Despite the Trump administration’s openly hostile policy toward the island, Cuba has continued to receive monthly deportation flights from the United States in accordance with a bilateral agreement.
“Our collaboration in these operations is not affected by the state of our relations with the U.S.,” said Lourdes Gil Robaina, an immigration official.
According to Gil Robaina, this latest flight was the eighth this year and the 59th since 2017.
Cuba kept accepting the flights even after the Trump administration unilaterally ended bilateral migration talks that were held regularly under Biden. Meanwhile, Cuban officials who have sought dialogue with the Trump administration have reportedly been snubbed.
“Cuba has the will to talk at any moment,” said Alejandro García del Toro, a representative of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “But in the case of this administration, they have decided not to, so far.”
García del Toro said comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chargé d’Affaires Mike Hammer expressing sympathy for the Cuban people were “hypocritical” given the Trump administration’s Cold War-era policy toward Cuba.
“You cannot impose a harsh blockade on a whole population, and at the same time say that you want the best for the Cuban people,” he said.
Havana, Aug. 28 (Prensa Latina) Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today emphasized Cuba’s strong rejection of the United States military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, a dangerous act that threatens the sovereignty and self-determination of Latin American countries, he asserted.
Through the social network X, the Cuban Foreign Minister stated: The Government of #Cuba strongly rejects the current deployment of #US military forces in the Caribbean Sea. This dangerous act represents a grave threat and an aggressive demonstration of force that threatens the sovereignty and self-determination of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that the concentration of U.S. ships and naval assets near the Venezuelan coast constitutes a direct threat to regional stability, promoted under “absurd pretexts” and in flagrant contradiction with the spirit of peace defended by Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex) recalled that this action violates the collective commitment made by the 33 member states of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to declare the region a Zone of Peace.
Cuba also categorically rejected the use of irregular migration flows as a justification for the militarization of the Caribbean. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs questioned the presence of nuclear submarines, warships, and a disproportionate military deployment in an area with a tradition of pacifism, considering that it does not constitute an adequate or legitimate response to confront challenges such as organized crime, drug trafficking, or migration.
Grenada’s Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall has become the latest government official to have his U.S. visa revoked over Cuba’s medical cooperation, according to The New Today.
Last February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy of restricting the visas of government officials for their participation in hiring Cuban medical personnel, whom the U.S. deems “victims of forced labor.”
In June, the State Department targeted Central American officials. On August 13, the U.S. announced restrictions on government officials in Africa, Brazil, Cuba and Grenada – as well as their families.
After the February announcement, leaders across the Caribbean made headlines for standing up to U.S. pressure and defending Cuba’s medical cooperation with their countries.
“I always believe you have to put the people above one’s political self and, in that sense, I believe that my government has already sighted that we are prepared to go to the extreme to make sure to keep our people safe,” Cornwall said at the time. “So, if it means that we have to give up our visa’s right to the U.S. to make sure that Grenada stands behind Cuba as one of the countries that support Grenada in thick and thin, so be it.”
Cuba has been sending health professionals worldwide since the 1960s, particularly to countries in the Global South, where they provide healthcare for underserved communities. Cubans have also treated Ebola patients in Africa, earthquake victims in Pakistan and Haiti, and COVID patients in Europe.
Through contracts with host governments, this cooperation has become one of the main sources of foreign currency for Cuba — and a target for the U.S. The Cuban government says the money generated from the missions helps fund the nation’s free public health system.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has allowed a Cuban-American man who claims to own shares of Havana’s José Martí International Airport to sue American Airlines.
The lawsuit stems from Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. claimants whose property was nationalized during the Cuban revolution to sue companies that do business involving those properties. The law was passed in 1996, but Title III was consistently suspended by U.S. presidents until Trump activated it in 2019.
Dozens of suits have been filed since. While experts agree that Title III was mainly designed to dissuade European companies from investing in Cuba in the 1990s, former President Obama’s detente with the island and the cascade of U.S. investments that followed made U.S. companies like American Airlines liable.
At the same time, Title III’s activation has soured third-country investors on Cuba, dealing another blow to a country already battered by a raft of U.S. sanctions.
The 11th Circuit’s decision overrules a Florida federal judge who had dismissed the lawsuit.
For more about Title III and the campaign that convinced Trump to activate it, read our article Billboards and Backchannels and watch our video.
Havana, Aug. 26 (Prensa Latina) The 16 new members of the Cuban Educational Brigade in Jamaica began the orientation process yesterday, prior to their incorporation into the 2025-2026 academic year, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated today.
The teachers will join public schools in various regions of Jamaica, joining the contingent present on the English-speaking island for 28 years.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, the professionals met with the Cuban ambassador to Jamaica, Fermín Quiñones, and officials from that nation’s Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information.
The directors, the text adds, “recognized the work carried out by Cuban collaborators in schools at different educational levels throughout Jamaica, as well as their impact on students.”
For his part, in his speech, Quiñones “highlighted the imprint of the ideals of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz (historic leader of the Cuban Revolution) on the cooperation that Cuba offers to other peoples around the world*.
He highlighted the scholarship program and the construction of educational centers for Jamaican youth, as well as “the launch of the Bilateral Education Program in 1997 under Fidel’s undisputed leadership, as examples of brotherhood between the two nations.”
He reaffirmed the “commitment of the Cuban people and government to maintain and continue expanding cooperation, despite the complex situation facing Cuba.”
He also condemned the “cruel and criminal blockade (by the United States government) and the island’s continued inclusion on the illegal list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism, through which US imperialism seeks to destroy the work accomplished and the most genuine dreams of social justice of an entire people.”
United Nations, August 26 (Prensa Latina) Nothing and no one will prevent Cuba from continuing to be “wherever we are asked for help and a human life is in need,” said Ambassador Yuri Gala, reiterating his country’s commitment to solidarity cooperation.
In the face of the United States’ lies, we will continue to provide greater solidarity and cooperation, under the maxim of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, that being internationalists means settling our own debt to humanity, said Gala, Chargé d’Affaires ai of the Cuban Mission to the UN.
He recalled that since 1963, more than 605,000 Cuban health workers have provided services in 165 countries, and “we have contributed to the training of tens of thousands of doctors from various countries in the South.”
Speaking during the debate on agenda item 127 of the United Nations General Assembly, “Global Health and Foreign Policy,” Ambassador Gala reaffirmed Cuba’s position in defense of health as a human right and not a commodity.
For more than six decades, with great effort, the Cuban government has implemented a universal and free public health system based on prevention, equity, and solidarity, he said.
He noted that this has occurred despite the devastating impact of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States, whose effects on the health sector are particularly visible and painful.
He denounced “the arbitrary inclusion of our country on the list of states supposedly sponsoring terrorism, and the smear campaigns promoted by the United States against our medical services.”
Such a designation, Gala emphasized, reinforces the criminal siege against Cuba and “affects the health and well-being of millions of people both in our country and in other latitudes.”
The Cuban representative noted that global health cannot be separated from geopolitical tensions, humanitarian emergencies, climate change, or the current unjust, exclusionary, and unequal economic order.
He stressed that international cooperation is essential to contribute to an effective response to global health emergencies and achieve true universal health coverage that benefits all people.
“Selfishness must be banished from international relations, and unilateral coercive measures that negatively impact the enjoyment of the right to health must be eliminated,” he emphasized.
Ambassador Gala stated that countries in the South should not have to choose between paying their crippling external debt or financing their national health systems.
“More mutual support is needed to achieve resilient, universal, humane, and sustainable health systems that are not governed by market logic,” he added.
Gala emphasized Cuba’s support for the World Health Organization and rejected the United States’ unjustified attacks against this important organization.
Havana, Aug 22 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations System in the Caribbean nation, in alliance with the Cuba Photographic Library, is calling for the photographic contest “Looking at the world with new eyes”, an opportunity that is appreciated today by lovers of such a beautiful manifestation.
Aimed at residents in the country between 15 and 35 years old, the contest seeks to reflect, from a camera or mobile device, how participants imagine a more just, healthy and sustainable future.
The deadline for registration and submission of images is October 1 and the selected works will be part of a special exhibition in November 2025, the largest photography event in Cuba.
According to the bases of the contest, launched in the context of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations (UN), those interested can submit up to 3 photos in JPG format, high resolution (20 cm wide, 300 dpi).
The organizers propose the following themes for your to led your imagination fly: Working together for sustainable development: Collaboration, partnerships and teamwork to achieve common goals.
Universal health coverage: Initiatives that promote physical, mental or sexual health, especially for people or groups at risk or in a vulnerable situation.
Caring for the planet: Actions against the impacts of climate change and in defense of nature.
Fifteen finalists will be chosen, including one winning photo. The jury will award special mentions.
“If you are a finalist, you authorize the UN and associated entities to use your non-profit image to promote their activities,” adds the call.
The award ceremony will be held on October 24, 2025.
Beijing, Aug 22 (Prensa Latina) China reaffirmed its rejection of the sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba’s international medical cooperation and called for an immediate end to the economic blockade Washington maintains on the island.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning highlighted that over the last 60 years, around 600,000 health professionals have been sent to more than 60 countries, including Caribbean states.
Mao added that these medical brigades have provided care to more than 230 million people, performed more than 17 million surgeries, and saved the lives of more than 12 million patients.
The spokesperson emphasized that Cuban medical cooperation plays a crucial role in the health systems of countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, and has therefore been warmly received by the governments and people of the beneficiary nations.
Regarding the US accusations, Mao affirmed that “the so-called ‘forced labor’ has become an excuse and a tool of hegemony to put pressure on other countries.”
She asserted that these actions represent an extension and deepening of the economic blockade that the United States has imposed on Cuba for more than six decades, which many leaders and social sectors in the region have rejected.
The statement comes in the context of the US State Department’s announcement of visa restrictions for African countries, Brazil, Cuba, Grenada, and former Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) officials and their families associated with Cuba’s medical services program.
The U.S. has imposed visa restrictions on government officials – and their families – from Africa, Brazil, Cuba and Grenada for their role in Cuba’s medical cooperation teams, which the U.S. deems “forced labor.”
Marco Rubio has been targeting Cuban health cooperation for years, stepping up the pressure since becoming secretary of state. In February, he announced the policy of imposing visa restrictions on foreign government officials who helped welcome Cuban health professionals serving in their countries. Last June, the State Department sanctioned Central American officials.
While the nationality of the African officials and the identity of the Grenadian and Cuban officials were not disclosed, the identity of the Brazilian officials is public, and it includes Minister of Health Alexandre Padilha as well as his wife and 10-year-old daughter.
Brazil’s inclusion is noteworthy, since there hasn’t been a Cuban mission there in seven years. The State Department stated that Brazilian officials along with former Pan American Health Organization officials have been sanctioned for their role in bringing over 10,000 doctors from Cuba to Brazil between 2013 and 2018. The Cuban mission ended after Jair Bolsonaro assumed the presidency.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has consistently defended Cuba’s South-South medical cooperation and praised Cuba’s healthcare system and its doctors.
Cuba has been sending medical personnel worldwide since the 1960s, particularly to countries in the Global South, where they provide healthcare for underserved communities. Cuban health professionals have also treated earthquake victims in Pakistan and Haiti, Ebola patients in Africa and COVID patients in Europe.
Through contracts with host governments, the missions have emerged as the main source of foreign currency for Cuba, and thus a target of Trump sanctions. The Cuban government says the money generated from the missions is used to help fund the nation’s universal public health system, which provides healthcare free of charge to its citizens.
If you want to hear from the doctors themselves, watch Episode 3 of our documentary series The War on Cuba.
Why are dozens of US students getting their medical degree in Cuba?
What are they learning that they wouldn’t be in the US? We asked these questions and more to four US medical students currently studying at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana through IFCO/Pastors for Peace’s ELAM Scholarship Program.
Here’s what they had to say.
???? Get the Truth. Subscribe to our newsletter now for breaking news, investigative reports and exclusive content on Cuba’s untold stories and U.S.-Cuba relations ????: https://www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/s…
