After decades of strict central control, Cuba appears to be slowly liberalizing. Its citizens are now able to leave the communist country on holidays. In the economic sphere, capitalism appears to be emerging in the country. Farmers can now sell their produce at prices they set themselves.
Obama Says He Agrees With Hunger Strikers at Guantanamo Bay
May 1, 2013 | Posted by
As more than 100 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay participate in a hunger strike to protest their legal limbo, President Obama yesterday said he essentially agrees with them — creating the bizarre situation where of the president of the United States agrees with prisoners who are starving themselves to protest his government. “The notion that we’re [...]
Cuba Ends Half-Century Ban on Professional Boxing
April 27, 2013 | Posted by
After five decades of prohibiting its boxers from going professional, the Cuban government has done an about face and will allow boxers to participate in the World Series of Boxing, an international semi-professional league. The announcement came Friday from the president of the Cuban Boxing Federation, Alberto Puig. According to the Associated Press, the boxers [...]
Cuba’s Ladies in White Can Now Travel to Collect EU Prize
April 23, 2013 | Posted by
Members of the Cuban opposition group, Ladies in White, are due to collect the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in Brussels. They were awarded the prize by the European Parliament in 2005, but Cuba barred them from leaving the communist-run island to collect it. The abolition of exit permits by the Cuban government in [...]
Cuban-American Rapper Pitbull Responds to Jay-Z’s ‘Open Letter’
April 15, 2013 | Posted by
Jay-Z’s “Open Letter” swipe at haters who bashed a recent anniversary trip he and wife Beyoncé took to Cuba has inspired a song that both educates and defends the rapper. The Miami-born Cuban-American rapper Pitbull riffs on Jay-Z’s instrumentals while supplying his own lyrics about the tumultuous relations between America and the Communist island nation. [...]
Fidel Castro Gets Emotional Listening to Song About Chavez
April 12, 2013 | Posted by
The former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was shown on state television visibly moved as he listened to a song in memory of his close ally, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Meeting students and teachers for the opening of a school, Castro said “The Return of a Friend” was a “pretty” song. The TV report [...]
Dick Gregory: Racists Are Out to Get Beyonce and Jay-Z
April 9, 2013 | Posted by
Beyonce and Jay-Z are taking heat for the Cuba excursion because white racists are on the hunt to attack African-Americans — so says legendary comedian Dick Gregory.
Beyonce, Jay-Z Slammed For Cuba Trip
April 8, 2013 | Posted by
Beyonce and Jay-Z are coming under fire for choosing Cuba as their vacation destination on their fifth anniversary. Several U.S politicians and Cuban rights lobbyists are furious with the megastar couple for taking a trip to Cuba in the midst of all human rights issues that are taking place in that nation now. Mauricio Claver-Carone, [...]
Cuba’s Economy at Mercy of Venezuela’s Voters
April 2, 2013 | Posted by
It is not just Venezuelans who are looking anxiously at their post-Hugo Chavez future. Cubans, too, have much to lose if Venezuela’s government changes after the April 14 election, and they’re not happy about it. In campaign speeches, Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles is threatening to axe the long-time lifeline Venezuela has been providing to [...]
Havana: Treasure Trove of Crumbling Art Deco Design
March 21, 2013 | Posted by
HAVANA — Kathleen Murphy Skolnik gasped one recent morning as she gazed up into the stairwell of a 1939 downtown apartment building here and pointed at the chevron pattern in the ironwork, at the unpolished rust-pink marble and a simple alcove on the stairway crowned by a stepped arch. “It’s so beautiful,” said Skolnik, an [...]
