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标签： Cuba

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  • Faced with collective punishment, resilience

    Faced with collective punishment, resilience

    ### Introduction
    Deepening energy insecurity, rooted in decades-long United States economic sanctions and amplified by two 2025 executive orders framed as collective punishment, has upended the rhythm of daily life for ordinary Cubans across the island. What was once a routine of turning a key for gas or flipping a switch for power has become a daily struggle to adapt to rolling blackouts, fuel shortages, and widespread supply crunches that touch every corner of life—from household cooking to critical neonatal healthcare. Yet even amid overwhelming hardship, interviews with Cubans from multiple regions reveal a quiet, unbroken stubbornness to persist and resist.

    ### Morning Routines Re-shaped by Scarcity
    Long before the sun crests over Cuban neighborhoods, the day starts not to the beat of a clock, but to the demands of unstable energy access. “If power is available, you use every second of it,” explains 71-year-old retired Bayamo resident Rosa María Suárez Montalbán, as she stokes a pile of low-quality charcoal on a makeshift stove cobbled together from pressure cooker lids. For Rosa María, even the simple ritual of a morning cup of coffee requires careful, time-consuming work: the poor-quality charcoal burns out in minutes, smoke stings her eyes, and every ember must be saved. What she longs for most is the reliable liquefied gas service Cuban households once relied on—but that service has collapsed under the weight of sanctions.

    Rosa María does not blame local distributors or truck drivers, who have gone months without deliveries to her community. She points squarely to the U.S. blockade, the decades-long trade embargo that successive U.S. administrations have tightened to pressure the Cuban government. “When will they leave us in peace?” she asks. She recounts recent weeks of extreme blackouts: nearly 44 hours without power, with only two hours of steady service in total. All limited domestic fuel reserves are diverted to hospitals and critical infrastructure—even running water pumps are not prioritized, forcing her son-in-law to make multiple bicycle trips to haul a single tank of drinking water. Still, she tells herself: “Stay calm… we’ll get through this.”

    ### Hardship Shared Across Regions
    Eighty-year-old Elvira Quintana Arbolea from Cienfuegos has dug out an old charcoal stove she kept stored for years, now her primary cooking tool amid frequent blackouts. Like many Cubans, she expresses confusion and frustration at the stance of Cuban exiles abroad who celebrate these hardships. Even so, she holds gratitude for the international solidarity Cuba has received amid shortages, and recalls the decades of medical and humanitarian aid the island has itself sent to vulnerable communities across the globe.

    In smaller municipalities far from major provincial capitals, the energy crisis is even more severe. In Lajas, resident Alberto Hidalgo Sánchez reports that blackouts can stretch past 50 consecutive hours. His family cooks with firewood, not charcoal—charcoal has become too expensive to afford regularly. “It’s overwhelming,” he admits. “It would be a lie to say it’s easy.” On top of rising food prices, families now have to expend extra time and labor just to prepare the food they can access.

    Alberto frames the crisis as deliberate punishment imposed by Washington, and places hope in growing opposition to the embargo among the American public, calling out anti-Cuba politicians like Marco Rubio for pushing abusive policies. He pushes back against arguments that U.S. annexation would solve Cuba’s problems, pointing to ongoing blackouts in U.S.-ruled Puerto Rico and the chaos that followed foreign intervention in Libya. “If they invade, they will attack the thermoelectric plants, and building one will take at least five years,” he argues. “We must resist and win. If any people can do it, it is the Cuban people.”

    ### Scarcity Reaches Even Critical Healthcare
    The strain of the blockade reaches beyond household life, penetrating even the most critical public services. Retired Granma province resident Estela Carrazana went through a cataract surgery last year that exposed the depth of medical supply shortages driven by sanctions. After receiving her surgery date, she was told she would need to source her own supplies for the procedure: five syringes, protective goggles, four pairs of non-disposable surgical gloves, and the medication chlordiazepoxide—all of which were difficult to find amid widespread scarcity.

    “I had the surgery, thank God,” she says now, her vision restored. “But tell me, how long will we have to deal with this pressure? They’re limiting us down to the smallest things.” She praises the skill and dedication of Cuban doctors, but notes they cannot do their jobs properly without the supplies and medication they need. “This blockade is suffocating us,” she says.

    ### Nurses Carry On Despite Personal Hardship
    The dedication of Cuban healthcare workers shines through even amid systemic scarcity. By 5 a.m., Rujaine García Linares is already awake, after another night of restless sleep plagued by mosquitoes and power outages at her Santa Clara home. She works as a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Mariana Grajales Hospital, where dozens of critically ill infants rely on her care to survive. A day prior, a 40-hour blackout spoiled most of the food in her refrigerator, forcing her to cook everything she had left to feed her two children and 85-year-old mother. Now, by candlelight, she boils eggs and cooks rice over a charcoal stove, rushing to finish before she has to leave for work.

    She cannot afford the daily cost of a private tricycle ride to the hospital, so she walks to the bus terminal at 7 a.m., hoping a kind driver will offer her a ride. Once she arrives at the hospital, she shifts her full focus to the most important work: saving the lives of the infants in her care, who are put at additional risk by the medicine and fuel shortages caused by the U.S. blockade. Rujaine leaves her own personal struggles at the hospital door; she knows the families waiting outside are already suffering, and that neither the children nor their families are to blame for the crisis crippling Cuba’s healthcare system, which she describes as a deliberate act of genocide by the U.S. government to break the Cuban people.

    Away from work, Rujaine juggles her roles as a mother, daughter, nurse, and community member, often sharing what little she has with more vulnerable neighbors. The article’s authors note that when these difficult times pass, Cuban women like Rujaine—who serve as the quiet backbone of families and communities, pulling the country through each hard day—deserve to be honored for their resilience.

    ### Conclusion: Persistence Through Generations
    As night falls, exhaustion adds to the darkness that covers Cuban neighborhoods. If residents are lucky, a charged rechargeable fan provides a small measure of relief from the heat and mosquitoes. “Sleeping like this is difficult, but tomorrow we have to get up,” Rosa María says—and that simple phrase captures the intergenerational persistence that has defined Cuban life through decades of blockade.

    Even amid overwhelming hardship, Cubans continue to move forward. Carrying daily burdens requires immense fortitude and repeated sacrifice, but the resolve of the people remains unbroken. When the history of this era is written, it will remember a noble, courageous people, and a cowardly, ruthless enemy that tried and failed to break their will.

  • Maceo and Che Guevara: The rebellion of never surrendering

    Maceo and Che Guevara: The rebellion of never surrendering

    Across the sweep of history, chance often weaves together remarkable threads of shared destiny. For the Cuban people and much of Latin America, the annual arrival of June 14 is no random date on the calendar: it marks the shared birthday of two of the region’s most iconic revolutionary leaders, born 83 years apart and thousands of kilometers apart, who now hold a place of honor in the pantheon of Latin American independence.

    Antonio Maceo, born in 1845 in San Luis, Santiago de Cuba, and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, born in 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, never crossed paths in life. Yet their ideological visions and life trajectories converged on the same core goal: a fully free, sovereign Cuba, and a politically and economically united Latin America free from foreign interference.

    Though the two men came from drastically different material backgrounds, their upbringings equally forged the unyielding character that would define their revolutionary work. Maceo was born to small mixed-heritage farmers – a Venezuelan father and Cuban mother – who raised 12 children and instilled in them a deep love for their land and a fierce hatred of the colonial institution of slavery. Che, by contrast, grew up in a comfortable, intellectual middle-class Argentine household, surrounded by books and progressive thought. His father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, held deeply progressive political views, while his mother Celia de la Serna nurtured his critical thinking, introducing him to the work of Karl Marx and Pablo Neruda from a young age.

    Neither man inherited leadership; they earned their standing through deliberate choice and consistent action. At just 23 years old, Maceo joined Cuba’s Ten Years’ War against Spanish colonial rule in 1868. With no prior military training or rank, his raw courage and sharp tactical mind allowed him to rise quickly through the ranks to become lieutenant to revolutionary general Máximo Gómez. Multiple battle wounds, and his iconic refusal to accept a compromised surrender deal with Spanish forces at the Protest of Baraguá, cemented his reputation as the “Bronze Titan,” a leader who never wavered in his commitment to independence until he fell in battle in December 1896 at the age of 51, machete still in hand.

    For Che, a trained doctor, his revolutionary convictions were forged on the road during his famous cross-continental motorcycle trip with friend Alberto Granados, where he witnessed firsthand the systemic poverty and exploitation that plagued working people across Latin America. He would go on to join the Cuban liberation struggle from 1956 to 1959, rising from serving as the doctor on board the Granma expedition yacht to commander of the Rebel Army, leading the decisive, legendary battle for Santa Clara that sealed the revolution’s victory. After the revolution, he carried his fight for global liberation to other regions of the world, first in Africa and then to Bolivia, where he was killed in 1967 at just 39 years old, rifle still at his side.

    Across more than a century, the overlapping values of Maceo and Che stand as a mirror held through time, reflecting a shared unwavering commitment to revolutionary principle. Maceo famously declared, “I understand no other word than freedom,” while Che wrote, “Our freedom and its daily sustenance are the color of blood and are filled with sacrifice.” Three core principles united the two leaders across their different eras: leadership by example, unwavering internationalism, and absolute rejection of any negotiation or mediation with colonial and imperial enemies.

    Both men fought on the front lines alongside their troops, sharing the same hunger, danger and hardship without claiming special privilege. Maceo fought first for Cuban independence, and his commitment to regional liberation extended to supporting the independence struggles of Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico. Che, who traveled to Cuba from his native Argentina carrying the experience of continental poverty, rejected the idea that national solidarity ends at a border. He became Cuban by choice, by sacrifice and by the struggle for liberation, and carried the revolutionary fight to the Global South, holding fast to his conviction that “humanity is the homeland of man.” Even when cornered by enemy forces in Bolivia’s Quebrada del Yuro, facing execution at the hands of Bolivian Rangers backed by the CIA, he remained unflinching, telling his executioners, “Calm down and aim well. You are going to kill a man.” Though his body was mutilated after death, his image and ideology have spread across every continent, inspiring new generations of activists.

    Today, as Cuba faces an intensifying U.S. economic blockade, as global media campaigns work to distort and caricature the legacy of Latin American revolutionaries, and as political discourse increasingly frames compromise and resignation as “maturity,” the parallel lives and shared values of Maceo and Che emerge as both a reminder of what is possible and a call to action. Their lives prove that true greatness is measured not by wealth or power, but by the justice of the cause for which one is willing to fight and die.

  • Fidel Castro’s legacy celebrated in France on his centenary

    Fidel Castro’s legacy celebrated in France on his centenary

    A moving commemorative evening honoring Fidel Castro, the historic Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution, brought together pro-Cuba solidarity groups, Cuban diplomatic representatives, and partnership organizers in France recently.

    Attendees included representatives of two prominent pro-Cuba organizations, the Entre Amigos Collective and Juntos X Cuba Channel, diplomatic staff from the Cuban Embassy in France, and Manuel Pascual, president of the Cuba Cooperation France Association, alongside dozens of Latin American community members and Cuba solidarity activists.

    The evening opened with a public screening of the documentary *Minifundio Nazareno*, a work that chronicles Fidel Castro’s groundbreaking pilot livestock development initiative launched decades ago. The project marked one of Castro’s early efforts to expand Cuba’s domestic agricultural capacity, and it relied on the close partnership of French agronomist Andre Voisin, who went on to make Cuba his permanent home until his death in Havana in December 1964. Voisin remains buried on the island to this day, a lasting testament to the cross-border collaboration that defined the initiative.

    Following the screening, participants joined a thematic roundtable discussion organized specifically to pay tribute to Castro’s legacy. The conversation brought together perspectives from Latin American community leaders and long-time supporters of Cuba’s right to self-determination, reflecting on the revolutionary leader’s decades-long impact on Cuba and the broader Global South.

    Complementing the discussion and documentary, a curated photo gallery was open to all attendees, tracing key milestones across every phase of Castro’s life, from his early revolutionary activities to his tenure leading the Cuban people.

    In her remarks during the event, Cuban Consul Alisbel Hechevarria extended sincere gratitude to the global and French solidarity community for their unwavering support for Cuba. She used the platform to denounce the recent tightening of the decades-long U.S. economic embargo and oil blockade against the island, measures that have created widespread additional hardship for ordinary Cuban citizens. Despite mounting pressure, Hechevarria reaffirmed the Cuban people’s unbreakable resolve, emphasizing that they will never surrender their sovereignty or independence.

    The evening concluded with the official inauguration of the pop-up “Marcha con Fidel” bar, where guests were invited to sample a range of thematically named specialty beverages. These included “Comandante” rum, a custom “Fidel” cocktail, limited-edition “Ordene” beer brewed exclusively for the commemorative event, and the signature “Cuba va” (Cuba Advances) cocktail, a nod to the island’s persistent progress in the face of external pressure.

  • Díaz-Canel explains priorities designed to overcome current difficulties

    Díaz-Canel explains priorities designed to overcome current difficulties

    In an exclusive address to the press corps of the Cuban Presidency published on June 12, 2026, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, laid out a comprehensive strategy to sustain national development and overcome the long-standing, punitive U.S. imperial blockade that has strained every sector of Cuban life.

    Díaz-Canel opened his remarks by invoking a core principle from the era of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro: that in times of unprecedented complexity, a relentless passion for development and creative problem-solving is non-negotiable. Framing the U.S. blockade as a multidimensional, interventionist act of aggression that has disrupted daily life for every Cuban family and created deep systemic stress across the national economy, he emphasized that the resilience of the Cuban people has already defied Washington’s expectations.

    “A failed state could not have survived even a few weeks of the pressure we have endured for decades,” Díaz-Canel noted, pointing out that the continued existence of the Cuban Revolution and the functioning of the Cuban state directly contradicts repeated U.S. claims of imminent collapse. Drawing on Castro’s teachings, he stressed that crises must be seized as opportunities for growth, and that collective unity and popular will will carry the nation through current challenges.

    To meet this moment, the Cuban government has established two overarching national priorities. The first is robust defense preparedness. Díaz-Canel detailed ongoing work to strengthen the country’s territorial defense system, leveraging weekly Defense Days to refine operational plans, adapt to new lessons learned, and expand civilian participation and protection within a people-centered defense strategy.

    The second, and most transformative priority, is the implementation of the 2026 Cuban Economic and Social Program, a set of sweeping reforms that emerged from months of nationwide public debate. Díaz-Canel explained that public input broadened and strengthened the initial policy framework, with experts refining proposals through comparative analysis of socialist transition experiences in China and Vietnam, and even leveraging artificial intelligence tools to test policy outcomes. The final version of the program is now being finalized for approval by the Communist Party Political Bureau and the National Assembly of People’s Power, after which a nationwide public outreach campaign will begin to ensure broad buy-in for the changes.

    The reforms target more than 20 key areas of economic and governance transformation, starting with a restructuring of the national economic management system to resolve long-standing tensions between central planning and productive incentives. Díaz-Canel emphasized that the core goal of all proposed changes is to drive national production, generate shared wealth, and distribute that wealth through principles of social justice — a necessary step to expand social programs and address growing inequalities and community vulnerabilities exacerbated by the blockade.

    A central pillar of the reform agenda is expanding autonomy to two key drivers of growth: municipal governments and state-owned enterprises. Díaz-Canel argued that national strength grows from strong local governance, proposing that municipalities gain full authority to manage their own economic ecosystems, approve local investments, facilitate partnerships between economic actors, and engage directly in import and export activity, including managing foreign direct investment and projects with Cubans residing abroad. These powers, he stressed, do not conflict with national priorities, but reinforce them by unlocking untapped local endogenous potential.

    For state-owned enterprises, the reforms grant sweeping operational autonomy free from unnecessary bureaucratic interference. Enterprises will be able to set their own size, design worker-centered salary systems, control the use of their profits, engage directly in import and export activity, retain a share of foreign currency earnings for expansion, form partnerships with any domestic or foreign economic actor, and choose their own clients and suppliers. They will also gain direct access to the national foreign exchange market, putting them on an equal competitive footing with non-state economic actors, a long-called-for change by sector stakeholders. Díaz-Canel added that state enterprises will be permitted to open foreign currency bank accounts, removing a major barrier to operational flexibility.

    The reform package also includes a major restructuring of the state and party apparatus, with a draft bill already published for public comment on the National Assembly website that will cut the number of ministries and senior administrative positions significantly. The resulting budget savings will be redirected to support social programs and long-overdue salary reform, particularly for budget-dependent public sector workers, while eliminating bureaucratic bloat to create a more agile, responsive governance system.

    To revitalize Cuba’s critical agricultural sector and advance toward food sovereignty, the reforms grant new powers to streamline land use, putting idle land into production by transferring plots to producers with a demonstrated track record of output. All producer categories — state, cooperative, private, and foreign-invested — will be able to access input markets in both national and foreign currency, form cross-sector partnerships, and benefit from reduced bureaucratic red tape to speed up project approval.

    Foreign trade will also be liberalized: mandatory intermediation for import and export activity will be eliminated, with lower tariffs applied to imported inputs and raw materials than to finished goods that can be produced domestically. Policymakers are also evaluating permitting foreign trade entities to hold overseas bank accounts, while the scope of allowed activities for non-state economic actors will be expanded, with only a limited list of prohibited activities remaining. MSME approval processes will be expedited, with authority delegated to municipal governments to speed up processing, and foreign direct investment will be incentivized through streamlined approval timelines, clearer property rights, and improved access to banking. Cubans residing both on the island and abroad will be able to participate in investment on equal terms with other economic actors.

    Other key priorities outlined in the program include a rapid expansion of renewable energy to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, which have been severely disrupted by the blockade — Díaz-Canel noted that only one oil tanker has arrived in Cuba in the past five months. The country will also expand electric mobility, phase out universal product subsidies in favor of targeted subsidies for the most vulnerable households, restructure fiscal policy to end public financing of inefficient state enterprises, strengthen the banking and financial system, and liberalize restrictions on vehicle imports with preferential treatment for electric vehicles powered by solar energy.

    For tourism, a sector hit particularly hard by the U.S. blockade and pressure on international chains to withdraw from Cuba, Díaz-Canel called for new approaches that open the sector to new non-traditional actors to leverage existing tourism infrastructure. Domestic trade will be modernized through nationwide electronic invoicing and expanded use of digital retail platforms, while targeted incentives will protect young skilled workers, retaining domestic human capital by offering competitive wages that give young Cubans the opportunity to contribute to national development without relocating abroad.

    Closing his address, Díaz-Canel called for national unity, noting that Cuba has not ground to a halt under blockade pressure, but is pursuing deliberate, strategic reform. He denounced ongoing U.S. psychological warfare designed to force Cuban surrender, but emphasized that the vast majority of the Cuban people remain committed to defending their revolution and retaining sovereignty over their national development path, rejecting external interference that runs counter to the revolutionary vision of a just, independent Cuba. Open discussion of all reform proposals will continue, he added, with all constructive ideas welcome as the country moves forward together.

  • Refining domestic crude oil: A path of great effort that continues to yield results

    Refining domestic crude oil: A path of great effort that continues to yield results

    Against a backdrop of decades-long economic pressure and a tightening U.S. energy blockade that cut off access to imported crude oil, Cuba’s iconic Hermanos Díaz Refinery in Santiago de Cuba has delivered a landmark demonstration of national resilience: the successful processing of 20,000 tons of domestically produced crude oil, a feat that defies long-held industry assumptions and underscores the island nation’s drive for energy self-sufficiency.

    The refinery, one of only four operating in Cuba and originally expanded and modernized in the 1980s to process imported light crude, has a long history of adapting to crisis. Between 2016 and 2021, the facility faced mounting challenges: steep production declines, consistent financial losses, and a damaging brain drain of skilled engineers, technicians, and operational staff. It was not until 2024 that a team of in-house specialists achieved a pivotal technological breakthrough, developing a proprietary solvent that upgraded imported heavy crude from 16 degrees API to a medium-grade crude suitable for full distillation into usable petroleum derivatives.

    This innovation transformed the refinery’s trajectory. Led by more than 700 on-site workers, widespread incremental technological upgrades, and a culture of collective innovation, the facility returned to profitability, stopped the outflow of skilled personnel, and resumed production of critical products including naphtha, gasoline, drilling fuel, fuel oil for national thermoelectric plants and distributed power generation, asphalt, and raw materials for Cuba’s key nickel industry. “If we had resigned ourselves to the technological limitations that made refining heavy crude seem impossible at the end of the last decade, the future of this critical industry would have been very uncertain,” noted Irene Barbado Lucio, general director of the refinery, which operates under the state-owned Cuban Petroleum Union (Cupet). “United, we overcame what seemed unbeatable.”

    That spirit of collective problem-solving was put to an even greater test in 2026, when the long-running U.S. blockade, tightened under the Trump administration and maintained through subsequent policy, succeeded in cutting off all consistent access to imported crude. Coercive U.S. pressure forced international suppliers to halt oil exports to Cuba, leaving the nation at risk of running out of naphtha — a core input required to continue operating domestic oil extraction wells. Facing an existential energy crisis, the refinery’s leadership turned to the only available option: leverage their existing crude upgrading technology to adapt to domestic crude, following the self-sufficiency principles long embedded in Cuba’s revolutionary approach.

    After intensive research and process adjustments, the refinery ran its first test batch of domestic crude in March 2026, successfully producing naphtha, diesel, and fuel oil — and keeping the nation’s domestic oil fields operational. While initial results were promising, the unique properties of Cuban crude — high viscosity, high sulfur content, and high acidity that causes accelerated corrosion — required targeted facility modifications. To address these challenges, engineers prioritized processing crude from western Cuba, which has more favorable flow characteristics and lower viscosity than other domestic deposits, while rolling out incremental upgrades across the refinery.

    By the middle of 2026, the team had scaled operations to process 20,000 tons of domestic crude, exceeding the performance of the initial pilot run. The facility successfully produced solvent naphtha for domestic oil wells and fuel oil that is already powering the Antonio Maceo Thermoelectric Power Plant, with evaluations underway for its use in the nickel industry. While the diesel produced does not yet meet full commercial standards, it can be blended with higher-quality residual stocks to create usable fuel. To optimize the refining process for Cuban crude’s unique properties, specialists have implemented multiple targeted upgrades: rehabilitated crude washing systems, introduced a new corrosion-neutralizing product called Vapen 220 pe to counteract corrosive acids formed during distillation, built a dedicated collection line for pollutant gases from the vacuum distillation tower (which are then burned in refinery furnaces to cut emissions and protect worker health), and reconfigured pipeline infrastructure to improve the flow of high-viscosity crude.

    Today, the facility continues ongoing infrastructure upgrades to improve production traceability, reduce fuel loss, strengthen fire suppression and lightning protection systems, and expand spill containment measures to protect nearby Santiago Bay. The milestone aligns with broader national innovation efforts led by the Petroleum Research Center, centered on thermoconversion technology that Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has highlighted as a core part of the nation’s push for energy independence. Díaz-Canel noted that the achievement breaks a long-standing taboo in Cuba that domestic crude was only suitable for direct burning in thermoelectric plants, opening new pathways to make full use of the nation’s own energy resources.

    While the 20,000-ton milestone does not yet meet all of Cuba’s national petroleum product demand, it represents a critical technological advance that unlocks more efficient use of Cuba’s own energy resources. The unsung team of refinery workers and specialists, many working long overtime hours with little public recognition, continues to iterate on processes to expand capacity and improve output, ensuring that critical economic sectors can keep operating even when imported oil is denied to the island through U.S. coercion.

    For industry leaders, the achievement is far more than an energy milestone: it is a testament to the Cuban people’s ability to innovate and endure even the most severe external pressure. As Barbado Lucio put it, every small adjustment made each day brings the nation one step closer to mitigating the harms of the blockade and building a sustainable, self-sufficient energy future.

  • President Díaz-Canel visits Recycling Business Group units in Havana

    President Díaz-Canel visits Recycling Business Group units in Havana

    On Tuesday, June 10, 2026, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic of Cuba, conducted a scheduled working visit to two facilities operated by the Recycling Business Group (GER) in Regla, a municipality of Havana. The tour forms part of Díaz-Canel’s regular weekly engagements with strategic local entities that drive the island nation’s economic and social development, with a focus on advancing solutions to one of Havana’s most persistent public challenges: unmanaged solid waste.

    The president’s first stop was the Alfredo Ramonal Basic Business Unit (UEB), a facility specialized in the processing and sorting of non-ferrous waste. During a walkthrough of the facility’s operations, Díaz-Canel greeted frontline workers and received a detailed briefing on the unit’s performance amid ongoing economic and infrastructure challenges. He publicly commended the team for leveraging new opportunities for the domestic business sector to grow revenue even amid extremely difficult operating conditions.

    UEB Director Sadie Jiménez Condés shared details of the unit’s adaptive strategies with reporters following the meeting, noting that the operation has adjusted to prolonged power outages that disrupt raw material processing by implementing staggered work schedules and providing dedicated electric transportation for employees. Jiménez added that the president expressed particular interest in workforce retention and compensation, an area where the Alfredo Ramonal UEB has posted strong results: employee turnover remains near zero, with the full workforce consistently retained. Workers report high satisfaction with their compensation, which in turn drives consistent productivity.

    As of the end of May 2026, the UEB reports an average worker salary of 40,000 Cuban pesos and cumulative profits exceeding 3 million pesos. Díaz-Canel urged the unit’s leadership to reinvest these gains into refining operational processes, upgrading facility conditions, and addressing key worker needs including housing support. Looking ahead, the unit plans to roll out upgrades to raise production quality, including new mechanized crushing equipment for copper processing and the installation of independent power infrastructure for the facility’s can processing line. All processed raw materials from the Alfredo Ramonal UEB are sold with value addition to Desequip Company, the GER’s export-focused affiliate, before entering international markets.

    Following his visit to the UEB, the president traveled to Desequip, which handles all import and export activity for the GER under Cuba’s Ministry of Industries. At Desequip, he received an update on a groundbreaking locally developed waste management system that has been piloted in Havana in recent months. The project grew out of research conducted by Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), launched as part of a national priority initiative announced by Díaz-Canel in 2025 to reverse declining public hygiene conditions across Havana.

    Marian Herrera Delgado, a recovery team lead at the Havana Raw Materials Recovery Company who presented the initiative to the president, explained that the new system is designed to boost waste recovery rates through optimized process organization, eliminating the need for large capital outlays or additional workforce expansion. Early results from the pilot phase have already delivered an increase in export revenues, though organizers note key areas for further refinement, including the upcoming launch of a custom mobile app to coordinate operations and expanded engagement with local communities and non-state economic actors.

    In a key update shared during the briefing, GER executives confirmed that the successful pilot has positioned the new local waste management system for a national rollout, with plans to extend the framework to all other provinces across Cuba. In closing remarks, Díaz-Canel emphasized that the innovation—centered on more structured organization of waste dumping, collection and processing—represents a critical opportunity to convert what was once unmanaged waste into much-needed export revenue for the Cuban economy.

    The president also stressed that long-term success will depend on expanded grassroots organization at the neighborhood level, to ensure that individual residents, private businesses, state institutions and non-state economic actors all understand contractual terms, know the location of approved dumping and collection points, and can participate in a national shift toward widespread source separation of waste. This shift will allow the country to unlock additional value from materials that were once treated as valueless refuse.

    Tuesday’s tour of GER facilities aligns with Díaz-Canel’s ongoing focus on strategic sectors that underpin Cuba’s long-term progress, including food production, electrical grid recovery, digital transformation, energy transition and electric transportation, all areas that are central to the country’s ongoing development efforts.

  • Cuban jurists, firm in defending revolutionary legality

    Cuban jurists, firm in defending revolutionary legality

    On Cuba’s annual Jurist’s Day, marking the 49th anniversary of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba (UNJC), legal professionals across the nation have issued a unified rebuke of heightened coercive measures and the ongoing energy blockade imposed by the United States, while reaffirming their unwavering commitment to defending the country’s sovereignty, socialist legality, and national government. The main national commemorative event was hosted in the eastern province of Guantánamo, which earned the distinction of being named the Most Outstanding Province in UNJC work for the ninth consecutive year, sharing the 2026 honor with six other Cuban regions: Villa Clara, Granma, Havana, Ciego de Ávila, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba.

    Presided over by high-ranking Cuban officials including Salvador Valdés Mesa, Vice President of the Republic and member of the Communist Party Political Bureau, and Roberto Morales Ojeda, Organization Secretary of the Party Central Committee, the ceremony also featured a special appearance by veteran Rebel Army Commander José Ramón Machado Ventura. In his keynote address, UNJC national president Alexis Ginarte Gato emphasized the irreplaceable role of Cuba’s legal community in sustaining the socialist state, upholding the rule of law, and shielding national sovereignty from external interference. He reiterated the jurists’ solemn commitment to defending the homeland, advancing social justice, and protecting Cuba’s independent self-determination.

    Ginarte Gato specifically condemned the recent escalation of U.S. aggressive actions, labeling the unilateral coercive measures and energy blockade as a deliberate act of genocide against the Cuban people that flagrantly violates fundamental tenets of international law and the United Nations Charter. During the event, the UNJC formally announced the convening of its 10th National Congress, scheduled to take place in June 2027, centered on the core theme: “Strengthening Institutions as a Guarantee of the Country’s Economic and Social Transformation.”

    Reading the official 49th anniversary declaration on behalf of the organization, young jurist Patricia Romero Madrigal underscored the community’s dedication to upholding foundational international principles: sovereign equality of all nations, non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Yamila González Ferrer, UNJC vice president, also read a solidarity message from the International Association of Democratic Jurists, which praised the Cuban jurists’ organization for its long-standing commitment to legality, sovereignty, and social justice, and joined Cuba in condemning the intensification of the U.S. blockade, including the executive order-imposed energy restriction, reaffirming the international body’s steadfast solidarity with the Cuban people and their legal community.

    Speaking from Guantánamo, the host province, UNJC representatives issued a sharp public warning amid growing U.S. aggression aimed at undermining Cuban resolve, crippling the national economy, and silencing the country’s voice. “When the U.S. government becomes more aggressive in its efforts to break our will, stifle our economy, and silence our voice, Cuban jurists, with our laws and the Constitution as our shield, tell them they will not succeed,” the declaration read, delivered by rising legal professional Lisandra Premión Torres. The document stressed, “In Cuba, the law does not bend, nor does justice negotiate its dignity,” adding that current imperialist threats are merely the latest iteration of a decades-long blockade that operates without basic humanitarian principle, repeatedly violating established international law, agreements, and treaties.

    The declaration reiterated: “We reaffirm to our people that the law is on their side, and to the empire, that there will be no retreats, no concessions to blackmail. Not one step back in the defense of our socialist, independent, and sovereign Cuba.” On behalf of Cuba’s younger generation of legal professionals, the proclamation reaffirmed full support for the Cuban government’s position against imperialist threats, noting: “We inherit the tradition of decorum from those who, like Ignacio Agramonte, José Martí, and Fidel Castro, established a revolutionary law at the service of the people.”

    Guantánamo was selected to host the national event in recognition of its comprehensive work advancing jurist professional development and cracking down on crime, corruption, illicit activity, and social disorder. During the celebration, which was held in honor of the centennial of Fidel Castro, local authorities inaugurated a new headquarters building for the Guantánamo Provincial People’s Court, constructed at a cost of more than 20 million pesos to improve working conditions for legal professionals defending socialist legality and national sovereignty. The event concluded with honors awarded to individual outstanding lawyers, exemplary local organization chapters, and winners of the national competition for legal scientific societies, attended by Yoel Pérez García, Guantánamo’s First Secretary of the Party, Governor Alis Azahares Torreblanca, and other regional and national authorities.

  • Cuban jurists: A commitment to justice and the nation

    Cuban jurists: A commitment to justice and the nation

    On June 8, 2026, Cuba comes together to observe Jurist’s Day, a national commemoration honoring the foundational contributions of legal professionals across every corner of the country’s justice ecosystem. This year’s celebration carries extra weight, as it aligns perfectly with the 49th founding anniversary of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, known locally by its Spanish acronym UNJC. For nearly five decades, UNJC has served as the unifying body for Cuban legal practitioners, spearheading initiatives that boost professional growth, advance evidence-based legal research, and expand public understanding of legal rights and frameworks across the island nation.

    Cuba’s rich legal tradition draws enduring inspiration from iconic historical figures who shaped the country’s commitment to justice. Foremost among these is Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz, a 19th-century revolutionary and legal thinker whose reputation for uncompromising integrity, fierce patriotism, and forward-thinking legal ideas remains unmatched in Cuban history. Tied closely to the nation’s early struggles for independence and equitable governance, Agramonte Loynaz’s legacy continues to guide and motivate new cohorts of law students and practicing jurists generation after generation.

    Another towering influence for Cuban legal professionals is Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, a trained lawyer who turned his legal expertise into a weapon for defending marginalized communities and advancing national interests from his early career onward. Castro’s lifelong work and ideological framework left a lasting imprint on Cuban legal thought, embedding core lessons about the centrality of justice and the inherent dignity of all people into the country’s legal culture.

    Beyond speeches and historical tributes, Jurist’s Day serves as a moment to center the everyday work of legal practitioners across Cuba: from judges and prosecutors in courtrooms to public defenders, private legal consultants, academic researchers, and policy advisors working in state and civil society institutions across the country. Every day, these professionals work to implement, refine, and strengthen Cuba’s legal system, advancing the core goals of a socialist state grounded in the rule of law and widespread social justice.

    To mark this year’s observance, a range of commemorative activities have been organized across all regions of Cuba. These events are designed not only to celebrate the contributions of the thousands of men and women who have dedicated their careers to the study and practice of law, but also to reaffirm the Cuban legal community’s shared commitment to the non-negotiable principles of ethical practice, professional accountability, and service to the public — values that will guide the profession as it confronts the evolving challenges of Cuba’s present and future.

  • Another shipment of aid donated by Mexico and Belize arrived in Cuba

    Another shipment of aid donated by Mexico and Belize arrived in Cuba

    HAVANA, June 9 – A major new solidarity shipment carrying 1,700 tons of food and essential basic necessities has reached the Port of Havana, arriving from Mexico in a joint aid effort between Mexico and Belize that offers a critical lifeline to Cuba amid escalating U.S. pressure. The cargo vessel, which departed from a Mexican port, was formally welcomed by senior Cuban government officials Sunday, who extended explicit gratitude to the presidents of both Mexico and Belize for their continued support.

    Speaking to reporters following the ship’s arrival, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Cuba’s Minister of Domestic Trade, highlighted the profound meaning of the donation at a moment of unprecedented uncertainty for the Cuban people. With the United States having ramped up restrictive measures and implemented a second new executive order targeting Cuba, Velázquez noted that the ongoing display of solidarity from other nations sends a powerful message that Cuba does not stand alone in facing external pressure.

    Velázquez also addressed the logistical challenges the country has navigated to distribute incoming aid, noting that the U.S.-imposed energy blockade has slowed many operational processes. To counter these barriers, Cuban authorities have pursued innovative alternative strategies to speed up distribution, including integrating non-state economic actors into the logistics chain. This adaptation is designed to ensure the donated supplies reach Cuban communities and households as quickly as possible to meet critical needs.

    Beyond addressing immediate needs on the ground, the joint aid shipment reinforces longstanding cooperative ties between Cuba, Mexico and Belize, deepening people-to-people and diplomatic bonds across the three nations. The arrival of the donation comes as the Cuban government continues to push back against U.S. sanctions, while building out collaborative partnerships with countries that maintain solidarity with its sovereignty.

  • Cuba will not surrender! Cuba persists and resists! And that persistence is intolerable to the empire!

    Cuba will not surrender! Cuba persists and resists! And that persistence is intolerable to the empire!

    On June 5, 2026, at Havana’s Karl Marx Theater, Cuban President and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez delivered a keynote address marking two landmark moments of national revolutionary significance: the 95th birthday of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT). The event, held on Cuba’s National Defense Day, unfolded against the backdrop of escalating unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States government, which Díaz-Canel framed as a genocidal campaign against the Cuban people.

    Díaz-Canel opened by extending official congratulations to Raúl Castro on behalf of Cuba’s Party, government, civil society organizations and entire population, emphasizing that the dual commemoration is far more than a coincidental alignment of dates on the revolutionary calendar. It reflects the deep, inseparable bond between Raúl Castro’s decades-long revolutionary legacy and the founding of MININT. The origins of MININT, formally established on June 6, 1961, trace directly to the guerrilla command structures built during Cuba’s revolutionary war, specifically the Secret Service Corps of the 26th of July Revolutionary Army General Staff in the liberated territories of the Frank País Second Eastern Front. The order creating that rebel security unit was signed by a 27-year-old Raúl Castro, then commander of the Second Front.

    Historical records preserved in Raúl Castro’s Selected Works reveal the young commander’s early strategic insight: he mandated the security body identify and counter “everything that could affect, compromise, or endanger the security of our rebel forces.” This foundational commitment to perpetual vigilance, proactive threat assessment, and unwavering defense of revolutionary gains and the Cuban people has defined Raúl Castro’s entire revolutionary career, Díaz-Canel noted. Alongside Fidel Castro, Raúl has served as a lifelong mentor and inspiration for MININT combatants and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).

    In response to recent baseless slander and unlawful attacks against Raúl launched from anti-Cuban extremist networks based in Florida, Díaz-Canel highlighted the viral spread of the phrase “Raúl is Raúl” across Cuban social media and public life. Adapted from a phrase Raúl himself once used to describe Fidel, the slogan underscores Raúl’s irreplaceable role in Cuban history: a pillar of the nation’s unyielding dignity in the face of U.S. hegemony, who has never lowered Cuba’s flag, abandoned its revolutionary ideals, or surrendered to external pressure. “Raúl is Cuba, and Cuba is untouchable,” Díaz-Canel declared, noting that as long as a single Cuban stands to defend the nation, it will remain unbroken.

    Beyond national leadership, Díaz-Canel celebrated Raúl’s far-reaching contributions to global diplomacy and justice for the Global South. Raúl was the architect of the historic Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, a framework that today faces direct assault from the current U.S. administration’s resuscitation of the Monroe Doctrine and interventionist warmongering. He also served as a successful mediator in the Colombian peace process that produced the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, and facilitated the first high-level meeting between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church after centuries of division. Most notably, Raúl patiently guided the opening of normalized relations between Cuba and the United States in the 2010s—a path unilaterally cut off in 2017 by anti-Cuban factions in Washington that now push for dangerous military confrontation.

    Díaz-Canel also highlighted Raúl’s personal character: a devoted family man, loyal friend, and consistent leader who retains his proverbial wisdom and guidance for the Cuban people at 95. On Raúl’s behalf, he conveyed gratitude to the Cuban people for the outpouring of solidarity and affection that greeted Raúl’s birthday, a response that directly pushed back against imperialist smears, as well as to international friends who have stood with Cuba amid threats of reprisal for their support. “No hatred, no lie will ever be able to stand against his moral strength and the high symbolic value of the revolutionary work that he has led with exemplary firmness,” Díaz-Canel said.

    Turning to the 65th anniversary of MININT, Díaz-Canel paid tribute to founding leader Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, a revolutionary commander whose legacy has shaped the institution from its inception. Over more than six decades, MININT has operated alongside the FAR as an unyielding bulwark against constant aggression from U.S. imperialism, which has deployed every tactic imaginable against Cuba: armed infiltration, sabotage, terrorism, biological warfare, assassination plots, economic subversion, media manipulation, and ideological warfare, all directed and funded by U.S. intelligence agencies. Despite decades of relentless, undeclared war, Díaz-Canel noted, the Revolution remains standing, in no small part because of MININT’s service as tireless sentinels of the homeland. Each generation of MININT combatants has distinguished itself by unwavering loyalty and courage in the face of even the harshest challenges.

    Díaz-Canel highlighted the bravery of recent MININT fallen heroes: 32 MININT members killed in Venezuela in January, who fought with ferocity against a surprise attack even when outnumbered and outgunned, leaving a legacy of courage that demonstrates how all Cubans will defend the homeland if attacked. Shortly after that attack, five Border Guard Troops members defeated a 10-person terrorist infiltration team armed with a large cache of weapons, neutralizing the plot even as the vessel commander fought on despite grave wounds. Beyond national security, MININT has also stood with the Cuban people during times of natural disaster, including high-risk rescue operations during the severe flooding caused by Hurricane Melissa that remain fresh in the national memory. “To all of them, the profound admiration and infinite gratitude of the Cuban people,” Díaz-Canel said.

    Addressing all compatriots, Díaz-Canel stressed that Cuba is currently facing its most intense period of threat from U.S. imperialism, which seeks to subdue the Revolution and destroy Cuban independence through a campaign that meets the definition of genocide and a crime against humanity. After implementing a total energy blockade via executive order on January 29, which cut off 39 of 40 requested fuel shipments to Cuba in the first five months of 2026, the U.S. further tightened sanctions on May 1 in retaliation for a massive popular demonstration of support for the Cuban Revolution. The new sanctions impose harsh fines, asset seizures, and threats on any company, bank, or individual that trades with Cuba or supplies even basic goods like food, medicine, and hygiene products. Díaz-Canel noted that the recent wave of companies exiting Cuba is a direct result of these coercive measures, which rely on a fabricated smear campaign against Cuba’s state enterprise system (GAE) that lacks any evidence to back its claims of corruption. The attack on GAE is intentional: the system has proven remarkably effective at sustaining Cuban development amid the decades-long blockade, just as earlier attacks on Cuba’s renowned international medical collaboration relied on falsehoods to cut off a vital source of funding for Cuba’s free universal public healthcare system.

    Díaz-Canel condemned the United States’ brazen denial of its crimes against the Cuban people, noting that the current U.S. ruling clique cannot even defend its lies to its own Congress, where its corruption and plunder of public funds has been exposed. Resorting to classic Nazi-era disinformation tactics and modern hybrid warfare strategies, the U.S. spreads lies to confuse global public opinion, fabricate pretexts for aggression, and invert responsibility for Cuba’s economic challenges: blaming a “failed socialist state” for problems that are directly caused by the blockade. Díaz-Canel emphasized that Cuba does not ignore its own shortcomings, but a nation cut off from access to food, medicine, fuel, international finance, and credit cannot be expected to function normally. The shortages of essential goods, prolonged blackouts, transportation crises, and tourism declines all stem directly from the U.S. blockade, not from failures of the socialist system. “What the empire calls a failed state is, in reality, a state under attack and refusing to surrender,” he declared to applause.

    Cuba has no intention of surrendering its independence, Díaz-Canel stressed. The Cuban people will not yield to U.S. pressure to become a client state of the United States, and their unyielding persistence is what makes them intolerable to the imperial project. Cuba continues to seek peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding with the United States despite political differences, but will not hesitate to respond with legitimate self-defense if the homeland is attacked. “If they try to enter, let there be no doubt: There will be a decisive and resolute fight,” he said.

    Díaz-Canel closed by recalling that 65 years ago, just days after MININT was founded, the newly formed agency dismantled a CIA plot codenamed “Patty” that aimed to assassinate Raúl Castro in Santiago de Cuba and stage a false-flag attack on the Guantánamo Naval Base to justify a full U.S. military invasion. The successful counter-operation, codenamed “Candela,” was one of MININT’s first major victories, saving Raúl’s life and exposing U.S. aggression. Today, as old plots against the Revolution are reinvented, Díaz-Canel affirmed that Cuba’s resolve and confidence in victory remains undiminished.

    Closing with the traditional revolutionary slogans, the address ended with chants of “Homeland or Death! We shall overcome! Long live Fidel and Raúl! Long live the Ministry of the Interior! Long live socialism! Long live a free Cuba!”