Translating Cuba – Page 40 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

‘Chikungunya’, the Word of the Year in Cuba

Everywhere you hear: “So-and-so was knocked down by a fever” or “So-and-so hasn’t been able to move her legs for a week”

The number of wakes held at funeral homes in Havana has increased in recent weeks. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, 26 November 2025 — Just a few months ago, “chikungunya” was an unpronounceable word for most Cubans. It sounded like a distant term, one of those exotic diseases that appear on international news reports. But today, that strange term dominates conversations in the lines, on social media posts, and, worst of all, in the concerns of millions of people on the island. It has become, without question, the word of the year in Cuba.

Everywhere you hear: “So-and-so got knocked out by the fever,” “So-and-so hasn’t been able to move her legs for a week,” “The children in the building have swollen joints,” or “The neighbor can only manage to swallow gelatin.” The illness is no longer a statistic but a face, a voice, a weakness. It has the smell of homemade insecticide that families use to try to defend themselves and the sound of the insistent buzzing of mosquitoes that come in through the windows.

According to recent data, more than 50,000 Cubans were hospitalized last week with arboviral diseases, including dengue and oropouche. The extent of the problem can no longer be concealed. In provinces like Villa Clara, Camagüey, and Holguín, hospitals are at capacity, and in many municipalities, family doctors quietly admit that “this is out of control.” But while chikungunya spreads, the authorities have opted for caution. First, they downplayed the presence of the virus, then limited themselves to vague references to “local transmission.” Between one ambiguous statement and another even more confusing one, the country became increasingly filled with fever, rashes, and aching knees. continue reading

In many cities, garbage collection has ceased to be a daily task and has become a sporadic event.

The deteriorating epidemiological situation surprises no one. It is accompanied, like an inseparable shadow, by the collapse of basic services. In numerous cities, garbage collection has gone from a daily task to a sporadic occurrence. Mountains of waste rot in the sun. Adding to this visible decay are the power outages, which force people to open doors and windows to cope with the nighttime heat, precisely when the Aedes aegypti mosquito is having its feast.

Then there’s the water: it either arrives dirty, or only once a week, or with such low pressure that it forces people to store it in every container they can find. In this precarious ecosystem, breeding grounds multiply, while the old vector control program—that army of fumigators and inspectors—disappeared for years. The sound of fumigation wasn’t heard until just a few days ago, when the health crisis forced the reactivation of a tiny fraction of that massive campaign.

The streets know more than official bulletins. They know about the elderly man who spent ten days with a fever, unable to be admitted because there were “no beds” available. They know about the mother who, faced with the lack of state-provided insecticide, paid a private company 1,200 pesos for fumigation—a quarter of her monthly salary. They know about the young man who, despite his physical strength, shudders in pain, as if each bone had been replaced by a piece of rusted metal. And they know about the accounts that spread out from overflowing funeral homes, always faster than the official press, always more honest than any part of the Ministry of Public Health.

That is why, when someone says “chikungunya,” no one asks what it means anymore. It means a country that can barely move and is at the mercy of the mosquito. A word that was unspeakable yesterday has become commonplace today. A word that, unfortunately, sums up better than any other 2025 in Cuba .

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The Lethality of the Epidemic Is “Incompatible” With Chikungunya, Say Cuban Doctors

The symptoms that affect the entire country do not correspond to an arbovirus but to a respiratory disease similar to Covid

Everything indicates a person-to-person contagion. Not by a vector. So what are we talking about?” / RL Hevia

14ymedio, Havana, November 30, 2025 — Cuba is experiencing a wave of febrile diseases which, according to the Ministry of Public Health, are mainly due to an outbreak of chikungunya. However, on social networks the official diagnosis is discussed with growing mistrust, while reports of severe clinical episodes, unexpected deaths and symptoms that, according to many doctors and patients, do not fit with the usual description of arboviruses proliferate.

The publications of Dr. Reinaldo Verona Bonce, from Ciego de Ávila, who has worked for decades in tropical medicine, have catalyzed a conversation that, in a few hours, spread throughout the island. In an extensive analysis published on Facebook, the author states that “the lethality present in our country is incompatible with historical records” of chikungunya, and the current transmission patterns “deny the epidemiology of the arboviruses.”

A particularly worrisome point in the debate is the unusual severity of symptoms in children, which several doctors consider to be incompatible with a typical chikungunya outbreak. “My son was in therapy with bronchopneumonia and shortness of breath. What does a mosquito have to do with this clinical picture? I also saw babies with the same,” warned Karina Silveira after her son’s hospitalization. For Dr. Verona Bonce, the occurrence of critical cases in newborns and adolescents “is unprecedented in Caribbean arboviruses.”

The doctor says that, while the medical literature describes chikungunya as a generally benign virus — with a mortality rate of only 0.1% — in Ciego de Ávila, “daily mortality has increased from an average of 12 to 14 people to 34 in 24 hours.” At the same time, he denounces the absence of conclusive diagnostic tests: “Without PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests to detect the cause, there is no possible diagnosis,” he insists.

The doctor particularly questions the speed at which the disease has spread. “Female mosquitos cannot make an entire country sick in weeks. Whole families become infected in unison, and you get sick if you visit a patient. One vector does not explain this,” he wrote, referring to continue reading

the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

“The spread, contagion and severity are more consistent with a respiratory virus than with an arbovirus”

The recurrence of symptoms in people who had already suffered chikungunya is another point that worries doctors and citizens. The medical literature indicates that this virus usually generates lasting immunity, with relapses considered exceptional. However, several users describe the opposite. “I am seeing that people who already were in remission now present again with the virus when they should have immunity. This leaves many questions,” wrote Neyda Nocedo, a Cuban who worked in Venezuela during previous outbreaks.

Other health professionals have begun to express similar doubts. Marisabel Delgado Quintero, a doctor at the Antonio Luaces Iraola General Hospital, comments: “The spread, contagion and severity coincide more with a respiratory virus than with an arbovirus. No mask has been recommended, nor distancing; nor was the initial outbreak contained in Matanzas.” In her opinion, the scenario greatly resembles the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hypotheses about a possible respiratory pathogen –or the simultaneous circulation of several viruses — are not new, but they have gained strength due to lack of official information. Dr. Verona Bonce himself points out that there is no feedback between the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine and the provinces, and that the results of dengue tests are neither confirmed nor explained.

Among the most controversial theories is the one posted on social media by Ulises Camacho, who asked people “not to be scandalized” by his approach: “It is necessary to review the long-term effects of all the Covid vaccines that were applied hastily in Cuba.” In his view, the fact that the current epidemic appears to be concentrated exclusively on the island –with no similar outbreaks elsewhere in the Caribbean or Latin America — would indicate that “there must be a very specific factor causing this only here.” His words sparked an intense discussion. While some users appreciated that “someone mentioned the issue,” others recalled that there is no scientific evidence linking vaccines to the current outbreak, and they warned of the risk of turning uncertainty into unfounded suspicions.

Beyond the scientific debate, hundreds of users have shared their personal experiences. Many describe prolonged symptoms, relapses, severe joint inflammation, generalized rash and, in some cases, difficulty breathing or severe pneumonia.

Daniela, a young woman from Havana, recounts: “I had a fever of 39 [102.2 F], swollen lymph nodes, a bulge in my groin, pain in my wrists and heels, a rash from my face to my feet. I had no respiratory symptoms. A friend of my mom’s got the same and died three days later from ‘pneumonia’.”

The variety of symptoms fuels a sense of uncertainty. No one knows exactly what is circulating, and the health system, already hit by shortages and lack of staff, is not offering answers. Many patients claim that they were sent home without diagnostic tests and without a clear clinical diagnosis.

Concern increases in communities where several deaths were reported within a few days. In Holguín, Leyza Beatriz Lorenzo, laments the death of two girls: “No one says anything; there are neither alerts nor a quarantine. That’s what they should be doing now.”

“They gave the virus a name, but I don’t think anyone knows what it is”

Another report comes from Mayabeque. Herminia Santana, a funeral home worker, describes a continuous flow of burials: “We haven’t had any relief for more than a week. Even with Covid, we didn’t see this.” Reporters from 14ymedio have been able to corroborate this by visiting cemeteries and funeral homes, where they have noted a much larger influx than usual.

In Ciego de Ávila, a doctor comments anonymously that hospitals “are full of children and adults with fulminant pneumonia and arrhythmias,” and the current protocols “do not respond to the picture we are seeing.”

These experiences do not confirm a real increase in mortality, since the government does not publish transparent statistics, but they do reveal a social perception of the crisis. The lack of transparency of the Ministry of Health has created a vacuum that is filled with speculation. Dr. Verona Bonce himself warns that his hypotheses do not seek to generate political alarm but to call for medical logic: “The idiots come out saying that this is the fault of imperialism. It’s science, reasoning. If three months ago there had been a quarantine in Matanzas, this would have been prevented.”

What is clear is that the disease affects a huge percentage of the population. In Los Palos, Mayabeque, Rosita Betancourt describes a bleak picture: “Here, 90% of us have the virus. I have been in unbearable pain since October 12. I went to the doctor, and without a test they told me it was the virus.”

The general frustration is summed up in the comment of Maguy Díaz, who has been sick for 12 days: “They gave a name to the virus, but I think nobody knows what it is.”

While the government maintains a uniform message — “it’s chikungunya”– the citizen debate shows an epidemic that behaves like nothing Cuba has seen before, in a country with a weakened health system and public confidence at historic lows. Dr. Verona Bonce closes one of his messages with a phrase that is now repeated throughout the island: “Everything speaks in favor of a person-to-person contagion. Not by a vector. So what are we talking about?”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Egg Breaks Another Record in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba

In a shop in Kilo 12, a carton now costs 3,400 pesos, putting it even further out of reach for many households.

Eggs for sale in a private shop in Sancti Spíritus. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, November 27, 2025 — For months, in Sancti Spíritus, they said – with a mixture of resignation and hope – that the price of eggs “could not go any higher”. When a carton of 30 eggs climbed to 3,000 pesos, many Sancti Spíritus residents claimed that the product had reached its ceiling. “It won’t go any higher,” they repeated in farmers’ markets, improvised queues and WhatsApp groups. But this week, in a small private shop in the Kilo 12 neighbourhood, a handwritten sign shattered that illusion of a limit being reached: 3,400 pesos.

The scene in front of the shop seems routine, but something in the atmosphere suggests that it is not. Three people wait in line—a young woman in flip-flops, a woman in very short shorts, and a heavyset man carrying a bag slung across his back—none of them speaking. The stillness has a visible weight. Even the black and white cat prowling near the peeling wall moves with a certain caution, as if it understands that an invisible barrier has been crossed in that corner.

The rough granite counter holds several cartons of 30 eggs each. Each one is an expensive promise, a small privilege for those who can still afford it. In a country where the average monthly wage is less than 6,500 pesos, buying one of these cartons means spending more than half of one’s monthly income. A luxury for some, an urgent necessity for others.

Workers leaving their homes complain loudly, pensioners stop to stare incredulously at the sign, and motorcyclists drive slowly past.

>The seller, safely inside the shop, spends the day repeating the same phrase to those who approach: “Yes, they’re now 3,400.” In the neighbourhood, news of the new price spreads quickly: workers leaving their homes complain loudly, pensioners stop to stare incredulously at the sign, and motorcyclists drive by slowly, as if weighing up whether it is worth stopping. Some even clean their glasses for fear that dust has distorted the price.

In Cuba, eggs have always been a barometer of the crisis. Their price rose with inflation, with the lack of feed for poultry, with the decline in domestic production and with speculation by those who fill the gaps left by the state. But this jump of 400 pesos in a few weeks has another flavour: that of absolute vulnerability. “My pension is 3,000 pesos, which isn’t even enough for a carton,” says a man watching the scene from a safe distance.

In the city, residents make complex calculations, given that many shops only sell whole cartons, not individual eggs. “Do you want to buy half?” one neighbour shouts to another on the opposite pavement. Inflation forces people to resort to increasingly distressing arithmetic.

Translated by GH
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506 years of Havana, Between Suffering and Contrasts / 14ymedio

Havana turns 506 today. Founded on 16 November 1519, the city celebrates a birthday that does not hide its age: there are cities that age gracefully, and then there is Havana, marked by the wrinkles of neglect and the harm from continuing abandonment. / 14ymedio

1/12 The rains expose the cracks in an exhausted infrastructure. Streets that flood in minutes and entire neighbourhoods trapped under water are a reminder that urban drainage has been crying out for help for decades / 14ymedio

2/12 Getting around the city has become an odyssey. Fuel shortages and the collapse of public transport have emptied even the most well-known places. The iconic Calle 23, with its Coppelia ice cream parlour, is now quiet rather than than bustling. / 14ymedio

3/12 Long and frequent power cuts have shaped daily life in Havana. On the horizon, the column of smoke from the Turkish tankers anchored in the bay has become a permanent feature of the landscape, casting a shadow over the city. / 14ymedio

4/12 Since the protests of 11 July 2021, Havana has been under tighter surveillance. Arbitrary arrests and increased patrols are a reminder that the country’s largest city has also become subject to increased control. / 14ymedio

5/12 Begging is growing at an alarming rate. Tired faces, broken bodies and outstretched hands seeking coins reveal the depth of the economic and social deterioration in the capital. / 14ymedio

6/12 The decline in tourism shows very clearly. Streets that were once bustling now look dull, with businesses looking forward to a high season that will never come and a city that misses the sound of multiple languages. / 14ymedio

7/12 The dollar has reshaped Havana. In the last year, shops and markets that only accept foreign currency have proliferated, erecting an invisible wall between those who can buy and those who can only watch from the outside. / 14ymedio

8/12 The lack of cash and the banking collapse are causing long lines at ATMs every day. People wait for hours to get money that often doesn’t appear. / 14ymedio

9/12 Nothing, however, reflects the decay quite like the mountains of accumulated garbage. Entire street corners transformed into makeshift dumps speak volumes about a garbage collection service that ceased functioning long ago. / 14ymedio

10/12 Building collapses are now part of everyday urban life. Every week, a building gives way, a balcony falls, a family is displaced. The city ages through a combination of gravity and neglect. / 14ymedio

11/12 Housing insecurity is an open wound. Despite the mass exodus, thousands of families continue to live amidst leaky roofs, shoring up structures, and the constant fear that their roofs will give way. / 14ymedio

12/12 Havana is also this exhausted man, stopped on his bicycle. We don’t know if it’s work fatigue or the virus—the one that stiffens muscles and routines—that immobilizes him. But his posture perfectly encapsulates a city that reaches its 506th year exhausted, yet still clinging to the hope of moving forward. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, 17 November 2025

Translator: GH

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With the Swine Fever in Spain, Cubans Could Run Out of Pork by the End of the Year

The disease detected in Catalonia has forced the suspension of exports to 40 countries

The price of pork will rise as the Christmas festivities approach. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, November 29, 2025 — The outbreak of African swine fever in groups of Catalan boars has forced the Spanish government to suspend 120 health certificates for the export of various pork products to 40 countries, including Cuba. The ban covers meat and pork products, sausages, hams, pig fat, offal, genetic material, semen, breeding pigs, feed materials, piglets for fattening, intestines and pig embryos.

African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease affecting only domestic and feral pigs. It is not transmitted to humans but causes hemorrhagic fever and high mortality in infected animals. Because of its easy spread and devastating impact on farms, countries impose strict trade restrictions whenever an outbreak occurs.

Spain has not had a case of swine fever since 1994. The current outbreak causes it to lose its African swine fever (ASF)-free status from the World Organization for Animal Health, and, therefore, its products can no longer carry this certificate.

Spain has not had a case of swine fever since 1994

However, not all countries react in the same way to an ASF outbreak. Some large importers, such as China, which is the largest purchaser of Spanish pork, accept regionalization, which means that they will only restrict imports from the affected area, in this case Catalonia, allowing the rest of the Spanish territory to continue exporting normally. This is not the case in Cuba, which does not apply this principle and imposes a total ban on pork products as soon as an outbreak of the disease is detected anywhere in Spain.

The situation hits the pockets, already punished, of Cuban families. / 14ymedio

The unexpected outbreak is a severe blow to Spanish pig producers and also for Cuba, which depends almost entirely on imports to meet its meat demand due to the collapse continue reading

of its own industry, which is at historical lows. Spain is, since 2023, the main supplier of pork to the island, followed by the United States and Brazil. We will have to see how these health measures affect Cuban tables, at least for those who can afford it this year. The temporary loss of this key supplier coincides with a Cuban market already under pressure from shortages, rising food prices and persistent weakness in domestic production.

A pound of boneless pork exceeded 1,000 pesos this November

In most of the country’s agricultural markets, a pound of boneless pork exceeded 1,000 pesos this November, and, as is usually the case, its price will rise as the festivities approach. The suspension of purchases from Spain will make the traditional end-of-year dish even more unaffordable.

So far, there is no official pronouncement by the Cuban health authorities on whether or not the entry of pork products from Spain through travelers or personalized shipments will be maintained. This is a common technique to introduce food into the country, which since 2021 is maintained with a tariff exemption for “non-commercial” import of medicines and food. The situation is aggravated by the proximity of the Christmas dates, when demand for pork meat, sausages and ham grows. This extraordinary situation may hit the pockets of Cuban families hard at end of this year.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Chinese Prefer To Do Business With Cuba’s Private Sector

The state owes them a lot of money and lacks production capacity, unlike MSMEs, says entrepreneur Wu Han

Chinese products stand at Fihav 2025. / Xinhua

14ymedio, Madrid, 28 November 2025 — Chinese businesspeople attending the Havana International Fair (Fihav 2025) have set their sights on Cuba’s private sector. Tired of non-payments, the only thing that currently unites them with the state is almost a feeling of compassion. “We have had a lot of problems and are looking for solutions. It’s not that we want to abandon state-owned companies; we have cooperated over many years. Cuba is going through a difficult situation right now, and we don’t want to put pressure on them,” says Wu Han, representative of the Auto Caiec company on the island.

IPS’s entry into the Expocuba exhibition centre has been a breath of fresh air. The regime only allows accredited press to access Fihav, making it difficult to obtain more than official information about what goes on there. But news agency reporter Dariel Pradas has found a goldmine of Chinese companies in Hall 10 that export from their country to the island, a business niche they have no intention of passing up.

“The situation here is different from other countries. They don’t have the capacity to produce things, and everything has to be brought in from continue reading

outside, almost always from China. Now MSMEs* are buying a lot of things. It’s an opportunity for all foreign firms,” said Wu Han.

“The situation here is different from in other countries. They don’t have the capacity to produce things, and everything has to be brought in from outside, almost always from China.”

His company has been on the island for decades, arriving in 1995 to sell generators. Now, he says, the business includes cars, lorries, agricultural machinery, raw materials, food and fertilisers, among other things. Wu Han says that the main customer was always the state, which was logical during the years when private enterprise was prohibited, but since its creation was approved, things have changed radically and there is now almost no trade with the state sector.

The article points out that the state hardly has any ability to pay, and his company demands payment in advance, “like other Chinese companies”. According to the businessman, things have changed on this, and, with a few exceptions, no goods are now unloaded unless they have been paid for. Ten years ago, however, the Chinese accepted payment terms of between one and two years.

Patience has run out for China Auto Caiec, to which the state owes some £140 million since 2015, meaning that concessions are no longer available. However, they do not plan to leave for two reasons: they hope to recover the debt one day and, in the meantime, they are negotiating with private companies. “The Cuban market is unique in the world,” said Wu Han.

The article, published on Friday by IPS, highlights the debt owed to two other companies from the Asian giant. Zhaoke, on the island since 2004, and Liaoning Mec Group, since 1998, are owed approximately $40 million and $58 million, respectively. Their situation is, however, worse, as they are private companies that do not receive any state aid for the promotion of bilateral economic cooperation, said Layda García, a sales representative for Zhaoke for more than a decade.

As he puts it, when the brand established itself on the island, everything ran smoothly, with revenues reaching as high as $23 million, but now they barely reach $1 million. “Working in Cuba for so long also creates a strong sense of belonging,” he said, justifying the company president’s decision to remain there.

At the opening of Fihav, President Miguel Díaz-Canel gave a speech in which he acknowledged the situation. He admitted that “There are business people here whom we owe money, where we have not been able to fulfill all our commitments, and yet they are still in Cuba.”

The president said that among them there is “a sense of commitment” and confidence in change. “Many of these businesspeople have been in Cuba for decades, they have invested in Cuba, they have made it part of their lives and also part of their business results in Cuba, and that is the most important thing,” he said.

“There are businesspeople here we owe money to, where we have not been able to fulfil all our commitments, and yet they are still in Cuba.”

Miguel Díaz-Canel visited China in early September as part of his Asian tour, which also took him to Vietnam and Laos. In Beijing, in addition to marching behind a powerful troika formed by Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and the host, Xi Jinping, he held meetings with senior leaders – including the president – and business people from the region. He promised them, as he had previously promised the Russians and Vietnamese, that Cuba would be more open for doing business.

During Fihav, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga – who since yesterday is also the new Deputy Prime Minister – announced a package of measures to encourage the inflow of foreign capital. Among the changes is the option of greater freedom in hiring – currently very limited, since it is authorised on an exceptional basis, case by case, and the selection process through state-authorised employment agencies remains the general rule – as well as facilities for operating in foreign currency, foreign bank accounts and access to underutilised structures in the country.

In addition, any investor will be able to wholesale their products and services to “any national economic actor with the capacity to pay, without any restrictions. There are no obstacles, there is nothing to prohibit it,” said Pérez Oliva. A possible reason is, beyond just the rhetoric of sister nations, to retain the Chinese.

*MSME – Literally, “Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises.” The expectation is that it is also privately managed, but in Cuba this may include owners/managers who are connected to the government.

Translated by GH

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The Second Secret Trial of Former Minister Gil Fernández Began Today in Marianao

A reporter from 14ymedio noted the deployment of State Security and the absence of the international press.

Police surveillance in the vicinity of the People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana/Madrid, November 26, 2025 — Not only behind closed doors but also without advance public announcement, the second trial of the former minister of economy and planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, indicted two weeks ago for espionage, took place in total secrecy. The hearing, in which he is being tried for more than a dozen crimes -including embezzlement, tax evasion, influence trafficking and money laundering- began at 9:30 am at the same place, the People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, in Havana.

The surroundings of the building were guarded from the beginning, although with a smaller operation than on the first day of the trial, when streets and nearby shops were closed. This time there was no press stationed outside the courthouse, although a man could be seen with a camera hanging from his neck.

View of the building of the People’s Family and Civil Court of Marianao, in the background, from an adjacent street. / 14ymedio

According to a source close to the case who requests anonymity, the two children of the former minister, Alejandro and Laura María Gil González, were forced to sign a confidentiality clause at the hearing on Wednesday. At the first trial, only his son was allowed to enter. His daughter had requested a “public and open” trial for her father on social networks and in various publications.

The regime reported the first trial less than 24 hours in advance, through a statement read on state television, but they did not even announce it this time. The official media are busy today with Fidel Castro, as yesterday marks nine years since his death.

A 14ymedio source said that the case for which Gil Fernández is being tried this Wednesday has 20 more defendants, including “a deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power and a secretary of the Communist Party.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to this source, asked for 30 years for the former minister and “sentences of at least 15 years for the others.” continue reading

State security agents in the vicinity of the Marianao Court. / 14ymedio

No decision from the first trial has been handed down so far. According to the sister of the former minister, María Victoria Gil Fernández, corroborated by this newspaper’s source, Gil’s attorney, Abel Solá López, made a “brilliant” defense.

In an interview granted four days ago to the Cuban journalist resident in Miami Mario J. Pentón, María Victoria (Vicky) Gil said that her brother is accused of having spied for the US, and that every case against the former minister was instigated by Manuel Marrero, Prime Minister and a colonel in the Army. It was a plot orchestrated by the military sector of the regime, whose economic interests were affected by the Ordering Task, the process of monetary and exchange unification that began on January 1, 2021, managed by Gil Fernández.

It was Marrero, said the former presenter of De la Gran Escena, having been informed by a “very reliable” source whom she could not name, who called Alejandro Gil Fernández on February 1, 2024, to tell him that his work as Minister of Economy and Planning had not given “the expected fruits” and that he would be replaced the next day.

There was no press stationed outside the courthouse, although a man was seen with a camera hanging from his neck. / 14ymedio

When the former official appeared before the prime minister to hand over his portfolio, he found that two State Security agents were there with Marrero, who told him that he was “under investigation.” It was then that he was arrested and taken, along with his wife, Gina María González García, to a safe house. She was exonerated, and he went straight to the maximum security prison of Guanajay in Artemisa.

Until he was removed from office, Gil Fernández was not only Minister of the Economy and Planning, but also Deputy Prime Minister and Miguel Díaz-Canel’s right-hand man. On March 7, 2024, a criminal case against the official was initially announced in a brief note signed by the president himself, alleging, without further details, “serious errors committed in the performance of his duties.”

The next thing that came out of the case, 20 months later, was a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office last Friday, which, without giving numbers or names, spoke of “other defendants” and reported that Gil was accused of “espionage, acts to the detriment of economic activity and contracting, embezzlement, bribery, falsification of public documents, tax evasion, influence trafficking, money laundering, violation of the rules on protection of classified documents, and theft and damage of documents and other objects in official custody.”

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Thirteen People Arrested in Cuba for Handling Remittances ‘Illegally’

The regime warns of a crime that is, in reality, the entry point into the island for almost all money transfers from abroad.

File photo of dollars seized by Cuban Customs. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 November 2025 — A total of 13 people, including four private business owners, were arrested last October and are currently under precautionary measures for what the Cuban regime describes as “remittance theft”. Razones de Cuba reported on this on Thursday, in an article that aims to raise awareness about a crime that is, in reality, the scheme used to bring almost all money transfers from abroad into the island.

“Large cash flows that previously entered the country are now being held abroad, in the hands of a controversial figure: the financier,” whose role, according to the pro-government media outlet, is to “capture money from remittances sent from abroad, mainly from the United States.” Part of the income he obtains, the article continues, is used “to purchase imports that require non-state forms of management to carry out their commercial operations in Cuba.”

In turn, private businesses deliver the equivalent amount within the country, “based on the cash acquired from their collections,” and the “financier” charges a percentage of the profits.

This mode of operation, says Razones de Cuba, is “results from the intensification of the blockade against Cuba.” The text refers, without explaining it as such, to the suspension of Western Union (WU) money transfers earlier this year, following the addition of Orbit S.A. to the US List of Restricted Entities in Cuba. The company was created to take over the continue reading

management of remittances from Fincimex, which was sanctioned in 2020 for its connection to the Cuban military, but which in reality also depended on this state-owned company, belonging to the Gaesa conglomerate – which is also on the US List of Restricted Entities in Cuba.

After the educational introduction, they present, as an example, the “criminal network” that led to the arrest of the 13 individuals.

The measure was related to the Donald Trump administration’s goal of eliminating the military’s role in sending money to Cuban families. Even before that, but intensified since then, the island’s citizens had already devised another way to receive remittances informally, so that, according to various studies, they took 95% of those financial transactions away from Gaesa.

Although it is a widespread modus operandi on the island, which Cubans prefer to other official channels, Razones de Cuba protests that it is “a lucrative business, where the Cuban people lose out the most”.

After the educational introduction, they present as an example the “criminal network” uncovered by the Ministry of the Interior, which led to the arrest of 13 individuals. The ringleader, identified by full name, is Humberto Julio Mora Caballero, a Cuban from Camagüey residing in Miami, from where he “directed” operations.

Humberto has set up a criminal network that has allowed him to establish a system for collecting remittances sent by relatives of Cubans living in the United States,” said Yisnel Rivero Crespo, head of the Economic Crimes Department at the Ministry of the Interior. Once the money has been received in the United States, he emphasises, Mora Caballero “mobilises his employees in Cuba to collect the proceeds from private businesses in various provinces of the country”.

According to this military official, it is a “broad, strong and diverse network with a high level of material resources” that “has moved more than 1 billion pesos and a quarter of a million dollars between February and September 2025 alone”.

However, they clarify that this is not the first time they have taken action against this “network”: “Last July, assets and cash associated with criminal activity were seized, but the leader’s continued presence in the United States allowed him to set up another scheme, very similar in its operation, against which action has been taken now in October.”

Similarly, they claim that they notified the US authorities “on more than one occasion” of the existence of this network, “without any concrete action being taken to neutralise it”. The “theft of remittances”, they warn, “is also illegal under US law. The continuous violations force the financier to use front men to mask tax evasion through third-party bank accounts.

The text also takes a jab at El Toque, which the regime blames for the devaluation of the peso, describing its actions – that is, providing daily data on the dollar exchange rate on the informal market – as “economic terrorism” in the service of the United States. Lamenting the scams that can occur due to the “involvement of criminal networks in the import process” because of the “lack of official backing for transactions”, they add: “Add to this the instability of the exchange market, where a pseudo-scientific exchange rate, manipulated from abroad, prevails.”

To resolve this “direct attack” on “sovereignty,” Razones de Cuba asserts that the government has a foolproof solution: “Macroeconomic stabilisation measures are underway, with an official exchange rate that reflects the reality in Cuba.”

Translated by GH

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Another Enigmatic 25-Storey Hotel Rises on Havana’s Malecón

It is being built by the French company Bouygues and will have 520 luxury rooms.

“This is incredible, man,” says a passer-by, faced with the paradox of seeing another hotel spring up while the rest of Havana crumbles. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, November 29, 2025 — After more than three years of construction, the tower rising at 1st and B in Havana’s Vedado neighbourhood continues to grow like a foreign body in the middle of a neighbourhood that is falling apart. The 25-storey building is visible from several blocks away and already dominates the coastal strip near the Malecón. The structure appears to be practically finished on the outside, but its interior is still under construction.

A technician at the site assured 14ymedio that “the foreign part is French,” and that Indians are also working on the project, although, according to him, “more as labourers.” “They are leaving in December because their work is done,” added the expert. The project’s architectural dossier confirms that the French construction company Bouygues – the same company that has built most of the luxury hotels in Cuba – is listed as the main developer of the building. This explains the presence of French and Indian workers on the site, as well as the high standard of the finishes.

The structure seems to be practically finished on the outside, but is still in progress on the inside. / 14ymedio

The French company Bouygues Bâtiment International, a discreet player in Cuba’s hotel boom, has a history of controversy. The most recent episode was documented by this newspaper after Hurricane Melissa struck. While more than 76,000 homes remain damaged and thousands of families are still without assistance, the Antilla Modular Plant, operated by Bouygues, continues to operate at full capacity to manufacture complete room modules for luxury hotels. This was compounded by official censorship, when even state media were warned to “forget” about the plant after attempting to investigate its activities. continue reading

Unlike other hotels openly promoted by the Gaesa military conglomerate, this tower has no advertisements, billboards or any public indication identifying its investor, builder or future operator. The architectural project, disclosed a few years ago by the studio that designed it, describes a four-star hotel with some 520 rooms, common areas distributed over a three-level base, and high-standard services, including a swimming pool and panoramic terrace.

The technician interviewed by 14ymedio estimates that the work still has “a year or so” to go. Workers are now in the process of tiling bathrooms and floors, although “all the technology, electricity and lifts are still to be installed”. If there was one thing he repeated several times, it was that the building will have “state-of-the-art technology, like the Torre K“, one of the flagship projects of state investment. In terms of “modernity”, he assures us, “there is the Torre K and then this one”.

The French company Bouygues, a discreet player in Cuba’s hotel boom, has a history of controversy. / 14ymedio

When asked what the hotel would be called, the answer was as predictable as it was disturbing: “The name is not yet known; it will be revealed when it is finished.” It is striking that, despite its size and visual impact on the area, no official media outlet has published any updates, deadlines or details about the property.

Aware of the contrast, a neighbour passing by the building commented with a laugh: “This is incredible, man.” The man, who gave no further details, was referring to the paradox of seeing a luxury hotel spring up while the rest of Havana is falling apart. The tower at 1st and B is being built with cranes, foreign labour and no shortage of materials, but the houses surrounding it have crumbling facades and shored-up balconies. A few metres from the building, the structures have noticeable leaks and cracks. In a nearby garden, two men slept on the dry grass. The stark, everyday scene reflects the gulf between the official reference to the “blockade*,” supposedly responsible for the destruction of the national economy, and the unstoppable rush to build luxury tourist projects, precisely when the hotel occupancy rate is barely 20%.

The skyscraper at 1st and B rises up in front of a neighbourhood that is unable to maintain its basic infrastructure. A construction project that brings in Indian and French workers, while many Cubans are looking around for ways to survive. Modernity is coming, but not for everyone.

Translated by GH

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 is still in force.

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Hard Task for the Cuban Government: Seduce Foreign Investors While Freezing Their Accounts

Simplification of procedures, free hiring of personnel and importation of its own fuel, all this within “the guidelines of the economic and social policy of the Party of the Revolution”

Fidel and Raúl Castro’s great-nephew presented what he described as an “integral” set of incentives to attract foreign capital. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, November 25, 2025 — In response to the urgency of the country, the Cuban government says that it is now ready to open doors and loosen ties without changing the current model. The VIII Investment Forum of the Havana International Fair (Fihav 2025) returned this Tuesday to promise dynamism, new regulations and a package of measures that, according to the deputy prime minister and head of foreign trade and investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, seeks to “correct distortions” and revive an economy in free fall.

“Cuba currently has 376 businesses with foreign capital from 40 countries, 56 of which are in the Mariel Special Development Zone,” said the official. He added that in 2025, 32 new businesses from 13 countries have been approved, with a committed capital of $1.1 billion.

In a speech reminiscent of similar announcements in the last ten years, Fidel and Raúl Castro’s great-nephew presented what he described as an “integral” set of incentives to attract foreign capital. The package, which is still waiting for its legal formalization, “will be published soon,” he promised. It includes a simplification of procedures, greater freedom in labor contracts, facility to trade in foreign currencies and access to underutilized structures of the country. All this with the aim of offering a business environment that is “more attractive and competitive.”

The most striking announcement, undoubtedly, was the commitment to reduce project approval times. According to Pérez-Oliva, State agencies will have only seven days, instead of the current 15, to respond to investment proposals. If they do not, an automatic “yes” will be assumed, something unprecedented in a country where bureaucracy has ruled for decades. continue reading

For the first time, the employer will be able to participate in the selection of his workforce

The scheme recalls other deadlines announced in various sectors and never met. The question remains the same: what will prevent agencies, historically reluctant to relinquish control, from using other ways of blocking what they do not wish to approve?

Another point raised by the Deputy Prime Minister concerns recruitment. For the first time, the employer will be able to participate in the selection of his workforce, partly breaking with the model in which State agencies acted as compulsory intermediaries. Even so, the reform does not eliminate these agencies, and it remains to be seen how it will be applied in hotels, the first sector that should benefit from this measure.

The Government will also authorize the payment of foreign exchange bonuses, an incentive that implicitly recognizes the inadequacy of wages in pesos, unable to sustain daily life. These bonuses, which do not replace the official salary, have existed for decades, always under the shadow of informality. Recognizing their existence is a step, although these payments will have quite strict limitations: they can only be made from profits, through bank payments and provided that the company generates external revenues.

The innovations also include the authorization for foreign-owned companies to trade “without restrictions” with domestic economic actors. They will also be allowed to import fuel directly if they deem it necessary. Thus the government opens a hard currency highway for those who can generate income for the State, escaping from the annoying blackouts, which will continue to affect the rest of the population.

To this is added the announcement of new special development zones

In fact, nothing in the package suggests that the benefits granted to foreign capital will extend to Cuban entrepreneurs, who continue to deal with obstacles, inspections, regulatory uncertainty and a very unfavorable exchange rate.

The minister also spoke of the possibility of investors having access to underutilized facilities. The country has hundreds of abandoned factories, semi-derelict industrial buildings, disused warehouses and hotels without guests, all State-owned. To this is added the announcement of the creation of new special development zones, whose location and timing were specified. Some experts point to the Antilla project in Holguín, designed to rehabilitate the aqueduct distribution system.

The experience of the Mariel Special Development Zone, after more than a decade of operations, serves as a reminder of an attractive structure on paper that does not guarantee results when the macroeconomic environment is unstable, access to foreign exchange is uncertain and the State reserves control of all the processes.

The Deputy Prime Minister clarified that “none of these proposals has any contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, the guidelines of the economic and social policy of the Party of the Revolution or the conceptualization of the Cuban economic model.” All the decisions explained, he said, are perfectly possible and can be implemented without difficulty under existing regulations.

The government admits that the materialization of foreign investment remains low, perhaps because the real deterrents are still intact. These include the lack of legal certainty, to which has recently been added the freezing of all foreign currency funds in the bank accounts of foreign companies.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Trump Declares Venezuela’s Airspace ‘Closed’

Cuban Chancellor Bruno Rodriguez denounces “electromagnetic interference” in the Caribbean attributed to US military deployment

The publication comes at a time of maximum tension between Washington and Caracas. / EF

14ymedio, Havana, November 29, 2025 — US President Donald Trump declared this Saturday on his Truth Social network that the airspace “over and around” Venezuela is “closed in its entirety.” The message, addressed to “airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and people smugglers,” was presented as a security warning, but its tone and breadth immediately caused a political earthquake in the region.

The publication comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Caracas. In recent weeks, the US government has reinforced its warnings about the situation in Venezuela and warned airlines of increasing risks associated with political instability, troop movements and the presence of irregular armed groups.

Several international airlines, already operating severely restricted routes, have pre-emptively suspended their flights while awaiting clarification. Venezuela, whose international air traffic has been declining since 2017 due to sanctions, airline bankruptcies and security concerns, has become even more isolated in recent days.

Cuban chancellor Bruno Rodriguez reacted immediately on Saturday by denouncing an “electromagnetic interference” in the Caribbean attributed to the US military deployment, which, he said, “particularly” affects the airspace of Venezuela. In a message on social media, he said that this activity “is part of the escalation of military aggression and psychological war against Venezuelan territory, aimed at overthrowing by force the continue reading

legitimate government of that sister nation of Our America.” Havana, central ally of Caracas, insists that Washington’s pretexts for an eventual intervention “cannot be legally or morally accepted.”

This climate of alert adds to the bombing carried out by US forces against several boats in the Caribbean Sea

Trump’s announcement comes shortly after The New York Times revealed that Trump and Nicolas Maduro had held a telephone conversation to explore the possibility of a meeting, a call that neither the White House nor Miraflores has confirmed or denied. According to that report, the communication also involved Secretary of State Marco Rubio — an ironclad critic of Chavismo — although the conversation did not lead to any concrete agreement.

The leak coincided with Trump’s warning the day before that his Armed Forces will act “very soon” on Venezuelan territory against alleged “drug traffickers from Venezuela,” while US naval deployment continues in the Caribbean. On November 21, the Federal Aviation Administration asked airlines to “take extreme precautions” when flying over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean due to a “potentially dangerous situation” in the region.

This climate of alert adds to the bombing carried out by US forces against several boats in the Caribbean Sea that have resulted in deaths. Washington justifies these attacks as anti-drug operations, although it has not presented conclusive evidence and is directly targeting Venezuelan authorities, including Maduro himself.

Venezuelan communities have mobilized following the call of Chavismo to prepare for a possible armed confrontation with the United States. Since September, the Government has been promoting the creation of Community Militia Units in more than 5,300 areas of the country and says that over eight million people have registered with the militia. In neighborhoods of Caracas, neighbors describe meetings, training and plans to protect against a possible attack, while Chavista leaders, such as Diosdado Cabello, warn that “anyone who dares to set foot in Venezuela” will face “the fury of a people that has never surrendered.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime Is Increasingly Concerned About US Preparations To ‘Overthrow’ Maduro

Avianca, TAP and Gol follow Iberia’s lead and cancel their flights to Caracas

File photo of Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, during an interview with EFE in Havana. / EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, November 23, 2025 / Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío warned this Saturday about the “danger” of a possible US military aggression to “violently overthrow” the government headed by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

“The danger of military and terrorist aggression against Venezuela is growing, with the aim of violently overthrowing the government of that sister nation. A United States coup against Our America and its long road to independence,” the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said on social media.

For the past two months, the United States has maintained a large-scale military deployment in Caribbean waters near Venezuela under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking.

The US campaign began in September and, to date, has consisted of bombing civilian boats allegedly linked to illicit drug trafficking. These attacks have spread to Pacific waters and have so far left more than eighty people dead. continue reading

Cuba, a historic ally of Chavismo, has warned since the beginning of the tensions that what it considers Washington’s “pretexts” for a possible attack on Venezuela “cannot be accepted legally or morally”.

Several airlines in Europe and America cancelled their flights to Venezuela on Saturday after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued an international advisory the day before urging “extreme caution” when flying over the South American country and the southern Caribbean Sea.

The Spanish airline Iberia was the first to make the decision to cancel its flights to Venezuela — the first of which was scheduled for next Monday – and to announce that it will assess the situation to decide when to resume operations. Sources at the company told EFE that Iberia made this decision in line with what other airlines are doing in response to the situation in Venezuela.

Iberia operates five commercial flights to Venezuela each week. Friday and Sunday are the only days on which there were no scheduled flights to that country, according to the sources consulted.

For its part, the Portuguese airline TAP cancelled a flight scheduled for today and another for next Tuesday bound for Venezuela. A TAP source told EFE that they had taken this measure to ensure the safety of passengers and crew, “in accordance with international recommendations”.

TAP confirms that flights TP170, scheduled for 22 and 25 November to Venezuela, have been cancelled. This decision is based on information issued by the United States aviation authorities, which indicates that safety conditions in Venezuelan airspace are not guaranteed, especially in the Maiquetía flight information region,” he explained.

The source from the airline, which is state-controlled and in the process of reprivatisation, assured that all passengers were informed of the cancellation of these flights and will be able to request a refund, while expressing regret for “the inconvenience caused”.

“We have not cancelled flights for the next two days; we are assessing the situation depending on security conditions.”

Similarly, Colombian airline Avianca cancelled its flights on Sunday, while Wingo said it was continuing to operate normally in the neighbouring country. “We have cancelled today’s flights due to operational adjustments and are assessing the situation like all airlines,” a source at Avianca, which has two daily flights from Bogotá to Caracas, told EFE.

Wingo, another Colombian airline that also flies to Venezuela, has not cancelled its flights at this time and is monitoring the situation closely. “We have not cancelled flights for the next two days; we are evaluating the situation depending on security conditions, etc.,” a company spokesperson told EFE.

In addition, Brazil’s Gol announced that it has cancelled its flights to Caracas scheduled for this weekend.

Gol had scheduled a flight this Saturday from Guarulhos International Airport, in the São Paulo metropolitan area, to the Venezuelan capital, and another on Sunday, but both were cancelled, according to sources at the company who spoke to EFE.

The airline informed passengers with tickets for those flights that they can “reschedule their trips, request a credit or ask for a refund directly”.

Cuba, a historic ally of Chavismo, has warned since the beginning of the tensions that what it considers Washington’s “pretexts” for a possible attack on Venezuela “cannot be accepted legally or morally”.

This Saturday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil shared a letter sent by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to Maduro on the eve of his birthday, in which he stated that Caracas “will emerge victorious” against what he described as “new imperial threats”.

Translated by GH
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The Only Assembly Plant for Buses in Cuba Is Shut Down Because of a Lack of Electricity

The Ómnibus Caisa Production Company does not believe it can deliver more than 20 vehicles before 2026

14ymedio, Havana, November 22, 2025 –The work of the Ómnibus Caisa Production Company, located in Guanajay, is strongly affected by the constant power cuts in Cuba. This situation means, according to a note published by El Artemiseño this Friday, that the only bus assembler in Cuba cannot advance in the repair work of the buses in Havana, despite having recently received a large donation of parts from the Chinese government.

This Saturday, for example, the Electric Union of Cuba reported the shutdown of unit 1 of the CTE Felton because of “high temperature in the bearings,” which will consequently contribute to prolonged blackouts throughout the day. Yesterday, according to the UNE, there was a maximum allocation of 1,707 megawatts (MW), slightly higher than that planned for today (1,685 MW at peak hours), with an availability of 1,665 MW and a maximum demand of 3,280 MW.

Meanwhile in Caisa, 100 buses are stranded in the company’s parking lot, waiting to be repaired for several months.

A hundred buses are stranded in the company’s parking lot

The company’s workers assure El Artemiseño that they do not believe that more than 20 can be ready before 2026. The employees also point out that, although 27 people are active in a workforce of 47, if they could complete their eight-hour working day, they would be able to be much continue reading

more productive and meet the capital’s transport demand more effectively.

This would also partially alleviate the serious crisis of public transport in Havana, already marked by the shortage of fuel and aggravated by the poor state of maintenance of the buses.

The situation is further complicated by the lack of operational vehicles. Recent statistics from the Ministry of Transport and the Provincial Company indicate that of the 435 buses which should be circulating in the capital, only 130 are able to operate. This represents only 35% of the fleet, with serious consequences for urban mobility. Of the 17 main and 112 secondary routes, less than half are in regular operation, affecting especially the working community, students and people who have to travel for health reasons.

The lack of buses is compounded by damage caused by misuse and vandalism: broken windows, chipped glass, damaged door systems and stolen parts, even in the new Foton minibuses from China, of which only 34 out of 50 were recently serviced. In the face of this shortcoming, many citizens are forced to resort to taxi drivers, but the prices of these private taxis have become significantly more expensive in recent years.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At the San José De Las Lajas Bus Stop, No One Shouts ‘Havana, Havana!’ Anymore

The ‘almendrones’ that used to travel the 30 kilometres to the capital have almost disappeared since prices rose from 20 to 500 pesos.

The boss doesn’t care how many trips have been made… he just wants to see the money / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, San José de las Lajas, Cuba, 27 November 2025 — Virginia is surprised by the silence. It is not complete silence—in Cuba it never is—but it is a strange silence, unfamiliar, uncharacteristic of the San José de las Lajas station. In front of the old train terminal, the building that seems to resist falling down while it is losing bits and pieces, there are hardly five or six people waiting. No one shouts “Havana, Havana!” or fights over seats as they did in the past. Even the parking attendants seem to have been struck dumb.

The woman asks who is last in line for the capital, with that tone that is half resignation, half urgency that you put on when you have a sick mother on the other side of the road. The wind carries the smell of stale fried food from the fast food kiosks, which are half empty today. On the street, oil stains form dark circles around the almendrones*, as if marking the territory of an endangered species. A silver one — perhaps a 1950s Dodge with customised wheels — gleams sadly under the cloudy sky.

“Before COVID, when the fare was 20 pesos, there was one car after another,” recalls Virginia. It is a simple, direct nostalgia that does not idealise the past but compares and concludes: this is worse, much worse. “First they put it up to 100, then to 200… and so on until it reached 500 pesos today.” She does not know all the reasons behind the increase, but she knows what hurts. “It is the people who pay for it,” she repeats.

Before COVID, when the fare was 20 pesos, there was one taxi after another.” / 14ymedio

Some 30 kilometres separate San José from Havana, but today they seem like a world apart. Inflation not only empties pockets: it also empties spaces. The taxi rank shows it. Passengers are scattered, in no hurry, knowing that rushing is pointless when there are hardly any continue reading

private taxis. On a corner, a tall man in a cap and blue jumper leans against the door of a car.

“Many of the drivers are not owners,” says a man of medium height, arms crossed and weather-beaten face, who claims to be first in line. “My cousin has to pay the owner 15,000 a day. The boss doesn’t care how many trips have been made… he just wants his money.” The phrase hangs in the air like a dry echo, a reminder that even a struggle has to be rented.

A few metres away, a blue truck adapted for public transport roars into life. Inside, people travel crammed together, their bodies trained to balance without falling. For many, this is the only option. Manuel, a self-employed worker, sums it up bluntly: “Here you spend an hour or two waiting for a vehicle, if it shows up. And when it does, there aren’t enough people to fill it and finally get it going.” He knows that for those who travel several times a week, paying 500 pesos is almost an insult.

Inside, people travel crammed together, their bodies trained to balance without falling. For many, this is the only option. / 14ymedio

A young man wearing a star-patterned cap checks his watch, while another man puts his backpack in the back seat of an old private taxi, waiting for more passengers willing to pay the high price for a trip to the Cuban capital. According to Manuel, after midday things get worse: taxis to Güines, if they show up at all, go up to 600 or even 700 pesos. And if you want to hire a whole car, the figure can reach 10,000. “Who can understand that?” he asks aloud, but no one answers because everyone understands, and that’s the problem.

Desperation begins to set in when a Chevrolet pulls into the forecourt. It is light blue, old but elegant. “Come on! Go and find 500 pesos!” shouts a parking attendant coming out of a kiosk, as if the mere presence of the car justifies rushing to pick up their bags. “Come on, taxi to Havana,” he adds, knowing that before the car is full, he will have already collected his commission.

Virginia sighs. The initial silence is gone: now it is filled with murmurs, impatience, the sound of the lorry driving away, the car park attendant repeating his line, the rattling of the old car as it revs its engine, the faint hope that the journey will start before midday.

In San José de las Lajas, the bus stop has always been a crossroads: of routes and of lives, but today it is also a hub where rising prices and the urgency to travel collide.

*Translator’s note: Many classic American cars continue to provide taxi service in Cuba, and are known as “almendrones”, a reference to their ‘almond shape.”

Translated by GH

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“A Convulsion Is Coming in Cuba,” Warns the Prestigious British Media ‘The Economist’

ECLAC and Cuba Siglo XXI also describe a shocking panorama and the regime’s rejection of any change

“It is difficult to understand how ordinary Cubans survive today,” says The Economist / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, November 23, 2025 — As if they refused to take the antidote that would prevent death when bitten by a poisonous insect, the Cuban government continues its forward flight blindly with a reissued “program to correct distortions and boost the economy.” The plan, presented on Thursday in the official press and on the Round Table TV program, came out the same week that the accounts of all foreign companies were frozen and three devastating documents were published about the situation of the island: an article in the prestigious weekly The Economist, a new report of Cuba Siglo XXI and the latest data from the Economic Commission for America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

These three go in the same direction, summarized by The Economist from its headline: Cuba is heading for disaster, unless its regime changes drastically. For the British environment, which usually does not devote much space to the island, given the poor economic, energy, health and demographic conditions of the country, it is fully summarized in its long text: “A convulsion is coming.”

“It is difficult to understand how ordinary Cubans survive today,” the weekly begins, because “basic necessities cost much more than the official average monthly salary of 6,506 pesos (equivalent to 14.46 dollars at the informal exchange rate, which is what is used).”

The Economist’s portrayal of everyday sufferings is recognizable to any citizen of the island: “Under a suffocating heat, electricity is cut off in most places for at least four hours a day, and in some areas almost all the time. Fans and air conditioners are usually turned off. Water is also missing in many places, so drinking, cooking and washing, not to mention showering or even using the toilet, are often impossible.”

“Under a suffocating heat, electricity is cut off in most places for at least four hours a day, and in some areas almost all the time”

The data provided by the specialized media are known, such as that 89% of families live in extreme poverty, that public transport has “practically” disappeared, that “millions of Cubans” depend on remittances or that a quarter of the population has left the island. But put in black and white, they are impressive for an international audience. continue reading

Particularly eloquent are two graphs on migration included in the article by the independent demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos: next to the figures of Cubans who left their country are those of Cubans who entered the United States, which are, year by year, inversely proportional, like an inverted mirror.

The main focus of the text is economic data, including the collapse in tourism, high inflation, devaluation of the peso and the fact that output is at its lowest in more than a century, resulting in an 11% contraction since 2019, a number recognized by the Government itself.

The latest ECLAC report, made public last Wednesday by the Cuban economist resident in Spain, Pedro Monreal, points out that the island appears as “one of the three countries with no growth in the value of projected exports of goods (worse than Haiti but better than Venezuela). For this expert, “the reduction in the estimated value of exports of goods from Cuba in 2025 would be explained by the poor sugar yield and the fall in the price of nickel.”

“Because of Cuba’s high import dependence, the contraction in imports must have a negative impact on economic growth”

Monreal also highlights the results of the first half of 2025, which indicate a simultaneous reduction in exports and imports, the negative balance of trade in goods (exports-imports) and the fact that the government does not report its data on trade in services. And he states: “Due to the high import dependence of Cuba, the contraction in imports must have had a negative impact on economic growth.”

“The only ray of hope is the rise of private enterprise,” states The Economist, which then warns of the constraints faced by small entrepreneurs. “The Government seems unable to decide whether to simply tolerate private activity or encourage it,” notes the article. The owners of private firms, it continues, “are constantly frustrated by the government’s lack of clarity in interpreting the law and its persistent mistrust of free enterprise.”

They quote an interviewed businesswoman, Marta Deus, who runs a tax consultant and distribution company, Mandao, (with 200,000 users): “Everything is done in circles. There is no clarity. Nobody knows the rules. We expect a change. But it seems that the government lives in another world.”

The fundamental reason for the regime’s reluctance is the fear that the system will collapse if the private sector expands. “They see private enterprise as a nest of worms that will infiltrate, destabilize the country and end up driving out the Party,” says another interviewee. And a third: “When you see the first McDonald’s in the Plaza Vieja, you will know that the Revolution is finished.”

The text of The Economist, which regrets that “no Mikhail Gorbachev” is still visible within the regime, as there was in the Soviet Union, and that the opposition is “weak and fragmented,” concludes with the words of a taxi driver: “This system is so bad that it is irreparable. The only thing you can do is get rid of it and start from scratch.”

The military conglomerate is “the real power in Cuba and has led the country to the worst financial crisis of its history”

It is the same conclusion reached, in other words and by other means, by Emilio Morales in his most recent report for the organization Cuba Siglo 21, published last Wednesday. “The only way to abort this financial crisis that has practically paralyzed the country and plunged the population into extreme poverty is to eliminate the system of governance that created it,” he writes.

For Morales, the fault lies with the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (Gaesa). The military conglomerate is “the real power in Cuba and has led the country to the worst financial crisis of its history.”

The expert recalls various data such as the shortage of dollars, the general fall in national production and the increase in external debt, explaining them around an idea: “The government headed by Miguel Díaz-Canel does not in practice have control over the country’s finances. The Central Bank of Cuba, which is the institution that should govern the management of the nation’s finances, is completely subordinate and subject to the interests of Gaesa.”

A proof of this -which Morales does not mention- is the trial carried out against the former Minister of Economy and right hand of Díaz-Canel, Alejandro Gil Fernández, accused of spying for the CIA and other serious crimes of corruption.

In any case, and given the new measures it is publicizing these days, the regime will continue on the wrong track. Although the official claims that “the Government Program is made up of 10 general objectives, 106 specific objectives, 342 actions and 264 indicators and targets, all closely interrelated,” it does not really offer anything new.

First, they attribute the economic disaster to “the effects of permanent aggressions resulting from the economic blockade and internal inadequacies.” The tone of words expressed by officials continues with controls on private businesses: The “distortion in relations between economic actors today impedes the fundamental role of the State enterprise,” declared Jorge Luis Broche Lorenzo, head of the Economic and Productive Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (PCC). Another example is the campaign against El Toque, accused of being in the service of the US to devalue the national currency.

As for the energy crisis, far from proposing an innovative approach, they return to the “classics” of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), with the words of Broche Lorenzo: “Let us remember that Lenin was clear on this: communism in those conditions is translated as the power of the soviets plus the electrification of the country. If our electrical system is not reactivated to the level required by economic management, it will take work to move forward in the process of socialist construction.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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