Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Cuba: Living in Small Portions

Blackouts, shortages, and uncertainty have narrowed the horizon for Cubans to the point that planning for next week seems like a luxury.

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) without internet access on Carlos III Avenue in Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez, July 21, 2026 / “Can you sell me just one pound of chicken?” a woman asks pleadingly as she enters one of the many privately owned shops on Monte Street in Havana. But her plea falls flat: “Only the whole package,” the clerk says firmly. In a city where electricity is increasingly scarce, taking home several kilograms of food that needs refrigeration is like shooting yourself in the foot.

But these small offerings aren’t just affecting our plates and refrigerators; our lives are also being scaled down. I run into an old acquaintance who needs to undertake repairs so he can use his shower again. “What’s the point if we don’t even know if there will be water, or if we’ll even have a country left in a couple of weeks?” he asks, paralyzed by fear. Forecasts have become so unreliable that it’s best to plan only for a few hours; for tomorrow, if that.

We live in such a narrow present that any medium-term plan seems extravagant.

There’s a word that has become too big for our reality: future. It used to encompass buying a refrigerator, fixing up a room, or taking an August vacation. Now it barely allows us to decide whether it’s worth defrosting a package of sausages or saving our phone’s dwindling battery for an important call. We live in such a narrow present that any medium-term planning seems extravagant.

Uncertainty has ended up colonizing everything. Friends who postpone weddings, parents unsure whether to enroll their children in extracurricular activities, elderly people missing doctor’s appointments because they don’t know if there will be transportation or electricity that day. Everything has become provisional. The sensation that any decision could be overturned by a blackout, a breakdown, or a new crisis turns daily life into a kind of makeshift camping.

Perhaps the most profound damage isn’t the spoiled meat, the water that doesn’t come, or the shower my friend won’t repair. Maybe it’s having learned to live without plans. A nation that stops imagining next month, next year, or the next decade is a nation that shrinks every day. And when even hope has to be rationed in small portions, like that package of chicken that couldn’t be sold by the pound, the real scarcity is no longer in the markets, but in our dreams.

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Weary of Utopia

After almost seven decades of promises, the problem is no longer the horizon, but the distance between official discourse and everyday life.

To those who imposed this illusion on us without consulting us, we should say something very simple: we don’t want to live chasing what doesn’t exist, what will never exist. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez, July 23, 2026 / Miguel Díaz-Canel tried to get philosophical. In a recent interview, he spoke about utopia and attempted to repeat a phrase popularized by Eduardo Galeano, which he didn’t even manage to quote correctly. He said that “utopia is on the horizon. When we take two steps forward, utopia takes two steps back. And the horizon moves ten steps forward.” A strange mix that ended up sounding more absurd than inspiring.

And yet, perhaps the most revealing thing is not that he muddled the quote. What is truly revealing is that, after almost seven decades of this regime, the country’s top leader continues to offer us a utopia instead of a reality.

I, sincerely, am already tired of utopias.

Not because I’ve stopped believing in a better country. On the contrary. Precisely because I want a better nation, I refuse to continue living within a dream that belongs to others.

We inhabit a utopia that is not our own. Some who don’t even experience it try to convince us, from a distance, that we must conserve it intact.

We inhabit a utopia that isn’t ours. Some who don’t even experience it try to convince us, from a distance, from an office, or from the comfort of their privilege, that we must conserve it intact. They ask us for resilience, sacrifice, and faith. But they aren’t the ones who spend entire nights without electricity, who have to walk miles because there’s no public transportation, or who have to bring even antibiotics when a family member is hospitalized. They aren’t the ones who have to choose between buying medicine or putting food on the table.

It is profoundly alienating to live within the illusion of another person. To carry for a whole life the weight of a dream we never continue reading

chose. No one asked Cubans if we wanted to dedicate our lives to building that utopia. No one consulted us if we were willing to trade our youth for promises, our maturity for slogans, and our old age for speeches that always tell us the future will be better.

That future has been coming for almost seventy years.

And it never arrives.

Because the difference between a utopia and public policy is enormous. Public policy must produce results; it must ensure there is food, transportation, electricity, decent wages, functioning hospitals, and schools where teachers don’t abandon their classrooms. A utopia, on the other hand, always finds an excuse to postpone itself. It always lacks one more effort, there is always a little more resistance, always another step to take.

But while we walk toward that unattainable horizon, reality does the exact opposite: it regresses. The electrical system is deteriorating, transportation is decaying, and agriculture is shrinking. Hospitals are falling apart. The population is dwindling, with hundreds of thousands leaving the country. Even hope is fading.

Utopia can no longer be used as an argument to justify the persistent failure of a model. Because it is one thing to strive towards an ideal and another very different thing to use this idea to explain why even the most basic objectives are never achieved.

We don’t want to be governed by improvised philosophers. We want people capable of guaranteeing that there is running water, electricity at night, and food that can one can pay for with their wages. We want to live in a country where emigration isn’t the only option.

To those who imposed on us without consulting us, this mirage, we must say to them something very simple: : we do not want to live chasing what does not exist, what will never exist.

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Rubio on Cuba: “We Keep Talking With Them About the Kind of Changes They Can Make”

The US Secretary of State now tempers expectations of imminent action: “We are prepared to be very realistic and patient.”

Rubio insisted that it is a “failed state,” but maintained that he has “never” provided a timeline. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, July 23, 2026 / In a new episode of the tug-of-war between the US and Cuba, this Wednesday Marco Rubio had to dispel any notion of an imminent resolution to the issue . “We continue talking with them about the kind of changes they can make,” he declared to the press at the Manila International Convention Center in the Philippines, where he is attending the The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

Asked whether the Trump administration still aimed to achieve regime change through economic collapse or military intervention, the US Secretary of State said the goal was to bring “prosperity, security, certainty, and a better future” to Cubans. With regards on how to achieve this, he stated, “We are prepared to be very realistic and patient about how. It takes a serious process to get there.”

Rubio was visibly annoyed when the press asked him about the many statements made throughout the year by members of Congress, senators, and various other U.S. officials who have spoken of short timelines for regime change. “Who are ‘many of them’? Who was saying that?” the Secretary of State snapped at the reporter, who said he was referring to “people within continue reading

the administration who work on this issue.”

“No, global affairs are not a miniseries where you go through three episodes and that’s it. Global affairs are difficult.”

The high-ranking official insisted: “Like whom? Because I work on this issue more than anyone, and I never said that,” he continued. And when the reporter responded that the expectation of imminence stemmed, above all, from Cuba’s own weakness, Rubio replied, “No, global issues aren’t a miniseries where you go through three episodes and it’s over. Global issues are difficult.”

Despite Rubio’s reticence, mentions of imminent change in Cuba range from Trump himself—who less than a week ago spoke of a two-month timeframe—to Florida congressmembers who have mentioned summer or “before the end of the year.” Yesterday, however, Rubio tempered the sense of urgency after several minutes spent reminding everyone that it is a regime that has been entrenched in the country for more than six decades. He insisted that it is a “Failed State,” but maintained that he has “never” given a timeline. “I wish it were tomorrow because they deserve it; the people of Cuba deserve a better future,” he said.

The Secretary of State insisted that Cuba’s economic model is not working and reminded everyone that it no longer receives free oil from Venezuela, without mentioning that even if it could, it wouldn’t be able to buy it. Since the end of January, his administration has prevented any country from sending fuel to the island—whether for payment or not. He did speak, however, of the first shipment of US humanitarian aid that arrived on the island this Tuesday, “which will be distributed by non-governmental organizations on the ground.”

Another topic that inevitably came up was the recent report from his department that identifies Cuba as the main promoter of international communism. “This is a government that has passed, a regime—he corrected himself—that has spent most of the last 30, 40, or 50 years destabilizing the region with the movements it has supported. And they have lost, I don’t know, between 10% and 15% of their population since 2021,” he said.

“Yes, but our problem is with communist interference within our country.”

A reporter asked Rubio why this report focused on Cuba and not China. “They are the largest communist party in the world, with 100 million members,” the reporter inquired. “Yes, but our problem is with communist interference within our country. That report was about what these different elements do to interfere in our country and undermine our foreign policy,” the Secretary of State responded.

Rubio also expressed his preoccupation with the potential for mass migration from Cuba if the country becomes destabilized, one of the major reasons for his caution and his defense of continuing the conversations. “We want them to have a better future, and we are willing to do whatever it takes to help them achieve it. But they have to decide they want to do it. Those in charge there right now don’t want to,” he added, but insisted that his Administration is prepared “to do everything in our power to bring about positive change in Cuba because it directly impacts our national security.”

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Any Small Private Business in Cuba Wants to Sell Fuel to Cash In on the Business

“A Granel was only the first of many,” says a knowledgeable source who requested anonymity. “The fuel is coming in through pipelines.”

A Cupet fuel tanker leaving a gas station in Guanabacoa. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, July 23, 2026 – It is no longer just small private businesses connected to the oil or transportation sectors, or those that specifically need gasoline to operate. The importating of fuel from the U.S., authorized for the private sector since last February, has spread to all kinds of businesses.

This can be seen at several gas stations in Havana. One example is the service station known as the Shell Roundabout in Guanabacoa, which was closed to the public five months ago to serve only yellow taxis and began selling imported gasoline last May. There, 14ymedio confirmed that gasoline is being sold for $5 dollars per liter*.

“They lease the gas stations, issue invoices, and sell gasoline by the liter in dollars,” summarizes a customer at that station, where, as this newspaper previously reported, fuel is supplied not only to private businesses but also to state-owned companies, in direct violation of the authorization granted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

This Monday, in a report published by the Sancti Spíritus provincial newspaper Escambray, José Lorenzo García, the provincial transportation delegate, stated that the ministry had “circulated” a document regarding the possibility of bus companies purchasing fuel from small private businesses, but continue reading

that there was still no regulation in place to govern the practice.

“They lease the gas stations, issue invoices, and sell gasoline by the liter in dollars” / 14ymedio

In practice, this newspaper has confirmed that, in Havana, these State-owned vehicles are already fueling up at the same gas stations that serve private businesses. Among them is the station on Avenida del Puerto, where fuel is sold to national buses, whose terminal is located right next door, while the station at Vía Blanca and Fábrica serves trucks and water tankers. In addition, many state-owned Lada cars can be seen at the Vía Blanca station near the Luyanó bridge.

An entire black-market buying and selling network has also emerged that goes far beyond specialized businesses. “Right now anyone on the street has gasoline and will sell it to you at outrageous prices,” says a Havana driver. “Food businesses, people in the dollar-selling business—anyone will sell you a liter of gasoline for 3,500 pesos.”

One example is a small company dedicated to selling beer. “Right now, all they are promoting is gasoline, nothing else,” says one customer. In a WhatsApp message, they explain the requirements and, while revealing other service stations operating like the Shell Roundabout, warn: “You have to keep in mind that a waiting list is made, and you will be notified when they are ready to enable fueling at Tropicana [a gas station in the Playa municipality] and Acapulco [in Nuevo Vedado].”

Advertisements are also multiplying on social media. “Imported premium gasoline, minimum purchase 20 liters, $4.30 per liter,” reads one ad from Jaimanitas, in Playa. The same seller offers a price of $4.25 per liter for purchases of 40 liters or more, $4.20 for 100 liters or more, and $4.15 for purchases of 200 liters or more.

Beyond the fact that the business activities of these companies have nothing to do with fuel, the issue is that they are using the State distribution network, thereby also violating U.S. regulations. This is the case of A Granel, documented by 14ymedio, which sells diesel for $2.50 per liter from an industrial warehouse located at the end of Avenida del Puerto, owned by the Cuban Lubricants Company (Cubalub), which belongs to the State-owned Cupet.

“A Granel was only the first of many,” says a knowledgeable source who requested anonymity. “The fuel is coming in through pipelines”

Whatever the case, it is privately imported fuel that is keeping the country minimally running since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade

Whatever the case, it is privately imported fuel that is keeping the country minimally running since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade on the Cuban regime following its intervention in Venezuela earlier this year. Since January 9, the date when the last Mexican tanker, the Ocean Mariner, arrived on the island, only one vessel has docked: the Anatoly Kolodkin, which arrived on March 30 carrying Russian crude oil.

The official price of gasoline increased on July 10: gasoline rose from $2 to $2.50 per liter, while diesel increased from $1.80 to $2 per liter. In any case, fuel available for public sale through the Ticket app has reached extremely low levels.

In Havana it has been unavailable since May 28. Only a few gas stations outside the capital remain open, almost exclusively in Sancti Spíritus, where the number of operating service stations has also been reduced since July 8. Matanzas and Villa Clara, which had been dispensing fuel almost daily at several stations, have not done so since June 4.

There have been three exceptions to this situation: this Tuesday, when a gas station opened in Camagüey; on June 16, when another station opened in Artemisa; and on June 30, when fuel was dispensed at a service station in Havana (Santa María del Rosario).

*Equivalent to almost $19 a gallon

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana Chronicles: Cuba, The Country That Unlearns

The Cuban crisis forces people to give up the basic habits that sustain communal life

I’m crammed against the back door, and right in front of my face is a sign that warns: “Don’t slam the door.” They’re asking for a kind and courteous gesture in this every-man-for-himself situation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 22, 2026 / The street I walk down is called Hidalgo, but on one of its corners, the poorest people in my neighborhood gather, while waiting for their bread from the ration books. Some couldn’t survive without this support, which, for others, is just a small piece of dough, sometimes sour, sometimes almost greenish. I have a neighbor who goes down more than ten flights of stairs and then back up just to make sure he gets this extra portion of his daily ration. Poor quality, but still subsidized, this bread remains the main source of sustenance for many of the people I pass every morning.

I jump over a sewage-filled stream, just a few meters from where a tamale vendor is hawking his wares. I quicken my pace toward La Timba. Only the building of the General Customs of the Republic appears freshly painted. Everything around me is parched from the heat and lack of rains, peeling from the crisis, and dulled by neglect. Even Paseo Street, once the sacred thoroughfare of power, where caravans of official vehicles escorted by motorcyclists used to parade, looks abandoned. Have the Party leaders boarded that plane and we don’t even know it? Like in some novels, is it that power in Cuba is nothing more than an empty shell that survives only in our imaginations and in the offices of State Security?

For the work and grace of daily survival, now “five” means five hundred and “two” is enough to describe two hundred.

It’s not summer. In July and August, everything usually slows down a bit; the heat is oppressive, and the city seems to yawn at every turn. But this year is different. This isn’t slowness. It’s paralysis.

“It’s three to Prado,” the driver of the electric tricycle tells me as I hop on in Vedado. Money has become so difficult to pronounce that we’ve ended up simplifying it. Thanks to the daily grind of survival, now “five” means five hundred and “two” is enough to describe two hundred. We drop zeros from conversations as quickly as those colorful bills disappear from our pockets. But if “one” equals one hundred, what do we do with that bill that showed José Martí’s face and that for so long represented one peso? That one no longer exists. It has been erased by inflation and by forgetfulness.

The almendrón, the classic American car, that’s taking me home speeds by. I’m pressed against the back door, and right in front of my face is a sign that warns: “Don’t slam the door.” They’re asking for a kind and courteous gesture amidst the chaos. “It’s five to Boyeros and Tulipán,” the driver explains. His statement confirms that zeros to the right of the fare are worthless; they’ve become as useless as those on the left. Just as we’ve eliminated hundreds and thousands of our conversations, we’ve also been stripping our days of any embellishment. There’s no room for frills anymore. Only the most urgent and basic needs remain.

Animalization rarely happens suddenly. It creeps in little by little. The real deterioration is not just in the streets or on the facades.

While walking down Colón Street a few days ago, a bag full of excrement flew over my head before hitting the pavement. The residents of that area have been without water for days. Instead of accumulating their waste in a toilet that seems unlikely to be flushed, they throw it in the nearest garbage can. In this country, we’ve been pushed to disregard centuries of basic lessons: mixing shit with public space ultimately turns life into shit.

It is not the only setback. There are neighborhoods where people cook with firewood in the middle of the city and where the darkness of the blackouts forces them to sleep with the chickens. A friend called me a few days ago to invite me to a comedy show. “I can’t,” I told him, “I have to get up before five in the morning to get online for a few minutes and get some housework done.”

Progress can not only stop; it can also reverse at great speed.

Havana wasn’t sustained solely by buildings or avenues. It was also raised on unspoken agreements: don’t throw excrement out the window, keep sewage away from where you cook. These are rules so old they seem instinctive, but a prolonged crisis is enough to reveal that they aren’t. We’ve begun to accept as normal scenes that just a few years ago would have seemed like something out of a refugee camp.

Animalization rarely happens in one blow. It creeps in little by little. The real deterioration isn’t just in the streets or the facades. It’s in realizing that, to survive, we’ve had to forget too many things that kept us healthy and sane.

Previous Havana Chronicles: continue reading

“Here, Surviving”

The Blackout Lunatics

From the Mariel Boatlift’s Weaponized Eggs to the Luxury Egg

Cuba Is Once Again Without Internet

Under the Shadow of a Giant Syringe, Cuba Remains the Land of Waiting

The Time For Reforms Has Passed

Surrounded by Garbage, Miramar Is No Longer the Glamorous Neighborhood It Once Was

A Circus Facing Off Against Power, and a City Growing Increasingly Lonely

Chronicle of a Monday That Feels Like Wednesday

“We Used to Complain About the ‘CUC’, But Now We Miss It”

The Roar of Despair of a Cuban Woman Returning to Her Country After Many Years

The Tulipán Market Closed: “They’ve Given the Order To Go to the March for Raúl”

Along Carlos III Street and towards Ethiopia

Sleeping Is Also a Privilege in Havana

A Desperate Plea in the Middle of the Dark Havana Night: ‘Light!’

The Refuse of Disenchantment

Under a Picture-Postcard Blue Sky, the Country is Crumbling

Fatigue Barely Allows One to Enjoy the ‘Lights On’ in Havana

Dollars, the Classic Card, and a Havana Without Tourists

A Journey Through the Lost Names of Havana

The Shipwreck of a Ship Called “Cuba”

Havana Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

In Havana, the Only Ones Who Move Are the Mosquitoes

Reina, the Stately Street Where Garbage is Sold

Searching for Light Through the Deserted Streets of Havana

The Death Throes of ‘Granma’, the Mouthpiece of a Regime Cornered by Crisis

The Anxiety of the Disconnected Cuban

One Mella, Three Mellas, Life in Cuba Is Measured in Thousands of Pesos

It Is Forbidden To Leave Home in Cuba Today Because It Is a “Counter-Revolutionary Day”

Vedado, the Heart of Havana’s Nightlife, Is Now Converted Into a Desert

Havana, in Critical Condition

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The Cuban State Authorizes Its Enterprises to Buy Raw Materials and Supplies From the Private Sector

Entities and any State establishment, including food-service ones, will also be able to pay these suppliers in cash

The managers of State-run establishments will be responsible for contracts with private parties, without recourse to superiors. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / The shortages in the state system have forced the Cuban Government to take a further step in the liberalization of parts of the market, in this case retail trade. From now on, enterprises, basic units, and any State establishment, including restaurants, cafeterias, and rationed-market bodegas, will be able to contract with the private sector not only for fresh and prepared food – something that was already partially allowed – but also for supplies, raw materials, and other products needed to provide their services.

The decree enabling this, published in the ‘Official Gazette’ this Monday, states that it is “necessary to adapt commercial relations to the market’s current conditions and objectives,” with the aim of “making it possible to obtain resources without limitations and encouraging an increase in offerings in gastronomic activities, the retail sale of merchandise, and the corresponding services under local subordination.”

With the new authorization, all services subordinate to the domestic trade system will be able to carry out “self-managed purchases” – that is, without going through the State – “from individuals and legal entities”

With the new authorization, all services subordinate to the domestic trade system will be able to carry out “self-managed purchases” – that is, without going through the State – “from individuals and legal entities,” another euphemism to avoid explicitly mentioning the private sector. Despite the liberalization, there is a series of prohibited products, although the prohibition stems from the fact that private individuals are not authorized to engage in these highly profitable areas, over which the State retains exclusivity: horse meat, coffee (except torrefacto-roasted coffee), bee honey, raw tobacco, and cocoa. continue reading

The regulation specifies that the purchasing party must have verified that the supplier holds a license and has all required documents in order, and is also required to keep this information updated to ensure that sellers remain valid. As for payment, the decree indicates that establishments must maintain a fund for these purchases approved by their director, which may be paid by bank account or in cash.

The purchasing and contracting committee of each entity is responsible for deciding maximum purchase prices, “without contradicting what has been approved by local governments, in order to avoid increases in the retail prices charged to the public,” the document adds.

The current regulation expands on previous liberalizations in the sector, which were much more timid and controlled. The first took place in mid-2019, when the Government published the first decree allowing the managers of State establishments to purchase food products (fresh or prepared) directly from farmers, cooperatives, and self-employed workers. That document had in common with the current one the list of prohibited foods, although broader, including meat from all types of livestock, and milk. The main difference, however, lay in payments, which could only be made through bank transfers approved by managers.

The main difference, however, lay in payments, which could only be made through bank transfers approved by managers

Two years later, with the Tarea Ordenamiento (Ordering Task) destabilizing the economy even further than it already was, and the pandemic contributing to making everything worse, the regime opted to convert basic business units (UEB) into autonomous entities with their own accounting. At that time, they were authorized to make purchases without permits from provincial or municipal enterprises, and procedures for contracting directly with producers were simplified.

The regulation, signed by the Minister of Domestic Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, is a decree included in an ordinary Official Gazette published this Monday that also includes other resolutions of lesser relevance, among them the reservation of new telephone numbering blocks, the regulations governing the emergency fund for the payment of wages, permission for the Samá maritime base (Holguín) to operate in the tourism sector, and authorization – pending regulatory development – to work as a private insurance agent.

Translated by GH.

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Almost a Quarter of a Million Cubans Emigrated in 2025

313,414 people left permanently, although the return of 72,056 slightly softened the figure
180 days of residency on the island will no longer be required to obtain effective residency

The average age in Cuba continues to rise and now stands at 43.

Official statistics have put numbers to the perception that Cuba’s migration crisis has no end. In 2025, 313,414 people left the island permanently, although the return of 72,056 slightly softened the figure, leaving a net migration balance of 245,264. The worst of the last five years remains, by far, 2022, when the country lost half a million inhabitants, while in 2023 the figure was 330,000 and a year later 307,961. These are, once again, unprecedented figures for a country that is not at war. Cuba’s population, as the official press had already reported a few days earlier, stood at 9,434,593 people at the end of last year.

The capital leads the exodus by a wide margin, with 98,773 emigrants, followed by Matanzas, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, which lost more than 20,000 people last year. Between 10,000 and 15,500 emigrants were recorded in Holguín, Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila, Las Tunas, and Mayabeque. At the bottom of the list are Guantánamo, Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Granma, and the Isla de la Juventud.

To these figures must be added the low birth rate of 2025, with only 68,051 births, and the very high mortality rate, 134,354 deaths, which left a negative natural balance of 66,303 people. In this regard, the mortality rate – already reported in January by the official press – stood at 9.9 per thousand live births. The detail is even more alarming given that Havana has a rate of 14.2, Isla de la Juventud 12.9, and Camagüey 12.4 – figures more typical of the rest of the continent than of a country that, until a few years ago, had First World figures of between 3 and 5 per thousand. continue reading

The detail is even more alarming given that Havana has a rate of 14.2, Isla de la Juventud 12.9, and Camagüey 12.4

As a result, the Yearbook reveals another figure that continues to rise: the mean and median age. Both indicators have risen two points compared with 2021 and now stand at 43 and 45 years respectively, higher for women (44.1 and 46.5) than for men (42.9 and 43.3).

The information comes on the same day that Cubadebate published a special report explaining certain details of the new Migration, Citizenship, and Immigration laws, which the Government published in the Official Gazette this past May and which take effect in 180 days. First Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration, and Foreign Nationals Affairs at the Ministry of the Interior, answered a list of questions whose responses contain few new developments; the main one concerns effective migratory residency – an expansion of the recognition of effective residency.

As was already known, the concept recognizes those who maintain “their principal connection with Cuba,” where they live their lives because they remain there – generally – for most of the year. Therefore, a foreigner needs to live on the island for 180 days to acquire this status. “However, the law incorporates a broader concept that is not limited solely to length of stay. Effective residency may also be recognized for those who remain in the country for at least 120 days, provided they can demonstrate genuine ties to Cuba through family, employment, economic, or property connections,” explains the official, who justifies this by the need to prevent a mere number from being used to limit these rights.

The rights that will be recognized will not, in any case, include political rights. Whether a foreigner recognized as a resident of Cuba may or may not vote in elections will be addressed in a separate law, the Electoral Law, Méndez clarified.

Among the other key points highlighted in the laws is the regulation, for the first time, of the renunciation of Cuban citizenship, which must be requested through the consulate abroad, and its recovery, which can be done only once, after a minimum of five years from the loss and under certain requirements. Children of Cubans also retain the right to apply for citizenship.

Cubans living abroad may remain in Cuba for as long as they wish without limit, without having to complete paperwork or request extensions of stay. As usual, if they retain their nationality, they must enter the country using their Cuban passport – if it has expired, entry is still permitted, but they are required to renew it before they can leave – and the rights and obligations arising from it will apply to them.

Whether a foreigner recognized as a resident of Cuba may or may not vote in elections will be addressed in a separate law, the Electoral Law, Méndez clarified

Among the rights that were previously lost but that the new law now allows them to retain are property rights, including the right to keep property, inherit, and conduct business.

For foreigners who do not live in Cuba but wish to participate in its economy, a new category has been created: Investment and Business for emigration. “While they remain in Cuba, they will enjoy the rights that the legal system grants to Cuban citizens, which strengthens the legal security of their projects and investments in the country,” the official states, in a superficial reference to a core issue.

There is also another new category that did not exist before, that of humanitarian resident, and the Migration Police is officially established, whose functions are “prevention, attention to migrants, protection of their rights, social discipline, and public order. It will also contribute to the execution of decisions adopted by the courts and migratory authorities within the scope of their competencies.” That is no small matter for the tiny – undisclosed – number of foreigners who wish to live in Cuba.

Translated by GH.

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U.S. Sends First Flight of Food and Hygiene Supplies to Cuba as Part of Promised $100 Million in Aid

The U.S. State Department reiterates that the shipment is intended “for the Cuban people, who are suffering the consequences of the kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence of the communist regime”

A shipment of aid to Cuba arrives at Miami airport this Tuesday. / Screenshot/@USForeignAssist

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / A shipment consisting of 700 hygiene kits and 700 food packages arrived in Havana this Tuesday from the United States, as part of the Donald Trump administration’s promise to send up to $100 million in humanitarian aid to the island. It is the first under that “historic commitment,” according to a statement from the State Department.

The statement makes clear that the shipment, aboard a plane operated by 7Air Cargo, is intended “for the Cuban people, who are suffering the consequences of the kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence of the communist regime,” and notes that the packages will be delivered through the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba. The agreement, the statement adds, builds on the success of the previous aid delivery following Hurricane Melissa, which was also handled by the Catholic organization.

Before the press, at a cargo warehouse at Miami International Airport, U.S. authorities said the assistance responds to the “deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Cuba, marked by shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential services.”

The assistance is a response to the “deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Cuba”

It was precisely in an interview given to Roberto Cavada, a Cuban exile in the Dominican Republic, on June 24, that Miguel Diaz-Canel said the $100 million in U.S. aid promised in May by the Trump administration did not include food and medicine. State Department officials pushed back on that a week later, in statements to the independent outlet Cafe Fuerte, flatly rejecting the Cuban president’s comment and announcing that shipments would begin that same month of July – as indeed has happened.

“We can confirm that the aid is ready to be sent and that Miguel Diaz-Canel’s illegitimate regime has been delaying the approvals,” the source said. Asked about the contents of those shipments and Diaz-Canel’s claim, the official added: “That is completely and utterly false. The shipments offered by the State Department include continue reading

food, as was demonstrated during the inspections carried out in the humanitarian aid phases following Hurricane Melissa, and this can be verified by the Catholic Church and other NGOs.”

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba had said on June 17 that 60 of the 100 million dollars announced would be managed by the Catholic Church and the remaining 40 million by other NGOs. The agreement was finalized at a meeting between the head of the diplomatic mission, Mike Hammer; Sean Callahan, president of Catholic Relief Services; and Carmen Maria Nodal Martinez, director of Caritas Cuba.

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba had said on June 17 that 60 of the 100 million dollars announced would be managed by the Catholic Church and the remaining 40 million by other NGOs.

“These meetings addressed coordination for distributing humanitarian aid to ordinary Cubans, with the goal of ensuring that support effectively reaches those who need it most,” a statement issued by the U.S. embassy said.

In October 2025, after Hurricane Melissa struck eastern Cuba, Marco Rubio offered the Cuban regime aid valued at three million dollars. After a back-and-forth between the parties, mainly over how the distribution would be organized, shipments began arriving on January 14, with distribution handled by Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, which have remained in charge of all subsequent shipments.

The organizations have run into serious logistical problems due to fuel shortages, to the point that the Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, told the Washington Post that agreements inevitably had to be reached with the Cuban regime to transport the aid by ship from Havana to Santiago. According to Cafe Fuerte, its source acknowledged that this was a subject that had come up. “Of course, both humanitarian aid and oil and energy matters have been topics at the negotiating table,” the source said.

According to Caritas, 82% of the donations have so far been delivered to the affected areas, reaching some 8,800 families in Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Las Tunas, Bayamo, and Guantanamo.

Translated by GH.
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Iberostar Confirms It “No Longer Operates” Any Hotel in Cuba the Same Day Melia Announces Its Withdrawal

Until now, it had continued operating six hotels belonging to Cubanacan and Gran Caribe

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 / The Spanish chain Iberostar confirmed this Tuesday that it no longer “operates or markets any hotel in Cuba.” It told the specialized outlet Hosteltur, just hours after the also-Spanish company Melia announced that, starting this Friday, it is ceasing all operations on the island.

In Iberostar’s case, no details were given as to when the withdrawal took effect. On June 1, the hotel company severed ties with Gaviota, the chain controlled by the Business Administration Group S.A. (Gaesa), which had just been sanctioned by the United States, and stopped managing the twelve hotels associated with that entity. Among them were the Hotel Grand Packard, on the Paseo del Prado, and the Iberostar Selection Habana, located in the controversial Torre K and closed for some time due to the crisis. The company announced, however, that it would maintain its presence in Cuba through six properties whose state counterpart belongs to other tourism groups not linked to the military conglomerate, including Cubanacan and Gran Caribe.

Two days later, Melia did the same. The company announced it was abandoning all the Gaviota-managed hotels it operated and retaining management of the remaining 19. Gabriel Escarrer, personally determined to remain in Cuba, had stated in recent weeks that everything was subject to whatever might happen on the island and that, as a publicly traded company, it would ultimately make the decision it had to, out of responsibility to its shareholders.

Those decisions became known close to the deadline set by the U.S. State Department under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which imposed sanctions “on those responsible for repression in Cuba and for threats to U.S. national security and foreign continue reading

policy.” A few days later, the decree began to take concrete form with specific sanctions against Gaesa, its president, Ania Guillermina Lastres, and Moa Nickel S.A.

Since then, both Melia and Iberostar have been in the crosshairs of U.S. pressure.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) set June 5, 2026, as the deadline for these companies to halt their operations, under risk of being exposed to sanctions.

Since then, both Melia and Iberostar have been in the crosshairs of U.S. pressure, even though their executives had assured months earlier that they would not leave Cuba.

In a statement sent to 14ymedio this Tuesday, Melia reported that it will halt all its activity on the island as of July 24, citing “significant” operational, legal, and financial-economic difficulties in the country resulting from U.S. pressure measures, as it also reported today to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

“The company reports that its Portuguese subsidiary, Ilha Bela, has decided to cease, effective July 24, 2026, the provision of its hotel management and marketing services in connection with all of its properties in Cuba. This decision also extends to the use of licensed brands, inbound tourism services, and the local supply chain associated with supplying the aforementioned properties, whose operations will also be interrupted,” said the company owned by the Escarrer family.

In the same statement, the company denied that its CEO, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet had claimed in a report published this Monday that got ahead of the Balearic hotel company’s decision. Beyond that, it referred entirely to the statement it had issued.

“The company is working to ensure an orderly and responsible transition, minimizing as far as possible the impact on the various stakeholders linked to the operation, including staff, clients, suppliers, and local partners, while maintaining transparent communication with all of them at all times, and is likewise, applying the principle of prudence, assessing the financial impacts of this decision,” the statement notes.

The company, the first foreign hotel operator to enter Cuba to manage state-owned properties, closed its statement by expressing “its gratitude to all the people and entities that have been part of its history in Cuba over the years, as well as the company’s respect and consideration for the country.”

Of the Spanish hotel companies, only Barcelo remains, but not for much longer. The company already announced last June that it plans its definitive exit from the island once its current contracts with Gran Caribe conclude, in 2027. In its case, it had only kept management of the Barcelo Solymar and the Occidental Arenas Blancas, both located in Varadero, though the latter has been closed for months due to the drop in tourism.

Translated by GH.

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Meliá to Completely End Its Hotel Operations in Cuba This Friday

The hotel company attributes the decision to the “significant operational, legal, and economic-financial difficulties” in the country following U.S. pressure measures.

Meliá managed 34 hotels on the Island until just a few months ago.

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 – Spanish hotel company Meliá will cease all of its operations on the Island this Friday, July 24, due to the “significant operational, legal, and economic-financial difficulties” in the country following U.S. pressure measures, the company announced Tuesday in a filing with Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

“The company informs that its Portuguese subsidiary, Ilha Bela, has decided to cease, effective July 24, 2026, the provision of its hotel management and marketing services for all of its establishments in Cuba. This decision also extends to the use of licensed brands, inbound tourism services, and the local supply chain associated with supplying the aforementioned establishments, whose operations will also be discontinued,” the Escarrer family company stated in a filing submitted to the CNMV.

In a statement sent to 14ymedio, the company firmly denied that its chief executive officer, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet claimed in a report published Monday that first revealed the Balearic hotel company’s decision. Aside from that, it referred entirely to the official statement it had released.

The company firmly denied that its chief executive officer, Gabriel Escarrer, had recently traveled to Cuba, as Cubanet claimed in a report published Monday

“The company is working to ensure an orderly and responsible transition, minimizing as much as possible the impact on the various stakeholders involved in the operation, including employees, customers, suppliers, and local partners, while maintaining transparent communication with all of them. In keeping with the principle of prudence, it is also evaluating the financial impacts of this decision,” the statement said.

The company, the first foreign hotel operator to enter Cuba to manage state-owned hotels, concluded its statement by continue reading

expressing “its gratitude to all the individuals and organizations that have been part of its history in Cuba over the years, as well as the company’s respect and consideration for the country.”

Meliá arrived in Cuba in 1990 under the leadership of the founder of the Mallorca-based company and father of its current CEO, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, who developed a close friendship with Fidel Castro. Castro had initially been reluctant to embrace tourism, which he considered closely tied to capitalism, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union he had little choice but to accept the idea of profiting from the Island’s only free resource: its natural environment. Melia celebrated its 35th anniversary in May 2024, when its executives said they hoped for “another 50 years of growing together.”

That first hotel, Sol Palmeras in Varadero, marked the beginning of an adventure that lasted until 2026. Meliá had contracts with Gran Caribe and Cubanacán to manage 19 hotels, while it managed another 15 for Gaviota, the tourism arm of the military conglomerate Gaesa. Altogether, it operated 34 hotels with about 14,000 rooms that, in recent years, had generated only minimal returns.

For Meliá, however, this was not a major problem. The substantial profits the hotel chain earned worldwide allowed it to maintain its ties with Cuba while waiting for conditions to improve, but in May everything began to change.

As early as February, with the suspension of most international flights and the resulting collapse in tourist arrivals, the hotel chain was forced to alter its strategy by consolidating guests into a smaller number of hotels and closing nearly half of its properties. But after U.S. President Trump signed an executive order in May under which any company maintaining ties with Gaesa risked being sanctioned, events accelerated.

On June 3, the company officially announced that it was withdrawing from all of the Gaviota hotels it managed

On June 3, the company officially announced that it was withdrawing from all of the Gaviota hotels it managed, while temporarily retaining management of the remaining 19 properties. Gabriel Escarrer, who had been personally committed to remaining in Cuba, had stated in recent weeks that everything depended on whatever developments occurred on the Island and that, as a publicly traded company, it would ultimately make whatever decision was necessary out of responsibility to its shareholders.

Despite the exodus of foreign hotel companies that have abandoned nearly all of the properties they operated in Cuba in response to the U.S. threat of sanctions, few experts had predicted that Meliá would leave the Island entirely. Most specialists, who had expressed confidence that Trump had set his sights on the tourism sector, believed that some hotel chains—especially the Mallorca-based company, which was foremost in everyone’s mind—would remain to contribute their expertise and capitalize on the many years they had invested in the country. For some reason, that has not been the case.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Spanish NGO ‘Open Arms’ Arrives in Havana With a Donation for a Pediatric Hospital

The activists are delivering solar panels, backup batteries, and medical supplies financed with more than €160,000 raised through self-managed donations from over 4,000 donors.

The ‘Astral’ arrived in Havana this Sunday, and the activists who were traveling on it will be at the Juan Manuel Márquez hospital this Monday. / EFE

14ymedio / EFE, Havana, July 20, 2026 – The sailing vessel Astral, operated by the Spanish NGO Open Arms, which together with more than 150 social and political organizations launched the “Rumbo a Cuba” initiative, arrived Sunday at the Port of Havana carrying seven tons of humanitarian aid destined for a children’s hospital in the Cuban capital.

The Open Arms vessel departed Barcelona in May and traveled 6,200 miles to transport a shipment of solar panels, backup batteries, and medical supplies to Cuba, financed with more than €160,000 raised through self-managed donations from over 4,000 donors.

The donation is intended to provide energy independence for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), intermediate care unit, and clinical laboratory of Havana’s Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital.

At the ceremony welcoming the humanitarian mission, Óscar Camps, founder and director of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms, told the press that the initiative “is a humble contribution made by the organization with the support of the Spanish people” to highlight the humanitarian impact of the United States embargo on the continue reading

Caribbean nation.

Camps congratulated the Cuban people, saying, “You are enduring and resisting an inhumane blockade. You are the true heroes, and the message I bring from my country to the Cuban people is that you are not alone, that this is only the beginning, and we hope others will follow this example.”

“We are living through a very difficult moment because of a blatant violation of international law, human rights, and international agreements,” Camps said, referring to what he described as the energy blockade imposed by the United States on the Island.

The Catalan activist also called for “bringing greater visibility to the problems Cuba is facing” and expressed confidence that doing so “will generate sympathetic support from other organizations that will want to collaborate and do the same” as Open Arms.

In that regard, he noted that his autonomous community, Catalonia, has allocated half a million euros to organizations working in Cuba “after we launched our mission.”

“It has already been worthwhile. We have contributed a tiny drop, a grain of sand, in an effort to repay the solidarity we have always received from the Cuban people,” he added.

The delegation participating in the Rumbo a Cuba humanitarian mission includes several Members of the European Parliament: Miguel Urbán Crespo, co-founder of the Podemos Party; Ana Miranda of the Galician Nationalist Bloc; Su Moreno of the Popular Unity Candidacy; and Aída Llauradó of Comuns. They took part last Saturday in an event at the Casa de las Américas cultural institution.

On Monday, the organizers of Rumbo a Cuba are scheduled to visit the hospital benefiting from the initiative, as well as participate in an activity with children at a cultural center in the Cuban capital.

Last March, the Island received the Nuestra América Convoy, a flotilla that sailed from Mexico carrying 14 tons of food, medicine, and solar panels.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Four Days After Granting It to Cuban Activist Otero Alcántara, the U.S. Approves Parole for Maykel Osorbo

The rapper received his first family visit at Guanajay prison after being transferred from Kilo 8.

Unlike Otero Alcántara, rapper and political prisoner Maykel “Osorbo” has not completed his prison sentence. / Redes sociales

14ymedio, Madrid, July 21, 2026 — The U.S. government has approved a special travel permit (parole) for Cuban rapper and political prisoner Maykel Castillo Pérez, known as Maykel Osorbo, according to information released Tuesday by the Observatory of Cultural Rights and activist and art historian Anamely Ramos.

The authorization is similar to the one granted to artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who arrived in Miami last Saturday after fully serving his five-year prison sentence and being forced into exile. It was processed in parallel by those close to him. According to the joint statement from the Observatory and Anamely Ramos, the application is based “on the certainty that his arbitrary imprisonment has political origins and has violated his human rights, as well as his right to freedom of expression and artistic creation.”

It is therefore expected that the regime will follow the same course with Castillo as it did with Alcántara and grant his release from prison in exchange for exile.

The statement also reports that Osorbo received his first family visit on Tuesday since being transferred on July 10 to the maximum-security prison in Guanajay, Artemisa. During the visit, the musician confirmed that he had been placed in “La Incrementada,” the same section where Otero Alcántara was held until three days before being removed from the prison. He also explained that the authorities allowed him to bring his personal belongings into the new detention facility.

It is therefore expected that the regime will follow the same course with Castillo as it did with Alcántara and grant his release from prison in exchange for exile

Unlike Otero Alcántara, the rapper and fellow member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI), Maykel Osorbo, has not completed his sentence. Both artists share the same criminal case despite having been arrested at different times, one of the clearest signs of the arbitrariness of their prosecutions. While Alcántara was arrested on July 11, 2021, before he could take part in that day’s demonstrations, Osorbo was detained nearly two months earlier, on May 18, 2021

Both artists share the same criminal case despite having been arrested at different times, one of the clearest signs of the arbitrariness of their prosecutions

The events for which they were prosecuted took place in early April of that same year when they organized a street party outside Damas 955, the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement and Otero Alcántara’s residence, where Patria y Vida, by then already an anthem of dissent, was sung. On that occasion, the police, who had deployed a heavy operation throughout that area of Old Havana, attempted to arrest Maykel Osorbo, but he resisted. The image of the rapper with a handcuff dangling from one wrist went viral.

More than a year after his arrest, in June 2022, a court sentenced him to nine years in prison on charges of assault, resisting arrest, contempt, public disorder, and defamation of institutions, organizations, heroes, and martyrs.

Last June, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) concluded that Osorbo’s detention was arbitrary and recommended that the Cuban government overturn his conviction, release him immediately, and investigate the human rights violations committed against him.

“Maykel is a survivor and a fighter, and if I survived, he’ll be alright as far as possible.”

Having just arrived in Miami last Saturday, during an event at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity where he reconstructed a broken image of the Virgin of Charity as a symbol of Cuba’s reconstruction, Otero Alcántara assured everyone that Maykel Osorbo would be in Miami “very soon.” According to him, the rapper could arrive in the US “in less than a month,” based on information he had received from the US Embassy in Havana. “Maykel is a survivor and a fighter, and if I survived, he’ll be alright, as far as possible,” he added.

The Observatory of Cultural Rights and Anamely Ramos concluded their statement demanding the immediate release of Osorbo and denouncing “the instrumentalization of the Cuban penitentiary system against artists, activists and critical voices that confront the Cuban government.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Economists Estimate Cuba Will Need Three Years to Complete an “Emergency Stabilization”

Cuba Transformación calls for political changes to transform the country into a social market economy supported by a democratic state governed by the rule of law.
Negotiations with the United States are essential, they say, to achieve a relaxation of sanctions.

The economists call for support for small and medium-sized private enterprises (mipymes) as engines of investment, innovation, and job creation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, July 20, 2026 – Cuba Transformación believes that an initial phase of “stabilization and emergency” aimed at “halting macroeconomic deterioration,” addressing the energy crisis, and reviving agriculture and tourism will take approximately three years. The working group, announced last June and made up of five independent Cuban experts tasked with developing a proposal for economic transformation, considers it “essential” that, before any viable plan can begin, negotiations take place through which the United States eases sanctions, since their continuation, they argue, “constitutes one of the main obstacles to recovery.”

The document is 120 pages long, although the specialists—Mauricio De Miranda, Omar Everleny Pérez, Ricardo Torres, and Pavel Vidal, all critics of the current regime, although Vidal is also among the experts consulted by Díaz-Canel—have prepared a 19-page executive summary outlining its main principles. In the introduction, the text makes clear that it is neither a response to nor a complement of the 176 measures presented by the Cuban government, but rather its own methodology and sequence of reforms. Its premise is clear: Cuba should become a social market economy supported by a democratic state governed by the rule of law, including multiparty elections, freedom of association, freedom of the press and expression, transparency, and the subordination of state powers to the law.

Furthermore, the transformation must be “conceived, led, and carried out by Cubans themselves, in the national interest” and in order to avoid the loss of sovereignty. However, the exile community will play a fundamental role, they argue, not only because of its Cuban identity but also because of its experience, networks, and capital. Another essential component will be the international community, which they urge to create an assistance fund that would be crucial in ensuring that the enormous initial costs of rebuilding a currently decapitalized system do not fall on the population, especially its most vulnerable sectors. continue reading

Another essential component will be the international community, which they urge to create an assistance fund that would be crucial in ensuring that the enormous initial costs of rebuilding a currently decapitalized system do not fall on the population

The document insists that, at present, the suspension of fuel shipments from Venezuela and the threat of sanctions against both countries that might sell hydrocarbons to Cuba and companies that do business with the regime are preventing recovery. That does not mean, however, that responsibility is attributed solely to the United States. The economists argue that the current crisis “is not a temporary phenomenon nor can it be explained exclusively by recent external shocks.” Instead, those shocks have had such a profound impact because they struck “an economy that had already accumulated structural weaknesses, limited adjustment capacity, and long-postponed reforms.”

The experts also warn that the situation is becoming more complicated in every respect, including Cuba’s de facto dependence on the United States—not at the state level, but because remittances largely originate there. In the experts’ view, money and shipments from relatives have become the equivalent of the support once provided first by the Soviet Union and later by Venezuela.

The document also states that reality has already imposed part of the adjustment. “The State has, in real terms, reduced its ability to finance public goods, investment, social services, and subsidies, while inflation and currency depreciation have severely eroded purchasing power.” Furthermore, “there has been a growing de facto commercialization of essential services. In this context, poverty ceases to be a residual phenomenon and becomes a structural feature of Cuban social reality,” it adds.

In response, the proposal should be divided into three phases, although the current document addresses only the first: stabilization and emergency. The other two phases, expected after the initial three-year period, are “reactivation and institutional development,” focused on structural reforms to increase competitiveness, improve resource allocation, restore financial credibility, and to implement “model consolidation,” aimed at defining the social contract and the medium- and long-term development strategy.

For now, the priority is to begin the first phase, which requires at least six priority areas detailed in the document. The first concerns macroeconomics and prices. Its key proposals include integrating all State entities, including Gaesa, into the civilian fiscal system and unifying the exchange rate market where three vastly different rates currently coexist, only one of which remotely reflects reality, under a managed floating system overseen by a Central Bank of Cuba that performs the functions appropriate to such an institution rather than merely implementing the regime’s directives. It also calls for price liberalization, the elimination of price caps, and updated wages and pensions. In addition, it proposes eliminating automatic subsidies and focusing assistance on vulnerable populations. It also suggests creating a stabilization fund to channel external resources and proceeds from asset sales. Transparency, especially in the national budget, is considered indispensable.

Regarding energy, the second area on the list and a top priority, the experts urgently call for contracting floating power plants and restoring thermoelectric plants. They also propose accelerating solar energy projects with storage capacity, approving new electricity rates, improving the quality of the domestic crude oil used in thermal plants, and opening the fuel import, distribution, and marketing market under a regulated framework.

Regarding energy, the second area on the list and a top priority, the experts urgently call for contracting floating power plants and restoring thermoelectric plants. They also propose accelerating solar energy projects with storage capacity and approving new electricity rates

Agriculture and tourism are also included in this phase. Among the priority objectives are eliminating the state procurement system and replacing it with voluntary contracts at market prices, allowing private participation in the agricultural sector—a measure that apparently has already been approved—and creating a market for buying, selling, and leasing farmland. The document calls for tax and tariff incentives to encourage investment in agricultural infrastructure and greater digitalization of agricultural marketing. It also considers it necessary to guarantee a stable energy supply to tourist destinations, strengthen their ties with local producers, and reposition the Cuba brand.

Regarding property rights and business transformation, the proposal calls for eliminating obstacles to the growth of small and medium-sized private enterprises (mipymes), with tax incentives to encourage expansion. At the same time, it recommends breaking up the military conglomerate Gaesa by transferring its companies, assets, and foreign currency holdings to civilian institutions and the Central Bank, while closing or restructuring unviable state-owned enterprises and creating “transparent” privatization processes.

The fifth section addresses “external integration.” It calls for eliminating the state’s monopoly on foreign trade, a measure already contemplated by the regime, formally applying for Cuba’s membership in the principal international financial institutions, restructuring the country’s foreign debt, and beginning bilateral negotiations to resolve claims related to the property confiscations of the 1960s.

Finally, the document also focuses on “social protection and governance.” In this section, it considers it essential to establish a protection package to cushion the effects of labor market adjustment and to audit the program using mandatory social indicators. It also proposes reforming the Labor Code by recognizing diverse forms of property ownership, freedom of association for labor unions, and the right to strike. In addition, it calls for decentralizing fiscal authority and enforcing “strict anti-corruption frameworks.”

All of these measures, along with many others, should be implemented sequentially. While some, the authors note, can be introduced simultaneously, others require that certain reforms precede the rest.

The document concludes by calling on the international community for assistance and support, as well as inviting other experts to contribute to proposals that the authors do not consider final. “The strategic objective of this process is the construction of a social market economy within the framework of a democratic state governed by the rule of law. Expanding the role of the market and private initiative does not weaken the State, but rather redefines and strengthens its capabilities,” they conclude.

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Cubans in the MLB All-Star Game: Stories of Boats, Escapes, and Exile

The votes these Cubans received for the so-called All-Star Game were no coincidence. Each of them put up the numbers necessary to earn a place in Philadelphia.

Miguel Vargas decided to leave with his father, Lázaro Vargas, when he was 16 years old. / Chicago White Sox

14ymedio, Andy Lans, Matanzas, July 20, 2026 – Yordan Álvarez left Cuba and established residency in Haiti. Randy Arozarena boarded a boat from Pinar del Río to Mexico. Yandy Díaz also left by boat, traveling from Holguín to the Dominican Republic. Aroldis Chapman defected from Team Cuba while the team was in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Andy Pagés completed a route through Guyana, Curaçao, and Haiti before arriving in the Dominican Republic.

Raisel Iglesias managed to leave the Island more than a decade ago after a failed attempt, while Miguel Vargas decided to leave with his father, Lázaro Vargas, when he was 16 years old. The father of Sal Stewart Jr. and the mother and paternal grandparents of Nick Martínez also left Cuba. All of them, on the grass at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, represented the Cuban exile community at the 96th Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game.

The game, held on July 14, ended with a 4-0 victory for the American League over the National League

The game, held on July 14, ended with a 4-0 victory for the American League over the National League. The standout offensive performances by the Cuban players were hits from Yordan and Randy, along with a tremendous home run by Miguel Vargas in the eighth inning. Pitchers Nick Martínez and Raisel Iglesias each retired one inning, while Aroldis Chapman recorded two outs, one of them by strikeout.

The votes these Cubans received for the so-called All-Star Game were no coincidence. Each of them put up the numbers necessary to earn a place in Philadelphia. Most ranked among the league’s statistical leaders before the All-Star break.

Yordan Álvarez stood out with the Houston Astros. He led all of MLB in continue reading

slugging percentage (.633), on-base percentage (.426), and OPS (1.059), while ranking second in home runs (31) and RBIs (71), and fourth in batting average (.318). Those last three figures positioned him to compete for the American League Triple Crown.

Yandy Díaz continued adding to his legacy with the Tampa Bay Rays. The veteran slugger, son of former second baseman Jorge “La Araña” Díaz, finished the first half leading the American League in batting average at .322. As if that were not enough, he ranked sixth in the league in hits with runners on base (53) and second in hits with runners in scoring position (30). He batted .393 with runners on base and .441 with runners in scoring position, demonstrating his ability to deliver in crucial moments.

Another Rays player, Nick Martínez, carried the tenth-best earned run average of the season at 2.65 over 105.1 innings. The Cuban-American right-hander had eight wins and two losses, 62 strikeouts, only 19 walks, and a 1.12 WHIP, proving that no matter how old the wind gets, it still blows.

It is not far-fetched that many analysts view Miguel Vargas as the most offensively gifted third baseman in Major League Baseball. Among players whose natural position is third base this season, the emerging Chicago White Sox star led in runs scored (64), walks (56), and extra-base hits (42). He also ranked second in doubles (20) and RBIs (59), and third in home runs (21) and stolen bases (11).

Meanwhile, Cuban-American Sal Stewart Jr. has set the standard among rookies by leading them in extra-base hits (41), RBIs (65), and doubles (22). The versatile Cincinnati Reds infielder has already become one of the leading candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

The versatile Cincinnati Reds infielder has already become one of the leading candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year Award

Randy Arozarena enjoyed another outstanding first half with the Seattle Mariners, combining power and speed. He demonstrated this by tallying 21 doubles, one triple, and 11 home runs, along with 19 stolen bases in 24 attempts. His .380 on-base percentage also highlighted his ability to reach base.

With a demanding franchise like the Los Angeles Dodgers, outfielder Andy Pagés has handled the pressure well. His 66 RBIs ranked seventh in all of Major League Baseball. Some of his most impressive achievements also came with runners on base. In those situations, he ranked third in MLB in home runs (13) and first in extra-base hits (25).

What more can be said about the ageless Aroldis Chapman and Raisel Iglesias? Both closers once again justified why they are the top two Cuban pitchers in career saves in the world’s premier baseball league. Chapman, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, became in 2026 the relief pitcher with the most strikeouts in MLB history, and arrived at Citizens Bank Park with 19 saves, an outstanding 2.20 ERA, and 36 strikeouts in 28.2 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Raisel recorded the same number of saves with the Atlanta Braves, posting a 2.23 ERA along with 36 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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El Bahía, a Symbol of Matanzas, Fades Amid Padlocks and Blackouts

The iconic Peñas Altas recreational complex remains practically closed due to the energy crisis and poor state management

There, where orchestras once played and the buzz of young people mixed with the waves breaking against the rocks, faded railings now predominate. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 20 July 2026 / The highway enters Matanzas along the coast, and before the bridges and the city skyline come into view, a building with modern lines still catches the eye. Painted blue and white, with large windows and the name of Matanzas crowning the roof in huge red letters, the gastronomic and cultural complex El Bahía retains the elegance of another era. From a distance, the photos are deceiving: it looks like a place ready to welcome tourists and families. Get closer, though, and it becomes clear that much of that splendor has been left locked behind padlocked doors.

Located in Peñas Altas, right on the coastline, El Bahía is no ordinary restaurant for the people of Matanzas. For decades it was a gathering place for family celebrations, concerts, dance nights, and dinners with one of the best views of Matanzas Bay. Today, however, the picture has gone silent.

“It’s a shame that such a beautiful place stays closed practically every day of the week. It only operates when there’s power,” Horacio, a local resident who collects empty beer and soda cans to sell to the state as raw materials, tells 14ymedio.

“It’s a shame that such a beautiful place stays closed practically every day of the week. It only operates when there’s power”

The man, his skin weathered by sun and sea salt, recalls when on weekend nights it was hard to find a spot to park an almendrón [a classic American car used as a private taxi] nearby. “Now you can walk through here and all you hear is the sea,” he says, pointing toward the ranchón continue reading

and the old Las Terrazas cabaret.

There, where orchestras once played and the buzz of young people mixed with the waves breaking against the rocks, faded railings now predominate, weeds are growing across the outdoor areas, and a decline seems to be advancing faster than any recovery plan. “That whole area needs proper maintenance. If it keeps being neglected like this, it will end up costing twice as much to fix later. I think that before this keeps falling apart, the Provincial Lodging Company should lease it to someone willing to invest here,” Horacio suggests.

On the second floor, the restaurant El Mirador offered a privileged view of the bay. From its windows, diners could watch ships entering the port while they had lunch. For years, a meal service for vulnerable people also operated there.

Photo caption: Painted blue and white, with large windows and the name of Matanzas crowning the roof in huge red letters, the gastronomic and cultural complex El Bahía retains the elegance of another era / 14ymedio

“From Monday to Saturday they used to sell us a fairly decent meal for 20 pesos, but that’s stopped too,” Horacio laments. “They tell us they can’t cook because there’s no power or gas. The head chef assured me that lunches would come back once conditions improve, but I don’t put much faith in those promises anymore.”

The ongoing blackouts plaguing Cuba’s economy have ended up reaching even a place meant precisely for leisure. The energy crisis forces the site to close whenever there’s no electricity, but the problems go well beyond power outages.

A few steps away is another Matanzas resident, who for years worked cleaning the complex’s public restrooms. Today he sells pizzas for a private business.

“Especially on Saturdays, this place used to be packed until two or three in the morning,” the man recalls. “The electricity problem has hit us hard, but so has the lack of management. If people know they can come from downtown Matanzas and find the place closed or with nothing on offer, they simply stop coming.”

Both agree that the complex’s reputation has deteriorated at the same pace as its facilities. “Word has already gotten around all of Matanzas that the El Faro bar almost never has a variety of drinks and that the cocktails aren’t made the way they used to be,” adds the former employee. “Anyone with money wants to spend it somewhere worthwhile, not come here to try their luck.”

The paradox is even greater because just a few years ago the complex seemed to be starting a recovery. In October 2023, a modern Ocio Club with virtual reality equipment and video games was inaugurated there, presented by the state press as one of the main new recreational attractions to celebrate the city’s 330th anniversary. Authorities said at the time that the project would expand entertainment options for children and young people and revitalize the property.

However, the momentum appears to have quickly run out. The building, which still retains an attractive architecture and a prime seafront location, depends – like so many other things in Cuba – on an electrical supply that almost never arrives and on promises of recovery that have taken far too long to become reality.

Translated by GH

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