Belly of the Beast

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz a “liar” during a heated confrontation at the UN today over Waltz’s sweeping corruption allegations against Cuba’s leadership. The clash came ahead of tomorrow’s vote condemning the U.S. blockade on Cuba.

For 33 consecutive years, the U.S. government has failed to convince the UN to vote against an annual resolution condemning the economic blockade on Cuba. Now, the Trump administration is doubling down, with Ambassador Mike Waltz leading the charge. www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/the-war-on-c...

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the Trump administration of threatening countries with sanctions to change their votes on the upcoming UN resolution condemning the U.S. blockade. The UN has overwhelmingly voted against the blockade for 33 consecutive years.

Days before the UN votes on a resolution to end the U.S embargo on Cuba, the Trump administration will hold an event targeting the island’s government. Cuba’s UN Ambassador Ernesto Soberón denounced the event and accused Rubio of pressuring countries to change their votes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele this week and urged him to align with U.S. priorities at the UN. It’s the latest in Rubio’s effort to lobby member states to vote against Cuba. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/rubio-p...

The Trump administration sanctioned another Cuban bank today, alleging ties to Iran and terrorism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered no evidence of wrongdoing beyond “operating in Cuba’s financial services sector.” Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/us-targ...

In Havana’s Rampa neighborhood, the El Rampeño SAF center provides daily meals and support to vulnerable residents thanks to support from local private businesses. But as U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade disrupt food deliveries, keeping its kitchen running has become increasingly difficult.

🚨#BREAKING: The only U.S. study abroad program with a physical presence in Cuba has shut down amid escalating U.S. military threats, sanctions and an oil blockade. Since 2015, the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad (CASA) has brought hundreds of U.S. students to the island.

In its newly-released 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, the State Department renewed a threat to cut U.S. aid to governments that pay Cuba for its medical missions U.S. pressure has already pushed countries to end medical cooperation w/ Cuba Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/rubio-r...

Trump’s oil blockade is escalating from economic coercion to physically stopping fuel before it reaches Cuba. This week, U.S. officials said they seized Cuba-bound fuel shipments at U.S. ports and boarded vessels in international waters. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/us-coas...

U.S. musician and activist Ben Grossup went to Cuba looking for help after his mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. That led him to NeuralCIM, a Cuban treatment unavailable in the United States that is featured in our documentary Teresita’s Dream. “The blockade is harming my own family,” he said.

OFAC issued new Cuba sanctions that make it harder for U.S. citizens to see the impact of U.S. economic warfare by restricting their travel. The measures also target Cuban entrepreneurs by preventing them from using bank accounts in the U.S. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/us-tigh...

Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) made headlines recently when she broke with Trump over the mass deportations she has long supported. Belly of the Beast’s María Karla Acosta Toledo breaks down how Salazar helped create the political mess she now finds herself in.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) made headlines recently when she broke with Trump over the mass deportations she has long supported. Belly of the Beast’s María Karla Acosta Toledo breaks down how Salazar helped create the political mess she now finds herself in.

A year ago, ICE deported Heidy Sánchez to Cuba, separating her from her husband and two-year-old daughter in Florida. Today, they are still apart. Watch as Heidy tells her story to four members of Congress.

At the UN General Assembly today, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla challenged Trump’s claim that Cuba is a “failed state.” “If that were the case, why did they have to impose a fuel blockade?” he asked. The U.S. diplomat present walked out during his speech.

While Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly this week that Cuba is “failing like never before,” world leaders from across the Global South stood with the island to denounce the U.S. economic war on Cuba. Listen to what world leaders had to say about Cuba at the UN.

Every weekend, Cuban documentarian Gloria Rolando Casamayor sets up a portable projector and turns her street in Havana’s Colón neighborhood into a movie theater. The screenings honor Cuba’s mobile cinema tradition — and give neighbors somewhere to gather when the power goes out.

Ten men set out from Florida to Cuba with guns, planning to spark an uprising A firefight with Cuba’s Border Guard left five dead and five detained Read the first public account of the plot from its participants, w/ @dropsitenews.com @miaminewtimes.com: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/inside-armed...

At the UN General Assembly this morning, Trump called Cuba a “failed state” that was also somehow capable of providing a safe haven to foreign adversaries that “threaten America” and cultivating “subversive groups” in the U.S. Cuba’s UN delegation walked out while Trump spoke.

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed again Friday, leaving millions without power for 32 hours. Cuba’s energy crisis has been caused in large part by Trump’s oil blockade and sanctions that block imports of parts and equipment needed to maintain power plants.

Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío told PBS there was “no progress” in talks with the U.S. due to the Trump administration’s unrelenting hostility and policy of “collective punishment.” Watch some of his comments.

“Lo Llevamos Rizo,” Cuba’s only natural Afro hair pageant, brought stylists and clients together to celebrate Black roots and beauty. Despite challenges from the U.S. economic war on Cuba, attendees continued embracing identity, resilience and pride in who they are.

Cuba’s government says U.S. economic warfare caused $8.083 billion in damage between March 2025 and February 2026. Behind the billion-dollar figures are ordinary Cubans whose lives depend on access to fuel, food and medicine. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/cuba-sa...

Greg Levy, a socialist candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, traveled to Cuba and saw firsthand the impact of U.S. sanctions and the blockade. After his trip to the island, Levy understood one thing that U.S. people need to know about Cuba. Watch the full interview.

Liva Café in Havana promotes inclusive employment for people with intellectual disabilities and autism. Founded by Mariolis Escobar, it helps its protagonists socialize and work with dignity. Watch the full story👇

Who Is the Oil Blockade Really Punishing? Watch the Full Story👇

The Trump administration Thursday sanctioned one of Raúl Castro’s grandsons and five Cuban entities, expanding Washington’s assault on Cuba’s oil and mining industries. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/rubio-s...

A federal jury in Miami rejected a Helms-Burton lawsuit from two Cuban-American families who claimed Expedia profited from expropriated property in Cuba. This is Expedia’s second victory over a Cuba-related property claim in as many years. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/expedia...

The Bahamian government announced it will not renew contracts for 31 Cuban teachers this school year — the latest in a string of Cuban overseas South-South collaboration programs to fall victim to U.S. pressure. Read more below: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/bahamas...

Despite a U.S. oil blockade and sanctions, more than 1.4 million students returned to classrooms in Cuba this Tuesday. youtu.be/XtWu88KVLnI

Nearly 1.4 million Cuban students return to school today. But what should be a moment of celebration is instead unfolding under the shadow of U.S. economic warfare. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/us-econ...

What does this moment in Cuba mean to the people living through it? Photographer Moník Molinet asked people in Havana to pause, reflect and put their own words to the moment they’re living through. Their portraits tell the story. Watch our video: youtu.be/KYoCw8YFxeE

Cuba received 127 deportees from the U.S. this week, bringing the 2026 total to 882 people returned to the island by U.S. authorities. But some migrants aren't being sent home despite Cuba's cooperation with U.S. deportation efforts. Read more below: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/news/trump-i...

Historian Teishan Latner says the U.S. State Department’s Cuba report revives decades-old allegations against U.S. solidarity activists — without evidence. Latner takes a critical look at the report in this interview with Belly of the Beast journalist Yohan Rodríguez. youtu.be/u8hqJI4kOWc

U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez says universal healthcare doesn’t work because Cuba’s healthcare system “sucks.”. What he neglects to mention is that policies he has championed are the reason why Cuba’s healthcare has been collapsing. youtu.be/hsUgYktJS_M

Florida state representative Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night for the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2025. Nixon supports restoring Obama-era engagement with Cuba and has said she is open to lifting the U.S. embargo on the island.

The Trump administration sanctioned leaders of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and nine entities today involved in mining and construction. Rubio said ICAP is used to "corrupt" Americans — echoing July's McCarthyite report linking Cuba to U.S. progressives.

According to Lara Trump, Cuba is trying to “erase the United States from the earth.” Seriously? Journalist Yohan Rodríguez breaks down the farcical claims by Trump and Marco Rubio, which are used to justify current U.S. policy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVsT...

Havana has a garbage problem. El Rampeño has a solar-powered solution. Meet the Cuban initiative using renewable energy to collect garbage with tricycles in the face of fuel shortages caused by the U.S. oil blockade. youtu.be/U4E-cd_XKs0

The Trump administration is touting a $100M aid package for Cuba. But it's a drop in the bucket compared to damage caused by U.S. economic warfare that has plunged the island into a humanitarian crisis. Read our full piece now: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/rubio-promis...

The Dominican Republic has ordered nine Cuban diplomats and their families to leave without stating a reason. The Cuban government called the decision a “submission to pressure from the U.S. government in its efforts to isolate Cuba.”

The Trump administration is leaking its Cuba playbook to the press — and major U.S. outlets are delivering the message. By one Trump official’s own admission, some of the “leaks” are intended for Havana. Read more: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/marco-rubio-...

UN human rights experts warn that Cuba is becoming a "silent Gaza." In a statement released this morning, the experts say that the U.S. economic war on Cuba has created “a full-blown crisis, threatening the rights to health, to life, to food and to development."

Six years ago, Liz Oliva Fernández nearly walked away from journalism. Then she joined a new independent media outlet called Belly of the Beast. The rest is history. Support the independent journalism of Belly of the Beast. www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/help-sustain...

A boat leaves Barcelona and crosses the Atlantic heading for a pediatric hospital in Cuba. Watch the full story to see why.

After visiting Cuba, Gustavo Petro had a message for Washington. Watch what he said: