Cuba

Miami-based National Circle of Journalists from Cuba can't find a recipient for its award

D. Rodriguez Cuba at Hotel Astor Debuts Tonight

Photos courtesy of Diamond PRSofrito with Mariquitas (bread service)​D-Rod Cuba, as we like to call it, opens in the Hotel Astor on South Beach tonight. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. daily, and through the month of December all first-time diners will get choice of mojito or daiquiri on the house. Tapas ... More >>

What to Hear in Broward and Palm Beach This Weekend

Photos courtesy of Diamond PRSofrito with Mariquitas (bread service)​D-Rod Cuba, as we like to call it, opens in the Hotel Astor on South Beach tonight. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. daily, and through the month of December all first-time diners will get choice of mojito or daiquiri on the house. Tapas ... More >>

News Roundup: Everyones a Hardlinder

Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek all showed up for a US Cuba Democracy PAC luncheon, and when it came to Cuba they all had the same thing to say. [CBS4]FIU will play host to a conference dealing with sex differentiation disorders in sports. [Herald]Police are still looking for the s ... More >>

Cuba Hates All Florida's Senate Candidates the Same

With months to go before the primary elections, candidates are still locking down endorsement. One bit of support that none of the candidates want though is that of Cuba's government controlled press. Luckily, Granma published a story yesterday critical of all four major candidates. In reaction to ... More >>

Cuba's Los Van Van returns to Miami for the first time in ten years

With months to go before the primary elections, candidates are still locking down endorsement. One bit of support that none of the candidates want though is that of Cuba's government controlled press. Luckily, Granma published a story yesterday critical of all four major candidates. In reaction to ... More >>

Crossfade Live: The Cornerstoners and Alukard at Shake at The Vagabond

Jacob KatelCrossfade Live at Shake at The Vagabond February 11.​Welcome to our second edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you streams and downloads of our original high fidelity concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida. We will prove live music thrives here, and hand i ... More >>

Fish Shack & Market offers fresh, tasty fare near Coral Gables

Jacob KatelCrossfade Live at Shake at The Vagabond February 11.​Welcome to our second edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you streams and downloads of our original high fidelity concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida. We will prove live music thrives here, and hand i ... More >>

Avant-garde Cuban art at the Lowe in Coral Gables erases political barriers

Jacob KatelCrossfade Live at Shake at The Vagabond February 11.​Welcome to our second edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you streams and downloads of our original high fidelity concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida. We will prove live music thrives here, and hand i ... More >>

Hearts Grow Fonder

Jacob KatelCrossfade Live at Shake at The Vagabond February 11.​Welcome to our second edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you streams and downloads of our original high fidelity concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida. We will prove live music thrives here, and hand i ... More >>

If you thought Cuba's National Mule Census is dumb, think again

Jacob KatelCrossfade Live at Shake at The Vagabond February 11.​Welcome to our second edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you streams and downloads of our original high fidelity concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida. We will prove live music thrives here, and hand i ... More >>

Cuba Begins Experimenting With Capitalism, or Something Vaguely Resembling It

​Cuba may have a bustling black market of underground entrepreneurs, but legal private enterprise has been outlawed since all businesses were nationalized in 1968. Now, according to Reuters, the communist island is about to embark on an experiment with something resembling capitalism.The ... More >>

Thousands Attend Puerto Rican Band Calle 13's Habana Concert

Who knew Cubans even liked Puerto Ricans? On Tuesday, boricua reggaetoneros Calle 13 threw a concert in Habana and 200,000 Cubans showed up.from diplo's twitter​ It was the second major concert by an international star in Cuba in the last year, following August's Juanes show. Singer René Pérez J ... More >>

Baroque in Havana

Who knew Cubans even liked Puerto Ricans? On Tuesday, boricua reggaetoneros Calle 13 threw a concert in Habana and 200,000 Cubans showed up.from diplo's twitter​ It was the second major concert by an international star in Cuba in the last year, following August's Juanes show. Singer René Pérez J ... More >>

Cuba Readies for American Tourists With 200,000 New Hotel Rooms and Ten Golf Courses

​"The gringos can't help but spend their money. They are the easiest tourists to sell to. They never ask for discounts," Daniel Garcia, a used book seller who hawks his inventory to tourists on the streets of Old Havana, tells Bloomberg news. He's not the only person in Cuba hoping that a potentia ... More >>

Havana Good Time

​"The gringos can't help but spend their money. They are the easiest tourists to sell to. They never ask for discounts," Daniel Garcia, a used book seller who hawks his inventory to tourists on the streets of Old Havana, tells Bloomberg news. He's not the only person in Cuba hoping that a potentia ... More >>

Human Rights Watch: Cuba More Repressive Than Ever

Cuba has been on a repressive kick since the beginning of a year. After well-known critic Zapata Tamayo died in February, other Cubans took to the streets in protest. ​Another one, Guillermo Farinas, is said to be at death's door. The government, in turn, responded by beating some them -- the Lad ... More >>

The Good Ol'Dias

Cuba has been on a repressive kick since the beginning of a year. After well-known critic Zapata Tamayo died in February, other Cubans took to the streets in protest. ​Another one, Guillermo Farinas, is said to be at death's door. The government, in turn, responded by beating some them -- the Lad ... More >>

Raices de Esperanza Aims to Change Cuba One Free Cell Phone At A Time

From anti-Castro bromides beamed for decades into Cuban airspace to Everglades training camps for squads of never-used, would-be invaders, Miami has a long, mostly futile history of trying to spark change in Cuba from afar. photo by Kotoviski Could free cell phones change life in Havana?​ ... More >>

Enterprising Cubans Use Condoms as Water Balloons, Flasks, and Fishing Equipment

via Global PostA fisherman fashions floats out of condoms.​One of the few things that is not in short supply in Cuba is apparently condoms. The government heavily subsidizes and promotes Chinese made condoms and sells three of them for the equivalent of a U.S. penny. While this may contribute to t ... More >>

Cuban Dissident Leaders call for Lifting Travel Ban

Hardliners opposed to lifting the travel ban to Cuba have been among the staunchest champions of the Communist island's increasingly vocal dissident movement. But a letter released Thursday by 74 of the Cuba's most prominent dissenters undermines some of the key arguments made by leaders of Miami's ... More >>

BP Oil Spill Benefits Cuba, Fidel Castro

While Deepwater Horizon continues spewing black crude into the Gulf of Mexico, Cuban commies might be rejoicing. That's because the oil spill could be the strongest argument yet for ending the embargo.El Máximo and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has signed an offshore drilling deal with C ... More >>

Cuban punk rockers Gorki and Gil used music to take on Castro

While Deepwater Horizon continues spewing black crude into the Gulf of Mexico, Cuban commies might be rejoicing. That's because the oil spill could be the strongest argument yet for ending the embargo.El Máximo and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has signed an offshore drilling deal with C ... More >>

Plato Royale: Battle of Yuca Frita, Havana Harry's vs. Casa Larios

Americans have potatoes. Cubans have yuca. So in Miami, you can find the root vegetable pretty much everywhere arroz y frijoles are sold. The starch can be boiled or fried but must be drenched in mojo (a sauce prepared with heavy amounts of garlic, olive oil and citrus juices) to be legitimate.Local ... More >>

Hillary Clinton to Visit Cuba in Coming Weeks?

Photo via U.S. State Department website​Apparently, the Cold War is not what it used to be. First we find out that the no-longer-so-Soviet Union (aka Russia) still has spies in the U.S. but they are totally lame and shop at Costco. Now Cuba teams up with the Catholic Church and announces it will r ... More >>

Cuba To Lay Off 500,000 State Workers While Growing The Private Sector

Fidel Castro now claims that his statement claiming that the Cuban model of communism no longer works was misinterpreted and taken out of context by an American journalist, but actions speak louder and words as the island nation has announced a major layoff of state workers. At least 500,000 workers ... More >>

Cuba Libre, Please

Fidel Castro now claims that his statement claiming that the Cuban model of communism no longer works was misinterpreted and taken out of context by an American journalist, but actions speak louder and words as the island nation has announced a major layoff of state workers. At least 500,000 workers ... More >>

Iskander Talks Los Aldeanos y Cuban Conscious Hip-Hop

​Los Aldeanos is leading the new generation of rebel music in Cuba. Since 2003, this collective has operated from within the confines of a tyrannical dicatatorial regime and made conscious hip-hop records that call out Fidel and his henchmen. It's music that reflects a starving, oppressed, bu ... More >>

Los Aldeanos and Silvito el Libre at Miami-Dade County Auditorium November 14

​Los Aldeanos is leading the new generation of rebel music in Cuba. Since 2003, this collective has operated from within the confines of a tyrannical dicatatorial regime and made conscious hip-hop records that call out Fidel and his henchmen. It's music that reflects a starving, oppressed, bu ... More >>

Luis Bofill's "No Me Vuelvo a Enamorar"

​Luis Bofill got his start in Cuba's Nueva Trova movement of the late '70s with the group Cuba Nueva. From there, he would cut a mean rug as an exciting interpreter of standards and for generating an infectious blend of jazz, rumba, Latin, and Afro-beat. He's been calling Miami his home since ... More >>

Cuban Officials to Testify in Posada Carriles Trial

​In a highly unusual move, three officials from Cuba could take the stand as early as today in the trial of Luis Posada Carrilles, the Miami freedom fighter or terrorist, depending on which side of the Florida straits you live. The officials are expected to testify in federal court in West Te ... More >>

Fuego Cuban Music Festival Canceled a Week After Its Announcement

Fuego Entertainment's president and CEO Hugo Cancio.​Cuban music aficionados and lovers of el cubaneo in general had reason to rumba in front of their computer screens last Wednesday when Fuego Entertainment dropped the news that it'd be producing the first-ever Fuego Cuban Music World Festival. ... More >>

Amigo Skate Cuba's 16-Band Skateboard Benefit at Transit Lounge Tomorrow

​When considering the misfortune (a communist dictatorship that rules with an iron fist, poverty pedaled as "socialist equality," a lack of basic comforts like Tylenol and, oh, light after 8 p.m., and freedom of speech) that's befallen the once sweet island paradise known as Cuba, it's easy to for ... More >>

Get Nostalgic

​When considering the misfortune (a communist dictatorship that rules with an iron fist, poverty pedaled as "socialist equality," a lack of basic comforts like Tylenol and, oh, light after 8 p.m., and freedom of speech) that's befallen the once sweet island paradise known as Cuba, it's easy to for ... More >>

Dreaming in Cuba

​When considering the misfortune (a communist dictatorship that rules with an iron fist, poverty pedaled as "socialist equality," a lack of basic comforts like Tylenol and, oh, light after 8 p.m., and freedom of speech) that's befallen the once sweet island paradise known as Cuba, it's easy to for ... More >>

'Down With Castro' Fliers Earn Cuban Activists Five-Year Prison Terms

This guy cannot handle angry leaflets.​Life in La Habana has been inching toward change lately. These days, it's perfectly legal to serve up to 50 people in your restaurant, to own your own barber shop and to spend all afternoon loading clunky dial-up porn on your home computer.Still most definite ... More >>

Cuba's new entrepreneurs ponder their future

This guy cannot handle angry leaflets.​Life in La Habana has been inching toward change lately. These days, it's perfectly legal to serve up to 50 people in your restaurant, to own your own barber shop and to spend all afternoon loading clunky dial-up porn on your home computer.Still most definite ... More >>

Havana Hosts Its First Independent Gay Pride Parade, Sort Of

A flyer for the event featured Prado Avenue's lion sculptures dressed in drag.​It's quite a human rights paradox. Next month, the Cuban parliament will discuss a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage on the Communist isle, yet GLBT citizens are, like all Cubans, discouraged from gathering and ... More >>

Bigoted NASCAR Track Owner Wonders If the Cuban National Anthem Is Sung in Homestead

​Is anyone all that surprised when someone associated with NASCAR continually spouts racist, ignorant garbage? Not really. Sure, it's an image the league is trying to move past, but Bruton Smith, an owner of several NASCAR tracks, is sure making it hard. The guy is full of more hot air than all th ... More >>

Cuba gets high-speed Internet

​Is anyone all that surprised when someone associated with NASCAR continually spouts racist, ignorant garbage? Not really. Sure, it's an image the league is trying to move past, but Bruton Smith, an owner of several NASCAR tracks, is sure making it hard. The guy is full of more hot air than all th ... More >>

90 Miles Features Cuban Comfort Food at Tropical Park Tonight

90 Miles90 Miles To Go serves Cuban soul food with a message.​In Key West there's a famous landmark that stands at the southernmost point in the continental United States. The marker reads, "90 miles to Cuba." The message rings loud and clear: So close, yet for all intents and purposes, Cuba might ... More >>

Pablo Milanes at the American Airlines Arena August 27

90 Miles90 Miles To Go serves Cuban soul food with a message.​In Key West there's a famous landmark that stands at the southernmost point in the continental United States. The marker reads, "90 miles to Cuba." The message rings loud and clear: So close, yet for all intents and purposes, Cuba might ... More >>

Michele Bachmann Makes Up Second Cuban Missile Crisis Based on No Evidence

​In a major development, Cuba went to the United Nations yesterday and announced it wanted it to normalize relations with the United States. However, Michele Bachmann won't have it. Not because of anything like "prove facts" or a "rationale and informed understanding of the issue," but because she ... More >>

Cubans Can Buy and Sell New Cars, Raul Castro Says

via Revolico.comSoon to be a rare sight in Cuba.​Say farewell to the most enduring image of the time bubble the Castros have built around Cuba: the kinda charming fleet of jerry-rigged '50s American cars clogging Havana's streets, held together with not much more than duct tape and hope.For fifty ... More >>

Castro Legalizes Property Sales, Miami's Exiles Eye Long-Lost Family Homes

​For fifty years, all Cuban property sales have been strictly under the cigar-stained thumbs of Fidel and Raul Castro -- until today. The regime announced that starting next week citizens can own up to two houses, move without government approval, and buy and sell their houses. Some experts see a ... More >>

Pope Benedict May Visit Cuba Next Year

​Few pastoral visits caused as much controversy as Pope John Paul II's 1998 visit to Cuba. Catholic exiles worried that the Pope's visit to the island would further legitimize Fidel Castro's dictatorship, and images of the two shaking hands was not a welcome site for many in Miami.Now, the Vatican ... More >>

Sweet Deck

​Few pastoral visits caused as much controversy as Pope John Paul II's 1998 visit to Cuba. Catholic exiles worried that the Pope's visit to the island would further legitimize Fidel Castro's dictatorship, and images of the two shaking hands was not a welcome site for many in Miami.Now, the Vatican ... More >>

Asia De Cuba's Crispy Tofu: A Dish Non-Vegetarians Should Love

Photo by John ZurThey might not look spectacular, but those bricks of tofu pack some incredible tastes and textures. ​Of all of the Latin American-Asian fusion dishes on Asia de Cuba's diversely unique menu, why would you order slabs of brown tofu? Because they're damn good and you don't have to b ... More >>

Annual Study: Cuba Has the Worst Press Freedom in the Americas

​The annual Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index is out, and Cuba continues to have the least freedom of the press in our part of the globe. No other country in the Americas even comes close to Cuba's lowly ranking. Meanwhile, the United States fell 27 places in the rankings in a worrisom ... More >>