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

Mijaín López Recognizes the Debacle of Cuban Sports and Calls for “A Change To Come Soon”

Cuba “is going through a very delicate moment in boxing and baseball, also in wrestling,” says the five-time Olympic champion

Mijaín López is an ambassador for United World Wrestling and a member of the National Assembly of People’s Power in Cuba. / Roberto Morejón/Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, September 26, 2025 — Cuban sports has fallen into an abyss and the fifth Olympic champion of wrestling himself, Mijaín López, recognizes it. In an interview with the agency France Presse (AFP) published this Thursday, the Giant of Herradura, ambassador of United World Wrestling and deputy in the National Assembly of People’s Power, urges the authorities to make “a change soon” in the situation of sports, which “is going through a very delicate moment, not only in boxing and baseball, but also in wrestling.”

During the conversation, which took place in the framework of the COB Expo, the annual fair of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, in Sao Paulo, López asks that they “review what must be done.”

The athlete also speaks of “openness” and suggests seeking to incorporate into Cuban sports the event sponsors and athletes. “Sports at the international level is a business… there are sponsors,” says López. And he adds: “The whole world sees this as normal, but this development has not arrived in Cuba.” continue reading

The retiring athlete cloaks his speech and avoids using the word “defection” but ends up accepting that the Island “has lost many talents” and that migration “has been a part of all these things going on.”

Mijaín López with the flag of Cuba and his fifth Olympic medal won in Paris 2024 / Ricardo López Hevia/Granma

According to López, the Island needs athletes to be “known” by brands “in all professional aspects. He insists that a change must take place “because we are starting an Olympic cycle and it’s now noticeable that there is a lack of improvement in Cuban sports.”

In an interview with AFP, several of the Island’s recent failures were highlighted, such as the Under-18 World Baseball Championship and the Volleyball World Cup in Thailand, also the worst performance by a national boxing team, which barely won three bronze medals at the World Cup in Liverpool. Wrestling went through another difficult moment in Zagreb, reaching a third level thanks to the performance of the Olympic medallist, Milaymis Marín.

What has prevented the Cuban debacle in these disciplines is the first place of triple jumper Leyanis Pérez and the third places of triple jumper Lázaro Martínez and discus thrower Silinda Oneisi Morales in Athletics. However, one gold and six bronzes in five international events have raised alarm among the federations.

As for the flight of athletes, the most recent drop-outs were recorded at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay. Cuba won 19 gold medals, 13 silver and 15 bronze, but it had five defections: rowers Robert Landy Fernández, Félix Puente Batista and Keiler Ávila Núñez broke with the delegation after winning third place in the eight rowing crew event. They were joined by judoka Jonathan Delgado and shot putter Emanuel Ramirez.

Last June the heptathlete Marys Adela Patterson left her hotel in Austria and did not attend the opening of the event in Hypomeeting Gotzis. In April, judokas Héctor San Román and Naomis Elizarde sought refuge in Chile after their delegation won silver at a specialty championship in the South American country. In the middle of this month, handballers Naomis Mustelier, Islenia Parra and Nahomi Rodríguez left the senior women’s team participating in the North America and Caribbean (Norca) Championships in Mexico.

The Eide Ormani Arenado hosted the artistic gymnastics team selection in Pinar del Río on June 15. / Facebook/Pinar Inder

The five-time Olympic champion Mijaín López also spoke in the interview about the “deterioration of the training centers.” This newspaper reported that the damage to the infrastructure in the School of Sports Initiation (Eide), promoted by Fidel Castro in 1977 as the academy for training athletes, has been reflected in the “decrease” of students in the past school cycle. In 2024-2025 there was a reduction of 30,514 students.

Athletes, coaches, circus performers and users have denounced the lack of maintenance of the Eide. The selection of the artistic gymnastics team last June 15 took place in the Ormani Arenado school, where the planks are a minefield from which they have had to pluck pieces of rotten wood. One of the revolutionary emblems inaugurated in 1963 inside the cultural center is in ruins.

The Multipurpose Room 19 de Noviembre in Pinar del Río and the Faculty of Physical Culture Manuel Fajardo (Santa Clara) are also abandoned.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Assata Shakur, U.S. Fugitive Terrorist Who Lived in Havana Since 1984, Has Died

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a brief statement that her death, at age 78, occurred “as a result of ill health and advanced age”

14ymedio, Madrid, September 26, 2025 — The American Joanne Chesimard, born Joanne Deborah Byron and known as Assata Shakur, former member of the Black Liberation Army and a fugitive from justice for killing a police officer in 1973, died on Thursday in Havana at age 78. She lived 40 of them as a refugee in Cuba.

Her death was reported this Friday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a brief note, saying that it occurred “as a result of health conditions and her advanced age” without giving details. The text mentions her by her birth name and “war” name as a member of the Black Liberation Army, one of the most violent branches of African-American activism, which she joined in 1970.

A year later, she joined another extremist organization, the Republic of New Afrika, which sought to weaponize the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana into an independent black majority nation.

Born in New York in 1947, she became one of the symbols of U.S. black liberation movements. On May 2, 1973, she was arrested for the murder of a state policeman in New Jersey and charged with other crimes. Convicted in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment, she escaped two years later from a maximum security prison in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

After a few years on the run, Shakur arrived in Havana in 1984, where Fidel Castro granted her political asylum. Although she was not in the public eye continue reading

and never gave interviews, she did publish her memoirs in 1988 under the title Assata: An Autobiography.

Havana’s systematic refusal to extradite her, despite repeated requests from Washington, was one of the reasons for friction between the two countries. Shakur was among the FBI’s most wanted terrorists since 2005, and the reward for her capture was $2 million.

Even Raúl Castro did not give in during the so-called diplomatic thaw in 2015, under the presidency of Barack Obama, when bilateral meetings were held on the subject. At that time, there was even the possibility of exchanging Shakur for Ana Belén Montes, the U.S. intelligence agent then in prison for spying for Cuba, now free [and living in Puerto Rico] after serving her sentence.

Assata Shakur was one of the reasons put forward by the current Trump administration to re-include Cuba, last May, on the list of countries that “do not fully cooperate with anti-terrorist efforts,” from which it had been excluded under the Biden administration.

In his statement reporting this re-inclusion, Secretary of State Marco Rubio specified the reasons: “There were at least 11 U.S. fugitives from justice in Cuba, including several facing terrorism-related charges, and the Cuban regime made it clear that it was not willing to negotiate their return so that they could be brought to justice in our country.” Among them were Shakur and William “Guillermo” Morales, a Puerto Rican independence activist sentenced to ten years in prison in 1979 for making bombs, one of which killed four people at a tavern in New York.

Morales still lives in Havana, where he married and had children. As Rubio stated last January, when the U.S. again demanded his extradition from Cuba, two policemen died when they tried to arrest Morales in Puebla (Mexico), before his escape to Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“The Hippies’ Gathering,” that Fateful 25th of September 1968 in Havana

The experience of being treated like criminals for the simple fact of living freely crudely revealed to us the true face of tyranny.

Act of repudiation in Havana in 1980, against the Mariel exiles. The sign reads: “Out With the Scum!” / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Rafael Bordeo, Miami, 25 September 2025 — This September 25th marks the 57th anniversary of the incident in which thousands of young people were rounded up from the streets and restaurants while enjoying Havana’s nightlife. We were all arrested without committing any crime. We were taken directly to State Security, booked without charges or explanation, and after three days of uncertainty, we were dispersed among prisons and farms in the province of Pinar del Río.

We were accused—in this ideological hunt disguised as public order—of “improper conduct,” a law that didn’t exist and of which not even the lawyers were aware of. And all of this happened in Havana’s Vedado area: La Rampa, the Capri Hotel, the Coppelia ice cream parlor, the Rivero Funeral Home cafeteria, and in nearby cafes, places that until then had been refuges of freedom and expression.

Castro took advantage of the fact that the United States was reeling from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, that Paris was burning with student strikes, and that Russian tanks—with Havana’s approval—had invaded Czechoslovakia. All these international events, in addition to the Tlatelolco massacre—which shook Mexico on October 2, a week after the raids in Havana—meant that very few outside of Cuba were aware of this human rights violation committed (like so many others) by the Castro dictatorship, which was beginning to radicalize with the USSR.

I was imprisoned for a year and 16 days for standing on the corner of 21st and O (on the Capri sidewalk, across from the Los Andes restaurant) watching the happy passersby strolling along. The reason for this unexpected arrest was our youth: our love of American music, foreign fashion, free love, and our growing hair. We wanted to reclaim what had been taken from us: freedom, chewing gum, Pall-Mall cigars, Dunhills, Chesterfields, Levi’s Strauss blue jeans, Paul Anka and Sonny & Cheer records. And they forbade us (although we never obeyed them) from listening to the music that all the young people of the world were listening to: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Doors, continue reading

The Byrds, The Supremes, The Mamas and the Papas, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. They abolished all Hollywood films to show Russian films full of depressing misery. Then came Japanese, French, and Italian films to ease the pressure on the capital’s rebellious youth.

When the events at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana broke out in 1980, followed by the Mariel boatlift, we didn’t hesitate. We jumped at the possibility of another destination.

That mass arrest on September 25, 1968, failed to tame our attitude; on the contrary, it inflamed it even more strongly. For many of us, the experience of being treated like criminals for the simple fact of living freely—of listening to forbidden music, dressing as we pleased, or thinking without commands—crudely revealed the true face of tyranny. What was intended to be a lesson in obedience became a school of resistance. The humiliation, the confinement, the legal arbitrariness made us understand that there was no place for us in that social experiment, which called us “the new man” while denying us the right to be simply human.

So when the events at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana erupted in 1980, followed by the Mariel boatlift, we didn’t hesitate. We leapt at the possibility of another destiny, escaping from that hellish laboratory where we’d been used as ideological guinea pigs. The revolution that promised redemption had turned us into suspects for our love of freedom, and our only way out was to flee toward it.

In the country that welcomed us, we were finally able to breathe without fear, rebuild our lives, and recover the dreams they had tried to steal from us. We weren’t traitors or deserters: we were survivors of a utopia that had become a prison. And although exile brought its own wounds, it also gave us the opportunity to recount what we had experienced, to turn pain into memory and memory into testimony. Because if we learned anything during those years of repression, it was that freedom is not begged for: it is won, defended, and honored by telling the truth.

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The Prosecutor’s Office Admits It Was Mistaken in Identifying the Killer of the Caibarién Police Officer

Nectzary Morales Gálvez –whose second surname the authorities had initially given as Vázquez– is in provisional prison after being charged

Image circulating on social media of the arrest of Leonel Mesa’s alleged killer. / IG

14ymedio, Madrid, September 25, 2025 — The Public Prosecutor reported on Wednesday the identity of the alleged murderer of Leonel Mesa Rodríguez, a police captain who was found dead last Friday “with six stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the head” in Caibarién, Villa Clara: Nectzary Morales Vázquez, who is currently in pre-trial detention after being formally charged.

“Preliminary inquiries are being carried out for the provision of evidence and the completion of the investigations,” said the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a statement, adding that the Public Prosecutor, working “with respect for the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and laws, will bring public criminal proceedings before the Court for his trial.”

The statement says that a “request for sanctions corresponding to the gravity of the facts and the circumstances in which they occurred” will be made. For the crime of murder with the aggravating circumstances that occurred in this case, the Cuban penal code provides for 20 to 30 years of deprivation of liberty or the death penalty, although the last time the latter was applied was in 2003. continue reading

For the crime of murder with aggravating circumstances that occurred in this case, the Cuban penal code provides for 20 to 30 years of deprivation of liberty or the death penalty

The Public Prosecutor’s Office adds that “it will continue to act in accordance with its constitutional mandate, within the framework of legality, in defense of our people and the institutions of the country,” while the case continues to be investigated under its supervision.

The disclosure of the identity of the suspect has puzzled public opinion, and in the absence of more data or details, people have gone to social networks to look for the individual, without finding any information online, which has led thousands of people to question the name given. The Public Prosecutor and the Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, do not seem to have a definite criterion when it comes to disseminating the full names of detainees, which they sometimes keep secret out of respect for the presumption of innocence; others, such as in this case, are provided.

The arrest of the alleged murderer of Leonel Mesa Rodríguez, head of sector in Caibarién, occurred just one day after the crime at 4:45 pm last Saturday in Remedios. The Ministry of the Interior made public a note on social media, where it was also detailed that the suspect was carrying the officer’s pistol and a knife, both allegedly used in the murder.

The speed of this arrest also surprised the population, which in any case favors a “crackdown” on the wave of criminality that is affecting the country.

Mesa was buried in Taguasco, Sancti Spíritus, with an honor guard and a parade in a military vehicle. A Cuban flag covered his coffin, flanked by wreaths of flowers sent by Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel. In various provinces there have been official acts of homage in the days following his burial.

Mesa was a member of the Ministry of the Interior, recognized with multiple distinctions, including “Internationalist Fighter in Ethiopia” and the “Praise to Virtue,” awarded last June. Although he has been highly praised by his colleagues, he also had multiple detractors, among them those who called him “Quick Lime” for his alleged abusive methods.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cuban Prosecutor’s Office is Seeking up to Nine Years in Prison for Six People for a ‘Cacerolazo’ Protest in Villa Clara

Among the accused is the writer and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea

For the past 10 months, Barrenechea has been imprisoned at La Pendiente Penitentiary in Santa Clara. / Facebook

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 24 September 2025 — The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office is seeking up to nine years in prison for six Cubans for peacefully banging pots and pans — a cacerolazo — in protest of blackouts during a trial that began Wednesday in the Villa Clara provincial court.

The defendants, including Cuban intellectual and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea, are accused of public disorder, according to the final conclusions of the Prosecutor’s Office’s brief, to which EFE has had access.

Five of the defendants have been in pretrial detention since a few days after the events in question occurred on 7 November 2024.

The trial began in the afternoon, with the defendants’ statements. Activists and family members denounced the arrest of longtime Cuban opposition figure Guillermo ‘Coco’ Fariñas as he was traveling to the courthouse to attend the hearing.

According to the prosecution’s brief , the defendants—with three cauldrons “that could not be seized”—led a cacerolazo in the town of Encrucijada (central Cuba), taking advantage of “the power outage caused by the country’s energy crisis.”

The action, with “incessant blasts” and “high decibels,” was accompanied by repeated shouts of “Turn on the power, we want power.” This, the Prosecutor’s Office argues, resulted in “disturbing the public peace” and “obstructing vehicle traffic on public roads.” continue reading

The Prosecutor’s Office is requesting six years in prison for Barrenechea.

With this description, the Prosecutor’s Office is requesting nine years in prison for two of the defendants, six for Barrenechea, five for another, and four for a final suspect. For the sixth defendant, they are seeking five years of restricted liberty.

The six defendants are all men, originally from Encrucijada, and range in age from 26 to 53. None have a criminal record.

Barrenechea was arrested a few days after the protest. His request to be released pending trial was rejected, and he was only allowed to leave prison to attend his mother’s funeral (but not to visit her, as she was already seriously ill).

On June 25, the Prosecutor’s Office submitted a request to the Provincial Court of Villa Clara for a six-year prison sentence for the journalist, a contributor to this newspaper. The document details that Barrenechea’s “crime”—they initially sought to charge him with sedition—during the peaceful demonstrations after 48 hours without electricity in Encrucijada, was shouting “Turn on the power, we want the power,” in unison with other protesters, and urging “those present not to desist from their actions.”

The document adds that the journalist “shows total disaffection for the revolutionary process and its top leader.” It also notes that he is a citizen with no criminal record, but that he “associates with people of poor moral character and social conduct, and has no recognized employment relationship.”

The document adds that the journalist “shows total disaffection for the revolutionary process and its top leader.”

For the past 10 months, Barrenechea has been imprisoned at La Pendiente Penitentiary in Santa Clara. The facility is “known for its extremely overcrowded conditions and for housing all types of prisoners,” according to the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy’s Complaints Center. His stay there has represented “a serious risk to his life,” the organization emphasized in a statement days after the journalist’s arrest.

While in prison, the journalist suffered the death of his mother, Zoila Esther Chávez, who depended on him, and was only allowed to attend her funeral for an hour and a half.

Amnesty International’s Cuba researcher, Johanna Cilano, addressed the trial on social media this Wednesday. “Protest is a right; no one should be imprisoned simply for exercising their human rights,” she asserted.

Cilano linked this case to two other recent trials in Cuba, such as the one following the Bayamo protests of March 2024, in which 15 people were sentenced to up to nine years in prison for protesting.

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Matanzas, Cuba: “If You Want a Rental With Guaranteed Running Water, It Won’t Go For Less Than 20,000 Pesos a Month”

Between price increases and payments in dollars, Maura and her granddaughter carry their lives on their shoulders every few months in Matanzas.

Most landlords in Matanzas now require rent payments in dollars, even though the average salary barely exceeds 6,000 pesos. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, Cuba, September 23, 2025 — The boxes still hold clothes, and in one corner some kitchen utensils are piled up. Maura and her granddaughter’s life fits into suitcases and bags, always ready for the next move. Living from rental to rental means never completely unpacking, because all it takes is for the owner to raise the price, or decide to repossess their home, for the routine to once again become domestic exile. The rise of the dollar on the informal market has caused the price of other people’s housing to skyrocket.

In just six months, Maura has had to move twice. This Sunday, at age 64, the woman set out again to explore the neighborhoods of Matanzas in search of a space that meets their basic needs. “The only way to find something is like this, walking and asking around,” she says with resignation. She left her small house in the town of Carlos Rojas behind a long time ago. “There’s no future for my daughter there, and she’s studying at the university. My daughter, the one in the United States, is the one who pays the rent. But even with that help, we’ve had to look for something cheaper: we barely have enough for the basics.”

continue reading

In March, it seemed like luck was on her side: she managed to rent a detached house in Peñas Altas for 15,000 pesos a month. However, just a month and a half later, the landlord showed up demanding a rent increase of $50, a little over 21,000 pesos at the current exchange rate. “The house barely had the basics, and the worst part was that he gave us ten days to come up with the payment. Otherwise, we’d have to leave. In the end, we had to pack everything up again. Today, a similar place, with one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, small living room, and a few appliances, costs twice as much,” she laments.

“Between my girlfriend and I, we earn 12,000 pesos a month, and that’s barely enough to live on in La Marina.”

The situation isn’t unique. Yordan, who moved from Jovellanos to work for an MSME [micro, small, medium-sized enterprise], knows the rules of the game well. “Between my girlfriend and me, we earn 12,000 pesos a month, and that’s barely enough to live on in La Marina,” he says. His rental: a house with a zinc roof, was handed over empty. “We even had to bring the bed. Now the owner asks for two months’ advance, but if we find something before then, we’ll leave. It’s a mess,” he admits.

The couple has found, during their search, that prices are rising overnight. “A month ago, we saw a small house near the pediatric ward: they were asking 8,000 pesos, and now it’s going for 10,000. It only has one room, one bed, and an electric stove, but the power doesn’t go out there often. That makes it expensive,” Yordan explains. The water supply is another factor: “Where we are, we have to store it, because they turn it on every four or five days. If you want a rental with guaranteed running water, it doesn’t go for less than 20,000 pesos a month.”

Without contracts, tenants are at the mercy of their landlords. Most now demand payment in dollars, even though the average salary barely exceeds 6,000 pesos. “I work in Versalles and I can’t even dream of living there,” adds Yordan. “Small houses cost $100, and the best-equipped ones, $150. Besides, since it’s an illegal business, there are no signs: they get it through contacts, almost secretly.”

Some opt for a desperate solution: sharing a roof with almost strangers to share expenses.

At the same time, scams are proliferating. Sandra, a nursing student, knows this from experience. “They post rentals on social media. When you write to them, they tell you that to access a WhatsApp group with many listings, and you have to pay between 500 and 1,000 pesos. Then you realize it’s a trap: they post two or three houses a week, with fake phone numbers. I fell for it once, it was enough,” she says.

The young woman, a third-year student, is looking for a room near Faustino Pérez Hospital, fed up with the appalling conditions of the student residence. “The most I can pay is 10,000 pesos. But if I convert it, that’s barely $24. And with the peso falling every day, everything is more difficult.”

Some opt for a desperate solution: sharing a roof with near-strangers to share expenses. Sandra doesn’t rule out doing so with a school friend. “Anything,” she says, “rather than continuing in a bunk bed, eaten away by mosquitoes, unable to shower, and hungry.”

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The Cuban Cecil Aldana, is the Leading Scorer for Ecuadorian Women’s Soccer

The 22-year-old, originally from Bayamo, arrived in Ecuador three years ago and plays for the Guerreras Albas team

Cecil Aldana Tamayo has been the top scorer of the tournament. / Radio Bayamo]

14ymedio, Havana, Andy Lans, September 23, 2025 — Cuban soccer player Cecil Aldana Tamayo dazzled in the 2025 edition of the Ecuadorian Superleague, finishing as as the top scorer and runner-up as part of the Guerreras Albas de Liga de Quito team.

During the regular leg of the tournament, Cecil guided her team to finish second with 17 wins in 22 games. Thus, the Guerreras Albas qualified for the semifinal in which they prevailed with scores of 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. Aldana scored four goals in both games to lead the team to the first national final in its history in the women’s field. As for the title, the League succumbed to the Dragonas of Independiente del Valle with a defeat of 0-2 and a 1-1 tie.

An interesting panorama for the player of just 22 years old, originally from Bayamo (Granma Province), who arrived in Ecuador three years ago

Aldana’s 29 goals in the Superleague 2025 earned her the status of top goal scorer of the tournament. She scored the same amount as the Cuban forward for Guerreras Albas in their two previous Superleague seasons, 12 in 2023 and 17 in 2024; in total, 58 goals after three years on the Ecuadorian League circuit. It’s an interesting scenario for the player of just 22 years old, originally from Bayamo (Granma Province), who arrived in Ecuador three years ago and, according to close sources, signed a contract with her club and will listen to offers.

She also plays with the Cuban National Team in the U17 category and is characterized as a technically exquisite attacker, with an extraordinary scoring instinct. She is good at defining the arc of the ball with both her head and her legs. No other Cuban-born professional soccer player is as dominant in their league.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Fever of Unknown Origin Runs Through the City of Matanzas

Dengue, chikungunya and oropouche are hitting neighborhoods such as Versalles, La Playa and Pueblo Nuevo amid the shortage of medications

On Tuesday morning, several health centers in Matanzas opened with crowded emergency rooms. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Matanzas, Julio César Contreras, September 24, 2025 — In Versalles, Matanzas, the count is made house by house. “There are three patients living there, two in this one, including a child, and here we now have four with symptoms,” describes a neighbor while pointing his finger at the crumbling facades of the neighborhood. Uncertainty spreads with the fever: no one knows for sure which virus is knocking them down, and the shortage of medications further fuels the fear.

On Tuesday morning, several health centers in the city opened with crowded emergency rooms. Patients with headaches, high fever and general discomfort filled the corroded metal benches of the emergency rooms, such as the one at La Playa Polyclinic where Isaac seeks answers. “It’s been three days since I got rid of this pain behind my eyes. I did not want to come here because it wastes the whole morning and they don’t have medicine, but I really feel bad,” confesses the 43-year-old man, who also suffers from diabetes and hypertension.

The health authorities have already confirmed what was feared: dengue, chikungunya and, to a lesser extent, oropouche are circulating in Matanzas. Isaac’s statement reflects the vulnerability of thousands. “Since 2023 we have no family doctor available. What we do have is a garbage dump at the corner of my house, near El Tenis, and a ditch with sewer water. With so much dirt, it’s a miracle that we’re still alive,” he says angrily. continue reading

“Since 2023 we have no family doctor available. What we do have is a garbage dump at the corner of my house.”

Just a few days ago, TV Yumurí published on Facebook an epidemiological alert for the city of Cárdenas that triggered alarms in the population, due to the circulation of viruses transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The report warned about “the high incidence of chikungunya, taking into account the disability it causes in people, while a second variant of dengue is also circulating.”

The same scene is repeated In the city of Matanzas. The virus has hit hard in Versailles, La Playa and Pueblo Nuevo. Nancy knows it well: last night her 11-year-old son developed a fever and leg pains. “I understand that these are symptoms of chikungunya, but he already had dengue last year and was hospitalized. I was afraid that he would vomit again like last time and brought him immediately to a pediatrician,” she recounts, holding the little boy’s hand.

Andrés Lamas Acevedo, director of the Provincial Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in Matanzas, denied that there was a mysterious disease in Cárdenas, after weeks of reports of communities decimated by a condition that the sick describe as very debilitating, causing joint inflammation, high fever and general discomfort. The local press has acknowledged that “last week was the highest number of fevers this year” in the province.

Julio Ernesto Hernández Sánchez, director of Medical Assistance in Matanzas, said that there are 298 beds for patients with dengue, distributed in various areas. / 14ymedio

For his part, Doctor Julio Ernesto Hernández Sánchez, director of Medical Assistance in the province, said that there are 298 beds for patients with dengue, distributed in various areas, from minimum to critical care. However, the scene inside the Hospital Pediátrico Eliseo Noel Caamaño reflects another reality: “They did not want to treat me because it doesn’t give remission. Right here, in a provincial hospital, they don’t even have syringes in the emergency room. So what can you expect from a polyclinic? I’m not leaving here without a diagnosis and treatment,” protests Nancy.

As if that were not enough, the population faces a health crisis from the prolonged blackouts and the shortage of drinking water, which makes it difficult to maintain household hygiene. A resident from La Marina denounces the official improvisation: “When the situation gets worse, they say they will fumigate. That lasts as long as the fuel. After that, nothing.” He lives in front of a huge pool of stagnant water that covers all of Jovellanos street, a mosquito breeding ground. “My son and daughter-in-law are in the hospital with joint pain. The cause is right under our noses,” he says.

The Provincial Health Directorate warns that, according to historical trends, cases will continue to rise until October, when a plateau will be reached and then, hopefully, a decline. But Manuel is suspicious: “This can only be solved with a complete sanitation of the city. If not, it will get out of hand and become an epidemic.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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An Epidemiological Alert Is Published in Matanzas, Cuba With the Increase in Disease

Residents of Cárdenas complain about the accumulation of garbage in the city as outbreaks of chikungunya and dengue increase

Many blame the government for the insalubrity and proliferation of mosquitoes, consequences of the lack of garbage collection, the blackouts and the poverty. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Matanzas, September 22, 2025 — An epidemiological alert due to the circulation of viruses caused by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes Aegypti and announced in Cárdenas, Matanzas, has triggered alarm among the population. TV Yumurí posted on social media about “the high incidence of chikungunya, which causes disability, while a second variant of dengue is circulating.”

The report described the increase in cases as “remarkable” and added that it is cause for commotion among residents of the city, “with symptoms present in all Popular Councils.” Although no deaths have been reported or seriously ill patients, several comments suggest that there are cases of deaths. One person who comments is Israel Roche, who gives his own grandfather and a neighbor as examples.

In Colón, another of the municipalities most affected by the epidemiological crisis, Olga’s family has seen “all my relatives fall one by one into bed,” says the woman, the only one in her household who hasn’t been infected yet. “It causes a lot of pain in the joints, and when it seems that it’s gone it comes back, and for patients who suffer from high blood pressure it makes it shoot up,” she reports.

“Several samples have been sent to the IPK, and the results confirm the presence of Covid”

“My mom, who is almost 90 years old, had a hard time and still has trouble walking,” she explains. ” We took her to the polyclinic but the doctor who treated her could do little; he told her to rest and drink a lot of continue reading

liquid.” Jagüey Grande, Jovellanos, Los Arabos, Santa Marta and Las Guásimas are some of the most affected localities in the province.

“There is no leadership here,” warns a taxi driver living in Santa Marta, who survives by carrying tourists between nearby Varadero and the provincial capital. The man points to the lack of hygiene and the scant spraying against mosquitoes as the main causes of the current health problems suffered by residents in the area. “In Varadero they have fumigated, but the planes and trucks don’t come this far.”

It is also reported on the official page that “several samples have been sent to the IPK (Institute of Tropical Medicine), and the results confirm the presence of Covid or other viruses caused by Aedes.” They add that all health clinics are activated, and conditions have been created to increase the reception of cases in the hospital.

Similarly, fumigation campaigns are announced “even with the shortage of fuel and other inputs needed to fumigate.” Residents of Cárdenas have reacted by complaining about the large amounts of garbage that accumulate in landfills and the lack of clearing of large areas of grass, which are a habitual source of mosquitoes.

The health authorities in the municipality called for extreme care at home and to go to health institutions for any symptoms. They also warned that the greatest risk today is for people with diabetes, hypertension, asthma and other chronic, non-communicable diseases, because of the possibility of “triggering severe complications due to drug shortages.”

Residents of Matanzas remember that the province was one of the most affected during the pandemic, generating the hashtag “SOS Matanzas”

Yaniel Mesa, a young doctor, commented that Jagüey Grande presents the same picture as Cárdenas: “I think all 13 municipalities are equally affected” he wrote. Mesa holds the government responsible for the unhealthiness and proliferation of disease, consequences of the lack of garbage collection, the blackouts and the poverty. “My whole family is ill with a fever of 102.2 degrees, headache, myalgia and arthritis of the large joints. Plus, there is no Metamizole or acetaminophen for pain and fever,” the doctor added.

Residents of Matanzas remember that the province was one of the most affected during the pandemic, generating the hashtag “SOS Matanzas,” which mobilized Cubans inside and off the Island. The territory has also been one of the most affected by the blackouts and water pollution.

The alarm spreads not only to other municipalities in Matanzas but also to other provinces. From Holguín, neighbors report to 14ymedio cases with similar symptoms, without frequent investigations, as in previous outbreaks. They also complain about the increase in mosquitoes and jenenes (gnats) as well as diseases that have begun to be called “covidengue,” since they present symptoms that combine those caused by dengue and Covid-19.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Some National Series Games Are Postponed Due to Lack of Accommodation and Transportation Problems

A few days before this tournament started, some players did not have important parts of their uniforms

The series between Las Tunas and Ciego de Ávila runs the risk of failure /Jitddd

14ymedio/SwingCompleto, Havana, September 23, 2025 — The baseball game between Las Tunas and Ciego de Ávila, which was scheduled for this Tuesday at noon as part of the National Series, has been postponed and may not be played until next Friday. The cause: unforeseen problems with the hotel capacity in the Las Tunas area, according to journalist Pavel Otero postig on Monday.

The three-day delay in the schedule for the game could be the least of the evils, since, according to the same reporter, “it is yet to be confirmed” whether the game — and the series — will actually take place. The decision could put the baseball calendar in a predicament, as there are no dates for recovering suspended games.

Fans on social media responded to the journalist’s post and questioned the work of the organizers. “How it is possible that there is no accommodation for the most important event in our country months in advance? The lack of ethics, professionalism and organization now exceed the limits, but no: ‘it is the fault of the blockade.’ “ continue reading

“How it is possible that there is no accommodation for the most important event in our country”

This series is not the only one affected by off-field issues. Pavel Otero also reported that the Industriales team in Havana “had a delayed maritime transport from Nueva Gerona to Batabanó and, because of this, had to walk to Bayamo.” Hours later, he reported that the team arrived in town at 5:00 am, so, at least for this Tuesday, that series was also postponed.

It had already been reported on other occasions that baseball players must deal with housing conditions and even meals that are far from optimal, which eventually affects their performance. A few days before this tournament started, the players did not have important parts of their uniforms and sports equipment.

This delay in the games occurs just days before the start of National Series 64, which, for the first time, began in September, when historically it started in March. The National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) reported last October that it would change the date for both the Third Cuban Baseball Elite League and the National Series.

Next, he said that the reason was to prevent the games from being played “in the months of higher temperatures, with the consequent benefit for their rivals.” However, media such as Escambray pointed out days later, in the context of the “economic war” in which the Island lives, that carrying out the Third Elite League and the 64 National Series would be “counterproductive.”

In the context of the “economic war” in which the Island lives, to carry out the Third Elite League and the 64 National Series would be “counterproductive”

For the Sancti Spíritus newspaper, these events require “important logistics of all kinds, which the country today does not have.”

To justify the postponement of the Elite League, which was contested at the end of each year and changed to last March, Escambray said that “it is inconsistent to carry out an event that has not yet proved its full validity after taking place again, at least not in a country which is debating between distributing a drop of fuel for electricity generation and ambulances, or how to establish guarantees for a low price for the rice and sugar in the family basket and the inputs to produce food and medicine that is missing in the pharmacy.”

The official newspaper even gave as an example the cancelation of three editions of the Olympic Games due to world wars -conflicts that left, in total, about 85 million dead — and the case of Tokyo 2020, which was postponed for a year due to the pandemic: “As far as I know, the Elite League of baseball does not even come close to those events in importance.”

According to the same article, with those “few resources that the country has” this year’s National Series would be prioritized, “which demands an even stronger logistical framework and which is, in short, the main socio-cultural event that Cuba has.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

Cuba Recovers From an Uncertain Start and Beats Argentina in the Pan American Baseball Championship

Led by Jorge Luis Pimienta, the athletes will face Nicaragua this Tuesday, which has two defeats against Venezuela and Mexico

The Cuban team after beating Argentina in the Pan American Baseball Championship / WSBC

14ymedio / Havana, September 23, 2025 — After a disastrous first game, Cuba won its second game in the Pan American Women’s Softball Championship, which guarantees three tickets to the 2026 World Cup. This Monday, the team, “with strength and good pace,” won 7-2 against Argentina, as reported by the official news source CubaDebate.

Coach Jorge Luis Pimienta, from Camagüey, could not afford a second consecutive slip, after a chaotic debut against host Venezuela that shook the Cuban team with an 11-0 defeat last Saturday.

Against Argentina, the manager was forced to push his team and replaced Adriana Carrazana after she allowed two runs. However, despite the addition of Alien Garcia, it was not until the fifth inning that the Cubans responded.

“Eleyenni Estupiñán tied the score with an inside hit, and Libya Elvira Duarte took advantage of a sacrifice fly,” at continue reading

Jorge Luis Carneiro Stadium in La Guaira, according to the official media.

This Tuesday, Cua faces Nicaragua, which has two consecutive losses in the event taking place in Venezuela. / Jit

Pimienta leads a team that the Secretary General of the Federation of Cuban Women, Teresa Amarelle Boué, said is “a reflection of how Cuban women have earned the right to decide.” The official recalled that seven entries were obtained in this sport.

Cuba, ninth in the world ranking, faces Nicaragua this Tuesday, which has lost to Venezuela (4-0) and Mexico (11-1). On Wednesday, Cuba will play Nicaragua.

The manager will remain with his base for this game: Libia Duarte, captain of the team, escorted by Yessica Herrera and Elianny Estupiñán.

Cuba’s best international result in women’s baseball is the bronze medal it won at the first Pan American Women’s Baseball Championship held in Venezuela in 2009, 16 years ago.

According to data from the World Confederation of Baseball and Softball, women began playing baseball in Cuba in the 1940s. The organization points to Mirta Marrero and Luisa Gallego as part of a team called Las Águilas. At that time, “Pioneers founded a women’s baseball governing body (Women’s Baseball Sports Organization) in 1947, but the organization no longer exists.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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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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