Translating Cuba – Page 91 – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

The Head of the US Embassy in Havana Challenges the Regime With an Invitation to the Cuban People

Mike Hammer records a video message on the streets of Havana to get people to approach him.

Hammer invites people to speak with him and express their ideas / US Embassy in Cuba

14ymedio, Madrid, May 2, 2025 — “Hi I’m Mike Hammer, the head of mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba.” This is how the diplomat presents himself in a short video uploaded to the Facebook page of the US Embassy on the Island. In just 37 seconds, Hammer sends a message to the population inviting them to approach and speak with him if they see him walking around.

“I am traveling through 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 by traveling and visiting all the provinces. So, when you see me on the street, I would like to speak with anyone who wants to share their perspectives, their ideas, and I hope we can have a nice conversation. See you around and until next time,” says a friendly Hammer.

The post, published on the Embassy’s Facebook page, is accompanied by a short text that encourages, even more, the ordinary citizen to contact the delegation and approach Hammer. “I would like to know the country well. Please send me your suggestions of places I should visit, and if you want, meet me when I am on the ground. Send an email to: havanapublicaffairs@state.gov”.

The video constitutes a challenge in a week in which the diplomat has been pointed out by the Regime, which accuses him of maintaining “disrespectful behavior contrary to the rules of international law” and calls his action “silly and interfering.” In an article published in Cubadebate, its director and well-known spokesman for the Regime, Randy Alonso, pointed to Hammer as a”subversive agent and self-promoter” on the Island.

In the article, Alonso states that “Cubans” have complained that the Embassy’s business manager “is encouraging them to act against the State and the authorities, to become critics of official policies and generators of dissatisfaction.” Furthermore, Alonso reminds Hammer that he is obliged continue reading

to respect the laws of the country in which he is located without taking advantage of the immunity granted by his office and tells him that he has already been warned on several occasions that his conduct is “disrespectful” and “serves the narrow interests of anti-establishment politicians.”

The criticism is not new, but it smells of a final warning. “No one explained to him in time that the accumulated experience of many years of frontal struggle against imperialist aggression allows us to observe with firmness and patience his silly and interventionist behavior, but only until Cubans have had enough,” it warns.

Mike Hammer took office in November 2024, succeeding Benjamin Ziff. At that time, the official Cuban press made no mention of the change and ignored the diplomat for a few months. Then Hammer began an agenda until then unprecedented, since none of his predecessors – Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, Mara Tekach and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, besides Ziff – had gone even half way in his approach to the opposition, first, and the Cuban people, now.

In December, Hammer began to meet with some opponents, starting with the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, and the historical dissident Martha Beatriz Roque – who presumably this Thursday traveled back to Cuba after undergoing medical treatment in the U.S., without knowing if she would have been able to do so in Cuba. The official news source, Razones de Cuba, already pointed out that Hammer had met with “two worn-out figures of the Cuban counterrevolution” and warned: “The new US representative has gone down a bad path, because nothing good can be expected from this scourge.”

Hammer was not intimidated by this, and he continued to tour the Island and meet with well-known opponents, including José Daniel Ferrer, who received him at home. The leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba had just been released from prison, a measure reversed this week by the Supreme Court, which considers him in breach of the conditions imposed and presumes that he has violated new rules. Hammer also approached the hermitage of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and was seen with Félix Navarro, who, like Ferrer, has just been returned to prison, and with Oscar Elías Biscet and the Camagüeyan priest, Alberto Reyes.

Hammer was not intimidated and continued to tour the Island and meet with well-known opponents, including José Daniel Ferrer

This week he met in Camagüey with Henry Constantín and Iris Mariño, independent journalists of La Hora de Cuba, and with relatives of political prisoners Andy García Lorenzo and Aroni Yanko García Valdez, in Santa Clara.

His meetings with opponents and their relatives have multiplied in every Cuban province, and he has also been with part of the exile. During a visit to Madrid, the diplomat met with Yanelis Núñez of the feminist platform Alas Tensas; Iliana Hernández and Luz Escobar, independent journalists; and former political prisoner Angélica Garrido.

All these meetings were criticized in an article published by the official media in March, entitled: “Weaving the anti-Cuban web: Hammer’s agenda.” The penultimate chapter was the text of last Tuesday. The US diplomat is not willing to slow down, and it is uncertain whether the Regime will either.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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More Than 40 Organizations Demand From Cuba the “Immediate” Release of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro

The arrests of “these two peaceful pro-democracy activists” occurred in a context of “intensifying authoritarianism.”

Cuban dissidents Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, in archive images.

EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 5 May 2025 — A total of 43 organizations, including political parties, unions, and NGOs, are demanding the “immediate” release of Cuban dissidents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, after the Cuban government last week revoked their release from jail.

In a statement released this Monday by Prisoners Defenders (PD), they demand “coordinated and effective international diplomatic, political, and legal pressure to end the brutal repression.”

Among the signers of the document, in addition to the PD, are opposition political organizations such as the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) [Consejo para la Transición Democrática en Cuba], Ferrer’s Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the Cuban Women’s Network [la Red Femenina de Cuba], and the Roots of Hopes Association in Spain [Asociación Raíces de Esperanza en España].

The signers believe that the arrests of “these two peaceful pro-democracy activists” occurred in a context of “intensifying authoritarianism by the Cuban regime, and just hours after the funeral of the same pope with whom the regime had agreed to their release.”

These actions further demonstrate that the 230 releases did not represent a gesture of openness

“These actions further demonstrate that the 230 releases, carried out under ignominious and unacceptable home-imprisonment conditions, did not represent a gesture of openness, but rather the opposite. The wave of repression and the hundreds of short-term arbitrary detentions continue reading

demonstrate an even deeper regression by the regime,” according to the statement.

Ferrer and Navarro, who have been active in the opposition for decades, were released last January, following an agreement between Havana and Washington brokered by the Vatican in which Cuba agreed to release 553 inmates and the US agreed to remove the island from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Last Tuesday, the People’s Supreme Court revoked the releases of Ferrer and Navarro, alleging that they “failed to comply with the law during the probationary period they were serving.”

The Supreme Court charged the dissidents, stating that “they are people who publicly call, in their social and digital environments, for disorder and contempt of the authorities, and maintain public ties with the chargé d’affaires of the United States Embassy in Cuba.”

Navarro, 72 years old and with health problems, was serving a nine-year sentence for the crimes of public disorder, contempt, and assault.

According to the court, their arrests are based on two reasons: in Navarro’s case, because he left his municipality seven times without the judge’s permission, and, in Ferrer’s case, because the leader of UNPACU twice failed to appear before the judge.

In response, the signers contend that the arrests of both dissidents “do not constitute isolated events,” as “they are part of a systematic policy of repression against dissident and/or plural voices.”

Navarro, 72, who is in poor health, was serving a nine-year sentence for public disorder, contempt, and assault. Ferrer, 54, is serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for unlawful deprivation of liberty, and assault.

Both were among the 75 opposition members arrested and sentenced during the Black Spring of 2003.

Translated by Tomás A.

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Revocation of the CBP One Migrants’ Work Permit Affects Thousands of Cubans in the US

Those affected have 15 days to prove that they have a valid temporary residence permit in the country.

CBP One was created by the Biden administration to stop illegal border crossings/ EFE

14ymedio, Florida, May 1, 2025 — Thousands of Cubans who entered through the CBP One program received a work permit cancelation notice from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) this Wednesday.

“We have issued a notification explaining our intention to revoke the prior approval of your case,” the federal agency told migrants who entered through the program implemented by the Biden government. The message, which can be read in the applicant’s profile on the USCIS website, indicates the reference used when managing their work permit.

On April 18, thousands of migrants who legally entered the US using the CBP One application began to be notified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that their form I-94 (temporary stay permit or parole) was cancelled, so most of them assumed that the same thing would happen with the work permit.

USCIS explains that those affected have up to 15 days to prove that they have a valid temporary residence permit in the country and thus be able to keep their work permit. This situation leaves the thousands of Cubans who hope to obtain permanent residence through the Adjustment Act without the right to work in the US.

“I was waiting until the last moment for my work permit not to be canceled,” says Marcos, a Cuban from Santiago living in Tampa. He entered the US in January 2023 and applied for permanent residence last December. “Although I have already applied for a work permit along with my continue reading

residency, those permits are taking a long time,” he says.

“If my company realizes that the work permit with which I was hired was canceled, they will sack me tomorrow,” he adds with concern. “I only think about how to pay my rent and my monthly debts, because jobs don’t seem too easy to find here in Florida.”

Just as desperate is Yoandry, who has only been in the US for seven months and also lives in Tampa. “There are many obstacles to working without papers here in Florida; something always appears but it is unstable,” he says. “For now I have to wait one year and a day to apply for residency, but until then if I don’t find work under the table I don’t not know where I will live. The rent alone costs me $1,000.”

Just as desperate is Yoandry, who has only been in the US for seven months and also lives in Tampa

The CBP One program began operations in January 2023. More than 930,000 people have appeared in these two years of validity at the ports of entry for the authorities to process their cases, according to official data. During the procedure, foreigners received a temporary residence permit.

Of the total number of beneficiaries of the program — which for December alone, the last month available, was about 44,000 — 110,970 were Cubans. Through this system, 1,450 migrants could enter each day through seven border crossing points.

CBP One was created by the Biden administration to stop illegal border crossings and manage the organization of entry points, but in recent months, and following the election victory of Donald Trump, who had promised to eliminate it, the number of applicants has decreased.

In the first week of April, the Trump administration demanded that migrants who entered with CBP One leave the country “immediately,” through an e-mail warning that the immigration police have the means to locate those who do not comply with the request and hide from the authorities.

“It’s time for you to leave the United States,” the text said bluntly from the beginning. “You are here because the Department of Homeland Security has granted you an entry permit for a limited period of time.” Invoking section 1182 of the US Code and Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the institution informed that it was going to exercise its right to revoke the permit “immediately.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba’s Supreme Court Revokes the Parole of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro

Ferrer and his family were arrested by the political police, who “completely ransacked” the headquarters of Unpacu.
Navarro was arrested while on his way to visit his daughter Sayli in prison

José Daniel Ferrer, in one of his latest videos posted on social media. / Screenshot/Youtube/Unpacu

14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2025 — Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was arrested in Santiago de Cuba after a raid by the political police on the organization’s headquarters in Altamira. Repressive forces completely ransacked the place and detained Ferrer, his wife Nelva Ortega, their young son Daniel José, and activists Roilan Zarraga and Fernando González Vaillant.

“They were all taken to an unknown location,” Ana Belkis Ferrer, the opposition leader’s sister, reported on social media. She reported the news and demanded the detainees’ release.

According to Reuters, the Supreme Court revoked the opponent’s parole, granted three months ago after a negotiation between Havana, Washington and the Vatican, never recognized by the parties. According to Maricela Sosa, vice president of that court, Ferrer is guilty of violating probation by failing to show up in court on two occasions.

“All of them were taken to an unknown location,” denounced Ana Belkis Ferrer on social media.

“Not only did he not show up, but he also announced on his social networks, in flagrant defiance and contempt of the law, that he would not appear before any judicial authority,” Sosa told the British agency.

Felix Navarro was also arrested during a visit he made with his wife, Lady in White Sonia Alvarez, to the prison where his daughter Sayli is being held, in Matanzas. Regarding his case, Sosa said that his parole had also been revoked for leaving Perico, the town where he lives, without a judge’s permission. continue reading

Sosa also had a word about those people released from prison in January who have also made calls for “disorder” and maintained “public ties with the head of the U.S. Embassy,” Mike Hammer. This Tuesday, precisely, the official press published a long warning against the diplomat.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event. The Complaint Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy recalled that Ferrer is a “beneficiary of precautionary measures of protection granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)”.

“We condemn this new aggression by the Cuban regime against those who peacefully fight for freedom and democracy, and demand the immediate release of all detainees, as well as respect for their physical integrity and fundamental rights,” the Center calls for in a statement.

For its part, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba issued a communiqué in which it not only demands the release of Ferrer and Navarro, but also gives details on the legal situation of both.

Several organizations have issued an “urgent alert” following the event.

Ferrer, they claim, had already served his full sentence since August 2024, while Navarro “never had parole conditions imposed on him,” as the Supreme Court alleges.

In short, it is an operation orchestrated by the State Security, a “simultaneous arrest of emblematic figures of the opposition,” which is a clear violation of human rights in the country.

For the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, it is also “a new onslaught by the Cuban regime against opponents and human rights activists, and exposes the increasingly repressive climate on the island.

Unpacu and its leader have lived for months in extreme tension with the political police because of their humanitarian work in Santiago de Cuba. In videos and statements, Ferrer has recounted the process by which the organization feeds hundreds of needy people in the eastern Cuban city and the obstacles the regime has placed in the way of its work.

During all this time, Ferrer assured that he would not accept any conditions for his release and that he would continue to denounce both the critical situation of the country and the responsibility of the government in the multisectoral debacle of the island. In the networks there is also a repeated comment: the arrest took place after the funeral of Pope Francis, who convened the Jubilee of Prisoners, in the framework of which the releases took place on the island. A negotiator to whom the Cuban regime will no longer have to answer.

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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In Matanzas, Not Enough Buses and Too Many Billboards For the First of May Celebrations

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

A billboard for the First of May next to the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 1 May 2025 – The colours on the billboard leap out at you in the middle of the terrace around the Ayllón Viaduct bus stop. The grassed area has already been worn away by the constant flow of people and by the drought. It the middle of all this parched earth with all its attendant long faces brought on by the transport crisis, the huge billboard inviting you to the First of May procession seems to have landed from a parallel universe.

“Together we’ll do it, for Cuba”, the poster’s text assures us, and it shows us a linesman from the Electric Company and a pioneer character holding a Cuban flag and wearing a kufiya – the traditional Arabic headscarf which Yasser Arafat converted into a political symbol for the Palestinians. And all the while, the country suffers long power cuts and an economic crisis without precedent.

Just a few metres from the hoarding, the actual reality of the situation becomes clear. This Wednesday the bus stop was particularly crowded with desperate travellers, waiting. Some of them had managed to find some shade to sit in, but others, because of lack of space or lack of patience were more dispersed and were forced to wait out on the pavement under the sun, their gaze fixed out there on the road, arm ready to be raised if and when they caught sight of any private transport, annoyance painted on their faces.

The travellers remember when tourism was buoyant and the state-operated buses still had space and stopped to pick them up.

Yunior, 43, wears a cap to shield himself from the unrelenting heat of the sun. He arrives at the bus stop after his day’s work in a nearby state department office every afternoon after five o’clock. With his back to the giant Labour Day billboard, the employee pins all his hopes on any driver from an official organisation who might take pity on someone like him who needs transport back to somewhere near his home.

The Viaduct bus stop is always crowded with people headed out towards the outskirts of the city, to Cárdenas or Varadero. “The bus inspector is here between two and three in the afternoon, and he gets on the first bus that passes. Although his presence doesn’t even guarantee either that the buses continue reading

will actually stop”, Yunior explains. A commotion causes him to turn towards a state registered vehicle which has just picked up two women. Although a crowd of people rushes towards the car, there is only room for those two.

The guy from Matanzas does a quick calculation. “The lorries that head towards Cárdenas charge 200 or 250 pesos, but after 4pm there are hardly any of them. When I manage to board one of them it costs me 50 to get to Peñas Altas and then I have to continue on foot”. In the little more than twenty working days that he has each month Yunior spends a third of his salary on getting to and from work.

The number of people waiting for transport keeps increasing and spreads across the tarmac from the traffic lights behind the Sauto Theatre and up to the Viaduct bus stop. There are even some who stand as far down as the bridge, keeping apart from the crowd in order to keep their options open if a car should suddenly appear with an empty seat. However Yunio stays next to the billboard. “There’ll be a bit of shade from the billboard here shortly and even if I haven’t found a lift yet, at least I won’t end up being baked by the sun”. Even propaganda can have its unexpected uses.

The more unlucky ones had to wait in the sun for a bus to arrive.

Although the Cuban authorities have emphasised that this year’s First of May celebrations will have a lower consumption of fuel, at the Viaduct bus stop people do their own sums and calculate the impact of the event. The local press describes the events of next Thursday morning thus: “On the main thoroughfares, workers, students and representatives of all social sectors will show their support for the Revolution and will reaffirm their commitment to the development of the province”.

“No matter how little fuel they use it’s obvious that the leaders aren’t going to travel from their houses to the procession on foot”, one woman is heard to say: she is one of the lucky ones who this Wednesday managed to find some shade and a bit of wall to sit on beneath the bus shelter. A state employee, like the majority waiting for public transport, she says that in recent months the number of people waiting at Viaduct has increased.

It’s not only the shortage of fuel but also the fall in tourism that has lengthened the amount of time spent waiting here. “Before, when the Transtur buses to and from from Varadero had empty seats they would stop here and take people on board”, she remembers. But the frequency of those buses has plummeted. Just like for many of the others waiting here for a bus, for her the next two days of festivity will merely be a pause in the unwanted drama of trying to get from A to B.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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Neither the Shrimp nor the Lobster Have Been Spared From the Debacle of the Cuban Economy

In five years, pork production has dropped by 95%, pasta by 92%, rice by 82.4%, yogurt by 81.2%, coffee by 65.6%, ice cream by 62% and flour by 60%.

The decline in the production of animal fodder contributes to the understanding of the debacle of animal products / El Artemiseño

14ymedio, Madrid, 1 May 2025 — Cuban authorities can celebrate the increase in rice production in 2024. And little else. The data published on Wednesday on the results of the manufacturing industry last year follow the usual path of certifying that, if something goes wrong in Cuba, it can still get much worse.

The case of compound feed is the paradigm of its disastrous impact on the food chain. With a decrease of 47% in just one year and 80% compared to 2019, only 216,700 tons of this product were produced, which in turn explains the collapse of the meat industry and the lack of animal protein for the Cuban population.

The decline in pork production is nothing new, although the situation has not yet bottomed out. In five years, 95% of the volume of banded pork has been lost, from 134,700 tons in 2019 to only 7,200, aggravating the already enormous decline (90%) recorded the previous year, when the production of 13,300 tons, now considered enviable since it is double that obtained in 2024, already seemed a catastrophe. Less brutal, but not negligible, are the decreases in boneless beef (14,400 tons, 3,700 tons less than the previous year) and canned meat (from 78,200 tons to 61,000 tons), which have just finished the sector.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming.

Logically, the decline of cheese and yogurt goes hand in hand with the decline of livestock farming. The path is similar. Compared to 2023, cheese fell by 41% (to 4,400 tons), but in the last five years the drop reaches 83.3%. The same goes for yogurt, which left 26,300 tons produced in 2024, compared to 50,000 in 2023 and 140,400 in 2019, a drop of 81.2%. Thus, nothing has been achieved in these years of alleged struggle for food production, and this does not only concern the raw material, but also the destruction of the industry for reasons ranging from the state of the facilities to the lack of personnel, not to mention the extraordinary energy crisis that prevents even imagining that the situation will recover. continue reading

Closing the animal section, the relative recovery of salted butter is striking, which was produced only in 2020 – 100 tons – and has now produced 9,000 tons for two consecutive years. On the other hand, unsalted butter has practically disappeared, from 492,400 tons in 2019 to only 48,100 last year. In five years, 90% of production has been lost.

Fishing is not much better, although it is one of the government’s priority sectors. Shrimp and lobster, protected by their contribution in foreign currency through exports, are also sinking. The first, which left 6,900 tons in 2019, was 1,100 tons last year, 84% less. As for the second, 45% of the production of tails was lost in five years (248,600 tons compared to 136,000) and 9.2% for the whole frozen.

Pasta is another national food product that is gradually being wiped off the map to make way for imported products. No less than 92% of the production has fallen in five years, from 38,200 tons to only 3,000 tons, although in this case it was already foreseen, since in 2023 only 3,200 tons will be produced.

Bread is in the same line, whose case is not so dramatic – from 454,600 to 277,300 tons, 39% less – but its impact is greater because it is an indispensable food in every daily meal and cannot be imported in its non-industrial form. The relationship is evident in the loss of the flour industry, which has also declined by more than 60% in five years. In 2019, 490,300 tons were produced, but last year only 200,600, which shows that the successive shipments of wheat are flying, as confirmed by the decreasing weight of bread.

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes

Coffee is the product that closes the string of misfortunes. With a production of 6,600 tons, much of which is exported, one of the most important products of the island shows tiny figures, with a decrease of 65.6% in five years, with the aggravating factor that more than 35% was lost in just one year, since 10,200 tons were produced in 2023.

There is a brief section for respite. The first, as indicated at the beginning of this note, is rice. It is one of the only products that improved compared to 2023, going from 27,900 tons to 34,400, a symptom that Vietnamese aid is of some use. But the joy is short-lived when viewed in perspective, as 196,100 tons were produced in 2019. This means that in a five-year period 82.4% of a staple food in the Cuban diet has been lost, forced to import and receive Asian donations constantly of a grain that is distributed by the ration book.

The rest of the increases remain for a few other foods, including the unhealthy crackers with salt, which increased from 2,700 tons to 3,300 this 2024, although it was 15,500 in 2019. Also improved were canned tomatoes, the largest industrial recovery of the year, with 13,400 tons, compared to 8,400 in 2023.

Without data for oil and evaporated milk, the list is closed by canned fruit, whose production fell by 25%, from 51,900 tons to 38,900 only last year; and ice cream, which with 8,100 tons barely loses when compared to 2023 -8,600-, but the thing changes when it is observed that in 2019 were produced 21,600 and it is seen that the fall exceeds 62%, which explains that MSMEs in the sector import directly even from Italy.

Although the Cuban government has focused on food production as a priority – a totally unrealistic extreme, given the scarce investment and persistence of the same erratic policies – it has said little about food processing, which is no less important, and even less about how to revitalize the industry.

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the forecasts are not only bad, but worsening. The projections of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) showed a negative growth for the island of -0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), but the revision made to reflect the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff measures has lowered expectations for most countries, which are still growing. Cuba, which is not affected by the absence of trade with the United States, loses a tenth in any case and stands at -0.4%, while the rest of the region is growing despite the blow. With the exception of Venezuela (-1.5%) and Haiti (-2%).

Translated by Gustavo Loredo

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Havana Rejects As “Interventionist” the European Union’s Request To Release Ferrer and Navarro

The European Union (EU) asks Cuba to review the revocation of the release of opponents Ferrer and Navarro.

Mounir Satouri, MEP for the Greens and chairman of the Human Rights sub-committee, denounced the situation of Ferrer and Navarro / EP

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana/Brussels, May 1, 2025 — This Wednesday the government of Cuba “strongly” rejected a request from the EU that calls on the Regime to review its decision to revoke parole for opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, arrested two days ago in their respective places of residence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the EU statement “intrusive and disrespectful on matters of national sovereignty in which it has no right or moral authority; unaware of the truth and information offered by the Supreme Court of Cuba,” according to a message on social networks.

The People’s Supreme Court (TSP) confirmed last Monday the revocation of the releases of the historic opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro and claimed that both “violated” the conditions imposed on them. In addition, it reiterated that the decision has a “legal basis.”

The Foreign Ministry called the EU statement “intrusive and disrespectful on matters of national sovereignty in which it has no right or moral authority; unaware of the truth and information”

“The criminal courts of the popular provincial courts of Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba revoked the parole of two persons who did not comply with the law during the probation period to which they were subject,” stated the vice president of the TSP, Maricela Sosa Ravelo.

The EU, through a spokesman for the EU’s senior representative for foreign affairs and security, Kaja Kallas, regretted the decision and also called in a statement for Cuba to release “all persons arrested for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.” continue reading

“The EU reiterates its calls for full respect of human rights and to ensure that all citizens, including those with dissident views, are able to exercise their fundamental freedoms freely,” she added.

Furthermore, she stated that the EU will “monitor the human rights situation” in Cuba and “use all established mechanisms to raise its concerns,” in line with the principles of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC), the legal framework on which the two parties base their bilateral relations.

Her demand was joined by that of the legislature. The European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights also expressed its “deep concern” about the situation of Ferrer and Navarro and called on the Cuban authorities to guarantee their fundamental right to express themselves freely without fear of persecution.

The chairman of this Sub-Committee, the French MEP from the Greens, Mounir Satouri, called in a statement “for the urgent, immediate and unconditional release” of both activists, as well as official confirmation of their whereabouts and guarantees for their physical safety and protection.

“We reaffirm our call to the Cuban authorities to respect fundamental rights and ensure that all citizens are free to express themselves without fear of being persecuted, even those with dissenting opinions,” he said.

“We reaffirm our call to the Cuban authorities to respect fundamental rights and ensure that all citizens are free to express themselves without fear of persecution”

Satouri, on behalf of the Sub-Committee, also urged the Cuban government to “respond to the legitimate demands of the Cuban people through an inclusive and sincere dialogue.”

The MEP also reached out to the ADPC and assured that the EU will continue to closely follow developments and make “full use of all available mechanisms” to address its concerns.

“The EU stands in solidarity with all those working peacefully for democratic change and remains committed to supporting efforts towards a more open and inclusive society,” he added.

Ferrer had planned to take part, at the beginning of this month, in the public hearing held by the EU Sub-Committee on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Cuba. Unable to connect live due to a power cut, he sent a pre-recorded video detailing “very worrying accounts of torture and systematic abuse in Cuban prisons,” Satouri pointed out.

Ferrer and Navarro, both with decades of opposition activism, were released last January, following an agreement between Havana and Washington mediated by the Vatican – and not recognized by the parties – in which Cuba committed to releasing 553 prisoners and the US to exclude Cuba from the list of countries promoting terrorism.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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China Will Manage a Hotel in Cuba, Among Measures To Try To Revive the Tourism Sector

In addition, the $30 tourist health fee will be waived and payments in euros and Canadian currency will be authorized.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero inaugurates FITCuba / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 1 May 2025 — With a list of proposals that promise “different times” for the Cuban tourism sector, on Wednesday Prime Minister Manuel Marrero opened the International Tourism Fair (FitCuba). Transactions in Canadian dollars and euros, cancellation of health fees at airports and rental of tourist facilities are some of the measures announced by the Prime Minister, who assured that the recovery of the sector has become a “question of honor.”

China, the invited country, has been the privileged partner during this edition of the Fair, which welcomes 850 international participants and 2,000 national ones. Both governments signed letters of intent to lease the Copacabana hotel, owned by the Cubanacan group and located in Miramar, Havana, to Beijing. “As a sign of reciprocity, Cuba decided to eliminate the visa requirement for holders of ordinary passports from the People’s Republic of China in 2024, and dedicated the Fair to China as the guest of honor,” added Marrero.

The Prime Minister also promised – with his “bold” and “different” strategy but closely controlled by the State to stimulate foreign investment – “facilities for trading in foreign currencies,” the opening of new air routes, such as flights to Germany from November onwards, and the elimination, as of Thursday, of the health charge applied to travelers in airports, ports and marinas.

The minister also announced more special economic zones with benefits for investors

This payment, of 30 US dollars or its equivalent, was implemented in all international terminals following the coronavirus pandemic, and, with its cancellation, authorities hope to create an incentive for tourists to continue arriving on the Island.

The minister also announced the creation of more special economic zones with benefits for investors, such as Mariel, although this has not yielded the expected results. It was initially expected to raise some $2.5 billion annually, but barely reached a total of $3.5 billion during its first 10 years of continue reading

life.

He also said that the Government’s plan is to involve both the State and private sectors in tourism development, as well as “improving payment systems and incentives” for workers in this sector. These are all measures with which the Regime, accustomed to restricting the freedom of management especially of Cuban entrepreneurs, has been cautious.

In fact, Marrero offered “greater autonomy for exporting companies and businesses with foreign capital” but did not mention greater freedoms for private individuals, who even depend on the State to import their goods.

With more prominence in speeches on the sector than the Minister of Tourism himself, Juan Carlos García Granda, Marrero – the former head of the portfolio – said that “at different times, different solutions are imposed. Cuba is more than sun and beach; we offer ecotourism, rural tourism, cultural, heritage, sports, health, scientific, cruises and more,” he added.

“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward”

“Although the problems will not be solved overnight, these concrete steps will allow us to move forward,” he explained, and he connected the strategies to attract tourists with the investments needed to improve the national electricity system.

Although his speech was full of references to a reform in the management of the sector, the plans for Tourism are still part of the usual strategy, which has not worked so far: “correct distortions and revive the economy.” According to economist Pedro Monreal, Tourism made a “loose update of the official report on a failed bet, and there is an absence of a credible proposal of the tourism-development relationship in the post ’Ordering Task’ era.”

With a “display of tradition and protocol” in the fortress of La Cabaña, as described by Cubadebate itself, the Minister of Tourism also proposed to several member countries of ALBA* the creation of a multi-destination tourist plan that includes tours not only on the Island but also in other countries in the region.

The need for change is becoming inexcusable now that Tourism is unlikely to reach the target of 2.6 million visitors in 2025, despite the fact that the failures of the last two years have forced it to lower the goal. Until the end of March, which is the end of the high season, Cuba received only 571,772 travelers – 30% less than in 2024 for the same period – and, in the coming summer months, when the traffic of travelers decreases, the numbers promise to be worse.

In that quarter, none of the top ten countries managed to increase the number of travelers compared with the same quarter of 2024. And China, which the authorities strive to present as a growing market, is not even among the first.

In recent years hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared

The State is not alone in suffering the debacle. In recent years, hundreds of rental houses and hostels for foreigners have disappeared or moved to other businesses due to the decline in tourism. For the renters of private homes that resist, more bad news comes to cloud the panorama. Airbnb, the hosting platform used by many of them, has decided to suspend payments to Cuba unless landlords have overseas accounts.

“In accordance with recent US federal regulations, we have notified hosts in Cuba that they must add a new payment method to their account in order to continue hosting on Airbnb. We are working with hosts and providing clear instructions on how to update their accounts and regain access. In addition, we would like to point out that we have already processed the payments corresponding to future confirmed reservations using the current payment method,” the company told El Toque.

* ALBA is an organization created for the political and economic cooperation of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Delay in the Migration Law Keeps Thousands of Cubans in Limbo

Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved this regulation, still unpublished

Several passengers in line to check in for an Air Century flight at Terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport, Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Stuck in limbo: this is how Dayuri, 47, feels. She arrived in Miami from Havana at the end of 2023 after crossing the U.S. southern border. In December, the two-year period expires, which the Cuban authorities allow her for being off the Island without losing her residence and ownership of a house in Cerro municipality. Cuba’s new Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws, which eliminate this requirement, have not even been published in the Official Gazette.

Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved the regulations regulating core issues such as permanent residence on the Island, the right to retain property even when living outside the country and the mechanisms through which foreigners can settle and invest in the national territory. For Dayuri the delay may mean the loss of the family home she inherited from her parents, who died during the covid-19 pandemic.

“When I left, there was already talk of new legislation coming and that they were going to remove the obligation to return after 24 months,” she told 14ymedio. In mid-2024, when she had already been in the U.S. for more than half a year, Dayuri was relieved to see all Cuban parliamentarians voting unanimously for the new regulations. “I thought that before Christmas they were going to publish it in the Gazette and that my house was going to be secure.”

“We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here”

But so far the new legislation has not appeared in the Official Gazette of the Republic, after which 180 days still have to pass before it comes into force. The delay affects an undetermined number of migrants who are about to complete their two years outside Cuba but have not yet obtained legal continue reading

residence in the U.S., without which they must not leave U.S. territory; otherwise, they will not be able to return.

“I search and search in the news, and nobody talks about this. Everyone comments on the deportations, the Cuban Adjustment Law, the I220-A visas, but no one says anything about our situation. We are about to lose our homes and legal residence in Cuba but without obtaining them here,” Dayari says. She is right. If the subject of the Migration, Citizenship and Aliens laws made headlines in the official Cuban press prior to its approval, it seems to have disappeared from the information agenda months ago.

The most awaited is the Migration Law, because of what it means for properties on the Island. Its entry into force invalidates numerous procedures related to both the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Aliens and the Housing Institute, in addition to requiring updates for notaries and Cuban consulates.

So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home

So far, after 24 uninterrupted months outside the country, the owner loses his rights to his home. To avoid the seizure of the property by the State, the owners give a power of attorney to a relative, friend or acquaintance to sell, transfer or donate the house. With the mass exodus that the Island is experiencing, the current legislation has triggered this type of paperwork and bureaucratic red tape.

The solution for Orlando, a citizen of Cienfuegos who arrived in Houston last August and has not yet been granted U.S. residency, was to give power of attorney for his brother to sell or transfer his property if the Migration Law continues to be delayed and he fails to keep the house in Abreus municipality in his name. The procedure costs between $150 and $300 in consulates in the United States, where a large Cuban community resides. In recent years, with the migration stampede, the need to carry out this paperwork has multiplied.

A number of private companies outside the Island have emerged as intermediaries to expedite and secure procedures. Through one of them, Orlando organized his process. “I trust my brother, but there are people who have had to give power of attorney to a neighbor or a friend because their stay away is about to reach two years, and it’s either that or lose the house.” The biggest nightmare of the migrant is “to be deported from the U.S. and arrive at my town to see that my house, which cost me so many sacrifices, is now in someone else’s name.”

Orlando finds it hard to believe that in a country that has experienced the largest migratory exodus in its history in recent years, “it is not a priority to finish fixing this two-year issue so that people can keep their homes even if they spend years and years outside the country.” He regrets that the complaints on social networks are directed more towards the U.S. than to Cuba. “We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law.”

“We spend our lives demanding that they legalize Cubans in the U.S., but I do not see the same insistence in Cuba to accelerate the Migration Law”

Once the regulations are in place, not only can those who are away spend as much time as they want without returning to Cuba and not lose their home, but a Cuban who does not reside on the Island will be able to acquire property. “It is an earthquake that will happen at the level of the legislation for houses, and they are still projecting and calculating the consequences,” explains to 14ymedio a worker from the Housing Institute who asks for anonymity.

According to the employee, “a change in the Housing Law has been on the table for years to make it more flexible not only with regard to the property of those who reside outside but also to allow those inside to own more than one dwelling under the same name,” she explains. ” With the new Migration Law, it must be remembered that there will no longer be a concept of ’emigrated’ but rather one of effective residence and another that is not, depending on whether or not you spend most of the time in a year in Cuba or not.”

But it’s not only houses that are at stake. Once the regulations enter into force, Cubans residing off the Island will be able to apply for “investor” status. This possibility is currently closed to them and will open the door to hundreds of thousands of potential investors.

One of them is Enrique, name changed, who has lived since the 1980s in Berlin, Germany. As a student in East Germany, after the wall came down, he decided to settle in the country, where he married and later retired. “I have saved money and would like to open a business of rental houses in Havana, specifically in the neighborhood of Santos Suarez, where I was born.”

Enrique, however, is considered under current legislation to be a Cuban resident abroad with no right to property or a business on the Island. “Since the new law was passed, I have often called the consulate to find out when it will be implemented, and they just give me a hard time,” he complains. ” This surprises me, because there is legislation that has been announced on the same day that it is published in the Gazette, which comes into force 24 hours later.”

“There appears to be no political will for this Migration Act to enter into force as soon as possible”

“They made a lot of noise announcing it, publishing the discussions in Parliament, but now it seems that there is no political will for this Migration Law to come into force as soon as possible and solve the situation of so many Cubans. My friends have recommended that I look for several front men, within my own family, who have properties in Santos Suarez, and I can manage them from here, but that’s not the way I want to do business.”

For Dayari, time is running out. Unlike Orlando or Enrique, she has no one to whom to transfer the ownership of her home. In her mind, two countdowns resonate at the same time without giving her a break. One marks the time remaining to obtain residence in the United States after almost two years of upheavals. The second ends in December, when under Cuban law she becomes an emigrant without the right to have a home on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Bread Will Get Here When the Flour Shows Up’

Next to this sign, state-owned stores display another: “We greet May 1st with efficiency and commitment.”

That old adage that reads “Save bread for May” becomes a riddle / 14ymedio

14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 18 April 2025 — In large letters, the bakery window proclaims: “Long live May 1st.” In small letters, another sign clarifies: “The bread will be delivered when the flour comes in.” That old saying, “Save bread for May,” becomes a riddle. Since the beginning of this week, Havana residents have been coming and going with their empty bags, while the helpless vendors tell stories about shipments and boats that should have arrived. Meanwhile, at the private market, bags of 6 and 8 bread rolls skyrocket up to 300 and 500 pesos.

“I don’t know what to do to feed my son anymore, especially during this vacation week,” comments Teresa, a 35-year-old mother. “I’ve been without gas for over a month, and when the power goes out at noon, I have nothing to cook with. Bread is an emergency food, a solution, and I don’t even have that anymore.”

Teresa makes a sacrifice. She buys a bag of 6 rolls for 370 pesos at the private cafeteria right next to the state-run bakery in her neighborhood, that way, she at least ensures her son’s breakfast. “I’ll figure out what to do for the rest of the day,” she tells herself thoughtfully. This Wednesday, the Municipal Administration Council of Plaza de la Revolución reported on its Facebook page that, over the past 48 hours, its bakeries had been experiencing problems producing basic bread due to a lack of flour.

Cubans already know that when there’s no bread, it’s because there’s no flour, or no oil, or because the ship hasn’t arrived / 14ymedio

“That news report is published every other week. Cubans already know that when there’s no bread, it’s because there’s no flour, or no oil, or because the ship hasn’t arrived, and so on, like with rice and everything else”, says Antonio, who adds that clarifications or justifications are unnecessary. “We all know about their ineptitude. They’re good for nothing.”

On the other hand, bread offered for sale in private businesses hasn’t been in short supply, but its price has increased considerably in recent weeks. In continue reading

Guanabacoa, it’s normal to hear a whistle or a child’s voice selling food on the streets at any time, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

There’s no flour, but the sign speaks of “efficiency and commitment” / 14ymedio

“Until two weeks ago, I used to buy a bag of 9 or 10 rolls for 200 pesos,” says Leticia, a resident of the Habana Nueva neighborhood in the municipality of Guanabacoa. “There are three of us in my house, and each of us eats two, and sometimes even three rolls for a snack or breakfast, because they’re small, almost for a birthday, and don’t even think about saving them for two days from now, because they go bad quickly,” continues Leticia, who at least has the opportunity to spend that money every so often. “Well, those same bread rolls went up to 250 pesos last week, and this Monday they were at 300 pesos. The worst part is that now the flour is showing up, but these prices aren’t going back down.”

There have been several complaints on social media in recent days about the bread situation, suggesting that this is a national issue. In the capital, residents of La Lisa, Luyanó, Alamar, and Vedado have reported that neighborhood bakeries are out of flour, but individuals have all sorts of supplies. “It’s horrible to live like this,” says Yuly Saez in a Facebook post. “We’ve been without bread at the bakery for three days… no one is offering a solution or an adequate response, since our children’s main food source is bread. Now individuals are taking advantage and selling a bag of it for 500 pesos.

Meanwhile, no authority has provided an explanation for the product’s absence or the estimated time it will return to the bakeries. In September of last year, Anayra Cabrera Martínez, Director of Industrial Policy for the Ministry of Food Industry, reported that the weight of bread in the standard family basket would be reduced by 20 grams, from 80 to 60 grams, in order to avoid affecting production and ensure it reaches the entire population, due to the unavailability of flour in the country. She also explained that this was not a permanent change and that delays could occur due to the logistical effort required to transport the flour.

Months later, the bread situation does not appear to have an immediate solution.

Guanabacoa resident: “The worst part is that flour is now beginning to appear, but these prices won’t come down again.” / 14ymedio

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World Press Freedom Is at Its Worst Because of the Economy of the Media

“You don’t kill the truth by killing journalists.” The gap between the Western European press and the rest of the world is widening / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Paris, 2 May 2025 — Press freedom worldwide is at its worst since Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) began compiling its index in 2002, due to the poor economic situation of the media, threatening their survival and the integrity of their work.

In its annual report on press freedom published this Friday, RSF warns that “for the first time in the history of the ranking, the situation of press freedom is becoming ’difficult’ worldwide.”

The communications media “are caught between guaranteeing their independence and their financial survival,” it adds.

“Half of the countries evaluated have poor conditions for journalism, and only one country out of four has a good situation,” explains Elena G. Viscasillas, spokesperson for RSF, at its headquarters in Paris.

The organization stresses that this situation has further damaged a media that is “already being harmed” by an advertising market controlled by Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, which in 2024 captured advertising revenue on their “largely unregulated” social platforms of $247.3 billion, 14% more than in 2023.

“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality”

“Without economic independence, there is no free press. When the media are economically fragile, they are drawn into a race for the audience at the expense of quality and can fall prey to oligarchs or political leaders who continue reading

instrumentalize them,” says Anne Bocandé, RSF editorial director.

RSF points to the U.S. as the “leader of the economic depression” in the media and ranks it in 57th place on the index (dropping two places compared with 2024 and 12 since 2023), mainly because some areas have become “news deserts” due to the closure of media.

In addition, it points out that the second term of Donald Trump “has aggravated this situation” at a global level, with the cessation of funding for media such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, which has deprived “overnight” more than 400 million people worldwide from having access to reliable information.

The USAID funding freeze has also affected hundreds of media outlets, some of which are now closing, as in Ukraine where 90% of the media depends on foreign donations.

RSF reports that in 46 countries media ownership is highly concentrated in private or State hands.

The report stresses that this media hyperconcentration is “a cause for concern in well-positioned countries” such as Finland (ranked 5), Canada (21) and Australia (29). In France (which dropped four places in one year to 25), eight large companies own about twenty-five media that account for 81% of national newspaper coverage and 95% of national weekly newspapers.

The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in the five indicators that make up the ranking

The annual ranking is led for the ninth consecutive year by Norway, the only country with a “good” position in all five indicators that make up the ranking: media environment, independence, pluralism, legal framework and journalist safety. It is followed by Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Ireland. The top 15 countries are European, with New Zealand in 16th place.

Spain ranks 23rd, improving by seven positions compared to last year.

The last place is again Eritrea (180), and just above it are North Korea, China (drops six places), Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

In 42 countries, which account for 56.7% of the world’s population, the situation regarding press freedom is “very serious,” warns RSF.

By region, the changes in the list show how the gap between Western Europe and other regions, including Eastern Europe, is widening.

Russia drops 9 places and ranks 171, making it into the bottom ten. “The media are controlled by the State or by oligarchs close to the Kremlin,” states RSF.

In the Americas, 22 out of 26 countries have seen a deterioration in the media’s economic health indicator.

The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press.” Cuba occupies position 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142

Argentina continues its drop in the ranking to position 87 (by 47 positions in two years). The worst-placed country on the continent is Nicaragua (172), where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “has eradicated the independent press,” says RSF.

Cuba ranks 165, Venezuela 160 and Honduras 142. Mexico is ranked 124, while Colombia is ranked 119. The best-placed Latin American country is Costa Rica (36), which still drops ten positions. Brazil ranks 63, recovering 47 positions in two years after the departure of Jair Bolsonaro from power.

The map in the report, which as usual colors countries according to their press freedom situation, shows how the dark color has spread considerably since last year in a large area starting in East Africa and spreading through Russia and virtually all of the Middle East and Asia.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘My Work in Counterintelligence Helped Me Survive Prison’

Released after 27 years in prison and solitary confinement, Ernesto Borges gives his testimony to 14ymedio.

“I spent a lot of time in isolation, unable to vent to anyone about the long periods of interrogation.” / Courtesy / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Mario Félix Lleonart, 2 May 2025 — Since his release from Combinado del Este prison after 27 years in prison, Ernesto Borges hasn’t stopped. Returning home, reuniting with his family, seeing Havana after almost three decades of not walking its streets, and undertaking numerous bureaucratic procedures, such as applying for an identity card, have tested the former political prisoner’s emotional and physical capacities.

Amidst this maelstrom, Borges spoke with 14ymedio about the long years he spent locked up and the importance of solidarity in cases like his.

14ymedio: Your father has been a constant activist for your release. How has that support been?

Borges: I’ve experienced the support he’s given me with great gratitude. When I look at him at 85 years old and the wear and tear of age, my heart aches, but I also feel a great pride in having him. He’s not just my father; he’s also my friend. I’ve found him worn down by the suffering and helplessness of having a son in prison, but he’s alive, and that’s the most important thing right now.

The interrogator told me that parents who had a child in prison were like sick people.

Once, during an interrogation, the investigator told me that parents who had a child in prison were like sick people, or that they behaved as if they were in constant mourning for the death of a loved one. He was right. I’ve seen it in my father, my brother, and my mother, who has since passed away. continue reading

14ymedio: Huber Matos wrote Cómo llegó la noche (How the Night Came) after 20 years in Prison. Have you read that testimony?

Borges: I read that book in Guanajay prison a few years ago. They managed to get it into prison in two parts, and I really liked it for its frankness, its sincerity, and its humility. But above all, what I remember most is Huber Matos’s description of the Sierra Maestra, where I’ve never been. He describes with such love that time when he was up in the mountains, fighting against [Fulgencio] Batista, and it’s truly moving.

14ymedio: Have you met many political prisoners in jail?

Borges: I met several people from the case of the 75 [of the ‘Black Spring’] who were arrested in 2003, among them Omar Pernet Hernández, Jorge Luis González Tanquero, Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés and Efrén Fernández Fernández, among others who were taken to the Guanajay prison where I was at the time. I also met others at Combinado del Este, like Rafael Ibarra Roque, also Carlitos El Americano, whose name I don’t remember. Anyway, I had contact with several of them, very good people in general.

I also met some protesters convicted for participating in the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021.

It was my turn to comfort them and encourage them. Some, although they had come for political crimes, lacked much political or ideological training; they had reacted purely instinctively to what was happening in the country. Some of them hadn’t even read a book, so I encouraged them and shared my vision. I also met some protesters convicted for participating in the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, like Dayron Martín Rodríguez , from La Guinera, with whom I became friends because we attended religious services together. He was sentenced to 25 years for the crime of sedition, a person who has suffered greatly. I also had contact with Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, who was exchanged with the United States in December 2014, a person who had also suffered greatly.

14ymedio: How do you survive, physically, but above all, mentally, more than a quarter of a century in prison?

Borges: I must say frankly that I had several advantages in facing such a challenge. First, I was imprisoned very young, barely 32 years old. I was also well-prepared; my work in counterintelligence served me well. The same materials I studied to train the agents I would later turn into double agents helped me prepare and survive isolation and prison. During that time, I also read a lot, studied a lot, and I was determined to learn English. I also opened myself to faith.

My love for Cuba also saved me.

Faith has been a decisive experience for me. If prison has taught me anything, it is that. I spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, unable to vent with anyone about the long interrogations, the threats I received that they would impose the death penalty, or the whole 30-year sentence. My love for Cuba also saved me. I feel an immense love for this country, and life also gave me a wonderful, humble family. My relatives are the unsung heroes of this story. They had to deprive themselves of many things to bring me things in prison. They had to run when I needed medication. They didn’t hesitate to get me the books and study materials I needed to develop myself.

14ymedio: How did you experience the solidarity of activists and exiles?

Borges: The other heroes in this story are the brothers and sisters of the opposition inside and outside Cuba, those who delivered the messages that comforted me so much, even in the most profound loneliness. I’ve overcome so much because, in reality, I was never alone; many people helped me carry the cross. Brothers and sisters from the Catholic, Evangelical, and Protestant churches who have been true disciples of Christ, preaching by personal example. I feel very fortunate for all of that.

My eternal gratitude to those who did not leave me alone.

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Martha Beatriz Roque Returns to Cuba Despite the Regime’s “Terrible Hatred” for Her

“They bet on me staying in the United States.”

The opposition leader expressed her willingness to return to the country, fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 2 May 2025 — Martha Beatriz Roque returned to Cuba this Thursday from the United States, where she had been undergoing medical treatment since February, after an unsuccessful stay in several hospitals on the island. A human rights activist and one of the most outspoken critics of the regime, her delicate state of health has not prevented her from returning to her country, which is immersed in a new wave of repression against long-standing dissidents.

Waking up early in Havana, Roque explained to 14ymedio that she had “quite a few difficulties” entering the country, though she didn’t go into details. Somewhat weak and fatigued from the trip, she affirmed that she hasn’t lost one iota of her will to be, think, and speak in Cuba.

“I was born in Cuba, and in Cuba I have to live,” she states emphatically. “Many people are shocked.” State Security detained her at the airport. “They explained to me that they wouldn’t allow me to do anything, as always: a warning.” She claims she has a medical treatment program from the US that she must comply with on the island, despite all kinds of restrictions.

She completely denies the rumor that she returned to the country “to complete some paperwork.” “I’m going to return to the US whenever I deem it appropriate,” she clarifies. She has part of her family in that country. On the island, she will continue to work tirelessly, she emphasizes. “All the strategies the dictatorship has used to persuade me not to return to the opposition have had no influence on me.” continue reading

Now, one of her problems is getting her house in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton ready, it having been completely closed up during her trip. For now, she prefers to recover from the trip and enjoy some tranquility before giving interviews or making statements about what’s happening in the country.

This week, two prominent regime opponents—José Daniel Ferrer in Santiago de Cuba and Félix Navarro in Matanzas—were arrested again just months after being released from prison, thanks to negotiations between the Vatican and Havana. In a police operation, supported by televised statements from the Supreme Court, political police agents ransacked Ferrer’s home during his arrest and handcuffed Navarro as he went to see his daughter, Sayli, also a political prisoner.

In an interview with the Recate Jurídico Foundation shortly before her return to Cuba, Roque addressed this situation and expressed his willingness to return to the country, fully aware of the gravity of the situation. “The island is in a very difficult situation, not only politically but also economically and socially. I would like to spend some time there so I can personally experience what is happening,” he said. For Roque, this is a State Security operation against dissidents “who are capable of reaching out to the people, of expressing themselves.”

She also explained that her recovery has been slow. “I feel fine and plan to return to Cuba. I’ve already bought my ticket.”

She also explained that her recovery has been slow. “I feel fine and plan to return to Cuba. I have already booked a ticket,” she told the Foundation bluntly. “I don’t think I’ll be welcome on the island. They were banking on me staying in the United States, but they know very well that I’m not going to stay there.”

She opened the possibility of visiting the United States for medical reasons, but only for “a month or two,” before returning immediately. “I have my home in Cuba,” she concluded. “I have spent many years trying to free the country from communism.” With some bitterness, she predicted that Cuba will not experience any change for the time being due to many “interests,” both internal and external, that tend to maintain the status quo .

On the verge of turning 80, Roque experienced a moment of extreme sadness in February, when several organizations expressed their willingness to support her in the hospital. Finally, taking advantage of a slight improvement, she traveled to Florida to recover her health.

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and recipient of countless awards, Roque was the only woman among the group of 75 Cubans arrested during the so-called Black Spring of 2003 and sentenced to long prison terms.

In 2024, the ” woman most hated by the regime” was one of 14ymedio’s faces of the year. At the time, the newspaper celebrated the presentation of the Woman of Courage award, which the US government grants to those who “have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in defending peace, justice, and human rights.” Roque, however, was unable to attend the Washington ceremony because she was on medical leave at the time.

At that time, she repeated to 14ymedio a phrase that reflects her work promoting democracy over the past 35 years and its impact on the regime: “The hatred they have for me is terrible.”

Cuba Seeks Foreign Investment To Enter the Lucrative Plasma Business

Historically, the Cuban government forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks

Workers at Laboratorios Aica, a subsidiary of BioCubaFarma. / Laboratorios Aica/Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Aica Laboratories, one of the jewels in the BioCubaFarma group’s crown, announced that it is open to foreign investment to boost the manufacturing of blood-derived medicines. The project, which is seeking a “risk investor” to finance it, includes the construction of a plasmapheresis center. If successful, Cuba will enter the lucrative business of extracting and marketing plasma and its derivatives.

Although they are related procedures, extracting plasma from the human body is not the same as extracting blood. Plasma—the viscous substance left in the blood after removing red and white blood cells, composed of 92% water and the rest proteins, fat, oxygen, and other substances—is used to manufacture medications, following the artificial separation process known as plasmapheresis.

John Wilber Arrazcaeta, director of Aica, assured the official press that they have obtained government permission to open up to foreign financing because the country lacks the necessary funds to sustain an industry of this magnitude and complexity.

He briefly discussed the differences between blood and plasma donations and stated that his company aims to return the red blood cell concentrate to the donor after plasmapheresis. This is relevant information, given that while the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell continue reading

regeneration takes about eight weeks.

While the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell regeneration takes about eight weeks.

According to Arrazcaeta, the process involves “high costs,” especially when it comes to obtaining plasmapheresis kits—which typically contain needles, syringes, reservoirs, and other items—which cost between 30 and 50 euros in Spain.

The potential opening of a plasmapheresis center in Cuba raises multiple questions. Arrazcaeta states that “the investment will be recovered through the sale of the plasma obtained,” a statement that assumes the existence of donors on the island. However, he does not explain how much AICA will pay donors—a common practice in the plasma business—or whether it will pay them at all for the “marketable plasma standards” it aspires to.

A company with vast experience in the field, such as the Spanish company Grifols, makes it clear that compensation for donating plasma is essential, given the enormous profit a company makes from this substance, in addition to its significant importance in the production of blood products. In the case of Grifols, each donor is given a credit card, into which funds are deposited based on the amount of plasma donated and the frequency of donations.

The official newspaper Granma did not raise any of these issues with Aica Laboratories, although it concludes its article with a sort of declaration of principles: the Cuban biotechnology industry operates in “full alliance” with the Ministry of Public Health, a “coordinated” effort that in practice translates into subordination.

BioCubaFarma is not immune to the multisectoral crisis affecting Cuba, which is having a brutal impact on the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The business group must deliver to the Public Health Department “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products” which it lacks the resources to produce.

The business group must deliver to Public Health “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products.”

At two recent international events—the Health for All Trade Fair and the 5th Cuba Health 2025 Convention—its executives have reminded participants that the company is seeking partners interested in investing in the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry. The obstacle, they claim, is Washington, whose sanctions scare away suppliers.

Venture capitalists who decide to invest in BioCubaFarma must be prepared to offer “significant capital investments,” commensurate, according to health officials, with the “highly innovative products” Cuba plans to launch, including blood products.

The topic of blood donation has traditionally been one of the most controversial when it comes to health care in Cuba. A report by Archivo Cuba from a few years ago, which stated that the regime had forced political prisoners to donate blood and then sell it, highlighted the historical and political repercussions of the issue.

The Archivo Cuba investigation, led by María Werlau, argues that since at least 1961, the Cuban government has forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks. According to a quote from Castro cited in the report, Fidel Castro said that year: “The blood of these traitors is extracted before execution to save the lives of many.”

This quote, however, does not appear in any of Castro’s speeches—as Archivo Cuba admits—and is only cited in the book Diario de una traición: 1959 (Diary of a Betrayal: 1959 ) by Leovigildo Ruiz. The organization also proposes interpreting another phrase literally, this one compared with the leader’s speeches: “We are willing to give the people of Vietnam not just our sugar, but our blood, which is worth much more than sugar!”

Following further investigations, Archivo Cuba concludes that 31 prisoners – 28 Cubans and 3 Americans – were forced to donate blood between 1960 and 1964, before their executions.

In any case, the situation posed by BioCubaFarma’s announcement this week is radically different. And the problems it brings are not historical, but current: empty blood banks, patients who must obtain blood abroad for surgical procedures, and a healthcare system in total crisis.

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Eduardo López-Collazi, Scientist and Writer Who Left Cuba ‘To Be Free’

The Elena Fortún Library was packed with a broad ranging audience./ 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 26 april 2025 – “I left Cuba to be free”, Eduardo López-Collazo said on Saturday in Madrid at the launch of his first novel, ’Narcisos’. After thirty years in Spain his life has become an example of personal and professional realization, combining rigorous investigation with creativity, a passion for the arts and literature, scientific dissemination and activism to promote diversity and inclusion.

On account of this, the psychologist and neuroscientist Ana Asencio wondered: “How can so many lives fit into one single body?” López-Collazo himself rebels against the insistence, in certain sections of society, for always classifying or pigeonholing people with one single label. It’s a long time since he decided to come out of all the closets: he stopped signing his cultural critiques with a pseudonym, and in his LinkedIn profile he stopped hiding the fact that he wrote about dance in El Cultural. He’s not worried that they call him a twenty-first century Renaissance man.

The amazing thing is that this Cuban, born on 3 July 1969, in Jovellanos, Matanzas, manages to do it all “like crazy”. He graduated as a nuclear physicist from the University of Havana, a city in which, in his own words, he was “hungry and homeless”. In Spain he got his doctorate in pharmacology at the Complutense University of Madrid and ended up running, over the course of a decade, the biggest centre for scientific investigation in the Spanish capital. The impact of his work has been recognised by Forbes, El Mundo and El Español, all of which have described him as one of the most influential people in the country.

Narcisos presents us with the lives of eight men through the eyes of Carmen, a psychologist who will go on to have a journey of self discovery over the course of the narrative. The author describes the novel as a search for understanding “who we are when nobody is looking at us, not even ourselves”. The work is dedicated to his lifetime companion Holden, with whom he discussed the evolution of many of his characters. continue reading

[The filmmaker and writer Carlos Lechuga, charged with presenting the book, described its cinematic potential

The filmmaker and writer Carlos Lechuga, charged with presenting the book, described its cinematic potential. The reader will be able to confirm this immediately, thanks to the fluidity of the dialogue and the richness of the images transmitted through its pages.

Although this is the first novel he has had published – by Mayda Bustamante and Ediciones Huso – it is in fact the third one he has written. The previous two are very personal and it might take a little more time for them to see the light of day. Nevertheless, anyone who has followed his work, including his most scientific texts, will recognise the ease of his writing. It’s not for nothing that El País included one of his titles in their list of “books with an unsettling theme that are a pleasure to read”.

When questioned about whether there exists a battle between the rigour of science and the chaos of creativity, López-Collazo replied that he always looks for freedom. Naturally, he’s a firm believer in discipline: he admits that on occasion he sometimes found himself counting the number of words that he’d ascribed to each of his characters in order to achieve perfect equilibrium. “But without freedom”, he confessed, “growth is lateral, never upwards”.

It’s no surprise that the Elena Fortún public library was packed with a broad ranging audience, many of them standing, to be witness to this presentation. Among those present were the singer-songwriter Liuba María Hevia, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Carlos Umaña, the former Vice Mayoress of Madrid Begoña Villacís and the dancer María Pagés, worthy winner of the Asturias Prize for Princess of the Arts. And many others, who, when it was all over, rushed to buy the book – in which some of the characters are real… and others are too.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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