money,” a user claims./ 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, October 24, 2026 – Several citizens of Santa Clara were sentenced to between four and five years in prison for selling Starlink antennas, according to a post circulated by the pro-government account Alejandro Noticias Cuba in the Facebook group Mipymes Santa Clara/ Motorcycle Parts. The message claims that 37 satellite internet connection devices were confiscated and threatens to extend the sanctions to everyone involved in this clandestine market, including transporters and buyers.

According to the post, the detainees were part of a network dedicated to illegally bringing in and selling these antennas. During searches conducted at the homes of those involved and the buyers, the authorities seized all 37 devices. The text states that the transporters were also sanctioned, while those who received the equipment were fined 100,000 pesos and had their antennas confiscated.

However, the account does not identify the convicted individuals, specify which court issued the sentences, or present judicial documents that would make it possible to verify the events. The information attributes the convictions to alleged “sources close to the defendants’ families.”

The account demands that citizens report anyone attempting to bring in, transport, sell, or buy Starlink antennas

The message goes beyond reporting a police operation. “Let no one be under any illusions; this is not an isolated confiscation or a theoretical warning,” it states, before asserting that the sentences are final. It then demands that citizens report anyone attempting to bring in, transport, sell, or buy Starlink antennas. “Don’t become the next case,” it concludes.

The warning is circulating at a time of growing tension between Havana and Washington. This Friday, U.S. President Trump said during a rally in Florida that the military ships deployed in the war against Iran would pass along the Cuban coast on their return. He even spoke of stopping one of them about 45 meters from the Island and then sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “close the deal.”

Rubio, for his part, encouraged those seeking political change in Cuba to cooperate discreetly with the CIA. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected Trump’s statements and warned that the Cuban coast would be an “inhospitable” territory for anyone arriving with hostile intentions.

In this climate of confrontation, the pro-government camp has repeatedly sought to associate independent satellite communications with possible operations against the Government. The Santa Clara post explicitly mentions the armed incident in Corralillo, Villa Clara, which occurred last February, when the authorities intercepted a vessel coming from the United States, killing half of its crew. According to the official account, a Starlink terminal was among the equipment seized.

The Starlink devices sold to private individuals in Cuba and other countries are not the specialized Starshield systems that SpaceX develops for defense applications

The message uses that precedent to justify the crackdown on commercial antennas. However, it omits a fundamental distinction: the Starlink devices sold to private individuals in Cuba and other countries are not the specialized Starshield systems that SpaceX develops for defense applications and that Ukraine uses in certain drone operations. Although they share technological infrastructure, Starshield is designed for government and military missions, while Starlink is simply a commercial satellite internet service.

The Cuban authorities’ offensive against Starlink did not begin now. In April 2025, the Cuban Government confiscated 20 satellite kits and 85 routers through Customs, after official agencies warned of fines and confiscations. In May 2026, the Ministry of Communications updated import regulations and maintained restrictions on satellite terminals operating without agreements with the Government.

Article 295 of the Penal Code establishes prison sentences of three to eight years for those who organize, distribute, finance, or profit from unauthorized telecommunications services, as well as for those who sell equipment intended for such activities.

“If Etecsa doesn’t work, then you get a Starlink and that’s that”

Despite the prohibitions, the clandestine market continues. In April, this newspaper documented the presence of these antennas in Havana, Matanzas, and Santa Clara, with prices ranging from $1,300 to $1,800. Some owners also redistribute the connection to neighbors through small private networks. Another report published in July collected accounts from users who paid between $50 and $80 per month to access these connections.

The publication of Alejandro Noticias Cuba has prompted numerous expressions of disapproval. “The real crime is being outside the State’s control,” comments Josué Castillo. Other users believe the authorities should improve Etecsa’s service instead of pursuing alternatives.

“Legalize other companies that compete with Etecsa’s terrible service, and you’ll see that no one will risk losing so much money,” demands Edel Gálvez.

An anonymous participant sums up the frustration with a comparison: “If Cupet can’t sell you gasoline, you find another option; if UNE doesn’t provide you with electricity, you look for renewable energy, and if Etecsa doesn’t work, then you get a Starlink and that’s that.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Rubio Asks Cubans to Cooperate With the CIA; Regime Invites the Pope in Response

The intelligence agency publishes a guide to help contact it anonymously from Cuba, and Bruno Rodríguez issues threats against the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an archival photograph. / EFE/Ricardo Maldonado Rozo

EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana, October 24, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged on Friday those who want to bring about a change of government in Cuba to embark on “discreet collaboration with the CIA.”

Rubio published the message on X: “For those seeking to bring about positive change in Cuba, this is the moment. Faced with disappointment over unfulfilled promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of a few, seize this opportunity to create the change you want through discreet collaboration with the CIA.”

This Saturday, the CIA published a seven-step guide on its official Instagram account, aimed at Cubans who want to contact the agency safely and anonymously. The text accompanying the post is explicit: “The CIA wants to know the truth about Cuba, and we are looking for trustworthy people who know the truth and can communicate it to us. Your information may be more valuable than you think.” continue reading

The guide directs users to the intelligence agency’s official website and recommends that those who want to make contact use a new device and email address unconnected to their identity, as well as a VPN with a server outside Cuba and other countries that Washington considers hostile.

Rubio’s message came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump declared, during a rally in Florida, that once the war against Iran was over, the U.S. Navy would navigate to the Island. According to Trump, following its arrival, representatives of the Cuban Government would “raise their hands,” and he would send “Marco Rubio there to close the deal.” The president maintained that Washington would “simply put” Rubio in Cuba and that “he’ll get it done.”

“The CIA wants to know the truth about Cuba, and we are looking for trustworthy people who know the truth and can communicate it to us”

Trump’s statements come amid the election campaign in Florida, Rubio’s home state and the location of the largest Cuban American community in the country.

For his part, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel reacted on Friday by accusing the U.S. of harboring “ambitions of domination” over the Island. He also reiterated the official government narrative that “it is good to remember that we Cubans achieved our true independence on January 1, 1959, and we are determined to defend it.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also lashed out on social media against what he called “any threat involving U.S. ambitions” toward the Island. In a belligerent tone, the foreign minister stated that Cuba’s shores have “beautiful beaches,” but warned that they also have “dog’s teeth”: inhospitable terrain for those who arrive with hostile intentions and a desire for domination.

On Thursday, the Cuban Government had already taken advantage of a meeting with journalists at the Holy See to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit the Island and once again demand the lifting of the U.S. embargo. Cuba’s ambassador to the Vatican, Leyde Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, conveyed the invitation to the pontiff during a meeting with journalists. The diplomat repeated the official message: “Cuba is not a threat; the blockade is.”

His statements come just days before the United Nations General Assembly debates, on October 27 and 28, the resolution that calls every year for an end to the embargo against Cuba. The Vatican has not commented on the invitation, so there has been no public acceptance by the pontiff and no date has been set for a possible visit.

This exchange of messages is taking place amid a climate of confrontation that has intensified since January, when the U.S. imposed an oil blockade on the Island. Since then, Washington has progressively added “maximum pressure” measures targeting vital sectors of the economy and companies doing business with the Cuban regime, seeking political change in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Sea Opens Up to Cubans With the Opening of Havana’s First Nautical Store

Delcos Marine, linked to a Spanish company, offers products for maritime activities, a sector closely monitored by the regime.

The new Delcos Marine nautical store, next to the Almendares River in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, October 22, 2026 – Alongside the Iron Bridge over the Almendares River, at the boundary separating Havana’s El Vedado and Miramar neighborhoods, several men have been working for weeks to renovate an industrial warehouse. This is the location Delcos Marine has chosen to open its first nautical store in Cuba, a country surrounded by water where all maritime activities are considered matters of national security.

What was once an abandoned, shabby warehouse is now a freshly painted light-blue building, equipped with several solar panels and decorated with eye-catching advertising signs: a smiling woman splashing in the sea, a man on a paddleboard, a hand holding an immaculate fishing rod, two divers in full gear, and the railing of a boat, all set against crystal-clear waters.

The opening of a private business on the Island is not news, but Delcos Marine’s specialty is an event in itself: it offers “everything for sailing, fishing, diving, or simply enjoying a great day at the beach” in a country where sailing, fishing, and diving are subject to strict controls. On its website, which still lists neither prices nor sales, Delcos Marine features several sections offering every type of sea-related product, from water sports equipment to marine hardware and recreational items. Rods, hooks, fishing line, snorkeling equipment, swimsuits, wetsuits, masks, fins, and outboard motor spare parts are among the items on the list, at least on paper. continue reading

Delcos Marine offers “everything for sailing, fishing, diving, or simply enjoying a great day at the beach.” / 14ymedio

“Your next catch starts here” is the slogan the store uses on its social media accounts to announce its upcoming opening, which, nevertheless, has yet to take place. The store’s Facebook account has been active for almost three years, and the first post introducing it as a “nautical marketplace” is dated April 15, 2024.