Translating Cuba – Page 48 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

How To Survive A Public Stoning and Not Lose Your Smile in the Process

Here are my modest tips, which, while not intended to work for everyone, have helped me maintain my sanity.

Painting by Cuban artist César Leal, who died in December 2024. / César Leal

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, 13 November 2025 — One day the face on the screen was that of the poet Armando Valladares; then came the prime-time attacks against Martha Beatriz Roque, Elizardo Sánchez, and Dagoberto Valdés; until the moment came when I saw my own name on the news surrounded by the worst adjectives, and now it is the turn of the editors of El Toque and the economist Pavel Vidal. The bonfire of media stoning and reputational execution, which the regime needs to keep burning, is in dire need of fuel, new fuel to add to the fire of official victimhood and those flames that seek to shift the blame for the failure of the Cuban model onto others.

Each and every one of us born on the Island is a potential candidate to appear on one of those programs designed to morally and socially destroy a person. I wasn’t spared, nor were those convicted in the Black Spring case, nor were the Ladies in White spared the public humiliation, without the right to reply, and neither will you, the reader of these lines. All it takes is for you to say or publish something that displeases a group of intolerant individuals who have hijacked the nation’s name, and the full weight of a power that acts with the complete impunity of those who know they hold a monopoly on television broadcasts, control over the courts, and, sadly, still under their thumb are hundreds of thousands of docile citizens who will fall upon you.

Respond little or not at all to insults, because one of their goals is to distract you from your daily tasks.

Since we can’t change the way they look at us from that fortified dome where a few men in olive-green uniforms have locked themselves away, all that is left for us, the vilified ones, is to decide what attitude we’ll take in the face of such attempts to crush us. Here are my modest suggestions, which, while not intended to work for everyone, have helped me maintain my sanity, my inner peace, and my smile.

If you have already become “radioactive” and have been affected by the animosity of the Cuban dictatorship, I suggest the following: continue reading

Respond little or not at all to insults, because one of their goals is to distract you from your daily tasks, to drag you down into the dark pit of justifications and rebuttals. Don’t believe the saying “silence implies consent” and instead opt for a less neurotic approach to reacting to offense: “to hurtful words, turn a deaf ear.”

Focus on your work. Work heals everything, or almost everything, even the wounds left by not being able to access those same microphones from which they try to violate you.

Don’t resort to personal attacks against those who denigrate you. You don’t play by the same dirty rules as those who insult you. Don’t let them drag you into the mud of their slander.

Never think it’s personal. You’re just the latest target of infamy, but you should know that official propaganda always needs someone to blame; it can’t grease its indoctrination and submission machine if it doesn’t have a name or a face to pin the responsibility for the national debacle on.

Don’t wallow in self-pity. See it as if you’ve been given an award, the precious prize of being despised by a stale authoritarianism.
Think of it as a cycle that comes and goes. Today it was you, tomorrow they’ll insult someone else.

Think of it as a cycle that comes and goes. Today it was your turn, tomorrow they’ll insult someone else.

Think of it as a cycle that comes and goes. Today it was your turn, tomorrow they’ll insult someone else. Keep in mind that, most likely, right now, that “someone else” is one of those who will distance themselves from you after seeing the libel against you, claiming that they are indeed among the trustworthy and the “revolutionaries.” They’ll probably even use their face and voice as testimony to try to bring you down further. What they don’t know is that their neck could be the next target of a regime that is insatiable when it comes to creating adversaries.

Find a hobby if you don’t already have one. Observing the calyx, petals, stamens, and pistil of a flower will give you a true sense of the immensity in which we are but a mere speck of dust, and of what is truly transcendent and what is not. Believe me, Castroism is an ephemeral event in the course of Cuban and human history. Just look at the constellations above your head for a while, and the official spokespeople, in their pettiness, will provoke more laughter than resentment, more pity than anger.

Don’t let fear of being attacked by regime loyalists paralyze your public life. You’ll be surprised by the number of people who support you, the messages of solidarity that will pour in, and the knowing glances you’ll receive, even from those who until yesterday seemed the most extremist.

Don’t let any soldier disguised as a journalist, mixing images, figures, and falsified data, keep you up at night. They too come and go, some fall from grace and others appear, like replacement puppets in a decaying stage set. Remember so many others who played that deplorable role and are now… in Miami.

Don’t let the corrosive acid of that pamphlet affect your self-esteem. You are not the person they portray in those programs, nor do you resemble the malevolent caricature they’ve painted of you.

Life has given you an experience that will make you more mature, knowledgeable about the human soul, and strong.

Keep in mind that this type of television program is known, if at all, by Cubans living on the island and a few hundred thousand in the diaspora. But in Calcutta nobody knows the names of its presenters, in Sydney nobody cares what the spokesperson on duty says, and in Buenos Aires they would consider such a program a comedy show.

Feel a deep gratitude for having been chosen for this public humiliation. Life has given you an experience that will make you more mature, more knowledgeable about the human soul, and stronger. If you survive this emotionally, you can face almost anything. Put into practice all those psychological resources you had stored away for grief, illness, or a heartbreak. Use this vilification as a training ground to strengthen your mental health.

Perhaps the most difficult test will be trying, each day, to practice compassion for those who have wronged you. Imagine them abandoned and sick in the street, like a dog its owner discarded on a corner after use. Picture yourself approaching them, tending to their wounds, and asking, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

If you are still not comfortable appealing to compassion for these self-appointed aggressors, always entrenched in power, then imagine them in routine, even ridiculous, situations. Picturing one of them sitting on the toilet will make you take the whole thing less seriously.

Take a break from social media for a while, or at least don’t give them so much of your time. They rely on the amplification of public ridicule that thousands of users will generate by sharing and discussing the attacks launched against you. Put a stop to that with a good dose of “virtual disconnection.”

If you have children, pets, and friends, spend more time with them these days. Believe me, the eyes of a baby, the soft fur of a cat, or the hug of an old school friend make any audiovisual material against you sound like a distant, insignificant… fleeting echo.

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Among Fries and Pizzas, the Kiosks Near the Hospital of Matanzas Sell All Kinds of Drugs

“Except for the blood for surgery, I had to buy everything else out here among the bread and jam”

“You can find aspirin made in Cuba and antidepressants from the United States. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Matanzas, Julio César Contreras, November 15, 2025 — As soon as the sun warms the pavement in front of the Faustino Pérez hospital in Matanzas, the sidewalk begins to fill with medical students, patients’ families and curious people who roam among the blue and red kiosks lined up on the street. The scene is familiar: a small hive where the smell of freshly made pizzas mixes with the noise of the mototaxis waiting for customers and the conversations of those looking for something to eat… or something much more urgent.

Sandra is one of them. After hours of trying to get from the hospital pharmacy tablets of paracetamol prescribed for her joint discomfort, she came out empty-handed. This Thursday she can be seen among the kiosks, adjusting her shoulder bag, breathing with exhaustion. “They are only giving some of the medicines to the hospitalized patients,” she says without imagining that, next to a juice and fries counter, she would find the solution that the public health system could not give her.

In one of these stalls, barely noticeable behind the poster for smoothies and pizzas, an employee holds a large bag where refreshments coexist with bottles of pills, blister packs and several packets of syringes. “She has vitamins, antibiotics and even needles,” says Sandra, while showing the 500 mg pack of paracetamol that she just bought for 900 pesos. “If I don’t do it like this, the pain kills me.” continue reading

“That’s why the government pharmacies are empty, because there is no one to control this illegal sale.” / 14ymedio

Sandra also needs Captopril for her mother, who has been unable to purchase it at the state pharmacy for more than six months. “I don’t have enough money to pay the 350 pesos that it costs there; otherwise I would have bought it.”

“Along with a malt I bought the suture thread for my wife’s operation,” says Leonardo, a butcher who knows the informal circuit well. “The surgeon himself told me where to go and who I had to see.” His words do not surprise anyone: many in that area have gone through the same thing. “Except for the blood for surgery, I had to buy everything else out here. Among the bread and jam, if you have the money anything appears.”

El costo total de los insumos para la cirugía de su esposa rondó los 5.000 pesos: seis pares de guantes desechables –“a 250 pesos cada uno, vendidos por un tipo que hace pan con minuta de pescado”–, más antibióticos, más soluciones salinas, más suturas. “El colmo”, cuenta, “después de ser operada, mi esposa tenía fiebre. Como en la sala no había un termómetro, vine directo para acá y compré uno en 2.300 pesos”.

The total cost of supplies for his wife’s surgery was around 5,000 pesos: six pairs of disposable gloves — “at 250 pesos each, sold by a guy who makes bread with fish fillets” — plus antibiotics, more saline solutions, more sutures. “Then,” he says, “after being operated on, my wife had a fever. Since there was no thermometer in the room, I came straight here and bought one for 2,300 pesos.”

“As there was no thermometer in the room, I came straight here and bought one for 2,300 pesos.” / 14ymedio

Laura, a third-year medical student, takes advantage of a break between patients to get her father’s urgently needed Amoxicillin. The young woman, in her white coat, converses with other students and carries a folded bill between her fingers. “I’m going to wait for some people to leave. I know who sells it. I always check the expiration date before buying,” she says.

She herself explains what sells in those kiosks: “You can find aspirins made in Cuba and antidepressants from the United States.” Nothing appears on the price boards: neither Loratadina, nor Cefalexina, nor Rosefin, but everyone knows that they are available… at the price of the day. “The medicines go up as much or more than the food. Many come to eat a pizza and end up buying pills. It’s an option.”

As Laura discreetly walks away, more students arrive, more family members wait, more salesmen arrange boxes or discreetly check inside their backpacks. Between pizzas, soft drinks and endless lines, there is everything here that the state pharmacies cannot offer.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Oblivious to Hurricane Melissa and Its Victims, the French Company Bouygues Continues Building Hotels in Holguín, Cuba

Authorities reprimand state media outlets that show interest in the module factory: “Forget about that plant.”

One of the few photographs taken inside the modular plant in Antilla, Holguín, in 2024. / Facebook / Alberto Manuel Leyva Rojas

14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2025 — While the Cuban Government continues to blame the blockade* for the lack of construction materials, and in the midst of a new crisis caused by Hurricane Melissa, which left more than 76,000 homes affected in the east of the country, a huge factory is dedicated exclusively and very discreetly to the production of modules for a hotel complex in Holguín.

Details about the operation of the Antilla Modular Plant were revealed by photographer Juan Pablo Contreras, who stated in a Facebook post that authorities had prohibited state media from investigating the specifics of this gigantic facility, located in an isolated area. “Forget about that plant. In fact, it doesn’t exist. It was never built,” they were told bluntly. They only learned of its enormous capacity thanks to a video published by Bouygues Bâtiment International, the French company involved in the construction of numerous luxury hotels on the island, including the Iberostar La Habana Iberostar La Habana de la Torre K and the Grand Packard.

Journalist Abdiel Bermúdez, a news anchor, commented on Contreras’s post: “This is how things are, as if there were something hidden between heaven and earth, and as if censorship were global. Shameful, once again.”

In the video posted by Bouygues, it’s clear that the factory not only exists and is fully operational, but that its size is also considerable. Alden Angulo Roque, deputy director of the Ramón de Antilla industrial park, emphasizes in the video that it “defines the future of construction in Cuba.”

The 448 workers at the factory produce 70 complete modules per month. / Screenshot

Located on the Ramón de Antilla peninsula, the factory manufactures fully equipped luxury hotel rooms, which are then transported by large trucks to the emerging tourist destination. The facility covers just over nine hectares, with two covered workshops—each 300 linear meters long—dedicated to the structures and finishes. According to Maylín García Ramírez, the plant’s deputy director, the warehouse has a capacity of 6,300 cubic meters. The 448 workers at the factory produce 70 complete modules per month, including electrical and plumbing installations, and deliver them ready for occupancy. continue reading

One of the projects benefiting from this is Baracutey, where 576 of the hotel’s 640 rooms will be modular. Its managers maintain that this approach saves six months in the project’s completion.

Some engineers have proposed repurposing that industrial infrastructure precisely to help those affected by the disaster. Yulieta Hernández Díaz, for example, maintains that the island has “recovery in its own hands” if internal production mechanisms are activated, bureaucratic procedures are eliminated, and the modular technology already in place is implemented. The engineer adds on her Facebook page: “The plant is located in the affected area. If hotel construction is truly going to be halted and investment is going to be made in the country’s development, this plant can produce all the necessary components. There’s no need to import. There’s no need to wait. There is a need to decide.”

Designer William Sosa also proposed a project called “Raíz Viva” (Living Root) for the construction of housing modules that, according to his calculations, would cost only 10% of the price of a hotel room. His proposal would also avoid some of “our construction problems,” such as the “misappropriation of resources.” Interestingly, just a few days after publishing his proposal, his son wrote on social media that the designer had been arrested for “disobedience,” although he clarified that his father’s only crime was expressing his opinions online.

The most logical thing would be to stop the construction of hotels that, ultimately, remain empty.

The question many are asking themselves in light of the disaster caused by Melissa is: why in a country like Cuba, where supposedly political decisions take precedence over commercial interests, was the modular plant in Antilla not directed towards the immediate manufacture of housing for the victims?

The question becomes even more relevant considering the drastic drop in the number of tourists visiting the island. Data from the first half of 2025 reveals that only 981,856 visitors were registered nationwide, 25% fewer than those who arrived during the same period last year. Given this situation, the most logical course of action would be to halt the construction of hotels that, ultimately, remain empty.

However, the logic of those who make decisions in Cuba does not seem to align with the needs of the citizens, despite the recommendations of several prestigious economists. Meanwhile, the government continues to blame the US “blockade” as the main cause of the country’s dramatic situation and the difficulties in assisting hurricane victims.

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

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A Fire Affects a Warehouse at the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre

The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are still unknown.

Flames at a construction site near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre in Santiago de Cuba. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Santiago de Cuba, November 14, 2025 — A fire broke out Friday afternoon in a warehouse located on the grounds of the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, according to reports from local residents to 14ymedio .

Around 2:00 pm, nearby residents reported seeing flames coming from a one-story building near the sanctuary’s perimeter wall. Shortly afterward, firefighters arrived at the burning structure, which had a zinc roof, to extinguish the blaze, which was still not under control at the time of this writing.

Shortly afterward, the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba confirmed the fire at the rear of the El Cobre Retreat and Fellowship Center, a former seminary. According to a statement posted on its Facebook page, no injuries were reported, and the fire did not affect either the Retreat Center itself or the National Shrine, one of the country’s main religious pilgrimage sites. Church authorities also clarified that no donations or patrimonial items were stored in the damaged warehouse.

The administration of the sanctuary remained present throughout the emergency, and according to the statement, the archbishop also went to the site to oversee the situation. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The statement, signed by Father Rogelio Dean Puerta, rector of the Sanctuary, also clarifies that the institution has other operational warehouses, which will allow it to continue receiving supplies and donations while the investigation continues. continue reading

View of the Sanctuary church this Friday, with the firefighters deployed and curious neighbors. / 14ymedio

Currently, the Catholic Church is immersed in the eastern region of Cuba in helping the victims of Hurricane Melissa, a task that involves the transfer and protection of substantial resources such as food, mattresses, and medicines.

In 2012 the entire site underwent restoration, as part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin and the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

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In Cuba 56% of Santiago Residents Are Still Without Electricity Two Weeks After Hurricane Melissa

Díaz-Canel and Marrero tour the province devastated by the cyclone amid controversy over the sale of water and mattresses

Fallen poles on a street in Santiago de Cuba on the day Melissa passed through. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, November 14, 2025 — President Miguel Díaz-Canel travelled to Santiago de Cuba to see the situation for himself two weeks after Hurricane Melissa struck. A meeting of the National Defence Council was held there and broadcast on the television programme Mesa Redonda. Ironically, not many Santiago residents were able to watch it, as almost 60% of the province is still without electricity. And those who do have it are suffering power cuts.

“Many towns still have no electricity or drinking water. Hundreds of people have been evacuated, and most of the work still hasn’t been done in all the areas that were flooded,” said the president, whose prime minister has taken on the task of containing criticism over the sale of supplies, including water. Donated products are “completely free,” said Manuel Marrero, “but others must be paid for, which sometimes confuses people.”

The official explained that “the community group decides” who receives the aid, since it knows “the situation of each family.” This process must be carried out “with transparency and public oversight; people need to know what is arriving and who is receiving it.”

The official explained that “the community group decides” who to give it to, since they know “the situation of each family”.

This came up at the right time, in a week when questions about donated and subsidised aid began circulating on social media. On Wednesday, the director of Trade and Gastronomy in Granma said that water was being sold in the 10 Zone Defence Councils at a price of 40 pesos a bottle per household. “This resource comes from the state disaster reserve, it is not a donation, and it covers logistical costs at a token price,” she said in an continue reading

official message. There was prompt criticism from people who considered it shameful to have to buy a basic necessity in the midst of a catastrophe.

The sale of mattresses has also been the talk of the town, to the point that even in Granma, the authorities have had to put up an argument, that not many agree with. A note from the Department of Prevention and Social Work mentions two types of mattresses, so that “the victims receive the necessary support in an equitable manner, taking into account their economic situation”.

There is talk of “cameros”, which are mattresses donated from abroad and distributed free of charge, and “personales”, which are mattresses purchased by the State for emergencies. These cost 911 pesos, but are subsidised by 50% for those who are “financially solvent”. The note adds that the State finances 100% of the mattresses for vulnerable people and mentions the “payment facilities” available to families in need, although no details have ever been given about these loans. Incidentally, it was revealed at yesterday’s meeting that more than 8,300 mattresses were lost or damaged, which is why production in Jíbaro has had to be increased and donations sought.

Díaz-Canel admitted that the situation in the affected area is “extremely difficult” and Marrero added that more than 149,000 homes and 158,000 hectares of crops have been affected. This, together with the restoring of electricity – which is at 98% in Guantánamo, 86.2% in Granma and 44% in Santiago de Cuba, meaning nothing more than a return to planned power cuts — and the epidemiological situation are the main concerns.
Palma Soriano, Songo La Maya, San Luis y Santiago se han identificado como municipios con epidemia, la misma que sacude al país entero

Palma Soriano, Songo La Maya, San Luis and Santiago have been identified as municipalities with epidemics, the same epidemic that is shaking the whole country.

Palma Soriano, Songo La Maya, San Luis, and Santiago have been identified as municipalities with epidemics, the same ones that are shaking the whole country, mainly dengue and chikungunya. In response to this, they stated that fumigation protocols have been reinforced.

The president of the Provincial Defence Council of Santiago de Cuba, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, said that 43% of the capital city has already been cleaned up – an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes – and expects 100% to be achieved by the 28th. The official acknowledged the government’s failure in her own way, admitting that there are still 6,900 areas without housing solutions since Sandy struck in 2012, and to these are now added more than 2,300 total collapses and more than 19,000 partial or total roof damages. More than half of the 1,244 schools have been affected and students have had to be relocated.

In Granma, Yanetsy Terry Gutiérrez highlighted the progress made in recovery, but acknowledged that many homes (more than 8,000) have been damaged, in addition to 52,000 hectares of land. Holguín is in slightly better shape, despite more than 900 total collapses and half of its educational institutions damaged. Party Secretary Joel Queipo Ruiz said the province is focusing on the psychological damage to the population. But not only that: there were more than 4,700 confiscations from those who took advantage of the situation to charge abusive prices. “There are people who have not understood the present situation,” he snapped.

Translated by GH

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The Trial of Cuba’s Former Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Is Extended One Day Longer Than Expected

The TPS president who is judging the former official made a public argument in favor of the death penalty two years ago.

The People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, in Havana, where the espionage trial against Alejandro Gil took place. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, November 13, 2025 — The trial in which former Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández was accused of espionage concluded this Thursday, one day longer than expected, according to sources close to the proceedings who spoke to EFE. The Supreme People’s Court (TSP) did not indicate whether the case had been submitted for judgment.

A source connected to the case, who requested anonymity, told 14ymedio that the secrecy surrounding the matter is “total.” Inside the courtroom where the trial was being held, at the People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, in Havana, the only family member allowed to attend was the former official’s son, Alejandro Gil González, from whom “no statement of any kind” is expected, the same source said.

In the vicinity of the courthouse, both this Thursday and yesterday, the activity that had been present on Tuesday, the first day of the trial, announced less than 24 hours in advance on the midday news, was nowhere to be seen. Only three State Security agents, one of them on a motorcycle, were monitoring the area, a stark contrast to the operation two days prior, when streets and businesses were closed. No international press has been observed either this Wednesday or today, unlike on Tuesday.

The former minister’s sister, María Victoria Gil, a lawyer by training, is puzzled that he is being tried in that court in Marianao.

The former minister’s sister, María Victoria [‘Vicky’] Gil, a former Cuban television presenter and lawyer by training, is puzzled that he is being tried in that court in Marianao and not at the main TPS [Tribunal Supremo Popular] headquarters, the agency handling his case, in Old Havana. She has no explanation for it. “I’m at a loss for words,” she told this newspaper.

This Wednesday, in an interview with Cuban influencer Darwin Santana, who resides in Canada, Vicky Gil outlined three possible scenarios. The first, she said, is that “the prosecution will finalize its provisional conclusions and maintain its request for a life sentence,” even though the prosecution’s specific request is for continue reading

30 years. The second is that the prosecution will reach “more moderate conclusions, resulting in a lesser sentence,” and the third is that “the prosecution will withdraw the charges,” something she confessed “is like asking God for the impossible.” For the former minister’s sister, in any case, “it is a sentence that has already been handed down.”

A fourth scenario, not mentioned by María Victoria Gil, is that the Court, with Rubén Remigio Ferro at the helm, raises the prosecution’s request and hands down the maximum penalty, one of the punishments foreseen for the crime of espionage and in force in the Penal Code although it has not been applied on the Island since 2003. The TPS president himself, two years ago, made a public argument in favor of the death penalty, which he defined as the “crown jewel” of the Military Penal Code Law.

At that time, Ferro noted that a “death penalty” had not been applied for twenty years, since “those events of the boat hijacking and the whole situation that ensued,” referring to the 2003 theft of the Regla Ferry vessel that traveled between Regla and Old Havana with the goal of reaching the United States. The boat quickly ran out of fuel, and ten people were arrested and prosecuted. Among them, nine days later, after a summary trial, Lorenzo Copello, Bárbaro Sevilla, and Jorge Martínez were executed by firing squad.

“There is no official statement on the matter, but all this time that has passed is a kind of undeclared moratorium. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

“There is no official statement on the matter, but all this time that has passed is a kind of undeclared moratorium. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” said the TPS president regarding the maximum penalty. He justified it by saying, “We have to have it there as a defense for our society, for our State, for our Revolution, against the very serious threats we constantly face.”

The government has remained silent on this potential outcome of the trial against Gil Fernández, who faces another trial on the remaining charges—a dozen in total, including embezzlement, tax evasion, and influence peddling—in which some twenty other people, including high-ranking regime officials, will also be prosecuted. These days, it has limited itself to disseminating, through various media outlets, excerpts from the interview conducted by the newspaper Granma with Arnel Medina Cuenca , a “Doctor of Juridical Sciences,” who explained why the trial is being held behind closed doors.

“That decision rests exclusively with the Court, which is the one analyzing the specific case and it has all the evidence from both the prosecution and the defense,” the specialist told the Communist Party newspaper. “The Cuban criminal process, regulated by Law 143, establishes in Article 477 that the oral trial is public, unless reasons of national security, morality, public order, or the respect due to the victim or their family advise holding it behind closed doors.” The fact that the crime being tried is espionage—”extremely serious, because it directly threatens national security,” Medina Cuenca said—is the TPS’s excuse for not holding a public hearing.

The decision denied the request for an open trial made by the former minister’s daughter, Laura María Gil, in social media posts after the Court’s decision was announced on television on Monday afternoon.

Alejandro Gil Fernández is being defended by lawyer Abel Solá López, who has extensive experience in trials related to state security. One such case was the 2017 trial that sentenced Alina López Miyares and her husband, Félix Martín Milanés Fajardo, to 13 and 17 years in prison, respectively, for espionage. That trial, held on October 2nd in the Marianao Military Court’s Justice Room, was also closed to the public and “without access for the defendants’ families.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At Least 30% of the Cuban Population Has Had Dengue or Chikungunya

Health authorities deny that the current epidemic is due to a new disease.

They indicated that all patients with symptoms should be hospitalized, but that it is not necessary to be in a healthcare facility. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, November 13, 2025 — On the Cubadebate page, after the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, the hashtag #FuerzaCuba, which gave encouragement to more than 3.5 million people affected by the rains in the east of the island, still reigns. The slogan could also be applied to the victims of the epidemic that has spread throughout the country and for which, after several weeks, the authorities have decided to give explanations.

To be blunt, at least 30% of the population has been infected at some time, calculates Public Health. The national director of Epidemiology, Francisco Durán García, brought little news regarding the meeting this Tuesday of political authorities and science experts, although he did want to make clear that it is not a new disease or influenza, but dengue and chikungunya.

Chikungunya was emphasized in the television program this Monday, leaving out dengue, which is better known by the population. Its expansion is located – as was said the previous day – in 98% of the north and center of the island, mainly in Matanzas. María Guadalupe Guzmán Tirado, director of the Centro de Investigación, Diagnóstico y Referencia del Instituto Pedro Kourí (IPK), explained that citizens feel more fear at this moment because chikungunya is a relatively new virus in Cuba, transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the same vector for dengue and Zika.

The symptoms can take up to three months to go away and joint pain is severe

The doctor gave extensive explanations about this disease that keeps the island in check, since its symptoms can take up to three months to disappear and the joint pain is severe. Guzmán wanted to settle a very lively controversy about the need to carry out diagnostic tests to determine the suffering and the inability of Cuba to do so due to lack of means. “It is not necessary to perform a laboratory test for every patient with symptoms, as the clinical picture is very typical. Diagnosis by epidemiological link is continue reading

sufficient for public health notification and action, reserving virological confirmation for specific situations such as the detection of initial circulation, serious or complicated cases,” she said.

The protocols of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) determine, in effect, that laboratory diagnosis is indicated only to identify the beginning of a virus or in specific cases, but not when there is a community outbreak already, as is the case in Cuba, where up to date there are 21,681 cases, according to official sources. This represents a rate of 223.5 cases per 100,000. To get an idea of the dimension, in one of the most recent regional outbreaks (2022), the incidence on the continent was 27.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, with Belize at the top (more than 600), followed by Brazil with 124.

The disease has been rooted in the continent for decades, with a stage between 2023 and 2016 of great virulence, but in Cuba its presence was much more controlled. “It has now reached us, and it may have entered through travelers from places where transmission is maintained,” she said. What has happened to make the situation out of control? One of the things clearly pointed out by the doctor is the disastrous management of garbage. The proliferation of water tanks in homes — which is a response to the poor provision of water service — is coupled with “inadequate management of solid waste and deficiencies in sanitation.”

This accusation was accompanied by the testimony of Madelaine Rivera Sánchez, head of the National Directorate for Surveillance and Vector Control, who cushioned the impact by accusing the “US economic blockade” of the difficulty in acquiring fumigation equipment and repair parts.

She argued that there may be “delay” or “low availability of some medicines” but there is care and beds

“Fumigation teams should soon reach all the provinces,” she said, before asking residents to open their doors to the brigades and insisting that there are only 45 minutes of emissions. “We are back in the same circle if we do not act together,” she said, urging people to keep their homes clean.

Doctor Yagen María Pomares Pérez, Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Public Health, indicated that all patients who have symptoms should be hospitalized, but pointed out that it is not necessary to be in a health facility. “When I speak of hospitalization, I mean that admission may be at home or in primary or secondary institutions.”

However, she defended the health system and argued that there may be “delay” or “low availability of some medicines,” but there is care and beds. “We must assume the same response dynamics that we applied during Covid-19. Chikungunya can lead to death and must be treated with due seriousness,” the doctor warned. “The key from the first symptoms is to maintain hydration and rest, and go to the doctor without self-medicating.”

In addition, Doctor Daniel González Rubio, infectologist of the Instituto de enfermedades tropicales Pedro Kourí, described the symptoms of the disease, especially joint pain, and its stages. After incubation of one week, the acute stage begins, with intense pains and fevers of 40 degrees or more. “This arthritis can make the person an invalid who has difficulty in performing daily tasks,” explained the specialist.

This is followed by the subacute phase, up to three months, with persistent pain, stiffness and possible relapses. In addition, there is a group of patients who evolve to a chronic phase, and their symptoms can last for years.

Durán closed the program saying that clinical trials are being organized and approved to test the drug Jusvinza in chronic cases of chikungunya arthritis. “It’s not that we’re slow, it’s that there’s a process,” he said. In the meantime, “we all need to be actively involved in vector removal and environment management.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Sick Doctors and Overwhelmed Hospitals, the “Virus” Spreads Throughout Cuba

After months of inaction, health authorities warn of an “exponential” rise in chikungunya and dengue fever.

Hurricane Melissa not only left broken roofs, flooding and endless power cuts in its wake, it also complicated the health situation, which was already serious before the cyclone struck. / Girón

14ymedio, Havana, November 7, 2025 — “At my workplace, there are 14 doctors, nurses and staff members recovering from the new viruses,” a worker at the Doctor Cosme Ordóñez Carceller polyclinic in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución municipality tells this newspaper. “Most of my colleagues are ill,” she adds, confessing to feeling “overwhelmed” by the number of daily cases she has to deal with at the medical centre.

Tamara Alonso, who lives in Lawton, writes: “Here, every family has had at least one person with the disease, at a minimum. On my block, everyone has had it and is still going through it. There are three of us in my house, and all three of us had it. I also have a friend who went to Vedado four days ago, and he told me that on 23rd Avenue, almost everyone was walking around like robots. It’s horrible, both during and after.”

The health crisis has the entire country in check. The José Martí Pérez Paediatric Teaching Hospital in Sancti Spíritus has increased its capacity in response to the rise in arbovirus cases in the province. According to its director general, Ramón Aquino Lorenzo, 20 beds have been added to the 152 already in place, and the emergency room and nursing areas have been reinforced. The doctor asks the population “not to stay at home” and “to see a doctor in the early hours to prevent possible complications that may arise in this type of pathology,” something that Cubans tend to resist, especially due to the shortage of resources and reagents in health centres.

The news, published on Friday in the provincial newspaper, along with other reports in the official media about the health emergency, reflects the sudden concern of the authorities after months of ignoring it. On Thursday, Adelante warned of an “exponential” increase in Camagüey in diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, especially chikungunya and dengue. In the provincial capital, there is “a daily average of 450 people continue reading

with feverish symptoms and a cumulative infestation rate of 2.16″.

The scene described here seems to be taken from the dystopian film ‘Juan de los Muertos’

Clinical trials also began on Thursday for the drug Juzvinza, intended for the treatment of “joint inflammation that persists in many patients after the infection has been overcome” in chikungunya. Dr Perla María Trujillo Pedroza, a specialist in comprehensive general medicine at the Manuel Piti Fajardo Polyclinic in Santo Domingo (Villa Clara), who had been highly critical of the authorities’ inaction in the face of the epidemic, welcomed the announcement of the trials – “Late? Yes, but something is better than nothing,” she wrote on her Facebook page – although she called for “continued work on prevention, on which very little has been done.”

Many Cubans in exile are distressed about the situation of their relatives in Cuba. “Some of my uncles and aunts in Cruces, Cienfuegos, are bedridden,” a Cuban woman living in the US tells this newspaper. “They are very old, aged 89, 91 and 94. The only one still on her feet was a 69-year-old daughter, but she fell ill this week.” The scene she describes seems to be taken from the dystopian film Juan de los Muertos, by Cuban director Alejandro Brugués: “During the day, in the part of town where they live, you don’t see a soul on the streets. Everyone is convalescing. And at night, with no electricity, as is almost always the case, all you can hear are moans. In the silence, you can hear people giving vent to their pain.”

Hurricane Melissa not only left broken roofs, flooding and endless power cuts in its wake, it also complicated the health situation, which was already serious before the cyclone struck. Arboviruses – dengue, Zika, chikungunya, the more recent Oropouche, and others not yet recognised – are no longer seasonal events, but part of everyday life in neighbourhoods where water stagnates without reaching household tanks, garbage accumulates even though the government poses for photos in “volunteer work” and sanitation depends more on neighbourhood ingenuity than on the management of the authorities.

The mother of Duannis León Taboada, a political prisoner from the Island-wide ’11J’ protests of 11 July 2021, reported that her son has been ill since Wednesday and has still not received medical attention. “My worst fear has come true. My son is unjustly imprisoned and has been struck down by the damn virus. He has a fever and is vomiting and in a lot of pain,” wrote Jenni Taboada. Her message conveys uncertainty and despair: “What do they want, for him to die? I am extremely concerned for my son’s life,” she concluded.

Opacity in Cuba is part of the political model. For decades, the island was a regional benchmark in epidemiological surveillance. Today, there is talk of “controlling outbreaks” but not of incidence rates. It is claimed that “reagents are available”, while patients and doctors quietly confirm that diagnoses depend on luck or on who you know in the health sector.

Arboviruses find fertile ground in a population without defences or minimum hygiene conditions.

Tamara Moisés, living in Santiago de Cuba, posted extensively on social media about the critical deterioration of living conditions after the hurricane, which has had a direct impact on the spread of arboviruses. According to her testimony, the city has been without sanitation for more than nine days, with accumulated rubbish and branches, blocked drains and an explosion of mosquitoes and gnats. In her street, with only a few houses, 17 cases of chikungunya have already been reported.

Moisés attributes the spread and severity of these diseases not only to unsanitary conditions, but also to widespread immune deterioration caused by poor nutrition, which she describes as “starvation.” She also points to critical shortages of food, medicine and drinking water, as well as endless power cuts, no gas to boil water and pharmacies without basic medicines.

Her testimony warns of a possible worsening of the health crisis with risks of multiple outbreaks, an increase in tuberculosis and diseases associated with malnutrition, in a context that the Santiago native describes as “a failed state” and “inhumane,” where arboviruses find fertile ground in a population without defences or minimum hygiene conditions.

State media outlets talk about “anti-vector battles,” “community mobilisations,” and “the people’s struggle alongside the authorities.” But these reports never mention the essential details: How many people are sick? In how many municipalities? How fast are infections spreading? How many deaths are actually attributed to complications from arbovirus infections, and how many are diluted into generic clinical categories?

Translated by GH

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US Accuses a Pilot Who Participated in the Shoot-Down of Brothers to the Rescue of Immigration Fraud

Luis Raúl González-Pardo faces charges that could cost him up to 15 years in federal prison

González-Pardo, in the center, with a group of pilots from the Cuban Armed Forces / Martí Noticias

14ymedio (via EFE), Miami, November 13, 2025 — Authorities in Florida accused Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo of immigration fraud for lying about his past in the Cuban Air Force after arriving in the US under Humanitarian Parole in 2024, despite being implicated in the deaths of four Americans.

The Attorney General’s Office in the South Florida District announced that González-Pardo, 64, faces charges of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents, and of giving false statements to a federal agency, which could get him up to 15 years in federal prison.

“This man’s past as a longstanding military pilot for the evil Castro regime, which has brought unspeakable suffering to the Cuban people, should have been front and center in his immigration file,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

“This man’s past as a longstanding military pilot for the evil Castro regime, which has brought unspeakable suffering to the Cuban people, should have been front and center in his immigration file”

The pilot, who arrived in April 2024 under the humanitarian parole program of former President Joe Biden (2021-2025), submitted “false declarations” about his membership in the Cuban Air Force from 1980-2009 on his I-485 form, in order to adjust his immigration status, according to the Department of Justice.

The complaint alleges that “he falsely stated that he had never received any military or weapons training, never participated in a group of any kind that used weapons or threatened to use weapons, and never served in a military or police unit, when in fact he received such training and served in the Cuban Army.” continue reading

Authorities accompanied the indictment with a photo of the suspect while working in the Cuban Air Force.

La polémica estalló en octubre de 2024, cuando legisladores republicanos de Florida, como el entonces senador Marco Rubio, ahora secretario de Estado, enviaron una carta a la Administración de Biden para denunciar que la llegada de González-Pardo implicaba admitir a “individuos ligados al régimen ilegítimo de Cuba”.

The controversy erupted in October 2024, when Florida Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State, sent a letter to the Biden Administration denouncing that the arrival of González-Pardo “implied admitting individuals linked to the illegitimate regime of Cuba.”

Authorities accompanied the indictment with a photo of the suspect while working in the Cuban Air Force

Lawmakers reported that the pilot is “notoriously linked” to a 1996 incident in which Cuban MiG-29 jets shot down two planes of the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue, resulting in the death of four “innocent Cuban-American pilots.”

The current US president, Donald Trump, revoked the Humanitarian Parole program, a temporary legal protection that the Biden government granted to some 532,000 Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Haitians.

“This Department of Justice will vigorously pursue anyone who lies about their past and takes advantage of the US immigration system,” Bondi warned.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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“Sometimes I Think This Pain Will Last Forever”

In Matanzas, patients with symptoms of chikungunya do not find relief in the line at the hospital

Patients despair for the lack of relief from pain that they feel will not go away. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Mantanzas,November 13, 2025 — The corridor at the Faustino Perez hospital seems to have no end. The white light is reflected in the worn-out tiles, and the air is still, saturated with disinfectant and resignation. It is 8:00 am, and the line in front of the post-arbovirosis clinic now stretches to the end of the corridor. Among those who wait, a woman, walking slowly with bandaged knees and tired eyes, asks if this is where they attend the patients with chikungunya. Her name is Yolanda, and she is 59 years old. For two months she has barely managed to walk.

“Since I got the virus, I haven’t been able to leave my house,” she says, leaning against the wall. “The swelling and pain in my knees are terrible. No one has explained to me if there is a cure or if I will stay like this forever.” Other patients hear her and nod in silence. They all share the same evil: the long aftermath of a fever that went away but left a broken body.

Yolanda says that in the La Playa polyclinic, the doctor could only refer her to the hospital: “She didn’t have a prescription for me.” In her neighborhood, Facebook groups and Google searches have become the new consultation rooms. “You learn on your own, because if you wait for them to guide you, you die of pain,” she complains. After a while, she finds a seat on a metal bench. Sitting down with difficulty, she takes a deep breath and watches as the other patients move slowly, dragging their feet.

In front of the intake window, the scene repeats itself: faces of fatigue, moans of pain and an employee who notes down names on an endless list. The health system tries to maintain the protocol, but the shortcomings are visible. Doctors repeat continue reading

the same recommendations over and over again –rest, painkillers, compresses — while patients look for answers.

The line in front of the post-arboviral consultation room now stretches to the end of the corridor. / 14ymedio

Tania, with swollen hands and red fingers, has been like this for five weeks. “I took a taxi from Limonar to get here, only to be told to take paracetamol,” she says. She was treated by three doctors, but none seemed to look beyond her file. “They talked to each other about their stuff, and in the end asked me if I had any risk factors. They don’t even know what virus I had. I spent eight days in bed without being able to get up. And now I arrive and leave the same way: no diagnosis and no relief.”

In the waiting room, an elderly woman wears a white robe printed with flowers and holds a phone in her hand. “Sometimes I think this is a test of endurance,” she whispers. She is accompanied by a young man who barely looks up. “Here the only thing that works without interruption are the lines,” she adds with an attempt at humor.

Sergio, a 52-year-old carpenter, managed to get a turn by calling the registration department directly. “Since the end of August I haven’t been able to pick up a hammer,” says this worker who makes baby furniture and cribs, rubbing his swollen hands. “I have spent more than 20,000 pesos on medicines, and neither paracetamol nor prednisone has worked for me.” The man speaks without anger, but with a resigned sadness. “I tried ice, exercises, massages… The only thing left is acupuncture. I don’t know if it will work, but I don’t have another option.” The silence of the corridor is interrupted by moans. Someone moves around in a wheelchair, another calls for help to find the consultation room.

The silence of the corridor is interrupted by moans. Someone moves around in a wheelchair, another calls for help to find the consultation room.

The most heard words are “rest” and “patience.” However, in the gestures of the sick there is more fatigue than hope. Arbovirosis has gone from being a seasonal news item to becoming a chronic disease of Cuban life. Not just for the viruses but for what comes with them: the after-effects and limitations to resume normal life.

Yolanda gets up when she hears her name. “At least today they will see me,” she says, although she knows that there will not be a treatment other than the one she already knows. Before entering, she says goodbye to those who are still waiting. “Beware of the mosquito,” she recommends with a faint smile.

When she leaves, more than a half-hour later, the line remains, with the same faces next to others who have arrived with similar symptoms. Only the time has changed. “I was told that I have to continue taking the same medications,” she says. She walks slowly towards the exit, clinging to the wall. “Sometimes I think this pain will last forever.”

Outside the hospital, the traffic noise reminds her that the day continues. “I’m going to take a taxi and go back home. I’ve done what I had to do.” She adjusts her backpack, takes a deep breath and crosses the street with slow and clumsy steps.

Translated by GH and Regina Anavy

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Faced With the Increase in Deaths, Cuba’s State Telecommunications Company Etecsa Is Converting Its Vehicles Into Hearses

All the conversations in both Havana cemeteries revolved around “that virus” that “everyone is sick” with.

In Colón, an Etecssa van waited outside the chapel until the service ended. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, November 12, 2025 — “There’s more funeral activity these days.” The statement, made by a worker at the Colón Cemetery in Havana, once again contradicts the government’s reassuring messages about the arboviral epidemic plaguing the country . A simple stroll through several of the island’s cemeteries confirms the situation.

At ten o’clock on Monday morning, the chapel located inside the island’s main cemetery in El Vedado was packed with people, and the parking lot was full of cars. Numerous burials were also taking place within the cemetery itself. The same scene was observed in Regla. All this activity is consistent with what can be seen at funeral homes in the capital, which have also seen increased activity in recent days.

The most striking thing, however, is the unusual transport being used to carry the coffins: vans from the Telecommunications Company (Etecsa). In Colón, one of them waited outside the chapel until the service was over. In Regla, a car from the telephone monopoly slowly led a funeral procession. The sight of the mourners weeping behind the state-owned vehicle was jarring.

Numerous burials could be seen throughout the Colón cemetery. / 14ymedio

One of them, however, was relieved: “Thank goodness at least these Etecsa vans are here, because I don’t know what happened to the hearses.” The man recounts that five years ago, when his mother died, even with the availability of proper vehicles, “it was already complicated.” “I don’t know if they’re sending these vans because so many people are dying and the hearses can’t keep up, or because the municipal services department simply doesn’t have them anymore,” this Havana resident ventures, wondering if the “diversion” of Etecsa vans might be affecting telecommunications service.

Although they did not mention the cause of death of the deceased about to be buried, all the conversations in both Havana cemeteries revolved around “that virus” that “everyone is sick” with.

This is the second consecutive week that the number of infections of what the Government now calls “non-specific febrile syndrome” has decreased, according to the Ministry of Public Health at a government meeting this Tuesday, but the cumulative total is starting to be alarming. continue reading

There are eight provinces where the number of cases is beginning to decrease—Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo—suggesting that in the rest of the country, the number is at least stable, if not increasing. The province with the highest rate remains Sancti Spíritus, according to an article published Wednesday in the Escambray newspaper. However, the data on dengue fever, the most dangerous of the arboviruses circulating on the island this year, were very vague.

The sight of the mourners weeping behind the state vehicle in Regla was shocking. / 14ymedio

Authorities have been reluctant to give an absolute figure, but data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) shows that a total of 9,602 people have now been infected, compared to 6,519 on October 23. This means the incidence rate has risen to 87.79 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up from 59.6 per 100,000 three weeks ago. These numbers represent only a small part of the true situation, as the population is hesitant to go to health centers.

Chikungunya cases are also on the rise. As of Tuesday, the cumulative total was 21,681, compared to just over 20,000 last week. Regarding oropouche, experts stated that there have been no confirmed or suspected cases since September 26.

https://www.facebook.com/14ymedio/videos/1383194196792466/

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Castro’s Mistrust of Havana Politicians

The Castro brothers consolidated their power through purges that eliminated key figures of the Revolution, many of them born in the capital.

Fidel Castro entering Havana in 1959, flanked by Camilo Cienfuegos and Huber Matos. / Venceremos

14ymedio, Rafael Bordao, Miami, November 12, 2025 — It is striking that, for the past 73 years, Cuba’s main heads of government have shared a common origin: a rural background. From Batista, Fidel, and Raúl, born in the province of Holguín, an agricultural region in eastern Cuba, to Miguel Díaz-Canel, also from a province outside the capital, political leadership has been marked by figures formed in environments far removed from Havana’s cosmopolitanism. This campesino root profoundly influenced their vision of the country, favoring a revolutionary narrative centered on the countryside, the fight against urban elitism, and the redistribution of wealth, although often with contradictory and catastrophic consequences.

When Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, a considerable portion of Havana’s population—especially from the middle and upper classes—emigrated into exile, primarily to Florida. In their place, Havana was repopulated by campesinos brought from the interior of the country, many of whom were housed in the former mansions confiscated from the bourgeoisie. This forced relocation generated a culture shock: the new inhabitants, unfamiliar with the codes of urban life, felt uncomfortable in spaces they didn’t fully understand; some didn’t even know what a bidet was for. The revolution, by appropriating properties without compensation, unleashed a wave of resentment and social upheaval. The country, in its attempt to reinvent itself, saw its traditional structures dismantled, giving way to a chaos that, for many, was both a punishment and the consequence of a historical vendetta.

The history of the Castro regime is marked by a liturgy of silences and defenestrations

The Castro brothers consolidated their power through a series of political purges that systematically eliminated key figures of the Revolution, many of them Havana natives, such as Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, who had the potential to succeed them. The history of the Castro regime is marked by a liturgy of silences and defenestrations. From the removal of President Manuel Urrutia in July 1959, the mysterious disappearance of Camilo Cienfuegos, and the arbitrary arrest of Commander Huber Matos, the continue reading

Castros initiated a strategy of absolute control, which involved marginalizing fellow revolutionaries who posed a threat to their one-man rule.

Over the decades, leaders such as Carlos Lage, Felipe Pérez Roque, and José Abrantes (all from Havana), and Carlos Aldana were removed from power without credible public explanations, victims of a system that punishes autonomy and popularity. Even Eusebio Leal Spengler, the cultured and revered historian of Havana, was quietly sidelined, and although he died—according to the authorities—of a painful illness, his Catholic faith and his cosmopolitan and cultural vision of the country not only contrasted with the military stubbornness of Castroism, but also distanced him from socialist dogma, which probably prevented him from rising to positions of greater influence.

These purges were not merely a response to political errors, but rather to a logic of structural distrust. Power in Cuba is not shared: it is inherited, monitored, and purified. The fall of each figure (the most recent being that of economist Alejandro Gil Fernández) is accompanied by a eulogy that sounds like an epitaph, and the ensuing silence is as eloquent as the accusation. In this context, the Revolution has become a closed space, where absolute loyalty to the Castro leadership is the only guarantee of permanence.

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A Heavy Police Presence and Closed Businesses Surround the Courthouse Where Alejandro Gil Is Being Tried

The regime is deploying surveillance not only in Marianao, where the hearing is taking place, but also at the main headquarters of the Supreme People’s Court in Old Havana.

International press gathered outside the trial of Alejandro Gil this Tuesday in Marianao. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández/Yaiza Santos, Havana/Madrid, November 11, 2025 — The area surrounding the People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, in Havana, was heavily guarded this Tuesday morning, but with a visible presence of the international press. The trial of Alejandro Gil Fernández, the highest-ranking official prosecuted by the Cuban justice system in recent decades, is taking place there, starting at 9:30 a.m. Gil Fernández is a former Minister of Economy, former Deputy Prime Minister, and for years the right-hand man of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The only relative of the former official allowed entry, according to a source close to the case who requested anonymity, is his son, Alejandro Gil González. The hearing will continue tomorrow.

“I saw a lot of photographers and a pile of cars when I took my son to school early this morning,” Susana, a resident of the area, located at 100th Street and 33rd Avenue, told 14ymedio. At that time, traffic was not yet blocked, unlike during the court hearing. Shops and businesses of all kinds were also closed, and dozens of State Security agents in civilian clothes could be seen scattered around the street corners, as 14ymedio confirmed.

The People’s Civil and Family Court of Marianao, in Havana, where the trial of former minister Alejandro Gil is taking place this Tuesday. / 14ymedio

The same thing was happening in the streets adjacent to the Supreme People’s Court in Old Havana, the body that issued the statement on Monday announcing today’s trial time. On every corner near Aguiar Street, between Obrapía and Obispo, State Security agents, “disguised” in civilian clothes and working in pairs, were stationed, intently watching everyone who walked by, even for just a few seconds. “I don’t know why they’re wasting so many resources, if the trial is happening somewhere else,” a witness to the operation said ironically. continue reading

This Monday, without prior notification to Gil’s family, the midday news broadcast the TPS statement announcing that the oral hearing against the former minister would take place less than 24 hours later. The hearing, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. this Tuesday, would be conducted by the State Security Crimes Chamber, although neither the court that would try him, nor the address, nor the charges to be addressed were provided.

The accused’s sister, María Victoria Gil Fernández, told 14ymedio that the process would take place in two separate trials, and that today would be the one that includes the espionage charge, for which the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 30 years in prison.

Police operation outside the courthouse where Alejandro Gil is being tried. / 14ymedio

According to the Supreme Court’s statement, the trial would be held behind closed doors for “national security reasons,” citing Articles 153 of the Constitution and 477.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Only “the parties and persons authorized by the court” would have access, the statement continued, the news anchor read almost without looking up from the page. This decision confirmed the opacity with which the government has handled the case since the minister’s dismissal in February 2024, and effectively canceled the request made on social media by Gil’s daughter, Laura María, for a fair, public, and transparent trial with media presence.

The court’s decision overturns the young woman’s demand, made on social media , for a transparent and public trial, so that the public could directly learn the arguments, evidence, and details about her father’s alleged crimes. “If they are so sure of their case, why hide it?” Laura María Gil questioned, demanding a process that goes beyond official statements and controlled leaks.

Surveillance operation on Aguiar Street in Old Havana this Tuesday. / 14ymedio

According to a source familiar with the case, who requested anonymity for security reasons, the case against the former Minister of Economy and Finance involves some twenty other defendants, including “a member of the National Assembly of People’s Power and a secretary of the Communist Party.” “The request for him is 30 years, while all the others face minimum sentences of 15 years,” the same source told 14ymedio, while specifying Gil’s whereabouts, which had not been made public since his arrest in March 2024: the maximum-security prison of Guanajay, Artemisa, “under a regime against state security.”

The defendants, he continued, number 15, “plus another five or six who were released on bail.” He asserted that “the names of some of them are not being released; they are under strict secrecy, which implies that they could be military personnel or high-ranking officials.”

Alejandro Gil Fernández is being defended by the lawyer Abel Solá López , who has extensive experience in trials related to state security. One such case was the 2017 trial that sentenced Alina López Miyares and her husband, Félix Martín Milanés Fajardo, to 13 and 17 years in prison, respectively, for espionage. That trial, held on October 2nd in the Marianao Military Court’s Justice Room, was also closed to the public and “without access for the defendants’ families.”

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Cuba Acknowledges 60% More Serious Cases of Dengue to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Promises To Handle It ‘Like We Did With COVID-19’

Cuban authorities report that the number of infections is beginning to be controlled, but in just three weeks the number of cases has soared

Fumigation in a street in Matanzas. / Girón

14ymedio, Madrid, November 12, 2025 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez spoke words that were as feared as they were expected on Tuesday. “We are going to handle this epidemic like we did with Covid-19,” he said at the meeting of health experts, who analyzed the situation created since viruses associated with arbovirosis began to spread on the island. The population has assumed for weeks that the spread is rampant and expected the authorities to do the same, although they fear that the mention of coronavirus will cause more worry.

The authorities spoke yesterday of an “unspecific febrile syndrome,” as it is known in medicine: a condition characterized by the presence of high fever and commonly associated with a wide variety of diseases such as dengue, zika, chikungunya and many others. According to the data offered by Public Health at the meeting, it is the second consecutive week that the number of infections has decreased, but the accumulation of cases is frightening.

Dr. José Raúl de Armas Fernández said that there are eight provinces in which the number is beginning to fall — Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo — from which it can be inferred that the others have at least stable, if not increased, numbers. Sancti Spíritus, according to an article published this Wednesday in the newspaper Escambray, maintains the highest rate of suspected cases. Data on dengue, the most dangerous of the arbovirosis circulating on the island this year, were very unspecific. continue reading

Sancti Spíritus, according to an article published this Wednesday in the newspaper Escambray, maintains the highest rate of suspected cases.

The authorities have been reluctant to give an absolute figure, but the data provided by PAHO show that a total of 9,602 people have already been infected, compared to 6,519 on October 23. This means that the incidence is 87.79 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 59.6 cases per 100,000 three weeks ago.

The numbers are from suspected and confirmed cases, in the 46th week of data, although they represent a small part of those actually on the island, since a large part of the population is reluctant to go to health centers despite the insistence of the authorities. Three weeks ago, when this newspaper reviewed the PAHO data on dengue, Cuba had reported 71 cases of severe dengue, but today it reports 115 cases, 62% more in just 21 days. Deaths are also reported: three in total, unchanged from mid-October.

Dr. Armas Fernández did give more precise figures for chikungunya, not for the first time. Last week, the national director of Epidemiology, Francisco Durán, placed the number at 20,062, while yesterday the cumulative figure had increased to 21,681, of which more than 20,000 had a clinical suspicion of the disease in 14 provinces, 93 municipalities and 151 health areas. Matanzas, Havana, Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Artemisa, and Villa Clara have almost all the cases, 98.5% of those diagnosed.

As for oropouche, experts stated that there has been no confirmed or suspected case since September 26.

“El objetivo fundamental de nuestro sistema es lograr el ingreso de todos los pacientes que tienen síndrome febril. Este ingreso puede ser en la vivienda o puede ser por los criterios que ya están aprobados”, afirmó Yagen Pomares Pérez, directora general de Atención Primaria y doctora en Ciencias.

“The fundamental objective of our system is to accomplish the admission of all patients with febrile syndrome. This can be home admission, according to criteria that are already approved,” said Dr. Yagen Pomares Pérez, the director general of primary care.

Pomares said that a new protocol has been approved for this situation based on the experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic, in which it is essential “to admit patients,” beginning with isolation at home, which, she admitted, is complicated.

She also indicated that there is a need for the health teams to continue monitoring the patient. For this, and in the midst of a collapse of staff and human resources in the health sector, “fifth-year medical students who now have the sufficient competence” have been mobilized. The experience now has been tested, as this newspaper reported last month and now confirmed on Tuesday by the official in Matanzas, the first province to suffer the serious epidemic.

The experts reported that there are demographic groups that must be hospitalized in all cases, such as children under two years of age, pregnant women and older adults

The experts reported that there are demographic groups that must be hospitalized in all cases, such as children under two years of age, pregnant women and older adults. They should be joined by people suffering from any disease that can be aggravated with a virus, from the hypertensive to the diabetic and any other condition that produces comorbidities. But the authorities are faced with the great challenge of citizens’ mistrust, who fear finding themselves in an institution where there are shortcomings of all kinds, including sanitation and being surrounded by others affected.

“We all know that the main concern of our population today is pesticide treatment, fumigation,” added Madelaine Rivera Sánchez, national director of Surveillance and Vector Control. She claimed yesterday that “it has not been possible to reach everywhere, as we have been accustomed to during the years of epidemic outbreaks.” However, it is not the first year that problems of fuel, supplies and personnel have complicated the task or made it impossible.

Although Rivera promised to try to reach urban areas or others where an intervention is called for, “there are some provinces in which it has not gone well because the teams have remained on the ground.” This disease, she said, “has had a very fast transmission rate due to the presence of the mosquito, and we must continue to carry out the main actions against the vector in order to be able, in the shortest possible time, to solve this problem that is affecting the entire population.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A 23-Year-Old Nurse Murdered in the Street in Pinar Del Río, Cuba, by Her Ex-Partner

This is the third femicide recorded in November, following the case of 28-year-old Yudislaimi Valdés Silediro in Mayabeque.

The young woman was stabbed multiple times on the night of the 6th in the middle of the street. / Facebook

14ymedio, Madrid, 12 November 2025– Liena de la Caridad Reinoso Ramos, aged just 23, was murdered on 6 November by her ex-partner in broad daylight in the La Conchita neighbourhood of Pinar del Río. The news, which had been circulating on social media for days, was verified on Tuesday by the observatories Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba and Alas Tensas. This brings the number of femicides committed in Cuba so far this year to at least 36, according to the 14ymedio registry.

Reinoso, a nurse by profession, was stabbed multiple times by her ex-partner, identified on social media as a security guard and son of a senior official in the Ministry of the Interior. Some reports claim that this would have meant favourable conditions for the alleged murderer, who was arrested and taken, without handcuffs, to the police station, accompanied by his father.

Ramos has been praised on social media by a fellow student who describes her as “an excellent girl, very hard-working, loved and respected by all who knew her. I speak from first-hand experience, because I studied with her at the Pre,” he said, before calling for the person responsible to be “punished to the full extent of the law”.

Some reports claim that this would have meant favourable conditions for the alleged murderer, who was arrested and taken, without handcuffs, to the police station, accompanied by his father.

It had only been four days since the second gender-based crime reported in November had been confirmed, the one that took the life of 28-year-old Yudislaimi Valdés Silediro. The femicide took place on the 3rd at the hands of her partner in the home they shared in the village of El Mamey, in San Nicolás de Bari, Mayabeque. The deceased had a young daughter, although it has not been disclosed whether the alleged murderer was her father. continue reading

Feminist observatories put the number of sexist murders committed in Cuba so far this year at 40 – four of which are counted as violent deaths by this newspaper – in addition to 15 attempted femicides and three cases that require police investigation: those of Hilda Puig Peña, Nieves Rosa Castrillo Núñez and Fredesvinda Zaida Pérez Poey. They also mention a man murdered for gender-based reasons and four possible new cases that are pending information. “Citizens, reporting these crimes is not a crime,” they urge Cubans.

One of the previous reported cases took more than a month to be confirmed. It was the case of Maidelín Reyes Hernández, allegedly attacked by her ex-partner on 24 September in Camagüey, whose femicide was confirmed on 4 November.

Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba and Alas Tensas also recalled on Tuesday that it has been a year and three months since Yanara Fernández Méndez disappeared, and there is still no news of her. The 39-year-old woman was last seen on 5 August 2024 in Las Tunas and suffered from schizophrenia, although it was under control thanks to the medical treatment she was receiving and the support of her family, who are even more fearful about what may have happened to her.

With less than two months to go before the end of the year, there have been 16 fewer femicides than at the end of 2024, when there were 52 according to the ‘14ymedio‘ registry.’

With less than two months to go before the end of the year, there have been 16 fewer femicides than at the end of 2024, when there were 52 according to the 14ymedio registry. The number of murders due to gender-based violence on the island is unknown, as a significant number are not reported on social media and the government only provides figures for cases that have gone to trial. Last year, 76 femicides reached the courts, although the dates on which the crimes took place were not provided.

The country is still waiting for a comprehensive law against gender violence, the first steps of which were promised by the authorities for 2026.

Translated by GH

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