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

After the Island-Wide Protests of 11 June 2021, the Cuban Regime Entered the Stage of Impudence

At that moment, decades of pretending to be good-natured towards the international community and denying any repressive act towards citizens were broken.

The images made it clear that they didn’t have overwhelming support from the people, nor did they hesitate to pick up a weapon. / EFE

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 11 July 2025 — Like any date that leaves a profound mark, every Cuban knows what they were doing when they learned of the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). Those who followed the demonstrations on their mobile phones thousands of miles from the island and those who joined the sea of people who filled the streets shouting “Freedom!” There are also those who, in their military units, enlisted to go out and beat and suppress the crowd. Each one has their own story from that day, many of these anecdotes remain silenced out of fear.

Along with the more than 2,000 Cubans criminally prosecuted for 11J, of whom 421 remain in prison, one of the results of that historic day was the evolution of the regime to a new stage. If before that moment, Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución had worked diligently to create an image of a system “of the humble and for the humble,” that Sunday four years ago, that mask fractured. Before the eyes of the world, desperate people demanded change, and riot police responded with clubs and, in some neighborhoods, even gunfire.

The country’s own leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, shook off any veneer of composure and uttered before national television a fateful phrase that will go down in history: “The combat order is given.” In that instant, decades of pretense of goodwill toward the international community and emphatic denials of any repressive acts toward citizens were shattered. It was a turning point for many who, despite frequent denunciations by activists and independent journalists, continued to believe that the Cuban system was incapable of forcefully punishing a popular and largely peaceful demonstration.

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Coercion is public, it is not hidden and it is so widespread that even those who claim not to get involved in politics feel it.

Also, many who swallowed the narrative of a country where ideological uniformity had been consensually established and where the Communist Party enjoyed unanimous support understood that, beneath the slogans and masks, social unrest had been growing for more than half a century. That day, something cracked in the narrative created and polished by Castro’s skillful ideologues since January 1959. The images made it clear that they neither enjoyed overwhelming support from the people nor did they hesitate to take up arms against the dissidents.

Since then, Cubans have lived in an era of repressive audacity. The coercion is public, unseen, and so widespread that even those who claim not to interfere in politics feel it. President Díaz-Canel no longer pretends to govern for everyone, nor are official spokespersons ashamed to openly threaten dissidents with imprisonment or exile. The shamelessness has reached such levels that some figures in the regime are issuing thinly veiled threats on social media against internet users who denounce everything from the dollarization of part of the retail sector to problems with garbage collection. They no longer hesitate to bare their teeth, unbuckle their belts, and threaten them with iron bars.

11 June left us a legacy of rebellion and a lamentable number of political prisoners, but it also enshrined the shamelessness of a system that will not hesitate to crush its own people again.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on DW and is republished with the author’s license.
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A Book Rescues the Memory of More Than 600 Victims of Forced Disappearance in Cuba

Historian Daniel I. Pedreira exposes how Castroism literally erased those who opposed it.

Images of Andrew de Graux Villafaña, a US citizen on his father’s side, who joined the Escambray guerrillas to fight against Castroism. / Martí Noticias

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, July 11, 2025 — In Los desaparecidos del castrismo, Cuba desde 1959 (The Disappeared of Castroism, Cuba since 1959), historian Daniel I. Pedreira delivers a work as painful as it is essential. Against the tide of silence imposed by the Cuban regime, Pedreira delves into one of the darkest and least documented aspects of the Island’s contemporary history: the forced disappearance of citizens opposed to Fidel Castro’s regime.

Through more than 600 cases, the author exposes how Castroism has used disappearances as a tool of repression and social control, publicly denying their existence while threatening and persecuting those who try to clarify the truth. Pedreira stresses that the majority of the victims were young people, which represents not only a human tragedy but also a mutilation of the future of the Cuban nation. The book aims to rescue their memory, break the imposed silence and pave the way for justice and national reconciliation.

The work is based on collaboration with organizations such as Archivo Cuba, the Instituto de la Memoria Histórica Cubana contra el Totalitarismo and the Asociación de Familiares de Cubanos Desaparecidos, as well as key witnesses. Despite the impossibility of accessing official documents of the regime, the author has managed to gather a solid basis of evidence with historical, judicial and forensic value. Pedreira hopes the book will reach international human rights institutions in order to dismantle the official narrative of continue reading

Castroism and raise awareness about the magnitude of the phenomenon. Its publication and presentation in Miami, at the Encuentro Internacional con el Libro Cubano Exiliado, on July 19-20, marks a milestone in documenting the human cost of repression on the Island.

The author has managed to gather a solid basis of evidence with historical, judicial and forensic value

Far from being limited to political denunciation, the author builds a solid investigation that disproves the myth that ideological regimes like the Cuban do not commit extrajudicial crimes or systematic disappearances. Pedreira reveals how the absolute control of institutions has allowed Castroism to literally erase those who oppose it, often without leaving a physical or documentary trace.

One of the most moving cases is that of Andrew de Graux Villafaña, a young guerrilla fighter who, at just 18 years old, was wounded, captured and eventually disappeared by the regime’s forces. The history, reconstructed from family and medical testimonies, exposes the machinery of concealment and dehumanization that characterizes this type of regime. The tireless struggle of his sister Mary Louise, even decades later, is a symbol of moral resistance to institutionalized oblivion.

Pedreira delves into one of the darkest and least documented aspects of the Island’s contemporary history / Courtesy

The work also includes the names and stories of other missing persons such as the brothers Pedrozo and Becerra, Orlando Collazo, Lázaro Fernández, Carlos M. Ibáñez and Alberto Sigas. Each case, accurately and respectfully reported, contributes to a portrait of collective pain that has been systematically silenced.

Pedreira points out that disappearances continue in present-day Cuba, either through direct repression or as a result of the conditions imposed by the dictatorship, which forces thousands of people to migrate along dangerous routes. Young people recruited for wars by others, migrants who disappeared at sea or in the jungle, citizens who never reached their destination: all of them are victims of a system that continues to take lives.

One of the book’s great successes is its dual approach. On the one hand, it provides concise data -dates, names, places- making it an invaluable source for researchers, historians, lawyers and human rights defenders. On the other, it does not forget the human component. Each entry is an act of memory, a symbolic tombstone for those who did not have a burial.

Disappearances continue in present-day Cuba, either through direct repression or as a result of the conditions imposed by the dictatorship.

The work is also part of a wider tradition of recovering historical memory in dictatorial contexts, as happened in former East Germany or in the Latin American Southern Cone.

Pedreira recognizes the limitations imposed by the regime’s permanence in power, but he establishes an ethical and historiographical starting point for the future.

The Disappeared of Castroism is a necessary book. Not only for its documentary contribution, but because it rescues from oblivion those whom the regime wanted to erase. With this work, Pedreira returns a face, voice and dignity to hundreds of Cubans who disappeared because they dreamed of a different country. As the author warns, many of them were young people, representatives of “the Cuba of the future,” and with them, a part of that future also disappeared.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Is a Third Alternative for Cuba Possible?

At the beginning of the revolutionary process it was said that the means of production belonged to the workers and that the land belonged to those who worked it.

Only 20 or 30 people in the Party-State leadership have a real productive interest in the Cuban economic model / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 12 July 2025 — In 1988, when the collapse of the socialist camp and the failure of the model implemented by the communist parties were already visible, Francis Fukuyama drew attention with a dissertation which he later published in book form. The End of History? stated categorically that “the end point of the ideological evolution of humanity” had occurred, and that, except for capitalism, there was no “alternative political-economic structure” that could resolve fundamental human contradictions.

But two years later, three US airlines went out of business in the middle of labor conflicts, and in the following decade, a global economic crisis as severe as that of the Crash of 1929 broke out. Capitalism has an intrinsic contradiction between capitalists who pursue greater profits, and wage earners who desire better wages.

However, this model, even with its conflicts, has been able to sustain itself. This is not the case of centralized economies.

Why did countries in Eastern Europe like Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland rebel and break away from the socialist camp, with Soviet troops having to invade or threaten an invasion? They all ended up returning to a capitalist economy.

Why did the Soviet Union resort to a perestroika reform and then disintegrate, only to take each village on a path away from the ideals of the hammer and sickle?

Why did China and Vietnam have to abandon the intransigent fanaticism that kept them in poverty and then move closer to the West and implement free market elements? continue reading

Why did China and Vietnam have to abandon the intransigent fanaticism that kept them in poverty and then move closer to the West and implement free market elements?

And in return, why is it that a country like Cuba, which was the first sugar producer in the world; the third largest livestock-producing country of Latin America after Argentina and Uruguay; with the Cuban peso on par with the dollar; a per capita higher than countries like Spain, Austria and Japan; with more American immigrants than Cuban emigrants in the United States, is today the poorest country on the continent?

All these questions have an answer: because the model they shared, which some still maintain, is irrational and counterproductive for economic development. When the State absorbs all means of production, it is forced to generate a caste of thousands of officials that it can’t control and thus becomes a bureaucratic monster. In audits, words such as “missing” and “diversion of resources” are very common.

Since these officials are not the owners of these enterprises, they lack a real productive incentive, but they exploit them as if they were their own and waste the resources as if they were someone else’s. In technical terms, we could say that a contradiction is created between State ownership and the private appropriation by these officials. So you understand why Fidel Castro, already on the threshold of the end of his life, recognized: “The Cuban model doesn’t work, not even for Cubans.”

Who, then, are the only ones who really have a true productive interest in this model? Because, at most, there are only 20 or 30 people in the leadership of the Party-State, whereas in capitalism there are hundreds or thousands of people who have a real interest: the capitalists. This comparison is not mine; it comes from the liberals, in particular the late Cuban writer, Carlos Alberto Montaner.

If capitalism has an intrinsic contradiction between capitalists and wage earners, in these regimes of monopolistic State centralism there are two, because not only does the contradiction exist between the true owner, that is, the State, and the workers, but also the one generated between that State and its bureaucrats.

However, taking to its ultimate consequences the comparison of Montaner between that supposed socialism with only 20 or 30 interested in productivity and the hundreds or thousands of capitalism, we could ask: How will it be when this productive interest has millions, and there is not one or two internal contradictions, but none?

If capitalism has an intrinsic contradiction between capitalists and wage earners, in these regimes of State monopolistic centralism there are two

But… would such a society be possible?

Generally in a capitalist economy the result of the total value obtained in each production cycle can be divided into three parts:

– Productive capital, which is used to secure everything needed for the next cycle, such as raw materials, wages, wear and tear of labor instruments, and the surplus product that is reinvested to expand the value of the next cycle.

– Profit capital, the part devoted to covering all the private expenses of the capitalist.

– And taxes, for the maintenance of the collective needs of the whole community.

In an economy almost totally nationalized, there would be no capitalists, and there is supposed to be no profit capital, so we could say that the tax and this profit capital merge into one destination: the State, which supposedly represents the whole society.

At the beginning of the revolutionary process it was said that the means of production belonged to the workers and that the land belonged to those who worked it, phrases which were gradually replaced by another: “The property of all society.” Who represented that society? Well, the State. In practice, what was done was to replace the monopolies with a single one and the private landowners with an absolute one: that State, which concentrated 70 per cent of arable land in its hands.

Well, if the workers were the owners of the factories, that lucrative capital previously received by the capitalists should have been distributed among these workers, who should also have representatives in the administrations, something which can still be implemented in State enterprises.

If the farmers are to be the owners of the land, there should not be a monopoly that forces them to sell to the State at the price imposed by the State, since it is unusual for a buyer to force a seller to become an exclusive or main customer, with the price of the goods also imposed by force. This is called unfair treatment, and the result is the absence of a real productive stimulus. Here is the definition of monopoly given by Martí: “The monopoly is an implacable giant sitting at the gates of all the poor.”

If land is distributed with a guarantee that it will not then be expropriated, and farmers are given the freedom to sell their products to those they choose and at a price agreed between producer and buyer; if they are provided with farming implements, seeds, fertilizers and all other inputs, as well as agricultural transport so that the fruits do not rot in the fields, the markets will be filled with fruits and vegetables, which by their number will have an affordable price, and there will be no plate in any household that is empty at mealtime.

When the country claims to not have enough resources to provide every agricultural worker with all these means, we must answer them once and for all: “Liars!”

When the country claims to not have enough resources to provide every agricultural worker with all these means, we must answer them once and for all: “Liars!” Because less than 3% of the national budget is allocated to agriculture, while more than 30% is devoted to tourism, whose failure is increasingly evident by the decreasing number of visitors. Why? Because the network of luxury hotels, like isolated oases in the middle of a desert, belie that fantasy.

Any autonomous production practice, be it self-employment, independent cooperatives or self-management groups, where no one is exploited by other human beings, be they capitalists, State bureaucrats or other workers, is the third alternative.

What would Cuba be like with such a model in not many years? The consequences of these benefits would be not only for workers, but for society as a whole. Without exaggerating, the only problem we Cubans would have is that of the migratory waves, which instead of crossing the Rio Grande, would try to cross the Caribbean Sea to reach the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The US arrests 10 Cubans with I-220A and sends them to Alligator Alcatraz

Jhon Eduardo Hernández, Denis Durán Dávila and Hermes Sánchez López were arrested after appearing in Immigration Court in Miami.

Migrants with chains and padlocks prior to their transfer to the Alligator Alcatraz prison / X/@AGJamesUthmeie

14ymedio, Havana, 11 July 2025 — “If he’s deported to Cuba, he’ll kill himself,” says the wife of Cuban Jhon Eduardo Hernández, who was arrested last Wednesday after going to the immigration court in Miami and was then taken to “Alligator Alcatraz.” According to Adriana Rodríguez, that same day they arrested nine other Cubans with Form I-220A, known as the Order of Parole, including Denis Durán Dávila and Hermes Sánchez López. “It is quite inhumane what is happening with people who are working, paying taxes, doing everything correctly,” the woman stated.

None of the Cubans get bail, so they will have to appeal their case for asylum while in prison. Hernandez is afraid of being deported. He has told his wife that he has talked to some of the prisoners, and most agree that “there is no solution for them” and that “they won’t be released.” In addition, the conditions under which they are held are depressing.

Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy Izquierdo, La Figura, who is also being held in the new immigration detention center, reported previously that they “are being treated like dogs.” Inmates are “given only one meal a day, sometimes with worms,” and the “lights stay on for 24 hours.” Also, “the mosquitoes look like elephants, and there is no water for bathing or flushing the toilets, which are overflowing.”

According to attorney Wilfredo Allen, the Trump administration is “creating fear and threatening people.” The lawyer told Univision journalist Javier Díaz that the US government has issued an order to arrest 3,000 people a day. continue reading

Data obtained by the Cato Institute reveal that “two thirds of the migrants admitted to the detention centers of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) during this fiscal year had not been convicted of any crime” and that “most do not pose a serious threat to public safety.”

A group of migrants detained by ICE in Florida / X / @AGJamesUthmeier

The Cato Institute stresses that “violent criminals, such as murderers, rapists and pedophiles, accounted for less than 7% of ICE’s arrests.” The figures confirm that immigration authorities increased the number of arrests of persons without criminal convictions from 448 per day to 927 per day in the first two weeks of June.

Cuban real estate agent Denis Duran Davila was arrested after going to the court. The case of this young man went viral on social networks after his mother knelt before ICE agents to beg them not to deport him. Attorney Wilfredo Allen stated that his client, a person who “has no criminal offenses, is producing, giving to society and following the rules of the game, was arrested.”

The wife of Hermes Sanchez Lopez confirmed her husband’s arrest after attending the court in Miami. She pointed out that the migrant entered the US in 2020 and has no record, and ICE transferred him to Alligator Alcatraz.

ICE arrests have been reported by several groups, such as Detention Resistance in San Diego. Barbara Stone, an American, is a member of the group and was arrested last Tuesday for recording a video with her cell phone of the transfer of a migrant. A female ICE officer reported the 71-year-old woman for pushing her.

Stone was handcuffed and held for eight hours. Upon being released, she told NBC 7 that her cell phone had not been returned. She showed a bruise to the media and said she felt “mentally and physically traumatized.”

Ruth Méndez, another Detention Resistance volunteer, noted that “fear is very, very real here. Every American should know that this is how their taxpayers’ money is being spent, and it’s really a shame. The people who are really suffering are those seeking asylum.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Washington Sanctions Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel for the First Time, on the Fourth Anniversary of the ’11J’ Protests

The measures also affect the Ministers of the Interior and the Armed Forces and restrict the entry into the US of their relatives.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez says that Washington “does not have the capacity to bend the will of the people or its leaders.”

The Cuban president, appointed by Raúl Castro, unleashed a brutal repression after saying “the order of combat has been given”/ Screen capture

EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana, 11 July 2025 — The United States government imposed sanctions on Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel this Friday for his direct responsibility in “serious human rights violations” after ordering the repression of the 11 July 2021 Island-wide social outburst (’11J’). The measure, announced by the State Department, marks the first time that the Cuban president – hand-picked by Raúl Castro and head of the Communist Party – is subject to personal sanctions from Washington for having unleashed a brutal repression after announcing, four years ago on national television, that “the order of combat has been given.”

The restrictions also affect the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera, and the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas. All of them, including their immediate family members, are prohibited from entering the United States.

The sanctions are imposed under a section of the State Department Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2025

“The United States will never forget the tenacity of the Cuban people four years ago in demanding freedom and a future free from tyranny,” a senior State Department official told the Miami Herald. According to the official statement, sanctions are imposed under a section of the State Department’s Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2025 that denies entry to foreign officials involved in significant corruption or human rights violations.

Díaz-Canel, who had so far avoided personal sanctions despite repeated condemnations of the Cuban regime for repression and censorship, thus becomes the highest official sanctioned by the US since the 11J protests. continue reading

Until this Friday, the measures had been addressed to police, military leaders, and prosecutors, but not to the president.

For its part, the regime dismissed the sanctions and said that Washington “has no capacity to crush” the Cuban people and their leaders. “The US is capable of imposing migratory sanctions against revolutionary leaders and maintaining a prolonged and ruthless economic war against Cuba,” denounced the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, on the social network X.

The action coincides with a new wave of repression on the eve of the anniversary of the protests. In municipalities such as San Antonio de los Baños -where the uprising began in 2021- several demonstrators released from prison have been harassed, threatened and subjected to police surveillance. Arrests and strong street surveillance are also reported in many provinces.

The US visa restrictions announced this Friday also affect judicial and prison officials who are “responsible for or accomplices of unjust detention and torture” of the demonstrators. For confidentiality, their names were not disclosed.

Among those now included are luxury hotels recently opened in Havana, such as the controversial Torre K

As part of the new sanctions package, the State Department also added 11 Cuban hotels to its Prohibited Accommodation List, which includes facilities controlled by the Gaesa military conglomerate. Among those now included are luxury hotels recently opened in Havana, such as the controversial Torre K [Tower K], managed by the Spanish Iberostar, whose construction was widely criticized for coinciding with the food and health crisis of the country.

Since the outbreak of the 11J protests, more than 1,400 people have been arrested according to human rights organizations, and 421 are still serving long sentences, while hundreds more live under constant harassment. The international community has repeatedly denounced the use of fabricated charges, summary trials and inhuman conditions in Cuban prisons.

“The Cuban regime must know that the cost of repression is not forgotten and does not disappear,” said the US official. “These sanctions are a clear message: those who commit abuses will pay a price.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Guatemalan Police Arrested 25 Cubans Who Were Trying To Reach the US

Migrants were arrested in two separate operations and handed over to immigration authorities.

One of the groups of Cubans arrested during their crossing through Guatemala / @PNCdeGuatemala

14ymedio, Mexico City, July 10, 2025 — The National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala arrested 25 Cubans and two Cameroonians who illegally entered the country in two separate operations. “The migrants were transported in inhuman conditions,” they said on social networks. In addition, two coyotes were arrested.

The first group was intercepted at kilometer 140 on the route connecting with El Salvador. Officers from the Ports, Airports and Border Posts Division stopped the vehicle with P-126KLP plates for a routine check. The driver, who identified himself as Aníbal “N”, 31 years old, was arrested for the crime of illegal trafficking of persons.

Six undocumented Cubans were found inside the vehicle and handed over to the Guatemalan Migration Institute. The immigration authorities specified that the Cubans, who must have a visa to transit through the Central American country, will be able to process the document in the facilities where they are held.

Gelver, a coyote, was arrested while transporting 17 Cubans and two Cameroonians / @PNCdeGuatemala

Also, at kilometer 162 on route CA2 from Mazatenango, in Suchitepéquez, police from the Directorate-General for the Analysis of Narcotic Information stopped a Toyota Rav4 truck with registration number P879DNG, in which they found 17 Cubans and two Cameroonians who were trying to reach the United States. “Among the group were three minors who were dehydrated.”

According to data provided by the Guatemalan authorities, the driver of the van, 26-year-old Gelver, was arrested for the crime of smuggling migrants. “He had a pistol with a license to carry and two cell phones.”

Guatemala is reviewing the identity of all migrants who enter the country illegally and are intercepted. Their security protocols also affect aliens entering legally by air, land or sea. The review determines whether or not entry into Guatemalan territory is authorized.

Lack of a visa, presentation of a false visa, having a passport of dubious origin or a history of child sexual abuse can be grounds for non-admission, according to the authorities.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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In the Cuban National Health System, Those Who Do Not Pay Either Wait or Die

A report by Casa Palanca reveals concrete data on the structural corruption that extends from the orderly to the doctors.

Cuba spends just 2.1% of the state budget on health and social assistance / Casa Palanca

14ymedio, Madrid, 10 July 2025 — Under the title Silent Privatization: Practices of Corruption in the Cuban National Health System, the independent platform Casa Palanca has published exhaustive and demolishing research that unmasks the structural deterioration of the health system on the Island, and documents with names, data and witness statements the transition from “guaranteed right” to “conditional service.”

The work is based on a national survey of 2,141 people prepared by Cubadata, dozens of interviews with patients, doctors, nurses and family members, as well as official statistical sources and current legal documents. Its central finding is not new, but it is striking: the National Health System (SNS), formally free and universal, operates de facto under a highly corrupt market logic, where those who do not pay either wait or die.

According to the report, 74.3 per cent of respondents reported having had to pay for services or medicines allegedly free of charge, and 78 per cent admitted using personal contacts to obtain medical care. Corruption is not an anecdote, but an installed structure: from stretcher-bearers and food workers to doctors and service managers. continue reading

More than half of respondents (56.9%) said they make these payments “always or often,” with Havana leading the way (66.6%). By region, it is as follows: West (58.8%), East (55.8%) and Center (51.9%).

The most informal “priced” services are obtaining medicines, surgical procedures and diagnostic tests with medical equipment

The most informal “priced” services are obtaining medicines (57.6%), surgical procedures (27.9%) and diagnostic tests with medical equipment (10%). Even interventions such as cesarean sections, abortions or treatment of fibroids require the disbursement of sums between 25,000 and 45,000 CUP (65 to 117 dollars, depending on the black market exchange rate), without counting the inputs that must be purchased from outside the system.

The paradox is brutal. Cuba allocates just 2.1% of the state budget to health and social assistance, but maintains 24,000 doctors working in 56 countries, which in 2022 reported revenues of $4.882 billion, according to official data. Of these, between 75% and 90% of the salaries paid by the recipient governments remain in the coffers of the Cuban State.

Meanwhile, national pharmacies have a shortage of more than 50% of the basic list of medicines, and hospitals show signs of abandonment, with collapsed ceilings, rodents, closed rooms and poor hygiene, documented in multiple independent reports.

The report intersperses the figures with shattering testimonies: an anesthesiologist who operates with stored supplies “for my own family,” a neonatal nurse who admits delaying care to patients without “recommendations,” or a patient who had to give two pigs to the doctors for a hernia operation. Others, like Alexis Dominguez, are waiting for urgent surgery while paying up to $150 just to be put on a list.

The situation of women is even more outrageous. The chapter dedicated to gynecology and obstetrics documents payments for cesarean sections, abortions, regulation of periods and even a minimum medical protocol during delivery. A young woman, for example, paid 10,000 pesos to have her cesarean section performed because her baby was in danger, after 36 hours of labor. “Paying gives you the ability to be demand,” she says bluntly.

The research highlights that the most alarming thing is not the existence of corruption, but its normalization. Almost 83% of respondents believe that corruption in health is “widespread” or “very widespread,” and more than 52% say they have stopped seeking medical care due to illegal payments.

The report qualifies this phenomenon as a form of institutionalized violence, which is exercised not only by action but also by omission

The report qualifies this phenomenon as a form of institutionalized violence, which is exercised not only by action (improper charges, mistreatment and negligence) but also by omission (inefficiency, endless waiting and lack of resources). “What used to be a right is today a privilege,” she summarizes crudely.

The authorities, for their part, have chosen to minimize the problem. Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in April 2025 that there are “negative trends” such as the illegal sale of services, but he limited himself to calling for them to be addressed “forcefully.” In the absence of a structural strategy, the government only punishes isolated cases, without admitting that corruption is the direct result of low wages, lack of resources and chronically low investment by the state.

The study concludes that the Cuban SNS is not being privatized in the classical sense, but in practice. Health no longer depends on the state, but on the patient’s pocket or contacts. And what is more worrisome, even newly graduated doctors are deserting, invalidating their degrees rather than practicing in these conditions. Between 2021 and 2023, more than 63,800 health professionals left the system.

“Your health service is free… but it costs money.” The poster at the entrance of some hospitals might seem like a cruel joke. But in Cuba, where pain and disease have become a product of the black market, that irony is already an undeniable truth.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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While Protecting Criminals, Havana Updates Its List of ‘Terrorists’, Which Includes ‘Influencers’

In total, the government identifies 62 individuals and 20 organizations, mostly based in the US.

Víctor Álvarez presented the updated list to the international press / Screen capture

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 10 July 2025 — This Wednesday, the government of Cuba gave the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres, an updated list of people whom it considers terrorists, which includes activists, historical leaders in exile and foreign-based influencers. The Cuban regime asks the countries with which it has relations to cooperate in their arrest and extradition.

At a press conference with foreign media, the authorities stated that a version already existed, published in the Official Gazette in December 2023. Four names of people who died last year have now been deleted, and some new ones have been added.

In total, the Government identifies 62 individuals and 20 organizations, mostly based in the United States, as terrorists. Among the new entities is the Council for the Anti-Communist War of the Cuban opponent Manuel Milanés. The list repeats influencers and YouTubers like Álex Otaola, Paparazzi Cubano, Ultrack and Eliécer Avila.

The document also includes a wide range of names of people investigated for the explosions in hotels and resorts in Cuba in the nineties, such as Pedro Ramón Crispín Rodríguez and José Francisco Hernández Calvo, and historical political leaders from the Miami exile community, such as Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance. continue reading

Among the new names are Armando Labrador and Seriocha Humberto, of the organization Cuba Primero, as well as Rolando Miguel Pérez Ruiz and Leordan Cruz Góme

Among the new names are Armando Labrador and Seriocha Humberto, of the organization Cuba Primero; Rolando Miguel Pérez Ruiz and Leordan Cruz Gómez, accused of “introducing weapons, ammunition and equipment along the north coast of Matanzas”; and Hamlet Pedraza Rivas, related to acts of sabotage in Villa Clara.

The deputy chief of the Specialized Body of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, Víctor Álvarez, told the press that all the names have open trials or are in expert stages within the country.

Although he did not mention them directly, Alvarez charged the influencers on the list, saying that they carry out acts of “cyberterrorism” with an “excessive use of social networks to incite violence” and generate “opinion matrices” contrary to the Government. Similarly, several of them were singled out for allegedly financing violent activities in the country.

Also, Josefina Vidal, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, accused the US of “inaction” for not collaborating with Cuba in the fight against terrorism.

“The US government, in particular the Secretary of State [Cuban-American Marco Rubio] has put these mechanisms in a standstill, which showed in the past that, despite differences, it is possible to cooperate against a scourge of global scope,” she stated.

Vidal also accused the US of having a “cynical” attitude and “paradoxically” designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism (…) when any astute and impartial observer can conclude which government is actually encouraging, supports and tolerates terrorism, and which country is confronting it and fighting it at the same time that it has been a victim of this scourge for over 60 years.”

Washington bases its decision on Havana’s refusal to extradite members of the ELN who were in Cuba negotiating peace when the organization attacked the Bogota Cadet School

The US has kept Cuba at different times on the list of states that sponsor terrorism and says that the Island doesn’t cooperate against terrorism. The list ,which has more consequences, has been in effect since 2017 to the present. During the last week of the Biden administration, there was an agreement between Washington and Havana, mediated by the Vatican and never recognized by the parties, in which the Regime committed to releasing more than 500 prisoners. More than half of the beneficiaries were ordinary prisoners, and three of the political prisoners who left prison have been returned: Donaida Pérez, José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro.

Washington bases its decision on Havana’s refusal to extradite members of the ELN who were in Cuba negotiating peace when the organization attacked the Bogotá Cadet School, killing 23 people. Also on the Island are William “Guillermo” Morales, a Puerto Rican independence activist who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1979 for making bombs-one of them killed four people at a tavern in New York in 1975- and Joanne Chesimard, known as Assata Shakur, sentenced for the murder of a New Jersey state policeman in 1973, who also found refuge in Castro’s Cuba and for whom Washington offers up to $2 million for information leading to her capture.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Sweating or Being Cool, the Dollar Makes a Difference in the Carlos III Shopping Center

“The fans aren’t functioning, but they are for sale so you can take your chances,” says an employee of Plaza del Calzado, which will soon be selling in dollars.

In El Taller, a hardware store nestled in the Carlos III shopping center, there are only two broken fans to buy / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 9, 2025 — At El Taller, a hardware store nestled in the Carlos III shopping center, a saleswoman fans herself vigorously on Wednesday morning, not so much to cool off as to shoo away the stifling steam filling the shop. Nearby are two fans, one in better shape than the other, but the weak breeze they produce is barely noticeable if you move even slightly away from the counter.

One floor below, at the Sport store, employees and customers enjoy air conditioning. The difference between one place and another mirrors the divide among Cubans in countless aspects of daily life: whether it’s food, clothing or air-conditioned spaces, in Cuba only those who pay in fulas (US dollars) can access such privileges.

“This is like a pot for steaming people,” complains a customer at Casa Nueva, another store in the shopping center that has not yet undergone dollarization and therefore lacks air conditioning. Painted a bright lime green that seems to amplify the heat, the store is supplied by Italsav, the same Italian company that stocks Casalinda, at Galiano and San Rafael. Yet this sibling relationship hasn’t ensured equal conditions: one enjoys a steady 26ºC (79ºF) while the other remains “a revolutionary oven.”

In order to survive the summer days, the employee at Casa Nueva relies on a rickety fan that “seems to be older than she is,” a customer quips. With its scorched plastic and missing grille, the fan creaks loudly every time the blades turn and seems ready to give its “last gasp.” continue reading

Painted bright lime green, Casa Nueva also lacks air conditioning

The employees are well aware of the state’s favoritism toward dollar stores. At Plaza del Calzado or “the affordable shoe store” as customers call it – comparing it to pricier dollar shops like Sport – salespeople are eagerly awaiting the day they can escape the sauna the store becomes when the sun starts blazing.

“The ACs are broken, and the ones they’ve put in are ’for where it’s needed.’ Our turn will come,” a saleswoman whispers to 14ymedio, hopeful that soon their cash register will take only foreign currency, and the air conditioning will be magically repaired. The store has even begun to clear out some of its merchandise. “They’re selling off the old and ugly stuff, and some sandals are going for as little as 4 MLC* [‘freely convertible currency’]. But besides being hideous, they’re made of plastic and look uncomfortable,” says a woman.

The discomfort and sweat that come with summer in Cuba are part and parcel of shopping in any MLC* store, or in the near-extinct peso shops. This is true not only at Carlos III, but in any non-dollarized store in Havana.” After coming here I need a proper shower,” said a customer at Isla de Cuba, on Monte Street. “With this heat, you don’t feel like buying fabric; you feel like walking around naked,” joked another shopper at Belinda Modes on the San Rafael pedestrian boulevard.

Instead of buying fabric, the heat of Belinda Modas makes people want to walk around naked

In the dollar stores, on the other hand, customers seem to be in better spirits. At least until it’s time to pay. “I can’t afford to buy anything, but I like to stand near the door of these stores to feel the cold air coming out. Nor am I the only one. People gather around, and you see them sighing. God knows how long it’s been since they last felt air conditioning,” confesses Yasel, a young Havana resident who repeats this trick every time he finds an air-conditioned space.

Compared to the lavish coolness of dollar stores, the government’s energy-saving appeals seem like a bad joke.”Its not enough to ask people to endure blackouts; they also want workers in banks, hospitals and other essential services to go without air conditioning, even when they’re stuck in offices without windows,” says Yasel.

Also, they don’t seem to care about the consequences of running air conditioners all day at very low temperatures, which affects not only electricity consumption but also increases the emission of harmful gases. The same pattern plays out in hotels and tourist facilities, highlighting the government’s overriding priority: to attract hard currency above all else.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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*Note to TranslatingCuba readers: We could not constrain ourselves from sharing this completely idiotic explanation of what/why MLC is, offered by a company that operates ‘Cuban tours’. We had no idea it is simply a “hygiene” measure.

What is an MLC Card [Source – the ever resourceful internet]

“Due to hygiene concerns, the Cuban government would like to avoid cash transactions, so are offering prepaid debit cards at the airport. Known as MLC cards, these cards are being sold in denominations of $200, $500, and $1000. MLC stands for Moneda Libremente Convertible (Freely Convertible Money), which in essence means foreign currency. Although MLC can be EUR, USD, GBP, etc, it is treated as if it’s a currency itself. Bank cards are used for transactions in MLC. Many of the better stocked stores in Cuba only accept MLC. You can have the remaining balance of your MLC card refunded at the airport upon departure.”

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Following the Death of a Prisoner on Hunger Strike, Cubalex Warns of the Risk to the Lives of Two Others

At the time of his death, Yan Carlos was in the Arnaldo Milián Provincial Hospital in Santa Clara.

González was accused of setting fire to a sugarcane field and sentenced to 20 years in prison. / Facebook/Yan Carlos González

14ymedio, Madrid, 9 July 2025 — Yan Carlos González González, imprisoned for over a year in Santa Clara’s La Pendiente prison, died on Monday, July 7, due to a serious deterioration in his health, the Cubalex organization confirmed Tuesday. Accused of setting fire to a sugarcane field, the 44-year-old prisoner faced 20 years in prison at the request of the prosecutor’s office.

González, a native of Manacas, maintained his innocence from the moment he entered prison. Both he and his family had claimed there was no evidence he was responsible for the crime he was charged with. Despite this, he was arrested on May 17, 2024, and remained in pretrial detention until April 2025, when, after learning of the lengthy sentence requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he began a hunger strike that lasted more than 40 days. Furthermore, in May, he sewed his eyes and mouth shut, according to sources close to Cubalex, “as an extreme form of protest to denounce his situation.”

At the time of his death, Yan Carlos was in the Arnaldo Milián Provincial Hospital in Santa Clara, with a reserved prognosis. “You said you wouldn’t serve a sentence because you were innocent, and you did, brother. We will remember you for being the wonderful person you were and will be,” said one acquaintance on social media, one of the hundreds who mourned the prisoner’s death.

Cubalex has alerted its concern that there are currently at least two other prisoners in danger for similar reasons.

Cubalex has alerted its concern that there are currently at least two other prisoners in danger for similar reasons. One of them is Miguel Alfonso Jiménez Martínez, also hospitalized at the Arnaldo Milián Provincial Hospital and on hunger strike for more than two months. He is in pretrial detention for allegedly throwing stones at a store. The organization reports continue reading

that authorities have modified his provisional measure to a less severe one due to his health. He is now expected to appear before the investigator in the case periodically.

The second is Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, a prisoner convicted of 11J in Pinar del Río, who is currently in the Kilo 5 y Medio prison, where he was transferred on July 5, and is being denied medical attention. “According to information received by Cubalex, Lieutenant Colonel Luis, head of the prison’s medical station, refuses to provide him with the essential medications for his health condition, and also refuses to authorize a medical diet, even though Alexander shows signs of severe malnutrition,” the organization reported in recent hours.

Cubalex affirms that reprisals against Díaz Rodríguez are ongoing, as he is managing to denounce his “alarming physical deterioration” and the appalling conditions in which he is imprisoned through photos on social media. “This refusal is not an isolated incident: it is part of a deliberate policy of extreme punishment against those who speak out from prison to expose the regime’s abuses,” Cubalex warns.

The three prisoners’ faces are less well-known than those of two other emblematic leaders of the Cuban opposition who are suffering under the harsh conditions of a Cuban prison: Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, vice president and president of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), which issued a statement on Tuesday in which it made an “urgent and unavoidable” call on behalf of both of them and all other political prisoners on the island.

“Both remain steadfast, even in the face of barbarism, and represent the best of Cuba’s civic spirit. The international community can make a difference; concerted action can save lives,” they claim. In the text, they specifically call on the foreign ministries of the United States, Europe, and Latin America, and the entire international community, to “act firmly and decisively in the face of a situation that violates human rights with concrete actions,” including expressing their concern to Cuban embassies and requesting information from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

They also urge the Catholic Church of Cuba and international human rights associations to mobilize

They also urge the mobilization of the Catholic Church in Cuba and international human rights associations, although Amnesty International has been specifically speaking out for José Daniel Ferrer for years, whom they consider a prisoner of conscience, to no avail. Currently, he has been on on a hunger strike for two weeks, according to his wife.

“The CTDC will continue working with governments, organizations, and institutions, both inside and outside Cuba, to end the spiral of dehumanization that permeates our institutions and that particularly cruelly affects political prisoners and all Cubans deprived of their liberty,” it concludes.

In late June , the Research and Advocacy Initiative, formerly known as Justice 11J, warned of an alarming number of deaths in custody and torture within the Cuban prison system during the first half of the year. The Mexico City-based organization indicated in a report that at least 24 people died in Cuban prisons, eight of them after being deprived of medical care, while 160 acts constituting torture or cruel treatment were documented.

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The Cuban Government Minimizes Severe Toxic Dust Contamination at the Moa Nickel Plant

Reports of respiratory disorders abound, mainly in infants.

Independent studies show lower life expectancy compared to other Holguín municipalities and a high prevalence of respiratory and dermatological diseases / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, July 9, 2025 — While dozens of residents continue to report on social media a serious pollution crisis caused by toxic dust in Moa, Holguín, the Ministry of Energy and Mines responded with a report in Cubadebate seeking to minimize the environmental impact. Its explanation points to failures in the gas cleaning system at the Ernesto Che Guevara plant, but assumes no responsibility for emissions.

The official report states that the visible increase in suspended particles was the result of a planned shutdown on July 7, to clean the ducts and repair equipment. The shutdown was estimated to last 48 hours but was executed in 24 hours. The industry is dedicated to the exploitation of nickel and cobalt. The authorities attribute the situation to “deterioration of the gas cleaning system” (electrofilters), and they envision an improvement as part of an improvement project.

The explanation does not satisfy citizens, who report a constant emission of dust, visible on streets, houses and faces, long before Monday’s incident

However, this explanation does not satisfy the citizens, who report a constant emission of dust, visible on streets, houses and faces, long before last Monday’s incident. continue reading

Authorities mention compliance with Law 150 Natural Resources and Environment and the standards on air and waste emissions. They also highlight achievements such as sleeve filters that reduced dust emissions to 1.4 mg/m³ monitoring systems and restoration projects with the reforestation of the Cuban pine and international partnerships.

But independent media testimonies and Facebook posts contradict this narrative. Testimonies abound with images of black dust on skin and clothes, and reports of cases of respiratory disorders, mainly in infants. All this describes an alarming reality despite the alleged environmental measures.

“It’s like we’re breathing poison”

Journalist Mario J. Pentón collected heartbreaking statements: “Every day we have to endure a substance that falls from the sky. You clean and then everything’s dirty again. What comes out of your throat is black. It’s like breathing poison. These people are slowly killing us,” wrote a resident of that area, in the province of Holguín. “Today Moa’s Facebook page was lit up, with many people complaining about the same thing. There is despair, frustration and a growing rage,” he added.

The ministry highlights the existence of four environmental monitoring stations in residential areas and epidemiological surveillance protocols. According to Joel Queipo Ruíz, first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguín, there has been no identifiable increase in medical care for respiratory or allergic conditions in recent weeks. But citizens claim the opposite: children suffering from chronic cough and persistent dust on their skin and clothes. The official explanation does not match the daily reality in Moa.

Allegations of a “slow death” in Moa are not new

Allegations of a “slow death” in Moa are not new. Independent studies recall years of exposure to toxic gases, lower life expectancy compared with other Holguín municipalities, and a high prevalence of respiratory and dermatological diseases. In addition, recent flood waters from the Cabaña river aggravated exposure to pollutants in neighborhoods such as Ecrin, Cabaña and La Veguita, where neighbors suffer from both the climate crisis and industrial pollution.

The response of the Ministry of Energy and Mines is simplistic and reactive. An isolated incident does not explain a chronic crisis. They talk about technology and monitoring without showing tangible results. There are no real comparisons of pollutant levels before and after, nor public health data to support their position.

Viral photos, citizen voices and local health reports reinforce the perception of being in the forefront of an announced ecocide. The government boasts about laws and open dialogue. However, the authorities’ indolence in the face of decades of environmental deterioration, the lack of verifiable data and the urgency of the testimonies reveal the absence of real commitment.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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421 Prisoners Are Still Serving Sentences in Cuban Prisons for the ’11J’ Island-Wide Protests, Prisoners Defenders Denounces

On the anniversary last June, the regime arrested eight people, several of them for protesting against the blackouts in Guanabacoa.

File image of protesters being repressed during 11J.

14ymedio, Havana, 10 July 2025 — On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the mass demonstrations of 11 July 2021, Prisoners Defenders (PD) has published a report denouncing that, of the 1,158 political prisoners serving sentences on the island, 65% (752) were arrested during those protests. Since then, the regime has continued to imprison its opponents with impunity—at a rate of 10 per month over the last 12 months, although several have been released. There were eight new arrests in June, at least half of them during the protests on the 29th in Guanabacoa.

The platform’s list includes only Deyanira López, Dónovan López, Hiromi Moliner, and Sunamis Quintero García, who protested against the blackouts in a neighborhood protest that ended with a fire, a dozen arrests, and an atmosphere of growing tension.

“The situation since 11 July 2021, has not only not improved: it has substantially worsened. However, the massive and brutal repression suffered then is the only factor holding the population back from further mass demonstrations, which are occurring sporadically throughout the country, albeit with much smaller gatherings due to the terror created among the population on 11 and the situation of these prisoners in Cuba,” PD reports.

The platform, in collaboration with Consorcio Justicia and the Center for a Free Cuba, has prepared a document that encapsulates updated data on the repression unleashed by the authorities during 11 June. Since then, nearly 2,000 protesters have been criminally prosecuted, of which 421 remain in Cuban prisons, with 202 of them sentenced to between 10 and 30 years. Another 331 are serving sentences outside of prison. continue reading

The organization also reported that, of the 73 women arrested during the protests, 18 remain in prison.

The organization also reported that of the 73 women arrested during the protests, 18 remain in prison. It highlighted the names of the Ladies in White, Sissi Abascal and Sayli Navarro, who are serving their sentences in La Bellotex prison in Matanzas; as well as María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, sentenced to 7 years in El Guatao prison in Havana; and Lizandra Góngora Espinosa, who received a 14-year sentence in Los Colonos Forced Labor Prison on Isla de la Juventud, “far from and unable to receive visits from her family and her 5 children (4 of whom are still minors).”

PD also denounced the torture to which the 11J prisoners are subjected, including the prison authorities’ refusal to provide medical care. Of the July 2021 protesters who remain imprisoned, 325 have “serious medical conditions” and 34 have mental health problems “incompatible with prison.”

“A still immense number of political prisoners are seriously ill and should benefit from extra-penal parole, which the Cuban regime continually and arbitrarily denies,” the platform said, citing the case of Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, sentenced to five years in prison in Pinar del Río and suffering from “terminal throat cancer, as well as hepatitis B, anemia, and malnutrition.”

In a similar situation is Amalio Álvarez González, who has been sentenced to 15 years and suffers from “psychiatric disorders, cognitive disability, and vision loss.” He has attempted suicide four times.

On July 7, political prisoner Yan Carlos González died after a hunger strike of more than 40 days.

On July 7, political prisoner Yan Carlos González González died after a hunger strike of more than 40 days. He had been incarcerated for over a year in Santa Clara’s La Pendiente prison. Accused of setting fire to a sugarcane field, the 44-year-old faced 20 years in prison at the request of the prosecutor’s office. At the time of his death, González was in the Arnaldo Milián Provincial Hospital in Santa Clara, with a reserved prognosis.

PD also denounced the revocation by the regime of the extrapenal license of four of the 219 11J prisoners released after negotiations with the Vatican last January: Jose Daniel Ferrer, Jaime Alcide Firdó, Félix Navarro Rodríguez, and Donaida Pérez Paseiro. It added that of the political prisoners included in the agreement, 91% “had been entitled by law to an open regime, conditional release, or immediate release, including for more than a year.”

The situation of prisoners is not the only issue of concern to civil society organizations. This month, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) published a tally of the “repressive actions” carried out by State Security in June. According to the report, 253 such cases were recorded, 61 of which were arbitrary detentions.

“Among the main violations are the sieges of activists’ homes, abuses against political prisoners, threats, and harassment,” the text states, adding that women “are the most affected by the repression.”

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I Want To Be a Driver for Foton, the New Chinese Vans With Air Conditioning

They have replaced the Russian ’gazelles’ and charge 20 pesos per trip.

“It was only the second day of operation and some were already starting to fail.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 9 July 2025 — Today, like almost always, my journey from La Virgen del Camino to El Vedado threatened to become eternal and suffocating. But I was lucky. I caught one of those little yellow buses we used to call “gazelles” — after the Russian brand that makes them — and that some of us have now started calling “Fotons.” Honestly, I don’t care if they’re Russian or Chinese; the important thing is that they get me out of the bus stop and take me to my destination as quickly as possible.

My watch read twelve noon. I’d already calculated how many people were in front of me, and things weren’t looking good. When the Foton arrived, on its second day of release, I thought the usual rush and killing would ensue. But, strangely, some decided not to get on and push their way into the line.

“I got the impression they couldn’t afford to pay the 20 pesos the fare costs.”

The only ones who refused to get on were two elderly women. They said they preferred to wait for the inspectors to stop a state vehicle*. In reality, I got the impression they couldn’t afford to pay the 20 pesos the fare costs. Although the price of the Fotons seems affordable, for many it is still unthinkable to shell out that amount every day just to get to work.

It was a blessing to feel the blast of cool air against the sweat pouring down my face and back. The air conditioning was set to more than half its setting, which, in Havana in July, is a miracle. continue reading

A woman insisted on getting on when the minibus was full. She said she could sit on the floor, no problem. But the driver responded without hesitation: “You’re crazy! Today is the second day this has been operating. I don’t know who’s riding up here, and I don’t want to be in the newspaper.”

So we set off.

The new buses are comfortable, with fresh nylon, and have a capacity for fourteen people. Luckily, I didn’t get the seat next to the door. The person sitting there becomes the involuntary copilot. Whether they like it or not, they have to open and close the door every time someone gets on or off. And they also have to contort themselves to let someone in.

The driver had someone next to him who seemed to be training to become a Foton driver. They spoke in low voices, but I heard them whispering about their daily earnings: between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos. At that moment, I felt the treacherous urge to quit my job and learn to drive. That driver earned more in a single day than my mother receives in a month from her retirement check.

Although the trip was quick and comfortable—40 minutes from La Virgen del Camino to El Vedado—I have a feeling the service won’t last long. It was only the second day of operation, and some of the vans were already starting to break down.

“I heard them whispering about the daily earnings they made from it: between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos.”

Passing by the José Miguel Gómez monument on Avenida de los Presidentes, we saw a Foton out in the middle of a roundabout, a real hazard.

“What happened to you?” asked the driver of the van I was riding in. “It quit by itself,” replied the other driver. Our driver advised him: “Don’t do anything. Don’t touch anything. Call.”

I got off at the last stop, after falling asleep with my head pressed against the window. The brutal heat of Havana’s streets reminded me once again who I am and where I live. I don’t know if I’ll be as lucky with transportation tomorrow. In today’s Cuba, making plans for tomorrow is complete nonsense.

*Translator’s note: Drivers of state vehicles are required to stop and pick up passengers at designated stops — waved down by inspectors — although the drivers don’t always comply.

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With a Lack of Players for the Classic, Cuba Is Debating Inviting Those Who ‘Defected’

Eight months before the event, only Yoan Moncada, Andy Ibáñez, Andy Pagés and Daysbel Hernández have confirmed their participation.

Members of Team Cuba at the last World Baseball Classic. / Jit

14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 9 July 2025 — The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) is debating changes to Article 1.6 of the National Series regulations to include players who defected or abandoned contracts with Team Cuba in the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic. Of the 10 major league players to whom they sent letters, only Yoan Moncada, Andy Ibáñez, Andy Pagés, and Daysbel Hernández have accepted so far.

With just eight months to go until the event, regime loyalist and newly appointed Cuban manager Germán Mesa has only managed to convince 10 other young talents playing for U.S. minor league clubs. Among them are Ernesto Martínez Jr., Omar Hernández, Yiddi Cappe, Alexander Vargas, Jan Hechavarría, and Víctor Labrada.

Despite Mesa having Naykel Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles on the roster, his inclusion was scuppered. The player’s representative, Cuban-American Gladys Alonso, said that if he did so, his employment relationship would be terminated. “All Cuban-Americans in the Major Leagues are going to undermine you, at some point they will,” she warned. continue reading

With just eight months left until the event, Cuba’s manager, Germán Mesa, has only managed to convince 10 other young talents

Last June, several members of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (Inder) expressed interest in granting Yariel Rodríguez a pardon. The player was blacklisted after breaching a contract with the Japanese team, the Chunichi Dragons, in 2023. Journalist Yasel Porto Gómez confirmed that his invitation was ready and awaiting approval.

Rodríguez currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays and has stated that defending the Cuban flag “would be very important to him.” If there were any possibility of joining the so-called Team Asere, “I would say yes without hesitation.”

According to the specialized media outlet Swing Completo, the rule preventing Cuba from calling up players who have defected or abandoned contracts “is purely political.” However, “the current situation is critical, and they need some serious names if they want to at least advance to the second round of the tournament.”

If that key is opened, those who could be invited include Lourdes Gurriel Jr (Arizona Diamondbacks), Aledmys Díaz, Adolis García (Texas Rangers), José Iglesias (San Diego Padres); Vladimir Gutiérrez, Oscar Luis Colás (Chicago White Sox); Yoelqui Céspedes, Norge Carlos Vera (Athletics); Oscar Luis Colás (Chicago White Sox); Yoelqui Céspedes, Norge Carlos Vera (Athletics); and Andy Rodríguez, Lázaro Blanco, Luis Dani Morales, Brian Chi, Geysel Cepeda, Loidel Chapellí Jr., and Loidel Rodríguez.

Those who have announced their rejection are Aroldis Chapman, Odrisamer Despaigne, and César Prieto.

In the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Cuba is in Group A, which also includes Puerto Rico, Canada, and Panama. The host city will be San Juan.

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With Better Quality, the Private Sector Has Ended the State Monopoly Over School Uniforms

Unlike rationed sales, it is possible to purchase as many pieces as you can pay for.

[[Located in the central Paseo del Prado, this Monday the business and its workshop welcomed customers looking for the desired uniforms / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 8, 2025 — Tired of long lines, missing sizes and poor fabric quality, Cuban families are increasingly choosing to buy school uniforms in the private sector or abroad. The opening of Figuera, a private store that sells these outfits in Havana, accelerates the loss of state terrain in a commercial niche that until recently was an official monopoly.

Located in the central Paseo del Prado, in the Salón Smara de la Unión Árabe de Cuba, this Monday the business and its workshop welcomed customers looking for the desired uniforms. The firm also offers business clothing, and although its employees recognize that they do not have all sizes available, they can be ordered in advance and produced by the seamstresses.

Unlike the rationed sale, in Figuera it is possible to buy as many pieces as you can pay for

A line of about a dozen people were waiting outside the workshop to order or pick up clothing for the next school year. They did not have in their hands any document bearing the stamp and letterhead of any department of the Ministry of Education, which they were authorized to purchase. Unlike the rationed sale, in Figuera it is possible to buy as many pieces as you can pay for. They accept any payment, from Cuban pesos, through dollars to transfers by Zelle, the American instant payment system that is very popular among merchants on the Island.

There is no pushing in the line, no one shouting because someone has slipped in or because the end of some very sought-after size is announced. Everything goes smoothly because the clientele is already filtered by economic status. Unlike the subsidized sales, prices in Figuera have nothing to do with real wages. This is one of the last commercial sectors to have private offers, because the government has wanted for decades to prevent social differences from being expressed in the educational field.

In a country where the school uniform, according to level, is identical in each province, municipality and classroom, the loss of a monopoly on its sale is not a minor issue. Fidel Castro himself designed the clothing of some school grades and for decades penalized the use of blouses or shirts that, although similar to those prescribed, showed some mark or sign that they were made privately or had been imported from abroad. continue reading

Fidel Castro himself designed the clothing of some school grades

But the economic crisis and the inability of the State to meet the demand have been transforming the panorama and marking the contrasts between those who may have a new uniform every September and those who are obliged to reuse the previous one or alter the only size they have to fit their body.

“When I was in school, the only way to buy a uniform was in the State stores,” recalls a father who arrived this Monday with his children, two twins who will enter high school next year. ” I remember that in my teens I had a rash and had to go the whole year with pants that were short, because you had to wait for them to give you a paper so you could buy the next ones, and they only delivered it after the final exams.”

The sale of school uniforms in Cuba usually begins between May and June, but in recent years the date has been delayed due to lack of raw materials. Now the sale starts at the end of July and is marked by long lines and problems with sizes. Factory workers must extend their working hours for those dates and thus try to make the nearly 1.5 million uniforms planned for more than 1,000 schools.

A line of about a dozen people were waiting outside the workshop to order or pick up clothing for the next school year / 14ymedio

The textile workshop in Figuera has seven workers; six are women sewing, and a man at a table does the designs. Among the employees there is a doctor who attends to the public and an engineer on the preparation side. The fabrics are cut and sewn and will end up being a uniform for primary, secondary or upper secondary education. Everything works with order and an unusual efficiency when compared to the State workshops.

“I ordered my grandson his first uniform for preschool which starts in September, and today I am here to pick it up,” says a proud grandmother accompanied by a restless child who does not stop jumping and running through the narrow corridor while waiting for their turn to enter. “At the time I placed the order I had to pay the full amount, and it took about two weeks to make three shirts and two shorts.”

In total, the woman has paid 7,500 pesos for the set, three times her monthly pension. “I’m the one who looks after him because my daughter and her husband are outside Cuba. They sent me the money to buy the uniforms since it’s impossible with my pension,” she says. “I’m also glad that I could save myself from standing in line at the [State] store, because last year I was standing so long that I got dizzy.”

“I hope it’s strong and durable, does not lose color with a few washes and can be left for the younger children who come behind”

“I hope it’s strong and durable, does not lose color with a few washes and can be left for the younger children who come behind,” the grandmother resumes. “These look pretty good but the last word will be the use.” A few minutes later the woman leaves with a bag that includes the clothes that the little one will wear, almost every day, in less than two months.

Two women who are in line, with their respective children, praise the possibility of having this private shop. “Until now, when I needed to buy a uniform without spending days in a line, I appealed to a neighbor who brings them from Miami; she buys them in Ño Que Barato,” explains one of them. Cuba’s large emigrant community in Florida has also shaped commercial offerings in the US.

Some of the shops in Miami make their money in August with every need that arises on the Island, from coffee “with Cuban roast,” through plastic covers to protect ration books, to uniforms of all levels of education. Every year the Ño Que Barato chain sells thousands of clothes that will end up in Cuban classrooms. The red-wine colored pants intended for males attending primary school are $14.99, while a blouse for pre-university students is $10.99.

“The only thing missing is the police uniform,” jokes a friend, who finally gets her turn to enter Figuera. The cool atmosphere, due to the air conditioning, the clean table where a seamstress cuts the fabric and the smiling face of the employee complete the experience. Uniforms sold by the private sector are much more expensive, but it is clear that they do not come with sweat, tears and shouting.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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