Young Cubans Willing to Fight and “Bleed” for Money

“Do you have the guts to bleed?” That’s the slogan used to promote a clandestine fighting league in Cuba that offers up to 20 euros per match. Amid the country’s deepening economic and social crisis, dozens of young people between 19 and 31 years old agree to fight without an audience, hoping to earn in one night what many don’t make in a month of state employment.

Gasoline in Dollars: The Gap Widens Between Cubans

As the country dollarizes its economy, citizens improvise, adapt, and survive, aware that each liter purchased or each empty tank left behind is a reminder of the distance between official rhetoric and real life.

Cuba: Stores & Gas Stations in US Dollars Continue to Grow

In early May 2025, El Toque published a list of the dollar stores we were able to find in Cuba. At that time, we counted 85 establishments that sold their products exclusively in foreign currency. Now, five months later, we count 209 — an increase of 146%.

Is it True There Are No Political Prisoners in Cuba?

From Raul Castro to Fernandez de Cossío: the same FALSE discourse persists to deny political prisoners and accuse Amnesty International.

Cuba X-ray: Power Doesn’t Pay Debts but Demands Obedience

In the midst of blackouts lasting up to 25 hours and more than 3 million Cubans facing limited access to drinking water, Miguel Díaz-Canel once again promised “victories.” Yet while his talk centers on creative resistance, families turn to homemade inventions to collect rainwater and survive in increasingly precarious conditions.

Cuba’s Linemen Work Without Gloves, Boots, or Safety Gear

In Cuba, there is hardly any electricity. That is a fact. But the workers in this field also lack the means to perform their duties. A lineman told El Toque: “The conditions in which I work are awful and dangerous, lacking all safety and protective equipment.”

Job Offer for Skilled Cubans on the Island of Granada

They offer contracts in US dollars and work visas for the island of Grenada to Cuban masons and carpenters.

Neglected Cuban Towns Without Electricity or Potable Water

Life in Cuba’s towns is fading away. A set of photographs from San Antonio de Cabezas, in the municipality of Union de Reyes, Matanzas, bears witness to the decline. The streets show barely any movement: few people and no vehicles appear in public. A park without people, buildings without paint. The monotony of nothingness.

Cuban Teen Gets Eight Years for Carrying “El Quimico”

On September 4, 2025, the sentencing was announced in Moron (Ciego de Ávila) of an 18-year-old who must now spend eight years in prison for being in possession of several doses of the drug with intent to traffic, according to a report in Invasor, the official newspaper in that central province.

Cuban Honey Sweetens Europe While It Sours for Producers

Any jar of organic honey sold in shops in Germany, Spain, or France —and in other European Union countries— may contain the product of Carlos’s hard work and the dozens of hives he maintains in a rural area of eastern Cuba. Yet this beekeeper is one of many dissatisfied with the State’s debts to producers and with the new payment terms imposed after the XIII Congress of the National Association of Small Farmers.

Cuba Announces Integration into Chinese Payment System

Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, informed government media on September 7, 2025, that the island’s banks will integrate into the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). The system is designed by China as an alternative to SWIFT for conducting international payments in Chinese yuan, and that the use of this currency will increase in transactions between the two nations.

Cuban Power Grid Collapses Again: Fifth Nationwide Blackout in Less Than a Year

Cuba’s power grid collapsed again on Sept. 10, marking the fifth nationwide blackout in less than a year as the island’s energy crisis worsens.

Leased Taxis Provide a Lifeboat for Cuba’s State-Run Company

This story explores how Cuba’s state-run taxi company, faced with a crumbling fleet and economic crisis, increasingly relies on private drivers. Through voices like Alex’s, it shows the opportunities and burdens of a hybrid system where drivers shoulder costs and risks, while the State still comes out on top.

Marisabidillas – A Reading Club to Combat Cuba’s Chaos

In Havana, Elizabeth Quintana Lezcano reclaims the word marisabidilla—once a slur for opinionated women—to name her book club. Through short, powerful works by contemporary women writers, the club has become a space of community, resilience, and self-discovery amid Cuba’s crises.

Rosangela: Ten Years Repairing Washing Machines in Havana

When someone in Havana needs to repair a washing machine, they imagine the mechanic will be a tall man, with rough hands and a smell of grease. But the person who shows up at the door is a young woman with a firm step, a calm gaze, and a soft voice who asks, “Where’s the patient?”