All Eyes on Cuba in AQ’s New Culture Issue
Americas Quarterly is proud to unveil Cultura, a new twice-yearly supplement featuring contributions from established and emerging voices in Latin American arts and letters. Building on the Americas Society’s 50-year history at the forefront of artistic exchange, we hope to offer a window into the unique energy of our hemisphere. In the inaugural issue, we … Read more
Lift the Cuban Embargo
In the new issue of Americas Quarterly, we asked people, “What would you tell the next U.S. president about Latin America?” To see other authors’ responses, click here. Dear Mister / Madam President, Stepping off the plane in Havana carries with it a touch of history. But being part of the bipartisan congressional delegation that … Read more
Far From Silicon Valley, Cuba Cultivates Startup Scene
The barriers to founding a tech startup in Cuba are high. For starters, hardly anyone has access to internet connections faster than dial-up. But that’s not stopping a generation of young entrepreneurs on the island, where a nascent tech community is challenging the idea that tech innovation has to come from places like Silicon Valley. Two of those … Read more
How Obama’s Havana Trip Signals a ‘New Normal’ in U.S.-Cuba Relations
For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba last week, the visit had a simple goal: to make the administration’s opening to the island impossible to reverse, no matter who wins the White House in November. After spending the week of Obama’s visit in Havana, it is clear to … Read more
Top 10 Plays in U.S.-Cuba Baseball Diplomacy
Cuba and the U.S. have not always seen eye-to-eye. But the two countries have long shared a love for baseball, which each claims as its national pastime. Similar to how Ping-Pong diplomacy broke the ice between the U.S. and China in the 1970s, baseball helped thaw relations with Cuba ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic … Read more
Castro Still Unlikely to Play Ball With MLB
In the latest game of U.S.-Cuba baseball diplomacy, Raúl Castro has home field advantage. The Cuban president on March 22 hosted the first Major League Baseball game in his country since 1999, a potent symbol of MLB’s efforts to take advantage of U.S. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening with the island. So far, however, Castro … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Obama in Havana, Venezuela in Crisis
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba, Argentina Host Obama: Cuba and Argentina each play host to U.S. President Barack Obama this week, with human rights issues shading both visits. Today, Obama will hold a working meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro, who will then host a state dinner … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Preparing for Cuba
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba Groundwork: A flurry of deals is expected ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba from March 21 to 22. Obama is expected this Thursday to announce measures to ease travel and trade that would loosen banking rules, revise regulations on usage of … Read more
Cuba: Open for Business, But…
Now that U.S. and Cuban flags fly over reestablished embassies in Washington and Havana, the question on many minds is: Is Cuba open for business? The short answer: Yes, but with caveats. In leading four Americas Society/Council of the Americas business delegations to the island over the past three years to explore possible investment opportunities, … Read more
UN Urges Renewed Effort to Combat Human Trafficking
Today, the UN Office of Drugs & Crime marked the first World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, an effort to raise awareness around the $150 billion global human trafficking industry. The event comes just days after the U.S. State Department drew criticism for its decision to remove Cuba from a list of countries that have … Read more
Film Review: Vestido de Novia
One warm Havana afternoon, Rosa Elena checks up on a transgender friend, Sissy, who is suffering from the complications of a black-market breast augmentation. Rosa’s husband, Ernesto, expresses his disapproval of Sissy, and she pleads with him to understand and sympathize with transgender people—a plea that is secretly for her as well. Later, Ernesto will … Read more
An Often-Ignored Cause of the U.S.-Cuba Thaw
It wasn’t so long ago that reestablishing diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba seemed politically unthinkable. So it’s natural to ask: What really changed? But while much of the focus has been on the generational changes affecting the Cuban-American community, and the foreign policy-driven considerations of President Barack Obama, there was also a … Read more
This Week in Latin America: U.S. and Cuba Establish Ties—Venezuela’s Opposition Blocked—Another FARC Ceasefire—Argentina’s Elections
Here’s a look at some of the stories we’re following this week: U.S. and Cuba Establish Ties: The U.S. and Cuba re-established official diplomatic relations today for the first time since 1961. Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, is in Washington DC to mark the occasion, and will meet with Secretary of State John Kerry … Read more
Cuba’s ‘Major Victory’ in the Fight against HIV
Lost in the fanfare surrounding President Obama’s plans to re-open the U.S. embassy in Cuba was an announcement that may prove even more significant for the island’s inhabitants. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Cuba had become the first country to successfully eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis. By the WHO’s … Read more
United States and Cuba Set Date for Embassy Inaugurations
President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the United States and Cuba will reopen embassies in their respective capitals on July 20, officially restoring diplomatic ties between the two countries. The opening of a U.S. embassy in Havana for the first time in over 54 years would be the most tangible sign of progress in the … Read more
