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/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.”

Cuba received a new shipment of rice donated by the People's Republic of China, as part of the cooperation ties between the two nations.

The ship Loyalty Hong arrived at the port of Havana with 15,600 tons of the grain, destined to contribute to the food supply in the country.

This delivery completes the donation of 30,000 tons announced by the Chinese Embassy last January, in a context marked by the economic difficulties facing the Island.

The shipment is part of the ongoing collaboration between Cuba and China, which in recent years has included various forms of support in strategic sectors, with an emphasis on food security.

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).

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44994837

Published: March 23, 2026 Helen Yaffe

There were tearful scenes in the central American nation of Honduras on February 23, as locals said goodbye to the Cuban healthcare professionals who had been treating them for free for around two years. It came after the Honduran government abruptly ended the Cuban medical mission under pressure from the administration of the US president, Donald Trump.

,,,the export of medical professionals has become vital to the Cuban economy. For decades the Cuban government sent medical missions around the world as a donation to developing nations. But over the past two decades, it has developed cooperation agreements under which governments or local authorities pay the Cuban government for the medical services of its healthcare professionals.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44926860

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

British MP Jeremy Corbyn arrived in Havana as part of an international solidarity delegation from Nuestra América Convoy and he didn't hold back. In this interview, he explains what he saw on the ground and why he believes this moment represents the worst point in Cuba's decades-long struggle against the U.S. blockade and economic war.

Corbyn points at the Trump administration's sanctions as the driving force behind Cuba's current energy crisis. With no oil coming in, daily life has become a matter of endurance. He called for $18 billion in international investment to transition the island to solar and wind power, resources Cuba hasn’t in abundance.

His message to critics who blame Havana's government instead of Washington? The problem isn't Cuba's people or its education. The problem is that international finance has been locked out by political pressure.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44883511

March 22, 2026

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44882480

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast] Duration: 2:37

After Barack Obama’s tenure at the White House, many expected Joe Biden to restore engagement with Cuba. It didn’t happen. Peter Kornbluh explains that while Biden changed the tone, he never took real steps to undo Trump’s sanctions — despite having the people and the knowledge to do so.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44926194

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

“Cuba has always loomed large in the U.S. imagination,” says Mikael Wolfe, director of Stanford University’s Cuba Observatory. For decades, U.S. policy toward Cuba has been shaped by sanctions, pressure and political narratives that rarely face serious scrutiny. Wolfe explains how those narratives were built, why they persist and who pays the price.

We ask him why, if coercive measures haven’t worked for more than half a century, does Washington keep doubling down?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44892926

marzo 22, 2026

El 18 de marzo de 2026 Ernesto Limia Díaz publicó el texto a continuación en su página de Facebook. Limia Díaz es historiador, escritor, miembro de la Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) y director del programa de televisión MARCAS. También es autor del libro bilingüe Patria y cultura en Revolución. Ernesto Limia Díaz

Ahora Limia Díaz nos aporta el contexto histórico a las recientes revelaciones del presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez de que La Habana mantiene conversaciones con la administración Trump, después de que Washington impusiera un bloqueo a los envíos de petróleo a Cuba y amenazara con derrocar al gobierno revolucionario de la nación caribeña.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44833415

March 21, 2026 [a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Cuban Americans, U.S. activists, and organizations like Code Pink are going to Cuba together for a shared mission: bring humanitarian aid to the island and support the people amid a devastating U.S. oil blockade.

As part of the Nuestra América Convoy, participants are traveling with medical supplies and essential goods, while also calling for theTrump administration to end its siege on Cuba.

For years, Cuba has suffered the consequences of the U.S. economic war, a policy that restricts trade and access to basic goods. In recent years, inflation, mass migration and widespread shortages have further worsened the situation on the island.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44832595

March 20, 2026 [a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Hundreds of people from across the United States and around the world are traveling to Cuba as part of the Nuestra América Convoy. At a time when the island is facing one of its deepest economic crises in decades, marked by fuel shortages, rolling blackouts, and growing hardship, these travelers arrive with a clear message: solidarity.

For years, Cuba has endured the effects of the U.S. economic war, a policy that restricts trade, limits access to essential goods, and complicates daily life for millions. In recent years, the situation has deteriorated further, with inflation, migration, and widespread shortages affecting nearly every aspect of life on the island.

Now, activists, organizers, and ordinary citizens are choosing to witness these realities firsthand and to challenge U.S. restrictions on oil shipments to Cuba.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44829722

In June 2024, kickboxer Ely Malik Reyes became the first transgender athlete officially recognized in Cuba. In an exclusive interview, Belly of the Beast’s Liz Oliva Fernández speaks with Reyes about breaking barriers in Cuban sports.

March 19, 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:

• Solidarity convoy arriving in Havana
• Daniel Montero: “Regime change through starvation”
• No, NBC, you’re not the first to report from a Cuban Hospital
• New poll: most people in U.S. oppose oil blockade
• What do Cubans think of U.S.-Cuba talks?
• U.S. warns its citizens about blackouts it is causing
• Russian oil tankers to the rescue?
• Costa Rica cuts diplomatic relations with Cuba
• Cubans abroad allowed to open businesses on the island
• Trump: “I can do whatever I want with Cuba”
• Rubio contradicts NYT report on Cuba talks
• Five detained following violent blackout protest in Cuba

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44790287

An effective U.S. oil blockade has worsened the island’s energy crisis. The U.S. Embassy in Havana, too, is feeling the effects.

March 20, 2026 https://archive.ph/N81ly

In a diplomatic note to the embassy, the ministry said the administration’s fuel blockade was aimed at “causing the greatest possible harm to the Cuban economy, the well-being of the people, and their standard of living.”

“The Ministry interprets as shameless the claim by the diplomatic mission to access a good as a privilege that it denies to the Cuban people,” the ministry said, according to a State Department translation. The note was dated March 9, the day the ministry received the request.

The United States and Cuba have been adversaries for 65 years. Officials in Washington and Havana have held direct talks aimed at resolving differences, Díaz-Canel said last week. The administration has not made its demands of Havana public.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44746550

March 18, 2026

[about f**kin' time!]

The US has sought to intensify pressure on Cuba, its longtime foe, since seizing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January. Trump has since cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on any country selling oil to the country, stating that Cuba would receive “no more oil or money” as a result of his actions.

Another tanker, the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, loaded nearly 200,000 barrels of diesel in late January off Cyprus from another tanker, according to Kpler data.

It exited the Mediterranean on 13 February and has since been sailing west across the Atlantic, slowing down between late February and early March and following an erratic course, the tracker indicated. At 1630 GMT on Wednesday it was in the northwestern Caribbean, about 1,500 km (932 miles) from the Cuban coast.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44687804

March 18, 2026

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has lashed out after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he can do “whatever he wants” with the Caribbean island and that Washington could take “imminent action” against it.

Díaz-Canel said on X late Tuesday that the Trump administration “publicly threatens” Cuba’s government almost daily with overthrowing it, and any act of aggression “will clash with an impregnable resistance.”

The comments came after the new threats by Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that the Cuban government’s socialist economic model needs to “change dramatically.”

While the Cuban government places heavy restrictions on the country’s private sector, decades of U.S. sanctions have crippled Cuba’s economy.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44619515

The United States has told Cuba that for meaningful progress to be made in negotiations, President Miguel Díaz-Canel must step down, said people familiar with the talks.

https://archive.ph/WGqmv

March 16, 2026

The United States so far is not pushing for any action against Castro family members, who remain the country’s top power brokers, two of the people said. That is consistent with the general desire of Mr. Trump and his aides to force regime compliance rather than regime change in their foreign policy.

In the view of some Trump administration officials, removing Cuba’s head of state would allow structural economic changes in the country that Mr. Díaz-Canel, whom the officials consider a hard-liner, is unlikely to support, one of the people said.

If the Cubans agree, it would result in the first major political shake-up arising from talks between the two countries since those began a few months ago.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44616171

marzo 17, 2026

Cuba no constituye amenaza alguna para Estados Unidos ni para ningún otro país del mundo, como ha expresado Donald Trump. El “problema de Cuba” es que esparció su ejemplo de solidaridad e internacionalismo en un capitalismo destructivo que expresa lo contrario.

El “problema de Cuba” es que es un ejemplo de autodeterminación, de resistencia al bloqueo criminal, es el ejemplo de haberse involucrado en la lucha para poner fin al régimen del Apartheid sudafricano. Es el ejemplo que dio, cuando recibió a las víctimas del desastre de Chernóbil.Es el ejemplar compromiso de sus misiones médicas y sanitarias que envía a decenas de países y que profundizó como política en plena pandemia cuando ningún otro país se atrevía.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44615798

March 17, 2026

Cuba does not represent a threat of any kind to the United States or to any other country in the world, as Donald Trump has claimed. The “problem with Cuba” is that it spread its example of solidarity and internationalism within a destructive capitalism that expresses the opposite.

The “problem with Cuba” is that it has been and is an example of self-determination and resistance against the criminal blockade. It is the example of having become involved in the struggle to end the South African apartheid regime. It is the example it provided when it received the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. It is the exemplary commitment of the medical and health missions that Cuba sends to dozens of countries, and that has deepened as a policy in the middle of the pandemic, when no other country dared to do so.

Currently, more than 300 investigations are underway related to the illegal currency market, a phenomenon that is a priority in the fight against crime and that impacts the country's macroeconomic stability.

This was reported by Lieutenant Colonel Yisnel Rivera Crespo, head of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), in his intervention on the television program Hacemos Cuba, who detailed that these criminal structures move "not insignificant volumes of money" and operate with increasingly complex schemes that involve Cubans based abroad as financiers.

MODUS OPERANDI: FINANCIERS ABROAD AND STRUCTURES IN CUBA

Rivera Crespo explained that a discovery system is being developed that includes multiple avenues for obtaining operational information, penetrating criminal networks, and subsequently dismantling them. "Once operational information is obtained, it's necessary to understand how they operate, the roles of those involved, and, of course, to dismantle the network," he specified.

He said that among the current characteristics of the illegal currency market, financiers extort private actors by imposing interest rates ranging from six to 12%, while involving them in criminal schemes.

These financiers, he explained, enter into negotiations with private actors in the economy to finance their imports in dollars, but they apply a conversion rate imposed by them, with an additional component of manipulation and speculation, in addition to endorsing a profit level that remains precisely between six and 12%.

"The foreign currency doesn't come into the country; the money stays abroad and is used to finance imports, and then there are people here in Cuba who obey the orders of these organizers, in charge of collecting the money from these economic actors, who instead of depositing it in the bank, have to keep it to hand it over to these people, which ends up being the money used in the distribution of remittances, generally in its equivalent in national currency," the lieutenant colonel explained.

He also emphasized that our borders are used for the illicit extraction of these currencies, with the use of people called mules, whose sole objective is to extract from the national territory those currencies accumulated as a result of these activities.

Furthermore, this is cash that leaves through airports, taking advantage of the threshold established by the Central Bank of Cuba of up to $5,000 per person per trip, which, when done repeatedly and with several people, allows for the movement of considerable amounts, Rivera Crespo explained.

He identified the different roles involved in these criminal structures:

• Financiers: people abroad who pay the cost of imports by private actors.

• Remittance agents: they are responsible, following instructions from those abroad, for collecting the money and subsequently distributing it as remittances throughout the national territory.

• Currency traffickers in physical and virtual spaces: involved in cross-border cash movements.

• Simulated international recharge operators: people dedicated to the trafficking of mobile phone recharges.

HIGH-IMPACT OPERATIONS: MILLIONS SEIZED

As part of the results of the confrontation, several concrete examples of operations carried out were presented.

In the first case, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, joint forces of the Ministry of the Interior dismantled a network dedicated to illegal currency trafficking and the delivery of remittances, operating out of two residences. Based on information obtained, searches were carried out and the main suspect was arrested.

The results of the raids were conclusive: 183,278 dollars, 15,560 euros, 1,500,900 Cuban pesos, two cars, five safes, three money counting machines, 12 bank magnetic cards, three cell phones, a laptop and documentation relating to five additional homes.

In this case, a complaint was filed and an investigative file was opened for the application of special investigative techniques, including electronic surveillance of the telephone communications of those involved and film documentation, all legally established and approved by the Prosecutor's Office

Furthermore, in the second operation, two main defendants were arrested and searches were carried out at their homes: two houses in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución and one in the municipality of Cerro.

The seizures included: $17,210, €13,475, 2,199,650 Cuban pesos, two electric motorcycles, two laptops, a video protection system, three cell phones, a money counting machine, and seven magnetic cards with different balances.

"The detainees confessed their involvement in the illegal currency trade, and a person who had come to this location to make a deposit at the time of the operation is also charged," explained Rivera Crespo, specifying that it was a private economic actor who came to deposit his day's takings to convert them into foreign currency for his operations using the informal exchange rate.

The third case involves a citizen who had transactions in his bank accounts with credits exceeding 30 million Cuban pesos and debits exceeding 35 million. Based on financial intelligence, it was established that he was part of a criminal network dedicated to the illegal trafficking of foreign currency.

The individual operated from their home in Vedado and used another person who operated in a town in the municipality of Mariel. Both acknowledged that they primarily engaged in the exchange of US dollars for cash, trafficking in freely convertible currency (MLC) and Cuban pesos (CUP), as well as cryptocurrency transactions, a distinguishing element in this case.

"The main defendant, a partner since 2022 in a micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) based in the province of Artemisa, had re-registered in October 2025 as a self-employed worker to carry out the activity of beverage service. Due to non-compliance with his tax obligations, a control action was carried out and he was fined 1,637,086 pesos."

Simultaneous searches of homes in Vedado and Mariel resulted in the seizure of: 134,550 Cuban pesos, 815 dollars, two money counting machines, a laptop, a hard drive, a central video surveillance unit, two cell phones, an electric motorcycle, eight bank cards (Metropolitano, Bandec and BPA), a classic card and other foreign cards.

PARALLEL INVESTIGATION AND RELATED CRIMES

The chief prosecutor of the Criminal Proceedings Department of the Havana Prosecutor's Office, Yudenia San Miguel Ramírez, pointed out that "the parallel asset investigation involves studying the financial operations carried out by these individuals, the accumulation of their various assets. We know that during the course of their activities they acquire private businesses, conduct negotiations, and make imports."

The prosecutor established the distinction between the different crimes that may occur:

• Illegal currency trafficking: the main crime for which these processes are based, based on the form of commission and the levels of discovery carried out by the Minint.

• Tax evasion: when non-state economic actors violate tax regulations. "In pursuit of increased profits and to engage in other activities associated with other crimes, these individuals evade taxes, declare less income, and thus enrich their assets," he noted.

• Money laundering: in some cases, stemming from the underlying crimes of illegal currency trafficking and tax evasion. "This money is recirculated using front men who pose as owners of legitimate businesses and properties such as homes and cars."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44550438

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [ex-president of #Mexico]
March 14, 2026

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44528606

March 13, 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:

• Cuba Confirms Talks with Trump
• Cuba and U.S. Already Had a Deal — Trump Killed It
• The Roots of Trump’s War on Cuba
• “Nuestra América” Convoy Prepares for Solidarity Trip
• Lula: Cuba Is Going Hungry Because of U.S.
• Jamaica the Latest to Cave in U.S. War on Cuban Doctors
• Ecuador Expels Cuba's Diplomats
• Former CBS Miami Anchor Challenges Hardliner Congresswoman
• Cuba Knocked out of World Baseball Classic
• DOJ Looking to “Pull a Maduro” on Cuban Leaders?
• Rubio’s Photo Op with Convicted Leader of the Proud Boys
• A Cuban American’s Call to Fight Trump’s Cuba Policy

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44513474

[a new book chapter by Helen Yaffe]

My new book chapter discusses Cuban democracy and political institutions, demonstrating that the relationship between the ‘government’ and the ‘people’ is extremely permeable, and that popular support has been vital to the survival of the socialist state for nearly seven decades. It refutes the key tenets of ‘Cubanology’, an academic school politically opposed to Cuban socialism, including that Fidel and Raúl Castro have personally dominated policy, impeding democracy and repressing civil society; interpretations which shape international discourse on Cuba.

It identifies five distinct mechanisms of participation and representation in revolutionary Cuba: (1) the National System of Peoples’ Power; (2) neighbourhood representation; (3) mass organisations, (4) national debates and public consultations; and (5) democratic access to resources and opportunities. The chapter argues that Cuban democracy is fundamentally grounded in cooperation over competition, and that unity, solidarity and consensus-building are central to socialist Cuba’s resilience in the post-Soviet era.

The recent incident in the municipality of Morón, Ciego de Ávila province, has once again highlighted the complex intersection of local events, economic tensions, and the international information war against Cuba. The events of the night of March 13-14, which included acts of vandalism in front of the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party, damage to a pharmacy and a store, and the arrest of several people, quickly became fodder for extreme political interpretations on social media and in foreign media.

Although some external actors have sought to portray these events as the beginning of a collapse of the Cuban political system, the reality is more complex and must be analyzed from an objective and contextualized perspective.

Screenshot of a tweet posted by Mossad on an old x.com Twitter account. Using the necessary technological methods, it has been shown that the post originated in Israel.

Local context and population reaction

The events occurred during a time of significant economic hardship in Cuba, particularly related to fuel shortages and prolonged power outages affecting the population and productive infrastructure.

However, the community's reaction was largely one of rejection of the violence.

The blog Futuro mi Cuba documented the public response in Morón, highlighting that the population supports maintaining peace and trusts in the law enforcement system to resolve the acts of vandalism.

This evidence confirms that the riots were an isolated incident within a population that remains committed to peace and stability, and that the acts of violence do not represent the opinion or actions of the majority.

Information warfare and external manipulation

One element that warrants in-depth analysis is the rapid dissemination of the Morón incidents by international accounts, even before official Cuban media reported on them, accompanied by interpretations that portrayed the chaos as evidence of the “fall of the regime.”

Among these publications, the appearance of messages from an account geolocated in Israel, linked to the digital sphere of Israeli intelligence (Mossad), stands out. This account disseminated information about the events early on. Although the profile presented itself as “unofficial,” its involvement demonstrates the global coordination of actors seeking to amplify disinformation and manipulate international perceptions of Cuba.

This cannot be interpreted as a coincidence. In a context of media warfare, every publication and every amplification has a strategic effect.

• International influence: Disseminating narratives in English about alleged Cuban political instability seeks to shape the opinion of foreign governments, organizations, and media.
• International influence: Disseminating narratives in English about alleged Cuban political instability seeks to shape the opinion of foreign governments, organizations, and media.
• Synchronization with hostile agendas: the combination of early information and its political interpretation aligns with external pressure strategies, including economic sanctions and smear campaigns.
• Magnification of local incidents: isolated actions, taken out of context, become propaganda material to justify intervention policies and to question the legitimacy of the Cuban political system.

The history and experience of the Revolution show that attacks against Cuba rarely occur spontaneously. The combination of internal economic factors, social tensions, and external media manipulation represents a strategic mechanism aimed at generating destabilization and a perception of chaos.

Between internal difficulties and political agendas

It is undeniable that Cuba faces real challenges: prolonged blackouts, economic strain, and logistical problems affect daily life. But it is also true that these problems are systematically exploited by external actors to promote political agendas contrary to national sovereignty.

International media coverage reveals a clear pattern: any isolated incident is amplified to portray Cuba as a collapsed state, while relevant information about the public response and the actual context is omitted.

Final reflection: unity, historical memory and defense of the homeland

What happened in Morón must be read with serenity, responsibility and historical clarity.

• The majority of the population supports peace and rejects violence.
• Internal problems should be addressed with national solutions, not turned into tools of international propaganda.
• Sovereignty and unity are the best defense against manipulation campaigns and media warfare.

Cuba's history confirms that the Revolution has withstood aggression of all kinds, from economic blockades to sabotage and media campaigns. Today, as always, defending the homeland requires clarity, critical analysis, and a commitment to the truth, especially in the face of those who attempt to impose false narratives from abroad.

Sources used:

• AP Agency,
• The Guardian
• Wikipedia,
• My Future Cuba

Source -> https://blogfuturomicuba.wordpress.com/2026/03/14/moron-hechos-manipulacion-mediatica-y-defensa-de-la-soberania-nacional/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44506677

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

For years, the Cuban government has expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue with the United States. But Trump and Biden rejected dialogue and instead embraced a Cold-War era policy of hostility.

Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed on Friday that Cuban and U.S. officials were engaged in talks.

Belly of the Beast went to the streets of Havana to ask Cubans what they think about the recently announced discussions between the governments of Cuba and the United States.

One message stands out: dialogue is a good thing.