Translating Cuba – English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island

“The Situation We Are Living Through Is Unbearable”: Simultaneous Protests in the Capital

More than a hundred residents marched in Centro Habana, while in other neighbourhoods barricades went up and rubbish bins burned

Remains of a rubbish bin set on fire during Friday’s protests in Regla, Havana. /

14ymedio, Havana, 20 June 2026 / After more than 40 hours without electricity, more than a hundred residents took to the streets on Friday afternoon to protest in the San Leopoldo neighbourhood, in Centro Habana.

“They set fire to things right around the corner and everything,” one protester said in a video circulating on social media. “The police came with the ‘securocrats’ and they put the power back on,” she added, though it was cut again within minutes. “The situation we are living through in this country is unbearable and unsustainable.”

The footage shows entire families gathered in the street, in the area around Calle Rayo, between Zanja and San Jose. Some residents remained on pavements and balconies, while dozens of people occupied the roadway demanding answers from the authorities, banging their pots and pans.

“There are children, there are elderly people, and we have no way to cook,” one woman declared. Other protesters chanted “Freedom!” and expressed their rejection of the Government, in a protest that began over the lack of power but quickly took on a political tone. For a moment the gathering recalled the ’11J’ protests of 11 July 2021, with residents marching together, apparently in the direction of the Havana Capitol building.

For a moment the gathering recalled the protests of 11J, with residents marching together, apparently in the direction of the Havana Capitol building.

An increased police presence was reported in the area, though at the time of publication there was no confirmed information on arrests or confrontations.

Likewise, during the night simultaneous protests were recorded across several municipalities of the capital. 14ymedio confirmed protests in the municipality of Regla, which have been recurring daily over the past week. On Friday, rubbish bins were overturned and set alight. The previous Thursday, around thirty residents demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Communist Party. Although continue reading

the Municipal Sanitation Services removed the bins to prevent them from being set on fire, waste continues to pile up in the streets and serves as fuel for the bonfires. Residents of the area confirm that, following the protests, the duration of the blackouts has been reduced.

On Friday, in another neighbourhood within the same municipality of Regla, after 72 hours without electricity, a group of residents blocked the street and gathered in broad daylight to bang pots and pans. Although the protest did not reach the intensity of those recorded in Centro Habana, police arrived quickly at the scene and shortly afterwards the electricity supply was restored, according to a report by CubaNet.

Among the most tense protests of the night was one that took place in the central area of Buena Vista, in the municipality of Playa, where dozens of residents gathered and burned rubbish bins in the street while banging pots, pans, and metal objects, demanding amid shouts that the power be restored.

Notable among the protesters was the presence of women and children, who threw combustible items onto the fire while striking any piece of metal within reach with force.

The situation was equally tense in Centro Habana, on Calle Escobar, between Neptuno and Concordia, where a group of residents lit bonfires to block the road. In the videos circulating online, the presence of women and children among the protesters stands out; they threw combustible items onto the fire while striking any piece of metal within reach with force. The police, who were watching without intervening, did not stop the minors from surrounding the officers while continuing to bang their pots.

Other spontaneous protests were reported in San Miguel del Padron, where residents burned tyres in the street after more than 24 hours of blackout. In El Cotorro, several rubbish bins were also set on fire. According to videos circulating on social media, in Barbosa, an area of the municipality of Playa bordering La Lisa, a number of protesters lit bonfires on Calle 23.

Protests have spread across different parts of the country as the duration of the blackouts has increased, in some cases exceeding 30 and 40 consecutive hours in the capital. Combined with the summer heat, food is spoiling and disease-carrying insects are proliferating. The prolonged power cuts are also affecting the supply of drinking water and the functioning of public services, including hospitals. Indignation increasingly appears to be overcoming fear of reprisals.

Indignation increasingly appears to be overcoming fear of reprisals.

In the early hours of Friday, after a week of consecutive blackouts lasting more than 24 hours, residents of the Valle Grande community in La Lisa – a neighbourhood surrounded by Ministry of the Interior and State Security installations – took to the streets and banged pots and pans until the electricity was restored, according to a report by 14ymedio.

Last Thursday, residents of Alamar took to the streets to protest in broad daylight after 28 hours without power, according to information from Alas Tensas. After a police deployment that cordoned off the area, the electricity came back on.

According to the information bulletin issued by the Electrical Union (UNE), a deficit of 1,989 megawatts (MW) was reported on Friday at 20:50 hours. Saturday night is also ex
pected to be difficult. With nine thermoelectric units out of service – among them the Antonio Guiteras plant, which has left the grid on 14 occasions so far this year – and 1,203 MW offline due to fuel shortages at distributed generation plants, an impact of 1,935 MW is estimated for peak demand hours, against a national demand of 3,050 MW.

Translated by GH.

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Trump Sees as ‘Possible’ an Operation Like the One in Venezuela: ‘Cuba Is Just a Step Away From the US’

The US president says that Marco Rubio plays a central role in the policy towards Havana

The question about Cuba came immediately after Trump claimed that the United States is “running Venezuela.” / Screenshot / Axios

14ymedio, Havana, June 19, 2026 / Donald Trump considers it “possible” that a US operation in Cuba could unfold similarly to the military incursion that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The US president left open this possibility during an interview on Thursday with The Axios Show.

“Do you see the operation in Cuba unfolding in a similar way?” journalist Marc Caputo asked, referring to the U.S. operation that culminated in the arrest of the Venezuelan president in January. “Possibly. It’s possible,” Trump replied.

The question about Cuba came immediately after Trump asserted that the United States is “running Venezuela” together with the authorities who remain in the country. The president immediately justified his response by citing the geographical proximity of Cuba and Venezuela, in contrast to the distance separating the US from Iran, the scene of another of the military operations he claimed responsibility for continue reading

during the conversation.

“Venezuela has oil. Cuba doesn’t. Cuba has good properties and a beautiful coastline.”

“Well, there’s something else. Those places are close. On the other hand, if you look at Iran, it’s a very long trip. I’ve flown to that area several times, for reasons unrelated to this, but it’s an 18-hour flight, that’s a long time. Venezuela is relatively close and Cuba is just a hop, skip, and a jump,” he said.

The president also compared the resources of Cuba and Venezuela. “Venezuela has oil. Cuba doesn’t. Cuba has good properties and a beautiful coast,” he declared, reducing the island’s economic appeal to its territory and coastline.

After discussing a possible operation, Trump asserted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would play a central role in the policy toward Havana. “We’re going to get Marco involved with Cuba. Cuba is very eager to talk,” he said.

When asked about the strong support he receives among Cuban Americans, Trump stated that approximately 95% of that community had voted for him. “I love them,” he added after Caputo mentioned that a significant portion of his political base is among Cuban exiles.

Axios reported that Trump declined to set a timeline for potential action on Cuba, stating only that his position remains “flexible.” The report also indicated that Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a leading advocate of a maximum pressure policy against the Havana regime, is “deeply involved.”

“We’re going to get Marco involved with Cuba. Cuba is very eager to talk.”

The outlet itself noted that Trump has not authorized an invasion and that, at least publicly, he has expressed his preference for a peaceful transition to a free Cuba. However, his words constitute one of his most direct allusions to the possibility of replicating the model applied in Venezuela on the island.

In the interview, Trump again boasted about the speed of the operation against Maduro. “Look at Venezuela. It was all over in 48 minutes,” he stated. He later insisted that U.S. troops entered the country in less favorable weather conditions than anticipated and that the mission concluded in that same amount of time, despite Venezuela having a large number of soldiers.

The comparison comes after several reports about Washington’s preparations for a possible collapse of the Cuban regime. In late May, Axios revealed that Washington had analyzed various military response plans for a scenario of chaos on the island, which some officials considered possible as early as this summer.

Meanwhile, the administration has intensified economic and political pressure on Havana, with the stated intention of depriving the regime of resources. The capture of Maduro and the disruption of oil shipments from Venezuela have exacerbated Cuba’s energy crisis, characterized by prolonged blackouts, fuel shortages, and a sharp contraction in economic activity.

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The Cuban Regime Denies the Obvious by Rejecting Claims That It Yielded to “Yankee Pressure”

Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba “is living through the most difficult hours of this century, and we have the historic responsibility to save it.”

Díaz-Canel stressed that under the current circumstances, “it is time to change everything that needs to be changed in order to move forward.” / EFE

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, June 19, 2026 – Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denied on Thursday that the package of economic reforms recently approved on the Island is a response to pressure from the United States, asserting instead that it is a “sovereign” decision by his country.

“We are not doing this because of pressure from the Yankees, but because we have reached a moment of maturity and reflection,” Díaz-Canel emphasized in the speech that closed the extraordinary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, where the measures were approved after receiving the green light from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba the day before.

Díaz-Canel maintained that “Cuba decides without any permission other than that of its people” and “sovereignly designs and proposes the changes it needs.” continue reading

Díaz-Canel maintained that “Cuba decides without any permission other than that of its people” and “sovereignly designs and proposes the changes it needs”

He also reiterated that his government is willing to discuss all possible issues with Washington “without hatred, but without fear,” adding that this willingness has been “historically proven.”

The president added that “Cuba is ready for a civilized and respectful relationship that benefits both peoples,” and said, “if they truly want to help the Cuban people, let them live.”

He also described the energy blockade and the latest U.S. sanctions against the island as a “barbaric, undeserved, and unbearable punishment,” worsened by what he called the United States’ “real, daily” financial persecution of his country.

On the same day, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that if the Cuban authorities make “smart decisions,” Washington could have “a much better relationship” with the Island.

Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba “is living through the most difficult hours of this century, and we have the historic responsibility to save it.” He also stressed that under the current circumstances, “it is time to change everything that needs to be changed in order to move forward.”

Regarding the package of measures, he said that “it had to be done anyway,” although he acknowledged that “it is not easy” because the changes will be implemented “under very complex conditions.”

Regarding the package of measures, he said that “it had to be done anyway,” although he acknowledged that “it is not easy” because the changes will be implemented “under very complex conditions”

The economic reforms first announced last Friday by Díaz-Canel include allowing “new actors” into the tourism sector, promoting foreign direct investment, and introducing changes intended to stimulate agriculture and foreign trade, while decentralizing decision-making in order to grant greater “autonomy” to state-owned enterprises and municipalities.

Since last January, the Trump administration of has imposed an oil blockade on the Island and has threatened to “take control” of Cuba to force economic and political changes. Cuba has responded that it will defend its sovereignty and has accused Washington of preparing a military action against it.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Dissident Academic Alina López Detained Again While Parliament Was Voting on Economic Reforms

The academic spent ten hours under arrest and will provide more details this Friday.

This Thursday marked two years since the protest that has left the academic awaiting trial. / Facebook

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, June 19, 2026 – Academic and dissident Alina Bárbara López Hernández was once again detained this Thursday in Matanzas during her customary peaceful protest held on the 18th of every month, according to a family source.

“Alina has just been detained in Parque de la Libertad while attempting to exercise her right to peaceful protest,” confirmed Cecilia Borroto López, the intellectual’s daughter, on social media.

Borroto also indicated that her mother was allegedly taken to a police station located in the Playa district of Matanzas.

Borroto also indicated that her mother was allegedly taken to a police station located in the Playa district of Matanzas

Later that night, Borroto reported on social media that the academic “was released after ten hours” and advised that on Friday she herself would provide more details about the detention.

Hours earlier, the historian, essayist, and editor had published a message on social media commenting on the package of economic reforms approved the previous day by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

“They are trying to buy time. That is an old stratagem of the ruling group,” López commented, arguing that the proposals are “more or less the same” as those put forward but never implemented nineteen years ago, referring to the “Updating of the Cuban Economic and Social Model” promoted in 2007 by then-President Raúl Castro. At that time, the proposals were not known in such detail; the measures ultimately do involve economic changes, but not political ones.

“So much reform, and today they took away Alina Bárbara López Hernández under arrest. So much reform without releasing the political prisoners. So much reform, and repression continues. This is the real fraudulent change,” commented activist Adriana Ryukiyoi. continue reading

The academic has been detained several times in recent years for carrying out symbolic protests, and as a result of those actions she was sentenced at the end of 2023 to pay a fine for the offense of disobedience, which she refused to do.

The academic has been detained several times in recent years for carrying out symbolic protests, and as a result of those actions she was sentenced at the end of 2023 to pay a fine for the offense of disobedience, which she refused to do

She is also awaiting trial since late 2025 after prosecutors charged her with the alleged offenses of disobedience, contempt, and assault in connection with a detention that occurred exactly two years ago yesterday, on June 18, 2024. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of four years of corrective labor.

The events occurred when López and fellow academic and dissident Jenny Pantola, for whom prosecutors are seeking one year less of corrective labor, were traveling by taxi from Matanzas to Havana with the intention of participating in a protest event.

According to López, she asked about the legality of the detention and the reasons for it, to which a police officer responded with multiple acts of violence. Prosecutors, for their part, stated that it was López who struggled with and insulted the officers, and that the physical injuries alleged by both women “were not real.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Under Pressure from the US, the Cuban Regime Extends Privatisation to Banking and Other Sectors

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero presents the National Assembly with a programme of free-market-oriented reforms

The breadth and urgency of the measures make clear that they are also a response to the enormous pressure exerted by the United States to force changes on the Island. / Cubadebate

14ymedio, Havana, 18 June 2026 / The Cuban Government will open the financial system to private banking, allow the opening of foreign-currency accounts without prior administrative authorisation, and remove restrictions on foreign-currency payments between domestic businesses and foreign suppliers.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero presented the National Assembly on Thursday with a broad package of economic reforms that includes the entry of private banks into the financial system and the opening of foreign-currency accounts without prior authorisation. “We wish to reiterate that these transformations do not constitute a departure from our socialist project; on the contrary, they respond to the inherent logic of its development,” the official stated, although the breadth and urgency of the measures make clear that they are also a response to the enormous pressure exerted by the United States to force changes on the Island.

The decisions form part of the package of economic reforms presented before the National Assembly on Thursday, having been approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party in an extraordinary session. These measures are due to be adopted that same Thursday by the deputies in a vote that is usually an uncontested formality.

“Private banking will operate under the supervision of the Banco Central de Cuba on equal regulatory terms with state banking”

According to the measures announced, “private banking will operate under the supervision of the Banco Central de Cuba on equal regulatory terms with state banking.” The text does not specify when these entities may begin to be established, who may own them, or what minimum capital they will be required continue reading

to contribute. The opening will also allow the private-capital banking sector – whether national or foreign – to finance microcredit.

Private participation in the Cuban financial system had been practically excluded until now. Last March, however, the Government had already authorised Cubans resident abroad to participate – subject to a licence from the Banco Central – in investment banks, non-bank financial institutions, and other entities recognised under Cuban legislation.

Another of the proposals consists of allowing natural and legal persons to open foreign-currency accounts without requiring prior administrative authorisation. Restrictions on foreign-currency payments between businesses with foreign capital and their domestic suppliers will also be lifted.

The scope of these decisions will depend on the ability of Cuban banks to actually have access to deposited funds. For years, foreign companies and private businesses have reported difficulties in withdrawing or transferring the foreign currency reflected in their accounts.

Among the measures is also the creation of the figure of the “last-mile payment agent”, through which private actors will be able to formally channel remittances sent to Cuba

The package also envisages the creation of a regulatory framework for virtual assets and the use of financial technologies in domestic and international payments and collections. The Government intends to create financial entities specialised in virtual assets, although it has not explained which cryptocurrencies will be accepted or how such operations will be carried out.

Among the measures is also the creation of the figure of the “last-mile payment agent”, through which private actors will be able to formally channel remittances sent to Cuba. The authorities also intend to seek new sources of capitalisation for banks, review the treatment of external debt, update interest rates, and accelerate the automation of financial services.

The announcement also includes the elimination of limits on bank transfers and cash withdrawals for natural and legal persons, both Cuban and foreign. The measure aims to ease one of the main obstacles faced by businesses, although its implementation will run up against the chronic shortage of cash that afflicts bank branches.

MSMEs will be able to employ more than 100 workers, a threshold that until now legally defined medium-sized enterprises

Beyond the financial system, it was announced that a single individual may now own more than one private company, and that micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) will be able to employ more than 100 workers – a threshold that until now legally defined medium-sized enterprises. The Government will also reduce the list of prohibited activities and allow businesses to carry out various lawful operations, provided they maintain their primary activity.

In the agricultural sector, the package provides for the authorisation of private companies and new foreign investment, allowing cooperatives and producers to import fuel and inputs directly, and reducing state intervention in price formation. Municipalities will also receive powers to approve or wind up companies and to authorise certain national and foreign investment projects.

The Government has not yet published a timetable for the reforms to come into force, nor the legal rules that will govern the operation of future private banks.

Translated by GH

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The Package of Reforms Announced by Havana Meets with Scepticism Among Economists

Experts fear a ‘Caribbean perestroika’ in which only those close to the regime will benefit

One of the major novelties is the opening up of private banking

14ymedio, Madrid, 19 June 2026 / Crony capitalism, Caribbean perestroika, a Sandinista-style piñata, or, as economist Mauricio de Miranda has long been describing it, a “transition from bureaucratic socialism to authoritarian and patrimonial capitalism” – this was the reception given to the avalanche of reforms announced on Thursday by the Cuban regime in its desperate attempt to persuade the Trump administration to lift the energy blockade and other sanctions. References to the Chinese or Vietnamese model recur throughout the reactions of several critical experts, in particular Pavel Vidal.

“Many of the announced measures coincide with proposals that Cuban economists like myself have been advocating for years,” writes the Cuban economist based in Colombia. “Among them are the liberalisation of agriculture, the removal of unnecessary restrictions on the private sector, the dismantling of the state monopoly on foreign trade, the creation of more flexible channels for incoming foreign investment, and the participation of the private sector in the financial system.”

The problem, Vidal adds, lies “in the implementation,” and this represents “another attempt to announce transformations in order to buy time, without fully accepting the political and institutional implications of a deep economic reform.” The expert argues that “no internal reform can produce significant results if it is not accompanied by a negotiation with the United States that makes it possible to lift the energy blockade and ease the sanctions.”

The expert argues that “no internal reform can produce significant results if it is not accompanied by a negotiation with the United States that makes it possible to lift the energy blockade and ease the sanctions.”

This Thursday, Vice President JD Vance referred to the matter, describing the conversations in these terms: “Right now we are talking with the Cuban Government about how they might change their way of acting to achieve that. We’ll see what they do and, obviously, if they do one thing, we will do another. If they make smart decisions, we are going to have a much better relationship with that Island.” A few hours later came the details continue reading

of the measures, but for the moment there is silence from the White House.

Vidal points to another government incapacity: the technical and administrative capacity to provide a legal and theoretical corpus that would put into practice the measures that today exist only on paper.

Among them, one in particular has caught the attention of economists in these first hours: item number 17, which proposes to “transform the socialist state enterprise into a commercial company through shares or participations.” Its implications are so far-reaching that De Miranda Parrondo himself says of it: “Something like this has been approved by the Central Committee of the PCC and the National Assembly. Everyone is responsible in the event that this comes about.”

The expert, also resident in Cali, considers that this point “will be the express route for family members and close associates of those in power to become ‘shareholders’ without anyone knowing where their ‘capital’ came from. And that ‘transition’ will be directed by the Communist Party of Cuba to build the ‘Crony Capitalism’ with which certain politicians from certain powers will have no qualms about doing business,” he censures.

De Miranda Parrondo acknowledges, in realistic terms, that any country in Cuba’s current situation needs to sell state assets, given that so-called “ownership by all the people” has destroyed them, but he considers it imperative that there be “institutional and political changes that are nowhere on the horizon” and “a capital market with clear, transparent rules and equal opportunities,” so that those who benefit are not simply those closest to the elites.

On item 17, legal expert Eloy Viera also focuses – almost exclusively – seeing the set of proposals as, if realised, “a profound transformation of Cuba’s economic model,” one that “would advance towards an economy with far more elements of capitalism, albeit without any political opening or mechanisms for the democratisation of power.”

The expert concentrates on the conversion of state enterprises into commercial companies, considering it a break with what has always been the foundation of the national economy. With this measure, any private investor or otherwise, Cuban or not, may acquire property that until now belonged to the State, although the State would retain a stake in strategic sectors. “The proposal breaks with one of the principles that have traditionally defined Cuba’s business system: the non-existence of a capital market and the impossibility of private individuals or legal entities participating as shareholders.”

All the proposed changes finally contemplate the existence of large-scale private companies, as exist in other countries. For Viera too they resemble “the reform processes promoted by China and Vietnam”; he values the “historic break with the financial model established following the nationalisations” that allowing private banking represents.

“With a non-existent rule of law, the accelerated privatisation of state enterprises without robust legal safeguards tends to end in the capture of state assets by insiders well connected to power. One thing leads to the other. Without exception.”

Pedro Monreal, an economist resident in Spain, has also focused his criticism on the aforementioned item 17, in which he sees “the ‘crony capitalism’ of the Russian transition.” “With a non-existent rule of law, the accelerated privatisation of state enterprises without robust legal safeguards tends to end in the capture of state assets by insiders well connected to power. One thing leads to the other. Without exception,” he concludes.

Michael Bustamante, a History professor at Florida International University, has also commented on this aspect, in which he detects the hand of the White House. “All that would remain would be to also allow the sale of shares directly to foreigners, and we would be looking at an ideal scenario for the ‘soft takeover’ promoted from Washington,” he argues. To which one user replies: “That’s what they’re already doing with Sherritt.”

The specialist, who considers the economic changes to be far-reaching at that level, regrets that they did not come years ago. “Imagine if similar announcements had come 10, or even 5 years ago,” he said.

The only clear political reaction at this stage has come from María Elvira Salazar, while her colleague Carlos A. Giménez has limited himself to retweeting a video by journalist Mario J. Pentón criticising the measures for leading the Island down the Chinese or Vietnamese path, and Mario Díaz-Balart has not even done that. The congresswoman wrote on her X account that “Díaz-Canel is desperate [and] no longer knows what to invent to extend his political agony.” She reproaches him for announcing measures he has previously criticised, and concludes by saying that “the only thing that can save Cuba is the end of the dictatorship and the return of freedom.”

But the true word on the other side of the Straits rests with Rubio and Trump, who for now continue to say nothing.

Translated by GH.

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Reasons to Prohibit the Communist Party in the New Republic of Cuba

Communism has no right to repeat its crime

The future democratic Republic of Cuba must guarantee the right of its citizens to organize politically, express ideas, and participate in public life. / Presidency of Cuba

14ymedio, Jorge Luis León, Houston, June 18, 2026 / Political pluralism is one of the fundamental pillars of any authentic democracy. However, pluralism does not mean naiveté. Freedom cannot become the mechanism that allows the return of those who destroyed that very freedom.

The future democratic Cuban Republic must guarantee the right of its citizens to organize politically, express ideas, and participate in public life. But there is a historical and moral exception that cannot be ignored: the Communist Party of Cuba.

This is not about an ideological difference. This is not about a doctrinal dispute. This is about the historical responsibility of an organization that for more than six decades destroyed republican institutions, eliminated fundamental freedoms, imprisoned thousands of opponents, provoked the exile of millions of Cubans, and led the country to economic, social, and moral ruin.

The evidence speaks for itself.

Numerous countries that suffered under totalitarian regimes have taken legal measures to prevent the return of organizations responsible for the destruction of democracy. In several Eastern European states that emerged after the fall of the Soviet bloc, symbols, organizations, and forms of propaganda associated with totalitarian systems were banned. In countries such as Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, restrictions were placed on structures linked to Soviet communism because they were deemed incompatible with the democratic order and with the memory of its victims.

The reason is simple: a democracy is not obligated to finance, protect, or tolerate movements whose stated or real objective is to destroy democracy continue reading

itself.

The Communist Party of Cuba was not a conventional political party. It was the central instrument of a system of absolute domination.

The Communist Party of Cuba was not a conventional political party. It was the central instrument of a system of absolute domination. From within it were organized the mechanisms of social surveillance, ideological persecution, cultural censorship, control of the media, subordination of the courts, and the elimination of all political competition.

Under its direction, the separation of powers, freedom of the press, political pluralism, and basic economic rights of citizens disappeared.

The historical result is visible to all: an impoverished nation, a devastated infrastructure, millions of Cubans forced to emigrate, entire generations educated under propaganda and fear, a profound erosion of civic values and social trust.

Therefore, the future democratic Constitution must establish the permanent outlawing of any organization that promotes the fundamental principles of totalitarian communism or that seeks to restore the political structures responsible for national oppression.

It is not important what name they adopt. It is not important what ideological disguise they use. It is not important what moderate rhetoric they try to present. If the program aims for political monopoly, the suppression of individual freedoms, the subordination of the citizen to the State, or the imposition of a single ideology, it must be declared incompatible with Cuban democracy.

History teaches us that the enemies of freedom often return using new languages and new masks. We Cubans cannot afford such a mistake.

History teaches that the enemies of freedom often return using new languages and new masks.

National reconciliation demands justice. Justice demands remembrance. And remembrance demands preventing those responsible for the destruction of Cuba from ever again occupying positions from which they can repeat their crimes.

The new Republic will have to be generous with people, but inflexible with the criminal structures that destroyed the nation.

Individuals will have rights. Ideas can be debated. But the political apparatus responsible for the greatest national tragedy in our history cannot claim democratic legitimacy.

The Communist Party of Cuba lost that right when it turned freedom into a crime, dissent into persecution, and an entire nation into a hostage of its power.

Cuban democracy must be born with memory. And a democracy with memory will never allow the return of those who murdered it.

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The Cuban Regime Announces the End of Several Prohibitions and Clings to the “Socialist Project”

The list of measures includes eliminating price caps, the ration book, the State’s monopoly over foreign trade, and the State’s monopoly on hiring personnel for foreign companies.
Foreigners will be allowed to invest directly in the domestic private sector, without State intermediaries.

Investors will, in principle, be able to put their money into any business without having to follow the government’s “portfolio of opportunities.” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, June 18, 2026 — Pending how and when it is implemented, the Cuban regime finally has proposals for real change. In a lengthy speech before the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel specified on Wednesday several proposals that break with previously untouchable dogmas, beginning with the general elimination of price controls.

“We are going to correct a policy that did not produce the expected results,” the president explained to an audience that did not hesitate to approve everything. “In practice, price caps failed to contain inflation. They often caused products to disappear, encouraged diversion to illegal markets, led to higher prices, reduced tax revenues, and created an impossible race between real prices and administrative decisions that always arrived too late.”

The list contains 23 areas of action and 176 proposals, many of them already known, as this newspaper had previously warned, but also others that, if implemented as announced, would contradict ideological orthodoxy.

The list contains 23 areas of action and 176 proposals, many of them already known, as this newspaper had previously warned, but also others that, if implemented as announced, would contradict ideological orthodoxy

Another of the major measures is allowing direct foreign investment in private companies. Since 2013, when it was first permitted, this type of financing had been reserved for the state sector. Díaz-Canel said it will now be facilitated “with clear rules on ownership, repatriation, reinvestment, and dispute resolution.” This is no minor detail, considering that just over a year ago panic spread among foreign companies when they were prohibited from repatriating foreign currency.

These investors are also finally seeing some of their other demands addressed, including the ability to hire personnel directly without using State employment agencies, which until now kept a large percentage of salaries paid in foreign currency and passed only a small portion on to workers in national currency. This had long been an aspiration, as diplomatic sources confirmed to 14ymedio no less than 10 years ago, stating that the system “hampered investors’ ability to directly select qualified personnel.” In addition, Díaz-Canel guaranteed that foreigners will no continue reading

longer be told where to invest, based on the government’s business portfolio, but will instead be free to pursue their own initiatives.

Less novel is the renewed offer to Cuban Americans, who have already spent years being encouraged to invest in the Island and who will now divide between those who see an opportunity and those who refuse to participate in a project ultimately intended to “preserve the Revolution,” as Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in a speech that contained little else of substance.

Another change, this one already announced by the president last Friday, is the revision of the list of prohibited activities for the private sector. / Screenshot/Presidency of Cuba

The substance was in the speech delivered by his superior, who outlined several other genuine reforms, though in less detail. Among them, he spoke of exchanging debt for assets, choosing his words carefully. The idea, common in many countries, would be to transfer ownership of properties, which could include hotels, mines, or other assets, to satisfy large debts the government cannot pay. He stressed, however, that this would be done “without permanently alienating ownership of those assets,” implying that the State could eventually recover them once the debt is settled. The qualification is ideologically significant, since the opposite could be viewed as a betrayal of Communist Party principles.

Another change, already announced by the president last Friday, is a review of the list of activities prohibited to the private sector. It remains to be seen how this will be implemented, but the main promise is to “comprehensively review the list with a clear principle: wherever possible, replace prohibition with responsible regulation.”

Plans also call for expanding the permitted activities of small and medium-sized private enterprises (mipymes) and eliminating bureaucratic burdens. Electronic invoicing, digital payments, and interoperable public registries will become mandatory “to combat tax evasion and corruption,” although this will not be feasible—something he did not mention—while internet connectivity and electricity remain in their current condition.

Díaz-Canel also addressed this issue, although there was less new information. Foreign companies supplying solar panels, batteries, and inverters will be allowed to enter the market directly, and additional taxes related to the sale, installation, and maintenance of these technologies will be eliminated. Solar-powered service stations will also be expanded through still-undisclosed mechanisms promoting foreign, cooperative, private, and State investment. “Expedited” licenses will be granted to operators and taxi drivers using electric vehicles, and tax exemptions will apply to parts for collective transportation vehicles powered by photovoltaic energy.

The president renewed Raúl Castro’s promise—Castro reportedly watched the meeting by videoconference and sent a message of approval through an intermediary—to eliminate universal subsidies distributed through the ration book and replace them with “direct support for vulnerable individuals”

The president renewed Raúl Castro’s promise—Castro reportedly watched the meeting by videoconference and sent a message of approval through an intermediary—to eliminate universal subsidies distributed through the ration book and replace them with “direct support for vulnerable individuals.” In addition, the private sector will be required to “sponsor social dining halls and nursing homes,” effectively transferring part of the State’s social responsibilities to private actors. This measure, if implemented, would represent a paradigm shift and a genuine break with the past, but it has been pending since the aging general first proposed it in 2008.

Díaz-Canel listed a series of additional measures, including one of major significance: ending the State monopoly over exports. Others had already been anticipated, including reforms concerning land ownership and the promotion of agricultural production, which were announced in the draft law expected to be approved in July; reducing the number of ministries; promoting municipal autonomy; and creating a Community Youth Network aimed at training, networking, improving neighborhood coexistence, and supporting local community groups.

The speech was heavily infused with political rhetoric. Díaz-Canel detailed what he described as the hostile policy of the United States, although he also admitted: “There are obstacles that do not come from abroad or from the embargo. There is slowness, bureaucracy, regulations that hinder those who want to produce, and decisions we have postponed. What depends on us, we must change ourselves, and we must change now.”

While maintaining the narrative of resisting pressure from Washington, the president said that the Cuban people would not be called upon merely “to resist. We are going to be called upon to create. To produce. To decide. To supervise. To prosper, and to transform.” Even so, he defended the legacy of Fidel Castro and made it very clear that all of the proposed changes are intended to defend the Revolution.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Havana Chronicles: Surrounded by Garbage, Miramar Is No Longer the Glamorous Neighborhood It Once Was.

Havana has become a hostile and unsafe city, where it is increasingly difficult to sleep and bathe due to the lack of electricity and water.

Upon returning to my building, I had the impression that a memory had been stolen from me. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 17, 2026 / I collapse into bed, exhausted. A stroll through the Miramar neighborhood can be worse now than sprinting along the uneven sidewalks of Reina Street in Central Havana. The once glamorous western neighborhood of the Cuban capital is as full of garbage as any corner of Cerro or La Lisa. Mansions with gardens on one side and mountains of trash on the other. Embassies with their national flags flying behind their gates, the stench of filth seeping through the bars.

I walked to 3rd and 70th from my house in Nuevo Vedado. There are fewer electric tricycles because the long hours of blackouts prevent them from charging the batteries of what has become the most common way to get around Havana. The journey submerged me in an zone I gazed at with wonder when I first visited it in my childhood. From that era, I remember gardens with impeccably trimmed hedges, the tranquility of its side streets, and the cleanliness of the central promenade on Fifth Avenue — a far cry from my neighborhood in Cayo Hueso. But none of that remains now.

My walk this Tuesday was through an area of boarded-up, crumbling mansions, traffic lights out, old markets empty, and small businesses with refrigerators that weren’t cold due to the energy crisis. Life, what is life, I saw only outside a few consulates that receive dozens of visitors every day, desperate to leave this island. Returning to my building, I had the impression that a memory had been stolen from me, that memory of my first time walking down 3rd Street, visiting the National Aquarium, and passing through the tunnel under the Almendares River.

A plume of smoke rises against the sky in front of our balcony, seeming to come from somewhere in the Cerro neighborhood. / 14ymedio

I go to bed early. It’s four in the morning on Wednesday, and I’m woken up by a strong smell of burning. I check the house, but the stench is coming from outside. A plume of smoke rises against the sky in front of our balcony, seeming to come from somewhere in the Cerro neighborhood. They’ve probably set fire to a garbage dump. My eyes are burning, so I grab a mask and put it on. There’s no electricity, so I use my rechargeable flashlight to get to the kitchen.

I make some instant coffee. The night has been long and the mosquitoes never give up. I’m more afraid of dengue fever than anything else. My self-esteem, like that of my neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, is at rock bottom. In the midst of speeches that extol national dignity, everyone I meet seems to have lost all their individual dignity or to have only shreds of self-respect left. Unwashed bodies, sleepless nights, and the smell of food on the plate, which seems to scream that it’s spoiled, are like corrosive acid poured on my self-respect.

The ten commandments of survival include not going out at night, remembering to apply insect repellent before going outside, and having as many bars and locks as possible to protect our homes.

Pride is also at odds with fear. Threats come from all sides. “Watch out for the mosquitoes,” a friend tells me, still unable to walk due to the aftereffects of chikungunya. “I don’t go out without this,” a neighbor tells me, showing me the machete he carries on his motorcycle to defend himself against the increasing number of robberies. “Don’t even think about going into that neighborhood alone,” a neighbor advises when I tell her I have to move south in a few days.

Fear has taken root in our lives. The ten commandments of survival include not going out at night, not forgetting to apply insect repellent before stepping outside, installing as many bars and locks as possible to protect our homes, and trying to calm our racing hearts when we repeatedly call someone and they don’t answer, all the while imagining some tragedy that is later explained away by the poor service of the telecommunications monopoly. We live in a constant state of anxiety, with news of fights, stabbings, murders, and robberies coming from all sides, rarely reported in the official press.

But the greatest fear is that nothing will change. The main terror is that this will drag on for weeks, months, and years, robbing us of what little dignity and peace we have left.

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Previous Havana Chronicles:

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

Chronicle of a Monday That Feels Like Wednesday

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

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

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

Along Carlos III Street and towards Ethiopia

Sleeping Is Also a Privilege in Havana

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

The Refuse of Disenchantment

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

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

Dollars, the Classic Card, and a Havana Without Tourists

A Journey Through the Lost Names of Havana

The Shipwreck of a Ship Called “Cuba”

Havana Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

In Havana, the Only Ones Who Move Are the Mosquitoes

Reina, the Stately Street Where Garbage is Sold

Searching for Light Through the Deserted Streets of Havana

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

The Anxiety of the Disconnected Cuban

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

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

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

Havana, in Critical Condition

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The European Parliament Will Vote on Whether To Demand the Suspension of the Agreement With Cuba Due to the Lack of Democratic Progress

The proposal calls for the release of political prisoners, sanctions against Díaz-Canel, and guarantees for the return of exiles.

The absence of references to U.S. economic sanctions has prevented Social Democrats and Greens from joining the text. / EFE

EFE/14ymedio, Strasbourg, June 17, 2026 – The European Parliament will vote this Thursday on a resolution urging the European Union to suspend the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba if the regime does not adopt concrete and significant measures toward full multiparty democracy in the short term.

The proposal, promoted by center-right groups, currently has the support of the European People’s Party, the European Conservatives and Reformists, and the liberals of Renew Europe. Together, the three groups have 343 Members of the European Parliament, 18 fewer than needed to achieve an absolute majority.

The text calls for a specific plan for a political transition, the immediate and unconditional release of nearly 1,300 political prisoners, and guarantees that exiled Cubans may return to the Island without suffering reprisals.

It also condemns the systematic repression of the Cuban regime, calls for sanctions against Miguel Díaz-Canel, and argues that the only way out of the country’s suffering, poverty, and isolation is through profound political and economic change leading, without further delay, to a democratic transition.

“The European Parliament has the opportunity to deliver another slap, but a real and powerful one, to put an end to the Cuban tyranny”

The approval of the resolution will depend to a large extent on Patriots for Europe, which has submitted several amendments to strengthen the language against Havana. The group has tied its final support to the acceptance of those modifications.

“The European Parliament has the opportunity to deliver another slap, but a real and powerful one, to put an end to the Cuban tyranny,” Jorge Buxadé, head of Vox’s delegation in the European Parliament, told EFE.

Buxadé warned that his party would not accept the European People’s Party continue reading

once again “throwing itself into the arms of the progressives,” referring to possible negotiations with Social Democrats and Greens.

The absence of references to United States economic sanctions and restrictions on fuel supplies has prevented those two groups from joining the center-right text. Social Democrats and Greens have presented an alternative proposal that, in addition to denouncing repression and demanding the release of political prisoners, calls on Washington to end what they describe as “illegitimate practices” against Cuba.

The division over the role of the United States threatens to prevent a common position in the European Parliament

Social Democratic negotiator Leire Pajín stated that her group shares the condemnation of the political rights situation on the Island, the demand for economic and political reforms, and the call for respect for fundamental freedoms.

However, she argued that a resolution on Cuba’s severe humanitarian deterioration should include “all the reasons” that have contributed to the crisis.

Pajín mentioned the long-standing economic embargo and the recent measures by the Trump Administration against oil supplies to the Island, which, she said, have worsened blackouts and shortages of medicines and food.

The Socialist MEP also stressed that Washington’s measures have begun to directly affect European economic interests, after hotel chains such as Meliá Hotels International and Iberostar announced that they would cease operating some of their establishments in Cuba. “When that happens, we have to denounce the situation in all its elements from the beginning,” she maintained.

The division over the role of the United States thus threatens to prevent a common position in the European Parliament, despite the fact that the main groups agree in denouncing repression, calling for the release of political prisoners, and demanding profound reforms from the Cuban regime.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Vehicles and Fuel Contribute to the Sharp Increase in U.S. Sales to Cuba

In the first four months of the year, the Island’s purchases grew by 74% and reached more than 291 million dollars.

Fuel exports have multiplied in just a few months, adding more value in April than in the previous three months combined. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, June 17, 2026 — The authorization granted to U.S. companies to sell fuel to private businesses in Cuba is generating substantial profits for exporters, who in the first four months of the year have already earned 24 million dollars. Sales volumes are soaring month after month, and in April alone they doubled what was obtained in March, exceeding 12 million dollars.

According to data provided by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council (US-Cuba Trade), through the fourth month of the year the Island’s private MSMEs [Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises] purchased gasoline worth 3.72 million dollars, diesel and other blends worth 8.24 million dollars, and lubricants and specialized oils worth 470,714 dollars. The largest share of the total went to fuel oil, with more than 11.13 million dollars, with Texas being the principal source of all these fuels, although Miami also had significant participation in processing the shipments.

At the end of January, when the Trump Administration authorized this type of sale for the first time, the volume amounted to only 87,746 dollars. At the same time, the oil blockade affecting the Island came into force, and from that moment the figure began to grow rapidly, reaching 2.44 million dollars in February and 8,788,501 dollars in March. April therefore represented a substantial increase, with 12,375,227 dollars. continue reading

April therefore represented a substantial increase, with 12,375,227 dollars

Although the value of the purchases is known, what has not been quantified is the volume. The rise in prices has also been significant in recent months due to the war with Iran, but the financial news outlet Bloomberg, which places total shipments to Cuba at 3,300, mentions at least 275 diesel shipments and 82 gasoline shipments, most of them in so-called isotanks. According to its calculations, each of these steel cylinders must be mounted on shipping container frames and each can carry a maximum of 150 barrels of fuel (23,848 liters).

The quantity is, Bloomberg says, “insignificant” compared to bulk shipments on tanker vessels, which can transport 250,000 barrels per voyage, a point recently highlighted by Cuban authorities, who acknowledged that this relief existed but was insignificant and limited only to MSMEs.

The impact of these 24 million dollars is very noticeable in the overall account of embargo exemptions, which has surged thanks to fuels but above all to automobile sales, which operate under a license granted by the Biden Administration that the Trump Administration has never revoked. In the first four months of 2025, Cuba imported goods from the United States worth 167.6 million dollars, including 119.2 million dollars in food products (mainly chicken); 1.2 million dollars in motor lubricants; and 46.6 million dollars in vehicles, machinery, and other goods.

By contrast, in the same period of the current year, the total grew by 74% to reach 291.5 million dollars, with 134.7 million dollars in food, 24 million in fuel, and 132.8 million in vehicles. This category experienced a real boom, tripling the figures from the first four months of 2025.

The data corresponding to agricultural exports and certain authorized goods are more difficult to analyze, since they fluctuate so much that comparisons depend on the reference point. For example, if one considers this same first four-month period, there is indeed an increase of 13%. By contrast, Cubatrade records a decline of 12%, because it includes some different products in the comparison.

In April, Cuba acquired agricultural products worth 44 million dollars, much more than the 36,655,397 dollars of the same month in 2025 and the 40,624,058 dollars in 2024. In addition, the amount also increased compared with March 2026, when it totaled 36,967,947 dollars. The volume has been rising since January, when the United States increased sanctions on Cuba. April’s value was the highest for that month in 17 years and the fourth highest in 25 years, although price increases must be taken into account.

Of those products, chicken accounts for more than 44% of sales, with its various cuts occupying the top three positions on the list, representing a total of 19,480,875 dollars. It is followed by soybean meal, used mainly for domestic animal feed, for which 4,554,552 dollars were paid. The country usually imports about 350,000 tons per year.

Of those products, chicken accounts for more than 44% of sales, with its various cuts occupying the top three positions on the list, representing a total of 19,480,875 dollars

Other products purchased include corn (3,008,120 dollars), eggs, with purchases totaling 1,682,915 dollars; pork, with expenditures of 1,579,220 dollars; and rice, with 828,846 dollars.

The United States also exported other products related to the electrical crisis, such as solar panels worth 299,861 dollars and diesel-powered electric generators worth 34,080 dollars, as well as 16,800 dollars in manicure and pedicure preparations.

Cuba’s food dependence on foreign sources has increased in recent years as domestic production has declined. One example is sugar, once the engine of the country’s economy and a source of prestige and foreign currency that now arrives from abroad. In 2025, the Island purchased 14.9 million dollars’ worth from the United States, while in 2024 it spent 11.1 million dollars.

Cuba used to consume 700,000 tons of sugar per year and export the remainder, but with current production levels the situation has changed radically, and since at least 2020, every sugar harvest carried out on the Island has been described as the worst in the last 100 years.

In 2025, Cuba purchased goods from the United States worth 490,111,943 dollars, ranking third behind China and Spain. The Island depends on imports for more than 80% of its basic food needs. Rice arrives from Guyana, Vietnam, or China; pasta from Turkey; canned sardines from Venezuela; and grains from Portugal, among other products.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Delta Suspends Its Atlanta Flights and Cuts Miami–Havana Service by 50%

For now, American Airlines, along with Southwest Airlines, continues to operate five daily flights to the Cuban capital and also connects with four other cities on the Island.

The U.S. company Delta retains its flight rights and can reactivate the route whenever it wishes. / EFE

14ymedio, Madrid, June 17, 2026 — Delta Air Lines has announced the cancellation of its direct route between Havana and Atlanta due to declining demand for travel to Cuba. The company says that “current aviation market conditions simply do not justify the volume of seats previously allocated” and has requested a temporary waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) allowing it to suspend service without losing its operating rights.

The waiver would allow the airline to preserve its flight rights, which it may reactivate at any time if conditions change. Going forward, Delta will maintain only its direct flights between Miami and Havana, operating once daily. As a result, travelers wishing to reach Cuba from other U.S. cities will be required to connect through Florida.

Delta has stated that its decision is intended to focus on Cuban-American travelers, who have recently become the most important group of visitors to the Island since international tourism collapsed. However, the airline is cutting the frequency of its flights by half. It now trails American Airlines (AA), which currently offers the greatest connectivity between the United States and Cuba.

Delta has stated that its decision is intended to focus on Cuban-American travelers, who have recently become the most important group of visitors

According to the latest data, American Airlines continues this June to operate five daily flights between Miami and Havana, as well as one daily flight to continue reading

Holguín (Frank País Airport) and Santa Clara (Abel Santamaría Airport). In addition, it offers four weekly flights from Miami to Varadero (Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport) and Santiago de Cuba (Antonio Maceo Grajales Airport), though there are currently no scheduled routes to Camagüey.

The other U.S. airline that continues to fly regularly to Cuba is Southwest Airlines, which this June maintains one daily flight from Tampa to Havana.

According to the latest report from Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), covering the month of May, 4,491 Americans traveled to Cuba during that month. In addition, 14,701 Cubans living abroad visited the Island during the same period, many of whom likely arrived from the United States, although the exact number is unknown.

During the first quarter of the year, 17,034 Americans traveled to Cuba, a 56.8% decrease compared with the same period the previous year. As for Cubans living abroad, the number reached 34,233, down 42.8% from January through March 2025. That report does separate exiles by airport of origin, making it possible to determine that nearly 90% came from the United States. Specifically, by March, 10,072 Cubans had arrived from the neighboring country.

As for Cubans living abroad, the number reached 34,233, a 42.8% decrease compared with January–March 2025

The withdrawal of all Canadian and Russian airlines, along with route reductions by carriers from other countries—including Spain, the second-largest country of origin for Cubans living abroad—has meant that Americans and Cuban exiles have now become the Island’s primary tourism market.

Among the other international airlines still serving Cuba is Copa Airlines, which operates daily flights from Panama to Havana, Santa Clara, and Holguín. From Spain, Air Europa is the only airline still flying directly to Cuba, along with Air China, which operates the Beijing–Madrid–Havana route.

Also maintaining service, though on a much smaller scale, are Aeroméxico, Conviasa, Wingo, Caribbean Airlines, InterCaribbean Airways, Cayman Airways, TAAG Angola Airlines, Bahamasair, Rutaca, Aruba Airlines, Fly All Ways, Sky High, and Neos, in addition to charter flights from the United States and the Caribbean.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Díaz-Canel Calls on Three ‘Critical’ Experts to Advise the Cuban Government on Economic Reforms

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, the members of the group are Omar Everleny Pérez, Juan Triana, and Julio Carranza, along with former minister José Luis Rodríguez García and lawmaker José Carlos del Toro Ríos.

The National Assembly will discuss the proposals this Thursday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio/EFE, Havana/Madrid, June 17, 2026 — Three Cuban economists who have been “critical” of the regime are part of a group of experts convened by President Miguel Díaz-Canel to propose reforms that go beyond those already announced, three sources familiar with the initiative confirmed to EFE.

The Spanish news agency reports that the team has already held its first meeting, following an initial contact session last Friday. That was the day the president announced reforms that, according to his own explanation, were largely measures already approved or planned, including the reduction of ministries, new housing and agricultural land laws, greater flexibility in exports, and opening investment opportunities to Cuban Americans.

In addition, Díaz-Canel left several questions unanswered, including pending changes in the tourism sector and a reduction in the activities currently prohibited to the private sector.

EFE now reports that the initiative comes directly from the Presidency and has no connection to the teams of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Minister of Economy and Planning Joaquín Alonso

EFE now reports that the initiative comes directly from the Presidency and has no connection to the teams of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Minister of Economy and Planning Joaquín Alonso.

Among the five experts who make up the core of this new advisory team are Omar Everleny Pérez, Juan Triana, and Julio Carranza, all of whom have for years regularly expressed their views in independent media and called for economic reforms. Some have spent years outside official circles. However, none of the three fits exactly into the category of radical critical economist. They are, with important differences, moderate reformers, historically or currently linked to official institutions.

Pérez Villanueva has been the most direct critic of the government’s economic management. The former director of the Center for Studies of the Cuban Economy (CEEC) has blamed the crisis not only on US sanctions, but also on internal errors, low productivity, obstacles to the private sector, and a lack of investment. His proposals aim to expand the scope of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), reform agriculture, grant greater autonomy to businesses, and create a functional foreign exchange market, although his proposals do not place him outside the framework of socialism.

Triana Cordoví, for his part, has developed a more institutional critique, focusing on the slowness, contradictions, and constant “back and forth” of official economic policy. Linked for years to the Ceec (Center for Economic and Business Studies), he calls for more stable regulations, a realistic exchange rate, and the permanent recognition of the private sector within the national economy. His proposals seek to correct excessive centralization and improve the functioning of a mixed economic model, but they do not represent a political break nor do they question the central role the State reserves for its companies. continue reading

Carranza Valdés aligns more clearly with the reformist socialist tradition. For decades, he has advocated a comprehensive transformation of the model, with greater scope for the market, regulated private property, decentralization, and foreign investment. His criticism is directed at the implementation of piecemeal and disconnected measures and the government’s inability to address structural problems, but he does not propose abandoning socialism. More than a dissident, he is an economist who proposes reforming it to make it viable.

The core advisory team is completed by two figures from the official establishment: former Minister of Economy and Planning José Luis Rodríguez García and José Carlos del Toro Ríos, president of the National Association of Economists and Accountants (ANEC).

Their proposals vary, but they generally agree on the direction they believe the Island’s economy should take in order to achieve overall stabilization, strengthen its foundations, and move toward sustainable economic growth. None of them ignores the damage caused by the U.S. sanctions.

With varying degrees of emphasis, they advocate giving greater weight to the private sector, opening the Island to foreign investment, granting more autonomy to state-owned enterprises, promoting local agricultural and industrial production, creating legal certainty, and addressing the current monetary chaos (with two currencies, three official exchange rates, and an informal market rate).

The core of the advisory team is completed by two figures from the ruling party: former Minister of Economy and Planning José Luis Rodríguez García, and the president of the National Association of Economists and Accountants (ANEC), José Carlos del Toro Ríos. Both are also deputies in the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).

With varying degrees of emphasis, they advocate giving greater weight to the private sector, opening the Island to foreign investment, granting more autonomy to state-owned enterprises, promoting local agricultural and industrial production, creating legal certainty, and addressing the current monetary chaos

The goal is for these experts’ proposals to build upon the package of measures announced by Díaz-Canel last Friday, which will be evaluated Wednesday afternoon by the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. Following that, on Thursday, and with its approval, the reforms will be submitted to the ANPP, which typically ratifies proposals unanimously.

The purpose of these economic changes is twofold: to address the deep structural crisis affecting the Island and to ease pressure from the United States, which is demanding profound political and economic reforms from Havana and has even threatened military intervention to achieve them.

Many fear that the regime may choose—with Washington’s acceptance—to implement only economic changes, moving toward a model similar to that of China or Vietnam, the latter considered a key U.S. partner.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Soaring Rise of the Dollar Complicates Cubans’ Arithmetic of Survival

Families are reducing their purchases as the national currency loses value, while small businesses struggle to avoid bankruptcy.

From a conventional business perspective, changing prices so frequently is a mistake. In Cuba, it is survival. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, San José de Las Lajas (Mayabeque), Julio César Contreras, June 16, 2026 – By mid-morning, activity in the small private shops of San José de Las Lajas increasingly resembles a scene of shared uncertainty. Customers come in, ask the price of a product, do the math in their heads, and often leave empty-handed. On the other side of the counter, vendors do not have definitive answers either: they know how much the merchandise cost a week ago, but they cannot say for sure how much it will be worth in a few days.

The dizzying rise of the dollar in Cuba’s informal market has turned even the simplest purchase into a daily exercise in household arithmetic. In a municipality where, as in the rest of the country, salaries are paid in pesos while many products are imported and paid for in foreign currency, every jump in the exchange rate triggers a new wave of price increases in national currency.

At a cafeteria near the main park, a young woman checks the contents of her wallet several times before deciding what to buy. Behind the counter, beneath a chalkboard with hand-written prices, pastries and candies wait for customers who are buying less and less.

Behind the counter, beneath a chalkboard with hand-written prices, pastries and candies wait for customers who are buying less and less. / 14ymedio

“The tube of mortadella that cost 500 pesos less than a month ago was 600 last week and today it’s 650. I used to rely on that a lot for my children’s snacks. However, everything has become so expensive that I’m only giving them a small piece of bread with continue reading

whatever I can find. It breaks my heart,” laments Yaritza, as she tries to manage the money she has available to buy the most urgent necessities.

A single mother and teaching assistant, she says she no longer knows which small private business to turn to for cooking oil or meat products that have not increased by at least 50 pesos over the last month.

“At the current exchange rate, my salary doesn’t even reach 10 dollars a month. I say this because, while it’s true that the most basic things are still priced in pesos, the real value of food and essential goods has to be measured in dollars, since that is how private merchants pay for them.”

Although she describes herself as bad at math, Yaritza has mastered an operation that millions of Cubans perform every day: mentally converting the price of every product into its dollar value and comparing it to a salary that is rapidly losing purchasing power.

The situation is also hitting those who run businesses. A few meters from an elementary school, Abel manages a cafeteria whose regular customers are children and their relatives. For years, candies and sweets were a safe bet. Now, the constant rise in prices threatens the stability of his venture.

“Until now I’ve always had good profitability, but things are getting complicated because there is nothing worse for commerce than constantly changing product prices,” he explains to 14ymedio.

One of his star products was María cookies. “The kids used to run out of school and buy two or three packages each. Now a box of 24 units lasts me five days or more. What happened? I’ve been forced to raise the price because my suppliers have raised it on me too.”

Abel recalls that at the beginning of this year, with 500 pesos a customer could buy two packages. Today, it is barely enough for one, with some change left over that can hardly be spent on anything else. “I’m trying to find more affordable options so I don’t keep losing customers. My family’s livelihood depends on this cafeteria.”

In other businesses around the municipality, the concern is the same. Some owners have chosen to review their prices weekly to avoid losses caused by the depreciation of the Cuban peso.

“I restock my kiosk once a week. Then, depending on how the dollar is behaving, I raise the prices of certain products I sell to guarantee in advance a cost structure that allows me to remain profitable,” explains Delvys.

The merchant acknowledges that, from a conventional business perspective, changing prices so frequently is a mistake. “But in the harsh Cuban reality, it’s a way to avoid going bankrupt.” With a calculator always within reach, Delvys tries to stay ahead of fluctuations in the informal market.

At the entrance of some businesses, customers wait their turn leaning against freshly varnished wooden counters. / 14ymedio

“Putting myself in the customer’s position, I understand it’s difficult to buy a bottle of oil today for 1,300 pesos and see it cost 1,500 next week. People complain, and they are absolutely right.” He gives a recent example: Cristal beer, which a few days ago sold for 350 pesos and is now around 420. “If I don’t raise the price, with what money do I buy it again? How do I pay my employees, and where is my profit?”

At the entrance of some businesses, customers wait their turn leaning against freshly varnished wooden counters. Others talk about the latest dollar exchange rate, which has become as common a topic as the weather forecast or the blackouts.

“In this roller coaster where we all buy from someone else, we’re constantly on the verge of losing money,” Delvys sums up. “There are no winners here.”

In San José de Las Lajas, the price of the dollar is no longer just an economic indicator. It is the exact measure of how much a family can eat, how long merchandise remains on a shelf, and how many times someone must think before taking any product home.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Bank Robbed in Havana Hours Before Pension Payments Were to Be Distributed

On the same street and during the same night, solar panels were stolen from a nursing home.

Metropolitan Bank branch on Dolores and 18th Street, in Lawton, Havana, this Tuesday. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, June 16, 2026 — The Metropolitan Bank branch located at Dolores and 18th Street in Lawton, Havana, was robbed Monday night during a blackout, as confirmed by 14ymedio at the scene. “They broke the ATM and got in through there,” a resident living near the branch told the newspaper, although there was no visible sign today that the bank had been burglarized.

Several retirees were surprised by the news on Tuesday when they found the branch closed. Tuesday was the day they were scheduled to collect their pensions. For that reason, it is plausible that the bank had more cash on hand than usual. Currently in Havana, individuals cannot withdraw more than 1,000 pesos at a time, and only in small denominations. “I imagine they must have brought a truckload of 20-peso bills,” one customer remarked with bitter irony.

Several retirees were surprised by the news on Tuesday when they found the branch closed. / 14ymedio

The Ministry of the Interior immediately launched an operation in response, but authorities have provided no information about the incident.

On the same street, Dolores, and during the same blackout, thieves also stole the solar panels from a nursing home located at the corner of 11th Street.

These incidents add to the growing list of crimes committed under the cover of blackouts, which leave streets and homes in complete darkness. “After 8:00 at night it’s impossible to go out, not only because of the darkness, but because people are being robbed and thieves are even breaking into continue reading

apartment buildings while the owners are still inside,” a resident of the Reparto de los Médicos neighborhood in San José de las Lajas told this newspaper two months ago.

Nursing home at Dolores and 11th Street in Lawton, Havana, robbed during the blackout. / 14ymedio

Power outages are approaching 48 hours in some areas, exhausting the population’s patience and triggering numerous protests, often involving residents banging pots and pans. Also on Tuesday, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), posted on social media that he was in La Güinera, one of Havana’s neighborhoods where the repression of the July 11 and 12, 2021 demonstrations was particularly severe. There, according to the former spy, “there are districts affected by a breakdown that has prolonged the blackout for nearly 40 hours, causing frustration among residents.”

The daily report issued by Cuba’s Electric Union itself acknowledges that service was disrupted for more than 24 hours yesterday, as the power deficit persisted “throughout the early morning hours.” With the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant showing no signs of a quick recovery, nine thermoelectric generating units remain offline, along with more than 100 distributed-generation plants that are out of service due to fuel shortages.

During Tuesday evening’s peak demand period, Cuba is expected to be short by 2,000 megawatts (MW) out of a maximum demand of 3,000 MW, two-thirds of the electricity needed. Only 1,030 MW of generating capacity will be available.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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