Translating Cuba – Page 89 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Stripped Years Ago of Their Vacation Centers, Cuban Workers Ask for Their Return

Stripped years ago of their vacation centers, Cuban workers ask for their return

The villa El Raíl was found by the workers of the Las Tunas electrical sector in this pitiful state / Reynaldo López Peña

14ymedio, Madrid, May 12, 2025 — Eleven days have passed since the workers, called by their official union, the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), took to the streets on May 1 to show their commitment to the regime. As in most communist countries, the parade is not for demanding labor improvements but is staged to show the supposed support for a supposed government of the people.

But demands do exist, and today the official press puts the focus on one of them: the return of the houses on the beach that for decades worked as an incentive. Today, after passing into the hands of the hotel group Islazul, they have become a pile of ruins and debris.

“We believe that we are right. We deserve it. We feel it as an extension of the factory, because there were always spaces to share with your colleagues, with your family,” says the employee of a cement plant in Sancti Spíritus. The Trabajadores newspaper devotes an article to this issue, which appears at times as an obituary for a project that started out with benefits, including material benefits, and has ended up being a victim of abandonment.

Oscar Hernández Pérez, of Cemento Siguaney, says that there is “a large file of complaints and denunciations to state institutions, national press media and government bodies about the decision, which eliminated important incentives.” The media does not hesitate to point out that the measure never brought about a change for the better and that it would be most appropriate to return these holiday homes “to the trade union movement, to the workers.” continue reading

Oscar Hernandez Perez, of Cemento Siguaney, says that there is “a large file of complaints and denunciations to state institutions, national press media and government bodies about the decision”

The report goes back to the creation of these leisure centers, an idea of the omnipresent Fidel Castro, who indicated after the triumph of the Revolution that the homes and facilities of the “exclusive” beaches of Cuba, confiscated from exiles, would be “for the enjoyment of the workers.”

“The houses in Playas del Este alone, in the Cuban capital, had about a million workers and family members passing through each year,” says Gloria Esther Becerra, who was at the head of the program for 20 years. According to her, there were about 700 houses handed over to the unions in Havana and Jibacoa (now in Mayabeque) for their employees to restore and later enjoy.

The workers then paid a low price for the package, which included round-trip transport and food. Vacationers in general could enjoy the houses by paying a higher – but adjusted – price. The trade margin was around 5%, according to one interviewee. The plan extended throughout the country, as detailed in the text, which mentions Las Tunas, Ciego de Ávila and Pinar del Río, among many others.

“In Las Tunas we founded a movement with companies and trade unions, and sites appeared as work incentives in agriculture and the Ministry of Sugar, the two basic economic activities of the land,” says José Vistorte Pupo, then senior officer of the provincial CTC. In this case, 100 cabanas were delivered in La Boca (Puerto Padre) that were distributed and repaired .

“Tunazúcar was the mecca for its conditions, the quality of its offers and the proximity to the capital city. Its facilities housed national vanguards, distinguished cane cutters and combine operators. We had 19 rooms in Varadero and 20 at the Hotel Las Tunas,” she added. Another worker in the sector recalls that all companies in the sugar sector had centers of this type, with accommodation included, except for one in Majibacoa which was a country house with a pool.

Elci Cecilia Martínez Couce, manager of a construction company in Pinar del Río, also recounts how the workers made the decision to invest the profits of that year in building cabanas on the beach of Boca de Galafre, in the tobacco municipality of San Juan y Martínez. Land was purchased and 12 were initially built, a project that became the largest resort in the province (Playa Bailén), with 37 villas and 80 cabanas, which today belong to the company of Accommodation and Gastronomy.

Land was purchased and 12 were initially built, a project that became the largest resort in the province (Playa Bailén), with 37 villas and 80 cabanas, which today belong to the company of Accommodation and Gastronomy

The interviewees agreed that knowing that they could enjoy these houses aroused great enthusiasm among the workers, who organized themselves to participate in construction or rehabilitation, as appropriate, with voluntary overtime. “There was such joy that on some days at the construction of Tunazúcar there were almost a thousand workers on the job, from all the sugar companies in the territory,” says one of them.

The text describes a “sustainable” system in which self-consumption existed because food was provided, which also generated solidarity between different labor groups that helped each other.

Until between 2009 and 2010, during the term of office of Raul Castro, who is not even mentioned, everything ended overnight. “In the capital we were told that the houses in Playas del Este would not continue to be serviced by the unions, that Islazul would take care of it. From then on, and in a first stage, the trade union movement only received enough places to incentivize its leaders,” says Gloria Esther, who regrets how the second stage followed.

“At the beginning rents were low and food prices were quite good. Subsequently, Islazul began marketing it for the whole population, for anyone who wanted and could afford it, but in CUC [pegged to the US dollar],” she admits. This was not the worst case. In Las Tunas some had to be dismantled, and a villa was handed over that had been repaired only three years ago, while another, in Punta de Tomate, was demolished.

The workers claim that the excuses offered to them -“companies and trade unions don’t exist for this; the economy cannot support these benefits or buildings on the beach” – never took into account the impact it would have on employees. Some, in fact, were hostile to the point of refusing to hand over what was built. This was the case of the employees of Cemento Siguaney and the Agrarian Industrial Company of South Jíbaro, who have kept their claims alive for more than a decade.

“We delivered a luxury villa, without receiving any remuneration. It was the envy of any hotel. It had a total of 21 air-conditioned rooms, an air-conditioned restaurant, centralized television, a bar-cafeteria, an approved project for a swimming pool with sea water and one of the best equipped kitchens in Trinidad,” says Oscar Hernández .

The report is peppered with photographs of some of these places, and the captions could not be more eloquent. “Punta Alegre beach in Ciego de Ávila. No words needed,” says one of them

The article states that this issue is raised at most CTC congresses and adds that it is a factor of enormous discontent that not only these centers were taken away from the workers but also that they have been forgotten, even more so since they were used as isolation sites in the pandemic. The report is dotted with photographs of some of these places, and the captions could not be more eloquent. “Punta Alegre beach in Ciego de Ávila. No words needed,” says one of them.

Yosquel Resquene González, a resident of a recreation village in Ciego de Ávila, explains that “the deterioration and Hurricane Irma in 2017 took over the installation, but its biggest enemy was the lack of interest in restoring it. What the hurricane did not take away was taken away by the people who occupied it when they lost their houses.”

The cabanas of La Boca, vandalized; the hotel of the sugar farmers of Ciego de Ávila, in ruins; the houses of Playas del Este, “seem rather out of a war conflagration, although they continue to be administered by the tourist chain Islazul.” These are all scenarios of a cloaked struggle between the workers and the government that extends across the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Propaganda and Ruin, the Two Faces of a Building in Cuba

The flags on the high-rise buildings of Peñas Altas, in Matanzas, barely hide the deterioration, which puts neighbors and passersby at risk.

“Every time I go in or out I do it as quickly as possible, because it’s not the first time bits have fallen off the balconies or the outside columns” /14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 6 May 2025 — Looked at from one side it looks majestic, but the 13 storey building in Peñas Altas, in the city of Matanzas, only has one good side. The huge Cuban flag, 44 metres high, painted on one side of its façade, barely hides the ruin of the rest of the building, a deterioration putting at risk the lives of the people living there and anybody passing by.

Four years ago, the face of the city was changed with the completion of an enormous mural, signed by the artist Jesús Alberto Mederos Martínez. For the occasion, the local press was full of headlines praising the world’s largest Cuban ensign, but the rest of the concrete block was completely ignorant of the paintbrushes and scaffolding that were mobilised for the occasion.

Now, the inhabitants of the building, which was put up in the years of Soviet subsidies and which looks like all the communist architecture in Eastern Europe, is falling to bits. This week a lump of concrete balcony collapsed right next to a little boy who was, at that moment, entering the building with his father. “It fell next to my smallest boy, touching his shoulder, it tore his pullover but he escaped with hardly a scratch”, the alarmed man declared in the social media.

A poster “Fatherland or death, we will win” leaves it quite clear where is the priority of the propaganda about investment to improve the lives of the residents.

While the balcony parapets, cracked and with rusted metal, endange the lives of anyone passing by, a poster “Fatherland or death, we will win” leaves it quite clear where is the priority of the propaganda about investment to improve the lives of the residents. Below the wording on the ensign, in bright red, the walls of the building also known as “Polineiso Building” after the restaurant on the top floor, are cracked, dirty and bulging in places.

“Every time I go in or out I do it as quickly as possible, because it’s not the first time bits have fallen off the balconies or the outside columns” one of continue reading

the top floor residents, who has lived there since it was built, told 14ymedio this Monday . In those days, the Peñas Altas complex of modern buildings was seen as a foretaste of the future and the consecration of the Cuban model and its most finished product: the new man.

Sylvia cannot help comparing the present situation with her memories as a youngster, when dozens of families, all carefully seletced by the system, moved into a pristine building, with wide corridors, a welcoming entrance hall, and spectacular view of the bay and the city of Matanzas. At that time, the elevators were a source of wonder for many people who had never been in one, but over the years they had become a headache due to technical problems and long power cuts.

Sylvia prefers to go up the stairs to her apartment every day to avoid being trapped by a power cut, or having to put up with the jolts in the apparatus, which has been damaged by the passage of time and by people using it to move their furniture and heavy boxes. The woman does not conceal her dismay at the contrast between the building’s symbolism with its enormous national flag on its side, and the reality of living inside it.

The mural with its single star and white and blue stripes form part of the artistic “My flags” quarter, dedicated to Fidel Castro and opened at the end of 2021, when the city of Matanzas celebrated the 328th anniversary of its foundation.

“We are not so badly off because at least we have the Cuban flag” saiys another resident ironically, indicating one of the buildings in the complex decorated with the flag of the July 26 Movement and the ranks of the Commander in Chief. Look at from a distance both buildings make up an image that the official press photographers look for and the official extol.

From up close on the other hand real life doesn’t have such intense colours. “These corridors at night are so dark that I only go down from my flat in an emergancy” Sylvia explains. In the gloom you have to look out for the bumps and holes on the steps. “A little while ago my neighbour fell over when he caught his foot where there was no concrete above the scaffolding. If we put up lights they steal them and if we bring up the need for some repairs they says they have no money, says the woman.

“As soon as you come near you can smell the urine, because there are people who use the ground floor area as a public toliet” /14ymedio

Water leaks between floors also plague the residents. “The pipes are rotten. You can see where the columns and structure are weak. You only have to look at the cracks to see it could collapse,” says another resident, who knows every detail of a building he has lived in for more than thirty years. “It won’t be today or tomorrow, but if they don’t do something , there could be a disaster,” he says with the knowledge that comes from his job as a builder.

Apart from the residents in the building, lots of clients come to the Consumer Register Office (Oficoda) every day which is located on the ground floor. Also at ground level is the rationed goods warehouse and other state establishments that have permanent queues. Over the heads of the people waiting to go through a procedure or buy their ration of subsidised food lumps of concrete are dangling ready to fall on their heads, rusty steel reinforcement rods and old air conditioner casings rotting in the sun.

The restaurant El Polinesio on the top floor does not escape this mess. With its slogan “high level gastronomy” the state diner is closed most of the time due to lack of supplies and the infrastructure problems. Re-opened in 2023 after being closed for two years and after an investment of 18 million pesos, the business suffers most from having to go without electricity.

Humidity inside the “Polynesia building”, in Matanzas. / 14ymedio

It sounds simple enough to say it — just nip up to the 13th floor to reach the restaurant – but having to do it is enough to scare off just about anyone.” says the workman. And the state of the building doesn’t help much. “As soon as you come close you can smell the urine, because there are people who use the ground floor as a public toilet. It’s obvious that this place doesn’t invite anybody to come and eat – or to live – I am still here because I haven’t been able to move. Locals speak of the microbrigade buildings like they’re cursed.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the high-rise blocks that began to be put up in Cuba’s main cities were seen as a foretaste of the modernity that the whole country would enter at an accelerated pace, but with the passage of time, the deterioration and evidence of the limitations of these projects made with cheap materials, hasty construction and lack of maintenance, earned them a bad reputation.

All it takes is for a classified ad to state that the flat for sale or exchange is located in a microbrigade building for potential buyers to flee in panic. On the other hand, stressing that it is a “capitalist” property, built before January 1959, guarantees greater success in the transaction. The difference in price and the speed at which these properties move is also very different. Those built for the ‘New Man’ are worth less and people don’t want them.

And, what’s more, if the buyer learns that the flat for sale is located in the “flag building”, he or she is likely to put an unenthusiastic look on his /her face, as evident as the red triangle flag painted on the side of the building is in the Matanzas landscape.

Translated by GH

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A New ‘Chemical’ Has Arrived in Cuba That Is More Lethal and up to 100 Times Stronger

The city’s bars and restaurants are the new epicenter of drug dealing / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, May 10, 2025 — All residents of Sancti Spíritus know that the dangerous neighborhood of Kilo 12 is the place to buy the “chemical” (químico) in the city. What they did not know, which the police warned about in the official press on Saturday, is that it is also where this drug has been reinvented, through mixtures with other narcotics and medicines.

“We continue referring to it as a synthetic cannabinoid, because it is a synthetic drug whose effects are similar to cannabis, but now other substances are being added to it, such as carbamazepine and other benzodiazepines, in addition to anesthetic for animals and even formalin, fentanyl and phenobarbital,” Leidy Aragón, a captain of the Ministry of the Interior specialized in Toxicology, explained to the Sancti Spíritus newspaper Escambray.

Different forms of the chemical are sold in key points of Kilo 12, for those who can’t pay for cocaine or marijuana, explains Aragón, or for those who are now accustomed to the caliber of the “bombazo” with a high of up to 40 minutes. The most common is to buy a dose or “little paper” with an area of 0.5 cm2 impregnated with the substance, for a price of 200 to 300 pesos. It is even more expensive than in Havana.

So far this year, there have been five people prosecuted for drug trafficking – three for the chemical and two for sale of controlled medicines – a remarkable increase given that in the province only one case was detected in the first quarter of 2024. continue reading

Trying to make it last longer by increasing the dose is in vain, the police warn. It is useless and increases the risk of death

According to the captain, there have been “people hospitalized for an overdose.” The new chemical is more lethal than the conventional one, and Aragón estimates that it is up to 100 times stronger than marijuana. It can cause tachycardia, high blood pressure, resistance to antidotes and has a fixed duration. Trying to make it last longer by increasing the dose is in vain, the police warn. It is useless and increases the risk of death.

In Aragón’s opinion, the variations in chemical composition that are now occurring are the result of many attempts by the manufacturers to mask them. Each batch seized by the police is different from the others, she says. The most frequent form “now” is to find the chemical attached to paper, blank or printed, without the quality of the substance being altered in any way.

“We have seen the aggressive behavior that it provokes, as well as the disinhibition of people under its effects who have undressed in public and thought that was okay. I assure you, too, that we can detect and track it,”said Aragón.

One of her colleagues, Major Rolando Alonso, recently launched an operation in Kilo 12 that he had been preparing since late 2023

One of her colleagues, Major Rolando Alonso, recently launched an operation in Kilo 12 that he had been preparing since late 2023. He had been infiltrating agents among the youth in each neighborhood for months to detect the “secret drug route,” activating “corner wiretaps” and tracking traffickers and consumers.

Results: they found two traffickers, an accomplice/lover and “distributor” of one of them, countless consumers and several drivers who, without knowing it, brought the chemical from Havana. They were the “initiators,” Alonso calculates.

The drugs were carried in jewelry bags and spice packets that the woman was carrying when she was captured in 2024. At the time of her arrest she was carrying 405 wrappers – 11.33 grams – of which Escambray provides a photo. The policeman now asks the residents to inform him of “every rumor, every doubtful step, every bag that changes hands.”

There are many testimonies in the newspaper from former addicts. In recent months, both the press and official television have given the green light to works like this one – though not as detailed as this Saturday’s – that collect stories of “economic ruin and family isolation.”

The young woman lamented at great length about how the chemical destroyed her life and gave details about the personal consequences of addiction

One of the interviewees, identified with the false name of Ismael, reports that a “broken step” of Kilo 12 was – until Alonso’s operation – the meeting point for the sale of the chemical. The blackout helped conceal all transactions. After an overdose, the young man, apparently under 18 since he enrolled in university after the crisis, ended up “vomiting without stopping.”

Another, identified as Kenia, is now serving seven years in prison. The young woman lamented at great length about how the chemical destroyed her life and gave details about the personal consequences of addiction. Testimonies like hers, but with names and surnames, appeared recently in at least two televised programs about ex-addicts.

The police assure that the traffic and consumption of chemical is “under control” in Sancti Spíritus, an aging province, and attribute the rise to “the migration of our young people to drug-producing countries, social networks and contact with realities where drug consumption is legalized.” Controlled drugs are sold in networks, while chemicals, marijuana and cocaine are traded in person or over the phone. All this has “permeated the local mentality,” Lieutenant Colonel Iván Ruiz told Escambray.

“The drug that enters Sancti Spíritus today comes almost all from the capital of the country as part of interprovincial traffic, so we have tightened controls on the roads,” he added.

Now, the police are “preparing” owners of private businesses, a new focus of drug dealing in Kilo 12, says the official. Bars, nightclubs and restaurants where a recent operation called Nocturno was carried out against private premises and others are on the way. “The perpetrators are in provisional detention,” according to Ruiz.

When asked about the fate of the seized chemical shipments, Ruiz said that the provincial police keep them in custody until they are taken to a destination prepared by the Ministry of the Interior. Once there, the drugs are “totally incinerated” in front of several people. “It is even documented on video,” he said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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US Limits the Movements of Cuban Diplomats on Its Territory

Entry of the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, D.C.

14ymedio, Havana, May 8, 2025 — The US limited, this week, the mobility of Cuban diplomats on its territory. Officials will now be required to submit prior notification before visiting “state, local and municipal governments of the US and its territories.” The measure also includes access to educational and research institutions, including “national laboratories and agricultural facilities.” The resolution does not specify, however, whether the representatives of Havana could expect formal authorization for their travel.

The new requirement instituted by the State Department was published on Wednesday in the US Federal Register and is adopted “under the Foreign Missions Act,” according to the text. So far, the Cuban authorities have not reacted to the measure, but it is to be expected that they will respond by also restricting the movement of US diplomats on the island.

For decades and until the diplomatic thaw between the two countries, driven by the Obama administration in 2014, Cuban diplomats based in Washington could not travel within a radius of more than 50 miles outside the American capital, without prior special authorization from the State Department. The limitation also applied to the diplomats of the then US Interests Section in Havana.

In 2013, the US government began allowing Cuban diplomats to leave with greater flexibility

In 2013, the US government began allowing Cuban diplomats more flexibility to leave Washington and New York to attend public events in other cities. A similar process took place on the island, where travel by American representatives became increasingly frequent. The recent country tours of Mike Hammer, head of mission of the US Embassy in Cuba, are an example of this new diplomacy on wheels. continue reading

The official, who has become the new pet peeve of the official Cuban press, recently released a video, only 37 seconds long, in which he sent a message to the population inviting them to approach him and talk to him if they meet him during one of his tours.

“I am visiting Cuba because I know, from my experience as a diplomat for more than 35 years, and having been an ambassador in Chile and Congo, that it is very important to understand a country and its people, to travel and visit all the provinces. So, when you see me on the street, I would like to talk with anyone who wants to share their perspectives, their ideas, and I hope we have a good conversation. See you around and until next time,” said a friendly Hammer.

The video constituted a challenge precisely in a week when the diplomat was singled out by the official press, which accuses him of maintaining “disrespectful behavior contrary to the norms of international law.” Randy Alonso, director of Cubadebate, called Hammer’s performance “stupid and meddling” and pointed to him as a “subversive agent and self-promoter” on the island.

Since last December, Hammer, who had been in office for only one month, began meeting with some opponents

Since last December, Hammer, who had been in office for only one month, began meeting with some opponents, starting with the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, and the historic dissident Martha Beatriz Roque. The official medium Razones de Cuba had already accused the diplomat of having met with “two worn-out figures of the Cuban counterrevolution,” and warned: “The new representative of the United States has gone down the wrong path, because nothing good can be expected from that scourge.”

Hammer, instead of becoming inhibited, continued to meet with activists, independent journalists and relatives of political prisoners. He visited José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba who had just been released from prison – a measure that was reversed earlier this month by the Supreme Court. He also approached the hermitage of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and met with the former prisoner of the Black Spring Félix Navarro – like Ferrer, who has just been returned to prison – the dissident Oscar Elías Biscet and the Camagüey priest Alberto Reyes.

In addition, he visited the province of Camagüey and met with Henry Constantín and Iris Mariño, independent journalists for La Hora de Cuba, and relatives of political prisoners Andy García Lorenzo and Aroni Yanko García Valdez, in Santa Clara. His meetings with opponents and relatives have multiplied in recent days in all the Cuban provinces.

Hammer has also met with part of the exile. During a visit to Madrid, the diplomat was with Yanelis Núñez of the feminist platform Alas Tensas; Iliana Hernández and Luz Escobar, independent journalists; and Angélica Garrido, former political prisoner. All these meetings have been questioned by the official media, accusing him of weaving an anti-Cuban network. Connections that could have their days numbered if Havana responds to the new measure taken by Washington restricting the mobility of US diplomats on the island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Back in a Moment… Apologies to our readers and translators

Translating Cuba, 22 May 2025 — Once again travel, technology and internet access (lack of!) made it impossible to maintain this site from afar… but we are BACK and will catch up over the next couple of days. 22 May 2025

April Rumors: US Snitch Hunt, Cuban Army Purges

With the arrival of summer, protests are expected over the worsening energy situation.

Raúl Castro this January during a visit to the Western Army Command Post. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 12 May 2025 — Tensions between Havana and Washington continue to drive the rumor mill about Cuba. Readers, commentators, and conspiracy theorists paint a picturesque picture of the island, in which a reclusive Raúl Castro “is left without an army.” In his political retirement, but still holding the reins of the regime, the veteran general wages a relentless war against Donald Trump, and so, they predict, his death will come.

Beyond the imaginary, it is true that a growing procession of deportees is traveling from the US to Cuba. Rumors give the expulsions an ideological tone, and US authorities are being asked to hunt down informers, former leaders and former members of the Communist Party who managed to establish themselves in Miami in recent months thanks to the Humanitarian Parole program.

The absurdity of former regime collaborators living out their retirement in the country they once so fiercely criticized is the first argument many users use to point out their names, surnames, and addresses. Many are calling on Trump to deport them immediately, and rumors feature their addresses in great detail. continue reading

Many are calling on Trump to deport them immediately, and rumors are detailing their addresses in great detail.

The former prosecutor of Nueva Paz (Mayabeque), whose work accounts for dozens of arrests, lives in Miami, according to one user. Meanwhile, in Tampa, is the former first secretary of the Communist Party in Pinar del Río, Lázara Barrios. Also in Florida is a notorious State Security agent and “abuser” of that province, who spied on many residents of Sandino. A former member of the Santa Clara rapid response brigades, “protagonist” of countless acts of repudiation, is also accused of living quietly in retirement somewhere in the US.

Some rumors already refer to the activation of a special State Security department, designed to track the deportees. One user’s comment about the purpose of this supposed surveillance mechanism says it all: “The political police know that those people who have lived out there for years aren’t going to play ball here because they’re used to other things, a different standard of living, and complaining about everything.”

The same user describes that a “detailed file containing the data of deportees is in the process of being developed, and they will be used as a target for monitoring in case the situation in the country worsens.”

Other rumors claim that part of this department’s work includes monitoring the children of high-ranking officials living in the United States—many of them with supposedly false identities. Others say that, despite the regime’s precautions, these young people have been located by U.S. counterintelligence and are ready to be detained and deported to the island.

As a measure to guarantee the absolute loyalty of his high-ranking officials, Raúl Castro has launched a purge – according to one rumor – in which several military officers have already been killed.

The most mind-boggling situations are being discussed regarding the regime’s counterattack on Trump. From the purchase of advanced weapons for a supposed invasion—the subject of multiple rumors since January—to the massive stampede of military personnel and police, fearful that a military confrontation they cannot win could actually occur between the US and Cuba. As a measure to ensure the absolute loyalty of his high-ranking officials, Raúl Castro has launched a purge—according to one rumor—in which several military personnel have already been killed, including the head of the Eastern Army, who was demoted by a court of honor.

The situation on the island continues to deteriorate, and rumors—in their hyperbolic and confusing style—continue to bear witness to this. This month, hospitals and health centers were the focus of much commentary. It was reported that the head of the Intensive Care Unit at Boyeros Hospital in Havana resells medical supplies. She hides the medications in a locker and distributes them with the help of an accomplice.

Other rumors accuse the staff at the Santa Clara Psychiatric Hospital—an institution with a sinister reputation—of mistreating their patients, stealing their food, and abusing their situation. It has also been reported that at the Matanzas gynecology and obstetric center, in the absence of medications, convince their patients that they can be completely cured with prayers and natural medicine.

It was also reported that in the Matanzas gynecology and obstetric clinic, in the absence of medication, convince their patients that they can be completely cured with prayers and natural medicine.

Reports of increased violence and crime are common. A criminal was caught in Havana—and tied up while awaiting police custody—after stealing a child’s cell phone. A similar incident occurred on Obispo Street, when a thief tried to steal a Chinese tourist’s purse.

In Santiago de Cuba, meanwhile, a coachman was reported to have wielded a machete at an inspector who had issued him a 16,000-peso fine. Another Santiago resident, a resident of the Altamira neighborhood, was reported to have stabbed his wife. A man was also accused of murdering his wife and throwing her into a ditch in Cabaiguán, Sancti Spíritus.

In the coming months, many commentators expect a drastic worsening of the energy situation. Summer, since the crisis began, has indeed been the period with the most protests and graffiti, and rumors are predicting a radical increase in the immediate future.

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The Cuban Regime Accuses Ferrer of Propaganda Against the Constitutional Order and Disrespect for Díaz-Canel

The opponent was beaten in the Mar Verde prison, where his wife and son were able to see him for three minutes on Saturday.

José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, during one of his live broadcasts before being arrested again. / Screenshot/Facebook

14ymedio, Madrid, 12 May 2025 — José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, whose parole was revoked by the Cuban regime on April 29, has been charged with propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt of Díaz-Canel. This was announced on Monday by the opposition leader’s family, who were able to see him on Saturday at Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba for the first time since his reincarceration.

“They’ve already ordered him to be held in pretrial detention,” Ferrer’s wife, Nelva Ortega, told Martí Noticias, describing her visit to the prison, where the activist is being held “in the same detachment, with common-law prisoners.” The woman asserts that he was beaten, first during his detention, “when they took him out of the house on the 29th, brutally tightening his handcuffs,” and then at Mar Verde, “by a guard, on orders from the prison chief, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pineda Guerra.”

Ortega went to the prison with their son, Daniel José, and the first cousin of the UNPACU leader, Daniel Ferrer. Ferrer was arrested and transferred to the Second Police Unit in Santiago de Cuba, known as “El Palacete.”

“He’s had diarrhea for over a week, and he’s been eating thanks to his fellow inmates.”

After waiting for more than an hour, the doctor explained, “they took us to the same office as always, where they conducted a thorough search.” They were only allowed to bring in, Ortega continued, “half of what we had brought.” They were told they could personally deliver the bag to Ferrer in just a minute, in the cellblock hallway.

“In the end, under pressure, we managed to stay for three minutes,” said the dissident’s wife, who detailed the current situation: “He’s currently wearing shorts because he can’t walk around in his underwear, but the hostility and threats have continued. He’s had diarrhea for over a week, and on the seventh day, they came to give him [the antibiotic] metronidazole. He’s been eating thanks to his fellow inmates.”

In a post published on the Facebook wall of one of Ferrer’s accounts, his family also mentions that the UNPACU leader “expressed his concern for the vulnerable people who attended the headquarters daily,” in addition to sending his thanks “to all his supportive friends” and congratulating all mothers on their day (yesterday, Sunday).

Ferrer was forcibly removed from his home in a State Security “assault” on the organization’s headquarters in the Altamira neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba, after three months of constant harassment . According to his family’s complaint at the time, the police officers “completely ransacked” the house and took the opposition leader, along with his wife, Nelva Ortega, and his young son, Daniel José (who were released hours later).

That same April 29, Félix Navarro was also arrested during a visit he was making with his wife, the Lady in White Sonia Álvarez, to the prison where his daughter Sayli is being held in Matanzas.

Both opponents were part of the group of prisoners released last January under an agreement between the regime and the Vatican, and returned to prison eight days after the death of the previous pope, Francis. Several organizations, such as Prisoners Defenders, the Complaints Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, and the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, issued an alert about their cases and demanded their “immediate release.”

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Father Robert Will Not Be Able to Hug Harold Cepero Again

They say that, like Pope John Paul II, Leo XIV speaks the truth to those in power.

There is a photo of the future pope, along with Harold Cepero and other young Cuban Catholics in front of Havana Cathedral. / Facebook

14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 12 May 2025 — In a press release distributed by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, President Miguel Diaz-Canel congratulated Pope Leo XIV, reminding him that diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Holy See were established 90 years ago. The new pope, who once presided over the Pontifical Commission on Latin America, was already aware of this fact.

When Diaz-Canel sent the message, he had already read the State Security report on the visits to the island in 2008 and 2011 by the then “Father Robert,” and he may have carefully studied the information in the official files about his meetings with young Catholic activists, including Harold Cepero—the former seminarian murdered in 2012 along with Oswaldo Payá on a highway en route to Santiago de Cuba. There is a photo of the future pope with Harold and other young Cuban Catholics in front of Havana Cathedral.

They say that like Pope Francis, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost developed a special interest in the poor, the needy and migrants.

The pontiff elected a few days ago by 133 cardinals was born in the United States, but has been a Peruvian citizen for over 40 years, and at the time of the Vatican conclave, he was the cardinal of Peru. It is said that, like Pope Francis, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost developed a special interest in the poor, the needy, and migrants. Also, like Pope John Paul II, he speaks the truth to those in power. continue reading

The new pope was born in 1955, when Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, had already suffered persecution from the Nazis and the Polish communist regime. By the time Leo XIV took the chair of St. Peter, Iran was close to being able to manufacture atomic bombs, Russia’s war against Ukraine continued, as did the repression of Catholics in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and at the hands of Arab extremists in Africa. A bishop in China is under house arrest, and according to the agreement with the Vatican, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has the power to propose candidates for bishops in its country, although in fact it has actually granted itself the power to appoint them.

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has the power to propose candidates for bishops in its country, although in reality it has given itself the power to appoint them.

In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega has expelled priests and nuns. And in Cuba, despite his good intentions and Pope John Paul’s public protests, the Office of Religion and Cults, which oversees the island’s churches, continues to operate. It is to this office, which is not a government department but rather a department of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, that priests must go to request permission to travel abroad, buy bricks and cement to repair the roof of the parish church, or organize a religious procession in the town park.

In this international context and given his biography, it should come as no surprise that Leo XIV is aware of Harold Cepero’s death and is also addressing President Diaz-Canel regarding the case of José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, who was arbitrarily and in poor health sent back to political prison in Santiago de Cuba. Let us hope so.

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The Cuban Regime Rents Out the Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana

The altar of “Homeland or Death!”, a showcase of ideological fidelity, is for rent.

The publication appears in the “sponsored content” section, and with very specific prices. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, May 12, 2025 — A new era is dawning for the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune* located directly across from the U.S. Embassy in Havana. From being a “distinguished bastion” that emerged in the heat of the Battle of Ideas at the beginning of this century, the facility is now “available to legal and natural persons” for the rental of halls, covered spaces, and open-air areas. According to the announcement published by Cubadebate, the measure seeks to “sustain the legacy of its founding principles.”

Next to the former Monte de las Banderas (Hill of the Flags), the 14,040-square-meter “protestódromo” “is pleased to open its ’doors’ to regulatory updates to economic policy,” according to the announcement. Its spaces will be rented for cultural, political, sporting, educational, and similar events, although it is unclear whether this includes private parties, weddings, or celebrations for revolutionary quinceañeras.

But the star of the package is the open-air space between the rooms, with capacity for 120 people and a panoramic view of the “historical enemy”

The publication appears in the “sponsored content” section, and with very specific prices: the rental of the air-conditioned hall, with a capacity for 100 people and dimensions of 15 x 40 meters, will cost 13,741 pesos and 29 cents per day. A practically modest price, considering that it promises—unlike the rest of the country—guaranteed water and electricity 24 hours a day. Another option, more intimate and better equipped, will be around 15,000 pesos. But the star package is the open-air space between the halls, with capacity for 120 people and a panoramic view of the “historical enemy”: the US Embassy. This corner costs 28,000 Cuban pesos per night, ideal for those who dream of toasting the empire. continue reading

The history of the Tribune dates back to 2000, as a reaction to the so-called “poster war.” The U.S. Interests Section—which operated as a de facto embassy—installed scrolling electronic messages on its facade targeting Cubans, with phrases about democracy, human rights, and freedom. These LED signs illuminated the Malecón for weeks, provoking a swift and theatrical response from the Cuban government.

On April 3 of that year, Fidel Castro inaugurated the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune directly across the street, presenting it as a “moral wall” against imperialism. Since then, the venue has hosted concerts, political rallies, school events, vigils, torch-lit parades, and other displays of revolutionary fervor, often with mandatory attendance for students, workers, and military personnel.

Over time, the platform became established as a symbolic, acoustic, and visual shield against the enemy’s messages. The staging increased: large black flags with white stars covered the direct view of the diplomatic headquarters for years.

From that same podium Fidel Castro shouted more than once that “principles and dignity are not for sale”

For a quarter of a century, this site was an altar of patriotic discourse and a showcase of ideological loyalty. However, fiscal strangulation and economic reforms have led the regime to monetize even its own icons. Thus, the quintessential anti-capitalist platform is rented by the day, even though from that same podium Fidel Castro repeatedly shouted that “principles and dignity are not for sale.”

In 2019, some modifications were begun to construct two two-story buildings. One of the local residents told 14ymedio: “They didn’t inform anyone here. One day we woke up and there they were, using their sledgehammer to knock everything down.” One of the workers explained: “We spent nine days erecting these flagpoles, and now they told us we had to come and demolish them.”

At the end of February 2025, the use of the National Capitol for a celebration of the 25th Havana Cigar Festival caused outrage. Researcher Rosa Marquetti wrote on social media: “How should we understand this quasi-private party at the foot of the statue that represents the image of the Homeland and next to the Tomb of the Unknown Mambí? What are they trying to tell us with this obscenity?”

Although the Anti-Imperialist Tribune doesn’t have the same symbolic weight as the Capitol, this decision to commodify what was once a showcase of anti-Yankee resistance will not go unnoticed. Turning what was once a symbol of ideological confrontation into an event hall is, at the very least, an irony of this era: from “Homeland or Death!” to “Available by the day. Negotiable prices.”

*Translator’s note: The site and its previous incarnations have also commonly been called a “platform” and a “bandstand”.

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The US Will Offer an Additional $1,000 in Aid to Those Who Choose to Self-Deport

The stipend will be paid to the beneficiaries “once their return to their country of origin has been confirmed.”

Department of Homeland Security logo at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington, DC. / EFE/EPA/Graeme Sloan

EFE (via 14ymedio), Washington, 5 May 2025 — The United States will offer financial assistance to facilitate the return of undocumented immigrants to their countries and an additional $1,000 stipend to those who choose to self-deport, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday.

The DHS detailed in a statement that the assistance will be channeled through the rebranded CBP Home app and that, in the case of the stipend, it will be paid to recipients “once their return to their country of origin has been confirmed.”

“Self-deportation is a dignified way to leave the U.S. and will allow undocumented aliens to avoid being intercepted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” DHS said.

According to the department, a Honduran man who purchased a ticket from Chicago to his native Honduras was the first to successfully use this travel assistance program. “Additional tickets have already been booked for this week and next,” the statement said.

“Participating in CBP Home’s self-deportation program can help preserve an undocumented alien’s ability to legally re-enter the U.S. in the future.”

Undocumented immigrants who express their decision to voluntarily self-deport through CBP Home – an update to the Biden Administration’s (2021-2025) CBP One app – will no longer be at the top of ICE’s raid list, “as long as they demonstrate that they are making significant progress in completing that departure.” continue reading

“Participating in the CBP Home self-removal program can help preserve an undocumented alien’s ability to legally reenter the U.S. in the future,” DHS warned

The Trump administration has moved swiftly to fulfill the president’s promises to carry out the largest deportation campaign in the country’s history.

The multiple arrests and raids against illegal immigrants since Trump took office last January have drawn sharp criticism from the Republican’s detractors and pro-immigrant organizations.

“If you are here undocumented, self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the United States and avoid arrest,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem added in the statement.

“We’re going to pay each of you a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get you a nice flight back.”

Using the financial assistance program will also represent a 70% savings for American taxpayers, Noem insisted.

Currently, the average cost of arresting, detaining, and deporting an undocumented foreigner is $17,121, according to official data.

Trump on Monday highlighted the benefits of the aid program for those “illegally in the U.S.” who choose to self-deport, while criticizing what he called Biden’s “open borders” policy.

“We’re going to pay each of them a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get them a nice flight home (…). They have a period of time (to complete the application for return travel assistance), and if they do, we’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, they can come back if they’re good people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

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Cuban Political Prisoner José Gabriel Barrenechea Was Only Able To See His Mother After Her Death

The ’14ymedio’ contributor was briefly released from prison to attend Zoila Chávez’s wake.

Independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea. / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2025 — Cuban authorities only allowed journalist and political prisoner José Gabriel Barrenechea to visit his mother after she had died. According to what family sources confirmed to 14ymedio, the journalist was taken from the prison to Zoila Esther Chávez’s wake, where he was allowed to remain for an hour and a half.

A family member who asked to remain anonymous said Barrenechea was “quite calm” because he had been “prepared a bit by phone.” The funeral for the journalist’s mother was held this Monday at 10:00 a.m.

Zoila died this Sunday, at the age of 84, in Encrucijada, Villa Clara. The woman had asked on several occasions to see her son, who was arrested in November 2024 and accused of public disorder. The most recent and significant request came recently, when, already aware of the seriousness of her health—she had metastatic bladder cancer—she recorded a video in which she begged, on the verge of tears, to be allowed to see her son one last time.

“Why won’t they release my son?” the woman asked in the heartbreaking video. “What has he done to make them lock him up, to make them keep him and me in this ordeal, in this terror I carry inside my heart? How long will they keep a mother suffering like this? Please, everyone join me and help me pray for my son.” Although there was a strong online outcry in support of her demand, the regime refused to grant Barrenechea’s release. continue reading

“The refusal to allow a final farewell between mother and son, an elementary gesture of humanity, reflects a profound ethical degeneration of the Cuban judicial and police system.”

“The refusal to allow a final farewell between mother and son, an elementary gesture of humanity, reflects a profound ethical degeneration of the Cuban judicial and police system.”

Yurianis Speck Rosillo, head of the La Pendiente prison where the reporter is awaiting trial, has been included on the Cuban Human Rights Foundation’s list of repressors for carrying out this decision.

“With sadness we received the death of Zoila Chávez, mother of political prisoner José Gabriel Barrenechea. Zoila died hoping to be reunited with her son, who had been deprived of his liberty since November 2024,” the organization Civil Rights Defenders said. In a tweet published Monday, they expressed their solidarity with the family and demanded the reporter’s release.

José Gabriel Barrenechea was arrested for joining spontaneous demonstrations that erupted on November 7 in Encrucijada. Three days later, his family had no news of his whereabouts, after he was being held at the Santa Clara Police Investigation Unit, where he was interrogated.

Initially, authorities attempted to charge him with sedition, but the journalist himself reported that they had dropped the charge and instead charged him with “public disorder,” a less serious offense with criminal consequences, although it can carry up to three years in prison, provided no aggravating factors are added.

More than twenty organizations signed a petition calling for the release of Barrenechea and Yadiel Hernández, also a contributor to 14ymedio, who was finally released from prison without charges on Monday, April 28.

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Animation in Cuba Needs More Than Russian Cartoons

Three filmmakers reflect on the challenges facing the sector and the urgency of structural change.

Frame of ’Todo por Carlitos’, by Ernesto Piña.

14ymedio, Madrid, Yunior García Aguilera, 11 May 2025 — Following statements by the president of the Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry (ICAIC), Alexis Triana, on the recent agreements signed with the Russian studios Soyuzmultfilm, 14ymedio gathered the testimonies of three prominent Cuban animators. All agree on an essential point: animation in Cuba needs much more than Russian cartoons to survive.

None of the interviewees questions the quality and legacy of Russian studios. What they regret is the lack of knowledge about the details of the agreement, beyond what has been published in official media. Accustomed to the fact that many agreements are signed without consulting the creators and ultimately end up benefiting mainly the official political discourse, they hope that this time the institution will take advantage of the opportunity to revitalize a sector facing serious obstacles.

Ernesto Piña is one of the most influential contemporary filmmakers in Cuban animation. With works such as Todo por Carlitos, Eme-5, Pubertad and his recent feature film La Super, he has built a style of his own, characterized by a lack of inhibition, an alternative visuality and a Creole humor that mixes influences of the classic Cuban style with foreign references. continue reading

“Many people have emigrated, not only from the country, but also from the animation studios, because the pay is no longer stimulating and life is very hard”

Piña deeply regrets the shortage of qualified personnel: “Many people have emigrated, not only from the country but also from the animation studios, because the pay is no longer stimulating and life is very hard,” he confesses. “It’s hard work to do, no doubt about it, because today everything is done digitally. And although the blackouts affect the provinces more, Havana is also in check.”

On the material conditions, he is blunt: “We have outdated technology, archaic, almost primitive, to make more or less decent products. There is also very little participation in international events because the director cannot be present at all, and there is little knowledge and infrastructure to place these materials on large platforms or move them internationally.”

From Ourense, in Galicia (Spain), where he has been living for three years, director Adrián López Morín continues to create animations. In Cuba he founded the Anima studios, one of the most solid outside the capital. Desde Holguín produced historical short films, video clips and the medium-length film, Abdala, el retorno de los señores de Xibalbá, an ambitious work that combines 2D and 3D techniques.

For López, one of the most serious problems is the lack of vocational training: “A facilitator needs two to five years of specialized training, taking advantage of his skills and complementing them with specific tools. There are very good self-taught animators, but they are the exception, not the rule.”

In his studio, they recruited graduates from the provincial academy of fine arts. However, when the required social service terms for these students expired, the flow of new talent was interrupted. “An experimental short film can be made with four guys,” explains López, “but if you want to develop a more complex product, designed for the international market, you need a minimum team of 15 professional animators.”

About the technology, Lopez is clear: “Even for traditional animation, paper is needed, and that too is scarce. We created cartoons with typewriters. To get into a 3D project you need Nvidia RTX cards or computers with more than 32 GB of RAM. Another issue is software licenses and their pricing. I don’t know how much the technological embargo affects, but there is an institutional fear of investing in something that seems very expensive.”

For him, sustainability is another fundamental stumbling block: “How can we do merchandising in a country like Cuba? How can we make these products profitable? How can we overcome the prejudice against commercialism? Arthouse cinema is great, but not everyone is Juan Padrón*,” he concludes.

One of the most prolific creators today is Vladimir Emilio García Herrera. In 2024, his short film Chimbe was awarded at the TAL (Latin American Television Awards). Although he has worked with the ICAIC and Cuban television, he has opted for independence with his project VLAstudio-Animation Laboratory. Far from complacency, Garcia has taken advantage of his recent visibility to be critical of the state of the sector: “Animation in Cuba is in a chaotic state. We have a great legacy that is about to be lost,” he says.

In the middle of an unusually brief blackout, Garcia reflects: “This job requires that the lights do not go out. I agree that there is a need for technology and specialized training, because it is not just about producing more, but doing it with quality and creating competitive materials.” He also denounces the culture of precariousness: “There are colleagues who, for fear of not being able to carry out their work, negotiate less and less budget. And that is negatively marking the product, conditioning the simplicity of projects.”

Recent years have been marked by growing tensions between film-makers and cultural institutions. To the general deterioration of living conditions are added the cancellation of events, censorship, the exodus of talent, technological obsolescence and a structure that continues to distrust the market, without finding effective mechanisms to distribute or monetize audiovisual production.

Beyond the promises of the president of the ICAIC, the animators continue to create. However, they agree in regretting the little progress in Cuba of tools as useful as artificial intelligence. “AI is here to stay, and not even Hayao Miyazaki can be against that,” said Piña.

*Cuban animation director and comics artist.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Group of Exiled Cuban Activists Calls on Washington To Resolve Their ‘Uncertain Migratory Situation’

All face “obstacles to regularizing their status” and express their willingness to meet with Trump representatives.

A demonstration of Cuban exiles held in Miami, March 2023 / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, May 11, 2025 — A group of Cuban activists living in the United States have addressed an open letter to the Trump administration regarding their “uncertain migratory situation”. Victims, mostly of persecution by the regime, surveillance by state security and multiple acts of repression and repudiation, ask Washington for “humanitarian attention, review of asylum applications and legal support”.

The signatories ask in their statement “to make visible and explore ways to find a solution” to the climate of migratory tension in which they live, despite having requested protection against the regime on the island. All face “obstacles to regularizing their status” and express their willingness to meet with representatives of Trump, or independent organizations and individuals.

In particular, they wish to meet with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, “to present and deliver in writing the files on our cases”.

[[The signatories call in their statement for “visibility and exploration of ways to find a solution” to the climate of migratory tension in which they live]]

They also recall that since the massive protests of 11 July 2021, both repression in Cuba and the migratory stampede have intensified. Millions of Cubans – among them many opponents – traveled to the U.S., fleeing “a dictatorship that has seized our country, leaving Cubans no choice but death, prison, silence or exile.”

With Trump’s immigration policy, many risk being victimized for a second time, not in a dictatorship like the Cuban one, but in a “democratic environment” like that of the United States. They claim the “political and forced character of the exodus” and the fact that Cubans had to travel continue reading

through an “irregular migratory corridor” allowed by two regimes, Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

Several of the exiles actually had to go “from prison to the airport.” They now face an equally tense situation, as some of the exiles in the U.S. are “in imminent danger of deportation,” such as freelance journalist Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca and his wife Eralidis Frometa.

Also in a situation of “extreme emergency”, reported this week by this newspaper, is the rapper Eliexer Márquez, El Funky, one of the authors of the libertarian anthem Patria and Life and winner of two Grammy awards. The singer received a deportation order and has had financial difficulties in the country.

They claim the “political and forced character of the exodus,” and the fact that Cubans had to pass through an “irregular migratory corridor”

The letter is addressed to several politicians of Cuban descent, both Republicans and Democrats, such as Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and congress members Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez and Rob Menendez. They are also addressing other high-ranking officials who may have an influence on the issue, such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in addition to Senator Rick Scott and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman from Florida.

Among the signatories, of whom all details are given in particular cases, are Daniela Ferrer, seven-year-old daughter of the opponent José Daniel Ferrer, whose release was recently revoked by the regime; the scientist Oscar Casanella, participant in the San Isidro protest, in 2020; Julio César Góngora, Alexeys Blanco, José Rolando Casares Soto and Yamilka Abascal Sánchez, human rights activists; 11J protesters Yaneris Redondo and Mariana Fernández; journalist Esteban Rodríguez; and the academics and activists Anamely Ramos and Omara Ruiz Urquiola, victims of multiple repressive actions by the regime.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Second International Congress for the Cuban Book in Exile

Cuban authors have been victims of the cultural war that Castroism started in 1959.

Mancha’s idea was taken up as very valid by writers and publishers / Capture

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, May 11, 2025 — Ten years ago, the Cuban journalist Silvio Mancha proposed to convene a group of writers and publishers to hold a literary meeting that would bring together books, authors and publishing houses that Castro’s totalitarianism does not allow in Cuba. Or, in other words, for creators and their creations that have suffered banishment.

From its first day in power, the Regime declared a full-scale offensive against those who did not think like them. They practiced sectarianism and ideological discrimination, imposing an information control that culminated in a real war against political opposition and the moral execution of those who thought freely.

From the first moment, people of integrity, those who refused to put a price on their creation, suffered an internal exile that forced them to write, paint and think in obscurity. Life became complicated for all of us, because listening to a song by Jose Feliciano or simply commenting on a joke by Guillermo Álvarez Guedes was enough to end up in a dungeon.

The stark reality is that Cuban authors have been victims of the cultural war that Castro started in the same year as the triumph of the insurrection, in 1959. Censorship was immediately established; the seizure of publishing houses, printing houses and bookstores did not wait, along with the seizure of all the information and broadcast media: radio, television and press. They made the word their own, and as the writer Jose Antonio Albertini says, “they began to kill with ink, not just with bullets.” continue reading

They made the word their own, and as the writer Jose Antonio Albertini says, “they began to kill with ink, not just with bullets”

Mancha’s idea was taken up as very valid by writers and publishers, among them Jose Antonio Albertini, Ángel Cuadra, Rosa Leonor Whitmarsh, Luis de la Paz, Ángel de Fana, Rolando Morelli, Alberto Muller and Juan Manuel Salvat, among others. The event was held for two days at a facility of the International University of Florida and was dedicated to the memory of a great exile, Enrique Ros, writer and tireless fighter against totalitarianism.

The meeting was really a success, very politically defined. No Castro hitman was invited, and the participation of persons and institutions that had any link with totalitarianism, inside or outside Cuba, was rejected because the organizers, following the teachings of José Martí, are convinced that the slavery of thought, like physical slavery, is a form of oppression which prevents individual and collective development.

The invitation and call issued is international in nature and has been extended to the United States, Canada, South America and Europe

This year, the academic Daniel Pedreira, current president of the Pen Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, shared the idea of calling a second meeting that immediately had the support of several institutions and personalities of the exile. They included the Institute of Cuban Historical Memory against Totalitarianism, Plantados hasta la Libertad de Cuba, the publishing houses El Ateje and Gota de Agua, and the Academia de la Historia de Cuba en el Exilio. Together with other institutions and personalities, they joined the project and decided to dedicate it to “Juan Clark, in memoriam,” in tribute to a Cuban academic who participated as a paratrooper in the incursion to Cuba of the 2506 Brigade. He later taught classes at Miami Dade College, besides being the author of one of the masterpieces of the Cuban exile, Cuba, Myth and Reality, Testimony of a People.

The invitation and call issued is of an international character and has been extended to the United States, Canada, South America and Europe, and to any Cuban national author who has a work that totalitarian censorship does not allow to circulate in Cuba no matter where he is. Authors residing on the Island have agreed to join this meeting that once again seeks to denounce the numerous limitations to creation that Castroism has imposed on citizens in general, including its own supporters, who also do not enjoy the freedom to praise their masters without restrictions.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime Celebrates the Departure of Mauricio Claver-Carone From the White House

After completing his 130 days of service as a special employee of Washington this May, the politician will dedicate himself to running his private company.

During Trump’s first term, Claver-Carone served as director of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the National Security Council. / EFE

14ymedio, Havana, 11 May 2025 — Mauricio Claver-Carone the Cuban-American lawyer and businessman whom Donald Trump chose during his second term to “restore order” in Latin America, will leave the government at the end of May, completing 130 days of his tenure as a special employee of Washington. After his departure, he will dedicate himself to running his Miami-based financial firm, Lara Fund, according to Bloomberg.

As the United States’ special envoy for Latin America, and throughout his political career, Claver-Carone has been a vocal critic of the continent’s dictatorships, especially those of Venezuela and Cuba. At an event held at Miami-Dade College in early April, the lawyer asserted that the Trump administration would exert more pressure on the Cuban regime’s military and intelligence apparatus, and he estimated that the economic pressure applied so far has been insufficient.

“We’ are going to be more surgical, more effective,” he promised at the time, arguing that the travel ban on the island and the obstruction of remittances are outdated strategies and that it was necessary to “be more creative.” He also insisted that “the Cuban government must understand that our tools and President Trump’s willingness in this regard are different from what they’ve seen in the past.”

He also compared the case of Havana with that of Caracas: “The sanctions themselves are based on old laws that sometimes have no side effects,” unlike the case of Venezuela, where “the instruments are much more continue reading

targeted, effective, have side effects, and are, therefore ,more powerful,” he argued.

Claver-Carone has supported the deportation policies initiated after Trump took office.

Claver-Carone has supported the deportation policies initiated after Trump took office, arguing that they represent a “short-term pain for long-term benefits.” “If you don’t want to spend 60 years in exile, then stop that process now, make the short-term sacrifices now, because otherwise, you won’t get anywhere,” he urged.

In addition, he has also been highly critical of the use of USAID funds earmarked for the Cuban opposition and independent journalism.

Havana has taken the announcement of Claver-Carone’s departure from the government as an undeniable sign of internal disagreements among figures close to Trump. According to an article published Saturday by Cubadebate, signed by Cuban spokesperson Randy Alonso, the “superb” lawyer has been displaced by Marco Rubio, also of Cuban origin, and recently appointed Interim National Security Advisor, in addition to being Secretary of State.

“Claver-Carone and el señorito Rubio seem to be swallowing but not chewing,” Alonso says, based on another article published by Clarín. According to the Argentine newspaper, the government of Javier Milei has welcomed the departure of the politician from Trump’s Cabinet. Milei had strongly criticized Buenos Aires’ financial relationship with Beijing while the former was trying to negotiate a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

“In that Administration [Donald Trump’s first], where Carone held a more privileged position than Rubio, he was the main architect of the more than 200 ominous measures that the Trump administration imposed against Cuba,” says Alonso, who highlighted the politician’s expulsion from the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) “for granting salary and position favors to his lover since his time as National Security Advisor for Latin America.”

Javier Milei’s government has welcomed the departure of the politician from Trump’s Cabinet, who strongly criticized Buenos Aires’ financial relationship with Beijing.

His removal from that position in 2022 was the cause of several clashes between Claver-Carone and Guillermo Francos, Milei’s current chief of staff, who then represented Alberto Fernández’s administration at the Inter American Development Bank (IDB). According to Argentina, the American was blocking the delivery of loans to the country. After his departure from the institution, the lawyer claimed that Francos was behind his expulsion.

“They can kick me out for being from the United States, for being a Cuban-American from Miami, for being a Republican, or for whatever they want. But not for this; this is defamation,” the politician complained in an interview with EFE, asserting that the decision had been “arbitrary.”

In any case, Havana is another celebrating Claver-Carone’s departure from the United States government, as it removes another politician opposed to its regime from its list of inconveniences: “He lasted in this administration as long as a piece of candy at a school gate. And we’re not going to mourn him in these parts. A good son of the same man who has been against the Cuban people.”

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