Translating Cuba – Page 61 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

A Gang Led by a Cuban Is on Trial in Spain for Laundering Drug Money

The prosecutor is requesting prison sentences of more than 200 years and fines totaling more than 47 million euros for the thirty defendants.

Money seized from the criminal organization in the so-called Operation Gunpowder, in 2021. / Capture/National Police

14ymedio, Madrid, September 22, 2025 — Around thirty people who were part of a criminal gang led by a Cuban face trial this Thursday in Palma de Mallorca for laundering drug money in Cuba. The prosecutor is seeking prison sentences of more than 200 years and fines totaling more than 47 million euros for the defendants, reports Europa Press.

For a dozen of the accused, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking six years in prison and a €3 million fine, and for nine others, five years in prison and a €900,000 fine. The rest face sentences ranging from two to five years and fines of €6,000 to €300,000.

According to the indictment, the gang, between at least 2018 and 2021, formed an organized structure whose purpose was to acquire assets of varying magnitude in Cuba. They also made transfers to Cuba, the United States, and the Dominican Republic through front men.

According to the same document reported by the Spanish press, the illegal activity was primarily based on unjustified bank transfers through a company located in the Canary Islands, as well as money transfers directly to foreign accounts. False invoices were also issued and money was sent through transfer agents and call centers. In total, between 2019 and 2021, the gang transferred more than half a million euros in drug proceeds. continue reading

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the accused wove a network of front men, many of them residents of the Island, who served as intermediaries to hide the final destination of the money.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the defendants wove a network of front men, many of them residents of the island, who served as intermediaries to conceal the final destination of the money. They also used split bank transfers and false invoices to acquire properties and vehicles in Cuba, in order to give the profits derived from drug trafficking a legitimate appearance.

To launder money in Spain, the leader of the criminal group used the identities of elderly people to create shell companies, devoid of any activity, which allowed him to pretend that the members of the criminal organization were working in the construction sector, according to the police.

Security forces dismantled the gang in 2021, when they arrested around 60 people, including its leader, a Cuban nationalized as Spanish, born in 1973 and identified by the initials YGL.

As part of that operation, officers carried out various searches, seizing nearly €400,000 in cash, more than three kilos of cocaine and 60 kilos of cutting material, as well as a multitude of accessories and luxury items. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to various prison terms in January 2024 for crimes against public health, membership in a criminal group, threats, and concealment.

But YGL’s background goes back much further. The first major police operation against his organization was Operation Legendario in 2011, which dismantled a clandestine laboratory in Palma de Mallorca and seized cocaine, lidocaine, phenacetin, and large sums of cash. YGL was then in Cuba with his wife, OBF, where he was allegedly arrested following a traffic accident that killed one person, although he continued sending orders to his network. His wife was arrested upon returning to Spain to try to recover the organization’s money.

“It is the most important operation against money laundering that we have carried out in recent years,” said the head of the Money Laundering Group at the time.

YGL reappeared at the head of an even more sophisticated network in 2021. In June of that year, Diario de Mallorca published the results of Operation Pólvora, which culminated in the arrest of 60 members of the organization. The investigation revealed that the network not only trafficked cocaine, but had also set up a money laundering system that diverted more than one million euros to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

“This is the most important anti-money laundering operation we’ve conducted in recent years,” said Inspector Francina Veny, head of the Money Laundering Group, who led the case. Investigators detected small transfers to accounts in Cuba to avoid bank alerts, as well as real estate and luxury vehicle investments on the island.

Operation Pólvora was carried out in three phases: the first, in September 2020, led to the arrest of 28 people, including YGL, and the dismantling of a laboratory where the drug was adulterated and stored before distribution. The second, in November, focused on sales outlets controlled by the Goros clan; and the third, in December, took the police to Galicia, where they arrested the supplier of the chemicals used to cut the cocaine.

The main defendant has displayed coldness and cynicism, even mocking the police when they seized €360,000 in cash from him, insinuating that it was an insignificant sum. The investigation also reveals a violent leader obsessed with controlling his business. A court ruling records how he threatened one of his partners: “I’m plotting against you until I get you, I swear on my daughter’s life that you’ll drown in your sleep, when I get you, try to get my money.” And to another of his clients, he said: “I’ll stick a knife in your mouth, just so you know, and I’ll go quietly and laugh every day for years there in that cell.”

The full identity of the defendants is withheld under Spanish law, but the Prosecutor’s Office describes a hierarchical organization with family members, intermediaries, and front companies responsible for the importation, adulteration, distribution, and laundering of the proceeds. This Thursday’s trial will allow the Prosecutor’s Office to present new evidence regarding Operation Pólvora, including bank transfers, house searches, and testimony from several front men who facilitated the transfer of money to Cuba.

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19,000 Tons of Rice Arrive in Havana, Origin Unknown

Cubans have not received rice through the ration book for months, and are asking when the imports became news.

The ship, whose origin has not been disclosed, will disembark for at least 10 days in Havana before departing for Cienfuegos. / Ministry of Domestic Trade

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 September 2025 — The latest shipment of rice to arrive at the port of Havana is of unknown origin, but weighs a significant amount. Up to 19,000 tons, Canal Caribe announced in a report broadcast on the news this Saturday, while the Ministry of Domestic Trade estimated the amount of rice ready to be unloaded at 16,000 tons, along with 5,000 tons of rice powder for animal feed.

The president of the Gemar group explained that stevedores are working to unload 1,000 tons per day at the Andrés González Lines terminal, reaching 11,000 tons over a period of about ten days, if expectations are met. This cargo is destined for the provinces from Pinar del Río to Matanzas. Once the operation is completed, the ship will head to Cienfuegos, where it will drop off the remaining cargo for delivery to other territories, including Isla de la Juventud.

Meanwhile, the report says, in the eastern zone, work is underway in the same endeavor with another vessel, about which nothing has been specified, but a vessel will depart to the port of Vita to supply the basic ration system food basket of Holguín and one other, which was due to be prepared this Sunday, bound for the port of Níquero (in Granma) and the transport of goods to Baracoa, Guantánamo.

The video emphasizes that, once the product is distributed, it will be sent to the various points of sale, and there is coordination between all the provinces to ensure this happens. “This is one of the links in the port-transport-internal economy chain. Its priority is food imports purchased by the Cuban government and donations from friendly countries that reach the nation,” a voiceover states.

“The truth is, we’ve sunk so low. Simplistic news like this has been turned into achievements of the Revolution.”

“The truth is, we’ve sunk so low. Simplistic news like this has been turned into achievements of the Revolution. A disgrace. Maintaining a continue reading

country based on donations is condemning the population to the greatest poverty,” one on-line commenter reacted. Although it hasn’t been stated whether this shipment was donated, some of the largest shipments received recently came from Vietnam and China, which have declared their donations and occasionally held ceremonies to receive the ship or product.

For this reason, most of the comments on various organizations’ social media accounts regarding the news followed a similar line. “Misery as news is sad. This kind of news isn’t normal. This should be a normal part of everyday life, not something to highlight,” opined one commenter.

Among the reactions are dozens of comments asking when the product will arrive at the ration stores, as many provinces have accumulated delays of up to three months, while in MSMEs [small private businesses] and markets, prices range between 180 and 280 pesos per pound.

Cuba harvested approximately 80,000 tons of rice in 2024, barely 11% of its consumption, which is why it has been forced to pay significant sums of money when the grain does not arrive as donations. Countries such as Uruguay, Canada, and Colombia sell grain to the island, although there have been many cases in which ships were left waiting for several days due to payment problems. According to authorities, rice imports are the largest expenditure of any food import, amounting to more than $300 million annually.
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After Years of Complaints From Tobacco Producers, Tabacuba Buys Fuel Trucks To Guarantee the Harvest

The State wants to avoid “intermediaries” and make sure that the fuel reaches the tobacco companies.

Some of the trucks moved to Pinar del Río / Radio Guamá

14ymedio, Havana, September 21, 2025 — The news published week after week in the official press about Tabacuba begins to have a pattern: fearing that tobacco production will fall and with it the large hard currency revenues it generates, the State has begun to provide resources to ensure this year’s harvest. Last Friday, the local radio station Radio Guamá reported that Pinar del Rio now has five new trucks, from the Chinese brand Howo, to be used to delivering fuel to the tobacco companies.

The vehicles are added to others that the company already made available to the producers in 2024, making a total of 11. The objective, the official press tirelessly repeats, is to “eliminate intermediaries in the process and avoid diversions.”

“The Tabacuba business group provided Pinar del Río with a new batch of fuel trucks that guarantee direct delivery to the farmer on his farm,” said Radio Guamá, which avoided clarifying whether it was delivered to the local government, to Cupet or, most likely, if the trucks are under the control of the company.

The trucks, the authorities predict, “will have a great economic impact, because before the implementation of the measure, studies concluded that farmers were only receiving 40% of the diesel intended for the growing.” It is not clear where the rest went. continue reading

Tabacuba also delivered “12 tractors — also Howo — with trailers, which will ensure the extraction of resources destined for tobacco activity from the port of Mariel to the different territories.” The fact that the company wants to make sure that the logistics of tobacco also runs on its own creates doubts about its confidence in State “intermediaries” to take care of such a valuable product as cigars and even the delivery of resources to the farmers.

In total, said Marino Murillo, president of the group, it is expected that at least 7,000 growers will benefit from the new acquisitions

In total, said Marino Murillo, president of the group, at least 7,000 growers are expected to benefit from the new acquisitions. “We now have the fuel for the new campaign. It only has to be distributed and used efficiently. The fewer intermediaries, the more efficiency. And with these fuel trucks, we will have an advantage. The fuel will be loaded into Cupet’s large tanks, and we will deliver it directly to the producer’s farm,” he said.

As a final gesture, adds the press, Tabacuba donated two solar panels to the province’s funeral homes.

The sudden deployment of resources to assist the tobacco growers, who have been complaining for years about the lack of means to care for the crops, is part of a “financing scheme implemented by the group,” explained the authorities. As part of that plan, the first Freely Convertible Currency (MLC) supply store exclusively for tobacco growers was also opened on Friday in Pinar del Río.

Murillo himself was present at the inauguration and celebrated the more than “100 inputs and products necessary to ensure the tobacco production and improve the living conditions of producers” were made available to growers. The shared images show mostly common hardware items such as brushes, hammers and screwdrivers, more useful for the machinery than for the harvest itself, and which easily fill a list of 100 products.

The most attractive offers, which sparked interest among those who saw the publication on social networks, are water pumps and especially power generators, although the models exhibited use diesel, a fuel that is difficult to obtain.

La prensa oficial también mencionó que los kits de paneles solares, cemento y aparatos eléctricos también se comercializarán

The official press mentioned that solar panel kits, cement and electrical appliances will also be sold

The official press mentioned that solar panel kits, cement and electrical appliances will also be sold at a different location.

A few weeks before, in early September, a “development program for the growers of Sancti Spíritus began, for the intensive production of covered tobacco,” which is grown under a cloth cover that filters sunlight.

The initiative “now brings together some 20 producers,” for whom the company provides all the “scientific and technical advances necessary to obtain high-quality covered tobacco for export.” The process goes from planting the seeds to curing the tobacco, in steps detailed by the development director of the Tobacco Collection and Profit Company, Geisa Calero de la Paz.

To this investment is added another stimulus that the press promoted with a lot of hype. At the end of August, Tabacuba delivered six modern Mercedes-Benz to growers in order to “encourage tobacco production,” although the cars were paid for out of their own pockets and in MLC.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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A Lineman Dies Upon Making Contact With a High-Voltage Cable in Artemisa, Cuba

Cleivi Pujada Castro died while repairing a circuit of the Playa Baracoa substation, in Bauta

Lineman for the Cuban Electric Union. / Facebook/UNE

14ymedio,Havana, September 22, 2025 — Lineman Cleivi Pujada Castro lost his life last Friday while performing repair work on a circuit of the substation Playa Baracoa, in Bauta, Artemisa Province. The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) worker died after coming into contact with a high-voltage line, according to a report from a colleague.

“Yesterday there was a fatal accident in which my colleague and brother Cleivi Pujada Castro lost his life. I am surprised, because he was always very strict about security measures,” colleague Alden Daniel García posted on Facebook. According to his account, Pujada Castro made contact with a 7,800-volt line, which caused his death.

News of his death revived complaints about the precarious conditions in which employees work in the electricity sector, subject to shortages that, combined with the deterioration of the network, increase the risk of accidents.

This is not an isolated case. Earlier this month, lineman Osmani Hernández Madroza, 35, suffered severe burns while repairing a breakdown in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana. The specialist in electricity protection made contact with a broken driver, which left him with serious injuries in both arms. continue reading

This event added to a chain of incidents which show no signs of abating

This event added to a chain of incidents which show no signs of abating. Also, this same month saw the death of Carlos Rafael López Ibarra, a turbine operator at the Antonio Maceo (Renté) thermoelectric plant in Santiago de Cuba. The 33-year-old man could not survive the severe burns suffered a week earlier during the repair of a steam pipe in unit 5 of the plant. An escape of steam caused the burns, which, according to unofficial sources, affected 89% of his body. “With deep pain we communicate the irreparable loss of our comrade… We convey our deepest condolences on behalf of the Directorate of the Electric Union and all its workers,” said the state company.

Similar cases have marked recent years. In March 2024, Leonel Carroso Machín, a lineman of the Havana Electric Company, died after falling from a pole in Boyeros. Although he was taken to a hospital for surgery, he did not survive.

That same year, in October, a fire on the Turkish Belgin Sultan power barge, anchored in Havana Bay, left eight people injured: three Cubans and five Turkish employees of Karpowership. Days later, foreign workers Halil Karadeniz and Fuat Türkyilmaz died in the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital from their injuries.

Every accident that comes to public attention intensifies criticism of the UNE for the hazardous conditions in which its employees work, with insufficient or no protective gear. One year ago, the company itself shared images of workers removing ashes inside a boiler without gloves, masks or glasses, which reinforced the perception that the high accident rate is not accidental.

Las estadísticas oficiales confirman la gravedad de la situación de inseguridad en los entornos laborales: en 2024, 52 cubanos murieron en su centro de trabajo, es decir, uno por semana. Aunque la cifra total de accidentes disminuyó de 1.498 en 2023 a 934 en 2024, el índice de fallecidos por cada mil lesionados se disparó de 33,7 en 2023 a 53,3 en 2024, un aumento cercano al 60%.

Official statistics confirm the seriousness of the situation of insecurity in working environments: in 2024, 52 Cubans died at their workplace; that is, one per week. Although the total number of accidents decreased from 1,498 in 2023 to 934 in 2024, the death rate per thousand injured jumped from 33.7 in 2023 to 53.3 in 2024, an increase of nearly 60 percent.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Ten Cuban Players Attend the European Baseball Championship

Spain, the current tournament champion, has seven Cuban players among its ranks

Ernesto Martínez Jr. joins the roster of France (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, September 22, 2025 —
The European Baseball Championship, which began last Saturday in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, has a strong presence of Cuban players. Ten players born on the island represent four different teams, including Spain, the current champion of the event, whose roster is more than 50% Cuban.

The Spanish team, which won 15-0 against Sweden last Saturday, has seven players in its ranks: catcher Omar Hernández, outfielders Frank Hernández and Félix Stevens, and pitchers Pablo Luis Guillén, Carlos Sierra, Royd Hernández and Rubén Menes. In addition, there is William Escala, born in Miami but with a Cuban father. Also, on the coaching team is Néstor Pérez Jr. from Matanzas, who played seven seasons in the minor leagues with Tampa Bay.

Spain, which seeks to defend the title won two years ago in the Czech Republic, lost its second game 9-1 this Sunday, precisely against the Czechs. William Escala, whose father is Cuban, played in this game. In Spain’s last game this Monday, they won 2-1 against Germany and are waiting to know their future, once all the games have concluded. continue reading

Noel González is on the Italian team, which began with a resounding 18-0 victory against Switzerland

Noel González, from Holguín, is on the Italian team, which began with a resounding 18-0 victory against Switzerland; he will play his second European tournament with them. After finishing ninth in the disputed edition two years ago, the Italians intend to return to the podium, something they have not achieved since 2021, which is an outstanding debt for the second team to win more times in the history of the competition with 10 championships, only behind the Netherlands, which has 24.

Another Holguín player will be part of the contest, but with the colors of France. Ernesto Martínez Jr. leads the roster and will have his second participation in a European tournament with that team. In the past, in the Czech Republic, he hit .286, with a home run and three RBIs. He is also the only player of his team with a contract in the major leagues, since the rest of the players are part of teams from the Netherlands, Italy and France.

Finally, Raxon Martínez Miranda from Pinar del Río is playing with Belgium and experiencing his first international event with that country. He was not in his team’s debut on Saturday, which lost 16-8 to Austria, although he played on Sunday against Hungary (19-9 victory) and is playing this Monday against Croatia (game in progress).

Raxon Martínez Miranda, from Pinar del Río, is playing with Belgium, experiencing his first international event with that country

Raxon left Cuba after marrying a Belgian citizen about five years ago. He has played for Belgium in the first division of baseball in the 2022 to 2025 seasons (in the first three championships with the club Brasschaat Braves and in the last one with Deurne Spartans). The 29-year-old pitcher played in Cuba’s U23 National Championship in the 2019 sixth edition and had 60 turns at bat; he scored 10, with 11 hits, two triples and four RBIs.

If Spain manages to win, it would be the third European Baseball Championship in their showcase. For this edition, the tournament — which opened in 1954 — has the participation of 16 countries. The final round will be played from September 25 to 27 in Rotterdam. The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, September 26, followed by the bronze medal match and the final next Saturday.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Zenaida and Manuel Return to the Freedom Tower 60 Years Later

Thousands of Cuban refugees passed through this Miami building, which is now being reopened as a museum of the exodus.

The Freedom Tower, located on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, María Casas, Miami, 21 September 2035 — A food delivery robot passes by the imposing facade. Around it, skyscrapers and cranes dominate the landscape. Much has changed in Miami since 1925 when the building that houses the Freedom Tower was completed, a structure that opened its doors to thousands of Cuban refugees and is now reopening as a museum commemorating an exodus that has continued unabated for six decades.

Zenaida and Manuel arrived this Saturday afternoon at the gate through which, without having met yet, they had passed as children. The news of the reopening of the Freedom Tower last week reached the ears of these two septuagenarians and, wearing a white dress for her and an impeccably ironed shirt for him, they decided to return to the place where “they gave me the first hug when I arrived here,” Zenaida tells 14ymedio. “They handed out bags of powdered milk that were a blessing,” Manuel adds.

Located on Biscayne Boulevard, the Freedom Tower underwent a profound renovation that took two-years and cost $25 million. The project included significant structural repairs but, above all, a redesign of its collections, adding extensive audiovisual material, voices, testimonies, and the ability to interact with some of the exhibits, creating a museum tailored to each visitor.

With a deep sigh, Zenaida and Manuel begin their tour. About twenty people have gathered for a guided tour, which will end with a tasty cortadito or a glass of champagne, according to their taste. In October, the tower will reopen to regular visitors, but for now, these groups, who tour its spacious halls, enjoy a more intimate and serene experience.

The project included significant structural repairs but, above all, a redesign of its collections, including the addition of extensive audiovisual material. / 14ymedio

Closed since 2023 and declared a National Historic Landmark 15 years earlier, the building retains many of the architectural elements from its original function as the headquarters and printing plant of The Miami News. Most visitors this Saturday opt for the stairs instead of the elevator and end up in a vast hall with columns and large windows. Zenaida and Manuel clasp hands; the place is familiar but much changed.

“I was very little, but I remember my mother was very distressed,” recalls the native of Manzanillo who came to the United States in 1965. Meanwhile, the guide shows several replicas of the tower placed throughout the room, which function as information stations with videos and holograms that review the most important moments of the building. “They helped my aunt fix a tooth here,” adds Zenaida.

The group is diverse. There are a couple of tourists who look like they’ve just stepped off one of the cruise ships that arrive weekly at the port of Miami, several Americans, and many Cubans, most of them over 65. The city Manuel arrived at in 1963 “wasn’t like anything here; it’s another world,” reflects the exile from Luyanó, Havana. There are also some refugees who have joined the tour with their children, who have probably never set foot on the island and whose primary language is English.

“Look, look, she looks like your grandmother,” says a woman dressed in green, accompanied by a teenager who looks up from his phone to look at one of the photos. In the image, a very thin woman with a sad expression stares directly into the lens. The young man responds with a brief “OK” and returns to a TikTok video. The group moves to another room with books full of illustrations about Florida, its original inhabitants, and the multiple cultures that have shaped the Miami that many today call the City of the Sun or the capital of Latin America.

On one of the walls, a text clarifies that to be at a “crossroads” is to find oneself at a “connective node that acts as a meeting point.” This is what the city has become, a place that in official Cuban propaganda continues to be the target of the most virulent adjectives and the most irate accusations. The island in flight has nurtured and shaped a city where all kinds of accents are now heard, and where people eat yuca with mojo sauce and arepas, fried plantains, and tacos.

“We were going to have all this in Havana,” the woman dressed in green reiterates, trying to draw the teenager away from the screen. Through the window, a huge skyscraper occupies a large part of the landscape. The guide quickens her pace and enters another room with a large screen showing a video of faces and testimonies from exile. The past in black and white, the present in color.

The group is diverse. There are a couple of tourists who look like they’ve just gotten off one of the cruise ships that arrive weekly at the port of Miami, several Americans, and many Cubans. / 14ymedio

Objects pile up in the following rooms. There are suitcases, bags, travel documents, children’s clothes, and a doll, as well as photographs of balseros, rafters. Dozens of Cubans crowded onto a flimsy boat, and others perched on a truck converted into a vessel. Also visible are shirts, a wedding dress, books, and a fan. These were the few belongings the exiles were able to take with them. Most arrived with only the clothes on their backs.

“They took everything from my father: the apartment building he rented, the pharmacy, and the cars,” Manuel tells this newspaper. “My mother even had to leave her wedding ring behind because at the Havana airport they told her she couldn’t take it out.” A prosperous businessman in Cuba, Manuel’s father arrived in the United States penniless. “He had to start from scratch, but he had a flair for business, so in less than ten years he was running several car repair shops,” Manuel says.

The most moving moment for the couple is the room that recreates the registration office of the Emergency Center for Cuban refugees, which was founded in the 1960s in the tower. The office was used to process and document exiles and provide them with medical and dental services. The chairs arranged in rows, the signs in English and Spanish, and the old telephone in the corner bring a wave of emotions to Zenaida.

“It was like that, there were a lot of women with children,” she says. “They gave my family a few dollars to start, and with that, we were able to rent an apartment that was a tiny thimble; there was barely enough room for all of us to fit in.” Within a few years, they moved to Kansas City, where shortly after, her father started a photo development and printing business. “We made good money, and when we had enough to buy a house, we returned to Miami because this was the place we liked and that reminded us of Cuba.”

Zenaida and Manuel have never returned to the island. “We’ve been gradually removing the family we had left there; the last one we brought back was a great-niece with her two children.” From Manzanillo and Luyanó, they receive snatches of stories. “My family’s house is an office used to recruit young men for military service,” she says. “The place where I spent my childhood in Havana fell into ruin,” he laments.

Many of those who left in the 1960s and 1970s never returned to the island. / 14ymedio

In one room of the museum, a Singer sewing machine draws the group’s attention. Even the teenager leaves TikTok and tries to decipher the purpose of the object that, in a display case, seems so important. Sewing was a source of employment for many of the Cuban emigrants who came to the US. “My mother paid for our studies by making everything on her machine and ended up opening a shop selling elegant dresses,” another elderly woman explains, responding to the guide’s comments.

A large wall filled with faces offers another moving experience. Visitors can choose to listen to the testimony of any of the hundreds of people who look down on them from the walls. The voice of writer Luis Felipe Rojas speaks of living without fear and the importance of telling the truth. The exile, harshly repressed in Cuba for his work as an independent journalist, maintains that his children will be better human beings because they have grown up in an environment where they do not have to pretend or feign an ideology.

Zenaida’s eyes are red, and Manuel’s pace is slower. The tour is over, and she opts for a coffee, while he enjoys champagne. Outside, it is starting to rain.

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The Unusual Speed of Catching the Alleged Murderer of a Police Officer Causes Astonishment Among the Population

The suspect was arrested in Remedios with a knife and the victim’s service pistol, allegedly used to commit the crime.

Images of the captain’s funeral circulated on social media. / Facebook/Henry Omar Pérez

14ymedio, Havana, September 21, 2025 — The Cuban police have captured in record time the alleged murderer of Captain Leonel Mesa Rodríguez, chief of sector in Caibarién, Villa Clara, who was found dead on a road on Friday morning. The arrest occurred just one day after the crime, at 4:45 pm on Saturday in the city of Remedios, as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior in a post on social networks. It was also reported that the detainee was carrying the officer’s pistol and a knife, both used in the murder.

The authorities did not give details about the detainee’s identity. Initially it was said that he was a “butcher and trafficker of cattle,” which generated suspicion among citizens. “They don’t give his name and surname like they usually do, it’s very strange,” one reader wrote in the comments at the foot of the official post on Facebook. Other users expressed their bewilderment at the speed of the process: “How fast! And for the ordinary Cuban they spend years, and nothing.”

Many of the comments called for a severe penalty or even capital punishment for the aggressor, an expectation that the authorities have shown themselves willing to meet. “The detainee will be subjected to the appropriate criminal proceedings, with the rigor established by revolutionary justice and according to the magnitude and gravity of the act committed,” said the ministry in its official note.

The rapid and severe justice for the murderer contrasts with the slowness and indifference of the authorities when confronting less conspicuous crimes against ordinary citizens. The disparity did not go unnoticed: “I am shocked to see how quickly they arrested this guy when there are other crimes that are just as cruel that are still unresolved.” “What a surprise!” another internet user mocked. continue reading

The death of the captain has been an opportunity for the regime to close ranks around its police forces

The death of the captain has been an opportunity for the regime to close ranks around its police forces and send a message of unity and strength. Mesa’s coffin, aboard a military vehicle, travelled the streets of his hometown, Taguasco (Sancti Spíritus) with a guard of honor, in a solemn ceremony that is interpreted as a warning to the internal enemy.

Numerous photos of the funeral circulated on social media. A Cuban flag was draped on the coffin, and each floral offering had the name of someone with ties to Army General Raúl Castro and President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Senior officials from the Communist Party of Villa Clara and Sancti Spíritus, as well as from the Ministry of the Interior, also attended the funeral.

The official spokesman Henry Omar Perez, of Villa Clara, who has been one of the most active in disseminating information about the murdered policeman, as well as one of the most “combative” in his messages, described Mesa as a “colossus” of public order, a man who “day and night traveled to the most remote parts of the city of Caibarién in the effort to effectively fulfill the missions assigned to him.”

Mesa, who joined the Ministry of the Interior in 2004, was recognized with multiple distinctions; 12 medals were displayed at the funeral. Among them were the “Internationalist Fighter in Ethiopia” and more recently, the “Praise of Virtue,” awarded last June. At 62, he was still patroling his assigned area without relief, the official press points out. According to Colonel Eddy Sierra Arias, head of the General Directorate of the National Revolutionary Police Force, Mesa was an “example of values, commitment, sense of belonging, hours of wakefulness and the tireless fight against crime.”

https://www.facebook.com/henryomar21/posts/2626961970977300?ref=embed_post

“There is no doubt: if he were not a police officer, he would not have moved a finger,” said a reader in the face of the flood of praise that officialdom has dedicated to the captain. Just hours after the crime, the official narrative was already clear: it was a “vile act, an infamous outrage,” as Henry Omar Perez, known for having access to insider information from the police, wrote in a second publication, where he described the killer as “a coward unable to face the greatness of Leonel.”

However, unofficial reports have also emerged that offer different nuances and refer to him with the nickname “Quick Lime,” alluding to his alleged abusive methods as head of sector.

Leonel Mesa Rodríguez was found on the morning of Friday “with six stab wounds and a shot in the head,” allegedly with his own firearm, at the Popular Council La Reforma of the municipality of Caibarién. Videos circulating on social media showed his body lying on the road, while several officers diverted traffic.

Within a few hours, his death generated an avalanche of reactions between those who ask for a tough hand on the aggressor and those who fear that the murder of a police officer will return Cuba to the dark times of the executions. The tension of the case is concentrated in a sentence by Raúl Castro that supporters of the regime have revived on social networks: “He who kills by the sword, dies by the sword.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Extends the Tariff Exemption for Medicine and Food Until January

The measure is renewed because food and commodity shortages “persist”

The regulation entered into force in 2021 and has since been postponed several times. / Cubadebate

14ymedio /EFE, Havana, September 20, 2025 — The Cuban government extended for another four months, until January 31, the duty exemption on food, medicines, toiletries and power generators that enter the country without commercial purposes, the official press reported this Saturday. The regulation had already been extended once this year, in April.

According to the Gaceta Oficial, “limitations in the supply of food and other goods in the country persist.” This initially led to exemption from customs duties on basic necessities. However, the text blames the “hardening of the economic, financial and commercial blockade and the impact on the economic sphere of the measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic for the gradual recovery of the country.”

The customs value limit of $200 to $500 is maintained for imports made by people through shipments

The regulation entered into force in 2021 and has since been postponed several times. It maintains the limit of the Customs value from 200 to 500 US dollars for imports made by people through shipments. As for those brought to the Island by travelers themselves, the authorities state that the articles must be presented to customs by natural persons in packages separated from personal baggage in order to receive the tariff benefit.

According to an official press report published at the beginning of the year, in 2024 there were 118 violations by “people who use these benefits for profit and not to satisfy personal and family consumption,” a warning that Customs released again this Friday. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the figure was already 104 violations, and the confiscation of 8,978 kilograms of medications, food and toiletries .

The importation of food and medication without tariff limits was a measure adopted following the Island-wide anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 (’11J’), which had among its main causes the shortage of basic products and the prolonged electricity cuts.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban President Díaz-Canel, the Dissonant Note in Silvio Rodríguez’s Concert in Havana

When the artist sang “when the revolution comes down,” shouts of “hopefully” were heard in the audience

The concert, which began with Ala de colibrí (Wing of the Hummingbird), was followed by a medley of the musician’s classics. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, September 20, 2025 — Silvio Rodríguez returned to the steps of the University of Havana this Friday afternoon after more than 20 years without singing in that emblematic place, and he did it with a concert full of emotion, uncomfortable silences and a display of lights that crudely contrasted with the reality of the country’s blackouts. The opening of his new Latin American tour ended in a deployment of police, who guarded, in addition to the tense tranquility of the public, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife, Lis Cuesta.

From early on it was clear that this would not be just any night. “There was a lot of security for an audience of young university students. Everyone was checked at the entrance before they could go in.”

The president went up on a side of the stage and greeted the audience two or three times. Very few returned the greeting. On the rooftops of adjacent buildings, agents were present within a wide cordon of security.

Díaz-Canel and Cuesta were at one side of the stage, protected by security agents. / 14ymedio

Dressed in blue and olive green, agents of the Ministry of the Interior hovered around the entire perimeter of the university. They were also among the public dressed in civilian clothes, in keeping with the regime’s tradition of infiltrating its agents, which did not prevent some shouts of disagreement with the authorities of the country.

Some of them booed Díaz-Canel, and when the time came for Silvio to play El necio (The Fool), one of his most emblematic songs, tension reappeared and some daring cries of “hopefully” were heard in response to “when the revolution comes down.”

The whole family of actor Jorge Perugorría and several musicians like López Gavilán were seated in the VIP area, including Carlos Alberto Cremata, director of La Colmenita (The Little Beehive, a Cuban children’s theater company), among many others.

Along with the students, who enjoyed the music that is part of the DNA soundtrack of several generations, there were also those who could not resist the temptation to turn the concert into a political act. Among the stands were several Palestinian flags and, near the end, Silvio himself sang with a Palestinian scarf around his neck, placed by his daughter Malva. This was before singing La era está pariendo un corazón (The Age is Giving Birth to a Heart), another of his most famous themes. He used the moment to harshly criticize Israel for its actions in Gaza: “I think about you and fail to understand how you have so soon forgotten the breath of hell,”he said quoting the Cuban poet Luis Rogelio Nogueras.

Silvio sang with a Palestinian scarf around his neck, placed by his daughter Malva. / Cubadebate

There were Latin American tourists on the steps, attracted by the music and the tumult of students, and in the center of the crowd, a small group of spectators waved a July 26 flag.

The concert began with Ala de colibrí, followed by a medley of the musician’s classics. The crowd sang along, despite the fact that most were born when the New Trova movement was already history. Many 50-year-olds were also seen in the audience.

In an interview with EFE days before the concert, Rodríguez, now 78, explained that he wanted to start the tour in Cuba, and specifically at the University of Havana, because the students had given him hope: “They gave me hope when I saw their attitude,” he said in reference to the protests against the tarifazo [massive of rate increases] of Etecsa, the State telecommunications company, at the end of May.

The university was, without a doubt, a mirage of light and music last night, from which one then returned to the darkness of Havana. / 14ymedio

Also present was the memory of the national blackout just a week ago, from which much of the country still hasn’t recovered, especially when the play of lights dazzled the staircase thanks to two gigantic generators placed carefully hours before. Interviewed briefly by 14ymedio before the concert began, a neighbor said sarcastically: “That’s so you can see the blue color of the unicorn.” (Silvio has a song entitled Blue Unicorn.)

Last night the university was, without a doubt, a mirage of light and music that later was returned to the darkness of Havana. When the concert ended, people started running in the streets looking for a bus to return to their homes and the blackouts.

Police and Interior Ministry agents were stationed around the entire perimeter of the university. / 14ymedio

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Powerful Generators Guarantee Silvio Rodríguez’s Concert has Electricity

In the midst of blackouts affecting the entire country, the artist will have his island of light tonight at the University of Havana

Cuba expects a deficit of 1,760 megawatts today. / 14ymedio

Havana, Darío Hernández, September 19, 2025 — Two red mastodons stand out in front of the University of Havana this Friday. Although the stage for the concert that Silvio Rodríguez will offer tonight is visually more striking, passers-by only have eyes for the generators that will prevent the show from being interrupted due to the lack of electricity. With a greedy look, some with gestures of bewilderment, others with resignation, and the great majority, those who approach, cannot help but say something about the robust power plants.

“This is so you can see the blue color of the unicorn,” said a woman with a bag of groceries who crossed the street just to read the signs on the devices. “Geysel, 30 years of putting energy in your hands,” stands out in a poster on the generators, which are remarkably well-kept compared to the rust-eaten and often broken devices that you see outside some polyclinics and public offices. “It seems that these are the ones they have for political events,” pointed out a woman who joined the visual inspection.

The singer-songwriter claims he chose the place because he recently saw “very positive attitudes” among the students. / 14ymedio

In a city that since last week has suffered the longest blackouts, when the national energy system collapsed and left the entire nation in darkness, a generator sets off a frenzy of desire. “With one of those I could sleep several full nights without having to scare off the mosquitoes,” speculated a young man who, laughing, agreed to meet up with his friends later to try to get continue reading

into the performance. A few meters away, most of the lights, scaffolding and sound equipment were now placed at the foot of the wide staircase of La Colina.

Rodriguez started to sing amidst the glow of lamps that are a strong symbolic charge in a country where even baseball games must be suspended for lack of power. Cuba expects a deficit of 1,760 megawatts today, so it is unlikely that El Vedado and the surroundings of the concert will not be affected. “If the light goes off I’ll come here,” said an elderly woman who was waiting for the bus a few meters away.

The singer-songwriter says he chose the place because he recently saw “very positive attitudes” among students of the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria in their protest against the increase in State telecommunications company Etecsa’s massive rate increased, known as the tarifazo. But his intention to approach the younger generations, consumers of other musical styles away from the New Trova, could include a very contradictory message. Used to doing their homework by the light of a candle while fanning themselves in the heat, these boys will see before them a display of lights and generators that only the powerful can enjoy in Cuba. The composer of Ojalá will create an island of electricity within the Island of shadows.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At the Vigia Cafe in Matanzas, Cuba, There Is No Longer Any Beer Nor Roast Chicken, and Neither Are There Any Friends Left

Idael returns to the café he’s known all his life and finds, to his indignation, that all they have to offer are toilets with no water, and even that costs 20 pesos

Plaza de la Vigía, where the café is situated, suffers from constant power cuts and the clientele has diminished. / Facebook / Fotos de Matanzas

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 23 August 2025 – Until he emigrated to Spain seven years ago Idael used to meet up with friends at the Vigía café on the square of the same name in Matanzas. That colonial building, with its wide entrance way and tall pillars was a refuge of shared beers and nighttime meals – which avoided the need to switch on the cooker at home. Today, visiting his native city, the IT engineer was hoping to relive these scenes but the half open doors of the establishment seem to indicate that time has not been merciful.

“My parents helped me to learn to walk right here on this wooden lounge floor, and later I used to lift my own son up onto one of the toy horses here”, he remembers, as he observes the staff members in the doorway, distracted, talking about anything but work. One of them asks him, almost with indifference, if he would like anything, as though he was speaking to a stranger, an intruder. No chalkboard here showing special offers of the day, nor any hustle and bustle of clientele: only tables occupied by people taking advantage of the shade, with nothing available to eat.

Looking inside, Idael sees a man seated in the half light of the lounge. “I asked him if I could use the toilets and he told me it would cost me 20 pesos”, he says. And then he realized that all that the Vigía had to offer had been reduced to a toilet and a washbasin with no water. Shortly after, another employee explained that there was no beer, because the place had been without power since the early hours. The coffee machine was broken and all they had were a few fruit juices past their sell by date: an interminable list of what used to be and now no longer is.

No chalkboard here showing special offers of the day, nor any hustle and bustle of clientele: only tables occupied by people taking advantage of the shade, with nothing available to eat. / 14ymedio

The scene infuriates the visitor. “The government ought to give these places over to private ownership who would make them productive”, he complains. “Here you have a bunch of workers who don’t produce anything, earning a miserable wage for opening up at nine and shutting at four. continue reading

Where’s the economical purpose in that? Are they just waiting for the roof to fall in so they can close it down for good?” His questions resound around the cracked walls and the empty tables.

The area around Plaza de la Vigía, where the café is located, doesn’t help either: there are frequent power cuts, a lack of nighttime security and an overall ambience that has been deteriorated by the theft of such things as sound systems and general decoration. The surroundings themselves scare off any potential visitor as much as does the general inertia of a place that seems condemned to be forgotten.

For Idael, what remains is barely even a faded postcard. The Vigía is no longer the meeting place that brought together locals from any profession or salary: “The 20 pesos that used to be enough to get you a Mayabe beer will only be enough to use the toilet today”, he says bitterly. “There’s no Congrí rice or roast chicken anymore. Only silence, a silence that hurts”.

And perhaps what hurts the most is that all the friends are gone. All of them, like himself, have gone.

The Vigía is no longer the meeting place that brought together locals from any profession or salary. / 14ymedio

La Vigía ya no es el punto de encuentro que reunía a vecinos de cualquier oficio o salario. / 14ymedio[/caption]

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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Kyev Claims That Cuba Is Russia’s Second-Largest Supplier of Mercenaries, After North Korea.

“We have identified 20,000 Cubans, 1,038 with names and contracts,” said Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov in an audience with U.S. congress members.
The names of the 40 supposedly identified combat deaths are not provided, nor are the logistical details from the Island to the war front.

Images released in 2023 of Cubans recruited to fight in Russia. / Facebook

14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2025 — Giovani Gómez Basulto began working at the Camagüey geomining company in July 2023, but at the beginning of this September his eldest son announced his death, somewhere between Russia and Ukraine, according to the published images. Something must have happened in the meantime for Gómez Basulto to exchange his job in a relatively prosperous state-owned company for a rifle more than 9,000 kilometers away, and that something is probably the 2,000 euro salary promised by Putin that has led to the deaths of a number of Cubans that is difficult to quantify.

According to Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence who appeared at a virtual hearing in the US Congress this Thursday, the death toll is “40 confirmed by name,” although the list has not been released. He also lacked concrete data on the 20,000 who, he said, are fighting on the Russian side against Ukraine, along with 250 whose contracts have expired but who remain in Russian units.

“We have identified at least 20,000 Cubans recruited by Russia. More than 1,000 have been verified by name and contract. Many of them died without their families receiving compensation,” he stated. The data would place the island as the largest supplier of foreign fighters in Putin’s camp, after North Korea, he maintained. However, and although it is unknown how many troops Pyongyang has sent to Moscow, Seoul has estimated two waves: one of 10,000 soldiers to Kursk in 2024 and another of 6,000 more this spring.

“We have identified at least 20,000 Cubans recruited by Russia. More than 1,000 have been verified by name and contract. Many of them died without their families receiving compensation.”

The hearing, convened by Cuban-American Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, also included the participation of his colleagues María Elvira Salazar continue reading

and Carlos Giménez, as well as several Zelensky collaborators not named by Martí Noticias, which provided the information. Also participating was the secretary general of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, who was in Ukraine in 2023 and, since then, has been actively denouncing the alleged involvement of the Cuban government in sending combatants to Russia.

After that hearing, the Cuban Resistance Assembly revealed the name of a Cuban, Ernesto Míchel Pérez Alvelaes, 26, a native of Trinidad, recruited by Moscow and detained by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The young man, reports Mario J. Pentón, joined the Russian army on August 1 with the promise of “reconstruction work,” when in fact he was sent to the front. He surrendered, the journalist continues, “after seeing 10 Cubans from his unit and dozens of Russians killed.”

In September 2023 , the regime announced that it had arrested several individuals linked to a network recruiting mercenaries to Russia and warned that they would be tried in a criminal case, of which nothing has been heard since. In July 2025, it was also learned that at least eleven soldiers from Matanzas had been arrested in early 2024 for the same reason, after allegedly being recruited by an officer. The authorities claim that they act in accordance with international treaties and that they firmly oppose such acts, which are punishable by up to 30 years in prison under the criminal code.

Most of the recruits who have spoken claim to have been seduced by the Russian offer and later regretted it, especially after realizing that beyond the logistical tasks used to attract them, they were sent to the front without the slightest consideration for their military experience, limited in the majority of these volunteers to military service performed on the Island.

However, Gutiérrez Boronat’s thesis, supported by other speakers this Thursday, is that in a state with such a high level of surveillance as Cuba’s, it is impossible for something like this to escape the government’s notice. If the regime doesn’t cooperate secretly—unlike Pyongyang, which has admitted it and is bound by a treaty—it at least turns a blind eye, Florida lawmakers maintain.

Among the testimonies documented yesterday were letters from relatives sent to Moscow asking for information about their loved ones who had disappeared at the front, the contract and passport of the supposedly first woman recruited, and the case of Yelena Smirnova, who admitted to having stolen the wages of between 300 and 400 Cubans in Russia and, after being detained in her country, gave the Russian authorities the names of some 6,000 or 7,000 Cubans who had expressed their willingness to be hired.

Another piece of information that came to light this Thursday is that the death of Cubans usually occurs between 140 and 150 days after signing the contract, while some only survive a week, although it is unknown how the statistics have been established.

Another piece of information that came to light this Thursday is that the death of Cubans usually occurs between 140 and 150 days after signing the contract, while some only survive a week, although it is unknown how the statistics have been established.

The chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, who spoke at the event, said that Castroism is “Russia’s greatest arm in Latin America,” not only because of its fighters but also because of the pro-Russian propaganda it spreads and the money laundering it facilitates. “The Cuban regime must be recognized in Europe for what it is: a terrorist state,” he said.

Congressman Carlos Giménez warned at the hearing: “You’re either with Ukraine or against Ukraine. There’s no gray area.” However, Republicans have strongly opposed sending aid to Ukraine in the past, even putting the 2023 budget in jeopardy when this item had to be partially sacrificed to save the government from a last-minute shutdown. In recent months, their stance has softened and according to a survey published this summer by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the number of Republicans who support continued financial support for Kyiv has risen from 41% to 51%.

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A Cuban Police Captain Is Killed With His Own Gun in Caibarién

An official profile describes the attacker as “a criminal, specifically a butcher and cattle trafficker.”

Captain Leonel Mesa Rodríguez, in an image posted on social media. / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 20 September 2025 — The Ministry of the Interior quickly confirmed what was spreading like wildfire on social media: National Revolutionary Police Captain Leonel Mesa Rodríguez was found “early Friday morning” with “six stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the head” in the La Reforma People’s Council of the municipality of Caibarién, in the province of Villa Clara.

According to the brief report published in the State newspaper Granma, the officer, who was a sector chief, “was traveling in full uniform” between Remedios and Caibarién “on the assigned motorcycle,” which was found next to his body. Among the few details provided about the police officer are his age, which indicates that he was 62 years old and that “with almost 24 years of service, he was always on the front lines of the fight against crime and a faithful defender of internal order.”

The article also promises “a resounding response of revolutionary laws and the unanimous condemnation of our people, who will never allow impunity or encouragement of violence.”

The authorities are “investigating the incident to fully clarify it and are further investigating initial information.”

“The alleged perpetrator of the atrocious and vile murder used three means to carry it out.”

The extensive Facebook post by Ignacio Ramiro Hernández Crombet, one of the first government officials to confirm the news previously reported by independent journalists, elaborates on the continue reading

incident, saying that the attacker was “a criminal, specifically a butcher and cattle trafficker.”

“The alleged perpetrator of the atrocious and vile murder – which has shaken and shocked the Batey Reforma and CAI Marcelo Salado Lastra community and all of Villa Blanca – used three means to carry it out: a knife, a machete and Captain Mesa’s own service weapon, inflicting countless wounds on his body, especially in the neck area,” the post says.

And Hernández Crombet suggests that the shot came from the police officer’s own weapon, a Soviet Makarov pistol, which was used to shoot him in the head before the attacker fled. “He hunted him down, taking advantage of the fact that he was alone and that the sun hadn’t yet risen,” he laments. “He left him lying, covered in blood, in the middle of the road.”

The security forces, he continued, are carrying out “significant search and capture operations for the criminal and alleged murderer.”

In his post, Hernández Crombet varies the officer’s age and years of service from the Ministry of the Interior’s statement—he is 64 years old and has “more than 25 years of uninterrupted service”—and adds that “his brilliant record of service to the country and his excellent results in combating crime and delinquency” earned him numerous distinctions from the Ministry, including the “Elogio a la Virtud” [Tribute for Virtue]. He specifies: “Captain Mesa was considered by his people to be an all-encompassing police officer.”

“That man was an abuser, a disgraceful man,” said a message signed by a “teacher” who asked that her name not be revealed.

However, a statement received by Cuban journalist Mario J. Pentón , living in the United States and made public before the Ministry of the Interior issued its statement, contradicts those words. “That man was an abuser, a disgraceful man,” read a message signed by a “teacher” who asked not to be named. The message read: “Today, a police officer was killed on the Remedios exit toward Caibarién. They shot him and took his pistol. The body is still lying on the road, awaiting forensic examination.”

According to Pentón, some residents nicknamed Mesa “Cal Viva” and remember him for his excessive behavior as a sector chief.

In any case, the speed with which the authorities confirmed the incident is unusual. The death of a police officer in Calabazar (Havana) in June 2020, in an attack in which two other officers were also injured, was first reported by the independent press. This angered the government, which blamed “anti-Cuban media” for “manipulating” the incident.

The attacker on that occasion, Yusniel Tirado Aldama, age 27, described by the official press as “an individual of terrible social conduct and a criminal record,” was sentenced to life in prison. For whoever is found guilty of Friday’s murder, the official profiles are directly demanding the death penalty.

Attacking a police officer, once unthinkable, is no longer so uncommon in Cuba. Last May, a female police officer was stabbed in the back and seriously injured in Camagüey, in the middle of the street, by an individual who “was walking around the area drinking alcoholic beverages.” According to the Ministry of the Interior, he was immediately arrested.

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A Cuban State-Owned Company Offers Jobs With Salaries of up to 28,000 Pesos

It coincides with the announcement by the Embassy of Grenada to hire workers for $800 a month.

File photo of the port of Mariel. / OnCuba

14ymedio, Havana, 18 September 2025 — The state-owned company Servicios Logísticos Mariel S.A. (SLM), located in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), is seeking employees. According to Trabajadores, which published the call, the company needs to fill 33 positions and offers salaries starting at 12,000 pesos and up to 28,206 pesos, depending on the position and the applicants’ level of education.

The job offer is being published at a time of a massive flight of workers from the state sector, hit by devalued wages, poor conditions, and a constant exodus, both abroad and to the private sector, where salaries are better. It also coincides with the announcement of the hiring of bricklayers and carpenters by the Embassy of Grenada, which begins reviewing applications this Thursday from thousands of Cubans to work in that country, attracted by salaries of $800 per month plus accommodation and transportation.

SLM, considered the main logistics operator in the ZEDM, is seeking drivers, maintenance workers, automotive electricians, secretaries, legal advisors, energy conservation and human resources management technicians, as well as security guards, storekeepers, and mechanics. To make its offer attractive—and because its operation in the island’s most important economic hub allows it to secure certain benefits—the company is also offering food, transportation, quarterly utility bills, and the “possibility” of housing after five years, said Human Resources Specialist Yanara Disotuar Díaz.

SLM’s conditions are very difficult to find in other state entities, but they do not free Cubans from having to be paid in pesos in a dollarized economy.

SLM’s conditions are very difficult to find in other state-run entities, but they don’t free Cubans from having to be paid in pesos in a dollarized economy, being exposed to blackouts, and suffering from the lack of basic services. continue reading

In light of inflation, the benefits are also losing appeal. In August, the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) published a report placing the island’s average salary at 6,649 pesos per month. At the time, the official press celebrated it as a “significant increase,” but the truth is that inflation—14.37% year-on-year as of the end of July—and the constant depreciation of the national currency against the dollar are eroding these gains. In the informal market, the dollar has reached 420 pesos, meaning the average salary is now equivalent to just 16 dollars per month.

SLM salaries, much higher, range from $28 to $67, a not inconsiderable amount on the Island, but figures that pales in comparison to the job offers published by the Embassy of Grenada .

The small Caribbean country has promised a weekly salary of $200 (close to the average wage), with accommodation, transportation, and immigration procedures fully covered. Selected workers will also have round-trip tickets guaranteed. In other words, a Cuban in Grenada could earn in one week what they barely earn in a year in their own country, not including basic expenses.

Granada’s proposal has the added advantage of offering an escape—at least temporarily—from the country and the resulting escape from the blackouts and other difficulties that hamper the daily lives of island residents, as well as perhaps serving as a springboard for embarking on a journey of no return.

Aware that Cubans are finding increasingly fewer solutions in working for the state, the government has resorted to desperate measures: distributing the salaries of vacant positions among active employees as an incentive. However, this measure does not solve the problem of low incomes; rather, it masks it while the workforce continues to seek opportunities, even if it is outside the country.

The Granada case itself demonstrates this. According to the country’s embassy, thousands have applied, and its staff is unable to cope with all the requests.

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Thousands of Cubans Respond to a Job Offer in Granada for $200 per Week

Requirements include knowledge of English and availability for one year

Job offers posted outside the Embassy of Granada in Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, September 17, 2025 — The response to Grenada’s recent offer of masonry and carpentry jobs for Cubans has been overwhelming. According to the offer spread by the Embassy of Granada through Instagram, the project offers a weekly salary of 200 dollars for one year. “We can’t respond,” acknowledged the diplomatic headquarters, which asks the thousands of interested parties to consult its list of requirements and send an email.

The offer is attractive when the average monthly salary on the island is $16. Participants are required to have a certain command of the English language in order to facilitate communication at their workplace. In return, Grenada promises those chosen an “immediate start” and coverage of the costs of paperwork and work permits.

The selected participants will be provided with accommodation and transport throughout their stay. Return tickets are also provided by the small island.

The selected participants will be provided with accommodation and transport throughout their stay. Return tickets are also provided by the small island

Without being a compulsory requirement, it is preferred that the bricklayers have some knowledge of finishes. The tasks to be carried out involve the construction of walls, columns, insulation and waterproofing, as well as a knowledge of plans.

Carpenters must have skills for the manufacture and assembly of wood infrastructure in constructions, the development of continue reading

“furniture, doors, windows” and a knowledge of roofing and wall planking.

Between this Thursday and next Thursday, interviews will be held at the Embassy of Granada in Havana, located on Quinta Avenida 2006 between 20 and 22, in Miramar.

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Grenada were formalized on April 14, 1979, one month after the triumph of the revolution led by the Granadian Maurice Bishop.

Both countries have agreements on environmental protection, education, aquaculture and fisheries, and especially in the area of health, with the presence of 300 Cuban specialists in Granada and the granting of scholarships to students from Granada.

The present call brings to mind the Cuban presence in Granada at the time of the American invasion on October 25, 1983

During the so-called Operation Urgent Fury, “the invading forces confronted 1,500 Granadian soldiers and 700 Cubans, who were listed as construction workers, engineers and some military personnel,” the Miami-based media Café Fuerte recalled on the 40th anniversary of the event.

The Cuban builders were working mainly on the construction of a new airport. Grenada’s official media announced that with the arrival of the U.S. military, and after engaging in difficult battle, the last Cuban fighters “immolated themselves wrapped in the flag.” The truth is that most were made prisoners, and colonel Pedro Tortoló Comás, at the head of the Cuban troops, sought asylum with other officers at the Soviet Union embassy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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