Cuban economy

Elderly residents in Old Havana gather for meals at the Church of the Holy Spirit, a crucial support amid Cuba's economic crisis. Carmen Casado, an 84-year-old retiree, attends regularly, relying on these meals as her pension is equivalent to just $4. The elderly, often former government employees, struggle with small pensions and reduced subsidies.

Two U.S. lawmakers are calling for a permanent solution to Cuba's crises after witnessing the effects of a U.S. energy blockade during an official visit to the island.

The U.S. and Cuba have been at odds — economically and sometimes militarily — since the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. But the current crisis is among the most difficult Cuba has faced since then.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling for "new people in charge" of Cuba as the socialist island experiences its third nationwide blackout in four months. U.S. President Donald Trump has called Cuba a "very weakened nation."

For the fifth time in a year, all of Cuba plunged into darkness on Sept. 10, 2025. Even critical emergency services like hospitals suffered during the nearly 24-hour power outage.

WLRN's Americas Editor Tim Padgett speaks with Cuba's Foreign Relations Vice-Minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, about why the communist island is allowing more economic freedom — but not political liberalization.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel insists allies like China are rescuing his communist island from its economic disaster. Cuba economy watchers disagree.

Cuba this week is reporting its worst sugarcane harvest in more than a century. It could exacerbate the island's economic crisis — and the flight of migrants to the U.S.

Thousands of Cubans across the island country took to the streets to protest against the current dictatorship as people grapple with a shortage of basic necessities amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Thousands of demonstrators went out to the streets in several cities in Cuba to protest against ongoing food shortages and high prices of foodstuffs, amid the coronavirus crisis.

As Cuba unifies its two currencies, ordinary Cubans brace for skyrocketing prices — with still no structural reform of the island's failed economic system.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country's first prime minister since 1976 — a nomination…