The Nikkei Community in Cuba: Celebrating with pride Japanese legacy

The descendants of Cuban-Japanese celebrated their International Day recently with a compromise to strengthen their link with their historical memory.  

Graciela Lastres | internet@gmail.com and Verónica Nuñez | internet@granma.cu

June, 2026

On Thursday October 2, 2014, a ceremony was held to mark the 400th Anniversary. In 1614, Arrival of the First Japanese to Havana.

The celebration, an opportunity to meet, fortify friendships and exchange experiences. Picture by Massiel Tessa

The first Japanese migration registered in America took place in 1868 and was  towards Hawaii. In commemoration of this event, on June 20 communities of Japanese descendants around the world come together to celebrate.

Japanese migration to Cuba started at the end of the 19 century, divided into five main periods as follows: until 1914, from 1915 to 1923, from 1924 to1926, from 1943 to 1946 and finally after World War II.

Japanese descendants are known as Nikkei, singular, a term that changes from the first to the fifth generation (isei, nisei, sansei, yonsai, gonsei).

Last Census in Cuba, in 2025, showed there are 991 Nikkei living in the island and distributed in Cuba’s 15 provinces and in the municipality of Youth Island. Data showed the origin of the community was Kumamoto in Japan.   

Today Nikkei are part of two main communities: the Society of the Japanese Colony of Youth Island (Sociedad de la Colonia Japonesa de la Isla de la Juventud) and the Management Committee of the Nikkei Association of Cuba (Comité Gestor de la Asociación Nikkei de Cuba) this last in process of legalization.

This year, for fifth time, Japanese descendants celebration together with the Embassy of Japan and included the presence of ambassador Nakamura Kazuhito, as well as the representative of the Agency for International Cooperation of Japan (Agencia de Cooperación Internacional de Japón (JICA) in Cuba, Ashida Tatsuya; the president and vice-president of the Management Committee of the Nikkei Association of Cuba Francisca Arakawa and Ivis Imamura respectively, other members of the accredited diplomatic body and members of the community.

In his speech the Japanese ambassador in Cuba highlighted the increase of younger members of the community among assistants and numerous representation from all provinces, despite the challenging circumstances Cuba is facing in terms of transportation.

This event is an opportunity to get together, strengthen our friendship and Exchange experiences; this is an example of perseverance and dignity, explained the ambassador.

The vice-president Imamura affirmed the pride the community feels regarding their genealogical links with Japan, and their compromise that to them represents the rescue of their legacy. She finalized saying that for them it is crucial not only to be together but to do together.

During the event videos were shown highlighting Cuban participation in the twenty second Panamerican Convention Nikkei (XXII Convención Panamericana Nikkei, COPANI 2026), celebrated recently and where the Antillean community was included in the Nikkei Panamerican Association.

JICA representative, Ashida Tatsuya, mentioned the achievements in matters of cooperation, professional capacitation and the development of cultural activities and she encouraged all to continue with such enriching experiences that contribute to strengthen diplomatic relations between both countries.

In the cultural space of this encounter the art of dancing was highlighted, in particular couple dancing Tsugai Kogarashi, combining elements of traditional and modern dance with elegant movement and the use of the fan.

Childhood was also present in a fashion show of traditional Japanese clothes, like  yukata and kimono. Then, lovers of Japanese culture (Nikkei from the heart) danced Yosakoi, with energetic youth movements. In the end, professor of Japanese language Víctor Coro pleased the public with a show of traditional calligraphy (Shodo) and a humoristic monologue (Rakugo).

The evening ended with karaoke, a shared entertainment of modern Japanese society, in which many Japanese functionaries participated together with the descendants.

Nikkei historian Lidia Sánchez Fujishiro in her book, A Japanese in Santiago de Cuba (Un japonés en Santiago de Cuba), explains that being a Japanese descendant is simply being a Japanese descendant, does not imply additional obligations and that in this sense, there has been no need to build alternatives of identity resistance aiming at social privileges.

In 2028, Cuba will celebrate the 130th anniversary of the beginning of Japanese Immigration to Cuba, with a community of descendants that day by day build links with the legacy of their predecessors. Picture by Hideo Ishii.

Translation by NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)

 

From A to Z: A Countdown of hostility against Cuba

A brief dictionary of U.S. policy toward the largest of the Antilles

Author: Mario Ernesto Almeida Bacallao | internet@granma.cu

The Ñico López refinery in Havana was nearly sabotaged with explosives in 1965 Photo: Juvenal Balán

A

America is a word in conflict over meanings and existences… some strive to maintain the accent mark on the word, to be in, with, from, and for it; and others seek to eliminate it, so that the only way to pronounce and understand the word is through a tongue that doesn't dare touch the roof of its mouth to pronounce the "r."

B
Blockade or Biden, who denied Cuba oxygen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also Bush (for now, only the son), U.S. president between 2001 and 2009, whose "Cuba Plan" limited family visits to the island to one trip every three years and reduced the authorized per diem for such travel. He founded the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, to which he initially allocated up to $59 million over two years, with the express purpose of overthrowing the Cuban government.

C
Sugar mill, the means by which the US gradually took control of the Cuban economy, or crops damaged by bacteriological warfare. Clinton, president from 1993 to 2001, who approved the Helms-Burton Act. The "c" also stands for CIA.

D
The Monroe Doctrine was issued in 1823 to warn European powers and the nascent republics of the hemisphere of a succinct and central policy: America for the Americans. It also refers to Donald Trump, who 200 years later has forcefully revived that dogma. In his first administration, he dismantled the process of normalizing relations between Washington and Havana and applied 250 coercive measures to the island, intensifying the embargo. Since 2025, he has resumed his hostility where he left off and today maintains a total oil blockade and the threat of invasion against Cuba.

E
The Platt Amendment, an appendix to Cuba's first Constitution after its independence, guaranteed a republic legally and politically subordinate to the United States. Also, Eisenhower, the US president at the time of the revolutionary triumph of 1959, approved in March 1960 the "Covert Action Program against the Castro Regime," which included the creation of a Cuban exile organization operating in conjunction with the CIA, as well as a clandestine apparatus within Cuba.

F
The Ripe Fruit Policy was formulated in 1823 during the administration of James Monroe and stipulated that, for the time being, it was advantageous for the U.S. for Cuba to remain under Spanish control and that, when the historical moment arrived, the island would break away and fall, by the law of gravity, into the hands of "the Union."

G
The Bay of Pigs was invaded in 1961 by a military force trained and financed by the U.S. government. The action failed in less than 72 hours, although it cost the Cuban Revolution more than 150 lives.

H
The Helms-Burton Act of 1996 "allows" the U.S. to punish non-U.S. companies that trade with Cuba, mandates a series of subversive actions aimed at overthrowing the Revolution from within, and places coercive spotlights on activities related to former U.S. properties on the island.

I
Military Intervention as a Method and Interventionism as a Policy. In 1898, the U.S. intervened in the Necessary War, which would later become the Spanish-Cuban-American War. After Spain's defeat, the U.S. military occupied the island until 1902. Intervention occurred again in 1906, at the request of Tomás Estrada Palma. During the Massacre of the Black Independents, the U.S. threatened to intervene again and also considered the possibility during the War of the Chambelona. Between 1934 and 1935, the U.S. ambassador in Havana, Jefferson Caffery, effectively governed the country.

J
Jefferson (Thomas), U.S. president from 1801 to 1809, declared that the incorporation of Cuba into "our confederation is precisely what we need to advance our power as a nation to the point of its maximum interest." More than a century later, in his 1928 introduction to the book Our Colony of Cuba, historian Harry Elmer Barnes acknowledged that from the island, "we extended our economic penetration and political pressure into other parts of Central and South America, especially Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama."

K
Kennedy formalized the blockade of Cuba in 1962. He also approved the Bay of Pigs invasion and was the leading U.S. figure during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For his part, Henry Kissinger, arguably the most famous diplomat in American history, nearly bombed the island in 1976 in retaliation for its participation in the defense of Angola against South African aggression.

L
Lester D. Mallory, Under Secretary of State. In a secret memorandum, he defined the philosophy of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade unilaterally imposed against Cuba: "The majority of Cubans support Castro… the only foreseeable way to reduce his internal support is through the disenchantment and dissatisfaction arising from economic hardship and material difficulties…"

M
Marco Rubio, the current Secretary of State of the neighboring country, has strong ties—and debts—to the Cuban-American mafia. He is the main promoter of the suffocation of the Cuban people, which has intensified at this time from the U.S.

N
Nixon (Richard) was one of the sponsors of the Bay of Pigs invasion and did everything he could to expedite it so that a supposed victory would pave the way for his presidency. When he finally took over the White House in the late 1960s, his policy toward the island was characterized by persecuting Cuban nickel trade operations, kidnapping fishermen at sea, and detaining ships flying the Cuban flag in international ports.

Ñ
The Ñico López refinery in Havana was nearly sabotaged with explosives in 1965. The plot was to be carried out by a CIA agent, Julio Marcelino Acosta Fuentes, Case 116-65. The plan was intercepted in time by Cuban authorities. Had it been successful, the blast wave would have killed thousands of people.

O
Executive Orders of January 29 and May 1, 2026, issued by President Donald Trump, which expanded unilateral coercive measures against the Cuban economy and maximized the extraterritorial nature of the so-called "secondary sanctions." Operation Mongoose, according to the Office of the Historian at the State Department, "was designed to accomplish what the Bay of Pigs invasion failed to achieve." According to this official U.S. website, the program included political, psychological, military, sabotage, and intelligence operations, as well as assassination attempts against political leaders. He fostered and financed insurgent groups throughout most of the country as a prelude to a new invasion. The bulk of his actions took place in 1962.

P
Peter Pan. The operation convinced thousands of families inside Cuba that the Revolution would strip them of their parental rights. Through his network, more than 14,000 children arrived in the U.S. without their parents between 1960 and 1962. Many were never reunited.

Q
Quincy Adams (John) was the main proponent of the Ripe Fruit policy. He would become President of the United States shortly afterward, from 1825 to 1829. In 1823, he wrote to the U.S. ambassador in Spain about the annexation of Cuba as "indispensable for the continuity and integrity of the Union itself."

R
Reagan (Ronald) was in the White House from 1981 to 1989, and during his administration, diseases such as dengue hemorrhagic fever were introduced to Cuba, which claimed the lives of 101 children during those years.

S
Sabotage and terrorist acts in general have been a constant in U.S. policy toward the Cuban Revolution. At least 3,478 Cuban nationals have been killed. One of the most significant incidents was the bombing of the Barbados airliner in 1976.

T
The Torricelli Act was passed in 1992 under the administration of George Bush (Sr.) and prohibited subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba, even if they were located in third countries. Furthermore, ships that docked in Cuban ports were barred from entering the U.S. for the following 180 days.

U

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was created in 1961 by Kennedy. It has fostered relationships of blackmail and dependency through its "aid," primarily in countries of the Global South, and has promoted regime change policies against alternative processes to U.S. hegemony, such as those in Cuba and Venezuela.

V
The steamship La Coubre exploded in Havana harbor in 1960, killing approximately one hundred people. From the pain and outrage of that day, the slogan "Homeland or Death!" was born.

W
Wood (Leonard) was one of the military leaders of the U.S. intervention in the Spanish-American War in Cuba, and in 1899, during the occupation, he was appointed Military Governor of the island. It is said that he took with him as a souvenir the first Cuban flag raised after the American flag was lowered in 1902.

X
Xenophobia. Our people are subjected to a series of forms of discrimination outside the national territory, including obstacles to accessing banking services, visas, academic literature, and courses. Furthermore, phenomena such as the lack of recognition of our educational institutions occur.

Y
Yankee. For the national liberation movements of the entire second half of the 20th century, including the Cuban Revolution, it has been synonymous with imperialist siege.

Z
Zunzuneo was an intelligence operation funded by USAID to create a kind of "Cuban Twitter" between 2009 and 2012. Starting with trivial matters, it sought to reach a large audience within Cuba in order to then send large-scale political messages that would catalyze a parallel to the Arab Spring on the island.

 Sunday June 28 to Saturday July 4 2026. Canada

The week of action begins TODAY and I know that many or most of you will be participating in rallies in your respective cities. Take lots of pictures, and be sure to tag the Canadian Network on Cuba on social media. In-person visits to MPs, rallies outside their offices, banner drops, postering nights -- and how we can help you to amplify your local activities.

In solidarity,

 Cuba: economic transformations in the face of the tightening of the U.S. Blockade 

The Prime Minister of Cuba presented 176 proposals during the Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Popular Power.

Author: "Estudios Revolucion".

For the first time, foreign investment in private companies will be allowed, as well as the extension of economic partnership contracts. 

During the Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero presented to the deputies a set of proposals for economic and social transformations that seek to redefine the country's development model, in a context marked by the intensification of the U.S. blockade.

Unprecedented foreign investment

The most innovative measures focus on opening up foreign capital to hitherto restricted sectors. For the first time, foreign investment in private companies will be allowed, as well as the extension of economic partnership contracts. To guarantee greater stability to long-term projects, it is proposed to extend the surface right up to 99 years and the right of usufruct up to 50 years.

On the financial front, foreign investors will be able to open accounts abroad without prior authorization – only with notification – and directly access the foreign exchange market to operate with their currencies. In addition, the mandatory use of employing entities is eliminated, which opens the way to direct contracting schemes.

The regulatory package incorporates the principle of "positive administrative silence", reduces procedures and deadlines, and decentralizes the authorization process. Foreign investment is also allowed in specific areas such as Old Havana, and private companies and cooperatives are authorized to import and export directly, as well as to market trademarks and patents.

Banking and financial reform

The project recognizes the need for a profound transformation of the banking system and includes the possible creation of a private corporate bank under the supervision of the Central Bank. It also proposes the establishment of non-bank financial institutions for microcredits, the elimination of restrictions on payments in foreign currency between foreign suppliers and Cuban counterparts, and the updating of interest rates.

It also contemplates the creation of private exchange houses, a digital exchange market and currency auction systems, as well as the realization of successive devaluations of the national currency to adjust the exchange rate.

Tax reform and pricing policy

In tax matters, value added tax (VAT) is introduced with reduced rates in specific sectors, electronic invoicing is generalized and the tax burden for certain economic actors is reduced. The personal income tax is updated, with a modified progressive scale, fewer brackets and an exempt minimum equivalent to the average salary in 2025. In price policy, approval powers are decentralized and the approach based exclusively on costs is eliminated, moving towards a scheme determined by market correlation.

Social protection and subsidies

The proposals include the digitization of social aid through the Sovereignty platform, and establish that all economic actors contribute to the sustainability of social policies through banking agreements. They provide for the creation of a Social Protection Fund and the transformation of the subsidy scheme, moving from a product-centric model to a model focused on vulnerable people.

Tourism, transport and trade

In the tourism sector, the door is open to new business modalities such as leases, usufructs and sale of real estate, both for Cubans living and abroad. Real estate development is authorized in all strategic tourist destinations, the creation of private travel agencies and the incorporation of tourist guides and managers of local destinations. In transport, restrictions on the acquisition of equipment are eliminated and the import of electric vehicles is encouraged. In commerce, non-state forms of management and foreign investment are prioritized, chains of stores and restaurants are created, with the invitation to foreign franchises.

(With information from Cubadebate)

Translation by NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)

 

 When Calabria — one of Italy's poorest regions — faced a severe shortage of doctors, help arrived from an unexpected place: Cuba.

Today, we are proud to share the public release of our latest documentary, From Cuba to Calabria, which follows Cuban doctors as they serve on a medical mission in southern Italy. Rather than hearing about Cuba's medical missions through politicians and pundits, you can see one from the inside — through the voices of the doctors themselves and the patients whose lives they touch.

The Trump administration has claimed the doctors are victims of "forced labor" and pressured governments around the world to terminate the missions.

But the doctors tell a different story.

https://youtu.be/OWuf2I6Xhok?si=a5y_DLIJkNzbA5g5

Refining domestic crude oil: A path of great effort that continues to yield results

The processing of 20,000 tons of domestic crude oil in the Santiago de Cuba refinery demonstrates the resilience of Cubans and their boundless will to find solutions in the face of the most complex adversities

Author: Luis Alberto Portuondo | internet@granma.cu

June, 2026 

To process the national crude, it has been necessary to study, innovate, and experiment, the director of the Hermanos Díaz refinery affirmed. Photo: Archive

SANTIAGO DE CUBA.— In 2024, Granma had already investigated the processing of heavy crude oil, which our country imported, using a solvent that brought it to 16 degrees API—created by a team of specialists at the Hermanos Díaz Oil Refinery—to convert it into medium crude and, once distilled, obtain the derivatives.
"That technological feat allowed our company to leave behind the period between 2016 and 2021, marked by losses, meager production, and the regrettable exodus of engineers, technicians, and service personnel," acknowledged engineer Irene Barbado Lucio, general director of this branch of the Cuban Petroleum Union (Cupet).
But in 2026, "the situation became extremely complex due to the energy blockade imposed by the Trump administration, preventing the oil we once purchased abroad from flowing through our facilities," the director lamented.
"Once again, the option was to become self-sufficient through our own efforts, as advised by the Commander-in-Chief in his concept of Revolution. He was the one who promoted the expansion and modernization of our plant in the 1980s, but I want to emphasize that it was designed to process light crude," specified Víctor Manuel Díaz Despaigne, director of the refining area.
THE BEGINNING OF THE TRANSFORMATIONS
When refining of imported heavy crude began, the Hermanos Díaz refinery—one of the country's four refineries—processed "naphtha, gasoline, fuel for drilling wells, fuel oil for thermoelectric power plants and distributed generation, as well as for asphalt production and the nickel industry," explained its CEO.

  This was the result of the efforts of more than 700 workers, because the technological upgrades were numerous. Thanks to this collective ingenuity and the powerful movement of innovators and efficiency experts, profits were generated and distributed, and the emigration of skilled personnel to other Cupet companies and to centers in both the state and private sectors was prevented.

According to Barbado Lucio, "it was a complex process, involving much study and experimentation, in which our maintenance team—responsible, as its name indicates, for ensuring the operation of the industry—and Cupet's Refining Directorate also played a fundamental role."
"If at the end of the last decade we had resigned ourselves to the technological limitations that, obviously, made refining heavy crude impossible, the fate of this important industry would have been very uncertain. That is why, united, we overcame what seemed invincible," he affirmed.
With some seven decades of operation, work is underway at this site to improve infrastructure, production processes, and working conditions. In this regard, progress has been made on the flow measurement project to guarantee traceability of the processing, prevent fuel losses, and consequently strengthen fire suppression systems, lightning rods, and spill containment measures (which minimize environmental impacts in Santiago Bay).
ANOTHER TURNING POINT
Through coercion and blackmail, the U.S. government "dictated to our suppliers that they should no longer sell us crude oil. But the greatest risk was that the country would run out of naphtha, essential for continuing extraction in our oil wells," emphasized the member of the Party's Central Committee.
"If we were able to convert imported heavy crude into medium crude, given the urgency, we decided to do the same with domestic crude," stated the director of the refining area.
After intensive studies and adjustments, "we conducted an initial run of domestic crude in March; we obtained naphtha, diesel, and fuel oil, and, above all, the exploitation of our oil fields did not stop," the director pointed out.
Although these initial results were encouraging, the need for further adjustments to the plant also became apparent, given the viscosity and aggressiveness of Cuban oil due to its high sulfur and acidity levels.
That is why, in this initial stage, crude oil from the western region is being refined, as it "has better characteristics, flows better, and has lower viscosity," commented engineer Irenaldo Pérez Cardoso, deputy director of Cupet.
These actions were carried out in parallel with those developed by the Petroleum Research Center, based on thermoconversion, which were announced by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, along with members of the National Innovation Council.
According to the president, "we broke a precedent, a taboo that existed in the country, that national crude oil could not be used for other purposes, and we had practically condemned it to be used directly in a group of thermoelectric plants."
FOR GREATER AND BETTER RESULTS
Since the country has only received one Russian tanker in the last six months, Cupet continued working with domestic crude and processed 20,000 tons. Once again, the Hermanos Díaz team took on this colossal challenge, which happily "yielded results superior to the first run of this pilot phase, with the production of solvent naphtha destined for wells and fuel oil," said Irene Barbado Lucio.
Because the diesel obtained from domestic crude does not meet all the standards for commercialization, it was necessary to blend it with a higher-quality fuel to make it usable. The May run met the objectives; the extra-heavy fuel oil is even being used at the Antonio Maceo Thermoelectric Power Plant, with positive results, and its use in the nickel industry is being evaluated.
Even though the processed amount does not cover the country's demand, it represents a technological advancement for making more efficient use of endogenous energy resources. "Therefore, we reiterate that, given the high sulfur content, acidity, and viscosity of Cuban crude, specialists were required to perform calculations and adjustments to optimize and facilitate the refining process," stated Yanet Revé Luna, senior specialist in the Technology Department.
Thus, the crude oil washing systems were rehabilitated, "and the dosage of a new product called Vapen 220 pe was established. This product serves as a neutralizer at the top of the atmospheric distillation tower for the corrosive acids that form during the fractionation process," the specialist affirmed.
Taking into account the characteristics of Cuban oil, a line was constructed to collect the polluting gases released at the top of the vacuum distillation tower. These gases are then burned in the furnaces, thereby contributing to environmental protection and the health of the workers.
Since it was very difficult for the fuel to flow through the ten-inch diameter lines to reach the suction and processing unit, "we made an interconnection with a 20-inch line," Revé Luna noted.
And in complete accordance with the need to take a little bit away from the problems each day, this team—with many of its members working long hours and in complete anonymity—continues to apply science and innovation so that petroleum products—no longer imported, because they are denied to us—are present, to the extent possible, in the country's main activities.

The Santiago refinery is one of the four in the country and was expanded in the 1980s. Photo: Santiago Martí Photo: Granma

 

 

Díaz-Canel denounces new U.S. threats and sanctions against Cuba

With these measures, the US government intends to "strengthen the blockade and the conflict between Cuba and the United States," he stated

Author: International Editor | internet@granma.cu

June 5, 2026 15:06:18

                                                Photo: Dunia Álvarez

 "The US president has made new threatening statements against Cuba; and the Treasury Department has added new names of Cuban leaders, organizations, and companies to an illegitimate sanctions list," denounced Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, this Thursday via his Twitter account.
Regarding this new episode, an expression of the White House's growing hostility toward the island, the Cuban president asserted that it is aimed at "strengthening the blockade and the conflict between Cuba and the United States."
Furthermore, he stated: "This political blindness adds to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country, designed to harm the Cuban people."
Díaz-Canel warned that "the aggressiveness and perversion of the U.S. government will clash with our resolve to confront the worst-case scenarios and resist the imperial onslaught."
For his part, Political Bureau member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla expressed on his Facebook profile that "the vile inclusion of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, members of his family, as well as Cuban institutions, civil society organizations, and companies on an illegitimate and unilateral list by the U.S. government, is the latest example of the U.S. interventionist plan to portray Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security."
The Cuban Foreign Minister asserted that "every U.S. action aimed at creating a scenario of conflict between the two countries is destined to fail."
"Every threat against Cuba’s independence and sovereignty will be met with even greater unity and determination from our people," he added.