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ni siquiera el imperialismo impide que el cubano disfrute de su cafe y sus festivales. tambien hay en china
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United Nations General Assembly (#UNGA) vote for lifting the US blockade against Cuba: 130 votes in favor.
(thelemmy.club)
cross-posted from: https://expressional.social/users/Peter_Link/statuses/117520379077300387
United Nations General Assembly (#UNGA) vote for lifting the US blockade against Cuba: 130 votes in favor.
[from a post on IG]
You can observe the impact of the #US blackmail and pressure campaign, as well as the increasing number of rightist governments. But it's yet another big victory for #Cuba against the monster in Washington.
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54631565
October 15, 2026
[newsletter about Cuba from the Belly Of The Beast news collective. Their videos can be found at: https://peertube.world/c/cuba_botb_videos/videos]Hotels have shuttered. Mining operations have ground to a halt. Airlines have canceled flights.
Now, the Trump administration’s escalating economic war on Cuba has claimed another casualty: the only US study abroad program with a permanent physical presence on the island.
After 11 years of bringing hundreds of US students to live and study in Havana, the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad (CASA) is shutting down its Cuba program amid a growing humanitarian crisis and fears of a US military intervention.
Also:
- Feeding Cuba’s Elderly Under U.S. Blockade
- #US Targets Cuban Bank Under Iran Allegations
- Rubio Presses Bukele to Isolate Cuba at #UN
- Democrats Challenge Blockade Before Midterms
- Cuba Open to US Nickel Investors
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54589265
Duration - 2:18
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast][a #video on #Peertube about #Cuba from the #news collective #BellyOfTheBeast]
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz doubled down today on his claim that the blockade on Cuba doesn’t exist during today’s General Assembly debate.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez confronted Waltz over his sweeping, unsubstantiated accusations of corruption against Cuba’s leadership, calling him a liar in a heated exchange on the Assembly floor.
For 33 consecutive years, the UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to condemn the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba. This year’s vote comes amid an aggressive campaign by the Trump administration to pressure countries into withdrawing their support for the resolution.
The General Assembly will vote on the resolution tomorrow.
Read our breakdown of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign at the UN and our fact-check of Waltz’s claims: https://www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/the-war-on-cuba-goes-to-the-un
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54402041
Duration - 1:14
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accused the Trump administration of threatening foreign governments with sanctions to pressure them into withdrawing their support for the annual UN resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba.
At a press conference Wednesday, Rodríguez presented documents he said show the State Department pressuring countries to abstain from the vote or leave the room altogether. He said the U.S. threatened governments, companies and individual government officials.
The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. blockade for 33 consecutive years. In 2024, 187 countries supported the resolution, with only the U.S. and Israel opposed. Last year, following an aggressive U.S. lobbying effort, support fell to 165 countries, while seven voted against it.
The General Assembly is scheduled to vote on this year’s resolution on October 28.
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54248389
Duration - 2:08 [a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]
Less than two weeks before the UN General Assembly votes on an annual resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba, the Trump administration is organizing an event targeting the Cuban government at UN headquarters, according to Cuba’s UN Ambassador Ernesto Soberón.
The event, which will be held Monday, is titled “Cuba Libre: The Oppression Havana Hides.”
Soberón said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is pressuring foreign leaders to vote against Cuba.
The resolution to end the blockade has passed 33 years in a row, with the U.S. and Israel its only consistent opponents. In 2024, they were the only two countries to vote against it.
“Cuba will not be intimidated, blackmailed, or silenced,” said Soberón.
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54117127
Duration - 4:32
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]More than 70,000 Cubans receive support through the Family Assistance System (SAF), a government program that provides meals to the elderly, people with disabilities and others in vulnerable situations.
In Havana’s Rampa neighborhood, home to one of Cuba’s oldest populations, the El Rampeño SAF center provides daily meals and support to vulnerable residents thanks to support from local private businesses.
“A place like this is a blessing,” says Lilian, a retired telephone operator. But as U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade disrupt food deliveries, keeping its kitchen running has become increasingly difficult.
“The U.S. government is making life impossible for us,” says Pedro Garcés, president of the Rampa People's Council. “It’s suffocating us.”
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54117127
Duration - 4:32
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]More than 70,000 Cubans receive support through the Family Assistance System (SAF), a government program that provides meals to the elderly, people with disabilities and others in vulnerable situations.
In Havana’s Rampa neighborhood, home to one of Cuba’s oldest populations, the El Rampeño SAF center provides daily meals and support to vulnerable residents thanks to support from local private businesses.
“A place like this is a blessing,” says Lilian, a retired telephone operator. But as U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade disrupt food deliveries, keeping its kitchen running has become increasingly difficult.
“The U.S. government is making life impossible for us,” says Pedro Garcés, president of the Rampa People's Council. “It’s suffocating us.”
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cross-posted from: https://expressional.social/users/Peter_Link/statuses/117448500725777644
#LosAngeles, #USA End The Blockade Speak-Out
October 24, 2026 6 - 8 pm
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo #HandsOffCuba #Cuba #politics #USpol
#unions #labor #health #AltTxt4Me
@cuba
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/53886462
October 9, 2026
[weekly newsletter about Cuba from the Belly Of The Beast news collective. Their videos can be found at: https://peertube.world/c/cuba_botb_videos/videos]The U.S. government's economic war on Cuba doesn't just affect Cubans.
For Massachusetts musician Ben Grosscup, whose mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the consequences of U.S. sanctions have become deeply personal.
This week, we speak with Grosscup, who traveled to Havana in search of a potentially groundbreaking Cuban treatment for the disease that is unavailable in the United States.
Also:
- Trump’s Oil Blockade Escalates
- Cuba: No Negotiations with U.S.
- Palestinian Medical Students Caught In Two Crises
- Rubio Renews Aid Cut Threats Over Cuban Missions
- Fifty Years Since Cubana Flight 455
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/53827351
Duration - 5:21 [a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]
When Massachusetts-based musician and activist Ben Grosscup (@BenGrosscup) learned his mother had Alzheimer’s, he turned to Cuba for help.
He traveled to Havana to obtain NeuralCIM, a groundbreaking Cuban medication that has had remarkable results in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's.
The treatment was developed by Cuban scientist Dr. Teresita Rodríguez, whose work Belly of the Beast documented in Teresita’s Dream: https://peertube.world/w/12Ys6gA19mfGA8Li574VY5
Grosscup has long opposed his government’s economic war on Cuba. But as intensified sanctions and an oil blockade limit the island’s ability to produce medicines like NeuralCIM, U.S. policy became more personal.
“The blockade is harming my own family,” he says.
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Half a century after one of the darkest and most painful chapters in the history of Latin America and the Caribbean , Cuba commemorates this October 6 the fiftieth anniversary of the horrendous terrorist sabotage against Cubana de Aviación flight 455, perpetrated off the coast of Barbados .
That fateful attack in 1976 deeply shook the national conscience, leaving an indelible wound on the Cuban people by taking the lives of 73 people at sea, including 57 compatriots, 11 Guyanese and five North Koreans , which is why it is commemorated in the largest of the Antilles as the Day of the Victims of State Terrorism.
To honor that unwavering memory, the main commemorative days were preceded by emotional vigils and tributes to the victims in different parts of the country , reaffirming the collective pain and dignity.
The President of the Republic and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, Miguel Díaz Canel Bermúdez , walked shoulder to shoulder with the people of the capital to the pantheon of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in the Necropolis of Colón.
In this solemn cemetery, the president accompanied the commemoration and the laying of floral offerings , supporting with solid data the denunciation against the absolute impunity enjoyed by the intellectual authors of the horrendous crime.
The massive citizen participation demonstrated that half a century later, historical memory remains intact as a firm bastion of resistance against the aggressions and imperialist policies that have punished the nation.
The march was also attended by the main leaders of the State and the Party , including Esteban Lazo Hernández , president of the National Assembly of People's Power, and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz .
Also in attendance was the Secretary of Organization, Roberto Morales Ojeda , who, along with the mass organizations, paid tribute to the martyrs of the homeland and to the families of the victims gathered in the capital's cemetery.
Among the Cubans who died 50 years ago, the 24 members of the youth fencing team stood out in a special way , returning full of joy and with all the gold medals from the regional championship held in Caracas.
Meanwhile, during the massive central gathering, Yadelis Valencia Palomino , granddaughter of one of the victims, raised her voice to reaffirm that " the pain of that time has become an unwavering patriotic commitment in the face of state terrorism ."
For her part , the party official, Yudi Mercedes Rodríguez Hernández, reminded those present that " the demand for justice encompasses the thousands affected by the hostile actions systematically perpetrated against the largest of the Antilles since the triumph of the Revolution ."
In this way, both speeches emphasized that the continued relevance of these demands half a century later reaffirms the sovereign determination of a people who neither forget nor forgive crimes against humanity.
The commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Barbados Crime takes place against a backdrop of ongoing economic strangulation caused by the intensification of the US blockade , which has accumulated losses exceeding $178.7 billion and severely limits access to food, medicine, and energy resources essential for the country's development.
Cuban authorities have reiterated that this hostile policy is part of a systematic aggression that, over six decades, has claimed the lives of 3,478 people and left 2,099 injured with disabilities due to terrorist acts perpetrated against the nation.
Likewise, the Caribbean island keeps alive the historical demand for justice , also articulated through the adoption by the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) of the Caricom-Cuba Day against Terrorism.
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On September 5, 2026, a 91-meter-long cargo ship named "Grace" was sailing between Cuba and Mexico with a cargo of fuel. It was unarmed. It was not carrying drugs or weapons. It was not violating any UN Security Council resolutions. Nevertheless, the US Coast Guard intercepted it, boarded it, and escorted it to Puerto Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed what they already knew: there was fuel in the ballast tanks and in several containers.
Coast Guard Commander Admiral Kevin Lunday celebrated this “success” with a line borrowed from a Western movie sheriff: “Dark Fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice.”
Justice? What justice is the admiral talking about? The kind that comes from an executive order signed by a president who has openly declared his goal is to change the government of Cuba? Because that's not what we're saying here at A Contragolpe . That's what Reuters said in its October 2nd dispatch: "The Trump administration has openly declared its goal is to change the government of Cuba. The oil embargo imposed by the United States earlier this year has put the country under severe strain as it grapples with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure."
There is no ambiguity. No half measures. No forgiveness. No compassion for the suffering people. No conscience. The United States government has declared, without batting an eye, that its policy toward Cuba is regime change. And to achieve this, it has deployed an economic warfare machine that includes the oil blockade, the pursuit of ships in international waters, and pressure on third countries to submit to its dictates. All of this, of course, outside the bounds of international law.
Because what right does the United States have to intercept a ship carrying fuel to Cuba? None.
International law, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), establishes that international waters are an area of freedom of navigation. No State may intercept, board, or detain a vessel flying another flag on the high seas, except in very specific cases such as piracy, the slave trade, drug trafficking, or statelessness. The transport of fuel to Cuba is not included in that list.
To impose a naval blockade—which is what the United States is doing de facto—a UN Security Council resolution is required. No such resolution exists, since Cuba has not been sanctioned by the UN. There is no international legal instrument prohibiting one country from buying oil from another. What exists is a unilateral executive order, signed by a president who has decided that international law is an obstacle to his geopolitical ambitions.
However, it seems that for that administration, transporting fuel to Cuba is a clandestine activity. René González, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and an authoritative voice on the United States' actions, says, "We would have to examine which provisions of international maritime law make it a crime for a nation to access fuel without having been sanctioned by the UN." The question hangs in the air, and no one in Washington dares to answer it.
The most grotesque aspect of the Coast Guard statement is its use of the term "international controls." As if the interception of a vessel in international waters by a single power, without a UN mandate or agreement with the flag state, constituted "international control." It doesn't. It is a unilateral act of force. It is piracy, in the most classic sense of the term, since it involves the use of force by a state to seize property that does not belong to it, in waters that do not belong to it, on a vessel that does not belong to it.
And this is not an isolated case. The same article mentions the detention of the "Jaira Provider," "another vessel that did not comply with regulations and which, earlier this summer, was discovered to be transporting illicit fuel destined for Cuba." The "ghost fleet," "evasive tactics," "illicit trafficking"—the entire vocabulary is designed to criminalize what is nothing more than legitimate trade between sovereign nations. Cuba has the right to buy fuel. Any country has the right to sell it. The fact that the United States does not authorize it does not make that transaction a crime.
Amid this aggression, defenders of the blockade argue that Cuba imported 1.67 million barrels of oil from the United States in the first half of 2026, which, they claim, proves that the oil blockade doesn't exist. This is a fallacy that doesn't withstand serious scrutiny.
According to statements by the Minister of Energy and Mines of Cuba, the country needs eight monthly shipments of fuel, similar to the one left by the Russian ship "Anatoly Kolodkin" last March in the port of Matanzas, which was carrying approximately 370,000 barrels.
This means that Cuba needs approximately 35.04 million barrels of oil in six months. What the Cuban private sector has been able to purchase in the United States represents only 4.8% of that need. The remaining 95.2% has not been able to enter the country.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed this on the radio program "Shared Criterion." "It's been nine months since a fuel shipment arrived in this country. How can the economy be sustained? How can people work under these conditions? How can all the services the population needs be provided? How can production be increased?"
Nine months without a fuel tanker. And meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard patrols the Caribbean waters, intercepting ships, escorting them to foreign ports, and seizing their cargo. All this, according to Admiral Lunday, to ensure that "the actors of the dark fleet do not evade justice." Justice, in this case, is Washington's name for its right to plunder. The objective of these actions is none other than to provoke a social explosion in Cuba. The logic is evil, cruel, genocidal, but simple. If the country is economically strangled to unbearable levels, if fuel is prevented from entering the country, if energy infrastructure is destroyed, if financial transactions are blocked, then the desperate people will rise up against their government. And that uprising, real or fabricated, will justify a “humanitarian intervention” to put an end to the “regime.”
It's the same recipe being used in Iran, where the war of aggression seeks regime change. And it's the same recipe being used against Cuba for more than sixty years, with the difference that now the blockade is total, comprehensive, and without exception.
International law prohibits collective punishment. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “no protected person shall be punished for offenses he or she has not personally committed.” The blockade against Cuba is collective punishment that violates this principle because it affects the entire population—children, the elderly, women, the sick—for the alleged transgressions of our government. And the interception of ships in international waters is a further violation of freedom of navigation and the right to trade.
Faced with this scenario, the only possible response is resistance. The same resistance that has sustained Cuba for 67 years. The same resistance that has allowed the Cuban people to survive nine months without a fuel shipment. The same resistance that has made it possible for the island to remain standing despite the blockade, building its own future with its own hands.
This is not about denying the difficulties. The situation is extremely serious. Blackouts are prolonged, transportation is paralyzed, hospitals are operating with generators that depend on the same scarce fuel, and production is plummeting. But the Cuban people know who is responsible. And they also know that surrender is not an option. Because if history has shown anything, it is that empires do not stop for the weak. They only stop for those who resist.
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The U.S. confirms it is maintaining a naval blockade of fuel shipments to prevent their entry into Cuba.
(www.cubadebate.cu)
The United States Coast Guard confirmed that it intercepted a cargo ship at sea that, according to US authorities, was carrying fuel destined for Cuba.
The incident provides further evidence of the maritime application of the US policy aimed at restricting energy supplies to the island. The Guardian, in a Reuters report published on October 2, explicitly describes the current policy as an "oil blockade" imposed by Washington.
A ship intercepted between Cuba and Mexico
The Grace vessel was detained on September 5 in the Caribbean Sea, between Cuba and Mexico. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the ship used methods that Washington associates with the so-called "dark fleet."
"Grace was transiting towards Cuba, carrying fuel, and was believed to be employing tactics common among the 'dark fleet'," the Coast Guard said in a statement, according to information published by Reuters and The Guardian.
US personnel boarded the vessel and subsequently escorted it to Mexico. There, according to Washington's account reported by the media outlet, a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed the presence of "large quantities of fuel" in the ballast tanks. Several containers, which US authorities considered related to fuel transport, were also found.
Coast Guard patrols in waters near Cuba
This information is particularly relevant because the United States acknowledges that its Coast Guard units patrol the waters near Cuba, while sanctions and threats of retaliation aim to prevent vessels from transporting oil to the island. The Guardian notes that this pressure has led some ships to abandon their voyages altogether.
The specialized media outlet Maritime Executive reported this Friday that the Coast Guard has confirmed it has stopped other ships transporting oil to Cuba and that it had carried out at least two similar interventions during the summer.
The fuel blockade remains in effect
The confirmation comes after the US government itself maintained a specific policy throughout 2026 aimed at restricting Cuba's energy supply. Reuters has described this policy in recent reports as a US oil embargo that has exacerbated fuel shortages and blackouts on the island.
The Guardian notes that the reduction in traditional supplies and the pressure on international carriers have placed the country under severe energy strain.
A confirmation of the maritime dimension of the policy
The operation against the Grace demonstrates that U.S. restrictions on fuel are not limited to financial or trade sanctions. They include Coast Guard patrols and interceptions of vessels that Washington considers linked to energy supplies to Cuba.
The news comes at a time when policy toward Cuba is once again taking center stage in the Trump administration's discourse. In recent statements reported by Reuters, US officials have reiterated the continued pressure on Havana, while the Cuban government denounces the economic and social effects of these measures.
From Reuters -> https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-coast-guard-intercepts-cargo-boat-carrying-fuel-bound-cuba-nyt-reports-2026-10-02/
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China’s ambassador to Cuba: "I believe the sun can’t be blocked. China is making maximum efforts to help in energy and food."
(video.twimg.com)
Last year, Chinese-aided 35-megawatt photovoltaic parks came online. 85-megawatts project is under construction.
Video link -> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2104964865357979648/vid/avc1/1280x720/CyYAV9SEOBrbN6tO.mp4
Source -> https://shitter.thepixora.com/XH_Lee23/status/2105119596449763676#m
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/53452610
Duration - 2:54
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), a Cuban-American hardliner from Miami, made headlines recently when she broke with Trump over the mass deportations she long supported.
Belly of the Beast journalist María Karla Acosta Toledo breaks down how Salazar’s unwavering support of Trump and his Cuba policy have helped create the political mess she now finds herself in.
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Pérez-Oliva: The US seeks to create economic dependence on Cuba based on threats and blackmail against foreign companies.
(www.cubainformacion.tv)
Pérez-Oliva recalled that it is “a long-standing blockade, a cruel genocidal blockade ,” in effect since 1962. He acknowledged that, especially with the executive orders of January 29 and May 1, “foreign companies, which have worked in Cuba for many years, have been encouraged to withdraw totally or partially from business with our country . ”
He explained that this occurred "as a result of the creation of a climate of direct threat against many of these companies and direct coercive actions to force them to abandon their businesses in Cuba ," in addition to threats of sanctions against some of the sectors included in those orders.
“This has generated uncertainty and fear among many foreign companies about working, investing and developing businesses with Cuba,” he said.
He clarified that “the phenomenon is not massive, as is often portrayed in statements by US administration officials .” He admitted that “some companies have withdrawn from our country, primarily those well-known in the tourism sector.”
The energy blockade
Regarding fuel, the deputy prime minister noted that with the energy embargo established by Executive Order 14380 of January 29, and later reinforced by 14404, “a naval blockade has been imposed on Cuba in terms of fuel, practically de facto .” As a consequence, traditional suppliers, who provided the country “under lawful conditions, complying with the rules of international trade and through legitimate operations,” ceased to do so.
Added to this is the fear among shipping lines and shipowners, because even when there is a supplier willing to trade, "they cannot find a vessel willing to touch the Cuban coasts and bring fuel . "
According to his complaint, the U.S. administration has arbitrarily authorized, “in a restrictive and, I would say, illicit and irregular manner,” certain American companies to sell fuel to Cuba. “But this isn’t about selling fuel as it’s done to any other country in the world, complying with trade regulations,” he clarified. He explained that the product cannot arrive in full shipments, but rather through supply mechanisms that are “highly costly, inefficient, and directly burden the Cuban economy . ”
“Simply put, a country like Cuba, due to its size, cannot function properly with a fuel supply based on ISO containers, which is what is happening today,” he stated.
He explained that they are receiving “very limited quantities of fuel in ISO containers at high prices ,” both because of the way it is acquired and because, being a scarce product that Cuba “is practically prohibited from acquiring,” companies “also take advantage of these opportunities and prices tend to rise.” This is compounded by the situation in the international fuel market due to what is happening in the Middle East.
Direct and selective threats
When asked about the departure from the country of tourism sector companies such as Meliá and Iberostar, he responded that “they have been forced to leave the country due to threats and direct coercion from the US administration .” He affirmed that Cuba has “full knowledge of the direct threats” that these companies and their top executives received from the State Department, “which has urged them, even giving them deadlines, to withdraw from Cuba.”
“This situation exists, it is real and it is known,” he acknowledged, but warned that in statements and in the press “it is often magnified, because I can assure you that there is no stampede of foreign investors or companies leaving Cuba .”
He added that many companies, based on these threats, “have even been selected on a case-by-case basis, with specific sectors targeted .” “Threats have been made to sectors that operate within the Cuban economy where we generate foreign income that allows us to keep our economy functioning,” he specified. He added that, along with this selective action, the way the executive orders are designed “generally instills fear and uncertainty and, in some cases, exerts coercion to force companies to withdraw from Cuba.”
“Cuba will not become a colony again”
When asked whether the Cuban government was concerned about a return to an era of colonialism or economic dependence on the United States, he replied: “Cuba will never again be a colony of any country. Cuba achieved its independence, its sovereignty, and its self-determination. And that scenario will not return.”
He acknowledged that, without the embargo, “trade relations with the United States would have a significant impact on our commerce, our overall economy, and investments, because the United States and Cuba are close countries.” He added that “there is a natural market in the United States for many Cuban products” and that “many Americans want to travel to Cuba as tourists, enjoy our beaches, our nature, our history, and our culture, and they are precisely prohibited from doing so by the embargo.” Many companies from that country, he said, “would undoubtedly like to work, invest, and do business with Cuba, as we have been able to confirm in our exchanges with numerous businesspeople.”
However, all of this is happening today “in a restrictive environment due to the very existence of the embargo.” US companies that have dealings with Cuba “must operate under specific licenses that authorize them and establish a limited scope for their ties with our country.” “That is where the irregularity, illegality, and coercion of these actions lie,” he explained.
On one hand, he added, international companies, Cuba's traditional partners around the world, are being threatened to prevent them from continuing their economic and commercial relationship with the country. On the other hand, "the aim is to strengthen the presence of U.S. companies."
Airlines and shipping companies
As an example, he referred to the airlines. Due to the energy blockade and the "impossibility of acquiring the aviation fuel that airlines need to refuel in Cuba," some, because of the increased costs, were unable to maintain their flights to the island. This had a direct impact on international tourism, "one of the main sources of income for our economy and precisely one of the objectives of this energy embargo."
“However, US airlines continue to fly to Cuba without any concerns,” he noted. Some have even “increased or modified their flight frequencies based on market demand.”
Similarly, he noted, this has occurred in the maritime sector. The major international shipping companies that had worked with Cuba for decades “have completely stopped or limited cargo transport to Cuba due to restrictions imposed by the United States, which are also illegal and violate international trade norms.”
This has resulted in “these shipping companies abandoning basic food items and medicines in ports in our region.” He cited as an example that “the raw materials for serum production and the packaging for its manufacture in our country were left stranded in containers in Panama.” This forced “enormous efforts to prevent a shortage of the serum our population needs,” at a time when, due to the weather, outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and other illnesses are occurring, increasing its consumption.
There were also “delays in the arrival of raw materials and supplies for patients receiving ongoing hemodialysis treatment,” with “direct impacts on these patients as a result of the threats against international shipping companies.” He clarified that some shipping companies have begun discreetly transporting cargo related to food and medicine, “but in a very limited way.”
A dependency based on coercion
Pérez-Oliva recalled that Cuba has stated on other occasions that with these actions the US administration also seeks to increase the island's economic dependence on the United States, "but on the basis of coercion, threats, and blackmail of foreign companies." This relationship, he specified, "should develop naturally if the embargo were lifted."
He considered this to be one of the effects with “a multidimensional impact on the basic services of our population,” and mentioned the case of energy. Cuba is developing an energy transition program toward renewable sources, with the installation of generation capacity for the National Electric System, and companies have been acquiring the means “to maintain their viability in the context of the energy crisis.” However, he denounced that the threats against shipping companies “have been aimed at preventing or delaying the arrival of components for the installation of photovoltaic solar systems in our country.”
The mining sector
Regarding the situation of mining companies, he noted that the sector is “one of the sectors expressly mentioned in Executive Order 14404, issued on May 1,” along with the energy, banking, and financial sectors. The order also includes “a large section labeled 'Other,'” so “all sectors deemed illegal by U.S. authorities under that order could be included.”
He clarified that “no mining company has withdrawn from Cuba.” “Sherritt remains in our country, maintains its joint venture in Cuba, and so does the other company you mentioned,” he said, referring to Antilles Gold. What has happened, he explained, is that “one of the joint ventures in which Sherritt participates has been directly sanctioned.” Regarding Antilles Gold, he stated that “it is in the same situation,” and added that “Cuban companies involved in mining sector businesses have also been sanctioned.”
This, he said, “has generated fear, uncertainty, and concern among companies that had been conducting business with Cuba in a natural and legal manner.” Given this situation, “these companies are evaluating alternatives to see how they can continue their operations.”
Regarding the interest of U.S. companies, he stated: “First of all, we have not blocked any U.S. company from doing business with Cuba.” He acknowledged that they have information that talks are underway, but “we cannot offer any further details because we lack specifics.”
He insisted that Cuba has “no policy prohibiting U.S. companies from investing in Cuba, trading with our country, or conducting business of any kind.” “What prevents this possibility is precisely the existence of the embargo,” he maintained, since any participation by a U.S. company “will require the express authorization of the U.S. administration.” “That is where the main limitations lie for the United States in engaging in normal relations with Cuba in trade, investment, and cooperation in general,” he stated.
Cuba remains attractive to trading partners
When asked how Cuba prevents the United States from benefiting from a market without competitors, he responded that “we have continued to receive expressions of interest from businesses and companies from all regions of the world ,” even in this uncertain environment. He attributed this interest to the economic and social transformations that the country is implementing “in an accelerated and responsible manner.”
He explained that some of these companies were already in the country and want to expand their presence, while others are new. “A significant portion of them are also linked to Cubans living abroad who have seen these transformations as an opportunity to contribute to our economic and social development and, of course, to make a profit, as any business allows,” he said.
He reiterated that the U.S. government's actions "are aimed at creating a forced economic dependence on Cuba," but that "we continue working with foreign companies." He didn't mention names, he explained, "because there is a direct economic war against Cuba," and anyone "could be subject to sanctions next Thursday or this Thursday." He asserted that many companies and businesspeople "approach our country every day to express their interests and business proposals," and that they are working "with a very positive dynamic in approving new projects."
When asked about the alleged overtures of companies linked to President Donald Trump, including a group called Dominari, he responded: “I have no knowledge of any overtures to Cuba by companies linked to President Trump at this time.” He reiterated that the country has not blocked the participation of any company, “provided that they contribute, as planned, to the economic and social development of our country and are carried out in accordance with and respect for our laws,” and that Cuba also respects “the norms and mechanisms of international trade.”
A new real estate policy
Regarding opportunities for investors interested in building, for example, in the Miramar coastal area, the Deputy Prime Minister explained that "the country's real estate policy has been updated" in two key areas. First, "the term for granting real rights over state-owned property has been extended," including surface rights over land, which "can be granted for 99 years and even, in some cases, under what is known as a perpetual surface right." Second, the recent amendment to the Civil Code allows for extending the term of usufruct rights over existing facilities.
This combination, along with the possibility of selling real estate units when a company develops business in this sector, “has created an attractive environment for real estate transactions in our country.” The policy for developing businesses in conservation areas and heritage zones was also updated, a point of interest for many entrepreneurs. He specifically mentioned Old Havana, “which is generating a lot of interest,” and noted that the Malecón area “is also very attractive to entrepreneurs working in the real estate sector.”
A company or entrepreneur with the resources to develop a project based on these policies, “which are fully aligned with existing real estate development policies worldwide, can develop this type of business.” The height of the buildings and their location, he clarified, “will depend on the urban planning regulations we have established for each area of the city.” He concluded that, with the updated policies and the implementation of economic and social transformations, “there is a very interesting scenario for real estate development in our country right now . ”
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Video - ICE Took Her Baby. A Year Later, This Cuban Mother’s Still Fighting to Get Her Back
(peertube.world)
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/53451770
Duration - 3:24
[a video on Peertube about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]Last year, ICE detained Heidy Sánchez at an scheduled immigration appointment and deported her to Cuba within days, separating her from her husband and two-year-old daughter in Tampa.
Belly of the Beast spoke with her in Havana after her deportation. She had an immigration lawyer, who helped her apply at the U.S. embassy for a visa to reunite with her family in the United States.
More than a year has passed, and her requests to return to the United States have gone unanswered.
In July, four Democratic members of Congress met with Heidy as she recounted the moment ICE took her daughter from her arms.
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