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☆ Law & Order SVU's Maurice Compte: Boundaries between good and bad can be 'blurry'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Arturo Conde | Arturo Conde Is An Editor | A Bilingual Freelance Journalist. He Writes For La Opinión A Coruña | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Police dramas often define a clear line between good and bad. But Cuban American actor Maurice Compte, who plays Captain Mike Duarte on the 24th season of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” says the policemen and gang members he grew up with make that line more blurry in real life. The actor told NBC News that he knew both policemen and gang members — some of whom he said were in the Latin Kings. Beyond the imaginary TV line that divides characters into good and bad, there's a more complicated reality that drives both sides to belong to a community, he said. “At its best, I understood why they were doing it,” Compte said, referring to the gang members that he knew from his neighborhood.

U.S. concerns about counterterrorism will be among the subjects addressed, a State Department spokesperson said. "This type of dialogue enhances the national security of the United States through improved international law enforcement coordination, which enables the United States to better protect U.S. citizens and bring transnational criminals to justice," the State Department spokesperson said in a statement. A person in Washington familiar with the matter said the talks were expected to take place next week. The Biden administration last May kept Cuba on a short list of countries the United States says are "not cooperating fully" in its fight against terrorism. The State Department spokesperson said the coming talks "provides a forum to raise difficult matters and convey our concerns directly to the Cuban government."

☆ Judge Orders Cruise Companies to Pay More Than $436 Million for Docking at Seized Terminal in Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Four major cruise lines say they will appeal a recent ruling that would force them to pay roughly $436 million in total damages to a company that owned a port terminal in Havana prior to the Cuban Revolution. The ruling in favor of Havana Docks Corp., owner of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal before the Cuban revolution, marked an important milestone for Cuban-Americans seeking compensation for property confiscated by the Castro regime. Mickael Behn, a descendant of the original owners of Havana Docks. The verdict in favor of Havana Docks is the first from a district court, the data shows. The ruling comes after the judge in the case, Beth Bloom, signaled last March that she agreed that the use of the Cuban port constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by Havana Docks.

☆ MLB players to join Cuba's team for World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A handful of Major League Baseball players will join Cuba's team for the first time in the upcoming World Baseball Classic tournament, an unprecedented event, the sport's Cuban Federation said on Friday. Now, Cuba has signed off on a team including a dozen Cuban players who emigrated and joined U.S. or other international teams. The Caribbean island is now working "to achieve a competitive team," Juan Reinaldo Perez, president of the Baseball Federation of Cuba, told a news conference. More than 650 Cuban baseball players have defected to the United States and elsewhere in recent years, according to state-run media. Countries must present their final roster of 30 players for the World Baseball Classic tournament by Feb. 7.

☆ Cuba spy Ana Belen Montes released after 20 years behind bars
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Ana Belen Montes, one of the highest-ranking U.S. officials ever proven to have spied for Cuba, has been released from prison early, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirmed Friday, after she spent more than two decades behind bars. A U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent, Montes began working for the DIA in 1985 and rapidly climbed its ranks to become the agency's top Cuba analyst. She was accused of supplying the identity of four U.S. spies to Cuba, as well as other classified information. Montes was arrested on Sept. 21, 2001, shortly before the United States invaded Afghanistan. At her sentencing a year later, Montes argued that she had obeyed her conscience and that U.S. policy to Cuba was cruel and unfair.

☆ U.S. embassy in Cuba resumes full immigrant visa processing for first time since 2017
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] People wait in line to enter the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing and consular services for the first time since 2017 on Wednesday in a bid to stem the record-breaking flow of illegal migrants from Cuba north to the United States. Cubans were instead required to travel to Guyana for visa processing, a costly trip well out of reach for most on the island. The U.S. embassy in Havana began limited visa processing last year and in September announced the 2023 full reopening, to "ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration of Cubans," it said. Cuba and the United States have also resumed once-regular talks on migration in a bid to tamp down the flow.

☆ U.S. Embassy in Cuba reopening visa and consular services
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

HAVANA — The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana. Cubans are now the second-largest nationality after Mexicans appearing on the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows. Visa and consular services were closed on the island in 2017 after embassy staff were affflicted in a series of health incidents, alleged sonic attacks that remain largely unexplained. While relations have always been tense between Cuba and the U.S., they were heightened following the embassy closure and the Trump administration’s tightening of sanctions on Cuba. Cuban officials have repeatedly expressed optimism about talks with the U.S. and steps to reopen visa services.

☆ Cruise lines to appeal U.S court's big award to owner of Havana dock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Royal Caribbean logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami ruled last week to award a total of $440 million to the plaintiff, Delaware-registered Havana Docks Corp; registered to two U.S. citizens who claim to be descendants of the original owners of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal. It comes after Bloom ruled in March that the use of the port constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by Havana Docks Corp. Royal Caribbean in a comment to Reuters said it "disagree(d) with the ruling and will appeal. Havana Docks sued the cruise lines under the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. nationals to sue over use of property seized in Cuba after 1959.

☆ Priests from Cuba’s Santeria religion see hard year ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Marc Frank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Priests from Cuba’s Afro-Cuban Santeria religion on Monday warned of a difficult year ahead and called on followers to guard against calamities and mounting social ills after a tough year in 2022 in which a record number of Cubans left the Communist-run island. "Do not delay pending religious works and consecrations,” the priests, known as babalawos and grouped together in the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, advised in their Letter of the Year published Sunday. “Natural disasters are forecast due to hurricanes, sea turmoil and river flooding with economic and human losses,” their Letter said. A record number of Cubans left, with some 250,000 entering the United States according to U.S. government statistics, the majority crossing over the Mexican border. "I am very hopeful that Cuba and the United States will reach an agreement."

☆ U.S. judge orders Norwegian Cruise Line to pay $110 mln for use of Cuba port
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MIAMI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH.N) must pay $110 million in damages for use of a port that Cuba's government confiscated in 1960, according to a ruling by a U.S. judge released on Friday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami follows her March ruling that the use of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by the plaintiff, Delaware-registered Havana Docks Corp."Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Havana Docks Corporation and against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd," reads the decision. "Plaintiff is awarded $109,848,747.87 in damages," it says, adding that Norwegian should also pay an additional $3 million in legal fees and costs. Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Havana Docks had also sued cruise lines Carnival (CCL.N), Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) and MSC under the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. nationals to sue over use of property seized in Cuba during the Cold War era.

☆ Factbox: Former Pope Benedict, his papacy and resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

VATICAN CITY, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Following are some facts about former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday:- Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, was elected on April 19, 2005 to succeed the widely popular Pope John Paul II, who reigned for 27 years. Benedict said he stood down because bad health prevented him from bearing the full weight of the papacy. [1/2] Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate a mass at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, March 28, 2012. The Vatican under Pope John Paul II had failed to take action against Maciel despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes. Some loyalists failed to accept that he had resigned the papacy willingly and continued to consider him "my pope".

☆ Cuba says U.S. greenlights MLB players for World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Saturday the United States had granted permission for some of its top ballplayers to participate in the World Baseball Classic on the national team. The team will be the first since Fidel Castro's 1959 Revolution to include Cuban players from both countries. Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters earlier this month the United States was blocking some of Cuba's top players from participating in the Classic. Cuba has asked several players who in recent years had defected from the Caribbean island - long famed for its baseball talent - to represent their home country in the event. As a result, Cuba's baseball talent has fled the country in unprecedented numbers in the past decade, emptying dugouts and denting national pride.

☆ Artists in Cuba find themselves blocked from NFT trading sites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“The first thing that drew me to it was the freedom,” said García Alarcón, known best by his artist name, Paolo De. García Alarcón is among at least 30 Cuban artists whose profiles have been delisted from at least two American-owned NFT trading sites sites, including the largest one, OpenSea, and KnownOrigin, according to Cuban NFT artist collectives. He’s the organizer of NFTcuba.ART, a collective of around 100 Cuban artists around the world. D’Alerta and other collective leaders told the AP that the bans have even extended to personal accounts of Cuban artists who don’t live on the island. Meanwhile, leaders in the Cuban NFT space worry that the deplatforming could have a long-term chilling effect on Cuban digital artists.

“The magnitude of the flow is unprecedented and unheard of,” said Jorge Duany, director of Florida International University’s Cuba Research Institute. Over 6,000 Cuban migrants were interdicted at sea in 2021 while attempting to cross the Florida straits in makeshift boats. Recent migrants have been staying with relatives until they’re able to find work and a room or efficiency to rent. “It’s basically chaos,” said Angel Leal, an immigration attorney in Miami with a large volume of Cuban clients. But previous waves of Cuban migrants, like those who came in the 1990s during the rafter crisis, also leaned Democratic and then ultimately turned Republican.

☆ Latin American leftist bloc closes ranks behind deposed Peruvian president
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Demonstrators gather as the government announced a nationwide state of emergency, following a week of protests sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, in Cuzco, Peru December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Alejandra OroscoHAVANA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A bloc of left-wing countries meeting in Havana on Wednesday closed ranks in support of the ousted former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, amid protests and roadblocks in the South American nation that have left at least eight dead. Castillo's former vice president Dina Boluarte was sworn into office after his removal. On Monday, the governments of Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina called for the protection of Castillo's human and judicial rights. Reporting by Marc Frank; additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Peru diplomatic spat grows as envoys in Mexico, Argentina summoned home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Marco Aquino | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Supporters of Peru's former President Pedro Castillo gather outside the police prison where he is being held, in Lima, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian CastanedaLIMA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A diplomatic spat over Peru deepened on Thursday as the new foreign minister formally summoned ambassadors home from countries including Mexico and Argentina, which have criticized the recent ouster of former president Pedro Castillo. On Monday, four nations led by leftist presidents - Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico - signed onto a joint statement declaring Castillo "a victim of undemocratic harassment." Gervasi wrote in a post on Twitter that the consultations "relate to interference in the internal affairs of Peru." Boluarte's week-old administration, which she has said will be a transition government, has been recognized by Chile's leftist president, plus by Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Canada and the United States.

HAVANA/WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Cuba´s Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio on Thursday accused long-time rival the United States of doublespeak after the Biden administration proposed to scrap a plan to install a new undersea telecommunications cable to Cuba. Cuba has long accused the U.S. of doublespeak, saying a Cold War-era embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba has failed to upend Cuba´s government, and instead, has only caused suffering among the Cuban people. The U.S. government in recent years has been scrutinizing undersea cable connections especially involving China. The existing ARCOS-1 submarine cable system connects the United States with 14 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and South America and sought to expand to a landing station in Cojimar, Cuba. The system's operator argues it would "increase the means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with the United States and the rest of the world."

☆ Cuba says its allies have pledged help to end its economic crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Marc Frank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HAVANA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - China, Russia, Algeria and Turkey have pledged to restructure Cuba's debt, provide new trade and investment financing, and help ease an energy crisis, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told state-run media following a rare trip abroad last week. Cuba's debt with business partners and suppliers has ballooned, leading some to refuse to do business with Cuba unless it is in cash, according to foreign business and diplomatic sources with knowledge of recent transactions. Cuba's current foreign debt is considered a state secret. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the Caribbean island nation reported its foreign debt at $19.6 billion. "There is no short-term solution to Cuba's electric power sector challenges; the system is old, tired and broken.

The Cuban restaurant Versailles has been a fixture in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood for the last 50 years. Courtesy VersaillesIt's also drawn celebrities, including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and has been a destination for international tourists looking to eat a Cuban meal or just hang out outside la ventanita, sipping a Cuban coffee, nibbling a guava pastry and absorbing the surrounding culture. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain drinks a Cuban coffee with Felipe Valls Sr. during a campaign visit to Versailles in 2011. “This is kind of their ground zero, the epicenter of the Cuban American community. On its website, Versailles calls itself “the world’s most famous Cuban restaurant.”

☆ Cuba wins China debt relief, new funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Marc Frank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - China has agreed to restructure Cuban debt and provide new trade and investment credits to the beleaguered Caribbean Island nation after a meeting in Peking between the two Communist countries’ leaders. Gil was speaking in an interview with official media traveling with President Miguel Diaz-Canel as he returned home over the weekend from a tour of Algeria, Russia, Turkey and China. Analysts estimate the debt in the billions of dollars, although no official figures are available. Gil said China had agreed to quickly complete a floating dock, wind power and solar energy project, among others. President Diaz-Canel told the official media after talks in Peking that debt was at the top of his agenda with President Xi Jinping who sympathized with the difficulties Cuba was going through.

☆ Russian and Cuban leaders meet in Moscow, hail 'traditional friendship'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met with his Cuban counterpart in Moscow, where the two unveiled a monument to Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and hailed the “traditional friendship” between their sanctions-hit nations. We have always supported Cuba on the international stage and we see that Cuba takes the same position towards Russia,” Putin said. Other top Russian officials struck similar tones in their meetings with Díaz-Canel, who arrived in Moscow on Saturday. Cuban state media reported that Díaz-Canel’s agenda will focus on the energy sector, very sensitive for the island as it battles shortages of food, medicines and fuel. Havana’s main regional political ally, Venezuela, has sold the island the oil Cuba needed for the past two decades.

☆ Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“The culture in Cuba is in mourning for the death of Pablo Milanes,” Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz tweeted Monday night. Milanés and Rodríguez in particular became close, touring the world’s stages as cultural ambassadors for the Cuban Revolution, and bonding during boozy sessions. “If Silvio Rodríguez and I got together, the rum was always there,” Milanés told El Pais in 2003. Cuba’s aging leaders “are stuck in time,” Milanés told Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “These freedoms have been seen in small doses, and we hope that with time they will grow,” Milanés told The Associated Press.

☆ Backstage, stars shine at Cuba's National Ballet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Ballet dancers react backstage as they perform "Giselle" during the 27th Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana, at the National Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Cuba's National Ballet, founded in 1948 in Havana, became a pet project of Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Castro gave aspiring dancers free training, underwrote the companies' infrastructure, and cemented the national ballet's reputation for beauty and talent. Communist-led Cuba is struggling through economic crisis but its talented dancers continue to practice and perform. Reporting by Alexandre Meneghini, Writing by Dave Sherwood, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HAVANA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Cuba on Tuesday said it had signed 30 foreign investment deals valued at around $400 million this year, more than in 2021 but far short of pre-pandemic levels of at times around $2 billion. Cuba is struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades, and desperately needs foreign investment to help underwrite the purchase of food, medicine, fuel and raw materials needed to jumpstart sputtering output. “We have to banish all that unnecessary bureaucracy and generate new opportunities that are attractive to foreign businessmen,” Marrero said at an investment forum in the capital. Some at the trade fair told Reuters they were willing to bet on Cuba despite the downturn. "Definitely we are not afraid as investors in Cuba, we are already making arrangements and making alliances with a well-established (private) company,” he said.

☆ U.S. will begin deporting Cubans by plane in 'coming weeks,' U.S. officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. is planning to begin deporting Cuban migrants who crossed undocumented into the U.S. from Mexico on flights back to Cuba, two U.S. officials say. The officials said the flights will begin “in the coming weeks,” as ICE locates Cubans with final orders of deportation to fill planes. Reuters first reported on Friday that the Cuban government has agreed to accept deportation flights. More than 248,000 Cubans were apprehended crossing the U.S. southwest border over the past year, up from 43,677 the year prior, according to Customs and Border Protection figures. The Trump administration ramped up deportations of Cubans, but so far the Biden administration has not coordinated large-scale Cuban deportations through ICE.

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