Caracas, June 1 (Prensa Latina) The governments of Venezuela and Cuba reviewed their health cooperation agenda in Caracas, official sources reported today.
“We had a pleasant meeting with the Cuban Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, with whom we reviewed our health cooperation agenda within the framework of the comprehensive Cuba-Venezuela agreement,” Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez revealed on her Telegram account.
The Vice President of the Economy Sector stated that, on behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, “we reaffirm the commitment” of the Bolivarian Republic to health as a fundamental right of our people.
He also reaffirmed his willingness to continue expanding strategic alliances with sister countries.
Rodríguez was accompanied by Gabriela Jiménez, Vice President of the Science, Technology, Ecosocialism, and Health Sector of Venezuela, and Magaly Gutiérrez, Minister of Health.
HAVANA, Cuba, May 30 (ACN) Cuba will once again compete with the elite of continental baseball during the 1st Copa America Baseball, Juan Reinaldo Perez Pardo, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, confirmed today to the Cuban News Agency.
The event, scheduled to be held from November 13 to 22 in Panama and Mexico, will gather the twelve best teams of the continent according to the ranking of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC), in a competition that aspires to become a reference in the international calendar.
Cuba, ranked sixth in the area, will be part of Group B in Mexico along with the United States, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Canada and the host country, where they will battle for one of the three spots offered by the tournament to the Super Round.
In key A, to be played in Panama, the locals will face Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil and Curacao.
The tournament will grant tickets to the four best teams to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026 and is also being considered to distribute places to the Pan American Games in Lima 2027, which increases the strategic importance of each clash.
For the Cuban Baseball Federation, this Cup represents a key opportunity in its goal of inserting the country’s players -both residents and contracted abroad- in tournaments of the highest competitive level. The aspiration is not only to reach the podium, but to reaffirm Cuba as a historic power in the sport in the Americas.
The WBSC Americas is hopeful that this first edition will mark a before and after in the organization of professional tournaments in a continent that, like few others, breathes and lives baseball to the fullest.
State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge (second right), greets scholarship recipient for accounting, Capeech Watkins (second left); scholarship recipient for veterinary medicine, Saunshay Smiley (left); and scholarship recipient for nursing, Cassandra Davy (third left). Looking on is Cuba’s Ambassador to Jamaica, Fermín Quiñones Sánchez (right). The interaction took place during the awards ceremony for the Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme, held on Wednesday, May 28 at the Embassy of Cuba in Kingston.
May 31, 2025 — The Gleaner
Fourteen Jamaican students have been awarded full scholarships to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Cuba under the longstanding Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme.
The students, who will begin their studies in August, will be enrolled in programmes, including medicine, nursing, dental services, veterinary medicine, accounting, and ophthalmology.
All costs associated with tuition, accommodation, and living expenses will be fully covered.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, held at the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in St Andrew, on May 28, Cuba’s ambassador to Jamaica, Fermín Quiñones Sánchez, praised the awardees as “talented and dedicated young Jamaicans with excellent academic qualifications and a vocation of service to their communities and their country”.
He said the scholarships reflect the strength of the relationship between the two countries, noting that “these scholarships, offered under the Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme for the 2025–2026 academic year, are a symbol of the humanist and solidarity-based character of the Cuban Revolution and of Cuba’s cooperative relations with sister nations of the Caribbean, including Jamaica”.
Ambassador Quiñones Sánchez highlighted the impact of the initiative over the years. “The dreams of those receiving their scholarships today are the same dreams that guided approximately 700 Jamaican students graduating in Cuba through 2024 … Today, more than 300 young Jamaicans are studying in different Cuban universities,” he added.
The ambassador noted that the programme continues to contribute to human development across the region.
“Our duty of solidarity has transcended the training of professionals committed to the efforts of the nations to achieve development. Our humanistic work supports the need to train their young people,” he added.
CONTINUED COLLABORATION
For his part, State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Alando Terrelonge commended the government and people of Cuba for their commitment to education and regional partnership.
“The journey that you will embark on is not just a journey of self. It is a journey of community. It is a journey of solidarity. It is a journey of the friendship of two countries that have lasted more than five decades,” he told the recipients.
State Minister Terrelonge encouraged the students to return home and contribute to Jamaica’s growth. “You will have your own roles to play in these refurbished and renovated hospitals and health centres when you come back to Jamaica,” he said.
“This journey is also about building a stronger Jamaica, a Jamaica with better healthcare facilities and doctors and nurses who understand patient care as well,” Terrelonge said.
One of the awardees who will pursue a degree in medicine, Ajani McFarlane, shared his excitement about the opportunity.
“I am very elated. I am very, very happy. I am also excited, a little bit nervous about going and leaving my family, but I am sure I will overcome that. The overarching feeling is that I am excited,” he said.
McFarlane noted that his programme will span six to seven years – one year of language and foundational studies, followed by six years of medical training.
He encouraged others to take advantage of the scholarship.
“Put your best foot forward, go for it if you have the feeling, do research, and you know, the Cuba-Jamaica Bilingual Scholarship is there for everyone who wants such an opportunity. I say, go for it, do your best, and apply,” he emphasised.
The scholarships stand as a testament to the continued collaboration between Jamaica and Cuba, strengthening educational, cultural, and professional ties between the two nations.
Washington, May 31 (Prensa Latina) U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters said today that President Donald Trump is demonstrating the utmost racism by attempting to expel 500,000 legal immigrants from the country.
Waters, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, condemned the administration’s policy following the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to end humanitarian parole for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
“I am appalled that the Supreme Court is allowing Trump to proceed with these racist deportation plans targeting legal, law-abiding immigrants who work, raise families, and contribute positively to their communities,” he said in a press release posted on his website.
The affected individuals followed a legal process to apply for and receive parole, which has allowed them to enter the United States and live and work here legally for two years, argued Waters, a representative from California since 1991.
He also considered it “absolutely cruel that Donald Trump would interfere in that process,” revoke their parole with virtually no warning, uproot them from their families, sponsors, and communities, and deport them.
He recalled that, during his election campaign, and even after his election, Trump “held rallies with racist and derogatory comments and outright lies about immigrants, especially Haitians, in an attempt to sow fear among the American people.”
He warned that their baseless attacks “caused irreparable damage to communities across the country and further tarnished America’s image around the world.”
The congresswoman also criticized Trump for “the false narrative about the genocide of white South Africans,” noting that the president “lied to the American people and the world by perpetuating a narrative” and then “used these lies to justify the arrival of white South Africans to the United States as refugees.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the US intelligence community, and the international community have confirmed that Trump lied about South Africa, he concluded.
Havana, May 30 (Prensa Latina) “Humor cannot be blocked” is the title of the exhibition held at the International Press Center in Havana, against the United States’ economic, financial, and commercial blockade policy toward Cuba.
Participating in the exhibition are artists Arístides Hernández, Ismael Lema, Adán Iglesias, Enrique Lacoste, José Luis López, Osvaldo Gutiérrez, Alfredo Martirena, and José Alberto Rodríguez.
At the inauguration, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío emphasized that this is an artistic and humorous expression, a manifestation of the Cuban people’s rejection of U.S. aggression for more than six decades.
“It’s not something new in our history. It’s been a tradition in our country, during the revolutionary process, to express in multiple ways, including through graphic humor, the population’s rejection of such a persistent and ruthless war against the Cuban people.
He stressed that the United States’ aggression against Cuba “is ruthless; it is not a military aggression, but it is destructive, as it has been for more than 60 years against the entire Cuban people.
He added that if there were any doubt, it would suffice to look at the recent statements, from last week, by the Secretary of State (Marcos Rubio), which leave no room for doubt, that in the problems between Cuba and the United States, there is one country that is the aggressor, which is the United States, and there is another country that is the victim of US aggression.
“Our people have been able, by their nature, their culture, their idiosyncrasy, to use humor to express even the strongest repudiations, the most resolute rejections, against imperialism, and these cartoons are an expression of that.
Cossío stated that the Cuban people, “stoic as they are, optimistic as they are, have been able to show humor even in the most dramatic moments, and in the moments when the most heroic acts are carried out, so it should not be surprising that even in the face of the economic war against Cuba, they express themselves in this way, in graphic expressions by our artists.”
Havana, May 30 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Mike Hammer today to reprimand him for his interventionist and unfriendly behavior, which he has displayed since arriving in the Caribbean country.
In a statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry emphasized that Hammer’s conduct is unbecoming of a diplomat and disrespectful to the Cuban people.
The director of Bilateral Affairs at the U.S. Directorate General, Alejandro García, delivered a verbal note of protest to the diplomat expressing his firm rejection of his behavior, according to the statement.
It was also stated that these actions violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and contradict the Agreement on the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations signed between the two governments.
García emphasized, as outlined in the verbal note delivered, that by inciting Cuban citizens to commit serious criminal acts, attack the constitutional order, or encourage them to act against the authorities, or to demonstrate in support of the interests and objectives of a hostile foreign power, the diplomat is engaging in provocative and irresponsible conduct.
He added that the immunity he (Hammer) enjoys as a representative of his country cannot be used as cover for acts contrary to the sovereignty and internal order of the country to which he is accredited.
The verbal note delivered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the Chargé d’Affaires’ public and insulting manipulation of the National Hero José Martí and emphasized that the diplomat demonstrates his ignorance of the fact that independence and anti-imperialism are pillars of the nation, based on the Apostle’s conviction and warning against the United States’ desire for domination.
In this regard, the director of Bilateral Issues took advantage of the meeting to give the diplomat copies of excerpts from José Martí’s unfinished letter to his Mexican friend Manuel Mercado.
The Trump administration killed Chevron’s license extension for its operations in Venezuela in order to secure the votes of three Cuban-American politicians from South Florida on Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending bill last week, Marc Caputo reported for Axios.
Trump special envoy Richard Grenell had announced that Chevron’s license would be given a 60-day extension following a deal with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro that secured the release of Joe St. Clair, a U.S. veteran imprisoned in Venezuela for six months.
But Cuban-American politicians, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were not happy about the deal.
Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, all Republicans from South Florida, threatened to vote against the bill if the deal went through. Rubio eventually announced the license would expire, and in turn, the three Cuban-American members of Congress voted for the “big, beautiful bill.”
The bill passed the House by a single vote.
In February, the three legislators took a similar stance on the same issue, when they pressured Trump into cancelling the 2022 Biden deal that allowed Chevron to operate in Venezuela.
Their threats at the time led House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to dub them the “Crazy Cubans” during a Miami fundraiser they attended, to which Giménez and Díaz-Balart “chuckled approvingly.”
The three Cuban-American members of Congress are allies of Rubio, who has long advocated for harsher sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In a recent interview with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, Grenell said that the Trump administration’s Latin America policy is to keep the Chinese away through “engagement” in the region, as opposed to sanctions that “penalize American companies.”
Rubio’s hard-line policy on Cuba and Venezuela is the antithesis of engagement.
So far, the White House has favored Rubio’s approach.
Calla Walsh, a 20-year-old activist and U.S. citizen, said in a statement that she was detained for hours, interrogated, harassed and had her phone seized at Miami International Airport upon returning from Cuba. Other Cuba solidarity activists have reported similar experiences at Florida airports this year following visits to the island.
May 27, 2025 by JOSHUA GOODMAN The Associated Press
MIAMI — The recent apprehensions of several former Havana officials for deportation have been extremely popular among the politically powerful Cuban exile community in south Florida, though others worry it is yet another instance of a heavy-handed and possibly illegal immigration crackdown.
Immigration officials said Tomás Hernández worked in high-level posts for Cuba’s foreign intelligence agency for decades before migrating to the United States to pursue the American dream.
The 71-year-old was detained by federal agents outside his Miami-area home in March and accused of hiding his ties to Cuba’s Communist Party when he obtained permanent residency.
“It’s a political gift to Cuban-American hardliners,” said Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American expert at Florida International University. But many Cubans fear they could be next on Trump’s list, he said, and “some in the community see it as a betrayal.”
While President Donald Trump’s mass deportation pledge has frightened migrants from many nations, it has come as something of a shock to the 2.4 million Cuban-Americans, who strongly backed the Republican twice and have long enjoyed a place of privilege in the U.S. immigration system.
Amid record arrivals of migrants from the Caribbean island, Trump in March revoked temporary humanitarian parole for about 300,000 Cubans. Many have been detained ahead of possible deportation.
Thanks to Cold War laws aimed at removing Fidel Castro, Cuban migrants for many decades enjoyed almost automatic refugee status in the U.S. and could obtain green cards a year after entry, unlike migrants from virtually every other country.
Support for Trump among likely Cuban-American voters in Miami was at an all-time high on the eve of last year’s election, according to a poll by Florida International University, which has been tracking the Cuban-American community since 1991. Trump rarely mentions Cubans in his attacks on migrant targets including Venezuelans and Haitians. That has given many Cubans hope that they will remain immune to immigration enforcement actions.
Democrats, meanwhile, have been trying to turn the immigration crackdown to their advantage. In April, grassroots groups erected two giant billboards on Miami highways calling Rubio and Republican Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez “traitors” to the Cuban-American community for failing to protect tens of thousands of migrants from Trump’s immigration policies.
The arrest of former Cuban state agents is one way to bolster Trump allies, Gamarra said.
In March, Giménez sent Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a letter with the names of 108 people he said were former Cuban state agents or Communist Party officials living unlawfully in the U.S.
“It is imperative that the Department of Homeland Security enforce existing U.S. laws to identify, deport and repatriate these individuals who pose a direct threat to our national security, the integrity of our immigration system and the safety of Cuban exiles and American citizens alike,” Giménez wrote, adding that the U.S. remains a “beacon of hope and freedom for those escaping tyranny.”
Giménez’s target list was compiled by Luis Dominguez, who left Cuba in 1971 and has made it his mission to topple Cuba’s government.
“Some people dream with making money, or with growing old and going on vacation,” said Dominguez, who lives in Connecticut. “I dream with seeing my country free.”
With support from the right-wing Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, he started combing social media and relying on a well-oiled network of anti-socialist sources, inside Cuba and outside the country, to dox officials reportedly behind human rights abuses and violations of democratic norms. To date, his website, Represores Cubanos — Cuban Repressors — has identified more than 1,200 such state agents, about 150 in the United States.
But removing Cubans who are no longer welcome in the U.S. could prove challenging.
The Trump administration sends a single 60-passenger plane to Cuba every month as part of its deportation drive, unchanged from the past year’s average, according to Witness at the Border, which tracks removal flights. At that rate, it would take almost 700 years to send back the estimated 500,000 Cubans who arrived during the Biden administration and now lack protected status.
Information for this article was contributed by Gisela Salomon of The Associated Press.
UN General Assembly votes on the draft resolution on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.| UN Photo/Evan Schneider
ORLANDO—The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) once again joined the international movement demanding an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba by passing another resolution demanding an end to the decades-long embargo at its 54th International Convention last week in Orlando.
The resolution calls on President Trump to remove Cuba from the so-called “U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT)” list and urges Congress to lift all sanctions against the socialist island nation—condemning the six-decade embargo as a “humanitarian and economic catastrophe.”
For the past 64 years, since the Cuban Revolution, U.S. imperialism imposed an economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba. It prevents most engagement and trade while punishing other countries that engage with them. The blockade continues to inflict daily hardships on the Cuban people, creates shortages of food and medicine, restricts financial and trade opportunities, and prevents Cuba from obtaining vital medical equipment—despite U.S. claims of “supporting” the Cuban people.
The devastating toll of U.S. sanctions includes $164 billion in economic losses for Cuba since the embargo’s inception, with $5 billion in annual damages, according to United Nations estimates. The resolution also condemned the 243 new sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, including restrictions on Cuban Americans sending remittances to families—a move which exacerbates the already fraught mass migration crisis from the region.
Additionally, the resolution rebuked the politically motivated terrorism designation, reinstated by Trump in 2025 just days into his second term—reversing President Biden’s last-minute removal of Cuba from the list. This arbitrary designation subjects Cuba to further sanctions and limits its ability to carry out critical financial transactions for food, medicine, and oil imports needed to power its electrical grid.
The CBTU resolution aligns with 32 consecutive U.N. General Assembly votes that condemned the U.S. embargo—most recently in October 2024, when 187 nations denounced the policy, which left only the U.S. and Israel in opposition. It also echoes a 2021 letter from 117 members of Congress, which argued that “a policy of engagement with Cuba serves U.S. interests and those of the Cuban people.”
For the CBTU, a constituency group of the AFL-CIO, the resolution reflects a longstanding, albeit uneven, working-class tradition of international solidarity. In an interview with People’s World, Lew Moye, a CBTU delegate from St. Louis and United Auto Workers (UAW) member, emphasized Cuba’s historic support for global liberation struggles, including in South Africa and the Black community in the U.S.
“Cuba has always been a staunch supporter of equality and justice,” Moye said. “They stood with South Africa against apartheid. They stood with us against racist discrimination and oppression. We can’t ignore that while our government punishes them for political differences.”
Moye stressed that U.S. workers must stand with Cuba against imperialist-driven policies: “Billionaires and corporations are the ones creating poverty for workers everywhere. We need international solidarity—not just with Cuba, but all workers internationally.”
As a result of the convention, CBTU delegates again pledged to mobilize their chapters and unions to pressure the Trump administration and Congress to lift the embargo and oppose bills like the FORCE Act, which seeks to permanently codify Cuba’s “terrorism” status.
The resolution also urges AFL-CIO affiliates and central labor councils to publicly denounce the embargo and fight Cuba’s SSOT designation—pushing the broader labor movement toward international peace and justice for working people.
