WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans seeking to visit Cuba must navigate a complicated maze of travel, commerce and financial restrictions unveiled Wednesday by the Trump administration, part of a new policy to further isolate the island’s communist government. Now off-limits to U.S. citizens are dozens of Cuban hotels, shops, tour companies and other businesses included on … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — It sounds sort of like a mass of crickets. A high-pitched whine, but from what? It seems to undulate, even writhe. Listen closely: There are multiple, distinct tones that sound to some like they’re colliding in a nails-on-the-chalkboard effect. The Associated Press has obtained a recording of what some U.S. Embassy workers … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — It sounds sort of like a mass of crickets. A high-pitched whine, but from what? It seems to undulate, even writhe. Listen closely: There are multiple, distinct tones that sound to some like they’re colliding in a nails-on-the-chalkboard effect. The Associated Press has obtained a recording of what some U.S. Embassy workers … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff John Kelly says the United States believes that Cuban President Raul Castro’s government could stop attacks on U.S. diplomats. Kelly isn’t elaborating on why the U.S. believes Cuba could stop it. Previously, the United States has said merely that it was Cuba’s responsibility under international law to … Continue reading
CAIBARIEN, Cuba (AP) — Hurricane Irma battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday and Cuba evacuated tourists from beachside resorts as the fearsome storm continued a rampage through the Caribbean that has killed at least 11 people, with Florida in its sights. Waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters) were expected in the … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to reverse some Obama-era Cuba policies landed with a thud among many congressional Republicans who say the new approach surrenders a potentially lucrative market for American goods and services to competitors. While anti-Castro conservatives hailed Trump’s partial roll-back of President Barack Obama’s detente, a number of other GOP … Continue reading
DENVER (AP) — The detention of a Cuban immigrant set to rejoin his family after he was mistakenly released from prison, then put back, has raised questions about whether more people from the island nation will be deported from the United States now that relations between the two countries have thawed. The U.S. Immigrations and … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — Over the last year Ada and Anuma II have broken Marta Llanes’ television and computer key board, chewed her telephone to pieces and ruined much of her furniture. She has forgiven them every transgression. It’s hard to stay angry at a baby chimpanzee when it clambers up your leg and into your … Continue reading
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government says it has started the process of giving residency permits to 588 Cuban migrants who have been stranded in the border city of Nuevo Laredo since the U.S. ‘changed its immigration policy in January. The National Immigration Institute says the permits don’t constitute political asylum or refugee status … Continue reading
MADRID (AP) — A Cuban singer and music producer has filed a plagiarism lawsuit against pop stars Shakira and Carlos Vives for allegedly copying his work in the Colombian duo’s award-winning music hit “La Bicicleta .” Livan Rafael Castellanos, also known as Livam, said he wants a court to decide whether parts of his 1997 … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — Thousands of Cubans were filing through a memorial in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution on Monday as the nation plunged into a week of services bidding farewell to the man who ruled the country for nearly half a century. One of the first in line was Tania Jimenez, 53, a mathematician who … Continue reading
MIAMI (AP) — Isabella Prio was born in Miami, is 20 now and a junior at Boston College who fully expects to return to Cuba someday and help shape the island’s future. But she’s never been to the country where her grandfather was once president and refuses to visit until it’s a democracy. Cherie Cancio, … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — He overthrew a strongman, brought his country free health care and education, and enlisted Cubans in what he called fights for freedom from Central America to South Africa. Fidel Castro also maintained a steel grip at home, jailing dissidents and gays, controlling freedom of travel and expression and declaring virtually any activity … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — They came for salsa music and mojitos and ended up wandering through a city turned still and silent by nine days of national mourning for Fidel Castro. As Cuba prepares a massive commemoration for the leader of its socialist revolution, tens of thousands of high-season travelers have found themselves accidental witnesses to … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — Fidel Castro’s revolution was slowly dying — or so it seemed. Communism had collapsed in Europe, and Cuba’s Soviet lifeline was severed. Food was in short supply. Power outages silenced TV sets normally tuned to a nighttime soap opera. Factories rusted in the tropical heat. The title of an American book seemed … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 