Cuba

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 ..

Tropical storm Rafael crosses Jamaica as Cuba prepares for hurricane hit

Tropical Storm Rafael chugged past western Jamaica on Tuesday and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it headed toward Cuba. The storm was located 170 kilometres east of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday after passing by Jamaica, where little damage was reported. It was picking up speed with maximum sustained winds of 110 kph and was moving northwest at 24 kph, according to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami. The centre said it expected steady to rapid intensification over the next 24 hours. It was expected to pass over or by the Cayman Islands on Tuesday night and make landfall in western Cuba on Wednesday. "Rafael is expected to become a hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands with further strengthening before it makes landfall in Cuba," the centre said. The US State Department issued an advisory for Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, offering departure flights to non-essential staff and American citizens, and advising others to reconsider travel to Cuba

Tropical storm Rafael forms in Caribbean, could hit Cuba as hurricane

Tropical Storm Rafael formed Monday in the Caribbean and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening into a hurricane and likely hitting Cuba, forecasters said. Later in the week, it also is expected to bring heavy rainfall to Florida and portions of the US Southeast, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Jamaica, and a hurricane watch was in effect for the Cayman Islands and for parts of Cuba including the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, and the Isle of Youth. A tropical storm watch was issued for Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, and Las Tunas in Cuba. A tropical storm watch also was issued for the lower and middle Florida Keys from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, and for the Dry Tortugas. The storm was located about 245 kilometres south of Kingston, Jamaica. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 kph while .

Cubans struggle as power not fully restored after days of blackout

Many Cubans were waiting in anguish on Sunday as electricity on much of the island has yet to be totally restored after days of blackout. Some neighbourhoods had electricity restored in Cuba's capital, where 2 million people live, but most of Havana remained dark. The impact of the blackout goes beyond lighting, as services like water supply also depend on electricity to run pumps. People resorted to cooking with improvised wood stoves on the streets before the food went bad in refrigerators. In tears, Ylenis de la Caridad Napoles, mother of a 7-year-old girl, says she is reaching a point of desperation. The failure of the Antonio Guiteras plant on Friday, which caused the collapse of the island's whole system, was just the latest in a series of problems with energy distribution in a country where electricity has been restricted and rotated to different regions at different times of the day. People lined up for hours on Sunday morning to buy bread in the few bakeries that could ..

After Cuba, Russian ships dock in Venezuela for 'show the flag' exercises

Two Russian naval ships docked Tuesday in the Venezuelan port of La Guaira after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean that Moscow said were to show the flag in remote, important regions, and an initial stopover in Cuba. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the oil tanker Akademik Pashin are part of Russia's Northern Fleet, which since May 17 has been carrying out tasks that include guaranteeing the Russian naval presence in remote areas of the oceans, Russian news agency Tass cited Russia's Ministry of Defence as saying. The stopover was to last several days and highlight the close ties between Moscow and Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro's government. Like his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chvez, Maduro has forged a close relationship with Russia. The visit comes before Maduro seeks reelection in July 28 elections. Venezuelan authorities have not reported the arrival of the Russian vessels, which could barely be seen from afar docked at La Guaira, but Associated Press journalists s

China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba: US think tank

China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba, less than 100 miles from Florida, according to a US think-tank report. China has historically lacked access to ground stations in North America. Accessing installations in Cuba could help close that gap, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank, said in a report which gives satellite images from the region. Cuban facilities would also provide the ability to monitor radio traffic and potentially intercept data delivered by US satellites as they pass over highly sensitive military sites across the southern United States, CSIS said. Florida alone is home to the major space-launch complex at Cape Canaveral, the headquarters of both the US Southern Command and Central Command, and multiple submarine and other bases, it added. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder, at a news conference, said China had completed an upgrade of its facilities in Cuba in 2019. "We know that the PRC is going to continue to tr

Fleet of Russian warships leaves Havana's port after five-day visit to Cuba

A fleet of Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, left Havana's port on Monday after a five-day visit to Cuba following planned military drills in the Atlantic Ocean. The exercise has been seen by some as a show of strength by Moscow against the backdrop of tensions as US and other Western nations support Kyiv in Russia's war on Ukraine. The submarine, a frigate, an oil tanker and a rescue tug slowly departed from the port on Monday morning. It's unclear what the fleet's next destination is or where it will dock next in the Caribbean, although US officials said days ago that the vessels could possibly also stop in Venezuela. Officials with the Biden administration said last week that they were monitoring the vessels and confirmed that they did not pose a threat to the region or indicate a transfer of missiles. Still, the United States docked a submarine, the USS Helena, at its Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The American naval base, located in the southeastern

Kerala CM holds discussions about health, literature with Cuban authorities

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is on a two-day trip to Cuba, met top officials of the Latin American country on Friday and held discussions on cooperation in various key sectors. During his separate meetings with Cuban deputy minister of Public Health, Tania Margarita Cruz and Havana Governor, Yanet Hernndez Prez, in the capital of the Latin American country, the two sides held discussions on cooperation in Ayurveda, the public health sector, literature, and housing, among others. A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said Cruz expressed interest in collaborating with Kerala's health sector, and Perez sought cooperation in various sectors like science and sports. The Governor sought Kerala's cooperation in urban affairs, housing, and agriculture, and the meeting also decided to create an opportunity to engage the literary communities in both Havana and Kerala and ensure participation in the international film and book festivals. Discussions regarding

China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019: US

China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, part of a global effort by Beijing to upgrade its intelligence-gathering capabilities, according to a Biden administration official. The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the US intelligence community has been aware of China's spying from Cuba and a larger effort to set up intelligence-gathering operations around the globe for some time. The Biden administration has stepped up efforts to thwart the Chinese push to expand its spying operations and believes it has made some progress through diplomacy and other unspecified action, according to the official, who was familiar with US intelligence on the matter. The existence of the Chinese spy base was confirmed after The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that China and Cuba had reached an agreement in principle to build an electronic eavesdropping station on the island. The Journal reported that China

Cuba allows China to build spying facility on Island: US intelligence

Cuba has agreed to allow China to construct a surveillance facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across the southeastern US

US reopening visa, consular services in Cuba post-2017 health issues

The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana. The Embassy confirmed this week it will begin processing immigrant visas, with a priority placed on permits to reunite Cubans with family in the U.S., and others like the diversity visa lottery. The resumption comes amid the greatest migratory flight from Cuba in decades, which has placed pressure on the Biden administration to open more legal pathways to Cubans and start a dialogue with the Cuban government, despite a historically tense relationship. They are anticipated to give out at least 20,000 visas a year, though it's just a drop in the bucket of the migratory tide, which is fueled by intensifying economic and political crises on the island. In late December, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in Novemb

Rupee trade settlement mechanism draws interest from more nations

Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan have begun talking to India about using the mechanism

China's Xi pledges support for Cuba on 'core interests', to boost ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Cuban counterpart pledged mutual support over their fellow communist states' core interests Friday at a meeting further hailing a return to face-to-face diplomacy by Beijing. In comments to Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, Xi said China hoped to strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs with Cuba. The two will go hand in hand down the road of building socialism with each's own characteristics," Xi was quoted as saying in a Chinese government news release. China generally defines core interests as the defence of its economic and political development aims, along with control over territory it claims, especially self-governing Taiwan. No specific issues or other countries were mentioned in the Chinese government news release. Diaz-Canel's visit is a further sign of how China is trying to jump-start its in-person diplomacy after a virtual shutdown of such exchanges during the pandemic. Xi, who is also the leader of t

Cuba's agriculture under threat due to droughts, rising sea levels

Yordan Diaz Gonzales pulled weeds from his fields with a tractor until Cuba's summer rainy season turned them into foot-deep red mud. Now it takes five farmhands to tend to Daz's crop. That shrinks Diaz's profit margin and lowers Cubas agricultural productivity, already burdened by a US embargo and an unproductive state-controlled economy. Like the rest of the Caribbean, Cuba is suffering from longer droughts, warmer waters, more intense storms, and higher sea levels because of climate change. The rainy season, already an obstacle, has gotten longer and wetter. We're producing a lot less because of the weather, said Diaz, a 38-year-old father of two. "We're going to have to adapt to eating less because with every crop, we harvest less. Diaz used to produce black beans, a staple of the Cuban diet and his most profitable crop. His black-bean production has dropped 70 per cent, which he attributes to climate change. A month after Hurricane Ian hit Cuba, Diaz was farming malanga root,

UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo of Cuba

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for the 30th year, with the Biden administration continuing former President Donald Trump's opposition and refusing to return to the Obama administration's 2016 abstention. The vote in the 193-member General Assembly was 185 countries supporting the condemnation, the United States and Israel opposing it, and Brazil and Ukraine abstaining. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said before the vote that since 2019, the US government has escalated the siege around our country, taking it to an even crueler and more humane dimension, with the purpose of deliberately inflicting the biggest possible damage on Cuban families. During the first 14 months of the Biden administration, the damage to the Cuban economy was estimated at USD 6.35 billion, equivalent to more than USD 15 million a day, Rodriguez said. Thursday's 185-2 vote was similar to previous years. The General Assembly's v

Cuba seeks to qualify for Football World Cup after almost a century

Every recess, Gabriela Alfonso Cabrera would watch the boys play soccer out of the corner of her eye. She was so enthralled by the game that she finally approached her fifth-grade teacher, who frowned and reminded Gabriela she was a girl. I wanted to play, but they wouldn't let me play at school because what if I got hurt and started to cry, she recalled adults telling her. Now 14, Gabriela sometimes is still the only girl playing alongside boys who are bigger and stronger than her, but she is not quitting after waiting four years to share a field with them. She is one of hundreds of players that coaches across Cuba are training as part of a newly launched program to elevate the soccer's profile and status in a country that last qualified for the men's World Cup in 1938, losing to Sweden 8-0 in the quarterfinals. An initial group of 16 coaches were recently trained by international officials from FIFA, the Switzerland-based governing body of the sport, with the aim of building Cub

Cuba without electricity as power grid collapses after Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian knocked out power across all of Cuba and devastated some of the country's most important tobacco farms when it slammed into the island's western tip as a major hurricane Tuesday. Cuba's Electric Union said in a statement that work was underway to gradually restore service to the country's 11 million people during the night. Power was initially knocked out to about 1 million people in Cuba's western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed. Ian hit a Cuba that has been struggling with an economic crisis and has faced frequent power outages in recent months. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island's western end, devastating Pinar del Ro province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba's iconic cigars is grown. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled the area ahead of the arrival of Ian, which caused flooding, damaged houses and blew toppled trees. Authorities were still assessing the damage, although no victims had been reported by

Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for Category 4 damages

Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane, with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane before it hits Florida on Wednesday. Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in Cuba's main tobacco-growing region. The U.S. National Hurricane Centre said significant wind and storm surge impacts were occurring Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian sustained top winds of 205 kmph as it moved over the city of Pinar del Rio. As much as 14 feet of storm surge was predicted along Cuba's coast. After passing over Cuba, Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 225 kmh before making landfall again. Tropical storm-force winds were expected in Florida late Tuesday, reaching hurricane force Wednesday morning. The hurricane centr