Mexico & Central America News and Discussions

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I think I'm gonna have to start blocking X soon.

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Protesters Riot in Cuba Amid Blackouts
By Dave Sherwood
March 14, 2026

Introduction:

(Reuters via USA Today) HAVANA - Anti-government protesters attacked a Communist Party office in central Cuba early on Saturday, a state-run newspaper reported, in a rare outburst of public dissent triggered by blackouts exacerbated by a U.S. oil blockade.

A rally against power cuts and food shortages appeared to begin peacefully in the city of Moron late on Friday then turned violent in the early hours of Saturday morning, Invasor newspaper said.

Videos on social media showed a large fire and people throwing rocks through the windows of a building as voices shouted "liberty" in the background.

Reuters was able to verify the location of one video in Moron, which is on Cuba's northern coast about 250 miles east of the capital Havana near the tourist resort of Cayo Coco. Checks showed it was recent, but could not pinpoint the exact date.

The United States has tightened the screws on Cuba since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro - Cuba's most important foreign benefactor - in January.

Read more here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/wo ... 7372007/

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A rally against power cuts and food shortages appeared to begin peacefully in the city of Moron

Sorry I had to...

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Trump Thinks Cuba is Another Venezuela. Here’s Why He’s Wrong.
By Achy Obejas
March 21, 2026

Introduction:

(Politico) Cuba is on fire as protesters torch alpine heaps of garbage while pots and pans rattle in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas and smaller municipalities from the east coast to the western tip of the island. It almost sounds like Carnaval — the ragged beat, the tinny metallic accent of the clave punctuating the chanting, shouting and yelping.

But last week in Morón, where many residents work at foreigner-only resorts in nearby Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, a band of locals did the unthinkable: They attacked the provincial Communist Party headquarters.

Of course, there have been mass protests in Cuba before, but nothing quite like what we’ve seen in recent days. In Morón, the protesters burned the symbols of the Revolution: portraits of leaders, plaques, declarations… The next day, the government scrambled up supporters to publicly praise the Revolution, and by the following night, the feared paramilitary Red Berets came marching into Morón. Meanwhile, as Cubans struggled to put food on the table in the midst of a crippling oil blockade — and President Donald Trump huffed and puffed about “taking Cuba” — the federal police were let loose all over the island to beat the hell out of people. Still, the demonstrators keep coming, night after night, shouting “Libertad!”

The protesters may be emboldened now, and government supporters might well be anxious about the turmoil. But with the electrical grid collapsed — leaving the island in complete darkness — and the revolutionary government announcing “the doors are open” for Cuban exiles to invest in the island, both sides are asking the same question: Now what?

Conclusion:

What do I want? I pray the transition, wherever it takes us, will be peaceful, but I dread it won’t be. And here’s the worst part: I can’t imagine what happens after the transition. I press my eyes shut and strain to see it in my mind’s eye, but there’s only darkness.

Read more here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine ... e-00836477

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[firestar464]

More on that by Common Dreams:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/wendell-potter-mexico

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Cuba’s President Defiant Amid Trump Threats: ‘If We Need To Die, We’ll Die’
By Jennifer Bowers Bahney
April , 2026

Introduction:

(Mediaite) Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel told NBC News’s Kristen Welker Sunday that he’s willing to give his life “for the revolution” if it comes to that, over threats from the United States.

In the wake of Venezuela and the war with Iran, Welker asked Díaz-Canel — appearing in his first-ever American television interview — about President Donald Trump’s statements that “Cuba is next.”

“Do you fear you could be killed or arrested by the United States?” Welker asked.

“Those of us who have leadership positions within the revolution have a strong commitment to our revolution and to our heroic people,” Díaz-Canel said. “And our responsibility entails the conviction and the commitment that we’re willing to give our lives for the revolution and for the cause which we defend.”

“So, for me that is not a matter of concern,” Díaz-Canel continued. “If the time comes, I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation, like the kidnapping of a president. If that happens, there will be fighting and there will be a struggle. And we’ll defend ourselves. And if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live.'”

Read more here: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/cu ... well-die/

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Cuba Needs a Long term Solution to Its Energy Crisis
By Luisa Blanco and Isabella Elias
May 22, 2026

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Cuba has run out of oil, the country’s energy minister announced on May 14, 2026.

It marks a new depth to the island’s energy crisis, which has gotten worse in recent months amid the tightening of U.S. sanctions imposed in January 2026.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on May 13 that the U.S. continues to be ready to offer humanitarian assistance of up to US$100 million – but only if Cuba reforms its communist government. The State Department did not provide many specifics, but according to Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who is involved in the discussions on behalf of the Catholic Church in its role as distribution partner of U.S. aid, a regime change would be necessary.

But at current prices, this aid would buy only about 20 days’ worth of oil for the island nation, covering a mere 5% of Cuba’s annual oil import.
As an economist specializing in Latin America and a master’s candidate in public policy, we believe that the broader history of Cuba’s energy sector sheds some light on the current situation.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/cuba-needs ... s-281726

caltrek’s comment: Aggression toward Iran can be seen as part dress rehearsal for attacking Cuba and part support of Benjamin Netanyahu’s hyper aggressive foreign policy. Aggression toward Venezuela as a step toward depriving Cuba of its oil. The real long-term prize is Cuba. A prize that Marco Rubio and his supporters in Cuba have been wanting to capture for decades. Many of those allies have ancient property claims that they would love to see honored. Others simply long for revenge for hearing of their grandparents fleeing the regime of Fidel Castro. Well down on the list of considerations is what the people of Cuba want. Like an exploding cigar, ignoring the people of Cuba could very well result in a blowing up in the face of U.S. policy makers.

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Ray McGovern: A U.S. Attack on Cuba Could Ignite a Global Crisis
By Scheer Post
May 27, 2026

Entire Article:

(PopularResistance.org) More than six decades after the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of annihilation, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern says Washington may once again be drifting toward a catastrophic confrontation with Cuba. In a sweeping conversation on Consortium News’ CN Live!, McGovern warns that escalating U.S. pressure on Havana — driven by Cold War obsessions, regime-change fantasies, and political opportunism — risks unleashing consequences far beyond the Caribbean.

Drawing on his years inside the CIA, McGovern describes a deeply entrenched divide between intelligence analysts and covert operators, arguing that presidents are often manipulated into dangerous interventions based on distorted or withheld intelligence. He compares today’s rhetoric surrounding Cuba to the deception that fueled the Bay of Pigs invasion, warning that officials pushing confrontation still underestimate the willingness of Cubans to resist foreign domination.

But McGovern’s warning goes even further: in a rapidly shifting multipolar world, any move against Cuba could provoke reactions from Russia and China unlike anything Washington faced in the past. What some in Washington treat as a relic of the Cold War, he argues, could become the spark for a far wider geopolitical rupture.

Source (including video that is seventeen+ minutes in viewing length): https://popularresistance.org/ray-mcgo ... -crisis/

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Manufacturing Consent for Trump’s Invasion of Cuba
By Natasha Bannan
May 30, 2026

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) These days, most of Havana’s streets are fairly empty of cars, but full of people walking or riding bicycles, electric bikes, electric “tricycles,” or scooters. Trash has piled up on most corners where regular pick-up has become impossible given that the garbage trucks have no gasoline. The average conversation starts off with comparing who’s gone the longest without electricity. The sympathy flows, as you exchange stories of what else you are going without: water, gas, food, medicine, transportation. People list the family members they haven’t been able to see and the medical appointments they’ve missed. Inevitably, someone will say better days are coming—“because they have to”—and to keep moving forward.

This week alone, the US Department of Justice indicted Raul Castro, the former head of state, who’s now 94 years old and largely out of public life. In addition, the Supreme Court gave a green light to Cuban-American-owned companies with property claims in Cuba from 67 years ago to sue tourist industry actors who “profited” from that land. Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to grow more and more publicly agitated with Cuba’s refusal to bow to his demands, and Trump’s consistent incoherence shows an absolute lack of any clear policy position towards Cuba, aside from one that may economically benefit him and/or his family.

Indictment of Castro is a page taken from Trump’s playbook on Venezuela from earlier this year. There, the administration indicted a sitting head of state, Nicolas Maduro, as a legal pretext for a military intervention, which was labelled an “emergency” and thus not an act of war that would require Congressional approval.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/m ... ent-cuba

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The Crisis We Are Causing in Cuba
By Jeffrey K. McCrary
May 29, 2026

Introduction:

(The Progressive) On March 20 of this year, I went to Cuba as a participant in the Nuestra America Convoy and Flotilla, with CodePink, a twenty-four-year-old feminist grassroots peace organization.

We went there to deliver fifty tons of humanitarian aid—food and medicine, and solar panels—using three small boats, the cargo holds of our planes, and even our carry-on luggage. Besides addressing Cuba’s dire situation, our goal was to draw attention to the United States’s punitive policy toward Cuba, and push for a more humane strategy focused on the needs and concerns of the people of Cuba.

As a former resident of Cuba during the early 1990s, I have felt for some time that most people in the United States don’t understand the situation in Cuba, as a result of misinformation in the press and on social media. Even the casual observer in the United States hears that Cuba is “communist,” “authoritarian,” and “a failed state” from our media and politicians, with little nuance added. I was also thrilled to see old friends and loved ones and to revisit the island of my dreams.

The U.S. government forbids its citizens from engaging in tourism in Cuba; it also blocks or severely limits the use of many kinds of financial instruments there, whether as commercial trade or personal business. In Washington, bureaucrats monitor every commercial transaction Cuba makes, and impose sanctions on any company, regardless of whether it is located in Moscow, Idaho, or Moscow, Russia. Recently, U.S. warships encircled the island to prevent arrivals of fuel, while President Donald Trump predicted that the Cuban government would soon collapse.

Cuba was in the throes of the so-called “special period” when I first set foot there decades ago. The dismantling of the Soviet Union brought economic collapse to many of its trade partners and dragged on Cuba’s economy downward. I saw spiraling shortages of basic necessities among its people in real time, and I watched the Cuban government re-think extensively its own alliances and internal ideologies, as its population adjusted its expectations of the benefits of faithful citizenship. I pondered the similarities and differences between then and now. There were differences, but, also, many sad similarities.

Read more here: https://progressive.org/latest/the-cri ... 260529/