Hotel Exodus: Spain’s Meliá says it will stop managing 15 of its 34 Cuba hotels, citing worsening operating conditions and new US pressure tied to GAESA—another blow to a tourism sector already battered by energy limits and falling demand. Payments Freeze: Cuba’s central bank says Visa and Mastercard transactions will be suspended from June 6 after a foreign partner pulled processing services under expanded US sanctions, cutting off card payments for goods and services. US Sanctions Pressure: Multiple reports link the tourism pullouts and payment shutdowns to Trump’s May 1 sanctions moves targeting GAESA and related foreign “enablers.” Humanitarian Spotlight: A five-day Institute of Black World delegation visited Cuba to document the humanitarian crisis affecting Afro Cubans amid fuel shortages, blackouts, and medical scarcity. Migration Update: Costa Rica reactivated a special legal work-and-residency category for thousands of Cuban migrants (effective Sept. 1, 2026), easing long legal limbo for those with pending or rejected asylum cases. Diplomacy: China’s foreign minister met Cuba’s top diplomat at the UN, reiterating support against the blockade and backing Cuba’s economic and social development. Crime Case: A Cuban man pleaded guilty in Texas to labor trafficking, admitting he helped smuggle three women from Cuba and forced them to work in strip clubs to repay inflated “travel debts.”