Cuba
China Daily: China helps Cuba fight blackouts, strengthen power grid Cuba joined China’s Belt and Road in 2018, and China has since invested in several strategic infrastructure projects on the island, including major projects in transportation, port infrastructure and telecoms. China is modernizing Cuba’s entire electrical grid, with 55 solar parks to be built in 2025, and another 37 by 2028, for a total of 2,000 MW – a massive undertaking that would represent nearly two-thirds of present-day demand. Havana’s Port of Mariel has morphed into a dual-use node in the emerging China–Russia–Latin America axis. China has embedded itself into the Cuban economy’s critical systems, from energy to pharmaceuticals, via confidential financing agreements. Every solar farm reduces Havana’s import bill for diesel, each metric ton of steel from China shores up scaffolding for grid upgrades, and every cargo flight tightens bilateral trade corridors beyond U.S. oversight.
TeleSur: Trump Tightens US Embargo on Cuba and Bans American Tourism President Trump dramatically tightened the longstanding economic blockade against Cuba and prohibits all US citizens from traveling to Cuba. This prohibition is enforced through strict audits and mandatory record-keeping of travel-related transactions for at least five years, underscoring the administration’s intent to surveil and control any interaction with Cuba. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described this as an intensification of imperialist aggression and the economic blockade that punishes the entire Cuban people, identifying it as the main obstacle to the island’s sovereign development.
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Venezuela
Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Dismantles Far-Right Terrorist Plot: Government Exposes International Destabilization Network Venezuela foiled a far-right terrorist plot targeting health centers, embassies, and political leaders, exposing connections between María Corina Machado, former Colombia presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, and narco-paramilitary gangs specializing in arms trafficking. Authorities have arrested 38 individuals, including 17 foreigners, many with expertise in explosives and mercenary activities. The group planned to target hospitals, embassies, and public service facilities, to create chaos and justify foreign intervention. The operation included attempts to fabricate evidence of foreign missiles in Venezuela, intended to provoke aggression from the United States.
Minister Cabello recalled that Venezuelan authorities have been carrying out this security operation and dismantling the plot since December 2024. He emphasized that García Miragaya, a Venezuelan scientist and former vice president of control at PDVSA in 2003, established direct contact with the FBI, to pass information to the US government about strategic locations where a false-flag missile attack against the US could be staged.
Resumen Latinoamericano: Venezuela Reveals Plot to Attack Synagogue in Caracas and Blame Iran Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello, accused opposition leader María Corina Machado and former security chief Iván Simonovis of planning a false flag attack against a well-known synagogue frequented by many members of the Jewish community in Caracas. The plot—coordinated with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Iranian dictator based in the US—involved a meeting with opposition politician Edmundo González and was intended to create a media spectacle that would “tarnish the reputation of Iran and Venezuela” by blaming both the Iranian Embassy in Venezuela and the Bolivarian Government for this planned terrorist act.
TeleSur: Venezuela Achieves Lowest Homicide Rate in Latin America in 2025 Its homicide rate was 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, the lowest in Latin America. Minister Diosdado Cabello credits this to the Great Peace Quadrant Mission and strong civic-military-police collaboration, reflecting the people’s commitment to peace and social stability. The reduction in homicides represents a dramatic turnaround from previous years. In 2019, Venezuela faced a homicide rate of 56 per 100,000 inhabitants,. However, thanks to sustained efforts by the government, this rate has steadily declined: falling to 13 in 2020, 6.7 in 2022, 5.3 in 2023, and closing 2024 at 4.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Orinoco Tribune: Iran’s News Anchor Sahar Emami Awarded Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Journalism Prize President Maduro granted a special distinction to Iranian journalist Sahar Emami, who survived an Israeli bombing of an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization (IRIB) building. Sahar Emami achieved national hero status in Iran during the Zionist bombing by remaining on a live broadcast. When an Israeli missile exploded very close to the recording set, she momentarily stepped away for safety. Shortly afterward, she returned to her position at the desk with remarkable composure despite the risk still present.
ALBA-TCP: ALBA demands the Office of the United Nations high Commissioner for Human Rihths address the institutionalized kidnapping and forced retention of venezuelan children and adolescents in the United States The ALBA countries denounce the inaction of the UN Human Rights Office and the inadmissible silence of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in the face of the institutionalized kidnapping and forced retention of children and adolescents from Venezuela in the US, in flagrant violation of International Law. While Venezuelan families suffer the heartbreaking pain of forced separation, the anguish of uncertainty and the deprivation of the fundamental right to family reunification, the Office of the High Commissioner remains silent in the face of these cruel, inhumane and degrading practices.
Michelle Ellner: What July 5 taught me that July 4 never did Growing up in Venezuela and now living in the United States, I’ve always felt caught between two independence days: July 4 and July 5. Two celebrations. Two flags. One country celebrates independence while denying it to others. The other fights for sovereignty while being punished for it. Venezuela lost half of its population during the wars of independence….Under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela was hit with the full-spectrum of economic warfare: hundreds of unilateral coercive measures, the freezing of billions in international assets, restrictions on food and medicine imports, and open support for regime change. A war without bombs. This is daily life for Venezuelans. And yet, we’re told these policies are meant to help us…[Here in the US]we’re told to celebrate freedom while immigrants are deported, unhoused people are criminalized, and Palestinian solidarity is silenced.
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Nicaragua
Daniel Ortega, June 23, 2025: Unity is essential to defend peace and progress “How furious they were when the North Korean President announced that they would not stand idly by in the face of aggression… he has been clear in saying: if they attack us, we will not hesitate to respond with the atomic weapons we have…and that makes them untouchable.
“What’s the United Nations for? What’s the United Nations for? Nothing! Because no matter how much they talk at the United Nations about reaching agreements, they’re not fulfilled. Ah, if the agreement is to attack a country, that agreement is fulfilled. “It’s pointless for the vast majority of the world’s people to vote there in favor of lifting the blockade against Cuba, because simply nothing happens there, and they actually intensify the blockade. “It becomes increasingly clear that the United Nations has a number of organizations that serve nothing more than as instruments of empires, to squeeze the throats, the necks, of those peoples fighting for sovereignty, for well-being, for peace.
“Hope lies in these powers like the People’s Republic of China, which has a humane, supportive, and generous attitude, and that logically makes it easier for it to be welcomed in all countries, and that angers the US government.”
“And here in Nicaragua, we continue to stand united, following the example of Carlos, who gave his life for the Nicaraguan people, for the peasants… fighting for unity. This is a fundamental point for all of us Nicaraguans: unity! Because the enemy uses its skills to seek ways to sow distrust, sow division, speak ill of one another, thereby provoking fractures…The more united we are, the stronger we will be, the more we will guarantee peace for the Nicaraguan people [which means] ensuring we continue to advance all the social programs to defeat poverty and that the conditions of Nicaraguan families improve with each passing day.”
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Events
July 4: International Rally: Sanctions Kill – US out of Venezuela & Latin America Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental; Carlos Ron, Vice-Minister, Foreign Affairs, Venezuela; Alicia Castro, former Argentinian Ambassador to Venezuela & UK; Fravia Marquez Silva, International Summit for Anti-imperialist Africans & Afro-Descendants, Venezuela; Dáire Hughes MP, Sinn Fein, Ireland; Felix Plasencia, Venezuelan Ambassador; Kate Hudson, CND; Francisco Dominguez, VSC/;Gawain Little, GFTU; Fiona Sim, Black Liberation Alliance; Sarah Woolley BFAWU
July 9. 1:30 pm ET NSCAG webinar: Nicaragua, free education for all, a right not a commoditywith Becca Renk, Director of the Jubilee House Community-Centre for Development in Central America health clinic and Coordinator of the Casa Benjamin Linder solidarity project; Ruth Bailey, Executive Committee member of Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG), participant in the NEU-sponsored teacher exchange with Nicaragua; representative of Nicaraguan teachers’ union ANDEN; and Julie Lamin, co-chair, NSCAG Executive Committee
Monday, July 14, at 2:30 pm ET. Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition monthly meeting on zoom.Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com for zoom access
July 27, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar, “Showcasing Nicaragua’s Solidarity in Action.”Features delegations that studied the health system and the revolution (which will include information on the anniversary of the July 19 celebrations). Two groups of visitors will share their experiences of Nicaragua’s popular revolution, especially as highlighted in the family and community healthcare system and the history of the Sandinista revolution. Becca Renk of Casa Benjamin Linder will lead the discussion by individuals who are seeing Nicaragua with fresh eyes, exploring the country’s culture, history, and current events. Register: bit.ly/NicaJuly27
August 24, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar. Mark your calendars during this hurricaneseason to learn about SINAPRED, Nicaragua’s National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters, and how it contrasts with the US system.
September 21, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar on Nicaragua’s and Venezuela’s remarkable affordable housing programs, with Sofia M. Clark and a speaker from Venezuela’s Gran Misión Vivienda (TBA).
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Delegations to Cuba, Nicaragua:
Cuba
Witness for Peace delegations to Cuba
July 7-24: Visit Cuba with Helen Yaffe
November 15-23: Cooperatives & 10 Best Practices in Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua
Casa Ben LinderEmail casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:
November 2025: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
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This is also available at ChicagoALBASolidarity.org. If you have events to publicize, send them to venezuelaweekly@afgj.org or stansfieldsmith100@gmail.com
Chicago ALBA Solidarity 