In Havana, thousands of people have rallied recently to protest U.S. aggression toward Venezuela and condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We hear from some of them. Also:
Mexico's President Rejects U.S. Pressure on Cuba Fuel Shipments
Fentanyl “Kingpin” Arrested in Cuba
More immigrants sent to GTMO
Prominent Cuban dissident asks U.S. for regime change
Key architect of Trump’s war on Cuba indicted
Cubans no longer eligible for U.S. visa lottery
Vietnamese crowdfund $21 million for Cuba
Cubans Denounce U.S. Aggression Toward Venezuela
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in Havana last week to express solidarity with Venezuela and to condemn U.S. military escalation in Latin America. Watch our report on the rally.
As the Trump administration has ramped up regime change efforts against Venezuela in recent months, the Cuban government has made clear it stands with its ally.
To better understand the implications for Cuba of the Trump administration’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric and recent military actions targeting Venezuela, read our article.
Also, watch Episode 2 of our award-winning documentary series The War on Cuba, which puts Cuba-Venezuela relations under the microscope.
Mexico Rejects U.S. Pressure on Cuba Fuel Shipments
Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum last week defended her country's oil shipments to Cuba, which she characterized as “humanitarian aid.”
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R.FL) recently accused Sheinbaum of “propping up” the Cuban government with oil shipments, which have increased this year. Giménez said her "pathetic actions" could jeopardize the free trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the U.S., which is currently being renegotiated.
Sheinbaum dismissed Giménez’s comments: “The U.S. knows that Mexico is an independent, free and sovereign country and that our decisions are sovereign.”
Mexican oil has become a lifeline for Cuba as it navigates a deep economic and fuel crisis.
Sheinbaum also praised the Cuban doctors serving on a mission in Mexico despite a U.S. pressure campaign to coerce foreign governments to end this type of medical cooperation with Cuba.
Sheinbaum’s comments come on the heels of her recent announcement that she would not attend next month's Summit of the Americas in the Dominican Republic, following the news that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would be excluded as a result of U.S. pressure.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro also announced he will boycott the summit.
A Chinese fentanyl kingpin known as Brother Wong has been arrested in Cuba after trying to enter the island with a fake passport, El País reports. Once Cuba finishes its interrogations, Wong – who is accused of moving thousands of kilograms of drugs and laundering million of dollars – is set to be deported to Mexico, and from there on to the United States.
Cuba and the U.S. have worked together on anti-narcotics ever since the 1990s. During the final days of the Obama administration in January 2017, the countries formalized this longstanding cooperation by signing a law enforcement agreement.
The first Trump administration reneged on part of the agreement by cancelling high-level meetings that were supposed to take place regularly. The Biden administration reinitiated law-enforcement dialogue in 2023, with U.S. anti-narcotics personnel collaborating with their Cuban counterparts, as we documented in this video.
But dialogue and cooperation seem unlikely given the current administration's hostility toward the Cuban government. This latest arrest and likely deportation, seems proof positive that even without U.S. support, Cuba remains committed to stopping the flow of drugs to the United States.
Thousands of Cubans Protest Genocide in Gaza
Earlier this month, thousands of Cubans gathered in Havana in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They marched in front of the U.S. Embassy, calling for peace, justice and an end to Israel's genocide. Watch our video of the rally.
The Trump administration sent 18 more people to Guantanamo Bay last week, and then deported them to El Salvador and Guatemala days before a court hearing in which lawyers were set to challenge the holding of migrants there.
In January, Trump signed a memorandum to house “high priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States” in Guantanamo. He said he would deport up to 30,000 people there, sparking concerns from human rights groups. Since then, over 700 people have been temporarily held at the site.
In the 1990s, GTMO was used to temporarily incarcerate Cuban and Haitian migrants intercepted at sea. GTMO became infamous for torture and abuse after 9/11.
Cuba has consistently demanded the closure of the base, which is on its territory, and opposes its use as a prison.
You Can Still Join Us for the December Trip!
There's still time to travel with us to Cuba this December 6–13.
Watch this video featuring Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández, as she shares what makes this trip special – from meeting the people behind our stories to seeing the Cuba we report on every day.
Prominent Cuban dissident asks U.S. for regime change. Prominent Cuban dissident José Daniel Ferrer has asked the Trump administration for its “greatest possible support” to “end tyranny in Cuba” during a press conference at the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami. Ferrer was released from prison in Cuba last week and departed for the U.S. through a formal request by the U.S. government. Ferrer thanked Trump for “supporting the cause of freedom for the Cuban people.” U.S. politicians and diplomats have long publicly championed Ferrer. He was welcomed in Miami by Cuban-American hardliners Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL).
Rep. Carlos Giménez, José Daniel Ferrer and Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart
Key architect of Trump’s war on Cuba indicted. As the national security advisor during Trump's first term, John Bolton played a central role in ramping up the U.S. economic war on Cuba as well as regime change efforts in Venezuela. Bolton and Trump have since become political foes and the foreign policy hawk is now facing charges of retention and unlawful transmission of national defense information. Ironically, Trump has continued to embrace Bolton’s Cold War-era approach to Latin America policy under the guidance of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In the early 2000s, Bolton falsely accused Cuba of having biological weapons, a claim later contradicted by U.S. intelligence.
Cubans no longer eligible for U.S. visa lottery. The U.S. Department of State has confirmed that Cubans will not be eligible for the 2026 Diversity Visa Program, known as the “visa lottery,” after an undisclosed number of Cubans mistakenly received notification that they were selected for the program. The decision to leave Cubans out of the lottery was made last year. Several Cubans who won the 2025 visa lottery had their visas denied at the U.S. Embassy in Havana earlier this year for “national security” reasons, stemming from Trump’s partial travel ban on Cuban nationals.
Vietnamese crowdfund $21 million for Cuba. A Vietnamese fundraising campaign to support Cuba concluded last week with $21 million raised via two million donations, Prensa Latina reports (in Spanish). The campaign, which was organized by the Vietnamese Red Cross, initially aimed to raise 65 billion dongs (US$2.47 million) to commemorate 65 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. That number was surpassed in just hours. One Vietnamese supporter of the campaign posted the following: "We Vietnamese may not be all wealthy but we live a healthy life. We remember who helped us in the past. Cuba built schools, hospitals, vaccines for all Vietnamese people and stood with us through everything...Cuba cannot develop because of sanctions by the U.S."
Liz Oliva Fernández reports from Santiago de Cuba in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. Also: Our doc Health Under Sanction is now online! U.S. offers aid to Cuba but obstructs relief efforts Analysis: Why 7 countries voted against Cuba's UN resolution Cuba's former ally Ukraine downgrades diplomatic relations Former Cuban minister charged with espionage Melissa Batters Cuba: Our Report on the Ground Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández was in Guamá, the municipality in the province...
Our latest documentary Health under Sanction has just dropped! With exclusive access to Cuba's dilapidating hospitals, we follow the patients on the sharp end of the U.S. government’s economic war on Cuba — and the doctors fighting to keep them alive. The 25-minute film is directed by Ed Augustin and Reed Lindsay and produced by Belly of the Beast for People & Power, Al Jazeera’s award-winning investigative documentary program. Watch it now! Until recently, Cuba’s healthcare system was a...
Washington has spent weeks trying to strong-arm the world into voting against Cuba’s annual resolution at the UN opposing the U.S. embargo. It didn’t work. See more details about the vote below. Meanwhile, as Hurricane Melissa tore through the island, Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández has been on the ground in Santiago de Cuba reporting on the storm’s impact and the resilience of those in its path. In other news: Red state farmers want to trade with Cuba Cuban deported from...
