cuba

  • 'Don't count us out': Maxwell Frost could be the 1st Gen Z member of Congress

    Maxwell Alejandro Frost, 25, is vying to make history as the first Generation Z member of Congress and represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District.

  • Department of Transportation lifts Cuba flight restrictions

    The U.S. Transportation Department on Wednesday made it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba, lifting flight restrictions that were established during the Trump administration.

  • Cuban beaches lack Russian tourists amid war in Ukraine

    When planeloads of Russian tourists left Cuba this week, their vacations interrupted by war in Ukraine, it marked a sad day in the resort town of Varadero, a visible sign the conflict will rattle the island nation's fragile economy.

  • A-Team grabs gold in beach volleyball, Allyson Felix wins 10th Olympic medal, and women’s basketball heads to gold medal game | What You Missed

    Another day and more hardware to bring home for Team USA. The A-Team of April Ross and Alex Klineman topped Australia for gold in beach volleyball, the indoor women’s volleyball team earned its first-ever gold medal match berth, and Keyshawn Davis earned a spot in the Lightweight Gold Medal Boxing bout. On the track, Allyson Felix earned her 10th Olympic medal with a bronze in the 400M, and the women’s 4x100M relay brought home the silver, coming in just behind the Jamaicans.

  • Cuba blocks access to Facebook and Telegram in response to protests

    As protests continue in Cuba over the country’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the surrounding economic fallout, the Cuban government has moved to restrict access to social media and messaging platforms.

  • Can the U.S. and Cuba get along now that the Castros are gone?

    For the first time in more than 60 years, Cuba has a leader not named Castro. Does the change provide President Biden a chance to end decades of hostility with America's island neighbor?

  • 3 Cuban Nationals Rescued After Nearly 5 Weeks On Deserted Island

    A woman and two men reportedly survived on coconuts, conch and rats after their boat capsized near the uninhabited Bahamian island during rough weather.

  • Twitter suspends 1,600 accounts linked to state disinformation networks

    It blocked accounts allegedly run by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Thailand.

  • "Havana Syndrome" symptoms identified in Canadian tourist who visited Cuba

    A recently published study describes a woman who experienced unusual neurological symptoms after travelling to Cuba.

  • Biden draws distinction between diversity within Black and Latino communities

    In an interview with representatives from the national associations of Black and Hispanic journalists while talking about extending temporary protected status to Cubans in Florida communities who are being deported, former Vice President Joe Biden referenced what he said is a distinction between diversity within Black and Latino communities. Biden told NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro that “unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. You go to Florida, and you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona.”

  • Sanders Invokes Obama’s Praise for Cuban Education in Defending His Castro Comments

    Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders invoked Barack Obama during Tuesday evening's Democratic debate as part of the Vermont senator's defense of his previous remarks praising aspects of the regime of late Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro."What Barack Obama said was they made great progress on education and health care," Sanders said from the debate stage. "That was Barack Obama."Fellow 2020 contender Joe Biden, attempted to push back on Sanders's characterization of Obama's remarks."He did not in any way suggest that there was anything positive about the Cuban government — acknowledge that they did increase life expectancy, but he went on to condemn the dictatorship," the former vice president interjected."Occasionally, it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy, and that includes the fact that America has overthrown governments all over the world — in Chile, in Guatemala, in Iran, and when dictatorships, whether it is the Chinese or the Cubans, do something good, you acknowledge that, but you don't have to trade love letters with them," Sanders continued.Sanders has doubled down on his praise of elements of the Castro regime since Sunday, when CBS aired comments Sanders made during the 1980s. In the decades-old clip, the Vermont senator claimed that part of the reason the Cuban people did not help the U.S. overthrow Castro’s regime was because the authoritarian leader provided them with health care and education.“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but, you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” Sanders said Sunday on 60 Minutes when confronted with those older comments. He went on to praise Castro’s “massive literacy program,” saying, “Is that a bad thing even though Fidel Castro did it?”He was, however, careful to clarify that he denounces Castro’s practice of imprisoning political opponents.In March, 2016, Obama visited Cuba and called the country's education system "an extraordinary resource — a system of education that values every boy and every girl.""Look, you've made great progress in educating young people," Obama said he told Castro, speaking days afterwards at a town hall. "Every child in Cuba gets a basic education. That's a huge improvement from where it was. Medical care. The life expectancy of Cubans is equivalent to the United States despite it being a very poor country because they have access to healthcare. That's a huge achievement.They should be congratulated. But you drive around Havana and, this economy is not working. It looks like it did in the 1950s."

  • Buttigieg accuses Sanders of 'nostalgia for the revolutionary politics of the 1960s'

    During Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Pete Buttigieg took issue with Bernie Sanders’s qualified praise for Fidel Castro’s literacy and health care programs in communist Cuba.

  • Bernie Sanders’ Praise of Fidel Castro Scrutinized After ’60 Minutes’ Interview: ‘Disgusting’

    The hashtag FidelCastro trended over the weekend into Monday after Bernie Sanders said during a “60 Minutes” interview that “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad” about the late Cuban president.“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but, you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad, you know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing, even though Fidel Castro did it?” the Democratic frontrunner told Anderson Cooper during the CBS News special.Members of the media were quick to jump on Sanders’ comments.Also Read: Bernie Sanders Declared Winner of Nevada CaucusesOn CNN’s “New Day,” political analyst John Avlon devoted Monday’s”Reality Check” segment to Sanders’ comments. “For decades, he celebrated aspects of the Cuban revolution,” Avlon stated. “This is — to use a favorite phrase from the progressive left — problematic,” he added. Avlon then showed a montage of various headlines reporting on Sanders’ past pro-Cuba and pro-Sandinista past.As the front-runner, Bernie Sanders’ record is going to come under scrutiny in front of a far larger audience than ever before – his interview with Anderson Cooper on Cuba under Castro is just the beginning, says @JohnAvlon in today’s RealityCheck pic.twitter.com/wwzh3Xfo0h— New Day (@NewDay) February 24, 2020“Here is @BernieSanders TONIGHT defending Fidel Castro’s murderous totalitarian Communist regime in Cuba Democrats, nominating this man will absolutely re-elect @realDonaldTrump and end our Constitutional republic,” tweeted Fernand Amandi, managing partner of leading a public opinion research and strategic communications consulting firm.The Florida Republican party even spoke out Monday morning: “Florida will not stand for @BernieSanders comments. We are home to over a million Cubans and it’s disgusting that a Democrat frontrunner is ‘impressed’ with Fidel Castro‘s murderous regime. When he took over, thousands were killed or imprisoned for not agreeing with his policies.”Elsewhere, reaction was not nearly as critical. Podcaster Michael Tracey tweeted, “You might be able to get some elderly South Floridians worked up by screaming about Bernie and Fidel Castro but the rest of the country does not care. Good luck running against Bernie with the conservative movement playbook circa 1980.”Historian Patrick Iber contextualized the interview, writing, “Sanders is explaining that one of the reason that ordinary people didn’t rise up against Castro more was that he put in place widely popular programs in 59-62. That’s 100% true.”Watch Sanders’ interview below:Bernie Sanders defends his 1980s comments about Fidel Castro in an interview on 60 Minutes. https://t.co/ySqvQKoiBU pic.twitter.com/lTwuXWp9sA— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 24, 2020Read original story Bernie Sanders’ Praise of Fidel Castro Scrutinized After ’60 Minutes’ Interview: ‘Disgusting’ At TheWrap

  • Bernie Sanders: 'Unfair To Say Everything Is Bad' About Cuban Revolution

    The Democratic presidential hopeful defended his 1985 remarks praising some of Fidel Castro's socialist policies.

  • ‘It’s Unfair to Say Everything Was Bad’: Sanders Defends Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro

    Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes aired on Sunday."We're very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it's unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know?" Sanders said. "When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?"When host Anderson Cooper pointed out that Cuba imprisons political dissidents, Sanders responded "That's right. And we condemn that.""Unlike Donald Trump, let's be clear, you want to -- I do not think that Kim Jong-un is a good friend," the senator went on. "I don't trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine."Sanders's comments received bipartisan criticism from Florida lawmakers."I'm hoping that in the future, Senator Sanders will take time to speak to some of my constituents before he decides to sing the praises of a murderous tyrant like Fidel Castro," commented Representative Donna Shalala (D., Fla.), whose district encompasses a seaside area of Miami.Sanders is "wrong about why people didn't overthrow Castro," said Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.). "It's not because 'he educated their kids, gave them health care' it's because his opponents were jailed, murdered or exiled."Sanders has in the past declined to name Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro as an authoritarian leader, and has a long history of favorable statements about Nicaraguan strongman Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas.

  • The Man (And The Mission) Behind Trump’s Clash With Venezuela

    Ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is Trump's dream and NSC official Mauricio Claver-Carone is eager to make it come true.

  • Oscar Colas, the Cuban Ohtani, is coming to MLB and everybody's going to want him

    Oscar Colas has two-way potential as an outfielder and pitcher, and MLB teams should be lining up to sign the 21-year-old

  • USMNT Stock Watch: Surprise November standout Jackson Yueill trending up

    With the U.S. men's national team's 2019 schedule complete, Doug McIntyre looks at the players who have put themselves in a good spot heading into 2020.

  • USMNT builds confidence, chemistry in Nations League rout of overmatched Cuba

    It was the first and most obvious question posed to coach Gregg Berhalter after his United States men’s national team beat overmatched Cuba 7-0 in its CONCACAF Nations League opener here on Friday night. To hear Berhalter tell it, more than one might think. “It was another opportunity to keep rehearsing some of the movements we've been working on in training all week, and then you get a live opponent in a meaningful game and you have to go execute,” Berhalter said.

  • Study finds changes in Cuban diplomats' brains, but no sign of attack

    Scientists are still unsure of why a group of US diplomats in Cuba experienced mysterious neurological symptoms, but they're still looking for answers. A new study published today in JAMA by the University of Pennsylvania reveals that brain changes were found in US government officials who were stationed in Havana. But there's still no proof to the theory that the diplomats were attacked by a sonic weapon.