Duration - 2:02
[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Renee is a surgeon from Philadelphia who speaks out against the U.S. government’s economic war on Cuba. After visiting the island, she says the healthcare system is under severe strain: shortages of medicine and basic supplies, limited resources and constant blackouts that disrupt patient care. 

According to Renee, these restrictions are harming ordinary people and making medical treatment increasingly difficult. “People are not being saved. People are being harmed,” she says. “If we really supported human rights in the United States, Cuba wouldn’t be in this situation.”

U.S. Voices Against the Blockade is a series featuring U.S. activists who oppose U.S. sanctions on Cuba. Watch Episode 1 to hear Renee’s voice and stay tuned to hear other people from the United States speaking out against U.S. sanctions.

“If it's true that it is the Cuban government that is causing the problems, then lift the blockade, let the oil in and let's see what happens,” she says.

Duration - 24:16

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

Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández interviews British economist Emily Morris, who has specialized in studying the Cuban economy since the early 1990s. Emily compares the current crisis with the hardships of the Special Period, and explains the impact of U.S. policy.

Morris breaks down how Cuba’s economy functions — its dependence on foreign exchange, the role of tourism and remittances and the growing weight of the informal sector. She argues that while internal problems matter, external pressures have significantly shaped the country’s limited recovery.

At the center of the discussion is a broader question: what happens when a small economy is cut off from global finance, trade networks and investment flows in an increasingly interconnected world?

“If the U.S. were to lift sanctions, the Cuban economy, within five years would be prosperous,” Morris says.

Duration - 1:28 [a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Returning to Havana to perform at the International Jazz Plaza Festival, renowned Cuban-born violinist Yilian Cañizares explains why Cuban musicians have had such a huge impact on the global music scene.

“There’s a kind of magic formula in Cuba,” she says.

Part of that magic formula is the rigorous musical education Cuban musicians receive from an early age, trained not only in their instruments, but also in the theory, history and culture of music.

Yilian says music in Cuba is not just studied - it’s lived. It’s part of everyday life, woven into the culture, the streets, and the rhythms people grow up with. That constant presence shapes musicians in a way that’s unique to the island.

Action Alert - Call US Senators to vote Yes on the War Powers Resolution - Hands Off Cuba!
[taken from a post on a WhatsApp group chat]

The Cuba War Powers resolution is coming to the floor Tuesday the 28th. Call your Senators and tell them to vote YES on S.J. Res 124, to prevent war on Cuba (202) 224-3121. This is the single most important thing you can do for Cuba. Even if you have a Republican Senator, please please call: this is a winnable vote and I don’t think I have to tell you how bad it would be if the #US invades #Cuba.

Spread this to your chapter, to your caucus, your normie friends, all your group chats. All hands on deck!

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/124

#HandsOffCuba!
#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#news #politics #USpol #Trump #Rubio #USSenate #Alt4Me
@cuba

April 26, 2026

In recent months, many people across Latin America and the Caribbean have suddenly found themselves without healthcare, as nearly a dozen countries acquiesce to pressure from the US to end medical agreements with the Cuban government.

The US claims that the programme amounts to “forced labour” for doctors, who have most of their salaries withheld by the Cuban government.

Cuba acknowledges the retention but denies any human rights violations, saying the allegation is merely a pretext for the White House’s efforts to economically strangle the island and force regime change, which include the now months-long blockade of oil shipments.

[#Cuba]From the working-class heart of the United States: voices in search of truth and solidarity
https://groups.io/g/cubanews/message/52475

article from #Trabajadores, offical organ of the Cuban Workers' Federation (CTC)
April 26, 2026

The presence of the United States delegation at the Union Internship organized annually by the Cuban Workers' Federation (CTC) takes on special significance in the context of the May Day celebrations. Coordinated by activist Mark Friedman, founder of the #HandsOffCubaCommittee, some fifty visitors have arrived with a clear purpose: to understand the Cuban reality, to exchange ideas with its people, and to take back a perspective that is certainly different from the one that prevails in their own country.

#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#VivaCuba #CubaSí #AbajoElBloqueo #SolidaridadConCuba
#PetróleoParaCuba
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#news #politics #USpol #US #USA
@cuba

Cuban faith community reiterates condemnation of #US escalation of violence
https://groups.io/g/cubanews/message/52436
April 26, 2026

[translated from #CUBADEBATE by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews]

The Interreligious Dialogue Platform in #Cuba once again raised its voice and prayers to express the concern and rejection of the island's #religious community regarding the current escalation of violence that undermines the self-determination and sovereignty of peoples.

The statement emphasized that, as men and women of #faith, we understand that peace is not simply the absence of war, but the presence of justice and sacred respect for life.

#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#VivaCuba #CubaSí #AbajoElBloqueo #SolidaridadConCuba
#PetróleoParaCuba #religion
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#news #politics #USpol #Alt4Me
@cuba

Duration - 2:39

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

“If the U.S. were to lift sanctions, the Cuban economy, within five years would be prosperous,” economist Emily Morris says in an interview with Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández. Morris breaks down the roots of Cuba’s crisis and the devastating impact of U.S. policy.

To watch the full video: https://peertube.world/w/pJMa4hUoQ3DSVKPtYjzD7j Duration - 1:05:08

Duration - 3:00

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

Being a trans athlete means carrying more than gloves. It means carrying expectations, fear and responsibility. Malik speaks openly about facing transphobia and machismo in Sanda’s sport, being pushed past ethical boundaries and the pressure of being the first, knowing that others will come after him. Malik reminds us that trans people don’t need to prove anything. Their existence is already enough.

April 23, 2026 [with video]

Severe shortages of water, power and money combined with a U.S energy blockade have deepened poverty and increased hunger across the island as severe blackouts persist. Even those who are more affluent are now eliminating long-established and often beloved routines as they adapt to increasingly dire realities.

Cuba’s government has said that the elimination of the U.S. energy embargo was a top priority for its delegation, calling it an “act of economic coercion” and “unjustified punishment.”

April 24, 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]

What happens when a small country is cut off from global finance, trade networks and investment flows in an increasingly interconnected world?

This week development economist Emily Morris breaks down the massive impact of the U.S. economic war on Cuba in an interview with Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández.

“If the U.S. were to lift sanctions, the Cuban economy, within five years, would be prosperous,” Morris says.

Also:

• Lawmakers Denied Meeting with Top U.S. Diplomat
• Cuba Confirms Havana Talks with Trump Administration
• “Vida”: A Community Project Helping Kids in Cuba’s Crisis
• Amid Shortages, Cuba Marks 65 Years of Socialism
• U.S. Military Drone Flies Along Cuban Coast
• Spain, Mexico and Brazil Commit to Help Cuba
• Grenada Stands by Cuban Doctors
• Belly of the Beast Recommends

Duration - 8:46
[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

In the neighborhood of Arroyo Naranjo on the outskirts of Havana, a group of residents has come together to provide a space for children amid a severe economic crisis. Vida is a space dedicated to children, where they can learn, play and feel support in a place where opportunities are scarce.

Natalia Quintana, a meteorologist who founded the project, says conditions in Arroyo Naranjo were never good. But the situation now is worse than ever. “At this moment, we are on the verge of desperation,” she says.

Across Cuba, many people are navigating daily life under constant economic pressure, where decades of U.S. sanctions — tightened in recent years — have strained the country’s economy and causes severe scarcities.

Yet Natalia and her neighbors continue to organize, to teach and to create spaces that sustain their community — especially for its youngest members — striving for a future not defined solely by crisis.

[translated from TRABAJADORES, publication of Cuba's union federation]

April 18, 2026

Such an event had never occurred: the mercenaries defeated at Playa Girón were the first prisoners in the world to dialogue with the head of a government they had tried to overthrow.

It happened on April 26, 1961 and the scene of the unusual meeting was the Sports City of Havana. The photos were also unusual: they showed the invaders free of chains or any other ties and very close to Fidel.

The Commander in Chief fought a battle of ideas with these individuals that covered the most diverse topics.

This is how the then Prime Minister expressed it: "I am here an adversary who has brought television here for you to speak and for you to say what you think ... the people of Cuba must know why that blood was spilled and what purposes were hidden behind that struggle."

Duration - 2:59
[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Musa Alves, a New Orleans designer, and Carolina Leyva, a Cuban-American med student in Havana, built a direct aid network for Cuba. They donate solar panels, medicine and food directly to Cubans amid an economic crisis exacerbated by U.S. sanctions

April 20, 2026
[article from Science, with an introduction and endnote by World Outlook]

Nothing illustrates the criminality, hypocrisy, and brutality of Washington’s economic war against Cuba better than its impact on the island’s universal healthcare system and highly advanced biotech sector. And the consequences can be felt far beyond Cuba’s shores in countries around the globe.

When the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and broke the grip of the capitalist class on the island, one of the first priorities was to take some of the country’s wealth that previously went into the purses of the dictator and his cronies and turn it toward extending healthcare to the masses of people.

The Cubans were so successful in training doctors, establishing a system based on preventive care, and building infrastructure to serve the island’s population that they were able to extend selfless medical aid around the world. Cuba became known worldwide not just for its achievements in protecting the health and extending the lives of its own people, but for saving lives in dozens of countries.

That progress is now threatened, along with the lives of the Cuban people and of others internationally who rely on life-altering treatments and medicines from the island...

Duration - 1:05:51
[A video podcast about Cuba from the podcast team Cuba Analysis Podcasts]

In this episode of Cuba Analysis, Helen Yaffe sits down with Cuban Ambassador Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter to discuss recent and escalating threats from the US government under President Trump. These include the designation of Cuba as a threat to US national security, the imposition of an oil blockade, and the threat of military aggression to enforce regime change. The conversation explores the human cost of these measures, from energy shortages and blackouts to the damage inflicted on Cuba’s public healthcare and education systems. These coercive measures expose the real strategy behind US policy towards since 1960, as outlined in a secret memo written by US diplomat Lester Mallory advocating economic warfare to provoke “hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”.

The Ambassador explains how the extraterritorial reach of the US blockade obstructs British entities - from individuals to banks - engaging with Cuba. These restrictions disrupt trade, finance, and everyday diplomatic operations; even the daily functioning of the Cuban embassy in London is affected. This is despite more than a century of stable Cuba-UK relations, spanning from diplomacy to co-operation in science and culture. Despite these challenges, Ambassador Vargas Walter emphasises Cuba’s resilience, highlighting a rapid shift towards renewable energies, strong popular unity and an ongoing commitment to sovereignty and self-determination.

The episode closes by highlighting Cuba’s global contributions in healthcare and education and underscoring why international solidarity to defend Cuba is so important right now.

The "Punta Brava" Photovoltaic #Solar Park in #Cuba is now online
The Punta Brava Photovoltaic #SolarPark, in the municipality of Amancio, synchronized with the National Electrical System this Sunday.
https://groups.io/g/cubanews/message/52280

from #Granma
April 20, 2026

With a generation capacity of five megawatts, the site is the first in the province of Las Tunas equipped to store energy, which will contribute to greater stability of the electrical service during the nights and early mornings.

According to what its director, Master of Science Yurisán Bacallado Castellanos, told the press, the 348 planned tables were installed, which include nine thousand 048 panels.

#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#VivaCuba #CubaSí #AbajoElBloqueo #SolidaridadConCuba
#PetróleoParaCuba
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#news #politics #SustainableEnergy
#environment #CleanEnergy
@cuba

Duration - 2:28 

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

Hundreds of Cubans gathered in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s declaration of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.

Iván Domínguez Rivera, sugar industry union leader, described the event as an affirmation of national unity at a time of economic hardship and renewed threats from Washington.

Participants also condemned the U.S. government’s economic warfare, intensified in recent months by fuel restrictions that have deepened shortages across the island.

“No threat will prevent the unity of these people,” Domínguez said.

April 17, 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]

For more than six decades, U.S. policy toward Cuba has been based not on diplomacy but on economic warfare.

This week, Alfred de Zayas, a Cuban-American lawyer who worked in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks to Belly of the Beast about how and why U.S. policy toward Cuba — even before the recent oil blockade — violates international law.

Also:

• Trump Administration Beats the Drums of War
• Miami Herald Funds Dodgy, War-Mongering Poll
• The Science Behind Cuba's Alzheimer's Breakthrough
• From Mercenaries to Medicare: U.S. Hypes Baseless Claims
• Building Bridges from NOLA to Cuba
• Colombia to Send Cuba Solar Panels
• Spain's Biggest Airline to Suspend Flights to Cuba
• Amid U.S. Pressure, Cuba Welcomes Russian Industry
• Cuba Accepts 91 Deportees from U.S.

April 18, 2026
The delegation told Cuba’s leadership that it had only a narrow window of time to make the economic and political changes demanded by the Trump administration.

[Imperialist vultures circling around Cuba - drive them out!]

The U.S. delegation last week proposed bringing Starlink satellite internet to the island and allowing free connectivity. It also urged the Cuban regime to make economic changes to attract foreign capital, grow the private sector and transition to a market-based economy.

These economic changes, the State Department official said, would also need to include ways to compensate U.S. citizens and corporations that had assets and properties confiscated in the 1960s.

Cuba would also need to release political prisoners, the official added, and allow greater political freedom.

Duration - 2:53 [a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

In her visit to Cuba, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) says dialogue and cooperation would benefit both countries.

Based on what she observed on the island, Jayapal says the oil blockade imposed by the U.S. government is contributing to a humanitarian crisis in Cuba.

She also pointed to a new letter signed by 52 lawmakers calling for an end to the measure, arguing it reflects a failed U.S. policy toward Cuba.

April 17, 2026

Cuba is living under the constant siege of the United States government, whose escalating threats have intensified in recent months. In addition to the brutal energy blockade, which exacerbates the genocidal policy of embargo of the last six decades, there are the declarations by representatives of the U.S. government elite regarding intentions of military aggression.

The material and human cost of this blockade is a disgrace borne by the government of the greatest empire of all time. It is an illegal and inhumane act, a violation of international law, condemned every year by almost all member states of the United Nations and, as recent polls have confirmed, rejected by the majority of the people of the land of Lincoln.

April 2, 2026