After Nearly Two Months Imprisoned Without Evidence, the Cuban Regime Releases a Man Accused of Graffiti Against President Díaz-Canel

Moisés Legrá Díaz was held in conditions of overcrowding and malnutrition despite a police expert report that exonerated him

Moisés Legrá Díaz’s mother denounced the poor conditions in which he was being held. / Social media

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 9, 2026 – Moisés Legrá Díaz was released by the regime on April 7, after spending nearly two months deprived of liberty under pretrial detention as a precautionary measure, accused of the crime of “propaganda against the constitutional order.”

The arrest had taken place on February 13 in Havana, after the young man responded to a summons from State Security in Villa Marista, following the appearance of graffiti in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo with the phrase “Patria y Vida” and insults against President Miguel Díaz-Canel. From the political police operations center, he was transferred to Combinado del Este, a maximum-security prison.

According to Javier Larrondo, president of the NGO Prisoners Defenders, speaking to 14ymedio, the precautionary measure was lifted after handwriting analysis could not prove that the posters matched his writing. Therefore, he clarified, Legrá Díaz’s release is not part of the 51 political prisoners the regime promised to release after the agreement reached with the Vatican last March. Nor is it part of the 2,010 prisoners that the Cuban government announced it would release starting this April, who so far are all common prisoners.

Legrá Díaz, a father of three with no criminal record, was released as innocent. However, he had been held since his arrest in conditions of overcrowding and malnutrition, according to complaints by his mother and civil organizations. During the weeks he remained in pretrial detention, activists and relatives warned about the deterioration of his health. continue reading

During the weeks he remained in pretrial detention, activists and relatives warned about the deterioration of his health

One of these independent organizations was Cubalex, which denounced that, although Legrá had undergone handwriting analysis to determine whether he authored the posters, with a negative result, he remained detained.

Legrá Díaz’s return to his home, where his family was waiting for him, was confirmed by a call from his mother to Martí Noticias: “Since around two in the afternoon Moisés is now here at home with the children,” who, she describes, “cried and hugged their father.”

The criminal offense of “propaganda against the constitutional order,” incorporated into the 2022 Penal Code, penalizes any expression of criticism that the State considers “incitement against the social order or the socialist State,” without clearly defining which acts constitute the crime, making it a legal instrument to persecute dissent.

The case exposes the abusive use of pretrial detention as a preventive punishment, as well as the use of ambiguous criminal charges to target freedom of expression

Cubalex points out that the case of Legrá Díaz, a family man with no criminal record or activist background, exposes the abusive use of pretrial detention as a preventive punishment, as well as the use of ambiguous criminal charges to persecute freedom of expression.

The same offense has been applied, with prosecutors requesting up to nine years in prison for posters or street graffiti, as in other recent cases reported by 14ymedio, but also for social media posts or direct criticism of the government, among which the example of the conviction and imprisonment of the young creators of the digital collective El4tico stands out.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Imports of Chicken From the U.S., the Main Source of Protein for Cubans, Have Fallen by Nearly 50%

Food sales are declining overall, while car deliveries are holding steady, and, for the first time, small private businesses are authorized to purchase fuel

Frozen chicken has been the most imported food product into the country since 2012 / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 9, 2026 – The crisis in Cuba is also being reflected in the drop, since the beginning of this year, in food imports from the United States. Chicken, the product most purchased by both the State and small private businesses since records have been kept, plummeted this February both in tonnage and value compared to the previous month.

A total of 13,121 tons were purchased for 15.87 million dollars, a drop of 19.6% in quantity and 21% in value compared to January. Moreover, compared with the month of December, when around 23,000 tons arrived, the situation is much worse. Regarding the year-on-year decline, in February 2025 Cuba imported 25,474 tons for 32.46 million, which means that the availability of the Island’s main source of animal protein has been reduced by nearly half in one year.

The data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and reflects limitations in the purchasing capacity not only of the State, but also of private actors. Long blackouts, which prevent the maintenance of the cold chain, and distribution difficulties from ports, as a result of the oil restrictions imposed by the U.S. on the Island at the end of January, are worsening the already diminished purchasing options for the population.

The data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and reflects limitations in the purchasing capacity not only of the State, but also of private actors

The figures are consistent with those also published this Wednesday by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which revealed a 36.6% drop in imports of food and agricultural products, including frozen chicken, compared to February 2025. In the second month continue reading

of the year, the Island paid 30,187,420 dollars for food, down from 47,636,633 dollars last year, although slightly above what was reported in February 2024, at 27,204,788 dollars.

In the first two months of the year, the value reached 65,831,522 dollars, also below the 93,168,816 dollars recorded in the same period of 2025, equivalent to a year-on-year contraction of 29.3%.

The report shows that frozen chicken continues to be, since 2012, the most demanded product by Cuban importers and accounts for nearly half of total food purchases in February. Next on the list is rice, with 1,926,996 dollars. It is followed by sweetened milk and cream, frozen pork, juice mixes, roasted coffee, and bone-in pork cuts.

In total, the 10 main products purchased in February amounted to 22,140,544 dollars, which represents 73.3% of the total exported by the United States to the Island under the framework authorized by exemptions to the embargo, which mainly allow the import of food, health products, and automobiles, always paid in cash and in advance.

The figures continue to show that the much-discussed food sovereignty remains far from being achieved. During the first nine months of 2025, Cuba imported 355 million dollars in agricultural products from the United States, 15% more than recorded in the same period of 2024, according to figures from that country’s Department of Agriculture. At that time, one of the products that increased the most was pork. Between January and September last year, the Island purchased 33.6 million dollars of that product from its northern neighbor, more than double the same period in 2024, when it spent 16.3 million dollars.

This month’s report also notes that, once the Trump Administration added fuels to the list of products authorized for export to private actors in Cuba, there were purchases totaling 2,573,594 dollars.

This month’s report also notes that, once the Trump Administration added fuels to the list of products authorized for export to private actors in Cuba, there were purchases totaling 2,573,594 dollars

In that regard, growth in exports of cars from the United States is also reported, with a total amount of 16,238,357 dollars in the first two months of this year. The cumulative value since 2022, when the first license to import vehicles to the Island was issued, exceeds 416 million dollars. Of this figure, more than 243 million correspond to electric and gasoline vehicles, both new and used, as well as bicycles, trucks, motorcycles, and mopeds, in addition to parts and components. The year with the highest spending on these products was 2025, closing at 149,413,031 dollars.

The spending figures presented in the report only include the price of products exported from the United States, without including transportation or other associated charges.

In February, Cuba also ranked 51st among 215 U.S. agricultural export markets. In 2004 it reached position 25 in annual data and 29 in 2008, before falling to 49 in 2024 and 2025.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Acopio Loses Its Monopoly, but the State Retains Partial Control Over the Sale of Agricultural Products

The Government reserves the most profitable sectors, such as tobacco and honey, and maintains control over exports

The obligation ends for farmers to have no choice but to rely on the State company Acopio, with its endless debts and non-payments. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, April 9, 2026 – The commercialization of agricultural production will no longer be a monopoly of the Cuban State company Acopio, as it has been for 40 years. According to the regulation published this Thursday in the Official Gazette, producers will have more freedom to sell directly in the national market, although the State reserves the most profitable sectors and maintains control over exports.

The main novelty is, without a doubt, the recognition of small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes [MSMEs in English]), cooperatives, self-employed workers, and individual producers as possible intermediaries. Thus, Decree 143/2025 and Resolution 16/2026 establish that any economic actor may manage markets, lease State premises, and sell both wholesale and retail goods.

Acopio is now just one more entity, although with considerably greater infrastructure than any private company in the country. As such, it must be able to fulfill contractual obligations regardless of whether it has financial resources or not. If it encounters logistical or financial problems, it is required, like all others, to inform the producers with whom it had contracts, who are then free to market their products with other natural or legal persons. According to this principle, the obligation ends for farmers who have no choice but to turn to the State company, with its endless debts and non-payments.

Producers are now authorized to make direct sales to the national balance, tourism, or mini-industries

Producers are now authorized to make direct sales to the National Balance, tourism, foreign-currency border sales, the national food processing industry, and mini-industries. However, exports continue reading

have several particularities. Although the producer can choose the product and where to sell it, commercialization must be carried out through intermediaries approved for that purpose, presumably due to their specialization.

In addition, there are a number of products that are outside this freedom of sale, as they are considered strategic sectors for the country. The list currently includes tobacco, charcoal, honey, cocoa, and coffee, although under the category “others,” the door remains open to include any that may be considered in the future.

The regulation includes a significant change in contracting committees, an entity that already existed but now, especially with the inclusion of private actors, represents the decentralization of the commercialization system.

These territorial groups will consist of a president, the Governor (at the provincial level) or the Mayor (at the municipal level), and permanent members who are representatives of the Agriculture Delegation, State and private companies, cooperatives, producers, and guests who are representatives of the Bank, Finance and Prices, the National Association of Small Farmers, and the sector’s labor union.

Their role is now decisive, compared to before when it was more deliberative without final decision-making power. They are now responsible for setting prices for non-centralized products, using local costs and market behavior as references. Their functions also include determining production priorities, social consumption and State markets, preparing balances and future estimates, as well as resolving conflicts. According to the latter, if a buyer of a product reports that they do not have funds to purchase what was agreed upon, these committees will determine its new destination “without this implying increased costs for producers or exempting the contract violator from responsibility.”

The new regulation includes some economic control mechanisms, including full banking of operations and the use of the Information System for Agricultural Planning (SIPA)*

Another important body is the public procurement committees, responsible for supplying entities of social consumption such as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. These committees, which must be established in each center, are chaired by the head of the institution and include an odd-numbered team of its own staff responsible for managing each purchase.

The biggest change is the end of State allocation and the establishment of bidding and competition mechanisms. Each hospital, school, or other entity must issue a call in which any economic actor, whether a State company, cooperative, small business, or individual producer, can submit an offer on equal terms. The committee must evaluate proposals and select the supplier based on the best balance of quality, price, and delivery timing, issuing a formal decision that results in a legal contract and is subject to oversight, theoretically to prevent cases of corruption or favoritism.

The new regulation includes some economic control mechanisms, including the full banking of operations and the use of the SIPA information system to register contracts and transactions, a potential issue due to the distrust citizens feel toward the political and economic system.

*An IT tool adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Pot-Banging Protests Erupted in Broad Daylight During Wednesday’s Demonstrations in Havana

“At this rate, five Cubans with pots and pans could very well open the Strait of Hormuz.”

Neighbors protesting with pot-banging on a rooftop in Havana, this Wednesday.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 9, 2026 — Protests against the prolonged power outages, involving banging pots and pans, are no longer confined to nighttime. This Wednesday, the pot-banging protests took place again in several neighborhoods of the capital, with the difference that some of them occurred in broad daylight.

A resident of Santos Suárez, in the Diez de Octubre municipality, recounts on Facebook with a touch of humor: “Five blocks from here, around 3:00 pm, following the number 1 concert in B-flat for pot and pan, performed by the neighbors in that area, the police arrived and immediately the lights came back on!” As has happened on other occasions, the authorities have responded to the pot-banging protests by restoring electricity, always temporarily.

“Did the fuel appear only for that little bit of neighborhood?” the same woman asks, adding ironically, “At this rate, five Cubans with pots and pans could very well open the Strait of Hormuz.”

Videos circulating on social media show residents banging pots and pans during the day in that neighborhood, but also in Central Havana and others, where blackouts have lasted up to 30 hours.

We want food, we want light, we want water

Other testimonies gathered by Martí Noticias confirm the pot-banging protests that could indeed be heard in various neighborhoods of Diez de Octubre in the afternoon, accompanied by slogans such as: “We want food, we want electricity, we want water.” The same news outlet quotes a resident as saying: “We’ve been without electricity for a day and a half. It’s madness, we can’t sleep.”

During the night, similar demonstrations were also reported in other parts of the capital. In the Bahia neighborhood, videos circulating online show that, in addition to the banging of pots and pans, church bells were ringing as a form of protest against continue reading

the more than 24-hour power outage.

In the Zamora neighborhood of the Marianao municipality, after three consecutive days of power outages lasting more than 12 hours, residents also banged pots and pans in protest. According to published accounts, electricity was restored almost 20 minutes after the protest began.

Repressive forces were deployed, including trucks with black berets, plainclothes police officers, and around five patrol cars.

On Tuesday night, pot-banging protests were also reported in Guantánamo, in the Caribe and Norte neighborhoods. The intensity of the protest prompted a police presence, which the independent legal organization Cubalex warned of as a “risk of repression, arbitrary arrests, and other human rights violations,” following arrests reported in the context of daily demonstrations that began on March 6.

“Repressive forces were deployed, including trucks with black berets, plainclothes police officers and around five patrol cars,” Cubalex reports in its publication, accompanied by videos documenting the demonstration and the police presence.

According to a report by Martí Noticias, authorities restored electricity to quell the protest. But the service only lasted for an hour. Then the blackout resumed, accompanied by an internet outage that lasted until the following morning.

The pot-banging protest in Guantánamo took place about five blocks from the provincial headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). The PCC’s first secretary in the province and officials from the Ministry of the Interior were present. This deployment reflects fears that the protests could take on a political dimension.

Although no arrests were reported during these latest protests, it has been noted that arrests often occur days later.

The demonstrations, sparked by shortages of basic services, have taken on a political character, with slogans blaming the state administration for the crisis. Several have featured chants of “Freedom!” and “Down with communism!” along with insults directed at Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Although no arrests were reported during these latest protests, it has been noted that arrests often occur days later, as happened after the March 13 demonstrations in Morón, with more than 16 people subsequently arrested, including minors, such as the case of teenager Jonathan David Muir.

The lack of electricity makes it impossible to pump water, preserve food, and sleep in the spring heat on the island. Mosquitoes and the weather exacerbate the discomfort, making it increasingly difficult to lead a basic daily life amidst the energy crisis.

The National Electric System (SEN) has been severely affected recently by the breakdown this Monday of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant – the largest generating plant in the country – and the failure that caused the disconnection of unit 1 of the Che Guevara plant, in Villa Clara, already restored by this time.

The National Electric System (SEN) continues to fail to meet basic demand due to the accumulated wear and tear on its plants and a lack of maintenance.

Today’s report from the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) indicates that Unit 2 of the Felton thermoelectric plant is offline due to a breakdown, while Unit 5 at Mariel, Units 5 and 6 at Renté, and Unit 5 at Nuevitas remain out of service for maintenance. This results in a projected deficit of 1,775 MW during today’s peak hours, compared to a national demand of 3,020 MW.

Despite the recent arrival of the Anatoly Kolodkin tanker to the island with 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil, the National Electric System (SEN) still cannot meet basic demand due to the accumulated wear and tear on its plants and a lack of maintenance. The fuel shortage, exacerbated by the sanctions and tariffs imposed on Cuba by the United States, further worsens the country’s energy crisis.

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Mike Hammer Expresses Washington’s Support for the Imprisoned Members of El4tico in Cuba

“We will continue to insist that freedom of expression be respected and that all those unjustly detained be released,” Hammer said.

Mike Hammer has gained prominence on the island since Trump’s return to the White House / X @USEmbCuba

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 8, 2026 — Mike Hammer head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, expressed his concern over the February arrest of Ernesto Medina, known as Tico, and Kamil Zayas, members of the El4tico project, for publishing content critical of the government. In a video posted Wednesday on the social media account of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the diplomat is shown on a video call with Doris Santiesteban, Medina’s wife, telling her that the activists and their families have “Washington’s support.”

During the conversation, Santiesteban points out that all legal actions taken on behalf of the detainees have failed. “Every legal recourse we’ve pursued has been rejected. Changes to pretrial detention, a complaints,  they’ve all been denied,” she states in response to Hammer’s direct question.

Regarding the physical condition of her husband and Zayas, the woman replied: “Well, they are thin, they are skinny.”

Then, the head of mission, who since his appointment has been constantly traveling throughout the island and visiting activists, independent journalists , and ordinary Cubans in their own homes, points out that “on behalf of the United States Embassy in Washington, we are very concerned about them. We will continue to insist that they should be released, like all political prisoners. They have done nothing wrong.” continue reading

“We will continue to insist that they should be released, like all political prisoners. They have done nothing wrong.”

Before ending the conversation, Hammer wishes Santiesteban “strength and courage,” and adds that at the diplomatic headquarters “we are always thinking of Tico and Kamil.”

“I also thank you and the United States embassy for the support and solidarity,” Santiesteban later said.

The diplomatic mission accompanied the 53-second video with the message: “We will continue to insist that freedom of expression and thought be respected and that all those unjustly detained be released.”

Ernesto Medina and Kamil Zayas were detained on February 6 in an operation in Holguín that resembled a raid against armed and dangerous criminals, including a search of their home and the confiscation of work equipment such as a cell phone, laptop, camera, tripod, router, and other devices. The harassment they endured at the hands of the repressive forces was recorded and shared by the journalists themselves in their online stories.

Nearly a week later, the Holguín Provincial Prosecutor’s Office justified its decision to open a criminal case against the platform’s creators. They were accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “incitement to commit crimes” through publications that incited the population and members of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior to change the constitutional order and “they defamed state institutions.”

It accused them of “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “incitement to commit crimes” through publications

The call between Hammer and Santiesteban took place two days after artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara ended an eight-day hunger strike in Guanajay prison, Artemisa, as confirmed by his Facebook page.

The hunger strike was a direct response to the death threats he received from agents of the Department 21 of State Security during an inspection at the prison on March 28, and the regime’s refusal to release him early despite legal efforts by Cubalex, an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting human rights in Cuba

Days before undertaking it, he had begun a 12-hour daily fast, which he planned to end on March 31. However, when that date arrived, he upped the ante.

Cuban artist Anamely Ramos, who announced the new hunger strike at the time, pointed out that Otero Alcántara’s decision was based, in addition to the recent death threat,  on the fact that “he already suspects that they will want to extend his sentence beyond the five years, which end completely in July.”

“He already suspects that they will want to extend his sentence beyond the five years, which end entirely in July.”

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the Cuban government’s announced release of 2,010 people, noting that it excludes political prisoners. In a statement, the NGO said that, “while the announcement raised hopes among many families of political prisoners, neither Human Rights Watch nor other civil society groups, including Prisoners Defenders and Justice 11J, have identified any political prisoners among those released.”

He emphasized that Havana would exclude, among others, people convicted of “crimes against authority,” which can include “contempt,” “propaganda,” and “assault,” “which the government has used for decades to persecute and arbitrarily prosecute opponents.”

In this regard, HRW indicated that more than 700 political prisoners remain behind bars in Cuba, “and hundreds more suffer house arrest and other restrictions.”

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The Prohibited Photo

Rather than cleaning the corner of Factor and Conill, Cuban authorities prefer to prevent anyone from taking pictures of it.

From the balconies of our building, the view is complete: an unintentional monument to neglect, an altar where the homeland coexists with the abandoned. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, April8,2026 — Employees of the state-run warehouse on Factor y Conill Street in Nuevo Vedado have been orientado [instructed] to cover the fence around the corner with sacks. The order aims to prevent neighbors from taking photographs of the immense mountain of garbage that grows there every week, with the bust of José Martí in the background and the Cuban flag in the gardens of the warehouse, products destined for the rationed market are stored, as a backdrop. However, clearly visible from the heights of my building is the triptych formed by the Apostle, the solitary star, and the garbage.

The scene has something of farce and unintentional comedy about it. While the sacks have been hung with diligence, as if it were a national security operation, flies continue to come and go without asking permission, and the smell of decay rises through the windows with a punctuality that public transportation could only dream of. The garbage, undisciplined and stubborn, doesn’t care about directions or makeshift curtains.

Sackcloths hiding the statue of Martí at the corner of Factor and Conill streets in Nuevo Vedado. / 14ymedio

One would think the problem is the pile of waste, but apparently not. The real enemy is the photograph. The image circulating on WhatsApp, leaking onto social media, and contradicting the official narrative seems to be the biggest concern for officials and bureaucrats.

From the balconies of our building, the view is complete: the sculpture of a head, reached by a path of stones that no one uses, the blue stripes with their red triangle and, a few meters away, a string of torn bags, damp cardboard, and plastic scraps spilling onto the sidewalk. An unintentional monument to neglect. An altar where patriotism coexists with abandonment. continue reading

Appearances are so important to this regime that it is willing to spend time, energy, and resources covering up an image and obscuring a shot, rather than using those same resources to clean the city and prevent the diseases that spread from these open-air dumps. In the end, it is not about eliminating the garbage, but about hiding it. Like so many other things in this country.

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

Spain’s Vima, With Business in Cuba, Doubles Its Revenue Despite the Crisis on the Island

The company sells low-quality products at high prices in the stores of the Cuban military conglomerate Gaesa

State store of Vima and Cimex at Infanta and Santa Marta, Centro Habana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez/Olea Gallardo, April 8, 2026 – The Vima Foods group, known in Cuba for its low quality food products, expects revenue of 250 million dollars (216 million euros) in 2026, a figure higher than last year and more than double what it reported in 2024. In a statement distributed to the media this Tuesday, the Spanish company also states that it plans to double those revenues in five years, thanks to the expansion of its businesses in the Americas and its “leap” into European and African markets.

Thus, by 2030 the firm, whose name comes from the combination of the initials of its founder, Víctor Moro Suárez, aims to reach 500 million dollars (432 million euros), driven by “its recent change in visual identity and its positioning as a trusted partner” in what the sector calls the “horeca channel”—an acronym for hotels, restaurants, and catering—and in retail sales “worldwide.”

This year they also plan to become a “comprehensive distribution solution” for Spanish and international brands “with expansion strategies in global markets.” This offer to serve as a “bridge between Spanish production and global demand” is considered by Vima as “a step forward,” supported by “its consolidated infrastructure, its knowledge of local markets, and its network of relationships with operators, supermarkets, and distributors in more than 30 countries.

The company boasts of operating “in more than 10,000 points of sale” and of being “in the main supermarket chains in the Americas”

The company boasts of operating “in more than 10,000 points of sale” and of having a presence “in the main supermarket chains in the Americas such as Walmart, Chedraui, Rey, Éxito, Soriana, and Carrefour.” Likewise, it notes that it supplies “the main hotel chains in the region.”

In its statement, it does not detail how business is distributed among the seven countries where it claims to have distribution centers: Spain, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, and China, listed in that order. However, according to last year’s figures, the Island is its main market, accounting for nearly half of its business continue reading

volume. At that time, they reported that of the nearly 106 million euros in business volume of the group’s Coruña-based subsidiary, Corporación Alimentaria Vima, 49 million euros corresponded to operations with Cuba, followed by the Dominican Republic with 33 million and Mexico with 15.4 million. This implies a very minor margin, about 9 million euros, for the rest of the world where it claims to operate.

In Cuba, Vima products, ranging from frozen vegetables to prepared foods, including canned vegetables, jams, and grains, are as ubiquitous in stores as they are criticized by buyers. To the poor reputation for quality is added, in the midst of the unprecedented crisis in the country, the high prices at which they are sold in Cimex’s dollarized stores, which belong to the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (Gaesa), the conglomerate of the Armed Forces.

A 1.5-liter bottle of water costs one dollar, double what it costs in a private shop, and rice is 1,000 pesos per kilogram, when it is 600 in small private businesses.

Vima bags have become a clever form of advertising paid for by users of state-run stores. / 14ymedio

Another thing that has proliferated in recent times, not only in Vima’s own establishments but also in other dollar stores, is reusable green bags with the Vima logo. Their price is 40¢ (US), and since there are almost never free plastic bags in these markets, the customer is forced to buy one, a clever form of advertising paid for by users of the state-run stores where the Spanish company sells its goods.

The products of this brand, moreover, are not found in Spanish supermarkets, nor in Mexico City, but one would not guess this from reading its corporate information, where the Island appears to occupy just another space, and not the pillar of the conglomerate.

Vima insists on describing itself as a “family business whose roots are linked to the Galician fishing sector,” despite being little known in that region, while emphasizing its renewed expansionist ambitions. “One of our crucial markets continues to be the Americas, where we already have a very consolidated presence from north to south. However, our vocation is global; we are preparing the ground for large-scale expansion into Europe and Africa,” Víctor Moro Morros-Sarda, vice president of the conglomerate and son of the president and founder, Víctor Moro Suárez, is quoted as saying in the text.

His statements continue, emphasizing the company’s future ambitions: “We want Spanish and international brands to see Vima Foods not only as a distributor, but as a strategic ally. We have the infrastructure, local knowledge in complex markets, and the logistics necessary to bring the quality of our products to any corner of the world.” And they conclude: “Our recent participation in the Alimentaria trade fair has been the turning point to showcase this new identity and our capacity to scale the business exponentially through 2030.”

“We have the infrastructure and logistics necessary to bring the quality of our products to any corner of the world”

Except in this statement, moreover, the Moro family has never hidden its ties to the Island. Moro Morros-Sarda held a lavish wedding in Havana in December 2023, and his father, the son of Víctor Moro Rodríguez, a politician of Spain’s Transition, who died in 2021 and also headed a frozen packaged goods conglomerate, lived for more than 25 years in Cuba, where he was president of the Association of Spanish Businesspeople in the country.

Last year, in a report published by the local press, they highlighted a “new subsidiary” created by the group on the Island, Vima Caribe, intended to channel “all commercial operations into a new branch, a company with 100% foreign capital, responsible for the import, storage, commercialization, and distribution of the group’s products in Cuba.”

It thus became clear that the “collaboration project” between Vima and Gaesa, signed in 2024, went beyond the management of several “dollarized” stores. It involved the legal creation of a new company, which has not been reported by the official Cuban press.

In the same report, Economía Digital provided other details about the ups and downs of Vima Foods’ subsidiaries, not for nothing referring to it as “a highly dispersed conglomerate.” For example, it said that Corporación Alimentaria Vima had “transferred” its corporate employees in Spain to a new company, CS Vima, based in Madrid. It is in the Spanish capital where the head of the conglomerate is registered, that until March 2023 was located in Panama.

That same year, as recorded in the Commercial Registry, the group moved its registered office to Spain and transformed from a public limited company to a limited liability company, something that, above all, further strengthens the family’s control over the company and external investors.

In 2001, its revenues had been, as detailed, 25 million euros. That is, in a quarter century, the business has multiplied nearly tenfold

Even more opaque is the origin and growth of its multimillion-dollar business. The Panama Papers, the publication of the Mossack Fonseca law firm database by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed in 2016 that Vima World, whose name has changed several times since it was founded, appeared among companies registered in tax havens.

In the ICIJ database, it appears as founded in January 1994 in the British Virgin Islands. However, Moro Suárez himself admitted in an interview with the Galician press in 2006 that his empire began in Cuba. When asked by the journalist how he “learned” to manage “one hundred sixty employees who serve twenty million meals worldwide,” the businessman replied: “I found a niche in the Caribbean area, starting from Cuba, and that circumstance led me to organize this group of companies.”

Another earlier report, published in La Voz de Galicia, also confirmed this: “Vima was born in Havana in 1994, to take advantage of the opening of the Cuban market to tourism investment, and become the main distributor to hotels and restaurants.” In 2002, the report stated that Vima World, “a distributor based in Vigo and 100% owned by the Galician Moro family,” was the leader in the sector in Cuba, controlling 15% of food distribution and 25% of supply to hotels. In 2001, its revenues had been, as detailed, 25 million euros. That is, in a quarter century, the business had multiplied nearly tenfold.

How a company could be founded in Cuba, run by a foreigner in the mid-1990s, and reach those figures in just a few years is one of the questions raised about Vima, which began appearing in establishments on the Island precisely at that time, the era of dollarization and the desperation of the Special Period. The answer may lie in that 2006 interview, in which the journalist wrote that, according to what he had been told, Moro Suárez had connections with figures of the regime, including Fidel Castro himself.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Human Rights Group Denounces ‘Violations of Labor Rights’ in Cuba’s Medical Missions

Doctors have experienced “practices of income retention, long working hours, and the assignment of tasks unrelated to healthcare work”

The Inter-American Commission notes “differential treatment and remuneration that could be insufficient” / Cubadebate

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana/Miami, April 7, 2026 – This Tuesday the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denounced “violations” of a structural nature of “labor, union, and human mobility rights” of professionals participating in Cuba’s medical missions abroad.

The report by this body of the Organization of American States (OAS) coincides with a pressure campaign by the United States on Cuba and, in particular, on its controversial medical missions and other sources of foreign currency.

The document, prepared jointly with the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (REDESCA) of the IACHR, refers to “the existence of structural challenges in terms of decent work in medical missions.”

It includes testimonies from participants in these missions who reported violations related to “differential treatment and working conditions characterized by levels of remuneration that could be insufficient.”

Doctors also face the “absence of contracts or lack of knowledge of working conditions”

The text details that doctors also face the “absence of contracts or lack of knowledge of working conditions, lack of union freedom, as well as working conditions that do not ensure the dignity of the worker.”

Professionals participating in Cuban missions abroad have experienced “practices of income retention, long working hours, and the assignment of tasks unrelated to healthcare work,” the report specifies.

Nevertheless, the IACHR also recognizes the importance of the work of Cuban healthcare personnel in these mechanisms “in the provision of essential services for populations in vulnerable situations.”

The study also notes that the recipient states of these brigades regard them as a form of cooperation that “contributes to strengthening their public systems in contexts where medical care is limited or insufficient.”

In addition, the report says that, despite criticisms of their working conditions, doctors earn a salary in dollars that is better than what they would receive in their own country, and the Cuban Government generates foreign currency (which it says it uses in its own healthcare system).

Havana keeps an average of 85% of the payment from host countries

However, according to Prisoners Defenders, Havana keeps an average of 85% of the payment from host countries, retains doctors’ passports abroad, and penalizes those who leave the mission before the agreed time. continue reading

The 2024 Trafficking in Persons report by the U.S. State Department places Cuba’s income from the export of professional services between 6 and 8 billion dollars.

According to Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), exports of professional services represented more than 40% of the Island’s total external sales between 2018 and 2020.

Cuban medical brigades, established more than six decades ago and with more than 600,000 professionals deployed in 165 countries, according to official figures, have been one of the focal points of U.S. policy toward Cuba under President Donald Trump’s administration in his second term.

In recent months, and under pressure from Washington, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago have suspended their medical cooperation with Cuba or reformed its terms.

The Cuban Government has denied these criticisms of Cuban medical missions and has described Washington’s pressure on Latin American and Caribbean countries as “fierce pressure” and “blackmail.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Bureaucracy and Corruption Hinder the Official Campaign in Favor of Solar Panels in Homes

In addition, the exodus has drastically reduced the number of trained experts authorized to approve these systems

Workers from a small private enterprise carry out solar panel installation work in Havana. / EFE/Capture

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, April 7, 2026 – The controversy has not ceased since Julio César Hernández Santana, head of the Municipal Directorate of Territorial Planning and Urbanism (INOTU) in Matanzas, tried to clarify on local television the regulations for installing solar panels in homes, and a monumental mess ensued.

The official explained the mechanism, expressed in a directive from INOTU, which requires that the citizen begin the process at the Physical Planning offices, from where they will be referred to the community architect to draft a technical project. This preliminary step is essential for safety, as it evaluates the load-bearing capacity of the building and the specific location of the equipment.

Once the property documents and technical certification are submitted, the institution has a period of ten working days to issue official authorization, which costs 68 pesos, although the problem is more closely linked to the architectural project, which ranges between 700 and 1,500 pesos.

The problem is more closely linked to the architectural project, which ranges between 700 and 1,500 pesos

The regulation recognizes roofs, terraces, patios, garages, and porches as areas where panels can be installed, provided they are private spaces and do not harm neighbors. This complicates the situation for multifamily buildings, where residents’ agreement is required and space is scarce. The condition of the buildings is also a significant issue, since damaging the continue reading

waterproofing layers of the roof is possible, with leaks and neighborhood disputes as potential consequences.

In the case of panels already installed, about 33,000 in Matanzas, there is what Hernández called flexible retroactivity, meaning there will be no fines when the regulation comes into force, but the panels must be regularized. Responsibility for safety will fall on the owner, but obtaining authorization will provide protection in case of a complaint if something happens.

Although authorities acknowledge the urgency and necessity, the procedure adds complexity that has not been well received, above all, as they themselves admit, because the crisis on the Island is multisectoral. Families lack the financial resources to buy the expensive panels, and now procedures are added that increase the cost. The conditions of the buildings is often deplorable; transportation is also poor, and staffing is reduced due to the exodus that has occurred on the Island over the past four years. In Matanzas there are barely three community architects, making it almost impossible to process everything within a reasonable time.

Yuni Moliner, the journalist responsible for the controversial interview, was the first to highlight the issue by the title of the report: ORDERING or more BUREAUCRACY? The author notes that “the measure attempts to introduce control in a practice that has grown rapidly and, in many cases, improvised. However, it comes at a time when solar panels are not just an option, but an immediate energy necessity for thousands of families,” and emphasizes that, looking ahead, it provides legal certainty, but in an emergency situation only complicates matters.

One of the most well-founded comments came from energy expert Juan Carlos Subiaut, who raises additional problems beyond the already mentioned lack of human and material resources. Among them he highlights the well-known inefficiency of the institution due to its “ineffectiveness, corruption, voluntary and involuntary loss of documents,” lines, errors, and “other etceteras.” In addition, the specialist considers that it is not consistent with the government’s own policy, which, although it has eliminated tariffs and other taxes and created specific loans, in this case authorities are “quick to create problems for a solution that is, today, imperative.”

Subiaut adds that there are countless problems in cities, ranging from garbage dumps to water leaks and other misuse of resources that “occur under the passive gaze, I won’t say complicit, of that agency, but it has not spoken out about those illegalities.”

Subiaut adds that there are countless problems in cities, ranging from garbage dumps to water leaks and other misuse of resources that “occur under the passive gaze, I won’t say complicit, of that agency

These measures are joined by urban planning and architectural regulations, including those affecting historic centers, which involve additional authorizations from the Office of the Historian, among others, those governing respect for the urban image such as alterations to façades, and compliance with fire safety and discharge regulations.

The debate sparked by these regulations has generated thousands of comments on social media in which many citizens are expressing their discontent, already heightened by the many months of long blackouts with no solution in sight. “You really have to be shameless for this. People are installing panels not because they want to, but because necessity has driven them there,” says one user. “What they should do is provide electric service like all countries in the world do and stop making our lives harder,” adds another.

Experts have also become active and try to explain that the State is right to regulate these issues, but the timing should lead to relaxation or a moratorium, expressing more measured opinions. Meanwhile, Cuba’s Electric Union has again forecast a deficit of 1,840 megawatts for this Tuesday, one day after the Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas went offline again.

The two Turkish floating power plants [‘patanas‘] that were widely discussed this Monday and which, as the government itself has denied, are not more than those already on the Island, will have to wait until mid-April to receive the Russian oil that arrived a week ago and whose refining is yet to begin. The Belgin Sultan, moored in the port of Havana, has a production capacity of just 15 megawatts (MW), while the Erol Bey, located in Regla, contributes 63 MW to the national electrical system, which requires more than 3,000 MW to meet daily nationwide demand.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

Widespread Suspicion Over the Official Announcement of the Delivery of Remittances in Dollars in Cuba

Fincimex does not provide details about commissions or the procedure for delivering currency in banknotes at Cadeca offices

Cadeca in Sancti Spíritus. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 7, 2026 – The Financiera de Cimex (Fincimex) announced this Tuesday that remittances can be received in cash dollars through the state-run exchange houses (Cadeca). With several exclamation marks, the corporation, sanctioned by the U.S. and belonging to the conglomerate Grupo de Administración Empresarial (Gaesa) of the Armed Forces, stated on its social media: “Remittances in cash dollars! From anywhere in the world, in minutes! Now, at Cadeca, you can receive your remittances in cash in USD!”

In a phone call to Cadeca’s central office, an employee tells this newspaper that “they are still studying it” and directed them to contact Fincimex “about receiving cash.” The exchange houses, she asserted, have not yet implemented it. We have to wait.”

One would not say the same about Fincimex’s enthusiastic and brief statement. In it, it also indicates that “you could always, at your discretion, deposit them totally or partially into your Clásica account,” referring to the Cimex card, the tool created by Gaesa to capture dollars, which allows payment at gas stations and state stores in Cuba, as well as wholesale services, such as the purchase of cars and imports. continue reading

“Good news is always for you, because if I need cash from the same card they don’t give it to me, plus what they deduct from you for loading it”

If this option is chosen, they say they will offer “discounts and additional advantages,” although these are excluded from gasoline purchases. Asked about this by a user, the financial entity responds that those discounts will be, depending on the business, between 4% and 10%.

The payment of remittances in cash on the Island is nothing new and is done directly at the beneficiary’s home. In fact, companies such as Cubamax, Cuballama, Sendvalu, or Bagalso, recently authorized by the Central Bank, do this, although outside Gaesa and its subsidiaries, which are sanctioned by the United States.

Not only because of that but also because the lack of foreign currency in cash in the country is well documented, hundreds of comments on Fincimex’s post express their suspicions about the new measure. “Good news is always for you, because if I need cash from the same card they don’t give it to me, plus what they deduct from you for loading it,” says Ivan Betancour. The corporation replies by insisting: “It is good news for remittance beneficiaries to access a remittance in USD cash,” to which another commenter retorts: “That must be why the sale of USD in Cadecas is halted. Since January 28 that line hasn’t moved.”

“Now there is cash?” Livan Orelly asks with laughter, ending up in an exchange with Fincimex. “The service is activated based on the Clásica service and its proven capacity for collection,” the state entity assures, and Orelly presses again: “Proven capacity just like gasoline with Clásica and there is no gasoline?”

Users raise all the doubts that any ordinary Cuban might have. When does the service start? How much do they charge in commission? From which countries can those remittances be sent? What will the exact procedure be? are some of them. “The announcement is very incomplete,” summarizes an elderly woman from Centro Habana with a daughter in Spain. “If loading money onto the Clásica is already a headache, with the few places there are, the blackouts, the connection problems, I don’t want to see what it will be like to receive a remittance and put it on the Clásica in the same operation.”

Along the same lines, another Facebook commenter said: “If it’s a pension payment day, it’s pointless, because with the lines, the blackouts, and the crashes of Cadeca’s computer systems, the headache for that kind of action is immense.” Fincimex gave another optimistic response: “It will gradually expand to other networks.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

‘Ingenuity Is the Main Fuel,’ Cuban Authorities Boast in the Face of Thermoelectric Plant Failures

The Cuban regime celebrates the 60th anniversary of Renté, its most obsolete plant, while announcing a new breakdown at Guiteras

Thermoelectric Plant Antonio Maceo, known as Renté, in Santiago de Cuba. / TV Santiago

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, April 6, 2026 – This Monday, while Cuba’s Electric Union (UNE) announced the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country’s largest power generator, due to a “boiler puncture,” the official newspaper Granma proudly celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Antonio Maceo Grajales plant, known as Renté, in Santiago de Cuba, a facility whose useful life expired 30 years ago. Since then, the plant has accumulated serious breakdowns and has all three of its only operational units out of service.

Román Pérez Castañeda, general director of the Guiteras plant, reported that the cooling process will take between 30 and 36 hours, and only then will specialists be able to access the area, determine the extent of the damage, and proceed with repairs.

The new breakdown at the Matanzas plant once again places the national electric system (SEN) in a critical situation. At the time it went offline, the plant was generating 170 MW. With this failure, combined with other incidents reported by UNE this Monday, a deficit of 1,845 MW is expected during tonight’s peak hours, for a national demand of 3,020 MW.

Each repair outage has been temporary as the plant fails again shortly after being reconnected to the system

The plant, with more than 36 years of operation, suffers from insufficient maintenance, a shortage of spare parts, and chronic deterioration that authorities have been unable to resolve. Each repair shutdown has been only provisional: the plant breaks down again soon after rejoining the system. Its repeated disconnections have caused most of the nationwide blackouts over the past year and a half. continue reading

It is known that Guiteras was designed, manufactured, and assembled by the French firm Alstom. Starting in 2015, when the U.S. company General Electric acquired the French company, access was lost to a French credit line that had channeled all supplies and spare parts.

Public outrage, reflected in comments on UNE’s Facebook page, emphasizes that the energy crisis, which the Government attributes to the U.S. embargo, existed long before, due to structural failures within the system itself.

Meanwhile, almost mockingly, Granma celebrates that “ingenuity is the main fuel,” listing makeshift solutions to cope with the deterioration of the six-decade-old Renté thermoelectric plant in Santiago de Cuba.

The official tribute, similar to the one paid last year, resembles an industrial survival manual for a plant that has already doubled its expected lifespan and survives amid constant failures. According to UNE’s report this Monday, Unit 5 at Renté is broken down, while Units 3 and 6 are out of service for maintenance.

These incidents add to a long list of failures reported today by the UNE: a breakdown in Unit 3 of the Felton plant, another in Unit 6 of Diez de Octubre, the aforementioned failure at Guiteras, and maintenance shutdowns of Units 5 and 6 at Mariel and Unit 5 at Nuevitas.

In the 1990s, after losing its Soviet suppliers, the plant was modernized with technological assistance from French companies to rehabilitate two of its units

The thermoelectric plant being celebrated for its longevity—called “La Renté,” after the peninsula where it is located—was founded in 1966 with Soviet assistance and designed to generate energy from fossil fuels.

In the 1990s, after losing its Soviet suppliers, the plant was modernized with technological assistance from French companies to rehabilitate two of its 100 MW units and make it operate with domestic crude oil, to avoid importing fuel. The name of the French company and the cost of the operation have never been disclosed.

Although the total capacity of the Antonio Maceo plant has not been reached for decades due to a lack of resources for maintenance and repair, it is still considered essential for sustaining the national grid in the eastern region of the country.

The plant’s general director, Jesús Aguilar Hernández, admits that the passage of time has made it impossible to contribute the 500 MW the plant provided in its best years: “with Units 3, 5, and 6nat maximum capacity, only 285 MW can be reached.” These are the same units currently out of service, according to UNE’s report.

According to Ecured, since 2023 the only operational units at Renté have been 3, 5, and 6, as Unit 1 was retired and Unit 4 was temporarily taken offline.

In statements to Granma, Aguilar boasts that before 1959 “the country was barely electrified,” an ironic reminder in the face of prolonged daily blackouts in today’s Cuba, and that it is a “privilege” for the plant to reach 60 years of operation.

“It constitutes a challenge left to us by previous generations and one we must pass on to future ones,” Aguilar boasts, suggesting the plant’s continued operation, and adds: “More than the equipment, what endures is the quality of its workforce.”

Faced with fuel shortages, lack of spare parts, and frozen imports, Aguilar insists that they “expect nothing from abroad, when solutions can be generated here,” adding, almost as if they were oil alchemists with psychic powers, “The slogan is not only to operate, but to create everything possible, because ingenuity is the main fuel.”

Due to the lack of parts, workers themselves are forced to improvise replacements

Regarding Units 5 and 6, which are currently offline with 5 broken and 6 under maintenance, Ángel Fabars Borlot, electromechanical chief at the Power Plant Maintenance Company (Emce), admits: “Unit 6 is slated for an extended repair, and in Unit 5 we had to deal with a failure in the generator’s hydrogen seals.”

“These are extremely complex tasks because these are enormous machines. The smallest part weighs tons, and tolerances are measured in millimeters,” Fabars Borlot confesses, without explaining how ingenuity will solve such problems.

Given the lack of parts, workers themselves are forced to improvise them. Eduardo Morales García, head of the machining workshop and soon to receive a medal for 40 years of service explains: “When a job comes in, we have to make almost everything: the cutting tool, the bar, the material, even the hacksaw blade to cut the pipes.”

Morales cites as an example the manufacturing of shafts for the water pumps of Unit 5, “a part that used to come from Russia, but we were tasked with making it here.”

Mayra CcCalle Irsula, an industrial maintenance specialist at Renté, an engineer who has dedicated more than 35 years of her life to the plant, stated that the main conditions to “guarantee continuity in generation” are remote work and telework, when possible, and consolidating “operators, kitchen staff, security, and technicians into a single transport system.” She did not explain, however, that these are measures ordered by the Ministry of Labor to avoid layoffs in state companies, due to the unprecedented crisis facing the country, aggravated by the U.S. oil embargo.

Fuel shortages not only shut down machines; they also paralyze transportation, disrupt shifts, and put operations at risk. The lack of personnel, due to transportation problems, slows processes. “The response is slower because we don’t have the necessary number of people,” admits the Emce electromechanical chief.

Maximiliano Guisande Agüero, head of Dynamic Equipment with 56 years at Renté and leader of the repair of the damaged Unit 5, says he is trying to attract and retain young workers through agreements with pre-university schools, polytechnics, and the University of Oriente, involving students in internships and training. This strategy, he says, could help address staff shortages, although for now the results remain uncertain.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

In Sancti Spíritus, Authorities Guarantee Coffins for All Municipalities

“Today we have about 30 sarcophagi in reserve,” assures the state company to reassure the population, traumatized by the deficiencies of that sector during the covid pandemic and the arbovirosis outbreak

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, April 6, 2026 – The specter of scarcity in the face of death returns to the Island. As already happened in the covid-19 crisis, due to the sudden increase in deaths, the energy emergency Cuba is experiencing puts at risk an element as sensitive as the manufacture and distribution of coffins. Faced with this situation, the Company of Various Productions (Emprova) in Sancti Spíritus has opted to decentralize production so that municipalities do not depend on the scarce fuel.

“At this time, Fomento produces its own and those of Cabaiguán; Trinidad and Yaguajay, their own; Jatibonico, its own and those of La Sierpe; Sancti Spíritus makes those needed in its territory and those of Taguasco,” notes a report published this Monday in the official media Escambray. The initial experience is based on what was learned during the pandemic, when coffins began to be made in Trinidad and in the carpentry workshop of Sancti Spíritus.

“At this time, Fomento produces its own and those of Cabaiguán; Trinidad and Yaguajay, their own; Jatibonico, its own and those of La Sierpe; Sancti Spíritus makes those needed in its territory and those of Taguasco”

The director of the state company, Alberto Rodríguez, told the newspaper that manufacturing itself also suffers from serious problems that are being resolved thanks to private actors. “Before, everything came through national allocation for coffin manufacturing, and today only fabric and wood arrive; the rest we have to find with private suppliers, for example, nails of different sizes,” continue reading

he said.

It is not the only inconvenience, because the forestry company needs energy to saw wood, which causes delays. “But this issue has been handled with considerable responsibility,” he says, without further explanation. “Today we have about 30 sarcophagi in reserve, not counting the daily production that continues to come out,” he reassures.

During the pandemic, the shortage of materials led to diversification of production in very different ways. One of the most striking was the proliferation of white coffins, due to the lack of black fabric, as several funeral home employees in different parts of the Island told this newspaper.

The state Communal Services company had to look for all kinds of products, including wood and cardboard or fabric covering, causing distress among relatives at such a delicate moment. “It was a frame of poor-quality wood, covered in fabric, and the base was very thin cardboard; we were afraid the body would fall out,” said the sister of a deceased person at the time. “As soon as they lowered it into the grave, it opened at one corner; it was a terrible sight.”

The situation led to seeking solutions such as negotiating with a Mexican company, Industrias VEQ, to purchase eco-coffins, which are produced at a much lower price than traditional wooden ones. “With national investment and raw material derived from Tetra Pak products such as milk, juices, and purée, the EcoCoffin is already on the national market, and the entrepreneurs have begun talks with funeral business operators in Cuba, Honduras, and Guatemala for export in the coming months,” one of its executives told the local press.

Last year, with the surge in arbovirosis infections, shortages once again took their toll in death. The lack of hearses, already a very scarce asset on the Island, meant that transport from state companies had to be used to move the deceased, leaving grieving relatives following vehicles from the state telecommunications company Etecsa — which were put into service as hearses — an image as striking as it was painful.

Last December, President Miguel Díaz-Canel presented the new electric vehicles for funeral services, announced last July by the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, who specified that the Government planned to acquire at least 120 units. Of these, 50 were to be for Havana and 50 for five other provinces: 20 to Santiago de Cuba, 10 to Holguín, allocations to Camagüey, and five each to Villa Clara and Ciego de Ávila.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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

With 10%, Cuba Remains at the Back of the Pack in Renewable Energy in Latin America

The continental average is 71%, with Paraguay and Costa Rica at 100%, followed by Uruguay (98%), Brazil (95%), Venezuela (92%), Colombia (91%), and Ecuador (90%)

In 2025, solar imports rose to $117 million, almost 144% more than the previous year. / Cubadebate

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, April 6, 2026 – On Monday Cuba’s  official press published the transcript of the 42 minutes of the program Cuadrando la Caja, broadcast more than ten days ago, in which several experts sat down to talk about the Island’s “energy matrix change.” It revealed less than a much more concise article today in the Financial Times (FT), which reports the enormous leap China has made in investing in solar energy in Cuba.

If in 2019 Beijing exported photovoltaic panels to the Island worth $16.6 million, in 2024 the amount grew to $48 million. Just one year later, in 2025, the figure rose to $117 million, almost 144% more than the previous year. In addition, batteries, essential for storing energy produced during daylight hours and using it at night, have also grown enormously, increasing from $7.3 million in 2024 to $56 million in 2025. Euan Graham, senior analyst at the energy think tank Ember, told the British outlet that just this January batteries worth about $15 million were imported.

“Just in the last 12 months, the Government successfully installed 1 GW, so they have already reached half of the target” set for 2026, says the expert, who adds that “one gigawatt is a very significant amount in the system, and reaching 2 GW would be truly transformative.”

Euan Graham, senior analyst at the energy think tank Ember, told the British outlet that just this January batteries worth about $15 million were imported

The article, however, asks how the State is financing this enormous investment, since,  it says, it is not transparent at all. “The 2026 economic plan indicates that Beijing donated 320 MW of technology. Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz stated that part of the solar technology was paid for with nickel,” the text notes. The same nickel mines, operated in collaboration with the Canadian company Sherritt, have been halted for several weeks due to lack of fuel.

The Financial Times believes that China’s support has a political continue reading

objective, but that even so, Cuba will have to pay for a good portion of it, and that will not be easy, since the required investment is large. And with tourism collapsed, there are few options to obtain foreign currency.

In addition to donations, China has invested in Cuba. The company Shanghai Electric has contributed about $60 million to the Mariel solar park, which has 62 MW and is the Island’s first private project through a partnership with the British firm Hive Energy.

Giles Redpath, its chief executive, highlights the effectiveness of the park, which provides up to 10% of renewable electricity in Cuba. “It is a very important part of the Cuban electrical grid, and right now I’m sure it is their cheapest source of electricity,” he says. But his words also reflect the Island’s usual problems, which are why almost no one wants to invest there.

“The only problem, from our perspective, is that they are not very good at paying. Or, to be more precise, they are very good at depositing money into a Cuban bank account, but then the money cannot be taken out of Cuba.” Hive says it has tried to sell the project, “but obviously, it is difficult to sell a project that has not been paid for.”

“Cuba, as an island, could function entirely on renewable energy. They have achieved fantastic results in solar energy and have good wind resources,” Redpath insists. “They just need to fix the economic problems and the international payments system, and then investment would arrive en masse.”

The FT notes that Chinese and Vietnamese donations of solar panels also include kits for homes, schools, and hospitals, but prices, as this newspaper has reported along with other independent Cuban outlets, are very high. In addition, the official press itself has indicated on more than one occasion that even the loans promoted by the Central Bank do nothing.

“They just need to fix the economic problems and the international payments system, and then investment would arrive en masse”

Ricardo Torres, a Cuban energy expert at American University in Washington, values the significant progress of photovoltaic energy on the Island, but also notes that it represents “a growing portion of a [electricity generation] pie that is getting smaller and smaller. The proportion is magnified by the contraction in other sources,” he points out.

The report is blunt. “Not even the dizzying increase in solar energy imports can offer a quick solution for an economy that 40 years ago was the world’s leading sugar exporter but is now in ruins,” it says.

The same is recalled by University of Texas expert Jorge Piñón, who told the Financial Times that although “every small effort helps, this is a temporary solution, not the ‘engine’ that Cuba needs to emerge from the ‘stone age’ of electricity generation and face the challenge of real economic growth in the 21st century.”

Although the program Cuadrando la Caja has been much more optimistic than all this, they could not avoid acknowledging that Cuba, despite the much-touted efforts to change the energy matrix since 2014, which have existed only on paper for almost 10 years, remains far behind the regional average. The Island, where the contribution has barely reached 10%, is far from the global average of 30%, and light-years away from the 71% that Latin America already had in 2025.

Hydropower has the largest share in the region, according to data from Americas Market Intelligence, with 51.3% in 2022, although wind and solar were already rising rapidly in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico.The leading country in the area is Brazil, which already had 89% renewables three years ago, followed by Colombia (75%) and Chile (55%).

In addition, a 2025 report by the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade) noted that nine countries exceeded the regional average index of 71%, with Paraguay and Costa Rica at 100%, followed by Uruguay (98%), Brazil (95%), Venezuela (92%), Colombia (91%), Ecuador (90%), Belize (77%), and Panama (71%).

Bioenergy, which is also a rapidly growing energy source on the continent, is at risk in Cuba, where the collapse of the sugar harvest is also dragging down the country’s main plant: the Ciro Redondo Bioelectric Plant.

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

Activist ‘Mambisa Agramontina’ Released From Prison, but Not as Part of Cuba’s Agreement With the Vatican

Ienelis Delgado Cué had been at Cuba’s Granja 5 camp for almost a year, without any formal charges against her.

Ienelis Delgado Cué, known as Mambisa Agramontina, in an archive photo. / Facebook

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, April 2, 2026 — Dissident Ienelis Delgado Cué, known as Mambisa Agramontina on her social media profiles, has been released after spending nearly a year in pretrial detention in Camagüey. The 37-year-old activist herself recorded a video, released this Thursday by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, in which she recounts from her home that yesterday, around two or three in the afternoon, she was “released under a change of measures, from house arrest to precautionary detention.”

She says she is accused of “other acts against the security of the State,” which include “receiving packages from counterrevolutionary organizations and disseminating reports from prisoners who call me to denounce human rights violations committed in prison.” She continues, “No evidence has been found against me.” And she concludes: “I am still awaiting trial.”

Delgado Cué was being held at the Granja 5 camp, without any formal charges having been filed against her. Last January, she went on a hunger strike to protest being denied a visit from her mother, former political prisoner Leticia Cué.

This was not the first time the opposition member had taken similar action. She had also been on a hunger strike for 12 days, the same amount of time she spent in a police station after being violently arrested on April 24, 2025. “They arbitrarily arrested me at my home, violating all my rights, without giving me a search warrant,” she denounce continue reading

d at the time. According to her own account, the political police arrested her for receiving a “personal package” that someone had sent to another opposition member. “They have me detained because they say I receive packages from counterrevolutionary organizations,” the dissident stated, adding that the package was sealed and she did not know its contents: “I don’t know what’s in it.”

“The Government made it very clear, itis a substitute for a sentence and she was in pretrial detention, she doesn’t have a sentence.”

In 2023, she spent nine months in prison for contempt of court after being arrested for a peaceful act: posting photos of herself wrapped in the Cuban flag. The activist carried out this action to demonstrate her solidarity with the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (sentenced to five years in prison in 2022), who, in 2019, led the #LaBanderaEsDeTodos (The Flag Belongs to Everyone) campaign, weeks after a law on symbols came into effect that strictly regulates their use. She was also sent to the Kilo 5 women’s prison, although she was later released from a labor camp known as El Anoncillo, where she had been transferred.

Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders, confirms Delgado Cué’s release, but clarifies to 14ymedio that she is not among the 51 prisoners the regime pledged to release under an agreement with the Vatican. He explains: “The government made it very clear; this is a sentence substitute, and she was in pretrial detention, not sentenced. They changed her pretrial detention status, as happens every month to many prisoners.”

This Wednesday, the Madrid-based NGO confirmed 26 releases under this agreement, the latest being that of Renán Julio Vilches Wong, “with his sentences intact, under a de facto prison-house arrest regime.” Vilches Wong had a six-year sentence “for speaking ill of the leaders of the Communist Party.”

In a message posted on their social media, they lamented that of the announced releases, 25 remain outstanding. “We are monitoring the regime and auditing its processes to ensure that all those promised to the Catholic Church are released,” they stated, reiterating their demand for the liberation of all political prisoners on the island.

In addition to Renán Julio Vilches Wong, 37, sentenced to six years and held in the San José de las Lajas forced labor prison in Mayabeque, the following have been released from prison, although their sentences have not been revoked:

1. Ibrahín Ariel González Hodelin.

2. Ariel Pérez Montesino.

4. Ronald García Sánchez.

5. Adael Jesús Leyva Diaz.

6. Oscar Bárbaro Bravo Cruzata.

7. José Luis Sánchez Tito.

8. Roberto Ferrer Gener.

9. Deyvis Javier Torres Acosta.

10. Yussuan Villalba Sierra.

11. Eduardo Álvarez Rigal.

12. Wilmer Moreno Suárez.

13. Frank Aldama Rodríguez.

14. Miguel Enrique Girón Velázquez.

15. Hansel Felipe Arbolay Prim.

16. Jorge Vallejo Venegas.

17. Luis Esteffani Hernández Valdés.

18. Franklin Reymundo Fernández Rodríguez.

19. Yunier Sánchez Rodríguez.

20. Carlos Pérez Cosme.

21. Felipe Almirall.

22. Lester Ayala Alarcón.

23. Liván Hernández Lago.

24. Evelio Luis Herrera Duvergel.

25. Jarol Varona Agüero.

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

In Guanabacoa, Havana, the Eggs Arrive Escorted by Police and There Aren’t Enough for Everyone

A carton of 30 eggs is sold for 900 pesos, while on the street its price is around 2,800.

Two officers move near the line, next to the truck, making sure no one cuts in line and the disorder doesn’t escalate into a fight. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Dario Hernandez, Havana, April 4, 2026 —  The truck hasn’t even fully opened this Saturday and the line already curves around the wall that is barely standing. The scene repeats itself every time the sale appears in San Juan Bosco, between Delicias and Barreto Este, in the Havana municipality of Guanabacoa. Papers, bags, and invisible marks from other waits are scattered on the asphalt. It looks chaotic, but it is something very simple: the egg line.

In Cuba, saying it like that, in the singular, isn’t an exaggeration. It’s as if it were a mystical figure that, every so often, makes a miraculous appearance. When the egg arrives, it sets off the same stampede as always. People line up before the merchandise. First the rumor spreads, then people mark their places, then the vehicle appears; but by then everyone has to be ready hours before the product is even seen. And between one thing and another, the morning and patience are gone.

Everything happens at the corner of the Amphitheater, also known for another, less noble reason: the infamous dump across from the music school and the elementary school, the same spot where fairs are often held. There, in that stretch where garbage, children, and makeshift commerce coexist, the miracle appears.

Even with police and restrictions, more than half of those waiting will go without eggs.

This time, there are uniformed officers on site. Two agents are moving near the line, next to the truck, making sure no one cuts in line so the chaos doesn’t escalate into a fight. The last time the eggs came, there were arguments, disputes, and even pushing. Necessity can also lose its manners when the difference between buying and not buying can be measured in a family’s stomachs.

A carton of eggs [30 eggs] sells for 900 pesos, a real bargain. On the street, the same carton goes for around 2,800. It sounds simple, but that amount exceeds the average monthly pension of a retiree. The gap between the two prices accurately reflects poverty. In an economy continue reading

where almost everything is scarce, any opportunity becomes a business opportunity. That’s why, at first, some people bought several cartons. Now they only allow one per person. Even so, with police and restrictions, more than half of those waiting will go without eggs.

The line knows this, and that is perhaps the hardest part. No one is unaware that they can waste time and get stuck in that situation. That’s what happened to Mercedes the previous week. She got distracted, arrived late, and there was nothing left. “People mark their names before the truck arrives. If it didn’t show up that weekend, tough luck. If it arrived and you found out too late, even worse,” she tells this newspaper. In a matter of minutes, merchandise that in any reasonably normal country is bought without protocols, without witnesses, and without law enforcement officers, vanishes. Not here. Here, the egg is unloaded from a truck as if it were a celebrity.

Neither proximity nor waiting increases the number of egg cartons

There are children in the line. That detail, this 4th of April, carries more weight than it seems. It is Pioneer Day, a date that for years was filled with morning school assemblies, bandanas, propaganda, slogans, and promises of the future. But on this street, the future is reduced to the next meal. The children watch, get bored, run around a bit, and return to the adults. They grow up like this, among lines, learning to “mark,” “reach,” “solve,” and “wait their turn.”

The back door of the truck opens, revealing the merchandise, and people press closer, as if getting nearer might multiply the number of eggs. But neither proximity nor waiting increases the number of cartons. The math is simple and cruel. There is less supply than need.

“This is the real made marvelous,” says another neighbor who, perhaps, has never read Alejo Carpentier nor knows The Kingdom of This World. But “marvelous” doesn’t seem to be the precise word to describe the reality of the average Cuban. In San Juan Bosco, in Guanabacoa, the future fits in an egg carton.

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