Cuban journalist and writer Luis Felipe Rojas warned that Cuba is simultaneously facing two crises with no visible resolution: more than 1,180 political prisoners —the majority due to the protests of July 11, 2021— and six consecutive months with barely any fuel, a fact that Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly acknowledged in an interview with RT.
Rojas made these comments in an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, while analyzing statements that Díaz-Canel provided to RT en español on Monday, in which the leader acknowledged the magnitude of the island's energy collapse.
"Díaz-Canel said in the interview on RT that we saw yesterday that they have gone six months without a fuel ship arriving. No matter how much photovoltaic energy you have and how many isotankers come to Cuba, in the end, that doesn't solve the problem. This could get worse, even worse," said Tania Costa.
The energy collapse has structural roots. Cuba needs between 90,000 and 110,000 barrels of oil daily, but only produces 40,000. Venezuela has interrupted supply since November 2025, Russia since October of that same year, and Mexico since January 2026. In April 2026, only one fuel ship arrived of the eight needed monthly, and the electricity generation deficit exceeds 2,000 megawatts, with blackouts in some areas lasting over 30 consecutive hours.
Regarding political prisoners, Rojas was equally emphatic: "Right now, there are more than 1,180 political prisoners still, and the majority are from that cause," he said, directly referencing the events of July 11th.
He also recalled that during those historic protests, “an entire people yelled at Díaz-Canel that unpleasant thing that is said among Cubans when they want to insult each other in the most extreme way,” a level of repudiation unprecedented for a Cuban leader. He acknowledged that July 11 “worked” in that it showed the world the frustration of a new generation, but concluded that it “did not work” because the regime responded with massive repression.
According to Prisoners Defenders, in June 2026, the total number of political prisoners in Cuba reached 1,306, a historic record. The regime explicitly excluded the protesters from 11J from the mass pardon in April 2026, when it released 2,010 people as a supposed "humanitarian gesture."
Rojas also referred to the State Department report published on Monday, titled "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism," which documents decades of Cuban espionage in the United States. He described it as lacking in new information. “This report doesn’t present anything new. It mentions names and institutions that we have often talked about, both from within Cuba and from exile.”
He considered, however, that the document could have practical use. "They may be paving the way for more sanctions, to further strangle the regime," although he dismissed the idea that it is a precursor to military intervention.
Regarding the prospects for change, Rojas expressed skepticism about any short-term solutions. "I don't believe that the United States will return two years after the end of the Trump administration. I don't think there will be any intervention with November right here before Congress."
His conclusion was straightforward. "I believe that another July 11th has to come, something definitive, because otherwise... I am skeptical about any kind of intervention."
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