Month: October 2015

Cuba Restricts Imports Amid Reports of Cash Shortage

by
Cuba Restricts Imports Amid Reports of Cash Shortage

According to a report by Reuters, Cuba’s government is responded to a liquidity shortage by cutting imports and extending credit terms with trading partners. The effects of a severe drought and low commodity prices are the culprits in the latest challenge for the struggling island nation. Cuba is dependent on both exports of commodities and … Read more

The Sound of Jazz in Havana

by

By Alexander Britell HAVANA — If you’re wondering where the background is, you won’t find it. Because it’s you. The jazz singer’s voice is muted by the mic, slowly rising with the bass and the keyboard. She is looking at the small crowd, but not singing for them. She is just singing. Because in Havana, … Read more

Air China Will Fly From Beijing to Havana Via Montreal

by

According the French publication Air Journal, Air China will begin flying to Havana from Beijing at end of December in a continuation of an existing flight to Montreal. Air China is the first Chinese airline to fly to Cuba. The Cuban capital will be its ninth destination in North America after New York-JFK, Los Angeles, … Read more

Cuban Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club Performs At White House

by

The Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club was invited to perform at The White House yesterday in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month. President Barack Obama hosted a delegation of about 500 dignitaries and politicians from around the world in another sign of the historic shift in policy between Cuba and the United States. The famous musical … Read more

Blue Diamond Adds Another All-Inclusive in Cuba

by
Blue Diamond Adds Another All-Inclusive in Cuba

By Dana Niland Cuba Journal Contributor Blue Diamond Resorts has announced the addition of Aguas Azules to its portfolio of all-inclusive Cuba resorts. Located just 45 minutes from Varadero Airport and 15 minutes from downtown, Aguas Azules occupies a stretch of Varadero’s famous beachfront, and features lush tropical gardens and scenic views incorporated into its … Read more

Coppola Discusses Film and Food With Cuban Students

by

In July, Francis Ford Coppola visited San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba to discuss film making at La Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV) – Cuba’s International School of Film and Television. Coppola held a conference at the school and met with students and faculty to discuss his passion for film. According to a … Read more

British Singer Sting Is Latest Musician Planning Cuba Event

by

Dominic Miller, Sting’s Argentinian guitarist since 1991, revealed t0 Cubadebate.cu that the famous singer wants to get to Cuba before Mick Jagger’s rumored March concert. Miller, who was visiting the island nation as part of Cuba’s British Cultural Week, gave a press conference at Cuban Art Factory (FAC). Miller also perf0rmed in concert at FAC as … Read more

The Bar at Hemingway’s House in Cuba

by

By Alexander Britell SAN FRANCISCO DE PAULA — There should be a bar here. Here at Finca Vigia, the hillside farm where Ernest Hemingway spent three decades of his life, nothing has changed. Hemingway’s house became a museum just about a month after he left the country in 1961, and even the bottles of his … Read more

Images of Havana Under Construction

by
Images of Havana Under Construction

by Simons Chase

Anticipation in Havana has been building for years as US President Obama has steadily re-built a relationship with Cuba.  At the same time, Raul Castro, who took over as President of Cuba after his brother Fidel retired in 2008, has loosened restrictions for real estate trading by expanding permitted transfers to include outright sales.  Previously, transfers were permitted only in the case of cashless exchanges.

The US-Cuba relationship building has translated into a small but promising real estate building and reconstruction boom fueled by Cuban-American cash and domestic demand for housing.

These images were captured in Old Havana and surrounding neighborhoods including Vedado.