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Cuba's foreign ministry tells embassies that importing or using Starlink terminals is not authorised
The note, dated 9 November and addressed to diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited on the island, extends to the diplomatic sphere a ban already applied to Cuban citizens and companies, according to 14ymedio, which saw the document.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an official communication to the «Honourable Diplomatic Missions and Representations of International Organisations» recalling the content of Verbal Note number 2372, circulated on 6 January 2025 on the import and use of telecommunications equipment, and stressing that «the import and use on Cuban national territory of satellite Internet communications terminals of the Starlink brand is not authorised». The wording does not distinguish between equipment for private use and equipment used for a diplomatic mission's communications, according to 14ymedio.
The foreign ministry justifies its position by invoking national sovereignty over the radio spectrum, which it calls an inalienable resource protected by the Constitution, while also stating its willingness to facilitate the performance of diplomatic functions in accordance with international law. The communication does not say whether terminals have been detected operating at diplomatic premises or whether any proceedings are open, sets no specific penalties, and does not explain what connectivity alternatives foreign missions may use when national networks fail.
According to 14ymedio's source, several embassies and numerous small and medium-sized private businesses are equipped with Starlink. Internet access in Cuba remains constrained by blackouts, breakdowns and the decay of the infrastructure of Etecsa, the state telecommunications monopoly, and for a diplomatic mission having stable, back-up communications is especially important.
The official campaign against this equipment is not new. In April 2025, Customs reported seizing 20 Starlink kits and 85 routers at Havana airport, and Resolution 1/2026 of the Ministry of Communications, published on 21 May, kept the restrictions on satellite terminals in place. On 24 October, several sellers of satellite dishes in Santa Clara were sentenced to between four and five years in prison, with 37 units seized in searches of sellers' and buyers' homes; the buyers are said to have been fined 100,000 pesos.
Starlink, developed by SpaceX, is not officially sold in Cuba, but its terminals work technically on the island through certain roaming arrangements contracted abroad. In March, Elon Musk publicly acknowledged that possibility: «It works in Cuba, you just can't sell it there». Weeks later, 14ymedio documented the clandestine installation of dishes in homes in Havana, Matanzas and Santa Clara, where some users rely on batteries and solar panels to stay connected during power cuts.
Sources: 14ymedio
Data updated: 2026-11-10T04:15:00.000Z