Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Havana Chronicles: In Cuba the Electrical System Fails, But the Repressive System Never Does

Police in the building’s basement, accumulated garbage, lack of gas, and a Friday when even going to the market becomes impossible.

Friday has just become another day of repression. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, September 18, 2026 / Beans, onions, an avocado. I’m making a list to head out early to the Tulipán Street market, before the sun gets too hot and the inspectors start chasing away the vendors. As I walk down the hallway toward the stairs, a neighbor catches up to me. “There’s an operation underway down there. There are some men in civilian clothes, two women with backpacks, and at least one patrol car,” he details. Friday has just become another day of repression.

From the rooftop I confirm that a police car is parked on Conill Street, but not on the corner, under the leafy tree where they traditionally position themselves when they’re watching my house. The trash pile on Factor Street has grown so large that parking under those branches is now an assault on the nose and a danger to the immune system. A little further on, two uniformed officers are standing next to a vehicle with the number 059 painted on its body.

Today I really needed to get out of the house. The garbage has piled up in the apartment because of the long power outages that keep the elevator out of service. There is no salad left for lunch, and a friend had promised to copy a current affairs documentary onto a USB drive for me. But in Cuba, keeping a schedule and trying to accomplish even a few daily tasks is nearly impossible. When the day ends and I’ve managed to complete at least one thing, I feel lucky. Today, too, I’ll have to rethink my plans.

“But you have to come and get them because they won’t let me leave the building.”

Luckily, we have water in the sinks, but there’s no gas for cooking. I wash up a little take the opportunity to water the plants. A friend calls to ask if I have any oral rehydration salts. After the virus I had, I had a few packets left over that I can give her.

“But you have to come and get them because they won’t let me leave the building.”

I don’t need to say anything more. She doesn’t need any explanations either. Repression in Cuba is something everyone knows about, and a police operation around the home of an independent journalist sounds more like routine than anything new.

I put three envelopes in a nylon bag, and when my friend rings my cell phone, I go out onto the balcony and throw the small package from the 14th floor. I’ve added a stone so the wind won’t blow it too far away. The two police officers are still down there. They look bored.

A neighbor comes to my door and asks if I want him to bring me anything from the market. I give him the list I started writing this morning. I’m not sure how much money to give him because the prices change from day to day.

“With one of the new bills you can solve everything,” he jokes.

I don’t know anyone who has seen those colored papers worth 10,000 and 20,000 pesos yet.

Yesterday, when I passed by the bank on Marino Street, a retired woman told me that the new bills hadn’t arrived at that branch yet and that, in any case, the maximum they were giving out per customer was 5,000 pesos, so “nobody knows who they’re going to give the new ones to.” The woman has been trying to withdraw her pension for two weeks now, and nothing. “The day I was supposed to go, they didn’t have any cash and they rescheduled me for later, but every time I come, there’s no electricity.”

The whole house smells like garbage. I don’t know if it’s the stench coming up from the corner or if our own trash has started to rot after three days of not being able to take it out.

How many months’ salary for the police officers who watch over me down there could fit on a 20,000-peso bill, I wonder, as I try to light the stove for the umpteenth time. The gas company says they haven’t been able to finish the repairs and the service outage is getting worse and worse.

The whole house smells like garbage. I don’t know if it’s the stench coming up from the corner or if our own trash has started to rot after three days of not being able to take it out.

The phone rings. It’s my friend again. I imagine she’ll want some painkillers now, or that the rehydration salts haven’t been enough for her children and husband, who are sick with a viral diarrhea. But she doesn’t mention any medication.

“The national power grid has crashed,” she tells me, annoyed.

I look out again.

Down below, the police patrol with the two uniformed officers is still there.

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Read the Havana Chronicles series here.
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Generation Y: Artificial Intelligence Will Have to Wait for the Power to Come Back On

The new collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) leaves businesses closed and hits entrepreneurs already struggling with shortages and high costs.

This Saturday, many businesses woke up with their doors closed, their refrigerators empty, or their offerings reduced to a minimum. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez / “Closed” is the most prominent word this Saturday in the window of a private bakery on Ayestarán Street in Havana. Below, another sign promises much more ambitious hours: 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. in the glass the is also displayed the price of a bag of bread. There are hours, there iss a price, and even a door waiting for someone to open it. What there isn’t is bread.

The image could serve to refute some of the many official meetings that have recently discussed Artificial Intelligence, digital transformation, innovation, and new technologies as tools to revive Cuba’s ailing economy. All that would be missing is a rather less sophisticated question at the bottom: with what electricity?

While officials and academics debate algorithms, automation, and the possibilities of AI, the average Cuban small business owner is waging a far more elemental technological battle. They need the freezer to cool, the oven to heat, the mixer to turn, and the lights to come on. Before ChatGPT, there’s the kilowatt; before the digital future, they have to make sure the milk doesn’t curdle.

For the proprietors of these businesses, every hour of blackout means merchandise at risk, reduced income, and lost customers.

The latest collapse of the national electrical grid (SEN) this Friday has once again dealt a severe blow to small businesses. This Saturday, many woke up to find their doors closed; others opened to empty refrigerators, warm drinks, or a selection of goods reduced to a minimum. For these proprietors, every hour of blackout means merchandise at risk, reduced income, and lost customers.

For the bakeries, the blow has again been double. In the face of the collapse of the national electrical grid (SEN), the lack of manufactured gas, due to the repairs announced by Cuba Petróleo (Cupet), have already compromised the production of bread in havana this friday. Without gas and then without electricity, the margin for performing miracles is considerably reduced.

Perhaps one day Artificial Intelligence will help forecast sales, manage inventory, and make these businesses more efficient. For now, in Ayestarán, the crucial technology remains much older: a switch that, when flipped, turns on a light bulb.
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Cuba’s New Labor Code Buries the Euphemism ‘Available Worker,’ but Avoids Talking About Dismissal

The regulation extends social service to the private sector, establishes a guarantee of six salaries for certain job terminations, and expands the powers of the Labor Inspectorate

Although it includes principles related to trade union freedom, workers still lack this instrument of collective pressure against employers. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, September 19, 2026 / The new Labor Code, published this Friday in the Official Gazette and set to take effect next September 25, eliminates the terms “available workers” or “interrupted” – euphemisms used for decades for those who lost their positions as a result of a reorganization – and replaces it with a more technical and longer formula: “termination of the employment relationship for economic, technological, and structural reasons.”

The change does not mean that employment could not previously be lost for these reasons. The former availability regime already provided for the elimination of positions, relocation, and, ultimately, termination of the employment relationship. What is new is the wording, the new financial guarantees, and the obligation of both state and private employers to establish mechanisms to protect the income of those affected.

Law 189/2026 first provides for measures aimed at avoiding termination. If an entity’s difficulties are temporary, new hiring may be restricted, workers may be sent to retraining courses, or a provisional reduction in the workday may be agreed upon. In this last case, the employee is paid only for the time actually worked. The measure must be agreed with the worker and adopted by mutual agreement with the trade union organization.

Except for budget-funded institutions, all employers must protect their workers’ income in the event of work interruptions

When a reorganization permanently affects a position and no other placement can be found, the employment relationship may be terminated. If the worker is also unable to find employment through his or her own means, he or she is entitled to a guarantee equivalent to six basic salaries for the position held. The amount must be paid in a single installment, within 30 days following notification of the employer’s decision. continue reading

Protection is drastically reduced if the worker rejects a relocation proposal without justification. In that case, he or she receives only the equivalent of one month’s basic salary.

The new Code regulates the conditions under which an entity may reduce its workforce, but it does not incorporate the right to strike. Although it includes principles related to trade union freedom, workers still lack express recognition of this instrument of collective pressure against employers.

The legislation also introduces an obligation that fully applies to MSMEs (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises) and other private employers. Except for budget-funded institutions, all employers must protect their workers’ income in the event of work interruptions, terminations for economic reasons, the dissolution of MSMEs or cooperatives, and other situations that halt operations.

The private sector also appears in another of the legislation’s important changes: the social service of recent graduates

To do so, they may take out an insurance policy or use other legally provided mechanisms. The regulation allows up to 90 days from its entry into force to establish that coverage, although workers affected by a termination during that period retain the right to the salary protection provided for under the Code.

The private sector also appears in another of the legislation’s important changes: the social service of recent graduates. When placement in a state entity is not possible, municipal Labor departments may arrange agreements with private companies and other private entities so that young people fulfill this obligation there.

The assigned position must correspond to the training received and to the needs of production or services. If a graduate assigned to the private sector believes the position does not match his or her studies, he or she may file a claim with the courts. Placement, however, is not voluntary. If the graduate fails to report, rejects the assignment, or interrupts the social service without a cause considered justified, he or she may be barred from practicing professionally.

When a young person has been placed in the private sector, his or her employer may file a request for disqualification with the institution that approved that entity as an economic actor. The file then goes to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, whose Legal Department makes the decision. Administrative appeals, and subsequently judicial recourse, may be filed against that ruling.

An inspector may order the temporary closure of an establishment as a precautionary measure for a period of up to 180 calendar days

The legislative package also strengthens the tools available to the Labor Inspectorate. Decree 179/2026 establishes a new system of violations applicable to employers in any sector and allows for the imposition of fines, the halting of equipment, and the ordering of the total or partial closure of establishments.

Even before the sanctioning procedure concludes, an inspector may order the temporary closure of an establishment as a precautionary measure for a period of up to 180 calendar days, when the conditions provided for by the regulation are met. During that time, all activity is prohibited at the closed premises. The measure may be lifted once the causes and effects of the unsafe conditions that prompted it have been eliminated. If the irregularities persist, the sanction may end in permanent closure.

The new framework also affects MSMEs when they cease to exist. Before dissolving a micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise, the labor and salary treatment provided for these processes must be applied to its workers, so that the disappearance of the business does not automatically eliminate obligations to the workforce.

Law 189 replaces the Labor Code approved in 2013 and was passed by the National Assembly on July 30. Its seventh transitional provision makes the change in language clear: all legal references to “available workers” must now be understood as referring to those who undergo a “termination of the employment relationship for economic, technological, and structural reasons.”

Translated by GH.

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The New Assignment for Cuban Children: Finding Somewhere To Charge the Fan

The electrical collapse makes any device capable of storing a few hours of energy indispensable.

A child walks along the arcades of Reina Street, in Centro Habana, carrying one of the most precious objects in Cuba today: a rechargeable fan. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 19 September 2026 / He is not carrying a ball, a backpack filled with books, or a bag with the day’s bread. This Saturday, a child walks along the arcades of Reina Street, in Centro Habana, carrying one of the most precious objects in Cuba today: a rechargeable fan. His destination is some outlet that still has power to charge the battery and guarantee a few hours of air when he returns home.

The scene sums up the Havana morning following the collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) that occurred this Friday. More than 17 hours after the total disconnection, large areas of the capital remained without service, while others that had recovered electricity during the early morning hours lost it again.

Electricity ceased to be something that came from an outlet and became a treasure that is stored, sought out, and even carried under one’s arm

In Cuba, the question “do you have electricity?” has displaced many other forms of courtesy. Knowing where to charge a phone, a lamp, a power bank, or a fan can determine a family’s daily schedule. Rechargeable devices have entered everyday conversations, solar panels occupy balconies and rooftops, and words such as inverter, amperage, battery, and photovoltaic cells have already become part of the household vocabulary. Electricity ceased to be something that came from an outlet and became a treasure that is stored, sought out, and even carried under one’s arm.

The boy on Reina Street is also walking through a very Havana-like setting. A few meters away, on the sidewalk of the arcade, several vendors have laid out used shoes, bottles, clothes, household odds and ends, and electrical parts salvaged from the trash. There is probably a piece of an old fan among the objects, one that could not withstand the long hours without electricity or the back-and-forth journey from one house to another.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Much of Cuba Remains in the Dark After the Nationwide Blackout

The recovery of the electrical system is progressing as far as Camagüey, but a new breakdown in Guiteras is complicating the restoration of service.

In the gloomy panorama of the Cuban capital, the lights of a few generators and priority circuits were barely visible. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, September 19, 2026 / More than 24 hours after the nationwide blackout that occurred this Friday, caused by the eighth total shutdown of the national power grid (SEN) so far this year, recovery was proceeding unevenly and unsteadily this Saturday. he National Electric Union (UNE) reported that the system was now connected from Pinar del Río to Nuevitas, in Camagüey, although it had not yet confirmed the connection with the easternmost provinces of the country.

In Havana, shortly before 7:00 a.m., large areas were still without power, 14ymedio confirmed. Amid the darkened landscape of the Cuban capital, only the lights of a few generators and priority circuits could be made out. Many residents who had regained service overnight lost it again a few hours later.

The situation had not stabilized during the afternoon either. Havana’s Electric Company reported that it had restored service to 411,765 customers, 47.7% of the total, but clarified that numerous restored circuits had lost power again. Although 134 circuits had been energized since the outage, at the time of the update only 57 had service, due to the still incomplete recovery of the National Electric System (SEN) and blackouts caused by generation deficits.

The recovery is further complicated by a new breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant in Matanzas.

The instability also affected the water supply. Although the capital’s 18 main pumping systems had regained power at some point during the crisis, only nine were operational when the company released its update. All 46 Havana hospitals had their water supply restored, according to official data. continue reading

The recovery is further complicated by a new breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant in Matanzas. Its general manager, Román Pérez Castañeda, reported that the disconnection from the National Electric System (SEN) caused mechanical stress that damaged the boiler, where specialists suspect there are perforations in several points of the steam generator.

The facility needs about 72 hours to cool down, so technicians won’t be able to begin the inspection until Monday afternoon. Only then will they be able to determine the extent of the damage and set a timeframe for repairs. The plant, which had been operating for 44 consecutive days since its restart on August 4, remains offline and there is still no confirmed date for it to resume generating electricity.

Outside the capital, the recovery continued to depend largely on isolated microsystems, according to reports in some of the official newspapers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mines reported that the Boca de Jaruco combined cycle power plant was generating power steadily, along with five units using companion gas, two units at the Mariel thermoelectric plant, and two more at the Santa Cruz del Norte plant. The two units at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes power plant in Cienfuegos were in the process of starting up.

The total shutdown occurred at 1:57 p.m. on Friday. The UNE explained that the 220-kilovolt Matanzas-Cienfuegos transmission line tripped first, followed by the Matanzas-Santa Clara line. The system was divided between eastern and western zones before collapsing completely. The state-owned company also noted that unstable weather conditions had been identified in the area.

The 14ymedio newsroom in Nuevo Vedado had its power restored around 3:00 a.m., but was plunged back into darkness at 5:23 a.m. From there, it could be seen that large areas of the Cerro, Playa, and Plaza de la Revolución municipalities were still without service, while other parts of the city barely showed the lights of some buildings and generators.

The same instability was repeated in other Havana municipalities. A resident of Central Havana told this newspaper that electricity returned around 11:30 pm and was cut off again at 2:00 am. In Plaza de la Revolución, another resident received service around 10:30 pm and lost it again at 3:00 am.

A resident of Las Tunas told this newspaper that he had been without electricity for 40 hours, due to a blackout that had begun before the disconnection.

The situation outside Havana is much worse. A resident of Las Tunas told this newspaper that he had already gone 40 hours without electricity, due to a blackout that had begun before the shutdown.

Although UNE announced on Saturday that the national grid connection had progressed as far as Nuevitas, the restoration of power in numerous towns continued to depend on generation capacity and the condition of the distribution networks. During the first hours after the blackout, several provinces had to rely on isolated microsystems to supply essential services.

In Pinar del Río, the provincial power company reported, in a note published by Guerrillero, the creation of a generation island through the Pinar Oeste substation to supply the Abel Santamaría Provincial Hospital and other priority centers.

In Matanzas, Girón reported, citing the power company, on the gradual recovery of several circuits through micro-systems overnight. In Sancti Spíritus, Escambray reported, citing the provincial load dispatch center, that hospitals continued operating on generators and that the process was constrained by low fuel availability.

In Santiago de Cuba, Sierra Maestra reported at around 6:15 a.m. on the activation of micro-systems supplying circuits 7, 10, 15, 17, and part of 18, with priority given to vital centers. The publication warned that these are “isolated and vulnerable” systems, prone to failures and sudden interruptions.

Venceremos, of Guantánamo, reported at around 9:00 p.m. on Friday that the territory was operating through island micro-systems and that the circuits serving the General Hospital and the Children’s Hospital already had service.

Translated by GH.

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Suspected Killer of Nickel Mechanical Company Worker in Moa is Detained

The accused, a co-worker of the victim, allegedly transported the body in the pickup truck and later sold the vehicle to two people, who were also detained.

Ramón Gresequi Rodríguez, a worker at the Nickel Mechanical Company, was found dead on September 11 on Miraflores Hill, Moa. / Social media

14ymedio, Madrid, September 18, 2026 – Cuban authorities have detained Yoandris Reyes Mariño, known as Pichi, identified as responsible for the death of Ramón Gresequi Rodríguez, a worker at the Nickel Mechanical Company who had been reported missing in Moa, Holguín, and was subsequently found dead. The information was released this Thursday by the pro-government profile Cazador Cazado [Hunter Hunted], which is linked to the National Police.

According to the post, Reyes Mariño worked as a driver at the same company as Gresequi and identifies him as “his victimizer.” After the crime, according to the source, the accused transported the cadaver in the back of the pickup truck that had been driven by the victim to the place where he was found dead.

Subsequently, the accused took the vehicle to the Granadillo area, in the municipality of Sagua de Tánamo, where he sold it to two people. Both buyers were also detained, according to the published information. Their identities and the criminal proceedings they face have not been disclosed.

The accused transported the cadaver in the back of the pickup truck driven by the victim to the place where he was found dead

Ramón Gresequi, 59, used to drive a white Toyota pickup truck belonging to the Nickel Mechanical Company where he worked, a vehicle that has been identified as a possible motive for the murder. Gresequi was reported missing last September 8. The last time witnesses had seen him, he was driving the pickup truck. continue reading

Family members and acquaintances circulated his photograph and the vehicle’s information on social media to help locate him. For days, the search involved authorities from the Ministry of the Interior, co-workers, family members and residents of the municipality.

Gresequi’s body was found on September 11 near the Moa television tower, on Miraflores Hill, in the locality of Yaguaneque. The pro-government profile Realidades desde Holguín, linked to the Ministry of the Interior, reported that the body showed multiple signs of violence and that an investigation had been opened to determine the circumstances of the death and find those responsible.

Reports circulated on social media indicated that the body had been found “hidden inside a hole” and “wrapped in nylon or plastic material”

Reports circulated on social media indicated that the body had been found “hidden inside a hole” and “wrapped in nylon or plastic material.” According to a relative of Gresequi, who spoke to independent journalist Niover Licea, the victim had allegedly suffered “severe blows to the head” and was subsequently “strangled with an electrical cable.”

A version released Wednesday by La Tijera stated that the pickup truck had been found burned and taken to Holguín to undergo forensic examination. This information has not been independently confirmed.

The case adds to a climate of growing public insecurity in Cuba. Reports of thefts, assaults and violent incidents in both rural and urban areas have increased as the crisis affecting the country progresses. According to the independent organization Cubalex, 52 homicides and more than 300 violent crimes were recorded in Cuba in August alone, a record figure that reflects the extent of the deterioration of security on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Guardian Criticizes Trump’s Circle and Exiles for Pursuing “Opportunities” if the Regime Falls

The British newspaper says executives from the U.S. president’s companies have met with Raúl Castro’s grandson.

File photograph of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump. / EFE/EPA/Ken Cedeno

14ymedio, Madrid, September 18, 2026 – Several executives from the Trump Organization have traveled to the Island several times in recent months, where they have held meetings with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, alias El Cangrejo, grandson of Raúl Castro, to “explore opportunities” following the departure of Spanish hotel companies Meliá and Iberostar due to the threat of U.S. sanctions.

The Guardian says so in a report published this Thursday, in which it questions the activities of the U.S. president’s circle. The British newspaper’s headline says they are seeking “control of Cuba’s assets if the regime falls,” while Washington continues to impose sanctions on people and entities within the Cuban Government that affect any foreign company with any type of connection, the most recent sanctions having been announced this Thursday.

“If I had done during the Biden Administration what Trump’s friends have done now, I would have ended up in prison,” a source with decades of experience in U.S. policy toward the Island, who requested anonymity, told The Guardian. And indeed, while giants such as the Spanish hotel chains, Canada’s Sherritt, shipping companies, Visa, Mastercard and several others have been forced to abandon their businesses on the Island due to the threat of being sanctioned under Trump’s executive order of May 1, others are trying to profit.

“If I had done during the Biden Administration what Trump’s friends have done now, I would have ended up in prison”

Specifically, The Guardian says, people close to the U.S. Administration. “A growing group of influential people in Washington and Florida – from Trump-affiliated billionaires and Rubio-linked lobbies to Cuban exiles – are vying to control key assets of the communist-ruled island nation,” says the newspaper, which also asserts that “they charge hefty sums to help their clients navigate the ever-expanding sanctions network and position themselves to take advantage of lucrative business opportunities should the regime collapse.” continue reading

One of them is Franklin Graham, chief executive of the evangelical aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, who, according to The Guardian’s sources, “recently obtained a $40 million federal contract to distribute humanitarian aid in Cuba, despite lacking the capacity to effectively carry out such a contract on the Island.” A spokesperson for the NGO did not deny the information to the British newspaper, although the spokesperson clarified: “Details about aid for Cuba are still being worked out and have not been finalized.”

The Guardian points to several similar cases that are already known, such as the dispute between Ray Washburne, a former Trump adviser, and Albert Huddleston, another magnate with ties to the White House, over entering Sherritt International after it suspended its operations at the Moa mines, or the case of Antilles Gold. After being blacklisted for its work in Cuba, the Australian firm received the Trump Administration’s approval to negotiate the transfer of its stake in the Nueva Sabana deposits in Ciego de Ávila and La Demajagua, on the Isle of Youth, to Global Emerging Markets, a multibillion-dollar investment fund based in New York.

Likewise, the newspaper recalls the oil blockade since the intervention in Venezuela in January, while fuel exports authorized by the Treasury Department from Florida and Texas to the Island “have surged, exceeding $160 million so far this year.”

Those exports are conditioned on their being received by private mipymes, but, as 14ymedio has documented, the State sector is fully involved in the business.

Another example is found among Florida shipping companies, such as Crowley, which is a donor to the campaigns of Cuban-American Republican congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar, and which “appear to benefit from the new sanctions that have affected foreign shipping companies and forced trade destined for Cuba to be redirected through Florida.”

“Ironically, some of those who have most vehemently demanded tougher sanctions are also profiting economically”

The privileges include communications companies, such as Digital News Association Inc., which received a $250,000 contract from the U.S. Government’s Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) – initially canceled and demonized by Donald Trump after taking office – to carry out “investigative journalism, studies and media production,” and whose main website has done nothing but publish interviews that repeat the thesis included in the State Department report Cuba, Capital of 21st-Century Socialism.

“Ironically, some of those who have most vehemently demanded tougher sanctions are also profiting economically,” The Guardian also states, mentioning the lobbying firm Continental Strategy, which has close ties to Trump and Rubio and agreed to represent the Spanish company Vima – a partner of Gaesa – although it canceled the contract five weeks after signing it and after receiving nearly $40,000.

“It has been interesting to watch how quickly some hard-line ideologues become pragmatic when money is involved,” another source told the British newspaper. The reason, Erik Cartelle, a consultant who works to connect prominent exiles with Rubio’s team, told the The Guardian, “is regime change.” And he said: “I have clients who want to do a lot of business in Cuba, and the Administration is betting that Cuban Americans will travel to the Island and invest.”

What The Guardian does not say is that the Havana regime itself has repeatedly called on the Cuban diaspora to invest in the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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With the Dollar at 730 Pesos and Much Opacity, Cuba’s First Private Currency Exchange House Opens

The main shareholder, holding 70% of the business, comes from the food service sector and claims the State has no stake

Images taken by ‘El Toque’ of the new private currency exchange house, in Santa Clara.

14ymedio, Madrid, September 18, 2026 / Cuba’s first private currency exchange house has the dollar through the roof. On the first day after it emerged that it was already operating, ADT 64 was buying the US currency at 710 pesos and selling it at 730. The rate was not only much higher than the official Cadeca rate – 664 this Thursday (three pesos less than today, Friday) – but it also beat the demonized rate published by El Toque, set at 700 since Wednesday.

Located at Aires de Tristá Street No. 64, in Santa Clara, ADT 64 is close to the Santa Clara Libre hotel and a state-run currency exchange house. According to the independent outlet El Toque, which has thoroughly examined the new business, the company’s stated line of business was food services, at least according to what is on record in the registry. There are online references describing it as an ice cream parlor and seller of pizzas and hamburgers, but also old images of a sign reading Bar-Cafetería.

The photographs of its façade that began circulating this Thursday showed a different picture: digital screens displaying the changing value of nine international currencies. The euro, for example, is bought at 815 pesos and sold at 839. Nobody is selling, neighbors told El Toque.

Martí Noticias was able to speak with Arnel Matos Freire, whose contact details – phone number and address – matched those of the company, and who confirmed he is the owner of 70% of the business. “Asked by Martí Noticias whether the remaining 30% belonged to the Cuban State, the businessman said no. Matos explained that the business operates under the structure of a micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise (mipyme), with another private partner”, the report states.

Trend in official-market dollar prices for private businesses since they were approved. / BCC

The owner did not give many more details, but maintained that he submitted a proposal to the authorities to set up the business and received approval for it to become a pilot experience that could be extended to the rest of the country. The project was advised by a doctor of Economic Sciences, and operations began on August 31. continue reading

It is not known at what rates it has been exchanging the currency, but there is public record of the trend in official rates, which have risen sharply over the same period. On September 1, the price of the US currency according to the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) was 636 pesos; a week later it was already at 644, and on the 15th, at 659. And rising.

Matos told Martí Noticias that the price of the currency is not set by the informal market – as with El Toque’s estimate – but is established by calculating a percentage above the BCC rate, which must authorize it daily. As of today, that commission stands at 7%. The owner stated in the interview that the dollar via bank transfer currently stands at 950 pesos, implying how profitable his business is. However, there is no evidence that this is so.

The businessman also stated that there is no limit on the purchase of foreign currency, though there is for its sale. In addition, people must prove the origin and destination of the money to prevent money laundering and fraud. In the case of companies and self-employed workers, company documents are required, along with “justifying the purchase through the offer of a foreign or domestic supplier certifying the use of the funds”. Information on the financial activity is submitted daily to the Central Bank of Cuba.

Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, based in Spain, has analyzed the initial information about ADT 64. The expert addresses two very different aspects: on one hand, he questions the opacity surrounding the operation and the authorization to open the establishment. On the other, its practical scope.

“As long as the detailed regulation is not published, the authorization of private currency exchange houses functions more as a discretionary power of the BCC than as a right that any interested party could aspire to under known conditions,” he notes regarding the first issue. Monreal acknowledges that the regulator has not only the power to create this mechanism but, almost, the duty to do so, in order to monitor the situation through a concrete, controlled example to learn from and correct the official market.

“This does not mean, he stresses, that it can operate ‘without detailed public regulations’, something that ‘affects legal certainty, competition, oversight, and the credibility of the officially announced opening’”

This does not mean, he stresses, that it can operate “without detailed public regulations”, something that “affects legal certainty, competition, oversight, and the credibility of the officially announced opening”. The discretionary nature, he adds, will not favor the incorporation of other players, the promotion of competition, or the flow of information.

Furthermore, the economist warns of the practical need for the activity to expand if the idea is to build a reference rate. “A diverse and statistically adequate sample is needed: different cities, multiple owners, both sides of the market – buying and selling – different scales of customers, and mechanisms to filter out atypical days and circumstantial inventories,” he warns.

Monreal also believes that the first piece of evidence left by the ADT 64 rate is that the accusations the regime made against El Toque for years were mistaken, if not malicious. Official discourse even attributed crimes to the outlet’s founders, whom it accused of intending to trigger social unrest by inflating currency prices, which in turn drove up the cost of living. Now, the rate approved by the BCC is even higher than that of the informal market.

“For the BCC, the risk is twofold. On one hand, the segment III rate (private actors) could end up moving closer to the ‘street’ rate and losing the current anchor of 1 dollar = 660 pesos. On the other, if the central bank ignores the pilot’s initial data and keeps the administered rate, the experiment would remain a costly showcase, inconsistent with the exchange rate the State itself publishes,” he concludes.

Translated by GH.

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Costa Rica Confirms the Rupture of Its Diplomatic Relations with the Cuban “Despotic Regime”

Manuel Tovar states that the decision has nothing to do with the alleged US pressure denounced by the Cuban foreign minister

Manuel Tovar, Costa Rican foreign minister, in an interview. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, September 18, 2026 / The Government of Costa Rica takes a further step in its estrangement from Cuba, and six months after Rodrigo Chaves’s government closed the Embassy in Havana, that of his successor, Laura Fernández, announces that the decision has greater implications.

“There is a rupture of diplomatic relations,” said Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera in an interview with the Miami Herald. The foreign minister maintains that the measure will remain in place until the people of Cuba “regain their freedom” and that it represents nothing more than the continuation of traditional Costa Rican policy, broken only in 2009, during the government of Óscar Arias. “A foreign policy mistake,” the official maintains.

“Costa Rica will no longer lend itself to legitimizing a tyrannical and despotic regime that has robbed its people of the most fundamental freedom of a democracy,” he adds. For the time being, consular services for Costa Ricans visiting or passing through Cuba have been routed to the Embassy of Panama, while Cubans living in Costa Rica continue to handle their paperwork in San José. The previous government asked Havana to withdraw its diplomats, and this occurred, although citizen services continue to be handled, something relevant for the thousands of Cubans residing in the Central American country.

“Costa Rica will no longer lend itself to legitimizing a tyrannical and despotic regime that has robbed its people of the most fundamental freedom of a democracy”

According to press estimates, the number could be between 10,000 and 15,000, based on the sum of nearly 3,000 who hold residency cards, the 7,000 who have applied for refuge in the last six years, and the mass of undocumented persons, which could range between 2,000 and 4,000. continue reading

Tovar also referred to the number of Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who have arrived in the country, for whom, as for Cubans, an immigration regularization process was being prepared. The figure for Nicaraguan exiles is striking, as it is around 600,000 to 650,000, and all of them are entitled to free education and healthcare. “Someone has to pay those costs, and it’s Costa Ricans,” the official laments, although he stresses that his country will continue to be a refuge for whoever needs it.

However, he maintained – without providing data – that the number of migrants has dropped notably as a result of Donald Trump’s “deterrent policies”. One of the trade-offs for Costa Rica has been agreeing to be a “safe third country”, which means it receives around 100 people a month of various nationalities whom neither the US nor their country of origin will accept. Between April, when the flights began, and early June, 149 deportees arrived who, according to the minister, mostly returned to their homes, with notable exceptions: Asians, Eastern Europeans, and those seeking asylum.

“We did not receive any advice, any guidance, any instruction, any suggestion from any Government, neither from the United States nor from any other”

The minister, who met this Wednesday in Tovar with Marco Rubio, also rejected the accusations from the Cuban regime, which attributes the Costa Rican government’s stance to pressure from Washington. “It was a sovereign decision made by the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica. We did not receive any advice, any guidance, any instruction, any suggestion from any Government, neither from the United States nor from any other,” he stated, in response to Bruno Rodríguez, his counterpart on the island. The Cuban foreign minister accused the previous administration of “servility” in March, following the announcement of the Embassy’s closure.

Tovar did say, however, that he spoke with the US Secretary of State about “the return to a democratic path in Cuba and Nicaragua” – without mentioning Venezuela – a topic that will be discussed at the meetings of the Shield of the Americas, on the sidelines of the 81st General Assembly of the United Nations.

In that space, other issues will also be addressed, such as the fight against drug trafficking and other transnational crimes, arms and human trafficking, money laundering, environmental damage, and resource extraction.

Translated by GH.

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Venezuela Unlocks Media Outlets, Cuba Maintains Its Restrictions

The reopening of several websites censored by Caracas serves as a reminder that on the island it is necessary to overcome blockades to access the independent media press.

14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, September 17, 2026 / Some news stories, when read from Cuba, take on a different meaning. This Thursday, when I learned that Venezuela had begun unblocking digital sites censored for years, I inevitably thought of a mobile phone screen in Havana trying to open the newspaper 14ymedio. The scroll wheel spins, minutes pass, and finally nothing appears. We’ve been like this for twelve years, since that 21st of May 2014, when this newspaper was born.

In Venezuela, the telecommunications regulator began lifting restrictions on several websites. The organization VE Sin Filtro had counted approximately 200 blocked domains as of yesterday and confirmed that at least nine media outlets had regained access, including Efecto Cocuyo, El Pitazo, Runrun.es, and Crónica Uno. The organization described the measure, if it continues, as one of the first significant setbacks in Venezuelan digital censorship, although it warned that numerous sites remain restricted.

The news evokes a mixture of joy and envy in me from the island. I think of Luz Mely Reyes and her colleagues at Efecto Cocuyo, obliged for years to find alternative ways to reach their readers. Just last month, Reyes denounced the lack of transparency in the political dialogue between the government and part of the opposition, a dialogue to which journalists weren’t even allowed access to cover the initial greetings. This contradiction helps put today’s easing of restrictions into perspective: opening a few pages doesn’t mean that the restrictions on the press have disappeared.

How many readers have we lost because clicking a link leads to a page that won’t load? How many gave up after several attempts to access our site?

From Cuba we know all too well about this. The censorship against 14ymedio has had a cost that’s difficult to calculate. How many readers have we lost because clicking a link leads to a page that won’t load? How many gave up after several attempts to access our site? How many Cubans only learned of our existence after emigrating and being able to browse the web without restrictions? continue reading

But every wall forces you to find a crack. Over these twelve years, we’ve learned to distribute content through social media, newsletters, messaging apps, emails, and any other means that allows us to circumvent the barrier. Censorship deprived us of a potential audience, but it also forced us to become more creative.

Paradoxically, while the Cuban regime tried to keep independent media out of sight of the the national audience, its own press system was weakening. Official newsrooms have lost journalists to the mass exodus; there is a lack of transportation, fuel, and resources to send reporters to cover events, and reality has ultimately moved too quickly for the old mechanism of waiting for instructions before reporting it.

Independent media outlets have grown in this space, but so have Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other platforms where much of the information consumed by Cubans now circulates. A blackout, a protest, or an accident might be reported first by a shaky video from a neighbor rather than a news item in the official press. If there were a mass unblocking of independent websites, it is expected that they would displace the antiquated newspapers controlled by the Communist Party.

However, we agree not to confuse a half-open door with a house one can freely enter or leave. Venezuela maintains important information restrictions, and VE Sin Filtro is demanding that the lifting of these restrictions also extend to other media outlets, civil organizations, communication platforms, and VPN tools. Even the opposition participating in the dialogue with Delcy Rodríguez’s interim government has called for a complete and permanent unblocking of these resources.

Meanwhile, the Castro regime is taking note of what is happening in its former ally. Because controlling a country through a monopoly on information is one thing, but dealing with a free press is quite another.

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Living Among the Remains of What We Once Were

‘Cannibalized’ cars, collapsed buildings and abandoned structures accompany daily life in Havana

The cars are corpses stripped of doors, windows, engines, and every screw that might have kept another vehicle running. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, September 14, 2026 / In Havana, we don’t walk through streets, but rather through the interior of a shipwreck. Debris is everywhere: a propped-up building, a broken pipe that no one fixes, a mountain of garbage, the skeleton of a collapsed building. We have become so accustomed to the rubble that we hardly see it anymore. We sidestep around the gap, dodge the chunk of concrete, and keep going.

On Ayestarán Street, as on so many others, there is a great variety of ruins. Under a zinc roof and on the dry grass, several disassembled cars are piled up. One is missing its front end; of another, barely the body remains; a third conserves something resembling its former form. They are corpses stripped of doors, windows, engines, and every screw that might serve to keep another vehicle running.

The official entities seem to have lost the energy to remove the remains, because getting rid of a ruin requires resources that simply don’t exist.

It is difficult to imagine the moment when they were new. Perhaps one transported a reporter from the state-run press to a boring People’s Power assembly. Another might have had as a regular passenger a manager in a tight guayabera, with a chauffeur waiting at the door. There was a time when ministries, companies, and state agencies had enough fuel, spare parts, and cars to transport their officials and employees.

Of that spoilage remains these shells that form part of the landscape. The official entities seem to have lost even the energy to retire the remains, because dismantling a ruin requires resources that no longer exist.

The worst thing about living among the wreckage isn’t the hideousness, but the habit. We walk past it, incorporate it into our routines, and end up accepting it as an inevitable part of the scenery.

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The European Parliament Approves Another Resolution To Suspend the Political Agreement With Cuba

It is the seventh time that the European Parliament has made this request in the past five years, and it received 374 votes in favor, 198 against and 19 abstentions.

Saylí and Félix Navarro have been nominated for the Sakharov Prize this year. / Collage

EP/14ymedio, Madrid, September 17, 2026 – The European Parliament called on the European Council this Thursday to suspend the implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement that structures relations between the European Union and Cuba, citing “systematic violations” of Human Rights by the Island’s authorities against political prisoners and their relatives.

The resolution, approved by the European Parliament with 374 votes in favor, 198 against and 19 abstentions, focuses on the case of 72-year-old Félix Navarro and his daughter Saylí Navarro – co-founder of the Ladies in White, awarded the Sakharov Prize in 2005 – who were detained in 2021 and subsequently sentenced to nine and eight years in prison, respectively.

This week, the Cuba Siglo 21 platform and its management committee of former political prisoners formally proposed the candidacy of both for the Sakharov Prize.

Members of the European Parliament denounced “the absence of fair trials, the use of torture during detentions and the systematic use of forced exile as a condition for the release of opponents,” while expressing concern over Navarro’s deteriorating health and calling for his release, along with that of “all other political prisoners.”

The resolution focuses on the case of 72-year-old Félix Navarro and his daughter Saylí Navarro

“In the absence of concrete and verifiable steps by the regime toward multiparty democracy, Parliament reiterates its call for the immediate suspension of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement and for sanctions to be imposed on those responsible for repression in Cuba, beginning with President Miguel Díaz-Canel,” the resolution states.

The document approved by the European Parliament notes that Cuba keeps “1,339 political prisoners” in jail, including 38 minors. The text also points out that among these people are 463 who suffer from “serious physical illnesses” and 54 who “suffer from serious mental disorders,” despite which they “do not receive adequate medical care.”

In the past five years, the European Parliament has voted on at least seven resolutions of this kind, the most recent last June. However, these acts are legally non-binding, since the authority to make the decision rests with the Council, through a complex procedure that must be initiated by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy or by the European Commission.

The resolutions, however, have a symbolic character, and their pressure could ultimately motivate action by the executive bodies, although to date this has not happened.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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State Security Detains Henry Constantín and Threatens Dagoberto Valdés

The director of ‘La Hora de Cuba’ is being investigated for “disobedience,” while the head of ‘Convivencia’ was prohibited from attending an event at the U.S. Embassy.

Although both repressive incidents occurred in distant provinces, they took place just hours before an event organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana. / Collage

14ymedio, Havana, September 17, 2026 – State Security is holding independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba, in detention in Camagüey. Meanwhile, in Pinar del Río, a political police officer went to the home of intellectual Dagoberto Valdés to prohibit members of the Center for the Study of Coexistence (CEC) from attending an event organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Constantín has remained since Wednesday afternoon at Villa María Luisa, the State Security headquarters for operations and interrogations in Camagüey, and is being investigated for an alleged offense of “disobedience,” La Hora de Cuba reported Thursday.

The information was communicated to Alejandra García, a journalist and Constantín’s partner, when she went to an appointment with the investigator in charge of the case this Thursday. The official was not there, but another officer explained to her that the investigation was related to a previous summons, scheduled for September 9 at the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Foreigners, in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood. According to La Hora de Cuba, the authorities maintain that Constantín “did not arrive on time” for that meeting and that such conduct could constitute “disobedience.”

A female official even claimed that the journalist was not registered at that unit

The current episode of repression began last Tuesday, around 2:30 in the afternoon, when an agent identified as Felipe verbally informed Constantín that he had to appear the following day at 8:30 in the morning at the Second Unit of the National Revolutionary Police, located on Carretera Central.

Constantín went to the station, and his last communication with his colleagues took place at around 8:48 in the morning. Around one in the afternoon, members of La Hora de Cuba tried to find out where he was but received contradictory answers, and a female official even claimed that the journalist was not registered at that unit. Hours later it became known that he had been transferred to Villa María Luisa. continue reading

This is not the first time Constantín has been held at those facilities. In June 2025, he was detained while accompanying journalist Iris Mariño to a summons and was also transferred to Villa María Luisa. During 2026 he has also suffered several arrests and summonses, as documented by organizations and independent media.

“We are coming to tell you in advance so that you don’t have a bad night”

More than 500 kilometers away, in Pinar del Río, the pressure took another form this Thursday. The Center for the Study of Coexistence denounced that a State Security officer identified as Major John went to the home of its director, Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, to warn that members of the organization were prohibited from participating in the American Nights event, organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

“We are coming to tell you in advance so that you don’t have a bad night,” the officer said, according to the statement issued by Convivencia.

Major John had previously intervened in actions against the CEC. On April 8, he participated, together with Major Juan Manuel Pérez, head of the brigade responsible for confronting the “counterrevolution” in Pinar del Río, in the interrogations of Valdés and Yoandy Izquierdo at the Immigration and Foreigners offices. The Center itself identified John at the time as the new officer responsible for “handling” the organization.

As on previous occasions, State Security resorted to different methods to prevent those meetings from taking place normally

Those interrogations took place after several visits by agents to Valdés’s home and the detention of members of the environmental project Naturpaz. According to the CEC, the officers then warned that they would not allow certain workshops or links between Convivencia and other independent projects.

Nor is this the first time that authorities have tried to prevent Valdés from participating in diplomatic gatherings. In June 2025, State Security summoned him to warn him that it would not allow residents of other provinces to travel to Havana for a U.S. Embassy reception for the Fourth of July. In January of this year, Valdés and Yoandy Izquierdo were detained in Pinar del Río for contacts with U.S. diplomats.

Although both repressive incidents occurred in distant provinces, they took place just hours before an event organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, to which several members of civil society had been expressly invited. As on previous occasions, State Security resorted to different methods to prevent those meetings from taking place normally.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Withdraws Half Its Staff from Its Embassy in South Korea Without Explanation

The two countries restored relations in 2024 and opened diplomatic missions in 2025 in both capitals, provoking North Korea’s displeasure

El embajador, Claudio Raúl Monzón Baeza, pronuncia un discurso, el 10 de junio de 2025, durante la ceremonia de apertura de la representación de Cuba en Seúl. / Yonhap

14ymedio, Madrid, September 17, 2026 / Half of the diplomats at the Cuban Embassy in Seoul have recently returned to Cuba, reducing the island’s representation in the Asian country from four to two. The information was revealed by the newspaper Seoul Economic Daily, which cites a source from the South Korean foreign ministry and specifically indicates that the return is not due to a routine staff rotation, but rather a decision made by Havana.

Remaining in Seoul are Ambassador Claudio Monzón and Counselor Patricia Flechilla Prometa.

When consulted by the outlet, the Cuban Embassy gave no explanation for this significant staff reduction, but asserted that the decision has no political motivations. In diplomatic circles, according to the Seoul Economic Daily, there was some concern that Havana might have wanted to express some discontent with South Korea this way or, worse still, that it could be a step backward in the recovery of relations between the two countries. Seoul, the outlet notes, has made a significant effort in recent years to win the trust of North Korea’s traditional allies, as is the case with Cuba.

Seoul, the outlet notes, has made a significant effort in recent years to win the trust of North Korea’s traditional allies, as is the case with Cuba

The reopening of the embassies in Havana and Seoul formalized the restoration of ties broken in 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power and severed relations with the country, while exchanging diplomats with North Korea in less than a year. For decades, South Korea and the island lived, in a sense, with their backs turned to each other, though a relative rapprochement began in 2015, coinciding with the thaw between Washington and Havana. That year, economic exchanges in technology and energy began, though they were limited by the lack of a favorable diplomatic setting.

In 2022, according to data from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country exported goods to Cuba worth 14 million dollars and imported another 7 million dollars’ worth. Before the pandemic, around 14,000 South Korean citizens traveled to the island each year, and around a thousand descendants of Koreans who migrated during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) lived in Cuba. All of them need “systematic consular assistance,” the foreign ministry warned in 2023. continue reading

In February 2024, Seoul surprised many by announcing the restoration of relations with Havana. The statement noted that Cuba’s government was the only one on the continent with which it had no ties, even though “the two countries have expanded cooperation, focusing on non-political fields such as culture, people-to-people exchange, and development cooperation. In particular, it is considered that the spread of friendly awareness between the two peoples through recent active cultural exchange contributed to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.”

In early 2025, it was announced who would head the diplomatic missions, with Claudio Monzón in Seoul and Lee Ho-yul – who until then had been part of the delegation in Mexico – in Havana. “We hope the opening of the embassy will improve the comfort of our citizens residing in or visiting Cuba by providing them with consular services and protection, and that it will contribute to expanding exchanges and bilateral cooperation,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement in mid-January, when it opened the mission.

At the time, the Asian press was already speculating about Pyongyang’s displeasure, to the point that North Korean media went nearly a year publishing almost nothing about Cuba – an anomaly in the country and a symptom worth noting in such an opaque nation.

The state news agency KCNA briefly reported on the New Year’s message sent by Kim Jong-un to Miguel Díaz-Canel, notably omitting the usual references to Cuba’s “brother people.”

According to the ‘Seoul Economic Daily’, there are five people posted at the South Korean embassy in Havana and there are no plans to make changes

The diplomatic rapprochement has been very effective in the areas of humanitarian cooperation and trade exchange. The South Korean government has made significant shipments of food aid, with rice as the main item, and provided technical assistance to address the energy collapse the island is suffering. This June, delegations from the Cuban Chamber of Commerce and the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) held a meeting in Seoul to boost bilateral trade, which has stagnated at around 40 million dollars – 43 million in 2023, of which 36 million favored the Asian country.
The main products exported from Korea are technology, vehicles – especially heavy machinery – and plastic products, while Cuba sends tobacco, alcohol, scrap metal, and biotechnology products.

“Companies cannot approach the market the same way they would elsewhere,” Ambassador Lee said this June, while calling for business deals to be analyzed “case by case” to avoid problems with sanctions. “Korean companies with assets or financial ties in the United States should act with a high degree of caution,” he added.

According to the Seoul Economic Daily, there are five people posted at the South Korean embassy in Havana, and there are no plans to make changes.

Translated by GH.

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Police Detain 13 People for Drug Trafficking in Centro Habana

Authorities seized ‘chemical’ and cocaine, along with cash

The corner of Reina and Belascoaín (near the site of the operation), Central Havana. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, September 17, 2026 / Agents from the Ministry of the Interior detained 13 people on Tuesday in Centro Habana, allegedly linked to drug trafficking. The operation continued this Wednesday with searches of at least six residences, five of them in the Los Sitios neighborhood, specifically on Reina Street, between Campanario and Lealtad.

During the operation, police seized 184 strips, two ID-card-sized cutouts, and half a letter-size sheet apparently impregnated with synthetic cannabinoids, along with phones and cash in both national currency and dollars. In addition, according to the information, several packets of cocaine reportedly turned up – a drug historically less prevalent on the island because of its higher cost. However, the government acknowledges that it is the narcotic that arrives most on the island, coming from washed-up packages – drug parcels thrown into the sea by boats being pursued by border patrols.

During the operation, police seized 184 strips, two ID-card-sized cutouts, and half a letter-size sheet apparently impregnated with synthetic cannabinoid

During 2025, authorities seized a total of 507 kilos, of which cocaine accounted for the largest share. They did not break down the quantities, but did mention the entry, also by air and across borders, of 27 kilos of all types of substances, including cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids, and methamphetamines. Chemical remains the drug that generates the most concern among authorities and the public, since its low prices have made its use widespread, especially in highly marginalized sectors of the population. continue reading

The neighborhood where yesterday’s search took place is precisely among those areas. In Los Sitios and Colón – where a residence was also visited – overcrowded tenement buildings and vacant lots abound. There, this Wednesday, 14ymedio took a striking photo showing two young men lying on the ground showing signs of having used this cheap cannabinoid.

In Los Sitios and Colón – where a residence was also visited – overcrowded tenement buildings and vacant lots abound

The neighborhood also has severe water supply problems and an environment conducive to illegality, ranging from bolita (an illegal lottery) to the sale and use of drugs.

Information about the operation has been disclosed through channels close to the government, although there has been no formal statement from the Ministry of the Interior. According to these accounts, “the investigation remains open and further searches or arrests are not ruled out, so the number of people implicated could rise in the coming hours. To date, no expanded official report on the case has been released.”

Translated by GH

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