diff --git "a/Cuba/2018/news_2018_03.json" "b/Cuba/2018/news_2018_03.json" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/Cuba/2018/news_2018_03.json" @@ -0,0 +1,4608 @@ +{ + "title": "News for Cuba from 2018-03-01 to 2018-03-31", + "totalResults": 100, + "headlines": [ + "Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb - Magnum Photos", + "In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution - Northwestern University", + "Thousands of Cuban exiles are exploring an unusual option: Returning to Cuba to live - Miami Herald", + "State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba - ProPublica", + "Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba - sumitomocorp.com", + "Cuba After the Castros - Foreign Affairs", + "How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack - IEEE Spectrum", + "Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell - La Vida Baseball", + "Cuba: socialism, cigars and biotech | Feature - Chemistry World", + "Jazz Caliente: The Irish in Cuba - KNKX", + "Cuba braced for life after the Castros - Financial Times", + "Dave Lombardo on Emotional Return to Cuba After 50 Years - Revolver Magazine", + "Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture - YaleNews", + "Cuban Physicians Still Abandoning Missions Abroad Despite End to U.S. Parole Program - Pulitzer Center", + "US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019 - CNN", + "A Cuban President Not Named Castro Will Inherit a Troubled Economy - Bloomberg.com", + "How is the President of Cuba Chosen? - Havana Times", + "Will Cuba become a test case for a post-postmodern future? - openDemocracy", + "Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba - IEEE Spectrum", + "Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the \u2018sonic attacks\u2019 in Cuba - Miami Herald", + "U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction - NBC News", + "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba - Havana Times", + "Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas - CNN", + "Joe Conason: Trump's hostility toward Cuba serves Russia - Press & Sun-Bulletin", + "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - WBUR", + "How do elections work in Cuba? - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)? - The Forward", + "U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues - PBS", + "Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart - Pan African Music", + "Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba - U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.", + "Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes - Havana Times", + "Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion - Real Salt Lake", + "Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Guant\u00e1namo base now free of land mines but U.S. officials fear wave of defectors - Miami Herald", + "Viktor Leonov, Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard, docks in Cuba - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham", + "What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba - The Nation", + "The Mystery Behind Neurological Symptoms Among US Diplomats in Cuba - Neurology Today", + "Cuban Americans who move back to the island can lose U.S. benefits. What does the Cuban government gain? - Miami Herald", + "Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth (opinion) - CNN", + "Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene - CrimeReads", + "Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era - Al Jazeera", + "How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps - Foundation for Economic Education", + "Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity? - The Motley Fool", + "This college class is on the move \u2014 to Cuba - The Riverdale Press", + "Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019 - The Guardian", + "A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito - NOLA.com", + "Ex-Bolivian, Colombian presidents say Cuba denied them entry - Reuters", + "Free to Express: Meet the Artists of Cuba - Pulitzer Center", + "U.S. makes staff cuts permanent at embassy in Cuba - USA Today", + "US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals - Global Citizen", + "U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo - USA Today", + "Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world - Reuters", + "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party chief advocates economic reforms - Reuters", + "Cubans Must Now Travel to Colombia For Visas to the U.S. - Pulitzer Center", + "Alleviating Poverty in Cuba and the Road to Development - BORGEN Magazine", + "Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs - Science News Explores", + "Is Vinales in Cuba? - Havana Times", + "Cuba's Capitol reopens after years of restoration - Reuters", + "Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him - Houston Public Media", + "Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban - Christian Post", + "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba, High-Level Interactive Dialogue of G-77+China: Innovative Practices for the Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment of Women, Especially Rural Women: Lessons from the South\u201d. New York, 13 March 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo - The College Voice", + "Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea - Science News Explores", + "This Cuban sandwich is the only Cuban food at Gitmo. We tasted it. It was all wrong. - Miami Herald", + "Inside a Cuban cigar factory - CNN", + "Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz - NPR", + "Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security - Talk Business & Politics", + "Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker - BBC", + "Cuba\u2019s getting a new president - The Conversation", + "Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy - dw.com", + "2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic - Bowie News -", + "The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures - Cigar Aficionado", + "Ra\u00fal Castro is expected to step down soon. And recent moves suggest he won\u2019t be alone - Miami Herald", + "Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy? - CircleID", + "Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba - Havana Times", + "DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on - elsewhere.co.nz", + "Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba - Havana Times", + "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). Theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. March, 14 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - North Country Public Radio", + "Halifax woman shares tale of Cuban vacation gone wrong - CBC", + "Cuban Families are Constantly Changing - Havana Times", + "In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened. - Willamette Week", + "Lush Midtown Restaurant Nails Ropa Vieja, Cuba\u2019s National Dish - Eater New York", + "Habanos Festival Concludes With $1.8 Million Charity Auction - Cigar Aficionado", + "Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo - KY3", + "Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches - Christian Post", + "Democracy in Cuba and in the United States - Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento", + "Cubans vote as Castro era nears end - France 24", + "Rep. Steve King\u2019s campaign ties Parkland\u2019s Emma Gonz\u00e1lez to \u2018communist\u2019 Cuba - The Washington Post", + "Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity - Quill & Pad", + "Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba - Havana Times", + "Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know - Official London Theatre", + "Cuban cigar sales hit record as China demand surges - Reuters", + "In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay - insidestory.org.au", + "Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts - abcnews.com", + "This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women' - OkayAfrica" + ], + "articles": [ + { + "title": "Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb - Magnum Photos", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb - Magnum Photos" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie0FVX3lxTFBhWll6WnN4MzE5cFFuMVJUamRkU2Nyb2dqeXZVNVdXR1dQM2Y4TFlaN2hUUVNwQU9IQkhpdFNjVXdfZk5xMGxwRzc0T18tSTZqOGpkVHRLM29uOUFZMEYycDdiZ1hGTllLaGtoS2ZkRjgzbXBrMmV6eFRINA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/travel/alex-webb-violet-isle/", + "id": "CBMie0FVX3lxTFBhWll6WnN4MzE5cFFuMVJUamRkU2Nyb2dqeXZVNVdXR1dQM2Y4TFlaN2hUUVNwQU9IQkhpdFNjVXdfZk5xMGxwRzc0T18tSTZqOGpkVHRLM29uOUFZMEYycDdiZ1hGTllLaGtoS2ZkRjgzbXBrMmV6eFRINA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 03 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 3, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 62, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb  Magnum Photos", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb  Magnum Photos" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.magnumphotos.com", + "title": "Magnum Photos" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba \u2022 Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb \u2022 Magnum Photos Magnum Photos\nauthor: Laura Havlin\nurl: https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/travel/alex-webb-violet-isle/\nhostname: magnumphotos.com\ndescription: Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb\u2019s long-out-of-print book captures the invisible and the impending\nsitename: Magnum Photos\ndate: 2018-03-03\ncategories: ['Travel']\ntags: ['Alex Webb', 'Cuba', 'Rebecca Norris Webb', 'Violet Isle']\n---\nAs the long out-of-print book by Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb is reissued, the husband and wife team present writings on their joint project.\n\n*In Spanish, the word \u201cesperando\u201d means both \u201cwaiting\u201d and \u201choping,\u201d a layered meaning that starts to get at the feel of the Cuba I\u2019ve photographed since 1993. But what are the Cuban people waiting and hoping for? What lies ahead for this complicated and vibrant island?* \u2014Alex Webb.\n\n*\u201cI have three rooms in my house,\u201d a soft-spoken Habanero who raises cockatiels and lovebirds and parakeets told me during a recent trip to Cuba. \u201cTwo are for my birds, and one is for my wife and me.\u201d*\u2014Rebecca Norris Webb.\n\n### \"But what are the Cuban people waiting and hoping for? What lies ahead for this complicated and vibrant island?\"\n\n##### - Alex Webb\n\nThis book began as two separate projects: Alex\u2019s exploration of the streets of Cuba and Rebecca\u2019s surprising discovery of unique and sometimes mysterious collections of animals throughout the island \u2014from tiny zoos and pigeon societies to hand-painted natural history displays and quirky personal menageries. As we photographed more extensively in Cuba, however, we began to realize that despite the differences in our ways of seeing and our choices of subject, our work sprang from a response to a similar notion: the feel of a nation in a kind of bubble, an economic, political, cultural, and ecological bubble.\n\nFor, thanks to the vagaries of history and politics, Cuba has now existed for some fifty years outside of the world of globalization, outside the vast currents dramatically transforming the face of our world today. For how many 21st-century countries have almost no commercial advertising? How many remain comparatively free of plastics and other pollutants, one reason, scientists now say, that Cuba may be protected environmentally? And how many countries have, for better or worse\u2014for indeed it is both\u2014resisted so adamantly the incursion of U.S.-inspired culture?\n\n### \"So, in the spirit of a duet\u2014with its point-counterpoint\u2014we decided to weave our images together to create a multi-layered portrait of this 'Violet Isle'\"\n\n##### - Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb\n\nSo, in the spirit of a duet\u2014with its point-counterpoint\u2014we decided to weave our images together to create a multi-layered portrait of this \u2018Violet Isle,\u2019 a little known name for Cuba that is inspired by the rich color of its soil, this island in a bubble whose people and animals seem caught out of time, a place that\u2019s engaging yet unsettling, a place that\u2019s vibrant yet vulnerable, a place that\u2014for better or worse\u2014probably won\u2019t exist as it is much longer. \u2014AW and RNW, from \u201cTwo Looks,\u201d their afterword to Violet Isle, written in January 2009\n\nAmerican essayist and novelist, Pica Iyer, best known for his travel writing, had this to say about Violet Isle.\n\n\u201cNot many photographers can catch the invisible or impending, what has been pushed down below the surface or is just around the corner. But Alex, for me, has always been something more than just a photographer\u2026He is, I think, a probing essayist on the modern world\u2019s impulses towards anarchy, a shadow sociologist.\u201d \u2014Pico Iyer, from \u201cThe Sunlight in Shade, the Stillness in Motion,\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s as if [Rebecca] captures the melancholy interiors, and all the quirky secrets kept there, one reason, perhaps, the island still survives in spite of everything.\u201d \u2013\u2013Pico Iyer, from \u201cThe Sunlight in Shade, the Stillness in Motion,\u201d \u2013 afterword to Violet Isle.\n\n### \"Not many photographers can catch the invisible or impending, what has been pushed down below the surface or is just around the corner.\"\n\n##### - Pico Iyer\n\n*Buy a signed copy of Violet Isle on the Magnum shop here.*" + }, + { + "title": "In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution - Northwestern University", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution - Northwestern University" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinwFBVV95cUxOakdwcXU0a0xUUW5kdXFobjNQVk1acFRiUGhTM1pYOERCdnZ4UlJBU1pVdlN5YmJYdS0zMlBGeWZFU1MzMWlBWWdYQ0RlbjhzVTZLSmJlQTAtR21zV0o5MGNROHJ3TW8wdzZ3NzdHNW9yd2E4Ri1JbWNnUE1aaGp4bEQtYjRqellMRTRWUUt0eEo2eklfMk1hYjg1MlJoRzA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.miamiherald.com/article204732234.html", + "id": "CBMinwFBVV95cUxOakdwcXU0a0xUUW5kdXFobjNQVk1acFRiUGhTM1pYOERCdnZ4UlJBU1pVdlN5YmJYdS0zMlBGeWZFU1MzMWlBWWdYQ0RlbjhzVTZLSmJlQTAtR21zV0o5MGNROHJ3TW8wdzZ3NzdHNW9yd2E4Ri1JbWNnUE1aaGp4bEQtYjRqellMRTRWUUt0eEo2eklfMk1hYjg1MlJoRzA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 28, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 87, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution  Northwestern University", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution  Northwestern University" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://news.medill.northwestern.edu", + "title": "Northwestern University" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Thousands of Cuban exiles are exploring an unusual option: Returning to Cuba to live - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thousands of Cuban exiles are exploring an unusual option: Returning to Cuba to live - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXkFVX3lxTE9kSWxneGRjZDdBRkI4ZmxVdlc3cWM1eDA1bHpBZUVENW5fSzF2TENQTnZqYjlFSHNwY2JkY1NDSUdsdTFIZ1ZPdFhRNzM2RU9EODlZMjRfamsxcnA0ZGfSAV5BVV95cUxNZDhaYk42ZzF6N3d6VkhmWFlBYl9tbnMyMzMyTlJuYWY2akFSQlBUN0dQd1Zlem16ZkZtMzBMM1l2SHQ3NmR5aUIyZ1dMTXRiTjRmSjFoUWpkV2hKcXBR?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/in-cuba-chess-is-not-just-a-sport-its-an-institution/", + "id": "CBMiXkFVX3lxTE9kSWxneGRjZDdBRkI4ZmxVdlc3cWM1eDA1bHpBZUVENW5fSzF2TENQTnZqYjlFSHNwY2JkY1NDSUdsdTFIZ1ZPdFhRNzM2RU9EODlZMjRfamsxcnA0ZGfSAV5BVV95cUxNZDhaYk42ZzF6N3d6VkhmWFlBYl9tbnMyMzMyTlJuYWY2akFSQlBUN0dQd1Zlem16ZkZtMzBMM1l2SHQ3NmR5aUIyZ1dMTXRiTjRmSjFoUWpkV2hKcXBR", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 12 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 12, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 71, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Thousands of Cuban exiles are exploring an unusual option: Returning to Cuba to live  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thousands of Cuban exiles are exploring an unusual option: Returning to Cuba to live  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: In Cuba, chess is not just a sport\u2014it\u2019s an institution - Medill Reports Chicago\nauthor: Emsteck\nurl: https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/in-cuba-chess-is-not-just-a-sport-its-an-institution/\nhostname: northwestern.edu\ndescription: By Em Steck Medill Reports Cuba is known for cars, cigars, communism and\u2026chess? HAVANA \u2013 Though little-known to many in the world, chess is one of Cuba\u2019s greatest prides. The game is considered to be a blend of sports, arts and science among players and is deeply embedded in Cuban history and culture. Among chess [\u2026]\nsitename: Medill Reports Chicago\ndate: 2018-03-29\n---\n**By Em Steck**\n\n*Medill Reports*\n\nCuba is known for cars, cigars, communism and\u2026chess?\n\nHAVANA \u2013 Though little-known to many in the world, chess is one of Cuba\u2019s greatest prides. The game is considered to be a blend of sports, arts and science among players and is deeply embedded in Cuban history and culture. Among chess circles worldwide, Cuba is known for producing one of the greatest chess grandmasters of all time\u2014Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Capablanca, whose influence led generations of Cubans to study chess in school and become internationally-ranked chess players.\n\n\u201cCubans like chess and we had a world champion\u2014Capablanca\u2014and any country that has a champion has to seek the steps of their champion,\u201d says Ram\u00f2n Pastor Hern\u00e0ndez Som\u00e8, a professor of chess here in Havana.\n\nEven Fidel Castro, the country\u2019s longtime leader, played chess and promoted it along with his nationwide literacy programs. Castro and his right-hand-man Che Guevara organized the Chess Olympiads in 1966 and the world\u2019s largest simultaneous game of chess in 2002. Since 2002, chess lessons have aired weekly on national television.\n\nToday, some of the world\u2019s top chess players, men and women, live in Cuba. Pablo Salcedo Mederos is one of Cuba\u2019s top players. The 63-year-old is a five-time Cuban national champion with an ELO rating of 2,380 (four points fewer than when I spoke to him in February). He currently holds the title of a senior international master, just one title away from chess\u2019s highest distinction of grandmaster.\n\n\u201cThere are many persons who love chess in Cuba. There are many persons practicing chess in Cuba,\u201d says Salcedo. \u201c[But] we have many difficulties.\u201d\n\nDespite chess\u2019s prominence in modern Cuban culture and the one-party communist government\u2019s support for chess education, chess in Cuba isn\u2019t what it once was\u2014or could be. The worldwide chess community has embraced the internet for play but for Cubans, connecting to the internet is difficult. Internet access is limited to Wi-Fi hotspots and expensive for the average Cuban. Some Cubans worry their skills will suffer and interest in the game will decline. Still, Salcedo has hope for chess\u2019 role in Cuba\u2019s national consciousness.\n\n\u201cWe are a people who fight,\u201d he says. To that end, he is organizing a free internet tournament in April to memorialize the great Capablanca, inviting players from all over the world to participate in the event virtually. It\u2019s a way to honor the godfather of Cuban chess and ensure his legacy \u2014 chess in Cuba \u2014 is honored.\n\n**In Cuba, chess is synonymous with Capablanca**\n\n\u201cChess is part of the national identity,\u201d says Danilo Buela Valdesfino, director of the Latin American Institute for Chess (ISLA), which teaches children how to play. Christopher Columbus brought chess to the island in the 15th century. But Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes, the man most famous for declaring Cuban independence in 1868 \u2014 which started a war \u2014 is considered to be the father of the country in chess circles because he translated the rules and regulations of chess, says Buela.\n\nThe way Cubans think of chess today is most closely associated with Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Capablanca, a legendary grandmaster from the 1920s. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time by the worldwide chess community, and the greatest Cuban player in history. In 1921, Capablanca won the World Chess Championship in Havana, becoming a national hero and solidifying the game\u2019s reputation on the island.\n\n\u201cChess is popular because chess was inherited by Capablanca,\u201d Buela says.\n\n\nAfter Capablanca died in 1942, chess aficionados created the Capablanca Memorial chess tournament in his honor. The first tournament after the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power was in 1962 at the Habana Libre Hotel, the finest in Havana. It was funded by Che Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary and director of the National Bank.\n\nThis was not the last time the government promoted chess. When Cuba sponsored the 1966 Chess Olympiad, the authorities worked to attract the world\u2019s attention. Cuba provided each of the 58 participating countries\u2019 teams with a chauffeur, car and paid air travel, and spent an estimated $5 million on the event. Castro himself participated, playing and losing against the American chess player Bobby Fischer, who was barred by the U.S. government from attending the Capablanca Memorial the year before (though he played virtually by telex).\n\nIn December 2002, Castro led another chess exhibition in Jose Marti Square in Havana. This time, it made the Guinness World Book of Records for the largest chess simultaneous match ever, with 11,320 players. The success of the event led to the broadcasting chess lessons on TV.\n\n\n**A program for the masses: chess, education and ISLA**\n\nWhen the Cuban government promoted a \u201ccampaign of literacy\u201d to educate the masses in Cuba after the revolution, the goal was to provide free education to every citizen. Around the time of the 1966 Chess Olympiads, an idea was born: chess would be taught to all children.\n\n\u201cWhere the entire nation learns to read and write and has access for free to the sport. So, then Che \u2014 who was an aficionado, who was very important to the game of chess \u2013promoted a program for the masses due to the campaign of literacy,\u201d says Buela.\n\n\nAccording to Salcedo, Castro borrowed this idea from Capablanca, who believed it was important for children to learn chess in school. And it was Guevara, Buela says, who really pushed for chess education in schools.\n\n\u201cWhere the entire nation learns to read and write and has access for free to the sport. So, then Che \u2014 who was an aficionado, who was very important to the game of chess \u2013promoted a program for the masses due to the campaign of literacy,\u201d says Buela.\n\nIf the idea was inspired, the execution fell short.\n\n\u201cIn Cuba, there was a national plan,\u201d Salcedo recalls. \u201cIt was obligatory to [learn] chess in primary school. But in practice, it was not possible in all the schools because there were not enough teachers.\u201d\n\nFinding good teachers for young chess players became imperative as the government pushed for more chess education, particularly when it strengthened relations with the Soviet Union. (In the Soviet Union and now in Russia, chess is a popular and important game.) In the 1980s, the government created the Latin American Higher Institute of Chess, more commonly referred to as ISLA. Located in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, ISLA offers free chess lessons in the hopes of creating the next generation of grandmasters.\n\nRam\u00f2n Pastor Hern\u00e0ndez Som\u00e8 is a professor, coach and teacher at ISLA. He learned how to play chess from his father\u2014without a formal teacher\u2014and is committed to teaching chess to Havana\u2019s youth. \u201cI don\u2019t want these children to have what happened to me. So, any child that has interest or urge or want to be here, I permit them to be here,\u201d he says.\n\nFor children to join the free after-school initiative, they must know how to move pieces, show a passion for the game and demonstrate a competitive spirit. Pastor admires the values it teaches. He sees it as a beautiful blend of \u201csports, arts and science.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt helps with memory and board strategy. It allows for creative expression, the logical forms of thinking and also allows for the development of volunteering and many, many other things,\u201d he says.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a game that is aesthetically beautiful because of its artistic expression. And like all sports, motivates triumph,\u201d says Pastor.\n\n\nSalcedo was too old to learn chess at ISLA or even in his primary school. He learned from a friend\u2019s father how to play the game. As an adult, on the civil engineering faculty at the university, his devotion to teaching chess was born of sadness and loss.\n\n\u201cIn 2006, my wife died of cancer and my son \u2014 my little son \u2014 emigrated to the U.S.A. And I was alone,\u201d Salcedo says. So, he asked if he could teach chess at the university, and he did from 2008 until he retired in 2016. He was also one of the teachers who taught chess to the masses on Cuban television. For free, he says. Many chess teachers in Cuba \u2014 including those at ISLA \u2014 volunteer their time to do so.\n\nSalcedo wrote a book about chess in English, \u201cKing and Pawn Endings Re-Defining \u201cThe Opposition\u201d: A Methodology for the Teaching of Basic King and Pawn Endings.\u201d One of his students printed his manuscript for him and bound it together for him as a gift to show his gratefulness to Salcedo.\n\n**Today, the internet threatens Cuba\u2019s future with chess**\n\nCubans play chess on sidewalks, at school, in city parks and at the foot of crumbling buildings. Boards, pieces and timers are considered luxuries by many Cubans. Some chess fans improvise by playing correspondence chess, which once meant playing chess through the mail. The price was right, according to Salcedo, but he found the Cuban postal system less than reliable.\n\nCorrespondence chess through the post was once very popular. In fact, Salcedo is the president of the International Correspondence Chess Federation in Cuba, which attracted players to compete with people from around the world.\n\n\u201cWe had 10,000 people in the federation. That\u2019s a big number to a small country like Cuba,\u201d Salcedo says of the island\u2019s 11 million residents. But in recent years, ICCF\u2019s membership has fallen dramatically. \u201cNow we have only less than 1,000.\u201d\n\nWhy? The simple and biggest answer is the internet. While the world chess community adopted the internet as a means of playing correspondence chess years ago, online chess in Cuba is challenging.\n\nFor one, internet in Cuba is hard to come by. Cuba\u2019s National Statistics Office claims that 4.5 million users accessed Cuba\u2019s internet in 2016, representing about 40 percent of the country\u2019s population. Home internet connections are only available in 5 percent of homes, typically belonging to doctors, professors and state media professionals. Until last year, most home internet connections were illegal until the government announced a pilot program to install internet in 2,000 homes across selected neighborhoods in Old Havana and provincial capitals. But it\u2019s unclear if everyday Cubans can afford to pay for the internet.\n\nMobile internet does not yet exist in Cuba, so Cubans must visit local Wi-Fi hotspots at parks to go online by purchasing one-hour user cards for approximately 1 CUC, Cuba\u2019s convertible currency, or about $1 for an hour\u2019s connection.\n\nOne dollar may not seem like much to foreigners and tourists, but that adds up when you consider the average Cuban makes $30 per month. When it comes to teaching the next generation of students, teachers at ISLA know the internet will become important to a child\u2019s education, including their education with chess. But for now, the internet is costly and cumbersome.\n\nFor Salcedo, the internet is a blessing, because he can head over to the local internet hotspot, log on to ICCF and play 18 games simultaneously online. In the past, he\u2019s played 200 games at once. But even for him, it\u2019s a curse because of the cost. Retired from the university, he collects $16 a month from the government. \u201cYou cannot eat with 16 CUC ($16). You need money from another place,\u201d he says. Salcedo relies on money sent from the U.S. to pay his phone and internet costs, not to mention money for food and travel.\n\nWhen he isn\u2019t online, Salcedo travels abroad to play\u2014in England, Italy, France, Germany, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador. He knows that there are more possibilities to play in other countries, but that cost, too, is expensive. A tourist visa to the United States costs $160\u201410 times his monthly salary. His family abroad sponsors his trips. Besides, international tournaments are expensive and Cubans must foot the bill themselves.\n\nThat\u2019s why Salcedo is organizing a free chess tournament in April, attracting international players from the U.S. and Russia to play online for a Capablanca memorial tournament. Players log into ICCF when the tournament starts April 15, and there is no end date in sight.\n\nSalcedo doesn\u2019t get paid for organizing the tournament or being president of the ICCF\u2019s Cuba chapter or appearing on television\u2014nor will he charge for it. He just loves chess and wants to see it thrive in Cuba.\n\n\u201cThere are many persons who love chess in Cuba. There are many persons practicing chess in Cuba. We have many difficulties. But we are a people who fight,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are at least a few quantity of people that are fighting to have chess alive in Cuba.\u201d\n\nTheir numbers are ever fewer, he says, but many Cubans will volunteer to keep the culture alive and well. Cuba\u2019s chess players still have the memory of Capablanca\u2019s genius, he says, \u201cand we can never forget that.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba - ProPublica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba - ProPublica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifEFVX3lxTFBwNkU4dGpOMkRxN3A1RjhFSVdEcm9jbU5nbWx1aHVLYS0tMXRkSGotUVpidDdWLWhCbDB6LUlYMkM4RHFkUm9UM1hQWThmWVJ4VGJ3WlNIRmhPRGJrY2ZOZ1REcnVMbDVIMzBpY3BsNVd3VVBNejBHazB3MU0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.sumitomocorp.com/en/jp/news/release/2018/group/20180301", + "id": "CBMifEFVX3lxTFBwNkU4dGpOMkRxN3A1RjhFSVdEcm9jbU5nbWx1aHVLYS0tMXRkSGotUVpidDdWLWhCbDB6LUlYMkM4RHFkUm9UM1hQWThmWVJ4VGJ3WlNIRmhPRGJrY2ZOZ1REcnVMbDVIMzBpY3BsNVd3VVBNejBHazB3MU0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba  ProPublica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba  ProPublica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.propublica.org", + "title": "ProPublica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba\nurl: http://www.sumitomocorp.com/en/jp//news/release/2018/group/20180301\nhostname: sumitomocorp.com\ndescription: View Sumitomo Corporation's News : Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba\nsitename: Sumitomo Corporation\ndate: 2025-08-07\ntags: ['News Release,Sumitomo Corporation,Sumitomo Corp,sumitomo']\n---\nMar. 01, 2018\n\nSumitomo Corporation\n\n# Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba\n\nSumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Kuniharu Nakamura) participated in an activity designed to introduce Japanese culture in the Cuban capital of Havana over the five-day period February 1 to 5.\n\n\nSumitomo Corporation\u2019s overseas business locations organize activities to introduce traditional Japanese culture in an effort to build good relations with local communities. At the International Book Fair recently held in Havana, the Japanese Embassy in Cuba and Sumitomo Corporation jointly hosted a Japan Booth. The International Book Fair is a major cultural event familiar to many people, and this year\u2019s Fair attracted about 450,000 visitors.\n\n\nSumitomo Corporation employees dispatched from Tokyo held demonstrations of kimono dressing and the tea ceremony at the Japan Booth, and visitors were given opportunities to experience Japanese calligraphy and origami first-hand. Many Cubans were thus exposed to Japanese culture, and they gained an even deeper understanding of Japan by interacting with staff from the Japanese embassy and employees from Sumitomo Corporation.\n\n\nSumitomo Corporation is committed to actively continuing efforts to introduce Japanese culture to people around the world.\n\n[Photos from cultural introduction activities]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u25a0Sumitomo Corporation\u2019s Material Issues\n\nSumitomo Corporation Group positions \u201cSix Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society\u201d as an important factor in developing business strategies and in the decision-making process for individual businesses. Going forward, we will pursue sustainable growth by resolving these issues through our business activities. This project especially contributes to \u201cthe Development of Local Communities and Industries\u201d .\n\n- Inquiries\n- Corporate Communications Department, Sumitomo Corporation\n- News Release Contact Form" + }, + { + "title": "Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba - sumitomocorp.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba - sumitomocorp.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidkFVX3lxTE5GRHVINkZ4NU1ZcnVNaDZHMTlFbFZyVDlkSmtVdlBwVVNKemdCZ0dkcDlkbGhOYlR1UWhDT0hFbXZ4LThZdEtmMDBKUm1GbFEtZ1Q1NC0xOW90TTlDa09oS1ZpNHIyQ2RPQWVuWkFyV2FzQlFMY0E?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/cuba/2018-03-28/cuba-after-castros", + "id": "CBMidkFVX3lxTE5GRHVINkZ4NU1ZcnVNaDZHMTlFbFZyVDlkSmtVdlBwVVNKemdCZ0dkcDlkbGhOYlR1UWhDT0hFbXZ4LThZdEtmMDBKUm1GbFEtZ1Q1NC0xOW90TTlDa09oS1ZpNHIyQ2RPQWVuWkFyV2FzQlFMY0E", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba  sumitomocorp.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Introducing Japanese Culture in Cuba  sumitomocorp.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.sumitomocorp.com", + "title": "sumitomocorp.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba After the Castros\nauthor: Marguerite Jimenez\nurl: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/cuba/2018-03-28/cuba-after-castros\nhostname: foreignaffairs.com\ndescription: For the first time in nearly 60 years, Cuba will be led by someone not bearing the surname Castro.\nsitename: Foreign Affairs Magazine\ndate: 2018-03-28\n---\nCuba is about to enter a new era. For the first time in nearly 60 years, the country will be led by someone not bearing the surname Castro. On April 19, First Vice President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel will become president, replacing the 86-year-old Ra\u00fal Castro, who took over for his brother Fidel in 2008. Who is D\u00edaz-Canel, and what is his presidency likely to mean for Cuba?\n\nMEET THE NEW BOSS\n\nD\u00edaz-Canel differs from the Castros in a number of important ways other than name. He is significantly younger than Cuba\u2019s historic generation of leaders: he will take office one day before his 58th birthday (Fidel ruled until age 81; Ra\u00fal from 76 to 86). Along with 70 percent of the Cuban population, he has never known Cuba without a Castro at its helm. He did not fight in the Cuban Revolution, and therefore does not have access to the most basic form of legitimacy enjoyed by Cuba\u2019s presidents and other senior officials for the past 60 years. He will, moreover, be Cuba\u2019s first civilian president\u2014and the first president not to also be first secretary of the party\u2014since 1976, when Fidel Castro took over the office.\n\nYet D\u00edaz-Canel is not coming in to break the china. He is a consummate political insider. He cut his teeth at the height of Cuba\u2019s so-called special period\u2014a euphemism for the economic disaster that struck the country following the collapse of the Soviet Union\u2014when he served as a PCC leader at the provincial level, developing a reputation as an efficient manager, pragmatist, and man of the people. He was frequently seen riding around the city of Villa Clara on a bicycle (foregoing a government-issued car), endearing him to the community he served and demonstrating his commitment to the revolution\u2019s ideals. As a local journalist who knew him at the time explained to Reuters, \u201cHe didn\u2019t do it to look for popularity. He did it because that\u2019s how he was. He was very straight-forward.\u201d\n\nAfter joining the PCC\u2019s Central Committee in 1991, D\u00edaz-Canel went on to become the youngest-ever member of the Politburo (the most powerful body within the PCC) in 2003, at the age of 43. He was appointed minister of higher education in 2009 and selected as Cuba\u2019s first vice president in 2013. He has risen to the presidency gradually and through a relatively institutional and meritocratic route, unlike so many of the young and inexperienced but loyal leaders nurtured by Fidel and frequently promoted in haste. Although D\u00edaz-Canel is likely to have been chosen by consensus, and has therefore won support from a range of actors across the Cuban political spectrum, observers can only speculate about the internal political processes that led to his selection to the presidency.\n\nBeyond being an insider, D\u00edaz-Canel is also a political survivor. He came of age in the party alongside the likes of Felipe Perez Roque and Carlos Lage, two former rising stars and would-be reformers who were purged in 2009 for having been, in Fidel\u2019s words, tempted by the \u201choney of power.\u201d (Many observers believe they were dismissed for speaking out of turn and getting out in front of the official government position on reforms and the pace of change on the island.) By contrast, D\u00edaz-Canel has for the most part stayed out of the limelight until his recent ascent to the role of first vice president.\n\nA QUESTION OF LEGITIMACY\n\nCredentials and experience aside, as Cuba\u2019s presumptive next president, D\u00edaz-Canel faces enormous challenges. The Cuban economy is struggling (to put it mildly), there are major differences of opinion within the leadership about the pace and breadth of economic and political reforms, and the expansion of the private sector along with the contraction of the Cuban state have created new and worsening inequalities. Cuba is still recovering from Hurricane Irma, struggling to adapt to a major reduction in subsidies from Venezuela, and facing continuing economic constraints from the U.S. embargo, which, under the administration of President Donald Trump, is not likely to end soon.\n\nUnderlying all of these issues is the critical question of legitimacy. Unlike his predecessors, whose power was justified by their revolutionary pedigree, D\u00edaz-Canel will have to generate his own legitimacy largely through performance, as measured by his ability to deliver on promises\u2014of reform, more responsive government, expanded access to information, improvements in quality of life, and greater opportunities for the country\u2019s youth. But although most Cuban economists agree on the need to support monetary reform, promote foreign investment, and improve efficiency in the state sector, nonetheless in Cuba, as in most countries, what seems like common sense to economists is complicated by political realities. How D\u00edaz-Canel will resolve these tensions remains to be seen.\n\nCUBA AND THE WORLD\n\nAlthough no one can predict exactly how D\u00edaz-Canel will respond to these challenges, there is no denying that change is on the horizon. The United States and other outside actors will not determine the nature or the timing of these changes. They can, however, create a climate in which reform is easier. Strategies of U.S. engagement that recognize Cuban sovereignty and resist calling for regime change will reduce the risks to D\u00edaz-Canel of undertaking more significant changes.\n\nThe EU has embraced this more forward-leaning and pro-engagement approach to Cuba with its November 2017 Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. Indeed, the EU and its member states are working to help Cuba\u2019s economic and political evolution in important ways. In addition to signing agreements on renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, Brussels is supporting broader structural reforms on the island. During a visit to Havana at the beginning of 2018, EU officials offered to assist Cuba with its badly needed currency unification (the country currently has two official currencies) based on their experiences introducing the euro. Swedish officials have similarly offered to assist Cuba\u2019s central bank with developing the country\u2019s evolving progressive tax regime. As the EU\u2019s top diplomat Federica Mogherini explained during a press conference in Havana, \u201cThere are opportunities for trade, investment, and promoting common solutions to global challenges like migration and climate change.... We can speak to Cuba on all issues because there is commitment to dialogue despite the differences between both sides.\u201d\n\nCuba\u2019s creditors have also sought to do their part. In 2015, Paris Club lenders, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, signed an agreement with Cuba to forgive or renegotiate $11.1 billion of Cuba\u2019s foreign debt, which will help the country more functionally integrate into the world economy\u2014a necessity if its economy is to recover, let alone grow. And although Cuba remains isolated from traditional international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank\u2014thanks largely to the United States\u2014other bodies, such as the Latin American Development Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, are providing technical and financial assistance to support economic reforms on the island.\n\nCountries around the world are becoming more involved with Cuba precisely at the moment when the United States is becoming less so.\n\nChina and Russia are also actively engaged with Cuba. In 2011, Cuba restructured its $6 billion debt with China (much of which was later forgiven) and in 2014, ahead of Vladimir Putin\u2019s visit to Havana, Russia forgave $32 billion of Cuba\u2019s foreign debt. Both countries are also investing heavily on the island. Earlier this month, China delivered $36 million in assistance to Cuba for projects in agriculture, water sources, renewable energy, and technology. China is currently Cuba\u2019s largest trading partner, accounting for $1.8 billion in exports to the island in 2017. Russian trade with Cuba has also grown exponentially in the past two years, with exports to Cuba increasing 81 percent in 2017. For the first time since the 1990s, Russia is exporting oil to Cuba, to help make up for Havana\u2019s loss of Venezuelan oil subsidies.\n\nMAKING NICE\n\nCountries around the world are becoming more involved with Cuba precisely at the moment when the United States is becoming less so. Reversing the policy of his predecessor, Barack Obama, Trump has taken steps to limit U.S. engagement with Havana, slowing (though not prohibiting) U.S. travel to the island, limiting the possibilities for new commercial engagement, and\u2014following a series of still mysterious health incidents affecting some U.S. diplomats\u2014sharply cutting back staffing at the U.S. embassy in Cuba. The last time that Washington had such a skeleton crew in Havana was in 1977, shortly after President Jimmy Carter opened the U.S. Interests Section. As other countries are designing their policies to support the processes of change on the island, the United States\u2019 foreign policy toward Cuba looks more and more like something from the early days of the Cold War.\n\nDuring a time of historic change on the island, the United States needs to more directly engage with Cuba (and if it doesn\u2019t, others will). At minimum, this should include a fully staffed and active embassy in Havana. Even for a hawkish Trump administration, re-staffing the embassy would serve the U.S. national interest, including by gathering on-the-ground information about Cuba\u2019s changing dynamics and strengthening cooperation in law enforcement, counternarcotics, human trafficking, and environmental issues. The United States has nothing to gain from its current policy of hostility. In fact, by seeking to isolate Cuba, Washington will only succeed in isolating itself.\n\n*An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that D\u00edaz-Canel would be the first civilian president since 1952 and the first postrevolutionary president not to serve as first secretary of the PCC. In fact, between 1952 and 1976, when Fidel Castro became president, Cuba had four civilian presidents who were not first secretary of the party.*\n\n### You are reading a free article\n\nSubscribe to *Foreign Affairs* to get unlimited access.\n\n- Paywall-free reading of new articles and over a century of archives\n- Six issues a year in print and online, plus audio articles\n- Unlock access to the\n*Foreign Affairs*app for reading on the go\n\nAlready a subscriber? Sign In" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba After the Castros - Foreign Affairs", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba After the Castros - Foreign Affairs" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMif0FVX3lxTFB5X0VNNFN4dFdBOFFmYVl4cTdSUDdVMjhWT0NXZjM4elJxdFh1R3J1M2lVS0phaHIxLTRaTnJ3QjhhbVpYNVlqY1BsOVBKOUl4UGNvd1NuUUhnZkdYVncycjluY0xrNTRBYURrbld2aXBmc0pfTG9KOVVjRXowbHc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-we-reverse-engineered-the-cuban-sonic-weapon-attack", + "id": "CBMif0FVX3lxTFB5X0VNNFN4dFdBOFFmYVl4cTdSUDdVMjhWT0NXZjM4elJxdFh1R3J1M2lVS0phaHIxLTRaTnJ3QjhhbVpYNVlqY1BsOVBKOUl4UGNvd1NuUUhnZkdYVncycjluY0xrNTRBYURrbld2aXBmc0pfTG9KOVVjRXowbHc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 28, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 87, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba After the Castros  Foreign Affairs", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba After the Castros  Foreign Affairs" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.foreignaffairs.com", + "title": "Foreign Affairs" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack\nauthor: Kevin Fu Wenyuan Xu Chen Yan\nurl: https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-we-reverse-engineered-the-cuban-sonic-weapon-attack\nhostname: ieee.org\ndescription: Examining overlooked clues reveals how ultrasound could have caused harm in Havana\nsitename: IEEE Spectrum\ndate: 2018-03-15\ncategories: ['Semiconductors']\ntags: ['weapons, cuba, intermodulation-distortion, type-feature, signal-processing, sonic-weapon, devices, ultrasound, medical-devices', 'weapons,cuba,intermodulation-distortion,type-feature,signal-processing,sonic-weapon,devices,ultrasound,medical-devices,SpectrumType.Feature']\n---\n# How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack\n\n## Examining overlooked clues reveals how ultrasound could have caused harm in Havana\n\n**Throughout last year,** mysterious ailments struck dozens of U.S. and Canadian diplomats and their families living in Cuba. Symptoms included dizziness, sleeplessness, headache, and hearing loss; many of the afflicted were in their homes or in hotel rooms when they heard intense, high-pitched sounds shortly before falling ill. In February, neurologists who examined the diplomats concluded that the symptoms were consistent with concussion, but without any blunt trauma to the head. Suggested culprits included toxins, viruses, and a sonic weapon, but to date, no cause has been confirmed.\n\nWe found the last suggestion\u2014a sonic weapon\u2014intriguing, because around the same time that stories about health problems in Cuba began appearing, our labs, at the University of Michigan\u2013Ann Arbor, and at Zhejiang University in China, were busy writing up our latest research on ultrasonic cybersecurity. We wondered, Could ultrasound be the culprit in Cuba?\n\nOn the face of it, it seems impossible. For one thing, ultrasonic frequencies\u201420 kilohertz or higher\u2014are inaudible to humans, and yet the sounds heard by the diplomats were obviously audible. What's more, those frequencies don't propagate well through air and aren't known to cause direct harm to people except under rarefied conditions. Acoustic experts dismissed the idea that ultrasound could be at fault.\n\nThen, about six months ago, an editor from\n*The Conversation* sent us a link to a video from the Associated Press, reportedly recorded in Cuba during one of the attacks.\n\nVideo: AP\n\nThe editor asked us for our reaction. In the video, you can hear a piercing, metallic sound\u2014it's not pleasant. Watching the AP video frame by frame, we immediately noticed a few oddities. In one sequence, someone plays a sound file from one smartphone while a second smartphone records and plots the acoustic spectrum. So already the data are somewhat suspect because every microphone and every speaker introduces some distortion. Moreover, what humans hear isn't necessarily the same as what a microphone picks up. Cleverly crafted sounds can lead to auditory illusions akin to optical illusions.\n\nThe AP video also includes a spectral plot of the recording\u2014that's basically a visual representation of the intensities of the various acoustic tones present, arranged by frequency. Looking closely, we noticed a spectral peak near 7 kilohertz and a dozen other less-intense tones that formed a regular pattern with peaks separated by approximately 180 hertz. What could have caused these ripples every 180 Hz? And what kind of mechanism could make an ultrasonic source produce audible sound?\n\nImage: AP\n\nAs the questions began to mount, it still didn't make sense to us, and that seemed like an excellent reason to dig deeper.\n\nWe also felt an obligation to investigate. Our own research had taught us that ultrasound can compromise the security of many types of sensors found widely in medical devices, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things. For the last decade, two of us (Fu and Xu) have been collaborating on embedded security research, with the goal of discovering physics-based engineering principles and practices that will make automated computer systems secure by design. For example, Xu's 2017 paper \u201c DolphinAttack: Inaudible Voice Commands\" describes how we used ultrasonic signals to inject inaudible voice commands into speech recognition systems such as Siri, Google Now, Samsung S Voice, Huawei HiVoice, Cortana, Alexa, and the navigation system of an Audi automobile.\n\nThe Cuban ultrasonic mystery was too close to our research to ignore.\n\n**One thing we knew** going into this investigation is that acoustic interference can occur where you least expect it. Several years ago, Fu became annoyed by an ear-piercing sound coming from a lightbulb in his apartment. He took spectral measurements and noticed that the lightbulb tended to shriek when the air conditioner turned on. He eventually concluded that the compressor was pumping coolant through its pipes at the same resonant frequency of the filament in the bulb. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. But in this case, the coolant pipes ran through the ceiling and mechanically coupled to the ceiling joist supporting the lightbulb. The superintendent opened up the ceiling and separated the joist from the pipe with a piece of duct tape, to dampen the unwanted coupling. The sound stopped.\n\nWe also knew that ultrasound isn't considered harmful to humans\u2014for the most part. Misused, an ultrasonic emitter that's in direct contact with a person's body can heat tissues and damage organs. And the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) warns that audible subharmonics caused by intense airborne ultrasonic tones can be harmful. Thus, U.S. standards on ultrasonic emissions build in safety margins to account for those subharmonics. The Canadian government, meanwhile, has ruled that humans can be directly harmed by airborne ultrasound at sound pressures of 155 decibels or higher\u2014which is louder than a jet taking off at 25 meters. That ruling also notes that \u201ca number of 'subjective' effects have been reportedly caused by airborne ultrasound, including fatigue, headache, nausea, tinnitus and disturbance of neuromuscular coordination.\"\n\nOf course, even at 155 dB, ultrasonic tones remain inaudible. Unless they're not\u2014more on this in a bit.\n\nTo make the problem tractable, we began by assuming that the source of the audible sounds in Cuba was indeed ultrasonic. Reviewing the OSHA guidance, Fu theorized that the sound came from the audible subharmonics of inaudible ultrasound. In contrast to harmonics, which are produced at integer multiples of a sound's fundamental frequency, subharmonics are produced at integer divisors (or submultiples) of the fundamental frequency, such as 1/2 or 1/3. For instance, the second subharmonic of an ultrasonic 20-kHz tone is a clearly audible 10 kHz. Subharmonics didn't quite explain the AP video, though: In the video, the spectral plot indicates tones evenly spaced every 180 Hz, whereas subharmonics would have appeared at progressively smaller fractions of the original frequency. Such a plot would not have the constant 180-Hz spacing.\n\nFu explained his theory to Chen Yan, a Ph.D. student in Xu's lab. Yan wrote back: It's not subharmonics\u2014it's intermodulation distortion.\n\nIntermodulation distortion (IMD) is a bizarre effect. When multiple tones of different frequencies travel through air, IMD can produce several by-products at other frequencies. In particular, second-order IMD by-products will appear at the difference or the sum of the two tones' frequencies. So if you start with a 25-kHz signal and a 32-kHz signal, the result could be a 7-kHz tone or a 57-kHz tone. These by-products can be significantly lower in frequency while maintaining much of the intensity of the original tones.\n\nIMD is well known to radio engineers, who consider it undesirable for radio communication. The sounds don't have to travel through air; any \u201cnonlinear medium\" will do. A medium is considered nonlinear if a change in the output signal is not proportional to the change in the input. Acoustic devices such as microphones and amplifiers can also exhibit nonlinearity. One way to test for it is to send two pure tones into an amplifier or microphone and then measure the output. If additional tones appear in the output, then you know the device is nonlinear.\n\nComputer science researchers have explored the physics of IMD. In the DolphinAttack paper, we used ultrasonic signals to trick a smartphone's voice-recognition assistant. Because of nonlinearity in the smartphone's microphone, the ultrasound produced by-products at audible frequencies\n*inside* the circuitry of the microphone. Thus, the IMD signal remains inaudible to humans, but the smartphone hears voices. In an early 2017 paper, Nirupam Roy, Haitham Hassanieh, and Romit Roy Choudhury at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign described their BackDoor system [PDF] for using ultrasound and IMD to jam spy microphones, watermark music played at live concerts, and otherwise create \u201cshadow\" sounds.\n\nSome composers and musicians have also used IMD to create synthetic sounds, combining audible tones to create other subliminal, audible tones. For example, in their 1987 book\n*The Musician's Guide to Acoustics*, Murray Campbell and Clive Greated note that the last movement of Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 1 in E minor contains tones that lead to a rumbling IMD. The human ear processes sound in a nonlinear fashion, and so it can be \u201ctricked\" into hearing tones that weren't produced by the instruments and that aren't in the sheet music; those subliminal tones are produced when the played tones combine nonlinearly in the inner ear.\n\n**Back to our quest:** Knowing that intermodulation distortion between multiple ultrasonic signals can cause lower-frequency by-products, we next set about simulating the effect in the lab, aiming to replicate what we observed in the AP News video. We used two signals: a pure 25-kHz tone and a 32-KHz carrier tone that had its amplitude modulated by a 180-Hz tone. (Our technical report, \u201cOn Cuba, Diplomats, Ultrasound, and Intermodulation Distortion\" [PDF], goes into more detail on the math of how we did this.) The result was clear: Strong tones appeared at 7 kHz with repeating ripples separated by 180 Hz.\n\nWe then followed up with live experiments. As in the simulation, we used two ultrasonic speakers to emit the signals, one as a 180-Hz sine wave amplitude modulated over a 32-kHz carrier, and the second as a single-tone 25-kHz sine wave. We used a smartphone to record the result. IMD caused by the air and the smartphone microphone created the telltale 7-kHz signal. This video shows the experimental setup:\n\nVideo: Chen Yan\n\nIf you look closely at the spectral plot displayed on the smartphone, you'll notice some higher-order IMD by-products, at 4 kHz and beyond, as well as several other frequencies. Interestingly, although we could hear the 7-kHz tones during the experiment, we couldn't hear the 4-kHz tones recorded by the smartphone. We suspect that the 4-kHz tones partly resulted from secondary IMD within the microphone itself. In other words, the microphone was hearing an acoustic illusion that we couldn't hear.\n\nFor fun, we also experimented with using an ultrasonic carrier to eavesdrop on a room. In this kind of setup, a spy places a microphone to pick up speech and then uses the relatively low-frequency audio signal to modulate the amplitude of the carrier wave. The carrier wave then gets picked up by an ultrasonic-capable sensor located some distance away and demodulated to recover the original audio. In our experiments, we selected a song to stand in for the audio signal recorded by an eavesdropping microphone: Rick Astley's 1980s hit \u201cNever Gonna Give You Up.\" We amplitude modulated the song on a 32-kHz ultrasonic carrier. When we introduced a 25-kHz sine wave to interfere with this covert ultrasonic channel, IMD in the air produced a 7-kHz audible tone with ripples associated with the tones of the song, which was then picked up by the recording device. The computer played the song after software demodulation.\n\nThis video shows the results of our \u201crickroll\" covert ops:\n\nVideo: Chen Yan\n\nOne thing to note in the video is that the metallic sounds near 7 kHz are audible only at the point where the two signals cross. When the signals do not intersect, you can't hear the 7-kHz tone, but the demodulator can still play the covert song. That finding is consistent with what some diplomats reported in Cuba: The sounds they heard tended to be confined to a part of the room. When they moved just a few steps away, the sound stopped.\n\n**So if the sources** of the sound in Cuba were ultrasonic, what could they have been? There are many sources of ultrasound in the modern world. At Michigan, our offices are bathed in 25-kHz signals coming from ceiling-mounted ultrasonic room-occupancy sensors. We've removed the devices closest to our lab equipment, but just last month we discovered a new one. [To learn more about our travails with these sensors, see \"How an Ultrasonic Sensor Nearly Derailed a Ph.D. Thesis.\"] Another source is ultrasonic pest repellents against rodents and insects. (This blog post describes a family's encounter with such a device in the Havana airport.) And some automobiles contain ultrasonic emitters.\n\nWhile the equipment we used in our Cuban re-creation is relatively bulky, ultrasonic emitters can be quite tiny, no larger than a piece of Rolo candy. Online, we found a manufacturer in Russia that sells a fashionable leather clutch that conceals an ultrasonic emitter, presumably to jam recording devices at cocktail parties. We also found electronics stores that carry high-power ultrasonic jammers that cause microphones to malfunction. One advertised jammer emits 120-dB ultrasonic interference at a distance of 1 meter. That's like standing next to a chainsaw. If a signal from that caliber jammer were to combine with a second ultrasonic source, audible by-products could result.\n\nWhile the math leads us to believe that intermodulation distortion is a likely culprit in the Cuban case, we haven't ruled out other null hypotheses that may account for the discomfort that diplomats felt. For example, maybe the tones people heard didn't cause their symptoms but were just another symptom, a clue to the real cause. Or maybe the sounds had some sort of nonauditory effect on people's hearing and physiology, through bone conduction or some other known phenomenon. Microwave radiation is another theory. One positive outcome from all this would be if more computer scientists were to master embedded security, signal processing, and systems engineering.\n\nEven if our hypothesis is correct, we may never learn the definitive story. The parties responsible for the ultrasonic emitters would have already figured out by now that their devices are to blame and would have removed or deactivated them. But whether our hypothesis is correct or not, one thing is clear: Ultrasonic emitters can produce audible by-products that could have unintentionally harmed diplomats. That is, bad engineering may be a more likely culprit than a sonic weapon.\n\n## About the Authors\n\nKevin Fu is a Fellow of the IEEE and an associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan\u2013Ann Arbor, where he leads the Security and Privacy Research Group. He's also chief scientist of the health-care cybersecurity startup Virta Labs. Wenyuan Xu is professor and chair of the department of systems science and engineering at Zhejiang University. Xu's Ubiquitous System Security Lab (USSLab) has twice been recognized by the Tesla Security Researcher Hall of Fame. Chen Yan is a Ph.D. student at Zhejiang University.\n\n## To Probe Further\n\nThe authors' technical report \u201c On Cuba, Diplomats, Ultrasound, and Intermodulation Distortion\" [PDF] (Technical Report CSE-TR-001-18, University of Michigan, Computer Science & Engineering, 1 March 2018) provides additional details on their simulation and experiments to reverse engineer the Cuban embassy \u201csonic weapon.\"\n\nAP News's Josh Lederman and Michael Weissenstein were the first to report the Cuban sound recording, in \u201c Dangerous sound? What Americans heard in Cuba attacks,\" 13 October 2017.\n\nFor more on how sounds can be synthesized using intermodulation distortion, see \u201c\nSound Synthesis and Auditory Distortion Products,\" by Gary S. Kendall, Christopher Haworth, and Rodrigo F. C\u00e1diz, in *Computer Music Journal*, 38(4), MIT Press, Winter 2014.\n\nA number of people have suggested that microwaves, rather than ultrasound, may have been at work in Cuba. See, for example, James C. Lin's article \u201c\nStrange Reports of Weaponized Sound in Cuba,\" in *IEEE Microwave Magazine*, January/February 2018, pp. 18-19. A remaining question is whether microwaves could have produced the high-pitched sounds recorded by the smartphone in the AP News video." + }, + { + "title": "How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack - IEEE Spectrum", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack - IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNMEpXcVJTdHJfbjE4RXdQQ2c4aWZ6dEthaVdsb0ZIOVdEWGg3OWRtanU4SUVxT1VqS20xUlZYeXNLbDllR1VHZW55T0phUUFpSXptLXR2MFlKVktncVRneGoxREsxTUI4SjJjUi1ScmFnNHRLaVpBSWU0VUpkZ1MzcGJ1UkpTdE840gGcAUFVX3lxTFBnU2R4YUZ6UEhJenA0eTlhbm53LTdOa05LMFJ6al9zMUs2NUlYekdGX19JT3RIbkNTejBEMUgwakVKV3Z5UWFwVzh3Ukx0MjdubDU2MjREX0N1YzNCQklkSllUbmxvbjZvV0cwQ2RBdXRxeWdkZDZJNjlhdkJRMmpQb0dNLUNlQUMtNTFpOG5aaDhvc1llY1Q0ejltag?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.propublica.org/article/state-department-embassy-cuts-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNMEpXcVJTdHJfbjE4RXdQQ2c4aWZ6dEthaVdsb0ZIOVdEWGg3OWRtanU4SUVxT1VqS20xUlZYeXNLbDllR1VHZW55T0phUUFpSXptLXR2MFlKVktncVRneGoxREsxTUI4SjJjUi1ScmFnNHRLaVpBSWU0VUpkZ1MzcGJ1UkpTdE840gGcAUFVX3lxTFBnU2R4YUZ6UEhJenA0eTlhbm53LTdOa05LMFJ6al9zMUs2NUlYekdGX19JT3RIbkNTejBEMUgwakVKV3Z5UWFwVzh3Ukx0MjdubDU2MjREX0N1YzNCQklkSllUbmxvbjZvV0cwQ2RBdXRxeWdkZDZJNjlhdkJRMmpQb0dNLUNlQUMtNTFpOG5aaDhvc1llY1Q0ejltag", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 15, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 74, + 0 + ], + "summary": "How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack  IEEE Spectrum", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How We Reverse Engineered the Cuban \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Attack  IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://spectrum.ieee.org", + "title": "IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: State Department Likely to Extend Cuts to U.S. Embassy in Cuba\nauthor: Tim Golden; Sebastian Rotella\nurl: https://www.propublica.org/article/state-department-embassy-cuts-in-cuba\nhostname: propublica.org\ndescription: Six months after the State Department pulled most of its diplomats from Havana because of mysterious incidents that injured 24 Americans, the Trump administration is poised to make the reductions permanent. The decision could affect U.S. intelligence, Cuban migration and support for Cuban human rights advocates.\nsitename: ProPublica\ndate: 2018-03-01\ncategories: ['Uncategorized']\ntags: ['lang:English,topic:Trump Administration']\nlicense: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0\n---\nWASHINGTON \u2014 The Trump administration is poised to permanently extend the drastic cuts it made to the United States diplomatic staff in Cuba last fall after mysterious incidents in which 24 Americans were injured there, State Department officials said.\n\nThe staff reductions would have a major impact on U.S. diplomacy toward Cuba, the officials said, obscuring Washington\u2019s view of a historic political transition on the island and limiting the contacts of American diplomats with Cuban officials, political dissidents and others. U.S. officials said the State Department has already informed the Castro government that it will likely not meet its annual commitment to admit at least 20,000 Cubans under a 1994 migration agreement. That deal was meant to discourage Cubans from trying to reach the United States aboard homemade rafts and boats.\n\nOfficials said a decision memorandum that was sent to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week included a proposal to keep only the emergency staff of 18 diplomats who have been assigned to Havana since the temporary reassignment of about 25 others last September. Under the department\u2019s regulations, it has until March 4 to either send some diplomats back to their posts or reduce the staff indefinitely.\n\nThe State Department\u2019s chief spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said Tuesday that the department was still weighing what to do about staffing the Havana embassy. \u201cWe haven\u2019t made a decision just yet,\u201d she said.\n\nMost of the diplomats who were ordered out of Havana did not want to leave. In a private letter obtained by ProPublica, 35 diplomats and spouses who worked in the embassy appealed to senior State Department officials just before the withdrawals to be allowed to remain in Cuba if they chose.\n\n\u201cWe are aware of the risks of remaining at Post,\u201d the group wrote on Sept. 21. \u201cAnd we understand that there may be unknown risks. We ask that the Department give us the opportunity to decide for ourselves whether to stay or leave.\u201d\n\nA State Department spokesperson declined to comment directly on the letter. But last October, responding to earlier reports that some diplomats in Havana did not want to leave their posts, Nauert said she understood that they \u201cbelieve firmly in our mission\u201d and wanted to remain. \u201cHowever,\u201d she added, \u201cwhen our Secretary looks at the situation and says, \u2018We can\u2019t protect you because we don\u2019t know what is causing this, and we don\u2019t know who is responsible,\u2019 he has to make that decision to bring our folks home.\u201d\n\nSeveral diplomats first reported hearing strange, high-pitched sounds in their homes at the end of 2016, just after the election of President Donald Trump signaled an end to the rapprochement between the two countries under the Obama administration.\n\nThe first four people who came forward, ProPublica reported recently, were all intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover. Shaken by the noises, which in some cases seemed almost like beams of sound, they and others in the embassy assumed some kind of high-tech harassment by the Cuban security forces.\n\nBut the Cuban government \u2014 which has appeared strongly committed to better relations with the U.S. (and the surge of tourism and investment that came with them) \u2014 has vehemently denied any involvement in the incidents. Over the past year, Cuban officials have said they would do whatever they are asked to stop the problem, and U.S. national security officials say that Cuban authorities have cooperated closely with FBI agents who visited the island to investigate. Their inquiry has turned up no evidence to implicate the Cuban government, officials who have been briefed on it said.\n\n### Read More\n\nDespite that, Trump administration officials have blamed Cuba for failing to protect the diplomats, arguing that the government of President Ra\u00fal Castro has such control over life on the island that it would be impossible for any attacks to take place without its knowledge.\n\nThe State Department issued a formal warning that Americans could be at risk if they traveled to the island. It also ordered 17 of the 26 Cuban diplomats in Washington and their families to leave the country. Those forced out included members of the commercial section, which worked with U.S. businesses seeking to invest in Cuba, and all but one of the embassy\u2019s four consular officers.\n\nThe flow of American tourists has declined substantially since last summer, a change that has been felt especially by Cubans who rent out rooms to travelers, operate small restaurants called *paladares*, or run other small businesses that depend on such visitors.\n\n\u201cThe travel warning has been devastating to the Cuban entrepreneurs who had benefitted from the policy of travel and openness,\u201d said Sen. Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican, who visited the island in January. \u201cThat\u2019s who we say we want to help, and they\u2019re dying on the vine.\u201d\n\nFlake, a longtime proponent of greater engagement with Cuba, had traveled to Havana in August 2015 to attend ceremonies for the reopening of the U.S. Embassy, 54 years after President Eisenhower severed relations. When Flake returned to Havana in this year, he said in an interview with ProPublica, he found the modernist glass-and-concrete chancery building sadly empty. \u201cIt was devastating to see basically just a skeletal staff,\u201d he said.\n\nState Department officials said that the emergency staff is capped at 18 \u2014 but the embassy has been run of late by as few as 11 or 12 diplomats. That\u2019s roughly the number that Fidel Castro tried to impose in 1961, when he complained that the embassy had become \u201ca nest of spies\u201d trying to subvert the revolution. (Eisenhower said then that such a small staff would \u201crender impossible the conduct of normal diplomatic relations.\u201d)\n\nAt a potentially critical moment of political transition in Cuba \u2014 Ra\u00fal Castro has said he will relinquish the presidency in April \u2014 current and former U.S. diplomats voiced concern that Washington will lose insight as well as its growing influence.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s really essential to see what\u2019s happening in Havana and around the country in order to understand where Cuba is headed,\u201d said Vicki Huddleston, who headed the U.S. mission in Havana from 1999 to 2002. \u201cEssentially we\u2019ve gone from the largest diplomatic presence in Cuba to a very small and isolated one.\u201d\n\nBrian Latell, a retired CIA analyst of Cuba who now teaches at Florida International University, cautioned that the two countries could still conduct diplomacy, and that it\u2019s hard to predict how much Washington\u2019s understanding of Cuba would be impaired by a much smaller staff. But he suggested that the big picture was already clear: \u201cThe bilateral relationship is restored to some of the darkest days of the cold war.\u201d\n\nA prominent Cuban dissident, Marta Beatriz Roque, said the U.S. withdrawal had already had a \u201cdramatic\u201d impact on human rights advocates on the island, all but eliminating their access to American diplomats and making it much more difficult for dissidents to travel to the U.S.\n\n\u201cBasically, I would say the interaction with the U.S. Embassy right now for us is at a level of zero,\u201d she said in a telephone interview from Havana. \u201cThe embassy is not getting the information it needs about the human rights situation in Cuba. Our contact before was frequent. Now there is no contact.\u201d\n\nRoque said that during a recent trip to the U.S., she described those circumstances to Cuban-American representatives in Congress, including Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, both of whom have supported the cutback. \u201cEverybody was aware of the problem, but nobody gave me a solution,\u201d she said.\n\nAsked about such concerns, Rep. Mario D\u00edaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, said the U.S. Embassy in Havana \u201chas long been a lifeline, and important symbol, to the democratic opposition.\u201d In a statement, he added, \u201cIt is imperative that the United States continue its solidarity with the Cuban people in their democratic aspirations.\u201d\n\nConsular activity at the embassy has ground almost to a halt, State Department officials said. With just one or two officers covering emergencies for visiting Americans and visas for Cuban officials, thousands of Cubans seeking to visit or immigrate to the U.S. have been forced to travel to third countries to submit their requests at American consulates there.\n\nAfter months in which the U.S. Embassy in Havana issued more than 800 immigrant visas each month, the number fell to 168 in September and only 16 in October, according to State Department statistics. In November, it rose again to 196 and in December it was 22.\n\nCubans who want to apply for an immigrant visa to the U.S. must now do so at the U.S. Consulate in Bogota, Colombia, an additional step that Cubans have said typically costs them hundreds or thousands of dollars more in travel costs. It has prompted a chorus of complaints from people in Cuba, where the official average monthly salary is about $25, supplemented by subsidized food and free health care and education. Nonetheless, the number of visas issued rebounded to 883 in January, after the Bogot\u00e1 process was fully implemented.\n\nSome State Department officials said the visa-processing delays could be substantially remedied even with a reduced consular staff in Havana, but they added that the State Department and immigration authorities have still not produced any plan to do so.\n\nIf the department\u2019s travel warning is extended along with the so-called ordered departure of the embassy\u2019s non-emergency staff, educational officials said it would likely force the cancellation of about half of the U.S. college and university foreign-study programs that have been established in Cuba, because of their inability to obtain insurance.\n\nOn Thursday, an alliance of 28 American tour operators and educational travel groups called on the department to downgrade its travel warning for Cuba from its current Level Three (\u201creconsider travel\u201d) to a Level Two (\u201cexercise increased caution\u201d), asserting that there are no confirmed cases of private American citizens in Cuba being affected like the injured diplomats. The State Department has said it has been contacted since last September by 19 American tourists who have reported having felt similar symptoms after travel to Cuba, but it did not investigate or verify any of those cases. The tour alliance also noted that Cuba was voted the \u201csafest country in the world\u201d for travel at the recent Madrid International Tourism Fair.\n\nAlthough human rights and migration have long been top-priority issues for Cuban Americans in South Florida and other parts of the United States, the impact of the embassy staff cuts have prompted relatively little political outcry thus far.\n\nPolitical analysts said the muted response may partly reflect the fact that the travel obstacles disproportionately affect a more recent (and less politically established) generation of Cuban immigrants. William LeoGrande, a specialist in U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America at American University in Washington, D.C., noted that Cuban Americans and others may also have avoided criticizing the withdrawal because of the circumstances that precipitated it.\n\n\u201cWhen people on the street in Miami realize that their relatives can\u2019t come and visit or can\u2019t migrate because there\u2019s no consular section at the U.S. Embassy, that has to have a political impact,\u201d he said. \u201cBut U.S. personnel were thought to have been attacked, and we still don\u2019t know who did it. So, I think people don\u2019t want to be out in front of that when they think that it could maybe have been the Cubans.\u201d\n\nIn a Feb. 15 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, specialists at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Perelman School of Medicine found that 21 of the injured Americans had suffered a potentially \u201cnovel\u201d type of mild brain injury caused by an unknown directed force, rather than head trauma. The authors also discounted the thesis \u2014 advanced by Cuban officials and others \u2014 that the affliction might have resulted from mass psychogenic illness.\n\nBut the JAMA report did not solve the mystery. An accompanying editorial pointed out the limitations of the study, such as the fact that an average of 203 days passed before the experts evaluated patients, raising questions about whether patients who came forward later were aware of symptoms reported by earlier ones. A lack of baseline data and other information about the patients also made it difficult to exclude other potential causes for some of the ailments, the study found.\n\n\u201cA unifying explanation for the symptoms experienced by the US government officials \u2026 remains elusive,\u201d the editorial said." + }, + { + "title": "Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell - La Vida Baseball", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell - La Vida Baseball" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia0FVX3lxTE9pM1V3bFlWUlVnUDJrQWx6ai1fUVo0N1hzeFVRY1Y5NTJIejN0b3pCbGoxcjd1ZTBBNG9jeG5ET2RtLUFXaWNGZ2diWDh5VDRORnJVQzRnV0VJY0tCYkNyRDhGbkgtNmliTHQ0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.lavidabaseball.com/jose-contreras-cuba-journey/", + "id": "CBMia0FVX3lxTE9pM1V3bFlWUlVnUDJrQWx6ai1fUVo0N1hzeFVRY1Y5NTJIejN0b3pCbGoxcjd1ZTBBNG9jeG5ET2RtLUFXaWNGZ2diWDh5VDRORnJVQzRnV0VJY0tCYkNyRDhGbkgtNmliTHQ0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 27, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 86, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell  La Vida Baseball", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell  La Vida Baseball" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.lavidabaseball.com", + "title": "La Vida Baseball" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell\nauthor: Clemson Smith Mu\u00f1iz\nurl: https://www.lavidabaseball.com/jose-contreras-cuba-journey/\nhostname: lavidabaseball.com\ndescription: The Bronze Titan shares his incredible story of leaving Cuba and crossing the U.S. \u2013 Mexico border dressed as a woman.\nsitename: La Vida Baseball\ndate: 2018-03-27\ncategories: ['']\ntags: ['Chicago White Sox', 'Jose Contreras', 'New York Yankees']\n---\n# Jos\u00e9 Contreras: A ChiSox ambassador with stories to tell\n\nJos\u00e9 Contreras\u2019 journey to the major leagues began with a broken-down Peugeot in Havana. A blue one, to be exact. A gift from Fidel Castro himself for Contreras\u2019 loyalty to the regime and his prowess on the mound.\n\nNeeding to fix his four-door sedan for a two-hour drive home to the rural town of Las Martinas in Pinar del R\u00edo back in 2002, Contreras went to see Humberto Rodr\u00edguez Gonz\u00e1lez, then the president of the Cuban sports federation, known in Spanish by its acronym, INDER.\n\nContreras\u2019 distress was palpable. The mechanics wanted payment in U.S. dollars. More than $400.\n\nThe pitching ace got a resounding \u201cNo.\u201d In so many words, Rodr\u00edguez Gonz\u00e1lez told Contreras to take a hike.\n\nContreras stormed out of the office, vowing never to return. A month or so later, during a tournament in Saltillo, Mexico, he walked out on the team, his country and his family. He drove to neighboring Monterrey, flew to Tijuana and waited for instructions from his soon-to-be agent, Jaime Torres.\n\n\u201cI spent a whole month hiding in a hotel because they were looking for me. Fidel was offering a reward for my return to Cuba, and I was very scared,\u201d Contreras said.\n\n**Desperate times, desperate measures**\n\nIt\u2019s a story that Contreras has been telling since he defected in November 2002. But when the Chicago White Sox\u2019s new ambassador, a star on the team\u2019s 2005 championship season, talked in Spanish to the *La Vida Baseball* during SoxFest in late January, he added details not commonly known, such as how he dressed as a woman \u2014 wig and all \u2014 as he prepared to cross the border to San Diego.\n\n\u201cI was with a friend who was going to help me cross. I\u2019m 6-foot-4. He found me a blond wig and some women\u2019s heels this high,\u201d Contreras said, holding his hands six inches apart.\n\n\u201cI got dressed and when I looked in the mirror, I told him, \u2018Who would think that there\u2019s a black blonde this tall?\u2019 I took everything off, and that\u2019s how I crossed the border,\u201d he added while chuckling. \u201cI laugh about it now, but in that moment, it was something difficult, very difficult. I didn\u2019t know what would happen to me. I didn\u2019t know if I was making the right decision. Thank God all came out well.\u201d\n\nIt sure did. After spending about a week in an immigration detention center, Contreras was granted asylum. A couple months later, he signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the New York Yankees, starting his major league career at age 31.\n\nPitching for five teams over 11 seasons, including that successful stint with the White Sox, Contreras went 78-67 with a 4.57 ERA. Besides winning the 2005 World Series, he earned one All-Star selection \u2014 and more than $67 million.\n\n**The toughest decision**\n\nThe unpleasant encounter with the president of INDER may have prompted Contreras to desert, but that decision, for any Cuban player, is never simple and rarely spontaneous. For those who never left, there wasn\u2019t enough money in the world to soothe the tears of separation, the pain of loneliness and the fear of the unknown.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s very, very hard. Not so much defecting, but making the decision,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cI\u2019m the youngest of nine boys. My father was an old man, and I knew that when I left Cuba, it would be very hard on him.\n\n\u201cA year and half later, my dad died. I attended his wake over the telephone. When people say, \u2018There\u2019s so much talent in Cuba. Why don\u2019t they leave?\u2019 \u2014 I think that one of the main reasons is being separated from your family. My then-wife and my two daughters were back in Cuba. I didn\u2019t see them for two years.\n\n\u201cAnd to play baseball, you have to be 100 percent focused \u2014 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. If you have problems at home, if you have problems with your family, it\u2019s very difficult to give 100 percent on the field.\u201d\n\nContreras\u2019 father Florentino had been a fervent believer in Castro and the revolution. In his 80s when he died, he was the indomitable patriarch of the family. Contreras confessed that he feared even having a phone conversation with his dad after he left Cuba.\n\n**A dad\u2019s cautionary words**\n\n\u201cAt first, he didn\u2019t understand,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cHe told me, \u2018I raised nine little boys and you are the youngest. I raised you all equally; you made this decision. All I want is that you be an honest man, and if I find out that you are doing bad things, I\u2019m going to come get you and grab you by your hair.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt was a big burden on my shoulders. I thought that he would reprimand me.\n\n\u201cAfter three months, I talked to him [again] and he told me, \u2018Now I understand. Thank you for opening my eyes and that of my whole family.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe understood the circumstances. I told him, \u2018It\u2019s not a political issue \u2014 I just want to play baseball, baseball at the highest level. An artist wants to play on the biggest stage. A ballplayer wants to play the best baseball, and the best baseball is here in the United States.\u2019 The Japanese play here, the Dominicans, the Venezuelans \u2014 and they can all go home afterwards. We [Cubans] are the only ones who can\u2019t do that.\u201d\n\nThough he was taught to throw by his father, growing up Contreras preferred volleyball. He played *pelota* in the backyard or in the street with friends and neighbors, frequently \u201cbarefoot and shirtless,\u201d Contreras said.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s how kids play in Cuba. Well, I wasn\u2019t a kid, but that\u2019s how we played,\u201d he said.\n\n**Bronze Titan**\n\nIf the timeline is to be believed, Contreras was close to 19 when he was \u201cdiscovered\u201d in a sandlot game by Jes\u00fas Guerra, then the director of Pinar del R\u00edo\u2019s state-run sports academy.\n\n\u201cThey hit a line drive over third, I grabbed the ball, threw to first,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cHe said, \u2018Come with me to the academy to play baseball.\u2019 I told him, \u2018No, no, no, no, I like volleyball.\u2019 \u2018Why volleyball? You can pitch. You got a good arm,\u2019 he said. I told him, \u2018I\u2019ve never pitched.\u2019 He said, \u2018I\u2019ll take of that. I\u2019ll teach you.\u2019\u201d\n\nShortly after enrolling in the academy, Contreras signed with the *Vegueros de Pinar del R\u00edo*, the local team in the *Serie Nacional*, Cuba\u2019s baseball league. That same year, he got promoted to the country\u2019s U-23 team.\n\nContreras went on to become one of the best pitchers of Cuba\u2019s post-revolutionary era, so good that Castro nicknamed him *El tit\u00e1n de bronce* \u2014 \u201cThe Bronze Titan.\u201d A large right-hander with a deceptive delivery, he threw five different pitches from different angles, finishing you off with a devastating forkball.\n\nContreras helped his country win Olympic gold in 1996, along with world championships and other international competitions. He proved his mettle to major league scouts by throwing eight shutout innings in relief against the Baltimore Orioles during the historic 1999 exhibition game held in Havana.\n\n**A baseball history lesson**\n\nThe irony of all this was that while the outside world knew about *El tit\u00e1n de bronce*, Contreras said that he knew little about baseball outside Cuba or even about the Cuban major leaguers who stayed in the States after Castro came to power, legends like Minnie Mi\u00f1oso, Luis Tiant and Hall of Famer Tony P\u00e9rez.\n\n\u201cIt was a crime to watch professional baseball,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cI learned about them when I got here in 2002.\u201d\n\nWhen Contreras got to the World Series with the White Sox, he sent one of his brothers a battery-operated radio so the family could follow the games live.\n\n\u201cUp in the hill, more than 60 people [gathered], that\u2019s how they kept track of how I was doing,\u201d Contreras.\n\nAfter Cuba liberalized its travel laws in early 2013, Contreras became the first star athlete to return. That year was his final season in the major leagues, when he played briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He extended his career three more years in Mexico, last pitching in 2016 for the Triple-A *Tigres de Quintana Roo*, a club in Canc\u00fan now owned by Fernando Valenzuela.\n\n**Now an ambassador**\n\nBy accepting the position of ambassador with the White Sox, Contreras is embracing the next phase of his life. Last year, he taught Little League players in Fort Myers, Fla., how to pitch. With the White Sox, he might be able to help first baseman Jos\u00e9 Abreu mentor the new generation of Cuban players on the team, including Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert.\n\nHe could certainly contribute, considering his experience. More than 15 years later, Contreras still vividly remembers his first months in the States.\n\n\u201cThere are no McDonald\u2019s in Cuba, and I was crazy about getting to the United States and tasting McDonald\u2019s. That was the first thing I learned,\u201d Contreras said laughing. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t that hard because you pronounce it the same way.\n\n\u201cA big piece of advice for Latinos, especially for the Cubans, is to learn English. It will make life easier with the team, with your teammates, on the bus, on the plane,\u201d Contreras added.\n\n\u201cI remember when I got to the Yankees, I had Roger Clemens on one side and Mariano Rivera on the other. I said, \u2018Oh my god.\u2019 I would look at them and say, \u2018I don\u2019t believe I\u2019m next to these two studs. I would stick my head into my locker so they wouldn\u2019t to talk to me, especially Clemens. That was 15 years ago and I still don\u2019t speak English well, so you can image 15 years ago.\u201d\n\n*Featured Image: John Williamson / Getty Images Sport*\n\n*Inset Image: Roberto Schmidt / AFP*" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba: socialism, cigars and biotech | Feature - Chemistry World", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba: socialism, cigars and biotech | Feature - Chemistry World" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxPVmJDc0M2MkhUQlZHM2JvZU44Y1Q0YVQ5d2JlVmViRmZnRVdjS0w4TGtvMFYtdVJtQlJ0cmpZazRCWEtjbHpLSHJoakNpbzdOclZhNVdUWjBYb3JyQWRLdWFSWmNfei1qTzJxc0Rwa09CWnpJU2Mxd2RiZTIzemdfUXNHNGZfOEtnMm9aamlGTjlKeXc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.knkx.org/jazz-and-blues/2018-03-16/jazz-caliente-the-irish-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxPVmJDc0M2MkhUQlZHM2JvZU44Y1Q0YVQ5d2JlVmViRmZnRVdjS0w4TGtvMFYtdVJtQlJ0cmpZazRCWEtjbHpLSHJoakNpbzdOclZhNVdUWjBYb3JyQWRLdWFSWmNfei1qTzJxc0Rwa09CWnpJU2Mxd2RiZTIzemdfUXNHNGZfOEtnMm9aamlGTjlKeXc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 16, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 75, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba: socialism, cigars and biotech | Feature  Chemistry World", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba: socialism, cigars and biotech | Feature  Chemistry World" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.chemistryworld.com", + "title": "Chemistry World" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Jazz Caliente: The Irish in Cuba - KNKX", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jazz Caliente: The Irish in Cuba - KNKX" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxQR240MzVRNFppd2xid19SSVRwWDNkS1c5eFN6UV92ZWlMZkc4a3p1cHdKSG8zcXVNLUxVVlNFYzdrMkczQmZETDVSLUhjLTlxNWR0YlNBRlE4MFN6cTgzelFWRXdpaDV5ZnJva3pzYXYtT09zZ1haSVB2Z3N4bm9CeGhYWlQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/cuba-socialism-cigars-and-biotech/3008585.article", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxQR240MzVRNFppd2xid19SSVRwWDNkS1c5eFN6UV92ZWlMZkc4a3p1cHdKSG8zcXVNLUxVVlNFYzdrMkczQmZETDVSLUhjLTlxNWR0YlNBRlE4MFN6cTgzelFWRXdpaDV5ZnJva3pzYXYtT09zZ1haSVB2Z3N4bm9CeGhYWlQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 16, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 75, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Jazz Caliente: The Irish in Cuba  KNKX", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jazz Caliente: The Irish in Cuba  KNKX" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.knkx.org", + "title": "KNKX" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 202, + "response": "Error: HTTP 202" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba braced for life after the Castros - Financial Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba braced for life after the Castros - Financial Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicEFVX3lxTE1mWVJOd3NycXA2UmI0LThWRVJlMmcxRnBuYUM2NnFqV0pRTXA2eHhjWDkxX1VGQWgtbTlDeUxwLUI1OVU2VXFmSDJQQktGczlwcmVFTDllbGN6WG9mb2xaSFl5a3VGeUhWRmFZRGttMVI?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/politics/us-embassy-cuba-staff-reductions-attacks", + "id": "CBMicEFVX3lxTE1mWVJOd3NycXA2UmI0LThWRVJlMmcxRnBuYUM2NnFqV0pRTXA2eHhjWDkxX1VGQWgtbTlDeUxwLUI1OVU2VXFmSDJQQktGczlwcmVFTDllbGN6WG9mb2xaSFl5a3VGeUhWRmFZRGttMVI", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 4, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 63, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba braced for life after the Castros  Financial Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba braced for life after the Castros  Financial Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.ft.com", + "title": "Financial Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019 | CNN Politics\nauthor: Laura Koran; Patrick Oppmann\nurl: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/politics/us-embassy-cuba-staff-reductions-attacks\nhostname: cnn.com\ndescription: The State Department announced Friday it will continue to staff its embassy in Havana at the minimum level required to perform \u201ccore diplomatic and consular functions\u201d due to concerns about \u201chealth attacks\u201d on staff.\nsitename: CNN\ndate: 2018-03-02\ncategories: ['politics']\ntags: ['caribbean, cuba, embassies and consulates, employee termination, employment and income status, government and public administration, government bodies and offices, human resources and personnel management, international relations, international relations and national security, labor and employment, latin america, personnel changes, personnel management, social and economic status, society, state departments and diplomatic services, unemployment, workers and professionals, havana, north america, united states, us department of state, us federal departments and agencies, us federal government', 'caribbean, cuba, embassies and consulates, employee termination, employment and income status, government and public administration, government bodies and offices, human resources and personnel management, international relations, international relations and national security, labor and employment, latin america, personnel changes, personnel management, social and economic status, society, state departments and diplomatic services, unemployment, workers and professionals, havana, north america, united states, us department of state, us federal departments and agencies, us federal government']\n---\nThe State Department announced Friday it will continue to staff its embassy in Havana at the minimum level required to perform \u201ccore diplomatic and consular functions\u201d due to concerns about \u201chealth attacks\u201d on staff.\n\nThe move comes amid continued uncertainty about the cause of the attacks, which affected at least 24 diplomats and family members in 2016 and 2017.\n\nAt a congressional hearing in January, US officials detailed how personnel came to experience a variety of symptoms including sharp ear pain, headaches, ringing in one ear, vertigo, disorientation, attention issues and signs consistent with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion. In nearly all cases, the ailments were preceded by some sort of \u201cacoustic element,\u201d such as a \u201chigh-pitched beam of sound\u201d or a \u201cbaffling sensation akin to driving with the windows partially open in a car.\u201d\n\nThe embassy had been operating under ordered departure status since September, but the status was set to expire on Sunday. The new staffing plan will effectively extend the staff reductions indefinitely.\n\n\u201cThe embassy will operate as an unaccompanied post, defined as a post at which no family members are permitted to reside,\u201d the statement continued.\n\n\u201cWe still do not have definitive answers on the source or cause of the attacks, and an investigation into the attacks is ongoing,\u201d the department notes. \u201cThe health, safety, and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members are of the greatest concern for Secretary Tillerson and were a key factor in the decision to reduce the number of personnel assigned to Havana.\u201d\n\nCuban officials previously denied they had anything to do with the diplomats\u2019 health problems and said the whole affair might be the result of mass hysteria.\n\nThe head of US affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Carlos Fern\u00e1ndez de Coss\u00edo, tweeted Friday night that the State Department\u2019s decision \u201cresponds to political motivations and has no relation to the security of their officials in Havana.\u201d\n\nOn a trip to Havana in February, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said the two countries needed to find a way to resolve the crisis before relations were permanently damaged.\n\n\u201cI feel it\u2019s absolutely essentially that we get our embassy up to full staffing,\u201d Leahy said at a news conference in Havana after meeting with Cuban president Raul Castro. \u201cIt\u2019s essential that Cuba get their embassy back fully staffed. There\u2019s no way we are going to have the improvement of the relationship that is going to be good for Cuba and the United States if we don\u2019t have the personnel that is here to do it.\u201d\n\nA State Department official tells CNN that Cuban citizens will still need to travel to third countries in order to apply for US visas, except in exceptional circumstances or in cases of official diplomatic travel.\n\n\u201cWe understand this is a significant change and an inconvenience for visa applicants,\u201d the official said. \u201cThe number of consular personnel in Cuba at this time, however, does not allow us to continue normal visa operations in Havana.\u201d\n\nThe termination of consular services in Havana means obtaining family reunification and cultural exchanges will be much more expensive and time consuming for Cubans.\n\n\u201cMaybe we will have to wait four or eight more years,\u201d said Lizt Alfonso, a renowned Cuban choreographer whose dance company had to cancel performances in the US in 2017 after the US Embassy stopped offering visa appointments. \u201cMaybe we won\u2019t live to see it. Our children and our grandchildren will live to see it and all of this will be forgotten, and then they will say, \u2018How stupid so much time was lost and all the good and beautiful things that they could have done.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhile the US government has not accused the Cuban government of being behind the incidents, Tillerson has said he holds Cuba responsible for allowing them to continue." + }, + { + "title": "Dave Lombardo on Emotional Return to Cuba After 50 Years - Revolver Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Dave Lombardo on Emotional Return to Cuba After 50 Years - Revolver Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikAFBVV95cUxObWQ0UXlieXdESkFkeVVrb21MQlpsVG1pOE5HUF9RYTREbkZyTUpfZS1yZU14UE9aaVR1eG9zMmUtUWZBY2FJUjZSQXpGRFFuVTlIN3VBZkFHM3RjVXN4ZlpVMmR5QWhYZ1Vwb25zd2RMOW5VZllEVXMyaFh5TExjTzltX0oyNmxUcFBEQnl4d3U?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/dave-lombardo-emotional-return-cuba-after-50-years/", + "id": "CBMikAFBVV95cUxObWQ0UXlieXdESkFkeVVrb21MQlpsVG1pOE5HUF9RYTREbkZyTUpfZS1yZU14UE9aaVR1eG9zMmUtUWZBY2FJUjZSQXpGRFFuVTlIN3VBZkFHM3RjVXN4ZlpVMmR5QWhYZ1Vwb25zd2RMOW5VZllEVXMyaFh5TExjTzltX0oyNmxUcFBEQnl4d3U", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 22, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 81, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Dave Lombardo on Emotional Return to Cuba After 50 Years  Revolver Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Dave Lombardo on Emotional Return to Cuba After 50 Years  Revolver Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.revolvermag.com", + "title": "Revolver Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture - YaleNews", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture - YaleNews" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipgFBVV95cUxNUDlmcVlkTlBZOEQ3OGF0UEpxZnl2Qkh2cjVfT3pJR3lrWFJBdkh1NnJIMmVFU0d0YTRHV3pxU0lCeEljbjNDSk5heTRtUXFhQlVVaWNTekdBMnU0TDBETWl2UHNQTVpFVzR2UHZ6aWF6NGRadXFTWEJ0bHd3d21TTm9GcnNkemxIZmdSczVOYWI2UndBTHZNT0VLMVhoeWNHb0dWMUVB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.ft.com/content/fb7276ba-1e26-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6", + "id": "CBMipgFBVV95cUxNUDlmcVlkTlBZOEQ3OGF0UEpxZnl2Qkh2cjVfT3pJR3lrWFJBdkh1NnJIMmVFU0d0YTRHV3pxU0lCeEljbjNDSk5heTRtUXFhQlVVaWNTekdBMnU0TDBETWl2UHNQTVpFVzR2UHZ6aWF6NGRadXFTWEJ0bHd3d21TTm9GcnNkemxIZmdSczVOYWI2UndBTHZNT0VLMVhoeWNHb0dWMUVB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture  YaleNews", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture  YaleNews" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://news.yale.edu", + "title": "YaleNews" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Cuban Physicians Still Abandoning Missions Abroad Despite End to U.S. Parole Program - Pulitzer Center", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Physicians Still Abandoning Missions Abroad Despite End to U.S. Parole Program - Pulitzer Center" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitAFBVV95cUxPRjdpWVhxS204WV9NMU94TmhLSXI4eFZlTHpLREE0bTIya3JLMWVVQ1RQdmN3Y3lGWnZWLUhNNXhWdVVJaWJ3ajJoVnlBbC1OcWN2WFJ3MlcycUw3c25aalRzQ1BrdjBmOERZWjF4NUtJbEFNU0RtN0ZFOUxUYnh1LTZfR1h4cTFoVDdvdFVkS0UzLVlVd25ncDhOSG1fbXl6UnM0TmVFaGY4LXJoU0NjNUt4TW0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/cuban-physicians-still-abandoning-missions-abroad-despite-end-us-parole-program", + "id": "CBMitAFBVV95cUxPRjdpWVhxS204WV9NMU94TmhLSXI4eFZlTHpLREE0bTIya3JLMWVVQ1RQdmN3Y3lGWnZWLUhNNXhWdVVJaWJ3ajJoVnlBbC1OcWN2WFJ3MlcycUw3c25aalRzQ1BrdjBmOERZWjF4NUtJbEFNU0RtN0ZFOUxUYnh1LTZfR1h4cTFoVDdvdFVkS0UzLVlVd25ncDhOSG1fbXl6UnM0TmVFaGY4LXJoU0NjNUt4TW0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 12 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 12, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 71, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban Physicians Still Abandoning Missions Abroad Despite End to U.S. Parole Program  Pulitzer Center", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Physicians Still Abandoning Missions Abroad Despite End to U.S. Parole Program  Pulitzer Center" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pulitzercenter.org", + "title": "Pulitzer Center" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019 - CNN", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019 - CNN" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFBVV95cUxNdU1xbnBfUnZTTTUyTnBxVVdZV1JHRm42QUxuQ2Fka0Nra1JpTFNncVkycERwMndrQnViSHB1c0hyOUFZY09BcERhMmg4QTdTWXF6Sm0xc3lhMlZQbjFzZEZjR09DVC1hcmVZZ21LeWNyVVR5b1dUV0hNbEthbG5UNlN6WWJDLU0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://news.yale.edu/2018/03/02/yale-scholar-examines-cuban-american-life-through-lens-popular-culture", + "id": "CBMihwFBVV95cUxNdU1xbnBfUnZTTTUyTnBxVVdZV1JHRm42QUxuQ2Fka0Nra1JpTFNncVkycERwMndrQnViSHB1c0hyOUFZY09BcERhMmg4QTdTWXF6Sm0xc3lhMlZQbjFzZEZjR09DVC1hcmVZZ21LeWNyVVR5b1dUV0hNbEthbG5UNlN6WWJDLU0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019  CNN", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embassy in Cuba to reduce staff indefinitely after \u2018health attacks\u2019  CNN" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cnn.com", + "title": "CNN" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Yale scholar examines Cuban-American life through lens of popular culture\nauthor: Bess Connolly\nurl: https://news.yale.edu/2018/03/02/yale-scholar-examines-cuban-american-life-through-lens-popular-culture\nhostname: yale.edu\ndescription: In a new book, Yale scholar Albert Laguna \u201casks the reader to slow down and think about the quotidian cultural consumption\u201d of everyday Cuban Americans.\nsitename: Yale News\ndate: 2018-03-02\n---\nThere was a time when Albert Laguna thought his father was the funniest man in the world. Until, that is, he began to research the topic of popular culture in Cuba for his recently published book and realized that his father had been stealing quite a few of his jokes from the popular Cuban comedian Guillermo Alvarez Guedes.\n\nFamous for his one-liners, Alvarez Guedes released over 32 joke albums, and made appearances on television, in movies and on radio. Despite the fact that the comedian has permeated Cuban American culture, \u201cno one has ever written about his social importance and the consequences of his work,\u201d says Laguna, adding that it the first thing he thought of when reading scholarship on Cuban Americans. \u201cCuban American studies has mostly focused on the pain of exile, but then you have this comedian who is the soundtrack for the quotidian life of so many. Everyone knows him. Cubans grows up listening to his albums at home, and people \u2014 including my own father \u2014 retell his jokes constantly.\u201d\n\nIt was this comedian, and the topic of comedy and popular culture in Cuban America more broadly, that became the cornerstone for Laguna\u2019s recently published book, \u201cDiversi\u00f3n: Play and Popular Culture in Cuban America.\u201d\n\nLaguna, assistant professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race & Migration, used the stand-up comedy of Alvarez Guedes and other forms of comic popular culture to weave a story about the cultural, political, and even economic complexity of Cuban life in the United States. \u201cIt is also through humor that you can understand racial tensions in Miami between Cubans and African Americans, discrimination faced by Cuban Americans, and ties between Cubans on and off the island,\u201d says Laguna. \u201cComedy is a complex site for understanding a range of social relations.\u201d\n\nThis book, says Laguna, \u201casks the reader to slow down and think about the quotidian cultural consumption that frames their lives but that they don\u2019t necessarily think about.\u201d In a chapter about the internet, Laguna uses viral videos and memes to tell a story about generational tensions within the Cuban community as well as about connections between the island and the United States. \u201cThese very simple cultural moments that we take for granted actually can be unpacked to do important historical, social, and cultural work,\u201d he notes.\n\nLaguna, who teaches a course titled \u201cHistory and Culture of Cuba\u201d as well as courses in race and ethnic studies, explains that the study of popular culture can play an important role in enhancing a student\u2019s education.\n\n\u201cWhen we step into a humanities classroom often there is a text deemed worthy of attention \u2014 a novel, or a poem, for example,\u201d says Laguna. \u201cThe things we interact with on a daily basis are worthy of the same kind of critical attention and analytical skills that you would extend to a novel. All of the tools you would bring as a student of the humanities to a novel or a poem can be brought to popular culture to understand our present in deeper, more complex ways.\u201d He adds: \u201cPopular culture is always about the present. When I teach about popular culture it is a way to get our finger on the pulse of a moment.\u201d\n\nThis year, for the second time, Laguna will take the students in his \u201cHistory and Culture of Cuba\u201d on a trip to Cuba for two weeks during spring break. Laguna co-teaches the class with Reinaldo Funes-Monzote, a professor from the University of Havana who is in residence at Yale. The students\u2019 trip is funded entirely by the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies as part of its Cuba Initiative. It is \u201ca gratifying teaching experience,\u201d says Laguna.\n\nAccording to Laguna, when the students returned to the United States after their trip last year they all agreed on one thing: Their initial ideas for understanding Cuba had been completely scrambled, and their visit complicated their ideas of what Cuba is. \u201cThat is exactly what I wanted,\u201d he says. \u201cThe simple shorthands that circulate about Cuba as an evil place, or alternately that it is the greatest place in the world, are woefully inadequate. Once you take the class with us for 13 weeks and then visit Cuba you realize that those kind of quick sound bites just don\u2019t do Cuba justice.\u201d\n\nLaguna says he is always astounded by the durability of Cuba in the American popular imagination. On the first day of class he asks his students: \u201cWhen you think of Cuba, what comes to mind?\u201d His students will \u201cspout out\u201d words like music, food, government. \u201cEveryone in the room participates,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is why this class is such a wonderful opportunity to understand not only the island but the long relationship between the United States and Cuba and how that has affected history in both places in ways that are often misunderstood.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "A Cuban President Not Named Castro Will Inherit a Troubled Economy - Bloomberg.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A Cuban President Not Named Castro Will Inherit a Troubled Economy - Bloomberg.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiuwFBVV95cUxQaG0yS2ZNVGc2bmNvN2I0cEptOVlRUDR5VGJFYVp1QjRZbXR1bkR6bnNDMnkyWHp0bWNLazFYWlM1THVoSG84TElkZ3dQQ0QtcEtad3NzdExyRXM1R05lT2FJNFlfeDRkV1dNb2c5dllIRDgtOWw4YlJQcGM3NkNPZEZ2VHYtdHBQWnV1Y2E3dVlQREJibTA5b0J2RlNMUzUtU25VWHZpTTZfUkdCLU0weVc0M3ZOeGNvMTVV?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2018-03-11/a-cuban-president-not-named-castro-will-inherit-troubled-economy", + "id": "CBMiuwFBVV95cUxQaG0yS2ZNVGc2bmNvN2I0cEptOVlRUDR5VGJFYVp1QjRZbXR1bkR6bnNDMnkyWHp0bWNLazFYWlM1THVoSG84TElkZ3dQQ0QtcEtad3NzdExyRXM1R05lT2FJNFlfeDRkV1dNb2c5dllIRDgtOWw4YlJQcGM3NkNPZEZ2VHYtdHBQWnV1Y2E3dVlQREJibTA5b0J2RlNMUzUtU25VWHZpTTZfUkdCLU0weVc0M3ZOeGNvMTVV", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 11 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 11, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 70, + 0 + ], + "summary": "A Cuban President Not Named Castro Will Inherit a Troubled Economy  Bloomberg.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A Cuban President Not Named Castro Will Inherit a Troubled Economy  Bloomberg.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bloomberg.com", + "title": "Bloomberg.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "How is the President of Cuba Chosen? - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How is the President of Cuba Chosen? - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie0FVX3lxTE50LXdXSUtNY2s0SkJkMkt6WjRxUzVnU0hfUGpFWjV2ZF82LTlUVVRFaVNNZXcxa0wtYWh1OTRidktneTNPZEF5U3JvUmJZek1nU2QtLUVKdWhWMUg1UGZwQTM5TXVyTmMtY3M0RGZRc2RfR19CMjM3SkVydw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/interviews/how-is-the-president-of-cuba-chosen/", + "id": "CBMie0FVX3lxTE50LXdXSUtNY2s0SkJkMkt6WjRxUzVnU0hfUGpFWjV2ZF82LTlUVVRFaVNNZXcxa0wtYWh1OTRidktneTNPZEF5U3JvUmJZek1nU2QtLUVKdWhWMUg1UGZwQTM5TXVyTmMtY3M0RGZRc2RfR19CMjM3SkVydw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 68, + 0 + ], + "summary": "How is the President of Cuba Chosen?  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How is the President of Cuba Chosen?  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: How is the President of Cuba Chosen? - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/interviews/how-is-the-president-of-cuba-chosen/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: This Sunday, March 11th, Cuba celebrates a historic parliamentary election because it means the end of Raul Castro's presidency, although he is expected to stay at the head of the all-powerful Communist Party of Cuba.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-09\ncategories: ['Interviews']\n---\n# How is the President of Cuba Chosen?\n\n\n**HAVANA TIMES** \u2013 This Sunday, March 11th, Cuba celebrates a historic parliamentary election because it means the end of Raul Castro\u2019s presidency, although he is expected to stay at the head of the all-powerful Communist Party of Cuba. But how is the president of Cuba elected? Here dpa news tries to clarify some doubts.\n\n**What are the requirements to be a candidate for a legislative seat?\n**\n\nThe official organizations that group together intellectuals, students or women propose candidates to a Nominating Committee. Once these are approved by the Municipal Assemblies of People\u2019s Power they are put on the ballots. To be elected to the one chamber National Assembly is necessary to be 18 years old and have resided in the country during the last two years prior to the election, among other requirements. You do not need to reside in the municipality or province that you technically represent.\n\n**How are the deputies elected?**\n\nTo exercise the right to vote you must be at least 16 years old. The voting is direct and secret; the candidates need to get more than 50 percent support from the voters so they do not have to go to a second round. The mandate is for five years. For every deputy seat there is only one candidate.\n\n**To be a deputy do you have to be a member of the Cuban Communist Party?**\n\nBelonging to the Communist Party is not a requirement to be a deputy, although most representatives are. Of the 605 candidates to elect 605 Cuban deputies on the March 11th ballots, 548 (90.7%) are members of the communist organization.\n\nNo campaigning is allowed and there is no public discussion of issues. It is a given that all of the selected candidates will approve government policies and continue the tradition of unanimous voting in the National Assembly.\n\n\n**Who makes the electoral lists?**\n\nThe National Candidacy Commission is the one that forms the final ballot of the 605 deputies who stand for a seat in the National Assembly. The commission is chaired by an official of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC, the Cuban Workers Federation), and includes representatives of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the University Student Federation (FEU) and the Federation of High School Students (FEEM).\n\n**Is the president chosen directly?**\n\nIn Cuba there are no presidential elections, but deputies are elected who, among themselves, elect the president of the Council of State, which in turn is the president of the Council of Ministers and head of state.\n\n**What is the Council of State?**\n\nIt is the body that acts on behalf of the National Assembly during the year since the Assembly only meets for 1 or 2 days twice a year, when it unanimously ratifies the decrees of the Council of State. It consists of 30 people and has the power to issue decree-laws, approve pardons, declare war and peace, appoint diplomats abroad and receive credentials from representatives of other countries, among other competences.\n\n**How does Parliament work?**\n\nThe plenary meets briefly only twice a year, normally every six months. In the last annual session, the State budget is approved for the following fiscal year. The rest of the year, the deputies work in the parliamentary committees to which they are attached and for which they do not receive a salary, but maintain the pay from their work centers for the days they are absent.\n\nTeatro politico. Nothing else a pure farce. A performance in order to show the world that they gave election but it\u2019s more a selection that an election. The Castro\u2019s monarchy kidnapped my country 60 years ago.\n\nThought that it was going to be true and free election,but as I see it will be an extension of Castro ruling from his home and not the palace\u2026\u2026the president will be \u201celected\u201dby his communist cronies and not by the good citizens of Cuba\u2026..such a sham!!!" + }, + { + "title": "Will Cuba become a test case for a post-postmodern future? - openDemocracy", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Will Cuba become a test case for a post-postmodern future? - openDemocracy" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipAFBVV95cUxOaTZrbE81VDlzajdhdjhNRC1UMjh2ZmJzOElfSFdkYURvcHplaGh4MkEwRjZ3RjFmQ1U5SWxrWFptRzJGdzFUUV84RnQyY0VKSlR4eEhhRERud0lqME1BNnd4NV9pOWcyX0UwTnBRbUJtakxKSE50OXB0R0lEZDhveVFvVkVQeFBNWE9wY0xPdURhNTNUNllnemIxVXJ3MDRZT2FEbQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/will-cuba-become-test-case-for-post-postmodern-future/", + "id": "CBMipAFBVV95cUxOaTZrbE81VDlzajdhdjhNRC1UMjh2ZmJzOElfSFdkYURvcHplaGh4MkEwRjZ3RjFmQ1U5SWxrWFptRzJGdzFUUV84RnQyY0VKSlR4eEhhRERud0lqME1BNnd4NV9pOWcyX0UwTnBRbUJtakxKSE50OXB0R0lEZDhveVFvVkVQeFBNWE9wY0xPdURhNTNUNllnemIxVXJ3MDRZT2FEbQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 25 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 25, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 84, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Will Cuba become a test case for a post-postmodern future?  openDemocracy", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Will Cuba become a test case for a post-postmodern future?  openDemocracy" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.opendemocracy.net", + "title": "openDemocracy" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba - IEEE Spectrum", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba - IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://spectrum.ieee.org/finally-a-likely-explanation-for-the-sonic-weapon-used-at-the-us-embassy-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPWGFNUmUzOXh0eFVBSTFjWDR0R2s5VVBCSVlMZFljNGd2VWcwTHlLX1ZnOVF4VlNSZE5SdEF6WXlNR0VCM2EzQ2o3Tjh0bHNvTnNhVnQ2bFBsVTBaa3gwa3RPMmpmSVRIVldNZVliYXFpOUNtUEdqaDVtYzRsbGtEVXkyREkydDNlX1YtcmMyMjhiOUZ1OWR3WWJrMXFoTm9Lcm95bTlqSmZyZ9IBvgFBVV95cUxPWkZLcXMxX3E4dG5yT1VuQUNuM2JQSV9CdU82ZnhXX0Q2TkNJSnRYWlJRZDdWN3NaNW1RYUdNc205SE52Yk5NR3IwQ3YzdkUxWm1XTTZqaUQzMkNBWkhNejY0WVpSYVJ2eGEtNzlhOEZveDFVcmVNQ19hUFg0aXo1SFVpV3I3b1pLTnBUcHFScEdXOTZ0ZEh0ZEs4MW90a2dXTnBRejN6djhhazdyaE5ESlViZ3BHc0cyQkFKNEdB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba  IEEE Spectrum", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba  IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://spectrum.ieee.org", + "title": "IEEE Spectrum" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Finally, a Likely Explanation for the \u201cSonic Weapon\u201d Used at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba\nauthor: Jean Kumagai\nurl: https://spectrum.ieee.org/finally-a-likely-explanation-for-the-sonic-weapon-used-at-the-us-embassy-in-cuba\nhostname: ieee.org\ndescription: Researchers say bad engineering, not a deliberate attack, may be to blame\nsitename: IEEE Spectrum\ndate: 2018-03-01\ncategories: ['Semiconductors']\ntags: ['weapons, cuba, intermodulation-distortion, signal-processing, sonic-weapon, devices, ultrasound, wireless', 'weapons,cuba,intermodulation-distortion,signal-processing,sonic-weapon,devices,ultrasound,wireless,SpectrumType.News']\n---\n**Last August, reports emerged that **U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba had suffered a host of mysterious ailments. Speculation soon arose that a high-frequency sonic weapon was to blame. Acoustics experts, however, were quick to point out the unlikeliness of such an attack. Among other things, ultrasonic frequencies\u2014from 20 to 200 kilohertz\u2014don\u2019t propagate well in air and don\u2019t cause the ear pain, headache, dizziness, and other symptoms reported in Cuba. Also, some victims recalled hearing high-pitched sounds, whereas ultrasound is inaudible to humans.\n\nThe mystery deepened in October, when the Associated Press (AP) released a 6-second audio clip, reportedly a recording of what U.S. embassy staff heard. The chirping tones, centered around 7 kHz, were indeed audible, but they didn\u2019t suggest any kind of weapon.\n\nLooking at a spectral plot of the clip on YouTube, Kevin Fu, a computer scientist at the University of Michigan, noted some unusual ripples. He thought he might know what they meant.\n\nFu\u2019s lab specializes in analyzing the cybersecurity of devices connected to the Internet of Things, such as sensors, pacemakers, RFIDs, and autonomous vehicles. That work has taught him that modern electronics often behave in unpredictable ways and that such devices can be manipulated\u2014intentionally or inadvertently\u2014using carefully crafted acoustic or radio interference. To Fu, the ripples in the spectral readout suggested some kind of interference.\n\nHe discussed the AP clip with his frequent collaborator, Wenyuan Xu, a professor at Zhejiang University, in Hangzhou, China, and her Ph.D. student Chen Yan. \u201cWe saw it as an interesting puzzle,\u201d says Xu, whose lab works on embedded security, including the use of ultrasound and radio waves to fool voice-recognition systems and self-driving cars. \u201cIt was a lot of fun to try to solve it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought it might be subharmonics,\u201d Fu recalls. \u201cBut a week later, Chen said, \u2018No, Kevin, you\u2019re wrong, and I just did an experiment to prove it.\u2019 \u201d\n\nYan and Xu started with a fast Fourier transform of the AP audio, which revealed the signal\u2019s exact frequencies and amplitudes. Then, through a series of simulations, Yan showed that an effect known as intermodulation distortion could have produced the AP sound. Intermodulation distortion occurs when two signals having different frequencies combine to produce synthetic signals at the difference, sum, or multiples of the original frequencies.\n\nWhen signal processing equipment behaves in a nonlinear way, it can cause this type of distortion. For example, Fu says, microphone circuitry can exhibit nonlinear behavior, and waves propagating through air can also behave in a nonlinear fashion. \u201cAs acoustic waves containing multiple frequencies travel through a nonlinear system, you can get these bizarre ripples in the spectrum of the signal,\u201d he explains. \u201cAt the same time, intermodulation distortion can produce lower-frequency signals than the original signals. In other words, inaudible ultrasonic waves going through air can produce audible by-products.\u201d\n\nYan followed up the simulations with lab experiments, in which he used two ultrasonic speakers, one emitting a signal at 25 kHz and the other at 32 kHz. When he crossed the two signals, it produced the telltale high-pitched sound at 7 kHz, which was equal to the difference between the two speakers\u2019 frequencies\u2014and the same frequency as in the AP audio. In a nod to the Internet meme \u201crickrolling,\u201d Yan was even able to embed an ultrasonic version of the Rick Astley song \u201cNever Gonna Give You Up,\u201d which became audible at the point where the two signals crossed.\n\nHaving reverse engineered the AP audio, Fu, Xu, and Yan then considered what combination of things might have caused the sound at the U.S. embassy in Cuba. \u201cIf ultrasound is to blame, then a likely cause was two ultrasonic signals that accidentally interfered with each other, creating an audible side effect,\u201d Fu says. There are existing sources of ultrasound in office environments, such as room-occupancy sensors [see, for example, \u201cHow an Ultrasonic Sensor Nearly Derailed a Ph.D. Thesis\u201d]. \u201cMaybe there was also an ultrasonic jammer in the room and an ultrasonic transmitter,\u201d he suggests. \u201cEach device might have been placed there by a different party, completely unaware of the other.\u201d\n\nOne thing the investigation didn\u2019t explore was whether the AP audio could have produced the wide range of symptoms, including brain damage, that afflicted embassy workers. \u201cWe know that audible signals can cause pain, but we didn\u2019t look at the physiological effects beyond that,\u201d Fu says. At press time, the FBI had yet to announce the results of its investigation. A panel of Cuban scientists and medical doctors, meanwhile, concluded that a \u201ccollective psychogenic disorder\u201d brought on by stress may have been at work.\n\nFadel Adib, a professor at MIT who specializes in wireless technology for sensing and communications, calls the study by Fu and his colleagues \u201ca creative take on what might have happened.\u201d Adib, who wasn\u2019t involved in the research but reviewed the results, adds that wireless signals can and do interact with one another. \u201cAnd if that happens, you\u2019ll hear signals you wouldn\u2019t expect to hear,\u201d he says. \u201cGiven all the possible explanations, this definitely seems the most plausible and the most technically feasible.\u201d\n\nFu is careful to offer a caveat: \u201cOf course, we don\u2019t know for certain this was the cause. But bad engineering just seems much more likely than a sonic weapon.\u201d\n\n*This article appears in the March 2018 print issue as \u201cReverse Engineering the \u2018Sonic Weapon.\u2019 \u201d*\n\n*Editor\u2019s note: An article by Kevin Fu, Wenyuan Xu, and Chen Yan about their research will be published by IEEE Spectrum in March. Their technical report, \u201cOn Cuba, Diplomats, Ultrasound, and Intermodulation Distortion,\u201d is available on the Security and Privacy Group\u2019s website [PDF].*\n\nJean Kumagai is the Executive Editor at *IEEE Spectrum*. She holds a bachelor's degree in science, technology, and society from Stanford University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University." + }, + { + "title": "Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the \u2018sonic attacks\u2019 in Cuba - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the \u2018sonic attacks\u2019 in Cuba - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxNVWthMmp3MXc5R1B4bjhDYnJrcmE1eW1fZElzUGNrQ28yUWpmUDYyYTBtZ1RiVmtDaDJHZ3RUT1pGRTdDLUt4dV9pQ3Z4RTFEeGJrOWNmRUhmM3Uyb21OeW5HLV83U1pjanc5bC01MTB5LVRWN0tpajE5RlM1alBKU1RiNXdNRkRMTndhQnUyMNIBkAFBVV95cUxPaHl4dmhiSk1PX19sY05KYmMyZ253Z3BCTjBwUTg3ZFlBYmlra3NKOFVuN3gwNTFGTWhEWlpNQkVKRk1idHpjYmltVU8tbVRhRW9CNGVha3h4SUJGdFB3a1JLTDh2SEMzcVlaQ2ZzanB2bXBick5odDd0RWxvaVpMT0R5MHBfQ09tUFgwc3k0NkU?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article203221919.html", + "id": "CBMijwFBVV95cUxNVWthMmp3MXc5R1B4bjhDYnJrcmE1eW1fZElzUGNrQ28yUWpmUDYyYTBtZ1RiVmtDaDJHZ3RUT1pGRTdDLUt4dV9pQ3Z4RTFEeGJrOWNmRUhmM3Uyb21OeW5HLV83U1pjanc5bC01MTB5LVRWN0tpajE5RlM1alBKU1RiNXdNRkRMTndhQnUyMNIBkAFBVV95cUxPaHl4dmhiSk1PX19sY05KYmMyZ253Z3BCTjBwUTg3ZFlBYmlra3NKOFVuN3gwNTFGTWhEWlpNQkVKRk1idHpjYmltVU8tbVRhRW9CNGVha3h4SUJGdFB3a1JLTDh2SEMzcVlaQ2ZzanB2bXBick5odDd0RWxvaVpMT0R5MHBfQ09tUFgwc3k0NkU", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 03 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 3, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 62, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the \u2018sonic attacks\u2019 in Cuba  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the \u2018sonic attacks\u2019 in Cuba  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction - NBC News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction - NBC News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPTVZZUVBIQ3NiOVhRcmdaaUhhYkpkNHZha0hQZ09Id1hONmd4SlNJXzVJYVd5dzNhM1o4Z2RKaExUTHJzQVZYR0l1U1dZNUUzeWt4RmN1LUpqbkpfVjBaQmYzZ2x6alFod1dzb1hVWG1NdzBjTWZ2Tks1YUZuWjN0c2xKaHplTGoxZ21rZi1GT0dNdldnTVVFSWN4MVVGS192ak9fbGhuanY4Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-vietnam-economic-reforms/4323127.html", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPTVZZUVBIQ3NiOVhRcmdaaUhhYkpkNHZha0hQZ09Id1hONmd4SlNJXzVJYVd5dzNhM1o4Z2RKaExUTHJzQVZYR0l1U1dZNUUzeWt4RmN1LUpqbkpfVjBaQmYzZ2x6alFod1dzb1hVWG1NdzBjTWZ2Tks1YUZuWjN0c2xKaHplTGoxZ21rZi1GT0dNdldnTVVFSWN4MVVGS192ak9fbGhuanY4Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction  NBC News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction  NBC News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nbcnews.com", + "title": "NBC News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-vietnam-economic-reforms/4323127.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Vietnam and Cuba are among the last Communist-run countries in the world, but Hanoi set about opening up its centralized economy in the 1980s, two decades before Havana started to do so in earnest\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-03-29\ncategories: ['Economy']\ntags: ['East Asia, Economy, Americas, Cuba, Vietnam, economy']\n---\nThe head of Vietnam's Communist Party advocated for the importance of market-oriented economic reforms on a two-day visit to old ally Cuba, which is struggling to liberalize its poorly Soviet-style command economy.\n\nVietnam and Cuba are among the last Communist-run countries in the world but Hanoi set about opening up its centralized economy in the 1980s, two decades before Havana started to do so in earnest under President Raul Castro.\n\nCastro leaves office on April 19 after two consecutive five-year mandates without having been able to unleash in Cuba the same kind of rapid economic growth as that experienced by Vietnam. He remains head of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) until 2021.\n\n\"The market economy of its own cannot destroy socialism,\" Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said in a lecture at Havana University.\n\n\"But to build socialism with success, it is necessary to develop a market economy in an adequate and correct way.\"\n\nHanoi had managed to lift around 30 million Vietnamese out of poverty over 20 years, Trong said.\n\nThe PCC this week admitted a slowdown in its market reforms it attributed to the complexity of the process, low engagement of the bureaucracy and mistakes in oversight.\n\nThe number of self-employed workers in the Caribbean island nation of 11.2 million residents has more than tripled to around 580,000 workers since the start of the reforms.\n\nBut the government last year froze the issuance of licenses for certain activities amid fears of rising inequality and a loss of state control. It has also backtracked on some reforms in recent years, particularly in the agricultural sector.\n\nTrong said it was clear Cuba, like Vietnam, wanted to avoid shock therapy.\n\n\"With the clear vision of the PCC ... [Cuba] will surely reach great achievements and successfully reach a prosperous and sustainable socialism,\" Trong said.\n\nCubans complain their economy suffers two types of blockades, the internal one, namely stifling state controls, and the external one: the U.S. trade embargo.\n\nVietnam also suffered U.S. sanctions, but Washington lifted them more than two decades ago. Analysts say it is unlikely it will do the same for Cuba any time soon.\n\nU.S. President Donald Trump has shifted back to hostile Cold War rhetoric and partially rolled back the detente forged with Havana by his predecessor Barack Obama." + }, + { + "title": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMid0FVX3lxTFBudVdZM0ZtQlE2bGV4a2hublAtMFpSQ3RTWFU2UW9qaXpKSHkyLVBLNm9rVzFybWdGNnhiTUl3SnV5SGJvbWNmTHhha1VEazBJcnQxVlE1aUlzcEpxUDBwMFpFMTM2M0tNSGpkMHdZMkJSMGcwcVhj0gF6QVVfeXFMUGZEQnhRYzM5UUdVMmN0RmhPdzVwUjZUTU1saHo1Umc5UGRrVFB6RHViUGwzcmhGMFktSzY4UmZJQVdFMEhuVFh1cFBWdHVVRW51NFpRZ2xheEtoRTN6UDY1WGNQeEpqRWg3TFU0RWRvdEc1Mm84SjZxNHc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/u-s-decision-permanently-reduce-cuba-embassy-staff-draws-swift-n852791", + "id": "CBMid0FVX3lxTFBudVdZM0ZtQlE2bGV4a2hublAtMFpSQ3RTWFU2UW9qaXpKSHkyLVBLNm9rVzFybWdGNnhiTUl3SnV5SGJvbWNmTHhha1VEazBJcnQxVlE1aUlzcEpxUDBwMFpFMTM2M0tNSGpkMHdZMkJSMGcwcVhj0gF6QVVfeXFMUGZEQnhRYzM5UUdVMmN0RmhPdzVwUjZUTU1saHo1Umc5UGRrVFB6RHViUGwzcmhGMFktSzY4UmZJQVdFMEhuVFh1cFBWdHVVRW51NFpRZ2xheEtoRTN6UDY1WGNQeEpqRWg3TFU0RWRvdEc1Mm84SjZxNHc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 29, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 88, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party Chief Advocates Economic Reforms  VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.voanews.com", + "title": "VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: U.S. decision to permanently reduce Cuba embassy staff draws swift reaction\nauthor: Carmen Sesin\nurl: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/u-s-decision-permanently-reduce-cuba-embassy-staff-draws-swift-n852791\nhostname: nbcnews.com\ndescription: \u201cWhile Cuba is going through the most historic transition in almost 60 years, the United States is going to be blind on the island.\"\nsitename: NBC News\ndate: 2018-03-02\n---\nThe State Department announced Friday it will permanently maintain a skeletal staff at the U.S. embassy in Cuba citing the \u201chealth attacks\u201d on its personnel that have baffled experts to this day.\n\nThe decision to maintain the staff at 40 per cent will have a sweeping impact across U.S. intelligence, small business owners, Cuban migration, and human rights advocates. The reaction by many who support engagement with Cuba has been swift.\n\nJames Williams, President of Engage Cuba, a group that advocates for engagement with the island, laments the decision, particularly because Cuba will soon go through one of the biggest political transitions in recent history when Raul Castro steps down on April 19.\n\n\u201cWhile Cuba is going through the most historic transition in almost 60 years, the United States is going to be blind on the island,\u201d Williams said.\n\nThe decision is \u201cnot going to help with human rights, political reform, economic reform, not to mention Cuban families being connected as a result,\u201d he said.\n\nLast October, the State Department ordered non-essential embassy personnel and the families of all staff to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. could not protect them from unexplained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans. But by law, the department can only order diplomats to leave for six months before either sending them back or making the reductions permanent.\n\nThe six months expire Sunday. So the department said it was setting in place a new, permanent staffing plan that maintains a lower level of roughly two-dozen people \u2014 \"the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions.\" The department also said that the embassy in Havana would operate as an \"unaccompanied post,\" meaning diplomats posted there will not be allowed to have spouses or children live with them in the country.\n\nCamilo Condis, an entrepreneur in Havana, says he is concerned about the impact this will have on those in the private sector. It comes at a crucial time, when many are anticipating an announcement by the Cuban government to curtail private businesses.\n\nCondis, who rents an apartment to locals and is a senior manager at Artecorte, a non-profit that holds community activities, said \u201cmany of us will lose the opportunity to visit our families in the U.S.\u201d Because of the scarcity of supplies on the island \u201cmany entrepreneurs buy many or most of the items they need for their businesses in the U.S.\u201d\n\nMartha Honey, the executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel, a non-profit focused on sustainable tourism, said how this will affect U.S. travel to Cuba is still a question mark, though she is cautiously optimistic.\n\nShe said the State Department\u2019s position has been that when there is a draw down of diplomats at an embassy, they have to simultaneously issue a travel warning and caution the public that the embassy has been downsized.\n\n\u201cIt sets a new normal. And the new normal is that the current size of the embassy staff will remain. My reading is that this could change the status of the travel warning against Cuba from a level three to a level two,\u201d Honey said.\n\nWhen the U.S. ordered its personnel out of Cuba, it had issued a warning advising Americans not to travel to the country. In January, when the State Department changed its travel alert system, it changed the warning to a level 3 and recommended Americans \u201creconsider\u201d traveling to Cuba.\n\nThe downsizing of the embassy staff along with a travel warning have had significant effects on Cuba's economy and for its citizens. With fewer employees on hand, the U.S. Embassy in Havana halted visa processing, forcing Cubans who wish to visit the United States to seek visas through U.S. embassies in other countries. The U.S. is also expected to fall far short of granting the 20,000 immigrant visas to Cubans that have been allotted annually for decades.\n\nSecretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the permanent plan for reduced staffing out of concern for \"the health, safety and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members,\" the department said in a statement.\n\n\"We still do not have definitive answers on the source or cause of the attacks, and an investigation into the attacks is ongoing,\" the department said.\n\nCuba has repeatedly denied either involvement in or knowledge of any attacks, and has said its own investigation into the illnesses has turned up no evidence of deliberate action. The United States has not accused Cuba of such action but has said Havana holds responsibility nonetheless, arguing that such incidents could not have occurred on the small, communist-run island without the knowledge of Cuban officials.\n\nThe mysterious case has sent U.S.-Cuba relations plummeting from what had been a high point when the two countries, estranged for a half-century, restored full diplomatic ties under President Barack Obama in 2015.\n\nIn late 2016, U.S. Embassy personnel began seeking medical care for hearing loss and ear-ringing that they linked to weird noises or vibrations \u2014 initially leading investigators to suspect \"sonic attacks.\"\n\nAn interim FBI report disclosed by The Associated Press in early January said the investigation has uncovered no evidence that sound waves could have damaged the Americans' health. But Tillerson has said he's still convinced the diplomats were hit by deliberate, specific attacks targeting their health.\n\nDoctors treating the patients said in a study published last month that the sounds heard by diplomats might have been a byproduct of something else that might help explain the full symptom list: memory problems, impaired concentration, irritability, balance problems and dizziness. The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said doctors still have no clear diagnosis of just what happened to trigger the mysterious health problems.\n\n*The Associated Press contributed to this report. *" + }, + { + "title": "My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFBVV95cUxQQ0Z4bzk5Yy1ianBDZWp1TDFGdmx0TGhOajlHWmJ2YkdKanM5TTNUX2VKUTVrenJFTGU5SzMwYVA2WE5kZFhMNDVvLTgtektScUJLNmV6N3g2LVY1RVZ3LUdnQTNOaEJRaUhWVmtKS2hrY2tUZG1kQWk0N1ZqOHJqNVBn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-makes-cuban-embassy-staffing-cuts-permanent-as-investigation-over-mysterious-attacks-continues", + "id": "CBMiggFBVV95cUxQQ0Z4bzk5Yy1ianBDZWp1TDFGdmx0TGhOajlHWmJ2YkdKanM5TTNUX2VKUTVrenJFTGU5SzMwYVA2WE5kZFhMNDVvLTgtektScUJLNmV6N3g2LVY1RVZ3LUdnQTNOaEJRaUhWVmtKS2hrY2tUZG1kQWk0N1ZqOHJqNVBn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 15, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 74, + 0 + ], + "summary": "My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues\nurl: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-makes-cuban-embassy-staffing-cuts-permanent-as-investigation-over-mysterious-attacks-continues\nhostname: pbs.org\ndescription: The department said in a statement the decision is out of concern for \"the health, safety and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members.\"\nsitename: PBS News\ndate: 2018-03-02\ncategories: ['Nation']\ntags: ['cuba, cuban health attacks, u.s. embassy in cuba']\n---\nBy \u2014 Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee, Associated Press Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee, Associated Press Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-makes-cuban-embassy-staffing-cuts-permanent-as-investigation-over-mysterious-attacks-continues Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues Nation Mar 2, 2018 1:03 PM EDT WASHINGTON \u2014 The United States said Friday it was making permanent its decision last year to withdraw 60 percent of its diplomats from Cuba, citing a need to protect American personnel from what the State Department calls \"health attacks\" that remain unexplained. In October, the department ordered non-essential personnel and all family members to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. could not protect diplomats from unexplained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans. But by law, the department can only order diplomats to leave for six months before either sending them back or making the reductions permanent. The six months expire Sunday. So the State Department said it was setting a new, permanent staffing plan that maintains the lower level of roughly two-dozen people \u2014 \"the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions.\" The department also said that the embassy in Havana would operate as an \"unaccompanied post,\" meaning diplomats posted there will not be allowed to have their spouses or children live with them in the country. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the permanent plan for reduced staffing out of concern for \"the health, safety and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members,\" the department said in a statement. READ MORE: The mysterious Cuba 'sonic attacks' are still puzzling investigators \"We still do not have definitive answers on the source or cause of the attacks, and an investigation into the attacks is ongoing,\" the department said. Cuba has repeatedly denied either involvement in or knowledge of any attacks, and has said its own investigation into the illnesses has turned up no evidence of deliberate action. The United States has not accused Cuba of perpetrating the attacks but has said Havana holds responsibility nonetheless, arguing that such incidents could not have occurred on the small, communist-run island without the knowledge of Cuban officials. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By \u2014 Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee, Associated Press Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee, Associated Press\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 The United States said Friday it was making permanent its decision last year to withdraw 60 percent of its diplomats from Cuba, citing a need to protect American personnel from what the State Department calls \"health attacks\" that remain unexplained. In October, the department ordered non-essential personnel and all family members to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. could not protect diplomats from unexplained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans. But by law, the department can only order diplomats to leave for six months before either sending them back or making the reductions permanent. The six months expire Sunday. So the State Department said it was setting a new, permanent staffing plan that maintains the lower level of roughly two-dozen people \u2014 \"the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions.\" The department also said that the embassy in Havana would operate as an \"unaccompanied post,\" meaning diplomats posted there will not be allowed to have their spouses or children live with them in the country. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the permanent plan for reduced staffing out of concern for \"the health, safety and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members,\" the department said in a statement. READ MORE: The mysterious Cuba 'sonic attacks' are still puzzling investigators \"We still do not have definitive answers on the source or cause of the attacks, and an investigation into the attacks is ongoing,\" the department said. Cuba has repeatedly denied either involvement in or knowledge of any attacks, and has said its own investigation into the illnesses has turned up no evidence of deliberate action. The United States has not accused Cuba of perpetrating the attacks but has said Havana holds responsibility nonetheless, arguing that such incidents could not have occurred on the small, communist-run island without the knowledge of Cuban officials. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now" + }, + { + "title": "Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas - CNN", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas - CNN" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidEFVX3lxTE9zUGc5SzN4b0xKUEFTMTZIdXdtSU8yRDVPRHBCcEVzTjRVMFU4LXBRdkVFOHF3TTdRTWFfOXVaNWpzWUQwZjBQQjZHRjlmWVN2X3N5cEd4TWN3RjhPMS1xc19yRlpYb2ZhSVc3MUZGWUZCZ0hn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/other-galleries/my-recent-visit-to-santiago-de-cuba/", + "id": "CBMidEFVX3lxTE9zUGc5SzN4b0xKUEFTMTZIdXdtSU8yRDVPRHBCcEVzTjRVMFU4LXBRdkVFOHF3TTdRTWFfOXVaNWpzWUQwZjBQQjZHRjlmWVN2X3N5cEd4TWN3RjhPMS1xc19yRlpYb2ZhSVc3MUZGWUZCZ0hn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 20, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 79, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas  CNN", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas  CNN" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cnn.com", + "title": "CNN" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/other-galleries/my-recent-visit-to-santiago-de-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The 72 hours I spent in the city where I was born was enough for me to appreciate several positive aspects firsthand about the city\u2019s renovation and transformation work to its buildings, streets and parks. (37 photos)\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-15\ncategories: ['Other Galleries', 'Photo Feature']\n---\n# My Recent Visit to Santiago de Cuba\n\n\n**By Luis Rondon Paz**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 Popularly known as Cuba\u2019s *Ciudad del Fuego* in the country\u2019s east, there\u2019s no doubt that Santiago de Cuba holds the number one spot for cleanliness and hygiene in the island. And it\u2019s important to note that I\u2019m referring to the provincial capital, the municipalities are a completely different story.\n\nThe 72 hours I spent in the city where I was born was enough for me to appreciate several positive aspects firsthand about the city\u2019s renovation and transformation work to its buildings, streets and parks. I must admit that the job of the current leader of the city has been positive if you compare it to a large part of the rest of the country.\n\nTo name a few places that really caught my eye, there is Enramadas street first and foremost and I would dare to say that it is the longest pedestrian only boulevard in the entire county, running from Marte Square to Alameda. It\u2019s important to highlight the fact that after 20 years, La Alameda is once again the main venue where the best carnivals in the country are celebrated.\n\nI can\u2019t leave out the Cemetery where the remains of Jose Marti, the Poet and intellectual author of Cuba\u2019s independence war lie, and his impeccable mausoleum which is guarded 24 hours a day.\n\nYou have the Boniato Port in the city\u2019s outskirts, which is well known among Santiago\u2019s romantics as you can enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of the city.\n\nThere is also the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre\u2019s Sanctuary or Church, a place which many people believe to be holy, as many travel there from all over the country, even foreigners who go to offer their respects to Cuba\u2019s Patron Saint.\n\nHere are some photos of the city considered by many to be the cleanest in the entire country.\n\n*Click on the thumbnails below to view all the photos in this gallery. On your PC or laptop, you can use the directional arrows on the keyboard to move within the gallery. On cell phones use the keys on the screen.*\n\nWe were lucky to be able to visit Cuba several years ago and Santiago De Cuba was one of the many places that we managed to visit, a very lively cosmopolitan place, however whether because we were tourists and seen as easy targets for some of the local population, we were inundated with beggars and quite aggressive beggars they certainly were. However not to let these few itinerants spoil our visit to such a cosmopolitan and vibrant city. Would i go again? Yes i certainly would.\n\nGreat looking photos, what a beautiful place to be from!" + }, + { + "title": "Joe Conason: Trump's hostility toward Cuba serves Russia - Press & Sun-Bulletin", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Joe Conason: Trump's hostility toward Cuba serves Russia - Press & Sun-Bulletin" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiuwFBVV95cUxQSmNGVUhVNldwY0JzaVZJTXd4Z3hrckZnQmt1amlDeHdoTW5DUVJMS1BqcWVBU3FYUnhVeFZTNnVFOHlWWUYwc25XZ0JNbWFpWnlGTnVhUGJLS1dSSUxONlFfejA1Q3ZjZWU3NS1Hb0ExVWpkekhzRnR3M1lCbFZ1cUFjNTlaTnREYmY3NlNhbjZaaVNUMUVNektlb0xtOEU4dWR1ckhWV3dBS2pQTkNnNHliV2F0dTFWX3BZ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cnn.com/style/article/cines-de-cuba-carolina-sandretto", + "id": "CBMiuwFBVV95cUxQSmNGVUhVNldwY0JzaVZJTXd4Z3hrckZnQmt1amlDeHdoTW5DUVJMS1BqcWVBU3FYUnhVeFZTNnVFOHlWWUYwc25XZ0JNbWFpWnlGTnVhUGJLS1dSSUxONlFfejA1Q3ZjZWU3NS1Hb0ExVWpkekhzRnR3M1lCbFZ1cUFjNTlaTnREYmY3NlNhbjZaaVNUMUVNektlb0xtOEU4dWR1ckhWV3dBS2pQTkNnNHliV2F0dTFWX3BZ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Joe Conason: Trump's hostility toward Cuba serves Russia  Press & Sun-Bulletin", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Joe Conason: Trump's hostility toward Cuba serves Russia  Press & Sun-Bulletin" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.pressconnects.com", + "title": "Press & Sun-Bulletin" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Exploring Cuba\u2019s forgotten cinemas | CNN\nauthor: Ana Rosado\nurl: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/cines-de-cuba-carolina-sandretto\nhostname: cnn.com\ndescription: Photographer Carolina Sandretto journeyed to Cuba to put together a comprehensive book about the architectural opulence of its hundreds of movie theaters.\nsitename: CNN\ndate: 2018-03-21\ncategories: ['style', 'architecture']\ntags: ['architecture, arts and entertainment, building design, building planning and construction, business and industry sectors, business, economy and trade, caribbean, cuba, latin america, movies', 'architecture, arts and entertainment, building design, building planning and construction, business and industry sectors, business, economy and trade, caribbean, cuba, latin america, movies']\n---\nIt took photographer Carolina Sandretto four years and three round trip journeys to Cuba to put together a comprehensive book about the architectural opulence of its movie theaters.\n\nDuring the 1950s, Cuba\u2019s economy, then dominated by American players, was prosperous enough to give rise to hundreds of beautifully colored cinemas funded by well-known production companies \u2013 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.\n\nRight before the Cuban Revolution, the number of movie theaters in the country had grown to a respectable cluster of 511 (by comparison, Havana had more cinemas than Paris or New York at the time). In the aftermath of Fidel Castro\u2019s victory, this number rose to 600.\n\n\u201cThe amount of movie theaters per capita in (Havana) is an unquestionable proof of the importance \u2018the seventh art\u2019 had,\u201d wrote Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa in the introduction to Sandretto\u2019s book.\n\nMore than half a century after the revolution, the glamour of these architectural gems has faded. Only 19 cinemas remain active in the whole country. A few have been seized for other purposes, like local dance events, while others were closed down when the financial burden became too difficult to manage.\n\n\u201cTheir deterioration responds fundamentally to two causes, the economic crisis that has mired the country for 60 years, obviously aggravated in the 1990s, with the fall of the Berlin Wall,\u201d wrote Garaicoa, \u201cand in part, to the failure of cultural policies, which would have revived any of those buildings with the vitality of community activities.\u201d\n\nSandretto managed to capture more than 300 cinemas during her trips. \u201cIt was difficult to determine how many cinemas there were, and to identify their locations on the island,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThere was no information about any of the cinemas online, and Google is not available in Cuba. So I sourced my information the old-fashioned way.\u201d\n\nBrowse the gallery above to see more images. \u201cCines de Cuba\u201d by Carolina Sandretto is published by Skira and is available now." + }, + { + "title": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - WBUR", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - WBUR" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiwFBVV95cUxNcEhKTDlvaFpNLWJzQXF0aXhnTmRSTmowNUZ4d3I0QzQtWmNULXBMNHRoRFkxNW5LWXo0cXlUVmRacFlkSlZhTlpOR1RPYjNzNWNVV2dIS0dMZ2dsS1JsYzB1N3p6UnJZU0tFSGZHZHNfMHg1NmwtcmZvY25TSjVlTXo3ekxlT3R2R240?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.pressconnects.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/03/02/trumps-hostility-toward-cuba-serves-russia/386658002/", + "id": "CBMiiwFBVV95cUxNcEhKTDlvaFpNLWJzQXF0aXhnTmRSTmowNUZ4d3I0QzQtWmNULXBMNHRoRFkxNW5LWXo0cXlUVmRacFlkSlZhTlpOR1RPYjNzNWNVV2dIS0dMZ2dsS1JsYzB1N3p6UnJZU0tFSGZHZHNfMHg1NmwtcmZvY25TSjVlTXo3ekxlT3R2R240", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 20, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 79, + 0 + ], + "summary": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba  WBUR", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba  WBUR" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.wbur.org", + "title": "WBUR" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "How do elections work in Cuba? - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How do elections work in Cuba? - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie0FVX3lxTE02bWxkVnB2U0x2d21RU2pMZFlYeEE0cnpoTzM0Y0RodEI0bnZZWlVlR18tZUFDQk05QWtkTW1qaWxsZlpfbjRaWGNmdXlHRVVSTDNRZkY2R0o1aGVVeU44VTR5WkJMbW04eFNlUERiT2RMaF9qUVBOMUZPcw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/how-do-elections-work-cuba-0", + "id": "CBMie0FVX3lxTE02bWxkVnB2U0x2d21RU2pMZFlYeEE0cnpoTzM0Y0RodEI0bnZZWlVlR18tZUFDQk05QWtkTW1qaWxsZlpfbjRaWGNmdXlHRVVSTDNRZkY2R0o1aGVVeU44VTR5WkJMbW04eFNlUERiT2RMaF9qUVBOMUZPcw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 68, + 0 + ], + "summary": "How do elections work in Cuba?  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How do elections work in Cuba?  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu", + "title": "Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: HTTP 0" + }, + { + "title": "Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)? - The Forward", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)? - The Forward" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMingFBVV95cUxOYlB0d0ZGODBRU3k0UnRpd3c5Ti1iclBtOGxjMHJORXdMbVdya09DR0NDUmtMdnhBZ3RzakptZGFmQU1hbzlWZnhuWnFOeGM1U014eGR0MWQ2MTBaMEdlT1hCZEI1T2RVa1ptcW9ONGpDclBKbDA4Z2FyOFpLRy1kQWE3SG16YUc5eHBrbmxubDVTTTQ5UVRtWkktNFBCQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/03/20/ernest-hemingway-havana-cuba-finca-vigia", + "id": "CBMingFBVV95cUxOYlB0d0ZGODBRU3k0UnRpd3c5Ti1iclBtOGxjMHJORXdMbVdya09DR0NDUmtMdnhBZ3RzakptZGFmQU1hbzlWZnhuWnFOeGM1U014eGR0MWQ2MTBaMEdlT1hCZEI1T2RVa1ptcW9ONGpDclBKbDA4Z2FyOFpLRy1kQWE3SG16YUc5eHBrbmxubDVTTTQ5UVRtWkktNFBCQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)?  The Forward", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)?  The Forward" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://forward.com", + "title": "The Forward" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba\nauthor: Peter O'Dowd\nurl: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/03/20/ernest-hemingway-havana-cuba-finca-vigia\nhostname: wbur.org\ndescription: Ernest Hemingway lived at Finca Vig\u00eda for two decades before leaving the country in the early 1960s. Today, the house remains as the American author left it.\nsitename: WBUR\ndate: 2018-03-20\n---\nSupport WBUR\n\n# At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba\n\nA construction crew from Detroit did something last week that might have been hard to imagine in a different era: board a plane to meet a team of Cuban architects and engineers outside Havana.\n\nThey gathered at a hillside home that overlooks the capital city, and worked together on a project to protect literary artifacts and the personal belongings of a famous American writer.\n\nThe estate that belonged to Ernest Hemingway is affectionately called Finca Vig\u00eda \u2014 the lookout farm. He lived there for two decades and penned some of his most famous works at the typewriter that still sits on a desk in his study.\n\n\"It's rustic,\" says Mary-Jo Adams, who leads the U.S.-based Finca Vig\u00eda Foundation, the group heading up the preservation project. \"It's just a low, seven-room bungalow. Yet it's filled with everything the author collected.\"\n\nHemingway was a prolific collector. Trophies from hunting trips to Africa hang on the walls: an impala, a water buffalo, a kudu's twisted horns. Thousands of books are scattered about the house. The author's beloved 38-foot fishing boat, Pilar, is still resting on dry ground in the backyard.\n\nFinca Vig\u00eda appears stuck in time, and that's part of its appeal.\n\n\"The house is as he left it,\" Adams says. \"It's as though he's just gone for a swim in the pool and is ready to come back.\"\n\nHemingway left the country for the last time in 1960, soon after Fidel Castro's revolution upended political order in the Caribbean and around the world. About a year later, in the summer of 1961, the Nobel Prize-winning author killed himself in Ketchum, Idaho.\n\nAfter his death, Hemingway's widow enlisted the help of Jacqueline Kennedy to bring some of his papers back to the United States. The first lady had \"a great respect for the arts, culture and for Ernest Hemingway,\" Adams says.\n\n\"That an American guy came to Cuba, decided to live in Cuba and felt like a Cuban in that difficult moment Cubans were living, it felt like a gift.\"\n\nLuis Enrique Gonzales, a Havana tour guide who grew up a few blocks from Finca Vig\u00eda\n\nBut most of his belongings never made it back. The Cuban government took control of the house and turned it into a museum, and the following decades were hard on the building. In 2005, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called the home one of America's most endangered historic places.\n\n\"I first went there as a termite expert,\" Bob Vila, the TV home renovation guru who also serves on the Finca Vig\u00eda Foundation's board, said in a phone interview. \"All the windows had rotted out, and they were making new wooden casement windows on-site.\"\n\nThat first trip was in the early 2000s. With help from the Cuban government, the foundation started making renovations to the home. They also began a project to preserve the manuscripts, letters and photographs on-site. They got permission to bring U.S. tools and materials to the island, and just last week the team from Detroit was there to work with Cuban architects and engineers on a sealed vault to keep the documents preserved for generations.\n\nThe spirit of cooperation between experts from two estranged countries is \"a credit to Ernest Hemingway,\" Adams says. \"I wonder what he would think.\"\n\nToday, there is little doubt how Cubans feel about the American. In Old Havana, tourists still pack the hotel where he stayed and the El Floridita bar where Hemingway downed up to a dozen daiquiris in a single sitting.\n\nThere's a bearded statue of \"Papa\" Hemingway at the Floridita, and around the city it's easy to find the famous photos of him standing face-to-face with Castro.\n\n\"Hemingway was, for Cuba, a Nobel Prize,\" says local tour guide Luis Enrique Gonzales. He grew up a few blocks from Finca Vig\u00eda listening to stories from his grandmother, who came to the house as a girl to eat mangoes.\n\n\"Hemingway opened the gates to this huge house to all the kids,\" he says. \"That an American guy came to Cuba, decided to live in Cuba and felt like a Cuban in that difficult moment Cubans were living, it felt like a gift.\"\n\n*This article was originally published on March 20, 2018.*\n\n*This segment aired on March 20, 2018.*" + }, + { + "title": "U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues - PBS", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues - PBS" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://forward.com/culture/395269/is-nato-green-the-funniest-union-organizer-in-america-or-cuba/", + "id": "CBMizwFBVV95cUxOUUpoZnRKZW1tMlByUmF0ZjVvbWhwT2lwV01Edy04UnlMQ0x4WWhkN1JyZkJ6SXY1LWtFZy1wUmFtVzJ0X01GZjhKWGYyR0tXb2xOd2IwOWNlcFhvUzZRd2NCSWd1dnNLYU5mTWV1ZUM4MTRLY01xeUMxLVJicWpvZkFzaHdmMWpPcHhSYVJ2X3dBamtHQ0hkc0pzdkRieTYyUGY4ZXNKRldCMzlQSWp3WUI0ekFLOVRmUFBBTmtDb3cxQllrNmJSNzRKbGNLTGvSAdQBQVVfeXFMTzVPRlNENzdBZWZkX0hwOGFBNjVjSU9ZbFlJQXpVamd5VGZSNXpVR0J1TURtdVhGNzFBb1FSYk41cTZUSlJjZmFHZl9VQ25aaGsyX19SZ1NoemFiR0dHTTAzbzFZTlFpZ3NfdHBiZEhNaVNPOGFzcEpCSHdOclZPNGhkdWtsdkdEdHIwQmFHQ3FlWVNOYUZFY1ZadjRIYVhyOTB1RDNsTkFNWUJLSFRRYkhray10WGx1MkphUVkzRlRRV2JMaVczUkRsYS1uOXYzNnJOYlI", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues  PBS", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. makes Cuban embassy staffing cuts permanent, as investigation over mysterious attacks continues  PBS" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.pbs.org", + "title": "PBS" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)?\nauthor: The Forward\nurl: https://forward.com/culture/395269/is-nato-green-the-funniest-union-organizer-in-america-or-cuba/\nhostname: forward.com\ndescription: Nato Green is Leon Trotsky, Tom Lehrer, Lenny Bruce and George Carlin wrapped in one. We talk to him upon the release of his \"Whiteness Album.\"\nsitename: The Forward\ndate: 2018-03-02\ncategories: ['Culture']\ntags: ['War with Iran']\n---\n# Is Nato Green The Funniest Union Organizer In America (Or Cuba)?\n\nNato Green is a Jewish union organizer from San Francisco \u2014 currently living in Cuba \u2014 who also happens to be one of the Bay Area\u2019s most successful stand-up comics. He\u2019s toured with Hari Kondalobu, Janine Brito and CNN\u2019s W. Kamau Bell. He\u2019s been voted best comic in the city, written for FX and he has written about all the times he\u2019s been arrested.\n\nGreen\u2019s deadpan comedy may not please everyone \u2014 \u201cSF-born socialist Jewish union worker comic in Cuba\u201d itself sounds like a punchline, and one suspects that a White House invitation is not forthcoming. But those who appreciate the legacies of Leon Trotsky, Saul Alinsky, Tom Lehrer, Paul Goodman, Irving Howe and of course Lenny Bruce and George Carlin will recognize in Green a kindred soul.\n\nThe 42-year-old father of two has just released his second comedy CD, \u201cThe Whiteness Album.\u201d He spoke with the Forward\u2019s Sheerly Avni from Havana, where his wife is completing her doctorate in medical anthropology.\n\nSHEERY AVNI: **The sign you made for the Women\u2019s March last year said, \u201cI was going to make a sign, but I\u2019m not interested in what white men have to say anymore.\u201d And yet, here you are, a white man, saying stuff, onstage and on comedy albums. And we\u2019re supposed to pay for it! How do you reconcile this?**\n\nNATO GREEN: I know. I try to implicate myself in my comedy. What\u2019s the fun of only pointing the finger at everyone else? Anyone can make fun of the other guy.\n\nI\u2019ll be happy to stop saying stuff if that\u2019s what it would take to end oppression. I have trouble imagining why me specifically not saying stuff would help, but I\u2019m willing to take one for the team.\n\n**What\u2019s it like being Jewish in Cuba these days?**\n\nI went to the synagogue in Havana for their Hanukkah party. Like any shul in Berkeley, the lobby had as big a display of the time Fidel Castro visited as the time Steven Spielberg visited. The guy who greeted me said: \u201cEveryone is welcome here. We don\u2019t have much, but we share what we have.\u201d I thought, \u201cThis Judaism sounds a lot like socialism.\u201d Cuban Jews have something that\u2019s tragically missing from our Hanukkah parties, which is many synchronized dance routines. The dancing was bananas.\n\n**Let\u2019s go to one of the funniest bits on your new album. Do you consider Jews white? Outside of San Francisco and Cuba, at least?**\n\nFirst of all, let me acknowledge that I know there are Jews of color, and the bit is not about them.\n\nJews are white. Sometimes. We also choose how white we are. Some of my racist relatives are really into being white.\n\n**And in Israel. Are we white there?**\n\nMy arguments about whiteness are specific to America. I\u2019m not sure the terms and racial hierarchies that shape power relations in the U.S. are meaningfully transferable, or that whiteness is the most useful way to talk about Israeli Jews.\n\nIn Israel we may or may not be white, but we are stupid.\n\n**Stupid in what way?**\n\nTrump has done something unprecedented by uniting Jews and Nazis. He deserves more credit for that. He can bring together Sheldon Adelson, [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Jared Kushner with all his Nazi supporters around a shared vision of killing everyone else. It\u2019s almost inspiring.\n\n**And Trump\u2019s peace plan?**\n\nI\u2019m the country\u2019s only semi-functional hybrid of comedian and union negotiator. I can\u2019t remember anymore which is my main hustle and which is my side hustle, but I do work with unions as a negotiator. Trump is right in the sense that all negotiations are the same: It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re negotiating a film development deal, which of my twin daughters will have to practice piano first, or peace in the Middle East. It\u2019s all the same.\n\nAnd as a professional negotiator, it offends me that Trump can swan around talking about his great deals when he\u2019s obviously so bad at making deals. He clearly doesn\u2019t understand the very basic things anyone who actually negotiates deals has to do.\n\nFor example, deals are all about details. Trump doesn\u2019t have the intellectual capacity, interest or attention span to understand the details of any of the deals he\u2019s involved in. He keeps declaring that Obama negotiated bad deals, but you\u2019re hard-pressed to find him identifying any specific provision he finds objectionable.\n\nAnd so it is with Israel. Every negotiator in the galaxy knows that there aren\u2019t that many variations of how this story ends.\n\n**Before you went to Cuba, you tried out life as a New York Jew. How was it?**\n\nIt was amazing to be in a place with so many Jews and such a diversity of Jews that it didn\u2019t matter for me to be a Jew. In a way, there are such visible Jews in New York, and such Jewy Jews, that I almost didn\u2019t seem Jewish. I almost felt like an actual human instead of a Jew.\n\nAlso, in San Francisco, even if you\u2019re not gay, you have to be literate in gay culture. New York was like that for Jews. In San Francisco, people mainly understood Jews in theory.\n\n**What thoughts do you have about the #MeToo movement and its impact on comedy?**\n\nThe thing, I think, that gets glossed over in talking about #MeToo in comedy is the relationship between sexual assault and harassment (what reporters are adorably calling \u201calleged inappropriate misconduct\u201d) and power. There is obviously a link between sexual assault of women in show business and the number of female directors and producers and late-night hosts and showrunners, and the percentage of women in writers\u2019 rooms and the documented gender pay disparities.\n\nIt\u2019s an opportunity for me, not just to feel smug because I have managed to get through this life without showing my penis to anyone at work, but to move more women into positions of power in entertainment. This isn\u2019t only selfless on my part, it makes everyone better.\n\n**How?**\n\nWhen I end up on a show with all straight white guy comedians, I get bored. The audience is never 100% straight white guys, and anyone who isn\u2019t is noticeably more invested in caring about a diverse show. And when a show is diverse, it makes me step my game up: Am I explaining things clearly to people who don\u2019t share my experience? Am I really saying what I mean? Am I taking lazy shortcuts at someone\u2019s expense instead of writing a better joke?\n\n**Does this new administration make it easy to do lazy comedy?**\n\nFor me as a comic, Trump is the best of times and the worst of times. I mostly stopped writing material about national politics during Obama\u2019s second term. I was bored. It felt like writing this year\u2019s version of last year\u2019s jokes. Same arguments, same themes. This moment is great for me. A lot of comics feel like they have to talk about national politics whether or not they have an interesting take. But for me, it was like being a sleeper agent who got activated. The challenge of writing comedy about what\u2019s happening now, besides the pace and intensity of the news that I address on the album, is that suddenly every comedian is a political comedian \u2014 including the entire internet. I had jokes I\u2019d written in the last five years that got dumped because the same idea later became a viral meme or something. Now I have to work harder to write more unique jokes because your aunt shared a meme from George Takei.\n\n**The speed of information transfer makes it harder.**\n\nYeah, and the other challenge is coming up with material that won\u2019t be stale in a week, has an angle that only I can do and, hardest of all, can make people laugh while recognizing how genuinely terrified they are. When white supremacists are murdering peaceful marchers, and immigrants are being deported, doing jokes about Trump\u2019s hair feels trivial.\n\n# This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here\u2019s what you can do about it.\n\nWe hope you appreciated this article. **Before you go, we\u2019d like to ask you to please support the Forward\u2019s independent Jewish news this Passover.**\n\n**This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy.** It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.** **\n\nWith no paywall or subscriptions, the *Forward* is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the *Forward* \u2014 and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.\n\nThe *Forward* doesn\u2019t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year." + }, + { + "title": "Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart - Pan African Music", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart - Pan African Music" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieEFVX3lxTE1TYWVVdHg4b290dVVNNWJUM1BYdHdWUXc3czBRWVVhNVRFeXpUdWFqSGlkVm9tbUVCVnhMLTJvQkd6ZXZ5ZGMtMTJEejVJWU0xR0xjS3pWUTE2YW5FaG9ILXJ4WFJ1bFdiM1hFUFdGTXFSMVFmZlQwNg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pan-african-music.com/en/orquesta-akokan-cuba-from-the-heart/", + "id": "CBMieEFVX3lxTE1TYWVVdHg4b290dVVNNWJUM1BYdHdWUXc3czBRWVVhNVRFeXpUdWFqSGlkVm9tbUVCVnhMLTJvQkd6ZXZ5ZGMtMTJEejVJWU0xR0xjS3pWUTE2YW5FaG9ILXJ4WFJ1bFdiM1hFUFdGTXFSMVFmZlQwNg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart  Pan African Music", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart  Pan African Music" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pan-african-music.com", + "title": "Pan African Music" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Orquesta Akok\u00e1n: Cuba, From the Heart\nauthor: Vladimir Cagnolari\nurl: http://https%3A%2F%2Fpan-african-music.com%2Fen%2Forquesta-akokan-cuba-from-the-heart%2F\nhostname: https%3A%2F%2Fpan-african-music.com%2Fen%2Forquesta-akokan-cuba-from-the-heart%2F\ndescription: Akokan means \"from the heart\" in Yoruba, a dominant African language throughout Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian cultures and religions.\nsitename: PAM - Pan African Music\ndate: 2018-03-26\ncategories: ['Reviews']\ntags: ['Daptone Records', 'Orquesta Akok\u00e1n']\n---\n**The orchestra, which brings together all-star Cuban and New York musicians, brilliantly resurrects the great era of mambo.**\n\n*Akokan *means \u201cfrom the heart\u201d in Yoruba, a dominant African language throughout Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian cultures and religions. Through these cultures and religions, much sacred and secular music has been born; and well after the abolition of slavery, the music continued to travel the globe. Orquesta *Akokan* is also the name of this orchestra, which is reminiscent of Banda Gigante of Benny Mor\u00e9, aka \u201cEl Sonero Mayor.\u201d In fact, beginning with Jos\u00e9 \u201cPepito\u201d Gomez\u2019s singing on the very first track, we are transported to Havana in the 50s, when the mambo reigned supreme.\n\nThe Cuban born and raised singer grew up with the songs of \u201cEl Benny\u201d or the tireless Perez Prado (the album gives a nod to \u201cBabarabatiri\u201d). It was in New York, where Pepito Gomez had taken up residence since 2008, that he met Jacob Plasse, founder of the label Chulo Records, and Mike Eckroth, pianist and Cuban music aficionado. Eckroth ended up arranging the album, which is as ambitious as it is successful, and which is scheduled for release March 30th.\n\n\nRecorded in the Cuban capital, in the legendary Areito Studio, it brings together, in addition to the trio, pianist Cesar \u201cPupy\u201d Pedrosa (Los Van Van), the saxophone section of the famous Irakere and the percussionists of NG La Banda. In short, it\u2019s the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me, but that does not necessarily guarantee a good record. But *Orquesta Akok\u00e1n*, also the name of the album, proves to be a magnificent tribute to a musical color and to an era whose music had seemingly disappeared without a trace following the death of its shining stars like Arsenio Rodriguez, Prado Perez, Benny Mor\u00e9, and Israel Lopez Cachao\u2026\n\nThe opening title \u201cMambo Rapidito\u201d is one of the greats. After a prelude rich in harmonious piano dissonances, there is the brass that kicks it all off with an explosion. Then, there is silence and suspense. Bass and bell wade into the mix, while the singer, Jos\u00e9 \u201cPepito\u201d Gomez instructs: \u201cSavor that, mama, here comes the mambo!\u201d The brass instruments snap back to take their place with the rhythmic motifs typical of mambo\u2026The beat is on, and no one will come out unscathed, or at least without an inescapable desire to dance.\n\nThe Orquesta Akok\u00e1n dabbles in the Cuban repertoire, with rumba and bolero, and also pays tribute to Elegua the deity of *caminos, *who opens or closes all roads and paths. Throughout the different styles, there is always special care given to the sound. The Afro-Cuban drums, the glittering chandelier of brass, Pepito Gomez\u2019s voice that lingers, full of feeling \u2026 In short, suffice to say that we like this album. It rightfully resurrects an era that we never knew, and thanks to Orquesta Akokan, has a seemingly long life ahead." + }, + { + "title": "Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba - U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba - U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc." + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFBVV95cUxNenBPekl2SlR0MXlaYVhuMWM4LUlYanp1Q0RjZzJpUFM0bTFHYnNKZ09OV0xsbW0tQkNiWDA4aDNiUThBdmZ3ODhQeFdPOV96MF9hZ1FWd2FPQzIyVkc5c2VCMjZpbGNqYXZHanNfMlhhN1JBWGtmenBNamNjemhKWWV2RURCVnVwN0czQXdOSHdFMS1VTWtaczdESnA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2018/3/26/updates-to-list-of-us-companies-with-a-presence-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMinAFBVV95cUxNenBPekl2SlR0MXlaYVhuMWM4LUlYanp1Q0RjZzJpUFM0bTFHYnNKZ09OV0xsbW0tQkNiWDA4aDNiUThBdmZ3ODhQeFdPOV96MF9hZ1FWd2FPQzIyVkc5c2VCMjZpbGNqYXZHanNfMlhhN1JBWGtmenBNamNjemhKWWV2RURCVnVwN0czQXdOSHdFMS1VTWtaczdESnA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba  U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba  U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc." + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cubatrade.org", + "title": "U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc." + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba \u2014 U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.\nauthor: U S -Cuba Trade; Economic Council; Inc\nurl: https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2018/3/26/updates-to-list-of-us-companies-with-a-presence-in-cuba\nhostname: cubatrade.org\ndescription: U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba Since 17 December 2014 Eight Sales Offices No Manufacturing/Assembly Operations Licenses Issued By OFAC/BIS Not Yet Disclosed & Implemented With the Republic of Cuba, United States-based companies engage in the export of products, import of products, prov\nsitename: U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.\ndate: 2018-03-26\n---\n# Updates To List Of U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba\n\n/**U.S. Companies With A Presence In Cuba Since 17 December 2014Eight Sales OfficesNo Manufacturing/Assembly OperationsLicenses Issued By OFAC/BIS Not Yet Disclosed & Implemented**\n\nWith the Republic of Cuba, United States-based companies engage in the export of products, import of products, provision of services and horizontal Direct Foreign Investment (DFI).\n\nThe global gross revenues of the fifty-seven (57) listed companies exceeds US$1 trillion and the companies employ approximately 2 million within the United States and other countries; not including revenue/employees from the United States Postal Service (USPS).\n\nThe list does not include most travel agents and tour operators, the majority of whom have arrangements with Republic of Cuba government-operated Havanatur Celimar, Asistur, Gaviota and other Republic of Cuba government-operated companies to market itineraries.\n\nThis list does not include United States-based companies that have exported food products and agricultural commodities (Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000; TSREEA) and medical equipment, medical instruments, medical supplies, medicines, and pharmaceutical products (Cuban Democracy Act of 1992; CDA).\n\nThere is horizontal DFI in the Republic of Cuba by United States-based companies as represented by Marriott International (subsidiary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide), Deere & Company, Caterpillar, United Airlines, Jet Blue Airways, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, ABC Charters, and Cuba Travel Services." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMif0FVX3lxTE5IaHdVc2lRaENXTkVCMF9KN0VlMVRwZEhMTHJvUkpjYUt6YV9kbW1KT3VHcTJiNXphVlpjWjRIN0s3VWRPaWJ2ZEEtbVhralBKeGRzaExSeGhnYjFXM3E3NUpnQ3IzZ0YzR3Z6ZEk3Wmd6Vm1ZNTF5Tjl3Ql9GR2M?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/cubas-counterfeit-cigars-know-your-fakes/", + "id": "CBMif0FVX3lxTE5IaHdVc2lRaENXTkVCMF9KN0VlMVRwZEhMTHJvUkpjYUt6YV9kbW1KT3VHcTJiNXphVlpjWjRIN0s3VWRPaWJ2ZEEtbVhralBKeGRzaExSeGhnYjFXM3E3NUpnQ3IzZ0YzR3Z6ZEk3Wmd6Vm1ZNTF5Tjl3Ql9GR2M", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 27, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 86, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/cubas-counterfeit-cigars-know-your-fakes/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: Think of Cuba and a few things pop to mind. Fidel Castro, socialism, excellent rum and arguably the world\u2019s best cigars Today, however, it is estimated that almost as many \u2018fake\u2019 cigars are sold in tourist scams than real ones.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-27\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# Cuba\u2019s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes\n\n**By Karim Arnous**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 Think of Cuba and a few things pop to mind. Fidel Castro, socialism, excellent rum and arguably the world\u2019s best cigars. Cuba has always been very proud of its famous \u2018Habano\u2019 cigars.\n\nThe authentic and highly desirable smokes use Cuba grown tobacco and are rolled by hand on the island in a process that involves over 500 manual tasks. The tradition has been around since aboriginals known as the Cohibins began rolling tobacco as early as the late 15th century and has survived the economic turmoil of multiple revolutions.\n\nToday, however, it is estimated that almost as many \u2018fake\u2019 cigars are sold in tourist scams than real ones. To make matters worse, they are often not marketed as fakes, but rather original cigars that a factory worker was \u2018given as part of his salary\u2019 or has managed to \u2018smuggle out of work\u2019. The large majority of people who first fall for this trap, me included, are under the impression that they are purchasing the real deal.\n\nIt takes a pretty well-trained eye to be able to identify some of the counterfeits as fakes without having the genuine article in hand to visually compare it to, so it is easier than it might sound to be fooled. Even the recently released Netflix documentary \u2018Cuba and the Cameraman\u2019 featured a man selling boxes of Cigars that he had \u2018stolen from the factory\u2019.\n\nThe film makers knew no better and rather than be presented as a scam, the plot was shown to be a cheap way of picking up some proper cigars. Obviously, as it took the form of a documentary, I believed it. In fact, the scale and lure of this scam is now so comprehensive that I was actually offered some fakes by an official TOUR GUIDE at the end of a cigar factory tour.\n\nThe money is so lucrative that people are getting away with doing it right under the noses of official government entities. Annoyed at having been scammed, I spent the ensuing weeks investigating the matter. Learning the details and nuances of the system so that I can help others steer clear of the expensive hole I fell into.\n\nFirstly, I must clarify that the cigars being sold are not actually fake cigars. Rather, they are fake \u2018Cohibas\u2019, \u2018Montechristos\u2019 or any other original Habano marque that they seek to replicate through false labelling and packaging. You see Habano Cigars are Cigars made from tobacco grown in a specific region of Cuba. Think Champagne \u2013 there are many sparkling wines, but only those made with grapes grown in the specific region of France can constitute Champagne.\n\nThe so-called-fake cigars are made with Cuban tobacco and, although not universally, are rolled by hand just like their expensive counterparts. Saying this, the process of rolling and production is nowhere near as pedantically monitored and controlled by the Cuban government. While this does mean that with some good haggling you can pick up a box of counterfeit Cohibas off the street for around $60 as opposed to the in-store, original price of over $350, it also means that you are taking a risk every time you light one up.\n\nAs a local cigar expert explained, the unregulated process occasionally allows for poor quality or even dangerous tobacco to end up in the cigars. So here are a few things to understand that will help you avoid being scammed. After all, with US tourists now being able to take up to 100 cigars back home from a visit as opposed to the previous limit of 50, it\u2019s worth knowing your facts to ensure that there is little chance you\u2019ll walk away with low quality, possibly even machine manufactured cigars.\n\nTo start, a basic understanding of the Cuban economy will significantly decrease your chances of getting scammed. It is a fact that the price of ALL Habano Cigars is set by the government. If you\u2019re offered a box of Cohibas for $150 less than market price, they are almost certainly not originals.\n\nSecondly, knowing what the average factory worker makes invalidates the very common \u2018I am given these boxes as part of my salary\u2019 story. I spoke with a man who works at the \u2018Rey del Mundo\u2019 factory, and he told me that his monthly salary is around 320 Cuban Pesos. This translates roughly to around US $13, so it makes absolutely no sense for him to be gifted $700 worth of product in the form of two boxes of luxury cigars every month. It just doesn\u2019t happen. A general rule is that if you are buying them off of the street or out of someone\u2019s front room; they are fake.\n\nStill, if you are still not sure of the validity, there are many ways to tell from the actual Cigars. The box should help. The real deal will have a three-letter code printed on it like \u2018TES\u2019, denominating its factory of production as well as the date in the form of another three-letter abbreviation of the month and the final two digits of the year. The label that seals the box also contains a hologram \u2013 something that the counterfeiters simply cannot reproduce. If you are still curious you can inspect the actual cigars.\n\nArguably the biggest clue is in the label. Real Cigars will have beautiful and often intricate labels. Cohiba have even upped the detail on their labels as of late to help differentiate from the fakes. You\u2019ll notice that the real cigars have a small head within the bigger gold head on the label, as well as \u2018Cohiba\u2019 written over and over again in gold bands at the top and bottom of the label. Even without such details, fakes should be easy to identify. If the label is faded or not perfectly clear in all places, chances are they are not real.\n\nFinally, if you are still questioning the legitimacy of the product in hand, the actual cigars should be your final clue. All the tobacco should be rolled in the same direction, and the cigar should feel very dense when you press on it. The fakes I bought are easily squished. If you run your fingers around the cigar, gently applying pressure to all areas, you should find no sections that feel uneven or hollow \u2013 like a smooth road. My counterfeit cigars feel more like a teenager\u2019s face than anything else. And I can vouch for this, as I am in fact a teenager.\n\nA proper Cuban cigar is something that can and should be enjoyed to the last puff. They are the final result of a long and painstaking process that involves countless hours of labor. It is an industry that Cuba is rightfully very proud of, so do yourself a favor and buy some proper Habanos. It\u2019s an authentic Cuban experience that should not be overlooked if you\u2019ve already made the effort to come out here.\n\nTrue true\n\nWhy bother with all this mess when there are sticks from Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican that rival the Cubans? And you don\u2019t have to navigate the minefield of trying to figure out if they are \u201cfake\u201d or what kind or \u201cfake\u201d. I gave up on cubans years ago, just felt it wasn\u2019t worth the hassle when you can find so many excellent smokes made elsewhere.\n\nFor fake Cohibas sold in Cuba, where do the counterfeiters get the labels? I suspect they would have to import the labels, because I doubt the high tech printers necessary to print the packaging could be found in Cuba.\n\nOn the beach, lifeguards would sell you cigars and you can get a box of Cohiba for as low as 35 CUC which is around 40 USD. We went there with kids this summer and I must say they aren\u2019t pushy to sell you things. For a good deal you should probably ask around yourself.\n\nWhere in Cuba are you headed ?\n\nDoes anybody know what factorie that i should buy my boxes of cigars from? i plan to buy 6 boxes and do you know if ther is a discount for buying more than 1 box?\n\nSome use Cuban seeds to grow tobacco in Nicaragua, Honduras, etc. I believe the seed originated in Cuba and was smuggled out after the revolution. Are they still smuggling seed from Cuba? Don\u2019t know. But cigar flavor comes primarily from soil and climate. So, in my opinion, \u201cCuban seed\u201d is mostly a marketing gimmick. Sadly, quality control in Cuba has diminished over the years, bad weather has negatively impacted recent crops, and global demand has resulted in decreased aging. Cubans often need a year or more of humidor time to age. Many Cuban producers have failed to rotate crops, which has degregated soil quality. Premium non-Cubans \u2013 My Father, Padron, La Flor Dominicana, etc \u2013 have incredible quality control, which has resulted in labels surpassing Cuban quality. I believe a big part of the American appetite is the Cuban mystique.\n\nI didn\u2019t read all the comments but I am impressed that this comes from a teenager. Well written. I live is south Florida and lately been getting a lot of \u201cCohiba\u201d cigars from friends who have been traveling to Cuba. Some of them are not bad but the biggest problem I have noticed is that they are poorly rolled. Very inconsistent. Sometimes impossible to smoke. They make great gifts for people who don\u2019t know a good cigar from a fake but don\u2019t try to pass one off as the real thing to anybody who knows a good cigar\n\nCool stuff. Heading down to Cayo Coco next week. Hope to find some cheap \u201chigh quality\u201d Cigars\u2026\n\nLast time i got some in Veradero. Well some cigars at least. But hea.. they were really great and i enjoyed each and every one.\n\nGood article. I have picked up \u201cfactory door\u201d boxes of cigars in the past for a friend who swore they were great. Price 40CUC. However he was not an aficionado! The boxes and the labels were both pretty much authentic looking and labels well printed. Subsequently I bought for an aficionado who labelled them fake. So the next time I bought him two boxes of Monte Cristos from the cigar store at the Hotel Libre. The first box he pointed out the labels were gold instead of yellow and the 2nd box contained mouldy cigars \u2013 so where is safe???!!\n\nCigars? is it Quality you want or Quantity? As a smoker you should be able to distinguish from a quality cigar to a rather inferior imitation although some of these fake cigar brands have improved so be careful when you next purchase Cigars to take home and if you wish to ensure that you have the real thing then only buy from a government bonded store! Quality cost\u2019s big bucks!\n\nUnderstood. I have no problem getting off my \u201chigh horse\u201d to imagine how someone who simply wants to enjoy smoking a Cuban cigar could appreciate the lesser smokes.\n\nMoses: I can certainly understand your personal opinion that the peso or 4 cent cigars are not good. Your opinion is no doubt shared by those like you who state their favorite is a Cohiba Esplendido, a cigar that costs 500 times as much.\n\nMy comment related to those who are not regular cigar smokers and just want a \u201cauthentic Cuban cigar\u201d. I can freely give away peso cigars in the US to people who swear \u201cthere is just nothing like a great authentic Cuban cigar\u201d as they know little difference.\n\nI had no idea about this. That is very interesting and unexpected. You\u2019d think it would be the other way around. I\u2019ve heard that quite a lot of the drugs being sold here are also run in from America as oppose to the South American countries where they originate.\n\nWow. The only thing more mired in inaccuracies and hearsay than this article, is the commenters \ud83d\ude09\n\nHo Ho ! I am having many times single cigars from casa del habanos which are worse than fake . ..smoking like old canoe or plugged with stick inside ! And I am paying 8 or 10 cuc each ! So many cheatings are there .\n\nFunny thing: Many of the best rollers left for Tampa many years ago. Today, Tampa makes some very nice cigars. Not the best Cuban grown tabacco but decent\u2026Here the crazy thing\u2026speed boats, ofter called cigarette boats, come into Cuban late at night, with\u2026.yes, American cigars from Tampa(and possible other places) labeled at Cohibas, Montechristos etc. And how do i know this bizarre factoid? A pal used to be in the Cuban navy (running US made ships) and intercepted quite a few.\n\nGotta love dem Kubans!\n\nWith regards to your option #2: YUK!!!! Those are the harshest, most horribly made, inconsistent smokes you can imagine. It is true that they are the cigars that only the poorest Cubans smoke. There is no comparison of these cigars, easily purchased from corner bodegas to the cigars, real or fake, that Cuba produces for export.\n\nOfficials at the Partagas cigar factory in Havana readily admit to the importation. After hurricanes and droughts, many Cuban tobacco plants are destroyed. Makes sense right? Although seeds are warehoused and seedlings protected in greenhouses, these efforts are not enough on their own. Tobacco growers in Vinales claim it\u2019s the Cuban soil and the Cuban climate that makes the difference. The point is that Cuban cigars have earned their renown largely based on excellent marketing. Simply Google \u201cTop ten cigars in the world\u201d. Only two Cuban cigars make the list.\n\nI am from province outside of Havana and have family that have worked at the Tabacaria for three generations. When your monthly salary is 25 dollars you can be dame sure that some perfectly authentic Habanos exit on a continual basis. The packaging may or may not accompany as it is much harder to come by. Now in Havana in the tourist areas scams abound.\n\nBut not all are fakes you just need to be in the right location and have the right connections. Also speaking the language especially slang helps tremendously.\n\nAnd I forgot one veeery important test \u2013 good quality cigar have white ashes not black not grey but purely WHITE!!!!\n\nVery simplified description of cigar market. First of all what is the real cigar and what is the fake?! Somehow this attributes are so strong that you think one is great the other is total shit. It is not that way believe me. I once baught very original box in shop and majority of cigars were rolled so tight you could not smoke them. So there are many levels of quality of cuban cigars and many ways of getting it in Cuba. personaly I have long time friend in Pinar del Rio who supply me with perfect cigars without label. Few years he even hired a guy to roll especially form me from the first class tobacco. And honestly for this cigars I don\u2019t give a shit which brand they are. Secondly in Havana you can get cigars on few levels too. You can get no-label ones also some very good quality. You can really get shit fake ones with or without labels. When I say fake I mean they are of very poor quality. And there are some nice tests you can see right form the start that cigars are of the poor quality. 1. They have to be of the same softness through all the length. If they are too tight you can not smoke them. 2. There should be no visible veins. The cigar should be perfectly smooth. 3. As leaves should be in one piece and not grounded like in cigarette, when you try to roll the top in the fingers nothing should drop out. 4. The color of cigar should be equal in all parts. There are some very very good cigars which can not be part of the original box just because of the color. 5. Very important when you blow in air in the top and hold cigar with your hand you should feel it spread easily and smoothly.\n\nThere are cigars from the factory which does not pass quality control and they are really given to the workers. Problem with them they re usualy very tightly rolled and can not be smoked so you should be very careful with them.\n\nTo conclude I don\u2019t buy cigars in shops cause they are crazy over priced. For a tourist who is in Habana first and last time it is really a tricky game, but when you know something about the matter you can get high quality for reasonable price. So \u201cfake\u201d and \u201creal\u201d have many, many sorts inbetween!\n\nInterested to understand how you know the Nicaraguan brands use Cuban fillers and Cuban brands use Dominican wrappers\u2026 I\u2019ve not seen any proof of importation or exportation of either to the other\u2019s countries. Have you?\n\nIf you\u2019re buying street cigars in the knoweledge that they are not real then I am sure you can get them for lower than I quoted. You would not be swayed by the lies they tend to feed the more naive tourists. However, I for one actually paid a lot more than 60$ for the street cigars I bought \u2013 as did the friends who were with me at the time. I completely agree that their value is much less, but we cannot deny the price they are being sold at to tourists who know no better. It is that false advertising that makes it a scam. As for Cigars from elsewhere in South America, I take your word for it. I am far from an experienced cigar connoisseur.\n\n\u201cFake cigars\u201d is yet another of those ambiguous terms or concepts that most think they understand initially but after more experience eventually realize is far more complex and misunderstood. The term is certainly not black and white as too many believe. Is a cigar rolled at home by a Cohiba factory worker from filler and wrapper from the factory a \u201cfake\u201d or just an unlabeled Cohiba. Too many variations on that theme. The spectrum runs from inferior product with counterfeit labels in counterfeit boxes to identical quality famous names at very good prices.\n\nThere are counterfeit cigars sold in official stores. The store workers simply pocket the payment and replace the cigars with those purchased elsewhere at much lower prices.\n\nMost, but not all buyers, have no clue what they are paying for thus providing a lucrative market for Cubans working outside the system.\n\nI had a significant long term relationship with a Cubana who was a tobacco dealer. She did not sell individual boxes to tourists in the street but had a good international clientele who continually returned to Cuba to buy volume at good prices. She could provide quality brand name cigars but without bands or labels, bands, cigar boxes, certificates of authenticity, even official store cash register receipts, or any combination the buyer wanted.\n\nSo there are \u201cfake cigars\u201d that a true aficionado could not differentiate, some that are just good, and some that are not. But for someone who is insistent on having the real deal, there are only two guaranteed ways:\n\n1) accept a cigar from one of the factory rollers through the open factory window. This is not as unusual as it sounds. It just takes a bit of conversation through the window until they offer. Of course, you can never ask.\n\n2) buy peso cigars at the local tienda. They are 1 CUP (equivalent 4 cents) each or 25 CUP, (equivalent 1 CUC or $1-) for a bundle of 25. No one counterfeits those because of the price. This is what Cubans smoke. Really not bad cigars for the price. If you are not a regular cigar smoker and just want a \u201cauthentic Cuban cigar\u201d, they are the smoke for you.\n\nStreet prices of Cuban cigars are MUCH lower than what Karim has quoted. For the tourist who is simply buying a souvenir cigar, smoking the \u201cfakes\u201d is probably the better choice. The novice wouldn\u2019t taste the difference. In other words, street cigars are generally not that bad when compared to the originals. Counterfeiters have mastered their craft. There are cigars sold on the street that would fool all but the most discerning cigar aficionado. Finally, as one such aficionado with more than 30 years of smoking all of the very best cigars from around the world, it should be corrected that Cuban cigars are AMONG the best in the world. Dominican, Nicaraguan and even Mexican brands have become real competitors to the Cuban brands. This should come as no surprise. Nicaraguan brands use Cuban fillers and Cuban brands use Dominican wrappers, etc. All growers have used tobacco seeds from other countries. Cuban cigar rollers work in cigar factories all over the world. Nonetheless, my personal favorite, the Cuban \u201cEsplendido\u201d is a consistent winner.\n\nGood article with great advice and a wonderful recap of the history of Cuban cigars. A clear, unbiased view of the socio-economic circumstances that would lead a person to counterfeit such an item. Disappointing to hear about what happened on the cigar factory tour, however.\n\nWhat a funny surprize at the end! The depth and tenor of this piece would never have indicated to me that it is a teenager writing. Impressive.\n\nIf you are still unsure about authenticity, I recommend buying from the duty free stores in the airports on your way out of Cuba, as I do." + }, + { + "title": "Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion - Real Salt Lake", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion - Real Salt Lake" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxOcjZSTzk5S3JRZEVHanFXbGtwLXIyZ3pYcFA5cEdLM3dqbnBqWXFJTGJhZTV4Y0RGNWNPR21pUk14V2ZNX1pyaFphSHpveDFpekYxLVIycnFpbExFUHNqa1FLYlp1aXJIS1FhMThwSzVTVGRhVTg4VmpjV2YxdTJkUkUxQkp6dXRrRC0ycG1rcFlIVmM?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.rsl.com/news/driven-love-soccer-maikel-chang-defected-cuba-pursue-his-passion", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxOcjZSTzk5S3JRZEVHanFXbGtwLXIyZ3pYcFA5cEdLM3dqbnBqWXFJTGJhZTV4Y0RGNWNPR21pUk14V2ZNX1pyaFphSHpveDFpekYxLVIycnFpbExFUHNqa1FLYlp1aXJIS1FhMThwSzVTVGRhVTg4VmpjV2YxdTJkUkUxQkp6dXRrRC0ycG1rcFlIVmM", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 13 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 13, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 72, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion  Real Salt Lake", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion  Real Salt Lake" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.rsl.com", + "title": "Real Salt Lake" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Driven by a Love for Soccer, Maikel Chang Defected from Cuba to Pursue his Passion | Real Salt Lake\nauthor: Taran Meyer\nurl: https://www.rsl.com/news/driven-love-soccer-maikel-chang-defected-cuba-pursue-his-passion\nhostname: rsl.com\ndescription: Maikel Chang's Love of Soccer\nsitename: Rsl\ndate: 2018-03-13\ncategories: ['']\n---\nThe love of a sport can drive someone to do incredible things. For Real Monarchs midfielder Maikel Chang, the love of the game prompted a decision that at 20 years old would dramatically change his life forever.\n\nBorn and raised in Havana, Cuba, Chang had always longed to become a professional soccer player to not only apply a passion for the game, but to one day possess the ability to provide for his family in Cuba. Within the Caribbean country there is no professional soccer league. Simply amateur leagues where the best of Cuba play against one another in the hopes to one day be called into the Cuban national team.\n\nIn 2012, Cuba stood as the only country in the Caribbean that exemplified nearly all forms of political dissent. At the time, the Cuban government forced nationwide political conformity prompting citizens to consider defecting at any cost.\n\nLeaving Cuba was an idea that Chang had always carried and his love for soccer inspired his decision to leave his native country while on an away trip with the Cuban National Team to begin a new life in the United States.\n\n\u201cI travelled to Canada with my team for a game and after speaking with two other players on the team, we knew that this would be our chance to start a new life,\u201d Chang explained through the translation of Monarchs teammate Sebastian Velasquez. \u201cThe decision scared me but I\u2019m really happy I decided to leave.\u201d\n\nWhen the team arrived at its hotel in Toronto, Chang and his two teammates stood looking through the glass doors in the lobby before a team meal, knowing that a new life stood waiting through the threshold. Once the players had finished the meal, they went to their room and each grabbed their belongings. It was then they decided to depart the hotel, leave the team and abandon a country in turmoil.\n\n\u201cWhen we got to our room, our trainer was at the room next to us so we couldn\u2019t run out,\u201d Chang recalled. \u201cWe had to wait for him to leave before we got our bags. We used the fire escapes at the hotel to run out the back door without anyone seeing us. When we got outside, we ran \u2013 still in our team\u2019s gear \u2013 towards downtown Toronto not knowing where to go.\u201d\n\nOnce the trio thought they were far enough from the hotel they decided to find a way to make it to the border of the United States and found a way through an individual who recognized the Cuban team gear they were wearing and asked them if they needed help.\n\n\u201cA man recognized us in our team gear,\u201d Chang explained. \u201cHe was kind. He let us use a cell phone to call a friend who lived in Canada. More, he bought us a taxi and rode with us until we knew that we were safe. When we got to our friend\u2019s house, she took us to a hotel to stay until we could get to the border.\u201d\n\nMaking it to the border between the United States and Canada, Chang and his teammates crossed into the United States to begin their new lives. Having $430 dollars between the three players, they decided to purchase one-way bus tickets to Jacksonville, Florida for that exact amount of money, leaving the trio with nothing.\n\nFor three months Chang and his teammates, Odsinel Cooper and Heviel Cordoves stayed in Florida, sleeping on an air mattress, hoping to one day land a tryout with a professional team to help their professional dreams come true in the United States. That\u2019s when the Charleston Battery invited Chang and his fellow Cuban teammates for a tryout.\n\nThe tryout with the Battery went well to commence what would turn into a four-year stint with South Carolina\u2019s USL side where he became a fan favorite along with his two other teammates. During his time with the Battery, Chang featured in 109 matches making 91 starts while scoring 15 goals.\n\n\u201cNow to be at a club like the Monarchs makes me really happy,\u201d Chang said. \u201cI loved my time in Charleston but to be with a team like the Monarchs now makes my decision to leave Cuba even better.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxNWi1BTXJ4LVlvekxEQkZIcFRqMGp0ZG5OQ2x4QTBWWXh3S0VwT3VWb0VIMmFhamNCa0l5Q0J3RjNxZzBUUk5sMjhLVzY5ZUVwX1Z2dXJhSUtGRHZnVTFIMzB6Y2phWkJlSTRUNlhQbjlUY21nTkR3WFlGTXVHdGVzcHBXREw2ZjhNVXZmazhLYnowWDDSAZYBQVVfeXFMT2gyTWppRmRQWnV1cy1FRU94TmRVYzUxMFh0Z280THR3M0hyQ2VDR2ZtTXVZZ3FsMjZqSGNBNkh0Y1hPUHRvUGpxMjY1bWRjQU1GRjFMUGJQTVRuQmdMOXlmMXhSakVUU3lZLVlPaWtrb0NSNnlXVENnRW10eU1RRmtDSENOZ1cwZmtjN3R2cE9LQ2FPeFR3?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-opens-wholesale-market-to-sell-basic-staples-/4306437.html", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxNWi1BTXJ4LVlvekxEQkZIcFRqMGp0ZG5OQ2x4QTBWWXh3S0VwT3VWb0VIMmFhamNCa0l5Q0J3RjNxZzBUUk5sMjhLVzY5ZUVwX1Z2dXJhSUtGRHZnVTFIMzB6Y2phWkJlSTRUNlhQbjlUY21nTkR3WFlGTXVHdGVzcHBXREw2ZjhNVXZmazhLYnowWDDSAZYBQVVfeXFMT2gyTWppRmRQWnV1cy1FRU94TmRVYzUxMFh0Z280THR3M0hyQ2VDR2ZtTXVZZ3FsMjZqSGNBNkh0Y1hPUHRvUGpxMjY1bWRjQU1GRjFMUGJQTVRuQmdMOXlmMXhSakVUU3lZLVlPaWtrb0NSNnlXVENnRW10eU1RRmtDSENOZ1cwZmtjN3R2cE9LQ2FPeFR3", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 19, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 78, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples  VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.voanews.com", + "title": "VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba Opens Wholesale Market to Sell Basic Staples\nauthor: Associated Press\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-opens-wholesale-market-to-sell-basic-staples-/4306437.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: State-run newspaper Granma says the market is part of an ongoing effort to 'reorganize' commerce on the communist island\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-03-20\ncategories: ['Economy']\ntags: ['Economy, Americas, Cuba, Havana, commerce, wholesale market, Mercabal, wholesale']\n---\nCuba has opened up its first wholesale market in an economy dominated by government-run enterprises.\n\n\nState-run newspaper Granma says the market is part of an ongoing effort to \"reorganize\" commerce on the communist island. The market will sell beans, beer, sugar, cigars and other basic staples for 20 to 30 percent less than the products are sold throughout the country.\n\n\nSince 2010, the government has authorized about 500,000 people to operate private businesses, and many of them have long-sought access to a wholesale marketplace. Their wait is not over. The government says the market known as the Mercabal is only open to 35 worker-owned cooperatives in Havana, at least for now.\n\n\nThe state-run economy accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the Cuban economy.\n\nHAVANA \u2014" + }, + { + "title": "Guant\u00e1namo base now free of land mines but U.S. officials fear wave of defectors - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Guant\u00e1namo base now free of land mines but U.S. officials fear wave of defectors - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigAFBVV95cUxPODlreWMyZGtzOWo3X0duUXpER3ktZXlEek5wOXdQbERtd1VlSkZ6VUk0U2NGNGNPb1QzSVRwOVVlTm10TW1iaWEzbEhJOHIyMHlxYld3OThYS191ZUpaSVozenA4R3hWSjNyN2QwTVZRSG1YTUNNblVVT2pxZEVIatIBggFBVV95cUxOTUhTbWRxVUx2NW02cVktQl9nYV9sRUJLYVdOVU9uUnZwaHo1ZEtsTTF1QWptenROUzlOR1MxS0FHUmxibU1yTlBaYk4wcWlPUEVGTGptZVQ2VjRxejZBcmpZYzRORWNMYUstQkhJcVA3TnFUeGZFSHAwUk9aUDd1Zlhn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article203705354.html", + "id": "CBMigAFBVV95cUxPODlreWMyZGtzOWo3X0duUXpER3ktZXlEek5wOXdQbERtd1VlSkZ6VUk0U2NGNGNPb1QzSVRwOVVlTm10TW1iaWEzbEhJOHIyMHlxYld3OThYS191ZUpaSVozenA4R3hWSjNyN2QwTVZRSG1YTUNNblVVT2pxZEVIatIBggFBVV95cUxOTUhTbWRxVUx2NW02cVktQl9nYV9sRUJLYVdOVU9uUnZwaHo1ZEtsTTF1QWptenROUzlOR1MxS0FHUmxibU1yTlBaYk4wcWlPUEVGTGptZVQ2VjRxejZBcmpZYzRORWNMYUstQkhJcVA3TnFUeGZFSHAwUk9aUDd1Zlhn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 06 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 6, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 65, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Guant\u00e1namo base now free of land mines but U.S. officials fear wave of defectors  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Guant\u00e1namo base now free of land mines but U.S. officials fear wave of defectors  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Viktor Leonov, Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard, docks in Cuba - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Viktor Leonov, Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard, docks in Cuba - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMid0FVX3lxTFA5VHFlbVZrakIySmlGY2dESUV4UmV4UnBEclozUFVDOU1QQ25STk05LUs3ZklkZEdOblVpZkFnenllU1d1NnNIR2xBV29wd0hNcHAwQ09GSGQ4bkxyaHFjZVFjMG5sQlFEbUswVC1hZ1V6NmtDQ2dZ0gF8QVVfeXFMTXRSek1MenVsUmRVX1FldmV3cnF0WEFZMDBqOXNoamlSSUNYbDllZFBrdlZDUHd6SEwxVjBRWDk1QWJBMjEzZzlCUzRpS0xXV3hpRGpGdGtKRnk0M0s4aGR6MmpNb2dlN3F0RUZPaG9xd3ZKRmtrZGxOSld2aA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://abc11.com/post/known-russian-spy-ship-docks-in-cuba/3224024/", + "id": "CBMid0FVX3lxTFA5VHFlbVZrakIySmlGY2dESUV4UmV4UnBEclozUFVDOU1QQ25STk05LUs3ZklkZEdOblVpZkFnenllU1d1NnNIR2xBV29wd0hNcHAwQ09GSGQ4bkxyaHFjZVFjMG5sQlFEbUswVC1hZ1V6NmtDQ2dZ0gF8QVVfeXFMTXRSek1MenVsUmRVX1FldmV3cnF0WEFZMDBqOXNoamlSSUNYbDllZFBrdlZDUHd6SEwxVjBRWDk1QWJBMjEzZzlCUzRpS0xXV3hpRGpGdGtKRnk0M0s4aGR6MmpNb2dlN3F0RUZPaG9xd3ZKRmtrZGxOSld2aA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 16, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 75, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Viktor Leonov, Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard, docks in Cuba  ABC11 Raleigh-Durham", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Viktor Leonov, Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard, docks in Cuba  ABC11 Raleigh-Durham" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://abc11.com", + "title": "ABC11 Raleigh-Durham" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Russian spy ship spotted last year off Eastern Seaboard docks in Cuba\nurl: https://abc11.com/post/known-russian-spy-ship-docks-in-cuba/3224024/\nhostname: abc11.com\ndescription: The Viktor Leonov, a Russian navy intelligence vessel, has been spotted in the Havana harbor.\nsitename: abc11.com\ndate: 2018-03-16\ncategories: ['politics']\ntags: ['Viktor Leonov, Russia, Cuba, Havana, spy ship, intelligence, Vladimir Putin, Russian spy ship, 3224024', 'u.s.-&-world,cuba,russia,navy,surveillance']\n---\nHAVANA -- A known Russian Navy intelligence vessel has docked in Cuba.\n\nFootage shows the Viktor Leonov entering the Havana harbor early Friday. The warship is one of Russia's Vishnya-class ships generally used for intelligence gathering.\n\nThe same vessel has made multiple trips to Cuba in recent years in addition to a trip up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States last year.\n\nAccording to U.S. defense officials, the ship made a port call in Cuba in early 2017 and was later spotted in international waters off Delaware and Connecticut. It was presumably monitoring activity at multiple military bases.\n\nThose trips, according to officials, have become commonplace in recent years. Each time, the vessel has remained well into international waters and has conducted intelligence-gathering operations similar to those conducted by the United States.\n\n\"There's been a lot made of this Russian ship, the Viktor Leonov, reported to be off the East Coast of the U.S.,\" Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in 2017. \"It's not something we've seen where they've entered U.S. territorial waters, and as such it's lawful and very similar to operations we do in places around the world.\"\n\n*The Associated Press contributed to this report.*" + }, + { + "title": "What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba - The Nation", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba - The Nation" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/what-the-us-government-is-not-telling-you-about-those-sonic-attacks-in-cuba/", + "id": "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", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 66, + 0 + ], + "summary": "What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba  The Nation", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba  The Nation" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.thenation.com", + "title": "The Nation" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: What the US Government Is Not Telling You About Those \u2018Sonic Attacks\u2019 in Cuba\nauthor: Peter Kornbluh; Roane\nurl: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/what-the-us-government-is-not-telling-you-about-those-sonic-attacks-in-cuba/\nhostname: thenation.com\ndescription: The key victims were CIA agents. Not a single tourist was affected, and the island remains among the safest countries in the world to visit.\nsitename: The Nation\ndate: 2018-03-07\ntags: ['Cuba,Donald Trump,US Intelligence']\n---\nWhen the *Journal of the American Medical Association* (*JAMA*) recently published a preliminary clinical evaluation of health problems suffered by US embassy personnel in Havana, the State Department seized the opportunity to reiterate a countrywide \u201chealth alert\u201d on Cuba. \u201cDiscuss the JAMA article with a doctor if you have concerns prior to travel,\u201d the department advised on February 14. \u201cWe encourage private U.S. citizens who have traveled to Cuba and are concerned about their symptoms to share this article with their doctor.\u201d\n\nThe alert reflects an ongoing effort by President Trump\u2019s State Department to frighten US travelers away from Cuba. Last September, when the administration announced a drastic 60 percent embassy staff reduction in Havana in response to the mysterious health maladies, the department issued a categorical warning to US citizens \u201cnot to travel to Cuba.\u201d In early January, when the State Department issued a new safety ranking system for all nations, Cuba received a \u201clevel 3\u201d designation\u2014\u201cReconsider Travel: Avoid travel due to serious risks to safety and security.\u201d In late January, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs told *The Miami Herald* that, following the September alert, 19 US citizens had called to report health problems after traveling to Cuba\u2014out of close to 620,000 travelers who visited the island in 2017\u2014even though officials at the Bureau of Consular Affairs who fielded those calls readily admit that they took no steps to determine when, where, and how those illnesses occurred, and simply passed the callers on to the FBI. And last week, when the State Department determined that the embassy would not be restaffed and will \u201ccontinue to operate with the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions,\u201d the department posted a long list of warnings for anyone thinking about traveling to Cuba\u2014even though the island remains among the safest countries anywhere in the world for US citizens to visit.\n\nThe highly technical *JAMA* study, titled \u201cNeurological Manifestations Among US Government Personnel Reporting Directional Audible and Sensory Phenomena in Havana, Cuba,\u201d certainly sounds scary. The article summarizes initial medical findings on 21 of the 24 members of the US embassy community in Havana\u2014diplomats, family members, and intelligence agents\u2014who suffered a range of neurological-related symptoms from a still-unidentified source between late 2016 and August 2017. \u201cPersistent cognitive, vestibular, and oculomotor dysfunction, as well as sleep impairment and headaches, were observed among US government personnel in Havana, Cuba, associated with reports of directional audible and/or sensory phenomena of unclear origin,\u201d a team of doctors from the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Center for Brain Injury and Repair reported. \u201cThese individuals appeared to have sustained injury to widespread brain networks without an associated history of head trauma.\u201d\n## Popular\n\n\"swipe left below to view more authors\"Swipe \u2192\n\n\nThe report, however, was accompanied by an editorial warning that the findings remain preliminary and incomplete. \u201cAt this point, a unifying explanation for the symptoms experienced by the US government officials described in this case series remains elusive and the effect of possible exposure to audible phenomena is unclear,\u201d states the *JAMA* editorial. \u201cBefore reaching any definitive conclusions, additional evidence must be obtained and rigorously and objectively evaluated.\u201d\n\nNevertheless, the *JAMA* study has helped to clarify the murky and misrepresented events that the Trump administration has characterized as \u201csonic attacks\u201d against US personnel in Havana\u2014and a potential threat to US travelers. The journal article contains several important takeaways:\n\n*The \u201csonic attack\u201d meme has been scientifically laid to rest*. The doctors determined that the sounds heard by those who were hurt\u2014described as a \u201chigh-pitched sound,\u201d \u201cbuzzing,\u201d \u201cgrinding metal,\u201d \u201cpiercing squeals,\u201d and \u201chumming\u201d\u2014could not have caused the symptoms they experienced. \u201cWe actually don\u2019t think it was the audible sound that was the problem,\u201d says Dr. Douglas Smith, MD, a co-author of the study who directs the Center for Brain Injury and Repair. \u201cWe think the audible sound was a consequence of the exposure, because audible sound is not known to cause brain injury.\u201d At the same time, the*JAMA*study casts doubt on viral or chemical sources of the symptoms. While the*JAMA*editorial alludes to \u201cmass psychogenic illness\u201d as a possible explanation\u2014a theory that Cuban investigators have also advanced\u2014after a year of serious investigation by multiple US agencies, the cause of the health problems remains unidentified.*Sensational reports of brain damage turn out to be fake news*. Based on leaks by anonymous US officials briefed on the medical-study findings, the Associated Press circulated a seemingly explosive scoop in December that the doctors had \u201cdiscovered brain abnormalities\u201d among the US embassy personnel. \u201cMedical testing has revealed the embassy workers developed changes to the white matter tracts that let different parts of the brain communicate,\u201d the AP reported. But now those claims have been revealed to be incorrect at best\u2014and malicious spin at worst. According to the*JAMA*study, all 21 patients underwent MRI testing, and \u201cmost patients had conventional imaging findings.\u201d Only three showed \u201cmultiple T2-bright white matter foci\u201d; of those, two were \u201cmild in degree and 1 with moderate changes.\u201d The study made it clear that there was no way to know if those few cases had anything to do with events in Havana or \u201ccould perhaps be attributed to other preexisting disease processes or risk factors.\u201d*Those who experienced health problems in Havana hotel rooms were US personnel*. The*JAMA*study refers to government patients who experienced an \u201conset of symptoms in their homes and hotel rooms,\u201d offering official, if inadvertent, confirmation that reported incidents in the Hotel Nacional and the Hotel Capri involved US employees,*not*tourists. Other than the names of the hotels, the State Department has refused to provide any details about three incidents that took place at the Nacional and Capri. But when the administration announced the virtual shutdown of the embassy last September, the State Department pointed to the hotels as evidence of a potential threat to US tourists and categorically warned them not to travel to the island. \u201cBecause our personnel\u2019s safety is at risk, and we are unable to identify the source of the attacks,\u201d the travel warning stated, \u201cwe believe U.S. citizens may also be at risk and warn them not to travel to Cuba. Attacks have occurred in U.S. diplomatic residences and hotels frequented by U.S. citizens.\u201d An updated travel advisory posted on the State Department\u2019s website last week specifically instructs US travelers to \u201cavoid Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri.\u201d\n\nPredictably, these travel warnings have led to significant cancellations at the Capri and the Nacional, as well as a significant drop-off in overall US visitors to the island. That might not have been the case if the Trump administration had been transparent, and honest, about what happened in Cuba, instead of exploiting this troubling situation to sabotage normalized relations. \u201cLeaks of intentionally misleading and false information by US government officials have distorted the truth and made it harder to get to the bottom of the mystery,\u201d points out Collin Laverty, who runs Cuba Educational Travel (CET) and tracks the impact of Trump\u2019s policies on tourism and the tourist sector in Cuba. The administration, he suggests, is \u201chiding many of the facts.\u201d\n\n###### CIA: The Elephant in the Embassy\n\n** **The *JAMA* study evaluated 11 women and 10 men who were vaguely identified as \u201cUS government personnel serving on diplomatic assignment in Havana, Cuba.\u201d The mainstream press has often referred to those who reported injuries as \u201cdiplomats,\u201d while US officials have referred to them as \u201cmembers of the Embassy community.\u201d Not a single member of this \u201ccommunity\u201d has been named, let alone stepped forward and publicly identified themselves. It has fallen to intrepid investigative reporters at CNN, the AP, and most recently *ProPublica* to reveal the missing link in this mystery: A critical number of those affected were members of the CIA station in Cuba.\n\nThe *ProPublica* article, based on a lengthy investigation by reporters Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella, appeared on February 14, the same day the *JAMA* study was published. While the *JAMA* article was picked up by major news outlets such as *The* *New York Times* and *The Washington Post*, the revelations of the lengthy *ProPublica* story have received little mainstream circulation. The article, \u201cThe Sound and the Fury: Inside the Mystery of the Havana Embassy,\u201d offers the first credible and comprehensive time line on how the health crisis unfolded and, most importantly, breaks through the Trump administration\u2019s cover-up of who was initially affected. \u201cThe first four Americans to report being struck by the phenomenon,\u201d according to Golden and Rotella, \u201cwere all CIA officers working under diplomatic cover, as were two others affected later on.\u201d (The latter two are widely rumored to include an agency doctor who was sent to Havana to evaluate what was happening to CIA colleagues and reported acoustic-related injuries while staying in one of the hotels.) CIA officers saw \u201ca pattern that was anything but coincidental.\u201d\n\nIndeed, the article makes clear that both senior embassy and intelligence officials believed that the acoustic episodes were part of a long, nasty history of \u201cspy vs. spy\u201d in Cuba. Between late December 2016, when the first CIA operative reported his symptoms, and late March 2017, when the health problems were shared with the embassy community, \u201cboth the intelligence officials and senior diplomats guessed that the noises were \u2018just another form of harassment\u2019 by the Cuban government,\u201d *ProPublica* reported. In March, the de facto US ambassador, Jeff DeLaurentis, told a diplomatic colleague who wanted a full embassy meeting on the issue that \u201che and others who knew about the incidents believed they were confined to a \u2018small universe of people\u2019 whom the Cubans probably suspected of doing intelligence work, whether they were CIA officers or not.\u201d Top CIA officials became so convinced that their agents were under attack, *The* *Nation* has learned, that they apparently ordered the closure of the CIA station in Havana\u2014a move that contributed to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson\u2019s decision in September to effectively shutter the consulate and reduce embassy operations to a skeleton staff.\n\nOnly after DeLaurentis briefed the entire diplomatic corps at the Havana embassy in late March 2017 did something akin to mass hysteria break out. Some 80 members of the US diplomatic community, including family and non-diplomatic personnel, took a leave to Miami to be tested for symptoms. Of those, about a dozen were found to have traumatic experiences similar to the more serious cases of the initial four CIA personnel. Between April and August, another eight cases were reported, including the three at the Capri and Nacional hotels, at least one of which involved a CIA employee. In total, 24 cases have been identified as part of this health mystery. None involve US tourists.\n\n###### \u201cDuty to Inform\u201d\n\n** **The fact that a \u201csmall universe\u201d of CIA personnel is at the center of what has evolved into a major impasse in US-Cuban relations explains the secrecy surrounding this mystery; to publicly admit that a \u201cCIA station\u201d exists anywhere in the world is taboo for US officials. The Top Secret nature of CIA operations restricts the release of information by the administration, and by senators and representatives who have received multiple classified briefings on the situation. It limits access to information that both scientists and doctors need to fully evaluate what could have created this mysterious situation.\n\nIndeed, the sensitivity around spy-vs.-spy technologies at use in Cuba may also impede a much-needed consultation between the US and Cuban intelligence communities over whether espionage-related equipment may have inadvertently combined to create these health conditions. A comprehensive acoustical study released last week by a team of computer scientists and engineers from the University of Michigan and Zhejiang University in China concluded that the metallic grinding noises experienced by US personnel in Cuba might have been caused by an accidental combination of ultrasound waves, raising the possibility that multiple ultrasonic carriers, including eavesdropping and jamming technologies, collided to create the conditions for harm. \u201cIf ultrasound played a role in harming diplomats in Cuba,\u201d the study states, \u201cthen a plausible cause is intermodulation distortion between ultrasonic signals that unintentionally synthesize audible tones. In other words, acoustic interference without malicious intent to cause harm could have led to the audible sensations in Cuba.\u201d It is hard to imagine how this potentially promising theory can be tested without a formal, and candid, dialogue between the appropriate US and Cuban authorities.\n\nBy hiding this part of the story, however, the Trump administration has created a false impression that a broader threat to travelers exists in Cuba, when the threat, if there was one, appears to have evolved around a specific group of US personnel. Without this context, the official travel alert\u2014mandated by the State Department\u2019s \u201cduty to inform\u201d procedures when there is a drawdown of embassy staff\u2014is grossly misleading for the traveling public.\n\nIndeed, if the administration fulfilled its \u201cduty to inform\u201d honestly, it would advise potential tourists that the health problems have been specific to US government personnel, that no cases have been reported since August 2017, and that overall, Cuba remains one of the most secure nations in the world to visit. An honest travel advisory would note that in January the International Travel Fair in Madrid voted to give Cuba an excellence award as the \u201csafest country for tourism.\u201d A recent survey by the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) of 42 agencies that arrange travel to Cuba found that not a single one of the travelers they hosted in 2017 had reported any health issues related to those of the embassy community. \u201cWe have brought more than 10,000 Americans to Cuba over the last few years\u2014including thousands in 2017 and 2018\u2014and not one has reported any similar health issues during or after their visit,\u201d notes Laverty of CET, who also handles *The Nation*\u2019s trips to Cuba. \u201cOn the contrary, a leading response on post-trip surveys is how safe travelers feel in that country.\u201d\n\nCREST and CET are among almost three dozen travel agencies and educational groups calling for Secretary Tillerson to change the travel advisory and begin to restaff the embassy. Similar requests have come from senators and congressional representatives, including Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and Florida Representative Kathy Castor, who visited Cuba in late February and met with Cuban officials to discuss how to move US-Cuban relations forward. In a February 28 letter to Secretary Tillerson, Congresswoman Castor urged him to \u201creturn consular officials and diplomatic personnel to the embassy as soon as possible\u201d so that the United States could advance its political, cultural, and economic interests at a time of major leadership transition in Cuba, as well as to support the growing Cuban private sector, which depends on commercial interaction and US tourism. \u201cIt is also time to reverse the overreaching travel warning by the State Department that it is unsafe to travel to Cuba,\u201d her letter continued. \u201cThere is nothing in recent history to show that Cuba is unsafe for American visitors.\u201d\n\nOn March 5, however, the State Department began implementing a new staffing plan that will keep the embassy community at minimum levels\u2014transforming a temporary reduction into an indefinite one. The embassy \u201cwill operate as an unaccompanied post, defined as a post at which no family members are permitted to reside,\u201d the department declared last week. The decision was accompanied by yet another lengthy warning against traveling to Cuba.\n\nBut at time when the Trump administration seems determined to undermine better US relations with Cuba, travel to the island has become all the more important. If the State Department is unwilling to engage in the mission of diplomacy, it will be left to the citizen-diplomats to fill the void and, at the people-to-people level, advance the cause of positive relations." + }, + { + "title": "The Mystery Behind Neurological Symptoms Among US Diplomats in Cuba - Neurology Today", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Mystery Behind Neurological Symptoms Among US Diplomats in Cuba - Neurology Today" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMid0FVX3lxTFAwUm82VWJmTUxIOG9GOHlmWGVTRlJrTDBJTmVWMGk0OHV4QjRvRmFyUGlQNjBUYV9QdHo2c3hZWWV3bUxxcW13T1RoRG9KUGtEblNZYUZiLUhaUVlOaFVwejFjT3NLbGltMGhjTE1pVFJVSFAwTlRZ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://neurologytoday.aan.com/doi/10.1097/01.NT.0000532085.86007.9b", + "id": "CBMid0FVX3lxTFAwUm82VWJmTUxIOG9GOHlmWGVTRlJrTDBJTmVWMGk0OHV4QjRvRmFyUGlQNjBUYV9QdHo2c3hZWWV3bUxxcW13T1RoRG9KUGtEblNZYUZiLUhaUVlOaFVwejFjT3NLbGltMGhjTE1pVFJVSFAwTlRZ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 22, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 81, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Mystery Behind Neurological Symptoms Among US Diplomats in Cuba  Neurology Today", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Mystery Behind Neurological Symptoms Among US Diplomats in Cuba  Neurology Today" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://neurologytoday.aan.com", + "title": "Neurology Today" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Cuban Americans who move back to the island can lose U.S. benefits. What does the Cuban government gain? - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Americans who move back to the island can lose U.S. benefits. What does the Cuban government gain? - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFBVV95cUxQQkxtNFJPUkZkcnBOS3kwTVBTRVA2bHBsSUZadktta193TmxiRnJVSDUzZWxBQ2gwNjY4THhTTXhGT0dpU1ZBX3pGQ0ZvdmhPcXpfQlM3Z2F4YlI4RmdtU0dwWFlndWpDNjBrVjhpdG84LWhpZGtxdzRtM01CU2UtTXg5ODg3R03SAYgBQVVfeXFMTmV3Q0RiMHl3RkVmNFk1YTMzZG92LWhaRXBNV2pLQVphcFBMYjI4ejNSa1gtX3NZOWh1OEo0V1UwdmdFRXFyYWFpaUhYeFBXQ01laHdtWC1yOU4ybU1wX0JReERoWEJBeERZTDljV0J5ay1OUmdXb1YwTnNOWURHbmR2WmJaa1RkMg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article205174779.html", + "id": "CBMihwFBVV95cUxQQkxtNFJPUkZkcnBOS3kwTVBTRVA2bHBsSUZadktta193TmxiRnJVSDUzZWxBQ2gwNjY4THhTTXhGT0dpU1ZBX3pGQ0ZvdmhPcXpfQlM3Z2F4YlI4RmdtU0dwWFlndWpDNjBrVjhpdG84LWhpZGtxdzRtM01CU2UtTXg5ODg3R03SAYgBQVVfeXFMTmV3Q0RiMHl3RkVmNFk1YTMzZG92LWhaRXBNV2pLQVphcFBMYjI4ejNSa1gtX3NZOWh1OEo0V1UwdmdFRXFyYWFpaUhYeFBXQ01laHdtWC1yOU4ybU1wX0JReERoWEJBeERZTDljV0J5ay1OUmdXb1YwTnNOWURHbmR2WmJaa1RkMg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 14, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 73, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban Americans who move back to the island can lose U.S. benefits. What does the Cuban government gain?  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Americans who move back to the island can lose U.S. benefits. What does the Cuban government gain?  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth (opinion) - CNN", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth (opinion) - CNN" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFBVV95cUxOaG4yczAwekNabk1KM3A2aFk5a1FnTC05eDl5eXh3aFQ2RjJwOUljZVBxUl80N1VVQ3d6dWQ0YXN1Ym5UYkVRSUxQMTBPeVlNcXpFSm9ISFZTbGg3dnlsaEM2WDRrMV9IRzFDYU1PTFpnclhvU0h1Y1Q1ckxZMUtXTGVBSVY5UnFpQXFEQmxRMnRmbmEtU21tdHp1WkQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/opinions/steve-king-has-emma-gonzalez-cuba-flag-wrong-bodenheimer", + "id": "CBMinAFBVV95cUxOaG4yczAwekNabk1KM3A2aFk5a1FnTC05eDl5eXh3aFQ2RjJwOUljZVBxUl80N1VVQ3d6dWQ0YXN1Ym5UYkVRSUxQMTBPeVlNcXpFSm9ISFZTbGg3dnlsaEM2WDRrMV9IRzFDYU1PTFpnclhvU0h1Y1Q1ckxZMUtXTGVBSVY5UnFpQXFEQmxRMnRmbmEtU21tdHp1WkQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 28, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 87, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth (opinion)  CNN", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth (opinion)  CNN" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cnn.com", + "title": "CNN" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Emma Gonzalez isn\u2019t endorsing communism, she\u2019s living her truth | CNN\nauthor: Rebecca Bodenheimer\nurl: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/opinions/steve-king-has-emma-gonzalez-cuba-flag-wrong-bodenheimer\nhostname: cnn.com\ndescription: Steve King\u2019s implication that Emma Gonzalez was expressing support for a Communist dictatorship by wearing a Cuban flag patch on her jacket during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington is wildly inaccurate, says Cuba scholar Rebecca Bodenheimer.\nsitename: CNN\ndate: 2018-03-28\ncategories: ['opinions']\ntags: ['2018 parkland school shooting, caribbean, colin kaepernick, crime, law enforcement and corrections, crimes against persons, criminal offenses, cuba, emma gonzalez, fidel castro, firearms, florida, football (american), government and public administration, gun control, homicide, latin america, mass murder, murder, nfl, nfl national anthem protests, north america, political figures - intl, political figures - us, political platforms and issues, politics, protests and demonstrations, school violence, shootings, society, southeastern united states, sports and recreation, sports figures, sports organizations and teams, steve king (politician), united states, violence in society, weapons and arms, communism, forms of government', '2018 parkland school shooting, caribbean, colin kaepernick, crime, law enforcement and corrections, crimes against persons, criminal offenses, cuba, emma gonzalez, fidel castro, firearms, florida, football (american), government and public administration, gun control, homicide, latin america, mass murder, murder, nfl, nfl national anthem protests, north america, political figures - intl, political figures - us, political platforms and issues, politics, protests and demonstrations, school violence, shootings, society, southeastern united states, sports and recreation, sports figures, sports organizations and teams, steve king (politician), united states, violence in society, weapons and arms, communism, forms of government']\n---\n**Editor\u2019s Note: **Rebecca Bodenheimer is a freelance writer and Cuba scholar with a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology. She writes on Cuba, American popular culture, identity and higher education. The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers.\n\nSome Republican ideologues are grasping at straws to try and impugn the character of Emma Gonzalez, the fiercely outspoken young woman who has become a leading voice of the gun control movement since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last month.\n\nPerhaps the most confounding attack came from Iowa Rep. Steve King, who suggested Gonzalez was expressing support for a communist dictatorship by wearing a Cuban flag patch on her jacket during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington.\n\nPutting aside for a moment the real possibility that King\u2019s statement was merely a cynical ploy to distract the American public from the real issue at hand \u2013 the urgent need for stricter gun control laws \u2013 his comment betrays a lack of understanding about the meaning of the Cuban flag (and, for that matter, about most flags displayed outside their country of origin).\n\nThe Cuban flag is not a symbol of political orientation, as King suggests, but rather a sign of national belonging, independent of ideological belief. And one reason King and many Americans don\u2019t understand this is because the American flag has come to represent for many a specific ideology that some consider xenophobic or militaristic.\n\nWhile it\u2019s preposterous to argue that a symbol representing a whole nation of people could ever mean only one thing, a clear contrast exists between the contemporary connotations of the Cuban and American flags respectively: the first is tied to ethnic identity while the second is tied to political ideology.\n\nWhile for many the American flag stands for patriotism, national pride, military might or American exceptionalism (research has shown that exposure to the flag increases feelings of nationalism), the display of many other national flags often signals a sense of ethnic pride, particularly when they\u2019re displayed in the diaspora.\n\nAnd this is where Emma Gonzalez\u2019s decision to wear a Cuban flag comes in. Following Rep. King\u2019s comments, she and her family felt a need to explain this decision, which they did via Florida Rep. (and Cuban-American famous for her opposition to the Castro regimes) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who tweeted that Miami is filled with Cuban-American homes that proudly fly the Cuban flag, independent of their feelings about the government in Havana.\n\nIn fact, both supporters and critics of the Cuban revolution have historically utilized the Cuban flag for their own purposes. Exhibit A: images of Miami and Cuba reacting to the news that Fidel Castro had died. In the first, mass celebration; in the second, mass mourning.\n\nNot only is the Cuban flag not representative of political ideology, but it was also not even designed by a Cuban. As Cuban-American historian Andr\u00e9s Pertierra commented on Twitter, \u201cThe flag wasn\u2019t created in 1959. In fact, it has its origins in the annexationist movement of the 19th century!\u201d\n\nThe design for the Cuban flag was conceived of in 1850 by a Venezuelan general, Narciso L\u00f3pez, who was living in the US at the time. While L\u00f3pez\u2019s ultimate goal was Cuban independence from Spain (and not necessarily Cuban annexation to the US), he courted both Southern (pro-slavery) and Northern (pro-abolition) annexationists to gain support for his anti-colonial uprisings in Cuba.\n\nThe Cuban flag has been used to represent a wide range of political ideologies and projects in the past two centuries: annexation to the US, independence from Spain, Cuban socialism and anti-communist sentiment by Cuban exiles. And now it\u2019s been utilized by a young Cuban-American fighting for gun control who identifies as bisexual and whose appearance challenges widely accepted notions of femininity in the US and Cuba. It has appeared at the March for Our Lives.\n\nConsider in contrast the use of the flag surrounding Colin Kaepernick\u2019s protest, in which the then-49ers quarterback refused to stand during the singing of the National Anthem in order to protest police brutality. Kaepernick himself drew a link between the American flag and institutional racism when he stated, \u201cI am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.\u201d\n\nKaepernick\u2019s actions were predictably met with fervent critique by right-wing conservatives. Even after Kaepernick was effectively blackballed by NFL owners, other NFL players continued to kneel and were met by one of President Trump\u2019s infamous tirades, calling them \u201csons of bitches\u201d and suggesting they should be fired for \u201cdisrespecting the flag.\u201d\n\nNFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is not known for his liberal views, disputed that players were trying to be disrespectful to the flag: \u201cThey\u2019re talking about equality issues, making sure that we\u2019re doing everything we possibly can to give people an opportunity.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile, Kaepernick\u2019s actions and the movement he started were lauded by a slew of progressive groups and figures beyond the sports world, including Women\u2019s March leader Tamika Mallory and the NAACP. Although Kaepernick and his supporters ultimately clarified that it was not the American flag he was protesting, but rather institutional racism, the flag became a stand-in for ideological debates over patriotism itself.\n\nThis isn\u2019t the case for the Cuban flag, which has been deployed by both poles of the political spectrum and whose meaning has been perhaps more contested since 1959 than at any other time in Cuba\u2019s history.\n\nThe Cuban flag does not exclusively represent socialism, Fidel or Ra\u00fal Castro, or anti-communist sentiment. It represents *Cubanidad*, a sense of belonging to and pride in the experience of being Cuban.\n\nRep. King had nothing to say when hundreds of Miami Cubans went out into the street waving Cuban flags to celebrate Fidel Castro\u2019s death, so I can only assume his decision to mock Gonzalez\u2019s deployment of the Cuban flag was a politically motivated attempt to undermine her powerful statements on gun control." + }, + { + "title": "Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene - CrimeReads", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene - CrimeReads" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMib0FVX3lxTE1JdnFJejQwamdyRnl6a2NtbVFaalpwRjYxNGs2ejY1Qi1qeHZHSlYtX2NOZHliOVVJdS1Ndi14ekgwS3BXYVE4a2NUTHg4YVFKZ21jRW0wbEg3RnNaYVNmcUNaSVZodlU5YXJ1dmJ3MA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://crimereads.com/writing-in-the-shadow-of-graham-greene/", + "id": "CBMib0FVX3lxTE1JdnFJejQwamdyRnl6a2NtbVFaalpwRjYxNGs2ejY1Qi1qeHZHSlYtX2NOZHliOVVJdS1Ndi14ekgwS3BXYVE4a2NUTHg4YVFKZ21jRW0wbEg3RnNaYVNmcUNaSVZodlU5YXJ1dmJ3MA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 29, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 88, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene  CrimeReads", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene  CrimeReads" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://crimereads.com", + "title": "CrimeReads" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Writing in the Shadow of Graham Greene\nauthor: Paul Vidich\nurl: https://crimereads.com/writing-in-the-shadow-of-graham-greene/\nhostname: crimereads.com\ndescription: Writers have long been fascinated with Cuba, that long serpent of an island, the largest in the Caribbean that sits ninety miles from Florida. Just as there is Ernest Hemingway\u2019s Paris and Christop\u2026\nsitename: CrimeReads\ndate: 2018-03-29\n---\nWriters have long been fascinated with Cuba, that long serpent of an island, the largest in the Caribbean that sits ninety miles from Florida. Just as there is Ernest Hemingway\u2019s Paris and Christopher Isherwood\u2019s Berlin, there is the Cuba of Graham Greene, whose novel, *Our Man In Havana,* creates a resonant image of expat Havana in the 1950s. Comedy, violence, passion, scandal. All these are masterfully rendered and leave the reader with an enduring picture of that city.\n\nA while back, I came across the story of William Morgan, an U.S. citizen, who fought in the Cuban Revolution and helped Fidel Castro\u2019s forces defeat President Fulgencio Batista\u2019s army. Morgan was among two dozen Americans who fought in the revolution, and one of only three foreign nationals (another was Argentine Che Guevara), to rise to the rebel army\u2019s highest rank, *comandante. *Morgan was a big, flamboyant man, who came of age in the Cold War, and like an earlier generation of idealistic young men who volunteered for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War, he wanted to make a difference in the world. He found his cause in Cuba\u2019s struggle. Morgan served under Castro until he was accused of being a CIA spy. After a brief trial he was executed at dawn on March 11, 1961 in La Caba\u00f1a, the eighteenth-century stone fortress that overlooks Havana Harbor. He was thirty-two. I was drawn to Morgan\u2019s short, tumultuous life and soon found that it helped shape the fictional events and figures that would soon become my second novel*.*\n\nThere was, however, a problem. The events I was interested in, the pivotal moments of Morgan\u2019s life, took place in the months leading up to Batista\u2019s overthrow\u2014the exact time period in which *Our Man in Havana* takes place. Of course, I had read *Our Man in Havana* and enjoyed Carol Reed\u2019s film version, shot on location in the city in 1959. I worried, as I\u2019m sure other authors before me have worried, that writing about expatriates in midcentury Cuba would invite comparisons to Greene\u2019s classic novel\u2014and whose work can stand up to that sort of comparison?\n\n***\n\nGraham Greene\u2019s novel gives life to the decadence of pre-revolutionary Havana as it spins out a comedic tale of a cash-strapped Englishman, Jim Wormold, who successfully cons British Intelligence into paying him for vacuum cleaner drawings that supposedly depict missile installations. The novel begins in El Prado, Old Havana\u2019s main thoroughfare and home to the Wonder Bar, where Wormold begins his day with a drink. Wormold\u2019s daughter, Milly, 17, holds him hostage with her spending habits, and Wormwood is forced to pad invoices to Britain\u2019s Intelligence Service, MI6, by inventing sub-agents in whose name he draws expense accounts and on whose \u201cword\u201d he concocts missile diagrams he takes from appliance brochures. He finds the names of his fictitious agents in the phone book, so they exist in real life, and begin to die when the Cuban police crack his simple coded messages to London.\n\nIn his autobiography, *Ways of Escape*, Greene explains that the idea of the novel came to him while working in MI6 1943-1944. He came across German Abwehr agents in Portugal, who were inventing imaginary double agents and sending false information to Berlin to be reimbursed for expenses and salaries to keep their imaginary sources in the field working on behalf of the Nazis. Greene was drawn to the comedy of the story. He wrote the first version of what would become *Our Man in Havana* in the mid-1940s\u2014an outline on a single piece of paper. He placed the story in Estonia in 1938, where a British agent\u2019s wife\u2019s extravagance led him to cheat MI6 and as war loomed, his enemies began to take him seriously. Greene didn\u2019t write that novel, but the story remained in the back of his mind resting in a preconscious state until the early 1950s, when he made the first of six visits to Havana.\n\nGreene was drawn to the louche atmosphere of Havana. He enjoyed El Floridita, famous for its daiquiris and Morro crabs, indulged the brothel life, gambled at the fruit machines that spilled out jackpots of silver dollars in hotel lobbies, and visited the Shanghai Theater, where for one dollar and twenty-five cents he could see a nude cabaret of extreme obscenity. In this lush world the story idea reawakened and he realized that Havana was the right place for his comedy.\n\nThe dark shadows of war in 1938 weren\u2019t right for a comedy, but now he thought he\u2019d found the right situation and the right period. As he wrote, the right place for the story was there in \u201cfantastic Havana among the absurdities of the Cold War (for who can accept the survival of capitalism as a great cause)?\u201d\n\nGreene, who presciently captured the cynical conflict in Indochina in*The Quiet American*just three years earlier, takes almost no interest in the underlying unrest that gripped Cuba during his sojourns.\n\nIn a few pages of his novel, we come to know Havana\u2014the beauty of the women, the nightclubs, the wild weather streaming in from the Caribbean, and our understanding of the city comes in tandem with the increasing understanding of the danger to Wormwood from his conjuring of fake agents. The outline of the original story is intact, except that the extravagant wife has become an indulged daughter.\n\nGreene\u2019s visits to Havana were short and he used his time to explore the city\u2019s scandalous offerings. He says he never stayed long enough to be aware of the sad political background or arbitrary imprisonment and torture\u2014or was too distracted to care. This is the telling thing about *Our Man In Havana.* It is a comedy set in the midst of brutal civil war. Greene, who presciently captured the cynical conflict in Indochina in *The Quiet American* just three years earlier, takes almost no interest in the underlying unrest that gripped Cuba during his sojourns. Graham, ironically, succumbed to the problem that he had hoped to avoid, setting a comedy in the shadow of war. None of this affected the book\u2019s commercial success, but now the book seems oddly out of joint to its historical setting.\n\n***\n\nI was happy to discover the novel\u2019s provenance\u2014and relieved. It was a feeling confirmed on re-reading the novel and looking again at the film. Although my story would have some humor, I wasn\u2019t writing a comedy. I was writing about an ex-CIA agent, George Mueller, who arrives in Havana in August 1958 to look into the activities of a former colleague suspected of harboring sympathies for the rebel forces fighting the unpopular Batista regime. It is a story of ideals, passions, betrayals, and corrupting political rivalries in the months before Castro\u2019s triumphant march into Havana on New Year\u2019s Day 1959. The novel addresses the conflict that Greene largely ignored.\n\nNo author, even a giant like Greene, can define*the*experience of a city, and there are always new stories to tell.\n\nSetting may be the novelist\u2019s first critical choice. Choice of setting carries with it the things that draw characters to a place and it establishes a novel\u2019s atmosphere. Setting isn\u2019t an illustrator\u2019s presentation of a location, although that is part of setting, but it is the mood and ambiance of a place that evokes the imaginary world of a story. Setting illuminates the yearnings, fears, attractions, and possibilities that are available to characters who find themselves at a unique moment in a particular place.\n\nWilliam Morgan was drawn to a different Cuba than the one that attracted Greene, and it was Morgan\u2019s Cuba that I found interesting. The tension between democratic ideals and predictable tyranny was on full display. Morgan saw civil war and young nationalists fighting for a better life for their children. No author, even a giant like Greene, can define *the* experience of a city, and there are always new stories to tell, especially in a place as diverse and rich with history as Havana." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era - Al Jazeera", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era - Al Jazeera" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijAFBVV95cUxOTFpEQWVYVWpWbkU2VkdRRmZISzA3dU1ZSjlrLWNQMW9YdC1hSFVjbkVJNG1QOTRjem0zWU93d2FzUlJTdTRDeTlmb0N0NndwN1ZBcVctRFozY0lPSWFUVWdYWno4OUJGNnpLZGFtZHM1YnlnZ0dNbFl2QzNXVVZYcTVJLUZfREtOektVbNIBkgFBVV95cUxPeUNRZEVEdUY1NVlZd2o0VWFHMmtINldfVzEzeWViaF9NenpVNlhQVUl6X1ptdm9wTHJjbUJULTdwZXFBTXRSWEJZd19IdEVGQU5wVy0tbnlsdDhNU1l1cXVpQ192d2RnMmRJdThfdDB1em5lNFZSVEdKVDZ4M2NBMGdobzJGUmxRTENlZjd1Sm5jZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/12/cuba-vote-opens-final-chapter-of-castro-era", + "id": "CBMijAFBVV95cUxOTFpEQWVYVWpWbkU2VkdRRmZISzA3dU1ZSjlrLWNQMW9YdC1hSFVjbkVJNG1QOTRjem0zWU93d2FzUlJTdTRDeTlmb0N0NndwN1ZBcVctRFozY0lPSWFUVWdYWno4OUJGNnpLZGFtZHM1YnlnZ0dNbFl2QzNXVVZYcTVJLUZfREtOektVbNIBkgFBVV95cUxPeUNRZEVEdUY1NVlZd2o0VWFHMmtINldfVzEzeWViaF9NenpVNlhQVUl6X1ptdm9wTHJjbUJULTdwZXFBTXRSWEJZd19IdEVGQU5wVy0tbnlsdDhNU1l1cXVpQ192d2RnMmRJdThfdDB1em5lNFZSVEdKVDZ4M2NBMGdobzJGUmxRTENlZjd1Sm5jZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 12 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 12, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 71, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era  Al Jazeera", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era  Al Jazeera" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.aljazeera.com", + "title": "Al Jazeera" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era\nauthor: News Agencies\nurl: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/12/cuba-vote-opens-final-chapter-of-castro-era\nhostname: aljazeera.com\ndescription: Eight million Cubans expected to ratify 605 candidates in a vote for the first president who isn't a Castro in 60 years.\nsitename: Al Jazeera\ndate: 2018-03-12\ntags: ['Elections, Raul Castro', 'News, Elections, Raul Castro, Cuba, Latin America']\n---\n# Cuba vote opens final chapter of Castro era\n\n*Eight million Cubans expected to ratify 605 candidates in a vote for the first president who isn\u2019t a Castro in 60 years.*\n\nCubans voted to ratify a new National Assembly, a key step in a process leading to the elevation of a new president \u2013 the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.\n\nSunday\u2019s general election is the first since the death in 2016 of Fidel Castro, and marks the beginning of major change at the top in Cuba.\n\nThe new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro when he steps down next month.\n\nCastro voted in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba while his first vice president and likely successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, cast his ballot in the central Santa Clara province.\n\n\u201cThe triumphal march of the revolution will continue,\u201d Diaz-Canel said after voting, promising \u201cpeace, liberty, independence and the sovereignty of the people will endure\u201d.\n\nRaul Castro took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution.\n\n|\n|\n\nEight million Cubans are expected to turn out to ratify 605 candidates for an equal number of seats in the Assembly, a process shorn of suspense and unique to the Communist-run Caribbean island nation.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re the most important elections of recent years, because we are going to vote for new people who will govern from then on,\u201d day-care center guardian Ramon Perez told AFP news agency.\n\n**\u2018Right moment\u2019**\n\nThe change \u201cwill be a challenge but it\u2019s the natural law of life. We get old and have to retire\u201d, said retired lieutenant colonel Rigoberto Celorio, 82.\n\n\u201cThis is the right moment. Raul will stay on as first secretary of the Communist Party, so whoever comes out of the process will be well oriented.\u201d\n\nJulio Cesar Guanche, a professor of law and history, said on the OnCuba website that the legitimacy of the country\u2019s next president would come more from \u201cinstitutional performance\u201d than personal history such as involvement in the 1959 revolution.\n\nTurnout for the election is expected to be around 90 percent. Although voting is voluntary, not voting is frowned upon and going to the polls is considered an act of sovereignty and of \u201crevolutionary affirmation.\u201d\n\nThe final results will be known on Monday." + }, + { + "title": "How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps - Foundation for Economic Education", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps - Foundation for Economic Education" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifkFVX3lxTFBjLWpmQmE1U3l2M1k5Vi0yTEtCRXFVa3EtbkRJaG90LS1LemFZdXpBbUpVQ0x2Y01FcWRfWWppTk9fQURLTHJPVW1Zc2ZzQ2tvZmo5elRxN0JLUk96b1hueG5zVUFjbFhENkpIUHVrWjdZZFVOc3o2MlNUNzNYZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/this-college-class-is-on-the-move-to-cuba,65129", + "id": "CBMifkFVX3lxTFBjLWpmQmE1U3l2M1k5Vi0yTEtCRXFVa3EtbkRJaG90LS1LemFZdXpBbUpVQ0x2Y01FcWRfWWppTk9fQURLTHJPVW1Zc2ZzQ2tvZmo5elRxN0JLUk96b1hueG5zVUFjbFhENkpIUHVrWjdZZFVOc3o2MlNUNzNYZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps  Foundation for Economic Education", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps  Foundation for Economic Education" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://fee.org", + "title": "Foundation for Economic Education" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity? - The Motley Fool", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity? - The Motley Fool" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMingFBVV95cUxQNWpRWjE1NURXWExJTW1tNVZpNzVzaldTcEVYdjNsaTdxOGhPWllWTm1HM0Z4VGx3Uzl1a3Mycld2cmdRektsek9xRnVrYTFpN2FEbEowSFVQc3RCcUNWUUptX1dXNmRfMjZMY1hxd21Hd1BZTTFhSEpQMi1WX2k2SC1ZTnpMU2JKaURVMXVWZEhjMC1sRlVqNUprbGMtdw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://fee.org/articles/how-to-attain-cuban-economic-freedom-in-3-steps/", + "id": "CBMingFBVV95cUxQNWpRWjE1NURXWExJTW1tNVZpNzVzaldTcEVYdjNsaTdxOGhPWllWTm1HM0Z4VGx3Uzl1a3Mycld2cmdRektsek9xRnVrYTFpN2FEbEowSFVQc3RCcUNWUUptX1dXNmRfMjZMY1hxd21Hd1BZTTFhSEpQMi1WX2k2SC1ZTnpMU2JKaURVMXVWZEhjMC1sRlVqNUprbGMtdw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity?  The Motley Fool", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity?  The Motley Fool" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.fool.com", + "title": "The Motley Fool" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: How to Attain Cuban Economic Freedom in 3 Steps\nauthor: Andrew Houser\nurl: https://fee.org/articles/how-to-attain-cuban-economic-freedom-in-3-steps/\nhostname: fee.org\ndescription: Establishing trade between the United States and Cuba will not only establish peace between these two countries, but will help Cuba, both as a state and as a group of people, rise out of poverty.\nsitename: Foundation for Economic Education\ndate: 2024-02-06\ncategories: ['Economics']\ntags: ['Cuba', 'Economic Freedom', 'Poor', 'Rule of Law', 'Trade']\n---\n## Trade will promote peace as well as prosperity for the Cuban people.\n\nIn recent history, the United States and Cuba have had strained relations to say the least. Similarly, Cuban citizens are overwhelmingly poor. Many could argue that it is due to a lack of markets, which essentially is a lack of capitalism and free markets. For example, in Charles Wheelan\u2019s book *Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science*, the author portrays this very lack of markets with an anecdote regarding how cigars are all sold at a price which the government mandates. However, I will discuss a potential three-step plan to normalize the relationship between the US and Cuba, as well as bring back economic prosperity and individual freedom to Cuba.\n\nStep one: remove the embargo.\n\nStep one is to remove the economic embargo the United States has over Cuba. It is failed policy, incredibly belligerent, and violates many domestic, international, and religious laws.\n\nStep two is for the United States to encourage and engage in trade with Cuba. Trade is not only a way to benefit the economic prosperity of the participating countries, but it is a way to promote peace as well. In Alexis de Tocqueville\u2019s book *Democracy in America*, de Tocqueville writes that there are \u201cmoral standards of trade. Trade is the natural enemy of all violent passions\u2026it makes them [the actors involved] inclined to liberty but disinclined to revolution,\u201d (637).\n\nEssentially, trade promotes peace as peace promotes trade. Not only will trade with Cuba benefit Cubans, but it will start to introduce markets back into the Cuban economy, and Cubans will start to rise out of poverty. However, there is one more issue that the Cuban government will need to do to help Cuban citizens rise out of poverty.\n\nStep three is for Cuba to eventually establish a rule of law and property system to help Cubans get property. This is the missing link in the struggle of capitalism to take root in developing nations. For example, in his book titled *The Mystery of Capital, *author Hernando de Soto points out that in Haiti, the process for one to obtain private property takes an individual 19 years. The author argues that this leads to an increase in the extralegal sector, i.e. the black market, which is already present in Cuba. This leads to a lot of capital and money outside of the formal economy.\n\nEstablishing trade will not only establish peace but will help Cuba rise out of poverty.\n\nBy establishing a rule of law, capitalism and trade can take foot and help the Cuban population rise out of poverty and help Cuba rise out of Communism and into a capitalist, free market economy.\n\nIn conclusion, establishing trade between the United States and Cuba will not only establish peace between these two countries, but will help Cuba, both as a state and as a group of people, rise out of poverty. To follow the advice of George Washington in his farewell address, a state must trade with all and have war with none. This, along with the three steps I have provided, is the best way to help Cuba economically." + }, + { + "title": "This college class is on the move \u2014 to Cuba - The Riverdale Press", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This college class is on the move \u2014 to Cuba - The Riverdale Press" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxNZUdDQ2hocFNXUWRwN2dEMUlTMzdIYmFodHlOV0gwQkVRM3NjQTJTam0ybjkxMENaUk9OS3RkaThHbkhpb2d3SkFiWVdpdTBBM01zd0Y2UnVuSkxhc01UZ0FpMzk2ckQwWGRud2hTTkV6SEhtZzhIR2VVV2pMZ0FxX0VpWnRaODRpd0FlS29Pbw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/world/ex-bolivian-colombian-presidents-say-cuba-denied-them-entry-idUSKCN1GJ3AE/", + "id": "CBMijwFBVV95cUxNZUdDQ2hocFNXUWRwN2dEMUlTMzdIYmFodHlOV0gwQkVRM3NjQTJTam0ybjkxMENaUk9OS3RkaThHbkhpb2d3SkFiWVdpdTBBM01zd0Y2UnVuSkxhc01UZ0FpMzk2ckQwWGRud2hTTkV6SEhtZzhIR2VVV2pMZ0FxX0VpWnRaODRpd0FlS29Pbw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 23, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 82, + 0 + ], + "summary": "This college class is on the move \u2014 to Cuba  The Riverdale Press", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This college class is on the move \u2014 to Cuba  The Riverdale Press" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.riverdalepress.com", + "title": "The Riverdale Press" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019 - The Guardian", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019 - The Guardian" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFBVV95cUxORmhadmRQSFhqbG11dkdCeG9JMVVCVEpoUjdaSFUwZ0MyMTVRV2o4bGN5SEQ1TFVEdHRCWU5qZlRYMm10MFkzRmcxU0hzNDJ2dkh4WnF0N3Y3ZkZTbWM1MzlER1BuNE1IdU1NMWFBUUEwMVNkc09TNkFkRHFfaGxQYy1HaElEdE0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/01/is-cuba-the-solution-to-americas-cobalt-insecurity.aspx", + "id": "CBMihwFBVV95cUxORmhadmRQSFhqbG11dkdCeG9JMVVCVEpoUjdaSFUwZ0MyMTVRV2o4bGN5SEQ1TFVEdHRCWU5qZlRYMm10MFkzRmcxU0hzNDJ2dkh4WnF0N3Y3ZkZTbWM1MzlER1BuNE1IdU1NMWFBUUEwMVNkc09TNkFkRHFfaGxQYy1HaElEdE0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 31 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 31, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 90, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019  The Guardian", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019  The Guardian" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.theguardian.com", + "title": "The Guardian" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Is Cuba the Solution to America's Cobalt Insecurity? | The Motley Fool\nauthor: Maxx Chatsko\nurl: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/01/is-cuba-the-solution-to-americas-cobalt-insecurity.aspx\nhostname: fool.com\ndescription: The tiny island nation outproduces the United States 6-to-1 in cobalt and boasts 2,073% higher reserves. Good thing it's only 103 miles away.\nsitename: The Motley Fool\ndate: 2018-03-01\n---\nIf you were asked to rank the top exports of the struggling economy of Cuba, then you'd probably list a few predictable things: sugar, tobacco, pharmaceuticals. Those are the no-brainers, but dig a little deeper, and you'll see that the island nation is one of the top global producers of two important 21st-century metals: nickel and cobalt.\n\nIn fact, despite having just 1% of the land area of the United States, Cuba produces 550% more cobalt than the U.S. and owns the third-largest cobalt reserves on the planet. Those should be sobering statistics for investors and policymakers for several reasons. Chief among them is the fact that cobalt has become an indispensable component in the latest chemistries for lithium-ion batteries. It comprises up to 15% of the mass of some batteries (compared to just 1% for lithium) and currently sells for $80,000 per metric ton. Lithium sells for roughly $20,000 per metric ton.\n\nConsidering the severe risks and limitations in global production, which recently pushed **Apple** -- not even a producer of energy storage products -- to directly secure its own cobalt supply from miners, the material may present the single best argument for rapprochement with Cuba. That's especially true if the United States wants to have the best shot possible at becoming a leader in electric vehicles, renewable energy, and energy storage.\n\n## American cobalt insecurity is a huge risk for investors\n\nThe United States has by far the greatest geopolitical position on the planet: deep navigable rivers, friendly neighbors, two giant oceans on its borders, and bountiful reserves of natural resources and minerals. Unfortunately, when it comes to several important metals increasingly used in lithium-ion batteries, America ranks near the bottom of the global list. Can't win 'em all.\n\nThe nation's cobalt reserves and production output paint a depressing picture. Reserves total just 23,000 metric tons (MT), which is equivalent to 0.3% of the global sum. In 2017, the United States cranked out an estimated 650 MT of cobalt from a single mine in Michigan. By comparison, it generated 2,800 MT from recycling efforts. Those numbers, combined with the country's advanced industrial base, mean America depends on imports for over 70% of its cobalt consumption.\n\nThat hasn't been much of a problem yet, but current market dynamics aren't very favorable for countries heavily dependent on imports. Fifty-eight percent of global production originates in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of that comes from mining giant **Glencore** (GLCNF 2.68%), which alone produced 25% of the planet's total cobalt in 2017. That was \"only\" 27,000 MT, which will increase to 42,000 MT this year and 63,000 MT in 2019. It's easily the best cobalt stock investors can buy right now.\n\nBut back to depressing statistics. Just 17% of global cobalt production occurs in the Northern Hemisphere. Remove production from the Philippines and Russia, and only 8% of global cobalt production comes from regions relatively close to the United States -- and that comprises just three nations: the United States itself, Canada, and Cuba. No wonder Apple decided to make the unusual (and controversial) move of securing cobalt supply directly from miners.\n\n## Cuban cobalt is key to America's EV future\n\nThe United States is not yet a major manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, but it's about to be. The first Gigafactory from **Tesla **is ramping up production of energy storage products for mobile (electric vehicles) and stationary (grid storage and home batteries) applications. It's expected to become one of the largest battery manufacturing facilities in the world, with an initially stated 35 gigawatt hours of cell production capacity and 15 gigawatt hours of additional assembly capacity. That was roughly equal to total global production capacity just a few short years ago.\n\nAmerican cobalt insecurity may begin to rear its ugly head for Tesla shareholders beginning this year. While the company states that it has adequate material supply agreements in place, import data from 2017 show no increase in national cobalt purchases compared to previous years (a slight decrease, actually). That could be from underreporting, although well-known struggles in ramping up production at the Gigafactory 1 last year likely played a role. As production increases in 2018, the company's consumption should show up in import data, especially given the facility's enormous size. Given current selling prices, that could prove to be a challenge going forward.\n\nCombine lackluster domestic production, ramping production at Tesla's first major lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility, and future production plans from other major automakers, and it becomes clear the United States needs all the help it can get when it comes to sourcing cobalt supplies. Enter Cuba.\n\nThe tiny island nation produced 4,200 MT of cobalt in 2017 and held reserves of 500,000 MT -- both vastly more than the United States. In fact, Cuba owns the third-largest global cobalt reserves in the world and ranks sixth in production. That mismatch in rankings presents a potential opportunity for Uncle Sam.\n\nWhat the United States' geopolitical position lacks in domestic cobalt reserves, it makes up for with its proximity to Cuba. Potentially, anyway. The Caribbean country has yet to come close to its full potential in cobalt production because it suffers from a lack of investment. Cobalt is produced as a by-product of nickel production, and the nation's nickel manufacturing and processing facilities are well past their prime (and don't stand up to hurricanes very well).\n\nIn other words, some partnerships with deep-pocketed American companies could create a win-win situation in which Cuba receives much-needed investment, and the United States receives a significantly more secure (and ethical) source of cobalt. Unfortunately, the country's current foreign policy stance has restricted business dealings with Cuba. Continuing on the current course would mark a giant missed opportunity. Leading American companies, such as Apple and Tesla, should make the case for rapprochement -- with cobalt and the chance to build the economy of the future as the central argument. Otherwise, they'll continue to face massive supply chain risks that investors are largely overlooking." + }, + { + "title": "A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito - NOLA.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito - NOLA.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwJBVV95cUxQOGtNd05KNWNiR2FuaXZEdUNiekllSWVmc01CVWFCWE5MWEdORFd1bG1OMWxaX2d3d2VLOTB2Y096bVJXVjJEelFzUlBsclpNWGZtb1ZuSHUzNWEtVkNwdFE2WXNqYnoxSDRMRUNnbGdyRlRYNmRSNTRTNC1DbmQ3dDJDTzItLWJybmYxczdCRmZiWXQtcndVb2hPcXZqa3FiNUhaOG5aRFNkS1BWbVcyeEZtVkFOT3QxMzUzbDBkN0RWdS1OalljaDdZLWJqdGhoUk00YWZBMko2T2NMTnNFWHl1dnU5c2RsendXZkhVRjF6QWtCd0g1Q0dJOTRkcTJXTUZGRW0ya9IBjAJBVV95cUxOeHZHUDBoMUY2ZENEb1lncFZzcHBIbEp1UkZKTHFRc0NIZ2JlX0xjcVJTMW5nTU5Ca29pZmJWMjZON3MySzNPak83amJwODVaeWVmSzR1Q0ROd1pUR1VDQ3NUY01adzZXNzgzbFlTQUY4QWlTUExMdkd5RW52TXV1ZTctZVhiYnV6aTNjQmNpenhudzBHdU9ZUkZILTRQNzhyVFRWRV9mQ21VYUNwWXFheDZvQk9SU2gzTkE2QVgxR2JfTzlyaU9JcFVkdFJkWFVCTlgyYnY5YjBTOWUtMVR3Qkl5d3dBam8tTXIydHdaaFdDdUJqQlpFcUg5Y0JpcFdIREp5czNtWlQxQl9G?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/a-new-french-quarter-bar-and-cafe-celebrates-cuba-opening-alert-for-manolito/article_1e370393-293e-54bb-975e-ab0c514e5a2b.html", + "id": "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", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 24 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 24, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 83, + 0 + ], + "summary": "A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito  NOLA.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito  NOLA.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nola.com", + "title": "NOLA.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: A new French Quarter bar and cafe celebrates Cuba: Opening alert for Manolito\nauthor: Todd A Price; NOLA com; The Times-Picayune\nurl: https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/a-new-french-quarter-bar-and-cafe-celebrates-cuba-opening-alert-for-manolito/article_1e370393-293e-54bb-975e-ab0c514e5a2b.html\nhostname: nola.com\ndescription: Manolito, a new French Quarter bar and cafe, is a tribute to Havana's El Floridita, the bar where Ernest Hemingway often sat and nursed stiff drinks. Manolito is also a\nsitename: NOLA.com\ndate: 2018-03-24\ncategories: ['Where NOLA Eats | NOLA.com']\ntags: ['Manolito', 'French Quarter']\n---\nManolito, a new French Quarter bar and cafe, is a tribute to Havana's El Floridita, the bar where Ernest Hemingway often sat and nursed stiff drinks. Manolito is also a tribute to a person: Manuel Carbajo Aguiar, who worked behind the bar at El Floridita for 20 years.\n\nNick Detrich, who co-founded Cane & Table, and Chris Hannah, head barman at Arnuad's French 75, met Carbajo Aguiar on their first trip to Cuba. He introduce them to the cantineros, the Cuban bartenders who believe hospitality matters most. He taught them how to blend frozen daiquiris the Cuban way, where the texture of the drink matters most. And he showed them how to \"throw\" cocktails, pouring the drink in long stream from one cup to another.\n\nCarbajo Aguiar died a year ago in a car wreck. Black-and-white pictures of him with Detrich and Hannah decorate the walls of Manolito, an intimate space on Dumaine Street.\n\nThe drinks at Manolito are classics. Among them: a Floridita Daiquiri, El Presidente and the Hemingway's favorite, the Papa Doble.\n\nThe food at Manolito, from Coquette's chef de cuisine Cesar Nu\u00f1ez, includes traditional Cuban fare like ropa vieja, Cubano sandwiches and black bean soup. Other items are shrimp ceviche, a Spanish tortilla and arepas topped with ropa vieja.\n\n\"Our goal is to build a bar where we would be happy to welcome a cantinero,\" Detrich said.\n\n**Opened:** March 24\n\n**On the menu:** Classic Cuban drinks such as the El Floridita Daiquiri, El Presidente and the Papa Doble; ropa vieja; a Cubano sandwich; shrimp ceviche; and arepas.\n\n**Need to know:** Carbajo Aguiar also owned a restaurant called Chicken Little in Cuba. On the menu of that restaurant, Chicken Cordon Bleu is listed as \"Gordon\" Bleu, which is how they spell it at Manolito.\n\n**Hours:** Daily 5\u201311 p.m. (starting the week of French Quarter Fest, Manolito will open on Wednesday through Sunday at 11 a.m.)\n\n**Manolito:** 508 Dumaine St., New Orleans\n\n**. . . . . . .**\n\n*Got a tip? Know some restaurant news? Email Todd A. Price at TPrice@NOLA.com or call 504.826.3445. Follow him on Twitter (@TPrice504) or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/wherenolaeats.*" + }, + { + "title": "Ex-Bolivian, Colombian presidents say Cuba denied them entry - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Ex-Bolivian, Colombian presidents say Cuba denied them entry - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMisgFBVV95cUxOX0NabVN6N1FxTUxZMDNkQlMtcVRXM0htaFZjbDBkT29Hc3dYZW12RmN2Vzg2N05nVTJTaFExTnRkQ21fSjM3V0x1eHROYVpadlpyRUFZVk9JS2g5UkQzZlNhdUFORDZLZkM1UllWM0sxYkdrckpnYzlMTDk3NWROcjhlWUc0ZXlmbjl1bm0xb1pVMjVCZzE2WWh6OTZEVXNlakYzWHdiUWl6LWNadkZVcC1B?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/31/cuba-gooding-jr-10-years-wilderness", + "id": "CBMisgFBVV95cUxOX0NabVN6N1FxTUxZMDNkQlMtcVRXM0htaFZjbDBkT29Hc3dYZW12RmN2Vzg2N05nVTJTaFExTnRkQ21fSjM3V0x1eHROYVpadlpyRUFZVk9JS2g5UkQzZlNhdUFORDZLZkM1UllWM0sxYkdrckpnYzlMTDk3NWROcjhlWUc0ZXlmbjl1bm0xb1pVMjVCZzE2WWh6OTZEVXNlakYzWHdiUWl6LWNadkZVcC1B", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 66, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Ex-Bolivian, Colombian presidents say Cuba denied them entry  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Ex-Bolivian, Colombian presidents say Cuba denied them entry  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba Gooding Jr: \u2018I had 10 years in the wilderness\u2019\nauthor: Steve Rose\nurl: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/31/cuba-gooding-jr-10-years-wilderness\nhostname: theguardian.com\ndescription: Life was all private jets and limos after his Oscar win. Then came a decade of bad roles and flop films. Now, he\u2019s making up for lost time\nsitename: The Guardian\ndate: 2018-03-31\ncategories: ['Film']\ntags: ['Jerry Maguire,Film,Selma,Culture,Theatre,Stage,Outbreak,Cuba Gooding Jr']\n---\n\u201cSomebody asked me backstage, when I won the Oscar: \u2018Did you ever imagine this?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Never in a million years!\u2019 But it was bullshit. It was a lie,\u201d Cuba Gooding Jr admits. \u201cI used to practise my autograph in math class. I would envision myself holding that Oscar above my head. The real success stories are the people who truly believe they are going to be famous, so they mentally prepare. And that\u2019s what I was doing my entire life: preparing for it.\u201d\n\nWhat Gooding hadn\u2019t thought about was what to do next. That night in 1997, he won best supporting actor for his portrayal of footballer Rod Tidwell in Tom Cruise sports drama Jerry Maguire. It was the high point of his career, and his performance was so unforgettably dynamic that Tidwell\u2019s \u201cShow me the money!\u201d catchphrase became part of the language. When Gooding went to pick up the Oscar, it was as if he was still in character. He backflipped and shouted, \u201cI love you!\u201d to his family, God, Tom Cruise and anyone else he could think of. When the background music swelled, rather than cutting him off, it soundtracked a crescendo of gratitude that was both manic and sincere. Both on screen and off, Gooding\u2019s energy shook up the place. The audience gave him a standing ovation.\n\nAfter Jerry Maguire, they did show him the money; possibly too much of it. The commercial hits steadily gave way to critical bombs, followed by \u201c10 years in the wilderness\u201d, as Gooding puts it. \u201cI got to buy both my mom and my wife\u2019s mom a house. I was on private jets and I was doing the limos, and then, all of a sudden, I was broke again.\u201d He spent a decade drifting from one straight-to-DVD film to the next.\n\nBut in recent years Gooding has been clawing his way back. In 2016, he returned to global attention with the acclaimed Ryan Murphy series The People v OJ Simpson; now he\u2019s leading a London revival of the musical Chicago, playing the male lead, lawyer Billy Flynn, who defends a murderous showgirl. Today he looks well considering he\u2019s just finished a long day of dance rehearsals. \u201cIt\u2019s like doing an extreme workout,\u201d he says, slouching on the sofa in a London studio. Musicals seem such a natural fit for a showman like Gooding, it\u2019s surprising he hasn\u2019t tried it before. Singing and dancing have always been part of his life; his parents were both singers: his mother in 60s group the Sweethearts; his father in R&B group the Main Ingredient, who had a million-selling hit in 1972 with Everybody Plays The Fool.\n\nBut it was precisely because of this musical heritage that Gooding never sought to follow in his parents\u2019 footsteps. They moved from New York to Los Angeles when he was four and separated two years later; his mother raised Gooding and his two siblings alone. \u201cMy father wasn\u2019t there a lot of my upbringing,\u201d he says. \u201cI always kind of blamed him not being there on the music that he did. I can remember being five, six years old, falling asleep with music blaring through the house. My father would put on an album and play it on a loop over and over again \u2013 his own music, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, all that R&B. The music played in the house when he came home for two or three weeks, then he was gone for six months. So when it was very loud in my house, it represented my dad being home.\u201d\n\nHis mother was unable to afford a deposit on an apartment and they moved from place to place, living in cheap hotels or even in their car. At one point his mother had to lie to get into a shelter for abused women because the family hadn\u2019t eaten for days. Rather than go \u201chome\u201d, Gooding would go to an after-school club. He channelled his energies into sports, gymnastics, breakdancing and eventually drama. \u201cI\u2019d gone through a lot of stuff by the time I was 18,\u201d he says. \u201cI was going to school and being, like, nothing was wrong and I had this wonderful life and my dad was a famous singer, but then going home and sneaking in the back of a hotel, and just really sordid stuff. When you tap into that, it gives you the colours you need as an actor.\u201d\n\nSome actors talk of digging deep within themselves to summon emotion; for Gooding, it seems to be the opposite. Performance is a release; keeping a lid on his emotions is the hard part. He\u2019ll burst into tears as readily as laughter. \u201cI have a lot of *emotional content*,\u201d he admits, momentarily lapsing into a Bruce Lee impersonation. \u201cIt gives you all the colours of the rainbow right there at your fingertips. It\u2019s a real good gift to have as a storyteller. I knew if there was an emotional moment needed in the script, I would bring a truth to it that no one else who was auditioning had. I knew I had this thing that nobody else had.\u201d\n\nAt high school, he acquired a reputation as a \u201cwonder kid\u201d. At 16 he performed with a breakdancing crew at the 1984 Olympics (behind Lionel Richie at the closing ceremony); he later won a prize at the California Shakespeare festival for his Othello monologue, which he finished off with a backflip. The mother of a fellow student was a talent agent. She came to see his high school graduation performance and signed him up. \u201cShe said, \u2018You can do comedy and drama the same.\u2019\u201d\n\nAs he narrates it, having a famous dad also fuelled Gooding\u2019s sense of his own destiny, hence the autograph-practising in maths class: \u201cI was going to be like him. This was just temporary. Even though I was around a lot of kids who were poor, I never saw myself as them. I saw myself as almost like stepping down among the common people before the king said, \u2018Hey, this is my son\u2019 and I got the crown again. Ain\u2019t that funny? I\u2019m just realising that now.\u201d He\u2019s sitting up on the sofa now, more animated and engaged. Occasionally, he slaps my leg to emphasise a point.\n\nSure enough, he didn\u2019t have to wait long for a break. John Singleton didn\u2019t hesitate to cast him in his 1991 debut Boyz N The Hood, as a serious-minded kid sent to live with his authoritarian dad in deprived South Central Los Angeles. \u201cI would say, \u2018Don\u2019t fucking smile unless I tell you to!\u2019\u201d Singleton tells me. \u201cBecause he\u2019ll smile at the drop of a dime. He has a great big, shining personality. He\u2019s funny. He\u2019s a jokester. When things got really serious, he\u2019d just drop his drawers and moon the crew. But he\u2019s a very good actor, because going into that zone really makes him uncomfortable. When you see him play tense roles, he has this look on his face. His uncomfortableness is real.\u201d\n\nBoyz N The Hood was a breakout hit at a time when African American cinema was finally coming into its own, spearheaded by Singleton, Spike Lee and others. But Gooding didn\u2019t make any more \u201cAfrican American\u201d movies, despite many offers. \u201cI said no to all of that. Because, in my head, I\u2019m an actor who does *all* the parts, just like when I was doing Shakespeare in high school.\u201d\n\nInstead, he took more mainstream Hollywood roles: a navy corporal in A Few Good Men, sidekick to Paul Hogan in comedy-western Lightning Jack, a helicopter pilot in the Dustin Hoffman disaster movie Outbreak, all leading up to Jerry Maguire. \u201cNow I\u2019m moved away from the title \u2018black actor\u2019 and now I\u2019m just an entertainer.\n\n\u201cI remember when I did Boyz N The Hood, everybody was like, \u2018Yeah, but can he do comedy?\u2019 Then I won for Jerry Maguire and they\u2019re, \u2018Yeah, but can he do drama?\u2019\u201d Not everyone was pleased about Gooding\u2019s Oscar success. Spike Lee implied his performance, both in Jerry Maguire and at the Oscars, was in the tradition of servile African Americans ingratiating themselves with white audiences. \u201cThat kind of entertainment will keep you working,\u201d Lee said. He also lampooned Gooding in his 2000 satire Bamboozled, in which a black character dances on stage after winning an award and shouts, \u201cShow me the money!\u201d\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d Gooding says, \u201cI\u2019ll never forget when I got a call from Denzel Washington to say congratulations on winning the Oscar. Oh, I cried. I got a bottle of champagne from Quincy Jones, who said, \u2018You\u2019re part of the family now.\u2019 Oh, I cried again. Sidney Poitier reached out to me. These blew my mind. And then I got the message that Spike Lee gave an interview saying I\u2019m evil\u2026 Do you take it personally? No. Of course it would look like that to him, because he was stigmatised as a \u2018black\u2019 film-maker. And yet we, the *entertainers *who were black, were celebrated in different genres and given different opportunities.\u201d He points to young black film-makers such as Black Panther\u2019s Ryan Coogler and Moonlight\u2019s Barry Jenkins. \u201cIt will be interesting to see if they get put in the same box, like they did with the Singletons and Spike Lees, or if they\u2019re accepted as just film-makers who have their ways to tell a story.\u201d\n\nGooding arguably transcended racial boundaries in his pursuit of universal recognition, but he also missed opportunities. On the set of Jerry Maguire, director Cameron Crowe advised Gooding to work only with good directors, but Gooding turned swathes of them down: Steven Spielberg (for Amistad), Michael Mann (Collateral), Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), even the lead in Taylor Hackford\u2019s Ray Charles biopic, for which Jamie Foxx won the best actor Oscar. \u201cI had all these big directors offering me roles, and I read their scripts and said, \u2018I don\u2019t think this part is right for me.\u2019 And what happens is, if you offend enough big directors, you get taken off their lists.\u201d\n\nThe offers dried up and the turkeys piled up. Gooding went from bloated epics such as Pearl Harbor to kids\u2019 comedies such as Snow Dogs to grownup would-be comedies such as Boat Trip (in which he played a heterosexual man who mistakenly signs up for a gay cruise). \u201cFor years I\u2019ve been waiting for [Gooding] to just go away. If this dud comedy is any indication of the scripts he\u2019s getting, we may not have to wait much longer,\u201d said one catty but prophetic review of Boat Trip. Gooding sank even further into generic action movies with titles such as Ticking Clock, The Way Of War and Wrong Turn At Tahoe.\n\n\u201cOh yeah, I did some real clunkers,\u201d he admits.\n\nWas it about the money?\n\n\u201cNot for me. For me, it was always about protecting the sanctity of that golden statue\u2026 Because I felt I needed to show people that I can do more, I can do better.\u201d The responsibility of having an Oscar inhibited his choices, he seems to be saying, although turning down Hotel Rwanda and Ray to make Wrong Turn At Tahoe suggests the logic was somewhat flawed. He knows it now. \u201cYou say those things to yourself when what you should be saying is, \u2018No, fucker, you get paid to practise, so whatever it is, take it and practise and get better!\u2019\u201d Then he adds, \u201cYou just reminded me of another one \u2013 I\u2019m kicking my balls in this interview \u2013 I was offered Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland. And I said to myself, \u2018I can\u2019t do that. He\u2019s a bad guy!\u2019\u201d\n\nThese days, he\u2019s taking Crowe\u2019s advice and working with good directors: Lee Daniels in The Butler, Ava DuVernay in Selma and, most prominently, Ryan Murphy for The People v OJ Simpson \u2013 playing exactly the kind of \u201cbad guy\u201d he\u2019d once have turned down. Gooding didn\u2019t hesitate when he got the call: \u201cAll I heard was \u2018Ryan Murphy\u2019. I didn\u2019t even hear \u2018OJ\u2019. I was like, \u2018What do I need to do?\u2019\u201d Gooding\u2019s Simpson was a piece of stunt casting, arguably \u2013 he bears little physical or vocal resemblance to Simpson \u2013 but he threw himself into the role, embraced the psychopathic end of his spectrum, and put himself back on the radar. Making OJ also enabled a reunion with Singleton, who directed one of the episodes. On their first day together, Singleton says, he halted shooting and waved Gooding over. \u201cWe both went into the corner together and we both started crying. We started this shit together, man, and look at us now. We had a good cry. He\u2019s my brother, man.\u201d\n\nIn addition, Gooding recently directed his first movie: Louisiana Caviar, a New Orleans-set drama he describes as \u201cmy answer to Crash or Pulp Fiction\u201d. His experience on all those straight-to-DVD clunkers gave him an education in film-making. He hopes to do more of it, but for now, it\u2019s Chicago.\n\nThere\u2019s the sense of a new chapter for Gooding off-screen as well as on. He turned 50 at the beginning of this year. Last January, he divorced from his wife of 22 years, Sara Kapfer, with whom he has three children. A few months after that, Gooding\u2019s father was found dead in his car, of natural causes. There is still no shortage of \u201cemotional content\u201d in his life, it seems.\n\n\u201cI felt like I turned 50 a long time ago,\u201d Gooding says, \u201cso when the actual number caught up with the experience I\u2019ve had, it wasn\u2019t as monumental as a lot of people want to make it. I step into many different lives, then I step back into this neutral place, and that neutral place turned 50, but mentally I\u2019ve been there over and over again. Playing different characters, what it\u2019s taught me is that experience gives you character, and when you survive something, it leaves an imprint on you that prepares you for the next something.\u201d\n\nInside, he still feels like \u201cthe wonder kid\u201d, he admits. \u201cMy mom said, \u2018Don\u2019t ever lose your smile.\u2019 She said, \u2018You have a God-given joy. Don\u2019t ever let people take that from you.\u2019 I understand the power in that now.\u201d\n\nCuba Gooding Jr stars in Chicago at the Phoenix Theatre, London, until 30 June; go to chicagowestend.com for details.\n\nCommenting on this piece? If you would like your comment to be considered for inclusion on Weekend magazine\u2019s letters page in print, please email weekend@theguardian.com, including your name and address (not for publication).\n\n## Comments (\u2026)\n\nSign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion" + }, + { + "title": "Free to Express: Meet the Artists of Cuba - Pulitzer Center", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Free to Express: Meet the Artists of Cuba - Pulitzer Center" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMic0FVX3lxTE1veW8tWDlzUlJ3RlF2dzAzTHA2U1k1OVZic2xQb0pKYmh6NVlfdXVxYllrMGNxbDFDVEtFLTIzX3IzdkNmaUZXdUF4Uk5wMzRici11b29vcmJvR3N5Xy1DWWE5OU1iMlM2VDIwVENCVkVaU0k?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/free-express-meet-artists-cuba", + "id": "CBMic0FVX3lxTE1veW8tWDlzUlJ3RlF2dzAzTHA2U1k1OVZic2xQb0pKYmh6NVlfdXVxYllrMGNxbDFDVEtFLTIzX3IzdkNmaUZXdUF4Uk5wMzRici11b29vcmJvR3N5Xy1DWWE5OU1iMlM2VDIwVENCVkVaU0k", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 19, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 78, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Free to Express: Meet the Artists of Cuba  Pulitzer Center", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Free to Express: Meet the Artists of Cuba  Pulitzer Center" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pulitzercenter.org", + "title": "Pulitzer Center" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "U.S. makes staff cuts permanent at embassy in Cuba - USA Today", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. makes staff cuts permanent at embassy in Cuba - USA Today" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqwFBVV95cUxPSUg4V0FUVHJSREtlOFZKOFNXVDhOaVJSTXhCOTRFdVVMaU45aWlaSHhOWmZ4a3Zic1lGS0djMG54MU4wb01kYWt0NzJ1OUliRXdfLWtEMUFGM2M2LVl6MklNTkJvajlTMHBMVjZVeVpwbU9jRndnYmQ2NUJVLXJ2a1lJUVgwZE9DeXFmMEZsV0FFd3dUOVktc1VxaTRydG9hZWwwOEx0WVZfeGM?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/united-states-make-staff-reduction-cuban-embassy-permanent/4278731.html", + "id": "CBMiqwFBVV95cUxPSUg4V0FUVHJSREtlOFZKOFNXVDhOaVJSTXhCOTRFdVVMaU45aWlaSHhOWmZ4a3Zic1lGS0djMG54MU4wb01kYWt0NzJ1OUliRXdfLWtEMUFGM2M2LVl6MklNTkJvajlTMHBMVjZVeVpwbU9jRndnYmQ2NUJVLXJ2a1lJUVgwZE9DeXFmMEZsV0FFd3dUOVktc1VxaTRydG9hZWwwOEx0WVZfeGM", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "U.S. makes staff cuts permanent at embassy in Cuba  USA Today", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. makes staff cuts permanent at embassy in Cuba  USA Today" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.usatoday.com", + "title": "USA Today" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent\nauthor: VOA News\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/united-states-make-staff-reduction-cuban-embassy-permanent/4278731.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Havana to become 'unaccompanied post' for US diplomats\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-03-03\ncategories: ['USA']\ntags: ['USA, Americas, Cuba, Havana, U.S. Embassy']\n---\nThe U.S. State Department said Friday that it was making permanent its decision to cut staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, six months after it recalled a number of diplomatic staffers over alleged \"health incidents\" at the Havana facility.\n\nThe State Department announced its decision two days before a six-month legal deadline to either send diplomats back to Havana or make the reduction permanent.\n\nLast year, U.S. diplomats in Cuba began complaining of memory loss, headaches and other unexplained symptoms that eventually affected at least 24 Americans at the embassy.\n\nThe State Department withdrew 60 percent of its diplomats from Havana as it searched for the cause. The United States has not blamed Cuba for the problems but has said the withdrawal was made to protect the health and safety of embassy staff and family members.\n\nThe embassy in Havana is now to be considered an \"unaccompanied post,\" meaning diplomats working in Havana may not bring their families to live with them in Cuba.\n\nThe embassy now offers only emergency services to U.S. citizens. Cubans who want to apply for a visa to the United States must do so at a U.S. embassy in another country.\n\nThe decision to permanently reduce the U.S. diplomatic presence in Havana deals a blow to U.S.-Cuba relations at a critical moment: President Raul Castro is expected to step down in April, bringing the potential of fresh leadership to the island nation for the first time in nearly six decades.\n\nRaul Castro took over from his brother, Fidel Castro, in 2008 after Fidel served 49 years as prime minister and president of Cuba." + }, + { + "title": "US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMingFBVV95cUxOa2haMXBDMG1ueWJTSllmRnJPR05kZ0l4X0hYWTdJbFlJZnotRjc5LUdWQ1htQmpONmRfMzdqNzNjWEVyUHplMGNfeTd3U3JYNWFvUV9XVWdKU3NuNmNQY2ZLTnN2MTFja3NkUmFxazVMRmdiNU83cC1pTXNEaS0wMzg3RzFEMFZuRFRlM3ZrRlBSZ2N4ZHBrbExvUWVjZ9IBoAFBVV95cUxPUmt0TlowSkptSTNUdkhaRS13QUJwMllpZVZudGhLc3J3Um1VNHpHOGlaelRGQ2V0YXZjVXVHMlVsVHA3bVpoOTc0RHQydGZ4Y2lCZzlHMVRxMWgzNktqVnNadlFVM2k3bG1vN2NEOTJMMFBuMnQ1ZVRtY3BZQzRXbEpERXgyRnp3Qm5vQmUzZ3g3QnRxNnlQMm8teExmc2ZP?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/03/02/u-s-makes-staff-cuts-embassy-cuba-permanent/389532002/", + "id": "CBMingFBVV95cUxOa2haMXBDMG1ueWJTSllmRnJPR05kZ0l4X0hYWTdJbFlJZnotRjc5LUdWQ1htQmpONmRfMzdqNzNjWEVyUHplMGNfeTd3U3JYNWFvUV9XVWdKU3NuNmNQY2ZLTnN2MTFja3NkUmFxazVMRmdiNU83cC1pTXNEaS0wMzg3RzFEMFZuRFRlM3ZrRlBSZ2N4ZHBrbExvUWVjZ9IBoAFBVV95cUxPUmt0TlowSkptSTNUdkhaRS13QUJwMllpZVZudGhLc3J3Um1VNHpHOGlaelRGQ2V0YXZjVXVHMlVsVHA3bVpoOTc0RHQydGZ4Y2lCZzlHMVRxMWgzNktqVnNadlFVM2k3bG1vN2NEOTJMMFBuMnQ1ZVRtY3BZQzRXbEpERXgyRnp3Qm5vQmUzZ3g3QnRxNnlQMm8teExmc2ZP", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US to Make Staff Reduction at Its Cuban Embassy Permanent  VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.voanews.com", + "title": "VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals - Global Citizen", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals - Global Citizen" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMid0FVX3lxTE55VnJlQjdmbXFSbk9UbWtGaEVKV2dXeF9YSUZPdDhWUkIxa2lTRmNEaVNGTnJwakl4Ml9IMnc5Y3l5REdYOTRyQjJoQWJRRXRzNVZDV2FHVnJUNmNlT1lTY29FRWlyM2dwUlpra0pWQ2xCSm8xMHRF?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/world/in-cuba-vietnam-communist-party-chief-advocates-economic-reforms-idUSKBN1H531D/", + "id": "CBMid0FVX3lxTE55VnJlQjdmbXFSbk9UbWtGaEVKV2dXeF9YSUZPdDhWUkIxa2lTRmNEaVNGTnJwakl4Ml9IMnc5Y3l5REdYOTRyQjJoQWJRRXRzNVZDV2FHVnJUNmNlT1lTY29FRWlyM2dwUlpra0pWQ2xCSm8xMHRF", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 27, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 86, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals  Global Citizen", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals  Global Citizen" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.globalcitizen.org", + "title": "Global Citizen" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo - USA Today", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo - USA Today" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiygFBVV95cUxQM2JUQ19qU2dTdUdTN3U2M20xM2RqczNiZ0tEcVJDUTZ6bHFFVlBhUXBjZzdaRERvelliOEplSjJqOTRGQ0FjeW1oanl1RFZENjZONzZpT1hfc01BRGRZcm5fbXQzOTJLQW1meVFlbGozcm1ZWUFBTlpuVTZTM0FObDBSLUxaRzI4T0dON1VUQWFnUXcwdUVNNWpWVnRRMjZ0SVZaU3N1eVVHQzJjUzZOZWg2MWdFWkpUZ1JXWGdhNDhsdWNnNnRDMTZn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/world/factbox-cubas-one-party-socialist-system-among-last-in-world-idUSKCN1GN0QS/", + "id": "CBMiygFBVV95cUxQM2JUQ19qU2dTdUdTN3U2M20xM2RqczNiZ0tEcVJDUTZ6bHFFVlBhUXBjZzdaRERvelliOEplSjJqOTRGQ0FjeW1oanl1RFZENjZONzZpT1hfc01BRGRZcm5fbXQzOTJLQW1meVFlbGozcm1ZWUFBTlpuVTZTM0FObDBSLUxaRzI4T0dON1VUQWFnUXcwdUVNNWpWVnRRMjZ0SVZaU3N1eVVHQzJjUzZOZWg2MWdFWkpUZ1JXWGdhNDhsdWNnNnRDMTZn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo  USA Today", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo  USA Today" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.usatoday.com", + "title": "USA Today" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiswFBVV95cUxPd0pkc2FOZ0lJSjNKSUduV2hmMGhNdERxYnN5Q080RmxDRDRyYmloR3dTTkFlUlNjLWNQTWxNNkdQQm9HR3pBVVU0OG5leThVekxpd0dOYkQ2RmJhMUdLVnpkWWNHdzdHTWFrLW12TUc5LXlvZk13MTlCVXAtSzRUaTEzVndRaVkyVXBmOTI0YUxvbGF4bzI4Z3BFcXNqYjZPSlNkM3BrOFNSbVhqY01qM3l1Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/01/u-s-and-cuban-forces-unite-fight-common-foe-wildfire-guantanamo/386221002/", + "id": "CBMiswFBVV95cUxPd0pkc2FOZ0lJSjNKSUduV2hmMGhNdERxYnN5Q080RmxDRDRyYmloR3dTTkFlUlNjLWNQTWxNNkdQQm9HR3pBVVU0OG5leThVekxpd0dOYkQ2RmJhMUdLVnpkWWNHdzdHTWFrLW12TUc5LXlvZk13MTlCVXAtSzRUaTEzVndRaVkyVXBmOTI0YUxvbGF4bzI4Z3BFcXNqYjZPSlNkM3BrOFNSbVhqY01qM3l1Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 11 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 11, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 70, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party chief advocates economic reforms - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party chief advocates economic reforms - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiuAFBVV95cUxOSWgzUlBvcXc4blg2NUFxb1BjeU1uN2JjdUNXSHp5VzlIajRFQk5kXzFDTGN4N0MteHRERFN1UWNpUGRlc0FLQ1NkdHRtRjBtZDZWWDRMUUNhMUZLa283WHNyZnB1UFNkZHFTcWlzd1BEVTV1R0dOb0pHZDN5bUdyR3ZwaWpkazFzWEZUMmtHRFFYaVhUa21NRnQ0RXZfLVRQTTJibDlQU2VEcnpJLWh1dWJHUVRheUNL?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/kenya-import-cuban-doctors/", + "id": "CBMiuAFBVV95cUxOSWgzUlBvcXc4blg2NUFxb1BjeU1uN2JjdUNXSHp5VzlIajRFQk5kXzFDTGN4N0MteHRERFN1UWNpUGRlc0FLQ1NkdHRtRjBtZDZWWDRMUUNhMUZLa283WHNyZnB1UFNkZHFTcWlzd1BEVTV1R0dOb0pHZDN5bUdyR3ZwaWpkazFzWEZUMmtHRFFYaVhUa21NRnQ0RXZfLVRQTTJibDlQU2VEcnpJLWh1dWJHUVRheUNL", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 29, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 88, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party chief advocates economic reforms  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Cuba, Vietnam Communist Party chief advocates economic reforms  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Kenya Is Importing 100 Doctors from Cuba to Fill Gaps in Its Hospitals\nurl: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/kenya-import-cuban-doctors/\nhostname: globalcitizen.org\ndescription: Kenya has one doctor for every 24,000 residents.\nsitename: Global Citizen\ndate: 2018-03-27\n---\n*By Rael Ombuor*\n\nNAIROBI \u2014 Kenya has agreed to accelerate a health agreement it signed with Cuba last year and bring 100 doctors from the country to fill gaps in Kenyan hospitals. Fifty Kenyan doctors will also be sent to Cuba for specialized training.\n\nThe Kenyan government says the deal to import Cuban doctors would help counter gaps in Kenya's medical facilities.\n\nKenya Cabinet Secretary for Health Sicily Kariuki explains.\n\n\u201cThe target is to bring 100 specialized doctors from Cuba. One is because of the HR resource gap that we have,\" said Kariuki. \"We are careful not to crowd the place with general doctors and therefore the aim of my ministry is to bring forward critical care physicians at that level - family physicians, physicists, oncologists and surgeons dealing with plastic reconstructive surgery, dealing with orthopedic surgery and dealing with neurosurgery.\"\n\nEach Kenyan county is expected to get at least two of the specialist doctors.\n\nBut Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union chairman Samuel Oroko says the move will not address the systemic dysfunction in Kenya's health system.\n\n\u201cThere are no drugs, theaters are not functioning, laboratories are not functioning, so even if they come and the systems are not functioning, they are coming just to be idle and they may not get equipment to use to train our own,\" said Oroko. \"So we need to look at all angles of our health system, not just bringing them because of bringing, but to ensure the system is functional so that they can operate.\u201d\n\nThe agreement will also see Kenya work with Cuba on collaborative research projects, training for healthcare workers, and collaborations in fields such as genetic engineering and biotech work.\n\n**Read More: \u2018They Used to Call Me Spotted Deer\u2019: A Smallpox Survivor Tells His Story**\n\nFormer Kenyan Minister of Medical Services, Professor Anyang Nyongo, visited Cuba and says Kenya will benefit from the agreement.\n\n\u201cAs health minister I came here and we were trying to work things together and I actually proposed some things that we needed to do, for example malaria vector control, collaborating with teaching, engineering, and a biotechmology center, but unfortunately we did not get far,\" said Nyongo. \"What gives me satisfaction this time is that the president is determined we implement these long standing proposals of collaboration between us and Cuba.\"\n\nOroko says the medical union is not against any collaboration or partnership with other governments.\n\n\u201cOur appeal and advice is that as we consider bringing expertise from other countries, we need to exhaust what we have locally,\" said Oroko. \"And if we lack capacity locally we should focus on training our own so that they can be able to manage the patients in Kenya.\u201d\n\nThe union says more than 1,200 Kenyan doctors have been unemployed since May 2017.\n\n\u201cEqually we do have a number of doctors who have qualified, both general practitioners and specialists, who have not been employed and they are Kenyans,\" said Oroko.\n\nKariuki says there are plans to absorb the graduate doctors into the healthcare system, but she says Kenya would still not be able to meet the recommended doctor to patient ratio.\n\nOroko says about 4,300 doctors work in the public sector for Kenya's 38.6 million people.\n\n\u201cThere is the required number of doctors we are supposed to have per facility, and it is public knowledge, the WHO requires that we have one doctor per 1,000 patients in any given population, currently in Kenya we have one doctor per 24,000 patients,\" said Oroko. \"... Where are they going to get the money to employ the ones coming from Cuba?\"\n\nThe union blocked attempts by the government to bring in doctors from Tanzania at the height of its three month strike last year. The agreement ending the strike called for pay increases and medical rick allowances.\n\n**Take Action: Ask the UK to Protect 200 Million People from Neglected Tropical Diseases**" + }, + { + "title": "Cubans Must Now Travel to Colombia For Visas to the U.S. - Pulitzer Center", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans Must Now Travel to Colombia For Visas to the U.S. - Pulitzer Center" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigAFBVV95cUxORExvQzJFelJnSE9TYXdVYlNwTGN5aDkyM1ZCUmFnaVNCZ2dqU21vV1ZaRTlRNFVCb2FySU9oM3F6S3ZENVhyb2Y3bHRaQnBzUzMtZFBpTU1PelVTTjNnWkxTdi15Rjh5aGZCajJ1WDZrcW9kZXViU21JT3Foc0NSUQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.borgenmagazine.com/alleviating-poverty-in-cuba/", + "id": "CBMigAFBVV95cUxORExvQzJFelJnSE9TYXdVYlNwTGN5aDkyM1ZCUmFnaVNCZ2dqU21vV1ZaRTlRNFVCb2FySU9oM3F6S3ZENVhyb2Y3bHRaQnBzUzMtZFBpTU1PelVTTjNnWkxTdi15Rjh5aGZCajJ1WDZrcW9kZXViU21JT3Foc0NSUQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cubans Must Now Travel to Colombia For Visas to the U.S.  Pulitzer Center", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans Must Now Travel to Colombia For Visas to the U.S.  Pulitzer Center" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pulitzercenter.org", + "title": "Pulitzer Center" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Alleviating Poverty in Cuba and the Road to Development - BORGEN Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Alleviating Poverty in Cuba and the Road to Development - BORGEN Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia0FVX3lxTE80RVdpeGZ6U2ExNHRMTkVFVGtlVC1VM2NDTFFScVdMcE9PcGl2YUJBcmdldWFNWFJQM2tuRlZDcTcxd1JLVHYzeG9oR2lwc0xJZ1ZVd044TFNfam80RTB0QU42YlpRb1ZwYnZv?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.snexplores.org/article/exploring-mysteries-cubas-coral-reefs", + "id": "CBMia0FVX3lxTE80RVdpeGZ6U2ExNHRMTkVFVGtlVC1VM2NDTFFScVdMcE9PcGl2YUJBcmdldWFNWFJQM2tuRlZDcTcxd1JLVHYzeG9oR2lwc0xJZ1ZVd044TFNfam80RTB0QU42YlpRb1ZwYnZv", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Alleviating Poverty in Cuba and the Road to Development  BORGEN Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Alleviating Poverty in Cuba and the Road to Development  BORGEN Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.borgenmagazine.com", + "title": "BORGEN Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs\nauthor: Bryn Nelson\nurl: https://www.snexplores.org/article/exploring-mysteries-cubas-coral-reefs\nhostname: snexplores.org\ndescription: Researchers are studying the mysterious lives of creatures in and near Cuba\u2019s coral reefs. What they learn could help protect ocean life globally.\nsitename: Science News Explores\ndate: 2018-03-15\ncategories: ['Animals, Ecosystems, Oceans']\n---\n# Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs\n\nLessons that scientists learn here could help them safeguard other such \u2018animal forests'\n\n## Share this:\n\n- Share via email (Opens in new window) Email\n- Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook\n- Share on X (Opens in new window) X\n- Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest\n- Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit\n- Share to Google Classroom (Opens in new window) Google Classroom\n- Print (Opens in new window) Print\n\nBy Bryn Nelson\n\n**PLAYA LARGA, Cuba** \u2014 The Bay of Pigs is surprisingly clear and vividly blue \u2014 nothing like its name might suggest. Cuba\u2019s famous bay looks like an artist\u2019s palette \u2014 one that stretches toward the horizon. There\u2019s a streak of robin\u2019s-egg blue by the rocky shore. Further out, the water turns turquoise, then navy blue where the seafloor drops down to meet the deeper ocean.\n\nBeneath the surface, bright bursts of other colors come into view. Even in 10 meters (about 33 feet) of water, you can see hills on the sandy bottom. Look closer and you can see that each hill is a clump of fanciful structures in greens, browns, oranges and purples. They resemble piles of boulders topped by tubes, antlers, bushes and fans. They\u2019re *coral reefs*, or stony ridges made from the external skeletons of millions of tiny marine creatures living together. Fittingly, some scientists call them \u201canimal forests.\u201d\n\nMany of these animal forests around the world are in big trouble. People have harmed some by carelessly climbing on the corals or by catching too many of the fish that keep reefs healthy. Diseases, global warming and fierce storms have battered other reefs. Scientists are especially worried about Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef. Unusually warm water there in 2016 killed large sections of the connected corals.\n\nRecent research suggests that pollution and warmer waters have raised the risk of mass die-offs in other tropical reefs. Such threats can leave huge *dead zones* in the water and turn corals a ghostly white. One recent study found that corals off the coast of Panama had been badly damaged within the past decade.\n\nOther researchers have been noting more gradual changes that have taken place over centuries. To do this, they pored over old sailing charts. These charts had warned sailors about the locations of reefs to help prevent shipwrecks.\n\nLooking at those charts now suggests that the island chain making up the Florida Keys has lost more than half of its corals during the past 240 years. Reefs closest to shore have suffered most.\n\nMost Cuban corals have avoided the same fate. Scientists now want to know why.\n\nSome reefs near Cuba\u2019s coast, like those in the Bay of Pigs, have lost large predators, such as sharks and sea turtles. Even so, they still support communities teeming with colorful medium-sized and smaller fish. Coral hills, called *patch reefs*, grow closer together. They can rise up to become low mountains. Then they disappear into deepest blue down the ledge.\n\nThe United States and Cuba have a troubled past that can be traced in part to this very bay on the island\u2019s southern coast. And their prickly relationship has often made it hard for the two countries\u2019 scientists to work together.\n\nIn 1961, about 1,400 exiled Cuban soldiers returned to the Bay of Pigs and tried to invade the country. With support from the United States, they tried to overthrow a new ruler named Fidel Castro. He was a rebel who had seized power and was setting up a form of government known as *communism*.\n\nThe invasion failed. Castro stayed in power. And the United States and Cuba have been at odds ever since.\n\nRelations between the two countries have warmed a bit over the past few years. Despite ongoing disagreements and travel restrictions, Cuba\u2019s wide variety of unique wildlife is drawing more U.S. scientists and tourists. The World Wildlife Fund has called this nation\u201cby far the most biologically rich and diverse island in the Caribbean.\u201d Researchers from both countries now are teaming up on new projects. And they\u2019re calling for more cooperation to help Cuba preserve its unusually healthy corals.\n\nBy working together, the researchers hope to shed new light on important species that live on or near the reefs. What they learn could help scientists protect other ocean animals around the world.\n\n**Doing the time warp**\n\nCompared to coral reefs elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea, many of Cuba\u2019s are \u201cquite stunning,\u201d says Daria Siciliano. She\u2019s a coral expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz. These reefs, she says, host more species and in greater numbers. They also are virtually undisturbed by humans.\n\n\u201cIn Cuba, you can very much see some of the coral reefs that you would have seen 50 years ago elsewhere,\u201d Siciliano says. \u201cSo it\u2019s a time warp.\u201d\n\nCoral reefs do better when they have plenty of fish in all sizes. Cuba\u2019s reefs have fared well because many still have small and large species that other places have lost.\n\nDan Whittle directs the Cuba Program at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. He explains that larger animals, such as sharks and other big fish, eat smaller ones. This helps maintain a healthy balance between predators and prey.\n\nThe reefs, in turn, are a key link in a chain of connected habitats that includes coastal swamps and the deeper ocean. Neighboring the Bay of Pigs is Cuba\u2019s Zapata Swamp. Some biologists consider it the most important wetland in the Caribbean. Eighty percent of Cuba\u2019s species can be found here, including the critically endangered Cuban crocodile.\n\nTo the east, scuba divers and researchers love exploring another underwater wonderland. It\u2019s called Gardens of the Queen National Park and is about 90 kilometers (56 miles) off of Cuba\u2019s southeastern shore. Coral reefs there are so pristine that some visitors have nicknamed it \u201cThe Crown Jewel of the Caribbean.\u201d\n\nOne potential reason for the Cuban reefs\u2019 good health is that the country has less pollution than in neighboring countries. Cuban farmers use fewer chemicals on their fields that can wash into the ocean when it rains. Cuba also hasn\u2019t built as many homes and businesses along its coastline as many other nations have. In all, the country has protected about 23 percent of the shallow ocean waters surrounding the island. (A total fishing ban in some of those areas helps protect fish of all sizes. It also keeps the number of predators and prey in balance.) About 3 percent of U.S. waters are in comparable protected zones.\n\nCuba\u2019s *conservation* record isn\u2019t perfect. And plenty of challenges remain. Enforcing rules to protect the environment can be especially hard in a poor country. \u201cYou have to take into consideration that there are priorities for Cuba. And one of those priorities for the Cuban government is providing food,\u201d observes Jorge Angulo-Vald\u00e9s. He\u2019s a marine biologist and conservationist in Cuba at the University of Havana.\n\nThe country\u2019s recent surge of tourists may bring more pollution and damage to the reefs. But researchers hope the more tourists coming to see Cuba\u2019s wildlife will convince more people to protect that environment.\n\nAngulo-Vald\u00e9s says Gardens of the Queen shows how tourism can provide jobs. The national park draws scuba divers from around the world who want to experience its natural beauty. Those divers need tour guides, food and places to stay. Protecting nature, in other words, can pay off.\n\nAnd new research is showing which ocean animals may need the most help.\n\n**Puppies of the sea**\n\nIn the underwater forests of Gardens of the Queen, divers can swim among stingrays and a half-dozen shark species. One of the national park\u2019s most popular residents, though, is the goliath grouper. \u201cIt\u2019s like a small car,\u201d says Fabi\u00e1n Pina Amarg\u00f3s. He\u2019s the park\u2019s chief scientist.\n\nTo study the grouper, he and other scientists attached tags to four of them in 2001. The groupers were so friendly and unafraid that they swam right up to the researchers. Some divers have likened the intensely curious fish to giant puppies. Pina Amarg\u00f3s says fishers later caught all four of the tagged groupers. The fish had swum beyond the park\u2019s boundaries, where it was legal to catch them.\n\nThe International Union for the Conservation of Nature considers goliath groupers to be critically *endangered*. That means they are at high risk of going extinct. In order to save this species, researchers will need to understand it better.\n\nPina Amarg\u00f3s and U.S. collaborators are now studying where this species goes to reproduce, or *spawn*. Scientists have found other spawning sites in Florida and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Spawning is the most critical part of the goliath grouper\u2019s life cycle, Pina Amarg\u00f3s says. It\u2019s when these fish gather together, making them at highest risk of being captured.\n\nPina Amarg\u00f3s and other scientists believe the goliath grouper plays an important role in Cuba\u2019s coral reefs. Researchers know that groupers feed on lobster and small and medium-sized fish \u2014 even turtles. Some startled fishers even shot a video of a goliath grouper devouring a young shark. So far, though, scientists know little else about how this species interacts with its neighbors.\n\nMangrove trees look like they\u2019re half underwater. They line murky, iced tea-colored waterways, like those in Zapata Swamp. Young goliath groupers use the swamps as nurseries. Here, the growing fish can hide in the shade of low-hanging branches and within the twisted roots of the mangroves.\n\nBecause unprotected mangrove forests are accessible to fishers, however, the groupers can be caught easily \u201cThey aren\u2019t afraid of anything,\u201d Pina Amarg\u00f3s explains. \u201cThey are very curious. If you make any noise, they will go to see what\u2019s going on. They are a very easy target.\u201d\n\nSome tourists want to visit the swamp to see rare birds or the Cuban crocodile, found only in Cuba. Others want to see the reefs and Cuba\u2019s groupers, sharks and other creatures. So Angulo-Vald\u00e9s, Pina Amarg\u00f3s and other scientists are training fishers, divers and tour guides how to collect important information. Knowing which animals have been seen or caught could help them protect the most vulnerable ones.\n\n**A star (coral) is born**\n\nScientists are taking a closer look at corals themselves for important clues about the health of reef *ecosystems*. This intricate network includes the animals and the spaces where they live and interact. If you look closely in the Bay of Pigs, you can see crevices in the coral filled with tentacle-covered creatures. They almost look like tiny jellyfish.\n\nThese coral *polyps* are the architects of the eye-catching structures that make up coral reefs. Much like clams, the soft polyps protect themselves from predators by constructing strong external skeletons. Over time, their skeletons fuse together to create vast apartment complexes. The coral creatures build their fortified homes from a mineral called *calcium carbonate*. It\u2019s the same mineral that forms clamshells and limestone.\n\nCorals grow slowly. They add a thin layer of limestone every year and communities can live for centuries. Their underwater cities, in turn, provide the foundations and shelters that other living things need to grow.\n\nCorals are animals, but their hard reefs are similar to trees in that they can store information about environmental conditions. Reefs can record how cold and salty the water is, for example. They also can reveal whether certain forms of pollution and fertilizer have washed into the sea. Corals do so by trapping tiny bits of water-borne chemicals within their homes\u2019 limestone layers. In this way, each layer resembles a tree ring.\n\nSiciliano has worked with Cuban and U.S. scientists to study the health of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs. In 2015, they used a drill to remove a long coral sample from a species called a massive starlet coral. This time capsule includes more than 200 years of history. It dates back to the late 1700s. Siciliano thinks the boulder-like coral they sampled may be even older.\n\nThrough her research, Siciliano hopes to understand the past and present health of these corals. She and other scientists agree that global warming is one growing threat.\n\nTiny algae that live inside each polyp use sunlight to create nutrients. These *photosynthetic algae*, as they\u2019re known, normally supply the coral animals with food and distinctive colors. If the water gets too warm (or too cold), though, the algae can produce toxins that make the polyps sick. If they get too sick, the polyps may evict the algae. But in so doing, the corals lose their food supply. They can turn pure white, which is why researchers say they\u2019ve been \u201cbleached.\u201d If the algae stay away and the bleaching process lasts too long, the corals will die.\n\n**Mystery of the urchins**\n\nScientists say many coral reefs in Cuba seem better able to withstand bleaching than corals elsewhere. Patricia Gonz\u00e1lez D\u00edaz says Cuban corals\u2019 abundant food may help explain this. Gonz\u00e1lez D\u00edaz directs the Center for Marine Research at the University of Havana and is an expert on coral reefs. Reef health may depend in part on two strange-looking sea creatures. One, a black sea urchin, resembles a small ball studded with long black spikes. Another, called a parrotfish, looks like it has been dipped in rainbow-colored paints.\n\nThese animals are important because they help corals win a tug-of-war over growing space with other types of algae that are competitors. Some green algae, brown algae and other sea life can grow like turf or weeds. They may smother underwater surfaces. When the algae have good growing conditions and plentiful food, Gonz\u00e1lez D\u00edaz says, \u201cthey win the competition with corals.\u201d Pollution that flows into the ocean, for example, can act as a fertilizer to help the algae grow.\n\nShe and other researchers believe this may be happening near Havana, Cuba\u2019s capital. In reefs by the polluted but slowly recovering Havana Bay, algae grow thick while the corals are small and spread out.\n\nBlack sea urchins, parrotfish and other species graze on the algae. These *herbivores*, or \u201cplant eaters,\u201d are like underwater goats and cows that keep algae under control. In 1983 and 1984, however, black sea urchins throughout the Caribbean died without warning from a mysterious disease. Without them, the parrotfish and other herbivores couldn\u2019t eat algae fast enough. The algae began smothering some of the reefs and pushing out the corals. This stress made the remaining corals less healthy.\n\nRecently, though, black sea urchins have begun returning to the Bay of Pigs and elsewhere. Scientists hope they might help corals regain their footing in the tug-of-war with algae. In April 2017, dozens of the spiky black creatures clung to nooks near the shore of a popular snorkeling spot. Gonz\u00e1lez D\u00edaz says researchers don\u2019t yet understand why the urchins have returned to some places but not others. Studies underway may help her and her colleagues learn how and where the black sea urchins are spreading.\n\nUnlocking the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs will take time, money and cooperation. Cuban researchers hope to learn from scientists in the United States about what has worked and what hasn\u2019t. In return, Cuban scientists say, their country\u2019s waters could serve as natural labs. More research there could help scientists learn how to best protect ocean species \u2014 in Cuba *and *elsewhere.\n\n\u201cScience can really make the strongest justification for keeping the door open between our two countries,\u201d Whittle says. After all, the United States and Cuba are just 145 kilometers (90 miles) apart, joined by the same expanse of blue. Whatever helps the many animals in the Bay of Pigs and Gardens of the Queen could help those in U.S. waters too.\n\nDespite the past, Angulo-Vald\u00e9s says the common goal of protecting coral reefs could yet bring the neighbors even closer together.\n\nGoliath Grouper Aggregation \u2013 M/V Castor from John Casey on Vimeo." + }, + { + "title": "Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs - Science News Explores", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs - Science News Explores" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifEFVX3lxTFBDUk56NThRaEgwaUptZEpWcTdNNFoxT2VDWmQ5U2d1dndlR0ZtemRleVhXUkVMX3YtNkFMMDE1eGYySHB2eFJudzcxVWhKNTRkTjNGYUJNeVJXS2lUZDM5QXNuUC0wWGtXeVN5dlg2bE94T3NvVnF0WW94QUg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/opinion/is-vinales-in-cuba/", + "id": "CBMifEFVX3lxTFBDUk56NThRaEgwaUptZEpWcTdNNFoxT2VDWmQ5U2d1dndlR0ZtemRleVhXUkVMX3YtNkFMMDE1eGYySHB2eFJudzcxVWhKNTRkTjNGYUJNeVJXS2lUZDM5QXNuUC0wWGtXeVN5dlg2bE94T3NvVnF0WW94QUg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 15, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 74, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs  Science News Explores", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring the mysteries of Cuba\u2019s coral reefs  Science News Explores" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.snexplores.org", + "title": "Science News Explores" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Is Vinales in Cuba? - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/opinion/is-vinales-in-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: A few days ago, I was lucky enough to visit this idyllic place called Vi\u00f1ales, located in the western part of the island and surrounded by spectacular landscapes.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-02\ncategories: ['Opinion']\n---\n# Is Vinales in Cuba?\n\n**By Peregrino Perez**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2014 A few days ago, I was lucky enough to visit this idyllic place called Vi\u00f1ales, located in the western part of the island and surrounded by spectacular landscapes. Its *mogotes*, caves, tobacco plantations and the simplicity of its people have made it one of the places that international tourists visit the most in Cuba.\n\nFor Cubans like myself, children of the Special Period crisis, visiting it is a fantasy, so this experience left a deep mark on me which I would like to share with HT readers.\n\nWhile traveling on my way there, I was captivated by the green landscape and the almost complete absence of the marabu weed (this plant that is invading Cuban fields more and more every day, in the same way decadence is taking over our cities).\n\nThe town is really quite small with a few streets that you can wander in a short amount of time but it\u2019s a very pleasant stroll. When you get there, you feel a sense of progress, something that the suffering Cuban people have longed for for so long.\n\nNearly all the houses in Vinales have been converted into rentals for the international tourism market. And I mean this in the most literal sense: even apartments in buildings that aren\u2019t very attractive, that were built in the realism/socialist style, are rented out to foreign visitors. I haven\u2019t seen anything like it anywhere else in Cuba. In Vinales, I didn\u2019t see much in a bad state, destroyed and without paint; on the contrary, the houses have been well maintained, painted bright and tropical colors which compliment the place\u2019s scenery really well.\n\nHouses have been renovated but the architecture has been respected, credit goes to the heritage authorities. What were once wooden roofs have now been replaced by concrete; they are pitched roofs (quite a challenge with such basic techniques, at a very underdeveloped level). Then they covered with locally made roofing tiles. The aesthetics of the place has barely been changed, they have been kept throughout time, managing to withhold the building chaos that characterizes the rest of the country.\n\nThe main street is very busy as bars and cafes have been established in entrance halls, which give it a very special atmosphere as if it was a busy and modern, city life. Its architecture contributes to this feeling. As most of the buildings are houses, they have wide hallways, but this is also a credit to the local government\u2019s intelligent management.\n\nIn Cienfuegos, where I was born and live, the City\u2019s Custodian would never have allowed these kinds of establishments to open up, and the result is that we have a place without any nightlife and is extremely boring.\n\nIn a nutshell, the affect Vi\u00f1ales has on you is like you aren\u2019t in Cuba. You come across people from all over the world, people sigh out of happiness rather than resignation, building projects are advancing really quickly. The service you receive is extremely good when compared to other places in Cuba, the prices here are also extraordinary, rather they \u201cgive you a fever\u201d when the bill is brought to you.\n\nA monthly income isn\u2019t enough to pay for a meal for two people. However, to think that high prices are the problem would be to look at this from the wrong angle: the precarious wages situation which some people accurately call only a \u201cstipend\u201d are what make these services out of any ordinary Cuban\u2019s reach.\n\nThere are also state-run restaurants, which are certainly less expensive but just as unaffordable. But the huge difference lies in the quality of the service here, in the menu, decoration and originality of the furniture and buildings.\n\nThis subject has been talked about to death. The complex bureaucratic structure is incapable of offering a quality service while providing attractive wages which would bring out the best in the ingenious Cuban.\n\nHow much more proof do decision-makers need to understand that these small businesses need to be private in order to be functional?\n\nThe only bitter taste I encountered there was the attitude of the new wealthy Cubans. Arrogant, speculative, with horrible taste in music and clothes, lots of bling bling\u2026 They parade about in their modern cars, it\u2019s a shame that this prosperity hasn\u2019t had more altruistic and philanthropic ends, which was common among the elite in the past. This new Cuban is a winner and he wants to shout it out to the whole world, their jewels have to be the fattest, the shiniest which would even blind the Sun.\n\nVi\u00f1ales is an oasis within Cuba\u2019s distressing landscape, if only this example is repeated elsewhere, but it doesn\u2019t look like this will be happening anytime soon.\n\nNot every region within the country is lucky enough to have such a vast influx of international tourists, which ensures a niche in the market which is able to make these kinds of businesses flourish. Much less with authorities that have very little understanding of market laws and take the right measures so that prosperity can stop being a fantasy. Well, like the old Cuban countryside proverb goes: \u201cthe person who stays out of the way helps quite a bit.\u201d\n\nThis article and its comments illustrate the ambivalence and mixed feelings I think many people have when visiting Cuba. In an oversimplified sense, Vinales is the two worlds of Cuba\u2013the old world that we are all drawn to, and the new world we all can\u2019t help thinking Cuba \u2018should\u2019 move into. We want the throwback for our photos and for our true experiences, but we also appreciate modern conveniences and a familiar host of amenities.\n\nOn one hand, people want to visit Vinales for its rustic agriculture\u2013oxen, home-made ox-carts, small artisanal farming in what is seen as an authentic and genuine way\u2013methods preserved and still happening, rather than a trend in a hyper-modern society that people are returning to, as in the U.S.\n\nOn the other hand, we as tourists (and apparently Cubans feel this way too) find the relative prosperity in downtown Vinales, and its neighborhood streets, refreshing and promising as a model of how Cuba can move forward. If you head out a mile or two from Vinales, you definitely still see the familiar poverty that makes us tourists feel conflicted about that pastoral quality, or the arrested economic development. Tourism and its influence has a pretty well defined range in Vinales.\n\nIt\u2019s easy to say hey, why not do this everywhere in Cuba? Of course there is a bit of a perfect storm in Vinales\u2013the scenery and natural landscape, the size of the main town, the provenance of the world\u2019s finest tobacco, and the undeniable popularity of the place with tourists. The Cuban government can\u2019t seem to resist capitalizing on this good fortune. It seems like a profitable experiment and has a great vibe overall, but is it replicable? As a tourist in Cuba, it is hard to know how any given business interacts with the economy and the government, even though I am aware that everyone has an opinion on those things. How much of the revenue from the feel-good situation in Vinales is staying in the hands of the people, as it would in a healthy transitioning economy? Hard to say\u2026people there give varying answers, but yes, the place feels prosperous in a new way that is not commonly seen in Cuba.\n\nAs for the comment that Vinales is overrun with tourists, and therefore, somehow unauthentic\u2026we asked our hosts and several other people if they are exhausted by the influx of tourists, or resent it. They all seemed to say basically the same thing\u2013it is improving the lives of the people and they like it for the most part. That was our sense anyway. Personally I thought the mix of locals and tourists was a healthy aspect of Vinales. Sure if you do the 2 or 3 things tourists are supposed to do, yes, you\u2019ll see that side of Vinales. But people are clearly open to conversation, chatting, and generally have an open door, open mind, open heart quality that one can tap into readily if one tries.\n\nThe question of authenticity reminds me of a musician I read about years ago who was asked how he felt about some fans\u2019 comments that playing larger halls meant the band was \u2018selling out\u2019 or less authentic. He said he felt a lot more authentic playing for a big crowd of people than playing in a half-empty bar room with no one really listening. In Vinales, at least for now, it seems that the people there are welcoming the wave of tourism and money it\u2019s bringing. It\u2019s up to the Cuban people and the Cuban gov\u2019t to retain character and quality of place and so far they seem to be doing that nicely. From what I can tell.\n\nOn our fourth extended trip to Cuba last month, we visited vinales for the first time. As independent Spanish speaking travelers, staying in casas and seeking to learn about and understand Life in Cuba, we found Vinales to be disappointingly monetized and tourist saturated. We understand the economic opportunity the tourist industry brings to the region, and perhaps we didn\u2019t have the best luck in choosing a casa or a guide, but we would probably not choose to return. For what it is worth.\n\nGreat article and it\u2019s truly an example how free enterprise can succeed! Thanks much for this positive and inspiring clip.\n\nI love Vinales and I agree, Cuba would be better if the rest of the country copied Vinales. That stated, the folks in Vinales have work ethic and honesty that is not seen so much in the rest of Cuba. My FAVORITE ladies and their mom own a BNB there. Unlike most touriss\u2026I sat on a rocking chair with the ladies on their rooftop and enjoyed the sunset and tranquility. That is what Vinales is all about.\n\nVinales is also prosperous because the government never nationalized the property of the tobacco farmers, although the industry does suffer from low government imposed prices.\n\nVi\u00f1ales is a small example of what Cuba could be like if the Castros would simply let market forces play a greater role in the economy.\n\nOn our next visit to Cuba we plan to spend some time in Vinales. I look forward to staying with a family hopefully on a farm. I love stopping and talking with people off the tourist\n\npath. I do not speak Spanish, yet somehow manage to communicate.\n\nThe overall wealth of the town of Vinales has positively impressed me for many years. This positive economic situation is a result of tourist money being brought into town and spent over and over as locals receiving it spent it with other locals who in turn respend it. Simple economics.\n\nThe Cuban government sees this economic benefit in Vinales but appears unwilling to promote non resort or eco-tourism in other places, instead being hell bent on building new resorts and even discouraging this type of tourism in other places. A marvelous opportunity to showcase the social and cultural upside of Cuban structure and culture to the rest of the world is is wasted by historical fears of outside influence.\n\nSadly most tourists totally miss the beauty of the Vinales people and culture. They only look at the valleys, the mogotes, ride a horse or hike through the tobacco fields then say \u201cbeen there, seen that\u201d and quickly move on. They never slow down spend time to appreciate the local people and culture.\n\nI once stopped to chat with an old man sitting on his porch because there was a sign on his house that read \u201csenor beisbol\u201d. He brought out his memorabilia. He showed me a small stack of baseball cards. Each had his photo and stats on them. He had a box of baseballs used in national championship games, each autographed by all the players. His signature was on every one of them.\n\nI always stop and visit with an interesting pig farmer and his wife. He is 97 years old and said I was the first foreigner he had ever met.\n\nThe best baseball game I have attended in Cuba was in Vinales. Not a major league team but I ended up watching the game while sitting in the Vinales team dugout.\n\nThere are just so many positive experiences in Vinales for those who slow down." + }, + { + "title": "Is Vinales in Cuba? - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Vinales in Cuba? - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYEFVX3lxTE1PQjkwNVlvN0RNVndYT21lZURlS1VKQkRtTjVYSzBfRzJGTXhlZ0ZvalJ6c3pQWmJCM0FLQVBnUkxxZF8zcldHVl9pclA4T1dtXzJxbXoyR05vNW1ORzlLOA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/cubas-capitol-reopens-after-years-of-restoration-idUSKCN1GD6KY/", + "id": "CBMiYEFVX3lxTE1PQjkwNVlvN0RNVndYT21lZURlS1VKQkRtTjVYSzBfRzJGTXhlZ0ZvalJ6c3pQWmJCM0FLQVBnUkxxZF8zcldHVl9pclA4T1dtXzJxbXoyR05vNW1ORzlLOA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Is Vinales in Cuba?  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Vinales in Cuba?  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba's Capitol reopens after years of restoration - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Capitol reopens after years of restoration - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqAFBVV95cUxPVjNnYkV3Ylc4NHhrNmpOclRhV1lfbmhNY2J6MHNrcTAtb3NEUlhXbVJ4MXA3MllMU2drbWtnMzFLcUQ0UnhfODZjaWRkQmo5SndKcFVXRVFpM0VLTlgyMmR2Z3BCbGNCSVpDeWdwYTlWVjBnVm90TGhHdFRwanhydWlhYmJZR2EwRTJWZDVYZF9uekVYUlBsbFloZ01rRWNBYW9GQmdiWWU?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/cubans-must-now-travel-colombia-visas-us", + "id": "CBMiqAFBVV95cUxPVjNnYkV3Ylc4NHhrNmpOclRhV1lfbmhNY2J6MHNrcTAtb3NEUlhXbVJ4MXA3MllMU2drbWtnMzFLcUQ0UnhfODZjaWRkQmo5SndKcFVXRVFpM0VLTlgyMmR2Z3BCbGNCSVpDeWdwYTlWVjBnVm90TGhHdFRwanhydWlhYmJZR2EwRTJWZDVYZF9uekVYUlBsbFloZ01rRWNBYW9GQmdiWWU", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba's Capitol reopens after years of restoration  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Capitol reopens after years of restoration  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him - Houston Public Media", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him - Houston Public Media" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxNNWQ5Vllrc1lDd2dMbGNIRWxfeHdLaTlCVTZMY1loSE10N21zd2xYUENuMjFQREVXNWR5bUhWcGgyMFIzdm5GVU4xWDgycEhmOGNHMEZIS3NPR3h4bTFyT2NMWmZFSElhYVppOE5fM0V2d2p2OGxIN3o2Q0R6SS04QThRNFlTUTFSa1NfYV9rMjZXdFhCLVY4VUZPWDViQnpFa3FxMWRIQzlJQl9zTXVacmYzTUdZNW9fcnUyUEMzRlVrRzFhN3NST3BLaW_SAdQBQVVfeXFMTlQxeExnV2RrYkFiUXBQQk1kUzl2dVA2c0NHbjFVSUU3VGlLZ0NrdGYyaXRIVV9Wd29iZTJCRTV5NHI3b1VzLXAyX0I1aVJEYWJndDdEMGk3Vm4takdjSDNyRGdGU3pxYmNIOW0tbnM3U2NoSjFoNjRkNEQzV0htRERLdFlZd1ZCWXVYMUw4ck9KX2xoanFBR1VBNDNiSE56Z014WGlLSTJiSEI5anpjSVpQcUhHNmlWUGdOaGw2djNUcjU2cjFwS0NyYms3NWRSRG1YX3g?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2018/03/01/270478/cuban-native-lorenzo-martinez-on-being-american/", + "id": "CBMizAFBVV95cUxNNWQ5Vllrc1lDd2dMbGNIRWxfeHdLaTlCVTZMY1loSE10N21zd2xYUENuMjFQREVXNWR5bUhWcGgyMFIzdm5GVU4xWDgycEhmOGNHMEZIS3NPR3h4bTFyT2NMWmZFSElhYVppOE5fM0V2d2p2OGxIN3o2Q0R6SS04QThRNFlTUTFSa1NfYV9rMjZXdFhCLVY4VUZPWDViQnpFa3FxMWRIQzlJQl9zTXVacmYzTUdZNW9fcnUyUEMzRlVrRzFhN3NST3BLaW_SAdQBQVVfeXFMTlQxeExnV2RrYkFiUXBQQk1kUzl2dVA2c0NHbjFVSUU3VGlLZ0NrdGYyaXRIVV9Wd29iZTJCRTV5NHI3b1VzLXAyX0I1aVJEYWJndDdEMGk3Vm4takdjSDNyRGdGU3pxYmNIOW0tbnM3U2NoSjFoNjRkNEQzV0htRERLdFlZd1ZCWXVYMUw4ck9KX2xoanFBR1VBNDNiSE56Z014WGlLSTJiSEI5anpjSVpQcUhHNmlWUGdOaGw2djNUcjU2cjFwS0NyYms3NWRSRG1YX3g", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 1, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 60, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him  Houston Public Media", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him  Houston Public Media" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org", + "title": "Houston Public Media" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuban Native Lorenzo Martinez Discusses What Being American Means To Him | Houston Public Media\nauthor: Abner Fletcher\nurl: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2018/03/01/270478/cuban-native-lorenzo-martinez-on-being-american/\nhostname: houstonpublicmedia.org\ndescription: The Houstonian was evacuated from Cuba as a young man when Castro came to power.\nsitename: Houston Public Media\ndate: 2018-03-01\ncategories: ['Houston Matters']\ntags: ['DiverseCity, Houston Matters, cuba, Cuba Adios, immgration, Lorenzo Martinez', 'DiverseCity', 'Houston Matters', 'cuba', 'Cuba Adios', 'immgration', 'Lorenzo Martinez', 'DiverseCity,Houston Matters,cuba,Cuba Adios,immgration,Lorenzo Martinez']\n---\nHouston resident Lorenzo Martinez talks about what being American means to him. Martinez was evacuated from Cuba as a young man when Fidel Castro came to power.\n\nHe tells his story in his book, Cuba, Adios: A Young Man\u2019s Journey to Freedom.\n\nThe Houstonian was evacuated from Cuba as a young man when Castro came to power.\n\nHouston resident Lorenzo Martinez talks about what being American means to him. Martinez was evacuated from Cuba as a young man when Fidel Castro came to power.\n\nHe tells his story in his book, Cuba, Adios: A Young Man\u2019s Journey to Freedom." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban - Christian Post", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban - Christian Post" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqwFBVV95cUxNOHN0ZDRNdzVLOTdmU2k5MTlaWHBXWVVjeDhRc2o2QXhjTldtQzBBN2N5WGlKYjdRb05nX0tIazluSExVU3FZNDZEOWJrSzBycmlNOHZCaHNjbjJJbzRWc2NYT193cVdvcS13UkkwcE5wc0ZnRy1QeHpmcWZlMUNUc0hZQ0hkN214Mk5SN1Zzb0I1VlZjcXZXMXIwVjRod3lZUmxiZVBGRkZkU0k?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://thecollegevoice.org/2018/03/09/from-couture-to-castro-jeri-rice-challenges-dominant-u-s-narrative-on-cuba-with-embargo/", + "id": "CBMiqwFBVV95cUxNOHN0ZDRNdzVLOTdmU2k5MTlaWHBXWVVjeDhRc2o2QXhjTldtQzBBN2N5WGlKYjdRb05nX0tIazluSExVU3FZNDZEOWJrSzBycmlNOHZCaHNjbjJJbzRWc2NYT193cVdvcS13UkkwcE5wc0ZnRy1QeHpmcWZlMUNUc0hZQ0hkN214Mk5SN1Zzb0I1VlZjcXZXMXIwVjRod3lZUmxiZVBGRkZkU0k", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 31 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 31, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 90, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban  Christian Post", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban  Christian Post" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.christianpost.com", + "title": "Christian Post" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo\nauthor: Lauren Baretta; Maia Hibbett\nurl: https://thecollegevoice.org/2018/03/09/from-couture-to-castro-jeri-rice-challenges-dominant-u-s-narrative-on-cuba-with-embargo/\nhostname: thecollegevoice.org\ndescription: With her new documentary Embargo, Jeri Rice wants to get through to one group we\u2019ve long been trying to reach: the baby boomers. Millennials and members of Gen Z often struggle to get our parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 ears, growing familiar with the sting of their common dismissals: we\u2019re too inexpe\nsitename: The College Voice\ndate: 2018-03-09\ncategories: ['News, cuba, documentary, embargo, jeri rice']\n---\nWith her new documentary *Embargo*, Jeri Rice wants to get through to one group we\u2019ve long been trying to reach: the baby boomers.\n\nMillennials and members of Gen Z often struggle to get our parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 ears, growing familiar with the sting of their common dismissals: we\u2019re too inexperienced, too radical, too sensitive. But Rice is none of those things: she lived through the Bay of Pigs, keeps an open ideological mindset, and, with her black leather jacket and winning smile, she\u2019s clearly tough. So, when Rice says that the U.S. government \u201chas been lying to us\u201d about the reality of Cuba\u2019s political situation, many are inclined to believe her.\n\nJeri Rice didn\u2019t take a typical route to becoming a documentarian. Before she got to work on *Embargo, *Rice spent three decades in the high-end fashion business, gaining success with her eponymous apparel line based out of the Pacific Northwest.\n\n\u201cThe perspective that I\u2019m speaking from is like a girl from Portland, Oregon,\u201d Rice said. \u201cI\u2019m not a Cuban. I can\u2019t speak for Cuba.\u201d\n\nThough Rice framed her roots with humility, the access that allowed her to film *Embargo* was a product of elite connections that she formed through the world of fashion. Rice was identified by the University of Washington as a potential fit for the Center of Women & Democracy, where she soon became a founding member. In 2002, Rice traveled with U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and other 40 influential women to Cuba, where she made the most essential of all her connections: Fidel Castro.\n\n\u201cWe were greeted by Fidel Castro individually,\u201d Rice reflected. \u201cBeing a child of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a child of the Kennedy assassination\u2026when I met Fidel Castro, who was the monster, I saw him to be very different from the perception that I had of him through the media.\u201d\n\nFor Rice, the experience of meeting Castro in person was vital to her film\u2019s concept. Rice repeatedly challenges negative American public perception of Castro throughout *Embargo*. To demonstrate Castro\u2019s prolonged rule and influence, Rice contrasts images of U.S. presidents from John F. Kennedy to Donald Trump with aging photos of the Cuban leader. The effect is powerful. Yet, not everyone is convinced of her argument, most notably Cuban-Americans living in Little Havana, the Miami neighborhood where Rice opened the film.\n\nRice\u2019s footage of Cuban-Americans celebrating Castro\u2019s Nov. 2016 death in Little Havana foreshadowed the backlash she received there. \u201cThe last day that I showed [*Embargo*] in Miami, I seriously got a little nervous about my safety,\u201d said Rice. To protect herself, she called in a powerful deterrent: St. John Hunt, E. Howard Hunt\u2019s son.\n\n\u201c[Hunt\u2019s] father had planned the Bay of Pigs and everybody kn[ew] it,\u201d said Rice. When a man stood up to protest Rice\u2019s film, Hunt walked up to a him, put an arm around his shoulder, and said: \u201cYou know, it didn\u2019t work last time.\u201d He was referring to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in April, 1961.\n\nDespite the criticism, Rice\u2019s experience in fashion and her outgoing personality have given her remarkable confidence. \u201cIn the clothing business\u2026 somebody walks in your front door, and right away you have to know them,\u201d Rice commented, noting that the \u201cpeople skills\u201d she has acquired through her retail experience were instrumental to her documentary.\n\nRice\u2019s connections and personability have earned her audiences with figures across a political spectrum, including President Donald Trump, whom Rice has met three times. As highlighted in the film, Trump has worked to undo many of Barack Obama\u2019s previous rollbacks regarding the U.S.-Cuba embargo, but not all of his changes have been as significant as promised. Though Trump declared \u201cI am canceling the last administration\u2019s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,\u201d CNN Politics clarified in June 2017 that many facilitators of diplomatic relationships, including new embassies in Washington and Havana, would remain operational. One regulation Trump has enforced more strictly, however, is the so-called \u201ctravel ban,\u201d which Rice considers key to perpetuating misinformation and fear surrounding Cuba.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not saying [Cuba]\u2019s got everything right,\u201d Rice admitted. \u201cI\u2019m just saying that we\u2019ve got a lot of this wrong.\u201d She added that travel restrictions are neither the sole cause nor effect of misinformation within the United States. \u201cThis is a much bigger picture than just the embargo,\u201d she commented, referencing the pervasive nature of the military-industrial complex and the operations of the CIA. \u201cWho\u2019s really holding the cards?\u201d she posed. \u201cIs it a democracy\u2026 or is it some other form of government that we can\u2019t name?\u201d\n\nThough Trump may sound staunch, Rice is hardly discouraged. \u201cI do think if I got an hour or two with Donald Trump or his daughter, I could actually shift [his stance on the embargo].\u201d She furthered, \u201cI\u2019m not one of those people that hates anybody, so I think there\u2019s always an opportunity to reach a human being, including the President of the United States.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba, High-Level Interactive Dialogue of G-77+China: Innovative Practices for the Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment of Women, Especially Rural Women: Lessons from the South\u201d. New York, 13 March 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba, High-Level Interactive Dialogue of G-77+China: Innovative Practices for the Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment of Women, Especially Rural Women: Lessons from the South\u201d. New York, 13 March 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizgFBVV95cUxObDhCQVpad25KZVNXeGFOYWVpYzNxdFFSMnNXSXBxRjM3NjVtaHpyY1lPeTJrNUs2Z0t0SHA3MmFHRHR0UmprMllyQVdJMHpqQmpEOUhSNEhmMXJkaHppM1k1d21NUVZBelFoV1lRaURValZ4SUltMWg2dW9fSHlEUHlHUVZ4LXBUWDlTdmNqOExOaU9pVGxjd3R3b3VxX3pOOGhSRjBHc01UTTFhemVBLVZIdG13ckt0SVBLRjBnS0JOYkVqb1dxWi1hdTR0Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.christianpost.com/news/cuba-blocks-distribution-17000-niv-bibles-despite-lifting-bible-ban.html", + "id": "CBMizgFBVV95cUxObDhCQVpad25KZVNXeGFOYWVpYzNxdFFSMnNXSXBxRjM3NjVtaHpyY1lPeTJrNUs2Z0t0SHA3MmFHRHR0UmprMllyQVdJMHpqQmpEOUhSNEhmMXJkaHppM1k1d21NUVZBelFoV1lRaURValZ4SUltMWg2dW9fSHlEUHlHUVZ4LXBUWDlTdmNqOExOaU9pVGxjd3R3b3VxX3pOOGhSRjBHc01UTTFhemVBLVZIdG13ckt0SVBLRjBnS0JOYkVqb1dxWi1hdTR0Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 13 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 13, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 72, + 0 + ], + "summary": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba, High-Level Interactive Dialogue of G-77+China: Innovative Practices for the Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment of Women, Especially Rural Women: Lessons from the South\u201d. New York, 13 March 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba, High-Level Interactive Dialogue of G-77+China: Innovative Practices for the Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment of Women, Especially Rural Women: Lessons from the South\u201d. New York, 13 March 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu", + "title": "Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban\nauthor: Anugrah Kumar\nurl: https://www.christianpost.com/news/cuba-blocks-distribution-17000-niv-bibles-despite-lifting-bible-ban.html\nhostname: christianpost.com\ndescription: The Communist government of Cuba sent back a shipment carrying 17,000 copies of the New International Version Bible, saying it would only allow Bibles in the King James version, according to a report\nsitename: The Christian Post\ndate: 2018-03-31\ntags: ['cuba,bibles,new international version,bible ban']\n---\n# Cuba Blocks Distribution of 17,000 NIV Bibles Despite Lifting Bible Ban\n\nThe Communist government of Cuba sent back a shipment carrying 17,000 copies of the New International Version Bible, saying it would only allow Bibles in the King James version, according to a report. On paper, Cuba lifted its ban on printing new Bibles in 2015.\n\nThe Department of Religious Affairs sent the shipment by Christian ministry Biblica back to Miami, Florida, in 2016, Marti News reported this week.\n\nThe Cuban government is not giving permission for the NIV Bibles to enter the country, as it prefers older translations, Esteban Fern\u00e1ndez, executive director of the publishing house for Latin America, was quoted as saying.\n\nBiblica had earlier sent about 33,000 copies of the Bible to Cuba.\n\nIMB, which is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, has also sent thousands of Bibles to Cuba.\n\nMany Cubans still have to share a Bible with six people while in the United States each home as an average of two Bibles, Fern\u00e1ndez said, adding that you can see tears in the eyes of Cubans when they receive a copy of the Bible.\n\nIn January, details emerged about the arrest and imprisonment of a Cuban Christian rights activist who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison late last year after authorities raided his home and confiscated Bibles and crucifixes.\n\nMisael Diaz Paseiro, a dissident who is a member of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo Civic Resistance Front, was charged with \"pre-criminal social dangerousness.\"\n\nThe Cuban government amended its Constitution in 1992, declaring it a secular state, instead of an atheist state, partially allowing religious activities. The number of Christians has been growing since then.\n\nCuba has been governed by a one-party state since authoritarian Marxist leader Fidel Castro, who died in November 2016, overthrew the U.S.-supported dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. While the Communist regime showed some signs of economic and political reforms after Castro allowed his brother, Raul Castro, to succeed as president in 2008, repression continues.\n\nAccording to Open Doors USA, about 57 percent of Cubans are Christian and they face constant government surveillance and infiltration. However, the Church continues to grow in the island country. In 2014, Cuba's government announced the approval of a permit for the building of a Catholic church in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city, for the first time in the nation since the 1959 Revolution.\n\nHowever, a report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide released earlier this year said there were as many as 325 religious freedom violations in the island nation in 2017.\n\nAlthough the 325 figure is lower than the number of religious freedom violations that CSW reported in 2015 and 2016, it still continues an increasing trend in violations since 2011, the organization reported." + }, + { + "title": "From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo - The College Voice", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo - The College Voice" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMixgFBVV95cUxQVEtUM1I2MHlId3psT2pjdjBMNmoxZXBGaDc4MlYyTnpwWUlXX2JoYjBzUzJEY0drQXJDblM4THpKYW0teGhaVlhRRmtVb1N5dWRIWmF4OThCcGI2QjFXQXBSMU8zci12QWhtalZuakNaU1NpVDJ1cE85dFFZOHlVUVdCVXRKUTR6d25TMm1mLXFDSDlLRC1vZEljdk5Uc25BRnNhSnZmMWduRVFHODhNWDIzNlp0TmFFZTFFbVlBSXFCQWltRUE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.snexplores.org/article/migrating-crabs-take-their-eggs-sea", + "id": "CBMixgFBVV95cUxQVEtUM1I2MHlId3psT2pjdjBMNmoxZXBGaDc4MlYyTnpwWUlXX2JoYjBzUzJEY0drQXJDblM4THpKYW0teGhaVlhRRmtVb1N5dWRIWmF4OThCcGI2QjFXQXBSMU8zci12QWhtalZuakNaU1NpVDJ1cE85dFFZOHlVUVdCVXRKUTR6d25TMm1mLXFDSDlLRC1vZEljdk5Uc25BRnNhSnZmMWduRVFHODhNWDIzNlp0TmFFZTFFbVlBSXFCQWltRUE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 68, + 0 + ], + "summary": "From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo  The College Voice", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "From Couture to Castro: Jeri Rice Challenges Dominant U.S. Narrative on Cuba with Embargo  The College Voice" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://thecollegevoice.org", + "title": "The College Voice" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea\nauthor: Bryn Nelson\nurl: https://www.snexplores.org/article/migrating-crabs-take-their-eggs-sea\nhostname: snexplores.org\ndescription: Cuba\u2019s colorful land crabs connect swamp and sea with their yearly mass migrations. Protecting their routes can help other animals too.\nsitename: Science News Explores\ndate: 2018-03-15\ncategories: ['Animals, Ecosystems, Oceans']\n---\n# Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea\n\nThis yearly spectacle of marching crabs could help Cuba preserve a critical swamp and coast\n\n## Share this:\n\n- Share via email (Opens in new window) Email\n- Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook\n- Share on X (Opens in new window) X\n- Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest\n- Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit\n- Share to Google Classroom (Opens in new window) Google Classroom\n- Print (Opens in new window) Print\n\nBy Bryn Nelson\n\n**PLAYA LARGA, Cuba** \u2014 When Cuba\u2019s dry season ends and the spring rains start, strange creatures begin stirring within the soggy forests of Zapata Swamp. Rain here, along the country\u2019s southern coast, means romance for land crabs. After they mate in underground burrows, the red, yellow and black females emerge by the millions. Then they scuttle toward the ocean to deposit their fertilized eggs in the water.\n\nSome observers have compared the waves of skittering crabs to scenes from a horror movie. The bizarre mass migrations, though, form an important link in the coastal ecosystem here. The crabs, after all, are a welcome source of food for other animals, both on land and at sea.\n\nSo many of the ten-legged creatures appear at dawn and dusk that they can turn roads and beaches red. They also can puncture the car tires of unlucky drivers. A few weeks after the yearly invasion, broken bits of shell and crab legs still litter the main highway by Playa Larga. The crabmeat is toxic to people. But scientists are finding that other animals love it.\n\nThis crunchy land crab is sometimes on the menu of the critically endangered Cuban crocodile. Orestes Mart\u00ednez Garc\u00eda, a local bird watching guide and researcher, points out another important predator. Two Cuban black hawks have built a nest in a tree next to a coastal highway. Like the crocodile, the hawks are unique to this island country. A male stands guard on a branch while his female mate incubates eggs in the nest. It\u2019s the perfect perch from which to swoop down and feast on the crabmeat. Even better, many of the flattened crabs have already been shelled.\n\nOnce they\u2019ve carefully released their eggs into the ocean, mother crabs turn around and skitter back to the swamp. In the sea, a feeding frenzy now ensues. Mullet and other fish in the shallow reefs gorge on the tiny crabs that hatch from the eggs. The baby crabs that survive their first few weeks adrift will clamber out and join adults in the nearby forest. Eventually, some of them will make the same journey back to the ocean.\n\nDespite being pounded into crab cakes by the thousands, Cuba\u2019s population doesn\u2019t seem to be in immediate danger. Officials close the highway and other streets to protect the crabs (and car tires!) during peak crossing times.\n\nEven so, scientists warn that building too many homes and businesses nearby could reduce the crabs\u2019 habitat. Hotels or other barriers could prevent the adults from reaching the ocean or keep their babies from returning home. Scientists have documented this threat on other Caribbean islands. They warn that more *development *also could increase the harmful pollution flowing into the swamp and ocean.\n\nSome tourists come to see the odd spectacle of the crabs\u2019 march to the sea. Others come to view the local crocodiles, birds and corals. These visitors have been good for Playa Larga, Mart\u00ednez Garc\u00eda says. The popular attractions mean that area residents have incentives to help preserve the swamp and sea around them. In doing so, they may help ensure that the weird and wondrous land crabs will feed other creatures far into the future." + }, + { + "title": "Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea - Science News Explores", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea - Science News Explores" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiekFVX3lxTE16WDVtc0xhYVM2dFRHSXJ0ZlAzVm5aLVhDejk5RzVBNkFtMmhmWXBuRjY4MEdpa3VyVW9jQy1seDBIcGVvcVZvTlF4TlhfeFBJUV9hVjFicXd0Yzl4RDQ0c1RsUWtrVF80TU1WYWZxQmVaWWRlbkVKbzdB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/un/statements/72-unga-statement-cuba-high-level-interactive-dialogue-g-77china-innovative-practices", + "id": "CBMiekFVX3lxTE16WDVtc0xhYVM2dFRHSXJ0ZlAzVm5aLVhDejk5RzVBNkFtMmhmWXBuRjY4MEdpa3VyVW9jQy1seDBIcGVvcVZvTlF4TlhfeFBJUV9hVjFicXd0Yzl4RDQ0c1RsUWtrVF80TU1WYWZxQmVaWWRlbkVKbzdB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 15, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 74, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea  Science News Explores", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea  Science News Explores" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.snexplores.org", + "title": "Science News Explores" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: HTTP 0" + }, + { + "title": "This Cuban sandwich is the only Cuban food at Gitmo. We tasted it. It was all wrong. - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This Cuban sandwich is the only Cuban food at Gitmo. We tasted it. It was all wrong. - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie0FVX3lxTE55OFVxakl3LV9qVlVkbGt6OHJmMGZYQUVkTUwySUhleWZmQjlSRVBxb0xVQnE4cHlJdWgyUW9obTRxNnlZUWd5d0xNNW9rdzFKTkpQbURnUFNseDlITDd4d0lOS1hFaDMyTkt3T3dHdmZiZGJqQ3BSWlBxNNIBe0FVX3lxTE04YWpTc2JpUkVFbmxkUlR2SDZid1lwVkFKZmI2VndWV2l0Z1VhRWwzUVB3NS12VFg0YXg2Zi1vWWlBTS1GVTU5X1hRT0xwTDk5RVIyTDlKaDdIcndlaEpRaGRLanFFMFppdUVBTU5WWEFxR1dhQXRhOGQ5NA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/15/vr/cuba-cigars-partagas-factory-orig-vr/index.html", + "id": "CBMie0FVX3lxTE55OFVxakl3LV9qVlVkbGt6OHJmMGZYQUVkTUwySUhleWZmQjlSRVBxb0xVQnE4cHlJdWgyUW9obTRxNnlZUWd5d0xNNW9rdzFKTkpQbURnUFNseDlITDd4d0lOS1hFaDMyTkt3T3dHdmZiZGJqQ3BSWlBxNNIBe0FVX3lxTE04YWpTc2JpUkVFbmxkUlR2SDZid1lwVkFKZmI2VndWV2l0Z1VhRWwzUVB3NS12VFg0YXg2Zi1vWWlBTS1GVTU5X1hRT0xwTDk5RVIyTDlKaDdIcndlaEpRaGRLanFFMFppdUVBTU5WWEFxR1dhQXRhOGQ5NA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 29, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 88, + 0 + ], + "summary": "This Cuban sandwich is the only Cuban food at Gitmo. We tasted it. It was all wrong.  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This Cuban sandwich is the only Cuban food at Gitmo. We tasted it. It was all wrong.  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Inside a Cuban cigar factory\nurl: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/15/vr/cuba-cigars-partagas-factory-orig-vr/index.html\nhostname: cnn.com\ndescription: Since 1845 the Partag\u00e1s company has been hand-making cigars in central Havana. See inside the process of rolling, checking, and sorting that makes these cigars a luxury item.\nsitename: CNN\ndate: 2018-03-15\ntags: ['vr, Inside a Cuban cigar factory - CNN']\n---\n# Inside a Cuban cigar factory\n\nUpdated 1458 GMT (2258 HKT) March 15, 2018\n\nHavana, Cuba (CNN)Since 1845 the Partag\u00e1s company has been hand-making cigars in central Havana. See inside the process of rolling, checking, and sorting that makes these cigars a luxury item." + }, + { + "title": "Inside a Cuban cigar factory - CNN", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Inside a Cuban cigar factory - CNN" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxOZklncEpyWHk0NFdYdTRya2xqTjczSjhKRzhmQ1QwMURLbXlzNFBBR2pvSWY5TkM5cUVTOUlJbGxWNVdWMkVRZTNkdTk2UWdFakFrR2YtdFUzOXNNUnRIN0NaLXB5aUhaR2VlYVNXU3ZtenRFSUJnWk9CbUwwcGJBRzl6N0QtSWRt?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/restaurants/article225794205.html", + "id": "CBMiiAFBVV95cUxOZklncEpyWHk0NFdYdTRya2xqTjczSjhKRzhmQ1QwMURLbXlzNFBBR2pvSWY5TkM5cUVTOUlJbGxWNVdWMkVRZTNkdTk2UWdFakFrR2YtdFUzOXNNUnRIN0NaLXB5aUhaR2VlYVNXU3ZtenRFSUJnWk9CbUwwcGJBRzl6N0QtSWRt", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 15, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 74, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Inside a Cuban cigar factory  CNN", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Inside a Cuban cigar factory  CNN" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cnn.com", + "title": "CNN" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz - NPR", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz - NPR" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiogFBVV95cUxNb0U0ejMzWWFUNWt0SlhzY2R4ancyODFYRUVkSHNPb0Y4N1VrcVNGQ0ZMcG41OWZPUHRRZVVZLTNCaXc0bTZiRGZIUmY5Z3NQZDY4UkZhXzZZVmFDSXAxNG9VS3ZVMVpodTJJY1A4Z1czcXZnaWotcEZVUFo3VFdULUdpYWhMTERaX3gzOF9uYVBfZjcxS3h4ekhsa2VPVGtYWkE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.npr.org/2018/03/23/596004201/jane-bunnett-and-maqueque-the-new-queens-of-afro-cuban-jazz", + "id": "CBMiogFBVV95cUxNb0U0ejMzWWFUNWt0SlhzY2R4ancyODFYRUVkSHNPb0Y4N1VrcVNGQ0ZMcG41OWZPUHRRZVVZLTNCaXc0bTZiRGZIUmY5Z3NQZDY4UkZhXzZZVmFDSXAxNG9VS3ZVMVpodTJJY1A4Z1czcXZnaWotcEZVUFo3VFdULUdpYWhMTERaX3gzOF9uYVBfZjcxS3h4ekhsa2VPVGtYWkE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 23, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 82, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz  NPR", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz  NPR" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.npr.org", + "title": "NPR" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz\nauthor: Alex Ariff\nurl: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/23/596004201/jane-bunnett-and-maqueque-the-new-queens-of-afro-cuban-jazz\nhostname: npr.org\ndescription: Canadian saxophonist and flutist Jane Bunnett has dedicated her life to Cuban music. Her latest project is Maqueque, an all-female band of young Cuban artists blending folkloric grooves and jazz.\nsitename: WBGO and Jazz at Lincoln Center\ndate: 2018-03-23\n---\n# Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz\n\n#### Jane Bunnett And Maqueque: The New Queens of Afro-Cuban Jazz\n\nSince Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo birthed \"Manteca\" in the '40s just as Cuban musicians like Machito were shaking up New York's jazz scene, Afro-Cuban jazz has continued to entice and fascinate North American musicians into new collaborations and explorations.\n\nCanadian saxophonist and flutist Jane Bunnett took her first trip to Cuba in 1982 and subsequently dedicated her life to the country's music, traveling to the island more than 100 times. Bunnett says that being able to travel and establish a rapport with other cultures is the best part about being a musician. \"It's more than music, it's friendship.\"\n\nIn 2013 Bunnett noticed a longstanding disparity: She'd mostly collaborated with men, especially instrumentalists. In response, she helped establish Maqueque, an all-female band of young Cuban artists blending folkloric Cuban music and jazz.\n\nIn this episode of *Jazz Night in America*, we'll hear Maqueque's exhilarating performance from Jazz at Lincoln Center, spend some time with Bunnett, learn of a devotion to an ever-growing Cuban musical family and hear from some of the women of Maqueque on their decisions to leave Cuba to pursue a music career. We'll even take a stop in Miami, Florida to introduce the band to the Little Havana neighborhood." + }, + { + "title": "Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security - Talk Business & Politics", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security - Talk Business & Politics" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipwFBVV95cUxNcVVhenBpTVlmQ1ZPdE5vREJZUmxReE93RmpsMl9VUUZFcE0yVlg2Z0FJc3l3aFhudUJWY3FENllNS1ZNVkhFMWpTQkFDa1NXV3JQa1ItdV91VWhSMV9EQVRod05vcjVoUURfMW5Sb0h1TkQ4eVZZYmh2cktPR1d1dFBmZDlIbTFCVHlMcVpCNGFHSUxqdVh3Q2R4dk1LVEgxd2FDMEJ2VQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://talkbusiness.net/2018/03/arkansas-farm-bureau-boss-talks-nafta-cuba-tariffs-and-farmer-security/", + "id": "CBMipwFBVV95cUxNcVVhenBpTVlmQ1ZPdE5vREJZUmxReE93RmpsMl9VUUZFcE0yVlg2Z0FJc3l3aFhudUJWY3FENllNS1ZNVkhFMWpTQkFDa1NXV3JQa1ItdV91VWhSMV9EQVRod05vcjVoUURfMW5Sb0h1TkQ4eVZZYmh2cktPR1d1dFBmZDlIbTFCVHlMcVpCNGFHSUxqdVh3Q2R4dk1LVEgxd2FDMEJ2VQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 14, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 73, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security  Talk Business & Politics", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security  Talk Business & Politics" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://talkbusiness.net", + "title": "Talk Business & Politics" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security - Talk Business & Politics\nauthor: Roby Brock\nurl: https://talkbusiness.net/2018/03/arkansas-farm-bureau-boss-talks-nafta-cuba-tariffs-and-farmer-security/\nhostname: talkbusiness.net\ndescription: Third-generation farmer Randy Veach is the 10th president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau since its 1935 formation. He and wife Thelma farm near Lost Cane (Mississippi County). He recently sat...\nsitename: Talk Business & Politics\ndate: 2018-03-14\ncategories: ['Agriculture', 'Business', 'Latest News', 'Northeast Arkansas', 'Talk Politics']\ntags: ['Arkansas Farm Bureau']\n---\n# Arkansas Farm Bureau boss talks NAFTA, Cuba, tariffs, and farmer security\n\nThird-generation farmer Randy Veach is the 10th president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau since its 1935 formation. He and wife Thelma farm near Lost Cane (Mississippi County).\n\nHe recently sat down with Talk Business & Politics CEO Roby Brock to talk about NAFTA, Cuba and other aspects of opportunities for agricultural trade.\n\n**Roby Brock:** From your perspective, and please feel free to use hyperbole, how critical is NAFTA to Arkansas and Northeast Arkansas farmers?\n\n**Randy Veach:** NAFTA is extremely important to Arkansas agriculture. One-third of the value of farm products grown and raised here are exported to foreign markets. Canada and Mexico are our top two trading partners and the commodities we raise in Arkansas are among the most heavily traded with those countries. To say it is extremely important is not overstating things, it\u2019s the cold, hard truth.\n\n**Brock:** What\u2019s the best part of NAFTA for Arkansas and Northeast Arkansas?\n\n**Veach:** It keeps us at the front of the line for agricultural exports. Look at it this way, the U.S. exports half its rice crop and a quarter of those exports are destined to NAFTA countries. The loss of NAFTA would remove the mostly current access the U.S. currently enjoys with Mexico and Canada. But, both of those countries are still pursuing TPP, which would increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese rice in both countries and likely result in lowering U.S. market share.\n\n**Brock:** What needs to be revisited, if anything? Where is the Arkansas ag community getting hurt by NAFTA?\n\n**Veach:** For the most part, U.S. agriculture has free and open access to both Canada and Mexico. U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico saw all agricultural tariffs eliminated, while exports to Canada saw most agricultural tariffs removed. The only exceptions are dairy, poultry, eggs and timber products. Some of those commodities are covered by tariff-rate quotas, which face tariffs of more than 200%.\n\n**Brock:** Did we miss an opportunity not taking part in TPP? If so, what do you think may have been missed?\n\n**Veach:** Like with all trade agreements, the devil\u2019s in the details. While TPP would have been beneficial to U.S. agriculture, especially the protein commodities, it was not especially helpful to other areas, including dairy and rice. What has hampered us after the president removed us from the TPP agreement is that we didn\u2019t immediately begin negotiating bilateral trade agreements with the countries that would have been involved in TPP. Other countries have done that while the U.S. has not been active on that front. We\u2019ve got to embrace bilateral trade agreements, which should be easier to negotiate because they involve just one-on-one trade between countries and don\u2019t involve the complexity of multi-country agreements like TPP.\n\n**Brock:** You\u2019ve been to Cuba, which seems to be on the back burner now? What will it take to re-open this opportunity and why do you think the Trump administration reversed course?\n\n**Veach:** Cuba is certainly on the back burner, but having been to Cuba I\u2019ve seen the opportunities for Arkansas agriculture in Cuba. Cubans cannot feed themselves. All of the commodities grown in Arkansas would benefit from more open trade with Cuba. But given the current political challenges, and the work still needed by the Cuban government to enable their people to benefit from trade and commerce, it\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll see this market opened up in the near term.\n\n**Brock:** Not that folks can\u2019t walk and chew gum \u2013 negotiate trade deals and work on legislation \u2013 but is the Farm Bill where the focus needs to be for now?\n\n**Veach:** The Farm Bill is such a foundational component to our food production in the U.S. that we can\u2019t ignore it. I like to refer to the Farm Bill as the Food Security bill. It\u2019s designed to help stabilize the farm economy so that farmers and ranchers can maintain their position as the most efficient producers of food, fiber and shelter in the world. The Farm Bill helps ensure the availability of food, it helps lower the cost of food for the American consumer. We\u2019re focused on making sure that all commodities enjoy the benefits of the safety net a good Farm Bill should provide.\n\n**Brock:** Is there anything else that needs to be covered with regard to trade?\n\n**Veach:** The U.S. needs to continue to make food aid, in the form of U.S. grown commodities, a part of our trade negotiations and a part of our next Farm Bill. We can do more, diplomatically, with food aid than with anything else we might offer other countries. One other challenge on the horizon is China. Last week, the Commerce Department laid out several options for President Donald Trump to consider regarding steel and aluminum trade, including at least a 24% tariff on steel from all countries. The president has until April 11 and April 19 to make a decision on those reports. If they\u2019re implemented, China could consider retaliation by imposing restrictions on U.S. farm products. In the last year, China adopted new rules in regards to GMO and foreign materials and these new rules could be used to reject shipments, which would adversely affect U.S. farmers." + }, + { + "title": "Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxQUi1Db0piOW0yTlZhUjVJNGZ6Y09RWmJVUXp2TWVTcEx5WnZfTnpwMmF4ZXhId2YxbFc4Y1hGcXZzdF9wa2VRU015eFczRFE5RUF3dEx1NDRvU1B4aDVRSUFGNUF1Zk1vbm5jeHR0T3ZfVzhFbHBZejJjcV9Qc2VyLXdXckXSAYcBQVVfeXFMTl9mTmhzTmFQTkRVcnFYNW5IV21GWi1iZWNOdWtEdjd0VGhDbTZYTml4VERKWTFueXd6SzFhQ3NGbWE4NExVdGozTjZ0Y0REeGhXNldCN0UzZHRTNDdsd0haR0R5WURUWDhSZGJVbEtxNVRXYlBuMGRKc1RVYjB0UE1wWlJ2UnZZ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180329-the-day-i-picked-up-a-cuban-hitchhiker", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxQUi1Db0piOW0yTlZhUjVJNGZ6Y09RWmJVUXp2TWVTcEx5WnZfTnpwMmF4ZXhId2YxbFc4Y1hGcXZzdF9wa2VRU015eFczRFE5RUF3dEx1NDRvU1B4aDVRSUFGNUF1Zk1vbm5jeHR0T3ZfVzhFbHBZejJjcV9Qc2VyLXdXckXSAYcBQVVfeXFMTl9mTmhzTmFQTkRVcnFYNW5IV21GWi1iZWNOdWtEdjd0VGhDbTZYTml4VERKWTFueXd6SzFhQ3NGbWE4NExVdGozTjZ0Y0REeGhXNldCN0UzZHRTNDdsd0haR0R5WURUWDhSZGJVbEtxNVRXYlBuMGRKc1RVYjB0UE1wWlJ2UnZZ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 11 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 11, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 70, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader  VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.voanews.com", + "title": "VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker\nauthor: Margherita Ragg\nurl: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180329-the-day-i-picked-up-a-cuban-hitchhiker\nhostname: bbc.com\ndescription: \u2018We knew we had to get out of this situation as quickly as possible because soon it would turn sour. But we didn\u2019t know what to do.\u2019\nsitename: BBC\ndate: 2018-03-30\n---\n# The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker\n\n**\u2018We knew we had to get out of this situation as quickly as possible because soon it would turn sour. But we didn\u2019t know what to do.\u2019**\n\nThe hitchhikers were the first thing we noticed when we left Havana, bound for Vi\u00f1ales. Dozens of people were waiting on the side of the highway: men on their way home from work; schoolchildren in pristine white-and-red uniforms; families with toddlers in tow. The early-afternoon sun shone bright, slicing through the mosquito-thick humidity. Yet the hitchhikers stood and waited, seeking respite from the heat under bridges or in the shade of a lone tree between the tobacco and sugarcane fields.\n\nEvery now and then a vehicle would stop and pick up some people. There seemed to be a system in place; there was never a fight over who would get a lift first. We saw a group of eight climb into a banged-up orange Plymouth Belvedere, and crowds of 50 or more packed into the back of a truck, hanging on for dear life as the driver swerved to avoid one of the numerous potholes.\n\n*\u2018*Don\u2019t pick up hitchhikers\u2019 was the mantra repeated time and time again whenever my husband Nick and I told people we planned to hire a car in Havana and drive west to Vi\u00f1ales and onto Maria la Gorda, a windswept beach on Cuba\u2019s westernmost point. The man at the car-hire shop had even told us that it was forbidden for foreigners to pick up hitchhikers.\n\nWe figured that might explain why our inconspicuous white Peugeot 206 with maroon \u2018Turismo\u2019 plates had been largely ignored by the roadside crowds \u2013 until, suddenly, a policeman in a pale-grey uniform signalled us to stop. I pulled over and prepared my licence and registration, but to my surprise, he opened the door and sat on the back seat.\n\n*\u201cSiga,\u201d *he said. Keep going.\n\n**You may also be interested in:**\n\n\u2022 What to do when you\u2019re given an island\n\n\u2022 The Moroccan scam that wasn\u2019t\n\n\u2022 The man making the world\u2019s tallest bike\n\nI was puzzled. Did he want to see my papers? Did he want to check that I hadn\u2019t picked up any hitchhikers? He told me to drive \u2013 so I drove, hands clenched onto the wheel, an eye on the speedometer to make sure I didn\u2019t surpass the limit by a single kilometre.\n\nThe policeman sat on the back twiddling his beret, his forehead streaked with sweat.\n\nNick, sitting next to me, was wide-eyed with fear.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d he muttered under his breath. I really had no idea. After 10 minutes or so, we passed a junction where an unpaved road veered off towards some houses on the far edge of a sugarcane field.\n\n*\u201cPare,\u201d *the policeman said. Stop.\n\nI did \u2013 and he got off and walked away, muttering \u2018*gracias\u2019 *as he slammed the door shut.\n\nNick sighed with relief. \u201cOk, that\u2019s it. Next time, don\u2019t stop. Whatever happens, don\u2019t stop. Remember \u2013 don\u2019t pick up hitchhikers!\u201d\n\nWe kept driving, following a tattered map that didn\u2019t fold properly, which the car-hire place had given us. Sugarcane fields gave way to patches of palms and forest, and the terrain became progressively more hilly, a sign that \u2013 maybe? \u2013 we were nearing the landmark *mogotes*, or limestone hills, of Vi\u00f1ales.\n\nWe left the motorway and followed a secondary road until we got to a T-junction, with no idea whether to turn left or right. There were no signs, and the map didn\u2019t help. It was 2006 and we didn't have a smartphone.\n\nThe shadows of the palms were lengthening across the street, and the golden sun shone low through the windscreen. We had to make a decision.\n\nAs we pondered left or right, somebody tapped on the windscreen.\n\n*\u201cTodo bien? Que pasa?\u201d*\n\nIt was a man in his mid-20s, with close-cropped curls and a striped T-shirt.\n\n\u201cYes, all good, thanks! We are going to Vi\u00f1ales. How do we get there?\u201d I replied in Spanish.\n\n\u201cAh, Vi\u00f1ales! I live there. I can take you there if you like?\u201d\n\nA hitchhiker. Another one. Nick and I exchanged uneasy glances, the same questions racing through our minds. We hesitated, searching for a comeback that would allow us to get directions, yet politely refuse to give the young man a lift.\n\nHowever, all I could muster was \u201c*Claro\u201d. *Sure, jump in \u2013 we\u2019ll drive you. Nick looked at me with rage.\n\n\u201cJust wait a second, though. My little brother has gone to the toilet in the bushes,\u201d the young man said.\n\nWe expected a cute child to come tottering out of the bushes. Instead a 20-year-old man with slick oily hair and a body-builder physique appeared. He flashed us a steel-capped smile.\n\n\u201cMy name is Tomas, but you can call me Tom. Tom Cruz,\u201d the man in the striped t-shirt said. \u201cAnd this is my brother Ernesto.\u201d\n\nI didn\u2019t know whether to laugh or cry \u2013 laugh, because the name \u2018Tom Cruz\u2019 sounded exactly like \u2018Tom Cruise\u2019, or cry, because there we were in the middle of nowhere with two strange men, and I had just agreed to give them a lift.\n\nTom opened the door, and he and Ernesto climbed onto the back seat. We knew we had to get out of this situation as quickly as possible because soon it would turn sour. But we didn\u2019t know what to do.\n\n\u201cSo, I\u2019ll drive them to Vi\u00f1ales, drop them off, and that\u2019s it,\u201d I whispered to Nick.\n\nHe didn\u2019t reply, didn\u2019t even look at me. It was his way to say \u2018*you deal with it\u2019*. After all, we had been warned time and time again \u2013 *don\u2019t pick up hitchhikers.*\n\nWe drove on as sunset approached. Images started racing through my head. Tom would lead us somewhere remote, then he and Ernesto would rob us blind \u2013 including taking the Peugeot 206. Or Ernesto would pull out a machete and cut off our heads. Or, quite simply, they would break our hearts with a story of how their little brother is sick/their little niece can\u2019t go to school/their uncle needs medicine. They would try to sweet talk us into parting with the remainder of our *pesos convertibles, *the currency used by tourists in Cuba that\u2019s worth 25 times more than the *peso Cubano*, mainly used by locals. And I would agree, just like I had agreed to give them a lift.\n\nTom timidly started a conversation while Ernesto sat in silence behind me, his eyes burning through my back. Sometimes I\u2019d catch a glimpse of his eyes in the rear-view mirror \u2013 and he would immediately look away.\n\nBy then, we had switched to English. We learned that Tom spoke it fluently, as well as Polish and Czech.\n\n\u2018*Yes, because he\u2019s a hustler,*\u2019 I kept thinking. Why on Earth would he be speaking Polish and Czech, if not to swindle tourists?\n\nAs he was telling us that he worked in a tobacco plantation, we overtook a truck loaded with hitchhikers, packed in the back like sardines. The truck stopped and a couple jumped off.\n\n\u201cThank goodness you guys picked me up today,\u201d Tom said. \u201cOtherwise, I would have had to wait for one of those*.\u201d*\n\nTom explained that in communist Cuba, very few people were granted permission to own a vehicle. The state owned the vast majority of cars, trucks and motorbikes, and these were assigned to people on the basis of their needs \u2013 or so it was claimed. In 2014, it became easier for Cubans to buy cars, but no-one could afford them.\n\nAt the time of our trip, locals who did have access to a vehicle, like truck or bus drivers, or those lucky enough to have a 1950s car that was still running, were obliged to pick up hitchhikers, because there were so many more people than cars. Hearing this, I thought that the policeman who had flagged us down beforehand was probably just looking for a lift, and that would explain our awkward exchange.\n\n\u201cHere we are, that\u2019s our place,\u201d said Tom, as we reached a bright yellow detached house. \u201cWould you guys like a drink?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, thanks,\u201d said Nick. \u201cYes, sure,\u201d I said \u2013 and then immediately regretted it. We had got this far, it was the perfect excuse to get away, and yet I was choosing to go in? Curiosity had prevailed over common sense.\n\nTom and Ernesto pointed toward the backyard and told us to wait for them there, then they went into the house. In the backyard, there was a lone lightbulb hanging over the back door, and a few plastic chairs. The garden was well kept, with manicured grass and a hibiscus bush. The house had a view over the valley of Vi\u00f1ales, its tobacco fields and dome-shaped limestone mogotes. Twilight had arrived, and the sky was apricot and mauve.\n\nNothing moved in the valley; work had ended for the day. No-one moved in the backyard or in Tom\u2019s house, either. The nearby houses also seemed closed up. Ernesto hadn\u2019t said a word for the whole journey, and now both brothers had disappeared.\n\nAny minute, I thought. Any minute and Ernesto will come out with a weapon. We\u2019ll be robbed, or killed, or both, and it was my entire fault \u2013 we had been warned. At that exact moment, Tom and Ernesto came into the backyard. Ernesto was holding something behind his back.\n\n\u201cWould you like a mojito? A real Cuban mojito, not that stuff they serve to tourists in Havana Vieja!\u201d Tom said. Ernesto held out a bottle of rum.\n\n\u201cErmmm... sure!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what about a cigar from the plantation where I work?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, why not! Thanks!\u201d\n\nMy tense muscles relaxed. A sigh of relief escaped my clenched jaws.\n\nThat was it \u2013 these guys had needed a lift, we had helped them out and they were going to thank us with a mojito. That\u2019s all there was.\n\nSoon afterwards, we were sitting on the plastic chairs under the lightbulb, looking at the stars twinkle above the mogotes. Ernesto had mixed up some killer mojitos and Tom was trying to teach me how to smoke cigars, while I coughed and sputtered.\n\n\u201cThat is our *casa particular *[a private home where locals rent rooms to tourists]*,*\u201d Tom said, pointing to a bright blue granny flat in the backyard. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame it\u2019s occupied or you guys would be more than welcome to stay.\u201d\n\nTom explained that his family was lucky. They\u2019d been given permission to operate a casa particular, and he\u2019d had the chance to study commerce and had spent a year on exchange in Warsaw, which explained why he spoke Polish and Czech.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m lucky, because I got to travel,\u201d he said. Movement was strictly controlled in communist Cuba at the time. There had to be a very good reason to be granted an exit visa, even to visit relatives. Tom had been a brilliant student, and that had earned him the opportunity to spend 12 months in Warsaw. Ernesto was not as academically successful as Tom, and didn\u2019t get a place at university.\n\n\u201cI wonder if he\u2019ll ever get the chance to see the world outside of Cuba,\u201d Tom said.\n\nAt 26, Tom had a good job with Alejandro Robaina, Cuba\u2019s last independent tobacco grower, looking after the export of his world-famous cigars. He earned about 12 pesos convertibles a month (worth about US$12 at that time). Yes, he said, it was true they had free education and housing and the *libreta* (a supplies booklet) for basic groceries each month, but the milk was often watered down, meat was hard to come by, and even just to get those few staples his mother had to queue up for hours opposite the dusty shelves of Vi\u00f1ales\u2019s general store.\n\nThe casa particular helped them to make ends meet \u2013 at the time, tourists were charged between 15 and 20 pesos convertibles per night, more than Tom\u2019s monthly salary \u2013 but more than half of it went to the state in taxes and permits. Yet the few extra pesos earned here and there went a long way. There was a shortage of most basic goods in Cuba, especially medical supplies; plasters, bandages and painkillers could often only be found on the black market and they had to be paid for in pesos convertibles rather than pesos Cubanos.\n\nSensing our curiosity, Tom talked freely about his life in Vi\u00f1ales. I didn\u2019t sense sadness or desperation, only a deep sense of hopelessness \u2013 and I certainly didn\u2019t think he was going to ask us for money.\n\nSo I was very surprised when, just before we said goodbye and thanks for the mojitos, Tom said \u2013 completely out of the blue \u2013 \u201cI need to ask you guys a very big favour\u201d.\n\nOk, this was it. Those cigars and mojitos hadn\u2019t been just a way to thank us for the lift. There *had* to be something else \u2013 I knew it. He was going to hit us with a tearjerker story.\n\nTom was embarrassed. His eyes avoided us, remaining fixed on the lightbulb swinging in the breeze. \u201cCan you guys drive me to work tomorrow? It will only take half an hour or so. I can take you around the plantation, show you how we make cigars, and introduce you to Se\u00f1or Robaina\u2026 You know, it would mean I don\u2019t have to wake up at 05:00 in the morning and wait for one of those trucks,\u201d he added.\n\nNick and I looked at each other and laughed. That was it? Of course we would help!\n\nThe following morning, we picked Tom up at 08:00 and started driving towards Pinar del Rio, where Se\u00f1or Robaina\u2019s plantation was located. Tom was ecstatic \u2013 he got to sleep in, something he could only do on his day off. Pinar del Rio was 30km away, half an hour or so by car, but the trip usually took Tom three hours \u2013 an average of two hours waiting for a lift, and then an hour to get there, standing packed with 50 others on the back of a truck. This was his daily routine: eight hours of work and up to six hours to get there and back, six days a week.\n\nWhen we reached the plantation, Tom led us to his office where a fan whirred on the ceiling and a 20-year-old computer sat on a desk surrounded by paper folders. He couldn\u2019t take us around himself, but his colleague Rafael would do the honours.\n\nRafael explained that the very existence of Se\u00f1or Robaina\u2019s plantation was an oddity in communist Cuba. Robaina was the last independent tobacco grower, and the only one giving his name to a cigar.\n\nOne of the first things that Fidel had done after the revolution was to nationalise tobacco production. But Se\u00f1or Robaina had refused \u2013 he said that he didn\u2019t believe in cooperatives and preferred production to remain in the hands of his family to keep quality high. Somehow, his appeal had succeeded. As a result, Robaina cigars are among the best in the world, and the plantation is allowed to make Cohiba, the best-known Cuban cigars, which were once produced only for Fidel and his dignitaries.\n\nRafael took us for a walk among the rows of tobacco plants. \u201cWe only use organic fertilisers here,\u201d he said, as I noticed an unmistakable smell.\n\nAt every stop, Rafael showed us a different stage of tobacco production. First came the curing shed where leaves were hung to dry \u2013 some were still green, ever so slightly curled around the edges; others were half green, half brown. Then came the sorting process and the stripping. Here an elderly man sat curled onto a desk, with piles of leaves on either side, removing the central vein by hand. Finally came the rolling. Half a dozen women worked nonstop, filling, packing and wrapping, with movements so deft and calculated that I had no doubt they\u2019d be able to do their job with their eyes closed.\n\nWe also crossed paths with Se\u00f1or Robaina himself, as he inspected work in the plantation wearing his trademark straw hat. He was 86 when he met him. His face was weathered and lined like a tobacco leaf, and his handshake revealed a man who had worked with his hands throughout his life. Hearing from Rafael that we were friends of Tom, he gave us a gift: two of his trademark cigars.\n\nWe spent the following three days driving Tom to and from work, and following his recommendations on what to do in Vi\u00f1ales.\n\n*Go to Leydi\u2019s paladar* [family-run restaurant]*! It\u2019s the best in town!*\n\n*A half-mile from my place there\u2019s a bright blue house. Ask for Pipo el Carpintero and ask him to take you to the caves!*\n\n*If you want to go horse-riding, ask Ernesto to take you!*\n\nWhen it was time for us to leave Vi\u00f1ales, we drove Tom to work one last time. He gave us his email address and apologised in advance that it might take him some time to reply. \u201cWe don\u2019t always have connection around here,\u201d he said.\n\nI didn\u2019t know, when we hugged goodbye, that we wouldn\u2019t see each other again. Weeks later, when I emailed him, I received an error message, and I didn\u2019t have his telephone number or home address.\n\nTravel can make you jaded and cynical, thinking that everyone is out to get you. But then you meet people like Tom and Ernesto, and you realise that the world is complex \u2013 and that there\u2019s a lot of positivity out there, especially where you least expect it.\n\nBefore we crossed paths with Tom, Nick and I were very cautious travellers. We never ate street food, never crossed into a backstreet just for the pleasure of wondering where it led, never went out after dark unless we knew the place. That all changed after that day in Cuba. We stopped being afraid of what *might *happen and decided to embrace whatever fate threw into our path.\n\nTom was just the first of many strangers we crossed paths with over the years. We ended up sharing meals with locals in Kurdistan, couch surfing with Iranian families, staying with nomads on the Kazakhstan-Mongolia border, and more \u2013 all experiences we never would have had, had we not picked up a hitchhiker named Tom Cruz that day in Cuba.\n\n*Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on **Facebook**, or follow us on **Twitter** and **Instagram**.*\n\n*If you liked this story, **sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter** called \"If You Only Read 6 Things This Week\". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.*" + }, + { + "title": "The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker - BBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker - BBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiigFBVV95cUxQMU1LMHJEUGR0Q2lVMURhUXJmWlpMd01NcjBYRTVSYnNVQ0ZyclJnblZfTmJFU0tUSU5nMjNWSUFVSTBwOG1TWXJBZFlsU0xhRXlPTEZGNzVtN0JDcmVvTmxISVlOMWpOMDBVdXl5OXRDWk1Db1UzVy1aRF9PRWVOd000aUtKaUQweGc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-election-first-leader-not-a-castro/4291576.html", + "id": "CBMiigFBVV95cUxQMU1LMHJEUGR0Q2lVMURhUXJmWlpMd01NcjBYRTVSYnNVQ0ZyclJnblZfTmJFU0tUSU5nMjNWSUFVSTBwOG1TWXJBZFlsU0xhRXlPTEZGNzVtN0JDcmVvTmxISVlOMWpOMDBVdXl5OXRDWk1Db1UzVy1aRF9PRWVOd000aUtKaUQweGc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 30, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 89, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker  BBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The day I picked up a Cuban hitchhiker  BBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bbc.com", + "title": "BBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cubans Vote Sunday in Move Toward First Non-Castro Leader\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-election-first-leader-not-a-castro/4291576.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: People \u2018want change for the better\u2019 even as Castro\u2019s likely successor is well known\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-03-11\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Americas, Cuba, raul castro, Miguel Diaz-Canel']\n---\nCubans go to the polls Sunday in a one-party vote that marks the penultimate step in a political process that will culminate next month with the selection of the Communist-ruled island\u2019s first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution.\n\nThe government depicts the vote, which takes place every five years and in which Cubans are asked to endorse two official lists of candidates for the national and provincial assemblies, as a symbolic show of unity.\n\nThis year, though, the newly seated national assembly will on April 19 select a new president to replace Raul Castro, 86, who together with his late older brother Fidel Castro ruled the Caribbean island for nearly six decades.\n\n**Castro's likely successor**\n\nWhile Castro is expected to remain at the helm of the powerful Communist Party, First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, is expected to become president.\n\nGiven he will not have the same moral authority as the \u201chistoric generation\u201d of revolutionary leaders, Diaz-Canel will have to earn his legitimacy by addressing voters\u2019 concerns and raising living standards, analysts say.\n\nThat task will be more challenging at a time when aid from ally Venezuela is falling, relations with the United States, which maintains a decades-old embargo on Cuba, are worsening and there is pushback against market reforms.\n\n\u201cFor many Cubans, elections have never represented change,\u201d said Rafael Padron, 37, a sports trainer in Havana. \u201cBut this is a key moment.\u201d\n\n**Eight million voters**\n\nMore than 8 million Cubans will vote to ratify two official lists of candidates, one to form the 605-member National Assembly and another to constitute the 14 provincial assemblies totaling 1,265 delegates.\n\nThe candidate lists do not contain a single known opponent of Cuba\u2019s one-party system, one of the last left in the world.\n\nWhile candidates are not required to belong to the Communist Party, the only legal party in Cuba, most do.\n\nThe parliamentary candidates, selected by party-controlled commissions, include Raul Castro and two men who fought with him in the mountains during the revolution, vice-presidents Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 87, and Ramiro Valdes, 85.\n\nHowever, Castro has said he will step down as president at the end of his second five-year term in April. Many analysts expect his fellow revolutionaries also to retire from the government, marking a generational shift.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know what will happen exactly,\u201d said Arnaldo Betancourt, 52, who sells handcrafts in Havana, \u201cbut people want to see new things: a change for the better.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba\u2019s getting a new president - The Conversation", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s getting a new president - The Conversation" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicEFVX3lxTE9uSW5Ubk5WMVdqN3R0X3NjZ0t2RTMySnVraFBacGxKaGVxQ3prV3pqSW5aamRrdzVzT2UtbTlzZUpLSkU1TU55MzM4aHpqZF9fd1hMV1JER1hhYWJmQmJNRDU0ZmlSQ1Nzc05DMERMSjk?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.dw.com/en/cuba-vote-marks-final-chapter-of-castro-legacy/a-42925387", + "id": "CBMicEFVX3lxTE9uSW5Ubk5WMVdqN3R0X3NjZ0t2RTMySnVraFBacGxKaGVxQ3prV3pqSW5aamRrdzVzT2UtbTlzZUpLSkU1TU55MzM4aHpqZF9fd1hMV1JER1hhYWJmQmJNRDU0ZmlSQ1Nzc05DMERMSjk", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 30, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 89, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba\u2019s getting a new president  The Conversation", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s getting a new president  The Conversation" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://theconversation.com", + "title": "The Conversation" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy\nurl: https://www.dw.com/en/cuba-vote-marks-final-chapter-of-castro-legacy/a-42925387\nhostname: dw.com\ndescription: Cubans have voted to select a new parliament, the penultimate step in picking Raul Castro's successor. Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel is expected to take over, ending the Castro family's six decades in power.\nsitename: Deutsche Welle\ndate: 2018-03-12\n---\n# Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy\n\nMarch 12, 2018Some 8 million Cubans voted on Sunday to ratify the island's new National Assembly, paving the way for the selection of a new leader when President Raul Castro steps down next month.\n\nJust over 600 pre-selected candidates will be elected to parliament following Sunday's vote. The final results are due to be announced at 4 p.m. local time (2000 UTC).\n\nVoter turnout was just under 80 percent, according to Cuba's National Electoral Commission.\n\n*Read more:* Cuba goes online\n\nWhile voting is voluntary, going to the polls is also considered an act of \"revolutionary affirmation.\" Abstention is therefore frowned upon.\n\n**A successor to the Castro dynasty**\n\nThe National Assembly will be tasked with designating Cuba's 31-member Council of State \u2014 the body that will ultimately hand-pick the new president in April, thereby ending the Castro family's political reign over the communist-run island after almost six decades.\n\nRaul Castro took over the presidency in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who led Cuba for almost 50 years after seizing power during the 1959 revolution. Sunday's vote will be the first since Fidel died in 2016.\n\nVice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a trained engineer who has risen up the party's ranks over some 30 years, is widely expected to take over. Outgoing President Raul Castro is expected to stay on as leader of the all-powerful Communist Party.\n\nSunday's general election will also instigate a generational shift at the lower end of Cuban politics. Several analysts expect a number of revolutionaries currently seated in the parliament to also retire once Raul Castro steps down.\n\nThe new leadership is unlikely to further embrace major new market reforms on the island. After casting his ballot on Sunday, Diaz-Canel took to state television to lambast the United States, accusing it of \"resuming Cold War rhetoric.\"\n\nWhile not mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, the vice president said the current White House administration had \"offended Cuba.\"\n\n\"The revolution is being attacked in the middle of a situation which has been deteriorating,\" Diaz-Canel said. \"I am sure that, sooner rather than later, we will defeat the imperialist plans.\"\n\nOn Sunday, Cuba's Foreign Ministry tweeted: \"The next president may not have that surname, but he will undoubtedly be a son of the Revolution.\"\n\n*Read more:* Opinion: Fidel Castro's path of broken promises\n\n**Tasks ahead for Cuba's new government**\n\nCuba's new government faces a host of hurdles as it takes over. After an upswing in relations with the United States under President Barack Obama, his successor, Donald Trump, has vowed to maintain Washington's decades-long trade embargo on its communist neighbor. Responding to Fidel Castro's death in 2016, Trump described the revolutionary leader as \"a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people.\"\n\nCuba also used to rely heavily on aid from ally Venezuela. However, a financial crisis and steep fall in living conditions there has seen those funds dry up.\n\nDiaz-Canel will therefore face a far stiffer test than his predecessors, and this will not be helped by his lacking the same moral authority enjoyed by the revolutionary Castro brothers. The incoming president will therefore have to earn his legitimacy in the eyes of the voters, by addressing their concerns and raising living standards.\n\n**Voting in communist Cuba**\n\nThe National Assembly vote, held every five years, is unique among the small handful of communist-run states \u2014something that gives the Cuban government a sense of democratic legitimacy.\n\nAlthough candidates are not required to be members of the Communist Party, Cuba's only legal party, a vast majority are.\n\n\"The designation of candidates is based on merit, abilities and the commitment of the people,\" Raul Castro said when he announced the elections last year.\n\nThe Cuban Communist Party's official daily, *Granma*, wrote ahead of the vote: \"Nobody exchanges promises for votes, or boasts of his abilities to get supporters ... this is the true and exceptional face of what we proudly call socialist democracy.\"\n\nVoters on Sunday ratified candidates from two separate lists \u2014 one for the 605-seat National Assembly and the other for the 14 provincial assemblies.\n\nWhile opposition is limited, criticisms center mainly on the presidential selection and the fact that the leader is not elected through a direct public ballot.\n\n*Read more:* How young Cubans are learning capitalism\n\ndm/ng (Reuters, AFP)" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy - dw.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy - dw.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihgFBVV95cUxNc3pQWVI3SVFzU05rNTBPZUtua0NPMzgyN1RKWkR5Y2VjYWFIX2FoYmtZY0NBbnVBVmJVSUNqelhOMm40RGF4TUVrMXI1aXBnVGJlemVFN1hxSFpYR0taOGVwUlZGbGZFczlxVkhPbzZyQ2h3dEpDNU1XaGtrVS1ybXZKV05IQdIBhgFBVV95cUxOQ25vMGNacWJnQ3hvZ3R4Tml3aVIzdTUzdmp5VS13azh3am51aEFYZ2g5V3BVNThlb3lMQjc3LVNvNjU4R0IzYnNoVXlJaW5WQjBOZG0tM1RxSGlzcnJpSmNaa1czbXJiSkhUNmhObEFxaFhzeUQzNE1DSF9uNk5ickRHYjU3Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://theconversation.com/cubas-getting-a-new-president-94060", + "id": "CBMihgFBVV95cUxNc3pQWVI3SVFzU05rNTBPZUtua0NPMzgyN1RKWkR5Y2VjYWFIX2FoYmtZY0NBbnVBVmJVSUNqelhOMm40RGF4TUVrMXI1aXBnVGJlemVFN1hxSFpYR0taOGVwUlZGbGZFczlxVkhPbzZyQ2h3dEpDNU1XaGtrVS1ybXZKV05IQdIBhgFBVV95cUxOQ25vMGNacWJnQ3hvZ3R4Tml3aVIzdTUzdmp5VS13azh3am51aEFYZ2g5V3BVNThlb3lMQjc3LVNvNjU4R0IzYnNoVXlJaW5WQjBOZG0tM1RxSGlzcnJpSmNaa1czbXJiSkhUNmhObEFxaFhzeUQzNE1DSF9uNk5ickRHYjU3Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 12 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 12, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 71, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy  dw.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba vote marks final chapter of Castro legacy  dw.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.dw.com", + "title": "dw.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba\u2019s getting a new president\nauthor: William M LeoGrande\nurl: https://theconversation.com/cubas-getting-a-new-president-94060\nhostname: theconversation.com\ndescription: Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, a 57-year-old engineer and Communist Party loyalist, is expected to succeed Ra\u00fal Castro as president of Cuba. Will change bring prosperity or instability to the Cuban people?\nsitename: The Conversation\ndate: 2018-03-30\n---\nLeadership changes don\u2019t happen often in Cuba \u2013 there\u2019s been just one since 1959, in fact. That was in 2006, when President Fidel Castro fell ill and was replaced by his brother Ra\u00fal.\n\nRa\u00fal Castro turned out to be a real agent of change. But after two terms as president, the 86-year-old is stepping down. On April 19, the National Assembly will meet to pick Cuba\u2019s next leader.\n\nAnd for the first time in six decades, his last name will not be Castro.\n\nThis is a momentous occasion \u2014 one of the most important I\u2019ve seen in 40 years of studying and writing on Cuba. For any state born in revolution, the first transfer of power to a new generation is always politically risky.\n\nRa\u00fal Castro\u2019s successor must grow Cuba\u2019s economy, contend with the United States and deal with a growing chorus of critics. And he will have to tackle these tasks while the Communist Party is still dominated by Fidel\u2019s revolutionary comrades, who have sharp disagreements on all these issues.\n\n## Who can fill Castro\u2019s shoes?\n\nThe clear favorite to replace Ra\u00fal Castro is Cuba\u2019s 57-year-old First Vice President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel. His ascension would represent a transfer of power away from the \u201chistoric generation\u201d that waged Cuba\u2019s 1959 revolution, many of whom are now pushing 90.\n\nIn 2011, Ra\u00fal Castro mandated a two-term limit for senior government and party officials. It \u201cis never positive\u201d for the elderly to cling to power, he declared.\n\nBut the charisma of Fidel Castro, who died in 2016, has been a pillar of Cuba\u2019s regime. D\u00edaz-Canel \u2013 a trained engineer who worked his way up from provincial party leader to first vice president \u2013 will have to earn his authority through performance.\n\nThose who have followed his career say D\u00edaz-Canel is a seasoned, pragmatic politician. He is apparently a bit stiff in front of large audiences but relaxed and congenial in small groups \u2013 much like his mentor, Ra\u00fal Castro.\n\nAs president, D\u00edaz-Canel would still benefit from Castro\u2019s experience and authority. Castro remains first secretary of the Communist Party \u2013 Cuba\u2019s only party \u2013 until 2021.\n\nThis is arguably a post more powerful than the presidency. The party leadership makes all major economic, social and foreign relations policies, which the president is obliged to carry out.\n\nSo I don\u2019t expect any drastic changes in direction from D\u00edaz-Canel \u2013 at least, not right away.\n\nThe leadership transition is still significant, though. It marks the first time that the leader of the Communist Party and the leader of the Cuban government will be different people. Both Fidel and Ra\u00fal Castro held both positions simultaneously.\n\nCuba must now sort out the lines of authority between party and state. As D\u00edaz-Canel staffs government ministries with his own team, he will gain ever more control over how policy is interpreted and implemented.\n\n## Is Cuba in for a change?\n\nThe new president will face some tough issues.\n\nCuba\u2019s economy is struggling, dragged down in particular by the dual-currency system Fidel Castro adopted in 1994 to attract cash remittances from Cuban expats. Ra\u00fal Castro has declared that currency reunification \u201ccannot be delayed any longer.\u201d\n\nBut turning two currencies into one is a tricky business with unpredictable economic consequences. And unlike almost every other country in the world, Cuba cannot turn to the International Monetary Fund or World Bank for support because it withdrew from them after the revolution.\n\nD\u00edaz-Canel will also face pressure to reinvigorate the Cuban economy by pushing ahead with Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s controversial economic reform program. Castro loosened restrictions on private enterprise and foreign investment in Cuba early in his tenure, but the pace of change has since slowed.\n\nIf D\u00edaz-Canel opens up Cuba\u2019s economy too quickly, he\u2019ll alienate Communist Party conservatives. Going too slowly will anger reformers, not to mention frustrate the Cuban people.\n\nAnother contentious issue facing Cuba\u2019s incoming president is freedom of expression. Public criticism of the regime has grown as more Cubans connect to the internet. Last year, hard-liners launched a campaign vilifying critical bloggers, which \u2013 to many onlookers\u2019 surprise \u2013 D\u00edaz-Canal supported.\n\nOther prominent Cubans pushed back, though, and the campaign ultimately ended without any of the targeted web sites being closed down.\n\nCastro balanced conflicting factions with a delicate strategy he described as reform \u201cwithout haste, but without pause.\u201d He also benefited from unquestioned authority in the party. D\u00edaz-Canel will have to establish his own legitimacy.\n\n## US-Cuba relations in flux\n\nFinally, D\u00edaz-Canel must deal with the mercurial Trump administration, which has largely outsourced Cuba policy to the conservative Cuban-Americans in Congress.\n\nThis faction, lead by Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from FloridaR-F, denounced President Barack Obama\u2019s restoration of U.S.-Cuba relations. Although Trump declared he was \u201ccancelling\u201d Obama\u2019s policy, he has so far left most Obama-era commercial openings untouched.\n\nIn October, Trump further battered bilateral ties by downsizing the U.S. Embassy in Cuba after U.S. government personnel suffered unexplained health problems there. He also expelled 17 Cuban diplomats from Washington.\n\nRecent Trump appointments do not bode well for the future of U.S.-Cuban relations. The incoming secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was a vocal opponent of Obama\u2019s rapprochement with Havana. And national security adviser John Bolton once deemed Cuba part of an \u201caxis of evil,\u201d falsely accusing it of developing biological weapons.\n\n## Anticipation and trepidation\n\nIn December, I was in Havana, a city where the benefits of Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s economic reforms are most tangible. Cubans I spoke with there seemed ready for younger leadership and excited about the impending power transition.\n\nBut 80 percent of Cubans have always had a Castro as their president. So the anticipatory mood is leavened by trepidation. People fear that change at the top could bring instability.\n\nIf D\u00edaz-Canel can deliver on the economy \u2013 the top priority for most Cubans \u2013 he\u2019ll be judged a success. If not, he will face a rising tide of discontent from a population impatient for change." + }, + { + "title": "2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic - Bowie News -", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic - Bowie News -" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxPTmFjcG93bEhvNEZ4N3ptUHJLc0NWR3h4R2hMV2hpTnJ4X1d3REhoY01YdVJwSmpXeHAyNXRVN0xIdUl1ZjMxeVlaNU9mdzJlR3FrZ0tIUHBBeUVFLXVNSjNWaFNIc1lhLW5SMFhZREVMQWh1UjhRcVRNNFMzM094MVRsdzc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://bowienewsonline.com/2018/03/2006-cuba-plays-in-world-baseball-classic/", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxPTmFjcG93bEhvNEZ4N3ptUHJLc0NWR3h4R2hMV2hpTnJ4X1d3REhoY01YdVJwSmpXeHAyNXRVN0xIdUl1ZjMxeVlaNU9mdzJlR3FrZ0tIUHBBeUVFLXVNSjNWaFNIc1lhLW5SMFhZREVMQWh1UjhRcVRNNFMzM094MVRsdzc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 10 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 10, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 69, + 0 + ], + "summary": "2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic  Bowie News -", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic  Bowie News -" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://bowienewsonline.com", + "title": "Bowie News -" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: 2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic\nauthor: Bowienews\nurl: https://bowienewsonline.com/2018/03/2006-cuba-plays-in-world-baseball-classic/\nhostname: bowienewsonline.com\ndescription: On March 10, 2006, the Cuban national baseball team plays Puerto Rico in the first round of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. While the Puerto Rican team was made up of major league All-Stars, the Cuban team was largely unknown to the world. Puerto Rico beat Cuba 12-2 that day, but the Cuban team would soon have [\u2026]\nsitename: bowienewsonline.com\ndate: 2018-10-03\n---\n### This Day In History\n\n# 2006 Cuba plays in World Baseball Classic\n\nOn March 10, 2006, the Cuban national baseball team plays Puerto Rico in the first round of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. While the Puerto Rican team was made up of major league All-Stars, the Cuban team was largely unknown to the world. Puerto Rico beat Cuba 12-2 that day, but the Cuban team would soon have its revenge.\n\nBaseball has long been a favorite national pastime in Cuba. American sailors brought the game into port cities in the 19th century and its popularity soon spread. Professional leagues had sprung up by the 1870s and by the 20th century both Negro Leaguers and major leaguers spent their winters playing amongst Cuban professionals in the Cuban Baseball Leagues.\n\nProfessional baseball in Cuba was abolished in 1960, when Cuban President Fidel Castro instituted state-run athletic programs modeled after those in the communist Soviet Union. That same year, the United States placed a trade embargo against Cuba after Castro aligned himself with the Soviets, ratcheting up tensions in the Cold War. In spite of the trade embargo, the United States continued to allow Cuban \u00e9migr\u00e9s to play baseball in America. The Cuban National League, however, does not accept players from other countries into its system, unlike winter leagues in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico and elsewhere.\n\nCuban baseball, then, had been largely isolated from the rest of the world since 1960, though the Cubans proved their mettle on the few occasions that Cuba agreed to allow their national team to play against outside teams. In 1999, Cuba played twice against the Baltimore Orioles of the American League, losing the first game 3 -2 in Havana, but winning 12 -6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. (Fidel Castro watched the victory from his seat between Orioles owner Peter Angelos and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.) Cuba has also dominated play in the Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1992, 1996 and 2004 and winning the silver in 2000.\n\nIn the 2006 World Baseball Classic, few thought Cuba\u2013one of the only teams without a major league player on its roster\u2013 had a realistic chance against the All-Star lineups fielded by the United States, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. While the combined annual salaries of the players on those four teams totaled $471 million, Cuban players made just $10 to $15 per month working mandatory day jobs and playing baseball at night.\n\nFive days after being trounced by the Puerto Ricans, Cuba bounced back with immaculate play. They beat Puerto Rico 4-3 to move into the semifinals against a powerful and heavily favored Dominican team that featured major league MVPs Albert Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero and Miguel Tejada and superstars David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre. The Cubans prevailed 3-1. In the final, however, Cuba lost to Japan\u2013led by star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and Seattle Mariner outfielder Ichiro Suzuki\u2013which played the same style of game as the Cubans, relying on good hustle, situational hitting, strong pitching and team defense.\n\nSource: www.history.com\n\n### This Day In History\n\n# Truman announces development of H-bomb\n\nU.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.\n\nFive months earlier, the United States had lost its nuclear supremacy when the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic bomb at their test site in Kazakhstan. Then, several weeks after that, British and U.S. intelligence came to the staggering conclusion that German-born Klaus Fuchs, a top-ranking scientist in the U.S. nuclear program, was a spy for the Soviet Union. These two events, and the fact that the Soviets now knew everything that the Americans did about how to build a hydrogen bomb, led Truman to approve massive funding for the superpower race to complete the world\u2019s first \u201csuperbomb,\u201d as he described it in his public announcement on January 31.\n\nOn November 1, 1952, the United States successfully detonated \u201cMike,\u201d the world\u2019s first hydrogen bomb, on the Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands. The 10.4-megaton thermonuclear device, built upon the Teller-Ulam principles of staged radiation implosion, instantly vaporized an entire island and left behind a crater more than a mile wide. The incredible explosive force of Mike was also apparent from the sheer magnitude of its mushroom cloud\u2013within 90 seconds the mushroom cloud climbed to 57,000 feet and entered the stratosphere. One minute later, it reached 108,000 feet, eventually stabilizing at a ceiling of 120,000 feet. Half an hour after the test, the mushroom stretched 60 miles across, with the base of the head joining the stem at 45,000 feet.\n\nThree years later, on November 22, 1955, the Soviet Union detonated its first hydrogen bomb on the same principle of radiation implosion. Both superpowers were now in possession of the \u201chell bomb,\u201d as it was known by many Americans, and the world lived under the threat of thermonuclear war for the first time in history.\n\nSource: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-announces-development-of-h-bomb\n\n### This Day In History\n\n# Gandhi assassinated\n\nMohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu extremist.\n\nBorn the son of an Indian official in 1869, Gandhi\u2019s Vaishnava mother was deeply religious and early on exposed her son to Jainism, a morally rigorous Indian religion that advocated nonviolence. Gandhi was an unremarkable student but in 1888 was given an opportunity to study law in England. In 1891, he returned to India, but failing to find regular legal work he accepted in 1893 a one-year contract in South Africa.\n\nSettling in Natal, he was subjected to racism and South African laws that restricted the rights of Indian laborers. Gandhi later recalled one such incident, in which he was removed from a first-class railway compartment and thrown off a train, as his moment of truth. From thereon, he decided to fight injustice and defend his rights as an Indian and a man. When his contract expired, he spontaneously decided to remain in South Africa and launched a campaign against legislation that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. He formed the Natal Indian Congress and drew international attention to the plight of Indians in South Africa. In 1906, the Transvaal government sought to further restrict the rights of Indians, and Gandhi organized his first campaign of *satyagraha,* or mass civil disobedience. After seven years of protest, he negotiated a compromise agreement with the South African government.\n\nIn 1914, Gandhi returned to India and lived a life of abstinence and spirituality on the periphery of Indian politics. He supported Britain in the First World War but in 1919 launched a new satyagraha in protest of Britain\u2019s mandatory military draft of Indians. Hundreds of thousands answered his call to protest, and by 1920 he was leader of the Indian movement for independence. He reorganized the Indian National Congress as a political force and launched a massive boycott of British goods, services, and institutions in India. Then, in 1922, he abruptly called off the satyagraha when violence erupted. One month later, he was arrested by the British authorities for sedition, found guilty, and imprisoned.\n\nSource: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gandhi-assassinated\n\n### This Day In History\n\n# U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame elects first members\n\nOn January 29, 1936, the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame elects its first members in Cooperstown, New York: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.\n\nThe Hall of Fame actually had its beginnings in 1935, when plans were made to build a museum devoted to baseball and its 100-year history. A private organization based in Cooperstown called the Clark Foundation thought that establishing the Baseball Hall of Fame in their city would help to reinvigorate the area\u2019s Depression-ravaged economy by attracting tourists. To help sell the idea, the foundation advanced the idea that U.S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown. The story proved to be phony, but baseball officials, eager to capitalize on the marketing and publicity potential of a museum to honor the game\u2019s greats, gave their support to the project anyway.\n\nIn preparation for the dedication of the Hall of Fame in 1939\u2014thought by many to be the centennial of baseball\u2014the Baseball Writers\u2019 Association of America chose the five greatest superstars of the game as the first class to be inducted: Ty Cobb was the most productive hitter in history; Babe Ruth was both an ace pitcher and the greatest home-run hitter to play the game; Honus Wagner was a versatile star shortstop and batting champion; Christy Matthewson had more wins than any pitcher in National League history; and Walter Johnson was considered one of the most powerful pitchers to ever have taken the mound.\n\nToday, with approximately 350,000 visitors per year, the Hall of Fame continues to be the hub of all things baseball.\n\nSource: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-baseball-hall-of-fame-elects-first-members\n\n-\nNEWS2 years ago\nSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder\n\n-\nNEWS3 years ago\n2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona\n\n-\nNEWS3 years ago\nSO investigating possible murder/suicide\n\n-\nNEWS3 years ago\nWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16\n\n-\nNEWS3 years ago\nMurder unsolved \u2013 1 year later Tia Hutson\u2019s family angry, frustrated with no arrest\n\n-\nNEWS3 years ago\nSheriff\u2019s office called out to infant\u2019s death\n\n-\nShow us something good9 years ago\nCountry music star children perform in Bowie\n\n-\n100th Birthday3 years ago\nLooking back at the 1958 Centennial edition of The Bowie News" + }, + { + "title": "The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures - Cigar Aficionado", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures - Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFBVV95cUxOOTY1dVlkc1pzQUtoOXBjSUtpR2xJOHB6WmV4R05IbVVpYm8xdU9MQVE0bkdrelFXejNjSW1KMzZzNXVCbi10VnBtZ2xDdkdJcVhENGFpVF90NlVzT1c2eEZSWkZGOU5jRVV1QS0tOXd2R05MamUzSGNNb1Vvd2s2MmFB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/the-2018-habanos-festival-in-pictures", + "id": "CBMiggFBVV95cUxOOTY1dVlkc1pzQUtoOXBjSUtpR2xJOHB6WmV4R05IbVVpYm8xdU9MQVE0bkdrelFXejNjSW1KMzZzNXVCbi10VnBtZ2xDdkdJcVhENGFpVF90NlVzT1c2eEZSWkZGOU5jRVV1QS0tOXd2R05MamUzSGNNb1Vvd2s2MmFB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 14, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 73, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures  Cigar Aficionado", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures  Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com", + "title": "Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures | Cigar Aficionado\nauthor: M Shanken Communications; Inc; CA Editors\nurl: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/the-2018-habanos-festival-in-pictures\nhostname: cigaraficionado.com\ndescription: A look at some of the highlights of Cuba\u2019s Festival del Habano XX. | Cigar Aficionado\nsitename: Cigar Aficionado\ndate: 2018-03-14\ntags: ['Habanos Festival 2018']\n---\n## The 2018 Habanos Festival In Pictures\n\nWhile there\u2019s nothing quite like being at the Habanos Festival, we\u2019ve provided what we think is the second-best thing: a photo account of the festival highlights. From seminars to factory tours to field trips out to tobacco farms, the Habanos Festival strives to give the world a firsthand look at Cuba\u2019s premium cigar industry. The days are loaded with activities, but the nights become celebratory affairs with cocktail hours, dinners and live music.\n\nThis year marks the 20th anniversary of the jubilant event, formally known as the Festival del Habano XX. It\u2019s an unusual time of year for Habanos S.A. as Cuba\u2019s tobacco fields and cigar factories are normally closed to the public. During the festival, however, Habanos gives guests a comprehensive view of the cigarmaking process, from the fields to factories. Our photographer returned with many photos (perhaps too many, if there\u2019s such a thing) and after sorting through thousands of shots, here are some of the moments in Cuba we\u2019d like to remember and share.\n\nOur Man in Havana, Gordon Mott (also our senior contributing editor) takes copious notes at the official press conference. He\u2019s the one in the blue shirt, but notice he\u2019s not wearing a translator on his ear. Those are audio translators for those who can\u2019t speak or understand Spanish. Mott does both. Last year, he was named Habanos Man of the year.\n\nThe Trade Fair is a series of pavilions set up in the Convention Center, where most of the seminars take place. One of the show-stoppers of the Trade Fair was this giant humidor commemorating 20 years of the Habanos Festival. Habanos co-president Inocente Nu\u00f1ez Blanco shows off the elaborate collection of cigars, which was assembled to represent the most emblematic global brands of Habanos: Partag\u00e1s, H. Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, Cohiba Behike, Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo Linea 1935. The humidor holds 20 of each brand, or 120 cigars in all.\n\nA field trip out to the tobacco plantations brought the tour to the Finca El Valle farm in Pinar del R\u00edo's San Juan y Mart\u00ednez region, which is considered the country\u2019s most fertile ground for producing the best-quality tobacco. The province is located on the Western end of the country, a few hours drive from Havana. It may seem anachronistic, but on tobacco farms, oxen are still put to work. These shown here pull a cart of tobacco to a curing barn.\n\nMany don\u2019t know that most growers in Cuba can only plant seeds approved by the government\u2019s tobacco institute. These seeds are normally chosen because they resist disease and provide high yields. However, the tobacco from these strains have all undergone a rigorous approval process through a tasting panel in order to preserve the necessary flavor and aromatic properties that define Cuban tobacco.\n\nAfter the tobacco is hung in the barn to dry, fermentation is, of course, the next step, and perhaps the most important. In another facility, Cuban tobacco ferments in large pilones before it\u2019s eventually sent to the factories.\n\nBack at the convention hall, a number of attendees learn how to roll a cigar during an instructional seminar. All get a place setting complete with a chaveta, rolling surface and tobacco. As all in the rolling seminar realized, smoking cigars is far easier than making them.\n\nFollowing a series of performances at the Teatro Mart\u00ed, Habanos held its lavish cocktail hour in the ballroom of the Gran Teatro de la Habana, a beautiful theater located in downtown Havana, not far from the capitol building.\n\nIt was the 20th anniversary celebration of the festival where food, drinks and cigars were all served in a regal, ornate setting. Live music and a gift-bag of cigars set the festive tone.\n\nThough Habanos operates a number of factories throughout Cuba, this year, the H. Upmann factory was the only facility open to the tour. It\u2019s painted a bright shade of blue on the outside and is one of the oldest cigar factories in Havana (however, it wasn\u2019t always the H. Upmann factory).\n\nWhile rolling is done in one section of the factory, another is dedicated to the sorting of wrapper leaf, a meticulous process done mostly by women, who are believed to have a better sense of color variation than men.\n\nSome say that wine can\u2019t pair with cigars on account of its acidity. This has never been the position of Habanos, as the wine-pairing seminar keeps coming back to the festival. This year, cigar enthusiasts were asked to pair Chilean wines from Vi\u00f1a Santa Carolina with a Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill.\n\nThe entire Festival crescendos at the final night. The Partag\u00e1s brand took center stage to highlight the new Linea Maduro series. Beautiful servers passed out Partag\u00e1s Lusitanias as the final cigar for guests to smoke during the course of the evening, which ended in an auction of unique, sometimes over-the-top humidors. Take the Cohiba humidor for example.\n\nThe humidor looks like a burning Cohiba cigar topped with a sculpture by Cuban artist Roberto Fabelo. It came filled with 550 cigars, including a full selection of Cohiba Behike BHKs, Maravillas, Talism\u00e1ns, 1966s and the full Siglo range. It now belongs to Hamed Abouzahr, a Lebanese Peruvian who distributes Habanos cigars in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. He paid about $418,000 for it." + }, + { + "title": "Ra\u00fal Castro is expected to step down soon. And recent moves suggest he won\u2019t be alone - Miami Herald", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Ra\u00fal Castro is expected to step down soon. And recent moves suggest he won\u2019t be alone - Miami Herald" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxNRGIzNjFWR3h5NkxEck9mN0xaalJ2bEJQUFIwMk1mcVZ3dU8ydE44QXQtVE5idXJDNWIzUnVBQklBWVk0alJBdGRnalNQMVNrZzBCRmNKckExN1FNZzdLcENXWk16VUdvN2t1ZGRBRWl1a1l0UF9vd0hTMEFsYk9IbDJfSW1sek5UYjNNb1g2ONIBkAFBVV95cUxNT3Y1cG43SUdlbXhVM0FrX2tTRUJzczg3ZFVLVnVqU2NacEFPVEJLQUVJM3kxZ1ZVQ2szUHlfVGlaMGNNaVRQb3BTTkY0aW52ajI2V3ROMTBOc3BiQ050OElUN3pHcWRjNmQwRXFoVFpQcXU3clV0Z3VvUDRDTjZYMHpZdTl0VkcwMUxxWlgwU1U?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article203122804.html", + "id": "CBMijwFBVV95cUxNRGIzNjFWR3h5NkxEck9mN0xaalJ2bEJQUFIwMk1mcVZ3dU8ydE44QXQtVE5idXJDNWIzUnVBQklBWVk0alJBdGRnalNQMVNrZzBCRmNKckExN1FNZzdLcENXWk16VUdvN2t1ZGRBRWl1a1l0UF9vd0hTMEFsYk9IbDJfSW1sek5UYjNNb1g2ONIBkAFBVV95cUxNT3Y1cG43SUdlbXhVM0FrX2tTRUJzczg3ZFVLVnVqU2NacEFPVEJLQUVJM3kxZ1ZVQ2szUHlfVGlaMGNNaVRQb3BTTkY0aW52ajI2V3ROMTBOc3BiQ050OElUN3pHcWRjNmQwRXFoVFpQcXU3clV0Z3VvUDRDTjZYMHpZdTl0VkcwMUxxWlgwU1U", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 4, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 63, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Ra\u00fal Castro is expected to step down soon. And recent moves suggest he won\u2019t be alone  Miami Herald", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Ra\u00fal Castro is expected to step down soon. And recent moves suggest he won\u2019t be alone  Miami Herald" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.miamiherald.com", + "title": "Miami Herald" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy? - CircleID", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy? - CircleID" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidEFVX3lxTE91anQ2S1BBdTB6UHVuZE1rVHg5al9aeTlRWS1pcWpfTFRjQ0xSZFRIMU5KcnV3ZHNNUW81MHJXb2xVa1FVZkNhMWdvclhUSW9LX19yWjZpTDFYa1Z4SXlOVGRubFZ4YVI3d2ZjQ2txalZhMmFL?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://circleid.com/posts/20180320_cubas_mobile_internet_strategy", + "id": "CBMidEFVX3lxTE91anQ2S1BBdTB6UHVuZE1rVHg5al9aeTlRWS1pcWpfTFRjQ0xSZFRIMU5KcnV3ZHNNUW81MHJXb2xVa1FVZkNhMWdvclhUSW9LX19yWjZpTDFYa1Z4SXlOVGRubFZ4YVI3d2ZjQ2txalZhMmFL", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 20, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 79, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy?  CircleID", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy?  CircleID" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://circleid.com", + "title": "CircleID" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba\u2019s Mobile-Internet Strategy?\nauthor: Larry Press\nurl: https://circleid.com/ posts/20180320_cubas_mobile_internet_strategy\nhostname: circleid.com\ndescription: This post is speculative, but I think Cuba may use satellite for 3G backhaul and, when the technologies are ready, leapfrog over 4G to 5G mobile connectivity and next-generation satellite. ETECSA began rolling out 3G connectivity for Cubans about a year ago and a few things have led me to believe they will continue... But, could they provide widespread 3G mobile? Doing so would require more base stations and more backhaul from those base stations to the Intenet.\nsitename: Circleid\ndate: 2018-03-20\ntags: ['access_providers, broadband, satellite-internet,']\n---\n|\n\nThis post is speculative, but I think Cuba may use satellite for 3G backhaul and, when the technologies are ready, leapfrog over 4G to 5G mobile connectivity and next-generation satellite. ETECSA began rolling out 3G connectivity for Cubans about a year ago and a few things have led me to believe they will continue:\n\nThe following crowd-sourced maps show Cuba\u2019s mobile rollout. (Strong signal: received signal strength indicator (RSSI) > -85dB, Weak: RSSI < -99dB).\n\nCrowdsourced mobile coverage map, February 2017\n\nCrowdsourced mobile coverage map, November 2017\n\nGiven the choice, people would prefer the flexibility, convenience, and comfort of mobile or home access over access at a fixed location like a WiFi park or navigation room. Cuba cannot afford the infrastructure upgrade to make home DSL \u201cavailable, accessible, and affordable for all\u201d and if they could it would require an enormous investment in obsolete technology.\n\nBut, could they provide widespread 3G mobile? Doing so would require more base stations and more backhaul from those base stations to the Intenet. I have been told that O3b currently has a satellite-Internet gateway in Jarusco, near Havana, but my guess is that they will install others to provide 3G backhaul. This would not be unprecedented\u2014for example, O3b provides mobile backhaul for Digicell, which has over 40,000 LTE accounts in Papua New Guinea (PNG).\n\nCould Cuba employ a PNG-like strategy for a portion of their mobile backhaul?\n\nCuba is not identical to PNG. PNG\u2019s population is only about 72% of Cuba\u2019s, but Cuba has several advantages over PNG. The area of PNG is more than four times that of Cuba and Cuba has superior, universal education, a GDP per capita about 3.5 times that of PNG and more terrestrial Internet infrastructure.\n\nBut, shouldn\u2019t Cuba install modern 4G technology instead of 3G?\n\nI have long advocated a strategy of relying on stopgap measures like home DSL, WiFi hotspots, navigation rooms, street nets, El Paquete Semanal and 3G mobile service while planning to leapfrog over current technology. Third generation mobile is significantly slower than 4G/LTE, which means much less backhaul and international bandwidth is required. Furthermore, Google, industrious Cubans and other are developing applications that are tailored to work on slow connections and offline on low-cost handsets. (There were 1,432 active, self-employed programmers in Cuba as of last April).\n\nIf 3G is a stopgap while waiting for 5G wireless technology to become available, what might the future look like?\n\nAs mentioned above O3b plans to deploy their next-generation mPOWER satellite constellation in 2021. MPOWER will be a major advance. Their current satellites can link to 10 edge terminals, but mPOWER satellites will be capable of over 4,000 links each, and O3b will offer several terminal models, ranging from very cheap and small (perhaps suitable for an individual cellular base station) to very large. While we may see a limited 5G rollout in advanced nations in 2019, it will not go mainstream for a year or more and will still be maturing and too expensive for either Cuba, PNG or other developing nations for some time after that, so mPOWER will be ready by the time Cuba is ready to \u201cleap\u201d to 5G.\n\nIt is noteworthy that 5G terrestrial wireless is expected to be used for fixed as well as mobile access, further reducing the need for investment in terrestrial infrastructure. When we speak of 5G connectivity to fixed locations, we are moving beyond the mobile phone as a user terminal. Handheld computers work well for conversation and consuming media but not for content creation. I could have written this blog post on a laptop with a 5G connection, but not on a mobile phone.\n\nAt an mPower press conference (video), Steve Collar, SES Networks CEO asked himself a rhetorical question\u2014\u201cIf we wanted to deliver all of the capability that PNG would require for the next 15 years, could we do it on mPOWER without having to use any sort of meaningful terrestrial infrastructure?\u201d and his answer to that was \u201cyes.\u201d He went on to say that \u201cIf we can deliver the international and domestic traffic for a country on this system ... then we\u2019ve got something that is genuinely unique.\u201d (Collar\u2019s comment is roughly 6 minutes before the end of the video).\n\nSeveral years ago, I suggested that Cuba could use geostationary-orbit satellite Internet service as a stopgap measure until they could afford to leapfrog over today\u2019s technology to next-generation infrastructure. They did not go for that idea. Last month, I suggested that they consider low-Earth orbit satellite Internet service. This post splits the difference by suggesting medium-Earth orbit service from O3b. Since ETECSA is already an O3b customer and SES is a European company, this one may be closer to reality\u2014I\u2019ll save those political considerations for a future post.\n\n**Update Feb 27, 2019:**\n\nSES has published their Full Year 2018 Results. They reported a return to growth in fixed-data sales, citing a full year of revenues from O3b deployment with ETECSA in Cuba as a contributor. They also confirmed their O3b launch schedule. O3b satellites 17-20 will be launched the first quarter of this year and seven next-generation mPOWER satellites will be launched in the first half of 2021. Cuba might be planning to make significant use of these satellites for mobile backhaul and community connectivity.\n\nSponsored byCSC\n\nSponsored byDNIB.com\n\nSponsored byVerisign\n\nSponsored byVerisign\n\nSponsored byRadix\n\nSponsored byIPv4.Global\n\nSponsored byWhoisXML API" + }, + { + "title": "Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihgFBVV95cUxNLUxxZlF1QWRudFlBRFFoQjFMZndBQWFDUy1wMmNnMmpHSUQ5bzhMUFRRSGdKcHlKR283dVBMVThKd000TXVONXlHeER1TUNKdUlESkpKYUJrVDNBQVk3VlBaQ2NCTHR5ZHRuWnFNMzl2aHVSNHJka0xzVGNwS2J1eVZRSi0yQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/world-music/8361/dayme-arocena-interviewed-at-womad-2018-cuba-getting-its-jazz-funk-improv-on/", + "id": "CBMihgFBVV95cUxNLUxxZlF1QWRudFlBRFFoQjFMZndBQWFDUy1wMmNnMmpHSUQ5bzhMUFRRSGdKcHlKR283dVBMVThKd000TXVONXlHeER1TUNKdUlESkpKYUJrVDNBQVk3VlBaQ2NCTHR5ZHRuWnFNMzl2aHVSNHJka0xzVGNwS2J1eVZRSi0yQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 14, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 73, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on\nauthor: Graham Reid\nurl: https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/world-music/8361/dayme-arocena-interviewed-at-womad-2018-cuba-getting-its-jazz-funk-improv-on/\nhostname: elsewhere.co.nz\ndescription: When Dayme Arocena from Cuba took the stage for his first of two shows at Womad she came on like petite powerhouse, her dusty black skin wrapped in pure white, and her band immediately hitting some hard rocking jazz-funk. Anyone expecting laidback Cuban folk was put on notice. This was going to be loud, seriously grounded Afro-Cuban music with large dollops of soul and jazz improvisation.\nsitename: Elsewhere by Graham Reid\ndate: 2018-03-25\n---\nGraham Reid | | 5 min read\n\nWhen Dayme Arocena from Cuba took the stage for his first of two shows at Womad she came on like petite powerhouse, her dusty black skin wrapped in pure white, and her band immediately hitting some hard rocking jazz-funk.\n\nAnyone expecting laidback Cuban folk was put on notice. This was going to be loud, seriously grounded Afro-Cuban music with large dollops of soul and jazz improvisation.\n\nBeforehand, Arocena had been generously entertaining interviewers in the media area with humour, anecdotes and, in my case, a discussion about Santeria, the Afro-Caribbean religion which brought together Spanish Catholicism and indigenous Yoruban practices brought from Nigeria by slaves.\n\nOh, and her musical background.\n\nThe 26-year old was actually classically trained in choral work.\n\n\u201cYes, I studied that and when I graduated I did that for a couple of years, then I stopped doing to concentrate on my own singing career.\n\n\u201cBut it still influences my music all the time, or it is a way to understand the music. It's not about having strings or using Chopin music in your own music but it it is about how you understand the composition of a song.\n\n\u201cIt comes from the beat and the concept of song comes from Schubert. It's more than just about writing a popular song, it is more, 'What is the speech of the song?' It is different and I feel this music in a different way.\n\n\u201cBut I really like classical music and it wasn't something that I did because I had to but because I really loved it.\u201d\n\nAt the same time of course, there was the local Cuban popular songs and folk around her all the time as she was growing up, some of that the source material for her music today.\n\n\u201cOh yes, of course,\u201d she laughs. \u201cWe don't have popular music classes or academic classes in it. If you want to play popular music you go to the street, and you just do it. And you learn that way and it will be fine.\n\n\u201cIf you want to get training and technique then you go to the classical stuff.\n\n\u201cBut I never went away from my background even when I was studying [classical]. My family loved music and used to sing and dance all the time . . . and they would make a party.\n\n\u201cThey loved the Cuban lifestyle so I was always connected to that.\n\n\u201cI just kept both things in balance, and that is why I chose jazz. Because jazz for me is the bridge between classical and popular music, and of course it gives me freedom to do whatever I want to do.\n\n\u201cImprovisation is freedom and it so complicated to improvise. You can do it yourself though. Like you improvise yourself when you talk, you don't bring your speech already formed, you just follow your thoughts and improvise in what you say.\n\n\u201cSo this is the same thing, it is just following the music and improvising and your ears have to be paying attention to all the musical background and to everything that is happening. I cannot improvise if I am not listening to the piano, the bass and the drums, because it is like a conversation.\n\n\u201cSometimes for example the drummer will do da-da-dum and I will do [sings] da-da-DUMMM.\n\n\u201cHe is telling me something and I am answering him, it is like a discussion.\n\n\u201cBut at the same time you need training to sing jazz because the harmonies can be so complicated so it is that bridge from classical training where everything is well organised and written down. You understand the structure of those things.\n\n\u201cFor me jazz is right in the middle because it has the structure and complexity of harmonies. When you hear Bach you hear crazy harmonies. When you hear Beethoven you hear some too.\n\n\u201cBut when you hear popular music you hear crazy rhythms,\u201d and she laughs again.\n\nAfter a digression into what Cuban food she might cook when being interviewed in the Womad kitchen area for Taste of the World (\u201cThe problem at Womadelaide where I did it was they want you to talk all the time so even though the food was beautiful I didn't follow the recipe and I forgot something!\u201d) the conversation turns to Santeria, the religion unique to the Caribbean as a polyglot of Spanish Catholicism and Yoruban faith rom Nigeria brought to the Caribbean by slaves.\n\n\u201cOkay, here is the best way to explain it, do you have children?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do, I have three sons.\u201d\n\n\u201cOkay, take one of them, the older one. What does he get from you?\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe discipline, he is very focused in what he does.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd physically?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe's tall\nlike me, my second wife tells me all my sons and I have a long back\nand strong legs.\u201d\n\n\u201cOkay, but your kid is a different person who has some things of you but is someone else. That is Santeria, it is the mixing of Catholicism and Yoruba from Nigeria, but it is something else.\u201d\n\nSo where is the common ground that they stand on?\n\n\u201cLet me tell you, when the Spanish people came to Cuba to colonise they didn't understand what the [local] people were saying in their talk, so they said we could not speak in our language. 'You have to learn our language, you cannot practice your religion but you have to learn mine. You have to follow my rules'.\n\n\u201cSo at one point the slaves started going to the church and following that allegiance, but it was fake.\n\nThey just tried to make the religion they brought with the religion that Spanish people put on top of them.\n\n\u201cI am talking 500 years ago but what we got from that is a very different interpretation of religion from the slaves in Cuba. For example, they said that the saint of the sea in Spain is called La Virgen del Mar who has darker skin than the Spanish, and is a lady in a blue dress.\n\n\u201cFor a Nigerian the saint of the sea in Yemoja and that is a black lady with a blue dress.\n\n\u201cSo every time time they thought of La Virgen del Mar they thought Yemoja.\n\n\u201cSo we adore both because it is the same saint for us.\u201d\n\nArocena discusses other commonalities between the two faiths \u2013 ceremonies to induct priests, nuns and the faithful, burial rites and such \u2013 which have also merged to create something unique.\n\nThis mixing of ideas and ideologies also informs Santeria music which uses music and rhythms from Nigeria but can often be sung in Spanish or Yoruban.\n\nBut Santeria has emerged as something so distinctive that it is not recognised as specifically either faith and has its own secret rituals, sacrifice ceremonies and induction practices.\n\n\u201cIf you go to Nigeria and say, 'I am Yoruba' they would say, 'No you are not'. Because the way we do things is not how they do things, and they are right. We are not Yoruba, we are Santerios and that is a Spanish word, it's not even Yoruban.\u201d\n\nSomehow the conversation comes back to family and she mentions songs about twins. I tell her that after my oldest son I had twin boys. She claps her tiny hands in delight.\n\n\u201cIn Santeria you are blessed if you have the first kid and then twins because the twins \u2013 the Ibeji \u2013 were the only ones in the religion who fought the Devil and they won. You know how? They won by just playing music.\n\n\u201cSo you are blessed, my friend.\u201d\n\n**All photos copyright Megan Stunzner. Used with permission.**\n\nFor other interviews with artists at Womad 2018 start here. For a review of the festival go here.\n\n\n\npost a comment" + }, + { + "title": "DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on - elsewhere.co.nz", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on - elsewhere.co.nz" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMivwFBVV95cUxPWmJMNWlaanh3dDlyZmZnanJLcDFHbUlXcHJTZDZlTjkyN0pKSUVmRlhnTXhQc2JjS1ItS2JmWjBuamRuMjY5ZDUxY3pSak03cVJRdE9Wa1BWUjdJVlJYODJTbmVlNzk0ZGc4a1dpM091ZHdCbWhwQmNCbVhqckNpUlVSZ2t5Nkw0QXdjR29JcURyQ004MjhnUk9VZTB6akxrNjM0b1RoOWFRTktEOHBnd2NGRHppeWFsb05BVXEtdw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/difficulties-in-receiving-money-wired-to-cuba/", + "id": "CBMivwFBVV95cUxPWmJMNWlaanh3dDlyZmZnanJLcDFHbUlXcHJTZDZlTjkyN0pKSUVmRlhnTXhQc2JjS1ItS2JmWjBuamRuMjY5ZDUxY3pSak03cVJRdE9Wa1BWUjdJVlJYODJTbmVlNzk0ZGc4a1dpM091ZHdCbWhwQmNCbVhqckNpUlVSZ2t5Nkw0QXdjR29JcURyQ004MjhnUk9VZTB6akxrNjM0b1RoOWFRTktEOHBnd2NGRHppeWFsb05BVXEtdw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 25 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 25, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 84, + 0 + ], + "summary": "DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on  elsewhere.co.nz", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on  elsewhere.co.nz" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.elsewhere.co.nz", + "title": "elsewhere.co.nz" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/difficulties-in-receiving-money-wired-to-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: Long lines in front of the insufficient number of offices of Western Union, combined with the temporary suspension of monetary remittances via Internet by the previously efficient Sendvalu, is causing alarm given the increasing participation of transfers from the outside in the national economy.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-14\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# Difficulties in Receiving Money Wired to Cuba\n\n**By Vicente Morin Aguado**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 Long lines in front of the insufficient number of offices of Western Union that provide service in Havana, combined with the temporary suspension of monetary remittances via Internet by the previously efficient **Sendvalu**, is causing alarm given the increasing participation of transfers from the outside in the national economy.\n\nAccording to people waiting in line at WU offices, the problem involves a lack of connectivity within the internal network in Cuba applied to the collection of remittances, a persistent, still unresolved situation since last week.\n\nAn estimated third of Cuban families survive off family remittances and many small private businesses depend on them for covering investments and other costs.\n\nAt one of the WU offices visited there were customers from many of Havana\u2019s 15 municipalities, some far from the city center. An employee commented that \u201chere people come from all over, it is obvious because they have to identify themselves to collect and must match the identity document data with the ones sent.\u201d\n\nThe situation is serious knowing that the other option to transfer money, companies with websites that provide fast and safe service, are showing their failures. Such is the case of Sendvalu, whose global money sending service towards Cuba has been halted for two weeks.\n\nA company employee, Mina Dragova, informed a complaining user on Monday: \u201cWe are still working to solve the problem. We will be reporting as soon as everything returns to normal. \u201d\n\nOn their website, Sendvalu posts the message: \u201cBe aware that transactions and payments in Cuba are temporarily suspended. The money that was already transferred will be paid as soon as our partner [in Cuba] resolves the problem \u2013 we are sorry for any inconvenience.\u201d\n\nThe remittance by internet panorama is broad, with a dozen companies connected with Cuba, mainly through the use of debit cards that can be obtained free of charge by nationals at FINCIMEX offices. Some companies that stand out for their versatility are: Smallworldfs.com, especially recommended for those who live in Europe; Fonmoney, capable of serving not only monetary remittances, but also mobile top-ups and the Nauta local system used in digital navigation, as well as Western Union itself, which created the Wu.com site two years ago.\n\nAmong other possibilities are AISremesascuba and Transferzero, the latter with excellent recommendations on some online sites dedicated to Cuban issues.\n\nThe importance of remittances is such that some economists place this source of income as the number one in the national economy. Western Union alone invoices more than 3 billion US dollars annually, with the advantage of being cash dollars, with no additional costs for the Cuban government, which receives them directly and immediately after transfer, turning them into Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC), which is what the customers receive.\n\nPlease how can I receive money from Cuba to Nigeria\n\nAt this moment we don\u2019t have information of any service that is funtioning normally. Supposedly aisremesas works but it is almost impossible to register with them and their assistance, like the other companies, is very deficient. From some countries Western Union works, but mainly for familiy members.\n\nI\u2019m in Canada. Can you recommend a service for me to send money to Cuba? I was using SendValu.\n\nI guess there is a more serious problem. Not just sendvalu has stopped the money transfer to Cuba. I registered at enviodinero.ca just to see that there it is the same. In the moment no transfers to Cuba. With fonmoney the problem is, that you need to assert that you sent money to relatives. So it is not allowed to use it to sent money to friends. Western Union don\u2019t sent money to Cuba from Europe. And aisremesascuba always is a problem. The registration process is complex and when you have questions for sure you never ever get an answer. After registration one transfer was possible. Two weeks later the page to start the transfer did not show anymore. Answers to my questions from aisremesascuba? No.\n\nIf you live in Europa, fonmoney.com is the best option. I used it more than 5 times and the money arrived to my family without any problem. I recommend you!\n\nFincimex advised using aisremesascuba.com \u2013 I tried but that did not work.\n\nfonmoney.com did work.\n\nsmallworldfs.com does not even list Cuba as a destination.\n\nHave seen another comment saying that the transfer done with fonmoney did not arrive either. This situation is very difficult for Cuban families.\n\nduales works great delivered to the door in 1 to 3 days\n\nLarry Press: I sent Western Union via internet from home. Quite easy and money is available for pickup in Cuba by the designated Cuban in a few minutes, never more than an hour. Not cheap however, fees start at 10% for smaller amounts but do down as a percentage as amount increases. And there is an additional fee if you pay via credit card instead of a debit card.\n\nSent money by Sendvalu on the 7th, not received. The problem is they won t cancel and refund as promised.and they don t answer phone/mail.\n\nTried with fonmoney as they assured me they had no problem but the money has not been received yet either. Something is seriously wrong\n\nThe best way:\n\nDirectly by office, Western Union, only minutes, may be an hour.\n\nFrom Home by internet:\n\ntransferzero.com or fonmoney.com but you have other choices, search for enviardineroacuba\n\nVicente.\n\nThanks for the info ! I also am having trouble with Sendvalu since more than a week. It is a bit strange that they can\u00b4t solve the problem, or at least provide some updated status info.\n\nThe article above left me wondering if other service providers also were affected by the mysterious problem, but apparently there is at least one that is not.\n\nWhat is the best way to send money to Cuba from the US?\n\nI do not understand why anyone in Cuba receiving a Western Union transfer would bother to go to an actual Western Union office when they can pick up the money at any bank and most Panamericanas and most TRDs.\n\nHi! Yes I used to send money with Senvalu. But since last week it does not work\u2026 luckily I found another alternative: Fonmoney. The AIS cards recharged are working! I sent money today!! http://www.fonmoney.com\n\nAll the best!" + }, + { + "title": "Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFBVV95cUxPRjBLcUFJcEFhcnRUYXhSd0lWTTNHZUpLaFQ2UUdQV0RDZXNJYS1sR1poeFBVOW45OVpJeWFBN19YTHZPNDVhLU1KeExTWHZRY3lwTnlLM2FwWWh0VjB5THQydDRidzNBQ01KeXk4Q0oxTmhtVHVNRmxZdUl3Y0xlSWZB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/opinion/differences-between-women-in-chile-and-cuba/", + "id": "CBMiggFBVV95cUxPRjBLcUFJcEFhcnRUYXhSd0lWTTNHZUpLaFQ2UUdQV0RDZXNJYS1sR1poeFBVOW45OVpJeWFBN19YTHZPNDVhLU1KeExTWHZRY3lwTnlLM2FwWWh0VjB5THQydDRidzNBQ01KeXk4Q0oxTmhtVHVNRmxZdUl3Y0xlSWZB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/opinion/differences-between-women-in-chile-and-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: In personality, Chilean women call the shots, there\u2019s no doubt about that.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-26\ncategories: ['Opinion']\n---\n# Differences between Women in Chile and Cuba\n\n**Luis Garcia de la Torre***\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2014 Years ago, when I first set foot and settled in outside my home country, like every immigrant I imagine, I began to look at and eagerly try to discover the opposite sex in Chile who I used to watch walking by: women in Santiago de Chile, in my case. The first thing I realized was that I didn\u2019t have any close reference, a physical example or personality, about what women in Santiago, and Chilean women on the whole. Not a clue.\n\nThere are all kinds of Chilean women, of course: tall ones, short ones, skinny ones, plump ones, with fair hair, dark hair, with eyes like this or that. But, as you become more familiar with Chilean society, you discover that there is a typical, original and native woman in this country. She has dark skin or skin that has been roasted by a tropical sun, but natural, an even colored skin tone which is firm and perfect to the touch; with thick, black hair, which is too shiny; and a well formed body, which I would call hefty, with strong and sturdy legs.\n\nThe day I discovered this, it was a Saturday night and I had been taken out to a bar. It was a Chilean woman\u2019s birthday and that\u2019s where I wound up. I hadn\u2019t been there even 20 minutes when a woman with these characteristics approached me and said in a resolved and independent manner: \u201cit\u2019s my 31st birthday today, do you want to be my birthday present?\u201d That night, I discovered another Latin woman and I received happy answers to all of my questions, which confirmed what I had learned before for being a good observer, which I have outlined above, 100%.\n\nIn personality, Chilean women call the shots, there\u2019s no doubt about that. They exist just like they do in different places, but just like there is a physical archetype that characterizes Chilean women, she is beautiful, strong, intelligent, passionate and has lots of personality. She\u2019s a little Gabriela Mistral.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why you can typically always see them in groups at bars, pubs, restaurants or concerts, without men or partners, having more than a good time, I would say. Smoking, drinking, talking together without stopping, extroverted and taking life on. That\u2019s what you see. I repeat, Chilean women call the shots in their country. They are a thousand steps ahead of any man, by a long shot. That\u2019s why there is so much machismo and gender violence here, there being other factors too, because men are afraid of women here and of course hitting them is the answer, physical superiority, the law of the brute and idiot.\n\nThat\u2019s why in the 21st century, we have seen Chile make great efforts to reach equality, equity, to end abuse and give every woman who lives here strength, respect and love.\n\nUnfortunately, in Cuba, any legal protection women have became something political and just like the Revolution has proved that nothing works in practice, it is in debt to Cuban women, just like it is with everything else. Women in Cuba are alone. She urgently needs respect and legal protection. You don\u2019t see groups of women laughing and sharing a moment in any public space. Women don\u2019t mean anything to the Revolution\u2019s 80-year-old men. Propaganda is one thing and reality is another.\n\nThere is a video online of Raul Castro shamelessly stroking the face of a military woman who is marching with her squadron, he jumps out at her and makes fun of her by touching her, you can hear the laughter of his companions in the background. In this system of government in Chile, public opinion would have driven him out of power. In Cuba, women are forsaken by a government that has been bordering on being a crazy dictatorship for sixty years where if they ask for an explanation, or take action, they are being \u201ccounter-revolutionary\u201d.\n\nIn Chile, news and statistics of abuse are published transparently and that\u2019s why laws and propaganda relating to their protection, and respect, take up a large part of the government\u2019s time and efforts. In Cuba, there hasn\u2019t been a single public complaint made by the government in 60 years.\n\nI remember when women and their rights were talked about in posters or TV spots, or rather the figure of Vilma Espin and her great work was praised, she was the First Lady, even though she wasn\u2019t Fidel\u2019s wife, but his brother\u2019s former wife. It was rather the same old story to praise her. Now, they are doing the same thing with his daughter Mariela Castro, they put her in the spotlight just by lifting a finger. Dulce Maria Loynaz fought a lot, always standing alone. Cuban women have quite a bit of Dulce Maria.\n\nYou just have to take a look at these two winning logos 2017-2018 to realize where they wage war and where they are politicized.\n\n\u2014\u2014\n\n**Text from the book in progress \u201c**Breves and ligeras cronicas de un gusano de La Habana en Santiago de Chile**\u201c*\n\nI think you made the author\u2019s point regarding transparency. If things are that bad for women in Chile they must be that much worse in Cuba.\n\nI appreciate the author\u2019s insights regarding the situation of women in Chile. But I think there is more to say.\n\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Chile\n\nFor jobs that do not require higher education, women make 20 percent less money on average than men. For jobs requiring a university degree, the gap in pay increases to 40 percent.\n\nA 2004 SERNAM study reported that 50 percent of married women in Chile had suffered spousal abuse, 34 percent reported having suffered physical violence, and 16 percent reported psychological abuse.\n\nA 2005 study by Corporacion Humana and the University of Chile\u2019s Institute of Public Affairs revealed that 87 percent of women surveyed felt that women suffered discrimination. According to the survey, 95 percent believed women faced discrimination in the labor market, 67 percent believed they faced discrimination in politics, 61 percent felt that women were discriminated against by the media, and 54 percent within the family.[21]" + }, + { + "title": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). Theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. March, 14 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). Theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. March, 14 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxOa1dkZmdwYVpUbF8tUldLbEg0VkltdVVOajdscndFRDdJd2tXemhuQVdTS0hxc1Z0bHh4RzZFTWhqMTNyMlpKN2xRV0pSQzcwXzZvMkpRWHFmTHZzdmpNendBVEMxWVVTUXV1RnJBRk1WUVlLcXYtVkJfVHNZT0g4cENRU1Q2ci1tcTlpZDBITjY3RWtyb09jNU1DTWNwNno2ekZLZExIOWdnNnJBVTZFUWd1RnRKY3JLX0I5bzJJMnhwMm10c21SRFJhNnE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/un/statements/72-unga-statement-cuba-62nd-session-commission-status-women-cws-theme-challenges-and", + "id": "CBMizAFBVV95cUxOa1dkZmdwYVpUbF8tUldLbEg0VkltdVVOajdscndFRDdJd2tXemhuQVdTS0hxc1Z0bHh4RzZFTWhqMTNyMlpKN2xRV0pSQzcwXzZvMkpRWHFmTHZzdmpNendBVEMxWVVTUXV1RnJBRk1WUVlLcXYtVkJfVHNZT0g4cENRU1Q2ci1tcTlpZDBITjY3RWtyb09jNU1DTWNwNno2ekZLZExIOWdnNnJBVTZFUWd1RnRKY3JLX0I5bzJJMnhwMm10c21SRFJhNnE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 14, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 73, + 0 + ], + "summary": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). Theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. March, 14 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "72 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). Theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. March, 14 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu", + "title": "Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: HTTP 0" + }, + { + "title": "Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFBVV95cUxQQmdmZExyWjBLd2w5b0xpaDlfZkhBdGoxMmtHMEh5LWIwX0dLWm1zdVlHMl9senZaZmRLMlNFa1NjRUNfZ1lsZnNtWjh0WGk5aVczaFlzZzRwQnFTeUhGbDA3cEZzYWlmUE1vUHJrejVZM1Z1ZWhfS250cVhiTmN6anBR0gGEAUFVX3lxTE1zVXFidFQtUW9qaHotenNHcWdwMGlTLXV2Z2JtVE55b01nTXNYbUVQNDNNS1RlcmxPMEZaeFhrUWhkTWJzUUQyaURiQlB4Sk50Q3FFVDA5SS1PRTNsQjlhOFpEeXNWRjQzdVhOY1pqNmRSNHlpdmlXdnJzMk41OXQta3lFQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://ny.eater.com/2018/3/9/17098484/victors-cafe-ropa-vieja-buy-sell-hold", + "id": "CBMiggFBVV95cUxQQmdmZExyWjBLd2w5b0xpaDlfZkhBdGoxMmtHMEh5LWIwX0dLWm1zdVlHMl9senZaZmRLMlNFa1NjRUNfZ1lsZnNtWjh0WGk5aVczaFlzZzRwQnFTeUhGbDA3cEZzYWlmUE1vUHJrejVZM1Z1ZWhfS250cVhiTmN6anBR0gGEAUFVX3lxTE1zVXFidFQtUW9qaHotenNHcWdwMGlTLXV2Z2JtVE55b01nTXNYbUVQNDNNS1RlcmxPMEZaeFhrUWhkTWJzUUQyaURiQlB4Sk50Q3FFVDA5SS1PRTNsQjlhOFpEeXNWRjQzdVhOY1pqNmRSNHlpdmlXdnJzMk41OXQta3lFQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba  VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.voanews.com", + "title": "VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: " + }, + { + "title": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - North Country Public Radio", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba - North Country Public Radio" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFBVV95cUxPVkFTSkZxNEV5OGdPRVNzUE1xNkxOZkIyNGV1dGs1UmVnRHRwbFprTHFFRFpXN0N3elBnLXRrR1hEV0pHZHd4OWpBZUQ5UlJmelRkM0poRjNJTGMyUF9CUTRqU2FYbEJTdWtpWUlQeFR1NnZtaDlseWk1MF9xYVh5UzNHZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/kenya-to-import-100-doctors-from-cuba/4316601.html", + "id": "CBMigwFBVV95cUxPVkFTSkZxNEV5OGdPRVNzUE1xNkxOZkIyNGV1dGs1UmVnRHRwbFprTHFFRFpXN0N3elBnLXRrR1hEV0pHZHd4OWpBZUQ5UlJmelRkM0poRjNJTGMyUF9CUTRqU2FYbEJTdWtpWUlQeFR1NnZtaDlseWk1MF9xYVh5UzNHZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 20, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 79, + 0 + ], + "summary": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba  North Country Public Radio", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba  North Country Public Radio" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org", + "title": "North Country Public Radio" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Kenya to Import 100 Doctors from Cuba\nauthor: Rael Ombuor\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/kenya-to-import-100-doctors-from-cuba/4316601.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: 50 Kenyan physicians will go to Cuba for specialized training\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-03-26\ncategories: ['Africa']\ntags: ['Science & Health, Africa']\n---\nKenya has agreed to accelerate a health agreement it signed with Cuba last year and bring 100 doctors from the country to fill gaps in Kenyan hospitals. Fifty Kenyan doctors will also be sent to Cuba for specialized training.\n\nThe Kenyan government says the deal to import Cuban doctors would help counter gaps in Kenya's medical facilities.\n\nKenya Cabinet Secretary for Health Sicily Kariuki explains.\n\n\u201cThe target is to bring 100 specialized doctors from Cuba. One is because of the HR resource gap that we have,\" said Kariuki. \"We are careful not to crowd the place with general doctors and therefore the aim of my ministry is to bring forward critical care physicians at that level - family physicians, physicists, oncologists and surgeons dealing with plastic reconstructive surgery, dealing with orthopedic surgery and dealing with neurosurgery.\n\nEach Kenyan county is expected to get at least two of the specialist doctors.\n\nBut Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union chairman Samuel Oroko says the move will not address the systemic dysfunction in Kenya's health system.\n\n\u201cThere are no drugs, theaters are not functioning, laboratories are not functioning, so even if they come and the systems are not functioning, they are coming just to be idle and they may not get equipment to use to train our own,\" said Oroko. \"So we need to look at all angles of our health system, not just bringing them because of bringing, but to ensure the system is functional so that they can operate.\u201d\n\nThe agreement will also see Kenya work with Cuba on collaborative research projects, training for healthcare workers, and collaborations in fields such as genetic engineering and biotech work.\n\nFormer Kenyan Minister of Medical Services, Professor Anyang Nyongo, visited Cuba and says Kenya will benefit from the agreement.\n\n\u201cAs health minister I came here and we were trying to work things together and I actually proposed some things that we needed to do, for example malaria vector control, collaborating with teaching, engineering, and a biotechmology center, but unfortunately we did not get far,\" said Nyongo. \"What gives me satisfaction this time is that the president is determined we implement these long standing proposals of collaboration between us and Cuba.\n\nOroko says the medical union is not against any collaboration or partnership with other governments.\n\n\u201cOur appeal and advice is that as we consider bringing expertise from other countries, we need to exhaust what we have locally,\" said Oroko. \"And if we lack capacity locally we should focus on training our own so that they can be able to manage the patients in Kenya.\u201d\n\nThe union says more than 1,200 Kenyan doctors have been unemployed since May 2017.\n\n\u201cEqually we do have a number of doctors who have qualified, both general practitioners and specialists, who have not been employed and they are Kenyans,\" said Oroko.\n\nKariuki says there are plans to absorb the graduate doctors into the healthcare system, but she says Kenya would still not be able to meet the recommended doctor to patient ratio.\n\nOroko says about 4,300 doctors work in the public sector for Kenya's 38.6 million people.\n\n\u201cThere is the required number of doctors we are supposed to have per facility, and it is public knowledge, the WHO requires that we have one doctor per 1,000 patients in any given population, currently in Kenya we have one doctor per 24,000 patients,\" said Oroko. \"... Where are they going to get the money to employ the ones coming from Cuba?\"\n\nThe union blocked attempts by the government to bring in doctors from Tanzania at the height of its three month strike last year. The agreement ending the strike called for pay increases and medical rick allowances." + }, + { + "title": "Halifax woman shares tale of Cuban vacation gone wrong - CBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Halifax woman shares tale of Cuban vacation gone wrong - CBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFBVV95cUxPbmY1NE1tSzREb3hIZTZtVTdLdFZoU21JVnkxb0hTRnlSY2Fqd0dtc1FGTDFBZklnVUl0TS1sMHZYNDdEaWwyZERUdHNaeVlJenBJWEhLVDFfaXR2d1BqdWVmN3djMDRiWjBscDkwc3NqRjhKeC1uYTlGX3hXZEtqcHMwYzlNeWdGbTFWb19sTFlXZjI5eXNYcDlPT1M?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/595286924/www.craigardan.org", + "id": "CBMinAFBVV95cUxPbmY1NE1tSzREb3hIZTZtVTdLdFZoU21JVnkxb0hTRnlSY2Fqd0dtc1FGTDFBZklnVUl0TS1sMHZYNDdEaWwyZERUdHNaeVlJenBJWEhLVDFfaXR2d1BqdWVmN3djMDRiWjBscDkwc3NqRjhKeC1uYTlGX3hXZEtqcHMwYzlNeWdGbTFWb19sTFlXZjI5eXNYcDlPT1M", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 23, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 82, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Halifax woman shares tale of Cuban vacation gone wrong  CBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Halifax woman shares tale of Cuban vacation gone wrong  CBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cbc.ca", + "title": "CBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba\nauthor: Mar ; Now; NPR\nurl: https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/595286924/www.craigardan.org\nhostname: northcountrypublicradio.org\nsitename: NCPR\ndate: 2018-03-20\n---\n# At Hemingway's Home Outside Havana, An Effort To Preserve Artifacts Of His Life In Cuba\n\nErnest Hemingway lived at Finca Vig\u00eda for two decades before leaving the country in the early 1960s. Today, the house remains as the American...\n\nA construction crew from Detroit did something last week that might have been hard to imagine in a different era: board a plane to meet a team of Cuban architects and engineers outside Havana.\n\nThey gathered at a hillside home that overlooks the capital city, and worked together on a project to protect literary artifacts and the personal belongings of a famous American writer.\n\nThe estate that belonged to Ernest Hemingway is affectionately called Finca Vig\u00eda \u2014 the lookout farm. He lived there for two decades and penned some of his most famous works at the typewriter that still sits on a desk in his study.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s rustic,\u201d says Mary-Jo Adams, who leads the U.S.-based Finca Vig\u00eda Foundation, the group heading up the preservation project. \u201cIt\u2019s just a low, seven-room bungalow. Yet it\u2019s filled with everything the author collected.\u201d\n\nHemingway was a prolific collector. Trophies from hunting trips to Africa hang on the walls: an impala, a water buffalo, a kudu\u2019s twisted horns. Thousands of books are scattered about the house. The author\u2019s beloved 38-foot fishing boat, Pilar, is still resting on dry ground in the backyard.\n\nFinca Vig\u00eda appears stuck in time, and that\u2019s part of its appeal.\n\n\u201cThe house is as he left it,\u201d Adams says. \u201cIt\u2019s as though he\u2019s just gone for a swim in the pool and is ready to come back.\u201d\n\nHemingway left the country for the last time in 1960, soon after Fidel Castro\u2019s revolution upended political order in the Caribbean and around the world. About a year later, in the summer of 1961, the Nobel Prize-winning author killed himself in Ketchum, Idaho.\n\nAfter his death, Hemingway\u2019s widow enlisted the help of Jacqueline Kennedy to bring some of his papers back to the United States. The first lady had \u201ca great respect for the arts, culture and for Ernest Hemingway,\u201d Adams says.\n\nBut most of his belongings never made it back. The Cuban government took control of the house and turned it into a museum, and the following decades were hard on the building. In 2005, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called the home one of America\u2019s most endangered historic places.\n\n\u201cI first went there as a termite expert,\u201d Bob Vila, the TV home renovation guru who also serves on the Finca Vig\u00eda Foundation\u2019s board, said in a phone interview. \u201cAll the windows had rotted out, and they were making new wooden casement windows on-site.\u201d\n\nThat first trip was in the early 2000s. With help from the Cuban government, the foundation started making renovations to the home. They also began a project to preserve the manuscripts, letters and photographs on-site. They got permission to bring U.S. tools and materials to the island, and just last week the team from Detroit was there to work with Cuban architects and engineers on a sealed vault to keep the documents preserved for generations.\n\nThe spirit of cooperation between experts from two estranged countries is \u201ca credit to Ernest Hemingway,\u201d Adams says. \u201cI wonder what he would think.\u201d\n\nToday, there is little doubt how Cubans feel about the American. In Old Havana, tourists still pack the hotel where he stayed and the El Floridita bar where Hemingway downed up to a dozen daiquiris in a single sitting.\n\nThere\u2019s a bearded statue of \u201cPapa\u201d Hemingway at the Floridita, and around the city it\u2019s easy to find the famous photos of him standing face-to-face with Castro.\n\n\u201cHemingway was, for Cuba, a Nobel Prize,\u201d says local tour guide Luis Enrique Gonzales. He grew up a few blocks from Finca Vig\u00eda listening to stories from his grandmother, who came to the house as a girl to eat mangoes.\n\n\u201cHemingway opened the gates to this huge house to all the kids,\u201d he says. \u201cThat an American guy came to Cuba, decided to live in Cuba and felt like a Cuban in that difficult moment Cubans were living, it felt like a gift.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Cuban Families are Constantly Changing - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Families are Constantly Changing - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifEFVX3lxTE1ETmUtaHNFdWxKUjhraXctbXlIYU01YWl0WjhlNk9La3NPVlBNVmtkMlhUUTNLaHBXek5OcWFhWkFsYUtmempwSFZzcVNpOGplV053QkZyWVdWdEtxVXZHSTBSUE1QTGxBVnJxcENEejl3eEJ6RnpyRFVvYVc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/habanos-festival-concludes-with-1-8-million-charity-auction", + "id": "CBMifEFVX3lxTE1ETmUtaHNFdWxKUjhraXctbXlIYU01YWl0WjhlNk9La3NPVlBNVmtkMlhUUTNLaHBXek5OcWFhWkFsYUtmempwSFZzcVNpOGplV053QkZyWVdWdEtxVXZHSTBSUE1QTGxBVnJxcENEejl3eEJ6RnpyRFVvYVc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 20, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 79, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban Families are Constantly Changing  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban Families are Constantly Changing  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 406, + "response": "Error: HTTP 406" + }, + { + "title": "In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened. - Willamette Week", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened. - Willamette Week" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi_wFBVV95cUxNdmtibUM2UU55VllraVpRNTdVV0FnekpZTVZaNFE3RFNHckxwQ1FtenFaM3NablNKRkFzUFNTeENGTG9aV3NXbGxoN2M2QTJnVUdEenhnN1UwLXYtYm1POXZaYmtCNXpFb1plYTJ0ODVrX0l5bEZ5ZDFPNzdQYWg4SHhOSENqTUlwRy12MGw3ZHVZOVVqNEhoRDJqamE4akhyRlctMmxPNGpCWm52Rl9iMXB0cjdCWDJuRExGS25rX1lxeEwzc1M5aEZLWXdBeFJ5QU5jQkFEVENxYnlLcHVsU241dkN0MlBXZ19kRUR0bzJDelJqOTlfUHBKRGpaQ1k?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/cuban-families-are-constantly-changing/", + "id": "CBMi_wFBVV95cUxNdmtibUM2UU55VllraVpRNTdVV0FnekpZTVZaNFE3RFNHckxwQ1FtenFaM3NablNKRkFzUFNTeENGTG9aV3NXbGxoN2M2QTJnVUdEenhnN1UwLXYtYm1POXZaYmtCNXpFb1plYTJ0ODVrX0l5bEZ5ZDFPNzdQYWg4SHhOSENqTUlwRy12MGw3ZHVZOVVqNEhoRDJqamE4akhyRlctMmxPNGpCWm52Rl9iMXB0cjdCWDJuRExGS25rX1lxeEwzc1M5aEZLWXdBeFJ5QU5jQkFEVENxYnlLcHVsU241dkN0MlBXZ19kRUR0bzJDelJqOTlfUHBKRGpaQ1k", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 06 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 6, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 65, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened.  Willamette Week", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened.  Willamette Week" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.wweek.com", + "title": "Willamette Week" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuban Families are Constantly Changing - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/cuban-families-are-constantly-changing/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: In light of recent times, many institutions have moved, been updated and transformed. The parental unit we come from is no exception.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-20\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# Cuban Families are Constantly Changing\n\n**By Jancel Moreno**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2014 In light of recent times, many institutions have moved, been updated and transformed. The parental unit we come from is no exception.\n\nAfter a series of interviews about the family and what people conceive this to be, the majority of the interviewees outlined reasons for why they put off raising a child and named financial problems, the challenges of living together with different generations and professional goals of both members of the couple, which need to set on the right path before making \u201cthe big decision\u201d, among others.\n\nHowever, what other factors are influencing the way young people make their families? How much has society\u2019s key nucleus changed here in Cuba?\n\n*\u201cYou have to look at Cuban families knowing that many different types of families exist. This exclusive and traditional model of mother, father and child isn\u2019t the norm anymore because the way families are made up and work has become more complex. It\u2019s important to bear in mind the fact that this unit is affected by many social factors, because sometimes we look at the issue as if it were a single entity that acts by itself.\u201d*\n\nThis is what doctor Dayanis Alvarez Puig, a psychology professor at Villa Clara\u2019s University of Medical Sciences says. She also suggests that families need minimum living conditions in order to work properly and she gives housing as an example of one of its main requirements.\n\nPuig agrees that one of the family\u2019s functions, which is financial (being responsible for providing material sustenance to its members), has been overexpressed in Cuba ever since the first national survey was carried out in 1989 by the Center for Psychological and Sociological Studies. This tendency confirms the fact that many family units outsource the educational role of the family, due to time and effort being focused more on meeting material needs such as being able to feed and dress family members.\n\nAlvarez also specifies that women overload their plates as they dedicate a lot of time to domestic chores and looking after dependents, such as children and elderly family members, who are in Cuban homes more and more each day, without neglecting their jobs.\n\nIn the case of children, the lack of daycare centers that meet the needs of all working mothers influences this and the alternative option they have of sending their children to a private day care is too expensive, so this continues to be an urgent issue. State care and support in different ways is an essential requirement, as this creates family tensions and greater expenses.\n\nValues have deteriorated quite a bit in Cuban families and in society on the whole as a result, and this responsibility (which is always shared with schools) needs to be adjusted to the new times we live in of modern technology too. As a result, strengthening home-school ties, which have been damaged in recent years, is crucial, Alvarez further noted.\n\nWhile migration can influence a family\u2019s financial situation by sending remittances and other material aid, it can also play an influential role in the growing need for care for children and the elderly, who don\u2019t have their relatives nearby. Single-person homes have become more prominent in the last few years, which are mainly made up of women, who are alone because, generally, they are widows or because their children are no longer living in the country.\n\nIn the case of young people wanting to have children, support at home from grandparents has also been reduced, Alvarez describes, due to the latter\u2019s quality of life, who are still working; which is also due to the absence of siblings to help them out.\n\nThe growing incorporation of women into the workforce has led to women becoming independent and noticeably influencing family decisions. However, no study has proven that paid female workers care less for their children than housewives do. On the contrary, in many cases they achieve a more varied and effective communication.\n\nThe country\u2019s aging population and housing crisis mean that young people are faced with the challenge of living with their grandparents, with all of the positive things this can bring, but also with the condition of having to deal with traditional stereotypes that might be instilled in their grandchildren. On the other hand, the divorce rate is increasing, which almost always leads to new consensual unions, where families are reconstructed with new members who need to face the limits of their authority. This is another challenge for families.\n\nOne of the changes that the expert highlights is the appearance of same-sex families, who have become fathers or mothers of children who then need to find their place in a society that is still homophobic and machista.\n\nIn conclusion, Cuban families are not what many people thought they were just 10 years ago; the housing crisis, food shortages, the lack of real professional opportunities, migration, or to put it simply, the island\u2019s economic and social situation is the main reason why the structure of our society\u2019s nucleus has changed. Meanwhile, government institutions don\u2019t seem to want to push new and better opportunities for those who decide to take the step to create a new generation of Cubans.\n\nI travel throughout Cuba multiple times per year. It is quite apparent that in rural communities the family values and bonds are greater. Members rely on each other more and familial dwellings are still strong. In larger cities and in western Cuba there is a rapid departure from traditional Cuban living and I see materialism and self-centeredness overtaking family values.\n\nAs capitalist influence from the USA increases familial relational values decrease.\n\nI feel for the Cuban people. I met some lovely people when we took a holiday in Cuba several years ago. I honestly hope that the future holds an improvement in living standards for the young as well as the elderly people because they deserve it." + }, + { + "title": "Lush Midtown Restaurant Nails Ropa Vieja, Cuba\u2019s National Dish - Eater New York", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Lush Midtown Restaurant Nails Ropa Vieja, Cuba\u2019s National Dish - Eater New York" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFBVV95cUxOalltdFgyQzdMRFlMTWFSLS0ycmtSNk5ORngySXpqejl0aXd3M095eGhhY1FENXVxM25sUzRNZUpCdGZXaGxpdmlUS1NuUFpiUkJGZjgtQjhBTUt1cktyTExRZE5ZdUZBWmlwRXZpVHlDNG9ESklRYnZMN0lVOUZxM29R?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/03/06/in-2011-portland-police-investigated-a-sexual-assault-complaint-against-billionaire-mark-cuban-he-wasnt-charged-heres-what-happened/", + "id": "CBMiggFBVV95cUxOalltdFgyQzdMRFlMTWFSLS0ycmtSNk5ORngySXpqejl0aXd3M095eGhhY1FENXVxM25sUzRNZUpCdGZXaGxpdmlUS1NuUFpiUkJGZjgtQjhBTUt1cktyTExRZE5ZdUZBWmlwRXZpVHlDNG9ESklRYnZMN0lVOUZxM29R", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 68, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Lush Midtown Restaurant Nails Ropa Vieja, Cuba\u2019s National Dish  Eater New York", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Lush Midtown Restaurant Nails Ropa Vieja, Cuba\u2019s National Dish  Eater New York" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://ny.eater.com", + "title": "Eater New York" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban. He Wasn\u2019t Charged. Here\u2019s What Happened.\nauthor: Nigel Jaquiss\nurl: https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/03/06/in-2011-portland-police-investigated-a-sexual-assault-complaint-against-billionaire-mark-cuban-he-wasnt-charged-heres-what-happened/\nhostname: wweek.com\ndescription: WW has obtained the transcript of a Portland Police detective\u2019s interview with Mark Cuban. \u201cOh my Lord,\u201d Cuban said. \u201cOh my f***ing Lord.\u201d\nsitename: Willamette Week\ndate: 2018-03-06\ntags: ['mark cuban,portland police,sexual abuse,sexual assault,nightclub,barrel room,dallas mavericks,metoo,assault investigation,district attorney,cuban police transcript,']\n---\n*Copyright by City of Roses Newsmedia Co. 2018*\n\n**Content warning:** This story contains a detailed allegation of sexual assault.\n\nIn May 2011, a woman contacted the Portland Police Bureau to make an allegation against Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and one of the most visible figures in entertainment and sports.\n\nHer complaint? That Cuban had sexually assaulted her late one night at an Old Town nightclub.\n\nThe woman told police she encountered Cuban in late April at the Barrel Room, at 105 NW 3rd Ave., and asked him to pose with her for a photograph. While they smiled for the camera, she claimed, he thrust his hand down the back of her jeans and penetrated her vagina with his finger.\n\nThe alleged assault\u2014and a full transcript of Cuban's response to the accusation\u2014are detailed in a police report *WW* obtained via a public records request.\n\nThe allegation has never previously been reported. After an investigation, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office determined there was insufficient evidence to press criminal charges.\n\nSeven years later, however, there is a national movement to examine the behavior of powerful men. And on Feb. 20, *Sports Illustrated* published a searing investigation of the workplace culture in the Mavericks' front office, portraying an organization \"rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior: alleged public fondling by the team president; outright domestic assault by a high-profile member of the Mavs.com staff; unsupportive or even intimidating responses from superiors.\"\n\nAlthough the article does not implicate him, people the magazine interviewed expressed disbelief that Cuban, known for his granular involvement in the team's operations\u2014he even selects the towels players use in the locker room, according to a Slate profile\u2014could have been unaware.\n\nCuban reacted strongly to the revelations, pledging reforms.\n\n\"I feel sick to my stomach,\" he told *Sports Illustrated**.* \"There's a problem in the Mavericks organization and we've got to fix it.\"\n\nIt's unclear exactly what happened at the Barrel Room in April 2011. The 50-page police report portrays an alleged victim deeply upset\u2014and Cuban adamant that nothing happened.\n\nThe woman, whom *WW* is not naming because she's the alleged victim of sexual assault, agreed to a brief interview after *WW* obtained the police report and contacted her. She says she never contacted the media or sought publicity or compensation from Cuban and has put the incident behind her.\n\n\"I really left it in the past,\" she says. \"I haven't thought about it for seven years.\"\n\nNow married and in her mid-30s, the woman works in the medical field and enjoys hiking with her yellow Lab. \"I have a wonderful life,\" she says. \"I'm a happy person.\"\n\nBut she's sticking to her story.\n\n\"I filed the report because what he did was wrong,\" she adds. \"I stand behind that report 1,000 percent.\"\n\nAlthough the DA decided not to press charges, the police report does provide an unusual window into the mind of a man who has talked about running for president and is familiar to audiences worldwide for railing at NBA referees and judging entrepreneurs on the ABC reality show *Shark Tank.*\n\nCuban's attorney, Stephen Houze, strongly denies the allegations against Cuban:\n\n\"These allegations are thoroughly investigated by the Multnomah County District's Attorney's Office and the Portland Police Bureau,\" Houze said in a statement. \"According to the detailed prosecution decline memo, investigators interviewed the complainant's boyfriend and female friend, as well as employees and patrons of the bar, and other persons with Mr. Cuban and no one observed any inappropriate behavior by Mr. Cuban.\n\n\"This incident never happened and her accusations are false.\"\n\nCuban was in Portland on Friday, April 22, 2011, for a playoff game the following day between the Mavericks and the Trail Blazers.\n\nOn the night of the 22nd, he would later tell a Portland Police Bureau detective, he arrived around midnight at the Barrel Room, an Old Town nightclub known for its dueling piano players and rowdiness. That year, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission cited the bar for a \"history of serious and persistent problems.\"\n\nCuban initially said he didn't remember anything unusual about his evening.\n\n\"We watched the Lakers game [on television] and then we went to that bar,\" Cuban told Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire in a June 8, 2011, telephone interview. \"And you know, that was pretty much it.\"\n\nThe woman told police she arrived at the Barrel Room at about 11:30 pm with her boyfriend and another friend.\n\nThe woman's boyfriend recognized Cuban, who was standing under a large tent outside the bar, and suggested the woman get her picture taken with the Mavericks owner, as others were doing. She said she didn't really know who Cuban was and didn't want to wait in line for a photo.\n\nBut around 2 am, the woman said, she and her friend went to pay their tab and encountered Cuban, who was standing by himself.\n\n\"It was apparent he was very drunk,\" the woman's friend later told police. \"His eyes were half closed, he was unstable on his feet, and he was slurring his words.\"\n\nThe alleged victim asked Cuban to pose for a picture.\n\nShe told police that Cuban initially placed his right hand on her lower back.\n\n\"He then moved his hand down until it was on her buttocks,\" according to McGuire's summary of the alleged victim's statement. \"Cuban then pushed his hand down the back of her jeans and inside her underwear where he cupped his hand over her groin area and inserted the tip of his finger into her vagina.\"\n\nInitially, the woman told police, she was conflicted about what to do after the alleged incident.\n\nThe woman said her family urged her to report Cuban's behavior. She waited more than a week before contacting police.\n\nWhen she finally sat down for a full interview with a detective, more than two weeks after the alleged incident, the woman explained her reluctance, saying she hoped the report could remain confidential so there would be no publicity. She told police she did not want to be \"labeled 'that girl' and involved in a sex scandal with Mark Cuban.\"\n\nThe woman submitted seven cellphone images to police as evidence. (*WW* requested copies of the photos with the woman's face obscured to protect her identity. The bureau withheld the photos, citing the personal privacy exemption of the state public records law.)\n\nIn one of his reports, Detective McGuire, a 22-year bureau veteran, described two of the photos as \"significant.\"\n\n\"In both images, Cuban's right shoulder is lowered and he appears to be stretching to reach his arm down,\" McGuire's report says. \"In one of the pictures, his arm can be seen behind [the alleged victim] and it appears Cuban is reaching down toward her buttocks.\"\n\nMcGuire also noted the alleged victim's expression: \"Her teeth are clenched, eyes wider than the other pictures and brow raised showing a look of surprise and strain.\"\n\nAfter the woman told McGuire her account of the evening, the detective interviewed the two people who'd been with her at the Barrel Room.\n\nThe woman's female friend said the alleged victim grabbed her by the wrist right after the incident, according to the police report, and led her outside. There, she told her friend what had happened. The alleged victim was \"disturbed and angry,\" the friend told police.\n\nThe woman's boyfriend was \"intoxicated and incensed when she told him of the incident,\" the police report says. \"He wanted to go back into the club and confront Cuban.\"\n\nBut the alleged victim thought that since her boyfriend was drunk, allowing him back inside would only make matters worse. They left in a taxi.\n\nPolice also interviewed bartenders and security guards at the Barrel Room but none of them said they'd seen anything.\n\nThen it was time to approach Cuban.\n\nIt's unclear from the police report whether Cuban knew McGuire would be calling. But an 18-page transcript shows that rather than summoning a lawyer, the Mavericks owner engaged the detective in a lengthy, free-flowing conversation.\n\nCuban responded to McGuire's questions with a firm denial that mixed shock, disbelief and self-pity.\n\n\"If she told five friends right there and then, then that's what they're gonna tell the judge and I'm gonna be fucked,\" Cuban said. \"Oh my God, I don't know what to do.\"\n\nCuban gave McGuire the names of two people who'd been with him at the Barrel Room: Lindsay McCormick, a television reporter who had worked for the Blazers, and Kevin Love, the NBA star who'd grown up in Lake Oswego and then played for the Minnesota Timberwolves.\n\n\"There was tons of people around,\" Cuban told McGuire. \"I kept on\u2026chest bumping Kevin Love.\"\n\nThe detective subsequently contacted both McCormick and Love. Neither recalled seeing or hearing anything.\n\nAs McGuire continued his investigation, Cuban hired Stephen Houze, a top Portland criminal defense lawyer. Houze went to extraordinary lengths.\n\nRecords show that three days after Detective McGuire called Cuban, Houze ordered a polygraph test conducted by former Miami Police Detective Sgt. Warren Holmes, a lie-detector expert. The test results supported Cuban's denial.\n\nA week after the interview, two urologists on the faculty of the George Washington University Medical School in Washington, D.C., provided Houze a written opinion that Cuban could not physically have committed the crime of which he was accused.\n\n\"[Cuban] is a large male with large hands, making penetration without lubrication of the woman in the standing position virtually impossible,\" the doctors wrote.\n\nDoug Harcleroad, who served as Lane County district attorney for 25 years, says neither piece of information necessarily means much. Polygraph results have never been admissible in Oregon courts, he says, and medical experts' testimony can vary widely depending on who's paying.\n\n\"I'm sure you could find another expert who would say the opposite,\" Harcleroad says.\n\nMeg Garvin, director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute in Portland, says prosecutors often shy away from prosecuting sex crimes in the absence of physical evidence.\n\n\"There's a higher bar than for other types of crimes,\" Garvin says.\n\nIn July, McGuire presented the results of his investigation to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.\n\n\"The case detective and the complainant both agree with the conclusion there is no corroborative evidence to support the complainant's allegation,\" wrote senior deputy DA Don Rees on July 27, 2011.\n\n\"Because all leads have been exhausted and there remains a lack of physical or substantial circumstantial evidence,\" McGuire wrote July 28, 2011, \"I recommend the case be suspended.\"\n\n*The nonprofit WW Fund for Investigative Journalism provided support for this story.*\n\n**Grilling Cuban: The transcript of a Portland Police detective's interview with Mark Cuban.**\n\nWhen Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire telephoned Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on June 8, 2011, to ask him about an alleged sexual assault, it was no ordinary phone call.\n\nPortland police interview suspects every day, but they rarely tackle someone of Cuban's reach and power.\n\nCuban, whose net worth *Forbes* pegs at $3.7 billion, who has 7.7 million Twitter followers and, according to ESPN, is \"the [NBA's] most outgoing owner,\" took McGuire's call directly, rather than referring the detective to his attorney.\n\n\"How are you?\" McGuire began.\n\n\"Um, you tell me,\" Cuban replied.\n\nThe conversation that followed reveals the detective's attempts to pry information from Cuban and the discomfort of the billionaire. McGuire gets Cuban to describe the evening, while initially withholding key information\u2014that there are \"significant\" cellphone images of Cuban and the alleged victim.\n\n\"If what she is alleging were true,\" McGuire said, \"that would be a sex abuse in the second degree, which is a felony.\"\n\n\"Oh my Lord,\" Cuban said. \"Oh my fucking Lord.\"\n\n**Case #11-38677**\n\n*June 8, 2011*\n\n**Mark Cuban:** This is Mark.\n\n**Brendan McGuire:** This is Mark Cuban? Good afternoon. This is Detective McGuire with the Portland police.\n\n**Cuban:** Hi, Detective McGuire. How are you?\n\n**McGuire:** I'm good. How are you?\n\n**Cuban:** Um, you tell me. [laughs]\n\n***\n\n**McGuire:** Were you ever at a nightclub or bar that had like a tent set up out in\u2026?\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** Why? What's the situation?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, there's a gal who is alleging that you did some inappropriate touching while at that club.\n\n**Cuban:** Are you serious?\n\n**McGuire:** Unfortunately, yeah.\n\n**Cuban:** I mean the bar was packed. There were people around us the whole time. How could I inappropriately touch anybody?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, that's the allegation. I take it\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** There were people taking pictures left and right.\n\n**McGuire:** Do you have any recollection of any of those particular instances taking pictures with anybody?\n\n**Cuban:** No. I mean, I take pictures all night long. Look, there was a bunch of, there were multiple athletes there. There were a bunch of players there.\n\n**McGuire:** Who else was there?\n\n**Cuban:** Um, Kevin Love, there were a bunch of people there, and I don't want to put out names. I mean, there were a lot of people there.\n\n**McGuire**: OK.\n\n**Cuban:** Look, I'm, I'm, I'm not gonna sit here, I, how did she say I touched her? Look, people, people hug me. People grab me. People grab onto me all the time.\n\n**McGuire:** Sure.\n\n**Cuban:** And it wouldn't shock me if, you know, I like put my arm around somebody or, I mean, but I inappropriately touched? Like in what manner?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, I'll tell you what the allegation is. And, of course, keep in mind, Mr. Cuban, that I'm not sitting here talking to you, accusing you of anything.\n\n**Cuban:** No, I understand that. You're just doing your job. I understand that.\n\n**McGuire:** Right. The allegation is that she came up to you to get some pictures taken and while sort of doing [an] arm around each other picture-taking thing, you stuck your hand down the back of her pants and inserted your finger into her vagina.\n\n**Cuban:** Oh! Hell no! You don't think a hundred people would've noticed?\n\n**McGuire:** Entirely possible. But I suppose it's entirely possible, depending on how crowded it was and how many people were around, that no one would notice\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** How would I get, I mean, she wouldn't say something right there and then and smack the shit out of me? And while we're\u2026oh hell no. [laughs] Are you kidding me?\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** I mean, how do I deal with something like this? If someone just makes an accusation like this?\n\n**McGuire:** Um, well, pretty much my preference, of course, how to deal with it would be to talk to me just like you're doing.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** So how do I deal with something like this? I mean, why would she wait a mon\u2014I mean, why wouldn't people, why wouldn't she just react right there? You know? I mean, and, and have her boyfriend or whatever beat the shit out of me if I did something stupid like that. You know?\n\n**McGuire:** I think there's a possibility that just you and your situation can, could be intimidating to some folks.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** [laughs] OK, well, you know what I'm saying, though, right? There would be some reaction. You know? I mean, I just, I don't know what\u2026aw fuck. I don't know what to say.\n\n**McGuire:** Well, I think you pretty much said it. You're categorically denying any of this ever happened. Am I understanding that correctly?\n\n**Cuban:** Yeah. That's correct.\n\n***\n\n**McGuire:** Do you know how much you had to drink that night?\n\n**Cuban:** Yeah, I mean, I wasn't sloshed but I wasn't sober either.\n\n**McGuire:** OK.\n\n**Cuban:** But, I mean, but I remember the night. It's not like I don't remember anything.\n\n**McGuire:** So, but there's not, it's not a situation where you could've done something that you aren't aware of?\n\n**Cuban:** I can't imagine. Not like that, 'cause that's not my nature. No way, and if I was drunk, I wouldn't have been, you know, had the ambidexterity or whatever you call it to do it. [laughs] I don't even know how you'd pull that off in the first place. You know?\n\n**McGuire:** OK.\n\n**Cuban:** Oh my God, this is just [going to] kill me if she does something. I mean, I just, there would've been all these people around. There was tons of people around. I kept on not even head butting but chest bumping Kevin Love right there. There's tons of people, all those bartenders right there were talking to me the whole time. I was not alone at all with anybody.\n\n**McGuire:** Did Kevin Love leave with you?\n\n**Cuban:** Yeah, 'cause we all went on, I mean, we all went on this bus.\n\n**McGuire:** Right.\n\n**Cuban:** And there was another lady there, Lindsey McCormick. That's who brought us there. She's a Blazer reporter.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** I put my finger in her vagina?! Are you kidding me?\n\n**McGuire:** Is there anyone that you can think of that may have been around you that I should talk to who\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** What are they gonna say? I mean, no, I mean, I can bring you\u2026oh man! Did she do this to try to get money?\n\n**McGuire:** At this point, I don't think so. But then again, I don't know.\n\n**Cuban:** I mean, how do you defend against something like that?\n\n***\n\n**McGuire:** I have seven cellphone pictures.\n\n**Cuban:** And where are my hands in here? There were probably on her shoulder, right?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, there are two pictures. I will tell that you can't see your hands in any of them. Frankly, the cellphone picture quality is not good enough to do that. There are two pictures that do appear to have your shoulder dipping and your arm sort of, if you follow the direction of it, down below her waist.\n\n**Cuban:** Are you kidding me?\n\n**McGuire:** No.\n\n**Cuban:** 'Cause I always make a point to show my ring finger whenever I take pictures with girls. My left hand.\n\n***\n\n**McGuire:** Well, anyway, back to where this usually would go is, I would talk to everyone, gather as much evidence as we can, and like I said, at this point, it's just a matter of talking to people. I've got the cellphone pictures and such.\n\n**Cuban:** But there's no way that anybody is ever going to say or know. It would've happened right then if they would've seen or known something. They would've stood up. I mean, anybody can make this shit up.\n\n**McGuire:** That is also true. I will certainly concede that. And then once I've conducted as thorough an investigation as I can, our district attorney would look at it and make a decision if they thought there was enough evidence for a prosecution.\n\n**Cuban:** And what's your gut feel?\n\n**McGuire:** At this point, I can't tell you that. And I can't really ethically tell you that anyway.\n\n**Cuban:** Oh that's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. She said I stuck my finger up her crack or crotch?\n\n**McGuire:** Yeah.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. I'm just gonna be like a pariah no matter what. Oh Lord. Why did this shit happen? Do you have any advice, any suggestions, Detective?\n\n**McGuire:** I don't. Um, you know my advice for folks in these situations obviously always is, if nothing happened then to be\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** Right. Nothing happened, but when you're high profile, it doesn't, it's never just about nothing happening.\n\n**McGuire:** Absolutely. And unfortunately it's not really my place to offer that sort of advice. What my role is to try and get as near to the truth as I can. And\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** There was no way to prove the truth\u2026Oh Lordy. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.\n\n**McGuire:** Do you have any, well, any questions that I can answer at this point?\n\n**Cuban:** I don't know. I don't know what to answer. I mean, I mean, OK, it's like, \"Oh he just did it one time, only one time. Just happened to be this girl.\" There's no way to know one way or the other.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** I get people pulling my head, you know, \"I want to tell you something,\" and they wrap their arms around me and\u2026you know, grab my cro\u2014whatever. Just people just, you know, I mean, it's gonna happen all the time, but just over the course of time, people just do weird stuff.\n\n**McGuire:** Sure, sure. Nothing that particularly stands out from that night, though?\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** And what is the law? What are the consequences on that?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, if what she is alleging were true, then under Oregon law, let's see, that would be a sex abuse in the second degree, which is a felony. It's the lowest-level felony there is, but it is a felony. And basically, the legal definition of that is penetration without someone's consent but not any force or threats or anything like that.\n\n**Cuban:** Right.\n\n**McGuire:** And then as far as the consequences, I mean, that obviously that's way down the road, possibly farther than we could even look. It's all kind of things could happen.\n\n**Cuban:** Oh my Lord. Oh my fucking Lord. Oh, that's what you get for being nice.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** I mean, wouldn't she have said something to somebody?\n\n**McGuire:** Well, according to her, she did. According to her, she immediately told her friends she was with, her boyfriend, and then basically that started a whole several-day argument as to what they should do about it. Before they actually decided to talk to us.\n\n**Cuban:** There's just no way. There's just no way. Just no way. If she told five friends right there and then, then that's what they're gonna tell the judge and I'm gonna be fucked. Oh my God. [sighs] I don't know what to do.\n\n**McGuire:** Well, unfortunately, I can't help you with that.\n\n***\n\n**Cuban:** Fuck me! I'm so fucked.\n\n***\n\n**McGuire:** My plan is to be getting back in touch with you within a week. So probably early next week. And at any point, you have my number and my email. You can\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** Sure.\n\n**McGuire:** \u2026get in touch with me.\n\n**Cuban:** I'm just fucked.\n\n**McGuire:** So, and then at that point, if you are interested in sitting down and chatting, we can arrange\u2026\n\n**Cuban:** I'm happy to do whatever it takes. I just, how can I prove a negative?\n\n**McGuire:** Right. Right. So OK, well, thank you for your time, Mr. Cuban.\n\n**Cuban:** I appreciate it." + }, + { + "title": "Habanos Festival Concludes With $1.8 Million Charity Auction - Cigar Aficionado", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Habanos Festival Concludes With $1.8 Million Charity Auction - Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinwFBVV95cUxPMFB6RlhzLVFhSEt1aTlMUF93REh5MVd6eF9HRDdBODRfeFg4SnJZM2FXVUljRlRQNkU4a25kRW5Rb2cxdURwb1NEcXFhT2pqa3ppVEhPZEc1cHRSVFVaZS11cDNFOV9jM1E4SWh1R3VxVDlGR1hobTVpVldveVZtdm1LUnRZamRxQ0NUZExxTkt4bWtfaU9oZTVtTkdtRnc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Fire-engulfs-motel-northeast-of-Rolla--476355973.html", + "id": "CBMinwFBVV95cUxPMFB6RlhzLVFhSEt1aTlMUF93REh5MVd6eF9HRDdBODRfeFg4SnJZM2FXVUljRlRQNkU4a25kRW5Rb2cxdURwb1NEcXFhT2pqa3ppVEhPZEc1cHRSVFVaZS11cDNFOV9jM1E4SWh1R3VxVDlGR1hobTVpVldveVZtdm1LUnRZamRxQ0NUZExxTkt4bWtfaU9oZTVtTkdtRnc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 5, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 64, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Habanos Festival Concludes With $1.8 Million Charity Auction  Cigar Aficionado", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Habanos Festival Concludes With $1.8 Million Charity Auction  Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com", + "title": "Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo\nauthor: Sean Barnhill; News Producer; Sbarnhill Com\nurl: https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Fire-engulfs-motel-northeast-of-Rolla--476355973.html\nhostname: ky3.com\ndescription: The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of a three-alarm fire that engulfed a motel in Cuba, Missouri, on Thursday night.\nsitename: KY3\ndate: 2018-03-09\ncategories: ['News']\n---\n# Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo\n\nThe state fire marshal is investigating the cause of a three-alarm fire that engulfed a motel in Cuba, Missouri, on Thursday night.\n\nAccording to the Cuba Volunteer Fire Department, close to 100 first responders worked through the night to extinguish the flames at the Econo Lodge in the 200 block of State Hwy P.\n\nInvestigators told KY3 News that the fire started in the front part of the building, but wouldn't confirm where. Half of the building sustained extensive fire damage, while the other half had smoke and heat damage, according to officials.\n\nCrews from 14 departments, including Doolittle and Rolla Rural, responded to the scene.\n\n\"None of us can do it alone and this shows the drive and determination that all emergency personnel put into these calls to keep everyone safe,\" stated Cuba Volunteer Fire Chief Mike Plank.\n\nNo injuries were reported in the fire. There was no immediate word on how many guests were staying at the motel at the time." + }, + { + "title": "Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo - KY3", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo - KY3" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxQbVNCci1QOGV1X0hFNm5LMndzRkliaS1OQ3dNOC1SUzhONWFoc2JKSWluZE9yQnhpZWdSM0Jzc1pkSVlQS3Q2bncyWmtzVk5EWHQzbWlvc1c4bTB1amZOaDdwZ2pCMWQ1azFBS2J4WGlPTlpQZmEwZEJQMnN3SmpwUGVsNHMzblBnVmdqUEZDONIBowFBVV95cUxQSG5SR01SQ2Z3ci1HS2tSUVRkWUdJZFRzellITEk0YnRuM05EWk8xcGZNTkdUWWNSUUtCUm5mR0lWX0prQWRTTHFpX2VVYmFld013c19FTV9oUU9RYkloZnlfQjVNaHcyNkFMUm5WMnVJYThGaERXVUV1cDBDUGJNcHVyNjYtQWNJeGxtUFJ1aUhydnA3dWFBV3lteTZsYjFlZkhn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cuban-vacation-terrifying-for-halifax-woman-1.4585597", + "id": "CBMijwFBVV95cUxQbVNCci1QOGV1X0hFNm5LMndzRkliaS1OQ3dNOC1SUzhONWFoc2JKSWluZE9yQnhpZWdSM0Jzc1pkSVlQS3Q2bncyWmtzVk5EWHQzbWlvc1c4bTB1amZOaDdwZ2pCMWQ1azFBS2J4WGlPTlpQZmEwZEJQMnN3SmpwUGVsNHMzblBnVmdqUEZDONIBowFBVV95cUxQSG5SR01SQ2Z3ci1HS2tSUVRkWUdJZFRzellITEk0YnRuM05EWk8xcGZNTkdUWWNSUUtCUm5mR0lWX0prQWRTTHFpX2VVYmFld013c19FTV9oUU9RYkloZnlfQjVNaHcyNkFMUm5WMnVJYThGaERXVUV1cDBDUGJNcHVyNjYtQWNJeGxtUFJ1aUhydnA3dWFBV3lteTZsYjFlZkhn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 68, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo  KY3", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Large fire engulfs motel in Cuba, Mo  KY3" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.ky3.com", + "title": "KY3" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: " + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches - Christian Post", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches - Christian Post" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi0wFBVV95cUxQZk9yWktNV1ZTN3NTVEdpelVFME5BWnBNcW1SOFU5R19wWjhhbWNqdDB0VjlIMGo5ZmNRdy1YYTh6Q2w3cHdYUk5MREhaS0JOSUstSTJoUW5VbDlTMUhYejhva2lpV19zSUJqWkJGbzQ5YkY3TXNrd1g3dDJaY0dmWUZMMk5WSklvdDZldW43WC1ybFIteGxlZV9neUJSemVHMjdITy0zVGM0Umx6U0tHUDFVaHUxODc1dDd4NXgwSkgxbnFOazJGRGp0R0ZpS3l3WDNj?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.alainet.org/fr/node/191667?language=pt", + "id": "CBMi0wFBVV95cUxQZk9yWktNV1ZTN3NTVEdpelVFME5BWnBNcW1SOFU5R19wWjhhbWNqdDB0VjlIMGo5ZmNRdy1YYTh6Q2w3cHdYUk5MREhaS0JOSUstSTJoUW5VbDlTMUhYejhva2lpV19zSUJqWkJGbzQ5YkY3TXNrd1g3dDJaY0dmWUZMMk5WSklvdDZldW43WC1ybFIteGxlZV9neUJSemVHMjdITy0zVGM0Umx6U0tHUDFVaHUxODc1dDd4NXgwSkgxbnFOazJGRGp0R0ZpS3l3WDNj", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 03 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 3, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 62, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches  Christian Post", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches  Christian Post" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.christianpost.com", + "title": "Christian Post" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 429, + "response": "Error: HTTP 429" + }, + { + "title": "Democracy in Cuba and in the United States - Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Democracy in Cuba and in the United States - Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiX0FVX3lxTFBzZlMxOXFSLU42V2o3RlJEVjR3dUhHamtTaHB2U2VyQjBMWFIwN1dEcDZhUTNVaS1LR2FZWXNjWnk2aGlHcnY3U2FGUGRUemZ0MzlNWmxQU0xzM2N3Vmx3?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.christianpost.com/news/cuba-releases-religious-freedom-advocate-detained-by-authorities-after-helping-christian-churches.html", + "id": "CBMiX0FVX3lxTFBzZlMxOXFSLU42V2o3RlJEVjR3dUhHamtTaHB2U2VyQjBMWFIwN1dEcDZhUTNVaS1LR2FZWXNjWnk2aGlHcnY3U2FGUGRUemZ0MzlNWmxQU0xzM2N3Vmx3", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 18 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 18, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 77, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Democracy in Cuba and in the United States  Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Democracy in Cuba and in the United States  Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.alainet.org", + "title": "Am\u00e9rica Latina en movimiento" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches\nauthor: Anugrah Kumar\nurl: https://www.christianpost.com/news/cuba-releases-religious-freedom-advocate-detained-by-authorities-after-helping-christian-churches.html\nhostname: christianpost.com\ndescription: Cuba s communist government on Friday released a well-known religious freedom advocate, Leonardo Rodr guez Alonso, who had been held without charge\nsitename: The Christian Post\ndate: 2018-03-03\ntags: ['cuba,religious freedom,human rights,christianity,communism']\n---\n# Cuba Releases Religious Freedom Advocate Detained by Authorities After Helping Christian Churches\n\nCuba's communist government on Friday released a well-known religious freedom advocate, Leonardo Rodr\u00edguez Alonso, who had been held without charge.\n\nAuthorities arrested Alonso, a regional coordinator for the Patmos Institute, an independent civil society organization that promotes inter-religious dialogue and religious freedom for all, on Wednesday while he was returning home to Villa Clara from the town of Caibari\u00e9n, where he had gone to lead meetings with human rights defenders, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, USA.\n\nAlonso had been held without charge in the Provincial Unit for Investigations in the city of Santa Clara. The meeting he led was about violations of freedom of religion or belief affecting Apostolic Movement churches in central and eastern Cuba.\n\n\"We were very happy to learn of the release of Leonardo Rodr\u00edguez Alonso without charge today,\" Anna-Lee Stangl, Americas Team Leader at CSW, said in a statement. \"We continue to be concerned by the fact that he was arrested and detained for almost two days without any charge. We call on the Cuban government to cease its targeting and harassment of human rights defenders, including those working on freedom of religion or belief.\"\n\nCuba has been governed by a one-party state since authoritarian Marxist leader Fidel Castro, who died in November 2016, overthrew the U.S.-supported dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. While the communist regime showed some signs of economic and political reforms after Castro allowed his brother, Raul Castro, to succeed as president in 2008, repression continues.\n\nAccording to Open Doors USA, about 57 percent of Cubans are Christian and they face constant government surveillance and infiltration. However, the Church continues to grow in the island country. In 2014, Cuba's government announced the approval of a permit for the building of a Catholic church in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city, for the first time in the nation since the 1959 Revolution.\n\nHowever, a report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide released earlier this year said there were as many as 325 religious freedom violations in the island nation in 2017.\n\nAlthough the 325 figure is lower than the number of religious freedom violations that CSW reported in 2015 and 2016, it still continues an increasing trend in violations since 2011, the organization reported.\n\n\"CSW is deeply concerned by the growing number and severity of [religious freedom] violations reported by a wide variety of denominations and religious groups, which seem to show that the government is attempting to tighten its control over the activities and membership of religious groups,\" the report read. \"Many of the documented violations were in line with the types of violations seen in previous years \u2014 for example the use of temporary arbitrary detention, harassment of church leaders, and attacks on property rights.\"\n\n\"It appears, however, that the government is now also diversifying its tactics by threatening activists and religious leaders with trumped up criminal charges, arbitrarily preventing them from traveling out of the country and targeting their children,\" it continued. \"It is essential that the European Union, the United States, and other governments in dialogue with Cuba use their positions to press for improvements to religious freedom and the general human rights situation in the country.\"" + }, + { + "title": "Cubans vote as Castro era nears end - France 24", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans vote as Castro era nears end - France 24" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxOdVlHZ0ViRUpjbWFNTmNrVXhGdUI2aW90ZzFPbWljdU5aYjFnR2RJeG42V2hFVUdGZjZaMkFQZjFyWFBZcHB3WW9renllU2FjRlVqN1kzSEd4X2dpbndOMTB2YkwyWllwcXhkOVZPSm5PTlVEaEsya0EwbEwxUXdNT3JjTE5PUEFH?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.france24.com/en/20180312-cuba-vote-election-raul-castro-era-nears-end", + "id": "CBMiiAFBVV95cUxOdVlHZ0ViRUpjbWFNTmNrVXhGdUI2aW90ZzFPbWljdU5aYjFnR2RJeG42V2hFVUdGZjZaMkFQZjFyWFBZcHB3WW9renllU2FjRlVqN1kzSEd4X2dpbndOMTB2YkwyWllwcXhkOVZPSm5PTlVEaEsya0EwbEwxUXdNT3JjTE5PUEFH", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 12 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 12, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 71, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cubans vote as Castro era nears end  France 24", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cubans vote as Castro era nears end  France 24" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.france24.com", + "title": "France 24" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cubans vote as Castro era nears end\nauthor: NEWS WIRES\nurl: https://www.france24.com/en/20180312-cuba-vote-election-raul-castro-era-nears-end\nhostname: france24.com\ndescription: Cubans voted Sunday to ratify a new National Assembly, a key step in a process leading to the elevation of a new president, the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.\nsitename: FRANCE 24\ndate: 2018-03-12\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Cuba', 'Raul Castro', 'elections', 'Americas,Cuba,Raul Castro,elections']\n---\n# Cubans vote as Castro era nears end\n\nCubans voted Sunday to ratify a new National Assembly, a key step in a process leading to the elevation of a new president, the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.\n\nTo display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.\n\nOne of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.\n\nThe new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro when he steps down next month.\n\n\"The next president may not have that surname, but he will undoubtedly be a son of the Revolution,\" the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.\n\nCastro voted in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba while his first vice president and likely successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, cast his ballot in the central Santa Clara province.\n\n\"The triumphal march of the revolution will continue,\" Diaz-Canel said after voting, promising \"peace, liberty, independence and the sovereignty of the people will endure.\"\n\nRaul Castro took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution.\n\nEight million Cubans were expected to turn out to ratify 605 candidates for an equal number of seats in the Assembly, a process shorn of suspense and unique to the Communist-run Caribbean island nation.\n\n\"They're the most important elections of recent years, because we are going to vote for new people who will govern from then on,\" daycare center guardian Ramon Perez told AFP.\n\nSunday's general election is the first since the 2016 death of Fidel Castro, and marks the beginning of major change at the top in Cuba.\n\nThe change \"will be a challenge but it's the natural law of life. We get old and have to retire,\" said retired lieutenant colonel Rigoberto Celorio, 82.\n\n\"This is the right moment,\" he added. \"Raul will stay on as first secretary of the Communist Party, so whoever comes out of the process will be well oriented.\"\n\nCandidates may be either members of the Cuban Communist Party or not, and may also belong to trade unions or be students.\n\n\"The designation of candidates is based on merit, abilities and the commitment of the people,\" Raul Castro said when he announced the elections last year.\n\nThe official daily Granma wrote: \"Nobody exchanges promises for votes, or boasts of his abilities to get supporters... This is the true and exceptional face of what we proudly call socialist democracy.\"\n\n**Succession**\n\nMore than half of the candidates, 322, are women.\n\nThe new National Assembly selects a 31-member Council of State, whose head is automatically president of the country.\n\nCastro had already announced that he would not be seeking a new term, although he is expected to remain head of the all-powerful Communist Party until 2021.\n\nDiaz-Canel, 57, is widely expected to succeed him and is committed to guaranteeing continuity.\n\nBorn after the revolution, the engineer slowly climbed to the top rungs of Cuba's hierarchy over a three-decade career under Raul's mentorship.\n\n\"Diaz-Canel is a person known to us. I sincerely wish it will be him,\" said Xiomara Gonzalez, after voting in Diaz-Canel's home town of Santa Clara.\n\nJulio Cesar Guanche, a professor of law and history, said on the OnCuba website that the legitimacy of the country's next president would come more from \"institutional performance\" than personal history such as involvement in the 1959 revolution.\n\nTurnout for the election is expected to be around 90 percent. Although voting is voluntary, not voting is frowned upon. Going to the polls is considered an act of sovereignty and of \"revolutionary affirmation.\"\n\nThe final results will be announced Monday.\n\nOpposition criticism of the process centers around the fact that the president is not chosen in direct elections.\n\nCuban dissident Rosa Maria Paya, of the Cuba Decide movement, wants a referendum on modifying the island's government system and says her group will be watching for signs \"of rejection of the electoral process, in which in reality we cannot elect\" anyone.\n\nUS lawmakers headed by Republican Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, have written to President Donald Trump urging him to ignore Castro's successor \"in the absence of free, fair and multiparty elections.\"\n\nCubans who want to demonstrate opposition typically spoil their ballots.\n\nThe Otro18 opposition movement is also calling for change.\n\n\"The citizens do not participate in the choice or the election of the president and we think it's a decisive moment for the citizens to push a request\" to change the electoral system, said Ostro18 leader Manuel Costa Morua.\n\n*(AFP)*" + }, + { + "title": "Rep. Steve King\u2019s campaign ties Parkland\u2019s Emma Gonz\u00e1lez to \u2018communist\u2019 Cuba - The Washington Post", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Rep. Steve King\u2019s campaign ties Parkland\u2019s Emma Gonz\u00e1lez to \u2018communist\u2019 Cuba - The Washington Post" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizwFBVV95cUxPbkFZZ3hpdFdwNmpERVR6ZkxuenRuOGpxUUF3dWxxc3RzeXYxdnhQNUZDOWpRWEdGZzljMWthOFU3WVR4TFNYY1dOVGJVNmUwZjR3ZnVXdVQ5VEttWTE3b21meHpfQjhqZUw0T1NaYlF1dDI1MlJHMUFLLWJlbV9Yd0duUkNINHpwMDYwTTFpNkFNTVhxUm14VFgyVzh6VkVWUHV6TDNyVmg1cC1CLUUtRzI5Q1FBaFowa2w4OGsxN3hGLUhiaGk2a1FtRG03Tk0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/26/rep-steve-kings-campaign-ties-parklands-emma-gonzalez-to-communist-cuba/", + "id": "CBMizwFBVV95cUxPbkFZZ3hpdFdwNmpERVR6ZkxuenRuOGpxUUF3dWxxc3RzeXYxdnhQNUZDOWpRWEdGZzljMWthOFU3WVR4TFNYY1dOVGJVNmUwZjR3ZnVXdVQ5VEttWTE3b21meHpfQjhqZUw0T1NaYlF1dDI1MlJHMUFLLWJlbV9Yd0duUkNINHpwMDYwTTFpNkFNTVhxUm14VFgyVzh6VkVWUHV6TDNyVmg1cC1CLUUtRzI5Q1FBaFowa2w4OGsxN3hGLUhiaGk2a1FtRG03Tk0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Rep. Steve King\u2019s campaign ties Parkland\u2019s Emma Gonz\u00e1lez to \u2018communist\u2019 Cuba  The Washington Post", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Rep. Steve King\u2019s campaign ties Parkland\u2019s Emma Gonz\u00e1lez to \u2018communist\u2019 Cuba  The Washington Post" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.washingtonpost.com", + "title": "The Washington Post" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: " + }, + { + "title": "Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity - Quill & Pad", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity - Quill & Pad" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirgFBVV95cUxOZUhaS0lDdWhmTmtQbmktak9ZWU1mWnQ0TVE0eFhjajJfbzZacXJpNGtkSmhOUlN3bHh1ZkRuTFdaczJBRW9KelNjNFp4a09uQlhuUmt2VGQ1RmM5cEM5QUZpY2hCLU5IRTkwaTVzNE9LVkhPNkVRdklRY01ScnlPMXpSbVRJd2FjU1lpVHBhNG9PM1l0bmRwWFVhSHZUb0s2Q3gxelhENzFRYWJ0U0E?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://quillandpad.com/2018/03/29/cubas-habanos-anejados-program-up-in-smoke-no-evolution-and-no-complexity/", + "id": "CBMirgFBVV95cUxOZUhaS0lDdWhmTmtQbmktak9ZWU1mWnQ0TVE0eFhjajJfbzZacXJpNGtkSmhOUlN3bHh1ZkRuTFdaczJBRW9KelNjNFp4a09uQlhuUmt2VGQ1RmM5cEM5QUZpY2hCLU5IRTkwaTVzNE9LVkhPNkVRdklRY01ScnlPMXpSbVRJd2FjU1lpVHBhNG9PM1l0bmRwWFVhSHZUb0s2Q3gxelhENzFRYWJ0U0E", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 29, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 88, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity  Quill & Pad", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity  Quill & Pad" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://quillandpad.com", + "title": "Quill & Pad" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity - Quill & Pad\nauthor: Ken Gargett\nurl: https://quillandpad.com/2018/03/29/cubas-habanos-anejados-program-up-in-smoke-no-evolution-and-no-complexity/\nhostname: quillandpad.com\ndescription: The last decade has been the most tumultuous for the Cuban cigar industry since the Revolution. There will always be the occasional \u201cI miss the good old days\u201d from old timers, but overall there has never been a more exciting time for cigar lovers. However, if there was one program that has not lived up to the expectations of many, it is the Aged Habanos Series called Habanos A\u00f1ejados.\nsitename: Quill & Pad\ndate: 2018-03-29\ncategories: ['Wining, Dining and Cigars']\n---\n### Cuba\u2019s Habanos A\u00f1ejados Program Up In Smoke: No Evolution And No Complexity\n\nby Ken Gargett\n\nThe last decade has been the most tumultuous for the Cuban cigar industry since the Revolution. There will always be the occasional \u201cI miss the good old days\u201d from old timers, but overall there has never been a more exciting time for cigar lovers.\n\nThe Limited Edition (Edici\u00f3n Limitada) program that commenced at the turn of the century has been, by and large with a few notable exceptions, a roaring success. The Regional Release program has also been well received.\n\nSo, too, have what is commonly called the Book Series and the various other small special releases. The Gran Reserva program has resulted in some stellar cigars, and the Antique and Commemorative Humidors have also been highly sought after.\n\nThere has been considerable disappointment for some who have seen their favorite regular cigars discontinued, while new additions have brought new fans. Others bemoan the trend to fatter ring gauges, but this style is currently preferred by a majority of cigar smokers (personally, I think it a shame, but I am not on the side of the masses with this one).\n\nThere is some criticism that Habanos, the Cuban state tobacco company encompassing 27 brands, has become far too focused on the various programs and neglected the regular release standards, but as so many of those regulars are smoking superbly, that seems a little ill-considered.\n\nPerhaps it would be more accurate to say that Habanos has become more and more focused on high-priced cigars at the expense of the standards. Prices are driving some cigar lovers to look at what is available elsewhere. To counter that, Habanos can point to the fact that many of the special editions sell out quickly and remain in demand for years.\n\nIf there was one series that has not lived up to the expectations of many, though, it is the Aged Habanos Series called Habanos A\u00f1ejados.\n\nWhile some cigars benefit more than others from aging, in general most good Cubans smoke to advantage if they have some extra years under their belts (or bands). The aging with this program takes place after the cigars are rolled as opposed to the Limited Edition system, which ages the tobacco leaves before rolling.\n\nThe Series commenced in 2014 with one or two releases each year. Each release consists of a cigar that has been aged for five to eight years, with each cigar having an extra identifying band. First up were the Romeo & Julieta Pir\u00e1mides A\u00f1ejados and the Montecristo Churchills A\u00f1ejados, though in typical Cuban fashion both 2014 releases did not arrive until the following year.\n\nNext cabs off the rank were the Hoyo de Monterrey Hermosos No. 4 A\u00f1ejados and the Partag\u00e1s Corona Gorda A\u00f1ejados. The 2016 release was the H. Upmann Robustos A\u00f1ejados, though these did not hit the market until the end of 2017 so they are currently available.\n\nAll of the releases in this program have their fans, but generally the response has been underwhelming. Opinions have varied, as they always do, and there have been suggestions from certain European countries that anyone not seeing the subtleties simply could not appreciate a fine cigar. Something about the emperor\u2019s new clothes springs to mind.\n\nThe Romeo & Julieta Pir\u00e1mides A\u00f1ejados was fair \u2013 some wood and nutty notes but nothing that screams that this is a special cigar and worth considerably more than standard releases. Quoting of prices can be very misleading as national taxes vary enormously, meaning that some markets enjoy far better value than others.\n\nI have not seen the Montecristo Churchills A\u00f1ejados. which supposedly had eight years aging before release. Those who have speak of cedar and coffee, but no one gets terribly excited.\n\nThe next pair were the Hoyo de Monterrey Hermosos No. 4 A\u00f1ejados and the Partag\u00e1s Corona Gorda A\u00f1ejados. The Partag\u00e1s is, for me \u2013 and I think most cigar lovers \u2013 the pick of the A\u00f1ejados program.\n\nThat said, it, like all of the cigars in the program, is not obviously exhibiting the DNA of the marca. Some spice and pepper here, some attractive flavors and balance there, but nothing to suggest that it is worth the extra money in comparison with a number of the Partag\u00e1s standard releases.\n\nThe Hoyo, on the other hand, was a serious disappointment. Put simply, if you are paying well over the odds, you expect far more than you get from regular Hoyo cigars. And it is not happening.\n\nThe charitable view is that it offers some aged characters and smoothness, though far less complexity than one would expect. The more brutal view is that it is a bland wind tunnel, waiting for something to happen and utterly lacking in any complexity. An epic fail.\n\nWhich brings us to the latest release, the H. Upmann Robustos A\u00f1ejados. We are told they have been aged for between five and eight years in their original boxes of 25 (it seems curious that they cannot be more specific).\n\nLike pretty much all of the A\u00f1ejados releases, the size is not part of the usual Upmann range. Some are released as various special offerings, such as the H. Upmann Robustos Limited Edition 2012, but there is not a standard Upmann Robusto. And this has led to all manner of negative speculation.\n\nThe cigar looks good \u2013 they all do with a hint of appealing red rust in the wrapper. It seemed, on opening, that this might be the one where the program turns the corner. It had a slight pepper note and a quite distinct red chili powder dusting.\n\nA little curious, but interesting and enjoyable. Sadly, it did not last. After that initial burst of hope it was more of the same. Quite how they can make cigars so bland, beggars belief.\n\nOne can argue, as I would, that there is nothing really wrong with most of these releases. They are simply all a bit underwhelming, bland. There is no evolution and no complexity.\n\nSuch a shame as the idea is an excellent one. Quite frankly, there is absolutely no compelling reason to seek out these cigars in preference to those from the Limited Edition and Regional Release programs \u2013 programs of which Habanos can be justifiably proudif special releases are your thing \u2013 or simply the standard releases from these marcas.\n\nPart of the problem is that this seems to be a program without any real direction in contrast to the Limited Editions and other special releases.\n\nSome have queried whether they really are aged cigars \u2013 I would say that they most certainly are. Not necessarily exciting or well aged, but aged nonetheless.\n\nThe problems seem to stem from the fact that there are endless rumours that these are simply leftover cigars from other programs repackaged and released under the A\u00f1ejados bands. Until I see definitive evidence of this, I think that Habanos needs the benefit of the doubt.\n\nMy issue is that they are simply unexciting and that makes them seriously overpriced. There is so much better on offer in the world of Cuban cigars.\n\nFor more information, please visit www.habanos.com/en/tag/anejados.\n\n### Leave a Reply\n\nWant to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!\n\nI am very satisfied smoking Romeo Y Julieta Churchill Anejados. With each pull the consistency, the aroma, the taste gives a great feeling of fulfillment and gratification.\n\nThanks for the thoughts, Patrick. One has to assume there are plenty of supporters for the program to persist. Always fascinating to see how much people\u2019s palates vary." + }, + { + "title": "Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieEFVX3lxTE9kN2hRVElzc25Qby0yTnVpY1ozN0xzMEtnb29pLThBNnlWcFUyRnZ0Ri05YVB1YlRaSHpUZVExZVdZaG5tdkVTNl9JU2NHOXF2YmNQZkdEVjZjUjlETS1pbmJGdjZLVC1nQThYUHJrZjhZdUNYNFJHSQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/cuba-gooding-jr-facts-chicago-the-musical/", + "id": "CBMieEFVX3lxTE9kN2hRVElzc25Qby0yTnVpY1ozN0xzMEtnb29pLThBNnlWcFUyRnZ0Ri05YVB1YlRaSHpUZVExZVdZaG5tdkVTNl9JU2NHOXF2YmNQZkdEVjZjUjlETS1pbmJGdjZLVC1nQThYUHJrZjhZdUNYNFJHSQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 16, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 75, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know | Official London Theatre\nauthor: Carly-Ann Clements\nurl: https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/cuba-gooding-jr-facts-chicago-the-musical/\nhostname: officiallondontheatre.com\ndescription: The Oscar winner's making his UK stage debut in Chicago The Musical. Before you see it, here are 7 facts about Cuba Gooding Jr. you probably don\u2019t know.\nsitename: Official London Theatre\ndate: 2018-03-26\ntags: ['chicago', 'cuba gooding jr']\n---\nThis month, Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is making his UK stage debut. He\u2019ll be playing Billy Flynn in Chicago The Musical at the Phoenix Theatre from 26 March 2018. He\u2019s one of the most memorable actors in Hollywood, and soon, he\u2019ll be one of the biggest names on the West End.\n\nHaving starred in the unforgettable role of Rod Tidwell in Jerry McGuire in 1997, you\u2019d be forgiven for feeling like you know him. But do you really? Here are 7 facts about Cuba you probably don\u2019t know.\n\n**Cuba Gooding Jr. started as a dancer**\n\nYou\u2019ve seen him nimbly jump across the stage. He\u2019s prone to busting a move in an interview. But did you know he used to be a professional breakdancer? Cuba Gooding Jr. started his career as a backup dancer for Paula Abdul. He also performed at the 1984 LA Olympics closing ceremony with Lionel Richie as part of the dance group, Majestic Visual Break Dancers.\n\n**Cuba\u2019s wife was Sara Gooding**\n\nCuba met Sara Kapfer in high school. He was 19, she was just 16/17. After seven years of dating, they married in 1994. The couple made a rule that no matter what, they wouldn\u2019t go longer than a month without seeing each other. Sadly, Sara filed for legal separation in 2014, and Cuba filed for divorce in 2017.\n\n**Cuba Gooding Jr. has three children**\n\nSara and Cuba had three children together. Their eldest, Spencer, was born in 1994. Their second son Mason was born in 1996. Like his dad, he\u2019s an actor. They also have a daughter named Piper who was born in 2005.\n\n**Cuba\u2019s family is full of performers**\n\nThe flair for the arts doesn\u2019t stop at Cuba Jr. and Mason. His father Cuba Gooding Sr. was a popular soul singer in the 1970s and his brother Tommy is a musician. His brother Omar is a successful TV actor while his sister April has dabbled in acting, too.\n\n**There are a lot of Cuba Gooding Jr. movies**\n\nSo you remember him in Jerry McGuire, Boyz In The Hood, Snow Dogs and As Good As It Gets. But how about A Few Good Men, Outbreak, What Dreams May Come, Pearl Harbour, Selma and The Butler? Cuba has had an incredible movie career having appeared in over 50 films.\n\n**Cuba is making a big splash on the small screen**\n\nChicago The Musical is far from his first time acting in court. In addition to A Few Good Men, Cuba was nominated for an Emmy and a Critics\u2019 Choice Award for his portrayal of O. J. Simpson in American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson in 2016. In the same year, he appeared in American Horror Story: Roanoke, and is set to appear in the upcoming Katrina: American Crime Story.\n\n**Chicago The Musical isn\u2019t Cuba\u2019s first time treading the boards**\n\nYes, Chicago The Musical is Cuba\u2019s West End debut. Yes, Chicago The Musical is Cuba\u2019s first musical. But this isn\u2019t his first time on stage. He appeared in The Trip To Bountiful at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway in 2013.\n\n**To see Cuba Gooding Jr. in Chicago The Musical, get your tickets, here.**" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know - Official London Theatre", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know - Official London Theatre" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNTTBPTEczRDM4WTQ2OTUtdEtITUNUd3BKNGFhdUpxUXhBX1FMTkhNSjdLN1FxbmdPbUxueTZUNE1PVTZ6WUV1UW9HRHEzVUtodFNyaTR1VlcyY2lCclhFNHM4X2hEQURONkRPMV9DMS1Tcl9pTlN2c2kyQmFuMkR3RDVXMWFBVWVQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/unwanted-springs-in-cienfuegos-cuba/", + "id": "CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNTTBPTEczRDM4WTQ2OTUtdEtITUNUd3BKNGFhdUpxUXhBX1FMTkhNSjdLN1FxbmdPbUxueTZUNE1PVTZ6WUV1UW9HRHEzVUtodFNyaTR1VlcyY2lCclhFNHM4X2hEQURONkRPMV9DMS1Tcl9pTlN2c2kyQmFuMkR3RDVXMWFBVWVQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 26, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 85, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know  Official London Theatre", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr - 7 things you might not know  Official London Theatre" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://officiallondontheatre.com", + "title": "Official London Theatre" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/unwanted-springs-in-cienfuegos-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: These springs have become a feature of our daily reality. If only they really were natural springs. But, truth is that they are just sewer leaks. As a Cuban citizen, I am concerned about just how frequently this happens and I have looked into why this is happening.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-03-17\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# Unwanted Springs in Cienfuegos, Cuba\n\n**By Peregrino Perez**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2014 These springs have become a feature of our daily reality. If only they really were natural springs. But, truth is that they are just sewer leaks. In the photos, you can see two leaks which are less than 10 meters away from each other, so they are more like a river network than springs really.\n\nAccording to journalistic rigor, I should cite the place and time so my statements can be verified, but that\u2019s not important here. You don\u2019t need to go out hunting for this sad landscape. You can see it all over Cienfuegos.\n\nAs a Cuban citizen, I am concerned about just how frequently this happens and I have looked into why this is happening. Maintenance teams come to repair the leak. However, their paperwork takes much longer to complete than it does for new leaks to appear. What\u2019s going on? Nothing new, nothing that we don\u2019t know already. The water infrastructure has collapsed, maintenance works have been neglected for a long time. They are quite simply more concerned about five-year plans, fantastic of production projections and have stopped worrying about basic matters such as regular repairwork which needs to be done.\n\nToday, reality is that both sewage and drinking water pipes are in a very bad state. Repairs are just temporary solutions which don\u2019t solve the problem. Sewage water has mixed with drinking water on more than one occasion. I\u2019m sure that this is one of the causes for the epidemics that our nation has suffered. This kind of news is kept so secret that it borders fanaticism.\n\nThe only solution would be to replace damaged pipes. But, this would undoubtedly imply a huge expense which will most certainly have to wait. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a priority on their agenda. Surely, shortages of items in the hard-currency store network has caught the most part of our decision-makers\u2019 attention or maybe it\u2019s the new restrictions on the self-employed that is keeping them busy.\n\nMeanwhile, time is passing by and these leaks have come to stay. In addition to streets full of potholes and homes in a miserable state. The worst thing is that we have lost our capacity to be shocked and outraged by these situations.\n\nIt\u2019s like a war of wear and tear; when the first leaks appeared, people were insulted and complained to their district representative. Now, people don\u2019t even bother wasting their time doing that, \u201cit\u2019s no good, it\u2019s never going to improve,\u201d these are things you hear people say everywhere.\n\nThis is reflected in low attendance levels at accountability meetings and CDR (neighborhood defense committees) presidents\u2019 titanic task of trying to bring all of the neighbors in the area together. I feel sorry for them because they don\u2019t have the tools they need to resolve most of the community\u2019s problems. Apathy and disappointment roam freely through our valleys.\n\nIt will become harder and harder for photographers from official media outlets to take photos that highlight the Revolution\u2019s accomplishments. However, this decadence has ironically become motive for international tourism. Some tourism agencies have based their campaigns on trying to get their customers to hurry up and visit Cuba so they can discover one of the few socialist countries in the world before it changes.\n\nThe pictures they use are of a country is a state of destruction that it seems like a civil war has just ended. A country which can\u2019t wait any longer for the profound changes needed to move it away from this decadence.\n\nSome people will think that these photos have been taken out of ill intent, so as to defame the Cuban Revolution. Truth is you don\u2019t have to be a sharp photographer to take them, they are already a feature of our daily reality.\n\nI read about a whole sewer main collapsing on the west side of Havana and has been pouring raw sewage into the river and has caused the entire fresh water fishing to be contaminated blocked from the market place!! I\u2019m a retired plumber and have serious concerns for my friends in Cuba." + }, + { + "title": "Cuban cigar sales hit record as China demand surges - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban cigar sales hit record as China demand surges - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqwFBVV95cUxQeWFYNTZsVDhQUVBKQUMzX2pYcDBpdzFsYUVQdWFhNnF3cEpvekJkdTYyWlQxNVV1R0VBcDVpU3g5RnhBc0FpbGczLVNkc2lLdHhLZV9GTWpqeF9fTTNLanp3UGt6LWpyMDI1dFJ3Nzd2UUphSk9mUGZMVU9qYkdXbklEX2RDYi00VGd4VTlwczFCdE44TXFZVUZnSUlCY2lZZlNaUXlSVnptblE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://insidestory.org.au/in-the-shadow-of-guantanamo-bay/", + "id": "CBMiqwFBVV95cUxQeWFYNTZsVDhQUVBKQUMzX2pYcDBpdzFsYUVQdWFhNnF3cEpvekJkdTYyWlQxNVV1R0VBcDVpU3g5RnhBc0FpbGczLVNkc2lLdHhLZV9GTWpqeF9fTTNLanp3UGt6LWpyMDI1dFJ3Nzd2UUphSk9mUGZMVU9qYkdXbklEX2RDYi00VGd4VTlwczFCdE44TXFZVUZnSUlCY2lZZlNaUXlSVnptblE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 2, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 61, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban cigar sales hit record as China demand surges  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban cigar sales hit record as China demand surges  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay \u2022 Inside Story\nauthor: Peter Browne\nurl: https://insidestory.org.au/in-the-shadow-of-guantanamo-bay/\nhostname: insidestory.org.au\ndescription: Cuba\u2019s namesake town sits uncomfortably close to the US military base\nsitename: Inside Story\ndate: 2018-03-21\ncategories: ['International']\n---\n*I am a truthful man,*\n\n*From the land of the palms*\n\n*Before I die, I want to*\n\n*Share the poems of my soul.*\n\n* Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera*\n\n\u2014 \u201cGuantanamera\u201d\n\nBefore the music kicks off, Don Angel Macebo Olivares wants to correct what he calls an \u201cinternational misunderstanding.\u201d The musical director of Guant\u00e1namo\u2019s House of Chang\u00fc\u00ed \u2014 named after a local nineteenth-century musical style \u2014 is anxious to set the record straight. \u201cGuant\u00e1namo is not the US naval base,\u201d he tells us, \u201cor *that* jail they have there.\u201d\n\nDon Angel is welcoming a small audience to an 11am performance by his band. \u201cGuant\u00e1namo means a land between rivers,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a land of hard-working people, a land of peace and music.\u201d He turns towards his musicians who, at his nod, break through the sweltering mid-morning heat with \u201cGuantanamera\u201d (a woman from Guant\u00e1namo), the legendary Cuban song peppered with verses by Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed.\n\nMart\u00ed is Cuba\u2019s most distinguished poet. He is also a national hero \u2014 a key figure in Cuba\u2019s 1895\u201398 war of independence against Spain, a war closely linked to United States\u2019 takeover of Guant\u00e1namo Bay, 120 years ago.\n\nIt was in June 1898 that US marines landed at Guant\u00e1namo Bay, in the eastern corner of Cuba, under the pretext of aiding the Cuban patriots. The Cubans already had the conflict wrapped up, but the marines landed anyway, raised the US flag and stayed. The occupation received a dubious veneer of legality in 1901 when the US Congress passed the Platt Amendment, a bill ostensibly designed to maintain order in the area.\n\nIn February 1903, Washington prevailed on the Cuban government to sign a treaty granting a \u201cperpetual lease\u201d of \u201clands necessary for coaling or naval stations.\u201d At Guant\u00e1namo Bay, nestled between tropical mountains, the Americans built a naval base, a coalmine (later abandoned) and, years later in 2002, a high-security jail.\n\nThe town of Guant\u00e1namo, meanwhile, had been established in 1796 as a place of exile for thousands of French and Haitian people fleeing Haiti\u2019s 1791\u20131804 anti-slavery revolutions. Though their home town shares a name with the US base, residents here don\u2019t appear to harbour warm feelings towards the US marines stationed twenty kilometres away.\n\n\u201cDo you mean the *yanqui* naval base?\u201d Jimena asks me. Among the fifteen high-school students eating a modest meal at the Venus restaurant, a stone\u2019s throw from Mart\u00ed Square, she is the most outspoken. As we eat our *moros y cristianos* (Moors and Christians), the ubiquitous Cuban bean-and-rice dish, these teenagers aren\u2019t looking at their mobile phones. Instead, they have things they want to say about the base. \u201cThis is a stolen piece of our land,\u201d says Jimena. \u201cIt\u2019s like having somebody in the backyard of your house, staying there uninvited, staying illegally.\u201d\n\nAdriel Bosch Cascaret, a young writer and journalist from the town of Guant\u00e1namo, has reported widely on the US presence at Guant\u00e1namo Bay. \u201cIn contrast to many people outside Guant\u00e1namo,\u201d he tells me, \u201cwe know all about the US naval base \u2014 and what happens there \u2014 not via the television news but because we *feel* its proximity.\u201d\n\nThe US base, with its 6000 occupants, covers 117.6 square kilometres of Guant\u00e1namo Bay, just twenty-three kilometres from the town and its roughly 200,000 residents. It includes the high-security jail that once housed 779 orange-jumpsuit-clad detainees and still houses forty-one of them. \u201cWe are so close that on New Year\u2019s Eve we can see the fireworks,\u201d says Bosch Cascaret. He believes that what goes on in the detention centre affects the \u201cpsychology\u201d of Guantanameros. \u201cWe were very distressed when we learnt of the atrocities committed so close to our town \u2014 of the torture and inhuman acts committed there.\u201d\n\nGuant\u00e1namo Province, with a mainly Afro-Cuban population of about half a million, is the most eastern province of the island. It is also the poorest. Bosch Cascaret believes that \u201cthis place\u201d \u2014 the US base \u2014 \u201chas been a major deterrence to the development of my town and the province of Guant\u00e1namo.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe dream of Guantanameros is that one day that enclave will become part of Cuba again,\u201d says Jos\u00e9 S\u00e1nchez Guerra, a Guant\u00e1namo-based historian. \u201cIt will help to develop the economy of the province and the country.\u201d\n\nGuant\u00e1namo Bay is not only the largest and oldest US military base in the world, it is also the only military facility operating within a country with which \u2014 until recently \u2014 Washington had no direct diplomatic relations. The two countries cut diplomatic ties in 1961, three years after the revolution swept Fidel Castro to power. More than half a century later, under president Barack Obama, Cuba and the United States restored some degree of contact, but they are yet to fully engage diplomatically. In January this year, complicating things further, president Donald Trump signed an executive order keeping open the detention facility at Guant\u00e1namo Bay, and paved the way for sending new prisoners there.\n\nJonathan M. Hansen, a Harvard academic and author of *Guant\u00e1namo: An American History*, describes the US presence as a \u201cthorny issue\u201d for the US\u2013Cuban relationship. \u201cThe taking of Guant\u00e1namo initiated the United States into an exclusive, if notorious, club of imperialist superpowers,\u201d he tells me, \u201cand established a blueprint for American foreign policy lasting to this day.\u201d The return of Guant\u00e1namo Bay has been one of the Cuban government\u2019s key conditions for re-establishing full diplomatic relations between the two countries.\n\nSince the bay is formally \u201cleased\u201d Cuban territory, Washington sends Havana an annual cheque for US$4085 made out to the Treasurer General of the Republic, a position that hasn\u2019t existed since Cuba\u2019s 1959 revolution. The story has it that, apart from a single \u201cmistake\u201d (according to Fidel Castro), none of the cheques has ever been banked. Instead, they were for many years placed in a drawer in the former Cuban leader\u2019s desk. They are now archived in Cuba\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leaving there only once, to be displayed in a 2004 exhibition in France.\n\nAfter the 1959 revolution, Guant\u00e1namo Bay attracted a significant number of displeased Cubans who, in their daring search for the elusive American dream, either died or were injured trying to reach the base. In 1961, Fidel Castro ordered the creation of what came to be known as the Cortina de Cactus (the cactus curtain) to deter Cubans from trying to reach the US side of the bay.\n\nThousands of landmines \u2014 Cubans call them *quebratas* (leg-breakers) \u2014 were also laid on both sides. (Neither Cuba nor the United States is a signatory to the 1997 mine ban treaty.) The Clinton administration removed most of the US mines, but Cuba has failed to follow suit. \u201cOfficially we don\u2019t hear much discussion about the mined land; but here we all know of its existence,\u201d says Bosch Cascaret.\n\nThe closest you can get to the US naval base, assuming you don\u2019t get pricked by a cactus or have your leg blown off, is the fishing town of Caimanera, seventeen kilometres from the town of Guant\u00e1namo, and close to the base. A massive billboard on the way into town calls it \u201cthe first anti-imperialist trench.\u201d\n\nCaimanera is a tightly guarded military village. The locals have a special entry permit; anyone else has to get authorisation from the interior ministry. Ofelia Garcia Campusano, director of the Caimanera History Museum, tells me that the town\u2019s early development was very much linked to development of the US base. \u201cThe base brought an economic bonanza to Caimanera and thousands of people from here found work there.\u201d\n\nThe benefits were mainly enjoyed by a small section of town, however. \u201cIn fact,\u201d she observes, \u201cthe only asphalted and electrified streets in Caimanera are in the zone of prostitution.\u201d The rest of the townspeople were left to languish amid muddy streets, cardboard houses, poverty and neglect.\n\nAs a consequence, Caimanera is haemorrhaging residents daily and the average age of its 10,000 residents is rising fast. Few are aged between eighteen and forty. On top of that, it\u2019s a fishing village without fish. \u201cThe best catches are in the deep bay water, but we can\u2019t get there, it\u2019s US territory,\u201d says Julio, a fisherman. \u201cOne day we will fish there, because one day they will leave.\u201d\n\nUp to 15,000 Cubans worked in the US military enclave in the 1930s and 1940s. That ended when Fidel Castro took power and Havana and Washington ended diplomatic relations. Filipino and Jamaican labourers replaced the Cubans.\n\n\u201cFrom 1959 the US dismissed thousands of Cuban workers, but a few were allowed to stay,\u201d says Guant\u00e1namo historian Jos\u00e9 S\u00e1nchez Guerra. Many Cuban retirees from the US base still live in the town of Guant\u00e1namo. Few want to talk about their work at *la base*, as they called it, because many of them were labelled anti-revolutionaries.\n\n\u201cDon Alfredo\u201d doesn\u2019t mind talking about the old days as long as I don\u2019t mention his real name. When we meet in the cavernous Caf\u00e9 Indiana, across from Mart\u00ed Square, Don Alfredo, an Afro-Cuban, is dressed a colourful *guayabera*, ironed jeans and polished brown loafers.\n\n\u201cThere was once a time when Cubans from Guant\u00e1namo, Caimanera and Baracoa used to work in the US navy base,\u201d he says. \u201cI began working there when I was eighteen, I think in 1948.\u201d His father was from the Dominican Republic. \u201cHe told me to go work for the *gringos* because they might take you to the US\u2026 There was a bus that would takes us to the US base. It departed from here at dawn.\u201d He tilts his head towards Mart\u00ed Square. \u201cLike those white-and-red buses you see now in Guant\u00e1namo, older versions of them. Some stayed in the base for the whole week, coming back to see their families on the weekend.\u201d\n\nHe remembers very well the humiliation Cuban workers endured under the \u201cgringos.\u201d \u201cWe were called *hutias*, you know, the Cuban rat that eats bananas.\u201d He mainly looked after the gardens. \u201cI cut the grass, pruned trees, watered the plants; *los gringos* have nice green gardens.\u201d When I ask him whether he would have liked to have gone to the United States, he shakes his head furiously. \u201cNever, never. This is my home, Guant\u00e1namo is my home.\u201d\n\nDon Alfredo remembers that on their days off the marines would come to town \u201cto have fun, you know, drinking and girls.\u201d But the marines\u2019 trips to the Cuban side came to an abrupt end in 1958 when the current Cuban president, Ra\u00fal Castro, then one of the leaders of the Cuban revolutionary movement, kidnapped a bus full of US marines heading to the bars and brothels of Guant\u00e1namo. They were released after a few days, but from that point on \u201cnot a single US marine has been seen wandering the streets of Guant\u00e1namo,\u201d says Don Alfredo.\n\nAs the conversation approaches an end and the sun beats down outside, Don Alfredo orders a last coffee. \u201c*Los gringos* should go home, you know. Guant\u00e1namo Bay should be returned to Guant\u00e1namo, to us, to this town, Guant\u00e1namo is not the naval base.\u201d He looks at me. \u201cWrite that down in your book notes.\u201d Many Cubans \u2014 but also many Americans \u2014 would undoubtedly agree. \u25cf" + }, + { + "title": "In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay - insidestory.org.au", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay - insidestory.org.au" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia0FVX3lxTE92VWZENWozeE5Cc0lZb29PZzBNWE03Z1E5bkwxM3hnZ1dCZVRMbVpCdVp3anN1ZENfVUFxQ0xmNzZ0b0MyVF9aUWctM0ctM3ZqUzQ3aFhJMjZGLTBvNVQwRDFRX1VZOEFXbnk0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/business/cuban-cigar-sales-hit-record-as-china-demand-surges-idUSKCN1GA2YA/", + "id": "CBMia0FVX3lxTE92VWZENWozeE5Cc0lZb29PZzBNWE03Z1E5bkwxM3hnZ1dCZVRMbVpCdVp3anN1ZENfVUFxQ0xmNzZ0b0MyVF9aUWctM0ctM3ZqUzQ3aFhJMjZGLTBvNVQwRDFRX1VZOEFXbnk0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 22, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 81, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay  insidestory.org.au", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In the shadow of Guantanamo Bay  insidestory.org.au" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://insidestory.org.au", + "title": "insidestory.org.au" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts - abcnews.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts - abcnews.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifkFVX3lxTFBpTzlQbmlhQmUyYTFZV2RkR1k0RGJWMWJVVGlkVVlab1hTZTlYQUhnZ3E4X2tJSExJNVhYT29uRHZmRFlJc2pEaUtJMHh0TEhSdE0yVFMxVFF1TElzTWFQakFGRGNWd0ZHZDNIVVJuMm1NMkhqUC1ENGRSaVBxQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://abcnews.go.com/travel/story/cubas-best-inclusive-resorts-54044591", + "id": "CBMifkFVX3lxTFBpTzlQbmlhQmUyYTFZV2RkR1k0RGJWMWJVVGlkVVlab1hTZTlYQUhnZ3E4X2tJSExJNVhYT29uRHZmRFlJc2pEaUtJMHh0TEhSdE0yVFMxVFF1TElzTWFQakFGRGNWd0ZHZDNIVVJuMm1NMkhqUC1ENGRSaVBxQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Mar 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 27, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 86, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts  abcnews.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts  abcnews.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://abcnews.go.com", + "title": "abcnews.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts\nauthor: ABC News; Oyster com\nurl: https://abcnews.com/GMA/Travel/cubas-best-inclusive-resorts/story?id=54044591\nhostname: abcnews.com\ndescription: Top all-inclusive resorts in Cuba.\nsitename: ABC News\ndate: 2018-03-27\ncategories: ['GMA']\ntags: ['cuba, hotels, cuba hotels. best cuba hotels, all inclusives , Article, 54044591']\n---\n# Cuba's best all-inclusive resorts\n\nThere's one for every budget.\n\nCuba's top all-inclusives are concentrated in Varadero, a peninsula known for its picturesque beaches, and Cayo Coco, an island whose shores are defined by white sand and coral reefs.\n\n**Melia Cayo Coco**\n\nA large adult-only beachfront resort from the Spanish Melia chain, this upper-middle-range property features lovely and well-manicured grounds studded with palm trees. The 250 guest rooms are housed in cheery colorful bungalows in pastel candy shades; some are built on stilts right over a saltwater lagoon. In-room decor can look a bit dated, but the spaces are clean, sunlit and offer a good set of amenities like flat-screen TVs, minibars, private balconies/terraces and rainfall showers in the bathrooms. Interiors of public spaces are fairly predictable and chainlike, yet clean and pleasant. An array of features includes a large and attractive outdoor pool, several restaurants and bars, a fitness center and sports courts, plus direct access to a pretty stretch of white-sand beach.\n\n**Royalton Hicacos Varadero Resort & Spa**\n\nIt\u2019s no wonder this luxury adult-only resort, a former Sandals, draws so many repeat customers. There\u2019s a true emphasis on personalized service here, with butler service for every guest and few of the nuisances found at most all-inclusives (no wristbands or towel cards). The beach is perhaps the biggest and best stretch in Varadero, and the all-inclusive package is one of the most generous around, with just about everything included in the price, from the aforementioned butler service to access to the spa facilities. Scuba diving lessons and even a dive are covered (the first immersion is free, the second cost $70 during our visit). Non-motorized water sports, daybeds by the pool, and even the lobster at the seafood restaurant don\u2019t require an extra fee. The specialty wines at dinner are one of the only things that cost more, but there are quality bottles for reasonable prices, and the Chilean house wine is included. Rooms have king-size beds but aren\u2019t up to advertised five-star standards; for the option of ocean views, consider the also adult-only Melia Las Americas. But all in all, this 404-room luxury all-inclusive resort is easily one of the best in Varadero.\n\n**Melia Las Americas**\n\nA more traditional take on the Melia resort chain, the Las Americas branch has an old-fashioned dignity. In addition to its freeform pools and postcard-worthy beach, the 340-room, adult-only property offers a location by a tournament-level golf course and an attractive gym with floor-to-ceiling windows. Rooms aren't fashion-forward, but they are exceptionally pleasant for a Cuban resort, and most have balconies and ocean views (not the case at Royalton Hicacos, where no rooms have ocean views). Five restaurants and six bars provide a wide range of food and drink, and a full theater and a beauty salon give other diversions.\n\n**Paradisus Princesa del Mar Resort & Spa**\n\nParadisus Princesa del Mar is a rarity in Cuba -- a true luxury, all-inclusive resort in Varadero. The resort is split between its standard accommodations and its upper-tier Royal Service wing. Its 798 rooms opt for elegant, subdued furnishings. All rooms include balconies or terraces with either ocean or pool views. Royal Service rooms include additional perks like jetted tubs, butler service, and some offer direct pool access. The action here centers on the beach and the resort's three pools, two of which have swim-up bars. There are also seven restaurants, though some guests find the food underwhelming. Tennis courts, live entertainment, and a cigar bar add to the resort's appeal. Be aware that this is an adult-only property; families could consider Ocean Varadero El Patriarca or Melia Varadero as an alternative.\n\n**Ocean Varadero El Patriarca**\n\nOcean Varadero El Patriarca is arguably the most modern family-friendly all-inclusive in the area. It probably helps that this is one of the newest resorts in the area; it opened in 2012, and since then has already undergone some renovations, indicative of the level of care and maintenance the management puts into it. The result is a property that is truly stylish and upscale -- and not just by Cuban standards. (Varadero resorts are known for bland food and datedness issues.) The all-inclusive's 420-room are truly upscale, its a la carte restaurants don't require reservations (a rarity), its coffee bar serves first-rate brews (not often found at competing properties), and there's great evening music at the swanky piano bar. Unlike at the larger, neighboring Paradisus Varadero, there are no rooms with ocean views, but guests seeking a more intimate environment and more stylish room decor will be happier here.\n\n**Paradisus Varadero Resort & Spa**\n\nThe 794-room Paradisus Varadero is one of the area's top luxury resorts, delivering plenty of wow factor, with a stunning lobby, large ocean-view pool and beautiful white-sand beach. Rooms are clean, with traditional style and free minibar items; the Royal Service rooms are well worth the upgrade. The sprawling layout means privacy and a big stretch of beach, but also plenty of walking or waiting for golf carts. Food is above average for Varadero, if not as good as at other luxury all-inclusives elsewhere in the Caribbean, and the spa is one of the area's best. Those seeking a more intimate resort might prefer the Ocean Varadero El Patriarca, which has more modern style.\n\n**Melia Varadero**\n\nOpened in 1991, the upscale Melia Varadero was the first hotel of the Melia brand to open in Cuba. At the time, it was the luxury property of the area, but now its sister property Paradisus Princesa del Mar Resort & Spa seems to hold that title. Regardless, Melia Varadero has a lovely beachfront location halfway up the peninsula, and grounds that are less sprawling and more centralized compared to other neighboring resorts. (There's no need to be transported in a shuttle from one end of the resort to the other, like at Paradisus Varadero.) The 490 rooms are split between two categories: The standard rooms have an old-fashioned look with dated bedspreads and bathrooms, while the executive-level rooms look far more chic with dark-wood furniture and stylish artwork. But all rooms have balconies, and some offer truly stellar views. Features are in line with other upscale resorts including two pools with a waterfall feature, five restaurants, and basketball and tennis courts. Like Ocean Varadero El Patriarca and Paradisus Varadero, Melia Varadero is kid-friendly (our first four picks are for adults only). Here, a kids' club and kiddy pool plus available babysitting and cribs appeal to families.\n\n**Sol Palmeras**\n\nThe all-inclusive Sol Palmeras is a colossal resort that is hardly high style, but big on activities, especially the kid-friendly variety. Free water-sport rentals, a game room with Wii and PlayStation 2, and a shooting range join the expected sun-and-sand diversions -- the hotel's two pools and notably beautiful beach. The 408 rooms and 200 bungalows are excellent for families, with multiple bedrooms, mini-kitchens, dining spaces and interconnecting rooms available. Some couples do come to stay in the Bungalow Suite Romance units, but given the boisterous atmosphere here, those travelers will probably might be happier splurging on Melia Cayo Coco, Royalton Hicacos, Melia Las Americas or Paradisus Princesa del Mar.\n\n**Melia Jardines del Rey**\n\nA sprawling chain resort with tons of on-site activities for families and couples, Melia Jardines Del Rey is a whopper of an all-inclusive. Its 1176 rooms are spacious, with balconies and stocked mini-fridges. Classic Rooms are pleasant, although they show some wear. Suites up the style ante, with beachy wicker furniture and perks like hydromassage bathtubs. The white-sand beach with a cute thatch-roof bar, is without a doubt the property's best feature. The outdoor pools with swim-up bars are also a hit. While there are nine dining options and six bars scattered across the resort, food reviews are mixed and many of the a la carte restaurants are open only for dinner. For couples seeking a quieter vacation, the adult-only Melia Cayo Coco offers many of the same all-inclusive features and similar rooms.\n\n**Hotel Colonial Cayo Coco**\n\nInaugurated in 1993 by Fidel Castro, Hotel Colonial was the first resort to set up shop on Cayo Coco. The mid-range beachfront resort unfolds like a charming Spanish village -- bordered by a stretch of white-sand coastline for which Cayo Coco is renowned. As Cayo Coco\u2019s first resort, the place could really use some updates, but guests appreciate the Old World charm and many return every year. Brightly colored colonial buildings contain the 458 rooms and wrap around its two sweeping pools and palm tree grounds. The rooms are simple but come with furnished balconies and pool, sea or garden views. There\u2019s plenty to eat and drink on-site -- some guests love the all-inclusive food, while others leave unimpressed. A major (off-site) highlight is the sprawling spa center that feels like a slick European transplant. Those seeking a more contemporary vibe could try Melia Jardines del Rey.\n\n**Hotel Los Cactus**\n\nThe adult-only, mid-range Hotel Los Cactus isn\u2019t flashy or fancy, but it offers a pleasant all-inclusive vacation with a surprising amount of local touches that give guests a sense of being in Cuba. The grounds are blanketed with local flora, and the staff serves up spit-roasted pig and fresh coconut water in the shell. But it\u2019s the usual resort draws of white-sand beaches and a lively pool, both with bar service, that are the main attractions for guests. Its 270 rooms are cheery, if a bit dated, but they give a perfectly adequate place to crash out at the end of a day of sun and sand. As an alternative, the adult-only Melia Las Americas gives a more subdued atmosphere and a location right by the local golf course." + }, + { + "title": "This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women' - OkayAfrica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women' - OkayAfrica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFBVV95cUxOZUhVZW9ydGlqM280Q2tFQzRrWEpicldKeGVOa0xnM1ZLU3otZWRMZFJYREZ0MERYd0JkX0RCREFORnlISWI3WThaRzdocERZb0sxSW5wRFZJRzhPbFMtaUF1bzZrTVBNemJRM3dyUHB5cWRXTElIaGpoZXBZaEMwUDZjaUJqMFdDWWNVanpmSnlUYmxJdFE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.okayafrica.com/this-journalist-started-the-directory-of-afro-cuban-women/199658", + "id": "CBMilgFBVV95cUxOZUhVZW9ydGlqM280Q2tFQzRrWEpicldKeGVOa0xnM1ZLU3otZWRMZFJYREZ0MERYd0JkX0RCREFORnlISWI3WThaRzdocERZb0sxSW5wRFZJRzhPbFMtaUF1bzZrTVBNemJRM3dyUHB5cWRXTElIaGpoZXBZaEMwUDZjaUJqMFdDWWNVanpmSnlUYmxJdFE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 06 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 3, + 6, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 65, + 0 + ], + "summary": "This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women'  OkayAfrica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women'  OkayAfrica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.okayafrica.com", + "title": "OkayAfrica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: This Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women' | OkayAfrica\nauthor: Pablo D Herrera Veitia\nurl: https://www.okayafrica.com/this-journalist-started-the-directory-of-afro-cuban-women/199658\nhostname: okayafrica.com\ndescription: March is the month to celebrate women and, in Cuba, women are celebrated with a passion.\nsitename: Okayafrica\ndate: 2018-03-06\ncategories: ['culture']\ntags: ['culture', 'cuba', 'afro-cuban', 'sandra abdallah-alvarez ramirez', 'directory of afro-cuban women', 'home']\n---\nThis Journalist Started 'The Directory of Afro-Cuban Women'\n\nSandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramirezis compiling the profiles of Afro-Cuban women who have contributed significantly to the creation of Cuba.\n\nPablo D. Herrera Veitia Pablo D. Herrera Veitia\n\nMarch is the month to celebrate women and, in Cuba, women are celebrated with a passion.\n\nI got together with Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramirez, the Afro-Cuban journalist and cyber-activist who manages and is responsible for the creation the Directory of Afro-Cuban Women. Sandra has relentlessly been doing some incredible work with those she calls 'sus negras' (her black women). Like Sandra, I too believe everyone should know who these women are and what they have done. Most importantly, I believe everyone should know about what they are doing today. Please join us in celebrating Afro-Cuban women, literally, from most walks of life.\n\nFor now still mostly in Spanish, the Directory of Afro-Cuban Women is a digital tool that compiles the profiles of those Afro-Cuban women who have contributed significantly in the creation of the island nation we all know as Cuba. Beyond skin colour, this opportune directory's criteria for selection has been the intellectual, scientific and overall cultural contribution these women have made and still provide to Cuba's national history. In each file, you will be able to find downloadable information and contacts in several formats: PDF, video, audio, and images.\n\nWe sat down with Sandra and to talk about her Afro-Cuban women directory below.\n\nWho is Sandra Abdallah-Alvarez Ram\u00edrez, and what does she do?\n\nI was born in Havana in 1973. In 1996, I received a degree in Psychology from the University of Havana and a Master's Degree in Gender Studies in 2008. I also have another postgraduate degree in Gender and Communication.\n\nIt was through all this training that one day I entered the world of social media networks and cyberfeminism and decided to start my blog Negra Cubana Tenia Que Ser. The space provided by the training I took in gender and communication studies held the seeds that later allowed me to harvest the current Directory of Afro-Cuban Women.\n\nI worked for almost 10 years as editor of the Cuban literature website, Cubaliteraria. That position gave me the tools to become a journalist and a webmaster. I have to admit that doing journalism through a cultural website has moulded the type of attitude and the type of interests I share on my blog. I started Negra Cubana Tenia Que Ser in June of 2006, and it became the first ever Cuba-based blog oriented around the topic of race. It also turned into an outlet for all the questions I had about racism and racial discrimination in Cuba.\n\n\"I started Negra Cubana Ten\u00eda Que Ser in June of 2006, and it became the first ever Cuba-based blog oriented around the topic of race.\"\n\nSince then, race is one of the topics most of my research is about; particularly, how black women are represented in the media and in the arts. And then, I also study other issues like the potential of social media for activism around sexual and reproductive rights for people with gender identities and sexual orientations that are non-heteronormative, women's empowerment through information and communication technologies, the racial variable in population censuses in Cuba, women in hip-hop, and other issues.\n\nSince 2011, I have been part of Afrocubanas, a collective of women that has its headquarters in Havana. Afrocubanas brings together black and mixed-race women from various social backgrounds. We all admit to the fact that we are antiracism fighters. Many of these women have jobs in the arts and culture sector in Cuban society. The initial outcomes of the coming together of our group is the book, Afrocubanas: historia, pensamiento y practicas culturales(Afrocubanas: history, thought and cultural practices). It may be hard to understand, but actually, it was after the book was published that we felt the need to come together to celebrate it. That sparked the birth of our group.\n\nI write for several online magazines includingPikara Magazine, Global Voices,Hablemos de sexo y amor. I also write for Oncuba Magazine. In March 2015, I founded the online magazine Az\u00facar & Kalt, which is all about Hannover, the city where I reside now; and is the city's first magazine in Spanish. Creating it has been very important in the definition of my identity as a migrant woman.\n\nHow did the Directory of Afro-Cuban women come about and what are its aims?\n\nI have been working on the Directory of Afro-Cuban Women project for five years now. It is an attempt to give visibility to the lives and work of Cuban Afro-Descendant women through a digital tool that is accessible online. Usually, these women are excluded from literary anthologies, compilations, and encyclopedias; which is why I am so interested in concentrating all that information in a single place. It has been long sessions of data management, compiling, editing, etc.; all for the sake that those who out of love I call 'my black women' can achieve visibility on the internet.\n\n\"It is an attempt to give visibility to the lives and work of Cuban Afro-Descendant women through a digital tool that is accessible online.\"\n\nA very important aspect about the Directory is that the files I have added about some of these women are based on requests for information that I have received on my blog. Usually, these requests come from people who need specific data or need to contact them for research purposes. I have received several requests for information on Soleida Rios. The number of CVs and bios I have received from Afro-Cuban women who have decided that they want to be included in the Directory is also surprising. I take it word has gotten out and that the very polemic term 'Afro-Cubana' is turning into something less frightening.\n\nIs this not also an archive of the work and the legacy of Afro-Cuban women? How is this database a form of activism?\n\nWell, it is cyber-activism, or better yet it is a form of cyber-feminism, meaning it departs from the consideration that there should be an environment online that is useful, pleasant and dignifying for women. A space free of violence, or harassment. The idea behind the Directory is the creation of a cyber-link in the shape of a cyber-community or a cyber-network, such is its practical contribution.\n\nIf internet access is hard to come by, or so irregular in Cuba, for whom was the directory created?\n\nThe Directory was created precisely for those who have irregular access to the internet in Cuba; especially, for the group Afrocubanas. It also exists in an offline version. What is most crucial about it is the circulation of updated, reliable information about these women, and that those who may need that type of information know where to find it." + } + ] +} \ No newline at end of file