Soltura Cuba Travel

05/20/2026

Check out this fascinating documentary short on Cuban ingenuity and invention.

2.4K likes, 342 comments. "“Invent and resolve”: How Cuba's survived six decades of US blockade | Al Jazeera World Documentary"

04/07/2026

It has been quite awhile since I’ve posted here.

After policy changes and a pandemic made it impossible for Soltura Cuba Travel to continue operating, I continued to stay in touch with many of the incredible people we met along the way. Over the past few years, Cuba has gone through an extraordinary period of hardship. Since 2021, roughly 1 in 13 people has left the country, often at great personal risk, seeking stability elsewhere in the world.

Recent U.S. measures restricting Cuba’s access to imported fuel have intensified an already difficult situation. Limited access to transportation, daily blackouts, and shortages continue to affect daily life across the island. Hospitals have at times gone hours without electricity, and there are reports of medical operations being done by cellphone flashlight.

For the friends who remain in Cuba, I wanted to create a way for them to earn income that my tours can no longer provide.

I’ve created a YouTube channel called Cuba Views - a quiet, unfiltered window into everyday Cuban life, filmed by people on the ground. No tours, commentary, or curated highlights. These are long-form immersive scenes of real streets, plazas, and neighborhoods as they exist today, and may not exist tomorrow.

Like my former business, this isn’t for tourists - it’s for the curious.

If you’d like to see the real Cuba, both the aesthetically pleasing and the achingly beautiful, you can visit the channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/

Watching, subscribing, or sharing helps support the people filming these scenes and allows this project to continue.

Thank you for staying connected over the years.
💓

Cuba Views is a non-political ambient documentary archive of everyday life in Havana and across Cuba. Long-form, uninterrupted street scenes capturing daily rhythms, architecture, chance encounters, and the texture of public life. Filmed on location with minimal intervention - walking tours, street....

03/06/2026

On the map, everything to the left of that line was out of power.

The power came back on in Havana for about 4 hours and then with no warning was shut off. I don't know where the rest of the country is at. As oil reserves dwindle, there will likely be more rotating blackouts with smaller windows of electricity and longer windows of darkness.

03/04/2026

I haven't written in awhile. My last trip to Cuba was a couple of years ago, and was just for family. I have moved on to other important work, but things are quickly changing in Cuba and I feel the obligation to share what's happening on the ground from the people I'm still in contact with.

As I write this, the U.S. appears to be mobilizing military assets on a major scale toward Germany and then on to the Middle East. There are also major things happening in Cuba, albeit at a smaller and less violent scale - for now.

A few hours ago an explosion at a power station in Cienfuegos knocked central and western Cuba off the grid. Cell antennas have backup batteries, but once those run down the island will likely go dark again and information will get scarce, so I want to share this now, while I still have a connection to my friends in Cuba.

The U.S. has choked off Cuba’s oil supply after taking out the government of Venezuela, historically Cuba’s most reliable source. U.S. warships are blocking almost all access to oil shipments that other governments are trying to send as aid. With no fuel for garbage service, mountains of trash have been piling up on street corners and people have started burning it, filling neighborhoods with toxic smoke. THis comes after months of very limited electricity, with blackouts that often last days.

Cubans are openly disparaging the government in ways I have never seen before. A meme making the rounds shows Díaz-Canel photoshopped as Ayatollah Khomeini with the caption “¿y este Ayatola pa’ cuándo?” - basically, “when are you taking out this one?” A few years ago no one would have dared speak out publicly about the government. Now people are openly talking about openness to asasination.

A kid is in prison awaiting trial for making a Facebook Live video asking Trump to “do a Maduro” on the Cuban president, but that isn't stopping people from small acts of violence and rebellion.

People are making lists of the police who have historically been the most oppressive. There have been instances of people attacking police and stealing their weapons. Police and first responders are quitting in large numbers. They’re making the equivalent of about $15 a month, and it isn't worth it, especially for a system that most no longer believe in.

There is no simple resolution to this. Cuba never really stopped fighting the revolution of the 1960s. Even though sentiment has soured in the cities, generations across the country were raised on the idea that they are the protectors of that struggle and must resist outside intervention at all costs. That sentiment runs the deepest in the distant provinces, where geurilla warfare continued for years after the triumph of the revolution. Unless the current system survives at least symbolically, the island will see years of instability or insurgency.

Cubans don’t want violence. They want this resolved quickly.

For those who have traveled with me to Cuba over the years, all of our friends there are currently safe. Many of them have already left the island in the past few years as conditions steadily worsened.

The Cuban system was clearly broken, but the island was also liberalizing economically when Raul was in power. People were beginning to prosper (admittedly, mostly people working in tourism, but there were also a lot of civic projects happening). The current U.S. strategy is to squeeze the system until people revolt. It imposes suffering on an entire population and runs directly against international law. It may force political change, but the cost is being paid by ordinary Cubans.

I just want there to be peace, and for the Cuban people to be able to live with the basic human liberties that allow them to pursue happiness. Let them have food on their table and electricity in their homes. Let them have peace.

01/15/2025

Bravo to Biden /s for showing the bravery and conviction (in his last few days as president) to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism List.

This designation was never about truth, but a cynical political move by the previous administration that needlessly deepened the suffering of Cuban civilians.

03/30/2023

Expressing deep gratitude to the folks at Earth Breeze for the generous donation of a case of their eco-friendly laundry sheets, which we have been able to deliver to various people and projects in Cuba on two recent trips.

This gesture has been deeply appreciated by people in Cuba, who currently experience great difficulty in acquiring the most basic of needs. We hope that things improve in Cuba soon. In the meantime, we look forward to continuing to facilitate this kindness.

Do check out Earth Breeze if you haven't yet. Their products greatly reduce waste, as their packaging is lightweight and biodegradable.

Would you be interested in a trip to Cuba to help bring gifts and donations to community projects and Cuban friends? We've been curating meaningful cultural tours to Cuba since 2008. All of our trips include some degree of immersion into Cuba's art, history, music, and nature. Get a group of friends together and drop us a line!

11/04/2022

Same-sex marriage is now legal in Cuba, and is codified in the constitution! Included with this law come protections for women, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable members of society.

Can the US now give Cuba a break and drop the sanctions? Let's give Cuba a chance to celebrate.

Mariela Castro

10/23/2021

A perspective on the radicalization of Florida Cubans through Spanish-language radio.

In the early 2000's we saw anti-embargo sentiment grow among Florida Cubans. As the old guard passed on, younger generations wanted to reconnect with the land of their grandparents and wanted to facilitate peace. Cuba's harsh post-revolution policies had softened dramatically, and Miami-Havana flights started swelling with families en route to reunite with loved ones.

With Marco Rubio's voice in the previous US president's ear, the tide changed dramatically. A megaphone was handed to those with an anti-diplomacy sentiment, eager to stoke the fire with false claims. There is speculation that the Republican party funneled a lot of money into Cuban exile radio and other media outlets in order to pump misleading rhetoric around communism and socialism and to create a cadre of paranoid Trump fanatics.

It's an interesting read.

The misinformation crisis among South Florida’s Hispanic communities is warping some residents’ understanding of reality — and straining family ties as a result.

09/24/2021

A personal thank you + the most generous pre-paid internet bonus is ON - it expires Saturday https://mailchi.mp/f7b550800de3/support-our-friends-in-cuba-9701441

09/10/2021

Cuba to begin reopening for tourism + another Fonoma bonus for donating to a Cuban's prepaid smartphone, providing ease of internet access - https://mailchi.mp/130d06fcc465/support-our-friends-in-cuba-8863177