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This Happened

Communication Revolution To A Martial Art Legend — On This Day In History March 10

A devastating mining disaster, a groundbreaking invention, and the birth of an action legend.

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Economy Geopolitics

Cuba Joining BRICS Is A Quiet Warning To Trump

In another sign of changing power relations in the ‘post-Western’ world, the BRICS group of emerging economies could frustrate the United States’ bid to sink communism in Cuba by strangling its economy.

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This Happened

Algerian-French Nobel Laureate To Mars Explorer — On This Day In History January 4

A major shift in a war, the loss of a literary icon, and a giant leap on Mars.

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This Happened

Legendary Race Car Driver To Comic Strip Farewell — On This Day In History January 3

A legendary driver, a tech milestone, and the end of a beloved comic era.

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Economy Geopolitics Ideas

Worms And Blackouts: Cuba’s Dark Reality Of Missed Opportunities

Cuba’s current energy crisis is a dramatic illustration, symbolic and otherwise, of the overall downfall of a country that could have followed the successful models of its Asian cousins. Faced with a socioeconomic dead-end, record numbers of Cubans are fleeing the country.

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This Happened

This Happened — October 22: Kennedy’s Cuban Missile Crisis Address

Updated October 22, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that American reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, marking the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis on this day in 1962. What did President Kennedy reveal in his televised address? In his address, President Kennedy revealed that American reconnaissance planes […]

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Geopolitics In The News

Western Pressure On Maduro? It’s The Venezuelan Military That Will Decide

Foreign condemnations and sanctions will not force Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to abandon power after losing the recent presidential elections. The army could, but with a security system designed by Cuban advisers, it is firmly under regime control.

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This Happened

This Happened — July 31: Fidel Castro Hands Over Power To His Brother

Updated July 31, 20244 at 11:20 a.m. Fidel Castro officially handed over power to his brother Raúl Castro on this day in 2006. Why did Fidel Castro decide to transfer power to his brother? Fidel Castro’s decision to transfer power to his brother Raúl Castro was prompted by his declining health. Fidel underwent intestinal surgery […]

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Geopolitics

Russia-Latin America: Is El Salvador’s “Cool” Strongman Cozying Up To Putin?

Through quiet diplomacy, Russia may be courting the rising star of Latin American populism, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. In time, he must decide between international respectability and a bear hug from Vladimir Putin.

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This Happened

This Happened — June 14: Happy Birthday, Che Guevara

Updated June 14, 2024 at 11:50 a.m. Che Guevara was born on this day in 1928. He was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, and diplomat. He played a key role in the Cuban Revolution, serving as one of Fidel Castro’s top lieutenants. What was Che Guevara’s childhood like? Che Guevara’s childhood was […]

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This Happened

This Happened – April 22: ​Photo Of Elian Gonzalez, Held At Gunpoint

Updated April 22, 2024 at 12:40 p.m. Elian Gonzalez is a Cuban national who became the subject of an international custody battle. He was five years old at the time. On this day in 2000, federal agents raided the Miami home where Elian was staying with his relatives and forcibly removed him, holding him and […]

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This Happened

This Happened – April 17: Bay Of Pigs Invasion

Updated April 17, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. The Bay of Pigs invasion began on this day in 1961, when a force of around 1,400 Cuban exiles, backed by the United States government, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba. What was the goal of the Bay of Pigs invasion? The […]

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Geopolitics

Why The Cuban-Venezuelan Alliance Is More Toxic Than Ever

Recent Cuban protests over fuel and food swiftly turned against the communist system but unlike the past, the state, which is asking the UN for food aid, refrained from giving a crushing response. Venezuela is no better off, and the age of symbiosis for Latin America’s leftist regimes is long gone.

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This Happened

This Happened- March 5: Che Guevara, Iconic Photograph

Updated March 5, 2024 at 12:25 p.m. This iconic photograph of Che Guevara was taken on this day in 1960 by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda. When was the famous photograph of Che Guevara taken? The photograph of Che Guevara was taken during a mass funeral for the victims of the La Coubre explosion in Havana, […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Maduro’s Venezuela, From Degraded Democracy To Crypto Dictatorship

In keeping with the pseudo-democratic style of certain autocracies of our time, Venezuela’s leftist ruler is not averse to holding a general election, to be held when he says and once he has the results readied in advance.

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Economy

Why Cuba Is Still Plagued By Milk Shortages

Milk shortages are not new in Cuba, where the state pays producers less for their milk than what they can make by selling it on the black market.

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This Happened

This Happened—January 1: The End Of The Cuban Revolution

Updated Jan. 1 2024 at 12:00 p.m. On January 1, 1959, Cuba’s military dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country and the rebels, led by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, celebrated in Havana, ending the Cuban Revolution. Why did the Cuban Revolution take place? The U.S. had been a major force in Cuba since the early […]

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Economy Society

Forced Labor, Forced Exile: The Cuban Professionals Sent Abroad To Work, Never To Return

Noel, a Cuban engineer who had to emigrate to the faraway island of Saint Lucia, tells about the Cuban government’s systematic intimidation techniques and coercion of its professionals abroad. He now knows he can never go back to his native island — lest he should never be allowed to leave Cuba again.

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Society

Free Curls In Cuba: An Afro Hairstyle Revival Of Identity And Politics — And Fashion

In the island nation, Rizo Libre (free curl) seeks to rescue Afro-descendant roots on the island.

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics Ideas

The U.S. Badly Needs Friends In Latin America — It Should Start Acting Like It

If the United States insists on treating Latin American countries as unruly neighbors rather than partners, then it must expect problems from them in the form of fugitives, drugs and crime.

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Food / Travel Society

Meet Blanca Alsogaray, The First Woman To Win Cuba’s “Oscar Of Cigars”

For the first time, Cuba’s prestigious annual cigar festival recognized a woman, Alsogaray, owner of an iconic cigar shop in Buenos Aires, as the top representative of this celebrated lifeline of the Cuban economy.

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In The News

On Lula’s “Gay Kits,” Marxist Plots And The Entire Brazilian Fake News Machine

Before Lula’s re-election in Brazil, fake news spread widely online about “gay kits” in schools and Marxism in schools. Here’s how Brazilians can use the moment to convince moderate voters of the dangers of disinformation.

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Geopolitics Ideas

How U.S. Airlines Are Doing Cuba’s Dirty Work On American Soil

American and Southwest Airlines have been refusing to allow Cubans on board flights if they’ve been blacklisted by the government in Havana.

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In The News

This Happened—November 25: Death Of A Communist Icon

After winning a revolution, and ruling for almost half a century, Fidel Castro dies at the age of 90. Sign up to receive This Happened straight to your inbox each day! Who was Fidel Castro? The bearded face of Communism in Cuba and beyond, Fidel Castro reigned from 1959 to 2008 as Prime Minister and […]

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In The News

How Cuban Intelligence Helped Secure Maduro’s Grip On Power In Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has managed to cling to power after an allegedly rigged 2018 presidential election. He did so with the help of Cuba, having enjoyed “working relations” with Cuban intelligence for decades.

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Economy Geopolitics Society

What’s Driving The New Migrant Exodus From Cuba

Since Cuba reopened its borders last December after COVID closures, the number of people leaving the island has gone up significantly. Migration has been a constant in Cuban life since the 1950s. But this article in Cuba’s independent news outlet El Toque shows just how important migration is to understand the ordeals of everyday life on the island.

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In The News

Havana Darkness: The Sad Return Of Cuba’s Rolling Blackouts

Blackouts were common across Cuba during the 1990s. Today, the country is once again in the midst of an energy crisis as power shortages push Cubans’ patience to the limits, and remind many of the decades of government failings.

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In The News

Summit Of The Americas: Why Washington Needs To Tend To Its Own Backyard

With Washington’s attention fixed on Russia, Ukraine and China, the upcoming Summit of the Americas will likely not be the “breakthrough” gathering to forge the equal ties Latin America has long sought from the United States. But Washington would be wise to invest in stronger unity in its own hemisphere.

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LGBTQ Plus Society

Meet Félix, Havana’s Gender-Fluid Diva Opening Cuban Eyes And Minds

There is little understanding of gender fluidity worldwide, and in Cuba there is no legal recognition of their identity. Journalist Ernesto J. Gómez Figueredo meets Félix and tries to explain the world from the point of view of gender fluidity.

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In The News

Where Are My Meds? Cubans Facing Mental Illness In COVID Times

While Cuba has historically been praised for its health care system, the pandemic has struck the population hard, even those not infected. Among the victims are those suffering from psychological ailments whose prescriptions couldn’t be filled because of closed borders and economic crises.

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In The News

Latin American Pariah, The Cost Of Brazil’s Isolationism

By turning its back on regional integration, the conservative government of Jair Bolsonaro is putting ideology above the country’s long-term economic and political interests.

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In The News

North Korea Fires Missiles, R. Kelly Guilty, New John Lennon Song

? Hyvää huomenta!* Welcome to Tuesday, where North Korea conducts its third weapon tests in just over two weeks, R&B singer R. Kelly is found guilty of sex trafficking, and an unearthed John Lennon tape is up for auction in Denmark. Meanwhile, we take a look at why despite being an oil- and gas-rich country, […]

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In The News

Cuba: Growing Internet Access Is About Money Not Freedom

People used social media to help organize the large, anti-government protests that took place on the island last July. And yet, unlike their counterparts in China, Cuban authorities are loath to prohibit access to such sites. Do the math.

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Geopolitics

Cuba Is A Dictatorship, Latin American Left Doesn’t Seem To Care

Sympathizers of the Cuban communist regime tend to justify Cuba’s violence on protesters and present it as a victim of Western imperialism.

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Ideas Society

San Isidro v. Stalinism: Cuba’s Eternal Obsession With Artists

Cuba’s dissident artists are challenging not just the communist state’s repression, but also its claim to be the socio-cultural guide for the nation.

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Raul Castro’s Exit, Biden’s Arrival And The Future Of Venezuela

With Trump now out of the picture, Cuba and Venezuela — both in economic shambles — are once more toying with piecemeal liberalization, Clarín’s international affairs chief explains.

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Geopolitics

Cuba Up To Old Tricks, A New Crackdown On Dissenting Artists

As the world is distracted by COVID-19 and regional leftists turn a blind eye, the Cuban regime relaunches its secretive practice of civil-society repression.

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Geopolitics

The Latest: Cuban Protests, Jordanian Coup Arrests, Racist Reaction To England Loss

Welcome to Monday, where thousands of Cubans join rare protests against the government, Jordan arrests suspected coup organizers and it’s a full-blown festa in Italy after the national soccer team’s Euro win, as racists make loss even worse for England. With the Cannes Festival red carpet out, Les Echos looks at how Netflix and other […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Where Is The Outrage In Latin America Over Cuba?

The island nation hasn’t had a free election for more than 70 years. And yet, as millions take to the streets across the region, the Cuban regime keeps getting a pass.

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Society

Salsa, A Brand New Beat For Tango-Loving Buenos Aires

Immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America are making their presence felt in the Argentine capital, where more than a dozen salsotecas have opened in the past decade.

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