The U.S. Treasury Department has tightened restrictions on travel to Cuba in retaliation to the country’s “destabilizing role” in the western hemispheric region. The agency said in a statement Tuesday it has banned group educational “people-to-people” travel to Cuba, one of the primary ways Americans visit the Caribbean island. Thousands of Americans began using this … Read more
In a major move that has been rumored for years, the Major League Baseball (MLB) finally formalizes ties with Cuba. The MLB and the Cuban Baseball Federation signed a historic deal Wednesday allowing Cuban players to come to the U.S. without having to defect or place their lives in the hands of criminal human traffickers. … Read more
Cuba’s citizens will soon be able to fully use the internet on their mobile phones, according to Cuban officials. Cuba is one of the last nations in the world to offer such service. Mayra Arevich, the president of the Cuban state-operated telecommunications company ETECSA, announced the news on national television last week. She said Cubans … Read more
Americans “find strength in diversity,” explains artist Ellyn Weiss, who co-organized the One House art exhibit outside of Washington D.C. The display demonstrates the richness and complexity of U.S. culture. The exhibit, a large house structure at the BlackRock Center for the Arts, contains 300 panels, each representing a different ancestor. A few depict the … Read more
Cuba’s president says he supports a change to the island’s constitution in support of same-sex marriage. Miguel Diaz-Canel said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the Venezuela-based television station Telesur: “The approach of recognizing marriage between two people, without limitations, responds to a problem of eliminating all types of discrimination in society.” Cuba’s current constitution … Read more
By Dana Niland Cuba Journal Contributor Carnival Cruise Line will offer 17 new sailings to Cuba aboard Carnival Sensation in 2019. The five-day Cuba voyages will be the line’s first to operate round-trip from Miami, and will feature a day-long call in Havana as well as stops at ports including Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Nassau, … Read more
Seeing Cuba for the first time, Christopher Columbus said, “The goodliest land that eye ever saw, the sweetest thing in the world.” After five hundred years, Columbus’ words are still relevant, and what’s more intriguing is the fact that visiting Cuba today is the best way to absorb the rich history and personal warmth of … Read more
On the heels of U.S. President Trump’s backwards move in relations with Cuba, elections in the island nation are ramping up. Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday voted alongside thousands of people in municipal elections that kick off the process to end his family’s hold on the island nation. The Communist Party-supervised process comes a … Read more
By Alexander Britell The mere act of opening it is a ceremony. It comes in a wooden box, its name inscribed on the side. You slide out the wooden cover, peel away the wax paper and retrieve one of the most legendary cigars in the pantheon of Habanos: the Montecristo A. This isn’t a cigar … Read more
In an effort designed to protect Americans from the ills of communism, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced it is implementing changes that will “channel economic activities” away from Cuba’s security infrastructure and impose travel and business limitations on Americans who travel there. Cuba is the only country in the world (other than N. Korea) … Read more
