Trump thrusts U.S., Cuba back toward hostile relations

President Donald Trump cheered violinist Luis Haza, who was born in Cuba, after playing the national anthem during a speech on Cuban policy today. MIAMI>> Pressing "pause" on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility today with a blistering denunciation of the island's communist government.

President pushes U.S., Cuba back toward hostile relations

Pressing "pause" on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility Friday with a blistering denunciation of the island's communist government. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened.

Trump restores some travel, economic restrictions on Cuba

President Donald Trump declared Friday he was restoring some travel and economic restrictions on Cuba that were lifted as part of the Obama administration's historic easing. He challenged the communist government of Raul Castro to negotiate a better deal for Cubans and Cuban-Americans.

Trump’s rollback of Obama’s Cuba policies may harm the Cubans…

President Donald Trump appears set to walk back some aspects of the normalization of US-Cuba relations conducted by President Barack Obama during his final years in office. According to a draft of an eight-page directive Trump is expected to sign on Friday during an event at Miami's Manuel Artime Theater - named for a leader of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion - the US government will restrict the number of reasons Americans can travel to the island and prohibit financial dealings with companies controlled by the Cuban military.

Trump rolls back Obama admina s Cuba policy: a Will not be silent in the face of communist oppressiona

President Trump announced a dramatic reversal Friday of the Obama administration's Cuba policy, restoring restrictions on U.S. travel to the island and new prohibitions on financial transactions that benefit the communist regime's military. "We will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer," Mr. Trump said in Miami.

Trump to announce plan to stop cash flow to Cuban military

Stopping short of a complete turnabout, President Donald Trump is expected Friday to announce a revised Cuba policy aimed at stopping the flow of U.S. cash to the country's military and security services while maintaining diplomatic relations and allowing U.S. airlines and cruise ships to continue service to the island. In a speech Friday at a Miami theater associated with Cuban exiles, Trump will cast the policy moves as fulfillment of a promise he made during last year's presidential campaign to reverse then-President Barack Obama's diplomatic re-engagement with the island after decades of estrangement.

Trump faces tough task unwinding Obama Cuba policy

President Barack Obama's 2014 opening with Cuba helped funnel American travel dollars into military-linked tourism conglomerates even as state security agents waged a fierce crackdown on dissent. The rapprochement also poured hundreds of millions in U.S. spending into privately owned businesses on the island, supercharging the growth of an entrepreneurial middle-class independent of the communist state.

US$1.2m worth of ganja seized in Caribbean Sea offloaded by US Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard says it has offloaded 573 pounds of marijuana, worth US$1.2 million, that was seized in the Caribbean Sea.On Friday, the Coast Guard said that the drug - offloaded in the US Virgin Islands, follows a recent at sea interdiction off the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Seven suspected smugglers, all Venezuelan nationals, have been turned over to the US Department of Justice for potential prosecution by the US Attorney's Office for the District of the Virgin Islands, the Coast Guard said.

Students Spend Spring Break In Cuba

The Edlin School, a private elementary and middle school on Sunset Hills Road in Reston, took some of its students on a spring break excursion to Cuba. "Every spring break, Edlin School arranges a trip for the parents and kids who want to go to a foreign country, and typically we will pick one that speaks Spanish or French because we teach Spanish and French as our primary languages at the school," said Bert Schreibstein, director of operations for the school.

Commentary: Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler: Europe and…

European Slavery lasted over 400 years on estates in the Caribbean and The Americas. Now the descendants of African slaves are demanding not just apologies but also atonement for the greatest crime against humanity ever known to mankind By Earl Bousquet The recent furor in Grenada over whether slave history has a role in tourism promotion is an important development that fits smack in the middle of the ongoing Caribbean discussion on reparations from Europe for slavery and native genocide.

US seeks evidence of Haitian crimes as it weighs their stay

The Trump administration is taking the unusual step of hunting for evidence of crimes committed by Ha... . FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2010, file photo, Haitian police use sticks to try and keep the crowd in order at a food distribution point in the Cite Soleil neighborhood in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Port-au-P... .

Reports from Cuba: If Venezuela goes to hell, will things look bad for Cuba?

Soot covers the unpainted facades of buildings on Tenth of October Boulevard. Old American cars from the 1950s, rebuilt with modern diesel engines and now privately operated as taxis, transit across asphalt, leaving behind a trail of black smoke and the unpleasant odor of gasoline.

Two questioned in death of Canadian woman in Belize have been released

Two people who were questioned by Belize police in the deaths of a Canadian woman and her American boyfriend have been released. The mother of the American man says the U.S. embassy in Belize told her both people being questioned were released and no one is currently in custody.

Reports from Cuba: The alliance between Spanish colonialism and the Castroist leadership

An article appearing in the Spanish newspaper El PaA s , entitled "EspaA a no puede perder Cuba dos veces" , analyzes the machinations of the latest Spanish Governments' policies towards Cuba, and observes that "Rajoy's government seems determined to make up for lost time with Havana."

Most offensive Cuba stunt of the year: PETA goes slumming

Don't they know that it would be impossible for Cubans to follow a vegan diet, due to the scarcity of certain food items? Don't they know that street dogs in Castrogonia need much more than "dog treats", or that these dogs could be someone's next meal? Why would they be any better informed than the rest of the American people as a whole, or less attracted to the thrill of slumming in a repressive hell-hole and gazing at the ill-fed primitive natives with utter contempt? Why, Mildred, just last night I heard a very highly-placed world-class American scholar talking about the great Porterhouse steak he ate at a "private" restaurant in Castrogonia. He had no clue that such a meal is totally inaccessible to Cubans.

How a Tiny Gold Fund and TV Treasure Hunter Got Out-Sized Return

A small Cayman Islands-based startup is using a former reality TV treasure hunter and a contrarian bet on gold to beat funds run by heavyweight firms such as Goldman Sachs and Pimco. Montreux Capital Management' s $30 million natural resources fund has returned 146 percent in the past year, beating 99 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By comparison, the $1.8 billion Goldman Sachs Structured Investments fund is up 34 percent while a commodity Managing Partner Oliver Harris said Montreux is benefiting from a 2014 wager on gold after the metal's worst year in decades, and an alliance with Steven Newbery, an industry veteran and former star of the Lost Treasure Hunters show.

The Latest: Trump invites Panama, Trinidad-Tobago leaders

President Donald Trump discussed what the White House calls "shared priorities" in phone calls to the leaders of Panama and the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. In statements late Sunday, the White House says Trump spoke to President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama and Prime Minister Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago.