标签： Cuba

In a formal diplomatic meeting held at Vatican City, the newly appointed Cuban representative to the Holy See, Ambassador Rodriguez, has publicly voiced his appreciation for the warm hospitality extended to him by Vatican authorities, while outlining his core priorities for advancing bilateral ties during his diplomatic tenure.

Rodriguez made clear that the Cuban government holds deep respect for the public statements and ongoing initiatives led by Pope Leo XIV, particularly the pontiff’s steadfast advocacy for peace, inclusive dialogue, and negotiated solutions to the international conflicts that have left widespread death and devastation across multiple nations.

Beyond addressing global security issues, the ambassador underscored the Cuban administration’s unwavering focus on advancing domestic peace, social stability, and inclusive economic growth – goals made far more challenging by the steady escalation of unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States. He also reiterated that the U.S. maintains persistent threats of direct military aggression against the Caribbean island nation, creating additional uncertainty and strain for the Cuban people.

Following discussions with the President of the Governorate of the Holy See, Rodriguez confirmed that the Vatican official provided a comprehensive overview of the support services, cultural institutions including Vatican museums, infrastructure projects, and programming available to the global diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. The ambassador noted that this information was received with keen interest by the Cuban delegation.

On August 31, 2026, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who also serves as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, made an official visit to the Digital Government Center alongside Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz. This state-run entity under the Council of Ministers is the architect of the Sovereignty Platform, Cuba’s flagship digital initiative designed to modernize public administration and bring citizen-government interactions into the digital age. The trip comes as the Cuban government maintains its focus on upgrading public services even amid persistent complex economic challenges, prioritizing efficiency, transparency, data-driven management, and expanded public participation.

During the visit, Digital Government Center director Wilfredo González Vidal walked the leadership through the ongoing work to expand digital procedural services and strengthen connections between the public, government agencies, and civic institutions. One year after the platform’s official launch, 18 distinct online services are currently available to Cuban citizens, accessible via smartphones and any other internet-connected personal devices. To date, the initiative has verified more than 43,000 digital identities for platform users, processed over 24,000 adult passport applications, and completed nearly 40,000 civil registry requests through the digital system. Despite these early milestones, González emphasized that the current volume of usage and service delivery falls short of the project’s long-term goals.

President Díaz-Canel echoed that assessment, noting that public trust in the Sovereignty Platform is directly tied to the speed at which citizen requests are resolved. “As people see that their procedures are completed faster and deliver tangible results through this tool, their confidence in the platform will grow,” he stated during the inspection.

The update also outlined the key challenges the initiative currently faces. Foremost among these is building widespread recognition and legal acceptance of digital documents across all levels of government. Under Cuba’s Ministry of Justice Resolution 284, any digital document that matches records held in the National Central Registry holds the same legal standing as a traditional physical printed document. “First, this requires that all public officials understand and uphold this right held by citizens,” González explained. “We also need widespread training and a cultural shift that acknowledges the Sovereignty Platform offers a valid, modern alternative to in-person service access.”

Beyond the core procedural services already live, the platform currently hosts 12 civil registry application tools, five services related to citizen identity management and electoral address changes, along with the recently launched adult passport processing and targeted social services for vulnerable populations. González stressed that digital transformation is a critical tool to cut red tape for Cuban people: “Public administrations must become more agile, simplify outdated processes, and embrace broader technology adoption to eliminate the need for unnecessary in-person travel and cut avoidable financial costs for citizens.”

Looking ahead, the Digital Government Center has two major expansion projects already in development. The first will create new channels for public engagement with the 176 recently approved economic and social policy reforms, allowing citizens to submit feedback that can refine policy content and deepen grassroots participation in national decision-making. The second project will build a centralized portal connecting job seekers to open positions across both the state and non-state economic sectors. President Díaz-Canel highlighted the unique value this digital channel brings to both of these expansion priorities, underscoring the government’s continued commitment to digital transformation as a core pillar of better public governance.

Against the backdrop of a U.S.-led maximum pressure economic campaign and an energy blockade that has worsened fuel shortages and strained Cuba’s National Electric System (SEN), Cuban state institutions have intensified a crackdown on criminal activity targeting the country’s critical energy infrastructure. As announced by the Cuban Attorney General’s Office in an official statement released August 31, 2026, law enforcement and judicial bodies have opened more than 460 criminal investigations into offenses against the SEN between 2025 and the first half of 2026, with charges ranging from sabotage and property damage to burglary, theft, and receipt of stolen goods.

The current energy crisis in Cuba has been amplified by the U.S. economic blockade, which aims to erode public resilience and inflict widespread hardship on the Cuban population. In this high-stakes context, protecting critical infrastructure—including electricity generation and distribution networks, water supplies, transportation systems, and communications hubs—has become a top national priority. These sectors are foundational to public well-being, economic stability, national security, and domestic order, making any attack on them a direct threat to the entire country.

Under Cuban law, Articles 125 and 126 of the national Penal Code outline harsh penalties for the crime of sabotage, ranging from 7 years of imprisonment up to life incarceration or the death penalty. In a landmark ruling issued in May 2025, Cuba’s Supreme People’s Court clarified that any act of vandalism that steals, damages, alters, or disables components of the national power system, or any other critical infrastructure supporting the country’s economic and social development, qualifies as sabotage. The ruling emphasized that these acts fuel public insecurity, disrupt daily life, and directly undermine state and government efforts to stabilize the energy sector and support the population.

An analysis of the 460+ investigations shows the most common offenses include theft of dielectric oil from power transformers, removal of structural brackets from high-voltage transmission towers, theft and cutting of power cables and network bolts, and deliberate damage to photovoltaic solar parks. Reports of dielectric oil theft alone topped 300 across all Cuban provinces over the 18-month period, with the highest rates of incidents recorded in Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila, Mayabeque, Santiago de Cuba, and Artemisa.

The damage caused by these criminal acts extends far beyond interrupted power service. Thousands of families have faced prolonged blackouts that cut off access to other essential services, while key production facilities that supply food, water, and communications have been forced to shut down. Agricultural operations have also sustained major damage, and many stolen-component transformers have been left irreparable. In a tragic twist, multiple perpetrators have been killed while attempting to steal oil from live, energized power lines.

Investigations by Ministry of the Interior specialized units have found that most of these illicit activities occur in low-traffic, poorly lit areas with no permanent security presence. Stolen dielectric oil is typically trafficked on the black market and resold for use as substitute fuel.

The Attorney General’s Office has maintained strict oversight of all ongoing investigations, confirming that 87% of defendants in these cases are being held in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors have consistently pushed for severe sentences, routinely pursuing charges of sabotage given the extreme harm these acts cause to the public and national infrastructure. Any assets linked to the crimes—including vehicles, agricultural machinery, and proceeds from illicit sales—are eligible for seizure or confiscation by the state.

To date, all individuals tried for SEN-related offenses in 2026 have been convicted of sabotage, with most sentences falling between 9 and 20 years of imprisonment. The uniform conviction rate underscores the Cuban judiciary’s commitment to cracking down on these harmful acts.

In its statement, the Attorney General’s Office noted that these destructive acts exacerbate Cuba’s already fragile energy crisis and hamper government efforts to restore stable power service. At the same time, the crackdown has spurred new efforts to expand preventive protections, strengthen regulatory enforcement, and increase vigilance among community organizations, state entities, and the general public.

Upholding its mission to defend socialist legality and operate in full compliance with Cuba’s Constitution and national laws, the Attorney General’s Office reaffirmed that no individual who harms public well-being amid these already challenging circumstances will escape accountability.

On August 28, 2026, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez conducted an inspection tour of key infrastructure projects and state-owned enterprises across the Cuban capital, focusing on urgent solutions to the capital’s ongoing energy and water supply challenges that have been exacerbated by more than eight months of a U.S. blockade and oil embargo.

The first stop of the president’s tour was the Paso Seco water supply facility, a strategic infrastructure that serves the majority of southern and central Havana, a metropolitan area home to nearly 2 million residents. For months, prolonged and frequent power outages triggered by the country’s energy crisis have disrupted water pumping operations, creating a critical livelihood crisis for local residents. Following Díaz-Canel’s specific directive issued at the National Defense Council, large-scale maintenance and restoration work has been launched at the site, with cross-institutional teams from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, the National Electric Union, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces joining forces to repair deteriorated infrastructure including aging pumping equipment, damaged transmission lines, and faulty motors, while upgrading the facility’s backup power capacity.

Rubén Campos Olmo, Director General of the National Electric Union, told reporters that the project started from an extremely critical baseline, with a core goal of securing stable water supply for the capital. To mitigate the impact of National Electric System outages, additional backup motors will be deployed at Paso Seco and other key water sources across Havana to keep well pumps operational during system failures, maintaining pipeline pressure and consistent water delivery. While this temporary solution incurs additional fuel costs, long-term resilience plans call for the installation of solar panels at all key pumping and repumping stations across the city to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the strained national grid. Campos Olmo confirmed that the backup motors are scheduled to be delivered and connected within 72 hours, ready for activation during any unexpected prolonged outages. During a meeting with task officials, Díaz-Canel emphasized the urgency of resolving power-related water shortages across all of Havana’s water systems, not just the Paso Seco site.

Next, the president visited the under-construction Havana 220 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), located near the Technological University of Havana (Cujae). This is one of four new 50 MW battery storage facilities being rolled out across Cuba, which together will add 200 MW of total grid storage capacity to the national system. The remaining three facilities are located in Cotorro (Havana), Cueto (Holguín), and Bayamo (Granma) respectively.

Manuel Alejandro Soler Sánchez, lead electrical engineer for the Havana 220 project, explained that the lithium-ion based facility is designed as a grid-forming system with a primary function of stabilizing primary frequency for the National Electric System. During national grid disruptions, the BESS can provide startup power to generation facilities to help restore full system operations. It will also mitigate Automatic Frequency Trips, automatic protection mechanisms triggered by dangerous frequency drops that are a leading cause of widespread blackouts across the country. Additionally, the new storage network will enable greater utilization of Cuba’s growing solar photovoltaic capacity, compensating for output dips during cloudy conditions to keep overall power supply stable. According to the project timeline, all electrical installation and technical assembly will be completed by September 30, with final testing and commissioning wrapping up by October 30, when the facility will come online. This project is widely viewed as a landmark technological advancement for Cuba’s energy sector.

The final stop of the president’s tour was Servivip, a pioneering state-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) based in Havana’s Cotorro municipality. Founded in 2021 under Cuba’s new economic framework, the MSME falls under the country’s Higher Business Management Organization for Water and Sanitation, created to address gaps in residential hydraulic network services that the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources was unable to reach. From its original core mission of repairing household and community water networks, Servivip has expanded into a multi-service provider that handles more than 80% of Havana’s mobile water pipe supply, along with drain unclogging, wastewater evacuation, municipal garbage collection, and drinking water treatment. The enterprise has earned the distinction of National Vanguard for three consecutive years, becoming a widely recognized benchmark for successful state MSME management in Cuba. Currently, Servivip employs 88 workers, with an average salary that exceeds 48,000 Cuban pesos, well above the national average for the sector.

During a meeting with company leadership, director Víctor Janier Jara Jorge walked the president through the MSME’s five-year operational history, its strong economic performance, the benefits it has gained from Cuba’s recently approved economic and social reforms, as well as remaining structural obstacles that hinder its growth compared to other business management models. Díaz-Canel took note of the challenges raised to coordinate solutions for the MSME. The president also toured the company’s social responsibility projects, including a daytime care facility for isolated elderly residents that provides full daily care and meals, along with community outreach programs supporting the local school and maternal home. Díaz-Canel highlighted Servivip’s successful operating model, calling for the replication of its worker-led, creative management approach across other entities under the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources to resolve widespread service gaps.

Accompanying the president during the tour were senior Cuban officials including Political Bureau member and Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera; Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh; and multiple members of the Council of Ministers.

On August 26, 2026, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez convened a landmark meeting with private sector representatives from across the island nation’s key economic sectors, cementing a new commitment to sustained, open engagement with the full spectrum of Cuba’s business ecosystem – encompassing both state and non-state management models.

Accompanied by senior government and labor leaders, including Organization Secretary of the Central Committee Roberto Morales Ojeda, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, and Cuban Workers’ Federation Secretary General Osnay Miguel Colina Rodríguez, Díaz-Canel framed systematic dialogue as an indispensable foundation for collective national progress. “We cannot deliver the transformative change our country needs without open, consistent communication,” he told attendees drawn from food production, agriculture, energy, transportation, legal services and other key industries. “Without regular dialogue, we cannot align our perspectives or build the consensus required to move forward.”

The core goal of this expanded engagement, Díaz-Canel emphasized, is to align the ambitions of private business leaders with Cuba’s broader national development priorities, creating a mutually beneficial framework that drives sustainable growth amid what he described as an exceptionally complex global and domestic context. “What we are building is a system that ties your aspirations as entrepreneurs to the aspirations of the entire Cuban people, combining these goals to deliver shared prosperity,” he said. “This is how we build the momentum the country needs to deliver the better standard of living our citizens deserve.”

During the meeting, the president laid out clear policy priorities for all economic actors, calling for aggressive expansion of domestic production of food, consumer goods and essential services, sharp reductions in wasteful unproductive costs and decreased reliance on imported finished goods. He also stressed the critical need to integrate new technology, specialized knowledge and innovative practices across all sectors of the economy.

Díaz-Canel stressed that all economic entities – regardless of ownership model – must align with Cuba’s territorial development strategies and national development plan. He used the energy sector as a clear example, noting that both state-owned enterprises and private companies have defined roles to play, and that these contributions must be measurable in tangible outcomes: from energy generation output to job creation and increased national revenue.

The president also issued a firm rebuke of unethical and illegal economic practices that harm Cuban communities, arguing that legitimate profit must be earned through effort, high productivity, efficiency, innovation and calculated risk – not through speculation, price gouging or exploitation of consumers. He warned that the non-state sector must not become a haven for illegal activity, tax evasion, corruption, hoarding or price fixing that is disconnected from the needs of working people. He specifically called out the harmful practice of refusing bank transfers, announcing that the government will continue its crackdown on the practice until it is fully eliminated.

In redefining how success should be measured for all economic projects, Díaz-Canel argued that profitability alone should not be the sole metric of impact. “We should not judge a project’s value only by what ends up in a bank account,” he explained. “We must measure it by what it puts on a family’s table, what jobs it creates for young people, what opportunities it gives talented Cubans to build their lives here at home, how it improves local communities and drives municipal development, and ultimately how it strengthens our national sovereignty.”

Díaz-Canel closed the meeting by reaffirming Cuba’s commitment to continuing its economic and social transformation, emphasizing that the process will always center on elevating the voices of all stakeholders and prioritizing the well-being of the Cuban people and long-term national development.

During the discussion, participating private sector leaders shared on-the-ground insights from their work, highlighting persistent biases and operational obstacles at the middle management level, many of which stem from limited understanding of the 176 recently approved economic and social reforms. Attendees also presented new business initiatives, outlined community-focused social programs their enterprises are implementing, and shared key priorities – including the transition to new energy sources to prevent disruptive production shutdowns. They closed by reaffirming their commitment to the national collective effort, calling for full integration into Cuba’s unified business network as the country works to advance shared progress.