Cuba bans Starlink at foreign embassies in Havana

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry has told embassies and international organizations based in Havana that they may not bring Starlink terminals into the country or use them. The ban is set out in a diplomatic note dated Monday, November 9, covering SpaceX’s satellite internet service.

The contents of the note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) became known that same night, and Martí Noticias reported that it had confirmed them with at least two diplomatic sources. With it, a ban the Cuban government has applied to citizens and private businesses since 2025 now reaches the diplomatic corps as well.

Havana cites sovereignty over the radio spectrum

MINREX refers the missions to an earlier communication, Diplomatic Note 2372 of January 6, 2025, on importing and using telecommunications equipment. The difference is that the new note names Starlink terminals explicitly.

The ministry justifies the measure on the grounds of state sovereignty over the radio spectrum and says it remains willing to facilitate diplomatic work under international law. The note sets out no penalties and does not say whether authorities have found terminals at any diplomatic mission.

Cubanos por el Mundo has not seen the original document. As of publication, neither MINREX nor any of the affected missions had commented publicly.

No Starlink at foreign embassies means relying on ETECSA

Starlink connects users to the internet through low-orbit satellites, bypassing the land network of ETECSA, the state company that holds a monopoly on telecommunications in Cuba. Under the ban, foreign missions depend on that same network, including when blackouts knock it offline.

A source linked to a European mission told Martí Noticias that ETECSA’s service is very poor and that privacy is another concern, since the state company controls what travels over its network.

ETECSA admitted its own decline five days earlier

On November 4, in a thread on its official X account, ETECSA acknowledged that the perceived quality of its landlines and internet service had fallen in recent months. It blamed the energy situation, admitting its backup power does not cover every point in the network, along with vandalism, outdated technology, rising demand on limited infrastructure and interference from mobile signal boosters.

Warnings and seizures since 2025

The note to embassies is the latest step in a campaign that began in 2025. That April, the Radio Spectrum Control Technical Unit, part of the Ministry of Communications, declared use of the service without state authorization illegal, and Cuban Customs reported seizing Starlink kits at Havana’s airport. CpM has reported on how the technology reaches Cuba while the government keeps the gate closed.

In March 2026, Elon Musk wrote on X that Starlink works in Cuba even though it cannot be sold there. A month later, the U.S. delegation that traveled to Havana asked the Cuban government to allow the service in so free internet could be offered to the population, a proposal the Cuban side did not accept.

Internet cuts on protest days

In the Cuba chapter of its 2023 annual report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights counted at least 31 incidents of repression during the March 26 parliamentary elections that year, including internet cuts, police surveillance operations, arbitrary detentions and house arrests.

Since the July 11, 2021 protests, activists and journalists on the island have repeatedly reported losing their phone connections on days when protests or gatherings were called. A satellite connection does not depend on infrastructure the state controls.

What is confirmed so far

• The MINREX diplomatic note is dated November 9, 2026, and is addressed to diplomatic missions and offices of international organizations.
• It bans importing and using Starlink terminals and refers to Diplomatic Note 2372 of January 6, 2025.
• The ministry justifies it by citing sovereignty over the radio spectrum.
• No penalties have been announced, and no embassy has responded publicly.
• It is not known whether any mission already has equipment installed or what will happen to it.