{"id":349238,"date":"2026-07-22T23:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349238\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T23:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:36:07","slug":"infrastructure-experts-hold-forum-on-potential-rebuilding-plan-for-cuba-opposition-figure-paya-honors-slain-father-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349238\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure experts hold forum on potential rebuilding plan for Cuba; opposition figure Pay\u00e1 honors slain father – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI (WSVN) – As Cuba faces yet another blackout<\/a> in recent weeks, many members of the Cuban exile community came together to discuss their vision of a free nation.<\/p>\n

At the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, several infrastructure experts held a forum to share their visions of a plan to rebuild the island nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you witnessed today was a panel of technical experts on what Cuba will need to become a modern nation,\u201d said Florida International University Cuban Research Institute Interim Director Sebastian Arcos.<\/p>\n

In 1959, Cuba was considered one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America before Fidel Castro came to power.<\/p>\n

The island nation has descended into dire straits after decades of being controlled by the dictatorship, with rolling blackouts happening more frequently and many of the island\u2019s impoverished residents lacking basic commodities like food and medicine.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the United States sent a cargo plane<\/a> loaded with food and hygiene kits intended for residents on the island. <\/p>\n

Experts at Wednesday\u2019s forum said any rebuilding plan for the island would be a massive undertaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basic infrastructure is water, energy, transportation and telecommunications, so we\u2019re wanting to get a sense of what does it take to really put that into practice,\u201d said Ideas for Cuba Project Chairman Marcell Felipe.<\/p>\n

They estimate the envisioned plan could take as long as 15 years and cost several hundreds of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

The first priority for any plan would be to restore and establish a reliable power grid for the country, as well as ensuring access to clean water, officials said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not a wastewater system to speak of in most places,\u201d said Jose Enrique Cueto, a former director for Miami-Dade Water and Sewer.<\/p>\n

As for the forum, attendees also discussed concepts for modern highway systems, new rail lines, an expanded port in Havana and 5G networks to connect the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only problem is [that the port of Havana is] only 135 acres. That\u2019s not even half of the size of the Port of Miami,\u201d said ports expert Luis Ajamil.<\/p>\n

\u201c5G network, very high capacity, handles many, many users. That is why we need to transition now,\u201d said Jesus Lebe\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Miami, Rosa Mar\u00eda Pay\u00e1, a longtime Cuban opposition figure<\/a>, attended a mass to honor her father, Oswaldo Pay\u00e1.<\/p>\n

Wednesday marked 14 years her father and fellow pro-democracy leader Harold Cepero died in a car crash. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Cuban state agents were involved in the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was seen as the hope for Cuba,\u201d said Pay\u00e1.<\/p>\n

The Christian Liberation Movement honored both men with a memorial mass at the Church of Saint Raymond on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Pay\u00e1 said her father never lost faith that the Cuban regime would one day fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey used to tell my father that he was not going to see the change. But they\u2019re wrong. We\u2019re going to see the change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That faith is shared by many members of the exile community, who also see Pay\u00e1 as a critical leader in helping see through their dream of a better future for their homeland.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (WSVN) – As Cuba faces yet another blackout in recent weeks, many members of the Cuban exile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-349238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}