Madrid/After several days circulating in blogs and more or less alternative official media, the official press has decided to publish an article in which the political analyst of Razones de Cuba Arthur González suggests that the epidemiological situation is not “a coincidence” and is part of the “biological war” against Cuba, behind which, he maintains, the United States is.
The article, titled Suspicious virus coincidence in Cuba forces us to remember the pastwas originally published in The Cuban Heralda pro-government blog dedicated to “disseminating the truth that the media monopoly censors” – with that adjective it does not refer to the island’s state media, but to the press supposedly linked to the United States – but it has reproduced this Tuesday the provincial newspaper of Cienfuegos September 5which means giving official support to the conspiracy theory.
The author points out that chikungunya had not been in Cuba since the 2015 epidemic, but this July, ten years later, the first outbreak was detected in Matanzas, “where Varadero beach is located, one of the most important sun and beach tourist destinations in the country, with the highest number of visitors as it is considered among the best beaches in the world according to international institutions, with excellent hotels managed by prestigious international chains.”
The author points out that chikungunya had not been in Cuba since the 2015 epidemic, but this July, ten years later, the first outbreak was detected in Matanzas
After a description of Varadero in July 2025 that bears little resemblance to reality – that month, tode the island received to just 190,747 tourists–, the post identifies the point at which the first cases began to be reported: the municipality of Pericoalmost 70 kilometers from the spa, also located on a key. From there, he claims, it spread to Máximo Gómez, more than 50 kilometers away.
The Ministry of Health identified, in fact, several cases of chikungunya this July, a focus that was limited almost exclusively to Perico, although health brigades were sent from different parts of the province. In the middle of the month, this outbreak was considered controlled, although surveillance continued due to the increase in Aedes Aegyptis typical of the season.
It was not until September when the situation worsened again in the province of Matanzas, in this case affecting with more virulence to the main city and Cárdenas. After weeks of warnings on social networks and the independent press, the official has ended up admitting the seriousness of a situation in which the lack of water, blackouts, garbage and the shortage of medicines and sanitary means have been an ideal breeding ground for the spread of dengue, oropouche and chikungunya.
González maintains that this is not a coincidence and he is right. The aforementioned causes have been recognized by the official press itself over the last few days. But for him it is, at a minimum, about discrediting tourism, since this “can affect the greater inflow of foreign currency to the country at times of the economic crisis that Cuba is going through.”
For the author, the beginning of the crisis coincides with the launch of Cuban tourism in several international fairs and the vacation campaign in different destinations – summer or winter, depending on the latitude. “The outbreak advanced rapidly in the municipalities of Matanzas and Cárdenas, where most of the tourism workers in Varadero reside, who can get sick and transmit it to tourists,” he maintains.
In the midst of the worsening of the situation, the United States launched a warning to travelers two weeks ago, in which he gave health recommendations to those who eventually have the Island as a destination. These measurements are normal. Almost all countries give instructions to their nationals about the risks or measures to take into account when they go abroad, whether to warn them of natural phenomena, the possibility of terrorist attacks, shortages of products or precautions against theft. But for González they are a suspicious act.
For González, the situation is reminiscent of “what happened in May 1981, when the dengue hemorrhagic fever epidemic was detected in a similar way” in Boyeros, where the José Martí International Airport is located.
“It is striking that on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the United States Government issued a health alert for its citizens in Cuba due to the chikungunya outbreak, when Americans are prohibited from traveling to the Island as tourists and President Donald Trump eliminated the licenses that allowed visiting Cuba, which raises an alarm for all possible visitors from other parts of the world,” he points out. And he insists, later: “Why are you alert when the number of American visitors to the Island is minimal?”
For González, the situation is reminiscent of “what happened in May 1981, when the dengue hemorrhagic fever epidemic was detected in a similar way” in Boyeros, where the José Martí International Airport is located. “We can never forget what Eduardo Arocena, terrorist murderer of Cuban origin and member of anti-Cuban organizations at the service of the CIA, declared in the New York Court in 1984: ‘I belong to a group whose mission was to obtain certain pathogenic germs and introduce them into Cuba.’
The text goes on to mention the articles dedicated to biological warfare against Cuba written by journalist Warren Hinckle and former FBI agent William Turner and maintains that the Island “has been the victim of dozens of actions” of this type by the United States to “affect its economy,” including African swine fever, which caused the slaughter of swine in the country.
“Chikungunya was detected for the first time in 1952 in Tanzania and Cuba never suffered from this virus until very few years ago. Therefore, these epidemics cannot be so coincidental,” he says.
