Latest Cuba government News

Afro-Cuban drums, Muslim prayers, Buddhist mantras: Religious diversity blooms in once-atheist Cuba

May. 16, 2024 10:45 AM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — The 1959 Castro-led revolution installed an atheist, Communist government that sought to replace the Catholic Church as the guiding force in the lives of Cubans. But 65 years later, religion seems omnipresent in Cuba, in dazzling diversity. The bells...

Afro-Cuban drums, Muslim prayers, Buddhist mantras: Religious diversity blooms in once-atheist Cuba

May. 16, 2024 08:22 AM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — The 1959 Castro-led revolution installed an atheist, Communist government that sought to replace the Catholic Church as the guiding force in the lives of Cubans. But 65 years later, religion seems omnipresent in Cuba, in dazzling diversity. The bells...

State Department removes Cuba from short list of countries deemed uncooperative on counterterrorism

May. 15, 2024 17:47 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Cuba Wednesday from the State Department's short list of countries that it deems less than fully cooperative against violent groups. In a statement, the State Department said Blinken had found that Cuban and U.S. law...

Long lines form and frustration grows as Cuba runs short of cash

Apr. 27, 2024 16:30 PM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, but when it was almost his turn, the cash ran out. He angrily hopped on his electric tricycle and traveled several kilometers to another branch...

Canadian family receives wrong body after father died on Cuban vacation

Apr. 22, 2024 17:45 PM EDT

LAVAL, Quebec (AP) — A family in Quebec is searching for answers after discovering that their father's remains didn't make it to Canada from Cuba, where he died while on vacation, and instead received the remains of another man. Funerals for Faraj Allah Jarjour were scheduled for...

Former US ambassador sentenced to 15 years in prison for serving as secret agent for Cuba

Apr. 12, 2024 18:06 PM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — A former career U.S. diplomat was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the U.S. foreign service. ...

Morocco hosts one of Africa’s first exhibitions of Cuban art, a milestone for Afro-Cuban painters

Apr. 03, 2024 03:52 AM EDT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — When Morocco 's King Mohamed VI visited Havana in 2017, Cuban-American gallery owner Alberto Magnan impressed him with a “full immersion” in the Caribbean island's art and culture, drawing a line between the cultural and historical themes tackled by Cuban artists and...

US defense official had 'Havana syndrome' symptoms during a 2023 NATO summit, the Pentagon confirms

Apr. 01, 2024 17:40 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Defense Department official who attended last year's NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, had symptoms similar to those reported by U.S. officials who have experienced “Havana syndrome," the Pentagon confirmed Monday. Havana syndrome is still under...

LGBTQ-inclusive church in Cuba welcomes all in a country that once sent gay people to labor camps

Apr. 01, 2024 16:32 PM EDT

MATANZAS, Cuba (AP) — Proudly wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and a rainbow flag in her clerical collar, the Rev. Elaine Saralegui welcomed all to her LGBTQ+ inclusive church in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. “We’re all invited. And no one can exclude us,” Saralegui...

Rationed food kept Cubans fed during the Cold War. Today an economic crisis has them hungry

Mar. 24, 2024 00:05 AM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — Like millions of other Cubans, María de los Ángeles Pozo thinks back fondly to when a government ration book fed her family everything from hamburgers, fish and milk to chocolate and beer. People would even get cakes for birthdays and weddings. The “libreta,” as...