Cuba under Blockade
Feb. 16, 2026
United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk urged the lifting of U.S. sanctions that impede oil deliveries to Cuba, on Friday, criticizing the widespread disruption they cause the country as a rights violation. (New York Times)
Fuel shortages in Cuba have undermined access to water, sanitation and hygiene and compromised the operation of hospitals, according to the U.N. human rights office. New York Times
Diplomats are concerned as to how quickly the effects of the fuel blockade could impact an already dire situation. “Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest,” writes Ruaridh Nicoll in the Guardian.
All three airlines flying tourists into Cuba from Canada suspended their services last week due to a lack of aviation fuel on the island. Two Russian airlines followed. All five carriers have begun the process of repatriating travelers.
Several cultural events, including the Havana book fair and the annual cigar fair, have been postponed in Cuba this month in light of fuel shortages, reports the Associated Press.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled Saturday that economic reforms could offer the Cuban government a path to easing U.S. pressure. “Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Rubio declined to spell out specific conditions but suggested the regime must allow Cubans greater economic freedom — not just political reforms — if it wants relief from Washington’s tightening grip,” reports the Miami Herald.
Venezuela
A shipment from the United States of medicine and medical supplies arrived in Venezuela on Friday, reflecting a new spirit of cooperation between the two countries, reports the Associated Press.
Venezuela on Saturday freed 17 political prisoners, the human rights committee of opposition movement Vente Venezuela said on social media. Relatives outside the Zona 7 Prison in Caracas joined a hunger strike initiated by prisoners after only 17 of more than 50 detainees were released. (Reuters)
Last week a small bloc of opposition lawmakers requested a modification to language in a proposed amnesty bill that would require seekers to “surrender themselves” to the law, potentially exposing them to admitting crimes they did not commit, reports the Financial Times.
But, “Venezuela needs more than a shot of amnesia to turn the page,” writes Boris Muñoz, discussing the Rodríguez government’s proposal for general amnesty. Real reconciliation will require dismantling Venezuela’s repressive state apparatus, writes Muñoz. (El País)
That “requires much more than partially emptying the prisons. It involves reviewing and repealing the legal framework that allowed for the criminalization of dissent and consolidating an ecosystem of surveillance and fear…This also means intervening in the bodies that carried it out—from the SEBIN to the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence—and dismantling the armed groups that continue to operate under the shadow of political power. As long as judges, prosecutors, and security agencies that were part of that system remain untouched, the promise of reconciliation will be weak, and the amnesty risks being merely a tactical pause for those who still hold power.” (El País)
The U.S. military used Anthropic’s artificial-intelligence tool Claude in its January operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, highlighting how AI models are gaining traction in the Pentagon, reports the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela. (Associated Press)
The potential Venezuelan opening has spurred “a surge of interest in real estate as expatriates, some of whom have built savings abroad, weigh returning — or at least investing — for the first time in years,” reports the New York Times.
Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernárdo Arévalo declared an end to the state of emergency declared a month ago, in response to prison mutinies and targeted violence against police officers. (Prensa Libre)
Elections to Guatemala’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, are ongoing. Astrid Lemus and Luis Fernando Bermejo were chosen by the bar association on Thursday — one of five associations that must designate magistrates and substitutes. (Prensa Libre)
On Thursday as the voting was underway, prosecutors said they raided two voting locations in what lawyers and the country’s president said was an attempt to interfere in the elections, reports the Associated Press. Arévalo accused the prosecutor’s office of carrying out a “new attempt to undermine institutions and disrupt the normal functioning of the rule of law” in a video address to Guatemalans posted on social media.
Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said yesterday he would accept a proposal made by the nation’s largest remaining rebel group — the National Liberation Army, or ELN — to allow an independent commission to investigate the group’s alleged links to the drug trade. (Associated Press)
A short by high-impact kidnapping of a senator on the campaign trail last week highlights the security risks in Colombia’s elections this year. “In a country still scarred by last summer’s assassination of senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay, the fear is that violence will escalate. And with it, that fear will dominate public discourse and that debate will narrow. And in that arena, the governing left, which is divided, starts at a disadvantage,” according to El País.
El Salvador
Singer-songwriter and superstar Shakira’s five-concert “residency” in San Salvador builds on President Nayib Bukele ’s yearslong effort to remake El Salvador’s international image, reports the Associated Press.
Migration
“The world’s largest pencil maker has accused the Costa Rican government of misusing an old factory that the German manufacturer donated for humanitarian purposes – by detaining asylum seekers there who were deported from the US by the Trump administration last year,” reports The Guardian. The former factory turned migrant shelter turned immigration detention center is known as Catem, located near Paso Canoas along Costa Rica’s southern border. (Via Americas Migration Brief)
Mexico
The abduction of ten workers in a Canadian owned mine in Mexico, under still unclear circumstances, has raised fears locally and more widely generated questions about the security improvements touted by President Claudia Sheinbaum, reports the Associated Press. (See last Wednesday’s post.)
More than 130,000 people are considered missing or disappeared in Mexico as drug cartels expand their range: a new report by the public policy analysis firm México Evalúa found that, in the last 10 years, disappearances have increased more than 200%. (Guardian)
Recruitment through social media and $14,000 payments: How a network sends trafficked weapons from Arizona to Mexico - El País
Argentina
A year after Argentine President Javier Milei’s cryptoscandal, the various lines of investigation have failed to clarify who is responsible for the scam. According to a report by the Argentine Congress, a total of 114,410 digital wallets suffered losses from the scheme (498 lost more than $100,000 and 3,144 lost between $10,000 and $100,000), while 36 digital wallets each earned more than $1 million. (El País)
Argentina’s prison system is swelling beyond capacity, recording more deaths and deepening structural failings despite rising public spending, according to a stark new report from the PROCUVIN institutional violence prosecutor’s Office - Buenos Aires Times
Peru
Peru’s Congress has scheduled a debate for tomorrow on a motion to remove President Jose Jeri, as the government grapples with a scandal over reports of the president’s undisclosed meetings with a Chinese businessman, reports Reuters.
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome featured a celebration of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by a top samba school, Academicos de Niteroi, centered on Lula’s trajectory from a childhood of poverty in Brazil’s northeast region to his current standing as one of Latin America’s most prominent leaders. Critics say the tribute — attended by the president and his wife — could pose a legal risk as he seeks a fourth term in presidential elections later this year, reports the Associated Press.
“Many Brazilians appear to be questioning traditional family models, a shift captured by mainstream culture in popular podcasts, books and even a reality television program called “Third Half” that showcases couples looking for a polyamorous partner,” reports the New York Times.
Rio de Janeiro police officers costumed themselves as thieves from the series “Money Heist” and as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” horror movie franchise to blend in with crowds celebrating Carnival and catch criminals stealing cellphones, reports the Associated Press.
Critter Carnaval
Dozens of dogs dressed as alligators, fairies and superheroes gathered at a Rio de Janeiro Carnival street party on Saturday - Associated Press