“Our Flag Had the Blood of the Protesters Wounded on 11 July”

Elías recounts how, at age 16, he came to wave the national flag at the corner of Toyo, standing atop an overturned police patrol car

Elías Rizo León visiting Madrid to mark the fifth anniversary of ’11J’ (11 July 2021). / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Madrid, July 16, 2026 / Elías Rizo León was just 16 years old on 11 July 2021, but his image -holding the Cuban flag as he stood atop a police patrol car that the crowd had overturned, amid the protest at the corner of Toyo, on Calzada de 10 de Octubre – became one of the most iconic images of that historic day of protest. Five years after that social outburst, and following a clandestine flight that took him through Russia, Serbia, and Greece, Elías now lives in Alicante, awaiting a ruling on his application for international protection. Visiting Madrid to mark the fifth anniversary of July 11, we spoke with him about memory, exile, forced maturity, and the certainty that Cuba’s path to freedom is one with no turning back.

Question: Let’s go back to the day before the outburst. Who were you then? How old were you, what were you doing, and what interested you on July 10?

Answer: The day before July 11 I was just an ordinary kid. I was enjoying my adolescence with my friends, listening to music, going out, meeting up with my friends. I had just turned 16; I had celebrated my birthday only a month and four days earlier, on June 7.

Q: By then you already had a phone with internet access. How did that shape the way you saw the reality of the island?

A: Yes, I already had social media. I got my information through independent Cuban outlets, and once the internet started reaching us, I began researching on my own on websites. I started watching underground documentaries about the erased chapters of Cuban history: the executions, the life of Pedro Luis Boitel, or that of Rolando Cubela, who had been a commander in the Rebel Army. Going through that history, you realized the Revolution had betrayed itself from within. There were Cubans who were patriots, nationalists, and anti-communists, but they were all lumped together under the 26th of July Movement, which in the end turned out to be a lie. That access to information opened my eyes.

Q: Were you aware of the digital campaign that preceded the outburst, the movement under the hashtag #SOSCuba?

A: Yes, I saw it all. The international community and artists began making that hashtag go viral on Twitter to denounce the Covid-19 crisis, the humanitarian collapse, and the repression. What came up most was the collapse of the healthcare system. Seeing popular artists join in was one of the biggest drivers, because ordinary Cubans felt backed up. We thought: “Damn, if these artists are saying it, it’s because continue reading

something big is happening here.”

Seeing popular artists join in was one of the biggest drivers, because ordinary Cubans felt backed up

Q: On July 11 you decide to go out into the street. What was your initial plan, and where did you end up protesting?

A: My mother showed me the first news of what was happening and I decided to go out. My initial goal was to head to the Malecón or the Plaza de la Revolución, because that’s where the core of Castroist power sits: the Central Committee, the Politburo, the Council of State and of Ministers, and the Ministries of the Interior and of Communications. But when I went out and reached Calzada de 10 de Octubre, I ran into the people in the street and decided to stay there. Thank goodness I did, because I believe Toyo was, of all Cuba, the place where the hand-to-hand confrontation and the repression were most intense. The Cuban people there were genuinely rising up and reclaiming their rights. If I had gone to the Plaza or the Malecón, where there were far more agents, I would have been captured immediately.

Q: In the images from that day you’re seen holding a Cuban flag. Where did that flag come from, and what did it mean to carry it?

A: At protests all over the world, citizens come out with their flag. In Cuba, people manipulated by propaganda believe the flag is a
symbol of the Communist Party, an icon of obedience to the dictatorship, but that’s not so: the flag belongs to all Cubans. I was one of the few civilian protesters carrying one. When the Party cadres showed up to stage the counter-demonstration, they also brought out Cuban flags. That made me furious. But there was a fundamental difference between us: ours had the blood of the wounded protesters on it, and theirs was clean.

But there was a fundamental difference between us: ours had the blood of the wounded protesters on it, and theirs was clean

I had that flag at home, hanging in my room. I had taken it two years earlier from my secondary school. I took advantage of a day when the staff left the entrance desk unattended and made off with it; it was the one used for the morning assembly and the national anthem. When my mother showed me the protests on 11 July, I took it down and hid it under my T-shirt. She was terribly afraid something would happen to me and asked me not to “mark myself,” but in the end I took it with me anyway.

Q: Do you still have that flag?

A: It’s in Cuba. What is no longer preserved is the blood; my mother washed it out of fear and for safety’s sake. I wanted it to keep the blood from that moment so that, in a free Cuba, it could be donated to a museum. Even so, it retains immense historical value.

Q: Many of those who were out in the streets describe a feeling of euphoria, as if the regime had already fallen. Did you feel the same way?

A: We all felt exactly the same thing. We thought it was going to end that very day. Before the outburst, people tended to be very guarded out of fear of informants and State Security; there was a lot of self-censorship. But that day I saw every sector of the population — children, women, men, the elderly — united, demanding one single thing: freedom and an end to the tyranny. It was a single voice, one single voice reverberating. That is true unity, the kind that is born around freedom, not the obedience the Party demands.

It was a single voice, one single voice reverberating. That is true unity, the kind that is born around freedom, not the obedience the Party demands

Q: At what point did you realize you were in real danger?

A: I realized it when we were behind a column on Calzada de 10 de Octubre, near the intersection with Vía Blanca. There the dictatorship set up a repressive cordon with officers from the National Special Brigade (the “black wasps”) and the National Police. They marched against us, set the dogs on us, and started shooting. They fired into the air, but also toward the front. State Security confiscated almost everyone’s phones and deleted the videos of the shooting, but they used the fragments that had already been uploaded online, along with facial recognition, to identify us. Even though I was wearing a cap, a mask, and glasses, they recognized me. Three days later they were already at my house.

Q: What was it like returning home that day, and how did your family manage the fear?

A: On the way back, the people fleeing with me were already scattering. I got home and was completely honest with my parents; I told them everything I had done. I have always believed that with your parents you have to be upfront, because if you stay silent out of fear and the dictatorship comes for you, they won’t have the information they need to respond to the repression.

Things turned very ugly just a few hours after the demonstration. Miguel Díaz-Canel gave the “combat order” at four in the afternoon. We held our ground in the street until six or seven at night, but the protest dissolved as massive repressive forces began to surround us. They were coordinated by radio and walkie-talkies; we only had word of mouth, and they had already cut off our internet. From that first moment, I knew I was marked.

Elías Rizo León holding the Cuban flag as he stands atop a police patrol car that the crowd had overturned during the July 11 protests.

Q: Your mother played a crucial role in deceiving State Security and buying you time to escape. How did she manage it?

A: When the authorities came to my house to question her, I was already hiding somewhere else. They asked her where I was and she told them I had gone outside Havana, to Santiago de Cuba. They wanted her to give them the exact address so they could summon me there, but my mother stood firm and told them: “I’m not giving you any address, because he is 16 years old, he’s a minor, and he needs the legal representation of his guardian.”

She used that same apparent trust the repressive apparatus tries to instill in you to win the agents over. She let them believe she would cooperate and would turn me in as soon as I came back, but it was all a strategy to buy time. On the very day I was supposedly due to report to the police station, I was boarding a plane bound for Russia.

If it hadn’t been for the coordination of the people who supported us inside and outside the island, my story today would be very different

Q: You spent more than a month in hiding inside Cuba before flying out. How do you remember that period?

A: It was a month or so in hiding, living like a fugitive. I even shaved my head to change my appearance; in my passport photo I’m completely bald. At that time I didn’t even have a passport, only my mother did. We had to pay for and rush paperwork at the last minute, in the middle of the bureaucratic paralysis caused by Covid. We had tremendous luck. If it hadn’t been for the coordination of the people who supported us inside and outside the island, my story today would be very different: I would be serving a sentence of somewhere between 15 and 30 years in prison, like so many other young people my age. I would have lost my life in prison for the simple act of asking for freedom.

Q: Your initial destination was Russia, where Cubans didn’t need a visa in 2021. What was the journey like from there to Spain?

A: We flew out of Varadero airport on August 25, 2021. We spent five months in Russia (with his mother, father, and sister). I kept close track of the news and warned my mother: “Russia is going to invade Ukraine, we need to leave before the war breaks out.” She worked her contacts, and in January 2022 we managed to leave for Serbia. From Serbia we crossed into Greece, where we spent two months. Since Greece is part of the Schengen area, we were able to take a direct flight to Madrid. At the airport they just checked our photo to confirm our identity. Once in Madrid, we went to an office and formally applied for political asylum, presenting press clippings, photos, and evidence of the persecution. That’s how we obtained the red asylum card for all four members of the family.

Q: What has it been like interacting with young people your age here in Spain? Do they understand what you went through?

A: Spanish young people my age are stunned when I tell them the reality of Cuba. Many of them, even if they’re not left-wing, have a romanticized or distorted view of the island; they think there are bad things, but that “at least you can get by.” When I explain what happened to me, they put themselves in my shoes, show empathy, and understand the real context, because I’m not speaking to them from ideological theory but from the human and moral suffering of what it means to struggle and be persecuted. Thanks to that, a lot of young people who didn’t used to care about politics now stand up for our cause.

The day I left my country I cried a great deal. I wanted to build my life there; my wish was to live and die in a free Cuba

Q: It’s often said that the great aspiration of Cuban youth today is to emigrate. Was that your goal before July 11?

A: No, I never wanted to leave Cuba. The day I left my country I cried a great deal. I wanted to build my life there; my wish was to live and die in a free Cuba. Forced exile is a banishment that tears away part of your soul, your culture, and your experiences. Activists and rebellious young people are put in a noose by the dictatorship, forcing us out. I know I had to leave to protect my life, but it wasn’t by choice. That’s why exile isn’t surrender, it’s transformation. Out here, you study, you educate yourself, you acquire tools for political communication, and you prepare yourself with greater strength for when the moment comes to return and rebuild the country.

Q: How do you assess the protests and pot-banging demonstrations, smaller but constant, that are happening on the island today?

A: That never used to happen. The dictatorship has driven the people to such an extreme and precarious situation that people already know protesting is the only way to at least get the power turned on or the water restored. Even so, we can’t limit ourselves to demanding basic resources. Those pot-banging protests are sparks of legitimate resistance. The dictatorship is very clever and manipulates language; it asks the people to “endure” the misery, but true political resistance is the kind used to confront and overthrow a totalitarian regime, like the French or Italian Resistance in the Second World War. The ultimate goal has to be the end of the Communist Party’s monopoly on power.

Q: What role does the exile community play at this stage of the struggle?

A: The best way to support Cubans inside the country is to expose the repression to multilateral bodies, to speak with human rights rapporteurs, and to demand the release of political prisoners through diplomatic channels. We also have to fight the media battle. The dictatorship accuses us of waging “cognitive warfare” or “information warfare,” but all we do is expose the truth, backed by evidence, against the Castro-regime propaganda that they fund throughout Europe and Latin America to silence the opposition.

Q: If the situation changes and Cuba becomes a democracy, under what conditions would you return?

A: I would go back, but only if the enforcers, the henchmen, and the senior communist officials are tried before the courts as they should be. I am not going back to negotiate with the enemy. We need to set up truth commissions and preserve official reports and evidence so that no one can hide behind the classic “I was just following orders.” A person of principle cannot be coerced into repressing their own people. The dictatorship must be surrounded and dismantled with the truth, since they survive on lies -because no legend can withstand the truth.

Translated by GH.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Havana Chronicles: “Here, Surviving”

In a country where the state no longer provides electricity, water, medicine, or bread, each family tries to survive however they can.

A boy has taken a small flock of goats out to graze among the grass that has sprouted on the ruins of a collapsed building. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 16, 2026 / Today I couldn’t take the trash down the stairs. It wasn’t any heavier than usual, but my body sent me a telegram,  brief and forceful: “Don’t even try. Every cell is carrying too many days of accumulated fatigue.” So I left the bag by the door and went out with only my purse, umbrella, water bottle, mosquito repellent, and the garbage bags. I also threw my cell phone in my bag, increasingly useless in a country where connecting to the internet or making a call can take longer than delivering the message in person.

As I descend the building’s more than 120 steps, the greetings become increasingly brief, almost whispers. Few dare to say “good morning” or “good afternoon” anymore, because there’s very little goodness left. Conversations revolve around the accumulated hours without electricity, the unbearable heat that barely allowed anyone to sleep a wink the night before, or the problems with the water supply. One neighbor sums up the collective mood with a phrase that has become a greeting: “Here, surviving.” He says it as if we were all participating in one of those reality TV shows where you have to cross raging rivers, hunt for food, and find a cave to spend the night.

Few dare to say “good morning” or “good afternoon” anymore, because there’s very little good left.

I advance along Tulipán Street toward Ayestarán. The bakeries at the rationed market, which I pass every morning, remain closed. A woman warns another not to waste her time going back to the dark counter because today, she assures her, “they won’t even have enough to tie up the goats.” Coincidentally, just a few meters ahead, a young man has taken a small flock of goats out to graze among the grass that has sprouted on the ruins of a collapsed building. In this Cuban version of televised survival, that urban shepherd would have a good chance of becoming a finalist.

While some wage their daily battle in the streets and on the sidewalks, others have decided to barricade themselves indoors. Since no one places much hope in thermoelectricplants nor in the national energy system anymore, everyone is trying to construct their own island of stability. Those who can afford it buy a rechargeable battery; those with more resources install a generator or solar panels.

A friend, fed up with paying up to 640 pesos for a bag of bread at some private businesses, ended up buying a bread maker. To the initial investment, she’s had to add the price of flour, yeast, and the uncertainty of power outages. “I’ve used it three times,” she tells me. “Only once did it manage to complete the entire cycle.” The other two times, the power went out before baking, and the machine was left guarding a sour, inedible mass.

A friend, tired of paying up to 640 pesos for a bag of bread at some private businesses, ended up buying a bread maker. / 14ymedio

Another acquaintance has covered his roof with solar panels and designed an electrical system that allows him to power his entire house with a simple switch. “Now I run my electricity from the Indio, the Amarillo, the one whose boiler never breaks down or trips due to a fault,” he jokes, mocking the endless stream of explanations offered by the National Electric Union to justify each blackout. “I actually carried out an energy revolution,” he boasts, showing off the inverters and batteries that have restored something resembling normality to his life.

Even leisure activities continue to be organized independently. Faced with constant television signal interruptions, several young people in the neighborhood have improvised a small room in the basement of their building to watch the World Cup. An EcoFlow, a television, and some planks converted into benches are all that’s needed to gather the fans. From an apartment on one of the upper floors, a cable runs down to one of those satellite dishes that remain illegal, even though they’ve become almost as commonplace in Cuba as the daily insults hurled at Miguel Díaz-Canel.

After fracturing her collarbone, a former university classmate decided to prepare for a possible hospitalization. What she keeps in several boxes isn’t exactly a first-aid kit. There are urinary catheters, IV catheters, saline solutions, sutures, syringes, disposable gloves, and other supplies that any hospital should provide. “If I’m hospitalized again, I prefer to arrive with everything,” she explains. She, too, is trying to protect herself against shortages.

Every story seems different, but they all follow the same logic: to create, within the confines of the home, a small, functional country.

Every story seems different, but they all follow the same logic: to create, within the confines of their home, a small, functional country. A home bakery. A private electric company. An improvised cinema. A private medical supply store. As if each family were building a tiny republic where it was still possible to address what the State had ceased to provide.

But no house can become a country. There’s no bakery capable of replacing a network of bakeries baking every morning, nor enough solar panels to replace a national electricity grid, nor a dedicated medical supply depot to feed a healthcare system in ruins. Nor can we fit between four walls the hospitals, transport, communications, and much less the pieces of the nation we gather from the outside world each day.

When I got home, the trash bag was still by the door. Tomorrow, if my body allows it, I will try to take it down. In this competition, nobody wins a prize. The goal is simply to make it to the next episode alive.

Previous Havana Chronicles:

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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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Havana Accuses CBS of “Beating the Drums of War” by Suggesting a Possible Air Assault Against Cuba

The television network includes among the U.S. options an operation “carried out by the 101st Airborne Division.”

The United States’ greatest military capabilities are in the Middle East, and they are expected to remain there for the time being. X/@CENTCOM

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, July 16, 2026 – Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío has described CBS News as an “unofficial mouthpiece of the U.S. government,” accusing the network of “beating the drums of war against Cuba.” On Wednesday, CBS published a report citing Pentagon sources about possible military plans against the Island. Although it was presented as an exclusive, it did not actually reveal anything new beyond what had already been stated: that Washington is keeping all options on the table.

“They do not even question what sufficient reason there could be to lead to a scenario that could end in a bloodbath against a country that has neither attacked, threatened, nor caused the slightest harm to the world’s greatest nuclear power,” he wrote on his Facebook account.

CBS News cited U.S. officials as saying that military planners have examined “various options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. troops carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a mission.” The sources emphasized that no orders have been issued and there is nothing to suggest such an attack will take place, especially since the military is focused on Iran. continue reading

The sources emphasized that no orders have been issued and there is nothing to suggest such an attack will take place, especially since the military is focused on Iran

This idea had already been raised in April, when USA Today reported an intensification of “military planning for a possible operation in Cuba should President Donald Trump order an intervention.” In June, during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to the Guantánamo Naval Base, he insisted that regardless of the decision made, his department would be “ready and prepared for any possible contingency.”

The CBS News report revisits and expands on this idea, which Brian Fonseca, director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University, previously described as a “communications strategy.” According to the article, written by four reporters, the U.S. armed forces held a briefing in late June “to review initial military planning options for specific missions that could be carried out.” The report notes that such briefings are routine at these meetings and examine mission objectives, required troop levels, the sequence of events, logistical considerations, and associated risks.

Since the Pentagon has shifted significant military and intelligence resources to the Middle East because of the war with Iran, the sources told CBS that “it is unlikely that attention will be focused on Cuba.”

The network argues that the renewed operations in the Middle East are part of Hegseth’s more hawkish strategy, which has reportedly led to disagreements with Trump. According to White House sources, the president is frustrated by how poorly the operation has gone and believes that earlier this year the U.S. should have accepted a proposal from Tehran to limit its nuclear program. At the time, against the advice of General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the defense secretary favored military action, which has proven to be longer and more complicated than expected.

CBS, citing its sources, also reports that Trump is dissatisfied with the entire department, including Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, whom he accuses of overstating U.S. military capabilities against Iran. Officially, however, the White House continues to express unwavering support for Hegseth and his team.

CBS, citing its sources, also reports that Trump is dissatisfied with the entire department, including Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, whom he accuses of overstating U.S. military capabilities against Iran

The report also discusses the new development involving the alleged 300 Iranian drones that Cuba is said to possess and goes on to list the major events of the year so far, beginning with Nicolás Maduro’s fall in Venezuela, followed by the prosecution of Raúl Castro over the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, and, of course, the series of sanctions imposed on the Cuban regime and its principal business interests.

“The intelligence community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment describes Cuba primarily as a favorable environment for larger geopolitical competitors rather than as an independent strategic threat. Notably, the March assessment does not identify Cuba as possessing military capabilities that materially threaten the United States. It does not portray Havana as an independent driver of instability,” the report adds.

Regarding negotiations, CBS News continues to regard them as the preferred option not only for Trump but also for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the talks. However, the situation remains deadlocked.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Vietnamese Take Pride in Having Helped Multiply Rice Yields in Cuba Tenfold

A base-level farming unit in Pinar del Río goes from producing 0.8 tons per hectare to 8, thanks above all to the supplies, they say

Vietnam has signed several agreements with the island to invest in rice cultivation. / Granma

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, July 16, 2026 / Eliecer Silva, head of a state agricultural enterprise in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, is today the unwitting protagonist of a news story on Vietnam.vn. The government portal recounts the story, originally published by Granma, of this man from Pinar del Río, originally published by Granma, whose base-level unit -Agrícola Caribe- has seen its yields multiply since it partnered with the Cuba-Vietnam rice cooperation project. What in the Cuban version is titled “Rebirth in Caribe,” Hanoi presents under a long headline extolling the Asian country’s work.

“Vietnamese experts arrive and help Cuban farmers plant rice using an ‘unusual’ method, resulting in seedlings half a meter tall that multiply yields tenfold.” Thirty-three words, no more, no less, that do a good job of summarizing the benefit of the collaboration. The Cuban base-level unit has gone from producing 0.8 tons per hectare to 8 tons per hectare.

“The Vietnamese have come to give us major help. They’ve gotten us out of a terrible bind,” says Silva. María de las Nieves Sánchez, the company’s director, describes the situation of recent years as “maddening.” “Each season, yields kept dropping; we would plan for a certain number of hectares and we wouldn’t reach it,” she notes. The low point came in 2024, with the aforementioned 0.8 t/ha. In 2025, there was little improvement: 0.9.

Agrícola Caribe then decided to join the bilateral rice project -it is the second enterprise of its kind to do so- and planted 21.7 hectares last September, on an experimental basis. The result has been like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The eight-ton yield had “never before been reached here,” says Sánchez. continue reading

“So far, we have 158 hectares on the flat terraces and we need to reach 295,” they report. The expansion took place in spring following the impressive results achieved, but in the upcoming dry-season campaign they hope to reach 2,000 hectares, the result of combining the 473 hectares held in usufruct by the independent producers associated with the enterprise.

Sánchez explains the arrangement to the press. The Cubans provide the land, the machinery, and the labor, while the Vietnamese provide technical advice and supplies. The latter has been essential, in the growers’ view, since they had gone years without access to the technology package -fertilizers, fuel, pesticides, and other products needed for cultivation. “We had never had this before,” they say, praising the quality of the supplies. “That’s why this rice stands almost 1.80 meters tall. You can’t even see the workers who go in there to spray.”

The partnership has also created jobs. Planting and fertilizing on this scale used to be done by plane, but the fuel shortage -amid a full-blown fuel siege- has forced it to be done by hand, with the hiring of 200 people from Alonso de Rojas. “Thanks to this project, we have work today,” says one of the workers, Osberto Pedroso.

The bilateral cooperation project between Cuba and Vietnam began in 2002 and had one of its notable chapters in La Sierpe, in Sancti Spíritus, where production was successful for years and helped many base-level units improve their yields. In 2023, however, the Asian technicians withdrew from the site, weary, according to accounts, of Cuban inefficiency. The fuel shortage and lack of labor officially finished off the partnership. At its peak there, yields reached five tons per hectare, when three tons was the norm in the area. Just one year later, production fell by 62%, and in 2025 the Vietnamese returned to resume the project, though in a more controlled manner.

The experience does not discourage the farmers of Pinar del Río, who remain focused on their own territory. Silva takes pride in the fact that Cuban personnel handled both the planting and the fertilizing, and believes that this, together with the results, breaks the myth that Cubans cannot do the work well. “Where there is no organization and discipline in the work, there are no results, no matter what you throw at the field,” he warns.

The project -at the national level- differs from the one under way in Los Palacios, where a private company, Agri VMA, was the first foreign company to obtain a 1,000-hectare lease, with plans to reach 5,000 hectares within three years. There, too, very high results are being achieved, with more than 7.2 tons per hectare, compared with 2 to 2.5 tons for producers elsewhere on the island.

Translated by GH.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

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 bigger14ymedio, 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 bigger14ymedio, 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 bigger14ymedio, 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

14ymedio biggerEFE (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

14ymedio biggerEdel 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 bigger 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 bigger14ymedio, 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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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

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 bigger14ymedio, 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

14ymedio biggerEFE (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 bigger14ymedio, 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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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

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

14ymedio biggerEuropa 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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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.