Montevideo, July 25 (Prensa Latina) The Uruguay-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group was established in the South American country’s Parliament and pledges to work toward strengthening ties between the two countries.
Legislators from the main political parties make up the group, whose constitution was attended by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Sebastian Valdomir, and former President Ana Olivera.
Juan Canessa, nominated as the new Uruguayan ambassador to Cuba, was also present in the ceremony, together with Antonio Pardo, Cuba’s Charge d’Affaires in Montevideo, and the president of Parlatino, Rolando Gonzalez, who chairs the Cuba-Uruguay friendship group of his country’s National Assembly of People’s Power.
The Vice President of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Carlos Varela, urged strengthening relations between Cuba and Uruguay as heirs to the legacy left by Jose Marti as the South American country’s consul in New York.
Sebastian Valdomir proposed two topics of interest for the bilateral agenda: political coordination within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), whose pro tempore presidency Uruguay will assume in 2026.
The other topic points at US relations following its threats against several Latin American and Caribbean countries and the strengthening of the blockade against Cuba.
In this regard, the president of Parlatino denounced Washington’s decision to include Cuba on the unilateral list of countries that sponsor terrorism as a pretext to carry out “a horrific financial suffocation.”
Cuba’s tourism industry had a tough time in the first half of 2024, with a 25% fall in international arrivals for the same period last year. This fall 327,799 fewer visitors — can be explained by a combination of decreased arrivals from important markets such as the United States, Europe and the Cuban diaspora. Canada is still the largest source of tourists, but has also experienced a decline. (10) In addition to the difficulties derived from the perennial nature of the administrative policies, the current economic crisis and global political strategies, sectorialism has made it even more difficult for the Cuban tourist industry to emerge with a strategic alternative to recover and expand to new national and international markets.
Cuba’s international tourism sector has faced a significant setback in the first half of this year, recording a 25% drop in the number of international visitors. From January to June, the island welcomed only 981,856 tourists, a decrease of 327,799 compared to the same period in 2023, according to the National Statistics and Information Office (ONEI).
Canada continues to be Cuba’s largest source of tourists, with 428,125 Canadians visiting the island. However, this figure represents only 75% of the total number of Canadian visitors in 2023, highlighting a noticeable decline in the Canadian market. While Canada maintains its lead as Cuba’s primary tourism market, the significant reduction in arrivals points to broader challenges facing Cuba’s tourism sector.
Several other key international markets also reported major declines. Russia, Germany, France, and Spain all saw considerable decreases in the number of tourists coming to Cuba. Of particular note is the United States, which experienced an 80.6% drop in its visitor numbers. The decline in U.S. tourism to Cuba, a trend that has been continuing for some time, underscores the complexities of political and economic factors influencing the flow of visitors between the two countries.
In addition to declines in these international markets, the number of visits from the Cuban diaspora also fell sharply. The Cuban community abroad contributed to a 77.6% reduction in visits, with 120,423 fewer tourists compared to last year. June saw a particularly low number of arrivals, with Cuba receiving only 119,513 visitors during the month. This drop represents a continuation of a difficult trend for Cuba’s tourism industry, which had already been struggling to maintain growth amid global and domestic economic challenges.
Despite these widespread declines, Colombia proved to be an exception, showing a 2.4% increase in the number of visitors. The country saw 338 additional Colombian tourists compared to the same period last year, offering a small but significant bright spot in an otherwise difficult first half of the year. Mexico and Argentina, on the other hand, also posted low figures, further adding to the strain on Cuba’s tourism industry.
The downturn in international visitors has been particularly impactful on Cuba’s economy, which has long relied on tourism as one of its primary sources of revenue. The sector, which has already faced numerous challenges due to the ongoing economic crisis, now finds itself in a precarious position as it attempts to recover from this significant drop in arrivals.
Efforts to revive Cuba’s tourism industry have become a priority, with a focus on improving connectivity between Cuba and its traditional tourist markets. Cuba’s government has emphasized the need to bolster its connections with countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, where there is still potential for growth despite the overall declines in tourism numbers. In addition, Cuba is looking to expand its reach into emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, seeking to diversify its tourist base and reduce its dependence on a few key markets.
The government also recognizes the importance of reactivating tourism from the Cuban diaspora, who traditionally contribute a significant share of visitors to the island. By reinforcing ties with the Cuban community abroad, Cuba aims to increase the flow of visitors and encourage them to return to their homeland, helping to sustain the tourism sector.
Looking ahead, the Cuban government is also exploring the potential for new tourism initiatives and partnerships aimed at attracting tourists from new regions. With the tourism sector facing a combination of economic pressures and declining arrivals from traditional markets, diversifying Cuba’s tourist base and investing in new infrastructure will be crucial for the sector’s long-term recovery.
The overall picture for Cuba’s tourism industry has been mixed in recent years. In 2022, the island welcomed 1.6 million tourists, a figure that increased to 2.4 million in 2023. However, the positive trend was short-lived, as the total number of visitors for 2024 dropped back to 2.2 million. This decline highlights the ongoing volatility and challenges Cuba faces as it tries to rebuild and sustain growth in its tourism sector.
Cuba’s tourism sector has faced a twenty-five percent drop in international arrivals in the first half of 2024, driven by declines in key markets like the United States and Europe, as well as ongoing economic challenges. Efforts are underway to revitalize the industry by strengthening traditional markets and exploring new regions.
Hopeful for a tourism recovery still, the Cuban government is persisting with a tourism push that it wants to make the pillar of the island’s economy. With a focus on the tightening of its traditional markets, penetration of new territories and improvements in the visiting experience, Cuba aims to lift tourism numbers out of the doldrums and remake an industry that has long been a mainstay of government finances.
Havana, July 25 (Prensa Latina) On the eve of the 72nd anniversary of the attacks on the barracks Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Cuba is experiencing intense preparations to commemorate a date that laid the foundation for the revolutionary triumph.
During these days, drives are taking place throughout the nation in honor of the national holiday, although the main event will take place this Saturday in the central province of Ciego de Avila.
The heroic action, which took place on July 26, 1953, had as its main objective to combat the evils of the dictatorship imposed on the island by Fulgencio Batista since the coup d’etat of March 10, 1952, and is considered the prelude to the struggles that led to the definitive triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January 1959.
Under the name of the Centennial Generation, in allusion to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cuba’s National Hero, Jose Marti, in 1953, young revolutionaries led by the then-young lawyer Fidel Castro set out to promote an insurrectionary climate in the country, which would revive the Cuban people’s ideals of independence.
After the failure of the armed action, most of the participants were killed and those who survived were detained, but this unprecedented event awakened national consciousness and marked the beginning of the final stage of Cuba’s wars for independence.
The historic leader himself, Fidel Castro, expressed that the actions of July 26, 1953, constituted “a new path for the people; that it marked the beginning of a new conception of struggle, which in a not-so-distant time shattered the military dictatorship and created the conditions for the development of the Revolution.”
For this reason, this date in Cuba was baptized the “Day of National Rebellion,” and is celebrated annually to relive this epic feat and honor those who fell in that and subsequent struggles.
Havana, July 24 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today described the U.S. State Department’s messages on digital networks as lies and disrespectful and irresponsible publications.
Rodríguez emphasized that the social media messages “demonstrate the frustration of anti-Cuban sectors in their inhumane aggression against the Cuban people.”
The head of Cuban diplomacy pointed out in X that these sectors, deprived of support from the vast majority of Americans, Cubans and the international community, are desperately seeking taxpayer funds to construct provocations and impose a course of unjustifiable bilateral confrontation.
In recent days, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced the United States government’s attempts to subdue Cuba with economic suffocation measures that are harming the population.
Since Donald Trump’s first term (2017-2021), the current Republican administration has sought to close all avenues for access to essential financing for the economy’s normal functioning, Díaz-Canel asserted before the National Assembly of People’s Power.
The Donald Trump administration publicly declared, in a presidential memorandum on National Security, its intention to intensify “the brutal siege combined with the unacceptable inclusion of Cuba on the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism.”
This hostility, the head of state emphasized, “reinforces the blockade policy to unprecedented levels and causes a multiplied impact of coercive measures on the economy and, by extension, on the Cuban population’s standard of living.”
In a major win for Cuba’s LGBTQ+’s community, the country’s parliament passed a new law granting people the right to legally change their gender.
The Law of Civil Registration does not require “a previous modification of appearance” or gender-affirming surgery. Individuals can use the law to change their gender twice as long as the first time happened when the person was a minor.
In recent years, Cuba has blazed a trial for LGBTQ+ rights in the region. The 2019 Constitution opened the door to progressive reforms and the 2022 Family Code legalized same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
Until now, it was nearly impossible for people to change their gender without gender-affirming surgery. Previously, trans people could not legally change their name unless the new name corresponded to their legal gender. That provision was revoked in 2022, but the process remained long and difficult, according to activists.
Cuba’s first gender-affirming surgery occurred in 1988, and they became more common in the 2010s. But none have been performed in recent years as hospitals have been forced to stop many surgeries due to the country’s economic crisis.
To see more about the impact of Cuba’s Family Code, watch this video we did about a non-traditional family in Cuba.
Santiago de Cuba, July 23 (Prensa Latina) Folk art is drawn from nature and everyday life, where all the power lies, Luis Rodríguez, leader of the Bayate Group, told Prensa Latina today. He represented Cuba at an international fair in the United States.
Known as “the student,” Rodríguez added that in addition to exhibitions, the fair featured an academic event with topics such as Biodiversity Protection linked to the arts, entitled “Illuminating the Miracle of Nature.”
Another topic looked at the art market as a space where it’s possible to preserve the authenticity, communication, and values conferred by the stories told by works of art, he explained.
The fair, held annually in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, featured the participation of some 150 artists from 50 countries, including Spain, France, Ukraine, Japan, China, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, as well as Cuba and the host countries.
The Bayate Group, which brings together Cuban Naif artists, exhibited at Stand 2, with 120 works by 20 painters from the provinces of Cienfuegos, Holguín, Granma, Guantánamo, and Santiago de Cuba. This is Bayate’s eleventh participation in the Santa Fe International Folk Art Fair.
Havana, July 23 (Prensa Latina) The United States government despises multilateralism and UN institutions, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez asserted today, commenting on Washington’s announcement that it is withdrawing from UNESCO.
“The announcement of the #US withdrawal from @UNESCO is yet another demonstration of the US government’s contempt for multilateralism and the @UN_es institutions focused on promoting peace, which it financially pressures to impose its failed doctrine of global domination.
The White House announced its decision yesterday to leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), citing the cultural and educational agency as biased against Israel and promoting divisive causes, media reported.
“Today (Tuesday), the United States informed Director-General Audrey Azoulay of its decision to withdraw from UNESCO. Continued participation in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
The US official called UNESCO an organization that “promotes divisive social and cultural causes” and focuses excessively on the UN’s sustainability goals, which she described as a “globalist ideological agenda.”
For her part, from the organization’s headquarters in Paris, France, its Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, deeply regretted President Donald Trump’s decision to once again withdraw the United States from the UNESCO community of Member States—a decision that will take effect at the end of December 2026.
Azoulay assured, however, that the organization has undertaken important structural reforms and diversified its funding sources, so that currently the U.S. contribution amounts to barely eight percent of the organization’s total budget.
Havana, July 22 (Prensa Latina) A broad plan of activities will be held in Cuba in connection with World Breastfeeding Week, from August 1 to 7, including an extension of the program to 2026 to promote this act of love.
At a press conference in this capital, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided details of the event, and the “Gotas de amor” movement, a year promoting breastfeeding, was presented.
Sunny Guidotti, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Cuba, emphasized that they are working hand in hand with the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) to promote this practice, which provides protection and development for both babies and mothers, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and, most importantly, fosters a connection between the two.
It’s proven that growing up on breast milk, not just in the first hour of life, but exclusively for the first six months, ensures that children can have their lives saved and also develop optimally, the UNICEF representative stated.
She also mentioned the importance of family support for breastfeeding women, emphasizing that this exercise supports the newborn’s cognitive development and immune system, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases, among many other benefits for the mother as well.
Dr. Mercedes Esquivel, of the National Pediatric Group and the Commission on Breastfeeding and Human Milk Banks, emphasized that Cuba promotes a sustainable support system to enhance this successful breastfeeding practice, from conception through the baby’s first two years of life.
He specified that this effort is supported by scientific and epidemiological data and seeks to involve the entire society.
Dr. Esquivel offered statistics that support the relevance and importance of breastfeeding, stating that a non-breastfed baby is six times more likely to die compared to a breastfed baby.
Together, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and UNICEF promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and complementary breastfeeding for children up to two years of age.
The plan of activities in honor of this beautiful example of mother-child love and mutual protection includes a virtual scientific event, activities to encourage breast milk donors and mothers who have achieved exclusive breastfeeding, awareness-raising workshops, and regional courses on community interventions.
A concert by singer-songwriter Enid Rosales is scheduled for August 7 at 4:00 p.m. local time at the National Museum of Fine Arts, where a video clip about breastfeeding, created by May Reguera, will be presented.
On August 9, Havana’s Quinta de los Molinos will host a celebration under the 2025 theme “Let’s Prioritize Breastfeeding: Building Sustainable Support Systems.”
The press conference welcomed the fact that today is World Brain Day, and on the occasion, breastfeeding was praised as the first act of protecting a newborn’s brain, one that will have repercussions throughout their lives.
The media was also encouraged to do more work promoting and highlighting this practice, which is so full of health, beauty, protection, and love.
Caracas, July 22 (Prensa Latina) A new air route between Valencia, capital of the state of Carabobo in northern Venezuela, and Havana, Cuba, was inaugurated to boost international tourism, the state government reported today.
The organization stated on its official Telegram account that this project took place in the context of “international integration policies and strengthening the tourism sector.”
He specified that the new route will be operated by the Venezuelan airline Rutaca, with a frequency of two weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays.
The message indicated that 13 passengers arrived on the inaugural flight at Arturo Michelena International Airport in Valencia, from the José Martí International Airport in the Cuban capital.
While 42 travelers departed from the capital of Carabobo bound for the Caribbean island, generating a flow of 57 travelers on this first leg, the statement detailed.
Madrid, July 22 (Prensa Latina) A brigade of 33 people representing Medicuba Spain traveled to Cuba to perform volunteer work for 10 days, a source close to the group said today.
By Fausto Triana
The delegation will remain in Santiago de Cuba until August 6 and will be responsible for repairing and painting educational centers in the eastern province, thus contributing to the maintenance of infrastructure affected by the limitations imposed by the United States’ economic, commercial, and financial blockade against the island, Cubainformación reported.
He also indicated that the group is transporting 66 packages of medical, school, and sports equipment, in addition to their personal belongings, donated by charitable organizations and individuals.
“These supplies seek to alleviate the shortages generated by the unjust U.S. blockade, which for more than six decades has hindered Cuba’s access to essential resources and has been reinforced with 250 new sanctions in the last seven years,” the source said.
Before their departure, members of the brigade emphasized the humanitarian and solidarity nature of the project and reiterated their commitment to Cuban sovereignty and resistance. “Our work is a grain of sand in the face of the hostility of the blockade, but above all, it is a message that Cuba is not alone,” they noted.
