cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45564092

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

U.S. lawmakers Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) traveled to Cuba and gave an exclusive interview to Belly of the Beast from Havana.

Their visit comes at a critical time for the island. Cuba is grappling with a deep economic crisis, fueled by U.S. “maximum pressure” sanctions and an oil blockade.

“The only way to really understand the impact, the humanitarian crisis we’ve created, is by being here and talking to the Cuban people,” said Jayapal. After their visit, both lawmakers described what they saw as a humanitarian crisis.

“This is an act of war that our country must stop,” stated Jackson.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45510250

April 3, 2026

[weekly newsletter about Cuba (with YouTube video links) from the Belly Of The Beast news collective. Their videos can also be found at: https://peertube.world/c/cuba_botb_videos/videos]

Also:

• With Rubio in Wonderland, Dems Denounce Blockade
• Anti-Imperialist Bicycle Rally Takes Over Malecón
• From Ireland to Havana
• Niki Franco: "Cuba Represents Possibility"
• Belly of the Beast Recommends
• Cuba to Free More Than 2,000 Prisoners
• Judge: Trump Illegally Targeted 900K Immigrants
• Cuba on U.S. Talks: Everything But Sovereignty "On the Table"
• Black Doctors Call Out Cuba Blockade's Human Toll
• OAS Rights Commission Ignores Elephant in the Room

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45503496

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]
Duration - 8:28

Belly of the Beast’s Liz Oliva Fernández and Drop Site’s Ryan Grim recently visited the William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana where they spoke with the chief anesthesiologist, Alioth Fernández, and the parents of some of his patients.

Cuba's public and free healthcare system was long considered one of the best in the world. Its doctors are top-notch, dedicated and caring. This is a story about what happens when the most powerful country in the world uses economic warfare to deprive a smaller country from obtaining the medicine it needs to save lives.

The Cuban government cannot access the international financial system, cannot import freely, cannot buy what its children need — not because of indifference, but because U.S. sanctions have destroyed the country’s economy and drained the public health budget.

When every dollar must be stretched across an entire population in crisis, children like Carlos are the ones who pay the price.

"It's not that the doctors don't want to help," his mother says. "It's that they can't."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45390935

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Colombian Congresswoman María Fernanda Carrascal argues that Cuba’s crisis is not about charity, but about sovereignty, pressure and the right to survive. Carrascal calls for stronger positions across Latin America as pressure on Cuba intensifies.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45391676

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast] Duration - 6:00

The deep crisis currently affecting Cuba is a direct consequence of decades of U.S. sanctions, and now it’s taking its most recent form as an oil blockade. Many people in the United States disagree with their government’s policy toward Cuba, including Niki Franco.

Franco, a Puerto Rican writer and activist living in the United States, traveled with the Nuestra América Convoy to deliver humanitarian aid and see what daily life in Cuba is like under these U.S. policies.

“I always invite people to learn about Cuba’s history of solidarity with other nations. You can look at any continent and find examples of Cuba helping others,” Niki told Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández.

During the conversation, Niki reflects on her own responsibility, and that of all U.S. citizens, to understand the connection between U.S. foreign policy and the hardships endured by millions of Cubans.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45412867

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade on Cuba that has caused widespread fuel shortages, yesterday thousands of students and workers took over Havana's Malecón in a pro-government rally on bicycles, rollerblades, skateboards and electric vehicles.

The gathering celebrated the anniversaries of two Cuban youth organizations.

“This march is a demonstration that we are standing firm,” said one student.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45349673

March 27, 2026

[weekly newsletter about Cuba (with YouTube video links) from the Belly Of The Beast news collective. Their videos can also be found at: https://peertube.world/c/cuba_botb_videos/videos]

Also this week:

• Jeremy Corbyn: "Cuba Must Not Be Isolated"
• US Punishes Cuba for Helping Bring Peace to Colombia
• Cuba and Puerto Rico: "Two Wings of the Same Bird"
• Solidarity Can't Be Blocked
• Activists Face Border Harassment and Slander Campaign
• US-Government Funded Hit Piece on Belly of the Beast
• NY Times: Cubans Dying in US Oil Blockade
• Recommended Reading and Watching
• NY Times Parrots Fake News About Russia Spy Base in Cuba
• Cuba Willing to Compensate US for Nationalizations
• Why Washington Keeps Doubling Down on Hard-Line Cuba Policy
• US Embassy in Havana Warns US Citizens to Avoid...US Citizens
• Rubio Testifies Against Friend in Corruption Case
• US Wants Oil to Enter Cuba — For Its Embassy
• Despite Oil Blockade, US Deportation Flights to Cuba Continue
• Are US Journalists Getting Played by Anonymous Sources on Cuba?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45338735

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast] Duration - 1:16

Jeremy Corbyn traveled to Havana as part of an international solidarity delegation from Nuestra América Convoy and stated that the crisis in Cuba is the direct result of the blockade, not the Cuban government. “It's time for all of us to step up and show solidarity with Cuba,” said Corbyn.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45338079

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

In 2014, something historic happened. The U.S. admitted that decades of economic war toward Cuba had failed — and chose engagement instead. Historian Peter Kornbluh recalls the moment Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced the opening on live television. “It was everything we had worked for,” he says.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45275617

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Duration - 2:33

Irish hip-hop group Kneecap performed in Havana as part of the Nuestra América Convoy’s humanitarian mission. In a press conference, the Belfast trio spoke about why they made the trip, what they witnessed on the streets of Havana and the deep historical bond between Ireland and Cuba.

During the press conference, the group experienced a nationwide blackout, the third in less than a month, linked to Cuba’s weakened power grid and fuel shortages under U.S. sanctions.

The convoy brought over 20 tons of food and medicine to a country suffocating under decades of the U.S. embargo. But for Kneecap, this was never just about aid. It was about solidarity — the same solidarity that the Irish people received from around the world during their own revolutionary struggle.

Walking the streets of Havana, the band was struck by something they recognized immediately: resilience. Despite blackouts, shortages, and relentless external pressure, the Cuban people carry on, refusing to be broken.

“They're going about their lives as best they can. I think it's something we relate to,” said Rapper Móglaí Bap, a member of the group. “Even if you totally disagree with the politics of Cuba, punishing everybody in the country is never right…It's not in our nature as Irish people to witness injustice anywhere in the world and stay silent.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45252032

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

According to Mikael Wolfe, director of Stanford University’s Cuba Observatory, sanctions on Cuba are among the most systematic, extraterritorial, and long-lasting in the world. “Yes, Cuba trades with other countries—but is it normal trade? Not even close,” he said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45186102

March 21, 2026

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45195261

The tanker full of crude oil could reach its expected destination by Tuesday, providing a lifeline to the island amid intense U.S. pressure.

March 29, 2026

It would also reduce pressure on a Cuban government facing a looming economic collapse and escalating threats from Washington, and show that, at least for now, the island can still depend on its longtime ally, Russia.

The Trump administration had been enforcing what amounted to an oil blockade around Cuba since January, threatening nations that had been sending fuel to the country and, in one case, escorting a tanker heading toward Cuba away from the island.

The Coast Guard has two cutters in the region that could have attempted to intercept the Russian tanker. Yet the Trump administration did not order those vessels to act, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operations. Barring orders instructing it otherwise, the Coast Guard planned to let the tanker reach Cuba as of Sunday afternoon, the official said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45185491

marzo 21, 2026

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45185327

March 25, 2026

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45181616

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Cuban-American politicians have long been a driving force behind the U.S. government’s economic war on the island. But many people of Cuban origin living in the United States reject the hard-line policies that have ravaged the island’s economy and caused widespread scarcities and hardship.

Danny Valdes, a Cuban American born in Miami, recently visited Cuba with the Nuestra América Convoy to help bring humanitarian aid to the island.

“There is a very well organized and powerful right wing Cuban lobby, that even is in the halls of the Congress that gets to determine what U.S. policy is toward Cuba,” said Valdés. “But we feel like it's a very important time now to say, not in our name.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45181398

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

“Not in our name,” says Danny Valdes, a Cuban American organizer who recently visited the island to bring humanitarian aid and rejects the hard-liner policies imposed by politicians like Marco Rubio.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45157053

Updated 7:19 PM EDT, March 28, 2026

HAVANA (AP) — Two sailboats that went missing carrying humanitarian aid from southern Mexico to Cuba landed in Havana on Saturday afternoon hours after Mexico’s navy said it had located the boats days after they went incommunicado because of bad weather.

The vessels carrying at least eight people departed from Isla Mujeres in southern Mexico on March 20 and then lost contact, fueling concern in Mexico, Cuba and beyond.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, the navy said an aircraft spotted the boats 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) northwest of Havana, Cuba. Upon arriving to the island, Adnaan Stumo, the coordinator of the sailing convoy, said bad weather was responsible for the delay because the boats had to take a longer route and the sailors were “never in any serious danger.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45096275

March 24, 2026

In the shadow of an imperial hegemon and with severe restrictions on its ability to trade and access resources, Cuba may appear as an enigma to audiences curious about the type of cinema that has emerged from such conditions.

The Cuban revolution of 1959 caused a radical break in the development of the country’s cinema. Film-making existed before “this moment of effervescence” but was historically an imitation of Hollywood-style film-making, according to Jessica Gordon-Burroughs, a lecturer in Latin American studies at the University of Edinburgh. In contrast, the first decade after the revolution heralded “a very exciting and innovative time, both politically and aesthetically in Cuba”.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45072441

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

In the face of Trump's oil blockade on Cuba, a group of solidarity activists from Puerto Rico arrived in Havana last Saturday to deliver medicine and medical equipment to the Salvador Allende Hospital, known as "La Covadonga," in the Cerro municipality.

Part of the Nuestra América Convoy, the Puerto Rican solidarity groups included the Committee for Solidarity with Cuba and the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade.

The convoy's arrival was "a ray of light in the middle of the darkness," said Dr. Mylene Vázquez, director of the hospital.

"Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird," said Sebastián Castro, from Committee for Solidarity with Cuba.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45072182

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

After five days at sea, the Nuestra América flotilla sailed into Havana harbor carrying 14 tons of humanitarian aid, including 73 solar panels, medicine, food, and hygiene supplies. The aid was delivered by 32 people from more than 11 countries.

They came from the United States, Brazil, Italy, Europe, and beyond. Some have been bringing aid to Cuba for years, stuffed into suitcases on solidarity brigades.

"My government is the one imposing these cruel sanctions and economic warfare on the Cuban people," said an activist from the United States. "And this has been happening for over 60 years."

“The world owes Cuba,” said Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist. “Cuban doctors were among the first to fight Ebola in Africa. They went to Italy during COVID-19. That's why Italians are on this boat.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45061643

March 24, 2026

On March 13, 2026, as the Cuban people continued to resist Washington’s siege of their country, Cuba’s president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez met with reporters in Havana. His press conference was a follow-up to one a month earlier where he had outlined the extreme adversity caused by the U.S. blockade of oil deliveries to the island and measures underway to mitigate and overcome those hardships.

With characteristic frankness and transparency, Díaz-Canel responded to Trump’s threats and to journalists’ questions about the everyday challenges the Cuban people are diligently working to overcome.

During the press conference — which was moderated by well-known Cuban journalist Arleen Rodríguez — he assured the participating journalists, and the Cuban people, that he and other government officials would continue to hold regular sessions with the media to update the population on both progress being made and new challenges.

He also made crystal clear that Cuba is a sovereign nation, and its people are fully prepared to defend their revolution arms in hand, if necessary.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45055501

March 26, 2026
https://archive.ph/3k5rE

The blockade’s effects are cascading through the system. Hospitals are canceling surgeries and sending patients home because doctors and nurses can’t commute to work. Clinics are struggling to administer treatments like chemotherapy and dialysis because of power outages.

Many ambulances are parked because drivers can’t find gas. Pharmacies are largely empty because the virtually bankrupt state is struggling to buy medicine.

Production of medicine has been mostly halted because factories run on diesel. Vaccine makers are searching for ingredients because flights that once carried them are canceled because of a lack of jet fuel. And refrigerated vaccine stocks could soon spoil if the blackouts continue.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45027357

March 25, 2026

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday said Mexico will continue to have Cuban doctors work in the country at a time when other nations across the Americas have ditched their agreements with Cuba’s government in the face of mounting U.S. pressure.

“It’s a bilateral agreement that helps Mexico a lot,” said Sheinbaum in her morning press briefing when asked if she would uphold the agreement or give in to pressures by the Trump administration.

The leader’s support of the Cuban medical program comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has suffocated Cuba by effectively cutting the island off from oil imports and has sought to isolate the Caribbean nation in an effort to push for regime change. The U.S. has pushed to end such missions, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it a “form of human trafficking.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11137232

«Los fascistas que están hoy en el poder en Estados Unidos aprendieron muy bien de sus referentes nazis».

Les dejo esta entrevista del director de Canal Red y ex vicepresidente español Pablo Iglesias (Podemos).