Cuba

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Congress Debates Easing Cuba Travel Restrictions

(Newser) - A bill pending in the US House includes a provision relaxing travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans who wish to visit Cuba by slicing out funding for enforcement of a 2004 law, the Miami Herald reports. The bill, which will likely see a vote today, allows annual visits rather than one every...

A Year In, Raúl's Cuba In Midst of New Revolution

Fidel's younger brother raises country's global profile, begins reform

(Newser) - Today marks the first anniversary of Raúl Castro's rise to the top of Cuban politics, and as the Miami Herald reports, he has lots to celebrate. Latin America's continuing leftward shift has seen regional leaders cozy up to Fidel's brother, and Russia has used Cuba to expand its presence...

From Cuba to Hollywood, Che a Caricature of Himself

For many, image of Che Guevara still resonates

(Newser) - Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Che is drawing fresh attention to revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara—even as he’s becoming a kind of caricature of himself, Rolf Potts writes in World Hum. In Cuba, Guevara serves as “a sainted martyr of unwavering purity who also happens to promote...

Fidel Demands Gitmo Back
 Fidel Demands Gitmo Back 




Fidel Demands Gitmo Back

Former Cuban prez slams Obama over naval base, Mideast policy on web site

(Newser) - Fidel Castro is demanding that Barack Obama serve up a Guantanamo libre once the last US prisoner leaves, Reuters reports. Castro, posting on a Cuban government website, slammed as an "act of arrogance" Obama's comment that a giveback of Guantanamo would depend on US defense needs and might require...

Castro Hints at His Own Failing Health

He says he may not be lucid in 4 years; again praises Obama

(Newser) - Fidel Castro hinted in a new column that his health is failing, the AP reports. The 82-year-old former Cuban leader wrote yesterday in his online column that Cuban officials "shouldn't feel bound by my occasional reflections, my state of health or my death." He also had warm words...

Fan Fidel Hails 'Sincere' Obama

Castro was glued to inauguration coverage

(Newser) - Cuba's ailing former dictator Fidel Castro has spoken warmly about President Barack Obama, and his brother Raul is hinting about a face-to-face meeting, reports Australia's Age. Fidel, 82, spent Tuesday watching TV coverage of the inauguration and spoke glowingly about America's new president as "absolutely sincere" to Argentine President...

Oy, Caramba! Cubans Turn to Judaism
Oy, Caramba!
Cubans Turn
to Judaism

Oy, Caramba! Cubans Turn to Judaism

But for some, religious awakening looks a lot like exit strategy

(Newser) - Cuba's Jewish community is growing for the first time in decades, the Wall Street Journal reports. The country's Jewish population dwindled to 1,000 by the late 1980s but has now hit 1,500. Hundreds of other Cuban Jews have recently emigrated, landing in Israel, Canada, and the US. Many...

Fidel Reported to Be Close to Death

Castro is gravely ill, sources say

(Newser) - Fidel Castro may be nearing the end of his life, reports the Miami Herald. It's been almost two months since Castro has been photographed in public. No images were released of his November meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and he was a no-show at the Jan. 1 celebrations of...

Hey Sean, Put Down Your Pen
 Hey Sean, 
 Put Down 
 Your Pen 



OPINION

Hey Sean, Put Down Your Pen

Adoration of Cuban dictator is misguided, dangerous

(Newser) - Sean Penn may be “the finest character actor around,” but he's “no journalist,” writes Roger Cohen in the New York Times. Penn’s recent “fawning tributes” to Cuban president Raúl Castro show the actor has “delusional, dangerous” beliefs about the dictator—a fact...

Cuba Embargo Has Backfired: Time to End It

(Newser) - The Cuban embargo has failed to encourage democracy there, and the president-elect should do something about it, writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. It's time to “bring five decades of counterproductive American policy toward Cuba to a definitive end.” While engagement with other Communist regimes has worked...

Raul Castro: Outside Forces Can't Harm Us

(Newser) - Raul Castro marked the 50th anniversary of his brother's rise to power by declaring that the revolution is "stronger than ever" but warning Cubans that more hardships lie ahead, the Miami Herald reports. Though he didn't mention the US by name, Castro said that outside forces could not harm...

Cubans Mark 50 Years of Fidel
Cubans Mark
50 Years of Fidel

Cubans Mark 50 Years of Fidel

Celebrations sobered after tough year for Cuba

(Newser) - New Year's Day marks a sober occasion for Cuban-Americans: Fidel Castro's takeover 50 years ago and the exile and family separations that ensued. Many Cubans once hoped the dictator would bring them prosperity. Today, with their beloved island in decay and many lives lost in attempts to flee, few of...

Castro Calls for More Work, Less Welfare

Cuban president cuts worker subsidies to shore up struggling economy

(Newser) - Saying Cuba’s finances “don’t square up,” President Raul Castro called for belt-tightening measures in the wake of three hurricanes and a global recession that have hobbled the communist nation. The state plans to dole out fewer worker subsidies, halve the number of overseas trips, and halt...

Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba
 Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba 
OPINION

Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba

Goats, yogurt, and ecologically friendly travel also expected to surge

(Newser) - Closing the wallet and opening the palate are set to be big in 2009, says Gourmet, which has served up its predictions of next year's hottest food and travel trends:
  • With the economic slump, home cooking is hot, hot, hot. Learn to cook a casserole and take mom’s advice—
...

Russian Warships Dock at Havana Bay

(Newser) - Russian warships arrived in Havana yesterday for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the London Times reports. The visit comes at the end of a 3-month South American tour that Russia expected would raise hackles in the US. “I guess they’re on R&R,...

Castro Offers Prisoner Swap, Talks With US

Raul promises to free dissidents in exchange for Cuban 5

(Newser) - In another sign of a potential thaw in US-Cuban relations, Raul Castro offered today to release five political dissidents if the US frees five Cubans jailed on spy charges. Castro says the prisoner swap could precede talks between himself and Barack Obama, Reuters reports. “Give us back our five...

Medvedev Gets Cozy With Castro

Moscow seeks to extend influence in Latin America

(Newser) - Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is in Cuba strengthening ties with the Castro regime and attempting to broaden Russia's influence in Latin America, the BBC reports. Medvedev arrived in Havana yesterday from Venezuela where he and Hugo Chavez signed deals promoting nuclear energy and developing closer military ties. Russia is expected...

Raul Castro Offers to Meet Obama at Gitmo

Cuban prez seeks talks for US trade deal, he tells Sean Penn

(Newser) - Raul Castro wants to normalize trade with the US and he's eager to meet with Barack Obama in order to do so, the Cuban leader told actor Sean Penn in an interview in the Nation. Castro said it wouldn't be fair to expect either leader to go to the other's...

1M Cubans Flee Hurricane Paloma

(Newser) - Hurricane Paloma slammed into Cuba today after nearly 1 million people fled the country's southern coast, MSNBC reports. Fidel Castro warned that the Category 4 storm, roaring at up to 145 mph, would likely hobble roads and destroy crops planted after storms struck the island nation this summer. Paloma had...

Mexico Will Deport Cuban Migrants Headed for US

Crackdown aimed at drug, human trafficking

(Newser) - Mexico agreed yesterday to deport Cubans passing through the country to reach the US, the Los Angeles Times reports. Increased US patrols in the waters between Cuba and Florida have smugglers using land routes through Mexico to transport would-be immigrants. Mexican authorities have arrested 2,000 undocumented Cubans this year,...

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