Cuba

Latin America Monitor
Look who got a US visa: Raúl Castro's daughter

Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro, will travel to California this week on a US visa to attend a conference. But many Cuban scholars were denied entry, writes a guest blogger.
Latin America Monitor
'Una Noche' actors go missing: Why do Cubans defect?

In part because the US makes it easy. The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act and the 'wet-foot, dry-foot' policy of the '90s have eased the way for Cubans to immigrate, writes a guest blogger.
Latin America Monitor
Has nothing changed in Cuba?

In a New York Times op-ed, a Cuban blogger writes that nothing has changed on the communist island, but guest blogger Melissa Fortner disagrees. Individual freedoms are expanding, she writes.
Imagining Cuba after Chávez

Venezuela provides Cuba with up to $15 billion a year, which helps offset the US embargo. But there is the real possibility Chávez may not win or survive another six-year term as president.
Latin America Monitor
The pope in Cuba: a reporter's notebook

Beyond the frustrations of reporting in Havana lies the real story: Cuba, for all its romance and beauty, remains an authoritarian state, writes Girish Gupta.
Latin America Monitor
Pope in Cuba: Trip shows how church playing balancing act (+video)

The pope did not meet with dissidents. But his trip was about building on gains the church has won in Cuba, says guest blogger Anya Landau French.
Fidel Castro, excommunicated in 1962, meets with Pope Benedict

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who once outlawed religion, met with Pope Benedict XVI today. Benedict's visit is part of a new Catholic strategy in a changing Cuba.
Pope schedules last-minute meeting with Fidel Castro

Pope Benedict XVI's decision to meet with the former Cuban leader angered Castro critics because, they say, it gives the Cuban government legitimacy.
Latin America Monitor
Pope in Cuba: Will he raise case of jailed American?

Many are watching to see if the pope mentions the case of imprisoned US aid worker Alan Gross. But the delicacy of his trip to Cuba makes it unlikely, writes guest blogger Girish Gupta.
Catholicism in a communist land: Pope Benedict XVI travels to Cuba

Cuba was declared an atheist state after the 1959 revolution, but many dissidents are looking to Pope Benedict XVI to help bring more political reform to the island.
Why the pope wants stronger ties with Mexico and Cuba

While the Catholic church is bolstering the faithful in Mexico and Cuba, it is also seeking closer ties with national governments during Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to these countries.
Latin America Monitor
Florida bill targets firms doing business with Cuba

Florida passed a law banning state public contracts for companies doing business with Cuba – something that violates federal law, writes guest blogger Anya Landau French.
Latin America Monitor
Alan Gross imprisonment a result of misguided US rhetoric?

Cuba said last month it would release 2,900 prisoners ahead of the pope's visit this spring, but US prisoner Alan Gross is not to be one of them. 
Latin America Monitor
After dramatic 2011 in Cuba, will US-Cuban policy shift in 2012?

Guest blogger Melissa Lockhart reviews a year of what she calls big change in Cuba, little change in US policy.
Global News Blog
Diana Nyad swim from Cuba to Florida ends after 29 hours

Diana Nyad swim: The 61-year-old ended her attempt to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida early Tuesday morning. The swim, if completed, was supposed to take 60 hours.
Cubans may no longer be stuck on Caribbean isle

President Raúl Castro's economic reforms in Cuba appear set to deliver long-sought freedom, even if few can afford to go anywhere.
Castro hails 'new generation' of Cuba leaders, but appoints old guard

José Ramón Machado Ventura, 80, will fill Raul Castro's old spot as No. 2 in power, while Ramiro Valdes will take over the No. 3 role. Both have collaborated with the Fidel and Raul Castro since at least the 1950s.
As Fidel Castro steps down, a political shakeup in Cuba?

Delegates since Saturday have debated more than 300 proposals to overhaul the struggling economy. Details on who will fill leadership roles are expected to emerge later today.
Cuba: What Jimmy Carter and Calvin Coolidge have in common

Jimmy Carter is the only US president, current or former, to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. His second visit to the island came this week after an official invitation from Raúl Castro.
In rare visit with Castro, Jimmy Carter attempts to restart US-Cuba relations

During his three-day trip to Cuba, former President Jimmy Carter also met with detained American Alan Gross, who was sentenced this month to 15 years prison for espionage.
Backchannels
Watch out Chávez, Fidel Castro now has 100,000 Twitter followers

Tweet-happy Hugo Chávez now has competition. But not even Twitter has been able to persuade Cuba's Fidel Castro of the importance of brevity.
Global News Blog
La Revolución will outlive Fidel Castro, says US cable from WikiLeaks

Fidel Castro almost died in 2006, according to US cables leaked by WikiLeaks, but his passing would likely have little impact over the direction of Cuba.
Five countries where the GOP victory could make a difference

Foreign policy is typically the executive branch’s domain because that is the branch that decides who the US negotiates with and what gets offered in those negotiations. However, Tuesday’s Republican victory, particularly the GOP takeover of the House and leadership of some key committees, has the ability to affect the US's dialogue, and in some cases policy, on a few key US relationships with other countries.
Where have all Latin America's dictators gone?

Latin America's transition to democracy seems well established, with credible elections this year throughout the region. The recent Ecuador uprising underscores how dangers remain.
Communist Cuba turns to private enterprise

Cuba hopes that private enterprise will revive a struggling economy. The state will lay off 500,000 workers and encourage them to find jobs in the private sector.