Cuba

'Don't play games' with Trump: US warns Cuba's leaders after Venezuela raid

The Special Forces raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas earlier this month should make Havana take US threats seriously, Jeremy Lewin, a State Department official said

Trump says no more Venezuelan oil or money to go to Cuba, pushes for deal

Treasury-supervised accounts, a major test of the emerging relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodriguez

Tanker carrying oil from Mexico reaches Cuba, increasing tensions with US

Mexico has become a key supplier of oil to Cuba after Venezuela's exports fell, drawing criticism from US lawmakers and adding strain to ties with President Trump

Mexico becomes key fuel supplier to Cuba, but pledges no extra shipments

As the United States prepares to seize control of Venezuelan oil and the administration of US President Donald Trump hardens its stance toward Cuba, Mexico has emerged as a key fuel supplier to Havana. It's a role that could further complicate already strained relations with the Trump administration, even though the Mexican government insists that exports to the island have not increased. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged on Wednesday that with the current situation in Venezuela, Mexico has become an important supplier of crude oil to Cuba, but asserted that no more oil is being sent than has been sent historically; there is no specific shipment. She added that those shipments are made via contracts or as humanitarian aid, but offered no concrete figures on the number of barrels exported. **'The blackouts are going to intensify' Following the 1959 revolution that toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista, the US imposed a trade embargo on Cuba in response to the ...

Cuba releases details of 32 officers killed in US strike on Venezuela

The names, ranks and ages of the 32 Cuban military personnel killed during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces were published Tuesday by the Cuban government, which announced two days of mourning. Among the deceased are colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains, as well as some reserve soldiers, ranging in age from 26 to 60. The uniformed personnel belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, Cuba's two main security agencies. The publication did not specify their missions or exactly how they died. Cuban state media published their details and headshots, which show them clad in olive-green military uniforms. In a statement Sunday, Cuban authorities acknowledged the deaths of the personnel who were in the South American nation as part of agreements between the two countries. Our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism, falling after fierce resistance in direct combat against the attackers, or as a result

India vital for global balance, unity needed to counter US: Cuban envoy

Cuban Ambassador to India Juan Carlos Marsan Aguilera on Monday strongly condemned the US military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, terming it a "criminal act" and a "terrorist act" that violates the United Nations Charter and international law. In an exclusive interview with PTI Videos here, Aguilera emphasised that no single nation can stop the United States from such unilateral actions and called for the world to unite forces to counter what he described as Washington's "madness" in international policy. "This US military aggression towards Venezuela, in my opinion, is a criminal act. It's a terrorist act because it violates all the principles contained in the United Nations Charter and international law. It is a unilateral action against a sovereign country," the ambassador said. Highlighting broader US actions, including tariff wars, threats to Iran and military strikes, the ambassador stressed the need for global unity.

Cuba faces uncertain future after US captures Venezuelan leader Maduro

Cuban officials on Monday lowered flags before dawn to mourn 32 security officers they say were killed in the US weekend strike in Venezuela, the island nation's closest ally, as residents here wonder what the capture of President Nicols Maduro means for their future. The two governments are so close that Cuban soldiers and security agents were often the Venezuelan president's bodyguards, and Venezuela's petroleum has kept the economically ailing island limping along for years. Cuban authorities over the weekend said the 32 had been killed in the surprise attack but have given no further details. The Trump administration has warned outright that toppling Maduro will help advance another decades-long goal: Dealing a blow to the Cuban government. Severing Cuba from Venezuela could have disastrous consequences for its leaders, who on Saturday called for the international community to stand up to state terrorism. On Saturday, Trump said the ailing Cuban economy will be further battere

32 Cuban officers killed in Trump's military operation in Venezuela

An American military operation in Venezuela killed 32 Cuban officers over the weekend, the Cuban government said Sunday in the first official acknowledgement of the deaths. The Cuban military and police officers were on a mission the Caribbean country's military was carrying out at the request of Venezuela's government, according to a statement read on Cuban state TV on Sunday night. What the Cubans were working on in the South American nation was unclear, but Cuba is a close ally of Venezuela's government has sent military and police forces to assist in operations for years. You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday, US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew Sunday night from Florida back to Washington. There was a lot of death on the other side. No death on our side. Cuba's government announced two days of mourning. Faithful to their responsibilities for security and defence, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and f

Dozens dead as Hurricane Melissa wreaks havoc across Cuba and Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, where roofless homes, toppled utility poles and water-logged furniture dominated the landscape Wednesday. A landslide blocked the main roads of Santa Cruz in Jamaica's St. Elizabeth parish, where the streets were reduced to mud pits. Residents swept water from homes as they tried to salvage belongings. Wind ripped off part of the roof at a high school that serves as a public shelter. I never see anything like this before in all my years living here, resident Jennifer Small said. Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph (295 kph), one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before weakening and moving on to Cuba, but even countries outside the direct path of the massive storm felt its devastating effects. At least 40 people have died across Haiti, Steven Aristil with Haiti's Civil Protection Agency told The Associated Pres

Caribbean nations brace for Hurricane Melissa as it upgrades to category 4

As per NYT, Southwest Haiti and portions of Jamaica were bracing for catastrophic flash flooding and landslides from the intense and fast-developing hurricane, which has already killed four people

Another full blackout hits Cuba as island's energy crisis worsens

A total blackout hit Cuba on Wednesday, the latest in a series of outages blamed on ageing infrastructure and fuel shortages at power plants. It was the second island-wide outage this year, with three other blackouts reported late last year. The Ministry of Energy and Mines said on social platform X that the latest outage could be tied to a malfunction at one of Cuba's biggest thermoelectric plants. Argelio Abad, the ministry's vice minister, said on state TV that the grid shut down after an apparently erroneous message warning of overheating disconnected the thermoelectric plant. He added that officials immediately began to build a type of microsystem to deliver electricity to infrastructure that provides basic services. The ministry said crews were working to restore power to the island of roughly 10 million people, with electricity returning to hospitals, food production plants and other high-priority businesses. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero made an appearance at Cuba's state-

PM Modi meets Cuban President, discusses pharma, UPI at Brics Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez on Sunday discussed ways to bolster bilateral ties across key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, traditional medicine and digital public infrastructure during a meeting on the sidelines of the 17th BRICS Summit. According to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both leaders also exchanged views on enhancing cooperation in areas including Ayurveda, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), disaster management, and capacity building. The two leaders agreed to work on issues of concern to the global South, including in the areas of health, pandemics and climate change. They appreciated the cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral arena, the statement added. "PM Narendra Modi met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez of Cuba on the sidelines of the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X. He posted, .

Trump orders review of US-Cuba policy, seeks tougher sanctions in 30 days

President Donald Trump has instructed his top Cabinet officials to review the US policy toward Cuba, ordering them to examine current sanctions and come up with ways to toughen them within 30 days. In a memo on Monday, Trump said the reviews should focus on Cuba's treatment of dissidents, its policies directed at dissidents and restricting financial transactions that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people". In one potential significant change, the order said the US should look for ways to shut down all tourism to the island and to restrict educational tours to groups that are organised and run only by American citizens. The move is not a surprise given that Trump has previously said he plans to rescind the easing of sanctions and other penalties in Cuba that were instituted during the terms of former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. In the days before leaving office, Biden mov

Trump's immigration crackdown unnerves Cubans shielded from deportation

Immigration officials said Tomas Hernandez worked in high-level posts for Cuba's foreign intelligence agency for decades before migrating to the US to pursue the American dream. The 71-year-old was detained by federal agents outside his Miami-area home in March and accused of hiding his ties to Cuba's Communist Party when he obtained permanent residency. Cuban-Americans in South Florida have long clamoured for a firmer hand with Havana and the recent apprehensions of Hernandez and several other former Cuban officials for deportation have been extremely popular among the politically powerful exile community. It's a political gift to Cuban-American hardliners, said Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American expert at Florida International University. But many Cubans fear they could be next on Trump's list, he said, and some in the community see it as a betrayal. Some pleased among Trump fans, others worried While President Donald Trump's mass deportation pledge has frightened migrants from m

Cuba suffers another massive power outage, millions left in in dark

Cuba suffered a massive power outage Friday night affecting Havana and the country's provinces that left millions in the dark. Cuba's Ministry of Energy and Mines said at around 8:15 pm local time an outage at the Diezmero substation on the outskirts of Havana had caused a significant loss of generation in western Cuba and, with it, the failure of the National Electric System. The ministry said on its account on the social platform X that it is working on the recovery process. The streets of Havana were dark and empty, with light coming only from the windows of hotels that had generators. Internet service was affected. People in provinces as far away as Guantanamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara reported experiencing blackouts with just flickers of light. Earlier, the Electric Union, the state agency that regulates the sector, said in its daily report that peak-hour demand would be around 3,250 megawatts and the deficit would reach around 1,380 megawatts, meaning 42%

'Mad about Cuba': Exploring the unique connection between Cuba and Kerala

Cuba is a metaphor in Kerala for communist values, but there is another, lesser-known reason for Malayalis to feel a special affinity for Fidel Castro

Prez Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba

The Biden administration on Tuesday is notifying Congress of its intent to lift the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House announced, as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island. Senior US administration officials, who previewed the announcement on the condition of anonymity, said "many dozens" of political prisoners and others considered by the US to be unjustly detained would be released by the end of the Biden administration at noon on January 20. The US would also ease some economic pressure on Cuba, as well as a 2017 memorandum issued by then-president Donald Trump toughening US posture toward Cuba. The determination by the outgoing one-term Democrat is likely to be reversed as early as next week after Trump, the Republican who is now president-elect, takes office and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio assumes the position of America's top diplomat. Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 19

Millions in Cuba remain in dark after blackout as national grid collapses

Cuba blames the crisis on US sanctions, which complicate financial transactions and the purchase of fuel

Cuba hit by 6.8 magnitude earthquake after hurricanes and power blackouts

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook eastern Cuba on Sunday, after weeks of hurricanes and blackouts that have left many on the island reeling. The epicentre of the quake was located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Bartolom Mas, Cuba, according to a report by the United States Geological Survey. The rumbling was felt across the eastern stretch of Cuba, including in bigger cities like Santiago de Cuba. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Residents in Santiago, Cuba's second largest city, were left shaken on Sunday. Yolanda Tabo, 76, said people in the city flocked to the streets and were still nervously sitting in their doorways. She said she felt at least two aftershocks following the quake, but that among friends and family she hadn't heard of any damages. You had to see how everything was moving, the walls, everything," she told The Associated Press. The earthquake comes during another tough stretch for Cuba. On Wednesday, Category 3 Hurricane Rafael ripp

Rafael makes landfall in Cuba as Category 3 hurricane, power out on island

Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday as a powerful Category 3 hurricane, shortly after powerful winds knocked out the country's power grid. Forecasters warned Rafael could bring life-threatening storm surges, winds and flash floods to western swaths of the island after it knocked out power and dumped rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica the day before. The storm was located 65 kilometres south-southwest of Havana on Wednesday. It had maximum sustained winds of 185 kph and was moving northwest at 22 kph, according to the National Hurricane Centre. The storm is bad news for Cuba, which is struggling with devastating blackouts while recovering from another hurricane two weeks ago that killed at least six people in the eastern part of the island. On Wednesday, the Cuban government issued an alert for the incoming storm while crews in Havana worked to fortify buildings and clear scraps from seaside areas in anticipation of flooding. Classes and public transport were ..