Watch this episode from our series 'The War on Cuba' for the truth on Cuba's medical brigades and hear directly from the doctors on their experiences. (3/3)

In reality, medics volunteer for these missions and are paid salaries several times higher than when at home in Cuba.

They're often the only source of primary healthcare for vulnerable and impoverished communities around the world. (2/3)

One of Campos’ fellow detainees said at least five guards participated in choking Campos after he refused to enter his detention unit because he wasn’t provided with his medication.

The Trump administration has also frozen all Cuban immigration cases, scrapped family reunification programs and tightened visa approval processes that already took years.

But Trump deported over 1,600 Cubans to Cuba in 2025 — more than any other year — and more were deported by land to Mexico, the New York Times reports.

Serious critiques of Cuba are invaluable. But The Economist shows no interest in rigorous inquiry. It cherry picks data, uses dodgy sources and airbrushes the main driver of Cuba’s economic and humanitarian crisis. This is not journalism. It’s dogma.

The Economist (quoting a Cuban taxi driver): “‘This system is so screwed up it’s unfixable... All you can do is get rid of it and start all over again.’”

For The Economist, calls to replace socialism are par for the course. The magazine consistently opposes progressive politics.

The Economist: “Only 3% of Cubans can get the medicine they need at pharmacies.”

Family doctors and pharmacists interviewed by Belly of the Beast say that they are receiving between 20% and 25% of the medications their communities need.

The Economist: “Electricity goes on the blink in most places for at least four hours a day.”

Most Cubans endure daily power outages of well over 12 hours. The island has been suffering a fuel crisis since the U.S. government began sanctioning oil tankers to the country in 2019.

The announcement comes a week after National Defense Day in Cuba, during which civilians were trained how to operate rifles and machine guns.

A press release said, if enacted, the state of war would be based on the concept of “War of All the People,” a Cuban defense strategy adopted in 1959 that relies on the participation of the armed forces, civil institutions and civilians in resisting foreign aggression.

But this year, following U.S. threats to Cuba in the wake of Nicolás Maduro’s abduction, the Defense Council updated its plans because there is now a perceived real threat of U.S. aggression.

China’s Ambassador to Cuba Hua Xin said at the ceremony: "No blockade can extinguish the light of hope... China is willing to continue strengthening cooperation with Cuba, overcoming difficulties together, and injecting greater momentum into building a China-Cuba community..."