Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Fifteen Line Crews from Other Provinces Arrive in Havana as the Grid Is Reconnected

The National Electric System was restored at 7:00 a.m., an hour after Felton 1 came online, as residents predict the next collapse is close at hand

A man with his cell phone connected to the charging port of a rechargeable fan this Wednesday in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 15, 2026 / The National Electric System (SEN) has been connected since 7:00 a.m. this Wednesday, just over an hour after Unit 1 of the Felton thermoelectric plant in Holguín came online. The recovery from this collapse – which occurred around 11:00 a.m. Tuesday and was the third in eight days and the fifth so far this year – was the fastest of the recent incidents, despite the fuel shortage weighing down the restart.

To reconnect the SEN, past experience shows, generation must begin with easy-start sources – solar, hydroelectric and generator engines – to supply small areas known as microsystems, which are then progressively interconnected.

By early this morning, Havana had recovered all 24 substations in the capital, 100%, though this does not mean customers have service. The provincial power company reported that 68 circuits had service, benefiting 205,125 customers with a total of 211 megawatts, or 24% of residents.

Havana’s 43 hospitals and four water supply systems with five pumping stations are in better shape.

Havana’s 43 hospitals in Havana and four water supply systems with five pumps are in a better situation.

Customers have not stopped complaining, even after learning that the system was reconnected. Most remained without power, either because their circuit still had no service or because it was their turn for the scheduled outage. “All we can do is pray and have a lot of faith that it doesn’t go down again,” one user wrote. “You’ll see, the day after tomorrow. Keep praying,” another replied.

Although most expressed admiration for the enormous effort being made by electrical workers across the country, frustration with the way things are being managed runs deep. “How many minutes will it last this continue reading

time? And there are places that still haven’t found out, because the only light they’ve seen is the sun’s,” one customer lamented.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines confirmed that all Energás units were operating, while Units 3 and 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant and Felton 1 were in the process of starting up around midnight.

Minister Vicente de la O Levy, in his appearance on Tuesday, attributed the new incident to oscillations in the national grid that caused a generating unit to drop out, triggering a domino effect that disconnected several more plants until the system collapsed entirely.

The official also said the collapse of the SEN caused a new leak in the boiler of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country’s main generating unit, and that the number of days needed to repair it would be reported in due course.

He further revealed that breakdowns are increasing in Havana because of the overload on circuits and transformers caused by the system’s instability.

According to his account, an estimated 13,000 of the capital’s 33,000 transformers are operating under overload, which is why 15 line crews from other provinces will arrive in the capital this Wednesday to help divide circuits, expand capacity and replace equipment.

Orders have also been given to double local production at the transformer factory to guarantee the supply of components.

At the end of June, Edier Guzmán Pacheco, the state utility’s director of thermal generation, presented the schedule for bringing several thermoelectric units online in July “to face the summer with better generation levels.”

The first to come online was to be Unit 5 at Mariel, on July 1, followed by Unit 6 of 10 de Octubre, in Nuevitas, on July 8 or 9; Unit 6 at Mariel, on the 15th; Unit 3 in Havana, on the 20th; and Unit 5 at Renté, on the 26th.

If the plan were met, 400 MW would have been recovered this month, but the official warned: “This should not be added in strictly arithmetic fashion to the capacity currently available, since the National Electric System remains in constant operation and there is a risk that new breakdowns will occur in other units.”

Now at the midpoint of July, the result is three total system collapses, along with the unsettling sense that it will keep happening – even as it matters less and less to people. “At this rate,” one UNE customer joked on social media, “they’ll start publishing a schedule for the SEN’s collapses.”

Translated by GH.

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Cuban Regime Threatens an Independent Journalist With Prison for Distributing a Publication in Havana

“If you distribute the bulletin, the next time I call, kiss your wife on the belly, because you’re going to prison.”

Austin Llerandi said the threat also hangs over the rest of the team. / Iclep

14ymedio, Havana, July 15, 2026 – Austin Llerandi, director of the community news outlet Amanecer Habanero [Havana Sunrise] was threatened with imprisonment by a State Security agent during an interrogation this Tuesday at a police station in Marianao, Havana. The Cuban Observatory for Freedom of Expression (OCLE), part of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP), reported that the officer, identified as Rodrigo, warned the journalist that he would be jailed if he continued distributing the publication.

“If you distribute the bulletin, the next time I call, kiss your wife on the belly, because you’re going to prison,” the agent threatened at the end of the interrogation, which lasted more than an hour, according to Llerandi’s testimony.

The journalist said that during the summons, the officer showed him a criminal investigation file opened in his name for alleged crimes against State Security, as well as the latest edition of Amanecer Habanero stored on his mobile phone.

According to OCLE, the threat also extends to the rest of the team, as the agent said the authorities “know the addresses and movements of the publication’s journalists” and warned that they could face consequences if they continued taking part in distributing the publication. continue reading

On Monday, the same officer went to Austin Llerandi’s father’s home to locate him

According to the observatory, the harassment began one day before the interrogation. On Monday, the same officer went to Austin Llerandi’s father’s home looking for him. According to the organization’s account, the agent said that although he knew the journalist’s address, he had not acted against him because of his wife’s pregnancy. During that meeting with the father, he claimed to know how often the couple goes to the hospital for medical checkups.

For ICLEP, the explicit reference to the journalist’s wife’s pregnancy and the surveillance of his family constitute a form of psychological pressure intended to discourage him from continuing his journalistic work.

The organization described these actions as an attempt to prevent the practice of independent journalism on the Island and argued that they constitute violations of freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and the rule of law.

For that reason, it reported that the case has been added to its monitoring system for violations of freedom of expression and concluded that the use of prison threats, the display of a criminal case file, and surveillance of the journalist’s family are part of a pattern of intimidation against independent journalists in Cuba.

OCLE demanded that the Cuban Government “immediately cease the threats and harassment against Austin Llerandi”

OCLE demanded that the Cuban Government “immediately cease the threats and harassment against Austin Llerandi and the Amanecer Habanero team,” as well as provide guarantees that they can carry out their journalistic work without reprisals. It also urged United Nations human rights mechanisms, international rapporteurs, democratic governments, and organizations that defend freedom of expression to monitor the case and hold the regime accountable.

It also called for “an end to the use of the criminal justice and police apparatus against the publication’s director, including summonses and the display of criminal investigation files as a form of coercion,” as well as an end to surveillance of the director’s family, including his father and his pregnant wife.

The regime’s harassment of independent journalists and activists has increased in recent months. ICLEP itself documented 1,188 violations of freedom of expression and press freedom in Cuba during 2025, making it one of the most repressive years recorded by the organization.

According to the organization’s annual report published last June, the total represents a 54.7% increase over 2024, when 768 violations were recorded. On average, the Cuban regime committed 99 attacks per month against the exercise of freedom of expression, with a peak of 184 cases in July, the most repressive month of the past three years.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana: An Oasis of Cleanliness in Línea, Mountains of Garbage in Neighboring Streets

The El Rampeño project is yielding results on a very small scale in waste collection with a small fleet of tricycles.

“I don’t know if this project will be sustainable in the long term or if the vehicles will hold up, but for now it seems to be working,” said a local resident. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 15, 2026 [updated]/ One hundred pesos and a street mark the boundary between living with a garbage dump in front of you and having clean sidewalks. The El Rampeño Local Development Project has just completed its 15th day, and its success can be considered resounding. A tour of the areas included in the garbage collection service provided by the initiative is enough to confirm that hygiene is not utopian.

So far, this involves four very small zones in the Rampa neighborhood of Plaza de la Revolución. 14ymedio walked through the two largest zones this Wednesday and saw only a single bag, apparently left out outside of the scheduled collection times—there are two collections, at 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.—after the electric tricycle used for waste collection had already passed. A few empty cans, a cigarette pack… the small items discarded by people after consuming drugs were the only blemishes on this otherwise clean oasis.

’14ymedio’ walked along the two largest streets this Wednesday and saw only one isolated bag, apparently left by someone outside of the designated hours. / 14ymedio

“I don’t know if this project will be sustainable in the long term or if the vehicles will hold up, but for now it seems to be working and there aren’t any major garbage problems,” said a local resident.

It’s enough to turn the corner to see the striking contrast. At the intersection of 17th and L, where El Rampeño is no longer operating, the garbage dump is the telltale sign. The bins are overflowing and the piles of waste, along with the stench, have returned to the area, once one of the most well-maintained in the capital. In the more distant neighborhoods, the situation is repeated even at the doors of health institutions, such as the mountain of waste accumulating continue reading

in front of the 14 de Junio polyclinic on Acierto Street in Luyanó.

The El Rampeño initiative was announced on June 30th, one day before the service began. Pedro Garcés, the local council delegate and tireless activist, presented the project to the official press. The project is funded through state contributions for the electric tricycles, municipal contributions (including a 1% local tax), and private contributions. The price is 100 pesos per household, except for those whose residents are classified as vulnerable.

At the intersection of 17th and L streets, where El Rampeño is no longer operating, the landfill is the sign. / 14ymedio

The main fees, the amount of which is unknown, will come from state-owned and private companies in the area, and a special rate is charged for nighttime collection. In addition, El Rampeño will also profit from the sale of recyclable materials.

A mountain of garbage is piling up in front of the 14 de Junio polyclinic, on Acierto Street, in Luyanó. / 14ymedio

These funds are being used to hire the staff responsible for garbage collection. The project stated that it had planned for an approximate salary of 15,000 pesos, although this would depend on the specific role. In a report by 14ymedio last December, street sweepers in the capital told this newspaper that their salary was around $10, less than half of what is offered for this service.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on the service this week and interviewed one of its workers, Lile Esperanza Pérez, who applied for the job and says she is more than satisfied. “It’s the best thing we can do,” she says, raising her eyes to the sky as she hopes the service will be extended to the entire city and country so that “beautiful Havana” can be seen again.

In the short video, the workers claim that the population is disciplined and increasingly punctual in appearing with their bags when they see the tricycle approaching. What the Chinese report doesn’t show is what lies on the other side of the street in a Cuba where the differences are becoming increasingly apparent.

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A ‘Habeas Corpus’ is Presented in Favor of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

The relevant judicial authorities now have a legal deadline of 72 hours to issue a response, Cubalex reports.

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara remains at large after being transferred from prison two days before his five-year sentence was due to expire on July 9th / Facebook

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, July 14, 2026 / The legal advice center Cubalex reported that it was able to formally deliver in Havana the habeas corpus petition in favor of the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who as of Tuesday remains at large, after being transferred from prison two days before his five-year sentence expired on July 9.

“The relevant judicial authorities now have a legal deadline of 72 hours to issue a response,” the organization stated on social media, having denounced the previous day the impediments to delivering the appeal “because the Havana Provincial People’s Court, the competent body to hear the request, as well as the Supreme People’s Court, remained closed this Monday despite it being a working day.”

Cubalex explained that “this legal action is presented in a critical scenario of lack of protection,” since “on July 9, the five-year sentence that the artist was serving in the Guanajay prison, since 2021, officially expired.”

On July 9th, the five-year sentence that the artist was serving in Guanajay prison, since 2021, officially expired.

It also denounced that “despite this, on July 7 he was taken from prison by military and State Security forces to an unknown location, and since then there has been no official information about his whereabouts.” continue reading

“From Cubalex we demand that due process and the physical integrity of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara be respected,” the report said.

The first contact with Otero Alcántara, after it became known that he was taken from the Guanajay prison, was reported on July 9 by the curator Anamely Ramos, who said on social networks that the artist was “well,” after having communicated with her from “a mobile phone of the State Security of Cuba”.

Ramos indicated in her publication that the State Security agents “wanted to know how the process of the requested conditional release is going” so that Otero Alcántara can travel to the United States and explained that “Luis Manuel’s conditional release is still in process.”

State Security agents “wanted to know how the process of the requested parole is going” so that Otero Alcántara can travel to the United States

In this respect, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized last week that this appears to be “a release conditioned on exile.”

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, 38, considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was imprisoned for five years in the Guanajay prison from where he had denounced multiple abuses on several occasions.

The leader of the San Isidro movement was arrested on July 11, 2021, when he tried to join the massive anti-government protests of that day, the largest in decades in Cuba.

Amnesty International has been demanding since last week the “immediate and unconditional release” of the artist.

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“I’m Afraid, But I Say What I Think”

Actor and opposition figure Edel Carrero tells ’14ymedio’ details about his interrogation by State Security

The activist was arrested after participating in the 11 July 2021 protests and charged with public disorder. / Edel Carrero

Edel Carrero, an actor and protester in the massive protests of 11 July 2021 [’11J’]– who has since denounced recurring threats for his social media posts – was interrogated this Monday at Villa Marista, the main headquarters of State Security in Havana.

In a video sent to 14ymedio, Carrero recounts how the “interview” unfolded, for which he had been summoned last Friday by a major from the Ministry of the Interior, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of 11J. After receiving the summons, the activist published a video in which he held the regime responsible for anything that might happen to him.

In this new video, Carrero explains that he made the recording to feel protected, because “all Cubans know what Villa Marista represents, and it’s not pleasant to be summoned there.” The headquarters of State Security in Cuba is known for holding political opponents in pretrial detention and has been internationally denounced for psychological torture, prolonged isolation, and coercive interrogations.

The activist recounts that during the interview the agents asked him “what he did, if he was working, and what his political position was,” to which, according to his testimony, he responded transparently: “I don’t want socialism, I want free elections, I want democracy, and I want freedom and a multi-party system.”

“I don’t want socialism, I want free elections, I want democracy, and I want freedom and a multi-party system.”

He was also asked about his social media posts and about having shared the summons for that interrogation, to which he replied that he did it to feel protected “because I don’t feel that I have any kind of protection, here in Cuba, from anything.” continue reading

The agents wanted to know if Carrero knew Spiderman, the athlete Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez, currently imprisoned in the Combinado del Este maximum security prison for protesting for eight days from his balcony. Carrero replied that yes, Javier is his friend. The two share a passion for martial arts.

According to Carrero, the officers warned him not to “look for trouble” and to “stay calm.” “I don’t know why they wasted so much of my time,” the activist says, “since they know what I think: that I’m not with this system.”

Carrero clarifies that the officer who interviewed him did not “treat him badly,” nor did he “speak rudely” to him, nor did he threaten him. He thanks those who were concerned about him after the video was released last Friday and apologizes for any anxiety it may have caused.

“To say I’m not afraid would be foolish, but courage is when you, even if you’re afraid, say what you feel and what you think.”

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m afraid. To say I’m not afraid would be foolish, but courage is when, even though you’re afraid, you say what you feel and what you think,” he stated.

The actor concludes with a message of support for political prisoners and expresses his desire for Cuba to change, “because the truth is that we’re fucked.”

Carrero was violently arrested after participating in the 11th July demonstrations and initially charged with public disorder. He also received threats of sedition charges and, months later, was dismissed from his position as an IT specialist at the Havana Theater Center. Since then, he has reported being interrogated, monitored, and threatened for his social media posts.

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The Avocado Also Escaped From the Plates of the Poor

Inflation has turned the most anticipated fruit of the summer into a luxury, unattainable for many Cuban families.

Today, depending on the size, quality, and where it is purchased, a single avocado can cost up to 600 pesos. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Natalia López Moya, July 13, 2026 / The woman watches customers pass by from a plastic crate placed on a corner of Lealtad Street in Central Havana. At her feet, spread out on a piece of cloth on the sidewalk, dozens of avocados display that intense green that for generations heralded summer in Cuba. Just a few years ago, simply arranging the produce would have been enough to attract a small group of buyers. This Monday, however, many more glance over and continue on their way.

Only one elderly woman dares to ask. “How much are they?” The answer comes without hesitation. “There are 200s and 300s. I have some that are ready today,” the vendor says.

The woman barely finishes her sentence when the potential customer’s eyes widen in surprise. She thanks her for the information and continues walking. She doesn’t even try to haggle. The price has transformed the fruit that for decades was a staple of lunch for the poorest families ,into a luxury few can afford. Today, depending on the size, quality, and where it’s purchased, a single avocado can cost up to 600 pesos.

The lack of agricultural incentives, the deterioration of transportation, and the absence of organized production have turned an everyday food into yet another symbol of national impoverishment.

For a long time, simply cutting one in half was enough to complete a plate of white rice, beans, and, with luck, a fried egg. In many Cuban homes, the avocado filled the void left by the absence of meat, provided fat, satisfied hunger, and transformed a modest meal into a decent lunch. It was the perfect ally during the summer months, when the trees in yards and farms seemed to give away their fruit.

But inflation eventually caught up with the green king too.

Rising transportation costs, fuel shortages, and the general increase continue reading

in food prices have driven up the price of a fruit that until recently seemed immune to market forces. Just two years ago, a good-sized specimen could be found for half of what it costs now, and at the end of the season, vendors were practically giving them away to avoid losses. Today, not even the abundance typical of these months has managed to stem the price surge.

The contrast is striking in a country where avocados were never an unusual crop. They grow in private backyards, small farms, and rural areas all over the island. However, the lack of agricultural incentives, the deterioration of transportation, and the absence of organized production have transformed a staple food into yet another symbol of national impoverishment. Like so many other Cuban fruits, the avocado is no longer measured by its seasons but rather by its economic impact.

Inflation eventually caught up with the green king too.

While waiting for a determined buyer to appear, the vendor on Lealtad Street rearranges her merchandise. She separates the ripest avocados from the still-green ones, wipes a speck of dirt from one of the fruits with her hand, and sits back down. Dozens of people pass by a short distance away. Some glance down at the avocados, make a quick calculation, and continue on their way.

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An Official Journalist Denounces ‘The Internal Blockade’ That Has Done So Much ‘Damage’ to Cuba

“A country cannot live at the expense of charitable donations, which are appreciated, but do not solve daily problems or foster development,” writes Elsa Ramos in ‘Escambray’

Ramos fears that the end of the ration book will leave many vulnerable people destitute. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 14, 2026 / It is hardly surprising that Elsa Ramos has written the most critical article about the 176 economic reforms announced by the government. The journalist, a multiple recipient of the Juan Gualberto Gómez National Prize, has distinguished herself as one of the most outspoken critics of the regime—from within the system—in the pages of the Sancti Spíritus newspaper Escambray, and her opinion column this Monday is yet another example. The urgent need for change to rebuild the country is a picture painted by the government of the total disaster that everything on the island has become.

Ramos expresses the need to analyze the measures, even though – she begins – “in this scenario of blackouts and disconnections, most people cannot be well informed.” The general panorama is starkly described by the journalist, who mentions how, with “galloping inflation, chronic shortages, no fuel, no transportation, no financing, no access to foreign markets amidst accumulated debt and a blockade more concrete and atrocious than ever due to cuts in fuel supplies and sources of foreign currency income, Cuba cannot continue as it is.”

The question she poses is how all these changes can be implemented while maintaining the socialist model, given that the announcements involve “unprecedented transformations, many of which resemble those of the capitalist model.” Ramos asks why it has taken so long to implement these reforms if they were so necessary to “mitigate the internal gridlock” that has caused so much “damage.” “A country cannot live at the mercy of fuel arriving ship by ship; nor can it depend on charitable donations, which are appreciated but do not solve daily problems or foster continue reading

development,” she asserts.

Still conscious that violations of the previous regulations were constant, Ramos expresses misgivings about how price liberalization will ultimately end.

The journalist emphasizes the need for a more thorough explanation of the measures that most significantly affect citizens, one of which is the elimination of price caps. While acknowledging the constant violations of the previous regulations, Ramos expresses concerns about how price liberalization will ultimately play out. “We’ll have to see if, as in capitalism, the laws of competition, the laws of capital, don’t swallow us up in a free-for-all, with paltry pensions and salaries, and no purchasing power,” she warns.

Another key point for the journalist is the much-touted end of the ration book, announced since the beginning of Raúl Castro’s presidency. “In truth, we’ll just be burying it, since it died months ago, when most of its products began to disappear, dwindling to a pound of sugar, a few peas, intermittent bread, and inconsistent milk for children and pregnant women,” she emphasizes.

The journalist reveals a surprising statistic: according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, only 0.5% of Sancti Spíritus residents are considered vulnerable. However, she points out, “due to the nature of daily life, the vast majority, including state workers, live or survive in that condition, and now they will have to eat, wash, bathe, and transition from the subsidized food basket to unsubsidized sales in the retail network.”

Ramos also looks at the process of layoffs that will result from the liquidation of unprofitable companies or entities that will have to merge. “Little attention has been paid to the thousands of workers who find themselves in a state of employment limbo, many at home on indefinite leave, since last February,” she points out. Furthermore, she questions how skilled workers can be attracted to food production “in a country where reselling candy is more profitable than working in the fields,” and she criticizes decades of obstacles, which she refers to as “the bureaucracy and stubbornness that swallowed up thousands of hectares,” which have finally led “to the logical point of granting the real right of usufruct.”

Regarding how foreign investment is to be attracted, the journalist also doubts how it can be achieved “with our history of prohibitions, in a stagnant country, without foreign currency and with obstacles to withdrawing it from banks, in addition to the sanctions imposed by the United States.” And, in that context, Elsa Ramos raises the issue of the contribution of emigrants with unprecedented frankness. “Cuba does need, however, a multinational dialogue between those who left and those who stayed, without bitterness or resentment, and — without ignoring the past — we must, with our hearts on our sleeves, have the courage to forget and forgive. Because if we open the economic doors to everyone without exception, it is because we need them, and urgently.”

“Are we mentally prepared to see the resurgence of landowners, even if it’s in a socialist style? (…) Will we avoid the so-called Russian mistake of the 90s, when many oligarchs were former leaders in various sectors?”

The string of questions continues: “Are we mentally prepared to see the resurgence of landowners, even if it’s in a socialist style? (…) Will we avoid the so-called Russian mistake of the 1990s, when many oligarchs were former leaders in various sectors? How do we stop corruption? Will we fully address the deep gaps between rich and poor and the increasingly inverted social pyramid?” And she alternates with sharp barbs: “Did we have to wait so long to remove the intermediation of importers who (…) have filled a natural process in many countries with obstacles and deviations?”

Ramos welcomes any measure that eliminates absurd prohibitions, but urges close attention to how they are implemented and how they function. “We will have to face the risks and dangers, with the socialist lens that still defines the project in this endeavor to not relinquish the preservation of the Revolution’s main achievements, now crumbling,” he says, acknowledging the erosion of the accomplishments of that era.

She warns, towards the end, that much patience will be needed and that “many of our leaders are not prepared (…) they tend to see the ‘enemy’ everywhere they look or entrepreneurship as a capitalist evil.” But we must be aware that “so many years of anguish, precariousness, and inaction have fueled apathy, and that (…) is as damaging as the pot-banging protests or banging of pots and pans in various parts of the country, which express social discontent.”

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More Than Three Months Without Water Force Residents of Alturas del Mirador to Drink from Wells and the Diezmero River

Residents say they have been abandoned by the authorities as they struggle to survive amid a massive garbage dump, frequent power outages, and the growing risk of a public health crisis.

Residents collect water from the polluted Diezmero Riverbed in Alturas del Mirador, San Miguel del Padrón, Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2026 — For more than three months, hundreds of families in the Alturas del Mirador neighborhood, located in Havana’s municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, have been without a supply of drinking water. The prolonged disruption has forced residents to collect water from the Diezmero River, one of the most polluted waterways in the Cuban capital.

People fill buckets from the foul-smelling river while, just a short distance away, a huge garbage dump blocks the entrance to the neighborhood. The combination of accumulated waste and the lack of clean drinking water has raised fears of disease outbreaks in a community whose residents say they have been abandoned by the authorities.

“Women, children, and elderly people are drinking well water that is not fit for human consumption and, at times, even water from the Diezmero River,” resident José Lugo said. “And that’s without mentioning the garbage dump located in front of the neighborhood grocery store.”

“Women, children and the elderly consume well water that is not fit for human consumption and, sometimes, even water from the Diezmero River”

The water crisis has become one of the main sources of social unrest in Havana. In Guanabacoa, residents say they have also gone nearly a week without water service. “We don’t even have water to drink, and the government keeps making excuses,” one resident said. “First they said it would come back yesterday at 10 a.m., then today at 6 a.m. It’s already 9:15, and still nothing.”

During yesterday’s heavy rain in the capital, residents rushed outside with buckets to collect rainwater pouring off rooftops. “I opened the water tank at my house so it could fill with rainwater,” one woman said. “Right now we’re living off nature, just like centuries ago. Sunlight powers the solar panel, rain gives us water to drink and bathe. Soon we’ll have to send carrier pigeons to communicate.” continue reading

Just a few meters from the river, a huge garbage dump occupies the entrance to the neighborhood. / 14ymedio

In recent weeks, residents of Regla have held several protests outside the municipal government headquarters, demanding the restoration of water and electricity after days without either service. The demonstrations, which included banging pots and pans and blocking streets, are part of a growing wave of protests over the deterioration of basic public services in Havana.

In Alturas del Mirador, however, residents say the crisis has gone on for months without any official response.

“People here are tired of going to the Communist Party offices and the People’s Power offices, but it has all been pointless,” said Lucrecia, a nurse at a Havana hospital. “Officials keep saying they’ll come inspect the problem, but they never show up.”

“People here are tired of going to the Communist Party offices and the People’s Power offices, but it has all been pointless”

She says the neighborhood has been forgotten and abandoned, with no one willing to listen. She also cares for her bedridden mother, who suffers from neurological problems, making the lack of water an even greater daily hardship.

“Every day is torture. It’s exhausting and a danger to our health. Sometimes I’ve had to go to work without even being able to bathe. How can a nurse care for patients when she herself is dirty and unable to maintain proper hygiene?” she asked.

According to José Lugo, the problem is not simply a lack of available water but also failures in managing the distribution system.

“This neighborhood sits on higher ground and depends on a pumping station at Finca Baraguá. Water is pumped from there, but operators have to close some pipelines and open others so it reaches every area. Human error and a lack of interest are what’s leaving us like this,” he said.

“Sometimes I’ve had to go to work without even being able to shower. How can a nurse approach a patient when she herself is dirty and lacks proper hygiene?”

Lugo said he has spent weeks calling the Communist Party, the municipal government, and even the director of the local water utility. “I’ve begged for an official to come here and speak with the people, but it has never happened,” he said.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood’s wells are drying up.

“People are drinking water from depleted wells. It’s yellowish and no longer safe for human consumption, but it’s all they have,” Lugo explained. “Others are taking water directly from the Diezmero River, which is heavily contaminated.”

The risk of a public health emergency is worsened by the general collapse of public services. Lugo says local medical clinics barely function, while the enormous garbage dump in front of the grocery store and butcher shop has become a permanent source of contamination.

“People bang pots and pans here almost every night, but because this neighborhood is so isolated, it rarely makes the news,” he said

Getting around is also difficult. “The bakery is still operating because the bread comes from somewhere else, but public transportation has practically disappeared, and many streets are blocked by garbage,” Lugo said.

Recent rainfall brought little relief. “Yesterday, when it rained heavily, the riverbanks looked like a celebration. People were filling buckets and tanks, but that water is contaminated,” he said.

The water shortage is compounded by daily power outages, which leave residents with only “one or two hours of electricity” each day. On top of that, cellphone service has become unreliable.

“The Etecsa tower broke down, and people have to walk all the way to the main road just to make a phone call,” Lugo explained.

Amid these conditions, frustration continues to grow. “This creates a state of depression among people,” Lugo said. “We bang pots almost every night, but because this neighborhood is so far away, it often doesn’t appear in the news. We’re not far from an epidemic with fatal consequences.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The United States Will Maintain All Measures Against the Cuban Regime, Says Marco Rubio

The US Secretary of State demands the release of political prisoners and assures that Washington is offering aid in exchange for economic and political reforms.

“Cuba’s leaders simply must choose to commit to real reforms, peace, and prosperity before it is too late.” / EFE/Ronald Wittek

EFE (via 14ymedio), Los Angeles, July 12, 2026 / US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Trump administration will continue to use “all the tools” at its disposal against the Cuban regime, which he accused of posing a threat to US security and refusing to undertake the reforms the island needs.

“Cuba’s leaders simply must choose to commit to real reforms, peace and prosperity, before it is too late,” Rubio said in a statement released to mark the fifth anniversary of the 11 July 2021 protests.

The US Secretary of State recalled that thousands of Cubans then took to the streets to protest against shortages, blackouts and the lack of freedoms, in the largest demonstrations to have occurred in the country since 1959.

Five years after that uprising, Rubio denounced, hundreds of participants remain “unjustly” imprisoned. The Secretary of State demanded “the immediate release of these and all political prisoners in Cuba.”

Rubio also again attacked the island’s ruling elite, accusing them of appropriating the country’s scarce resources and hiding them abroad, although he did not provide concrete evidence to support that claim. continue reading

The Trump Administration has offered aid to the Cuban government, assistance for reconstruction, and “the promise of a new relationship between our two countries.”

The declarations come amid the policy of maximum pressure of the past six months applied by Washington. Restrictions on oil supplies have exacerbated blackouts, while new sanctions have increased the risk for foreign companies still operating in Cuba.

Against this scenario, the threat of more severe measures against Havana remains, including the possibility of military action, a hypothesis that gained strength after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

Despite the increased pressure, Rubio asserted that the Trump Administration has offered aid to the Cuban government, assistance for reconstruction, and “the promise of a new relationship between our two countries.”

He offered, specifically, that this conditioned upon the island’s authorities accepting economic and political reforms that will allow the country to open up and offer Cubans an opportunity for prosperity.

Washington maintains that lifting the pressure will depend on verifiable changes, while Havana rejects any reforms imposed from abroad and attributes the economic crisis to US sanctions.

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The U.S. Sanctions Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism and Entities Involved in Fuel Imports

The sanctions also target companies linked to exports and to the State Security apparatus of political and ideological control

Cuban Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos García Granda. / Excelencias Cuba

14ymedio, Madrid, July 13, 2026 – The U.S. Department of State announced on Monday the addition of several Cuban entities to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, administered by the Treasury Department. This time, Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism is the highest-profile entity affected, accompanied by companies involved in product exports and fuel imports.

The new round of sanctions covers four major areas. Alongside the Ministry of Tourism is Caudal, the insurance and financial services group made up of eight companies—including Cubacontrol, which specializes in inspections—belonging to the military conglomerate Gaesa.

Among the companies involved in fuel imports are Coreydan S.A. and Enetec S.A., two firms registered in Havana that engage in the trade and wholesale of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. The first of these was responsible for bringing $60 million worth of hydrocarbons from Mexico to the Island in 2023, according to Bloomberg. According to the Mexican press, the state-owned company shared headquarters in Havana with the Cuba-Petroleum Union (Cupet) at 552 Amistad Street in Central Havana. However, 14ymedio visited the listed address at the time and found that none of the building’s residents had ever heard of continue reading

the company.

This time, Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism is the highest-profile entity affected, accompanied by companies involved in product exports and fuel imports

Another significant section of the sanctions targets the well-known Corporación Antillana Exportadora S.A. (Antex), which is linked to Gaesa and is responsible for exporting Cuban professional services abroad, including doctors, engineers, and technicians. Its presence has been especially significant in Angola. Also included on the list are the Foreign Trade Business Group (Gecomex), which oversees the import and export of goods, and the Maritime Port Transportation Business Group (Gemar), which controls the country’s port infrastructure, vessels, freight operations, and maritime logistics. Gemar also oversees Coral Marítima S.A., the company that took over the assets of the Mariel Container Terminal after its departure from the military conglomerate Gaesa.

The final major group consists of several organizations within the political, military, and mass-control apparatus of State Security. The first is the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (Acrc), which brings together the Island’s military veterans and internationalist fighters and operates under the command of the Communist Party to ensure political loyalty among retired military personnel. Also included are the Territorial Troops Militia, paramilitary forces subordinate to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces that are tasked with controlling the population, and, finally, the Rapid Response Brigades, coordinated by the State Security services to monitor citizens and suppress protesters and political opponents.

The final major group consists of several organizations within the political, military, and mass-control apparatus of State Security

The new round of sanctions comes almost three weeks after the previous one, which added other Cuban state entities linked to Gaesa to the list, including Almacenes Universales S.A., Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), Geominera S.A., Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí (Antillana de Acero), and Rafin S.A. That round also included members of the Castro family, a group that continues to grow but still does not include—at least for now—Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the general’s grandson and the designated negotiator in talks between Cuba and the United States.

Last Saturday, marking the anniversary of the massive July 11, 2021 protests, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a statement that the Donald Trump administration will continue using “all available tools” against the Cuban regime, which he accused of posing a threat to U.S. national security and refusing to undertake the reforms the Island needs. “Cuba’s leaders simply must choose to commit to real reforms, peace, and prosperity before it is too late,” he said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Reiterates That Cuba Is “a Threat” to “National Security”

Mike Waltz claims in an interview that Russia and China have “intelligence posts, signals collection posts, and military officers” in Cuba

Mike Waltz in an interview with Fox News./ Screen capture / Fox news

Europa Press/14ymedio, Washington, 13 July 2026 / The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, has stated that Cuba poses “a threat to its own people” as well as to U.S. “national security,” alleging that the island harbors elements of Russian and Chinese intelligence.

“The Cuban regime not only represents a threat to its own people but also to national security, and this administration will no longer tolerate it,” the American diplomat said in an interview with Fox News.

In the same interview, Waltz pointed to “both Russian and Chinese” bases, maintaining that both countries “still have intelligence posts, signals collection posts, and military officers in Cuba.” “Right off our coast,” he added.

However, he praised the efforts of the Trump administration to reduce the alleged presence of Moscow and Beijing in the Americas: “They’re no longer in Venezuela, no longer in southern Central America… not even in the Panama Canal,” he argued, pointing to what he described as a greater Chinese and Russian presence in the region “under the Biden continue reading

administration and previous administrations.”

“They’re no longer in Venezuela, no longer in southern Central America… not even in the Panama Canal,” he argued

The UN ambassador’s remarks come amid a renewed push in Washington’s pressure campaign against Havana, under which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned this past Saturday that the Republican administration will continue to use “every tool at its disposal” to “advance” political and economic reforms in Cuba and put an end to “decades of repression and economic incompetence by its communist regime.”

In addition to the six-decade-old embargo in effect against the island, the United States has, since the start of the year, added an oil blockade that is deepening the energy problems the country has faced for years. Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, has denounced that the entire country is the target of collective punishment imposed by the White House.

Last week, Mike Waltz and Bruno Rodríguez held a tense exchange during a session of the General Assembly requested by Cuba on the “blockade” Washington imposes on the island. The U.S. asked that the session not be held and argued that, while Havana protested and sought to portray itself as a victim in this regard, hundreds of political prisoners remained locked up in the island’s prisons.

Waltz displayed images of several detainees, among them Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara – released just hours later and currently at an unknown location – to call attention to their situation.

“The Cuban people have a right to freedom,” the American diplomat said during that session. The debate ultimately went forward by a vote of 136 in favor, nine against – including the United States, Argentina, Israel, Hungary, Paraguay, and Peru – and 30 abstentions.

Translated by GH

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Cuba Signs Alliance in Mexico to Extend Mayan World Tourism to the Island

The first multi-destination package will launch in August, integrating flights between Cancún and Havana

Cuba will link the Mayan World with Varadero beach./ ‘Cubadebate’

14ymedio, Havana, 13 July 2026/ Tourism agencies from Mexico and Havana signed a cooperation agreement that includes extending the Mayan World tourism program to the island. The initiative will combine historical, beach, and nature destinations with the goal of attracting more Mexican visitors and diversifying Cuba’s tourism offerings, at a time when the sector is going through its worst period since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’re going to link the Mayan World – which in Mexico includes Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatán, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador – with our beach at Varadero, but we’re also going to do it with the capital, with Havana, and bring in nature-based products. In other words, we’re going to keep expanding this experience with all the riches Cuba has to offer as a tourist destination,” said the tourism counselor at the island’s embassy in Mexico, Aleinor Zerquera, in comments to Prensa Latina.

To this end, the Taíno Tours agency, the trade name under which Havanatur operates in Mexico, reached an agreement with the local tour operators Turismo Popular and Prelasa Tours to “boost multi-destination tourism” between the two countries.

On this point, the director of the Cuban agency, Erick Gómez, said that “alliances like this one create good opportunities for all three companies.” continue reading

It will draw on the appeal of the Varadero Festival as a cultural hook to complement the Mayan World experience

The first multi-destination package will launch in August, integrating flights between Cancún and Havana, and will draw on the appeal of the Varadero Festival as a cultural hook to complement the Mayan World experience.

According to Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, the Mayan World region is visited by around 20 million international tourists a year, 70% of whom visit destinations within Mexico. It is also the country’s leading tourism hub, receiving 45% of domestic tourism and 55% of foreign tourism. Its offerings include sun-and-beach destinations, culture and history, cruises, ecotourism and adventure travel, and, more recently, medical tourism in Yucatán.

For the island, by contrast, this move comes at a particularly difficult time for the tourism industry. May’s figures reveal the extent of the collapse the sector has dragged through in recent months. In the fifth month of the year, only 30,883 visitors arrived on the island, a very marginal increase compared with April, which saw 332 more tourists. So far this year, Cuba has received 359,491 international travelers, 58.4% fewer than during the same period in 2025. However, breaking down the numbers, the vast majority arrived in January — 184,833 — a dismal figure for a month that traditionally used to bring in as many as half a million tourists. With the announcement of the end of refueling for international flights, most airlines began evacuating their nationals and ended up canceling routes that had become unsustainable, so the following months saw only minimal numbers of travelers arrive.

Most airlines began evacuating their nationals and ended up canceling routes that had become unsustainable

The energy blockade, which has paralyzed most flights, combined with the sanctions on Gaesa, has ended up dealing the final blow to one of the few sources of hard currency not only for the state but for hundreds of thousands of people who make their living from the sector through private businesses, from restaurants to craft shops and retail, or simple street vending.

According to a report by the National Statistics and Information Office (Onei) covering the first quarter of the year, only 1.3 out of every 10 hotel rooms in Cuba were filled at the start of the year, visitor numbers fell 48% — 298,057 compared with 573,363 the previous year — overnight stays also dropped by half — 1.8 million compared with 3.6 million — and gross revenue fell from close to 35 billion pesos (52 million dollars, at the informal exchange rate of 670 to 1) to around 20 billion. And all of this even though January was still considered a “normal” month.

The losses are not confined to hotels. The Onei report, which quarterly adds up revenue from other sectors, shows steep declines across the board. The overall figure fell from 48.4 billion to 27.9 billion pesos, but broken down, the hardest-hit sector is food service, which lost nearly half – dropping from 19 billion to just 10 billion. Next comes lodging, which fell from 14 billion to 8 billion, transportation – from 5.7 billion to 3.9 billion – and retail trade – from 2.1 billion to 1.5 billion.

Translated by GH.

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Miguelito, a Psychiatric Patient Abandoned to His Fate, Like So Many Others in Cuba

Last week, the man lost his life in a failed break-in attempt. The lack of proper treatment had turned him into a danger to his neighbors and to himself

Everyone in the thirteen-story building sympathized with Miguelito’s mother, but they feared what he was capable of doing in his condition.

14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, 13 July 2026 / It was around ten o’clock at night on July 7 when a man, later identified as Miguel, fell from the sixth floor of the well-known thirteen-story old building in Matanzas while attempting to break into a neighbor’s home. According to the preliminary forensic report, the intruder tried to grab onto a protective railing on the building’s balcony, but the structure gave way, sending him plummeting to the ground floor.

When Miguelito fell he was wearing a ski mask covering his face, which initially kept neighbors from identifying him. It was his own mother who, before police investigators, confirmed the identity of the deceased.

For the community, the tragic outcome was not a surprise but something expected for a person like Miguelito: mentally ill for years, with a criminal record, and forgotten by the authorities.

“He was a problem for the neighborhood,” says one neighbor, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He was someone with a mental disorder who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. About fifteen years ago he stabbed a young man in the same building several times – a young man who used to help him and even gave him work making handicrafts. One day, with no prior argument or dispute, he waited for him downstairs and stabbed him repeatedly,” he recounts.

“He was someone with a mental disorder who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. About fifteen years ago he stabbed a young man in the same building several times who used to help him”

Miguel spent eight years in prison and, once he had served his sentence, returned to the neighborhood. It was the victim who had to move away, out of fear of another attack. “I’m no judge, but someone who endangers continue reading

other people’s lives should either be given specialized help or removed from society. What you can’t do is send him back, after just a few years, to the very place where he nearly killed an innocent person,” the neighbor laments.

The alarming lack of infrastructure, medication, and follow-up protocols for people with chronic mental illness is one more open wound among the many in Cuba. The extreme shortage of antipsychotic drugs and sporadic medical supervision have left it up to families and neighbors themselves to contain patients who, during a crisis, can become very dangerous.

The island’s health system, which years ago centralized control of these cases through extended hospital stays or strict provision of treatment, no longer takes charge of them. Faced with the collapse of hospitals and pharmacies, patients with severe diagnoses of schizophrenia or psychosis end up wandering the streets or confined to homes that lack sufficient resources to care for them. The lack of adequate inpatient institutions and the absence of supervised reintegration programs turn mental health care in Cuba into a game of Russian roulette for public safety.

Odalis, the owner of the apartment Miguel tried to enter on the night of July 7, confirms the earlier account while still trying to come to terms with what happened. “I’m still shaken. His mother is a much-loved neighbor, but that young man needed urgent medical attention. He’d tried to get into my home several times that same week for different reasons, and now this happens. Nobody knew his real intentions – only that he was wearing a ski mask and had a rope and a hammer in a backpack. It’s hard to think that if he hadn’t fallen, the one who ended up dead today might have been me,” she says with sorrow.

Although a sense of helplessness can be felt throughout the building, her case is a special one, and she agrees this was foreseeable. “Ever since he stabbed Eduardito, the craftsman, we all knew – and the police did too – that he wasn’t right psychologically. All because no one treated a sick person or took him somewhere he could get help.”

“It’s not that everything bad that happened in the building was Miguelito’s fault, but he used to follow the girls around, harass them, and threaten families”

Residents say Miguel’s erratic and intimidating behavior was frequent and that early warnings were systematically ignored by law enforcement. In recent nights, Miguel, adds a third neighbor interviewed, had taken to throwing bottles from his balcony at passersby.

“We called the police and they never came,” he laments. “Just like they never came when Cecilia, a neighbor on the eleventh floor, had her door forced open and her EcoFlow unit stolen. It’s not that everything bad that happened in the building was Miguelito’s fault, but he used to follow the girls around, harass them, and threaten families. The Ministry of the Interior and the local sector chief never did a thing. Now look – if this tragedy hadn’t happened, Odalis might not be alive,” he continues.

The neighbor says all the residents deeply feel for Magalys, his mother. “She’s a lovely person, but this is like the García Márquez book: a chronicle of a death foretold. The worst part is that it could have been prevented with treatment and supervision from specialists.”

Translated by GH.

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Five Years Later, the Cuban Exile Community in Madrid Keeps Alive the Cry of the 11th of July

The day included testimonies from Cuba, an augmented reality installation about 11J, and a demand for the release of political prisoners.

A discussion was held in Madrid to commemorate the fifth anniversary of July 11th, with the participation of Cuban activists, former political prisoners, and human rights defenders. / 14ymedio

Five years after Cuba’s Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021, some of its protagonists met again, far from the streets where it all began. This time it was in Madrid, in a venue in the Malasaña neighborhood, but with the same urgency as before: to remember the largest social uprising in Cuba since 1959 and to denounce the fact that the repression unleashed after that event has not ended. Under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” Cuban civil society in exile is organizing three days of activities in the Spanish capital to discuss memory, resistance, political prisoners, and the democratic future.

The first event was the discussion ” Five Years Later: Memory, Resistance, and Freedom,” held this Thursday at the Casa del Cura Community Social Center. The gathering brought together activists, former political prisoners, human rights defenders, and direct participants in the demonstrations that shook the island five years ago, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets chanting “Libertad” [Freedom] and “Patria y Vida” [Homeland and Life.

The discussion was moderated by Dayana Prieto, a Cuban audiovisual producer and activist based in Madrid. Guests included Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders; art curator and artivist Solveig Font Martínez; playwright Yunior García Aguilera; filmmaker and activist Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez Yong; and Elías Rizo León, known as “the boy with the flag” for being the subject of one of the most symbolic images of those days.

The panel’s composition brought together several layers of the events of July 11th: the citizen protests, the immediate repression, imprisonment, exile, and the persistence of a memory that the Cuban regime attempts to erase or reduce to a mere legal case. Solveig Font and Yunior García were arrested during the demonstration in front of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television in Havana, one of the locations where popular demands merged with calls for freedom of expression and rejection of official propaganda. Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez Yong was also arrested that day, while Elías Rizo had to remain in hiding with his family until he was able continue reading

to leave the country.

Filmmaker Yimit Ramírez explains his augmented reality installation, Caribbean Jacuzzi, while Elías Rizo observes the recreation using smart glasses. / 14ymedio

Testimonies also arrived from Cuba reminding everyone that the wound of July 11th remains open. Former political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez sent a message emphasizing the need to remember those imprisoned for taking to the streets in July 2021 and to maintain international pressure demanding their release. His remarks drew a connection between the event in Madrid and the reality of those on the island who still face surveillance, harassment, and the legal consequences of that protest. The message from Mailín Rodríguez Sánchez, wife of political prisoner Yosvani Rosell García, convicted for his participation in the 11 July protests, was also heard. Her testimony put a name and a familiar face to the cost of the repression. In her voice, the anniversary ceased to be a political date and became an intimate denunciation of the prolonged punishment inflicted upon the protesters and their families.

One of the most unique moments of the event was the presentation of Caribbean Jacuzzi, an augmented reality installation by artist Yimit Ramírez. Through smart glasses, viewers could interact with a recreation of the overturned police car from the 11 July protests and with the iconic image of the young man who, standing atop the car, waved the Cuban flag amidst the crowd. The piece brought one of the most powerful visual symbols of those days into the exhibition space, not as a mere archival document, but as an immersive experience.

The participants concluded the meeting with a demand for the release of Cuban political prisoners, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. / 14ymedio

The scene took on a particularly poignant tone when the man in the photograph, Elías Rizo, put on the glasses and saw himself in the installation. The gesture encapsulated the distance between the historical moment and his memory: the young man who five years earlier had become a symbol of defiance now returned to that image from exile, transformed simultaneously into a witness, a participant, and a survivor of a protest that marked a generation.

At the end of the event, activist Yanelis Núñez held a live broadcast in which several participants expressed their concern for the situation of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and demanded his release. The Cuban artist and dissident remains in the custody of State Security, despite having completed his unjust sentence on July 9. The live broadcast served as a political epilogue to the day’s events.

The activities will continue this Friday, July 10, at 5:00 p.m., at the Casa de la Libertad in Cuba, with the colloquium ” Challenges for the Cuba to Come.” The meeting, moderated by Dr. Antonio Guedes, will shift the focus from the memory of 11 July to the challenges of a potential democratic transition, in a debate about the country that could emerge after the regime and about the role of the exile community in that reconstruction.

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The Cuban Exile Community Brings the Spirit of 11J to Spain’s Puerta del Sol With a Demand for Freedom for Cuba

The day concluded three days of activities in Madrid, following a discussion on the memory of July 11 and a debate on the challenges of a future democratic transition

“It’s been 67 years of abuse of power, mistreatment, and misery. Enough is enough,” a Cuban woman summarized in Puerta del Sol. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Dayana Prieto Espinosa, Madrid, 11 July 2026 / The Cuban exile community brought the spirit of July 11th to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of the social uprising. Dozens of Cubans and Spaniards participated for several hours in a public demonstration to commemorate the largest protest against the regime on the island, demand the release of political prisoners, and denounce the ongoing repression.

Under the slogan “Today could be another 11J,” the initiative concluded three days of activities organized by Cuban exile groups. The program began last Thursday with the discussion “Five Years Later: Memory, Resistance, and Freedom,” which included activists, journalists, and participants in the protests, and continued on Friday with the colloquium “Challenges for the Cuba to Come,” moderated by Dr. Antonio Guedes and focused on the political, economic, and institutional challenges of a future democratic transition.

In Madrid’s central square this Saturday, participants displayed Cuban flags, distributed information to passersby, and spoke with dozens of people who approached them, interested in the situation on the island. The day combined public speeches, artistic performances, and testimonies from Cubans who have left the country and from Spaniards who support the democratic cause. continue reading

“At first I returned to my country for a visit. But I don’t want to go back until I’m free.” / 14ymedio

“It’s been 67 years of abuse of power, mistreatment, and misery. Enough is enough,” summarized Odalis Chongo, a native of San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana.

Independent journalist Iliana Hernández emphasized the historical significance of the 2021 protests. “The 11th of July is the true day of the national rebellion, not the 26th of July. On that date in 1953, criminals who today hold the Cuban people hostage stormed a barracks,” she stated.

Hernández also dedicated part of his speech to denouncing the situation of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. He noted that the artist has been held captive by State Security for three days, despite having fully served his sentence.

Among those present was Alicia, a Cuban woman who has lived in Spain for over two decades. “At first, I came back to visit my country. But I don’t want to return until it’s free,” she explained while holding a Cuban flag.

The event also brought together Spanish citizens who wanted to express their solidarity with Cubans. A woman from Madrid stated that she has never traveled to the island and does not intend to do so while the current political system remains in place. “I wouldn’t go as a tourist to a country where they repress people and where they are suffering so much. I find what Spanish politicians like those from Podemos are doing shameful. They only represent a very small percentage of Spaniards. They cannot speak for all of us,” she asserted.

“I wouldn’t go on vacation to a country where they repress people and where they’re suffering so much,” said a woman from Madrid. / 14ymedio

Simón Elías Rodríguez, a 19-year-old Cuban who emigrated just a year ago, explained why he decided to attend the rally. “I emigrated from Cuba when I was 18. When there’s no freedom, there’s no economy, no future. I’m here for that reason and for the political prisoners,” he said.

Another Spanish woman explained that she was attending on behalf of her family. “I’m here representing my husband, who is Cuban. My son was born in Spain, but he feels very Cuban. It’s essential that there be a change,” she stated.

For Iancarlo Rocabruno Pentón, the day also served to combat the regime’s official narrative. “There is an oppressive dictatorship in Cuba,” he stated. In his opinion, there are still people in Spain who believe “in the regime’s propaganda, in the false socialist paradise,” although he noted that many passersby approached him with interest to learn about the Cuban reality. “Many Venezuelans approach us because they understand, like few others, what these dictatorships do to people,” he added.

Five years after those demonstrations that swept through dozens of Cuban cities with cries of “Freedom” and “Homeland and Life,” the organizers insisted that the rebellion that began in the streets of the Island remains open as long as political prisoners remain, repression continues, and millions of Cubans continue to be deprived of fundamental rights.
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