The political police are increasing their repressive actions as the anniversary of 11J approaches.
Constantín was arrested while accompanying Iris Mariño to a police summons. / Facebook / Henry Constantín
14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2025 — Independent journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro was arrested this Sunday in the city of Camagüey. Shortly after his arrest the director of La Hora de Cuba was transferred to the State Security Operations Department, known as Villa María Luisa, according to his colleague, reporter Iris Mariño.
Constantín was arrested while accompanying Mariño to a meeting with the political police at the Third Police Unit in Camagüey. When they both arrived, the officers asked the journalist to show his ID and, minutes later, handcuffed him and put him in a patrol car with the number 230, Mariño explained in a video.
Constantín’s arrest comes just days before the country’s Independence Day celebration next Wednesday at the residence of the current U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Cuba, Mike Hammer. The celebration, which annually attracts artists, cultural figures, and dissidents, is taking place this year amid a fierce official campaign against Washington’s representative on the island.
Some colleagues point to an attempt to prevent Constantín from traveling to Havana to attend the commemoration as the reason for his arrest, as well as an intention to neutralize him in view of the fourth anniversary of the Island-wide popular protests of 11 July 2021. Others, such as journalist José Raúl Gallego, a resident of Mexico, point to another motivation behind the arrest. continue reading
The State Security Officer known as “Luis” said that Constantín could be prosecuted for the crime of contempt because of his publication.
“Henry is being held, accused of denouncing a State Security officer in a Facebook post that appeared on the La Hora de Cuba page. They want to continue attacking in the shadows, without their names being known, and then, when push comes to shove, cross the border or become micro-enterprises,” he denounced. A criminal investigator, who identified himself as “Luis,” assured Mariño that Constantín could be prosecuted for the crime of contempt because of that post.
The Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba highlights the “tireless career” of Oswaldo Payá’s daughter as a defender of “human rights, freedom of expression, and human dignity.”
Cuban Rosa María Payá celebrates after being elected as a new member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Saint John’s (Antigua and Barbuda) / EFE/Bienvenido Velasco
In a statement, the group highlighted Payá’s “tireless career” as a defender of “human rights, freedom of expression, and human dignity.”
“The election of Rosa María Payá reaffirms the independence, credibility, and courage of the IACHR to safeguard fundamental freedoms and promote democratic renewal in the hemisphere,” the opposition group stated.
Payá, nominated by the United States, was elected on Friday as a new member of the IACHR.
Her election occurred in a vote held at the 55th OAS General Assembly in Antigua and Barbuda to select three of the seven IACHR commissioners.
“The election of Rosa María Payá reaffirms the independence, credibility, and courage of the IACHR in safeguarding fundamental freedoms.”
Rosa María Payá, founder of the organization Cuba Decide and daughter of the opposition figure Oswaldo Payá — whose death in 2021 the Commission formally attributed to the Cuban State — was the first person elected, with 20 votes.
The Donald Trump administration had strongly emphasized the need to appoint Payá to the Commission due to his harsh stance toward Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
For its part, the island’s regime called the new member of the IACHR a “mercenary” and claimed that she was elected under “pressure and blackmail” from the United States.
“Multiple pressures and threats, including blackmail claiming the United States would cut budgets for cooperation programs in the hemisphere, narrowly led to the election of notorious mercenary Rosa María Payá Acevedo,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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The defense will submit its briefs for the conclusion of the summary on July 11.
The hearing lasted almost seven hours, from 8:30 in the morning / Courtesy
14ymedio, Miami, June 24, 2025 — Cuban scientist Oscar Casanella, a member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI), had his political asylum hearing in Miami on Tuesday, three years after arriving as an exile in the United States. After the hearing, which lasted almost seven hours from 8:30 in the morning, the activist’s lawyers, Kenia García and Deliane Quiles, of the law firm García & Qayum Law Group, told the press gathered in front of the immigration court that there was still no verdict.
On July 11, the defense will hand in its closing briefs and then, within about two weeks, the judge in charge of the case will communicate her decision in writing, which will be published in the immigration system.
The magistrate “wants to evaluate all the evidence that was submitted in this case”
“The judge has definitely been very generous with her time and the prosecutor with his time, and they have heard all the arguments and all the testimony that Oscar wanted to give,” said García, who also explained that the magistrate “wants to evaluate all the evidence that was submitted in this case.”
Her view was somewhat more optimistic than that expressed by Casanella’s family, who, according to CubaNet, which was covering the case live, had complained that the questions were “a bit tough” for him to “answer yes or no,” without giving him a chance to explain himself at length. “What I told Oscar, who is a little dejected, is that it is not easy to say “yes,” especially in this administration, and it has to be well justified. This in my opinion is not bad news,” explained Kenia García in a first statement published on networks. She thought the process “was smooth” and the hearing “relaxed.” continue reading
If he is denied asylum, Casanella would have 30 days to appeal to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
In his statements to the media after the hearing, the activist said that he felt “well accompanied and advised by his lawyers” -who are providing him with services free of charge, as the opponent himself has said- but that “I would have liked everything to go faster and was hoping for an answer today.” The case, he added, “is open,” and no “particular details” can be provided.
If he is denied asylum, Casanella would have 30 days to appeal
Similarly, he referred to the assassination of the Nicaraguan opponent Roberto Samcam by hitmen in Costa Rica as an example to the question of a journalist about the closing argument before the judge, in which he said that he felt safe in the US but not in another country, because the Cuban regime had “tentacles” everywhere, and his life “was in danger.”
Casanella, who entered the US on foot in 2022, received an I-220A form, which, as with other Cubans in the same situation, does not guarantee either asylum in a court or the granting of residence under the Cuban Adjustment Law. According to the same activist in an interview with CubaNet on Monday, immigration authorities did not allow him to conduct a credible-fear interview when crossing the border into El Paso, Texas.
His concern at this Tuesday’s hearing was that the court would dismiss his case and order his expulsion. “To deport myself to Cuba would mean that I would end up in prison, where anything could happen to me. It would also mean that my wife and eldest son would also be deported and left totally vulnerable to the harassment of the Cuban political police.”
Cuban State Security, claims Casanella, has been harassing him since 2013, for his proximity to dissident artists such as the group Porno para Ricardo and Tania Bruguera. In 2016, he was expelled from the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR), where he worked, allegedly for “ethical misconduct”, denied by the activist.
State Security, claims Casanella, has been harassing him since 2013
But the attacks escalated, he said, starting with his participation in the San Isidro Movement in November 2020, when 15 MSI members locked themselves inside their headquarters on Calle Damas 955 and went on a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary detention of rapper Denis Solís.
They were forcibly evicted by officers dressed as health personnel more than a week later, on 26 November — Oscar Casanella had already left two days before — which provoked the solidarity of more than 300 artists who gathered the next day in front of the Ministry of Culture to ask for a dialogue with the authorities. This was the origin of the 27N group.
In 2022, says Casanella, he was forced to leave Cuba. Before that, he told CubaNet, for the whole of 2021 — the year of the historic demonstrations of 11 July — he was almost “under house arrest”: surrounded by State Security. The state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa also denied them telephone and mobile data service, “so I was kind of dead in life.”
By then, the opponent also reported, the regime had a file on him “for sedition,” with which he was threatened if he did not leave: “We are going to let you out of the house for a month so that you can do your paperwork and leave the country. If you’re still in Cuba a month from now, you go to prison.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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“Who came on that yacht? There’s a ticket there,” curious people comment.
This type of boat usually is seen in the Marina Hemingway, a much more discreet place than the bay of Havana / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 25 June 2025 — Unreachable and glistening under the sun of Havana, the luxury yacht First Lady, with the flag of the Cayman Islands, arrived this Wednesday in the bay of the Cuban capital. While people inland face an energy deficit of more than 1,700 MW, the dark grey hull of the boat is just a preview of the comforts enjoyed by its passengers. Nearby, punished by the heat and wearing uniforms soaked in sweat, several policemen guard the ship from early morning.
This type of boat usually is seen in the Marina Hemingway, a much more discreet place than the bay of Havana. “Who’s going on that yacht?” asks a woman sheltering herself in the shade, sitting on a wooden ramp across the street from the Customs Building. “Someone here has a ticket”, says a young man who also scrutinizes the boat, trying to decipher the name of the client who has paid more than $200,000 a week for ploughing through the sea while sitting on a comfortable sofa, filled with cushions, in the main lounge, or for showering while the bow of the First Lady cuts through the waters in its path.
The price of the ’First Lady’ is around $200,000 a week for cruising the sea / 14ymedio
With air conditioning, coffee machine, jacuzzi and a powerful wifi signal for internet connection, the boat was built in 2023, at the Italian shipyard of Riva, and has a capacity of 11 people and 7 crew. Satellite tracking sites located it just a few days ago in Key West, Florida; until June 16 it had been in Miami, the capital of the Cuban exile in the United States.
The trip is surprising because it is no longer the time of the diplomatic thaw between Washington and Havana, when that voyage was more common. Now, with declining tourism on the Island and the tone of confrontational discourse rising between both countries, the First Lady has a ghostly presence, an apparition from another time or dimension. continue reading
From the wall of the Malecon you can read, on one side of the yacht, a small inscription that confirms the pleasures enjoyed by its guests. “Dolce vita”, boasts the poster. Fanning herself with a piece of cardboard, an old woman and her grandson, from the opposite sidewalk, follow every detail of the sumptuous “flying saucer” that has not fallen from the sky but has arrived by sea and from the North.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Uncertainty grows regarding the participation of athletes from the island in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The US Embassy in Havana denied visas to 12 volleyball players, two coaches, one referee and a team manager / Norceca
14ymedio, Havana, June 27, 2025 — The Cuban Volleyball Federation (FCV) called “unjust and discriminatory” the refusal of the US to grant visas to the team of Cuban volleyball players who aspired to participate in the Final Four of Norceca, to be held in Puerto Rico from July 16-21. It also expressed “uncertainty” about what “may happen in the future in the conduct of the country that will host the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, for which Cuba plans to qualify.
The FCV also says that the measure “hinders” the presence of the new Morenas del Caribe -as they call the national volleyball team- in “a qualifying event for the Central American and Caribbean Games of Santo Domingo 2026 and for Norceca and world ranking eligibility.”
According to the sports agency, the US Embassy in Havana denied visas to 16 members of the delegation: 12 athletes, two coaches, a referee and a team manager.
Journalist Yasel Porto Gomez published on the Facebook page of DPorto Sports LLC: “The refusal of visas to the women’s volleyball team only makes it clear that the presence of Cuba in the World Classic 2026 is far from becoming a reality.”
The reporter warned that “if the MLB (Professional Baseball League) does not negotiate things in time with the government of Donald Trump, it will again experience the same suspense of 2006 when we didn’t know until the continue reading
last minute whether or not we would play.”.The difference, he estimated, is that there is a “greater chance now that for the first time in these events a team will lose all their games due to no-shows.”
Without visas, the new Morenas del Caribe are out of the Norceca Final Four in Puerto Rico / Jit
The Por la Goma sports portal also reported that “tension continues to grow” between the US and Cuba. “This political corrosion continues to generate bitter situations completely unrelated to the field of sports,” it stressed. What is desirable “would be for both nations to reach an understanding and to absolutely exclude politics from sports.”
Por la Goma added that “until that happens, uncertainty will continue to affect the participation of athletes and coaches residing in Cuba, even at very important events.”
For its part, the official organization insisted that the refusal of visas reflects a position “alien to the precepts of the sport, which adds to what has already happened this year against delegations from other disciplines.”
Last May, the US denied visas to Cuban Olympic Committee president Roberto León Richards, International Olympic Committee vice president and member María Caridad Colón, and secretary Ruperto Herrera.
Leon and Herrera were unable to attend the meeting of the Executive Committee of Panam Sports in Miami, held between May 13 and 15, and a parallel meeting in Puerto Rico. Colón was absent from the “Women in Sports” Commission event.
In April, the Cuban Athletics Federation (FCA) reported that the US denied visas to 14 of 16 Cuban athletes. The governing body considered that this “unacceptable action” prevented the country from having a full delegation at the 2025 World Indoor Athletics Masters Championships, which took place in Gainesville (Florida) between the 23rd and 30th of March.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The famous Mejunje was never a cafe, but rather a well-crafted platform for intersex hustlerism.
The Belgian comic book character Tintin, Cuban cigars, and a cup of coffee. / Author’s archive
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 29 June 2025 — I go to the Novelty—I never go to the Novelty—the café owned by Unamuno and Torrente-Ballester, although I’m not a fan of either. Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor bustles with tourists and people who, like me, are desperately seeking a bit of air conditioning. I have a coffee with milk and open the issue of Letras Libres dedicated to Vargas Llosa. The usual tributes, tearful and almost identical evocations. The man with a million friends, I think, all close friends. In memories, an acquaintance elevates himself to the rank of soul brother, and the soul brother ascends to blood cousin.
I close the magazine, a little fed up with the Peruvian. Why do I never come to the Novelty? I like the atmosphere of an old café. The dark wood furniture, the huge mirror, the lecterns on which the newspapers hang. It’s barely changed in a hundred years. There’s a buzz of voices that would normally be unbearable, but here, now, it’s what gives me the peace of mind to read. I wish I had a novel or a notebook to write in, or a group of arguing friends, but I make do. From the front page, Mario looks at me mockingly.
I’m glad the Novelty exists and that every city in Spain has a café like it. There’s Gijón in Madrid and Pombo in Santander, and even some pastry shops that do the job, like Rialto in Oviedo or La Mallorquina in Puerta del Sol. I’m glad my coffee culture wasn’t born here but comes from Cuba, and that what I feel when I enter the Novelty isn’t exactly a novelty, but rather a reunion.
I’m glad the Novelty exists and that every city in Spain has a café like it.
George Steiner believed that among the handful of things that defined Europe was the café ritual. From Lisbon to St. Petersburg—not Moscow—and from Seville to Prague, almost everything was discussed, written, and thought about in cafés. Chess was played—the famous games of Lenin and Tristan Tzara in Zurich, or those of Napoleon, Rousseau, or Benjamin Franklin at the Café de la Régence—and conspiracies were hatched.
The fury of opening cafés in Cuba during my university years was one of the best things about my youth. We became accustomed to talking about everything in the cafés, where you could smoke freely—a habit inconceivable in Spain—and every conversation or infatuation was shielded continue reading
by the smoke. In Santa Clara, the bar was a café and the café was a bar, depending on the time of day. Lycanthropic, a café dimmed the lights and became a nightclub. In the morning, hungover waiters served us, and served themselves, a strong cup of coffee.
The famous Mejunje was never a café, but rather a well-crafted platform for intersex hustlerism with the Party’s blessing. If there was coffee, it was reheated grounds, and it was preferable to drop into other establishments if you weren’t seeking the company of unwelcome characters of all stripes and passports.
The Europa—Steiner would be horrified—was and perhaps still is the battleground where Italian settlers negotiate with their jineteras [hookers] for child support. I often saw a troubled Giuseppe or a sad Alessio suffer the consequences of a tropical night with those mulaticas, rarely mulatonas.
Not to be missed is the priceless Revolución, filled with communist memorabilia and located next to the Tren Blindado [Armored Train]. A Che Guevara fan could stop there, be overcome with emotion by a photo of Fidel with Hemingway, and spend a few dollars before making the pilgrimage to the mausoleum where the Argentine’s unlikely bones lie.
In the Obrador — with its white walls and tables — the few real Marxists in Santa Clara, always utopian and poor, met. They were more closely watched than the dissidents. I frequented their chess boards and always caught someone I knew who was off base.
We must not leave out the priceless Revolución, full of communist memorabilia and next to the Tren Blindado.
“I’m in a café,” Lezama says in at least a couple of texts, like a profession of faith. It’s not hard to imagine him sipping a daiquiri, his ears listening for voices and epiphanies, à la Joyce, like the resounding “Chinese Bride, Good Luck” from La cantidad hechizada*.
Cafés and bookstores always went hand in hand, and not far away was the little shop where I sometimes—on payday—bought cigars or cigarillos. How long did I spend going from café to café? When I went to Havana or Camagüey or Cienfuegos, I always looked for a place that served good drinks and had a cigar shop nearby. The one in Cienfuegos, where an ancestor of mine worked for decades, was staffed by a Mason whose golden ring—with the compass and set square—reverberated as he arranged the cigars in a glass pyramid
Old times and old things, like Steiner’s cafés. From another planet. A different life and faces, of whose whereabouts I have no idea. It all comes back when I go to the Novelty, and although Mario looks at me solemnly from the cover of Letras Libres, he knows better than anyone what the poor, happy life of a young writer is like.
*The Spellbound Quantity — A book of essays by José Lezama Lima
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With a record electricity deficit, some hospitals, such as the Lidia and Clodomina polyclinic in Regla, look like ghost buildings.
Fuel scarcity remains the main problem of the SEN / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Juan D. Rodríguez/ Darío Hernández, Havana, 29 June 2025 — When Vladimir read that the Electric Company (UNE) was expected to have a deficit of 1,977 megawatts (MW) by Saturday night, he knew that it was not by chance that it would affect a neighborhood like his without hospitals or hotels. He went up to the roof of his house in Nuevo Vedado and reinstalled the hammock that, during the last week, had been his bed in the dark nights under the sky of Havana.
His prognosis hit the nail on the head while that of the UNE, although a little below, also came close. At the time of maximum affect, the national electric system (SEN) reported a shortage of 1,936 MW, the second record deficit in the last week, as last Tuesday’s of 1,901 MW.
For this Sunday, the authorities expect to lower the allocation with the entry of several units to the SEN [National Electrical System], and they predict a shortage of 1,753 MW in peak hours. It is expected that by then they will have already synchronized unit 6 of the thermoelectric power continue reading
plant of Mariel, with 80 MW; unit 6 of Nuevitas (Camagüey) with 100 MW, and two plants of Energas: Boca de Jaruco with 30 MW and Varadero with 30 MW.
Unit 2 of Santa Cruz (Mayabeque), 4 of Cienfuegos, 5 of Nuevitas and 5 of Renté in Santiago de Cuba are also under maintenance.
The authorities also want to incorporate 40 generating plants “which are out of fuel, because of the shortage.” These are, however, a small part of the total of 111 plants of this type that are out of service, leaving behind about 860 MW.
In the streets, the discomfort of the Cubans is seen in the faces of passers-by and despairing mothers who fan their children. “My neighbors are timid, they think that the UNE workers are having a hard time with this area,” says Vladimir, who from the sidewalk, where he sits to catch some fresh air, hears the comments of frustration.
“I went to buy cigarettes and the woman who sells them said she couldn’t grab a wink of sleep last night. She told me: ’This is criminal, boy.’ I felt sorry for her, but I’m the same way, walking like a zombie,” he confesses .
“I hear my neighbors complaining that they have sleepless nights, that they don’t have anything for breakfast and that the internet comes and goes,” he explains. Vladimir says that in the last few days the blackouts have given him no respite. “They put on the power on at night and remove it from 1:00 to 4:00 in the morning. Then, at 6:20, another blackout,” he says, frustrated.
The Habanero says that he barely has time to charge his devices and, although he has a small solar panel on his roof, the energy he manages to store is not enough to survive the hot nights.
“It would be much better to live near a hospital, because they always have power,” he says, but life is not easy for those who have the geographical position in their favor. “My aunt lives near a polyclinic, so she almost always has electricity, but yesterday she had to come here to rest for a while, because the neighbors are driving her crazy asking her to let them charge their cellphones,” he explains.
Nor does living near a medical center guarantee that there will be power. In a visit to Guanabacoa and Regla, this newspaper found that while an office of the State telecommunications company Etecsa and a gas station had electricity, the nearby neighborhoods were dark until 8:30 am. Even the Lidia and Clodomina polyclinics, with no one nearby, looked like a ghost building.
Meanwhile, the authorities are struggling to signal that the SEN is improving. In Rio Cauto, Granma province, they inaugurated a solar park last Tuesday, publicized this Sunday with a lot of fanfare. With a maximum contribution of 21.8 MW, it will be connected to the SEN on July 4, but its entry 10 days before is already cause for celebration by the official press.
Another photovoltaic park was launched yesterday in the municipality of Martí, in Matanzas, with the presence of Ramiro Valdés, a historic figure appointed to lead the program to stabilize the SEN. However, the 18 solar plants inaugurated since January with the help of China barely represent a power of 360 MW and only produce electricity in the optimal hours of sun.
Vladimir has no hope of those promises being fulfilled, and tonight, when the lights go out again, he will have no choice but to hang up his hammock on the roof.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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A team of experts carried out a meticulous research process with various sources to select the Cubanisms representative of the Spanish of the Island.
The project is considered “an example of collaboration between traditional lexicography and modern digital tools” /14ymedio
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 29 June 2025 — The Cuban Language Academy has completed a project to incorporate 100 Cubanisms into the next edition of the Spanish Language Dictionary (DLE) that will be presented in 2026, state media reported on Sunday.
A team of experts carried out a meticulous research process with various sources to select the Cubanisms representative of Cuban Spanish, according to local media.
Alexander Puente, professor of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (FAyL) of the University of Havana and part of the team, explained that the selection process began with a listing of the Dictionary of Americanisms focused on words used exclusively in Cuba.
In a first phase, each voice was verified and documented; undocumented voices were discarded, leading to the search for additional terms, he said. continue reading
Priority was given to editorial sources, such as the press and literature, avoiding blogs and oral records, as well as quotations with errors or controversial content
In addition, he explained that various categories of use were considered, including colloquial records, without restrictions on connotations, and even words with pejorative meanings were accepted, always with the appropriate lexicographic mark to contextualize their use.
Another participant in the project, professor Lydia Castro, said that for each word selected at least three examples of use in written texts from different eras were required.
Priority was also given to editorial sources, such as the press and literature, avoiding blogs and oral records, as well as quotations with errors or controversial content, she added.
The incorporation of these 100 Cubanisms into the DLE represents for its promoters a “significant step” in the recognition of the richness and diversity of Spanish spoken in Cuba, as well as contributing to a more complete and inclusive vision of the Spanish language.
The project is considered “an example of collaboration between traditional lexicography and modern digital tools,” reinforcing the commitment of the Cuban Language Academy to the preservation and dissemination of Cuba’s linguistic heritage, according to local media.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Independent observatories confirmed the murder of Orlis Daniela, a nine-year-old girl, at the hands of a neighbor in Grito de Yara.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court applied accessory sanctions / Periódico 26
14ymedio, Havana, 28 June 2025 — The Provincial Court of Las Tunas on Friday sentenced a man accused of killing his former partner to 28 years in prison, the official press reported. “The accused, in the early hours of June 5, 2024, assaulted with a knife and took the life of the woman (…), with whom he had two children,” reported Periódico 26, which did not reveal the name of the victim or the aggressor.
However, the description of the crime coincides with the femicide of 25-year-old Katia Ortiz Figueredo on the same date last year. At that time, an aunt of the young woman told the Cuban journalist Alberto Arego that the murder occurred in the door of the pharmacy located on 11th street in the Aguilera neighborhood, close to 11:00 at night and in front of several people waiting to buy medicines.
“They were divorced a few months ago, but he had held her under threats for five days in her home and sexually abused her, making her pregnant, according to the forensic expert who examined the body. She left behind two children, a boy of eight and a three-year-old girl,” said a family member.
The newspaper also identified the killer with the initials, Y.V., who was arrested that same night. Asked by Arego whether the family was aware of the situation, the woman said that her niece was very afraid and did not want to “expose” her relatives to possible reprisals, so no complaint was made. Periódico 26 also pointed out that the aggressor “has previously been punished for other acts”, although it did not clarify whether they are related to machista violence or whether they were of a different nature. continue reading
The trial was held as part of the “third national exercise to prevent and combat crime, corruption, drugs, illegalities and social indiscipline”
In addition to the prison sentence, the court applied the additional penalties of deprivation of public rights, the prohibition of passport application and departure from the country during the serving of his sentence, and the duty to provide maintenance for the minor children until they reach the age of majority or until they complete their studies.
The trial was held as part of the “third national exercise to prevent and combat crime, corruption, drugs, illegalities and social indiscipline,” carried out this week by the Government. The official press report does not mention femicide or machista violence, but instead categorizes it as murder, as stated in the Penal Code.
This Friday, the observatories Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba (YSTC) confirmed the death on June 20 of Orlis Daniela, a nine-year-old girl, at the hands of a neighbor in Grito de Yara, Granma province. “Orlis Daniela and her younger siblings were the ones who found the body of their mother, Yusmila Mayo Ruiz, a victim of femicide in 2024 in Las Tunas,” said the platforms, accusing authorities of failing to protect indirect victims of cases of machista violence.
However, the relationship between the girl and the aggressor is unknown, so the observatories classified the crime as a “social femicide.” 14ymedio, for its part, records these cases as homicides.
“The terrible story of this little girl is not a tragedy or fate; it is the consequence of a broken society and neglect of the State, which refuses to protect the lives of women and girls,” said the platforms, which asked for protection for the four younger siblings of Orlis Daniela.
“A total of 76 women aged 15 and over were victims of gender-related murder at the hands of their partners, former partners or other persons”
According to a recent report by Cuba’s state-run Observatory on Gender Equality, “a total of 76 women aged 15 and over were victims of gender-related murder at the hands of their partners, ex-partners or other persons,” as revealed in court proceedings held in 2024. The Observatory, established in 2023 to collect official data on women’s participation in various fields, including statistics of “women who have been victims of intentional homicide” by machista violence, cited that “in 73.7 per cent of the cases, the incident took place at home, and a total of 70 children were left without maternal care.”
Regarding the relationship between the victims and the aggressor, it pointed out that the number deaths of women by their partner or former partner totaled 50 in 2023 and 55 in 2024.
In Cuba, femicide is not criminalized, and there is little information about the machista murders in the official press. The Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Supreme Court and other institutions recently announced that they would jointly develop a computerized administrative register to collect data on femicides, but clarified that it would not be made public.
The register of machistamurders by 14ymedio so far this year is 15 femicides.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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The worst figure is for travelers from Russia, which fell by 45.5% compared to last year.
None of the nationalities listed in the Onei report experienced an increase in travelers. / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 28 June 2025 — Tourism data is being released for another month, and the plummeting statistics are no longer surprising. Compared to the same period in 2024, 862,343 travelers had arrived on the island as of May 31, a 26.6% decrease. In the fifth month of the year, the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) recorded the arrival of some 120,000 tourists, a figure similar to that of 2022 at the same time, when the country was still suffering the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last May’s performance was, in short, the worst in the last three years for that month, despite Havana’s efforts to encourage tourism to the island. At the top of the list is Canada, which continues to send the largest number of travelers—387,404 through May—but still saw nearly 30% fewer Canadians arriving than in 2024.
The worst figures come from travelers from Russia, a country that has pledged to the Cuban regime to improve tourism on the island, but whose efforts continue to fall on deaf ears. In total, only 56,089 Russians arrived in the first five months of 2025, a 45.5% decrease compared to the previous year.
The Russians are followed by Europeans: Germany (33% less), France (26.8%), Italy (25.7%) and Spain (25.4%), which confirms a trend that has been maintained for several months: the lack of interest in the Island on the continue reading
part of nationals of these countries, as Cuba continues to lose appeal in Europe.
Also in the Onei top 10 are Cubans abroad (22.6% less), the United States (20%), Mexico (11.1%) and, with the best data, Argentina, although it still registers a decrease, in this case of 7%.
Also in the Onei top 10 are Cubans living abroad (22.6% less), the United States (20%), Mexico (11.1%), and, with the best figure, Argentina, although it also recorded a 7% decrease. All countries in the Onei ranking, without exception, have registered a decrease, ranging from 7% to 45%.
Despite all this, the decline has slowed compared to previous months, although not significantly. At the end of February, for example, Cuba had received 30% fewer visitors than in the same period last year, a figure slightly worse than the 26.6% drop seen this May.
The state of the tourism sector, which is constantly shrinking despite significant investment, is a headache for the Havana government. Just three days ago, tourism minister Juan Carlos García Granda proposed the creation of a common space in Latin America accessible with a single visa. He outlined the idea in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País during a meeting with industry leaders in Colombia held at the Dann Carlton Hotel, north of Bogotá.
“Perhaps we need to start talking about visas that can be used across multiple countries, as is the case with the Schengen Area in Europe. We need to see how the world has done it and apply it to the region to attract shared benefits from such distant tourist flows,” said García Granda.
He also acknowledged the lack of interest of the European market in the island, which has forced the country to look for other options in China or Russia.
He also acknowledged the European market’s lack of interest in the island, which has forced the Island to seek other options in China or Russia. “We already have better flows that we want to grow. And we want to do so by providing a unique offering as a region that benefits us and that we can share,” he added.
However, the proposal doesn’t seem likely to materialize in the immediate future, as Cuba is desperate to attract foreign currency in the midst of an economic crisis. At the same time, other destinations in the region are flourishing, leaving the island behind. In the first quarter of the year alone, the Dominican Republic , with cultural and sun-and-beach offerings similar to those in Cuba, had already broken a traveler record, with more than 3 million visits.
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A court gives Immigration ten days to grant permanent residency to Ghislayne Jiménez Moret, Luis García Ramirez, and Otmara Arencibia Bustamante.
Otmara Arencibia Bustamante, Ghislayne Jiménez Moret and Luis García Ramirez in Tapachula, Chiapas / UltimatumMx
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, June 25, 2025 — The Cubans Ghislayne Jiménez Moret, Luis García Ramirez and Otmara Arencibia Bustamante began a hunger strike this Monday in front of the headquarters of the National Institute for Migration (INM) in Tapachula, Chiapas. The migrants blame the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR) for delaying their asylum procedures.
“We will be here for as long as it takes,” says Luis García Ramirez, who left the island last October. The lack of documents has limited the possibilities for this young person to find a well-paid job. “It’s very difficult because they don’t accept you for any job,” he says.
García Ramírez tells this newspaper that because of their appointments with Migration, they have lost job opportunities. “They keep you there for five hours; they don’t attend to you, and then they return you home without your process advancing.”
Otmara Arencibia Bustamante, diagnosed with breast cancer, tells this newspaper that she started the process five months ago. Despite “getting the eight signatures required” by COMAR to conduct a final interview, “they don’t tell you” when it will be held. The woman showed the Amparo [protective order] 957/25 to which she resorted to expedite the procedure, but she still hasn’t received refugee status.
A source revealed that COMAR in Tapachula “has no operational staff, translators or interviewers”
The delay has affected her income; the little that she receives from family members helps her to survive in Tapachula. “I would like to have papers so that I can work,” she says. “If I don’t have papers from Mexico, they won’t continue reading
let me work.” Arencibia Bustamante says that, despite having a unique key of registration of temporary population (CURP)*, there have been sites indicating that “it is not sufficient” to get a job.
Currently, COMAR’s headquarters in Tapachula is only providing a CURP and scheduling appointments to have a final interview with the migrant to decide whether he or she can be a beneficiary of refuge. The migration process normally involves several formalities and takes a few months. During this period, a work permit is obtained while it is decided if the applicant can become a refugee, but at present this process is not being respected by the institution in the face of an influx of migrants.
Attorney José Luis Pérez points out to 14ymedio that this group of Cubans has faced apathy from the authorities. The lawyer confirmed that the Fourth District Court “gave the INM ten days to respond to its procedure of permanent resistance.”.
A source from Migration, who requested anonymity, revealed that COMAR is facing restructuring. “There is no operational staff, translators or interviewers in Chiapas,” he said. “At the moment there are hundreds of migrants in limbo. Procedures are taking up to a year.”
El Colectivo de Monitoreo-Frontera Sur denounced the accelerated institutional deterioration that directly affects thousands of migrants and asylum seekers on the border between Mexico and Guatemala.
The organization pointed out to Diario del Sur that due to the deterioration, “COMAR’s operational capacity has been reduced, in addition to the existence of a backlog in the humanitarian flights of the INM and forced evictions without minimum guarantees, which reflects a migration policy based on omission, criminalization and abandonment.
* CURP stands for Clave Única de Registro de Poblacíon para Extranjeros, or Unique Key of Registration of Foreign Population.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Students from the two neighboring schools “get high in broad daylight”
Instead of prioritizing prevention, authorities mount exemplary trials with sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Alberto Sosa González Secondary School, in Holguín / Facebook
14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 26 June 2025 — Holguín’s Marijuana Alley earned its name years ago for the ease of finding someone to sell some “marijuana cigarettes.” But with the appearance of the ’químico’ – chemical – and its cheap and potent papers, cannabis is in retreat. The new king of drugs now passes from hand to hand, from high school students to younger boys, from the unemployed to housewives, while it continues to gain ground in the city.
A few meters from the alley there are two schools, says Susana, who used to attend both centers as a social worker. The secondary school is called Alberto Sosa González and has about 1,000 students. In an annex, “almost wall to wall,” she explains, there is also a pre-university. “With 150 or 200 pesos in hand, any of those boys can get a dose of chemical,” she says.
She has seen them herself, she confesses. “In the morning, before they go to school, you find them there, smoking cigarettes and something else. Then in the afternoon, when they leave class, they go back to the alley,” she says. A few years ago students were hiding while sharing marijuana cigarettes, but now they are completely uninhibited. “Even outside of school, while waiting for their girlfriends, many get high as if it were nothing, in broad daylight.” continue reading
Susana is no longer a social worker, but that hasn’t stopped her from noticing that drug use in Holguín is “rampant”
Susana is no longer a social worker, but that has not prevented her from noticing that the consumption of drugs in Holguín, especially in schools, is “rampant.” “Although they have not been made public, there have been several cases of boys being found with little bits of chemical in their rucksacks or uniforms. They have also been caught eating it,” she warns.
Parks, corners, specific streets or entire neighborhoods. The cannabinoid is present throughout the city, not only in schools. “A few months ago I myself witnessed a purchase,” says the Holguinera, who places the events in the so-called Chivos park, another enclave where drug “transactions” have become frequent.
“A man arrived on a bicycle and stopped in front of three young boys without getting off. The boys paid him, and he took out a sealed pack of cigarettes, gave each one a little piece of paper and left,” says Susana, who up until that point was not sure what she had witnessed.
“I immediately noticed when the boys started taking the tobacco out of the end of the cigarette to make room for the chemical. They lit up right there and started smoking.”
Susana has also heard of other methods of consumption. “To amplify the high of the chemical, they buy rum and instant soft drinks. After consuming the drug, they prepare a concentrate of the alcohol and powder that makes them feel good,” she explains.
In addition to Marijuana Alley, Susana relates the areas of greater presence of the chemical with the most marginal neighborhoods. “There is a place known as the Loma del Tanque where there is also a lot of drugs, especially among young people aged 15 to 25. There are very poor people who live there; they have come from other municipalities and the countryside trying to get close to the city,” she points out.
The 26 de Julio neighborhood, she adds, is another “red zone.” If she had to point out the “capital” of the consumption of chemical and marijuana, says Susana, it would be Chivos park.
Susana has learned of many trials and operations to combat the presence of narcotics in the city
Susana has learned of many trials and operations to combat the presence of narcotics in the city. “A few days ago they raided two places on 13th Street and seized químico,” she says. But the areas that are commonly known to be epicenters of narcotics sales continue to spread, and among consumers, although mostly still young people, there are also adults and the elderly, both men and women.
Far from focusing on prevention and rehabilitation, the Cuban Government has chosen to wage war against those involved in crimes of drug use and possession. It is a rare day when the official press or news does not speak of an exemplary trial against sellers and consumers. This same Wednesday, the official newspaper Granma reported the sanction of up to 20 years in prison for a resident in Ciego de Ávila for growing marijuana. Another person was sentenced to three years for knowing and not reporting the crime.
On the same day, the Prosecutor’s Office of Santiago de Cuba disclosed the case — without specifying the sentence — of a 64-year-old Venezuelan citizen, tried for “crime related to illicit drugs and substances with similar effects.”
Both trials were broadcast one day before the celebration on Thursday of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a day that the Government has used to underline its “zero tolerance” towards narcotics.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Nearly 14,000 private motorcycles fill the gap left by the authorities.
Of the 190 routes officially established in Santiago de Cuba, 131 are operational / Sierra Maestra
14ymedio, Havana, June 26, 2025 — The new Foton minibuses are slowly arriving in the provincial capitals where they have been allocated after the government reversed its decision to concentrate in Havana the 100 vehicles purchased from China. This Wednesday, the newspaper Sierra Maestra reported the arrival of 20 sent to Santiago de Cuba to reinforce “the four routes of greater mobility,” in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the prolonged shortage of fuel and spare parts.
The new minibuses, according to Jaime Codorniú Furet, delegate of the Ministry of Transport in the province, are part of the actions for the city’s 510th anniversary and an effort to sustain a service that has been seriously limited for years. The official also noted that 20 electric bicycles have been operating in the southern part of the city since 2023, with an average of 10 trips per day, although they do not escape the interruptions caused by frequent and long blackouts.
The coverage is clearly insufficient
Santiago de Cuba, with more than 500,000 inhabitants, has 190 officially established routes, of which 131 are currently in operation, according to data from the transport agency itself. These journeys are served by a combination of state transport, company vehicles, private cars and leased vehicles, some of which are also used as ambulances and hearses.
However, this coverage is clearly insufficient. Given the shortage of buses and the irregularity of rail service, where many so-called “ferrobuses” remain out of service, users have found in motorcycles a fast and relatively affordable alternative that is adaptable to current conditions. continue reading
Santiagueros have found in motorcycles a fast and relatively affordable alternative that is adaptable to current conditions
The boom of electric bicycles and motorcycles in Santiago has been documented both by state media and independent publications. Their popularity soared in the last five years, especially after the pandemic, when restrictions on mobility and the collapse of public transport pushed many citizens to purchase personal vehicles.
Although private motorcycles are not regulated as public transport, in practice they have become a semi-informal taxi service. Many circulate in strategic boarding points such as Trocha, Garzón and Martí avenues, as well as in peripheral areas with little bus coverage.
The attempt to ban passenger transport on motorcycles in 2021 accomplished nothing. At that time, Santiago de Cuba had about 14,000 motorcycles circulating in the city. Faced with complaints from motorcyclists, the government was forced to back down.
The cost of those trips went from 150 to 300 pesos
Four years later, motorcycles and prices have multiplied. On social networks, Santiagueros often comment on the cost of these trips: from 150 to 300 pesos, depending on the distance, time and fuel availability. For many state workers or students, this rate is unaffordable on a regular basis, exacerbating inequality in access to transport.
The proliferation of motorcycles is not without risk. Authorities have reported an increase in traffic accidents related to these vehicles, as well as fires, robberies and violent incidents. Despite these problems, their presence is widespread and in neighborhoods without bus routes they are the only means of connection to the city center.
In parallel, the Government has tried to alleviate the situation by providing 18 boarding points in the provincial capital and one in each municipality, according to official figures. Animal carts and bicitaxis are also retained as short-distance options, although their availability is limited and coverage uneven.
In neighborhoods without bus routes, motorcycles are the only means of connecting to the city center
Chronic fuel shortages have had a direct impact on transport. In March 2024, the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, acknowledged before the National Assembly that the Cuban motor vehicle fleet was “on the verge of collapse”.
Against this backdrop, urban mobility in Santiago de Cuba seems increasingly to be supported by individual ingenuity rather than effective state planning. Motorcycles, a symbol of everyday life, still have a role that, although unofficial, is essential for the functioning of the city.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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Betania Publishing House is making the document available to readers for free download.
The open letter was written in 1988 by writer Reinaldo Arenas (r) and artist Jorge Camacho (l). / EFE
14ymedio, Havana, 19 June 2025 — Written in 1988 by writer Reinaldo Arenas and artist Jorge Camacho, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro was neither a pamphlet nor an angry proclamation, but an open letter written from exile—between New York and Paris—calling for what in any free country would seem obvious: a free and transparent referendum on the continuation of the regime. It did so, moreover, in a sober tone, without insults or diatribes, appealing to the universal right to vote, the end of the monopoly of power, and freedom of expression as essential pillars of any just society.
The letter was inspired by the plebiscite held that same year in Chile, under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The idea was simple but powerful: if a political regime claims to have the support of the people, why fear the ballot box? This direct appeal, formulated from an ethical perspective rather than a harsh one, transformed the document into a call that transcended borders. It was soon translated into English and French and sent to dozens of cultural and political figures. The response was overwhelming.
The letter is inspired by the plebiscite called that same year in Chile, under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet
In its final 1990 edition, the letter had 274 signatures: 110 Cuban and 164 foreign. Eight Nobel Prize winners—among them Octavio Paz, Czeslaw Milosz, Saul Bellow, and Claude Simon—signed the letter alongside former Latin American presidents, writers, filmmakers, philosophers, journalists, activists, and academics. Among them were Mario Vargas Llosa, Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsberg, Jacques Derrida, Lydia Cabrera, and José Ferrater Mora, an intellectual constellation that gave the text a legitimacy that was difficult to refute. It was not a letter “against Cuba,” but “for Cuba”: for its right to decide, for its silenced citizens, for its still-pending democracy.
From the island, under infinitely more adverse conditions, there were also supporters. For many, the gesture meant surveillance, persecution, or permanent exile. But it also stood as testimony that not everyone remained silent, even within the system.
The letter not only denounced the absence of basic freedoms, but also demanded a democratic and peaceful solution.
More than a specific proposal, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro was—and remains—a moral snapshot. The letter not only denounced the lack of basic continue reading
freedoms, but also demanded a democratic and peaceful solution, with minimal transparency, and under the protection of the international community. In the current context, marked by renewed repression and political frustration, the text reads like a warning that stands the test of time. Its relevance is not circumstantial, but ethical.
Today, when authoritarianism is becoming naturalized or the value of the free vote is being relativized, this document reminds us that dignity does not admit excuses or postponements. As Reinaldo Arenas affirmed in his other texts, freedom is defended with words, but also with lasting gestures. Committing to a plural Cuba, open to dialogue, without dogmas or exclusions, remains an outstanding debt that this text denounces with lucidity and courage.
Thanks to Betania Publishing, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro can be read and downloaded for free in PDF format. It is an opportunity for new generations of Cubans—both inside and outside the country—to reconnect with a critical tradition that has not died. Disseminating it is more than a cultural exercise: it is an act of active memory, a way to keep alive the flame of peaceful and civic change.
Thanks to Betania Publishing, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro can be read and downloaded for free in PDF format.
In an era when social media is saturated with empty slogans and misinformation seems omnipresent, recovering a text like this is also a commitment to clarity and depth. Its pages contain no hatred, but hope; no revenge, only a demand. Rarely in the history of exile, words have managed to break the siege of fear with a concrete, communicative, and firm proposal.
More than a historical relic, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro is a living tool. To read, share, and discuss it is to resist resignation. Because that letter doesn’t just ask for a vote: it demands Cuba’s right to be itself, without tutelage or caudillos. And that, thirty-five years later, remains urgent.
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.
Last month, the US representative in Havana, Mike Hammer, visited her in Placetas.
Donaida Pérez Paseiro with Mike Hammer, Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. / X/@USEmbCuba
14ymedio, Madrid, 11 June 2025 — The Provincial Court of Villa Clara has revoked the release of another political prisoner who had been released earlier this year as part of the agreement between the regime and the Vatican. This is Donaida Pérez Paseiro, a Yoruba priestess and resident of Placetas, sentenced to eight years in prison for “public disorder,” “disobedience,” “contempt,” and “assault” after participating in the historic Island-wide protests of July 11, 2021.
In a brief statement released Wednesday on its social media, the court argues that the “benefit of early release,” which it claims—without detailing how—was granted to a total of 553 people, has been revoked “due to noncompliance with obligations, essentially related to the workplace, and for failing to appear when summoned by the Executive Magistrate.”
The “conditional” release granted on January 15, they explain, “involves a probationary period equal to the remainder of the sentence remaining to be served,” something the regime had warned about from the moment it began the releases. According to government spokespersons, it was “neither an amnesty nor a pardon,” but rather “benefits” that did not exempt those released from returning to prison if they failed to comply with their “obligations.”
This is what happened to Pérez Paseiro, who has continued to exercise and assert her rights. As exiled journalist José Raúl Gallego notes in a Facebook post, she has demanded the release of her husband, Loreto Hernández, also continue reading
an opponent and political prisoner, who is “in a serious health condition.”
That request and her “political stance” were the reasons Cuban authorities gave on May 26 for denying Pérez Paseiro permission to travel to an event in Bogotá, Colombia, organized by the Christian Democratic Organization of America. “They weren’t going to allow me to speak ill of the revolution or how they treated counterrevolutionary prisoners, much less promote the ‘Don’t Let Loreto Die’ campaign,” she told Martí Noticias that a State Security agent had told her.
“They weren’t going to allow me to speak ill of the revolution or how they treated counterrevolutionary prisoners.”
This demonstrated “the intransigence of this totalitarian regime toward those of us who fight for a free Cuba,” the opposition leader continued, asserting: “As far as I’m concerned, I stand my ground. They won’t let me leave for another country, but from here I will continue to denounce all the atrocities they commit against political prisoners and the Cuban people in general.”
In addition, at the beginning of that same month of May, she received a visit from the head of mission of the US Embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, on one of his trips around the interior of the island, which have been denounced by the regime.
Her case follows those of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, whose release was revoked on April 29. In Ferrer’s case, he was violently detained during a raid on the headquarters of the organization he leads, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, in Santiago de Cuba. According to his wife, Nelva Ortega, two weeks later, the opposition leader is being charged with propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The release process was announced on January 14, just hours after Washington, in the final days of the Biden administration, unexpectedly announced Cuba’s removal from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a list the Island was returned to as soon as Donald Trump took office a week later. Although Havana defended the releases as a unilateral and sovereign measure, taken as a humanitarian gesture for the jubilee year decreed by Pope Francis, the coincidence with the White House announcement was evidence of the agreement. Nor does it seem a coincidence that the arrests of Ferrer and Navarro occurred a week after Pope Jorge Bergoglio’s death.
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14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2025 — Independent journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro was arrested this Sunday in the city of Camagüey. Shortly after his arrest the director of La Hora de Cuba was transferred to the State Security Operations Department, known as Villa María Luisa, according to his colleague, reporter Iris Mariño.
