CUBA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- The country Cuba is a one-party communist island just south of Florida, under US sanctions and living with long blackouts and shortages.
- What happened Interior Ministry forces detained at least 60 people in a raid on illegal gold mining at El Yarey, in eastern Cuba.
- Where El Yarey lies in Yateras, a rural municipality of Guantánamo, Cuba’s easternmost province.
- Who was held Most detainees are young people; no names, ages or hometowns have been released.
- Possible charges Some could face charges of soil contamination and disobedience, while others may get lighter preventive measures.
- Still open There is no official confirmation of the raid, of the exact number of arrests or of anything seized.
- Power Index Cuba ranks 14th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 22.5 points (October 2026 edition).
Cuban forces detained at least 60 people in a raid on illegal gold mining in Guantánamo province, eastern Cuba, a pro-government Facebook page reported. Most detainees appear to be young, a sign of the crisis that pushes Cubans into risky work at home and onto boats to Florida.
Two independent Cuban news sites, 14ymedio and CiberCuba, reported the arrests at El Yarey, in Yateras municipality, on Tuesday, 13 October. There was no official confirmation of the raid or of the exact number of arrests, 14ymedio said.
What Happened at El Yarey
Forces of the Interior Ministry, or MININT, carried out the operation on the banks of a local river at El Yarey. The ministry controls Cuba’s police and State Security, the political police that watches over dissent.
The figure of at least 60 detainees comes from Guantánamo y su Verdad, a Facebook page that 14ymedio calls officialist, or pro-government. 14ymedio is an independent digital newspaper founded in Havana in 2014.
Photos posted with the report show tents, rough wooden shelters and men in rubber boots in a wooded area, 14ymedio said. CiberCuba, a Cuban news site run from abroad, said most people in the images appear to be young.
The page said some detainees could face criminal charges of soil contamination and disobedience. Others may receive preventive or so-called prophylactic measures, depending on their circumstances and any past involvement.
CiberCuba stressed that detention does not imply guilt and that the information comes from a source linked to the official account. The page itself called its report preliminary and still developing.
Why Cubans Dig for Gold
Small-scale gold digging has spread in eastern Cuba, and the authorities answer it with raids and prison terms. Even the state press concedes the motive behind the illegal gold mining.
Periódico 26, the official newspaper of Las Tunas province, called it an informal economic activity to survive, the independent outlet Diario de Cuba noted. CiberCuba describes the digging in Las Tunas as a subsistence activity driven by the island’s economic crisis.
Diggers bind the gold with mercury and burn the mixture, while mercury spilled during washing ends up in lagoons and rivers. A toxicologist in Las Tunas, Alejandro Mestre Barroso, told Periódico 26 that his team has treated more than 25 patients since 2024.
He said doctors now see people aged 25 to 30 with acute kidney failure, as 14ymedio and CiberCuba reported. Patients are getting younger, some only 18 to 25, he told Periódico 26.
Daily hardship adds to the pull of cash income. The US State Department warns of power cuts of up to 12 hours a day in Havana and longer outages elsewhere in Cuba.
A World Heritage Park at Risk
Diggers from Yateras have already worked inside Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. The park spans Guantánamo and Holguín provinces and is prized for plants and animals found nowhere else.
UNESCO’s listing names the park’s mineral deposits as a potential threat. It says pressure to exploit them may be the most critical long-term threat the park faces.
In September 2025, Yateras’s municipal court sentenced five residents for soil contamination over illegal gold mining by the Toa River, inside the park. Their prison terms ranged from one year and six months to two years and seven months, CiberCuba and 14ymedio reported.
Both outlets cited Venceremos, the official newspaper of Guantánamo province, as the source of the verdict. That case gives a sense of the penalties the people held at El Yarey could face if prosecutors charge them.
What It Means for You
For Americans, the raid reflects the same hardship that still sends some Cubans to sea toward Florida. The US Coast Guard repatriated six Cubans on Tuesday, 13 October, after two operations in the Florida Straits, CiberCuba and Diario de Cuba reported.
The State Department rates Cuba at Level 2, exercise increased caution, because of crime and unreliable electrical power. Its advisory adds that US Embassy staff must follow a special notification process with Cuba’s government to travel outside Havana.
US sanctions on Cuba are run by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which published expanded sanctions rules on Tuesday, 29 September. Illegal gold mining is a wider regional problem, as raids in Peru show, but in Cuba it is mostly artisanal digging of small deposits.
What Is Not Known
Officials have not said when the raid took place, how much gold or equipment was seized, or who the detainees are. It is also unclear how many will be charged and how many will face only preventive measures.
Days earlier, the same page reported a violent attack at El Yarey on a man it linked to the gold trade. It is not known whether that case is connected to the raid on illegal gold mining.
More: Cuba news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Cuba raid illegal gold mining in Guantánamo?
Cuba’s mining law lets only the state extract minerals, and people caught in illegal gold mining can be charged with polluting the soil. In 2025, the municipal court in Yateras sentenced five diggers to prison terms for soil contamination.
Is the raid linked to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay?
No, it was a Cuban police operation at El Yarey, in the rural municipality of Yateras. The US naval base is a separate enclave on Guantánamo Bay, on the province’s south coast.
Has the Cuban government confirmed the arrests?
No official statement had been issued when 14ymedio and CiberCuba reported the raid on Tuesday, 13 October. The figure of at least 60 detainees comes from a pro-government Facebook page, Guantánamo y su Verdad.
Why do Cubans risk illegal gold mining?
Cuba is in a deep economic crisis with long blackouts and shortages, and gold offers a source of cash. Even Periódico 26, a state newspaper in Las Tunas, has described the digging as informal work to survive.
Sources: 14ymedio, raid at El Yarey, Yateras, 13 October 2026; CiberCuba, at least 60 detained in Guantánamo, 13 October 2026; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, accessed 14 October 2026; US Department of State, Cuba Travel Advisory, accessed 14 October 2026; US Treasury, OFAC Cuba Sanctions, accessed 14 October 2026; Diario de Cuba, illegal mining in Las Tunas, 12 October 2026; 14ymedio, illegal gold mining in Las Tunas, 12 October 2026; CiberCuba, mercury and mining in Las Tunas, 12 October 2026; 14ymedio, five sentenced in Yateras, 25 September 2025; CiberCuba, five sentenced in Guantánamo, 24 September 2025; CiberCuba, Coast Guard returns six to Cuba, 13 October 2026; Diario de Cuba, Coast Guard returns six rafters, 13 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief