Debate: Ministry of Environment, Habitat and Housing

Experts agree on the urgency of integrating habitat and sustainability policies to the housing challenge -they also warn us about the danger of  bureaucratizing risks and of the challenge of conflicts of competences...

Maya Ivonne Quiroga Paneque, CUBAHORA

July, 2026

Housing in Cuba (Fernando Medina Fernández / Cubahora)

The recently proposed Law on the Organization of the Central State Administration, published on June 8 this year by the National Assembly of People’s Power, has sparked intense debate in Cuban academic and professional circles. The preliminary draft, which would reduce the number of 23 ministries and four national institutes to mainly, and only, 20 portfolios, provides for the creation of a new institution called: Ministry of Environment, Habitat and Housing.

The measure to apply is part of a process of “reordering, resizing and perfecting” the state apparatus so as to achieve “increased effectiveness in the administrative function.” The proposal has caused many reactions. Some specialists see the merger as an opportunity to integrate sustainable development and climate resilience policies to the housing challenge, while others warn about the risk that housing urgency will cause the subordination of ecological priorities, and even that critical functions of the missing CITMA could end up diluted.

The debate reflects structural challenges that are part of the Cuban institutional system in housing, urban planning and the environment.

 

A necessary ministry may not be sufficient

 The new Ministry of Environment, Habitat and Housing would concentrate in a single body, the environmental functions that until now CITMA exercised — together with competences of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources and of the National Institute of Territorial Planning and Urbanism (INOTU).

 In his Facebook profile, Alejandro Palmarola, biologist and environmentalist, affirms the creation of the new Ministry “is a success and a necessity”.  He argues in favor of the Ministry on the basis of the accumulated experience within CITMA, and he points out, that structures with overlapping functions have coexisted, for example the Directorate of Environment and the Environment Agency, and they have generated inefficiencies as well as gaps in responsibility.

 Palmarola believes that a new Ministry with a transversal nature would permit to overcome fragmentations, while aligning with international trends favoring environmental management to be articulated with other strategic policies. He warns, however, that the challenge is working beyond the name of the Ministry  to ensure the essential: avoid duplication and to ensure the body has operational coherence.

 Institutional redesign must simplify structures and make public management more agile, particularly in a context, like Cuba, where bureaucracy has been identified as one of the main brakes for science, sustainability and innovation in the country.

 Hiram J. Gonzalez Alonso, doctor of Biological Sciences, has declared to Juventud Técnica some doubts he has about the definition of “habitat” that appear in the mission of the new ministry. He said: 

“Neither in the mission nor in the functions is habitat clearly defined," and he explains that "habitat must be conceived as the set of geographical characteristics in which biodiversity develops and coexists.”  Instead, he argues, “the situation of the waters is prioritized and united to the territorial order. We have been working for many years in research on the environment and biodiversity and have been impacted because of this approach.”

 

Architecture, housing and the risk of superstructure

 Universo García Lorenzo, architect and Master of Science at the Institute of Architecture and Constructions of Alma-Atá, Republic of Kazakhstan, argues that both, the Municipal and Provincial Directorates of Housing in Cuba, “have historically responded to a centralized approach to allocation, state control of the housing fund and bureaucratic processing.”  The professor reveals that many of the technicians who work in the housing directions lack university training in architecture or civil engineering and that such training limits them, and cannot be replaced with short courses at medium technician level. He points that such limitations often "compromise the quality of assessments and inspections performed.” 

 García Lorenzo also points out to the constant overlap of functions between the Housing Directorate and the INOTU. “With the unification of functions under INOTU, boundaries between dictating a technical housing status and granting building licenses usually collide at the  municipal base provoking bureaucratic ‘flegage’ where citizens are caught between "Housing regulations" and "Urban Planning opinions" that sometimes contradict each other.”

 Faced with such scenario, Garcia Lorenzo favors the recovery of  independent institutes for Architecture, Housing and the Environment, operating as an ecosystem of counterweights: “INOTU is necessary as the great arbiter of the territory and urbanism, but it can not continue to absorb such complex and specific disciplines.”

 

The risk of fusion: will the urgency of housing crush the environment?

 Analyzing the merger from two sides, García Lorenzo points that “The advantage is that the merger would allow to rootly integrate policies of sustainable development and climate resilience –that are vital for Cuba in the face of hurricanes and coastal floods – as well as favor the use of low-carbon materials.”

 But he warns about a risk: Housing in Cuba drags a crisis of housing deficit and critical deterioration requiring executive management of shock and massive construction resources. By merging with a regulatory and conservation entity such as the Environment, the operational urgency to build could clash with environmental protection restrictions, OR the urgency of housing could end up crushing ecological priorities if there are no autonomous control agencies.”

 

The Concept of Habitat and Historical Debt

 One of the strongest contributions of the technical guild, collected by García Lorenzo, is the transition from an approach of “housing as a unit” to one of “integral habitat”. This last involves building houses, but also ensuring services, infrastructure, public spaces and urban quality.

 This approach has been defended for decades in spaces such as the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, or the National Union of Architects and Engineers of the Construction of Cuba, where the need and value of prioritizing the rehabilitation of the existing housing fund should be above the new work. In their perspective the creation of a ministry could be an opportunity to institutionalize such vision, provided that the ministry is not reduced to merely administrative reorganization.

 

Towards a model of integral management of housing and habitat

 The dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the Technological University of Havana "Jose Antonio Echeverria", himself Master in Social Housing, Dr. Ruslan Muñoz Hernández, places the debate in a broader context. He recalls that a concern for mass and public housing took hold in Latin America from the 1930s, and in Europe after 1945, that with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to housing became a very relevant issue.

 Muñoz Hernández advocates in favor of “solid, robust, efficient offices or departments that handle the issue of housing,” while he also insists that they must be integrated not only into technical disciplines but also into banking and legal issues. He proposes that officials have technical competences of architecture and engineering, and that agents of the Ministry of Labor or Social Security and representatives of a bank to process subsidies all become directly involved in the management.

 “The properties must have administrators or managers who answer perhaps to the Municipality itself. There has to be a gear that allows a property management system to work.” 

 All specialists agree that the success of the new structure will depend not only on institutional design, but on the ability to articulate housing emergencies with the demands of environmental sustainability, and on ensuring that science and academia maintain the autonomy necessary to exercise their critical function.

 

Between integration and specialization

 The debate is not limited to these three specialists. In different academic and professional spaces, a common concern has emerged: how to achieve a balance between institutional integration and technical specialization.

 Some sectors welcome the creation of a ministry that unifies dispersed policies and facilitates coordination in the face of challenges such as climate change and the housing crisis. Others, fear that a “macrostructure” will end up diluting responsibilities and weakening technical control.

 Deep down, the discussion reveals a structural dilemma: reforming without reproducing bureaucracies, integrating without losing specialization, and responding to social emergencies without compromising environmental sustainability.

 What seems clear is that, beyond institutional design, the success of any reform will depend on its ability to solve concrete problems: the deterioration of the housing fund, administrative inefficiency and the lack of articulation between public policies.

 

"Cuba is not a threat to the United States, nor does it wish to be its adversary or enemy"

Address by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla during the 7th Ordinary Session of the 10th Legislature

Author: Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla | internet@granma.cu

July 30, 2026 

Cuban Foreign Minister. Photo: José Manuel Correa

Comrade Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Leader of the Cuban Revolution,
Comrade First Secretary and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel,
Comrade Esteban Lazo, President of the National Assembly of People's Power,
Comrade Prime Minister Manuel Marrero,
Comrade Roberto Morales, Secretary of Organization of the Communist Party of Cuba,
The recent speech by First Secretary and President Miguel Díaz-Canel on July 26th, with its brilliant and compelling demonstration of the genocide perpetrated by the United States government against the Cuban people, the deliberations of the United Nations General Assembly on July 7, and the introduction just delivered by the President of the National Assembly relieve me of the need to address certain aspects.
I am joined at this session by the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The National Assembly of People's Power, as a whole, its Council of State, the International Relations Committee, and many of its deputies have played and continue to play a significant role in the exercise of the Cuban State's foreign policy and in its international relations.
Comrades,
The international political context in which our Revolution defends and represents the interests of the people has worsened significantly.
The United States government has decided to break and destroy International Law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the pillars that emerged from World War II and have guided relations between states for more than 80 years, based on respect for sovereignty and the formal principle of sovereign equality among states.

It has also demonstrated its relative and temporary capacity to impose its will on various governments, overriding their sovereign and constitutional prerogatives, through intimidation, coercion, and, very specifically, the use of unilateral coercive measures and punitive trade tariffs.
It has resorted to military aggression, to wars without any justification, to the bombing of civilian populations, to the kidnapping of a sitting Head of State, to political assassination, to state terrorism, to “regime change,” and to cognitive or unconventional warfare.
They base this behavior on a new and unusual doctrine that they title "peace through force", such as that supposedly emerged in the historical past from looting, dispossession, conquest, extermination, occupation, slavery, ethnic cleansing, or the peace of the old colonial empires, the World Wars, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, fascism and Nazism, the Monroe Doctrine and its Corollaries, of the design that must have motivated Hitler when he proposed to reconfigure the map of Europe in the first half of the 20th century or more recently with the ill-fated redesign of the Indo-Pacific, the New Middle East or NATO.
In recent weeks, as if the lessons of history had not been learned, the ghost of McCarthyism and the witch hunt resurfaces in the United States as official policy. A strange Summit, to which dozens of Foreign Ministers were suddenly summoned in Washington, was dedicated to trying to launch the persecution of a phenomenon that had not been heard of. They call it a "resurgence of far-left terrorism." Before, they had tried to coin the strange concept of "narco-terrorism." We should remember the bloody Latin American dictatorships and the Plan Condor that they imposed.
Shortly after, the State Department published an extensive report on Cuba, which has caused much discussion due to its superficiality, mendacity and inconsistency, as if it were commissioned from a poorly used Artificial Intelligence application, it is said, but which attempts to single out Cuba as a danger to the United States.
Besides the absurdity of suggesting that our country could threaten the world's largest nuclear military power, the report seeks to criminalize and repress genuine expressions of solidarity with Cuba, manifested in multiple sectors and segments of American society.
It seeks to condemn and criminalize the Cuban Revolution's support for causes advocating for justice, civil rights, and against racism, Zionism, war, and oppression. It questions our right to defend ourselves against imperialist aggression. It attacks the solidarity and humanitarian work we have undertaken in many parts of the world. It condemns Cuba's internationalist efforts for the liberation of the peoples of Africa and against apartheid, and identifies our country as a danger because of its example, its resistance, its dignity, and its work for social justice.
Just over five years ago, in July 2021, that great Mexican and Latin American statesman, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, declared, and I quote: “We may agree or disagree with the Cuban Revolution and its government, but having resisted for 62 years without subjugation is quite a feat. (…) Consequently, I believe that, because of their struggle in defense of their country's sovereignty, the Cuban people deserve the prize of dignity, and that island should be considered the new Numantia for its example of resistance, and I think that, for that very reason, it should be declared a World Heritage Site.” End quote.
That example, that alternative to unfettered capitalism and imperialism, is the danger the United States identifies, adding to it the thirst for revenge of the heirs of the Batista dictatorship—murderers of 20,000 Cubans—the henchmen, torturers, and thieves, the mercenaries of Bay of Pigs, those who tried to push us toward nuclear holocaust, bacteriological warfare, the perpetrators of attacks, the terrorists, and those who seized control of the country. And that is why they condemn us to a ruthless and merciless war. They are the reincarnation of Valeriano Weyler and that 19th-century holocaust; and of Lester Mallory, architect of the policy of provoking suffering, despair, and the overthrow of the government.
Through aggressive and threatening behavior, the world's greatest military and economic power stifles the will of many states in the conduct of their own national affairs and even in their international relations.
This reality has allowed the U.S. government to drastically intensify the economic war and collective punishment against Cuba, tighten the energy embargo to the maximum, strangle our possibilities for commercial interaction with other countries, and advance in its efforts to disconnect Cuba from the international economy.
They are blatantly lying when they say there is no energy embargo, that we were getting free oil, that the blockade doesn't exist, and that it doesn't infringe upon the sovereignty or jurisdiction of other states.
It is a very dangerous and logically unsustainable scenario in the medium term, but one that, under the current circumstances, forces Cuba to endure the increased, ruthless destructive capacity of the United States government.
On July 26, the First Secretary of the Party and President of the Republic warned, and I quote: "Cuba is waging a historic battle today. A new Moncada. ... we, the current generations, are fighting against the walls of a genocidal policy that aims to suffocate the entire population in order to seize control of the country."
Even under these circumstances, our people enjoy broad and deep relations throughout the world. These are, as a rule, friendly and cooperative relations, but they are also, as a rule, relations of respect, even with countries and governments with which we have political differences, which are the minority.
There is no doubt regarding the overwhelmingly universal rejection of the United States' economic blockade against Cuba. The resounding 136-9 vote against the US attempt to block a debate on the issue at the UN General Assembly on July 7th is clear evidence of where global public opinion stands, even under the current climate of intimidation.
"Whoever rises up for Cuba today, rises up for all time," Martí would surely repeat in these circumstances. Silence, indifference, or narrow and selfish interests would endanger all of humanity. Any state could be next if a broad international effort does not halt this barbarity. If U.S. citizens had access to truthful and sufficient information, they themselves could prevent the catastrophe with which their government threatens the planet.
On January 1st, 2024, the Leader of the Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, stated, and I quote: “The policy of permanent hostility and blockade imposed by the United States government is the main cause of our economic difficulties. Have no doubt about this reality, even though the enemy invests millions of dollars and considerable effort to conceal it.” End quote.
Our people are aware of the news and understand perfectly that a macabre and well-designed plan is underway, aimed at cutting off, step by step, sources of financial income, access to markets and technology, and essential supplies for the Cuban economy and the lives of Cubans, including food and medicine. Added to these and other significant limitations are those imposed by the total energy blockade, which has been in effect since January of this year and which, through the use of all available means, practically prevents the importation not only of fuel, but also of components and parts, including solar panels and all inputs or technology associated with electricity generation.
Our people are also aware that the threat of military aggression remains. Even though it is neither conceivable nor logically conceivable what excuse or pretext could be used for such a criminal and irresponsible act, the aggressive appetite of anti-Cuban sectors within the United States seems to know no bounds.
These are the same people who celebrate as a success of their policy the agony and suffering of a mother who loses her child due to a lack of medical supplies. They are the ones who rejoice over every megawatt that goes ungenerated in the country, over the hours of blackouts endured by the people, over the water shortages faced by significant segments of the population, over the garbage that goes uncollected, and over the disruption of public transportation.
The United States government is well aware of our willingness to find solutions to bilateral differences through dialogue and is well aware of the patience with which we have accepted its proposal to talk on the basis of respect.
The United States and everyone else observe our willingness to accept, despite lies and manipulation, an offer of aid—curiously labeled as humanitarian—in an amount that merely covers the economic and social impact of five days of the blockade. This is less than the aid from the World Food Programme, which they tried to prevent, and despite the fact that it is being provided by the same government determined, futilely but causing profound pain and suffering, to create a humanitarian crisis in Cuba.
The true goal and intentions of the United States government are not revealed through dialogue or diplomacy, nor even through offers of aid, but rather through coercion and a determination to inflict the greatest possible punishment on the Cuban people in order to force their surrender.
Cuba is not a threat to the United States, nor does it wish to be its adversary or enemy. Our vocation is one of peace, as evidenced by the relations we enjoy with the entire international community and by the Proclamation of Peace for Latin America and the Caribbean, signed by the Heads of State and Government of the region in Havana.
Our sole commitment is to the Cuban people. Our mandate emanates and continues to emanate directly from their full, sole, and absolute sovereignty. We have the duty and the right to reject and confront the aggression that punishes and threatens them, and we have the supreme right and duty to defend ourselves, even with arms, if we are militarily attacked.
We continue to aspire to the eventual possibility of a respectful and constructive relationship with our voracious neighbor to the North and to take steps that lead in that direction, always with absolute, total, and complete respect for the sovereign rights and prerogatives of each party, which is how relations between states are conducted.
Many of our compatriots live in the United States. With our compatriots, we strive to strengthen ties and offer them the greatest opportunities for interaction with the homeland and for fraternal bonds with their families and loved ones. Many of the government measures adopted now and in recent years are oriented in this direction and are based on the conviction that Cubans residing outside of Cuba, anywhere in the world, have an important role to play in the development of the nation, from wherever they are and also if they return to the country.
The new economic and social transformations in which we are engaged considerably expand these possibilities.
I wish to express our immense gratitude for the expressions of solidarity with the cause of Cuba from all continents, for the constant and unconditional humanitarian aid, free from political opportunism, from numerous governments, parliaments and parliamentarians, international organizations, fraternal organizations, social movements, political parties, businesspeople, friendship, solidarity and civil society associations, intellectuals and artists, personalities and academics, and individuals of diverse political leanings and ideological commitments, but who all agree in rejecting the injustice and the crime committed against Cuba.
Barely four years had passed since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, when Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz expressed, in 1963 and I quote: "It is true that we are still under the imperialist blockade; It is true that the imperialists are trying to tighten this blockade, and we do not know how long we will have to resist this situation. And we will resist it! because our revolutionary flag will never fold! because the high head of this nation will never bow! Because we will face the risks that are necessary for as long as necessary; We will face the sacrifices that are necessary, as long as necessary" end of quote.
We know that Independence, the Revolution, Socialism and the very existence of our Nation and our Culture will depend on it.
In the year of its Centennial, it is necessary to understand, assimilate, act and tirelessly repeat that idea established by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz that a better world is possible, a world without cruel blockades, and I quote "that kill men, women and children, young and old, like silent atomic bombs." Fidel aspired and called to fight for a better world that will only be the result of the revolutionary and progressive struggle. This vision feeds optimism, the certainty of victory and commits us to fight tirelessly, even in circumstances as hard and challenging as those we live in today.
Let us repeat with José Martí "before giving up the effort to make the Homeland free and prosperous, the South Sea will join the North Sea, and a snake will be born from an eagle's egg."
Socialism or Death!
Homeland or Death, We will prevail!

 The Garden of Wonders

A biochemist and a teacher have cultivated a world of food sovereignty in the city.

Anaisis Hidalgo Rodríguez | internet@granma.cu

July, 2026

MANZANILLO, Granma – In just 400 square meters, the La Rosita Local Development Project, located in the Nuevo Manzanillo community, has become a national benchmark for urban and suburban agriculture. This space, led by the husband-and-wife team made by María Rosa León Reyes and Josué Guilarte González, is irrefutable proof that food sovereignty can flourish in the heart of the city, weaving a model where science, farming tradition, and social commitment mutually reinforce each other.

What is extraordinary about La Rosita is not its size, but the astonishing density of innovation it houses. María Rosa, 66, a teacher by training and a farmer by birth, and Josué, a 67-year-old biochemist, have transformed every corner into a productive ecosystem.

“I’m a peasant from the mountains of Ceiba Caridad. I inherited a farm from my parents, a caballeria of land, which is my greatest treasure. I became a teacher, but I’ve always been passionate about caring for plants and animals; they bring me comfort and ensure food for my family, friends, and neighbors. This patio is a miniature version of that farm in the heart of the city,” explains María Rosa.

The couple has achieved meticulous use of space in their patio, which incorporates nearly 19 agricultural sub-programs. It’s surprising to see banana plants emerging alongside medicinal, ornamental, aromatic, and fruit-bearing plants in the most unexpected pots, even on the roof of their house, and the development of a whole system that includes family aquaculture with red tilapia, raising rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, two peacocks, a few pheasants, pigs, semi-protected crops, and a small-scale agroecological production facility. This holistic approach not only ensures the production of chemical-free food, but also shortens the distance between the field and the table.

Germevit: The scientific Heart of the Patio

Any plant germinates well in La Rosita's backyard despite its proximity to the coast and the effects of salinity. This is due to the use of a homemade microbial inoculant (biopesticide), registered in 2022 as Germevit with the Industrial Property Office.

Germevit was conceived in 2013 from a lactic acid bacterium obtained from rice bran yogurt and worm castings, its name combines "germination" and "life," and also includes the initials of his two children, Germán and Evita. Its benefits have extended beyond the backyard, healing the mythical waterhole tree in La Demajagua Park-Museum, a symbol of Granma province, and crocodiles at the local breeding center.

Josué details the scientific scope of his creation, which was recognized this year with the Provincial Innovation Award: "We have developed two fundamental products: Germevit-bio. A foliar bio-stimulant that improves the physical, chemical and microbiological conditions of soils, with national and international recognition.  And, Germevit-Additive, a probiotic that ensures a balanced gut microbiota and gastrointestinal health, preventing digestive disorders and improving animal vitality.”

As an added benefit, regular application of Germevit-Additive reduces the generation of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in excrement, neutralizing unpleasant odors and preventing fly infestations in the facilities.  Today, La Rosita produces and markets products derived from the processing of organic waste in eastern Cuban provinces. To date, they produce eight variations of Germevit, with different dosages and functions, as an organic biostimulant in agriculture and a nutritional additive in livestock farming.

Science is evident in every detail. They use the black soldier fly, a dipteran with high protein content, for animal feed, reducing dependence on external inputs such as corn or soy. Currently, María Rosa is developing her Master's thesis on the impact of Germevit on free-range chicken production, seeking to optimize weight gain, boost the immune system, and combat anorexia. Furthermore, they have created a product in the registration phase from the stink bug to combat pests and diseases, reaffirming their commitment to constant research.

A Circular-Economy Model

Sustainability is a fundamental pillar at La Rosita. A biodigester, fed with pig manure and treated with Germevit, produces methane gas for cooking.

This cycle is completed with worm castings, which process organic waste and generate leachate, considered the best fertilizer.

"This product, along with Germevit, is already being sold and has been used by more than a thousand rice farmers in the region, achieving yields of up to 5 tons per hectare," emphasizes Josué, who above all defends his identity as a farmer.

To Transcend

The influence of this backyard extends far beyond its physical boundaries. María Rosa and Josué have established interest groups with elementary, middle, and high schools where children learn to plant and care for the land, taking these lessons home with them. These teachings are replicated in some 3,000 backyards in Manzanillo.

Students from the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School and the University, along with entire families and farmers, come seeking their expertise.

Their produce not only feeds their family but also benefits maternity homes, children's homes, and people in vulnerable situations, demonstrating a deep social commitment.

Awards and Legacy

The merits of this project are widely recognized. A pioneer in receiving the Fifth National Excellence Award and a National Reference Project, La Rosita boasts a 17-year history. It has been awarded the Neighborhood Prize, the Provincial Environmental Award in 2026, and has received support from institutions such as the European Union's Living Earth project.

For Josué, the success lies in the synthesis of knowledge: "Cuban farmers create science every day with their knowledge. It's knowledge that cannot be undervalued."

Rosita, as María Rosa is commonly known, despite her multiple health conditions, embodies the spirit of the schoolyard with her characteristic energy: "I have a strong will to work. I feel young and proud of what we have achieved. The schoolyard was built as my parents dreamed, it overflowed into the community and became a school, so I haven't stopped being a teacher, nor will I ever."

La Rosita is much more than an urban garden or a small-scale agroecological production facility. It's a living laboratory, a school of values, and irrefutable proof that, as María Rosa states, "having a backyard means we have true food sovereignty." Its legacy paves the way toward a more sustainable future, where science and tradition go hand in hand to nourish bodies and souls.

Translation by NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)

Reborn in the Caribbean

Ronald Suárez Rivas | ronald@granma.cu

July, 2026

This Basic Business Unit (UEB) with the best rice lands in Pinar del Río, has been the second structure in the province to join the Cuba-Vietnam project for the production of the cereal. The plantings of the first large-scale campaign have already reached 158 hectares and should reach 295.

Eliecer Silva assures that things are changing and that defaults and extremely low yields are gradually becoming a thing of the past. "The Vietnamese have come to give us great help. They have gotten us out of a tremendous predicament," he says.

Eliecer is head of the lot at the UEB Agrícola Caribe, the second entity in Pinar del Río that is linked to the Cuba-Vietnam project for rice production. Specialists say that here are the best rice lands in the province. A lack of resources, however, had caused the results to plummet. 2024, for example, closed with an average yield of 0.8 tons per hectare, a yield that increased to 0.9 in 2025.

María de las Nieves Sánchez, director of the UEB, confesses the situation became "desperate," the unit's collective was not used to low yields. Nevertheless, she adds, "each season the yields were dropping, we planned a certain number of hectares but we could not comply."  In September last year, and under these circumstances, a first planting was carried out on an experimental basis (21.7 hectares) within the framework of the project we have between our island and Vietnam, and the results were quite surprising: it averaged eight tons per hectare, a figure that had never been reached before in Cuba.

With this precedent, she explains, it was decided to increase the areas inside the current spring campaign. "So far, we have 158 hectares on the flat terraces and we must reach 295." According to her, this is just an intermediate step with the purpose of reaching 2,000 hectares in the cold harvest. In addition to the 473 hectares of flat terraces owned by the UEB, the project would include an additional  group of conventional areas given in usufruct to individual producers who are associated with the entity.

 A new production model

This experience began in Vueltabajo, in the municipality of Los Palacios, were the Vietnamese side received the land in usufruct and is in charge of its exploitation. However, in Agrícola Caribe, territory of Consolación del Sur, the production is carried out in a cooperative manner. That is, "the foreign party provides inputs and technical advice, while we provide land, workforce and machinery," María de las Nieves explains.  When we talk about inputs, we mean fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, fuel. For a territory that had not been able to apply a technological package for many years, this is very crucial support.  Reason why along with the plantings, work is currently implemented on the rehabilitation of the main canal, repairing or changing gates, and concrete slabs, to improve the hydraulic infrastructure linked to the project.

With the hand of man

Planting hundreds of hectares in a context marked by the government of the United States’ energy siege and with serious limitations related to aviation, has been challenging for the UEB of Pinar del Río, we faced the challenge of changing the way we do things. Its director recalls that in these large areas, sowing and application of chemical products was always carried out using airplanes. Within the framework of the project, we had to do it manually so it was necessary to recruit about 200 men from the town Alonso de Rojas. In addition, we could not count on dependable energy or carriers, often not available, so the project also contributed to employment in an area where options are often scarce. Osberto Pedroso agreed saying “thanks to this project, today we have work," he is one of the people who has joined the planting on the terraces of Caribe.

The experience has broken the myth that Cuban rice factories cannot work in ways similar to Vietnamese ones, basing the work more on men rather than on technology. "This is the first time it has been done like this. The planting, the fertilization, we have done everything by hand and with Cuban personnel," says Eliecer, head of lot 6-37.

Of the alliance with Vietnam, the specialist highlights first of all the quality of the seeds used and of the technological package, a quality our fields had not received for a long time. It also points to the rigor with which they work, to provide crops with everything required and at the exact moment needed. "When there is no organization and discipline in the work done, there are also poor or no results, regardless of what you use in the field." From the dike that divides two of the 20 terraces under his command, Eliecer speaks proudly of the uniformity of the seedlings growing to his right and the vigour they present, to his left, in an area soon to be harvested.

"The Vietnamese side brings a technological package that we have never had, the reason why rice is almost 1.80 meters high. You cannot even see the personnel who are in charge of fumigating there."  He says this, as if he were beginning to take revenge, after several harvests marked by scarcity and low yields. And to ensure that no one thinks these fields, standing out today because of their vitality, are the work of chance. He also warns that regardless of the resources used today that  were not available before, there is something else to add: "Here we are working hard."

Translation by NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)

Belly of the Beast    ​ English Newsletters Archives

Cuba hosts Russian and Chinese spy bases

Cuba hosts Russia’s “largest overseas signals intelligence facility” in addition to Chinese spy bases. Russia has a spy base in Cuba known as Lourdes while China has a base in a municipality called Bejucal.

FACT CHECK: There is no conclusive evidence that either China or Russia have a spy base in Cuba.

Russia did have a massive spy base in Cuba known as Lourdes — during the Cold War. Vladimir Putin closed the base in 2001, and a year later, it was replaced by a public university. (Stay tuned for our upcoming report from the university, where our efforts to find Russian spies proved fruitless).

Allegations of Chinese spy bases have relied largely on anonymous officials and satellite imagery obtained by the D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, which recently acknowledged that there was “no clear publicly available evidence” proving China’s presence at Bejucal.

Two years ago, we traveled to Bejucal and two other supposed sites and found no evidence of Chinese spies or spy bases.

 

While there is no proof that Russia and China are using Cuba to spy on the United States, the Trump administration is openly spying on Cuba. In April, a U.S. military surveillance drone was spotted flying off Cuba’s coast for several hours, circling in holding patterns near Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

The United States operates more than 800 military and intelligence facilities around the world, including bases used for surveillance, drone operations, missile defense and overseas military campaigns.

 Walking the Tightrope and Threading the Needle: Strategic Adaptation Under Siege

 Cuba’s Economic Reforms and Defense of Socialist Sovereignty

by Isaac Saney, published on Black Agenda Report, June 24, 2026

The announcement of Cuba’s new package of economic transformations has generated intense debate both within Cuba and among supporters of the Revolution internationally. Some have expressed concern that aspects of the reforms represent a retreat toward capitalism, a weakening of socialist principles, or even a concession to the relentless pressure of U.S. imperialism. Such concerns should not be dismissed. They arise from a genuine commitment to the principles that have defined the Cuban Revolution and an understandable apprehension about the dangers that accompany any expansion of market mechanisms.

Yet the starting point for any serious analysis must be reality. Cuba confronts one of the most severe economic crises in its contemporary history. This crisis is not the product of abstract policy failures alone, nor can it be understood apart from the unprecedented escalation of the  U.S. economic war against the island. Washington’s objective remains unchanged: to create such hardship, deprivation, and social dislocation that the Cuban people abandon their revolutionary project and surrender their sovereignty.

For more than six decades, successive U.S. administrations have sought to achieve through economic warfare what they could not accomplish through invasion, sabotage, terrorism, diplomatic isolation, or political subversion: the destruction of the Cuban Revolution. The current phase of that assault has reached extraordinary levels. Cuba faces financial persecution, restrictions on fuel imports, obstacles to international banking transactions, sanctions against foreign investors, and a campaign explicitly designed to suffocate the country’s economy.

Under such circumstances, the Cuban revolutionary leadership could not simply stand still. To do nothing would itself have been a decision—a decision carrying potentially devastating consequences for the Cuban people and for the survival of the Revolution. As Cuban economists and policymakers have repeatedly noted, many of the measures now being implemented have been debated for decades. Indeed, part of the current crisis stems from reforms that were delayed, incompletely implemented, or obstructed by institutional inertia. The cost of inaction has been enormous.

The question therefore is not whether changes were necessary. They were. The real question is what kind of changes are being implemented, under whose authority, and for what purpose.

Some critics view measures such as expanded foreign investment, modifications to foreign trade arrangements, greater flexibility for state enterprises, and new forms of financing as evidence of capitalist restoration. Such conclusions are premature and often misunderstand the central issue confronting socialist societies.

Socialism has never been built under ideal conditions. Neither Marx nor Engels imagined that socialist construction would occur in a small developing country subjected to permanent siege by the world’s most powerful imperial state. Every socialist revolution has been forced to navigate contradictions, shortages, external threats, and difficult compromises. The history of revolutionary movements is not the history of advancing under perfect conditions; it is the history of defending emancipatory projects under hostile conditions.

Lenin confronted precisely this reality in 1921. After years of civil war, foreign intervention, economic collapse, and devastation, Soviet Russia introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP permitted limited private enterprise, market exchange, and concessions to foreign capital. It was fiercely debated within the revolutionary movement. Yet Lenin insisted that the decisive issue was not the existence of market mechanisms in isolation, but which class held political power and whether the socialist state retained command over the strategic direction of society.

The NEP was not viewed as a surrender. It was understood as a strategic retreat designed to preserve revolutionary power, rebuild productive capacity, and gain time under extremely unfavourable conditions.

History never repeats itself mechanically, and Cuba is not Soviet Russia. Nevertheless, the comparison is instructive. Revolutionary governments occasionally face circumstances in which tactical flexibility becomes necessary to preserve strategic objectives.

The fundamental question remains: who controls the state? The Cuban Revolution has not relinquished political power to domestic capitalists, foreign corporations, or international financial institutions. Cuba remains a sovereign state governed by institutions created through the revolutionary process. The Communist Party remains in leadership. The state retains control over the commanding heights of the economy. National independence remains non-negotiable. This distinction is crucial.

The issue is not whether market mechanisms exist. Markets exist in varying forms in virtually every society. The decisive question is for whom the social product is generated and how the social surplus is utilized.

Is wealth produced for private accumulation by a narrow elite? Or is it directed toward national development, social welfare, public health, education, scientific advancement, food security, and collective well-being?

That is the central dividing line between socialist-oriented development and capitalist restoration. Those worried about the weakening of the state monopoly on foreign trade raise legitimate concerns. History demonstrates that openings to market forces can generate inequalities and social pressures. Similarly, proposals involving greater participation of foreign investment and changes in enterprise structures deserve careful scrutiny.

There are real dangers. No serious revolutionary should deny them. There is the danger of growing inequalities. There is the danger of bureaucratic distortions. There is the danger of the emergence of privileged sectors. There is the danger that market incentives, if left unchecked, could gradually reshape social relations in ways inconsistent with socialist objectives.

But dangers alone cannot determine policy. The alternative to confronting these risks is not some idealized preservation of a previous status quo. The alternative may well be deepening economic collapse, worsening shortages, increased emigration, deterioration of public services, and the weakening of the material foundations upon which the Revolution rests. The challenge is therefore not to avoid all risk—a practical impossibility—but to manage those risks while preserving revolutionary power.

In this regard, an important aspect of the current debate concerns alternatives that deepen worker participation, cooperative development, community control, and democratic forms of economic management. These discussions deserve serious attention. Cuba’s future need not be reduced to a choice between bureaucratic centralization and private capital accumulation. Expanding the role of workers, cooperatives, municipalities, and communities in economic decision-making remains an essential component of socialist renewal.

Indeed, the debate itself demonstrates an often-overlooked reality: Cuba continues to engage openly with fundamental questions about the direction of its development. The Revolution has never claimed infallibility. Cuban leaders have repeatedly acknowledged errors, shortcomings, delays, and bureaucratic obstacles. The current reforms emerge not from ideological conversion to capitalism but from a recognition that existing mechanisms have proven insufficient under present conditions.

Ultimately, however, the principal contradiction remains external. The greatest threat to Cuban socialism is not the ongoing debate among revolutionaries about economic policy. The greatest threat remains the unrelenting campaign by Washington – including the real possibility of military aggression –  to force Cuba into submission. This is why international solidarity remains indispensable.

Those outside Cuba have every right—and indeed a responsibility—to discuss, debate, and critically evaluate developments on the island. But such discussions must begin from an unequivocal defence of Cuba’s right to determine its own future free from imperial coercion.

The Cuban people alone have the right to decide how their society evolves. Not Washington. Not Wall Street. Not the architects of blockade and economic warfare.

The irony is that many of those demanding a return to capitalism for Cuba preside over capitalist societies increasingly incapable of delivering security, equality, or hope for future generations. Across the capitalist world, growing numbers of people face declining living standards, mounting insecurity, precarious employment, and diminishing prospects for their children. The promise and illusion that capitalism would provide prosperity for all has become increasingly difficult to sustain even in its historic centres.

Against this backdrop, Cuba’s struggle remains what it has always been: the effort to preserve national sovereignty and social justice under extraordinarily hostile conditions. The current measures should therefore be understood neither as a capitulation nor as an abandonment of socialist aspirations. They are better understood as an attempt—whether ultimately successful or not—to navigate a perilous moment in defence of a revolutionary project that continues to face the concentrated hostility of the most powerful empire in history.

The debate over the reforms will continue. It should. But the first question must never be forgotten: what would happen if Cuba did nothing? The Revolution was never confronted with a choice between an ideal socialism and imperfect reforms. It was confronted with the challenge of defending socialist sovereignty amid economic siege.

That reality imposes urgent and necessary changes. The task now is to ensure that those changes strengthen rather than weaken the Revolution’s foundational commitment: a sovereign nation in which the wealth produced by society serves the many rather than the few, national development rather than foreign domination, and human needs rather than private profit.

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Isaac Saney is a Professor and Cuba and Black Studies Specialist in Black African Diaspora Studies and History, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.  He is also a member of the executive of the Canadian Network On Cuba.

  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)