Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

A New Beating of a Minor Imprisoned for the Protests in Morón, Cuba, is Denounced

Cubalex reports a “visible deterioration” in the physical and mental health of Lizandra Góngora, the political prisoner from the 11J attacks.

Christian de Jesús Crespo Álvarez was arrested for the protests that took place in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, last March / Facebook

14ymedio, Havana, August 4, 2026 / Christian de Jesús Crespo Álvarez, 16, the only minor still detained for the protests that took place in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, in March, was allegedly beaten by prison officials at the Canaleta prison after refusing to eat the prison food in protest against its poor quality. The complaint was filed this Monday by the legal advice center Cubalex, which indicated that the minor’s family does not know his current state of health following the assault.

The organization also stated that the teenager is at serious “physical and psychological” risk because he was transferred to a corridor of the prison where adult prisoners are held, “as retaliation for an escape attempt.”

Furthermore, the minor is facing health problems during his time in prison. In June, he was diagnosed with hepatitis, “and instead of transferring him to a hospital for specialized medical care, prison authorities kept him in the prison infirmary.”

This is not the first time Crespo Álvarez has suffered abuse in prison. Last May, the same organization reported that even the food his family had brought him to jail was taken away. When the teenager complained about the disappearance of his belongings, he was beaten. Afterward, he was threatened with being sent to solitary confinement. continue reading

When the teenager complained about the disappearance of his belongings, the response he received was a beating.

Christian was one of the minors arrested after the protest on March 13 in Morón, a demonstration caused by blackouts, shortages and accumulated frustration in a city that ended up becoming the scene of a new repressive operation.

Along with Crespo Álvarez, Jonathan David Muir Burgos, also 16, was arrested and released on June 24, as well as Kevin Samuel Echeverría Rodríguez and Yohasnel Estrada Rodríguez, both 17. All were trapped in the penal system after participating in the protests: first the arrests, then the incommunicado detention and, later, the charges.

According to Cubalex’s verification, at least seven teenagers under the age of 18 are currently deprived of their liberty in Cuba for acts related to protests or criminal proceedings in a context of repression for political reasons.

In this regard, the most recent report from Prisoners Defenders documented the imprisonment of 10 new political prisoners “very young, of whom six are minors (15 to 17 years of age) and four are between 19 and 21 years old.”

“These cases demonstrate the continued criminalization of children and adolescents, as well as a pattern of serious violations of due process.”

According to Cubalex, “these cases demonstrate the continued criminalization of children and adolescents, as well as a pattern of serious violations of due process, restrictions on contact with their families, lack of information about their situation, and detention conditions incompatible with the State’s international obligations regarding children’s rights.”

The legal aid center also reported on Monday the “visible deterioration of the physical and mental health” of Lizandra Góngora Espinosa, a political prisoner from the Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021. According to the report, she was able to reunite with her children last Sunday for the first time in seven months during a supervised family visit at the Los Colonos women’s prison on the Isle of Youth.

According to information received by Cubalex, during a visit, her family members observed that she is suffering from “mental health problems, blemishes on her face, and evident physical deterioration.” They also confirmed that prison authorities are keeping the opposition member in solitary confinement, despite complaints about the impact this measure has had on her condition. The opposition member has also been waiting for just over two years to have a uterine fibroid removed, but prison authorities have not yet allowed her to undergo the procedure.

Góngora Espinosa, sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment for her participation in the protests of 11 July 2021 in Güira de Melena, in Artemisa, has been separated from her family environment by being imprisoned on the Isle of Youth, after being transferred in 2023 from the El Guatao prison, in Havana, where she initially served her sentence.

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The Daughter of a Castro-Era Diplomat Expelled From the US in 2003 Is in ICE Custody

Attorney Ahymed Socorro taught at the Ministry of the Interior’s institute and has resided in Miami since 2021.

Ahymed Socorro Rodríguez is at the Broward Transition Center in Pompano Beach / LinkedIn

14ymedio, Havana, Augut 5, 2026 /Ahymed Socorro Rodríguez, a Cuban lawyer and daughter of Roberto Socorro García, a diplomat of the Havana regime, is being held in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Broward Transition Center located in Pompano Beach, awaiting trial for her possible deportation.

The woman’s entry in the agency’s locator does not reveal the date or circumstances of her arrest, nor any possible immigration violations. It also does not indicate whether she appeared before an immigration judge, if there is a deportation order, or if she can request release on bond. ICE only permits the location of individuals in immigration custody, and the appearance of a name in its database does not, in itself, imply the commission of a crime or confirm imminent deportation.

The lawyer was a member of the Union of Young Communists and graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Havana in 2013. That same year, she began working at the Eliseo Reyes Rodríguez Higher Institute, the university of the Ministry of the Interior. There, she taught for a full academic year before working as a lawyer at the Specialized Services Office (legal advice for foreigners and companies) for six years and nine months, according to her LinkedIn profile. continue reading

She was a member of the Union of Young Communists and graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana in 2013

Since 2021, she resided in Miami, where she arrived with a visa. Starting in 2023, she began working at the law firm Harper Meyer, which focuses on business matters, particularly those involving Latin American companies in the U.S. market.

In Miami, she also worked as part of the legal team of the prestigious immigration lawyer Willy Allen, which was confirmed to this media outlet by several activists.

In addition, her name appeared among the candidates to receive a Master’s degree in International Law from the University of Miami in December 2025, according to her academic profile on LinkedIn.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry described these accusations as “a blatant lie and a gross manipulation of reality.”

The lawyer is the daughter of Roberto Socorro, who served as third secretary of the Cuban mission in Washington in the early 2000s. However, in December 2003, he was expelled from the United States and declared persona non grata for associating with criminals and supporting the Wasp Network spies. “This measure differs from previous expulsions of Cuban diplomats and those of other nationalities for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status,” a U.S. State Department official said at the time, giving him 10 days to leave the country.

At that time, the Cuban Foreign Ministry described those accusations as “a blatant lie and a gross manipulation of reality.”

Currently, Socorro García is part of the mission headed in Guatemala City by Ambassador Nazario Alfredo Fernández Biosca. His position is that of Minister Counselor, the second most important according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own website.

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Cubans in Uruguay Who Paid up to $746 To Fake Landlords Are Evicted

The migrants report that the police gave them only 30 minutes to collect their belongings before removing them from the building.

Police knocked on, and in some cases broke down, the doors of rooms occupied by dozens of migrants. / La Diaria Newspaper

14ymedio, Havana, Agusut 5, 2026 / Families of Cuban and Dominican migrants who paid 30,000 Uruguayan pesos (US$746) for the key to an apartment were evicted this Tuesday from a building in the Old City of Havana, Uruguay. According to Valeria España, director of the Social Protection Division for Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees at the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), “the human rights of these people were violated.”

The testimonies of the okupas — squatters — reveal more figures about the costs of the apartments. Yani, from the Dominican Republic, paid 40,000 pesos (US$995) in 2024 to “buy” two rooms. Another immigrant who arrived from Santo Domingo in 2022 paid 60,000 pesos (US$1,493) for a room and a living room, to the supposed Uruguayan owners.

España told the newspaper La Diaria that 35 families, including 11 minors, lived in the building located at the corner of 25 de Mayo and Treinta y Tres streets. According to the official, the eviction was arbitrary because the Judiciary “has the authority to prevent evictions during the winter months, and also when there are children and pregnant women present, as in this case.”

They were given 30 minutes to gather their belongings and leave the place or “they would throw everything out the window”.

The police knocked and in some cases broke down the doors of the rooms occupied by dozens of migrants. They gave them 30 minutes to gather their belongings and leave, or else “they would throw everything out the window,” a Dominican man told the newspaper El Observador.

“It cannot be that evictions take place without considering basic aspects of human rights and the protection of children, leaving the procedure on a level of extreme discretion,” España insisted.

The owners’ lawyers told the same media outlet that squatters have occupied the building for years. The first complaint for illegal continue reading

occupation was filed in 2019. “On that occasion, the squatters were evicted and the building was boarded up, but it was quickly reoccupied,” they said.

In 2022, they filed another complaint for usurpation. The case was delayed, and after several extensions, the second eviction took place this Tuesday.

The place, the lawyers argued, “was used as a hideout for several criminals and a place to sell drugs. In addition, it was common to see users entering with stolen goods.”

The Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) moved some 20 people, including migrant mothers and children, to a shelter. “Other people will go to a center,” said the National Director of Social Protection, Daniel Gherard. “We will provide assistance in all cases,” and he pledged that “no one will be left out in the open. No one will be left on the street.”

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The Sugar King is Dead: Alfonso Fanjul and the Character of the Cuban

The businessman turned the destitution of exile into an empire and left as his legacy the ability of Cubans to rebuild themselves far from their country

He didn’t fight with a rifle, but with the tool he knew best: the capital and influence he had built with his own hands. / Social Networks

14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo, Madrid, August 5, 2026 / Alfonso Fanjul remembered with perfect clarity the day his world crumbled. He was sitting in the family office in Havana, yellow notepad and pencil in hand, when Fidel Castro’s men entered to discuss the fate of the company. They sat down with the lawyers, talked for a while, and then the leader of the delegation picked up a machine gun, placed it on the table, pointed to the map where the family’s properties were marked, and declared: “We’re going to dismantle everything.” Fanjul was barely 22 years old. He had just graduated from Fordham University, ready to inherit an empire of ten sugar mills, three distilleries, and properties scattered throughout the island. Instead, he inherited exile.

His story, told in this cold way, might seem exceptional. And in a sense, it was: few Cubans ended up building one of the largest sugar fortunes on the planet. But at its core, Fanjul’s story is the story of tens of thousands of Cubans who, in 1959 and the years that followed, saw the work of generations—a house, a business, a farm, a workshop—vanish overnight under the same pretext: the revolution claimed everything. What distinguishes Fanjul is not having lost more than others, but having demonstrated, with the force of six decades of success, that that confiscation had a limit that not even machine guns could cross.

They took away his land, his sugar mills, his mansions, but they couldn’t confiscate his knowledge. The Fanjul family had been in Cuba since the mid-19th century, when a small group of farmers of Asturian origin set out to extract sugar from sugarcane. A century of experience, of trial and error, of knowing how to read a harvest and negotiate a loan, couldn’t be contained by any expropriation decree. That knowledge traveled with Alfonso Fanjul to Florida, and with a mere $640,000 raised among several exiles, he rebuilt a sugar mill by Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. With his three brothers, he founded Florida Crystals and started from scratch, but they weren’t starting from nothing: they were building upon generations of entrepreneurial acumen that no regime can nationalize. continue reading

The talent dispersed around the world in the Cuban diaspora, often forged in exile and against all odds, remains an undiminished asset, waiting for a country where it can be reinvested.

With that reconstruction came wealth, and with wealth, the ability to finance his own dreams and those of others. For decades, Fanjul was one of the main financial backers of the anti-Castro movement in exile, channeling resources to organizations and causes that sought to pressure the Havana regime. He didn’t fight with a rifle, but with the tool he knew best: the capital and influence he had built with his own hands.

He was, above all, a pragmatic man. This pragmatism led him, in the final stage of his life, to explore a possible opening toward Cuba, a stance that generated discomfort and even ruptures with some of the more militant members of the exile community. Pragmatism, by definition, is not guided by sentimentality, and this—like every decision that prioritizes calculation over nostalgia—generates misunderstandings. But it is also, probably, that same quality that allowed him not to be paralyzed by loss and, instead, to construct something new.

Therein lies the most profound lesson of this story for the Cuba to come. Fanjul was not only a successful businessman: he was living proof that the Cuban character—builder, insatiable, lover of prosperity—survives dispossession. Wealth can be confiscated; the instinct to create it cannot. That is precisely the promise that should underpin any project of national reconstruction: that the talent scattered around the world in the Cuban diaspora, forged often in exile and against all odds, remains an intact asset, waiting for a country in which to reinvest it.

Alfonso Fanjul died at 89, as all men die. It is the natural course of life, and in that sense, his death is nothing exceptional. But for Cubans who still dream of a prosperous island, his passing is also a reminder: the Cuba that Alfonso Fanjul left behind in 1959 remains, six decades later, held hostage by the same people who one day placed a machine gun on a table and decided to dismantle everything. The sugar king is dead. But the character that made him king lives on in every Cuban who insists on building a better future outside of Cuba, while waiting for the day they can do so at home.

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Cuban State Security Conducts Operations on the Anniversary of the Maleconazo

The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights documented 356 repressive actions in July, including 109 blockades of homes.

Wednesday’s repression coincides with the 32nd anniversary of the Maleconazo, the popular protest that shook Havana in 1994. / Wikimedia Commons

14ymedio, Havana, August 5, 2026 / The 14ymedio newsroom woke up this Wednesday under the surveillance of State Security, which deployed an operation in the lower levels of the building where the newspaper operates, in Havana’s Nuevo Vedado district, to prevent the departure of its director, Yoani Sánchez, and the journalist Reinaldo Escobar.

The date coincides with the 32nd anniversary of the Maleconazo, the popular protest that shook Havana in 1994 and ended with hundreds of arrests and the subsequent opening of the so-called Balseros [Rafter] Crisis.

Independent journalist Camila Acosta also confirmed to this newspaper that she was under surveillance. Contacted at midday on Wednesday, she said she had just noticed the presence of agents in the vicinity of her home. “Yes, I just found out,” she replied. “Anniversary of the Maleconazo, right?” she added, linking the deployment to the anniversary.

This is not the first time this year that State Security has prevented Sánchez, Escobar, and Acosta from leaving their homes. The three were subjected to similar operations on 20th of May, the anniversary of the founding of the Republic, and on the 11th of July, the fifth anniversary of the largest anti-government protests on the island since 1959.

“Two police patrol cars and several State Security officers outside my home,” Acosta reported. / Facebook / Camila Acosta

The political police’s calendar has become filled with “dangerous” dates. May 20, July 11, August 5, and December 10, International Human Rights Day, are often accompanied by house raids, summonses, threats, internet outages, and preventive detentions of journalists, opposition members, and activists. Surveillance is also intensified during official holidays, international summits, visits by heads of state, and diplomatic activities organized by the U.S. Embassy.

Official concern increases, especially during the summer. High temperatures amplify the impact of power outages, water shortages, and food scarcity, while families spend entire nights unable to sleep, preserve food, or protect themselves from mosquitoes. Under these conditions, a power failure or continue reading

a prolonged interruption of supply can quickly escalate into a pot-banging protest, a street blockade, or a mass demonstration.

This was the context for numerous demonstrations recorded during the month of July. A significant portion of the arrests documented by human rights organizations were related to peaceful protests sparked by prolonged power outages, water shortages, and deteriorating living conditions.

“The social climate is unbearable: on the one hand, blackouts, hunger and lack of medicine; on the other, the excessive police presence to repress and control.”

The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) reported on Wednesday that at least 356 repressive actions were recorded in the country last month. Of these, 54 were arrests and 302 corresponded to other abuses, including interruptions of communications, harassment, threats, and police summonses.

The most widespread method was surveillance of residences, with 109 cases. The report mentions among those monitored in July Sánchez, Escobar, and Acosta, as well as journalists Henry Constantin, Vladimir Turró, Yunia Figueredo, Ángel Santiesteban, and Boris González Arenas.

Opposition members Óscar Elías Biscet, Manuel Cuesta Morúa, Berta Soler, Ángel Moya, and María Cristina Labrada were also surrounded, along with relatives of political prisoners from the July 11th uprising, religious leaders, and human rights defenders. Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey saw the highest concentration of repressive actions.

According to the OCDH, these operations sought to prevent the participation of members of civil society in public activities, commemorations of the fifth anniversary of the 11th of July attacks, and other events considered sensitive by the authorities. The Madrid-based organization also noted an increased presence of police and special forces on the streets, primarily in provincial capitals.

“The social climate is unbearable: on the one hand, blackouts, hunger and lack of medicine; on the other, the excessive police presence to repress and control,” summarized Yaxys Cires, strategy director of the Observatory.

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In Cuba a Liter of Oil Now Costs More Than Two Months of the Minimum Wage

Despite the high price, some drivers use it in diesel vehicles when they can’t find fuel.

The 4,500 pesos verified by this newspaper don’t even represent the extreme end of the escalation. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, August 5, 2026 / Two bottles of sunflower oil, placed on plastic crates on a Havana sidewalk this Wednesday, encapsulate much of the Cuban crisis. The street vendor was asking 4,500 pesos for each, while also selling canned goods, packages of spaghetti, and packs of cigarettes. The price, verified by 14ymedio, has turned one of the most basic ingredients in the island’s cuisine into a luxury.

To buy that liter, a worker earning the minimum monthly wage of 2,100 pesos would have to hand over two months’ salary plus another 300 pesos. At Wednesday’s informal exchange rate, the bottle was equivalent to about $6.67 or €5.70.

The conversion, however, barely allows us to measure the chasm. In Spain, where incomes are much higher, a liter of refined sunflower oil costs between €1.75 and €2.85 in chains like Dia or Carrefour. For a Cuban living on their salary, on the other hand, the price seen in Havana represents more than 60 full days of work.

The 4,500 pesos verified by this newspaper doesn’t even represent the extreme of the price increase. Social media posts show bottles being offered for 6,000 pesos, demonstrating the extent to which speculation can go with a product that until recently had a maximum retail price of 990 pesos per liter.

The government eliminated that price cap in July, after the measure led to shortages, black market sales, and a widening gap between official prices and the actual cost of imports. Without enough stock to meet demand, the administrative limit ultimately drove the oil out of regulated stores, but it did not reduce its price on the black market. continue reading

The practice is technically possible on certain older engines and can keep them running temporarily, but it involves risks.

Now some local governments are trying to curb the uncontrolled price increases through inspections and “agreed-upon prices.” The Guantánamo Municipal Administration Council, for example, set the retail price of a bottle of oil at 2,200 pesos after studying the prices reported by local merchants. Without an increase in supply, these decisions risk repeating the history of previous price caps.

In addition to the demand for cooking oil, another unusual and revealing aspect of the energy crisis has emerged. Videos posted on social media show drivers pouring vegetable oil into the fuel tanks of diesel vehicles as a desperate alternative to fuel shortages.

This practice is technically possible in certain older engines and can keep them running temporarily, but it carries risks. Cooking oil is not biodiesel, and its higher viscosity can clog injectors, leave deposits, and ultimately damage the system.

In Cuba, plagued by blackouts and empty gas stations, the liter of fuel a family needs to fry an egg competes with the liter a truck driver pours into his tank to complete a trip. On the makeshift platform of that Havana sidewalk, the yellowed bottles encapsulated the scale of the disaster. This staple food is also an emergency fuel and a commodity whose price exceeds the minimum wages of two months work.

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The Cuban Government Eases Vehicle Imports, Especially Electric Ones

High-end cars will pay a 35% tax, standard combustion cars 25%, while hybrids will be charged 15% and electric vehicles 5%

Although it is possible to own as many vehicles as one wishes, there will be temporary limits on acquisition through import.

14ymedio, Madrid, August 5, 2026 / Private individuals will be able to manufacture or assemble vehicles under the new regulations for the sector, published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette and explained to the official press by the minister in charge, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila. The package includes two sets of rules – with several decrees and resolutions – that ease the import and sale of these products, establish tax exemptions for those that run on renewable energy, and regulate transfers of ownership with the aim of renewing Cuba’s aging vehicle fleet and promoting the energy transition.

Despite the many liberalizations, there is one restriction to keep in mind: non-resident foreigners will not be able to buy vehicles in Cuba. Those who hold temporary, real-estate-based, or humanitarian residency will be able to do so, as will private, state, and foreign companies.

Although it is possible to own as many vehicles as one wishes, there will be temporary limits on acquisition through import. In the case of electric cars, only one is allowed per lifetime, while for electric motorcycles or mopeds the limit is two as unaccompanied baggage and one if sent as a shipment. For combustion or hybrid motorcycles and tricycles, the cap is one every five years, and for light trailers, one unit per trip or shipment.

For combustion or hybrid motorcycles and tricycles, the cap is one every five years, and for light trailers, one unit per trip or shipment

Another change applies to those posted abroad. Doctors, diplomats, aid workers, and other state employees who must spend more than two years outside the island may buy a vehicle of any type, with up to eight seats, one time only.

Another new feature concerns the transfer or sale of vehicles between private individuals, including transactions from individuals to private companies or vice versa. These transactions are permitted but must be properly formalized, which includes registration before a notary and payment through the bank – in any authorized form – in either foreign or national currency. Cash is completely excluded as a method of payment, in a country that largely continues to operate outside the banking system. continue reading

Among the notable points in this section is the creation of a legal avenue for acquiring the vehicle of an emigrant who had not completed the transfer of ownership on the island. Until now, the cars of people who left the country were left at the mercy of the State, which could confiscate them if the owner had not formally transferred them beforehand. Now, a special provision opens a path for family members or other interested parties to regularize the situation through a proxy or, in the event of death, in accordance with inheritance law.

On the tax side, there are also new provisions to encourage vehicles that do not require diesel, in addition to a full tariff exemption for electric cars. Luxury or high-end automobiles (both combustion and hybrid) will carry the highest import rate, at 35% of the sale price, followed by standard combustion vehicles (cars, pickup trucks) at 25% and heavy combustion or two-wheeled vehicles at 20%. By contrast, the lowest taxes are reserved for the more sustainable options: 15% for hybrids, 5% for imported electric vehicles, and 3% for electric vehicles assembled locally on the island.

Another extensive section covers public transportation. To facilitate the import of vehicles intended for mass transit, a 12% rate applies to combustion buses and minibuses – compared with the 35% or 25% for cars – which drops, if assembled in Cuba, to 7% or 5% for hybrids and electric vehicles.

According to the official press, in the first half of 2026, 35,494 motor vehicles were sold on the island, 65% of which were combustion-powered

Additionally, the minister noted that the Public Transportation Development Fund remains in place, funded by special taxes on vehicle sales, through which several major acquisitions have been made to date. These include 15 electric hearses for Havana, a catamaran for Isla de la Juventud, 300 electric tricycles for passengers and health care workers, 110 minibuses for bus routes, 20 buses for the National Bus Company (Empresa de Ómnibus Nacionales), and ten for Vía Azul, as well as electric vehicles for transporting hemodialysis patients, bicycles, trucks, and others.

According to the official press, in the first half of 2026, 35,494 motor vehicles were sold on the island, 65% of which were combustion-powered, 5% hybrid, and 30% electric. Moreover, 70% of them were mopeds, motorcycles, and tricycles, making clear the predominance of this type of vehicle.

As for imports, data from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council show that the value of sales from the U.S. rose to more than 148 million dollars through May. Now, according to figures from Minister Rodríguez Dávila, it is known that 41,963 motor vehicles have been brought to the island – without specifying from where, although it can be assumed that most came from the neighboring country and from China – as unaccompanied baggage or shipments, of which 19,443 are electric mopeds and motorcycles and 22,520 are the same but combustion-powered.

Translated by GH.

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Cuba to Have Wholesale Markets for Products Sold by State and Private Companies

Neighborhood markets are also being created, which may be run by private operators, for the sale of 16 basic foodstuffs and five hygiene products

The new markets put an end to the state monopoly on wholesale trade. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, August 5, 2026 / The overwhelming shortages in Cuba’s markets have forced another novelty through which the Government is seeking to include private operators in a mixed trade model that puts an end to the state monopoly over bodegas and wholesale markets. The legislative package, published this past Tuesday in the Official Gazette, does not resolve the question of access to foreign currency and goods, and also creates an additional problem: the coexistence of two currencies in supply establishments.

Of the set of regulations, three are intended for the creation of the “neighborhood markets,” as these outlets will be known, for the sale of a series of basic necessity products listed in the law itself, namely powdered milk, ground meat, hamburger, chicken, sausage, eggs, vegetable oil, tomato puree, pasta, noodles, grains, rice, sugar, wheat flour, instant soup, coffee, detergent, soap, toilet paper, deodorant, and toothpaste.

The establishments will be state-owned commercial premises that until now have been empty or semi-empty and that will be put out to tender

The establishments will be state-owned commercial premises that until now have been empty or semi-empty and that will be put out to tender so that MSMEs, cooperatives, foreign investors, and self-employed workers can operate them. As an incentive, the private operator is exempt from paying rent during the first two years, and if they invest money in fitting out the property, that amount will be deducted from the percentage of profits they must contribute to the state owner.

The products sold at these markets will receive a 5% discount on the sales tax, in order to prevent prices from skyrocketing, something that has been happening in recent days precisely with oil, which last week was selling for around 3,000 pesos and is already being seen in some stores at double that price.

The monetary issue remains less clear. Neighborhood markets will operate in Cuban pesos, although electronic commerce is authorized, with payments from abroad in foreign currency. This would allow the Government to obtain foreign currency if relatives abroad continue reading

begin making use of online purchases with dollars, although it also deepens the gap that already exists between those who have access only to the national currency and the privileged few who do not depend solely on their salary or pension.

A side effect of this duality could be the tendency of the private merchant to set the product price – now that it is not capped – according to the informal dollar exchange rate, in order to be able to import as they have done until now.

In an attempt to prevent this, the Government has simultaneously created the wholesale market abasto.cu. Through these establishments, individuals and businesses will be able to buy wholesale in different formats. The Official Gazette defines these warehouses as an “area where sellers and buyers converge, maintaining commercial relationships with multiple transactions, under the principle of supply and demand,” one of the pillars of capitalism.

The Official Gazette defines these warehouses as an “area where sellers and buyers converge, maintaining commercial relationships with multiple transactions, under the principle of supply and demand”

The wholesale markets will be open primarily to companies, private operators, national and local producers, importers, marketers, and foreign investors. In addition, a membership system is being introduced that is very similar to the membership cards found in the large wholesale markets of any city in the world, with discounts for regular buyers and other benefits.

As with the neighborhood markets, these too will be able to operate in national and foreign currency, something that will also have repercussions for import possibilities. At a time when domestic production is at rock bottom, imports of these products from the US, which are exempt from the embargo, are almost the only option for filling the warehouses, especially since major shipping lines have ceased operations to Cuban ports because of sanctions from the State Department.

This limitation has resulted, according to two experts cited by Reuters, in the loss of 60% of maritime traffic for the island. However, for US exporters, who can take advantage of licenses for the sale of food, an opportunity is opening up.

Translated by GH.

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Discontent Within a Sector of the Cuban Regime Over the 176 Reforms and the Prominent Role of ‘The Crab’

While Díaz-Canel insists that socialism is not being abandoned, some members of the single party and intellectuals warn against “the country’s return to a pure and hard capitalist regime.”

A man rests outdoors a block from the Government headquarters in 24 de Febrero. The wall reads: “All for the Revoution” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, August 4, 2026 / Although for more than six decades the main decisions of the Cuban leadership have been accepted with the same “unanimity” and vertical discipline, without public debate or democratic consultations, the new economic reforms promoted by the regime and the recent prominence of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro – grandson and protégé of Raúl Castro, known as El Cangrejo, The Crab – have revealed the discontent of sectors within the communist apparatus itself.

In the recent session of the National Assembly, where a package of 176 measures restructuring the economy and state administration was approved, top leaders insisted that the changes do not represent a renunciation of the political and economic model the regime has defended for more than six decades. Faced with critiques that interprets them as an opening to the market, President Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated during the closing session: “The transformations we are implementing today are not for more capitalism, but to defend and advance socialist construction.”

“The transformations we are implementing today are not for more capitalism, but to defend and advance in the construction of socialism.”

That does not appear to be the interpretation of some sectors within the official regime itself. Some political figures, intellectuals, and activists believe that the opening implied by the reforms breaks with historical tenets of Cuban socialism or that, at the very least, it will favor new power groups over the population. Díaz-Canel himself had already admitted in an interview with the Puerto Rican newspaper Claridad that there are “divided opinions” within the Communist Party regarding these measures. “These are measures that have contradictions, that have risks.”

Very severe criticisms have come from sectors of the official left. The digital media outlet Punto y Aparte [literally ‘period, new paragraph’], which presents itself as an alternative left-wing platform comprised of members of the Communist Party and the Union of Young Communists, denounces in an editorial that some reforms “imply the country’s return to a pure and simple capitalist regime, that will accentuate inequalities.”

“Today the nation walks a tightrope: on one side, imperial voracity and the promise of invasion and death; on the other, the arrogance and pettiness of a group of officials and continue reading

businessmen who have already shown too many times that they are not up to the historical moment,” Punto y Aparte publishes.

The media outlet demands that, in order to “redirect this period of change towards a horizon of equity,” popular participation must be called for “with a demand for even further review and modification for all those measures that threaten to plunge the people into poverty, precariousness and defenselessness…”

These preoccupations had already been raised by critics of the regime from other perspectives. Cuban economist Pedro Monreal qualified the package of measures as “anti-worker” because, he argued, “it does not balance the rights of workers and employers within an economy governed by market rules. Nor does it recognize democratic mechanisms of checks and balances for workers in the workplace.”

Furthermore, a document obtained by the EFE news agency, signed by members of the Communist Party and titled “Promoting Socialism from People’s Power,” states that some measures “far exceed what has historically been considered acceptable and even contradict the traditional representations of socialism among our people.” The text also demands that these transformations be openly debated within the communities.

Another of the critical voice within the ruling party itself has been that of Alejandro Sánchez, secretary of the Union of Young Communists at the University of Havana. “The necessary discussion is who will be the real beneficiaries of these transformations. If the answer is ‘everyone,’ that would be false,” he wrote. Sánchez also calls for greater popular participation in these decisions: “That power cannot be exercised solely from above; it must also come from greater popular participation and oversight. This latter point remains a shortcoming of the Cuban political system.”

“That power cannot be exercised solely from above; it must also come from greater popular participation and oversight. This latter point remains a shortcoming of the Cuban political system.”

Some of the reforms have also been criticized by the scientific community. Among the measures approved was the Law on the Organization of the Central State Administration, which, as part of the reduction of the government apparatus, led to the elimination of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) and the redistribution of its institutions between two new ministries. The head of the National Seismological Service, Enrique Diego Arango Arias, described the agency’s elimination as a “grave error” and criticized the fact that the measure was adopted without consulting the workers or presenting any supporting studies.

“More than a few specialists, including many founders, have opposed this dismantling. We opposed it because this decision was never preceded by an explanation or an analysis with the workers and directors of these institutions; the reasons were never explained to us,” he wrote. He also warned that the disappearance of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) amidst the country’s current crisis jeopardizes the stability of internationally recognized scientific institutions and undermines the morale of their professionals.

The other element of controversy for these sectors is the role that Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro has been assuming. Raúl Castro’s grandson and bodyguard acknowledged in an interview with USA Today the privileges he enjoys and presented himself as one of the Cuban side’s interlocutors in contacts with the US, despite not holding any known public office. This position has drawn criticism even from within the government.

Michel Torres Corona, presenter of the program Con Filo, publicly questioned Rodríguez Castro and Sandro Castro about the privileges that both grandsons display on social networks and in public spaces: “There is no harangue or complaint that calms the indignation caused by these fruits of ‘socialist’ nepotism: what justifies their impunity?”

In statements to EFE, Torres Corona defended the existence of “very heterogeneous” positions within the Island and affirmed that these can be expressed “even from critical or divergent positions,” as long as unity is not broken.
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The National Power Grid Is Restored While Cubans Continue To Wait for Electricity To Return

The blackout, which in some places lasted for more than three days, sparked new protests in Havana

A lineman for the electric company works in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre this Tuesday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, August 4, 2026 / Cuba’s Electric Union (UNE) finally reported this Tuesday that the National Electric System (SEN) was restored at 11:35 a.m., following the double blackout that the island suffered over the past three days. According to the state-owned company, the commissioning of Unit 8 at the Máximo Gómez Thermoelectric Power Plant allowed for the restoration of the grid’s interconnection.

The announcement came after several hours of work to gradually restore the electrical grid during the early morning hours of Tuesday. Hours before the reconnection of the National Electric System (SEN), the National Electric Union (UNE) had reported that the national system was already connected from Pinar del Río to Holguín, while work continued to bring back power to the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, and Granma.

In Havana, the recovery was progressing partially. The company reported that 124 of the capital’s 286 distribution circuits had electricity service, benefiting 42% of the city’s population. Power had also been restored to 43 out of 45 hospitals and to 9 out of 18 water pumping systems.

“There’s been no electricity for three days, there’s nothing, and no leader has arrived.”

But UNE’s announcement didn’t match the experience of its customers. On social media, many users complained that they were still experiencing power outages lasting between 50 and 72 hours. The state-owned company had to add a clarification to its official reports: “Remember that you may be affected by other causes even if your circuit has been restored. Of the restored circuits, 56 are affected by power shortages and 9 by malfunctions.”

The blackout, which in some areas lasted for more than three days, sparked new protests, according to testimonies gathered by Martí Noticias. On Inquisidor Street continue reading

, between Luz and Acosta, in the Belén neighborhood of Old Havana, residents staged a pot-banging protest. “There’s been no electricity for three days, nothing, and no one from the government has come,” said one resident. On Obispo Street, in the same municipality, further protests were reported, with residents banging pots and pans after 48 hours of blackout.

The fact that the National Electric System (SEN) has been restored does not mean that Cubans will once again have normal electricity service. In Havana, residents are surviving on intermittent power outages lasting less than three hours and blackouts that can last up to 20 hours at a time. In the provinces, the situation is even more critical.

The fact that the National Electric System (SEN) has been restored does not mean that Cubans will once again have normal electricity service.

The UNE attributed the SEN relapse that occurred on Monday afternoon to “adverse weather events” that affected the electrical grid and directly impacted the generating units that had already been synchronized to the system.

The latest nationwide blackout once again highlights the fragility of Cuba’s electrical system. In March, Cuba suffered two nationwide blackouts in less than a week, and in July, three more total blackouts occurred in just eight days.

The Cuban government again attributed the situation to the US embargo. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated on social media that the electrical grid outages are “direct consequences of the genocidal US blockade against Cuba,” and pointed out that the sanctions hinder the arrival of parts, international cooperation, and access to financing.

But the energy crisis was already severe before the new US restrictions against Cuba. The island has suffered twelve nationwide blackouts in two years due to a combination of factors, including the obsolescence of its electrical system, lack of maintenance, and fuel shortages. Problems that had accumulated over years worsened in 2016 with the oil embargo that the US government imposed on the Cuban regime in January, which has completely cut off crude oil imports.

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Electrical System Linked From Pinar Del Río to Holguín, but the Blackout Has Already Reached More Than 50 Hours

Rain and electrical storms caused an oscillation that triggered the second collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) in less than 24 hours this Monday

An “oscillation” caused a new collapse of the system and wiped out the progress made during the day

14ymedio, Madrid, August 4, 2026 / The National Electric System (SEN) has been linked since this morning from Pinar del Río to Holguín, with the three easternmost provinces still to be added. The reconnection, however, has not yet translated into power for the population, which is complaining on social media about blackouts lasting 50 to 72 hours in a row. This was the second total collapse of the SEN in less than 24 hours, and the seventh so far this year.

This morning, Cuba’s Electric Union said that unit 6 of the Diez de Octubre thermoelectric plant came online shortly after 8:20 a.m., contributing “to the recovery process.” The latest information from Havana indicates that 22 of the capital’s 26 substations were providing service. Only 38% of the population – 325,785 of the 862,732 customers – had power through the 108 recovered circuits, out of a total of 286. In addition, 40 of the city’s 45 hospitals have power, as do seven of the 18 pumping stations and main water supply sources.

The provincial Electric Company noted that “some users may continue to be affected even when their circuit has been restored, due to other causes. Of the restored circuits, 18 show effects from a generation deficit and seven from breakdowns.” This is the case at 14ymedio’s editorial office, where the blackout has already reached 40 hours. continue reading

The counterpoint is Santiago de Cuba, where four sectionalized circuits remain in service “to guarantee the electricity supply to vital centers by means of microsystems.”

The counterpoint is Santiago de Cuba, where four sectionalized circuits remain in service “to guarantee the electricity supply to vital centers by means of microsystems.”

Yadier Ruiz, director of the load dispatch office in Villa Clara, gave a provincial update at dawn this Tuesday. During the day, the priority would be to link the system through Cienfuegos. “If that is achieved,” he said before the reconnection, “the outlook should improve, increasing the availability of power in the province and the number of circuits in service,” he added, though he admitted that most of the population has remained in the dark since Sunday night, when the first collapse occurred.

“The Palmarito water pumping station in Santa Clara and all hospitals currently have electricity, except those located in Remedios and Caibarién, which are being sustained by their own generators. As of this report, Villa Clara had only 22 MW available and 16 lit circuits,” he said around 6:30 a.m.

The collapse of the SEN occurred Monday at 5:00 p.m., just a few hours after the slow recovery began from the collapse that occurred Sunday night. Official media reported that an “oscillation” caused a new disconnection of the system and wiped out the progress made during the day.

“In the process of restoring the SEN, the existing weather events caused damage to the grid, directly affecting the generating units that were online,” reported on social media the pro-government journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso.

Around 5:00 p.m., official media reported: “A new disconnection of the national electric system occurred a few minutes ago. Despite the progress made today, an oscillation caused the collapse.” Half an hour later, the Electric Union (UNE) reported that the reconnection protocol had begun. “We continue working intensively to reverse this situation and achieve the restoration of the system as soon as possible.”

Shortly after 5:00 p.m., rain and electrical storms caused an oscillation that knocked the Energás Boca de Jaruco units and one Santa Cruz del Norte unit out of the system

Félix Estrada, director of the load dispatch office of the Electric Union, appeared again on Canal Caribe at 8:00 p.m. to explain what had happened. The official said that shortly after 5:00 p.m., rain and electrical storms caused an oscillation that knocked the Energás Boca de Jaruco units and one Santa Cruz del Norte unit out of the system. At that point, the system had been linked from Pinar del Río to Cienfuegos, but it had to start over.

As the engineer spoke, unit 4 of Energás Boca de Jaruco and the transmission network substations of Diezmero, Naranjito, Melones, Cotorro, Regla and Guanabacoa were already generating power.

“We continue moving forward in restoring our Electric System, overcoming all kinds of difficulties, under a total energy blockade, with a great deal of effort and commitment,” wrote Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy on social media. “The speech is very positive, but the reality is very negative. Please, set aside your comfort and react. This country cannot go on like this,” a user replied to him.

The new collapse occurred while the SEN had still not recovered from the total blackout recorded this Sunday at 10:43 p.m. Throughout Monday, UNE worked to restore service through microsystems and the gradual incorporation of some power plants. Monday’s recovery was very limited. The priority remained ensuring service to hospitals, water pumping facilities and other centers considered essential.

Around 5:00 p.m., the electric company in Villa Clara reported that a failure occurred at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant and, as a result, “some of the circuits that had been restored, including those serving hospitals, were again left without electric service.”
Posts on social media announced that in Villa Clara, a breakdown had “left the Cardiocentro, the Celestino Hernández Oncology Hospital and the Santa Clara Military Hospital without service.”

In Matanzas there were also problems reaching the Faustino Pérez Hospital, which was resolved through a microsystem using the Guanábana batteries.

A failure occurred at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant and, as a result, “some of the circuits that had been restored, including those serving hospitals, were left without electric service”

At the time of the total disconnection, Havana had 23 substations online, benefiting 50% of the population and 38 hospitals.

For its part, the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa) reported interruptions in cell phone service following the breakdown of the generator that backs up one of the main mobile network centers. According to the company, the problems affect numbers beginning with the prefixes 52, 509, 598 and 599.

Expert Jorge Piñón, a researcher at the University of Texas, had told 14ymedio in advance that weather conditions could also affect the “islands” built with solar power. The weather service had reported cloud cover over much of Cuba, which, in the specialist’s view, highlighted “the structural challenge of solar energy without a storage system or transmission line system to distribute the electricity generated by renewables to consumers.”

With this new collapse of the SEN, the recovery process of the electric system will have to start over from scratch, prolonging the blackout affecting the entire country.

Translated by GH.
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In Mariel, Banking Is Rejected: “Here, Everything Is in Cash and in Large Bills or Dollars”

The official newspaper Escambray publishes a report on the systematic violation of the regulation in the free trade zone and across the rest of the country

Many private businesses display signs or QR codes for payment through the bank, but they try to avoid the regulation as much as possible. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, August 4, 2026 / Although Cuban legislation requires that payments in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) go through the banking system, so that accounts can be monitored according to international standards, reality is different. That is what a report published this Tuesday by the official Sancti Spíritus newspaper Escambray reveals, showing that none of the regulatory efforts aimed at eliminating cash are working on the island.

The article, the first in a series, draws on testimonies from private merchants and business owners who explain the failed push toward banking. Three years ago now, in August 2023, the authorities established – through Resolution 111/2023 – a set of rules limiting cash payments to 5,000 pesos and requiring all economic actors to take the necessary steps to be able to collect payment by transfer. Customers were free to choose how to pay, but sellers were obligated to accept whatever method they were told to.

The system has never worked the way the government intended. Cubans’ distrust of the banking system, and of putting their money – with its highly volatile value – in the hands of financial institutions, has been among the main causes. In addition, private businesses have needed cash to buy dollars on the black market, which are essential for importing goods and continuing to stock their businesses, and this has prevented money from recirculating: as a result, banks lack cash and customers cannot, in practice, withdraw what they have deposited. The country’s high inflation has made the situation worse.

“That business about payment by transfer being the law – only you believe that, reporter”

“I have three months’ salary trapped on my card, and I’m in debt,” a Cuban woman tells Escambray, showing the reporter 1,000 pesos and explaining that she hasn’t been able to withdraw any more. “I can’t even buy myself a snack with that,” says another woman who received the same amount despite having been waiting in line since 3 a.m. Although just a few days ago – in mid-July – the Central Bank of Cuba issued a new resolution eliminating the 5,000-peso limit, the consequences remain to be seen. “That business about payment by transfer being the law – only you believe that, reporter,” one of the interviewees snaps at the journalist. continue reading

The regulation, the reporter states bluntly, “is one of the most widely violated in Cuba.” Refusals to accept payment by transfer have been extensively documented by the press, both official and independent, including 14ymedio, but the scale of the problem is even greater than previously known. Some sellers, the article notes, have taken to charging a kind of toll for accepting bank payments, something the law expressly prohibits, but which the liberalization of prices – now that price caps have been eliminated – could help conceal.

“There’s no other option – right there in Mariel (Development Zone) everything is in cash and in large bills or dollars,” says one interviewee, who then adds, as his phone rings: “Look, I have to run, because this guy is going to give me cash in exchange for a transfer at 20 percent. Yesterday it was at 35.”

“There’s no other option – right there in Mariel (Development Zone) everything is in cash and in large bills or dollars”

The regulations governing the ZEDM are clear. Since its creation in 2013, the law has established that “concession holders and users open accounts at the banking institutions of their choice established in the Zone, through which they carry out the collections and payments arising from their operations.” There is additional legislation surrounding the obligations of those operating in the enclave, such as Resolutions 342/2021 and 117/2020. In principle, cash is intended only for very minor petty-cash transactions or consumer expenses by those working in the zone, never for wholesale buying and selling. Since the purpose of this zone was to encourage foreign investment – which has fallen far short of what was expected – traceability was meant to be the rule.

The reporter, who gathers a wide range of testimonies from merchants who claim they cannot accept transfers if they want to retain purchasing power afterward, visits, as part of her reporting, a fair in Sancti Spíritus where, she states, the law is enforced only under the threat of inspection. However, as soon as it’s possible, people try to evade it. “Take down the little sign (Transfers accepted), pal, you’re going to ruin business for us,” says the owner of a smoked-meat stand.

Eidy Rojas González, who runs a meat stand, says she has more than 800,000 pesos stuck in her card that she cannot withdraw, and that she even filed a complaint against the bank in Cabaiguán, though it agreed to give her 200,000 once it had the money. “I told them: ‘Can you give me a piece of paper so that when an inspector comes I can tell him: I, Eidy Rojas González, have all my money in the bank, I can’t accept a transfer’? But the bank couldn’t care less about that. In the countryside, nobody will sell you a pig that way,” she laments.

“Since January I’ve been registered with the bank and there’s no way they’ll give me a single peso. How exactly do they expect us to accept transfers?”

Another vendor says a woman complained because he wouldn’t accept transfers. “I told her: Can you read? Read this: ‘Two million and change.’ Since January I’ve been registered with the bank and there’s no way they’ll give me a single peso. How exactly do they expect us to accept transfers?”

The testimonies are numerous and reveal the harsh reality of the situation, though many questions remain unanswered: “How many businesses have been shut down, and how many owners have faced legal action? What do the banking compliance commissions do with the lists of violators? Why are bank deposits nearly bankrupt? Why do inspectors only act when there’s a complaint about a refusal to accept transfer payments? Will fines solve the cash payment problem?” the outlet asks. We’ll have to wait for the second installment of the series to find out the answer.

Translated by GH.

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Two Venezuelans Will Be Deported for a Riot at a Center in Mexico Where 40 Cubans Are Being Held

The incidents occurred at the Siglo XXI immigration station in Tapachula, where foreigners are extorted by Mexican officials.

The Venezuelans were arrested and taken to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, where they will be processed for immediate deportation. / Facebook/Pedro Gerardo López

14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, August 3, 2026 / Venezuelans Henderson Villaroel Chopite and Howard David Caballero are accused of causing disturbances and setting fire to a mattress used in the dormitories of the Siglo XXI immigration station, located in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, where 40 Cubans are being held, several of them “deported by the US.”

The Venezuelans were detained and taken to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, where they will be processed for immediate deportation, security sources reported. The National Migration Institute (INM) indicated that the protests stemmed from “the dissatisfaction of a group of foreign nationals with their immigration process.”

According to Luis García Villagrán, coordinator of the Center for Human Dignity A.C., this “immigrant prison” is where foreigners deported by the U.S. government are taken. “They are held here against their will for more than 10 days,” he told 14ymedio. They are locked up under the pretext of waiting to find out if Cuba will accept them, but “in reality, that time is used to extort them.”

García Villagrán asserts that the INM commissioner, Sergio Salomón Céspedes, “is aware” of the lack of transparency within the immigration station and the money that agents demand from “the relatives of Cubans who are in the United States and continue reading

on the Island.”

García Villagrán states that during Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, there are reports of “three deaths” inside the immigration station.

The migrants “are being held incommunicado and are unable to receive legal counsel.” Those with money “are forced to hire lawyers suggested by the agents, people who extort between 30,000 pesos (US$1,730) and 60,000 pesos (US$3,460) to release them” without papers.

According to García Villagrán, in the administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, there are reports of “three people dead” inside the Siglo XXI immigration station, so he demanded the resignation of the coordinator of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar), Yadira de los Santos Robledo, and the head of Migration in Tapachula, Farah Gertrudis Cerdio Moisés.

Last Saturday, disturbances were reported inside the facility. The migrants were demanding their release after learning of their deportation to their countries of origin. According to data updated through October 2025, the National Migration Institute (INM) deported 21 Cubans for “providing false information and documents and for illegally re-entering the country.” In addition, 74 other migrants and two children were returned to the island through “assisted returns.”

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Cuba Suffers Another Nationwide Blackout in Less Than 24 Hours

A failure at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant left hospitals in Villa Clara without electricity, and the authorities attribute the collapse to “weather incidents.”

A failure at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant left hospitals in Villa Clara without electricity, and authorities attribute the collapse to “weather incidents.”

14ymedio, Madrid, August 3, 2026 / Just hours after the slow recovery began from Sunday night’s blackout, Cuba suffered another total power outage. Official media reported Monday afternoon that a “fluctuation” caused the system to fail again, undoing the progress made earlier in the day.

“In the process of reestablishing the National Electric System (SEN), existing weather events caused damage to the network, directly impacting the generating units that were online,” reported pro-government journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso on his social media .

Around 5 i the afternon, official media reported: “A new blackout occurred a few minutes ago in the national electrical grid. Despite the progress made today, an oscillation caused the outage.”

Half an hour later, the Electric Union (UNE) reported that the process of restoring the system had begun: “We continue working intensively to reverse this situation and achieve the restoration of the system as soon as possible.”

The new collapse occurred while the National Electric System (SEN) was still recovering from the total blackout that occurred Sunday at 10:43 p.m. During all of Monday, UNE worked to restore service using microsystems and the gradual reintegration of some power plants. Monday’s recovery was very limited. The priority remained ensuring service to hospitals, water pumping stations, and other facilities deemed essential. continue reading

A failure occurred at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant and as a result, “some of the circuits that had been restored, including those corresponding to hospitals, were left without electricity.”

Around 5:00 p.m., the electric company in Villa Clara reported a failure at the Hanabanilla hydroelectric plant, and as a result, “some of the circuits that had been restored, including those serving hospitals, lost power again.” Social media posts announced that in Villa Clara, a breakdown had “left the Cardiocenter, the Celestino Hernández Cancer Center, and the Santa Clara Military Hospital were left without electricity.”

At the time of the total disconnection, there were 23 substations online in Havana, benefiting 50% of the population and 38 hospitals.

The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas began a cold start on Monday morning to synchronize with the grid overnight. The plant, the country’s largest power generation facility, has suffered from years of deterioration and lack of maintenance, and has broken down more than 20 times this year, so user expectations were minimal.

For its part, the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa) reported cell phone service interruptions following a breakdown of the generator that supports one of the main mobile network centers. According to the company, the problems are affecting numbers beginning with the prefixes 52, 509, 598, and 599.

Expert Jorge Piñón, a researcher at the University of Texas, had warned that weather conditions could affect the “islands” that allow for the gradual reconnection of the National Electric System (SEN). The meteorological service had reported cloud cover over much of Cuba, which, in the specialist’s opinion, highlighted “the structural challenge of solar energy without a storage system or transmission lines to distribute the electricity generated by renewables to consumers.”

With this new collapse of the SEN, the process of recovering the electrical system will have to start again from scratch, prolonging the blackout that affects the entire country.

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Popular Cuban Actress Paula Alí dies at 88

The winner of the 2026 National Television Award was one of the most beloved faces for several generations of Cubans

Television was the space that made Paula Alí especially close to the Cuban public. / Facebook/Paula Alí

14ymedio, Madrid, August 3, 2026 / Cuban actress Paula Alí, one of the best-known and most beloved performers among audiences on the island and winner of the 2026 National Television Award, died this Monday at 88. The news was announced by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) through a statement.

The organization highlighted her extensive career in television, film, and theater, which began more than six decades ago. It added that the actress was capable of taking on “with equal skill dramatic characters of profound emotional intensity,” although it was in comedy where she left “an especially endearing mark,” thanks to “a professionalism, a naturalness, and a charisma” that set her apart.

Paula Andrea Alí Rivera was born on January 26, 1938, in Candelaria, in what is now Artemisa province. Her first artistic work came in 1959, when she began as a model and television extra. From then on she built a career that took her through the country’s leading stages and made her a familiar face for several generations of Cubans.

Her connection to theater included a stage at the Martí Theater, where she worked in the vernacular genre and bufo theater. In 1970 she joined Teatro Estudio, a company with which she maintained a relationship for decades. She also took part in productions by El Público, directed by Carlos Díaz, in which she starred in La Celestina. continue reading

She was also fondly remembered for the character of Dr. Rosa Matriz in the comedy program ‘Punto G,’ one of the roles that cemented her popularity

In film she appeared in more than 30 productions of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (Icaic). Among her best-known films are Cartas del Parque (1988), Lista de espera (2000), Nada (2001), and El cuerno de la abundancia (2008). For her performance in Nada, directed by Juan Carlos Cremata, she received the award for Best Actress at the Cartagena de Indias Festival in Colombia in 2003.

However, television was the space that made her especially close to the Cuban public, with roles in telenovelas such as Enamorada del mar (1989), Las huérfanas de la Obrapía (1999), and Vuelve a mirar (2021). She was also fondly remembered for the character of Dr. Rosa Matriz in the comedy program Punto G, one of the roles that cemented her popularity.

Last July she received the 2026 National Television Award, granted in recognition of more than 60 years of uninterrupted work

Throughout her career she received numerous honors. In 1990 she won the Uneac Award and the Segismundo Award for her performance in the monologue Una mujer sola. Four years later she won the Caracol Award for the telenovela El año que viene. She was also honored with the Pequeña Pantalla Award and the Special Maestra de Generaciones Award, both in 2021, in addition to the Distinction for National Culture.

Last July she received the 2026 National Television Award, granted in recognition of more than 60 years of uninterrupted work in Cuban television, theater, and film.

The affection she inspired in the public was evident in 2024 when, after being hospitalized, she received hundreds of messages of support. She publicly thanked the outpouring of affection with a video shared on social media: “I am very moved to see so much affection. It’s something indescribable.” Two years later, that same affection is reflected once again in the farewells of colleagues and viewers who grew up watching her on the small screen.

Translated by GH.

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