Exploring and Living in Cuba

News about Cuba

Thursday, 15 September 2016 15:25

The Old Man and the Sea

This prize-winning work should be required reading for anyone who wants to spend a lot of time in Cuba, especially those who want to live or retire there someday. Cuban school children have to read it as part of their education. In the 1930s, Hemingway lived in Key West, Florida, and later in Cuba, and his years of experience fishing the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean provided an essential background for the vivid descriptions of the fisherman’s craft in The Old Man and the Sea. In 1936, he wrote a piece for Esquire about a Cuban fisherman. This story was an obvious inspiration for the tale of Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea I just finished reading this incredible book in Spanish for the second time. I originally read it years ago but decided to reread it because my son was reading it in English. As I immersed myself in the story again I realized even more how it paints a graphic picture of Cuba through its language and story. The book is written with both simplicity and narrates the story of Santiago an old fisherman whose luck has run and and who faces perhaps the greatest challenge…
Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:42

Stars are falling over Cuba

With recent thaw in Cuban and U.S. Relations, American tourists are now flooding the island. Among them are the famous who have descended on the country. TV host Conan O'Brien spent several days shooting an episode of his late-night TBS show in Havana in February 2015. It was the first visit by a U.S. talk show host to Cuba in more than five decades. While he was there and made some hilarious videos like this one The Rolling Stones played a free concert in Havana on March 25, which the biggest act to play Cuba since its 1959 revolution. The Stones played in Havana's Ciudad Deportiva three days after President Obama visited Havana. Madonna just celebrated her 58th birthday in Havana. Rihanna visited Havana in May 2015, where she shot a Vanity Fair cover. Pop star Katy Perry visited Cuba in October 2015, and wrote that the country is "one of the COOLEST vibes alive" and called it a "Disneyland for creatives minds.” NBA basketball star Carmelo Anthony visited Cuba with Vice Sports in 2015 to explore street sport culture in the country. Here is a good video of his trip. http://www.cbsnews.com/ media/stars-who-have-visited- cuba/11/ Now, almost anyone can is it…
Monday, 15 August 2016 10:37

Castro’s Birthday

Yesterday, August 27, Fidel Castro turned 90 years old. He is undoubtedly one of the most controversial figures of our time. Both hated and worshiped Castro has turned out to be a survivor. It has been 57 years since he took power, 54 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis which almost caused World War III and ten years since he turned over power to his brother Raúl due to a personal health crisis. In 2011 Castro stated, "I never thought I’d live so long. Soon my time will come just like everyone else.” He was 32 years old when he triumphantly marched into Havana after defeating an army of 80,000 men with a smaller guerrilla force and driving then dictator, Fulgencio Batista into exile. Over the years Castro has survived despite at least 634 plots to kill him and overthrow his government, according to Fabián Escalante, the ex head of Cuban Intelligence.
Thursday, 06 August 2015 09:00

New TV show about Cuba's classic cars

I remember that I had a entrepreneur friend, Roberto Arévalo, who in the 1970s purchased vintage cars in Argentina and then sold them in the United States for a big profit. He would have probably tried to do the same thing in Cuba if it had not been for the embargo. Cars from the 1940s and 1950s, still make up a significant form of transportation in Cuba. With the recent improvement of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, there is a fascinating is new a television series about the country's old cars. "Cuban Chrome is a groundbreaking new docu-series that explores the fascinating time warp that characterizes Cuban car culture. This is the first American television series to be produced entirely on location in Cuba and will be simulcast in English on Discovery Channel and in Spanish on Discovery en Español." "After the 1959 Cuban Revolution and the subsequent United States embargo, it has been illegal to import American cars to the island nation -- as a result, Cuba's vintage American vehicles are frozen in time. For Cubans, these cars are not just a means of transportation, but a way of life. Cuban Chrome will give viewers an intimate look…
By Matt Spetalnick, David Adams and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON/HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has released all 53 prisoners it had promised to free, senior U.S. officials said, a major step toward détente with Washington. The release of the remaining prisoners sets a positive tone for historic talks next week aimed at normalizing relations after decades of hostility, the officials said. They described the Cuban government’s release over the weekend of the last detainees on the list as a milestone but said they would keep pressing Havana to free more people the United States considers political prisoners. The officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say how many prisoners were released over the weekend or identify them. But the White House will provide the names of all 53 to Congress and expects lawmakers to make them public, the officials added. There had been questions over whether Havana would release all 53 prisoners as part of the deal Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced on Dec. 17 to restore diplomatic ties that Washington severed more than 50 years ago.
Monday, 12 January 2015 21:54

Will Cuba rejoin the IMF?

The restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States unlocks new prospects for the island’s economy. Some steps, including the removal of the U.S. trade embargo, are prohibited by the Helms-Burton Act, adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. But the renewal of Cuba’s membership in the International Monetary Fund is a real possibility. Cuba was one of the IMF’s 40 original members. It was involved in much of the preliminary planning for the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, and had an active delegation there. As early as 1941, Cuba worked together with other Latin American countries in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a monetary role for silver, alongside gold. Later, it helped to secure greater voting rights for small states and a special status for Latin American countries on the IMF Executive Board. After Cuba joined the IMF (and the World Bank) in 1946, it played a positive role in the Fund for the next 12 years. In 1954, it became the 10th country to accept the full obligations of the Fund’s Article VIII, eschewing the use of foreign-exchange restrictions on international trade. In 1956, it took a routine loan from the Fund, repaying it the following year.…
Saturday, 10 January 2015 21:50

Cuba frees 30 political prisoners

HAVANA, Cuba – At least 30 Cuban political prisoners have been released in the last 48 hours, dissident leaders said Thursday, as Cuba moves towards normalizing ties with the United States. Washington and Havana announced a historic bilateral rapprochement in mid-December in which Cuba agreed to free 53 political prisoners as part of a deal to end a five-decade standoff with the United States. “So far we’re counting a total of 30 releases, including 24 from the UNPACU,” said José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), a dissident group based in the communist island’s east.
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