diff --git "a/Cuba/2018/news_2018_11.json" "b/Cuba/2018/news_2018_11.json" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/Cuba/2018/news_2018_11.json" @@ -0,0 +1,4608 @@ +{ + "title": "News for Cuba from 2018-11-01 to 2018-11-30", + "totalResults": 100, + "headlines": [ + "How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export - Time Magazine", + "The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington - ProPublica", + "10 ways reforms to Cuba\u2019s Constitution would impact human rights - Amnesty International", + "Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba - WVU Today", + "Reporter's Notebook: Inside Cuba's 26th Havana International Ballet Festival - Pointe Magazine", + "IAEA Reviews Cuba\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework - International Atomic Energy Agency", + "MCA - Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba! - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)", + "Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference' - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty", + "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba : The Salt - NPR", + "Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years - NK News", + "What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship - The Conversation", + "The Cuba connection - Tulane University News", + "US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base - Havana Times", + "UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba - UN News", + "Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan - The Guardian", + "Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Cuba Is Pulling Doctors From Brazil After \u2018Derogatory\u2019 Comments by Bolsonaro (Published 2018) - The New York Times", + "Why the Cuban National Ballet School Is Expanding Its Focus - Pointe Magazine", + "Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them - The Guardian", + "Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War - Military Times", + "New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend - NBC News", + "Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba - Boston Magazine", + "Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution - Havana Times", + "Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home - The Christian Science Monitor", + "US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Carnival Radiance to Sail Line's First Cuba Cruises From NYC, Norfolk - Travel Agent Central", + "Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry - BBC", + "Is Cuba\u2019s Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy? - psmag.com", + "Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara - Havana Times", + "73 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the joint debate on: Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations (Item 122) and Revitalization of the General (Item 123). New York, 15 November 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "Che Guevara and Cuba\u2019s battle of ideas - People's World", + "Why Cuba Isn\u2019t Getting Much from Russia or China - The National Interest", + "Cuban Doctors Accuse International Agency of Profiting From Their Work (Published 2018) - The New York Times", + "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit - Reuters", + "Courier Special Report: Cuba\u2019s Open Secret\u2014A complex color bias rooted in colonialism continues to disadvantage those there with dark skin (by LaMont Jones Jr.) - New Pittsburgh Courier", + "Exploring Cuba - WCVB", + "Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN - UN Watch", + "Montclair, New Jersey, man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba - ABC7 New York", + "North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit - NK News", + "Russia close to granting Cuba 38 million euro loan to buy arms - Reuters", + "A Taste of Cuba - Towne Post Network -", + "Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island - La Moncloa", + "Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018 - Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services", + "Israel is again sole US backer as world urges end to Cuba blockade - The Times of Israel", + "China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn - \u65b0\u534e\u7f51", + "US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN - Havana Times", + "Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments - The Guardian", + "Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba - Montclair Local News", + "Cuba's Classic Restaurant - New Mexico Magazine", + "Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row - BBC", + "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - KERA News", + "When Georgia Shrimpers Hauled Cuban Refugees - Atlas Obscura", + "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - 90.5 WESA", + "A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba - Havana Times", + "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - WUNC News", + "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria Opens in Cuba - Luxury Travel Advisor", + "US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba - Havana Times", + "The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship - Dalhousie University", + "Chinese premier pledges Cuban investment to Diaz-Canel - upi.com", + "Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years - La Moncloa", + "73 UNGA: Statement by Ambassador Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, on item 119: \"Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade\". New York, 21 November 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "Another Russo-Cuban Honeymoon? - American Security Project", + "Pedro S\u00e1nchez conveys his government\"s commitment to Spanish investment in Cuba - La Moncloa", + "Government sides with Southwest, rejects American's Cuba idea - The Business Journals", + "Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues - EL PA\u00cdS English", + "Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists - Havana Times", + "Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products - Havana Times", + "UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba - Al Jazeera", + "In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left | US midterms 2018 - The Guardian", + "Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York - Travel Market Report", + "US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military - Havana Times", + "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Santa Maria Times", + "'McMafia' Producer Cuba Pictures Adapting Lesley Kara's 'The Rumour' - Deadline", + "High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva - worldathletics.org", + "Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution - Socialist Project", + "John Bolton takes Latin American \u2018troika of tyranny\u2019 to task - Atlantic Council", + "Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents - EL PA\u00cdS English", + "Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil - Havana Times", + "Cuban exile's fascinating art included in new Gilcrease exhibit | December-2018 - TulsaPeople Magazine", + "Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity - Scientific American", + "Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "U.S. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela - NBC News", + "2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez - Cigar Aficionado", + "Habanos Announces 2019 Festival Highlights - Cigar Aficionado", + "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit - Yahoo News Singapore", + "Leaders honor friendship with Cuba - China Daily", + "Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties - The Seattle Times", + "US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive - Global Issues.org", + "Cuba Gooding Jr. on Longines\u2019 \u2018Razzle Dazzle\u2019 (Published 2018) - The New York Times", + "The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones - Venezuelanalysis", + "Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case - BBC", + "Are energy weapons behind mystery injuries in Cuba? Unlikely, but they do exist: author - CBC", + "Thousands of Cuban doctors to leave Brazil after \u201cthreatening\u201d remarks by Bolsonaro - Peoples Dispatch", + "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Arizona Daily Star", + "The Skate Witches Shred Havana - VICE", + "Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president - news.cgtn.com" + ], + "articles": [ + { + "title": "How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export - Time Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export - Time Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYkFVX3lxTE5xZmFvajJ6Zk9CaHQyY001SHNGN3lHcE94T3NHUFhOVEZLcGVSc2pOZEh0Z0JEeWVqNkRyLWZIMEQxWUl1b1NPSTh1OG16QmhCWHJrWFZaMXI4dDJVakhzQ3JB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pointemagazine.com/inside-cubas-26th-international-havana-ballet-festival/", + "id": "CBMiYkFVX3lxTE5xZmFvajJ6Zk9CaHQyY001SHNGN3lHcE94T3NHUFhOVEZLcGVSc2pOZEh0Z0JEeWVqNkRyLWZIMEQxWUl1b1NPSTh1OG16QmhCWHJrWFZaMXI4dDJVakhzQ3JB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 30, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 334, + 0 + ], + "summary": "How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export  Time Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export  Time Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://time.com", + "title": "Time Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington - ProPublica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington - ProPublica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizwFBVV95cUxQNnRVcTFxOHBsNGN6ak1LeVZrZW5INzFtM1hlMThCS1Vfd2RVN2M5Nml4OEZoVVhDVGZqRGRhcXM4OGhXSGtzdTN6TXpFWXI1XzRONjY5UkM1MUI4MlFDRGkzQlBRLU1yc1dRYmZ6VUZnMzl1Ri1LUWM5RWdENXd6NmU2Y3JIbjhIRUNWcVFtazB4TFdNZXJlNFhaRVpyR19VcUFJOVpVM0hjVi1BaW1sRGlqMW00MVFud1lWOGh3YWZkNFNSYW5mdHA1MUJfbDg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://time.com/5467742/cuba-doctors-export-brazil/", + "id": "CBMizwFBVV95cUxQNnRVcTFxOHBsNGN6ak1LeVZrZW5INzFtM1hlMThCS1Vfd2RVN2M5Nml4OEZoVVhDVGZqRGRhcXM4OGhXSGtzdTN6TXpFWXI1XzRONjY5UkM1MUI4MlFDRGkzQlBRLU1yc1dRYmZ6VUZnMzl1Ri1LUWM5RWdENXd6NmU2Y3JIbjhIRUNWcVFtazB4TFdNZXJlNFhaRVpyR19VcUFJOVpVM0hjVi1BaW1sRGlqMW00MVFud1lWOGh3YWZkNFNSYW5mdHA1MUJfbDg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 313, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington  ProPublica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington  ProPublica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.propublica.org", + "title": "ProPublica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: How Doctors Became Cuba's Biggest Export\nauthor: Ciara Nugent\nurl: https://time.com/5467742/cuba-doctors-export-brazil/\nhostname: time.com\ndescription: The Communist country makes billions each year by sending its doctors abroad\nsitename: Time\ndate: 2018-11-30\ncategories: ['World']\n---\nThis week hundreds of Cuban doctors stationed in Brazil packed up their bags and went home, less than two weeks after their government in Havana ordered an end to their participation in the country\u2019s More Doctors program on Nov. 14.\n\nThe program, which bolsters healthcare provision in poor and rural communities, had fallen foul of an ideological rift between Cuba\u2019s communist government and Brazil\u2019s far right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro. Cuba said their decision was the result of \u201coffensive and threatening\u201d comments by Bolsonaro. He had called the doctors, who must send most of their salary to their Communist government, \u201cCuban slaves\u201d and said their presence in Brazil was \u201cfeeding the Cuban dictatorship.\u201d Around 1,300 of Brazil\u2019s 8,300 Cuban doctors have already left, according to a spokesman for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the U.N. agency which oversees the program.\n\nThe political spat was an unprecedented blow to Cuba\u2019s most lucrative export: not tobacco or sugar, but doctors. Leasing healthcare professionals to foreign governments brings in around $11 billion each year, making it a bigger source of revenue than the Caribbean island\u2019s tourism industry. There are currently some 50,000 Cuban doctors working across 67 countries, an \u201carmy of white coats\u201d, as Cuban officials call them. But how did Cuba, an isolated authoritarian regime that suffers regular shortages of basic goods, become a world leader in sought-after medical expertise?\n\n## Why does Cuba have such good healthcare?\n\nCuba\u2019s medical export business has its roots in the years immediately following the 1959 Revolution, when rebel leader Fidel Castro overthrew the rightwing dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and established a Communist regime.\n\nUniversal healthcare and free education were fundamental to Castro\u2019s project. \u201cThey were the two big investments of the revolution,\u201d says Mark Keller, a Cuba expert at the Economist Intelligence Unit. \u201cSo Cuba has a really well-educated population and a surfeit of doctors.\u201d Life expectancy on the island is higher than in the U.S. and Cubans have almost more than three times as many doctors per capita.\n\n## How do doctors serve Cuba\u2019s international interests?\n\nIn the Cold War years, Cuba began using its doctors as a diplomatic tool to overcome political isolation. In 1963, a year after Cuba was expelled from the Organisation of American States, it sent its first medical mission abroad to Algeria, with 56 Cubans replacing French doctors who had left the African country after it gained independence from France in 1962. The doctors helped cement a bond between the two revolutionary countries and they maintain close relations today.\n\nThe diplomatic benefits of sending doctors to developing countries still helps Cuba in international relations, Keller says. \u201cFor smaller African or Caribbean countries, who can\u2019t necessarily afford to pay for the doctors, it gets them on Cuba\u2019s side,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ll be more lenient towards Cuba when they\u2019re under international pressure from Europe and the United States [to oppose it].\u201d\n\nSending doctors abroad for humanitarian purposes is also great PR for the country. Cuban medics won praise in international media for their efficacy and commitment after Haiti\u2019s 2010 earthquake and during West Africa\u2019s 2014 Ebola crisis. That helps to put a palatable face on an authoritarian regime that fiercely represses dissent, restricts its citizens\u2019 rights to travel and carries out thousands of arbitrary detentions every year.\n\n**How does sending doctors abroad affect the Cuban economy? **\n\nToday, it\u2019s not all about altruism. \u201cWhen you have a very well educated population but also shortages of cash and goods, you want to find a way to monetize it,\u201d says Keller. A few years after Venezuela had its own socialist revolution in 1998, the two leftwing countries entered into a symbiotic relationship. Oil-rich Venezuela sends Cuba cash and subsidised oil shipments to the island in exchange for highly educated professionals, including not only doctors but also intelligence officials and sports trainers, Keller says. 21,700 Cuban professionals are still working in Venezuela, officials say, despite the massive economic and humanitarian crisis it has been suffering for the last five years.\n\nCuba\u2019s 2013 deal with then-president Dilma Roussef made Brazil Cuba\u2019s second-biggest customer. Brazil paid around $3,600 per doctor per month to the Cuban government, according to the Brazilian health ministry. With 8,300 doctors in Cuba before they were ordered home on Nov. 14, that\u2019s around $360 million each year.\n\nCuba has recently signed deals with Algeria, Kenya and Uganda to trade cash for doctors.\n\n## What\u2019s it like for the doctors?\n\nWhere Cuba gets badly needed cash and foreign countries get badly needed medical expertise, the doctors themselves have an equally clear incentive to work abroad. Cuba\u2019s monthly minimum wage is around $25, rising to around $50 for doctors. In Brazil, even with the Cuban government taking most of their salary, they were still getting about $1000 a month, a life-changing sum for their families, according to Keller. \u201cThere are consumer goods shortages that mean a lot of products are only available in dollar-only stores,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if you have a family member abroad who\u2019s earning dollars, you\u2019ll live a totally different life.\u201d\n\nThe working conditions for Cubans abroad, though, are not always easy. They are rarely welcomed by local doctors, who view the Cubans as a way for local authorities to avoid addressing fundamental problems and shortages in domestic healthcare systems.\n\nThe Cuban government keeps a tight grip on the doctors, too. In 2017, they tightened restrictions on doctors working in Brazil, banning them from taking Brazilian medical exams and compelling pregnant women to return home to Cuba after 22 weeks of pregnancy to prevent their children from being born in Brazil and getting Brazilian citizenship.\n\n## Are there any rumblings of dissent?\n\nNot all the doctors working abroad are happy with the arrangement. In 2017 some 150 of those in Brazil filed lawsuits in local courts challenging the agreement and attempting to break from the Cuban government to practice independently in Brazil. On Nov. 29 several more doctors filed claims against PAHO, arguing that the U.N. agency has made $73 million dollars off the Cubans\u2019 work and supported conditions that violate international laws on forced labor.\n\nAround 2,000 Cubans will stay on in Brazil in defiance of their government, a Brazilian diplomatic source told AFP. Keller says some Cubans could try to go to the U.S., which has been historically welcomed Cubans who turn their back on the regime.\n\nThe dispute with Bolsonaro is a reminder that ideology will always weigh heavily on Cuba\u2019s international relations, Keller says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just any old country. It runs a risk when it\u2019s dealing with a democratic country like Brazil that things will change.\u201d\n\nBut Keller says there has been little pushback outside of Brazil. And, with 67 countries on board, Cuba\u2019s doctors-for-export business isn\u2019t going anywhere. \u201cThis is a massive program,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the main things Cuba has to offer to the world.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "10 ways reforms to Cuba\u2019s Constitution would impact human rights - Amnesty International", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "10 ways reforms to Cuba\u2019s Constitution would impact human rights - Amnesty International" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi1wFBVV95cUxOY1NyV1lEZDhBWmNRSDU3bzhXdkVvalJPLWZJYUE5blg1ZDRjM1BnNjljWDdmLW1NUU9pRUN4VlJMY1d5RnVzRE1nV2RWODA0TEFfVDU1MDdlN1lBQU02akdRVnNRa0hBU3JEclQ5N1FUam1uNGg1Y3ZEMGtvQzh6bjEzSUNwYnFicHJIemt2R2FWeTN2QVYtZ2k2S3VxWDJMZzFRaWtxa1B5QWVJeXVranNFbG9remxkb1dKM2lTUmtIdDJKaUo5V0x5TkpGOERodWU0anVPcw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.propublica.org/article/the-strange-case-of-american-diplomats-in-cuba-as-the-mystery-deepens-so-do-divisions-in-washington", + "id": "CBMi1wFBVV95cUxOY1NyV1lEZDhBWmNRSDU3bzhXdkVvalJPLWZJYUE5blg1ZDRjM1BnNjljWDdmLW1NUU9pRUN4VlJMY1d5RnVzRE1nV2RWODA0TEFfVDU1MDdlN1lBQU02akdRVnNRa0hBU3JEclQ5N1FUam1uNGg1Y3ZEMGtvQzh6bjEzSUNwYnFicHJIemt2R2FWeTN2QVYtZ2k2S3VxWDJMZzFRaWtxa1B5QWVJeXVranNFbG9remxkb1dKM2lTUmtIdDJKaUo5V0x5TkpGOERodWU0anVPcw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "10 ways reforms to Cuba\u2019s Constitution would impact human rights  Amnesty International", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "10 ways reforms to Cuba\u2019s Constitution would impact human rights  Amnesty International" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.amnesty.org", + "title": "Amnesty International" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The Strange Case of American Diplomats in Cuba: As the Mystery Deepens, So Do Divisions in Washington\nauthor: Tim Golden; Sebastian Rotella\nurl: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-strange-case-of-american-diplomats-in-cuba-as-the-mystery-deepens-so-do-divisions-in-washington\nhostname: propublica.org\ndescription: Trump officials insist the Americans were attacked, even as the evidence fails to materialize. \u201cThe Cuba thing is one of the few unsolved mysteries we\u2019ve got,\u201d an official said.\nsitename: ProPublica\ndate: 2018-11-09\ncategories: ['Uncategorized']\ntags: ['lang:English,topic:Trump Administration']\nlicense: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0\n---\nOn the night of May 27, a young woman newly assigned to the United States Embassy in Havana heard a disturbing noise at her home in the city\u2019s Playa neighborhood. As she had been instructed, she telephoned an embassy security officer, who hurried over to investigate. He heard something, too.\n\nBoth embassy employees were soon medevaced out of Cuba. At the University of Pennsylvania medical school\u2019s Center for Brain Injury and Repair, they were diagnosed with concussionlike symptoms similar to those found in 2017 among 24 Americans and a smaller group of Canadians, all of whom had also served in Cuba.\n\nThe new Havana cases \u2014 along with what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the \u201cvery similar and entirely consistent\u201d medical problems of a young consular official in China \u2014 stoked fears that American envoys were now being targeted by a mysterious, high-tech enemy acting on a global scale.\n\nYet more than a year after the CIA secretly shut down its Havana station and the State Department withdrew most of its diplomats from Cuba in response to the incidents there, escalating a bitter new cold war between the two countries, U.S. investigators still have no clear idea who or what made the Americans sick.\n\nA sprawling investigation has enlisted law enforcement agents, intelligence officers and defense experts, as well as scientists and medical specialists from within and outside government. Analysts have combed through secret communications intercepts, and technologists have tried to reverse-engineer weapons that could produce the effects diplomats reported. Yet after more than 18 months of work, the investigators have been unable to answer basic questions about every major aspect of the case, many officials said.\n\n\u201cThe Cuba thing is one of the few unsolved mysteries we\u2019ve got,\u201d one U.S. national security official said. Referring to a legendary airline hijacker who vanished out of a plane over the Pacific Northwest in 1971, he added, \u201cThere\u2019s D.B. Cooper in the airplane, and there\u2019s this thing in Cuba.\u201d\n\nThe episode in Havana last May remains as unexplained as everything that came before it. When FBI agents inspected the young woman\u2019s home in early June, officials said, they found nothing to contradict the Cuban investigators who had traced the noise she reported to a faulty water pump. Nor could the agents reconcile that explanation with the findings of doctors who eventually linked her diagnosis to the earlier Havana cases.\n\nNew details of how the incidents unfolded and the government\u2019s response \u2014 gathered from dozens of interviews with former Havana diplomats, national security officials and others \u2014 suggest that key Trump administration officials locked on almost immediately to the belief that the diplomats were being attacked by some covert enemy. Their suspicions of Cuban involvement, stirred by early CIA assessments, then hardened even as questions about the Havana episode multiplied.\n\nThe Cuban government has vehemently denied having anything to do with the diplomats\u2019 injuries. Clinging to what remains of the Obama administration\u2019s historic rapprochement, Communist Party leader Ra\u00fal Castro and other Cuban officials have promised to help however they can. As tensions have escalated, however, Cuban officials have also demanded that Washington stop talking about \u201cattacks\u201d that it cannot prove.\n\n\u201cWe believe that everyone who complained of feeling sick was sick,\u201d said Dr. Mitchell Joseph Vald\u00e9s Sosa, a neurologist who led a delegation of Cuban scientists to Washington in September. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean they were brain damaged or attacked by a mysterious weapon.\u201d\n\nThe Trump administration\u2019s continued insistence that Americans were attacked has led to remarkable divisions within the government. In classified briefings, the CIA has pointed to both Cuba and Russia as likely suspects, possibly as part of an attempt to collect intelligence with antiquated or faulty equipment, officials said. The FBI has steadfastly refused to even use the term \u201cattacks,\u201d because its agents have yet to find evidence that the injuries were caused by hostile actors.\n\nThe White House, along with Cuban-American leaders in Congress, has only pounded harder at presumed Cuban involvement. Although some State Department and National Security Council staff aides pushed back against those claims last year, most of those officials have been replaced with others more in line with the administration\u2019s views, people familiar with the internal debate said.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s very important that somebody must be held accountable for what happened to our diplomats,\u201d the president\u2019s national security adviser, John Bolton, said during a visit to Miami last week. \u201cWe are not satisfied with the performance of the government of Cuba respecting their security, so we are going to take a very careful look at that and make some decisions.\u201d\n\nThe rift has also reverberated among the diplomats and spies who served at the U.S. Embassy in Havana when the incidents took place. Among the afflicted personnel, there seem to be few, if any, who are not convinced they were victims of an attack. Others, while sympathizing with their colleagues\u2019 suffering, suspect that the stress of service in Cuba or unrelated medical issues may have also played a role in some cases.\n\nThe symptoms of the Americans who served in Cuba are, by all accounts, real. Of some 150 U.S. diplomats, intelligence officers and family members who sought medical attention, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania later tested 10 men and 11 women and found them to have \u201cwidespread brain network dysfunction\u201d resulting in cognitive, balance and eye-movement problems.\n\nMost of the patients suffered from common problems like dizziness, fatigue and difficulties with recall or concentration. A smaller group had more unusual impairments, including three cases of partial, one-sided hearing loss. Although the severity of their symptoms varied widely, the Penn doctors saw a pattern like that of a mild traumatic brain injury, but with no sign of trauma \u2014 \u201ca concussion without a concussion,\u201d one called it.\n\nThe same pattern of symptoms was found in at least part of a group of 10 Canadian diplomats and family members who sought treatment at the Penn center after leaving Cuba last year, officials said. And State Department doctors also saw the same symptoms in the young commercial attach\u00e9 in China whose case was cited by Pompeo. (Of an additional 15 U.S. consular employees who were subsequently flown from China for evaluation, 14 of them were found not to have a similar condition, while one of those cases remains unclear, a State Department spokesman said.)\n\nBut from the moment last February that the Penn doctors published their study of the Havana cohort in the Journal of the American Medical Association, questions have been raised about other possible causes \u2014 and whether a State Department-led task force established by Pompeo is doing enough to explore them.\n\nAmong the alternative explanations being considered by the medical team is whether some of the patients might have suffered a functional neurologic disorder, possibly triggered by trauma or stress, which could impair their balance, movement, vision or other areas.\n\n\u201cThese are very common symptoms in any neurological clinic,\u201d said Jon Stone, a neurologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. \u201cAnd, given how common they are, why are we hearing hoofbeats and thinking about zebras? They are talking about the possibility of weapons that no one has ever heard of. But what is the most plausible thing?\u201d\n\nAt the end of December 2016 \u2014 little more than a month after Donald Trump was elected with a promise to end Barack Obama\u2019s opening to Cuba and weeks after the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro \u2014 a CIA officer in his 30s went into the medical clinic at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The officer, who worked under diplomatic cover, told the nurse he was feeling sick after hearing a strange, high-pitched noise in his home at night, officials said.\n\nTwo other CIA employees soon reported having had similar experiences and also feeling ill. Some described something like a beam of sound, pointed into their rooms, sometimes accompanied by an undulating pressure. Some officials reported that the noise stopped when a door was opened.\n\nBoth CIA officers and senior diplomats in Havana suspected low-level harassment by the Cuban security forces, something like the tit-for-tat provocations in which both sides had engaged during the Cold War. Diplomats had said that kind of behavior generally faded away during Obama\u2019s normalization of diplomatic relations, beginning in 2014. But one official said that during the latter part of 2016, there had been some unsubtle intrusions into the homes of embassy personnel while they were away. A same-sex embassy couple also reported having been taunted with anti-gay slurs, including what appeared to be derogatory words scrawled on their sport utility vehicle. (It was unclear whether those incidents had anything to do with the Cuban security forces.)\n\nThe suspicious fact that CIA officers seemed to have been struck first and disproportionately by the strange sounds and illnesses \u2014 at least four people connected to the small Havana station reported symptoms, as well as a CIA employee who came to the island on temporary duty later on \u2014 led agency officials to assume that the incidents were some kind of harassment or electronic-monitoring effort directed at intelligence officers, officials said.\n\nBased on the agency\u2019s theory that the officers had possibly been hit by some kind of sonic weapon, government doctors turned to an ear, nose and throat specialist at the University of Miami\u2019s Miller School of Medicine who had previously treated brain-injured soldiers in Iraq as a Navy physician.\n\nDr. Michael Hoffer reaffirmed the CIA\u2019s initial suspicions, officials said, finding that the diplomats had suffered inner-ear damage, apparently from an external force. \u201cI thought they were being targeted,\u201d he said recently. \u201cI still believe they were being targeted.\u201d\n\nHoffer noted dizziness in 23 of 25 patients and hearing loss in eight of them, despite not having baseline tests of their hearing. (He reported that only six patients, or 24 percent, suffered from headaches, which he later interpreted as tilting against a diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury.)\n\nBack in Havana, senior U.S. diplomats belatedly disclosed the incidents to the diplomatic staff in late March 2017, leaving many of them upset that information about a possible danger to their families had been withheld. Embassy personnel were advised to be on guard for any strange sounds, and to move quickly away \u2014 \u201cget off the X,\u201d as the security officials put it \u2014 if they heard anything.\n\nIn the weeks that followed, more than 130 embassy employees and their family members sought medical attention, out of a community that included only about 53 diplomats, some of whom were single or unaccompanied. Of those, 35 were flown to Miami for further evaluation.\n\nAlthough Hoffer has contended that his diagnoses were more \u201cpure,\u201d in that they were undistorted by media attention that began in August 2017, diplomats who served in Havana at the time said there was widespread concern about the dangers, and an almost palpable fear among a smaller group of the embassy staff.\n\n\u201cCuba is considered a high-threat, high-stress post,\u201d one official who served in the embassy said. \u201cBefore we go to Cuba, it is drilled into our heads: There will be surveillance. There will be listening devices in your house, probably in your car. Assume they are always watching. For some people, that puts them in a high-stress mentality, in a threat-anticipation mode.\u201d\n\nThe pace of the reported incidents and positive diagnoses picked up in April and May of 2017, as the embassy staff crowded into a secure conference room for frequent updates on the situation.\n\nOne diplomat who had been hearing what he thought were insects in his garden listened to an intelligence officer\u2019s tape recording of the suspect noise and felt sure it was the same sound. Both the diplomat and his wife, who had not previously felt ill but were under unusual stress, were diagnosed in Miami as having been affected, officials said.\n\nSoon thereafter, the same diplomat warned his Havana neighbor, a Canadian diplomat who had also been hearing the cicadalike noise in his garden at night. That diplomat and his family then left Cuba as well. It was later confirmed that a member of that diplomat\u2019s family was the first of the 10 Canadian cases that would be diagnosed.\n\nBy contrast to the State Department, the Canadian Foreign Ministry took a skeptical approach, avoiding any discussion of attacks and emphasizing that it had no reason to suspect Cuban involvement. But, after returning to Canada, some of those who had reported feeling ill (including two children) sought treatment on their own at the University of Pennsylvania. Although only two of the Canadians had said they heard anything like the strange noises reported by the American diplomats, some of the 10 were found to have similar symptoms, officials said. Thereafter, Canada stopped sending families to Havana and joined the U.S. task force as an observer.\n\nAt the U.S. Embassy, diplomats began to report a variety of sometimes frightening experiences: At least two patients heard long, shrill sounds in their garden for hours at a stretch. An experienced, middle-aged official thought she was suffering migraine headaches after a strange incident in her home, which was followed by a painful sensitivity to light. A younger diplomat was suddenly hit with a high-pitched, undulating noise that almost seemed to paralyze him as he lay in bed on a high floor of a busy Havana hotel, the Capri, in a room overlooking the sea. A government doctor on temporary duty in Cuba then reported a similar incident in the same hotel.\n\nTwo more incidents took place in August at the iconic, government-owned Hotel Nacional, as the CIA was closing down its station. In between, some diplomats reported feeling ill despite not having heard any noises at all. Of the 21 patients evaluated at Penn, 12 said they felt an odd sensation of pressure or vibration before their symptoms began. But Hoffer said in a recent presentation that he had seen some two dozen patients who thought they had been affected but were instead classified as among the \u201cworried well.\u201d\n\nThose who did become sick represented a fairly wide cross-section of the staff, from older women who had suffered past medical problems to at least three younger, athletic men. (The average age of the male patients was 39, the women, 47.) An experienced security officer assigned to deal with the problem was also among those affected, officials said.\n\nWithin weeks, it began to emerge that the diplomats\u2019 symptoms did not follow the typical pattern for mild concussions. Rather than being most pronounced after the initial injury and then receding over a few weeks or months, their cognitive and balance symptoms often began to appear days after the presumed exposure, and sometimes grew worse weeks or months later.\n\nWith sometimes conflicting information from different doctors, the State Department\u2019s medical bureau has determined which diplomats are \u201cmedically confirmed\u201d as having been injured. Several of those affected complained that the bureau seemed especially concerned with getting them off of medevac status after they left Havana, which required the department to pay per diem expenses. The diplomats also complained that the department was slow to arrange further medical help.\n\n\u201cWhen people requested more advanced or more appropriate reviews, they were rebuffed and told, \u2019This is our policy,\u2019\u201d one official said. \u201cThey were very inflexible.\u201d\n\nThe State Department\u2019s chief medical officer, Charles Rosenfarb, said his office only began looking for brain-injury specialists after determining that the diplomats\u2019 problems were \u201cprobably not localized to the acoustic system.\u201d According to the University of Pennsylvania study, the doctors there completed their examinations of the Cuba patients an average of 203 days, or nearly seven months, after they were first exposed. (A recent State Department accountability review said the medical bureau responded to the situation in a \u201ccompetent and professional\u201d way.)\n\nOver the course of 2017, CIA officials made the case for a probable attack in interagency meetings, briefings for other U.S. officials and briefings for foreign intelligence officials, often pointing to the Cuban security forces as suspects and sometimes suggesting possible Russian involvement as well.\n\n\u201cThey asserted that this was an attack and that some new weapon had been used, a weapon they had not been able to identify yet,\u201d said a European intelligence official who was briefed on the matter last year. \u201cThey also alleged the involvement of the Cubans, which doesn\u2019t make sense to me at all. The CIA also suggested that the Russians could have been involved. I know the Russians well and know what they are capable of \u2014 we have plenty of experience with them \u2014 but what I saw didn\u2019t persuade me. They just didn\u2019t have much of a case.\u201d\n\nPompeo, who was then the CIA director, was less skeptical, officials said. Stirred by the anger of some CIA officers and their fear of a continuing threat, Pompeo decided not to wait for further clarity. Although Cuba was still a hub of intelligence activity by Russia, North Korea and Venezuela, the work of the agency\u2019s dwindling team in Havana was a considerably lower priority than it had once been. As the health incidents unfolded, the station\u2019s acting chief was a young and inexperienced operative on his first posting abroad.\n\nBefore midsummer, Pompeo ordered the Havana station shut down and its officers brought home. The logistically complex move was kept secret. But it reverberated powerfully in the broader U.S. policy toward Cuba, which had already begun to shift.\n\nIn May, seeing the hand of the Cuban security services, the Trump administration expelled two Cuban diplomats who were thought to be intelligence officers working undercover. A few weeks later, the White House announced the first of several moves to roll back parts of the Obama administration\u2019s opening and re-tighten travel and other restrictions.\n\nAs then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson considered options in the weeks that followed, he decided that if the CIA could not protect its spies, his diplomats were at least as vulnerable, officials said. Although more than 30 of the embassy\u2019s diplomats and spouses signed a letter asking to be allowed to remain in Havana, he went ahead with drastic staffing cuts, which became permanent shortly before Tillerson was fired in March.\n\nThe State Department\u2019s pullout left just a skeleton staff on the island: From about 53 diplomats, the number dropped initially to fewer than a dozen before levelling off at about 15. The administration also forced Cuba to send home all but eight of the roughly 25 diplomats it had previously stationed to Washington.\n\nMore recently, the Trump administration has moved from warning American travelers to a full-throated return to the rhetoric of the Cold War. In his Miami speech just before the midterm elections (with three Cuban-American Republicans running for House seats from South Florida) Bolton railed at a \u201cTroika of Tyranny\u201d and a \u201ctriangle of terror\u201d between Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.\n\nAt an important moment of political transition in Cuba, with President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel taking over from Ra\u00fal Castro last April, U.S. intelligence reporting from the island has declined, officials said. The restrictions have also created hardships for Cubans who have long been of special concern to Cuban-American groups in the United States.\n\nDiplomats at the understaffed U.S. Embassy have had to scale back contacts with Cuban human rights activists, independent journalists and others, officials said, even as more hawkish officials under Bolton and Pompeo have challenged Cuban human rights policies more aggressively from Washington and at the United Nations.\n\n\u201cThere used to be an official who had daily direct contact with us,\u201d a prominent dissident, Marta Beatriz Roque, said in a telephone interview from Havana. \u201cNow they are all doing multiple jobs. It is like a baseball team where they have to play pitcher, catcher, everything.\u201d\n\nA decline in the flow of American tourists to Cuba has hurt small, family run restaurants and people who rent their apartments to tourists, often on Cuba\u2019s growing Airbnb service. Cuban small businesses, which had been a priority for U.S. consular officials, have also been hampered by their proprietors\u2019 inability to travel to the United States for supplies, a new report by the Congressional Research Service noted.\n\nMost significantly, the elimination of all but emergency consular services at the U.S. Embassy has led to a dramatic decline in the number of visas issued to Cubans who wish to travel to visit relatives or move permanently to the United States.\n\nUnder a 1994 agreement that ended a flood of Cuban rafters into the Florida Straits, Washington promised to allow at least 20,000 Cuban immigrants into the United States each year, in addition to those sought by close relatives who are U.S. citizens. (The average number of Cubans admitted to the United States over the first 20 years of the agreement was more than 32,000 annually.) Through the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, only 3,195 Cubans received immigrant visas, official figures show.\n\nAsked if the Trump administration would do anything to address the U.S. failure to uphold the migration accord, a State Department spokesman said the agency is still offering visa interviews to Cubans \u2014 but only if they can afford a trip to the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana. Cubans and Cuban-Americans have complained bitterly that the arrangement is an often-insurmountable obstacle for people whose average government wage is little more than $30 a month.\n\nThe U.S. Embassy in Havana has stopped accepting refugee applications entirely. After admitting at least 177 Cubans as refugees in the 2017 fiscal year, the United States did not admit any in the first 10 months of this year. (Of about 54,400 Cubans who became lawful permanent residents of the United States in 2015, 88 percent were classified as refugees.)\n\n\u201cIt has been a terrible mistake to reduce the personnel in the embassy,\u201d said Francisco Hernandez, the president of the Cuban American National Foundation, the lobbying group that long dominated Cuban-American politics in Washington and Miami and has historically aligned with Republicans. \u201cFor what? They say they still don\u2019t know what happened. What we have to do is open up our resources and our support for civil society in Cuba. If those people start to disappear, forget it.\u201d\n\nSen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who has pushed for the Trump administration\u2019s confrontational policies toward Cuba and supported the diplomats\u2019 withdrawal, declined through a spokeswoman to address questions about the negative impact of the pullout on Cuban activists, small businesspeople and his own Cuban-American constituents.\n\nSince Pompeo replaced Tillerson at the State Department in April, officials said, he has taken a much more active stance on the Havana mystery, establishing the task force and strengthening the investigation. The wider effort has brought in further resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, among others.\n\nTechnologists from the Department of Defense and other agencies have also stepped up efforts to try to determine what kind of previously unknown weapon could have caused the injuries that the diplomats and spies have suffered in Havana. So far, however, those efforts have been unsuccessful.\n\nEarlier this year, officials said, some scientists made a case for microwave radiation as a possible explanation. Russia had experimented with the technology for decades, going back to the Soviets\u2019 use of microwave energy to conduct surveillance on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow starting in the 1950s. It is also known to be capable of producing the sensation of sound as part of what is called the Frey effect.\n\nBut other scientists are highly skeptical of the microwave hypothesis. In part, this is because many consider the dangers of low-level, regular microwave exposure from sources like communications towers to be unproven. Officials said the microwave theory has also been discounted by experts who believe microwaves intense enough to damage the brain would have to burn other tissues.\n\nSome scientists have suggested electromagnetic-pulse technology, or pulse radiofrequency, or lasers as possible causes. Others have argued that ultrasound or infrasound could have been the \u201cmechanism of injury.\u201d But holes have been poked in all of those theories, officials said, because the physical circumstances of the Havana incidents would have made those technologies difficult to deploy. In a still-classified report prepared late last year, the FBI discounted the possibility that a sonic weapon had been used, officials said.\n\nInvestigators are continuing to examine whether the diplomats were hurt by malfunctioning electronic-surveillance technology that could have been used by the Cuban security forces. So far, however, no evidence of any such device or technology has been uncovered in searches of the Americans\u2019 Havana homes, officials said.\n\nAs the list of possibilities dwindles, another question echoes: Is it plausible that a foreign power could secretly develop a weapon so new that American scientists cannot even identify it \u2014 and then deploy it covertly and repeatedly, in a highly monitored environment like Havana \u2014 and leave no trace at all?\n\nJames Giordano a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center, was recruited by the State Department to try to help determine from the diplomats\u2019 injuries what technology might have been used against them. Giordano acknowledged that it remains unclear even where the primary injury to the patients was located.\n\n\u201cIt could be something happening in the brain,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be something happening in the inner ear. Or both. It may or may not disrupt the tissues. That makes it really difficult to say, \u2018There\u2019s the proverbial bullet hole and there\u2019s the smoking gun.\u2019\u201d\n\nGiordano, who has studied so-called neuroweapons, said he thought the most likely technological suspect was some form of electromagnetic pulsing or hypersonic energy. Such a device could be shrunk to about the size of a thermostat, he said, but would probably work only within a single room, even if multiple devices were deployed simultaneously to enhance the effect.\n\nSome weapons experts have proposed similar scenarios. But officials familiar with the investigation cautioned that those theories must be tested against the physical circumstances mapped out by the FBI: The walls and windows that a weapon would have had to penetrate, the closely watched streets that would have had to be transited, the neighbors who apparently did not hear the loud, piercing sounds.\n\nIn Giordano\u2019s hypothesis of a miniaturized pulsing device, adversaries would have had to enter single-family homes or hotel rooms in some of the most heavily policed sections of Havana, the capital of what is generally considered a police state. If they removed the devices before they could be found, they would have had to enter each location at least twice.\n\nSuch a scenario struck current and former intelligence officials as far-fetched. In interviews, those officials questioned whether Russian intelligence operatives, for example, would have the motivation or skill to repeatedly target Americans in Havana without leaving any trail.\n\nRussia\u2019s desire to undercut U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere, and its long-standing presence on the island, has made it a suspect among U.S. officials from the beginning. As Washington has scaled back its presence in Cuba, Russia has also moved to expand its economic and security relationship with the island. Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted D\u00edaz-Canel for an official visit last week, promising loans to purchase Russian weapons and ever-stronger strategic ties.\n\nStill, Russia would seem to have little reason to monitor the activities of relatively low-level American spies and diplomats in Cuba, former intelligence officials said, and would not likely take the risk of serious, gratuitous attacks on American personnel.\n\n\u201cIf they\u2019re doing it, it has to have an espionage purpose,\u201d said the CIA\u2019s former deputy chief of Russian operations, John Sipher. \u201cThe Russians are incredibly brazen, incredibly relentless. But I\u2019m not aware of them doing operations that are just designed to harm Americans.\u201d\n\nNational security officials said that despite an extensive search through signals intelligence and other means, they have yet to turn up any information that clearly implicates the Russians, even circumstantially. Several officials specifically disputed the accuracy of a recent news report asserting that secret intercepts of electronic communications had shown the Russians to be \u201cthe main suspect\u201d in the Cuba incidents.\n\nAlthough FBI teams have visited Cuba at least six times, their investigation on the ground in Havana has been constrained, officials said. In many cases, agents were only able to see homes, apartments or hotel rooms in which the diplomats were struck long after the fact. Some U.S. officials also said the Cuban government has so far failed to turn over some video surveillance footage the FBI has requested from areas where some of the diplomats lived. For the most part, FBI officials have emphasized the Cuban government\u2019s cooperation with their inquiry. The FBI declined to comment for this article.\n\nThe Trump administration\u2019s sharpening criticism of Cuba has contrasted with Pompeo\u2019s praise of the Chinese government\u2019s response to the problem at the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou. A State Department spokesman would not explain the discrepancy, or specify what actions Cuba had failed to take at Washington\u2019s request to protect U.S. personnel.\n\nOne case in which the FBI was relatively quick to survey the site of an incident was that of the young woman who heard a noise at her Havana home in late May. Even then, bureau agents were not on the island at the time but arrived about a week later. Officials said the agents found nothing to contradict the Cuban authorities\u2019 conclusion about a loud water pump, and one official said they appeared skeptical that any sort of attack had taken place, notwithstanding the woman\u2019s subsequent diagnosis.\n\nSimilarly, FBI agents have been unable to find any further link between the Havana cases and the experience of a 31-year-old commercial attach\u00e9 in Guangzhou, Catherine Werner, who fell ill in the fall of 2017, amid a flurry of news reports about sonic \u201cattacks\u201d in Cuba. The woman\u2019s case is the only one from China that has been linked by State Department doctors to the diplomats in Havana.\n\n\u201cAs time passes, I\u2019ve got to ask: What\u2019s a more logical explanation?\u201d said one official who was previously convinced that diplomatic colleagues had been attacked. \u201cI don\u2019t deny they had symptoms. But, I have to ask: What does the phased onset of symptoms mean as time goes on? Is it really repercussions of an attack? Are you replaying it in your head, and psychological and stress factors are kicking in?\u201d\n\nThose who have been afflicted have strongly (and sometimes angrily) rejected any notion that psychological factors might be part of the medical equation. \u201cMost people believe they were targeted,\u201d one of the diplomats said. \u201cIf you ask the Canadians, they would say they were targeted, too.\u201d\n\nFor months, the State Department vacillated on the matter of whether to describe what happened as \u201cattacks\u201d on the diplomats. CIA officials who initially argued that their colleagues had been deliberately targeted, have backed away from that claim more recently, officials said.\n\nBut the Trump administration\u2019s public stance has only hardened. Since taking over the State Department, Pompeo has unequivocally described the incidents as attacks and other State officials have quickly fallen into line. The National Security Council staff, which now has a committed opponent of the Cuban regime, Mauricio Claver-Carone, as its senior Latin America policy official, has also ratcheted up the rhetoric, officials said.\n\n### Read More\n\nWhile some outside specialists have raised questions about whether the diplomats could be victims of some kind of mass psychogenic illness, or \u201cmass hysteria,\u201d doctors who have evaluated the patients or reviewed their records discount that possibility.\n\nOver the last several months, some officials have raised questions about the continuing difficulties of some of the Havana patients, including several who said they thought they had been surreptitiously monitored or even followed since returning to the United States. FBI agents have dutifully investigated the alleged incidents, but have been unable to corroborate any of them, officials said.\n\nSome medical specialists have also wondered whether some diplomats might have suffered a functional neurological disorder \u2014 a disruption of the central nervous system, often triggered by illness or trauma, that can affect the functioning of an organ system even when there is no structural damage. Such disorders include irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. But they can also affect balance and cognition in ways that resemble the difficulties of some of the Havana group.\n\nOne syndrome raised in response to the Penn doctors\u2019 February report is a functional disorder called persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, or PPPD. That condition, known by the shorthand 3P-D, is characterized by dizziness, vertigo and other neurological impairments. It can be set off by physical trauma, a panic attack or even chronic anxiety.\n\nMedical experts including Stone, the University of Edinburgh neurologist, said PPPD would not encompass some of the symptoms reported by the Havana patients, such as headaches, problems with recall or sleep disturbances. But he said the condition can commonly occur alongside migraine headaches or cognitive problems.\n\nFor months, some of the stricken Havana diplomats felt their condition was not taken as seriously as it should have been amid then-Secretary Tillerson\u2019s chaotic reorganization of the department. The State Department\u2019s administrative and medical bureaucracy was slow to find them further treatment after their Miami assessments, grant them needed leave and even cover their medical bills, officials said.\n\nAs they grew more concerned, some of the Havana patients took matters into their own hands. Early on, they enlisted representatives of the foreign-service officers union to advocate for them with the department. Some have also met with Cuban-American and other members of Congress, who have been vocal in their defense. Some patients also hired a lawyer to represent them.\n\nRegardless of how the investigation unfolds, that constellation of forces is likely to give the stricken diplomats some influence over how any conclusions about what happened in Havana. Already, the State Department leadership has been dismissive of the idea that psychological factors could have been part of the medical equation.\n\n\u201cAny suggestion that this is some sort of mass hysteria is simply counterfactual, and the medical community \u2014 every doctor I\u2019ve spoken to about this \u2014 is unanimous,\u201d the deputy secretary of state, John Sullivan, assured some Cuba patients on a conference call last month that was first reported by NBC News. \u201cIt\u2019s real. It happened. And that\u2019s the set of facts.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba - WVU Today", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba - WVU Today" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxPalBNSHFyMmE0UjRnRVFZUUxGNlBDeGFEVnI5cGRJVVlBZTJrc2dObjBvVmZKbTVKM1ZwcVRRMEhpZjRSa01GVTdyRl9Sb0pzdk9JUjh2ZlNqU3NtcDg4WU5BV3F4VnpaRXcyZ3JZajBqM2hsSHRRdHlidE1YeEZoRnBtTjU2X2pod2t4NHFNOXhoa00?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/diez-formas-en-que-la-reforma-de-la-constitucion-de-cuba-repercutira-en-los-derechos-humanos/", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxPalBNSHFyMmE0UjRnRVFZUUxGNlBDeGFEVnI5cGRJVVlBZTJrc2dObjBvVmZKbTVKM1ZwcVRRMEhpZjRSa01GVTdyRl9Sb0pzdk9JUjh2ZlNqU3NtcDg4WU5BV3F4VnpaRXcyZ3JZajBqM2hsSHRRdHlidE1YeEZoRnBtTjU2X2pod2t4NHFNOXhoa00", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 16, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 320, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba  WVU Today", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba  WVU Today" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://wvutoday.wvu.edu", + "title": "WVU Today" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Reporter's Notebook: Inside Cuba's 26th Havana International Ballet Festival - Pointe Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Reporter's Notebook: Inside Cuba's 26th Havana International Ballet Festival - Pointe Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiigFBVV95cUxPWHprZ2ZSVjBZbDFFdVhKSThxNkZQOVBqNGhFYVlhZlFUVWhKbVJWb21BRFNnc2xsd05CQTVCb0VBUFZwdWNXX29feHhsRnJVSVR3M1VSX3R6LVFlNnJLd2dFUzRFcmdHVGZaTk5UUk0xdVpxU1RQU0gxdHR6YThlR3pkTEZ3aFRVZXc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://mcachicago.org/publications/blog/2018/estamos-aqui-en-cuba", + "id": "CBMiigFBVV95cUxPWHprZ2ZSVjBZbDFFdVhKSThxNkZQOVBqNGhFYVlhZlFUVWhKbVJWb21BRFNnc2xsd05CQTVCb0VBUFZwdWNXX29feHhsRnJVSVR3M1VSX3R6LVFlNnJLd2dFUzRFcmdHVGZaTk5UUk0xdVpxU1RQU0gxdHR6YThlR3pkTEZ3aFRVZXc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 15, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 319, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Reporter's Notebook: Inside Cuba's 26th Havana International Ballet Festival  Pointe Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Reporter's Notebook: Inside Cuba's 26th Havana International Ballet Festival  Pointe Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pointemagazine.com", + "title": "Pointe Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba!\ndescription: by Krystal Ortiz\ndate: 2018-11-30\n---\n# Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba!\n\n### Krystal Ortiz\n\n## Intro Photo\n\n## Intro Text\n\nIn advance of today\u2019s talk with Los Frikis, a group of punks in Cuba who intentionally seroconverted to HIV+ during the country\u2019s \u201cSpecial Period,\u201d Krystal Ortiz recounts her experience traveling to Cuba to learn more about the group and meet some of its members, Yohandra Corvoso and her husband Gerson Govea, through a brief travelogue.\n\nOrtiz is an advisory board member of QUEER, ILL + OKAY, an annual experimental performance series that creates brave new narratives about living with HIV and other forms of mental and chronic illness.\n\n## Travelogue Text\n\n11/20/2018\n\nMy friend Reuben and I are in Cuba to meet Gerson and Yohandra to learn more about the history of Los Frikis from their perspective. They are some of the only survivors left from the group of punk rockers who seroconverted in an attempt to live a better life in Cuba\u2019s government-sanctioned sanatoriums for patients with HIV.\n\nEarlier this week while we were staying in Havana, we called Gerson to confirm our plans for our interview in Pinar del Rio. When we called, he just so happened to be in Havana at the same time. Luckily we were able to meet up in person to introduce ourselves and make the plans! As we were walking to the capitol building where we decided to meet, I kept turning to Reuben and making nervous grimaces over how I was about meeting Gerson. I had read so many interviews and watched videos of him and Yohandra\u2014even been in contact with him through Facebook. But here I was minutes away from actually meeting him!\n\nI was so eager to make a good impression and elated to actually talk to him face to face. When we got there, his face lit up as he recognized me from my photos on Facebook\u2014although he quickly told me that I looked very different from my photos online and that he was not expecting me to be so young. After a brief conversation with him and a friend of his, we waited for a car to take him back to Pinar del Rio. He instantly became one of my favorite people. We got to know each other a little bit, shared some laughs, and made plans to meet in Pinar del Rio a couple of days later.\n\n## Conclusion text\n\n11/22/2018\n\nToday we are in La Conchita, a very small town in Pinar del Rio which houses the old sanatorium and where Gerson and Yohandra live. Last night we spent most of the evening at their house, further getting to know each other before the interview this afternoon. They are some of the coolest and most down-to-earth people I have ever met\u2014extremely easy to talk to, even with my shortcomings in communicating in Spanish.\n\nI can\u2019t wait to ask them all of my specific questions later today about their experience in the 80s and 90s leading up to their diagnosis, as well as life afterwards in the sanatorium. I am still in some disbelief that I am actually here, fulfilling what I imagined could only ever be a fantasy of meeting them. I am so grateful and beyond elated to be here." + }, + { + "title": "IAEA Reviews Cuba\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework - International Atomic Energy Agency", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "IAEA Reviews Cuba\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework - International Atomic Energy Agency" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirgFBVV95cUxNZDRlZ2d3NEdyNF9hU1Y1d0h2YXY4S2hlaFcwU19HQ2lnTHQ3UG01SDdWOEVkOWZONEo3UjdxcllqU1ZXb3BzbmRIRGxNNzZPRmNHekVUTUVTZTFwOU85ZlZ1bmdTelJCaGxBaDhWYU52aUUzc1RlSEdCdWlPVWdLbjdMaXJqY1M1UFlLeVhNaEhjaUZSZWVTNUZHRlNnWXpacUlGVkJ0MGRSVmkzS0E?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-reviews-cubas-emergency-preparedness-and-response-framework", + "id": "CBMirgFBVV95cUxNZDRlZ2d3NEdyNF9hU1Y1d0h2YXY4S2hlaFcwU19HQ2lnTHQ3UG01SDdWOEVkOWZONEo3UjdxcllqU1ZXb3BzbmRIRGxNNzZPRmNHekVUTUVTZTFwOU85ZlZ1bmdTelJCaGxBaDhWYU52aUUzc1RlSEdCdWlPVWdLbjdMaXJqY1M1UFlLeVhNaEhjaUZSZWVTNUZHRlNnWXpacUlGVkJ0MGRSVmkzS0E", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 30, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 334, + 0 + ], + "summary": "IAEA Reviews Cuba\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework  International Atomic Energy Agency", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "IAEA Reviews Cuba\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework  International Atomic Energy Agency" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.iaea.org", + "title": "International Atomic Energy Agency" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "MCA - Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba! - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "MCA - Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba! - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidEFVX3lxTE1rNlducTFrbE5PNkRzQU5wNGhQTEZERXFxR0poRzItLUR4NzJ4TFY2eFM5Q0NZYXBvcVVwN0x3Qkx1RzdRZlhqM29YQ1FaaHNqOEdWTkFOaFZDa3JadmxhaDJLMHlpelRjN2RxSHpiajBscGNl?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2018/11/16/beneath-the-surface-wvu-students-cave-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMidEFVX3lxTE1rNlducTFrbE5PNkRzQU5wNGhQTEZERXFxR0poRzItLUR4NzJ4TFY2eFM5Q0NZYXBvcVVwN0x3Qkx1RzdRZlhqM29YQ1FaaHNqOEdWTkFOaFZDa3JadmxhaDJLMHlpelRjN2RxSHpiajBscGNl", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 30, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 334, + 0 + ], + "summary": "MCA - Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba!  Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "MCA - Los Frikis: \u00a1Estamos aqui en Cuba!  Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://mcachicago.org", + "title": "Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: WVU Today | Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba\nurl: https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2018/11/16/beneath-the-surface-wvu-students-cave-in-cuba\nhostname: wvutoday.wvu.edu\ndescription: Maria Perez, an assistant professor of geography in West Virginia University\u2019s Department of Geology and Geography, led members of the student caving club, WVU Student Grotto, on a new study abroad trip to Cuba in May. The students traveled as part of Perez\u2019s National Science Foundation-funded field study to examine how and why Cuban and U.S. cave explorers and scientists, or speleologists, collaborate under tense political climates.\nsitename: WVU Today\ndate: 2018-11-16\n---\nIn Cuba, more than 65 percent of the archipelago of islands is karst, a landscape that is characterized by numerous caves, sinkholes, fissures and underground streams.\n\nThese caves are rich in biology, archeology and history and played an important role in the interactions between American and Cuban scientists during the Cold War and in the years following.\n\nMaria Perez, an assistant professor of geography in West Virginia University\u2019s Department of Geology and Geography, led members of the student caving club, WVU Student Grotto, on a new study abroad trip to Cuba in May.\n\nThe students traveled as part of Perez\u2019s National Science Foundation-funded field study to examine how and why Cuban and U.S. cave explorers and scientists, or speleologists, collaborate under tense political climates.\n\n\u201cMy future research and work with students aims to explore ways of doing science in a more inclusive, respectful and productive manner for everyone involved, regardless of the geopolitics between the two nations,\u201d Perez said.\n\nHistorically, caves in Cuba have been used for many purposes: as places of ritual for indigenous communities, places for escaped slaves to seek protection and as strategic locations for the military.\n\nIn Havana, the students stayed at the Cuban Speleological Society headquarters, where they met with students and the SEC president, practiced rope techniques with Cuban caving students and explored two caves.\n\n\u201cGetting to finally apply something that had been limited strictly to the classroom surely improved my ability to perform in a professional environment,\u201d said Shawn Hogbin, a senior political science and multidisciplinary studies student and chair of WVU Student Grotto. \u201cThis trip was a crash course in how to work as a member of a large team when many of the other members are coming from diverse backgrounds.\u201d\n\nThe group also spent time exploring the above-ground beauty of Cuba\u2019s landscape. Students hiked the Pan de Guajaib\u00f3n, the highest peak in western Cuba, and stayed in a rural community with a family who had been supporting cave exploration for years.\n\n\u201cIn Cuba, we stayed with a low-income family for a period of time,\u201d said alumna Emily Neely (BA Political Science and Philosophy, 2018), a first-year student in the WVU College of Law. \u201cInteracting with this family gave me insight into their daily struggles and motivated me even more to help people in West Virginia who face similar struggles.\u201d\n\nThe social, political and historical impacts of Cuban caves on their natural heritage have made cave exploration and preservation important to not just scientists, but to the general public of Cuba as well.\n\n\u201cAll of these aspects have come together and have made caves in Cuba very prominent. There are a lot of people dedicated to their study, their conservation and their exploration, and many of them aren\u2019t scientists,\u201d said Perez. \u201cThey are people who just really love to explore, and they have done extraordinary work in terms of the identification and conservation of the natural heritage of Cuba.\u201d\n\nDespite strong political tensions and the U.S. embargo on Cuba, Perez\u2019s research has shown that U.S. speleologists have always been eager to put politics aside and collaborate with Cuban speleologists.\n\n\u201cIt is my hope that the students will value for the rest of their lives the fact that there are strong traditions of cave science and exploration in other countries,\u201d Perez said. \u201cI hope that they have become aware of the extraordinary traditions of caving, the importance of respecting the caves and karsts of other countries and trying to find ways of establishing truly collaborative projects. I hope that they can carry that to the future.\u201d\n\n**-WVU-**\n\nom/11/15/18\n\nCONTACT: Katlin Swisher, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences\n\n304.293.9264; Katlin.Swisher@mail.wvu.edu\n\nFollow @WVUToday on Twitter." + }, + { + "title": "Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference' - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference' - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxNNldCbW1tdEM1RzBSU2J6WDRreGhFSm9LakhsQ0phelBGa1l4SHFMSGxQUkRxNzRaZnRBODlULS1icW5nVVluQ3kxUWhkOUFNRmFPMVc3Mk5DbnE2TVQyeEYxN2FISmRRU0RDU19sNTI5X0ZRVkVwazF6dVhDM3MxZGVsWHB6RFZBb0c2cFlEOUlLaXRReEVQX1NWbVpnMTlxYUc2aVROY2wwZ9IBrAFBVV95cUxQdWx6X1FYZU5YeDYteGw0NHdHMXF1TkNHdHJEeURaQ0dpQW1nSnJ6ajVRemd1OEpBdk9raXZZZW4ySkVHNExmRXZDWjYwR3pvVzk2cXc0bmdwNjQ1OWFHX1hoY2tNSW9yNlNkUHpaTHRWUEpXZlZMQ1FWcHN3NEFUdkFOWUExb0dwMDd2SHBHRkE4UzBTR3d5UHRnYmgwU1Bzd1dRTTZKLWg1Y3o0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/14/661814847/mexicos-endangered-stingless-bees-mysteriously-find-a-sweeter-home-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxNNldCbW1tdEM1RzBSU2J6WDRreGhFSm9LakhsQ0phelBGa1l4SHFMSGxQUkRxNzRaZnRBODlULS1icW5nVVluQ3kxUWhkOUFNRmFPMVc3Mk5DbnE2TVQyeEYxN2FISmRRU0RDU19sNTI5X0ZRVkVwazF6dVhDM3MxZGVsWHB6RFZBb0c2cFlEOUlLaXRReEVQX1NWbVpnMTlxYUc2aVROY2wwZ9IBrAFBVV95cUxQdWx6X1FYZU5YeDYteGw0NHdHMXF1TkNHdHJEeURaQ0dpQW1nSnJ6ajVRemd1OEpBdk9raXZZZW4ySkVHNExmRXZDWjYwR3pvVzk2cXc0bmdwNjQ1OWFHX1hoY2tNSW9yNlNkUHpaTHRWUEpXZlZMQ1FWcHN3NEFUdkFOWUExb0dwMDd2SHBHRkE4UzBTR3d5UHRnYmgwU1Bzd1dRTTZKLWg1Y3o0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference'  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference'  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.rferl.org", + "title": "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba\nauthor: Sadie Witkowski\nurl: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/14/661814847/mexicos-endangered-stingless-bees-mysteriously-find-a-sweeter-home-in-cuba\nhostname: npr.org\ndescription: The bee, cultivated and revered by the Maya for thousands of years, is leaving its shrinking habitat for the Caribbean island, which uses its small-batch citrus-flavored honey mostly in pharmacies.\nsitename: NPR\ndate: 2018-11-14\ntags: ['Cuba', 'bees', 'honey', 'mayan', 'beekeepers']\n---\n# Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba\n\nA rare, stingless bee cultivated by the Maya more than 3,000 years ago may be going extinct in its natural Yucatan Peninsula habitat in Mexico, but a mysterious relocation to Cuba may save its future.\n\nA combination of hurricanes, pesticides and logging is leading to the decline of these unique bees, called *Melipona beecheii*.\n\n*Melipona* nest in odd-looking log hives in large, hollowed-out trees. When the hives are removed from the trees for cultivation, they are called *jobones*. The bees have small colonies and don't form honeycombs.\n\n\"They don't have frames or vertical comb,\" says evolutionary ecologist David Roubik the \"bee man\" of the Smithsonian Institution. Instead, \"They have storage pots that are squished and left to drain into some basin.\" Although the bees do not sting, they will bite to protect their hives.\n\nBut the biggest difference between *Melipona* and European honeybees is the honey they produce. Roubik describes it as having more of a citrus flavor than commercial honey, with a longer aftertaste.\n\n\"It's much tastier honey,\" says Drexel University entomologist Meghan Barrett. \"It's runnier. It's more floral. It's very delicious, but [there are] much smaller amounts of it, so you need a lot more bees.\"\n\nThe native peoples of the Yucatan practiced bee husbandry for thousands of years. *Melipona* honey was the primary sweetener in food. Only the arrival of sugarcane, brought by Europeans in the 16th century, supplanted the culinary use of honey. Sugarcane is faster and easier to grow than tending *jobones*, and produces a much larger yield.\n\nSteve Buchmann, a pollination ecologist at the University of Arizona, says that the stingless bee only produces about one to two liters of honey per hive a year (compared to about 70 liters from a typical honeybee), but that small volume can be worth about $30 a liter, if not more.\n\nThe honey is now rarely used as a sweetener; its primary use is actually medicinal. Buchmann says, \"It's used somehow to aid childbirth. And it's also used to help with the treatment of cataracts in the eye.\" Roubik acknowledges there are other homoeopathic uses. \"Many people know and use its honey as 'medicine' mostly for sore throat or asthma. [The honey is] part placebo, part really an aid for skin irritation and bacteria,\" he says.\n\nThe ancient Maya also honored the *Melipona* in religious ceremonies. A priest would preside over the harvesting of honey twice per year. There are a few beekeepers left today who still observe the ancient religious practices, but a more comprehensive record of the bee's religious importance can be found in the Madrid Codex, one of only three verified remaining codices made by the ancient Mayans around 1,100 years ago. A surprising proportion of the codex depicts beekeeping methods and the Mayan bee god, Ah Mucen Kab.\n\n\"He's a deity often figured as holding a cluster of something that look like grapes in his hand,\" says Buchmann. \"And those are the adhering honey pots, just like you find when you open a nest or a managed colony of the bees.\"\n\nA shrinking habitat usually spells the end for a niche species like *Melipona, *and the ancient practice of Mayan beekeeping is also fading away.\n\n\"A lot of the beekeepers [in Mexico] are aging males and as they die off or choose not to pass it along to their children or relatives, the art of Mayan bee craft dies off,\" Buchmann says.\n\nBut a seaward voyage might prove to be the *Melipona's* saving grace.\n\nScientists still aren't sure when the bees arrived in Cuba or how they got there. In fact, Barrett recently visited the Caribbean island to lay the groundwork for future research. She's trying to answer these questions of origin as well as study the DNA of the *Melipona*. Working with veterinary professor Jose Machado at Cuba's University of Cienfuegos, Barrett is advising a student how to set up hives for agriculture research while working on getting permits to collect the DNA samples necessary for her genetic research.\n\nBarrett says raising stingless bees in Cuba is about as common as hobbyist beekeeping in the United States. But instead of selling the honey in regular stores, Cuban beekeepers generally sell it to pharmacies or neighbors.\n\nInterest in *Melipona* has grown so much on the island that in 2017, the Cuban Society of Beekeepers altered its name to the Cuban Society of Beekeepers and Meliponiculturists as a way to demonstrate the importance of the *Melipona* to the island.\n\nIt's not just cultivated populations of *Melipona* that are thriving either. A recent article found that Cuba also has the largest populations of *Melipona* in the wild.\n\nBarrett tells the story of her sole day off while visiting Cuba. \"We're just sitting on the beach and all of the sudden this *Melipona* bee lands on my hand. And I'm like, 'What? This is my day off! I'm not supposed to be seeing any of these.'\"\n\nBarrett says it's interesting to think about how the relocation of the bees is sort of a successful conservation effort. \"You're conserving them, just not in their natural zone,\" she says.\n\nAnd thanks to Cuban beekeepers, you may be able to taste *Melipona* honey sooner than you think.\n\n*Sadie Witkowski is a PhD Candidate at Northwestern University in Chicago. You can find more of her science writing here or follow her on Twitter: @sadiewit.*" + }, + { + "title": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba : The Salt - NPR", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba : The Salt - NPR" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxNclJkZzhPZkRUTlRFc2dRQlFXQ3BpZk9MQksycGlnT0puY0duTzlQMzk1ZUVQTGZ0b0FwTFVhRFdkZkJtMVFjalBYS3JUUm9BVk44Y2xJUlhZTm9IdUpwZDZOS0pubDUxSXNnTmQ1ajBSVUQ0bTdvT0VpUzFxbUR0OFl4YTFsWVVYVm9hbHdERUdrNFJBb2dnMW5kNjhtQlFic2V5R2Z6QjJGMWNDRHVoLXVlekhxcENDd3VhaFdTMUljMlNncklzUmdfUzg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-cuban-president-vow-to-bolster-ties-denounce-u-s-interference-/29579666.html", + "id": "CBMizAFBVV95cUxNclJkZzhPZkRUTlRFc2dRQlFXQ3BpZk9MQksycGlnT0puY0duTzlQMzk1ZUVQTGZ0b0FwTFVhRFdkZkJtMVFjalBYS3JUUm9BVk44Y2xJUlhZTm9IdUpwZDZOS0pubDUxSXNnTmQ1ajBSVUQ0bTdvT0VpUzFxbUR0OFl4YTFsWVVYVm9hbHdERUdrNFJBb2dnMW5kNjhtQlFic2V5R2Z6QjJGMWNDRHVoLXVlekhxcENDd3VhaFdTMUljMlNncklzUmdfUzg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba : The Salt  NPR", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba : The Salt  NPR" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.npr.org", + "title": "NPR" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Putin, Cuban President Vow To Bolster Ties, Denounce U.S. 'Interference'\nurl: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-cuban-president-vow-to-bolster-ties-denounce-u-s-interference-/29579666.html\nhostname: rferl.org\ndescription: The presidents of Russia and Cuba have vowed to strengthen political, economic, and military ties and denounced what they called U.S. \"interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations.\"\nsitename: RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty\ndate: 2018-11-02\ncategories: ['Russia']\ntags: ['News, Russia']\n---\nThe presidents of Russia and Cuba have vowed to strengthen political, economic, and military ties and denounced what they called U.S. \"interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations.\"\n\nIn a joint statement following talks in Moscow on November 2, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Russia's Vladimir Putin also called for closer integration between Moscow and Latin American nations.\n\nThe visit comes at a time of heightened tensions for both nations with the United States.\n\nU.S. officials continue to assail Havana for its alleged human rights violations, while Moscow and Washington have several contentious issues between them -- including accusations, denied by Moscow, of Russian interference in U.S. elections, Moscow's aggressive actions in Ukraine, and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.\n\nDiaz-Canel invited Putin to visit Cuba in 2019. He has twice traveled there, in 2000 and 2014, as part of efforts to revive relations with the communist island nation.\n\nIn a news conference, Diaz-Canel said that \"we are going to develop trade and economic ties\" and raise them to a high level, citing joint projects in energy, transportation, metals, and biotechnology.\n\nRussian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters that Moscow was close to agreeing to a 38 million euro loan for Cuba to help it buy Russian-made arms. He said the accord could be finalized within two weeks.\n\nDuring the Cold War, Moscow provided billions of dollars in aid and subsidies to bolster the government of Fidel Castro, a fierce rival of the United States.\n\nBut support was slashed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when Russia was no longer able to provide financial assistance." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years - NK News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years - NK News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipgFBVV95cUxOSlZFMXFldGNzM1ZQZVBLb0ZlQW9jdmlmOVdUZ3BKS2tfa25BaHg4UVQyemNXN2VKaXUwdnFkclhFbGgzYWo2XzFrbFozbGMybkIwU0xyUDhLMi04aV8wSE9NVk9Fb3JUWlcxWndlWEdkSlpaWWdfYm9vYVJfN0l4dzA0b2szUDBiOUwzanY5UmtVSjFGOEo5XzRqMGFlQ0NaZWZYN3d3?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nknews.org/2018/11/cuba-north-korea-reaffirm-historic-ties-at-first-summit-in-thirty-years/", + "id": "CBMipgFBVV95cUxOSlZFMXFldGNzM1ZQZVBLb0ZlQW9jdmlmOVdUZ3BKS2tfa25BaHg4UVQyemNXN2VKaXUwdnFkclhFbGgzYWo2XzFrbFozbGMybkIwU0xyUDhLMi04aV8wSE9NVk9Fb3JUWlcxWndlWEdkSlpaWWdfYm9vYVJfN0l4dzA0b2szUDBiOUwzanY5UmtVSjFGOEo5XzRqMGFlQ0NaZWZYN3d3", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 4, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 308, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years  NK News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years  NK News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nknews.org", + "title": "NK News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty years | NK News\nauthor: Oliver Hotham\nurl: https://www.nknews.org/2018/11/cuba-north-korea-reaffirm-historic-ties-at-first-summit-in-thirty-years/\nhostname: nknews.org\ndescription: Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday for the first state visit by a Cuban leader to North Korea in over thirty years, joining the country\u2019s leader Kim Jong Un in condemning the \u201cimperialists\u2019 policy of aggression,\u201d DPRK state media reported on Monday. Kim greeted D\u00edaz-Canel at Pyongyang International Airport with a ceremonial [\u2026]\nsitename: NK News - North Korea News\ndate: 2018-11-05\ncategories: ['News']\ntags: ['Aviation', 'Business', 'Companies', 'Culture', 'Cyber', 'Defector Issues', 'Economy', 'Foreign Relations', 'History', 'Human Security / Human Rights', 'Inter-Korean', 'Leadership', 'Military Affairs', 'Misc.', 'Missiles', 'Sanctions', 'Shipping', 'Trade Data', 'WMD']\n---\n|\nNews ## Cuba, North Korea reaffirm historic ties at first summit in thirty yearsDPRK state media hails two nations' \"special friendship\" and \"joint struggle\" against imperialism Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday for the first state visit by a Cuban leader to North Korea in over thirty years, joining the country\u2019s leader Kim Jong Un in condemning the \u201cimperialists' policy of aggression,\u201d DPRK state media reported on Monday. Kim greeted D\u00edaz-Canel at Pyongyang International Airport with a ceremonial welcome, which included a surprising backdrop of painted portraits of the two leaders \u2013 a first for the Kim Jong Un era. \u00a9 Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |" + }, + { + "title": "What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship - The Conversation", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship - The Conversation" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFBVV95cUxQWE52X1dKdEppZHk1c2dIR2F1Y3Y4a09pRFpsamZpckhjaVd3Rno3emdzR3h0dlJxNFVmd0RGMGlhMjJXSmlucGZzTVQ4QW1qaFlGNzA2X1pha1ZsMGxHUDhabUFOeTUtQzFyWWJsVS1NWjZHX3lVZzRKMmlrcm5rM2FCd3pZQ2ExQmdIaFVSc0hpZjdtT1VGVWFtdG0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://theconversation.com/what-about-the-kids-the-worrisome-cuba-north-korea-friendship-106510", + "id": "CBMinAFBVV95cUxQWE52X1dKdEppZHk1c2dIR2F1Y3Y4a09pRFpsamZpckhjaVd3Rno3emdzR3h0dlJxNFVmd0RGMGlhMjJXSmlucGZzTVQ4QW1qaFlGNzA2X1pha1ZsMGxHUDhabUFOeTUtQzFyWWJsVS1NWjZHX3lVZzRKMmlrcm5rM2FCd3pZQ2ExQmdIaFVSc0hpZjdtT1VGVWFtdG0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 19, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 323, + 0 + ], + "summary": "What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship  The Conversation", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship  The Conversation" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://theconversation.com", + "title": "The Conversation" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba-North Korea friendship\nauthor: Peter Steele; Robert Huish\nurl: http://theconversation.com/what-about-the-kids-the-worrisome-cuba-north-korea-friendship-106510\nhostname: theconversation.com\ndescription: The new friendship between North Korea and Cuba is puzzling. The two countries should share values as socialist republics, but their brands of socialism are worlds apart when it comes to children.\nsitename: The Conversation\ndate: 2018-11-19\n---\nKim Jong Un, North Korea\u2019s tyrannical leader, recently \u201creaffirmed historic ties\u201d with Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba\u2019s president.\n\nDiplomacy between Cuba and North Korea is odd. Late Cuban president Fidel Castro only once visited Kim Il Sung, North Korea\u2019s eternal leader, in 1986.\n\nWhile he spoke highly of some aspects of the regime, Kim\u2019s cult of personality, for Castro, went too far. He saw the forced worship of Kim Il Sung as smacking of Stalinist brutality, not socialist progress.\n\nThe friendship between Kim and Diaz-Canel is worrisome. While U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201ccasino diplomacy\u201d with Kim Jong Un came as a result of an escalating security crisis, Cuba and North Korea are supposed to share values as socialist republics. And yet their brands of socialism are worlds apart.\n\n*\nRead more:\nCasino Diplomacy: The Trump game that everyone loses\n*\n\nOne profound difference is how they treat their children.\n\nIn Cuba, children are the most valued and protected members of society. Access to food, health, education, stable families and even culture, sport and play are venerated foundations of Cuban society.\n\nIn North Korea, children face an Orwellian nightmare. North Korea is in a league of its own when it comes to the abuse of children.\n\nSo much divergence calls into question how the Cubans can maintain solidarity with a country that abhors Cuba\u2019s core values.\n\n## Belittling, intimidating kids\n\nThe Korean Children\u2019s Union, a mandatory union for children aged nine to 15, is not designed to nurture or inspire its members through friendship, camaraderie or duty. It is meant to belittle, to intimidate and to instil the belief that the supreme leader is all-powerful.\n\nIt rigorously instructs children that to be an individual is meaningless. No child is unique. Each one is just like the other. Replaceable, disposable and ultimately worthless.\n\nDon\u2019t be fooled by photos of Kim Jong Un smiling arm and arm with ecstatic children. Childhood in North Korea is rife with hunger, fear and abuse.\n\nFrom the testimony of numerous defectors, we know that children are taught by the government to love the supreme leader more than their own parents. Mom and Dad are responsible for the basics, but it is the leader who provides in every way. Sound like a cult? It is.\n\nJuche is North Korea\u2019s official ideology meant to drive the nation towards true socialism. It demands obedience, submission and designated struggle for the benefit of the nation. It creates a deranged cult of personality of the Kims to convince children not to think for themselves, but to think \u201cthrough the leader.\u201d\n\nIt begins with nursery rhymes. Many give fawning praise and boisterous credence to Kim Il Sung, the eternal leader of North Korea, along with his direct descendants Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un. Yet other songs are chock-full of lyrics about killing \u201cJapanese dogs\u201d and dismembering \u201cAmerican bastards.\u201d\n\n## The worship of one man\n\nIn their earliest days of song and speech, children learn to worship one man, prepare for revenge against the country\u2019s enemies and abandon the sanctity of childhood \u2014 all through a barrage of violence and vulgarity.\n\nFor those deemed \u201cwavering\u201d or \u201chostile\u201d by the North Korean government, which categorizes citizens based on political loyalty, the psychological abuse intensifies.\n\nWhile still forced to show audacious affection to the Dear Leader, teachers and police remind children that their only value in life will be service to the leader through exhausting work.\n\nFor the lowest rungs of society, childhood turns to horror. Food is minimal and malnutrition rampant. Stories emerge of roving children near the Chinese border who, abandoned by their parents, live a roaming existence in collectives in search of food and warmth.\n\nOne child was found crossing the Chinese border in the middle of winter with terrible burns to his bare feet. Trying to stay warm, he knocked over a kerosene lamp that ignited his shoes. Such are the brutal sacrifices of young people, shunned by their nation and forgotten by the world.\n\nDefector testimony presented to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses in North Korea include stories of male and female political prisoners, some with no previous contact, forced into conjugal visits while in captivity.\n\nNorth Korea demands three generations of punishment for those hostile to the regime. If a child is born into this plight, they will live a life starved and physically worked to absolute exhaustion in the camps.\n\n## Robbed of humanity\n\nNorth Korea\u2019s abuse is systematic, with dangerous implications for enduring trauma at the very genesis of childhood. Weaponizing youth through mandatory juvenile conscription goes beyond violating international edicts. It robs its children of humanity.\n\nIt is not done by accident, nor by consequence of a catastrophic event. Dehumanizing compatriots, including children, is a carefully scripted policy. Bureaucrats engineer it, soldiers implement it, and Kim Jong Un oversees it with impunity.\n\nNorth Korea militarizes children through conformity, intimidation and degradation.\n\nMeanwhile, Cuba is committed to ensuring the rich experiences of childhood. Diplomatic protocol aside, for Cuba to hold hands with the leader of a nation that denigrates children to such levels is repugnant.\n\nThe Korean Children\u2019s Union, and other tenets of Juche, must be dismantled if North Korea is to enter the global community. North Korea\u2019s closest allies, including Cuba, have a role in making sure that happens." + }, + { + "title": "The Cuba connection - Tulane University News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Cuba connection - Tulane University News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiV0FVX3lxTE1MZVJnWVA2SGg0X1ZUTWtFNlQ5bVBhNzZSQ2ItNVMtTDE1V0doTW9NcGpHQ2hxTUFkdEw1OG5QZkdtWEJoaFRfWXRqZERnMW55dWhZME9JSQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/us-studies-invasion-of-banana-rats-at-its-guantanamo-cuba-base/", + "id": "CBMiV0FVX3lxTE1MZVJnWVA2SGg0X1ZUTWtFNlQ5bVBhNzZSQ2ItNVMtTDE1V0doTW9NcGpHQ2hxTUFkdEw1OG5QZkdtWEJoaFRfWXRqZERnMW55dWhZME9JSQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Cuba connection  Tulane University News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Cuba connection  Tulane University News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://news.tulane.edu", + "title": "Tulane University News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/us-studies-invasion-of-banana-rats-at-its-guantanamo-cuba-base/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The US Department of Defense has given US $97,102 to Texas A&M AgriLife Research to study the Cuban hutia at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba. Hutias are called banana rats because their bodily waste resembles little bananas. And the creatures are big \u2013 the size of small dogs. They can grow nearly two feet long and weigh up to 19 pounds.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-06\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base\n\n**By Tracey Eaton ***(Cuba Money Project)*\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 The US Department of Defense has given US $97,102 to Texas A&M AgriLife Research to study the Cuban hutia at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba.\n\nHutias are called banana rats because their bodily waste resembles little bananas. And the creatures are big \u2013 the size of small dogs. They can grow nearly two feet long and weigh up to 19 pounds.\n\nSome Cubans eat them. They are \u201coften cooked in a large pot with wild nuts and honey,\u201d according to Wikipedia.\n\nCubans overhunted hutias during the economic crisis of the 1990s, according to a 2017 paper called \u201cThe Last Survivors: current status and conservation of the non-volant land mammals of the insular Caribbean.\u201d\n\n**The study said:**\n\n*Indiscriminate hunting in this period led to extirpation of some formerly abundant subpopulations such as the Najasa sub-population (Sierra de Chorillo, Camaguey Province). This was considered to be the densest hutia subpopulation in Cuba with an estimated 100,000 individuals in 1989\u20131990 but was rapidly eliminated\u2026 No animals were detected during a survey in 2002, and locals reported that hutias disappeared several years earlier.*\n\n*The species is partly terrestrial, so may be vulnerable to predation by feral dogs. Subpopulations on Cayo Blanco, Cayo Mono, and neighboring islets in Matanzas Province have been extirpated by dogs brought by fishermen to hunt hutias and then abandoned on the islands.*\n\nHutias found a refuge at Gitmo, according to a 2002 paper called \u201cAssessment of Potential Cuban Hutia Management at U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.\u201d\n\nMost kinds of hutias in the Caribbean were \u201crare or extinct,\u201d but banana rats were \u201cvery common\u201d at Gitmo, the paper said, and that was a problem.\n\n*Conflicts with humans include damage to landscaping, gnawing through cables, damage to vehicles, and the accumulation of large amounts of feces in residential areas. *\n\nThe Defense Department wants Texas A&M to carry out \u201ca population estimation methodology and spatial ecology assessment for the Cuban hutia\u201d at the Naval Base.\n\nThe DOD awarded the grant in September.\n\nOther non-native species at the base include \u201cferal cats and dogs, chickens, goats, white-tailed deer, guinea fowl, and pigeons.\u201d\n\n**The study said:**\n\n*The Cuban hutia is primarily nocturnal, spending the days in trees, inside hollowed-out tree trunks, in dense grass, in rocky areas, or underground in natural openings. They forage on a variety of plant parts (bark, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit) of many species and may consume lizards. Presumably, they do not require free water. The chief predators of hutia are humans, large birds of prey, boas, and introduced dogs and cats. The Cuban crocodile may have been a significant predator of hutia, but that species is now very rare in Cuba. Hutia may feed on the bark that they strip from trees and may feed in gardens, but are not considered an agricultural pest, perhaps because of their rareness throughout most of Cuba.*\n\nSome people report they\u2019ve purchased banana rat plush toys at the Naval Base. Here\u2019s one on eBay that had a starting bid of $12.50.\n\nWhen authors of the study went to the Naval Base they found hutia everywhere \u2013 \u201cocean cliffs, mud flats, grasslands, forest, and residential areas\u201d on both sides of Gitmo.\n\n**The study said:**\n\n*The animals were observed \u2018resting\u2019 in trees during the day and foraging on the ground at night. Their signs (tracks, droppings, and incisor marks on trees) were visible just about everywhere. They appear to live in extended family groups of 10 or more individuals (adults and young of both sexes).\nCulling operations (conducted from a pick-up truck mostly at night with .22-caliber rifles and spotlights) were used to collect specimens for necropsy. Necropsies were performed on 57 hutia.\nAll animals appeared healthy and no external or internal parasites were noted. A few animals were missing a portion of their tails.\nTwenty-two of 26 adult females (84.6%) were pregnant, averaging 1.7 embryos per pregnant female.*\n\n**Getting rid of the animals isn\u2019t easy, the study said.**\n\n*Kill traps probably could not be used on the ground without significant hazard to non-target species such as land crabs, boas, birds, and lizards, including the Cuban ground iguana.\nPhysical barriers are being used to a limited extent to reduce hutia problems. Hutia are capable climbers, which makes effective barriers more difficult to devise. On the other hand, we do not know how well hutia can dig; a few simple trials with captive hutia could provide that information.\n\u2026 Current policy calls for all live-trapped hutia to be euthanized to avoid \u201cmoving the problem elsewhere\u201d \u2013 a common problem with relocation.\nThere has been discussion about donating captured hutia to the Cuban people to restore populations of this mammal, which is rare in other parts of its range.\nStudies should be conducted to determine how to make this efficient and humane\u2026*\n\nBanana rat diplomacy. That would be a first.\n\n\nErnie Rossi and Tom Siegfried hunted and named the Banana rats with bow and arrow from 1964 til 1965.\n\nWe rented a boat from the base rec center, went across the bay and looked for the rats in the tops of the Mango trees near the Gitmo river .\n\nWe would site one, turn the boat around and opened it up and crashed into the mangroves, climbed to the tops of the trees and shot them, many times it took 5-6 arrows to kill them and sometimes they attacked.\n\nOne rainy day by the small pier near the air base I saw one on the ground taking a dump so I shot him, when I picked him up, I looked at his turds and they looked like miniature bananas. We never knew their genetic names so from that day forward, we called them banana rats!\n\nIn those days, everyone knew us because we hunted, fished, spear fished and scuba dived every inch of Gitmo waters!\n\nThat\u2019s why even after all these years, they are still called banana rats!\n\nIf you want to get rid of them, just give Tom and Ernie a call, will kill every rat on the frickin base!\n\nBTW we sold them to the Cubans and Jamaican civilian\u2019s working on the base for .25 cents.\n\nBanana rats were command on the base in the early \u201970\u2019s They were there in 72 when I was stationed at the Barracks, which no longer exists. They were still there when I left in 73. They sat at about 3 foot high.\n\nCubans resorted to eating these rodents during the Special Period? Ugh! I did not know that. Good to know the next time one of my Cuban buddies complains to me about \u201ckeeping track of his macros\u201d." + }, + { + "title": "US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMinAFBVV95cUxOczJZcVZ4VlotRFVuc2RDZHFCOXhfd3pldDVDb3VoUDctZDR1MktnNnVOc25GRlZTX05OY2lMb3VDVHFyenFVNVc5Ny14dGJ4UUdwSGpXVmVvR3dKNVdhN1ZURF9nOXBlNFJFWWFVLUpQTnJzUjgzVkw0UnpHUFNIRnM4VGhqbHJQRkoyYnpOVXpCNHdZelA2TU84WUw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://news.tulane.edu/news/cuba-connection", + "id": "CBMinAFBVV95cUxOczJZcVZ4VlotRFVuc2RDZHFCOXhfd3pldDVDb3VoUDctZDR1MktnNnVOc25GRlZTX05OY2lMb3VDVHFyenFVNVc5Ny14dGJ4UUdwSGpXVmVvR3dKNVdhN1ZURF9nOXBlNFJFWWFVLUpQTnJzUjgzVkw0UnpHUFNIRnM4VGhqbHJQRkoyYnpOVXpCNHdZelA2TU84WUw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 5, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 309, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Studies Invasion of Banana Rats at its Guantanamo, Cuba Base  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba - UN News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba - UN News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiV0FVX3lxTE5NcHptbURBS1EtclFycTVkSjRHMXR4QmJxN0JpNXg2Y1c3N3BzMG9PTXBKV09DZXBLRE9SUDJhRmtoNkZtU0FqNmg0YlhidFY2WjNxMzFEMA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1024672", + "id": "CBMiV0FVX3lxTE5NcHptbURBS1EtclFycTVkSjRHMXR4QmJxN0JpNXg2Y1c3N3BzMG9PTXBKV09DZXBLRE9SUDJhRmtoNkZtU0FqNmg0YlhidFY2WjNxMzFEMA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba  UN News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba  UN News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://news.un.org", + "title": "UN News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba\nauthor: UN Photo; Evan Schneider\nurl: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1024672\nhostname: news.un.org\ndescription: The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favour of condemning the United States economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba - a call it has made every year since 1992.\nsitename: UN News\ndate: 2018-11-01\n---\n# UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba\n\n# UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba\n\nThe United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favour of condemning the United States economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba - a call it has made every year since 1992.\n\nA total of 189 UN Member States voted in favour, with Israel and the US voting against the resolution, urging all States to \u201crefrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures\u201d which among other things, in the case of the embargo, interfere with the freedom of trade and navigation. There were no abstentions.\n\nThe Assembly called upon States \u201cthat have and continue to apply such laws and measures to take the steps necessary to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible.\u201d\n\nThrough the resolution, the General Assembly also decided to include the agenda item entitled \u201cNecessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,\u201d in the provisional agenda of next year\u2019s session.\n\nThe vote on the resolution is unenforceable, but the Cuban-sponsored resolution shines a spotlight on the relative isolation of the US regarding the embargo, which was first imposed in 1960, when former leader Fidel Castro came to power, following the revolution.\n\nSpeaking ahead of the vote, Cuba\u2019s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla outlined the impact of the embargo on Cubans, especially due to restrictions on lifesaving medicines. \u201cIncalculable human damage has been caused by the blockade, which is qualified as an act of genocide\u201d he said, referring to the convention on the prevention of genocide. \u201cIt is also a violation of International Humanitarian Law, if it were a conflict,\u201d he said.\n\nBefore the resolution was adopted, eight amendments, relating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), human rights and rule of law, proposed by the US, failed to pass (see here for voting details).\n\nIntroducing the amendments, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that the draft resolution \u201cchanges nothing\u201d in terms of addressing the problems faced by Cuban citizens. \u201cThe United States will continue to stand with the Cuban people, until their rights and freedoms are restored. We won\u2019t back down,\u201d she said.\n\nMember States who spoke on the resolution over two days, overwhelmingly called on the US to end the embargo and other punitive measures against Cuba.\n\nNational representatives said that the nearly six\u2011decades\u2011long blockade imposed on the Caribbean island by Washington impeded its right to development and its ability to participate fully in the global economy. They also urged the US to heed the Assembly\u2019s repeated calls to lift its restrictive policies." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan - The Guardian", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan - The Guardian" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiigFBVV95cUxNdXFnZjlYd3dHNUxDdmJHY2JEWlRyU3k3ZG0tWVllM0lZcTVxd09EOTlnR3ZCUlBVeTNac0hiRFp6aHVIMkFjaHhkWDBTZDdZbjFWRWIzNEphek4yQnBQNElJYmRJRUR1TjB2S3Q0ZmpYTkZuX2RwUWVWby1jMXlTOFM1bGdDdVVZSXc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/nov/24/campervan-tour-cuba-havana-trinidad", + "id": "CBMiigFBVV95cUxNdXFnZjlYd3dHNUxDdmJHY2JEWlRyU3k3ZG0tWVllM0lZcTVxd09EOTlnR3ZCUlBVeTNac0hiRFp6aHVIMkFjaHhkWDBTZDdZbjFWRWIzNEphek4yQnBQNElJYmRJRUR1TjB2S3Q0ZmpYTkZuX2RwUWVWby1jMXlTOFM1bGdDdVVZSXc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 24 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 24, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 328, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan  The Guardian", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan  The Guardian" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.theguardian.com", + "title": "The Guardian" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba libre: exploring the island by campervan\nauthor: Lydia Bell; Guardian staff reporter\nurl: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/nov/24/campervan-tour-cuba-havana-trinidad\nhostname: theguardian.com\ndescription: It\u2019s never been easy for visitors to explore this fascinating country independently. But for the first time, state-approved vans give licence to roam Cuba\u2019s mountains, beaches and towns\nsitename: The Guardian\ndate: 2018-11-24\ncategories: ['Travel']\ntags: ['Cuba holidays,Road trips,Adventure travel,Caribbean holidays,Beach holidays,Winter sun,Havana holidays,Travel,Camping holidays']\n---\nOur campervan passes through Manicaragua, a tobacco-growing (once sugar-growing) town in the centre of Cuba. Manicaragua\u2019s leaves are used for the dense core of Habanos cigars; premium leaves from Pinar del R\u00edo form the outer layer.\n\nThis is a true backwater but in the 1940s and 1950s, before the bottom dropped out of sugar, it had money: there are cinemas and rundown hospitals. We pass by the pitched tin roofs of tobacco-drying houses, and see workers in high straw *campesino* hats hoeing the red earth.\n\nOne farm is so picturesque I feel an urge to go in. So we do \u2013 and have the kind of heartwarming interlude you\u2019d never have on an organised tour. The farmer, Mayorilio Lopez, likes it that we\u2019ve barged in on his day. Born in 1929, he was in the revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos\u2019 column in the Escambray mountains. He keeps a rolled *puro* \u2013 a pure Cuban cigar \u2013 in his breast pocket but not to smoke; he likes to chew on it while he thinks. His son lives in \u2026 what\u2019s that place all the Cubans go? Miami, I suggest. Yes, there. He forgets things now. When we leave he turns to me and places his hand on his heart.\n\n\u201cHave a beautiful life,\u201d he says. \u201cFight for your life. Try to come back before I die.\u201d\n\nI\u2019m exploring the island\u2019s countryside in a Fiat Ducato 3000 van with my Cuban friend Alejo, thanks to a new government initiative under which campervans can be rented for the first time (well, since a failed venture in the 1990s). We pick up the van in Havana and over seven days drive 800 miles on a round trip to Trinidad, the 500-year-old honeypot on the south coast, taking in Santa Clara \u2013 a destination for worshippers at the mausoleum of Che Guevara \u2013 and a few lesser-visited gems.\n\nThe camper is an unwieldy beast: it\u2019s a bit like driving around in an Ikea wardrobe but we get used to it. There\u2019s a small kitchenette and fridge, a table that folds out into a double bed and two cavities for up to four extra people. It would be a cosy squeeze for four adults and a child \u2013 but it would work brilliantly for a family.\n\nAt 20 camping spots around the western and central part of the island \u2013 from Vi\u00f1ales in the west to Cayo Coco on the central northern coast (but not further east, yet) \u2013 campers can hook up to electricity to run aircon (a battery, won\u2019t last all night) and to eliminate waste. An alternative is to ask nice people along the way (or pay them a little) to use their power and bathroom. In essence, no one is tied to any particular place, and wild camping is allowed, though life is easier using the official sites (we\u2019re given a map).\n\nHaving the camper means we get to see less obvious things than we would on a bus tour. Plus, the $180-a-day cost translates to the equivalent of Cuba\u2019s exorbitant car hire and a bog-standard hotel.\n\nOne such place is Embalse Hanabanilla, a glimmering reservoir in the northern foothills of the Sierra Escambray, Embalse Hanabanilla, which was created by flooding a valley in the 1960s. It\u2019s not on anyone\u2019s must-see list \u2013 unless you\u2019re a hydro-electricity geek or a freshwater fishing fan with a penchant for largemouth bass (it has the world\u2019s largest population), but it\u2019s pretty, with slopes carpeted with thick forest and royal palms along the water\u2019s edge.\n\nNear the Hanabanilla hotel \u2013 a hulk of pure, Soviet-style ugliness, with a pool that juts into the lake \u2013 we find a boatman to take us out around that lake. We climb up through tropical rainforest to a lookout where we gaze, with the vultures, upon its beauty.\n\nThere is no one on the water apart from the ludicrously well-built Cuban canoeing team, who look bionic. The boatman takes us to a clapboard cottage-cum-restaurant on a tiny island, where we eat a rustic meal of smoked pork and salad surrounded by cavorting puppies. It\u2019s Sunday, and when we get back to our camper, we notice a group of locals having a car-washing party. They\u2019ve driven their Ladas into the water and are cleaning them, swimming, and drinking Cristal, the local beer.\n\nWe spend the night in Topes de Collantes, the village of the eponymous national park. There\u2019s no charging point, so we stop on the outskirts, chat up some locals, eat some pasta we prepared on the electric hob earlier, and crack open the Havana Club. The air is fresh \u2013 you don\u2019t need aircon here.\n\nThe next morning, back on the road, we pass modest memorials to soldiers of the civil war: for five years following the 1959 revolution, US-backed counter-revolutionaries launched guerrilla strikes, which resulted in quite a few deaths.\n\nThe sierra and Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, where you\u2019ll find the Caburn\u00ed waterfall, are a popular day trip from Trinidad, though most people head to Parque el Cubano, which borders Trinidad. But having the van means we can go to the Nengoa waterfall in Guanayara park. The camper doesn\u2019t make it up one particular road \u2013 it\u2019s not a four-wheel drive \u2013 so we walk the last few miles. Our route takes us through woods of mamey, bitter orange, coffee and banana, shaded by avocado and the royal palm, past ferns and flittering butterflies. Weather-beaten limestone cliffs rise up to a bell-shaped opening of birch trees where the waterfall thunders. We are encircled. We are alone.\n\nHeading towards Trinidad, we stop at a rustic *paladar* (private restaurant) for an early dinner. El Manantial has a veranda filled with hammocks, ferns and goatskin chairs. We eat tasty tilapia from its pond and then it\u2019s a drive downhill, glimpsing the hazy, late-afternoon blue wash of the horizon and the unspoiled forested slopes of the southern foothills.\n\nTrinidad is one of the most touristy town in Cuba. But justifiably so: nowhere else showcases Cuban history so gorgeously \u2013 from the last 500 years to a thriving (in the case of this town, anyway) present. *Casa **particulares* (private rentals that predate Airbnb but are almost all now on its website) abound, as well as paladares, arts and craft stalls, dance schools and everything in between.\n\nI have been to Trinidad many times, so I ask Alian Rojas, a guide I know, to take us somewhere different. We go to a private, magnificent colonial house, turned into a temple to Yemay\u00e1, the Afro-Cuban goddess of the sea. There\u2019s a pumpkin in the window (pumpkins are sacred to Yemay\u00e1, and to her followers, this is a no-go food) and the Babala\u00f4-orisha, or high priest, is rocking in a chair on the patio, dressed in crisp white linen trousers and *guayabera* shirt and nursing a cigar. He is surrounded by crowing cocks and fat white doves and is prepping for the initiation into Santer\u00eda (the dominant Afro-Cuban religion, which hails from the Yoruba culture of Nigeria) of a lady who is lying down in a room next door. But, being Cuban, he finds time to chat, regardless. His premonition-filled dreams and spiritual visions started at the age of 13. His father, an atheist communist, initially thought he was mad. A number of years later, finally convinced of his son\u2019s authenticity, he wrote to the state, requesting to turn the family house into a temple. The powers that be acquiesced.\n\nWhen the heat of the day softens, we trundle down in the campervan to the long, scrubby finger of land that is Pen\u00ednsula de Anc\u00f3n, 10km south of Trinidad, where there\u2019s one of the best beaches on Cuba\u2019s south coast. We lounge happily in the aquamarine waters of Playa Anc\u00f3n and loll under fat palms until the sun dips behind the horizon. This time, instead of casting around for the last of the *maquinas*, the rumbling classic cars heading back into Trinidad at the end of the day, we are free to stay till the sky turns inky blue-black, drinking our own cold beer supplies.\n\nBack in Trinidad, we park on a quiet street of red-tiled rooftops and shuttered porticoes, where we\u2019ll sleep later. We can\u2019t enter the town centre: it is pedestrianised, something which lends it an unhurried feel. The giant, uneven cobblestones in this Unesco-protected town mean there\u2019s no rushing, even if you want to. On the narrow streets, the camper feels a lumbering eyesore. But we are thankful: here, we are just another bunch of tourists in the throng, though it\u2019s been sweet to see some offbeat and unexpected things along the way.\n\n## Comments (\u2026)\n\nSign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion" + }, + { + "title": "Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxQNDJvWnVsUDI4QzdjNUpEZTY0U1dtNGFXNUMtTjk5UU1IUExvakVZZ2lEdU5sbWZJR3dwSkRfMmNwM0ZxVnNPR1M0WWxYaEJaYU5zbmlnb1lMYTZnaENmcTR6MTRiYVFRNmRxYlVuMEZDT08xcWtGcEZKRFRXVkNGamZ6cUtySUc0NzhGUC10N3BnejjSAZYBQVVfeXFMUFpqZlpLNGJ5bDRuTmltNHFmT1NJWVJHZ0hOTEMwMVFRMDNtSW9ITVc4NUx2SlNlUXIwd2dxMWJkVVh4ZWlLWHFDRTVpSnEtNlNtU1dwWDJldGpyWDNNVFI2RU1SdWlPWlpWOGJrQkhBdmZzYkR0S2pDVzVlNmFwaURjNWpvSjgzOVdxRXFLeVFfUllYWTJn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-their-strategic-ties/4640058.html", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxQNDJvWnVsUDI4QzdjNUpEZTY0U1dtNGFXNUMtTjk5UU1IUExvakVZZ2lEdU5sbWZJR3dwSkRfMmNwM0ZxVnNPR1M0WWxYaEJaYU5zbmlnb1lMYTZnaENmcTR6MTRiYVFRNmRxYlVuMEZDT08xcWtGcEZKRFRXVkNGamZ6cUtySUc0NzhGUC10N3BnejjSAZYBQVVfeXFMUFpqZlpLNGJ5bDRuTmltNHFmT1NJWVJHZ0hOTEMwMVFRMDNtSW9ITVc4NUx2SlNlUXIwd2dxMWJkVVh4ZWlLWHFDRTVpSnEtNlNtU1dwWDJldGpyWDNNVFI2RU1SdWlPWlpWOGJrQkhBdmZzYkR0S2pDVzVlNmFwaURjNWpvSjgzOVdxRXFLeVFfUllYWTJn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties  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: Russia And Cuba Vow to Expand Their 'Strategic' Ties\nauthor: Associated Press\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-their-strategic-ties/4640058.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Russian President Putin, his Cuban counterpart Diaz-Canel pledged Friday to develop bilateral political, economic and military cooperation\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-02\ncategories: ['Europe']\ntags: ['Europe, Americas']\n---\nThe leaders of Russia and Cuba have vowed to expand what they called their \u201cstrategic\u201d ties and urged the United States to lift its blockade of Cuba.\n\nRussian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel pledged Friday to develop political, economic and military cooperation between their nations.\n\nDiaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro in April in a historic changing of the guard in Cuba, hailed the \u201cbrotherly\u201d ties between Russia and Cuba.\n\nDuring the Cold War, the Soviet Union poured billions of dollars in supplies and subsidies to Cuba, its staunchest Latin American ally. But ties withered after the 1991 Soviet collapse as Russia, hit by an economic meltdown, withdrew its economic aid to Cuba.\n\nPutin, who visited Cuba in 2000 and 2014, has sought to revive ties with the old Caribbean ally." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Is Pulling Doctors From Brazil After \u2018Derogatory\u2019 Comments by Bolsonaro (Published 2018) - The New York Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Is Pulling Doctors From Brazil After \u2018Derogatory\u2019 Comments by Bolsonaro (Published 2018) - The New York Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxQU3NjSEZKMWlEUVRwa2dtSkZEbk9acUtfeVg3a1FfRWxfaDBoTmpYTzlRT1RtLXZheDNBMm5HZS1FRHlFNUo5eWx0U0YyUk5kaXFVWi1NLUpwVnAtNXFqZGNjV1hiTEJOZ0FtWWVEdUotS2VvZ09nTF85MUF2cUtMTkNlQlg4dGplblNSc201aVdKWmc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://pointemagazine.com/cuban-national-ballet-school/", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxQU3NjSEZKMWlEUVRwa2dtSkZEbk9acUtfeVg3a1FfRWxfaDBoTmpYTzlRT1RtLXZheDNBMm5HZS1FRHlFNUo5eWx0U0YyUk5kaXFVWi1NLUpwVnAtNXFqZGNjV1hiTEJOZ0FtWWVEdUotS2VvZ09nTF85MUF2cUtMTkNlQlg4dGplblNSc201aVdKWmc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Is Pulling Doctors From Brazil After \u2018Derogatory\u2019 Comments by Bolsonaro (Published 2018)  The New York Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Is Pulling Doctors From Brazil After \u2018Derogatory\u2019 Comments by Bolsonaro (Published 2018)  The New York Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nytimes.com", + "title": "The New York Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Why the Cuban National Ballet School Is Expanding Its Focus - Pointe Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Why the Cuban National Ballet School Is Expanding Its Focus - Pointe Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ0FVX3lxTFBwNDRhb0RWTE5lcG94djhhMVlISUk0Rnl4RnRWQ294aHRFMkdFa2FYX2gwYjlHdHlhWDBycHlhSWRSNUl4ZUM2emRsZHV0Z0x5OS1KYjdieTlibXhPWXFtQXFLZFhXbms?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/19/abandoned-canadian-diplomats-government-response-cuba-illness", + "id": "CBMiZ0FVX3lxTFBwNDRhb0RWTE5lcG94djhhMVlISUk0Rnl4RnRWQ294aHRFMkdFa2FYX2gwYjlHdHlhWDBycHlhSWRSNUl4ZUM2emRsZHV0Z0x5OS1KYjdieTlibXhPWXFtQXFLZFhXbms", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 11 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 11, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 315, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Why the Cuban National Ballet School Is Expanding Its Focus  Pointe Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Why the Cuban National Ballet School Is Expanding Its Focus  Pointe Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://pointemagazine.com", + "title": "Pointe Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them\nauthor: Staff; Agencies; Guardian staff reporter\nurl: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/19/abandoned-canadian-diplomats-government-response-cuba-illness\nhostname: theguardian.com\ndescription: Several of those affected believe Ottawa has said little in public because it wants to maintain friendly relations with Cuba\nsitename: The Guardian\ndate: 2018-11-19\ncategories: ['World news']\ntags: ['Canada,Cuba,Americas,World news']\n---\nA group of Canadian diplomats who left the embassy in Cuba after suffering unusual health symptoms say their foreign ministry has abandoned them, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Monday.\n\nCanada said in April it would remove the families of staff posted to Havana, where Canadian and US diplomats have complained of dizziness, headaches and nausea.\n\nThe US pulled more than half its embassy staff from Cuba and warned its citizens not to travel to the island, after what it described as \u201csonic attacks\u201d.\n\nThe diplomats complained that the foreign ministry \u2013 unlike the US state department \u2013 had said very little about the matter in public and did not appear to be making their case a priority. Getting specialized medical care has been difficult, they added.\n\n\u201cWe did not expect to be abandoned, or more precisely, sacrificed \u2013 that\u2019s how we\u2019re feeling now,\u201d the paper quoted one of them as saying.\n\nSeveral of those affected believe Ottawa has said little in public because it wants to maintain friendly relations with Cuba, the Globe added.\n\nAn official at the Canadian foreign ministry did not respond directly when asked about the diplomats\u2019 complaints that they had been abandoned, but said the situation was very difficult.\n\n\u201cIt is really an unprecedented type of incident, which has a lot of uncertainty. Our response to it has evolved since we first became aware of it,\u201d said the official, adding that Ottawa had done its best to make medical care available.\n\nThe official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.\n\nUS and Cuban officials met at the state department in September to discuss the mysterious health problems. The United States has reduced embassy staffing in Cuba from more than 50 to a maximum 18.\n\nUS officials reportedly believe the health problems may have been caused by sophisticated electromagnetic weapons, but some doctors and scientists have expressed skepticism at the allegation.\n\nThe Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (Pafso) \u2013 the union representing rank-and-file diplomats \u2013 said the initial government reaction had been inadequate, in part because no one had experience of such a problem.\n\n\u201cEveryone is worried because if you don\u2019t know what something is, and it\u2019s unpredictable, nobody can say for sure that [it] isn\u2019t going to happen again,\u201d the Pafso president, Pamela Isfeld, said in a phone interview. \u201cI totally do not blame them for being very unhappy with this.\u201c\n\nAdam Austen, a spokesman for the Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said she was deeply troubled by the health problems the diplomats were experiencing." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them - The Guardian", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them - The Guardian" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqwFBVV95cUxOanp2bzZwN096SjBkUXlLd09NY0xvSVVwM0wtUTE4bU41cEhaZ1FZbTJlcHBiZUY1eGNCM3hMdkUyQWtCSUk4Wl9VTGRMVGVlMVhmWXRXSzRkdnAzT2NvR0NjdlVDVWRUMmx1VTVNdFFteS1WTHJMdzVnZDVEYWwyTjZKbGVaX0JtcTJTOWQydk9ZQVRYMXZENGhXakt2RXp4T3puZkdpc2hfdkE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/11/02/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-strategic-ties-that-lapsed-after-cold-war/", + "id": "CBMiqwFBVV95cUxOanp2bzZwN096SjBkUXlLd09NY0xvSVVwM0wtUTE4bU41cEhaZ1FZbTJlcHBiZUY1eGNCM3hMdkUyQWtCSUk4Wl9VTGRMVGVlMVhmWXRXSzRkdnAzT2NvR0NjdlVDVWRUMmx1VTVNdFFteS1WTHJMdzVnZDVEYWwyTjZKbGVaX0JtcTJTOWQydk9ZQVRYMXZENGhXakt2RXp4T3puZkdpc2hfdkE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 20, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 324, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them  The Guardian", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba 'sonic attacks': Canadian diplomats say government abandoned them  The Guardian" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.theguardian.com", + "title": "The Guardian" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War\nauthor: Vladimir Isachenkov; The Associated Press\nurl: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/11/02/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-strategic-ties-that-lapsed-after-cold-war/\nhostname: militarytimes.com\ndescription: Cuba's defense minister plans to visit Moscow this month to talk about military cooperation.\nsitename: Military Times\ndate: 2018-11-02\ncategories: ['name']\n---\nMOSCOW \u2014 The leaders of Russia and Cuba vowed Friday to expand what they called their \u201cstrategic\u201d ties and urged the United States to lift its blockade of Cuba.\n\nIn a joint statement issued after their talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced U.S. \"interference into domestic affairs of sovereign nations\" and spoke in support of closer integration between Russia and Latin American nations.\n\nDiaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro in April in a historic changing of the guard in Cuba, hailed the \u201cbrotherly\u201d ties between Russia and Cuba and invited Putin to visit next year.\n\n###### RELATED\n\nDuring the Cold War, the Soviet Union poured billions of dollars in supplies and subsidies into Cuba, its staunchest Latin American ally. But ties withered after the 1991 Soviet collapse as Russia, hit by an economic meltdown, withdrew its economic aid to Cuba.\n\nPutin, who visited Cuba in 2000 and 2014, has sought to revive ties with the old Caribbean ally.\n\nFollowing the Kremlin talks, Putin and Diaz-Canel vowed to expand political, economic and military ties between Russia and Cuba.\n\nCuba's defense minister, Leopoldo Cintra Frias, is set to visit Moscow later this month to discuss specific plans for military-technical cooperation.\n\nSergei Storchak, Russia's deputy finance minister, said Russia could offer Cuba a 38 million-euro ($43 million) loan to help fund its military modernization.\n\nSoviet warships and military aircraft regularly used Cuban bases during the Cold War, and Cuba hosted a Soviet electronic spying outpost in Lourdes, near Havana.\n\nPutin closed the Lourdes intelligence facility in 2001 as he sought to establish warmer ties with the United States during his first presidential term. But U.S.-Russian relations have steadily worsened, plunging to post-Cold War lows after Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and the Kremlin has sought to rebuild ties with Cuba.\n\nIn remarks apparently directed at the United States, Putin and Diaz-Canel criticized the use of unilateral sanctions as a destabilizing factor in global affairs.\n\n###### RELATED\n\nThe U.S. economic embargo, initially imposed in 1958 and subsequently expanded, has remained in place. Russia, in its turn, faced an array of crippling U.S. and EU sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.\n\nPutin said he and Diaz-Canel discussed expanding economic ties, including Russia's participation in the modernization of Cuban railways.\n\nThe Russian leader also mentioned Russian companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft tapping for oil off Cuba and a contract for the Inter RAO energy company to build new generator units at a Cuban power plant." + }, + { + "title": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War - Military Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War - Military Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxNQTBzWUVfOWhmXzY5Z09iNUVRT2R1OFp5REpDOE5VWk05b2VsQWRDWFhZa0JnTVZkOW9FcFFWYjRmdXM5Y0FnVE44MGpFU3ROQ0tUeldmdE8ybURKcTNuUDU2a1RiUFRuZzdrOTFLMlpISzlIakNoMm5zTlZJV0xvbGtuZUdpWmJ5dGI4ZFdwT2FWdDcyem1Ib1dJN0xaRWJKeUVvbWdwLWliMzdlV2tYYnhwcmNwbE4tNUJIeTVKbl8wU1lhYkVSWjN3aTA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/world/americas/brazil-cuba-doctors-jair-bolsonaro.html", + "id": "CBMizAFBVV95cUxNQTBzWUVfOWhmXzY5Z09iNUVRT2R1OFp5REpDOE5VWk05b2VsQWRDWFhZa0JnTVZkOW9FcFFWYjRmdXM5Y0FnVE44MGpFU3ROQ0tUeldmdE8ybURKcTNuUDU2a1RiUFRuZzdrOTFLMlpISzlIakNoMm5zTlZJV0xvbGtuZUdpWmJ5dGI4ZFdwT2FWdDcyem1Ib1dJN0xaRWJKeUVvbWdwLWliMzdlV2tYYnhwcmNwbE4tNUJIeTVKbl8wU1lhYkVSWjN3aTA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War  Military Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand \u2018strategic\u2019 ties that lapsed after Cold War  Military Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.militarytimes.com", + "title": "Military Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend - NBC News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend - NBC News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMisAFBVV95cUxOVVNaaEFtVVN4U0RUNDVzbTJvaWtzV1pPWEhhYXd4Q1duNXUxZFB2TjBFaFdmaDVMVlNDOGJqeDE5LTZfY1RBTndLUW94NWlEM2kwTlpnbG1Ed1IzMVdEVHlFblNRSFFXUnJfUThSZ1J4VWRoX0ZMTFAxRzJ4OVJKUXJuNS12OE1QWUFnbElMT3V6aTI4STBNSmdYSUtoZld4VDQ0bWh2a2ZrR0U2c2lzRg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-jersey-lawyer-captured-cuba-after-allegedly-killing-girlfriend-n933731", + "id": "CBMisAFBVV95cUxOVVNaaEFtVVN4U0RUNDVzbTJvaWtzV1pPWEhhYXd4Q1duNXUxZFB2TjBFaFdmaDVMVlNDOGJqeDE5LTZfY1RBTndLUW94NWlEM2kwTlpnbG1Ed1IzMVdEVHlFblNRSFFXUnJfUThSZ1J4VWRoX0ZMTFAxRzJ4OVJKUXJuNS12OE1QWUFnbElMT3V6aTI4STBNSmdYSUtoZld4VDQ0bWh2a2ZrR0U2c2lzRg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 8, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 312, + 0 + ], + "summary": "New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend  NBC News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend  NBC News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nbcnews.com", + "title": "NBC News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: New Jersey lawyer captured in Cuba after allegedly killing girlfriend\nauthor: Janelle Griffith\nurl: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-jersey-lawyer-captured-cuba-after-allegedly-killing-girlfriend-n933731\nhostname: nbcnews.com\ndescription: Ray fled to the Southwest and into Mexico before flying to Cuba, where he was detained at customs, police said.\nsitename: NBC News\ndate: 2018-11-07\n---\nA New Jersey man wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend was captured in Cuba and returned to the United States this week, authorities announced Wednesday.\n\nJames Ray III had been sought in the Oct. 23 shooting death of Angela Bledsoe, 44, in the Montclair, New Jersey, home they shared with their young daughter, investigators said. Ray was not at the house when police arrived to conduct a wellness check. Bledsoe was pronounced dead at the scene.\n\nTheir 6-year-old daughter was not home at the time of the murder, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office told NBC News.\n\nRay had left their daughter with family members before heading to the Southwest and then to Mexico, authorities said. Once in Mexico, he flew to Cuba, they said.\n\nInvestigators said Wednesday they had obtained evidence that Ray, a lawyer, might try to go to Cuba.\n\nInterpol issued an international alert to law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition, which allowed authorities to stop Ray before he could go through Cuban customs, officials said.\n\nFBI agents were notified Oct. 28 that Ray was in Cuba, where local authorities detained him after U.S. officials obtained a warrant for his arrest for \"unlawful flight to avoid prosecution,\" said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory Ehrie.\n\nRay remained in custody there until the FBI took him back to New Jersey on Tuesday night. He was being held at Essex County Jail, court records show.\n\n\"This case is unique because of the extraordinary cooperation and coordination among local, county, state, national and international law enforcement,\" acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.\n\nStephens said the prosecutor\u2019s office will seek to have Ray held without bail, due to the nature of the crime and his propensity to flee the jurisdiction. The couple's daughter is with her maternal relatives, police said.\n\nRay is charged with murder and weapons offenses and is expected to make his first court appearance Nov. 13." + }, + { + "title": "Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba - Boston Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba - Boston Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxPSzdnZjJVUE9iYzR5RjVYeGluUERlYXdpdFNBTFhYOVMwdEtsWUpfZWU0VUYtTzRTV1RtVThmR2lBX0dlVzNSNkxpaVNVaWtCVmNZRTM2SGpOTDFzUDg2eUJmelhXZ1BKcURtZmlsUnVQZmk5WVhONGU5NWU5UHQ0UjVoc3A?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/carnival-announces-2020-schedules-for-2-ships", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxPSzdnZjJVUE9iYzR5RjVYeGluUERlYXdpdFNBTFhYOVMwdEtsWUpfZWU0VUYtTzRTV1RtVThmR2lBX0dlVzNSNkxpaVNVaWtCVmNZRTM2SGpOTDFzUDg2eUJmelhXZ1BKcURtZmlsUnVQZmk5WVhONGU5NWU5UHQ0UjVoc3A", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 27, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 331, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba  Boston Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba  Boston Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bostonmagazine.com", + "title": "Boston Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFBVV95cUxPcDhXQ2NoYmFYc1RsVDNNb2xzQm5YeTFOZHpYZjdhWU5GUnVETEpULU5hMjc1aDJRZ2JfczVkQ21JT3ZZMjAzNGthU29PTWZyVmczVnJtdnRhVktXWHRnUDA2S2NOdkdDeEY2X09NS1VMWklDVThYTi1LdmZ4d0piWGpCdURIX1RuSDRGUGJ6VnRuZlhVMnc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bostonmagazine.com/life-style/2018/11/27/travel-guide-havana-cuba/", + "id": "CBMilgFBVV95cUxPcDhXQ2NoYmFYc1RsVDNNb2xzQm5YeTFOZHpYZjdhWU5GUnVETEpULU5hMjc1aDJRZ2JfczVkQ21JT3ZZMjAzNGthU29PTWZyVmczVnJtdnRhVktXWHRnUDA2S2NOdkdDeEY2X09NS1VMWklDVThYTi1LdmZ4d0piWGpCdURIX1RuSDRGUGJ6VnRuZlhVMnc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 10 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 10, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 314, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba\nauthor: Abby Bielagus\nurl: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2018/11/27/travel-guide-havana-cuba/\nhostname: bostonmagazine.com\ndescription: Be prepared to abandon your itinerary in Havana, Cuba. The city has its own colorful, unforgettable plans for you.\nsitename: Boston Magazine\ndate: 2018-11-27\ncategories: ['Guides']\ntags: ['Home Design']\n---\n# Boston Traveler: Havana, Cuba\n\nBe prepared to abandon your itinerary: This once-forbidden Caribbean capital has its own colorful, unforgettable plans for you.\n\n**GETTING THERE**\n\nHop on JetBlue\u2019s brand-new nonstop from Boston to Havana, which runs on Saturdays. Just choose one of 14 approved reasons for travel when booking and pick up your license to enter the country at the airport check-in.\n\n**STAYING THERE**\n\nFor those seeking luxury, Havana does have options, the newest being the five-star **Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski**. But for a more genuine glimpse of city life, you\u2019ll want to stay at one of the state-sanctioned **Casa Particulares**, marked by small blue signs on the doors of locals\u2019 homes.\n\n**A.M.**\n\nBegin the day with a stroll along the **Malec\u00f3n**, a 5-mile seaside esplanade that serves as a tour of the city\u2019s three popular sections. Walk from the most modern neighborhood, the Vedado, to bustling Centro Habana, before ending in Old Havana. There you\u2019ll want to grab an outdoor table at **Caf\u00e9 Bohemia**, in the middle of Plaza Vieja, to enjoy chorizo, local cheese, and eggplant on a baguette while taking in the colonial architecture. Stroll around the rest of the old city, stopping to photograph the Cuban baroque **Catedral de San Crist\u00f3bal** and the Capitolio Nacional, styled after the Panth\u00e9on in Paris, before ducking into the **Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes** to check out the Cuban art wing. Splurge on a ride back to your hotel in a restored 1960s convertible.\n\n**P.M.**\n\nAnother unique feature of Havana hospitality are the eateries known as *paladares*. Run by private citizens and not the state, they dish out authentic food in stylish rooms filled with local art. **Caf\u00e9 Madrigal**, one such gem, features a circular balcony ideal for savoring caipirinhas and tapas. Or try dinner at nearby Atelier, where local cuisine such as ropa vieja (shredded beef with peppers and onions) is served in a Mediterranean-style house. Although chances are you\u2019ve heard tunes playing on every street corner, you\u2019ll still want to head to **Caf\u00e9 Teatro Bertolt Brecht** to see the best Cuban musicians play. Just like everything else in this city, you\u2019re never sure what you\u2019re going to get\u2014from hip-hop to Afro-Cuban jazz fusion\u2014but it\u2019s guaranteed to be nothing short of magical." + }, + { + "title": "Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home - The Christian Science Monitor", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home - The Christian Science Monitor" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/opinion/roberto-carcasses-comments-on-cubas-new-draft-constitution/", + "id": "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", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 311, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home  The Christian Science Monitor", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home  The Christian Science Monitor" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.csmonitor.com", + "title": "The Christian Science Monitor" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/opinion/roberto-carcasses-comments-on-cubas-new-draft-constitution/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: Cuba\u2019s leadership and National Assembly have asked Cubans their opinion about the new Constitution and what they would like it to be. And I have taken it to heart. I never imagined that I would ever have this opportunity in my lifetime...\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-10\ncategories: ['Opinion']\n---\n# Roberto Carcasses Comments on Cuba\u2019s New Draft Constitution\n\n**By Roberto Carcasses**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 Cuba\u2019s leadership and National Assembly have asked Cubans their opinion about the new Constitution and what they would like it to be. And I have taken it to heart.\n\nI never imagined that I would ever have this opportunity in my lifetime, bearing in mind just how many people are born, live and die without this chance. Therefore, I do believe that Cuban authorities have taken an important step.\n\nSome friends and acquaintances have said to me: Why am I going to tell them what I think if they are just going to do what they feel like, like they always do?\n\nAnd, in response, I have said: I am going to tell them what I think so that, if they do whatever they feel like again, and everything (or almost everything) carries on in the same poor old state, I won\u2019t have that uneasy feeling in my gut because I didn\u2019t speak out when I had the chance.\n\nLet me be clear, I am not representing anyone other than myself here. I would like to think that everyone can represent themselves and live freely, responsibly, making use of their common sense. However, I accept democratic standards for now, which can be improved, and the best thing that we have managed to achieve up until today as the species or intelligent animals we are.\n\nI believe that one of the most important points which needs to be recorded in the final document is ensuring the rights of every different school of political thought.\n\nDeparting from the general premise that physical and verbal violence aren\u2019t the means towards achieving progress and prosperity. Constitutions are made by human beings and no individual or group can define a social system to be eternal and irrevocable because the Constitution would then no longer be secular (as it declares itself to be), giving this individual, or church, or group the role of the anointed one or God. And, both individuals and groups make mistakes.\n\nNo Cuban who has a sincere desire to improve their country via peaceful means, using arguments and good actions, can be considered a traitor to the Homeland, even if they don\u2019t agree with socialism as a form of government; because whoever wants to perpetuate a system, which has proven to be inefficient economically-speaking and questionable at the very least ideologically-speaking, could also be considered a traitor.\n\nI believe socialism and revolution brought Cuba both good and bad things. It stirred the ability to dream for a better life in millions of Cubans. The country\u2019s cultural and spiritual bar was raised by training professionals in every branch of human knowledge and they tried to establish a welfare state, an illusion which we experienced in very short bursts. However, the socialist project\u2019s ideological strictness, repression and awful economic management resulted in many people becoming disillusioned from the very beginning, not agreeing with its ideas and, as a result, with their leaders.\n\nMillions emigrated, others stayed here. Thousands are coming back. All of them should have the same rights as those who defend the current system. All form part of what is understood to be the Cuban population and I believe that we are at a point in our history in which we can enter a dialogue and listen to each other, to someone who doesn\u2019t think like me but treats me with respect and who I can learn something from. If we manage to do this, it could also be considered another of the \u201cRevolution\u2019s achievements\u201d.\n\nWe have already grown spiritually, now we need to grow economically so we can live better lives. Who wants this to happen as soon as possible more than we Cubans? We want to see this ourselves and leave our children a country which they feel proud of and don\u2019t want to leave. That\u2019s why I believe that we should promote and support Cubans investing in their own country, in its small, medium and large companies, depending on the capital they have available, rather than encouraging foreign investment. Everything still needs to be done in our economy.\n\nThere isn\u2019t any concrete, nails, rugs or transport etc. Only Cubans, wherever they come from or wherever they are and however they think, are the most interested in using their creativity and resources so that we can all grow, together and as individuals, according to our skillset and inventiveness, without anyone limiting us, with real economic and political power so that we can make our dreams come true, without losing our spirit of solidarity or social conscience.\n\nIf we are able to do all of this, then the US Government won\u2019t have any other choice but to lift the Blockade when they see us Cubans helping ourselves, together.\n\nI look forward to Roberto Carcesses listing all the changes in the new constitution that are a consequence of his contributions.\n\nIncidentally, just look up the dictionary to check upon the difference between an embargo and a blockade. Chalk is not cheese!\n\nis that the thinking of the national assembly , the c e o of the army and those that have access to the yankee dollar .\n\nwait a little longer please i need more time to monopolies the new system.\n\nfreedom is so difficult wait before you drown in it we can guide you .\n\nAll well said\u2026but now slowly undo the conditions set in motion years ago. Think of the economics if the doors are open. The multi nationals will enter and the country price index increases and the poor will become more poor. Be careful how you uncork the bottle. Do it to fast and welcome to hyper inflation\u2026that could be the worse outcome. Have to think, strategize, and plan change\u2026be smart and not just unleash chaos that makes things worse. S\u00ed entiendo." + }, + { + "title": "US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijgFBVV95cUxPNTFHSVRDeFFlbWlqeVhIYWs5M2pFdXBSV0lGVGlrR3pIU2ZwVFM0cVdTVUpMSTEwVERHcW5KdFlKMWZLMG5fc3ZLcnN0WFRuNWdnNGNpZU9LM3VkZGNyWlhNcFZvRjMwOXlCSHpDTHVCNFFCd1VkNEdVMVBuNzJLeFlyZlZnb3FESnJTQ25R0gGQAUFVX3lxTE03VHdJZ1FXa3d5bEs4dlFZMUtTSHNxN1hUSFBfdEJoMXp3V0h1NldTcC1hLVFaV0dqT3ZRSlZGYWlMVjNfZFZ6ekx4Z2ZMSU56QjI0RkdRc3JOQUZLRUFWNnhjMVl1SktyS1JRT3Q3Z09YTGZEVVZDSjVab25aRHN2OTQ3RUFDV3d1eDJxR2I5eA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/1107/Cuban-dancers-performing-abroad-are-allowed-to-return-home", + "id": "CBMijgFBVV95cUxPNTFHSVRDeFFlbWlqeVhIYWs5M2pFdXBSV0lGVGlrR3pIU2ZwVFM0cVdTVUpMSTEwVERHcW5KdFlKMWZLMG5fc3ZLcnN0WFRuNWdnNGNpZU9LM3VkZGNyWlhNcFZvRjMwOXlCSHpDTHVCNFFCd1VkNEdVMVBuNzJLeFlyZlZnb3FESnJTQ25R0gGQAUFVX3lxTE03VHdJZ1FXa3d5bEs4dlFZMUtTSHNxN1hUSFBfdEJoMXp3V0h1NldTcC1hLVFaV0dqT3ZRSlZGYWlMVjNfZFZ6ekx4Z2ZMSU56QjI0RkdRc3JOQUZLRUFWNnhjMVl1SktyS1JRT3Q3Z09YTGZEVVZDSjVab25aRHN2OTQ3RUFDV3d1eDJxR2I5eA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo  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: Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home\nauthor: Andrea Rodriguez\nurl: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2018/1107/Cuban-dancers-performing-abroad-are-allowed-to-return-home\nhostname: csmonitor.com\ndescription: The end of Cuba's \"white card\" exit permit program allowed more Cubans to leave the country, but it also permitted expats who left previously to return. This year, Cuban dancers living abroad returned to Havana for an international dance festival \u2013 a first for many.\nsitename: The Christian Science Monitor\ndate: 2018-11-07\ncategories: ['Americas']\n---\n# Cuban dancers performing abroad are allowed to return home\n\nLoading...\n\n| Havana\n\nAs a young dancer compared with ballet legends Vaslav Nijinsky and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rolando Sarabia made headlines around the world when he abandoned Cuba in 2005 for a career in the United States.\n\nHe didn't dance in his homeland for 13 years, banned as part of a wider Cuban punishment of citizens who illegally left the country.\n\nA company dancer for The Washington Ballet, Mr. Sarabia stalked across the stage last month in the starring male role in \"Gisselle\" at Cuba's National Theater. Asked about his feelings upon performing once again in Cuba, he began to cry.\n\nSarabia and four other renowned defectors from the Cuban National Ballet took the stage at the 26th Havana International Ballet Festival as part of a wide-ranging and profound reconciliation between Cuba and its millions of expatriates and exiles around the world.\n\n\"Happiness, happiness. I just don't have any other words,\" Sarabia's brother and fellow dance star Daniel told The Associated Press after a rehearsal of the \"Grand Pas Classique.\" ''This is something big. Global stars have come but even more important are those of us who've left. This is my audience, my Cuban audience.\"\n\nThe country did away with the hated \"white card\" exit permit in 2013, allowing Cubans to leave freely for any country that would grant a visa. The change unleashed a wave of emigration that continues to this day, with tens of thousands leaving annually for destinations around the world. Also in 2013, Cuba allowed citizens to retain all of their rights \u2013 from free health care to owning property \u2013 as long as they at least briefly returned every two years.\n\nThose 2013 changes unleashed an opposite wave of more than 40,000 Cubans who have repatriated and reclaimed the same rights as residents. At the same time, Cuba's state-controlled cultural and sports institutions began opening to stars who left, allowing musicians who went abroad like singers Isaac Delgado, Kelvis Ochoa, Decemer Bueno and Raul Paz to live and perform in Cuba again, and welcoming baseball players like Dodger Yasiel Puig at official state events.\n\nCuba's relationship with its citizens overseas remains highly fraught and painful in many circumstances, particularly for families who left the height of the revolution \u2013 publicly cursed in state-organized \"acts of repudiation,\" with their life's work confiscated by the state and handed over to strangers. Many Cubans abroad have sworn never to return while the island's Communist government remains in power.\n\nBut tens of thousands of others are reconciling with the state. They include Sarabia; his brother Daniel of the Maurice Bejart Ballet in Switzerland; San Francisco ballet dancer Taras Domitro; Marize Fumero of the Milwaukee Ballet; Carlos Quenedit of the Houston Ballet; and retired star Lorna Feijo, a fierce critic of 96-year-old Cuban ballet director Alicia Alonso. Their return is one of the most symbolically charged reconciliations, given the immense importance Cuba places on its prestigious state-run ballet program.\n\nThe stars' return began during the warming between Cuba and the United States begun by presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro in December 2014. A year or two later, a Cuban ballet official traveled to Miami and met with a group of former national dancers, who said they wanted to return to perform in Cuba.\n\nThe dancers wrote a letter requesting permission and, unlike in previous years, Ms. Alonso and the then-Minister of Culture expressed no objection to the dancers' return, according to a Cuban official with knowledge of the process who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the process. The plans were not derailed by the broader chilling of relations under President Donald Trump, who has tightened regulations on travel to Cuba and hardened official discourse toward the island.\n\n\"This is the correct path,\" said Mr. Domitro, who defected during a tour of Canada in 2007, one of the highest-profile departures from Alonso's company. \"We're talking about ballet; we have nothing to do with politics.\"\n\nCuba continues to try to repair relations with expatriates despite the chilling of relations with the country that's home to 1.5 million of the 2 million living Cubans outside the island, a number one-fifth the size of the country's actual population.\n\nForeign Minister Bruno Rodriguez announced last year that Cuba would be slightly easing onerous documentation requirements for returning Cubans, and easing the process of obtaining citizenship for children born overseas.\n\nIn September, President Miguel Diaz-Canel held high-profile meetings with expatriate Cubans in New York, including many who have been criticized by hard-liners on the island.\n\nMr. Diaz-Canel said the expatriate community had become ideologically diverse and an important source of support for Cuba.\n\n\"We're counting on you,\" he said. \"We are all Cuba.\"\n\n*This story was reported by The Associated Press*." + }, + { + "title": "Carnival Radiance to Sail Line's First Cuba Cruises From NYC, Norfolk - Travel Agent Central", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Carnival Radiance to Sail Line's First Cuba Cruises From NYC, Norfolk - Travel Agent Central" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikgFBVV95cUxQdndRTmpsMU1ob1kwRUVDMm5sMzFaX3M2YnhLQkN4WnFVUDJsV1N0QV9ZM1FrUThGV1ViNDJENnJnQXdYdUd3RXB1Y0djanNuTnh2YXVKaFRQUk9JVktJaHJNbW9UYjU0YkZpR1dqNHBNRzU1MkVRUGpwcG5wbGtUdEYtN1M3bkFqWEZoYzJkSTlBZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/us-vastly-outvoted-at-un-over-its-cuba-embargo/4638769.html", + "id": "CBMikgFBVV95cUxQdndRTmpsMU1ob1kwRUVDMm5sMzFaX3M2YnhLQkN4WnFVUDJsV1N0QV9ZM1FrUThGV1ViNDJENnJnQXdYdUd3RXB1Y0djanNuTnh2YXVKaFRQUk9JVktJaHJNbW9UYjU0YkZpR1dqNHBNRzU1MkVRUGpwcG5wbGtUdEYtN1M3bkFqWEZoYzJkSTlBZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 13 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 13, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 317, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Carnival Radiance to Sail Line's First Cuba Cruises From NYC, Norfolk  Travel Agent Central", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Carnival Radiance to Sail Line's First Cuba Cruises From NYC, Norfolk  Travel Agent Central" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.travelagentcentral.com", + "title": "Travel Agent Central" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Vastly Outvoted at UN Over Its Cuba Embargo\nauthor: Margaret Besheer\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/us-vastly-outvoted-at-un-over-its-cuba-embargo/4638769.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Nearly all UN states voted to condemn Washington's Cold War-era economic blockade against Havana\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-01\ncategories: ['USA']\ntags: ['USA, Americas, United Nations, Cuba, United States embargo']\n---\nU.N. member states overwhelmingly supported lifting Washington's more than half-century-old economic, commercial and financial embargo of Cuba on Thursday, saying it is the main impediment to the island nation's economic and social development.\n\n\"The embargo is a flagrant massive and systematic violation of human rights of Cuban men and women,\" Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla told the General Assembly. \"It has been, and still is, the main obstacle to well-being and prosperity of several generations.\"\n\n\nThe assembly voted 189 in favor of ending the blockade, with only the United States and Israel in favor of continuing it. No country entered an abstention, while Moldova and Ukraine were present but did not cast votes.\n\n\"There are no winners here today, there are only losers,\" U.S. envoy Nikki Haley said. \"The United Nations has lost. It has rejected the opportunity to speak on behalf of human rights. The U.N. Charter commits every country here to the promotion of peace, security and human rights and that charter was betrayed today.\"\n\nFor the past 27 years, the U.N. General Assembly has held an annual vote condemning the economic, commercial and financial blockade that was imposed in 1962 during the Cold War.\n\nThe exercise is largely symbolic, as the General Assembly does not have the power to end the embargo, only the U.S. Congress does. But it highlights Washington's isolation on the issue. Ambassador Haley said the United States doesn't care if it is isolated.\n\n\"We have no problem standing alone on behalf of the things we believe in, and we will proudly do so again today if necessary,\" Haley said ahead of the vote.\n\nMore than thirty-six countries and regional groups took the floor, with a debate that began on Wednesday and concluded Thursday with the vote. Many argued the embargo runs contrary to the U.N. Charter and the organization's principles.\n\n\"Every attempt to justify this embargo has failed to convince 191 member states,\" said Ambassador Rhonda King of the Caribbean island-nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. \"It is an affront to us all that the legislature of one country can make a decree on trade matters of another, thereby affecting third countries.\"\n\n\"The blockade is a vivid example of the unilateral way in which the United States acts in the world,\" said Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo. His country is also under U.S. sanctions re-imposed by the current administration.\n\n\"It is not justifiable to apply sanctions in perpetuity,\" said Kenyan envoy Lazarus Amayo. \"In the long run, they are unsustainable and largely cause pain and suffering to the weak and vulnerable members of society,\" he added.\n\nThis year, the U.S. tried a different strategy, offering up eight separate amendments focused on Cuba's human rights situation, in a bid to lessen the emphasis on the embargo. But all eight amendments failed to garner more than a few votes in favor and were not adopted.\n\nHaley argued the annual General Assembly exercise is \"a waste of everyone's time\" and does nothing to help the Cuban people.\n\n\"Cuba and its allies do the same thing every year. They propose a resolution blaming Cuba's poverty, repression, and lack of freedom on the United States,\" she said. \"But this resolution changes nothing. It doesn't help a single Cuban family. It doesn't feed a single Cuban child. It doesn't free a single Cuban political prisoner.\"\n\nIn 2016, there was a brief shift in the U.S. position under former President Barack Obama. The United States abstained that year on the vote, as the Obama administration worked to normalize ties with Havana. Obama's efforts included making an historic trip to the island nation and reopening the U.S. embassy there.\n\nBut relations chilled again under President Donald Trump. He has blamed the Cuban government for the mysterious sonic attacks that sickened and injured more than two dozen U.S. diplomats and others in Havana that began in late 2016. The most recent suspected case happened in June this year. U.S. investigators still do not know exactly who and what caused the injuries, but 15 Cuban diplomats were expelled from Washington in retaliation last year." + }, + { + "title": "Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry - BBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry - BBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiY0FVX3lxTFByaXRFcGhCaUxyT3hseGFYNVppQnpQV3Zwa3V5V2hQcTdoRUc4NkVmQ0lBbm5aQjlUZ3pfTlV6b3M2RUtHWGQzV3kxVkU5R2Vad2VMaTRYT2NQWDVwVGFLMFl2MA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://psmag.com/social-justice/what-is-motivating-cubas-legalization-of-same-sex-marriage/", + "id": "CBMiY0FVX3lxTFByaXRFcGhCaUxyT3hseGFYNVppQnpQV3Zwa3V5V2hQcTdoRUc4NkVmQ0lBbm5aQjlUZ3pfTlV6b3M2RUtHWGQzV3kxVkU5R2Vad2VMaTRYT2NQWDVwVGFLMFl2MA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 23, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 327, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry  BBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry  BBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bbc.com", + "title": "BBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Is Cuba's Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy?\nauthor: Evie Browne\nurl: https://psmag.com/social-justice/what-is-motivating-cubas-legalization-of-same-sex-marriage/\nhostname: psmag.com\ndescription: Cuba has shown a commitment to LGBT rights over the last two decades, but some fear it is being used a distraction from the suppression of other human rights.\nsitename: Pacific Standard\ndate: 2018-11-27\ncategories: ['Social Justice']\n---\nCuba will revise its constitution in 2019\u2014and one of the biggest topics under debate is Article 68, which proposes legalizing same-sex marriage. By legalizing same-sex marriage, and not just civil partnerships, Cuba would follow a broader trend in Latin America\u2014and this is to be celebrated. But is the Caribbean nation\u2019s promotion of this change really evidence of a genuine progressive socialist revolution, or another case of international pinkwashing?\n\nThe term \u201cpinkwashing\u201d was coined by scholar Jasbir Puar to refer to the promotion of LGBT rights in order to present a nation as modern and exemplary. It is often foregrounded as a triumph of democracy, in order to mask other human rights oppressions. Puar\u2019s original reference was to Israel, which promotes itself as gay-friendly, partly to attract high-income gay tourism from Europe, and partly, Puar claims, as a weapon to bat away accusations of deep injustices and cruelty against Palestinians.\n\nIn recent times, acceptance of LGBT rights has been used as a marker par excellence of the neoliberal international world order. Take, for example, former-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron\u2019s suggestion that he would withhold international aid from Uganda unless the country moved toward LGBT acceptance. Or the LGBT rights conditions for accession into the European Union. The contemporary conflation of LGBT rights with broader democratic progress allows LGBT-friendly states to claim a place at the top table of international politics. But this might blind observers to other, less progressive and democratic activities.\n\n### Smoke and Mirrors\n\nCuba has shown a commitment to LGBT rights over the last two decades. This is undoubtedly good news. But does it use this to obscure or minimize focus on its other transgressions? It is certainly true that the Cuban state remains heavy handed with freedom of speech in certain areas, and citizens who protest against the state are routinely watched, harassed, and imprisoned.\n\nIndeed, the intense current debate in Cuba around gay marriage is somewhat obscuring a concurrent constitutional change (Article 349), which aims to censor independent art and will result in increased restrictions on freedom of expression. Article 68 could also be, in part, a diversion to cover the lack of change in the rest of the constitution, which does not address other, equally important issues, such as the economy, wages, one-party rule, and political freedoms.\n\nEl Nuevo Herald, a right-wing newspaper in Miami, for example, quoted Jos\u00e9 Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the dissident group Uni\u00f3n Patri\u00f3tica de Cuba:\n\nArticle 68 is a smokescreen for people to discuss what the government wants and not talk about the most important issues: a dignified salary, an end to corruption, individual and political liberties.\n\n\nThere is also no doubt that if the constitutional changes pass, Cuba will trumpet them internationally. Since 2008, Cuba has voted at the United Nations in favor of LGBT rights, or statements against violations of rights on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This history of visibly supporting LGBT rights suggests that Cuba is keen, as a state, to be seen as a progressive, modern actor on the world stage.\n\nAs Mariela Castro Esp\u00edn, leader of CENESEX, Cuba\u2019s national institution for sex education and LGBT rights, said: \u201cWith this proposal for constitutional regulation, Cuba puts itself among the world\u2019s leading countries in terms of recognizing and guaranteeing human rights.\u201d\n\n### Homonationalism\n\nWhile expanded rights for all are always to be applauded, this positioning of the Cuban state as a world leader on the basis of its support for LGBT people could be seen as a \u201chomonationalist\u201d move. Homonationalism involves making some LGBT bodies \u201cworthy of protection by nation states,\u201d bringing gay lives into conservative institutions such as marriage, and promoting certain types of \u201csanitized\u201d gayness as being symbolic of the nation. Cuba\u2019s promotion of LGBT rights seems to be signaling that (some) LGBT people can be made symbols of the state\u2019s principles of equality for all.\n\nBut LGBT tolerance is by no means a given on the island. There is a strong push from the government, led by Castro Esp\u00edn, but it is still a hard place to be gay, especially outside the capital, Havana, and in more rural areas. The Catholic Church in Cuba has also come out against same-sex marriage, trumpeting traditional family values and presenting LGBT rights as a form of Western ideological colonialism. Ordinary Cubans are not necessarily supportive of the idea of families headed by gay couples, although there is a live and let live attitude that may prevail.\n\nCuba has a strong recent history of state-led change in support of LGBT rights. But is this a genuine commitment, a way of selling itself as a modern state on the world stage, or a means of obscuring other forms of oppression? Perhaps the three options are not so clear cut or disparate, and Cuba\u2019s strategy likely contains a little of each.\n\nEither way, the legalization of same-sex marriage will be a concrete gain in rights and protections for LGBT Cubans. But while we celebrate such developments, we should also take a moment to consider what the true motives may be behind them.\n\n*This article was originally published on **The Conversation**. Read the **original article**. Evie Browne is a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex.*" + }, + { + "title": "Is Cuba\u2019s Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy? - psmag.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Cuba\u2019s Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy? - psmag.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilwFBVV95cUxNLXRCX3NWNVJNT09GaVBSYnZpNWFFYmVuZ0pZVXpfM3MyT0luQ1VyMWZIdGJnWVI3NmpNalNPNm5ndjBibHUzOTZTOUlDcHdXQ3JLN1hXX1VyLXIzR2FuU2pWQkNvOVBEcnktbGdjSzNwbENEXzNmUzc2N3NFNzdGYUMwN1RRX2d4cFNVNE93STBNbVdJSVk0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46324179", + "id": "CBMilwFBVV95cUxNLXRCX3NWNVJNT09GaVBSYnZpNWFFYmVuZ0pZVXpfM3MyT0luQ1VyMWZIdGJnWVI3NmpNalNPNm5ndjBibHUzOTZTOUlDcHdXQ3JLN1hXX1VyLXIzR2FuU2pWQkNvOVBEcnktbGdjSzNwbENEXzNmUzc2N3NFNzdGYUMwN1RRX2d4cFNVNE93STBNbVdJSVk0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 27, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 331, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Is Cuba\u2019s Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy?  psmag.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Is Cuba\u2019s Proposed Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Progress or a Ploy?  psmag.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://psmag.com", + "title": "psmag.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry\nurl: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46324179\nhostname: bbc.com\ndescription: Most vacancies left by departing Cuban doctors have now been filled, Brazil's health ministry says.\nsitename: BBC News\ndate: 2018-11-23\n---\n# Brazil replaces leaving Cuban doctors - health ministry\n\n**Brazil's health ministry says it has filled almost all of the vacancies left by thousands of Cuban doctors who returned to their home country. **\n\nCuba pulled the doctors out of Brazil after what it called \"contemptuous\" remarks by president-elect Jair Bolsonaro.\n\nThe far-right leader had questioned the doctors' qualifications.\n\nHe accused Cuba's communist government of keeping 75% of their pay, and of not allowing their families to join them.\n\nThe first group of Cuban doctors to leave was greeted in Havana by the country's deputy health minister on Friday.\n\nThe health ministry said in a statement that it had managed to fill 92% of the resulting vacancies with Brazilian doctors.\n\nThe statement said more than 17,500 doctors had already been signed up, while almost 8,000 had been allocated to specific areas.\n\nBut a large proportion of the Cuban doctors worked in poor, rural parts of Brazil, where it was harder to recruit Brazilian doctors, and it is not clear how many of the new recruits will be prepared to go to those areas.\n\n## Why were so many Cuban doctors in Brazil?\n\nHealthcare is Cuba's most lucrative export. The \"More Doctors\" aid programme operates in 67 countries, and makes the island $11bn a year.\n\nAround 8,000 Cuban doctors have been working in Brazil's remotest areas under the scheme.\n\nCuba has said they will all be summoned home by the end of December. However, a Brazilian diplomatic source told AFP that 2,000 will likely stay put due to personal ties.\n\nBrazilian mayors have warned that up to 30 million people are facing a care crisis - many in areas where local doctors refuse to go." + }, + { + "title": "Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFBVV95cUxQWVNfNGF3LWhmalEtQW1UYkNockU1TEJqTk9Yb1FWNHNMcmxWNjczbmx5Rk1KS2dHWFpFSkxIOTUyUDVsc1l3ekgyekZySjhBNXRqRktJdHdRblhCWndYZzVxUk1oM3pJVzFRRUNJSzh3NldGMHlGNVF3WkE2WjlJZnA3cU5TaXhCUWxGbWo0dEN0LXI3M0E?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/interviews/thirty-five-years-of-the-el-mejunje-club-in-santa-clara/", + "id": "CBMilgFBVV95cUxQWVNfNGF3LWhmalEtQW1UYkNockU1TEJqTk9Yb1FWNHNMcmxWNjczbmx5Rk1KS2dHWFpFSkxIOTUyUDVsc1l3ekgyekZySjhBNXRqRktJdHdRblhCWndYZzVxUk1oM3pJVzFRRUNJSzh3NldGMHlGNVF3WkE2WjlJZnA3cU5TaXhCUWxGbWo0dEN0LXI3M0E", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 29 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 29, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 333, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/interviews/thirty-five-years-of-the-el-mejunje-club-in-santa-clara/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: It\u2019s hard to talk about Santa Clara without mentioning \u201cEl Mejunje\u201d social club. It\u2019s an example of social integration and cultural events for this city and for Cuba, where people of all ages come to enjoy themselves. Havana Times sat down with its founder Ramon Silverio to talk about the center now that it is about to celebrate its 35th anniversary.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-29\ncategories: ['Interviews']\n---\n# Thirty-five Years of the El Mejunje Club in Santa Clara\n\n**By Jancel Moreno**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 It\u2019s hard to talk about Santa Clara without mentioning \u201cEl Mejunje\u201d club. It\u2019s an example of social integration and cultural events for this city and for Cuba, where people of all ages come to enjoy themselves. Havana Times sat down with its founder Ramon Silverio to talk about the center now that it is about to celebrate its 35th anniversary.\n\n**HT: Did you ever think that this place would become what it is today?**\n\nRS: No, not at all. I think that if I had set out with the plan to create an important space, I might not have been able to achieve it.\n\n*El Mejunje* has always been the result of spontaneity, of people; it\u2019s a reflection of society over these past 35 years; it isn\u2019t what it originally was, now it is a place that has quite a journey and history within society and culture not only in Santa Clara, but also nationwide.\n\n**HT: Summing up, how did you get the idea to create a place like this?**\n\nIt really was a spontaneous idea. We started off at a place where young artists could exhibit their work, whether that was music, theater, the fine arts.\n\nAnd that\u2019s how it began in the Guinol Theater\u2019s lobby in Santa Clara; it was co-founded by Margarita Cazalla, who was the director of this theater. We didn\u2019t last long there, just a year or so, but it was a very intimate experience.\n\nWe couldn\u2019t stay on at the Guinol later because it wasn\u2019t my space, so they gave me what was the old Arts school (which is where you can find the Santa Rosalia restaurant today) and that\u2019s where *El Mejunje* became quite popular. Lots of things were determined there, it defends the aesthetics of ruins because it was also a ruin, it also determined grafitti work and the center\u2019s name.\n\nThe name came from the fact that I used to give out a brew of herbs (which I used to make at home and offer people at midnight) and Pablo Garil, a comedian who painted a lot of graffiti and was the founder of Cuba\u2019s graffiti movement, came with a sign one night that read *El mejunje de Silverio* (Silverio\u2019s brew). That\u2019s when I realized that nothing else could better define that space than that, which is a brew of everything, of colors, ages, likes, beliefs, everything.\n\n**HT: Lots of people come here, both foreigners and Cubans. What can they find here?**\n\nRS: Well, first of all, they can find a very varied program which changes, that is to say, something different is on every day of the week and there are lots of different activities throughout the day; they can also find a very young atmosphere, full of spontaneity, very chilled out (which is important at *El Mejunje*) and it\u2019s a place which opens its doors to everyone. Lots of different kinds of people come and everyone is how they should be, respected. We don\u2019t tolerate here, we respect and accept everyone and we have an atmosphere that is not only very human but also far removed from consumerism.\n\n**HT: What do you think visitors like the most about El Mejunje? Aside from this social integration, what is the thing they come for the most, especially young people?**\n\nRS: I believe that young people come for a lot of music, they are into other things too. *El Mejunje* has a theater, music room, two youth spaces that are always in high demand. There is the *trovuntivitis*, which is an important space at *El Mejunje* because it attracts a lot of people who enjoy singer-songwriters. They know all of the words and they sing along. Plus, on Fridays, the traditional music band *Los Faquires* come to play and lots of people come, Good Luck Friday.\n\nThey come to play on Saturdays for a varied crowd too, although its mostly gay. But, I believe that other places have become more popular on Saturdays, because it used to be our busiest day but it isn\u2019t anymore. People also come from other places and it\u2019s a different crowd like on Saturdays, but I can say that our busiest days are Wednesdays, Thursdays with *trovuntivitis* and Good Luck Fridays.\n\nWe also have elderly who come on Sunday afternoons; they come to dance, we also have filin music activities on Saturday afternoons and an event which is called *arrancame la vida*, which is for bolero music.\n\nAnd we always have something for children on Sunday mornings and some days in the week too, in coordination with local schools.\n\n**HT: Silverio, you have been at the head of El Mejunje for 35 years. How do you feel when you come here, when you see people on the street talking about El Mejunje? People must surely stop to congratulate you and take photos with you.**\n\nRS: I feel like *El Mejunje* has contributed to society, it has contributed to young people, it has created interests and that\u2019s very comforting. It is also a place that is constantly changing. The important thing isn\u2019t that it will be 35 years old, but that it is still alive, renewed, because there are always young people who come (which is very young right now, teenagers I would say) and having been able to keep this crowd and constantly change because this audience has nothing to do with the people who used to come in those early years, who don\u2019t come to *El Mejunje *anymore; there are always some people from those times who come together and they form a part of our history, but most of the people who come to visit us are coming for the first time.\n\nWhen the school year begins, it\u2019s like initiation because lots of people come from the muncipalities, from other provinces and they come to try it out, to see it. Friends from university bring them, people who are there, many of them repeat, others find other places that are more interesting to them and leave of course, but those who stay, stay forever; they are going to finish their studies and they will always try to take *El Mejunje* away with them as something important in their lives.\n\nI don\u2019t like everyone knowing me and for them to always be talking to me and congratulating me for something that they have consolidated and accepted; that saddens me because I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve done anything out of this world, or that important, but you do have affection for people.\n\nI have just turned 70 years old and it has been a never-ending celebration, truly. As I\u2019m also here, but I work in the community, I don\u2019t know how many days I was celebrating my birthday.\n\nPlus, I did it in a very special way because we went to the Turquino summit. I wanted to see if I could take on this feat and I managed to do it. I got to the top of Turquino! I went with a group of friends from here and it was an amazing birthday, at Cuba\u2019s highest spot.\n\nYou need superhuman stamina to get there, so I don\u2019t think many people can get there at 70 years of age, but it was symbolic because lots of different generations went, including lots of young people, who discovered another way of living, that we have options and things that we never take advantage of.\n\nI am convinced that it was the first time that the LGBTIQ community\u2019s flag was taken up Turquino and it was carried by a transexual woman. And it is now there beside Marti\u2019s bust, with other flags, which is to say that this diversity was present and the people who have been trained here at *El Mejunje*.\n\nAll of this has stirred the media\u2019s interest and *El Mejunje* has been in the news recently and I have become a media figure somehow, although *El Mejunje* has always been news because of its concerts and events. I have even been invited to some TV shows with large audiences.\n\nHowever, I have realized just how much people admire me, especially *El Mejunje*, which is the same thing at the end of the day.\n\n**HT: How would you define El Mejunje de Silverio in a single phrase?**\n\nRS: It\u2019s Cuba\u2019s future, the Cuba we hope and dream for. The Cuba that is reflected in most of the Constitution that we are debating today, I have seen all of my struggles in that draft: no discrimination.\n\nI believe that this is what *El Mejunje* is: the Cuba of the future, diverse but united. Just look at the statistics, this is the province where Article 68 (which allows two people to get married without specifying gender) has been accepted the most, while acceptance only stands at 40% more or less in other provinces. Here in Villa Clara, it was 80%; and *El Mejunje* has influenced this because of not only what we do here at the center, but out in rural communities where we make this message heard, which they have understood really well, even better than people in the city, in my opinion.\n\n80%\u2026..?\n\nCongratulations to Villa Clara for being so progressive on this issue." + }, + { + "title": "73 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the joint debate on: Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations (Item 122) and Revitalization of the General (Item 123). New York, 15 November 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "73 UNGA: Statement by Cuba in the joint debate on: Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations (Item 122) and Revitalization of the General (Item 123). 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A socialist nation that\u2019s eager to welcome international tourists and their money. Officially at odds with the US, but friendly to American visitors.\nsitename: WCVB\ndate: 2018-11-29\ncategories: ['TV']\n---\nExploring Cuba\n\nNewsCenter 5\u2019s Mike Beaudet explores a country full of contradictions: Cuba. A socialist nation that\u2019s eager to welcome international tourists and their money. Officially at odds with the US, but friendly to American visitors.\n\nWEBVTT >> \u266a REPORTER CUBA I MUSIC, AND BASEBALL, AND ANTIQUE CAR AND THE BREATHTAKING BEACHES WITH CRYSTAL-CLEAR OCEAN. BUT LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE, AND CUBA IS MUCH, MUCH MORE. AN ISLAND COUNTRY 90 MILES OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA, WITH A COMPLICATED HISTORY WITH THE UNITED STATES. BEFORE FIDEL CASTRO, THE REVOLUTION OF 1959 AND COMMUNISM, CUBA WAS ACTUALLY A HOT SPOT FOR AMERICANS. THINGS TURNED UGLY. THE 1962 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS PUSHED IN THE U.S. AND THE SOVIET UNION WHICH BROUGHT NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO CUBA, TO THE BRINK OF NUCLEAR WAR. DESPITE SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN STILL TENSION. THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT WARNING AMERICANS IN MARCH AGAINST TRAVELING TO CUB DUE TO ATTACKS ALLEGEDLY TARGETING U.S. EMBASSY EMPLOYEES. >> THE PEOPLE I LIKE THE MOST ARE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THEY ARE FRIENDLY, THEY LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY. REPORTER: DIANE GUTIERREZ GIVES VISITORS TO HER\u2019S OF HAVANA IN HIS 1957 CHRYSLER WINDSOR CONVERTIBLE. >> NOW WE ARE HERE. IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS IN CUBA. REPORTER: LIKE MANY CUBANS COME HE IS WELL-EDUCATED. COLLEGE IS FREE HERE, SUBSIDIZED BY THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT. >> I WENT TO COLLEGE FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. REPORTER: BUT HE IS NOT WORKING AS AN ENGINEER. HE CAN MAKE MORE MONEY DOING THIS. >> THE BEST SALARIES ARE TH ONES RELATED TO TOURISM. FOR THAT REASON, I DECIDED TO WORK. TAXI DRIVING. AND DOING THINGS. ONE DAY, IT IS SUPPOSED TO CHANGE. IN THE MEANTIME, I\u2019M DRIVING. REPORTER IN THIS SOCIALIST COUNTRY, THE AVERAGE CUBAN ONLY MAKES ABOUT $20 A MONTH. PROFESSO -- THIS PROFESSOR IS WITH OF THE CENTER OF THE STUDY OF THE CUBAN ECONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA. >> YOU DO HAVE A CERTAIN TYPE OF NEEDS COVERED. YOU HAVE HEALTH CARE, YOU HAV THE GUARANTEE OF A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF RIGHTS. AND BEANS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. REPORTER: SHE SAYS THE CUMIN ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING IN PART BECAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES EMBARGO ON ALL THREE -- ALL TRAD WITH CUBA. IT IS AIMED AT PRESSURING THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT INTO DEMOCRACY. >> WE ARE LOSING LOTS OF MONEY. IN TERMS OF TRADE, IN TERMS OF INVESTMENT. REPORTER: HERE IN CUBA, THE U.S. EMBARGO IS KNOWN AS THE BLOCKADE. IT IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR THE BLOCKADE TO COME UP IN CONVERSATIONS WITH CUBANS. THAT IS BECAUSE THE IMPACT OF IT IS ALL AROUND THEM. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT PAID FOR CANCER TREATMENT FOR SIX-YEAR-OLD BRIAN RODRIGUEZ. HIS PARENTS ARE GRATEFUL. HIS PROGNOSIS IS GOOD. THEY TURNED TO FRIENDS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO SEND THEM MODERN IVS FOR BRIAN\u2019S TREATMENT THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN CUBA. REPORTER THOSE ANTIQUE CARS ARE EVERYWHERE IN CUBA FOR A REASON. NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR CHARM, BUT BECAUSE OF TRADE RESTRICTIONS. MECHANICS HAVE TO GET CREATIVE TO MAINTAIN THE OLD VEHICLES BECAUSE MOST HEARTS AND TOOLS CANNOT BE IMPORTED. REPORTER: PERHAPS NOTHING UNDERSCORES THE IMPACT OF THE U.S. EMBARGO ON CUBA MORE THAN THE MAY PLANE CRASH OF A CUBAN DOMESTIC FLIGHT THAT KILLED 112 PEOPLE. THE PLANE WAS REVVING ITS ENGINES TO TAKE OFF BUT IT COULD NOT COME HE SAYS. THAT PLANE WAS NEARLY 40 YEA OLD, AT LEAST TO CUBA BY A MEXICAN COMPANY, A COMMON ARRANGEMENT BECAUSE THE U.S. DOES NOT SELL PLANES TO CUBA. I HAVE COME HERE TO BURY THE LAST REMNANT OF THE COLD WAR IN THE AMERICAS. REPORTER: IN 2016, PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITED CUBA AS PART OF AN ONGOING EFFORT TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH THE COUNTRY. THE ALLEGED ATTACKS AGAINST U.S. EMBASSY WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES RATCHETED UP TENSIONS AGAIN. PROFESSOR CARELLA COSTA IS WITH THE HAVE ANY USE IT -- HAVE ANY UNIVERSITY -- HAVANA UNIVERSITY. >> THERE WERE SOME NEW RESTRICTIONS. PEOPLE WERE DISCOURAGED TO TRAVEL. REPORTER: BACK IN OLD HAVANA, THE MUSIC AND THE DANCI, DROWNING OUT THE POLITICAL BACK AND FORTH. TOUR GUIDE GUTIERREZ SAYS FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUBANS AND AMERICANS REMAIN STRONG. >> WE TALK ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF CUBA. WE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.\n\nExploring Cuba\n\nNewsCenter 5\u2019s Mike Beaudet explores a country full of contradictions: Cuba. A socialist nation that\u2019s eager to welcome international tourists and their money. Officially at odds with the US, but friendly to American visitors.\n\nUpdated: 8:00 PM EST Nov 28, 2018\n\nEditorial Standards \u24d8\n\n\nYou can explore the Northeastern University online magazine featuring the student reporting from Cuba here.These stories were produced as part of a special reporting project on Cuban arts and culture at Northeastern University\u2019s School of Journalism overseen by Professors Carlene Hempel and Mike Beaudet along with Teaching Assistant Danny Mortimer. The following students participated in the project: Emily Arntsen, Zach Ben-Amots, Sofia Bergmann, Hannah Bernstein, Kaitlyn Budion, Daniel Alejandro Castro-Fernandez, Jos\u00e9 da Silva, Annina Hare, Harshita Himatsingka, Ysabelle Kempe, Jonathan Mejia, Paxtyn Merten, Tiffany Montagne, Milton Posner, Riley Robinson, Alejandro Serrano, Christian Triunfo, and Irvin Zhang.\n\nYou can explore the Northeastern University online magazine featuring the student reporting from Cuba here.\n\nThese stories were produced as part of a special reporting project on Cuban arts and culture at Northeastern University\u2019s School of Journalism overseen by Professors Carlene Hempel and Mike Beaudet along with Teaching Assistant Danny Mortimer. The following students participated in the project: Emily Arntsen, Zach Ben-Amots, Sofia Bergmann, Hannah Bernstein, Kaitlyn Budion, Daniel Alejandro Castro-Fernandez, Jos\u00e9 da Silva, Annina Hare, Harshita Himatsingka, Ysabelle Kempe, Jonathan Mejia, Paxtyn Merten, Tiffany Montagne, Milton Posner, Riley Robinson, Alejandro Serrano, Christian Triunfo, and Irvin Zhang." + }, + { + "title": "Exploring Cuba - WCVB", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring Cuba - WCVB" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYkFVX3lxTFBNZ00wWWtlTUJlaTRGNEZ5RTU5bjJ5d09hZXNZSUt0b2ZGZGx5TGVPRktWOWhHNUZ5dWxXRDlBY2k5cXF4aGJLbFVKQTkyQXFYSXVMWEhhTnp0X3ROdFBMSzNR?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/world/americas/cuban-doctors-lawsuit-brazil.html", + "id": "CBMiYkFVX3lxTFBNZ00wWWtlTUJlaTRGNEZ5RTU5bjJ5d09hZXNZSUt0b2ZGZGx5TGVPRktWOWhHNUZ5dWxXRDlBY2k5cXF4aGJLbFVKQTkyQXFYSXVMWEhhTnp0X3ROdFBMSzNR", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 28, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 332, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Exploring Cuba  WCVB", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Exploring Cuba  WCVB" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.wcvb.com", + "title": "WCVB" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN - UN Watch", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN - UN Watch" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidkFVX3lxTE5BVVpqMnZtTFE5aVZJMHNkcnM2QUw3YVBzeGg0dUQ1bGFXdDZ1V3k3VmduV0ZoN0dEZ2xyUy16QmFTVF9fLWt2Q040eFk4aUhMVGdfZ1VUa2Q5M2NDWWlOd295bzNITTlLMktXNWd1Wjd4bWhwYkE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://unwatch.org/canada-breaks-free-world-sides-cuba-8-times-un/", + "id": "CBMidkFVX3lxTE5BVVpqMnZtTFE5aVZJMHNkcnM2QUw3YVBzeGg0dUQ1bGFXdDZ1V3k3VmduV0ZoN0dEZ2xyUy16QmFTVF9fLWt2Q040eFk4aUhMVGdfZ1VUa2Q5M2NDWWlOd295bzNITTlLMktXNWd1Wjd4bWhwYkE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 28, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 332, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN  UN Watch", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN  UN Watch" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://unwatch.org", + "title": "UN Watch" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Canada breaks with free world, sides with Cuba 8 times at UN - UN Watch\nauthor: Unwatch\nurl: https://unwatch.org/canada-breaks-free-world-sides-cuba-8-times-un/\nhostname: unwatch.org\ndescription: On November 1st at the United Nations, Canada broke with the free world and joined Syria, Iran and North Korea by voting no on eight separate measures\nsitename: UN Watch\ndate: 2018-11-27\ncategories: ['Canada', 'United Nations']\n---\nOn November 1st at the United Nations, Canada broke with the free world and joined Syria, Iran and North Korea by voting no on eight separate measures that sought to hold Cuba accountable for widespread human rights violations. According to anonymous Canadian diplomats, quoted in a recent article in Canada\u2019s leading newspaper *The Globe and Mail*, Canada \u201cconsiders it strategically important to maintain a comparatively close relationship with Cuba\u2019s Communist regime, for trade and political reasons.\u201d In particular, \u201cThey are afraid of upsetting Cuba because of Canada\u2019s bid for a UN Security Council seat,\u201d one diplomat said.\n\n\u201cCanada is in the midst of an intensive lobbying campaign to win a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2021-22. Cuba is considered vital to such UN votes as it holds influence over many African and Latin American UN member states,\u201d write *The Globe and Mail*.\n\nMy fellow Canadians: these 8 UN votes by Ottawa\u2014breaking with the democratic world\u2014are a stain on our country's reputation. But it's not too late. Tweet your MP today to demand that Canada reverse its policy & introduce a UN resolution for Cuba's persecuted human rights victims.\n\n\u2014 Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 28, 2018\n\n\n\n**VOTE ON 8 U.S. AMENDMENTS TO HOLD CUBA ACCOUNTABLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES**\n\n**Amendment 1 (A/73/L.9):**\n\nInsert the following new preambular paragraph immediately after the last preambular paragraph:\n\n\nExpressing serious concernthat in Cuba the severe lack of access to information and freedom of expression, the complete absence of judicial independence, and arbitrary arrests and detentions are undermining the collective efforts to implement Sustainable Development Goal 16 meant to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels,\n\nOn this motion for freedom of expression in Cuba, Canada \u2014 unlike the EU, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 2 (A/73/L.10):**\n\nInsert the following new preambular paragraph immediately after the last preambular paragraph:\n\n\nExpressing serious concernthat in Cuba the absence of women from the most powerful decision-making bodies, including the executive committee of the Council of Ministers and senior military leadership, severely undermines the collective efforts to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5 meant to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by countering the deeply rooted gender-based discrimination that results from patriarchal attitudes and related social norms,\n\nOn this motion for gender equality in Cuba, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 3 (A/73/L.11):**\n\nInsert the following new preambular paragraph immediately after the last preambular paragraph:\n\n\nExpressing serious concernthat in Cuba the trade union monopoly of the Central Union of Cuban Workers, the prohibition on the right to strike, and restrictions on collective bargaining and agreements, including that government authorities and Central Union officials have the final say on all such agreements, severely undermine the collective efforts to implement Sustainable Development Goal 8 meant to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth and full and productive employment and decent work for all,\n\nOn this motion for the rights of workers in Cuba, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 4 (A/73/L.12):**\n\nInsert the following new operative paragraph immediately after operative paragraph 3:\n\n\nCalls uponCuba to fully grant its citizens internationally recognized civil, political, and economic rights and freedoms, including freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and free access to information;\n\nOn this motion for civil, political, and economic rights and freedoms in Cuba, including freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 5 (A/73/L.13):**\n\nInsert the following new operative paragraph immediately after operative paragraph 3:\n\n\nCalls uponCuba, including the judicial and security branches, to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which an independent, diverse, and pluralistic civil society can operate free from undue hindrance and insecurity;\n\nOn this motion for a Cuban civil society free of undue hindrance, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 6 (A/73/L.14):**\n\nInsert the following new operative paragraph immediately after operative paragraph 3:\n\n\nUrgesCuba to end widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, associations and peaceful assembly, both online and offline, including by ending the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, women\u2019s and minority rights activists, labour leaders, students\u2019 rights activists, journalists, bloggers, social media users, social media page administrators, media workers, religious leaders and lawyers;\n\nOn this motion for ending Cuba\u2019s persecution of human rights defenders, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 7 (A/73/L.15):**\n\nInsert the following new operative paragraph immediately after operative paragraph 3:\n\n\nStrongly urgesCuba to release persons arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of their human rights, to consider rescinding unduly harsh sentences for exercising such fundamental freedoms and to end reprisals against individuals, including for cooperating with the United Nations human rights mechanisms;\n\nOn this motion for releasing Cuban political prisoners, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:\n\n\n**Amendment 8 (A/73/L.16):**\n\nInsert the following new operative paragraph immediately after operative paragraph 3:\n\n\nCalls uponCuba to launch a comprehensive accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations, including those involving the Cuban judiciary and security branches, and calls upon the Government of Cuba to end impunity for such violations;\n\nOn amendment L.16 calling on Cuba to hold accountable its serious rights violators, including in the judiciary and security branches, Canada \u2014 unlike Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and dozens of other democracies \u2014 joined Syria, Iran and North Korea in voting No, thereby siding with Cuba\u2019s Castro regime:" + }, + { + "title": "Montclair, New Jersey, man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba - ABC7 New York", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Montclair, New Jersey, man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba - ABC7 New York" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikgFBVV95cUxNZzhtMGpmMVg4LXc1TEM2VWlsekZVblZTQlRxbkdwR3lCVmRnRGlqNkFHRnAyZlJPR1pqcEwycDZIZWo5Z1lwTjdLVnZwVGNSMHpnOVFuanliYTMtaVVfSmdoVHhDVXpuSUtwQXN2UnZuZmVpTWYyek1ZS241eldOYlo0QkJ1QldSdEpKNUZPSHJsQdIBlwFBVV95cUxNWG54WjlCeWlBQmVWXy1VQUNOdWg3dXh0clFMSUJZTnF0bFRlcmFqc0tRVkpPNTgwb1pxUFh0MmhBaGJlVG9jS1ZIOXFtT2VEc1BFY1BDNENOeFdBM1lCVWF1ZWJUQzJPNy1VMlVhS3lleF9LNl9PN1FEcFFvT1ZXZFBQMUUxVVF0eWVaUXVpUHU3ZzRnbVIw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://abc7ny.com/post/nj-man-suspected-of-killing-girlfriend-arrested-in-cuba/4640525/", + "id": "CBMikgFBVV95cUxNZzhtMGpmMVg4LXc1TEM2VWlsekZVblZTQlRxbkdwR3lCVmRnRGlqNkFHRnAyZlJPR1pqcEwycDZIZWo5Z1lwTjdLVnZwVGNSMHpnOVFuanliYTMtaVVfSmdoVHhDVXpuSUtwQXN2UnZuZmVpTWYyek1ZS241eldOYlo0QkJ1QldSdEpKNUZPSHJsQdIBlwFBVV95cUxNWG54WjlCeWlBQmVWXy1VQUNOdWg3dXh0clFMSUJZTnF0bFRlcmFqc0tRVkpPNTgwb1pxUFh0MmhBaGJlVG9jS1ZIOXFtT2VEc1BFY1BDNENOeFdBM1lCVWF1ZWJUQzJPNy1VMlVhS3lleF9LNl9PN1FEcFFvT1ZXZFBQMUUxVVF0eWVaUXVpUHU3ZzRnbVIw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 311, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Montclair, New Jersey, man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba  ABC7 New York", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Montclair, New Jersey, man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba  ABC7 New York" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://abc7ny.com", + "title": "ABC7 New York" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: New Jersey man suspected of killing girlfriend arrested in Cuba\nurl: https://abc7ny.com/post/nj-man-suspected-of-killing-girlfriend-arrested-in-cuba/4640525/\nhostname: abc7ny.com\ndescription: A man who had been on the run since October after police believe he fatally shot his girlfriend was arrested in Cuba this week.\nsitename: abc7ny.com\ndate: 2018-11-07\ncategories: ['crime-safety']\ntags: ['montclair, murder suspect, cuba, James Ray III, Angela Bledsoe, essex county, crime, arrest, police, 4640525', 'murder,arrest,Montclair,Essex-County']\n---\nMONTCLAIR, New Jersey (WABC) -- A man who had been on the run since October after police believe he fatally shot his girlfriend was arrested in Cuba this week.\n\nAuthorities say Angela Bledsoe, 44, was pronounced dead at her home in Montclair on Oct. 23.\n\nJames Ray III, 55, is charged with murder and weapons offenses after he allegedly shot Bledsoe multiple times inside the home they shared with their young daughter.\n\nHe reportedly called his brother after the shooting to tell him what happened. Investigators say he then dropped off the child they shared at a relative's home in Pennsylvania and eluded authorities for nearly two weeks.\n\nPolice say Ray fled through the southwest into Mexico and flew to Cuba where he was detained upon arrival at customs.\n\nHe was returned to New Jersey via Teterboro Airport on Tuesday night and will be arraigned in Essex County next week.\n\nMore charges against Ray could be pending. Authorities say there is no limit to how far they will go to pursue justice.\n\n\"If you commit a crime in the state of New Jersey, we will not forget, we will not forgive and we will find you,\" said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie. \"The world has become a very small place with us working together.\"\n\nRay and Bledsoe's daughter, who was unharmed, remains in the custody of family members.\n\n----------\n\n* **More New Jersey news**\n\n* **Send us a news tip**\n\n* **Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts**\n\n*** Follow us on YouTube**" + }, + { + "title": "North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit - NK News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit - NK News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirgFBVV95cUxOZHhPNjJfczhiT1YzRktjSndMOU1veHNoQTAzZVVac1prTlVzNnViUDJnUG9QTFZscklnWVdkQzNBZ21HWXhmZ0UzUHdDQlpnY29nQThjZDNZMEZhSWlkQ0NuWmxUUEVLcnZMX1l2WDhxVWVjWVhKeU5STU9hcmdVcEFPZkpqNmYzV2RHeml2ektoc2tNZ1dURnJWN3ZKMXk4dG04RG5RNG9veHRKQWc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nknews.org/2018/11/north-korea-unveils-likely-first-official-kim-jong-un-portrait-at-cuba-summit/", + "id": "CBMirgFBVV95cUxOZHhPNjJfczhiT1YzRktjSndMOU1veHNoQTAzZVVac1prTlVzNnViUDJnUG9QTFZscklnWVdkQzNBZ21HWXhmZ0UzUHdDQlpnY29nQThjZDNZMEZhSWlkQ0NuWmxUUEVLcnZMX1l2WDhxVWVjWVhKeU5STU9hcmdVcEFPZkpqNmYzV2RHeml2ektoc2tNZ1dURnJWN3ZKMXk4dG04RG5RNG9veHRKQWc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 4, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 308, + 0 + ], + "summary": "North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit  NK News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit  NK News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nknews.org", + "title": "NK News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summit | NK News\nauthor: Oliver Hotham\nurl: https://www.nknews.org/2018/11/north-korea-unveils-likely-first-official-kim-jong-un-portrait-at-cuba-summit/\nhostname: nknews.org\ndescription: UPDATE AT 2015 KST: This article has been amended to reflect North Korean state media\u2019s Monday afternoon coverage of the event. North Korea unveiled what appears to be the country\u2019s first official portrait of leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday, in footage of a DPRK-Cuba summit published by Cuba\u2019s Prensa Latina over the weekend and [\u2026]\nsitename: NK News - North Korea News\ndate: 2018-11-05\ncategories: ['News']\ntags: ['Aviation', 'Business', 'Companies', 'Culture', 'Cyber', 'Defector Issues', 'Economy', 'Foreign Relations', 'History', 'Human Security / Human Rights', 'Inter-Korean', 'Leadership', 'Military Affairs', 'Misc.', 'Missiles', 'Sanctions', 'Shipping', 'Trade Data', 'WMD']\n---\n### About the Author\n\n#### Oliver Hotham\n\nOliver Hotham was an NK News contributor based in Seoul, South Korea. Follow him on Twitter.\n\nGet behind the headlines\n\n|\nNews ## North Korea unveils likely first official Kim Jong Un portrait at Cuba summitMove could represent major development in DPRK agitprop\nNorth Korea unveiled what appears to be the country\u2019s first official portrait of leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday, in footage of a DPRK-Cuba summit published by Cuba's Prensa Latina over the weekend and DPRK state media on Monday. \u00a9 Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |" + }, + { + "title": "Russia close to granting Cuba 38 million euro loan to buy arms - Reuters", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia close to granting Cuba 38 million euro loan to buy arms - Reuters" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitgFBVV95cUxOVld4WnNZSXBQREJud1VDMG8zRkVHdlRpTVo5NUNGN0hkd2M3b29UMWx4c0lkRk1zTnhwV29lNFZBVm9QSUw1RVpneDd0SkRJTDBoazI1RzBGaWk2S3ozeFRVSVFRMFFwWWNzSFlEX01UZUYyd2xta2hQZ3U5eHdZU3pWRVcxcV9sM2ZnUFdGUS16Mms1Q2pncXFOT2lqT2c4SnR0eXZ4UUttMV8ybUtFR3Y3Q3B1QQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.reuters.com/article/world/russia-close-to-granting-cuba-38-million-euro-loan-to-buy-arms-idUSKCN1N71IG/", + "id": "CBMitgFBVV95cUxOVld4WnNZSXBQREJud1VDMG8zRkVHdlRpTVo5NUNGN0hkd2M3b29UMWx4c0lkRk1zTnhwV29lNFZBVm9QSUw1RVpneDd0SkRJTDBoazI1RzBGaWk2S3ozeFRVSVFRMFFwWWNzSFlEX01UZUYyd2xta2hQZ3U5eHdZU3pWRVcxcV9sM2ZnUFdGUS16Mms1Q2pncXFOT2lqT2c4SnR0eXZ4UUttMV8ybUtFR3Y3Q3B1QQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Russia close to granting Cuba 38 million euro loan to buy arms  Reuters", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia close to granting Cuba 38 million euro loan to buy arms  Reuters" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.reuters.com", + "title": "Reuters" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 401, + "response": "Error: HTTP 401" + }, + { + "title": "A Taste of Cuba - 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La Moncloa", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island - La Moncloa" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiwFBVV95cUxQdEx1X04xdmJFN3BWSVNVakpuZlFVVGFINV80NWFKVnJOTm1iNlhJMWNVZDViRmc1cUkxeXRpZFB4bGEyYlJZdlZIZkR5dDBFdk8wWHN6d1U2bG1CTlJpRzZKR2RON3RsbFNJYVJGLXZCd1N0WlRFRjc0ZlB6WlMtaVo3VlJtNUhxYkdz?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/havana-fights-trash-problem-ahead-of-anniversary/4645614.html", + "id": "CBMiiwFBVV95cUxQdEx1X04xdmJFN3BWSVNVakpuZlFVVGFINV80NWFKVnJOTm1iNlhJMWNVZDViRmc1cUkxeXRpZFB4bGEyYlJZdlZIZkR5dDBFdk8wWHN6d1U2bG1CTlJpRzZKR2RON3RsbFNJYVJGLXZCd1N0WlRFRjc0ZlB6WlMtaVo3VlJtNUhxYkdz", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island  La Moncloa", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island  La Moncloa" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es", + "title": "La Moncloa" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary\nauthor: Associated Press\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/havana-fights-trash-problem-ahead-of-anniversary/4645614.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Piles reeking of rotting waste spill out of dumpsters and pile up waist-high as garbage trucks fail to appear for days and even weeks\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-05\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Americas, Cuba, garbage']\n---\nLuxury hotels are rising fast along the Prado, the tree-lined colonial boulevard that is home to many of Havana's best-known architectural masterworks.\n\nYet within sight of five-star lodgings charging $500 a night, stray cats and flies swarm mountains of uncollected trash. Piles reeking of rotting waste spill out of dumpsters and climb waist-high as garbage trucks fail to appear for days and even weeks.\n\nOne of the most basic functions of city government \u2014 trash collection \u2014 has become a serious problem in one of Latin America's most spectacular cities, which celebrates the 500th anniversary of its founding next year.\n\nIn the Atares neighborhood just outside Old Havana, Daysi Boza, 71, sleeps with a stick laid across the bottom of her door to keep out rats that feed on the trash spilling from the four big garbage bins feet from her door.\n\n\"I can't even remember how many years this has gone on,\" she said. \"Every day it's filthy, stinking \u2014 a pigsty.\"\n\nThe root cause appears to be the cash crunch affecting Cuba's entire government, leaving infrastructure crumbling, suppliers unpaid and state-run businesses without the inputs needed to produce basic goods.\n\nCuban officials blame the six-decade U.S. embargo for strangling its economy. The government's critics point to the inefficiency and pervasive small-scale corruption in one of the word's last centrally planned economies.\n\n**No bags mean loose garbage**\n\nOfficials say Havana has fewer than half of the 100 garbage trucks it needs to conduct daily trash pickups for the city's 2 million residents. Many of those trucks, mostly Chinese-made, regularly are out of service due to a lack of spare parts.\n\n\"I'm surprised \u2014 I expect to see crumbling buildings, but not so much trash,\" said Rosario Aneas, a 38-year-old art professor from Spain on a short trip to Cuba. \"It's affects the image of Cuba, mars it, and it's a shame for such a beautiful city.\"\n\nAggravating the problem is the fact that virtually no Havana residents use trash bags, which are difficult to find and even when available are hard to afford on a state salary of about $30 a month.\n\nInstead of bags, people collect trash in plastic paint buckets that they empty into dumpsters that sit on most street corners in Havana. Because the bins are filled with loose trash, they spill over and reeking garbage piles up as soon as a truck misses a few days' pickups.\n\n**Government plans**\n\nThe problem is so serious that Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has gotten involved, saying at a recent meeting that his government should look for foreign investors to help fix the trash crisis.\n\nHis administration hopes to create a $100 million company controlled by the Cuban government with a minority share held by foreign investors to handle Havana's 2,400 tons of daily trash, earning money by recycling and producing energy from landfill gas.\n\nForeign Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca told The Associated Press recently that the government had negotiated with a Spanish business, but the talks fell through and Cuba is now talking with other potential partners.\n\nThe trash problem worsened after 2010 economic reforms that allowed Cubans to buy and sell houses and start small businesses in their homes. Instead of paying for professional carting as required by the city, many works crews simply dump sacks full of rubble alongside the nearest trash bin.\n\nMany Habaneros dump their domestic trash on top of the rubble, creating mountains of foul-smelling refuse.\n\n\"Some people throw bags of trash from the fifth-floor window,\" said Luis Alberto Martinez, a 50-year-old messenger.\n\nThe head of the municipal government said in May that along with new trucks, Havana needed 12,000 new dumpsters to handle the trash problem.\n\nDozens of Cubans have been arrested in recent years for stealing the big metal bins and cutting them up in workshops to make improvised tubes and other goods in a country with shortages of virtually every product.\n\nCuban authorities say they are hopeful that 60 trash trucks donated by Japan will arrive by the end of the year to help alleviate the problem.\n\nMeanwhile, Habaneros on every side of the trash problem are growing frustrated.\n\n\"People are really undisciplined,\" said Victor Leon, a city worker in a crew of six men, some prisoners on work release, picking up trash that had fallen on the street as a garbage truck emptied bins in the Cerro neighborhood.\n\n\"We're cleaning up around the dumpsters, but you'll see, in 45 minutes this will look just as bad.\"" + }, + { + "title": "Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikAFBVV95cUxQZ3VJV3MzZmlUeGNXYlBPbDJCdExXZHhjVzdidHdnMTZ1RUU1aF9vNFhaYUZOQXAwNHNHcTNRTC00UmVENnhLS0ZIRklibjNfZ0RnVEtOQmEwb2JCc0oyOEJwVG5hVHFDNGZfbXpMUXQtMkhVNWw1XzBJNHhta2JRVHdWd2h1YkU3X3JhcmNVNy3SAZMBQVVfeXFMUDFKNHlQYnR1MG5DNjY2ZVlqNjdqcFhVTGNSSWVsVDMwV01wUVQ2S002eHFmVzZtSXdGbXpNYy1MLXRRbXNIWXhrOXZyR3ZiTl82OE1jZTJlT0t0OHo4SVJZc2tQbUZjSTJITENIREJra3Q3WHM3eGhlTnk1eWtrQmJOTkx3Z00yaFYxV0xNdE5wMm1Z?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2018/20181122cuba.aspx", + "id": "CBMikAFBVV95cUxQZ3VJV3MzZmlUeGNXYlBPbDJCdExXZHhjVzdidHdnMTZ1RUU1aF9vNFhaYUZOQXAwNHNHcTNRTC00UmVENnhLS0ZIRklibjNfZ0RnVEtOQmEwb2JCc0oyOEJwVG5hVHFDNGZfbXpMUXQtMkhVNWw1XzBJNHhta2JRVHdWd2h1YkU3X3JhcmNVNy3SAZMBQVVfeXFMUDFKNHlQYnR1MG5DNjY2ZVlqNjdqcFhVTGNSSWVsVDMwV01wUVQ2S002eHFmVzZtSXdGbXpNYy1MLXRRbXNIWXhrOXZyR3ZiTl82OE1jZTJlT0t0OHo4SVJZc2tQbUZjSTJITENIREJra3Q3WHM3eGhlTnk1eWtrQmJOTkx3Z00yaFYxV0xNdE5wMm1Z", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 5, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 309, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Havana Fights Trash Problem Ahead of 500th Anniversary  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: Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island\nurl: https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2018/20181122cuba.aspx\nhostname: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndescription: Havana (Cuba), 22 November 2018. The President of the Government, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, arrived in Cuba on an official visit, with the aim of establishing and normalising bilateral relations and resuming political dialogue at the maximum level with the leaders of the Caribbean country. This is the first visit by a President of the Government of Spain to Cuba in the last 32 years, thus opening up a new chapter in relations between the two countries with strong historical, economic, trading and emotional ties.\nsitename: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndate: 2018-11-22\ntags: ['News']\n---\nFirst official visit by a President of the Government in 32 years\n\n# Pedro S\u00e1nchez arrives in Cuba to re-launch relations between Spain and the Caribbean island\n\nPresident's News - 2018.11.22\n\nImages of the first day of the visit of the President of the Government to Cuba | Pool Moncloa/Jorge Villar - 2018.11.22\n\nHavana (Cuba)\n\nIn the first day of his visit, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez held a meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, to extend the talks which began at their recent meeting in September in New York, within the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations.\n\nDuring the meeting, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez expressed to Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel the \"privileged\" position that Latin America, and particularly Cuba, holds in Spain's foreign action and he conveyed the Spanish Government's desire to actively accompany the country in the transition process and opening up to the world, that it is currently immersed in, as well as the interest of Spanish companies in contributing to the country's economic development, and reiterated the commitment of Spanish Cooperation to Cuba.\n\nFurthermore, and for the sake of the interest of both governments in normalising political relations, Pedro S\u00e1nchez and Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel signed two memoranda of understanding, one that establishes a mechanism for political consultations, the first of this kind that Cuba has adopted as a country, and shows Spain's interest in actively contributing to the reform process through advisory and technical assistance programmes. The second memorandum is on cultural cooperation, with the aim of freely spreading Spanish culture in Cuba.\n\nPresident of the Government S\u00e1nchez reiterated Spain's support for Cuba's relations with the European Union to Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, and particularly expressed his desire to continue engaging in dialogue on human rights that has begun between the European Union and the island. Furthermore, this is the first visit by an EU leader to Cuba since Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel was invested as President.\n\nIn their talks, they also addressed the serious crises in Venezuela and Nicaragua, together with their effects throughout the whole region of Latin America.\n\n## Economic, trade and cultural relations\n\nPool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe trip by the President of the Government to Cuba is characterised by a major economic-business dimension, since Spain is the third largest trading partner and the country with the largest number of companies on the island - some 200. Accordingly, Pedro S\u00e1nchez was accompanied by representatives of the whole Spanish business fabric, with whom he will hold a working breakfast to explore ways to enhance the position and presence of Spanish companies in Cuba.\n\nFollowing this working breakfast, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez will inaugurate the Spain-Cuba Business Forum, organised jointly by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Exchange, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations and the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, to analyse the different possibilities for business relations between Spain and Cuba in such sectors as infrastructures, renewable energies, tourism and investment where Spanish companies have a high presence.\n\nFollowing the Business Forum, the President of the Government will visit \"Habana Vieja\", where he will tour the old town with the city historian Eusebio Leal, with the aim of commemorating the 500th anniversary of its foundation next year, paying close attention to those parts that have been remodelled by Spanish Cooperation. At the start of his tour, an official act will take place to hand over the \"Silla de Maceo\", a souvenir of our common history, and a gesture of friendship towards the Cuban people, for its exhibition in the City Museum of Havana for a period of two years. Subsequently, he will inaugurate the architectural drawing exhibition \"Archipaper\", produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation by the design and architecture studio LAB26, with the aim of projecting Spanish culture in Cuba in a normal manner.\n\nThe President of the Government will then go to the Spanish Embassy at lunchtime, where he is due to meet with the Spanish colony resident in Cuba - there are currently some 140,000 Spanish nationals on the island.\n\nThe last event of the day will be a meeting with representatives of Cuban civil society.\n\n*Non official translation*" + }, + { + "title": "Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018 - Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018 - Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZEFVX3lxTE81azd2aUdBSmdZWXY3WnZWclhSWDlTRjJSYnI2akJMSmUtYWZsbVNrNU5tNzVfbkdZZFdFcG53T0xsVXZrUExjbUV3Vnh0dEozUnJJMnpVR1FWNG9XYklTS09aaGY?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.caseymcnett.com/obituaries/nancy-l-pustina", + "id": "CBMiZEFVX3lxTE81azd2aUdBSmdZWXY3WnZWclhSWDlTRjJSYnI2akJMSmUtYWZsbVNrNU5tNzVfbkdZZFdFcG53T0xsVXZrUExjbUV3Vnh0dEozUnJJMnpVR1FWNG9XYklTS09aaGY", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sat, 17 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 17, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 5, + 321, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018  Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018  Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.caseymcnett.com", + "title": "Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Nancy L. Pustina Obituary November 17, 2018 - Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services\nauthor: Casey-McNett Funeral Home; Cremation Services\nurl: https://www.caseymcnett.com/obituaries/nancy-l-pustina\nhostname: caseymcnett.com\ndescription: View Nancy L. Pustina's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.\nsitename: Casey-McNett Funeral Home and Cremation Services\ndate: 2025-01-16\ncategories: ['Obituaries']\n---\nInvite friends and family to read the obituary and add memories.\n\nWe'll notify you when service details or new memories are added.\n\nYou're now following this obituary\n\nWe'll email you when there are updates.\n\nPlease select what you would like included for printing:\n\nCuba City, Wisconsin Nancy L. (Rose) Pustina, 57, of Cuba City, Wisconsin, died peacefully on Saturday, November 17, 2018, at Agrace Hospice Center in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, after a courageous battle with triple negative breast cancer. Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, November 21, 2018, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Cuba City with Rev. David Flanagan officiating. Burial will be in St. Anthony's Cemetery in Highland, Wisconsin. Friends may call from 2-7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Church and from 9-10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the church before the service. Casey Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Cuba City is in charge of arrangements. Nancy was born on July 19, 1961, in Madison, Wisconsin, the fourth of nine children of Francis J. and Marvelene A. (Kite) Rose. She was a graduate of Highland High School in 1980 and NICC in Peosta in 1994. Nancy was a loyal Medical Associates OB Clinic RN for 23 years. Her work there was important to her and she loved her job. Nancy married Jeff Pustina on June 9, 1984, at St. Anthony's Church in Highland. Family functions were a big deal to Nancy. She enjoyed shopping and playing on her volleyball team with friends. Supporting Jeff, she rarely missed games and always had her camera. Nancy spent twenty years traveling with her girls for AAU basketball and she made them into family vacations with lots of wonderful memories. Nancy's most perfect accomplishment was being the mother to Kaitlyn, Kelsey and Chloe. She loved them with her whole being. Survivors include her husband, Jeff, Cuba City; three daughters, Kaitlyn R. Pustina, Madison, WI, Kelsey L. Pustina, Chicago, IL, and Chloe L. Pustina, Oshkosh, WI; her parents, Frank and Marvelene Rose, Avoca, WI; her sisters, Annie (Gene) Schmitz, Montfort, WI, Lisa (Bob) Bomkamp, Highland, WI, Sara (Troy) Stadele, Mt. Horeb, WI; her brothers, Charlie (Nancy) Rose, Cobb, WI, Bill (Sheila) Rose, and Tim (Linda) Rose, both of Highland, WI, Tom (Shelly) Rose, Mineral Point, WI, and Frankie (Heather) Rose, Steamboat Springs, CO; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Delbert and Diane Pustina, Highland, WI. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Lawrence and Marie Rose, and Dale and Anna Kite. Memorials may be made to the Grant County Cancer Coalition, PO Box 105, Lancaster, WI, 53813 or Metavivor Research & Support, 1783 Forest Drive #184, Annapolis, MD 21401. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.caseyfuneralhome.net.\n\nTuesday, November 20, 2018\n\n2:00 - 7:00 pm (Eastern time)\n\nSt. Rose of Lima Church\n\nFriends may also call from 9:00-10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the church before the service.\n\nWednesday, November 21, 2018\n\nStarts at 10:30 am (Eastern time)\n\nSt. Rose of Lima Church\n\nVisits: 96\n\nThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the\n\nGoogle Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.\n\nService map data \u00a9 OpenStreetMap contributors" + }, + { + "title": "Israel is again sole US backer as world urges end to Cuba blockade - The Times of Israel", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Israel is again sole US backer as world urges end to Cuba blockade - The Times of Israel" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimgFBVV95cUxNVnFkRVo4UFo1VnhYQ0szckJHdzFLVFBTR0xGVlRLMEpBUHREeUk4bXBzdXhPM1JQLVAxdnNnN1N2UXpSZjRILThGT1dWNEV0Tlktd1dmOWJwcUVkRnNYWFp5YnJzR1p2ckYyTzF0WWRibWlhX3ZUUUpYVVJaSmJtYVp6QUlRbDVjSnJiWmNtRmZWck5PN05zMGZn0gGfAUFVX3lxTFBISnB3MDJxRzd6QlZFTlgxb2ExTzJnUTlVdERpQVY3a0Vqa2I0Z2ltTVNTQWxLTUZieW9BOEVldHA5NV9jcWZSUnlGdjJDY1lfX2hqZHBnR2R5X1o1MGk2Umwzbkp6VHIydXRDdllGUE9LUkZGN0RmMUFibGdpZlc5cDVFd0JQRFRmMmdiSXl3bVREOFZ4eXV0VUthM3VvQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-again-sole-us-backer-as-world-urges-end-to-cuba-blockade/", + "id": "CBMimgFBVV95cUxNVnFkRVo4UFo1VnhYQ0szckJHdzFLVFBTR0xGVlRLMEpBUHREeUk4bXBzdXhPM1JQLVAxdnNnN1N2UXpSZjRILThGT1dWNEV0Tlktd1dmOWJwcUVkRnNYWFp5YnJzR1p2ckYyTzF0WWRibWlhX3ZUUUpYVVJaSmJtYVp6QUlRbDVjSnJiWmNtRmZWck5PN05zMGZn0gGfAUFVX3lxTFBISnB3MDJxRzd6QlZFTlgxb2ExTzJnUTlVdERpQVY3a0Vqa2I0Z2ltTVNTQWxLTUZieW9BOEVldHA5NV9jcWZSUnlGdjJDY1lfX2hqZHBnR2R5X1o1MGk2Umwzbkp6VHIydXRDdllGUE9LUkZGN0RmMUFibGdpZlc5cDVFd0JQRFRmMmdiSXl3bVREOFZ4eXV0VUthM3VvQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Israel is again sole US backer as world urges end to Cuba blockade  The Times of Israel", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Israel is again sole US backer as world urges end to Cuba blockade  The Times of Israel" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.timesofisrael.com", + "title": "The Times of Israel" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn - \u65b0\u534e\u7f51", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn - \u65b0\u534e\u7f51" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia0FVX3lxTFBudlZHWUV1eHVHX1NKQVZLXzVSODZCY1R1Yl9CTUpRR3NXZWFSVUlKZGRZSVg4V2NsSG1qVUlCUE5jMHNub3lOOTczNUQ3Q2JacHJCcXFFT3d1NUJvX0Y2dTdaWkdXOTFIZFFn?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/08/c_137592848.htm", + "id": "CBMia0FVX3lxTFBudlZHWUV1eHVHX1NKQVZLXzVSODZCY1R1Yl9CTUpRR3NXZWFSVUlKZGRZSVg4V2NsSG1qVUlCUE5jMHNub3lOOTczNUQ3Q2JacHJCcXFFT3d1NUJvX0Y2dTdaWkdXOTFIZFFn", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 8, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 312, + 0 + ], + "summary": "China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn  \u65b0\u534e\u7f51", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn  \u65b0\u534e\u7f51" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.xinhuanet.com", + "title": "\u65b0\u534e\u7f51" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: China Focus: Xi holds talks with Cuban president to advance ties\nsitename: English.news.cn\ndate: 2018-11-08\n---\nChinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1st R) pose for a group photo with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (2nd L) and his wife in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 8, 2018. Xi held talks with Miguel Diaz-Canel in Beijing on Thursday. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)\n\nBEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel here on Thursday, calling on the two countries to cherish their traditional friendship and write a new chapter in China-Cuba friendly cooperation.\n\nXi extended welcome for Diaz-Canel's first state visit to China and asked Diaz-Canel to convey his cordial greetings to Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.\n\nHailing Cuba as a great country, Xi said it has won the respect of the world by insisting on its own development path despite difficulties and obstacles over the past half a century.\n\nAs socialist countries, China and Cuba are good friends, comrades and brothers, said Xi, adding this is a proven fact and the relationship has withstood the test of time and international situation changes.\n\n\"Chinese people will never forget that Cuba, led by Comrade Fidel Castro, was the first nation in the western hemisphere to forge diplomatic ties with China 58 years ago,\" Xi said, expressing gratitude to the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuban people for their firm support toward China in safeguarding sovereignty and developing the country.\n\nXi recalled his two visits to Cuba and in-depth conversations with Fidel Castro, calling on the two countries \"to double cherish the friendship forged and cultivated by the older generations of leaders, inherit and develop it and jointly write a new chapter of bilateral friendly cooperation.\"\n\nSpeaking highly of the unswerving determination of the Cuban party, government and people to develop bilateral ties, Xi said both sides need to have an overall plan from a long-term perspective so as to promote the in-depth development of China-Cuba ties.\n\nHe called on both countries to further consolidate mutual trust and support, conduct win-win cooperation and enhance exchanges on governance.\n\nThe two countries should continue to support each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns, said Xi, adding that China firmly backs Cuba on safeguarding its national sovereignty and choosing a socialist path that suits its national situation.\n\nChina believes that with the strong leadership of Raul Castro, Diaz-Canel and other leaders, Cuba will surely score new achievements, said Xi.\n\nHe said China appreciates Cuba's contribution to the relations between China, Latin American and Carribean countries and would like to maintain close coordination with Cuba on major international and regional issues.\n\nChina welcomes Cuba's participation in the Belt and Road construction, said Xi, calling on both sides to enhance cooperation in areas of trade, energy, agriculture, tourism and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.\n\nNoting that Diaz-Canel visited the first China International Import Expo held in Shanghai prior to his arrival in Beijing, Xi encourages Cuba to make the best use of the expo to expand exports to China.\n\n\"China's cooperation with Cuba follows the principle of upholding justice and pursuing shared interests,\" said Xi, adding that China will \"support Cuba in all aspects that we can support.\"\n\nHe also called for people-to-people and cultural exchanges so as to boost mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and Cubans, especially for the young people.\n\nDiaz-Canel, who arrived in Shanghai Tuesday to start his three-day state visit, said that Cuba appreciates China's lasting support and the new generation of Cuban leaders will staunchly continue the traditional friendship with China.\n\nHe said Cuba admires the achievements China has scored and highly agrees with the development ideas put forward at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.\n\nCuba is willing to learn from China to update its domestic economic and social model and promote the cause of socialist construction, said Diaz-Canel, calling on the two countries to maintain high-level exchanges and political dialogue, strengthen exchanges in trade, education and culture and enhance communication and coordination in international affairs.\n\nPrior to the talks, Xi held a welcoming ceremony for Diaz-Canel at the Great Hall of the People.\n\nAfter the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a series of documents.\n\nEarlier on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Diaz-Canel.\n\nNoting that China always upholds an open attitude and win-win principles to promote cooperation with Cuba, Li said China stands ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation in major areas including new energy, information communication and biological pharmacy.\n\nThe Chinese government supports its enterprises to invest and develop in Cuba and is willing to import more products with Cuba's unique advantages, Li said, also expressing the willingness to promote knowledge cooperation and development experience communication with Cuba.\n\nLi Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, also met with Diaz-Canel on the same day, calling for more cooperation between the two countries' legislatures." + }, + { + "title": "US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifkFVX3lxTFBHQ1didjVhTG5wTnlJUFItZWd5Nk91SGQwX1M4RUhTVWJLVFA0VkpXNGZJNlIzN3A5T3kwdGhZV0t5aGhEZlUxcGRlQWlyeFJnR0V0emZWT0I3SU5ORkdJTkJiS2djZFBDLUxsRWxiTVpJNjVXUmxmZmR6MHdGUQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba-rejected-again-at-the-un/", + "id": "CBMifkFVX3lxTFBHQ1didjVhTG5wTnlJUFItZWd5Nk91SGQwX1M4RUhTVWJLVFA0VkpXNGZJNlIzN3A5T3kwdGhZV0t5aGhEZlUxcGRlQWlyeFJnR0V0emZWT0I3SU5ORkdJTkJiS2djZFBDLUxsRWxiTVpJNjVXUmxmZmR6MHdGUQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba-rejected-again-at-the-un/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The United States and Israel, its unconditional ally, voted again today against a non-binding resolution at the UN General Assembly that condemns the US embargo on Cuba, backed by the rest of the 189-member states. The vote is symbolic and consistently in favor for 27 consecutive years.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-01\ncategories: ['News']\n---\n# US Embargo on Cuba Rejected Again at the UN\n\n**HAVANA TIMES** \u2013 The United States and Israel, its unconditional ally, voted again today against a non-binding resolution at the UN General Assembly that condemns the US embargo on Cuba, backed by the rest of the 189-member states. The vote is symbolic and consistently in favor for 27 consecutive years, reported dpa news.\n\nIn her government\u2019s defense, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador before the United Nations, said: \u201cThose who support this resolution every year are wrong.\u201d She added: \u201cOur reason for the embargo is and will always be that Cuba denies its citizens basic freedom and rights.\u201d\n\nThere are many governments that criticize the lack of human rights and freedom in Cuba, but oppose measures such as the embargo, in part because ordinary citizens are the most affected. For some detractors of the Cuban system, the embargo gives an excuse to the island\u2019s government to cover up its own mistakes and economic inefficiencies.\n\nIn 2016, President Barack Obama overturned the traditional NO vote on the resolution by abstaining, with Israel doing the same. The historic decision came after the United States resumed relations with the government of Raul Castro after more than 50 years.\n\nSince he took office in 2017, Donald Trump pushed for a distancing and reversed some of the measures to ease the embargo imposed by his predecessor. The embargo itself can only be lifted by the US Congress.\n\nCuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, once again demanded the lifting of the embargo, which he said has caused losses of $933.6 billion dollars (over 58 years) and is presented as the \u201cmain obstacle to the development of the country.\u201d\n\nCuban state media, which followed the live debates and voting in New York, spoke of \u201ca divorce of Donald Trump with the world.\u201d\n\nSince 1992, Cuba has submitted a draft resolution to the UN every year, calling for an end to the embargo that the United States imposed on it in 1960, following the triumph of Fidel Castro\u2019s Revolution, and which was hardened in the 1990s. Support for that resolution has been growing over the years to become almost unanimous.\n\nThat time of year again huh?\n\nThe USA indulges in various unilateral sanctions of. They vary from the dumb to the squalid.\n\nThe Cuban embargo is more telling of the internal politics of the USA than it is a reflection on those who are on the receiving end.\n\nThe countries against whom the USA does not impose sanctions tells the story of the inherent hypocrisy of this issue (Saudi Arabia springs to mind).\n\nAll this talk of \u2018democracy\u2019 being a pretext for their sanctions and embargoes surely embarrasses the USA. Founded on democratic principles, it\u2019s democracy is now on the slide.\n\nThe embargo against Cuba precedes the current rogue US regime by some considerable decades.\n\nIt\u2019s an absurdity and an anachronism but is becoming a minor sideshow in comparison to some of the bigger stories surrounding the current resident of the White House.\n\nAs a big fan of the USA, I would hope for a democratic upturn.\n\nAll I see at the moment are right wing conservatives in league with right wing extremists. I see a withdrawal of the right to vote for ever-increasing numbers of US citizens. I see gerrymandering on an ever increasing scale. It\u2019s a dangerous picture\u2026\u2026\u2026.\n\nViva Beto O\u2019Rourke !!!!!!\n\nIn terms of simple symbolism, this annual ritual sends a consistent message that the world does not support the unilateral nature of the US embargo against Cuba. But the resolution remains a paper tiger and does nothing, absolutely nothing to affect US policy. I can imagine that even the Cubans must be bored with this annual circle jerk." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments - The Guardian", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments - The Guardian" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxQMi15S2JFcy1jV0ZGckMyYV9aMnlfeVNtZm5ON3I4S0NxTnFNUDNhSnlUMUJXOExYc0dxZWREVlJ5ZThSbzlEakN3djdVVU5BY3AzV3dOUmh3MDRmWGlUUFZkVXdaNFNaMjNlQUl0U1cyenFWX0doRExwREdZZzJ3OXVEeElkY0owWW5Ibk1XSVdMMUU?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/14/cuba-doctors-brazil-withdraw-jair-bolsonaro", + "id": "CBMikwFBVV95cUxQMi15S2JFcy1jV0ZGckMyYV9aMnlfeVNtZm5ON3I4S0NxTnFNUDNhSnlUMUJXOExYc0dxZWREVlJ5ZThSbzlEakN3djdVVU5BY3AzV3dOUmh3MDRmWGlUUFZkVXdaNFNaMjNlQUl0U1cyenFWX0doRExwREdZZzJ3OXVEeElkY0owWW5Ibk1XSVdMMUU", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments  The Guardian", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments  The Guardian" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.theguardian.com", + "title": "The Guardian" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba to pull doctors out of Brazil after President-elect Bolsonaro comments\nauthor: Guardian staff reporter\nurl: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/14/cuba-doctors-brazil-withdraw-jair-bolsonaro\nhostname: theguardian.com\ndescription: Bolsonaro demands changes to contracts and questions training of 11,420 Cuban doctors who work in poor and remote parts of Brazil\nsitename: The Guardian\ndate: 2018-11-14\ncategories: ['World news']\ntags: ['Brazil,Cuba,Jair Bolsonaro,World news,Americas']\n---\nCuba has announced it will withdraw thousands of its doctors from Brazil after the South American nation\u2019s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts.\n\nThe far-right Bolsonaro, who takes office on 1 January, said in an interview this month that the 11,420 Cuban doctors working in poor and remote parts of Brazil could only stay if they received 100% of their pay and their families could join them.\n\nUnder the terms of the agreement with Cuba, brokered via the Pan-American Health Organization, Havana receives the bulk of the doctors\u2019 wages.\n\nBolsonaro threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Havana over the program, saying it trampled on the rights of the doctors by handing the Cuban government 75% of their pay and denying mothers the right to have their children with them.\n\n\u201cThat is just torture for a mother,\u201d Bolsonaro said in the 2 November interview with Brasilia\u2019s Correio Braziliense newspaper. He also questioned the qualifications of the Cuban doctors and said they would have to renew their licenses in Brazil.\n\nCuba\u2019s health ministry rejected Bolsonaro\u2019s comments as \u201ccontemptuous and threatening to the presence of our doctors\u201d in a statement announcing its withdrawal from the program.\n\n\u201cThese unacceptable conditions make it impossible to maintain the presence of Cuban professionals in the program,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.\n\nCuban doctors work in dozens of countries, some without cost to their hosts and others where Cuba charges a fee per doctor, most of which it says goes to keep the free national health system in Cuba functioning.\n\nThe billions of dollars in revenues represent the most important source of export earnings for the communist-run government.\n\nSince the Brazilian program, called \u201cMore Doctors\u201d, was started in 2013 by the leftist former president Dilma Rousseff, about 20,000 Cuban health professionals have served in Brazil, including in 700 municipal districts that had never had a resident doctor, the ministry said.\n\nBolsonaro said the program could have continued if it complied with his conditions. \u201cUnfortunately, Cuba did not accept,\u201d he said in Twitter post after the Cuban announcement." + }, + { + "title": "Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba - Montclair Local News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba - Montclair Local News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiowFBVV95cUxOaTBJdEItUjd5Z2Rob3VGSUZOdjZyX2tjUVR4cmFaT3dXMUd0UnpLbzF2b1hHSVprMFpYNVdrVGR6ZE92aXVveVVZekJVQlQtZ281LU9jOEhsaUJ1OWdQME9vZjhYUm9seUZLTkcyWlRxSFhDTXpYUzMyOHBhT2lRaHZyMjB5S1BDbEx4VGNCZ0RBTGxUWTQ2dEdYZlZNbDJfaU5N?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://montclairlocal.news/2018/11/montclair-resident-james-ray-arrested-for-angela-bledsoes-murder/", + "id": "CBMiowFBVV95cUxOaTBJdEItUjd5Z2Rob3VGSUZOdjZyX2tjUVR4cmFaT3dXMUd0UnpLbzF2b1hHSVprMFpYNVdrVGR6ZE92aXVveVVZekJVQlQtZ281LU9jOEhsaUJ1OWdQME9vZjhYUm9seUZLTkcyWlRxSFhDTXpYUzMyOHBhT2lRaHZyMjB5S1BDbEx4VGNCZ0RBTGxUWTQ2dEdYZlZNbDJfaU5N", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 311, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba  Montclair Local News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba  Montclair Local News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://montclairlocal.news", + "title": "Montclair Local News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Prosecutor: Montclair resident James Ray tried to escape to Cuba\nauthor: Erin Roll\nurl: https://montclairlocal.news/2018/11/montclair-resident-james-ray-arrested-for-angela-bledsoes-murder/\nhostname: montclairlocal.news\ndescription: By ERIN ROLL roll@montclairlocal.news The Montclair man accused of killing his girlfriend and mother of his child at their Montclair home last month crossed into Mexico and then hopped a [\u2026]\nsitename: Montclair Local\ndate: 2018-11-07\ncategories: ['News', 'Public Safety', 'Top Stories']\ntags: ['Angela Bledsoe', \"Essex County Prosecutor's Office\", 'James Ray', 'Montclair Police Department']\n---\n**By ERIN ROLL**\n\n*roll@montclairlocal.news*\n\nThe Montclair man accused of killing his girlfriend and mother of his child at their Montclair home last month crossed into Mexico and then hopped a plane to Cuba where he was arrested at customs.\n\nJames Ray, 55, was in custody at the Essex County Jail as of Tuesday, according to correctional facility records. He has been booked on two counts of murder.\n\nHowever, the exact charges that Ray will face in court were still being finalized as of Wednesday.\n\nAngela Bledsoe, 44, was found with numerous gunshot wounds at the couple\u2019s home on North Mountain Avenue on Oct. 23. Authorities had been searching for Ray since that time.\n\nDetails of Ray\u2019s capture were released during a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Essex County Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Newark.\n\n\u201cShe was a young mother of a six-year-old child. A brilliant young professional, struck down in the prime of her life,\u201d Acting Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II said of Bledsoe.\n\nThe other speakers included FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie and Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy. Also present at the conference were Montclair Mayor Robert Jackson and Montclair Police Chief Todd Conforti.\n\nAfter the killing, Stephens said, Ray allegedly dropped his daughter off with relatives in Pennsylvania. He then traveled to the southwest United States, where he entered Mexico through an undisclosed border crossing. From there, Ray boarded a flight to Cuba.\n\nAuthorities from the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency have met with the girl, Stephens said, and she is now in the care of Bledsoe\u2019s family.\n\nInvestigators had obtained evidence that Ray might try to go to Cuba, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie. The Interpol issued a Red Notice \u2013 an alert to law enforcement agencies in the Interpol\u2019s member countries \u2013 which allowed authorities to stop Ray before he could go through Cuban customs on Oct. 28. He remained in custody there until the FBI brought him back to the United States on Nov. 6.\n\n\u201cNow, this case is unique because of the cooperation between local, county, state, and federal, and international law enforcement,\u201d Stephens said.\n\nStephens would not comment on reporters\u2019 questions on whether police had been called to Ray and Bledsoe\u2019s house before, or on a potential motive for the slaying, only that the case was still under investigation at this time.\n\nJackson made a statment thanking the law enforcement agencies involved for all their work.\n\n\u201cClearly, this is a case that has disrupted our community, horrified our community,\u201d Jackson said. He said he hoped the latest developments would bring some closure to Bledsoe\u2019s family and the community.\n\nRay\u2019s first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 13, before Superior Court Judge Martin G. Cronin to determine if he will be be detained. Stephens said the prosecutor\u2019s office will be seeking to have Ray held without bail, due to the nature of the crime and his propensity to flee the jurisdiction.\n\nRay is a lawyer with the law firm Ray and Associates in New York, while Bledsoe had worked in finance.\n\nBledsoe\u2019s funeral was held in Maryland on Friday.\n\nThe prosecutor\u2019s office issued a statement thanking the Montclair Police Department, the Allentown, Pennsylvania Police Department; the New Jersey State Police; the FBI; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Embassy in Havana for their aid in the investigation and Ray\u2019s capture." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba's Classic Restaurant - New Mexico Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Classic Restaurant - New Mexico Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiakFVX3lxTE1lZE1IYjdWaFl6M0Z3bnB3TDcxRGZDZUdsWTd6RXpnTFhPdlFfY2JDSzk4SFAyX2JTZ0F6QzlCN2RuZFMzdk5mVUxhZ2ZXVURYeHM1d0tuOENVbWFhekduZFpJTzdtVmxiQXc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/cuba-el-bruno/", + "id": "CBMiakFVX3lxTE1lZE1IYjdWaFl6M0Z3bnB3TDcxRGZDZUdsWTd6RXpnTFhPdlFfY2JDSzk4SFAyX2JTZ0F6QzlCN2RuZFMzdk5mVUxhZ2ZXVURYeHM1d0tuOENVbWFhekduZFpJTzdtVmxiQXc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 19, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 323, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba's Classic Restaurant  New Mexico Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Classic Restaurant  New Mexico Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.newmexicomagazine.org", + "title": "New Mexico Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba's Classic\nauthor: Alicia Inez Guzm\u00e1n\nurl: https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/cuba-el-bruno/\nhostname: newmexicomagazine.org\ndescription: Cuba's El Bruno Restaurant offers comida that makes everyone feel at home.\nsitename: New Mexico Magazine\ndate: 2018-11-19\ncategories: ['Culture, Go. See. Do., December 2018, December, 2018']\ntags: ['Go. See. Do. Bite', 'El Bruno', 'Food & Drinks', 'Restaurants & Dining', 'Cuba', 'New Mexican Cuisine']\n---\nAbove: From Enchiladas Herra to tableside guacamole, El Bruno's rules.\n\n**El Bruno\u2019s Restaurante y Cantina** started out as the Silver Star Saloon in Cuba, New Mexico, just off of US 550. At the time, it could seat only about 15 people, too few for much of an eatery. Owners Bruno and Hazel Herrera decided they needed to expand into other parts of the building, a long complex that had also housed a roller-skating rink, grocery store, and barbershop. One by one, they remodeled each space and, within three years of moving in, changed the name to El Bruno\u2019s. Why the \u201cEl\u201d? \u201cIt\u2019s how we refer to people in Spanish,\u201d Hazel says. *\u201cVamos a El Bruno\u2019s pa\u2019 ver la Hazel.\u201d*\n\nThat location burned to the ground from an electrical fire 13 years ago. \u201cWe started all over again,\u201d Hazel says, this time in the former Tastee Freez just across the street. Locals come in daily for lunch, looking for Enchiladas Herrera (made with red chile and pork). Sunday breakfast draws a crowd, and the acclaimed margarita has customers begging for the special (and secret) recipe. The restaurant hosts many international visitors en route to Chaco Canyon\u2014to Hazel, to be known as far away as France is all the recognition she needs. El Bruno\u2019s also earned a nod from *Guinness World Records* for the world\u2019s longest burrito, 1.75 miles long. But it\u2019s their famous green chile\u2014roasted, peeled, and ground by El Bruno himself\u2014that brings folks in, along with handmade tamales and taquitos.\n\nStop in at either the Cuba location or the newer Albuquerque site and meet El Bruno, La Hazel, and the rest of the family." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row - BBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row - BBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiY0FVX3lxTE9meVVhYzA2dXVOa1p5dWh0SWVIZmJuN052RTBpTUJlSm5wUUNIUjlYR3l6dUw4VmxSNUZmdTZVZFJVUmpjelNvNkh3LTVYYUdGb3BSVWJmN2pIUXFnYXdGM3FmZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46240199", + "id": "CBMiY0FVX3lxTE9meVVhYzA2dXVOa1p5dWh0SWVIZmJuN052RTBpTUJlSm5wUUNIUjlYR3l6dUw4VmxSNUZmdTZVZFJVUmpjelNvNkh3LTVYYUdGb3BSVWJmN2pIUXFnYXdGM3FmZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 16 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 16, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 320, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row  BBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row  BBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bbc.com", + "title": "BBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row\nurl: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46240199\nhostname: bbc.com\ndescription: Havana is recalling 8,000 doctors after criticism from Brazil's president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.\nsitename: BBC News\ndate: 2018-11-16\n---\n# Cuba pulls doctors out of Brazil amid row\n\n**Cuba is pulling thousands of doctors out of Brazil, after what it called \"contemptuous and threatening\" remarks by president-elect Jair Bolsonaro. **\n\nThe far-right leader, who takes office on 1 January, had questioned the doctors' qualifications.\n\nHe also accused Cuba's communist government of keeping 75% of their pay, and refusing to let their families join them.\n\nThe pull-out could disrupt healthcare for millions of Brazilians.\n\n## Why were so many Cuban doctors in Brazil?\n\nHealthcare is Cuba's most lucrative export. The \"More Doctors\" aid programme operates in 67 countries, and makes the island $11bn a year.\n\nAround 8,000 Cuban doctors have been working in Brazil's poorest and remotest areas under the scheme.\n\nCuba has said they will all be summoned home by the end of December. However, a Brazilian diplomatic source told AFP that 2,000 will likely stay put due to personal ties.\n\nBrazilian mayors have warned that up to 30 million people are facing a care crisis - many in areas where local doctors refuse to go.\n\nThe first 196 doctors to leave have already been greeted in Havana by Cuba's deputy health minister.\n\nCuban news agency ACN said the medics were \"happy to have fulfilled their mission,\" but \"worried about what awaits the [Brazilian] people with the newly-elected president\".\n\nBrazil's health ministry said on Friday that it would start selecting local doctors to replace the departing Cubans later this month." + }, + { + "title": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - KERA News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - KERA News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirwFBVV95cUxPR0p6aGJxeGFhRGlaSXR6cEpBT3ZaYlFaLWlVaDdTSldUYzZQQ3k5SWdXVUt1bUxMbXBZTVVvSndJTGNnbElBckhucEtMXzVpemlMMVJOVTF2R21sdTNrZklsaXI3MDJrMjlMZm1DRWJjU2p4RENUSVFiWmNMVHlRVUl1bDdGQktOYU1XVWtfR0tuaG1vTi1PMVpiemNETjkxdEphY0JiNTlGcnN3UkZz?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.keranews.org/2018-11-14/mexicos-endangered-stingless-bees-mysteriously-find-a-sweeter-home-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMirwFBVV95cUxPR0p6aGJxeGFhRGlaSXR6cEpBT3ZaYlFaLWlVaDdTSldUYzZQQ3k5SWdXVUt1bUxMbXBZTVVvSndJTGNnbElBckhucEtMXzVpemlMMVJOVTF2R21sdTNrZklsaXI3MDJrMjlMZm1DRWJjU2p4RENUSVFiWmNMVHlRVUl1bDdGQktOYU1XVWtfR0tuaG1vTi1PMVpiemNETjkxdEphY0JiNTlGcnN3UkZz", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba  KERA News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba  KERA News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.keranews.org", + "title": "KERA News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "When Georgia Shrimpers Hauled Cuban Refugees - Atlas Obscura", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "When Georgia Shrimpers Hauled Cuban Refugees - Atlas Obscura" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiakFVX3lxTE9BRk05ZDM0b3g2S0FvSmJja0VCQ2hSbWdyU201eVdJXzlJajlfRFBWSTRnbjlZR085X3hGbHJWb1NRSG1qSDIwU053REdoMWlSdW5OV2hJcWNmcUFCOUZjWHlrX3IwcjROZlE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mariel-boatlift-cuba", + "id": "CBMiakFVX3lxTE9BRk05ZDM0b3g2S0FvSmJja0VCQ2hSbWdyU201eVdJXzlJajlfRFBWSTRnbjlZR085X3hGbHJWb1NRSG1qSDIwU053REdoMWlSdW5OV2hJcWNmcUFCOUZjWHlrX3IwcjROZlE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 5, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 309, + 0 + ], + "summary": "When Georgia Shrimpers Hauled Cuban Refugees  Atlas Obscura", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "When Georgia Shrimpers Hauled Cuban Refugees  Atlas Obscura" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.atlasobscura.com", + "title": "Atlas Obscura" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - 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Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMisgFBVV95cUxQUXFaQ25Pb2NfR1NReVVzX3pSWDgtWWpNU2pjQklhSC1ZQV9GVFlUeFRKSUViSmZ5NWROcGN0Y0hhSHI4Y3FyX3RRM0x1eVMzWHlKQnRRVUQ4Qk04UUhQQ2M5VFdDdk42MWIwcHk5V3hPcmdkbm95NUk4aktjdm9iQk1nRDJZSDNiTXJIbEZUUTZ1c245aWZ5WlZFaWVRYTZlalpMMktfT1k3NFV4MF9MSU53?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/diaries/osmelramirez/a-very-interesting-account-of-events-at-a-hospital-in-holguin-cuba/", + "id": "CBMisgFBVV95cUxQUXFaQ25Pb2NfR1NReVVzX3pSWDgtWWpNU2pjQklhSC1ZQV9GVFlUeFRKSUViSmZ5NWROcGN0Y0hhSHI4Y3FyX3RRM0x1eVMzWHlKQnRRVUQ4Qk04UUhQQ2M5VFdDdk42MWIwcHk5V3hPcmdkbm95NUk4aktjdm9iQk1nRDJZSDNiTXJIbEZUUTZ1c245aWZ5WlZFaWVRYTZlalpMMktfT1k3NFV4MF9MSU53", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 20, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 324, + 0 + ], + "summary": "A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Osmel Ramirez\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/diaries/osmelramirez/a-very-interesting-account-of-events-at-a-hospital-in-holguin-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: In Holguin recently, at the Vladimir I. Lenin Hospital, keeping tabs on my wife\u2019s surgery to get her gallbladder stones removed, I spoke to lots of people. Patients and their partners ended up becoming very close and sharing lots of stories waiting long periods of time in appointments or outside the operations room.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-20\ncategories: ['Osmel Ramirez']\n---\n# A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba\n\n**By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 In Holguin recently, at the Vladimir I. Lenin Hospital, keeping tabs on my wife\u2019s surgery to get her gallbladder stones removed, I spoke to lots of people. Patients and their partners ended up becoming very close and sharing lots of stories waiting long periods of time in appointments or outside the operations room.\n\nMany subjects for hypothetical articles appeared to me as if by magic, but I didn\u2019t want to be repetitive and even embarrassing. I have already said a lot about the critical state of our well-designed public health system, which is free, but \u201ccosts\u201d many workers and a lot of money, more than what a normal worker earns, to \u201cmake ends meet\u201d.\n\nThe most interesting thing that happened (which led me to write this article) was a conversation I had with the companions of a patient from Velazco, belonging to the Gibara municipality, which isn\u2019t too far from Holguin city. Humble and very trustworthy people, they happened to be neighbors of dissident doctor Eduardo Cardet, spontaneously telling me what they knew. And I could sense what they didn\u2019t know too.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s a brilliant person, really good. And a wonderful doctor. As is his wife. She sees my mother,\u201d the woman told me.\n\nHer husband, who was more eloquent and knew more about the subject, continued: \u201che is a dissident and they took him violently from his home. He is now locked up and it\u2019s a shame because he had a bright future ahead of him. It would have been better for him to go on a mission abroad and then desert, he would have had his life sorted. But, he got mixed up in politics and look what they\u2019ve done to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey say that he was even beaten in jail and he has been refused parole. His wife is lovely, an attentive doctor and she never says anything about it, at least outside of her family circle. She continues to work, but people are saying that she\u2019s gone on leave now because she is going to have an operation. They don\u2019t have a good life, on the contrary, they live very modestly in a ramshackle house. That boy ruined himself by getting mixed up in that business, poor lad,\u201d he ended.\n\nTo he astonishment, I told him that I was an independent journalist and that I knew a bit about Cardet\u2019s case as I check independent media on the internet. Pulling out my phone, I showed him the news about his neighbor and a video from the IACHR Commission that took place in Colorado, US, where the political prisoner\u2019s sister gave his testimony. He was surprised.\n\nLike the vast majority of our people, he doesn\u2019t use the Internet to read the news, because it is very expensive and inaccessible, and so they only end up watching official news and reading official newspapers, in which only the \u201cconvenient\u201d about Cuba\u2019s reality appears. The rest doesn\u2019t suit them.\n\nThat\u2019s why Cardet\u2019s neighbors knew less about his situation than a Cuban in Australia or Miami. They were very surprised to learn that he had such great support from international organizations and that he had been declared a prisoner of conscience. They didn\u2019t even know that he was linked to the recent problem of Cuban diplomats at the UN General Assembly, as part of the \u201cprisoners why?\u201d campaign that the US is promoting.\n\n\u201cNobody over there knows that this had partly to do with Cardet. Even I believed what they were saying, that he was just another US lie to justify the blockade,\u201d the dissident\u2019s neighbor said, still in shock.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t advise anyone to get mixed up in politics, while Raul and those old generals are still alive, nothing will change. The Revolution was a beautiful thing but this country isn\u2019t and never will be what we fought for and there\u2019s no way of fixing it in the next 10 or 12 years, at least,\u201d he said.\n\nI explained that in every country where honor is lacking for some reason or another, there are always individuals who give up what\u2019s convenient and pay the tough consequences of carrying the honor of many on their backs. \u201cThey are necessary,\u201d like Marti once said. That, even though the horizon is still dominated by shadows, somebody has to continue to pave, with a great deal of effort and work and in spite of brutal repression, the path towards the light.\n\nIt was a beneficial conversation for both of us, there\u2019s no doubt about it. It was very interesting for me to learn these accounts of events from people who know Cardet from his neighborhood and can confirm his veracity (which I never doubted), which I had read about him.\n\nHow false is the government\u2019s argument that Cuban dissidents don\u2019t have the support of our people. They have it where they can, in their most immediate circle of action and abroad, where they can make their messages heard beyond the blockade on alternative media, imposed by the Cuban government\u2019s media control.\n\nThey were very valuable accounts. Cardet\u2019s neighbors implored me not to reveal their names when I told them that I would write this interesting story down in an article. Further proof of the fact that Cardet\u2019s struggle and that of many other brave fellow Cubans is necessary if we want a better Cuba.\n\nIt\u2019s also terrible to sense a Cuban\u2019s fear of joining the system\u2019s \u201cblacklist\u201d, even though they are only saying what they think or speaking the truth which unsettles those who hold power.\n\nYou Osmel cause me to recall a very well qualified Cuban teacher working at a Pre-University school, querying how it is that foreigners like myself in Cuba, know more about the country, its government and its economy than Cubans.\n\nThe simple answer is obvious in that we have not been subject to repression and censorship or indeed to the hour by hour, day by day, week by week and month by month Communist Party of Cuba Propaganda Departments nonsensical lies, stupid slogans and innuendo. Because we live in the freedoms of capitalist societies (with all their faults) we have had access to information.\n\nThe cell \u2018phone is beginning to erode some of that censorship, especially amongst the student age group, but Cubans do not have access to the full Internet.\n\nThere is a simple test to check that. In the search engine write: Raul Castro, executions\n\nIf a picture of Raul tying a man to a tree prior to execution appears and information about him executing 78 people on 12th January, 1959 at Santiago without trial, then you have the full Internet." + }, + { + "title": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - WUNC News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba - WUNC News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxQSk9lNzh6TzNtM0VhY0gxUnREMndFR3NTMW1KWk5PVmlLYXl3OHRxMFR5RVZBRkIzYVNwYXV6QnAyLVdfSHcyaWdQYWpFeWZBSFMxdnVjcmhjSDhhejNEVzYtVjNsOG9jT01keF8xdVRFTkhVZXNTZTNHZ3ZlWTAxOU9NYUM1U2taZjdlN3dYY1cwSUpET1hLa0FucnN1REJNcXR2d3NOLW5hUQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.wunc.org/2018-11-14/mexicos-endangered-stingless-bees-mysteriously-find-a-sweeter-home-in-cuba", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxQSk9lNzh6TzNtM0VhY0gxUnREMndFR3NTMW1KWk5PVmlLYXl3OHRxMFR5RVZBRkIzYVNwYXV6QnAyLVdfSHcyaWdQYWpFeWZBSFMxdnVjcmhjSDhhejNEVzYtVjNsOG9jT01keF8xdVRFTkhVZXNTZTNHZ3ZlWTAxOU9NYUM1U2taZjdlN3dYY1cwSUpET1hLa0FucnN1REJNcXR2d3NOLW5hUQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba  WUNC News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba  WUNC News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.wunc.org", + "title": "WUNC News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria Opens in Cuba - Luxury Travel Advisor", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria Opens in Cuba - Luxury Travel Advisor" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxQZWtmWXJMYlFNQVpsanpyYVZiUXgzNVBma3NFVUJmRG1zNlFUeHNHZ3daTWhFVVFHRkgxMi14bXFuNWJiTVVOb0RTMHNPWjduNk1FcnpWb3g4NEFyZkhwOFNqT1EtTi01SW5QQ1NtMHFfY29mc0VtRVR0N2YtQTZPdkt0b1g?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.luxurytraveladvisor.com/hotels/angsana-cayo-santa-maria-opens-cuba", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxQZWtmWXJMYlFNQVpsanpyYVZiUXgzNVBma3NFVUJmRG1zNlFUeHNHZ3daTWhFVVFHRkgxMi14bXFuNWJiTVVOb0RTMHNPWjduNk1FcnpWb3g4NEFyZkhwOFNqT1EtTi01SW5QQ1NtMHFfY29mc0VtRVR0N2YtQTZPdkt0b1g", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 27, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 331, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria Opens in Cuba  Luxury Travel Advisor", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria Opens in Cuba  Luxury Travel Advisor" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.luxurytraveladvisor.com", + "title": "Luxury Travel Advisor" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikAFBVV95cUxQSDkxTWhuUkR5ckp6S3VWR21XR3E1N2c2bXpCM1ZUam5pTlFJNllFa1JpUzJZOFF0OGMwTDVPVFU5TERBc0lhb3IwNHVOcjNVaFZoOUZEZmZOY2taZTY1c3pYLVU3d0hPbUhwd1htZ0gtTFVNVWVrejhKbXNTZE9EbGViYXUycWVVOGZybWpHOFM?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/opinion/us-embargo-and-its-relationship-with-democracy-in-cuba/", + "id": "CBMikAFBVV95cUxQSDkxTWhuUkR5ckp6S3VWR21XR3E1N2c2bXpCM1ZUam5pTlFJNllFa1JpUzJZOFF0OGMwTDVPVFU5TERBc0lhb3IwNHVOcjNVaFZoOUZEZmZOY2taZTY1c3pYLVU3d0hPbUhwd1htZ0gtTFVNVWVrejhKbXNTZE9EbGViYXUycWVVOGZybWpHOFM", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 8, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 312, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba - Havana Times\nauthor: Osmel Ramirez\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/opinion/us-embargo-and-its-relationship-with-democracy-in-cuba/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: Personally-speaking, I oppose the blockade out of principle rather than pragmatism. I feel the same way democratic Governments do who know that basic human rights are being violated which stand in the way of freedom and any trace of democracy, but can\u2019t approve of an embargo that borders on the concept of blockade because of its extraterritorial nature.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-08\ncategories: ['Opinion']\n---\n# US Embargo and its Relationship with Democracy in Cuba\n\n**By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 Once again, a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly against the US embargo on Cuba (blockade according to Havana) on November 1st. The same thing has happened on 27 consecutive occasions and this time, like many other times, there were only two votes against the resolution, the US and Israel.\n\nThis is undoubtedly a crushing diplomatic defeat for the world\u2019s largest power and ally of Cuba\u2019s opposition, who counteracted the 8 amendments linked to human rights violations on the island in vain.\n\nEven though the resolution isn\u2019t binding in any way, its approval marks the international community\u2019s position on the US\u2019 policy on Cuba. Washington needs to sit down and analyze its diplomatic strategy again as it has been clearly defeated by the Cuban government, because even its closest partners in the world (except for one) have left their side in this dispute. There are clearly some underlying problems.\n\nPersonally-speaking, I oppose the blockade out of principle rather than pragmatism. I feel the same way democratic Governments do who know that basic human rights are being violated which stand in the way of freedom and any trace of democracy, but can\u2019t approve of an embargo that borders on the concept of blockade because of its extraterritorial nature. That\u2019s the truth, even though they believe that it might be the only way to pressure the Cuban government to move towards a democracy.\n\nI think that the fact that the entire world is voting against the blockade 27 years in a row and only two countries are supporting it, only serves to benefit the Cuban government and moves away from any real chance of democratic change in Cuba. Because while US diplomacy and our opposition have been weak in their arguments to convince us, the Cuban government\u2019s diplomacy and propaganda is very skilful, exact and opportunistic, coming out victorious in every way.\n\nNot only have they managed to victimize themselves with the US embargo, but they are playing down their human rights violations by magnifying their international solidarity efforts in education and healthcare. The fight against ebola was a masterful diplomatic job that continues to rake in benefits even today. Their education program \u201c*Yo si puedo*\u201d and *\u201cOperacion milagro*\u201d with cataract operations have been too. Many people in the world can\u2019t believe that a government that appears to be so altruistic with the rest of the world is able to tread all over its own people\u2019s human rights.\n\nIf the world opposes the blockade, that doesn\u2019t mean that they support the Cuban government or its handling of human rights. However, this is what the Cuban government interprets it as or at least, what they impose on us here on the island with their media monopoly. And they also use it to legitimize their government. When the world is voting against the blockade, it is tacitly supporting the Cuban government at the same time, because this is what the government interprets it as and this is what reality has shown us.\n\nIn my opinion, the smartest thing for the US government could do would be to focus on showing a sincere will to lift the blockade because of its negative effects on the Cuban population, regardless of whether this might benefit the Cuban regime. And then they should pass on the responsibility of choosing whether it stays in force or not to the Cuban people themselves, as part of a national conflict between the Government and its emigres/opposition, not as a conflict between a small country and a superpower, which is how it has been perceived up until now.\n\nBetween a big and small opponent, people tend to inevitably stand in solidarity with the small one, whether they are right or not. Throughout the entire US-Cuba conflict, the small island will always hog others\u2019 solidarity. However, if the conflict were between the Cuban government and its emigres/opposition, the small and defenseless subject of the story would change.\n\nThe US embargo/blockade started off as a hurt superpower\u2019s mad reaction, who didn\u2019t accept that they were losing political hegemony and their economic interests on a small island that had been dependent on them up until then almost as if it were a protectorate. Aggravated by the Cold War, it was also a clumsy reaction as it favored the Communist USSR\u2019s penetration of Cuba after they tried to isolate it. And then, tensions persisted in a game of dominoes up until the present day.\n\nHowever, the situation has changed, and the US is negotiating with China and Vietnam, and yet things are still different with Cuba. Why? It\u2019s simple, only 90 miles separate the US from Cuba and 15% of the Cuban population live in the US in a very prosperous and influential community after six decades of exile and immigration which have remained steady up until now. Ironically, the Cuban people\u2019s greatest wish isn\u2019t to stand with the Revolution which says it represents their interests, but to emigrate to the US, the Revolution\u2019s sworn enemy, which is embargoing them.\n\nThe main reason the US embargo/blockade remains in force for over fifty years, is because of Cubans\u2019 political influence in the US government, so it essentially boils down to nothing more than a conflict between Cubans. Even though there are other secondary factors that are important such as Cuba\u2019s role within the region and worldwide against US interests; the geopolitical matter when it comes to enemy powers; or the unresolved issue of compensation for nationalized companies and assets. These are all secondary influences in my opinion.\n\nThat\u2019s why I believe that the US should put the end of the blockade second to a negotiation between the Cuban government and its emigres/political opposition, where it would act just as a mediator. Interests of Cuba\u2019s national and foreign opposition join with the emigre community\u2019s interests to a large extent because of the fact that the reasons people emigrate are generally the same as those that motivate peaceful opposition.\n\nIt\u2019s not rocket science. With this focus, the responsibility for ending the blockade would be in Cuban hands 100% and it would be up to the Cuban government to make a clear decision. And if the Cuban government refuses to recognize the rights of its emigres and opponents, if it doesn\u2019t accept the most basic democratic precepts for national reconciliation and respecting human rights, not only would this support the US blockade, but it would also mean that they lose the majority of the international community\u2019s support.\n\nIn order to bring about a democratic change in Cuba, reality is crying out to us to do something different. Obama understood this because he is a very smart politican and he wanted to find another way. He pushed for the end of the detente and US blockade, almost unconditionally, so as to push for change through values coming face-to-face, with exchanges and new situations that would arise as a consequence of this rapprochement.\n\nA slow and risky oath but it was better than the current one, which is the same ironhard and stubborn path of the past, which Trump adopted again even though it has proven to be unsuccessful. Carrying on like this will only help to perpetuate the system by giving it arguments to strengthen its role as a victim in all of this.\n\nThe ideal outcome would be that the end of the blockade (as it exists even if it is wrong) serves as political pressure to force the Cuban government to negotiate. However, not with the US government but with its own people who form part of its peaceful opposition both on and off the island. Now we need to ask ourselves whether this opposition is ready to take on such a challenge and whether they can come together in spite of their differences to form a Democratic Coalition in favor of a better Cuba \u201cfor everyone and for everyone\u2019s wellbeing.\u201d That is the enigma.\n\nthe revolution fought to the very end with help from its young citizen full of ideals and energy. its allies subsided to help in the billions for the cause against the yankee s. what a glorious time it was.\n\nnow its time to pay the bill. your allies smile and embrace you still but they ask for a separate check now. the cause and ideal is lost and dead.\n\nand now who will help .daddy yankee\n\nReally? The US NEEDS to trade with Cuba? Please explain.\n\nI also hope the embargo will be dissolved permanently.\n\nBut it is incorrect to suggest that the USA needs to trade with Cuba.\n\nIt doesn\u2019t.\n\nThe relative lack of trade with Cuba is a tiny blip in comparison to US trade with the rest of the world.\n\nWhat potential US Presidents need are Floridian Electoral College Votes to assist them up the steps of The White House.\n\nThat\u2019s why the anachronistic embargo has continued for so long.\n\nI am hoping that the embargo against Cuba would be dissolved permanently because the United States needs to trade with Cuba again" + }, + { + "title": "The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship - Dalhousie University", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship - Dalhousie University" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipwFBVV95cUxQZF95cUZRSEtaOHZFSF9YTzhLajNEVm5IWF9IaHQ5SzVMOS1raWxVeUtyRTlLZkFiU0F4M2tzb2NtWVRYZ1JaekdNSV9meURfZDZudGNZbHR0ckxCY1JUTWxvTV8ycEN4aDlyUFd2UU9KQUExRGhDZ0hEN3hCTHVBWkt0SGRsdjNIQmxsU1hDc2VJTG1VNllxYWMtWDdSR3BEaTFKNk9mOA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.dal.ca/news/2018/11/22/the-conversation--what-about-the-kids--the-worrisome-cuba-north-.html", + "id": "CBMipwFBVV95cUxQZF95cUZRSEtaOHZFSF9YTzhLajNEVm5IWF9IaHQ5SzVMOS1raWxVeUtyRTlLZkFiU0F4M2tzb2NtWVRYZ1JaekdNSV9meURfZDZudGNZbHR0ckxCY1JUTWxvTV8ycEN4aDlyUFd2UU9KQUExRGhDZ0hEN3hCTHVBWkt0SGRsdjNIQmxsU1hDc2VJTG1VNllxYWMtWDdSR3BEaTFKNk9mOA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship  Dalhousie University", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship  Dalhousie University" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.dal.ca", + "title": "Dalhousie University" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The Conversation: What about the kids? The worrisome Cuba\u2011North Korea friendship\nauthor: Robert Huish; Peter Steele\nurl: https://www.dal.ca/news/2018/11/22/the-conversation--what-about-the-kids--the-worrisome-cuba-north-.html\nhostname: dal.ca\ndescription: The new friendship between North Korea and Cuba is puzzling, write Dal researchers Robert Huish and Peter Steele. The two countries should share values as socialist republics, but their brands of socialism are worlds apart when it comes to children.\nsitename: Dalhousie News\ndate: 2018-11-22\ntags: ['Research, International Development Studies, Arts and Social Sciences']\n---\n*This article was originally published on The Conversation, which features includes relevant and informed articles, written by researchers and academics in their areas of expertise and edited by experienced journalists.*\n\n*Robert Huish is Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. Peter Steele is a graduate student at Dalhousie University.*\n\nKim Jong Un, North Korea\u2019s tyrannical leader, recently \u201creaffirmed historic ties\u201d with Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba\u2019s president.\n\nDiplomacy between Cuba and North Korea is odd. Late Cuban president Fidel Castro only once visited Kim Il Sung, North Korea\u2019s eternal leader, in 1986.\n\nWhile he spoke highly of some aspects of the regime, Kim\u2019s cult of personality, for Castro, went too far. He saw the forced worship of Kim Il Sung as smacking of Stalinist brutality, not socialist progress.\n\nThe friendship between Kim and Diaz-Canel is worrisome. While U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201ccasino diplomacy\u201d with Kim Jong Un came as a result of an escalating security crisis, Cuba and North Korea are supposed to share values as socialist republics. And yet their brands of socialism are worlds apart.\n\n**\nRead more:\nCasino Diplomacy: The Trump game that everyone loses\n**\n\nOne profound difference is how they treat their children.\n\nIn Cuba, children are the most valued and protected members of society. Access to food, health, education, stable families and even culture, sport and play are venerated foundations of Cuban society.\n\nIn North Korea, children face an Orwellian nightmare. North Korea is in a league of its own when it comes to the abuse of children.\n\nSo much divergence calls into question how the Cubans can maintain solidarity with a country that abhors Cuba\u2019s core values.\n\n### Belittling, intimidating kids\n\n\nThe Korean Children\u2019s Union, a mandatory union for children aged nine to 15, is not designed to nurture or inspire its members through friendship, camaraderie or duty. It is meant to belittle, to intimidate and to instil the belief that the supreme leader is all-powerful.\n\nIt rigorously instructs children that to be an individual is meaningless. No child is unique. Each one is just like the other. Replaceable, disposable and ultimately worthless.\n\nDon\u2019t be fooled by photos of Kim Jong Un smiling arm and arm with ecstatic children. Childhood in North Korea is rife with hunger, fear and abuse.\n\nFrom the testimony of numerous defectors, we know that children are taught by the government to love the supreme leader more than their own parents. Mom and Dad are responsible for the basics, but it is the leader who provides in every way. Sound like a cult? It is.\n\nJuche is North Korea\u2019s official ideology meant to drive the nation towards true socialism. It demands obedience, submission and designated struggle for the benefit of the nation. It creates a deranged cult of personality of the Kims to convince children not to think for themselves, but to think \u201cthrough the leader.\u201d\n\nIt begins with nursery rhymes. Many give fawning praise and boisterous credence to Kim Il Sung, the eternal leader of North Korea, along with his direct descendants Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un. Yet other songs are chock-full of lyrics about killing \u201cJapanese dogs\u201d and dismembering \u201cAmerican bastards.\u201d\n\n### The worship of one man\n\n\nIn their earliest days of song and speech, children learn to worship one man, prepare for revenge against the country\u2019s enemies and abandon the sanctity of childhood \u2014 all through a barrage of violence and vulgarity.\n\nFor those deemed \u201cwavering\u201d or \u201chostile\u201d by the North Korean government, which categorizes citizens based on political loyalty, the psychological abuse intensifies.\n\nWhile still forced to show audacious affection to the Dear Leader, teachers and police remind children that their only value in life will be service to the leader through exhausting work.\n\nFor the lowest rungs of society, childhood turns to horror. Food is minimal and malnutrition rampant. Stories emerge of roving children near the Chinese border who, abandoned by their parents, live a roaming existence in collectives in search of food and warmth.\n\nOne child was found crossing the Chinese border in the middle of winter with terrible burns to his bare feet. Trying to stay warm, he knocked over a kerosene lamp that ignited his shoes. Such are the brutal sacrifices of young people, shunned by their nation and forgotten by the world.\n\nDefector testimony presented to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses in North Korea include stories of male and female political prisoners, some with no previous contact, forced into conjugal visits while in captivity.\n\nNorth Korea demands three generations of punishment for those hostile to the regime. If a child is born into this plight, they will live a life starved and physically worked to absolute exhaustion in the camps.\n\n### Robbed of humanity\n\n\nNorth Korea\u2019s abuse is systematic, with dangerous implications for enduring trauma at the very genesis of childhood. Weaponizing youth through mandatory juvenile conscription goes beyond violating international edicts. It robs its children of humanity.\n\nIt is not done by accident, nor by consequence of a catastrophic event. Dehumanizing compatriots, including children, is a carefully scripted policy. Bureaucrats engineer it, soldiers implement it, and Kim Jong Un oversees it with impunity.\n\nNorth Korea militarizes children through conformity, intimidation and degradation.\n\nMeanwhile, Cuba is committed to ensuring the rich experiences of childhood. Diplomatic protocol aside, for Cuba to hold hands with the leader of a nation that denigrates children to such levels is repugnant.\n\nThe Korean Children\u2019s Union, and other tenets of Juche, must be dismantled if North Korea is to enter the global community. North Korea\u2019s closest allies, including Cuba, have a role in making sure that happens.\n\n*Read the original article on The Conversation.\n*\n\n*Dalhousie University is a founding partner of The Conversation Canada, an online media outlet providing independent, high-quality explanatory journalism. Originally established in Australia in 2011, it has had more than 85 commissioning editors and 30,000-plus academics register as contributors. A full list of articles written by Dalhousie academics can be found on the Conversation Canada website.*" + }, + { + "title": "Chinese premier pledges Cuban investment to Diaz-Canel - upi.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Chinese premier pledges Cuban investment to Diaz-Canel - upi.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/11/08/Chinese-premier-pledges-Cuban-investment-to-Diaz-Canel/8701541696086/", + "id": "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", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 8, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 312, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Chinese premier pledges Cuban investment to Diaz-Canel  upi.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Chinese premier pledges Cuban investment to Diaz-Canel  upi.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.upi.com", + "title": "upi.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years - La Moncloa", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years - La Moncloa" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFBVV95cUxQaDhTVGhicXVPUEtHdFlrdUgzZ1ZaeHUxUXhMSXN4TW5jNXBVUXpscmVCR29EbjdVUTZwcENHVUc3YXU4am54LXdvRGpVcUxxY1dJMzhsd1RNSjN4cFptSml1Z3BhY3VtLThYNzNPV2x5U1dDWDdkeEc5aURaRm41X3REQ09MOFprclhHaFJqVm5DcmRLdHc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/Paginas/2018/20181123companies-cuba.aspx", + "id": "CBMilgFBVV95cUxQaDhTVGhicXVPUEtHdFlrdUgzZ1ZaeHUxUXhMSXN4TW5jNXBVUXpscmVCR29EbjdVUTZwcENHVUc3YXU4am54LXdvRGpVcUxxY1dJMzhsd1RNSjN4cFptSml1Z3BhY3VtLThYNzNPV2x5U1dDWDdkeEc5aURaRm41X3REQ09MOFprclhHaFJqVm5DcmRLdHc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 23, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 327, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years  La Moncloa", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years  La Moncloa" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es", + "title": "La Moncloa" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Pedro S\u00e1nchez conveys his government\"s commitment to Spanish investment in Cuba\nurl: https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2018/20181123companies-cuba.aspx\nhostname: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndescription: Havana (Cuba), 23 November 2018. On the second day of his State visit to Cuba, the President of the Government, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, held a working breakfast with representatives of Spanish companies operating on the island, in order to better familiarise himself with their situation and the challenges they face, analyse the business opportunities that exist in certain sectors of the Cuban economy and the possibility of enhancing their position and presence in Cuba.\nsitename: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndate: 2018-11-23\ntags: ['News']\n---\nPresident of the Government took part in working breakfast with Spanish companies in Cuba and inaugurated Spain-Cuba Business Forum\n\n# Pedro S\u00e1nchez conveys his government's commitment to Spanish investment in Cuba\n\nPresident's News - 2018.11.23\n\nHavana (Cuba)\n\nIn his speech, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez sought to convey to Spanish business owners the \"sincere recognition\" of the government for the work they are carrying out, for their contribution to the Spanish economy and for boosting the growing presence of Spain overseas, and for the impact their work has on the economic development and progress of Cuba. \"The work of Spain's collective representation owes a great deal to Spanish professionals working outside of their own country, and to companies committed to job creation, because both are the image of Spain. You take on this honour that must be conceived as a responsibility - that of being the true ambassadors of a country that is creative, dynamic and innovative\", said Pedro S\u00e1nchez. The President of the Government offered some figures to back up his praise: Spanish companies in Cuba generate close to 900 million euros in exports annually - 40% of the market share - which makes Spain the leader in volume of activity of the European Union in this region.\n\nPedro S\u00e1nchez stated that he was aware of the difficulties facing Spanish companies, particularly SMEs, regarding late payments due to a lack of currency. In this regard, the President of the Government reiterated the support of the Government of Spain and informed them that the Cuban Government will help facilitate settling payment to Spanish companies. \"Our responsibility as a government is to ensure that the conditions in which you carry on your activity here are as favourable as possible. Your success translates into more exports and leads to job creation in Spain\", stressed Pedro S\u00e1nchez.\n\nIn this regard, he announced certain specific measures: the Government of Spain will offer greater access to financing so that Spanish companies can invest in Cuba by re-launching the Cuba Country Line of the Spanish Company for Development Funding (Spanish acronym: COFIDES), with a provision of 40 million euros, and will speed up the paperwork for access by Spanish companies to the Counterpart Fund, an effective instrument in funding large-scale investment projects in strategic sectors in Cuba, contributing to the development of its economy and the transformation of its society. Following the talks between the two governments, the Cuban Government undertook to provide a major boost to this fund.\n\nFollowing breakfast, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez inaugurated the Spain-Cuba Business Forum, organised jointly by the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (Spanish acronym: ICEX), the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (Spanish acronym: CEOE), and the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, which was attended by close on 200 companies, at which the different possibilities for business relations between Spain and Cuba were analysed in such sectors as infrastructures, renewable energies, tourism and investments where Spanish companies have the greatest presence.\n\nIn his speech at this forum, President of the Government S\u00e1nchez highlighted the role of Spanish small- and medium-sized enterprises, mainly through export activity to the island and stressed that the boost in growth and internationalisation of SMEs is one of the priorities of the government's economic policy. The President of the Government also underlined the strong presence of Spanish companies in the agri-food sector and in the Cuban tourist industry, which plays a key role in the economic development of the island. Spanish brands manage 70% of hotel rooms and 9 of the 10 main tourist operators on the island are Spanish.\n\nPedro S\u00e1nchez concluded by reiterating the need \"to harness all the opportunities offered by the meeting\" to further develop the modernisation and economic opening up of the island, as well as to strengthen the economic and trade ties between Spain and Cuba. The meeting was closed off by the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca.\n\n*Non official translation*" + }, + { + "title": "73 UNGA: Statement by Ambassador Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, on item 119: \"Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade\". New York, 21 November 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "73 UNGA: Statement by Ambassador Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, on item 119: \"Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade\". New York, 21 November 2018. - Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizwFBVV95cUxORVhKdmhiN01rekk5c3ZUd3hUWE1rV0tTLUhYYzdqaURLd0h2M3puZVF0X1E4ZC04UURMb2xnOENXYkkzYzc3UkxVanBlQmVCd1A1clFWbWloTlpTck5oZE54Wmc3WVRrWDFRWHFCaEpIQVN1M1lyRW90ZWpDSnE4dG45eVl0ODdvUW5pTEQ5Z0w5Uy0tYTF4eXVWRWVHajBKZkpmT1hJVC0zYmNLSFR0V3F6ZVdTUDI4Ulk3ZHVCeEVjUWt6MnJ1ZEVVYlNxcFE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2018/20181123cuba-balance.aspx", + "id": "CBMizwFBVV95cUxORVhKdmhiN01rekk5c3ZUd3hUWE1rV0tTLUhYYzdqaURLd0h2M3puZVF0X1E4ZC04UURMb2xnOENXYkkzYzc3UkxVanBlQmVCd1A1clFWbWloTlpTck5oZE54Wmc3WVRrWDFRWHFCaEpIQVN1M1lyRW90ZWpDSnE4dG45eVl0ODdvUW5pTEQ5Z0w5Uy0tYTF4eXVWRWVHajBKZkpmT1hJVC0zYmNLSFR0V3F6ZVdTUDI4Ulk3ZHVCeEVjUWt6MnJ1ZEVVYlNxcFE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "73 UNGA: Statement by Ambassador Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, on item 119: \"Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade\". New York, 21 November 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "73 UNGA: Statement by Ambassador Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, on item 119: \"Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade\". New York, 21 November 2018.  Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu", + "title": "Cubadiplom\u00e1tica" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years\nurl: https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2018/20181123cuba-balance.aspx\nhostname: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndescription: Havana (Cuba), 23 November 2018. The President of the Government, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, brought his visit to Cuba to a close with the commitment to normalise and stabilise bilateral relations, resume political dialogue at the maximum level with the leaders of the Caribbean country and boost economic, trade and cultural cooperation between the two countries.\nsitename: lamoncloa.gob.es\ndate: 2018-11-23\ntags: ['News']\n---\nSpain and Cuba step up economic, trade and cultural ties\n\n# Pedro S\u00e1nchez recovers institutional and political relations with Cuba after 32 years\n\nPresident's News - 2018.11.23\n\nHavana (Cuba)\n\nThe President of the Government underlined the historical nature of the first visit in 32 years and declared his wish for this \"to be the first of many others by members of the government and the prelude to the upcoming visit by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain in 2019, to celebrate the 5th Centenary of the founding of Havana\".\n\nPedro S\u00e1nchez met with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, stressing that \"they spoke about everything\" and, among other things, addressed ways to incentivise and increase trade and investment flows between Spain and Cuba. Pedro S\u00e1nchez described the meeting as one of \"sincere dialogue\" at which they tackled the most pressing problems facing Spanish companies and obtained a commitment from President D\u00edaz-Canel to speed up outstanding payments to Spanish companies.\n\nIn his trip to Havana, Pedro S\u00e1nchez held several meetings with representatives of Spanish companies with a presence in Cuba, to whom he conveyed the government's commitment to boost Spanish investment on the island and attain more favourable conditions for their interests. Accordingly, the Spanish Government offered greater access to financing so that Spanish companies can invest in Cuba through the re-launch of the Cuba Country Line of the Spanish Company for Development Funding (Spanish acronym: (COFIDES), with a provision of 40 million euros.\n\nPedro S\u00e1nchez and Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel also spoke about the functioning of the Counterpart Fund, set up three years ago as a result of the major write-off of debt that Spain offered Cuba. The Cuban Government undertook to give a firm boost to the fund so that it can be an effective instrument in financing large investment projects in strategic sectors carried out by Spanish companies.\n\nTogether with the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, the government signed an agreement with the company Kodysa for the production of fresh chicken in Cuba, supplying at least 25% of the total needs of the country, with an investment that amounts to 50 million dollars, involving Spanish public participation through the Spanish Company for Development Funding.\n\nAt the different meetings with the Cuban Government, the Spanish Government sought the potential participation of Spanish companies in infrastructure projects in strategic sectors, such as the participation of AENA in the modernisation and management of four airports on the island; the rollout of telecommunications and Internet networks by Telef\u00f3nica, and the participation of the shipping company Elcano in a project to supply Liquefied Natural Gas in the special development zone of Mariel\n\n## Cultural cooperation and meetings with Cuban civil society\n\nThe President of the Government, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, visited the old town of Habana Vieja, accompanied by the city historian Eusebio Leal, with a view to commemorating the 500th anniversary of its founding next year, paying close attention to the areas remodelled by Spanish Cooperation. Pedro S\u00e1nchez took the opportunity to announce a joint plan on comprehensive access to Habana Vieja, a project that promotes inclusion and social cohesion, giving access to persons with disabilities to the old town.\n\nAs part of his tour, the \"Silla de Maceo\" was officially handed over, a souvenir of a common past and a gesture of friendship towards the people of Cuba, for its display in the City Museum in Havana for a period of two years.\n\nThe President of the Government also inaugurated the architectural drawing exhibition \"Archipaper\", produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the aim of normalising the presence of Spanish culture in Cuba.\n\nHis visit to the island concluded with a meeting with the Spanish colony resident on the island - at present there are 140,000 Spanish nationals on the island - to whom he conveyed the government's commitment to the changes in the system of the \"*voto* *rogado*\" in order to facilitate and promote their participation in Spanish politics.\n\nThe President of the Government also met at the Spanish Embassy with representatives of Cuban civil society, a diverse group of artists, journalists from various independent media outlets and self-employed entrepreneurs representing a growing private sector, made up of Spaniards, Cubans and those with dual nationality. The President of the Government indicated that this small group of professionals reflect a very real Cuba called on to play a key role in the social reality of the country as it opens up to foreign trade.\n\n*Non official translation*" + }, + { + "title": "Another Russo-Cuban Honeymoon? - American Security Project", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Another Russo-Cuban Honeymoon? - American Security Project" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiekFVX3lxTE0zY05hZ0Q5RFctbmNWQ2xIMThWZHdoWDFySVMweHkyUDlHZl81MW44aTJ4aEZsT28zV3FmekFSeGtkbF9Rd0xwb24tMjZZVWdWQ0xaY2JNaEFPdkl4Skgzcm9BcWtWX094ZGd4bXBvcU5CS2xPeHZHQUhB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.americansecurityproject.org/another-russo-cuban-honeymoon/", + "id": "CBMiekFVX3lxTE0zY05hZ0Q5RFctbmNWQ2xIMThWZHdoWDFySVMweHkyUDlHZl81MW44aTJ4aEZsT28zV3FmekFSeGtkbF9Rd0xwb24tMjZZVWdWQ0xaY2JNaEFPdkl4Skgzcm9BcWtWX094ZGd4bXBvcU5CS2xPeHZHQUhB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 313, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Another Russo-Cuban Honeymoon?  American Security Project", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Another Russo-Cuban Honeymoon?  American Security Project" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.americansecurityproject.org", + "title": "American Security Project" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Pedro S\u00e1nchez conveys his government\"s commitment to Spanish investment in Cuba - 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The Business Journals", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Government sides with Southwest, rejects American's Cuba idea - The Business Journals" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikAFBVV95cUxQNjYyM3Fjd3FQd0JOcFpZMUs3aGU1OXVFQ0RDM0MyWGZZaWItUmZnX1RpR09WX1NiNGpUZnNsdTNNZ3lMUmtELW51OU9MdFdCejN3VHRtTVdhaHRfOHdMamJvc1czVDJ0VUgxaW55Y0NJUHdxMzVrRzVnNGZzWXRyRVhONUc1aUkwNnVkdUdqQ0o?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2018/11/09/american-southwest-cuba-gateway.html", + "id": "CBMikAFBVV95cUxQNjYyM3Fjd3FQd0JOcFpZMUs3aGU1OXVFQ0RDM0MyWGZZaWItUmZnX1RpR09WX1NiNGpUZnNsdTNNZ3lMUmtELW51OU9MdFdCejN3VHRtTVdhaHRfOHdMamJvc1czVDJ0VUgxaW55Y0NJUHdxMzVrRzVnNGZzWXRyRVhONUc1aUkwNnVkdUdqQ0o", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 313, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Government sides with Southwest, rejects American's Cuba idea  The Business Journals", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Government sides with Southwest, rejects American's Cuba idea  The Business Journals" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bizjournals.com", + "title": "The Business Journals" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues - EL PA\u00cdS English", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues - EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFBVV95cUxPWHNjN3ppb3RzMUd2bzdXdVh0UE5KOXdGZEFwN0ZHUXY2WHdEYUZDZ01fcmJlNjZBLU9GMm92NVlBaHAta09pdnRCRVpZZWJEdTV3ZkdONmdnZzdKMUhwUmdWdXl5T0dSM3k0OGN1UldPMXNJWWNjVWN3b2lmZ3Fjall6ONIBlwFBVV95cUxQZS1JbkRpNzlPSkplYVNpNVVhbzJfWWIxZVZGUGhvTUMwVExxbDJGcjJQTk1XWE13UVo5TDN0YUw5TGVVM3VtY1Z5V2lYRVE3Y3ZUelloSnJUbGQxZUQ4emdGVVNtXzdlTktrVGNteVNhRkdFTHViMGVPTWlNTm1Kczk1UWl6MVdOWXNxM3RfY3ZyRC1QLThr?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/22/inenglish/1542879413_000301.html", + "id": "CBMigwFBVV95cUxPWHNjN3ppb3RzMUd2bzdXdVh0UE5KOXdGZEFwN0ZHUXY2WHdEYUZDZ01fcmJlNjZBLU9GMm92NVlBaHAta09pdnRCRVpZZWJEdTV3ZkdONmdnZzdKMUhwUmdWdXl5T0dSM3k0OGN1UldPMXNJWWNjVWN3b2lmZ3Fjall6ONIBlwFBVV95cUxQZS1JbkRpNzlPSkplYVNpNVVhbzJfWWIxZVZGUGhvTUMwVExxbDJGcjJQTk1XWE13UVo5TDN0YUw5TGVVM3VtY1Z5V2lYRVE3Y3ZUelloSnJUbGQxZUQ4emdGVVNtXzdlTktrVGNteVNhRkdFTHViMGVPTWlNTm1Kczk1UWl6MVdOWXNxM3RfY3ZyRC1QLThr", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 23 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 23, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 327, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues  EL PA\u00cdS English", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues  EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://english.elpais.com", + "title": "EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents\nauthor: Miguel Gonz\u00e1lez\nurl: https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/22/inenglish/1542879413_000301.html\nhostname: elpais.com\ndescription: This is the first time a Spanish prime minister travels to the island in 32 years\nsitename: Ediciones EL PA\u00cdS S.L.\ndate: 2018-11-22\ncategories: ['Spain']\n---\n# Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents\n\nThis is the first time a Spanish prime minister travels to the island in 32 years\n\nSpanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez will arrive in Cuba on Thursday for a historic visit aimed at \u201cnormalizing, stabilizing and deepening bilateral ties.\u201d During the visit \u2013 the first by a Spanish prime minister in 32 years \u2013 S\u00e1nchez and Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel will open a business forum in the Grand Packard hotel, which is run by the Spanish chain Iberostar.\n\nThe two-day stay is considered a political minefield and has been carefully planned by both governments to prevent any slip-ups. Notably off the agenda is any meeting with vocal opponents of the Cuban government such as Elizardo S\u00e1nchez, Guillermo Fari\u00f1as or the Damas de Blanco.\n\nAm I willing to defend human rights in Cuba? The answer is yes. In other words, I am not going just as a salesman\n\nSpanish PM Pedro S\u00e1nchez\n\nSources from La Moncloa, the Spanish seat of government, say that no leader who has traveled to Cuba since 2015 \u2013 including the presidents and prime ministers of France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Austria \u2013 has met with these dissidents. Nor have the three Popes who have visited the island, or EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, or foreign ministers under the former Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy. The exception is former US President Barack Obama who met the dissidents in March 2016 at the recently opened US Embassy in Havana. But as one of S\u00e1nchez\u2019s aides explains, \u201cS\u00e1nchez is not Obama, and Spain is not the United States.\u201d\n\nAlso off the agenda is a meeting with Ra\u00fal Castro, who will remain the leader of the Cuban Communist Party until 2021.\n\nInstead, the Spanish prime minister will spend time with local business people, intellectuals, artists and bloggers \u2013 independent figures who are not aligned with the Cuban regime or with the opposition. This list includes actor Jorge Perugorr\u00eda, writer Leonardo Padura, who was given the Princess Asturias Award, singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, and the designers behind the fashion label Clandestina. \u201cDissidents are not given ID cards and we have not looked at who has or has not had problems [with the Cuban government]. The guest list has been put together by the Spanish Embassy without asking permission from anybody,\u201d say sources from La Moncloa.\n\n## Spanish King to visit Cuba in 2019\n\nA likely outcome of S\u00e1nchez\u2019s trip will be to confirm the first visit of the Spanish Royal Family to Cuba. The pretext of the visit is the 500th anniversary of the Havana Foundation, which was founded by Spanish explorer Diego Vel\u00e1zquez de Cu\u00e9llar. The key date is November 16 but the trip could happen at any time around the anniversary. If the visit goes ahead, it will be the first time in history that Cuba has received the king of Spain. Former king Juan Carlos I traveled to Havana in 1999 for the Iberian-American Summit but not as part of an official bilateral visit.\n\nThe same sources refused to reveal whether S\u00e1nchez will call on D\u00edaz-Canel to free political prisoners, explaining \u201cthe more reserve there is, the better the result will be.\u201d\n\nAfter the visit to Cuba was announced, the Popular Party (PP) and Ciudadanos demanded that S\u00e1nchez use his time there to call for greater democracy. \u201cAre you going to defend human rights in Cuba? Will you meet with dissidents or are you going just as a salesman?\u201d asked Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera. S\u00e1nchez replied, \u201cAm I willing to defend human rights in Cuba? The answer is yes. In other words, I am not going just as a salesman.\u201d\n\nIndeed it is difficult to separate politics from business in Cuba. The Grand Packard Hotel which will host the Spanish-Cuban business forum was blacklisted by the Trump administration on November 13 because it is co-funded by Gaviota, an entity owned by the Cuban military. The lengthy blacklist includes more than 200 companies with links to Cuba\u2019s military, intelligence and security services.\n\nThe Spanish government is aware of the situation but says the Grand Packard Hotel is Spanish and \u201cwherever possible we go to Spanish hotels overseas to give them support.\u201d\n\nS\u00e1nchez will meet with independent figures who are not aligned with the Cuban regime or with the opposition\n\nThe goal of the meeting is to revive investment in Cuba. S\u00e1nchez has reserved seats in the official plan for 24 business people and almost 200 people have registered for the forum, which will open on Friday. S\u00e1nchez will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Jos\u00e9 Borrell, Industry Minister Reyes Maroto and Treasury Secretary General Carlos San Basilio.\n\nThe former Rajoy government never normalized relations with Cuba \u2013 efforts by then-Foreign Minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Garc\u00eda-Margallo were sabotaged by the party. But Rajoy did much more: he forgave \u20ac2 billion in debt, more than he did for all the other countries put together. Part of this debt (\u20ac410 million) was used to fund Spanish investment in the island, but the process \u201cis not as agile as it should be,\u201d admit government sources. Rajoy\u2019s decision allowed Cuba to access new lines of credit but the country has begun again to commit \u201csmall defaults,\u201d which makes it more difficult for the island to secure investment.\n\nS\u00e1nchez\u2019s visit comes amid a heated debate in Cuba about plans to reform the constitution to give people greater rights (same-sex marriage for instance) while maintaining the one-party system. S\u00e1nchez does not intend to comment on the subject, which he considers an internal issue.\n\nEnglish version by Melissa Kitson.\n\n## Tu suscripci\u00f3n se est\u00e1 usando en otro dispositivo\n\n\u00bfQuieres a\u00f1adir otro usuario a tu suscripci\u00f3n?\n\nSi contin\u00faas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podr\u00e1 leer en el otro.\n\nFlecha## Tu suscripci\u00f3n se est\u00e1 usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PA\u00cdS desde un dispositivo a la vez.\n\nSi quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripci\u00f3n a la modalidad Premium, as\u00ed podr\u00e1s a\u00f1adir otro usuario. Cada uno acceder\u00e1 con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitir\u00e1 personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PA\u00cdS.\n\n\u00bfTienes una suscripci\u00f3n de empresa? Accede aqu\u00ed para contratar m\u00e1s cuentas.\n\nEn el caso de no saber qui\u00e9n est\u00e1 usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contrase\u00f1a aqu\u00ed.\n\nSi decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrar\u00e1 en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que est\u00e1 usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aqu\u00ed los t\u00e9rminos y condiciones de la suscripci\u00f3n digital.\n\n**nombre y apellido**para comentarcompletar datos" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMingFBVV95cUxOdjgxbFRrdE1pSVJiQ2NRdE5Scjltb3BaR1c5bER6M2VCSGtPQkZMZ3RZOS0wa0t0alFWX1RtZWtESE9GcXNuQzhhSEJYRUV0MUh5WHNmRVVlWW85NjBBWXBTQURlb2dhdC1oYmJWMnNDZTl5Y1RTWlhSVER6RWJIakdFYWJwMkFlRDRNY3hxM2QxbXllU3ZWeUhRY0hEUdIBoAFBVV95cUxQT29kNjVtQ0Z0WWNTb2JiT1YyT2JGZEZ6YmVNWWJQWDMtendWVFRDaTFwTy0wUWV2c1lFQVNnMTl3NWNxLWt5S2MxZTc3OVlJSjVSMS1hWUVNOFpybEMtOFpqWU1EUDBpbmxrQWpYdXEwTVQtYzdJWVc3ZUpRZk5kUEU4MWFrcUpJM0RSY3RWSzJNSTZQdWh6cWlJSzRiNDlB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/23/inenglish/1542972558_381783.html", + "id": "CBMingFBVV95cUxOdjgxbFRrdE1pSVJiQ2NRdE5Scjltb3BaR1c5bER6M2VCSGtPQkZMZ3RZOS0wa0t0alFWX1RtZWtESE9GcXNuQzhhSEJYRUV0MUh5WHNmRVVlWW85NjBBWXBTQURlb2dhdC1oYmJWMnNDZTl5Y1RTWlhSVER6RWJIakdFYWJwMkFlRDRNY3hxM2QxbXllU3ZWeUhRY0hEUdIBoAFBVV95cUxQT29kNjVtQ0Z0WWNTb2JiT1YyT2JGZEZ6YmVNWWJQWDMtendWVFRDaTFwTy0wUWV2c1lFQVNnMTl3NWNxLWt5S2MxZTc3OVlJSjVSMS1hWUVNOFpybEMtOFpqWU1EUDBpbmxrQWpYdXEwTVQtYzdJWVc3ZUpRZk5kUEU4MWFrcUpJM0RSY3RWSzJNSTZQdWh6cWlJSzRiNDlB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub  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: Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues\nauthor: Mar\u00eda Antonia S\u00e1nchez-Vallejo; Miguel Gonz\u00e1lez\nurl: https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/23/inenglish/1542972558_381783.html\nhostname: elpais.com\ndescription: Under the agreement, government representatives from both countries will meet at least once a year to address bilateral, regional and multilateral topics\nsitename: Ediciones EL PA\u00cdS S.L.\ndate: 2018-11-23\ncategories: ['International']\n---\n# Spain and Cuba agree to hold regular dialogue on human rights issues\n\nUnder the agreement, government representatives from both countries will meet at least once a year to address bilateral, regional and multilateral topics\n\nSpain and Cuba signed a memorandum on Thursday that establishes a regular framework for political dialogue, including \u201ca frank discussion on human rights,\u201d according to Spanish diplomatic sources. Under the agreement, foreign ministers or the secretaries of state for foreign affairs will meet at least once a year to address bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. \u201cIt\u2019s not logical that the European Union has a channel for political dialogue with Cuba and Spain doesn\u2019t,\u201d say sources.\n\nThe cooperation agreement between the EU and Cuba, which came into effect a year ago, stipulates that they will have regular political meetings on human rights, sustainable development goals and coercive unilateral measures (a euphemism for the United States embargo against Cuba). The last meeting took place in Brussels last Tuesday.\n\nS\u00e1nchez was accused of targeting late dictator Francisco Franco while visiting a \u201cliving dictator\u201d\n\nSpain is the first EU country to establish a similar bilateral agreement with Cuba. The fact that it expressly includes the discussion of human rights means that Spain will be able to raise issues like political prisoners and the limits on freedoms in Cuba. It also means that Cuba, for its part, can also question human rights in Spain, according to the sources consulted.\n\nThe agreement was reached during Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s historic visit to the island \u2013 the first by a Spanish prime minister in 32 years. S\u00e1nchez arrived in Havana on Thursday at 4.52pm local time, accompanied by his wife Bego\u00f1a G\u00f3mez, Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and Minister of Industry Reyes Maroto.\n\nDuring the visit, S\u00e1nchez was received by Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel at the Palace of the Revolution. According to sources from La Moncloa, the Spanish seat of government, S\u00e1nchez expressed the \u201cpleasure it would give the government for the king to come to Cuba in 2019\u201d for the 500th anniversary of the foundation of Havana by Spanish explorer Diego Vel\u00e1zquez de Cu\u00e9llar.\n\nS\u00e1nchez and D\u00edaz-Canal also signed an agreement on cultural cooperation so that \u201cSpanish culture can be shared normally in Cuba and vice versa,\u201d according to sources from the Spanish delegation. In 2003, then-Cuban president Fidel Castro closed down the Spanish Cultural Center in Havana during his dispute with former Spanish PM Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Aznar, and since then Spanish art and culture have had difficulty reaching the island.\n\nBut S\u00e1nchez\u2019s efforts to stabilize relations with Cuba may be undone by political instability back home. The main problem is not the insecurity of the government but rather the lack of consensus with the opposition on Cuban policy. S\u00e1nchez was harshly criticized by the opposition ahead of his trip. The leader of the Popular Party (PP) Pablo Casado accused him of \u201ccynicism\u201d for targeting late dictator Francisco Franco while visiting a \u201cliving dictator,\u201d in reference to D\u00edaz-Canel, while the leader of center-right Ciudadanos reproached S\u00e1nchez for his \u201clack of courage\u201d for failing to meet with dissidents in Havana.\n\nIt\u2019s not logical that the European Union has a channel for political dialogue with Cuba and Spain doesn\u2019t\n\nDiplomatic sources\n\nSources from La Moncloa however argue that it is more effective to work discreetly for greater freedoms on the island than \u201cto take a photo\u201d with opponents of the Cuban government. But they refused to reveal whether S\u00e1nchez asked the Cuban president to set free Eduardo Cardet Concepci\u00f3n, the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, as Amnesty International and the Spanish Senate demanded.\n\nGiven that relations with Cuba have become a weapon of a domestic political debate, it will be difficult for current good climate to continue if the Spanish government changes. With S\u00e1nchez opening the door to early elections in 2019, even the king\u2019s visit to Cuba may be in doubt. But despite the uncertainty, S\u00e1nchez was received with open arms by his Cuban counterpart. The Spanish prime minister is the only European leader to visit Cuba since D\u00edaz-Canel took power in April.\n\n### Hard time for Cuba\n\nCuba is at a difficult moment. The arrival of Donald Trump to the White House and the fall of its closest allies in Latin America, including Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva in Brazil, have left the country increasingly isolated. Oil donations from Venezuela have been reduced due to the economic crisis there, and more than 8,000 Cuban doctors have been repatriated from Brazil to protest the new Jair Bolsonaro administration. Although US sanctions on the island are still limited, they make it more difficult for the country to receive foreign investment.\n\nEnglish version by Melissa Kitson.\n\n## Tu suscripci\u00f3n se est\u00e1 usando en otro dispositivo\n\n\u00bfQuieres a\u00f1adir otro usuario a tu suscripci\u00f3n?\n\nSi contin\u00faas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podr\u00e1 leer en el otro.\n\nFlecha## Tu suscripci\u00f3n se est\u00e1 usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PA\u00cdS desde un dispositivo a la vez.\n\nSi quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripci\u00f3n a la modalidad Premium, as\u00ed podr\u00e1s a\u00f1adir otro usuario. Cada uno acceder\u00e1 con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitir\u00e1 personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PA\u00cdS.\n\n\u00bfTienes una suscripci\u00f3n de empresa? Accede aqu\u00ed para contratar m\u00e1s cuentas.\n\nEn el caso de no saber qui\u00e9n est\u00e1 usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contrase\u00f1a aqu\u00ed.\n\nSi decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrar\u00e1 en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que est\u00e1 usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aqu\u00ed los t\u00e9rminos y condiciones de la suscripci\u00f3n digital.\n\n**nombre y apellido**para comentarcompletar datos" + }, + { + "title": "Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFBVV95cUxNNGdtcl9zWEM0MnlFZUozV0xxUGJ1aDYyWGNtZVZETERVeTNnTnNLSGthR3ZwdXB5MmFXQUlGeF82TzloQVdZeHpKVzYyZkJjb2pTMEJwa25WZUxRdWs2NHNHVVF4MVRUcUFWcVFVSTR2TEpEcl8wWFJ1MTQ2NFFiYVhXZWpteVU?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-to-withdraw-doctors-from-brazil-after-bolsonaro-snub-/4658394.html", + "id": "CBMihwFBVV95cUxNNGdtcl9zWEM0MnlFZUozV0xxUGJ1aDYyWGNtZVZETERVeTNnTnNLSGthR3ZwdXB5MmFXQUlGeF82TzloQVdZeHpKVzYyZkJjb2pTMEJwa25WZUxRdWs2NHNHVVF4MVRUcUFWcVFVSTR2TEpEcl8wWFJ1MTQ2NFFiYVhXZWpteVU", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 26, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 330, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba to Withdraw Doctors From Brazil After Bolsonaro Snub\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-to-withdraw-doctors-from-brazil-after-bolsonaro-snub-/4658394.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: President-elect Jair Bolsonaro had questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-14\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Americas']\n---\nCuba said on Wednesday it would pull thousands of its doctors from Brazil after the South American nation\u2019s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts.\n\nThe far-right Bolsonaro, who takes office on Jan. 1, said in an interview this month that the 11,420 Cuban doctors working in poor and remote parts of Brazil could only stay if they received 100 percent of their pay and their families could join them.\n\nUnder the terms of the agreement with Cuba, brokered via the Pan-American Health Organization, Havana receives the bulk of the doctors' wages.\n\nBolsonaro threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Havana over the program, saying it trampled on the rights of the doctors by handing the Cuban government 75 percent of their pay and denying mothers the right to have their children with them.\n\n\"That is just torture for a mother,\" Bolsonaro said in the Nov. 2 interview with Brasilia's Correio Braziliense newspaper.\n\n\nHe also questioned the qualifications of the Cuban doctors and said they would have to renew their licenses in Brazil.\n\n\nCuba's Health Ministry rejected Bolsonaro's comments as \"contemptuous and threatening\" to the presence of our doctors\" in a statement announcing its withdrawal from the program.\n\n\n\"These unacceptable conditions make it impossible to maintain the presence of Cuban professionals in the program,\" the ministry said in a statement.\n\nCuban doctors work in dozens of countries, some without cost to their hosts and others where Cuba charges a fee per doctor, most of which it claims goes to keep the free national health system in Cuba functioning.\n\nThe billions of dollars in revenues represent the most important source of export earnings for the Communist-run government.\n\nSince the Brazilian program, called \"More Doctors,\" was started in 2013 by leftist former president Dilma Rousseff, about 20,000 Cuban health professionals have served in Brazil, including in 700 municipal districts that had never had a resident doctor, the ministry said.\n\nBolsonaro said the program could have continued if it complied with his conditions. \"Unfortunately, Cuba did not accept,\" he said in Twitter post after the Cuban announcement." + }, + { + "title": "Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikgFBVV95cUxOUTFScHNFV182VHVyRE9oR0M0VERvRTBFSVZFMTJOUnhCeDhBZ01rYTkySXBfb2Nqc3BxVzRiNVhURU1BOWFLb3lfM0R5d0VUVHlJYVpMdlBvZGN1MVdXSTBmblRvTWhpakp0WlRHN3ZPaDNBalJqaHBITmRySmRvQlpsRzVnVXlnMk45R1ltZVE4Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/havana-times-2018-cuba-photo-contest-finalists/", + "id": "CBMikgFBVV95cUxOUTFScHNFV182VHVyRE9oR0M0VERvRTBFSVZFMTJOUnhCeDhBZ01rYTkySXBfb2Nqc3BxVzRiNVhURU1BOWFLb3lfM0R5d0VUVHlJYVpMdlBvZGN1MVdXSTBmblRvTWhpakp0WlRHN3ZPaDNBalJqaHBITmRySmRvQlpsRzVnVXlnMk45R1ltZVE4Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/havana-times-2018-cuba-photo-contest-finalists/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The 20 jury members of the 10th Havana Times Photo Contest have begun going over the finalist pictures to pick the winners and special mentions for this year. Of the 962 photos from 109 participants that we started with, there are now 60 pictures in the finals with 30 photographers having at least one photo still in the competition. (61 photos)\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-26\ncategories: ['Features', 'Other Galleries', 'Photo Feature']\n---\n# Havana Times 2018 Cuba Photo Contest Finalists\n\n**By Circles Robinson**\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 The 20 jury members of the 10th Havana Times Photo Contest have begun going over the finalist pictures to pick the winners and special mentions for this year. As always selecting becomes more difficult as the rounds progress.\n\nOf the 962 photo submissions from 109 contest participants in the six categories (Best Picture, Black & White, Cuban Countryside, Hope, Interiors and Intolerance) there are now 60 pictures in the finals with 30 photographers having at least one picture still in the competition.\n\nTo make it to the finals a photo had to have five jury members select it during round three. It wasn\u2019t easy as 152 of the 154 photos that were in the third round received at least one vote.\n\nIn this last round we ask the jury members to pick a first, second, third and fourth place in each category. We will assign them points on a 10-5-3-1 basis.\n\nWe hope to announce the winners during the week of December 3rd.\n\n**Here are the finalists:**\n\n#### Best Picture\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\n#### Black & White\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\n\n#### Cuban Countryside\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\n\n#### Hope\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\n#### Interiors\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\n\n#### Intolerance\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\nnbsp;" + }, + { + "title": "UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba - Al Jazeera", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba - Al Jazeera" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimgFBVV95cUxPMUtWTmZLNEc3WF9EaFU5Yl9ob1kxdThqLVNBM2dyUkhwZjZ4RXF1TjQ0ZG5KaXFudHpiWWUzTXVTUkQyRm9wN2dYZDFkYVV4VTBkeVBlaUFGMFIzYkdiM1l3SnlfdUhrZXJfYkpfQmU3M2xlX0dzNGdtbVFBbElzOWdhRlRIdks3WkpYZmFYTTBmT3VoVERGMFRR0gGfAUFVX3lxTFBpODU5d19QR1VObVZ5YXFSNFI3RTZVLUJ5SUlTWkRUY0xyVGNNNFRNSnNQX3lMWVJFbTMyTTdlNXM0VHRud21IZ2g0TlQyYkZ4U1loU1RlMUowWkVTNmpJY1VQaXdQTFYwMzJ4TGVXa2JHT2w3bnFsTXV1TDY1ZHI0MUROX0tLMGV2ZXc3OHRXSTdXZXRUZVVjREVXcUpiNA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/opinion/why-cuba-doesnt-mark-down-close-to-out-of-date-products/", + "id": "CBMimgFBVV95cUxPMUtWTmZLNEc3WF9EaFU5Yl9ob1kxdThqLVNBM2dyUkhwZjZ4RXF1TjQ0ZG5KaXFudHpiWWUzTXVTUkQyRm9wN2dYZDFkYVV4VTBkeVBlaUFGMFIzYkdiM1l3SnlfdUhrZXJfYkpfQmU3M2xlX0dzNGdtbVFBbElzOWdhRlRIdks3WkpYZmFYTTBmT3VoVERGMFRR0gGfAUFVX3lxTFBpODU5d19QR1VObVZ5YXFSNFI3RTZVLUJ5SUlTWkRUY0xyVGNNNFRNSnNQX3lMWVJFbTMyTTdlNXM0VHRud21IZ2g0TlQyYkZ4U1loU1RlMUowWkVTNmpJY1VQaXdQTFYwMzJ4TGVXa2JHT2w3bnFsTXV1TDY1ZHI0MUROX0tLMGV2ZXc3OHRXSTdXZXRUZVVjREVXcUpiNA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba  Al Jazeera", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba  Al Jazeera" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.aljazeera.com", + "title": "Al Jazeera" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/opinion/why-cuba-doesnt-mark-down-close-to-out-of-date-products/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: In Cuba, retail sales outlets can\u2019t cut prices of products, even when they are past their sell-by date. You can only do this if you first fill out a heap of paperwork, and practically need the President\u2019s stamp of approval. Therefore, in Cuba, the people who sell (in theory the population who own national modes of production and distribution) can\u2019t ever lose.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-01\ncategories: ['Opinion']\n---\n# Why Cuba Doesn\u2019t Mark Down Close to Out-of-Date Products\n\n*Expired products or those close to their sell-by date aren\u2019t reduced in Cuba because of the monopoly on retail sales which doesn\u2019t allow consumers to make demands.*\n\n**By Jose Gabriel Barrenechea** *(Cubaencuentro)*\n\nHAVANA TIMES \u2013 In Cuba, retail sales outlets can\u2019t cut prices of products, even when they are past their sell-by date. You can only do this if you first fill out a heap of paperwork, and practically need the President\u2019s personal stamp of approval.\n\nTherefore, in Cuba, the people who sell (in theory *the population who own national modes of production and distribution*) can\u2019t ever lose. Nevertheless, this is at the expense of the same population, who also consume these products which can\u2019t be reduced at retail stores, *belonging to them*, not even when they are already expired.\n\nClearly, there is something here that doesn\u2019t make sense.\n\nExpiring products aren\u2019t reduced for consumers as a rule, because there is an absolute monopoly controlling supply and this doesn\u2019t let any consumer make an effective demand. Apart from thanking its supplier and clapping when it promises to have a look into the problem.\n\nThe truth is that Cuban people consume without any real legal defense, but aren\u2019t they the real owners of modes of production and wealth distribution?\n\nMore than a Socialist State founded on Karl Marx\u2019s ideas about social progress, Cuba is really built upon the Giant from Trier\u2019s \u2018worst nightmare: Cuba is a State where the process of capital concentration in the hands of a select few has been completed, to the point that the monopoly company and the State have joined hands and become one.\n\nIn Cuba, we don\u2019t have a Socialist State, but an economic monopoly that has become the State, or a State that has become a super economic and financial monopoly.\n\nIn this context, the super-centralized State/monopoly company doesn\u2019t only impose its conditions on us from its favorable position of holding absolute control over the supply side of the market, but also from the privileged position they have as they have every control and repression mechanism of a modern state in their power.\n\nThe fact that this State dresses itself up in a false discourse of social property, of Marxist socialism more concretely, is nothing but a means (extremely effective, if we take a look at how deceived we\u2019ve been and how many of us still are in Cuba) which they have used to try and justify this authoritarian control over the economy and human life which, according to Marx, could have been the precursor to real socialism winning ground: a socialism where the most important thing is that property is social, or private but of social interest, and that **power is really socialized****.**\n\nIn this regard, you, who call yourself a socialist, or even Marxist: the real socialist revolution will only begin in Cuba when we don\u2019t just passively endorse a Constitution which an elite of monopoly property owners, and the political power, have been nice enough to give to us, personally consulting us, but we haven\u2019t been allowed to discuss it properly.\n\nThe socialist revolution will only begin when we take the first step to socialize power: When we say NO, so they really have to take us into account at the very least." + }, + { + "title": "In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left | US midterms 2018 - The Guardian", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left | US midterms 2018 - The Guardian" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijgFBVV95cUxNclhWclgwZmNCM0xVdVlIRERsVGNHU0pRb09MU3NsVzRJQWlwdlgyU180S09IbzFpQmxPVzN3Vl9RdWI4MS1XRU1ibG5XalczVHBtTEdXZ29KeTd5U1pnTUdaQU5meURiUmZkYWI1SnUtRkJ1Yi0ydWNNYXBNSS1DdVhTdWx2ejJwSERqb2tB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/04/miami-cubans-midterm-elections-voters", + "id": "CBMijgFBVV95cUxNclhWclgwZmNCM0xVdVlIRERsVGNHU0pRb09MU3NsVzRJQWlwdlgyU180S09IbzFpQmxPVzN3Vl9RdWI4MS1XRU1ibG5XalczVHBtTEdXZ29KeTd5U1pnTUdaQU5meURiUmZkYWI1SnUtRkJ1Yi0ydWNNYXBNSS1DdVhTdWx2ejJwSERqb2tB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 4, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 308, + 0 + ], + "summary": "In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left | US midterms 2018  The Guardian", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left | US midterms 2018  The Guardian" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.theguardian.com", + "title": "The Guardian" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: In Miami, Cuban Americans have the power to push the state to the left\nauthor: Francisco Navas\nurl: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/04/miami-cubans-midterm-elections-voters\nhostname: theguardian.com\ndescription: Cuban immigrants were drawn to the Republican party in the 80s, but their children and grandchildren are shifting the vote\nsitename: The Guardian\ndate: 2018-11-04\ncategories: ['US news']\ntags: ['US midterms 2018,Florida,US news,US politics']\n---\nMiami runs on Cuban cafecitos, Cuban sandwiches and \u201cCuban time\u201d \u2013 a favorite excuse for being 45 minutes late. As the largest group of Latinxs in Florida and Miami, Cubans are credited with giving the city its cultural core.\n\nA bit of Cuba can be heard in the Miami accent, tweaking a local\u2019s tongue to round vowels and cut syllables. And Cubans are also heard through their politics, or so the cliche states: they will always push Miami, and Florida, to the right.\n\nMore than half of Florida\u2019s Cubans voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But younger Cubans are splitting from their parents and grandparents on politics, and analysts say the power of Cuban conservatism in Florida is now waning.\n\nAndrew Gillum will be hoping that\u2019s true as he races to defeat Republican Ron DeSantis in the midterm elections on 6 November. If Gillum wins, he will become the first Democrat to occupy the governor\u2019s mansion in nearly two decades.\n\nAndy Vila, a 20-year-old who came from Cuba with his mother in 2004, shed his conservative beliefs during Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign. Cuban Republicanism \u201cis mostly just tradition\u201d, he said. \u201cI realized that a lot of ideas I grew up with didn\u2019t make sense.\u201d\n\nThe first group of Cuban immigrants who fled the 1959 communist Castro-led revolution, were able to quickly engage in American politics through the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.\n\nIn the first month\u2019s of John F Kennedy\u2019s presidency, the CIA backed a failed attempt by counter-revolutionaries to overthrow Castro. Older Cubans, or \u201cthe exile\u201d as they call themselves, came to see the Bay of Pigs Invasion as symbol of treachery of American left.\n\nAlready distrustful of leftwing politics, Cuban immigrants were naturally drawn to the Republican party, which has depended on their votes since 1980, when Cuban Americans helped lift Ronald Reagan over Carter by 17 points in Florida to win the presidency.\n\nThat habit is changing, though, pushed by their children and grandchildren.\n\nNearly half of Cuban Americans in Florida voted for Obama in 2012, a titanic shift from the 78% of the vote won by George Bush in 2004. In 2016, Trump lost the district containing Miami \u2013 which holds most of the state\u2019s Cuban population \u2013 by the largest margin a Republican candidate has ever lost there.\n\nVila is the chairman of the Young Democratic Socialists of America on campus at Florida International University(FIU), much to his mother\u2019s chagrin. Vila says Gillum gives him \u201chope\u201d and he will be voting for him because this election is not just about Cuba or DeSantis or Trump. Gillum\u2019s policies attract him.\n\n\u201cHe talks about what Floridians really care about, Medicare for all and allowing the state to focus on its people rather than the profits of the agriculture industry.\u201d\n\nFor others, however, the pain of the Castro revolution nearly 60 years ago has not been forgotten.\n\nArmando Ibarra\u2019s father was a political prisoner in Cuba. Though born in Florida, he stands firmly against leftwing politics as the president of Miami-Dade Young Republicans (MYR). He will vote for DeSantis.\n\nHe says that for many in Miami \u201cforeign policy is domestic policy\u201d but admits that national level issues** **do not attract young voters to the party. The club holds forums and debates with college students on local and state issues such as legalization of medical marijuana, transit and county mayoral elections.\n\nStill they cannot ignore immigration. MYR has hosted forums on the issue as well. \u201cIn our party there is a diversity of opinion on immigration. That reflects the fact that our party tries to find a best solution,\u201d says Ibarra.\n\nProfessor Dario Moreno of FIU\u2019s Cuban Research Institute predicts higher turnout among Cubans over 65 on Tuesday, but says that if the young crowd comes outright for Democrats, despite a likely lower turnout, they could tip the scales. Both groups account for a wide margin of 200,000-300,000 votes.\n\nCubans are only one part of the picture, however. Puerto Ricans are now the second most populous group of Latinxs and, according to Pew, they now represent as much as a third of eligible Latinx Floridian voters.\n\nPast elections demonstrate that Puerto Ricans are overwhelmingly Democrat-leaning, and given that they nearly match Cubans in population numbers, some expect they could offset the Cuban-Republican vote.\n\nOver the past decade, thousands of Puerto Ricans have relocated from the island to central Florida, pushed by the financial crisis there and more recently, the devastation brought by Hurricane Maria. Sixty per cent of Puerto Ricans in Florida now live in the I-4 corridor, an area that spans both coasts including Tampa, Orlando and their working-class suburbs.\n\nDanna Zayas Torres is a mother who came to Orlando exactly a year ago with her husband and two teenagers after Hurricane Maria\u2019s winds toppled her home in Adjuntas, a mountainous region in midwest Puerto Rico. Now, she\u2019s ready to vote.\n\nWhile other immigrants must wade through the expensive and painstaking seven to 12-year process of becoming an American citizen, Puerto Ricans, much like Cubans, do not. They are already citizens.** **They can register with proof of residency.\n\nShe called Trump\u2019s visit to the Island last October \u201ca disgrace\u201d.\n\n\u201cWhat he did in Puerto Rico was a show of disrespect to Boricuas [Puerto Ricans] and to all other Latinos. He is self absorbed. People that are without papers work so hard for this country. He\u2019ll realize that he needs them later. We\u2019re all the same here.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s clear that Trump and immigration are issues for her, but that\u2019s not why she\u2019s voting Democrat. She looks to candidates that engage honestly with her community.\n\n\u201cI was asked what party I wanted to register for, I said: \u2018I belong to Victor Torres\u2019 party.\u2019\u201d\n\nVictor Torres is a Democrat in the Florida senate representing Kissimmee, a town bordering Orlando. During the time that Zayas Torres and her family were trying to find jobs and lay down roots, they stayed in motels with many others who were in the same situation. The senator made a point to visit the motels and his presence and care activated Zayas Torres politically.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we look for in politicians. Without knowing us or asking for our vote, they spoke from the heart,\u201d she said.\n\nFrederick Velez of Alianza for Progress, a non-partisan group mobilizing Latinxs in Central and South Florida, says that there has been an \u201cunprecedented surge\u201d of registration among Puerto Ricans. In 2016, Trump lost the Puerto Rican vote by 20 points, but Dan Smith of the University of Florida says just 62% of Puerto Rican voters turned out. Is Trump\u2019s rhetoric enough bring them out for a second round?Latinxs are 19.8% of the state\u2019s eligible voters. Cubans and Puerto Ricans combine for 50% of that figure (28% and 22% respectively). The other half is distributed across all other national origins, largely Mexicans, Venezuelans and Colombians.\n\nLatinxs cannot possibly be a single-issue group or a single group. Voting patterns of the different groups hinge broadly on their country of origin, as well as their age, their year of arrival, work and education.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s complicated to have a strategy for each nationality,\u201d said Dr Eduardo Gamarra of Florida International University. \u201cBut Hispanics in Florida of many colors and stripes are here to stay the more attention you pay to them the more likely your party is to win.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York - Travel Market Report", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York - Travel Market Report" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiogFBVV95cUxQZFVBUXFyZy1fVl9BTVZmQTlPMjBPbVRZN2xRV1ZkRjV1V0p2M2VYR2RYaWJNdkJLaUNTeWI5cFpvZHZSVy1sdHdUZHRqeldXeXFRZDNnNkpmTU1EMzB0ZldmczVKc3NDTFc4SnlRektleVpORTlyQ2s2blJuZ2xQMmNEQ05rb1hIWjhjYjI4eWwtdUYxcGg3MF9ZUElGRHRqdmc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/2/un-votes-overwhelmingly-to-condemn-us-embargo-on-cuba", + "id": "CBMiogFBVV95cUxQZFVBUXFyZy1fVl9BTVZmQTlPMjBPbVRZN2xRV1ZkRjV1V0p2M2VYR2RYaWJNdkJLaUNTeWI5cFpvZHZSVy1sdHdUZHRqeldXeXFRZDNnNkpmTU1EMzB0ZldmczVKc3NDTFc4SnlRektleVpORTlyQ2s2blJuZ2xQMmNEQ05rb1hIWjhjYjI4eWwtdUYxcGg3MF9ZUElGRHRqdmc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York  Travel Market Report", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York  Travel Market Report" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.travelmarketreport.com", + "title": "Travel Market Report" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba\nauthor: News Agencies\nurl: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/2/un-votes-overwhelmingly-to-condemn-us-embargo-on-cuba\nhostname: aljazeera.com\ndescription: The UN General Assembly backed a resolution for an end to US embargo on Cuba by 189-2 in a slap to Washington.\nsitename: Al Jazeera\ndate: 2018-11-02\ntags: ['United Nations', 'News, United Nations, Cuba, Latin America, United States, US & Canada']\n---\n# UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo on Cuba\n\n*The UN General Assembly backed a resolution for an end to US embargo on Cuba by 189-2 in a slap to Washington.*\n\nThe United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution condemning the US economic embargo on Cuba after rejecting proposed US amendments criticising the communist nation on its human rights record.\n\nOut of the 193-member body, 189 countries voted in favour of the resolution at the 27th annual General Assembly meeting, with only the US and Israel voting against. Moldova and Ukraine did not vote.\n\nThe resolutions are unenforceable, but they reflect world opinion and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage for the last 27 years to demonstrate the isolation of the US on the embargo imposed in 1960.\n\nUS Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed the UN, saying the body \u201chas lost, it has rejected the opportunity to speak on behalf of human rights.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not hurting the United States when you do this,\u201d she told those supporting the resolution. \u201cYou\u2019re literally hurting the Cuban people by telling the regime that their treatment of their people is acceptable.\u201d\n\n## US has \u2018no moral authority to criticise Cuba\u2019\n\nIn earlier separate votes on the proposed US amendments, Ukraine and Israel were the only countries to join the US in voting \u201cyes\u201d on all eight measures while 114 countries voted against and 65 abstained.\n\nThe proposed amendments expressed serious concern at the lack of freedom of expression and access to information in Cuba and the prohibition on workers\u2019 right to strike.\n\nUS sanctions were imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalisation of properties belonging to US citizens and corporations.\n\nCuba\u2019s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the US embargo \u201ca flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of Cuban men and women\u201d and denounced what he called the politicised US amendments.\n\n\u201cThe embargo is a violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law,\u201d he said before the vote.\n\n\u201cThe government of the United States doesn\u2019t have the least moral authority to criticise Cuba or anyone when it comes to human rights,\u201d he added.\n\nThe decision by the administration of US President Donald Trump to call for a vote on each of the eight amendments represents an escalation of its action last year and reflects worsening US-Cuban relations.\n\nFormer Cuban President Raul Castro and then President Barack Obama officially restored relations in July 2016 after 54 years.\n\nBut Ambassador Haley and others have sharply criticised Cuba\u2019s human rights record. In 2017, the US returned to voting against the resolution condemning the American economic embargo after the Obama administration abstained in 2016, a first for the US in 25 years.\n\n## \u2018Troika of tyranny\u2019\n\nThursday\u2019s vote came shortly before Trump\u2019s national security adviser John Bolton announced in Florida that the administration is imposing new sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela and soon on Nicaragua, calling the three countries a \u201ctroika of tyranny\u201d.\n\nSpeaking at the Freedom Tower in Miami, a building where Cubans fleeing the revolution led by Castro received US government documents in the 1960s and early 1970s, Bolton condemned what he called the \u201cdestructive forces of oppression, socialism and totalitarianism\u201d that he said the three countries represent.\n\nBolton blamed Cuba for enabling Nicolas Maduro\u2018s government and he urged the nations of the region to \u201clet the Cuban regime know that it will be held responsible for continued oppression in Venezuela\u201d.\n\n\u201cThe United States now looks forward to watching each corner of the triangle fall in Havana, in Caracas, in Managua,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cThe troika will crumble, the people will triumph and the righteous flame of freedom will burn brightly again in this hemisphere.\u201d\n\nAccording to Bolton, the Department of State has added more than two dozen entities owned or controlled by the Cuban military and intelligence services to a restricted list of entities with which financial transactions by US persons are prohibited.\n\nBolton said the goal is to prevent money from reaching the Cuban military, security and intelligence services." + }, + { + "title": "US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikgFBVV95cUxPa3lrOEZGdFp6ZkNpR1V6M1BOZ2lvUVFlN1g0X0RBbzk1VmNVQk8tQ3MxSUx1VG15OXdaYlhNVE40UlF3bkRKeGxsZ09McURFVjd5VXAxblh0YjRwMEVFWTJKbFFxSWxwdzhjZ2FjVkFwZHdJM3huZE1WQklyZThVVUF4dExFaDg5VFByLVBGdlI2Zw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/carnival-to-sail-two-ships-to-cuba-from-new-york", + "id": "CBMikgFBVV95cUxPa3lrOEZGdFp6ZkNpR1V6M1BOZ2lvUVFlN1g0X0RBbzk1VmNVQk8tQ3MxSUx1VG15OXdaYlhNVE40UlF3bkRKeGxsZ09McURFVjd5VXAxblh0YjRwMEVFWTJKbFFxSWxwdzhjZ2FjVkFwZHdJM3huZE1WQklyZThVVUF4dExFaDg5VFByLVBGdlI2Zw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York\nauthor: By Kerry Tice\nurl: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/carnival-to-sail-two-ships-to-cuba-from-new-york\nhostname: travelmarketreport.com\ndescription: The cruise line revealed its 2020 schedule for the Radiance and Sunrise, marking its first Cuba cruises from the Big Apple, as well as Virginia.\nsitename: TravelMarketReport\ndate: 2018-11-14\n---\n# Carnival to Sail Two Ships to Cuba from New York\n\nby by Kerry TiceThe Carnival Radiance is expected to emerge from a $200 million dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, on April 29, 2020, with a 10-day Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona. That will be followed by nine- and 12-day departures visiting Italy, France, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain. The ship will then embark on a 13-day, trans-Atlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York on June 11-24, 2020, positioning the vessel for its inaugural season in New York.\n\nOnce in New York, Carnival Radiance will offer a series of four- and six-day Bermuda cruises as well as a four-day cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick; eight-day eastern Caribbean voyages; and nine-day sailings to Cuba, including a full day and overnight stay in Havana and two Bahamian ports of call. The New York program will conclude with a series of Canada/New England voyages featuring stops in Boston, Portland, Saint John, and Halifax.\n\nThe ship will also offer four five- to seven-day voyages from Norfolk, Virginia, in October and November 2020, including the line\u2019s first Cuba cruises from that port. The week-long Cuba cruises will feature an extended stop in the capital of Havana along with visits to two tropical Bahamian ports. The ship will also sail a winter season of voyages to the Caribbean and Cuba from Port Canaveral, Florida, beginning Nov. 8, 2020.\n\n**Carnival Sunrise to offer long weekend getaways**\n\nIn addition, the cruise line revealed details of Carnival Sunrise\u2019s 2020 schedule, including an expanded series of New York to Cuba cruises, as well as four- to nine-day voyages to the Caribbean from New York and Norfolk, Virginia." + }, + { + "title": "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Santa Maria Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Santa Maria Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimwFBVV95cUxOVTdjUGpYV3VFbk03RFhqbk9rVWhRdmpoUVRaZWxXZ0lPWXdXQ2c4dVBOb0tVaVFXMGR3RUl2OGQ4a2lDY2EzV0FkVzA5QkhHMWZzT2FGdFZBS2NwbTdGaS1HRHplRzNiU0lyakdxMlVqa2plVF9MT2pwbjh3TzZMc0xPWjI5V25SdEJ1T1J4Q2RJcDdjZVRuTXhNVdIBoAFBVV95cUxOdmJXM0t0ZHYtWjFaVTNMSTNSYUJRbTRsc1k4TE1yX3UtbHNyS1hTUlBpZnlFbDRmQkNGcXJGcnJTdWUtUzdTZld1UlVUOUxHRVNDcVg1X2c5dUtoZktpMUFaeklhRklzWUFLSkRBbzk2Um9xNFFmWkIxUWxNZDVVR3RRY2FfQW5QVFVwM3hraEU2M2JpejlCaXB0RzRjX3ht?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/features/us-punishes-16-more-cuban-hotels-owned-by-the-military/", + "id": "CBMimwFBVV95cUxOVTdjUGpYV3VFbk03RFhqbk9rVWhRdmpoUVRaZWxXZ0lPWXdXQ2c4dVBOb0tVaVFXMGR3RUl2OGQ4a2lDY2EzV0FkVzA5QkhHMWZzT2FGdFZBS2NwbTdGaS1HRHplRzNiU0lyakdxMlVqa2plVF9MT2pwbjh3TzZMc0xPWjI5V25SdEJ1T1J4Q2RJcDdjZVRuTXhNVdIBoAFBVV95cUxOdmJXM0t0ZHYtWjFaVTNMSTNSYUJRbTRsc1k4TE1yX3UtbHNyS1hTUlBpZnlFbDRmQkNGcXJGcnJTdWUtUzdTZld1UlVUOUxHRVNDcVg1X2c5dUtoZktpMUFaeklhRklzWUFLSkRBbzk2Um9xNFFmWkIxUWxNZDVVR3RRY2FfQW5QVFVwM3hraEU2M2JpejlCaXB0RzRjX3ht", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Fidel Castro, Cuba  Santa Maria Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Fidel Castro, Cuba  Santa Maria Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://santamariatimes.com", + "title": "Santa Maria Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/features/us-punishes-16-more-cuban-hotels-owned-by-the-military/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The Government of Donald Trump today expanded the list of sanctioned Cuban entities with which all US citizens are prohibited from doing business with. Among them there are 16 hotels owned by the Cuban Army. The prohibition takes effect on Thursday\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-15\ncategories: ['Features']\n---\n# US Punishes 16 More Cuban Hotels Owned by the Military\n\n**HAVANA TIMES** \u2013 The Government of Donald Trump today expanded the list of sanctioned Cuban entities with which all US citizens are prohibited from doing business with. Among them there are 16 hotels owned by the Cuban Army. The prohibition takes effect on Thursday, reported dpa news.\n\nThe State Department said the decision is geared \u201cto prevent US funds from reaching the Cuban Army, intelligence and security services.\u201d\n\nThe inclusion of more entities on the list of banned companies was announced on November 1 by the National Security Adviser, John Bolton, during a speech at the Freedom Tower in Miami, where the US government housed Cuban exiles at the beginning of the Castro led revolution.\n\nAmong the hotels included in the new list, in which there were already around 80, some of them are high end facilities including the Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel and the Havana Paseo del Prado, both in Havana; and the Angsana Cayo Santa Mar\u00eda, in Cayos de Villa Clara. Among the destinations where the sanctioned hotels are off bounds to US citizens are Varadero, Cayo Santa Mar\u00eda and Cayo Guillermo, some of the most popular tourist resorts in Cuba.\n\nTrump has reversed part of the opening to Cuba promoted by his predecessor, Barack Obama, who along with Raul Castro resumed diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2015, after more than 50 years.\n\nAlthough the respective embassies remain open, Trump has tightened the embargo on the island, limiting the trips of most US citizens to organized group travel and prohibiting US tourist companies from operating with businesses in the hands of the Cuban Armed Forces, which according to experts in the United States control around 60 percent of the country\u2019s economy and 80 percent of the tourism sector.\n\nAre the Leaders of the Military stupid? It\u2019s like the old saying, \u201cit only hurts when I do this\u201d. So stop doing that. You\u2019re not going to beat Trump into submission, so stop trying. The goal is to make money. Not to teach a lesson or to talk or beat someone into doing it your way. It\u2019s about making money, stupid!\n\nThe Military should sell 51% or more ownership of these hotels first to Cubans and then to non-Cuban. Not to Military controlled entities, but to non-Military associated entities. Then ask Trump to lift the sanctions against these Hotels. Profits would begin increasing so that 49% of the profits would far exceed 100% of nothing, which is where they are currently heading.\n\nThis is where Cuban Socialism continuously fails. All you have to do is ask yourself, what does the Military do best? Then, what do businessmen do best? You can not and should not even think of mixing the two. You are a complete idiot if you keep doing the same thing over and over again with the same miserable, unsuccessful, unwanted result. Some socialism is warranted like education, health care, infrastructure and social security services. But agriculture, tourism, transportation, business services, etc, etc do not EVER fall into the purvey of ANY government. Capitalistic Socialism is the ONLY proven course with still much needed refinement here and there. No matter how much these Government People beat a dead horse, it will NEVER come to life again. Stupido! And eventually, the People will rise up and start kicking ass and taking names, just like these government idiots once did. But, it doesn\u2019t necessarily have to work out this way. All they have to do is start selling off assets and let the people be all that they can be. Then finally, they might go down in history as heroes of the Revolution, instead of Dictators of the Revolution." + }, + { + "title": "'McMafia' Producer Cuba Pictures Adapting Lesley Kara's 'The Rumour' - Deadline", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "'McMafia' Producer Cuba Pictures Adapting Lesley Kara's 'The Rumour' - Deadline" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMic0FVX3lxTE5WNXhKR3NNV01RLXlzWkZtZ1NWeVVXU0FVVFBTMDhqemFuU3hQN1BlYUdlS3BOVnRMYlU1cEh2QWVuaWlZTjNnWFZ3RTI4SkZCRFRkQTlMZGdTNC00Q01kbG1aalVyeV9hYWpJUFlxcWhmclU?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://deadline.com/2018/11/cuba-pictures-the-rumour-1202493720/", + "id": "CBMic0FVX3lxTE5WNXhKR3NNV01RLXlzWkZtZ1NWeVVXU0FVVFBTMDhqemFuU3hQN1BlYUdlS3BOVnRMYlU1cEh2QWVuaWlZTjNnWFZ3RTI4SkZCRFRkQTlMZGdTNC00Q01kbG1aalVyeV9hYWpJUFlxcWhmclU", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "'McMafia' Producer Cuba Pictures Adapting Lesley Kara's 'The Rumour'  Deadline", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "'McMafia' Producer Cuba Pictures Adapting Lesley Kara's 'The Rumour'  Deadline" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://deadline.com", + "title": "Deadline" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: \u2018McMafia\u2019 Producer Cuba Pictures Developing TV Adaptation Of Lesley Kara\u2019s \u2018The Rumour\u2019 After Optioning Debut Novel\nauthor: Peter White\nurl: https://deadline.com/2018/11/cuba-pictures-the-rumour-1202493720/\nhostname: deadline.com\ndescription: McMafia producer Cuba Pictures is developing a TV adaptation of The Rumour after optioning Lesley Kara's debut novel.\nsitename: Deadline\ndate: 2018-11-01\ncategories: ['News']\n---\n*McMafia* producer Cuba Pictures is developing a TV adaptation of *The Rumour*, a story loosely based on the real-life case of British child killer Mary Bell, after optioning Lesley Kara\u2019s debut novel.\n\nThe company, which has produced feature films including *Boy A *and* Broken* and is part of BBC Studios-backed Original Talent, acquired the rights to the book from Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership on behalf of Amanda Preston at LBA Books.\n\nThe book, which is set to be published in December, starts when single mum Joanna hears a rumor at the school gates that a notorious child killer is living under a new identity in their sleepy little town of Flinstead-on-Sea. Although she never intends to pass it on, one casual comment leads to another and now there\u2019s no going back. It follows Sally McGowan, who was just 10 years old when she stabbed Robbie Harris to death 48 years ago, and no photos of her exist since her release as a young woman, but the supposedly reformed killer now lives among the small community. How dangerous can one rumor become? And how far will Joanna go to protect her loved ones from harm, when she realizes what she\u2019s unleashed?\n\n\nThe book was written by Kara, an alumna of Faber Academy\u2019s \u201cWriting a Novel\u201d course, previously having worked as a nurse and a secretary before becoming a lecturer and manager in further education.\n\n\n### Watch on Deadline\n\nCuba Pictures Head of Development Louise Mountain said, \u201cWe were completely gripped by *The Rumour* and are excited to be working to bring Kara\u2019s brilliant story to the screen.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva - worldathletics.org", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva - worldathletics.org" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieEFVX3lxTE9yS1NjWURNcUdYckxhNXBMWFBsaEx6VEZIbGJuYjJLNi1qbXV3VHFqZkFYaUNHb0x6T1dBU2tieXVvbHF6dUM4Z2ZHLUJqSVBSUkpmY3lBZjRJMDhTOUNZTlV1clAyMV9nb0wxU0l1Q3ZhaFVHQjlmZw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://santamariatimes.com/fidel-castro-cuba/article_c55c5c04-f946-5347-a85b-c62ca4c8ef7d.html", + "id": "CBMieEFVX3lxTE9yS1NjWURNcUdYckxhNXBMWFBsaEx6VEZIbGJuYjJLNi1qbXV3VHFqZkFYaUNHb0x6T1dBU2tieXVvbHF6dUM4Z2ZHLUJqSVBSUkpmY3lBZjRJMDhTOUNZTlV1clAyMV9nb0wxU0l1Q3ZhaFVHQjlmZw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 28, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 332, + 0 + ], + "summary": "High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva  worldathletics.org", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva  worldathletics.org" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://worldathletics.org", + "title": "worldathletics.org" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Fidel Castro, Cuba\nurl: https://santamariatimes.com/fidel-castro-cuba/article_c55c5c04-f946-5347-a85b-c62ca4c8ef7d.html\nhostname: santamariatimes.com\ndescription: The Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last\nsitename: Santa Maria Times\ndate: 2017-05-08\n---\nThe Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last communist leaders.\n\n### Trending Now\n\n-\n#### Victims, driver identified in fatal March 13 crash\n\n-\n#### Police detain armed, suicidal individual without incident\n\n-\n#### Tuesday SpaceX launch rescheduled to Wednesday from Vandenberg SFB\n\n-\n#### Downtown Fridays returns this week at new McClelland Street location\n\n-\n#### Body of Santa Maria man found after apparent drowning at Lopez Lake" + }, + { + "title": "Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution - Socialist Project", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution - Socialist Project" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMixgFBVV95cUxNemJNdE1YOEFTMzhNX201YjVSckp2clBnSHpOMFpCbGRHOS14N0hCN21xSTc4QnJlZEZMRjBvaWtrZ00tcHZGcGhqYl9OT1puRmJUYURYbXQxTVVWYnB5YjN6LWlGalI0V0p5Mk5kUjlqUV9QdzlZM1NfX1FTRm5kc2k5My1STVp0SWJZUHBnc2djdFFla3ozYnNEcVRFMTQxREFSUm9NeDRqVFlGXzk5UDdGcmc3eGdkSURETHpFZmFVYTRqVmc?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://worldathletics.org/news/series/yarisley-silva-cuba-pole-vault", + "id": "CBMixgFBVV95cUxNemJNdE1YOEFTMzhNX201YjVSckp2clBnSHpOMFpCbGRHOS14N0hCN21xSTc4QnJlZEZMRjBvaWtrZ00tcHZGcGhqYl9OT1puRmJUYURYbXQxTVVWYnB5YjN6LWlGalI0V0p5Mk5kUjlqUV9QdzlZM1NfX1FTRm5kc2k5My1STVp0SWJZUHBnc2djdFFla3ozYnNEcVRFMTQxREFSUm9NeDRqVFlGXzk5UDdGcmc3eGdkSURETHpFZmFVYTRqVmc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 7, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 311, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution  Socialist Project", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution  Socialist Project" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://socialistproject.ca", + "title": "Socialist Project" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: High and low \u2013 Yarisley Silva | SERIES | World Athletics\nurl: https://worldathletics.org/news/series/yarisley-silva-cuba-pole-vault\nhostname: worldathletics.org\ndescription: Yarisley Silva has been Cuba\u2019s leading pole vaulter for more than a decade. The 2015 world champion and equal fifth best vaulter of all time reflects on the highest and lowest moments of her decorated career.\nsitename: worldathletics.org\ndate: 2018-11-28\n---\nYarisley Silva in the pole vault at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (\u00a9 Getty Images)\n\nYarisley Silva has been Cuba\u2019s leading pole vaulter for more than a decade. The 2015 world champion and equal fifth best vaulter of all time reflects on the highest and lowest moments of her decorated career.\n\n\nHigh\n\nThe Olympic silver medal in London (in 2012) marked a turning point in my career. Cuba had never featured that high in pole vaulting on the world stage before, except for Lazaro Borges\u2019 silver medal at the 2011 World Championships.\n\nI treasured that medal so much because I overcame many challenges throughout my career. Thanks to the generosity of friends in Pamplona, Spain, I acquired Pacer poles and they really helped me aim higher.\n\nWinning silver taught me the value of our daily sacrifice. It confirmed that with dedication, hard work and faith, we can succeed.\n\n\nStanding on the podium was a dream come true. Every athlete wants an Olympic medal. I was so proud to represent Cuba and win a medal in an event many thought almost impossible. It is one of the most beautiful experiences I have had in my life. Truly sensational.\n\nIt proved I could be a contender with the world\u2019s best. I was no longer an unknown athlete so there was more pressure to perform, but it was also a great motivation to train harder and smarter and set new goals. That\u2019s what really propelled my career and the success that followed, with the world indoor title in 2014 and the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.\n\nBehind every medal there are many people supporting you. My family has always been there in the good and bad times, as well as my coach Alexander Navas.\n\n\nLow\n\nI consider the period following the 2016 Olympic final as the lowest point in my career. I reflected on the year and had the feeling I was stagnant, that I had reached my plateau.\n\nIt took me a while to understand that high and low moments are just part of life and things happen for a reason. I embraced God and I see things differently and I have a different outlook on life and how I react to performances. I feel more at peace with myself, more organised and confident.\n\n\nThe 2018 season has allowed me to regain the belief that there\u2019s still room for improvement and that I can still go for the Olympic gold in 2020.\n\nI also faced an uphill psychological battle following my first Olympic experience in 2008. I underperformed and I faced some detractors at home, but here I am 10 years later. Regardless, I enjoyed seeing Yelena Isinbayeva, Fabiana Murer and Monika Pyrek and other top women up close.\n\nI guess the world title in 2015 was the best redemption for my results in Beijing in 2008 and (at the World U20 Championships) in 2006.\n\nReflecting on my career, I smile when I remember how I was introduced to pole vault. My childhood dream was to feature on the front cover of a magazine. Initially, I wanted to be dancer. I had no clue what pole vault was. When I first tried, I reached 2.50m. I saw it as a game.\n\nFast forward to 2018, I am thankful to God, the Cuban government, our sports system and a united family for allowing me to pursue my aspirations. I have realised my childhood dream. Now I can build on my success and continue to dream.\n\n**Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF**" + }, + { + "title": "John Bolton takes Latin American \u2018troika of tyranny\u2019 to task - Atlantic Council", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "John Bolton takes Latin American \u2018troika of tyranny\u2019 to task - Atlantic Council" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiswFBVV95cUxNYkdRaXFTNmxPWlNicHVTb1JSMmhKMEJ1MWJBYmZvWUV6RWFuMmRmTVJmeFpVM1h1eXNSZGN0Q2RubnljVGx4d1gyeFYzbTVVNmFZa1NKdUFvT3ZsVEQ3eUhYNjlWYmRKSjJjVzRzMHFuLXlaOFRfYnpOanlfcDdJc1pNa3VfMTVVVGdyLTFYQVNYSmd3NzZpZGVwOVRPZzBPVXhyZTJaaVdZcWJILU5URnRIdw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://socialistproject.ca/2018/11/challenges-for-cubas-new-constitution/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsocialistproject.ca%2F2006%2F03%2F", + "id": "CBMiswFBVV95cUxNYkdRaXFTNmxPWlNicHVTb1JSMmhKMEJ1MWJBYmZvWUV6RWFuMmRmTVJmeFpVM1h1eXNSZGN0Q2RubnljVGx4d1gyeFYzbTVVNmFZa1NKdUFvT3ZsVEQ3eUhYNjlWYmRKSjJjVzRzMHFuLXlaOFRfYnpOanlfcDdJc1pNa3VfMTVVVGdyLTFYQVNYSmd3NzZpZGVwOVRPZzBPVXhyZTJaaVdZcWJILU5URnRIdw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "John Bolton takes Latin American \u2018troika of tyranny\u2019 to task  Atlantic Council", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "John Bolton takes Latin American \u2018troika of tyranny\u2019 to task  Atlantic Council" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.atlanticcouncil.org", + "title": "Atlantic Council" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution\nauthor: Tom Hansen\nurl: https://socialistproject.ca/2018/11/challenges-for-cubas-new-constitution/\nhostname: socialistproject.ca\ndescription: Cuba is writing a new constitution, part of a lengthy process of political change that can be traced to the 6th Congress of the Communist Party in 2011. The Congress approved a document known as the \u201clineamientos,\u201d a detailed domestic policy blueprint that opened certain sectors of the economy to\u2026\nsitename: Socialistprojct\ndate: 2018-11-07\ncategories: ['Latin America']\n---\n# Challenges for Cuba\u2019s New Constitution\n\nCuba is writing a new constitution, part of a lengthy process of political change that can be traced to the 6th Congress of the Communist Party in 2011. The Congress approved a document known as the \u201clineamientos,\u201d a detailed domestic policy blueprint that opened certain sectors of the economy to market dynamics and \u201cchange[d] the structure of employment, reduce[d] inflated payrolls and increase[d] work in the non-state sector.\u201d The plan was to close State enterprises if they don\u2019t generate a profit, with the private sector absorbing laid-off workers. To date less than a quarter of the \u201clineamientos\u201d have been implemented, reflecting a slow and careful process of change.\n\nIn 2016, the 7th Party Congress approved the \u201c*conceptualizacion*,\u201d a theoretical outline for economic reform, with particular emphasis on social property and the role of the socialist State. The \u201c*conceptualizacion*\u201d provided the theoretical framework for the new constitution. In June 2017, the National Assembly of People\u2019s Power established a commission charged with preparing a first draft of the new Constitution. The Party Central Committee reviewed the draft proposal in June of this year, then passed it to the National Assembly for approval in July. Copies of the proposed constitution went on sale the first week of August for the equivalent of about 4 cents (US), the cost of a local newspaper. Free copies are available on the internet (English translation). The comment period is from August 13 to November 15, after which a referendum is expected early next year.\n\nThe comment period includes public events organized, in part, by the seven mass organizations \u2013 Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women, the National Association of Small Farmers, the Cuban Workers\u2019 Federation, the University Student Federation, the Pre-university Student Federation, and the Cuban Writers and Artists Association. Few Cubans are not members of at least one mass organization, and many are members of more than one. More than 135,000 consultations led by 7,600 pairs of trained facilitators will take place across the island and will include some Cuban communities in other countries.\n\n\nLeading militants in the Communist Party of Cuba were responsible for the first draft of the Constitution. The Party and its youth sector, the Young Communist League, include about a fifth of the population over the age of 16, which indicates broad participation by the most politically active sector of the population. In evaluating the role of the Communist Party, both in the constitutional process and politics as a whole, it is important for folks from the U.S. to draw a clear distinction with the Democratic and Republican parties, where membership can imply as little as a $25 annual donation or a designation on an electoral form. Members of the Communist Party must apply for membership, be recognized for their civic participation, attend regular meetings, and maintain an exemplary moral standing in their community. The current Constitution recognizes the Communist Party as the \u201cleading force of society and of the state,\u201d and the new constitution will almost certainly maintain this role as a vanguard party.\n\n### Historical Context\n\nIn general, countries do not take lightly the writing of a new constitution \u2013 and Cuba is no exception. There are several reasons for this bold move. The current moment is characterized by a transition of political power from the \u201chistoric generation,\u201d which fought and won the 1959 revolution, to a new generation, connected to the world via internet and accustomed to free education and healthcare, guaranteed employment, subsidized food and public transportation, and affordable, if scarce, housing. Raul Castro is almost certain to be the last of his generation to be President or head of the Cuban Communist Party. The transition to a new leadership, without the revolutionary credentials, moral authority, or history of socialist struggle, presents a series of challenges.\n\nCuba is built on seven fundamental principles outlined in the \u201c*conceptualizacion*\u201d:\n\n- Sovereignty of the nation\n- Popular base of the Communist Party\n- Universal commitment to social welfare\n- Cuban values, with Jose Marti as perhaps the most important referent\n- Active engagement by socialist civil society\n- Limited controlled engagement in global commerce\n- Strong international relations, particularly in the global South and Latin America\n\nEquity is a central element of Cuban socialist values. This was a relatively uncontentious question in the early years of the revolution when Cuba\u2019s constantly growing economy could depend on fair trade prices for nickel, tropical fruits and other exports, plus affordable energy sources and manufactured goods via the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). But with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1990, COMECON ceased functioning \u2013 literally overnight \u2013 leaving Cuba with serious economic challenges. In the early 1990s, the economy went into recession, known as the \u201cSpecial Period in times of peace.\u201d The GNP contracted by more than a third and there were widespread shortages of food and fuel, yet the Cuban people remained committed to the socialist project.\n\nCuba adopted a series of economic policies meant to deal with the crisis in the short to medium term, including rapid expansion of the tourist industry financed, in part, by foreign investment, development of biotech, temporary export of human capital mainly in the form of medical professionals, and reforms in the agricultural sector to improve self-sufficiency. The results were impressive for such a poor country. From 1995 through 2008, the island nation experienced some of the highest GDP growth in the western hemisphere. In 2000, Venezuela and Cuba signed an agreement that provided 115,000 barrels of petroleum per day in exchange for the work of thousands of Cuban doctors in areas of Venezuela that were severely underserved in terms of health care. Due to recent unrest in Venezuela, by 2016 oil shipments dropped to 42,000 barrels per day.\n\nEconomic results in Cuba have been less stellar since 2009 with an average annual growth just under 2%. This isn\u2019t bad for an economy under constant threat from the internationalized U.S. embargo, but it is hardly sufficient to recover from the devastation of the early 1990s. Without robust economic growth, socialist equity ends up being defined by the distribution of pain rather than plenty.\n\nClosely linked to equity is the question of exploitation, which is central to a Marxist reading of society. Marx\u2019s labour theory of value is essentially a definition of exploitation as a social condition in which one person steals the labour of another to accumulate individual wealth. The 1976 Constitution prohibits Cubans from \u201cprocur[ing] income derived from exploitation of the work of others.\u201d Cubans face a challenging question in moving toward limited private enterprise while maintaining a socialist understanding of wealth accumulation as a collective process that should be for the benefit of the entire society.\n\nThis leaves Cuba with a fundamental theoretical/practical problem \u2013 is socialism constructed primarily (or at least in the final instance) on the development of an abundant material foundation by whatever means, or primarily on the socialist consciousness of the population? In the final analysis, Marx was a materialist (though as a consummate dialectician, he clearly recognized a dynamic relationship between materialism and idealism), while both Fidel Castro and Che Guevara advocated the centrality of socialist consciousness. Cuba tends to emphasize central planning with limited market openings and development of culture, education, and foundational concepts like equity and socialist consciousness. By comparison, the Chinese Communist Party is taking the road of \u201csocialist modernization\u201d or \u201cmarket Marxism.\u201d\n\nEach model offers a distinct understanding of work and, in particular, how to discipline labour to efficiently produce the abundance that can serve as the foundation of a socialist society in transition to communism. The market mechanism in combination with private ownership of the means of production yields a disciplined labour force through the threat of poverty (or starvation in the worst of cases), whereas socialist consciousness depends on the collective will of workers to contribute according to their abilities and take according to their needs (or according to their contributions \u2013 depending on the level of social development). Using brute production as a measure, the market mechanism has often been more effective at creating abundant surpluses, though certainly not at distributing those surpluses equitably. However, there is no reason central planning cannot be as efficient as market mechanisms. Given the development of new computer models, central planning may prove to be more efficient by avoiding the widely recognized excesses and herd mentality of private economic actors, and the regular crises that are inherent to capitalism.\n\nCuba clearly recognizes the importance of labour discipline and the production of sufficient surplus to satisfy an increasingly globally linked population. In 2007, in his first major speech as President, Raul Castro focused on economics. A Cuban worker receives a salary, Raul said, that \u201cis clearly insufficient to satisfy all necessities, and hence has practically stopped fulfilling the role of assuring the socialist principle of \u2018from each according to his capacity and to each according to his work\u2019.\u201d That failure brings \u201csocial indiscipline\u201d \u2013 read petty theft and black market activity to make ends meet \u2013 that is \u201cdifficult to eradicate.\u201d In 2010, Raul Castro addressed the other side of the coin when he announced layoffs of thousands of government workers and limited privatization of parts of the economy: \u201cWe have to erase forever the notion that Cuba is the only country in the world where one can live without working.\u201d Free education and healthcare can be internalized in two contradictory and irreconcilable ways \u2013 as rights without accompanying responsibilities, or as the result of collective struggle. The first is a product of individualism, the second of collective political consciousness. With increasingly easy access to Hollywood films, U.S. television, and other sources of capitalist propaganda, it\u2019s not hard to understand the challenges involved in developing collective consciousness.\n\nSegmentation of the economy into tourist sectors, where workers have easy access to hard currency, and State sectors, in which salaries are paid in Cuban pesos, makes the challenge even greater. Labourers in the tourist sector can often earn as much in one day as State labourers earn in a month. While promotion of the tourist sector was important for economic recovery after the demise of the Soviet Union, it came with a price in terms of decreasing equity and socialist commitment. This is part of the challenge for the new Constitution.\n\nGiven the impact of the U.S. embargo and the existence of counter-revolutionaries in south Florida intent on returning Cuba to a purely capitalist path, unbridled \u201cmarket Marxism\u201d may not be an option for socialist Cuba. The U.S. embargo began in 1962, inspired by a State Department official who proposed \u201ca line of action that makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the [Castro] government.\u201d The embargo is nothing short of a recipe for capitalist counter-revolution. Over the past six decades, the cost to Cuba has been about $130-billion (US) in today\u2019s dollars. For a country with a current annual GDP of less than $90-billion (US), the impact is substantial.\n\nWith a huge land mass and a fifth of the world\u2019s population, China is building an efficient market economy with a mandate to avoid \u201csocial tension\u201d (ie, class conflict). Given an island with 11 million people only 90 miles from Florida, is this even an option for Cuban socialism? China is concerned mainly with containing internal class conflict, whereas, a priori, Cuba must concern itself with class conflict initiated from the USA. While Cuba is in the process of moving carefully into some market mechanisms, the heights of the economy will remain centrally planned and controlled. In China, \u201cmarket Marxism\u201d is grounded in social unity, foreign investment, and increased trade characterized by a robust integration with global markets. With the U.S. embargo in place, these are not realistic options for Cuba. Cuba\u2019s understanding of a Marxist/Leninist system is grounded in class struggle, sustainability, closely controlled foreign investment, a nationalist private sector, and international solidarity, particularly in Latin America. The new constitution will outline the legal framework required for limited markets while confirming the socialist nature of the State and the leading role of the Communist Party. As Raul Castro reminded during the 7th Party Congress, \u201cWe cannot ignore the influence of powerful foreign forces who call for the empowerment of non-state forces to try to create agents of change in hopes of ending the revolution and socialism in Cuba.\u201d\n\n### Provisions of the New Constitution\n\nIn economic terms, the new constitution will provide legal foundations for private businesses and their ability (limited) to contract wage labour, plus the right to own private property. Already, new regulations for private enterprises are scheduled to take effect in December. According to William LeoGrande, an academic based at American University, \u201cthey have two broad purposes: to enable the state to capture a greater share of the revenue that private businesses generate, while also minimizing illegal behavior and protecting public safety; and to limit the growth of individual businesses in order to prevent the accumulation of wealth and property.\u201d The new regulations will crack down on tax evasion and black market transactions that have become rampant in the private sector, while also providing a solid legal foundation for legitimate enterprises.\n\nThe new Constitution will legalize same-sex marriage, reflecting a cultural change generations in the making. For more than a decade, Raul Castro\u2019s daughter, Mariela Castro-Espin, has assumed a leadership role in promoting LGBTQ rights as head of the State-sponsored National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX). Where once revolutionary governments sent LGBTQ people to re-education camps, now the State, along with NGOs and community-based organizations, are leading a society-wide re-education campaign that lends credence to the importance of education in consciousness raising. Mariela said, \u201cBefore, there was prejudice against talking about these things. Eleven years ago we started holding seminars about homophobia and transphobia. And that helped to pave the way for dialogue among the population.\u201d Newly appointed President Miguel Diaz-Canel was an early supporter in Villa Clara Province where he mobilized Party resources and his own political clout to support an LGBTQ cultural center, the first of its kind in Cuba.\n\nThe Constitution will restructure the State in important ways. The new positions of Prime Minister and provincial Governors will handle the day-to-day administration of State policies, while the President will be in charge of strategic development and the overall direction of the country. Similar to parliamentary systems or the U.S. Electoral College, the President will be elected by the National Assembly rather than direct popular vote. The Prime Minister will be nominated to a five-year term by the President and approved by the National Assembly. There will likely be a third President overseeing both the National Assembly and the Council of State. The National Assembly meets only twice a year under normal circumstances, while the Council of State is in permanent session and is responsible for many of the executive functions of the State. In general, the idea is to separate long-term strategic planning and policy development from direct implementation, thereby establishing results-based accountability.\n\nThe new constitution will likely be in place sometime next year. \u2022\n\nThis article first published on the ausm.community website." + }, + { + "title": "Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxNQkMyZGhPQzl3ZUlTNjRCcm5DTFp3V2RDaVJXQkhFMDBtVkVxdEt6ZHAyZTd5U2lJSTREU1ZQaWpOeEFyU2NMc0J1d3VXZUIyTGNXTXJZQ25oRVM5ajlpVElQTTdsNEVXQ2x2X01mTmlDZTVmWENfWHc5c2VDVGlmc3NtQlA0RWc5OGhtVDdiTWRJb1M3Z3EtNTFhYlYzSGRhUUkwZG8tWkNuUdIBrAFBVV95cUxNWE5GQUdLMGpST2pGd0Y5bzBpUjQ5Smx4R1h6NEt6VldsdlNvTUdOOS1ab0ZXMVA4LXFjZVR4V21XZ0w1cFlSWUwwYzRXdGhtYUY1Z2tUZFVPcnVtRG1ncmFReDVXYm11SnJiaE1mTHQyZjVBSkFaaXlMLXFrMUZfeWMtZFREMUJQWGVsRFloV0R4aVJqOXBGQ1JEUm1wcFllb0RnS3drMEVsenZB?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/john-bolton-takes-latin-american-troika-of-tyranny-to-task/", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxNQkMyZGhPQzl3ZUlTNjRCcm5DTFp3V2RDaVJXQkhFMDBtVkVxdEt6ZHAyZTd5U2lJSTREU1ZQaWpOeEFyU2NMc0J1d3VXZUIyTGNXTXJZQ25oRVM5ajlpVElQTTdsNEVXQ2x2X01mTmlDZTVmWENfWHc5c2VDVGlmc3NtQlA0RWc5OGhtVDdiTWRJb1M3Z3EtNTFhYlYzSGRhUUkwZG8tWkNuUdIBrAFBVV95cUxNWE5GQUdLMGpST2pGd0Y5bzBpUjQ5Smx4R1h6NEt6VldsdlNvTUdOOS1ab0ZXMVA4LXFjZVR4V21XZ0w1cFlSWUwwYzRXdGhtYUY1Z2tUZFVPcnVtRG1ncmFReDVXYm11SnJiaE1mTHQyZjVBSkFaaXlMLXFrMUZfeWMtZFREMUJQWGVsRFloV0R4aVJqOXBGQ1JEUm1wcFllb0RnS3drMEVsenZB", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 20, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 324, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice  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": "Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents - EL PA\u00cdS English", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents - EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFBVV95cUxOR0NKdTlrZ0k2SVhWYkVYSDVWbkFGdkVnMkJpSl9sSkdaVWE3bGdYMXRDV25SVnY1SExfc3lya0UxT1hxam9OYWx1WDdsM3FuZ1FuWmVSSERfRk1jYm93NmthUjdfbDZqSmlXaDhzN1B5cWtLc0RNVTdmc3hpYVBXb2VjQdIBlwFBVV95cUxPZ1VYaGtwWmx4VVc0bzJlX0JDeFF6eTVhOXR6U1lVX2NDWlNJRVNkMkZKUU15eXJHcjFtRk85eFJMTFRvaXhLWVBDWXFWcGpobk9PUllzdzlHbU5WUnVoSkVFa0FJUDJGNl80X0R2UUR0aU9vbFgwRDE2c3ZZRHFKRVZ1akRVS21rTUphWWdaUkNjQWJ4eDUw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/colombia-asks-cuba-to-arrest-eln-rebel-leader-under-interpol-notice/4667487.html", + "id": "CBMigwFBVV95cUxOR0NKdTlrZ0k2SVhWYkVYSDVWbkFGdkVnMkJpSl9sSkdaVWE3bGdYMXRDV25SVnY1SExfc3lya0UxT1hxam9OYWx1WDdsM3FuZ1FuWmVSSERfRk1jYm93NmthUjdfbDZqSmlXaDhzN1B5cWtLc0RNVTdmc3hpYVBXb2VjQdIBlwFBVV95cUxPZ1VYaGtwWmx4VVc0bzJlX0JDeFF6eTVhOXR6U1lVX2NDWlNJRVNkMkZKUU15eXJHcjFtRk85eFJMTFRvaXhLWVBDWXFWcGpobk9PUllzdzlHbU5WUnVoSkVFa0FJUDJGNl80X0R2UUR0aU9vbFgwRDE2c3ZZRHFKRVZ1akRVS21rTUphWWdaUkNjQWJ4eDUw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents  EL PA\u00cdS English", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez makes historic visit to Cuba but will not meet with leading dissidents  EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://english.elpais.com", + "title": "EL PA\u00cdS English" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Colombia Asks Cuba to Arrest ELN Rebel Leader Under Interpol Notice\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/colombia-asks-cuba-to-arrest-eln-rebel-leader-under-interpol-notice/4667487.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: The move by Colombia may hobble efforts to reactivate peace talks between the government and the ELN\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-21\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Americas, Cuba, Colombia, ELN']\n---\nColombia's government has asked Cuba to capture ELN rebel commander Nicolas Rodriguez, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, a sign peace talks with the insurgent group are unlikely to resume soon.\n\nColombia made a verbal request on Nov. 6 for Cuba's government to provide information about the presence of several commanders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Cuban territory, the foreign ministry said in a statement.\n\nIt also asked Havana to act on an Interpol Red Notice on Rodriguez, the rebel group's leader. An Interpol Red Notice is a \"request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.\"\n\nRodriguez, also known by his nom de guerre Gabino, has been in Cuba for several months receiving medical treatment.\n\nThe Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe move by Colombia may hobble efforts to reactivate peace talks between the government and the ELN. Colombian President Ivan Duque in August said he was halting the Cuba-based negotiations until the rebels freed all its hostages.\n\nThe guerrillas hold about 10 hostages.\n\nIn September, Duque relieved the government negotiating team \u2014 in a scheduled administrative move \u2014 and said he would not send a new team back to Cuba until the captives were freed and the ELN ceased criminal activity.\n\nThe rebels have said the liberation of hostages was not a pre-condition for talks agreed at the start of negotiations in February 2017.\n\nThe ELN, considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, has been at war with the Colombian government since 1964. The larger FARC, formerly a guerrilla group and now a political party, agreed to a peace deal with the government in 2016.\n\nInterpol cannot compel a country to arrest an individual." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil - Havana Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil - Havana Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieEFVX3lxTE05LWpDUjZXd0FVRTctQmJ0djVoRFNjOHVMVF9uQzdFN1RfQU5lUFRjUHBHUEtCZm5yNTg3d0JpSE51eEgwR01nTEsyWGpOc0czelN2LTBvQkNSWmtSVU9VVk8yemo5NUNBeEJFbTJkbEhMdndNR0pfYw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://havanatimes.org/news/cubas-8000-doctors-begin-bye-bye-brazil/", + "id": "CBMieEFVX3lxTE05LWpDUjZXd0FVRTctQmJ0djVoRFNjOHVMVF9uQzdFN1RfQU5lUFRjUHBHUEtCZm5yNTg3d0JpSE51eEgwR01nTEsyWGpOc0czelN2LTBvQkNSWmtSVU9VVk8yemo5NUNBeEJFbTJkbEhMdndNR0pfYw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil  Havana Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil  Havana Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://havanatimes.org", + "title": "Havana Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil - Havana Times\nauthor: Circles Robinson\nurl: https://havanatimes.org/news/cubas-8000-doctors-begin-bye-bye-brazil/\nhostname: havanatimes.org\ndescription: The more than 8,000 Cubans who work in Brazil as part of the \"More Doctors\" cooperation program are being asked to leave the country between now and December 12th, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Nonethless, a portion of the MDs will try to remain in Brazil under individual contracts and better working conditions.\nsitename: Havana Times\ndate: 2018-11-22\ncategories: ['Latin America', 'News']\n---\n# Cuba\u2019s 8,000+ Doctors Begin Bye Bye Brazil\n\n**HAVANA TIMES** \u2013 The more than 8,000 Cubans who work in Brazil as part of the \u201cMore Doctors\u201d cooperation program are being asked to leave the country between now and December 12th, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), reported dpa news.\n\n\u201cSome of the doctors have already started to leave the municipalities in the direction of the respective cities from which they will exit,\u201d PAHO said in a statement published on Wednesday.\n\n\u201cIt is expected that by December 12 of this year the more than 8,000 doctors will have gradually left the program,\u201d it added.\n\nNonetheless, hundreds, if not more than a thousand, are expected to try and stay in Brazil under individual contracts. Those that do so will be treated as traitors by the Cuban government, forbidden from entering their country for at least eight years.\n\nThe cancellation of Cuba\u2019s participation in the \u201cMas Medicos\u201d program came after the election of the rightwing candidate Jair Bolsonaro as the next president of Brazil and caused a stir last week both among the doctors and back home.\n\nThe program guaranteed health care to some 63 million Brazilians since 2013, according to official Brazilian figures, but it was also controversial because of the working conditions of the Cubans.\n\nThe Brazilian State pays about US $3,500 per month for each doctor, but the Cuban MDs only receive about $900.\n\nThe rest goes to the State coffers in Havana, which justifies its taking over 70% of the pay by saying that the revenues serve to finance the Island\u2019s free health system.\n\nPAHO operates as an intermediary for the program that began in 2013, under the government of the leftist Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, to bring attention to the most remote rural areas and some poor urban communities of the South American giant.\n\nThe Cuban government accused Bolsonaro last week of wanting to change the terms of the contract and of having referred in a \u201cthreatening and derogatory\u201d way to its doctors.\n\nThe president-elect of Brazil, who takes office on January 1, confirmed that he demanded that Havana pay full salaries to the doctors and end restrictions so that the Cubans can bring their families with them during their time in Brazil, something the Cuban government refused to allow.\n\nIn recent days, the current government of the conservative Michel Temer put out an employment announcement for the 8,332 positions to be left by the Cubans in the \u201cMore Doctors\u201d program.\n\nThe PAHO also received strong criticism in recent days for the working conditions of Cubans in the South American country.\n\n\u201cThe organization has agreements with the governments of both countries for \u2018More Doctors\u2019, but does not make contracts with doctors, as determined at the beginning of the agreement. The role of PAHO does not include contractual elements between the governments and the contracted doctors\u201d, this American continent branch of the World Health Organization said in its defense.\n\n\nI have commented many times before on this blog my belief that the Castros use their Doctors in their medical missions as indentured servants. It\u2019s too bad that it took a racist, misogynistic and homophobic Brazilian President to pull the curtain back on the Castros pimping and pandering of its medical professionals." + }, + { + "title": "Cuban exile's fascinating art included in new Gilcrease exhibit | December-2018 - TulsaPeople Magazine", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban exile's fascinating art included in new Gilcrease exhibit | December-2018 - TulsaPeople Magazine" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi-wFBVV95cUxNcFliWVRCWEdmN0FKX2pMZkdWaUVxZVJYc1hiMmJfNkNENzNHdWJCcGVIR3hYZWlxdnkzVV9CMjNFN3ZTRVFuMzFBZkhESGJyV01NSXM5MVlldWJzcnN6aGsySnd5OXJGZVV0MlZGVmhncHN3ZVlJaGRGYlRJUkZReWJIUFNDTGdRcksxNEFYeWlEMldIck9NSmstSWpTdkNQbW80RTIwaHAxaFZkVm9UQTNORFo0aWlJYThXNzJ3VFhocUtZU3dsWHd5WWtqd2YyVXBSSVFzc3dFTmNPMDQ3bHp5eFVrcmhDVFlidnEza3VqejloVXRqLWNrWQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.tulsapeople.com/tulsa-people/december-2018/cuban-exiles-fascinating-art-included-in-new-gilcrease-exhibit/article_dd89f36c-b48b-5984-9631-fe4e9a1df66e.html", + "id": "CBMi-wFBVV95cUxNcFliWVRCWEdmN0FKX2pMZkdWaUVxZVJYc1hiMmJfNkNENzNHdWJCcGVIR3hYZWlxdnkzVV9CMjNFN3ZTRVFuMzFBZkhESGJyV01NSXM5MVlldWJzcnN6aGsySnd5OXJGZVV0MlZGVmhncHN3ZVlJaGRGYlRJUkZReWJIUFNDTGdRcksxNEFYeWlEMldIck9NSmstSWpTdkNQbW80RTIwaHAxaFZkVm9UQTNORFo0aWlJYThXNzJ3VFhocUtZU3dsWHd5WWtqd2YyVXBSSVFzc3dFTmNPMDQ3bHp5eFVrcmhDVFlidnEza3VqejloVXRqLWNrWQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 26 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 26, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 330, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuban exile's fascinating art included in new Gilcrease exhibit | December-2018  TulsaPeople Magazine", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuban exile's fascinating art included in new Gilcrease exhibit | December-2018  TulsaPeople Magazine" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.tulsapeople.com", + "title": "TulsaPeople Magazine" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\n---\nPlease wait while we attempt to load the requested page" + }, + { + "title": "Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity - Scientific American", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity - Scientific American" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPVm1xRm9EYWI5WFg0N3ZsVlFiY1hQRXJQRGJaMFJoYXh0NnVHZWRTUkFETWZSVEt5cjZHdkMwUldaZktqX1Q0XzZYY1pCc1lzaVZ1M193Y0hpQ2xacm91SU1NcUtHU1ROdV9DYU9QZXFrY2JhSW5zaHFwcEdqMzE1VGJFWnJldVNNbkwxM0JCMS1pSHZUNXdQSnQ5Mkpyekk3MlVrSW1wa0YxQQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-administration-policies-could-threaten-cuban-biosecurity/", + "id": "CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPVm1xRm9EYWI5WFg0N3ZsVlFiY1hQRXJQRGJaMFJoYXh0NnVHZWRTUkFETWZSVEt5cjZHdkMwUldaZktqX1Q0XzZYY1pCc1lzaVZ1M193Y0hpQ2xacm91SU1NcUtHU1ROdV9DYU9QZXFrY2JhSW5zaHFwcEdqMzE1VGJFWnJldVNNbkwxM0JCMS1pSHZUNXdQSnQ5Mkpyekk3MlVrSW1wa0YxQQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Tue, 27 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 27, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 1, + 331, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity  Scientific American", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity  Scientific American" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.scientificamerican.com", + "title": "Scientific American" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Trump Administration Policies Could Threaten Cuban Biosecurity\nauthor: Brent Crane\nurl: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-administration-policies-could-threaten-cuban-biosecurity/\nhostname: scientificamerican.com\ndescription: The island nation\u2019s lackadaisical approach to invasive species poses a significant threat to U.S. agriculture, scientists say\nsitename: Scientific American\ndate: 2018-11-27\n---\nWhen the Obama administration thawed relations with Cuba in 2014, Jiri Hulcr, an entomologist at the University of Florida, and a team of researchers began an unprecedented scientific endeavor: to discover the island\u2019s potentially invasive pests and gauge the state of Cuba's biosecurity, with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).\n\nThe teams' findings\u2014yet to be published\u2014are worrying. Not only were Cuban scientists largely unaware of potentially destructive pests already on the island\u2014such as unknown species of borer beetles\u2014but their technological capabilities for screening imports were also woeful. Moreover, Hulcr\u2019s team found virtually no communication between Cuba and the United States on biosecurity, meaning the prospect of passenger pests could be a serious issue. Now, the Trump administration\u2019s tough stance on the island nation further threatens necessary technological aid and communication between U.S. and Cuban scientists and officials.\n\n\u201cWe know now that Cuba has limited capacity to truly, honestly determine pests on their cargo,\u201d Hulcr says. \u201cSo if something gets established in Cuba we don\u2019t even know about it.\u201d Neighboring islands are less of a concern, Hulcr notes. U.S. authorities have a much clearer idea of their pest control thanks to stronger binational relationships. \u201cIf a pest showed up in any of these other countries there\u2019s a good chance we\u2019d know about it pretty quickly,\u201d he says.\n\n## On supporting science journalism\n\nIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.\n\nComplicating matters is Cuba\u2019s soon-to-be-completed deepwater terminal, Port of Mariel, which the country intends as a regional shipping hub. Many of the ships will come from Asia, the origin of much of North America\u2019s invasive pests. \"We\u2019re more worried about pests that come throughCuba\u201d compared with other island ports, Hulcr says.\n\nAlthough the team was able to take three trips to Cuba beginning in 2016, in some instances government authorities barred Hulcr\u2019s team from visiting requested sites, such as agricultural fields. What the U.S.-based team did see spoke volumes, however. In Cuban screening labs, scientists used outdated technology, such as 1960s-era Soviet microscopes. Preserved specimen collections the team visited in Havana\u2013critical resources for determining the identity of unknown pests\u2013were \u201claughable,\u201d says Hulcr: dusty with no air conditioning and lots of empty display cases.\n\nIt is more than just the quality of research on the topic that is alarming. With only about 100 miles of ocean between the two countries, invasive pests in Cuba could make it to the U.S. without warning. \u201cOnce these pests get to Cuba, then it just takes, really, a hurricane or a piece of flotsam floating over to get these things here,\u201d says Damian Adams, an economist from the University of Florida (UF) School of Forest Resources and Conservation involved in the project. Scientists suspect, for example, that citrus greening\u2014a disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid that has caused a crisis for Florida\u2019s citrus industry\u2014originally came from Cuba, says Adams. Among other potential pests, UF researchers confirmed that Cuba is home to coffee borer beetles, a pest that has been ravaging Hawaiian coffee crops.\n\nAs things stand, Hulcr\u2019s research project has come to a halt. In March, the USDA rejected the team\u2019s proposal for continued funding. The researchers are now afraid that their tiny window into Cuba\u2019s biosecurity will be closed. \u201cI think at this point the Trump administration isn\u2019t that interested in work that relates to Cuba,\u201d Adams says. \u201cThat\u2019s a real problem for American agriculture.\u201d\n\nWilliam Wepsala, spokesman for the USDA\u2019s Plant Health Inspection Service, comments that \u201cto date the project has not identified any significant pests of concern,\u201d and that the agency \u201cchose to prioritize other projects.\u201d\n\nBeyond continuing on-the-ground research, one proactive measure the U.S. can take, Hulcr says, is to \u201cstrengthen our surveillance in the ports and airports in the south.\u201d This means putting more scientists in monitoring labs and incorporating better biocontrol surveillance technology, such as X-ray and scent-based monitoring tools. \u201cCurrently we rely mostly on visual inspection on only about 1 percent of the cargo that gets in,\u201d Hulcr says. \u201cThat has to be increased.\u201d" + }, + { + "title": "Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiowFBVV95cUxQc3RzWVpWOHE0Ym9qdlhpUWpYcXllUEdoT3hKVVF3dzZVWWF1SzZhSlFjYlp4NUpTczg3UDZGcDB1Uk5mNldBVS1QMGt6XzlCbktsaWVnVTRPNmJUUjVwUTZ2dW1NNDQ1cWo3UjJTWThzNmJVQ1IwMHk3djZ0alNTMmhTLWswYTZEZXNGbVl0OW50dEZETktRTGNsWW5FeS1iVXZR0gGmAUFVX3lxTFBkYzk5SXpVdW5hTEoteDYzVEh3THZRZmRGaUhOV2dPbkFjd09OVlZZbjItQmVKaVJkRmZKVXJEOEVpc2NaeUJ6djJtQkNFMDQ3MDZnbHZWMkZIX3lTb0EzLUNXVjBuWWFBY0loSW1QS0dnN2gycFJaUVFoNWpydVlSMUQ1R3VVN1lOMklBdWVZSXFNbDVybEdxTFVCQUh0TkVkOTFNZUE?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://tucson.com/article_2a873f62-a290-52b3-a10a-d9b14b974faf.html", + "id": "CBMiowFBVV95cUxQc3RzWVpWOHE0Ym9qdlhpUWpYcXllUEdoT3hKVVF3dzZVWWF1SzZhSlFjYlp4NUpTczg3UDZGcDB1Uk5mNldBVS1QMGt6XzlCbktsaWVnVTRPNmJUUjVwUTZ2dW1NNDQ1cWo3UjJTWThzNmJVQ1IwMHk3djZ0alNTMmhTLWswYTZEZXNGbVl0OW50dEZETktRTGNsWW5FeS1iVXZR0gGmAUFVX3lxTFBkYzk5SXpVdW5hTEoteDYzVEh3THZRZmRGaUhOV2dPbkFjd09OVlZZbjItQmVKaVJkRmZKVXJEOEVpc2NaeUJ6djJtQkNFMDQ3MDZnbHZWMkZIX3lTb0EzLUNXVjBuWWFBY0loSW1QS0dnN2gycFJaUVFoNWpydVlSMUQ1R3VVN1lOMklBdWVZSXFNbDVybEdxTFVCQUh0TkVkOTFNZUE", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 1, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 305, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports  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: Fidel Castro, Cuba\nurl: https://tucson.com/article_2a873f62-a290-52b3-a10a-d9b14b974faf.html\nhostname: tucson.com\ndescription: The Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last\nsitename: Arizona Daily Star\ndate: 2017-05-08\ntags: ['wire,', 'article, ap, wire']\n---\nThe Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last communist leaders.\n\nAP\n\nGet up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device." + }, + { + "title": "U.S. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela - NBC News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela - NBC News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiswFBVV95cUxQV2tVVnJmMHpramZTM0JvSFpTaF93dnJDdEsxWlE4dzc4b0pFM014bFdEVGtmLXpuWlg3SDJZeFMwUW54VEdZUHlLNDZyX3N4WHdMQUYzaUVCd3g2Q0dfZUFwa2wwQWxGNmV3WFF1Y0pXcGpqbEdMRDhuZEYxQl9FVmRpdWlaUWRGU0lPNGVPZ1JvRm5SMzM4eHY1b0ExNW1QRWtrYjZOZVJydUk3WFBCdTExWQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://peoplesdispatch.org/2018/11/28/thousands-of-cuban-doctors-to-leave-brazil-after-threatening-remarks-by-bolsonaro/", + "id": "CBMiswFBVV95cUxQV2tVVnJmMHpramZTM0JvSFpTaF93dnJDdEsxWlE4dzc4b0pFM014bFdEVGtmLXpuWlg3SDJZeFMwUW54VEdZUHlLNDZyX3N4WHdMQUYzaUVCd3g2Q0dfZUFwa2wwQWxGNmV3WFF1Y0pXcGpqbEdMRDhuZEYxQl9FVmRpdWlaUWRGU0lPNGVPZ1JvRm5SMzM4eHY1b0ExNW1QRWtrYjZOZVJydUk3WFBCdTExWQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "U.S. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela  NBC News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "U.S. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela  NBC News" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nbcnews.com", + "title": "NBC News" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez - Cigar Aficionado", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez - Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirAFBVV95cUxPaFB3YlpiWXk3dV9CMzdMS2RGQ0VtMFVSd2VfMjgyU1VydzFlRjdjekVXelBfMHZHT0hLNVBsTUF2aENQQkNvbmlXaVl1N0VjMExIZlduSjdnXzVhcFlwcnlZclJEcUVfUTdmc3NxTjgzQ3lMbWV2UFYtWHNGdHVUc2hHc0VBOU5VdUZON1BVRGJyaExCZnViVWg1MTBndVdhelpydUw2RzdCR0kt?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-november-30-2018-1.4926000/are-energy-weapons-behind-mystery-injuries-in-cuba-unlikely-but-they-do-exist-author-1.4926003", + "id": "CBMirAFBVV95cUxPaFB3YlpiWXk3dV9CMzdMS2RGQ0VtMFVSd2VfMjgyU1VydzFlRjdjekVXelBfMHZHT0hLNVBsTUF2aENQQkNvbmlXaVl1N0VjMExIZlduSjdnXzVhcFlwcnlZclJEcUVfUTdmc3NxTjgzQ3lMbWV2UFYtWHNGdHVUc2hHc0VBOU5VdUZON1BVRGJyaExCZnViVWg1MTBndVdhelpydUw2RzdCR0kt", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 14, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 318, + 0 + ], + "summary": "2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez  Cigar Aficionado", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez  Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com", + "title": "Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 0, + "response": "Error: " + }, + { + "title": "Habanos Announces 2019 Festival Highlights - Cigar Aficionado", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Habanos Announces 2019 Festival Highlights - Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNSEpyT1JhMk1kY1NTYjlxV2pQVmFndTJicTFFVHotX0owc25QanZEUVRfdHhVV0VpelJoWno0cWZScjFVUWhUZGltd1JYdjVDbkFoODE2cXZ3clBmUldpd3dDX3A2RzcxTkpsd2l2WVd1Ul9BdGNxdG5xbktWTFN6eW1sOS1hYnpP?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-skate-witches-shred-havana/", + "id": "CBMiiAFBVV95cUxNSEpyT1JhMk1kY1NTYjlxV2pQVmFndTJicTFFVHotX0owc25QanZEUVRfdHhVV0VpelJoWno0cWZScjFVUWhUZGltd1JYdjVDbkFoODE2cXZ3clBmUldpd3dDX3A2RzcxTkpsd2l2WVd1Ul9BdGNxdG5xbktWTFN6eW1sOS1hYnpP", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 19, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 323, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Habanos Announces 2019 Festival Highlights  Cigar Aficionado", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Habanos Announces 2019 Festival Highlights  Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "source": { + "href": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com", + "title": "Cigar Aficionado" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The Skate Witches Shred Havana\nauthor: Kristin Ebeling\nurl: https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-skate-witches-shred-havana/\nhostname: vice.com\ndescription: The first all-women skate crew to visit Cuba challenged macho culture, inspired local girls, and addressed a lack of resources.\nsitename: VICE\ndate: 2018-11-28\ncategories: ['Travel']\n---\nOn Halloween night I boarded a plane bound for Cuba, a country I was told my whole life that I shouldn\u2019t visit. Teachers told me that this island nation was an example of the failure of socialism and the rise of dictatorship. Friends who had visited painted an image of this nation that left much to be desired. But despite less than positive reviews there was something intriguing about a place that seemed so drastically different from my daily life. So when my friend Norma Ibarra approached me about going to support the local skate scene in partnership with the non-profit organization Cuba Skate, I didn\u2019t hesitate. I was eager to help, and was also curious to learn what life is like in Cuba\u2014and more specifically, what it means to be a skateboarder there.\n\nAfter traveling for over 12 hours from various departure cities, Seattle, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, our crew, The Skate Witches, assembled at our rental house in Havana. Despite the jet lag, I felt inspired by the warmth in the air and the energy of six incredible women along with me on this journey. Norma, a frequent traveler to Cuba, led the group, which was rounded out by two Cuban Americans, Sam Narvaez and Clara Solar, along with filmer Shari White, skate instructor Angie Crum, and Michelle Pezel of Vancouver\u2019s Antisocial Skate Shop. Everyone knows each other through the relatively small women\u2019s skateboarding scene, our group name being a reference to the zine I co-founded with Shari, * The Skate Witches*, a periodical documenting our community\u2019s events and experiences.\n\n## Videos by VICE\n\nOur first to-do was to give out hundreds of donations we\u2019d collected prior to our departure. Due to strained trade relations, much of what we would consider skateboarding necessities aren\u2019t accessible to average Cuban citizens. Most of the locals make less than the equivalent of $20USD per month, making it difficult to get by, and tremendously difficult to explore hobbies like skateboarding where proper footwear and hardgoods are essentials. I witnessed many kids riding broken skate equipment, and one teenager told me it was impossible to find shoes for his size 12 feet anywhere.\n\nThe majority of our trip was spent at Ciudad Libertad, an abandoned gymnasium turned DIY skate park and ground zero for Havana skateboarding. At first glance, it\u2019s like a scene out of Jurassic Park, with nature reclaiming the forgotten space as trees blast up from the center of the building\u2019s battered foundation. Skaters whizzed around the hips, rails, and wallrides, unbothered by the sketchy setup and less-than-ideal obstacles. This skater\u2019s paradise was founded by Miles Jackson of Cuba Skate and his local partner, Orly Rosales. After discovering the building in the winter of 2016, it\u2019s become a large focus of trips facilitated by Jackson\u2019s organization and the skate park has grown steadily over time.\n\nWhen the cement, sand, and rock arrived, the entire park jumped into action. It looked more like a choreographed dance than a job site as everyone worked together gracefully; some poured bags or water while others got the mixing going, shovelling the thick contents rhythmically in a circle. Most notably, this process was done completely by hand and without enough key tools, such as buckets, shovels, levels, and trowels.\n\nSeeing the action we started to join in, but a group of foreign women doing manual labor wasn\u2019t received with open arms, at least not at first. Culture shock hit quickly as guys came over and grabbed our tools away or started mansplaining to us in Spanish. It was an overt display of paternalism that we weren\u2019t used to; perhaps a reflection of macho culture or lack of experience working with women. \u201cBack home I can\u2019t get a guy to do a thing for me, but here they won\u2019t let me walk with a bucket!\u201d Michelle quipped. Eventually, they recognized our commitment to helping out and their collective hesitations subsided, allowing us to all join forces to complete the project.\n\nWe knew going in that Cuban female skaters most likely have experiences similar to ours, due to the unfortunate reality of sexism in skateboarding. Despite being from opposite sides of the world, we share the identity of being women in a male-dominated scene, resulting often in isolation, getting talked down to, constantly having to prove yourself, and so on. Our goal was to not only meet and inspire the local women skateboarders, but also to affirm and normalize their presence in the local scene.\n\nOn our agenda was skate instruction, board building, and silk screening, all of which was well received by the local ladies. Non-Spanish speakers like myself did what we could to demonstrate physically what we couldn\u2019t say, while Norma, Clara, and Sam translated. We taught one girl to rock fakie, and watched as she used the same technique to support one of her friends moments later. Another girl set-up a board and afterward gave her old one away to a gal who was eager to start. It was inspiring to see people who have so little be so generous to one another.\n\nBut as much as we gave away\u2014donations, money for concrete, instruction, inspiration\u2014we left Cuba feeling incredibly enriched. As our plane took off from Havana, the gift of a new perspective sunk in; A new mindset that more thoroughly acknowledges the abundance we live in, understands the real meaning of resilience, and honors the importance of community. We are thankful to our skateboards for allowing us to connect authentically with our new Cuban friends, their ideas and culture, and forever in gratitude to this country for this life changing experience." + }, + { + "title": "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit - Yahoo News Singapore", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit - Yahoo News Singapore" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiowFBVV95cUxPMV9rQ3RBdmpFb1Ezb2NRWF8xN1EwQkRPWEJDVksxbkFabGE0Y2gzUmtEV3kyVkpJUS10RWwza1JNZFpRdUtKU2V4SDE1b0dUcWFVUjdXU0YxMm5PZUs1R25Tb1I0UmZldmdfNnJDMmtFNDRkU1BxTHFVSzR0OFZMOWNOU3VoR2R6NEZfREVCX0pKYm1icXNYZjZxeVhCWjdaSnhj?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-signs-sanctions-order-targeting-venezuela-s-gold-exports/4638606.html", + "id": "CBMiowFBVV95cUxPMV9rQ3RBdmpFb1Ezb2NRWF8xN1EwQkRPWEJDVksxbkFabGE0Y2gzUmtEV3kyVkpJUS10RWwza1JNZFpRdUtKU2V4SDE1b0dUcWFVUjdXU0YxMm5PZUs1R25Tb1I0UmZldmdfNnJDMmtFNDRkU1BxTHFVSzR0OFZMOWNOU3VoR2R6NEZfREVCX0pKYm1icXNYZjZxeVhCWjdaSnhj", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit  Yahoo News Singapore", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Spanish PM agrees closer ties with Cuba during historic visit  Yahoo News Singapore" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://sg.news.yahoo.com", + "title": "Yahoo News Singapore" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Trump Signs Sanctions Order Targeting Venezuela's Gold Exports\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-signs-sanctions-order-targeting-venezuela-s-gold-exports/4638606.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: US national security adviser John Bolton promises tough stance by administration toward 'dictators and despots near our shores' and singled out Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in a speech in Miami\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-01\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Economy, Americas, Venezuela, Bolton, trump']\n---\nWashington ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday with new measures aimed at disrupting the South American country's gold exports, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said.\n\nBolton promised a tough stance by the Trump administration toward \"dictators and despots near our shores\" and singled out Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in a speech in Miami, which is home to large numbers of migrants from Cuba and Venezuela.\n\n\nHe spoke days before U.S. elections next week that include close races for a Senate seat and the governorship in Florida.\n\n\nHis remarks were likely to be well received by those Cuban-Americans and other Hispanics in Florida who favor stronger U.S. pressure on Cuba's Communist government and other leftist governments in Latin America.\n\n\nIn his prepared remarks for the speech, Bolton said President Donald Trump had signed an executive order to ban U.S. persons from dealing with entities and individuals involved with \"corrupt or deceptive\" gold sales from Venezuela.\n\n\"Many of you in the audience today have personally suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the regimes in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, only to survive, fight back, conquer, and overcome,\" Bolton said in his prepared remarks.\n\n\n\"The troika of tyranny in this hemisphere - Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua - has finally met its match,\" he said.\n\n\nBolton spoke at Freedom Tower - a building where Cuban refugees were welcomed in the 1960s following Fidel Castro's revolution - a day after Trump campaigned in Florida for Republican candidates in tight Senate and gubernatorial races.\n\n\nFlorida has traditionally been a swing state and former President Barack Obama was scheduled to rally Democrats in Miami on Friday ahead of the Nov. 6 elections.\n\n\nTrump has taken a harder line on Cuba after Obama sought to set aside decades of hostility between Washington and Havana. He has rolled back parts of Obama's 2014 detente by tightening rules on Americans traveling to the Caribbean island and restricting U.S. companies from doing business there.\n\n\nOn Thursday, the U.S. State Department added more than two dozen entities to a list of Cuban organizations associated with country's military and intelligence services, Bolton said in his prepared remarks. U.S. persons and companies are banned from doing business with the restricted companies.\n\n\nBolton said Cuba is aiding Maduro's government in Venezuela, referring to the close ties between the two countries since Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power in 1999.\n\n\n**'Robust sanctions' **\n\n\nAlmost 2 million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2015, driven out by food and medicine shortages, hyperinflation, and violent crime. Thousands have made their way to south Florida.\n\n\nMaduro, who denies limiting political freedoms, has said he is the victim of an \"economic war\" led by U.S.-backed adversaries.\n\n\nVenezuela exported 23.62 tonnes of gold worth $900 million to Turkey in the first nine months of this year, compared with zero in the same period last year, official Turkish data showed - an illustration of how the South American country is shifting its pattern of trade following a wave of U.S. sanctions that\n\nbegan last year.\n\n\nBolton also singled out Nicaragua for criticism over leftist President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on political opponents, saying its government \"will feel the full weight of America's robust sanctions regime.\"\n\n\nColombian President Ivan Duque and Brazil's president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, are \"likeminded leaders,\" Bolton said, adding the United States would partner with them and leaders in Mexico, Argentina and other Latin American nations to boost security and the economy in the region.\n\n\nAlso on Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted its 27th annual resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba after a failed attempt by Washington to amend the text to push Cuba to improve its human rights record." + }, + { + "title": "Leaders honor friendship with Cuba - China Daily", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Leaders honor friendship with Cuba - China Daily" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifkFVX3lxTE5IWTY3MWVnX1l1WVM5dFRDUVZKRDEtRnh1YjJDY1U3dVVTSFhjZDFKd3JtajV6M2J4eEIyLTVqaHdHU09meE9TUHE0TjVrbU1nYlkyZjFOZmRPNnFraEwyV1M4LVhPZkZQaGU0WV9PNXpxODJaeGdLUTE3OW5odw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514d35677a4d30457a6333566d54/index.html", + "id": "CBMifkFVX3lxTE5IWTY3MWVnX1l1WVM5dFRDUVZKRDEtRnh1YjJDY1U3dVVTSFhjZDFKd3JtajV6M2J4eEIyLTVqaHdHU09meE9TUHE0TjVrbU1nYlkyZjFOZmRPNnFraEwyV1M4LVhPZkZQaGU0WV9PNXpxODJaeGdLUTE3OW5odw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 313, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Leaders honor friendship with Cuba  China Daily", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Leaders honor friendship with Cuba  China Daily" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.chinadaily.com.cn", + "title": "China Daily" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president\nauthor: CGTN\ndescription: Only a few hours before turning 58, Miguel Diaz-Canel became Cuba's new president. He was elected in April by a majority of the 604 lawmakers that make up the National Assembly of People's Power, the country's parliament.\nsitename: CGTNOfficial\ndate: 2018-11-06\n---\nOnly a few hours before turning 58, Miguel Diaz-Canel became Cuba's new president. He was elected in April by a majority of the 604 lawmakers that make up the National Assembly of People's Power, the country's parliament.\n\nHe is expected to continue implementing the political and economic reforms initiated by his predecessor, Raul Castro, in 2011, some of which are urgent for the country's development.\n\nThe election of Diaz-Canel indicates a historic transfer of power to a younger generation of Cuban leadership from the Castro brothers. Fidel Castro led a socialist revolution to victory in 1959, after which he was leader of the island country for nearly half a century.\n\nThe late revolutionary handed over power to his younger brother Raul in 2006 as his deteriorating health rendered him incapable of fulfilling his leadership duties.\n\nCuban President Raul Castro (2nd-R), Miguel Diaz-Canel (R) First Vice President of the Council of State, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (L) Vice President of the Council of State, and former Cuban President Fidel Castro (2nd-L) during the closing ceremony of the seventh Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) at Convention Palace in Havana, on April 19, 2016. /VCG Photo\n\n\nCuban President Raul Castro (2nd-R), Miguel Diaz-Canel (R) First Vice President of the Council of State, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (L) Vice President of the Council of State, and former Cuban President Fidel Castro (2nd-L) during the closing ceremony of the seventh Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) at Convention Palace in Havana, on April 19, 2016. /VCG Photo\n\nA grassroots figure's steady rise\n\nDiaz-Canel was born in April 1960, little over a year after Fidel Castro was first sworn in as prime minister.\n\nEmerging from the grassroots and climbing the ranks of the country's political hierarchy, Diaz-Canel has, as the younger Castro once said, demonstrated \"capacity\" and a \"solid ideological firmness.\"\n\nThe new president graduated in 1982 from the University of Las Villas, where he majored in electrical engineering.\n\nCuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, delivers a speech during the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the independence war against Spain, in La Demajagua farm, Manzanillo, Granma province, October 10, 2018. /VCG Photo\n\n\nCuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, delivers a speech during the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the independence war against Spain, in La Demajagua farm, Manzanillo, Granma province, October 10, 2018. /VCG Photo\n\nHis political career also began in his early 20s as the head of the Young Communist League of Cuba (UJC) in Santa Clara, a city which was the site of the last battle in the Cuban Revolution\n\nHe also served as first secretary of two of the Communist Party of Cuba's (PCC) provincial committees, first in Villa Clara and then in Holguin, around 735 km northeast of Havana.\n\nA low-profile successor\n\nDespite his steady work at the provincial level, it took Diaz-Canel another 10 years, until 2003, to make it onto the Politburo, the Communist Party's executive committee.\n\nWhen Cubans endured hardships during what was known in the country as the \"special period\" after the fall of the Soviet Union, Diaz-Canel became popular among the public in the localities that he served and a role model for other officials to follow.\n\nDuring that time, he was usually seen riding a bike or walking to meetings, always ready to listen to citizens' problems and find solutions.\n\nCuban First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends the Permanent Working Committees of the National Assembly of the People's Power in Havana, on July 11, 2017. /VCG Photo\n\n\nCuban First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends the Permanent Working Committees of the National Assembly of the People's Power in Havana, on July 11, 2017. /VCG Photo\n\nResidents of Villa Clara and Holguin still remember him as a modest man, competent and close to the people, with a high sense of teamwork and constantly demanding subordinates to preach by example.\n\nHe was appointed by Raul Castro in 2009 as minister of higher education, and three years later vice president of the Council of Ministers in charge of education, science, culture and sports.\n\nIn February 2013, he was elected first vice president of the Council of State by the National Assembly, which made him the first Cuban official born after the 1959 revolution to hold that position.\n\nHaving maintained a relatively low profile as vice president, he has as recently as last year taken center stage in the government, appearing on multiple public occasions in which he defended the continuity of the Cuban socialist model while calling for more dialogue with the new generations.\n\nFormer Cuban President Raul Castro raises the arm of newly elected Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel during the National Assembly at Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, April 19, 2018. /VCG Photo\n\n\nFormer Cuban President Raul Castro raises the arm of newly elected Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel during the National Assembly at Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, April 19, 2018. /VCG Photo\n\nDiaz-Canel is critical of issues such as corruption, bureaucracy, foreign media manipulation, and giving more power to local officials to let them interact more directly with the public and carry out reform agendas on their own.\n\nHe was seen engaging closer with locals as his media exposure increased considerably in the last three months. This image of being friendly to ordinary people has been likened in Cuba to that of the Castro brothers during difficult times.\n\nDiaz-Canel said at a parliamentary election in March that \"the people's freedom, independence and sovereignty will endure, and we will never give up on those things.\"\n\n(With inputs from Xinhua)" + }, + { + "title": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties - The Seattle Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties - The Seattle Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimAFBVV95cUxQVFBncnhWcWpmN1gyMUUybGFrOVBtUnh5LWMwN0ZDMlFUaFo4M0ZOOE1tQ0NGOGJZck5rT1k5bDBfY3J1TkhOQ2RMWnRoWEhUNENEblczQVNDa1UtbU1Fb3h0a0dZY3NnRkM0bHhWb0hvMFZDV0EySEJXQV84TmNGb3pFd0ZCZlc3WWJpLXpiQkR0VzlNNkFaNg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/habanos-announces-2019-festival-highlights", + "id": "CBMimAFBVV95cUxQVFBncnhWcWpmN1gyMUUybGFrOVBtUnh5LWMwN0ZDMlFUaFo4M0ZOOE1tQ0NGOGJZck5rT1k5bDBfY3J1TkhOQ2RMWnRoWEhUNENEblczQVNDa1UtbU1Fb3h0a0dZY3NnRkM0bHhWb0hvMFZDV0EySEJXQV84TmNGb3pFd0ZCZlc3WWJpLXpiQkR0VzlNNkFaNg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 2, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 306, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties  The Seattle Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties  The Seattle Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.seattletimes.com", + "title": "The Seattle Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 406, + "response": "Error: HTTP 406" + }, + { + "title": "US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown - VOA - Voice of America English News", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown - VOA - Voice of America English News" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.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?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/u-s-considering-sanctioning-cuban-officials-over-their-role-venezuela-n939111", + "id": "CBMirwFBVV95cUxNUi1MdFY4UkNwTHUwX3dkclg0SnZpamxBSkxwb1RkQUFSLVpCMUt6RFdsZklvdTJQTWdhRENMOUZPQkt1eFhDYWhWMW5nQUJwVGZtZURleWlkZGV5Zi05Qk4yV1BZcm9nc1dld3RiVFhsU1ozRUhseDVZdGdrUENwQkRxZm5jUm1lenZYcVVCWGdZWGtjYVhZRmwwV1RZM2tsWjVFV1hCWFJHREptNGM00gGyAUFVX3lxTE4yaFoxVGpteU9tWFhPbUJVbUZZQ2JJbGJuSzV1T2JZUzZxZ0JnMGI5a0tjWU1PVGxCVHV5bVdlYzhFRF9zOHRVRWgxQXZCNjhOZkZQOU1pMEVxRGVldF80WEFSOFI0cF8ycjRwWXdHc0hBVTQ1TFRrY184RkhCOUJzbFdwa0F1XzE1VXoxZ2ZvOW9DSFZFbFQ0Xy1RYXJTWjdhMXVVRk9tVlpnNTlDcHE5aWc", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown  VOA - Voice of America English News", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown  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. considering sanctioning Cuban officials over their role in Venezuela\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/u-s-considering-sanctioning-cuban-officials-over-their-role-venezuela-n939111\nhostname: nbcnews.com\ndescription: Such sanctions would be the first time Washington has targeted a bloc of foreign officials allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.\nsitename: NBC News\ndate: 2018-11-21\n---\nThe Trump administration is considering imposing sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials who it says are helping Venezuela\u2019s socialist government crack down on dissent, according to a source with knowledge of the deliberations.\n\nSuch sanctions would be the first time Washington has targeted a bloc of foreign officials allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. OPEC member Venezuela is in the grips of a prolonged recession, its economy dogged by hyperinflation and food shortages.\n\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s Republican administration has already imposed sanctions on dozens of Venezuelan officials, and has sought to disrupt the country\u2019s growing gold exports and access to external financing as part of a pressure campaign against Maduro.\n\nThe potential human rights-related sanctions would target Cuban officials, possibly including generals, who Washington accuses of advising Venezuela\u2019s government on how to monitor opponents and put down street protests, the source said.\n\nThe number and identities of the potential targets was unclear. No final decision has yet been made on whether and when to impose the sanctions.\n\nThe measures would cast a further chill on U.S.-Cuba relations, where Trump has rolled back some of former President Barack Obama\u2019s moves aimed at forging closer ties, and also fuel Maduro\u2019s assertion that Washington is bent on undermining his government for ideological reasons.\n\nCuba and Venezuela became close allies under the rule of late Presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Since a series of bilateral agreements in 2000, the communist island\u2019s economy depends heavily on Venezuelan crude oil, which Havana compensates for by providing Venezuela with Cuban doctors and other services.\n\nThe United States and Venezuelan opposition politicians have long maintained that Cuban military and intelligence officials advise Maduro\u2019s government and security forces on the crackdown.\n\nWhile Maduro often travels to Havana and the Cuban ambassador is a frequent guest at government meetings in Caracas, the extent of Cuba\u2019s influence on and support for Venezuela\u2019s government and military is not publicly known.\n\nThere are questions about how effective measures targeting Cuban officials would be.\n\nHuman rights-related sanctions typically freeze assets, seize property, block travel in the United States and prohibit U.S. business dealings with the targets. However, given Washington has maintained a six-decade financial and trade embargo on Cuba, few if any Cuban officials are believed to have a sizeable financial presence in the United States.\n\nThe White House declined comment in response to Reuters questions about possible Cuba sanctions.\n\nIn the past, Maduro has blasted sanctions as \u201cimperialist\u201d moves designed to complicate financial transactions, including food imports and bond payments. He has also derided U.S. sanctions on himself and other Venezuelan officials as ineffective and a badge of honor.\n\nMaduro\u2019s government has been criticized by Washington, the European Union and Latin American neighbors for overriding Venezuela\u2019s opposition-led Congress, jailing opponents, using excessive force against protesters and failing to allow the entry of foreign humanitarian aid to ease the economic crisis.\n\n### \u2018Troika of tyranny\u2019\n\nThe Trump administration has in the past floated the idea of sanctions that were not ultimately rolled out, and Washington has stressed it wants to minimize harm to Venezuelan people.\n\nAsked about possible sanctions on Cuban officials, a senior U.S. government official told Reuters in early November: \u201cWe are looking at all the potential avenues to deter those who are really helping the Maduro regime stay afloat and giving them the tools they need for repression.\u201d\n\nTrump\u2019s national security adviser John Bolton said earlier this month Washington would take a tougher line against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, calling them a \u201cTroika of Tyranny.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Venezuelan regime\u2019s repression is of course enabled by the Cuban dictatorship,\u201d Bolton said during a speech in Miami, home to a diaspora of Venezuelans and Cubans who have historically been a bedrock of Republican support in swing state Florida.\n\n\u201cThe United States calls on all nations in the region to face this obvious truth, and let the Cuban regime know that it will be held responsible for continued oppression in Venezuela,\u201d Bolton said.\n\nTrump\u2019s top Latin America adviser, Mauricio Claver-Carone, is a Cuban-American who was opposed to Obama\u2019s historic opening to Cuba after a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two Cold War foes.\n\nSeparately, the United States is considering adding Venezuela to its list of state sponsors of terrorism, two people familiar with the deliberations said earlier this week, although a U.S. official said it could be difficult for the Trump administration to provide concrete proof.\n\nSuch a designation could further limit U.S. assistance to Venezuela and impose new restrictions on financial transactions.\n\n**FOLLOW NBC LATINO ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM**" + }, + { + "title": "Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive - Global Issues.org", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive - Global Issues.org" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiX0FVX3lxTFBfQXhSWnE0NjVjVHRvVWVCcmw5YkZDZWJTMGpTaXhjNnVkUXdlMzR6bEloeEF5RjNyUWVyU25QQ21OZTdxek9TTG9kY090dFg0RDI5NE9fRkpyTW5PQ2Zn0gFkQVVfeXFMUFhQWEthbG83cTNjZEg0cDBsYlB2Z1dBTzZFUHNmelp0dDZVS05GV0pZYW4wNTI4NTV5M2p0UmxzckpsU09XVk1ILWJRWVlBaTY0TGpYMURJcEpFSmlMQW1uWkdVUw?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201811/09/WS5be49d80a310eff3032877e4.html", + "id": "CBMiX0FVX3lxTFBfQXhSWnE0NjVjVHRvVWVCcmw5YkZDZWJTMGpTaXhjNnVkUXdlMzR6bEloeEF5RjNyUWVyU25QQ21OZTdxek9TTG9kY090dFg0RDI5NE9fRkpyTW5PQ2Zn0gFkQVVfeXFMUFhQWEthbG83cTNjZEg0cDBsYlB2Z1dBTzZFUHNmelp0dDZVS05GV0pZYW4wNTI4NTV5M2p0UmxzckpsU09XVk1ILWJRWVlBaTY0TGpYMURJcEpFSmlMQW1uWkdVUw", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 19 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 19, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 323, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive  Global Issues.org", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive  Global Issues.org" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.globalissues.org", + "title": "Global Issues.org" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Leaders honor friendship with Cuba\nurl: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201811/09/WS5be49d80a310eff3032877e4.html\nhostname: chinadaily.com.cn\ndescription: China and Cuba agreed on Thursday to deepen their friendship and jointly write a new chapter in their bilateral cooperation.\nsitename: ChinaDailyApp\ndate: 2018-11-09\ntags: ['China,Cuba']\n---\n# Leaders honor friendship with Cuba\n\nChina and Cuba agreed on Thursday to deepen their friendship and jointly write a new chapter in their bilateral cooperation.\n\nPresident Xi Jinping and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel witnessed the signing of a series of cooperative documents after their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.\n\nSpeaking to Diaz-Canel, who was in Beijing on his first state visit to China after taking office in April, Xi said China and Cuba, both socialist countries, are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, adding that bilateral ties have withstood the test of time and changes in the international situation.\n\nXi recalled Cuba taking the lead 58 years ago in establishing diplomatic relations with China under the leadership of Comrade Fidel Castro, and he recollected the good memories of his meetings with Castro during his two separate visits to Cuba.\n\nXi stressed China highly appreciates the party, government and people of Cuba developing relations with China with firm determination. The two countries should further consolidate mutual political trust and support, enhance mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning of state governance, he added.\n\nHe called on the two sides to continue to support each other on issues related to respective core interests and major concerns, adding that China will resolutely support Cuba safeguarding its national sovereignty and pursuing the socialist path that suits its national conditions.\n\nXi lauded Cuba's positive and crucial role in promoting relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, saying China is ready to maintain close coordination with Cuba in major international and regional issues.\n\nChina welcomes Cuba participating in construction of the Belt and Road, Xi said, adding the two sides should move forward key cooperation projects in such fields as trade and economics, energy, agriculture, tourism and biopharmaceuticals.\n\nHe called for cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, especially among youth.\n\nPrior to the talks, Xi held a welcoming ceremony for the Cuban leader, who also attended the opening of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Monday.\n\nDiaz-Canel told Xi the new generation of Cuban leaders will unswervingly keep consolidating the traditional friendship with China that features comradeship and brotherhood.\n\nThe two nations should further maintain high-level exchanges and political dialogue, strengthen trade, educational and cultural interactions, and intensify communication and coordination in international affairs, he said." + }, + { + "title": "Cuba Gooding Jr. on Longines\u2019 \u2018Razzle Dazzle\u2019 (Published 2018) - The New York Times", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr. on Longines\u2019 \u2018Razzle Dazzle\u2019 (Published 2018) - The New York Times" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxNLVprUktWdmpGR3RXNG5teXZ1d0N2MnFKdjZVd19aOXUwTHJVdXBYUV9Jcm1iZHBwWVB5bjhGQVNUZU93T0wxeUNVNl9JS2pfSWh0bFRMc0VtMXNXa3Q4dlgybEY1X3V2Rzhqd2hoS2V1Nm9aNWhpUjQ3RXVxS3EwM1Y0WlQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://sg.news.yahoo.com/spanish-pm-agrees-closer-ties-cuba-during-historic-040025588--business.html", + "id": "CBMihAFBVV95cUxNLVprUktWdmpGR3RXNG5teXZ1d0N2MnFKdjZVd19aOXUwTHJVdXBYUV9Jcm1iZHBwWVB5bjhGQVNUZU93T0wxeUNVNl9JS2pfSWh0bFRMc0VtMXNXa3Q4dlgybEY1X3V2Rzhqd2hoS2V1Nm9aNWhpUjQ3RXVxS3EwM1Y0WlQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 22, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 3, + 326, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Cuba Gooding Jr. on Longines\u2019 \u2018Razzle Dazzle\u2019 (Published 2018)  The New York Times", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Cuba Gooding Jr. on Longines\u2019 \u2018Razzle Dazzle\u2019 (Published 2018)  The New York Times" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.nytimes.com", + "title": "The New York Times" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 429, + "response": "Error: HTTP 429" + }, + { + "title": "The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones - Venezuelanalysis", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones - Venezuelanalysis" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiV0FVX3lxTE1IYk5aZEo0VHpxZERzRmNndmhIYVpTSlh4dmIwWnh5bkFCNlZPMDBXR1BNalN5Mi1YTExybUNUZ2hPWVJ6NzVKRm1vM21OU2p3M1Q2dEIyUQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-their-strategic-ties/", + "id": "CBMiV0FVX3lxTE1IYk5aZEo0VHpxZERzRmNndmhIYVpTSlh4dmIwWnh5bkFCNlZPMDBXR1BNalN5Mi1YTExybUNUZ2hPWVJ6NzVKRm1vM21OU2p3M1Q2dEIyUQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 5, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 0, + 309, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones  Venezuelanalysis", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones  Venezuelanalysis" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://venezuelanalysis.com", + "title": "Venezuelanalysis" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Russia and Cuba vow to expand their \u2018strategic\u2019 ties\nauthor: VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV\nurl: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/russia-and-cuba-vow-to-expand-their-strategic-ties/\nhostname: seattletimes.com\ndescription: MOSCOW (AP) \u2014 The leaders of Russia and Cuba vowed Friday to expand what they called their \"strategic\" ties and urged the United States to lift its blockade of Cuba. In a joint statement issued after their talks, Russian President...\nsitename: The Seattle Times\ndate: 2018-11-02\n---\nMOSCOW (AP) \u2014 The leaders of Russia and Cuba vowed Friday to expand what they called their \u201cstrategic\u201d ties and urged the United States to lift its blockade of Cuba.\n\nIn a joint statement issued after their talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced U.S. \u201cinterference into domestic affairs of sovereign nations\u201d and spoke in support of closer integration between Russia and Latin American nations.\n\nDiaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro in April in a historic changing of the guard in Cuba, hailed the \u201cbrotherly\u201d ties between Russia and Cuba and invited Putin to visit next year.\n\nDuring the Cold War, the Soviet Union poured billions of dollars in supplies and subsidies into Cuba, its staunchest Latin American ally. But ties withered after the 1991 Soviet collapse as Russia, hit by an economic meltdown, withdrew its economic aid to Cuba.\n\n### Most Read Nation & World Stories\n\nPutin, who visited Cuba in 2000 and 2014, has sought to revive ties with the old Caribbean ally.\n\nFollowing the Kremlin talks, Putin and Diaz-Canel vowed to expand political, economic and military ties between Russia and Cuba.\n\nCuba\u2019s defense minister, Leopoldo Cintra Frias, is set to visit Moscow later this month to discuss specific plans for military-technical cooperation.\n\nSergei Storchak, Russia\u2019s deputy finance minister, said Russia could offer Cuba a 38 million-euro ($43 million) loan to help fund its military modernization.\n\nSoviet warships and military aircraft regularly used Cuban bases during the Cold War, and Cuba hosted a Soviet electronic spying outpost in Lourdes, near Havana.\n\nPutin closed the Lourdes intelligence facility in 2001 as he sought to establish warmer ties with the United States during his first presidential term. But U.S.-Russian relations have steadily worsened, plunging to post-Cold War lows after Russia\u2019s 2014 annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula, and the Kremlin has sought to rebuild ties with Cuba.\n\nIn remarks apparently directed at the United States, Putin and Diaz-Canel criticized the use of unilateral sanctions as a destabilizing factor in global affairs.\n\nThe U.S. economic embargo, initially imposed in 1958 and subsequently expanded, has remained in place. Russia, in its turn, faced an array of crippling U.S. and EU sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.\n\nPutin said he and Diaz-Canel discussed expanding economic ties, including Russia\u2019s participation in the modernization of Cuban railways.\n\nThe Russian leader also mentioned Russian companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft tapping for oil off Cuba and a contract for the Inter RAO energy company to build new generator units at a Cuban power plant." + }, + { + "title": "Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case - BBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case - BBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYEFVX3lxTE0yalp2a0poNWJ5YnRuN25PWjhmY2t3ZXBDVWxTeEtYT2NLUmFtdENMN3FqRnQtR0xJNHUtUHh2cU1GbXFldkg0MDdoWkNOREh1YXZlMU02bTF2bDFTOUZROQ?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/style/watches-longines-cuba-gooding-jr.html", + "id": "CBMiYEFVX3lxTE0yalp2a0poNWJ5YnRuN25PWjhmY2t3ZXBDVWxTeEtYT2NLUmFtdENMN3FqRnQtR0xJNHUtUHh2cU1GbXFldkg0MDdoWkNOREh1YXZlMU02bTF2bDFTOUZROQ", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Sun, 04 Nov 2018 07:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 4, + 7, + 0, + 0, + 6, + 308, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case  BBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case  BBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.bbc.com", + "title": "BBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 403, + "response": "Error: HTTP 403" + }, + { + "title": "Are energy weapons behind mystery injuries in Cuba? Unlikely, but they do exist: author - CBC", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Are energy weapons behind mystery injuries in Cuba? Unlikely, but they do exist: author - CBC" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwJBVV95cUxONlhoenZ1MmJsbFFVc2FnREoyUDd1eU54VWZ1QVZjYXY1RVc3LTlQelE4bkk2R19CcW5qcTRoMnNKSXUtbE1YUXVnRHYtblZobVdzWkczS0VQRjk4REJqdFdmQ1U2VWNMYjNkRERsUTJzajBmclh3UG93TExzRGxTbzBLbG9OSGJPblgycEUwX1haTlhveEEwMDhWejRHQ010dkVscElBdTVwZ2dyTWN6VDNRT0RUQzctMkRseGZPLTZVMGx2eFZlckR0bmpCbGtXV1l4a3BnaXY4aHpLVVd3WVBaZVZKM1hpU3EzQV9zS0ZscGhkTlNOU3dkNTJCYlNmSV9z?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.voanews.com/a/us-weighs-sanctions-on-cuban-officials-over-role-in-venezuela-crackdown/4669064.html", + "id": "CBMigwJBVV95cUxONlhoenZ1MmJsbFFVc2FnREoyUDd1eU54VWZ1QVZjYXY1RVc3LTlQelE4bkk2R19CcW5qcTRoMnNKSXUtbE1YUXVnRHYtblZobVdzWkczS0VQRjk4REJqdFdmQ1U2VWNMYjNkRERsUTJzajBmclh3UG93TExzRGxTbzBLbG9OSGJPblgycEUwX1haTlhveEEwMDhWejRHQ010dkVscElBdTVwZ2dyTWN6VDNRT0RUQzctMkRseGZPLTZVMGx2eFZlckR0bmpCbGtXV1l4a3BnaXY4aHpLVVd3WVBaZVZKM1hpU3EzQV9zS0ZscGhkTlNOU3dkNTJCYlNmSV9z", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 30, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 334, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Are energy weapons behind mystery injuries in Cuba? Unlikely, but they do exist: author  CBC", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Are energy weapons behind mystery injuries in Cuba? Unlikely, but they do exist: author  CBC" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.cbc.ca", + "title": "CBC" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: US Weighs Sanctions on Cuban Officials over Role in Venezuela Crackdown\nauthor: Reuters\nurl: https://www.voanews.com/a/us-weighs-sanctions-on-cuban-officials-over-role-in-venezuela-crackdown/4669064.html\nhostname: voanews.com\ndescription: Such sanctions would be first time Washington has targeted bloc of foreign officials allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro\nsitename: Voice of America (VOA News)\ndate: 2018-11-22\ncategories: ['Americas']\ntags: ['Americas, Cuba, Venezuela, Maduro, trump']\n---\nThe Trump administration is considering imposing sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials who it says are helping Venezuela's socialist government crackdown on dissent, according to a source with knowledge of the deliberations.\n\nSuch sanctions would be the first time Washington has targeted a bloc of foreign officials allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. OPEC member Venezuela is in the grips of a prolonged recession, its economy dogged by hyperinflation and food shortages.\n\nThe White House declined comment in response to Reuters questions about possible Cuba sanctions. The Cuban and Venezuelan governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.\n\nU.S. President Donald Trump's Republican administration has already imposed sanctions on dozens of Venezuelan officials, and has sought to disrupt the country's growing gold exports and access to external financing as part of a pressure campaign against Maduro.\n\nThe potential human rights-related sanctions would target Cuban officials, possibly including generals, who Washington accuses of advising Venezuela's government on how to monitor opponents and put down street protests, the source said.\n\nThe number and identities of the potential targets was unclear. No final decision has yet been made on whether and when to impose the sanctions.\n\nThe measures would cast a further chill on U.S.-Cuba relations, where Trump has rolled back some of former President Barack Obama's moves aimed at forging closer ties, and also fuel Maduro's assertion that Washington is bent on undermining his government for ideological reasons.\n\n\nCuba and Venezuela became close allies under the rule of late Presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Since a series of bilateral agreements in 2000, the Communist island's economy depends heavily on Venezuelan crude oil, which Havana compensates for by providing Venezuela with Cuban doctors and other services.\n\nThe United States and Venezuelan opposition politicians have long maintained that Cuban military and intelligence officials advise Maduro's government and security forces on the crackdown.\n\nWhile Maduro often travels to Havana and the Cuban ambassador is a frequent guest at government meetings in Caracas, the extent of Cuba's influence on and support for Venezuela's government and military is not publicly known.\n\nThere are questions about how effective measures targeting Cuban officials would be.\n\nHuman rights-related sanctions typically freeze assets, seize property, block travel in the United States and prohibit U.S. business dealings with the targets. However, given Washington has maintained a six-decade financial and trade embargo on Cuba, few if any Cuban officials are believed to have a sizeable financial presence in the United States.\n\nIn the past, Maduro has blasted sanctions as \"imperialist\" moves designed to complicate financial transactions, including food imports and bond payments. He has also derided U.S. sanctions on himself and other Venezuelan officials as ineffective and a badge of honor.\n\nMaduro's government has been criticized by Washington, the European Union and Latin American neighbors for overriding Venezuela's opposition-led Congress, jailing opponents, using excessive force against protesters and failing to allow the entry of foreign humanitarian aid to ease the economic crisis.\n\n**'Troika of tyranny'**\n\nThe Trump administration has in the past floated the idea of sanctions that were not ultimately rolled out, and Washington has stressed it wants to minimize harm to Venezuelan people.\n\nAsked about possible sanctions on Cuban officials, a senior U.S. government official told Reuters in early November: \"We are looking at all the potential avenues to deter those who are really helping the Maduro regime stay afloat and giving them the tools they need for repression.\"\n\nTrump's national security adviser John Bolton said earlier this month Washington would take a tougher line against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, calling them a \"troika of tyranny.\"\n\n\"The Venezuelan regime's repression is of course enabled by the Cuban dictatorship,\" Bolton said during a speech in Miami, home to a diaspora of Venezuelans and Cubans who have historically been a bedrock of Republican support in swing state Florida.\n\n\"The United States calls on all nations in the region to face this obvious truth, and let the Cuban regime know that it will be held responsible for continued oppression in Venezuela,\" Bolton said.\n\nTrump's top Latin America adviser, Mauricio Claver-Carone, is a Cuban-American who was opposed to Obama's historic opening to Cuba after a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two Cold War foes.\n\n\"There is an important Cuba angle to the Venezuela crisis,\" said Michael McCarthy, a research fellow at American University who studies Latin America. \"The question is whether a forceful persuasion strategy that goes regional by pressuring Cuba generates constructive engagement or pushback.\"" + }, + { + "title": "Thousands of Cuban doctors to leave Brazil after \u201cthreatening\u201d remarks by Bolsonaro - Peoples Dispatch", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thousands of Cuban doctors to leave Brazil after \u201cthreatening\u201d remarks by Bolsonaro - Peoples Dispatch" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMivgFBVV95cUxNMEVXZTktNFpkSWd0dVA5Wk1ycEpPeGZCZHFuVVNiaXJHLXhMUGdxaVhURFpEVWluSmtBV2d4N1Q0YWFNSzVFVzFqMmxFeU43enJ2UUtpblV2djlrRkFDNlZYSmlJQ1NjTFYzNmJtbzFsNjROVVIyRVBtdWc4SkpfdGtKcW9GRTYtOE9XaWNUdVVFd0xDRGxlT0U5Q2ZucktYMXR4YTNnbE1TUGRmRUdtckc2MkRjYklKZXVDcUN3?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/2018-big-smoke-las-vegas-talking-cuban-cigars-with-fernando-dominguez", + "id": "CBMivgFBVV95cUxNMEVXZTktNFpkSWd0dVA5Wk1ycEpPeGZCZHFuVVNiaXJHLXhMUGdxaVhURFpEVWluSmtBV2d4N1Q0YWFNSzVFVzFqMmxFeU43enJ2UUtpblV2djlrRkFDNlZYSmlJQ1NjTFYzNmJtbzFsNjROVVIyRVBtdWc4SkpfdGtKcW9GRTYtOE9XaWNUdVVFd0xDRGxlT0U5Q2ZucktYMXR4YTNnbE1TUGRmRUdtckc2MkRjYklKZXVDcUN3", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 28, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 332, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Thousands of Cuban doctors to leave Brazil after \u201cthreatening\u201d remarks by Bolsonaro  Peoples Dispatch", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Thousands of Cuban doctors to leave Brazil after \u201cthreatening\u201d remarks by Bolsonaro  Peoples Dispatch" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://peoplesdispatch.org", + "title": "Peoples Dispatch" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: 2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez | Cigar Aficionado\nauthor: M Shanken Communications; Inc; Gregory Mottola\nurl: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/2018-big-smoke-las-vegas-talking-cuban-cigars-with-fernando-dominguez\nhostname: cigaraficionado.com\ndescription: Fernando Dom\u00ednguez was quite candid with the Big Smoke audience, speaking freely and openly about Cuban cigar brands, tobacco and marketing strategies. | Cigar Aficionado\nsitename: Cigar Aficionado\ndate: 2018-11-14\ntags: ['Big Smoke 2018']\n---\n## 2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas: Talking Cuban Cigars With Fernando Dom\u00ednguez\n\nIt isn\u2019t often that American smokers get to hear directly from someone who works so closely with Habanos S.A., the notoriously guarded worldwide distributor of Cuban cigars. But on Saturday morning, Fernando Dom\u00ednguez was quite candid with the Big Smoke audience, speaking freely and openly about Cuban cigar brands, tobacco and marketing strategies.\n\nDom\u00ednguez has the rather long title of president and CEO of Tabacalera and head of the worldwide premium cigars division of Imperial Brands, a Bristol, United Kingdom, company that is one of the world's largest tobacco concerns. How does this relate to Cuban cigars? Imperial Brands owns 50 percent of Habanos S.A., giving Dom\u00ednguez insight as to how the Cuban organization operates. He also served as co-president of Habanos for six years and had plenty to talk about up on stage with *Cigar Aficionado*\u2019s executive editor David Savona and senior contributing editor Gordon Mott.\n\n\u201cHe is truly one of the most powerful men in the cigar business,\u201d Mott said.\n\nDom\u00ednguez, who seemed relaxed in front of Big Smoke\u2019s crowd of nearly 550, addressed them directly: \u201cThis is my first time at the Big Smoke. You are all coming from different cities, states and countries, but we all share the same passion.\u201d\n\nHe spoke of his time in Cuba and told the audience of the challenges he faced when, back in the year 2000, Imperial acquired half of Habanos and sought to improve its quality control and agricultural processes by subsidizing the Cuban organization. This was a period when Cuba\u2019s cigar industry was suffering from serious quality issues.\n\n\u201cWhen we started the joint venture, the situation in Cuba wasn\u2019t particularly easy, especially from a quality point of view,\u201d he recalled. \u201cQuality was of the essence. We supported our Cuban partner with a stronger quality control process. We brought three draw-test machines to Cuba because one of the main problems [with Cuban cigars] was the draw. The next year, we brought 300 machines. A bad draw is the worst thing.\u201d\n\nMott turned the conversation to tobacco, inquiring about the current crops in Cuba.\n\n\u201cThis year, the harvest has been excellent, allowing us to gradually improve and meet the demand we are currently enjoying,\u201d Dom\u00ednguez said.\n\nBut Mott countered, reminding him of the problematic crops of 2015 and 2016. \u201cOne issue was wrapper leaf,\u201d said Mott, asking if Cuba will be able to produce larger wrappers for larger cigar sizes like double coronas and Churchills.\n\nDom\u00ednguez answered with an emphatic \u201cYes. They are indeed coming back. The harvests are improving in quantity and quality. But our business is leaning to the luxury industry, which is why our focus is creating value and creating products. Units are not the right indicator to measure our business.\u201d\n\nThe conversation moved to perhaps the most recognizable name and symbol in the cigar industry: Cohiba.\n\n\u201cCohiba is our flagship brand, without a doubt the number one cigar brand worldwide,\u201d assured Dom\u00ednguez. \u201cIt\u2019s also the most expensive brand we have with the highest quality tobacco. It\u2019s become a legend not just in the cigar industry, but in the luxury market. It\u2019s our best-selling brand in terms of dollars, not units. Last year, despite difficulties in the farm and with supply chains, we grew.\u201d\n\nBelow Cohiba, there are five major global Cuban brands: Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann. Hoyo de Monterrey and Partag\u00e1s.\n\n\u201cRomeo y Julieta and Montecristo are the best-selling brands in terms of units,\u201d said Dominguez, \u201cbut in dollars, it\u2019s Cohiba.\u201d\n\nAnother topic was the current trend of heavy ring gauges and thick cigars. Over the years, many of Cuba\u2019s classic thinner sizes like coronas and long panetelas have disappeared from the portfolio, replaced by much thicker cigars.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. is the largest world market and all [cigar] trends in the U.S. are coming to the rest of the world at a slower pace,\u201d Dom\u00ednguez said. \u201cSeven or eight years ago, our heaviest ring gauge was 52. We saw the trend in other markets and introduced cigars with 54, 56, 58 and 60 ring gauge. Cohiba Aniversario is 60 ring gauge and the most expensive cigar we\u2019ve ever sold. This segment is growing.\u201d\n\nDom\u00ednguez stressed the importance of the La Casa del Habano franchise cigar shops, which Habanos S.A. installs around the world.\n\n\u201cThe premium experience starts at the point of sale,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the Habanos world, the Casa del Habano is the most important concept we have in retail specialization. To spread the premium culture, we have high-class boutiques, a wide assortment of products and service to consumers. There are 150 Casas worldwide.\u201d\n\nThe presentation ended with a question that\u2019s been asked for nearly 60 years: When will we be able to buy Cuban products legally here in the U.S.? Everyone has attempted to answer this enigmatic question, from laymen and Cuban expatriates to politicians and academic intellectuals. Dom\u00ednguez offered this:\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know. Nobody knows, and I don\u2019t want to speculate on things that are out of our control. But we are trying to be prepared by gradually expanding capacity in both farming and industry to be ready when it comes. It will be a great opportunity. The U.S. has two-thirds of the global cigar consumption. And they know very well about Cuban cigars. All in all, our prospects are encouraging.\u201d\n\nWhen the discussion ended, the crowd moved on to their third Top 25 cigar, the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Shark, *Cigar Aficionado*\u2019s reigning cigar of the year. They were about to smoke the cigar in the presence of its maker.\n\n#### Save The Date\n\n- The Big Smoke Returns to Las Vegas November 15-17, 2019\n- Don't Miss The Big Smoke Florida, March 23, 2019 in Hollywood, Florida (Buy Tickets Now)\n\n*Click here for more information on the 2019 Big Smokes*.\n\n### Big Smoke Evenings\n\n*2018 Big Smoke Las Vegas Evenings*" + }, + { + "title": "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Arizona Daily Star", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Fidel Castro, Cuba - Arizona Daily Star" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMid0FVX3lxTFBCcmZLdUxuMHJTUWt3UVVLWkR0NFY1NzZXWEZpNFN6WkU3ZG9UNXVVX0VJMHBpRnJaLWJPRUxVRlVFZEdrSkdlaXBaLVROcGFQMGVEWm1xZWZRMHAxcDJtMDhjQ1NKZGxCOURDTTVXNWFldmE3elM0?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-46089250", + "id": "CBMid0FVX3lxTFBCcmZLdUxuMHJTUWt3UVVLWkR0NFY1NzZXWEZpNFN6WkU3ZG9UNXVVX0VJMHBpRnJaLWJPRUxVRlVFZEdrSkdlaXBaLVROcGFQMGVEWm1xZWZRMHAxcDJtMDhjQ1NKZGxCOURDTTVXNWFldmE3elM0", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 21, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 325, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Fidel Castro, Cuba  Arizona Daily Star", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Fidel Castro, Cuba  Arizona Daily Star" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://tucson.com", + "title": "Arizona Daily Star" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case\nurl: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-46089250\nhostname: bbc.com\ndescription: Lewis Bennett now faces a charge of unlawful killing \"without malice\".\nsitename: BBC News\ndate: 2018-11-04\n---\n# Murder charge reduced in Cuba catamaran sinking case\n\n**US prosecutors have reduced a charge of murder in the case of a British man accused of killing his wife and sinking their catamaran off the coast of Cuba.**\n\nLewis Bennett, 41, from Poole in Dorset, was rescued in May last year after sending an SOS message saying 41-year-old Isabella Hellmann was missing.\n\nHe now instead faces a charge of unlawful killing \"without malice\".\n\nA \"change of plea hearing\" scheduled for Monday in a Miami court suggests a plea deal has been arranged.\n\nBennett was arrested on suspicion of murder in February after being given a jail sentence for smuggling stolen coins.\n\nThe FBI has accused Bennett of deliberately scuttling their 37ft (11m) vessel Surf Into Summer as the newlyweds sailed towards their US home in Florida after an expedition to St Maarten, Puerto Rico and Cuba.\n\nProsecutors had alleged he murdered her to end his \"marital strife\" and inherit her apartment where they lived in Delray Beach, and the contents of her bank account.\n\nThe British-Australian dual citizen was due to stand trial in December charged with second degree murder.\n\nBut on Friday prosecutors filed a fresh charge of unlawfully killing Ms Hellmann without malice in the commission of a lawful act, without due caution, which is gross negligence amounting to wanton and reckless disregard for human life.\n\nProsecutors have also alleged Ms Hellmann - the mother of Bennett's baby daughter - may have found out he had stolen gold and silver coins from his former employer in St Maarten, which could have made her an accomplice in the smuggling crime.\n\nBennett is currently serving a seven-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to transporting the coins worth $38,480 (\u00a329,450).\n\nThe former estate agent's body has yet to be found but Bennett has requested that she should be presumed dead." + }, + { + "title": "The Skate Witches Shred Havana - VICE", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Skate Witches Shred Havana - VICE" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicEFVX3lxTFBFazZLMjF2bHh4b29UMDFPRmVjRjdnV1Y5M2luc0ZaUmx4V1FfQ0wtVG5Db2d4R1ZSZlBpVEFQSHBwZWtDYnNmQkxRZkN4TlhFeEIxeUI0TExaTmJNZk01Q3l6TEp2Ql9VLW1sdFdpdUg?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://www.globalissues.org/news/2018/11/19/24690", + "id": "CBMicEFVX3lxTFBFazZLMjF2bHh4b29UMDFPRmVjRjdnV1Y5M2luc0ZaUmx4V1FfQ0wtVG5Db2d4R1ZSZlBpVEFQSHBwZWtDYnNmQkxRZkN4TlhFeEIxeUI0TExaTmJNZk01Q3l6TEp2Ql9VLW1sdFdpdUg", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 28, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 2, + 332, + 0 + ], + "summary": "The Skate Witches Shred Havana  VICE", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "The Skate Witches Shred Havana  VICE" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://www.vice.com", + "title": "VICE" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive\nauthor: Ivet Gonzalez san antonio del sur; Cuba Inter Press Service\nurl: https://www.globalissues.org/news/2018/11/19/24690\nhostname: globalissues.org\ndescription: SAN ANTONIO DEL SUR, Cuba, Nov 19 (IPS) - At a brisk pace, Marciano Calamato and Mireya Noa walk along the dry, yellow soil of their farm, where they even manage to grow onions in Cuba's unique semi-arid eastern region.\nsitename: globalissues.org\ndate: 2018-11-19\ntags: ['Development & Aid, Environment, Civil Society, Food & Agriculture, Combating Desertification and Drought, Latin America & the Caribbean, Ivet Gonzalez, Inter Press Service, global issues']\n---\n# Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive\n\nSAN ANTONIO DEL SUR, Cuba, Nov 19 (IPS) - At a brisk pace, Marciano Calamato and Mireya Noa walk along the dry, yellow soil of their farm, where they even manage to grow onions in Cuba's unique semi-arid eastern region.\n\nThe region, which has a particularly sensitive ecosystem due to the large number of endemic species, covers 1,752 square kilometers in the southern part of the province of Guant\u00e1namo. It is the only semi-arid ecoregion in this Caribbean island nation, and is a world rarity because it is a coastal desert on a relatively large island like Cuba, according to experts.\n\n\"It's difficult, you have to make a great effort. We implement irrigation systems and maintain a well from which we pump to a water tank, and from there to the area of the crops,\" explained Calamato, a farmer who in 2008 was granted the 12.4-hectare La C\u00farbana farm in usufruct.\n\nAs in the rest of the province, one of the least developed in the country, the population of 25,796 inhabitants of the municipality of San Antonio del Sur depends almost exclusively on agriculture, which represents a challenge in the local semi-desert ecozone.\n\n\"I participate in everything from planting to putting organic matter around the plant. We have harvested very large onions, beans, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers. Everything we plant grows well, as long as it has water,\" Noa said, discussing how they manage their nutrient-poor soils.\n\nThe leafy canopies of fruit trees and drought-resistant species provide shade in the centre of La C\u00farbana, where the small rustic wooden house of Calamato and Noa is located, along with a greenhouse, water tanks for human consumption, a storehouse for household goods and corrals for 40 head of goats and more than 20 barnyard fowl.\n\nLa C\u00farbana, where the family grows crops on a small scale, and which is self-sufficient in animal feed, also has small livestock - the type of farm recommended by experts in agriculture in a semi-arid ecosystem.\n\n\"The farms down here are very focused on animal production, small livestock, which is the most suitable for this land. And there are alternatives for achieving self-sufficiency, that is, for family self-consumption and animal feed,\" said geographer Ricardo Delgado.\n\nHe forms part of the coordinating committee for the project \"Ponte Alerta Caribe: Harmonising risk management strategies and tools with an inclusive approach in the Caribbean\", which is being implemented in Cuba and the Dominican Republic until early 2019, in order to strengthen national and regional institutional capacities.\n\nThe project is executed by the international organisations Oxfam, based in the UK, and Humanity and Inclusion, based in Canada, and has funding from the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.\n\nAmong its diverse actions in Cuba is strengthening drought resilience in San Antonio del Sur, IPS learned during several tours of farms seeking to adapt to climate change in this municipality, where this reporter spoke to farmers, specialists and authorities in the area.\n\nPonte Alerta strengthened the Guant\u00e1namo meteorological centre to process drought data and equipped it with portable weather stations for distribution on some farms and the data processing system. It also supported the adaptation of a drought resilience tool to the coastal conditions in the municipality.\n\n\"This is the most disadvantaged part of the municipality's land. But La C\u00farbana is a very good experience of a farm that has adapted to these conditions,\" said geologist Yusmira Sav\u00f3n, who has participated in several projects involving efforts to adapt to drought in the area.\n\nA cocktail of agroecological techniques, water management, soil management, productive reconversion, resilience to drought and the use of renewable energies make up the formula prescribed by experts to farmers in a municipality that reports a very low average annual rainfall, less than 200 millimeters.\n\n\"The soils of the semiarid ecosystem in San Antonio del Sur have exploitable qualities from a chemical point of view, because they are loose soils that are prepared and, with the help of organic matter and water, can be farmed with a certain margin of profitability,\" said agronomist Loexys Rodr\u00edguez.\n\nThe expert warned about changes that affect the eco-region, such as the one degree Celsius increase in the current temperature with respect to the average recorded between 1980 and 2010, and changes in rain intensity and seasonal rainfall variability.\n\nAll of these factors increase drought-related problems and put pressure on the area's productive sector, where environmental authorities are also implementing programmes to combat deforestation and desertification.\n\nJust nine meters from the sea, Abigail Castro is working on the La Fortuna farm, which on six hectares produces more than 46 tons a year of various crops such as onions, tomatoes, beans, yucca, melons, plantains (cooking bananas) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).\n\n\"We have a natural windbreak to protect the crops from strong sea winds,\" he said proudly.\n\nCastro said: \"We don't have coastal flooding from high tides here, but the river does flood everything when there are cyclones, and we remain incommunicado. The people are evacuated to the town and we take the animals to the mountains,\" he said, explaining how the local farmers face climatic events, the most serious in recent times being Hurricane Matthew, which hit the eastern part of the island in 2016.\n\nIn La Fortuna, the shiny green crops contrast with the dry soil and the scorching sun. \"The problem along the coast is drought, which is very bad, but here the crops suffer fewer pests,\" said Jos\u00e9 Luis Rust\u00e1n, who in 2008 was granted use of this land, where weeds used to rule.\n\n\"In addition to ensuring irrigation, we apply a lot of organic matter. I produce it myself: I use manure from the corrals and I make compost and green fertiliser. I've also used bat guano,\" said the farmer, who has developed his farm with his own means.\n\nFor his part, agronomist Yandy Leyva, who works on the La Piedra farm, where sheeps are raised for meat, and who takes part in Ponte Alerta Caribe, recommended greater use of efficient microorganisms (biofertilisers) by farms in the semiarid ecosystem, where he believes they could even be sold.\n\nHe also lamented the fact that the irrigation systems available to the farmers are very old, \"and are flood irrigation systems, which wash away and degrade the land.\"\n\n\"We have to take measures like dams and soil cover and increase the density of crops in order to mitigate this problem,\" he said.\n\nOther national and international cooperation projects in the semiarid region promote the use of renewable energies and the planting of species adapted to this ecosystem, which contribute to reforestation and create jobs.\n\nThese species include the neem tree (Azadirachta indica), which originates in India and is mainly used to make fertilisers, and jatropha (Jatropha curcas), which is used to produce biodiesel.\n\n\"This is an atypical municipality, with many risks of disasters from drought, coastal flooding from high tides, high-intensity hurricanes and even tsunamis,\" said Tania Hern\u00e1ndez, vice president for local government risk management.\n\nAnd like the rest of the Cuban municipalities, San Antonio del Sur aspires to strengthen food security. \"We are 100 percent self-sufficient in tubers and vegetables, but other items have to be imported,\" said the official.\n\n*\u00a9 Inter Press Service (2018) \u2014 All Rights Reserved*. Original source: Inter Press Service" + }, + { + "title": "Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president - news.cgtn.com", + "title_detail": { + "type": "text/plain", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president - news.cgtn.com" + }, + "links": [ + { + "rel": "alternate", + "type": "text/html", + "href": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiekFVX3lxTE5ZUGMtWF94WlByRUJieUFvcElPTnd5WTZMNUw5Rnl4a25TamJfWC1jMnlTWU45VWxpbXdZN1ZjNzVvbjF0NG5sNExldXZzbmt3dTJPWFJIMDVxdTFIRVBJdFJVZ0o2dUl3UUplRFRCTEg3Q0hMMlVHV25B0gF_QVVfeXFMTkhycUZKWE9VQ25SbEI1amp0YnZsZ3pyaTUwMC10S20wRVJKZ1lRRHlFUi1fR3ptTTNxaTV6eDEwQnVtWldGU181WWVkS2h2ZEYzZlVJX3ExSFV6MzNRZDR5S2NLWi1UMGhtUGNRU09aTHhUTzhGeWVPSHVfZWUwMA?oc=5" + } + ], + "link": "https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14134/", + "id": "CBMiekFVX3lxTE5ZUGMtWF94WlByRUJieUFvcElPTnd5WTZMNUw5Rnl4a25TamJfWC1jMnlTWU45VWxpbXdZN1ZjNzVvbjF0NG5sNExldXZzbmt3dTJPWFJIMDVxdTFIRVBJdFJVZ0o2dUl3UUplRFRCTEg3Q0hMMlVHV25B0gF_QVVfeXFMTkhycUZKWE9VQ25SbEI1amp0YnZsZ3pyaTUwMC10S20wRVJKZ1lRRHlFUi1fR3ptTTNxaTV6eDEwQnVtWldGU181WWVkS2h2ZEYzZlVJX3ExSFV6MzNRZDR5S2NLWi1UMGhtUGNRU09aTHhUTzhGeWVPSHVfZWUwMA", + "guidislink": false, + "published": "Fri, 09 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT", + "published_parsed": [ + 2018, + 11, + 9, + 8, + 0, + 0, + 4, + 313, + 0 + ], + "summary": "Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president  news.cgtn.com", + "summary_detail": { + "type": "text/html", + "language": null, + "base": "", + "value": "Profile: Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's new president  news.cgtn.com" + }, + "source": { + "href": "https://news.cgtn.com", + "title": "news.cgtn.com" + }, + "sub_articles": [], + "status_code": 200, + "response": "---\ntitle: The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones - Venezuelanalysis\nauthor: Venezueladmin\nurl: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14134/\nhostname: venezuelanalysis.com\ndescription: Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are today threatened by US imperialism. The first salvo of the modern Age of Imperialism started back in 1898 when the US seized Cuba along with Puerto Rico and the Philippines in the Spanish-American War. The Age of Imperialism, as Lenin observed, is characterized by the competition of the various imperial...\nsitename: Venezuelanalysis\ndate: 2018-11-05\ncategories: ['Analysis', 'Opinion']\ntags: ['#Cuba', '#Nicaragua', '#Sanctions']\n---\n# The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America & Its Epigones\n\nRoger Harris looks at the context of the recent round of sanctions announces against Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.\n\nCuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are today threatened by US imperialism. The first salvo of the modern Age of Imperialism started back in 1898 when the US seized Cuba along with Puerto Rico and the Philippines in the Spanish-American War.\n\nThe Age of Imperialism, as Lenin observed, is characterized by the competition of the various imperial powers for dominance. That inter-imperialist rivalry led to World War I. Lenin called those putative socialists who supported their own national imperialist projects \u201csocial imperialists.\u201d Social imperialism is a tendency that is socialist in name and imperialist in deed. Imperialism and its social imperialist minions are still with us today.\n\n**US Emerges as the World\u2019s Hegemon**\n\nThe United States emerged after World War II as the leading imperialist power. With the implosion of the Socialist Bloc around 1991, US hegemony became even more consolidated. Today the US is the undisputed world\u2019s hegemon.\n\nHegemony means to rule but even more so to dominate. As the world\u2019s hegemon, the US will not tolerate neutral parties, let alone hostile ones. As articulated in the Bush Doctrine, the US will try to asphyxiate any nascent counter-hegemonic project, no matter how insignificant.\n\nIn the Caribbean, for instance, the US snuffed out the leftist government of Grenada in 1983 in what was code named Operation Urgent Fury. Grenada has a population smaller than Vacaville, California.\n\nThe only powers that the world\u2019s hegemon will tolerate are junior partners such as Colombia in Latin America. The junior partner must accept a neoliberal economic regime designed to serve the interests of capital. Structural adjustment of the economy is demanded such that the neoliberal \u201creforms\u201d become irreversible; so that you can\u2019t put the toothpaste back in the tube.\n\nColombia recently joined NATO, putting that junior partner\u2019s military under direct interaction with the Pentagon bypassing its civilian government. The US has seven military bases in Colombia in order to project \u2013 in the words of the US government \u2013 \u201cfull spectrum\u201d military dominance in the Latin American theatre.\n\nNeedless-to-say, no Colombian military bases are in the US. Nor does any other country have military bases on US soil. The world\u2019s hegemon has some 1000 foreign military bases. Even the most sycophantic of the US\u2019s junior partners, Great Britain, is militarily occupied by 10,000 US troops.\n\nThe US is clear on its enemies list. On November 1, US National Security Advisor John Bolton, speaking in Miami, labelled Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba the \u201ctroika of tyranny.\u201d He described a \u201ctriangle of terror stretching from Havana to Caracas to Managua.\u201d\n\nVenezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are targeted by US imperialism because they pose what might be called the \u201cthreat of a good example;\u201d that is, an alternative to the neoliberal world order. These countries are suffering attacks from the imperialists because of the things they have done right, not for their flaws. They are attempting to make a more inclusive society for women people of color, and the poor; to have a state that, instead of serving the rich and powerful, has a special option for working people, because these are the people most in need of social assistance.\n\n**Sanctions: The Economic War against Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba**\n\nThe US imperialist rhetoric is backed with action. In 2015, US President Obama declared Venezuela an \u201cextraordinary threat to US security\u201d and imposed sanctions. These sanctions have been extended and deepened by the Trump administration. The US has likewise subjected Cuba to sanctions in a seamless bipartisan policy of both Republicans and Democrats for over half a century. Now the US is the process of imposing sanctions on Nicaragua.\n\nUnilateral sanctions, such as those imposed by the US, are illegal under the charters of both the UN and the Organization of American States, because they are a form of collective punishment targeting the people.\n\nThe US sanctions are designed to make life so miserable for the masses of people that they will reject their democratically elected government. Yet in Venezuela, those most adversely affected by the sanctions are the most militantly in support of their President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Consequently, the Trump administration is also floating the option of military intervention against Venezuela. The recently elected rightwing leaders Bolsonaro in Brazil and Duque in Colombia, representing the two powerful states on the western and southern borders of Venezuela, are colluding with the hegemon of the north.\n\nThe inside-the-beltway human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, fail to condemn these illegal and immoral sanctions. They lament the human suffering caused by the sanctions, all the while supporting the imposition of the sanctions. Nor do they raise their voices against military intervention, perhaps the gravest of all crimes against humanity.\n\nLiberal establishments such as the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) try to distinguish themselves from hard-line imperialists by opposing a military invasion in Venezuela while calling for yet more effective and punishing sanctions. In effect, they play the role of the good cop, providing a liberal cover for interference in the internal affairs of Latin American nations.\n\nThese billionaire-funded NGOs have a revolving-door staffing arrangement with the US government. So it is not surprising that they will reflect Washington\u2019s foreign policies initiatives. But why do some organizations claiming to be leftist so unerringly echo the imperialists, taking such umbrage over Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua while ignoring far greater problems in, say, Mexico, Colombia, and Honduras, which are US client states?\n\n**Most Progressive Country in Central America Targeted**\n\nLet\u2019s take Nicaragua. A year ago, the polling organization Latinobar\u00f3metro, found the approval rating of Nicaraguans for their democracy to be the highest in Central America and second highest in Latin America.\n\nDaniel Ortega had won the Nicaraguan presidency in 2006 with a 38% plurality, in 2011 with 63%, and 72.5% in 2016. The Organization of American States officially observed and certified the vote. Polls indicated Ortega was perhaps the most popular head of state in the entire western hemisphere. As longtime Nicaraguan solidarity activist Chuck Kaufman noted, \u201cDictators don\u2019t win fair elections by growing margins.\u201d\n\nNicaragua is a member of the anti-imperialist Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and some Caribbean states. Speaking at the UN, the Nicaraguan foreign minister had the temerity to catalogue the many transgressions of what Martin Luther King called \u201cthe greatest purveyor of violence in the world\u201d and express Nicaragua\u2019s opposition.\n\nThese are reasons enough for a progressive alternative such as Nicaragua to curry the enmity of the US. The enigma is why those claiming to be leftists would target a country that had:\n\n\u2013 Second highest economic growth rates and the most stable economy in Central America.\n\n\u2013 Only country in the region producing 90% of the food it consumes.\n\n\u2013 Poverty and extreme poverty halved; country with the greatest reduction of extreme poverty.\n\n\u2013 Reached the UN Millennium Development Goal of cutting malnutrition by half.\n\n\u2013 Nicaraguans enjoyed free basic healthcare and education.\n\n\u2013 Illiteracy had been virtually eliminated, down from 36% in 2006 when Ortega took office.\n\n\u2013 Average economic growth of 5.2% for the past 5 years (IMF and the World Bank).\n\n\u2013 Safest country in Central America (UN Development Program) with one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America.\n\n\u2013 Highest level of gender equality in the Americas (World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2017).\n\n\u2013 Did not contribute to the migrant exodus to the US, unlike neighboring Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.\n\n\u2013 Unlike its neighbors, kept out the drug cartels and pioneered community policing.\n\nIn April of this year, all of this was threatened. The US had poured millions of dollars into \u201cdemocracy promotion\u201d programs, a euphemism for regime change operations. Suddenly and unexpectedly, a cabal of the reactionary Catholic Church hierarchy, conservative business associations, remnants of the US-sponsored Contras, and students from private universities attempted a coup.\n\nFormer members of Ortega\u2019s Sandinista Party, who had long ago splintered off into political oblivion and drifted to the right, became effective propagandists for the opposition. Through inciting violence and the skillful use of disinformation in a concerted social media barrage, they attempted to achieve by extra-legal means what they could not achieve democratically. Imperialism with a Happy Face.\n\nWe who live in the \u201cbelly of the beast\u201d are constantly bombarded by the corporate media, framing the issues (e.g., \u201chumanitarian bombing). Some leftish groups and individuals pick up these signals, amplify, and rebroadcast them. While they may genuinely believe what they are promulgating, there are also rewards such as funding, media coverage, hobnobbing with prominent US politicians, and winning awards for abhorring the excesses of imperialism while accepting its premises.\n\nToday\u2019s organizations that are socialist in name and imperialist in deed echo the imperial demand that the state leaders of the progressive movements in Latin America \u201cmust go\u201d and legitimize the rationale that such leaders must be \u201cdictators.\u201d\n\nThey try to differentiate their position from the imperialists by proffering a mythic movement, which will create a triumphant socialist alternative that fits their particular sect\u2019s line: Chavismo without Maduro in Venezuela, Sandinismo without Ortega in Nicaragua, and the Cuban Revolution without the Cuban Communist Party in Cuba.\n\nThe political reality in Latin America is that a right-wing offensive is attacking standing left- leaning governments. President George W. Bush was right: \u201cEither you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.\u201d There is no Utopian third way. Each of us has to determine who are the real terrorists, as the juggernaut of US imperialism rolls out a neoliberal world order.\n\n**Chaos: The New Imperialist Game Plan**\n\nFor now, the coup in Nicaragua has been averted. Had it succeeded, chaos would have reigned. As even the most ardent apologists for the opposition admit, the only organized force in the opposition was the US-sponsored rightwing which would have instigated a reign of terror against the Sandinista base.\n\nThe US would prefer to install stable rightwing client states or even military dictatorships. But if neither can be achieved, chaos is the preferred alternative. Libya, where rival warlords contest for power and slaves are openly bartered on the street, is the model coming to Latin America.\n\nChaos is the new imperialist game plan, especially for Bolton\u2019s so-called troika of tyranny. The imperialists understand that the progressive social movements in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are too popular and entrenched to be eradicated by a mere change of personnel in the presidential palace. Much more drastic means are envisioned; means that would make the bloody aftermath of the US-backed Pinochet coup in 1973 in Chile pale by comparison.\n\nIn Venezuela, for example, the opposition might well have won the May 2018 presidential election given the dire economic situation caused in large part by the US sanctions. The opposition split between a moderate wing that was willing to engage in electoral struggle and a hard-right wing that advocated a violent takeover and jailing the Chavistas.\n\nWhen Venezuelan President Maduro rejected the US demand to call off the elections and resign, he was labelled a dictator by Washington. And when moderate Henri Falcon ran in the Venezuelan presidential race on a platform of a complete neoliberal transition, Washington, instead of rejoicing, threatened sanctions against him for running. The US belligerently floated a military option for Venezuela, stiffened the suffocating sanctions, and tipped the balance within the Venezuelan opposition to the radical right.\n\nThe US is not about to allow Venezuela a soft landing. Their intent is to exterminate the contagion of progressive social programs and international policy that has been the legacy of nearly two decades Chavismo. Likewise, for Cuba and Nicaragua. We should also add Bolivia in the crosshairs of the empire.\n\nWe\u2019ve seen what Pax Americana has meant for the Middle East. The same imperial playbook is being implemented in Latin America. Solidarity with the progressive social movements and their governments in Latin America is needed, especially when their defeat would mean chaos.\n\n*Roger Harris is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas, a 33-year-old anti-imperialist **human rights organization, and is active with the Campaign to End US-Canadian Sanctions **Against Venezuela.*\n\n*The views expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.*" + } + ] +} \ No newline at end of file