On Monday, Brown University — which organizes the exchange program that sends students in the U.S. to the University of Havana — announced to participating schools they are “paus[ing]” the fall 2026 cohort “due to the geopolitical tensions and resource stress produced by the U.S. blockade on the island,” Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies professor and Dartmouth exchange program faculty director Jorge Cuellar wrote in an email to The Dartmouth. The U.S. State Department has advised “increased caution” when traveling to Cuba “due to crime and unreliable electrical power” since 2018.
The three Dartmouth students currently participating in the 15-week exchange program have experienced power outages and in-country travel restrictions since the Trump administration increased tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba and blocked oil from reaching Cuban ports this January.
In an interview before the program cancellation announcement, Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Education executive director John Tansey said Guarani said the staff prioritizes the “health, safety and security” of students and staff when evaluating program risk.
“We are in regular contact with our onsite partners at [the Consortium for Advanced Studies] and … our students,” Tansey said.
Guarini staff did not respond to requests for comment about the cancellation of the fall exchange by time of publication.
Dartmouth students can participate in the program either during the fall term or the winter and spring terms. Eight are selected to participate each semester, according to the Guarini website. Two students had committed to the fall exchange, Cuellar said in the interview with The Dartmouth.
The Trump administration’s blockade has caused nationwide blackouts and strains on the Cuban healthcare system. Cuellar said the three students currently on the program have not experienced “any kind of interruption” to daily life due to fuel shortages.
“The program has built resilience and mitigation strategies in the last few years, and right now we’re seeing the very positive effects of all that preparation work,” Cuellar said. “[Students] continue to have class, have activities and have access to all their necessities.”
Tansey added that Guarini works closely with “on-site partners” to know what is happening in any given country.
“[Guarini has] very experienced and professional partners around the world,” Tansey said. “Dartmouth has invested in its own set of resources to support its operations around the world.”
Camila Sanchez ’27, who is currently abroad on the exchange program, said that when the United States captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in January, program participants were given the “option to withdraw” from the exchange. No one chose to do so.
“I stayed in the program because [participating] was my goal, so I was going to try to see it through,” Sanchez said.
Gabriela Martinez ’28, who is also currently participating in the exchange, said that, unlike previous cohorts, program participants this semester are not allowed to leave Havana due to safety concerns.
The program directors in Guarini don’t want students to leave Havana “in case we can’t find transportation to come back if anything were to happen and we need to evacuate,” Martinez said. “They don’t want us in a different city or on the other side of the country, which would make it very hard for all of us to get back to the U.S.”
Sanchez said not being able to leave Havana has been “disappointing.”
“We all have curiosity to explore more of the island, so I think we’re trying to see if maybe towards the end of the program, we can get the green light to explore,” Sanchez said. “But at the moment, we’re stuck in Havana.”
Martinez said travel restrictions were “impacting” her exchange experience more than fuel shortages were.
“I knew before coming to Cuba that it was not going to be like studying abroad in Europe, where I have all these different things accessible,” Martinez said.
Alondra Ajpacaja ’28, who is also currently participating in the exchange, said that the University of Havana suspended classes for Cuban students when oil shortages drove up the cost of transportation, so now her classes are now composed of “just the U.S. students.”
“We lost the whole actual exchange,” Ajpacaja said.
Ajpacaja said that she lives near a hospital in a designated emergency zone, but power outages still affect her neighborhood.
“We’re not supposed to have power outages basically, but we do,” she said. “And it’s kind of inevitable because it just happens everywhere.”
Martinez said that blackouts in her neighborhood “usually” occur from around 5 to 8 p.m., but sometimes can last until 10 p.m, which makes showering difficult.
“There’s not enough pressure for the showerhead to function properly, so we resort to buckets or we just wait until there’s enough pressure, which comes within a day,” Martinez said.
Sanchez added that when there is no power at home, she goes to a study space at the University of Havana, which has power “most of the time.”
“The only time there wouldn’t be power is if the national electrical grid collapsed, and that has collapsed a couple times,” Sanchez said.
Martinez added that the energy grid has been “stable” for the past few weeks. On April 1, the U.S. allowed a Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba, alleviating the crisis.
“Seeing buses and more cars on the road does give me more hope that things are better,” she said.
Exchange participants said power outages have forced their host families to adapt in daily activities. Martinez said her host mom sometimes cooks food in the middle of the night, while they still have electricity.
Sanchez said her host mom makes food that is “quick to cook” to conserve gas.
“We still get food on the table,” Sanchez said.
Cuellar added that current participants are “experiencing a historic event.”
“[The students are] encountering these challenges with poise, with respect and with a lot of maturity,” he said.
Sanchez added that she did not feel as though her experience has been “tarnished in any way.”
“I’ve still gotten so much out of this experience,” Sanchez said.
