Latest Cuba government News

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...

Today in History: March 21, Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery

Mar. 21, 2024 00:01 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Thursday, March 21, the 81st day of 2024. There are 285 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 21, 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their third, successful...

Cuba protests US comments following protests against power blackouts, food shortages

Mar. 18, 2024 23:41 PM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s government on Monday protested as interventionist comments from the U.S. Embassy on the island following demonstrations against power blackouts and food shortages by hundreds of people in eastern Cuba. Cuba’s Foreign Ministry delivered a note expressing the...

Cubans in eastern city of Santiago protest blackouts and food shortages

Mar. 17, 2024 23:33 PM EDT

HAVANA (AP) — Small groups of protesters took to the streets in the eastern city of Santiago on Sunday, decrying power outages lasting up to eight hours and food shortages across Cuba. Videos on social media showed demonstrators on the outskirts of the city, which is about 800...

Program that allows 30,000 migrants from 4 countries into the US each month upheld by judge

Mar. 08, 2024 23:17 PM EST

HOUSTON (AP) — The Biden administration can keep operating a program that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds after a federal judge on Friday dismissed a challenge from Republican-led states. U.S. District Judge Drew B....

Cuba's president says fired economy minister being investigated by police and attorney general

Mar. 08, 2024 00:15 AM EST

HAVANA (AP) — Recently dismissed Cuban Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández is being investigated by police and the Attorney General’s Office after making “serious mistakes,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Thursday night. Gil had been one of Díaz-Canel’s closest...