Translating Cuba – Page 68 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

The Fall of Cuba’s ‘Freely Convertible Currency’ Sinks Private Tobacco Producers in Pinar del Río

A ‘veguero’ from San Juan y Martínez points out the unfair treatment by Tabacuba, which gets richer while the ‘guajiros’ get poorer.

The harvest has been good, but ‘vegueros’ (tobacco farmers) insist that they will not be able to cover their debts or the costs of production. / Granma

14ymedio, Madrid, August 11, 2025 — Alfredo Pérez, a veguero of the best tobacco area in Cuba, San Juan y Martínez (Pinar del Río), has put a damper on the fiesta in the State newspaper Granma, which last Saturday celebrated the recent harvest. The Ministry of Agriculture reported in the country’s flagship newspaper the success of the 2024-2025 campaign and claimed that they have recovered the curing sheds lost by the passage of hurricane Ian in 2022, as well as tobacco production, with six million cigars for export.

“It’s a shame that the end of this ’24/’25 tobacco harvest is slowly becoming, for most farmers, a dead end,” says Pérez, who recounts the chain of catastrophes looming over farmers as a direct consequence of Tabacuba’s refusal to update its prices for purchasing tobacco.

The veguero recalls that the hurricane destroyed most of the tobacco infrastructure, some 90% of the curing sheds. Michel Alejandro Valdés Rabelo, general director of the state Empresa Acopio y Beneficio de Tabaco Hermanos Saíz, said in an interview with the newspaper El País a week ago that “in San Juan and Martínez, of the 1,765 curing sheds that there were at that time, 22 remained standing.” The official boasted about the recuperation of at least 1,300. What he did not explain is that the guajiros had to pay a good price for the investment, believing that the sale of the product would serve to balance the accounts. Nothing could be further from the truth, says Pérez.

“Already in the prices of these new constructions we noticed the evident increase in the cost of the materials.”

“Already in the prices of these new constructions we noticed the evident increase in the cost of materials, besides adding the costs in hard currency, making these new investments more than twice as expensive as those built before 2022, but keeping the same sales price of our tobacco, which seemed illogical and very dangerous,” he said. However, they received false continue reading

promises that they keep resisting. They were given a two-year deferral of payment, which they considered more than sufficient for the price increase to give them enough profit to cover their debts and the following season.

“But the reality has been different. Today, Tabacuba refuses to update the cost sheet in our favor, leaving us completely vulnerable, since we have no money to invest in the harvest. Nor do we have the tobacco, because we have collected it (delivered it to Cubatabaco). We have only an abundance of debts, some for production and others for investments,” he says, pointing out that if they could not be better paid, at least the price of materials and inputs should have been capped.

On the contrary, a bag of fertilizer that cost 200 pesos in 2022 has risen to 1,600 today, but tobacco sales prices are completely paralyzed. “A curing-house-chamber of finished tobacco used to cost about 30,000 pesos; today it exceeds 100,000. The production cost for 100 pounds of sun-grown tobacco, which was estimated at 4,000, today exceeds 10,000 pesos, clearly generating losses,” he calculates.

So far, he argues, they have remained silent and calm, because at least they benefited from the amount in freely convertible currency (MLC) that was paid to them as a stimulus. The exchange rate was very beneficial, being “the only incentive for farmers, so we set up the economy on the informal value of the MLC. Today, it has fallen dramatically due to the latest changes in the country by the partial dollarization of the economy,” he explains.

“The levels of investments and purchases of inputs and equipment by Tabacuba show clear economic solvency.”

Since 2023, the MLC, created four years earlier at a parity with the official dollar rate, has experienced a very strong rise in the informal foreign exchange market. In January of that year it was equivalent to 155 pesos, but despite some slight fall, it began to soar until May 2024, when it hit the ceiling: it was then exchanged at 310 pesos. In January 2025, it made a short drop to 240, predictably by the announcements of dollarization made by the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, at the National Assembly. The virtual Cuban currency rose in February until it was around 260 pesos in March, but the drop since then has been brutal, reaching 210 this Monday.

Given the magnitude of the problem, Pérez has posted on his Facebook profile a battery of ideas for authorities, and believes that they should be taken into consideration immediately. The first is to update the cost statement in national currency so that a profit margin independent of the “stimulus” is obtained. The payments should be made immediately in cash to the farmers for the already finished campaign. This would “give us the opportunity to update our economy in order to be able to honor our debts and our commitments to the workers and to have the strength to start the next campaign.”

Pérez states that tobacco is a product with a secure market and a demand much greater than production, so no one should resist favoring it. “In addition, he adds, the levels of investments and purchases of inputs and equipment by Tabacuba demonstrate clear economic solvency.”

At the end of February, during the Cigar Festival, the company Habanos S.A. (a joint venture formed equally by Cubatabaco and the Spanish company Altadis) celebrated having achieved record revenues of 827 million dollars -106 million more than a year earlier- that is to say 14.7% more. At that time, many guajiros regretted that the money went to the state coffers, but the farmers did not get any return. “We have always been an advanced and protected sector compared to the others in agriculture and the country in general,” says Pérez, concluding: “Today, we are clearly being held back, because we do not have the possibility to market it freely, which would be fair, nor to achieve a good business within the Tabacuba group.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The U.S. Calls Fidel Castro a ‘Ruthless Bully’ in a Message Released by its Embassy in Cuba

On X, the Undersecretary of State criticized the “ideological fanaticism” of those who defend the Cuban regime.

Christopher Landau spoke about the crisis of basic services on the island. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, August 14,2025 — It is hard to believe that, after decades of repression, lack of freedoms and a rampant economic crisis, there are those who still see in Cuba a “socialist paradise.” However, on August 13, 99 years after the birth of Fidel Castro, congratulations to the island came not only from allied regimes but also from related sectors around the world. That “ideological fanaticism” was precisely what U.S. Undersecretary Christopher Landau criticized this Wednesday on X. Beyond the “myths,” he wrote, “any fair and honest person who approaches these issues should recognize that Cuba has been kidnapped by a gang of thugs.”

In the antipodes of the displays of tributes and celebrations that Havana has orchestrated for Castro’s birthday, Landau did not just point to the cult of personality around the dictator, but he also set out to dismantle revolutionary mythology. The brief text, in which he calls Castro a “ruthless thug,” was circulated by the U.S. Embassy on the island, which will surely bring an official response from Havana, currently engaged in criticizing the White House’s sanctions on officials from several countries involved in hiring medical missions.

“Anyone on the face of the earth younger than 67 years old, including me, has not known a single day in which Cuba has not been under the dictatorial regime of the communist party. Nevertheless, myths persist that the continue reading

communist leaders of Cuba are ’the good ones’ and that the Cuban people are happy,” Landau began his message before giving way to an enumeration of four major myths held about the Cuban system.

The first myth revolves around the idea that in Cuba there is a high quality of life, especially when it comes to health and education.

The first myth revolves around the idea that in Cuba there is a high quality of life, especially when it comes to health and education. Citing data that reflect the mass migration of recent years, the critical state of the electricity system and the average wage on the island, Landau argues that the standard of living is not only “terrible,” but that it “continues to worsen” while Cubans are “fleeing en masse” from the country.

“Cuba, once the world’s largest sugar exporter, now imports more sugar than it produces, and the recent harvest was the worst since the nineteenth century. The access to basic food and medical supplies (aspirin, bandages) for the average Cuban is, at best, precarious,” he stressed, while contrasting the data with the large amounts of money that the country receives for each medical contingent it dispatches in the world. “The Cuban regime and its apologists love to talk about Cuban doctors deployed in other countries, but these doctors are not doing it for charity, (…) and it is the regime itself that keeps the payments.”

The Cuban rulers are also not “progressive leaders,” continues Landau, who says that “rarely have myth and reality been so far apart.” According to him, both Castro and his followers consolidated their “absolute and perpetual” power through violent methods and, for decades, “have given refuge to fugitives from U.S. justice.”

The former U.S. ambassador also reserved a few words for Ernesto Che Guevara, who openly boasted before the United Nations that “firing squads were a tool of the government to eradicate ’worms’.” The situation that Landau recalls occurred during an assembly of the organization in 1964, at which the Argentine said, on behalf of Cuba: “We have shot, are killing and will continue to execute as long as necessary.”

Landau also did not overlook the repression unleashed by the regime following the massive Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’). At that time, he recalled, more than 1,000 people were arrested for fabricated crimes such as “sedition,” and many of them are still in prison.

The third great myth of revolutionary rhetoric, explains Landau, is that “the leaders of the Cuban dictatorship care about the welfare of the people, not their own.”

The third great myth of revolutionary rhetoric, explains Landau, is that “the leaders of the Cuban dictatorship care about the welfare of the people, not their own.” Nothing could be further from the truth, he argues. “The Castro family and other members of the regime’s elite (especially military and intelligence leaders) live in luxury, with access to food, housing, cars and tourist destinations, and have accumulated billions of dollars in foreign bank accounts while the people are desperately looking for food and electricity.”

To prove it, he adds, just look at the profiles on social networks of the grandson of Fidel Castro, Sandro, who has declared himself an influencer and boasts about the “luxurious lifestyle of his family, with designer clothes and a life of leisure.”

To top it off, he points out, if any of these myths turn out to be false, Havana immediately blames the U.S. embargo for its problems. “But there is no such ’blockade’: Cuba is free to trade with other countries and, in fact, receives economic lifelines from abroad, such as oil from Venezuela and Mexico, and tourists from Canada, Europe and elsewhere. U.S.law explicitly allows the export of food and medicine to Cuba, and the humanitarian situation there would be much worse without these exports,” he says.

If the island was ever “blockaded” by the U.S., he adds, it was during the 1962 Missile Crisis, a situation of great tension between Washington and Moscow that lasted only a short time. “After more than sixty years, it is pathetic that the regime continues to blame the U.S. for the Cuban economic collapse instead of assuming responsibility for its own grotesque economic mismanagement and political repression.”

“The Cuban people deserve a bright future, and the regime cannot even offer them a decent present. I hope to set foot one day on a free and prosperous Cuba, and I am confident that I will,” said Landau, aware that ideological fanatics will continue to believe the myths of Castroism. However, he added, the faithful of the Revolution “are free to also believe in unicorns.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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US Imposes Visa Restrictions on Officials From Cuba, Africa and Grenada for Coercive Medical Missions

The measure seeks to punish those who benefit from the “rental” of health professionals, a multi-million dollar business for the Havana regime.

“We urge governments to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime’s slaveholders,” said the statement. /PL

14ymedio, Havana, 13 August 2025 — The US government announced on Wednesday new visa restrictions against officials as well as their families, from Cuba and several African countries and Grenada for their involvement in what the State Department describes as a program of “export of forced labor” directed by the Cuban regime.

In a statement issued by the Office of the Spokesman, Washington said that the sanctions target government officials who facilitate or benefit from Cuban medical missions abroad, although the names of those sanctioned are not yet known. According to the note, these missions involve “coercion” of health professionals, who are sent to work in other countries under opaque contracts and with severe restrictions on their freedom.

This scheme not only enriches the regime, but also “deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care.”

“The Cuban regime rents out doctors and other health workers at high prices, taking most of the income and leaving the professionals with a minimal fraction of the payment,” the statement said. For the U.S., this scheme not only enriches Havana but also “deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care.”

For decades, the international medical brigades have been one of the main sources of foreign exchange for the Cuban government. According to official figures, the sending of health personnel to more than 50 countries has generated billions of dollars annually, outstripping tourism revenues. Multiple complaints documented by international organizations and personal accounts from doctors have described the system as a form of modern slavery. continue reading

Washington has repeatedly criticized this model as “exploitative” and contrary to international labor law standards.

The practices in question include the retention of passports to prevent escapes, the imposition of clauses penalizing the abandonment of the mission with up to eight years’ prohibition to return to Cuba and constant surveillance by supervisors. In addition, the professionals receive only between 10% and 25% of the salary paid by the host countries, while the rest goes to Cuban government enterprises, most of which are linked to the military.

Washington has repeatedly criticized this model as “exploitative” and contrary to international labor law standards. With the sanctions announced this August 13, the government of Donald Trump seeks to “promote the accountability” of those involved in the administration and recruitment of these brigades.

The restrictions also affect officials from several African countries and Grenada.

The communiqué does not specify the names or exact number of the officials who were sanctioned, but it does confirm that the measure includes both those directly responsible and their immediate family members. The action comes under the provisions of the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Act, which allows individuals involved in significant corruption or serious human rights violations to be denied visas.

The restrictions also affect officials from several African countries and from Grenada who, according to Washington, have been actively collaborating with Havana in recruiting and managing medical missions under coercive terms.

The United States reiterated that it will continue “working with governments and international actors to end forced labor.”

“We urge governments to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime’s slaveholders,” the statement said. The United States reiterated that it will continue “to work with governments and international actors to end forced labor.”

For his part, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla wrote an angry response on X: “Secretary of State threatens visa restrictions against governments that have legitimate medical cooperation programs with Cuba. Demonstrates coercion and aggression by force as a new foreign policy doctrine of that Government. Cuba will continue to provide services.”

“The United States aspires to support the Cuban people in their search for freedom and dignity.”

The measure announced this Wednesday is part of a broader White House policy to support Cuban civil society and sanction structures that, according to Washington, sustain internal repression and external exploitation. “The United States aspires to support the Cuban people in their search for freedom and dignity,” said the statement.

With these sanctions, Washington intensifies its offensive against a model that it considers incompatible with the principles of free work and fair remuneration. It remains to be seen whether other countries will heed the U.S. call or whether, as in the past, they will choose to maintain agreements that, for Havana, represent not only a juicy income but also a tool of political and diplomatic influence.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Independent Observatories Confirm Two Feminicides in August

Three men brutally attacked Mailenis Blanco Amor after waiting for her to be alone in her home.

Blanco Amor was killed on August 4 by three strangers who posed as police / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — Mailenis Blanco Amor, 47 years old, was killed on August 4 at her home in Puerta de Golpe, Consolación del Sur, in Pinar del Río, by three strangers who disguised themselves as police officers to break in to steal. The news, which spread, as is usual in these cases, through social networks, was confirmed this Tuesday by the independent observatories Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba.

The three men brutally attacked the woman, the platforms said, counting this crime as a femicide. “Although some murders of women during robberies are not classified as femicides, in this case the gender bias is evident, because the aggressors waited for Blanco to be alone and exercised excessive violence on her,” they explained in their publication.

“Although some murders of women during robberies are not classified as femicides, in this case gender bias is evident.”

According to the Facebook page Reporte Cuba Ya, two of the alleged aggressors were arrested. These are Reinier Raúl Pelegrín Izaguirre, with a record for “robbery, corruption of minors and violation of domicile,” and Ernesto José, alias El Maja, who “would have used a police uniform stolen from his brother to commit the act.” The third suspect, Miguel Ángel Reve Tamayo, a former inmate with a history of prison disorder, remains at large.

On August 5, 56-year-old Milagros Batista Estévez was murdered by her former partner in her home in the Alex Urquiola neighborhood in Holguín. According to feminist organizations, the victim had previously filed several complaints against the aggressor with the police, but these did not result in effective protection measures. Batista leaves behind two adult children and continue reading

several grandchildren, as well as a community affected by the violence of the event and the inaction of the authorities.

The Government does not publish disaggregated statistics on this type of violence nor has it criminalized femicide in the Penal Code.

The verification of these cases was based on reports in independent media, citizen complaints and reports by activists, contrasted with community sources. This methodology seeks to compensate for the lack of official data on femicides on the island, where the Government does not publish disaggregated statistics on this type of violence and has not classified femicide as an autonomous criminal offense in the Penal Code.

Feminist organizations have repeatedly warned that formal complaints do not guarantee the safety of women, as there are no clear risk assessment protocols or shelter systems to escape an aggressor.

According to the ’14ymedio’ register, so far this year 22 women have been killed.

The independent observatories Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo counted 54 cases during 2024. The Government, for its part, acknowledged that 76 women who were murdered by their partners, ex-partners or other persons in judicial proceedings held last year were tried in the courts, although they did not use the term femicide or detail the exact dates of the crimes.

According to the register kept by 14ymedio, so far this year there have been 22 women murdered. In 2024, this newspaper counted 52 murders from machista violence from independent records. According to figures from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, in 2024 a total of 76 gender-related murders were tried in Cuba, in which victims were over 15 years of age. The agency does not specify when the crimes were committed, but they most likely occurred between 2023 and 2024.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Russia Proposes a New Silicon Valley in Cuba on the ‘Island of Blackouts’

The technology hub would host 12,000 experts and 3,000 students on the Isle of Youth, which generates only 18 MW despite having an installed capacity of 48 MW.

The technology center would occupy some 450 hectares and would include offices, laboratories, educational centers, sports facilities and residences.

14ymedio, Havana, July 26, 2025 — The latest proposed joint-venture between Moscow and Havana calls for the creation of a technology hub on the Isle of Youth. The project, dubbed “Cayo Digital,” was presented by GenIT — a Russian company which has had a presence in Cuba since 2023 — and is backed by the Russian government. Its goal is to build a tropical “Silicon Valley” that would house some 15,000 residents, including 12,000 technical experts and 3,000 students, and would develop software and hardware for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The state-run news website Cubadebate reports that the technology center would occupy some 450 hectares and would include offices, laboratories, educational centers, sports facilities and residences. The project is not expected to be completed until 2032, with initial operations to begin sometime between 2026 and 2028. However, the ambitious plan is at odds with the harsh realities of the environment in which it would take shape.

The Isle of Youth, where the project would be located, only generates 18 megawatts of electricity in spite of having a capacity 48 megawatts, which has led to frequent power outages. This situation is a reflection of a broader nation-wide energy crisis. Cuba generated only 14,334 GWh in 2024, a 25% drop from 2020. Widespread power outages, lasting for months, have affected most of the country’s provinces, including the island enclave where the digital hub is now planned. continue reading

The plan is reminiscent of previous proposed joint-venture projects between Cuba and Russia which never got off the ground

The fragility of the nation’s electrical grid is not the only obstacle. Internet connectivity remains limited, with frequent outages, slow speeds and high prices, jeopardizing any serious attempt to create a competitive digital ecosystem.

The announcement harkens back to previous initiatives between Cuba and Russia such as a plan to modernize the Cuban railway system. In spite of having generated any number of headlines, the project never advanced past the planning stage or had any significant impact on daily life. In this regard, analysts and independent media outlets such as 14ymedio have repeatedly pointed out that many promised Russian investments in Cuba have stalled, with no visible impact or concrete results.

The fragility of the nation’s electrical grid is not the only obstacle. Another is Cuba’s limited internet connectivity. / Cubadebate

The Cayo Digital announcement comes at a time when the island is experiencing one of its worst economic crises in decades, with energy shortages, low productivity, inflation and a stubborn decline in foreign investment. In this context, the proposed high-tech center stands in stark contrast with the unreliability of basic services, deteriorating infrastructure and the lack of resources to keep the country’s industrial plants operational.

In spite of all this, official media outlets celebrated the announcement as a sign of cooperation with one of the country’s chief geopolitical allies. To date, however, no details have been released regarding the project’s financing, nor have any technical or energy feasibility studies been presented.

While official rhetoric paints a picture of a futuristic, connected and technologically advanced Cuba, the reality is one of a country plagued by power outages, service disruptions, poor connectivity and uncertainty over similar previous promises.

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Holguín’s Residents Catch a Thief and Uncover a Chain of Robberies

A young man was caught trying to steal an electric motorbike and held by the community until the arrival of the police.

Some wanted to beat him, but an older man stood in his way, asking for restraint / Screen capture

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 7 August 2025 — In Holguín, a city increasingly hit by violence, a group of residents decided that this Thursday they had had enough. The scene occurred in broad daylight, around 10:00 am, in the Vista Alegre neighborhood, when a young man was caught trying to steal an electric motorbike and detained by the community until the arrival of the police.

The victim, a 56-year-old man who works transporting passengers on a motorbike, picked up the young man, who signaled him from a corner and asked him to bring him near the area of Alcides Pino. The journey proceeded normally until, when arriving at Calle Colón, the passenger asked him to stop in an alley with an unconvincing excuse. The driver, already alerted by the young man’s behavior, decided to remove the key from the vehicle as a precaution.

The young man, seeing himself surrounded, changed tactics: he began to shout that he was the victim.

The assailant came back and pretended to get back on the bike but then jumped on the man and punched him in the mouth. The driver reacted, trying to defend himself and holding on to the handlebars. The noise attracted several residents who, upon witnessing the scene, were quick to intervene. The young man, seeing himself surrounded, changed his tactics: he began to shout that he was the victim. But it was too late. No one believed him. continue reading

The real victim was bleeding from the mouth, and his appearance made it clear that he was the driver of the motorbike. In a matter of minutes, the street was filled with curious people and mobile phones. Some were filming while others were indignantly recalling recent robberies. There was talk of a chain of assaults, all with the same modus operandi: a young man who approached bikers in broad daylight and then attacked them to flee with the vehicle.

“Tie him up, so he can’t get away,” can be heard on one of the videos.

One of those present brought a rope. “Tie him up, so he can’t get away,” can be heard in one of the videos. The young man, already cornered against a wall, was insulted and threatened. Some wanted to beat him, but an older man stood in the way, asking for restraint. “Wait for the patrol,” said one lady as she watched the scene from the sidewalk.

Later, when the police finally arrived, the young man was taken to the Third Unit behind the Lenin Hospital, but what looked like an isolated incident turned into a more complex case as other people began to arrive. Four more victims showed up at the station and identified him without hesitation.

One of them, assaulted on July 25, was “an elderly man, about 60 years old, very skinny,” a neighbor told this newspaper. Upon seeing the young man arrested, the victim knew immediately that it was the same one who had attacked him and beat him until he broke his jaw. The pattern was repeated: the thief acted alone, without visible weapons, and took advantage of surprise to hit his victims, almost always older men, and to flee with their motorbikes.

The victim knew immediately that it was the same one who had attacked him, beating him until he broke his jaw.

In recent months, like other cities on the island, Holguín has been the scene of a worrying increase in urban violence. Robberies with violence, holdups on public roads, assaults on businesses and street fights have been reported frequently. Residents in neighborhoods such as Vista Alegre, Alcides Pino and Pueblo Nuevo often tell similar stories. Although there are no official figures published, fear is growing at the rate that informal reports and home videos circulate on social networks.

The lack of resources and or an effective police presence plus growing poverty have been identified as some of the causes of this deterioration. There is also a widespread perception of impunity. Many offenders are not prosecuted or re-offend shortly after release. This distrust of the institutions leads to scenes like what happened this Thursday: citizens who decide to intervene on their own in the absence of security in the streets.

The community acted quickly, but also within limits. There was no lynching, but a warning. Holguín is on the edge, and its inhabitants are willing to do what the law does not seem to guarantee them.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In the Midst of Escapes, the Cuban Government Highlights the Gold Medal for Rowing Won at the Pan American Junior Games

Cuba is in ninth place in the medal table with two gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals.

Leduar Suárez, Roberto Carlos Paz, Henry Heredia and Adel Gutiérrez won the gold medal in rowing. / Jit

The quartet, in addition to Paz, was composed of Leduar Suárez, Henry Heredia and Adel Gutiérrez, who had a spectacular finish with a time of 6:01.64 minutes, ahead of Brazil (6:01.75) and Chile (6:02.93). In addition, with this first win, the team secured its participation in the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima.

“We came with a higher purpose this time and are never satisfied, but we are happy for the result; the boys made an extraordinary effort,” said the president of the Cuban federation, Ángel Luis García, at the end of the competition.

On the fourth day of competition, Cuba is in ninth place with two gold medals, two silver and three bronze, well below Brazil, with 38 gold, 18 silver places and 23 bronze. This is well behind Brazil, which has 38 gold medals, 18 second-place finishes, and 23 third-place podium finishes.

The goal of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) at the event, which culminates on August 23, is that Cuba obtain as many seats as possible for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, out of the 231 competitors from 28 sports disciplines who will participate in the event.

This Tuesday the journalist Francys Romero confirmed the arrival in the Dominican Republic of baseball player Geovelys Poll.

While the media broadcast images of the delegation with Cuban flags and officials praise Fidel Castro as “the greatest promoter of the Cuban sports movement and architect of each of its achievements,” the resignations continue.

This Tuesday, journalist Francys Romero confirmed the arrival in the Dominican Republic (DR) of baseball player Geovelys Poll. “He joined the Cuban team in the U-18 Premundial. There are now 11 players from the Island left of the 20 who attended,” he said on his social networks.

Poll joined Marcos Fuentes, who also came to the DR last Friday looking for a chance in one of the major league teams, one day before Alejandro Cairo did the same thing.

To the resignations must be added a list of escapes. At the beginning of August, Hayla González disengaged from Cuban sports in Pamplona, Spain. Her escape represented an important loss for the national athletics, which had her as one of the figures who would intervene in the next Pan American Junior Games in Asunción 2025. She “was profiled as the protagonist of the 4 x 100 meter relay and even targeted for the title on the women’s team.”

Last June the heptathlete Marys Adela Patterson left her hotel in Austria and did not attend the opening of the Hypomeeting Gotzis. A gold medallist at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023, Patterson’s escape was classified by the Cuban Athletics Federation (FCA) and the national commission as “a serious indiscipline.”

Last April, judokas Héctor San Román and Naomis Elizarde escaped and sought asylum in Chile after their delegation won silver during a championship.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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For Requesting ‘Unfair Sentences’ a Prosecutor From Artemisa Is Added to the List of Cuban Repressors

Niurka Margarita Tabares Valdés requested up to 10 years in prison for three Cuba Primero activists.

Niurka Margarita Tabares Valdés in an interview with the official press in 2019. / Attorney General’s Office

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — Niurka Margarita Tabares Valdés, the prosecutor for the province of Artemisa, was added this Monday to the list of Cuban repressors compiled by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. Just a week ago, the official requested sentences of up to 10 years in prison for three members of the Cuba Primero organization, José Antonio Pompa López, Daniel Alfaro Frías, and Lázaro Mendoza García, accusing them of crimes of propaganda against the constitutional order, association, assembly, and unlawful demonstrations.

“As in other trials in Cuba involving the crime against humanity of politically motivated persecution, Attorney General Tabares Valdés indulged in the prevarication of proposing long and unjust sentences, knowing they were just that, following the script set by the political police,” the organization said in a statement issued Monday.

The document includes excerpts from the resolution in which Tabares Valdés describes some of the items seized from the accused, including 95 stickers with the logo “Act Against Violence,” “nine membership cards of the opposition movement For a New Republic,” and seven sweaters, two of them black and five white, with the logo of the organization Cuba Primero, with the phrase “Violence” and an X above it. In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office argues that Pompa López has received funding from abroad.

The three defendants were incarcerated in the Guanajay and Combinado del Este prisons in early 2024 and spent more than a year and a half in pretrial detention without trial. The trial was finally held on August 5th and is ready for sentencing, but so far, only the Prosecutor’s Office’s request is known: 10 years for Daniel Alfaro Frías, 8 for José Antonio Pompa López, and five for Lázaro Mendoza García.

Tabares Valdés “accused the defendants, whose crime is having distributed anti-government leaflets, of being financed and directed from abroad.”

Tabares Valdés “accused the defendants, whose crime is having distributed anti-government leaflets, of being financed and directed from abroad, because it cannot be publicly admitted that Cubans on the island are rebelling against a regime that keeps them mired in the worst crisis in Cuba’s history, suffering from hunger, blackouts, lack of water, medicine, and housing, amid rampant insecurity, and that clings to power through pure repression,” the foundation’s statement added.

Dozens of Cubans have already been sanctioned for inciting against the constitutional order since the new Penal Code was approved in 2022, the text states, highlighting how it is possible to end up accused of this type of crime simply for stating their political opinions in writing on social media.

“The represorescubanos.com project aims to continue denouncing, collecting personal data, and shaming, through its interactive database, all those officials who compromise their integrity by issuing these life-destroying sentences only to continue profiting from the leftovers of the feast the regime leaves them,” the statement said, addressing citizens who collaborate with the regime in one way or another, reminding them that this is the time to say no and oppose committing irreparable injustices.

The Foundation has been compiling this list for years , which includes, among many others, prison officials who have made decisions that harmed or damaged the physical and moral integrity of political prisoners; judges and prosecutors who have made unfounded or simply unfair accusations against opponents; doctors who refused to provide treatment options in the exterior; and, of course, military personnel and members of the Party and government who form a key part of the regime’s leadership.

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On the Island of Piracy, It Doesn’t Matter if the Logo is Fake

En la Isla, la demanda se dispara por el deseo de los jóvenes de lucir logos famosos a un precio acorde con su bajo poder adquisitivo. / Facebook

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, August 10, 2025 — “These sneakers aren’t even original,” Liuba openly admits as she stands in front of a wide variety of sneakers laid out on her table. The fact that they are all fakes does not seem to bother the freelance vendor. “They might not be authentic but I only sell G5 copies,” she says with a tinge of pride. She is referring to high-quality replicas that accurately mimic the design — and sometimes even the materials — of popular brands such as Nike.

Liuba travels twice a month to Panama to stock up. She brings back some of the merchandise in her own luggage. She ships the rest or has it carried back by third-parties who make up part of this retail network. “What I sell are high-end imitations. They look very similar to the original but the cost what people here can afford,” she explains.

The prices speak for themselves. A G5 copy of a Nike Air Max X Supreme is priced at 27,000 Cuban pesos —four times what her mother makes in month at her job in a medical lab. A pair of Adidas Campus shoes costs around 15,000 while and a pair of fake Converses goes for as much as 20,000. “It’s not dishonest,”she asserts. “Buyers know what they’re getting.”

“It’s not dishonest. Buyers know what they’re getting”

This phenomenon is not unique to Cuba. Counterfeiting — whether it be clothing, jewelry or toys — has become so sophisticated that even experts can be fooled. Despite laws prohibiting their sale, the global market for continue reading

fakes continues to grow, especially among online shoppers and young consumers, who want well-known brands at lower prices.

In Cuba, demand is skyrocketing due to young people’s desire to brandish famous logos at prices commensurate with their limited purchasing power. According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the value of counterfeit and pirated goods worldwide was $467 billion in 2021. China and Hong Kong lead the production.

There was a time when private-sector vendors in Cuba swore they were not selling fake goods even though everyone knew that a lot of merchandise was not original. They now openly admit it and their customers automatically assume it.

Loly, a 19-year-old Havana resident, has become a counterfeit influencer. She poses on Instagram with Prada sunglasses, a Saint Laurent bag and Adidas Samba sneakers. Her photos show her carrying shopping bags as if she were coming out of a boutique. In reality, the items are purchased on the black market, some of which she resells to her followers. “Sometimes I post a photo with a bag and in five minutes I have ten orders. There’s even a waiting list for some items,” she says.

The rise of fast-fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu has also had an impact. Many Cubans order low-cost items through intermediaries, relatives in the U.S. or frequent travelers. The merchandise comes from places popular with Cuban travelers such as Miami, Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. The factories, however, are much farther away, in places such as China, Turkey and Thailand.

“My daughter regularly shows up with a blouse whose color has faded after one use or pair of sneakers that has lost a sole”

Loly manages several Telegram groups with thousands of members. There, she posts photos and prices for knockoffs of things such as $5,000 handbags, sneakers, jeans, glasses and even clothes recently seen on runways or concert stages.

But there is a downside. “My daughter regularly shows up with a blouse whose color has faded after one use or pair of sneakers that has lost a sole,” complains Marilín, the mother of a teenager addicted to these shopping sites.

It is no longer taboo to be seen in knockoffs of famous brands. “A few years ago it was a sign that you were poor but now people proudly show them off,” she notes.

This is largely due to social media and influencers. TikTok is one of the island’s hubs of knockoff promotions. The state, which has never cared about the rights of copyright holders, is not concerned about this phenomenon. It is common to find counterfeit goods even in government-run stores. “I have been fined for not adding a QR code but never for selling copies,” confesses Liuba, the owner of a store in Havana’s Vedado district, whose shelves are filled with luxury caps and handbags, all fake.

In some cases the ads do not even bother to point out that the merchandise is fake because nobody expects to find anything but copies on the Island of Piracy

Only when counterfeit goods pose a threat to public health does someone sound the alarm. In 2022, the Center for State Drug Control (CECMED) warned that counterfeit drugs such as Amitriptyline and Diazepam were being sold outside of pharmacies. Beyond that, the issue has seldom come up in state media.

In sports, the market for counterfeit soccer jerseys is overwhelming. Prices range from 10,000 to 35,000 pesos, with quality ranging from flimsy to almost authentic. In some cases the ads do not even bother to point out that the merchandise is fake because nobody expects to find anything but copies on the Island of Piracy.

The logic behind this is the same. For many, a replica is a way to “belong” without having to empty their wallets. Twenty-two-year-old Kara offers a humorous take on the phenomenon. She says of her Skechers “S” sneakers, “They’re faker than a selfie with filters but I like them and my friends recognize them from social media. Nobody cares that they’re not the real thing.”

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In Matanzas, Competition Is Fierce Between Licensed Pushcart Vendors and Illegal Sellers

“I can’t compete with their prices because I pay taxes,” complains a street vendor in Peñas Altas.

“Far from being bothered, it’s good that these vendors exist, because many offer more affordable prices,” says a local resident. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, Matanzas, 12 August 2025 — Police officers and state inspectors evicted and imposed 5,000-peso fines on several street vendors of agricultural products who were operating without a license near the building known as 13 Plantas de las Panaderías, in the Peñas Altas neighborhood of Matanzas. The operation, which occurred last Thursday morning and included the confiscation of merchandise, has sparked controversy in the community over food shortages, prices, and the unequal competition between informal and licensed vendors.

“Far from being bothered, I find it convenient that these vendors exist, because many offer more affordable prices than the carretilleros [street cart vendors]. And if you arrive late, when they have little left, they offer ridiculously low prices; once, one gave me half a bag of mangoes,” says Minerva, a local resident, pointing to the exact spot where the makeshift stalls have been set up. For her, the presence of these vendors isn’t a public order issue, but rather a way out of the lack of options in the small public squares.

“And if you arrive late, when they have little left, they make offers.”

Not everyone shares her enthusiasm. El Chino, a licensed street vendor, says that unfair competition complicates his daily life. “I have taxes to pay and I fight against product losses, which are worse in the summer because of the heat. I don’t mind people fighting for their money, but when everything they sell is a profit for themselves, I can’t compete with their prices. My bunches of plantains are around 180 pesos, but theirs, which are sometimes larger, sell for 160 or less. So, I have to wait for them to sell first continue reading

and then start selling myself, or find a new place to park my cart. Everyone struggles in their own way, but these unlicensed vendors make things difficult for me.”

The Peñas Altas area, strategically located near bus stops to Limonar and other municipalities, has become a natural corridor for informal sales. From fruits and vegetables to cheese, yogurt, and smoked meats, these improvised vendors often come from rural areas where agricultural work is the main—and sometimes only—source of income. The lack of opportunities and the poor performance of state markets compel many to take the risk, despite the risk of losing their merchandise or receiving substantial fines.

“The only well-stocked plaza in Cuba was the one in Ciego de Ávila, which was reported on the news on July 26th.”

“You can go to the two nearby markets around noon and they’re already closed,” comments a group of neighbors who witnessed the operation. Another jokes: “Although it’s true that prices there are lower, they’re almost never stocked. The only stocked market in Cuba was the one in Ciego de Ávila, which was reported on the news on July 26th.”

A third adds, amid laughter and indignant gestures from the rest: “It’s true that those people were selling without a license, but how many do they help when Acopio and the State do nothing for the citizens? They think they’re doing enough with the Sunday markets. That’s why we yelled all kinds of things at the police and those two thieving inspectors who came to evict them.”

Thursday’s operation is not an isolated incident. For months, authorities have intensified controls on unlicensed street vendors, citing the need to “ensure order and combat hoarding.” However, for many residents, this policy does not solve the underlying problem: the lack of a stable and varied offering from the official channels.

State markets operate intermittently, with empty shelves and reduced hours.

In Matanzas, as in the rest of the country, obtaining agricultural products at reasonable prices is a daily challenge. State markets operate intermittently, with empty shelves and reduced hours. Prices at authorized points of sale often exceed what the average family can afford, especially after the inflation that followed the Ordering Task. In this context, informal commerce has gained a place in the neighborhood economy, offering a combination of lower prices and immediate availability that attracts loyal customers.

The tensions between authorities and informal vendors are also reflected in the social climate. While some see these raids as a way to maintain control over commerce, others interpret them as a punishment for those seeking to survive amid the crisis.

“The lack of food, along with the limited availability of water and electricity, is one of the main sources of criticism in the country,” notes another resident. “It’s possible that a group of individuals can lower the cost of agricultural products, even at the risk of severe fines, while the state entities intended to meet these needs are conspicuous by their absence.”

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Heavy Flooding and Power Cuts in Havana After a Downpour of Several Hours

Tropical Storm Erin threatens to become the first hurricane of the season but poses no risk to Cuba.

Videos of flooded streets throughout Havana on social networks have reported the situation associated with tropical storm Erin.

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — A torrential downpour of rain fell on Havana this Monday leaving flooding in some places, such as Luyanó, which was completely dark after the impact of a lightning strike around 6 pm in the afternoon. The residents of that municipality saw water quickly running through doors and windows, even in the houses in good condition. The electricity did not return until after 8 pm, and the fresh water, which should have been pumped this Monday, did not arrive.

“A longshoreman from a nearby company was telling another that where he lives everything was flooded, and that the pots and statues of the saints next door floated out onto the street,” a Luyanó neighbor told this newspaper. In his house, the water even destroyed the painting of the facade.

The Havana authorities analyzed the situation in a meeting on Monday and called on the population to take precautionary measures before the flood. “I have seen young people on the streets avoiding the manholes and the waves caused by some vehicles. Right now in Via Blanca and the intersection of Vento and Lacret, not only are they hooking onto cars but also openly vandalizing and harassing them,” said the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party, Liván Izquierdo Alonso.

The Havana authorities analyzed the situation in a meeting on Monday and called on the population to take precautionary measures before the flood.

“In the area of Port Avenue and the intersection of Fábrica Street, an extremely dangerous area, a vehicle was trapped. Despite the presence of a Fire Brigade unit, some drivers insist on driving through the danger zone, including the boteros* and buses with passengers. I wonder: What do these drivers have in their heads and why are they unable to see the danger?” he said.

The people, however, complain that the lack of cleanliness and the poor sewer drainage in the streets of Havana turn again and again into a deadly continue reading

trap when it rains, without enough maintenance being done to guarantee safety.

Videos of flooded streets throughout the capital have reported, on social media, the situation associated with tropical storm Erin, which is forming in the Atlantic and threatening to become the first hurricane of the season. The Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) is monitoring the situation, although it considers that there is no potential risk to the Island.

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On Monday afternoon Erin was located about 455 kilometers west of Cape Verde and moving west at a speed of 31 kilometers per hour. From 3 am, Insmet mentions rain and storms during the day on Tuesday, without considering that they will be severe. However, it warns that “in areas with rain and associated electrical storms, wind strength and wave height can be locally increased.”

*Translator’s note: ‘Boteros’ refers to the drivers of what are commonly 1950s American cars used as shared taxis on fixed routes.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Lady in White Aymara Nieto Leaves Prison in Exchange for Exile to the Dominican Republic

Nieto leaves behind an older daughter who could not say goodbye to her, since the authorities denied her last scheduled visit on Friday, August 8.

Aymara Nieto Muñoz, member of the Ladies in White / Aymara Nieto/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2025 — The political prisoner Aymará Nieto Muñoz has been forced to leave Cuba and since Monday she has been with part of her family -two small girls and her husband- in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. In Cuba, she leaves an older daughter who could not say goodbye to her, since the authorities denied her the last visit planned for Friday, August 8.

According to sources close to the situation, who have collaborated for her establishment in the Dominican Republic, she was taken directly from the prison to the airport, and the phones of her relatives were tapped, without allowing calls or messages. “This has no other name than exile,” warned activist Maria Regla Castro, who says Nieto Muñoz was taken in by a family at her destination.

“I was imprisoned until the last moment I was at the airport. They were the ones who took me. There they never let me go home, knowing that I had the papers they did not want to give me a pass,” confirmed Nieto herself in an interview with Rosa María Payá, promoter of Cuba Decide and member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Right there, the Lady in White explained that her departure took place “under conditions of threat from the State Security Department: she was either a prisoner or leaving the country.”

“I was imprisoned until the last moment I was at the airport. They were the ones who sent me away.”

Aymara Nieto Muñoz, member of the Ladies in White and wife of former political prisoner Ismael Boris Reñí, was serving her second consecutive sentence at the Bella Delicia Forced Labor Prison in Havana, where she had been since this May. Her first conviction came in 2018, when she was continue reading

sentenced to four years for offenses of assault and property damage, but while serving a sentence at the El Guatao women’s prison, she was prosecuted for allegedly leading a prison riot.

At that time she received a sentence of five years and four months, and from this April she could apply for a change of measure to a regime of lesser severity. However, the Provincial Court had not yet taken a decision in this regard. Prisoner Defenders had repeatedly complained that the regime made her freedom conditional on exile. “Aymara Nieto has spent a total of eight years in prison for reasons related to her human rights activism,” the organization reported.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Five-Month-Old Baby Dies in Havana’s Flooding Due to Rain

The child, identified as Neimar Francisco Valdés Pérez, drowned after the water burst into his home.

Furniture destroyed by floods this Monday in Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, August 12, 2025 — A five-month-old baby lost his life on Monday in the El Cerro neighborhood of Havana during heavy rains that hit the capital. The little one, identified as Neymar, drowned after the water burst with force in his house when a wall came down.

The news was confirmed to 14ymedio via telephone from La Nacional funeral home, where the body of the baby was being held. According to one of the employees, the funeral procession left at 8:20 on Tuesday.

In an interview with Florida-based Cuban journalist Mario J. Pentón, Karen Rodriguez, the baby’s aunt, said in tears that everything happened “in fractions of a second and gave us no time for anything.” The wall that divided the house from the family’s workshop came down with the rain, and the water entered in a torrent.

“He was given first aid and arrived at the hospital breathing, but died.”

At the time of the incident, she recounted, “we were all in the house with the boys.” She had enough time to get her baby out, but her sister-in-law did not. Neymar was dragged behind a door, where rescuers found him. ” He was given first aid and was still breathing when they arrived at the hospital, but died,” the woman said.

Her account matches that of several people on social networks. “Fly high little one. We got you out alive, but you did not manage to survive. You don’t know how we firefighters who got you out feel,” wrote young rescuer Enmanuel Díaz Rodríguez. His message was commented on by dozens of users, many of whom sent condolences to the family and expressed outrage at the conditions that led to the fatal outcome.

On the Patria y Vida Facebook page, where reference was also made to the unfortunate event, a comment from Zulema Fuentes, neighbor of the victims, also offered an account of what happened. The little boy’s mother, she recounted, was picking up the house because everything was getting wet, while holding the baby in her arms. The wall collapsed suddenly, letting in a large amount of water whose force snatched the child from her hands. Neymar had turned five months old that same day. The current dragged away not only him but also the mother, who took a few moments to get up and realize that the child was no longer there. continue reading

Fuentes added that the moment was one of absolute despair: neighbors, friends and family began to look for him while screaming, until a neighbor found him trapped behind the door. He was immediately given first aid, and according to the story, the child opened his eyes. He was rushed to hospital, where he received medical care, but eventually died. This new account provides a more vivid picture of the chaos and helplessness experienced in the critical minutes after the collapse, and it highlights how quickly the tragedy unfolded.

The authorities have so far not provided any information on what happened.

Wall knocked down by rain near the Villanueva station./ 14ymedio

At dawn this Tuesday, the scene in some neighborhoods showed the virulence of the storm, with furniture destroyed and washed into the streets and walls demolished.

In any case, the fact again highlights the precarious conditions of many buildings in the capital, particularly in neighborhoods like El Cerro, where accumulated deterioration and lack of maintenance make each rainy season a period of extreme risk. On numerous occasions, neighbors have reported leaks, cracked walls and weakened structures without timely repairs.

Havana is a city where heavy rains often cause flash floods, especially in low-lying areas with poor drainage. The aging rain system, largely clogged by massive amounts of solid waste, is unable to evacuate water at the required speed, causing accumulations that can reach dangerous levels in a matter of minutes. In areas like El Cerro, this problem is aggravated by the proximity of some houses to streets that turn into real rivers during storms.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Recycled Containers and Corruption in Vivienda, Two Sides of the Housing Crisis in Cuba

In Las Tunas, authorities want to give a second life to solar panel containers by converting them into homes.

Reference image of containers converted into homes in Cuba. / Archive/Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, August 8, 2025 — In Las Tunas, where the housing crisis has been installed for years as an uncomfortable guest, the authorities have decided to resort to a “novel” solution: converting recycled containers into homes. The metal boxes are nothing less than those that transport solar panels to the Island, and the authorities-who assure that they are inspired by similar projects around the world-have decided to give them a second life.

Héctor Rodríguez Espinosa, provincial director of housing, announced with optimism that the first containers will be installed in the municipalities of Manatí, Puerto Padre and Majibacoa. Among their advantages are resistance, durability and low environmental impact.

“At present the province has 46 containers: Eighteen of them are assigned to the Electric Company for the construction of nine houses for its workers, and 28 are to be delivered through the popular councils by delegates, community groups and the government in each territory,” said the manager.

As for the frequent “concerns” about the metal material of the containers, which could turn them into ovens, he said that there is nothing to be alarmed about. Each improvised house will be covered inside with “anti-thermal elements,”which will also provide “aesthetics, comfort and a better continue reading

finish.”

They will have a plot of 150 square meters, so that “the family, if necessary and possible, can later expand by building other rooms.”

Each unit will have between 32 and 70 square meters-divided between bathroom, kitchen, dining room and bedrooms, according to the number of residents-and “ventilation” is assured with doors and windows, he highlighted. They will also have a plot of 150 square meters, so that “the family, if necessary and possible, can later expand by building other rooms.”

Meanwhile, the residents will have to adapt to living in the boxes of the refurbished metal containers. Some officials of the Housing Directorate itself were busy emptying other boxes, which came from the state budget.

In Matanzas, the People’s Provincial Court on Thursday tried two former employees of the sector-a director and an investor-for forging documents and embezzling funds. The trial, described as “exemplary” like so many others, ended with a sentence of five years in prison for the first and four for the accomplice, with the option to do correctional work without internment.

According to Girón, the former director had bypassed all procedures and signed a contract with a self-employed worker to rehabilitate a multi-family building known as the Transport Building, in the neighborhood of 13 de Marzo. The agreement was signed, clarifies the media, “behind the back of the unit’s Procurement Committee and without prior bidding.” The document did not contain “the work object; the person responsible for the supply; the representatives of the supplier and the customer; the terms of guarantee; the schedule of execution; and the list of persons authorized by the supplier and the customer to sign the certificates of conformity, acceptance and materials.”

There was no construction work on the building, which had “severe structural damage,” but there was a bill of more than half a million pesos.

There was no construction work on the building, which according to Girón presented “severe structural damage,” but there was a bill of more than half a million pesos for work that was never carried out. “No constructive action was taken to restore the original and functional values of this building as planned, and the property now remains in the same state of deterioration, although [the directors] arranged payment as if the construction had been carried out satisfactorily,” the newspaper said.

The investor, for his part, never verified that the construction had been completed with the desired quality nor requested the work file. He still certified the whole process.

Both were also prohibited from exercising any office related to “administration, care or availability of material and financial resources,” and their family members -it is not clear whether voluntarily- refunded the 531,486 pesos,19 centavos, so that Vivienda did not see its assets affected.

The trial, which was held in public, is yet another warning from the Government, among many that it has issued recently, to officials and low-ranking managers on the Island. However, the fact that such an obvious crime -since the building was never repaired- was ignored until the last moment casts doubt on the management and control of state enterprises over their resources. Justice was delivered, but, as is often the case, it was delayed.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Yankiel, 13 Years Old, Student by Day and Can Collector by Night

Poverty is growing in Cuba and many families depend on their children’s work for their daily sustenance.

At La Salsa, Yankiel waits for the closing time, leaning on his sack of cans, to return to his work. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, Matanzas, 11 August 2025 — In the parking lot of the La Salsa nightclub in Matanzas, a teenager sleeps next to a sack half-full of cans. He’s waiting for the party to end before continuing his collecting work. His name is Yankiel and he’s 13 years old. His mother died a long time ago. “I remember her, but not enough,” he confesses.

Recent statements by the former Minister of Labor and Social Security, downplaying the extreme poverty suffered by thousands of Cubans, sparked a debate that many consider overdue. Even in the official press, cracks are beginning to appear. The Girón newspaper, the provincial newspaper of Matanzas and a smaller sister newspaper of Granma, published a two-part photo report on the plight of street begging.

In the images, the deterioration and precariousness can no longer be hidden. However, the editorial treatment maintained the usual script. Alongside each testimony of hardship, the government’s “efforts” to provide shelter for those without a place to live are emphasized—in bold and insistently—even if that shelter is 100 kilometers from their original place of residence or is a former school building converted into a damp and continue reading

corroded shell.

Beyond what the photos showed, it was striking that there were no children in the report.

Beyond what the photos showed, it was striking that there were no children in the report. The selection of images conveyed the idea that children in Cuba were safe, as if José Martí’s phrase, “Children are born to be happy,” had been strictly adhered to. Stories like Yankiel’s, however, contradict this sugary portrait.

His father does heavy labor: masonry, clearing land, collecting animal feed scraps, and, above all, the nighttime harvesting of raw materials. This task is a family business. To cover more ground, father and son split up. One walks through the city center and Narváez Street; the other goes from the El Tenis neighborhood to the Reinol García neighborhood, known as Pastorita. Together, they fill their sacks with bottles, plastic containers, and cans, which they then sell.

During school holidays, Yankiel takes advantage of the opportunity to harvest for longer hours. “I don’t have to get up early to go to school,” he says. But when the school year starts, the routine becomes exhausting. He combines classes with street work, a kind of childhood moonlighting, one he undertakes without fully realizing it. This year, he will enter eighth grade, although his priorities seem driven by a different logic: survival.

Beyond what the photos showed, it was striking that there were no children in the report. / 14ymedio

When asked what he wants to do when he comes of age, he hesitates for a few seconds. Then, with the sincerity of someone unaccustomed to embellishing words, he replies: “I want to work in something that makes money.” His straightforward answer reveals an urgent concern for the outcome, not the path to achieving it. When the goal is solely “making money,” the alternatives can be uncertain or dangerous.

In the park, someone gives him a cola. He drinks it slowly, with a mixture of shyness and relief. The empty container goes directly into the bag, along with the other collected cans. Yankiel’s case is one among many. Neither he nor other children in similar situations have ever appeared in the reports on Girón or in the speeches of ministers. They don’t fit the narrative of a protected and happy childhood. Childhood marginalization is rendered invisible, not only by media censorship, but also by political indifference.

The images in the official photo report showed adult faces, makeshift beds in doorways and vacant lots, stoves without fuel, and peeling walls. But the omission of children was not accidental. Showing a child sleeping on the street or carrying a sack of garbage would be an admission that the State has failed in one of its propaganda pillars: the care of childhood.

In Cuba, minors working in raw material collection, street vending, or animal care are not isolated cases. It is a widespread reality, especially in cities and the less developed surrounding areas. The economic crisis, inflation, the decline in purchasing power, and the inadequacy of social programs have forced many families to rely on their children’s labor to supplement their daily livelihoods.

The language used to define places softens the edges and dilutes the State’s responsibility

Extreme poverty is no longer an issue that can be hidden behind euphemisms. What was once denied or attributed to “isolated cases” now appears in the streets in broad daylight. The fact that a media outlet like Girón, controlled by the Communist Party, publishes a report on beggars in Matanzas indicates that even the official press has had to acknowledge that poverty exists and is growing.

But recognition is partial and conditional. Each complaint is juxtaposed with a justification: the promise of a transfer, a home repair, or the delivery of mattresses. The language used to define places softens the sharp edges and dilutes the responsibility of a State that, for decades, has presented itself as the absolute guarantor of social welfare.

Yankiel will continue walking the streets, his bag slung over his shoulder, while attending eighth grade. His father will continue working the toughest jobs, combining the hours of daylight with the early morning hours. Neither of them expects a sudden change. Poverty, for them, is not a temporary circumstance but a permanent context. And what is not published in Girón, nor mentioned in speeches, is what most defines today’s Cuba.

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