Where is the blockade? A ship from the US arrives in Cuba loaded with chicken containers
Footage of a ship from the United States being unloaded, carrying several containers of frozen chicken, at a Cuban port.
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Cuban farmer denounces the prices the state pays for milk and cattle
A Cuban farmer denounces on camera the low, state-imposed prices the Acopio monopoly pays for milk and cattle.
Despite the "blockade," Cuba buys over $250 million in chicken from the United States
A report on Cuba's purchases of US chicken, exceeding $250 million a year despite the official embargo narrative.
Santiago de Cuba official admits on state TV there isn't enough flour for bread
On a Santiago de Cuba state TV program, an official admits live on air that there isn't enough flour to guarantee the bread ration.
The basic basket shrinks: rice and sugar below planned levels
In Guantánamo, the ration basket arrives with rice and sugar below planned amounts, without oil or coffee for months and with delays, according to 14ymedio; the situation is repeated across the country.
Cuba keeps buying chicken from the United States despite sanctions
USDA data show Cuban chicken purchases in April 2026 exceeded January's; in 2022 chicken was more than 85% of the $328.5 million Cuba spent on US food.
A Russian oil tanker carrying about 100,000 tons of crude arrives in Cuba
A Russian oil tanker docks in Matanzas carrying nearly 100,000 tons of crude, evidence of Cuba's active trade with other countries despite the "total blockade" narrative.
Cuba in the dark after the national power grid fails
Reuters video: Cuba's national grid collapsed late on Friday, March 14, 2025, leaving the whole country without power.
A 2,168 MW shortfall in the power system, September 2026
On September 15, 2026 the generation shortfall reached 2,168 MW; the next day availability was forecast at 1,100 MW against demand of 3,200 MW.
Fight breaks out in a line to buy chicken in Cuba
A fight breaks out in a line to buy chicken, reflecting the tension caused by the scarcity of basic foods.
Hospitals under strain in Cuba amid the fuel shortage
Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda tells the AP that the fuel shortage now threatens patients' basic safety; ambulances are stranded without fuel.
Hospital emergency rooms without syringes or basic painkillers
Citizen reports reveal emergency rooms lack syringes and painkillers, forcing patients to supply their own materials.
Classrooms without teachers: Camagüey needs 2,468 teachers and has closed 19 schools
In May 2026, Camagüey reported a shortfall of 2,468 teachers and 19 closed schools, and Sancti Spíritus filled only 68.2% of its teaching posts.
Díaz-Canel acknowledges the decline of public health in Cuba
Díaz-Canel publicly acknowledges figures showing the decline of the health system, including tens of thousands of children with incomplete vaccination schedules.
El Fanguito residents protest after a weekend of blackouts
NTN24 report: residents of El Fanguito, a Havana neighborhood, took to the street to protest prolonged blackouts and lack of services.
Dengue and chikungunya outbreak in Havana
A report from Havana on the dengue and chikungunya outbreak, linked to accumulated garbage and the lack of fumigation.
The uniform can't hide the crisis: how the school year begins in Cuba
The school year starts with a shortage of uniforms, a teacher deficit above 25%, and blackouts disrupting classes.
A rare look inside a Havana hospital during a massive blackout
Rare access inside Havana's Institute of Hematology, where a leukemia patient must stay admitted for weeks because of blackouts and the fuel shortage.
Cuban woman shows the state of a Matanzas hospital: "We had to bring our own syringes"
A Cuban woman documents the Faustino Pérez hospital in Matanzas and describes how her family had to bring their own syringes for a patient to be treated.
Díaz-Canel admits a 70% shortage of essential medicines
The regime officially admits a 70% shortage of essential medicines in state pharmacies and hospitals across Cuba.
"Who saves Cubans?" No ambulances, hospitals in ruins, no supplies
A report on Cuban hospitals in disrepair and ambulances out of service for lack of parts and fuel.
On the Mesa Redonda, the government admits more than 100,000 people are waiting for an operation
Deputy Prime Minister Eduardo Martínez Díaz acknowledged on state TV that more than 100,000 people, 10,000 of them children, are waiting for surgery, and infant mortality has risen to 9.3 per 1,000.
Cuba cuts surgeries and medical services: the minister admits a deep crisis
Coverage of the drop in annual surgeries in Cuba, from roughly 1.2 million to 700,000, and the long waitlists acknowledged by the Health Ministry.
HRF report: human trafficking in Cuba’s medical missions
Human Rights Foundation documents coercive practices the Cuban state uses on doctors in its overseas medical missions to keep them from defecting.
Cuban mother denounces torture and denial of medical care for her imprisoned son
A mother denounces on camera the denial of medical care and mistreatment of her imprisoned son, who has mental-health conditions.
The minister calls for “universal access” at the BRICS while 16,000 health workers work outside Cuba
In a video to the BRICS health ministers, Portal Miranda defended universal access; that month more than 100,000 people awaited surgery and 16,000 Cuban health professionals worked in 50 countries.
The health minister admits the system is “on the verge of collapse”
In an AP interview, Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda said 5 million chronic patients will see their treatment affected and some hospitals face blackouts of up to 20 hours a day.
Elderly Cubans eat from the garbage to avoid starving
Footage documenting elderly people searching for food in garbage containers in Cuba.
Cuban medical mission in Venezuela: G2 intelligence control over doctors
A Cuban doctor describes in an exclusive interview how Cuban intelligence (G2) surveils and controls health professionals on medical missions in Venezuela.
Elderly Cubans go three days without food and ask for help
Elderly people describe going three days without eating and ask for help amid the lack of food.
Cuban family receives a package sent from the United States
A Cuban family opens a package of clothes, food and medicine sent by relatives in the United States, illustrating how dependent daily life is on remittances and care packages.
94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty: hunger, blackouts and lack of water
Cuba al Día (DNews) segment walking through the OCDH report's figures on extreme poverty, skipped meals, blackouts and water shortages.
OCDH report: 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty
The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights' ninth social-rights report puts 94% of Cubans in extreme poverty, excluding remittances; 68% of households earn under 20,000 pesos a month.
Only a quarter of provincial buses are running
In March 2026 the transport minister acknowledged that only a quarter of provincial buses are running and one train leaves every eight days.
This is what Cuba's tourism collapse looks like: empty streets and closed hotels
Footage of empty streets and closed or barely-occupied hotels, even as the state keeps prioritizing hotel investment.
A minimum wage of 2,100 pesos against a 4,300-peso carton of eggs
In September 2026 a carton of eggs cost 4,300 pesos on the informal market, more than the state minimum wage of 2,100 pesos and the minimum pension of 3,056.
Fatalities after a building collapse in Old Havana
Coverage of a fatal building collapse in Old Havana, an example of the housing deterioration documented by the OCDH.
Labor minister resigns after saying “there are no beggars in Cuba”
Labor Minister Marta Elena Feitó resigned on July 15, 2025, a day after telling a National Assembly committee that people begging on the street were 'disguised' as beggars.
A shortfall of 805,583 homes and building collapses in Centro Habana
Official 2025 data put Cuba's housing shortfall at 805,583 homes; according to the OCDH, only 18% of households live in a home in good condition.
Díaz-Canel blames the "blockade" at the close of the National Assembly session
A speech by Díaz-Canel to the National Assembly attributing the economic crisis to the US embargo.
Water shortages deepen the crisis in Cuba
A report on Havana residents who depend on water-delivery trucks to get water, amid the fuel crisis.
Four dead in building collapses in Cuba
Two building collapses, in Diez de Octubre and Old Havana, leave four people dead.
Alexander Otaola
Cuban presenter in Miami who hosts the online show “Hola! Ota-Ola”; in 2024 he ran for Miami-Dade mayor and finished third with about 12% of the vote.
Ana Olema
Visual artist and influencer born in Holguín who co-hosts “Juntas y Revueltas” with Liu Santiesteban, a YouTube show that denounces the regime and calls for the release of political prisoners.
Anna Bensi
Havana content creator who has posted videos about Cuban reality since September 2025; since March 2026 she has been charged and under house arrest together with her mother.
Aniette González García
Camagüey activist arrested in March 2023 over photos of herself wrapped in the Cuban flag and sentenced to 3 years for "insulting national symbols"; released in December 2025.
Ariel Sigler Amaya
Leader of the Alternative Option Movement in Matanzas, sentenced in the Black Spring; he became paraplegic in prison and was released in 2010.
Berta Soler Fernández
Leads the Ladies in White, the movement of political prisoners' relatives born after the 2003 Black Spring and awarded the 2005 Sakharov Prize.
Armando Valladares Pérez
Arrested in 1960 after refusing to display a pro-Castro sign at work, he spent 22 years in prison; freed in 1982 after an international campaign, he wrote the memoir Against All Hope.
Camila Acosta
Independent journalist, ABC correspondent and CubaNet contributor; detained on July 12, 2021 for covering the 11J protests and held under house arrest for more than ten months.
Carlos Alberto Montaner
Writer and journalist sentenced to 20 years at age 17; he escaped prison and took asylum in 1961. He founded the Cuban Liberal Union in 1989. He died in Madrid in 2023.
Carlos Giménez
The only sitting US Congressman born in Cuba; he was Miami's fire chief and mayor of Miami-Dade County.
Cary Roque (Caridad Roque Pérez)
CMQ actress and broadcaster arrested in 1961, aged 19, for conspiring with the MRR; she served 16 of a 20-year sentence and in exile worked for Radio Martí. She died in Miami in 2023.
Celia Cruz
The "Queen of Salsa" left Cuba on July 15, 1960 and never returned; she could not go back even to bid farewell to her mother in 1962.
Dagoberto Valdés Hernández
Catholic intellectual from Pinar del Río, founder of Vitral magazine and director of the Convivencia Studies Center; member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1999 to 2007.
Dina Stars
Havana YouTuber and actress whom State Security detained on 13 July 2021 while she was giving a live interview to the Spanish TV show “Todo es mentira” on Cuatro.
Eliécer Ávila
Computer engineer from Puerto Padre who publicly questioned Ricardo Alarcón in 2008; he founded the Somos+ movement and streams almost daily on YouTube.
El4tico (Kamil Zayas and Ernesto Medina)
Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina, founders of the Holguín audiovisual project El4tico, were detained by State Security on 6 February 2026.
Fuera de la Caja
Youth collective founded in early 2026 in El Cerro, Havana, that shares content about Cuban reality and calls for the release of political prisoners.
Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz
Heads the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which for decades has published lists of political prisoners.
Eddy Ceballos, Despingovery Channel
Creator of the satirical Despingovery Channel, detained by State Security in Havana on 1 June 2026 after publishing a video from an abandoned military site.
Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo
Commander of the Second National Front of the Escambray against Batista; captured in 1964 after returning to rise up against Castro, he spent 22 years in prison. He moved back to Cuba in 2003 and died in Havana.
Gustavo Arcos Bergnes
Moncada veteran and former ambassador to Belgium who broke with the regime, was imprisoned from 1981 to 1988 and led the Cuban Committee for Human Rights.
Guillermo “Coco” Fariñas Hernández
Psychologist and independent journalist from Villa Clara, with more than 25 hunger strikes and over 14 years in prison across three sentences; 2010 Sakharov Prize. Detained again on August 31, 2026.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Novelist from Gibara who went into exile in 1965 and lived 40 years in London; author of Three Trapped Tigers and Mea Cuba, 1997 Cervantes Prize.
Heberto Padilla
Poet whose 1971 arrest and forced public self-criticism led many intellectuals to break with the regime; he left Cuba in 1980.
Huber Matos
Rebel Army commander who resigned in October 1959 denouncing the government's communist course; convicted of "treason and sedition", he served his full 20-year sentence.
Héctor Palacios Ruiz
Co-founded one of the first human rights groups in 1989; sentenced to 25 years in the Black Spring and released on health grounds in 2006. He died in Miami in 2025.
Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”
Dissident from Placetas who spent 17 years in prison (1990–2007); in exile in Miami since 2019.
Jorge Mas Canosa
Exile leader who founded the Cuban American National Foundation in 1981 and proposed the creation of Radio Martí.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
First Hispanic woman and first Cuban-American elected to the US Congress, where she served from 1989 to 2019; she chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
José Daniel Ferrer García
Founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba; a Black Spring prisoner, jailed again after 11J and sent into exile in the United States in October 2025.
Laura Pollán
Literature teacher who founded the Ladies in White in 2003 with relatives of Black Spring prisoners; the group received the Sakharov Prize in 2005. She died in Havana in 2011.
Yamilka Lafita, “Lara Crofs”
Art historian and activist who returned to Cuba after more than eleven years abroad and posts her humanitarian work and denunciations online; State Security detained her in Havana on 18 April 2026.
Lincoln Díaz-Balart
US Congressman for Florida for 18 years; he pushed the 1996 law that codified the embargo and co-wrote the NACARA law. He died in 2025.
Los Pichy Boys
Cuban comedy duo from Miami, Alejandro González and Maikel Rodríguez, who have satirized life in Cuba and in exile on YouTube since 2007.
Manuel Milanés
Havana-born economist and businessman in exile who runs a YouTube channel on Cuban politics and economics; the regime put him on its national list of alleged terrorists.
Marco Rubio
US Senator for Florida from 2011 to 2025 and US Secretary of State; in September 2026 he said his government has imposed the strongest sanctions in history on Cuba, aimed at GAESA.
Liu Santiesteban
Havana-born influencer who co-hosts “Juntas y Revueltas” with Ana Olema, a YouTube show that denounces the regime; in December 2023 the Cuban government put her on its list of alleged terrorists.
María Elvira Salazar
Journalist and US Congresswoman for Florida since 2021, daughter of Cuban exiles; the only Hispanic US journalist to interview Fidel Castro one-on-one.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
Artist and co-founder of the San Isidro Movement; an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he served five years in prison and was sent into exile in July 2026.
Mario Díaz-Balart
US Congressman for Florida since 2003, vice-chair of the House Appropriations Committee and chair of its national security and State Department subcommittee.
Mario J. Pentón
Journalist born in Cienfuegos who started as a 14ymedio correspondent; from exile he reports on Cuba and Cuban immigration to millions of followers.
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello
Economist and the only woman among the 75 dissidents sentenced in the 2003 Black Spring, to 20 years; later released on health grounds. 2024 International Women of Courage award.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Bricklayer and activist arrested in the 2003 Black Spring, whose sentence grew to 36 years with charges added in prison; he died in 2010 after an 86-day hunger strike.
Óscar Elías Biscet González
Physician and dissident sentenced to 25 years in the Black Spring; in 2007, while in prison, he received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez
Rapper and co-founder of the San Isidro Movement, co-author of "Patria y Vida"; imprisoned since May 2021, now in Guanajay prison, Artemisa.
Ninoska Pérez Castellón
Miami exile radio host and commentator; she hosted “Ninoska en Mambí” on Radio Mambí for 26 years, until January 2023.
Paquito D'Rivera
Havana-born musician sidelined for playing jazz, deemed "imperialist music"; he sought asylum in 1980 and spent nine years separated from his family.
Pedro Luis Boitel
Student leader arrested in 1961 and sentenced to 10 years, later extended; he died on May 25, 1972 in the Castillo del Príncipe after 53 days on hunger strike.
Raúl Rivero
Poet and journalist, former Prensa Latina correspondent in Moscow, who founded the independent agency Cuba Press in 1995; sentenced to 20 years in the 2003 Black Spring and released in 2004. He died in Miami in 2021.
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas
Founder of the Christian Liberation Movement and the Varela Project, which delivered over 25,000 signatures seeking a referendum; in 2023 the IACHR concluded state agents took part in his 2012 death.
Reinaldo Arenas
Novelist censored and imprisoned in El Morro from 1974 to 1976; he left Cuba through Mariel in 1980 and died in New York in 1990, after dictating his memoir, Before Night Falls.
Rosa María Payá Acevedo
Activist who founded the Cuba Decide initiative in 2015; elected by the OAS General Assembly as an IACHR commissioner, the first Cuban in the role, from January 1, 2026.
Tania Bruguera
Artist detained over her 2014 performance and after 27N in 2020; she left Cuba in August 2021 and teaches at Harvard.
Reinaldo Escobar Casas
Journalist fired from Juventud Rebelde in 1988 and independent since 1989; co-founded the digital newspaper 14ymedio in 2014.
Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces
Lawyer, poet and CubaNet journalist; an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, jailed from September 2019 to September 2020 after being beaten while covering a trial.
Václav Havel
Dissident playwright and former Czech president who founded the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba in 2003, after the Black Spring.
Yotuel Romero
Founder of Orishas and co-author of "Patria y Vida", the 2021 song that won the Latin Grammy for Song of the Year and became the anthem of 11J.
Yoani Sánchez
Philologist and journalist, author of the Generación Y blog; on May 21, 2014 she launched the independent digital newspaper 14ymedio, which she runs from Havana.
Ruhama Fernández
Santiago de Cuba YouTuber and former medical student who comments on political and social issues; from 2020 she was summoned, interrogated, barred from travel and, in August 2021, detained while her home was searched.
Vladimiro Roca Antúnez
Economist who signed "La Patria es de Todos" in 1997 as part of the Group of Four; imprisoned from 1997 to 2002. He died in Havana in 2023.
Zoé Valdés
Havana-born novelist, author of Yocandra in the Paradise of Nada, living in Paris since 1995.
Yunior García Aguilera
Playwright from Holguín, part of 27N and founder of the Archipiélago platform, which called the 15N civic march; he left for Spain on November 17, 2021 after police surrounded his home.
Un Asere Pensante (Brian Infante)
Brian Infante's YouTube channel, which covers Cuban current affairs with humor and denounces the Castro dictatorship.
Félix Navarro Rodríguez
9 years in prison (public disorder, contempt and assault on authority) · In the Agüica maximum-security prison, Matanzas (September 2026) · Teacher and opposition figure from Matanzas, sentenced to 25 years in the 2003 Black Spring; re-arrested after 11J and sentenced to 9 years. Released in January 2025, he was returned to prison that April.
Lizandra Góngora Espinosa
14 years in prison (sabotage, robbery with force and public disorder) · In Los Colonos women’s prison, Isla de la Juventud, in an isolation cell (August 2026) · Mother of five, sentenced to 14 years for sabotage, robbery and public disorder after the 11J protests in Güira de Melena; serving her sentence on the Isle of Youth.
José Daniel Ferrer García
4 years and 6 months (revoked and changed to imprisonment) · Released and forced into exile in the United States (October 13, 2025) · UNPACU coordinator detained on 11J and held in solitary confinement; forced into exile in the United States in October 2025.
Exclusive interview: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, "no one leaves a Cuban prison the same"
5 years in prison · Released and forced into exile in the United States (July 18, 2026) · In his first interview after his forced exile, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara describes the toll of five years in prison and being separated from his son.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
5 years in prison · Released and forced into exile in the United States (July 18, 2026) · Visual artist and San Isidro Movement co-founder, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience; served his full sentence and was forced into exile in July 2026.
Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez
9 years in prison · In Guanajay maximum-security prison, Artemisa; the U.S. granted him humanitarian parole, which Cuba has not allowed him to use (August 2026) · Rapper and co-author of 'Patria y Vida', winner of two Latin Grammys in 2021; arrested on May 18, 2021 and sentenced to 9 years. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.
Sayli Navarro Álvarez
8 years in prison (public disorder, assault on authority and contempt) · In La Bellotex women’s prison, Matanzas (September 2026) · Co-founder of the Ladies in White in Matanzas, sentenced to 8 years alongside her father, Félix Navarro, after asking about people detained on 11J; imprisoned since April 2022.
Repudiation rallies in Cuba: a state policy
An analysis of "repudiation rallies" as a systematic tool of the Cuban state against those who try to emigrate or dissent, from Mariel to today.
UMAP forced labor camps in Camagüey (1965–1968)
Between November 1965 and July 1968, some 25,000 men, among them gay men, religious believers, artists and intellectuals, were interned in militarized labor camps in Camagüey.
Causa No. 1 of 1989: the execution of General Ochoa
On July 13, 1989, General Arnaldo Ochoa, Colonel Antonio de la Guardia, Captain Jorge Martínez Valdés and Major Amado Padrón were executed after a summary military trial on drug-trafficking charges.
The 2022 Penal Code
Approved on May 15, 2022, the new Penal Code keeps the death penalty for 23 or 24 crimes, depending on the source, and punishes receiving funds for 'activities against the State' with up to 10 years.
Nationwide blackout and Hurricane Oscar (October–December 2024)
On October 18, 2024 Cuba's national grid disconnected entirely; two days later Hurricane Oscar made landfall in Guantánamo, where 8 people died. Further total blackouts followed on November 6 and December 4.
Decrees 349 and 370, the San Isidro Movement and 27N (2018–2020)
After State Security raided the San Isidro Movement on the night of November 26, 2020, more than 300 artists and intellectuals gathered the next day outside the Ministry of Culture in Havana.
The Special Period neuropathy epidemic (1991–1993)
Between 1992 and 1994 Cuba's Health Ministry counted 50,862 cases of epidemic neuropathy, optic and peripheral, linked to lack of protein and B vitamins; cases fell after vitamin supplements were distributed in 1993.
Testimonies from refugees of the 1980 Mariel boatlift
Cubans who left through the port of Mariel in 1980 recount in their own words their departure from the island.
The Mariel mass exodus (1980)
In April 1980, more than 10,000 people entered the Peruvian embassy in Havana after the police guard was withdrawn; between April and October, some 125,000 Cubans left through the port of Mariel.
Testimony on the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP) camps
Emilio Izquierdo recounts in an interview his time in the UMAP forced-labor camps in Camagüey.
Hotel Saratoga explosion (2022)
On May 6, 2022 a gas leak during a tank refill destroyed Havana's Hotel Saratoga; 47 people died and, four years later, no investigation findings had been published.
The Hotel Saratoga explosion in Havana leaves 45 dead
Coverage of the gas-leak explosion at the Hotel Saratoga in Havana in May 2022, with a final death toll of dozens.
Che Guevara and the executions at La Cabaña
A documentary account of the summary trials and executions carried out at the La Cabaña fortress under Ernesto "Che" Guevara's command in 1959.
Summary trials and executions at La Cabaña (1959)
In 1959 revolutionary tribunals executed opponents and former officials after trials without guarantees; Cuba Archive attributes nearly 100 executions directly to Che Guevara, who presided over the appeals tribunal at La Cabaña.
Execution of three young men for the hijacking of the Regla ferry (2003)
On April 11, 2003, nine days after trying to divert a passenger ferry to the United States without injuring anyone, Lorenzo Copello, Bárbaro Sevilla and Jorge Luis Martínez were executed.
Fire at the Matanzas Supertankers oil base
Coverage of the August 2022 fire at the Matanzas Supertankers oil base, with firefighters and mandatory-military-service recruits among the dead.
Audio of the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes
A recording of the radio communication of Cuban military pilots during the shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue civilian planes in February 1996.
Shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in international waters (1996)
On February 24, 1996, Cuban Air Force MiGs shot down two civilian Brothers to the Rescue planes with missiles in international airspace; all four crew members died.
Fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base (2022)
Lightning set a fuel tank ablaze in Matanzas on August 5, 2022; the fire destroyed four of eight tanks and left 17 dead, including four military conscripts aged 19 and 20.
The wars in Angola and Ethiopia (1975–1991)
Over 16 years more than 350,000 Cuban military personnel served in Angola; official figures acknowledge just over 2,000 dead, a number writer Leonardo Padura called 'ridiculously low'.
The Escambray purge (Limpia del Escambray) and the “captive towns” (1960–1966)
Tens of thousands of troops and militia fought the Escambray insurgents; peasant families from the area were deported to towns built for them, such as Sandino in Pinar del Río.
El Maleconazo: the 1994 popular protest on Havana's Malecón
Archival footage of El Maleconazo, the popular protest of August 5, 1994, on Havana's Malecón.
The Maleconazo: the first popular uprising in Havana (1994)
On August 5, 1994, in the depths of the Special Period, hundreds of people (thousands, according to witnesses) took to Havana's Malecón chanting "Freedom!"; it was the first mass spontaneous protest since 1959.
Death of Laura Pollán, leader of the Ladies in White (2011)
Laura Pollán, co-founder of the Ladies in White, died on October 14, 2011 at Havana's Calixto García hospital; official accounts of the cause were contradictory.
Interview with Orlando Zapata Tamayo's mother after his death
An interview with Orlando Zapata Tamayo's mother, recorded hours after the activist's death following an 85-day prison hunger strike.
Death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo on hunger strike (2010)
Political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, arrested in the 2003 Black Spring, died on February 23, 2010 after 86 days on hunger strike.
Oswaldo Payá's daughter says her father's death "was not an accident"
Rosa María Payá says in an interview that her father Oswaldo Payá's death in July 2012 was not a car accident but an act by state security.
From the cemetery, a Cuban mother demands justice for her son who died during military service
A Cuban mother, filmed at the cemetery, demands justice for her son's death during mandatory military service.
The deaths of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero (2012)
State vehicle struck the car carrying civic leaders Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero; the IACHR officially found state agents responsible in 2023.
Nine mandatory-service soldiers missing after explosions in Holguín
A report on nine mandatory-service recruits missing or dead after the explosions at the Melones munitions depot in Holguín in January 2025.
Deaths in compulsory Military Service: Melones and 97 young people since 2001
On January 7, 2025 an explosion at the Melones munitions depot in Holguín killed 9 conscripts and 4 career soldiers; an OCAC report documents at least 97 young people dead or missing in military service since 2001.
The Revolutionary Offensive (1968)
After a speech by Fidel Castro on March 13, 1968, the state seized 55,636 small private businesses, from corner stores and bars to barbershops and laundries.
The 2003 Black Spring: 75 journalists and dissidents sentenced
From March 18, 2003, the government arrested 75 dissidents, independent journalists and librarians, sentenced in summary trials to 6 to 28 years.
Operation Pedro Pan (1960–1962)
Between December 26, 1960 and October 23, 1962, 14,048 Cuban children left alone for the United States, sent by parents who feared losing parental authority to the state.
The 2003 Black Spring, decades later
Coverage of the 2003 Black Spring, when the regime jailed 75 journalists and dissidents with sentences of up to 28 years.
The “Quinquenio Gris” (Gray Five Years) and the parametración purges (1971–1976)
After the arrest of poet Heberto Padilla and the April 1971 Education and Culture Congress, writers and artists deemed unfit were removed from their work and sent to factories, construction sites and cemeteries.
The sinking of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat
A documentary on the sinking of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat in July 1994, when state vessels rammed civilians fleeing by sea.
Sinking of the 13 de Marzo tugboat
On July 13, 1994, state vessels rammed and sank a fleeing tugboat, causing 41 civilian deaths, including 10 children.
The July 11, 2021 civic uprising (11J)
Historic nationwide civic protests in over 50 cities demanding freedom, met with the regime's combat order and mass arrests.
Sentences of up to 20 years for those detained in the July protests
Coverage of the sentences of up to 20 years in prison handed down to peaceful protesters detained during the 11J demonstrations.
Díaz-Canel: "The combat order has been given"
Díaz-Canel's nationwide broadcast address on July 11, 2021, calling on "revolutionaries" to take to the streets and confront the protesters.
Cuba's harsh crackdown on the July 11 protesters
A report on the Cuban regime's repressive response to the mass protests of July 11, 2021.
11J: the protest in San Antonio de los Baños
On the morning of July 11, 2021, residents of San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, took to the street over blackouts and lack of medicine; a Facebook livestream spread across Cuba.
Sentenced to 20 years: the testimony of Teodoro Pablo Martínez, Cuban political prisoner
Teodoro Pablo Martínez, detained at age 22 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, recounts his case after leaving Cuba.
15N: the Civic March for Change declared “illegal” (2021)
The Archipiélago platform called a peaceful march for November 15, 2021; the government declared it unlawful, prosecutors warned of criminal charges, and organizer Yunior García's home was surrounded.
Cuba: one year after 11J, the people's mass protest against the government
A one-year retrospective on the mass protests of July 11, 2021, and the crackdown that followed.
Protests in Santiago de Cuba: "Food and power"
Coverage of the March 17, 2024 protests in Santiago de Cuba, El Cobre and Bayamo, with thousands demanding food and electricity.
17M: protests for “power and food” in Santiago de Cuba (2024)
On March 17, 2024, hundreds of people, many of them mothers with children, marched along Santiago de Cuba's Carretera del Morro chanting 'Power and food'; there were also protests in Bayamo and Palma Soriano.
Protest in Caimanera, Guantánamo (May 6, 2023)
Hundreds of Caimanera residents gathered outside the local Communist Party office chanting 'Freedom!'; that night internet traffic collapsed across the island and people were detained.
Cacerolazos (pot-banging protests) in Nuevitas, Camagüey (August 2022)
On the nights of August 18 and 19, 2022, residents of Nuevitas' Pastelillo neighborhood banged pots against blackouts of up to 18 hours; in 2024, 13 people were sentenced to 4 to 15 years, most for sedition.