Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

Illegal Gold Mining in Las Tunas, Cuba, “Has Become a Public Health Problem”

The official press points to the use of an “extremely toxic” mercury-based process, with neurodegenerative consequences as well as cardiovascular and kidney damage

Illegal miners wash the soil, add mercury to trap the gold particles and then burn the amalgam. With the heat, the mercury evaporates, leaving behind the gold nuggets. / Periódico 26

14ymedio, Madrid, October 12, 2026 /The warning comes neither from a non-governmental organization nor from the independent press, but from the pro-government outlet Periódico 26: the mercury used in illegal gold extraction in Las Tunas “has become a public health problem of a magnitude that is beginning to be worrying.” In a report published on Saturday, the provincial newspaper asserts that cases of neurological, kidney and psychiatric illnesses in the municipality of Jobabo and the neighboring communities of La Guásima and Jobabito are alarming, at three times the national rate.

According to a medical specialist in toxicology, Alejandro Mestre Barroso, in the illegal gold mining carried out in the region, workers resort to a technique known as “asobe,” which consists of using elemental mercury – the kind used in thermometers, which is in principle harmless – to amalgamate the metal. The procedure is rudimentary: they wash the soil, add mercury to trap the gold particles and then burn the amalgam. With the heat, the mercury evaporates, leaving behind the gold nuggets.

However, the doctor warns, this evaporation turns elemental mercury into inorganic mercury, which is “extremely toxic.” Added to this is the mercury released while the soil is washed, which ends up in lagoons and rivers, where microorganisms transform it into an even more lethal substance. continue reading

Jobabo, he asserts, has one of the highest rates of kidney patients in the province, as well as high rates of psychiatric conditions

The expert tells Periódico 26 that “the main target organ is the central nervous system,” and that the consequences can include “neurodegenerative complications” and “cardiovascular and kidney damage, with short-, medium- and long-term after-effects.” Jobabo, he asserts, has one of the highest rates of kidney patients in the province, as well as high rates of psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, paranoid disorders and depressive disorders.

The first alarm bell rang in 2024. At that time, the Jobabo Hospital recorded a case of “rare Parkinson’s.” “After examining the patient and looking into his medical history,” the report continues, “doctors discovered that he was a worker at the illegal gold mine.” From then on, the authorities became aware of how widespread this informal practice was.

Since then, Dr. Mestre Barroso asserts, they have treated more than 25 patients. And the specialist says: “If we look at the national statistics, this figure is three times higher.” He also raises the alarm about the age of the patients: “We are receiving young people, aged 25 to 30, with acute kidney failure due to mercury complications.”

Those affected, he stresses, are increasingly young, “aged between 18 and 25” and “of both sexes.”

According to Periódico 26, four alerts have been issued since that first case: one in 2024, two in 2025 and another this year. In 2025, an operation was even carried out in Jobabo that ended with eight arrests. The official press also reported on this, stating that “power plants and electric generators, turbines for pumping water and chipijamas” were seized from them, as well as “types of electric demolition hammer or electric pick, used to crush, chip, excavate and cut concrete, ensuring constant chiseling and high productivity; and a trómer, a type of homemade mill for crushing stones, at the end of which process gold dust is obtained.”

The growing crackdown has done little good: “The activity no longer seems to be limited to Jobabo; there are now reportedly operations in El Cornito, in La Guásima,” the report states. And it does not concern only the local population, but also residents of other municipalities.

Last August, in Villa Clara, during a dispute, two clandestine gold miners were attacked by a third man, who killed one of them, Juan Luis Ávila, and seriously wounded the other, his brother, Lázaro Luis Ávila.

The incident took place in the village of Guaracabuya, in the municipality of Placetas, where there has been activity linked to illegal gold extraction for years. For decades, the Descanso mine was Cuba’s only underground deposit and supplied the Placetas Mining Production Basic Business Unit, but it was officially closed in 2019, when its concession came to an end. The official press reported at the time that the reasons were “the danger, the cost of operations and the slow pace of extraction.”

Since then, clandestine mining has continued to predominate in the area.

Translated by GH.

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Many Cuban Hospitals Already Have Solar Panels, Although They Do Not Work Outside Daylight Hours

The Government boasts that it has brought solar energy to 99% of its healthcare centers and 89% of its nursing homes.

The director of the NGO Open Arms, Óscar Camps, looks at the solar panels installed at the Juan Manuel Márquez pediatric hospital in Havana. / EFE

14ymedio, October 13, 2026 – The Faustino Pérez Hospital in Matanzas is already generating electricity with 72 solar panels, but it still cannot use that power to keep its services running when the national grid fails. The equipment began to be installed in July, thanks to the Matanzas-Switzerland Group, physician Andreas Osterwalder, and mediCuba-Switzerland. In August, its director, Taymí Martínez Naranjo, acknowledged to the official newspaper Girón: “We currently do not have the capacity to store it.”

The case contrasts with the triumphal figures presented by Miguel Díaz-Canel, who stated in September that renewable energy had reached 47% of hospitals, 99% of polyclinics, 99% of maternity homes, and 89% of nursing homes and homes for the elderly.

But having solar panels does not guarantee medical care during blackouts. Complaints from patients and neighbors, and even reports in the official press itself, reveal facilities that are almost completely dark, medical tests that still cannot be performed, and systems that supply power to only some services. On top of this, some equipment is still awaiting installation. continue reading

Having solar panels does not guarantee medical care during blackouts

The lack of electricity has also prompted complaints from patients. In July, a father reported on Facebook that he had taken his son to the polyclinic in Güira de Melena in Artemisa at night and found the building almost completely dark. He compared it to “hospitals in horror movies.” According to his account, the solar panels were barely powering a few light bulbs.

The difficulties go far beyond the lack of lighting. At the Julián Grimau polyclinic in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, blackouts were directly affecting medical care. In September, Isa Iris Arzola reported on Facebook the difficulties in sterilizing nebulizer mouthpieces and performing electrocardiograms and X-rays. Another user stated in the comments on her post that only four of the panels on the roof were connected. In Regla, also in the capital, neighbors reported in June that the polyclinic’s panels “do not work,” following a traffic accident in which the victims required medical assistance.

Faced with limitations in the electricity supply, residents of Guanabo, east of Havana, pooled their money to buy an EcoFlow power station to provide backup for the intensive care unit at the local polyclinic, although the emergency department was already using solar power. “It was the community that solved the problem,” activist María Elena Mira told CubaNet in June.

The difficulties are compounded by the risk of theft and delays in installation. In July, journalist Christian Arbolaez reported on Facebook the theft of panels from the Maternity Home in Cárdenas, Matanzas. Days later, he reported the theft of batteries from the maternity home in Santa Marta, in the same municipality, while five pregnant women and a nurse remained at the facility. There is no record of the equipment having been replaced.

Other facilities have managed to maintain essential services during blackouts, although solar backup does not extend to all their departments.

Other facilities have managed to maintain essential services during blackouts, although solar backup does not necessarily extend to all their departments. At the Manuel Fajardo Rivero Hospital in the municipality of Urbano Noris, Holguín, 28 panels and a battery system donated by the International Red Cross supply power to the emergency department, intensive care units, obstetrics, pediatrics and internal medicine wards, the delivery room, and the clinical laboratory. The installation has a capacity of 16 kilowatts, but it has not been specified whether that is enough to power the rest of the hospital.

But the solar panels have not solved the many other problems at this hospital. In July, a mother reported on Facebook a cockroach infestation, with insects crawling over the beds, walls, and floor of the ward where her daughter was hospitalized. In August, another user complained on social media about long waits in the emergency department. According to her account, close to midnight, a little girl was sleeping against a wall while her mother, who had arrived at four in the afternoon, was still waiting for care. She also recounted that a child came out convulsing after waiting more than an hour to be seen.

MediCuba-Europe’s Energy for Life campaign also financed another installation of panels and batteries at the William Soler Cardiocenter in Havana, which is already supplying power to the emergency department, although the rest of the project remains pending.

A large part of these installations also depends on foreign aid. Solar backup has also proved decisive for critical treatments. At the Juan Manuel Márquez pediatric hospital in Havana, panels and batteries donated by the Spanish organization Open Arms keep intensive care ventilators running during blackouts. According to the official press, the system made it possible to perform a 12-hour emergency operation on a little girl during a nationwide power outage.

In September, China sent another 5,000 donated systems for public facilities and homes in isolated areas

Contributions from European and U.S. organizations are complemented by China, one of the main suppliers of solar equipment to Cuba’s state sector. In September, Beijing sent another 5,000 donated systems for public facilities and homes in isolated areas, without specifying how many would be destined for healthcare institutions.

The search for alternatives to blackouts extends to other state services. The Augusto César Sandino Stadium in Villa Clara and Etecsa’s cellular base stations have incorporated solar panels, while a bakery in Artemisa replaced diesel with marabou wood to fuel its oven. In medical centers, the decisive difference is not whether equipment has been installed, but what care they can guarantee when the power goes out again.

Japan, for its part, approved $6.5 million in May to install photovoltaic systems in ten Cuban hospitals through a project implemented with the United Nations Development Program.

Japan approved $6.5 million in May to install photovoltaic systems in ten Cuban hospitals.

The limitations extend across much of Cuba’s provinces. In Las Tunas, the directors of the Francisco Caamaño Deño and Cándido González Horta polyclinics acknowledged to Granma that, although the panels make it possible to preserve vaccines, power emergency services, and resume consultations, ultrasound and colposcopy tests (examinations of the cervix) were still pending at the former facility.

The official figures also fail to reflect the differences between the systems. In Granma, authorities stated that all 28 polyclinics have photovoltaic systems, but 26 have installations with a capacity of just two kilowatts, compared with the ten-kilowatt systems at the René Vallejo polyclinic in Manzanillo and the Bartolomé Masó Márquez polyclinic. This disparity makes it impossible to assume that all of them can maintain the same services during blackouts.

At other facilities in Havana, Artemisa, Ciego de Ávila, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Sancti Spíritus, installations have been announced or equipment delivered without confirmation that the systems are operational or clarification of their backup capacity. The gap between announcements and results appears even in official assessments: in April, Ángel Suárez Vázquez, director of the Healthcare Support Unit in Granma, reported that of the 83 systems received for healthcare institutions, 28 were still awaiting installation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The “Speed Enthusiasts” in Camagüey, Cuba, Denounce Beatings During a Police Raid Inbox

Witnesses describe the excessive use of force by the ‘black berets’ in an operation targeting motorcycle races.

Image shared on social media by a young woman who was present during the operation at El Rodeo and denounced the beatings. / Facebook/Claudia Barreira

14ymedio, Madrid, October 13, 2026 – A police raid on the outskirts of El Rodeo recreational park in the city of Camagüey triggered a stampede of young motorcyclists this Saturday. Witnesses reported beatings, damage to their vehicles, confiscation of phones, and the excessive use of force by officers from the Ministry of the Interior’s Special Brigade—the feared black berets. Accounts of the incident were shared on social media by eyewitnesses.

Members of the community say that every Saturday, for at least two years, dozens of motorcyclists have gathered at El Rodeo to race. This weekend, the Police cornered them to break up the event with violence, deploying several patrol cars and police motorcycles, as can be seen in the images that were shared.

Witnesses say officers beat several young people, including women and minors. They also claim that the officers used their boots and batons to strike people and damage motorcycles, and even threw stones at those trying to escape. One account describes how four special forces officers beat a young man who was already on the ground.

“It was absolute chaos,” one attendee writes. “I saw a young woman who had been beaten and an officer, whose face I will never forget, who said that for them to take her to the hospital, she had to have her papers in order and a license.” continue reading

“I don’t understand why they would approve a place like this only to then carry out these kinds of hostile acts against speed enthusiasts”

The complainants also report that some people had their mobile phones taken away to prevent them from recording the beatings. According to the accounts, a gacela (vehicle made by the Russian company GAZ) transported the black berets to the area, and the officers got out “handing out blows.”

“We have already tried to file complaints about the harassment we have received from the authorities, although this has been the biggest incident,” wrote one of the young women present, a member of the motorcycling community. In her view, the real danger during these activities is “the unjustified excessive use of force by the officers.”

Motorcyclists take part in a nighttime race on a public road in Matanzas. / 14ymedio

“Why attack young people who only want to pursue this activity respectfully in an area that was supposedly approved to better accommodate it?” the young woman asks. “I don’t understand why they would approve a place like this only to then carry out these kinds of hostile acts against the motorcyclists.”

Gatherings of motorcycle-racing enthusiasts are not exclusive to Camagüey. This newspaper has also documented similar nighttime gatherings in other provinces, such as Matanzas. Witnesses on social media say they are also common in Sancti Spíritus and Santa Clara.

“These races had been taking place inside the Agricultural Fairgrounds for a long time, and everyone said they were authorized because they were held within state facilities”

The legality of these activities is ambiguous: the Road Safety Code prohibits speed competitions on public roads, but the races at El Rodeo took place on a closed circuit inside a state-owned facility. According to one user, “These races had been taking place inside the Agricultural Fairgrounds for a long time, and everyone said they were authorized because they were held within state facilities.”

Several Camagüey residents complain on social media about the noise and danger posed by the motorcycle races, which apparently have not always been confined to the facilities inside El Rodeo. One person who says they have lived across from the park for years claims that on weekends “there is no way to live in peace” and that nearly every nearby home has “vulnerable cases” affected by the noise and music from the event. Another says they walk the streets every Saturday in fear because of the danger posed by the excessive speeds at which these motorcyclists race on public roads.

Some Camagüey residents also recalled the recent accident that led to the death of retired doctor Carmen Proenza Rodríguez last September. She was traveling as a passenger on a motorized bicycle when a red Honda motorcycle attempted to overtake her and struck her from behind. According to witnesses, the motorcyclist fled the scene, and the doctor died after spending three days in the hospital. Nothing confirms that the motorcyclist was a racing enthusiast, but the case has fueled residents’ criticism of these activities.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana, Hand-Corrected on G Street

A purple marker transforms an optimistic slogan into the epitaph of a city that has lost a large part of its young people.

A sign that originally proclaimed “Havana Lives in Me” has received a correction that is as simple as it is devastating. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, October 13, 2026 – Someone has decided to correct the official propaganda with a simple marker. At the corner of 23rd and G streets, in Havana’s El Vedado neighborhood, a sign that originally proclaimed “Havana Lives in Me” has received a correction that is as simple as it is devastating. Over the printed letters, an anonymous hand added “There is no” and changed one word. The result comes much closer to the everyday experience of the capital’s residents: “There is no life in my Havana,” as if the city itself were dictating its epitaph.

The intervention did not require a team of restorers, an expert commission, or a budget allocation. All it took was a purple marker, a certain degree of calligraphic skill, and the conviction that the message, decorated with photographs of smiling children, urgently needed updating. The new version also has the virtue of being far more believable than the original.

The sign’s location adds another layer of irony. G Street, officially known as Presidents Avenue, was for years one of the main gathering places for young people in Havana. On its benches, walkways, and flower beds, emos, rockers, geeks, and other urban tribes gathered to express their differences, listen to music, fall in love, or simply spend the night away from family supervision. continue reading

The economic crisis has emptied pockets and streets, emigration has taken away a large portion of the young people, and police operations have helped discourage spontaneous gatherings

There was a time when, on weekends, the avenue was teeming with young people dressed in black, with dyed hair, piercings, and guitars. The emos even became the subject of international news reports, while the police tried to control youth gatherings that challenged, if only through their appearance, the uniformity promoted by those in power.

Nothing remains of that bustle. The economic crisis has emptied pockets and streets, emigration has taken away a large portion of the young people, and police operations have helped discourage spontaneous gatherings. Added to this is the demographic collapse of a country where fewer and fewer children are being born and farewells are commonplace. The avenue retains some of its trees, benches, and monuments, but it has lost much of the energy that once made it a place of gathering and rebellion.

The photographs on the sign show five smiling, healthy, carefree children. They represent a Havana that is supposed to be young and vibrant, although reality points in the opposite direction. The “there is no” added to the advertisement also sums up this absence. There is no fuel, no medicine, and no adequate transportation, but there are also no longer many of the young people who once filled G Street with their eccentricities, arguments, and desire to take on the world.

Where young people once gathered to show that they were alive, an unknown person has now had to write on a sign that the city has been a corpse for quite some time.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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October 12th in Cuba: Frustration and Executions

This Monday marks 66 years since the La Campana executions in Escambray, carried out by Commander Félix Torres.

Rebels against Fidel Castro’s government in the Escambray Mountains, the region where the largest anti-Castro guerrilla movement was concentrated in the early 1960s. / Public domain

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, October 11, 2026 / I write out of a need to express my thoughts and share my experiences, to suggest to those who, in good faith, embrace disruptive proposals, that they properly inform themselves about the promoters of magical solutions; that they thoroughly investigate who the people are who promote expedited procedures, radical changes that supposedly will satisfy everyone. This suggestion applies to saviors from both the right and the left.

And it is testimonies like the one I present below that demonstrate how a country’s citizens can lose their rights and property, while being plunged into spiritual and material misery by those who use their histrionic skills to manipulate the resentments and envy, proclaiming a false impartiality and an unjust justice. These deceivers have numerous resources at their disposal, the greatest being the folly and animosity of their followers.

We Cubans had many warnings. We neither listened nor wanted to see. My country wasn’t brought down by some curse, but by a criminal who knew how to manipulate the worst of our society, placing them in a situation where they could destroy everything they had coveted without having worked for it. continue reading

For those of us who were young in October 1960 and have survived these almost seven decades, those days are unforgettable: they were a watershed moment in our lives and the end of a pipe dream. It’s true that many were never devotees of the tyrant, but the rifle fire we didn’t hear awakened even the most dormant among us, spurred on by a profound sense of justice.

The trial of these men was a spectacle reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum and the crimes committed against Christians.

Those days are indelibly etched in our memories. It is a memory that will always haunt us until we have managed to bring the Castro brothers’ crimes to justice, among which, for the people of Villa Clara, those first executions at the painfully remembered La Campana farm in Escambray hold a prominent place.

It happened on the 12th of this month. Five patriots were executed: Porfirio Ramírez Ruiz, president of the University Student Federation of Las Villas, and captain of the Rebel Army; Plinio Prieto Ruiz, commander of the Rebel Army; Sinesio Walsh Río, peasant and captain of the Rebel Army; and José Palomino Colón and Ángel Rodríguez del Sol, both agricultural workers.

The trial of these men was a spectacle reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum and the crimes committed against the Christians. No evidence or reliable witnesses were needed; nor was a verdict reached. It was the will of Fidel Castro, who used a commander named Félix Torres as his loyal henchman, that carried out those vile assasinations. This comandante had devastated the Escambray region with a disastrous agricultural plan that affected all the campesinos, particularly the poorest.

That trial reiterated what many had observed in previous trials during the Castro revolution. More than a hundred people were prosecuted. Individuals with no connection whatsoever were brought together in the same case. Of course, they never received adequate legal representation: the judicial process was an essential part of the campaign of intimidation and repression being implemented, of which most of the population was unaware.

The death of these patriots did not intimidate those whose convictions committed them to freedom and civil rights.

Those who were to be executed, I reiterate, were never sentenced in the sham trial. Father Olegario Cifuentes accompanied them on the bus that took them to the execution wall at the La Campana estate. Witnesses from that time affirm that, when the bus transporting the condemned men passed through the city of Manicaragua, one of them shouted firmly and without a hint of fear: “They’re taking us to La Campana to be shot.”

Father Olegario spoke with them, asked them to go to confession, and offered to deliver a message to their families. Plinio Prieto gave him a brief letter for his wife and children and said, with the fortitude that characterized his entire life, before dying:

“I have faith in God and in men.”

The deaths of these patriots did not intimidate those whose convictions bound them to freedom and civil rights. On the contrary, the sacrifice of these five patriots who took up arms against the Fidel Castro regime resonated throughout the country, but the Escambray region was the most fertile ground and the main stage for the Cuban struggle against totalitarianism.

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Rice, Diapers, and Whiskey Are Among the Products Available at Sancti Spíritus Wholesale Market, the First of Its Kind in Cuba

The minimum purchase is $200 or 24,000 pesos, payable by card or in cash.
In the same city, the Meat Company opens its first retail store.

The new supply market in the city of Sancti Spíritus. / Juventud Rebelde

14ymedio, Sancti Spíritus, October 12, 2026 – Two months after the Cuban Government authorized the creation of supply markets, the first one has opened in Sancti Spíritus. “Rice, seasonings, salt, diapers for children and adults, wet wipes, and whiskey” are among the products available at the establishment, according to the official press.

Anyone can enter the warehouse, located in the former printing plant of the Escambray newspaper, whether or not they own a business, according to the report published in several state media outlets. The only requirement is to make a minimum purchase of $200 or 24,000 pesos, applying the official exchange rate for tourism-related activities of 120 pesos per dollar. For the time being, they explain, sales are conducted in national currency, although they plan to extend them to foreign currency.

The initiative was undertaken by ITH S.A., the state entity responsible for supplies and imports for Cuba’s tourism sector, in order to “bring together a variety of products in one place at prices lower than those on the informal market” and “guarantee all the resources needed by the leisure sector.” The director of ITH Trinidad explains the purchasing procedure: “A customer record is created, and through electronic payment, using a POS terminal or the Transfermóvil platform, the merchandise is taken away. Cash is also accepted.” continue reading

“A customer record is created, and through electronic payment, using a POS terminal or the Transfermóvil platform, the merchandise is taken away”

For the time being, the new market has rented stalls occupied by the Sancti Spíritus Municipal Agroindustrial Company, three private MSMEs, and a foreign firm, although only one of them is identified by name: Banvaria SURL, with “a fairly broad corporate purpose.” Indeed, in the list of MSMEs published by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, where it appears as “Banvarias,” its business activity is listed as “production of construction materials.”

The report includes an interview with its owner, Sancti Spíritus native Alexis Macías Hernández, who, at just 35 years old, is described as “quite the businessman.” His résumé credits him not only with the declared corporate purpose of his company but also with a “cooperative production contract with a company belonging to the Foreign Trade sector,” the “importation of components related to renewable energy sources,” and “a small-scale processing plant for canned products made from both mango pulp and habanero and Mexican chili peppers.” In the photograph accompanying the official report, he poses with a package of adult diapers.

“There are people who think tourism in Cuba will not experience a boom, and I think the opposite,” says the young man, who explains that this was one of the reasons, “along with ITH’s experience in the marketplace,” that “motivated me to be one of the first participants” in the establishment. Macías Hernández asserts that “we need foreign currency to survive” and maintains that “we can obtain it through the sales we make here.”

Alexis Macías Hernández, owner of the Banvaria MSME, which rents space in the new wholesale market in Sancti Spíritus. / Juventud Rebelde

With apparent authority, the businessman says he sees potential in the project and states that “what is available today represents only 5% of what could be made available to customers.” According to the official report, a second supply market will open “in the coming days” in the town of Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus province. “We have gotten a little ahead of the rest of the country, but little by little, there will be a presence in other provinces,” said Aida Rita Rivas Duarte.

The tenants currently participating in the initiative are described in the report as “the first to take the risk,” while the article also points out the “major obstacle” facing the new warehouse: “not having solar panels and being located in one of the circuits hardest hit by the absence of electricity service.”

Another tenant, the Sancti Spíritus Municipal Agroindustrial Company, reports that its meat products will be available in foreign currency, at prices of around $6 per kilogram. In addition to the salt and rice it already sells, the company will offer “beans and another group of products from our producers as conditions are established because, although there are very good refrigerators, they have no backup power,” said Yuniesco Lorenzo González, the entity’s director of accounting and finance.

At the same time as this supply market opened, the provincial Meat Company in the same city of Sancti Spíritus inaugurated its first retail store selling goods in national currency. Allowing a state-owned company to operate its own stores is another of the regulations approved last August as part of the “176 measures” announced by the regime to open up the economy.

“When the sales and distribution chain leading to the final customer is shortened, prices are cheaper and more favorable for the population,” Lianet González, the entity’s deputy director, told Escambray. However, payment is mandatory “online” and is regulated “in order to prevent resellers from operating.”

As a result, each customer will be allowed to purchase a maximum of “two units of each type of product.”

In addition to this retail store, the company has other online stores selling in foreign currency, one in Sancti Spíritus and another in Trinidad, allowing families abroad to purchase products for Cubans living on the Island.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Manuel Pereira, the Cuban Writer Who Took Havana into Exile, Dies in Mexico

The passing of a writer who lived through revolutionary enthusiasm, knew the great names of the Latin American ‘boom’ up close and ended up finding in exile the freedom he had lacked on the island

Manuel Pereira, with Eliseo ‘Lichi’ Alberto, in a 2006 photo. / Facebook/Manuel Pereira

14ymedio, Havana, October 12, 2026 / Manuel Pereira, one of the last disciples of José Lezama Lima and a singular voice in contemporary Cuban fiction, died this Saturday in Mexico, just three weeks short of his 78th birthday. His death marks the passing of a writer who lived through revolutionary enthusiasm, knew the great names of the Latin American boom up close and ended up finding in exile the freedom he had lacked on the island.

Born in Havana on October 31, 1948, the son of Galician emigrants, Pereira liked to point out that he had not simply been born in Cuba, but in Old Havana. That geography of narrow streets, old buildings and colorful characters fed much of his literary imagination. The city would stay with him even when thousands of miles separated him from its doorways and cobblestones.

He studied Fine Arts at the San Alejandro Academy, but soon found his true calling in words. He worked as a journalist and a screenwriter, published numerous feature stories in the magazine Cuba Internacional and held positions of responsibility at the magazine Cine Cubano. However, one of the defining experiences of his youth took place in the house on Trocadero Street where José Lezama Lima lived.

There he learned from the author of Paradiso a way of understanding literature as an adventure of knowledge. Pereira would retain throughout his life his devotion to that master who taught him to look beyond appearances. Years later, in his memoir El curso délfico, he would leave a testimony of an intellectual and human relationship that never faded. continue reading

Alejo Carpentier hailed him as a born novelist and Gabriel García Márquez went so far as to say it was the novel he would have liked to write about Cuba

His first novel, El comandante Veneno, written between 1972 and 1974 and finally published in 1977, made him a well-known author within Cuba. Inspired by his experiences during the literacy campaign, the work was initially rejected by a military jury that found in its pages foreign-leaning influences and passages considered pornographic.

Alejo Carpentier hailed him as a born novelist and Gabriel García Márquez went so far as to say it was the novel he would have liked to write about Cuba. That praise opened doors for a young writer who also cultivated friendship and intellectual exchange with figures such as Julio Cortázar. His book of essays La quinta nave de los locos became cult reading among young Cubans.

But Pereira’s career was marked by a painful break. During his posting as a cultural diplomat to Unesco in Paris, he watched the Soviet reforms of perestroika with hope. His disenchantment with Cuban political stagnation led him to resign from the post in 1988. Three years later he left the island for good.

Berlin, Barcelona and finally Mexico City were the stations of an exile during which he continued writing, translating and teaching literature. He published novels such as Toilette, Insolación, El beso esquimal and Un viejo viaje, as well as essays and short stories that confirmed his intellectual curiosity and his resistance to any pigeonholing.

In an interview with 14ymedio, Pereira described himself as an essayist who wrote novels. Behind that statement lay a conception of writing as constant exploration, but also the experience of a generation that had believed intensely in a political project and ended up deeply disillusioned.

Mexico, where he had lived since 2004, was his last refuge. There he taught, wrote and continued to evoke a Havana he never entirely left behind.

Translated by GH.

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Between Two Banks and a Garbage Dump, Matanzas’s Forgotten Bridge

Lack of maintenance and the accumulation of waste are deteriorating the pedestrian crossing that connects Versalles with La Marina.

In the city known for its bridges, some have ceased to be a source of pride and have become a daily concern. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, October 11, 2026 — The woman shields herself from the sun with an umbrella as she makes her way toward the Yumurí River. A few steps away, a young man dodges the uneven pavement. Both are heading toward the pedestrian bridge connecting the neighborhoods of Versalles and La Marina, a structure where rust, garbage, and lack of maintenance have become constant companions for passersby.

When Matanzas celebrates its 333rd anniversary of founding on October 12, this walkway is unlikely to appear among the images selected to commemorate the occasion. In the city known for its bridges, some have ceased to be a source of pride and have become a daily concern. The so-called Pipe Bridge, located just a few meters from the iconic La Concordia Bridge, is one of them.

Before reaching its stairs, pedestrians must confront a garbage dump occupying much of the entrance. Plastic bottles, cardboard, rusty cans, dry branches, and household waste form a mountain beside a ditch through which sewage flows. The stench mingles with the heat and attracts insects. A few meters away, facades covered with vines and palm trees offer a tropical postcard that contrasts with so much filth.

“I’ve always liked this little bridge because there’s no risk of getting into an accident with cars, but the truth is that the situation with the garbage dump is unbearable,” says Filiberto, a retiree who crosses it daily to visit his grandchildren in La Marina. continue reading

“Since the people from Communal Services don’t come to clean up, the garbage has been steadily encroaching on the area.” / 14ymedio

“I know for a fact that the neighbors have complained as much as they can. However, since the people from Communal Services don’t come to clean up, the garbage has been steadily encroaching on the area. It started with a little patch, and now it’s getting closer and closer to the stairs,” he laments.

The garbage dump is not the only obstacle. The steps are uneven, and handrails are missing in some sections. On the bridge, a thick metal pipe, used for decades to supply drinking water to nearby neighborhoods and now out of service, is covered in a thick layer of rust. Around it, the structure shows cracks, and sections of the railings have disappeared.

“To go up and down, I have to take it slowly, one step at a time, because otherwise I lose my balance,” explains Filiberto, who fears that a misstep could end in a fall.

The deterioration goes back a long way. In July 2019, a report by Radio 26 warned that nearly three meters of railing had ended up in the river and pointed to fishermen who used the walkway as a platform from which to cast their nets. The publication also described the dirt and foul odors that accompanied pedestrians. Seven years later, the images show that those problems persist and have worsened.

“There’s a long stretch that no longer has railings, and if you’re not careful, you could end up in the river, which is pretty dirty.” / 14ymedio

“I walk as close to the pipe as I can. There’s a long stretch that no longer has railings, and if you’re not careful, you could end up in the river, which is pretty dirty,” the retiree warns. “If they keep stealing the metal rods and don’t carry out proper repairs, before long no elderly person will be able to cross here.”

Younger people do not cross the area without anxiety either. Melissa, a high school student, lives one block away and knows the stories of muggings that circulate among the neighbors. At night, she says, the darkness makes the crossing an even more unsettling place.

“It gets darker than the inside of a wolf’s mouth,” she comments. Even during the day, she prefers to walk along the side where the railings remain intact, although the space is narrower.

“I have no idea what the structure might be like underneath, but I refuse to believe there could be a danger and that they would still leave the crossing open,” she adds.

From the nearby La Concordia Bridge, the concrete pillars appear to be holding up without difficulty. However, the actual condition of their supports requires a specialized assessment. In the meantime, dozens of people continue to cross every day, because deterioration does not eliminate the need to reach the other neighborhood.

On the eve of the anniversary, Matanzas will once again celebrate its history, its rivers, and its architecture. The Pipe Bridge, without monumental arches or commemorative plaques, will continue to serve the public amid waste and rusted metal. A city can boast about its bridges, but it should also ensure that its residents reach the other bank safe and sound.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Regime Calls the U.S. Report on Cuban Doctors “Sick Persecution”

The foreign minister calls the document on forced labor in medical missions “unilateral and mendacious,” but does not refute the figures or the mechanisms of control described in the report.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in a file photograph. / EFE/Ángel Colmenares

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, October 11, 2026 / On Saturday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described the new U.S. State Department report on human trafficking as “sick persecution” by the United States. The report identifies the Cuban regime’s medical missions abroad as involving “forced labor,” but Rodríguez offered no data to refute the figures or the mechanisms of control described in the document.

“With another unilateral and mendacious report on Human Trafficking, the U.S. State Department seeks to continue justifying that government’s aggressive policy against Cuba and its sick persecution of Cuban medical cooperation,” the Cuban foreign minister wrote on his social media accounts.

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report published by the State Department keeps the Island at the lowest tier and identifies Cuba’s labor export program, including its medical missions abroad, as a “government policy or pattern of forced labor.”

The report states that Cuban officials have recruited professionals “through deception and threats of retaliation.” According to the report’s estimates, at the beginning of 2026 there were approximately 18,000 workers serving in government missions abroad, most of them healthcare professionals, in 52 countries, compared with 26,000 the previous year. The report attributes this decline to “increased diplomatic engagement” by the U.S. administration, which has “dramatically” reduced the number of workers associated with the regime. continue reading

The State Department keeps the Island at the lowest tier and identifies Cuba’s labor export program as a “government policy and pattern of forced labor.”

Rodríguez wrote about this on X: “The explicit acknowledgment of the harsh pressure and blackmail exerted against governments that receive cooperation from our country is cynical,” he said, insisting that these U.S. actions take place “regardless of the consequences for the populations that have benefited from the presence of Cuban medical personnel.”

“The U.S. government persists in its lies in an attempt to manipulate international public opinion,” the foreign minister wrote.

According to Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei), exports of professional services accounted for more than 40% of the Island’s total external sales between 2018 and 2020.

The U.S. report states that the regime also sells the services of teachers, coaches and athletes, artists, engineers, forestry technicians, construction workers, and sailors. Doctors, the report notes, are “a vital source of income for the regime, generating billions of dollars in hard currency,” with the government appropriating “between 50% and 95% of their salaries” in exchange for “meager compensation, lower than that received by other professionals performing similar work.”

The report denounces the hardships imposed on these specialists, including passport controls, curfews, and surveillance, which undermine their right to freedom of movement. It also points to “laws and regulations that, if challenged or violated, carry arbitrary punishments, such as exile.”

The report denounces the hardships imposed on these specialists, including passport controls, curfews, and surveillance, which undermine their right to freedom of movement

Rodríguez made no reference to these allegations in his heated response on X.
Cuban medical brigades, which were established more than six decades ago and have sent more than 600,000 professionals to 165 countries over the years, according to official figures, have become a target of the Cuba policy pursued by the Trump administration during his second term.

To date, Honduras, Guatemala, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have terminated their agreements with Havana, while other countries have opted to reform them to hire specialists directly. These include the Italian region of Calabria, Uruguay, and, as became known last week, Jamaica.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Díaz-Canel Reaffirms Friendship with North Korea After Scaling Back Diplomatic Presence in Seoul

Havana withdrew half of its diplomats from South Korea without explanation, although it denies that the decision was politically motivated.

Díaz-Canel traveled to Pyongyang in November 2018 and was received by Kim Jong-un, with whom he held talks at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party. / Estudios Revolución

14ymedio/EFE. Havana, October 11, 2026 / Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated this Saturday the “commitment to developing the historic bonds of friendship” between Cuba and North Korea, as he congratulated leader Kim Jong-un on the 81st anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party, the ruling party in the Asian country. The message comes less than a month after Havana cut its diplomatic staff in South Korea by half, a decision it has not publicly explained and which has raised questions about the future of relations between the two countries.

“Congratulations to Comrade Kim Jong-un and to all members of the Workers’ Party of Korea on the 81st anniversary of its founding. We reiterate our commitment to developing the historic bonds of friendship,” Díaz-Canel wrote on his social media.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also joined in the commemoration and reaffirmed the “will to continue consolidating” the bonds of “brotherhood, solidarity and cooperation that unite both parties, governments and peoples.” North Korea celebrated one of its principal political anniversaries this Saturday, marking the founding of the organization that has governed the country since its establishment. continue reading

On September 17, Havana withdrew two of the four diplomats posted to the Cuban Embassy in Seoul

The congratulations come at a delicate moment for Cuban diplomacy on the Korean peninsula. On September 17, Havana withdrew two of the four diplomats posted to the Cuban Embassy in Seoul, which had opened just fifteen months earlier.

As revealed by the South Korean newspaper Seoul Economic Daily, citing diplomatic sources, the officials returned to Havana on the instructions of the Cuban authorities and not as part of a routine rotation. Only Ambassador Claudio Monzón Baeza and Counselor Patricia Flechilla Prometa remained at the mission.

When asked by the newspaper, the Cuban Embassy stated that it was an internal administrative decision, with no political significance or connection to bilateral ties. However, it offered no concrete explanation for the reasons behind the cutback, which were not communicated to the South Korean authorities either.

The move caused unease in diplomatic circles in Seoul, where the establishment of relations with Cuba had been regarded as a success because it is one of Pyongyang’s traditional allies. Some sources cited by the newspaper raised the possibility that the reduction was a sign of displeasure on Havana’s part, although there is no evidence that it was a response to North Korean pressure. South Korea, for its part, maintains five officials at its embassy in the Cuban capital and has not announced any changes to its representation.

In February 2024, Cuba and South Korea established diplomatic relations after more than six decades of estrangement.

The rapprochement between Havana and Seoul had marked a major diplomatic shift. In February 2024, Cuba and South Korea established diplomatic relations after more than six decades of estrangement. The announcement came as a particular surprise given the Cuban Government’s historic alliance with North Korea, which until then had stood in the way of ties with its southern neighbor.

The decision was met with displeasure in Pyongyang, which for decades had counted Cuba among its closest political partners outside Asia. Subsequently, both capitals made progress in opening embassies and in commercial, cultural and cooperation exchanges.

Despite the reduction of staff in Seoul, there are no signs of a break in relations. In fact, on October 4, a South Korean Cultural Week began in Havana, organized with the participation of the South Korean Embassy, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cuban cultural institutions.

Fidel Castro visited Pyongyang in 1986, on what would be his only official visit to the country

The activities included exhibitions, lectures, artistic performances and events dedicated to the Korean language, the traditions of the Asian country and K-pop music. The official news agency Prensa Latina itself covered the event, which took place while questions persisted over Havana’s decision to reduce its diplomatic staff in Seoul.

Cuba’s relationship with North Korea dates back to 1960, when the two governments established diplomatic ties at the height of the Cold War. Since then, ideological affinity and political cooperation have shaped contacts between the two communist regimes.

Fidel Castro visited Pyongyang in 1986, on what would be his only official visit to the country. During that trip he met with Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea, and with his son and successor Kim Jong-il, respectively the grandfather and father of the current North Korean leader.

More recently, Díaz-Canel traveled to Pyongyang in November 2018 and was received by Kim Jong-un, with whom he held talks at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party. The visit reaffirmed an alliance that both governments continue to proclaim through official messages and declarations of solidarity.

Translated by GH.

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Luxury Cigars for the World, “Bad” Tobacco for Cuban Smokers

Habanos S.A. sells cases of three Cohibas in London for 860 dollars, while on the island people smoke unbranded cigars for 150 pesos

Rationed cigars, at 10 pesos apiece, still reach the bodegas, but they are limited to one or two per household per month, with frequent delays. / Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz / Pexels

14ymedio, Havana, October 11, 2026 / Cuban tobacco seems increasingly divided between two worlds. In one are exclusive parties in London, editions costing thousands of dollars and luxury humidors. In the other, the smoker on the island buys a nameless cigar on a street corner, with no band and far from the quality that has made Cuba’s flagship product famous.

“For a while now I haven’t seen any cigars except that kind, the bad ones,” a Havana woman whose stepfather is a cigar smoker tells 14ymedio. “In the neighborhood you can get an unbranded cigar for 150 pesos. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone on the street offering the well-known brands.”

The product circulates outside the state retail network. According to sources consulted by this newspaper, part of the raw material comes from leaves diverted by growers or workers at tobacco companies and ends up in the hands of clandestine rollers. The quality varies widely.

“Some of them are pitiful and others have a wrapper of acceptable quality,” explains another Havana resident. Around the Tulipán market, in Nuevo Vedado, he adds, it is common to find vendors of these homemade cigars, which can cost between 100 and 150 pesos apiece. continue reading

“Some of them are pitiful and others have a wrapper of acceptable quality”

Branded cigars, however, have not completely disappeared from the capital. This week, 14ymedio visited a privately run establishment on Obispo Street, where Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás and Guantanamera are on display. Prices range from several thousand up to 20,000 pesos.

The State still sells cigars for domestic consumption at a regulated price of 10 pesos apiece. In 2026, several provinces have announced controlled distributions through the bodegas [state ration stores], generally of just one or two cigars per household per month, although with frequent delays.

Meanwhile, Habanos S.A., a joint venture between the Cuban State and the Spanish company Tabacalera, continues to bet on the international luxury market. Last Wednesday, some 400 guests attended a party in London to present the Cohiba Talismán, which kicked off the celebrations for the brand’s 60th anniversary. The event took place under an air-conditioned marquee, decorated in the style of The Thousand and One Nights, with live music and exclusive cocktails.

This week, 14ymedio visited a privately run establishment on Obispo Street, where Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás and Guantanamera are on display. / 14ymedio

The Talismán, originally presented in 2017 as a limited edition, is now joining Cohiba’s regular catalog. For the British market, 6,500 exclusive cases of three cigars have been prepared, valued at around 600 pounds sterling (860 dollars) each. Guests received one of these packages as a gift.

The party included a charity raffle to raise funds for food and medical supplies in Cuba. Jemma Freeman, managing director of the British distributor Hunter & Frankau, acknowledged the enormous challenges the island faces in maintaining its tobacco production.

The initiative contrasts with the backlash provoked by the previous edition of the Habano Festival, held in 2025, when some 600 guests enjoyed a lavish gala evening at the National Capitol, while the country was suffering blackouts and shortages. The images of that celebration unleashed a wave of outrage on social media.

The energy crisis also affected the organization of the 2026 Habano Festival, initially scheduled for February in Havana. The event was postponed and, in July, canceled for good. The festival, which every year attracted collectors, distributors and international buyers, could not be held just as the company was stepping up its launches abroad.

Last Wednesday, some 400 guests attended a party in London to present the Cohiba Talismán / Habanos S.A. / Hunter & Frankau.

London was not the only venue for these presentations. In September, Habanos premiered the Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022 in Montreux, Switzerland, before some 300 guests. The production included 5,000 numbered boxes of 20 cigars, priced at 3,800 dollars. Days later, in Cannes, France, it presented the Montecristo Fragata, aimed at the travel retail market, at around 1,280 dollars per humidor of 20 cigars.

Habanos announced record revenues of 827 million dollars in 2024, up 16% on the previous year. However, that year Cuba exported some 50 million cigars, compared with 93.9 million in 2018, according to figures from Tabacuba reported by Al Jazeera. The rising price of the product has helped sustain turnover despite the fall in export volume.

European distribution is also facing difficulties. In September, Fifth Avenue Products Trading, responsible for Habanos in Germany, Austria and Poland, was placed under preliminary insolvency administration. Almost simultaneously, the accounts of Tabacalera, which is linked to the distribution of Cuban cigars in Spain, were frozen due to European sanctions related to businessman Chen Zhi.

Tabacuba’s agricultural director, Osvaldo Santana, acknowledged that the harvest “will once again be difficult” due to fuel restrictions

Despite the difficulties, the sector continues to receive investment. Cuba began the 2026-2027 tobacco season this Saturday, with planned planting of 20,000 hectares, of which 12,000 are in Pinar del Río, Tabacuba told EFE. The state group’s agricultural director, Osvaldo Santana, acknowledged that the harvest “will once again be difficult” due to fuel restrictions. Meanwhile, Sancti Spíritus aims to expand its cultivated area by some 300 hectares and has received more than a hundred photovoltaic systems for pumping water.

The tourism crisis has also transformed the clandestine cigar market. Around some factories, where a few years ago it was common to hear offers of supposed Cohibas, Montecristos or Partagás, the vendors have largely disappeared. “Every so often I walk past the factory on 20 de Mayo, near the Latinoamericano [stadium], and another one in Old Havana, and you no longer hear anyone hawking cigars,” says a resident of the capital.

The business depended mainly on foreign visitors, willing to pay for boxes and bands imitating the well-known brands. With the collapse of tourism, that clientele has also shrunk. “That packaging was designed for tourists. Cubans look for any ‘smokable’ cigar, even if it has no band,” explains the same source.

Translated by GH.

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Air China Cancellations Leave Dozens of Cubans Stranded in Madrid

The Chinese embassy confirms temporary suspensions while passengers report a lack of information and difficulties filing claims.

Despite complaints and bad experiences, Air China remains the preferred airline among the Cuban community in Spain because of its more affordable prices. / Cubadebate/Enrique González

14ymedio, Madrid, October 12, 2026 – Air China, one of the two airlines still flying between Madrid and Havana, has begun experiencing cancellations and schedule changes in recent weeks, setting off alarm among Cubans living in Spain who depend on this route to travel to the Island.

Complaints about cancellations and the lack of information provided to passengers have proliferated recently on social media, but a statement published this Saturday by the Chinese embassy in Cuba confirms frequent schedule changes and the suspension of some flights, which it attributes to “technical reasons.”

The embassy is asking Chinese citizens to “pay close attention” to adjustments to flights CA865 (Beijing-Havana) and CA866 (Havana-Beijing), operated by Air China. Both make a stopover in Madrid and are the most affordable option for the large Cuban community in Spain, since Air Europa, the only other alternative amid the current kerosene crisis on the Island, sells its tickets at a much higher price. continue reading

The statement does not specify what those “technical reasons” are, but a passenger affected by the cancellation of the Saturday, October 10 flight reported on social media that when she went to Madrid-Barajas Airport this Sunday, she was told that the problem was caused by repair work on the runway at Nassau Airport in the Bahamas, and that “it is not known when” Chinese aircraft will be able to operate there again. Along with her message, she shared a photo of a notice from the Bahamian airport confirming the runway work.

They explained that the problem was caused by repair work on the runway at Nassau Airport in the Bahamas, and that “it is not known when” Chinese aircraft will be able to operate there again

Air China has been making a technical stop in Nassau since March to refuel on the return journey from Havana to Madrid because of the lack of Jet A-1 fuel at Cuban airports. In its official announcements, the operator of the Bahamian airport confirms rehabilitation work on its runways and expects to complete it on October 31.

Meanwhile, according to notices from Havana’s José Martí Airport, it will close for two nights in October: from 7:00 p.m. this Monday, October 12, until 2:40 a.m. on Tuesday, October 13, and during the same hours from Monday, October 19, to Tuesday, October 20. The official notices also maintain the declaration that no Jet A-1 fuel is available for refueling at the terminal, at least until November 1. The same applies to the rest of Cuba’s airports. However, no official statement links these notices to Air China’s cancellations.

Passengers affected in Madrid report that they were not notified of the disruptions and have been left stranded at the airport for more than 15 hours, facing considerable difficulties in claiming a ticket refund or the €600 compensation promised by the airline, as well as problems obtaining hotel accommodations because of the schedule changes. In other comments, some users describe the bad experiences they have also had when returning from Havana with Air China, as well as the consequences of suspended flights for their working lives in Spain.

In 2026, numerous airlines have suspended their flights to Cuba, reduced frequencies, or modified their operations because of fuel shortages and declining demand. Some have had to introduce technical stops in third countries to refuel before continuing to the Island. The companies that have withdrawn include Air Canada, Air France, WestJet, Sunwing, Air Transat, Iberia, Latam Perú, and Turkish Airlines.

The official notices also maintain the declaration that no Jet A-1 fuel is available for refueling at the terminal, at least until November 1

Air Europa is the only Spanish company operating regular flights to the Island following the departure of Iberia, World2Fly, and Plus Ultra, and its flights have continued to attract steady demand despite their high fares. Air Europa also makes a technical stop to refuel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on its return flights to Spain.

Despite passengers’ complaints and bad experiences, Air China is the other operator maintaining the Madrid-Havana route and the preferred choice among the Cuban community in Spain because it offers more affordable prices. Its official website still lists two weekly flights, although its fares have soared in response to demand, especially for the end of the year.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Experts Estimate Cuba’s Oil Debt to Venezuela at a Minimum of $20 Billion

Caracas once sent the Island as much as 157,000 barrels a day, three times the amount agreed upon with Hugo Chávez in 2000.

Venezuela’s oil supplies came to far exceed the Island’s consumption and processing capacity, according to Venezuelan oil economist Rafael Quiroz Serrano. / EFE/STR

14ymedio, Madrid, October 10, 2026 – Venezuelan economists estimate that Cuba’s debt to Venezuela amounts to more than $20 billion, stemming from the well-known Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, which lasted 25 years and established the supply of Venezuelan oil in exchange for technical, medical, and sports services provided by the Cuban Government.

Unlike a previous report published by the Miranda Center for Democracy, which puts the value of the oil sent by Caracas at $44.5 billion, the experts cited by Televen TV focus on Havana’s debt.

Oil economist Rafael Quiroz Serrano, interviewed by the Venezuelan outlet, stated that the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) sometimes sent as much as 157,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Cuba.

The expert confirmed that Venezuelan supplies came to far exceed the Island’s consumption and processing capacity. Cuba’s daily consumption under normal conditions is 110,000 barrels, of which 40,000 come from domestic crude oil. “It was later discovered that many of those barrels of [Venezuelan] oil were being resold on the international market,” Quiroz Serrano maintained. continue reading

“It was later discovered that many of those barrels of oil were being resold on the international market”

The Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement between Cuba and Venezuela, negotiated by Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro in 2000, initially established shipments of 53,000 bpd of oil and petroleum products. The agreement provided for a 15-year repayment period, the possibility of financing between 5% and 25% of the invoice, and a preferential interest rate of 2%. In exchange, Cuba would provide healthcare personnel, doctors, and technical assistance for social and agricultural programs, among other services.

Between 2005 and 2012, Venezuelan shipments averaged around 105,000 bpd, according to a report by the Miranda Center for Democracy, a U.S. organization sponsored by the Republican Party. Beginning in 2013, as Venezuelan production declined, the figures fell. During those years, the figures reported in the study reached averages of 69,000 bpd in 2016 and 55,000 in 2017.

By 2023, Reuters was reporting approximately 56,000 bpd, and in 2024, 32,000. Quiroz Serrano notes in the Televen report that by 2025, only around 30,000 bpd were being shipped, and that shipments were halted beginning January 31 of this year, after Trump signed an order imposing tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba.

Cuba’s debt remains outstanding, but the exact amount of those unpaid obligations is impossible to calculate because of the nature of the agreement. Economist and former Pdvsa executive José Toro Hardy points out: “It is difficult to estimate the figure because everything was shrouded in secrecy, but I estimate that Cuba’s debt to Venezuela must have been in the range of $25 billion. They never paid anything, and I doubt they will pay now.”

“It is difficult to estimate the figure because everything was shrouded in secrecy, but I estimate that Cuba’s debt to Venezuela must have been in the range of $25 billion”

Specialist Quiroz Serrano explains the difficulty of calculating the debt: “For accounting purposes, it was impossible for Pdvsa, because they could not figure out how to determine the salaries of the sports coaches, educators, doctors, and nurses.”

The agreement was criticized from the outset by Venezuelan economists, who considered it “a bad deal.” Former Pdvsa executive Toro Hardy went before the Supreme Court of Justice at the time in an attempt to stop it, arguing that it first had to be approved by the National Assembly, but his appeal was dismissed. “That was an entirely political program; the objective was to subsidize Cuba by any means necessary,” Toro Hardy now points out.

The report prepared by the Miranda Center for Democracy estimated that since 2000, Venezuela had transferred to Cuba an amount of oil valued at $44.5 billion in current dollars, $63.8 billion in inflation-adjusted value. As early as 2016, however, Nicolás Maduro put Venezuela’s “investment” in the exchange at around $250 billion, a very likely exaggeration.

The Televen report now argues that the resources Venezuela failed to collect contributed to the country’s declining GDP and to deficits that worsened its crisis. As examples, it mentions that stabilizing the national electricity system would have required between $9 billion and $15 billion, while restoring the drinking water network would have cost $3.3 billion.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Much Advertising and Few Goods at Matanzas’s New Neighborhood Market

The establishment, now managed by a micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (mipyme), retains the shortages of the former state-run grocery store and limits electronic payments to five customers a day.

El Rincón has a new manager, scales, and QR codes, but it retains an old specialty of Cuban commerce: explaining why the item the customer needs is missing. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, October 10, 2026 — With a dark cloth shopping bag tucked under his arm and walking with difficulty, a man crosses at the Versalles traffic light toward the newly opened Neighborhood Market. There are no lines on the corner, no trucks unloading goods, and no crowds of neighbors gathered in front of the doors. A small sign on the façade, partially hidden by a traffic sign, serves as a reminder that the El Rincón grocery store, well known in Matanzas, once operated there. The building is now leased to a mipyme and is part of one of the Cuban government’s latest experiments aimed at trying to revive retail commerce.

Several illuminated lamps catch the eye from the sidewalk. They operate thanks to a solar panel and stand in contrast to the blackout that has left much of 51st Street in darkness this Wednesday. However, even all that light cannot dispel the establishment’s dreary appearance. The sky-blue walls, columns painted a more intense shade, and long granite counter retain the atmosphere of a state-run grocery store where the scarce goods available through the ration book were distributed for decades.

Two electronic scales, immaculate and ready for use, sit on the counter. Behind them, shelves display products spaced far enough apart to make the emptiness all the more obvious. There are bottles of cooking oil, cans of beer, packages of cookies, toiletries, and a few canned goods. Nothing suggests the abundance promised for these new establishments.

“This place is just as empty as before,” the man with the shopping bag remarks to the clerk, who greets him with his arms crossed. Without wasting time examining the offerings written in chalk on a blackboard, he begins his questioning: Is there chicken in packages or by the pound? Mortadella? Cooking oil? Disposable razors? Each question is met with a shake of the head. continue reading

The sky-blue walls, columns painted a more intense shade, and long granite counter retain the atmosphere of a state-run grocery store. / 14ymedio

“I just can’t understand why they promise so many things if, when it comes down to it, the only thing that changes is the name of what they do,” he complains as he looks over the prices. A tube of Colgate toothpaste costs 500 pesos, honey costs 750, Mayabe beer costs 520, and toilet bleach costs 350. Filling a shopping bag requires several thousand pesos and a fair amount of imagination.

“Well, then get me an espresso, if the coffee machine works. How much does it cost?” he asks resignedly. The cup costs 40 pesos, but once again he has no luck: the coffee beans have run out, and they are not making any. The machine sits on a small shelf, for the moment as useless as the scales with no merchandise to weigh.

“The problem is that we’re just getting started. Tomorrow or the day after, we should receive cooking oil and some meat products. It’s a gradual process,” the employee explains. From the street, a motorcyclist interrupts the conversation to remind him to set aside a package of croquettes for him until later. At least someone seems to have found something to buy.

El Rincón was renovated in 2025 by the Municipal Directorate of Commerce. The state investment ended up refurbishing a premises now operated by the private sector under the Neighborhood Markets program. Among the advertised advantages is the option of paying by electronic transfer, although reality once again adds fine print to the promise.

“I just can’t understand why they promise so many things if, when it comes down to it, the only thing that changes is the name of what they do.” / 14ymedio

A sign displaying QR codes presides over the counter, but the clerk explains that, for now, they only accept payments through Transfermóvil from the first five customers each day. “We’re short of cash, but a solution will be found for everything,” he assures the customer.

Another shopper asks whether a carton of eggs still costs 3,800 pesos. The employee nods and clarifies that only one tray remains. “That’s practically my monthly salary,” comments the man with the shopping bag, who still has not found anything to take home for a meal.

Outside, Versalles continues its daily routine amid motorcycles, faded façades, and power outages. Inside, El Rincón has a new manager, scales, and QR codes, but it retains an old specialty of Cuban commerce: explaining why the item the customer needs is missing.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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“Trump, Military Intervention Now!”, a New Sign at the Mayabe Cemetery in Holguín

In June 2025, more than twenty graffiti messages on the same wall prompted a major police deployment

It is not the first time that signs against the Cuban regime have appeared on the wall of the Mayabe cemetery. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, October 10, 2026 — A new sign appeared this Saturday on the wall of the Mayabe cemetery in Holguín, this time with a message directed at the U.S. president: “Trump, military intervention now!”, written in large blue letters on the white wall bordering Avenida de los Internacionalistas, as 14ymedio observed at the scene. The graffiti is signed with the initials CLH, which stand for the Free Commandos of Holguín.

“The sign is brand-new because State Security hasn’t arrived yet,” a local resident said. A vehicle belonging to a state-owned company parked beside the wall, and one of its occupants tried to scrape off the paint but was unsuccessful.

A vehicle belonging to a state-owned company parked beside the wall, and one of its occupants tried to scrape off the phrase but was unsuccessful

It is not known what time the sign was painted, but this type of dissident graffiti is often produced at night or in the early morning hours, when darkness is greatest. continue reading

The group known as the Free Commandos of Holguín is a clandestine organization that, since at least September 2026, has been credited with several signs against the regime at different locations throughout the city, including Plaza de los Chinos, the area around Lenin Hospital, the provincial government building, and bus terminals.

This is not the first time that the wall has become the setting for a protest against the regime. On June 12, 2025, more than twenty anti-government signs appeared along approximately 200 meters of the wall. “Homeland and Life,” “Díaz-Canel, you motherfucker,” “Freedom for the People,” and “Down with the dictatorship” were among the slogans, which were painted in black at the time.

This is not the first time that the wall has become the setting for a protest against the regime.

The authorities’ response was much more dramatic then than what had been observed so far this Saturday. Agents from the Ministry of the Interior kept watch over the cemetery and its surroundings while the letters were scraped off, even using machetes. They also brought in a tanker truck loaded with lime to cover the messages. An electric tricycle driver who passed by the scene told 14ymedio at the time that he had been afraid of being arrested by the Police.

Last September, the façade of the theater at the Central University of Las Villas in Santa Clara awoke to an enormous “Down with Canel.” The authorities covered the graffiti with Cuban flags and flags of the July 26 Movement, while State Security tried to identify those responsible.

The repression of such actions has also reached the courts. University professor Ariel Manuel Martín Barroso was sentenced to ten years in prison in Sancti Spíritus for several pieces of graffiti against the regime, including “Down with Díaz-Canel” and “Homeland and Life.”

The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 42 pieces of graffiti against the regime in February 2026 and another 70 in March, appearing on walls, fences, and streets in different parts of Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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