News and Updates

Representative James McGovern (D. MA) meets with Cuban President Díaz-Canel.
Foto: Kaloian.
You’ve probably never seen a wave like this in Monterey. This is Havana’s malecón (seawall, promenade and highway) which stretches 5 miles along Havana’s coast.

This page will feature news about Cuba as well as updates about the trip.

Image may contain: night, car and outdoor
Cuba’s capitolio (modeled after the U.S. capitol, just underwent a multi-year, multi-million-dollar renovation. To the right is the Gran Teatro de la Habana, home to the Cuban National Ballet.

Six Decades of Cuban Global Health Cooperation, by MIIS graduate Conner Gorry. In addition to being a medical journalist and guidebook author, Conner operates Cuba Libro, an English-language bookstore in Havana.

U.S. hits Raúl Castro and his children with visa restrictions

(I met Mariela Castro, Raúl’s daughter, personally in 2013. She is the director of CENESEX [Cuban National Center for Sex Education], which we will visit, and the country’s leading (official) advocate on LGBTQI issues.

News from Cuba in English

TRANSLATING CUBA is a compilation of translations of Cuban bloggers, independent journalists and human rights activists, primarily writing from the island. The authors included here share a number of characteristics. They:

  • Write from the island of Cuba.*
  • Are independent, that is they are not paid by the Cuban government.
  • Write under their own names.
  • Their articles contain material of wide general interest.

Russia Suggests Replacing the Dollar With the Ruble to Facilitate Trade With Cuba

HAVANA TIMES This site features (sometimes bad) translations of articles originally written in Spanish.

CUBAN NEWS AGENCY This is a Cuban State-run News Site (and all that entails).

GRANMA (IN ENGLISH) is the official newspaper of Communist Party of Cuba.

THE GUARDIAN’S Cuba Section

THE LESSONS FROM THE ‘SPECIAL PERIOD’ (of particular interest to International Environmental Policy)

FREEDOM HOUSE (a report on a new ‘Special Period’)

SOME BACKGROUND ON THE ‘SPECIAL PERIOD’ (You cannot understand contemporary Cuba without understanding the ‘Special Period’.)

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH’s World Report 2019 Cuba.

CUENTAPROPISMO (self-employment in Cuba)

Explained (A report from NPR)
A Report
Article (“Using Intersectionality to Analyze Social Diversity in Cuban Self-employment”)
The End of Cuba’s Entrepreneurship Boom

Cuban Stowaway Granted Asylum

Read about the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy, the Cuban Adjustment Act, changes to the CAA, and Credible Fear Asylum cases.

To read about contemporary Cuban issues from scholars of Cuban Studies (Cubanists).

THE ROAD TO EMBARGO
A TIMELINE ON US-CUBAN RELATIONS POST TRIUMPH OF THE REVOLUTION
A PRIMER ON THE CUBA EMBARGO
WHAT IS HELMS-BURTON?
AMAZON HIT WITH HELMS-BURTON SUIT