Cuba

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Havana’s once stately homes crumble as their residents live in fear of an imminent collapse

HAVANA (AP) — The house on Villegas Street, in the heart of Old Havana, looks nothing like the stately two-story home it used to be a century ago, with its high ceilings, wrought iron railings, semicircular arches and stairs covered in white marble. Its former elegance is such that local lore says it used to belong to a marquise.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-housing-havana-buildings-collapse-maintenance-f2a1077414ed8848f29bade3796ef020?

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Long lines form and frustration grows as Cuba runs short of cash

HAVANA (AP) — Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, but when it was almost his turn, the cash ran out.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-economy-cash-shortage-1bb0c49c286495c66a94e32feffc042d?

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"Shocking": Miami leaders angry after TSA gives Cuban officials airport tour

The Biden administration ignited a political firestorm in Miami after allowing Cuban government officials to tour TSA facilities at Miami International Airport, enraging local leaders who raised security concerns.

https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2024/05/21/miami-airport-cuban-government-delegation-tour?

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What to know about the electrical grid failure that plunged Cuba into darkness

Millions of people in Cuba were left without electricity for two days after the nation's energy grid went down when one of the island's major power plants failed. Authorities were able to restore some power by Saturday, but it was unclear when it would be fully restored. Read more.

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Cuba blackout

Millions in Cuba have been left without power over the last several days as the aging Cuban electrical grid repeatedly collapsed. There have been four nationwide blackouts since Friday after one of the island's major power plants failed. Since then, most people in the 10 million-strong country have had their access to power interrupted. Some Cubans have taken to the streets to protest the dayslong power outages, with many saying they are unable to maintain fresh food and a steady supply of water. Hurricane Oscar also made landfall on Cuba's eastern shores Sunday afternoon with Category 1 strength. The National Hurricane Center said that Oscar has since weakened to a tropical storm but could still hamper attempts to restore electricity.

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Sweeping blackouts in Cuba raise the question: Why has the island’s solar buildout been so slow?

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s large-scale blackouts that left 10 million people without power this month may not have happened if the government had built out more solar power to boost its failing electric grid as promised, some experts say.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-solar-power-blackouts-climate-outages-renewables-15fc4a422c798800c0f07a2c48dd5fff?

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Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, destroying hundreds of homes, knocking out the country’s power grid and damaging other infrastructure.

https://apnews.com/article/rafael-hurricane-storm-cuba-mexico-texas-fc83c4db8e13b9da1a3fa7ec5b6f3319?

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Cuba starts freeing prisoners a day after the US said it would lift terror designation

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba started releasing some prisoners Wednesday as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after President Joe Biden’s administration announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-prisoners-released-us-terrorism-list-5fb785c7297465d387bfc4ba0a157ad2?

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Ingenuity at sea: Cubans use makeshift rafts known as 'corchos' to catch elusive fish

From a distance, they look like tiny white dots floating on the sea. But get closer, and you’ll see people sitting on polyfoam rectangles. They are fishermen floating on “corchos,” makeshift rafts that have become common on the waters off the coast of Havana. Read More.

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Cuba’s future after Maduro

Oil-rich Venezuela has been Cuba’s economic lifeline for nearly 30 years. That relationship has been upended after the US capture of Venezuela’s leader. CNN Havana Bureau Chief Patrick Oppmann explains what could come next for Cuba.

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Cuba's Fuel Shortage

Cuba’s government began cutting off jet fuel to nine airports yesterday, as the country undergoes an acute fuel shortage. Regional flights may not be impacted, but some long-haul flights may be forced to reroute, straining Cuba’s travel industry. Cuba produces about 40% of its oil needs; the majority has historically come from Venezuela and Mexico. However, the US seized Venezuela’s oil industry last month, cutting Cuba off from its lead supplier. Trump also issued an executive order last month threatening tariffs on any country that supplies oil to Cuba as the US seeks to end communist rule on the island. Cuba is now expected to run out of reserves by April and has imposed rations. Air Canada this week announced it would suspend flights to Havana, while other airlines may reroute or stock their own fuel on flights. Cuba’s tourism industry once raked in up to $3B but has since fallen to near-record lows. See a documentary here.

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Cuba says 4 killed in speedboat shooting were attempting to infiltrate the country

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s government said late Wednesday that the 10 passengers on a boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-us-florida-boat-shooting-68e07061282dc2470993f6539bd0bde2?

🇨🇺 Cuba: Slain passengers were infiltrators

Cuba's government said the 10 people who shot at Cuban soldiers yesterday from a speedboat were Cubans living in the U.S. "trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism," AP reports.

• Four were killed and six were injured in the shootout.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is gathering its own information to determine the passengers' nationalities.

• "It is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that ... It's something, frankly, that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time," Rubio said.
• He said the U.S. will "respond accordingly."

Get the latest ... Rubio transcript.

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Young Cubans turn to church and state as cheap, synthetic drugs flood the streets Drug use was an almost-unknown phenomenon in Cuba until the beginning of this decade. However, a deepening economic crisis, shortages of basic goods and the emergence of low-cost synthetic drugs have combined to transform the landscape. Read more.

What to know: The primary threat is the “químico,” (chemical) — a potent cocktail of synthetic cannabinoids and hazardous additives, authorities say. At roughly 250 Cuban pesos per hit (50 cents), it costs less than a basic loaf of bread or a can of soda. The U.S. is the primary source of the precursor substances that constitute químico, said Col. Juan Carlos Poey Guerra of Cuba’s Interior Ministry.   Health care in Cuba is state-run and free, so neighborhood family clinics are typically the first to detect signs of drug use. Although the government does not track the number of drug users, Dr. Tania Adriana Peón, head of mental health and addictions at the General Directorate of Health, pointed to emergency room data as a barometer for the trend. In 2024, 467 people sought help or were registered in emergency rooms in Havana. By 2025, that figure nearly doubled to 886.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Cuban doctors to leave Guyana as US applies pressure over island's medical missions

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Cuban president confirms US talks as island’s energy and economic crises intensify

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has held talks with the U.S. government, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday, marking the first time the Caribbean country has confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration as it grapples with a severe energy crisis.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-us-talks-68bec1bfee9efe696c8ce357463c7a56?

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Islandwide blackout hits Cuba as it struggles with deepening energy crisis

HAVANA (AP) — Officials in Cuba reported an islandwide blackout Monday in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen and its power grid continues to crumble.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-power-outage-electricity-4dcd92d4b7b3bbeda88622b543074ceb?

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Cuba’s latest blackout underscores its deepening economic crisis as Rubio calls for new leadership

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling for "new people in charge" of Cuba as the Caribbean nation experienced its third islandwide blackout in four months. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called Cuba a “very weakened nation,” said on Monday he believes he’ll have the “honor of taking Cuba.” On Tuesday, Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage, said the current government is incapable of addressing the problems. The island's government blames its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The country's aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to daily outages. Read more.

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Cuba

Cuba's president has issued a new warning to the Trump administration, saying that any attempt by the US to take control of the country would be met with "impregnable resistance." The message comes after President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested a potential US takeover could happen "very soon." Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed up with a blunt assessment from the Oval Office, saying the island nation needs "new people in charge." Cuba is also struggling this week to restore power to millions of people after a nationwide blackout. The country's power grid collapsed on Monday, weeks after a US blockade of oil effectively shut off supplies.

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Trade with Cuba collapses as Trump escalates pressure on Communist Party leadership

The Cuban Communist Party has shown astonishing resilience over six decades in power. Whether it’s the United States trade embargo to counter Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, or the widespread starvation of the “special period” that followed the breakup of its Cold War patron, the Soviet Union, both U.S. hostilities and calamities of its own making have proven no match for the country’s leadership. But perhaps none of those crises pose as grave a threat as the one triggered by an all-but-declared naval siege by the Trump administration as it seeks to force regime change. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Concern, anger and hope simmer in Cuba after Trump calls for ‘imminent action’ against government WATCH: Cubans react to tensions between the U.S. and Cuban governments

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Cuba begins to restore power after nationwide grid collapse

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba began restoring its energy system on Sunday, a day after a nationwide collapse of the entire grid left millions of people in the dark for the third time this month.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-blackout-energy-ba0e5a5df1f428dbf26656d23a16a772?

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As Trump pressures Cuba, a Castro could be the next president As President Donald Trump pushes for change in Cuba’s leadership, speculation is mounting about who, if anyone, might replace Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Two Castro cousins have come into focus as potential replacements, experts said. Read more.

Why this matters: As Raúl Castro’s handpicked largely figurehead successor in 2018, Díaz-Canel has been the only leader without the last name Castro to govern since the 1959 revolution. He still has two years left in his term — but some experts and a growing number of Cubans doubt he’ll make it. Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga — Raúl Castro’s 55-year-old great nephew — has shot to power since emerging from obscurity several years ago. He became minister of Cuba’s influential Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment in May 2024 and was appointed the island’s deputy prime minister in October. By contrast, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro — Raúl Castro’s grandson — has never occupied a government post, having served as his grandfather’s bodyguard and later as head of Cuba’s equivalent of the U.S. Secret Service.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Aid vessel arrives in Havana as economic and energy crises deepen   WATCH: A tale of two Castros

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Inside historic Cuba talks

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images Axios' Marc Caputo, based in Miami, delivers a breakthrough on what the Trump administration has been doing behind the scenes with Cuba while sounding a strident public tone: State Department officials met in Havana with Cuban apparatchiks — including the grandson of aging strongman Raul Castro — to urge democratic and economic freedoms and warn of the risks of not heeding their advice. The U.S. delegation offered to help restore internet services by setting up Starlink satellite services. Why it matters: Last week's meeting is the first time a U.S. government plane has touched down since President Obama visited a decade ago in an effort at rapprochement. Now, Cuba is closer to societal collapse than ever. President Trump is in office with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and they're far less inclined to make concessions. 🦀 Zoom in: A senior State Department official wouldn't name the meetings' participants, except for one — Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of Castro. Known as Raulito and nicknamed El Cangrejo (The Crab), the younger Castro is seen by the U.S. as a de facto spokesman for his grandfather, who remains the real power in Cuba, Axios scooped. The bottom line: Without directly threatening the Cuban officials, the U.S. made clear that Trump's government won't allow a disaster to occur on the island 90 miles south of Key West.

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Cuba confirms meeting with US officials on island, wants energy blockade lifted

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s government on Monday confirmed that it had recently met with U.S. officials on the island as tensions between the two sides remain high over the U.S. energy blockade of the Caribbean country.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-us-talks-energy-blockade-meeting-bfdd1c4cc35f7c280b790cb500ae0d0c?

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Cuban exiles have renewed hope and fears over claims on property seized long ago

President Donald Trump's threat of military intervention in Cuba is raising hopes of regime change among Cuban Americans. Many exiles are seeking compensation for homes and businesses taken after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. They remain hopeful about the prospects of regime change but are concerned that any agreement arising from ongoing negotiations will not address property losses or demands for democratic change. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

WATCH: Trump’s Cuba threats revive exile hopes, fears over property claims Sheinbaum weighs sanctions on Chihuahua state after CIA agents died after drug lab raid

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PHOTO ESSAY: Elderly Cubans cope with a deepening economic crisis

Cuba’s elderly are among those bearing the heaviest burden of the island’s deepening economic crisis, which has worsened since the start of the year after an oil embargo imposed by Trump. Even before the latest downturn, Cuba already had one of the oldest populations in Latin America, shaped by long life expectancy and low birth rates. Many are former state workers living on meager pensions, facing cuts to long-subsidized goods and increasing loneliness as younger Cubans continue to emigrate. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Many elderly Cubans left to fend for themselves as the latest crisis deepens  WATCH: Older Cubans struggle as the economic crisis deepens Argentina's leader bars journalists from government HQ, raising concerns about press freedom

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Cubans struggle to survive on pocket-size government ration books as products dwindle

HAVANA (AP) — José Luis Amate López hasn’t had a customer in almost two weeks, not counting the scrawny brown kitten that slinks around the bodega where he works in central Havana.

https://apnews.com/article/cuba-government-ration-book-libreta-store-economy-abbfaf6ee2ee6937f00c54f68e565e43?