Two Protesters From October 7 in Marianao Are Transferred to Preventive Detention in Cuba’s Valle Grande Prison

Yuniel Serrano Batista and another resident of the Pogolotti neighborhood were charged with “public disorder”

The demonstration, which took place at night, brought together dozens of residents who came out to demand the restoration of electricity service. / Screenshot / X

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 14 October 2025 — Two of those arrested during the neighborhood protest on Wednesday, October 7, in the municipality of Marianao, Havana, were charged with “public disorder” and remanded in custody at Valle Grande prison. At least 15 citizens had been arrested in connection with that peaceful demonstration and taken to the detention center known as El Vivac, in Arroyo Naranjo.

As confirmed by Martí Noticias this Monday, one of those transferred to Valle Grande is Yuniel Serrano Batista, accused of allegedly setting fire to a garbage container. The name of the other person, who was arrested for trying to prevent Serrano’s arrest, is still unknown. Both are residents of the Pogolotti neighborhood.

The demonstration , which took place at night on 51st Avenue, brought together dozens of residents who came out to demand the restoration of electricity, which had been intermittent for four days, and to denounce the lack of water and freedoms. Chanting “We want light!” and banging on pots and pans, residents partially blocked the road, using burning containers and objects to provide light during the blackout.

At least 15 citizens had been arrested in connection with that peaceful demonstration and taken to the detention center known as El Vivac.

The police intervened within minutes. Witnesses reported that several patrol cars and plainclothes officers forcibly dispersed the protesters, arresting more than a dozen people.

The organization Cubalex denounces that the Cuban regime “has repressed protest participants and criminalized a legitimate act of dissent as a mechanism to silence citizen discontent in Cuba.”

Among those arrested was activist Liván Gómez, coordinator in Havana for the Union for a Free Cuba party. Gómez was arrested the day after the demonstration and accused of leading the protest, even though, as later continue reading

confirmed in recordings, he was not present at the event.

After reviewing the images, authorities decided to release him on Friday, October 11. However, Gómez was warned that he could be imprisoned if he was linked to anti-government graffiti that appeared in the area. “During the interrogation, they also accused me of being behind some posters. They made it clear to me that they are watching me,” the activist stated.

The transfer from El Vivac to Valle Grande usually indicates that the Prosecutor’s Office has formalized the charges and that the detainees could face trial. This step further complicates their legal and personal situation, as it implies further isolation, greater state control, and difficulties in accessing defense counsel and family visits. In political or protest cases, it also acts as a deterrent to the rest of the community.

The month of October has been marked by increased social tension in Cuba.

Although most of those arrested have been released in recent hours—some with fines and others with warnings—the fact that two protesters have been sent to pretrial detention in Valle Grande, one of the capital’s most frequently used prisons for opponents and protesters, demonstrates that “social protest is treated as a crime, not as an expression of a citizen’s right,” Cubalex noted.

In recent weeks, this newspaper has documented an increase in spontaneous demonstrations in neighborhoods of Havana and other provinces, motivated by the energy crisis, water shortages, and the lack of official responses.

The previous week, a group of residents in the Casino Deportivo neighborhood banged pots and pans during a power outage, in an area historically privileged for not experiencing prolonged power outages. Days earlier, women with children and empty buckets blocked Monte Street to demand water. Although they were confronted by police officers, a water truck arrived on the scene shortly after.

The month of October has been marked by heightened social tension in Cuba. Daily blackouts, which in many areas exceed 12 hours without power, have exacerbated the population’s frustration. Added to this are inflation, food and medicine shortages, the spread of epidemics, and political repression.

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“With So Many Young People Like You, Tyranny Doesn’t Last a Week”

From Miami, this is how José Daniel Ferrer addressed Luis Robles, “the young man with the placard,” at a press conference held in Madrid.

Luis Robles and his mother, Yindra Elizastigui, at the end of the press conference. The sign reads, “In Cuba there are more than 1000 political prisoners just for asking for Freedom” / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 15 October 2025 —  “I had already served my sentence, but I was still a hostage,” Luis Robles told 14ymedio a few hours after arriving in Madrid on Monday, after serving five years in prison in Cuba for marching in Havana with a placard demanding freedom. In the Spanish capital, he was accompanied by his mother and six-year-old son, while his brother Lester remains imprisoned on the island.

“The goal of my protest was to break the silence,” Robles said, because “I didn’t want to be complicit in the abuses being committed, in the hunger… Someone had to do it.” The young man saw that everyone around him thought like him, but fear prevented them from defending their opinions. He didn’t consider himself a politician or a leader, just a citizen tired of remaining silent in the face of injustice. “That day I decided to break the fear,” he said with a firm voice and gaze, without losing the humility and simplicity that characterize him.

Robles and his mother, Yindra Elizastigui, spoke about the call they received from the State Security officer in charge of harassing them. “Where is Luis?” the officer asked over the phone in a clearly annoyed tone, although news of his arrival in Spain was already circulating in independent media and on social media. His mother answered without a tremble in her voice: “You know, he’s already out of Cuba.”

He did not consider himself a politician or a leader, just a citizen tired of keeping silent in the face of injustice.

The officer criticized them for not having informed him directly about Robles’s efforts to leave the country. Despite knowing of his intention to leave the island, they pressured him to handle any arrangements through them, in order to maintain absolute control over his actions. “They constantly threatened my mother with me, and me with her. They made us believe that any word or action could land me back in prison, despite having fully served an unjust sentence,” Robles told this newspaper.

The phone call suggested that Officer “Michel”— as he calls himself —had been reprimanded by his superiors for not being able to keep track of every movement of Robles and his family. Although the state’s repressive continue reading

machinery monitors and controls its targets down to the smallest movement, it doesn’t always operate as smoothly as they would have us believe.

The officer admitted in the call that “everything belongs to them,” referring to Villa Marista and other places where Robles had to go to complete his exit procedures, but his discomfort was not having been able to properly carry out his task of following his steps and finding out everything before his superiors.

Regarding his time in Combinado del Este prison, Robles says he stood up for his position as a political prisoner. He never admitted to having committed a crime, but rather to exercising and defending a human right. In prison, he faced threats, punishment, and repression, but he also felt the respect of other prisoners who admired his firm stance.

Robles says he defended his position as a political prisoner. He never admitted to having committed a crime, but rather to exercising and defending a human right.

Robles, his mother, and his son arrived dressed in white, bearing with them the justice of their cause and their commitment to the other political prisoners still in Cuba. His mother, a Guantanamo native who doesn’t hesitate to confront injustice, can’t stop thinking about her son Léster, who remains imprisoned in Cuba awaiting trial. “In a regime like Cuba’s, any citizen runs the risk of having a crime fabricated against them,” she tells us, but she won’t rest until Léster and the rest of the victims of the dictatorship are also free.

His mother recounted her ordeal at a press conference this Wednesday. “My life changed completely since my son Landy started the campaign for Luis Robles’s release. I realized I was just another prisoner who had to follow orders.” They began harassing her at work; they even went to a niece’s school to ask about Luis. “I was forced to leave my job at Housing in Guantánamo; I had to take a leave of absence to go to Havana to see my son’s situation, but all these setbacks we went through because Luis made me grow up.”

“Fear prevails in Cuba, but there are many people who are in touch with reality and have discovered that they are outraged and are not afraid,” he added. He also highlighted the role of families and the harm that silence causes to those in prison. “Many prisoners feel abandoned by Cubans themselves; they raised their voices for everyone. What better way than for those Cubans to support them. We are more than the authorities, the police, or State Security.”

José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, also participated online from Miami.

The press conference was organized and moderated by Javier Larrondo, president of the Prisoners Defenders organization. Also participating online from Miami was José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), who praised the valor of Luis Robles: “With so many young people like you, tyranny doesn’t last a week.” Ferrer was exiled the same day Robles arrived in Madrid. Also in attendance were Javier Nart, a Member of the European Parliament, and Spanish lawyer Blas Jesús Imbroda.

A representative of the Cuban exile community gratefully welcomed Robles and his family. Several activists had been discreetly organizing his arrival for months to prevent the regime from impeding his departure. “I will continue fighting for those who remain there, and for Cuba to be free,” stated the man who became known as the “young man with the placard,” who is determined to continue raising his voice from Spain.

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The Scavengers Feast on the Ruins of the Café Boulevard in Havana

The collapse of a state cafeteria leaves an extensive reservoir of building materials for the scavengers

In less than two months the usable fragments have been disappearing from the structure. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, October 14, 2025 — Matter is neither created nor destroyed, it only changes hands. What until recently was a state cafeteria, which was left in ruins after a tragic collapse, is now the main reservoir of steel bars, gravel and pieces of wood from a neighborhood with serious construction problems. At the corner of Galiano and San Rafael, in Centro Habana, scavengers carry everything they can pull from the rubble of Café Boulevard. Anything can be used to repair another house or sell on the black market.

“They have been carrying away everything like ants,” the employee of a nearby parking lot for motorcycles and tricycles tells 14ymedio. He has seen the remains of the property parading past in the hands of the most needy. The collapse of the ceiling of the state business, in mid-August, claimed the life of an employee working on the ground floor. On that day, the exterior of the Café Boulevard and the cracked upper part still exhibited doors, windows and even clothes laid out on the balconies.

Like their peers in nature, these scroungers are guided by noise and smell. / 14ymedio

However, in less than two months the pieces that can be used to prop up a barbacoa (loft) or as a hot plate for cooking have been disappearing from the structure. “Some things were taken by the owners before they left, but others have been cannibalized at night and in the early hours, the same people who live here,” explains the employee.” I have seen toilet seats, complete blinds, electric cables and many planks of wood.”

If in nature scavengers remove cadavers from the environment and recycle them, in the Cuban capital the scavengers sweep through any ruin, empty the wide rooms that once had walls, grab the bidet from the old bathroom of the stately house that fell with the last rains and skillfully remove the bricks from a facade. Like their peers in nature, they are guided by noise and smell: the shouting that comes after the collapse of some pillars and the stench of moisture that spreads through the debris of a collapsed building.

In a couple of months, it is very likely that, on the corner of Galiano and San Rafael, there will remain only some unadorned pillars and the memory of shared laughter, conversation and beer.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Regime Suggests That the US Is Behind the ‘Suspicious Coincidence of the Virus in Cuba’

It is a question of discrediting tourism, since this “may affect the greater inflow of foreign currency to the country in times of the economic crisis on the Island”

Fumigation in Matanzas, where the outbreak began to worsen this September / Girón

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, October 14, 2025 — After several days of circulation on quasi-independent blogs and state media, the official press has decided to publish an article in which the political analyst of Razones de Cuba, Arthur González, insinuates that the epidemiological situation did not happen “by chance” but forms part of the “biological war” against Cuba, which the US, he claims, is behind.

The article, entitled Suspicious coincidence of virus in Cuba obliges us to remember the past, was originally published in El Heraldo Cubano, an official blog dedicated to “divulging the truth that is censored by the media monopoly.” This does not refer to Cuban state media but to the press supposedly linked to the US. It was reproduced this Tuesday by the provincial newspaper of Cienfuegos, 5 de septiembre, to give official support to the conspiracy theory.

The author points out that chikungunya has not been in Cuba since the 2015 epidemic, but only this July, ten years later, was the first outbreak detected in Matanzas, “where Varadero beach is located, one of the most important sun and beach tourist destinations in the country, with the largest number of visitors. It is considered among the best beaches in the world according to international institutions, with excellent hotels run by prestigious international chains.”

The author points out that chikungunya has not been in Cuba since the 2015 epidemic, but this July, ten years later, the first outbreak was detected in Matanzas

After a description of Varadero in July 2025 that little resembles the reality — that month, the whole island received just 190,747 tourists — the post identifies the point where the first cases began to be reported: the municipality of Perico, almost 70 kilometers from the resort, located on a key. From there, it says, it spread to Máximo Gómez, more than 50 kilometers away.

The Ministry of Health identified several cases of chikungunya in July, a focus that was almost exclusively confined to Perico, although health brigades were sent from different parts of the province. In the middle of the month, that focus was controlled, although surveillance continued due to the increase of Aedes Aegyptis mosquitos during the season.

It was not until September that the situation worsened again in the province of Matanzas, in this case affecting more virulently the capital city and Cárdenas. After weeks of warnings on social media and the independent press, the official media ended up admitting the gravity of a situation in continue reading

which lack of water, blackouts, garbage and shortages of medicines and health facilities have been ideal breeding grounds for the spread of dengue, oropouche and chikungunya.

González argues that this is not by chance and he is right. The above cases have been recognized by the official press itself in recent days. But for him it is, at the very least, something that could impact tourism, since this “may affect the greater inflow of foreign exchange into the country in times of the economic crisis that Cuba is going through.”

For the author, the beginning of the crisis coincides with the launch of Cuban tourism in several international fairs and the holiday campaign of different destinations — summer or winter — depending on the latitude. “The outbreak quickly advanced in the municipalities of Matanzas and Cárdenas, where most of the tourism workers in Varadero reside. They can get sick and transmit it to tourists,” he says.

In the midst of the worsening situation, the US issued a warning to travelers two weeks ago, giving health recommendations to those who eventually have Cuba as their destination. These measures are normal. Almost all countries advise their nationals of the risks or measures to be taken into account when going abroad, whether to warn them of natural phenomena, the possibility of terrorist attacks, shortages of products or precautions against theft. But for González these warmings are a suspicious act.

For González, the situation recalls “what happened in May 1981, when the hemorrhagic dengue epidemic was similarly detected” in Boyeros, where the José Martí International Airport is located

It is striking that on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the U.S. government issued a health alert for its citizens in Cuba before the outbreak of chikungunya, when Americans are forbidden to travel to the Island as tourists and President Donald Trump removed the licenses that allowed them to visit Cuba, which sends an alarm to all possible visitors from other parts of the world,” he says. “Why did they issue this alert when the number of American visitors to the Island is minimal?”

For González, the situation recalls “what happened in May 1981, when the hemorrhagic dengue epidemic was similarly detected” in Boyeros, where the José Martí International Airport is located. “We can never forget what Eduardo Arocena, a terrorist killer of Cuban origin and member of anti-Cuban organizations in the service of the CIA declared to the New York Court in 1984: ‘I belong to a group whose mission was to obtain certain pathogenic germs and introduce them into Cuba’.”

The text goes on to mention the articles dedicated to biological warfare against Cuba written by journalist Warren Hinckle and former FBI agent William Turner. It argues that the Island “has been the victim of dozens of actions” by the US to “affect its economy,” including African swine fever, which led to the slaughter of the country’s pigs.

“Chikungunya was first detected in 1952 in Tanzania, and Cuba never suffered from this virus until a few years ago. Therefore, these epidemics cannot be by chance.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“We’re Going To Take Them Down, These Are the Last Days of the Tyranny,” Says Ferrer on His Arrival in Miami

The opponent insists that “the peaceful way remains the most valid action”, but quotes Saint Augustine: “When the enemy tries to slaughter you you have the right to self-defense”

José Daniel Ferrer, between his brother, Luis Enrique, and his wife, Nelva Ortega, this Monday at the Cuban American National Foundation. / Capture

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Miami/Madrid, October 13, 2025 — With “mixed feelings,” joy at being able to arrive in the United States with his family and grief for the remaining political prisoners in Cuba, opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer appeared before the press a few hours after landing at Miami airport on Monday. “Cuba’s prisons are hell, Dante in his Divine Comedy does not describe a hell like the Cuban prisons,” said Ferrer at the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), after mentioning political prisoners including Félix Navarro, Sayli Navarro and Lizandra Góngora, who are still serving time on the Island.

“I never thought of leaving Cuba. Of course, I didn’t think the dictatorship would last until 2025 either,” said the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU). Accompanied by his brother, Luis Enrique, his wife, Nelva Ortega, and three of the children who also made the trip -Daniel José, Fátima Victoria and Ana Laura- in addition to her mother, Yusmila Reyna. Ferrer appeared with a Cuban flag on his shoulders and promised to return “as soon as possible” to “put an end to the dictatorship.”

“My intention upon coming here is to continue making my modest contribution in the search for the greatest unity and effectiveness” in the fight against the regime, he explained, stating that “we must put the screws to them inside and outside of Cuba.” He explicitly stated his desire to return several times during his speech, alluding to the “heroes of the homeland,” such as José Martí and Antonio Maceo, who “left but returned.”

“My intention upon coming here is to continue making my modest contribution in the search for the greatest unity and effectiveness”

The opponent also took advantage of the event to congratulate María Corina Machado for having received the Nobel Peace Prize, something that, he said, “has caused suffering to the communists of Venezuela and Cuba. If there is a dictatorship in Caracas it’s because in Havana there is a dictatorship that gives it support,” he recalled.

Asked about the details of his departure, Ferrer said that it was not until yesterday, Sunday, that a prison officer arrived in his cell “very affectionate, laughing” to tell him that “everything is ready for the departure.” As he had denounced in the letter in which he made public his consent to go into exile, the regime had delayed the process because it continue reading

intended that the opponent serve as an intermediary with the US administration and the Vatican to achieve “things they want.”

Since his letter came out, the authorities have kept the whole family in limbo. According to both José Daniel Ferrer and Nelva Ortega, this uncertainty remained until the moment they met, already on the plane that brought them from Santiago de Cuba. On the one hand, Ferrer doubted if they would take him out but leave his family on the island, and she, on the other hand, that they would get out and he would stay in jail.

Before the media, Ferrer thanked the US ambassador to Cuba, Mike Hammer, who called him before leaving the island; Secretary of state, Marco Rubio; President Donald Trump; and the US administration for having helped his release. “We need the greatest possible support so that before this administration ends we put an end to the dictatorship,” he said.

“José Daniel Ferrer is a free man, and saving himself has been his commitment to continue fighting against that tyranny,” said Rosa María Payá

As Luis Enrique Ferrer had said in the morning, two officials of the State Department arrived in Santiago de Cuba a week ago and warned the regime that they would not return to the US if it was not with Ferrer and his family.

“We are going to take them down; I do not hold a grudge against them, but we must take them down,” said the opponent, who predicted, “These are the last days of the tyranny.” And he sends a message to the Cuban people: “The struggle continues, with redoubled efforts, inside and outside Cuba.”

Asked by the media, Nelva Ortega was moved to remember family members, friends and “social cases,” the unprotected, who remain in Cuba. “It hurts so much to see that, but as my husband says, we’ll be back.” She also said that it was State Security which escorted them, woodenly, to the airport, and even threatened to not let them out if they requested transportation on their own. “It’s an extremely difficult situation, because you can think about leaving but not like this.”

“Is the peaceful way opened by Oswaldo Payá canceled?” a journalist asked Ferrer. “The peaceful way is not the one that has failed, it is we Cubans who have not been able to exploit it in all aspects,” replied Ferrer. For him, it “is still the most valid action” but without overlooking, quoting Saint Augustine, that “when the enemy tries to slaughter you you have the right to self-defense.”

Rosa María Payá, the leader of Cuba Decide and member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, also present at the event, assured that Ferrer’s “will be a short exile.” Similarly, she warned: “The regime is lying, has lied before and will continue to lie. José Daniel Ferrer is a free man, and saving himself has been his commitment to be able to continue fighting against that tyranny.” She added: “He is a hero of all Cubans.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Eight Independent Economists Comment on the Effects of the US Sanctions on Cuba

Although the US embargo hurts the Cuban economy, the economists say, the main causes of the crisis are internal

Everyone agrees that Havana could do a lot to revitalize its economy and is not doing so. / 14ymedio

14ymedio biggerJuan Palop/EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 11 October 2025 — The US sanctions against Cuba hurt its economy and curb its potential, but they are not the fundamental cause of the serious crisis that the Island is suffering from, eight of the country’s most recognized independent economists diagnosed in statements to EFE. Their views on this issue, with their differences, contrast with the positions of the Cuban government, which claims that US sanctions are the “main cause” of the economic debacle.

The issue returns to the agenda a few days after the vote at the UN general assembly on the resolution submitted annually by Havana against the US sanctions, which according to its estimates — not specified in detail — cost it about 20 million dollars (EUR 17 billion) in daily losses over the past few months. The calculation is terribly complex because it starts from a maze of six decades of political, economic, legal and financial decisions in Washington that have a diverse impact, and the indirect costs are very difficult to pinpoint.

As New York City University professor Tamarys Bahamonde explains, in addition to clear and quantifiable prohibitions, Cuba is outside international organizations such as the World Bank and on the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism, so Cuba has “limited access to credit” and a “significant financial cost,” respectively. continue reading

Still, all the experts surveyed by EFE agree that Havana could do a lot to revitalize its economy and is not doing so. The economists consulted provide a range of perspectives. Despite not being unaware of the effect of the sanctions, they mainly point to Havana for the deep national crisis of the last five years, with economic contraction, high inflation, shortage of basic inputs (food, medicines and fuel), progressive dollarization, mass migration and prolonged daily blackouts.

The Cuban crisis is, in their view, “the heir of structural problems resulting from an ineffective economic system” and a failed model

Mauricio de Miranda, a professor at the Pontifical Javeriana University of Cali (Colombia), says that the sanctions “affect the country, and especially the Cubans on the street,” although he says to be wary of the “cheerful” cost figures — without detailing or auditing — that Havana exposes. The Cuban crisis is, in his opinion, “the heir of structural problems resulting from an ineffective economic system” and a failed model that “is intended to be maintained by the Cuban leadership.”

The economist Pedro Monreal, for his part, claims that the impact of sanctions “exists and is great,” but that there are other factors which constitute a major burden such as the “inefficiency” of the planned economy system and the structure of state investments.

Alejandro Miguel Hayes, coordinator of the Institute for Research on the Caribbean Basin, says that “the Cuban government is 100% responsible for the crisis” because it does not use the resources it has at its disposal to solve it or improve living conditions on the Island.

For his part, Ricardo Torres, a researcher at the American University of Washington, calls the sanctions “a very important external restriction” but adds that he does not believe they are “the most important factor to explain the crisis.”

Pavel Vidal, also professor at the Pontifical Javeriana University of Cali, divides responsibilities equally between “the external blockade and the internal blockade” and highlights that the Cuban economy has “a high dependence on sanctions policy” mainly through remittances and tourism (rather than commercial).

According to Omar Everleny, a professor at the University of Havana, “there is no doubt that the US blockade* against Cuba significantly damages the country’s economy and Cubans,” but he adds that “much can be done internally.”

The majority of professionals, consulted on an individual basis, point to the Island’s own political and economic system as the primary cause of the serious Cuban crisis. Hayes speaks of “the logic that prevents making optimal or better decisions for wealth generation,” and Monreal argues that centralized planning is “the pillar of a model that does not work” and “prevents the productive forces from being released.”

The majority of professionals, consulted on an individual basis, highlight the political and economic system of the Island as the main cause of the serious Cuban crisis

Bahamonde highlights “the decision-making model of a bureaucratic socialist system” and hence the “partial,” “fractional” and “slow” implementation of reforms, with “cycles of crisis, reform and counter-reform” which do not bear fruit. He also points to over-regulation and “legislative uncertainty” which discourages investment.

Torres recognizes the weight of a set of external shocks -from the pandemic to the tightening of sanctions in the two mandates of Donald Trump-, but he gives pre-eminence to the model of “a centrally planned economy.” De Miranda also stresses the need to look in politics for the causes of the Cuban economic prostration and highlights among the main reasons the “political and institutional system” of “authoritarian and autocratic character,” the abandonment of the “social conquests of the revolution” and “systematic errors” in economic policy.

In the same vein, the Cuban-American Carlos Martínez explains the Cuban economic situation by the policies of centralized planning, general nationalizations and systematic restrictions on private initiative.

Translated by Regina Anavy

*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 between 22 October and 20 November of 1962. 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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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Gilbert Man is Released After a Decade in Prison in Cuba

The musician lived an ostentatious lifestyle on the Island; among his belongings in Havana were a mansion in Guanabacoa, with swimming pool, bar and jacuzzi.

Gilbert Man had been living as a refugee in Cuba since 2013, after fleeing from justice in the United States, where he had been living since 2005 / Facebook

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, October 13, 2025 — After more than a decade in prison, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for seven felonies, Cuban reggaeton musician, Gilberto Martínez Suarez, known by his stage name Gilbert Man, was released on Monday. When reporting the news, the official Facebook page of El Taigeron said, without giving details about the terms of the release, “Today our team is happy because new things are coming.”

The musician was jailed on charges of money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion, electricity theft, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity. At the trial held in September 2016, the Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for him.

He was jailed on charges of money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion, electricity theft, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity

Gilbert Man has been living as a refugee in Cuba since 2013, after fleeing US justice, which also charged him with several fraud offenses. The artist, who has lived in the country since 2005, was flagged for using fake credit cards and identity theft in Martin and Miami-Dade counties in Florida. continue reading

Because of these charges in the US, Gilbert Man faced a sentence of up to 16 years in prison but paid bail and escaped before trial. Among other illegal activities, he was accused of fraud in the amount of $150,000 in purchases at stores such as Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us, as well as 176 fraudulent transactions with more than 100 credit cards, together with two alleged accomplices.

The US court also charged him with several fraud offenses

Ten months after his escape, he managed to obtain an identity card from the Cuban authorities and established himself in the country.

Once on the Island, he led an ostentatious lifestyle, which was reflected in social media. Among his belongings in Havana a mansion in Guanabacoa stood out, which had a swimming pool, bar and jacuzzi, precious wood furniture, wrought iron grills, curtains and carpets, collections of perfumes and beverages, along with bulky bundles of notes with which he posed for photos on Facebook.

It wasn’t long before Gilbert Man, who was also a producer of several Cuban reggaeton artists, was arrested in January 2015 by elite forces from the Ministry of the Interior, in an unusual operation. A video about that day leaked to social media went viral, though the official press never mentioned the event.

After the arrest and trial, which took 18 months to complete, the musician, who is about to turn 40, had all his property confiscated, including his house (now a home for orphans), five luxury cars (a Camaro, a Saab, a Hyundai, an Audi and a BMW), money (a sum that was not revealed) and the furniture.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Cuban Opponent José Daniel Ferrer Will Land in Miami This Monday in Forced Exile

“The departure, bound for the United States, follows a formal request from that country’s government and the express acceptance of Ferrer García,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Image of José Daniel Ferrer with the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom, received upon his arrival at Miami airport. / CiberCuba

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, October 13, 2025 — The opposition leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), José Daniel Ferrer, arrived in the United States on Monday after being released from prison. “Today, José Daniel Ferrer and his family have just boarded a plane in Santiago de Cuba,” reported his brother, José Enrique Ferrer, at an event held in Miami. He also said that the opposition leader and his family would arrive at that city’s airport at 12:45 p.m., accompanied by two U.S. State Department officials.

Luis Enrique Ferrer explained that both officials had been in Santiago de Cuba since last week, sent by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “They said they wouldn’t return until they came on the same flight as José Daniel and his family,” the activist detailed. As can be seen in the images shared by those close to him, with the opposition leader accompanied by his current wife, Nelva Ortega Tamayo, their young son, Daniel José, his ex-wife Yusmila Reyna and her daughter with Ferrer, Ana Laura Ferrer, and another daughter of the UNPACU leader, Fátima Victoria (also the daughter of Belkis Cantillo).

At the Miami airport, not only Luis Enrique Ferrer was waiting for them, but also other family members, dozens of media outlets, and numerous Cuban supporters in the US. The UNPACU leader was also greeted by Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, and by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. However, “for security reasons,” the opposition leader did not leave through the previously announced gate, but instead through another, non-public area, his brother announced.

Upon his arrival, U.S. authorities awarded him the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom for his fight for human rights and democracy on the island.

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ferrer “is leaving the country” and is doing so “at the request of the U.S. government.”

While the plane was still in flight, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ferrer “is leaving the country” and is doing so “at the request of the U.S. government.”

“The departure, to the United States, follows a formal request from the government of that country and the express acceptance of Ferrer García, within the framework of the formalities of application and compliance with the law that exist between the two countries,” the text reads. It continues: “This procedure is based on the Prosecutor’s Office’s exhaustive evaluation of Ferrer García’s legal situation; compliance with due process; consideration of the specific circumstances of the case; and the application of the powers granted to institutions by law.”

Without mentioning the harassment by State Security to which he was subjected or the torture and ill-treatment in prison, they present their particular version of the events: “In January 2025, Ferrer García was granted early release while serving a sentence of 4 years and 6 months of imprisonment. Due to repeated violations of the obligations and continue reading

requirements established by the court, as set forth in the Criminal Enforcement Law and its Regulations, the benefit was revoked in April of this year.”

Opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, on the flight from Santiago de Cuba to Miami, with his family. / Martí Noticias

The opposition leader was reportedly placed under provisional detention for “committing a new crime.” “Once the investigation was concluded, this body, in accordance with its legal powers, decided to modify the provisional detention measure,” they explain.

In any case, his release fulfills the wish he had expressed in a handwritten letter published by his family on October 3. The letter was sent from Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba, where he had been since his parole was revoked on April 29, after he had been released for three months.

“This decision was taken for the safety of my family and because of the frustration that I felt when I came out of prison to confirm the disunity, sectarianism and lack of effectiveness of the opposition inside and outside Cuba in the struggle for freedom and the well-being of our homeland,” he said in the letter sent from Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba, where he had been since his parole was revoked, referring to his months of release.

“For years I have been subjected to brutal beatings, torture, humiliation, threats of death, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment by henchmen and other instruments of the worst dictatorship the American continent has ever known,” the text began. “All with the intention of forcing me to leave my country or renounce the nonviolent struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights, and the well-being of my homeland.”

“All with the intention of forcing me to leave my country or renounce the non-violent struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights and the welfare of my homeland.”

In the past few months in prison, “the brutality of the dictatorship against me has exceeded all limits,” he said, listing “beatings, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions,” as well as “the theft of my food and toiletries” and threats against his wife, Nelva Ortega, and their children. “All with the intention of forcing me to leave my homeland,” he says. “In the face of constant demonstrations by the political police to force me out of Cuba, I ended up agreeing to go into exile.”

However, he said, “since the procedures to achieve this end began, as always happens, the agents of the regime have been playing dirty: they continue with the plan of harassment, threats, humiliations, thefts and extreme conditions.” As an example, he mentions the pressure they exerted to have his marriage with Nelva take place on the “birthday of the deceased dictator,” August 13, and the “videos and recordings” that Ferrer claims they took “with the intention of producing publications that call into question our commitment to the struggle for freedom in Cuba.”

He also stated that they had wanted to compel him to make statements and to ask the Catholic Church to mediate between Havana and Washington, a dialogue he defined as “leading to the shameful negotiation of other times: release of political prisoners in exchange for lifting sanctions and other gifts to the dictatorship.”

Opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer on the flight from Santiago de Cuba to Miami. / Martí Noticias

The opponent clarified: “If my life and that of my family depends on me asking such things, I prefer my death in this Nazi-style concentration camp and even the sacrifice of my family.” And he adds, without making it clear whether his departure can take place in the short term, “I will only leave Cuba with my dignity, honor and my head held high and not for long.”

On the same day, Cuban-American congressman Mario Díaz-Balart spoke out on X about the opponent’s decision, calling him a “hero” and saying, “After years of imprisonment, beatings, physical and psychological torture and persecution by the murderous regime in Cuba simply for demanding freedom, he is being forced into exile. He deserves a welcome worthy of a hero and will receive it.” However, from the moment the letter was published, all was uncertainty.

Last Monday, Ferrer’s wife, Nelva Ortega, was arrested for several hours after demanding explanations for being denied the week’s conjugal visit. Ana Belkis Ferrer, sister of the opponent, said that Ortega went to prison to visit her husband, but Captain Liván Laguart Riquelme refused entry “without a clear reason. At 12:30, with Ferrer’s wife standing in front of the entrance to protest the decision, four agents of the Ministry of the Interior detained her, saying that she should accompany them to the Research and Operations Centre in Versailles so that someone could explain why she was not allowed to visit.”

“If another video or post came out everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and the family, and she would be imprisoned”

“After driving her there, they kept her for almost half an hour inside the patrol car under the sun. They then drove her to an office where the aforementioned repressors were located: Major Raúl, another filming with a camera and one who initiated the threats. According to them, this was her last warning for being on social networks publishing against the authorities and institutions of the regime, in addition to the current situation of my brave brother. That if another video or publication came out everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and the family, and she would be imprisoned,” said Ferrer’s sister, who added that her sister-in-law returned home around 2:00 pm.

On previous occasions, Ferrer had spoken out against leaving the country, as offered by State Security in exchange for not keeping him in prison and under torture. The opponent was informed of the charges against him -propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt of Díaz-Canel- two weeks after he was imprisoned.

Ferrer was violently removed from his home, also the headquarters of UNPACU, in Altamira, Santiago de Cuba, after three months of constant harassment. According to his family, the State Security agents “completely ransacked” the house and took him away, along with Nelva Ortega and their young son, Daniel José, although these last two were released hours later.

On the same day, April 29, Félix Navarro was also arrested during a visit with his wife, the Lady in White Sonia Álvarez, to the prison where their daughter Sayli is being held in Matanzas.

Both opponents were part of the group of prisoners released last January under an agreement between the regime and the Vatican, and returned to prison eight days after the death of the previous pope, Francis.

The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), of which Ferrer is president, celebrated the news of the opposition figure’s exile. “His release and departure constitute a profoundly human relief, after having witnessed the intense pressure and harassment he and his family have suffered since he made public his intention to leave the island,” the organization said in a statement.

“We know that his mind remains clear and that his firm decision to continue fighting for his country from another perspective, until the day he can return, will be crucial,” they continue. They conclude, stating: “With his powerful and scarred voice, José Daniel Ferrer will continue to be a moral and political figurehead for all Cubans committed to building a free, just, and democratic Cuba.”

Amnesty International also welcomed the news, referring to his departure as a “forced exile.” “His situation is not an isolated incident,” the NGO asserted in a tweet. “It is part of the Cuban government’s systematic strategy of silencing dissenters, imprisoning them under extreme circumstances, and expelling them for seeking justice and defending human rights.”

In the same message, they make an “urgent call” to the regime’s authorities to “end the repression,” “immediately and unconditionally release all those who remain unjustly imprisoned in Cuba,” and “respect the right to freedom of expression and the defense of human rights.”

The departure of the UNPACU leader comes on the same day as the arrival in Madrid of another opposition member and prisoner of conscience, Luis Robles, “the young man with the placard.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Political Prisoner Luis Robles, ‘The Young Man With the Placard’ Arrives in Madrid

The opponent is accompanied by his mother, Yindra Elizastigui, and his seven-year-old son

Luis Robles Elizastigui, on arrival at the Adolfo Suárez Airport in Madrid this Monday, October 13. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, October 13, 2025 — Luis Robles Elizastigui, the “the young man with the placard,” arrived in Madrid this Monday from Cuba, along with his mother, Yindra Elizastigui, and his seven-year-old son. Excited and tired, they did not want to make any statement on arrival at the Adolfo Suarez Airport in Madrid, which was witnessed by 14ymedio.

The 32-year-old from Havana, considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was one of those released last January during the mass releases of prisoners as part of an agreement with the Biden government. At the time, he was still under house arrest — as he was last June — as part of his sentence of five years in prison for holding a poster calling for the release of rapper Denis Solís on the central boulevard of San Rafael in Havana on December 4, 2020.

Arrested that same day, the images of his solitary demonstration spread on social networks and were immortalized two months later in the Patria y Vida video clip. They were, at the same time, the only incriminating evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office in the trial, held almost a year later in Marianao, in which Robles was tried for resistance and enemy propaganda, despite the fact that in the video it was observed that he did not fight with the officers who arrested him, nor was there any allusion to an enemy on his poster. The people around him tried to defend him from the police.

The banner said, “Freedom, no more repression, #FreeDenis,” in reference to the rapper sentenced to eight months in prison in a summary trial, who would end up being banished to Serbia.

The three judges and prosecutor involved were sanctioned last May by the US for their “crucial role” in the arbitrary detention

According to the judgment, to which 14ymedio had access, it was “proved” in the trial that Robles “responded to a call” by the Cuban influencer “Alexander Otaola to speak out” against the arrest of Solís, “the police authorities and the leaders of the State and the government,” to carry out any act aimed at destabilizing the internal order and to demonstrate publicly in the streets against the Cuban economic and social system.”

The phrase on the sign that Robles was carrying “opposed the decisions of the authorities” and determined his arrest, which was justified by the Provincial Court of Havana, where the activist was prosecuted.

The sentence was dated March 28, 2022, almost four months after the trial, and the three judges and prosecutor who participated were sanctioned last May by the US for their “crucial role” in the arbitrary detention of Robles, an action that Washington said was a “grave violation of his human rights.”

Since then, the four officials – Gladys María Padrón Canals, María Elena Fornari Conde, Juan Sosa Orama and Yanaisa Matos Legrá – and their families have been banned from entering US territory.

Luis Robles, the “young man with the placard,” was sentenced to five years in prison for holding a poster calling for the release of rapper Denis Solis

While he was imprisoned in the Combinado del Este maximum security prison, the regime went after Robles’ family and arrested one of his continue reading

brothers, Lester Fernández, while he was building a boat. He was also fined 7,000 pesos for “illegal exit from the country,” although there was no proof of it, as his mother has reported since they submitted the facts in early 2023.

Yindra Elizastigui, for her part, has been one of the most combative mothers for the cause of political prisoners, not just her son. Throughout his years in prison, she never tired of denouncing the ill-treatment Robles received. “We must continue to defend them, because our children and our families are innocent. What they did, they did for a right that all human beings want,” she declared in a live broadcast in May last year when her son was once again denied the conditional release to which he was entitled.

Graduated in Informatics, we started to know more about Luis Robles thanks to his brother, Landy Fernández Elizastigui, who became one of the channels of communication of the “young man with the placard” with the outside. In an interview with 14ymedio, Fernández said that his brother has always “thought differently about the regime.”

Indeed, three days before going out on the streets to demonstrate peacefully, Robles recorded a video that was published much later where he talked about his thoughts, desires and also the reasons that led him to be a protester.

“We wish from the heart for a change, a change of system, a change of country, because really communism has turned this country into a living hell”

“We sincerely wish for a change, a change of system, a change of country, because really communism has turned this country into a living hell, a hell where it is practically impossible to breathe, not only air, but also peace and tranquility,” he stated.

At another time, he said that “freedom is the greatest thing you can have in life, and these shameless communists since they arrived have cut off all kinds of freedoms, freedom to a free religion, freedom to a free ideology, freedom to choose who you like, not who they impose on you.” And he continued: “They have taken away even the freedom to think, they want to control even what we think.”

In March 2022, the 29-year-old published a letter reiterating his struggle and goal: “freedom for the people of Cuba.” In the missive, Robles went back to the reasons that brought him to the peaceful protest that led to prison.

“I decided to break my silence because I was tired of seeing my country destroyed and the government doing nothing to fix it,” he explained, “because I think that Cuba’s greatest enemy is not outside but sitting in the seat of the President.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Even Natural Remedies are Disappearing From Cuban Pharmacies

“They don’t have any jars on the shelves, they don’t have anything”, say people who just want some plant-based syrups

Pharmacies of natural or alternative remedies that are well stocked with products are already a rarity in Cuba. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 29 July 2025 (delayed translation) – A sign with huge capital letters saying “NO ENTRY” stops Ramón in his tracks as he approaches the door of the natural medicine chemist on Calle Milanés / 2 de Mayo in Matanzas. It’s not that he expected some modern shining establishment, but the accumulated dust on the windows, the cardboard signs hanging from a shabby table and the disinterested expression of the assistant, more absorbed in their phone, all give the impression of abandonment rather than a thriving health establishment.

“I’m looking for some ginger syrup for my digestive problem”, he says, quietly, as though asking for something clandestine. The reply comes back as hard as his stomach discomfort: “There isn’t any”. Ramón isn’t surprised. “If national sugar production isn’t even enough to meet normal everyday consumption needs, how can you expect it to be enough to make natural medicines?”, he says, more resigned than annoyed.

“If national sugar production isn’t even enough to meet normal everyday consumption needs, how can you expect it to be enough to make natural medicines?”

In the glass cabinets where there ought to have been jars containing extracts, packets of infusions or plant-based creams, the only thing to be seen are hand-written signs, some wrinkled up, others faded by the sun. The prices – still containing cents – are a rarity in a country with hyperinflation: sour broom extract at 6.67 pesos, rosemary, 12.67, plantain, 3.00. But the signs that have not yet been removed from the wall are like ghosts: products that used to be on sale but are no longer available and possibly never will be. The assistant, without looking up, mumbles that they can’t be produced for lack of raw materials. No jars, nor sugar nor alcohol. Nor technicians in the lab that remains closed like a poorly conserved continue reading

museum piece.

Consumers find low prices irrelevant if the products aren’t available. / 14ymedio

Miguel, another regular customer, came in search of camomile syrup, the only thing of its kind remaining in the shop. Beset by a dry cough, he recalls that: “they used to make the medicines themselves right here. There was a good variety and there was good customer treatment. All that’s gone now and there’s no courtesy to make you feel you’re at least being attended to”. As a regular consumer of the cough syrup Imefasma – the classic natural extract of ginger and honey – he complains that there aren’t even any containers to put it in. “They don’t have any jars, they don’t have anything”, he says. “What good are low prices if there’s nothing available to buy?”

The outlook for this small pharmacist reflects a more general, and major, collapse. According to official data, more than 70% of basic medications were affected in 2024 and the situation has been getting worse. Of 651 products reviewed, 461 are either unavailable or have only limited availability. And the problem extends to natural remedies too, which were earlier promoted by the authorities as “sovereign” alternatives in the face of the pharmaceutical industry crisis.

In provinces such as Camagüey the authorities have admitted publically that the production of onion, oregano and honey syrups has suffered along with the collapse of the national sugar cane crop

In provinces such as Camagüey the authorities have admitted publicly that the production of onion, oregano and honey syrups has suffered along with the collapse of the national sugar cane crop. The annual target of 370,000 jars of Imefasma has barely reached 26%. And more generally, only 56% of planned natural medication production has been achieved. The health authorities, which in earlier times incentivised the sowing of medicinal plants, are now seeing empty pharmacies gathering dust and traditional formulas disappearing from the laboratories.

To all of this is added the problem of electricity. The pharmacy on Calle Milanés / 2 de Mayo, like many others, cannot stock anything that requires refrigeration. The sentence “come back next month” has lost all logical sense after the months have rolled by and the shop windows remain empty. Some patients go into the mountains in search of plant leaves, others resign themselves to homemade infusions. “We’ll have to look for the herbs ourselves or die for lack of remedies”, says one lady leaving the shop empty handed.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

“This Is Not Havana, but Send the Military To Collect Garbage,” Cubans Demand in Holguín

From several provinces, Cubans demand a mobilization like the one in Havana

Mountain of garbage in Holguín. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Holguín, October 6, 2025 — The “offensive” that took place this weekend with the garbage collection in Havana is having an undesirable effect for the authorities. From several provinces, residents are calling for a similar mobilization in their territories to remove the mountains of waste from the streets. In the city of Holguín, with more than a troop of military conscripts and militants from the Union of Young Communists, people are demanding a long-term strategy to end the problem of waste accumulation.

Next to the bakery in the neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo and very close to the high school and Alberto Sosa González pre-university, waste has been accumulating for weeks before the worried look of the neighbors and the feast of the black vultures. A few meters away from a children’s childcare center, the garbage dump barely lets you walk down the street, and its stench forces you to speed up when walking nearby. “Tell Díaz-Canel to send the Special Forces battalion!” yelled a grumpy bread seller who tried to pass with his bike, loaded with merchandise, through the narrow space between the rubbish and the sidewalk.

“Here they suffocated most of the private people who had horse carts and provided the garbage collection services.”

The images of the volunteer work carried out this Saturday in the Cuban capital with foreign ministry staff, soldiers, neighborhood organizations and even high officials dressed in their impeccable clothes have been like salt in a wound for the residents, who complain about the constant neglect of their province and the lack of resources to keep Community Services running. “Here they suffocated most of the private people who had horse carts and provided the garbage collection services. They raised the cost of all supplies and they took off,” says a neighbor from Pueblo Nuevo.

For the woman, the current situation needs more than a “momentary burst.” She demands that, although “this is not Havana, send the military to collect the garbage.” In the brief few minutes when the neighbor approaches the dump to check its extent, the mountain of waste grows a little more. A nearby private business dumps several empty boxes that once contained frozen chicken; a young man throws away the debris from a demolition, and another passer-by throws some freshly pruned branches out of a garden. The spectacle, now increased, greets the teenagers leaving the nearby school when the bell rings, putting an end to the morning.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Between Dirty Water and Garbage a New Market Is Built in Holguín

The market will be occupied mainly by self-employed workers who had to leave the nearby Feria de los Chinos

The polluted Jigüe River passes near the area where the market is built. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Holguín, Miguel García, October 12, 2025 — “A pigsty” is how the neighbors describe the new market for the sale of food and other products that is built a few meters from a polluted stream and surrounded by a huge garbage dump on Cuba street, between Carbó and Mendieta, in Holguín. In recent days, the walls of the kiosks have been rising to the same extent as popular discontent grows for the short distance between beans and sewer water, bread and waste of all kinds.

The city is filling up with this type of candonga [practical joke] complains Heriberto, a resident in the neighborhood of the market that will house, basically, the self-employed workers who had to move from the nearby Feria de los Chinos. “They had tents there, and when the official press complained about the hygienic conditions, they were told that they had to dismantle them and have ended up here, where the filth is even worse.”

The Jigüe River, with its sewage from industrial and residential discharges, spreads its stench throughout the area, near the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin General University Hospital. When the kiosks are finished, they will offer both imported and domestic food. Sacks of rice, sugar in bulk and boxes of frozen chicken quarters will be sold within a short distance from the bags of garbage, the piles of construction waste and the miasmas carried by the swollen stream.

What’s worse is that this is authorized by the local authorities,” warns a neighbor. / 14ymedio

“What’s worse is that this is authorized by the local authorities,” says a neighbor. The women thinks that economic precariousness has given rise to this kind of improvised sale with a poor infrastructure. “It eventually ends with the customer taking home a product that has been in contact with flies and germs in that environment,” she summarizes. To her surprise, some of her acquaintances do not see the contradiction in offering food in such a dirty place. “We are used to living surrounded by crap, that’s what happens.”

In a few weeks, the kiosks will be ready to sell pork loin, wheat flour and malangas. Customers will have to overcome the mud and grime to take that food home.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Residents of Hanabanilla, Cuba Live to the Rhythm of Boats

In the middle of the lake, a home restaurant (paladar) offers visitors local products: chicken, lamb, goat, pork and fish

The boats and barges are part of the ecosystem. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Hanabanilla (Villa Clara), October 12, 2025 — Surrounded by hills and lush nature, the Hanabanilla reservoir, in the heart of the Escambray, is an idyllic landscape away from the garbage and insalubrity of Cuban cities. The area is poor in the old way: they build their own houses with real palm wood and raise animals that are then served at the table. Some remote villages have not even received electricity.

Life is not easy for the residents, but people have always lived in Hanabanilla, even on the islets in the middle of the lake, and are accustomed to moving around in boats and fishing to eat. “For the people on this side, the little boat comes early in the morning at 7:00, picks them up and takes the children to school. And at 4:00 in the afternoon, it returns them,” explains one of the residents on the reservoir .

The hamlets have been around for decades, and in the ’50s, when “an American” wanted to build the hydroelectric power plant that Fidel Castro then nationalized in the ’60s, they were the protagonists — according to the official Ecured report — of “one of the most shameful scenes in the history of Cuba with the eviction of the humble farmers who inhabited the Siguanea Valley. They were mostly Galician emigrants, dedicated, fundamentally, to the cultivation of coffee.”

Even on the islets in the middle of the lake, there have always been people accustomed to moving around in boats. / 14ymedio

In the old village “there were houses, schools, shops, everything. The American who was going to build the dam bought the houses from the people who lived below,” the neighbors recount. Despite fierce criticism of the “Yankee” project, the Revolution continued the work on the dam and also turned it into a tourist enclave. “All this was done by the Americans; only a few engines were missing. In 1961 the Revolution shut it down and continue reading

then brought in some Czech engines” to start up the hydroelectric.

Around Hanabanilla, and under the influence of Fidel Castro, numerous businesses emerged that are now in decline due to the low influx of travelers. Some, however, survive, and the paladar El Guajiro, of wide renown among residents and anyone who has ever visited the lake, is an example. The only way to reach the rustic restaurant is by boat, and, as soon as the visitor approaches the shore, he hears the sizzling of hot oil and smells the odor of roast beef.

The shack, made entirely of wood, serves everything that is missing in Cuba, for prices between 1,800 and 2,000 pesos: “chicken, lamb, goat, pork steak or fried pork and fish.” Each dish is served with its portion of rice, snacks and salad, and everything, as the cook himself says, is produced in the paladar. “We produce the pigs ourselves, also the cassava, malanga… The lake gives us the fish: trout and tilapia,” he says with pride.

The guajiros of Hanabanilla live to the rhythm of the boats

Before, he recalls, they even saw deer on the hills that came down to drink at the shore. “I caught them before by swimming, right here in the lake. These are the things (the fish) that are being lost. If I don’t catch them, someone else will,” he reflects.

The possibility of exploiting resources in the area is a relief for the residents. According to the man, who lives at times between the lake and the village of Cumanayagua, “here [in the hamlet] you can live without electricity. Down there [in the village] I can’t live without it: mosquitoes, despair, having nothing to cook with. Not here. Coal is used here permanently, for everything.”

Businesses like El Guajiro, one of the first paladares, founded “before 2012” according to its owner, mark the day to day on the lake. “You arrive at the hotel [Hanabanilla] or anywhere on the lake and tell the boatman ‘I want to eat at Guajiro’s House’ and come to Guajiro’s House to eat. They have to bring them here, and then we give lunch to the boatman,” explains the worker.

The paladar also has other workers, who, when they have shifts all day, stay to sleep in a small house near the restaurant, made, like all the others, of wood.

The boatmen are a whole guild of neighbors who know each other and have been crossing the lake for years. / 14ymedio

The boatmen are a whole guild of neighbors who know each other and have been crossing the lake for years. They also have their own businesses and do the tourist routes to the different corners of the lake. “We give excursions to Jibacoa, from Jibacoa to the canopy, and we return to the waterfall and Guajiro’s House. The other excursion that we have is the one that goes to Nicho, (part of the Topes de Collantes nature park)” says one of them.

The canopy, through which visitors hang from a thick cable over the lake, is a very recent attraction. Installed just last year, it is “the longest in Cuba, in the Jibacoa-Hanabanilla park,” says one of the managers, dressed in gloves, helmet and harness.

The boats and barges are part of the ecosystem. Each family has its own, some motorized, others with oars. The boatmen, surrounded by ancient and Taino names such as Hanabanilla, Jibacoa and Cumanayagua, choose to name their boats with more modern names like Natalia or Príncipe.

The boats come and go from the Hanabanilla hotel, a multi-storey building that Fidel Castro ordered to be built. / 14ymedio

The boats come and go from the hotel Hanabanilla, a multi-storey building that Fidel Castro ordered to be built, and which with the passing years and deterioration is losing more and more charm. The majority of tourists who pass through the area still arrive there.

When night begins to fall, the hotel is filled with music and the noise of the kitchen even though it is mostly empty. On the shore, a few boats, two or three, wait at a tiny floating dock, hoping that some visitor is encouraged to take a tour on the lake, although the demand is almost as small as the boats themselves. However, many prefer to hire private boatmen.

With the passage of time and the decline of the hotel complex, the engines break, there are irreparable gaps in the hulls, and the boatmen depart. The hotel itself has become a graveyard for boats. In its surroundings, dozens of boats rest face down, becoming a refuge for lizards, snails and small animals.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

From Cuban Military Service to the Cuban Countryside: Granma Province Delivers Land in Usufruct to the ‘Demobilized’

The 2,269 hectares granted are for the cultivation of tobacco, coffee, cane and for livestock.

Another 96 youngsters about to finish military service are ready to obtain land. / La Demajagua

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, October 9, 2025 — The need to increase the labor force on the island, affected by mass emigration and disenchantment with State jobs, has led the government of Granma province to give land in usufruct to 300 young men just out of compulsory military service. Another 96, who are not yet released, have signed up to receive land when they are “demobilized” by the armed forces.

La Demajagua, the official press, did not make it clear whether the imminent farmers were offered benefits, but it is certain that they are not talking about greater freedom when working their land. Spread over the 13 municipalities of the province, the boys have already registered the 2,269 hectares [5,600 acres or 8.7 square miles] granted in total to various endeavors: “52 in agricultural enterprises, another 54 in basic units of cooperative production, 142 in credit and service cooperatives, and 18 in agricultural production cooperatives,” said La Demajagua, adding that this “link” to the State gives the farmers “the possibility of obtaining bank loans, contracting and marketing their products, and purchasing supplies.”

The land handed over also has predetermined purposes. The crops to be cultivated are coffee and tobacco, products normally dedicated to export and currency collection, as well as sugar cane — a crop in critical debacle — and for raising small and large livestock, whose products have also disappeared from national markets. continue reading

Finally, said La Demajagua, the initiative will also include 132 young people from the “job insertion plan of June, for those who go to the municipal registry and are offered the delivery of available land.” According to the media, a similar measure began in 2011 to put young service graduates to work, and Granma was the first province to carry out this process.

Spread over the 13 municipalities of the province, the boys have already registered for the 2,269 hectares granted in total to various institutions

The regime’s allergy to the “bums” and “pariahs,” as it has come to call the unemployed, is something that its leaders have been unable to get rid of for more than six decades. Now, with the Island lacking a labor force, getting young people to work for the State is like solving both issues at once.

“It’s a weapon deployed against unemployment once again in this territory, where 2,203 people, until a week ago disconnected from study and work, have returned to the classrooms,” celebrated Granma this Wednesday, alluding to Guantánamo.

Although some seek to graduate from high school and others enter university, most will “train as technicians in different specialties — 32 in total — which take priority and are needed in upper Granma province,” wrote the Communist Party media.

“From this effort, the Guantánamo health services will receive nurses and anesthesiologists; new transport railways will see the light, as well as inspectors in the electrical branch and linemen who will reinforce the work of Etecsa [the State telecommunications monopoly],” added the media, which did not hide that the main objective is “to inject manpower into strategic sectors in which Guantánamo has a deficit.”

As before, those involved were not entirely free to choose the areas in which they would work. The province, which visited the unemployed “house to house,” made a list of options that respond to specific needs of the territory. “The courses, which are also open to those who have chosen to join the Ministry of the Interior, involve the University of Guantánamo in the training of graduates in Accounting and Finance, Management for Development, as well as in Law, Primary Education and Preschool Education,” it added.

While looking for the labor force it needs, the State has begun, for the umpteenth time, to fill vacancies with university students

While looking for the labor force it needs, the State has begun, for the umpteenth time, to fill vacancies with undergraduates. On Monday, at the University of Medical Sciences in Havana, students were called to form a work contingent of teachers due to the shortage of teachers in the schools. “We have more than a thousand students engaged in this work in several provinces, although we expect the number to increase in those territories where there are the greatest complexities,” Education Minister Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto told Juventud Rebelde.

The plan is for university students to fill vacancies at secondary and pre-university levels throughout the island*. For this, said the minister, it is necessary to “encourage and increase the interest of young people who already participate and eliminate certain bureaucratic obstacles that hinder the recruitment of the newly interested.”

The Medical Science students are the same ones who also, year after year, are sent to carry out inspections against disease vectors in the neighborhoods all over the island.

An employment survey published last July by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information stressed that Cuba has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region (1.7%). However, the numbers in the report themselves reflected a different reality: more than half of Cubans over 15 are not working or looking for work.

Of the 8,433,226 Cubans aged 15 or over in 2024, 4,227,333 persons were not part of the labor force, compared to 4,205,893 who were (50.1% versus 49.9%), and of these, 69,333 were unemployed. This represents an employment rate of just 49 per cent, one of the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the average last year was 58.9 per cent, according to the International Labor Organization.

*This program is called “Educating for Love”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘I’m in shock, I Can’t Believe it,’ says Nobel Peace Prize Recipient María Corina Machado in a Conversation with Edmundo González

The former presidential candidate says the Nobel Peace Prize recognizes the struggle for democracy in Venezuela.

Edmundo González speaks with María Corina Machado from his home in Madrid. / Screenshot.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio/EFE. Madrid, 10 October 2025 — María Corina Machado’s first reaction to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was astonishment. “I’m in shock,” “I can’t believe it,” she said in a video posted on social media by Edmundo González.

González, the Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate, who now lives in Madrid, posted a message on X saying that this award is a recognition of “the struggle of a woman and an entire people” for “freedom and democracy” in Venezuela.

“Our beloved Maria Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize! Well-deserved recognition of the long struggle of a woman and an entire people for our freedom and democracy. Venezuela’s first Nobel Prize winner! Congratulations @mariacorinaya, Venezuela will be free!” he wrote.

The message was accompanied by the conversation the two had as soon as they learned of the decision.

Hours later, the Norwegian committee released the video in which the opposition leader was informed of the decision, minutes before the formal announcement. Machado, initially shocked, composed her voice to emphasize that this is an “achievement” and “recognition” for all the Venezuelan people.

“This is an achievement for the entire society. I’m just one person, I don’t deserve it,” she stated. “I feel honored, overwhelmed, and very grateful on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”

The opposition leader, who still doesn’t know if she will be able to attend the ceremony, told Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, that it would take her “much longer to believe what I just heard” and was cautious about the future of her struggle.

“We are not there yet. We are working hard to achieve it. I’m sure we will win. This is the greatest recognition for our people, and they deserve it,” she said.

Later, in a letter published on her X account, Machado insisted on receiving the award “in the name of the people of Venezuela, who have fought for their freedom with admirable courage, dignity, intelligence and love.”

The Nobel Prize, she explains, is a “unique boost that injects energy and confidence into Venezuelans, both inside and outside the country, to complete our task.”

In the missive, she recalls that Venezuelans have suffered “26 years of violence and humiliation at the hands of a tyranny obsessed with subjugating its citizens and breaking the soul of the nation,” whose machinery of oppression has been “brutal and systematic, characterized by detentions, torture, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions that constitute crimes against humanity and state terrorism.”

However, she continues, “the response of the people has been firm and unyielding.” She asserts, “Today we are very close to achieving our goal.” The Nobel Prize, she explains, is a “unique boost that injects energy and confidence into Venezuelans, both at home and abroad, to complete our task,” a “support” that “demonstrates that the global democratic community understands and shares our struggle,” and a “firm call for the transition to democracy in Venezuela to be achieved immediately.”

Also speaking from Madrid, Leopoldo López said that, equally, he considers this a recognition of “a people determined to change.”

“Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado for this well-deserved recognition of your courage and tireless fight for democracy, freedom, and human rights,” said López, who has been in exile since 2020.

The opposition leader noted that “nothing and no one will stop us until we achieve a free and democratic Venezuela.”

Vente Venezuela, the political movement of María Corina Machado, considers the Nobel Prize to be an “incentive” that “recognizes and exalts” the struggle of all democrats and of an entire people for freedom.

“It’s an indescribable feeling, it is recognition of years of work by María Corina and, obviously, a team. And, in the end, I think it’s recognition of the struggle of a people,” José Antonio Vega, coordinator of Vente Venezuela and the opposition coalition Comando con Venezuela en España, told EFE on Friday.

“In Venezuela, we are fighting against a regime that, years ago, declared war on its citizens (and the Western world), and we have had to confront it,” he explained. “And the fight is precisely that, to rescue peace, tranquility, since nearly nine million Venezuelans have had to emigrate to achieve the peace that was denied to us there.”

Beyond all the awards, her greatest reward is that of her own people, “who legitimized her at the polls,” he commented, referring to the July 2024 presidential elections. The people continue to support her, accompanying her because “they recognize in her courageous, responsible, and consistent leadership,” Vega added.

The island’s first reaction comes from the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, which expressed its “deep joy” for the “tireless struggle for a democratic transition,” which makes it an “inspiration for other nations like Cuba that fight for freedom.”

“For us, as Cubans, this award also represents a shared hope: that courage, commitment, and the civic and peaceful struggle for democracy are possible paths to achieving freedom for our people,” it added. “Today we join the Venezuelan people in this well-deserved recognition, and we reaffirm that the cause of democracy and human rights is a common cause. The cause of freedom for Venezuela is also the cause of freedom for Cuba.”

In Europe, EU leaders have expressed their congratulations to the winner. “This award honors not only your courage and conviction, but also every voice that refuses to be silenced. In Venezuela and around the world,” said EU President Ursula von der Leyen on social media. Similar comments were made by Portuguese Social Democrat Antònio Costa, President of the European Council, and by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola of Malta, who recalled that the European Parliament’s 2024 Sakharov Prize went to Machado and González Urrutia.

Leaders such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuele Macron also expressed their congratulations, as did the presidents of Panama and of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who said he hoped the award “will help your country achieve dialogue and maintain peace.”

The UN Human Rights Office emphasized that the recognition “reflects the clear aspirations of the Venezuelan people for free and fair elections, civil rights, and respect for the rule of law.”

“The High Commissioner for Human Rights (Volker Türk) has consistently upheld these values,” added Thameen Al Kheetan, a spokesperson for the office, in a press conference.

The spokesperson emphasized the UN office’s desire to “maintain a dialogue in good faith with the Government of Venezuela and all parties involved, based on mutual respect.”

“We remain firmly committed to continuing to work to defend and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans, both within the country and abroad,” he added, lamenting that in July the Venezuelan National Assembly declared High Commissioner Türk persona non grata .

The spokesperson for the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, joined the congratulations at the same press conference and noted that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has recognized Machado for “her promotion of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.