Topic: Cuba

In Florida, one sugar town's bittersweet change

Clewiston is losing its sugar plant – and wondering what comes next.

Russia's plan to avert second cold war

Standoffs over Georgia and a US missile-defense shield stem from one main irritant: Moscow had no hand in designing global security after the USSR collapsed. Medvedev wants to fix that.

World

Meet Cuba's best-known Generation Y blogger

Yoani Sanchez won the Spanish equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, but her government wouldn't allow her to leave the country to receive it.

Cuba's youth: restless but not often political

They just want the freedom to travel and access to the tech touchstones of their generation: iPods, Facebook, and text messages.

Why women now lead the dissident fight in Cuba

Only a handful of political activists are willing to risk fighting for basic freedoms. But more ordinary Cubans, they say, are asking how to get involved.

This Cuban library lends DVDs about state torture

A government critic's collection includes Bibles, books by Cuban defectors, and positive biographies about Fidel Castro.

The Monitor's View: Closing 'Gitmo' won't be easy

Where will the inmates go? Where will they be tried? Tough choices for the next president.

Florida rancher: Havana will be Hong Kong of Caribbean

John Parke Wright, with close ties to the Castro brothers, says Cuba is starting to open up economically.

After Bush: A new Cuba policy?

John McCain supports a tight US embargo. Barack Obama says he'll loosen it.

Reporters on the Job

World

Six picks: recommendations from the Monitor staff

Behind Churchill's public face, a ramble through Britain's backroads with Robbie Coltrane, a novel about Cuba pre-Castro, and more.

All the world on stage

New International theater festival in California offers audiences a window on foreign cultures – and shared stories.

Opinion: What kind of leader would McCain or Obama be?

A media-based 'job interview' is key to finding out.

A president's test: not agenda but response

The most important things presidents do are often not preset items but reactive moves to events unforeseen.

Could an Obama win hurt Chávez?

Without Bush to rail against, Chávez will be left without a foil, say analysts.

World

Letters to the Editor

Readers write about the war on drugs, the Colombia free-trade bill, and dodgeball.

Cuba's artistic output finds its place on the world stage

The island nation's deep pool of well-trained artists, along with anticipation of political and social changes, have pushed Cuban art to the fore.

USA

Canada fights wedding fraud abroad

In India, one temple had a rent-a-wedding scam to help couples get faster residency in Canada.

Reporters on the Job

Will the U.S. open an office in Iran?

Secretary Rice has floated the idea of an interests-section office – a step down from an embassy.

Opinion: Want democracy in Iraq? Culture matters.

Consider what happened with US occupation in Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.