Category Archives: Cuba

Medical studies find no trace of physical harm in Havana syndrome patients

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Two new studies find no significant differences between US government officials suffering from condition and control group

Two new medical studies have found that US government officials suffering from Havana syndrome symptoms did not show any discernible physical damage or alteration.

One of the studies published on Monday by the federally funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) examined brain imaging, while the other looked at blood biomarkers and clinical assessments of hearing, vision, hand-eye coordination, cognitive ability and balance.

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Former US diplomat to plead guilty to charges of spying for Cuba for decades

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Manuel Rocha was arrested for allegedly engaging in ‘clandestine activity’ on the communist country’s behalf since at least 1981

A former career US diplomat told a federal judge on Thursday he will plead guilty to charges of working for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, an unexpectedly swift resolution to a case prosecutors called one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the US foreign service.

Manuel Rocha’s stunning fall from grace could culminate in a lengthy prison term after the 73-year-old said he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government.

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Two Cuban documentaries show effects of US sanctions on island nation

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Liz Oliva Fernández says the sanctions, imposed 60 years ago and upheld through Biden, have led to a ‘desperate situation’

A Cuban journalist is looking to spread awareness of the US trade embargo in two illuminating documentaries arriving in early 2024.

Liz Oliva Fernández says whenever she covered news or events on the island, be it the push for democratic reforms, or the private businesses springing up after the Castros loosened their grip on power, they always intersected with the sanctions.

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Transatlantic slavery continued for years after 1867, historian finds

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Exclusive: Evidence found by Hannah Durkin includes ships landing in Cuba in 1872, and people held in Benin in 1873

Historians have generally assumed that the transatlantic slave trade ended in 1867, but it actually continued into the following decade, according to new research.

Dr Hannah Durkin, an historian and former Newcastle University lecturer, has unearthed evidence that two slave ships landed in Cuba in 1872. One vessel, flying the Portuguese flag, had 200 captives aged from 10 to 40, and the second is believed to have been a US ship with 630 prisoners packed into its hold.

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Juanita Castro, sister of Fidel and Raúl who worked with CIA, dies aged 90

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The staunch anti-communist, at first supportive of her brothers’ efforts, became disillusioned with the Cuban government

Juanita Castro, the sister of the Cuban rulers Fidel and Raúl Castro who worked with the CIA against their communist government, has died in Miami at 90. Florida had been her home since shortly after fleeing the island nearly 60 years ago.

The journalist María Antonieta Collins, who co-wrote Juanita Castro’s 2009 book, Fidel and Raúl, My Brothers. The Secret History, wrote on Instagram that she died on Monday.

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Former US diplomat charged with spying for Cuba over 40 years

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Attorney general alleges ‘one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations’ of US government by foreign agent

The US government charged a former diplomat who served on the national security council in the 1990s with secretly serving as an agent of Cuba’s government for more than 40 years.

Victor Manuel Rocha was arrested on Friday, following a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation. The US ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, Rocha also worked on the national security council from 1994 to 1995. He is charged with committing multiple federal crimes.

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Former US diplomat arrested in Florida is accused of serving as an agent of Cuba

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Manuel Rocha, 73, who once served as ambassador to Bolivia, is accused of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests

A former American diplomat who served as US ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested in a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation, accused of secretly serving as an agent of Cuba’s government, the Associated Press has learned.

Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in Miami on Friday on a criminal complaint and more details about the case are expected to be made public at a court appearance Monday, said two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing federal investigation.

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Cuban officials warn of increased blackouts due to fuel shortages

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Citizens of the island nation were told that power outages of up to 10 hours a day could be expected outside Havana

Cuban officials have warned that blackouts on the island will increase significantly due to a lack of fuel, potentially worsening the country’s plight as it deals with food and medicine shortages.

Local governments have already begun announcing restrictions on power usage at state-run companies and other entities, including moves to postpone sporting events and university classes.

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Cuba arrests 17 over alleged recruitment of Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine

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Havana is ally of Moscow but foreign ministry states: ‘Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine’

Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The head of criminal investigations for Cuba’s interior ministry, César Rodríguez, told state media that at least three of the 17 people arrested were part of recruitment efforts inside the island country.

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Cuba uncovers ‘human trafficking ring’ recruiting for Russia’s war in Ukraine

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Havana says it is dismantling network seeking to recruit Cubans as mercenaries as Moscow attempts to boost its forces

Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight as mercenaries for Russia in its war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said, as Moscow seeks to increase the size of its forces.

In a statement, the Cuban foreign ministry said the authorities were working to “neutralise and dismantle” the network, which it said was operating within the Caribbean island nation and in Russia.

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China has used Cuba as spy base for years, US official says

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Chinese intelligence collection from Cuba predates the Biden era, with facilities upgraded in 2019, White House official says

China has been spying from Cuba for some time and upgraded its intelligence collection facilities there in 2019, a Biden administration official said on Saturday, following a report about a new spying effort underway on the island.

China had reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.

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Colombia’s president and ELN guerrillas agree six-month ceasefire

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Talks in Cuba between Gustavo Petro and rebel leader Antonio García aimed at ending decades of conflict and follows Farc deal

Colombia’s government and its largest remaining guerrilla group have agreed to a six-month ceasefire at talks in Cuba, in the latest attempt to resolve a conflict dating back to the 1960s.

The government and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, announced the accord at a ceremony in Havana on Friday attended by Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, top guerrilla commander Antonio García and Cuban officials. The ceasefire takes effect in phases, goes fully into effect in August and then lasts for six months.

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China reportedly reaches secret deal with Cuba to host spy base on island

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Facility would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from US but Cuba dismisses report as ‘unfounded’

China has reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal has reported, but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.

Such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the south-eastern United States, which houses many US military bases, as well as to monitor ship traffic, the newspaper reported.

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Weather tracker: Finland experiences coldest June on record

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Despite 24-hour sun, Lapland dips to -7.7C. Elsewhere, the Atlantic hurricane season begins

Thursday 1 June saw potentially the lowest June temperature on record in Finland. A weather station in Lapland, Enontekiö Kilpisjärvi Saana, reached -7.7C. This may not seem that cold for northern Finland, where winter temperatures reach as low as -51.5C, but the last time Lapland saw a minimum temperature of -7C in June was on 3 June 1962.

In addition, at this time of year Lapland experiences midnight sun where it is constantly light and the sun does not set. This unseasonal cold was possible in the first month of summer due to a large area of high pressure to the west of Finland, blocking the usual westerly/south-westerly flow of weather systems across the Atlantic and North Sea.

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Cuba cancels workers’ day parade as severe oil shortages bite

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President says island is only receiving two-thirds of the petrol it needs as queues outside gas stations stretch for miles

There was a time when International Workers’ Day was marked in Cuba by parades involving more than a million people marching through Havana’s Revolution Square. Many came out of conviction, some because they were pressured, others to enjoy the party.

This Monday, however, the square will be empty, after the Cuban Communist party cancelled this year’s celebrations due to gasoline shortages that are crippling the island’s economy.

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The Cuban Collapse – a photo essay

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Far from the romanticised notion of Old Havana, this project documents the city’s housing situation as a microcosm of the country’s collapse. Many buildings have collapsed or been declared uninhabitable, forcing people to live in shelters or squat in unsafe conditions while new hotels are built around them

Cubans face a precarious present and an uncertain future. While the government focuses on the recovery of the tourism sector, people’s living conditions are driving the largest migratory exodus in the country’s history.

Inflation, the economic blockade and mismanagement mean many are unable to meet their basic needs.

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Southwest Airlines plane hits birds and makes emergency landing in Cuba

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Smoke enters cabin of US Boeing 737 after nose and engine were struck during departure of flight 3923 for Florida

A US jetliner taking off from Cuba had engine trouble after hitting birds and returned to Havana for an emergency landing on Sunday, Cuban authorities said.

Smoke entered the cabin of the plane but no one was injured in the incident involving Southwest Airlines flight 3923 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said the airline and the Cuban civil aviation authority, Cacsa.

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‘Havana syndrome’ not caused by foreign adversary, US intelligence says

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The involvement of overseas foes in ‘anomalous health incidents’ suffered by US diplomats and spies was deemed ‘very unlikely’

The mysterious set of symptoms known as “Havana syndrome” was not caused by an energy weapon or foreign adversary, US intelligence has concluded.

The assessment concludes a multi-year investigation into approximately 1,000 “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) among US diplomats, spies and other employees in US embassies and missions around the world.

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As independent media blossoms in Cuba, journalists face a crackdown

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‘Chilling’ new criminal law penalizing internationally funded journalism comes as repression in the country is on the rise

Since graduating from the University of Havana’s faculty of journalism in 2021, Pedro Sosa, 24, has photographed families of political prisoners and written about the chronic lack of medicine and syringes in Cuba’s fraying medical system.

It was risky work on an island that brooks little dissent, but in September things came to a head: he was interrogated by state security and told that if he didn’t renounce his work for the independent media outlets El Toque (the Touch) and El Estornudo (the Sneeze) he could face jail.

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