23 June 2025

In a new response to citizen and student concern about recent increases in the cost of mobile internet access, the state telecoms company ETECSA has announced limited modifications to its plans.

A previous announcement led to student unrest and more generally, widespread national criticism on social media. The issue remains politically and socially sensitive.

So sensitive was the subsequent student reaction that Cuba’s leadership fearing wider student unrest, a broadening of issues of concern, and the possibility of external exploitation, that Cuba’s President  immediately acknowledged that the students were “using their constitutional right” …. “within the framework of institutionality.” They had  demanded solutions, he said, that would be resolved through dialogue and flexibility. (Full background Cuba Briefing 9 and 16 June 2025)

ETECSA announce limited modifications

Announcing on 19 June an intermediate plan that will make available an additional 2 gigabytes (gb) for CUP1,200 for 35 days, ETECSA said that this will allow “for a greater number of mobile phone users to have greater access to the Internet.” Company executives said that the new intermediate plan, offers a lower and more affordable price than the previously announced add-on 3gb for CUP3,360, first announced on 30 May. In doing so,  they recognised that the new plan still does not meet the needs of many customers.

Although the company’s rationale is that the price increases will enable ETECSA to improve its infrastructure and services, most subsequent online reaction published in Cuba’s official media and on social media platforms remains critical. Many posts make the point that all additional pricing above the maximum initial purchase is beyond the means of many Cubans and effectively dollarises add-ons and limits access to the internet.

ETECSA’s executives told the media that it continues  working with a group of organisations and institutions to find solutions that will allow both students and other sectors to have greater access to the internet, whether through institutions or by some other means. It also confirmed that a specific plan for university students is being implemented.

For university students, the company will allow the purchase of a 6gb plan for CUP360 as a one-time monthly purchase and in addition a single CUP360 balance top-up. For students to access this sector-based plan they must be registered in the company’s dedicated database.

Yusmany Rojas, Deputy Director of the company’s commercial vice presidency, told Cuban journalists that she recognised that the new offering still does not meet the needs of a portion of the population that consumes more than the current availability. However, it is all the company can provide, she said, given the current situation and the impact on ETECSA’s economic recovery. According to Cubadebate, a recent study by the telecoms company, indicates that 38% of users in Cuba consume more than 8gb a month.

Highlights in this issue: 

• Economists’ proposals only a ‘working guide’ for Cuban ministries
• Tabacuba says production is expected to recover this year
• Fernández de Cossío says Cuba has no dialogue with Trump Administration
• Vietnamese military instructed to deepen cooperation, heighten profile in Cuba
• Catholic Bishops issue unusually direct message about the crisis facing many Cubans

Student group submits forty recommendations

The announcement follows Cuban media reports that the multidisciplinary group of university students formed by the Communist Party-linked Federation of University Students (FEU) developed more than 40 proposals suggesting ways in which ETECSA might address student concerns about the pricing of mobile data in relation to their needs.

According to Litza González, the National Vice President of the FEU, these will now be presented and discussed in the University Councils of each academic institution, while the FEU-convened group “will support the company (ETECSA) in implementing the projects based on their feasibility.”

The reported recommendations relate to improving ETECSA’s communications strategy, the development by the company of a crisis manual, and the creation of mechanisms to increase public feedback. Cubadebate quoted González as saying that the student group also undertook a detailed analysis of the concerns raised by the universities and considered pricing policies, data packages, and sectorisation, as well as the creation of a work system to evaluate the progress of the initiatives presented.

The online platform quoted  Tania Velázquez, the President of ETECSA, as saying that the dialogue had been “enriching” and had been “one of frankness, openness, and exchange.” Some 40 ETECSA specialists participated in the meetings. “Our interest is to make people aware of the reality of our company and to seek joint solutions,” she observed. Quoting several students,  Cubadebate  reported that while the creation of the group by the FEU had enabled “young university students to make medium- and long-term proposals,” “disagreement and dissatisfaction” had been present.

Government praises students

In other reported comments, government sought to commend students while suggesting in their case that future improvements might be possible

Deputy Prime Minister, Eduardo Martínez, highlighted  the “talent and collective intelligence of the students.” “We must take advantage of this,” he said, adding that both President Díaz-Canel and the Prime Minister were aware of the meetings. “There are things that may not be possible in the short term, but they can be structured through projects,” he said, while reiterating the need to implement measures that allow for the sustainability and improvement of ETECSA’s services. The student group will meet again in September.

Separately, the official publication Juventud Rebelde emphasised the FEU’s assurances of the legitimacy of the process it was overseeing, noting the students’ “frank and robust debate,” and their questions and proposals. It quoted several as putting forward ideas relating to marketing, pricing, the company’s technology, expanding bandwidth at higher education centres, and installing Wi-Fi hotspots.

The multidisciplinary group’s proposals followed days of meetings with representatives of ETECSA in response to the peaceful student protests in multiple university faculties after the company’s badly misjudged late May announcement.

23 June 2025, Issue 1285

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

09 June 2025

Cuba’s President has accused outside forces of trying to create unrest and instability following a badly mishandled announcement on 30 May of an immediate sharp increase in mobile internet rates by the state telecoms provider ETECSA

To the concern of government, which surprisingly had not foreseen the likely response, ETECSA’s statement was rapidly followed by widespread condemnation on social media and peaceful protests by students in several university faculties including at the University of Havana.

At press time, government remained in an ongoing dialogue with student groups whose concerns focus on the need for unlimited internet access to complete their studies, rather than on the concessions offered by ETECSA following its initial announcement.

Other student concerns expressed in assemblies and on social media criticised the initial failure of the national leadership of Communist Party-linked representative student bodies such as the Federation of University Students (FEU), to respond to the wishes of its faculty branches in relation to the issue.

Later in the week to try to address student concerns, Ricardo Rodríguez, the National President of the FEU told Juventud Rebelde that a multidisciplinary group aimed to analyse student opinion and proposals, as well as to work together with ETECSA to find solutions.

President recognises widespread dissatisfaction

Speaking alongside representatives of ETECSA on 6 June on his podcast ‘Desde la Presidencia’, President Díaz-Canel recognised “the dissatisfaction among the population, the misunderstandings, and the justifiable criticisms that have been levelled at the centre of the Party, the Government, and also the Ministry of Communications and ETECSA.”

These errors,” he said, “have caused misunderstanding, discontent, and criticism among the population, but they have also led to hateful, counterrevolutionary platforms coordinating a total campaign of discredit, slander, and lies that has sought to involve, with the worst tricks, one of the social sectors inseparable from the soul of the Revolution: our students, our beloved students, and the Cuban youth.”

His remarks followed meetings and peaceful protests in some university faculties as well as student criticism of the Communist Party youth-related bodies – the Federation of University Students (FEU), the Federation of Middle Level Education Students (FEEM), and the Union of Young Communists (UJC) – for failing to represent their views on the issue.

Recognising “that students, using their constitutional right, have demanded solutions from ETECSA, and from our government as well,” and that most have done so “within the framework of institutionality,” Díaz-Canel, asserted that their concerns were being hijacked.

Days after the ETECSA announcement, he said, an offensive had been launched “laden with lies, with posters and videos posted on social media” using he said, “manipulated images of university rallies and activities, to which fake photos and sound have been added.”

Highlights in this issue: 

• ETECSA says price hike is essential to assure future viability and to fund investment
• Rebuffed by State Department Cuban officials express concern about US intentions
• EU-Cuba PDCA Council to meet later this year
• Cuba stresses importance of continuity in its dialogue with Vatican
• Cuba confirms its commitment to China’s concept of a ‘shared future’

Government to resolve issues with students through dialogue, flexibility

In an indication of the sensitivity of the issue and the need for caution about how the still unresolved issues are addressed,  Cuba’s President noted on his podcast that government was trying to resolve the issue. It was doing so, he said, through dialogue.

“We have spoken with the students, they have had the opportunity to raise their concerns, and in fact, a set of responses have been provided,” he said.

However, in doing so he indicated a willingness “to continue seeking solutions, to continue expanding these measures as appropriately as possible, in line with the objectives we have set and in light of (students’) need.”

In his remarks Cuba’s President accepted that there had been “errors in the design” and “errors in the communication of the measures, perhaps because we lacked the necessary explanations and failed to consider the different needs and demands of each sector.” But failing to implement the measures would, he said, “mean forgoing revenue, without which we would be accelerating the already imminent collapse of the [ETECSA] service as a whole.”

Accepting that “we have underestimated the importance of these tools in such a complex scenario,” Cuba’s President indicated that further flexibility may be possible.

Based on dialogue and acknowledging errors, he said, “corrections have been made to the initial proposals …. and the possibility of further corrections have not been ruled out.” He also noted that “clear guidance on the actions the Party and the Government must take to address the problem, taking into account the criticisms and suggestions” had been provided.

ETECSA apologises

Speaking on the same programme, the President of ETECSA, Tania Velázquez,  said: “We have had failures in the implementation process, in the very design of the implementation of the measures.” “I cannot stop offering and apologising to our people, because this entire situation that has been generated by our system, by our company, by our service, forces us to do so. We cannot stop doing so, because it is something we deeply regret.”

News agencies report student concerns continue in some locations

The French news agency AFP reported days after the first announcement ETECSA that groups within some universities have called on students not to attend classes or are seeking a legal challenge against ETECSA’s decision based on what they believe to be a breach of contract. It quoted one student statement posted on Telegram as saying: “We invite the administration of our University of Havana to recognise this protest as legitimate in order to (…) avoid misrepresentation of our revolutionary and honest intentions.”

In response, AFP reported, the University of Havana administration warned on Facebook that “nothing and no one will interrupt our teaching processes with meetings that are completely removed from the spirit that has animated exchanges with student and youth organisations.”

Later in the week, EFE reported after visiting the University of Havana campus, that meetings continue at different schools to find solutions. Noting the newfound willingness of young people to articulate their opinions in this way, it wrote that “while not widespread or destabilising”, their concerns are “significant and striking because they represent unprecedented signs of unrest in Cuban universities, especially in the current context of the severe polycrisis and uncertainty.”

Communist Party calls for unity

Speaking earlier in the week and following the announcement by ETECSA that it would vary its pricing policy for students to its suddenly announced changes, Roberto Morales, the Secretary for Organisation of  the Central Committee of Cuba’s Communist Party, denounced “media manipulations and opportunistic distortions …. taking advantage of our people’s legitimate concerns regarding necessary measures, such as those recently announced by ETECSA.” 

Calling for “revolutionary unity” in the face of “subversive campaigns and actions to destroy the Revolution,” he  referred to student discontent triggered by concerns about ETECSA’s rate hike, suggesting that “unity will prevent the incitement against young Cuban university students from taking the course of violence, contempt, and discord with the institutions to which their usual promoters aspire.”

Indicating that enemies “have taken advantage of legitimate concerns and natural dissent in a society to call for disorder and to obscure the value of spaces for dialogue, collective analysis, and listening ….” he said  that “the maturity of this people and, above all, of its youth, united in representative organisations like the FEU, has known how to apply the necessary and just brake, so that unfounded chaos has no entry point.”

ETECSA decision initially criticised by many Cubans

Over the weekend of 1-2 June, following the poorly handled announcement by ETECSA, criticism was widespread on social media, among students, and in in some official publications.

In developments that triggered a rapid response from Government and ETECSA, faculty groups affiliated to the FEU publicly criticised the telecoms provider’s sudden announcement of price hikes, as did social media users, one official publication, and others whose opinions normally reflect government’s view.

In the two days after the new prices were announced, FEU branches representing faculties of the University of Havana and the Higher Institute of International Relations, and groups representing medical sciences expressed their dissatisfaction while making clear their loyalty to government.

In doing so they variously observed that the ETECSA announcement represented  “a huge lack of respect for the Cuban people” and limited university students’ ability to learn, research, and develop in an increasingly digital world. In doing so they expressed an openness to dialogue and to seeking solutions.

In a separate and unusual development, an editorial in Girón, the official provincial publication for Matanzas,  while recognising the financial constraints  ETECSA was operating under, criticised the huge price increase and other measures announced, noting they were trending on social media and in private conversations.  Writing on its Facebook page, Girón observed that connectivity is not a luxury, but “a tool for work, study, communication, and development,” before asking whether there was not “a middle ground between ETECSA’s financial strangulation and the economic strangulation of users?” 

” Girón understands the urgency of foreign currency that motivated ETECSA. The blockade is real, the crisis is fierce. But we believe that, to support this process and provide accurate and truthful information to the people and users detailed and public explanations of the investment and improvement plan are needed, as well as information on whether alternatives will be explored to alleviate the impact on the productive and lower-income sectors,” it wrote.

The method of communication was also criticised on social media by Israel Rojas, a member of the popular trova band Beuna Fe, who normally supports the Cuban government.”ETECSA’s ‘rate increase’ is riddled with all the flaws of current Cuban political communication . The technical and objective reasons, even though they are undeniable, end up seeming uncertain, unfair, and erratic,” he wrote.

Responding initially to the widespread concern, President Díaz-Canel wrote on X “We do not like any measure that limits benefits, and it is our duty to thoroughly explain each step taken to avoid the blows of the blockade” 

ETECSA offer special deal for students

At a national level FEU representatives then met with  senior Communist Party figures, the Union of Young Communists (UJC), Government officials, the Higher Education Ministry, and the Federation of Middle Level Education Students (FEEM).

Following the meeting, the FEU issued a statement saying that it had allowed for a “contributory dialogue and important solutions.”

Subsequently, ETCSA said that special arrangements would apply for students. These, it noted, will enable University students to access two top-ups of CUP360 rather than one, to enable them to now access 12 GB of data. Such users according to Tania Velázquez, the Executive President of ETECSA will be registered in the company’s database. She added that other measures will be introduced in educational environments including free access to educational and information sites via the mobile network, Wi-Fi hotspots will be strengthened and increased in universities, and data centres will be established to host scientific journals. Despite this, the measures announced for most Cubans including professionals, pensioners, and others remain in place, effectively restricting internet access for many.

09 June 2025, Issue 1283

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

26 May 2025

As Cuba’s 2024-25 sugar campaign draws to a close,  provincial reporting, as well as industry sources cited by Reuters, suggest that the island is headed this year for an unplanned for production shortfall of as much as 100,000 metric tons. The outcome is likely to have a negative impact on the Cuban economy.

Although Azcuba originally forecast a harvest of 265,000 metric tons of raw sugar, most analysts now suggest that the island’s sugar sector will be hard pressed to exceed 160,000 metric tons, a figure if eventually confirmed that would rank with the lowest harvest on record since 1898. At its peak in 1989, Cuba produced 8mn tons of raw sugar, becoming one of the world’s largest exporters.

Cuba last published details of its sugar production following the 2022/3 campaign. Then, it reported that 350,000 tons of sugar were produced but has yet to publish details of the size of the 2023/24 harvest. However, earlier this year the widely respected former Minister of Economy, José Luis Rodríguez, indicated in one of his regular economic analyses republished in the country’s official media that the 2023/4 sugar campaign yielded just 160,000 metric tons of raw sugar.

According to reports appearing in various provincial publications, the decline in production is attributable to multiple causes, the most significant being ascribed to the US embargo, fuel shortages, and constant power outages. However, other problems include foreign exchange shortages resulting in a lack of agricultural inputs and spares, breakdowns during grinding, late running repairs, a late start in planting and harvesting, labour shortages caused by internal and external migration, and more generally, a lack of investment and poor management.

The figures reflect recent warnings of a poor outcome. The Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso, told a late April meeting of the Council of Ministers that the current sugar harvest “remains unfavourable.”  Separately, in comments apparently  reflecting the severity of the crisis facing the sector, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitri Chernyshenko, speaking following a meeting of the Russia-Cuba Intergovernmental Commission, suggested that Russian investors, would review all possibilities to “save the sugar industry.”

Highlights in this issue: 

• More detail provided on Russian plan to financially incentivise investment in Cuba
• Visitor arrivals continue to decline from major markets
• New US Dollar denominated export financing scheme for Cuban agriculture proposed
• China reaffirms its strategic collaboration on IT and cybersecurity
• Export oriented joint venture in pharma products established with Vietnam

The year began badly according to Cuban reporting, with just six out of the fourteen mills expected to grind this year, being operational at the start of January. Since then, even as more mills joined the campaign, the potential crisis facing the sector has continued to be reported on a provincial basis by Cuba’s official daily publications covering Sancti Spíritus, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas, and other regions of the country.

The likely shortfall in production is expected to impact negatively on the Cuban economy and place new pressure on the island’s already limited foreign exchange at a time when the country is adapting to a ‘wartime economy’, tourism arrivals and related foreign currency earnings are in decline, food imports are rising,  and public expenditure is being cut. 

Cuba requires about 700,000 metric tons of raw sugar annually, a figure largely met pre-COVID by local production after the sale of  contracted quantities, principally to China. In 2019/20 production stood at 1.3mn tons, but more recently in 2023 to meet domestic requirements, Cuba imported raw sugar valued at US$9.64mn, primarily from Brazil, Colombia, Spain, the US, and Chile.

The probable shortfall this year is likely to have a wider effect in relation to the Cuban sectors that rely on domestically produced sugar and its byproducts, including the island’s premium export grade rums which require only locally produced molasses if they are to meet regulatory requirements.

Other sectors that may also be affected include the island’s potable spirits industry, manufacturers of soft drinks, the island’s health care and scientific research sectors which require pure alcohol, the availability of a byproduct, organic fertiliser used on crops, and ‘honey’ for animal feed. Additionally, sugar cane bagasse is burnt at times to provide power into Cuba’s national electrical system.

Speaking late last year about the future of the sugar sector, Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, told Cuba’s National Assembly that there was a need to identify innovative solutions to halt the deterioration of the island’s sugar agribusiness in such a way that overall results consider not just the production of sugar, but also its derivatives, the energy produced, and the generation of employment.

How Cuba intends addressing the many structural problems now facing the sector remains unclear, let alone the immediate impact a large shortfall in planned production will have on the macroeconomic problems the island’s government is slowly trying to address.

While foreign investment from Russia in sugar as an agribusiness may offer a way forward if Russian state support and independently  managed private sector operations  can be structured in such a way as to offer a return on capital, it is hard to envisage the sector becoming economically strategic in the near future in the way it once was.

26 May 2025, Issue 1281

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

12 May 2025

High level exchanges held during a five-day visit by President Díaz-Canel to Moscow and St Petersburg suggest that economic relations between Russia and Cuba are set to deepen.

The visit, in response to an invitation from President Putin to attend Russia’s  celebrations of its World War II victory over fascism, saw Cuba’s President speak warmly about his country’s ties with Russia, visit possible investors in St Petersburg, and hold high level bilateral meetings in Moscow.

More substantively, Díaz-Canel received confirmation from President Putin that a special mechanism to subsidise interest rates on credits for Russian business owners investing in major projects in Cuba will now be established.

The confirmation came not long after a meeting in Havana of the Russia-Cuba Intergovernmental Commission, and earlier indications that Cuba is willing to offer special incentives and concessions to leading Russian investors in strategic sectors including energy, sugar, agriculture, tourism, railways, and telecommunications.

The officially reported exchanges suggest that economic relations may now intensify, and as hoped for by Presidents Putin and Díaz-Canel gradually rise to the level of the two countries strategic political ties. (See Cuba Briefing 7 April 2025).

Highlights in this issue: 

• Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshenko says Russian companies are prepared to invest up to US$1bn in Cuba
• St Petersburg visit identifies investment opportunities
• Tourism Minister says hoping for recovery in the coming winter season
• Deadline extended for closing non-state MSMES that provide wholesales services
• Kallas defends EU-Cuba accord as being essential to engaging Cuba on differences 

In Moscow, President Díaz-Canel also met bilaterally with China’s President Xi Jinping who attended the Russian celebrations. Initial Cuban reporting indicated that President Xi had said that “the ties between the two countries were at a new, more solid stage” and had “called for a further deepening of ties, with exchanges being the hallmark.” Díaz-Canel reportedly acknowledged Xi Jinping’s “enormous sensitivity, understanding, and personal commitment to the island’s problems.”

Writing on X just before returning to Havana, President Díaz-Canel noted: “We are returning to the Homeland, with a goodbye to Russia, where we have experienced days of intense emotions and promising dialogue.” “Our friends are not indifferent to our financial situation, and we discussed it during the visit.” “Russia defeated fascism. Cuba will defeat the blockade.”

12 May2025, Issue 1279

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

22 April 2025

TCuba’s state run telecommunications company, ETECSA SA, has publicly acknowledged that it is unable to obtain the foreign exchange it needs to maintain the required level of investment in technology to continue upgrading its aging network.

Speaking to Cubavisión Internacional, the official worldwide arm of the domestic Cubavisión network, Kevin Castro, the Deputy Director of Network Operations said: “Our foreign currency income sources have been severely affected. What does that mean? It has become exceedingly challenging to continue with the investment plan we carried out up to 2022.”

In doing so he confirmed the reason for the growing number of complaints on Cuban social media about service failures, problems with Internet access in homes and public areas, interruptions in landline and mobile phone services, and more generally slowness and network congestion.

Rodríguez attributed the problems associated with connectivity to the increase in demand, a lack of foreign currency, external interference from the use of illegal equipment, reported recently to be degrading the service in some areas, and a recent increase in vandalism against telecommunications infrastructure. He also noted that the company faced other limitations due to economic sanctions and an overall shortage of resources.

According to ETECSA, the damage experienced involves cuts to fibre optic cables, damage to poles carrying cabling and to towers carrying relays, and battery theft. In his remarks Castro stressed the costs of recovery on the company’s finances, observing that a single fibre optic cable cut experienced recently in Camagüey had cost the company over CUP16mn and had disrupted airport services.

ETECSA’s Deputy Director of Network Operations also noted that the growing demand for Internet and telephone services has placed a strain on the existing infrastructure at a time when it is experiencing declining foreign currency income, and the company has had to redirect resources and technical staff to addressing repairs.

Highlights in this issue: 

• Marrero again tells senior provincial officials they must address Cubans’ pressing concerns  
• State dairy company reported to have accumulated huge debts to farmers cooperatives
• China holds policy seminar in Havana on Beijing’s approach to economic development
• Russia’s Novikom Bank formalises agreement to enable Cuban financial settlements in Rubles.
• US Federal judge blocks administration’s attempt to expel Cuban and other legal migrants

Speaking on the same programme, Pedro Lozada, the Director of ETECSA’s Southern Territorial Division, said that in 2024 planned investments had to be halted to address the damages, further delaying the modernisation of its increasingly outdated network.

He told Cubavisión’s viewers that external interference in the mobile cellular network caused by illegal antennas and uncertified equipment had jammed cells in areas like Havana, where 12% of external interference is reported, while in the rest of the country the impact was only 6%.

ETECSA said that it is now working in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior to strengthen infrastructure protection and to identify those responsible for vandalism and the use of imported equipment. In doing so, it reiterated  its commitment to optimising its services, expanding coverage, and delivering technical solutions that enable a more stable user experience.

22 April 2025, Issue 1276

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

07 April 2025

Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, has insisted that the recovery of Cuba’s National Electricity System (SEN) is “on schedule” and that a positive outcome of everything planned “will soon be seen.”

His comments come as extensive daily power outages continue because of fuel shortages, breakdowns, and scheduled repairs. On 6 April the deficit forecast by the state power generator Unión Eléctrica (UNE) reached 1,615 MW or 56% of forecast demand during peak evening hours. 

In an extended interview published in four parts over several days in the official publication Granma, the Minister said that he expects Cuba to exceed its commitment to reach 24% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030, and that the benefits of the extensive repairs and maintenance being carried out on the country’s eight aging thermoelectric plants (CTE) will soon be seen.

Less promisingly, he warned that other issues relating to fuel, financing, and falling national oil and gas production continue to affect the sector.

National fuel production, he said, is declining “to the point that analysts believe there would come a time when we wouldn’t even have [enough] fuel for the thermoelectric plants. We’re talking about domestic crude oil and accompanying gas to generate electricity,” he told the publication.

Observing that Cuba has always been dependent on fuel imports to power the country’s thermoelectric power plants, he stressed that more is spent on this than on food imports or on medicine, with more than half of all fuel imported used to generate electricity.

Electricity recovery, he said, was complicated, not just because of the technical condition of the thermoelectric plants, but because of the limited nature of the financing available.

To maintain power generation, if the electrical system were functioning properly, would require an annual investment of between US$250mn and US$350mn, he said. “If you don’t provide those resources for a year, you can’t recover them; and it hasn’t been just a year. That’s the price we’re paying. It hasn’t been possible; the country hasn’t had enough income,” he told Granma.

Highlights in this issue: 

• Cuba and Russia stress the need to rapidly consolidate economic ties
• ZEDM companies authorised to use higher exchange rate to calculate salaries
• Taxation-derived fund helping restore Cuba’s public transport
• Head of Southern Command says Cuba a threat to US national security
• Vietnamese business encouraged to play a greater role in Cuban economy

Levy made clear that “the recovery” of Cuba’s electrical supply after having experienced four nationwide outages and months when much of the country has been without power for up to 20 hours a day, is about much more than the construction of  new photovoltaic solar parks. 

Such additions, he said, may be “the most notable or the most innovative, the most different,” but as they come on stream their introduction into the energy matrix is enabling Union Eléctrica to undertake the necessary repairs to the thermoelectric plants that provide most of Cuba’s power.

Speaking about national oil production in relation to power generation, he said that “drilling a well is an investment, but maintaining that well requires resources, which must be invested every day.” Financing shortages, he told viewers had forced the government “to keep closing wells, closing them again and again,” because, he said, they didn’t have the resources to keep them active.

In relation to power generation, he said, “the first thing is to halt this decline, while simultaneously reducing fuel consumption, expanding generating capacity and rapidly progressing plans for the use less expensive renewable energy sources.

The plan in relation to photovoltaic power, he explained, is for four photovoltaic parks to be delivering energy by the end of April, to alleviate the enormous deficit that persists. “This doesn’t mean that blackouts will be eliminated completely,“ Levy however admitted. It’s a gradual, costly, investment-intensive process for which we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and which doesn’t end with these 1,000 MW.”

That is why he said, the Cuban government is promoting a plan to launch 100 solar parks by 2031 through two overlapping contracts that will add up to the 2,000 MW, one announced for 2028, and one being developed at a slower pace. 

At the same time, he said, the Ministry is working on plans to significantly increase domestic oil production from the 138,028 tons recorded in 2024. Cuba currently produces about 40,000 barrels per oil a day, or about a third of the crude oil it consumes, according to the  Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM).

During the interview, which sought to assure Cubans that a comprehensive integrated plan was being implemented by government to enable the gradual recovery of the SEN, Levy revealed:

• Block one of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant (CTE) is expected to be synchronised in April producing up to 158 MW and a second block will come online in June with a similar potential. The plant has undergone a major repair with some of the key elements manufactured overseas 

• When more than 90% of the necessary resources are obtained, the Antonio Guiteras CTE in Matanzas, the country’s  largest thermoelectric plant producing about 280MW, will be taken offline and long overdue repair work not undertaken since 2004 will take place  over eight or ten months. 

• Two units under construction at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes plant in Cienfuegos will be reinstated to the SEN this month and the other in June.

• The second unit at the Felton CTE in Holguín, which was  “completely lost” after a 2022 fire, is undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation. The “gigantic engineering project”  will last two years. The minister did not specify when it would be completed.

• Alongside these and other repair and maintenance projects involving  the recovery of 850 MW,  two Turkish floating power barges will be  gradually phased in, requiring the importation of large quantities of fuel. 

• Areas with new oil deposits have been identified at Boca de Jaruco, between Fraile and Jibacoa; the area of East Havana and Alamar; and south of the Puerto Escondido and Canasí fields.

• Batteries able to bring stability to the solar power system will be added as the installation of wind farms progresses.

During the extended interview the Minister stressed that everything planned is on schedule and a positive outcome is expected to emerge from the new strategy.

Granma, in what at times was an aggressively questioning interview, quoted Levy as saying that International specialists who had visited, had agreed in writing with Cuban proposals including its development strategy; the urgent need to increase domestic fuel production and reduce consumption by introducing renewable energy; additionally boosting distributed generation; and continuing to use thermoelectric plants, which it reported remain indispensable to the overall energy matrix as they use Cuban fuel “over which the country has control.”

24 March 2025, Issue 1274

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

28 April 2025

In a landmark decision, a US Federal judge sitting with a jury in Miami has ordered the Expedia Group to pay US$29.8mn to a Cuban-American businessman living in Miami. The ruling follows  a finding in his favour under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. The decision may be appealed to the US Supreme Court

The verdict relates to a claim of ownership of land at Cayo Coco confiscated from the family of Mario Echevarría, who reportedly became a US citizen in 1983. The claim revolves around land confiscated and occupied  at a time when new agrarian laws were introduced in 1959 and revised and expanded in 1963 by Cuba’s revolutionary government, although the precise date of the expropriation was contended duing the trial.  The case revolved around the allegation that by promoting, marketing and selling bookings at hotels on Cayo Coco, Expedia had engaged in trafficking as defined by the Helms Burton Libertad Act.

In his judgement, Federal Judge Federico Moreno wrote that “The defendants profited by offering customers reservations at these hotels on their travel websites. The defendants admit they failed to investigate whether the hotels were located on confiscated land.”

The lawsuit brought against the Expedia Group alleged that four of its subsidiaries,  Hotel.com LP, Hotels.com GP, and Orbitz LLC, digitally profited through ‘trafficking’ on websites offering bookings at Iberostar Mojito, Iberostar Colonial, and Pullman Cayo Coco, all on Cayo Coco, built on expropriated land.

During the trial, an Expedia employee admitted that the company failed to investigate the ownership of the hotels or consider the implications of the law protecting Echeverría.

Speaking to the Bogota based Spanish language cable television channel NTN24, Andrés Rivero of the Rivero & Mestre law firm, who represented the plaintiff, said: “This is a major victory not only for our client, but also for the Cuban-American community at large, whose assets were improperly seized and exploited by US companies in collaboration with the Cuban communist dictatorship. It wasn’t easy, and winning the verdict with a jury made up of Miami citizens was a huge satisfaction,” he said.

The lawsuit was first filed jointly in 2019 with other descendants of confiscated properties. Although the joint claims were dismissed by a Federal Court in 2020, Echevarría subsequently in 2023 pursued a version of his own claim individually. It is the first such lawsuit to reach a jury trial.

Two cases are awaiting review by the US Supreme Court. It is expected to decide soon whether to accept a request for a review to set aside a ruling in favour of four cruise lines, Carnival, MSC SA, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. In an earlier ruling, a panel of judges from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta decided not to hear a request to reverse  a  previous ruling ordering then to pay US$43mn to the Havana Docks Corporation which claims ownership, for alleged ‘trafficking’ through their use of port facilities in Havana between 2015 and 2019.

Highlights in this issue: 

• BioCubaFarma seeking new suppliers and strategic alliances in Europe
• Energy overtakes tourism as Cuba’s national investment priorities change
• US State Department will only engage in dialogue with Cuba when it deems it necessary
• Joint pharmaceutical enterprise being established in Belarus
• Cuba’s leadership expresses sadness at passing of Pope Francis

Also awaiting a decision by the US Supreme Court for a hearing is a request from ExxonMobil in relation to  a previous ruling in its ‘frozen’ lawsuit against the Cuban state-owned companies CIMEX and Cuba Petróleo (CUPET), both of which are linked to Cuba’s powerful military-linked conglomerate GAESA. Exxon is seeking compensation for the nationalisation in the 1960s and subsequent operation of the Ñico López refinery and more than 100 service stations.

The Helms-Burton legislation was passed in 1996 by the Clinton administration enabling US claimants to introduce  lawsuits against foreign entities alleged to be ‘trafficking’ or benefitting from the use of property confiscated by the Cuban Government. Following its initial suspension after a threat by the EU and others to initiate a complaint at the World Trade Organisation relating to the Title’s extra-territoriality, a reciprocal agreement was established relating to EU policy towards Cuba. However, potential litigants were again allowed in 2019 to proceed under Title III during the first Trump Presidency. The Title then remained active until January this year when the Biden administration opted to again suspend its use. However, on taking office days later Trump immediately reinstated the provision.

According to the Miami Herald since Title III was reactivated in 2019,  45 Title III related lawsuits have been filed,  and six out-of-court settlements and one jury verdict reached.

28 April 2025, Issue 1277

The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

17 March 2025

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is expected to visit the Caribbean before the end of March to meet with CARICOM governments to discuss among other matters the decision by the Trump Administration to revoke the visas of Caribbean facilitating Cuba’s medical missions to the region and elsewhere. (Background Cuba Briefing 3 March 2025)

The announcement follows a meeting on 9 March in Washington between Caribbean Foreign Ministers and the US Special Envoy for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mauricio Claver-Carone, during which the issue was discussed.

At the meeting, Washington promoted the idea that Cuban medical personnel working overseas should be able to earn and sell their services in a manner that is independent from the Cuban state and have the same workplace rights as most regional workers do under the International Labour Organisation’s multilaterally agreed conventions. It was also stressed that the new US sanctions relating to Cuba applied to nations in many other parts of the world including in Africa, the Gulf, and Europe, that are receiving Cuban medical brigades. The US also sought to have CARICOM governments undertake what were described as fair financial negotiations with Cuba.

In response, Caribbean Foreign ministers defended the Cuban health programme and the benefits it offered and voiced concern about the impact of US policies and the embargo on the Cuban people.

Expressing support for Cuba’s medical programmes two days later, Grenada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Joseph Andall, was quoted as saying on 11 March, during the island’s budget debate, that the island not only has a “legal, moral and ethical” obligation to stand by the people of Cuba, but that it should avoid being opportunistic or transactional as it pertains to the relations between the two countries”.

“Cuba continues to be a trustworthy friend and partner not only of Grenada, not only of the Caribbean but of people the world over. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Cuban doctors went as far as Italy to provide services, I did not hear anybody talk about human trafficking and things like that,” Andall told Parliament.

Highlights in this issue: 

• Tourism expert says sector’s recovery unlikely before 2030
• Cuba open to accepting returned migrants but within terms of US migration accords
• Judicial authorities say all prisoners under agreement with Vatican now released
• Prime Minister calls for more controls and stockpiling to improve food supply
• Meliá International say Cuba related revenues and occupancy fell in 2024

The meeting in Washington also discussed issues relating to regional security, the situation in Haiti, regional economic stability and development, energy, Venezuela, climate change, and the abolition of USAID. It involved ministers and diplomats from Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica. St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Suriname, and Trinidad.

The exchanges in Washington on the medical assistance Cuba provides to most nations in CARICOM came days after a series of direct, sometimes blunt statements by several CARICOM heads of Government stressing the importance to their health systems of Cuba’s medical programmes and its broader regional support, with some CARICOM Prime Ministers indicating they would be prepared to forgo a US visa rather than end the Cuban programmes.

Among those doing so were the Prime Minister of Antigua, Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of St Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and the soon to retire  Prime Minister of Trinidad, Keith Rowley. Speaking at an event to inaugurate new facilities at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital,  Rowley noted to applause that he had just returned from California, saying “and if I never go back there again in my life, I will ensure that the sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago is known to its people and respected by all.” For his part Gonsalves, emphasising the vital dialysis treatments provided to citizens by Cuban doctors, said “I will prefer to lose my US visa than to have 60 poor and working people die.” 

Addressing Barbados’ Parliament, Mottley said that she too was prepared to have her US visa revoked, and urged all CARICOM nations to explain “what the Cubans have been able to do for us”  in relation to its medical support programmes.

Also commenting, Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, emphasised the historical nature of Cuba and the Caribbean’s support for each other, before going on to say: “We have a legitimate partnership with the government and people of Cuba who have over several decades provided support to the people of Grenada in the medical field.” In doing so he stressed the challenges the island faces in securing specialist doctors, noting, “We will continue to support and defend the partnership.”

St Kitts Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denzil Douglas observed, “Our relationship with Cuba has always been one of mutual respect and we have received great support from the island in important areas such as human resource training, scholarships, and medical services. It is a relationship that has tremendously benefited our people,” he said.

For the Caribbean, arrangements for healthcare with Cuba remain crucial to supporting the limited numbers of local medical professionals they have. Havana’s medical programmes in the region variously provides specialist consultants, doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and technicians in ways and in locations that no other nation globally is able or willing to provide. CARICOM nations are also acutely aware Cuba’s support during the COVID pandemic and its help in responding to disasters.

The importance of the issue, its ethical dimensions, and its implications for Caribbean sovereignty, mean that it will likely have to be resolved at a Heads of Government level. CARICOM is hoping at some stage soon, to be able to meet with President Trump to discuss the Caribbean concerns about Washington’s much changed regional priorities.

17 March 2025, Issue 1271

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.

10 March 2025

Sales of Havana Club rum continue to grow both in Cuba and internationally according to Cristian Barré, the CEO of Havana Club International SA. Havana Club, one of several brands in the portfolio of Pernod Ricard and  Havana Club International (HCI) is a joint venture between state-owned Cuba Ron and France’s Pernod Ricard.

Opening an event at the Havana Rum Museum to launch a new limited edition of its 25-year-old aged rum, Tributo 2025, Barré, said that it remained essential to have a very strong position in Cuba. “Cuba is fundamental for us because it is obviously the country of origin; that is where the brand was built, and tourism also plays an important role,” he observed.

HCI’s CEO noted that around 20% of the market for Havana Club is in Cuba, with much of the remaining 80% being exported in Europe to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, and in Latin America to Chile, Canada, Argentina and Mexico. Havana Club is also seeking to strengthen its presence in Asia and Africa, Barré noted, and has now set its sights on increasing sales in China, which he described as one of “the markets of the future.”

“All these strategies are designed so that when we have the possibility of accessing the USA’s market, we can enter with our 7 Años product or with other Havana Club and Pernod Ricard products” Barré added.

Highlights in this issue: 

• Habanos SA reports a 16% growth in its global sales of premium cigars in 2024
• New law on land tenure expected this year
• Large fall in visitor arrivals recorded in January.
• Rubio announces new migration related US sanctions targeting foreign officials
• Russia’s Zarubezhneft now producing oil commercially in Cuba

In response to a question from Reuters about the toughening of US sanctions, Barré said that although the environment is difficult “it is not really new.” “We have (contingencies) in place to operate, whether with this US President or with another,” he said.

Barré stressed that the company continued to have a guaranteed supply of raw material despite the problems Cuba’s sugar industry continues to  experience. It was doing so, he said, by working  closely with the state sugar company, AZCUBA, to ensure a future supply. “We are the rum of Cuba,” he observed. “There can be no export strategy, no development without having a (firm) base in Cuba.”

Also speaking to the media in Havana, the brand’s National Director of Sales and Marketing, Ahmed Álvarez, said that Havana Club had registered the greatest growth in Pernod Ricard’s overall portfolio, with sales growing by 8% internationally and 55% in value between July 2023 and June 2024.

Álvarez noted that premiumisation had been consolidated, resulting in more value through a lower volume of sales as consumers sought seven year or older higher-quality rums, and that the greatest progress had been in the Cuban market through sales to visitors.

He observed that sales through Havana Club’s online store made an important contribution at a time when foreign currency earnings in Cuba from its historic national clients were difficult. Such purchases, he said, were made with international cards, from abroad and within Cuba.

Álvarez confirmed that despite the decrease in sugar production, the Azcuba Business Group continued to prioritise the supply of volumes necessary to produce the brand’s rums “in order to maintain the designation of origin.”

Products from the Havana Club brand portfolio are present in more than 125 countries. Havana Club is expected to collaborate with Habanos SA to launch at the next Habanos cigar festival in Cuba a new iconic range for introduction in Cuba in mid-2026. Tributo 2025 is available at a retail price of €450 US$486), initially through HCI’s online store and in some specialised stores.

10 March 2025, Issue 1270

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.